Disclaimer: None of the characters from Ranma ˝ or Sailor Moon belong to
me. I am merely borrowing them for this fiction. Contents of this chapter
are rated PG-13 for violence and adult situations.
Twin Dragons under Moonlight
Chapter 6
Sometimes, destiny is not what is meant to be...
The wizened matriarch of the Chinese Amazons stood in front of the
Nekohanten, feeling every one of her numerous years. What had begun as a
search for a reluctant groom had turned into an epic battle that her charge
wasn't prepared to be involved in.
"You've returned," Mousse said as he approached the restaurant
carrying several boxes of produce.
"Put those away and meet me and Shampoo inside," she said sharply.
"There is much to discuss."
Mousse didn't say anything to disagree, he knew that tone of voice and
sincerely hoped that he was not the target of her anger. He hurried to the
storeroom and then returned to the main part of the restaurant. Cologne and
Shampoo were already seated at a table and he hurried to seat himself
opposite of Shampoo.
"What is happening, Great Grandmother?" Shampoo asked.
"To be brief, Akane Tendo has been kidnapped," Cologne said gravely.
"This time, however, it appears that her life may be in danger."
"So? Is good that violent pervert girl gone. Leave way to Ranma
heart open to Shampoo," Shampoo said with a disdainful toss of her hair.
"Be quiet!" Cologne yelled. "You do not know what you are speaking
of, so I will forgive you this time. You two will listen to me and listen
to me well!" She glared at both of them before she took a deep breath and
spoke again. "Ranma and Ryouga have found themselves in the middle of a war
between good and evil. The battles they are involved in would kill lesser
people. The monsters employed by their enemy were the ones that captured
Akane Tendo and they would have killed or captured Ukyou as well if she
hadn't run into Ranma and his allies."
"What are we waiting for then?" Mousse asked. "We should be fighting
this evil as well, for the glory of the Amazons!" He grinned to himself as
he thought about how impressed with his prowess Shampoo would be if she saw
him in a true battle, not to mention a chance to defeat Ranma once and for
all.
"Neither of you are skilled enough to participate in this fight,"
Cologne said flatly. "I am not about to send you two out to fight and die.
What I do want you two to do is help protect what remains of the Tendo
family. Soun is going to be too distraught over the loss of his daughter
and we all know how reliable Genma is."
"Why, great grandmother?" Shampoo asked, "Mercenary girl pay for
protection?"
"No, you owe this to them after what you put them through over the
last month. Or had you forgotten why you are being punished?" Cologne
replied.
Shampoo blushed as she recalled the hours long lecture she had gotten
from Cologne after she had recovered from the effects of the powder she had
used on Akane. "Shampoo no forget, just want to fight by Ranma's side."
"No child. Ranma and Ryouga are protecting the neighborhood they are
in, we should do the same here," Cologne gave both of the teens a hard
glare. "If I even suspect that you are going to try and run off to look for
Ranma, I'll confine you in the cage for a week."
"Yes, great grandmother," Shampoo said meekly while Mousse merely
nodded.
"Now, I am going to the Tendo's to let them know what has happened,"
Cologne said as she hopped to the door on her staff. She stopped and looked
over her shoulder once she reached the door. "The lunch rush will begin
soon, be ready."
The Tendo Dojo appeared almost serene as Cologne approached. She
hopped onto the wall and gazed over the garden for a few moments,
appreciating the care it took to maintain the peaceful atmosphere. With a
practiced leap she cleared the yard entirely and landed on the small porch.
Just inside Kasumi was cleaning a small cut on Nabiki's arm while Soun was
running in circles and wailing.
"I see that the news has already made it here," Cologne said as she
hopped down off of her staff. "Ukyou wasn't terribly coherent about what
had what happened. Still, Ranma, Ryouga and their allies are working on
what little info they have."
"Ukyou got away from that thing?" Nabiki asked as Kasumi finished
cleaning the cut and bandaged it.
Cologne nodded. "Yes, she managed to lead the monster straight to
Ranma, Ryouga and their allies. They were able to kill it, but not before
Ukyou got roughed up a little. Her recollection of the affair is a little,
foggy."
"Oh my, is she alright?" Kasumi asked, a note concern in her voice.
"She'll be just fine," Cologne assured the eldest Tendo daughter, "I
left her at her restaurant." She then looked around the room and seemed to
notice something for the first time. "Where is Genma?"
"He's gone to Juuban to find Ranma," Nabiki said. "I told him where
to look in case Ukyou didn't get away from that monster."
Cologne sighed and placed one withered hand across her eyes. "This
could be a problem..."
Sailor Pluto held her staff firmly as she directed the gates to show
some of the various futures. The chaotic images beyond the gates slowly
formed into several images of various futures. Drawing upon her abilities
as the Senshi of Time, she began gently probing the futures in order to try
and determine what event would cause each one to come into being as well as
the overall wellbeing of the people in each timeline.
After working on that for what seemed like days, she finally settled
on the version of the future that currently had the strongest possibility.
She sighed to herself as she looked over that possible future. She couldn't
see anything in great detail, not without actually going there. She could,
however, see that for the most part things were peaceful. She could also
feel the evil that still survived in that time.
Sailor Pluto sighed to herself as she remembered the utopia that was
the Crystal Tokyo that she had strived for centuries to nurture. There, all
evil had been banished and the people were all happy.
"That's all a phantom memory, you know." A voice drifted out of the
gates.
"Hello again, Eternal," Sailor Pluto said as she stepped away from
the gates.
"Don't worry, I'm not visiting this time."
"Oh?" Sailor Pluto cocked an eyebrow at the gates, fairly certain
that Eternal Sailor Pluto could see her from her side of the gates.
"May I come in?" a second, much younger voice asked.
Once Sailor Pluto nodded, the gates flashed a brilliant white as
someone stepped through.
Genma growled softly to himself as he stood on the rooftop of a
bookstore in downtown Juuban. Nabiki had told him that his son was
somewhere in this district, but hadn't been able to provide him with an
address.
"Damn it boy, where are you?" he yelled before he leapt off the roof
to the top of a lamp post, ignoring the gaping pedestrians below him. He
scanned the crowd before he leapt off to continue his search.
::Maybe he's back in that park somewhere,:: he thought as he bounded
off the corner of a building and landed easily on the sidewalk before he
started to running towards where he had seen a park earlier. Mimett watched
him race off and smiled to herself before she turned to follow him. After
only a short time, though, she lost track of him. She stomped her foot
angrily as she glared at the building that her quarry had so casually jumped
over.
Ryouga hissed slightly as Ami gently examined a large bruise on his
neck. They all had gathered in the living room of Ranma's house following
the fight in the park. Hotaru winced as she looked at the ugly purple
bruise.
"Doesn't that hurt?" she asked once Ami had left to get some ointment
for it.
"Yeah, but I'm used to it," Ryouga shrugged, and then winced.
Hotaru took a deep breath and cupped her hands around his neck without
actually touching him. Ranma almost asked what she was doing when he
noticed the pinkish white glow that escaped through her fingers. Ami
stepped into the room at this point and stopped to watch in open mouthed
amazement as the bruising on Ryouga's neck slowly faded away. After nearly
a minute, the slight girl pulled her hands away and slumped to the floor,
exhausted. Ryouga rubbed one hand on his now bruise free neck.
"Wow! Thanks!" he said finally. Hotaru nodded weakly before she
clutched her chest and leaned forward, her breathing short and ragged.
"What's wrong?" Ryouga asked as he grabbed her by the shoulders as
the others gathered around them.
"It's... just... a... seizure," Hotaru gasped, "It'll... stop...
soon..."
"Back up all of you! Give her some room!" Ami snapped as she shooed
everyone away from Hotaru. She then knelt in front of the stricken girl and
spoke. "Lean back if you can, it will help you to breathe easier."
Hotaru hesitated for a moment and then leaned back a little. She
would have fallen over if Ami hadn't quickly wrapped an arm around her
shoulders. She seemed to shudder slightly before her whole body went limp.
"Hey!" Ryouga shouted as he stepped forward with one arm extended.
"It's alright," Ami assured them with a smile. "I'm sure she just
feels very tired now that her seizure has stopped." Ryouga relaxed and sat
back down on the floor.
"I've never seen anything like that," Makoto said softly. "How did
you do it?" She asked as she placed her hands on her knees and leaned down
towards Hotaru.
"It's my gift, and my curse," Hotaru said weakly as she looked up at
the tall girl. "I've always been able to heal other people, but my
classmates are all scared of me because of it."
"Well, unusual things scare people," Ami said gently, "especially if
they don't understand it."
"I know, but..." tears sprung to her eyes as she spoke, "but does that
give them the right to bully me?"
