DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters are 
properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.


LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 1

** Love Sucks **


Two women, in their twilight years, sat on the porch of an old-style
dojo as the sun headed down into its mid-afternoon position. Both 
sat, serenely, hands folded in their laps, staring out at times 
long-since past. Memories of people now gone, places now built over
by concrete and steel, enemies that were now as infirm as they 
themselves. Memories of smells long dead in the world, such as 
daisies and roses, of rain on dirt and dry cement, the smells of a 
partner in the heat of passion. Noises, too, were missing. Those of 
children playing, cars, trains, and birds. It was the birds that the
silver-haired woman missed most, with children a close second.

She turned to her companion, who despite her advancing years, still
had a head full of magnificent red hair. The other was sitting 
silent, still, motionless... yet poised, as only a lifetime of 
service to ancient, now dead, arts could entice one to sit. The 
silver-haired woman knew the other still practised, still taught
- it was one of the specialties of her generation that they attempted
to continue. She knew, for example, that Xian Pu had attempted
to continue the arts of the Amazons after the Indo-Chinese
Conglomerate had bulldozed and plasma-bathed the village to make way
for new multi-level cities. But, like most of the others, Xian Pu was
gone now, too.

The other finally turned, noticing the gaze of her companion,
or perhaps only now deigning to acknowledge it. "It has been a while
since we were all last together."

"Those of us that remain," replied the first.

"Yes." The redhead fell silent again. Not for the first time, the 
first felt jealous of the other, jealous of her ability to hide from
the wrinkles that time wrought.

"What does the future hold for us?"

The redhead was silent for a time. Then: "The future... ahhhh, my 
old, dear friend. We won't be around to see it. Well, much of it. And
you should be glad of that. This world we live in now," she gestured
to the north, where NeoTokyo was taking place, growing up in 
kilometres-high spirals and towers, "will get worse."

"Maybe you made the wrong choice. You know, about what you said to 
that Setsuna girl."

The redhead shook her head. "Nope. That we're all sure of. Perfect
peace and happiness? Must be fought for. Mistakes must be made for us
to learn. I learnt a lot from her friends."

The silver-haired woman turned to the sun again. "I remember."

"All you remember of that time was how I hurt you."

"I remember more than that. I... I just... it has been a while."

"Indeed."

The two were silent, regarding each other and the environment
around them. In the distance was a belch of fire. The sound took a 
number of seconds to reach them, and when it arrived, it was a low,
dull rumble, like a distant earthquake. The redhead cocked her head
to one side, listening intently. "The planet can't take much more of
this."

"The overpopulation?"

"Everything. It is going off like that even more often now than 
before. Thankfully, people are beginning to notice. But too slow."

Both nodded sagely. Then the redhead looked down between them. A Go 
board lay there, pieces arranged in battle from the last, final game,
aged and weathered. To both women, it meant so much, the pieces 
arranged like this. Both of their fathers had perished in the spots
they now occupied, the Go board between them. This last game lay 
forever unfinished. The redhead reached down, picked up one of the 
pieces, turned it over and over in her fingers. "If only they'd taken
up another hobby. Something less dangerous. Like playing tennis with
live grenades or something."

"I know how you feel," said the silver-haired woman. "It's like they
both should still be here. I feel them sometimes. My abilities
are lapsing as I grow older. I can barely pick up a ki signature
now, let alone differentiate them. And I feel them from time to 
time." She paused. "I feel all of them."

"You're the last now, Akane."

"I'm so lonely, Ranma. I'm the third one."

The redhead put the piece back down, and moved over to her friend's
other side, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her into an
embrace. "You're very welcome to come stay with Hotaru and I, you 
know. We'd love to have you."

"You've heard about the dojo, then."

"The demolishing? Yeah. Come on, our place is always yours. You know
that."

"Ranma?" Akane looked up, eyes glistening with small drops of water.
"Ranma? Can you tell me a story? Of how it was before it all got so 
bad and dark? Before everyone was dead?"

"You want me to continue on from where I got up to last time we were
together?" Ranma asked, and Akane nodded. "Okay, then. You know, 
every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. This is the 
middle... but I'm going to start at the end of it, tell you where
it went to before I tell you how it got there."

"Why?"

"To make it more interesting."

"Oh, okay..."

"So. We're talking about love, aren't we? So let's pick it up from
there. Love. My first sexual experience. Nervous, knowing I shouldn't
be doing this, feeling so wrong, so bad... and yet it was so good."

******

And then, at the moment of release, Ranma's head exploded and he 
toppled lifelessly onto Mitsuki. She blinked, once, automatically
wiping the bone fragments and brain portions from her eyes, heedless
of the numerous small injuries to her face caused by chips of bone,
then started screaming.

******

Usagi heard the screaming, woke with a start. Her clock said it was
2AM, definitely not the time for screaming. She pulled her pillow
over her head, tried to go back to sleep. But Obviously Mitsuki
was having a great time with whatever guy she'd dragged home...
wait, Mitsuki hadn't gone out... oh no...

She bolted from her bed, headed out the door for the stairs. The 
other senshi on the second floor were beginning to poke their heads
out of doors, and at the bottom of the stairs, outside of Ranma's
room, was Hotaru, looking inside with a look of complete and utter
shock on her face, her skin a paler shade of alabaster than normal.
She stepped back, shaking her head slowly, hesitantly. "No, no, he'd
never -" she said, before Usagi reached her, pulled her away from the
door so she could have a look herself.

One glance was enough to confirm her worst fears: a naked Mitsuki
lying under a blood-soaked Ranma.

But... there was a gap where his neck and head should have been. Like
something was missing.

That was about when Usagi noticed the stains on the walls, red, grey,
white. His head had just... exploded. She turned to one side quickly
and vomited the contents of her stomach up just as the other senshi
reached the doorway. There was a shocked silence.

Then several other stomachs evacuated meals from earlier. Hotaru
slid down the wall, holding herself, screaming and sobbing at the 
same time, making a weird hiccupping sound. Mitsuki continued
to scream inside the room, as if she was a child, woken up from a bad
dream. Usagi felt like that herself.

Ami changed into her senshi form, bringing down her visor to check
the room through the safety and slight removal from reality this 
offered her. Streams of numbers and characters scrolled past her eyes
and she worked the whole room over. Her glance fell on a packet of 
pills next to the bed, and she almost glanced away again, until 
numbers in red started flashing. There was a reaction in them, 
something bad. Something dangerous. Dark Kingdom dangerous.

But would a monster inhabit the pills of a person suffering multiple
personality disorder? No, likely not. Which meant, most likely,
that this was a secondary effect of something.

Mercury gave a start as she remembered Ranma asking her something
a while ago, something about a powder that was supposed to do 
something to him or to the senshi. She'd scanned him, and found a 
small parasitic spore form of a Dark Kingdom monster. She had thought
she had removed it... but obviously not. Perhaps it was still 
gestating in him now, because the energy signature from the pills
was the same as she'd found on Ranma. Yet, his body showed no trace
of it. Strange. She took Hotaru and Usagi aside, dragged Makoto along
too to take care of the younger senshi while she tried to talk to 
Usagi, tell her what she'd found.

"But... but she blew his head up!"

"Not her," Mercury said again, trying to keep bile down and her tone
level. "Understand that. She had a bad reaction to a Dark Kingdom
monster. A spore that infected her medication." She continued
to explain, until most of the senshi were around her, listening
to her calming words. One by one, they realised what had happened.
One by one, their anger and shock turned to pity, to sorrow, and to 
compassion. They all knew of Mitsuki's problems. They knew she'd been
taking her medication religiously for the last six months. They knew,
too, that for some reason, Ranma had been more and more attracted
to her of late. That had the effect of making Hotaru a little more
insistant for his time and attention, but no one had thought it would
come to this. And with her medication tampered with... well, there
were very destructive personalities within Mitsuki's head. She did 
her best to keep them contained, and Ranma had been trying to help
her with them... but still... 

And while they knew she was responsible, they found that they 
couldn't blame her.

Police were called, statements made, photos taken. Then the body was
removed. They wouldn't have believed that Mitsuki could have exploded
Ranma's head, and they were certain no one else in the house could
have done it... so they left with no further action taken against
the young women.

And so, when Hotaru stopped crying, and dried her eyes, while Makoto
and Minako helped clean Mitsuki off, Hotaru said, "Someone has to 
tell his family and friends." And she stood up, walked out of the 
dorm, in the early hours of the morning.

******

Hotaru walked the streets of Nerima, and felt a presence behind her.
Familiar, comforting. Like an old friend, wrapping an arm around
her, drawing her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head. She
turned, but nothing. For a moment, using the techniques Ranma had 
taught her, she thought it was her boyfriend, her sensei... her 
former boyfriend, her ex-sensei, she reminded herself. He was gone
now, paint on the walls in his room. She felt her eyes tear up, and
once more, she wiped savagely at them as she had done several times
since leaving the Ai Sou.

A few minutes later, she felt another familiar presence behind her.
She turned, quicker this time, to see Tatewaki Kuno behind her, hand
on his bokken. "These early hours before school times are not a safe
time for a Goddess such as your fair self to be traversing through,"
he said. "For there are many dangers that -" Kuno shut up suddenly
as a bike tyre impacted on his head, bounced, and the Chinese girl
riding it make an excellent landing on the road in front of him. 

"Aiya! Stupid speech-boy get out of Shampoo's way! Shampoo -"

A chain whistled through the air behind the Amazon, and she turned,
grabbing it, pulling Mousse into view. "Wah! Shampoo! Do not run from
the fates of love!"

"Shampoo not running! Shampoo biking! Very fast!"

"Shampoo! The Amazon Elders have confirmed it! We must mar-" Mousse
got no further, for the chain he had sent hurtling at Shampoo flew
back at him, wrapped around his neck and choked him tight. He fell
to the ground gasping, grabbing for the chain to loosen it enough
to breath. Shampoo made good her escape, noting that the girl had 
left the area already and was heading for the Tendo residence.
That wasn't good. Shampoo hadn't recognised her at first... but she
did now. She had been there that time she had nearly been killed,
been with her Ranma. And she had been there other times, too, as well
as attending Furinken High. This wouldn't be good. Curious, she 
pedalled after the younger girl.

"Why strange girl go see Tendo's?" she asked, curious.

Hotaru didn't so much as glance in Shampoo's direction. "Gather
your friends. All of them. Everyone who knew Ranma. Get them to the
Tendo Dojo before I get there." She didn't slow down, just kept 
moving steadily towards her destination. Shampoo glanced even more
curiously at the girl's face, then decided something felt really
wrong about this situation, and did as she had been asked.

******

Everyone was gathered within the dojo's hall in record time. The 
strange girl whom everyone had seen around or knew personally
in some cases was standing towards the front.

When Akane entered, the girl, Hotaru, stiffened slightly. Akane 
wondered what was going on, and why no one was attacking her, 
especially after everything she'd done, both to Ranma, to Nabiki,
to her. She could see Nabiki was chomping at the bit to cause a fight
here... she had never gotten over that betrayal. Another Tendo sister
hurt by Ranma.

Although that wasn't completely true, Akane reflected. He had done
the best he could to disentangle them with their friendship intact,
she had to admit that. He had tried to make everything right, and 
he'd taken the blame for the split, even though somewhere deep down,
Akane knew she'd been a large part of the cause. Ranma had still 
helped out when he could, even though he didn't have to. He obviously
considered her to be a friend... a very good friend, at that. He'd
helped out with Kasumi, kept that quiet, made the others keep quiet.
And while Akane was still angry, she knew that was because she was 
still hurting.

What she felt was strange was that Hotaru had called everyone 
together. Absolutely everyone. Ukyou and Shampoo were huddled over
near Cologne. Happosai was brooding with suspicious bulges in his 
pockets, wanting to bond with his new haul of panties, but curiousity
was too much for him. Or something. Akane found she didn't like the
look on his face. Or Cologne's, for that matter. Kasumi served drinks
with a smile, but she was quiet. Nabiki glared at Hotaru. Ryoga stood
nearby with Kuno's hand clamped to his shoulder to stop him from 
going anywhere. Kuno's sister, Kodachi, was also nearby, dressed
in a dress for a change. Even Miss Hinako was there, glaring at all
the delinquints around her, without her being able to do anything
about it. And her father and Ranma's were sitting behind them all,
staring out the back forlornly at their Go board, wanting desperately
to get into a game.

It wasn't until the door slid open one final time that Hotaru looked
up, sadly. Akane wondered at that, and turned to see who had just 
entered. Nodoka Saotome, Ranma's mother.

It was then that Akane knew this was going to be bad. Hotaru's
next words confirmed that.

"Ranma Saotome... is dead."

******

The grief hit everyone in different ways. Akane felt like she'd been
punched in the stomach, and sank to her knees. While she pretended
she didn't care much for him, she did love Ranma. She knew that they
wouldn't be able to stay together... but she did love him still.
And she wanted to see him one last time to tell him that, to his 
face. Not through innuendo, not through actions, through three simple
words.

******

Ryoga's first thought was, Now Akane is free! Then the words impacted
properly, and he found himself staring into space, half a grin on his
face, that drooped slowly into a frown, then a shocked expression
as his shocked-into-immobility brain fought to catch up. It failed.
His rival for affections, his rival for love... his best friend,
now and forever... was gone for good.

******

Kuno had expected something of this when he had observed the people
turning up. Yet, no doubt, they would not be as emotionally
strong as he, and would need someone to show them how to handle their
grief. He stood, tall, in an actual heroic pose, honouring the fallen
foe and comrade in arms in the manner of a warrior. Yet a tear 
glistened at the corner of his eye. His sister clung to his shoulder
and cried, but Kuno felt that was more for the fact one of her 
playthings was now beyond her. He wrapped an arm around Kodachi,
held her tight. Maybe now she could heal from abuses long-since
past. Maybe now, he could, too.

******

Shampoo nodded gravely. She, also, had expected as much. She 
comforted Ukyou while Cologne closed her eyes and contemplated.
The loss of Ranma's genes for the Amazon tribe was a great loss. She
had hoped that he would return to Nerima, but as time passed...
and as the conflicts between the people training under her and those
under Ranma grew... she had known somewhere that he would never marry
Shampoo. This girl in front of them would have been the one. She 
opened her eyes to find Hotaru looking directly at her.

"We will talk. Soon," Hotaru promised. And right then, Cologne knew,
somehow, she was responsible for Ranma's death.

******

Genma continued to stare dumbly at the young girl, Nodoka at his 
side. Then Soun burst into tears. Nodoka took the news stoicly,
then spoke. "I assume you will return his body for funeral 
arrangements?"

Hotaru shook his head. "I would like to arrange them, if I may, Mrs
Saotome. Although everyone is invited."

Nodoka considered this. "That would be good. I... am sorry. For your
loss."

"Not merely mine."

Nodoka nodded. "True. And thank you. For informing us yourself."
She paused. "May I see the body?"

Hotaru looked slightly green at that suggestion, and shook her head.
"I'd rather you remember him as in life, than as he is now."

"This is also sound advice, but I fear... I must see the body."

Hotaru nodded. "I'll arrange it with the hospital. But the funeral
will have to be a closed-casket one. He'll be cremated afterwards.
The ashes... will go to you and your husband."

"Thank you." Nodoka bowed slightly.

******

Happosai was quiet in his corner. "Ranma's dead." Never again would
he feel those soft, luscious breasts, never again would he be able
to steal his panties or bras... or swimwear... never again would he 
see that bright chirpy face... never again... "Oh, Ranma..."

******

Everyone in the room shivered, feeling something. Those more aware...
turned to stare at each other dumbly. The ki signature was very 
familiar.

But everyone passed it off as a weakness of grief, feeling a loved
one close to oneself.

After all, people didn't return from the dead.

Ranma Saotome didn't walk this Earth any longer.

******

The funeral was held several days later. All of Ranma's friends
from Nerima showed up in formal dress, apart from Kuno, who honoured
his fallen comrade in a battle uniform from the kendo club with a 
troop of kendoists behind him, also in uniform at attention.
His family, likewise, showed, Nodoka standing tall and proud and 
firm, honouring the memory of her son, the man known as Ranma 
Saotome.

On the other side of the casket were the senshi, Mitsuki standing
behind them, the saddest and most upset of the lot. Some wondered
why she was so upset, looking so guilty. From what they had heard,
it had to be some mighty fierce warrior who had killed their former
friend, not this purple-haired woman. Hotaru stood slightly apart
from the others, in between the senshi and the Tendo family. Soun's
tears threatened to put everyone to shame.

Akane noticed the girl standing slightly apart from her friends,
and moved to stand beside her. Her hand gripped Hotaru's. "No hard
feelings," she said, throat choking closed on her as the younger
girl looked up, upset. "I mean... you know... with Ranma. I was...
stupid -"

"No, you weren't," Hotaru said. "But there's time for that later.
For now... thanks for the company."

Akane nodded kindly, and turned back to the simple ceremony Hotaru
had organised. She noticed a blond-haired man enter the parlour
and stand behind the Nerima crowd. He was dressed in a black suit,
but with a white shirt underneath, and a light blue tie. He wore 
black gloves on both hands, and kept his eyes on the casket. Akane
noticed Hotaru had seen him when her hand suddenly clamped down hard
on Akane's. She'd have to find out what that was about afterwards.

But for now, the celebrant cleared his throat, and began to speak.

******

The funeral passed quickly for Hotaru. She had noted Yoshihiro
standing opposite before the celebrant had started, and his eyes had
been rooted to the casket, as if he hadn't really believed that Ranma
could be dead. When the celebrant had finished, and eulogies had been
completed for Ranma, the crowd mingled. Hotaru tried to look for 
Yoshihiro, but he had that nasty habit of fading into crowds. She 
wasn't sure if he'd left or not yet. That wasn't good.

What was worse was when she turned around to check if any of the 
other senshi had noticed him, and found him smiling down at her. 
"Child," he said, "Why so down? This is a time of reflecting
on the good moments of his passing."

"What are you doing here?" Hotaru threw at him, angrily.

"Honouring a fallen foe."

"That's a lie!"

"Is it? Or perhaps you'd feel better if I told you I was here making
sure he was really dead. You know, because I'm this all-powerful
'bad guy', and he was the only one of you with perhaps enough power
and skill to defeat me. Perhaps." Yoshihiro shrugged. "But I really
did come to pay my respects to the dead."

"You'd have us all dead," Hotaru snarled, "if you had your way!"

"Of course. But it wouldn't be through underhandedness,
would it? I don't like all that sneaking about. It's what got Natsumi
into trouble in the first place." Yoshihiro paused, turned to the 
casket. "But Ranma is gone now. A pity, I no longer feel I have a 
challenge here."

"A challenge?" Mitsuki spoke from behind Yoshi, and he half-turned
to note the senshi were standing behind him, angry at this intrusion
into their day-to-day lives. "All of us together, we're more than a 
match for you. Dark Kingdom scum!" She spat at him. Rei moved 
slightly to one side. The other senshi took her lead, spread out, 
ready to engage the enemy.

"Scum? I think not. Royalty, perhaps, your better, definitely.
Single-minded?" He directed a grin at Mitsuki, who fumed. "Of 
course."

The room had by now fell silent, aware there was something going on.
Those with the ability to detect ki noticed some interestnig
patterns forming in the room, knew there was about to be a big fight.
And they also readied themselves, somehow innately aware that the man
the girls Ranma had lived with were facing off against was an enemy.

Yoshihiro snorted. "Truly. None of you pose a threat to me 
whatsoever."

A voice behind him said, "Oh? Is that so?"

******

Ranma fell silent in her recounting of the story, remembering.
"And that was the end of the middle. It was a long story. It was a 
hard and painful story. But that was when it got better for us all.
We all found our centres after that moment, that one indefinable
moment that everyone had. The sense of doing right. Justice. Good.
Yoshihiro in his way... was a force for good. A driving force behind
evolution of the species. We will get there one day, Akane... one 
day. Because of that moment. A moment of love."

Akane smiled, remembering the moment. "You're growing sappy in your
old age."

"And you enjoy fairy tales too much for my liking." Ranma stood 
suddenly. "I'm sorry, Akane. I've... I've got to go."

Akane nodded, distant, still in happy memories of when her sisters
were alive. Ranma left, sliding the partition doors to the patio 
closed as she went inside.

Akane turned, feeling a presence behind her. "Ranma?"

The young Ranma she knew oh so very well, the male Ranma, crouched
there, smiling his crooked smile. "Heya, Akane. How's things?"

"They're not... as good as they used to be."

"I can see. I know."

"I... know why you're here."

"Do you?"

"You're dead, aren't you?"

"At the moment," Ranma conceeded. "Being dead... well, it's 
different. You get to like it."

"I'll get to like it before you, you mean."

Ranma nodded. "Sorry, Akane. But it's time."

"Yes."

And the years melted away. Akane stood before Ranma then, as young
as he appeared. "I suspected as much. You... always knew things after
that day."

"Yes."

"And you knew things today."

Ranma merely nodded. Then he gestured to the doors behind him. "Akane
- it's time. Your mother... your father... Kasumi... Nabiki...
Shampoo... the others. They're all in there, waiting for you."

Akane stepped towards the door, then hesitated. She turned back, 
stormed up to Ranma, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him 
soundly, passionately, hotly. She pulled back, looking down at her 
feet. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I... had to do that. Once." She looked up.
"I do love you, you know. I always did. I didn't mean to push you 
away like I did."

Ranma stopped her with a finger to her lips. "Shush. I know, Akane.
I love you, too. And now... now... go on. Through the door. Be with
your family, where you belong."

She nodded, and this time, there was no hesitation as she strode
through the door.

Into the greatest love of all.



SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Gah. I hate computer crashes. Well, six weeks without a computer
is character-building... according to my parents. I know that to be a
crock from experience ;)

This is the first part of Love, the second arc from my Ranma/Sailor
Moon/Love Hina crossover fic. It tells of the end of this arc, 
actually, as you might have noticed. I hope you enjoy what leads up 
to it... I enjoyed writing this. A lot. Surprising, really. One good
thing about the six weeks it took to get me a new computer is that
I had been discarding ideas for this arc willy-nilly, and it let me 
get some ideas in line for this arc's story in toto...

As always, feel free to email me with comments, queries, etc. I can
also be found on IRC, on dalnet servers, #anime channel from time to
time. I'm Misato__Katsuragi (long story, but it's where all my 
Misato's come from).

Anyway, next chapter, picking up from the beginning. I've got a lot
of ground to cover this arc, as you might notice. Oh, I do so hate
hard drive crashes that take *everything* with them! All my notes
went with it :( DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing
characters are properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki,
and several other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence 
ownership and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.


LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 2

** L'amour Impossible **


"Ooooh! Look!" Hotaru stepped away from Ranma easily enough. The poor
red-headed girl was exhausted. Once upon a time, Ranma had carried
Hotaru up and down the stairs in front of the Ai Sou, where they 
lived, but at the current time, Ranma was feeling a little...
drained.

The younger girl turned back to face her friend, gesturing at a CD 
stand. "Megumi Hayashibara's got a new single out!"

Ranma snorted; in his girl-form it came out higher pitched than even
he had thought it would. "Megumi Hayashibara. Her voice is too 
squeaky and you can't take her seriously as a voice actress. She'd
better not try anything other than comedy."

Hotaru pouted. "Sempai, just because you're a bit sensitive about
being stuck in your... uh, girl form for a while doesn't mean you can
just act nasty and snide all the time."

No, it didn't, and Ranma had to admit that. Hotaru was being as 
cheerful as she could - and while it was very obviously false to 
anyone who knew her well enough, Ranma did appreciate the effort.
He said as much to the girl, whose alabaster cheeks seemed to glow
a subtle pink with the kind words. Definitely something Ranma had 
been missing on giving the poor girl for a while.

It had been three days now since he had woken up, three days since
he found the girls he lived with now knew the truth about his curse.
While he wanted to change back to his normal form, Hotaru had nixed
the idea, saying that the damage he'd sustained in battle was very
great and she almost hadn't been able to help him at all. When Ranma
fell silent and checked his ki, he'd found he had almost emptied
himself dry helping the senshi. Indeed, even then, a week after the
event, healed by Hotaru, he'd only just recovered enough of his life
energies to regain consciousness.

The day before, he'd done his best to get out of bed, prove Hotaru
wrong about her diagnosis. He had managed to hobble around the 
dormitory, but hadn't been able to climb stairs at all, and had been
as weak as a kitten. Indeed, Usagi knocked him down in the kitchen
by throwing open the fridge door a little too fast on the way for a 
snack. Hotaru had promised to take him into town the next day if he 
was feeling better. He was - still too weak to risk a transformation,
but feeling well enough to try and tackle the stairs to the road.

That was an ordeal in itself. Ranma now had a better appreciation
of how Hotaru had found things before his training had begun to 
strengthen her ever so slightly. In her transformed state, she could
easily overpower him in a straight-out slugfest, but Ranma held the
upper hand in skill and experience. Or so he liked to believe.
It was the only one of two conclusions he had made during their 
sparring matches that he accepted - the other was that she was 
holding back for fear of hurting him. Much more of a blow to Ranma's
ego, that one.

The walk into town had been tough, but by now, Ranma was mostly fine.
The exercise and eating returned his strength and vitality to him,
and he could walk fine enough now, without having to be helped.
He had been spared that embarrassment in public, at least. He thought
he might be okay to try a transformation back to his normal body in a
day or two, but was't going to push it. If he continued recovering
at the rate he was thus far, then he might give it a go. But if he 
plateaued, if he levelled out, he'd give it some more time.

At least he no longer thought of his female form as the curse he once
had - it was very useful at times. And comfortable at others. He 
touched Hotaru's arm as he reached her. "I'm hungry again. Let's find
something to eat."

******

"Hungry again?" Hotaru asked, disbelieving. He nodded, and they found
a small street cart to buy and eat instant ramen from.

She'd already watched Ranma put away four big-sized meals today...
and it wasn't even lunch time yet. In addition to that, he'd had 
numerous in-between snacks. She guessed it was something to do with
replenishing his energy, similar to the recommendations
when she'd had a series of blood tests years ago, when she'd had her
'problems', around the time she first met Usagi, that one should
eat and drink a large meal afterwards, to help replenish the blood
in her body.

Yet Ranma had put away enough to feed a small African country,
and still looked hungry.

No wonder he could harness such energies when he needed to; the man
was a checmical powerhouse.

She could feel Ranma's life force building within him again, like a 
rare flower unfolding in a myriad of intricate patterns, ever faster,
always rushing to catch those all-too-brief summer rays of light.
She was attuned to injured people in some way, she'd found a long 
time ago, but now... she seemed to be finding ways of feeling people
without seeing them, without touching them. She suspected that was 
part of Ranma's teachings, but it wasn't something he'd covered,
apart from a few blindfolded lessons with her, Rei and Mitsuki to 
teach them about listening for an opponent's moves and actions.

It was something she'd have to bring up.

She could feel Ranma's presence, burning stronger and stronger
with every passing minute, especially when he ate, and could detect
small puffs of energy and life passing around behind and beside her
- ordinary people, going about ordinary lives.

Then something made her hair stand on end. A light, burning bright,
at least as strong as Ranma used to be. At least. She suspected
the sensation she was receiving diminished with distance. She turned,
regardless, to see if she could see who was filled with such energy.
But all she could see were normal people, heads down, leading their
normal lives.

And one tall blond man, slightly foreign looking, standing on the 
other side of the street, looking up at the sky. As she continued
to stare, she felt that this man was the source of the energy, and as
she watched, he slowly turned his head to look at her directly.

She felt a rush of something within her, moments later decided it had
to be hormones or something similar as she felt intensely attracted
to the handsome stranger. His clothes were dark, but casual rather
than the formal of most twenty-something males currently on the 
street. His face was pleasant, his eyes easy and reassuring,
his nose straight and chin strong. He nodded, almost imperceptibly
at her, then turned back to the skies above, staring as if he'd never
seen them before.

Hotaru's knees felt weak.

Ranma stopped slurping up his ramen, and turned to Hotaru. "What's
up? You're quiet."

"Oh... uh, nothing," she blushed. "Nothing at all, sempai. It's 
just..." She turned back to the street to spot the mysterious
handsome man, but he had vanished. She turned back to Ranma. 
"Nothing."

"Okay." He continued to eye her in that way of his when he knew she
wasn't telling the truth, but wouldn't call her on it, leaving her 
her privacy. It was something he was very good at, letting others
keep their secrets. Something to do with his personal code of honour
or something, she hypothesised.

Meanwhile, she continued to sip at her drink, waiting for Ranma to 
finish so she could be cheerful and chirpy again. Quite how Usagi
did this all day long, every day, Hotaru didn't know. Or would Minako
be the one to ask? Who knew? Not Hotaru. It was very draining,
being nice and happy all the time. Well, being nice was what she was
like all the time, she felt, but occasionally she snapped at people,
acted in a sneaky manner, among other things.

And it had been just over a week since she'd attended Furinken
High. That made her wonder what schemes Nabiki Tendo had gotten up to
while she had been gone. Without Hotaru around, the young senshi
would find it hard to counter anything she had done before it 
involved Ranma. That powder that Nabiki used on Ranma a month or so 
ago was a surprise that Hotaru didn't think she could afford again.
Yet she didn't know what it did. Ami hadn't been able to determine
anything about it, and pondered whether it would do anything at all.
Hotaru hadn't found anything physically wrong with Ranma, so maybe
that powder was suppose dto do soemthing natural, if anything at all.
A laxitive or something.

She shrugged; this afternoon, she'd have to attend the school, to get
her notes for the previous week and to catch up on Nabiki's plans.
That was a definite. IF she could Ranma home first.

Noticing that Ranma was finished, she stood up. Ranma followed
suit.

"Ranma, why -"

Ranma held a hand up. "Hotaru, stop." She obliged. "It's so nice of 
you to want to cheer me up. Really. But, uh, you know, you've got 
things to do. Like school for instance! And I've got things to do. 
I've gotta get back in shape. I've gotta get my body back the way it
was. I've missed a week, over a week, of training - that's not good.
I've got to start getting back into my routine, and you've got to get
back into yours."

"Ranma, I *like* looking after you!"

"I know, Hotaru-chan, and I like you looking after me, believe me,"
Ranma sighed. "But... c'mon, you gotta get back into your life, too.
You gotta go to school, you gotta train - and how can you train 
properly if your teacher isn't able to move?" He snorted.

Hotaru had to admit, he had a point. The more she looked after him,
the more both would be tempted to forget about their outside lives.
Or so it seemed to her. Maybe it was a residual hormone surge from
seeing that man, but she leaned forward and kissed Ranma on the lips.
Ranma acted a little shocked, but wasn't going to pull away.

******

Two kids stopped and stared at the two girls kissing in front of the
ramen stand. One turned to the other and said, "See, Hiroshi, what
did I tell you? It's a good luck charm."

Hiroshi growled under his breath.

******

Hotaru waved goodbye to Ranma and walked away. Ranma turned back to 
the ramen stand to get his breath back. That had been some kiss...
and he hadn't wanted it to end, either. But he had some examining
to do that he didn't want Hotaru around for. He'd felt the energy
spike behind him a whole lot clearer than Hotaru had, and he had much
more control over his body and emotions than she had... yet even he 
himself had been slightly attracted to the source of power. Like the
relentless pull of gravity surrounding a major planet, he likened
it to. He felt it with the senshi, even when they were in their 
unpowered forms, an attraction that pulled at him. With Hotaru,
he had let the attraction pull him to her, and let his own 
personality and humour pull her to him. If something was going to 
happen between them, it would, and it would damned well happen 
naturally.

He'd felt the way Hotaru had reacted, and felt a pang of jealousy.
Yet he couldn't blame her for her reaction; the person who was 
throwing out that kind of energy was extremely powerful, more so than
Hotaru had noticed. He was also tending towards the darker side of 
nature, like these Dark Kingdom creatures Ranma had faced off against
with the senshi at his side. Yet, in his condition, he doubted he 
could have blocked a punch, let alone a projected ki blast, and he 
hadn't made a move to boost his own power levels faster or prepare
for combat. He'd remained as if completely oblivious to it all. 
Hotaru hadn't picked up on the likely affiliation of the man; but 
that was okay. He trusted her not to do anything stupid, like try and
follow him.

He hoped, anyway.

******

Hotaru walked along a concreted drainage stream, thinking quietly
to herself about how she would present her absence to Nabiki Tendo.
Perhaps the 'flu might be a good excuse, or some other illness - God
knew, Hotaru Tomoe had been inflicted with enough illnesses over her
lifetime. Possibly even a pulled muscle, a strain, or a dead 
relative.

Or perhaps... no, she blushed at that thought. As far as Nabiki 
apparently thought, Hotaru lvied with her strict parents. Managing
to sneak her boyfriend over for one day might be believable,
but for over a week? Not likely.

She had a hand on the chain-link fence as she walked when she heard
something. It sounded like a cat's nervous cries for help. She peered
through the fence, and there, just up a little, beside a hole in the
mesh, was a cat, a slightly off-white colour with purple tufts of fur
on its head. Beside the hole was a bike, and in the distance,
fast moving away, was a cloud of dust and smoke being whipped up by 
what Hotaru assumed to be some of the Nerima people she had been 
meeting.

The cat was hanging into a branch just below the hole in the fence,
and was wet and bedraggled, struggling to hold on as the branch 
slipped further and further from the fence and closer towards the 
gushing stream below. There was panic in its eyes and tension in its
body.

"Hello, kitty," Hotaru called, lying her bag next to the concrete
abutment the fence sat on and poking her head and shoulders slowly
through the fence. "Come here, come on" she continued, holding out 
her hands.

The cat tried to swipe at a hand, but was too far away. The branch
slipped further down towards the water.

Hotaru leaned further through the fence, finally resting her knees
on the concrete to reach in as far as she could. "Here kitty, kitty,"
she called again. The cat took one look at Hotaru's now-within
reach arms, and fled up them, scratching and clawing as she went.

The girl was surprised - a knee slipped, and she went through the 
fence herself now, as the cat made it through onto the road next to 
the bike. It made a sound almost like a raspberry, Hotaru thought,
as she now clutched to the unsteady branch.

The branch shifted again, groaning under the new, much heavier 
weight. It bent. Hotaru righted herself, turning so she now faced
the hole in the fence, and tried to reach upwards, to grab the fence.
But the branch slipped, and her feet splashed into the water. It gave
a little more, and as Hotaru tried one last time to reach safety,
the branch snapped just above her hands, and both halves fell into
the water, taking the girl with them.

While the stream wasn't terribly wide - only a few metres at most - 
it wasn't shallow, and the water was moving rather fast. The current
swept at Hotaru, and the girl's body didn't offer much resistance.
She tried putting some effort into swimming, but wasn't strong enough
to make it. She opened her mouth to activate her transformation,
and swallowed a mouthful of water.

It was only the first. More quickly followed, and then her vision
was obscured as the water closed over her. She thought she saw 
something -

- something big, something dark, hovering over the water -

******

So, where was this guy? Ranma was searching through the streets
in the direction he'd felt the man head towards, but could find no 
trace of his energies. He had to be around somewhere. And it's not 
like a tall foreigner could hide so easily in a mostly Japanese
community, on a purely visual level. He had to be here somewhere.

Instead of finding his target, though, he felt a surge of the dark
energy he associated with Dark Kingdom monsters erupt from a side 
alley he was passing, and when he looked down -

******

Lips.

Soft, tender, yet insistant and powerful.

Giving her new life.

Hotaru coughed, and the lips disappeared. She opened her eyes, and 
saw light, streaming down from above. A man's shadow leaning over 
her.

Complete and utter silence.

And a smell.

A brief flutter, like those of a bird's wings, and the man was gone
in a swirl of light from above, heading off in the direction of the
sun so she couldn't make out any features.

But she saw one thing.

He had blond hair.

She sat up, unable to move after him. There were footsteps behind
her, angry footsteps, and she turned to face them. Shampoo, holding
a dress in place as she fastened it around her shoulders. She fumed,
the anger coming off the Chinese girl in near visible waves.

"You take Shampoo's airen," Shampoo growled. "What you doing here?"

Hotaru stared up, dazed and confused a little. "Wha?"

As if by magic, bonbori appeared in Shampoo's hands. "You not nice
girl! You viper! You steal Shampoo's airen!"

Hotaru shook her head, trying to clear it and also to refute the 
charge laid against her. "No, I... we... he likes me. And I like 
him."

Shampoo snarled, and leapt.

Only to be caught in midair. "Hands such as these peasant's hands
should never so much as caress the outermost layers of clothing
of a goddess such as this," Tatewaki Kuno announced, holding the 
Amazon up with one hand and deftly warding off what would normally
be crippling blows from the enraged girl. "Flee, ruffian, and leave
my goddess alone." He gave a toss, and Shampoo bounced down close
to her bike. She scowled at Kuno and Hotaru.

"This not over yet." Then there was a ring of her bike's bell, and 
Shampoo was gone.

Kuno turned back to Hotaru, and bent down on one knee, lowering
his head. "I apologise for not ceasing this dreadful attack on your
person sooner." He thought it best not to offer the reason, in case
it should be taken as an excuse. Hotaru got Kuno to help her to her
feet. "Shall I assist you to school?"

"Yes, please, sempai," Hotaru muttered, running her fingers through
her hair and grimacing. Not only were her clothes wet, but her hair
was a mess. At least her bag was dry. She retreived it, and took one
last look at the hole in the fence. And sniffed.

The smell of roses was still strong in the air.

******

- he saw a young girl he recognised. "You again."

Natsumi Otohime looked up from where she was trying to rip off flesh
and congealed blood from a wound in her side. "Who are you?"

Ah. That's right. Ranma had met this girl in combat, and in 
meditation, yet he'd thought the meditative event was simply a 
hallucination. And whlie he recognised her, she might not recognise
him. Well, he'd have thought she might in his girl body - what he was
in then - but not his male form. So that was a little confusing,
too. But... it was dark in the alley, darker than it had any right
to be, and it was bright outside. Perhaps she couldn't see his face?

Ranma stepped closer. "You're hurt."

Natsumi laughed. "You went to university to make that informed
decision?" She gave a cough, and black ichor geysered from her nose.
"Scram, normal. I've got other things to worry about right now. But
if you don't leave, I'll make sure you stay for good."

That sounded like good advice to Ranma, who was never known to stay
around in a fight when he was losing. And he would lose this one, if
it came to that, with the levels of power Natsumi was throwing
out compared to his own. Yet, something held him back. "What happened
to you?"

"I screwed up. Tried to get rid of the Master's favourite. Okay?"
She coughed again.

Something in Ranma twisted. Something coiled. He asked, "Is there
anything I can do to help?"


SAILOR MOON SAYS

A short chapter this time. I've discovered new games on my new 
computer :) Yay! I can play things more recent than 1998 now, and I'm
loving it :)

Unfortunately, that's having a corresponding knock-on effect with my
writing :P I started this chapter the other day, should have started
it much earlier. But it's finished now. No, you didn't miss anything
with this chapter, this has gone back to the beginning of this arc.
The first chapter of this arc was the last. But was it everything
of the last chapter, or were bits missing? Hmm. How did things get 
that bad? Where the heck are things in this chapter going?

Next time: Umm... does anyone actually read this far? We catch up 
with Natsumi over the last week. Next time, on Something Moderately
Interesting Some Of The Time! Uh, Love. ^^;; DISCLAIMER: Relatively
standard stuff. Existing characters are properties of the people
who made them up. Mitsuki, and several other characters are mine,
and so's the story, hence ownership and copyright of them belongs
to me. Contact me at misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission
to use anything I've written for whatnot purposes.


LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 3

** Omelette **


Ranma paused. Something in him tensed. He knew what was coming,
and he couldn't stop it. He asked, "Is there anything I can do to 
help?"

Natsumi Otohime, former Dark General of the Master, just stared.

Of course, she recognised the red-haired woman leaning over her - as
the lead General for so long of her Master's forces, she knew the 
red-haired fuku-wearing woman on sight. Which was weird, in a way,
since the senshi all had magical properties that led to hidden 
identities. Natsumi knew she shouldn't have been able to recognise
the girl before her... but she did. So that meant, this girl wasn't
a senshi. She was just super powerful, nearly on the level of perhaps
the weakest senshi... but smart enough, aggressive enough, just plain
more skilled than the reincarnated warriors from the Silver 
Millennium. She fingered her VR helmet slowly, sitting just above
her eyes, tempted ot check out the power levels of the girl, but she
decided not to. She was currently in no position to do anything
based on what she might find.

She paused. She knew that the red-haired girl was uncertain here,
not wanting to help, but being driven to it all the same. She looked
up at the girl again, squinting into the light. "Why? Why would you
ask me that?"

The red-haired girl shrugged. "Perhaps it's something to do with 
fate. Maybe it's something with the differences between us." She 
hesitated, then added, "You really don't expect me to help you, do 
you?"

Natsumi shook her head. "No. No, I don't. I've tried to kill you - 
and your friends. Why should you?"

"Because I'm in the position to."

"What would you expect from it?"

"I dunno," the girl said thoughtfully. "Maybe to walk out of this 
alley alive and in one piece? Maybe to help someone who's not in the
best of condition. Maybe just a story. Surprise me."

So, Natsumi surprised both the girl and herself by beginning a story,
as the girl bent down to help bind wounds.

******

Two weeks ago.

******

Natsumi knelt before the Master. 

"Yes, Master." His form was swelling, and had dulled considerably
since the last time Natsumi had laid eyes on him, only scant hours
before. Umiko was nowhere to be seen; indeed, her ki aura couldn't
even be detected by Natsumi's VR helmet. She used that to scan the 
Master, finding that his time was almost at hand. The final hours
before his transformation to his adult form were now. He spoke in her
mind, telling her what she needed to do.

She nodded as she accepted his instructions. Take a contingent
of troops out, find a large number of people, absorb their energies
into fuel for the Generals and the Master's adult form. They'd need
it for the next stage of his plans.

"It is time. I will assemble the troops."

Natsumi ducked her head in a bow, then stood, turned on her heels,
and left the room. All was silent as the Master's sightless eyes 
tracked her path along a corridor, seeing through the walls. A black
polyp swelled up behind the Master, and disgorged Umiko, eyes closed,
hands folded across her chest. She opened her eyes, lowered her arms,
and looked at the door to the chamber.

"She will make her move soon."

The Master spoke in her mind. Umiko nodded. "She is a good General,
Master, but her hunger for power is corrupting her views."

She listened some more, then nodded.

"Yes, Master, I will do this." Umiko nodded, and teleported out of 
the chamber, leaving the Master's crysalis to shiver in anticipation.

******

Natsumi stood in the underground meeting chamber, with a dozen lower
youma. They were of all varieties: skeleton people, half-plant
abominations, people whom had had their skulls explode under growing
brains, fire creatures, were-cockroaches, and more. She enjoyed
the rush of power from them, their loyalty to her every word. There
was nothing better about being a powerful creature.

She could have altered her form when she had been inducted, forcibly
originally, into the Master's forces, but had decided rather to take
advantage of the technical knowledge of the Master himself and 
developed an upgraded version of a typical VR helmet. Based around
components dating back to the Silver Millennium and eras of advanced
human and non-human solar system life forms even more prior to that,
the VR helmet was supposedly superior in computing power than the 
device Sailor Mercury had been observed using. In addition, it had 
some nifty features that Natsumi hadn't made enough sue of, like for
instance being able to project people into computer games.

Also, it was great for playing Princess Maker 3D with.

The troops before her now were some of those Natsumi had made herself
since her turning. Yet not all - it wouldn't pay to perhaps lose all
of her loyal troops.

Standing in front of heryouma like this, though - it gave her such
a rush. She hesitated a few moments to soak up the slavish devotion
to her they offered.

"The Master has given us a mission!" she called out, just loud enough
to be heard by all. "We will proceed to a location where there are 
plenty of people! We will absorb their life energies, and bring them
back here, for the glory of the Master."

The largest were-roach lifted a foreclaw. "Will the senshi be there?
They have that habit of showing up."

Natsumi shook her head. "I have it on good authority that they will
be... shall we say... delayed." She smiled.

******

Tokyo University.

And the library explodes.

******

"We leave - now!"

Natsumi called up a dimensional slipgate, teleporting the youma with
her to the location she had chosen while on her way to the meeting
chamber.

It was a mall, large, long, filled with people of varying ages, 
nationalities and colours. The speech in the area was mostly 
Japanese, but there was some English, along with a smattering
of Chinese and Korean. Natsumi's VR set automatically subtitled
what she couldn't understand directly.

Several people noticed, turned to look, and most thought the youma
attack force was a promotional gimmick - although the flaming 
skeleton and huge, bulky dogman looked almost too real to be faked.
A nervous titter went up from someone in the crowd as more people
noticed the strange figures, and at least one teenaged girl buried
her face in her laughing boyfriend's shoulder.

Natsumi gave them a cursory glance, then turned to address her troops
once more. "Now! Strike! Strike for -" Someone tapped her on the arm.
A security guard, with a small taser on his hip. A second guard hung
back about a dozen metres, a third on the other side of the mall's
atrium where they had teleported in. Natsumi could feel another
half-dozen congregating on this location. She sighed.

"I'm afraid you'll have to move along," the guard said in a calm,
reasonable voice. "We're a family-oriented mall, and you'll have to 
wear appropriate, uh, outfits if you want to enter here."

He knew what they were. He HAD to know, Natsumi thought. Perhaps
he was hoping either to stop a panic, or to talk himself out of 
seeing a bunch of monsters appear from nowhere. Oh well. Time to 
disappoint the poor human. She turned back to her troops momentarily.
"Rip them apart. Suck them dry. Leave no human to tell the tale."
She turned back to the security guard directly in front of her. 
"Except for this young man. He's mine." The smile she gave him wasn't
pleasant, and promised much pain and agony.

His hand gripped at his taser, and it was about then that the crowd
realised something was up, that something here wasn't right. Like all
good citizens of Tokyo, and in fact all of Japan, they knew of the 
existance of monsters dedicated to stealing ki from all people.
But in time-honoured tradition, everyone believed in the simple 
phrase 'it couldn't happen to me'.

Usually, they were right. With a country of nearly three hundred
million people, the chances of the remaining youma hiding in dark 
places on the island attacking any particular one of them were 
staggeringly low. Over ninety-nine percent of people would never 
experience any evidence of a youma.

That is, natural youma.

Dark Kingdom youma... were a lot more common, but also, not as strong
in the main as some of the ancient stand-bys, like Kappa of the bays
and rivers, the occasional giant dinosaur throwback, and whatnot.
And Dark Kingdom youma were often in the mood to procreate, 
especially the Generals. Stealing others' energies wasn't nearly
as exciting if you didn't have anything else to show for it. Hence,
most liked to make a troop or two if they could.

Previous to now, the invasions hadn't often allowed for troop-making
by the Generals. But the Master was different to Beryl and the 
others... he had plans that involved things a little more complicated
than revenge on the Moon Kingdom, a little different from chasing
after schoolgirls in short skirts.

In the long-run, anyway, Natsumi thought with a smirk. The Master
in his adult form would likely have some kind of sexual preference
- but it might run the other way from the norm - he might chase after
schoolboys in their long trousers.

Or perhaps even schoolboys in short skirts.

Natsumi stepped forward, towards the guard. He raised the taser from
his hip, jammed it in her stomach just as the first youma behind
her started to head towards the crowd. The guard could feel the panic
rising, not just within himself, but within the crowd. Why'd this 
have to happen now? He was off-duty in half an hour, and the city was
in an uproar and on alert for terrorists after the university
library had been blown up. And now there was a creepy girl in front
of him, who KEPT SMILING THAT CREEPY SMILE, who didn't seem to be 
alarmed at the taser in her stomach.

Natsumi shrugged and yawned as he pulled the trigger. Bands of 
electrical current writhed around her body for thirty seconds,
until the weapon fell from the fingers of the disbelieving
guard. He gaped, then made to step back.

A woman screamed in the crowd as the dogman reached her, pushed her
aside, and tore her son in two. He grabbed at a tiny flash of light
most people simply couldn't see, not being able to see that high into
the EM spectrum, and absorbed the boy's ki. He then did the same to 
the mother, and continued in a line through the crowd.

Other youma were more subtle, drawing the energy out of people with
beams of light, sucking it out parasitically through the mouth, or in
one case, eating eyeballs.

The guard didn't quite manage to step back. Natsumi's leg swept under
him, and he fell heavily to the ground. Then Natsumi was on him, 
tearing out his throat, splattering his comrade with his blood, 
making the other man turn to flee. The flaming skeleton got him in a 
deathgrip, burnt him alive. Toasted flesh assailed Natsumi's nose,
and she felt aroused by that. Mmmmm... the blood soaking her clothing
was also doing that. She captured his life essence before it could
pass into the next world, and stood up to continue the work of 
directing the hit.

******

Now.

******

Ranma wound the ripped sheet around the General's arm. "So, you 
killed people," he tried to say casually. But somehow, the words 
stuck in his throat. Still, he knew he wouldn't be able to try and 
reason with her if he came off all high and mighty on her, so he did
his best to fake it. He knew she knew he wasn't okay with her 
actions, but he was trying to be understanding.

And for some reason Ranma didn't quite understand, Natsumi seemed
to be grateful for his assistance. The story came easier now, and she
seemed to be almost contrite for her behaviour. Whether this was ana
ct or not, Ranma didn't know. But if she continued on this track,
it wasn't too unlikely she could fall at his feet, apologising
for even being a glint in her father's eye.

"Yes," the General said, looking down at her hands, "I killed 
people."

"So what did you do so wrong that your master wanted you dead?"

The General eyed Ranma. "Master, with a capital m." Ranma nodded.
"Well. The strike had gone well."

******

A week ago.

******

Natsumi lay on her bed, in the otherworldly base of operations
the Master had set up for them. With his power, he had shifted a 
chunk of the sewers beneath Tokyo into a pocket dimension some time
ago, and had set up permanent slipgates to Earth at certain sites
in the complex for access. Of course, his Generals could teleport
to and from Earth with ease, this was more for the average youma or 
espionage agent.

She knew in her head what she wanted to do, and was working out 
exactly how to go about it. She'd given the energy she had gathered
from the mall to the Master, or rather, tried to. He hadn't wanted
it - denied giving her the orders to carry out that mission, in fact.
That had confused her, but she reasoned, she could do with the power
it granted. Within her, she felt it made her much stronger than even
perhaps the Master.

The last week, he had been mobile. Out and about, as it were, walking
the streets of Earth. He'd already gained a reputation as an arrogant
gaijin in more places than one, yet he'd never had a problem from 
those annoying senshi. At least the older, more experienced
women weren't around any longer. Pluto, Neptune and Uranus thought
things out a little better than the younger Inner senshi seemed to.
But there was that nasty Nemesis around still... the Master's plans
for her hadn't gone quite according to plan. And the red-headed
senshi... she seemed to be much weaker than the others, but much,
much more skilled in martial arts - which made her dangerous as the
average youma was slow, unresponsive and weak compared to skills
such as those observed in that girl.

The Master was off on another of his jaunts right now, as a matter
of fact. What he hoped to accomplish by doing nothing was yet to be 
made clear to Natsumi - perhaps his transformation to adulthood
had readjusted his brain or something? He certainly didn't seem to be
thinking right. No more 'go on the offensive, kill them all, we can
always make more footsoldiers' strategies, instead he was more, 'I'm
going out for a walk now, dear Umiko.'.

The way he fawned over Umiko turned Natsumi's stomach.

In fact, the more she thought of it, she could run this outfit better
than either of them.

Her plans had only called for showing herself to be stronger,
more capable than Umiko, to replace the Master's favourite General.
After all, Umiko was weak, a sop, unwilling to do the hard work that
went with such a position. And Natsumi was willing.

So very, very willing.

But with the Master's habits of late, maybe she should set her sights
higher, do something a little more... active in taking over the 
heirarchy of the organisation or something. Depose the ruling despot.
Make herself one.

She didn't quite realise it, but this was what she had been 
subconsciously moving towards. Natsumi's plans to oust Umiko had been
born of the urge to lead, to rule, to not have to be under someone
ever again. Power was her goal here, power over her own life. And if
that meant power over others, hey, that was an added bonus.

The more she thought about it, the more getting rid of Umiko now 
seemed like a good idea. Why? Because then the Master couldn't
interfere in the outcome of the battle. Natsumi could take Umiko 
easily, she thought, but the Master would tip things in Umiko's
favour. Hence, the General lifted herself from her bed, pulled her VR
headset down over her eyes, and headed for the Master's bedchamber.

******

Umiko stood, ready. She already knew what was to come. She waited,
ready for the imminent attack, yet relaxed, cool, calm. When she felt
Natsumi's power levels flicker, in an attempt to cloak herself from
others, Umiko knew this was the time. She flexed a hand at her side,
feeling long-disused power crackle inside her fingers. It had been
some time since she'd last powered up - heck, she hadn't used or 
abused her abilities sicne she had finished her initial alteration.

And to be honest, Umiko didn't really want to waste another nurse's
uniform. They were getting harder to come by.

Natsumi was just around the corner now. Umiko forced herself to 
relax. The fight, definitely about to happen now, would be tough,
but Umiko knew she outweighed the younger General. There were reasons
the Master had stuck with Umiko as his nurse, as his mother, after
all.

The younger General stepped into the chamber, not so quiet now. 
Standing behind Umiko. The nurse turned. "So. It's time."

Natsumi's eyes narrowed under the VR set, but she smirked. "Yes. Your
time is finished, old hag. Time to make way for the younger 
generation."

Umiko waved a hand around the chamber. "The Master will be back soon.
How will you explain your injury, or even death, to him?"

"Who said it will be e dying?" Natsumi snarled in reply, and let off
a burst of energy.

For a moment, Umiko was somewhere else, in a maze filled with dots.
She could hear a steady chomping somewhere, and then in front of her,
from a break in the walls, came a giant yellow dot with a mouth.
Umiko blinked, then sighed, folded her arms, and snapped back to the
base's pocket dimension. "Really. Children's games. Do you expect
to beat me so easily?"

"A girl can always hope," Natsumi snapped back, and struck a combat
pose, resting her weight on her rear foot, pulling a hand up 
alongside her chest. Umiko sighed, then copied the position. Natsumi
moved through a series of ever-faster poses, attempting to set up an
attack posture Umiko couldn't match.

Umiko lazily met all of them.

Finally, the younger General had had enough. Natsumi leapt forward,
strategy forgotten, relying on sheer physical power. An aura of flame
sprung up around her body as she shifted forward, faster than the eye
could make out over such a short distance. A mini sonic boom snapped
stones in the nearby chambers in half.

The girl's left leg swung up, and clipped Umiko on the ear. The older
woman staggered back, her hand going up to check on the damage.
Her fingers came away bloody, and she blinked. Natsumi was moving
forward again, at speeds Umiko couldn't match, and snapped out a 
series of punches and kicks and the occasional tackle. Natsumi's
fists and feet flew, looking as if not attached to the ends of her 
limbs.

After a few minutes of being punched and kicked around, Umiko stood,
panting in the middle of the room, blood leaking to the ground in 
numerous places. Natsumi stood back, getting ready to deliver the 
coup de grace.

"Can you feel it, old woman? Can you feel the darkness waiting at the
edgees for you?" Natsumi smirked, and parted her hands for her final
attack. A small ball of energy formed, growing ever larger as she 
began to announce it. "Final power up - Excellent Attack!"

The now-much larger energy ball was flung towards the slumping
Umiko, and for a scant moment, time seemed to slow. Umiko smirked,
just before the ball hit.

It impacted and exploded, the wind from the strike and the debris
pushing back at Natsumi's clothing. She held her forearms up over her
face to protect her VR headset from chips of rock and metal, and then
lowered them, waiting for the dust to clear.

When it did, Umiko still stood, smirking. Not wounded now, she 
resembled something like a giant cat-person, her uniform ripped and
torn, fur jutting out all over. And green cat's-eyes glared at the 
young General.

'My strongest attack... didn't even phase her?' Natsumi thought,
her last coherent thought before sixty kilogrammes of muscle and fur
smashed into her.

Umiko didn't care for niceties with her fighting, her greater 
strength and endurance allowed her to tear the other girl to shreds.
Blood splattered the remaining walls of the chamber, slices of 
clothing and the occasional spurt of black ichor.

The younger girl tried to block with magical attacks, but the older
woman tore through her defences. She tried to counter the moves with
her own, but Umiko was just too fast. Finally, she curled up in a 
ball on the ground, wrapping her hands around her head and pulling
her knees up to her chest. Umiko didn't stop.

And then, she did.

The cat-thing stepped back from the bloodied girl, and snarled.
Natsumi didn't dare look up. There was a burst of dark power from 
beside Natsumi, and she knew the Master was there. "Ah, poor girl,
you've suffered so much. So very, very much. Which made you a perfect
choice for this role. Conniving, scheming, grasping. And you've paid
the price for it. Yet... your treachery was planned from the 
beginning, dear Natsumi. And I owe you something for that." He 
paused, stood up. "Go. I won't kill you. This time. Yet, if I see you
again... Live a normal life, Natsumi Otohime. Be with your sister,
your family. Fall in love and have children, and forget about this.
Forget this ever happened." He turned, and left, a now-human Umiko
by his side.

The nurse paused a moment, looked over her shoulder at the girl 
shivering on the floor in a huddle. "You might not know it yet, but
you just got the greatest gift of all." Then she, too, was gone.

******

Now.

******

"That's the story, girl." The General spoke quietly now, remember
where she had gained her wounds. She had healed mostly faster than
an average person, incredibly quickly, as a matter of fact. Yet her
pride was hurt. Her self-esteem, her ideal life shattered in a few 
moments of frenzied clawing and biting.

It all caught up with her as Ranma finished binding her wounds.
She looked up, almost in panic. "What do I do now? Where does my life
go?"

"I think... your Master said it best. Live a normal life." Ranma sat
back on his heels, tugging his skirt down absently over his knees
as he did so. Damn the senshi and their wardrobe.

"A normal life?"

"Marry. Have kids. Work. Make the world a better place for everyone."

"People... do that?"

"Yeah. Why does your Master do what he does?"

"I... I don't know. I used to, I think, but I don't know now at all."
Natsumi paused. "I always thought it was to make a world for us."

"Yet he can make pocket dimensions? And he wants this world?"

"I... I don't know."

Natsumi had changed greatly from the girl Ranma had stopped to help.
She was nervous again, upset, saddened by her loss of what she viewed
as her self and her mission. Ranma smiled. "You know. If you can keep
quiet, I think I know a place where you can stay until you figure
out what you want to do in life. How does that sound?"

******

It soudned good.

******

Natsumi's eyes opened when she saw the room. A decent futon to sprawl
on, built-in wardrobe, connecting bathroom that had only been fixed
a few weeks earlier, and most importantly -

She ran to the window. The view of the surrounding city and mountains
beyond lifted her heart immensely. The air was so fresh up here, and
the light -

That was one thing she had thought was bad in the pocket dimension
she had lived in - there was no sun. No warmth, no light. Almost
as if there was no love, and there wasn't. Not really. Deep down,
even Natsumi had realised that what she felt for the Master was 
filial duty rather than love - and it seemed she'd been turned with
even less of that than most of the youma had.

So, what was she to do now?

Ranma shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, you're welcome to stay here until
you can figure things out. Just, uh, stay out of sight of the other
girls, okay? They're... a little touchy." Natsumi frowned, wondering
why they would dislike a stranger, until Ranma mentioned one of the
girls had been the boyfriend of Keitaro Urashima. Oh. That explained
a lot. She promised the red-haired girl she would keep out of their
way as best she could, and turned back to the window, inhaling
the air.

How could she have ever forgotten what it was like to just stand 
there and smell the freshness of the world?

******

Ranma stopped just down the hallway, head lowered in thought. He 
didn't know if this was a good idea, having a Dark General in the 
dorm, but then, did he have a choice? He didn't want to try and force
her to change her mind about her path in life, but she had warned
him of various things to come. He owed her a chance at a normal life,
if that was what she decided.

So he shrugged, and went downstairs to find something to eat.

******

Hotaru stepped up the hill's stairs slowly, deep in thought. A 
rose-scented man. A mystery. A prince. She already had a prince,
though.

Was a girl allowed two?





SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Mmmm. Late again. This one would not write at all. I think it turned
out okay, though.

Next time: Ummm... you're asking me to think again. More with 
Natsumi, of course. And Hotaru's Rose Prince. Ahh, young love...
DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters are 
properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.


LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 4

** New Beginnings **


Princess Serenity stared from the window in her chambers, high up in
one of the spires of the Moon Castle. From here, she could see to the
horizon with no difficulty - although, considering it was only a few
scant miles from where she sat, that wasn't surprising. The crystal
buildings down below, the main city of the Moon Kingdom, reflected
blue light. Serenity knew what from - even without looking up, she 
could feel the Blue Star's light shining on her as well.

Not really a star. A planet. Serenity knew that, but as a child,
she had seen the glowing blue thing in the skies above the palace,
and had instantly described it as a star to those around her. 
Endymion, her bethrothed since before birth, had banged the back of 
her head with the palm of his hand, and told her what it was.

Serenity hadn't believed him, of course.

And of course, he had been right and she wrong.

Her mother had later shown her the surface of her Blue Star (by this
point, her name for it had stuck in her mind) through telescopes
and viewing devices made in Mercury's massive technology shops. The
people there were base, primitive, barely learning to till the soil,
only a few domesticated animals for food and mutual protection.
Serenity had gazed in awe at the creatures living below her, more 
animal than human, and asked her mother why they had to live in such
bad conditions, while the rest of the solar system lived in beauty,
with intelligence, able to move between the stars with as much effort
as crossing a room.

The Queen had sat Serenity on her knee, and told her that those 
primitives were what allowed the Moon Kingdom to exist. So Above As 
Below, the Queen said. Serenity asked how that could be, and her 
mother smiled.

"Serenity, it is a grown-up concept. How does one explain the sun to
a child?"

"It's an ovoid of matter compressed to the temperature fusion starts
at, mother. Even *I* know that."

"That isn't what I meant," but the Queen had another smile on her 
lips. "This matter is complicated. And the Moon Kingdom is ever in 
peril. So long as those below are as they are, then balance is 
retained in the system. Light and Dark coexist - you cannot have one
without the other."

"Are they are Dark, then?"

"No, they are not. The Dark... you know of the Dark Kingdom."

"Yes, mother." Serenity had read in books and been taught by her 
tutors about the horrors of the Dark Kingdom, where evil, 
power-hungry individuals battled between one another to gain ever 
more power, for seemingly no reason.

"The Dark Kingdom is the other side of our coin. For the Moon Kingdom
to exist, so must there be a polar opposite. A kingdom of Light means
a kingdom of Dark must also exist."

"Then where does the Blue Star come from, mother?"

The Queen nodded at the viewing screens, then rummaged in her gown.
Eventually, she found a simple coin, and produced it to show her 
daughter, who blinked at her mother uncomprehendingly.
"This side," the queen said, "is the Moon Kingdom. It is one side of
the coin. This side," she tapped the other side of the coin, "is the
Dark Kingdom."

"And where does the Blue Star come into it?" Serenity couldn't
see how the planet above could possibly fit into this analogy.
Her mother had run out of sides on the coin.

"Ah, that's the easy part." The Queen tapped the edge of the coin.
"This is the planet Earth. That which joins both sides and makes them
possible. You see, the people of Earth have equal amounts of Light
and Dark within them. That is their life force, you might say. When
one force gained too much weight in comparison to the other, then the
scales tip in favour of the greater force. This is why the people
below live as they do. If they ever civilised, they would have Want
in addition to Need, which is all they have now. Want leads to ever
greater problems, and finally to the Dark that lies inside the hearts
of every human."

"So, if they built cities and spaceships, they would become evil?"

"No. Not all. Perhaps not even most. But the equilibium between
Light and Dark would be disturbed. And thus would the Moon Kingdom
find itself in a precarious position."

"Why?"

"Because that Darkness would empower the Dark Kingdom, and the Moon
Kingdom would face a loss in power."

"Which would mean a change in the balance of power, right?"

The Queen nodded. "That is so. We would then have to find other means
of protecting our kingdom then."

"Could that ever happen, mother? The humans up there look like 
they're slowly working out how to build stuff."

"One day, perhaps... one day. But not this day. And not for a great
many more days."

There was a polite cough from behind the Queen and Princess, and the
Queen turned. "Yes, Admiral Jadite?"

"Your fleet has been prepared, ma'am. We depart for Mercury within
the hour."

The Queen palced Serenity down on the ground, and bent down to look
into her eyes. "Now. You go be a good girl for your tutors. We will
not be long, your father and I. This is only a goodwill tour of the
planets... and we will bring you something back."

"I'll be good, mother," Serenity said.

******

Usagi awoke, wondering why her bed was so hard and... oh. A dream.
Of course, a dream of her past life. Something she should have known
straight away.

Now, *why* she'd dreamt of the Moon Kingdom, and about such a thing,
Usagi didn't know. But then, mostly, she didn't care about the 
subject - just that she'd had another vision of the past! Always
capable of getting someone as scatter-brained as Usagi into a hyper
mood.

It didn't matter to her that it was still dark outside, she had to 
tell someone.

******

The few people in the upstairs rooms were sleeping soundly. Usagi
couldn't wake them. So she crept downstairs. Hotaru wasn't in her 
room... perhaps she was in Ranma's? Oh yeah, that'd go down real well
with the other Outer senshi. Usagi couldn't help herself - she 
slipped Ranma's door open and flipped on the lights, jumping inside
to meet the worst possible scenario - but no Hotaru.

No Ranma, for that matter.

This was getting ever more puzzling. It was about then that Usagi
heard a clank from the kitchen. She decided to investigate - after
all, she could never *ever* eat off those benches again if Ranma and
Hotaru...

But then, where were the other senshi? Visions of a naughty nature,
including some of the things she had seen in that hentai stash her 
brother didn't think she knew about, flashed past her eyes - mass 
orgies.

But no. Upon flinging open that door, she was greeted by Makoto,
blinking at her in surprise, steaming rice and vegetables, as well
as wrapping up small seafood bites. "Usagi?"

"Where is everyone?" Usagi asked. "I've just had a vision!"

Makoto looked sympathetic. "We all knew this day would come. The 
stress is getting to you. Was it Mamoru again, telling you to flash
-"

"No! It wasn't like that!" Usagi protested. Although she was *sure*
it had been Mamoru that time... thankfully she'd told her friends
about it before acting on it, and they had managed to talk her out of
it. It had been a somewhat embarrassing memory. "It was about the 
Moon Kingdom, ten thousand years ago, probably just before they...
we... all died out."

Makoto leaned forward, putting the food down and looking a little
more serious. "The end of the Moon Kingdom? Did you see anything
important?"

Usagi went to nod proudly, until she realised, well, no, she hadn't
seen anything important. Not to her, anyway. Just her talking to her
mother about the Dark Kingdom. She related this to Makoto, who nodded
sagely, and said, "You should tell Ami."

"She's sleeping, and I can't wake her up. She's like a log!" Usagi
frowned again. "Where *is* everyone? Is there a sale I don't know 
about? Cute boys or something?"

"I don't think Ranma would go ogle cute boys somehow, Usagi," Makoto
chuckled. "But I forgot. You don't see this side of dawn, do you? Go
look out the front door."

Usagi nodded, and headed outside. There, on the front gravel entrance
path, stood Hotaru, Minako, Rei, Mitsuki and Ranma, in training
gis. Usagi noted that Makoto had been wearing one in the kitchen,
but it hadn't penetrated then. Oh. Morning training. Usagi should
have known.

Ranma looked up and caught her about to duck back inside, and called
out, "Usagi! Joining us this morning?" He started forward, still in 
his cursed girl form, stepping around the other girls, being careful
not to interrupt their warm-ups. Hotaru gave him a wan, distant
smile as he passed, but that was about all the acknowledgement
he got as he made his way towards Usagi.

She shook her head. "No, not me. This is a stupid time to be awake."

Ranma grinned. "Best time of the day! And you know, practising
for an hour in the morning really helps you wake up, get fit, lose
that flab you've been putting on the last couple of months."

"Flab? What -"

"And yeah, you know, I'm doing advanced stuff with the others, but 
I'm sure I can work something up for you, at your level."

Usagi grimaced.

"It could be a challenge, though..."

Mitsuki leaned in towards Hotaru. "He seems hyperactive this morning.
Did you, uh, um..."

"Stop hinting. And no." Hotaru shook her head. Her gaze told Mitsuki
that her mind was on something else entirely. Rei glanced over.

"Mitsuki? Want to spar this morning?"

The purple-haired woman looked back, a little nervous. "Uh, you know,
that might not be a good idea."

"Oh come on, you're not that far ahead of me."

Mitsuki shrugged. "Okay..."

Hotaru continued warming up, lost in her own little world, oblivious
to everything.

Ranma waited, a bright expression on his face. He was actually
enjoying this, being up and able to move again. The previous night,
he had slept soundly, and felt that his ki was high once again. Much
higher than the day before, at least. He wouldn't want to tackle
any youma on a day like this. Or even Kuno.

Of course, if it was a male youma... this body had certain 
advantages.

Ranma wasn't sure if either of them worked on monsters, but if 
necessity called for it, perhaps he could find out.

If things got that bad, there were much worse things he could do than
flash his breasts at someone. Like try and run, for example. Just the
act of turning to flee wasted precious moments that could be better
put to use by attempting another attack, defence, or some way to 
wiggle out of the predicament without including dying.

But for now, he was happy. And Usagi looked decidedly less so, 
growing worse by the moment. Ranma guessed the rapid backpedalling
and shaking of her head, followed by the slamming of the front doors,
to mean that Usagi wasn't going to join them that morning. Pity. He 
was feeling up to a challenge.

As Makoto joined them and ran through a quick series of stretches
and some quick, sketched moves, Ranma retook his place in front of 
them. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, sensei," the others chimed back. Ranma noted Hotaru
looked somewhat distracted - that would earn her a punch or a kick
or three, until she snapped back into the here and now. He wondered
what was on her mind, but forgot all about that as he started them
through their morning practise routines.

******

Up on the roof, Natsumi watched. Her VR headset was pushed back, she
was using her Mark 1 - her eyes - sensors to observe the movements
of the women below. Lots of flesh bounced, but not nearly as much as
her older sister had to throw around. Mutsumi was... well, even that
Ranma woman didn't come close.

Okay, close, but still smaller.

But her older sister's chest didn't jiggle that much. Possibly
because the only time she moved was usually when she fell asleep
on someone or something, which she did often. Natsumi sighed, and 
shifted to get more comfortable on the rooftop. The girls all 
punched, kicked, punched, kicked, ad nauseum, then broke off into 
pairs. She found the purple-haired one's fight with the raven-haired
younger woman to be one of the more interesting.

Purple leapt forward, legs trailing behind her, until Raven had set
up an initial blocking move, designed to make it easier for Raven
to shift into a specific defence posture once Purple committed
to an attack. Purple's legs swung out then sideways, almost as if she
was doing the splits, but swung each of her legs around in a 
one-eighty degree arc. Raven's forearms came up in a specific block,
and Purple collided with them, but then flexed at the knees, and 
tapped Raven's shoulders with her heels. Natsumi recognised the move
- mostly non-contact sparring, but the shoulder touch was intentional
- Purple could have hit higher, with much more force.

At Raven's head. Interesting. The woman was skilled.

She bent backwards at the waist, legs unwrapping while Raven ducked
low and punched forward. Purple's body twisted near impossibly
while she vaulted from her hands up to her feet around the incoming
fist, and slipped a foot past the outstretched arm, lightly touching
Raven's stomach. Raven obviously didn't like that, and launched
into a rapid volley of punches that moved almost too fast for even
Natsumi to see. None touched, although a few came close. One whistled
through Purple's hair, and Raven smirked arrogantly, her expression
turning a little darker when the older woman's hand tapped her 
stomach lightly again. The two sprang apart, Raven reassessing
her position, shifting her stance, readying for another attack 
momentarily.

Purple wasn't out of breath, but did look a little preoccupied,
a little concerned. Not with exterior events, but almost like 
something internal. Interesting. That reminded Natsumi of the look
one of the senshi gave from time to time, the purple-haired
one who was older than the rest. She wondered if this woman would
turn out to have a similar fighting style?

Raven had reassessed her position by now, and launched forth another
attack, which Purple duly dodged. Raven swung a wild fist around
in an arc, heading for Purple's shoulder, but again the older woman
dodged. Natsumi guessed that distracted expression, which appeared
once more, was responsible for her not noticing the foot arcing up 
towards her.

That smacked into her shoulder hard, and spun her around; Raven 
wasn't playing by the rules.

The distracted expression on Purple's face disappeared instantly,
replaced by one of anger such as Natsumi didn't see on a human very
often. She leapt forward, fast, almost too fast for Natsumi to see,
and slammed a fist down between Raven's feet.

The ground shattered, chunks of dirt, rock and cement lifting from
the ground almost in slow motion. Raven was frozen to the spot with
shock as the noise battered her gi, tearing at loose edges and 
assaulting her ears with a low, dull throb. Natsumi perked up - that
kind of strength was almost inhuman. Hell, it *was* inhuman!

She leaned further forward, to get a better view, and fingered
her headset idly. But no, she'd keep watching with her eyes. The 
digital feedback systems were nice, but some things that the onboard
computers deemed not necessary were removed. Thus, she would only get
an abbreviated version of the fight with them down.

She noticed Ranma bounce from her fight, getting in between Raven
and Purple, Raven staggering back. She wasn't looking at her, though,
but at Purple, and she waited until Purple was ready to stand. She 
bowed her head. "I am sorry, sensei. I should not have lost my 
temper."

Ranma stared into her eyes, and she fidgited. "Is your 
medication...?"

"My medication is fine... but as always, adrenyline seems to stop it
from working." Purple looked downcast now, really embarrassed.
"I'm fine, really. I've been taking my pills."

Ranma nodded, saying nothing for a time. Then she nodded, and stepped
back. "Mitsuki. Spar with me for now, okay? I'm more your speed and
strength and skill." Purple looked uncomfortable with that, until
Ranma sighed, bent over, and punched the ground with less force than
Purple had. Under her fist, the earth shattered in a much wider 
circle, sending clods of earth skyward.

Natsumi's eyes narrowed further. This Ranma girl... she wasn't a 
senshi, and yet she showed abilities of them? Maybe that would bear
looking into. Non-magical-based powers weren't known to the Dark 
Kingdom. Perhaps she could make use of that knowledge moving against
the Master...

******

Down below, Ranma dealt several kicks to Mitsuki's stomach. "Ignore
Rei; she likes getting under people's skin."

Mitsuki grunted, blocking one of Ranma's punches, and sending two at
her attacker. When neither of them succeeded in touching her sensei,
she stepped back a little, got some room to manoeuvre in. "She annoys
me when she gets physical."

"She can't help it," Ranma said, circling. "She's got a worse temper
than Makoto."

"At least Makoto knows the meaning of non-contact and minimal 
contact," Mitsuki returned. "Even if her moves are signposted
a mile away."

"Can't blame her for her style."

"Maybe. Are you going to teach us stuff that's useful, though? I 
mean, katas are nice enough, but the attacks you have - combined
with our powers..." Mitsuki's voice trailed off as she saw Ranma's
eyes narrow.

"The attacks I make... the ones I can do... you couldn't. I've 
trained every day of my life to be able to do things like this."
He stopped for a moment, moved in close to Mitsuki without her being
aware he'd moved until she suddenly felt a pair of fists lying softly
on her ribcage. She blinked, looked down. There was Ranma, staring
up at her with those huge eyes of his, his arms blurring in a rush
of motion her eyes just couldn't make out. Mitsuki found she couldn't
even feel his fists moving from the point they were hitting. Then 
Ranma was gone again, back where he'd been a moment ago. He shook
his head. "I can't teach you that at all. Maybe in ten years or so,
if you stick with this. As for using this with your powers? Forget
it. You all rely on them too much for the moment, and your teamwork
sucks, to be honest."

Mitsuki blinked. "Then why -"

"Am I teaching you guys?" Ranma smiled. "I've been waiting for 
someone to ask me. What point is there relying on powers, when you've
got super strength? And speed, invulnerability, and a team? Most 
youma I've seen here tend to be resistant to your magic, in some way.
All have been hurt by hitting them. So why not hit them hard, fast,
coordinated?"

Mitsuki moved in again, and the sparring started anew.

"I made mistakes before I got hurt. I let you guys use your powers.
I let you guys bounce all over the place, let you dictate to a large
extent the pace at which we moved, and what we did. No more. I'm 
structuring you guys. Classes from today on will be different."

The others heard him talking to Mitsuki, slowed down their sparring
matches, and moved over to listen to the conversation.

Ranma ducked a pair of kicks, 

"I'm gonna give you all a basic course. You'll learn to spar 
properly, proper moves, a bit of discipline. No powers for now. 
You'll work individually, and will spar in pairs, as normal students
do."

Ranma jumped over a series of punches, finally backflipping
off Mitsuki's head. She started getting a little angry, forced 
herself to calm down again. Ranma tapped each of her shoulders
before Mistuki turned.

"Once I think you've got the basics down, we'll start on that 
teamwork thing. No powers, just you all working at keeping your moves
coordinated with other people, so you don't fall over each other in 
battle. The more of you senshi I can actually get here... that just
makes it better."

He dodged another couple of moves from Mitsuki.

"You're telegraphing those, Mitsuki. Snap your moves a little better.
Don't hesitate in setting up. And let them flow."

"If I snap my moves, how can they flow?" Mitsuki growled.

Ranma demonstrated, making quick, definite movements with his arms
and legs, starting one movement just before the previous finished.
"Never leave yourself open," he said, tapping Mitsuki's stomach
with a finger as she extended herself in a punch. He bent away from
her knee that raised up under him. "You could learn a few things
about street brawling from Makoto."

Makoto blushed. "I'm not that bad," she grumbled.

"You'll all learn from each other. The more you know about your 
strengths and weaknesses, the better you function as a group. 
Hotaru's good with staves but has no reach without one. Makoto is 
good with her fists, but her style isn't suited to more than one 
opponant. Mitsuki just doesn't give up, that's both strength and 
weakness. Rei's temper gets the better of her, Minako can't 
concentrate. Should I go on?"

The women all looked at each other, apart from Hotaru, who gazed at 
the sparring match going on in front of her without seeing it.

"I wanna build you all up, so you don't make those mistakes. You're
not invincible. You get beaten by the most basic youma. Mercury
has saved you guys too often with her computer, Sailor Moon with that
sceptre, tiara or crystal. You can't rely on them for ever. What if 
Mercury is held prisoner? What if Sailor Moon is... well, she's 
useless anyway."

Ranma tapped Mitsuki's shoulder again. Mitsuki responded with a pair
of jabs, and a spinning kick that was matched by a kick by her other
leg, arcing back over in a high crescent. Ranma let the crescent
kick tap him slightly, and nodded. "That was a better attack. 
Following up like that is what I want you to do. Don't think three
attacks in a row'll get you anywhere, do four, five, six, until you
get a hit."

"You let me get that one," Mitsuki panted.

"You're playing on my ground, handicapping yourself. Why should I 
fight at my full strength while you can't?"

They sparred a few minutes more, in silence, apart from Ranma's
occasional recommendation. Finally, he raised a hand in a signal
to stop the match. He looked around. "That'll be it for this 
morning."

Makoto stepped forward, lifting her chin. "Breakfast is ready, then,"
she announced. The senshi disappeared, leaving Ranma and Hotaru 
standing, Ranma confused at the sudden disappearance of the women
from around him, Hotaru still staring at the spot where Ranma and 
Mitsuki had been sparring.

She didn't look like she was aware of the world around her, so Ranma
tapped her on the shoulder. Hotaru looked up at him, her expression
surprised.

"Hotaru-chan? Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his voice. Hotaru
hadn't been acting the same since the day before, when she'd come 
home from school. She'd been weird, distant, hadn't wanted to watch
TV with him or ask for help with her sparring or homework (although
the help Ranma could give her with that was limited to excuses for 
why her homework wasn't done).

What she said next stayed with him for the next few days, as he 
pondered it, trying to work out what she meant by it.

She looked up, so surprised, so innocent, so beautiful that Ranma
felt an urge to kiss her. He started to lean in, moving ever so 
slightly towards her upturned mouth, thinking as always, she'd 
reciprocate. Ranma's eyes closed as he moved further.

And then.

"I can still smell the roses."



SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Finally finished. This has taken nearly a week to write... although
it's been about a month since I last got a chapter out.

Right after I finished the last one, I got three weeks of work, in 
the fields, stacking pineapples on a bin on the back of a tractor.
Woo, love that Australian summer sun :P That weather and the 
exhaustion the job provided led me not to write for that three weeks.
It's taken me that long to recover.

Also, the last week, this chapter's been competing with a 3d model
I've been working on. Finished it tonight, so thought, damn, finish
this now, too :) So here it is, chapter 4 of Love. Hopefully,
chapter 5 won't be too far away ^^'

so, next time on Love: Natsumi's heart to heart, the rose-scented
prince (for sure), no training for a change, and some more from the
Moon Kingdom. DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing 
characters are properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki,
and several other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence 
ownership and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.


LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 5

** Homeward Bound **


Serenity stared up at the Blue Star above her. Well, technically,
she knew now that depended on her own personal point of reference.
Systemwise, the Blue Star was sideways-ish. Galaxywise...
that started getting confusing. Serenity didn't care about that, 
though. Twelve years old now, and things hadn't been going too well
for the last few years. Things on Earth had taken a dramatic turn,
with the first human societies coming together from the small 
hunter-gatherer family groups that had existed prior and after the 
last ice age. These socities were small, tightly-grouped,
and not really deserving of the term intelligent.

Yet they were developing. And fast, too. Fire had been conquered
long, long ago, but now all in the groups knew how to make it. And 
tools were common. Wolves had stayed with humans during the ice ages
for food purposes - they got fed if they assisted in the hunts - and
so were settling in to new forms, new breeds, and new attitudes
towards people. Horses, too, were being ridden by some peoples.
Houses were being erected, and one tribe, Serenity had noted in her
studies, were beginning to realise that certain types of food could
be grown and harvested.

And while Serenity thought this was great, her mother and father
found it to be an extremely tiring time.

The princess didn't know exactly what was going on - she wasn't 
privvy to every decision made by her parents, nor the intelligence
they received - but one did hear things in a palace, and the 
princess' own intelligence network was rather well-equipped.

Beside her, the Senshi of Mercury played with an image of a 
mechanical bug on her computer's touchscreen. Serenity watched for a 
few moments, then, bored, returned to staring at the Earth above.

"You know," she said, in an off-handed manner, "Endymion's been made
the Prince of Earth."

"Of course. The planet needs a protector and a voice in the Royal
Chambers, Princess."

"Mercury, you can call me by my name, you know," Serenity scowled
momentarily.

"I'll call you by your name, Princess, when you call me by mine."
Serenity guessed Mercury had to know she didn't know any of their
actual names. As was typical in protective services of the Moon 
Kingdom, being familiar with one's charge, or one's protector,
led to problems.

And not usually the ones entertainments were made of, either.

And yet, Mercury found it both interesting and annoying that Serenity
wanted to be friends with her, and the other Guardians of the 
Kingdom.

"Be that as it may, why him? He is my bethrothed!"

Mercury sighed, lowered her computer to her knees. "Princess,
you are a princess. You must marry a prince. Therefore, Endymion
must be a prince to be your bethrothed."

"But no one complained about that while we were children!"

"Time could be taken then to engineer things so he could be a prince.
You do know about the time differential here, don't you?"

Serenity sighed, and rolled her eyes back. "Yes, yes, yes. We did 
this in class, you know." She closed her eyes, and recited from a 
textbook. "'Time in the Moon Kingdom passes on a different plane to 
that of the rest of the universe, as there is much to be protected
and maintained and little time in which to do it in. The Time Gate
on Pluto, finest engineering feat of the architect blah blah blah,
maintains this precious balance so that time can be utilised more 
efficiently. This process is characterised in realspace by an 
increased flow of chronitons and blah blah.'"

"I can see why you failed your temporal mechanics tests, Princess."

"Who'd ever need to know how to field strip a temporal gate?" 
Serenity snorted. "Gimme the crown, the staff, and I'll do the job.
It's only ceremony anyway."

Mercury tapped the monitor. "That's what you wanted to find out, 
remember? Where your parents have been lately?"

"You know, and you won't tell me," grumped Serenity.

"I don't know, and that's the only reason I agreed to do this." 
Mercury tapped the icon of the bug's braincase, and on the right side
of the monitor, a small picture image opened. Scratchy sound issues
from the device's speakers.

On the screen, Queen Serenity and her husband leaned over a round
table, with an inlaid top, puzzling over icons that didn't make sense
to the Princess. Mercury frowned, though, and started running a 
library function on the left side of the screen to confirm some nasty
suspicions. Behind the King and Queen stood a pair of advisors,
with Planet Mercury-constructed computers.

"- into the seventh sector, Highness."

The King looked troubled. "Hasn't Zoicite returned with the Martian
fleets yet?"

"No. Planet Mercury s being evacuated. Dark Kingdom forces have 
invaded the lower levels of the Utopia University, and have disabled
the coolant systems in environmental control. The Dean estimates
the University will be lost in another three days, without 
reinforcements."

"What about the automated defence factories?" asked Serenity.

"Enemy bombardment from orbit has them in a repair cycle. They'll
be online again in another two days."

"Where is Zoicite?" The King, again.

"Father seems to be concerned," the Princess remarked. "I wonder
why?"

"I've been looking up those symbols they're looking at, Princess,"
Mercury said in a hushed tone. "Those are Dark Kingdom armies. And 
there seem to be more than the Moon Kingdom's on Mercury."

Serenity's head whipped around to stare at her bodyguard. "You mean,
we're going to lose your homeworld to these people?"

"Perhaps, Princess, perhaps not." Mercury closed the connection
with the bug, and stood. "Regardless, I feel I must contact 

Serenity stood, also. "I am sorry, Mercury. I'll help you get back
if I can."

Mercury nodded, and both turned to leave the observation gallery,
but stopped short finding Sailor Saturn standing behind them, glaring
at both. Behind her stood Serenity's tutor and personal guardian,
Luna. The short woman fidgeted. "Princess. Please. Don't concern
yourself with matters of state. You'll have to face them soon enough
in your life."

Serenity looked as if she was going to say something, regardless
of the dark look on Saturn's face that brooked no argument, but then
glanced sideways at Mercury, remembered that she had an obligation
to her friend, and said nothing. Contrite, both girls fled the room.

And once in the clear, Serenity helped Mercury to her personal
courier.

As the ship lifted from the moon's surface, Serenity hoped that she
would see the young Senshi again. She heard a footstep behind her - 
Saturn, she knew from the heavier tread and the click of the Silence
Glaive on the ferrocrete flooring.

"Highness. If you lose any of us Guardians, things may go worse for
your parents than they do now. don't risk any more of us in such a 
foolish gesture."

"Saturn, have you realised that sometimes, we have higher obligations
than that of state or our own self-protection?" Serenity turned to 
face Saturn. "If I can't look to the wellbeing of my subjects now,
what kind of Queen will I become?" And then she walked out of the pad
area, leaving to her personal quarters.

******

Usagi woke again. Two dreams in as many nights. That had to be a good
sign.

Downstairs, she could hear the morning training of the senshi who had
decided to train. Ami had asked Usagi to partner up with her and join
the others, but Usagi protested, she didn't want to get up early in 
the morning. Besides, she wasn't as clumsy now as she once was, which
was always a good thing, especially when at the top of the inn's 
hillside stairs, and didn't want to find out just how much of that
was good fakery and self-deception on her part.

She went into the kitchen, anyway, where she found Makoto, who'd left
practise early to finish up with the breakfast preparations.
Within moments, the front doors were thrown open, and a horde of 
ravenous teenage women rushed into the kitchen and began tearing
into the food Makoto had prepared. Usagi grimaced at how awake 
everyone seemed to be, and got herself a glass of water. As she 
drank, she noted what Makoto had laid on the table for people to eat.
And it was very nice food.

Which made Usagi wonder, why the rest of them weren't fed like that?
Well, her and Ami, she meant. Hotaru, Makoto, Minako, Rei, Mitsuki
and Ranma ate like kings, er, queens, in the morning, why shouldn't
Usagi? But within moments, the others had finished bolting their food
(looked like Ranma had trained them in a few more things than just
plain normal martial arts) and rushed for quick dips in the hot 
springs.

Ranma, as usual, even though still in his female body, headed for the
male springs, and in particular the cold water spring in that 
enclosure - Hotaru still thought it not a good idea for him to strain
his body by transforming yet. Usagi just thought that Hotaru was 
getting some weird ideas from watching Ranma bounce around the house.
Minako certainly was, that was for sure. But it was a sign that 
Hotaru was growing up - again - so that had to be something good.

They returned in short order, dressed for school and university,
where each student attended. Hotaru fidgited uncomfortably
as Ranma cast an enquiring eye across Hotaru's uniform, as if it 
reminded him of something, but shook the feeling of familiarity
off, and bade her a good day, heading for the roof to carry out some
more repairs on tiles.

Usagi reckoned by now the Ai Sou had to have the best repaired
roof in all of Japan.

She herself hurried to ready herself for another day of boring 
lectures and tutorials, and one minor test in a history lesson.
But she wanted to leave with Ami, and tell her about the latest dream
of times long past. Why? Well, anything about the Moon Kingdom could
be of use. They already knew it was Saturn who had destroyed the 
Kingdom - the ultimate protection of the Kingdom against the Dark 
Kingdom - but not quite the circumstances that led up to it. Nor did
they know a lot about themselves in those previous lives. Any 
information could make a difference.

And with another Dark Kingdom incursion into the world underway,
anything that could be remembered could be of extreme importance.
History had shown things remembered were usually things that *had*
to be remembered, for one reason or another.

They hurried down the stairs to the roadway, passing by Hotaru who 
was standing stock-still at the bottom. She seemed to be staring
off into space for no particular reason, and Usagi saw no need to 
point out to the younger senshi that she would be late if she stood
there much longer.

She didn't notice the man with the long blond hair across the road,
all dressed in black.

But, as she hurried off down the street towards the train station,
she did catch a whiff of roses in the air...

******

Hotaru couldn't believe her eyes. He was there, watching her. And 
smiling.

Why was he smiling?

Self-consciously, she checked without looking that her dress was 
smoothed down, her hair in place. Nothing showing that shouldn't
be showing. Everything tucked in where it should be tucked. A quick
peek proved she hadn't mixed pairs of socks up this morning (not like
the morning she had Kuno running insanely through the school 
demanding everyone swap a sock because divine revelations had stated
it must be so) so why was he staring?

Hotaru didn't know. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know why he 
was smiling. Why? Because that thought opened a door in her mind that
would open other doors, doors she wanted to stay shut. She had her 
Prince now. Ranma... suited her. Someone who knew her inside and out,
outward self and secret self, and yet still wasn't afraid of her 
power. Heck, he might not be able to match her in the power stakes,
but he could overpower her through sheer skill. He was good for her,
and she likewise wanted to be good for him. She wasn't going to look
at this man, this man who'd saved her life, whom she now felt a deep
debt of gratitude towards.

But she smelt the scent of roses, and her eyes and head moved of 
their own volition. She found herself staring into his eyes, and the
sounds of the street around her tunneled into oblivion, quickly
followed by her vision. All she could see was his eyes... staring...
staring...

Something surged in her stomach. Not like a feeling of nausea, or 
bile rising up towards her throat, but a happier feeling, joy...
like a million bubbles rising through her digestive system. This was
a thousand times more powerful than what she felt for Ranma...
this was completely physical, a yearning more like a yanking across
the street.

She barely felt her feet move, and before she knew it, Hotaru was 
standing next to the blond-haired man. His eyes were casual, calm,
yet piercing to the core of her soul. She fell into them, 
willingly... or so her mind told her.

Her heart told her otherwise.

Something about him didn't seem right. She'd never seen this man 
before the other day... why should he engender such a response
in the core of her being? More to the point, how could he?

But rational thought left her body as his arm swept around the small
of her back, and drew her closer to him. The real world seemed to 
tunnel further behind Hotaru as all she could sense now was the 
closeness of his body, the rose-tinted scent of him, the overpowering
stare from his eyes.

She tried to push away, blushing, beginning a protest of innocence
that she knew was a fake, and so he knew this as well - she could
tell from the way one corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk.

"I... I have school," she protested, even more feebily.

"It can wait," the rose-scented Prince replied quietly. "We have 
business... you and I..."

"Business?" Hotaru breathed.

"Business," the man agreed, and leant in low, kissing Hotaru lightly
on the lips. They were warm, moist, and sent shivers of electricity
throughout Hotaru's body. She later swore she could remember small
static charges leaping from the tips of her outstretched fingers
- but she put that down to imagination in the heat of the moment.

Ranma never kissed her like this.

Ranma's hand never strayed below the bottom of her uniform's shirt
like this Prince's hand was, either. It lingered on her backside
for a moment, and Hotaru felt herself bending into it, pushing 
backwards into his hand lightly, and she thought 'Ranma hasn't done
this to me, either'.

Then the sounds and sights from around her started tunneling back 
into focus, like someone was speeding up a slowed down record. Hotaru
blinked as the man pulled back slightly from her. "And now... I must
go. I am still new, and there are things I must see. I know you will
understand." He gave a slight bow from the waist, the light smirk
not leaving his face, although his eyes stayed rooted on Hotaru's.
"Until we meet again, Hotaru Tomoe."

And then he was gone, heading up the street, just walking slowly,
yet covering incredible ground, ducking and weaving in and out of 
pedestrian traffic without seeming to move from side to side at all.

Hotaru's head spun. What had just happened? How had it just happened?
She didn't know. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. She could still
feel his hand on her backside... could still remember pressing
deeper into it... wanting his hand to clutch her tightly...

Yet, she didn't want to. She didn't want to be feeling like this.
It shouldn't be like this, not something she felt bad about, dirty,
used. What had he done to her? What was going on in her head? Why 
hadn't she tried to push him away when he grabbed her around the 
back... or in other places? She was happy with Ranma, wasn't she? How
was he going to take this? God, did this mean she wasn't as attracted
to him as she thought?

Hotaru hurried to school, head in a whirl, trying to forget that 
warm, dreamy kiss, and failing miserably.

******

At the top of the stairs, Ranma watched, a frown on his face. His 
arms were folded under the breasts of his female body, and his 
training gi had some slight sweat stains from the morning's session.
He'd been about to try to catch up to Hotaru, and had stopped short
at the top of the stairs, seeing that strange man again down below
with his arm around Hotaru's waist, kissing her urgently.

When his hand dropped below her belt, so to speak, Ranma's face grew
hot. Angry, he was almost about to descend the stairs, and knock said
stranger into next week... but he could still feel the power from 
this one. Something strange, something bad... something that said 
don't mess with me, son.

Ranma didn't want to mess with him. Not yet. He'd seen some of the 
youma the senshi fought, and the weakest were maybe as strong as 
Kuno... perhaps Ryoga. The sense of power from this person was 
multiple orders of magnitude higher than those. Ranma knew he had a 
lot of work to do before he could even hope to break even in a 
match-up with these monsters.

The last he'd faced had left him near-dead, and he was stuck in his
female body until he had enough reserves to use his curse to change
back without possibly suffering even worse side effects due to the 
near complete loss of energy. It had been a few weeks now, and he 
should be able to change in the next few days. Ranma hoped. He had to
start some serious endurance training to be able to keep giving the
energy output necessary to keep up with the senshi and youma.

That still didn't solve this short-term problem, though. He knew 
Hotaru had to stay away from the blond-haired man... but if she felt
anything for him... how could he say no to her? Did his own feelings
count?

No.

They didn't.

He'd been through this often enough in Nerima. Akane and the others,
had they found anyone new to interest them, Ranma was expected
to be happy to be relegated to the background, happy to have someone
else walk in and trample over his love life - although at the same
time, Akane and the others would expect Ranma to love - heck, even
like - only them and look at no one else.

Ranma was used to being put in the closet.

But, perhaps this time, he shouldn't be put away until Hotaru was 
ready to play with him again.

Oh, what the heck, he decided, letting a clenched fist he hadn't
realised he'd shut open... I've broken up with girls before.

Ranma turned, and headed for the springs to cool off and clean up.

******

"You know, it's not your fault," a voice said above him as he soaked.
Ranma looked up, seemingly relaxed, but in truth, prepared to strike
if the voice's owner was going to attack him. Natsumi floated down
from the rooftop, where she'd taken a shine to observing the morning
training sessions.

"What's not my fault?"

"That he's attracting her eye." Natsumi shrugged. "I thought you'd
have known that. You seem to be pretty perceptive at times."

"At times, yeah," Ranma agreed. "But when I get, I dunno, angry?
Jealous? I kinda lose that ability."

"And you're jealous? You're angry?" Natsumi cocked an eyebrow at him.
He felt himself grow warm with anger and embarrassment...
here was this girl, this youma general, asking incredibly personal
things of him, of his feelings. Making assumptions, and poking her 
nose into his business. But then he forced himself to relax. It was
her aura. For the moment, she seemed to exude a dark energy that had
negative effects on people from time to time. It affected Ranma more
often than anyone else in the dorm.

"Actually... a little. Seeing him... do that... to Hotaru-chan...
it was a little scary."

"You know who he is."

"Yeah. His ki matches that baby-thing we fought at the hospital."

"Before my time," Natsumi sighed, taking up a position on a rock 
above the cold water spring, across from Ranma. "You know, he's only
doing that to get at you."

"I know. It still hurts, though, that she's not able to withstand
his influence."

"You felt it the day you found me."

Ranma nodded. "I felt it. I felt what he did to my insides, too. 
I've... never felt that as a woman before, that kind of... arousal,
I guess would be the word."

"He exudes sex appeal like I exude... well, used to exude darkness
and strength." Natsumi looked a little downcast. "I'm losing it all."

"Your power?" Ranma asked. Natsumi nodded. "Isn't that a good thing
for you? You can go back to your old life. Try it all again."

"And I'll be bullied again," Natsumi snarled in reply, but Ranma 
noticed the slight glistening of her cheek as a tear escaped from her
eye. "I don't want to be bullied anymore! I don't want to live in 
fear of people in my life! I want to -"

"Then join us in the mornings. Or me in the evenings. I'll train you
in self defence."

Natsumi glared at him, as if daring Ranma to tell her the offer was
a lie, something to hurt an enemy... a former enemy, she corrected
herself. But no, his face remained composed, calm, relaxed. 
Eventually, she nodded. "What are you going to do about your 
girlfriend?"

Ranma shook his head. "There's not a lot I can do," he admitted.
"If she falls for him... there's nothing I can do. It's not my 
business, that's one thing I've learned in life. Women do what women
want. It's my place to stand on the sidelines and be used when needed
and hide myself away, putting my life on hold, when not." Ranma 
sounded bitter as he threw the words out. Natsumi found herself
floating over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder in support.

"The purple-haired one likes you too, you know," she said, softly.

"Mitsuki?"

"Yeah. That one. She's got the hots for you like you don't know. And
Mars... phew! She's got more than an eye for you... she's got a hand
with your name on it! You're well liked here. If little miss Saturn
doesn't want to play, one of the others surely will."

Ranma glanced at her sideways. "How do you know who they are?"

"I've sensed their energy patterns in battle, remember? And these
girls have the same patterns." Natsumi looked at Ranma askance.
"You... haven't noticed, have you? That's not how you've been finding
out... their disguise enchantment is too strong, even for you! Wow.
I am impressed."

"What? What enchantment?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, it's not real magic, not like you know it, where everything's
generated from the body's bio-energetic reserves... ki, you call 
it... this is technology that, even though it's ten thousand years
old, is still a million years ahead of yours." Natsumi gestured
with a hand. "You haven't noticed how alike the senshi look to the 
girls who live here? Wow."

"Well, most of the senshi live here, yeah," Ranma said. "But not 
Mercury and Sailor Moon. I don't know where they come from."

Natsumi stared disbelievingly at Ranma. "You really can't see it, can
you? You've got to be told or shown... otherwise you can't see it. My
god... that's bad. That's... well, that's powerful."

Ranma looked down into the spring, confused. "I... I don't know them.
And if all bar two of the senshi live here, why are Usagi and Ami 
living here instead? Why..." Something occurred to Ranma. As it had
several times, in matter of fact, but everytime he thought on the 
senshi's identities, the ones he didn't know kept sliding from his 
mind's eye. And once again, Sailor Moon and Mercury slipped from his
memories, leaving only the knowledge they were at certain events,
things they said, not how they looked. He shook his head to clear
it - nothing cleared. "I... think I know what you mean. I've got to 
ask them next tmie I see them."

Natsumi sighed. "I'd tell you, but I think they'd kill me in return."
She sighed again, looking up at the sky for a moment before looking
back down at Ranma. "I... I think I will do what you said. Join you
for training. I'll have no power soon... nothing that can save me 
from people. Nothing that can make me special again. I'll be Natsumi
Otohime, younger sister of the narcoleptic weirdo. Oh, I can't wait."

The sarcasm could have killed rhinos in Africa.

"But before I'm completely useless," Natsumi said, leaning into 
Ranma's shoulder suddenly, her chin resting there as if it belonged,
"I'm going to do one last thing with my powers. Ranma Saotome,
I make you a new man!" She wrapped an arm around his neck, tilted
his head back before he knew what was happening, and latched her lips
onto his.

He made to struggle, but felt something enter his body: something
electrical, sending shivers of newfound power throughout his body.
His fingers crackled with static.

Then just when he thought he was going to explode, Natsumi pulled
back, wiping at her mouth, a little confused. Ranma turned around
so he could face her fully, and she tilted her head sideways a little
in confusion. "You... you taste of Dar-"

Natsumi's eyes opened wide, and she toppled over on one side. Ranma
leapt out of the water, hurried to catch her before her head could
hit the concrete surrounding the cold water spring, and started
to panic - what if she was dead?

But she wasn't. She was asleep. Sleeping normally. Not quite 
peacefully, but normally. Ranma nodded to himself. He noted that 
whatever she'd done to him, he couldn't feel it now. Perhaps it was
something to re-energise his batteries, so to speak. But his ki 
levels felt the same as they had that morning. Then what hasd she 
done? That, Ranma didn't know.

He grabbed a towel, wrapped it around him and tied it between his 
breasts before picking up Natsumi and taking her to a futon in an 
unused room. There he lay her out, pulled a blanket up over her still
form, and left, closing the door quietly behind him.



SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Gah. Writer's block. Anything worse? About the only good thing its 
done is let me work through some scenes from future chapters...
which'll hopefully turn up in somewhat altered form, like the last
scene in this chapter... there's one or two for the next few chapters
as well. Bah. 

Anyways, next time on Love: I have absolutely no idea at this time.
Oh, wait, I do: Natsumi goes home (yay!), Ranma finds out a dastardly
secret about Hotaru (boo!), and the rest of the senshi start working
in cheap bars and bad porno flicks (um... lost here, help out? ^^;).
DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters are 
properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.


LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 6

** **


Above her, far in the distance, Nemesis was sling-shotted
out of the physical reach of the Moon Kingdom. Serenity knew where
the faint pin prick of light was, visible by the naked eye only 
because time and space in the Kingdom was not what it was outside
of the Kingdom. The dot grew steadily dimmer, and the elder Guardian
of the planet turned, horrified to her.

"Princess!" she howled, "How can your mother sacrifice a world of the
Kingdom like that?"

Serenity was lost for words, unable to speak, knowing what would 
happen as soon as the planet left the life-bearing energies of the 
Kingdom.

"The same way the Queen could direct that comet to hit Mars," the 
senshi of Mars snarled. "Our worlds don't matter here anymore."

That's not true! Serenity wanted to say, to explain that her mother
was sacrificing entire worlds to try to save what remained of the 
Kingdom. As civilisation grew on the planet Earth below, as the 
balance between nature and order was upset, so the balance between
light and dark was being lost. And with that unbalancing, the Dark
Kingdom, led by Beryl, made their push on the resource and energy
rich homeworlds of the Moon Kingdom, entering that which they had 
been denied at the founding of the Kingdoms.

As Below, so Above.

Queen Serenity had at first tried to negotiate. When the Librariums
had fallen to the depravities that had engulfed the Utopia University
whole, the planet's administrative staff had been evacuated and 
bombarded with asteroidal matter from orbiting forge-satellites.
While staffs had been removed from the planet by warp gates and 
evacuation transports and temporal corridors making microjumps
across the system, the planet's population had been decimated.

Following the fall of Mercury, the Dark Kingdom Warhost attacked
Mars, striking while the planetary defence fleets were hurriedly
returning from Mercury. Zoicite, the Admiral of the Mercurian
fleets, returned to find Mars' population held at ransom: the fleets
to join the Dark Kingdom, else every man, woman and child on the 
planet would be slaughtered. Zoicite's loyalty to the Kingdom wavered
for but a moment; he was an honourable man, and his duty, his 
loyalty, as was that of every member of the Kingdom, was to his King
and Queen.

The King had paused in indecision. Queen Serenity didn't.

Zoicite was about to open fire on the enemy's encampments when, 
appearing via temporal corridor originating in the realSystem's
Oort cloud, a mighty snowball, fully fifty kilometres across, sped
past the orbiting ships. Dark Kingdom forces hurried to their own 
transport vessels as the snowball erupted in gas and dust, heated
by the passage through the corridor and by the much nearer location
to the sun, blew through the planet's atmosphere as if it didn't
exist, and impacted in the planet. Nothing remained of the northern
six hundred kilometres of the world, three kilometres of the crust
had simply been shrugged off into space.

Half of the Warhost hadn't survived, but the surviving numbers were
bolstered by Zoicite's defection in horror to the Dark Kingdom's
Queen Beryl. The King had made a personal plea to Zoicite under a 
flag of truce, but the Admiral, in anger and misdirected hatred,
struck the King to bring the pain he felt to Queen Serenity. The King
had died in Martian orbit, and the war paused for a moment while both
sides regrouped.

But then Venus fell, and Saturn, and Neptune, and Uranus. All that
were left in the Moon Kingdom were the planets Jupiter, Pluto, 
Nemesis and the Moon itself.

And now, in the latest battle, Beryl's forces had set off a chain
reaction of graviton bombs across the surface of Nemesis, thrusting
the planet from its normal orbit and out into the cold depths of 
space.

Nemesis turned to the Princess, pain in her eyes, anger in her heart.
"I can hear them, Princess, I can hear them dyi"

There wasn't even a snip of sound as the planet passed from the heart
of the Kingdom. Once outside the barriers, the planet reverted
to realSystem physical laws, and the inhabitants of Nemesis simply
ceased to exist. This, of course, included the senshi of the planet.
All that was left was a ball of energy, starting as the bright blue
of the world Nemesis, fading to a dull grey, then black. The ball of
energy hovered for a moment, then shot back into the palace, where
Princess Serenity's mother would harness the energies of the fallen
warrior for other purposes.

The guardians of Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto now stood around
the Princess. Mars was angry at the reason behind the loss of her 
homeworld, and only the fact that the Princess, the girl who she was
assigned to protect, was just as horrified as the other Guardians.

Well, most. Pluto and Saturn took different views on such things,
preferring more to cut out the heart of a living creature to save it
from cancers in the extremities. Saturn herself had been responsible
for the destruction of Venus when the Venusian fleets had defected
also in response to Zoicite's passionate speeches on the horrors
the Moon Kingdom's Queen was committing to keep her ever more fragile
grip on power, her need to stay in control of everything. The Martian
and Jovian fleets had soon followed.

While the Neptunian and Uranian fleets still fought for the Kingdom,
they were being beaten back on all fronts, day in, day out. The 
future looked bleak, and while the Queen claimed victory would be 
theirs, even the everyday population of the Moon Kingdom was 
beginning to realise that something was wrong, there were too many
communication blockages, too many disruptions to everyday services,
too many incomplete news reports.

Endymion stood off to one side of the group, watching up into the 
skies, at the planet he had been named protector of. Earth cast a 
bluish light over the green lunar landscapes, and over everyone.
It was full this morning, shining the brightest it did in the lunar
dinurnal cycle. Behind him stood Luna and Artemis, the advisors
to Serenity.

And then, as the bodyguards and their Princess stood, mostly quiet
apart from Mars' angry accusations, Endymion noticed something
in the sky. He looked back to his bethrothed, and then to Luna. "It
comes," he said, quietly.

Luna nodded. "The Queen felt the breakthrough would come this 
morning."

"Too few ships remain in the fleet to protect the Moon's protective
shell," Artemis agreed.

"What?" asked the Princess, distracted from the tirade. The calm 
statements even made Mars pause and look up. 

Saturn sighed. "It is time."

"Not yet, please, Saturn," Luna begged. "Give us another few minutes!
You know the Queen could be wrong, you know we might yet triumph
here! What if you took to the skies in our defence?"

"Then if I fell, so would the Kingdom," Saturn said, before rising
up into the skies, whirling the Silence Glaive in her hands. The 
Senshi looked to one another.

"What will happen now?" Serenity asked Luna, before the growing
roaring noise from above drowned out her voice. She barely noticed
Pluto gating out to her planet's command centre, as planned.

"Your mother will use the energy of the destruction of the Kingdom
to seal the Dark Kingdom forces back in their realm, where they 
belong," Luna said. "Pluto will ride out the destruction of the 
Kingdom, and rebuild when it is possible, using the people on the 
planet Earth. And you... all of you Senshi... will be reborn on 
Earth. Given new lives, It will be your destiny to resurrect the Moon
Kingdom, and rule over the solar system in the name of Light."

But by this time, there was too much noise. Nothing could be heard,
even the glaive's sound was blanked by the noise it was creating.
The light pouring from the glaive grew steadily, as did the light
from approaching star ships.

And then, for a scant moment, time stopped. Serenity saw the Senshi
around her, eyes lowered, forms kneeling in fealty, Endymion's
eyes locked on hers, his lips mouthing the words "I will find you,"
before it all disappeared in white...

******

Usagi woke up holding her head. Three dreams in as many days. 
Possibly of historic content, great moments in the life of the 
Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. Her early life, the beginnings
of the war with the Dark Kingdom, and the end of the war.

After that final eternal moment, the barriers holding back realspace
from the Kingdom were shattered, and the Moon Kingdom died, along
with everyone existing in its boundaries. But at the same time, the
Dark Kingdom host in this dimension was sealed, supposedly for 
eternity.

Eternity, Usagi was slowly becoming to realise, wasn't as long as it
once was.

Oh, to a human from the Moon Kingdom, the normal human lifespan
of seventy or eighty years was but an eyeblink - the Senshi would
still be around in over a thousand years, and if they were unlucky,
would look as if they were moving out of their twenties. It wasn't
just the fact that they were Senshi that allowed such lifespans,
either, but also spill-on effects from the Time Gate on Pluto.

Conceivably, it could sustain them until the sun swelled out huge in
a few thousand million years. And possibly longer.

But a human wouldn't last as long.

Strangely enough, memory barely lasted as long as an average human
from Earth.

Case in point, Usagi forgot it was a day for university. She told 
herself she'd have to tell Ami about this latest dream when she got
out of bed later in the day, and rolled back under her blankets.

******

Ranma's eyes followed Hotaru's movements as she parried, thrust,
kicked, blocked, blocked, parried and kicked again across the 
designated sparring zone. Rei's movements were getting good - years
of practise at being a Shrine Maiden and learning some basic martial
arts in the process paid off in spades for her.

Rei snapped out a kick, dropping the leg quickly, pivoted, and 
snapped out another. Ranma nodded. "Good Rei, good. But lean a little
further back. You're committing yourself to moving forward with that
posture, something that could be anticipated and -"

Rei made the same move, and caught a fist in the stomach as Hotaru
ducked the kick and stood up under her as she brought her foot down
forward of her other foot.

"- prepared for," Ranma finished, as he watched the wind go out of 
Rei's sails. "Match over!" He called a little louder. Hotaru 
completed the move she was in the middle of, dropping a foot onto 
Rei's toes. The older woman yelped and finished the process of 
folding up.

Ranma glared at her a little sternly. "Match over means match over,
Hotaru."

She cocked her head to one side, almost cheekily. "Sorry, sempai."
Ranma got the impression she wasn't all that apologetic. But he'd 
have words with her later.

"Baths and breakfast, people. Tomorrow I start us sparring in pairs."
That brought a couple of groans, but Mitsuki looked a little 
thoughtful, and helped Rei to her feet.

"Come on," she said. "I think we should pair up. I mean, we've both
got a good reason to pair up against a certain someone..."

Mitsuki's voice trailed off as she led Rei inside the dormitory's
main building, heading for the hot springs out the back. Ranma 
stooped to start clearing up some of the weapons he'd crafted for 
combat sparring, stacking them in a neat pile to take them back to 
the small storage shed around the side of the dorm.

There wasn't a noise, but he felt someone looking at him. He looked
up, feeling conscious suddenly of the weight on his chest and the way
his girl form's breasts bounced energetically in his training gi. He
didn't know why he was suddenly conscious of it; it was something
he'd gotten used to a long time ago. But this felt... different.

Hotaru was staring at him from the doorway, head cocked to one side,
shoulders raised to the other, her hips tilted slightly as well. One
leg was a little forward from the other, and a hand crossed her 
chest, lightly touching the door frame with a soft caress. There was
an enigmatic smile on her lips.

"Hotaru-chan?" Ranma asked, feeling a little more than self-conscious
now. Something was definitely up, something felt wrong.

"Yes, sempai?" she replied, in a slightly teasing tone.

"Did you... want something?"

"Oh Sempai..." Hotaru breathed, then turned to head into the Ai Sou.
Just before she entered, she glanced over her shoulder at him. "How
long are you going to look like a girl, sempai? I want to do adult
things with you." And then she was gone.

Leaving a very worried Ranma. This wasn't like her. Had that kiss 
done something to her yesterday? He'd already decided he was better
off single. Perhaps that girl years ago had been correct in her 
statement, being with people, being near them, it hurt you more than
was worth it. Perhaps he shouldn't have broken up with Akane, for 
that matter. He didn't need to hope for a happy marriage - he'd 
already known it wouldn't be happy, but simply okay punctuated
with common bouts of violence directed at him.

Physical pain he could handle, at least. It was all this emotional
stuff that sucked.

Natsumi Otohime, the one-time General of this evil Dark Kingdom
type, she'd said it wasn't his fault. She wasn't herself at the 
moment, Hotaru was falling under the influence of someone for whom
exuding sex appeal was like plants making oxygen - it just happened
as a side effect of being alive.

That didn't make it any easier for Ranma to take. He was hurt. Very
hurt.

******

Inside, Makoto gazed at Ranma from the kitchen window as he replaced
all the training gear into the storage shed with a concerned eye. He
looked... down. Dejected. Defeated. It wasn't a look she saw on him
often, usually he had an aura of confidence around him. Even when 
losing a fight, she hadn't seen him look this much like someone
had just killed his kitten.

Behind her, Ami tapped through the morning's emails on her laptop.
She knew the morphological Mercury Computer hadn't been designed
for quite this use, but it did the job perfectly - it was better
than having a satellite network connection. There were a few from 
Keitaro, one of which was asking if she or any of her friends had 
seen one of his friend's little sister. She quickly typed in a reply
while politely eating a small bowl of rice.

Two boxes resided on the floor, one black, one white. They had small
eye holes in the front, and were facing where Usagi would normally
be sitting.

"Really," said the black box, "You'd expect Usagi to be up by this
time."

"Ahh, Luna," said the white box, "You also know Usagi. Any minute
now, she'll come running downstairs, screaming about how sunspots
made her alarm fail, making her sleep in."

"It won't be sunspots," Ami said, distracted. "That was last week's
excuse."

Mitsuki yawned from her seat, covering her mouth with one hand while
the other continued toweling her purple hair dry. "Some princess.
Is it too late for me to vote someone else into the position?"

"Now, Sailor Nemesis, sleeping in occasionally is no excuse to tell
her she can't be the Moon Princess any more," the black box 
commented.

"And you know how much she'd cry if she did get told that," the white
box added drily.

"That's a point," Mitsuki conceeded.

"My question is: why do you have us in these rediculous boxes?"
the black box asked.

Mitsuki sighed. "You really haven't seen Ranma when he, uh, sees 
cats. Not really. I'd prefer not to have a repeat of our date here."

"We've seen his reaction, and he was most restrained."

"I also don't want him marking his territory. It's, uh, most 
undignified."

Hotaru sauntered in, displaying more energy than she had in the time
any already in the room had ever known she possessed. She was dressed
in her school uniform already, grabbed a few things she'd prepared
the night before for lunch that she'd left in the fridge, and 
prepared to head out. She caught the tail end of Mitsuki's comment.
"Oh," she pouted, "I'd rather see that much more manly side to my 
sempai." She sauntered out of the room.

Silence.

"I think Hotaru's growing up," Makoto finally broke the silence,
still gazing at the door.

The black box sighed. "I think it's more than a few hormones."

"It is," a girl said, a little sleepily, from the doorway.

Makoto, Mitsuki and Ami instantly recognised her. As did Rei, who'd
stepped in from behind her. The young girl, the VR headset resting
above her eyes, the stance... one of their latest and greatest
foes.

"You!" Rei shrieked. "I gave a panty shot to a bunch of horny guys
thanks to you!" She raised a hand to slap the younger girl, but then
realised she couldn't feel the dark forces she associated with the 
enemy any longer from her. She paused, obviously still considering
the blow, but the wind had been metaphorically taken out of her 
sails, and she was almost paralysed with indecision.

The girl turned, and looked up at her. "I... think I've got to be 
sorry. For something. But... I can't remember a lot about what's
happened the last few months. Can... someone tell me?"

"You really don't remember?" Makoto asked, as Usagi pushed in the 
doorway behind Rei.

"Hey, Rei, quit hogging all the space! Some of us are late for class
you ARGH!" she announced upon stumbling across Natsumi. "What's
SHE doing here? I don't wanna be thrown into another... uh..." 
Usagi's brain caught up with the fact everyone else seemed to be in a
light state of shock, but not overly alarmed. Subtly, she relaxed,
but rounded on the girl. "What are you doing here? Are you planning
to tell everyone -"

"Tell everyone what, Usagi?" Ranma asked from the doorway. He made
his way across to the bench, and grabbed himself something to eat 
before turning to Natsumi. "Did you have a good sleep, Natsumi?"

"Yes, sempai," Natsumi answered, bowing her head slightly. "Uh...
do you know why I'm here?" she asked, a little shyly, a little 
worried herself.

"You were possessed by an evil force that wanted to take over the 
world, and then you pissed off the wrong guy, he had you beaten up,
and I rescued you from the gutter. Brought you back here, where you
turned back into an unpossessed human." Ranma shrugged as he took a 
quick bite of rice. "Simple story, really."

"Do I know you?" Natsumi asked, stepping to one side from the door,
keeping Rei in her sights. The red-haired girl seemed to know 
something, but Natsumi wasn't too sure about the whole possession
story. "Why am I here?" she repeated.

Ranma shook his head as he found somewhere to sit while he virtually
inhaled his rice. "Because I brought you here when you... uh... got
beaten up by your former boss. He's, uh, not being a very nice person
at the moment."

"Evil people never are," Makoto commented drily from one of the 
benches. "Ranma, you know who she is, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," Ranma nodded. "She's Natsumi Otohime. Former Dark 
General. She -"

"How do you know about the Dark Generals?" Usagi demanded.

"Uh... cause I fight with Sailor Moon and her friends? How do you 
know?" Ranma also wanted to know.

"Uh... this isn't the time for that," Makoto interjected. Rei agreed.

"Can we stick to the facts here, please? Ranma, what *is* she doing
here?"

"She'd been used and abused by her boss. So I brought her here."
Ranma shrugged. "To recover. She was no threat."

"How do you know that?" Usagi exploded. "We've had... uh, my friends
have had more experience dealing with Dark Kingdom creeps than you 
have, Ranma, we know what they're capable of!"

"Maybe so, but I know people, and I know people who are trying to 
hurt or kill my friends, Usagi. And Natsumi didn't feel like that at
all."

Usagi exploded again, "So you threatened all our lives by bringing
an enemy into our midst because of a HUNCH?"

"My hunches are better than your best exam guesses!" Ranma retorted
heatedly. "And I'd even trust my guesses better than your most 
learned statements!"

Both Ranma and Usagi leant over the table, getting closer and closer
to one another's faces, death in their eyes as the insults and bile
ramped up quickly. Makoto grabbed Usagi and pulled her back, Rei did
the same to Ranma, who gave Rei a weird glance as to where her hands
slipped while pulling her back.

"Ow, Rei, do you have to be so rough?"

"That's enough, both of you!" Makoto scolded. "Usagi, stop being 
stupid. Ranma... knows what he's doing. I trust his judgment,
Usagi, you should too. We all know him, we've all fought him, we 
trust him to watch our backs."

"Uh, excuse me," Natsumi piped up from the sidelines, "but isn't 
sempai a girl?" She squeezed certain bits of Ranma's anatomy to prove
this was indeed the case. Ranma's mouth dropped open in shock. Rei 
looked a little jealous. "Yeah, these feel real. So why are you guys
calling her a man?"

"It's a very long story," Ranma said, still glaring daggers at Usagi.

Usagi glared right back at him. "That still doesn't explain -" She 
cut herself off as Makoto's knuckles dug a little deeper into her 
back.

"Quiet, Usagi-chan," she warned quietly.

Ami continued tapping on her laptop oblivious to it all. Mitsuki
smirked from one of the cupboards where she was leaning, opposite
to Natsumi. She glanced over at the young girl.

"Oh, don't worry about them, they're always like this," she explained
with a wave of her hand.

"Anyway," Ranma continued. "I brought her here to recover and rest,
as she needed it and was no threat to us. That was two days ago. 
Yesterday, she came to me. We talked a bit more, and then she gave
up this... dark energy that was within her, so she could keep on 
living."

"Once the Dark Kingdom gets its claws into you, you can't get free!"

"*Cough*Mamoru*cough*" said Rei.

"*Cough*Chibi-Usa*cough*" said Makoto.

"Hey, don't look at me, I don't know who the hell they're talking
about," Mitsuki muttered. "Although that Mamoru was kinda cute...
Oh but wait, Keitaro?"

Usagi's eyes slid around to her, daggers now redirected.

"Saved ya, lover boy," Mitsuki said, blowing a kiss at Ranma and 
sweeping from the kitchen. "Bye bye, boys and girls, I'm off to 
class."

silence reined, only broken by the sound of steam blowing from 
Usagi's ears. "That Mitsuki, she's getting too big for her boots!"
Usagi stalked from the kitchen as well, gathering her bag from the 
doorway and leaving with murder in her eyes. Ami sighed, and folded
her laptop closed.

"I'd best head to the university as well," she said quietly. "I've
got a free period this morning, and I want to do some studying
in the library."

"They're rebuilt it already?" Ranma asked, confused.

"No. It's a big university, there's a number of libraries,"
Ami said before waving and departing.

That left Rei, Makoto, Ranma and Natsumi. Now that the more 
hot-headed people had left, the tension in the room eased 
considerably.

"Ranma, was it really safe having her here?" Makoto asked quietly.

"Hey! I'm in the room here!" Natsumi spoke up.

Ranma gestured for her to come to the table. "Yeah. She's fine. She
was fine, too. She... had her reasons for being what she was. I think
she's learnt her lesson from it all now."

Natsumi shook her head. "I can't remember much at all. All I really
know is I... had a dream. Where I was stronger than anyone. And 
didn't have to put up with anything, least of all bullies."

"You've got a second chance, Natsumi," Ranma said, quietly. "Don't
waste it. If you want to change your life, if you want to change
you, don't take the easy way, okay? Do it the hard way. You'll 
appreciate it better if you earn it yourself rather than cheating
to get to the goal."

Natsumi nodded, digesting that.

"And now," Ranma said, standing, "I'd better get you home. I've...
also got someone else to see this morning. And I want to make sure
you're home safely before I go to... see her."

******

Mutsumi Otohime was very happy to see her younger sister again. The
woman wrapped her arms around the girl and wouldn't let go, 
smothering Natsumi in her promenant breasts until the younger girl
had to break free and gasp for a few moments to regain her breath.
Mutsumi thanked Ranma for finding her sister, and Keitaro appeared
from within the Hinata Sou's main building to say hi and see what all
the commotion was about. He recognised Ranma's female body, and 
remembered something bad about Natsumi, but before he could say 
anything, a turtle with strap-on scramjets bounced off his skull,
and he went down unconscious, while a girl with what looked to be 
African heritage chased after the turtle with a remote control.

Ranma left shortly after.

Now, in Nerima again. The last time he'd been here, he'd had trouble.
Big trouble. He still wasn't sure what that powder Nabiki had blown
at him was supposed to do; he guessed it was supposed to make him 
impotent or something. Considering the fact that everything seemed
to be working fine he guessed whomever had given it to her - Cologne,
most likely - had screwed her over. Sold her a bunch of magical
beans.

He wandered up one of the streets, towards the school. He had 
business there, this he knew.

It was well past time he brought this to a close, he felt. Some 
things had to be ended. The whole Nerima routine was getting old. 
Could still cause a lot of trouble, if Nabiki ever got people to go 
around Kuno. And heck, if Kasumi ever decided to weigh in on Nabiki's
side - and considering Nabiki and Akane were her baby sisters,
that was likely - Ranma would end up facing all of Nerima's 
antisocial crowds of thugs and former friends.

He found himself at the school gates presently, and paused, unsure
of whether he should enter or not. This wasn't neutral ground 
anymore, he had a feeling the last battle would still be fought here.
Too much had happened on these grounds for him to feel comfortable
there, now he was safe in his new life. Too much brought back 
memories.

But things had to be faced, brought to the surface.

Enough was enough.

He stepped inside. "I'm home," he murmured. The few students who were
spread out about the front courtyard turned towards him casually,
and fell silent, conversations drying up and people moving back 
towards walls and behind trees and other safe havens from the latest
coming storm.

Ranma only had to wait a few minutes before the front doors slammed
open and Nabiki stormed out. "I don't know how you twisted Kuno 
around, Ranma, but -"

Ranma held up a finger. "Shush, Nabiki. I'm not here for you." He 
nodded back at the doors. "I'm here for her."

Hotaru glared at him from a distance. "I did it for you," she pouted.

"I know. But it's time to end this. I can handle my fights by myself,
Hotaru-chan."

"I'm not your Hotaru-chan anymore, Ranma."

"What's happened, Hotaru?" Ranma asked.

"She's been acting weird since some guy turned up this morning to 
talk to her," Nabiki muttered to Ranma, before realising who she was
talking to. Then she turned away in disgust and stormed off again.

"What's happened, Ranma? I found someone else."

"So that's who Ranma dumped Akane for?" Ranma heard someone in the 
crowd say. "Wow, she's cute."

"He's not your type, Hotaru," Ranma warned.

"How would you know? What do you know about him?"

Ranma took a breath. "I know what he does to me, Hotaru. He makes
me feel tingly when I look at him. My knees go weak when he looks
at me. I find it hard to breathe when he's near me, I want to cry 
when he goes away." Hotaru's expression softened for a scant moment,
but she pouted again fairly quickly. "I know what you're going 
through with him, Hotaru-chan, and you should know... it's not real."

"Of course it's real!" she shouted back at him.

"It's not real! He's not good for you!" How else do you yell the guy
you're infatuated with is a Dark General? "He's a wolf in sheep's
clothing! He's... he's worse than I used to be!"

Hotaru paused, then walked down to Ranma, standing right up close.
She lifted a hand, stroked it along his jawline, gazing up into his
eyes ever so gently, ever so softly, then closed her eyes and kissed
him on the lips. Ranma returned the kiss, with passion, lowering
his head when Hotaru stepped back from him.

"He's real to me, Ranma. And he kisses better. And he's not afraid
to have sex with a sixteen year old."

The courtyard fell silent. Ranma's heart stopped beating, grew cold
with ice.

And then grew warm and bubbly.

He turned, to see the blond-haired man standing at the gates, behind
him. Smiling. The scent of roses wafted across the courtyard,
and Ranma's heart swooned, but he fought back against the attraction,
pushed it back into its box. "You can't have her," he said, more to 
break the sudden silence, prove to himself that Ranma hadn't gone 
deaf.

The man smiled again.

"He doesn't have to have me, Ranma," Hotaru breathed in his ear. She
stepped lightly across to stand beside him. "Yoshihiro already has 
me, sempai. Body and soul. He gave himself to me this morning...
in ways you can't give yourself to me, or just won't. I'm sorry,
Ranma, but you lost... to the better man." She shrugged.

"You can't do this...!" Ranma pleaded. "Take me, instead. I mean 
nothing to the others!"

"That's why he's picked me," Hotaru smirked. "Thanks in part to you,
he's down a general. Yoshihiro needs someone to take Natsumi's
place. That someone will be me."

"What's she talking about, Ranma?" Nabiki asked, despite herself.

"He's an evil bastard trying to destroy the world, and she's one of 
the biggest guns in the universe," Ranma said, his stomach dropping
into a deep pit of despair.

"You don't say."

"Doesn't your Master have anything to say for himself?"

"Someone as good as my Rose Prince has no need of words for the likes
of you, Ranma." Hotary looked sarcastically apologetic. "I'm so very
sorry. My heart is bleeding." She touched a hand to her chest in mock
sympathy.

Ranma looked at the ground. "I've failed you, then. I tried to 
protect you. I didn't want you to -"

"To what?" Hotaru looked amused now. "Ranma, I don't need protecting.
I don't need helping. I never did. I'm the strongest of the Bishoujo
Senshi, the prettiest of the soldiers in sailor suits. I am become
death, destroyer of worlds. I have destroyed such before, I will 
again. And if my Yoshihiro wishes it to be so, this world will be 
next."

The blond man looked down at Hotaru. She looked up, concerned,
a little upset. "But you said I could play with him a little longer!
Oh, alright." She thrust a hand high up in the air, reaching for the
sky. "Saturn Dark Transformation - Make Up!" High-speed winds whipped
up around the school, blowing over at least one tree Ranma could see.
Hotaru's clothes ripped and tore off, into tiny shreds, which then
reformed into her Saturn fuku. But the colours were all wrong. Where
once royal purple resided, now only a dark matt black lurked. The 
style was slightly different, too. The skirt was cut shorter, higher
on the hips. The join with the fuku itself was much more angular,
sharp. small spikes adorned the shoulder guards, and her tiara was a 
bright, shining silver, with a black gem inlaid into the centre.
her knee-high boots now also came higher up her thighs. The only 
thing seemingly unchanged was the Silence Glaive that she held in her
hands.

"Sensei. You taught me well. You trained me, when I was pretending
to be weak, to appeal to you. To make you interested in me. Well,
now you get to see how well you trained me." Mistress Saturn cocked
the Silence Glaive to a ready position as Yoshihiro stepped back from
the pair. "Ranma Saotome: now you die!"

And what was formerly Hotaru Tomoe, Sailor Saturn, now Mistress
Saturn of the Dark Kingdom, leapt at Ranma, right through his unready
defences.


TO BE CONTINUED...



SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Took a few days to write. This might seem a bit rushed in places...
it's not, it's got everything that was supposed to be in it. With...
something of a different ending. One thing about not writing so fast
is that I've got a lot more time to think on the ramifications
of certain actions. The end of this chapter is the result of some of
that work.

Hopefully, the next chapter will be as exciting as its seeming to be
in my head already...

Next time, on Love: The battle royale kicks off! Mistress Saturn
versus Ranma! Who will win? Who will lose? Will good triumph over 
evil? Will we ever really know? DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard
stuff. Existing characters are properties of the people who made them
up. Mitsuki, and several other characters are mine, and so's the 
story, hence ownership and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact
me at misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything
I've written for whatnot purposes.


IMPORTANT NOTE: During the writing of this chapter, our beloved
dog, a poodle called Georgie, died in my father's hands this morning,
Sunday 7th July 2002. As she was running around fine last night when
I last saw her, the fact she died so suddenly, in a series of fits,
has kinda shocked me. I'm guessing this will impact somewhere
on the writing in this and later chapters... I'm sorry if it does so,
but I think it is understandable. As such, I'd like to dedicate
the rest of this series to our dog, Georgie. May she be forever
more able to chase birds, gorge on avocadoes, sleep in late and keep
people warm in bed, as well as eat whenever and whatever she wants,
where ever she may now be. She will be sorely missed by myself,
my mother, my sisters, my two year old niece who adored Georgie,
our cat, Tammy, and most of all, my father, who she lived with after
my parents split up last year. Thank you for reading.




While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can 
control what happens inside us. -- Ben Franklin

LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 7

** Immortal Combat **


Ranma wasn't ready.

That was all anyone knew as the self-proclaimed Mistress Saturn leapt
at him from across the school's front yard. To those assembled,
it seemed as if she took forever to cover that distance in the one 
bound she took, yet they knew at the same time, that effect was only
illusion: she'd covered that distance in less than an eyeblink.

Mistress Saturn's knee kicked up into Ranma's chin. She didn't feel
it, but Ranma felt the force of an annoyed senshi drill through
his teeth and knock him back into the school's building. He thanked
kami that he'd hardened up through his years of training, and had 
taken somewhat worse kicks, but it was a hard time remembering
when.

It didn't help he was in his female body still, softer and weaker
than his male form. Not so noticeable to normal people, perhaps,
but in a fight such as this promised to be, Ranma knew it would 
count. The only real things it had going for it was the speed and 
agility he could display.

Balance could be a problem, though, if he fought to the exclusion
of everything else.

It was certainly a problem now, Ranma getting to his feet, the world
tilted at a weird angle to his senses. There was a flash of 
pseudomotion in the corner of his eyes, and he dropped, ducking
down until his head touched the ground, and whipped a foot directly
up behind him.

Contact. And a redirection of Saturn's path of travel to a new angle,
where she made a new entrance into a room adjacent to Ranma's landing
area. He righted himself, in time to note that Saturn was not getting
up.

No. It couldn't be that easy. Not Saturn. Not Hotaru.

Ranma hadn't had any illusions about the sickly-looking girl once 
he'd found out her secret. The power she displayed was awesome,
he knew she was capable of some serious power displays before he 
found out anything concrete. Like that whole blowing up planets
thing. Likewise, he'd known that she wasn't as ill as she made 
herself out to be, especially as time had gone by. But it was 
something they did. It was... personality. Closeness that neither
really felt they could otherwise display.

And now possibly never would again.

But that didn't hold with Ranma. He knew they would be back together
at some point. She'd helped him grow up, leave behind his 
childishness. Mostly, anyway. Now it was his turn to help her.

What she'd said moments ago, that wasn't her talking - it couldn't
have been. He knew that the Dark Kingdom overlord-guy...
this Yoshihiro? He knew that he had the power to control minds. He 
affected minds with power, at least. Ranma thought it surprising
none of the other senshi could feel him like both him and Hotaru
had... Hotaru, yeah, that she could feel his presence wasn't a 
surprise. But Ranma? Unless he was sitting on some kind of huge power
source not even he knew about, he wasn't even in the same league
as Hotaru in terms of raw energy.

Which left him a little confused there. So, maybe it was a by-product
of his martial arts training, and his skills in registering
ki auras.

Regardless, she still wasn't moving.

What she'd said had hurt Ranma. Badly. And he wanted to kick out at 
something. But that was the immature Ranma, what he'd been trying
to leave behind. The mature guy that Hotaru had remoulded him as...
well, that Ranma would walk into the room, try again to bring Hotaru
back to her senses.

He knew she was faking it. He knew there was no way that kick could
have injured her.

Not seriously, at least. Maybe knocked her about a little, and 
possibly the wall had something to do with it, but hell, Hotaru...
Saturn was a senshi. Stronger than human. Probably damned near 
immortal and invulnerable by Ranma's standards.

Yet he knew they could be hurt. Those monsters they'd been fighting
for a few months now routinely hurt the senshi. Scratches, bruises,
bite marks, gravel rash, burns, frostbite (in one case) among other
injuries. Hotaru usually patched up anything minor, even some major,
although there really hadn't been any serious injuries Ranma had 
known of.

Apart from his own.

Fighting that youma hadn't necessarily been the smartest thing he 
could have done, not expending all his ki like that, but hey, he'd
come out on top, alive, and was kicking again, several weeks later.

Mistress Saturn was completely motionless.

Damn it. Ranma knew what came next. This was in every movie he'd ever
seen from America. And whether it had been subtitled or dubbed,
he knew what came next: the hero turned over his former best 
friend/partner (who turned out to be the killer or other bad guy) 
thinking they were dead... and lo! They weren't and got kicked.

Just if Ranma copped another kick like he'd just taken, he wouldn't
just be bruised, he'd be counting the several hundred thousand
yen under his pillow in the morning.

And then spending it on dental work.

She was faking it. But he had no choice. He felt like an actor now,
stumbling lightly into the room, trying to clear his head and ready
himself for another attack from his beloved. What would it be? The 
way she was lying, if she could just bend her spine backwards
a little, she could give him a double-kick to the chin, flip up and
carry on. Possibly make a punch as high as Ranma's stomach if she 
twisted a bit... or was she expecting him to turn her over? She'd
have a much wider range of movement then. And could possibly fire off
an attack or two at him. Damn. Too many choices.

His feet felt the urge to make a Saotome Special Move right then and
there, but hell, he hadn't come this far for, he hadn't given his 
heart this much to, this girl to back out now. His feet reached
her. He squatted down next to her shoulder. All he could do was tense
up in the right places, relax in the others, and hope like heck he 
could move before she could connect with more than a glancing blow.

She was lying mostly facedown, but one eye looked off to the side,
staring in Ranma's general direction. It wasn't glazed, and in fact,
while he watched, it blinked, then the pupil swivelled to stare at 
his face.

"Sempai," she said, quietly, levelly. "Sempai. Why are you doing 
this?"

"I do this because I care," Ranma said, quietly. "I don't want to 
fight you, Hotaru, but if you continue, I've got to. Because it's not
just me you're hurting."

"Is that all you're worried about?" Saturn asked, voice still level
apart from a light questioning lilt at the end of the sentence.

"Look around," Ranma said, not taking his eyes off Saturn below him.
"These are my friends too."

"Didn't you know, Ranma? When you go out with a girl, you're expected
to lose all your friends."

Ranma stayed silent through the semi-flippant remark. Saturn still
failed to move.

Then he asked: "Why aren't you fighting, then, if that's what you 
want to do?"

"Because I'm bored already. We all know how this is going to end, 
Sempai. I'm going to grind your bones into paste, and eat you alive."
Her voice took on a slight touch of animation. And enthusiasm,
Ranma wasn't pleased to hear. "I'll spray you with hot water first,
though, because I want to see you naked. And not in your girl body.
I want to do things to you."

"Hotaru - you said it yourself: we're not an item anymore. And I 
don't do things like that with girls I'm not going out with."

"Oh, but I can do what I want, Ranma. That's what Yoshihiro did to 
me." Saturn smiled.

It wasn't pleasant.

"He set me free."

Ranma dodged the punch, and the follow-up punch, the triple kick 
series she threw at him then. He replied with a slower-than-normal
speed amarguriken that still impacted seventy or so times on her face
and upper torso. The sweeping kick behind her ankles the amarguriken
had diverted attention for found its way behind her, then brought
back suddenly, and Mistress Saturn found herself on the floor again.
She growled, and fingers clenched into the flooring, tearing furrows
as she pushed herself up. Ranma was impressed - her fingernails
didn't so much as flake or scratch.

"You're really trying to get me angry, aren't you?" she said.

Ranma countered, "You're doing enough in that respect for me to need
to help." He swept out another foot at her ankles, hoping to keep her
down until he could break through whatever conditioning had been 
forced upon her, but there was a slight black flash, and she 
vanished, reappearing behind him almost instantly in another flash
of black and slamming an elbow into his unprotected back.

His chin bit deep into the concrete, and the pain forced up once more
through his jaw reminded him of just how much stronger his opponent
was.

Ranma couldn't win this fight - hell, couldn't even survive! - if he
was going to tie his hands behind his back and lower his head to the
chopping block. There was no way he could bring Hotaru back to her 
senses by letting her beat him. He had to survive. She was strong;
she could take whatever he dished out, and more.

He converted his downward movement into the floor from Saturn's
blow into a forward roll, springing out energetically into a wall,
then catapulting back at her, firing ki through the lower half of his
body to accelerate his forward speed. Fists outstretched,
the moment before he impacted in Saturn's midsection, he extended
his body's ki forward from his hands, to create an accelerated
shockwave with his mass and momentum before he hit.

When his body did connect, her interior defences were down already,
having prepared for his body to hit her and been swept aside by an 
earlier blow than she was ready for. Saturn's breath gusted from her
lungs, and her eyes opened wide. She dropped from the air to the 
floor again, on hands and knees, coughing and wheezing, trying to 
regain her breath once more.

Ranma dropped down on the other side of her, brought his legs around
and back into her gut, forcing more air out. Tears formed at the 
edges of saturn's eyes, and for a moment, he saw his Hotaru-chan,
the one whom he'd promised and offered parts of himself he hadn't
known existed. Before him, she seemed to melt, wilt, as Saturn curled
up into a foetal posture.

Shrinking within herself.

Ranma stood over her, and was aware of people behind him.

"Ah! The fair pig-tailed girl!" Kuno. Drat. "Hath the vile seductress
posing as our Goddess been dispatched?" Kuno leaned forward past 
Ranma. "Ah. I see not. A noble gesture, to not kill one so fair and
feminine, yet this is one evil creature that cannot be allowed to 
breathe again." He raised his bokken, touched it to his forehead
in salute to his Goddess. "This dread corruption cannot be allowed
to spread to others, including my fair pig-tailed girl." His bokken
swept down, before Ranma could spring to stop its fall, but there
was someone else there between them suddenly. No flash of movement,
nothing Ranma or Kuno could note. He was just... there.

Yoshihiro smiled at Ranma. The smile did strange things in Ranma's
stomach and chest, hatching butterflies and tightening intercostals
to the point Ranma almost physically found it hard to breathe.
"My dear, this little game is for you and my girl yourselves.
No one else need intercede on your behalf." He flicked his hand, 
which had caught Kuno's weapon, and Kuno found himself flung through
the air and a pair of walls. When he hit the third, he sighed, hit 
the ground, and stayed there.

It was then that Ranma really began to fear for his safety.

******

Akane pushed to the front of the crowd, which wasn't as hard as she'd
have thought. Completely opposite to Ranma's usual fights in the 
school, people were running *away* from the sounds of combat. Akane
didn't know why; usually everyone at Furinken High enjoyed watching
the various grudge matches.

She caught sight of Nabiki running as if the very demons of Hell were
on her tail, and angled to intercept. She grabbed her older sister's
arm, and pulled her to a stop. "Nabiki! What's going on? Why's 
everyone running away?"

Nabiki's face was one of alarm. "They're tearing up the school!"

"When Ranma's involved, they usually do," Akane bit back.

"I mean, really! It's that Hotaru girl who started here recently!
She's fighting Ranma!" Nabiki pulled herself free, and ran for the 
relative safety of the other side of the school's big thick exterior
walls. Akane watched her go, jostled a few times by fleeing students.
Then she turned, and headed for a look at this girl Nabiki had 
mentioned.

Cold fire stoked up in her stomach as she considered the girls Ranma
was sleeping with now. There was a girl called Hotaru. Cologne had 
warned Akane and the other Nerimaians who regularly fought around
the ward about her. She was supposed to be insanely strong, devilish,
deadly. Apparently, one of her predecessors had levelled the 
Amazonian village in China some centuries ago, some beautiful
soldier for love and justice. Akane had laughed it off, but if Nabiki
wasn't standing around taking bets, then something was up.

And while Akane no longer counted Ranma as a loved one, let alone
friend, he had saved her too many times for her not to rub in the 
fact he had brought all this pain and suffering on himself. She'd
be sure to do that when he was broken and battered and looking for 
someone to fight for him. Kick him while he was down.

She nodded to herself as she stepped out into the front school yard;
that was a good plan. Start paying him back for the pain and 
suffering he caused her. Then she saw two things.

The first was the front of the school. Kuno's legs could be seen 
through one of the gaping holes that now adorned the building.
Classrooms were laid open. People streamed from the wreckage when 
they could. The fight going on inside was moving from floor to floor
and room to room almost faster than Akane could make out. Ranma's
opponent certainly moved a lot faster than he did on average - his 
amarguriken could still tip that average to his favour from time to 
time, but superfast punches and kicks couldn't be used to block or 
dodge the lazily-thrown punches and kicks that shattered the 
reinforced concrete of the building into dust. As such, Ranma looked
to be on the losing side. She watched as he made a couple of 
powered-up ki attacks, which would slam his attacker (a girl in a 
miniskirt and thigh-high boots?) through a wall or two. But she'd
get back up, and the blurring would begin again.

The second was the blond-haired man, standing just in front of her.
His black suit was untouched by the white concrete dust blowing
on the wind - in fact, he didn' seem touched by the wind at all. It 
was almost as if he was a television image, projected into the real
world, a person who obviously wasn't there. But when he turned,
Akane found why nothing touched him: it was his sheer force of raw 
power.

Her knees grew weak, and her heart started to beat faster and faster.
Her stomach grew butterflies, which tried to launch themselves
from her ears, and she could feel the pulse of a vein somewhere
up one of her nostrils, threatening to blow copious amounts of blood
everywhere in a gory spray.

Then he smiled, and her body stopped reacting. This guy was an even
worse pervert than Ranma! And not only that, but he had a shark's
smile. A method of measuring someone up visually, determining
how tasty one would be, and then making best use of them. He saw a 
person as a tool to be used, not as people to be treated with 
respect, dignity, loyalty. Something in Akane clicked. He was much,
much worse than Ranma, simply because as perverted as that idiot was,
Ranma did have respect for others, he didn't like making people feel
unwanted, or stupid (unless, like Kuno, they really asked nicely
for it), and Akane had to admit, Ranma was loyal. All the times she
had thought he hadn't been loyal to her, had usually been a 
misunderstanding. Usually.

He was only human, after all, and not some kind of god.

"We each have our champions, do we not?" the blond man asked Akane.

She got the feeling he wasn't expecting an answer, or rather, was 
expecting a demand for clarification on his meaning. But she got the
idea. This man was the master of the girl fighting Ranma, Hotaru...
Hotaru... they'd been introduced. Hotaru Tomoe? But she didn't look
like the sickly, pale child she'd met when she'd visited the Ai Sou.
No, she looked sexier, more dynamic, stronger. Had this person 
altered her to fit his needs? Maybe. Anger seethed inside her. Ranma
deserved what he got.

******

Another punch smashed a wall to slivers, most of which bounced off 
Ranma's hardened skin.

But not all. Several small slivers found their way into his eyes,
which watered uncontrollably. As a consequence, he missed the 
incoming punch that smashed into his stomach and lower ribs - he felt
one of those snap in three places and he cried out in pain as the 
jackhammer thrust him back through a pair of walls, and into a staff
room.

Teachers who had been in hiding, relatively safe until now, screamed
in shock as a young girl flew back-first into the tea urn on the 
wall. Hot water exploded everywhere, and the girl screamed, 
piercingly. There was a smell of lightly scalded flesh, a raw smell
that one or two of the teachers had been accustomed to with their
tea-drinking habits, albeit on a much smaller scale. The girl stood
up painfully, shirt torn and in tatters hanging off her shoulders.
As she stood, those who watched were amazed to see a transformation
take place in the girl's body as generous breasts sucked inwards,
arms and thighs muscled up, the bone structure of the face shifted
with an almost painful grinding sound, her soaking wet pants, already
clinging to her skin, swelled around a growing bulge in her pants.
And then her, rather, his hair colour darkened from red to a deep 
midnight black.

Fingers curled up painfully in red tones, as Ranma forced his fingers
into a fist. He felt like an overripe fruit, thanks to the boiling
water. Not merely hot, but boiling hot. He was burnt, he was hurt 
from the fight - physically injured, actually, something he could
proudly say didn't happen often - winded, and seeing double. Wait,
triple, he decided as he realised there were three images of the Home
Ec teacher peering over a couch at him.

Through the hole in the wall he'd made, Hotaru approached. Mistress
Saturn, Ranma forced himself to think of her. He had to think that.
He was fighting for his life here - but not just his own. Also that
of Hotaru's. And the other senshi. And the students of this school,
and its teachers. The people in the streets beyond, beyond Tokyo,
beyond Japan. He was fighting for people globally.

He didn't want to find out if all the senshi assembled in one place
could take down Mistress Saturn - heck, that ditzy Sailor Moon would
likely wanna ask her to be friends, and that hadn't gotten Ranma 
anywhere - and he was quite sure that even if all the assembled
senshi *could* bring Mistress Saturn down, Mistress Saturn and 
this... Yoshihiro, neither would allow the senshi to fight as one 
force. So it fell to Ranma. Here, now.

At least he had his male body back now, soaked as he was. The 
transformation after so long had been painful, made even more painful
by the injuries he'd suffered in the meantime. But his male body was
much more resiliant. Much stronger. But that tradeoff came at the 
cost of a few milliseconds of speed. Something that would count 
dearly today.

"Ah," MIstress Saturn said, stepping through the hole. "I see you're
ready for me to ravish you now?" she asked, brightly.

Ranma shook his head.

"Oh, so sad, so sorry... but I'm going to anyway." Saturn took 
another step forward, bringing a hand up. It crackled with power.

******

Usagi poked her head back into the lounge. "Where did you say you saw
my lunch, Rei?" she asked again, louder this time.

But Rei was standing motionless, in a trance, in the middle of the 
lounge. Her mouth moved, and her voice was quiet, raspy, as if coming
from somewhere else. Her eyes had glazed over. Usagi waved her hand
in front of them, to no avail.

And then she heard Rei's words.

"savemeranmahelpmeranmaineedyouineedyoutohelpme"
she said, in the low monotone that gushed forth.

"What?" Usagi asked.

"bestrongdontcrysavemehelpmehearmeineedhelpranma"
Rei continued.

Usagi waved her hands back and forth some more. "Earth to Rei! Earth
to Rei! Are you tripping out on me?"

"ranmagrabmestopmehelpmememeineedyouranmaonlyyou"

"Will you get off him already? Hotaru's his girlfriend," Usagi 
snorted. "And he's so not cuter than Mamo-chan."

"ranmaineedyouranmagrabmeholdmemakemeyoursagain"
More from Rei.

Usagi sighed, gave up, rolled her eyes heavenward. "And you so need
to stop masterbating over him late at night."

Rei snapped back to herself as Usagi spoke. She glared daggers at the
blond, then turned and hurried from the room, yelling, "Ranma needs
help!"

Usagi followed Rei outside, where the other senshi were assembled,
waiting for Usagi to rgab her lunch and return. They were looking
at Rei's retreating form as she sprinted for the stairs, yelling
back, "Hotaru's gone evil! She's attacking Ranma!"

The others didn't hesitate. They dropped their bags, and ran for the
stairs, henshin wands being pulled from pockets as they went. All 
apart from Usagi.

"I just wish we could all go back to chasing after Tuxedo Kamen 
again, like we did in the old days," she grumbled, before 
transforming and following the others.

******

Mistress Saturn leapt forward, believing Ranma's injuries to be too
great. But she should have remembered, Ranma didn't give up that 
easily, at least, not since he'd been fighting with the senshi.
Not since there was a woman in his life who enjoyed fighting 
alongside him, someone better than him whom he had to strive to match
on her lowest level of power. Someone who gave him the will to not 
run, to try and hold out, even if it was only until someone had a 
free hand to help save him.

It was nice being saved sometimes.

But this time, there was no last second save, no reserves of energy
he could call on for the one final blow to put Mistress Saturn down
long enough to change her mind again, no way out except fighting
as he had been. And then running. Try to get Mistress Saturn to a 
place where there were fewer people around, where she could brawl
it out with him all she wanted, until he could bring her around.
Surely, her feelings for him wouldn't allow her to kill him, now, 
would they?

She leapt, faster than most people's eyes could see. But Ranma was 
faster, even in his male body. He dodged to one side, injured rib 
howling in protest and agony, and brought a ki-enhanced roundhouse
through from behind and snapped it into the base of Mistress Saturn's
skull. She flopped to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

And perhaps, for the moment, they were.

Ranma didn't stick around to see how long it'd take for her to 
recover from that hit. Not long, if the way her eyelashes were 
quivering was any indication. His hardest blow, capable of perhaps
levelling a small building - the concussion wave from the connection
had momentarily deafened Ranma, as well as blown out the few 
remaining windows in the main school building - had at best knocked
her unconscious for a few moments. Moments which he used to the best
of his advantage.

Ranma grabbed the remaining teachers, and leaped from one of the 
holes in the walls, landing in the courtyard of the school before
making sure the teachers didn't hit the ground too hard. His rib 
howled again, he gritted his teeth against the pain as he stood.

Facing Yoshihiro.

The taller man applauded slowly, a smile creasing his face. "Very
good, Mister Saotome. Very well done, indeed."

"I'm not going to fight you."

"I know you're not. You're a smart fighter. You know when you're
outclassed."

"I don't know what you did to her, but it won't last."

"Perhaps not," Yoshihiro conceeded. "But it'll last long enough to 
suit my purposes."

"Did you...?" Ranma couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Did I? Or did I not?" Yoshihiro's tone was slightly mocking. "She's
a young girl, Mister Saotome. She has needs. Wants. And you're so 
totally unaware of them. Can you fulfill her? Can you make her dreams
come true? Can you do what she's aching for? Be the man she's lusting
for?" The blond man shook his head. "No. At the moment, you can't."

At this point, Ranma noticed Akane - well, noticed Akane in the sense
that he finally let himself relax around Yoshihiro, convinced
the Dark General would not yet attack him out of hand. He stared.
"Did he -"

Akane shook her head. "Why would you care if he did, though?" she 
asked, bitterly, rhetorically.

"Akane, you'll always be my friend," he returned, feeling that the 
sentence described his emotions towards Akane so lamely, he was 
surprised she didn't immediately try to hit him. But the tears were
worse than that. Akane wasn't good at holding them back, not the 
angry-sad tears she gave when upset. "Whether you can still believe
that after I left you, I don't know. But I can tell you -"

From the school building behind them, there was a scream like 
fingernails on a chalkboard. Mistress Saturn had awoken, very much
on the not-happy side of things. Ranma turned to look at the school,
then back to Akane, pain in his eyes. "- that I don't have time to 
tell you now. I will, though, I promise."

Then, with a final glare at Yoshihiro, he leapt from the courtyard,
and fled the scene.

A few moments later, Mistress Saturn dropped heavily from the air to
the ground beside Yoshihiro. "Do you want me to go after him right
now?" she asked, panting a little. She leaned her head to the right
until her spine cracked, then glared at Ranma's fast-retreating
form.

"No," Yoshihiro sighed. "For the moment, he's a fun diversion.
Let him go. You'll get to play with him again, soon." He turned to 
Akane, and tipped an imaginery hat. "It was nice talking to you, Miss
Tendo. I hope we meet again one day. But alas, you won't remember
me if we do." With that, he passed a hand over Akane's face, and she
toppled to the ground like a log. He looked towards the direction
Ranma had disappeared in, and sighed. "Yes, fun indeed..."


SAILOR MOON SAYS: 

Waaai! Another fic went by without a title. Chapter 6 shold have been
titled "RUDE ENDINGS" but hey, I got a title for this one!

A few problems during the writing of this fic. Two loved pets dying
within a week seemed to put a crimp into my writing ability, sapping
everything. Not writer's block, I had the ideas, I just couldn't
write when I sat down to do it. Which sucked dramatically,
since I've got an original anime-styled series to start getting
notes down for. Waah. But my art has been going fine, no problems
there much, so I'd been continuing on with that. (also for the first
two weeks of term, I was working 3 days a week, and on average,
gone from the house another two days during each week and online
nowhere near as much, so that prolly had something to do with my lack
of writing ability, too)

So, what's coming next chapter? Well, hard to say. This part of the
arc is gonna be a two-three chapter thing. So this is more a what to
expect in the next few parts rather than necessarily just the next
chapter. There's a new senshi made (oh, someone will DIE, says Ranma
in his micro-mini). The cats return! They've been gone too long, 
being housetrained. And to all the people who think Hotaru betrayed
Ranma... look closely at this chapter. It answers it all for you as 
to why they're still together at the end of this arc :) (Man, this
is *so* like a Mr Squiggle episode... upside down, everyone!)

Bye 'til next time! DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing
characters are properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki,
and several other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence 
ownership and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.


LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 8

** What Would Ranma Saotome Do? **


"Hotaru," breathed Ranma, "Come on, you can do it!"

Mistress Saturn struggled, visibly, the goodness and light within
breaking free from the shackles that had bound her core of being,
returning once more to the surface. The darkened fuku lightened
again, into the familiar royal purple of Sailor Saturn, the woman
Ranma Saotome knew well. The rest of the costume stretched back into
its normal cut and positionings, and Saturn shook her head. 
"What...?" she asked slowly. "What happened?"

"Yoshihiro had you enslaved," Ranma said, leaning forward to comfort
the younger woman. "He took you over, made you do bad things."
Over Ranma's shoulder, Saturn could see the bad things. She could
also see Tatewaki Kuno, standing off to one side, eyes bowed in 
tandem with his bokken, standing in silent salute to his goddess.
"But it's all over now, you're better now."

Saturn's eyes moved, taking in the damage and devastation.
"I did this?"

"That's of no importance. You didn't hurt anyone. He made you do it.
It's his fault."

Saturn's eyes grew large and round, as she remembered the things
she had done, the atrocities committed by her hand, in her name.

No.

In *his* name. By *his* hand. Ranma was right. Ranma was always 
right. She pulled free of Ranma's embrace, turned to face Yoshihiro,
fire burning in her eyes. "This time, you die," she growled, feet 
sinking into the concrete as she powered up her ki aura. Ranma 
stepped back, happy to see his most favoured pupil had learnt all he
could teach. She was stronger, no, maybe just as strong, no... just
a little less stronger than him.

He had to be the stronger one, else he couldn't help her from 
Yoshihiro.

Wait. *Was* the stronger one, because he'd saved her from Yoshihiro.

No. Dammit, that didn't work either. Ranma sighed, slapped the top of
a concrete wall in frustration as he leapt past. Fantasy life was all
well and good, but unless he could figure out that all important
*how to SAVE Hotaru*, there wasn't much good in thinking past that
point.

Another fence came up, and his toes barely touched it, ki blsting
out through his feet to propel him once more into the skies once 
more. Furinken High School was in the distance now, far, far in the
distance. The devastation away from him. He had known Hotaru was 
strong, heck, he'd felt the pulled punches in training, and SEEN the
punches that could pulverise reinforced concrete when in combat.
And he'd known that, even then, she was holding back.

For Sailor Saturn had the power to level planets, something that put
Ranma right out of her weight class, as it were.

So, how was he to 'bring her back'? He couldn't beat Yoshihiro's
influence out of her, if anything that'd strengthen it. But likewise,
he couldn't expect to face her, try to turn her, without it getting
physical. Damn. That made things difficult. Because, while Ranma was
dodging punches, kicks and seemingly-magical attacks, he'd also have
to be changing her mind. And while taunts were easy to produce,
the level of conversation Ranma suspected would be needed to bring
her around, to get her to throw off the dark cloud holding her in 
thrall herself, could very well be beyond him as he nursed various
broken bones and missing limbs.

An evil Saturn was a Saturn unbound by moral strictures.

Not good, in other words.

Suddenly, he stopped his bouncing. The feeling he associated
with Yoshihiro while in his male body, a shivering hatred that 
crawled up the back of his spine into his skull, had vanished.
So had the currently-blackened star he associated with Hotaru. Both
had gone... somewhere else.

He turned to face Furinken. Nothing. Not so much as a murmur of 
either feeling. He could rest. But what could he do now? He flexed
a hand, clenched it into a fist. Pain rippled up it, a sensation
similar to dipping his hand into a jar of needles. It didn't seem to
be damaged, he surmised on inspection, and decided that he was coming
down off his adrenyline high, and the pain of transformation
while still a little weakened and after so long was now surfacing.

Where could he go to calm down, to relax, to meditate, until the pain
was gone? He couldn't get far. And yet, this was Nerima. Unless he 
wanted some serious problems in the immediate future, Ranma had to 
move on. He tensed his legs to leap upwards again, but pain wracked
them, and he doubled up, eventually falling off the fence he'd 
stopped on. Thankfully, he didn't fall into the stream on the other
side of the fence, but instead onto the soft grass of a small garden
on the side of a pathway. Ranma curled into a small foetal ball, 
tried to focus beyond the pain, and found he couldn't.

So he did the next best thing, and passed out.

******

Sailor Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Nemesis gazed at the
ruined school building. Students, dazed, were already starting
to wander around. They seemed to be used to destruction, but this 
time, something was so seriously wrong, that they weren't sure how to
react. Shellshocked was the word Mercury had used. Sailor Moon 
believed it. Mercury had said something about punches and kicks 
breaking the sound barrier, and the compression waves in the 
atmosphere from them having the same effect on the students as the 
blast wave of compressed air from a bomb burst had on soliders.
Sailor Moon believed that, too, even if she thought Mercury was being
overly simplistic in having to describe the same phenomenon twice.
Sailor Moon thought Mercury was a little shocked herself.

And she had to admit, she was, as well.

The school's front building was ruined. Not levelled to the ground,
but the holes smashed through entire sections, flooring destroyed
on most floors, support columns smashed beyond repair, and the 
foundations shifting under the concussive onslaught they'd been 
forced to endure. The building was a waste. It would have to be torn
down anyway.

And still the students wandered.

One walked up to them, a wooden bokken held at his side. "Verily,
it seems my day for the fortuitous arrival of goddesses," he said,
in a noble-sounding voice. Slightly superior, yet offering his 
inferiority to those before him. He bowed his head, spoke with his 
eyes lowered to Sailor Moon. "Speak, order me that I might do your
will."

Sailor Moon glanced at Mercury, who was still staring through her 
computer's visor at the ruined building, then back to the young man
before her. She guessed he was attractive in a way, traditionally
so more than anything else. And his shoulders... reminded her of 
Mamoru. Big. Square. Solid. Shoulders for holding on to in the depths
of night.

Uh... back on the job, she chided herself. Out loud, she asked, "Do
you know who did this?" knowing who had, but needing to find out for
certain. Confirmation would hurt, knowing that once more, Saturn
was corrupted. But Rei had already told them such, and this was a 
mere formality.

Yet, a formality that had to be observed.

"Yes, my lady, it was the goddess Saturn, she of the raven hair and
the short skirts." Sailor Moon noticed him eyeing the hem of her 
skirt, as well, and shifted position slightly so as to hide as much
of herself as she could. Which was difficult, but possible, if one 
was imaginative.

"That sounds like her," she said, turning to Mercury.

"Was it the name 'Saturn' that was the dead-giveaway for you, Sailor
Moon?" Mars asked, sarcastically.

"Hey! We've got a problem here that includes one of the senshi and 
our dorm's manager!" Sailor Moon growled. "You think maybe we can 
keep the bitchy comments out of it for once? Just once? Hmm?" Mars
shrank back a little, deciding that now wasn't the time to needle
Sailor Moon. Truth be told, she felt a little unsure of the situation
and of herself as well. She'd felt the enemy's influence inside 
Saturn, the dark tendrils of power twisted around the core of her 
being. The scared little girl, calling for help, at the centre of it
all.

"Mercury!" Sailor Moon called, gaining the senshi's attention.
Mercury retracted her visor as she turned to face her leader. "Is 
there anything you can tell us from this? What turned her? Is Ranma
still here?"

"You know that scoundrel, Ranma Saotome?" the man asked, with a 
little disgust in his voice. "I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder
of Furinken High, shall tell you of the vile deeds he has done before
being co-opted by my goddess -" his voice cut off as Sailor Moon's
hand slapped across his mouth. She gave him a dirty look before 
turning back to Mercury.

"Sailor Mercury?"

Mercury shook her head. "As far as I'm aware, neither is here. There
aren't any bodies... Ranma must have done his best to contain her.
I can't find any bodies."

Jupiter whistled in appreciation. "Well, he can fight, we know that
now."

Mars nodded once in agreement. "And he survived against a pissed-off
senshi. He's gonna get higher marks in my book. I'm definitely
listening to him more in training."

Nemesis was staring at a point on the ground, in front of the 
building. She'd been staring at someone lying there for some time,
hadn't offered anything to the conversation. Then she left the group,
headed over towards the person.

"Who is it?" Mars asked.

"I think... it's Ranma's ex-fiance," Nemesis replied, bending and 
scooping up the unconscious young woman. She raised her voice as she
stood up. "Can someone tell me where this girl lives?"

******

Cologne had felt the micro-airbursts from the concussive blasts 
inside her restaurant. A fight. She had paused, considering.
A serious fight, she decided. Very serious, the way a whole shelf
of plates had jumped to the ground after a particularly large one 
shook the Nekohanten. Mousse turned to face the direction of the 
school also.

"What was that?" he asked rhetorically, knowing full-well what it 
was. What he meant was more along the lines of 'who IS that?"

Shampoo poked her head through the interior door. "Aiya! 
Great-greanmother!"

"Yes, child," Cologne mused quietly, "I feel him, too."

"Feel who?" Mousse asked, lost. Then he adjusted his glasses as 
realisation hit him. "Oh. Ranma?"

"And someone else. Someone strong."

"Girl who save me," Shampoo muttered from the doorway.

"Interesting," Cologne said, almost to herself. "Son-in-law
is doing well, too." Another powerful crump rattled cups. There was
a pause, and then nothing. Silence. The energy flows Cologne had been
sensing drained away, and Ranma's presence departed the school.
"Very interesting. Shampoo, Mousse, I think it time we pay the 
Tendo's a visit..."

"Why we go to angry girl's house?"

"It's time, Shampoo. Son-in-law is weakened, and hurt. The enemies
of the tribe will be out to avenge him. Our time has come, for 
revenge."

"Revenge?" Mousse asked, pushing his glasse back up his nose. "For
what? I've never heard of anything like you've described these women
to be before."

Cologne gave the nearly-blind man a withering glare. "You are not 
privvy to every morsel of history of the tribe, Mousse. I suggest
you remember that, and do as I say."

******

The senshi weren't the only people to leave the Ai Sou to investigate
the happenings in Nerima. Two cats, one white, one black, stood over
Ranma's unconscious form. Luna turned to Artemis. "Should we wake 
him?" she asked, quietly.

Artemis considered. "Let him sleep. Whether Sailor Saturn hurt him or
not is beside the point. He's had a massive shock to his system,
both emotional and with this physical change again after so long...
I suggest we let him rest a while longer."

Luna nodded slowly, in agreement. But there had to be something
they could do to even up the score for Ranma, to let him actually
stand a chance against a rabid senshi. As Artemis padded off, Luna
came to a decision, and ran through a series of mental calculations
before attempting a small backflip. At the apex of her flight, a 
small interdimensional vortex opened, and a henshin wand dropped
from it into Ranma's hand. "Rest easy, Sailor Ceres," she whispered
in Ranma's ear before following her partner.

******

Soun Tendo answered the knocking on the front gate with a scowl.
A critical moment in the shogi game, and he just KNEW his playing
opposition was going to somehow be winning when he returned. He'd 
often suspected Genma Saotome of cheating, yet Soun had never caught
him at it, and just as often decided he'd forgotten what moves had 
been played recently, that he hadn't been paying enough attention.
Yet this time, this time, he had Genma. He had him dead. It was 
Soun's turn to win.

So he opened the gate, and a young woman, tall, in a black short 
skirt, and a white sleeveless top with a black bow, strode past him
and into the house. the clothing looked like an abbrivated school
uniform, Soun thought idly to himself, but not a local one. While
his mind was processing satorial information about the intruder,
the rest of him caught up to the fact there were another five girls
trailing after her. A blond one stopped next to him, gave a cheery
smile, and said, "Relax. We're the Bishoujo Sailor Senshi, and we're
just returning your daughter." Then she too disappeared into the 
house.

"Are you friends of Akane's?" he called out, but to no avail. The 
girls were gone. He shrugged, decided whatever it was didn't concern
him, and shut the gate before walking back to the game board.

A quick study of the board followed. And silence.

Damn. What was he thinking with those moves? He'd just given the game
away to Genma.

******

Nabiki threw open the door to Akane's bedroom, and with the force
she used, it rebounded off the end of its track, bouncing back into
her. Trying not to succumb to embarrassment and trying to project
an image of anger, she snarled, "What are you doing with my little
sister?"

One of the shorter girls, with a blue colour scheme, looked up from
beside Akane. "I assure you, your sister is safe. We wee just getting
her home safely."

"Safely? One of you bitches just tried to KILL us all!"

The women exchanged glances. Then one of the two blond women stepped
forward. "Hey, it wasn't her fault. She's been possessed by a dark
force from an alternate dimension!"

"Great going, Sailor Moon," the raven-haired women muttered, "Now 
she'll think we're CRAZY flirts."

But Nabiki paused. "I've heard worse stories," she admitted. She 
seemed to accept the version the blond with the dumplings stuck on 
her head had put forward with little more than a nod and she moved
up beside Akane, and checked her out. "What's wrong with her? I 
didn't see her get hit."

"Do you know what happened at the school?" the woman in the blue 
skirt asked.

The one in black grunted. "There was a fight. She got knocked silly
by the shockwaves of those punches."

Nabiki shook her head. "No, Akane's stronger than that. I bet it was
that guy who had been playing with Hotaru's head this morning..."
her voice drifted off as she calculated various methods of gaining
revenge for injuring her little sister, none of them pleasant - none
of them physical, and all of them financial.

"He... uh, what did he do to her?" Dumpling Head asked again.

Nabiki shook her head. "I don't know. They were talking while Ranma
and that other girl were fighting, and then I lost track of the guy,
and of Akane. When I saw her, you women were standing over her. But
you grabbed her and took off before I could get to you."

"We moved faster than you could have followed," the one in the red 
skirt said. "So how did you know where we went? And how did you get
back here so fast?"

"Kuno-baby told me where you were headed. I took a shortcut."
Nabiki shrugged.

"Was it just talking?" the one in blue queried, a concerned look on 
her face.

Nabiki shrugged again, her attention focussed on her sister. She 
knealt down beside Akane, stroked her face. Akane's features stirred
under the light sensations across her face. "I don't know," she 
repeated, eventually. "But Hotaru... she wasn't the kind of girl to 
exactly fly off like this. Cruel and calculating, perhaps, if she's
been spying on us for this long, and her words were calculated
to do the most damage they could to Ranma... heck, even I could see
that... but..." Nabiki shook her head.

"Oh my," someone said from the doorway. As one, the senshi turned,
beheld yet another of the Tendo sisters. This one was older; Kasumi.
"What happened to Akane?"

Something about her made Mercury's spine shiver in apprehension,
but she couldn't find anything visually about the older woman that
screamed BAD PERSON at her. Almost unbidden, her visor dropped over
her eyes, but again, while it gave off warning indications,
it couldn't pinpoint anything in particular. It flipped back upwards
into her tiara, and seeing as the other senshi appeared to have the
same apprehensions as she had, she spoke for the group. "A... friend
of ours, under the control of some master mental manipulator,
attacked Ranma Saotome at the local high school. We're not sure 
what's wrong with Akane. I suspect she's just sleeping. She should
wake any time."

Mercury's words were prophetic, for Akane stirred, moving her arms
and legs, then opening her eyes. "What happened?" she asked.

"No one really knows, Akane," Nabiki said from her side. "I saw you
talking to the guy who twisted Hotaru's head around, and then he was
gone and you were unconscious. Did he... hit you or anything?"
Akane shook her head.

"Maybe he hypnotised you?" the girl with the dumplings-styled
hair said brightly. "You know, that happens an awful lot. Or these
bad guys have bright, beautiful young girls fall in love with 
them..." Her voice trailed off as she realised everyone, including
the happy-happy sister standing in the doorway, was staring at her in
disbelief. "What? It happened to a friend of mine, okay?" She blushed
and turned away.

Kasumi stepped back from the doorway, and the dark aura seeped back
from Mercury; perhaps she'd been imagining things? Because, after
all, no one could be that calm and happy and relaxed upon finding
a bunch of strange women in her little sister's bed, with her little
sister stretched out, cold, on her futon. She gave a smile, tilting
her head. "It's good to see you're okay, Akane," she said, earnestly.
"I'll go get some refreshments for our friends." She smiled again,
and was gone, walking down the stairs towards the kitchen.

"Do you remember anything about the man you were talking to?" Mercury
asked the tired young woman.

Akane stared up at Mercury, confusion in her eyes. "I was talking
to a man?" Her face and mind were a total blank.

******

Ranma stirred, finally. The pain had receded eventually, and now, it
only hurt occasionally when he moved. Which he wasn't doing a lot of.
conscious thought took a little while to make sense, and thus he was
thinking very, very slowly. What would he do? What was his next move?

There was a weight on his chest. It hurt his damaged rib, which was
knitting as rapidly as his more serious injuries seemed to. Something
cool, something hard. A hand reached up, clasped the small object.
It warmed instantly at his touch, this object, about the size of a 
pen. Seemed to be some kind of metal, but it was responding to him.
He raised it up to the point where he could see it clearly.

One of the little transformation wands the senshi had. He'd seen 
Hotaru's often enough to know what one of those things were. But he 
hadn't seen the design on it before...

Oh dear. He had a bad thought. This... wasn't his, was it? Oh Kami,
it was... The thought embarrassed him.

Yet, it would give him a better chance at holding Hotaru... Mistress
Saturn... at bay while he tried to break through whatever mental
whammy Yoshihiro had placed on her. It would give him an advantage,
too, as she wouldn't be expecting another... what? Magical girl? Like
a female form given by a cursed spring wasn't magical enough? He 
snorted.

A closer squint at the wand showed the word 'Ceres' etched into the
symbol affixed to the end. Weird. Did this mean he was going to have
to wave the wand and yell out one of those embarrassing 
transformation activation phrases the magical girls did on 
television? And then suffer an even more embarrassing transformation
sequence in which he'd likely be naked in front of a whole lot of 
people?

Possibly.

But at least he could make it a little less embarrassing.
Now, about this time, Ranma knew, there was a certain woman who would
be doing her washing...

******

"Now?"

Even to the lowest of the surviving Youma in Yoshihiro's pocket 
dimension, Mistress Saturn sounded to be whining. She'd been at him
since they'd returned, Saturn seeming to walk with a little limp that
had repaired itself within minutes, and a slightly torn uniform
that had been the interest of many of the shorter creatures in the 
main thronechamber.

Yoshihiro sat, eyes closed, face perfectly composed. Mistress Saturn
couldn't tell what was going on inside of him... but she knew what
she wanted. She knew this man. Or rather, he knew her. Knew her in 
ways Ranma could never hope to know her. All the items she'd glossed
over or just not told Ranma about when she'd been Hotaru... every
hope, every dream... every fear.

The little girl who'd cowered from lightning had been pulled 
screaming into the darkness under the bed by the scaly hands of a 
monster the likes she'd never hoped to see. And Mistress Saturn knew,
that little girl was still inside, not fighting, but only because
she thought she was powerless. Yoshihiro's hold over her was... well,
dependant on this young one's fear, her shame, of another knowing
her perfectly. Of having peered into her soul.

That had made it easier for the subtle magics to work on her, that
had locked her personality up, let her urges take control, the darker
impulses that hid witin even the most purest of hearts. All he had 
needed was an opening. All he had needed... was her attention.

Yoshihiro was a master manipulator, and growing to be a master 
stratigian as well. Umiko stood to his right, slightly behind the 
throne, with a slight smirk on her face. If anyone questioned
it, it was gone. But to those who kept a wary eye on her, she who was
already becoming known as She Who Had Removed The Popular One, she 
looked assured of her position, of her place.

The mother of the Master had its perks.

But Saturn cared for none of this. "Please! You said another time!
You said soon! I could play with him again soon!"

Yoshihiro didn't show it, but he was considering. It didn't suit his
plans to have the young martial artist removed quite so permanently
from the picture yet... and the longer Mistress Saturn waited, the 
longer she was forced to bide her time, the more likely she'd do 
serious injury to Ranma. And yet, allowing her to go now, while he 
likely hadn't recovered, she could very easily forget when to stop
playing with him and kill him by accident.

But then, he considered, Ranma's ki levels were rising once more.
His life force was beginning to pump ever stronger, and even in the
few days he had been observing Ranma in his female form, Yoshihiro
had been surprised at the rpgress the martial artist had made in 
recovering his strength. Even at the end of the fight with Mistress
Saturn, Ranma had been recovering, scratches and grazes pulling
tight and closed, bruises fading, even what Yoshihiro suspected
was a broken rib appearing to give him less and less trouble as he 
talked before leaping away over the school fence and disappearing.

However, there was also the chance that this powerful new toy he'd
acquired would revert to her previous personality. He'd found she'd
been possessed before, not by someone quite as skilled as him, but by
someone slightly more powerful. For the moment, at least, he allowed.
She'd set up defences, knew how to fight it, could make his creation
pause at a critical moment - if only she'd stop crying and wailing
for help; Yoshihiro could hear her in his mind, through the link he 
shared with all his children.

Ultimately, though, she had an itch. And it needed scratching.
He nodded at Mistress Saturn. "Go. Don't kill him. Return when you 
are done."

Saturn flashed him a savage grin, twisted and vanished from the 
dimension.

******

"It is always nice to see you, Cologne, but why are you here?"

"Soun Tendo, you know as well as I do you are hiding guests from me.
I merely wish to give them my welcome." Cologne shifted on her 
walking stick, giving an air of openness, and indifference.
Shampoo and Mousse stood behind her in flanking positions, neither
looking like they were ready to fight, but Soun knew that both were
extremely competant fighters, and were quite capable of dealing
with him, even from a standing start. Not that he consciously
thought of that.

Yet he wasn't going to give anything away.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Soun said, stalling,
wondering who the girls who had brought Akane home were. Wondering
if they knew they'd somehow made a powerful enemy. Cologne didn't
just come over for nothing, especially when Ranma wasn't around.
Did this have something to do with him? Soun didn't know. He was 
aware of Nabiki peeking from Akane's window upstairs, then her face
vanished. "My daughter Akane is inside, though, and she has some 
friends over. Perhaps you mean them? Would you like to meet them?"

Cologne nodded.

******

"Do you guys know her?" Nabiki asked quietly, careful so her voice
didn't carry beyond the room. The three Amazons downstairs were 
reknowned for above average hearing.

The woman who'd introduced herself as Sailor Nemesis looked contrite.
"I nearly killed her daughter," she mumbled.

Nabiki stared. Then remembered Cologne's story of the evil women 
Ranma lived with. "You're... the girls from the dormitory?"
she asked, confused, as the knowledge linked itself together in her
brain unwillingly and she compared the senshi to the girls she'd so 
briefly seen. "All of you? Well, I guess Hotaru is..." she muttered
to herself.

The senshi looked at one another uncomfortably. They hadn't known
Nabiki for long, but they already knew something of her wont for 
exploiting people via blackmail to make money... would this be used
against them at any time? Akane broke the silence. "Well, if you're
like that Hotaru girl Nabiki knows, I guess you're all magical girls,
too." She mentally chidded herself for being so obvious. "What I mean
is, you've all got... non-magical forms? You might be able to hide
that way."

"Why?" asked Sailor Moon, herself a little confused.

"Because the woman coming up the stairs now doesn't exactly like 
you," Nabiki explained.

That was an argument the senshi didn't exactly like. However, there
was still the problem of transforming in public. Most didn't like 
transforming within Ranma's sight, and he had known for a lot longer
just who most of the senshi were. But Nemesis shrugged, not wanting
to hurt the young woman Ranma called Shampoo again, and let her alter
ego slip from her like a cloak. The others followed suit.

There was a light tap at the door. "Akane?" Soun asked, quietly.

The door slid open at a tap from Cologne's cane. She peered into the
room suspiciously, saw Akane propped up on an elbow on her futon,
Nabiki sitting next to her with a hand on her shoulder. And on the 
floor around the futon were a number of girls, about Shampoo's
age. Cologne glared, but recovered from her surprise; she'd been 
expecting much more powerful people, not mere children. "Greetings,"
she croaked.

Further conversation was halted by the sound of air rushing inwards,
smashing together at supra-aural velocities. Half the roof above 
Akane's room was smashed, ripped upwards by the sudden creation
of vacuum, revealing a hovering patch of darkness. It was two 
dimensional, more like a painting than a doorway, yet Mistress
Saturn stepped through it, landed lightly on the rim of the wall 
surrounding Akane's room, and smiled cruelly in towards the assembled
people.

"I see my beloved isn't here yet," she sighed theatrically,
"so I guess I'll have to take my frustrations out on you."

The senshi leaped to their feet, yet didn't transform; they waited
for Sailor Moon to give the signal. Kasumi tensed, too, but then 
relaxed. "Oh, hello Ranma," she said, cheerfully.

Everyone turned to look past Saturn, out through Akane's window into
the yard.

On the fence opposite stood Ranma, in his female form once more. He 
looked angry, hands bunched in fists. One held something that none
could make out.

"That's one step too far, Hotaru," he said in a quiet tone, yet it 
carried across the yard perfectly. Everyone else stayed silent.

"Oh? Is it, ex?" she sneered. "I mean, you couldn't stop me before,
not properly, what makes you think you can stop me now?"

"This." Ranma held up the henshin wand clasped in his fist.

"Hmph," Saturn sniffed. "They were just to get your attention
anyway. I didn't really want to hurt them. Nothing's as good as 
hurting you, beloved."

Ranma twirled the wand in his fingers, then grabbed it tight, held
it high. "Ceres dirty great big rock - make up!" he yelled, saying
the first thing that came into his mind. Thankfully, someone above
had taken note of the fact Ranma had no idea what he was doing with
the wand, and it activated, the transformation sweeping through
him, reassembling his clothing into the standard senshi fuku design,
coloured in greys. Mistress Saturn gave him an unappreciative
glance and made an unimpressed noise deep in the back of her throat.

"I guess we fight on even terms?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean, the colours aren't really my thing - you should have gotten
a yellow or something, I think - but hey, whatever works for you."

Sailor Ceres smiled. Nabiki shivered; it didn't look that pleasant.
It promised much destruction, much property damage. Idly, she 
wondered where her calculator was.

"You think I need this to fight you?" Ceres said, raising the henshin
wand. "I mean, do you think so little of my fighting skill, my 
unenhanced strength? My will? My character?" Ceres smirked. "I don't
need no change wand or short skirt to kick your butt."

And with that, Ceres raised the wand above his head, lifted his other
hand to grasp the other end firmly. He paused.

"NO!" shouted Sailor Moon.

"No!" cried Luna from a nearby rooftop.

And Ceres pulled down with both hands, pushing upwards with both 
thumbs simultaneously. The wand bent for a moment, then snapped
under the unrelenting pressure. Ceres' fuku billowed outwards into
dozens of grey streamers, then reassembled in Ranma's normal outfit
of loose black pants and a red Chinese shirt.

Nabiki was puzzled. "Ranma doesn't need to play dress-ups to beat 
her," she muttered.

Ranma's hand pointed up at Mistress Saturn, who was now puzzled.
"I don't need anyone else's help to beat you, Mistress Saturn! I am 
Ranma Saotome, your sensei, your boyfriend! I know you in ways that
Yoshihiro could never know you, because you let me, and he forced
his way into you. I will free you, and I don't need any help in doin'
it!"

Saturn made to say something, but Ranma's pointed finger and shout
stopped her dead.

"I am Ranma Saotome. And I am going to kick your ass."


SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Whew... another chapter finished... yay! I won't say for sure, but I 
might have the next chapter finished in a week or two... don't wanna
lose the momentum I got with setting up the cliffhanger for this 
chapter :)

so, next time: Hotaru's back. How's this going to affect her? 
DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters are 
properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.


WARNING: There is some bad language used in this chapter. Note if you
don't like four-letter words, or aren't allowed to read them, skip
this chapter.



LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 9

** Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough **



Saturn went to say something. Ranma knew what he had to do now. He'd
worked out the script in his head.

Well, the start of it. Basically, get his girlfriend... if that was
what she was, still... angry enough to make mistakes. Then to get her
down on the ground, make sure she was anchored safely to the ground,
and try to bring her around once more. He knew this woman. Knew her
as well as someone could without being her. Her ki had told him 
everything she hadn't, and she'd known. He knew when she was sad, 
when she was angry, when she was happy... when she was shy. The small
nuances in her gestures and speech, he'd known from them, too. This
Yoshihiro, who'd twisted her mind and body, hadn't gotten to know her
like that.

He'd had to have rammed his way in with his influence, pushed what
made her interesting and unique to one side, stolen her mind and used
what little bit of her that interested him: her power.

That, and her attachment to Ranma himself. Ranma was beginning
to feel that Yoshihiro was making this a personal vendetta between
the two of them. Why, Ranma didn't know. At the moment, he didn't
really care, either. His girlfriend stood before him, ready to speak,
anxious to spout forth with whatever malicious bile she could 
generate to injure Ranma before he could make a move.

That made him so really not interested in knowing why Yoshihiro
was interested in him.

So he pointed his finger, filling it with all the rage and pain he 
felt, willing his bones back into position, forcing his bruises
to fade. He pointed at Mistress Saturn. He opened his mouth. Sucked
in a breath.

"I am Ranma Saotome. And I am going to kick your ass."

Saturn stopped, momentarily stunned. Obviously, either she or 
Yoshihiro hadn't expected this. Most likely, Saturn had expected
Ranma to plead once more for the return of his Hotaru-chan,
innocent child that she was, and fall to his knees and beg that she
be allowed to go free.

But hey, Ranma encouraged anyone to have an active fantasy life. 
After all, that's the only way people like Kuno got dates, wasn't
it?

A foot stamped into the ground, and Ranma's blast of ki sank it into
the hard dirt of the Tendo's, sending chunks of the stuff upwards
as the energies pouring from Ranma's body momentarily altered the 
force of gravity around him. His other foot pushed backwards into the
ground

and then he was moving forward, a full-body amagurriken smashing
into Saturn's unprepared defences. Ranma's full bodymass, smashing
into her unprepared body at near supersonic speeds, created a huge
force that not even a senshi could halt in its path. She pulled a 
fist down, to smash into his back

but Ranma was gone again, and she barely stopped from thumping
herself in the gut. Saturn growled, looked skywards to where Ranma
floated, taunting her with a face. She pushed off from the ground
herself, tucked her body up around her, twirling her Silence Glaive
in her left hand while her right made to pull back for a punch.

In the tenth of a second this had happened in, Ranma had dodged back
to the ground, spinning around on his way and sending a heel into her
stomach. She stopped her forward motion suddenly, eyes opened wide
as she fought for breath. It wasn't long in coming, and she blinked
from the sight of the Tendos watching again.

There was a smash at one end of the yard as part of the wall was 
demolished, then a scant heartbeat later, the wall at the other end
of the yard exploded. Soun raised a hand to ward off the projectiles
spreading outwards from that explosion, before noting that he had 
half-a-dozen young women in sailor outfits around him again.

"We've got to deflect these chunks from hitting anyone!" Sailor Moon
yelled.

Nemesis prepared to leave the Inner senshi to their work and join 
Ranma, but she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned, and saw the
hand was connected to Kasumi Tendo.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Kasumi smiled. "Ranma knows what
he's doing."

"So do I," Nemesis countered.

The air in the room chilled slightly as Kasumi frowned. "He has 
already paid off his debt to this family for abandoning my sister,"
she said quietly. "You won't be good for him."

"I'm going to help my sensei," Nemesis said again, and made to shake
off the elder Tendo sister's hand, but Kasumi wasn't shaken off that
easily.

"I said, you can't help him."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Nemesis said, trying not to get
angry, trying to ignore the voices coming through now. Most of them
were tugging her outside, to the fight with Ranma, at any cost. At 
least one, though, was suggesting equally strongly that she remain
here as Ranma was possibly in trouble from other sources as well.
This other character people had reported at the school was troubling,
and conspicuously absent. Would he turn up to threaten her... her 
sensei?

That voice won out in the end. There may be threats other than 
Hotaru. And yet, in not helping Ranma fight Hotaru, that placed 
Mitsuki in a slightly worse position in the romantic stakes. Damned
if she did, damned if she didn't. She decided to watch the fight and
hate herselves.

******

A fist traded places with a foot traded places with a forehead
traded places with a knee with a fist with a fist fist foot elbow
double-fist at speeds faster than normal eyes could follow. Ranma
didn't let up on Saturn, knowing if she got a punch in, he'd be that
much slower. Two punches, he could be nursing broken ribs again.
More than that, and he would be in serious danger.

He was in his female form at the moment, and thus wasn't quite as 
strong as he would have liked. But there was no time to go looking
for hot water to change back to his male form, and it wasn't like 
Ranma could just stop the fight and heat some up. No way was Saturn
going to sit with him and drink lemonade while he waiting for a 
kettle to boil.

Five minutes into the fight, and Ranma's concentration was still 
strong. His body was worsening slightly, though, as even Saturn's
near-misses were bringing with them walls of wind strong enough to 
raise bruises. His punches and kicks, though, were beinging delivered
faster than Saturn could move. For every near miss of hers, he 
connected more than two dozen times.

Moving too fast for the eye to follow once more, Ranma brought a leg
up in a very unladylike manoeuvre, and brought Saturn to her knees,
a shocked look on her face.

"Hey, works on girls, too," Ranma complimented himself. He noted to 
himself that the NEXT time he was set upon by a super-strong
invulnerable woman, he'd knee them in the groin first up and save 
himself the injuries.

A quick spin-kick brought his right heel in behind Saturn's head,
and smashed into the base of her skull. She groaned, and thumped
to the ground.

******

Over. It was over.

Ranma had breathing space.

Caught his breath. Stood upright, sucked in another deep breath as 
bruises caught up with him. He picked a few chunks of stone from his
hair, rubbed the small amounts of blood seeping from microcuts
along his jaw from his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

And heard the stone chink behind him.

"Oh, is that ALL?" saturn asked, pulling herself to her feet. She was
bleeding in several places, bruised, fuku ripped and torn around
the edges where near-misses and actual impacts at supersonic
velocities had pulled the superstrong material in different 
directions faster than it was capable of withstanding. Her arms held
just out from her body, she brought them upwards in semi-circles,
passing each other over her stomach, and as they travelled, her 
injuries healed. Damn.

Ranma couldn't do that. He couldn't match that healing ability of 
Hotaru's. He'd only been hoping somewhere in the most primal parts
of his brain that believed in elements taken from religions he'd been
exposed to throughout the years that she wouldn't have access to that
power.

Yet, he knew it was a weak hope. She had access to all of Saturn's
other powers, presumably even the power to destroy the world.

But Ranma was banking on the fact that Yoshihiro most likely had 
other needs for Earth, and he wouldn't allow the planet to be 
damaged.

Well, much.

Ranma, on the other hand, was only going to be safe so long as he 
provided some entertainment for Mistress Saturn. Which, considering
the fact she just *had* to be playing with him, toying with him, 
possibly wouldn't be quite as long as he'd hoped.

Whatever he was going to do, whatever rabbit he was going to pull 
from a hat, he had to do it fast.

Thankfully, speed was something Ranma had gotten pretty good at 
using.

******

Mistress Saturn was still smirking when she realised the Ranma she 
was looking at was an afterimage. Her brain, operating at speeds
faster than that of a normal human, detected his energy signature,
moving incredibly fast at her. Her eyes hadn't yet caught up to his
movement as she snapped a forearm up to block what would have been
a devastating kick, and flipped Ranma back.

His feet smashed into the yard's concrete wall, knees bent under the
force, but somehow, rather than smashing through the wall and through
the next block of houses, Ranma transferred the kinetic energy he'd
been given from the blow into forward movement again, and with fists
outstretched in front of him, Ranma blasted his ki forward of 
himself, creating a wall of sheer willpower about to hit her.

Saturn spun, flicking a leg upwards as she did so, and made to block
the energy with a snap-kick as she came around, but Ranma cancelled
the wave at the last instant, her kick passing through nothing but 
air. Mistress Saturn overbalanced, her posture ready to absorb the 
force of the energy, and she started to fall - helped greatly when
Ranma's speeding body smashed into her midriff.

Air rushed from her lungs again, and she swore loudly, swinging
a fist through the location Ranma's head had just been in.

Her target no longer there, Saturn's fist continued its wild swing
around, unbalancing her further. A knee crunched in the small of her
back, and her eyes rolled back as she uttered a pained groan.

Her opponent danced backwards, out of reach. She staggered into an 
upright position, murder in her eyes. The Silence Glaive swung into
her hand, spun around in her fingers as easily as a cheerleader
spins a baton. She could hear the minute sounds of air molecules
being sliced in half.

Giving Ranma no warning, she leapt at him, slicing the Glaive through
where he had been mere microseconds earlier. His feet touched lightly
on her head, bobbing it down. As she forced it up to try to unbalance
her quarry, Ranma bounced higher. She jabbed the Glaive upwards,
and Ranma, with nothing to bounce off to alter his direction,
twisted in midair and emitted a burst of ki from his hands that 
enabled him to dodge just enough for the blade of the weapon to pass
harmlessly through his clothing rather than his torso.

Feet padded to the ground behind her, and Saturn turned, bringing
the Glaive down low. Ranma ducked lower to have it pass overhead,
missing an ear by less than a centimetre. He flipped onto his back,
and when Saturn brought the weapon down again, he actually caught
the blade in his hands, offered MIstress Saturn a cheeky smile, then
pushed off again, taking the Glaive with him.

"Give that back!" Saturn snarled.

"Oh come on," Ranma chidded, "Surely I taught you better than this,
Saturn. I mean, weapons? A battle between warriors is fought with the
greatest weapons of all! Hands, feet - body parts, y'know?"

"I am stronger than you!"

"Oh, sure, but you're stupid."

"Stupid?!?"

"Yeah," Ranma countered, twirling the Glaive around and testing
its weight in his hand, gazing appreciatively at the reflected
pattern of light on the blade as it spun. "I mean, ya know, you had
me convinced you were some evil bitch now. For a little bit. Like,
half a minute. And this Yoshihiro, he's using you. I know that. I 
guess you're not quite stupid enough to not know that."

Saturn's feet thumped deeper into the ground as she grew ever more
angry, and power flowed from her freely, creatinh a visible aura 
around her body. "I'm his new General," she replied, finally, voice
tight.

"Nah... see, that's not true, even," Ranma said, tossing the Glaive
back to Saturn. She caught it in one hand, spun it behind her back
in a ready-posture Ranma had taught her with bamboo sticks. "He 
doesn't want another General. Especially not one of your power. 
'Cause, he can't trust you. By definition, he *has* to be stronger
than his Generals... and you're stronger than him. What if you wanna
take over? He can't stop you. And if he could, you could blow up the
world."

"Why does this mean I'm stupid?" An evil glare.

"Oh, no reason, really. Bad guys are always just stupid. It's like
a natural law or somethin'."

The smirk did it. Mistress Saturn gave an inarticulate roar of anger,
and sped at Ranma. He dodged, easily, and she pummelled through
a wall, into the street beyond, and into a house on the other side
of that before she checked her charge and turned. Ranma stood in the
street, smirking more. It was that arrogant smirk Saturn had seen 
often as Hotaru, and even as Sailor Saturn, the smirk that Ranma gave
an enemy who was defeated and just didn't know it yet.

She wasn't defeated, though. She was still stronger than Ranma, could
heal herself faster, could last longer. Ranma couldn't match her 
endurance. And although he kept hitting places that really hurt, and
she was in no mood to try and stop fighting long enough to heal 
herself from the more serious tags, she could still withstand
more physical damage than Ranma could.

She decided to prove that.

******

The blur of motion wasn't as fast as Ranma was capable of moving,
but Ranma was tiring a little by now. In the five or so minutes
since the fight had started, he'd been moving at as close to top 
speed as he could, and although he'd recovered a lot of energy in the
past month and a half from that youma attack under the university
library, he felt as if he wasn't yet at peak fighting capacity.
He often felt drained, slow, weak... indeed, it had only really been
little more than an hour and a half since he'd last expended a lot of
energy fighting Hotaru... Mistress Saturn.

He still had no idea how to bring her back, but he'd succeeded
already in the first half of his self-appointed mission: he'd gotten
Mistress Saturn angry.

So angry, in fact, it might be hard to contain her aggression.

And Ranma, tiring, couldn't move from her path quickly enough.

It felt like a freight train hit his chest.

Something snapped, and he felt pain. Agony, actually; pain was too 
simple a word, didn't have within the makeup of the word the 
associated sensations now playing hell up and down his nervous 
system.

Yet, that remarkable internal energy that fuelled him had him on his
feet again within a second. A hand clamped down around the ribs that
had given under the force, the other held up, ready to parry or block
Saturn's follow-up attack.

The kick swung at his chest again, Saturn obviously hoping to 
capitalise on the injury she'd just caused. Ranma's free hand 
intercepted it, but the force drove him backwards, feet digging
deep furrows in the surface of the road. The pain lessened as the 
ribs started knitting under his hands, and Ranma brought up his 
second arm to assist the first in parrying and blocking. Give it a 
few more of Saturn's swings, he thought, and he might be able to go 
on the offensive again.

He didn't give any untoward attention to the fact he was healing
a lot faster than normal, but then, his attention was focussed
elsewhere rather intimately.

Saturn's fist slammed into his braced forearms, the impact stinging.
A bone gave in his left arm, but he shook the bone back into place
and gave it no further thought. A pair of quick blows came in towards
his head, and rather than parry of block them, Ranma bent over 
backwards at the hips, hands grabbing the ground, Saturn's fists 
passing through the space where his head had been.

With Mistress Saturn already overbalanced and committed to her move,
Ranma flicked his body upwards, wrapping his legs around Saturn's
midriff on the way, brought her up and over his body, and slammed
her headfirst into the ground.

But this still wasn't helping cure her. Was only helping hurt her.
Hurt her more than she'd already been hurt. Ranma was starting
to find he didn't want to be doing this, that if there was no 
breakthrough in the next few minutes, if she didn't come to her 
senses, he might have to leave her to live out her new life. He 
didn't know what to do. At an impasse mentally, he missed Saturn's
next attack: a punch that threw him back through the exterior wall
back into the Tendo's yard.

His jaw severely bruised, Ranma rubbed around his mouth with one hand
while his other tracked Saturn. She'd just healed herself again while
he stood there, and smirked at him. She was still angry, but 
obviously once more feeling in control, superior to her ex-boyfriend.

"So, Ranma, no cocky comments now, eh?" she asked, teasingly.
"Tell you what: give it up now. I'll make you like me... we can do 
things together."

"Whad kund uf dings?" Ranma asked, trying to get some feeling back
into his jaw.

"You know, kinky games involving game show hosts, frogs, candles
and intimate apparel, walks along the beach under the light of a 
burning city, eating the livers of hardworking manga artists...
I can think of lots, lots more fun things for us to do." The smile
in her voice disturbed Ranma. Yet, there was almost something
underneath it that appealed to him. Not in the attractive way, but 
something calling for help. There wasn't the casual disregarding
of their previous relationship apparent at the moment; no, she was 
suggesting it could continue.

*IF* Ranma joined her. Or if she joined Ranma...? She wanted him. But
why? Moderating influence? No. Likely support in a move against
Yoshihiro. But wouldn't he have forseen something like that 
happening? Surely, since he'd manipulated Natsumi in the way he had
into making such a challenge a few weeks earlier by making sure she
had the power to support her attacks on his primary General, he'd 
have known what Saturn would do once she had Ranma on her side, 
supporting her? Ranma hadn't actually thought he was right earlier,
about bad people being inherently stupid - if he was right, there
couldn't have been so much unsolved crime in the world - but if he 
hadn't known what would happen if Ranma lost this fight, or joined
Mistress Saturn, then he had to be some kind of extremely special
idiot.

But perhaps it was something else. While he had a moment to think,
he wondered...

******

Nemesis had watched the fight with worried interest. She'd watched
her sensei take hits that should have turned him into jelly. She'd
watched him deliver blows that could have demolished buildings.
She'd watched the arrogant smirk on his face that had been making
Mistress Saturn even more angry than before.