Upon hearing that, the reactions of everyone in the room startled the
purple eyed girl. Anger had suddenly become the predominant emotion as they
all began venting at once. Ranma had clenched his fists so tightly that his
nails cut into his palms causing a few droplets of blood to fall to the
floor. An angry red aura sprung up around Ryouga as his face twisted into a
mask of rage while Minako sat heavily on the couch.
"How stupid can you get?" she demanded as she hugged a pillow tightly.
"Beating up someone because they have a special gift? That's
unforgivable!" Makoto ranted as she waved her arms in the air.
"That's mean!" Usagi sounded scornful as she stomped back and forth
before she finally plopped down on the sofa next to Minako.
"They'll race a final reckoning for their actions," Rei said ominously
as she clapped her hands in prayer. She seemed to sense something, though,
and a concerned look crossed her face. "Ami? Are you all right?" she asked
as the blue haired girl slowly turned red and began to shake.
"Those bastards!" Ami screamed, startling everyone there. "Don't pay
any attention to them, Hotaru! They don't realize how special you are. You
have a gift, a unique and wonderful gift, don't let anyone tell you
otherwise!" Ami spoke intensely as she grabbed Hotaru by the shoulders and
turned her so that they were face to face.
"Ami," Usagi said softly as everyone stared at the usually reserved
girl.
"Thank you, everyone," Hotaru said with a sudden smile. "I should go
home, my father worries easily."
"I'll walk you home," Ryouga volunteered.
"I'll go with you as well," Minako said as she stood.
"Let's all go." Usagi declared with a smile to Hotaru.
Genma stepped into a clearing in the wooded park and took in the
damage that he could see. The ground was churned in several places,
indicating to him that either his boy had been training here, or had gotten
into a fight. He knelt next to some damp grass and dabbed two fingers
against the ground and held them up to his face. The purple liquid on his
fingers felt like blood and had a strange smell to it. With a grunt, the
elder Saotome stood and wiped his fingers off on his gi.
"What happened here?" He asked himself as he continued to investigate
the clearing. Finally, at the far end of the clearing, he found a clue that
made him feel much more confident. A small fire pit and two areas of
slightly browned grass told Genma louder than words that his son had stayed
here for some time. He grinned as he quickly looked about for a trail that
would hopefully guide him in the general direction his son had left in. He
felt a momentary twinge of despair when he saw how many footprints
overlapped each other. Genma frowned to himself when he noticed the tell
tale impressions that Cologne left behind whenever she hopped around on that
stick of her's.
"That damnable old woman knew," he growled to himself as he stood and
began following a footpath. The fact that the ancient amazon was training
the boys did little to assuage his feeling of unease, however. As far as
Genma was concerned, without him there to drive his son every day, Ranma
would only become lazy and slack off.
When Genma finally made it out of the park he glanced at the sidewalk
and smiled. There was a number of muddy footprints that had traces of the
same purple blood like substance mixed in. With a tight grin, he followed
the trail until it turned onto a street and finally petered out. He looked
about and saw the rather nice homes and sighed. He didn't believe that
there was any way his son could afford to even rent a room in any of these
houses. A woman with long, wavy blue-black hair was just leaving her house
as he stood in front of it looking around.
"Can I help you?" Usagi's Mother asked sharply. Genma jerked a little
and turned to look directly at her while he put his hand on the back of his
head.
"I was just looking for my son, you wouldn't have happened to see him
at all, have you?" He asked as he held out a photo of Ranma. She took the
picture and glanced at it.
"Oh yeah. He's been walking Usagi to school lately," she giggled a
little then. "I had thought she had headed the wrong way to school one
morning, but by the time I had gotten down the stairs and opened the door,
she was walking past the house again with your son. I think that it's a
good thing that she finally started noticing boys that are a lot closer to
her age."
"Is that so?" Genma asked as he frowned. ::If the boy is dating this
girl, it will make it a lot harder for our houses to be joined!:: he thought
angrily to himself. ::But then again, it might be just what he needs to
force him into making a decision.::
"Yes, I think it's very sweet of him to do that. By the way," she
frowned slightly , "why are you looking for him?"
"He's been disappearing early each morning, skipping his training. I
was wondering what had gotten into him lately," Genma lied easily. "It's a
relief to hear that it's over a girl and not something else!" He laughed
long and loud to cover himself. "Thank you for laying my fears at ease,"
he said with a slight bow.
"My pleasure, have a good day," she replied as she bowed as well.
Genma affected a lilt in his step as he walked further down the
street, keeping a sharp eye out for any vacant lots his son may have moved
to, as well as any place that would make for a good lookout for his son.
After walking to the next intersection he sat heavily on a bench and sighed.
There was something about that woman's daughter's name that seemed to ring a
bell, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Any further thought on
that was interrupted when he noticed an orange haired girl stop directly in
front of him, breathing heavily as if she had been running very hard. Genma
merely raised an eyebrow and returned to his contemplation.
Inwardly, Mimett was scowling. Here she was, doing her best to look
like someone in distress, and the guy was only sitting there like a lump!
She played up being out of breath for another moment before she stood up
straight and turned to face Genma directly.
"Excuse me," she asked in her most frightened voice, "but are you a
martial artist?"
"Yes," Genma answered shortly.
"Thank goodness!" Mimett squealed as she lunged forward and hugged
him tightly around the neck.
"Uhm, I'm sorry but I'm married," Genma said nervously.
"I'm sorry," Mimett said contritely as she let go of him. "I was just
so relieved that I lost control for a moment. You see, these big men have
been following me around all day. Would you be so kind as to escort me to
my home so those men will leave me alone?" She asked in her most piteous
voice.
"Well..." Genma grunted as he crossed his arms.
"Please..." Mimett repeated, giving him the puppy dog eyes.
"I can't see how it could hurt," he gave in as he stood. "Which
way?" he asked.
"You're too kind!" she squealed as she latched onto one of his arms.
"I live further down this street," she pointed as she started leading Genma
off. For some reason, Genma's danger sense had gone into overdrive as soon
as they started walking, but he couldn't see any kind of threat. Never the
less, he stayed very alert.
::Maybe there really was something to her story about being
followed.:: he thought with a frown. ::I can find the boy after I do my
duty as a martial artist and escort this girl to her home. Maybe I can get
a free meal out of the deal::
Mimett smiled to herself as she guided her as yet unwitting victim
into an alleyway. Genma however, felt his danger sense peak. He spun on
his heel and roughly shoved Mimett behind him.
"Alright, show yourself!" he barked as he fell into a stance. When he
heard Mimett begin laughing he turned back around.
"Fool!" She laughed. "You are the one in danger! Come forth,
Daimon!" Mimett yelled as she opened her briefcase, releasing a cloud of
red smoke.
"What?" Genma gasped as he backed up a step and watched in fear as
the smoke coalesced into a vaguely female shape. He frowned then and buried
his fear as much as he could. This wasn't something that could be mollified
by bowing and scraping, he realized.
"Hurry and take the pure heart of this man who lives to teach martial
arts!" Mimett commanded the daimon.
Genma wasted no time in grabbing a bag full of garbage and flung it at
the daimon before he turned and dashed out of the ally. The daimon tried to
smack the bag out of it's way, but the bag burst and covered its face with
trash, buying Genma a few precious seconds to escape.
"You can't get away!" it screamed as it flew after him. Just as it
exited the alley a heavy iron bar slammed down on the back of its neck,
forcing it into the pavement where it left a crater from the impact.
"Idiot," Genma spat and then swore as the daimon stood, relatively
unharmed.
"You really want to die, don't you? I can arrange that!" The daimon
said as it pointed at him.
"You leave me no choice but to use the Saotome school of Anything Goes
Martial arts Final attack!" Genma roared as he fell into a stance.
The daimon lunged for Genma with one claw like hand outstretched.
Genma nearly laughed as he grabbed its wrist and threw it down the street.
He didn't wait for it to hit the ground, but rather dashed the other way as
fast as he could run, knocking Mimett over when she tried to stand in his
way.
"After him, Daimon!" she screamed as she crashed into a group of trash
cans. For some reason she was feeling unusually weak and had a great deal
of trouble just standing back up. By the time she had regained her feet,
both Genma and the Daimon were long gone.
"I'm telling you, there's something not quite right with that woman!"
Ranma declared as they left Hotaru's home. Ryouga had to nod in agreement.
That Koilinite woman gave him the creeps.
"You’re thinking too much about it," Usagi said with a giggle. "I've
been here before and she didn't do anything."
"I felt something too," Rei said suddenly. "There's an evil aura over
the entire house."
"What could cause that?" Makoto asked.