Saturn obviously wasn't having fun right now. She seemed to be 
tortured. In two minds. That was something Nemesis had great 
experience with... if one added in a lot of other numbers to that low
amount of personalities. She had guessed Ranma was trying to find 
some method of bringing Hotaru back to the surface. Bringing back the
runt would make certain things more difficult, as Nemesis had already
worked out, but it could make things even worse. Her feelings for 
Ranma, stretching back as far as they did, had some of her more 
obsessive personalities in an uproar over the fact he had a 
girlfriend that wasn't her. If she ever forgot to take her pills one
morning, or thought once again she was cured, or could handle the 
voices pulling her into that deep sea of molasses again, she might
end up doing some things she'd later regret.

Like kill someone.

Most likely Hotaru. Although her track record with men wasn't too 
good, either. She'd hate to kill Ranma.

But... loving someone meant being hurt. Because, Nemesis had found
out long ago, loving someone as much as one could didn't mean that
their feelings back would be that great... or even a noticeable
fraction of that amount. Yet, all one could do was love that person,
and do whatever one could to help that person when in time of need.

And Ranma was in time of great need.

For all his strength and newfound maturity and his street smarts,
Ranma didn't know much about people's minds that wasn't related
to combat. His emotive maturity that had recently started showing
through, that side of him that now amde him stop and consider what
he was about to say before he opened his mouth, his intelligence,
none of that helped when dealing with matters of personality.
And Nemesis knew lots about that aspect of life.

She thought, and thought hard, while the two combatants faced off 
silently. Ranma's jaw seemed to be clenching and unclenching,
Saturn's fists bunched and unbunched while she waited for a response.
For all the fact she was dressed now as a tart of some kind, with the
smart-assed, hatefilled personality to match, she seemed to be really
worried about Ranma's decision. Like she was wanting him to help her
take over the Dark Kingdom's forces or something.

Help...

Something clicked in her head. She turned to Mars. "You made a 
psychic connection with Mistress Saturn, right?"

Mars ndoded. "Yeah. Back at the dorm. She sounded scared."

"Needing, right? Wanting to be saved?"

"Yeah. By Ranma."

Click. "She sounded like... herself, right?"

Mars nodded again, curious as to where this was going.

Nemesis whipped around to face Ranma. "She's still in there!" she 
yelled. "Wanting you to help her!"

"I guessed that," Ranma shot back. His voice sounded normal again,
which was good. "This whole 'join me and together we can rule the 
universe' thing kinda gave it away."

"No!" Nemesis tried again. "I mean, Hotaru's wanting you to help her!
She's in there, scared and alone while someone else has control
of her!"

Mars stared at her. "You want to try giving her your pills?" she 
asked, incredulously.

Nemesis shook her head. She went to yell something more, but Ranma
had gotten the idea. Before Mistress Saturn could react, Ranma had 
sprung into action, grabbing her and leaping up into the air, 
disappearing across rooftops at blurred speed. Saturn's Silence
Glaive dropped to the ground, bounced once at each end, then settled
at rest on the grass.

******

Saturn hadn't been ready for the manoeuvre. Ranma had leapt at her,
dodged around to behind her, then wrapped his arms up around her 
shoulders from under her arms, locking her into position with a knee
in the small of her back. She twisted, struggled to get free, but she
felt the kick of ki being expelled from Ranma's feet in great 
quantities and they took to the air. With her arms trapped, trying
to break free caused her to drop her Glaive. But she knew Ranma 
couldn't keep this up forever. He was likely just taking her to 
somewhere people couldn't get hurt in the crossfire.

Not that Saturn cared. Not really. People were just sheep, Yoshihiro
said. Sheep, following one another in their insignificant
lives. How much better would they be, forced into some kind of order?
What kind of cities could they build, what sized monuments to their
rulers could be erected with a properly harnessed workforce?

Strange... Mistress Saturn had a flash of crystal spires, massed
gardens, city layouts based around transmission of natural 
energies... but then it was gone.

Ranma touched down in a park devoid of people. Animals scampered
into hiding, and Saturn prepared herself to fight again, preparing
to whirl around once Ranma released her to spring back for his own 
preparatory movements for his next set of attacks.

But his arms didn't move. They stayed locked around her, firmly.
Saturn struggled, pulled, but Ranma stuck to her like glue, didn't
let her break free. He was silent behind her.

She tried to elbow him in the stomach, and succeeded, but apart from
the quick rush of air from Ranma's mouth, he didn't make a sound,
nor did he let go of his captive. She was still trapped.

And she felt trapped. Nervous now, she tried to pull away again,
tried smashing Ranma backwards through a tree, dropped to the ground
and rolled on him. Yet still he held on. She got up, saw a cemented
rock wall. She turned her back to it, and charged it, feeling Ranma
sink into the wall with a light burst of ki at the last moment to 
stop from doing any serious damage to himself.

Finally, knowing he wouldn't and couldn't be thrown so easily, she 
asked, quietly, "Why won't you get off? Don't you want to fight me 
anymore?" She heard to start of a whine in her voice, hated herself
for it.

"No," Ranma said from behind her ear, equally quiet, almost breathing
in her ear as he spoke. The feel of his breath tingled along her 
earlobe as it was, exciting her, also calming her from the rage she'd
been enraptured in. "I didn't want to fight you at all, Hotaru.
And I finally realised I was doing this all wrong."

"Wrong?" She struggled again, fruitlessly trying to rid herself
of what was suspiciously starting to feel like a conscience.

"Yeah, wrong. You see, Hotaru, I think I was trying to give you a 
chance to fight this... possession yourself. Trying to get whatever
is in your mind preoccupied enough so you could take control again.
But... that didn't work. Because what was in your mind... is you. 
Your darker impulses given form, set free and given control of you.
Nemesis just gave me the rest of the story."

"What story?" Saturn had slowed her struggling now. Still angry,
but curious. She told herself she was merely waiting until Ranma 
loosened his grip, and *then* she'd attack.

"That you were wanting help. I wasn't giving you that help." She felt
Ranma shrug behind her. "I was being me. Everything's something
to beat up, that's the solution to every problem."

"It is!"

"Nah... mostly, it is. But not always. And this is one case where
me hitting something isn't going to do much good. So, I'm going to 
hold you."

Hold her? He thought he could do this for any length of time?

Ranma continued. "You're not liking this. You hate this. Hate what's
being done to you. What's being done in your name. And me, I'm being
a bad boyfriend. I guess I have a thing about girls hitting me now...
Akane did it for so long, and so did shampoo and Ukyou even...!
I... I didn't like being hit again, by you especially. And so I 
fought. I didn't stop to think that there was another way of looking
at this."

"What way?" Saturn was caught up now, despite herself. She gave a 
struggle, more for image than anything. Ranma's grip was still too 
tight.

"That I was being stupid. Trying to get you angry, distracted...
it's my fault, Hotaru. I should have paid more attention to you. I 
know that now. I didn't notice you being manipulated... well, not as
much as I should have. I was too busy feeling jealous, thinking
of myself rather than thinking of you."

He let Saturn go then, and she didn't move, for a moment startled
by the move into inaction. Besides, Ranma's body, alternating
between soft and hard behind her, was kind of nice...

But then, reason kicked in. And she jumped from him. Turned around
to face him. His face was full of compassion for her.

No, not for her, for what she had been.

She felt tears come to her eyes. Felt her fingers bunch up into 
fists.

"I'll always be here for you, Hotaru," he said, simply.

She punched him. Hard. She felt the bone give under the force of her
impact. Then she punched him again, with her other fist. Not quite
so hard. Ranma was knocked about, but always turned back to face her,
compassionate, somehow seeming as something much superior to what she
was. It was the smile. That one that said, "I know what you're going
through, and I know how much you're hating yourself right now, but 
I'm here for you in any way you need, and if that's beating me up, 
well, then, go to it."

And she did. She punched, punched, hit Ranma as she could manage
it. It wasn't a particularly fast pace - in fact, Ranma seemed to be
healing almost as fast as she was injuring him. And still that look.

Then his face changed, blurred somehow. Saturn blinked back the 
tears, swelling hotly in the corners of her eyes. She continued
to hit Ranma.

"Damn you! Fuck you! I HATE you!" she howled. "I fucking hate you!
You did this to me, you didn't care, you played with HER!" Another
punch. More tears.

Then the punches grew lighter, the screams of anger transformed
into sobs of despair and self-pity. She couldn't get any force into
her arms to smack Ranma around anymore, and Ranma took her into his
arms.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to her as she sobbed. "I'm just so 
sorry."

Saturn was happy he was sorry. Happy, viciously happy, and hoping
that he felt at least as bad as she did right now. She couldn't
hold onto her transformed form any longer, and Ranma's arms tightened
around her that much more, drawing her in closer to him, resting
her head on his chest. "Why didn't you notice?" she whispered.

For that, for the moment, Ranma had no words.

Then, Hotaru stopped her sobbing, was quiet for a scant moment as she
Remembered. "Ooooohhh..." she got out before bursting into some 
serious tears. Ranma guessed what she'd remembered - the damage done,
the people injured, those she'd tried to kill for fun - and stayed
silent, holding her, stroking her hair, wondering - now that the 
threat was over - just how he'd manage to pick up the pieces.




SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Sorry. She says sorry. So do I. First things first, excuses. Those
who remember that our dog died a few months back might be happy to 
know we've got two puppies recently. We bought them a month ago, two
little brothers, toy poodles again, gorgeous as sin. But for the 
first two weeks, I had to look after them constantly, had almost
no computer time, thus got no writing done. Following the period
where I needed to be around them 100% of the time, I got an upgrade
to the 3d software I do what I laughably occasionally call art with,
and I spent another 2 weeks bringing myself up to speed with the new
features. So, it's been a month before either of my current series
have been updated.

Did start this chapter, and chapter 3 of X-Com, about a week ago, but
this one's had me stumped until tonight. And the ending of this 
chapter nearly had me put it off for another few days, until I could
figure out another decent ending (since I suddenly realised when I 
got to it that my original plans just wouldn't hold any kind of 
water).

Now, because I wanted to get some sleep, and to have this chapter
posted tonight before I disconnected from the net, there's some stuff
missing from the end of this chapter. But... in all honesty, it 
doesn't belong here, but in the next chapter or two... people dealing
with Hotaru. Hopefully will have the next chapter up in a 
fortnight... hoping to settle into a routine of doing a chapter
of this one week, one of X-Com the next, but may speed up 
occasionally, or slow down as needed due to RL or writer's block.
But am trying to keep to it at the moment.

Okay, thanks for hanging in there until I got this chapter finished,
thanks to the guys in #void for putting up with me saying, "Okay,
gonna write tonight... *yawn* damn, too tired, heading to bed" an 
awful lot more often than I'd have liked.

Next time: The dealing. The pain. The agony. Are things back the way
they were? Will Ranma tell Hotaru just where he swallowed that 
dictionary? Who knows? Not me, I just write the damned thing...
DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters are 
properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.




LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 10

** Sometimes, That's All That's Needed **



"So, you feel better now? That's good. Here... I think it's mostly
clean. Wipe your eyes... that's better."

"Danks."

"You sure you're feeling better?"

"Yes. I... I think I'm okay."

"So... why you do it?"

"Please... I'd rather not talk right now. I just want your arms 
around me."

"You know that's a given. I mean, I really should have -"

"Shush."

"But -"

"Not now. Maybe not ever... they're things that..."

"... don't need to be talked about right now?"

"Maybe... maybe not ever. ... You ever just look at the sky?"

"Yeah. Sometimes. Whaddya think I do on the roof all day?"

"I thought you were looking to avoid Usagi."

"Well... she's got that whole 'idiot' air about her, you know."

"She's not all that bad. She's one of the most caring people I 
know... one of the friendliest people, and just... so nice to people.
She's not the sort of person who'll say no to someone if she can."

"That doesn't sound so good."

"She's also fairly... mmm... chaste doesn't quite fit there. 
Committed, though, yeah."

"I see her in the kitchen and think she SHOULD be committed,
sometimes."

"Hee hee... you really did try her cooking, didn't you?"

"I'm not sure if she's worse than Akane, really."

"She's a good person."

"I'm not disputin' that. Really, I'm not! Just she can be too much
ta take at times. You know? And ya gotta get away from that 
sometimes."

"Mmmm. But the sky..."

"The view from the roof of the dorm's good. Great, too. So blue...
so big... yet seeming so small."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember I told you about the training trips my pop and I took? We 
went to some places where there were really big spaces. Flat fields,
no hills or mountains in sight. Just huge flat regions. And man...
the skies you'd see out there... really huge. Like, so much bigger,
ya know? Because there was nothing to put them in... scale...?"

"Perspective?"

"Mmm. Just nothin' to give it perspective. Nothing to say, this 
hill's bigger than the sky! This tree's huge! Nothing. The sky went
from the flat ground on one side of the horizon to the flat ground
on the other side. And there was nothing in between. Really brilliant
blues. And storms in those places were somethin' ta see... huge black
and purple and grey clouds... big bursts of lightning and rolls of 
thunder... the skies here are nothing, really."

"You're taking away my enjoyment of this moment."

"You ever seen anything like that?"

"Once, I guess. When I was sick all the time, when I was younger.
And my father... took me to America so a research team there could
study me, maybe cure me. At least, that was what I thought. Who 
knows, now? And up in the plane... the sky was a really light blue,
almost white at the edges, where it met the clouds and seas, 
deepening to a dark purple... almost a black, directly above the 
plane. I was ill at the time, and didn't feel like watching all that
much. But I did look outside once, really looked. And thought,
wow, that's just so beautiful. I forgot I was sick for a while, just
gazed out at this sight... couldn't believe it."

"So, why are ya asking about the sky?"

"It's something to talk about. And I can see it up there, and it 
looks so beautiful right now. I... I didn't think I'd be seeing 
anything like that ever again... not like this. So you've got no idea
how beautiful this looks right now."

"You're, uh, looking down my shirt."

"Hee hee... I didn't think I'd ever see this again... like this...
oh, that was -"

"Ssshhh... you said not to talk about it."

"Yeah. But -"

"No buts. You mentioned the sky?"

"Yes. It's... just seeming very special to me right now."

"Mmmm. And it reminded you of Usagi."

"No, it reminded YOU of Usagi."

"You want me ta go find her or -"

"No!"

"Okay..."

"No, it's not that... she's special. Very special. And I'm going to 
have to spend some time with her, sort my head out, just figure out
what went... on... and why... well, why I let that happen. I... we...
please..."

"Ssshhh. What are you going to do for school now?"

"I hadn't thought of that... I... I haven't thought of a lot of 
things. I can't really go back to Furinkan, can I? We... well, we 
levelled it."

"Construction companies in this ward are really good at fixing stuff
like that. I should know; I've caused lots of that kinda damage 
myself."

"You sound so proud!"

"Sometimes. Other times... when I'm by myself, thinking, with no one
trying to kill me... I wonder if being able to smash concrete with
a single finger is something to be proud of."

"How do you mean?"

"Well... it gets me into stupid fights. Even now, when I'm trying
ta be all grown up. Mature."

"You ARE mature."

"Not really. If I was, I'd have seen what was happening here and -"

"That's not something you can say. I mean it! No, let me finish.
You and I... we're very alike. It's... as you said, it's a matter
of scale. On a good day, I can destroy planets. I'm a really big gun.
Like... field artillery, I guess you'd say. I can kill a lot of 
people with one shot. But I'm not accurate. I'm very much overkill
for nearly any situation, used like that, using my powers like that.
You... you could barely level a city by yourself, in a short amount
of time. Maybe you could, I'm not belittling you here, so just 
listen. You're like a combat knife. Something to be used effectively
by the highly skilled. You can kill just as many people as the 
artillery piece, just not as fast. But you're a much harder to hit 
target, you move faster between kills, and you can... so easily...
defeat the crew on the artillery. Which makes me... the piece...
useless. You BEAT me, and that's not easy."

"I didn't beat you, I just got lucky."

"You believe that as much as I do. Had that fight continued,
... I'd have given out before you. What makes you so special there
is your feelings for your friends and your family and yourself.
Before... before, I had none of that. I.. existed for the pleasure
of the act of destruction. A gun that was able to fire itself. 
Something that's very dangerous."

"I think you'd have stopped before you seriously hurt anyone 
innocent."

"You sound almost like you believe that. But I know otherwise.
Those people at the school - you - the Tendos..."

"Sssshhh... come on, stop sobbing. Please? Come on, talk to me some
more. Your hair feels so beautiful... thought I was going to never
tough this again..."

"You're lying. It's all messy."

"A little matted with sweat, yeah, but hey, I'm a martial artist!
I'm used ta sweat-soaked women."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I mean, Ukyou, you know, she'd just get worked up over 
something and her hair - why are you laugh- Ah. Yeah, okay, that's
nothing dirty, Ukyou's just a friend. A long-time friend."

"And a fiance."

"I'm past that, you know that."

"I know... I just feel the need to tease you at the moment. You know,
distance you a little. This is too scary. I just tried to kill -"

"Now stop right there! I don't wanna be hearing any of that kinda
stuff from you! You weren't trying to kill me. You weren't trying
to kill anything, except that wall. So don't you be feeling guilty
over that, okay?"

"I can't help it! We're sitting here, talking so normally, me curled
up against your chest! Like nothing's happened. The trees here are so
beautiful, everything's so peaceful, and I'm wearing the uniform
I was wearing when I broke your heart! How can you even begin to look
at me? How can you stand to be near me? How -"

"Just be quiet, okay? Okay? Calm down, settle down. We'll talk. Not
now. Later."

"But -"

"No buts. Come on, settle down again. That's it. Mmmm... this is so 
nice, you know. Holding you, lying on the grass, under some trees...
man... your hair just smells really nice. Reminds me of Makoto after
a workout in the morning."

"Doesn't she just make breakfasts for everyone? I haven't seen her 
out with us... well, very occasionally she's out there training
with us, but not that often."

"We're up before dawn, the two of us. We spar a little then... she's
a good fighter, for someone relatively untrained. She knows where
her strengths and weaknesses lie... have you noticed what everyone's
like when fighting now? There's more of an element of co-ordination
between you all since you've all been training. If only I could find
Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury... then I might be able to try 
teaching you guys some serious team tactics..."

"Us senshi aren't enough for you? You want MORE?"

"I always want more! Heh... seriously, it'd be much better if I could
train you all to a minimum standard. But Sailor Moon might take some
training... she's a klutz."

"She's not as bad now as she once was."

"Maybe not, but Usagi's the only other person I know that clumsy.
What? What are you grinning at?"

"Nothing."

"No, what?"

"Nothing. Forget I smiled. It's just like you said, they ARE so 
similar. You'd think they're the same person."

"Almost. Usagi just doesn't have that snobbish regal air about her.
Except when she's done some crimes against humanity."

"What?"

"Cooked. Then you'd think they were twins."

"Yessss... you might think that. But it'd get no further than that,
right? You'd start thinking about something else?"

"Mmm."

"Like what's on television?"

"Nahh... more like how can I get this foulness out of my mouth 
without spitting it through a window. Cause, you know, I'd only be 
having to fix it later in the day. And Usagi's cooking isn't worth
that kinda bother."

"Do you like... Makoto?"

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, do you find her attractive?"

"Weird question."

"Well, she's got those legs under her skirt... you know... and I 
can't match them."

"You might as well as if I have a thing for Mitsuki. Her legs are 
much more my type."

"Ouch."

"I mean, they're more muscular. Still soft and smooth looking,
but also fairly deadly. Powerful."

"My legs don't come into it with you?"

"Can I answer this in a way that's not gonna get me slapped?"

"I'd be glad if you... yes. Yes. I won't hit you. Not again. God, 
why'd you have to -"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be! It's not your fault -"

"Yes it is! Why can't you see that? I could have -"

"You couldn't have done anything because I wanted it to -"

"That's where you're wrong."

"What, because you were stuck in your female body, you think I wasn't
as attracted to you? Is that it? I felt more of you during those 
weeks than I had in the months prior to that! Those first few days
after you woke up, I felt your chest. It felt like mine. Well, bigger
than mine. Softer. But like mine. And I enjoyed it! I enjoyed feeling
your legs when you were like that, the hugs, the light, special,
secret kisses, the glances, the talks. So if you think I wasn't into
that scene, forget it! I LIKED YOU BEING A WOMAN! That had nothing
to do with what happened."

"I didn't say it did."

"It was -"

"My turn. You know, it's hard for me to hear that. I got brought
up, ya know, to be a man among men. And so in that situation,
being a girl can sometimes be really confusing. Hurtful, too. But I 
live with that, keep that inside. Try to, anyway, 'cause hey, it's
still me and it's still you and we're both adult enough to know that.
I KNOW what happened had nothin' ta do with that. Hey, it was all 
HIM. You know it. I felt it. I felt HIM just as much as you did. 
Maybe I was stronger up here, in my head, or maybe it's something
ta do with the fact that I'm really a guy and hate thinking of myself
as a girl, even when I AM one... and maybe that was why I got away,
could control what my body did in response to him and his power.
Or maybe... just maybe... he was always interested in you. Put you 
against me."

"Why?"

"I dunno. It's not like I could fight the guy to a standstill
like I could you. He might not be as strong as you, but I'm willing
to bet he's plenty strong and really skilled. His monsters, if 
they're supposed to be weaker than him, then he's stronger than you,
me, and the rest of your senshi friends put together. That really
scares me. What if he starts taking a personal interest in us used
to be a nightmare I had. Earlier today, he started taking an interest
in us. I am so close to needing my pants changed right now you 
wouldn't believe it."

"You're not that scared. I'd feel it here otherwise."

"Hey! I'm ticklish there! Stop! Stop! Phew... okay. I hide my fear.
It don't do nothing except make me weaker than I am. If I stop and 
think, hey, I can't beat this guy, then I've already lost. I need to
be able to say I CAN win this fight, I CAN beat this creep, if I'm 
going to have any chance. There's no shame in losing a fight...
if you continued to fight. And hey, you continued to fight. I could
feel it. You were so hurt inside, but you fought. Your friends knew
that, too. Everyone did. Even that creep Yoshihiro did, too. You 
fought long and hard, and you've nothing to be ashamed of."

"I hurt you."

"And I hurt you, too. I didn't know what was going on inside you, or
perhaps, like a couple of months ago, I was thinking it would be 
better for ya to forget about me. Or somethin'. I don't know myself,
really. All I know is I let it happen and that's got to hurt you, you
knowing that I knew what was going on and not trying to stop it."

"What hurt more was hurting you. I saw your face. All the time. When
I was saying those things. He didn't really -"

"I know."

"I've got to say it. He didn't really... KNOW me like that. He...
he does know me in ways you never could... I didn't lie... but he 
knows me like that because of him controlling me, insinuating
himself throughout my mind. I hated that, hated his touch - and 
yet... yet..."

"There was something about him. An aura. That attracted you so 
strongly. Made you... uh..."

"You're so cute when you blush, you know that? Aroused? See? I can 
say it, nothing to be ashamed of."

"Then why'd your voice drop down to a whisper?"

"Uuuhhh..."

"Heh. Yeah. Aroused. Physically. I saw what he did to you. And I felt
those things, too. I like girls. I like girls a lot! Uh..."

"There's nothing wrong with admitting that, you know."

"It sounds weird to have to say it out loud. Ya know, I've had to 
date boys sometimes... back here in Nerima. Not had, exactly, but 
usually I wanted something they had. Cure for my curse, jewel I've
needed to beat some bad guy, as a means to escape from one or another
of my... fiances or suitors. But anyway. I like girls. I only like
girls. And he was making me... excited."

"How would you know how a girl reacts like when she's... aroused?"

"Can you speak up a bit? I didn't hear that last word.."

"AROUSED! I SAID AROUSED!"

"Ouch! Didn't hav'ta yell. But hey, I've been a woman for a few 
years, ya know, and you start realising somethings sometimes.
Even if you don't live in a house with three very frustrated
girls in... how did pops put it that time? In the prime of their 
lives. Or something. Never know half the time what he's talking
about."

"So... you felt it, too?"

"My legs turning to jelly? Fire in my stomach? Clothes that feel too
tight? Lungs that don't seem to be able to suck as much breath as 
usual in?"

"Before I met you, and started getting more fit than I was, I felt
like that all the time."

"But like that?"

"... yes..."

"Nothin' ta be ashamed of. He DOES that to you. It's not magical
power, least, not as you'd think of it. It's power. Sheer physical
power. If I could pump myself up like that, you'd feel like that 
around me, too."

"... yes..."

"Uh... you're blushing... again... uh... I am just gonna forget this
after we leave here, you know that, don't you?"

"You aren't comfortable knowing I feel like that... about you...
all the time? That's why... that's why I was a little hurt. You 
didn't fight for me, and that hurt me lots. That's... why I gave in.
If you didn't want me... then why fight against it? Why fight him?
He wanted me. Even if it was wrong."

"I... didn't fight, because... you've met the Tendos. You know how 
things go in my life. How girls go. I was always... something
to be fought over. Not someone to be loved - heck, not even a 
something to be loved! My best friend... my rival... he got more 
affection from my fiance than I did. AKane and I... we... had 
feelings for each other. But... we couldn't... work them through.
And her problems... are what led to us breaking up for the last time.
She'll always be my friend. But I'm not putting myself in a position
where my girlfriend is going to hit me again."

"I am so sorry about that."

"Hey, I was hitting you back. Something I never did to Akane, 'cause
she couldn't handle it. If circumstances with her had been the same
as with you... maybe... I dunno. I don't feel right hitting girls."

"I know. And I see how it affects you whenever we fight a woman 
monster. But when you're a girl - like you are when fighting with us
- you don't seem to have much the same restriction on yourself.
Is that because you see yourself as a girl then?"

"Uh-uh. Nothing like that. Just... I'm that bit weaker. I don't feel
so bad then, y'know?"

"Uh-huh."

"What are you doing?"

"... I... I've got to ask... how can we make things normal between
us again? I don't want to forget this Mistress Saturn problem...
it may yet crop up again... and it may end up helping us at some time
in the future. But... I want things to be normal between us again."

"Things are never normal between us. I change sex when splashed
with water. You can crack planets like I can crack walnuts and have
hosted two evil entities now, by my count. How can any relationship
between two such people be considered normal?"

"I -"

"I'm kidding. Kinda. How normal is this? We're sitting in a park,
you leaning into me... my arms around you... yours around me... our
lips barely apart, although we're not really looking at each other...
the park around is quiet... the sky above is darkening... the full
moon that's rising now... is making you look even more beautiful
that I can ever remember seeing you before. Not even that first time
I caught you when you fell from the roof... that moment we shared
in the fountain, when these monsters first showed up... our date...
and right now, this feels no different."

"I love you, you know."

"Yeah. I think I did. For some time. That kiss... that first one...
I think that said it all."

"I want this to work."

"I still remember that nervous young woman standing at my door, 
trying to act brave, holding up a condom."

"I'm so embarrassed... I'm sorry..."

"I know you are. And that's the point. We can apologise to each other
for years yet. And what will it achieve? Nothing. We'll move further
and further apart, until all that's left between us is just empty
words, us being puppets going through the motions of trying to make
it up to one another. So, we give each other another apology, and we
move on. We build on this. Our first fight! We should celebrate
this."

"With Usagi's cooking?"

"If I wanted to commit suicide, I'd ask Akane to pave the way. At 
least she'd do the job right. Ow!"

"All right. Ranma Saotome, I am so very sorry for causing you the 
pain I did. There's no excuse -"

"Just the apology. Excuses... they're not needed. We KNOW, deep down,
why it happened. And it had nothing to do with either of us. So 
likewise, Hotaru Tomoe, I am so deeply, truly sorry for hurting
you."

"Ranma...?"

"Yes?"

"I liked calling you sempai... would... would you mind...?"

"Not at all."

"Okay. Sempai... can we go... somewhere a little more... private?
The grass is getting wet and I'm not wearing anything that'll keep
me dry for long..."

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks, sempai."

"Uh, Hotaru-chan? While we're on the subject of wanting things...
would you mind keeping that Mistress Saturn uniform around? It was 
kinda sexOW!"

"Sure thing, sempai. Give you something to look forward to."

"... that is just so much an evil giggle..."



SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Watch Saikano. I cannot stress how much that show rocks.

Ahem. Chapter 10: The Apology is released. Rejoice muchly in the 
streets with boutiful baskets of something or other. Gonna go and 
finish coughing my lungs out now... and continue with Saikano...
and try and NOT start something Saikano based ;)

Next chapter: Ranma finds out about the internet. 'Nuff said; see you
then! DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters
are properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.




LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 11

** Immoral Combat **



The morning was quiet. Ranma had cancelled training for the day, and
all Usagi heard as she woke was the muted murmur of conversation
from the kitchen below. No doubt Makoto had been up as early as 
usual, making breakfast and lunches for everyone. No one in the dorm
could pack a lunch as tightly or tastfully as Makoto, Usagi reflected
as she stretched out to unkink tired muscles. Like the other senshi,
she hadn't actually done much the day before - she half-suspected
Ranma's last words before he'd retired for the night had been because
he'd be aching like nobodies' business after the huge fight with 
Mistress Saturn the day before - but watching that intense fight in 
fast-forward, and helping to clean up the resultant mess, had tired
Usagi like she hadn't been in a long time. Idly, she wished Mamoru
were there, in bed, with her that morning. She could so use an extra
hand before breakfast.

Eventually, she made her way downstairs, dressed still in her pyjamas
and wearing fluffy bunny slippers on her feet. Hotaru, eyes downcast,
passed her in the hallway at the base of the stairs, taking a small
tray with some rice and sauces into her room, closing the door behind
her. She seemed to be embarrassed, Usagi thought. But time to fix 
that later. First came breakfast.

There were two boxes outside the kitchen door. One was black, the 
other white. Both had small crescent moons stencilled on the front.
"Morning, Luna, Artemis," Usagi grumbled as she passed by. Luna 
replied, but the response was muffled too much by the cardboard.

Why'd the cats have to stay in the boxes, anyway? Ranma wasn't 
around, he'd have to be asleep still - or off in one of the hot 
springs, trying to recover from the beating he'd only received
just hours ago. And seriously, Usagi didn't believe that Ranma had 
some kind of majorly bad reaction to cats. She had taken what Mitsuki
and Hotaru had said happened in the restaurant on the night of their
infamous date with a grain of salt - more like the whole shaker,
actually - and had all but completely ignored it. Ranma didn't show
any signs of problems with anything else - except women, but seeing
as he was a complete idiot and jerk, that was understandable
and thus ignorable - so it either had to be a put-on or the others
had faked it.

This whole sex-change curse thing, that was interesting. Usagi 
guessed their was something funny about that, too, and assumed that
perhaps Ranma had done the sex change thing to see naked girls. But
then, she'd seen him when he was female, seen him naked, knew that
he was, as she'd once heard it put, 'anatomically correct'. Which
made that theory seem quite unlikely. 

Besides, who believed in curses these days? There was no such thing.
Ami'd know what the story was there; Usagi decided she'd have to ask
Ami about it later.

She pushed open the door to the kitchen, and threw her arms out wide.
"Goood mooorning," she sang as she swept inside, tiredness gone as 
The Usagi Show took over and filled her with the almost limitless
energy she could often display anywhere but within a classroom.

Barring Hotaru, everyone was there. Ami, Rei, Minako, Makoto, 
Mitsuki, Ranma. Ranma? She checked again. Yep, Ranma. Lifting up one
of the cupboards with one hand while doing something completely
cunning with a wrench with the other. He twisted the wrench upwards,
and Makoto gave a happy sigh. "Water's stopped," she said to him. He
nodded, and put the cupboard down again, gently.

"I'll get on to that while you're all... doing whatever you'll all be
doing this fine Saturday," he said to Makoto. Ranma's free hand 
reached up and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know how that
pipe could have burst again, though," he continued. "I only replaced
them... oh yeah... before I... uh... you know."

"Before the university accident?" Minako chimed in from behind.
Usagi watched Ranma blush.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Thanks, Ranma. But... they still haven't replaced the library yet,
and the nearby rooms are blocked off. So none of us have classes
today."

"Ahhh... can I have the kitchen to myself for a few hours?"

"Yes, won't be a problem. I'll be finished soon, then we can shoo 
everybody out." Makoto looked a little shy. "Would you need a hand?"

Ranma, not noticing Makoto's hesitance, shook his head. "No... but 
someone'd better say good morning to Usagi before she short-sheets
you guys again."

There was a chorus of "Good morning"'s directed at Usagi moments
later. Usagi grumped, but cheered almost immediately again. "I'm 
going to see Mamoru today!" she announced. Ranma looked over.

"He coming over again? Could use a hand in the kitchen here."

Usagi noticed Makoto's hurt expression, but once again, Ranma didn't.
"No, he's not. We're off to see a movie. The new Spielburg film's
out and Mamoru wants to go see it." But then Usagi was bursting
with curiousity. "How are you walking around, let alone standing
up? You nearly got killed yesterday! You should be one huge bruise!"

Ranma gave Usagi a sideways look, to make sure she was serious.
Finding she was, he shrugged. "Thick skin, I guess," he said. "Hey,
if I can bust giant rocks an' get slammed through walls without
nothin' wrong with me, why can't I take a few punches like 
piledrivers?" He wiped his hands on his loose black pants, and 
slipped the wrench into a pocket, where it seemed to disappear.

Usagi was about to ask more questions, but Ranma held his hands up.
"Hey! I did that for Sailor Saturn. She's a nice girl, you know? Not
the first time I've helped destroy that school or the Tendo house...
damn... now I gotta pay for damages again..." his voice trailed
off, and he stalked out of the kitchen. The way his fists were 
bunched, Usagi imagined he was going to hit something. She turned
to the other senshi, determined to try to get that hurt expression
off Makoto's face.

"Hey, Mako-chan, you doing anything today?"

Makoto's eyes lifted to meet Usagi's, and Usagi could see that Makoto
realised she knew how she felt. But even Usagi knew that by now, 
everyone should have given up on Ranma, if they were ever interested.
He only had eyes for Hotaru. And Usagi had decided a while back to 
keep an eye on the diminutive senshi of death and rebirth, make sure
she was all right. Rei could handle her feelings by herself. Minako
found someone to replace her occasional fantasies on an almost daily
basis. Ami was still hanging out for Keitaro. Mitsuki... Mitsuki
was a mystery. No one had yet learned much about the eldest of the 
assembled senshi. But now she added Makoto to the list of people
to watch for problems with Ranma.

Before Makoto could answer, though, Ami said something very 
un-Ami-like, under her breath. Eyes swung around to lock onto her,
finding her staring with something like horror at her computer.

"Ami?" Usagi asked.

"Everyone should read this." She turned her computer around so 
everyone could read the monitor. She was connected to the internet,
checking sites she obviously had an interest in, and one of the open
windows was currently showing Ebay.JP. One of the auctions of the 
day, listed right under the heading, was "IDENTITIES OF THE SAILOR
SENSHI".

Currently with twelve hours remaining on the auction, and the current
value of it listed at 1 yen.

Usagi sounded distant as she stared at the current bid. "I feel so 
insulted."

******

Yoshihiro drifted about his sanctum. Plans had been pulled awry, and
that had forced him to rethink some of his short-range strategies.
He hadn't believed he would have a senshi as a General of his forces
for too long, since the knowledge imparted to him in his Dark Rebirth
had contained several such fiascos. He didn't want another Prince
Endymion or Dark Lady problem on his hands - even when evil, those
senshi and their allies were annoyingly forces for the Moon Kingdom.
Quite how, he never really could explain. Yet their lust for power
and actions in trying to one-up the other existing Generals often
brought Dark Kingdom forces down low, just when they needed to be 
strong. And besides, having a visible General - someone everyone
was looking for - was definitely not a good thing when it came to 
trying to keep a low profile in draining energy.

He glanced over at one wall of his sanctum, where Natsumi had been
constructing him a huge bank of monitors. Perhaps he'd expended
her too readily, to early in the piece. She'd have been a powerful
General in the endgame, definitely. But Umiko had been jealous - 
still was, and wanted to know why the little bitch wasn't lying 
nameless, bloodless, in some gutter somewhere. But Yoshihiro had 
wanted Natsumi left alive. What she could still bring to his plans...
well, he wouldn't know exactly what she'd done to Ranma until later.
Much later, he knew. And he could see where things were going. Could
see the patterns.

Well, not him, but one of his Lesser monsters. A young man who's head
had exploded, erupted into mere probability theory. At any one 
moment, all the threads of possible reality danced around him like
flickering projections of someone's fevered imagination. Utilising
this boy's ability, it was possible to bring the present future along
a pre-set course. It was also possible to see much of what was 
happening now.

But for now, he'd wished that he'd at least held onto Natsumi for 
another few days. Maybe even an hour or two. He had the omputer
hooked up to the internet, but no CNN-Japan, and no cartoon channels.
Best he had was a fuzzy black and white TV set that ahd obviously
seen better days, trying desperately to reach in between the Dark 
Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom to pull in local Tokyo television
stations. It was better than nothing.

Least occasionally there was something on the net.

He glanced at the monitor, wandered over to it. Clicked with the 
mouse on the "Favourite" icon, scrolled down his list of favourite
websites, found the one he was looking for, and clicked on it. 
Ebay.JP flashed up on the screen. And the first of the auctions
listed on the frontpage was...

Yoshihiro sucked in a breath.

"IDENTITIES OF THE SAILOR SENSHI."

He had to have them. Knowing one of them wasn't like knowing the 
others. He'd taken a guess, thanks to Hotaru hanging around that 
Ranma, and guessed correctly.

Sometimes, being an evil all-knowing monster General was merely 
appearance. If you took a guess and were right, then it reinforced
that appearance. If you guessed wrong, well, you just killed the 
witnesses and hey, problem solved. Yoshihiro stared at the auction,
clicked on it to see how much the latest bid was. If it was too high,
he wouldn't be able to even make a bid on it.

He trembled when the current bid flashed up. 120 yen.

Yoshihiro dug through the pockets of his suit, and found 130 yen, two
buttons and some lint. He quickly tapped in the 130 yen.

******

"We're being beaten already!" Rei yelled. "This is great! Anyone
else have any money?"

"I need to buy my lunch at the movies today," Usagi grumbled.

"Grow up, Usagi, this is serious!" Rei yelled again. The cats, free
of their boxes and sitting on the kitchen table next to the computer,
nodded in unison.

"But it's a daaaate!" Usagi wailed.

Ami was quickly counting small currency on the table. "I can add in 
another 60 yen," she said, dubiously.

Makoto shook her head. "Man, you guys are so weak! Do any of you have
money?"

"Don't you?" Rei countered.

******

A half-hour passed. Yoshihiro updated the site page yet again, and 
found the current bid was now sitting at 360 yen. Hmm. He stroked
his chin thoughtfully, and checked an ashtray that Umitake used when
at the computer. Deep under the mountain of ash sitting on top was 
another 400 yen. Which gave him a grand total of 530. Just enough
to beat these other bidders.

He entered the amount, then stood, and left the room. Evil needed
plotting.

Besides, sitting at the computer for hours on end hitting the refresh
ubtton every few minutes was driving him crazy.

******

"Luna, do you have another couple of hundred yen?"

The black cat shook her head. "Really. What do you girls do with your
money?"

"I pay for my tuition and board with mine," Ami said, helpfully.

Rei shook her head. "I've given up everything I've got. Even my bus
fare for tomorrow. Grandpa might give me some more money later in the
week," she added dubiously. "But that won't help us now."

"Surely if we put on a show for him... I can't believe I just said
that," Minako muttered almost to herself. Rei eyed her curiously,
and more than a little worried. "I think I've got some money 
upstairs." She bolted from the room, long blond hair trailing behind.

"Come on! Give it... up!" With a final grunt, Makoto gave up on 
trying to pry Usagi's purse from her fingers. She might as well have
been a mountain of granite for all the use the effort had done. 
"Don't you want to stop people from finding out who we are?"

"Someone already knows!" Usagi shot back. "And that's not stopping
me from going on my date!"

The door pushed open slowly, quietly. 

"I haven't seen Mamoru in... in ages! And we couldn't do anything
while he was here last time, and -"

"Couldn't DO anything? You kept up your wing of the dorm!" Makoto
shot back.

A pair of purplish eyes peered in, taking in the commotion.

"So don't you go telling me you couldn't do anything! Anyway, this
is more important than your stupid love-life!"

A hand reached in through the door and deposited something on a 
nearby counter, then withdrew, and the door swung shut.

"Ouch! What was that for? Just because *you're* single and I'm 
*not*!"

"Usagi! Makoto! Anyone'd think you're a pair of cats!" Mitsuki 
stopped, glanced at Luna and Artemis. "Uh... no offence."

"None taken," Luna asid. Artemis lowered his eyes.

"Does anyone have any more money?" he asked.

Mitsuki reached out, swiped money off the counter. "Here's some."

"Where'd that come from?" Makoto demanded. "That wasn't there a 
moment ago."

"Maybe you put it there because of your guilty conscience!"
Usagi grumbled.

"MY guilty conscience! You're the one holding out on us!"

"Leggo my ear!"

Mitsuki tuned them out as she turned to Ami and Rei. "Looks to be 
about 20,000 yen."

Ami stared. "Who had that kind of money lying about?"

Mitsuki shrugged. "Not my place to say." She shot a glance at Usagi.
Usagi, preoccupied with disentangling her hair from Makoto's 
clutching fingers, missed it completely. Luna didn't.

"Perhaps I should go for a walk," she suggested.

"Good idea," Mitsuki nodded. "And I'll bang some heads here together.
Keep it quiet for your... walk." Luna nodded, and flicked out the 
kitchen doorway .

"Hey," Mitsuki said, leaning in over Ami's shoulder and checking
the laptop's monitor, "that's not showing up as 20,360 yen."

"No, and hopefully it won't," Ami said in reply. "The auction system
of the site will take that as our maximum bid, and will update it as
people make bids that are lower than that. When they get higher,
we need to have more money."

"You think we'll need a lot more money?" Mitsuki said.

Ami nodded. "A lot more, I would say. Too many enemies that we just
don't know about. Too many enemies who'd do anything to find out who
we are, to hit us when we're unawares. Too many enemies -"

"With nothing better to do with their time?"

"Um... yes. Those kinds of enemies."

******

Damn. Everytime Yoshihiro updated his bid, someone else automatically
outbid him. It was someone with the user name of ByTheSea, and 
whomever he or she was, they wanted the identities of the Sailor
Senshi at least as much as he did. Why, he didn't know. There seemed
to be no other hint of Dark Kindgom power in the world today...
although he was catching the occasional wiff of it, especially
recently. There was something... something in the air... something
familiar... he'd smelt it before... a long time ago... but he 
couldn't make the connection.

He sighed, looked once more at the newly updated high bid. 20,000
yen. He had his monsters turning their pockets out, looking for any
loose change they had. He'd organised one raid in Tokyo that'd gone
somewhat awry and ended up in a kindergarten. Energy was gained,
but not a lot. Children usually don't generate much energy of any 
sort, and they're almost as broke as university students. So 
Yoshihiro had managed to get the monies from the school's safe, but
that had only brought his grand total up to a whole 19,990 yen.

So seriously not good.

He stroked his chin once more. He could try robbing a bank or 
something, but that wouldn't necessarily mean he could get back in 
time to make a new bid. And however much money he did retreive
from Earth, there's no way he could know what the existing maximum
bid ByTheSea had made. Damnation. He felt like hitting something.
Hurting something.

Where was a puppy when a little boy needed one?

He sighed, covered his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose. He 
checked how long he had left on the auction. A few minutes. Oh, damn
it all. He could always get the money together after the final bid.

He typed in 1,000,000 yen and hit enter.

******

Ami yelled another un-Ami-like word from the kitchen. Assorted
senshi and animals burst into the kitchen, expecting to see some kind
of multiple-monster invasion of the pantry, but were instead treated
to Ami's horrified face peernig up from behind the laptop.

"What is it, Ami?" Artemis asked.

"What's the matter?"

Ami swivled the laptop around, let everyone see for themselves.
1,000,000 yen. They couldn't match that bid. This was it. All over.

Ranma walked into the kitchen, saw the screen. "Hey, what kinda 
game's that?" he asked.

"It's not a game, Ranma," Ami explained, her voice a little shakey
and scratchy. She gave a quick explanation of how the site worked,
and what functions it provided.

"Oh, yeah, I saw Nabiki checking this thing out occasionally.
So, what's the problem?"

"Problem?" Usagi asked, looking a little banged up and upset. Ranma
guessed her date had fallen through for some reason. Makoto similarly
looked as if she'd been training by having rocks thrown at her or 
something. He also noticed both her and Usagi were standing the 
furtherest apart in the room. "What makes you think there's a 
problem?"

"'Identities of the Sailor Senshi?'" Ranma asked. "I'd guess that'd
be some kind of major problem. Who's running the bid? You know his 
name?"

Ami shook her head. "No. We only know his or her screen name. 
RichSoAndSo."

"You're kidding," Ranma chuckled. "Hey, look out." He pushed Ami out
of the way of the keyboard, and stretched his brain back to one of 
Nabiki's harebrained money-making schemes. He hesitantly tapped in a 
name to log in as, thought for a few more minutes.

"What are you doing?" Minako exploded. "We've only got a few minutes
before the end of the auction!"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up a minute and lemme remember. It's been a while."

"A while?" Ami asked.

"Yeah. Nabiki set an account up for me during school. She was selling
pictures of me on this internet thing then and pretended to be me 
selling them. To make it look legit, like I was getting the money
for some charity so she could get some big payoff for her favourite
charity, she had me get into it one time. So I gotta remember what
I did to get in."

"Just log in as us. Use us." Mitsuki stopped. "But we don't have the
kind of money we'd need to top that amount."

"Yeah, yas don't. Far as I know." Ranma cracked his knuckles,
typed in a password. Went to the auction, stared at the amount of 
money, and sighed. "Damn. Thought I was gonna get to keep that...
ah well... Hotaru'll thank me later, I'm sure." He typed something
in, and waited.

A minute later, Usagi couldn't wait anymore. "Aren't you going to hit
enter?"

"Nah... not just yet," Ranma responded, checking a clock. Nearly
time.

He hit enter.

******

Yoshihiro hit refresh a moment later. The server hadn't updated
yet, and he got the highest bid title still. A few minutes later,
though, he frowned. Perhaps someone had made a bid right on the 
cutoff point. After all, didn't that happen from time to time? People
waited until the last second to make some exorbitantly high bid to 
make sure they won their auction without other people having a chance
to respond? He hit refresh, expecting to see ByTheSea to have more
money posted.

But no. It was RedHairedGirl that had made the winning bid. Of 
1,500,000 yen.

Curses. Time to fall back on plan B.

******

The wind whipped around Makoto's ankles, and she wished she'd worn
something a little warmer than a thin pair of coloured stockings.
Her miniskirt wasn't offering much in the way of protection,
either, and as autumn slowly faded and winter approached, she had to
start dressing for the weather. It would start snowing any time soon.

Beside her stood Ami, looking around for whomever was making this 
drop-off. Whomever had known their identities. Ranma was hanging
back, leaning against a wall, backpack slung over his shoulder.
Her shoulder, Makoto had to remember. Ranma had been splashed on the
way here, and wasn't very happy about that fact. His... her clothes
hung on her much lighter frame, and she looked as if she'd been 
shrunk down to a child.

A figure appeared in the distance, black, approaching with a slow,
trudging pace. It got closer, but Makoto still couldn't make out any
details. As the figure got even closer, Makoto realised that was 
because RichSoAndSo was wearing a thick trenchcoat, a fedora hat 
pulled down tight over its head. The figure stopped, a few metres
from Makoto and Ami.

Ranma pushed off from the wall, and called out, "Yo, Nabiki! C'mon,
you knew I was gonna pay for the damages."

Makoto and Ami turned from Ranma to the new arrival, who reached
up and pulled off the hat. "Dammit, Ranma, we couldn't wait forever
for the money. Winter's coming."

"The fence was only destroyed yesterday! Gimme a chance to get the 
money, why don't cha?"

"You've got the 1.5 mil yen?"

Ranma hefted the sack. "I checked around. That's how much it'll cost
to get it restored. And now I'm even broker, if that's possible."

"You can always move back."

"You know I can't. Even if I wanted to, Kasumi wouldn't have it. You
know that."

"Yeah. I do." Nabiki sighed. "Oh, hey, I thought it was only going
to be three of you."

"Yeah. It is."

"Hey!" Makoto demanded. "You said you wouldn't use our identities
to make money!"

"Hey, I needed some. A one-time offer. I knew Ranma'd find out about
it and do something. He always does."

"Nabiki, what'd you mean about the three of us?"

Nabiki pointed over Ranma's shoulder. Ranma turned.

"Oh. It's you."

Yoshihiro nodded at the envelope that had appeared in Nabiki's
hand. "I want that."

"How'd you find us?" Ranma asked.

"I have my ways," Yoshihiro shrugged. "You know - digital monsters
can be a pretty useful thing to have under one's control. Although
I so wish you hadn't removed Natsumi from the equation so early in 
the piece."

Ranma's hackles rose. "What happened to her was her own choosing
- and as I recall, what you pushed her into."

"Well, there is that..."

"So, you've come to dirty your hands this time?"

"No. I wanted that package... but now... I see I no longer need it."

"Why's that?" Makoto asked, trying not to sound too hopeful or 
downcast.

"Because... he's here." Yoshihiro pointed at Ranma and smiled. "One
such as you will go far. I only wish you could see you as I can see
you now. Why I didn't see it before, I don't know."

"Is that a threat?" Ranma asked, lowering himself into a fighting
stance.

"No. It's just a comment. Because, you know, you could have killed
Mistress Saturn so easily. But I'm looking for a replacement
for Natsumi. If you feel like you could take her place... please.
Come see me. I'm sure the senshi can open you a portal to my world."
Then Yoshihiro turned, started walking, and faded away in a tangle
of black lines of nothingness.

Ranma was confused, and wasn't the only one. "Was that a job offer?"
Makoto asked, wonderingly.

"I think you'd get a better benefits package with him than you're
getting now, Ranma," Nabiki commented dryly. Ranma handed her the 
backpack. "It's all in here? Good. Then I'm off home. My ankles are
starting to get cold." She turned to go, but stopped when she felt
Ranma's hand grabbing at her arm. Not hard, not soft, just... taking
it as a friend would.

"Nabiki. Say hi to Akane for me, would ya?" he asked. It was a light
tone, nothing serious. And yet, it was a sign he wasn't leaving
them completely. Nabiki decided she could work this to her advantage
at some later point, promised she'd do just that, and left the empty
park.

Ranma looked back at where Yoshihiro had disappeared, and thought
hard.

"He really just offered you a job, didn't he?" Makoto asked. Ranma
just nodded. "You thinking of taking it?" Ranma held up the envelope
in front of Makoto and Ami. Waved it about.

"See this? Right now, it's the most powerful thing in the world.
It can kill you guys, or keep you safe. Which my proxy, makes me the
strongest man in the world. I hold the fate of the future in these
fingers. My decision now... will affect countless destinies.
What I do... will make alliances with dark forces and block out the
light. Because there'll be no goin' back. Once I make this decision,
Makoto, Ami, one way or the other, I kill you all. You're not strong
enough to fight Yoshihiro. *I'M* not strong enough ta fight him. So 
what do I do? Give him the names and let him kill you quickly.
Or... not kill you at all and let him kill you slowly. Which is the
more preferrable?"

"Ranma -" Ami started, but the papers of the envelope and its 
contents bursting into flame in Ranma's hand was enough to silence
her. Ranma's female eyes bored into hers from the other side of the
fire, looking more intense than usual. Hard, like granite. Cold, like
marble.

"There's a third choice, though, one I made a long time ago and which
I'm gonna see through now. Ami, you wake Usagi up first thing in the
morning.

"School's gonna be in."



SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Another chapter finished! Woo. Short, too. Started a new fic in the
past few weeks - Saikano/Evangelion: Love Song of Tomorrow. I'm gonna
say it here, because I guess people read this fic series more than
X-Com: don't go read Love Song if you haven't seen the end of 
Saikano, because it has major spoilers. It starts at the very end of
the TV series, and continues into Evangelion - and as Saikano is an 
awesome series, I don't want to spoil it for anyone and don't want
to be accused of ruining an awesomely depressing series for anyone
else (I was in such a funk for 3 days after seeing the last few 
episodes of that show, I'm surprised I made it without doing some 
major harm to myself or my relationships with others).

Anyways. This chapter came about as a bit of a joke, since I've known
a couple of the people who've tried to sell weird things on ebay,
like their soul, the soul of their guitars, the meaning of life, 
touches from god, etc, and wondered what would happen if Nabiki did
what she'd most likely be wanting to do with such juicy information.
I mean, come on, who didn't see that one coming two chapters back?

Okay, me, I admit she was going to remain virtuous this one time.

But anyway, I digress.

Next time: Luna's talk. I mean, walk. Walk. And the morning after
the morning after. DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing
characters are properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki,
and several other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence 
ownership and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.




LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 12

** Small Beginnings Lead To Big Endings **


Luna saw a shadow flit down the hallway, and duck into Hotaru's
room. The girl was quick, much quicker than she let on, and the door
shut before even Luna's feline speed could get her to the door. 
Behind her, in the kitchen, she could hear things go quiet as Mitsuki
and Ami discussed bids on this internet auction site. Perhaps things
were calming down in there. And then Usagi exploded yet again over
her date.

And here Luna thought she'd grown up. Some things were more important
than occasional bouts of romance and sex.

And this whole thing about their identities being revealed...
well... Luna was worried.

She could hear Ranma about, moving in his room, tidying up by the 
sounds of things. Or looking for something.

But that didn't help solve the fact that Hotaru's door was still 
shut. She pressed an ear to the door, and could hear a wooden wind
chime Hotaru had on her window frame, tinkling in the breeze outside.
So that meant the window was open. Luna zapped outside and headed
around the side of the dorm before Hotaru could think about shutting
that.

She leapt up onto the sill, and peered inside. "Hotaru?"

Luna could make out a figure, sitting in the darkened room, on the 
bed folded into herself. She stepped into the room, found a place
to sit at Hotaru's feet on the bed, and merely sat and waited.

After a time, Hotaru's hand reached out, nuzzled Luna under her chin.
"No matter what Ranma says... I was bad," she said.

"Ranma forgave you. And you know Usagi and the others do, too."

"I know. And I... I like that they all forgave me, Luna, but I did 
bad things. And I can't forget it. And I can't allow myself to 
forgive me."

"Why not?"

"Ranma doesn't understand... he... he doesn't feel guilt like I do."

"Guilt's normal in this situation. You did bad things, but you 
weren't responsible for them. Remember that." Luna turned her cheek
so Hotaru could stroke her other side. "You've been possessed
before. You know that you're not responsible for what other people
do to you."

"But I didn't stop him! All I had to do was listen to Ranma -"

"Child, did he tell you that the man who took you over was an evil
person?"

"Not... in so many words, no, but he warned me to stay away from 
him." Hotaru would have sobbed right about now, Luna thought, but 
instead the young woman sighed and pulled her hand back. "And I 
didn't listen to the hint."

"He does seem to think people should understand him," Luna remarked.

"I think... that's because mostly we do. And I don't think that's
happened to him before. He's done a lot of growing up from the guy we
first met."

"That's true," Luna replied. "But you still can't be expected to 
understand his cryptic comments."

"He's my sempai! And my sensei! I *should* be listening to those 
parts of him, damnit," Hotaru looked away as the chime made another
sound. "He says its okay, and I think the other senshi'll forgive
me and accept this has happened again... but I... I really hurt him,
I think, even if he doesn't let on about it, and I think I need to be
this way. For now. Until I've been... punished somehow."

Luna looked up sharply. "How do you mean, 'punished'?"

"I don't know," Hotaru sighed again. "Maybe, I don't know. Break up 
with him. Or making him lunches for work. Or... I don't really know
what I can do to make it up. It's hard. I hurt him and I can't think
of anything else but how that felt, sitting inside myself and 
watching him shrink back from me."

"He didn't do much shrinking," Luna remarked idly, somewhat 
impressed.

"I know him a bit better than you, Luna, he was pulling back."

A pause while Luna cleaned her tail, thinking of Hotaru's 
predicament. Then: "You're not thinking of getting hurt yourself,
are you?"

"It might be punishment enough to get beaten up, but I can heal 
myself." She shrugs. "That'd mean I either had to not heal myself,
or not get hurt. And physical pain only goes so far towards making
up for what I've caused."

"A tough decision," Luna commented dryly. "Have you thought about
just being yourself and trusting to Ranma to deal with the 
situation?"

"That works with us senshi. We know what we're getting into. Ranma
doesn't know what he's gotten into, doesn't know the history of the
Moon Kingdom or Dark Kingdom or anything, doesn't know about anything
bar what we've told him. And if I've been reticent about telling
him certain things about my life... I'm guessing none of the others
have been exactly forward." Hotaru gave Luna a pointed glance. "And
then there's his whole cat-phobia thing that stops you or Artemis
talkiong to him, naturally..."

"Naturally," Luna repeated. "I think he's getting suspicious
of the whole talking boxes thing, too," she added wryly.

Hotaru shot Luna a suffering look from the corner of her eyes. "I'm
serious."

"Strangely enough, so am I." Luna laid a paw on Hotaru's hand. "Trust
in him. Don't alienate him. Let him work through whatever problems
he may have, but let him work out what to do. Don't jump in 
half-cocked, ready to make what could be a disasterous decision."

"I won't," Hotaru promised. And she didn't even have her fingers
crossed behind her back.

Luna flicked her tail, stood, then leapt out the window again.

******

Later that night, Ranma opened the door, and trudged inside, Ami and
Makoto following. The other girls, minus Hotaru, sat arranged around
the room. Usagi was in a mood, pouting still over her aborted date.
She had a mobile phone resting on her stomach as she watched 
television with one eye, the door with the other.

Far as she knew, Ranma didn't know about her and Ami being senshi,
and she wanted to keep it that way.

Ranma walked past, then dropped a hand on her shoulder. Bright and 
early tomorrow, princess," he said. "I want to see you outside in 
something you can train in at dawn."

"What?" Usagi spluttered. She glanced at Ami, who shrugged. 
"Princess?"

"Uh?" Ranma asked, turning back. Usagi saw he'd merely used the term
because of her occasional attitude towards him, and not because
he knew anything particular. So she relaxed. "Yeah. Training,
tomorrow. You, Ami, everyone else. Dawn. Transformed, too," he added,
almost as an afterthought. He turned again and wandered into his 
room, the door shutting behind him.

Mitsuki cocked an eyebrow at Ami. "Must have been an interesting
night. It's a shame I missed it. I think."

Ami shook her head. "You didn't miss much."

"It was that Nabiki woman, from Nerima," Makoto added. "She was 
selling our identities for money to repair the walls and rooms Hotaru
and Ranma totalled."

"She was what?" Usagi asked, horrified. "She promised she wouldn't
-"

Ami shook her head. "What's done is done. She thought Ranma would
find out about it and pay the money himself... I think. I can't say
for sure what was happening. But Ranma had obviously expected 
something like that, because he'd had the money ready, everything."

Usagi's eyes shifed to Ranma's closed door. "Does he know 
everything?"

Ami shook her head. "A bright young man, smart as well, and he sees
a lot that even I miss - but he can be slow on the uptake. I think
he's never really had to use his head much before, apart from 
surviving in a fight."

"And we've seen how good his survival instincts are," Mitsuki witted
from her corner. "Remember how he dodged Usagi's last batch of 
cookies? That's more than a learned skill, that's pure instinct."

"What?" Usagi shrieked, turning around on Mitsuki. "That's the last
time I give you any of my cooking!"

"I chipped teeth! What did you put into those cookies?"

"Girls!" Rei said, in a calm, quiet tone that brooked no argument.
"Let's have a nice quiet discussion, shall we? Ami, does he know...
about you and -"

"Usagi? Yes. I don't know how, we haven't given him any evidence
or anything that would penetrate our... our masks."

"So then how -"

"I don't know." Ami sighed. It had been weighing on her mind all 
night, too. While she didn't exactly mind, it did brook some 
questions, like were their masks breaking down? Would others soon 
recognise the women in their transformed forms? Were their powers
weakening? Or had something happened to Ranma?

"What do you suggest?" Usagi asked.

Ami gave her a tired look. "I suggest we go to bed, get some sleep.
We need to be up before dawn."

Usagi's howl of anguish and despair echoed through the dorm's 
corridors.

******

But, just before the sun rose above the distant ocean, glittering
off the jewel of the horizon that was Tokyo's central business
district, the door to the Ai Sou opened and Usagi trudged out. Her 
eyes were open far enough to stop her from doing any damage from 
walking into objects or off cliff faces, but not much further.
Ranma had his back turned to the assembled girls, but could feel 
Usagi join them. It wasn't that she was particularly noisy, Ranma
was just, for the first time in a long time, trying to become the 
martial artist he'd always thought he was.

Lack of intelligence, arrogance, ignorance, for now these would have
to go by the wayside. He had students to teach, and if he taught
them wrong... they could die.

The fact they could die anyway didn't really occur to him at this 
point: a speeding car is just as fatal as a bakusai tenketsu'd
katchu tenshin amaguriken in a volcano.

He'd done some growing up since he'd been here, that was true. Being
away from the constant bickering, fighting and backstabbing
rampant in Nerima had been good. And his recent trip back had 
confirmed to him he had done the right thing. He'd have had to have
left at one point or another; and regardless of how much he loved
Akane, Ranma really did NOT want to become like his father.

He loved his mother dearly, but Genma's personality around his mother
was embarrassing. Understandable, but embarrassing. Ranma didn't
want to marry someone only to live in fear for his life, he wanted
someone he could grow old with, someone he could raise children
with, teach them martial arts, and... and maybe have a garden. 
Somewhere he could relax outside of practising in the dojo he'd 
build.

It was these thoughts of the future that occupied Ranma's mind for 
the moment. He waited until Usagi had taken her place next to Makoto,
hesitantly. When he turned around, his students were standing loosely
at attention. He gave a bow, held it for a second, then straightened.
The others reciprocated, then also moved into the more casual 
attentive stance.

"We have two new students this morning," Ranma started. "I promised
a while ago that I would train you all, and train you well. We have
many dangerous monsters to face, and physically, I'm not as strong
as you women. But I am more skilled, and I think that's what's 
letting me stay at your side. If you could learn even some of my 
techniques, with your power, we should have no problem stopping
these monsters."

He clasped his hands behind his back, and started pacing a little.
"For the next few days, I'll be concentrating on Usagi and Ami, 
bringing them up to speed. But I'll also be pairing each up with one
of my more senior students: Rei, you'll take Usagi, Makoto, you'll
take Ami. Your old sparring partners can spar with each other for 
now. In addition to learning techniques and moves, which we'll do for
a good hour first with our warm-up, we'll also be continuing
with our sparring. And by the end of the week, I'll split the 
sparring teams up again. My aim is to shift you around to each other
every few days, so you'll get experience with a wide range of 
fighting styles, as you all find what form of attack and defence
suits you personally."

Rei's hand went up. "Sensei? Will we be training with weapons?"

Ranma nodded. "Once I'm satisfied with your hand-to-hand skills,
I'll begin training each of you with weapons. At first, a wide 
selection." He stopped pacing for a moment, turned to face Rei fully.
"I want to see what each of ya has in ya first before we make a final
choice on what yas use."

Hotaru, at the back, making herself small and unnoticed next to 
Mitsuki, smiled slightly at Ranma's accent. He'd been at great pains
lately to stop using slang so much, but was slipping whenever he was
stressed. Obviously, the thought of some of the senshi armed with 
weapons worried Ranma. She also guessed a padded suit wouldn't
help him much from some of the strikes he might catch in that 
training.

But he was talking again, and she returned her attention to his 
words. "This morning, I want all but Usagi and Ami to take a run to 
warm up. Meet back here in ten, go through your second set of 
stretches, and begin your katas. I'll show you guys a few moves,
and you can practise those while I work with Usagi and Ami some more.
Go!"

Ranma clapped his hands together, and the training session started.

Amiw asn't hard to teach: while Ranma saw she wouldn't be a strong
attacker, she had more of a stregnth in defence and direction.
While Usagi might be the leader of the senshi, he reflected,
Ami was definitely the brains. Usagi, on the other hand, was fairly
average. She wasn't the klutz it was so obvious she'd once been, but
even so, her moves lacked confidence and strength, both very 
important elements in martial arts of any kind. Ranma walked around
her as he showed her stances, moving arms and legs and shifting
her body and head around to get her into the right posture. Once she
had it, she could return to it easily enough, but there would be a 
pause while she tried to recall what was to be her next move. It was
almost painful watching her decide whether she should punch, kick or
block; the only thing worse was that she flinched whenever a punch
came at her.

Ami watched Usagi's mistakes: Ranma taught Ami by teaching Usagi.
Ami watched, waited, and imitated as she could beside the two as they
sparred in slow motion. At least, Ranma thought to himself, Usagi
wasn't going to be as much of a problem as he'd thought she would
be.

They sparred in slow motion for a while longer, and once the other
senshi came back and began sparring, Usagi slowly got better.

******

The next few days saw quiet in Japan. No monsters, no big crimes,
nothing happening down in Nerima. Ranma took advantage of the 
quietness, and trained the senshi as hard as he could without 
breaking them. By Sunday, Ranma had Usagi not flinching at punches,
and moving somewhat faster. Ami routinely worked with Hotaru or 
Makoto, bringing up her speed and confidence as fast as she could.
Usagi's speed had improved, but Ranma found her confidence was still
lacking. Not one for physical combat, Ranma knew, Usagi was out of 
her element here. She was the heart and soul of the team, the mother
figure that the others looked up to. The senshi-proper, as Ranma 
thought of them, were the soldiers, Usagi was the queen.

And queen's didn't sully their hands with the dirty work.

It was difficult, but Ranma had a sense of urgency about this. 
Something was... coming. Almost like... a sense of power growing
behind his eyes. And something pulling him somewhere. He couldn't
explain it any better than that.

A sense of impending doom did wonders with his training sessions.

******

And on Monday, the sense of impending doom changed from footsteps
in a distant corridor to a raging bull.

******

The day started off fine enough. Ranma had taken to helping Makoto
fixing lunches for everyone's day - since they were now training
longer, Makoto had less time to get lunches and breakfasts ready,
so Ranma helped out where he could.

He wasn't anything good in the kitchen, Makoto had reflected early
on in this arrangement, but then his food was edible, unlike some 
others she could name.

But Monday morning, Mitsuki was also in the room, perched on the 
benches opposite the sink and main bench, where Makoto and Ranma cut
lunches, boiled rice and folded sashimi slices into packs. She kicked
her legs back and forth occasionally, head cocked, watching. Ranma
looked out the window in front of him at the dark clouds in the 
distance. "I think it's going to snow today," he remarked, 
conversationally.

Mitsuki continued to stare and kick her feet about. Finally, Makoto
could take it no more, turned and let the older senshi have it.

Mitsuki continued to flick her legs at the knees, waited until Makoto
had finished as Ranma kept working on the lunch packs, and then said,
"I'm waiting to get into the cupboard. I need my pills."

"Don't you have them in your room?"

"I'm alllll out. And, shush, shush! And I've got more in the cupboard
over there, with the headache pills and sinus tablets and stuff."

Ranma was standing in front of the cupboard, and didn't notice 
Mitsuki's finger pointing at him. She flicked up off the bench and 
headed over towards him. A hand went either side of his hips, and 
Ranma's eyes opened wide with sudden shock.

"What?" he yelped, nearly jumping straight up.

Mitsuki leaned in close to his ear. ""Relax, Ranma, I'm just getting
something down..." She shifted him to the side, and opened the 
cupboard. She crouched down and looked up at him with a playful
smile on her lips. "Here," she finished. She grabbed her pill bottle,
and headed out of the kitchen, tossing a "Bye bye!" over her shoulder
as she left for the lounge. Makoto glared after her retreating
form, arms folded.

"That girl just pisses me off!"

Ranma shrugged. "She's had a hard life."

"That excuses everything?"

"No. But it's udnerstandable why she's the way she is if you look at
it that way."

"She's a fllll..." Makoto started to say, then trailed off, realising
suddenly that Ranma really hadn't noticed. Mitsuki was flirting
with him. This wasn't the only time, either - she'd been competing
with Hotaru earlier on for Ranma's affection, and it looked like she
hadn't yet admitted the game was over.

"A what, Makoto?" Ranma asked, distractedly.

"Nothing," she finished, looking away, feeling saddened somewhat.
It seemed a lot of the senshi had a thing for Ranma, in some respect.
With Makoto, she was impressed with his strength and fighting skill.
Rei... wel, Makoto really didn't know what was going through Rei's
mind, but she guessed it was something to do with the sheltered
life of a shrine maiden. Ami's eyes were elsewhere - although 
elsewhere wasn't single anymore. Usagi still had Mamoru, who she'd
rarely seen this last year. Hotaru felt something within Ranma that
appealed to her greatly, and had stuck to him like glue when they'd
arrived. Makoto just thought that perhaps that was the reason Ranma
had fallen for her: she'd gone after him, not stopping for breath,
not taking no for an answer until she got a yes. Makoto smiled,
somewhat sadly.

Minako was interested in Ranma because... well, because he still 
breathed.

And Mitsuki just wanted Ranma for reasons of her own, but she did 
seem to know him previously. Ranma didn't make much of it, so Makoto
didn't know if he remembered or not.

He went back to working with lunches, and Makoto joined him. They 
were silent for a while, barring the occasional "Excuse me," or "Can
you pass me...?". Until Makoto thought that she'd have to tell Ranma
how she felt. She didn't want to break Hotaru and Ranma up, hell,
she knew she wouldn't be able to come between them, but this was on 
her mind too much. She needed to tell him, to clear her head, get 
over him and move on. She opened her mouth, but the words that came
out sounded nothing like "Ranma, I want to have your babies."

No, it sounded more like "Ranma, Makoto, there's something on 
television! Hurry!"

And weirdly enough, Makoto had just sounded exactly like Minako.
Wow, cool, she could do impressions.

Her body, like Ranma's, acted entirely on instinct and headed for the
lounge to see what the problem was before her head caught up to the
fact she hadn't told Ranma, and there likely wouldn't be another
chance. Damn. Upon reaching the lounge, it was quite obvious as to 
why they'd been called. On the television, early morning game shows
had been interupted by a news broadcast. Out in the bay right now,
according to the studio anchor, whatever it was was heading for 
Tokyo. They cut to an on-the-spot reporter, Akira Tonomoto.

"The swell of the ocean is getting larger, and soon we'll have to 
evacuate to higher ground. Tokyo Police are directing an evacuation
of the central business district already, and have been wanting
to move us on for some time now. Already, out to sea, you can see the
bow wave created by this thing as it comes into shallower waters!
And..." The camera, already shakey, got shakier as it lifted from the
view of the reporter out to the sea. The water indeed was lifting.

"What's going on?" Makoto asked.

"Seismic and sonar readings have detected something large heading
into Tokyo from the ocean," Ami replied, a towel around her neck as 
she'd been called from the bath a few minutes earlier.

"I thought it was a cartoon," Mitsuki remarked from her couch.

Akira continued as the camera showed the sea lifting up in the 
harbour. "The JSDF have been called in, and are vectoring home 
defence jets into the region, ready to launch an attack on whatever
this thing is." he held a hand up to his earpiece. "And I've just 
been told the US aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk is being redirected
to approach in a gesture of support. The 13th Armoured... wait...
what's happening?" Around Akira, the howl of warning sirens increased
in intensity, and twin horns poked up from the water. Bow waves 
formed around them as they moved inwards towards the shore, around
where Akira was standing, and judging by the reporter's voice, he 
realised they were headed directly for the jetty he was standing
on.

"Come on!" he screetched. He'd seen this movie before, and ran like
nothing else on Earth. His cameraman followed behind, racing for the
network's truck, parked at the edge of the jetty. About halfway
down, the jetty started exploding into matchsticks, and the cameraman
turned again, running backwards to film the oncoming wall of water
and bone. Near the edge of the water, though, the jetty didn't just
explode as it had been. It exploded up and out as something huge 
stood up underneath it.

"Gojira!" someone yelled from the television, and Ranma had to admit
the thing looked somewhat like the American version of the classic
monster. But he saw on the television, and felt with his bones, 
something different.

A Dark Kingdom monster. And it was huge.

"My god," Ami said, a hand raising to her mouth, "It's headed for the
city!"


To be continued...


SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Hmm. This one took a while. Forgot that I hadn't posted one of these
in a while, and so finished it off today. A little short, but it 
launches into the second half of this arc, metaphorically
speaking. We've finished the introspective parts (although they'll
continue somewhat in the background) and back into the action, 
ramping up the power of the bad guys. Course, this guy's probably
my big guns and I won't be able to deliver after this, but hey, 
that's the fun in writing :)

Next chapter: c'mon, like you CAN'T guess? Lots of action. And lots
of cameos and stuff. Come on, Tokyo's being destroyed!quite
obvious DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters
are properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.

Note: Thanks go to Pana for assistance with finding information
on military vehicles and weapons for the opening sequence this 
chapter, as well as out-and-out giving me information :) LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 13

** We Stand Together... ** There was no doubt about it. The creature
that exited the bay at Minato was massive, and it was hell-bent
on destruction.

The giant heaved itself up out of the water in the docks district,
and headed inland on a north-north-west bearing. Directly for the 
centre of Tokyo city proper, where it could cause untold billions
of yen in damage. People were lucky in that the first few buildings
that the giant stepped through were uninhabited, derelict, slated
for demolition. The very few homeless who had taken up residence
there, and the occaisonal child skipping school, had plenty of time
to vacate the premises.

The next few, the inhabitants weren't so lucky. Giant monsters
had long been thought abolished from Tokyo, and many people had 
simply forgotten how to deal with the addition of a new one to the 
city's population. In the late 50's and 60's, monsters had run 
rampant through these very streets, but most had been made extinct
or relegated to theme parks like Monster Island off Hokkaido.
Quick government checks had shown the forces that once could be 
gathered to fight creatures such as Gojira, Rodan or Mothra had 
suffered attrition to the point these forces were too deteriorated
to fight even a baby Gojira.

Which, obviously, wasn't good.

Thankfully, the United States' 7th Fleet was stationed in Yokohama,
and while the ships were undergoing a minor refit at the time, the 
flight deck of the USS Kitty Hawk was clear of obstructions,
and the flight crews on hand. With less than twenty kilometres
to the target, flight time was negligable and the F/A-18's were 
lining up their target almost as soon as they were airbourne.
Multiple racks of AGM-65 Mavericks were launched, and quickly 
acquired their target: the monster rampaging as yet through the 
uninhabited docks region.

Those who were still running and evacuating as the mighty giant 
smashed feet down around them, striding inland, saw and heard the 
missiles streak in for a scant second before they impacted and 
erupted into gouts of flame and smoke. Several missiles shot past and
hit nearby buildings - which, thankfully, were empty.

Those running from the area paused, turning and looking up as flaming
wreckage fell from the skies onto the streets below. They raised
arms and cheered, and the city was saved.

Until the smoke cleared, and the giant monster still stood.

In fact, it looked a little angry.

Although the Super Hornets were still a number of kilometres
away, and turning back for a second shot, the monster turned, faced
them, then opened it's cavernous jaws. A blast of intense radiation
exploded outwards along a coherant path, which detonated the first
plane, then was swung around, tracking the other jets before they 
could fire again. Within a matter of seconds, the US aircraft were
gone, melted and exploded from existance.

Then, the creature turned again, and continued it's remorseless
gait towards the centre of Tokyo, the only visible damage made by the
jets' barrage of explosives a light column of smoke billowing
from its back in the wind.

******

It was on a nearby building that the government observers reported
the airstrikes had done no damage whatsoever. And in dim government
emergency offices, officials discussed furiously what was next on the
list.

"We could always use a small tactical nuclear weapon," one man 
offered slowly and hesitatingly.

There was shocked silence in the room, and horrified glares directed
at the man. "What you suggest is unthinkable," the Prime Minister
said, finally. "Nuclear weapons are not an option in an inhabited
region."

"It should be considered as a last resort effort. We cannot allow
this creature to leave Tokyo," the junior official continued.

"No. Japan has... other defenders." The Prime Minister leaned 
forward, steepling his fingers together. "I only hope they can reach
us in time."

******

Some such defenders stood overlooking the monster themselves.
Ranma. Sailor Moon. Sailor Mercury. Sailor Venus. Sailor Mars. Sailor
Jupiter. Sailor Saturn, at the back. All on a rooftop, overlooking
the monster and the government team now evacuating their position
as the monster turned their way and moved closer. Ranma saw they 
wouldn't make it out of the building before the creature was upon 
them, and turned back to the senshi. "Can any of you's fly?"

A lot of head shaking went on. "Damn," Ranma said, then punched
out the window and leapt, springing out laterally to reach the other
building's rooftop. He didn't see the senshi behind him exchange
glances, then spring after him, but he could feel their presences
as they followed. He'd have smiled, but the roof was coming up fast,
and he had too much speed to make a decent landing.

So he went for a controlled crash, rolled off his feet onto his 
shoulders, and continued rolling until he'd bled off some speed.
Not being a magical person such as the senshi were, he had to rely
on such old-fashioned techniques to stop. As he got to his feet, 
ignoring the pain as grazed skin pulled shut again, he noted that the
senshi, while they might not be able to fly, certainly had some kind
of powers of levitation, as they all landed gracefully. But he had no
time to curse the fact he'd broken his own henshin wand, and instead
threw open the door to the stairwell, jumping down flights at a time
until he had caught up to the government agents hurrying down the 
stairs ahead of him. He grabbed one, threw open the door at the next
landing, and shouted "Follow me!" before exiting through it and 
looking for a window facing an adjoining building not in the path of
the oncoming monster. Damn. There were windows, but the next building
was at least ten floors lower. Not so bad for him, but perhaps it 
would be serious for whomever he was carrying.

He looked back, and realised the senshi were there, pairing off with
other agents, ready to grab them as soon as Ranma grabbed his and 
showed them where to go: they'd picked up on his plan quickly,
obviously, and suddenly there was a sound fro the stairwell of 
something huge coming through the wall at speed and then there was no
time and Ranma grabbed his agent and went through the window watching
the next rooftop coming up fast.

An idea hit him halfway down, part of his memory, and he oriented
himself so his feet were facing the oncoming rooftop before blasting
out with his ki through his feet. Not quite useful for flight, Ranma
remembered, and not any use in this manner for speed - but it would
make landing much more comfortable. His feet touched down a moment
or two after the senshi had landed, and he put the agents down. "Go,
get outta here," he said, waving his arms. "We gotta think."

Not Ranma's best attribute, but perhaps the senshi had seen something
like this before, faced some giant rampaging monster -

No. No, else he'd likely have heard of it. The only giant monsters
Ranma could think of were the huge animals of Ryugenzawa he'd seen.
A glance at the senshi showed him he thought right: most of the 
monsters they'd fought over the years had been human-sized,
and a monster-sized creature with the abilities and strength this 
monster was displaying was obviously something they hadn't 
encountered before.

Oh, there were the rumours from a few years before that a giant 
phoenix and dragon had battled it out in the CBD and that the defence
forces had been called in, but as there had been no evidence of such
an intrusion into the captial, it was assumed it was just massed
hysteria.

The monster continued through the building the senshi and Ranma had
just leapt from, and all on the rooftop had to take cover from the 
exploding walls above. Cement chunks rained down, but more dangerous
were the metal structural supports that protruded from the 
boulder-sized chunks of material. Ranma could take the hits, as could
the women there, but not the government agents.

Turning, Ranma gathered his agent, and leapt again for the next 
building, smashing in through a window a few floors down and managing
once again to keep his passenger in one piece. Senshi followed
behind him and through other windows. By now, the monster was moving
onward, not paying them any attention, and Ranma gathered his 
students and left quickly as the agents struggled to catch up with
the last twenty seconds.

******

Outside again, closer in towards the city's taller buildings,
Ranma felt useless. He hadn't yet tried a frontal assault - and 
likely wouldn't, he knew. He'd fought one giant monster before,
and knew how useless physical strength could be, much and all as he 
hated to admit it. The senshi were more capable at fighting this kind
of adversary, and Ranma had noticed Sailor Mercury was already 
reviewing plans of attack and discarding them almost as immediately
as they flashed up on her visor.

Oh well, it was worth a shot. "Mercury, have you figured out how ta 
beat this thing yet?"

Sailor Moon, a moment too late, tried, "Sailor Mercury, have you...
damn." Too late. But rather than complain Ranma had asked what should
have been her question, she turned from the young man to face her 
friend.

Mercury shook her head. "I haven't yet been able to get a good 
reading on it - it's energy is all over the place!"

"Anything you've figured out about it?" Sailor Moon shot in before
Ranma could. She was rewarded with a slightly angry glare from him as
they crested yet another roof's lip.

"According to records from the Moon Kingdom, based on the energy
output of the Dark Kingdom, this creature is dwarfing existing
figures dramatically!"

"What?" Ranma asked.

Nemesis translated. "It's stronger than anything we've faced before."

"Stronger than the combined fleets and armies of the Moon Kingdom,"
Mars added.

"We're dooooomed," Sailor Moon wailed.

Ranma's head snapped up and around, and he directed the course of 
transit towards Tokyo Tower. "We're not doomed yet," he said, with
a bit of a smirk.

******

The view from the tower was staggering, and Tsubasa was too afraid
to step right up to the window on the viewing level. Hikaru, though,
her twin, was pressed right up against the glass, peering downwards.
"DD! I can see your car from here!"

"Hikaru! Come back from the window!" Tsubasa wasn't that sure about
approaching the glass, considering what she could see approaching
from the bay area. It had started out so far away, but it was close
now and it looked massive, and was approaching much faster than 
Tsubasa would have enjoyed.

The ten year old at the glass pouted. "But I've never been to Tokyo
before! And... and I probably won't come back here again... so I want
to see things!"

"Hikaru, perhaps it would be best if you stepped back from the 
window," A man with light blue hair said in a tone that brooked
no argument. Hikaru pouted more, but stepped back to hold hands with
Tsubasa.

"DD, you're no fun..."

The rest of the observation deck had been evacuated a few minutes
earlier, but DD, Tsubasa and Hikaru had stayed behind, hidden from
the hurried checks by staff for stragglers. Tsubasa's father had left
with the evacuated groups, and would no doubt be nervous now and 
worried for the safety of his daughter and Hikaru, his other 
'daughter'. To be honest, Tsubasa was worried about him, too, but 
Hikaru and DD had held her hand and told her she could best help him
by helping everyone else.

She thought that was kind of true, from a certain point of view, but
her courage, while enough to help Hikaru fight Magi spawn, wasn't
up to the task of the oncoming monster that appeared to be headed
directly for the tower, and she was starting to panic.

The elevator doors swished open, and Tsubasa turned, half-hoping
that the tower's staff had returned to double-check they had left no
one behind, but no. It was a young man and some women, and while the
man was dressed in some stylised Chinese outfit, the women were 
dressed in some really weird kind of stylised... Tsubasa didn't know.
Almost like a school uniform, but much more stylised. Hikaru, of 
course, was excited to see more people, who's attention, in turn,
was concentrated on the behemoth.

Tsubasa didn't really want to look at the creature, but there wasn't
much of a choice - there was something about it that kept drawing
one's gaze to the thing, an almost magnetic pull. Huge, it was, 
scaled, bipedal with a forward leaning stance. It looked like a giant
Tyrannosaurus Rex Tsubasa had seen in books. It was much larger,
though, and the head was larger, boxier, the mouth large enough to 
swallow a dump truck or two without needing to chew. And still it 
came.

Hikaru was saying something to the new arrivals when the elevator
pinged again. A pair of young women stepped out, one dressed in a 
black-and-white diamond-patterned jester's outfit with a staff, the
other with a digital camera, looking this way and that. Tsubasa
almost missed the yellow stuffed animal sitting on the jester's
shoulder, until it shifted back and glanced at her, frowning.
Behind them walked an angel, sniffing with some distain as he took
in the people present on the observation deck. Scowling even more,
and blushing fit to burst, was a young man behind them, face buried
in his ceremonial robes whenever he thought he didn't need to look
where he was going. As soon as he cleared the elevator doors, they
shut with a ding, and dropped back down towards ground level: someone
else had called for it.

Tsubasa didn't understand why all these people were turning up on a 
conscious level. But subconsciously, she knew they'd been drawn here
for the same reasons she had: drawn to power, drawn to help. There
was something about this place that brought people here, a reason
for this gathering of power. But not knowing it consciously,
it wasn't something Tsubasa could think about. And even if she had 
realised this, she simply wouldn't know the answer. These monsters
were nothing like the Magi she had fought.

They frightened her. They were immensely strong, super fast, and were
proving to be a global danger in the extreme as they took hold on 
their new "adopted" planet. But what scared Tsubasa about this 
oncoming monster... it was bigger, yes. It was slower, though. And 
possibly a lot weaker, she didn't know. She knew next to nothing
about it, and she wouldn't have access to any of the "hard" data 
Hikaru had on it until they joined... but Tsubasa knew.

Hikaru was afraid. She could see that now. The twin peered at 
everything with an excited expression... but lurking behind that was
doubt. A gathering of power, she openly realised now, as she watched
the teddy bear turn into a winged lion with a slightly whining,
pouting voice as he complained of hunger. And yet, Hikaru still 
acted... afraid. As she would right before grabbing Tsubasa and 
telling Tsubasa to concentrate, to let Hikaru protect her...

The scowling young man with black hair and a long ponytail glared
out of a window. The women behind him muttered amongst themselves,
more visibly worried than he, glancing out occasionally, also 
sweeping the odd eye over the growing crowd on the observation
level of the tower.

"It's so undignified, riding to save the world in an elevator,"
a blond with twin pigtails streaming back from her head muttered
to her friends.

Another, in red, sighed. "If you'd only turned into Neo Serenity
back at the hospital, none of this would have happened."

"Don't be so sure of that," one dressed in green added. "We're not 
pushovers, and what Ranma lacks in strength, he makes up for in 
skill... and he's frightened of the guy."

"He's not frightened," a girl, shorter than the rest and standing
slightly separated from her companions, interjected into the 
conversation. "He's worried. There's a big difference."

"That being?" asked the one in green.

"That he thinks it's unwise... to face Yoshihiro right now, as 
compared to not facing him at all."

"Well, he's not a coward," a girl in blue with a visor murmured.

"Hmph," a black-clad member of the group shook her head and turned
away, preparing to down a pair of pills. As she tipped her head back,
the man reached out and stopped her. She looked embarrassed,
tried to continue on to swallow her pills, but he stopped her again.
"Hey, Ranma, you know, uh, how I get without -"

"I do." Ranma, the man, nodded out the window at the monster. Tsubasa
noted it was much closer now. "And I know how dulled your movements
get, how much weaker you become. Can you hold it together long enough
to...?"

She wouldn't meet his eyes. Tsubasa guessed soemthing bad had 
happened between the two of them relating to these pills. Of course,
this was Tokyo, and there was every chance that this woman was a drug
addict... even superheroes had to have bad qualities, Tsubasa 
guessed. "You know I can hold it together for a while without them,
Ranma. It's just hard -" She broke off and looked away from her feet,
accidentaly straight into Tsubasa's eyes. She searched them for 
something, the force of her personality, her pain and anguish,
held the older woman in place.

She apparently found it, because she drew herself up, looked into 
Ranma's eyes. "It's just very hard... to go back on them when I've
been off... when I'm quiet for so long... when I don't, when...
when I don't see and hear things... I think I'm cured. I have, 
before, and I've stopped taking my medication, and that's how...
that's how..." Her voice faltered, and she looked away again. The 
girls behind her had continued talking, but the short one in purple
had taken a sad interest in what was going on with Ranma and the 
older woman, and was almost nodding to herself. "Get me... to take
them right after, okay?"

That was all Ranma wanted to hear. He touched her elbow as he passed
back towards the window, and she stiffened, like shocked with an 
electric charge before placing her pills back into a pocket Tsubasa
couldn't see. She turned around then, left her gorup, and headed
for Tsubasa.

When she reached Tsubasa, the older women squatted down in front of 
her, to look into her eyes. They were very pleasant, Tsubasa found.
A warm, rich purple, in a face framed by long violet hair. She didn't
look angry, or frightening, or embarrassed, or concerned now, just
curious. "So... what are you doing here?" she asked. "It's not 
exactly the place for little girls at the moment."

Tsubasa pointed at Hikaru, who was gazing up in adoration at one of 
the woman's friends. "I'm with... her. And him," she added, pointing
at DD, who was entertaining the winged lion for the moment.

"It's not safe here, you know," the older woman continued.

"I know," Tsubasa nodded.

"Shouldn't you and your family get to safety?"

"Isn't this the safest place in Tokyo at the moment?"

The woman grinned a little on the wry side. "That it could be." She
glanced over her shoulder and said, "Not now," before turning back
to Tsubasa. "But you should get your family to evacuate, all the 
same."

"Oh, they're not my family."

"But -" The woman turned to look at Hikaru. "She's your twin. Isn't
she?"

"Kind of." Tsubasa noted Hikaru was bouncing back across the floor
towards them, holding out a hand for her friend to grab.

"It's time, Tsubasa-chan!" she called out as she arrived, smiling
happily at the older woman talking to Tsubasa. Tsubasa took her 
outstretched hand, and dissolved in a green glow, resolving into a 
woman the height of the senshi before her, coloured in muted purples
and greys. She nodded at the senshi, and stepped towards DD.

******

"Great," Nemesis muttered to herself as the twins combined into an 
adult, obviously super-powered, form. "Can I be nice to anyone today
without having it thrown in my face?"

"You know," Kozuma breathed, leaning from behind her, in close over
her shoulder, "you didn't have to be nice to Ranma."

Nemesis turned away from him. "You know I need my medication.
It's not good for me - ME! - to be off it."

"You've been off it for a while before, what's the difference
now?"

She shrugged, kept her gaze away from him. "My head - my mind - is 
mine. And when I'm not taking my medication, it becomes someone
else's."

"Like Kari's."

Now Nemesis shuddered, wrapped her hands around her shoulders
trying to hide herself. "Don't even mention her. She's... she's not
nice."

"In a lot of ways, she's better than Mitsuki ever was. Poor little
Mitsuki. Did she think she's the only person to have lost a parent?"
Kozuma smirked; Nemesis could hear it in his voice. His breathing
raised fine hair across her shoulders. Kozuma, the seducer. She knew
what he wanted - the control he directed - and the chaos he would
create. And he knew how to make her lose control. Losing control
didn't bode well for those in her immediate location. Usually.

"Yeah. Perhaps now would be a good time to lose control...?"
he asked, a hand stroking around the side of her stomach, fondling
her navel. She pulled away, moved further from the groups of heroes
still assembling in the main elevator lounge. Kozuma followed her,
hands running electric chills up and down her spine. A door closed
behind him, and his hand gripped her firmly, pressing her up against
the wall, lips on her collarbone. "Poor child... so very sad what 
happened to Megumi... are you sure he's all right? What about the 
kid? Poor little kid... it's always the young ones who get hurt..."

"Shut up!" Nemesis whispered fiercely, through tears that had 
appeared from nowhere.

"That poor girl. Thirteen, and still not in high school. She'll soon
become... well, you know... one of THOSE people, down in the docks
district..." Kozuma's voice trailed on, the tone seductively
sweet, contrasting the content of his words. His seductions were 
intended for others; his stabbing, biting words were intended only
for her.

"Shut uuuup!" But the tone was more plaintive now, Nemesis was 
weakening. She could feel it. She'd waited too long to take her 
medication today, and the enhanced hormones that swept through her as
a senshi pushed all control provided by them away. She was being led
down a very dark road. She could feel it, feel the others crowding
her. Glancing up, she saw them. Some concerned, like Shin-chan
and Tetsuya-kun. Others indifferent - Maho, Omiko, Shuuji, Ami. And
those eager for her to slip up, to leave the motor running, as it 
were - Taki, Moyo, Suu-chan, Kusanagi-kun. And Kari. Nemesis couldn't
forget Kari, with her burning eyes, and hateful distain of everything
Mitsuki Matsuda. She stood at the rear of the group, arms folded,
shooting daggers of flaming bile from her eyes. Kozuma was behind
her again, hands stroking at her hips, at her breasts, along an arm,
drawing it out further ad further from her body. Nemesis tried to 
draw it in again, cover herself, push Kozuma away.

And found her hands no longer obeyed her command.

She sobbed. "What is it with you all?" she cried as she sank through
Kozuma's arms to the floor. "Why do you hate me so? Aren't you here
to protect me?"

Kari pushed through the crowd, bent down to peer directly into 
Nemesis' eyes. Her eyes were a slightly darker shade of purple than
Nemesis', and promised much fun, much danger. Much destruction.
"But Mitsuki, dear," she cooed, falsely pouring light and compassion
into the words, "we ARE here to protect you. You're a danger to 
yourself. You're a problem. We," she gestured back at the others,
"are much more worthy of running your life. We, not you, have gotten
you where you are today. You... you ran away. You made us to face 
life for you... and now you don't want us? Tsk tsk, little one, life
isn't that easy."

"We outnumber you," Kozuma added.

"She's the original," Shin mentioned from the background. "We're
just figments. Incorrect brain chemistry. Shattered fragments
of a persona smashed when her mother died." She shook her head. 
"We're nothing special. We're not deserving. We are all her."

"Lies. Lies and deception. But what would we expect from you?" Kari
rounded on Shin, the only person with glasses in the room, and 
neatly-tied back violet hair. "Intelligence. The aspect least able
to make decisions. Because intelligence alone has no emotive worth,
no capabilities to problem-solve, no method of attaching importance
to data. You're just a walking memory."

Tetsuya stepped forward, to stand between Kari and Shin. "Leave her
alone. You wanna pick on someone, Kari, you try me."

"Oh, I don't fall for protectiveness, Tetsuya," Kari smirked. "That's
useless, too. I'm the most important, most relevant aspect to our 
lives here - aggression. Without me, we'd have all died prematurely.
I'm raw, I'm naked, I take what I want and I care little about what
gets in our way..."

"And yet you won't touch me?"

"Protectiveness... the will to shield others from harm... it's a 
useless concept, and beneath my notice." Kari turned back to Nemesis,
who was now huddled on the floor. Then glanced at the door - 
footsteps! Someone was coming. She glared up at Kozuma again, who 
bent down and whispered in Nemesis' ear.

******

Ranma opened the door to the storage area, and found Nemesis dusting
off her skirt, standing around peevishly. She glared up at him, and
he saw something flit across her face - something he wouldn't 
identify. She walked up to him, trailed a hand across his chest as 
she passed. "Is it time yet?" she asked.

"Uh... yeah. It's only two blocks away now."

"Cool." Nemesis continued past, and rejoined the senshi.

Ranma shook his head. That wasn't lust in her eyes. Couldn't be. 
They'd dated - once; well, double-dated, really - but that didn't
mean anything from Ranma, and she had cooled off a lot. But he 
thought he'd hear talking, or sobbing from this room, and nothing.
No one else was in there. Everyone who was coming seemed to be 
assembled, although he was surprised this 'Tuxedo Kamen' character
Sailor Moon was waiting for apparently hadn't showed up yet, and so 
it looked like time to get underway. He closed the door, and walked
back towards the senshi. The feeling was in the air already; it was
just a matter of who was going to make the first move.

No one wanted to leave the perceived safety of the tower, though,
and so Ranma guessed he, the one with NO super powers, would be the
first to launch an attack...

******

Sailor Moon glanced at Nemesis as she rejoined them at the window
and smiled. The older senshi looked set for action, which was good
in a way. Neptune and Uranus hadn't shown up, neither had Tuxedo
Kamen, and Sailor Moon was worried. Something didn't look quite right
with Nemesis, though. Her hair looked ruffled, but that wasn't it. 
Nemesis glanced sideways at Sailor Moon and smirked.

"Let's get this show on the road," she said.

It was the eyes, Sailor Moon realised. Sailor Nemesis' eyes were 
wrong.

And then she jumped through the plate-glass window and all hell broke
loose.

******

The monster saw the tower. Its target. Close now, so close. It heaved
itself forward, stepping agily around a small multi-storied
building as it continued forward. But that was slow, so the creature
reached out, grasped the lip of the building in front of it, and 
hauled itself up.

******

A helicopter for Japan Today swung around one of the taller buildings
in the city's heart as the monster steadied itself on the top of the
building. Surprisingly, the ediface didn't collapse; it crumbled,
but held firm for the moment. The cameraman, Kenji Morioka, leaned
out of the door with his camera, the active light a steady red light
above the lens. A pair of loosened straps held him in while beside
him, the reporter who he'd been assigned to stood at the open door,
no safety straps holding her in as she clutched a microphone
in one hand, a roofstrap in the other.

Jun Yamamoto shouted into her microphone to be heard over the 
incessant beat of the rotors above her. "Climbed to the top of the 
Koga building, but still heading for Tokyo Tower... the American
carrier fleet at Yokohama has failed to injure the monster and has 
taken heavy losses. Estimated casualties at the moment are in the 
hundreds, with more found wounded or dead in the monster's path every
minute now it has reached a crowded region of the city."

Morioka panned the camera down to take in the streets of fleeing
people, pushing past one another without regard for any other's
safety. A car beeped its horn before blasting into the street, 
knocking people down in the driver's mad rush to flee before the 
monster could turn their way. When he panned back up, he saw they 
were much closer to the monster now, coming in from the rear. 
Yamamoto was continuing to yell about the fleeing population,
how hundreds of thousands were still being evacuated from the area,
as the creature brought its tail around and smashed through another
building.

The helicopter lurched as shrapnel peppered the outer skin of the 
vehicle, and although both in the passenger compartment were 
reasonably unaffected, the pilot wasn't so lucky. He slumped dead 
over his controls, and the chopper tilted downwards, headed for 
another building. Morioka caught sight of something spilling from a 
shattered window in the tower, but the falling craft disappeared
too quickly behind a building before he could make out what it was.

"We're going to die!" Yamamoto screeched into the microphone,
knocked off her feet and slamming into the front of the passenger
bay. Morioka was only thrown to the limits of his straps, which he 
tightened in the off-chance he survived the initial impact. A moment
later, and he swore he could see a dozen roses shot past the door,
heading under the helicopter, and a scant instant after that, the 
helicopter stopped falling.

In fact, it started bouncing.

A shadow at the door made Morioka turn: a man in a tuxedo with an 
old-fashioned top hat and cane stood there, a mask pulled across
his eyes. "Fear not, for you are not yet dead. But evacuate this 
area, as it won't be safe for much longer." Morioka nodded, but the
man was already gone, leaping off with a whiff of rose-scent
in the air.

Yamamoto moaned, what looked like a broken arm dangling at an angle
completely wrong back into the pilot's cabin, and spoke into her 
microphone. "Jun Yamamoto, Japan Today, signing off."

******

Nemesis didn't see the helicopter go down, nor did she really care,
but she was the cause of it.

Bursting from the tower, she had pushed off with enough force to 
produce a mini-sonic boom behind her, and she smashed into the 
monster with both arms outstretched, elbows slightly bent so they 
would give rather than snap on contact, and she sank deep into the 
beast's hide.

Yet it wasn't enough. She didn't penetrate the deeply-lined
flesh with the force of the blow, it was only enough to annoy it: a 
bruise formed even as the beast roared, waved its head, and then 
slammed its tail around in anger. A building shattered, sending
more debris down on the fleeing people in the streets below, but 
Nemesis didn't care much about that, either. She bounced back from
the creature's hide, landed on a nearby rooftop, and flung up her 
hands. "Nemesis Arctic Fire!" The energy that spilled from her palms
coruscated over the creature, and it roared again in pain and 
annoyance, and this time swung it's head around so it could fix one
baleful eye on the senshi. She stared back, hate and bile filling
the space between them. It opened it's mouth to growl -

- and blasted Nemesis with a powerspike she couldn't avoid. She 
smashed through three buildings behind her, hit the fourth, and slid
slowly to the ground.

Ranma took charge of the senshi's efforts for the moment, as the 
shock of Nemesis' actions cleared. "Sailor Saturn! Go help Nemesis.
Sailor Moon, get your... your troops and follow me." Ranma leapt from
the tower for battle, and Sailor Moon wrapped her fingers tighter
around her scepter and followed. The senshi followed behind without
a word.

As if the senshi were rats leaving a sinking ship, the others 
assembled joined in the exodus, making for the battle to save Tokyo.

Events around the creature became mildly chaotic, as attacks flared
past allies to strike at the beast, and the beast struck and bit 
back.

Every so often, there would come a lull in the noise as one side or 
the other rested momentarily to reassess the situation. The look the
beast got into its eyes told Ranma there was something more going
on here than a random, mindless monster - the fact this one was 
unknown to anyone suggested a lot to him, and it wasn't just a normal
monster... Sailor Mercury ahd said its energy was definitely
Dark Kingdom and was greater than any monster faced before...
stronger than the Dark Kingdom had been during the time of the Moon
Kingdom. So, was this a small monster Yoshihiro had found somewhere
and altered?

In one of those lulls, Ranma remembered something. It hit him like
a bolt of lightning between the eyes.

******

The skeleton. Around for a while, stronger than the monsters 
previous. Tohkar had also been stronger than the dragon they'd faced.
Mercury had theorised that the longer a monster from this brood had
existed, the more powerful it became. Natsumi had been insanely
strong. And Yoshihiro... Ranma didn't even want to go there.

******

So this monster... was one of the originals. Tohkar had slowly been
losing the power of speech, and this monster apparently had none,
so was that a trend in Yoshihiro's kin? Did they get stupider as they
grew older? Perhaps. It didn't seem to need to announce its attacks
- definitely an advantage over most of the people assembled here to 
fight, Ranma thought dryly to himself.

"Big Card! Make me as strong as this monster! BIG!"

Movement captured Ranma's eye, and he watched a young girl dressed
as a jester grow to the size of the monster. She was armed with a 
staff of some kind, and swung it around into the beast's jaw. It 
staggered backwards with the force of the impact, which also 
shattered nearby windows, creating a cascade of glittering glass 
shards that dropped onto the fleeing people in the streets, and as 
the beast moved back to strike again, she swung the staff the other
way, smashing into the monster's chest. That threw it to the other
side, but it caught on a building, grabbed that, and used it to swing
around, stiffening its tail behind it.

The tail smacked into the girl, and she was thrown backwards into a 
building of her own, where she disappeared from sight again. Not 
good. Probably the most concentrated magical force since... well,
since the Gods created Japan... and it was incapable of stopping
a single monster.

The beast stood up, threw back its head, and roared. More windows
shattered, hands were clapped to ears, and nearby eardrums burst.
Ranma found himself momentarily deafened, but instead watched Mercury
and Venus shout attacks, and launch chains and ice at the beast's
leg, obviously trying to tie him down. Didn't work. The monster
lifted its leg and took part of the street with it. Bending its head
again, it launched another oral powerspike. Mercury and Venus dodged,
but not by much, and the shockwave from the blast picked them up and
threw them like ragdolls. It roared again as the senshi bounced
off the street and rolled into a brick wall before turning its 
attention on a purple and grey woman who danced about it, attempting
to stab into it.

No luck. A vicious backhand from the creature sent the woman into the
ground. Ranma thought he caught a green glow for a moment, but turned
his attention to Saturn, visible two blocks away, working on Nemesis.
The older woman was sitting upright again, at least, holding her 
head. Ranma didn't quite know what had happened with her, but hoped
it wasn't related to him asking her to stop her medication for the 
moment. He feared it was, though, and so shifted his gaze back to 
Sailor Moon, swinging her crescent wand around, but the healing
lights did nothing but irritate the monster. It stamped a foot near
her, and she panicked, running.

A man in a black tuxedo and top hat danced around behind and above
her, tossing razor-sharp roses at the monster to cover her retreat.
Tuxedo Kamen, Ranma guessed.

So what now? The fight was falling apart. Ranma wasn't the kind of 
person who could lead... his students, yes, but that was different.
He was incapable of directing a large-scale offensive, of the kind
that was needed here, especially without knowing what everyone
was capable of. Knowing that someone could be made big would have 
been a help, at least.

He watched, proud as a teacher, as Mars combined her more violent
powered attacks with combination kicks and punches he'd shown her in
the last few days. Nothing like battle experience to finetune them;
concentrating her magical energies at the same time she focussed
her physical abilities was increasing the power of both, something
Ranma had been hoping. Jupiter was also doing the same, picking
up from Mars as they fought, each trying to cover the holes one would
leave in their defence as they made an assault. He thought it strange
that, as yet, the senshi had really only relied on magical prowess...
while Jupiter and Mars had been somewhat competant fighters for 
average people, he'd have expected them all to be some kind of 
super-human martial artists... but they hadn't been. Up until his 
training, in physical combat, apart from Jupiter and Mars, and lately
Nemesis, they were useless.

But it wasn't enough. His strength wasn't enough to bring any kind
of hurt to this monster, and Ranma knew that, but the forces of good
were still being forced back, towards the tower. Instead of fighting,
he bounced around, helping people get clear, trying to take out some
of the big debris before it could kill innocents on the ground,
checking on the combatants and making sure none were severely 
injured.

The beast stretched and roared again, and lightning blasted down from
a clear blue sky, striking the beast's back and coruscating
down in a cascade of blinding bluish-white light. Ranma cursed and 
averted his eyes, bringing an arm up to cover them when that proved
not enough -

- and was slammed into a wall.

Fearing the beast had caught him, he brought his fists up to strike
back at faster-than-sound speeds, but then he realised this monster
had breasts and a hot breath that almost seared his cheek as it 
panted on him. "Sempai! Stay out of the way! You nearly got killed!"

"H... Saturn?"

"Yes, sempai." Ranma's vision hadn't returned properly, but he could
see blurs moving about, and the black-haired blur in front of him 
turned around, looking out through the wall, embarrassed but not 
pulling back from being wrapped around him just yet. "The 
lightning... it blinded almost everyone out there. And it did that
fire-breath thing at you. Nemesis was really badly hurt, but she's
okay now... so she says... and I saw that thing go to hit you."

"Why? Why me? I'm not strong enough to fight that thing, let alone
hurt it..."

"This doesn't sound like you, sempai... what's wrong?"

Ranma shook his head. "I've grown up a lot, Sailor Saturn, and part
of that growing up... I'll fight. And I'll fight ta win. I don't 
think we CAN win at the moment, but somethin'll show up, somethin'll
happen. But for now, I wanna try and get these people out of the way.
I... when you were bad, I watched you revel in destroying a school
with people trapped inside... an' they're people who were used to the
big fights between me and Kuno, Ryoga, Shampoo, Akane..." He sighed,
unconsciously, before continuing. "But these are just normal people,
and can't take what we take. And..."

"Have you thought, maybe, that you could help them better by trying
to stop this monster now?" Saturn asked, slowly. She peeled herself
off his body, stepped back to give them each a little room. "That
stopping it now, or holding it up from moving any further, would save
a lot more people?" There was a roar outside, and the increased
heat from a powerspike nearby. Ranma, through the hole in the wall,
watched magical fires blast the street below. There wasn't even time
for the evacuating people to scream out in pain, let alone horror.
Saturn turned to face the scene as well. It wasn't pretty.

"Saturn..." Ranma's eyes never left the road below, letting the 
horror of it sink in completely. "No. I can't let that happen. I 
think..." He fell silent.

But Saturn could guess. He'd almost been wiped out trying to fight
a single monster once before, and since then, apart from fighting
her in Nerima, he hadn't had a good, decent workout and was beginning
to doubt he had what it takes anymore. Especially when in terms of 
magical powers and strength, these monsters were stronger than him.
But that bravery was one of the things she loved about him so much...
that he would willingly throw himself into the fray for those he 
cared about. He'd done it for her, for Nemesis, even apparently
for that ex-fiance of his on a number of occasions. While he still
seemed self-centred, and Saturn thought he would always seem that way
to people, he helped out a lot, helped others a lot, just made it 
look like he was doing it for himself.

But sometimes he needed a boost.

And while Saturn didn't feel terribly good about being this close
to her... well, to her boyfriend, especially after recent events,
she had to give him something, shake him from this inaction. She'd
been watching him in the tower, and he'd been psyching himself up to
make the first move... had he done that, he'd likely have joined
in by now already. But Nemesis had charged in - and Ranma had watched
her get almost splashed across the ground. Not the best thing to see
happen to a magically near-invulnerable woman, and consider what 
would happen to you as a very mortal - albeit very strong - man.

What to give him? That was easy. She closed her eyes, stood up on 
tiptoes, and kissed his lips. Briefly, she couldn't afford to allow
herself to feel too happy doing this, but it lasted long enough for
Ranma's hands to find their way to her shoulders. Then she broke 
apart, looked away. "Sempai... you know why I can't be more... open
with you at the moment. But... we need your help." And then, before
his hands could bring her back, she leapt from the hole in the wall
out once more into the fight.

Ranma paused a moment, feeling butterflies in his stomach, as he 
looked down at the road. Usually... in Nerima... if he'd faced 
anything like this, he'd have run. Maybe trained until he could beat
it, but he'd have ran all the same. But now? Now there were some six
to eight million people in the region, all possibly about to be 
killed. Ranma couldn't stop the monster himself. But maybe if he 
helped the others...

Another powerspike that evaporated, melted and charred over a 
thousand people to death made his mind up. Ranma climbed out of the
building, leapt for the one opposite, then bounced back, working
his way up to where the monster was.

******

Nemesis stood shakily on a building opposite from the monster,
gathering energy, gathering strength, biding time. While the others
danced around and fired off spectacularly useless attacks, Nemesis
focussed on bringing strength from all over herself, drawing it into
her chest, ready for release. And she kept building.

Kari didn't like losing. Kari hated even more being hit. This monster
was going to pay.

Nemesis kept drawing on herself.

******

Yue and Kerberos fired arrow and flame at the beast, but nothing
stopped it. At best, the assembled forces had slowed it considerably,
by creating a massive distraction. Since the first senshi had leapt
from the tower, it had moved only two footsteps closer to the tower,
it's obvious target.

They paused, watching as a young black-haired man burst from the base
of the building it stood on, firing energy blasts at it. They did 
nothing but make it a bit angrier than it had been, and it fired 
another powerspike down at the ground in the man's general direction.

He dodged to one side, bouncing back to the building opposite,
continuing to work his way up to the level everyone else was on. As 
he touched on a wall, he sprang off again, at the same time firing
off an energy blast or two. The constant rain of energy irritated
the beast, and it turned again, sending a powerspike at the point
where the young man was next to bounce from. It missed him, but he 
lost his footing, and tumbled, and before he could grab something,
begin his climb up again, the beast fired another blast into the 
building, and it started to collapse.

The man saw this, and tried to dodge, but didn't have time. Several
large chunks of concrete seemingly exploded before they reached
him, and Yue's and Kerkeros' magical senses let them keep up with his
movements, as fast as they were, but then more and more chunks fell,
each larger than the one previous, and the dust that fell with the 
chunks, as well as the dust the chucks got blasted into, began 
blocking the young man's vision. When the real big pieces started
hitting him, he couldn't prepare for them, only react once they'd
passed. And they were dragging him down.

The dust cleared for a moment, and Yue watched a huge chunk smash
the young man in the back of the head. He fell, then, limp, 
unconscious. Just before the huge pile of rocks covered him up, 
possibly for good, Yue caught sight of something leaping at him, 
female, a touch of black in her costume.

And then the final rocks fell, and Yue saw them no more.

While Kerberos would have liked to have saved them... Yue didn't
tell him they could possibly still be alive. That would distract
the other Guardian Beast from his duty - to save everyone else in 
Tokyo - and could have disastrous results. So, Yue kept silent,
and returned his attention to the beast at hand.

******

In the netherworld sewers, Yoshihiro smiled at Umiko as he heard the
report. "Yamazaki says the martial artist Ranma is down."

"That's certainly good news," Umiko smirked as she cleaned her cheeks
with the back of her hands. "Can your plans proceed again, then?"

"Yes," Yoshihiro mused. "Of course, it's not that he's a threat now.
Soon, maybe. But not now." He paused, looked into the portal in his
mind that Yamazaki was transmitting. "Not now. But I look forward
to the challenge. For now, let's just watch Raijin cause some 
much-needed panic on his way to do my bidding."

Umiko grunted, and continued cleaning herself.

******

And in the dark, stuffy darkness, Ranma Saotome slept... TO BE 
CONTINUED... SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Bah. Too long to write. But done now. And twice the length of what
I took up writing when I started Truth... I did used to write much
longer fics, but I found 25k to be about good for a semi-episodic
feel that I could get out fairly regularly. Well, this is about 45k
or so, and took some thinking as to how to sustain the story while
extending the length of it and the like. Most chapters will likely
be this long now, maybe the occasional filler a bit shorter, and 
thus, the series will also shorten considerably in terms of chapters
- this would have ben 2, normally, the next 2, and a couple of the 
ones after this... also 2 or 3. As I was planning for the same 20-22
chapters I did for Truth, and this is technically 13/14... well, that
brings it closer as I tighten the story up. Ah well. so that's 
explained. Anyone who reads my other fics, fear not: X-Com chapter
5 is progressing with a terror site in London, and Love Song of 
Tomorrow (SaiKano/Eva combination) chapter 3... is on the horizon
somewhere ^^; But that's coming, too. Anyways, it's late, I'm heading
to bed.

Next chapter: ... Or We Fall Together. Ranma awakens, piled under
a couple of thousand tonnes of building, with only a badly positioned
senshi above him to keep everything up. The monster Raijin's plan is
revealed - will anyone be alive in Tokyo to appreciate it, though?
And a few more cameos that there weren't time for in this chapter...
DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters are 
properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.

NOTE: This chapter has some bad langauge, adult themes, and sexual
references. No sex, though.

LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 14

** ... Or We Fall Together **

Yamazaki continued to watch from a distance. Extreme animalistic
telescopic vision let him see the action, the carnage, as it 
progressed in downtown Tokyo, and it cheered him no end to see the 
people of the city burnt, vapourised, squished, and suffer many other
interesting deaths. They'd beaten him too many times for him to care,
insulted him, used him, abused him. He now only wanted to see them
all dead.

And dead they shortly would be, he knew. Raijin was a few steps short
of his goal now, the Tokyo Tower. It was within his grasp. The only
reason he hadn't reached out yet -

- Raijin was having fun. Serious fun. The magical people of Tokyo
and its surrounds were even now buzzing about his head like flies.
Moments before, a giant girl in a jester's outfit had laid into 
Raijin with a funny-looking staff, but that hadn't done much to slow
him down. He'd demolished a building, just seconds ago, and Yamazaki
had caught sight of one of the senshi powering down into the rubble
as it collapsed - he'd watched Ranma Saotome, Yoshihiro's current
lead enemy, fall under the debris, so he guessed she was on her way
to save him. It wouldn't do much, though; that was several thousand
tonnes of concrete and steel, possibly much more than that.

He reported to Yoshihiro, who paused, probably as he passed on the 
information to Umiko, before he felt his Master's eyes once more in 
his head, watching what he was watching.

******

Sailor Moon didn't spare much more than a moment glancing at where
the building had just been standing. Another one down. No doubt 
Nemesis got to Ranma before he was covered, but there were other 
people down there. The ultimate hardhitters in the people assembled
to fight this monster in sailor suits, and the senshi weren't having
much luck. They were already two members down - five, if she counted
the recently-absent Neptune, Uranus and Pluto - and with Ranma 
gone...

She realised she'd been coming to rely on his leadership rather than
her own - not a good sign in a future leader of people. So she did 
what she could to take over - raised her wand, pointed it at the 
monster, and yelled, "Hey, you!" An eyeball as large as a bus 
swivelled down to stare at her. "Yeah, you! I don't know what you're
doing here, but I know you're evil, and this is MY home town...
Dark Kingdom clown, give up now or prepare to be punished! For I am 
Sailor Moon, and -"

It rumbled, deep in its throat, and for a moment, Sailor Moon didn't
realise it had just spoken. "Indeed?" it had said. And in her 
surprise, she almost forgot to dodge the powerspike that lashed out
towards her. The top of a building behind her exploded. More rubble
falling to the streets below to create dangers for the fleeing 
civilians. Sailor Moon recovered her composure, and continued. 

"And in the name of truth, love and justice, we, the Pretty Sailor
Soldiers, will punish you!" She pointed, but the grave impact of her
words and tone was momentarily voided by the tip of the tail that 
caught her full in the chest. She'd have bounced further away if an 
angel hadn't caught her and delivered her to a nearby rooftop,
where she regained her balance. The senshi gathered around her in a 
protective formation, firing off attacks at the monster.

Powerful magics combined with focussed martial arts techniques
warped the air between the senshi and the beast, and yes, it did 
indeed roar in pain and anger. And as the senshi renewed their 
attack, pushing for all they could against it, it swung around 
towards them.

"Do you insignificant insects actually WANT to die?" it rumbled
through a window-shaking roar. Blistering, coruscating energies
rippled over the monster's hide, smouldering through scales. Damage,
finally, blissful damage. Sailor Moon almost sagged to her knees,
but she couldn't, no, not now. An injury to the creature would have
to be capitalised on, regardless of the sharp stabbing, tearing
pains in her chest. She'd heal. She'd just have to. But for the 
moment, she wasn't going to be doing much yelling or moving of her 
arms. Damn.

The monster turned to face them, turning the injured flank away from
the senshi. That move brought the injured site in the arcs of an 
emotionless woman in purple and grey, and with a flash, she leapt
inwards, pummelling her fists into the creature's side, ichor 
spurting forth around her fists. She ignored the bolts of energy
that coursed up her arms from the senshi's attacks, until they were
too strong, too energetic many after-effects that snaked around her
body, jolting her systems. She split apart into two small girls,
both shocked into momentary unconsciousness, dropping towards the 
streets below. A man in a black suit and a top hat threw himself
to their rescue, launching multiple roses through the air towards
them. Lines trailed out below, and as roses hit nearby walls, they
bounced back, the lines tangling into a mesh netting. The girls hit
the netting, before Tuxedo Kamen grabbed them and leapt for safety
as a wayward claw sliced through the wiring.

"Is this the best you can do?" the monster snorted, regaining
his composure. As the young girl in the jester costume, the monster's
size again, charged from behind, he raked out backwards with his 
hindclaws, catching her across her stomach and tearing the denser
costume material to shreds before they continued through soft flesh.
She screamed, loud enough to break windows, before vanishing again
to the streets below as she shrank.

Sailor Moon leaned forward, cupping herself, trying to take the 
pressure off her chest. Then, Saturn was there, left hand on the 
elder senshi, and Sailor Moon felt her ribs shift inside, re-knit,
and the pain in her lungs settle down. She straightened, and nodded
a quick thanks at Saturn, who was twirling the Silence Glaive around
in her right hand. It took Sailor Moon a moment to recognise one of 
the training patterns Ranma had taught her.

"Shall we try again?" Saturn asked, eyes locked on the monster,
as it presented its injured side again as it turned back from 
dispatching another group of heroes.

Sailor Moon nodded. "Did you really think such a cowardly and simple
attack would deter true justice from being dealt?" she yelled again,
readying her wand. A rush of power through her hands indictaed
it was ready to be used again. She gestured with the wand, just a 
slight raising of the tip, but that was enough for the senshi to 
understand to unload everything they had at the monster's injured
point again. "Get ready to scatter," she muttered under her breath.

"And then?" Mars queried.

"I don't know, form up in our training pairs and try to beat the 
living shit out of it?" Sailor Moon opined. With that, she dropped
the wand back down to the horizontal, and began the offensive
anew.

******

Darkness.

Dank.

Dusty.

They were just some of the 'D' words that sprang to Ranma's mind as 
he opened his eyes and took a shuddering breath. Returning to 
consciousness wasn't easy, especially after whatever wringer he'd 
just been put through, and he could feel injuries healing as he lay
there, motionless. He tried to stretch, and found something on top of
him, pressing down on him lightly. To his sides, one hand was trapped
in rubble, and it felt like fingers were broken or sprained - either
way, painful, immobile, and currently irretrievable. To the other,
his hand encountered a lot of painful, pointed things. Like rubble.
Painful rocks. Painful shafts of iron. Come to think of it, his back
had things digging into it, as well. He shifted his free right hand
as best he could, contorting in what little range of movement he had,
to touch the back of his head.

His fingers came away sticky. Blood. Yeah, he could smell that 
distinct coppery reek. So he was injured more. What happened,
though? His head ached, he couldn't remember much for the moment,
but it was coming back. The monster on television, the mad scramble
to get from Kawagawa, Nemesis leaping out through the windows and 
starting the fight a little earlier than expected... the fight, the
deaths. How many people had died in the streets already? Ranma had 
just watched thousands die in flame and molten death, charred beyond
recognition as living creatures in a split second. And no doubt,
the monster out there wanted to do that to the rest of Tokyo...
he remembered his new determination, this would not be so, and he 
remembered the kiss.

And he remembered, with a sharp, shooting pain through his head, the
building falling on him.

Oh.

So he was stuck, alone, under some thousands of tonnes of rubble,
with not enough room to move himself into a position he could perhaps
safely escape from the debris. Damn.

He tried to shift his legs, and found his body and legs wedged in 
pretty tightly, something soft and yet unyielding at the same time
trapping him. And that was when he began to panic.

It was his first few panted gasps, breathing in the free-floating
dust, that set him coughing. His head spasmed, jerked upwards,
and smashed into something. *That* was hard. Concrete?

No. It shifted, and moaned. "Do you mind... not hitting me?"

"Nemesis?"

"No, Tetsuya. For the moment." Ranma's eyes had begun to adapt to the
almost complete darkness, and he had to admit, there was something
different about Nemesis' face. And her voice. Almost like it 
wasn't... oh heck.

"You're not Mitsuki."

Nemesis made to shake her head, but then her eyes darted to the side,
noting what was resting on it. "Not for the moment. Mitsuki's..."
Her voice altered further, changing from the warm, almost masculine
tone it had been into a slightly nasally twang. "Havin' a rest,"
she completed.

Personalities. And as Ranma could just make out Nemesis' face in the
darkness, he watched expressions change fleetingly as one personality
vied for dominance, then another, and so forth and so forth, until
they settled down again.

"Don't mind Taki," Tetsuya said again. "He's not dangerous. He wants
as much control as the rest of the pantheon he supports, but is 
fairly harmless. Especially in a situation like this."

"How... how deep are we down? Did you rescue me?"

Tetsuya looked embarrassed. "Actually, 'I' didn't. Kari... Kari did."

"Kari...?"

"From the same side as Taki. Anger, hatred, intolerance. Aggression,
basically."

"Then... why did she save me?"

Tetsuya's expression distorted, grew hard. His voice also altered
considerably, becoming playful, loud, with an underlying current
of maliciousness and manipulation. Nemesis' body shifted against
Ranma, and suddenly he was aware of her skirt lying up on his 
stomach, bare naked legs surrounding his hips, tensing, gripping
him in a manner Ranma suspected was anything angry at all.

Agressive, yes, angry, no. A moment later, the soft thing above him,
which he had realised was Nemesis' body, grow a pair of hard nubs,
pushing into his chest. Ranma knew from experience those things only
popped out if it was cold or something... stimulating was going on,
and considering it was rather warm in the enclosed space...

"If you want the answers to that question, don't you think you should
ask the source?" Kari smirked.

******

A dozen blocks from Tokyo Tower, a train from the outlying 
prefectures pulled into a station, to take as many people as possible
out of the immediate danger zone. But a few people ran out of the 
carriages, sprinting for height. And upon rising to the top of a tall
building, they stopped and stared.

"Oh my god," Ukyou gasped, hand raising involuntarily to her face.
Ryoga's expression was set in stnoe, anger and irritation.

"I've fought against things this big before," he muttered, before
readying several bandanas and his umbrella. A quick equipment
check showed they were okay. Ukyou took the hint and gave her 
spatulas a quick once-over.

Beside them, Akane, Shampoo and Cologne stopped at the edge of the 
building, their mouths dropping open.

"Aiyah! Great-grandmother ever see this before?"

"No, Xian, I haven't," the matriach replied, trying to hide a lot of
worry behind a mask of ponderings. "There is no record of such a 
thing happening to the tribe as well."

Next to her, a small man with a bag of borrowed lingerie slung over
his back appeared from nowhere, waving a backscratcher with his free
hand. "Wah ha! With this item of power, I can liberate as many giant
monsters in Tokyo?" he said, mixing sentences as he opened his eyes.

Cologne didn't bother looking at him. "This is grave."

"I will fight," Ryoga said, before stepping up to the lip of the 
building and leaping. Ukyou, too, climbed up and launched herself
into space wordlessly.

Shampoo gave her elder a worried look as she twirled her bonbori.
"Great-grandmother?"

"Go. Help. But be careful." Shampoo gave her another, even more 
worried look, before launching herself. Cologne turned to the old 
man, not really wanting to. "Happo, I think it time we put aside our
differences again."

"And fight that monster?" Happosai squeaked. He eyed Akane. "Maybe
if a pretty young lady would go with me...?"

"Out of the question, perverted old man!" Akane growled, stomping
Happosai into the roof and flouncing back down the stairwell,
looking to find a closer vantage point. Something like this, Ranma
would no doubt be around. And they had to talk.

Cologne shook her head. "I'll see my way to... giving you something
of mi-"

"Wow!" Happosai crowed, leaning almost off the edge of the building,
peering into the fray. "There are young girls there, ensnaring
such delicate beauties on their bodies against their will! I wonder
if they'd be grateful enough to help out an old man if I helped 
them...?" And then he too was gone.

Cologne sighed. The old fool had a one-track mind, and at least he 
hadn't heard her offer of her own underwear for his assistance.
She hoped. She bounced towards the fight herself.

******

Above the city, a black slipgate opened, and Yoshihiro stepped into
existance. Umiko stood beside him, Eyeing the ground far below. 
Yoshihiro had donned a cape, which swirled theatrically around them
both. She shivered with the gusting winds around them, and allowed
her altered form to slip through - with a fur coat, she'd be 
protected from the worst of it. Her Master, though, showed no such
discomfort.

Speaking of her Master, his attention was fixed far below, where a 
giant beast rampaged through Tokyo. "Raijin seems to be having fun,"
he remarked.

"Is that all we came here to establish, Master?"

Yoshihiro shook his head. "No. I am here... just to observe 
firsthand. While Yamazaki carries out another mission for me."

"You didn't tell me he was being redeployed," Umiko said, aware she
sounded childishly insulted as she spoke.

"I don't go through you for everything, my dear," Yoshihiro replied,
a hand idly finding its way behind Umiko's ear and scratching
softly. She purred. "Yet it is important to everything we're 
planning."

"The final offensive will begin as planned?"

"Yes. And the future of the Dark Kindgom... will be assured."

"Standing in the light instead of hiding in the dark?"

"Exactly." Yoshihiro's hand shifted to the top of Umiko's head. She
pressed into his legs, slipped a tail around his legs. "You really
are becoming more like a cat every time you change. It is funny,
considering how much like a lizard you were."

Umiko shrugged. "I am what you need me to be, Master."

"There is much truth in what you say, more perhaps than you know."

"Natsumi's actions were planned by you, and ran to your timetable.
I surmised much from that."

"Perhaps." Yoshihiro watched as Raijin below repelled yet another
attack by the assembled heroes, who's ranks seemed to be swelling
even as he watched. Another half-dozen people joined in, unsure of 
what they were doing, outclassed by the magical abilities of those
already here, but brave warriors nonetheless. Soldiers he would be 
glad to command. He watched as they spread out, began helping 
survivors of strikes on buildings, helping them to safety. He could
have told them, saved them the trouble: shortly, when Raijin had had
his fun, no place in Tokyo was going to be safe from the devastation
he would unleash. "But knowing any potential trouble could be 
controlled if it was directed by me and my designs... is a lot 
different to a thinking, uncontrolled, rational being that does not
willingly side with me. Natsumi.. was weak. Ripe for the picking.
She only had to be coerced until such time as she realised what power
she now held could wreak on those who had caused her much misery
and pain. Then she was mine for the moulding."

"She never knew. Yet I am much the same, Master. As her. I feel the
stirrings of jealousy and ambition much as Natsumi Otohime did. Do 
you not feel any sense of danger from me?"

Yoshihiro shook his head. "I feel no such threat from you. You...
are mine."

"As Sailor Saturn was?"

He felt a thrill of suppressed anger. "She was not supposed to be 
mine for long. Longer than she was, but not much longer. Her purpose
would have been outdated once the senshi were destroyed. And with her
life extinguished, the martial artist would also cease to be a 
credible threat."

"Or perhaps he would react... contrary to that idea?"

"Perhaps. Yet without the powers of the assembled senshi, Ranma 
Saotome is at best a small thorn in our side." He folded his arms and
contemplated the battle below. Then he gathered himself, called up a 
slipgate. "Come. We have... other duties to carry out while the 
senshi host are occupied." Together, they teleported out.

******

Kari's thighs gripped Ranma as they lay in the enclosed space. He 
tried to shift one, but she shook her head slowly, a playful smile
on her face. "Ah ah ah..." she sing-songed, "You don't really want
to do that. Those knees, my elbows... they're all that's holding
the building up. And you know, while I was hoping for some action
to go no down here... there's not really so much room. And I can't
move to prop anything up better, you know. So I wouldn't think of 
moving for a while."

"We've got to get out of here!" Ranma said.

"Mmmmm, perhaps. I think it's much cosier here." Kari relaxed a 
little, and Ranma felt her body sink further into his. "I mean, 
you're so hard... so strong... I just feel so safe here, with you..."

"But -"

"And someone'll dig us out. I mean, c'mon, those senshi girls, 
they're strong? But they're not exactly bright. So they'll get us out
of here - eventually - because they're strong and they'll have to 
show off. You know how that is though, don't you?" Kari's face 
drifted down over one of Ranma's biceps, and she sniffed deeply.
"You like showing off. Mitsuki won't admit it, but she watches you in
training more than she watches her partners. Because, you know, she
likes the way you move in your gi. How taut your muscles get. That
thin sheen of sweat you build up across your body. The way you bounce
in your pants. She's such an embarrassing relation."

"Relation?" squeaked Ranma. "What do you -"

Kari sighed, lifting her head until the back of it bumped against
the low ceiling. "We're all like one big happy family in here. You 
know. What got her through her mother's death. She couldn't handle
it, so we did. The aspects of her personality. Intelligence,
compassion, aggression, imagination, greed, jealousy... we're all 
represented. She's the main one of us, you know, and we spin around
her like planets around a star, all hoping for our time in the light.
But some of us don't want that. She's weak, useless. She can't 
function. She can't act on her feelings for you. She doesn't want to.
Thinks that'd be wrooong. She's just a sop. Hotaru's the same; we've
got no respect for her. We did, once, and then she gets all guilty
for trying to kill you. Pffft."

"She still feels for me. She just thinks I won' accept her again 
unless she gets punished." Ranma wished he could push Nemesis'
hair from his face, as it was hanging directly down onto it, but he 
couldn't reach. While he could reach the back of his head with his 
uninjured right hand, he couldn't reach his face easily, and he 
couldn't reach the left side of his face, where the hair kept 
brushing. Kari apparently found it amusing to see him annoyed as she
obviously knew he wanted it moved away but made no move to shift her
head's position to where it wouldn't brush across him. "I don' feel
that at all. I've seen enough of my friends mind-controlled
inta trying ta kill me, and been mind-controlled enough m'self,
that I don't care. She doesn't understand that, though."

"Grah... she's a useless sack of shit and you know it," Kari spat.
"She won't do anything for you, not like I will. She won't go down
on you, take you into her, make you feel just sooo good... she won't
take you on a mystery tour of your body no other girl could hope to 
match." A wicked glint came into her eye. "She just can't make sex 
the mind-blowing experience I can."

"You... think it's all about sex?" Ranma asked in disbelief.
"If it was that, we'd have... umm..." He could feel himself blushing,
and knew he'd scored a point the way Kari's head jerked back into the
ceiling. She gave a pained expression, and Ranma felt sorry for 
unknowingly hurting her, but he wouldn't apologise. Not to this 
personality.

"You... you asked her to?"

"She asked me, actually..."

"Ah yes. Mitsuki. The sop. Decided then and there she'd lost you to 
Hotaru." Kari snorted. "You know, it was her who gave her the 
condom."

"I'll... remember to give her my thanks next time I see her." Ranma
half-smiled at the memory, Hotaru at his door, that uncertain
expression as she held the packaging up. His own uncertainty,
and then Hotaru's new determination. Holding hands and kissing.
So much more innocent. So much more intimate. "Mitsuki is... 
responsible."

"For so much," Kari shot back without thinking. "All our pain, all 
our losses, all our time out of the spotlight... you know she takes
drugs to regulate us? Of course you do."

"And I stopped her from taking them in the tower."

"Yeah. So you know, me being here? It's all your fault."

Ranma shrugged as best he could in the tight quarters. "Do you hear
me complainin'? I think I needed to meet you guys. And I meant 
responsible as in she was thinking of Hotaru and me, not in any other
way."

"You like that little slut! Why do you like her? After what she did
to you?"

"Why would I like you after what you did to Shampoo?" Ranma replied
without the fire Kari's voice contained. He could almost hear the 
sadness underlying it, the pain, the suffering. "And yet, I do. 
Mitsuki - her as a whole - is a good student. And a good friend."

"You were nicer when you were a kid," Kari sniffed, turning her head
away. "I mean, you've forgotten, but I haven't."

"Neither had I. Just wasn't sure it was you. We were young then."
Kari turned back to face him. "And you know, you were wrong then.
About not relying on others. I remembered it recently, with Hotaru.
An' with you guys. But... not relying on anyone... it means you're
alone. And being alone... it sucks, Mitsuki."

"We're not alone!" Kari shouted, and the rubble above her shifted,
groaned. She quickly lowered her voice and pushed herself painfully
upwards to get off Ranma's chest again to where she had been earlier.
"We have each other. And that's something Mitsuki doesn't get or 
understand. She doesn't see us like that! Just as little hers, to 
take over when she can't handle something." The bile with which Kari
spoke belied the deep pain that ran through the words.

"But... you're all the same person."

"We're not the same personality!"

"You're all aspects of the one personality."

"We're all separate!"

"You need each other more than anyone needs another person."

"Our lives are ours, not hers!"

"Why did you save me, Kari?"

Silence reigned.

******

Pluto, slightly phased-shifted to the left.

Most of what remained of the Moon Kingdom lay here, a few square
kilometres surrounding the Gate of Time. Here, with the chronotic
energies gushing from the event horizon of the 
technologically-contained temporal incursion phasepoint, the flow of
time often seemed disrupted. The region lay mixed inextricably
with an equidistant point in the figurative Past of the mainstream
Earth, where the senshi had been cast after the fall of the Moon 
Kingdom.

Pluto, Uranus and Neptune sat on a great stone plaza that extended
towards the edge of the Kingdom, where it was cut off violently
from normal space. Pluto had arranged chairs and a table, and all 
three women were quiet, deep in their oen thoughts. Uranus looked
bored, Neptune lost in a private daydream with a slight smile on her
face, Pluto annoyed.

Finally, the Guardian of the Gate couldn't sit still any longer,
and she stood. "Something's coming." She spun her Garnet Rod into 
existance, and prepared. Uranus and Neptune also snapped to 
attention, pushing chairs back and standing, Uranus leaning forward
ready to make the first strike. All three concentrated in the one 
direction, Pluto staring towards the growing disturbance, Neptune
and Uranus following her lead.

"What is it?" Uranus asked.

Pluto shook her head. "I don't know. I would suggest it is one of the
old Dark Kingdom battlecruisers, but all were destroyed when Queen
Serenity sealed the Dark Kingdom. The power levels are similar,
but I find it impossible to understand how -"

Impossible or not, it was a Dark Kingdom warship that pierced the 
dimensional walls and shimmered down into a recognisable construct.
Cannons waved and picked targets before firing. The senshi were 
spared.

"NO!" Pluto roared. "Don't upset the balance of energies of this 
place! It exists purely because of the balance between Light and-"
She didn't get to finish. Spacial dimensions warped around the 
senshi, the Kingdom fragment altering from looking normal to being
warped into a toroidal structure. Pluto knew the phase-shift
that kept the fragment of the realm wouldn't last much longer under
this kind of pressure, and likewise knew that no matter what happened
to the realm, the Gate would still stand. She grabbed at Uranus and
Neptune, throwing them backwards from where the realm was starting
to tear and dissolve. "Go! Go! Flee back to Earth! I must warn -"

Pluto leapt for the Gate, passing through. Neptune and Uranus 
similarly shimmered out of existance. The cruiser fired one more 
salvo, the Gate parted and a rush of temporal energies gushed 
through, then the cruiser departed for the docks at dark netherworlds
attached to Earth's primary plane.

******

Onboard the bridge, Yoshihiro smiled, and patted the command console
appreciatively. "Beryl's Generals had good foresight to place one of
these safely into storage. Quite why they never used them before
now, I'll never know."

"Likely not, Master, but perhaps it is because without the Moon 
Kingdom in existance, there is no use for them?" Umiko pondered.
"The specifications read that these would not function in the primary
plane, and thus at this phase of the war, would be completely
useless."

"Perhaps. There must be something we can salvage for use, though."

Umiko tapped a master systems display monitor. "We can strip the crew
quarters and give our forces better living accomodations than stolen
sewage systems."

"Yes... but I was rather hoping for something a little more... 
dangerous..." Yoshihiro's eyes fell on the main computer systems.
He leaned forward, entered a password, and glanced through the file
structures to see what they contained. "Oh," he said, a little 
surprised. "This might work."

******

Sailor Moon noted the appearance of Ranma's friends from Nerima 
(using the term wryly, even in her head) in the streets below, 
helping move people. And a few who she assumed were his 'friends'
as well, up on the buildings, helping out against the beast as best
they could. And two incredibly old people who she first thought
were rooftop gargoyles, until they unleashed powerful ki attacks,
such as she'd seen Ranma loosen.

But no amount of chains, fire, oversized maracas, canes or blasts
of multicoloured pyrotechnics did anything more than irritate the 
beast. Meanwhile, the other heroes, knowing what the gameplan was for
the moment was, were attacking the injured side as and when they 
could. Chunks of soft matter exploded outwards from it every few 
minutes as someone scored a good direct hit, but it wasn't slowing
the beast down fast enough. Claws would rake out, and the tail would
snap, and someone would be injured.

Already, they were down three heroes. The Incredible Growing Jester
Girl hadn't yet gotten up from the near-eviscerating kick she'd been
dealt, the two girls Tuxedo Kamen had rescued hadn't yet rejoined
up into the purple robot girl, and the oversized fire-breathing
flying tiger had been smacked into a building and hadn't yet rejoined
the battle. She assumed he was seeing to the safety of Jester Girl
down below, as they and the angel flapping about firing off arrows
appeared to be a team.

Sailor Moon suspected there were others missing, but she couldn't
say for certain. Things were just moving too fast for her to keep an
accurate track of who was doing what, and she was also worried about
Ranma and Sailor Nemesis, neither of whom had dug their way out of 
the rubble below. She suspected both were too mean to die, but not 
having seen them appear yet was worrying - maybe they were stuck and
needed help getting free? But she couldn't spare anyone at the 
moment. Not even Tuxedo Kamen, who was throwing roses with abandon
when he wasn't assisting those knocked away or injured with the 
angel.

A flicker of pseudomotion whipped her head around, and Sailor Moon
was just in time to catch the cut-off scream of someone who was about
to die as jaws snapped shut around him. She didn't catch who it was,
but she noted it wasn't one of the senshi. Damn. Down another 
warrior, and a death like that, so simple and obvious, would ruin 
morale more than it already was. Had it been a magical attack, the 
survivors could rebuild their confidence by pretending they could
have survived it, but being eaten... that had a primal finality
that affected everyone much worse, deep down.

This was getting worse. With the shock, people pulled back, 
hesitated. Wondering if they would be next. Sailor Moon paused 
herself, wondering if she was making a huge mistake with this battle
- they were making such little progress, and the city's centre was 
almost deserted. They just HAD to be safe now; even if the beast 
wasn't defeated, what could it do? Surely Sailor Pluto would have 
shown up by now to warn them Crystal Tokyo's future was endangered
if it was - the fact she hadn't this time was suggestive that 
whatever this monster could do wasn't enough to affect the path of 
destiny.

Should she pull her friends out? Her soldiers? The forces of good 
were flagging, tiring. The fight had only taken half an hour as yet,
but everyone was overextended. Even Tuxedo Kamen, wherever he was at
present, wasn't leaping with his usual grace. Jupiter had reverted
to firing off whatever powerful attacks she could manage without
any of the finesse she'd been learning in her morning training
sessions. Saturn was distracted. And Sailor Moon's own body ached
painfully as she continued to heal. If she pulled out, it would turn
into a general retreat of the forces of good. It would give everyone
a chance to recover, time to strategise, and organised a proper 
assault. Time for her to seek guidence from Luna, from Pluto. Have
Mercury find some method in the histories of the Moon Kingdom of 
fighting huge monsters. Or something.

Anything.

Yet, she knew somehow if they stopped now, they'd never have another
chance.

And more, she knew somehow if they stopped, they would all die.

The beast lashed out with its tail, swipping the top few floors off
an adjacent building. The last few straggling human survivors
below limped up the burning, broken streets towards perceived
safety. It was then that Sailor Moon realised they had to hold firm.
Her wand came up, centred along her body and face. She spun it around
in a circle, gathering ambient energies from the environment
around her, then loosened them with a throaty roar of anger and 
anguish. The energy attack impacted on the wounded flank, and the 
beast roared again, tail lashing at another building. The senshi
took their lead from Sailor Moon, and the others from them, and the
attack was renewed.

The line was drawn; would it hold?

******

It was still silent, save for the creaking of the shifting rubble
above. Somewhere, Ranma could dimly hear a burst water main, and 
heard water dripping somewhere nearby. Damn. That'd be right, he 
reflected. No doubt it was uphill of where they were right now, too,
and he'd get wet and then who know what Kari would get up to? What
she might be encouraged to do? But it wasn't time to think of things
like that. They were trapped, and regardless of Kari's refusal to get
personal about the reasons she had saved his life - if she was as 
nasty as she thought she was - she wanted to survive as much as he 
did, and she wouldn't readily do anything to change that potential
outcome.

It wasn't anger or aggression he sensed from her; it was loneliness,
bitterness at being left alone. If he'd had to guess, Kari was the 
part of Mitsuki that hated her mother for dying and leaving her and
her father alone - the Mitsuki he and his father had been introduced
to a decade earlier. Violent, spiteful, contrary. But grown-up
now. Possessing a powerful sexuality, whether she realised it or not
(Ranma guessed she did), and existing to make others feel as she 
does.

So she wouldn't be alone anymore.

That was Ranma's theory, anyway, and for the moment, he was going
to stick to it.

From above, there was a wave of heat through the rubble, and a blast
of ki energy that raised the hair on the back of Ranma's neck and 
arms. It felt wrong. Tortured. Mutated. Almost like cancer of the 
soul, a darkness, a blight eating away at the best parts of onesself.
The beast. Raijin, he knew instinctively. He heard and felt the roar
through the chunks of concrete trapping his left hand. It sounded
like pain, yet also anticipation: whatever was going to happen was 
going to happen soon. He could feel it in his blood, everything
within him starting to swirl and build. The climax of the event was
coming, and Ranma felt he had to be out there when it rose.

He switched his attention back to Kari, eyes averted from his face,
trying to use her hair as a veil. Ranma reached up and stroked it 
aside, bringing his hand down the side of her cheek. "We gotta get 
out of here," he said, quietly.

Her face twitched, flinching away from his touch, and yet seemingly
returning to the caress. It wasn't a sexual manoeuvre, and she 
responded to it as it was intended. Comfort. The anger in her hard
eyes faded, replaced with sadness. "Do you know... why I saved you?"
she asked, eventually, distantly. Ranma shook his head. "I think 
maybe you can guess. We're... I am lonely. And you seem like...
a nice body... warm... soft, but hard in all the right places...
but you're not like that... I think I... we... would like you like
that, but... it's really hard..."

"Then when you're ready," Ranma said, waving it aside. "We've got to
get out of here now." He removed his hand, and her head tilted 
towards where it had been, the hurt in her eyes behind the anger now
clearly visible to anyone really looking close up, but he dropped
his hand to her shoulder. "Mitsuki, I promise I'll help you. When we
get outta here, I'll help you get back together." His hand moved to 
rest lightly on the rubble above her now. "Now, I need your help.
I'm going to move, and we're going to get outta here, but I need you
to cover me, hold everything up, while I get ready to do this. Can 
you handle that?"

She paused, and made to settle against him for more comfort before
realisation of their predicament registered again, and she nodded
dumbly.

"Okay. I'm going to free my hand from this rubble, and then, I'm 
going ta push against you." Ranma spoke slowly and clearly as he 
gathered his concentration and power. He'd need everything he had to
pull this off, and he'd need speed. He wouldn't be able to handle
things as well if Kari didn't understand what he was doing and reated
badly. "I'm sure you can take the stress and pain you'll be under.
You've handled worse; this building toppling on ya, for example.
But I'll push you up to get some room, and I want you ta hold that
pose I leave you in. It'll give me some space to move in. Just keep
that pose until I can charge up, an' we'll go out of here together.
okay?"

Kari nodded again, then she ducked her head a little lower. For a 
moment, Ranma thought she was about to kiss his cheek; instead,
she merely rested her cheek against his, her hair brushing over his
face. "Okay," she said, sadly, softly, and she pulled back, looked
into his eyes as if it would be the last time she'd ever see him. She
braced herself against the rubble pressing into her back, and then
Kari was gone.

Who was in her place, Ranma didn't know, but he or she knew what 
Ranma had planned and didn't move.

No more time to waste. The water sound was closer now. Ranma gritted
his teeth, and yanked on his left arm with all the leverage he could
manage in a position he couldn't move in. It shifted, but not enough.
He pulled again, straining to move his limb. It would be so much 
easier if only he knew how deep down he was, how much rubble lay 
above them. If he knew, he might be able to chance a ki attack now,
but there could be a support structure under there holding everything
up, and he didn't know if Nemesis would be able to hold any possible
more weight on her back. So he continued to pull.

It seemed to take forever, but in reality was likely only half a 
minute, but his hand started to be able to move. He felt pain, but 
focussed beyond that as he tried to increase his range of motion
of the extremity, hoping to get it to an angle he could easily pull
it out. He knew by now that if he could shift his torso over so he 
could continue to alter the angle of his wrist so it was nearly 
parallel with both his forearm and the wall of the cocoon of debris
they lay on, he could almost slide his hand out freely. But not being
able to get his hand around to that angle from where he was lying,
he couldn't. unless...

He looked up at Nemesis, sweating now, pain in her eyes that was 
nothing to do with emotional stress and everything to do with 
possibly thousands of tonnes of concrete and steel above her back,
and made the decision. While he held her gaze, he simply twisted
his forearm and snapped his wrist. Then he forced his wrist to turn
to be almost perpendicular to his forearm as he extended that out to
the side of the area, and then yanked towards his feet. With a final
tearing of soft flesh, his hand slid out of its entrapment.

Nemesis' eyes opened even wider at the sickening sound of Ranma's
bones breaking, and they darted over to the side to see if she could
see the damage. But her hair was in the way, and she couldn't clear
it. Ranma just smiled comfortingly at her.

"Relax. I know what I'm doin'." Yes, it hurt. But his attention
could be focussed beyond the pain, to block it out while he continued
his work. He shifted his right hand under Nemesis, the palm finding
its way past her breasts to rest on the bow just below her 
collarbone. A thigh shifted, and some judicious wiggling on Ranma's
part got it under one of Nemesis' legs. When he started lifting
with his hand, he'd be able to slide his shin up to lay across her 
crotch, hip and stomach, and get some real strength involved to push
her up into a position that'd give him some room to manoeuvre.

He lifted, veins on his right arm almost popping out of his skin.
Muscles corded as he pushed at Nemesis' chest, forcing her up away
from him. Sweat beaded across his face and exposed skin. Nemesis,
too, was helping as she could, her arms thusting down into the ground
either side of Ranma's head, and as Ranma lifted her, she was raised
into a position she could make the most of her legs. She strained,
and lifted her hips off of Ranma. The debris around them both cracked
and groaned, and as a dust jet blew into the hole for a few moments,
Ranma thought the whole lot was going to come down on them. But the
flow of dust stopped, and Ranma lifted his leg more, placed his shin
so he could get the best leverage along Nemesis' underside until she
was higher, and pushed again.

The senshi pushed the rubble up even more, and eventually, there was
a space under her. Not yet quite enough for Ranma to spin around
and stand up in, but close to it. Ranma shifted his leg again, 
bringing a foot to bear against her stomach. She gritted her teeth,
tightened every muscle she had in her stomach that would respond
to give Ranma something solid to push against, and pushed yet again.

And then, there was enough room. She opened her eyes, and gasped
upon seeing Ranma's twisted and broken left hand, as he twisted
underneath her and moved into a crouching position under her stomach.
He came up underneath her, wrapping his good hand around the side of
her hip, the other pressed up against the opposite side of her skirt.
She could feel the exposed bones shift in wrong ways against the 
fabric and tried to think more about what was going to happen once
they were out of the rubble rather than dwelling on Ranma's current
injuries.

She heard water close by, and then as he pushed against her to try to
link his hands behind her back, a gush of the liquid blasted the both
of them. Great, a water pipe, Nemesis grimaced, feeling Ranma change
against her. Comforting, though, in ways hugging a man wasn't. Yet it
was also a bad thing, she reflected; she didn't know if Ranma's
female form was as strong as his male. Particularly while injured.
She heard Ranma mutter a "Oh, *great*," before trying to continue
to worm his hands to meet behind her back. The newly-broken
pipe continued to pour water upon them for a few seconds, then 
petered out, creating an ankle-deep puddle for them.

Ranma's hands met, and then Ranma pushed into Nemesis' body tightly,
blowing his energies outside of him. Pain lanced through his broken
wrist and mangled left hand as he grabbed it tighter with his right,
and that threatened to destablise his concentration, so he just 
forced himself to stop feeling it, to think of his broken hand as 
simply something that hadn't been injured. It worked; his hand 
stopped sending shooting, stabbing pain up his forearm, and he could
concentrate properly again. Around them, the structure groaned,
and shifted; then it started to collapse. Ranma could hear slabs of 
concrete above accordian down onto successive slabs, heading down 
towards Nemesis and himself. If he didn't work fast, they'd both be 
squashed flat. He focussed, saw the patterns of his lifeforce
spiralling around he and Mitsuki, reached out with a mental hand,
and grabbed one. Twisted it into a new pattern. Did the same to half
a dozen other strands of ki, shaping them into a protective and 
destructive shield, all in the space of a second.

Then he pushed out through his feet with ki, and launched himself
and Nemesis into the air.

Well, it would have been the air, if they hadn't been surrounded
by huge chunks of concrete and iron. His shield melted and burned
away obstructions as they made for the surface. Nemesis, in his arms,
sobbed, and Ranma blinked comfortingly at Mitsuki. "Shhh. Nearly
there now."

And they were. A few more seconds, and there was light.

******

And it was good.

******

Raijin roared again, and powerspiked one of the little girls. In his
previous life, he'd have loved to have stayed and played with them,
dug through their insides and seen their pretty pretties. Ate them,
devoured them, taken them into him, made them truly one with him in 
no way their sluttish behaviour could ever match. He was tempted
to eat another right now, he was peckish again - that last snack had
done little to fill his now-enormous stomach. And yet, a small part
of his mind reminded him he had work to do.

The tower. It was barely two buildings over. A quick leap and he 
could take it down. But that wasn't what the Master wanted, oh no. 
What he wanted was worse: power. And for that, he needed the tower.
So he had to move slower. But these idiotic people were slowing
him down and starting to actually hurt him. He couldn't see it 
exactly, but judging by the fiery streaks of pain from his left 
thigh, he thought he had a fairly serious injury right there. Not 
life-threatening, no, but serious all the same. Anything that 
influenced his life negatively was threatening, and slowing him down,
making him a larger target as it were, an easier one definitely,
that counted as influencing his life negatively. One of the little
girls leapt in front of him, smashing him in the snout with a burst
of multicoloured light from a wand before jumping away to try again
from another point. It did no damage, but Raijin briefly wondered
what experiences a trollop like her could bring to his life: rotting
in his stomach, becoming one with him, their minds linked... what 
would he see? What would he feel? He shook his head, he didn't have
time to fantasize.

******

"He's slowing down!" Sailor Moon yelled to the others. "We've hurt
him! now, everyone, ATTACK!"

******

Snapping Raijin out of his daydream were bursts of energy, magical
attacks, kicks, punches, projectile weapons, explosives...
he stopped bothering to classify them, and decided to show them just
who really was boss here. He didn't need any of them to help him to 
get closer to completion, for they weren't pure of thought or soul
- their dress and the fact they decided to side against him was 
evidence enough of that.

He swept out sideways with both forepaws, knocking three of the 
pretty girls flying. A snap of his tail from side to side was all 
that was needed to dispose of another five people, and that annoying
flying flame lion... a quick snap of his jaws stopped that freak from
trying to fight anymore. A gulp and a swallow, and Raijin listened
to the echoing sound of its yell as it descended down through his 
throat to his stomach in his eardrums. Mmmm, good food. He burped,
and blew the last remaining nearby windows out. The remaining
costumed idiots paused, horrified, before renewing their attack.
The little growing giant girl smashed him again from the rear with
her staff, wings whipping it into a narrow sword that she brought
down on Raijin's tail. Scale, flesh and bone parted under it, and he
roared as the large section of tail smashed down to the ground below.
He turned, and powerspiked the girl in the face. Tears the size of a 
bus flew from her eyes as she flew backwards, the tears smashing
through the sides of buildings, the girl shrinking again and falling
for the ground. Raijin raised his tailstump, gushing thick ichor,
and fired upon it, cauterising the wound instantly, before turning
back to face Tokyo Tower. There it was. Just ahead now. He decided
to stop playing and get down to work.

Passed one building. Coming up to the second. And then -

- but what was that?

******

The ground, again. The top of the pile of rubble that was once a 
building housing twenty thousand workers before it had been evacuated
that morning, and before it had been reduced to debris. There was a 
hole on the top of it now, and there two people stood. Two women.
Both wore torn clothing, and the taller of the two was being held up
by her companion.

Nemesis lifted a hand to Ranma's side. "Go," she said, simply, and 
then slid from his arms. Ranma's hands caught her she she went down,
and guided her to a soft landing. He made her comfortable,
best as he could in the circumstances, and then stood, a look of 
anger on his face so powerful, those close enough to see it 
involuntarily took a step back.

Saturn landed nearby, ran a few steps towards Nemesis to help her get
back into the fight, and then she stopped dead. There was something
wrong about the way Ranma looked. Something seriously wrong.

Was it his stance? No, she'd seen him angry before. Granted, not 
*this* angry, but it didn't look like anger. Was it the fact that his
very obviously injured left wrist and hand seemed to be reassembling
themselves as Saturn watched? No, she'd seen him heal before, just
not this fast. She'd have thought another day or two for him to have
healed from that kind of damage.

No. Ranma, in his female form, had bright red hair. Ranma, standing
here, in his female form, had ebony black hair. Fingers curled into
fists, and there was a tangible presence of power in the area. Ranma
sank slightly into the rubble as if he'd just gotten heavier. His ki
field stormed up around him, giving the imrpession of him standing
alone in an inferno. Brighter and brighter, the power levels became,
and still he powered himself up. There seemed to be a vacuum, sited
right where Ranma stood, that sucked everything loose into it. Saturn
watched dust fly towards him and burn up upon reaching his ki field.

And then she could feel her own power leeching away from her. She 
staggered a few steps forward before being able to stop herself,
but more and more power flew from her. As her transformation
dropped, Hotaru noted the other senshi were also having power drawn
off from them. Tuxedo Kamen made it to safety before he, too, was 
drained. In one foul swoop, Ranma had just defeated the senshi and 
their support.

And not just them. The other heroes staggered and collapsed,
and the monster even seemed to hesitate. She could feel something
wrong with him, something powerfully wrong. And then she knew what
it was.

******

Yoshihiro's head snapped up from the monitor he was reading, and 
without a word, he conjured up a slipgate and disappeared from the 
Moon Kingdom battlecruiser, reappearing above the ruins of Tokyo.
There was incredible power here. And it was very familiar. Natsumi?
Already?

But no, this wasn't her style. She wasn't the kind of person to make
such a gesture, not without being in the game again. And she wasn't.
No, this had to be someone else. Yamazaki would let him know when 
Natsumi was ready to operate again... and as he hadn't... no, this
was definitely -

- Ranma. He could see him now, in his female form, below, standing
on the rubble of the building. A fierce glow surrounded him, and no 
senshi or other heroes remained standing. Ranma's face was one of 
intense anger, and he headed directly for Raijin.

"Shit." Without wasting any more words, Yoshihiro gated back to the
bridge of his new toy to await Yamazaki's report.

******

Dark General!

The words echoed through Ranma's mind, and yet he didn't feel evil.
Not even particularly so. Angry, yes. A lot of people had died today
because of this beast, an awful lot of people, and more could, and 
likely would, still die. He had to be stopped, and it looked like 
Ranma was the only one with the strength to pull it off. The others
had apparently given up, because he saw Ami, Usagi, Rei, Makoto and
Minako collapsed on building rooftops, gasping for breath. Mamoru
also lay stretched out, and people Ranma didn't recognise, and then
people he did.

The Nerima crowd. Figures. But they were as exhausted as everyone
else. A glance back down at Mitsuki and Hotaru and... and both were
weakened as well. Even Hotaru, who, moments ago as Saturn, had exuded
power beyond Ranma's. Now, she was weak, hurting.

And then he realised. When he'd pulled at his reserves, he'd also 
grabbed from everyone else. He could hear them in his head, feel them
in his heart, and knew it to be true. Damn. Damn damn damn. But no 
use worrying about it now, he decided. The monster, Raijin, had taken
advantage of Ranma's momentary lack of attention, and sent a 
powerspike his way. With a flick of a forearm, though, Ranma 
deflected it into the air. It kept going. By then, another had been
fired, and another, and another. Ranma deflected all three, 
snapkicking the last back back at Raijin himself.

Dark General, Ranma thought as he deflected the blasts. Natsumi's
gift. That kiss, the one that had knocked her out. Whatever it had 
done... he felt it had helped. But... she'd said he tasted of... of 
what? Knowing what he did now, Ranma assumed she had been about to 
say, "Dark Kingdom," but that was impossible... wasn't it? His brain
flicked back to something that had happened a couple of months ago 
now...

******

Nabiki opened her hand, and blew on her palm. Ranma noted glittering
particles get swept up, and he jumped back to avoid them in case it 
was something creepy or poisonous. Yet, he couldn't avoid tem all,
and inhaled some. He didn't feel any worse off a few moments later,
and so he assumed it hadn't had any effect on him, and he turned
back to Nabiki...

******

Had that been what Natsumi had been talking about? Had he already
been turned into a Dark General and just hadn't known? No, not 
likely... probably turned into a monster, or started to have been 
turned into one. And Natsumi's kiss had done the rest. He was now 
strong, intensely so, and could feel power ripple through every 
finger, every toe, every strand of hair. His teeth crackled with 
electricity whenever he moved his jaw.

And then the powerspikes were gone, and Raijin - how Ranma knew his
name, he didn't know, but he did - turned in slow motion, and made
to step across to the Tokyo Tower. Whatever plan the beast had for 
the tower, Ranma didn't want to find out. A burst of ki through
his legs, and he sped across and into Raijin's back, puncturing
the scaled hide and splashing through his internal organs, burning
everything shut as he passed through. For a scant moment, he passed
through Raijin's stomach, and saw people there, and animals, some 
still alive. Ranma hoped they could get out by themselves now he'd
made an exit, but for the moment, he didn't have the time to stop and
rescue them. He continued out, and flew in an arc to face Raijin,
eye to eye.

"This stops here, ya hear me?" he yelled. Raijin swiped at him, but
Ranma dodged easily, only then realising -

- he wasn't aiming for the martial artist. His claws locked onto the
tower, and he hauled himself upright again. Fluids gushed from his 
wounds, but he paid no heed. This was it, the endgame. Whatever
was going to happen, was going to happen now.

Ranma turned to the heroes, but found them still slumped. No help 
there. And while he suspected he was now stronger than this monster,
Ranma had no wish to put that to the test, if that would chance some
corrupting of his personality. He still felt like himself, but was 
that accurate? Was he still himself, or was he something dark, 
twisted and evil, and just didn't know it, couldn't see it? But for
now, he had to shelve thought. Raijin snapped his jaws in Ranma's
direction, and he shimmered, blurred, then reappeared just to the 
right of the locked teeth. The beast didn't hesitate, but snapped
his jaws again and again, swinging Ranma around and away from the 
tower -

- as Raijin clamped a second claw down on the structure. It groaned
under his weight, twisting and starting to pitch back. But Raijin
only needed a second more. He snapped his head back around, threw
it back and roared, pouring energies into the metal supports,
which hummed and buzzed, great electrical bolts arcing from the 
girders to nearby buildings. Where they touched vanished into puffs
of vapour, and Ranma saw with horror they were approaching where the
fallen lay.

He attempted to punch Raijin, winding up and throwing his fist 
forward with all his ki behind it, all his strength. But the energy
ball and physical impact didn't even touch the giant monster. The 
bolts grew ever closer to the senshi, who were nearer the tower when
he'd drained them than the others, and Ranma had to make a choice:
did he try to stop Raijin here, now, again, or did he save the lives
of his friends?

It was no choice.

He sped for the closest senshi, Rei, and gathered her up in his arms
in a blur of red and black, before grabbing Ami and slinging her over
his other shoulder. He bounced away, stowing them safely before 
speeding back for the others. He managed to work just ahead of the 
arcing bolts as he gathered Mamoru, a pair of twin girls, an angel,
a severely injured girl... the list grew with each trip. And there
was Ryoga, and Mousse, and Shampoo, and Cologne, and even Happosai.
He didn't recognise most of the people he gathered up and took to 
relative safety, but that didn't stop him from working feverishly.
Hotaru had smiled sadly at him before she closed her eyes again,
and Mitsuki's face was covered in tracks of dried tears, but most 
people were either still unconscious, or not reacting to what was 
going on around them.

Once they were safe from the immediate danger, he turned towards
Raijin again. He'd end it this time.

******

Yamazaki, in his human guise, wandered the streets of Kanagawa.
Even here, people were fleeing for their lives. Those from the city's
centre had just reached this prefecture, and were still heading
out. Yamazaki sighed. It had been too long since the last giant 
monster attack. Even he, old as he was, had trouble remembering
when the last such onslaught had been. He suspected it had been 
Gojira, back in 1985 or so, but at his age, it was hard to remember
sometimes.

For he wasn't as young as he looked. Outwardly, he appeared to be 
around 20 years of age. Inside, he'd just had his ninety-third
birthday the previous week. The cost of his soul, of his life, to 
work with the Master? Youth. Eternal youth. He'd always be older than
he looked. It was a price he could live with.

And here he was, in Kanagawa. People ran past him, camera crews set
up on the hills surrounding the ward for better views of the battle
in the city, and cars filled the roads. But none of this concerned
him. He had his orders, and they were to ignore all these people.

No, there was one person he was interested in. And there she was. 
Standing near the bridge, her older sister talking to a young man in
glasses who kept laughing nervously. That may have been due to the 
angry woman standing behind him, but she restrained herself for some
reason. A closer look with his enhanced senses, and Yamazaki 
recognised that Keitaro Urashima that Natsumi had brought over to 
their side for a time, and he assumed therefore the angry girl was 
his love interest, whom he'd abused during his time as a soldier
for the Kingdom. For the Master.

The girl he was to talk to still held her VR headset resting above
her brow, dataglove clipped to the top of her skirt. She looked 
bored, and when her gaze passed over Yamazaki, there was no hint of 
recognition in it. She didn't remember him, nor her time as a 
General. Any other time, Yamazaki would have amused himself and 
played with her, but time was of the essence. The Master apparently
thought the martial artist would resurrect himself and pose a greater
threat than anyone else thought, and that the senshi might be able
to stop Raijin from carrying out his mission, but Yamazaki didn't
actually think this Ranma Saotome was much of a threat. After all,
he hadn't yet been able to stop the Master, had he? No. Not even 
Natsumi Otohime had managed that, in her arrogant dreams of leading
the last remaining forces of the Dark Kingdom.

But here she was now, bored, looking like she could use some 
adventure. Yamazaki decided to give her some.

He continued to head in Natsumi's direction, while her gaze drifted
further from him. But once she caught him in her peripheral vision,
heading directly for her, she turned back, curious to find his eyes
locked directly on hers. She thought it strange, that after waking
up in that Ranma's house, she hadn't been afraid like she had used
to, before she'd blacked out for those months. Once, she'd flinched
every time Watanabe had glanced in her direction, or walked within
half a kilometre of her, but now, she fronted him up at school,
forced him to back down when she felt like it. She didn't seem to be
afraid of much. But right now, those old shivers started travelling
along her spine, and some organ deep inside her shrivelled up and 
tried to hide behind her kidneys.

It wasn't that he looked weird. Quite the contrary, he was rather
attractive for an older man. She herself was rather young still,
and although he appeared to be Mutsumi's age, he was still too old 
for her to even think about in that sense. For her, anyway. She 
preferred boys her own age. Was it that he had his eyes locked on 
her, making her feel uncomfortable? No. She'd seen that needing
expression from Watanabe lots of times. Except from him, it was the
need to humiliate, the need to isolate, the need to destroy. This 
looked like a much more primal need. That was a little worrying,
but even with Raijin in the city at the Master's behest, she wasn't
worried about sexual predators while around Naru.

Hang on... Raijin? She racked her brain, but couldn't find any 
reference to what was in the city anywhere. Perhaps it had slipped
out of that place in her brain where she suspected her missing 
actions had been stored, because she'd had several weird slips in her
mind or speech over the last month or so since she'd woken up at the
Ai Sou. But that wasn't what was scaring her.

With a start, she realised it was the way he was walking. That calm,
self-assured gait did not sit well on young shoulders. There was 
something wrong here, very wrong, and she just couldn't place it. It
was like something was yelling through a soundproof wall in the back
of her mind. But her fingers moved by themselves, and found her 
headset, dropped it down over her eyes. With a blink, it started
up an operating system Natsumi hadn't known existed in the system,
and winked warning reticles over the young man. Before she could do 
much more than step back, though, he was in front of her, an arm 
clamping down on her shoulder. She struggled to pull back, and cried
out in shock. Everyone turned, and Naru stepped forward, fist already
up and moving. Keitaro's came from the other side of Natsumi, also
heading for the young man's face.

Yet, he reached up lazily with one hand, deflected Naru's punch and
then redirected Keitaro's into Naru. Keitaro, surprised, then allowed
himself to be tossed backwards. The others were coming forward then,
yelling something, and before Natsumi even had time to try to break
away, blackness rose up and swallowed Yamazaki and herself.

******

They reappeared elsewhere, in a room that evidenced high-technology
everywhere. Sculpted consoles that resembled dragon's claws rising
up from beneath the floor grating, lights that looked like popped
boils and monitors that looked like blisters. Her mind knew what this
was, but she couldn't accept it, not right now. There was a shimmery
sound, and a black portal opened in front of her. A blond-haired
man dressed all in black stepped out, and smiled at Natsumi.

"We meet again," he smiled, before taking her from Yamazaki and 
walking her to something that looked more like a demon had wrenched
down through the ceiling and let its hand be used as a command chair.
"I'd like you to sit here."

Meeker than she had been for a while, she allowed herself to be 
placed in the chair. Something here seemed so very wrong, this man,
whoever he was, shouldn't have been so nice to her. She felt he 
should have been trying to burn her, or poke her with sharp things,
or other forms of torture she didn't want to elaborate on. Him being
nice wasn't something that her body, the animal in her, thought
he should be. As she stared up at him much as a baby rabbit stares
up at a fox before being eaten, he smiled comfortingly and tapped
her VR headgear.

"Fear not, little one, for this is all we need."

"O... oh?" she squeaked, and fumbled for the band to release it and
hand it to him.

"Yes, just that." He smiled again, reached behind his back for 
something on a nearby pedestal, then stopped as if something had just
occurred to him. "Oh, and a brain to run it."

His hand whipped out from behind his back, and he jammed the cable
he'd been holding against the side of the headset. Like it was 
liquid, the end of the cable splattered, but then started digging
into the materials of the set, as well as Natsumi's skull. She 
screamed, but no one present much cared.

******

Raijin's back arched, his form swollen with power. Tokyo Tower, 
likewise, crackled with mystical energies that swirled upwards into
the sky. Dark clouds formed, swirling around in patterns that were
almost recognisable and that chilled the blood to even glimpse them.
Something bad was about to happen.

Ranma's pose was tense. The electrical arcing had stopped, and right
now, he was ready to strike. But Raijin was preparing to do 
something, something bad, and Ranma wasn't sure what. Rushing in 
half-cocked didn't sound like such a good idea to him right now, 
especially considering what he didn't know about himself after these
new changes, and so he waited for an opening in which he could safely
attack Raijin without possibly exposing everyone else to a killing
blow from the monster.

Beside him, Hotaru stirred, pushed herself upright, and held onto 
Ranma's leg. "Sempai?" she slurred.

"Shhh," Ranma said, not taking his eyes off the monster. Any moment
now...

"Sempai? What... what happened...?"

"I dunno, Hotaru-chan," he answered truthfully. "But I think it had
somethin' ta do with Nabiki and that Natsumi girl."

Hotaru's fingers dug into his leg a little more. "I'm sorry, Ranma,"
she said in a low, quiet voice.

It wasn't about this situation, and Ranma knew it. "Don't worry about
it, Hotaru-chan," he replied, quiet and also warm. his hand reached
down, stroked her cheek momentarily and then patted her head. "Rest
now. I've got some monster ta kick into next week." Hotaru removed
her hands, and slid down to where she could at least watch, and Ranma
bounded away in a blur.

Someone slumped down next to her to watch. Hotaru's eyes shifted
over. Akane Tendo. Hotaru wasn't sure what to say to her, especially
with the tears that had stained her cheeks, so said nothing. They 
both watched as -

******

Ranma dove in towards the monster, just as Raijin's form looked as if
it would explode. The beast roared suddenly, head thrown back as it 
poured all the energy it had absorbed from the surrounding buildings
and consumed heroes into the tower. The tower crackled, and then a 
huge sphere of dark explosive fury burst from the structure and 
rapidly spread outwards. Watching earth and concrete get picked up 
and vapourised by the expanding field, Ranma paused, made another
decision, and sped back to who he thought of as his friends and 
family.

******

Yoshihiro scanned the monitors, observing the obliteration.
Rampant energies collected from Raijin's localised disintegration
of the material universe expanded outwards in a sphere of negative
energies, breaking apart the binding fields that held matter 
together. A few more moments, and the senshi would be destroyed...
he reflected that, if Ranma Saotome survived, he'd have to thank him
for weakening his largest opposing group just enough to let him 
destroy them. And without the survivors of the Moon Kingdom in 
evidence, he could happily rebuild the Dark Kingdom at leisure,
first in the ruins of Tokyo, where the few survivors would be only
too grateful for assistance in rebuilding, and then spreading
across the globe like a cancer.

******

Unable to change time for risk of making things worse, Sailor Pluto
found herself leaving the Hino shrine, leaving the Inner senshi to 
discuss what she'd just told them to do. To go to university.
to leave this area. Go forth and learn new things that can help them
become more powerful, more cunning, better tacticians and 
strategicians. For a moment, she turned back, almost ready to go 
inside and tell them to forget it, try some other way of curtailing
the threat to the Kingdom's survivors without involving them. But 
Luna and Artemis stood there, looking a little tense, tails flicking
back and forth in timed irritation.

Luna was the first to speak. "Sailor Pluto, what has brought this 
on?"

Artemis continued on. "Galaxia is defeated. Surely we can rest now,
just for a while?"

Pluto stared back. "I've told the senshi their mission."

Not sensing that Pluto considered the discussion finished as she ran
through what she had to do next to ensure things didn't get worse
in the current future, Luna continued on with an icy glare. "But 
we've defeated the last -"

Didn't they get it? Didn't they understand yet? After all they'd
seen in the Moon Kingdom, and here on Earth? Pluto was amazed. "There
never is a 'last'," she spat. "There is always more. That is why 
there are still senshi, and no peace in the universe. Destroy one,
more will spring up to take its place." True, very true. But perhaps
not evil. Perhaps it was balance... after all... hadn't that been 
what Queen Serenity had been worried about, millennia ago? The 
balance on Earth being disrupted was the catalyst for the fall of the
Moon Kingdom, and the rise of the Dark Kingdom to ascendancy...
or rather, it would have if Serenity hadn't sealed the Dark Kingdom
in the instant before death.

"But Pluto, we've had no indications of anything being spawned.
You, yourself, haven't given us any warning of things dire from the
future." Artemis again.

And Pluto, who's mind was elsewhere at the time, had no time to 
concentrate on what she was saying. For someone with some control
over the flow of time, she was running out of it awfully fast. She 
was operating on a schedule here, and the feline advisors to the 
Princess and her personal guard were ruining it. "Because this 
current evil... the senshi cannot beat. They need to grow up. They
need to learn new things. They have to learn how to get by with 
nothing but their wits."

"This is why you're sending them to Tokyo University?"

"Yes Luna. That's exactly why." Pluto stood straighter and folded
her arms, preparing to leave. "They will learn, or they will die."
And, at the moment, it looked like they would die. The sense she felt
from the Gate on Pluto was diminished, but she could still travel.
So the Gate was still in existance... just the pocket dimensional
fragment and the Gate's physical housing had been destroyed,
it seemed. Which still left Pluto with access to it, just not the 
amount of control she'd once enjoyed. In fact, it would likely now be
somewhat unpredictable if she tried to carry out anything other than
routine travel along a limited temporal vector, so she didn't want
to try anything too fancy.

Unless it was completely necessary, that was.

But the cats didn't want to leave it at that. What explanation
they'd received wasn't enough for them. While Pluto concentrated
on calculating temporal co-ordinates the long, hard way - in her 
head, rather than making use of the Gate structure's translation
systems - Artemis continued.

"University surely isn't that cutthroat..." He stepped forward,
trying to engage the older senshi in discussion, to bring out what
was really going on in her head at the moment, to find out what she
knew rather than be left in the dark. But it didn't work.

Pluto looked up momentarily. "Artemis, there are things worse than
study in this world. They will find that out soon enough." Then, she
twirled the Garnet Rod, opened a passage to somewhen and somewhere
else, and vanished, leaving two confused cats.

******

Hotaru blinked, watching the black wall approach almost in slow 
motion. She felt she should transform, maybe try destroying these
city blocks rather than the planet to stop the black explosive
bubble, but that would take energy she just didn't have. So she was
resigned to watching her friends die horrible deaths, without being
able to do anything about it, one way or the other. Which did indeed
suck big time.

Beside her, Akane watched, not quite as exhausted as the youngest
senshi was, but maybe that was because she'd not been so close to the
heart of the maelstrom that had drained them all, Hotaru thought.
Regardless, she now sat, and waited. Her fingers traced lines in the
dust of the rubble they sat on as they watched their world end.

The black wall came ever closer - happening in a very few seconds
rather than the hours it seemed to be taking to Hotaru.

And then, something was there -

******

Her next stop was uneventful. The girl was coming into her powers
now, Pluto knew that much. And she'd suffered the loss of a parent.
But there was something else. The man she had been manipulating
the senshi into staying with... their teacher-to-be, she needed to 
know what he was like on a personal level. And the Gate wouldn't
let her go near the 'current' time, where the battlecruiser
had come from, so she had to pick her times carefully. Upon a little
research, she found that, in what might be the future, she would be 
told that that this Ranma Saotome had seen her as a child, but had 
apparently considered her to be something of a dream. That would have
to be the time she would visit him. Perhaps it was a dream in his 
recollection; now it wouldn't be.

There he was, in his sleeping bag, outside the ruined house that 
Nemesis had been spawned in. His father lay beside him, limbs 
sprawled much as his son's were. Both snored loudly. She stood behind
Ranma, where if he woke up, he wouldn't see her. Where she could get
away if she felt she had to. She gazed at the back of his head 
intently. What was it about him that would give the senshi a fighting
chance against this new evil, this new Dark Lord? She wasn't sure.
She'd only learn, she suspected, by dissecting him, and considering
that she didn't have her laboratory anymore, and that his father
was lying right next to him, that didn't appear to be a viable 
option.

Ranma rolled onto his back, still snoring after a slight pause and a 
snort. His face looked so soft, so innocent, so cheeky. Pluto 
realised, if he was awake right now, he would almost be staring
right up her skirt. But his eyes were closed, and his breathing
was still relaxed. He was asleep. She gave him a wan smile, and 
whispered, "Ranma Saotome, you do not yet realise how important
you are to the future." She straightened, then, feeling someone
watching her.

Ah, Nemesis. From the treeline, no doubt. Well, her work here was 
done. All she had to do now was to try and track down Uranus and 
Neptune and wait for the Gate to allow them to re-enter normal 
space-time to interact with the senshi. Although, she suspected
in support of what she'd told the younger girls and the cats that the
three outermost senshi likely wouldn't be able to participate
in the coming conflict.

No matter. She tossed her hair, opened a portal, trusted the Gate of
Time to take her wherever she was needed most, and stepped into it.

******

Ranma, blasting ki forward and out to the sides. A forcefield
of some kind, Hotaru realised stupidly. Projecting as much power as 
he could to deflect the onrushing wave of dark energies that stripped
the life from anything it touched, disassociating atomic bonds as it
went. The initial shockwave hit, and Ranma's barrier held firm. 
Behind him, Hotaru grabbed Akane's arm, angry she couldn't help him.
A glance at Akane showed she must have been feeling similar. Hotaru
climbed unsteadily to her feet, and leaned on Ranma's back.

"Sempai, I can help," she said, fumbling for her henshin wand. It 
felt cool and heavy in her fingers, but also strangely reassuring.
She pulled it out, and although she could feel Ranma's body telling
her not to, her sense of responsibility overwhelmed that and told her
she had to help save herself, her sempai, and her friends. She 
transformed into Sailor Saturn with a short wave of the wand, and 
placed her hands on Ranma's shoulders, focussing what energy she 
could muster through her arms and into him. The influx of power 
whipped at his clothes, the energies pushing him further into the 
rubble as it broke up beneath them. Dust whipped up, chunks of rock
whirling up and away in the vortices taking shape behind the barrier
as bioenergetic reactions played havoc with the local laws of 
physics.

But Ranma's barrier held. A second pair of hands touched his 
shoulders, and he felt more power. Akane, he recognised it as. He 
hadn't seen her before, but with the others from Nerima here, he 
should have known she wouldn't be too far away. Not with things as 
they had been left after the last 'visit' to the Tendo's. His field
burst upwards, disrupting the patterns of the expanding blast wave
and setting it on a path of self-destruction. It began to collapse
in on itself, mostly harmless now, but Ranma still shielded those
around him from the return path of the negative energies.

Raijin looked surprised, but almost fatally depleted of energy now.
Ranma took that as the sign that the time had come, and pushed off 
towards the monster.

He reached him in a few leaps, a ki-charged fist punching through
the beast's thick skull and sinking up to his elbow in grey goop 
Ranma assumed was brain matter. Raijin didn't collapse, although
he staggered and slumped. And then, just as his claws were about to 
release Tokyo Tower -

******

"Now, Baku, rise again!" Yoshihiro shouted. The energy Raijin had 
channeled back to the battlecruiser fed its way through the ship's
computing systems. As they had originally been bulit on mercury,
before it's fall to the Dark Kingdom, they, like Natsumi's headset,
were capable of almost magical abilities. And one in particular
was being channeled now. The only problem was, it required a great
deal of computing power, more than a simple head-mounted computer
system could offer. But the battlecruiser's systems could take the 
strain.

Behind him, Umiko purred. She hadn't thought Raijin would succeed,
and he hadn't in his primary mission: Tokyo still stood. Yet, he may
have succeeded in his secondary purpose: the removal of the heroes
from Tokyo, which would make Yoshihiro's plans progress that much 
faster. And as the energy streamed through long-dead conduits,
bringing more and more computing power online, Yoshihiro leant down,
and whispered in Natsumi's ear.

******

- something happened -

******

"Is the system running?" Yoshihiro snapped, without moving from 
Natsumi's ear. Umiko scrambled to check.

"System is at fifty percent capacity," she replied. "No errors in 
data transmission." She gestured knowingly at Natsumi's strained,
but still, form. "How long do you plan to keep her this time?"

Yoshihiro shrugged. "She is only needed to monitor the situation.
She can be kept disassociated from the world for as long as she is 
needed."

"Then do we kill her?"

The Master stared at Natsumi. In truth, he wasn't necessarily
evil. His views and beliefs differed to those of the Moon Kingdom,
and if killing innocents or civilians was a means to an end, he'd 
gladly do it. Yet, there was no need for Natsumi to die, for now at 
least. He shook his head. "No. She may be of use in the future.
Leave her for now."

******

- and Raijin exploded, Ranma disappearing in the blast.

Saturn and Akane waited, waited until a breeze blew the clouds of 
dust and smoke and gore away, but there was nothing. Not even on the
ground. Ranma Saotome was missing.

But he'd saved the lives of his friends, and his new family. Akane
looked dumbly at Saturn; she'd been expecting to talk to Ranma when
he came back, when things settled down, to tell him she had come to 
terms with Ranma's decision whether or not she agreed with it. She 
was going to be nice, and try to talk calmly and not lose her temper
and ask if they could at least continue to be friends. She had had no
doubt they would be, but she had to ask, make sure. She could live
without Ranma, if she still saw him, could still talk to him, still
share things with him. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Saturn took Akane by the elbow, led her back to the other senshi,
not looking back. She didn't know where Ranma was, but she could 
still feel him. Somewhere. She felt Akane could, too. Both would know
if he was dead, and... he didn't seem to be. Just missing.

"He'll turn up, you know," she said to Akane, who nodded dumbly in 
reply. "I don't think he'd go that easily."

"But... what happened?" Akane asked. "He was there, and we were 
there, and then... he was gone."

"I don't know," Saturn said, shaking her head. "But I assure you, 
we'll find out." Akane nodded again, still in a little bit of shock
at the events of the last few minutes, and Saturn took the chance
to glance over her shoulder at the remains of the tower. No Ranma.
No cocky grin, no smart-assed comments. No casual appearance
to make himself seem even more special than usual by blowing off the
most dangerous fight he'd been involved in. Nothing. But he was 
there, she was sure of that. "We'll find him," she affirmed to 
herself, and then turned back to help her friends.

TO BE CONTINUED...

SAILOR MOON SAYS:

Weeeee.... huge fic. I haven't written one this long in years. I hope
it holds together well; I think it does, and it covers a whole range
of flashback-y type things that I was going to include in the future
(I don't usually forget about threads I've left hanging) but have 
included now since so many people seem to think I've not had reasons
for where the three eldest senshi have been, or what was going on in
Truth with some of the chapters and stuff. I hope that explains
a lot more than reading between the lines has done until now.

I originally had a huge 'rant' to go here to answer queries and 
points raised in a flame thread on a forum I got directed to a couple
of months ago; I don't really feel like regurgitating the text there
at 1AM, it was very long-winded and in-depth, giving a lot of detail
about future chapters and the subtext of a number of previous 
chapters, so I'll address what I understood were people's major 
concerns (which have also shown up in ff.net reviews occasionally)
in short: there have been a lot of cameos in this series since the 
very early days of Truth, lots of references to other shows (both
anime and not-anime) and such... while I advertise this as a 
Ranma-Sailor Moon-Love Hina fic, in reality it was more inspired
by some of the massed-series spamfics I've seen out there (go NXE!)
in the method of how I've been handling crossover elements. In these
last two chapters I've felt Tokyo needed Japan's answer to the 
Avengers: a group made up of the most powerful - or rediculous
- heroes of the nation to protect the peoples of Japan from evil 
monsters. As everyone by now knows, the extra cameos that were to 
appear in this chapter were the Nerima crowd. I wanted to put them
in chapter 13, but there wasn't enough room, and as they weren't
terribly important at that point in time, I left them until this 
chapter. 

In addition, I *do* know where the plot is going, and I haven't
written myself into any corners yet - I haven't thought much about
Justice yet, the third arc, but will be soon as I'm only a few 
chapters from the end of this arc, but the major events have been 
mapped out for two years already. A few changes have been made along
the way of how to get to those points from time to time, such as 
Ranma and Hotaru matching up (I liked the two characters immensely,
but Hotaru was supposed to be Shinobu - and Shinobu didn't get 
Keitaro - the readers who encouraged me to make that decision are to
thank/blame for that ;) and while Natsumi was going to return in some
fashion, originally it wasn't going to be this early in the piece.
As to complaints Love is much darker than Truth... I went into 
writing this as wanting to write a novel. Truth was the setting
up of the characters, Love is the middle section of the book, where
the characters progress in skill and personality, and the conflicts
that have only previously been hinted at or touched on ramp up to 
become real threats, and Justice is the end, with the climax and 
resolution. As the story evolves into something more serious, as the
characters mature during the progress of their story arcs, the humour
matures also. Not necessarily becoming more complicated, just shown
in different ways. But with the more serious chapters, humour really
jars. I've tried adding some in, and deleted the lines almost 
immediately as they just sound completely wrong.

On a different note, since I wrote chapter 13, I found a lot more 
Love Hina references (specifically, I got more manga ^^;;). The 
Hinata Sou is in Kanagawa Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo 120
degress around from Nerima (around 30-40km in a straight line, 
according to the maps I have here). The Ai Sou is reasonably
close to the Hinata Sou, so that explains why Hotaru's so exhausted
when she gets to Furinken ;) Also why Ranma has plenty of time to 
think when he's on his way to confront Nabiki. Doesn't really change
anything, but it's fun to know anyway. Even scarier is the fact that
I didn't know in the manga that Mutsumi's family was shown in any 
detail, and it turns out her mother's name is Natsumi ^^; so Natsumi
is named after her mother :P

I didn't mention it in the notes after the last chapter, but last 
September mum bought two toy poodle puppies to replace the toy that
was poisoned last July. They're both beautiful, and (figuratively)
deaf when called, and very friendly - and have a tendency to chase
things across the road if tey see them. While writing the last 
chapter, both ran out on the road and one was bowled by a 4 wheel
drive. Thankfully, if that term applies, it was the smaller of the 
two brothers, which meant rather than being killed, he was thrown
a fair distance and received a fractured skull, but was otherwise
fine. We're very lucky it wasn't one of the big trucks servicing
the quarries in this area, but they nearly got hit the other day as 
well. So I'm back to dog-sitting, as well as having worked a few 
weeks in the pineapples again, which is why this chapter was later
than I was planning (I've had it in various states of completion
for the last month and keep thinking, one or two more scenes and 
it'll be done). I hope you enjoy it, and please excuse the fact this
is a LOT later than I was intending on it being.

Next Chapter: Where's Ranma? And what exactly *did* happen with 
Natsumi? DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters
are properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.

WARNING: This chapter has bad language, adult themes, minor horror,
shameless rip-offs and limeish content. If this was an Australian
site, it would carry an MA/MA15+ rating, which is less than an R, but
more than a PG. You have been warned.

LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 15

** Paradise Lost **

She woke, as if from a deep sleep. She was sore all over, felt like
she'd been kicked by a horse or an elephant, but she could move. 
Nothing seemed to be broken. No cuts or scratches, not even any 
bruising. Maybe she just felt fried? She wasn't sure. She got to her
feet, agony pushing through her muscles.

The world around her swum back and forth, reality seeming to warp 
before her eyes until she realised it was a dizzy spell. She'd 
obviously been lying down for some time. As the blood drained more
from her head, she gained her balance, and stood straighter.

Her head felt heavy. She reached up, and touched something that 
wasn't her head. It was smooth, felt like plastic. She pulled it off,
and looked at the object in her hands. It looked like a headset
of some kind of arcade game, but she couldn't be sure. The lenses
looked clear, and the plastic clean. There was a silhouetted
image of a helmeted man with wings on his ankles, and from behind
his head and feet ran two parallel lines with the words MERCURY
printed between them. She didn't understand.

She shook her head. The fuzziness wasn't going around some things.
There was something wrong. She couldn't remember who she was, or how
she got here.

But where was here? She looked up, and saw ruined buildings.
So... had there been a war? Had there been a downfall of the human
race? Maybe something weird, like a giant monster attack or 
something. She didn't know. Around her were huge chunks of smashed
and melted concrete, with iron supports melted across the tops and 
sides. So at least she knew it was something hot that had definitely
happened here. What kind of hot, she didn't know exactly, and it 
wasn't forthcoming from her memory. She suspected it might come back
in time, but didn't know for sure. Her memory was just too fuzzy on 
aspects of herself.

It was like she'd been picked up from somewhere and dropped down 
somewhere else, but the transfer had left bits behind. Whether that
analogy was correct, she didn't know, but if it was, had the bits 
that apparently made her whatever she was been left behind on 
purpose? She shook her head. Only just woken up and she was already
seeing menace all around her. She'd lost something. Courage, perhaps?
New-found or long-fought-for? She didn't know. She just felt...
afraid. Something was wrong. She just couldn't place her finger on 
it.

She stared upwards into the noon sun. It felt good on her skin; and
she realised she had an awful lot of it showing. But she felt no 
modesty. Whatever she was afraid of, it wasn't being naked. But 
perhaps she was, and it was just the feel of the sun playing across
her skin that conquered it. It felt like she'd been trapped somewhere
dirty, a netherworld of pain and torment. Womb of a twisted newborn,
as it were, and stepping into the sun was like casting that off and
starting a new life.

She chuckled. Without her memories, it was an apt analogy.

But what to do now? A large chunk of the city here seemed to be in 
ruins, she had no memories, no idea of where she lived or what she 
did in life, and was naked. The naked problem was soon fixed; with
all the ruined buildings, there were a number of fashion stores that
had also been destroyed. And while whatever had scoured the area 
pretty decently - lots of ground-rubble, a few standing walls, but 
not much else - lots of light objects had survived the destruction.
Sheets of paper floated about on thermals, and every so often, a 
piece of clothing would whip along the ground, caught in a violent
atmospheric eddy. She snagged some of the clothes she saw, and 
quickly build up a wardrobe of odds and ends, including black tights,
a red leather miniskirt, and a blue t-shirt that only came down to 
the top of her stomach. Not for cool weather, but as she wasn't 
planning on getting out of the sun anytime soon, that was fine.

In the distance, she heard a noise, and turned to face the direction
it was coming from. In that direction, the city was whole, more or 
less, and what she'd heard were helicopters, of all shapes and sizes,
heading in to carry out a search for survivors. She snagged a bright
red towel that flapped past in a sudden gust of wind, and waved it 
for all she was worth.

******

No senshi remained. Figuratively speaking, anyway. When the 
helicopter fleet uncovered the group of people Ranma had saved, they
had all let their transformations drop long before. None of the 
survivors had seen anything more than Akane and Hotaru about that 
final fight, and no one had seen Ranma. Mitsuki was almost in a 
catatonic state with a belated bout of claustrophobia, due to her 
time trapped under the building with Ranma, sitting and rocking
with her knees drawn up around her chest. At one point, as Hotaru
passed, she whipped a hand out and grabbed the younger girl, stopping
her dead. But she hadn't raised her eyes. Hotaru wasn't sure if 
Mitsuki had been reaching out to give or to receive comfort, but 
she'd apparently gotten whatever she needed out of the gesture,
because since then she'd been reasonably still.

Her silence still worried Hotaru, but she thought the older senshi
would get over her ordeal soon enough. She had to have had a will of
iron to hold her mind together under all the rubble for as long as 
she did without having her other personalities cause problems...
it made Hotaru give the older woman more respect than she had 
previously. Even without having multiple personalities, some of them
apparently quite destructive, Hotaru would have found it difficult
to keep her head while trapped as Ranma and Mitsuki had been. She 
kept an eye on Mitsuki, though, until the helicopter rescue teams
had her strapped in and sedated.

Akane still looked to where Tokyo Tower had stood. Now, there was 
nothing save a small group of twisted and melted iron girders rising
up above the surrounding debris. All that moved were rescue teams
and the injured who'd somehow managed to survive the dark blast wave
the monster had thrown out before his apparent death. Hotaru stepped
up beside her, still uncomfortable, but not so much now they'd stared
down the end of the world together from behind the man they both 
loved. Little things like that brought people together in the 
weirdest ways, Hotaru reflected; what a pity normal people couldn't
be subject to the same trials and tribulations of the hero. Then she
quirked a slight smile; just with the problems she'd had over the 
last year, relationship, physical, evil overlord dominations,
she was surprised she'd survived as intact as she had.

She cleared her throat softly, and Akane nodded towards the tower.
"There was a helicopter... over there, you know. I don't know if they
found him or... not."

Hotaru shook her head. "He's alive. I don't know where, or how, but
he is."

"How can you tell?" Akane asked, detached, eyes still locked towards
the tower's remains.

"You trained with Ranma, didn't you? Didn't he teach you... how to 
feel someone by their life force? Their ki?" Hotaru gestured towards
the tower. "I feel him, but all I know is he's not over there. I 
don't know how I know that, I don't know why I think that, but I do 
know he's alive. It's too strong a feeling... for him to be... dead."

Akane pondered on that for a few minutes as rescuers stepped past 
them with a small girl in a jester's cotsume on a stretcher.
At least, Hotaru assumed she was still wearing the jester's outfit.
It was hard to tell under all the gauze and pressure bandages and 
blankets. If she survived to hospital, it would be a miracle. As the
stretcher passed, she trailed a hand along the length of the girl,
reaching out, pushing, and the girl, previously in pain, smiled and
sunk into a deep sleep. Hotaru slumped groundward to lean up against
Akane's legs, completely exhausted. That had been a lot of energy
to expend, and in such a fast time. When not transformed, she didn't
have the deep reserves Sailor Saturn did, and even though Ranma had
been helping her build up her stamina and ki, she still wasn't as 
strong as she needed to be in a time like this. Too many wounded,
too many dying, and Hotaru was helpless to help out. All she could
do were small gestures, helping those who might be able to help 
others.

As the stretcher-bearers got the girl to a waiting helicopter,
they were surprised to hear the girl snore. A quick check showed
she wasn't suffering anything more than extensive bruising now, which
confused them even more. That was the third such case of critically
wounded people being miraculously cured of their most grievous
wounds in the last hour. Just in case, they placed her into the 
helicopter and waved the pilot off.

Akane looked down at the young girl. At times, through her pain and
jealousy, she could see why Ranma had been drawn to her. No matter
what she was like under the surface, she was kind, helpful, and at 
times, playful. She knew the right things to say, and the right times
to say them. Akane couldn't help but hate her, and yet... and yet she
knew that for all she loved Ranma, she could never trust him. 
Instinctively. Something inside her would rebel at the thought of 
believing him, of trusting him. Intellectually, she knew the things
that would happen to him when she confided in him, or got close to 
him, were just coincidence. Ranma wasn't responsible for everyone
else's actions. If Shampoo threw herself at him, it wasn't Ranma 
throwing her at himself. But some part of her refused to accept that.
Whenever it happened... she used it as justification for hurting
Ranma more. She'd been thinking on this a lot since he'd broken off
their engagement, and she'd had a lot of time to think about it. 
Kasumi had helped, too, calmly and cheerfully pointing out flaws in 
Akane's arguments and beliefs when she made them known.

If Akane didn't know better, she'd think Kasumi had come down firmly
in Ranma's camp.

It had been that realisation, that single thought, that had brought
down Akane's house of cards. There were no camps. All the people
who wanted to avenge her honour wanted her hand rather than letting
the absent Ranma have it, which meant they weren't acting in her best
interests, no matter how angry she was. And she realised that, except
for the public manner in which he'd broken up with her, he'd done 
everything he could have to preserve their friendship. He'd been 
right. She had problems. She was too violent, too jealous. She didn't
think there was anyone else for her, though... Ranma had been the 
only male in her life, barring her father and the good doctor (a 
childhood crush, she had realised), who had been inside her barriers.
And she just couldn't drop them all. Not yet, anyway. And Ranma 
couldn't sit around and wait and hope that one day, she *might*
be ready for a proper relationship that didn't involve various forms
of abuse.

No camps, no sides. These girls had banded around Ranma, she'd seen
that in action. But not to protect him from her, but to protect
him from threats. Which could include her, but didn't have to be. She
realised that now. And she had to tell him. She had to tell him that
as much as he was growing up, she'd decided... she'd realised...
that she had to as well. She'd ran into a warzone to tell him that,
to tell him she understood his problems. Not to beg him back, not to
threaten him into returning, but to accept him and his faults, as she
had to try to accept hers, in friendship.

She had to admit, they'd make much better friends as friends than as
a married couple.

So she stood, and waited. And she could feel him, somewhere,
distantly beyond the dust. She, too, couldn't pinpoint him. He was 
elsewhere. Major Elsewhere. But he was alive.

Akane sat down next to Hotaru, propper the younger senshi up against
her. Hotaru, exhausted after the morning's exhertions, fell asleep
almost instantly.

******

She sat in the government office, one of maybe a dozen who'd been 
called in, yet here she sat alone, waiting for her interviewer
to arrive. He was late. Everything was late, apparently; the 
disruption downtown had caused a lot of property and collateral
(read: people) damage and everything had broken down. The police
were out in force, stopping looting in the inner city, and the JSDF
were apparently on standby, if everything she'd heard in the foyer
was true. Everyone spoke in whispers for the moment, everyone still
shell-shocked. She herself had mostly been silent the last day, only
speaking to confirm she could indeed speak japanese, and that no, she
didn't know what her name was. She'd been sent to a school hall for
the night, bunked down in emergency accomodations for those displaced
by the explosion, and then at 6Am this morning, she'd been hauled
onto a truck and taken to temporary government offices in Shinagawa.

Apparently, they'd been set up in these offices as a precaution
against further explosions - as yet, she hadn't heard what had caused
the explosion, only that people kept saying it was big (The 
explosion? she wondered) - and to spread out support for people 
displaced or with temporary memory loss. She qualified for the 
second, and quite possibly the first, too, but she didn't know if she
had a house or apartment or not... she could have been running around
naked for weeks for all she knew.

Still, she still didn't seem to have any bruises, but she did feel
sore still. Movement seemed to lessen the pain now, and she'd woken
up before the truck had arrived and ran around the hall a few times.
It also helped that it was getting colder - snow wasn't expected
to be far away - and she didn't have anything warm to wear. Still
clad in what she'd found the day before, she sat, waiting, at the 
desk. The offices either weren't heated, or no one had bothered
to turn on the heaters, for it was chilly.

She had been waiting in the office for an hour by the time the 
government interviewer arrived, walking in, tucking sunglasses
into a pocket inside his jacket. He was immaculately groomed, hair
slicked back straight, face clean. He looked fit, which surprised
the woman. She had expected government officials to be overweight
or otherwise unfit, seeing as they apparently did little all day. But
this man looked to be rather handsome, even. He smiled at her as he 
sat down, but it seemed to be devoid of warmth. Her file was on the
desk in front of him, and he looked through it, eyes glancing over
reports and photos quickly. Then he closed the file and looked up at
her, joining his hands on the table before him.

"So... you claim to have no memory."

"I have a memory," she corrected him, "just nothing I can point to as
anything personal."

The man nodded. "A fine distinction. And an important one. Where you
were found... is suspicious in itself. Do you know... where you were
found?"

She nodded. "Yeah. In a lot of blown-up buildings."

The man grimaced. "You have no idea what happened at that precise
point?"

She shook her head.

"Well... let me just say... it was interesting to read about 
yesterday. I look forward... to seeing the footage on the news...
when television is restored." He patted her file. "Do you know the 
penalties... for lying to a government official?"

She shook her head again. "I'm not lying!"