"Usually, it's because of some sort of tragedy," Rei said after some
thought. "But, if something evil has been happening there for some time the
same sort of aura can form."
Minako looked back at the house they were walking away from. While
large by Japanese standards, it looked perfectly normal. She shuddered
despite herself, though, as a chill ran down her spine.
A sudden beeping noise caused them to gather around Ami as she opened
the Mercury computer and began typing rapidly.
"What is it, Ami?" Makoto asked eagerly.
"There is a Daimon about three hundred meters in front of us," she
frowned as she read the additional readings that began scrolling across the
screen. "I'm also picking up a fairly strong energy source, very similar to
the one that Ranma and Ryouga give off."
"Huh?" Ryouga asked as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I get it," Ranma said as he snapped his fingers. "You're talkin'
about our ki! That means that daimon might've found the old ghoul! C'mon!"
Ranma practically yelled as he started running down the street.
"Wait! Ranma!" Usagi yelled. Ranma skidded on his heels and ran
back to them. "We need to get in that alley and transform first! You
should activate your armor too."
They nodded and ducked into the ally. A short lightshow later, five
sailor senshi and two armored martial artists were roof hopping towards the
disturbance.
Genma Saotome knew he was in trouble. His gi was torn in several
places from attacks that came too close for comfort and he was starting to
get too tired to dodge the lightning quick daimon. Only his skill and
experience allowed him to survive this long. He glared at the daimon and
flared his aura. He had sealed his greatest techniques long ago because
they were too dangerous. Now, for the first time in years, he seriously
contemplated unsealing those techniques to destroy the monster in front of
him.
Again the daimon charged, but Genma couldn't move fast enough this
time. In the blink of an eye, it was inside his guard and had lifted him
off of his feet. His eyes widened when it seemed that the daimon was moving
in to try and kiss him.
::The kiss of death?!?:: He thought frantically, ::How can I stop
this thing?:: He turned his head to avoid the daimon's mouth twice before
realization struck. With a tremendous yell he head butted the daimon,
causing it to drop him as it held it's face in pain. He landed awkwardly
and before he could scramble to safety the daimon kicked him hard in the
stomach. The kick launched him through the air but the elder Saotome
twisted and landed on his feet facing the daimon.
"The time has come!" Genma shouted as he took up a new stance,
"Prepare for your doom, monster! Kijin Rashu Dan!" He swept his arms
through the air and launched a pair of ki charged vacuum blades at the
daimon.
The Daimon dodged the blades easily by jumping straight up, but rings
of fire shot down from one of the roofs and engulfed the daimon. Even as it
screamed in agony a ball of lightning shot down from the same roof and
slammed the daimon across the street. The bald martial artist saw none of
this, though, as he was staring at his hands.
"Kami, forgive me," he muttered as the battle raged around him. He
had unsealed his forbidden techniques, breaking the vow he had sworn to
himself years before. He clenched his fists as thunder struck behind him.
"I thought I was stronger than this, I thought I was better," he looked up,
determination on his face, and saw the daimon charging at him with one arm
outstretched. Genma's face crumbled, but his powerful legs bunched in
preparation for a last second leap to safety when one of the warriors
surrounding him punched the daimon in the ribs causing a small explosion
that sent the daimon sprawling away. Genma blinked once and focused on the
back of the armored warrior in white... A black pigtail.
"Ranma!" Genma roared as he grabbed his son's pigtail and yanked,
spinning the younger martial artist around to face him. "Where have you
been boy!"
"I ain't got time for this pops!" Ranma snapped back. He looked over
his shoulder and saw his friends fighting the daimon without him. ::At
least Usagi didn't do a speech this time,:: He thought before he looked
back at his raging father.
"While you were playing around over here, Akane was kidnapped! Did
you even know about this?!" Genma yelled, his glasses reflecting Mars'
fires.
"Of course I know about it," Ranma retorted as he struggled to get
Genma to let go of his hair. "Now leggo, I got a fight going on here!"
"You're coming back with me to the Tendos' right now!" Genma growled
as he started to drag Ranma back. He hadn't even gone two steps when he
felt a heavy blow on the back of his head and his son's pigtail was pulled
out of his hand. He reached back and managed to grab the rim of Ranma's
shoulder pad and pulled him to the ground as he spun to face him.
"Damnit boy! What do you think... you're... doing?" he trailed off
when he saw the red boots just past his prone son. Slowly, he raised his
eyes and took in the blue skirt and white body suit. A very pissed off
Sailor Moon was glaring at him as she tapped the Spiral Heart Moon Rod on
her shoulder.
"How dare you?" She said in a disgusted voice. "Ranma has been
fighting hard for everyone! How dare you try to pull him away from this
battle?"
"What could you know about fighting, little girl?" Genma asked in a
scornful voice, completely ignoring the blasts of fire and lightning that
impacted not that far behind him. "Ranma has his duty to his family. He
will join our schools."
"I've fought more battles than I ever cared for. But tell me, have
you ever tried weighing the needs of the world against your own personal
needs?" Sailor Moon snapped as she pointed the Spiral Heart Moon Rod at
Genma who cringed away from the glowing artifact. "Have you any concept of
the word sacrifice? Have you ever watched your friends die one by one until
you were the only one left to fight on? I've nearly lost everything and
everyone important in my life! All I have left is my friends and my Duty."
::Usagi...:: Ranma thought as he regained his feet and took a step
backwards to watch Sailor Moon confront his Father.
"Ranma is trying to help us win this war against the same people that
took Akane. You've fought a daimon now, haven't you?" She asked coldly.
When Genma nodded, she continued. "Good, then you know how hard they are to
fight. Ranma has allies and help here. If you take him back to the Tendo
Dojo not only will we lose a valuable ally, you practically guarantee that
he will die trying to find Akane. Now, what will it be? Will you continue
to insist that he goes 'home' against his will, or will you let him stay and
fight?" She crossed her arms and tapped one finger impatiently on the shaft
of the Spiral Heart Moon Rod. A slight frown marred her features.
Genma swallowed hard and looked over to where everyone else was
fighting. Energy blasts were flying left and right as three of the girls
tried to shoot the daimon as a black armored Ryouga was struggling to regain
his feet while a blonde girl with a sword was guarding him. With a roar,
the daimon suddenly grew tentacles from its arms that batted the senshi
away. The tentacles grew impossibly long as they shot towards a stunned
Genma and Sailor Moon.
"Look out!" Ranma yelled as he shoved both of them away only to get
wrapped up by the tentacles.
"Ranma!" Sailor Moon yelled as the pigtailed martial artist was
lifted off his feet and slammed into the pavement repeatedly. She leapt to
her feet and grabbed her tiara in a single motion.
"Moon Tiara action!" She screamed as she flung the glowing disk. It
rolled in the air slightly as it arced towards the daimon. With a spray of
purple blood, it severed the tentacles before returning to her. Ranma
dropped limply to the ground and Sailor Moon rushed over to him. Genma
could only watch stupefied as Ryouga and the other girls leapt at the daimon
to distract it from Sailor Moon and Ranma.
"It's too fast," Sailor Jupiter growled as she charged up for another
blast.
"Mercury! Do you think a Shabon Spray will slow it down?" Sailor
Mars yelled. She swore then as she was forced to leap away as the daimon
launched a blood red blast of energy at her. The impact melted the pavement
easily.
"Not likely," Sailor Mercury responded. "Venus, try to wrap up its
legs with your chain!"
"Right! Venus Love Me chain!" she dodged another blast from the
daimon and sent her chain right at its legs. The daimon leapt forward to
dodge the chain and grabbed her by the arms. The blond senshi screamed in
agony as the daimons claws dug into her arms as it lifted her above its head
and then slammed her against the ground. Sailor Venus rolled limply on the
pavement, obviously unconscious. The daimon jumped towards her fully intent
on crushing her head with it's feet, but Ryouga shoulder checked it and they
fell into a tangled heap. Sparks flew as the daimons claws gouged his armor
again and again while Ryouga pummeled it mercilessly with glowing fists.
"Concussion fist!" Ryouga roared as he slammed both fists onto the
daimons collar bones. The resulting explosion sent Ryouga skidding along
the pavement and into a wall while the daimon was sent flying through the
air. Before Ryouga could regain his feet, the wall cracked and collapsed on
top of him.
"This is not good," Sailor Jupiter muttered as she looked around and
saw that over half of their team was down.
Genma watched all this and then stood with a stern look on his face.
He walked quickly to Sailor Mercury and looked down on her.
"Let me help," he said simply. "I may not have your magic, or Ranma's
speed nor Ryouga's strength, but I have experience on my side."
"What do you suggest?" Sailor Mercury said while Sailor Mars and
Sailor Jupiter engaged the daimon again.