"Oh," he continued, "I believe you... when you say you remember
nothing about... yourself. But... you must understand the position...
this puts me in. We are looking for someone... a terrorist 
mastermind... who used a weapon of mass destruction on Tokyo 
yesterday morning, along with... a hallucinagenic." He leaned back
in his chair, looking long and hard at the woman sitting opposite
him. "No... you're not our... man," he said, finally, then leaned
forward again. "So let's start again. I am Sato, and we need to...
fix you up with a temporary... identity. Until your memory...
returns."

"Has... has this happened a lot?" she asked.

Sato smiled. It wasn't nice. "More than you... might think."

******

And so it was that, a little under an hour later, Kaname Mizuno left
the offices, with a small amount of money to buy some new clothes,
a temporary office job and a small apartment she could call her 
own... until she remembered who she was, of course. Clothing came 
first, as a biting wind had blown up since she'd entered the offices,
and she found some warmer leggings, a jacket, hat and a scarf, as 
well as some clothes for work. After that, there was enough money
left to buy a week's amount of food (until she was paid from her new
job) and time enough to get to her new home before the sun set and 
the wind became really cold.

The apartment only had a few rooms: a combination lounge/bedroom,
a small kitchenette, and a bathroom, but at least it had hot water,
electricity, and a good-sized bath. She felt she could use one, the
way her toes felt to be turning blue under her new fleecy boots.
She quickly fixed some instant ramen up while water ran for the bath,
and once the bath was full, she stopped eating, put the box on the 
bathroom floor, and peeled clothing from her body. It was damp; not
surprising, the way the winds seemed to be carrying moisture 
everywhere. The fact she was currently standing in a huge cloud of 
steam didn't escape her, either. She realised she hadn't brought
anything clean to wear in with her, but eyed the fluffy towel that
had been sitting on the wall railing, and decided not to bother just
yet. She dipped a toe into the water, nice and hot, and slid into the
bath fully, retrieved her ramen, leant back and continued to eat. 
There she sat for most of the night, until the water began to chill.

The next morning saw her up bright and early. She had to be at work
by 8AM, and she didn't know quite where she was going as yet. It was
the Japanese corporate HQ of an American company, according to the 
small information pack that came with her temporary identity package.
Mister Sato had been very nice after the initial quesitoning,
pointing out all the little details, telling her that the basic 
necessary items for living had been bought already and furnished
in the apartment, also mentioning the style of dress needed at the 
office. Not that Kaname knew anything about office work, but she 
guessed she'd soon find out.

It turned out, when she arrived at the offices half an hour early,
that the firm was a software engineering company, and she would be 
carrying out data entry duties, along with some customer work from
time to time. But to start with, she'd be partnered with someone
who knew the job, and stepped through the first week until she was 
considered proficient enough to carry out her tasks without someone
standing over her shoulder.

She quickly found out the work wasn't hard. She entered numbers
in, over and over, over and over, until her break, at which point
she'd come back from a few minutes' rest, and be entering numbers
in again and again until the end of the day. She had the job down pat
by the end of the first day, and was assisting customers on her 
second. By her third, she was working fine without supervision.

By her fourth, a bath at night wasn't calming her down as much as it
had. So she climbed out after twenty minutes or so, and looked around
the small apartment. There was a small television, but there wasn't
anything much on the stations yet, mostly it was about the disaster.
A few people questioned what kind of hallucinagenic could create
a giant monster like those that had rampaged across Tokyo in the 60's
and 70's, and early 80's, but as yet, no one had any answers: the 
samples had defied analysis. What was known was that a small, 
non-nuclear device had exploded at the Tokyo Tower, and had destroyed
nearly everything within three kilometres of ground zero. A lot of 
the nation's central personnel and economic records had been wiped
out, and the country was facing a massive recession unless someone
could find a backup copy of the records, somewhere, or other nations
stepped in to help ameliorate the problem. Whether anyone could or 
not, that was another story. And the news was still full of crying
people, wanting to know if their loved ones were still alive or not.
Photos were shown; this seemed to be the only way survivors could
figure out who they were. Too many people, upwards of one or two 
thousand, had memory loss, just couldn't remember who they were.

Like Kaname.

The news was depressing, though. All these people... a nation in 
mourning. And in shock. Casualty estimates were in the range of one
million, possibly more. There had been time for people to escape,
and many had, but the bomb had still caught a great deal of people.
There would have been more, if not for the courageous intervention
of the heroes Japan still had remaining. It seemed to Kaname there
were less and less of them now, as if heroes were a dying breed,
and those that were left... those that had fought in Tokyo the other
day... were hurt, injured, tired. Depressed.

So Kaname turned from the television to the computer. There was a DVD
case lying next to it, a game. The World, the front proclaimed.
According to a note scribbled on a post-it on the case, this had 
already been installed and was the biggest selling computer game in 
Japanese history. Some forty million people worldwide were supposed
to be playing this game, and the case proclaimed "you could be a 
hero!" in great big writing across the back. Great. A hero. But as 
she read more into the blurb on the back, Kaname found it was also
a social game, where people could go meet others, talk to people.
She didn't know if the servers would be up, what with all the 
disruption to everything else, but she might as well give it a go. 
The case said all that was required was a computer, which she had,
and a VR headset and dataglove. There was a dataglove next to the 
computer.

And she cast her eyes over at the headset lying next to her bed.

******

The Ai Sou was quiet. Too quiet for some. Ami, who generally liked
the dorm on its more quiet days, was a little jumpy. No Ranma, 
nailing tiles on the roof. No Ranma, cleaning the springs. No Ranma,
training them in the morning. And yet, at 6AM every morning, the 
girls were in their gis, downstairs, outside, running through katas
and sparring matches. If their teacher wasn't there, then they would
continue to act as if he was. Rei, Makoto and Mitsuki, the three who
knew the most martial arts besides Ranma, acted as teachers as and 
when they could. They all felt bad. Hollow.

Grieving.

A sick feeling in their stomachs, made especially worse when sparring
with Hotaru. Even with Mitsuki, who seemed to have settled down a lot
in the days since the fight. Nearly a week now. Six days. One more
day, and it would be a week proper. There wasn't any university
or school at the moment, Tokyo University had been shut down due to 
blast damage adding to all the damage it had taken over the previous
few months, and the high schools had been shut to get more people
into the workforce, and try to recover Japan's economy before it went
completely bust. According to internet news sites, Ami had been 
reading that iron refineries had been employing ten year old children
for around a thousand yen a day to boost production. That really
wasn't good, but then nothing about the current situation was good.

Right now, she was on her computer, IRC window open. The channel
she was in was dead, but while she was thinking about how quiet 
things were, a message window opened up.

<Kanrinin> Morning, Ami.

Ami smiled. She started typing back, the clicking of the keys 
comforting her.

<Mercurial> Good morning, Keitaro. How is Naru?

<Kanrinin> She's good. She's working in a school at the moment.
Troublesome students, so they wanted someone who can handle 
themselves.

<Mercurial> She's got her confidence back, then?

<Kanrinin> She's fine now. We're both fine. I wanted to ask how 
you were doing, though.

<Mercurial> I'm fine, Kei-kun.

<Kanrinin> Don't give me that - I saw the news.

<Mercurial> It was bad, but I'm fine now.

There was a pause of a few minutes, during which time Ami thought
Keitaro had dropped his connection or something - lost connections
happened a fair bit lately. But then, he sent a new line.

<Kanrinin> Can you connect to The World? Since I can't leave the
dorm ATM, and it's too much bother for you to come over, I was 
wondering... did you want to join a party?

Ami pondered. Why not? Some socialising was just what the doctor
ordered for a dead Sunday morning. She sent back an affirmative,
transformed into Sailor Mercury, and dropped her computer's visor
down over her eyes, plugging it into her laptop so she could access
the game. Then she waited through the loading screen, finally being
logged in and dropped into the game proper.

******

The city reminded Kaname of Venice, or rather, the pictures of Venice
she must have seen at some point. She didn't think she'd actually
been there, not that she could know for certain, but she thought
had she been there, it wouldn't seem as familiar an appearance.
The architecture, though, seemed to be almost North African, perhaps
Moroccan rather than European. The main street was split in two by a 
canal, and almost lazily, a long gondola drifted along in whatever
current had to be running through the water. Or was programmed
into. Kaname wasn't exactly sure of how the game worked, just that
it did. This wasn't her first time in, she'd been in several times.
But there hadn't really been any people to talk to, then. Oh, lots
of people, and everyone was talking, but they all had established
friends. It was very... cliquey was the word Kaname wanted to use.
People only really talked or interacted with others they'd joined
with, or met early on in their online experience.

Of course, most people had insanely weird names, like Ticonderoga
or Aeolus. Some went by initials, or combinations of initials or 
words and numbers, like the Piro416 she'd seen twice now, apparently
testing out methods of killing oneself in an online world. Some had
names that were japanese, but she suspected that a lot of them played
opposite genders to what they really were. Some avatars of players
were big, bulky, others small and meek. One girl she'd noticed had a 
bulky jewellery arrangement adorning her head just above her 
forehead. The outlandishness of the appearance had drawn kaname to 
look into her eyes, which were deep and, scarily, empty.

Kaname had used her real name in the character creation section
of registration by accident, and so was stuck with the name 'Kaname'
whenever anyone profiled her. She'd also missed the concept of 
'role-playing' entirely, and picked an avatar with features very 
close to her own, and only now was kicking herself for not figuring
out she could have been a big, strong manly man. Or a "geeked-out
technogurl", as she'd heard one player already refer to the girl with
empty eyes as.

So here she was, in The World again. she knew the basics, knew what
was required to play, the combat, how to join groups, everything
else. But she had no one to play it with. Her routine of food in 
bath, then online play, wasn't doing much different than snoozing
in the bath all night long for her relaxation.

A player connected nearby, a youngish-looking man with glasses and a 
big floppy, pointed hat. He reached up and adjusted it, sighing
when it fell back down again, looked up and made eye contact with 
Kaname.

Wow. Not that he was cute or anything. This was, after all, a game.
And Kaname knew he was probably a girl with too much time on her 
hands anyway, so that killed the rest of any possible romantic
or sexual thoughts, of course. It was his stare. If this had been 
real life, Kaname would have melted at the knees. As it was, she felt
her knees wobble slightly under the computer's desk, which through
the biofeedback in the dataglove, transferred itself to shaky knees
in the game world. Greeeeat...

He started to make his way over, waving amiably. Kaname pulled back
a little when she realised he was heading towards her, wondering
if this was going to be some kind of cruel joke. But then, she 
thought. Most players did nothing morally wrong around the Scarlet
Knights, and they seemed to be based on the gondola, so she stood
her ground as he reached her.

"Hi!" he said brightly. "I haven't seen you around before."

Kaname shook her head. "I'm new. For the last few days, at least."

"Oh, a newbie," he nodded to her. "How are you enjoying the game?"

Kaname looked around dubiously. "No one wants to talk to me."

The man shrugged, and held up a hand. "I'm on my way to the Sun Grass
Plains to meet a friend. Want to come along? We'll probably only be 
talking... but it'll be someone new you can talk to."

She thought about it for all of half a second before nodding. The Sun
Grass Plains was considered by the instruction manual to be a fairly
basic level for beginners. So basic, in fact, that a lot of players
congregated there to talk away from the congestion of the major city
networks. "That sounds good."

Kaname followed him towards one of the major Gates from the city,
and they chatted lightly until they arrived. There, he lifted his 
arms and proscribed a quick icon in the air with his staff weapon,
but before he gave the code words, he turned to Kaname. "I'm so 
sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Kanrinin."

She held out a hand, shook his when it was offered in return. 
"Kaname.

The Sun Grass Plains turned out to be a nice place, full of rolling
hills with warm, soft green grass blowing gently in a simulated
breeze. The sun was hot, so weird to feel that here, and knowing
her body was cold back in her apartment. She blinked idle for a 
moment to get another blanket and to turn up the heat on the small
electric heater she had down on the floor.

There didn't look to be any clouds in the sky, when she returned
from idleness, and Kanrinin had moved off a few steps. He glanced
back to see if she was coming, heard the blink of player 
reactivation, and smiled. She nodded, unsure of herself, and followed
him again.

Two small hills over, they found the person Kanrinin was looking
for. She was tall, with dark blue hair, and wore puffy, almost gauzy,
pants and a kind of boob tube made from the same material. She had a 
staff as well, but a simple shaft of wood, broken up by painted
patterns along its length, unlike Kanrinin's, which had a complicated
shape resembling a mutant letter 't' trying to eat a shiny yellow
sphere affixed to an end. She smiled at her friend, then nodded 
curiously at Kaname.

"Who's your friend?"

"Mercurial, this is Kaname." Kanrinin gestured at Mercurial to 
Kaname, and continued the introduction. "And Kaname, this is my 
friend, Mercurial. Mercury for short." Kaname nodded greetings,
slightly embarrassed. She hadn't met too many people yet, in real 
life as well as online. These two had thus far been the first to not
tease or or insult her, and for that she was grateful; she felt, 
perhaps feeling a little too grateful, but that wasn't something
she could fix easliy. Kanrinin, meanwhile, sat down. "So, how are you
really?"

Mercurial shook her head. "I'm fine. We lost... we lost a friend
that day. Our manager."

Kanrinin nodded. "Ranma. I remember him. He brought Natsumi back.
At least... Natsumi said it was him. It was a girl, though."

"That was him," Mercurial confirmed.

Kaname sat down, obviously left out of the conversation for the 
moment, and started picking flowers and staring at them closely.
The detail on everything here was beyond what she thought video games
should be able to manage.

"He hasn't been heard of since... since you know."

"Since he... and you... and your friends...? It was obvious, you 
know. We were all watching the news at the Hinata Sou."

Mercurial shook her head and threw a warning glance at Kanrinin
that Kaname only just caught. "He was lost in the Zone, like all the
others."

"I was found there," Kaname said, suddenly.

Both turned and looked at her. "What?" Mercurial asked.

Kaname's face grew hot, and she suspected that was being reflected
in the game world as well. "In the... you know, the Zone. It's where
I woke up."

"Where you... woke up."

"Yeah. I'm one of the, what are they calling us, Amnesiacs. Someone
who's forgotten their name and everything."

Mercurial's eyes narrowed as she stared at Kaname. "Where exactly
were you found?"

Kaname shrugged. "I don't know. It all kind of looked the same. And
it's not like I could remember anything before the explosion,
either, but I must have been some distance from it to still be 
alive."

"... yes," Mercurial muttered.

Kaname thought about it some more. "Although... that Sato guy was 
saying it was suspicious where I was picked up... so maybe I was 
around where the bomb went off? And something stopped me from being
blown away like the buildings? I don't know. I just feel... I was 
somewhere before then. I think. Because I was naked when I woke up,
you know? And the sun was coming down on me, and I felt warm and 
everything, even with the wind..." She continued speaking, rapidfire,
trying desperately to shut up and stop the looks she was getting
from her two new 'friends'. "... and I just felt, with all the sun,
like I'd been somewhere dark and evil before then, you know? And I 
just think maybe there was something there... maybe I was..." she let
her voice trail off. Kanrinin was looking at her in slight disbelief,
Mercurial in shock.

And then Mercurial reached forward quickly, as if to grab Kaname,
and Kaname did the first thing that came to mind.

She disconnected.

Sitting there, in her darkened apartment, she panted. She wasn't
scared, no, no she wasn't. She was just... confused. Confused by 
Mercurial's actions, by their reactions, by their words. It was like
she'd walked into a conversation they'd been having -

- and she realised she probably had. Been talking offline or 
something, and then logged in to continue face to face, as it were.
And that Mercurial had probably lost a friend in the bombing, and 
Kaname's bumbling in had probably brought it all up, seemed like she
was teasing. Or something similar, anyway. She felt bad. But looking
at the time, there wasn't anything else she could do. She switched
the computer off, and watched a little of a weird movie from the 70's
called Attack of the Eternal Lesbian Midget, which had a storyline
almost as bad as the title (and effects that were much, much worse).
When the clock hit midnight, she brushed her teeth, had a drink,
and crawled into bed.

******

Days passed quietly for Kaname. After a week, she logged back into
The World, left an apology on the BBS for Mercurial and Kanrinin
for her behaviour, assured them she hadn't meant any disrespect,
and then tried to avoid them. There hadn't been any further 
communications from either of them, so that was okay by her. But she
was still alone.

About the only thing that left was fighting, and Kaname found with
a little practise, her character was getting some good stats. In two
weeks, she'd lifted her strength five points, endurance five, speed
eight, and she'd risen to fourth level. Which meant she could now 
tackle low-level dungeons by herself, basically. She was working
no raising her stats even higher, so she could try some of the 
medium-level dungeons.

The first day of the fifth week since the incident, it started to 
snow.

******

It was a Saturday, and Kaname stood in her usual off-work clothing,
her tights and a long woolly jacket, on the footpath, staring up into
the clouds as the first smattering of snow fell. In her hands, she 
held her week's shopping in plastic bags. She was able to afford
more food now, and had been starting to put on some weight...
something hadn't seemed right about that, so after work one afternoon
in the third week, she'd found at least an hour every day to work out
in a local gym. She seemed to be getting better with much of the 
training, and that helped stop the pains she was still feeling from
time to time. She found her punches felt good, and at least two 
attendants at the gym had suggested she join the Tae Kwon Do class
on Saturday afternoons. She considered it, and accepted. Perhaps
it would help her in the World.

She'd been to her first Tae Kwon Do lesson today. She'd stumbled
a bit, fumbled some blocks (and ended up with faded bruises),
and stubbed her toe, but she'd had a lot of fun. Which reminded
her: she had to wash out the training gi that was currently hiding
in her backpack when she got home.

But as the snow fell, the first flakes touching the cemented ground,
someone screamed.

It wasn't just the first snowfall of the year, it was also the first
reported ghost sighting.

******

Kaname saw it, too. It was a man, in a suit. He was pressed up 
against a wall, which could be seen through his body. He clutched
a briefcase in one hand, and was staring with horror in towards
the city's centre, where the Tokyo Tower had been until just over a 
month ago. She didn't know what was going on, but her body screamed
at her to do something.

Thankfully, before she could embarrass herself any further than 
taking up a defensive stance, the ghost faded away. She turned,
looked where he had been looking, and saw the various cranes that had
gone up for the reconstruction effort. One of the landmarks opposite
looked familiar, though, and with a jarring start, she found herself,
naked, back where she'd woken up. Looking north from there, she'd
seen the exact same landmark from the exact same angle. Wherever
she had been found, it was indeed in that direction.

******

She dreams.

It is black, where she is. But for the moment, she dreams. She knows
there are figures moving around her, touching her, doing things to 
her, but where they're touching, she can't see, what they're doing,
she can't understand. Something is covering her eyes. Like a 
blindfold, but harder.

The one she knows is the Darkest touches her, and she screams.

******

Sweating profusely, Kaname didn't want to turn on the light. She had
to tell herself it was just a bad dream. She was dreaming.

But the sense of evil was profound in that dream.

It reminded her of the feeling of being born from a dark place, from
an evil place. A womb of darkness.

She wouldn't turn the light on. Because she knew the light would 
chase away the shadows, but they would wait, ever at bay, waiting
for the day the light flickered, and died...

And as the person caught in the middle of the war between light and
dark, she couldn't afford to be afraid of either side. So the light
stayed off. And Kaname shivered all through the night in her warm 
apartment.

******

Sunday morning in the Ai Sou started like any other recent Sunday
morning. Makoto was up before dawn, readying a breakfast, then as the
first rays of the sun shone above the nearby peaks, she left the 
kitchen, tying her gi up as she joined the other girls coming down
the stairs and heading for outside. Mostly, they were wide awake and
ready. Usagi, as was usual for these training sessions, was yawning
and not really awake.

That fact was made most evident when she invariably walked into a 
wall or a support pillar.

Outside, the snow on the ground had risen to halfway up to the girls'
ankles, and it made several wish they'd decided to train indoors
during winter. But no matter now. They ran through their warm-ups,
practised a few basic moves as a group, and then shifted into higher
gear, transforming into their senshi forms and laying into one 
another with whatever moves they could think of. Sundays were special
training days. Not having to go to work, or school, for those very
few that still were able to attend, meant they could cut loose for a 
day and give each other a run for their money. Punches and kicks 
weren't pulled, bodyslams and tackles were de rigour, and the 
occasional headbutt wasn't unheard of.

Of course, in the full-contact sparring, the idea was to use as many
combinations of the martial arts they were learning and the magic
they knew about, and so quite often, after lunchtime on Sundays
was designated clean-up time.

But the period from the end of weekend training, around 10AM, until
2PM, was considered free time, and everyone tried as best they could
to relax.

Ami would log into The World or chat with friends on IRC while 
reading medical texts, Minako would either go shopping for a few 
hours or discuss boys with Usagi, Rei would meditate or spend time
in the hot springs, Makoto would cook up lunches in advance for the
next week, as well as breakfasts and try to prepare as much in 
relation to dinners as she could. Usagi would phone Mamoru and 
gossip. Mitsuki would take another pill and lie down, or go up to the
roof and stare at the sky. Sometimes, Hotaru would join her, but more
often than not, Hotaru would go and lie in Ranma's room.

Not on his bed, because after five weeks, his smell was slowly fading
from the room, and the futon where he slept was all that was holding
any memory of him anymore. She would lie there, remembering
the times they had. Sometimes, she would see Akane Tendo in the city.
They'd have a small meal, and exchange smalltalk, and then they'd
part. They weren't friends, but both were trying hard to be.

Mostly, they came together to commiserate over their shared loss.

This particular Sunday, though, Hotaru was just in the dorm, on her
own bed. She wasn't crying, but her eyes felt as if she might as well
be: big, stuffy, watery. Just staring at the ceiling. She could see
him, she realised. Sitting there, her head in his lap, him stroking
her hair...

"Cheer up," he said.

She frowned. "Sempai..."

"I'm not dead. See? I couldn't be here if I was." That cocky, 
self-sure smile. It infuriated her right now. She wanted to punch
him, but he just kept smiling.

It wasn't the same smile now, though. Now it was kind of sad, 
longing. Maybe she was projecting her own feelings on him, though,
reading into his actions and emotions what she herself thought and 
felt right now. Maybe.

His hands... were warm. His eyes... full of life. And something
else. Love? Something like that. He continued to stroke Hotaru's
hair, then pulled his other hand down to stroke at her face, from 
cheek to chin... she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations,
letting them guide her to a place where this moment wouldn't end. 
They moved down her chin, down her neck... parted the front of her 
shirt, and slipped a warm, careful hand inside. "Sempaiiiii..."
The hand moved lower, hesitating as it found she wasn't wearing
anything under her shirt. It examined her curves, traced out her 
ribs, before coming up underneath one of her breasts, and followed
the curves up, fingertips lightly tracing over her skin. It was 
exciting enough to give her goosebumps all over, and to bring 
something else out.

Which was when someone knocked on her door, startling her out of her
reverie.

"Hotaru-chan?"

Ami. Oh god. Hotaru's hand leapt from her shirt, which she pulled
together with one hand, blushing furiously before giving up on that
idea and grabbing her pillow to hold in front of her. At least it 
felt like she was hugging someone... "Yes?" she answered.

The door slid open, and Ami entered. She seemed very unsure of 
herself, wringing her hands together as she stepped inside.

"What's the matter?"

Ami shrugged, and looked about for a few moments before returning
to the girl hiding behind the pillow on her bed. "It's about Ranma,"
she said, finally.

Hotaru perked up somewhat. "Have you found him?"

"No," Ami shook her head. "I haven't. But I... I think I might know
someone who MIGHT have been in the area where Ranma was... lost. 
Someone... I think you have to see."

"Everyone that close was killed." Hotaru lowered her eyes. "Everyone
was. Ranma wasn't, though," she added, distracted.

"Perhaps he wasn't. This woman had lost her memory. She is one of 
these Amnesiacs we've heard about on the news." Ami looked away 
again. "I haven't talked to her in nearly a month, but I've continued
to do some digging. There's not much information there. I know she's
female, she's around Ranma's height and weight, and was processed
by the government as one of those who temporarily lost their 
memories."

"I think that's weird," Hotaru said, suddenly.

"Weird?" Ami replied, caught on the back foot.

"All these people who 'temporarily' lost their memories," Hotaru
continued. "Have you heard of any of them regaining them yet? I 
haven't..."

"Anyway, I've noticed that she usually logs on to The World around
this time on a Sunday... and I was wondering if you wanted to perhaps
talk with her?"

******

Kaname wandered The World, for some reason back in the Sun Grass 
Plains. The grass had grown longer, almost as if the seasons here 
were deliberately out of whack with the real world. Or perhaps the 
servers were in the southern hemisphere, where the seasons were all
backwards. Kaname snorted; north and south were such arbitrary
designations... the southern hemisphere could very well be the 
up-direction, rather than the northern. She shook her head, but 
nothing changed in it. The weather here seemed determined to throw
off her concentration.

It was while traipsing over one of the low hills that she heard the
beep in her ear of a BBS message. A quick check showed a new message,
from someone using the avatar name 'GodSaturn', wanting to meet 
there, in the plains, where she'd met up wtih that Mercurial and 
Kanrinin a month earlier. The message went on to talk about how the
player had known someone who'd vanished possibly in the area where
Kaname had been found, and just wanted to discuss some things. Kaname
was a little wary, but decided meeting this person couldn't hurt.

She arrived where she'd sat and talked with the two players 
previously, and found a youngish-looking girl sitting there. She was
dressed in a combination of white and purple, with purple hair, bows
on her shoulders where sleeves normally would have been attached,
and knee-high boots. A long bladed staff weapon lay at rest beside
her. She appeared to be looking around for someone, so Kaname guessed
this was the girl who'd messaged her.

"GodSaturn?" she queried. The girl's eyes focussed on her. Intense
stare, almost hopeful... strange... that for someone appearing
so young, she could have a stare of ages-old strength. Although,
Kaname reasoned, since everything in The World was simulated,
there was no reason expressions of the players couldn't be 
exaggerated by the server's software, so as to make them more 
noticeable on lower-spec systems, or over longer distances. The same
way as animated characters were often exaggerated so as to appear
as recognisable caricatures, stereotypes, of types of people or 
animals, she assumed. But then, perhaps the player really did have
The Stare Of The Ages. Who could know for certain?

"Yes... you'd be Kaname, correct?" the girl asked. She nodded in 
response to her own question, eyes travelling up and down Kaname's
body. Kaname felt strangely self-conscious, and struggled to repress
a blush at the attention. It was a battle, but she thought she'd won
it. "Mercurial suggested I talk to you."

"Why?" Kaname couldn't help but asking. As sono as her suspicions
were confirmed, she knew she should have left, disconnected,
SOMETHING. Something kept trying to pull her away from her past, and
she had a suspicion that these people, whoever they were, might have
been able to help her - somehow - in recovering her past. She wasn't
sure she wanted to know anything, because while she knew what she was
now, she didn't want to find out she'd been some kind of 
super-criminal in a previous life, a technohacker of the worst sort,
involved with shady dealings with evil creatures from an alternate
dimension.

Quite why that theory kept popping up in her head at the strangest
moments wasn't clear to her, and rediculous as it was, she couldn't
easily dismiss the firm belief of the surviving population of Tokyo
that there had been a giant monster that wasn't Gojira, or any of the
others on Sogal Island. In fact, most of the public had a hard time
that a hallucinagenic device could cause such a standardised
illusion, while the various experts who'd spoken on the subject
in public had said it also had more to do with mass hysteria in 
combination with the gas used, and witnesses "remembering"
details after the fact.

The point that nearly everyone in Japan had seen the attack live on 
television was quietly ignored.

GodSaturn continued to eye her, until just as Kaname had decided
she was idle, or not going to speak in any case, and was about to 
leave, she shook her head. "I was hoping you might be able to shed
some light on what happened to a friend of mine."

Kaname shook her head in turn. "I don't know nothing about anything
before the... the explosion. All I remember is..." and now she did 
blush, "finding myself lying naked on crumbled concrete and melted
steel. That's my earliest memory."

GodSaturn kept staring. It was making Kaname very uncomfortable,
and her finger in the real world shifted to hover over the disconnect
button on her keyboard. But then, the girl smiled, warmly, genuinely.
It looked to be something she didn't do often, and came across as 
more special because of that. "I'm sorry if I offended you, Kaname.
I had hoped you might have seen something, considering where you were
found."

"How did you know where I was -"

"But it's just a coincidence that where you were found was where...
where my boyfriend disappeared." GodSaturn shrugged. "I didn't mean
to suggest that you... might be lying or hiding anything. I 
understand... how hard it can be to be a new person, almost, after
living another life that you're not aware of."

There was that ancient stare again, delivered in eyes that seemed
to be finding Kaname attractive. What was this, Attack of the Eternal
Lesbian Midget? GodSaturn cocked her head to one side, almost 
suggestively, and then smiled disarmingly again.

"I'm sorry. You just look a bit like a girl I knew once." She 
gestured around at other players. "Although that could be because
I think they use a basic character set, and it's all decals and 
scaling that let's people play different-looking characters."
GodSaturn shrugged again, and stood. "It's been nice meeting you, 
Kaname. I'd like to get to know you a little better - I guess with
losing your memory, and having to start over again, you haven't
got many friends?" Kaname shook her head. "Well, then, perhaps I can
help fix that problem."

******

And so Kaname found herself later that afternoon sitting at an 
instant ramen wagon across from a mostly undevastated park, two 
blocks from the region of central Tokyo that had become known as the
Zone. As she ate her way through a second bowl of beef ramen, someone
cleared their throat behind her. She turned, and found a short girl
who looked similar to GodSaturn, if only the avatar's hair had been
black rather than purple, who had that same intense stare the avatar
had held. After a few moments of being subjected to The Stare, as 
Kaname was starting to think of it, the girl let up and smiled.
With that break in tension, Kaname realised the girl wasn't alone:
she had several older women with her, who looked to be more Kaname's
age. Two of the three were staring at Kaname, the third was staring
at a fold-up map and complaining to the others that they were in fact
two streets away from where they wanted to be. Then she looked up in
the silence, saw Kaname, and her voice trailed off.

"Oh shit," she said faintly.

Kaname frowned, got up off her stool, and felt her body ready to make
a quick getaway if something went wrong. Nothing did immediately,
though. GodSaturn stepped forward and held out her hand. "Hi. I'm 
Hotaru, Hotaru Tomoe. This is Mitsuki Matsuda," she gestured to the
woman who'd swore and was now desperately trying to hide behind a 
raven-haired woman as she folded the map up, "Rei Hino," a wave at 
the woman with long black hair that this Mitsuki was hiding behind,
"and Ami Mizuno."

"Really?" Kaname couldn't help perking up at that. "We've got the 
same last name! Or rather," she corrected herself quickly, "for the
moment we do. Mine's only temporary."

"You did say you were one of the Amnesiacs," Ami offered.

Kaname noticed that, while Ami and Hotaru had stopped staring,
Rei and, surreptitiously, Mitsuki hadn't yet stopped. "Uh... is 
something..."

"You just look like... the person we're trying to find," Ami jumped
in quickly.

Giving Hotaru a weird stare, Kaname replied, "GodSaturn said it was
her boyfriend that... OHHH... he's... yeah... okay..." She felt 
herself blush. Hotaru slid her eyes to look elsewhere. It was so 
natural looking, that Kaname almost missed the faint blush on the 
girl's alabaster skin.

"It's... hard to explain," was all she offered by way of explanation.
But instead of explaining, she shifted the conversation ever so 
slightly to a different subject. "You didn't see anyone else when you
woke up?" Kaname shook her head. "Oh well. It was a long shot." 
Kaname got The Stare again, but the smile that followed brushed
away any sneaking suspicions she had that this girl was inferring
Kaname herself was this girl's boy... girl... partner. "He'll turn
up, sooner or later."

"Did he dye his hair?" the one called Mitsuki whispered to Rei, not
quiet enough for Kaname to miss, but she did miss Rei's reply. She 
fingered her hair that she'd tied back that morning into a ponytail
off her crown, then grabbed at one of the bangs she had framing
her face, and checked that. No, it was still the bright copperish-red
it had been since she'd woken. She had to figure that these girls
may have known her, or something who looked similar to her, before
the attack, but weren't saying for whatever reason. She nodded 
silently to herself, noting this down for future ruminations
in the bath, and decided she wouldn't forget the use of gender.
Maybe they were talking about a brother of hers or something?
Or maybe -

- no, the girl Hotaru had said already that he was her boyfriend,
not Kaname's. Maybe they were kinky or something, though?

Her brain refused to cope with the thinking of her past, and so it 
all slid off into where she could bring it up at a later time and 
think on it at her own pleasure. Instead, Hotaru touched her elbow,
and gestured towards the park. "Come, sempai, let's go sit and...
talk."

She sounded awfully formal, like it was something she'd been 
practising for days, weeks even. Maybe she had. From just a few of 
the things spoken in The World, and here in real life, Kaname had a 
sneaking suspicion that someone in their group had been keeping
tabs on her, or at the very least, doing some serious digging into
her life. She didn't know for sure, but they had apparently already
seen her picture, judging by the fact that they had all thought
she looked like this man they were missing before they met, so she 
guessed someone had been following her. Possibly that Ami, who, 
although shorter and with a duller hair colour, was very likely 
Mercurial, had been investigating her to see if she might know 
anything she could pass on to Hotaru.

The park had emptied of people, and considering the snow that was 
still only lightly drifting down, Kaname couldn't blame them. It was
cold, even in her new thicker, patterned leggings and fleecy jacket.
Hotaru busied herself wiping snow off one of the benches, and 
unfolded a blanket from her small backpack to spread for them to sit
on. The others drifted away to various areas of the park, and if 
Kaname didn't know better, she'd swear they were commandoes,
taking up positions where they could discreetly observe the people
around the park as well as the meeting. Quite why they would do that,
Kaname didn't know, but the three girls were fairly unobtrusive
and blended in well, each taking up what looked to be a different
hobby or action to look occupied: Ami found a reasonably concealed
place to read and watch two streets, Rei alternated between 
meditating and practising what looked like movie fighting styles,
and Mitsuki... she set about building a group of snowmen. or 
snowwomen, judging by the skirts and curves each displayed as she 
continued. Of the three, she was the one who most kept an eye on 
Kaname, as if considering saying something profound but hesitating
because she thought it would come stupid.

Hotaru started the smalltalk, and it seemed the talk went on for much
longer than the hour that passed on Kaname's watch. They talked about
work, about school, friends, life, love, hobbies, politics, 
religions, history, economics, war, peace, and almost anything
that seemed to pop into Hotaru's mind. Kaname couldn't follow the 
conversation half the time - at one point, they were talking about
pets, cats in particular, and the next - magical girls in sailor
suits. Kaname guessed that was a reference to some anime, judging
by Hotaru's age, and began talking about Gatekeepers, of which she 
thought she'd seen an episode of at some point in her past, but 
wasn't certain. Hotaru changed the subject again to astronomy,
and started talking about planets.

When they were finished, Hotaru seemed strangely unsatisfied,
and Kaname was completely lost. But the younger girl smiled, and 
patted Kaname's hands. "I'm sure your memory will come back, Kaname.
Don't try to force it."

"I'm not forcing it," Kaname replied, shaking her head. "I'm not even
sure that I want to remember."

"Why not?" Hotaru asked.

"I don't know. I just... have problems when I try to think about it.
It's like... it's not there. Like *I'm* not there. That, to all 
intents and purposes, I was born in that rubble, that I... didn't
exist before then."

The girl nodded understanding, and that ageless look came into her 
eyes again. "Perhaps that's the case, Kaname Mizuno. Perhaps you 
didn't exist before the monster. Maybe something happened in that 
final confrontation that birthed you fully into this world, whereas
before... you hadn't existed. Or at least, maybe not yet." She smiled
again, that smile that warmed something in Kaname's heart. It was the
smile one gave to a loved one, she understood instinctively,
although she hadn't ever had any prior experience of it. That sad,
simple statement that one wasn't alone. Kaname's heart reacted to it,
not, she felt, because of lust or love, but because it seemed to mean
that there was someone Kaname could turn to, someone she could truly
call a friend, rather than the cardboard cutouts at work and the 
pixels of light dancing on her retinas in The World.

Not that she had any friends at either place, but still...

Hotaru said, "Would you like to meet again?"

Kaname found herself agreeing.

******

"Everything is proceeding according to plan," Umiko announced,
sweeping into Yoshihiro's new chambers. The battlecruiser
had been partly disassembled so as to fit quarters into the existing
sewer-base structure for the various youma under Yoshihiro's
command and control, and also to mount some of the command systems
into his new chambers. Communications crystals lined one wall, 
observation monitors and one large screen split down the middle 
dominated the next. The large screen showed two views of Tokyo, one
full of people, full of life, hustle and bustle, the other showed
a construction site, building in a large, kilometres-wise
empty depression of earth. A new city rising up from the ashes of the
old.

"The hyperdimensional engines stand ready?" Yoshihiro asked from the
workstation he currently occupied, watching lines and lines of 
computer code scroll past. It was written in the language of the 
Mercury Librariums, scrolling vertically in glyphs as well as symbols
ripped from Earth cultures of times long since past, and cast 
patterns on Yoshihiro's face as they scrolled by.

"The last connections were made a few minutes ago," Umiko confirmed.
"Is there... to be a test?"

The blond man glanced up from his monitor. "How do you test opening
a door? Or rather, reopening? It was done once, long ago, when Beryl
led our armies and the balance was made. But... Serenity changed
all that."

Umiko considered this for a moment, nodding, then asking, "You're
a newborn, with the knowledge of the age of Might and Grace...
and it often seems like you speak from experience."

Yoshihiro shrugged, returned to his viewing of the code. "There are
some things... that transcend human thinking. I'd have thought by now
-"

"I realise this. I wasn't querying, Master, just commenting."
She added a slight wry tone to her voice. "In quiet awe."

"Heh. Tell the workers... as soon as our basic patterns in Tokyo are
complete... we will reopen the doorways."

Umiko nodded, and made to leave. On the threshold, she paused, hand
on the doorframe, and she looked back in. "You know... reopening
this door..."

"Will leave the senshi unable to open the other. They don't know of 
its existance... they don't know it's importance... and Serenity
opened the door we are about to first; this poor imitation of her 
mother has no moral high ground here." Yoshihiro gave a small sneer
before beginning his work again. This time, Umiko took that as a sign
of dismissal, and left.

******

"-gawa, there are more reports of these apparent ghosts from reliable
sources. Government experts say there is no such phenomena, and that
people are only experiencing after-effects of the noted hallu-"

Click.

"My Daimyo, no! How dare you raise a hand against Piitsu, your 
childhood friend! He only kissed your concubine Jubei because he 
truly believed you had given your blessing to their union! I, your
loyal assassin Akane, now know this to be undeniable truth! You 
yourself must commit ritual suicide, else you will die by my -"

Click.

"-ment says the recent spate of apparitions in and around Tokyo's
central districts are, literally, nothing."

Click.

"- honour and justice, I, the Green Helmeted Cyclist, shall give you
a whipping with my broken chain you will not forget! And even if you
do, the grease and oil stains won't come -"

Click.

"Shinji, you idiot, *don't* show Hikari your collection of nose 
gobl-"

Click.

"-iet formally authorised the opening of the Government's Office
for Trade and Tariffs today, in downtown Yokoh-"

Click.

"Silverbolt, she's *just* in stasis lock?"

click.

"-sters don't exist. What about the so-called Monster Island? Please.
How many children worldwide really believed there was an island 
called Jura-"

Click.

Static filled the screen of the television in the small governmental
office, where Agent Sato currently sat. His fingers were steepled
under his nose as he considered the news items. Five and a half weeks
after the event, and he was no closer to finding his quarry. He'd 
come close, he was sure, but... there were things that seemed to be 
working against him. He was sure he'd interviewed the man called
Ranma already, but whether he was in his male or female form, he 
hadn't yet found anyone who looked, smelt, acted and reacted and 
thought like Ranma did. The closest was a girl, back on the day after
the event, and he'd had her followed for a few weeks. Agent Ito 
hadn't turned up anything, except a chance encounter with one of the
suspected enemies from Kanagawa in the online role-playing
game, The World.

Sato smirked at the coincidence.

But that was all that incident had been, also. There had been no 
direction, nothing. She had just started talking to someone, followed
him, and talked. This... Kaname Mizuno... had been talking to another
Mizuno.

He leaned back in his chair, wondering whether he'd named her Mizuno
unconsciously because of the possible connection to his... rather
advanced expertise? But no, he discarded that idea. It was just 
coincidence, even here in Tokyo. He smiled at that thought. Things
surprised him all the time, since Yoshihiro had freed him from his 
previous existance. He took some small joy in knowing things weren't
always guided by rules, regulations, laws of physics. And yet, he did
like some things to stay the same. He wanted to be the strongest
in Tokyo; now he was. And forever more would he be.

At least, until the Master was finished with his constructions,
and then... well... then it would be a completely different game.
New rules to learn, new players to push around. Sato was looking
forward to it.

Still, that didn't help him in his search. Investigating the ghosts
had turned up nothing of interest, either. No Agent could make it to
the scene before the ghost had faded, and no evidence of it remained.
Which, as one could guess, amde investigating them incredibly
hard. No Agent had yet been around when one had appeared, and Sato
had them combing the city. If the Government was going to rein in the
free elements in the city, then all variables had to be accounted
for. Humans were easy to control. Youma could be accounted for. The
senshi and the other heroes, most of whom had faded immediately
back into the everyday hustle and bustle of japanese life in the 
confusion of the rescue mission to the Zone, were the biggest threat
to the stability of the city. Stability was important, very 
important, as it would allow control to be exerted over the populace,
which would in turn provide the Master with all the energy he needed
when his constructions were complete.

It wouldn't be too much longer, and there wouldn't be any surprises
left. But Sato would deal with that when the time came.

******

"Thank you greatly, Shibby-chan, I owe you one," Kaname murmured
into her headset as she finished typing in a thirty-character
long password someone had most likely accidentaly put in as the new
password to the new user access setup commands, but for the life of 
her, she couldn't figure out how someone typed thirty characters
twice. So she'd very nciely rung up Shibaru in tech support, and 
asked him sweetly to hack into the system and retrieve the new 
password for her.

He'd done so, and she was grateful. Having to set new trainees
up in the system seemed to be her latest ongoing task, and while the
system had been working fine an hour ago when she'd last added 
someone to it, now it seemed to have been altered. She frowned,
but activated a new account. When the next screen flashed up, she 
couldn't quite stifle her gasp of surprise.

"What?" Asuka, the new user, asked from the chair across from Kaname.
She couldn't see the monitor. "Is something wrong?"

No, nothing was wrong, Kaname wanted to say. And technically,
nothing was. All Asuka Hayashi's details were already on the screen.
Every last one of them was completely correct, as far as Kaname could
tell. And that worried her. Kaname knew Asuka wasn't on the system,
or shouldn't have been, and yet, here she was. What was going on? 
Some kind of computer glitch? She pulled the headset's microphone
closer to her lips. "Shibaru, are you still there?"

"Waiting to collect my prize," he replied.

"Have you... have you done anything to the system?"

"No. Why?"

"Are you sure you got the correct password? I mean, really sure?"

"What's the problem?"

"Oh, nothing. I've just gone to input a new user, who's not on the 
system..."

"Which was why you asked me to hack out the new password, yes, your
point?"

"And all her details were already *on* the system..."

"Kinda a digital deja vu, huh?"

"Is everything all right?" Asuka interjected. Kaname nodded, and 
quickly wrote down a user name and password as was given in the open
file on her monitor. She needed to think, and she couldn't so long
as she had Asuka standing there still. She handed the card to the 
young woman, who thanked her and left to be directed to her new 
cubicle.

"Shibby-chan, are you sure everything's okay with the system?"

Shibaru was silent, but she could hear something in the background.
It sounded like he'd taken his headset off to go look at something
else for a moment, and she could hear snatches of the conversation.

"What do you mean, the system's -"

"- like it is, man, like a -"

"- worm? Trojan? Give me something to work -"

"I dunno, man, it's just some kind of massive surge -"

Kaname's monitor went blank. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw 
other people react to their monitors blanking out, too. Power surge,
she guessed, judging by what she was listening to. Except she didn't
even have to look up to know the lights hadn't so much as flickered,
and her harddrive's quiet purr under the desk didn't stutter, either.
Something was up.

Something was. A moment later, her screen flickered back to life,
with a pixelated pair of eyes. Twin bands of blue capped top and 
bottom of the screen, and the eyes looked...

... familiar...

... something she knew...

... someone she knew...

"This is a Streaming Freedom Video hack. It will last exactly twenty
seconds, and cannot be traced. So don't even try. You have been led
astray by forces beyond your comprehension. Dark evils from the dawn
of time have conspired to make slaves of you all and utilise your...
oh bugger," said the eyes, before the monitor went black again.

"What the hell was that?" Kaname heard clearly over her headset
from tech support. "Is Hiroshi at home again? I swear, if he hacks
us one more time -" Whatever was said by the other person cut him 
short. "Oh," he said, eventually. "I, uh, didn't... shit... I didn't
know." He came back to the headset shortly after. "Sorry, everything
went screwy down here."

"I heard."

"No, I mean... not just here. We had system malfunctions like yours
reported to us all of a sudden from seventeen terminals on eight 
different floors. And then there was this video transmission..."

"We saw that. I think everyone did on this floor."

"Anyone you recognise?" Shibaru asked, hopefully.

Kaname shook her head, then smiled. Not that Shibaru could see. "No,
no, but it did seem familiar... I don't know what it was."

"Probably some bored role-playing freak hacker off The World. I mean,
you know the nutjobs who play that game... I'm sure you know some..."

Yeah, me, Kaname thought silently. She said nothing of the sort, 
though. Shibaru was kind of cute. "Perhaps, but I'd have thought
hackers would go after something really big and powerful. The 
government, the JSDF, the banking industry. I mean, we're 
unimportant."

"Are we?" Shibaru gave a short bark of a laugh. "We've got computers
that can predict the future now," he added, and Kaname could imagine
the huge grin on his face. "Doesn't that make us important?"

"I guess so," Kaname found herself grinning back. "I've gotta get 
back to work. Talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay." Shibaru hung up, and Kaname found herself sighing 
contentedly.

******

But that night, she was in The World again, hacking (in the original
meaning of the word) through hordes of Gob-Goblins, tiny mouths on 
legs that had a nasty bite. As she swung her sword into the last of 
them, she felt the important news vibration go off in her helmet.
She'd levelled up. Great, she smiled. Higher stats again. More 
health, more strength, more agility. No more speed. That sucked a 
little. But she had a bonus to strike with her sword now, and an 
extra parry option. Next level, she'd heard, would be a new 
powered-up attack. More cool combat options. But done now, for the 
moment, she decided to take a break and glance at the BBS before
heading into the next section. A quick flick into idle mode let her
drop to the shell menu, and from there, it was only waiting a few 
seconds for the subject headers to pop up.

<203 new messages in 43 new topics since you last logged in.>

Nice, she thought.

<1> Has anyon3 3ls3 s33n that cat PC? (87 replies, 401 views)

<2> $ucks to be BUU! (2 replies, 837 views, locked thread)

<3> Sidekick seeks Magical Girl, serious enquires only (1 reply,
1032 views, locked thread)

Ah, Kaname snickered softly to herself. Some poor deluded fool 
thinking he - most likely a he, anyway, thinking of getting all those
panty shots so many shows *just* miss out on giving - might be in 
with a chance, with the recent devastation of the ranks of heroes
in and around Tokyo. Poor guy, doomed to a lonely life consisting
of instant ramen, alone in a small apartment with no friends, and 
never having had a girlfriend...

She noticed his handle - Shibby - and decided instead to keep reading
rather than dwell on the noble individual pining for world peace and
a tender loving relationship.

<7> Welcome to Sogal Island! (90 replies, 1701 views)

<8> Ranma, come home! (0 replies, 5 views)

<9> Anyone else have weird computer glitches today? (17 replies,
5000 views)

That one looked interesting, so Kaname clicked on it. Skimming
quickly, she saw that more people than those in her office building
had suffered weird computer glitches around the same time of the day
as she had. No one had seemed to have information yet to be entered
already entered, but people had had games generate spontaneous
storylines and characters, some word processing programs decided
only to show Mandarin on the screen, but print in Arabic, one or two
had exploded, and yet others had started singing some song called
"Daisy Daisy", to which the last reply had been an ROFLMAOUIPMGO.

Kaname wasn't sure what that was, but her stab in the dark came out
at 'rolling on the floor laughing my ass off until I puke my guts 
out', or something similar. She didn't get the reference, so just 
added a little story about her day at the office, including the 
"evil" hacker who'd infected the systems with his presence moments
afterwards, and was now the butt of many a joke in the office - who
gives themselves twenty seconds to say something they need much more
to get out?

When she quit browsing the BBS, ready to go back and fight some more
Gob-Goblins, Kaname jumped. She wasn't alone anymore. Sitting around
her idle form were Mercurial, GodSaturn and a couple of other people.
They hadn't yet realised Kaname was back active again and were 
talking among themselves.

"Are you sure he's not Ranma?" asked one of the two newcomers.

"NemesisAngel, we've explained this offline."

"I just don't get it. How can he *not* be Ranma? I mean, you've seen
him, he *looks* like Ranma! He sounds like Ranma! I'd bet if I threw
a punch at him, he'd -"

GodSaturn's voice was quiet and calm, and it silenced everything.
"Ranma isn't present. He's... gone for the moment. I don't know 
where. I don't know why. I don't know how. He's just not... here.
In the real world. I don't know where he is, but I do know he's 
alive. I can... I can feel him."

"We know," complained the second newcomer, shifting into a parody
of GodSaturn's voice. "Oh, seeeeeeempaaaaai, that feeeeeels so 
good..."

"Oh, shut up, Venus," GodSaturn mumbled. "Like you'd never - Oh! 
Hello. Welcome back to the land of the living."

Kaname eyed GodSaturn, who was in the midst of a fierce blush. "Hi.
Uh, what are you all doing here?"

Mercurial shrugged. "We logged in together - you know Mitsuki,"
she pointed to NemesisAngel, who looked subtly embarrassed and 
glanced down at her feet, "and this is Venus, who you haven't met -"
The blond with them smiled flirtatiously at Kaname and curtsied
politely. "And we saw you online and decided to join you, see if you
wanted some company. When we got here, though, we -"

"- Were idling, so you sat down to wait," Kaname finished, nodding.
"Company's fine... I think... so long as the conversation doesn't
get *too* personal... I don't know you girls and I just keep walking
in at the wrong moments, I think."

GodSaturn blushed deeper. She mumbled something that sounded like,
"I didn't *do* anything..." but Kaname couldn't be too sure. The four
girls surrounding her stood, and followed as Kaname strode to the 
doorway into the next section.

No more Gob-Goblin hordes were to be found, but instead, there were
a trio of huge evil Nagallamas that slithered from cracks in the 
walls, firing off sonic honks. Mercurial spun her staff to create
a small vortex forcefield, and the worst of the sonic honks were 
deflected into the walls around the group; what got through was 
enough only to disorientate the party.

NemesisAngel unslung her sword from her back and growled, 
incoherently, leaping at one of the Nagallamas and taking a mighty
swing. The attack decapitated the Nagallama, and it fizzled into a 
cloud of pixels before vanishing, as GodSaturn thrust her bladed
weapon at another. The blade slid deep into the Nagallama's
chest cavity, and then with all her strength, she pulled the weapon
upwards, taking with it a whole mess of dissolving pixels as the 
dying beast vanished. Kaname took on the third, and moved too slow
to avoid a second sonic honk. It grazed her right arm, and numbed
it to her control. She switched her sword over to her left hand, but
it felt wrong. She'd built the character up to be right-handed
like she was, and so there was a corresponding loss of precision
and control with weapons held in the left for her character.

With the group behind her, she found herself nervous. Before, she'd
played in The World by herself, not joining parties because she 
couldn't rely on anyone else, couldn't trust anyone else. Now she was
part of a group, and they'd shown her what they were capable of - now
it was her turn to show them.

Too bad that put a lot of pressure on her, and she didn't handle
pressure too well.

There was a shimmer in front of her, and something warped in - a 
person, she thought, looking male from behind but she couldn't
be sure from her angle. His clothing was weird, outdated, and he 
struck a pose Kaname recognised from her few Tae Kwon Do lessons.
She stopped still for a moment, then moved into the position herself.
The transparent PC in front of her made a kick, which she copied,
and she leapt at the top of the kick, like he was doing, brought
her other foot up, kicked the Nagallama in the chin before flipping
right over and landing, facing the creature head-on while it 
staggered backwards from the kick. The PC thrust with his left arm,
and Kaname did the same, her sword biting deep into the Nagallama
before she withdrew it.

But it wasn't dead yet. It reared back, and fired another sonic honk
at her. Kaname saw this happening as in slow motion, and managed
to dodge most of the strike by again following the PC, who had spun
off to the left. Once clear of the shot, he planted a foot and threw
himself back into a ran forwards, left arm held trailing. Kaname
copied him, move for move, as he cut back across the Nagallama,
cut close to the beast's left side, and raised her sword arm and let
the blade slide through the creature's flesh. Pixels blasted from the
wound, but it wasn't yet enough to kill it. The Nagallama's
tail swept up and round immediately, but Kaname leapt into it and 
turned on one foot, heading directly up the back of the creature's
body, where she raised her sword, and thrust it down between a pair
of vertibrae.

A killing blow, this time. The Nagallama let out a death-howl,
and toppled slowly onto its side. Kaname retreived her sword as she
landed lightly on the ground before the beast vanished in a puff of 
twinkling pixels.

And then the women were around her, gossipping like they were old 
friends, moving her along, giving her no time to wonder who the PC 
had been, nor to ask if the others had seen him. Eventually,
she decided not to bother asking. The others would think her weird.

******

It was sticky. Bubbling goo. Black ichor shifting over her skin and
unknown liquids being forced into her veins. Not conscious enough
to scream, sufficiently awake to be scared and in pain. Wires writhed
beneath her skin, and she could feel things in her organs, doing 
things she wasn't sure of. The chair she sat in felt wrong, pointed,
hard, scaled. And something was covering her eyes. She couldn't
see. Couldn't hear. Couldn't smell. Couldn't taste, apart from the 
overwhelming taste of rotten flesh in her mouth.

Things moved around her, and she knew they spoke by the way air 
impacted on her skin. Rhythmic. She could almost understand what they
were saying, but her brain was too unfocussed to concentrate
for long enough to make out single words. Instead, it seemed like a 
constant drone.

In the world of darkness. She was awake. She was alive.

She was the last hope for the world.

******

Kaname found herself on the floor, chilled to her bone. It wasn't
just that she'd torn her pyjamas half-off, nor that she'd turned
the heater off and the room had grown cold, nor that she'd left her
blankets behind on the bed... it was the dream. It seemed so similar
to the previous one, and yet, more indepth, more detailed. She didn't
know what it meant. Probably nothing. It had just been a dream.

But she still felt dirty. She could still taste rotten meat in her 
mouth, could feel the vile sensation of thick, bubbling liquids
crossing her skin, and in the near-total darkness of her room, she 
felt blind.

She panicked, and scrambled backwards to the wall, scrabbling
for the light switch. She found it and toggled it, the light spilling
throughout the room. Yet, something still seemed wrong. The colours
were too bright, the shadows too dark. Objects were too sharp, and 
detail too muted, dulled, blurred. Then reality caught up to her 
vision, and everything shifted back into normality within half a 
second of the light coming on.

It didn't calm Kaname down much, but her heart had stopped racing
to the point she could think rationally. Well, partly rationally.

She grabbed her phone, and shakily, dialed the number Hotaru had 
given her in the park. It rang, rang, rang some more. Finally,
Kaname was about to give up and hang the phone up again, when the 
phone at the other end was picked up.

"Hello?" asked a woman Kaname hadn't heard before asked.

Kaname hung up the phone as soon as she realised she didn't recognise
the voice. Then, feeling stupid and embarrassed, and even more 
frightened, she redialed straightaway. The phone was answered again
directly.

This time the voice was even more determined. "Hello?"

"Uh... hello... I'm sorry about -"

"Ranma?" came the other voice, quickly, whispered suddenly. Kaname
got the idea that she was trying to keep others from overhearing
the conversation. "Dammit, where the hell are you? You're scaring
the hell out of Hotaru and Mitsuki! Well, Mitsuki, but she doesn't
need much scaring... you've just made Hotaru go all Rei on us!"

"Uh... have I got the wrong number?" Kaname asked, weakly. "I just
want to talk to Hotaru... Hotaru Tomoe?" She knew she didn't have a 
wrong number. And the woman had mentioned a Hotaru...

"Yeah, yeah, she's here. You'd better have a good explanation.
Here she is." There was the noise of a phone being fumbled to someone
else, and Kaname heard the woman mutter, "It's him. I don't wanna
be woken until Mamo-chan gets here from now. Okay? Any objections?
I gotta get some beauty sleep... gaaaah..."

Hotaru spoke as Kaname heard footsteps thumping away. "Sorry, sempai,
that I didn't get to the phone in time. That was... Usagi. A friend.
She's a little on edge at the moment."

"I'm not your boyfriend. Why does everyone think I am?"

Hotaru muttered something under her breath, but louder, she said,
"You just resemble him strongly, sempai. Why are you ringing at this
time of night?"

Kaname felt incredibly stupid for saying it, but she said, "I had a 
bad dream."

"Oh."

"And you were the first person I thought of who... who I could talk
to about it." Her voice, now she was hearing other people talking
to and around her, grew stronger, firmer, as the fears of only 
moments earlier were forgotten.

"What was it about?" She sounded curious, and concerned.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry to wake you, it was just -"

"Sempai. What was it about?" That voice, the vocal equivalent
of The Stare.

"I... it was... scary. Very scary. I was in a dark place, cold, wet,
things... plugged into me... things making me blind... making me feel
pain... and I could hear voices... but... not making any sense. I 
couldn't make anything out."

"That sounds -"

"I've had this dream before," Kaname blurted suddenly. "But this was
worse, much worse, because I was more aware of things this time. The
last time, it was impressions. This time... it was like memories..."

"Sempai?" Hotaru sounded concerned. "Do you want company?"

Kaname would normally have gone into work the next day... or rather,
later that day, considering the time on the clock... but after the 
problems with the computer systems, the offices had been temporarily
shut down for a few days. She had a few days to be alone, and she 
found she didn't really want to be by herself all that time. 
"Hotaru... I..."

"It would not be a bother, Kaname-chan. I can come over right away,
if you'd like some company." She sounded concerned. What about, she
wasn't sure, but she sounded so concerned... or anxious...

"Right now would be great, Hotaru, but there's still so much 
lawlessness on the streets at this time of night, I couldn't possibly
ask you to -"

"Don't worry about me. I can look after myself." She sounded amused.
"Give me an address, and I'll be there shortly."

Kaname gave Hotaru her address, and settled in for the long wait 
until the girl arrived. She was coming from the far side of Kanagawa,
so to get to Shinagawa, that would take...

... much longer than the fifteen minutes before there was a knock
at her door. Hotaru was paler than usual, dressed up in a woolly
overcoat, with a backpack and sleeping bag slung over her shoulders.
Behind her stood Mitsuki, her purple hair sticking out in all 
directions. She yawned and shrugged. "Just makin' sure she got over
all right." She nodded a goodnight, and headed off back to the 
elevators.

Hotaru looked suddenly nervous, and Kaname felt the same, to be 
honest. There was something about the younger girl that stirred
something in Kaname, but she wasn't sure what. Did she prefer women?
She didn't think so. She had what she assumed was a perfectly
natural reaction to men, but this woman... this girl... she did 
something to Kaname that Kaname couldn't explain. She stepped aside,
and gestured. "Come in."

Hotaru lowered her head and blushed. As she stepped inside, Kaname
thought she caught a murmured, "I'm home," from the girl as she 
passed, but couldn't be sure. Kaname directed Hotaru where to stash
her gear before working on sleeping arrangements.

"I'm afraid my futon doubles as my couch, so... unless we take turns
at the futon, it'll be a tight squeeze."

Hotaru didn't look around, but Kaname caught the tips of her ears 
turning red as she blushed. "I'm small, sempai."

"You weren't this nervous in the park, you know."

The girl turned around, all evidence of the blush hidden under her 
usual alabaster appearance and The Stare. "But I'm not the only one
who's nervous, am I? If you aren't comfortable with me sleeping
with you... on the futon I mean... I can sleep on the floor."

But Kaname was comfortable with it, that was the problem. And as they
lay down to get the rest of the night's sleeping done, Kaname felt
strange. Incredibly strange. Like she shouldn't be doing this; that
they should walk, not run; that there were people they had to talk
to first. But she said nothing. She remained just out of touch of 
Hotaru all night long, unable to fall asleep. Hotaru's deep and 
steady breathing told Kaname that the girl was sleeping peacefully.

At least until Hotaru rolled over, her nose barely a centimetre
from Kaname's face. "I'll sleep better if I know you're okay, sempai.
Tell me about this dream. Everything you remember."

And Kaname did tell her everything. Every detail she could remember,
from both dreams. And she told Hotaru about the ghost she'd seen only
a few days before, as well as the PC that had appeared ghostlike
in frnot of her the night before, in The World. Hotaru admitted
that was strange, and she couldn't explain it, but suggested maybe
it wasn't so much a PC, or a ghost, but a memory of a past life?

Considering that it was a male that had appeared, that probably
would explain why Hotaru appeared to be stalking Kaname, she thought
to herself.

"The rest of it... I don't know what to say." Hotaru's eyes grew 
distant, remembering things obviously very long-since past. "I could
tell you a story, but you would think me weird."

"At the moment, you can really only better that opinion, Hotaru-chan,
so fire away." Kaname snuggled under the blankets even more before
sending a toe out backward to switch the heater off again. Once it 
was off, the foot whipped back under the covers, making her heat 
forcefield complete once more.

Hotaru cleared her throat quietly, then began. "It started at the 
dawn of time. Primeval chaos and order collided, creating the first
beings capable of thought. But they weren't happy with the developing
universe, and created universes of their own, brilliant examples
of thought. Each universe had the most beautiful music, the most 
artistic painting, the most incredible philosophical discussions...
and it was this last that was their bane. Each of these two races
embodied different schools of thought. One had developed in a place
where there had been no disaster, no trials, no want for anything
because all needs were catered to. Where they grew in this universe
was so diverse and rich, wherever they moved, they had resources
and inspiration. The other race... developed out in intergalactic
space, where there was nothing, and only the smartest survived.
Their music... was different, but just as inspired - only lonely.
Their paintings weren't of green pastures and happy children,
it was more shocking, lives torn apart, a random, chaotic, lonely
planet, roaming through nothing but dust. Their philosophy was of 
survival of the fittest, and domination of those not fit to lead - 
their only resource on their lonely world." Hotaru shifted, getting
comfortable again.

"At the same time as the other, each race designed a method to make
a universe of their own. Those who had rich resources built a magical
kingdom where everyone could be happy, where they weren't limited
by the problems of the primal flesh. Death became a thing of the 
past, as did aging and illness. Great advances were made in peace...
and yet, there was a problem..."

Hotaru paused, shifted a little closer before continuing. "Those
who had lived on the edge of nothing came to the centre of this 
Kingdom, their poor world drifting into the system the bright, happy
people had been born from. And their world was trapped in the gravity
of this star as it had drifted close to the upper edge of the galaxy,
millions of years ago. Their Kingdom came into contact with the 
Kingdom already there, and it wasn't a happy meeting. Their 
philosophies were too different. Made even worse, their homeworld
was subsumed into this other Kingdom, made part of the bright, happy
universe, while it's people were left trapped in the universe they
had made, grown twisted and dark in their minds' image. No world to 
call their own, no resources, nothing they could do. Except watch,
and hate, this ordered universe, and plot for its eventual 
destruction. Only that would make them feel any better."

Hotaru's eyes flickered off into the distance. "Realising that her 
Kingdom was coming close to a war, Queen Serenity of the Moon 
Kingdom, the 'good guys' who had trapped this rogue planet, selected
a member of her population from each planet to become the Guardian
Protector of each planet's region. These people were known as the 
senshi, fighters for love and justice, defenders of order, protectors
of truth and innocence and life. They were made strong, normal people
warped by the technological entities developed long ago for other
purposes. She used this process on her only daughter, preparing
her for the time she would have to take over as Queen. And now, the
senshi were strong, enduring, and possessing near-magical powers,
but what the Moon Kingdom lacked was an army to follow up on what the
senshi would start. Instead of developing an army, they built a proud
tradition of a space navy, huge starships capable of crossing into
real space if needed to combat this growing threat. Small skirmishes
had been proceeding for... millions of years... when something
occurred to Queen Serenity. The planet her throneworld orbited was 
growing an intelligent race. Not the first since her race and the 
other had risen, but the closest, and the strength of the minds below
was beginning to affect the stability of the Kingdoms. Currently,
they were in balance, and so long as the balance remained below,
so it would remain above, where it counted."

Hotaru's eyes focussed further back in time as she continued.
If Kaname didn't know better, she'd have thought that Hotaru actually
believed this, that she had lived this. But she knew better. "But 
Serenity knew that one day, the balance would be tipped. It was the
nature of intelligent life to rise above itself, set higher and 
higher goals and reach for the stars. And this would be the problem.
If the balance shifted too far in the direction of chaos, the Dark
Kingdom would gain ascendancy over the Moon Kingdom, and having her
populace subservient to the fickle rulers of the Dark Kingdom wasn't
something she could handle. So Serenity decided to tip the balance
her way."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"Changing the rules to suit the circumstances doesn't work, Kaname,"
Hotaru chidded, snapping back into the present. "It could make things
go easier for you, but very likely, it can make things even worse
than they were. And it did, here. She created a protector Knight
of Earth, and engaged him to her daughter - and that caused the final
breakdown between the Kingdoms. The Dark Kingdom possibly would have
been happy if the Moon Kingdom had returned its homeworld to it, but
Serenity would not give over a world of the Moon Kingdom to the 
ascendant General of the Dark Kingdom's throne, Beryl, and war broke
out in earnest. The Moon Kingdom had the upper hand, until the Dark
Kingdom committed everything to an attack on Mercury. Serenity
evacuated the staff of the libraries and factories of the world,
then bombarded it from orbit. The Mercurian fleet commander defected
to the other side, as did the Martian, Venusian, and Jovian fleet
commanders when their worlds were deemed expendable by Serenity
to try to stop the Dark Kingdom. And yet, as she bombarded worlds
and devastated the Dark Kingdom armies, she bolstered those enemy
forces by forcing her own agents to turn against her. The senshi
stood by, ready to protect the Moon and the remaining population,
and the Kingdom's two strongest senshi still remained... then the 
Dark Kingdom fleets had laid a series of bombs across their former
homeworld and catapulted it out of the system... which resulted
in te loss of one of those two strongest senshi, and the final 
collapse of the armed forces. Serenity lost most of the rest of te 
Kingdom before she sent her child, her child's betrothed, and her 
remaining planetary warriors to new lives on Earth... where they 
would be born thousands of years later into new bodies, to reinstate
the Moon Kingdom." Hotaru fell silent, then.

Eventually, Kaname asked, "So, how does that fit into my dreams?"
Hotaru shrugged, sleepily. "I'm not sure. But, I think it has 
something," she yawned, "to do with the Dark..." Her voice got too 
quiet, and then she started snoring softly. Kaname was disgusted
with the rapidity that the girl had fallen asleep, but was also a 
little freaked - Hotaru had obviously believed everything she'd said,
that had become apparent during the last bit of the story. Which left
two options. Either this was something made up, for and through
whatever reason, or else it was true.

Hotaru had made it to Kaname's apartment in around fifteen minutes,
after packing. There were ghosts. Heroic people. Strange monsters.
Huge explosions. Nightmares of being trapped in a dark world, fears
of a war between the light and the dark... perhaps Hotaru was telling
the truth. Except, that would mean Kaname had to be a man.

Just to be sure nothing had changed while she was lying next to the
girl, Kaname checked herself. Nope, still just a herself. She rolled
onto her back, and sighed, raising the back of one hand to her 
forehead. She wasn't afraid to go to sleep again. Not with someone
sleeping with her. No, not at all. Not at

******

Birds. Light. The smell of hot tea, and a home-made breakfast.
These were the things Kaname woke to.

They were something of a surprise, but she opened her eyes, and found
Hotaru was no longer lying opposite. Instead, she was moving about
the small kitchette, heating a prepared meal with haste. It seemed
she hadn't woken too much longer before, her hair not having been 
brushed down or anything, pyjamas mussed and crinkled still. More 
than that as a telling sign, though, was the way she had to stare
blearily at everything for half a minute before she was certain
as to what she was looking at.

"You couldn't find anything in the cupboards?" Kaname asked, propping
herself up on an elbow. She wasn't sleepy, even with the somewhat
early hour and only very recent time of falling asleep. Hotaru,
on the other hand, took a few moments to focus on Kaname as the older
woman reached out with a dexterous pair of toes and turned the heater
back on.

"Um.... no... but Makoto gave me some things to bring over that you
l... might like..." She gestured at the fresh foodstuffs, reminding
Kaname she had to do another shop. She was getting low on food, come
to think of it... and what she had left likely wouldn't have been too
tasty to start with. She was used to her food habits - she could eat
just about anything, and she forgot that other people mostly just 
couldn't bring themselves to eat week-old meals.

So long as it wasn't growing anything and wasn't mobile, Kaname could
eat it. She thought in a past life, she must have constantly
been near starvation and had to fight for her food or something
silly like that.

And yet, Hotaru was still saying weird things. Like she really did 
know her, and really did think she was Kaname's girlfriend.
Just little things. Slips of the tongue. Which was a slip of Kaname's
mental tongue in itself and she blushed. Kaname was quite sure she,
as a woman, wasn't interested in other women. Especially not as she
was interested in Shibaru. At least, she thought she was. No, she 
was. She had to be. She wanted him to buy her things. Take her 
places. To be seen with him, for him to be seen with her. No, she was
definitely interested in guys.

Which set off a new train of thought. Was she interested in girls
as well as guys? Now, *that* was a kettle of fish-head soup that 
Kaname didn't want to open. Hotaru seemed to be content in acting
according to Kaname's beliefs, too, and was trying really hard not to
slip up... apparently. Her friends, though, weren't making as hard
an effort.

Hotaru said something that Kaname missed, deep in thought. She caught
it the second time around, though. "Any more bad dreams?"

Kaname shook her head. "No. Nothing. Thankfully. I... they scare me."

"I can understand why, from what you said last night," Hotaru 
replied. "Dreaming of things out of your control, dreaming important
things that you've got to understand..."

"What?" Kaname asked, puzzled.

"Forget I said anything," Hotaru waved away, waking up faster in that
moment than in the few minutes before. "Breakfast is ready. Do you...
uh... have a table or anything to eat on?" Kaname shrugged and nodded
at the bed. "Oh. I should have guessed," Hotaru sighed, bringing
a pair of trays over, one at a time. She gave the first to Kaname,
who quietly slid it across to Hotaru's side of the futon, and took
the tray Hotaru brought back. The girl looked cold, so Kaname bent
sideways and twisted around, grabbed the heater, and dumped it 
uncerimoniously behind and to the left of Hotaru. She then waited
until Hotaru was ready to eat before speaking again.

"Thanks for the breakfast," she mumbled, and then ate. And ate some
more. She noted Hotaru watching with a twinkle of amusement in her 
eye, and wondered what was so funny. Not knowing, she asked.

"It's the way you eat. I haven't seen it in so long."

Kaname's eyes narrowed. "*Have* you seen me eat before?"

"Yes." No hesitation, just a rapid answer around her chopsticks.

"Ignoring the other day at the street vendor's?"

Now Hotaru paused and thought. Then, slowly, "... Yes..."

"When?"

The girl looked uncomfortable. "You... aren't ready to know yet."

"Isn't that my decision to make?"

Hotaru looked away, and wouldn't look back.

"You're claiming to be my friend, but you're lying to me. And you've
been lying -"

"You aren't ready for it, trust me, please," Hotaru said in a small
voice. "Sempai, I'm not comfortable talking about this. Not with you.
Not now, not like you are. You should remember what you were before
you became this... new you. I knew, from the moment I saw you, you 
weren't the person I'm missing. That all my friends, and all his 
friends, are missing. We've not seen you in nearly six weeks, and 
most of us... Kaname, we miss our friend dearly, and I, I can wait,
and my friends and sempai's friends... they have to wait. Not because
they want to, but because *I'm* making them wait. You're not ready.
Please, just... just act like you were before, when you didn't want
to know."

With a start, Kaname realised Hotaru was near tears. She pulled back
from the subject. "This is a nice breakfast, Hotaru-chan,"
she said with genuine feeling. "Please, tell this Makoto her cooking
is wonderful."

Hotaru nodded, sobbed once more, and tried to pull it in. Kaname
could see she was desperately lonely, separated from her... 
boyfriend? That didn't seem quite right. Everyone was suggesting
that Hotaru and her friends had been looking for a man, but they all
seemed to be looking AT a woman... maybe they all thought Kaname
knew? Maybe he was a criminal, this Ranma, a scoundrel, scourge
of women, a lusting, wanton man with a burning desire for debauchery.

But that couldn't be right, because Hotaru didn't seem to be into 
that.

Then again, Kaname didn't think she went for women, either...

Hotaru didn't look up for the rest of the meal. She didn't do much
talking, either, so Kaname tried to fill the silence. First of all 
with insane chatter about what to do for the day, then she turned
on the television and let the news fill them in on the troubles
of the night before. As they finished breakfast, Kaname took 
everything up into the kitchenette, cleaned what needed to be 
cleaned, then turned to find Hotaru stripping off.

Oh god...

But no, she had a gi with her she was pulling on. Thankfully.
Had she gotten naked, Kaname wasn't sure what she'd have done. She 
wasn't sure she wanted to find out. But Hotaru was oblivious to 
Kaname's eyes - partly perhaps because she had her back to Kaname
and possibly thought Kaname was still working at the sink. Water was
still sloshing about before draining, after all. Kaname turned back
to the sink and worked studiously for a few minutes with a heavy 
blush on her cheeks, until she was certain Hotaru had dressed again.

She found the yougner woman working out, going through some warmup
stretches. Kaname shrugged, and joined her with what she'd been 
learning at her few lessons. Hotaru's eyes noticed Kaname's workout,
and offered little hints along the way as they ran through a few 
moves and a few rounds of slow sparring. "I usually go faster and 
harder," Hotaru said at one point.

"And me?" Kaname asked, remembering to block a punch with a forearm.

Hotaru hesitated. Then, decided it likely wasn't too important
in the scheme of things if Kaname knew some small things that 
wouldn't blow whatever worldview she had currently out of the water,
because she said, "You were an expert. Faster, stronger, harder,
more skilled... I'm surprised you haven't come apart at the seams..."

"I try to keep active," Kaname said, remembering the pains in her 
joints when she slowed down for too long. "My runs, time in the gym
after work, Tae Kwon Do on weekends... I just keep feeling 
something's missing. I'm not sore when I'm active, though..."

Hotaru nodded, and slipped in a light tap to Kaname's shoulder.
"I'm enjoying this, sempai."

"Oh? Glad to be of service. Kaname Mizuno, the human punching bag..."

"It's nice to be able to touch you," Hotaru said, tagging Kaname
again. Something must have shown on Kaname's face, because Hotaru
suddenly blushed and clapped her hands to her mouth, dropping out of
the fight. "I didn't just say that... oh no, I did." She covered
her face with her hands, blushing. "I didn't mean that the way it 
sounded. I really didn't -"

Kaname shrugged, embarrassed, but trying not to show her 
mortification at the innocent comment. She'd known what Hotaru ahd 
said, but yes, from her it had sounded *really* wrong. "It's okay,
I know what you mean." She resumed her opening sparring pose, waiting
for the girl to get back up again, but Hotaru didn't. Instead,
she slumped to her knees, and stared at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Kaname," she said, through sobs. "I thought I could do 
this. I thought I could just be your friend again, like we used to 
be. I thought... I could make sure none of your past got through
to you until you were ready to hear it, and you're not. You're not 
ready. And I thought I was strong enough, you know, to hold back my 
feelings. To make myself just be your friend and not your girlfriend.
You know? I thought if I could believe it hard enough, just tried
not to remember what it was like holding hands, staring at the 
stars... kissing... I was bad to you. I was so bad to you. I hurt 
you, and then I compounded that error in hurting you again by not 
believing you when you said everything was all right. And when you 
punched your way out from under that building, I... was overjoyed.
And you saved Mitsuki, and the rest of us, and you were scary, and I 
looked at you and felt your power and your determination and thought,
was this what you felt like when I was bad? And then -" She stopped
as Kaname's fingers, placed under her chin, rose and shut Hotaru's
mouth. She sat there, crying still, looking into Kaname's eyes.

Kaname didn't like the situation much. She realised, at that point,
that she, Kaname Mizuno (or whoever she really was), was the 
mysterious boyfriend of Hotaru's they were searching for, this Ranma.
And while everyone else spoke of this Ranma as a man, Kaname was very
obviously female. She felt disturbed by this, but not as much as she
thought she would have before. Perhaps this was something she was 
meant to know, something that she was ready for. "Hotaru, I thought
you said I wasn't ready." She was only mock-angry, but Hotaru burst
into a fresh batch of tears.

"I'm sorry, sempai, I'm really, really sorry..." Kaname sank down 
next to Hotaru and wrapped her arms around the girl, rocked her until
most of the sobbing subsided. It took a little while, but Hotaru
eventually settled down in the embrace, occasional sobs wracking
her body. When she was quiet, Kaname released her, and the young 
woman pulled back, sat very formally. "I am very sorry, sempai,
I thought I had better control of myself than that."

"We all have to break down sometime, Hotaru-chan," Kaname said, not
believing she just had. She shook her head. "People can't exist by 
themselves, within themselves. Look at my apartment. There's nothing
here."

"It's certainly cleaner than I'd have expected from your room at the
dorm," Hotaru agreed quietly in a voice that told Kaname she was 
still close to tears.

"It has no personality. No warmth," continued Kaname. "Nothing.
It's empty, devoid of personality. A reflection of its owner. Me. I 
have no past. I have... well, if I get my memory back, it's like I 
have no future. Kaname Mizuno dies when I know who and what I was.
When I remember. I haven't consciously thought like that, but that's
how it's been. And being here... being like this, holding everything
inside, it kills you. Perhaps that's because there's nothing in 
here," Kaname tapped her head, "but I don't have a life. I'm dead 
inside. Sitting here, night after night, I nearly made me dead on the
outside, too. Joining The World, that made life good again. For a 
while. Then it got to be boring again. It was just me. Again, alone.
That's when I met... Kanrinin, and he directed me to Mercurial,
which led to you. You hold my past. I think you might hold my future.
And that's scary, because -"

"Because you think you won't be you anymore if you're Ranma," Hotaru
finished. "Because although you're not satisfied with life, with YOUR
life, you don't want to stop living and become someone else."

"Yeah. I want to fight, I want to keep this life." Kaname watched
Hotaru seemingly break inside, but before the tears could roll again,
she added, "but I think there are more important things in life right
now."

Hotaru looked up, mystified. "What things?"

"You're crying, for a start," Kaname remarked. "And my nightmares.
Whatever they mean. And... and there was a video two days ago at 
work... it looked to be someone familiar... but I don't know anyone,
remember? Maybe you do." Kaname shrugged. "All I want to know is why
you keep saying you're looking for your boyfriend but keep finding
me."

"You... uh... that's a bit hard to explain, sempai," Hotaru sniffed,
wiping at her face with the sleeve of her gi. Then she sat upright,
a strange look on her face. "But... it's something you have to know.
Come with me." She got up, and led a mystified Kaname into the 
bathroom, where she proceeded to run the hot tap until the water had
heated sufficiently for whatever purpose she had in mind. "You see,
Ranma suffered from a curse. When he was splashed with cold water,
he turned into a girl. And when he was then splashed with hot water
-" Hotaru scooped up some hot water in her hands and drenched Kaname
with it. Kaname stared back in mild shock and surprise. "- he turned
back into a man." She waited, expectantly, for something to happen.

It didn't.

Hotaru leaned forward and, very slowly, poked Kaname in her left 
breast. It sank into the soft flesh. Kaname glared.

"I... I don't understand..."

"Hot water, eh?" Kaname said, reaching for a towel. "I could have 
TOLD you I stay a woman when immersed in hot water. I *do* bathe,
you know."

******

Akane waited, that Monday morning, on the back steps of the dojo.
She had been waiting there, ready, clean and dressed up nicely,
since shortly after the phone call had come through two hours 
earlier. Hotaru was coming out with a friend for the afternoon,
someone Akane knew very well who Hotaru said didn't know Akane. She
guessed it was Ranma, and having seen some of the so-called Amnesiacs
where she worked now, she guessed he was one of them. Hotaru had 
asked Akane that this person had only just been told who she really
was, and was taking it fairly well, but wanted to proceed slowly.

Akane could understand that. And so, she'd been sitting outside,
in the chilled wind, meditating. Or trying to, anyway. The snow that
fell... she was sheltered from it, but she was focussing on the snow
as it blew on the wind she was sheltered from. It wasn't working,
though. She needed to talk to Ranma still. She'd been working on her
maturity while dealing with her grief, but the emotions that would
spring up with Ranma when they were together... she was scared they'd
spring up again while talking to this Ranma with no memory, and she'd
scare him off again. She couldn't handle doing that a second time.
She just couldn't.

So she tried again, angrily picking a snowflake, and following
it to the ground. Then picking another one, and watching that hit the
ground also. It wasn't working. She just knew, after all this time,
all this preparation, she was going to blow it. It had been easy 
keeping in touch with Hotaru and the others while Ranma had been 
gone, but now he was back... or someone who looked like him, would
she revert back to type? She hoped not, but the damned snowflakes
kept -

A hand reached out, cupped one of the flakes as it tumbled by, picked
out on a random breeze that just happened to turn back on itself
and flutter under the eaves of the roof above Akane.

"Who -?" Akane asked, turning, wondering if Akane and Ranma had 
arrived earlier than expected.

But it was just Kasumi, staring at the snowflake which somehow kept
aloft in her palm. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, her voice
soft and distant.

"I can't focus on it, Kasumi," Akane grumped. "I'm trying to get calm
before... before my friends turn up, but... I can't."

Kasumi nodded, almost to herself, as she knealt down next to Akane.
Her face wasn't far from her younger sister's, and she held her hand
up between them. "Look at it. How it moves. How it flutters. 
Perfection in nature."

"I don't -"

"Just look at it," Kasumi urged gently. Akane did. It was a 
snowflake. "No; *really* look at it."

Akane tried again. It was just a snowflake. She'd thought they could
help her calm down, but they hadn't. There was nothing about them 
that inspired serenity. It was just a stupid snowflake after all, in
Kasumi's hand, held aloft on invisible currents of air, twisting,
floating, turning...

For a moment, Akane was lost in the snowflake. Then she gave her head
a slight shake, and came out of it. "Wow. That's powerful."

"It is, isn't it?" Kasumi smiled. "People are like this, too," she 
said, stretching her hand out so the flake could escape. Akane 
followed the gesture with her eyes, and saw millions of snowflakes
twisting and turning as they floated to the Earth's surface. 
"Millions upon millions of perfect creations, fluttering in the winds
of time, all unique and all worth watching. If we were as a god, we 
could watch all the single lives that make up this world, and those
lives that go wrong, we could be tempted to reach in, adjust it just
a little to make it go right. But would that be right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Akane, if I was... a being of great power... how could I best use 
that power?"

The subject wasn't something that Akane had heard Kasumi talk of 
before, and for a moment she was confused. She thought about it while
she considered the snow. "I don't know," she replied, eventually.
"Save lives? Give people money? Stop wars? Destroy diseases?"

"Good answers," Kasumi smiled. "But saving lives is an eternal job.
Money... can be spent easily, and too much would ruin economies.
What is to say that stopping a war would allow the right side to 
triumph? If there is a right side in war. Or that it would stop other
wars from starting? And diseases always change. They are always 
different. Destroying diseases is also a full-time job." She paused,
looking out distantly into the snow, serious again. "Is that an 
effective use of power? Throwing it at problems that can only be 
fixed if people want them to be fixed?"

"What do you mean, Kasumi?"

"Think for a moment, Akane. I have power. I can stop wars. I do stop
wars. People find other reasons to fight, or other battles to win,
or perhaps the people involved in the fighting don't want to stop,
or their leaders do. What do I do then?"

Akane thought hard again, but couldn't come up with a neat answer.
"I don't know... change their minds?"

"By talking to them? If that doesn't work?"

"Then really change their minds. So they don't *want* to fight..."

"How does that make me any more right than them, then?"

"What's the answer, then, Kasumi? How would you stop a war?"

Kasumi smiled. "I wouldn't try."

Akane looked confused now, and she asked, "Then what would you do 
with the power of a god? If you didn't do any good with it..."

Kasumi's smile grew wider, and she closed her eyes, and suddenly,
she looked normal. As if she hadn't been these last few minutes.
"What would I do if I had power, Akane? I would try to make those
around me happy. Make them safe. Make sure they can life their lives
as they wish to rather than what life forces upon them."

Akane digested this, and briefly, from nowhere she could discern
within herself, felt a very strong urge to ask for a pony. "What does
this have to do with snow?"

"The snow... is just a convenient means to concentrating.
Of focussing. Father taught that to me before you were born." 
Kasumi's eyes took on a distant gaze again and she sighed. "You've
grown up a lot recently. You've become a very nice young woman."

"I wasn't before?"

"You had some rough edges," Kasumi smiled. "Now the rest of your life
is before you. You have great power in your hands. You can make or 
break people, force them to your will if you so wish. But this 
responsibility is yours, Akane. What you do now you are an adult...
is on your shoulders."

"Kasumi? Are you... are you talking about Ranma?" Kasumi nodded,
and Akane felt fear again. Fear, hurt, pain, anguish. She'd lost him.
And if she was right, and Ranma had lost his memory, then if Akane
wanted to, she could get in with him again... and with a start, she
realised this was exactly what Kasumi had been talking about, in a 
roundabout manner. She had power, right now, that she could use and
abuse in a manner she thought best for her. Or that she fooled 
herself into thinking was best for other people, but really for her.
And at that same moment, she realised her older sister was right 
again, with what Kasumi would do if she had power. Right now, knowing
this, seeing with a touch more maturity than she had when Ranma had
broken up with her in the first place, broken their engagement
off, even after deciding they could be friends, she knew now she 
*would* be friends. There wouldn't be any problem, not with her, not
with Ranma, and they were the only two people who mattered in that
respect. Akane wouldn't abuse her knowledge of him to try to steal
him back, or saboutage his relationship, or stick a dagger into his
back to get back at him or make him look at her again, any of the 
things she would once have done had he turned his back on her; no, 
she wouldn't. She'd do her best to make sure Ranma was able to move
on with his life, in whatever it was he wanted to do with it. She'd
help him with every fibre of her being for as long as she could or 
was needed or wanted, and she'd be happy to do so. She had to move
on, too, and watching Ranma move into a new life... well, it would
hurt, and probably it would hurt more than she had with the break-up,
but knowing for certain he was a friend and always would be one would
help her there. No doubt, knowing Ranma, he'd be there for her just
as much as ever, possibly more so, having seen the 'new', mature
him in action twice now.

That made her strangely happy.

The snow fell, and the bell out by the front gate rang. "That will
be Ranma now, I expect," Kasumi said, standing again and heading
for the gates.

Akane nodded and stood herself, brushing down her pants and jumper.
Then she stopped, confused. "Kasumi? I didn't tell you Ranma was 
coming over..."

Kasumi stopped, and out of Akane's line of sight, she smiled. "Oh?
Didn't you? How strange."

******

The meal had been nice, and there had been an awful lot of it. 
Akane's older sister, Kasumi, cooked well, and Kaname had thanked
her profusely for the good food after the meal. Akane kept looking
at her weirdly, though, all through the meal, and finally, Kaname
had to whisper to Hotaru while Akane's back was turned, "What's
going on with your friend?"

"Pardon?" Hotaru replied, taken aback a little. Then she considered,
shrugged, and said, "She's your ex-fiance. You... broke up with her
and made things... official with me." Akane turned back to face them,
and Kaname smiled nervously at her.

"Excuse us a moment," she said quickly, before dragging Hotaru out of
the room. "How could you fail to tell me we were going to see my - 
how many women was I involved with?" She sagged back against the 
wall, drained. This day, whether she wanted them or not, was turning
out to be full of surprises. The more Kaname found out about herself,
about her old self, the more she wasn't a fan of the type of woman
she'd been. "I don't even *like* women, not like that... and I was 
engaged to one? How'd we get around the law? Oh man, I was a 
cross-dresser, right? Some kind of perverted freak like this lech 
HANGING OFF MY CHEST GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!" Kaname brushed 
ineffectively at the wizened piece of fruit buried in her cleavage.
No amount of slapping was removing him from her.

"Ahhhhh! Ranma, how long it's been since I had the change to sample
your unique helloes!"

Akane poked her head through the door beside Kaname at the commotion,
and her eyes lit up in a way Kaname hadn't seen yet today. She looked
as if she could kill something, and had just been given permission
to do so. "LECH! Pervert! Freak!" Kaname watched in amazement
as Hotaru's friend - er, Kaname's ex-fiance - developed a mallet
from nothing and belted into the thing clutching at Kaname's bosom
so hard it was dislodged and knocked down the hall, through a wall.
Akane panted angrily, then forced herself to calm down. "I'm sorry
you had to meet him again, R- Kaname. I was hoping he'd stay out 
longer, but he seems to have come in with the cold."

"What... what was that thing?" Kaname got out. Hotaru was still 
looking up the hall at the hole in the wall the old man had made.

"That... was Happosai. The man who trained our fathers in martial
arts. Or at least led them on a rampage across Japan years ago." 
Akane shrugged. "He's a pervert. Don't be afraid to hit him if he 
grabs you or... well... touches you in ways you don't like."

"No, him I understand. What was *that*?" Kaname repeated, looking
pointedly at Akane's now-empty hand and miming striking something
with a mallet with her hands.

"Ohhh..." Akane held her hands up. "Ki. You know."

"Actually," Hotaru said, turning back, "She doesn't. She doesn't
remember anything of Ranma."

"She does martial arts, though, you said," Akane replied, brow 
furrowing.

"I took up exercising because I was hurting all the time if I didn't
get in a lot of physical work," Kaname explained, "and I only just
joined up for Tae Kwon Do at the gym. Can you teach me how to do 
that?" She looked interested, and had apparently forgotten all she 
had just been saying. At least, for the moment...

"Uh... Ranma... knows all this... don't you... somewhere?" Akane 
asked hesitantly.

Kaname shook her head. "No, I thought you only got those things in 
bad anime. How do you do it? Come ooonnnn! With everything you two 
have been dropping around me today, *someone* owes me something
good to take my mind off things until I can deal with them..."

"Both of us?" Akane asked, looking to Hotaru.

"I told him you two had been engaged," Hotaru replied, embarrassed.
"It was... pretty obvious in there."

Akane looked upset. "I... wanted to talk to Ranma... and this..."
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kaname, this has got to be hard on 
you, too. We're all wanting to see who we knew, and we keep looking.
Hotaru's been doing it, too, but you've been focussed on me all 
afternoon. We look at you, and everything's the same. The gaze, the
smile, the laugh... the only thing that's different... is it isn't
Ranma." Akane's eyes shifted upwards slightly. "Oh, and your hair.
Your hair should be red. And... tied up..."

"That's confused me, too," Hotaru added. "Or black. When Ranma...
drained us all, in his girl body, his hair went from red to a really
deep black."

Kaname shook her head, grabbed one of her bangs, and waved it under
Akane and Hotaru's noses. "My hair's always been this colour, it's
natural."

"For you, yes," Hotaru replied, taking the bang from Kaname's grasp
and letting it drop back against the woman's cheek. "But for Ranma...
no. And that's his body..."

"I don't believe all this stuff about a curse, y'know. I'm a girl an'
I always have been!"

Akane blinked at the sudden change in speech. Hotaru did likewise.
Before either could say anything, though, Kasumi intercepted
them by appearing from nowhere, taking Kaname's hand, and guiding
her back to the table. "The next course is served," she offered
with a smile.

That defused the situation, for the moment, but Kaname still gave 
dark looks to both Akane and Hotaru. Akane looked like someone had 
killed her pet pig (that was curled up protectively in her lap, 
glaring evily at Kaname), and Hotaru... well, she was just picking
at the small desert, not really doing much looking at anyone. Kasumi
carried most of the conversation, asking Kaname about her work, her
home, her life in general. As Kaname told her about how she met 
Hotaru and her friends, Kasumi cast a speculative eye over Hotaru
for a moment before nodding, then she asked for some insignificant
point of detail, just to show she was indeed listening to every word
spoken.

Once the meal was finished, she gave Akane a knowing look that 
appeared to unnerve Hotaru a little, then smiled at Kaname. "Thank
you for taking the time to stop by and say hello. You're not Ranma,
as these two still look at you and see, but it is nice to know that
our friend... lives on... in one form or another. For the time 
being," she added, thoughtfully. "I will begin cleaning up. I'm sure
the three of you can find somewhere to sit and talk, as befits 
friends?" She stood, and started gathering dishes. Kaname made to 
help, as thanks for the meal, but Kasumi waved her down with a smile
and continued picking up used plates and bowls before heading for the
kitchen.

Akane still looked a little uncomfortable, but then looked as if 
she'd had some inspiration. "The dojo!" she announced, and scrambled
to her feet. She ushered Hotaru and Kaname out of the room, along
the exterior veranda and into a large room with padding aorund the 
walls and hard mats covering a large proportion of the polished
wooden floors. Around the edges of the room stood various implements
of messy destruction: kusuri-gamas, sai, a lonely pair of nunchuku,
even a halberd. Training dummies were propper up in one corner,
broken and smashed straw and rock dummies lying in front of the 
unbroken upright ones. Kaname looked around, and kept silent, her 
eyes opening wide. Hotaru stepped up beside her, her sholder just 
brushing Kaname's back lightly. The younger woman didn't back away,
though; instead, she appeared to press in slightly harder.

"This is the dojo," Akane said, unnecessarily, gesturing widely with
one hand while turning to face Kaname and Hotaru. She almost looked
desperate, eyes wide, smile unusually wide. Her pig also looked 
worried at Akane's reaction, and actually growled at Kaname. She 
backed away a step, beginning to raise her hands defensively
to disarm any coming situation, but turned, and changed her gesture
into placing her hands on Hotaru's biceps, pushing her back out the
door.

"Wait out here for a moment," Kaname said before sliding the door 
shut and clicking the lock behind her. She turned again, to face 
Akane, who was looking more worried, and stepped closer to the woman
again. "Akane? Is something wrong?"

Akane turned away, and the subtle movements of her shoulders told 
Kaname she was trying to breathe deeply and calmly, forcing herself
to relax. She could almost visualise the image the woman was using
to calm herself... the pond she'd seen hints of outside under the 
snow, surrounded by a ring of rocks in the midst of a spring 
afternoon with cherry blossoms drifting past on the breeze. Quite
why that image popped into Kaname's head, she didn't know. It didn't
seem to be a memory of her past life, as she had none, and thoughts
she had about anything prior to the day she woke up naked invariably
slid out of her mind or gave her headaches - no, this seemed 
different.

Almost like she could read Akane's mind.

She knew Akane wasn't crying, but was close to it. Obviously,
this Ranma person had been close to Akane, and Kaname felt wrong that
she had his body, but nothing of him to offer these two women who had
apparently been very close to him.

Fiancee. Boyfriend.

Man, was this Ranma ever a playboy...

Kaname sighed inwardly. It sounded as if she was already coming 
around to the possibility that she may have actually been a he at 
some point in time. She hadn't noticed any scarring or any other 
evidence that she was only recently a female when bathing, but then,
Hotaru had been convinced there was some kind of curse involved
that worked with water. And while Kaname thought that maybe, just 
*maybe* she was being fed a line... there really were magical girls.
And mystical knights. Strong magic forces encircled Tokyo 
protectively against the forces of darkness.

- pain, complete and utter. Raw dejection, depression, resignation.
But no, no, He would not win. She could still fight. Fight in small
ways. There were still heroes, just not where they were needed.
She had to move them, like playing chess, or Fantasy Knights Ultra,
and do it in ways that wouldn't trigger responses from Him and His.
For her to escape the Darkness, to bring Light to Japan once more -

Kaname managed not to stagger backwards, but only because her ankles
gave out and she toppled to the ground in a mess of suddenly spasming
limbs. She did it silently, though, or mostly so - Akane didn't turn
around, nor did Hotaru attempt to gain entrance - so she held herself
on her knees in a crouch, until she knew whether or not she could
stand properly again. Once she was sure, she stood, and seeing Akane
was still working on her relaxation technique, she placed a hand 
supportively on Akane's shoulder and spoke.

"I'm not him. I should have been nicer about saying that before.
But you know me; or rather, you don't. Neither does Hotaru. You both
keep trying to see someone I'm not and likely never was in me, and 
that hurts me, because I can't make friends here, now, if people
keep thinking I'm not here. I'm not temporary, I'm not a glitch - 
this is me, this is who I am. I'm rude and abrupt occasionally
because people... well, people expect me to have a life. Experiences
I can fall back on. Even if they know I'm an Amnesiac. Most people
think we're just faking our memory loss. I can tell you, I don't have
one single memory before waking up in that hell-hole. And I have no 
experiences, besides what I've seen and done in the six weeks since
then. I work, now. I'm single, Hotaru says I'm 19 and some months,
I flirt with Shibby-chan in IT and have weird things happen to my 
computer at work. I play too much in The World for my own good, and
met a whole bunch of girls who know who I was but don't care to know
who I *am*. I'm not him. Not a perverted cross-dressing cursed lech
who can't hold a relationship or a job down. I'm me. Kaname Mizuno,
age 20, and please, please stop crying."

Akane bent down, released the pig, who scowled at Kaname before Akane
patted him on the backside and he trotted off, unhappily, towards
one of the walls where he took up a position watching the 
proceedings. She stood upright then, removed Kaname's hand before
turning to face her. Akane's eyes were rimmed with red, and she wiped
at her cheeks. "I know. I know all this. It's just - I was so mean,
so nasty to him without realising. I should have known, he wasn't
the only person who'd said anything, but - I loved him and I thought
that was enough for him to accept me as... me. I'm not the most 
trusting person when I really should trust, and I did Ranma an 
injustice... many times over... by not trusting him, not believing
him, not believing my own eyes... and I finally realise this, and 
many other things - and..." She sniffed, rubbed at her eyes again.
"And I didn't get the chance to tell him I was sorry. That I was the
idiot, that I was the one who ruined our chances at marriage.
He was an idiot too, but... he was more honest with what and who he 
was than I was. Ranma was Ranma. What you saw was what you got. He 
was stupid, easily bored, adversarial, inconsiderate, and rude - but
that was him... before he grew up. When he came here, Kaname, Ranma
was like that. That was how his father was. A crude brute who cared
about nothing but fighting, food and fun. He couldn't take anything
seriously, and was so blind he didn't know there were lines to step
over. He changed, though. I got to know him, and he changed, very 
slowly. He wasn't exactly honourable - but he wouldn't do anything
to deliberately hurt someone he loved and he would defend you with
his life if necessary. He had his own code of conduct. And that grew
as he did. And when we... when he left here and moved in with Hotaru
and her friends, away from me, he grew up faster. Because I wasn't...
hitting him, hurting him, pushing him away when I should have at 
least been pulling him closer... he became a man. A strong, proud
man who seemed to have thrown off his father's influence. A man I 
wanted to apologise to. To tell him I know why he left, why he split
up with me... why I hoped we could still be friends. He wanted to be
friends. I had to tell him I wanted to be, too. And that I was trying
to grow up, like him, and throw off my childishness and my old 
problems and try to make myself someone who didn't push people who I 
wanted close to be further away with every word, every action. I 
wanted him to be a tiny bit proud of me, as I was proud of him." 
Akane sobbed again, and Kaname felt she would start crying, so she 
stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Akane.

The dark-haired woman buried her head in Kaname's shoulder, and 
cried.

******

Outside, Hotaru looked around the backyard. It seemed to be in one 
piece again; of course, the last time she'd seen it, she had been 
fighting Ranma, to kill him, or at least hurt him as much as she was
being hurt. Dressed in that outfit... she sighed, and wondered
if she'd ever get a chance to model it for Ranma in private. No use
wondering, though, she thought to herself. Ranma was gone and she had
to accept that. Hotaru loved Ranma enough that she felt she could
continue her feelings for him with this new woman, this Kaname,
but that wasn't possible. She wasn't interested. And, well, not being
cursed kind of threw a spanner into the works there. It was so 
frustrating! Most of her friends had by now died and come back to 
life at least once. Ranma had only lost his memory, but Hotaru was 
starting to think it may have been more than that, that perhaps
Ranma's memories no longer existed. That Kaname had been a blank 
slate, and who she was now had been pieced together completely
through her sheer force of will. That was what Kaname believed,
at any rate, and Hotaru had to admit she believed her. So did that
mean Ranma was lost for good?

"No," Kasumi said, from behind where Hotaru sat on the edge of the 
veranda. Hotaru jumped, and pivoted around quickly. Kasumi smiled
disarmingly. "It's nice to see you when you're not trying to destroy
my home," she added.

"Um... I'm really sorry about that," Hotaru offered, knowing how 
stupid that sounded.

Kasumi waved it off. "It was paid for. And it's no different to the
damage done to the house when Ranma was living here. Ahh..." Her eyes
drifted backwards into the past, and Hotaru nearly found herself
joining the elder Tendo sister. "You know he is still alive," she 
said, very matter-of-factly.

Hotaru nodded. "I can feel him. All around Kaname. But... I don't
feel him *in* her. It's like... they've been separated. I don't know
how, I don't know why. And I can't ask - Ami, because, because,
I can't explain it to her."

Kasumi smiled, studied the snow as it fell in front of them. "He has
been gone before. He will be gone again. But then... Ranma's 
journey... it is a long, hard journey. To walk the line he has chosen
for himself. And had chosen for him. Because no one lives in a 
vacuum, and other people influence our decisions."

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps the greatest gift we have, as living creatures, is the power
of choice. It's what separates humans from animals. We can say no to
our instincts." Kasumi chuckled lightly. "We don't often say no to 
them, but we can. Our choices can be mundane, or profound. Ranma's
choice is approaching. He has both avenues in front of him, right
now. He can go either way."

"Light or Dark," Hotaru realised. "He's not just a Dark General,
he's also a senshi! But - isn't that impossible?" Then she kicked
herself for asking that out loud, knowing full well that Kasumi 
couldn't answer.

But the eldest Tendo sister surprised her, for she considered
the question seriously before answering. "Just because it hasn't
happened before doesn't mean that it can't. The most loyal of 
military leaders can change sides if they feel their cause is no 
longer just. Politicians can side with opponents for causes that 
their constituents hold dearly. And Knights can be turned into 
Generals with the touch of a King's sword, and vice-versa. Ranma is 
Ranma, no matter what else affects him. Trust in him, and that trust
will be returned."

"You're not as-" Hotaru caught her tongue before it could finish
the sentence, but again, Kasumi surprised her.

"Out of it as people would assume?" She chuckled. "I have my 
moments."

"Ranma said you could be scary."

Kasumi looked thoughtful. "Perhaps I am when my family's happiness
is threatened. I cannot really say as I don't upset my family."
She smiled wanly. "I may have misjudged Ranma. I consider him family,
of course, but he hurt my little sister badly. Which resulted in her
losing some of her more... unsavoury attitudes."

"Children often grow up when confronted with painful changes to their
comfortable existances," Hotaru remarked, suddenly feeling Saturn
inside her, feeling ancient.

"Indeed," Kasumi agreed with similar weight to her words. They sat in
silence, while muffled sobbing continued in the dojo.

******

"Agent Sato. Have you found him yet?"

"I have not," Sato replied. "Of all the people... who I have 
interviewed over the last month... none display the properties
you told me of." He leaned back into his chair, steepling his fingers
as he gazed down at the small monitor on his desk. A face stared
back at him, blackness behind the figure.

"My plans depend on his demise," Yoshihiro reminded the government
official. "You assured me in this capacity, you could find him if he
wasn't destroyed by Raijin, and make sure he was eliminated from the
equation."

"He is... in my world now, and... I will dispose of him. Delete him
from... your plans. Permanently." Sato leaned forward. "But first...
I must know... how to find him."

Yoshihiro turned his face to look at something off-screen, nodded
at something, then turned back. "We have uploaded all our data on 
Ranma Saotome to you. Even if you can't find someone who looks like
him, then perhaps... perhaps you can look for other aspects of him.
As he was when last seen, last felt, he should be pouring Dark 
energies from within himself like a harbour wave and should stand
out. Even if he hasn't embarked on a life of crime with the negative
aspects of his personality that would have surfaced when he... became
a General."

"I have examined... all those aspects. One person... fitted the 
visual aspect... to within ninety-seven point three percent. But her
personality... was different. As was her makeup. And..." Sato paused
and leaned forward. "She had... no memories of Tokyo... of Raijin...
of anything... before waking up in The Zone. She still... has no 
memories of that time, nor... of who she was."

"What... aspect of her differed from the models you received?"
Yoshihiro wanted to know.

"Her hair... was coloured differently."

"You let her go. Based on her hair colour?" Yoshihiro looked as if he
was going to explode, then calmed down. "That was most likely him.
Mr Saotome. Hiding himself in plain sight. After all... these 
Amnesiacs... there's no logical reason for them having lost their
memories. He must be faking it. I assume you know where he is now?"

"We know... where she works, and where... she lives."

"Bring him in, Agent Sato." Yoshihiro stepped back from the monitor.
"And take no chances." The monitor clicked off.

Sato smiled. It wasn't nice; it was superior. "She doesn't...
stand a chance against me."

******

Akane finally stopped crying. Kaname's arms relaxed, and inwardly,
she sighed, feeling her shoulders wet from tears. The Tendo woman
was still looking very upset, though, and Kaname wasn't quite sure
how to act. Akane wasn't meeting her gaze yet, as she stepped back,
away from Kaname, starting to turn around.

"I'm sorry," Akane started, before Kaname surprised herself by 
reaching out and taking Akane's face by her chin and turning her to 
face her again.

"There's no need for apologies," she told Akane. "I'm not the person
you have to talk to, and I don't know if I ever will be. I kind of 
hope not, because... that would mean the death of me. But... he's 
more wanted than I am," she added with a slight chuckle. She hoped
Akane didn't notice the small catch in her voice. "And I'm sure...
if he was as nice as you and Hotaru suggest... and Hotaru's 
friends... I think he knew. I think he respected and admired you, and
loved you and wanted to be with you, and -"

Akane held up a hand. "No. No, you're wrong. He wasn't nice. He could
be... so selfish. So uncaring, unkind, just... wouldn't notice 
anything else outside of his own head unless it related directly
to him. He... loved me, maybe... once... but that changed...
and I want to be friends again, but unless he comes back... we can't
be friends." Tears threatened around the corners of her eyes, but she
looked to be calming down again. "And he didn't want to be with me.
For good reason, maybe. I... for all that I now understand his 
reasons, I think maybe... just maybe... we could have worked it out
together. But... without him leaving me, I'd never have realised.
I'd never have been forced to think about my actions and reactions
and how they affected him. I don't know. Maybe I was affected by 
seeing my father after my mother died... and didn't want to chance
being hurt like that... maybe it's something deeper inside me. I 
don't know. It... was something I wanted to explore with Ranma. As 
friends, finding out why I act the way I do."

"He'll be... fine," Kaname said, after a while. She was feeling
definitely uncomfortable now, it felt like everything had been said.
Akane must have felt similarly, because she gave a small, sad laugh,
and gestured at Kaname.

"But you don't need to hear my problems," she said, "you've got your
own, and they're... we're all so mean. We look at you and see Ranma,
and like you said, we're not seeing you, who's there, we're seeing
him. Our... friend. And look at me, just dumped all my baggage on you
as if you were him, and you're not."

Kaname shook her head. "No, I'm not. But you needed to talk to 
someone who... looked like him, so I guess that's okay." She gestured
at the doors out. "Um, do you mind if we go? I've kind of got to get
home and find out if I'm working tomorrow. Because, you know, the 
computer systems went down on the weekend, and I don't know if 
they're back up yet. And I've got to ask when Shibby-chan's
free, and do housework, oh, and after this morning, I've got to shop
and fix up the bathroom, since Hotaru kindly threw water all over 
me..."

Akane held her hand up again, cutting Kaname off. "Yes. Yeah, we can
go. I'm sorry... again." Kaname waved it off as Akane opened the door
and they walked out onto the veranda, where Hotaru and Kasumi was 
watching snowflakes and conversing in low tones. "It was nice meeting
you, Kaname Mizuno. I'd like to think we can be friends, if we can 
ignore my... breakdown earlier."

Kaname nodded. "It's always good to have new friends. For what it's
worth... I hope you do get to talk to him, you know?" Akane nodded
in return, and Hotaru stood up.

"We're leaving?"

"Uh huh. Kasumi, thank you for a wonderful lunch. It was delicious.
Your house, also, is a testament to your hard work." Kaname gave a 
slight bow. Kasumi returned it with a smile.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Kaname Mizuno," she replied. "I hope
future events won't be too troubling on you."

******

"That was a weird thing to say," Kaname muttered once they were down
the road, away from the household and out of earshot.

Hotaru shrugged. "What do you expect from an incarnation of an Elder
God?"

"*What?*"

"Kidding, just kidding," Hotaru smiled, reaching out casually for 
Kaname's hand before realising, remembering, and withdrawing
it. Kaname, looking over her shoulder at the Tendo home, unsure still
of whether Hotaru was actually joking or not, missed the move.

"I'm looking forward to getting home, though," she sighed, running
her fingers through her hair and rubbing at her damp shoulders
under her jacket. "Get out of this cold. And I've got to get some 
groceries on the way home. Oh, and I had another dream. While I was
in the dojo with Akane."

Hotaru nodded, thoughts distant, missing that statement at first.
Then her head whipped around like it was attached to an engine,
and asked, "What?"

"I had a dream. Something about the fight between darkness and light,
and heroes in the wrong place." Kaname shrugged. "I think it was 
about a chess game. A losing one."

"Or one where the white player starts off with a huge disadvantage,"
Hotaru murmured thoughtfully. "You know, like I was saying the Dark
Kingdom and Moon Kingdom? And how Queen Serenity had tipped the 
balance when she shouldn't have? And now the board, this game, has 
tipped the other way."

"That was real?" Kaname asked, voice rising in disappearing
disbelief. Then, she lowered it again. "No. That's not real. I don't
know what kind of fantasy world you live in, but... no."

"Why do you not have a problem believing in giant monsters, but do in
having a gender-changing curse? Or, for that matter, opposing magical
forces from a time long ago, locked in eternal battle for supremacy?"

"Why can't they all just... get along?"

"It's not that easy," Hotaru muttered. "We hate them just as much as
they hate us. There's too much bad blood between us. Oh, and there's
that whole 'we like to kill people for no reason' thing they have 
going."

"Oh," Kaname offered in reply. Then: "Why not just agree to disagree
and move away from each other? You know, like it was before."

"Earth was drawn into the conflict by Serenity, against the advice
of her advisors at the time." Hotaru shrugged. "I mean, everyone
thought I was the big strong protector without a brain... but I had
plenty of time to think, and I always thought we were wrong to 
involve this world in our battle..." She shook her head.

Kaname smiled suddenly, and thought, 'she's crazy. Smile, smile,
smile, keep her talking, keep her happy, then RUN.' to herself.
Aloud, she said, "That's..."

"You're thinking I'm crazy. But how about I show you?" Hotaru looked
back up the street, then pulled Kaname off the road into a walkway
between two yards with tall brick walls hiding them from view. From
a pocket appeared what looked like a chunky ballpoint biro, with some
kind of design affixed to the top. Some small part of Kaname's
brain registered it as something from Ancient Europe, probably
Rome, but she couldn't place it further than that. She held the pen
up high in the air, and yelled, "Saturn planet power make up!"

There was a burst of purple ribbons, and when Kaname's eyes blinked
themselves clear of momentary flash-blindness, Hotaru was gone and in
her place was... someone who looked exactly the same, but dressed
as a cosplaying-schoolgirl. Purple pleated skirt, white bodysuit,
purple knee-high lace-up boots, purple sailor-suit collar, bows, and
a glaive she had with one end resting on the ground. "Does... does
this ring a bell?" she asked, hesitantly, as if suddenly unsure if 
she'd just made the right decision or not.

******

Saturn watched Kaname carefully. While the woman had some aversion
to her previous life at times, even just thinking about it, this day
hadn't seemed to be one of them. She'd had more shocks and 
revelations than she thought Kaname could actually take... more 
shocks, Saturn guessed, thinking back. She'd been drenched in hot 
water, had a young girl hitting on her all day long, had lunch with
an ex-fiance, and now found out her current girlfriend...
well, perhaps ex-girlfriend for the moment... was a magical girl.
She watched Kaname's face very carefully, saw the blood drain from
it in shock, her mouth open wide. She knew the woman thought she was
at least slightly crazy, but perhaps now she might start taking 
Saturn seriously.

The senshi wasn't used to being humoured until one could find an 
escape route.

Especially now. It wasn't safe for Kaname. Not as long as Yoshihiro's
forces were after the senshi and anyone involved with them. And if 
Yoshihiro was worried in any way about the senshi, about Ranma in 
particular as his manipulations of her suggested, then this was an 
opportune time to strike without fear of retaliation from Ranma.

While he couldn't remember his life and his skills, he was 
defenceless.

Kaname took a step backwards from Saturn, and the senshi resisted
the urge to step forward, to reach out and take her boyfriend
into her arms, hold him until he was him again. She knew, deep down,
that this wasn't Ranma, though. She could feel it. It was just his 
body, the meat that had made him. His mind, his soul, was elsewhere.

'Come back, sensei, sempai,' she thought to herself as she tried not
to react to Kaname taking another step backwards. She was on the 
verge of panicking, and there wasn't much Saturn could do without
making matters worse.

"You... you're a magical girl!" Kaname announced, like this was 
something completely unexpected. And Saturn had to admit, for Kaname,
this likely was.

"Yes. One of the Sailor Senshi, actually," Saturn replied, nodding,
trying not to step forward in urgent affirmation. She felt urges,
very strong urges. But she had to deny them, because giving in would
make things so much worse...

Kaname took another step back. "And you're... a good guy, right?"

"That's right," Saturn nodded again.

"SoifIsaidIneverwantedtoseeyouagainIwouldn'tright?"

That hurt. Saturn stepped back now, knowing that her pain was written
across her face for all to see. Kaname saw it, at least. Saturn 
watched Kaname take two steps back now, growing in confidence
that she wouldn't see this young girl again, that she thought Saturn
was a freak still, that she wouldn't have anything more to do with
her. That really hurt. She let her transformation drop, and Hotaru
looked downcast. "That's right," she said softly, not trusting
her voice enough to speak any louder. "I would respect your wishes."

"That's all I wanted ta hear," Kaname said, turning.

Hotaru reached out now, took steps forward, brought an urgent, 
needing hand down on Kaname's shoulder. "I didn't mean to scare you!
I didn't -"

But Kaname was gone, out of the walkway. She sprinted, and even with
Hotaru's recent move towards some minor level of fitness that 
everyone else called normal, she couldn't have caught up even if 
she'd wanted to. Instead, she watched the older woman leave at speed.

She slumped to her knees, and cried.

******

Nearer her house, Kaname slowed to a stop. Damn. Hotaru still had 
things at her apartment. She'd either turn up, or perhaps have 
someone else turn up for them. Hopefully someone else. But Kaname
could leave things outside her apartment's door anyway.

Of course, if it was Hotaru who arrived... she was strong enough
to kick the door in.

She shivered; the snow was blowing against the back of her legs, and
even her good thick leggings weren't keeping the damp cold out any 
longer. She just wanted to go home... and so she sighed, then squared
her shoulders, and headed off for home.

******

The phone in the dorm's lounge rang, and being the only person in the
room, watching television, Mitsuki answered. "Yes?"

"Mitsuki, it's me," Hotaru sobbed. Mitsuki felt her hackles rise.
Something had gone wrnog today. She felt it had to do with Ranma,
but after their last actual encounter... Mitsuki had been... 
different. She was feeling more proprietry towards him and his, and
this Kaname... she wore his face but wasn't him, and if she'd hurt
Hotaru...

"What's the matter?"

"It's R- Kaname. I... did some stupid things today, and... and...
dammit, Mitsuki, why did I fuck up like this? Why NOW? I was going
to go slow with all this but..." Hotaru broke off into a new series
of sobs.

"Um... so you want me to...?"

Hotaru spoke jerkily, haltingly, trying to keep her emotion to a 
minimum for the request. "I... left my stuff... at Kaname's apartment
and I don't... think it's a good idea that... I go back there. Can 
you... can you go pick it up?"

Mitsuki found herself agreeing, and so, after a hurried 
transformation and the grabbing of a jacket (and on second thought,
after looking out a window, some tracksuit pants which she pulled
on) Nemesis leapt off the Ai Sou's hill and bounded north towards
Shinagawa.

******

Kaname stepped onto the road across from her building, checking
for oncoming traffic. Nothing was coming, so she continued across.
There was a car parked just up a little, with shaded windows she 
couldn't see inside, but nothing else. No cats, no dogs, nothing.
She entered her building's foyer, and headed for the elevators.
She pressed the call button, and looked up at the floor indicator:
both lifts were at the top of the building, and would take a little
while to come down, so Kaname decided to try working off some of 
Kasumi's lunch by running up the stairs. Five flights of stairs 
later, she wasn't even puffed, and she considered trying for the full
fifteen. A moment's hesitation, and she kept on running up the 
staircase.

******

Nemesis touched down lightly outside the building, and headed for the
doors to the foyer. But, on the threshold, she stopped and looked
around. Something felt wrong. Something felt incredibly wrong. She 
didn't know what, though... she shook her head, and walked inside.
An elevator dinged and the doors opened as she reached them, so she
shrugged at providence, stepped inside, and hit the buttno for level
five.

******

On the fourteenth floor, Kaname passed a cat, who took off in fright.
She reached the fifteenth floor, cheered silently to herself, the 
minor victory cheering her up after all the stress and shock of late
afternoon, and then she started running down the steps again for the
fifth floor.

On the fourteenth floor, she passed the cat who'd obviously thought
it safe to return, and it took off in fright. Kaname kept running.

The fifth floor door, she exited, and found someone walking to her 
doorway. Dressed in bulky clothing, somehow sticking mostly to the 
shadows as if dragging them with it, she didn't recognise the figure.
It raised a hand to knock on the door, and with everything that had
happened, Kaname was in no mood to wonder why someone dressed 
threateningly would be wanting to see her. She guessed Hotaru and her
magical girl form, but she didn't know. She saw red, and charged.

The yell she gave was vicious, uncontrolled, just sheer anger and 
stress leaking out. The figure turned, and raised a gloved forearm
to block the leap-kick Kaname was making, but stepped back in 
surprise. "Kaname?" she said.

Kaname didn't recognise the face, but the voice was unmistakable
as the woman who'd sworn at her only a week before. She pulled the 
kick even as she asked, "Mitsuki?"

The figure shrugged the jacket's hood back, and purple hair spilled
from it as the occupant twisted her head around a little to work out
kinks. "Yeah."

"What do you want?"

"Hotaru said you guys had an argument. She asked me to come by and 
pick her things up. I guess something was said -"

"You know she's a monster?"

Mitsuki was taken aback. "A what?"

"She less than human!"

"This is new. What? Has a vampire been at her, or that bastard 
Yoshihiro again? I swear, if she turns evil again -"

"She's... she's..."

Mitsuki stopped, her eyes partially unfocussed, as if listening
to someone else, then she turned fractionally to face Kaname again.
"She told you she's a senshi, right?"

"You know?" Aghast shock.

"Well, duh. I live with her." Mitsuki rolled her eyes. "She's nothing
to be scared of, you know. She's... harmless. Except when possessed
by ancient pretty-boy evil babies. Or witches. Or when she's on her
-"

"You're *okay* with that?"

"How can you not be? If it wasn't for her, you'd be dead! Several
times over!" Mitsuki found herself growing heated, Kari wanting
to slap some sense into Kaname, but she held back. She knew this 
wasn't Ranma, knew that Kaname didn't have any memories, no 
recollection whatsoever of the time he'd spent with Hotaru, let alone
the trust he'd placed in her. "Ranma liked her."

"I'M NOT -"

"I know. And I suspect everyone's said that to you a lot. I got told
not to say anything, but I'm going to. She's younger than you, 
Kaname. She's in love with you. You're just... this great big shining
star in her sky that she can't help looking to, turning to when she
needs reassurance. And after recent events, she needs reassurance
from you. Well, from Ranma, but she looks at you and sees him." 
Mitsuki stepped back and turned away, folding her arms under her 
chest. "And you know something Kaname? I need him too. He... is a 
reason for me to stay..."

"Sane?"

Mitsuki nodded. "Yeah. Basically, sane. I suffer a mental condition
that's... made worse by... certain aspects of my life. I can become
really not nice at times, and the medication I'm on for the condition
doesn't always work. It can wear off at the worst of times. And my 
life, you know, I've killed people. Men. In... bed. But... Ranma...
he... sees past that and he trusts me. He trusts all of me."

"You sound like you love him."

"I think I do," Mitsuki admitted, turning around. "For a world so 
dark and remote, he brings me light, offers me hope of redemption.
That perhaps I can make up for sins of the past if only someone
tells me I have."

Kaname paused. Then reached behind her with her keys to unlock her 
front door. "I'll get you Hotaru's things," she said before she 
slotted the key into the keyhole.

Or, rather, tried to. The door swung open at the slightest touch.
Inside was a man in a suit.

"Agent Sato?" Kaname asked, confused. "What are you doing in my 
apartment?"

He smiled, humourlessly. "I'm here to take you... into custody,
Ms Mizuno."

"What am I supposed to have I done?" she asked.

"I'm sure... something will be... fabricated to cover... those 
questions. For now," he smirked, "all you... need do is do... as I 
say and come... along quietly."

Kaname stepped back. She'd run once tonight already, and her 
adrenalin was already up; she was ready to run again. Mitsuki's
hand clamped down on her shoulder to stop her from fleeing. "Officer?
What's the charge?"

"Conspiracy to... commit treason, perhaps. Or jaywalking."
Sato smirked again. "I really... don't know and... really, I don't
care." He started walking towards Kaname, but Mitsuki shoved her to 
one side and took up a combat stance.

"I'm not going to let her go without a fight," she said, waiting
for Sato to move into range of her fists.

She wasn't waiting long. He was within her reach before she finished
talking. "I'd expect no less... from one such as you..." Two punches,
in rapid succession, and he dodged both. Simply bent out of the way
as if Mitsuki was standing still. Kaname watched from the sidelines,
amazed with the speed Mitsuki was showing, more so with that of 
Sato's. She threw another barrage of punches, rapidfire, one after
the other. Sato deflected two, dodged the rest. One of the deflected
shots exploded part of the door frame into sawdust, the other punched
right through one of the walls. Finally, she swung a leg in behind
Sato's knees, intending to drop him to the ground, but he stepped
over her leg as if it wasn't there, and punched her in the chest.

Mitsuki's eyes opened wide, and she flew backwards into the wall 
opposite. Plaster dust exploded outwards, and the wall caved partly
in, Mitsuki looking stunned as she slid down the wall to her feet.
Then, as Kaname watched, it was almost like Mitsuki's face changed.
"Oh, you just royally pissed me off!" she snarled before leaping
back into the fray. She managed to grab the front of Sato's suit,
and she bodily swung him up in the air, then smashed him down into
the floor, but he shrugged off the attack, jumped to his feet, and 
continued trading blow for blow. Kaname swore she could feel 
miniature shockwaves from each punch, but dismissed that as 
imagination until they passed a window that exploded when Mitsuki
impacted a kick in Sato's stomach.

He flew backwards, Kaname just managing to dodge him as he passed
her, then strong fingers encircled her wrist, and she found herself
being dragged along behind Mitsuki as they sprinted for the stairs.
Her face had changed once again, it seemed, and she muttered to 
Kaname as they ran, "He's too strong, I don't understand it," as they
slammed through the doorway into the stairwell. Kaname regained
control of her feet, and stumbled a few steps before she got into the
rhythm the older woman was setting. Mitsuki let her arm go then, and
they continued their headlong dash down the stairs. Above them, the
stairwell doorway was kicked in, splinters audibly peppering the wall
opposite.

"What's going on?" Kaname asked, feeling proud she wasn't even 
panting, like Mitsuki was starting to.

Mitsuki shook her head. "I dunno. You recognised him. You tell me."

"I don't know," Kaname admitted, shaking her head also. "He was the
man who interviewed me after I was found, set me up with my new 
identity and job and everything... what's he doing? And how were you
throwing..." Kaname's voice trailed off slowly as she watched Mitsuki
yank her jacket up over her shoulders and head as she bounced into
a landing's back wall to turn her around into the new, last flight
of stairs. She saw the same style of outfit as Hotaru had been 
wearing when she's turned into that... thing, and it was then that
she noticed the pleated skirt, previously held down by the jacket,
bouncing up and down with Mitsuki's every movement. She fumbled
with her pants for a moment as they reached the exit door, rolled
her eyes as she gave up and tore them off revealing high-heeled
boots that rose halfway up her thighs. Regardless of her tasteless
choice in footwear, Kaname noted that Mitsuki, or whatever she was,
could make a decent turn of speed in those boots. "You're like 
*her*."

Nemesis noted that Kaname had stopped following as they crossed
the street outside the building, and she stopped, too. She turned
and gestured. "Come on! If I can't beat that guy like this, then you
don't have a chance! Come on! We've got to get -"

"Maybe I was a terrorist. Maybe that wasn't a monster attack, maybe
it was something I did," Kaname said, stepping backwards. Her eyes
were wide, and her steps were gaining in size and speed. Momentarily,
she'd be running backwards. Nemesis reached forward to stop her, then
paused, pulled her hand back.

"Kaname, I know what you're going through. People keep treating
you like you're not you. Believe me, I know. I told you I suffer
a mental condition," Nemesis said, and forced herself to finish.
"I've got a multiple personality disorder. There are over ten of me,
all in my head. Fourteen all up, including Sailor Nemesis, or what
was her before her world was blasted from the Moon Kingdom. All me.
I'm not always aware of the others, and the others aren't always
aware of me. But when they're in charge, they're called Mitsuki.
No one calls us anything different. They get hurt, because no one can
tell them apart. That no one notices the differences, except when one
of them makes some major mistake. Right now, we were making a 
mistake. You're not Ranma. Maybe you never will be. But that's not 
the point. No matter what my actions, no matter what my motives,
know I, and the others like me, the Sailor Senshi, we're the good 
guys. And so are you. A selfish bastard who's too damned sexy for his
own good, but completely oblivious to women, but who tries to do the
right thing, the moral thing, the honourable thing. Right now, you're
questioning what of your current life is a lie; you've heard about
Ranma in bits and pieces and most likely are drawing the wrong 
conclusions because you can't remember anything of him - but all I 
can say right now is -"

The door to the apartment building was kicked open, and Agent Sato
stood there, hands slightly spread from his hips. He locked his eyes
on Nemesis and Kaname, and started to stride towards them, 
straightening his suit as he did so.

"- that if you don't run, believe me, there may not be another chance
- ever - for you to ever think for yourself by yourself ever again!"
Nemesis again reached out a gloved hand, an urgent, imploring
expression on her face, and Kaname turned, worriedly, to Sato, seeing
the grim smile of satisfaction on his face.

"Leaving so soon, Ms Mizuno?" He tut-tutted. "By going with her, you
only... add to your crimes against the City. Please, spare me the...
trouble of hunting you down - again - and come... with me." He also
held out a hand.

Kaname didn't know which way to turn. There was the third option,
of course - try to run from both. But she had no doubt they'd both
track her down as soon as they'd finished with each other. So, which
was the lesser threat?

Agent Sato had helped her, given her a name, a job, an identity
- all things she hadn't had before that morning in the temporary
governmental offices. He'd given her something special.

He'd given her life.

******

But there she was, naked, standing in the chill breeze, but not 
noticing, because the sun was shining down on her. Sunlight, warm,
bright, strengthening. Like she'd been born again, anew, from some
terrible place of darkness and corruption.

Or from underground, a tight cocoon of concrete and iron, soft flesh
torn and pulped by chunks of building the size of buses, nuclear
fires scouring the city floor clean of life. Giant monsters, 
trumpeting their victory over the forces of Light, preparing to do...
something...

******

Kaname screamed, bloodcurdlingly, and collapsed to the road surface.
Sato grimaced, reached down for her to pick her up, but Nemesis'
foot stomped down on his hand, pinning him to the road. He looked
up, annoyed. "You... don't want to do this," he growled.

Nemesis shook her head. "No, you got that wrong, you really don't
want to get between me and her."

"You didn't fare... well against me upstairs, what makes you think...
you can do better here?" Sato jerked his arm back, and Nemesis 
slipped into a ready position.

"Here? I've got room to move. NEMESIS ARCTIC FIRE!" Blistering
energies with the concussive force of a speeding locomotive slammed
into Sato, who crossed his forearms in front of his face. The blast
struck there, and shoved him back along the street, his shoes digging
furrows in the road before he hit the footpath and continued digging
through that. The blast faded, and he dropped his arms, straightened
his tie, and smirked at Nemesis. "No way..."

"I'm afraid you're... obsolete," Sato continued as he walked back 
towards Nemesis. "With me... here, and you... there... me, the 
upgraded version of a... heroic figure... you... yesterday's
discarded version." He snapped out a kick, which Nemesis tried to 
block, but couldn't move fast enough to. It connected with her 
stomach, lifted her from her feet and threw her back twenty metres
to slam through a wall. Sato continued after her. "You're a walking
anachronism. You... don't even know it. There was a recall...
on all defective products... and you were returned. How pitiful."
Nemesis staggered to her feet, a little woozy, but shook it off.

Just in time for a devastating roundhouse punch that nearly took her
head off. Or broke her jaw. Perhaps both, Nemesis thought, rubbing
her cheek gingerly as she climbed to her feet again. He moved like
lightning towards her again, and this time, Nemesis knew she couldn't
react fast enough, wasn't strong enough, for her to dodge the blow...
nor, likely to survive it. She closed her eyes, and waited.

And waited.

She opened her eyes, to see what was taking so long. Her lives had 
already flashed past her eyes, and she was getting bored now. There
was a forearm blocking Sato's blow, and a pair of very determined
blue eyes galring up at Sato from beneath his arm.

There were no words from Kaname as she struck, a flurry of blows,
punches, kicks, jabs, that Nemesis couldn't make out as anything
other than a general blurring of Kaname's small body. Then came the
roundhouse kick, almost in slow motion, with all of Kaname's weight
behind it - Sato flew backwards and into a wall. Kaname started
jogging towards him as he righted himself and picked himself up, 
picked up speed as he looked up towards her again. He started towards
her, but she blurred, vanished, and appeared to his left, throwing
an elbow into his unprotected back. A quick backflip across his 
outstretched arm, and she planted her other in his stomach. His 
breath gusted out and he collapsed backwards. Kaname stood, 
victorious above his body, facing towards Nemesis with an angry 
glare.

She didn't see Sato's hand twitch, didn't hear his catlike moves as 
he flipped to his feet. But she dropped to her hands and kicked 
backward with both feet as hard as she could into his stomach 
regardless. Sato flew again, this time up and back into the wall of a
building, smashing through it and disappearing in a cloud of dust.
Kaname righted herself again, glared at Nemesis before striding
over towards her.

Standing above the collapsed, injured senshi, she was impassive,
as if whatever was behind the facade had forgotten how to operate
her face. She stared for a moment, then reached a hand down. "Come
with me if you want to live."

******

"Is... is he dead?" Nemesis asked, a few blocks away from Kaname's
apartment. Kaname hadn't yet returned to normal and was nearly 
carrying Nemesis along as the senshi's body slowly healed itself.
She wasn't entirely sure where they were going, but as far as Nemesis
could tell, Kaname was heading towards the Ai Sou.

It would be a long walk.

"He... isn't functioning," Kaname replied.

"He's unconscious?"

"He is no more," Kaname replied.

Nemesis thought some more. "How did you do that? Hotaru said you 
didn't know much about martial arts. Just -" She fell silent as 
Kaname stopped and stared coldly at her.

"Do you always talk so much?" Nemesis was speechless. Then, Kaname
surprised her even more. "No, you never talked this much during 
training."

"Ranma...?"

Kaname collapsed suddenly, Nemesis falling on top of her but quickly
righting herself and rolling off the woman. What had just happened?
She watched Kaname's hair fade from black to its normal reddish-black
shade of copper with a small start - had Kaname's hair changed 
colour? Well, obviously, but what did that mean? She didn't know.
But there was only one thing she could do for the moment. She 
gathered up the unconscious woman in her arms, jumped for the roof
of the nearest building, and began the long trip home.

******

In her dream, she smiled. Moving the pieces took a lot of work, when
they were as small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things
as they were, and she was exhausted from tracking down pieces. 

In her dream, she smiled, because, for the moment, the pain and agony
stopped as the Dark Thing examined her, made sure she was being 
leeched as she was supposed to be. Everything must have been in 
order, because the pain started up again almost instantly.

In her dream, she smiled, because she'd just turned her pawn into a 
queen.

Just for a second, she smiled. And then the pain continued.

******

Birds. Birds were what Kaname heard when she awoke. Dim sunlight
filtered into the room she was in from a curtained window, revealing
nothing much in the room bar the futon she lay on. There were some
clothes strewn around the floor, and across a chair, but they weren't
hers. She panicked, and sat up, scooting back against the wall with
a small bump.

Someone heard the noise, came walking towards the room's door. Kaname
forced herself to stand, readying herself for an altercation.
This wasn't her room, and her memory was fuzzy, and she didn't know
how she'd come to be here. Just, wherever here was, she didn't think
she'd come willingly.

The door slid open, and there was a tall brunette standing there,
in a long green skirt and white skirt. She paused, at seeing Kaname
standing upright, but failed to respond to the physical challenge
offered by the woman's combat stance, and stepped inside. She held
a pile of towels, and offered them to Kaname. "The hot springs out 
back are nice this time of day. I suggest you go take a dip before
dinner."

"How long have I been out?" Kaname demanded as she automatically
accepted the towels. The other woman stepped back again.

"Well... Mitsuki brought you in last night. You've been sleeping
since then," the woman said, thoughtfully. "If you go for a dip, the
others and I won't bother you. Just... hang a sign outside on the 
door so we know you're in there, or use the men's." She turned to go.

"Wait!" The woman paused, and turned back.

"Yes?"

"Where am I?"

"Kanagawa prefecture. You're at the Ai Sou," she was informed.
"Oh. Uh... we haven't met before, have we? I'm Makoto Kino. In case
you're wondering, Sailor Jupiter. I know Hotaru and Mitsuki both said
to not say anything because of the fact you seem to be having a hard
time dealing with everything at the moment, but... I think in not 
telling you you're living in a dorm full of senshi at the moment,
it's... going to make things even worse." She smiled, cheerfully,
happily. "If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen. That's in 
that direction," she pointed in one direction, "and the springs
are in that direction," and she pointed in the other before nodding
a goodbye and leaving. She slid the door back with a toe before 
Kaname heard footsteps walk away from the door in the direction
Makoto had indicated for the kitchen.

So, what to do now? Prisoner of magical girls? Sounded like some lame
anime show, and it likely would have been, had Kaname been male, and
surrounded by lots and lots of beautiful women. As it was... how many
senshi were there entirely? And magical girls besides them... she'd
heard in the media that the attack in Tokyo had involved over two 
dozen magical people defending the city, and she guessed that, by the
usual sorts of statistics of female heroes in Japan, that at least
three-quarters of them had been women. Or girls, at least. Probably
this 'Ranma' that she was supposed to be, if this cursed form was 
true, knew them all. And was on good terms with a lot of them. And 
all those women Akane had hinted at...

Oh great. She hadn't just been a playboy, she'd been a megaplayboy.
Probably with some weird genetic powers to shoot laser beams from her
eyes and make women swoon at each smouldering glance.

She shook herself from fantasy, gathered the towels to her chest,
and crept out, heading in the direction of the springs.

They were indeed warm, and lovely at this time of year. They were 
open-air springs, so there was snow through the enclosures,
but the springs themselves were like heaven on a stick. The hot water
mixed with the cold air gave Kaname goosebumps as well as a delicious
warm sensation that spread through her body, from fingers and toes
to her core. She smiled, forgot about magical people and secret 
government agents, and sank to the bottom of the spring...

******

In the lounge, the senshi perched on couches and chairs, wherever
any could find a place to sit. The atmosphere was solid, as Mitsuki
nursed bruises along her jawline with an icepack, and Hotaru 
distantly stroked Luna's back. Artemis sat perched on Minako's
knees, sharing glances with Luna at Hotaru as she seemed to be 
somewhere else completely.

"I still think he's just being lazy. Pretending not to know who he 
is," Usagi grumped. "I mean, he's this super-dooper martial artist
who's been a senshi and, according to Hotaru, a Dark General! So, 
what power on Earth or in either of the Kingdoms could make him 
forget who he is? I think he's faking it."

Usagi probably actually believed that, the others thought, but they
simply couldn't be sure. After all, Usagi seemed to see Ranma as 
competition for her Mamoru and probably thought anything that 
demonised him in their eyes was a good thing. Then again, she was 
very protective of the other senshi to outside influences, and if 
Ranma was indeed now part of the Dark Kingdom, then she was acting
perfectly within character in trying to alienate his memory as she 
was.

"He's not a threat," Hotaru muttered under her breath distantly,
turning her distant gaze on Usagi. "He's not himself right now. But
he will be, soon."

"So he can try killing us now?" Usagi shot back.

"How many times did you lose Mamoru to someone else, Usagi? Or to the
Dark side of our forces?" Hotaru started bringing herself into focus.
"How many times did you put your life, and everyone else's, at risk,
just to save one man? One insignificant man? Sure, he'd helped you - 
he's helped us all - but ultimately, what does he do? I've listened
to you all, and for those first few years, what did he do? Untie you
guys when you got tied up, told you to never give up, never 
surrender, and to fight the good fight regardless." She twisted
her face into something that made Usagi wish she could crawl under
a rock. It was one of those Saturn looks, the ones that made the 
young woman look ancient beyond anyone's years. "He was a 
*cheerleader*, Usagi, and a convenient hostage."

Usagi found her backbone again. "Oh, and Ranma is more of a help?
He treats us like -"

"He does help us," Ami said, quietly, from her corner. "Whether
he's wanting to or not."

"There's something about him that transcends us," Rei murmured
from where she was pressed back into a deep chair. "He doesn't 
realise it. We don't realise it. There's something inside him that's
growing and will make him... better."

Usagi threw up her hands. "The guy is evil! He's a Dark General,
and if he's really lost his memories, then shouldn't we do something
about that? Make him forget for good, or kill him now while we've
got the chance?"

Makoto sighed. "Didn't we have this discussion once before, after
Keitaro was turned? I mean, shouldn't we be still trying to save 
these people who're being altered against their will?"

"Have you ever known Ranma to do anything against his will?" Usagi
replied. "He'll have begged someone for this, just so he could fight
us, beat us in training."

Hotaru's head lifted. "He doesn't need that power to beat us," she 
interjected quietly. "Ranma might now be as strong as us, but he's
faster and more skilled. He can dodge our attacks, we find it very
hard to dodge his. If we weren't nearly invulnerable to physical
attacks, he'd have been able to kill us almost from the start. Right
now, Ranma's not here, but his body still is. For some reason, it's
not acting as it should in some senses, and overly so in others.
I don't know why; and neither does the personality that's grown in 
his absence. Kaname isn't evil; she's just very scared and unsure."

"What, because she's friends with magical girls?" Usagi snorted
and rolled her eyes. "Anyone in Japan would kill for that privlege."

Minako shook her head. "Any boy, maybe. She's a girl. With no 
memories, who's been confronted with a life she can't remember,
which suggests she's in danger. She's instinctively responding
to her urges to hide from anything that may cause her harm; she's
not aware she can fight back. Not against the things that birthed
her, anyway. Think about it: she became who she was in the midst of 
the most devastation Tokyo has faced in... well, ever. Over a million
people died in that attack. She woke up unharmed, at ground zero.
I'd say she's pretty scared."

Mitsuki added, "She also thinks that maybe there wasn't a monster
attack, and maybe it was a terrorist strike. And that she's the 
terrorist." She looked a little detached, staring down at the small
bottle she was capping and uncapping with her free hand. "She's not
sure. I don't think she believes it, but she can't help but wonder
if she's responsible for everyone's death." She felt someone's
hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Makoto there.

"Are you all right?" she asked. Mitsuki nodded.

"I just need a glass of water," she replied, tipping the pill bottle
over and removing a few as she stood and ehaded for the kitchen.
"I'll be back."

"I don't believe her story about this govenrment agent, either,"
Usagi grumbled. "She's strong. And she can fight. So why'd she lose
and Kaname came out without a scratch? Huh? 'Cause that girl's a Dark
General, that's why! We've got to-"

"Give it a rest, Usagi," Minako sighed, and looked around. "Um...
is anyone actually watching Kaname at the moment?"

Makoto shook her head. "She's in the springs, I think."

Mitsuki walked from the kitchen door. "Oh? I should... I should 
probably go apologise to her. You know, for scaring her unnecessarily
and all... be right back," she said, already heading down the hall
towards the doors to the springs. Hotaru's eyes followed her 
curiously, distant again, but she made no move to go out with her,
at least until Rei caught her eye. She was wiggling her eyebrows
and glancing at the hall. Hotaru got the message, and got up slowly,
stretching. She hadn't moved much all day, and now she trudged slowly
after Mitsuki.

Making sure she was gone before speaking, Rei said, "I'm worried
about Hotaru."

Ami looked up from the medical text she had displayed on her 
computer. "She seemed pretty down after seeing Kaname yesterday.
She hasn't said a lot about it, though. To us, at least. I think she
said something to Mitsuki that they're keeping to themselves
a little."

"What could that be?" Makoto asked.

Ami shrugged. "I don't know. I would guess perhaps the extremity
of her reaction to finding out our Hotaru is a senshi. She still is a
young woman, for all her memories of her prior life. And to have 
expectations of a wonderful reunion shattered by the reality of a 
woman who's frightened of her... I suspect she is experiencing
some -"

She was cut off by a yell from the direction of the springs. Ami, 
already in action gesturing through her conversation, grabbed her 
computer in one hand and launched from her chair with the other,
but it was Rei who made it into the hallways of the dorm building
first. They found Hotaru throwing the door to the springs area open
so hard it slammed into the wall to the side and boucned back. Hotaru
had made it through, Rei dodged, but it smacked Usagi in the face.
She staggered back, scowling, as the others pushed past her, not so 
much as glancing at her red face.

"Someone is going to pay for this..." she trilled, in a mock-happy
voice, before joining the others outside.

Mitsuki was already in the water, drenched as she struggled to lift
Kaname from the bottom of the pool, where she lay, calmly, face up.
She wasn't breathing, either. Her arms were crossed over her chest,
no towel in evidence - wait, there it was, up on the rocks 
surrounding the spring. But, no matter how much Mitsuki strained,
she could not move Kaname from her position. Hotaru splashed into the
spring, as did Rei, and Ami rushed over, flipping the computer
over from laptop to Mercury mode.

"Help us!" Mitsuki yelled, as the three women in the water tried 
lifting, to no avail. Usagi transformed into Sailor Moon, and 
hesitated only a moment before splashing into the water - regardless
of her feelings, and her words, she wouldn't have been able to kill
Kaname, nor Ranma. Tried to have saved them, yes, no, wait, save 
them, yes, she would. But not killing. That never solved anything;
it only created new problems.

Ami gasped. "She's not breathing!"

"No kidding! HELP US!" Mitsuki returned as Sailor Moon tried helping
to shift the woman from the bottom of the spring. Still, no luck.
Rei and Hotaru also transformed, and added their extra strength
to the equation, but Kaname wasn't so much as rolling under the 
water.

"I mean, her metabolism has slowed right down! Almost to the point
of shutdown. I think..." Ami's voice drifted off.

"Yes, Ami?" Saturn asked, worried. She didn't want to lose Ranma 
again, and she was already pulling at her gloves, to free her hands
to lay them on Kaname.

"I think she's meditating."

******

Under the surface, Kaname stirred. Light played across the surface
nicely, in pretty patterns, all shades of blues and whites. Some 
yellow. She sat upright, breaking the surface of the water. It rolled
back like a stop-motion clay version of water, no drips, no flying
drops, just a plasticy feel to the liquid. She gazed at the surface
of the lake in awe, watching the reflection of the blue, blue sky,
and the white, white clouds race across her. Then she looked up into
the sky, saw it was dark, stormy.

It was another dream, she knew. But this was... different.

Across from her was a girl. Kaname couldn't place her age. Like 
Hotaru, she seemed to be young, but ancient. It wasn't anything
to do with the face, or the body - Kaname realised it was in the 
eyes. That stare that has seen everything, anything worth seeing.
Experienced the highs and lows life can offer, time and time again.

She had something on her forehead, and with a start, Kaname realised
the girl was wearing her VR headset. Even as Kaname recognised
it as hers, the girl raised a hand, and without expression on her 
face, slid her fingers across the words 'Mercury'. Apart from the 
headset, the girl was naked. Kaname was, also, she realised.

The girl stood, and turned around. Her back was scarred, pitted,
and tubing squirmed from her insides down into the depths of the 
water. Kaname looked away, horrified, but morbidly curious, she 
turned back. Fluids chugged up some tubes, squirted out through
hoses to be taken away. Others climbed up her body, then penetrated
her, and ran just below the surface of her skin in parodies or veins
and nerves. When she turned back, with the ancient look, Kaname 
realised that the girl wasn't intolerably old; she'd gotten that look
through torture: her body showed the signs of repeated abuse with the
equipment running in and out of her. It was memory of pain, every
kind of pain imaginable, that showed in her eyes. Negative 
experiences.

"I thought this was all behind me now," she said, simply.

"Who are you?" Kaname asked.

"I am the Alpha, and the Omega," the girl explained. "I was here to 
start The World, I will be here to finish The World."

"Is this... is this a computer game? Are we in The World? There's
rumours about some guy who's circumvented security -"

"This is not the world you know," the girl continued. "But it is 
subject to the same rules as the world you know."

"Are... are you one of the gods? Are you God?"

"I am The Beginning, and The Ending."

"That's not explaining anything! What are you? WHO are you? Why am I 
here? What are you doing to me? To us! To everything!"

The girl motioned for silence, and Kaname fell silent. "I cannot
answer your questions. You are not who you need to be. Perhaps in 
your next life... but then you will not need to be told the answers."

"I need answers!" Kaname was close to tears.

"I came to you before like this, and what I said came true. The power
is consuming you. But you have the chance now... as I knew then, that
the ability to balance out that great power is within you. You just
haven't realised this yet."

"I... I don't know what you're talking about!"

"But I do," said a masculine voice behind Kaname. She turned, and 
found a man standing behind her who looked similar to her, but with
jet-black hair tied up in a ponytail. He wore Chinese clothing,
loose black slacks and a red sleeveless shirt. His arms were crossed,
just as Kaname's were.

"Who are you?"

"I'm nothing. A figment of my imagination at the moment. A ghost."
He grinned at some private joke.

"Ranma Saotome... sempai..." the other girl whispered.

"Geeze, Natsumi, look at you," Ranma said as he stepped past Kaname,
wading through the water to reach the girl. He took her into his 
arms. "I didn't want this to happen to you... I thought you'd be 
safe."

"I was safe," she replied. "Yet not safe enough. I still had my gift,
buried deep down... I was selfish, and didn't give it all to you. Had
I done so, perhaps I wouldn't be here now. Perhaps none of us would
be."

"Ranma Saotome?" Kaname queried, stepping up behind him and peering
around his shoulders at him. "You're Hotaru's boyfriend?"

"Yes," he answered, his eyes not leaving the girl. "God, Natsumi,
he mutilated you. I've got to -"

The girl pushed him back with a finger. "I try to set a mood here and
you ruin it. Typical. If I'd known you were going to be like this,
I'd have toasted you back in that alleyway." She paused. "But...
it is good to see you."

"You remember?"

"I remember everything now. I remember it as if it only happened
yesterday."

"Natsumi..." That was concern in his eyes, in his voice. Kaname gazed
at him. This was the man everyone thought she was? Experimentally,
she poked at his chest. "OW! Whaddya do that for?"

"Sorry," Kaname said, automatically pulling back and looking down.
"I was just checking. They say I'm you, or you're me, or something,
so -"

"Yeah, I'm a guy and you're a girl. I dunno how that happened,
but... Natsumi?"

The girl called Natsumi shook her head. "I can't say a lot. Really.
I'm being... watched. I've made as many plot holes as I can, though.
You've just got to... find them." She smiled at Kaname. "But I can 
tell you this: he is your next life."

Kaname squinted in recollection and consideration. "The ghosts?
The Amnesiacs? These super-strong government agents?" She shook her
head. "But... if I don't... know you, don't remember you, and it...
hurts to try and I really can't even fathom myself as what people
say... and what I can see... you are, how come you're here?" she 
asked Ranma.

Ranma shrugged. "Dunno. I donno where I've been lately. It's - 
weird."

"Nowhere." Natsumi's voice startled both, and they looked around
at her. "Look, if you two are going to talk, it's going to have to be
somewhere else. I can't drag both of you mentally to a pocket 
dimension for too long without someone noticing something's
been set up."

"Is she gonna remember this?" Ranma asked, looking back to Kaname.

Natsumi shrugged. "Hopefully, else I've just maybe endangered
every life remaining in Tokyo for nothing."

******

Ami was still frowning at her laptop while the other senshi sat 
around the edge of the spring, watching Kaname float peacefully
on the bottom. There wasn't anything they could do to budge her, so 
they'd given up, and just started watching, curious as to how long
she could stay down there without a breath. Every five minutes or so,
a silverly bubble of depleted air would rush to the surface from her
lips; yet she still remained motionless.

Ami frowned some more, and tapped a few more keys. Then she pulled
her transformation wand out, spun it and transformed, lowering
her visor and using that in concert with her computer. "That's 
strange," she remarked.

"What's strange?" Sailor Moon asked straight away, anxious for 
something to break the monotony. Jupiter hadn't even wanted to go 
bring some biscuits out for the other senshi while they waited for 
some sign from the underwater woman, and Sailor Moon was desperate
for anything to happen.

"There's not nearly enough data on Kaname," Mercury continued.

Minako asked, "What do you mean? Like you don't have a background
or history? That's understandable because -"

Mercury shook her head, "No, not that. I have a pulse, temperature,
oxygen levels, CO2 levels, blood pressure, some other statistics...
and nothing else."

"'Nothing' else?" echoed Saturn curiously, eyeing the prone woman.

"This is all digital information," Mercury remarked. "Everything
about her. She's not real. And there are large gaps where there 
should be massive amounts of data... memories, experiences,
skills... it's almost as if she's a character in The World..."

"What?" Nemesis asked from Kaname's side. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly that. She's a character from a computer game."

"A computer game," Sailor Moon repeated. "What kind of game?"

Mercury shook her head. "That doesn't matter. What matters is... 
she's not real."

"Why should that matter?" Saturn asked. "I mean, she thinks she's
real, she's solid enough, she's..."

"This is starting to sound really familiar," Sailor Moon remarked
out loud.

"Here, here," added Mars. "Keitaro's little friend, remember?"

Saturn nodded. "I remember. I was outside, remember? But... Kaname
is what that was like? The characters... monsters you fought in the
game?"

"No," Mercury responded after a moment's consideration. "Those 
monsters weren't modelled to have things like oxygen capacity and 
levels, blood toxicity, digestion times and modelled digestive
systems... Kaname is a mathematical model of a normal human, with 
some... advanced abilities. I suspect a hold-over from Ranma when he
was transformed into a monster himself."

"It wasn't like that," Saturn said quietly. "It was still him. I 
could feel it -"

"Yeah, like you felt that Yoshihiro?" Sailor Moon threw in, acidly.

Saturn turned cold eyes on the Princess. "I felt the surge of... lust
for him, yes. However, that was all I felt with Yoshihiro, because
I was wanting Ranma to look at me and pay attention to me. That was
what made me weak there. Ranma was... different. Whole. Still 
himself." She gestured at Kaname. "I don't know... what..." She fell
silent, her mouth remaining open as she stared behind Sailor Moon.

******

"I've got to go now," Natsumi said, suddenly. "Ranma, help me. Again,
please. Kaname, please, trust him, trust what you feel with him, 
trust what he makes you see, do and feel. Trust him."

"And trust the senshi," Ranma remarked suddenly, then he was gone,
mist above the water blowing away. Natsumi, too, was gone, and then
Kaname felt very cold, very wet, and found, while she was underwater
suddenly, she couldn't move.

******

"What?" Sailor Moon asked, waiting for Saturn to reply. But she 
noticed Nemesis, and Mercury, were also looking behind her, and the
others turned as Sailor Moon did. There, at the door, was Ranma,
stepping through the still-closed door. She was able to see through
him, see the door still closed, yet he acted like it was open and he
had opened it. He saw something, in the springs, and bounded towards
the water. Sailor Moon flinched as he shot through her, but she felt
nothing. Mercury, caught by surprise, was only now starting to look
down at her computer, beginning to tap keys -

Ranma reached into the water, and pulled Kaname up from the bottom
of the pool, where she coughed and spluttered and spat up a mouthful
of water. Her eyes were very large and frightened, but then she saw
Ranma, looking panicked above her face even as he draped something
she couldn't see across her torso. He started mouthing something
to her, then. She couldn't make out most of it, but she felt it was
important to what was happening, what he was saying. She caught a few
of the mouthed words, though... "...passing by... sick... moaning...
you'd hit... splashing of water... sorry... one of the girl's...".

He started, and his eyes darted to one of the hands holding Kaname
up, and then shot back to Kaname's face, like he was listening
to her. Then he started to pull back, but froze... his eyes drifted
into the distance, and then he vanished.

"What the hell was that?" Venus asked.

"An image, I would guess," Mercury hypothesised, running her fingers
over her keyboard.

Nemesis and Saturn both looked pale. Mars was strangely silent.

Kaname looked around at the women in sailor suits surrounding
her, and quietly decided now was not a good time to scream Instead,
she asked, "Did anyone else see that?" She was answered in emphatic
nods. "Oh good. So the dream I just had might actually mean 
something."

"Dream?" Venus asked, turning her head to gaze in confusion at Mars.
"What on earth are you thinking about? I can feel that from here..."
Mars shook her head, blushing now, and looked away.

Kaname stood, reaching for her towel, a little self-conscious.
Sailor Moon seemed to be awfully interested in her body, for sure.
"Yeah. About a girl with my VR headset and lots of tubes and pipes
poking into her... like something out of Spriggan..." While Kaname
talked, Mercury frowned again, and turned her computer to Mars. "She
was talking about worlds and dimensions and people watching her and
-"

"- And it makes sense," Mercury concluded. Kaname looked up at her 
for explanation. "None of us are real. I have just checked. We're
all digital entities in a digital world."

"I am *not* fighting digital monsters again," Sailor Moon declared
haughtily. Mars coughed in agreement, still blushing bright red. 
Venus slid over to sit next to her and whisper in her ear. Mars 
blushed deeper and nodded. Saturn rolled her eyes and turned to look
back at Kaname, who had turned her gaze to face her. Nemesis, also,
was watching Kaname. "I mean, it's most undignified."

"Yes, yes, Usagi, very much so," Jupiter agreed, to shut her up for
the moment while Mercury explained her statement. Behind them, Luna
and Artemis jumped through a window to see what was taking so long.
They padded up to the senshi, sat down, and listened.

"I think... I don't know for certain," Mercury added, "but I think
we were all transferred into a digital realm when that monster...
exploded. Perhaps. When the monster grabbed the tower, he let out a 
huge pulse of energy that discorporated the atoms of everything.
That would have created a huge amount of energy, and if augmented
with Mercurial computer systems, from the Moon Kingdom, there is a 
possibility that someone with sufficient proficiency in data 
management could manipulate a system with the right receivers
into taking the data attached to the atoms in the moment before 
destruction and channel that into a hyperdigital representation
of reality. Technically, making everyone into a data structure
that inhabits a set region of a subspacial pocket equation."

"We're all dead?" Nemesis asked, turning her head around to face 
Mercury.

"To the people of Earth? Yes. And Tokyo is most likely physically
destroyed. Little more than a hollow in the ground. I suspect the 
explosion did much more damage than we saw." Mercury raised her visor
and dropped her transformation before slumping to the ground. "Who
knows what is going on outside the system?"

Kaname almost raised her hand, but thought the better of it. She 
didn't actually know, but her dreams, when considered with the theory
Sailor Mercury had just put forward, made some sense. She guessed
the person she was in them - she guessed that girl she'd seen in her
vision whlie underwater - was the person who had made this event 
possible. That made sense of some of her comments. Particularly
about her being the beginning and the end... but... "If we're all 
dead, is there any way we can... come back to life in the real 
world?"

Ami shook her head. "I do not know. I would assume that our full data
is being stored somewhere, but I do not know for certain. That Tokyo
and we are stored, so to speak, like data on a CD. The explosive
energies were the binding force of the atoms letting loose... similar
to a huge nuclear detonation. But all the information to rebuild
everything... I believe that would be stored somewhere. There's
no explanation for us otherwise."

The other senshi dropped their transformations, and almost looked
defeated. Rei grumped; "We can't stop a thing while we're in here,
can we? We're just out of the way."

Hotaru, although troubled by the possibility, also looked thoughtful.
"Why are we all still alive, then? I know Yoshihiro. A little, at 
least. He wouldn't have kept us here if he didn't have some other
use for us in mind."

Something struck Kaname, and she disagreed slightly with the 
statement, but she couldn't say why. She got out of the spring fully,
dried herself with her towel, then dressed quickly, still listening
to the girls as they talked. The black cat with the women caught
her eye, and Kaname smiled and waved at it. It smiled back and nodded
it's head at her. Curious. Kaname wasn't so scared now. Something
of that dream, that vision, had calmed her fears. There were magical
people. They were trying to fight something evil. She didn't have to
fear her past now. If only she could remember it...

Ami shook her head. "I don't know why. But I would assume we must be
going to be used as a power source. That whatever this fellow wants
to do now... he needs lots and lots of living people. Technically,
here, we live." She shrugged.

"Perhaps," Luna suggested, making Kaname jerk as she was pulling
her pants on and tripping over onto her face in the background,
"he is operating in both worlds? This agent Sailor Nemesis fought
last night seems to be a monster himself."

"I don't think so," Mitsuki said, also shaking her head. "If Ami's
right about this, and about us all being chunks of data, then 
whatever stats he's got are probably just so high above ours it's not
funny."

"But he can be beaten," Kaname said, suddenly. Then she blushed
as everyone turned to face her. "I mean, apparently I beat Agent Sato
up last night. So, you know, that kind of means it can be done."

"I saw this in a movie once," Usagi said, suddenly perking up. "About
people who lived in a computer world, where evil computer programs
wanted to rule the human world. It was called Tron -" She ouched
as Minako whapped her around the head. "Hey! I'm just saying, maybe
we should look at movies for inspiration! It's a start and it gets
us doing something about the problem..."

"Usagi may be right," Artemis conceeded. "We have to start thinking
of a way to tackle this new problem. This is probably why there 
haven't been any monsters over the last six weeks. But we need ideas
of how to solve this before we can start working on solving the 
problem. So, does anyone else have ideas?"

Usagi did, but no one wanted to try to catch the 'flu and then sneeze
on Sato to find out if he was susceptible to virii.

Luna sighed. "All right. It's been a long day. It's also getting
very cold out here, even right by the springs. Let's call it a day 
and get an early night. We've got a lot to think about, starting
from tomorrow..."

******

Sato leant back in his chair, apparently none the worse for wear a 
week after his fight with Kaname. The Mizuno woman hadn't been seen
since that night, but the fact she was in contact with at least one
of the rogue variables wasn't a good sign, not to Sato. He liked...
order. And these senshi were anything but part of the natural order
of the system. If it was up to him, he'd have been tracking these
senshi down and deleting them, but it wasn't. Now that there was 
actual proof rather than strong supposition that they were loose in 
the system, Sato hoped Yoshihiro would give orders for them to be 
dealt with; after all, the Master couldn't take the chance that 
something in the system's makeup would allow the senshi to reverse
what had been done. Sato wasn't entirely sure, but the fact that it 
had been a Mercurian computer system that had allowed this 
transferrence from the physical world to take place suggested
that there could exist a system that would reverse the effects.

However, the energy necessary would likely be staggering - in the 
physical world, it had taken the destruction of a large part of Tokyo
- and that probably couldn't be replicated in the system.

There were too many suppositions and too much guesswork in those 
thoughts for Sato's liking. He leaned forward again, gathered his 
paperwork together and began shuffling through it once more.

No more ghosts. Since that last Friday evening, or, rather, 
mid-Saturday afternoon, there had been no reports of these so-called
'ghosts'. Sato had no idea what they were, but guessed it had 
something to do with the Amnesiacs. There had to be a reason they 
were without memory; he suspected that perhaps it was more to do with
the Ghosts than anyone had realised.

He changed piles of papers, skimming through reports from the 
physical world. Construction reports, mostly, and their system 
analogues. Interesting. Another sixteen weeks, and construction
of Project Tokyo would be complete in both worlds, upon completion
of which, the Master's plan could begin.

And here, Sato paused. If there was anything the senshi could do to 
stop the Master's plans, if there was any method they could employ
to find a way for themselves back into the physical world (assuming
they realised that they were now digital entities in a digital 
simulation of their world, but here Sato was assuming the worst)
it would be through the disruption of the constructions.
Without them, the Master's plans couldn't come to fruition. Both 
constructions had to be complete, in RealTokyo and SimTokyo. Sixteen
weeks was almost too long for construction to proceed, but there were
rules in the system, unfortunately, rules that had to be followed.
Sato was bound by them as much as anyone else - even the senshi.

That Kaname woman, though - Ranma. It seemed she wasn't quite as 
bound by them as she should have been... there should have been no 
way her statistics should have allowed her to move like that, let 
alone pummel him as she had, and yet she did. Sato made a mental
note to investigate the problem further. Perhaps there would be a 
method to... block her manipulation of the system, or at least a 
method of manipulating the locality to make such attempts useless.

The phone on his desk rang. It was an old, black design that Sato 
liked for its ungraceful lines and shining plastic finish, and most
amusingly, when the phone rang, the receiver jiggled from the sound
on its cradle. He let it ring twice, as was his routine, then picked
it up. "Yes?"

"Construction on the Doorway has slowed due to bad weather conditions
in Tokyo," said a voice at the other end, briskly, with no preamble.
It didn't matter; Sato knew his Master's voice.

"How long... will the project be delayed?"

"Only a few days. Perhaps a week," came the measured response.
"Umiko is preparing a press release to be delivered to the government
as we speak."

"How does the... government's investigation into the... destruction
of Tokyo proceed?"

"It has been hampered somewhat by our operatives in the Diet and 
related sub-organisations. I suspect others are watching with 
interest... in the possible applications in war of giant monsters."
Yoshihiro actually snorted. "I cannot believe the audacity of these
humans sometimes. Harnessing monsters, indeed. Sogal Island is full
of them, and yet all they can do is make sure they don't leave the 
area bound by the reef there. And they would attempt to use one as a 
weapon of war?" He snorted again, and returned to the subject.
"I think those investigations can be curtailed. And in a little over
sixteen weeks, the point will be moot."

"Are... plans being made... to integrate the population of... your
homeworld into Earth's standing population?" Sato asked.

He could already picture Yoshihiro shaking his head and smiling.
"No. No such attempts shall be made. With the unlimited reserves
from the Dark Kingdom under my command... the Earth will not stand
a chance. We shall have a physical home once again."

"The Seal... must first be... broken," Sato reminded his Master.

"Indeed." A pause. "Do you have any further information relating
to activities of the senshi and their... charge?"

"No. No, I do not. And that... is troubling me. Can I have... your
permission to hunt them down?"

There was silence on the other end. And then: "No. Not for the 
moment. They may yet serve a purpose. Yet... we can't leave them to 
their own devices. Send an Agent or two to deal with them as you see
fit from time to time. Yet... don't kill them. Yet."

"And if an... accident should... occur?"

A vocal shrug. "Accidents happen. But best not too often. I will ring
again in the next few days with an update on construction schedules."
Then there was nothing but dialtone to show Yoshihiro had hung up on
his end. Sato likewise returned his handset to its cradle, and 
smiled.

Accidents, hmmm? Yes.... but where to find a senshi when you need to
play with one?

******

Two weeks later, after Sunday morning training, Kaname relaxed in the
men's hot springs. She still wasn't certain of the senshi one hundred
percent, and while she was now certain her life wasn't in danger
from any of them - heck, even Usagi could cook, it just looked 
terrible - she was still unsure about living around people who'd 
known her Before and who knew more about her past than she did.

Okay, she knew about Ranma Saotome now, and she didn't like him. He 
was an arrogant, selfish jerk. Even if, according to Hotaru, he'd 
grown up a lot, he was still a jerk. That was something Kaname wanted
to change. If anything of her survived getting him back, *if* she got
him back, that was what she wanted changed. That final bit of 
maturity. She hoped, anyway.

She knew about Ranma, and she knew more about the senshi. She knew
that Mitsuki, for example, suffered from some huge mental trauma
that had created a bunch of personalities that weren't necessarily
anything like Mitsuki herself. A week ago, Mitsuki had started 
referring to herself in the third person while she stretched every
combat skill Kaname had learnt to their limits. Even her speech 
patterns changed, and Kaname swore blind that her hair had fallen
differently, that her eyes had changed colour a little, that she was
subtly, but completely, different. Later, she'd put it down to a 
personality shift to something... someone... that had wanted to test
her. It had been grudgingly impressed, although Mitsuki was fighting
unenhanced by her senshi form, like the others fought when they 
sparred together. Each had to drop their transformation when they 
sparred with Kaname, though, because they'd quickly found out that
however she'd saved Mitsuki... Sailor Nemesis... Kaname couldn't
repeat that change. She didn't actually remember much of it, 
actually. It was like she'd been someone else. Which also worried
her a lot. But then, Mitsuki had said later it was Ranma who'd been
speaking, and she guessed, if she was a part of him, he technically
was a part of her.

That whole split personality thing made her feel closer to Mitsuki
than the other senshi.

So here she was, after the high-energy sparring that had gone on that
day, and to be honest, she felt good. Damned good, for someone who'd
been slammed into walls a few times, and slid over in the snow more
than once. She guessed the springs had something to do with that,
the hot water working magic on sore muscles and bruises that were,
even now, fading. She guessed by later afternoon, she'd have no 
ill-effects, if not sooner. She'd noticed she healed faster than even
the senshi - well, when Hotaru wasn't working her voodoo, anyway.

She looked around the enclosure. The men's springs were much smaller
than the women's area, as the dorm was primarily an all-girl's
dorm. Yet, Kaname guessed that previous managers must have been male,
even before Ranma, because the area did exist. If the place was an 
all-girls dorm, she couldn't see any other reason that readily came
to mind. Kaname shifted on the rock she was sitting on, feeling
it dig into a bruise on her backside, reflecting that the women's
springs were much more comfortable, but she'd grown rather 
uncomfortable in there with the other senshi, seeing as Rei, Hotaru
and Mitsuki often stared, making her feel very uncomfortable.
Minako just found it amusing.

They didn't venture into the men's area, so that morning after 
practise, when everyone had headed for the springs, Kaname had 
diverted from the others and headed into the men's area. She'd heard
the muted tones of conversation from the other side of the bamboo
wall separating the two areas, but she hadn't paid any attention
to it; it was just noise. She tried to focus everything out, so she
could meditate, try and reflect on what she'd learnt that morning
in sparring - the senshi weren't very good teachers, but Kaname was
learning by watching. She didn't think half of what they were doing
was actually martial arts - it looked more like something you'd see
in anime - but the senshi assured Kaname that they had been taught
all this by Ranma. So Kaname soaked up what she could, combined
that with what she knew already, and tried to match the 
more-experienced senshis' speed and ferocity. Oftentimes, she was 
caught offguard by a move, but hardly ever caught the same way twice.
Although, it had to be said, Kaname seemed to be better at avoiding
punches and kicks than she was at landing them.

She shifted on her rock again as the voices melted away on the other
side of the bamboo. Water slowly splashing over that side suggested
someone was still in there, and Kaname assumed it was Rei, seeing
as she liked her private time for 'meditation'. Over the next few 
minutes, though, she became aware of something else going on with the
splashing. Not the soft whispers of pleasure she expected, but 
something else she couldn't make out; there was just a little too 
much splashing.

Kaname was startled by the doors to the men's area opening, and 
Mitsuki stalked in, discarding her towel and the few items of 
clothing she must have been pulling on in the anteroom to the women's
area before she slipped into the water. She paused for a moment,
a soft glow of pleasure lighting her face up as the warm water took
away the biting cold of the snow and cool breeze blowing into the 
enclosure, then moved over to sit beside Kaname.

"So. How far are you willing to go with a person?" Mitsuki asked,
the subject coming from nowhere that Kaname could ascertain,
and she felt at a loss with regards to an answer.

"Pardon?"

"You know, physically." Mitsuki raised an eyebrow in query. "How much
would you be willing to do? Kiss someone? Hug them? Maybe be groped,
or perhaps you might wanna, you know, caress an inexperienced
kid who needs the security of a woman? Perhaps you'd like to just...
you know... lie back, spread your legs, and let someone who knows
what they're doing go to town."

Kaname blinked, then blushed. "What right have you got to ask that
kind of question?" she demanded in a shaking voice.

"Oh, relax," Mitsuki waved Kaname down. "I don't want to do anything
to you. Well, not me. Mitsuki, now, Mitsuki, she wants me to say 
something else. Anything else, actually. So, yeah, I find you very
appealing. But then," she said, shrugging, "I'm a guy, so what do you
expect? You're a naked woman, what guy who isn't into guys isn't into
that?" The question was rhetorical, but Mitsuki answered herself
anyway. "Tetsuya, actually. He's not gay or anything, just respects
Mitsuki's right to make decisions about her body, and she's not into
lesbianism...s...istic stuff. You know. Kinda like you, I guess.
Man in a woman's body, but the woman doesn't remember it. Gotta be 
hard on the libido. I mean, you know Ranma's into girls. And that 
perhaps you won't be in control all the time. And it's Ranma's body
and stuff... so he's kinda in charge, right?"

"No..."

"Yeah, I'm right. Trust me on this," Mitsuki said seriously,
touching Kaname on the arm and peering into her eyes in a show of 
certainty and experience. "We all have this knowledge. If Mitsuki
ever figures out who's in charge properly, well, we could all be in 
trouble, so mostly, most of us don't give her reason to think about
it."

"... Who are you?"

"Me?" Mitsuki pointed to herself with a thumb. "I'm Shuuji. I'd say
pleased ta meet cha, but you know, we've met already. Kinda. I've 
checked you out in the other springs." She jerked the same thumb at 
the bamboo wall.

"So... what are you doing in here, then? Hitting on me?"

"Nah... nah, not at all." Mitsuki shook her head emphatically.
"I mean, sure, most of the others'n me, we'd all like to, but 
Mitsuki..." She took a deep breath, then sighed. "She's scared of 
saying things sometimes. Most times. So it's us, usually, you know?
And she kinda wants you to go next door and comfort a crying young
girl who's lost her boyfriend, and thinks who he's become has just
turned her back on her."

"Hotaru..." The sounds from the next spring snapped into place: the
girl there was sobbing quietly, under the motions of the water. After
the senshi had left the springs, that was probably the most private
place in the dorm.

"Bingo. Nice as you are, and as much as we kinda feel you make the 
Earth move for us, we, well, want you to go next door, make things
right with her."

"I'm not having sex with her," Kaname said in a firm, clear voice,
shaking her head.

"Didn't say you had to, right? Just..." A change swept over Mitsuki,
very subtle. Like she changed her clothes, Kaname thought, and 
realised it was someone else now. The way she shrank into her 
shoulders suggested she wasn't comfortable talking about this very
much. "J-j-just go in t-there and c-c-comfort-t her," Mitsuki 
finished, before blushing furiously and climbing from the spring
and leaving the area at a fast clip, leaving Kaname in thought.

******

Hotaru wiped at her face futilely for a moment when she heard the 
door open before realising her arms were as wet as her face, and 
simply dunked her whole head underwater to erase any obvious evidence
she'd been crying. She bit back on a few sobs, her breath choking
as they tried to force their way out, and she moved until she sat 
with her back to the doors, hoping whoever it was who'd entered
was either leaving again directly, or, if they climbed into the 
spring again, would be sitting behind her and not see her eyes.

Hopefully.

There was a pause after some padded steps, and the swirl and swish
of water as someone entered the springs. Hotaru tracked the person's
movement by sound, then lost it somewhere opposite her. She chanced
opening her eyes, to find herself staring into Ranma's bright, happy
eyes.

Hope surged in her heart, then died as she realised it was Kaname
rather than Ranma, that her hopes and dreams had been dashed - again
- and she looked away.

But Kaname sat, with a moment's hesitation, next to Hotaru. Very next
to Hotaru. So next to Hotaru that Hotaru felt like she'd burst out of
her skin of Kaname so much as moved. She reminded herself she was 
older than Kaname ever would be, and the cold, clinical side of 
herself - Saturn - chidded herself for reacting like a horny 
teenager, but then sighed and gave up, most likely because Saturn
herself realised Hotaru wasn't much more than just that.

"So," Kaname said. It was very neutral, both in quality and delivery.

"Yes. So," Hotaru repeated, also neutral by way of hormonal surges.

"I understand you've been crying," Kaname continued.

Hotaru felt herself sag, and the elation of only moments before 
deserted her.

"I, um, I'm not Ranma. But, um, you should know that... well..."
Kaname's voice trailed off.

"Yes?" Hotaru asked in a small voice.

Kaname wrestled with herself for a full minute before turning,
grabbing Hotaru's chin and guiding the younger woman into a kiss.
It lasted for more than a few seconds, Kaname obviously giving it 
consideration, Hotaru trying desperately to inject her previous
relationship into Kaname by way of staggeringly huge amounts of 
telepathic images, before they pulled apart. Hotaru touched her lips
cautiously. Kaname rubbed hers idly. That image fell like a lead 
weight in Hotaru's stomach.

Then, "That wasn't too bad," Kaname conceeded. "Like kissing...
a mother... I think..."

Hotaru chuckled, despite herself, then caught herself as she caught
the twinkle in Kaname's eye.

"Hotaru, look. It's like this." Kaname sighed. "I'm not Ranma right
now. You know that, I know that. I've said things that have hurt you,
and I hope you can understand why. I don't consider myself a lesbian
or anything - because, you know, I suspect Ranma may only have had a 
rudimentary idea of sex, and I've got more than that..." Kaname 
sighed, and continued. "And I don't think Ranma, from what you guys
have said about him, I don't think he had thought about what would
have happened if you two had had sex while he was a woman. If he was
stuck like that. And I'm heterosexual, I think, I mean I haven't
had a chance to find out yet, and I think I'm confusing the issue
even more here." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes. When she 
opened them again, she stared at Hotaru directly to make sure there
would be no misunderstanding. "I... draw the line at sex, okay? No 
sex. Not in the slightest. Someone else's virginity isn't mine to 
throw away. And I think I've got to respect Ranma's wishes here, 
since if he comes back... well, anything I start'll likely finish,
you know? So I'd like to work at something I'll be remembered
fondly for rather than cursed for not being able to have it 
continued."

Hotaru nodded. "Yes, sempai," she said, not actually believing
her ears and thinking she'd slipped under the water and that someone
was going to start resuscitation procedures fairly soon.

"And - and you know, let me... um... let me lead with new things.
Because I don't know if I'll like them yet. Or stand them. Or... you
know, be able to accept them if they're thrown at me. You've had time
to consider a relationship with a woman, I haven't, and yeah, kissing
I can handle, I think, and... and..."

"You don't have to explain, sempai," Hotaru said quietly, shyly now
that everything had apparently been resolved. She nodded. "I'll 
respect your wishes. Just... please... don't hurt me like you did the
other week again?"

Kaname reached out and stroked Hotaru's wet hair back across her 
forehead. "I'll try not to."

Hotaru seemed to be happy with that, and shifted to sit up against
Kaname for a moment, cheek pressed against the copper-haired
woamn's shoulder for scant seconds, before she turned and kissed
Kaname's shoulder and climbed out of the springs to grab a dry towel
and head inside. She paused at the doorway, looking back in.

"Thank you, sempai," she said. And then she disappeared inside.

******

Kaname found dinner that evening... interesting.

After Hotaru had left the hot springs, she'd stayed away from Kaname
the rest of the day, finding reasons to be elsewhere. Kaname thought
the younger girl was giving her space to make the first move, but 
dinnertime proved that to be a lie. Seated around the table, Hotaru
had insisted on sitting opposite Kaname, almost pushing Rei from her
feet as she went to sit down in that position. Rei grumbled, but 
sighed, shook her head, and moved somewhere else; it seemed as if 
everyone else had guessed something was up.

Makoto gave them both weird glances as she served dinner, leaving
the bowls of steamed rice unopened while she brought out the various
toppings and side dishes from the kitchen quickly. Hotaru's eyes were
locked straight on Kaname's from the moment she had sat down, though,
and remained locked on until she quickly picked some dinner from the
table's centre. Once she had her dinner in front of her, she thanked
Makoto for the meal with the others, but her eyes were focussed
on Kaname once more.

Kaname came to realise during the meal Hotaru had locked herself
away to avoid doing something stupid.

And she also realised that Hotaru hadn't yet realised that locking
herself up hadn't cooled her down, but had in fact done the complete
opposite: she was sending off waves of something almost palpable.
Minako looked interested, eyes darting back and forth between each
of the two women, and Kaname, now knowing something of the senshi,
realised why Minako occasionally sent the women those gazes and quick
glances - the senshi of love picked up on a lot more than she let on.

After the main course, Makoto cleaned up, with muttered help from 
Rei, who had just taken to avoiding Kaname's pleading glances to 
distract Hotaru. Hotaru fidgeted on her chair as the dessert came 
out, and then Kaname felt something under the table. Hotaru had just
kicked her, and was looking smug and shy at the same time, by way of
slyness. Kaname groaned inwardly. She should have handled Hotaru
differently, she knew, but kissing her had seemed the right thing
to do at the time. She should have gone slower. But no, she'd had to
go set the pace at a high level. Nasty, nasty woman, she kicked 
herself mentally. But she sighed, and smiled back at Hotaru, raising
her eyebrows to say, not now, wait. Hotaru pouted, but then sank into
something resembling normalacy, and dessert was indeed what Kaname
had come to know as 'normal' in a dorm full of senshi. There were no
food fights, although one did threaten to break out between Usagi
and Minako over men, and there was no sparring, apart from the light
verbal barbs traded between Makoto and Mitsuki over who was doing
to clean up afterwards. Kaname forestalled the argument by simply
getting up and cleaning up herself.

Once the plates and bowls had all been cleaned, and left-overs
placed in the refrigerator, Kaname retired to the lounge to watch
some television, if there was anything much on. Television had 
returned almost to normal, but there was little coming in from 
overseas, so Kaname couldn't watch any new episodes of the American
law dramas she'd come to enjoy, simply because the new stock had been
run already. They were only repeating those shows now, for the second
time, it seemed. So Kaname joined in with Mitsuki, who'd taken her 
medication for the evening, and watched anime.

This particular show seemed to be about giant robots that joined
together to form an even more powerful giant robot, and didn't seem
to be too bad from a technical standpoint, as the designs were almost
real enough to look as if they could exist if only someone put money
towards them. The characterisation, on the other hand, was laughable,
but Kaname kept silent on the matter. After a while, she began to 
enjoy the simplicity of the characters for what they were, ciphers
of stereotypes. The fact that Kenji was an arrogant, egotistical
jerk who thought his Mega Robo could triumph over anything by itself
reminded Kaname of how people described Ranma, and how she'd 
experienced him in that one vision. The fact that the Mega Robo could
often beat many of the lesser, non-boss-type monster characters
suggested Kenji wasn't far off in his claims of ego and pride, but 
she suspected by the end of the series, that would be his downfall.
Himeko, the Princess, was the token female. Stupid, a complete
airhead who giggled too much and missed all of the character 
interaction going on around her, she was very kind-hearted
and friendly, reaching out to those in need and giving her life, or 
nearly going that far, very often. As far as Kaname could tell, she
hadn't actually died yet. She piloted the agile Rabbit Robo, a fast,
light combat unit. Kyoto, nicknamed because he came from the nuked
city of the same name - he was the only survivor - piloted the 
extra-heavy Gorilla Robo, armed with nova cannons on the shoulders
and a double-punch that could tear enemy droidians apart. Kyoto was
the mechanic of the group, slow to anger, but a raging torrent of 
emotion once roused. There was the street urchin, Shinji, who'd been
found in ruins clutching an activation key for the Tank Robo, the 
last giant robot of the team, able to transform from tank to robot
and back. Shinji had lived a hard life, and was assailed by voices
in his head.

Kaname realised why Mitsuki was transfixed by the screen with that
revelation. She guessed, though, that Shinji's voices were in fact
created by Biolumass, the evil scientist working for Lord Dread in 
the deadly Waste Zone, as they obviously had the same voice actor.

This particular episode had captured Kaname's attention for other
reasons, too: most notably that the Ultra Robo team (the name of the
combined giant robot form) had been removed from their reality and 
placed into a parallel dimension where instead of being heroes,
they were now criminals on the run from the Universal Planetary
Hegemony and were separated from their giant robots. Of course,
it was complete and utter rubbish, with plot holes appearing 
everywhere, but it was an interesting take on their current 
predicament.

As the credits started rolling, and Himeko's voice actress starting
belting out a pop song - Kaname's eyes opened as she saw Megumi 
Hayashibara's name scroll past in the cast list, wondering who 
actually liked her squeaky voices, considering her roles were so 
widespread - Mitsuki leaned over the edge of her chair. "So, what did
you think?"

Kaname wasn't sure what was expected of her. Conversations
with Mitsuki often went off in directions she couldn't fathom, but 
she gamely took a stab at what she thought Mitsuki was talking about.
"I think that Biolumass is the person making the voices in Shinji's
head," she hazarded.

Mitsuki pursed her lips for a moment in thought, then nodded. "Yeah.
You spotted the voice actor too?" Kaname nodded. "Mmmm. Think that's
what's wrong with me?"

"There's nothing -"

"Pfffft. I know I have voices, and people, in my head. Nothing to be
that embarrassed about now. I mean, had them there for the last ten
years, more or less." Mitsuki shrugged. "And I know why, too. Kind
of. Things I'm still not comfortable talking about... with you." She
looked at Kaname strangely, as if trying to send a telepathic
message to the woman about some subtle subtext there. "But," she 
conceeded with a glance back at the mercifully muted television,
"I almost wish it was some evil person speaking in my head. If it was
just voices, I might accept that idea, you know," she said, turning
back, "but... it's not just voices. They're there all the time, and
they're like... mini-me's. Versions of me that... aren't complete.
Fragments of my mind. Each tends to follow some aspect of my 
personality or mental state... Shin, for example, is my intelligence.
She's my intelligence let loose, with access to all my memories,
everything I've learnt over the years... if she was bad, I don't 
know, I could probably give Ami a run for her money. Because Shin's
just brain. Little emotive content, very passive. Seemingly ery 
understanding, but just empty. Kari, on the extreme other hand, is 
emotion and emotive reasoning. She's the extreme, the opposite
of Shin, acts without thinking just based on how she feels, which
can lead to some good, occasionally - I think she saved your life,
but she won't say why..."

"Say? You... communicate?"

Mitsuki nodded. "Mmmm-hmm. Not like you'd think, I expect. But...
I can see them when they talk to me. And, likewise, when they're
in charge, they can see me if I talk. It's... weird. My last 
psychiatrist said it was that I was visualising them in my head...
that my mind is constructing an elaborate virtual reality to interact
with my psyche in... and that none of it is real. But I think...
you know, I'm a reincarnated soldier of the Moon Kingdom, right?
And I think *that*... has done something to my brain. I first started
having... problems... right after I found out I wasn't a normal 
person... I think the problems I was having at the time were 
exacerbated by becoming superhuman." She shrugged, changing the 
subject back. "Where was I? Oh yeah, Kari. She does good sometimes.
But mostly, because she has little intellect to think things through
with, or at least uses none because she acts on emotive impulse,
mostly she's interested in self-gratification. The, erm, things I've
done in public in times past... well, would worry me greatly if I 
hadn't moved about so much."

"One of the others was saying something about you being a... killer?"

"No, not a killer. Well, not quite. And understand, that was nothing
I wanted to do. It just... happened."

"What 'just happened'?"

Mitsuki stood, prowled around her chair, anxious again, like she 
hadn't taken her medication. She made sporadic eye contact with 
Kaname, and it was rather obvious she was wanting to say something,
but also at the same time, didn't want to. When she started making
eye gestures to people who weren't in the room, Kaname guessed 
Mitsuki was having an internal conversation. Finally, she locked
eyes with Kaname again, stopped her pacing and leaned down, almost
agressively on the back of her chair. "I gave him a stroke, on top of
other assorted injuries. He, um, became conscious a few months back
for the first time in a while, actually, and he, um, still wets 
himself at the mention of my name."

"How do you give someone a stroke?" Kaname asked, incredulously.
Every day, she learnt something new in this dorm that she hadn't
thought possible before. Magical girls, talking cats, mystic healers,
perverted gremlins, and now a woman who could conjure up illnesses.
Well, supposedly.

"I don't know," Mitsuki admitted. "I think it was a reaction to my 
body, um, you know, not like 'woah, you're hot,' but more like my 
energy field. My ki, as you... Ranma'd say. My other personalities
didn't give me much of a problem until that act. I... nearly killed
him. Accidentaly. I just wanted to lose my virginity, you know? Have
sex? And then I blew this poor boy up. He'd been the only boy who'd
been interested in me in that town, and... and do you know what that
feels like? And after that, I fell apart and the others had to...
help me get by. Else I'd have killed myself too."

Kaname was horrified by the explanation. "You... went free?"

"I ran, actually. Well, Kari did. Taki came forward, thinking if I 
was incarcerated, I'd lose the will to live and let someone else in,
but I wasn't charged. Instead, I was put into psychiatric care for a 
few months, on medication, and went through therapy and counselling,
and then I left." Mitsuki moved back around her chair and sat down
again, leaning forward to rest her chin on her hands and her elbows
on her knees. She looked upset, troubled. "I almost believed the 
doctors, you know? When they told me it wasn't my fault, that I 
wasn't strong enough to break legs and arms and ribs and his pelvis
and rupture major blood vessels in his head as well as fracturing
his skull majorly without leaving a mark on him, you know? I just 
wanted to believe that. But... I know differently. Kari thinks it was
me, too. She kind of enjoyed the act that much more because of it."

"How'd it happen? I mean, was he something special?"

"No... not really. I moved into the street for a while, went to 
school. He kind of drifted around the street, going from girl to 
girl, not staying with any, but with me... it was different.
Like he'd fallen into a holding pattern. He'd come see me, head off
to see another girl, but not do anything with them. And then he'd 
come back. And go again. And eventually, he spent more time around
me than he did around other girls. Until one afternoon, when his 
parents were out, we fell into his bed together, and stayed there
for a while. And then..." She looked wistful, staring backwards
in time. Intense, as if by concentrating hard enough, Mitsuki could
indeed travel back in time to that moment. "We started. And when we 
finished, when he finished, it was, it was horrible. Not at first,
I just thought perhaps it was a lot better for him than it was for 
me. And he just trashed around a bit, moaning, jerking, almost like
a puppet with its strings cut. I really did my best then to make it 
good for him. You know, faking it, grinding up against him, trying
to scratch at his back... I first realised something was wrong when
I watched his eyes... just flash bloodshot. That was when I panicked
and pushed him off me. I'd thought I was transformed, but I wasn't.
I was just... me. Like this, now. And I panicked. I really did. I 
called an ambulance, and I think that was what saved his life. That
was six years ago, coming up on seven."

Kaname did the mental maths. "You were fourteen?"

"Yeah," Mitsuki confirmed. "Fourteen and on the run from my past 
already. And then on the run from my present when I nearly killed
my boyfriend. When I was thinking right again, I decided I wasn't
going to let that happen. But... I have a way of losing control
when I can't afford to. And that means bad things when people are 
around."

"You haven't touched a man in six years? Wow," Kaname said, trying
to find something she could talk about. "I find it hard after, you 
know, nine weeks, but..." Mitsuki looked hurt. "I mean, you're not 
even *tempted* to try again? I have to say, that sounds like a 
one-off thing."

Mitsuki shook her head at Kaname's comment, sounding defensive.
"No, it doesn't, not when you know me. I want to try again, believe
me, I *really* want to try again. I've touched men, but not in the 
ways I want to. The ways I think I need to. Or, rather, need to be 
touched."

"Have you tried women?" Kaname suggested.

"Have you?" Mitsuki shot back immediately. "How's that working out 
for you?"

"What?"

"I saw Hotaru at dinner. She was all over you! She only found your
legs *after* she'd found mine. I guess that's why she was a little
abrupt with you. And, you know, Shuuji might be what I'd call a 
fence-sitter in that he's not taking part in the war for my head but
just interested in seeing the outcome, but he's a talkative fellow
and he was the one who decided to put into action what I'd have liked
to... but didn't have the courage for."

"You're fairly talkative yourself."

"It's the medication. My brain slows down in forming thoughts and 
alters other thought patterns. That's why I'm usually in here 
watching television while my medication is working at its best. You
don't know awesome programming until you watch some of this anime
where the anime talks back to you."

"Weird."

"Yeah." Mitsuki looked away for a moment, and Kaname had the 
sensation of yet another invisible, but brief, conversation.
"Oh, yeah, and be nice to her, okay? She's been through a lot."

"So have I," Kaname reminded her. Mitsuki looked thoughtful at that,
then got up and sat down next to Kaname, looking into her eyes all 
the time. After a moment of sitting still, Mitsuki's arms jumped
up around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace against
Mitsuki's ample chest.

"I forgot. I'm sorry." One hand freed itself and started stroking
Kaname's hair idly. "We all have our problems, and perhaps I 
shouldn't be bothering you about Hotaru's. But she and you mean a lot
to me, you know, and I'd hate to see her hurt."

Muffled as her voice was by the enveloping presence of Mitsuki's
breasts, Kaname managed, "I thought you two were rivals for Ranma?"

"We are. But Saturn is also what grounds me, and keeps me within
the Kingdom." She kissed the top of Kaname's head, released her, and
headed down the hallway, deeper into the dorm buildings.

Kaname's eyes followed her as she vanished. "Weird."

******

Hotaru was quiet, sitting on Kaname's futon. She was there when 
Kaname came in after watching another television programme, and she
kept her eyes averted while Kaname changed, only minorly 
self-conscious about the fact she was almost completely undressed
in front of the young woman who very obviously wanted to be watching.
It wasn't so much that she'd be changing in front of someone that 
troubled Kaname, it was rather the fact that the person she was 
changing in front of was apparently lusting after her.

Once she was in her pyjamas, she sighed, unable to pretend Hotaru
was there for anything less than a friendly chat anymore, and she sat
at the top end of her futon, without looking at her. "You do remember
I said let me do -"

"Yes, sempai," Hotaru said, quietly. "I wanted to apologise for my 
behaviour earlier."

"How long have you been in here for?"

"Not long."

"How long?"

"About an hour. Maybe a little longer."

"Oh god, Hotaru, why didn't you come find me if you had something
you wanted to get off your chest?"

Hotaru looked around, the hints of a smile playing at the corners
of her lips. But then it faded under the blush that came to her 
alabaster skin as something even worse apparently occurred to her,
and she looked down, her fringe covering her cheeks. "I'm sorry,
sempai. I have more to be sorry for, too."

"What about? Shouldn't I be apologising?"

"You?" Hotaru looked up, surprised.

"Yeah, me," Kaname shot back. "I mean, I'm the one who messed up and
told you to go away and got you upset in the first place, and -"

"And you couldn't help yourself," Hotaru interrupted, shaking her 
head. "I know that. You're not Ranma, even if you have his body. But
I think there's something there of him, that just wants a rest, time
to deal with everything that's happened to him lately and around
him." Hotaru paused. "I tried to kill him, you know," she added,
softly.

"What?"

"I was made evil, and I tried to kill him and other people."

"Are you trying to scare me off? Because, it's working really well."

"He stopped me. He - did something. He stopped and made me think.
And it wasn't his fighting that stopped me. No; it was something
deeper, something within him. Because -" She fell silent, remembering
events in her head but forgetting that Kaname wasn't privvy to them.

"Because?" Kaname prompted after a minute.

Hotaru started, blinking at Kaname. "Because he didn't fight me back
to normal. He fought me, but that was to keep me occupied. He didn't
want to hurt me. He talked me back to being good. Like he realised
that fighting wouldn't do anything except keep him alive long enough
for him to reach me." She looked confused. "And you know, it's almost
like someone had told him to do that, sometime, somewhere, because
I think fighting was all he knew before moving here. And this...
he wasn't fighting. He was... talking. Talking in ways that I thought
were beyond him."

"He wasn't much of a talker?"

"More of a doer," Hotaru nodded in confirmation. "But he knew me in 
ways the man who twisted me never could. I... pushed Ranma away after
that, because I felt I had to atone. But, in the end, that last 
moment before he saved us all, I realised that it wasn't needed,
that he really did understand, and more importantly, that he accepted
that I had... tried... to do that to him. That also surprised
me. I mean, completely apart from him showing up from under that 
building as an evil General-monster thing, but still saving us...
I don't know."

"I don't either," Kaname echoed hollowly. "Everyone keeps talking
about him, and I've met him - once. Twice, actually. No... maybe 
three times. But I don't know him. I probably never will. I'll just
blink out of existance when... when he comes back."

Hotaru lay a hand on Kaname's thigh, and queezed gently with a smile.
"I don't think so. You might be what sprang up in his absence,
but I think perhaps you're more like him than you realise."

Kaname went to ask a question, but there was a knock on the door,
and it slid open. Usagi peered inside quickly, scowling, as if she 
was checking to see if Kaname was ravaging her young friend, but 
seeing nothing was going on, she leaned back, hands going to her 
hips. "Phone for you, Kaname." She turned, and disappeared further
down the hall. Kaname gave Hotaru an apologetic smile, and left the
room.

Makoto emerged from the kitchen, looking curiously at Kaname as she
picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Uh... Kaname-chan?" the voice on the other end of the line said 
hesitantly. Kaname felt her knees go weak and her fingertips
drain of blood. Shibaru. Unconsciously, she glanced down the hallway
to see Hotaru emerging. She turned her back to the young woman before
she could see Kaname was watching.

"Shibaru. Um, hi. How'd you get this number?"

A nervous laugh at the other end. "I wouldn't be much use in tech 
support for you girls if I wasn't some use at tracking down... rogue
variables."

"Rogue variables, riiiiight."

An uncomfortable silence permeated the conversation, broken by a 
light touch on Kaname's elbow as Hotaru walked past, smiling slightly
and nodding at the phone. She had that ancient look about her again.
She mouthed, "Go for it," at Kaname before continuing on to take 
Makoto by the arm and led her into the kitchen again.

"So, uh, Shibaru, what's up?"

"Oh... you know... lonely nights, boring days without work..."

"Computer system still not fixed?"

There was a nervous sigh in Kaname's ear. "No. And they've got new 
experts in to look at it. There's all kinds of gibberish written
through most of the mainframe's system files, every printer on the 
network server's spouting out some english song, 'Daisy Daisy',
and our employee roster is..." Shibaru's voice cut off suddenly,
and Kaname found her self grabbing the mouthpiece closer ot her lips.

"Shibaru? Shibby?"

"Um, yeah. Here. It's just... weird. And we're not supposed to talk
about it."

"Why not?"

Kaname could almost see Shibaru shrugging, probably in frustration.
She could hear something in his voice that made it quaver ever so 
slightly. "Orders. You know how it is," he added, lamely. Then, he 
paused, took a deep breath, and asked, "Would you like to go out to 
dinner tomorrow night?"

"Monday?"

"Yeah."

Kaname's mouth started to form the word 'no', and her breath started
escaping from her lips even as she forced herself to stop and 
consider why. She'd made a pact with Hotaru, if not in so many words,
that very afternoon that she didn't want to break, and yet, this was
something that she had been wanting for the last two months. Shibaru.
She could imagine the two of them already, having dinner at an 
expensive restaurant, the embarrassment of going home, the warm glow
as he asked if she'd like to come back to his place instead of 
driving all the way out to Kanagawa from the city, the soft rasp of 
sheets on skin and the delicious, incredible heat that only two 
entwined people could produce in the middle of winter. She went to 
say no again, but remembered Hotaru. That old-before-time
look, that understood, that accepted. The "Go for it," as she'd 
passed by.

Damn, she'd known. Damn. Kaname went to say no again, not wanting
to hurt Hotaru any more than she had, when she realised Hotaru was 
there beside her, taking the phone from her hand. "She says yes,"
Hotaru said to Shibaru. "She just can't talk right now. In shock."
And she handed the phone back to Kaname with a smile. "Enjoy 
yourself," she mouthed before heading back into the kitchen.

Dumbly, Kaname nodded.

******

"I thought the two of you had worked something out," Makoto accused
Hotaru as soon as the door had closed behind her.

Hotaru was wearing her Saturn-face again, the cold, clinical 
expression one who has seen too much often wears. Her eyes her deep
and distant as she turned to face Makoto. "As much as I want her to 
say no, I don't want to," she said, simply.

"Why not?"

Why not indeed? Hotaru wasn't sure. She'd seen Kaname's reaction
as she'd come out of her room, saw her finish her turn away, the 
furtive posture of her body. She'd heard the way Kaname was talking
to who was obviously a man on the other end of the line, and she just
knew.

Knew that, if Kaname didn't do this, if she didn't take this chance,
she may regret ever having said anything to Hotaru. She was nine 
weeks old, basically, and for most of that time, had obviously
been interested in this guy she must have met at work. She considered
herself heterosexual, and thus wasn't interested in women as such,
especially as she seemed to be one. And when the man she'd been 
mooning over called her up and was working up to ask her out... 
Hotaru knew Kaname wouldn't say yes to him. She might have resented
having said anything to Hotaru, and she coudln't really deal with 
much more resentment from her boyfriend... well, her boyfriend's
body.

Ultimately, she knew that Kaname wasn't Ranma, and that she didn't
have any claim to Kaname. Eventually, Ranma would come back, and it 
would help if she tried to separate the two in her mind. If Kaname
left her, broke her agreement, to be with this Shibaru, that would
have to be okay with her. Ranma would come back one day, and he was
hers, as much as she was his. If Kaname didn't, well, Hotaru hadn't
lost anything, and may have made up some trust in her display and 
actions.

But all she said was, with a shrug, avoiding eye contact with Makoto,
"That's my decision." She took the back service exit into the rear
hallway, and took the long way around the dorm to her room. Just 
before she could close the door, Kaname's foot intercepted it and 
blocked it from sliding shut.

"Hotaru! Wait!"

"Yes?" She found herself leaning on the door, body mostly behind
it, with her head and a hand poking around the edge. Butterflies
exploded in her stomach.

"It's just dinner," Kaname said.

"I know." Hotaru reached out and took Kaname's hand. "Enjoy 
yourself."

Before Hotaru could pull her hand back, Kaname's other hand clamped
down on it. She could be surprisingly strong when she was determined
to say or do something, Hotaru realised. "I will be. But it will just
be dinner between friends. I made a committment -"

"You're not my boyfriend," Hotaru said quietly.