"Can one of you use water based attacks?" Once she nodded he
continued. "watch for the next time it jumps and then freeze the ground
where it's going to land. It should fall and then pound it with everything
you've got."
"Right! Mars, Jupiter! Make it jump!" Sailor Mercury yelled as she
dashed back into the fight. Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter gave no
indication that they heard other than to step up their attacks. As they
expected, the Daimon jumped high into the air to avoid the strikes.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Sailor Mercury directed the freezing water at
the ground, coating it with a thick layer of ice. As Genma had predicted,
the daimon fell on its face when it landed.
"Hit it now!" Genma roared. Magical fire, ice and lightning hurtled
towards the prone daimon. The resulting explosion of magical energy
obscured the daimon from their sight for a brief moment. Unfortunately for
them, it was one moment too long.
With it's inhuman speed it leapt out of the smoke straight at Sailor
Mars. Even as she raised her arms in defense she realized how it was able
to come at them so quickly, it's feet had nice long, sharp claws. The
daimon's kick knocked her back into a wall where she stuck for a second
before slowly falling to her knees. Sailor Moon looked up from Ranma's
still form in time to see Sailor Mars stand shakily, a red stain growing
slowly across her uniform.
"This is too much," Sailor Moon cried as she shook Ranma again. "Wake
up, Ranma! We need you!"
Ranma groaned a little and then opened his eyes. Sailor Moon sighed
in relief as he sat up.
"The Daimon!" Ranma suddenly shouted as he shot to his feet. "Is it
still around?"
Sailor Moon stood as well and pointed towards where the daimon was
engaged in hand to hand with Sailor Jupiter. Ranma's eyes narrowed when he
saw Sailor Mercury and Genma wrapping a strip of cloth torn from his gi
around Sailor Mar's abdomen and Sailor Venus out cold on the pavement.
Ryouga was nowhere to be seen, but Ranma guessed that he was buried under
one of the piles of rubble.
"I'm gonna try to hold that thing long enough fer you ta kill it," he
growled as he leapt back into the battle. He hit the daimon in the face
with a jumping roundhouse kick before it could completely overwhelm Sailor
Jupiter with its speed.
Ranma found himself quickly on the defensive, though, as the daimon
turned and began attacking him at Amaguriken speeds. The daimon was too
quick in recovering from each of its attacks for him to find a viable
opening. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that some of the senshi had
regained their feet and that Sailor Jupiter was pulling Ryouga out from
under the collapsed wall. Sailor Venus was still unconscious and as soon as
Ryouga was free of the rubble he rushed to her side.
His momentary distraction cost him as the daimon punched him hard
enough to force him back a few steps. Ranma scowled at it and let his aura
flare as he prepared himself to throw a Mouko Takabisha.
"Hold it right there!" A clear voice rang out from the rooftops.
Ranma backed up another step and built his aura up further.
"Now who is it?" The daimon screamed as it turned to look at the
figure silhouetted in the sun.
"As my daddy told me, I don't do speeches. Never the less, Sailor
Daichi is here to kick your butt!" The figure on the roof called out.
"Sailor Daichi?" Sailor Moon repeated as she squinted in an attempt
to make out the details of this new senshi. She was unable to make anything
out until Sailor Daichi leapt from the roof. As she twisted in the air,
Sailor Moon was able to briefly make out a purple skirt and boots and
gleaming silver bows.
"Shards of rock!" Sailor Daichi called out her attack in mid air. A
cyclone of dirt surrounded her for a brief moment and then coalesced into
many dagger like chunks of rock before they shot towards the daimon with the
alacrity of a machine gun. The daimon screamed in agony as several of the
shards buried themselves deep into its flesh.
"An opening!" Ranma yelled as he dashed towards the daimon and locked
it up in a full nelson hold. "Now, Sailor Moon!"
"But," Sailor Moon hesitated.
"Don't worry about me! Just do it!" Ranma yelled back as the daimon
began struggling in his grasp. "Hurry!"
"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" Sailor Moon launched her attack with a
silent prayer that Ranma would not be hurt.
As the nine foot wide pink heart sped towards them Ranma placed a foot
in the small of the daimon's back and kicked it into the magical energy,
destroying it utterly as he flipped away safely.
"That was tough," Sailor Mars said as she held her hand against her
wound.
"Are you guys ok?" Sailor Daichi asked as she jogged up to them, her
chestnut brown hair flowing to a stop mid shoulder.
Sailor Jupiter glanced at the rest of the team and let loose a sigh as
Ryouga carried Sailor Venus over to them with a concerned expression. "For
the most part," Sailor Jupiter replied.
"Who are you anyways?" Sailor Moon demanded, forgetting that Genma
was right there.
With a mischievous grin that set her blue eyes twinkling, Sailor
Daichi struck a pose and her uniform faded into a familiar looking red
chinese shirt and slightly baggy black pants. "I'm Kouma Saotome of the
Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial arts!"
"Kouma?" Genma said, dumbfounded.
"Saotome?" Ranma asked, so stunned that his armor faded and revealed
his red chinese shirt.
"Hi Daddy!" Kouma grinned as she glomped onto him.
"Ranma!" Genma roared as he grabbed the front of Ranma's shirt and
lifted him off of the ground. "What is the meaning of this?!?"
"I'm telling you, I have no idea!" Ranma protested.
"Leave him alone, grandpa!" Kouma said forcefully as she punched him
in the shoulder. "I came here from the future!"
The Sailor Senshi almost groaned in unison and Genma dropped Ranma in
shock.
"Uhm, Kou-chan..." Sailor Jupiter said gently, "Don't you think it's a
bad idea to tell him that?"
"Oh, don't worry about Grandpa," Kouma giggled. "He won't say
anything, will you Grandpa?" She asked as she turned to Genma with her best
puppy dog look. "It's not like they would believe him anyways."
"But..." Genma spluttered.
"Besides," Ryouga said as he shifted his burden slightly, "if he does
he'll be in for a world of hurt."
Genma opened his mouth to say something when the sound of police
sirens reached them.
"We better split," Ranma said. "Go back to the Tendo's, pops. I'll
find Akane and get her home."
All the Senshi and Ryouga leapt off, leaving Ranma, Genma and Kouma
behind. Genma looked down at Kouma and sighed. "This isn't quite how I
pictured first seeing a grandchild."
"Get goin' pops, before the cops get here. C'mon Kouma, you got a lot
of explaining to do." Ranma picked Kouma up easily and leapt off over the
rooftops. Genma watched them leave before he too jumped to the rooftops
with a self satisfied smirk. The smirk melted off his face when he saw
absolutely no sign of Ranma or the Senshi.
"There's more than one way to do this," Genma muttered to himself as
he turned to return to Nerima. He knew where Ranma went to school now, and
he fully intended to confront him there. But first, he had to talk to the
old ghoul...
Mimett staggered back into Professor Tomoe's lab and collapsed onto
the cold concrete floor, gasping for breath.
"What's wrong with me?" she wondered aloud. Professor Tomoe walked
over and gave her a brief examination.
"Your magic has been drained," the Professor replied shortly. "I'll
remove you from all assignments until you recover sufficiently to continue
our work."
"No!" Mimett yelled as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.
"Professor, isn't there anything you can do?"
"Short of fusing you with a daimon, no," he chuckled as the light
reflected from his glasses. "However, should you manage to steal a pure
heart crystal and then eat it, you would recover most admirably."
"Really?" She asked hopefully.
"But!" He yelled as he thrust his face to within an inch of hers,
"Should you manage to bring back a heart crystal, you will give it to me for
our mistress! Understood?"
"Yes," she replied, downcast again.
"What's all the racket?" Endymion asked as he strode into the lab.
Professor Tomoe stood up straight and put his hands into his pockets.
"It seems that our little Mimett has been working herself so hard that
she has very nearly run out of magic. Until she recovers, she will be of
only minimal use to us. Until then, Tellu will take over obtaining pure
heart crystals," He laughed a little. "You should find her interesting to
work with."
"Speaking of help, how is Akane coming along?" Endymion asked as he
gazed at a large tube. Inside the red fluid floated Akane's nude form.
"The initial fusion was successful," Professor Tomoe said as he began
checking some instruments. "The secondary infusion is in progress. When
complete, she will almost be ready to assist. My current estimate is that
she will have almost no magical ability, but her physical strength will be
slightly greater than a normal daimon. And, as you requested, she will be
significantly more intelligent."
"Excellent," Endymion whispered as he placed one hand on the tube.
"One other thing I've noted," the Professor continued, "despite the
lack of magical ability, she has a tremendous amount of energy stored. I
was tempted to use that energy to revive our mistress."
"Oh?" Endymion looked at him with some surprise on his face. "Why
didn't you?"