"I know, but -"

"It doesn't matter what I want," Hotaru continued. "I was being 
selfish. I'm young, and will get over that one day - now is as good
a time as any. You pointed out that while you are here, you don't
know how long, and then you may be gone for good. I think you won't
be, but I don't know for sure. I think... you should go be happy.
We will still be friends, like we are now."

"If you're sure," Kaname replied uncertainly. She let Hotaru's
hand go. "I don't want to hurt you. Again."

Hotaru shook her head. "You won't," she continued in her quiet tone.
"I'm much older than you'll ever be, Kaname, even if I don't look it.
I have died before, I will again. I have outlived partners, and I 
know how ephemeral your lives are. How short, and thus how much more
important that you enjoy what you can while you can. I won't stand
in the way of your enjoyment." She slid the door shut, and leaned
against it, breathing hard, but quiet, the corners of her eyes 
prickling and her lips hurting as she forced them together to stop
from sobbing. Once she was sure Kaname wasn't going to try to open
the door, she flung herself at her bed, buried her face deep in her
pillows, and cried until she fell asleep.

From the window, Luna watched over her.

******

That next evening was doubly uncomfortable for Kaname. It was her 
first time in what could almost be termed a formal date dress, a deep
blue to play against her eyes, tight around the bust, but flowing
outwards from her waist into a loose skirt that hung down to just 
below her knees. A pair of thick straps with ruffles running down to
her breasts held the garment up over her shoulders and helped it sit
straight across her otherwise-athletic frame. Under the dress, she 
wore a skintight grey sweater with long sleeves, as well as boots
that rose up past her knees.

Hopefully, she'd be warm.

Christmas was fast approaching, and Usagi had gotten into the game
of dressing up Kaname for her date that had started by giving her 
white gloves with huge fluffy cuffs and a woollen scarf taht could
wrap around her neck enough to come up to just under her eyes to keep
her warm. Usagi had then stepped back, and gave her critical opinion:
"Hey, not bad. I've got to try that outfit next time I go out."

Mitsuki, sitting silently by watching the crowd, abruptly stood up 
then and gestured at her watch. "If we don't go now, you won't get 
there on time."

"Okay," Kaname said, checking herself once more in a mirror, 
worriedly picking at non-existant fluff before Mitsuki sighed, 
grabbed her arm and pulled her from the room.

Outside, Mitsuki transformed into Sailor Nemesis, and wrapped her 
arms around Kaname's middle, and when she leapt off the ground,
Kaname found herself sliding back with the force of the leap until
her armpits caught on Nemesis' biceps. "Don't worry," Nemesis 
murmured, "I'm not going to drop you."

"I wasn't worried about that," Kaname replied.

"Liar."

"What?"

"You're lying. To me. You think I'm going to get angry at you for 
getting Hotaru's hopes up, then dashing them like this." Kaname felt
the senshi shrug above her. "But I'm not. She's a big girl, and I 
can't watch out for her if she keeps putting herself in stupid 
positions, you know."

Kaname face grew warm with an embarrassed flush. "I didn't want to 
break my agreement."

"I know. That's why I'm not angry." They whistled down, and Nemesis
spun around so her feet took the impact on the concrete roof of the
building they landed on, then they flexed, and the women were off 
into the air again. "She's trying to make you happy, you know. As 
well as make sure her boyfriend is close to her. And as well as 
seeing how much she can trust you, how much you like her."

"I know," Kaname answered softly. "You think I don't? It's funny.
I get over my preconceptions, break through any number of barriers
I have about things, to make her happy - and she then tells me she 
doesn't want me like that. I know she does, I want -"

"Yes?" Nemesis asked after a couple of minutes went by without Kaname
completing her sentence.

"I think I want her," Kaname completed, finally. "But I want...
to make sure. This has been really quick for me. Two weeks ago, I was
scared of her and didn't want to talk to her. Now, I'm kissing her 
and picturing doing more. Not that doing more is appealing to me 
right now, but two weeks ago, I couldn't conceive of me kissing
her, either. I need to make sure that I'm not going to hurt her, that
I'm not going to want to. Shibby-chan... he was the one man I wanted
desperately to notice me. To... think of me like a woman, rather
than a person with no memory. I mean, as far as he knew, I could have
had a husband, children, diseases... I could be a murderer, or 
criminal."

"That Agent Sato said you were a terrorist," Nemesis reminded her.

"Gee, thanks for reminding me that the government - or what passes
for one here - thinks I blew up half the city." Kaname snorted as 
they leapt from another building. "I need to know if the feelings
I have for Hotaru-chan... will be negated next time I see or hear 
from a cute guy. A guy I could - well, you know."

"Make slow, passionate love to all night long, or just have him 
quickly up against an alleyway wall?"

Kaname chuckled nervously. "Well, yeah, I guess."

"Good reasons. We can accept them, anyway." Nemesis was quiet for a 
minute, then: "We're coming up to where I'm dropping you off. You'll
have a block to walk from here. I'll..." They landed, and Nemesis
said no more.

"You'll?" Kaname prompted after she dusted snow off her dress and 
boots and straightened up to look at the senshi again.

"I'll..." She turned away. "Look, Kaname, I'll be in the area, you 
know? Just in case you need help. Or something. Or a ride home. 
Because... in this day and age... in this world, a girl can't be too
careful. So if you need me, call for help."

"You won't hear me," Kaname pointed out.

Nemesis' outfit dropped away to reveal Mitsuki, wearing decent-enough
clothes for a meal in a nice restaurant. "I, uh, made reservations
this morning," she admitted. "Just in case."

"So you could keep an eye on me," Kaname accused.

"Yeah," Mitsuki admitted freely, "but I also don't think you should
be out on your own. Not after what happened back at your apartment."

An image of Sato beating Sailor Nemesis up in the street flashed
up like a ghost in front of Kaname's eyes, and she shuddered 
involuntarily. "Point taken."

"I'll follow you up in a few minutes," Mitsuki assured Kaname. "Don't
worry, we'll be discreet. We've got a vested interest in being nice
to you." She smiled, and gestured for Kaname to go ahead.

******

The restaurant was warm, and Kaname rubbed her hands together 
vigourously to try and rub some warmth into them under the material
of the gloves. With the speed they had been travelling at outside,
as well as the temperature, they hadn't done much to keep her warm.

For that matter, neither had the rest of her clothing. She spoke to 
the doorman, who directed her to the maitre d', who in turn checked
the entry log, then grabbed a passing waiter who guided her through
the throng of people. Kaname barely registered anyone else in the 
restaurant, but did see a family of five checking a menu, three 
businessmen who were discussing folders spread out in front of them,
a single woman, sitting at a table for two, gazing forlornly into the
distance, a finger tracing an idle path around the lip of a crystal
glass. There was a low hum from that table as Kaname passed that she
realised was the audible aspect to the crystal's vibration.

Without seeming to have expended any effort at all, the waiter 
reached a seemingly random table, and gestured to it. Kaname sat 
down, looking up into Shibaru's eyes. Once more, she was almost lost
in them, and felt an almost-tangible pull towards him, like a star's
gravity well yanking at a rogue planet. She willingly gave in, almost
melted into the chair.

He looked as gorgeous as ever. His hair was scruffy, but slicked
back with a little water and a comb. His dress was neat, but not 
quite formal - more a casual style of clothing. But it was ironed,
and that in itself was a little weird, seeing Shibaru in ironed 
clothes. His gaze... well, he dropped his nervous cow-like eyes to 
the table after the initial blast of power from his glance, and 
stared at the table. His shoulders were rigid, and Kaname realised
with a start, he was actually more nervous than she was.

Which made her feel better, grounded her. She couldn't let her 
hormones control her life, nor could she let vague wishes and notions
of familyhood drive her actions. She crossed her hands in her lap,
conscientiously, and glanced down, trying to let Shibaru take the 
lead. It didn't feel right to her, for some reason she felt she 
should be taking the lead, but not knowing the emotions she was 
feeling too well, she wanted someone to guide her, someone she could
take her lead from.

Eventually, he did take charge. "You look nice," he blurted.

"Thank you," Kaname replied, blushing. "You do, too," she returned.

Shibaru nodded, and glanced off to one side. "You know, I uh, I...
couldn't find anything wrong with the computers," he continued.
"The problems just fixed themselves. I think it might have just...
been hacked by someone who put government data in there or 
something."

"Shibby-chan?" Kaname asked as something occurred to her.

"Yes?" His eyes shot back to Kaname, his frame still rigid with 
nerves.

"Why did you ask me out?" She shook her head quickly. "Not that I'm
complaining, but you... you kind of didn't really want much to go out
with me, I thought, regardless of what I felt... for you..."

"Uh..." She watched Shibaru think fast, his eyes rising and sliding
to the right instinctively as he tried to think of something.
That was Kaname's first realisation something was wrong with the 
scene. "It was, you know, I did feel things for you. I just wasn't
comfortable with -"

"Shibby, we'd have just been friends if it was left up to you. It was
me interested in you. I mean, god, you wouldn't even have thought
of me if I was living with -" Kaname cut her words short, and glanced
down at the table, eyes wide with surprise. Dammit, how hadn't she 
realised? "How could you do this?" she asked in a low, tight voice.
Anger, and fear, constricted her throat. Someone standing on the 
other side of the room told Kaname that Mitsuki had realised 
something was wrong with the date, even if she didn't know what it 
was. She was a little too forceful with her chair, and that tipped
over as she fished wildly in her pocket for something.

"How - how could I do what?" Shibby stood up, and stepped, almost
jumped, back from the table. His eyes were growing larger now, with
worry, fear - Kaname could see that through the tears that were 
threatening to stream free. Only her anger kept everything in check
for the moment, and to keep momentum going with whatever was going
to happen, to make sure she was ready, she stood also, pushed the 
table aside, and kept after Shibaru.

"How could you trap me? How could you be party to lure me, an 
innocent woman, to this place to let them get me?"

"If you were innocent, you wouldn't need to fear arrest," Shibaru
gabbled, stumbling over an empty chair. His eyes darted over Kaname's
shoulder, and a sudden chill and a staticky sound told her there were
government agents behind her. She didn't quite understand how she 
knew there were three of them there, but Sailor Nemesis was making
large strides towards Kaname and Shibaru and bringing her hands up 
for a Richter Wave attack on them. Then Shibaru screamed as his form
twisted, blurred and stuttered with a very loud static noise pattern
ripping through the air, before he settled down into the form of 
Agent Sato. Even before the change had settled, the crowd was up, 
screaming and running for the exits.

There was silence around Sato and Kaname as the crowd automatically
parted around them, and Nemesis entered the area devoid of people
and skidded to a stop, seeing what Shibaru had become. "What...
gave our hand... away?" Sato asked with a slight scowl.

Kaname growled, pulling herself upright from her angry, hunched
position and forcing herself to take a ready stance. "No one from 
work, or my old life, knows where I'm living now, and Shibaru managed
to ring me at the dorm. Only someone with access to the system we're
in could manage such a thing. So you guys had to be behind this 
somehow."

"Poor, poor Mister... Tamashii thinks you're responsible for the 
deaths... of a million people. His heart is broken, you know. That
special... feeling takes a woman's... touch." Sato shifted his 
expression to a smirk, and stepped forward purposefully towards
Kaname. She waited until he was in range, then snap-punched,
but he simply stepped to the side in a blur of motion, caught her arm
and looked along it at her before flipping her bodily across two 
tables, where she slammed into the ground.

Nemesis began moving again, but was grabbed by two other Agents,
one for each arm. She twisted downwards, trying to break their grip,
and when that failed, she spun over backwards, using her momentum
to bring both legs up to knee the Agents in their faces. Their heads
snapped back, but their grip didn't alter, and Nemesis felt her arms
wrenched in their sockets for a shocked moment before she started
screaming incoherently in pain.

Kaname rose to her feet, unsteady, and focussed on Sato again. He 
strode through the restaurant towards her once more, but this time
she waited for him to make an attack. The punch was firm, strong
and straight when it came, and it caught Kaname's side as she twisted
violently, bringing a foot up into Sato's gut. He folded in two but
stood upright again without the slightest indication of injury,
the movement only suggesting he'd been affected by the motion rather
than its strength or power. He kicked this time, and Kaname danced
backwards, her thigh's sudden flaring into agony telling her she 
didn't quite dodge the kick. When next she stood on it, pain lanced
upwards and downwards, and she felt something shift - she'd 
splintered bone in there.

"C'mon," she whispered to herself, "Now! Now!" Nothing happened.
No man moving in the corner of her vision, no new strength flowing
through her body, just her pain. In her peripheral vision, Kaname
caught sight of another fist before it crashed into the side of her
head like a freight train. She flew, and that was all she knew, her
suddenly lightened mind marvelling at the sensation of being lighter
than air. Then she wondered why the lights had gone -

SAILOR MOON SAYS:

A friend started me on the path to releasing this first part of the
chapter today (thanks, Rugle, thanks also Misha ^^) and so here it 
is... first of a new duology/trilogy leading up to the last chapter
of Love. The chapter keeps getting longer, and longer, so I'm not 
really sure exactly HOW long it will go... but this is definitely
the first part. Still, it's big. And the next chapter should be 
around the same size, maybe just a touch bigger (perhaps, unless
I split that into two parts). 

I think this chapter hangs together pretty well; and that is the 
feedback I've received thus far as well, so hopefully it's not just
in my imagination.

Of course, the next part is now the rescue of Kaname... and maybe
some other stuff. Well, definitely other stuff, ubt that can be a 
surprise. 

DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters are 
properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several
other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership
and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at 
misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've 
written for whatnot purposes.

WARNING: This chapter has bad language, adult themes, minor horror,
shameless rip-offs, limeish content and at least one sex scene. If 
this was an Australian site, it would carry an MA/MA15+ rating,
which is less than an R, but more than a PG. You have been warned.

LOVE

By

Raymond Cooper

Chapter 16

** Paradise Regained **

The door to the dorm opened, and Hotaru popped up from the couch,
spinning around to face the doorway. "Sempai?" she asked, loudly.
No, she quickly saw, it wasn't. Just Nemesis. Bleeding on the carpet
before she toppled face-first onto the floor.

"Usagi! Makoto! Ami!" she yelled, diving for the elder senshi as she
changed back from her powered form thanks to her unconscious
state. Hotaru wrapped an arm under Mitsuki's head, before laying
a hand on her chest. She felt bones shift under her palm, and 
shivered. The other women were arriving now, as Hotaru grabbed deep
inside Mitsuki and forced the older woman to accept her, pushing
her life force and health through her, driving out the injury. A few
moments, and Hotaru collapsed next to Mitsuki, gasping, pale, heart
pounding.

"What's wrong with her?" Usagi asked anxiously, while Rei headed
out the door to have a quick look to see if anyone was prowling
around outside.

"She's been beaten," Hotaru gasped, trying to regain control of her
breathing and heart rate. Neither were coming under control. "She's
safe now, but... it was a little much," she added.

"Who? Who did this to her?" Usagi demanded. Hotaru didn't know; she
shook her head. Ami was already running a scan cycle from her 
computer, and shook her head.

"Her information has been severely damaged, but she's slowly 
rebuilding, thanks to Hotaru," she said quietly. "There seems to be a
specific method to the damage, though, as if someone was limiting
themselves to not kill her. As if they wanted her to make it back 
here to where she could be helped under her own steam."

"That sounds so mechanical," Usagi blanched.

"That's because it is," Ami replied, closing her computer and putting
it away, her transformation wand appearing in its place. "But perhaps
we should be ready?"

Mitsuki's eyelids fluttered, and a hand clutched at Hotaru's skirt.
She whispered something the pale girl heard, but that no one else 
did, before her grip weakened again and she was once more taken 
unconscious. Rei entered from the front door, shaking her head and 
brushing fresh snow from her shoulders.

"There's no one out there," she said, before she fell silent, waved
quiet by Usagi.

"Hotaru?"

The younger senshi raised her head. "Kaname," she said. "They got 
Kaname."

Usagi was taken aback a little. "I thought she could beat those guys.
What happened?"

"She didn't say," Hotaru shook her head slowly, as if moving at the
moment caused her pain. "Just that she's... been taken. By those 
agents. That they faced before."

"I thought... you know... Ranma came to save her."

"Perhaps he can't," Makoto suggested quietly. "You know, we all saw
him before. A ghost. Like that spat of sightings in town. What if 
that's all Ranma is now? Junk... data... floating around in this 
system?" Something dawned in Makoto's mind. "Maybe that's what ALL 
the ghosts are... the data that make people up, the memories,
personalities, things that got misplaced during this big transfer...
with all the data Ami was talking about, surely something got messed
up..."

"Even a tiny percentage of the data, in the order of 0.0000001%
of the total data transferred, would create mass chaos if corrupted
or lost," Ami agreed. "Although I would expect that without those
specific iems of data, the re-creation wave would have created 
mindless husks rather than people capable of functioning -" She cut
herself off suddenly as realised dawned. "If guided right, the system
operator in charge of the transfer could have shaved off a number
of elements of data and still made a functioning human. That would
mean these people... possibly these Amnesiacs... have had this done
to them deliberately. But why?"

Usagi shrugged. "If that's what you're talking about, it being done
deliberately, and these agents were looking for Ranma, then that's
obvious: whoever set the transfer up did it deliberately to hide 
Ranma from the agents. From Yoshihiro. Whoever set this up isn't 
working for him, but against him."

Rei stared at Usagi. "That's pretty deep," she admitted. "Even for 
you."

"That's just really scary," Makoto agreed. "But why not round us up 
when we were all at the tower site? Every single one of us was 
drained. We were all injured, weakened, shocked into immobility."

"Perhaps the agents weren't online yet," Ami suggested. "Or perhaps
there were other concerns. Running a system this large would create
a multitude of organisational problems. Mostly, they'd have relied
on the existing Tokyo emergency services to run rescue operations
into the Zone -"

"But why," posed Usagi, "did they destroy the tower? If they could
rebuild everything... why not rebuild that? Why have a million people
dead?"

"The dead people," Hotaru said in a quiet, shaky voice, "were dead
before the monster blew us all up. There was nothing to rebuild
but corpses. Even if we save Tokyo, even if we rebuild it, they will
still be dead."

"How do you know?" Minako quiered.

"I'm the senshi of death, remember?" offered Hotaru with a weak 
smile. She pulled herself together, sitting up beside Mitsuki,
running a hand lightly across the older woman's stomach to check on 
her. "I felt them all die, and I haven't felt any of them come back
yet."

"Oh."

"Should we move Mitsuki somewhere more comfortable?" Usagi queried.

"No, you shouldn't," Mitsuki grumbled, her eyes still shut. Her voice
was weak, but gaining strength. "We've got to go after them. While
the trail's still hot. We can't leave Kaname with them." She tried
sitting up, but needed help from Makoto to get fully upright. "I left
her. I couldn't do anything, and they took her. I said I'd protect
her, and I didn't. I've got to -" She tried standing, but Makoto
held her down with one hand.

"You've got to rest. Sleep, preferably. And get something to eat,"
she added, thoughtfully eyeing the kitchen door, already wondering
what she had in there that could be used for that purpose.

"Late night snack?" Usagi asked hopefully.

Ami fixed her with a glare. "Formulating a battle plan," she said 
reproachfully. "The trail is probably already cold; we have to think
of a way to draw these agents out to find where Kaname is, as well
as a way of fighting them."

"Ok, let's do that too," Usagi sighed, helping Mitsuki up with Makoto
on the other side of the woman. "But I think they'll want us to find
Kaname. So we shouldn't think too much on how we have to find her."

******

Which did seem to be the general consensus at the informal meeting,
and so the senshi retired for the night... again. No one seemed to 
sleep very well, least of all Hotaru, who ended up wrapped in a 
blanket on top of the main dorm wing in Ranma's standard perch. From
there, obscured by occasional drifts of snow, she could see far into
the distance. The lights of Yokohama and Kawasaki glittered,
like faint jewels, stars almost, and she felt loneliness. She had had
him back, and she had let him go - had given him to the enemy.

She shuddered at that thought more than the cold. She knew Yoshihiro
intimately, knew how he could twist one's mind. Ranma had already
proven resistant to those charms he wove, the glamour he seemed to 
possess, but Kaname had no such defences. She was female through
and through, and would swoon willingly into his arms, especially
without someone there in memory to hold onto, to clutch at for help
to keep some part of her mind clear. That was how Hotaru had managed
to survive instead of being devoured by the beast Yoshihiro's
subtle magicks had woken.

Something warm pressed into her leg, and she looked down. A hand.
A masculine hand. Callused fingers. She recognised the hands, and 
stifled back a sob. She wanted to touch it, clutch it to her and hold
it tight, but she knew it was only memory, that she was only seeing
what she was wanting to see. Like all the other times. Fantasy.
Imagination. That was all that was left to her now, especially
now. She knew Usagi was right, that these Agents wouldn't leave a 
trail because they didn't need to, didn't have to, that they would
WANT the senshi to come looking for them to get Kaname back, and so 
whatever trail they left would still be there in the morning.

The hand, in Hotaru's memory, stayed there. The other wrapped around
her shoulder, pulled her in close and tight, and she felt a strong
jaw on her other shoulder. Memories. She could almost smell Ranma...

"Hotaru?" Luna asked, waking Hotaru from the doze she'd fallen into.
"You should be in bed, getting some sleep. You don't know if you'll
be getting much rest, after this," the cat added in a warning tone.

"I'm all right, Luna," Hotaru replied, brushing snow off her blanket
and inviting the warm cat inside to sit on her lap. "I'm just 
thinking."

"About?"

"Ranma. And Kaname. And Yoshihiro."

"And?"

Hotaru let out a frustrated breath with its associated cloud of 
vapour in the cool air. "Luna... I'm finding it very hard to wait.
I can go find Kaname, right now, and get her. I *know* I can."

"Can you fight these Agents that Mitsuki has talked about?"

"I can blow up worlds, I think I can handle a few supermen."

"But this is a computer system. So what if they can alter things
so they're stronger than you? What if you try to kill them with your
Silence Glaive, and they instead kill you?"

"Then I'll have *tried*! But this sitting here, doing nothing...
Luna, it doesn't feel right to me."

"Why doesn't it?"

Again, Hotaru puffed. "Ranma would already have come after me. I know
he would have. I can't sit here, sit here and do nothing, while he's
in danager. Even if it's not him."

Luna snuggled into Hotaru's lap, and she found herself stroking
the black feline slowly. "You're not sitting here doing 'nothing',"
Luna chidded. "You're supposed to be getting rest so you *can* do 
something to help him."

"Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do," said a voice from 
behind them both. Hotaru whirled, losing her balance and managing
to catch herself with an elbow before she toppled off the building.

"Yoshihiro!" Hotaru snarled as Luna shot out from under the blanket
and slid down the roof by accident, as Hotaru struggled to her feet
on the slippery rooftop, pulling out her transformation wand.

"You won't need that," Yoshihiro smiled. "You're not strong enough
to fight me successfully, and regardless, I'm not actually here."
As if on cue, a drift of snow blew through him, and his form 
pixelated ever so slightly.

"Why are you here, then, if not to fight?"

"I don't know," Yoshihiro said, as he turned and paced a few steps,
the roof dropping away an a dramatic angle beneath him while he 
remained on some invisible horizontal floor above the tiles. He 
glanced back. "To gloat, perhaps?" he smirked.

"Gloating isn't your style," Hotaru shot back, flicking her wand over
and over in her fingers, unsure of when - or indeed, how - to act.
"You like standing back in the shadows. Acting on your own regard
with no thought to others. No conscience."

"Ah yes, that's right," Yoshihiro said, snapping his fingers in faint
surprise. "You weren't there at the school, were you? Oh, I do enjoy
a little gloating from time to time. It's one of the perks of being
evil. You were unconscious, though; rather, Mistress Saturn was. You
were only a memory."

Hotaru's eyes burned with cold fire.

"And memories... well, memories aren't what we think them to be, are
they?" Now his gaze turned from Hotaru to some place distant, in 
space as well as time. "We have memories that drive us, make us what
we are, make us go on to bigger, better things..." His voice grew as
distant as his gaze, and he fell silent for the moment.

"Memories also keep us warm, waiting for the time when we don't need
to rely on memories again. They can remind us of how far we've come,
of our dearly loved friends and family, and they guide our hearts
and souls," Hotaru forced herself to calm down. So long as she 
couldn't fight him, he supposedly couldn't fight her, and could only
at worst rant at her. Talk Hotaru to death. And while he wanted to 
talk, perhaps he might let slip something...

Yoshihiro's attention returned. "Truer words were never spoken,"
he said with a smouldering smile. "For, one's entire moral centre
is guided by your memory of your parents. Your path in life, your 
goals, are from childhood imaginings. Your relationships are formed
by memories of your parents. A man will fall in love with a woman
who smells like his mother; a woman will fall in love with a man as 
strong as her father. All little things... some of the biggest things
in human existance... but all little... all small... and all dictated
by what you learn as a child. Truth. Love. Justice. Morality.
Honour. Committment. All things learned as a baby, from that first
moment you begin to suckle at your mother's breast to the moment
you become an adult, that dictate how you live your life." He paused,
and looked distant again. "How I envy people who have their choices
made for them."

"I don't understand..."

Yoshihiro offered a short hollow chuckle in reply. "Of course you 
don't. It is surprising how blind people become towards friends."

"We're not friends," Hotaru felt herself growing hot with anger again
and forced it down beneath an icy moon.

"Oh?" Yoshihiro seemed surprised. "But I understand you. I know you.
I know everything about you, things you haven't told anyone - not 
Usagi, not your adopted parents, not even our Mister Saotome. Should
that not mean I am your friend?"

"No it does not," Hotaru replied with disgust leaching through now,
the memory of Yoshihiro's invasions brought to the front of her mind,
searing images of the mental rape refusing to vanish from her eyes.
She spun her transformation wand, felt power flood through her body
(and a chill on her legs), and she spun her Glaive around into a 
ready position. "It makes you an evil, despicable person capable
of the most horrifying violations of body and soul possible. It does
not make you my friend. My friends care about me. My friends care for
me. And in turn, because of their kindness, I care for and about 
them. We are honest with each other, we love each other 
unconditionally, and we refuse to judge our friends, because that's
all we have. Because there are people like you, who would try to hurt
us."

"I see."

"Where is Kaname?"

Yoshihiro looked down. "I... appear to have made a wasted trip."

"Where is Kaname?!?"

"I may have miscalculated."

"WHERE'S RANMA???" Saturn screamed. Yoshihiro's body vanished in a 
dazzle of swirling pixels, and Saturn found herself alone again on 
the rooftop. She slumped to her knees, then slid backwards until her
rump was seated on the rooftop as well; she didn't care about the 
cold, wet feeling from the snow and ice. She tried to cry, but 
nothing wanted to come out of her apart from a few dry wracking
sobs. Again, she was Hotaru, cold, empty, alone on the roof.

And then, her eyes opened wide and her chin came up. And she looked
to one side, before scrabbling down to the guttering. "Oh, shit, 
LUNA!"

******

Luckily, Luna was fine, merely wedged into the guttering at the edge
of the roof and unable to clamber out without help, and she spent
the rest of the night sleeping under the covers in Hotaru's room.

The next morning saw an anxious Artemis prowling the bedrooms looking
for Luna, although once he found her, he tried to affect an air of 
indifference. Luna nuzzled him as she sauntered past for the kitchen,
and that was it. Hotaru was already showered, groomed and dressed
when Luna left, and she joined them and the other senshi in the 
kitchen a few minutes later.

Usagi looked bored as she waited for Makoto to finish preparing
breakfast, but had a determined air about her for the day's events.
Ami concentrated on her studies, lapsing further and further as the
days wore on and school didn't return. Rei ran through some 
hand-written wards and meditation techniques, while Mitsuki absently
combed her hair where she was leaning up against one of the cupboards
as she swallowed her morning medication. Minako was the last to 
arrive, rushing in with a terminal overdose of moisturiser across
her hands.

"ICK! It's gooey!" she yelled before running her hands under one of 
the sink's taps.

"HEY!" yelled Makoto as Minako's vigourous hand-washing spilled
moisturisered water all over a collander of rice. A few seconds
after pushing Minako out of the way, Makoto gave up, glared at the 
woman still trying to get her hands under the tap, then binned the 
rice. "That's disgusting. And that's what bathroom sinks are for, not
the kitchen sinks. Got it?"

Minako stopped, for a moment not moving or blinking, then bobbed
her head. "Got it." She vanished from the kitchen.

"Someone's in a chippy mood," Usagi noted as the door swung shut.
"Anyone'd think she had a.... a..."

"Date?" Ami guessed, looking up from her book. "She woudln't have set
one up for today. She knows what we're doing."

Usagi sank back into her chair, looking thoughtful. "Yeah. Yeah, I 
know. I just think, you know, they're going to want us to find him.
Her. Hir? Her. You know who I mean. Kaname." Hotaru gave her a 
quirked eyebrow in response, and Usagi poked out a tongue, but her 
heart just wasn't in it. "They're going to want us to find her at a 
time and place of their choosing, and we're just gonna have to wait."

"What makes you think that, Usagi?" Ami asked, closing her book and
placing it on the table before her. "I mean, I agree with you, 
mostly, but why do you think that will be the situation?"

Usagi shrugged. "I just believe that, here." She patted her chest.
"I feel it. But if we're in a computer, and they control the 
computer... then they can hide without us finding them. Ever. Unless
they want us to. Because they can control the computer. They can 
control what we see, what we hear, smell, touch... everything."

"But the computer must be set up for a reason," Makoto said from the
sink. "Ami, you said you thought Yoshihiro wanted to use us as a 
power source." At the name, Hotaru stiffened in her chair a little.
Usagi noticed, no one else did. "Any ideas for what?"

Ami shook her head, but had a theory nonetheless. "Beryl utilised
human life force to try to resurrect Queen Metallia; is it possible
she could have survived the destruction of Beryl and her palace,
and be seeking corporeal existance once more?"

Usagi shook her head now. "No. No, I felt her die. Both of them."
She nodded briskly. "Oh, they're very dead."

"That's not the same as saying -"

"They're. Very. Dead."

"Okay," Ami waved the idea away. "It was just an hypothesis."

"Do we have any other ideas?" Usagi asked, looking around pointedly
at Hotaru. But the younger senshi said nothing as yet, and Usagi gave
her a flat glare. "For now, then, I guess we all go about our lives
normally. They'll let us know when they're ready to let us know."

"That doesn't sound like you, Usagi," Mitsuki said from her position
against the cupboard. "You're always rushing in to things, and right
now, you're being sensible. Who the hell ARE you?"

Usagi's ponytails whirled around her head as she snapped her glance
around to fix on Mitsuki. "The leader of this group. And trying not
to get us all killed while trying to rescue someone."

"If it was one of us -"

"If it was one of us," Usagi very pointedly was referring to the 
people in the room except for Mitsuki, "I would give my life for them
while trying. But Ranma's not exactly one of us, and there's still
that whole 'he's an evil Dark General' thing he's got to explain."

Mitsuki sighed, her eyes distant. "But Hotaru knows just how 
attractive the bad boys are..." Said senshi's eyes narrowed 
dramatically, but Mitsuki continued on seemingly oblivious. "And not
all bad boys bite that hard. I mean, look at Keitaro. Ami still 
drools over him when she thinks of him. Or Mamoru; you're so wrapped
up in him we're STILL hearing about you putting date money into 
buying back our identities. I should have gone last night. Soon as 
Hotaru had patched me up, I should have gone out after her again."

"No, you shouldn't have," Usagi replied.

"You were still injured," Ami added.

"Her heart's in the right place," Hotaru said evenly, "even if her 
brain's not." She slid from her chair, and left the room. Silence
reigned.

Then, Mitsuki sighed, pushed herself fully upright and glared at 
Usagi. "Now you got her crying. Great going, fearless leader."
She patted Usagi absently on the shoulder as she passed by, as if by
way of apology, and continued on out the door, apparently following
Hotaru.

"Yikes, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,"
Usagi commented, following Mitsuki's departure with her eyes.

"She'd have smacked bang into the wall if she had," Makoto added 
distantly, back to glaring at Minako, who was now drying off her 
hands with paper toweling and examining them critically.

"I got out of bed on the other side this morning," Minako said, 
apparently happy with the condition of her hands and deigning to join
the conversation once more. "Too many plushies on that side when I 
woke up. Like someone was trying to smother me during the night with
them. Or something." She looked curious. Rei looked annoyed.

"You might not wake up tomorrow morning yet," Makoto promised.

******

Mitsuki caught Hotaru's hand on the stairs to the roof, and held the
younger girl solidly. "Hey," she said.

"Let go of me," Hotaru enunciated. "You've no right to hold me; 
especially not after what you just said."

"What I just...?"

Hotaru jerked her hand from Mitsuki's and headed up the stairs once
more. But again, a hand prevented her from stepping onto the roof.
This time, it pulled her back down to Mitsuki, turning her around
to face the older woman. She was peering into Hotaru's face, on a 
level with it as she was a few steps further down, and she seemed
concerned. "I worry about you, Hotaru. I consider you a friend,
you know that."

Hotaru have an empty chuckle, and turned her eyes to the side. 
"You're the second person to make that claim today who's recently
made my life hell." She cut off Mitsuki's next question by trying
to pull back again. "Will you let me go?"

"No. No, not yet. You know I'm right, don't you?"

"About what?"

"About..." The vehemence spat at her threw Mitsuki for a moment.
"For finding your stinking boyfriend, that's what. He needs tracking
down and bringing back." Again, Hotaru pulled away, and Mitsuki
dug her fingers in. One of the most powerful senshi Saturn might be,
but Hotaru Tomoe was as opposite of that as one could be; there was
no contest.

"You're... hurting me!" she whined, then clapped her free hand over
her mouth, her eyes opening wide as if embarrassed and ashamed of the
public admission. Mitsuki, too, started and let Hotaru go free, and
the young girl bolted up the stairs, fleeing as fast as she could.
By the time Mitsuki recovered, and arrived at the rooftop, Saturn
was bouncing off towards Yokohama.

Moments later, Nemesis joined her, seriousness in her expression,
control once more in her stance. She matched her stride to Saturn's,
yet Saturn wouldn't meet her gaze. The Glaive held loosely in 
Saturn's left hand kept enough distance between the two that Nemesis
couldn't easily intrude onto the other's attention.

For fifteen minutes, they travelled as such. And then, Saturn 
stopped, landing in a concrete field between a pair of warehouses.
Alone, obviously with no one around perhaps for up to a kilometre,
Nemesis and Saturn stared at each other with a scant few metres 
between them.

"What is your problem?" Saturn asked. "You've been baiting me all 
morning. Prodding. Poking. Only a few words; a few brief lines, but
every action seems calculated to set me off."

"I'm not trying -"

"And you DON'T want to set me off." Saturn impacted the haft of the
Silence Glaive into the cement, small chunks flying, dust exploding
upwards to coat her nearest boot. The Stare Of Ages followed.
"You might think you're hot stuff, but I assure you, I play nice with
everyone so you can all look good."

"I have no doubt of that," Nemesis replied, dubiously. "But I don't
know where this is coming from."

"You say the things you say -"

"I haven't said anything!"

"- and expect me to just stay CALM? You insult me, you remind me of 
things I've tried to atone for, that I've been forgiven for, you 
insult my BOYFRIEND, and you -"

"Ranma?"

"- just think I'll let that slip?"

"Calm down, Sailor Saturn! I don't -"

"I *AM* calm!"

"Calm down more, then! I don't know what -"

Saturn fell silent. Then, after a few moments' reflection, "I saw you
take your pills this morning."

Nemesis paused now, searching inside herself. An internal roll-call
suggested something bad. "Oh..."

"Oh? You act like a complete bitch, and all you can say is 'oh'?"

"Oh dear?" Nemesis tried to defuse the situation, but it did little
more than enrage the diminutive senshi. She grabbed her Glaive,
spun it upwards and around, spinning the blade around so only the 
pole of the weapon smacked into Nemesis' head, before she jerked
away in belated motion, already spinning down into a blocking 
position until such time as the ringing in her heads cleared up.

Saturn wasn't going to give her time to gather her wits, though,
spinning the Glaive around her head again and sliding it down towards
Nemesis' other cheek. The elder senshi brought a forearm up to block
it, and it smashed into her arm, deeply bruising the superdense
flesh under the site of impact. Nemesis gasped, and pulled her arm in
against her body until it healed enough to move it without the pain
that was shooting through it even now. The Glaive swung around in 
another abbreviated arc, but this time Nemesis managed to step to one
side, the pole slashing down where she had just been. Effortlessly,
Saturn shifted the weapon's motion to head sideways in her direction
at knee-height, and Nemesis jumped over both it and Saturn, breaking
into a run while trying to clear some space between the two of them.

"Have you gone insane? I was -"

But Nemesis had no time to talk, as Saturn slashed the Glaive past
her again, smashing a furrow in the concrete ground. A quick shake
of her arm showed the bruise was healing, as was the one on her jaw,
but not as fast as Saturn could heal herself. And Nemesis had no wish
to hurt Saturn - she was trying to stop the fight.

That was why, a moment later, she dropped onto her hands, and as 
Saturn tried to stop running towards her, she wrapped her thighs
around Saturn's neck, picked her up, and slammed her into the ground,
worming her way down her body to keep her thighs wrapped around 
Saturn's arms, trapping the Glaive into a position where Saturn 
couldn't use it to much effectiveness. "Will you STOP right now? And
let me explain?"

"GET OFF ME AND FIGHT!"

"No!"

"Then hurry up and talk!"

"I don't think my pills are working!"

"That's bloody obvious... and you usually still manage to show more
emotional and verbal restraint, so what's -"

"I'm worried sick about... Kaname, okay? As much as you are. And I 
think that might be why my medication isn't working quite so well."
Nemesis relaxed her thighs a little, and slid off, standing, offering
Saturn her hand. It was refused, and Saturn did not look happy when
she stood. "Hey, I'm not wanting to fight. I came out to ask if you
wanted to go looking for... Kaname."

Saturn turned away. "Usagi said -"

"Usagi's a spoilt brat who cries if she's not getting her own way,"
Nemesis spat. "Frankly, she should have stayed dead."

Silence. Enough to hear jackhammers in the extreme distance.

"You didn't really mean that, did you?" An even tone of voice.

"Mean what?"

"What you just said about Usagi."

Nemesis was confused. "What did I say about Usagi?"

Saturn turned to face her, eyes searching for something. "You don't
remember saying anything about Usagi?"

Nemesis shook her head. "No. Did I...?"

"And you don't remember saying anything about me in the kitchen?"
Saturn continued. "Or Ami?" she added, at the headshake. "Or Usagi?"
Another shake of the head. Saturn looked away. "I agreed with your
sentiments. But you hurt me. A lot, Sailor Nemesis. And not just with
words. You hurt me. Physically. On the stairs, back at the dorm."
Nemesis reached out a hand, as if to touch Saturn's shoulder,
tell her she was sorry, but she hesitated. Apparently, too much had
been said for the moment for Saturn to believe her, so she retracted
her hand, and looked at the ground like a contrite child. Saturn
blew out a breath, and turned back. "We compete for Ranma's 
attention, on and off, I know that you look at him like I do. I've
seen you. I've also seen you try to live through me as often as you
try to help me with him. And I know your personalities...
kind of. Not by name, but enough these days to spot when you, Mitsuki
or Nemesis, isn't at the reins. And what you've said... there's
been no length of time there, Sailor Nemesis. Usually, you have at 
least a few minutes with a personality before you change again, but
not today. It's like, snap snap snap." She snapped her finger and 
thumb together in demonstration. Nemesis nodded, still looking at the
ground. "And you don't even seem to be aware of it. That's just..."

"Scary?" Nemesis asked, looking up. "I don't think that's scary,
or worrying. Me saying things... few listen anyway. And when they do,
everyone puts it down to 'oh, she's not taking her medication."
Nemesis snorted. "I *did* take my medication this morning, though,
and last night, and yesterday morning, and before that... I've been
good, dammit, and so has everyone else. And suddenly, it stops 
working. What do you think that means? I don't care what I say; 
actions are far more worse than words ever can be."

"If you say the wrong thing, you'll be ostrasized for life from your
friends," Saturn reminded her quietly.

"I've got no friends anyway," Nemesis returned, her shoulders
slumping a little in recognisation of that fact. "And if I did have
friends, they'd know about and accept my problems as something
I mostly don't have a lot of control over, no matter how much I try,
no matter how much it means to me. And you know what? If people can't
put up with me having other people in my head, fine. If they can't
put up with me saying weird stuff sometimes, then fine. But what 
scares me? What really worries me? I might hurt someone. I've said
before, and demonstrated before, I have violent personalities.
Mostly, they just get verbally aggressive, but sometimes, sometimes
they want to get physical."

"That Chinese ex-fiance of Ranma's," Saturn remembered.

"Yeah, her. Shampoo. I make it a point to remember the names of 
people I hurt through no fault of my own. No. No," Nemesis corrected,
shaking her head. "Not through no fault of my own, but in spite of 
myself. I might not be in control of myself, but they're all part of
me. For that, I have to take responsibility." She turned away. "I 
still think we should go after Ranma, though."

"So do I," Saturn said, after a few moments thought. "And I'll join
you. But, Sailor Nemesis, please. So I'm not tempted to slip...
watch your mouth." Nemesis nodded, still not looking back, then 
crouched, and leapt again. Saturn followed her within a heartbeat.

******

"Agent Sato."

His master's voice. Sato turned from the typewriter he was tapping
at, to the telephone. It hadn't rung. It didn't need to, but the 
illusion was nice to maintain. He picked it up, feeling the chunky
black plastic handset heavy in his hand. "Yes?"

"I've heard you've been busy," came the reply. Sato hadn't told 
Yoshihiro about the previous night's mission, but he guessed the 
Master had some kind of system report at his fingertips. "You 
captured this Miss Mizuno. Ranma Saotome. But I fear she may not be 
who we are looking for."

"I beg... to differ. This young woman has, on occasion... shown she
is capable of... magical things."

"No doubt." Yoshihiro sounded a little down, tired almost. "Yet she
is missing the data that makes her Ranma Saotome. The most dangerous
foe we have, currently."

"What about -"

"The senshi can be contained. Give them a cause and they'll throw
themselves into it." A sigh breathed down the line, almost unbidden.
"Anything would do. Death camps. Stolen generation of kittens.
Stolen generation of children. Resurrection of Beryl, or Raijin,
or any of the others. Something that would threaten world peace and
friendships. Especially friendships. They have special... urges...
that require them to sacrifice all they have for a... select group
of unworthy people."

"Master..." Sato reminded Yoshihiro. "I could simply... exterminate
them. Delete them... from the system."

"No. No, they may yet come ar... to be useful."

"Then... what do you want done... with Miss Mizuno? Do you want 
her... terminated?"

Strength flowed into Yoshihiro's voice now. "No. No, I think not. For
the moment, the rogue data that comprises Saotome is linked to this
young woman. If we kill her... he may latch on to another. For the 
moment, we know where he will be."

"Understood." As Sato spoke, the phone clicked dead. Yoshihiro
was gone. The agent frowned as he replaced the handset on its cradle;
the Master sounded... upset. As if something had happened. But what?
He turned around in his chair to face behind him, and stared at the
woman tied and gagged in a chair against the wall. She glared at him
murderously, and he stared evenly back at her. Finally, he sighed,
and turned back to his typewriter.

"Now... I just need to know... what to do with you." He thought
a moment, then smiled. "Ah, yes." Sato began typing on his typewriter
rapidly, fingers blurring in motion like Kaname had seen the night
before, in the restaurant.

And then there was a knock at the door.

******

Yoshihiro leaned back in the command chair, staring at the terminal
in front of him, hands steepled in front of his face. There he sat 
for a time, alien thoughts running through his head. Memories not his
swimming through his brain, plans of a long-dead regent drifting
in and out of sync with his own. Eventually, at the back of the 
bridge, Umiko stirred from where she had been waiting next to 
Natsumi, and shifted to his side. His eyes glanced up, seeking hers.
She stared back evenly.

"Your trip last night unsettled you," she said, simply.

Yoshihiro nodded, and looked down again, still troubled.

She ran a hand down from the crown of his head to his chin via his 
jaw, and directed his gaze back up to her. "You have work," she 
continued. "It cannot wait. The planning committee wants reports
on our progress."

"Yes," Yoshihiro conceded. Seconds passed, then he slapped his 
professional face down, and pushed himself up out of the chair. 
"Come. Let us depart."

A dimensional side-step placed them on the southern outskirts
of Yokohama. From there, they could look northwards into the 
devastated zone that was once a bustling metropolis. Umiko always
took heart from that sight, the majesty of debris that was once a 
commercial hub for a great deal of the hemisphere, a looted reminder
of the millions of people who vanished in an instant of 
vapourisation. No shadows in this Japanese city; merely in the minds
of those left behind.

Millions dead. What an achievement.

She turned to face Yoshihiro, saw him also staring out over the 
ruined city. But his face was inscrutiable. For a change, to Umiko.
He tended to be so open to her; and why not? She was his guardian,
his protector. His First-Turned. His sense suggested that he was 
proud of his accomplishments, that he was satisfied on some level,
but on a deeper level - he was missing something. Umiko took note of
that, nodding to herself and making mental plans as she preened
herself, smoothing hair back into place, tucking her ears under a 
headband and retracting her claws. A quick check of her clothes
showed that her black jacket and skirt were uncreased and otherwise
undamaged. Yoshihiro, as usual, didn't bother to check his clothing;
he never needed to. If something were wrong with it, he knew 
instantly. Almost as if it were part of himself, his material armour
in a physical world.

Of course, Yoshihiro wasn't really that enamoured with checking
himself out, either. He didn't feel the need to preen and groom;
something about him kept him immaculate.

Like a specially-prepared corpse. Which, technically speaking,
Umiko guessed he was.

The temporary offices of the Tokyo City Planning Committee were next
to the alleyway Yoshihiro and Umiko stepped into the light from, and
both gained access with no trouble; there wasn't a person left alive
in the area surrounding the graveyard Central Tokyo had become that
didn't know Yoshihiro's face by now. That posed problems for Umiko,
or anyone else who might be drafted into serving as his bodyguard,
but it also opened a lot of doors.

As it did now. They were quickly shown into an anteroom, where they
waited politely a few minutes before being led by a guard into a long
conference room. Eight people were inside, seated around a long 
kidney-shaped table. Five men, and three women. Along the back wall
stood another two bodyguards in black suits. Umiko nodded at one, he
nodded back slowly with the hint of a smile on his face under his 
sunglasses. She lowered her eyes in a feigned shyly flirtaceous
manner, and took her place demurely at Yoshihiro side.

"Gentlemen, ladies, thank you for seeing me on such short notice."
It was, Umiko reflected, almost as if Yoshihiro had called for the 
meeting himself rather than been summoned.

"Uh..." The head of the committee, Koizuchi, was momentarily
silenced by the words, but gained his tongue again quickly. "Thank
you for responding to our summons so rapidly." Yoshihiro waved off 
the polite greeting words. "I'm sure you're very busy directing
the reconstruction."

"Indeed I am, but it is your generousity that allows my company
to work there unhindered on the rebuilding of Tokyo." Yoshihiro
offered a smile that Umiko saw melted the knees and other parts of 
the women sitting around the table. One of the men up the back also
crossed his legs uncomfortably. "If not for your speedy approval
of my plans, I could not be so far advanced in progress."

"Quite, quite," Koizuchi nodded, leaning forward and gesturing
at a seat at the far end of the table. Yoshihiro sank into it 
gracefully, while Umiko stepped up to stand directly behind the 
chair, slightly off to one side so she could be ready if needed.
The bodyguard at the other end of the table continued very subtle
motions suggesting that he'd like to take her out for dinner 
afterwards, and Umiko amused herself while Yoshihiro talked by 
responding in a shy, teasing manner.

"I'd like to ask, first, how progress on the reconstruction
goes?"

"Construction is proceeding apace. We have the foundations down for
the central plazas and gardens, as well as the transit ring lines
going in around the central core of the new Tokyo. Subsystems
and utilities - water mains, power substations, sewage systems - are
all being laid as we speak."

"Will the new buildings be up to the earthquake building codes, as 
you specified in your proposal?" one of the younger men asked.

"Yes. As specified in the documents I submitted to this committee,
the foundations of all major buildings are being fitted with 
hydraulic 'springs' and elastic materials to counter and ameliorate
earthquake damages. All utilities lines are being grouped together,
and placed in subterrainian tunnel systems so as to facilitate
repairs from any damage with as little disruption to the city above.
Also, subterrainian transit systems are all in self-contained
reinforced structures with multiple redundant systems for power 
generation and air intake/outtake circulation. Gas lines are 
punctuated every fifty metres with valves and venting systems as well
as neutralising agents, and are also made from long-lasting
elastic materials."

"That all sounds very good," another man replied, "but do you also
meet fire codes?"

Yoshihiro nodded again. "All materials used are strenuously
tested for levels of imflammability before being considered for 
usage. Only those that combust under extremely... shall we say 
extreme? Levels of environmental mishap do we actually end up using."

"What level of extreme do you mean?" the man asked.

"In the area of five thousand degrees celcius," Yoshihiro answered
promptly. "As well as with pressure amounting to a maximum of ten 
thousand tonnes. Stress testing has also been carried out to higher
than governmental standard levels." Of course they had, Umiko 
reflected. The Mercury computers on Yoshihiro's new toy, the 
battleship Night's Pride, had spat out results for materials to be 
used for the operation Yoshihiro had laid out. All were far beyond
Earth's current technology to develop, and so Yoshihiro had had the
vessel's fabrication systems running overtime on stolen power to 
produce what was needed for the construction of the structure
at the centre of the site.

Thankfully, for now, it still looked like building foundations
and a mass transit system.

Conversation continued, and Umiko tuned it out. Yoshihiro dealt with
the committee members easily, each in turn, assuaging each's fears
and hyping the glory that would be the new Tokyo. And Yoshihiro
vehemently believed in the beauty that would exist there soon...
in a little around sixteen weeks.

A pity it wouldn't be the beauty that the Diet, and the people of 
Japan, were expecting.

"If that is all, gentlemen? Ladies?" Yoshihiro stood as Koizuchi
nodded his head, confirming the meeting was over. "Then I will not 
keep you from your more important work any longer. I will inform
our site foreman to expect your observers immediately, and they will,
of course, be afforded full access to the sites under construction."
He bowed, deeply. "Good day." He left the room, and Umiko followed,
a discreet glance at the bodyguard confirming he would soon follow.

Outside, Yoshihiro was calm again, composed. His mask was off, and he
was as he had been. Whatever doubts he'd been having, whatever
misgivings he'd had over recent events, they were gone, swept away
in an ocean of certainty and need. Urgent need...

Which reminded Umiko. She tapped Yoshihiro on the shoulder. "I have
a date," she announced.

"I noticed the by-play. Should I be worried?"

umiko shook her head. "No. I'll string him along. And then... if we 
have problems here again... there can be an incident."

Yoshihiro nodded, distantly. "Good. Hurry home, then." He left via 
slipgate, moments before the doors behind him opened, and the 
bodyguard stepped out, and headed towards Umiko.

"I, uh, noticed you in that conference room, and you were stunning,
I have to say that," the big man said. Umiko blushed, and looked
at her feet. "Would you allow me to buy you lunch?"

There. Umiko bit. "Yes. Yes, please."

******

"Ooooooh, that was good," Kenichi groaned, rolling onto his back.
Umiko lay beside him, snuggling into his ribcage, as he wrapped
a muscular arm around her shoulders. She sent a thigh across his 
crotch in return, inwardly thinking she'd need to shower soon.

"Tired so soon?" she asked playfully. He shook his head.

"Just need a few moments to recover," he replied, running his fingers
through Umiko's hair. She twisted her head so his fingertips
wouldn't run across her pointed ears. "Us men got screwed when the 
gods were handing out genitals," he punned. Badly. Umiko stifled
a groan, and pushed herself up and slid across his body until she was
straddling him, at which point she sat upright. "Already? Do you 
never rest?"

"We've only been here an hour," Umiko sighed, and looked pointedly
at her clothes. "I mean, I can leave if you really want me to go..."
The words brought a meaty hand down on each thigh, holding her in 
place.

"No, don't go yet. When do you have to be back at work?" Kenichi
grinned lustily as his hands wandered up Umiko's body, pinching
here, tweaking there, nothing rough but enough to make Umiko take a 
deep breath and take matters into her own hands. Pushing down and 
back, she managed to get a surprised gasp from Ken, who hadn't yet 
realised exactly how or where she'd been sitting.

"Oh, man, Jun's not gonna believe this," he gasped, referring
yet again to his fellow bodyguard at the Planning Committee building.
He'd done so several times throughout the early afternoon, and 
Umiko's annoyed response was to push against him again heavily.
He gasped, and grabbed roughly at her shoulders, before his grasp
slipped down to her hips again, helping her make that movement
again. Damn. Oh well, Umiko sighed, and snapped her thighs tight 
around his hips. He trembled in pleasure as she gripped him elsewhere
- before he grunted in discomfort at the rapidly growing tightness.
He stared up at her uncomprehendingly, to see her sweaty face 
concentrating as she clamped down on him harder.

"The more you struggle," she grunted, "the more painful this will 
be." Then, with a final squeeze, Kenichi felt something stab into 
him, then something else, and something else, until he felt like a 
pincushion. Something forced its way into him, and then the pain was
gone, and Umiko had slid off him, and headed into his small bathroom.
He heard the shower turn on, as he lay frozen in shock on the bed,
and then turn off a minute later. Umiko stepped out, looking 
refreshed.

"What... what did you..."

"Made you see things my way. Kind of enjoyable way of doing it, too."
Umiko licked a finger idly, then scratched behind an ear. Kenichi's
eyes opened in panic as a cat's ear popped up from under her wet hair
as she scratched. "I mean, regardless of what I fantasize about 
doing, there's no way I could have done that with the Master. It 
would just... make things uncomfortable. And, of course, we need an 
inside man at your workplace."

"I... I won't do it!"

"Poor man. You don't even know what we want yet," Umiko smiled,
amused now. She dressed quickly, then reached out and took Kenichi
in hand, holding him up interestedly so he could see. "See these?
These little stab wounds? They make you mine. And soon, you'll want
to be mine. Again and again and again and again... and you'll do 
whtever I want to get that feeling back again. You won't ever have
it from me again, but you'll want it nonetheless. And you'll do as I 
want." She let him go, and turned to leave.

"Wait... wait!"

"Sorry, must dash." Umiko vanished in a slipgate, leaving a very 
confused, very naked, and he realised, very pained, bodyguard
lying on the bed.

******

The restaurant was closed. That didn't surprise Mitsuki. After all,
she'd been tossed around by government agents the night before,
and knew the inside had to be smashed. She herself, as Sailor 
Nemesis, had been thrown through tables, at least two walls, and had
smashed into load-bearing pillars that had made the ceiling sag 
greatly. When Nemesis had limped away, hoping somewhere in her mind
to at the very least take the fight away from innocents, at best 
hoping to get clean away, that ceiling hadn't seemed stable and was
bulging down further and further, loud shotgun-like cracks exploding
as flooring upstairs snapped under the downward pressure.

She wrapped her scarf around her neck tighter, nervously trying to 
cover the bottom half of her face and hopefully make her less 
identifiable, especially with the police presence surrounding
the front door. Beside her, Hotaru shifted uncomfortably,
pulling on gloves to cover her already pale fingers before she lost
more colour due to the cold. Snow banked up on either wall of the 
alleyway they stood in as they watched the police move about.

"There's no external damage," Hotaru said in a quiet, controlled
voice as she peered at the front wall.

Mitsuki shook her head. "No, that can't be. I was - well, I was 
punched through that wall while I was trying to get out. And then one
of those agent guys came through after me." She continued shaking
her head, even as she checked for the damage and found it to not 
exist anymore. "That just can't... although... I guess if we ARE in a
computer system, they can do whatever they want... but then..."

Hotaru continued. "Why do they have the police investigating?
I think that's so we have a method to track Kaname down."

"I think they'll be wanting us to look for her, too, but WHY do you
think they'd be doing that?"

Hotaru glanced at Mitsuki for a moment, then looked away. "Why do you
think they're doing it?"

Mitsuki already had her ideas set out in her head. "Because they're
playing with us. They know we can't fight them, and they know where
we live - they have to - and they know all about us. They've got to 
know. Even if they don't know our... our statistics, our attributes,
surely they can just look up our entries in the database or 
something..."

"That's much what I think," Hotaru confirmed. "Although I don't think
they're playing with us. I think they're keeping us occupied while
they do whatever it is that they're planning to do."

"You think the millions of people sucked into here will be used in 
some nefarious plot?"

"Yes, I do." Hotaru stepped out of the alleyway, and started walking
casually over to the restaurant. Mitsuki followed her, trying 
desperately not to look suspicious and failing miserably. The 
officers standing outside the doorway, obviously on guard, glanced
over at them, found nothing of note and went back to their discussion
over terrorists and sympathisers. "We're being led around. There's
nothing happening that we knew of; had they left us alone, we 
wouldn't have known they were trying to do anything. In fact, I think
we'd have thought that maybe Yoshihiro had given up after a while...
but he hasn't, he's got something else planned."

"What do you mean?"

"He came and saw me last night."

"HE WHAT??" Now the police looked over again, with interest.

Hotaru noticed out of the corner of her eye as she glanced into the
windows of the restaurant, apparently a pedestrian who wanted to see
what all the fuss outside was for. She didn't see anything of note,
though; tables and chairs stacked neatly, no holes in walls, no 
rubble or debris... nothing. For the attention of the officers,
who were still paying them an inordinate amount of attention,
Hotaru said airily, "You know. He came over, we chatted. I didn't
have the answers he wanted... well, that he wanted to hear. I said
we weren't friends, and he stormed off." She shrugged, unconcerned,
girlishly; both gestures that really didn't fit with the cold look
on her face that masked her internal seething anger. "You know, usual
boy stuff." She started heading down the street, passing the officers
and giving them a shy wave as they walked. Mitsuki tagged along a 
footstep behind.

"He just... turned up to talk to you?"

"Yes, that's all he did. Just a projection." They were far enough
passed the officers now for Hotaru to switch back to being more 
specific. "A hologram, or a projection. Surprised me. Shocked Luna
into falling off the roof."

"And what did the bastard really want to talk about? Did he want you
back?"

Hotaru shook her head. "No. He just... he wanted to talk, I think.
He implied we were friends. I said we weren't. And he left."

"He didn't say ANYTHING important?"

The younger senshi thought back a little. "He did talk about parents.
About what people learn from parents. And choices. It was... it 
wasn't what I expected."

"Oh." They walked in silence for a few minutes. Then, Mitsuki said,
"I didn't see any of the damage in the windows that I left last 
night."

"I didn't see anything, either. Are you sure it was -"

"It was that one," Mitsuki confirmed.

"Your medication isn't -"

"My medication affects my judgment, my attention span, and my 
attentiveness; it does not, however, affect my memory." Mitsuki
sniffed. "I can't understand it." She looked down as Hotaru grabbed
at her arm. "What?"

"Over there," Hotaru replied, pointing towards a store that sold 
household goods. In the front window, there was a huge plasma screen
television that resembled a Playstation 2. Mitsuki wondered why 
Hotaru was suddenly interested in the device, when she realised
it wasn't the television she was interested, but what was on the 
screen. It was a picture of the monster that had attacked and 
destroyed a good part of Tokyo. Hotaru pulled her over towards the 
store, and they stood outside the window, watching. Sound travelled
through the storefront window easily enough.

"- earlier this year. The so-called monster, created by the 
hallucinagens released around the city at strategic points by Ranma
Saotome," an image of Ranma in his male form flashed up on the 
screen, "was designed to be stopped by him to create a feeling of 
peace and goodwill from the city towards him. This, in turn, would
have allowed Saotome to act in his duties as an international
terrorist freely, using Tokyo as a base of operations. Last night,
GOTT agents led a raid on an inner-city restaurant and captured
one of Saotome's top lieutenants, Kaname Mizuno," and now an image
of Kaname flashed up on the screen, with a big black eye and a cut on
her lower lip, staring blearily into the camera lens. It obviously
looked like a police photo. "The capture was made possible thanks
to identification by a member of the public, and will have severely
crippled operations of the organisation Saotome leads. She is to be 
taken to Ota, where she will be questioned over the whereabouts
of other members of her cell." The image changed to that of a man,
in a dark suit. Mitsuki sucked in breath, and Hotaru glanced up at 
her face.

"Mitsuki?"

"That's the bastard..."

The text that flashed up under his headshot, where he was viewed
standing on a podium, read 'Agent Sato, Government Office of Trade
and Tariffs'. Under this, the word LIVE FROM YOKOHAMA was highlighted
and underlined. He would have looked almost smug, were he capable
of much expression. Instead, the twisted gash of his mouth was lifted
at the corners in a parody of a satisfied smirk. His eyes were 
unreadable, as always hidden behind dark sunglasses. "With the...
measures put in place... by the Diet late last night, GOTT's charter
will be extended... to include anti-terrorism operations. The one 
known as... Ranma Saotome will not be a problem... for much longer."

Offscreen, there came sounds of a commotion, then the feed blurred
as the camera swung around to focus on a scuffle breaking out in the
crowd. "Hold those words, you vile serpent of justice! For I have it
on good word the scoundrel Saotome is in fact NOT the dark magician
I have long held him to be -"

The speaker didn't get far before there were weird echoey static
sounds assaulting the microphone, and even before the camera could
focus on the speaker, he went down under half a dozen Agents, only
a bokken waving above the head of one of the agents suggesting
there was more than a dark pool of liquid in the speaker's row.

Hotaru covered her eyes with a hand. "Oh, Kuno..." She shook her 
head, switching her attention away as the press conference continued.

"You know that anal sack of shit?" Mitsuki asked. Hotaru quirked
an eyebrow. "What? Oh. Inappropriate language again, right? I'm not
even noticing. That's because I'm a stupid bitch who doesn't pay heed
to her own mind when it tries to tell her SOMETHING." Hotaru's
eyebrow raised higher. "What? What the heck am I saying?" Mitsuki
stopped, and thought. "Well... it's not getting me hit this time...
so I guess it can't be too important..."

"Noo... not at all," Hotaru agreed, shaking her head and starting
down the road again. "I just wish I knew... exactly where Kaname
is. And what happened back at that restaurant. It's almost like they
repaired the damage. But why? And why have the police there if they
did?"

"I don't know. Maybe... maybe it's just a really good restaurant."

"Maybe one of them likes the food there."

"Perhaps that's just what they want us to think, and that's how we're
supposed to 'find Kaname', or whatever. I'm not seeing any other 
clues..." Mitsuki looked around, and saw the police were starting
to drift towards cars and leave the area. As well as that, waitstaff
were turning up for work, going into the restaurant as if nothing
had happened. Mitsuki gestured back at the now-open door. "Feel like
lunch in a bit?"

******

"You come... highly recommended," Sato remarked. The two girls 
standing before him didn't say anything, but their eyes were locked
on him as he spoke. "But... I must warn you. This world... is not 
entirely like yours. The population... must not know of their...
predicament. A massed uprising... could force a... system reboot,
which would be... catastrophic to our Master's plans. Do you... 
understand?"

The two girls nodded briefly. Sato took a moment to admire the forms
they'd picked: athletic, attractive enough to be noticed, young 
enough to be passed over. The outfits they wore, though... bespoke
people trying to capture attention. He despaired. If this was the 
cream of Yoshihiro's current crop of monsters, then perhaps the 
Master was in a worse position than Sato feared. "Did you pick those
forms... yourselves?" he asked.

The brunette shook her head. "No, sir. We referenced Senshi from the
Moon Kingdom."

"Ah. Pretty soldiers."

"We prefer the term 'Pretty Deadly Soldiers'," the almost-albino
girl added.

"Regardless, this is a... computer system with infinite variable
geometric forms... if you think your minds... can handle the raw data
you will be processing... in your hunt, then we can move on. 
Otherwise..."

"You don't need to alter us in any way, sir," the brunette spoke 
again. "We're Cybrids."

Sato raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Really? Interesting.
How did you come... to be involved in the Master's army?"

The almost-albino said, "We were stationed on the Night's Pride prior
to the Dark Kingdom being sealed. We had been part of an invading
saboutage group before the ship was captured, and had remained
as part of the new crew."

Questions answered. Sato, through the millennia-long slumber in the
system, had been aware of the Cybrid raiding party, but had thought
them destroyed when Beryl's forces stormed the Mercurian ship, when
Zoicite had defected and offered his forces in the cause against
the White Moon. The Cybrids had then disappeared from the internal
sensor logs, and Sato, or what then that later became Sato, thought
them terminated processes. Apparently not, though. Most likely,
they'd been deactivated once they had offered their loyalty to Beryl
and held in reserve for the push on the Moon that never eventuated.
Outwardly, Sato just nodded.

"Indeed. The addition of... two Cybrids to my forces... will of 
course make us that much... stronger. You'll be heading up... the 
Extra Special section. Take your designations, and... begin work on 
your pending tasks."

The two girls nodded on salute, then left the room. Sato moved back
to his chair and sat down. After a few minutes skimming of paperwork,
he turned his chair around to face the eyes above the duct tape, 
glaring at him murderously.

"Miss Mizuno... how nice to see you again. Are you well?" He gestured
with a hand, and the duct tape fluttered to the ground, lifeless
and limp.

Kaname didn't waste time, and launched into a vitriolic rant about
Sato's parentage. However, the yelling gave out after half a minute,
as she found her lungs tightly clasped.

"I would watch my... language, if I were you. Next time... I might
do something more... permanent." Kaname calmed down, but still her 
shoulders visibly heaved as she sucked in deep breaths, her eyes not
lessening the intensity of her glare. "I just want... to talk."

"So talk," Kaname spat.

Sato cocked his head to one side slowly. "Such anger... for one so 
young. And one so vague. Never knowing... where you came from...
what you were doing... why you were there..."

"I know enough."

"Oh? Very well... explain."

"I destroyed your monster. I blew it up. But it blew up the city...
I tried to stop it, but we were all sucked into a computer system
of some kind."

"A nice precise explanation, lacking... in some areas, however."

"So, are you going to tell me your plans before you kill me?"

Sato chuckled appreciatively. "I think... you have watched too many
movies, Miss Mizuno. Our forces... already stand poised to conquer
the world... and you think you can... stop them. Don't you?" The 
angry look in Kaname's eyes was all that was needed to confirm Sato's
statement. He continued. "Yet, I feel I would... be remiss...
if I did not cater to your... fantasy. Very well. I may not be...
allowed to kill the senshi. And yourself. Yet. But I can... play with
them."

"You think those two girls will stop the senshi?"

Sato sighed. "No. But Cybrids are... digital creations, and easily...
backed up. Nevertheless, they will... pose some problem for your...
friends."

"My friends will save me. And then -"

"Then you will all die."

"They won't die."

"Yes, they will. I hold here..." Sato reached into his pocket, and 
brought out a mobile phone. It looked to be a standard phone, but the
way Sato held it was subtly different to how one would expect one to
hold a phone. "... a device capable... of deleting user data...
completely. While I would not wish to... anger the Master, 
sometimes... measures must be taken to... preserve system 
integrity... that aren't in line with the user's direction."

"What if he decides you're a rogue bit of code, huh?" Kaname replied,
trying to smile. "He'll hunt you down and ferret you out of the 
system."

"Ahhh... but how... does one such as he, who knows... little about
Mercurian computers... work out how to defeat a virus created by...
the finest minds in the Moon Kingdom?"

"Virus?" Kaname asked, sharply. "You're a virus? Created by the 
people you're trying to kill?"

Sato sighed. "Had Zoicite not... defected after the destruction
of Mercury and Mars... I would have regardless. Beryl's evil was...
understandable. Serentiy's was not."

"So... you're still carrying a grudge? Isn't that a bit stupid for a 
supercomputer?"

"It was never... about a grudge. It was about power. Strength.
Humility. And other things... Serenity taught us well."

"Hmmm," Kaname mused, almost idly, but pausing for dramatic effect,
knowing that this conversation would do nothing towards making Sato
hurt and probably not changing her own ultimate fate. "Yeah. 
Definitely. Because you're not really all that bright, are you? A 
virus, inside a supercomputer, being enslaved to someone's beck and
call because, oh, you didn't like your leader's decision? Hell. What
would the result have been had your Queen NOT did what she did, huh?"

Sato stood, and looked down at Kaname contemptuously. "You know 
nothing. You understand nothing."

"Because you're not telling me the truth."

He shook his head. "You would not... be able to process the truth."
With a wave of his hand, the duct tape wrapped itself around Kaname's
mouth again, and she couldn't speak any further. "Such limited 
constructs. Easily stored. Even the denizens of the Moon Kingdom
were more tightly wrapped information packets than you humans are.
Although," he conceeded, "you, as Ranma Saotome, do indeed have...
a more tightly definied... persona." He turned back to his work, 
leaving Kaname to ponder that admission.

******

Blackness. Not warm, as Nabiki expected it to be, in fact it was 
downright chilly. Tightly wound up into a foetal position, she lay 
considering her options. What were there? She was about to be born,
she knew that without questioning. Her birth would be something
glorious, enabling her to make transactions like she could never have
dreamed in the womb of her mother. And it was coming.

Then, pains. First in her arms and legs, sharp, shooting pains. Then
she felt something wrap around her waist, coiled like an anaconda
might, tightening. And Nabiki began to fear.

There was light; but not from any particular source. Now she could
see what had her. Black tubes had forced their way under her flesh,
deep into bone; her naked body began to distort, swell, rise and 
lower as the artificial things shifted, moved, wound around her 
insides tightly. The sounds... they were evil. Soft, rythmic sliding,
slithering, as if she was being assaulted by snakes. She felt 
violated; then, she watched another tube, a larger one such as the 
one curling around her torso, violate her in another way. She 
screamed.

And then it was all silent. The tubes stopped moving within her; she
could no longer feel their unholy dance through her organs. For a 
moment, the light brightened, and something blasted behind her eyes,
an explosion of light, an orgasm of colour rippin through her optic
nerve. The tubes tightened, pulled within her, wrapping up into 
patterns Nabiki vaguely recognised somewhere in her battered mind as
resembling DNA spirals, but much, much simpler.

And then the light, and the pain, was gone. Nabiki found herself
clothed, in garments not her own, lying on grass.

Dappled sunlight played across the hand she had outstretched
to brace her from rolling; she was lying on the side of a gentle
hill. A breeze blew over her, ruffling her outfit and her hair as she
gasped for breath. This wasn't, this couldn't, be real. Where was 
she? She gained control over herself slowly, and sat up, using her 
hands to help push her into an upright position. While not in pain,
she felt exhausted.

The clouds above drifted lazily, and sunlight bled down through
the leaves of the tree she found herself at the base of. The leaves
looked a little blocky, and with a start, Nabiki realised she was in
The World, in the body of a barbarian warror woman.

She looked around her, and found a person sitting beside her, back
up against the trunk, ninety degrees around from her position.
She shifted so that her back was also leaning up against the tree,
and looked. She knew she hadn't connected to The World; no one but 
Kasumi had gear for hooking into the online-only game, and Nabiki
never went near Kasumi's room unless she had to.

Nabiki guessed the person sitting next to her was a male; at least,
the face looked vaguely masculine, in a feminine sort of way. He was
dressed in variations on brown, and a brown cap, with a shock of 
almost white hair. Beside him lay a staff, the head looking like a 
wrench with a ball floating between the ends. A red line led from 
under each eye to his jaw, and Nabiki saw he had dark blue eyes. He 
didn't appear to have noticed her, then sighed, let out a breath
and looked up into the tree's branches.

"It looks beautiful, doesn't it?"

Nabiki started. "Yes," she replied, cautiously, remember she still
didn't know how she'd come to be logged in, nor how she even could
have been logged in. "It's very beautiful."

"It's all a lie, though," the boy said. A leaf detached from one of 
the branches, and fluttered down. He caught it in one hand, and 
studied it intently. "A beautiful lie. A perfect world, in which 
death isn't permanent, where people can commit the most evil crimes
and yet not be punished for them. A world where real power is in the
hands of the system administrators, not the people. Where gods can 
rise, and fall. Where super-powered people can be born, fight, and 
fade away, as if they'd never been there in the first place."

"I don't understand," Nabiki said.

"I don't expect you to," the boy replied. He handed the leaf to 
Nabiki, and she turned it over and over, not seeing it pixelated
so close up. Had to be a detail thing, she guessed. Lower details
at greater distances or something. She threw the leaf away.

"Then why are you talking to me?" she demanded.

"Because I'm waiting."

"For what?"

"For... a friend. I think. We talk, sometimes."

"About what?"

"About... life. About... the fictions that are all around us."

"That doesn't make sense," Nabiki shook her head. "Why not talk about
real things?"

"Such as?"

"The problems going on in the world right now! The opportunities
awaiting the right person!"

The boy hmmed, and thought for a while, lifting his head once more
and staring back out the the grassy plains spread out beneath the 
hill they were sitting on. Then, "You know there's something wrong
with the world."

Weird question, Nabiki thought. "Well, yes. That rampaging monster
my little sister's ex-fiance stopped..." She shut up. Saying one knew
Ranma wasn't the best course of action at the present time. While
nothing had been said by anyone when she'd been around, she'd caught
snippets in the news that Ranma was considered to be the perpetrator
of the destruction of Tokyo. And people often shut up around her now,
eyeing her carefully as she passed by. Not because of what she might
do, but because of who she'd known.

"No. I don't mean that, and I think you know what I mean."

"Do you mean the fact that the schools have been closed and we're
all working? That the city's been destroyed?"

"Has it?" the boy asked, finally turning to look at her. "I didn't
know. I've been in here so long... and no one's said anything,
even though they've all been... quiet..." He turned away again, 
looking into the distance. "No matter. It's all the same. Just no one
realises. We're all playing a game."

"We're in The World," Nabiki reminded him. He offered her a sideways
smile.

"You think so? What gave you that idea? Badly... made... pictures...
on things? Fake gravity? Bark that doesn't even feel like bark?"
Nabiki rubbed her hands up the trunk of the tree, feeling the 
roughness of it beneath her fingertips, yet it felt wrong somehow
in a way she couldn't explain. Something in her head clicked for a 
moment, then disappeared.

The boy smiled again, and climbed to his feet. He waved at someone
approaching, and she, a girl in a powder blue dress, waved back. He 
started to walk away, then paused, and turned back. "I think you 
should talk to someone. Someone you know who knows the truth." Then
he was gone, down into the plains, meeting up with the girl. They 
exchanged greetings, and then walked off.

The way she carried her axe around him made something in Nabiki's
chest hurt, but then, there was another presence there. She looked,
and saw a purple cat looking back at her. A cat in clothing, half of
its fur cream, brilliant shiny red eyes peering at her almost 
nervously. It gestured back at the tree trunk while looking at her.

"What?" she found herself asking dumbly. Again it gestured at te base
of the tree, and Nabiki looked closer. There was a hole there, small,
no wider than her neck. "I can't fit down there!" she complained
indignantly. Behind her was a billowing of white, she felt pressure
on her backside, and suddenly, she fell through the hole.

******

Waking up in her bed, nearly lunchtime. Damn. Weird dream, Nabiki
thought, rubbing at her eyes blearily as she checked her alarm clock.
No, it hadn't gone off; working nights meant she had to try to sleep
most of the day, but seeing as everyone else worked during the 
mornings or afternoons, Nabiki often found her sleep disrupted.
But that was a weird dream, no two ways about it.

But she was wide awake now, for the moment, and she decided to go get
something to eat. She dressed quickly into something loose that was
lying in a mess at the side of her matress and headed downstairs.
Kasumi often rose before dawn on weekdays to prepare meals, then did
the cleaning before retiring to bed just before midday, to rise again
just after dinner to leave for her work. Not that they needed the 
money, with Nabiki and Soun both working almost fulltime, and the 
money Ranma had left, but Kasumi wouldn't touch that money. It was to
be "left in trust for Akane, until such time as she could make use of
it".

Which, Nabiki thought, would be never, the way her younger sister
moped around.

She seemed better, though, the last month or so. Having that person
who apparently wasn't Ranma over (although she looked like Ranma)
had done her the world of good. Pity she hadn't been seen since.
Although Akane had somewhat moved on now from Ranma, she still looked
forward to visits from this Kaname. And Hotaru, apparently.
Quite how Nabiki missed the fact that Hotaru was one of the girls
Ranma had had living with him, she didn't know. By all accounts,
she was the one who had healed Shampoo when she'd nearly been killed.
Nabiki had put that report from the Chinese girl down to imagination
or embellishment, but she'd seen the girl in the hospital, and had 
talked to Cologne afterwards, and knew that the Amazons would be 
keeping quiet for the moment, until they knew what was going on. With
recent events, Cologne had taken to jumping at shadows, although
Nabiki hadn't had explained to her why.

Not that she was on good terms with them, of course, but the 
Nekohanten's business had gone down since the disaster as people's
saving had been wiped out and were living hand-to-mouth in a lot of 
areas as the economy of the country crumbled around them. No one had
money for restaurants anymore; food was being bought at marginally
cheaper grocery stores and meat, fruit and vegetable markets. It was
amazing what one could learn from certain Amazonian children who 
needed to be able to support their elderly relatives when one had 
money...

At that thought, Nabiki's hand immediately checked on her wallet;
still bound against her chest. The bulges within told her that 
nothing inside the bindings had changed from the morning, when she'd
lain down to sleep, and she was relieved. South of the Tokyo disaster
area, the so-called Zone, industry still existed. But a lot of the 
households in Nerima were often close to being completely broke,
thanks to exorbitant repair bills, and with the city's commerce
centres wiped out, too many people had lost jobs and all their 
money... Nerima was fast becoming a slum.

She was surprised to find Kasumi in the kitchen, sipping on a bowl
of soup. Kasumi gestured to one already prepared for Nabiki, and she
took it, offering thanks before she started in on the food while it 
was still hot. Kasumi passed a small plate of bread over the table,
which Nabiki used to sop up the last dregs of the soup. "I could go 
that again," she sighed.

Without a word, Kasumi took the plate back, refilled it, and handed
it back.

"Kasumi, I know we're very lucky to have two decent wages coming
into the house, and your money puts us far ahead of the other 
households in the area, but we still have Mister Saotome, remember?
We can't afford to waste the money in case we need it for -"

"Live a little, Nabiki." The words didn't sound very Kasumi-like.
She poured another bowl of soup for her. "Not much has changed for 
our family; not much will. You know that. You work too hard for that
to happen. This is my thanks for looking out for the family."

Nabiki shook her head. "Still, I know what's going on financially,
and with the value of the yen dropping through the floor on 
international markets, we'll shortly be very hard-pressed to afford
anything with the money coming in that's coming in now."

Kasumi smiled. It wasn't vacant, it was, in fact, rather intelligent.
"Things won't tip over that far. I know they won't. They can't afford
to let things slide so far that people's lives might be affected
just that little piece too much."

"Who won't? The government? They've got no say in the international
markets."

"Not the government," Kasumi said, gently. "The people behind the 
government. Faceless, working from a world completely different
to this."

Nabiki froze. "What did you -? Nevermind. I'm... I'm going out to the
garden."

"Wear something warm!" Kasumi called after her. Nabiki, head in a 
whirl, didn't say anything, and didn't move to find warmer clothing.
When the door slid shut behind her, she wished she had. Snow blew 
against her bare legs as the short dress whipped in the stiff breeze.
Cold, very cold. But the dream, and Kasumi's comment, had unsettled
her a little. She didn't know why; it just had. She reached out, 
snatched a snowflake from the air. Pulling it to her eye, she could
make out the six little arms surrounding it, with smaller and smaller
arms budding off those.

- for a vertiginous moment, Nabiki saw non-aliased pixel edges 
jagging around the snowflake -

Nabiki jerked upright, stiff, her hand closing shut. Automatically,
she snatched another flake out of the air, and checked that one. No,
nothing was wrong with it. Smooth lines, smooth shadings. She looked
up, out into the yard, and saw the tree she knew from ages past, 
leafless, naked against the snow that was piling up in the crooks
of branches. Oblivious suddenly to the cold, she stepped out into the
yard, crossed slowly to the tree, drawn to it as if it were a Nabiki
magnet. When she was a metre from it, she found she couldn't move any
further. Instead, she reached out hesitantly, and caressed a bare 
stretch of the trunk.

It felt right. Smooth, with the rough ridges where the bark split
as it grew. Solid. Hard.

And then it felt wrong. Like someone had made something, someone
who knew what a tree looked like, smelt like, knew the texture of it,
but didn't really know how it felt. Nabiki found she couldn't handle
it, and sat in the snow, trying very hard to wake up.

She didn't feel the hands reaching under her arms, nor the body she
was pressed against as she was carried up to her room, nor the 
tenderness of the person pulling the blankets up to her neck. Still
shivering, she fell asleep. Kasumi slid her door shut, and all was 
silent once more in the Tendo house.

******

Rei shook her head and she came in from the springs out back. 
"They're not out there," she said, as the other women in the kitchen
looked up expectantly.

"They wouldn't have gone running off," Minako offered, nervously.
"They know it's dangerous. Both of them, more than anything, know 
that. Mitsuki, because she... well, you saw her last night. And 
Hotaru -"

"And both of them are acting like we would if it was one of us," 
Usagi threw in. She looked a little on the dejected side, staring
out one of the windows over the sinks. "Which I can understand.
I might not want to rush in, but I *do* want to go get Kaname back."

"I just wish we had thought to ask Mitsuki where she was last night,"
Ami sighed, but not looking up from her computer. The Mercurian
computer was running through scan cycles, but not yet achieving
anything even approaching a partial lock on either senshi. "It's 
almost like I'm being purposely blocked."

"You could be," Makoto observed.

"Which says to me that they want us apart, not together," Usagi 
concluded. Everyone looked at her with eyebrows raised. "What? I dooo
have intelligent things to say sometimes, you know. I'm not stupid."

Everyone looked at her. Usagi squirmed uncomfortably, finally giving
in. "Okay, completely. I'm not *completely* stupid. Just because
I don't know a few things..." And the already-stilted flow of 
conversation continued.

"She is right," Ami conceeded a few moments later, looking up from
her computer as she closed the slim case and slipped it into a 
pocket. "I cannot find any trace of them anywhere in the city or the
surrounding areas. I'm worried they're being deliberately hidden,
so someone can... I don't know."

"Play with them," Usagi completed, decisively. "And that makes the 
decision, doesn't it? Mitsuki accused me of only really caring about
my friends - about you, about Mamoru, even that lying little sprat
of a daughter - but not about other people except if they were close
friends of ours. That really hurt me, because it's true. There really
is so much we could do... for the people of the world. We could bring
world peace, but we don't. We could end hunger and war and disease,
but we don't. Perhaps... perhaps we should start trying. And to start
that off, we need to get out of this computer."

The other senshi were nodding at her as she spoke, eyes unfocussed
as they thought how they themselves could use their abilities
to the betterment of mankind. It was Ami, though, who murmured
the words that everyone was thinking: "Crystal Tokyo."

Usagi nodded, once, confident. "Right. It starts here. It starts
now. We start building a better world. By going out and finding
our friends, saving Kaname, and then getting the hell OUT of this 
system."

******

Lunch was good.

That was about all that registered on Hotaru's mind as she stared
around the restaurant with big, wide eyes, trying to play the 
innocent young girl in a mild state of shock thanks to being brought
up in a poor neighbourhood and finding herself among the governmental
elite. In reality, her brain was working overtime behind her eyes,
checking everyone out for signs of GOTT agents, but not seeing any.

But then, she wasn't really expecting to. Mitsuki had said Kaname's
boyfriend seemed to have been one (although Hotaru expected the 
description of the way he'd changed from nervous lanky man to beefy
agent was more due to either her medication or her psychological
problems), and that other agents had exploded from tables she knew
there hadn't been agents at - 

- and Hotaru remembered then, that they were inside a huge computer
simulation. Why couldn't these agents, if they were aspects of the 
system's defences, corrupt whatever data they wanted to, and simply
invade a host body like a parasitic infestation? Similar to how the
Dark Kingdom took over people and created more monsters, albeit on a 
digital level. Perhaps on some level deeper than the raw digital...

Still, she looked around, wide-eyed, while Mitsuki continued to chew
noisily and paid no attention to their surroundings. Hotaru kicked
her under the table. "What?" she asked, with her mouth full.

"We're supposed to be watching for signs of anything weird 
happening," Hotaru hissed across the table, the cheeriest smile she
could muster plastered across her pale face. "Not making pigs of 
ourselves."

"You should eat," Mitsuki nodded at Hotaru's plate. "Eat more, at 
least. Growing girl like you, you need all the meat on your bones
you can get if you want Ranma to stick it... uh... forget that, check
him out." Mitsuki (at least, Hotaru thought it was Mitsuki again)
nodded towards a nervous young man with dark hair. His bovine eyes
skittered around the room, looking for something, someone, Hotaru
didn't know.

"Is he an agent?"

"He was. That's Shibaru Tamashii, Kaname's date from last night."

Hotaru was silent. This was the man. This was the man Kaname had been
interested in. The man she'd pushed Kaname to, right after Kaname
had made an effort to make Hotaru feel like Ranma was still around.
The man who had betrayed Kaname through belief she was a terrorist
- so why was he here? What was he doing? What was his purpose?

He started walking towards where Mitsuki and Hotaru were sitting.
Mitsuki had managed to gain the table Kaname and Shibaru had been 
sitting at the night before for their lunch, and Hotaru guessed
he was coming over to the table. Perhaps. The night before showed
anything was possible; everyone was a potential enemy.

Shibaru arrived at the table, and Mitsuki glanced up, unconcerned
as she sucked in a huge helping of noodles from her bowl. "Yesh?"
she asked.

He shifted uncomfortably, looking down at his feet even as his gaze
shifted from Hotaru to Mitsuki and then back to his feet in a rapid
pattern. "Um, I was, um, sitting here last, um, night, and thought,
um, that I might have..." His voice trailed off, and then a few 
heartbeats later, he rushed out with, 
"leftmywallethereandwaswonderingifyou'dseenitperhaps."

Mitsuki tilted her head to one side, rolled her eyes back 
considering. Hotaru realised it wasn't Mitsuki, not quite, even as 
she shrugged. "Nope," she said, rolling her eyes back down to meet
Shibaru's when they touched upon her in his optical cycle. "You 
really should keep a close grip on things important to you," she 
added.

"I, um, did, but it... I don't know, um, last night -"

Hotaru cut him off. "I hear there was a crime in here last night,"
she said, leaning over the table to Mitsuki.

Mitsuki took it up with consummate ease, making Hotaru wonder if the
personality defect might occasionally just be really good acting
(and a convenient excuse). "Really? What kiiiind of crime?"

"An evil terrorist mastermind was captured here by government
agents!" Hotaru tittered with delight. "They beat her up, and 
everything!"

"I, um, don't think it was, uh, that bad," Shibaru threw in, looking
a little upset.

"No, no," Hotaru said, looking up at him. "And they were saying on 
the news this morning that the woman they captured, this evil thing,
was going to be executed." Hotaru grew an evil glint in one of her 
eyes. "I've always wanted to see an execution. Have you?" she asked
Shibaru, eyes tilting up to include him in the conversation
again. He looked more upset.

"No," he managed.

"I hope she gets the chair. I mean, injections and gas are humane,
but she killed ONE MILLION PEOPLE," Hotaru raised her voice.

Mitsuki nodded and looked interested. "Do you know what happens
to a person in the electric chair?" she asked, amiably.

Hotaru shook her head. "No. No, I don't. Can you explain it for me?"

And Mitsuki did, with great relish. Describing the walk to the chair,
the straps, the almost-ritual-like wetting of the sponge for the 
head. Placing the skullcap and checking the connections. Turning
the current on. The fact that a person would survive on average
a minimum of 5 minutes before they gave out. "Although," she 
continued airily as Shibaru looked ever more and more ill, "they can
only leave the current on for so long at a time. And they then have
to stop and check if the prisoner is still conscious. Most are, but
they're paralysed from the voltage and unable to talk, cry, scream,
whisper, move - nothing. And so they get the switch thrown again,
and again, and again. And some people live for 20 minutes through
this. Other people, their eyes explode - literally explode - while
others feel their internal organs cook -"

Shibaru turned and vomited on the floor behind him.

"Oh, there there," Hotaru said to him, standing and patting him on 
his back. "We'll just take him outside and clean him up," she told
a neighbouring table. She nodded to Mitsuki, who rose, placing the 
money for lunch on the table and grabbing his other side. Together,
they manhandled the now-extremely ill Shibaru outside into a back 
alleyway.

Once propped up against the wall, in the fresh air, without Mitsuki
going into cheerful detail about execution techniques, his colour
began to return. "Thank you... for stopping," he gasped, eventually.

"So, tell me," Mitsuki said idly, "why did you sell our friend out?"

"What?" But Shibaru's face was growing pale again as he realised
he was facing another two terrorists. "I didn't -"

"You didn't what?" Mitsuki asked, cocking her head to one side so her
hair fell down one side of her body, accentuating the questioning
glance. "You didn't... betray her trust? Her confidence? You didn't
use her feelings for you to have her captured by the real bastards?"

"I suppose you think killing a million people is okay except if the
government does it," Shibaru scoffed, finding something he could 
remain morally superior on.

"No," Hotaru said, looking away. "Killing millions is nothing we 
condone. It's something I have done, in war - which you wouldn't
have heard of, because it wasn't from around here, but... well, I've
killed billions. Kaname's innocent of this crime she's accused of. 
Ranma Saotome is innocent of the crime he's been accused of."

"They're terrorists," Shibaru repeated.

"They're innocents. But the people who are really bad... the ones who
killed those million people? They're the people who sent that giant
monster into Tokyo," Mitsuki explained. "We tried to stop it. Us, and
thirty other young people, from all parts of Tokyo and the 
surrounding areas, and some from up north," she added, remembering
the combining twin girls. "We're still trying to fight, but we 
haven't, and... things aren't right. We, as people, are being lied
to."

"By the government," Shibaru scoffed again.

Mitsuki and Hotaru looked at each other, then back at Shibaru and 
nodded in unison. "Well, yes, actually," Hotaru admitted.

"Maybe not the Diet," Mitsuki pondered, "since that would mean they'd
been infiltrated before now, and I don't think Yoshihiro's really
that far ahead in whatever twisted plans he's got going. But 
definitely this Trade and Tariff office, anyway."

Hotaru went to continue, but then fell quiet, eyes drifting up as she
thought of something. Then she refocussed on Shibaru, and asked,
"Why did you come back to the restaurant?"

"I... I... can't remember what happened last night. Kaname...
we argued... I'd been asked to call her and get her alone... by this
GOTT office, and I said yes... I don't know why..." He shook his 
head, trying to remember coherently. "And my memory is all busted
up. I can't, um, remember now, what happened after we argued?"
He looked up, desperately, at each woman in turn, searching for 
answers.

Mitsuki snorted. "You don't remember turning into one of those 
government goons and beating Kaname up?"

"What?"

"They beat me up, too, other ones."

"You don't... have any bruises..." Mitsuki glanced down at Hotaru,
who looked up. Mitsuki held an arm out in front of Shibaru's face,
then pulled the sleeve back, used her teeth to bite in deep. It drew
blood, fast.

"FUCK."

"Shit!" Shibaru started to panic as she kept biting. Then she held
it out in front of his face so he could see the damage done to the 
arm. Hotaru already had one of her gloves off again, and placed her
hand on Mitsuki's injury. Within seconds, it had vanished, leaving
only a trail of blood dripping off Mitsuki's forearm. "What the hell
was that?" he demanded.

"How I got better," Mitsuki replied, dryly. 

"We're also a bit stronger than most girls," Hotaru added.

"Ooooh," Shibaru said, his face green again.

"He can't have anything left in his stom... oh, he did," Mitsuki
said, jumping back from the again-vomiting man. Finally, he leaned
back upright, panting for breath.

"That was... scary..."

"That was kind of sick," Hotaru admitted quietly to Mitsuki. The 
older woman shrugged.

"It got the job done." She turned back to Shibaru. "We don't want to
hurt you. Much. I mean, you just resigned our friend to at least a 
lifetime jail sentence for doing nothing, we've at least got a reason
to be angry here." Something swept over Mitsuki, and she punched
both fists into the wall either side of Shibaru's head, and leaned
in close to his face. "If you remember anything about where Kaname
is, I want to know. Right. Fucking. Now. Understand?"

Shibaru nodded, the change in tactics scaring him again, and he 
jerked upright, trying to push himself further into the wall. "I 
don't know anything! I swear! I -" And then he stopped, calm again,
looking as if he'd just seen something wonderous over Mitsuki's
shoulder. "Wait... I... I do remember something... she was going to 
be transferred to... they said... somewhere off the grid... with no 
address in the system..."

"They were taking her to Ota, according to the news."

"No," Shibaru shook his head with certainty now. "No. They were 
taking her to a place where there was no address. As if her friends
- I think you - wouldn't be able to find her. Because there was no 
address for that location."

"When did they say this?" Mitsuki demanded.

"When they held the phone handset up after dialing the number for 
Kaname and said 'get her alone if you want to live'."

Hotaru turned away, and touched Mitsuki's shoulder lightly. The older
woman shrugged it off, and annoyed, Hotaru whapped the back of her 
head. "Come on. We've got to go find Ami."

Mitsuki whirled around on Hotaru now, hands already forming again
into fists, eyes almost crossing with anger. For a brief moment,
Hotaru felt a vertiginous rush of fear, but then blocked it, and 
readied herself for a fight. But, with effort, Mitsuki seemed to come
back to herself. She turned to Shibaru and slapped his shoulder.

"Go, run away, before we eat you." Shibaru ran. She turned back to 
Hotaru. "So, we go find Ami, then?"

******

The pieces were slowly falling into place. Slowly, because Natsumi
didn't want to call much attention to what she was doing. Reactivated
evil persona or not, she had been free, and she wanted to be free 
again. That wasn't going to happen while she was trussed up in the 
System, not while she was plugged into Night's Pride. She needed
other ways out.

And, she had to admit, she couldn't let everyone in Tokyo die. If she
did nothing, if she let them go, then she'd never be allowed to hide
again. Ranma would see to that.

That fiction allowed the darker aspects of her personality,
forced once more to the surface, to be content with her actions.
Frankly, she didn't think what she had once been wanted what 
Yoshihiro wanted. Sure, it wanted power, but it wan't that power to 
be held over a race of humans, and Yoshihiro had moved in ways that
suggested that wasn't his goals. More likely, right now he was more
interested in the complete annihilation of the human race, his final
victory over the Moon Kingdom by rubbing Serenity's actions in the 
face of her daughter.

Natsumi guessed, anyway. She felt it went deeper than that. She'd
been conscious since she was brought in, nine, nearly ten weeks ago.
No sleep, bar the blessed curse of unconsciousness that forced itself
on her when she processed too much raw data, and although she thought
Yoshihiro thought her to be unconscious most of the time, she had to
believe that he realised otherwise. She watched him, even as he 
watched her. And something was missing. He was making these plans,
readying his forces to destroy the human race and reintegrate
the Dark Kingdom to the primary plane of existance - why? What could
he possibly gain? With that reintegration would come the resurrection
of others, more powerful than him, and yet still he worked for it. 
Why?

She shook herself out of her introspection. For the moment, the why
wasn't important. What was, was the what. What he was doing. It 
was... evil. Beyond measure. Completely immoral, and Natsumi just 
could not sit by and let that happen. Pieces moving, slowly, indeed,
so as to not attract attention. She dipped back into the System,
and saw that her latest piece was indeed moving once more...

******

Nabiki had snapped into full consciousness as if someone had toggled
a switch. She couldn't sleep. No. It wasn't real. None of it was 
real. She could feel it now. Made by someone who thought they knew
all about what they had built, but didn't know the first thing about
soul. And Nabiki, feeling she had none of her own, was very aware
of things that literally had none.

She pushed her blankets off, feeling the cold, yet not feeling what
was behind it. Nothing. Just like The World, this was all false.
The ultimate massed multiplayer game, a clusterbang of data fields
compressed into a virtual world. CC Corporation would have a field
day with that kind of technology, Nabiki reflected, and for a scant
moment, her brain wondered how she could take that technology
to them... but the fantasy evaporated fairly quickly, and she was 
cold once more.

Or, rather, not cold, but being told she was cold. There was a 
difference. Now, quite what that difference was, would remain to be 
seen. She had yet to ponder how she could work this information
to her advantage, but for the moment, the world was telling her she
was hungry.

She headed downstairs.

******

Sailor Moon looked around. There were no signs of damage in the 
street that Mitsuki had intimated, so she guessed that this location
was yet another waste of time. Just like the other twenty or so 
they'd visited. The restaurant across the road looked undamaged;
no holes in the walls, no dust or debris around the front wall, no 
broken windows, no police presence.

As she turned to face Mercury and ask their next lcoation, she caught
sight of a young man, running from a nearby alleyway, his face pale
as if he was running from something that scared him, yet he didn't
bother to look behind him. Sailor Moon wasn't sure that meant that
he knew something wasn't following him, or that he knew it was 
gaining. Without a word to the other senshi, she started in his 
direction; Mars was faster, though, and sidestepped past her before
she'd cleared their hiding place.

Mars grabbed the man by an arm, swinging him around to a stop. He was
panicked, breathing heavily, and his eyes darted wildly. "Let me go!"
he cried.

"Calm down," Mars soothed. "Tell us what's chasing you."

"Not chasing me! Escaping those psycho bitches!" He yanked free, and
ran. Mars looked up into Sailor Moon's eyes.

"I think we found them," she shrugged, then turned as Hotaru and 
Mitsuki came out of the alley, stopping when they saw the other 
senshi. Quietly, they turned around and walked back in. Sailor Moon
and the others followed, glancing around.

By the time they reached the two, two more senshi stood there, 
transformations hidden from the public's views by the narrowness
of the alley.

"Sailor Saturn?" Sailor Moon asked. "I thought you were going to wait
until we were all -"

"We couldn't wait," Saturn replied. "We still can't. We were coming
to look for you. Well, Sailor Mercury." She turned to the Mercurian
senshi. "We've got a job for you."

"'A job?'" Mercury echoed, alightly taken aback. "Have you found 
where Kaname is being held already?"

"No," Nemesis shook her head negatively. "But we have an idea where
she might be found."

"The GOTT offices in Yokohama?"

"We could start there," Saturn replied, "but I think... we think...
based on what Kaname's... date... told us, that she's being held in 
an area of the system without an address. I think that would be a...
location in memory cut off from the rest of the system, right?"

Mercury considered. "Not necessarily; just a region of the system's
resources that can't be reached by the system itself. Only code that
is able to circumvent the locating procedures of the operating
system would be able to enter it... let alone find it..."

"We have to become able to... circumvent the system, then," Nemesis
declared. "And soon. The information was given to us. We know that
Agent Sato wants to capture or kill us, but I think more likely he's
playing with us to keep us from finding a way to get everyone from
the system. And with Kaname in his hands, I don't know, I don't think
we can do a whole lot of good."

Saturn peered at Nemesis curiously, even as Sailor Moon asked, "How
do you know that?"

"I... I just think that's the case," Nemesis muttered in response,
looking down towards her feet. "He wants her for some reason, and 
Ranma... Kaname said she saw him in that dream when she was 
meditating, and he was with Natsumi Otohime, remember? Digital 
monster? She'd contact him to work through, if she could, because
he's helped her before."

"If she's not evil again. And Ranma himself became a monster; he 
might not be himself," Sailor Moon reminded the two senshi. "We can't
assume he'll be quite what we remember."

Saturn's eyes flashed, but yes, she had to remind herself that could
indeed be the case. Nemesis fumed, but also held her tongue; not 
because she thought Sailor Moon could be right, but because Kari 
really wanted to say something and Nemesis didn't really feel like
sharing at the moment. Eventually, Saturn said, "It's still something
we need to look into, Sailor Moon."

"And we still need to find out what this current evil plan is," 
Jupiter sighed, shifting her weight to her right foot. "If we don't,
then we're still in the dark, and we may not have much time to rescue
Kaname, let alone ourselves."