"Because that damned Sailor Moon has the Grail. We need this weapon
to tip the scales in our favor. Besides, the energy I would have obtained
from her would not have lasted terribly long. Mistress 9 requires a very
large amount of energy to be revived."
"Let me know when Akane is ready to be used. I'm going to go find
Tellu and tell her the good news in person."
"Lord Endymion!" Mimett cried from where she sat on the floor. He
stopped and looked over his shoulder at her.
"You're of no use to me right now," he said coldly before he continued
walking and disappeared into the shadows.
Ranma was scowling as he ushered Kouma into the living room. When he
tried to close the door behind him, Usagi stopped him.
"Let me talk to her as well," Usagi said softly. "I know exactly what
kind of position you're in."
Ranma opened his mouth to object, but decided against it and waved
Usagi into the room before firmly closing the door.
"Alright young lady," Ranma said as he sat Kouma down on the couch.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Getting chewed out," she replied flippantly.
Ranma's face turned an interesting shade of purple before he suddenly
burst out laughing. Usagi gave him a strange look.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Just Kouma," Ranma chuckled. "With an attitude like that, she almost
has to be my kid."
"Ok, I have a question for you Kou-chan," Usagi said as she sat next
to the younger girl. "Why did you come back?"
"Training," Kouma said simply.
"Training?" Ranma and Usagi asked in unison.
"Yeah, training," Kouma smiled. "In the future, Daddy told me that
this was a good time to come back to. Mommy didn't like the idea much, but
he insisted."
"Who is your mother anyways?" Ranma asked.
Kouma looked down at her lap and fiddled with her fingers. "I really
can't say right now..." she mumbled.
"It's alright, Kou-chan," Usagi said softly.
"Not really..." Kouma sighed. "Daddy told me that no matter what I
wasn't supposed to say who Mommy is until after he figured it out on his own
in this time." She shook her head and grinned a little. "It's kinda funny,
though. How often do you get the chance to watch your father date your own
mother?"
Usagi sighed a bit and looked away. "I don't know, but it's
dangerous."
"Huh?"
"If something should happen to break up your parents, you'll
disappear. From what I saw, it's a painful process." She stood and walked
over to the window and looked out into the yard. She saw Ryouga practicing
one of his kata while Minako and the rest of the girls watched him. Even as
she watched, Ryouga broke off his kata and entered the house. "I only
wish..."
"Wish what?" Ranma asked.
"I wish that I hadn't treated Chibi-usa so harshly while she was here.
It seems like most of the time we had, we spent arguing." Usagi stiffened
when she felt a pair of slender arms wrap around her from behind.
"I'm sorry," Kouma said softly. "I didn't mean to bring up bad
memories."
"It's alright, Kou-chan," Usagi sighed.
"All that aside," Ranma said as he crossed his arms and sat down on
the couch's arm, "if yer here for training, and I supposedly sent ya, why
didn't I train ya in the future?"
"You did," Kouma said as she let go of Usagi and turned to face her
father. "It was for training in with my senshi abilities that you sent me
back. The future that I come from is rather dull compared to the way things
are now. Still, the possibility of something happening is very real and you
weren't sure if the formal training you and the others gave me was enough.
You felt that practical experience would be the best way for me to be ready.
Just in case..."
"Just in case of what?" Usagi asked.
"In case someone like the Death Busters were to appear again. It's
not a perfect world I live in, but it's pretty darned close. Still, Diamond
keeps saying that battle is the fastest teacher and..."
"Diamond?!?" Usagi yelled. "He's alive?"
"Of course he's alive! He's a general in the Army," Kouma said before
she shook her head and held her arms out wide. "Look, forget what you think
you know about the future. Pluto told me that you had once been to an
alternate future. People that you thought had died from that future are
very likely to be alive, and people you thought lived in that future may
have died. Also, different people may have different names now."
"That's not a clear answer," Ranma frowned.
"She's not allowed to say much more than that," Setsuna said as she
stepped out of the shadows. Ranma leapt halfway across the room and made
several warding gestures towards the Senshi of Time. "Time travelers cannot
talk about the future, or they risk destroying themselves." Setsuna
continued, completely ignoring Ranma's antics.
"I wish ya wouldn't do that!" Ranma gasped as he clutched his chest.
"Ya coulda given me a heart attack!"
Setsuna smiled at him as she crossed the room to stand behind Kouma.
"My future self told me why Kouma was to come back. I did argue for quite
some time against it, for the same reasons that you already mentioned."
"If nothing else, I want to be able to help!" Kouma said forcefully.
"Telling Genma Saotome who you were was not the wisest course of
action," Setsuna said sternly.
"So what? He's still my grandpa! I never got to meet him before."
Kouma pouted.
Ranma sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. "I don't have the
strength for this," he lamented before he straightened up and glared at
Kouma. She squirmed a bit under that steely gaze, her confidence suddenly
gone. Little did Ranma know, he had chosen the exact look that he gave her
in the future whenever she had done something wrong.
"One condition," Ranma said finally. "If you are told to go back, you
will! Without waitin' or arguin' or so help me, I'll knock ya out hand ya
over to Pluto to get sent home."
"You wouldn't!" Kouma gasped.
"Try me," Ranma fairly growled.
Kouma looked up at his stern expression for a few seconds before tears
began welling up in her blue eyes. Ranma's expression changed to nervous in
a heartbeat as he took a half step back. Kouma sniffed twice and rubbed at
her eyes with her fist, but nodded her agreement.
"You scared her, Ranma!" Usagi chided him as she hugged the shorter
girl.
"Kami knows I was tryin'." Ranma muttered under his breath as he
turned and headed for the door. He saw Setsuna's smile from the corner of
his eye and realized that she must have heard what he had said. Without
further comment, Ranma flung the door open only to have Ryouga and the rest
of the inner senshi fall into the room.
"Aheh, fancy seeing you here, Ranma," Makoto grinned sheepishly.
"I give up!" Ranma said as he threw his arms up in exasperation.
Genma scowled as he approached the Nekohanten. He hadn't stopped at
the Tendo's, so he continued to wear the tattered and bloodstained gi. The
large man paused as he felt something a lot like the flutter of a moth's
wings across his senses.
"Well, well, well, look what the panda dragged in."
Genma spun on his heels to face the wizened matriarch of the Amazons.
"Cologne," he said shortly.
"Looks to me like you got yourself in the middle of Ranma's war," she
chuckled.
"We need to talk," Genma sounded tired as his shoulders slumped from
exhaustion.
"Come inside and I'll have Shampoo make some tea. We have much to
discuss and little time." She gestured towards the Nekohanten with her
staff. Genma followed the old woman inside and sank wearily into a chair at
a table in the back corner while she hopped behind the counter. He didn't
bother to acknowledge the looks he was getting from the other customers, not
to mention the glare that Shampoo was giving him.
"What stupid panda-man want now?" The purple tressed amazon asked in
a resigned tone.
"Just tea," Genma grunted as he adjusted a bandage, "just tea."
Shampoo left in a huff as Cologne hopped back over to his table and
sat directly across from him.
"So Genma," Cologne paused to light her pipe, "what is it that you
want to know?"
"Why?"
"Why what?" She snapped.
"Why didn't you tell me you were training the boy? Why didn't you
bother to mention his involvement with those demons?" His voice was low,
but not so low that Cologne couldn't make out what he was saying.
"Simple. In order to find him quickly I made a deal. I got his
location in return for my silence." She leaned back in her chair and blew
out a smoke ring. "Even when things got messy, I kept my word. More than I
could say for certain others I know..." her ancient eyes bored into Genma's
as her words trailed off. Genma squirmed for a moment under that piercing
gaze for a few minutes.
"I don't want to lose him," Genma finally said. "Everything I've done
was to make him a better man. Even if it was only by showing him what not
to do."
"That's a shock. I thought all you wanted was a cushy place to
retire," Cologne snorted.
"Retire? Bah!" Genma waved the notion off. "Even Soun understands
that once Ranma either marries Akane or one of the other fiancees I will be
moving on." He looked out the window and into the street. "We don't belong
in this concrete jungle, you and I. I long for the open road under my feet
again as I walk between training grounds and my home, maybe opening a dojo
in the countryside. You would probably be a lot more comfortable back in
your village, training your warriors."
Cologne found herself reassessing the morose man in front of her. For
the longest time she was convinced he was a fat, lazy idiot but now she
wasn't quite as sure.
"Most of all, I miss my wife," Genma continued, oblivious to the
change in Cologne's expression. "You'd like her, I think," he smiled
mischievously. "She's as devious as you are, maybe even more so."
"Oh?"
"Did you honestly believe that she would kill Ranma over a silly
little pact made ten years ago? She made it up out of whole cloth and told
me about it over the phone when I told her about my worrying about Ranma not
being willing to take responsibility for anything." He sighed as he shook
his head. "Maybe worrying about that when he was ten was not a good idea."
"I thought Ranma was much more responsible than you," Cologne stated.
"Not by a long shot," he snorted. "Ranma could have ended this
fiancee mess long ago if he had just made a choice. Sure, I have a
preference, but once he makes a solid decision I'll be behind him all the
way."
"Even if he should choose a girl that he isn't currently engaged to?"
the ancient matriarch asked.
"Especially if that should happen," Genma grinned. "Why do you really
think I engaged Ukyo to the boy when they were so young, knowing full well
that Ranma was engaged to Akane? It wasn't for that yattai, but to create a
situation where the boy would have to choose."
Cologne shook her head wearily. "Then the prize at our tournament?"
Genma winced. "That I'll admit was a huge mistake."
"And Jusenkyo?"
"Another mistake," he groaned.
"The Neko-ken?"
"Alright! I get your point!" he shouted as he slammed his palms
against the table. Several of the other people there jumped at his
outburst, but Genma continued to ignore them. "I'm not perfect, far from it
in fact. At least I've tried to moderate the damage to the best of my
abilities and still teach Ranma to be the best!"
"Like hiding as a panda while your son goes through every difficult
situation?"
"I wasn't a panda today," Genma snarled. "Those things Ranma is
fighting against are too serious for me to just hide as a panda. We have to
help somehow. The boy has to live through this even if it kills me."
Cologne gaped at him. "I never thought I'd hear something like that
from you of all people."
"I can tell you one thing," Genma grunted as he stood to leave. "I
found something today that is worth more to me than anything you can
possibly imagine." With that he firmly closed the door behind him, leaving
Cologne to ponder his words.
"He didn't even wait for his tea," she sighed finally.
Usagi sighed as she stared at the moon through her open window. For
some reason, she could not sleep and it was starting to irritate her. Luna
had curled herself into a ball and was watching her charge with one eye as
she considered everything that had happened recently.
"Luna," Usagi spoke softly, "why do I feel like we're losing this
fight?"
"Nonsense," the black moon cat responded with a slight note of scorn
in her voice. "You haven't lost this fight yet."
The blond girl sighed mornfully again and didn't bother to respond to
her cat. Even as she considered trying another glass of warm milk, she saw
a dark shape land on the roof of the house next to hers. It only took her a
second to recognize the silhouette as being Ranma's. Even as she realized
this, he leapt off again.
Without thinking, Usagi snatched one of her coats and dashed out of
her room, leaving a very confused Luna behind.
"Usagi! Come back here!" Luna demanded as she chased after her
princess. Usagi ignored her pleas and ran out the front door and down the
street in the direction she last saw Ranma going.
Even running as fast as she could, Usagi had a hard time keeping an
eye on Ranma as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. It wasn't long before she
realized that he was pausing after every few jumps to look around. She was
so intent on keeping an eye on Ranma that she didn't realize that she had
lost her bunny slippers several kilometers back.
After nearly an hour of chasing him, she lost track of the pigtailed
martial artist. Usagi glanced around and realized that she had stopped in
front of Mamoru's old apartment building. She swallowed hard and turned to
walk back to her house when she heard a soft thump behind her.
"What on earth are ya doin' runnin' around town in yer pajamas?"
Ranma asked as she spun around to face him. His expression was unreadable
as Usagi began twiddling her fingers.
"Well... I saw you jumping from roof to roof and I didn't want to lose
sight of you." She replied hesitantly. "What are you doing out this late?"
Ranma looked over his shoulder at the tall building behind him.
"Lookin' fer clues. Looks like Endymion cleaned his place out pretty good."
He reached into his shirt and produced two framed photographs. "This is
about all he left behind."
Usagi took one of them from him and stared at it. Tears flowed down
her cheeks as she slowly sank to her knees without ever taking her eyes from
what she held. It was a picture of her, Mamoru and Chibi-usa, but the glass
had been cracked at some point. A jagged line ran between the image of her
and Mamoru and spidered out to mostly obscure Chibi-usa's image.
"Hey! You alright?" Ranma asked as he crouched next to her.
"It can't go back, can it?" She asked between quiet sobs. "Not back
to the way things were?"
Ranma glanced at the picture and sighed. "No, not to that. Even if
ya could, now that ya know about how he really is, could you stand the
thought of him holdin' you?"
Usagi shook her head. "But, I was happy. He made me feel...
special."
"You are, though," Ranma replied without thinking. "Even ignoring the
whole senshi thing, you still have to be one of tha most caring people I
know. You care so much about people that you end up hurtin' yourself." He
looked up at the night sky and completely missed the look of pure adoration
that Usagi was giving him.
"You really think so?" she asked tentatively.
"Of course I do," he replied as he stood and held a hand out to her.
"Yer better off now than you were before. I mean, from what I saw he
treated you pretty bad. It really made me mad when the others told me that
this wasn't the first time either."
Usagi took his hand and stood, doing her best to ignore the electric
thrill that ran through her at the brief contact. She stared up at his
stern features and sighed.
"You still care for her, don't you?" She asked.
"Akane?" Ranma asked, startled at the sudden change in topic. After
Usagi nodded, he paused and for the first time in a very long time
considered his words carefully.
"It's more like I feel guilty. This fight wasn't ever supposed to
involve her. We never did get along, but I never wanted to see her hurt. I
never wanna see any of them hurt."
"But, didn't it hurt when she broke off your engagement?" Usagi asked
as they began walking back to her house.
"Not really," Ranma looked away as he shrugged. He was silent for
some time, causing Usagi to wonder if she really had broached a painful
subject with him.
"She never was really all that great of a fiancee," he said finally.
"Never really listened to my side of things and only thought the worst of
me. Even when I put myself in traction to save her I didn't get a simple
thank you." Ranma scowled as that particular memory resurfaced.
Usagi blinked in disbelief as she continued to listen to Ranma point
out every single shortcoming Akane had in very unflattering ways. She felt
her anger rising and was almost to the point where she was going to have to
slap him on principle when he suddenly changed course on her.
"All that aside, she did have the cutest smile," Ranma smiled
ruefully, completely unaware of how close he was to dealing with feminine
anger. "Not only that, but she did always try her hardest when ever she did
something."
The blond girl smiled slowly as the list of positives about Akane
started flowing from Ranma. The list he rattled off continued on for nearly
as long as his tirade about Akane's bad points.
"Sounds to me like you really knew her well," Usagi finally said once
he finished.
"Yeah, maybe," he scratched the back of his head. "But it don't
change the fact that we didn't get along. We're too alike, ya know? It
didn't help that we felt forced into things, though."
Usagi sighed and grabbed onto his arm, causing him to stiffen like a
board.
"You've got to relax a little Ranma," Usagi said with a musical
laugh. "I think I've learned more about you tonight than all the rest of
the time I've known you."
"But, I was talking about Akane the whole time," Ranma protested.
Usagi let go of his arm and placed herself in front of him so that she
could look up into his eyes. "Yes, but it was how you talked about her."
"Huh?" Ranma grunted in confusion.
"Don't worry about it," Usagi giggled. "I just feel that I understand
you a lot better now."
"If ya say so," he shrugged.
Usagi nodded and turned to start walking again when she stubbed her
toe on an uneven section of sidewalk. She waved her arms in a desperate
attempt to keep her balance even as she started to fall forwards. She
closed her eyes and waited for the pain to hit. Before she finished
falling, strong arms had wrapped around her and pulled her back up into a
standing position.
"Hey, you ok?" Ranma asked as she opened her eyes, concern written all
over his face.
"Yes, thank you," Usagi replied with a blush.
"Geez, you can be such a klutz," Ranma snorted.
Usagi pouted and tears sprung to her eyes as the pain from her stubbed
toe combined with the soreness of feet not used to running barefoot. Ranma
backed off a step and held his hands out in front of him.
"Hey! I didn't mean to make you cry or nothin'!"
"It's not that," Usagi sniffed as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"My feet just really hurt."
Ranma smirked a little before he crouched in front of her and looped
his arms behind his back. "Come on, I'll carry ya back."
Usagi hesitated for a moment. "You're not going to roof hop, are
you?" she asked timidly even as she got situated on his back.
"Not unless we have to," he replied as he stood and started off down
the street. They had gotten maybe half a block before Usagi's breathing
became deep and regular and her arms fell limply over his shoulders.
"Sleep well, Usagi," Ranma whispered as he continued tirelessly.
Unseen by him, Luna stood on the stone wall a short ways behind him. The
black moon cat watched them continue down the sidewalk before she sat down
and smiled.