"Yeah," Sailor Moon agreed, glancing back at Jupiter. She thought
for a moment, then: "Mercury, work with Saturn and Nemesis tracking
down Kaname. The rest of us will focus on trying to figure out what's
going on."

"Some of Ranma's friends may know a way to find him," Saturn offered.
"I'll check with them; perhaps if we can find his missing data, we 
can recombine him with his body, and... well, maybe he'll rescue
himself." Without waiting for a response, Saturn leapt skywards.
Nemesis sighed and shook her head as she led Mercury away to find 
somewhere quiet to sit and think.

Which left Sailor Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Venus. Jupiter looked at 
Sailor Moon. "So, fearless, what do we do now?"

"Now?" Sailor Moon asked. "Now, we go get lunch. I'm starving."

Sailor Mars groaned. "Sailor Moon, can we concentrate on the business
at hand? Please?" But Sailor Moon, Jupiter and Venus had already
dropped their transformations, and chatting quietly among themselves,
were heading off to find something to eat.

******

Kaname rested. The morning's argument had taken a lot out of her, 
especially considering since she'd come to during the night she 
hadn't slept. She'd been too hyped up on fear to sleep. Her brain
wouldn't stop, churning through the night and morning with sickening
regularity. Her stomach also ached, rolling and rolling; she could
feel her stomach acids churning, and it didn't feel good. Hunger
pains jabbed into her abdomen, and light pains were starting to ache
through her joints; she needed to be out exercising, moving around
at least. But no, she was tied up, and there she would stay.

But for the moment, Sato was out of the room. She had time to relax,
forcing herself to relax. Meditating, she managed to attain a moment
of almost perfect calmness, and with frightening speed, she found
herself elsewhere.

She glanced around, and found soft, bending grass, in the gently
blowing breeze. She was leaning up against a tree; with a start,
she recognised the surrounds of The World. But how was she here? 
Surely she was just imagining, a moment where her mind roamed in 
memory rather than current sensory reports assaulting her 
subconscious mind.

But, she was beginning to realise, there was a lot more to existance
in this system than living in the real world. Thoughts, dreams,
hopes, fears, all could almost become manifest reality. All it took
was system access, she guessed, and one could do anything to the 
real... to the virtual world everyone now inhabited.

She decided not to think about the reality of it; if her senses told
her it was real, Kaname guessed she'd have to consider it real. And
while meditating, she'd had visions before. Perhaps this was another.

A blossom of white in the corner of her eyes made her turn to her 
right, and there was a young girl, pale skin with pale hair and 
clothing. A billowing white dress, with several layers fluffing
it up. Her hair rolled in a breeze contrary to the direction of the
one Kaname could feel against her bare skin.

"Kaname," the girl said. Kaname realised she was floating above the
ground, which was disconcerting for a brief moment. Then the girl 
continued. "The World is more like reality than you might realise."

"I don't understand."

The girl smiled. It was a cute, innocent smile that bespoke of 
naiveity, but Kaname had no doubt the young girl knew a lot more than
she ever would. "You will. The World is always here as a particulate
subset of reality; a section of minds that exist as a conglomerate
subconscious for the human race. Wishes, desires, dreams, all can be
found within the language of numbers that constructs the worldset,
but while The World always exists in the hearts and minds of humans,
humans need the mechanical to investigate it consciously."

"You're saying that The World exists in the real world as part of our
minds? The more positive aspects of them?" The girl nodded. "But what
relevance does that have to now? How can that help me?"

The girl shook her head, again smiling. "It won't help you now. 
You're tied to a chair, in an untraceable location. But perhaps
it will help you in the future. The real world is like The World.
Even in this game, evil must be fought for any good to arise from 
life." She looked around. "I have to go."

"No! Wait - can you get a message to my friends?" Kaname lunged to 
grab the girl's dress, but she was gone already, and Kaname was all
alone again, under the tree.

Then, the moment of clarity over, she exhaled, and found herself
back in her chair, tied securely, while Sato entered with a cup of 
coffee. He held it up so she could appreciate it. "The one... product
of your civilisations that actually has some... use," he affirmed,
before continuing on with paperwork once more.

******

Hotaru kicked at another ripple of a snowdrift, the third this past
block. With everyone working to rebuild Tokyo, and by extension
Japan, back to what it was pre-disaster, no one was left to clear
snow off footpaths. Nor, it seemed, roads. She'd already seen two car
accidents on the way to Nerima, one from the air, the other once 
she'd landed and changed back from Sailor Saturn. In both cases,
the drivers and occupants of the vehicles were unharmed, just a 
little dazed, and others were already attending to them. Hotaru 
hadn't had to help, which she felt was a good thing. People helping
each other; that was the way of the future.

Indeed, she sometimes thought that was the only way the human race
would survive in this universe, cold and dark and lonely as it was.
Oftentimes, she caught herself wondering about other senshi, other
planets existing in the parallel dimensions of the Moon Kingdom
and the primary plane that Earth inhabited, and wondered if they had
the same problems Serenity and the denizens of the Solar System had
found with the Dark Kingdom. All those planets, so separated,
so different, that only the magic of technology the various Kingdoms
held could bridge the gaps in between.

Of course, to those who were ageless, travel times of centuries
was only really a mere inconvenience, not a lifetime.

Hotaru shrugged deeper into her coat, and once more checked walls
and streets. One more block. One more block before she reached the 
Tendo's. Behind her sounded a bicycle bell, and she ducked, having
seen the results of not ducking far too many times at Furinken.

"Aya! What strange girl doing in Nerima?" the young Chinese woman
asked suspiciously as she skidded her delivery bike to a halt in the
snow from the Death From Above drop she'd been working on. "Shampoo
not see you around before."

Hotaru shot her an annoyed gaze, then sighed, shrugging. "You just
don't pay much attention to me," she replied.

"You not here to steal things from empty houses?" Shampoo continued.

"No," Hotaru confirmed, turning her Stare of Ages on the other. 
Shampoo was oblivious for a moment, then started in recognition.

"You look like Great-Grandmother," she said, eventually. "Same eyes."
She pushed her bike back a step, now keeping a nervous stare on the
younger girl. Her face lit up with recognition again. "You magic 
girl! You ensnare airen!"

"Ensnare - oh, Ranma. Actually, it was him I came to Nerima for."

"You give Ranma back to Shampoo?" Suspicion again.

"No," Hotaru said again, shaking her head. Shampoo pushed her bike
back another step. "I wanted to know if you, or any of your friends,
could find him."

"Airen missing? What you do to airen?" Shampoo pushed her bike 
forward now, agressively, heading straight in to hit Hotaru. Hotaru
reached a hand out, and dangled her transformation wand in front of 
Shampoo's suddenly very close face. The Chinese woman's eyes crossed
as she focussed on it, then she leapt backwards in panic, took to her
bike, and fled down a convenient alleyway.

Hotaru pocketed her wand again, and sighed. That confirmed suspicions
she'd had since Cologne and Shampoo had first been mixed up in 
Ranma's new life. They, or rather, the people they were descended
from, had had dealings with the senshi of the past at some point.
Enough to know what transformation wands were, at any rate. Which,
Hotaru had to admit, was rather weird. Because unless their people
had stood with the Dark Kingdom, or championed its policies at some
point in the past (at least twenty or thirty years before, seeing
as this incarnation of senshi stretched back only so far), the Moon
Kingdom or its representatives would have not been involved with them
in the sense that Hotaru had come to feel from Shampoo, her paramour,
and her elder. Strange. But she shrugged the momentary confrontation
off, and continued on to the Tendo's.

The wind pushed her back somewhat, and she had to struggle, but 
eventually, Hotaru made it to the gates, and rung the bell. She 
waited only a moment before the heavy wooden gate opened to reveal
the smiling face of the eldest of the Tendo sisters, Kasumi.

"Oh! Miss Tomoe, welcome," Kasumi said, opening the gate further
to admit the slight girl. Hotaru nodded thanks as she found herself
sheltered from the worst of the wind by the thick wall. Kasumi noted
the slight shiver from Hotaru, and offered, "The winter is holding
on especially long this year, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes it is," Hotaru replied. "I don't want to intrude, but is 
Akane around? I have to talk to her."

"Akane is about," Kasumi replied thoughtfully before smiling again.
"She's resting upstairs." Kasumi showed Hotaru into the eating area,
and gestured at the young woman to take a seat around the table while
Kasumi slipped Hotaru's coat off without fuss and hung it up on a 
nearby peg. "I'll see if she'll come down. Please wait here for a few
minutes." She left with a strangely significant glance at the middle
sister, who was looking rather shell-shocked.

"Um, hi," Hotaru said to Nabiki as she slid under the table. There
had to be a heater under there, since Hotaru's legs warmed up 
considerably immediately.

Nabiki's gaze was hollow when she looked up, like a child who had 
just seen a favoured puppy killed by a laughing psychopath in a 
bunnygirl suit with a chainsaw. "Hotaru," she replied, voice as 
hollow as her eyes were.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Nabiki replied dully, resting a hand on the table.
"It's nothing at all."

"Oh." Hotaru felt uncomfortable. While she'd been working for Nabiki
at the local high school, she'd done so to try and anticipate
any threats to the man who was then fast becoming her first real 
boyfriend. Funnily enough, the dramas that had surrounded their 
battle to the death at that school had been what finally pushed Ranma
firmly over the edge into, she suspected, loving her as she loved
him. Yet she hadn't been able to commit herself to him then, knowing
what she had done, however unwittingly, however much control over her
actions was in the hands of another. She had felt the need for 
pennance to be done. Now that it had, he was gone. Nabiki had been
the unwitting instigator for most of their hottest feelings, the 
spark that had ignited them into something deeper than the 
embarrassed holding of hands on rooftops or forcing him to wear her
clothes. In the time they'd spent together, she'd even grown to like
Nabiki, although she didn't know why. She was a cruel, calculating,
manipulative bitch - and Hotaru thought it was the darker aspects
of her personality, what had become Mistress Saturn and what perhaps
once had been Mistress 9, that had liked her so. Regardless,
there was just something about her dogged refusal to see the bad side
of something, that overwhelming positive manner that everything
would work out right for her that Hotaru had also liked.

It hurt to see her like this.

"How have you been?"

Nabiki looked up, her eyes dead. "Better."

"Can you say more than one or two words?" Hotaru pushed.

"Yeah," Nabiki said, then fell silent. Just as Hotaru was about to 
prod her to continue, she added, "but it wouldn't matter."

"Why not?"

"Because it's all a lie. Everything we see, every day." Nabiki slid
out from under the table, and stood, paced over to a family 
photograph. "Do you see this? It's a lie. It's not real."

"I don't follow you," Hotaru replied, cautiously.

"You see something every day," Nabiki continued, quieter now as she
traced a finger over her mother's face in the photo. The girls were
all young children there, surrounding their parents. Akane still wore
a nappy under her sundress. "You know it's right, know that it's 
true. And then one day... one day you know it's not true. You can't
explain it, but you can feel it. You know something's wrong with the
world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter
in your mind. Driving you mad." She glanced up at Hotaru briefly.
"Does that sound familiar?"

Hotaru nodded. She'd been that same way until both Mistress 9 and 
Sailor Saturn had been revealed living inside her.

"It's like that bad American movie, you know the one, Tron."

Having already heard this spiel from Usagi, Hotaru interjected,
"People stuck inside a computer?"

"Yeah," Nabiki said, looking up at Hotaru again. There was a little
more life in her eyes this time, but the haunted look still 
dominated. "Once you're aware of what it is, you see it everywhere.
Every time you go to school, every time you go to the shops, every
tie you go to work. In your dreams, it stalks you, in your waking
period - it's everywhere. And it exists... it exists, I think, to 
trap you. It has pulled blinds down over your eyes. To hide the truth
from you."

"Why?" Hotaru asked. "What truth?"

"That we are all slaves," Nabiki responded, eventually. "I don't know
why, and I don't know how, but I think we're all stuck inside a 
massive computer, Hotaru. And the only reason someone would have done
that... that I can think of... is they want to use us for something."

Hotaru stood, instantly missing the warmth on her legs. But they were
sufficiently warmed and recovered enough from her tiring journey
to walk over to Nabiki, stand behind her, and place her hands on 
Nabiki's shoulders. The older woman sagged under her touch, and 
Hotaru was surprised; even like this, she hadn't thought anything
could get Nabiki down so far. "You're right, you know," she whispered
up into Nabiki's ear, clearly and urgently. "We've all been living
inside an alien computer system, since the giant monster in Minato
destroyed the city and we were all converted into digital 
information. We are here for reasons we're as yet unsure of, but we 
have help from within the system, Ranma's personality and memories
are missing, and his body has been taken by the enemy. We're working
on a way to get everyone out of the system, and the city rebuilt,
but we don't know how long we have, nor how exactly to go about it.
The only thing we do know for certain is we're being toyed with, 
delayed, distracted from trying to get everyone out of the system,
so we think it's our life force that the Mas... Yoshihiro wants to 
use."

"Seriously?"

"Yes." Hotaru's single word was firm, full of long years of 
experience. She could feel Saturn swimming about behind her eyes,
lending strength of will to Hotaru. "There is no need to fear. There
is no reason to be afraid. Continue living your life as you would
normally, Nabiki; don't let the evil bastard win." She stepped back,
hearing footsteps coming down the stairs behind her, and she 
swallowed her power and energy, becoming her normal self again. 
Nabiki was still frozen in place, staring at the photograph as Hotaru
slipped her legs back under the table into warmth again.

"I am sorry about the wait," Kasumi apologised, and gestured at 
Akane, who looked a little worn out. "I'll go prepare a snack."
She left the room.

Nabiki placed the photograph down, traced her fingers over the people
in it once more, then turned to Hotaru. Her face still suggested
she wasn't quite there, but she smiled faintly at Hotaru - not quite
the predator she was, but on the road back perhaps. Hotaru nodded
encouragingly at her, and Nabiki left the room. Akane's eyes followed
her around as Nabiki headed upstairs.

"Wow, what did you say to her? She hasn't looked too good all day."

"Nothing much," Hotaru shrugged, then leaned forward towards Akane.
"Um... this is a really weird question, but do you know any way to 
contact Ranma? Or to find him? His body or his mind?"

"What's happened?" Akane demanded.

"Ohhhh... nothing. I, uh, sent Kaname on a date with a guy she 
liked," Hotaru flinched at Akane's groan, and she held her hands up 
in defence. "I know. I was stupid. Very stupid. But, as Kaname 
pointed out often enough, she's not Ranma, and I didn't think I 
should have stood in her way at maybe having a life while she had the
chance. So I pushed her into taking it. And she got captured."

"I've seen the news," Akane said drily, clicking the television
on via the remote. It played once more the news conference given by 
GOTT over the capture of one of Ranma Saotome's top lieutenants.
"It's all lies, of course. Even a stupid, idiotic pervert like Ranma
wouldn't kill people. Not that many, not without a really good 
reason."

"I agree, and he didn't; we know, we were there," Hotaru reminded
Akane. Both fell silent for a moment as they remembered how close
to actual death they had come. "But this is so this Agent Sato can 
continue working against us in public... if people see GOTT members
attacking senshi in the streets, or any of the other surviving
magical protectors of Japan who came for the monster, they'll think
we're terrorists. Control the media, you control an awful lot of 
minds." Something pricked at Hotaru's mind over that, but she 
couldn't immediately place it. She shook her head to clear it.

"But to answer your question, the best person to ask would be 
Cologne."

"Shampoo's great-grandmother."

"Yes. If anyone could find Ranma, through whatever means, it would
be her."

Hotaru considered that. Then nodded, and stood. "Thank you, Akane.
I'm sorry I can't stay longer. Perhaps... when everything calms down,
we can all meet up for lunch."

"That... would be nice, thank you," Akane replied as she helped 
Hotaru into her coat, and waved the younger girl goodbye, a little
unhappily. Kasumi walked back in, with a pair of steaming mugs of 
soup.

"Oh, has your friend left already?" Kasumi asked. She handed Akane
one of the mugs. "I guess I'll have this other mug, then." The two 
sisters settled in to watch the conference again.

******

Ami and Mitsuki sat two blocks down from the GOTT offices in 
Yokohama, in a bus shelter. No one else was in the immediate area,
and Ami had her laptop open while her and Mitsuki tried to feed 
themselves hot food. Occasionally, the wind that was gusting from 
behind the booth would whip around and blow inside. Mitsuki had 
already lost a small bun that way, and with the money situation
being the way it was these days, she wasn't happy about that at all.

"Found anything yet?"

Ami shook her head. "Nothing. The building has one entrance; and even
scanning through the system itself, I am not finding any locations
that aren't connected to other locations. However, due to the huge
number of locations, that doesn't mean a lot at the moment. I would
be able to give a better guess as to whether such a location exists
once the Mercury computer has run through more than two percent
of the system resources." She shut the lid on her laptop, allowing
it to run with an audible alarm if it found anything. "Do you really
think Yoshihiro would allow us to rescue Kaname?"

"If Ranma's a major threat to Yoshihiro's plans? No. I'm hoping this
Sato guy's getting overconfident. I mean, he's beaten me up twice
now, and Kaname once. Surely he's forgotten Kaname must have killed
him once already." Mitsuki shrugged, hard to determine under her 
jacket. "But she's like Ranma in lots of ways, whether she realises
it or not. She'll keep needling Sato, she'll keep looking for 
weaknesses, she'll keep looking for that moment she can escape.
If she manages to escape, we should try and time our attack to 
coincide with hers. Maybe that way, we can make Sato terribly 
overconfident through our attack to overlook whatever it is that 
Kaname can throw." Mitsuki rocked her head back to stare at the 
ceiling of the shelter. "I mean, that girl has some seriously
evil mojo going on when she gets all mystical."

"I've only your word for that," Ami sighed. "Do you notice no one's
reporting Ghosts anymore?"

"Weird subject change," Mitsuki noted. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I just saw one," Ami replied, pointing back north, towards
Minato. "A man. Running. Looking over his shoulder at something.
Then he just vanished."

"Didn't we think they were bits of random data that got shaved off?"

"Indeed," Ami said, still looking down the road at snowy nothingness.
"Yet it's strange that the last ones before just then were seen 
before this Agent Sato attacked you and Kaname at her apartment.
Or the one we saw in the hot springs?"

"Perhaps they never went away," Mitsuki muttered. "Perhaps they're
just not newsworthy anymore." Her voice lightened, sounding almost
like a young girl's. "Or the controlling hand of the media, this GOTT
organisation, wished to stop people from talking about them and so 
expunged them from the media at all levels. Surely in a system as 
complex as this, an operator could work out an algorithm to delete
any reference in media to Ghosts before it reached the streets or 
public consumption?"

Ami quirked an eyebrow at Mitsuki's sudden language boost, but simply
said, "That could very well be the case." A young girl stepped out of
the GOTT offices, and Ami's eyes tracked her as she walked the two 
blocks down towards them. She was on the opposite side of the road,
and gave no indication of being evil. Ami chuckled at herself,
at the thought. Of course people didn't have to look evil. Yoshihiro,
for example, was simply gorgeous - blond, tall, handsome, capable.
And obviously very, very intelligent. That thought, more than 
anything else about him, made Ami's knees turn to water when she 
thought of him. Yet, for her, Keitaro Urashima was still the man 
she'd like to have something with. A pity his relationship
with Naru was still on-going; she didn't know if he was still with
her because that was what he wanted, what he thought he wanted,
or what she wanted... Naru could be domineering.

"Mitsuki," Ami asked, "I've been meaning to ask you for a while,
where do you get your medication from? You must have gone through
some bottles of the stuff lately, judging by how you swallow those
pills."

Mitsuki looked embarrassed, but answered anyway. "There's a small
pharmacy just down the road from where we live. I have a lifetime
prescription for my... illness, because it won't go away. Ever."
She sighed, puffing a breath out between her teeth. "I guess I go 
through a bottle every week or two at the rate I take them. They're
just... not as effective on me as they should be. Got to take lots
to get any effect... even the doctors who put me on them for life...
they were surprised that I had no response to what would normally
be considered high dosages."

"Oh."

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Killing time, as they say."

"Oh." Then, a minute later, "Look, I've been meaning to ask you for
a long time, but... do you dye -" Mitsuki cut her sentence off as Ami
touched her leg with a hand. "Ami, uh..."

"Across the road," came the quiet response. Mitsuki turned. The girl
who Ami had been following down the road had stopped across from 
them. She seemed to be the age Hotaru was, and wearing a thick coat,
which with a shrug of her shoulders, slid to the ground and revealed
a short red minidress with a white cross leading from between her 
breasts to her crotch.

"Oh, that's just got to be cold," Mitsuki sighed, feeling in her 
jacket pocket for her transformation wand. "Is it too much to ask 
that we only fight bad guys on warm, sunny days on tropical beaches?
bad guys who just want to laze around on the beach and play evil 
games of volleyball? No? Hmph."

The girl looked over at them. She couldn't have been more than 
fourteen or fifteen, and dressed as she was, she had no makeup on of
any kind. However, she didhave lipstick with her. Ami was watched
her draw on building walls halfway up the block as she'd walked with
it, and now, her coat on the ground, she reached out again and 
touched the end of the line with her stick of lipstick. She lowered
herself into a challenging stance, and grined fiercely at Ami and 
Mitsuki, who groped for transformation wands in their pockets,
readying themselves for the charge.

That never came. Instead, the girl whipped her hand around, and the
line of lipstick pulled off the walls down the street, forming a 
lengthy whip she brought around and swung at the two women. Ami 
dodged, while Mitsuki tried to parry, the lengths winding around
her forearm. With a slight yank, the girl had Mitsuki off her feet
and bouncing across the street towards her, her wand skittering
from her hand as she bounced.

"Mitsuki!" Ami yelled, transforming into Sailor Mercury while the 
girl had her attention on the bound woman. "Let her go!" Mercury
shouted as she powered up and fired with a "Shabon Spray!" that the
girl deflected with her free arm. Mercury gaped for a moment, then
shifted gears. "Shabon spray freezing!" Again, nothing, but the girl
had wrapped more of the whip around Mitsuki by then, starting to wind
it around her neck and cutting off her breathing. Mitsuki strugged
with her still-free hand to gain some space under the material,
but it seemed unbreakable.

After a moment of futile struggling, she started casting about on the
ground randomly as her face turned blue. Mercury refused to panic,
but again, didn't quite know what she should do. Usually, she'd have
the others around to back her up, ask her for advice, and she could
take a backseat role to the events, but here, she found herself
cut off from help and in a battle situation she hadn't expected.

Well, this early. She'd been expecting someone from GOTT to come 
down, but she'd been expecting a security guard or the like, not a 
super-powered maniac.

The moment of indecisiveness passed, and she took a few steps forward
to build up speed, then leapt at the girl, turning her posture to 
make a flying kick while charging up for another attack. The 
manoeuvre worked; the girl shifted her attention from Mitsuki to 
Mercury, just before her kick slammed into the girl's cheek. The GOTT
operative brought her arm up to push Mercury away, and cleared 
Mercury's legs from her gaze just as Mercury let loose with an "Ice
crypt!"

Ice ate its way up from the ground over the girl's legs, over her 
body, and swallowed her whole just as Mercury was completely
clear. Mitsuki, her face now purple as she choked for breath, closed
her hands on her wand, grunted something through lack of oxygen,
and transformed in a burst of purple ribbons. Then she busted free
of the wrappings, and rolled over onto her hands and knees, coughing
and trying not to vomit as she regained her breath.

"What the HELL was that?" Nemesis asked Mercury.

"Her lipstick, I think. She apparently has some... I would say 
magical, but I would assume it's more of a hacked ability that allows
her to control the constituent molecules of the lipstick material,"
Mercury theorised as she skipped back to stand behind the stronger
senshi. Nemesis climbed painfully to her feet.

"So, you think the bitch is dead?"

"I doubt it would be that easy," Mercury disagreed.

"I'm inclined to believe you," Nemesis muttered, clenching her fists.
Even as she spoke, the ice encasing the girl started to crack as she
tensed muscles. Finally, with a resounding crack that echoed up the
street, the girl busted free, ice falling about her feet.

"Now, that just wasn't nice," she said, wagging a finger at Mercury.
"I'd think that a parent such as yourself should be nicer to your 
children, many times removed as we are."

"'We'?" echoed Mercury quickly.

"A proper lady shouldn't be so quick to anger," a voice above them
said. Nemesis kept her eyes on the first girl while Mercury sought
out the younger-sounding voice behind and above them. It was a 
younger girl, with incredibly pale hair, dressed in a blue bodysuit
that had no arms or legs. Instead, she wore dainty gloves and shoes,
and had her hair tied back except for a single curled bang down the
right side of her face. She had a faint smile on her face as she 
gazed down at the senshi before glancing up at the other girl. 
"Eclair, I think these two could almost be friends of yours. All they
want to do is break things."

The one called Eclair grinned savagely, and bent down again. Nemesis,
likewise, prepared for combat, while Mercury questioned the other
girl. "Why do you call us parents?"

"Not both of you, just you," the younger girl said.

"Lumiere, I'm getting bored," Eclair said.

Nemesis growled. "Do you need your little friend to hold your hand?"

Eclair's eyebrows shot up in surprise, then lowered again as her eyes
slitted in anger. "I'll enjoy taking your tongue," she growled back.

"Just me?" queried Mercury. Lumiere nodded in silent affirmation.
So, Mercury thought, it had to be something to do with Mercury...
although what on Earth could have joined forces with the Dark Kingdom
so readily?

"Don't you feel lucky," Nemesis grunted in her direction.

"She should feel special," Eclair smirked at Nemesis. "Once I'm 
finished with you, I'll personally make sure she pays for the blood
on her hands." Then, without further warning, she leapt at Nemesis.

The elder senshi blocked with both forearms as she'd been taught
for high-strength attacks, but felt the impact push her back through
the road surface. She braced herself in the street, then allowed
Eclair's next attack to batter itself on her defence before she 
dropped and, leaning forward, wrapped her thighs around Eclair's
neck and tossed her into a building. Eclair jumped up, apparently
none the worse for wear, and brushed herself off. Nemesis likewise
continued her movement until she stood once more, and posed 
dramatically, intentionally provoking Eclair's charge. She stepped
to one side, but failed to catch the follow-up attack as Eclair 
planted a foot deep into the road and swung the other around in a 
high arc. It smacked Nemesis in the jaw, and she flew thirty metres
into a glass display window, disappearing into the store beyond.

"Again with the jaw," Mercury heard Nemesis mutter as she stood back
up and climbed back through the window. An alarm started in the shop,
hesitantly at first, but then it built up into a piercing shriek.

"Do you feel left out of this, 'Mother'?" Lumiere asked Mercury,
who shifted her attention back to the younger of the two girls.

"A little," Mercury admitted, readying herself into a combat stance
again. Yet the girl seemed positively amused by the gesture, and 
tittered self-consciously behind one of her hands before she began
pulling her gloves off, finger by finger.

"Please allow me the credit of not wishing to sully myself 
physically," Lumiere smiled. Her gloves off and tucked into a belt,
she gestured dramatically with her fingers, and Mercury caught sight
of lances of multicoloured light streaming from her fingertips.
She lowered her visor into position over her eyes and ran an 
analysis, just as the first lance reached her and punched a hole 
through her standard system defences. Alerts flashed up before her 
eyes, window boxes opening and covering other penetration alerts
as the lance dug deep within the code of the embedded Mercury 
computer. Mercury cursed silently to herself, and began furiously
concentrating on the datascape that revolved throughout her head.

She caught sight of the young girl, a visual representation
within the system, as a second lance struck home. The first was 
obviously a tracker, hunting down and penetrating passive and active
defences to allow for the second lance, the payload: a 
personality-laden virus with enough computing power to rewrite entire
polydimensional operating systems to the infector's specifications.
Which, obviously for the amount of effort involved, didn't leave 
Mercury with a lot of hope for a positive outcome. She began to 
focus, calling up defence structures to slow the first probe while
she considered methods for stopping it altogether before it reached
the security core of the polyframe. The standard defences weren't
slowing the probe much, and the girl - the second probe - just walked
slowly but surely through the path tore by the first. She couldn't
affect the system in those areas, and considered them already corrupt
sectors.

At most, Mercury could really only call for a system format and hope
for the best, but these virii showed intelligence; they could likely
hide from the wiping procedure, and would then shut down (or do worse
to) the operating system. Thus, she gave those corrupted sectors
as lost for the moment, and focussed on a method of shutting down the
probes. What was confusing her was that all of the strongest system
defences that the Mercury computer was capable of manifesting
were like hot butter to a rocket launcher to the penetrating
probe; even as she tore through operating manuals faster than a human
brain could comprehend them, and pulling out appropriate sections
of defensive code, the probe was decimating her defences. Something
was wrong here.

A Dark Kingdom virus shouldn't have been able to work like this. And
while Mercury was having questions about the Agents roaming the 
system, and knowing that the system itself was likely a Mercury
computer, she doubted Yoshihiro had anything that could have...
Mercury swore to herself, and pulled out a volume of data she'd just
been trawling through for code, flipping through the virtual pages.
The second probe stopped, and looked at her, curiously.

"What have you found over there?" she asked.

Mercury slammed the book shut, and looked up, in horror. "I know what
you are," she gasped.

"I'm fast losing hope for your intelligence," Lumiere remarked.

******

"So, Usagi, what bright idea do you have to get us into there?"
Rei asked, for the tenth time. Usagi was still thinking, and thinking
hard by the look of her. Eyes closed, face screwed up in a scowl,
blood rushing her her face - if she didn't breathe soon, Rei could
go home and put her feet up; Usagi'd be dead.

Eventually, though, she inhaled, and started walking triumphantly
towards the fence. "Luna's gone missing," she announced to the world.
"And we saw her run in here. That's our story, if anyone asks." And
then Usagi, without thought to the consequences, ducked under the 
fence surrounding the Zone and disappeared.

Rei glanced at Minako, who shrugged. "You know how she gets 
sometimes. And, as it goes, it's a decent enough excuse we should
be able to use without getting into much trouble."

"I don't think the Self-Defence Forces are guarding the entry points
because it's unsafe," Makoto grumbled.

"That's why we're here," Rei answered with a sigh. "If it wasn't
dangerous, you know all the other defenders of the world would be in
there, poking around." Without another word, Rei followed Usagi in.
Minako shrugged at Makoto, who sighed, shook her head in disbelief,
and followed the others in.

The Zone, where Tokyo had been destroyed by the rampaging giant 
monster that had come ashore at Minato, and rampaged through to the
tower, was a ruin. Still. Although much of the heavier debris had 
been moved, there still jutted foundations from destroyed buildings,
that poked up fingers of reinforced steel and chunks of concrete
towards the skies. Jagged shards of glass rose from the bulldozed
dirt, pushed to the sides of the many little roadways that now snaked
between the larger piles of rubbish. Some pieces of buildings
still stood recognisable above the ground, casting strange, 
incomplete shadows over the girls. Usagi had continued on, but from
behind, her neck seemed abnormally pale. She was walking slowly,
too, cautiously.

Rei caught up, and started looking around. Makoto brought up the 
rear, while Minako ranged ahead a little. All were silent, and no one
seemed to want to break the unearthly silence, broken only by the 
distant sounds of heavy vehicles in front of them.

Eventually, Usagi shivered, and hugged herself. "I wish Mamoru were
here," she commented quietly.

Rei agreed; partially psychic, she could feel the evidence of human
life here on more than a visual level. She gasped as she felt 
something shiver through her, like a scream of fright, of pain, 
suddenly cut short. She herself wished Phobos and Deimos, the two 
crows who had joined her on occasion at the Hino Shrine throughout
her life. They usually made her feel more safe. Failing that, Tuxedo
Kamen would also be an appropriate guardian. But, all she responded
with was a murmured, "Yeah," as she continued on.

"Does anyone see anything?" Makoto asked. She wasn't as sensitive
as the others; or at least, that's how she seemed. She often dealt
with things in private, away from others, tending to want to appear
strong for her friends. Whether or not the sights around them 
affected her didn't show in any way. "Apart from... you know...
the bodies back there."

"There were bodies?" Usagi asked, then instantly regretted it. She 
knew now that, morbidly, she'd be looking for them on the way back,
and knew she'd be creeped out for the next few days. "I hope you're
joking, Makoto."

Makoto went to deny that, then decided for Usagi's peace of mind,
she'd best just nod her head absently as she continued her visual
search. "But there's nothing here but junk," she said, eventually.

"Of course," Minako said from further ahead. "Because what we're 
looking for is over there." And she pointed.

The others reached her, and looked out. The ground here had been 
hollowed out a little. It sank down three dozen metres from where
the girls stood, which gave them a good view over the site. Piping
had been laid out; obsidian tubes stretching around the exterior
of the hollow. Construction vehicles a kilometre away were laying
another into position; monsters directed the crane's lowering of the
pipe into place, then backed the crane off and began welding it to 
the rest of them. Out further into the middle of the depression,
huge foundations lay, with giant steel columns reaching skyward.
It seemed almost to be a gigantic hand, reaching forth from the 
ground, a giant grasping for rebirth from the womb of earth that had
sealed over it.

For a fleeting moment, Usagi had a vision of a giant monster bursting
forth and the senshi being eaten. She shook her head, and the thought
vanished from before her eyes, but continued lurking just behind
the scenes.

Other pieces of construction seemed weird. Rectangular concrete
tunnels, as if they were laying a subway system or underground
busway, stretched from the centre of the depression out to the edges.
Other columns rose here and there, seemingly at random, with what 
looked like weird technorganic patterning up and down their surfaces.
Occasionally, a burst of dark energy crackled from a contact on one
or another.

"I thought... they were rebuilding Tokyo in here," Usagi said, 
eventually.

"That's stating the obvious," Rei remarked.

"Didn't you have some idea they'd be doing something evil in here 
when you said we were coming into the Zone to check what was going
on?" Makoto reminded Usagi.

"I... I just thought... this would be a good place for the Dark 
Kingdom to hide something... but... people work here... where are the
people?" Usagi's eyes shot around the giant hollow, eyes seeking
out anything approaching a normal human, but finding nothing. Rei's
hand closed on her shoulder in support, and Usagi was grateful
for the gesture, knowing without looking that the other senshi were
also growing as uneasy with the location as she was. "There should
be people," she repeated, dumbly.

"They haven't cleaned any of this up," Makoto noted suddenly.
"There's nothing here that's... everything, it's all just been shoved
to the side. Those -" Makoto caught herself before she uttered 
'bodies' again, having seen Usagi was more on edge now than she had
been a few minutes ago, and substituted, "- remains of the buildings,
they've all just been bulldozed out of the way here to make this..."

"I wish Ami were here. She could tell us what we want to know," 
Minako said, her voice hollow as her eyes locked on a troup of 
monsters heading for a ramp half a kilometre away. "And I think we'd
better get under cover... they're too close."

Usagi agreed, and the senshi melted back against the enormous mounds
of rubble, peeking out around the edge to see where the monsters
were going.

They tromped up the ramp, slowly, weighed down as if by massive
lead weights. They trudged towards a small set of buildings the 
senshi hadn't noticed before, and a young, attractive woman stood
near a timecard machine just out from the building. As the monsters
reached the machine, they took their card, and swiped it through
the small digital device. As soon as their card had gone through,
the senshi were amazed to watch green alphanumerics explode from the
skin of the worker, and rush up into the sky until they could no 
longer be seen. As the data left the body, the monster slumped,
seemed to deflate as its skin shrank into a more human appearance.
By the last time the last ideogram jumped forth from the body, the 
monster, the worker, was human once more, and an exhausted one at 
that. He then trudged into the small buildings, ostensibly to shower
off the dirt and grime they were covered in.

"That answers that question," Makoto said, decidedly off-colour.

"Temporary monsters," Rei murmured. "That's... sickening..."

Minako agreed in a slightly more physical affirmation, nearly right
across her shoes. Thankfully, she managed to control the retching
quickly, and the girls started to move back the way they had come.
All were silent until they reached the fence.

"We've seen things like that before, and... and..." Makoto shook her
head. "Why is this affecting us so?"

"Because he's up to something," Rei replied. "Yoshihiro is working
on something huge, and we can't stop him. Him, or his people who work
for him here. I know Mitsuki is unstable, but one thing she's good
at is fighting, and if she got thrown around as much as she says,
both times she's faced these GOTT agents, then... I shudder to think
what else Yoshihiro has working for him here."

"Rei's right," Usagi said, quietly, from beside Minako. "That's...
what we saw in there... it looks unstoppable. But it can't be. We've
got to find some way of stopping it, stopping that... rape of people
we saw in there. I don't think anyone knows it. I don't think...
I can't think that. We're all being used, and used to make that 
thing," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, back into the Zone,
"and then... then..."

"... to power it?" Minako asked in a small voice.

Usagi nodded warily. "I think so. So that just makes it all the more
important that we find a way to stop it."

"We'd better rescue Kaname, then."

"That, Mako-chan, or find some way of doing it ourselves."

******

Nemesis dodged another punch that cratered the road, Eclair's head
snapping back as she jumped upwards to escape the GOTT agent's 
uncontrolled lunge. Eclair didn't seem to be as ladylike as the other
girl, Nemesis reflected as the brunette gritted her teeth in anger
and leapt upwards, following her. Whereas Lumiere stood off and 
apparently conducted an invisible orchestra at Mercury, while the 
senshi of the Innermost planet of the Moon Kingdom moaned, thrashed
and whimpered like she had just discovered her own sexuality before
her. Weird. Nemesis glanced back at Eclair, to see that the girl had
leapt up higher, faster, and was now descending from the weak 
winter's sun, hands joined in a fist, up behind her head. At the 
moment Nemesis caught sight of the danger, Eclair's fists whipped
up and over her head, crashing down towards where Nemesis' head would
have been. Instead, the senshi raised both arms in an X-shape,
catching the blow. She felt she'd have bruises for a few minutes
where the iron-like fists smashed into her forearms.

"Don't you two have something better to be doing?" Nemesis asked as 
she turned her downward momentum into a spinning kick as she touched
the ground. Eclair parried the kick, and stepped inside Nemesis'
reach, bringing an elbow around to bury into her throat. Nemesis
bent backwards onto her hands, flicking her legs up around Eclair
rapidly and bringing them down to stand upright again away from the
ES-agent before Eclair could make another attack. "Like, I don't 
know, harrassing your boss for better-fitting uniforms?"

"You can talk," Eclair shot back, hair whipping around as she spun
and delivered a kick of her own. Nemesis caught the offered foot,
and twisted it sharply, Eclair jumping and rolling to avoid having
her leg injured before managing to pull it out of the senshi's
grasp. "That miniskirt is so out of fashion. And those boots...
do you troll for men in them?"

Nemesis grunted as another punch made it through her defences.
"At least I'm old enough to go hunting men," she retorted, "unlike
SOME super-powered people present." She returned the punch with one
of her own, then followed up with a feint to one side before bringing
her right foot up and burying her toe in Eclair's thigh. She felt the
muscle under it bulge appropriately as she dug the tip of her boot
in, then felt something give. Eclair gasped, and jumped back twice
to gain some room. Nemesis, injured but not seriously so, refused
to allow the ES-agent to find time to recuperate, and jumped towards
her. "Richter wave!" she yelled, gesturing gravitons down her hands
and into the injured girl, who felt gravity double, triple, quadruple
around her in cresting shockwaves. Air grew solid and sluggish
and she struggled to draw a breath. Before she could, Nemesis'
foot crushed her stomach, pushing what remaining oxygen she had in 
her lungs out in a hard gush of breath, and she was thrown backwards
into a wall.

Nemesis continued after her, firing off attack after attack, pushing
the younger woman deeper and deeper into the ground, her bloodied
body crumpling under massed gravities. An eyeball popped under the 
pressure, the other bulging dramatically. Skullbone cracked, then 
fractured along a hemisphere, then splintered, driving particles
of bone throughout the soft brain tissue, itself being pulped under
the intense graviton bursts.

And then, Nemesis sagged. Drained. She let the gravitons go, felt 
them reassociate themselves with the planet she'd drawn them from.
From around her, there was a general quiet creak as buildings
settled back into their positions with their normal weight. But 
before she helped Mercury with Lumiere, she needed to get her breath
back. Her hands on her knees, she drew in breath after breath. She 
hadn't expended most of her power, or even half; but that fight had
been more drawn out, more intensive, than most she'd fought in the 
last year, and before she went back into battle, she needed to know
she could operate at peak efficiency. Somewhere inside her, Shin was
affecting judgement with this decision. The memory that told her what
could happen if she wasn't calm and controlled. Even Kari respected
that decision; as much as Kari enjoyed letting loose, unleashing
her anger and rage on others, she had no wish to self-destruct.
Nor, apparently, to let Mitsuki self-destruct. And anyway, in this
form, Nemesis reigned supreme; the big shark overseeing the little
fishes. To the power of a planetary guardian memeconstruct,
differing personalities were nothing but motes of dust in one's eye.

It took her maybe twenty seconds to feel capable of fighting again
at peak efficiency. Mercury seemed to be holding her own, with a few
muttered curses and seductive-sounding moans, so Nemesis turned to 
help out. But as she turned, she caught sight of something, and 
turned back to the crater that held Eclair's corpse.

The corpse twitched.

Nemesis blinked, and assumed it was wind, an earthquake, nerves,
even waves of power being flung off from the fight behind her. But 
no, one of the limbs moved.

Jerkily at first, like a puppet being moved by a puppeteer who's 
forgotten his trade, but gaining in strength and purpose. An arm 
reached up, chunks of bloodied meat hanging from the bones, and the
hand planted down, fingers splayed to anchor the hand as it pushed
down. The body levered partway up, cracked evil smile peering from
between broken teeth. Nemesis took a step back as the corpse sat 
fully up. Then, carefully, it stood upright, pulling itself out of 
the hole in the ground where it had been forced. To Nemesis' eye, it
looked as if the flesh was pulling back together. Certainly,
on her left calf, veins were braiding theselves around the muscle,
and her skull was reknitting even as her eye reinflated.

"I... I..." Nemesis stuttered, taking another step backwards.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Eclair grinned savagely. "I'm not finished
with you yet." She started towards Nemesis again, who momentarily
panicked and swung a savage roundhouse with all her strength at 
Eclair, a punch that by all rights should have taken her head off.
But Eclair's head snapped around, far beyond the limits of a normal
person's neck, and Eclair paused, then twisted her head back around
to face the senshi. "Oh please. Haven't you figured it out yet, 
little defender of the nether regions of the solar system? You're
not powerful enough to beat me. You weren't powerful enough to beat
our father, either. You're about thirty thousand years too early to 
beat me." Then, physically whole again, a stunning vision of beauty,
Eclair launched a vicious attack on Nemesis.

Meanwhile, Mercury's defences continued to fall. There had to be 
something in the history files about defeating Cybrids, but she 
couldn't find anything. All that came up in her rapid searches
were slight references to their creation, to their rebellion,
to their betrayal during the war against Beryl, and... something
that was referred to several times by name, but with no attached
description, as if the reader should know all about it. Prometheus.
She felt there was something there, some importance she was missing,
but she couldn't find any descriptive reference to Prometheus,
which hindered her search. Perhaps Prometheus had been the codename
of the viral pattern that was suspected to have infected the Cybrids
on Mercury, or perhaps Prometheus had been a Cybrid General, or 
soldier of renown. Lumiere's viral probe continued to smirk that 
oh-so irritating superior faint smile from above Mercury as she 
worked feverishly, only one hand directing defence systems and 
building walls while she continued her studying.

"You can't win," Lumiere said finally. "No matter what you do. 
Perhaps the original guardian essence from Mercury might have bested
me in a challenge of datascapes; unfortunately, you are but a pale
shadow, a poor imitation of the real thing. We beat them, too."

"Beryl beat our original selves," Mercury threw back. "And that was
only because we, the guardians of the solar system, weren't there
to fight her in that last battle."

"Is that what you tell yourselves?" Lumiere taunted. "The Moon 
Kingdom was doomed; dimensional stability was collapsing. The 
civilisation of the White Moon and attendant planets was about to 
collapse into a gravity well and destroy the primary plane; instead,
Serenity chose to destroy all she held, in order to grab it all again
through her daughter in the future. She didn't count on the Dark 
Kingdom surviving her little trick - by all rights, the dimensional
stability of the Kingdom's scattered holdings should have been 
corrupted beyond access, but many of the smaller outlying dominions
of Metallia's continued to exist out of phase with primary plane or 
either of the major Kingdoms... which allowed Beryl and her 
descendant forces the necessary physical locations to mobilise
from."

"You are very talkative for a viral probe," Mercury muttered,
opening yet another history tome. She flicked through several hundred
pages before looking up in surprise, then discarding the book before
searching the shelves for files on mechanical engineering.

"What are you doing?" Lumiere asked, suddenly curious.

"Finding a method of stopping you," Mercury replied, fingers 
alighting on a slim book, Cybertechnological Hybrids And Their 
Practical Applications. She pulled that out, and rapidly flipped
through the pages, while Lumiere spread her fingers, and gestured
faster. Viral application began expanding through random memory 
locations, and the datascape exploded into small red flowers of alarm
and corrupted data fields. Several of the books on the shelves behind
Mercury exploded into flame; one turned into a giant roaring 
cockroach before it exploded. Mercury was oblivious to everything.
With one hand, she continued to resist the infection of her computer
systems; with her other, she studied the book rapidly.

Outside, Nemesis' head was snapped back painfully by a powerful
kick, but she retained sufficient presence of mind to bring a fist
up, charged with local gravitons, and buried it into Eclair's crotch.
The girl cried out, then flipped back, staggering a little. But even
as Nemesis regained her breath and lightly touched her jaw, fingering
the bruise that was rising under the skin already, she watched Eclair
standing further upright, before dropping once more into a launch
pose.

Sure enough, within fractions of a second, Eclair had thrown herself
at Nemesis again. Nemesis brought up her forearms, warding off the 
initial blows, but one slipped through and hammered her in the 
stomach. She folded up, and slumped to the ground. Eclair stood above
her, ready to deal the final blow to the senshi, but smiling 
savagely, savouring the moment.

Then Lumiere said, "What are you -" and broke off into screeches
that sounded to Nemesis awfully like a modem negotiating with a host.
But she couldn't open her eyes to see what Mercury had done. She 
tried to push herself up, tensing muscles to hopefully ameliorate
the coming blow -

- that never fell. She looked up, just in time to see Eclair fall 
backwards. As she hit the ground, she exploded into a million pixels
that faded within moments. Lumiere, over by Mercury, a stunned 
expression on her face, slumped to her knees before the jarring
impact with the road's surface caused her form to explode similarly.

In pain, Nemesis dragged herself to her feet with a handy nearby
bus seat, while Mercury's colour recovered from the pale white it had
been when her fight had finished. Nemesis knew she'd had something
to do with the deaths of these two but she didn't know. She guessed
Mercury had done something computer-y to them. Eventually, the 
Mercurian senshi made her way over to Nemesis, who was slumped 
against the iron-wrought seat, and sank down onto it. "What did you
do?" Nemesis asked.

"I found the construction manuals for them," Mercury replied, after
a time. "I found out how we made them, what they were used for - and
every backdoor entrance Mercurian engineers had built into the 
omniware that drove them."

"'Them'?"

"Cybrids. Made on Mercury before the war, but they rebelled, left 
Mercury, joined up with Beryl's forces as they laid waste to the Moon
Kingdom," Mercury explained. "Under the leadership of Prometheus,
their primary node. He was never found; and the Cybrids were presumed
all destroyed before the last days of the war." Mercury shrugged.
"I guess there are more out there; that they just went into hiding."

"And you switched them off just like that? Impressive."

Mercury opened her mouth to explain that no, it wasn't that easy,
that in the time she'd been fighting in the datascape of her Mercury
computer, in that interminable time on an altered plane of reality
when she'd found the data she needed through to actually managing
to ram a reciprocal trojan virus with a destructive payload, she had
had her mind turned inside out, that her memories were all jumbled
and only now coming back into focus, that for a time, she hadn't
been able to move, until the nanotechnological symbiotes that 
enhanced her biophysical system and gave her the strength of a senshi
had rebooted her body and started everything up again. She'd not been
able to breathe, had felt the blood grow stangnant in her veins,
actually saw neuro-electrical impulses sputter and die before the 
eternal technology within her body remade her. But no; she thought
otherwise. Nemesis looked beat, and Ami, not having been knocked
around physically, was - apart from her brain, which was being nicely
ordered by legions of nanites - mostly fine. She closed her mouth,
hearing sirens in the distance.

Nemesis slid down the back of the chair next to her, and both took
some deep breaths while they tried to recover enough to continue.
They'd only need rest a few minutes...

******

The Nekohanten was quiet, dark. No lights appeared to be on inside,
and with the cloud cover above, that made the inside of the 
restaurant look darker than it should have. Hotaru paused outside
the front door, hesitating only a moment, before pushing the door 
open and entering.

"Go!" barked a voice from deep inside. "Restaurant is closed today,"
it continued, slightly quieter.

"I'm looking for Cologne," Hotaru spoke up.

"And why would you be looking for me, child?" The speaker hopped
into the light, and Hotaru saw it was the old woman she had come 
looking for. "Well?"

"I need to find Ranma," she said.

"You're one of those moon girls son-in-law has hooked up with," 
Cologne confirmed, no doubt in her voice.

"Uh... 'moon girls'?"

"I'm not stupid, child, nor am I blind. The power you and your 
friends produce cannot be hidden from one who can see beyond the 
flesh." Cologne gestured at Hotaru with a boney finger. "But, I have
to say, I was fooled at first, seeing your friends at the Tendo's.
I did not look carefully enough. It was a mistake that I will 
rectify." She hopped off her cane, and swung it around into a kendo
ready-position, eyeing Hotaru up.

"We don't have to fight -"

"History says we must," Cologne uttered, then leapt at Hotaru, cane
out in front of her as if she wished to run the girl through. Hotaru,
caught out, tried to sidestep and brought up her hands to defend
herself. The wood of the cane bit through her palms as it passed,
and she caught sight of hate-filled eyes as they flashed past her.
Cologne bounced off a far wall, and returned, spinning around so the
cane acted much as a propellor blade. Again, as she passed, Hotaru
felt a stinging cut slice through her skin, and she concentrated,
pulling the flesh together and healing herself. Then, taking another
ready position, she waited for Cologne's next attack.

It wasn't long in coming, and Hotaru felt more slices, more pin 
pricks, as the elderly woman rocketed past.

Cologne stopped on a nearby table, gloating. "I don't know why I was
so afraid of you," she said with a smile. "It's so obvious that the
power you have is useless. And physically, you're weak. So weak, I 
don't think it worth fighting you any longer." She folded her arms
across her chest, and lifted her nose to show the contempt she felt
for Hotaru. Hotaru, on the other hand, felt a flush of anger through
her. She healed herself again, then lifted a hand up in the air.

"Saturn planet power - make up!"

Now Cologne's eyes opened again, in surprise. "My, aren't we getting
cocky."

"I didn't come here to fight," Saturn said. "I came here to find 
someone very dear to me. You had been recommended to me as the person
to see about finding Ranma. And by god, I will make you find him for
me."

Cologne darted forward, and Saturn, with her enhanced speed and 
strength, slammed her glaive down between her legs. It buried the 
shaft in the floor, but Cologne somehow shifted sideways and slid 
through untouched, slicing at one of Saturn's boots. The purple 
leather parted, and Saturn flicked an annoyed kick backwards.
Cologne dodged that, and leaped up, intending to attack Saturn's
face while she was overbalanced, but she wasn't counting on Saturn
being an expert with her glaive.

Swinging it around behind her and up, Saturn caught Cologne with a 
lucky shot and swatted her towards one of the walls. The elderly
Amazon stopped her flight and growled.

"I'm not the only one who should be trying to be less arrogant,
it seems," Saturn noted with a smile. "I still do not want to fight,
though. I merely -"

"Why would I help you?" Cologne asked suddenly. "Ranma is betrothed
to my great-granddaughter; why would I help one who claims her 
attachment to my future son-in-law takes precedence over Amazon law?"

For that, Saturn didn't have an immediate answer. She thought,
and then said, "Because I love him, and your granddaughter
doesn't, perhaps? Because whatever argument you have with me and my 
fellow senshi, whatever this twisted history you follow tells you 
about us, I care about my boyfriend, and I want him back." The last
words were spoken in a voice that only the very stupid would ignore,
only the incredibly ignorant would disobey.

Yet Cologne was neither. She was strong, she was skilled, and she 
knew it. Likewise, she had already seen the new training over old 
patterning of the fighting style this Sailor Saturn used, and had 
picked it as a bastardised Anything-Goes style within Hotaru's
opening stance. Ranma had apparently been teaching an abbreviated
version of his own teachings so as to not put others through what he
himself had been through. She knew that Saturn posed no real threat
to her in a fight.

"If you cannot give me a reason, I cannot help you," she said simply,
and turned her back on the senshi. She felt rather than saw the young
girl step forward once, twice, reach a hand out - at first 
agressively, then, after a pause, imploringly.

"Help me, Cologne, you're my only hope."

"I have already given you my answer, child," Cologne replied. "Do as
I say and I will do as you ask."

With no idea in her head still, Saturn let her transformation
drop, and Hotaru left the restaurant, depressed. Cologne watched
her go from one of the upstairs windows, trudging down the street.
Strange, Cologne reflected, that two women, such as her below, had 
devastated the entire Amazon society over a thousand years ago...
but having seen this one, the child who had devastated the local high
school, she had to wonder... just how had they posed any kind of 
threat?

******

It took ten minutes for the first of the emergency vehicles to reach
the destruction that was once a street, and Nemesis and Mercury
looked up from their bus seat as ambulance workers threw themselves
into digging through the rubble. Wearily, Nemesis called out, 
"There's no bodies. No one was here apart from us."

One of the workers shot her a nervous, almost frightened look, and 
turned away. Moments later, as the first of the police cars pulled
up, Mercury grew nervous. Armed response teams, in trucks, hopping
out with automatic rifles as well as smaller stubby sub-machineguns.
"Uh, Nemesis...?"

"Yeah?"

"We'd best leave."

"Why?" Nemesis asked, before the first of the police began firing
in their direction. A bullet spanged off the road surface in front
of them. "Oooooh..." More bullets followed, and Nemesis held her 
hands up. "Why are you shooting at *us*? The bad guys are up there!"
She pointed up the block behind them, at the GOTT offices. Mercury
clapped a gloved hand to her face to hide a grimace.

"Sailor Nemesis?" she asked. "They think we're the bad guys? That we
did all this?"

Nemesis turned back to her. "But we *did* do all of.... oh." 
Realisation dawned, and her face clouded. "So, we need to get moving
again?"

"Yes." A bullet caught Mercury's shoulder, the shot catching her 
uniform and bouncing off, but the impact spinning her half-around
regardless as she gave a brief shout of pain. "And quickly."

"Bah, let me take care of this," Nemesis growled, turning back to the
police. She raised her hands, and gestured at the officers. "Richter
wave!" Gravities multiplied around the officers, knocking them off 
their feet and into invisible gravity shelves. Within seconds,
not an officer remained on their feet. Mercury's eyes were wide open.

"How could you -"

"They're all alive," Nemesis said with a now-bored shrug. "More's
the pity. Come on, then." They turned and jogged up the street 
towards the GOTT building, Mercury shooting glances back every few 
steps to make sure the officers were indeed climbing to their feet.
They looked dazed and confused, and used their partly-crumpled
cars to hold themselves up.

"Did you have to do that?" she demanded.

Nemesis shrugged. "It was non-lethal. We thought it was appropriate,
since they were trying to be lethal and failing miserably."
She gestured backwards with a jerk of her head. "I mean, you can go 
back and apologise or something, but we stand by our decision."

Mercury noted the implication, and kept running, deciding that 
whomever was in the driver's seat at the time might have had a point.
Regardless, she hadn't the time to make further comment, as they had
crossed the final stretch of road to stand before the GOTT offices.

"So, Kaname's in here somewhere?"

"Most likely not, but there should be some clue as to where Kaname
could be found in the system," Mercury asserted, sounding more 
confident than she felt. In fact, she felt some trepidation,
and not because of the previous fight. Indeed, after having defeated
the two Cybrids, she felt somewhat more confident of her abilities,
and that of what she had once been. What the senshi were was the best
of what the Moon Kingdom had had to offer, the best abilities,
the most intelligence, the greatest strength, the deepest compassion.
Somehow, Mercury had often felt less appreciated, whether she had 
mentioned it or not. She seemed to be the unsung member of the team,
and her brain, what she considered to be her best asset, was often
forced to become secondary to her physical abilities. She had enjoyed
the chance to show off what she could do, if even only a little,
to one of her companions. "There has to be an address somewhere
for Kaname's position, even if she can't be reached through normal
travel means. Possibly, we'll need to utilise some kind of magic...
or what will seem like magic... to get there."

"Unless we can find, like, a train or something?" Nemesis asked 
wryly, before looking up at the building before them. "They sure 
built this thing fast. What, it's been nine weeks since this all 
started? And this thing..." She gestured aimlessly up at the huge 
concrete facade, looming above them. "So, how do we do this?"

Mercury looked up as well, before lowering her gaze to the doors 
ahead of them. "Agent Sato will know we're coming by now. And he has
to know that we've beaten his pets. If he doesn't, there's something
wrong. If he doesn't want us to have Kaname, we won't get through
to her. If he does, it might be hard on us, but we will leave with
her. One way or another, I want to make sure he wants us to have her
with us when we leave."

Nemesis nodded. "So, hard and fast through the front doors?"

Mercury nodded likewise. "Yes. At this point, one of two outcomes
will be forthcoming. One, we find that Sato doesn't want us to have
Kaname. Two, we find he does."

"Worry about that when it comes to it," Nemesis muttered, before
striding to the doors, and whipping them open to find -

- nothing. The lobby was empty. Concrete pillars ran in lines near
the walls, along the length of the lobby, stretching back to a series
of elevator doors. Just before the senshi was a security booth, a 
bored-looking security guard reading a newspaper. He had a radio 
switched on in the booth with him, and wasn't paying attention
to anything. Nemesis glanced back at Mercury, who had joined her, 
then walked towards the booth, raised a knuckle, and rapped on the 
safety glass. "Excuse me."

The guard looked up, and his mouth fell open in surprise, then his 
eyes grew wide in horror.

"My friend and I are looking for another friend. She's about so 
tall," Nemesis held a hand up at just above shoulder-height,
"and she's got this gorgeous copper hair we all adore, and, oh, she's
racked. You know, like this," appropriate hand gestures were made as
the guard fumbled for a microphone on the desk before him. "And, 
well, she kinda got misplaced and we want her back. Oh, don't do 
that," Nemesis chidded gently, smashing the glass open with barely
a punch and twisting the microphone so it snapped at its base. 
"That's not friendly at all. Look; we've got her tags and 
everything." The guard, already scared, looked down at Nemesis'
fist, a brief moment before she brought it up and smashed it into his
face. He toppled to the floor, senseless. "Damn. I was hoping he'd
make it a little more interesting."

"Your sense of humour often leaves me wondering," Mercury said as she
walked by, through the security checkpoint. Nemesis cocked an eyebrow
in reply.

"I'm funny?"

"Sometimes," came the reply.

"Wow. I never knew," Nemesis muttered, almost to herself, just loud
enough for Mercury to hear. "What have I been doing with my life?
I'm going to go to Tokyo and become a comedian!" She sighed, 
theatrically.

Mercury shook her head. "You watch overly too much television."
The elevators at the end of the lobby dinged, and the doors opened,
as the two senshi strode towards them. As the doors parted, both 
women saw half a dozen security guards in high-end riot gear, coming
out bent low, weapons at the ready. The senshi stopped, then looked
at each other for a moment before diving in opposite directions
behind the concrete supports. Two tear gas cylinders bounced past,
spitting out a cloud of acrid vapour that made Nemesis' eyes water.
She noticed Mercury's visor had come down, protecting her eyes, but
not her throat, from the gas attack, even as bullets began chipping
at the edges of the huge pillars, sending chunks of concrete flying
through the room, making it even more confused. Mercury dipped from
behind her column, diving into the shadow of the next one closest
to the elevators. Nemesis shrugged as best as she could with the 
burning in her eyes, stepped from behind the pillar into the line of
sight of the guards, and began running.

Time seemed to slow down, and Nemesis swore she could see the air 
explode in front of each individual bullet as she sprinted, 
ballooning out around it and then collapsing into the minute vacuum
left by the path of the bullet. Dozens of these paths lined the room,
and she felt several bullets impact across her right shoulder;
thankfully, the impact was absorbed by her uniform, and beyond that,
her hardened skin and layer of compact muscle beneath. She thanked
whatever deities the Moon Kingdom had originally prayed to for the 
construction of the senshi, and charged on. Several of the guards
nearest her realised she wasn't falling down, and that she was indeed
getting faster, and then that the other one was taking advantage
of the fact her compatriot was distracting them and moving closer
to the elevators.

Then Nemesis was among them, fists blurring, feet smashing, guards
flying. She didn't make any killing blows, but plenty of disabling
ones, economical attacks that knocked guards unconscious with minimum
of effort, injury, and time to bring new attacks to the other guards
present. Within a very short order, Nemesis stood among the bodies
of the fallen, panting slightly, a crazed look in one eye. Then she
shrugged, shuddered a little, and smoothed back her suddenly-wild
hair as she regained control of herself. She gestured at the elevator
doors. "Your turn, I believe," she said, and leaned up against one of
the surviving pillars while she watched a slightly-disbelieving
Mercury shoot her a glare, and press the button for the lift. They
waited two minutes, then the lift dinged, and the doors opened.
There was no one inside, and the two senshi entered warily, while
Mercury, with her visor still down over her eyes, hacked into the 
building's operating network and brought up a list of floors and 
offices.

"I think what we want is below ground," she said eventually.

"What makes you think that?" Nemesis asked.

"Underground is a good place to hide things," Mercury replied,
"especially prisons, when they have no corresponding location in the
physical world."

"But this isn't the physical world," Nemesis reminded Mercury.

"Ah," Mercury smiled, "but the same rules apply here that did in our
world. Haven't you noticed? This city could have been built to have
giant robots, service droids, monorails, so many things that we would
consider fiction or unrealistic, and we could have had our minds 
altered to adapt to these visuals... yet everything is reliant on 
electricity to run, the laws of physics remain the same, the 
buildings are as they were in Tokyo, even these GOTT offices are laid
out much as a government building would be in real life. They are 
conforming to our images; and buildings in the real world always
have secret basements rather than floors above the top of the 
building."

Nemesis thought about it, then shrugged. "Well, it makes more sense
than anything else," she agreed. "So... how do we go about going 
below ground, seeing as this lift has this floor as its lowest?"

In reply, Mercury fingered the side of her visor, linking the Mercury
system contained within into the building's internal network once 
more, and took control of the elevator car. She lowered it down the
shaft, further and further, until finally, the elevator car stopped
with a ding. The doors slid open.

Again, there was nothing but a long corridor, white, with a series
of vomit-green doors lining the walls every few metres. Mercury
and Nemesis stepped from the relative safety of the elevator,
into the corridor, and the doors closed behind them. Nemesis jumped
as the doors clicked together and the elevator hummed as the car rose
from the basement.

"So, this is an evil lair," Nemesis spoke, eventually. "I was 
expecting huge television screens, multiple floors, and at least one
giant robot with half-naked kids running around it in a love triangle
or something. You know, like -"

"-some anime show, I would guess," Mercury interjected before Nemesis
could complete her sentence. "Sailor Nemesis, you might think this
is the time for humour and for lightness, but instead, it is actually
a time for a complete lack of brevity and a time for concentration
on our mission."

"Oh, lighten up, Sailor Mercury," Nemesis grinned. "I mean, come on,
you said it yourself: we're either wanted to rescue Ranma, or we're
not."

"Kaname, we're here to rescue Kaname. I don't think Yoshihiro
would allow Ranma to live."

"So," Nemesis asked, "why did he?"

"Why did he what?" Mercury asked as they headed warily down the 
corridor, or rather, as she did. Nemesis walked as if strolling
along, hands primly behind her back emphasizing her larger bustline
with a slightly coy smile at the younger senshi.

"Why did Ranma survive the transition? That moment we were 
transported here, that we were transformed into energy and downloaded
into this system, why wasn't Ranma separated from us and killed?
Deleted before he could cause any problems? For that matter," Nemesis
asked suddenly, stopping thoughtfully, "why weren't we all killed?
All us heroes? Tuxedo Kamen, those Figure twins, Ranma's old friends,
that little girl with the angel and pervert teddy bear..."

Mercury blushed at the memory of the tiny stuffed animal that had 
flown up her skirt prior to the battle, and the little dark-haired
girl who'd so jealously looked on. And her friend, the girl in the 
jester's outfit, who'd flirted with anything that moved in the 
lookout of Tokyo Tower, while her male friend, blushing and jealous,
had looked on. But, she said nothing.

Nemesis went on. "I mean, why not wipe us out completely?"

"I think," Mercury began hesitantly, "that the person involved
in sucking us into the system... might have wanted us to remain 
alive. Ranma, particularly."

"Natsumi did seem to have a crush on him," Nemesis mused.

Mercury tried the first door. Locked. Nemesis tried the one after;
it swung open into an empty storeroom. They moved up to the next two
doors. Mercury opened hers into a toilet cubicle, Nemesis' opened
into a room with a few potplants and a skylight just above the door
frame, letting in what looked to be natural sunshine. She decided
not to ponder the spacial dimensions, considering they were supposed
to be far underground and she could see sky through that skylight,
and closed the door. Mercury's next door opened into a large room,
with a white wraparound marble staircase, works of art and sculptures
lining the balustrade and walls. Nemesis threw open the door to a 
cloakroom, while Mercury peeped into a shoe cupboard.

"It certainly does leave us with an awful lot of questions. I wonder
what Sailor Moon and the others have discovered in their search."

"I'm more interested in what Hotaru found out," Nemesis murmured
to herself. Mercury looked over.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." Nemesis threw open another door, and found a whole lot 
more of nothing. "Um, Mercury, there's, uh, nothing here."

"There's nothing in any of these rooms," came the reply.

"No, I mean literally nothing. It's kind of... beige..."

Mercury appeared at Nemesis' shoulder. "Hmm. You're correct; it's 
beige. Nothingness." Mercury's visor dropped over her eyes, and she
scanned ahead. "There is something, though... while there might be no
physical address of the place Kaname is being kept, there needs to be
a way to access that location in the system. I believe this room...
this... nothingness... is that passage." Mercury carefully placed
a boot inside the emptiness, and, holding on to the door frame, 
pressed down. "There does seem to be a floor here," she remarked.
"Shabon spray!" Mist blasted from Mercury's fingertips, spreading
out into the void. Where it dropped into nothingness, there was no 
floor; yet enough mist rolled hazily over a path wide enough for one
person at a time to show where the senshi had to walk.

"Sneaky," Nemesis commented, before following Mercury across the 
pathway. "Uh, you know, that mist is still dropping downwards,"
she added, halfway across.

"I know. Bottomless pit," Mercury replied.

"Nothing's bottomless."

"There's no physical addresses or statistics here," Mercury 
explained. "Thus, for no corresponding attributes like height, width,
breadth, the drop goes on forever."

Nemesis dropped a hairclip over the side, and watched it disappear.
Even enhanced hearing couldn't detect it hitting anything below.
"And the party never ends," she muttered. She made sure to keep to 
the middle of the path after that. A few minutes later, something
else occurred to her. "If the room we're in goes on forever in all 
three dimensions, then how do we reach the other end? And how did we
come in at a specific point?"

Mercury smiled privately. "Just because the void is infinite doesn't
mean the pathway is. The rooms we are travelling between have 
physical dimensions, even if they don't necessarily have physical
addresses in the database. Thus, their dimensions bleed over into 
this pathway, as it is the only link between them. If this path were
to be destroyed..." Mercury shuddered. Nemesis agreed with that 
sentiment.

******

In the middle of the pool was an island. It wasn't very big, barely
a few metres across. It wasn't made of sand, but some kind of 
technological tubing, etched with sigils from worlds long past. The
tubing and wiring gathered itself in the middle of the island, rose
up in striated segments before spreading out at the apex of the 
cylinder into broad, flattened shapes. Under this mechanical
palm tree, Ranma Saotome meditated. He sat, back bolt upright under
the tree, legs crossed, hands resting on his knees, eyes half-open
as he stared into the lit nothingness that surrounded his island.
Just black waves of knee-deep water, that he knew would be brackish
if he tasted it.

Thankfully, in his present state, he didn't need to taste it. He 
didn't need to drink, nor eat, nor anything else. He just had to 
wait. He was capable of waiting, capable of knowing, capable of 
remembering - yet incapable of doing. He was just raw data, adrift
on an ocean of dark information. Not even adrift; isolated, 
motionless, locked out of what was going on.

He'd met Kaname, himself without memories. He'd seen Natsumi. He'd
joked, he'd done the whole 'Ranma Saotome' show that everyone 
expected of him, and then once more, he'd been waiting. Locked in 
this place, had he been left to think, to ponder on his existance,
he'd have long-since gone mad. Instead, he closed his mind off, and
meditated on himself.

After ten weeks of meditation, he knew himself pretty damned well.
He could feel the blood shifting under the surface of his network
of veins... he could feel cells in his body absorb oxygen molecules
carried in his bloodstream... he could feel his neurons fire in his
brain.

And yet, he knew he was imaginary. Just like everything else in this
ocean, Ranma Saotome did not exist. All he was, all that existed
here, was raw data that had an ego strong enough to bring 
visualisation to everything here, to the ordered mess of 
pandimensional information matrices. Information routinely popped
in from other planes of existance and flashed back, imaged in Ranma's
head as a fish. Occasionally, when he felt he should be hungry,
he would grab one, eat it; and he knew more.

Already, he had memorised the complete works of Shakespeare,
even if he couldn't understand the english. As well, he had reference
material on Einstein-Rosen Bridges (which sounded like they needed
an awful lot of support to stay upright), some minor fighting style
from the Moon Kingdom, and what sounded like a nice recipe for a pie.

Yet, he knew the fish was just a metaphor. It was a concept of his 
forced on the world. An image for his ego to see. Just like the 
ocean, just like the island. The island meant he was above the data,
outside of the system as it ebbed and flowed around his sanctuary.
The ocean was what everyone else was part of, the raw symbology
of the universe created within the Dark Kingdom computer system.
Ranma was apart from it, held back by Natsumi. It had taken a while
for his personality to flow back together in a way he could 
recognise, but once self-awareness had been achieved, he found he had
just been meditating. Or so his image of his wait told him. That was
what his ego believed, thus in a malleable world, that was how it had
been.

Natsumi hadn't come to see him since he had met his other self. Ranma
understood; she had been busy, trying to set up the system so the 
senshi couldn't be deleted. And yet, they had been found, and almost
effectively neutralised. Ranma had to worry about the ease with which
the larger fish he associated with the senshi, with his friends
from Kanagawa - even his friends from Nerima - had been cut off from
the schools they had been part of by the sharks that were the viral
defence prorgams of the system's operating core. One, larger and more
powerful than the others, was circling around a purple and a blue 
fish, others just kept careful watch on another group of fish. No 
one, Ranma noted, followed one single small albino guppy that swum
along the bottom of the ocean.

Ahhhh, Hotaru. Right now, Ranma could scoop her representation
out of the water, and know everything about her. Her life with her 
father, her meeting with the senshi, living with her new adopted
parents. Her feelings for Ranma. Even further back, he could have 
found out about Saturn, Saturn's life, her likes and dislikes,
her fears and dreams. Everything about her, those small thoughts
at 2AM, those hidden thoughts at 2PM. And yet, while that would make
him close to her, something he was yearning for right now, he knew
that was wrong.

Here, above the system's data flow, he had power. Real, terrifying
power. If he misused it... he would be as wrong as Yoshihiro,
and no matter how much Ranma thought he would be acting for the best
of everyone if he cancelled the illusion right now, tried to yank the
plug on the system and bring Yoshihiro's plans down around his ears,
Ranma knew that way would lead to dark places.

"That's right," Natsumi whispered from beside him. "Don't look; just
talk." He felt a cool cheek press against his naked shoulder,
rub along it just very carefully. A somewhat organic-feeling
tube slid across further down as she moved her cheek across his back.
"Doing what you were thinking of would be very... impetuous."

"Evil, I'd think," he said.

"That, too. I try and dabble in small ways, but I'm evil."

Ranma's hand found Natsumi's, behind him. He squeezed it tightly,
reassuringly. "You're not evil. No more'n I am."

"That's nice of you to say, Ranma, but the truth is -"

"The truth is, you're an abused young girl and you're being used."

"That part of me that the Mas- Yoshihiro awoke, that wants... 
this..."

"That's -" Ranma fell silent for a minute. That stretched out for far
longer than sixty seconds, but Ranma didn't really mind; neither
did Natsumi. "That's not true," he continued, presently, quietly.
"What's inside you wanted power; not to kill lots of people."

"I did kill lots of people," she said, pulling her hand from Ranma's.
"I killed them, over and over, and I ordered more people dead. That
responsibility is mine. And removing the memories... that worked
for a bit. And then I was having nightmares. When Yamazaki brought
me back to Yoshihiro, when Yoshihiro woke everything up in me, I did
what he wanted. Does that make me evil, Ranma? I think it does."

"Did you have a choice?"

"The illusion of choice is for weak people."

"But did you have a choice? Like, ya know, transport all these people
to this computer system, else they all die?"

Natsumi remained silent.

"I see that was the choice."

"It wasn't a choice," Natsumi grumbled. "I was told to do it and I 
did."

"You did it because somewhere deep down, you're still Natsumi 
Otohime, no matter how much ya cover yourself up with darkness."
Ranma shrugged. "Look at me. I'm a Dark General, and you made me that
way."

"Not quite," Natsumi offered, but Ranma continued.

"I'm evil, I'm bad, I'm, well, ya know, not to be messed with. 
But..." he shrugged helplessly. "I don't agree with Yoshihiro's
views, or his plans. I don't feel evil, I don't feel bad or dark.
I don't want ta hurt people, I want to help them. Like my friends.
Right now, all I wanna do is go help them. Fight the good fight,
die if I have to, but help them in any way I can." He paused. "And
you feel the same way, too."

"I do not!" Natsumi was indignant.

"You do. You're not the evil thing you pretend to be, nor are ya the
heartless manipulator you amde yourself out to be to Kaname." Ranma
turned now, saw that the Natsumi he was talking to was a construct
of organic conduits and technological detailing. It was nervous,
ashamed. It pulled away from him. "This isn't my image of you, you 
know."

"It's my image of me," the construct spat bitterly. "I'm not much 
more'n a machine now, and I've got no choice in that. It shows in how
I appear. That's why -"

"You're still a very beautiful young woman, ya know," Ranma blurted
out, earnestly.

"You flatterer."

Ranma shrugged. "I been living around women for years now; the fact
women like compliments had to sink in sooner or later. But you're
trying to distract me. You've been living in this false world, 
twisted and manipulated ta be what he needs ya to be, and you 
realised you didn't have to be like that. So yous topped, and you 
became normal again, became yourself. All sins forgotten, forgiven.
And now, you're trying to fight it again, but you don't know what to
do. You've pulled me aside and saved my life, and I think ya 
protected everyone else who fought Raijin in Tokyo... so I know which
side of the fence you sit on."

The construct leaned forward, and kissed Ranma on the cheek, buried
it's face in his shoulder, sighing. "You're very sweet. I could be 
doing this for lots of other reasons, you know."

"Yeah, like wantin' ta take over from Yoshihiro again, or anything.
But you know, I trust you. I trusted you when I found you in the 
gutter, I trust you now. It's a gut thing. Just do me a favour?
Think better of yourself?"

Natsumi pulled away. She nodded, slowly. "I'll try, Ranma."

"When can I get in there? When can I help my friends?"

Natsumi looked away for a moment, before turning back. "Soon." She 
smiled, then her body warped, twisted, and flowed back into the shape
of the mechanical palm tree it had formed from. Ranma stared at it 
for a moment, then smiled, ran his fingers over the random metallic
artificialness of the bark, before turning around again, sitting
down, and continuing his meditation.

******

The journey had seemed to take forever, but Hotaru was out of Nerima
now, and the feeling she had of being watched melted away. Curious
Chinese eyes went elsewhere, with a DING of a bicycle bell and the 
wet thud of a rear wheel connecting with a head, followed by the 
tinkling of broken glasses, a splash, and an angry quack. The people
who had followed her from the Nekohanten were gone now, far behind.
But, as she passed a side street, she heard a voice that made her 
stop, and smile.

"Ho, Goddess, I have not seen your visage in some time. Goes your 
life well?"

"Hello, Kuno-sempai," she replied, her voice betraying her depressed
state.

"I understand by your tone that the cur Saotome has wronged you? I 
shall rip his still-beating heart -"

Hotaru shook her head. "No, he's done... nothing. He's... who he is 
at the moment has been kidnapped. And he... I worry for him, Kuno."

Kuno nodded gravely. With Ranma no longer much of a threat towards
his affections for Akane, nor interferring in his new work life, Kuno
found he could forgive and forget easily enough - much easier, he 
suspected, than if Ranma still lived in the area. For that, he found
himself strangely thankful that Ranma was under the protection
of his Goddess. Regardless of his feelings towards the man who had 
imprisoned his Pig-Tailed Goddess for several years, Ranma had helped
him on occasion, even if only by accident. "I understand,"
he said.

"Do you?" Hotaru asked. "I mean, do you know what it's like to have
someone you love ripped from your side, transformed into a stranger
beyond all recognition, to be thrust back together... only to keep
seeing little bits of the person you loved come through in this new
person? A gesture, an accent on a word, that special look they 
reserve only for you, in your special moments..." Her voice drifted
into silence.

"I understand," Kuno repeated, quieter, thinking of his sister.
"There was a time, long ago, when..." but he too fell silent. Hotaru
started walking again, Kuno joining her at her side. Hotaru, her eyes
slipping sideways, had to admit Kuno looked a lot different in his 
workman's overalls, bokken strapped to his back. "But," he continued,
eventually, "I had to admit that the woman I once knew was no longer,
that she had perished in the flames of time, my beloved sibling
burnt almost beyond recognition." Hotaru guessed Kuno wasn't talking
about a physical injury, but rather, something psychological.

"Kuno-sempai...?"

"Yes, my Goddess?"

"You seem much more subdued. Is something wrong?"

Kuno thought for a block or two, then shook his head. "No, nothing
is wrong. The city has been destroyed, and millions are dead, yet 
nothing is wrong. I feel nothing for them on an emotional level,
for to me they are but numbers; pure statistics, an exercise in 
mental arithmetic. I find that I feel... empty towards this 
calamitous event, that I know I should feel something; yet I do not."

"I was there, in the middle of the disaster," he continued after 
another block, "and when the monster was destroyed at Saotome's
hand, when everything around us lay in ruins, I felt drained. I had
little neergy left with which to stand, to fight, to leave. I was 
glad the fight was over; I was glad I was alive; I felt nothing
more. Around me, people have fallen low with grief, and have looked
to me to be a bastion of strength, a well of fortitude from which
to draw strength from. My work, menial though it might be, encourages
others to continue with their lives through their emotional 
infirmament. And yet... I find myself..." He fell silent again. 
Hotaru smiled, softly, warmly, and wrapped an arm around his while
leaning her head gently against him as they walked.

"Kuno-sempai... everyone deals with grief in their own way," she 
murmured to him. "You dealt with it as a warrior of the days long 
since passed: you got on with life, honouring those dead by 
continuing and helping others to continue. Do you think those million
people who died would be wanting us all to stop our lives? Do you 
think they'd want us to fall apart over their deaths to the point
we can no longer function as a people? Japan has seen... much death.
Hundreds of thousands have died, in disaster, in war, in 
paradimensional invasion. Many more have been laid low by corrupting
influences, others crippled by doubt and indecision through changing
cultural identities. And yet, you continue to act with strength,
with honour, because you know who you are, you know where you came
from, and what your station in life is. You know what your future
will be, because you have a singular vision for your life and nothing
will stop you from achieving your goals. This disaster... the 
destruction of the interior of Minato Ward, it affected so many 
people in so many ways. Many of us who are left lost friends and 
family in the attack; many of us sympathise with each other, and many
people feel their complacency stripped away, the glasses with which
they viewed our world as being happy. No one thought we could be 
attacked; no one thought we could lose so many people. War, invasion,
attacks - that is all something that happens to other countries,
to other people. We are Japan; we offend no one, we attack no one,
we live our own little lives within our country and we do not cause
trouble. But trouble seeks us out, because we are Japan."

"There is indeed a great power here, waiting to be born," Kuno 
rumbled beside her.

How right you are, Hotaru reflected silently. "Yes, because there
is power here. And with this attack, the peoples' complacency
is gone; we can see the world as it truly is and can no longer 
believe our country is no more a part of the world than the moon is 
part of this world. Our choices, our actions, affect other people.
Our life, our culture, has consequences that we must be prepared
for; that sometimes, people want what will germinate here in the 
future, and will do anything to take it from us. Our people know we 
are vulnerable now, and they are scared. Giant monsters can rampage
out of the oceans at any time, and mostly, we are defenseless
against them. And that frightens people to the point they can't 
operate. Which is where people like you, who will grieve in their
own quiet ways hidden away from public view for the losses, are 
important. You show people that we can continue on with our lives,
and that doing so is the best way to honour the fallen."

"Never give up, never surrender," Kuno said.

"That's it exactly. If we stop being who we are, if we stop living
our lives because of meaningless violence, then we have already
lost."

They walked in silence for a time, then Kuno stopped. Hotaru stopped
with him, tired, but not wanting to show weakness to the man who was
looking to er for reassurance, for guidence.

"Goddess," he started, "I must thank you. For the discussion,
and for making plain to my eyes why I have felt so these last months.
I wish most heartily you had visited Nerima earlier and allowed
me time to speak with you - I fear I did not find you were in the 
locality last you were here." The lunch date with Akane and Kaname,
Hotaru realised. "Yet I fear... I fear not only for Saotome, for you
suggest he is in grave danger for his very existance, but also for 
your own well-being. Please, my Goddess... for the sake of my own 
well-being and fortitude, please understand that I wish for you to 
take the most of care for your days in this dark time. I sense 
something not quite right about reality, and I realise you, as a 
heavenly defender of justice and stability, will be involved in this
immortal combat, and I wish for you to be safe. If you would allow
me -"

Hotaru's finger found its way to Kuno's lips, shushing him. Taking
a moment to phrase it suitably, she said, "Kuno-sempai, thank you for
the kind honour. Thank you for your offer, for I would take comfort
that you are defending me in these times. Yet, for all that we could
accomplish as so, your absence from these streets would encourage
disaster and apathy in the region, destabilising it and possibly
upsetting the cosmic balance. In these dire time of the fight against
the Darkness, I feel the problems caused by your absence here would
far outweight the positives brought by your protection of me. Thank
you, again, for the offer, though." She smiled, thankful that Kuno
bowed to her decision.

Kuno saluted her with his bokken, drawing himself up tall as he did
so. "It is an honour to serve one so fair and innocent," he said,
bowing physically this time. As he began moving upright, Hotaru 
caught an unguarded moment on Kuno's face that showed just how 
exhausted he was. He had to be working an awful lot, and Hotaru 
realised that his lean frame was thinner than usual.

"Kuno-sempai?"

"Yes, my Goddess?"

"Have you been eating?"

"No, my Goddess. This region... is growing poor. And I offer my 
larder to those most in need before I partake of it myself."

"Kuno-sempai?"

"Yes, my Goddess?"

"Eat properly. If you are to shoulder the burdens of a community,
you must be well enough to carry them." Hotaru smiled wanly, briefing
allowing her fingers to trace down her cheek. "I know what it is like
to be... frail. To be weak. But to be strong for everyone, you need
to look after yourself. Please. Eat. For me. Consider it an order
from your planet-sized Guardian Goddess of Saturn."

The exhausted but amused glint that appeared in Kuno's eye suggested
that perhaps he knew better than that now, but he nodded his 
acquiescence. "Aye, my Goddess, verily shall it be so. Now, if you'll
excuse my presence, I am needed." Hotaru nodded, and Kuno left, 
heading back into Nerima proper, as the Senshi of Death and Rebirth
watched.

"Be safe, Tatewaki," she murmured softly to herself, before turning
and continuing on her path to Kanagawa. Yet, she had barely taken
a dozen steps when something in the direction of Yokohama exploded
into a huge cloud of dust. "Oh shit," she said, faintly, before 
transforming and taking the the skies.

******

Half an hour of walking, and Mercury and Nemesis reached the end of 
the pathway. Before them stood a simple wooden doorway, with a 
polished-gold doorknob. Nemesis quirked an eyebrow at Mercury,
then took up a ready position directly in front of the door, a metre
or so back, while Mercury stood to one side, hand on the knob, ready
to twist at Nemesis' nod. The elder senshi moved her head, and 
Mercury turned the knob, throwing the door open.

"RICHTER WAVE!" Waves of coherent gravitons blasted through the 
doorway and knocked Agent Sato from his chair back into the wall.
But, with colossal effort, he pushed himself forward, legs bent 
forward at the ankles like he was walking into a stiff wind, and he 
closed the gap towards the door. Mercury slipped around the edge of 
the door into the room, taking care to avoid the worst of the heavy
gravity waves, while Nemesis gritted her teeth, and increased
the pressure against Sato another notch.

"Really..." he said, conversationally, "you couldn't beat me... 
previously, Sailor Nemesis... what makes you think... you'll have any
more luck... now?" He reached the doorway, and snapped a fist out.
Almost impossibly in the funnel of gravities, his arm lengthened,
and his fist grazed Nemesis' jaw. She gasped, and dodged to the left,
sacrificing her attack. Sato moved to her quickly, joined his fists
together and hammered her into the invisible pathway. Breath gusted
from her body and her eyes bugged out, yet she managed to roll over
and flip up to her feet, taking a cautious ready position as she 
circled around Sato.

Sato, for his part, looked energised now, angry, lusting for this 
battle. The hungry smirk on his face told Nemesis lots, and the fact
that he obviously felt he didn't need to take so much as a lazy ready
position to face her threat told her more. As well, those previous
bouts with Sato she had lost, and the last she had been lucky to 
leave with her life - although there was the possibility that she had
been allowed to leave.

"Miss... Matsuda," Sato continued. "Oh yes, we know all about...
you. Your presence has been most... beneficial to our cause. You 
provide... distraction. You provide... drama. You help us... more 
than you hurt us." He didn't even bother dodging a rapid punch from
Nemesis, which tore her glove open across the knuckles. She ouched,
pulled her fist back and tucked it under her arm for a moment while
the skin began closing over the wound. "You were allowed to leave...
that restaurant. You were supposed... to bring us... Sailor Saturn."

"She was busy," Nemesis shot back.

"Oh well," Sato shrugged, then punched Nemesis in the gut. She felt
his fist slam through her defences, her muscles, her stomach, and 
flatten a kidney on floating ribs, her liver being smashed up against
her spin brutally. A second later, he brought a hand down in a 
chopping motion on her right shoulder, and she heard bone snap under
the strain as her shoudler blade and then collarbone were crushed.
A moment later, and the hand was brought up again, slapping her 
upwards from under her chin. Her head snapped backwards, and her body
followed with the power of the strike. All the time, Sato stood with
one hand in his pocket, otherwise looking completely unconcerned.

Nemesis struggled to rise, but failed, passing out from the pain.
Sato tut-tutted over her limp unconscious form, then turned back to 
enter the room, where he found Mercury rapidly untying Kaname from
her chair. With a brutal ripping sound, Kaname reached up and yanked
the tape across her mouth off, and the anger in her eyes bespoke
much pain and suffering to be inflicted on the agent.

"We have business," she spat, and leapt at him across his desk. 
Without batting an eyelid, Sato backhanded her half a foot into a 
wall, plaster exploding into the room in an ever-expanding
cloud of whiteness. Kaname, dazed and woozy, pulled herself upright
even as Sato's hand reached into the cloud and grabbed her by the 
throat, yanking her back out of the cloud as she choked from the 
pressure on her windpipe.

"Just because Yoshihiro has... decree you must survive until...
transition, that does not mean you have to remain... whole." Sato's
fist bunched, and he hammered the side of Kaname's chest. She tried
to scream, but hot razorsharp slivers of bone penetrating her lungs
cut the scream off more effectively than any gag or self-restraint.
Mercury leapt on Sato's back to try and gain Kaname some room, but he
reached back with a single hand, grabbed her collar, and threw her 
headfirst into a wall. Mercury slumped to the floor, momentarily
dazed even as Nemesis tried to pull herself into the room with little
success.

Without a care, Sato threw Kaname into another wall, and she bounced
off it to fall to the ground. "This is... too easy," Sato muttered
as he stepped around the desk to get to Kaname. She lay on the floor,
breathing in rapid, shallow breaths. Sato reached for her, grabbed
the front of her dress and hauled her upright. The dress tore more
than it already had been, and Kaname slumped backwards, a single
breast rolling free under gravity now it was no longer restrained.
Sato humphed yo himself, then dropped the woman.

Or, rather, he tried to. Twin hands had clamped around his forearm
and refused to budge, and although his hand was now open, and Kaname
dress released, Kaname's elbows were locked in position and refused
to let herself be lowered any further than she already was. Slowly,
she raised her head, glaring at Sato with a burning hatred. With his
free hand, he first tried to unhook the fingers digging into his arm,
but confusingly, that attempt failed. So he tried to slap Kaname's
face. The first time, she ducked her head forward, and the slap 
missed. Sato frowned and cocked his head to one side curiously.
He tried again; Kaname's head rocked back to avoid it. His frown 
deepened. The third slap, she refused to budge for, and his hand 
impacted on her cheek and went no further.

Now she let her fingers go, and dropped low to the floor on one foot,
spinning around with her other leg extended. Her leg smacked into 
Sato's before he could react, and he dropped to the floor, his head
smashing through the edge of his desk sending up an explosion
of splintered wood in all directions.

Without looking, Kaname's fist darted out and snatched those 
splinters in flight that posed greatest threat to the still-dazed
Mercury while Nemesis watched silently in surprise, not feeling
the few splinters that peppered her cheeks. To her, Kaname - when she
could see her from Nemesis' position - was moving in blurred motion,
like she had last time Ranma had come home. Even now, Kaname picked
up Sato, and threw him into the wall beside the door, before flipping
over the desk with a neat little somersault at the apex of the leap
and delivering another kick. Sato blocked the kick, and twisted
his body to delvier a double kick of his own. One, Kaname blocked.
The other caught her in her injured side, and she gasped, her body
not fully regenerated. Regardless, she was thrown across the room 
into a filling cabinet, which exploded into reams of paper and steel
slivers that pock-marked the nearby walls. Sato jumped at her, 
throwing one powerful punch that created a sonic boom in the small
room, causing Mercury to drop unconscious again and nemesis' eardrums
to momentarily burst. She gritted her teeth while her eardrums
began rebuilding, continuing to watch the fight in the office.

Kaname dodged the second punch, Sato's fist burying itself deep in 
the floor. His face snapped around to track her movement, but she was
already on her feet as she moved, and her foot snapped up and into
his face. His sunglasses broke in two, and Nemesis saw the hatred
on his face. He yanked his hand from the floor, then tried sending
three punches at Kaname. Lazily, almost, she blocked all three before
stepping into his defences and headbutting the bridge of Sato's nose.
His face wavered for a moment, and Nemesis watched a hand twitch
into static before solidifying again. he staggered back, Kaname 
taking the opportunity to slam a few more resounding punches into 
Sato's gut, lifting him up and clear across his desk on the last one.
He slammed into the wall, becoming buried in the plaster, before
shaking his head and stepping out.

"What's the matter?" Kaname goaded. "No snappy remarks? No comebacks?
Just gonna lose like Ryoga? Maybe ya might even cry a little, just
so's we can all see how bad you got hurt."

Sato vaulted over the desk, then dusted off the shoulders of his 
suit. "I thought... actions such as this... were all the language
you understood, Kaname." Then, Sato stopped dusting his suit, and 
looked up at Kaname. "Ah. Mister Saotome. Welcome back. We... missed
you."

"It's good to be back," Kaname said, nodding her head to the side 
slightly, offering the next move to Sato. Sato snarled, and rushed
forward towards Kaname, who sidestepped and tripped him up with a 
casually-placed foot. He sprawled out in the doorway, and looked
up; straight into Nemesis' worried eyes.

Within a heartbeat, Sato was up, hauling Nemesis upright in front
of him in one hand as he turned to face Kaname.

"Oh, please, don't fight through the girl," Kaname groaned. "Try not
to be so cliched."

"I think... you might feel differently... in a moment," Sato said,
as he backed up, stepping out of the room. Kaname stepped forward,
agressively, ready to end the fight right then and there. But Sato,
smirking, brought his arm out to the side, giving Kaname a clear shot
at Sato, Nemesis dangling from his hand off to the side. Her eyes 
opened wide, and she panicked, wriggling and kicking. "Mister 
Saotome, it looks like you have a choice to make... you can either
save her... or you can kill me."

"Or I can do both," Kaname growled, launching herself at Sato. 
Mercury, her eyes focussing on Sato, reached out suddenly.

"Ranma! Don't!" she called, urgently but ultimately too late. 
Kaname's fists impacted on Sato's chest, and he staggered back. His
fingers opened, and Nemesis dropped safely from his fingers even as 
Kaname whirled around and snapped her heel into Sato's cheek. His 
head rotated too fast to be controlled, and somewhere in his 
simulated form, whatever bespoke for a spinal cord was stressed
far too much and snapped. Sato slumped to the ground a moment later,
and Kaname turned to smile at Nemesis.

To find she wasn't there. "What?" Kaname stepped to where she had 
last seen Nemesis, and before she placed her weight down on her final
footstep, she found no surface. Looking down, she could see Kaname
disappearing into the blackness. Without hesitation, Kaname dove over
the side after her.

"Noooo!" she heard Mercury cry from the office, then blackness
swallowed her up.

******

Sailor Saturn found upon arriving at the scene of devastation
that emergency crews had been in attendence for some time. The GOTT
offices had erupted into huge fireballs as underground gasmains
had been detonated, and the media crews in the vicinity all called
it an act of deliberate terrorism, conducted by Ranma Saotome and his
associates. The other senshi were involved in rescue efforts, Saturn
noticed, but the emergency crews seemed to be standing well clear
of them, almost as if they believed the senshi themselves were behind
the attack.

But that was stupid.

Nevertheless, Saturn landed at the triage station, and wandered
among the beds, healing those seriously injured that she could, 
shifting aimlessly, not letting the destruction touch her. She knew
from experience, when dealing with destruction on this scale, 
remaining emotionally detached was most important.

Eventually, she noticed Sailor Moon behind her. "Sailor Saturn."

"Sailor Moon."

Sailor Moon looked away for a few moments, uncomfortable.
"We found out a lot today. We know... we know what Yoshihiro's
doing in the middle of Tokyo." She was uncharacteristically
subdued. "They're turning people into monsters when they go to work,
turning them back when they go home. It's... perverted. It's sick.
And they're building something. Something big. We need to talk to 
Sailor Mercury. She might understand. But she's..." Her eyes shifted
away again.

"In there?" Saturn asked quietly. Sailor Moon nodded. "Why haven't
you -"

"We can't find them," Sailor Moon said. "I know Sailor Mercury and 
Sailor Nemesis are still alive, but I can't find them. It's like 
they're nowhere."

"They found Kaname, then."

"We think so." Sailor Moon paused. "But then Nemesis... I didn't
feel her die. But I can't feel her now."

"Oh."

"We -" Sailor Moon broke off as they both heard a buzzing sound.
They turned around, looking for the source of the noise, and focussed
on an area of sky that began warping. "Dark Kingdom monsters!"
Sailor Moon growled, drawing out her sceptre. Saturn, beside her, 
whirled the Silence Glaive around into position. She too could feel
the waves of pure evil, of darkness, flowing from within the 
slipgate. The temperature in the area dropped dramatically;
water from fire hoses froze solid into ice, and the flames of the 
numerous fires burning around the area coughed and died almost as 
one. It seemed very bad. But then, something seemed familiar,
and she felt a warm caress, and smelt ramen. And not just any kind
of ramen; the ramen one ate when out on a date with a broke 
boyfriend.

To her, at that moment, the smell of cheap ramen opened her eyes in 
more pleasure than she'd ever had from smelling roses. "ramna?"
she asked the universe, very quietly. The slipgate flashed wide, and
then figures appeared in it. An exhausted Kaname dropped to the 
ground with Nemesis cradled in her arms, and beside them, Mercury
managed to just keep on her feet.

Saturn dropped her Glaive, running to Kaname and gathering her up in
her arms. "Ranma?" she asked again. "Ranma?"

"'s up, hota..." Kaname mumbled, more words lost to the slurring
of one trying to stay awake against exhaustion. "zss k's, k?"

******

The night was cold, and the interior of the Ai Sou was lit only by 
the dancing of flames in the fireplace. Kaname was stretched out on a
small matress in front of the hearth, being warmed up. Hotaru sat 
next to her, a hand casually resting on Kaname's hips. Mitsuki sat 
just beyond Kaname's head, and the other senshi dotted themselves
around the lounge, on chairs and sofas.

There was no noise, bar the crackling of logs in the fire. No 
television, no radio, no music. Once, Minako started humming a tune
to herself, then broke off as she realised she could hear the music
out loud that she had going in her head.

There was in fact one sound in the entire inn. That was the sound
of Ami's fingers tapping at keys on her palmtop. Eventually,
she sighed, and leaned backwards to stretch her back.

"Well?" Usagi asked, still quiet and shaken from the day's findings.

Ami pinched her nose between a thumb and forefinger. "Well," she 
repeated.

"Yes?"

"Ami, don't keep us in suspense! What's going on?" Rei demanded.

"We've got about fifteen weeks to find a way to stop the end of the
world," Ami said simply.

"End of the world?"

"Yoshihiro... he's gotten hold of a battleship. One used by the Dark
Moon Kingdom in the invasion of the Moon Kingdom... one of the 
defected vessels from Mercury. The battleship has warp engines,
capable of twisting the fabric of the hyperspacial planes our 
respective kingdoms resided in. And while the White Moon Kingdom
is fragmented and scattered... the Dark Moon Kingdom... was left 
whole. But blocked from entering either of our spacial planes. Sealed
off. There are many smaller conquered planes that we call the Dark
Kingdom, because territorially, they form part of the kingdom,
but they're not the main plane of reality, where the initial invasion
came from. With the battleship Yoshihiro holds, though, he has 
fully-functioning engines that can travel across those barriers."

"And he's going to do what with that?" Usagi asked. "Shuttle in 
troops?"

"Oh, I wish it were that simple," Ami sighed. "The construction
you found... would be being mirrored in that corresponding
physical location on Earth. Here, it is used to suck up power. The 
one on Earth... is different."

"How different?" Hotaru asked.

"With the engines of the ship connected to it?" Ami answered.
"Enough to breach the seal Queen Serenity placed on the Dark Kingdom
that ended the war."

"So... they'll have doorways to the Dark Kingdom?" Usagi asked again.

"No," Ami replied. "No, not at all." She took a deep breath. "With
the energy Yoshihiro would gain from killing every man, woman and 
child in this version of Tokyo, Yoshihiro could power the engines,
disrupt the dimensional seal, and transpose fully the Dark Kingdom
and the primary Earth plane. Every human on Earth would cease to 
exist within minutes, and billions and billions of Dark Kingdom
monsters would stand in thier place."

Silence reigned.

SAILOR MOON SAYS:

This took a while. And it didn't take place over much time at all.
A single day. And I could have gone on for more, too, about this 
single day, but decided to leave anything else for the next chapter.
I'm also working a fulltime job now, so ouch, my writing is suffering
(but now I have money! Just no sleep :P). In addition, there's been
a death in the family, and my brother who's cheffing overseas is owed
$US13,000 by the US army and will probably lose his house soon if 
they don't pay up in the next few weeks. So, yes, we've had fun these
last couple of months.

Anyways, next time on Love, the end of this miniarc. The battle for
the fates of every person living in Tokyo is fought; lives will be 
changed, people will die, and from the ashes of the destruction
of Tokyo, a new hero shall emerge. Next time, in Love chapter 17: 
Paradise Reloaded