"Yes, sleep well Usagi. Sleep well."
Mimett staggered into her private quarters and collapsed on her bunk.
Ever since Endymion had forced his way into the Death Busters, she had not
had many assignments outside of their base. In addition, it seemed to her
that she was little more than a puppet, or a toy, to Endymion. She clutched
her pillow tightly and shuddered as she recalled how easily he had dominated
her thoughts. At the same time, she found herself wanting to be held by him
again.
"I have to prove myself," she muttered as she sat up. She looked long
and hard at the computer that used to belong to Eugeial before she turned it
on and began rooting through the files, looking for anything that may be
useful. After searching for nearly an hour, she found a reference to a
device that Eugeial had made but never used. Mimett smiled to herself as
she read more and more of what it was supposed to be capable of.
"With this, I can defeat the senshi, prove myself to Endymion and take
my rightful place as the top witch of the Witches 5!" She laughed before
she flopped back onto her bunk, carelessly leaving the computer on.
The next morning, the house was a flurry of activity as the girls
scrambled to get ready for school. Ranma and Ryouga were in the yard
sparring as Makoto dashed down the stairs and hurriedly prepared a large
breakfast. As she cooked, she glanced out the window and saw that Kouma was
outside with them. Makoto smiled briefly as she thought what it might be
like to train with Ranma in the mornings. She shook the thought away as she
hurried to finish preparing breakfast.
"Hey! That smells good!" Kouma said as she bounced inside.
"Thanks, it'll be ready soon. Why don't you go make sure Minako is
up?" Makoto smiled.
Kouma grinned as she dashed up the stairs. Makoto shrugged and
returned to her cooking. Ranma and Ryouga had just stepped inside when an
ear piercing shriek came from upstairs. Before either of them could react,
a laughing Kouma raced past them and outside followed closely by a soaking
wet Minako.
"Get over here so I can punish you!" Minako yelled as she brushed
past Ranma.
"C'mon then!" Kouma laughed as she faced off against Minako. Minako
snarled and leapt to the attack, but was almost casually dodged by Kouma.
This repeated itself several times before Minako twisted from a jumping
punch to a flying roundhouse kick. Kouma had just enough time to get her
arms up before the force of the kick sent her skidding and bouncing across
the lawn.
"That should do it," Minako said to herself as she dusted off her
hands and turned to go back inside. She blushed when she saw that Ranma and
Ryouga was standing in the door applauding lightly.
"I thought you didn't know much about martial arts," Ranma commented
as Minako walked past him back into the house.
"I don't really," Minako shrugged. "I've been in a lot of fights
though."
"Hey!" Kouma called as she bounced back to her feet. "Do you think
it's over already? We only just started!"
"Give it up, Kouma!" Minako stuck her tongue out at her. "It's time
for breakfast anyways."
"No fair Auntie Minako!" Kouma pouted while Minako took an involuntary
step backwards, a strange look on her face.
"What did you just call me?" Minako asked slowly as she turned around.
"Auntie Minako," Kouma replied with a tight grin.
One of Minako's eyebrows twitched slightly as she glared at Kouma
before she smiled brightly and walked back out to where Kouma was waiting.
Without ever taking the smile from her face, she reached up quickly and
grabbed Kouma's ear.
"Oww! Hey!" Kouma protested as Minako dragged her back into the
house by her ear. Everyone else watched with a slightly amused look as
Minako unceremoniously dumped Kouma at her place at the table. After one
last tug, Minako released her ear and sat at the table directly opposite of
Kouma.
"Kouma, if you're going to call someone 'Auntie', then you better be
prepared for them to act like it," She grinned viciously across the table.
"Do we understand each other now?"
Kouma swallowed hard and nodded.
"Great!" Minako smiled as she leaned back a little.
"I thought she loved sparring in the morning," Kouma commented as
everyone else sat down.
"Uhm, not yet Kou-chan," Ami said.
"So, what are we going to do today? Training? Find some daimon to
fight?" Kouma asked eagerly. A look of confusion covered her face as a
black schoolbag was held out to her by Ranma.
"Schoolin'," Ranma grunted.
"This isn't fair," Kouma pouted as she walked with Usagi, Ami and
Makoto towards Juuban Junior High.
"An education is very important," Ami said easily. "Besides, by going
to school you can meet new friends."
"Don't need any new friends," Kouma muttered darkly before she tugged
at the collar of the sailor fuku that she was wearing. "Besides, this thing
makes me look stupid."
"It's not that bad," Usagi giggled.
"At least Makoto's uniform has some real style to it."
"The only reason I still wear this one is because they don't make that
uniform in my size," Makoto laughed before she got a really serious
expression on her face. "So, what's it like?"
"Huh?" Kouma replied.
"To have Ranma for a father, I mean. He's like a martial arts kami,
I'll bet he's really strict about training."
"Well, he does insist that I train a lot. Although Mom won't let us
go on any training trips without her," Kouma sighed. "Daddy used to talk a
lot about his training trips with his father, and later on Uncle Ryouga, but
I never got to do anything that exciting."
"Exciting?" Usagi asked.
"I can't really say," Kouma shrugged. "Daddy got really vague about
his exciting training trips."
"How did you know they were exciting then?" Makoto asked.
"The number of bandages on him when he got home," Kouma shrugged.
"By the way," Ami asked, "Why Sailor Daichi and not Terra or Earth?"
Kouma blushed and looked away as she muttered something.
"I'm sorry?"
"It's stupid. You'll laugh," Kouma muttered.
"We won't laugh at you," Makoto said earnestly while Usagi nodded
enthusiastically.
"I thought it sounded silly," Kouma said seriously.
"Silly?" Ami asked incredulously.
"I thought that the name 'Sailor Earth' was silly, ok?" Kouma
grumbled. "Besides, I overheard a couple of the palace workers refer to me
as Sailor Mud a few times."
"Didn't you tell your father?" Ami said sympathetically.
"Of course I did. Daddy told me to ignore them since they obviously
didn't know what they were talking about. It still hurt though." Kouma
shrugged and then placed her hands behind her head and looked up at the
clear blue autumn sky. They were nearly to the school and she wasn't really
looking forward to spending the entire day there. She would have preferred
staying at the house and trained the entire time, but Ranma had been
adamant. They walked on in silence then, simply enjoying the crisp air and
the peaceful morning.
Mimett leaned slightly into the lab and looked around cautiously.
Save for the tube containing Akane, the lab was empty. Mimett tiptoed in
and looked over the control panel on Akane's infusion tube. She smiled and
read the readout aloud.
"Secondary infusion complete, perfect." She wasted no further words
before she deftly manipulated the controls. Inside the tube, the red fluid
quickly drained. The breathing mask retracted automatically from Akane's
face as the glass slowly receded into the floor. The red gem on her
forehead glittered in the dim light as Akane opened her eyes and fixed her
gaze on Mimett.
"Where is the Professor?" Akane asked simply.
"He's conferring with Mistress 9 right now," Mimett said with more
confidence than she felt. "We have a mission to complete."
Akane absorbed this information with a nod of her head. Black energy
swirled around her briefly, obscuring her from view. When it receded,
Mimett had to blink to be sure she was seeing correctly. Akane was garbed
in a green jumper over a white blouse, the standard Furinkan high girls
school uniform.
"I am ready," Akane said with a nod as she inspected the uniform for
flaws. Mimett just stood in slack jawed amazement. Akane had somehow
masked all sense of being a daimon fusion. Even the gem on her forehead was
no longer visible.
"I'll pick up our support daimon and brief you on the way," Mimett
managed to say finally as she turned to the daimon fusor and placed a
European dagger inside before throwing the switch.
Setsuna sighed to herself as she leaned against the gate to Juuban
High school and waited. Most of the student population gave her a wide
berth, especially since she appeared to be very irritated. The fact that
she was scowling and muttering to herself was not lost upon the students
that had been in her office before. Her impenetrable calm was practically a
school legend. None of them dared to get close to her, except one.
"Geez, you look pissed," Ranma quipped as he walked straight up to
her. "Was it somethin' I did?"
"No, but you'd better come with me anyway," she sighed as she
reschooled her features into a calm facade and began walking towards the
school. Ranma shrugged and fell in next to her.
"So..." Ranma spoke once they were clear of most of the other
students, "what's up?"
"Your father is in my office waiting for you," she replied quietly.
Ranma swore under his breath
"Couldn't ya have just gotten him ta leave or somethin'?" He asked in
a cross voice.
"Not without revealing that I already knew about your 'extracurricular
activities'," Setsuna frowned as they entered the school. "If he had shown
up looking for you just after you arrived, I wouldn't have blinked before
turning you over to him. Now, I have to do everything I can to keep you
around."
"Huh?" Ranma gave her a bewildered look. "You wanted to get rid of
me? Why?"
"Because you didn't have a place in the future I had been planning for
longer than you can imagine. It was a utopia." Her voice trailed off and
her eyes became distant as she recalled how hard she had worked over the
millennia to make Crystal Tokyo a reality.
"Utopia?" Ranma asked as he scratched his head. "What's that?"
Setsuna sighed in exasperation before she patiently explained. "A
utopia is a perfect society where all is peaceful and no-one has any
hardships."
Ranma grunted and crossed his arms. "Nice dream, but reality bites
and bites hard. It ain't ever gonna happen like that. People are just too
mean an' greedy an' stuff fer somethin' like that to happen."
"Normally, that would be true," Setsuna conceded. "But during the
next ice age, a great deal of people die before uniting under one banner
wielded by the kindest person. She assured them that they would survive and
that evil would never befall them."
"That's rich!" Ranma laughed. "I'll bet it didn't last five years
before something went wrong and there was this huge fight. How would've
little miss super kindness dealt with that?"
"It would have been nearly seven years, and she banished those that
could not live peacefully within Crystal Tokyo." Setsuna said softly.
"See? I'll bet they even tried to come back and conquer tha place
too," Ranma chuckled. Setsuna glowered before she spun and grabbed his
collar, lifting him off the ground.
"How did you know that?" She growled.
"'Cause I know how people like that think. You get this really strong
guy that figures he's better than everyone else and before too long he's
bullied a bunch of people into following him. Then, when he and his buds
get their asses seriously kicked and thrown outta the place, he swears
revenge. He don't ever do it 'cause he's afraid of gettin' stomped again,
but he'll pump his kids full of that crap and eventually the kids take up
the cause. Then they return to tha place that kicked 'em out in the first
place, spew some self righteous garbage about their birthright and try to
take the place by force." Ranma narrowed his eyes. "And if tha place
they're hittin' ain't ready for a fight, they die. Those kinda people play
for keeps and don't give a rats ass about who they're gonna hurt tryin' to
get what they want."
Setsuna blinked repeatedly before she slowly lowered Ranma's feet back
to the floor, studiously ignoring the stares that she was getting from the
teenagers trying to get to class on time. Ranma brushed his shirt to smooth
out the wrinkles before he smirked at Setsuna.
"That's where people like me come in. Yeah, my life's been a serious
bitch, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let someone bully someone weaker than
'im. Ya know, I think ya might have just gotten too happy with the cream
and forgot that it curdles."
Setsuna smiled mysteriously as she spoke, "Maybe, but if it curdles
long enough and is cared for, it becomes cheese."
"What do you mean?"
"To use your metaphor," Setsuna said as she placed her hand on the
doorknob to her office, "the cream has curdled, but if I take the proper
steps I will get a cheese. Not quite as sweet or smooth, but still quite
good."
Ranma scratched his head in confusion as Setsuna opened the door to
her office and gestured for Ranma to precede her into the room. He stopped
scratching his head and frowned when he saw Genma sitting in one of the
chairs reading a magazine.
"Hey Pops. Whatcha doin here?" Ranma asked as he stepped into the
room.
"I'm concerned, Ranma," Genma said as he slowly closed the magazine.
"We need to talk."
"No prob." Ranma said easily as he plopped into the other chair in
front of the desk. Setsuna softly closed the door and moved to sit in her
chair behind the desk. Genma shot her a dirty look that she ignored
completely.
She held a sheet of paper out to Genma and smiled. "Mr. Saotome, I'd
like to lead things off by showing you Ranma's progress since he began
attending Juuban High."
"What's this?" Genma asked as he took the paper and looked at a
series of numbers. He promptly forgot the careful questions he had prepared
to ask his son as he tried to make heads or tails of what was in his hands.
"It's just a bunch of numbers," he spoke in a confused tone of voice as he
looked up at Setsuna.
"Those, Mr. Saotome, are Ranma's grades and discipline scores from
Furinkan high," she replied as she pulled out a second sheet and presented
it to him.
"Pathetic boy, you should be ashamed!" Genma snapped at Ranma as he
took the second sheet from Setsuna.
"Take a look at his grades and discipline marks since he started
attending Juuban High before you get too critical of your son," Setsuna said
calmly. Genma glanced at the paper and then had to look at it again. He
shook his head and then removed his glasses. As he cleaned his glasses,
Ranma gave Setsuna a questioning look. She merely smiled at him as Genma
replaced his glasses and looked at the paper again.
"Are... Are you sure these are correct?" Genma asked in a weak voice.
"Of course," Setsuna said easily. "As you can see, the improvement is
remarkable. Enough so that by the time he graduates he should have no
trouble with the college entrance exams."
Genma sank back into his chair and looked at the grade sheet again.
"I see," he sighed as he turned a steely gaze onto his son. "Where are you
living, boy? I found your old camp site in a park."
"He's staying in a boarding house right now," Setsuna answered, "along
with several other, displaced, students."
"Displaced students?" Genma asked.
"Yes. Several of their parents have traveled overseas and wished for
their children to remain in their schools, as well as an orphan." Setsuna's
face took on a calculating look that eerily reminded Ranma of Nabiki. "Of
course should he leave before the end of the semester, you would be
responsible for the costs of his stay."
"Costs?" Genma asked nervously. "How much are talking about?"
"Let's see," The green haired woman selected another file from her
desk and showed it to Genma. "That would detail the costs for his boarding.
Considering the cost of living, it's not too much."
"That's almost a million yen!" Genma screamed.
"Give or take," she agreed. "Of course, if he does continue to stay
there and achieves passing marks, the stay is free, outside of food
expenses."
"Ranma my boy," the bald martial artist towered over his son as he
spoke. "I expect you to do well in school from now on."
"Whatever you say, pops," Ranma shrugged.
Genma looked over at Setsuna again. "I apologize for taking so much
of your time and for all the trouble my ingrate son has caused you. The
last thing I need is the address of the boarding house so that I can remain
in contact with him."
"Of course. Ranma, you may return to your classes now."
The pigtailed martial artist rose and bowed briefly to Setsuna before
leaving the office. Once he closed the door behind him, Ranma suddenly
realized that Genma had already decided to let him stay. Otherwise, his
father would have merely lay in waiting to ambush him and try to drag him
back to the Tendos'.
"I guess yesterday changed his mind," Ranma muttered to himself as he
made his way back to class.
That afternoon, Ranma, Ryouga and the senshi met at the Crown arcade
shortly after Ranma finished his shift. Unlike her previous visits to the
arcade, Usagi was quiet and withdrawn. Rei glanced worriedly at their
leader and sighed. The last time she had seen Usagi act like that was right
after the first time Mamoru had dumped her. She seriously considered
starting a fight with Usagi just to get her out of her shell, but decided
against it. They made their way towards the back where they could remain
relatively undisturbed.
"Any ideas as to why they would kidnap Akane rather than just steal
her heart crystal?" the shrine maiden asked pointedly.
"I'm not sure, but we can take this opportunity to review what we know
of the enemy," Ami replied softly as she opened the Mercury computer and
started typing. "We know that the daimons are formed by fusing a small
shell containing some form of distilled evil with an inanimate object." As
she spoke a small hologram appeared above the computed and showed a brief
video showing a daimon egg fusing with Ryouga's backpack and forming a
daimon. "We also know that daimons do not have a great deal of intelligence
and require a great deal of guidance from the witches that control them."
"There's no faulting their power though," Makoto said grimly. They
nodded in agreement while Ami brought up a new animation in the hologram
that showed a rotating 3D image of previous daimons. The power levels for
each were displayed in a bar graph format on one side of the image while on
the other was a small image of what was used to form each daimon.
"My theory is that they have not been fusing with people because
normal humans are frail and weak in comparison. All the data I've collected
suggests that much of a daimon's power and ability to resist damage come
from the properties of what it was fused with."
"That still don't explain why they took Akane!" Ranma growled.
"A bargaining chip maybe," Kouma said. "Endymion knows the value of a
hostage."
"Damn it!" Ranma growled as he slammed his fist against the wall.
"We're getting off track," Ami admonished them. "We need to worry
more about who is going to be the next target for a daimon as well as
figuring out where they are based. We need to get on the offensive and
soon."
"I agree," Haruka said firmly as she and Michiru walked up to join
the group.
"Haruka! Michiru!" Usagi greeted them with an enthusiastic hug.
"It's good to see you again!"
Haruka nodded briskly. "Any new developments?" she asked bluntly.
Ami nodded and proceeded to tell them about Akane's capture and the
arrival of Kouma.
"Isn't it very dangerous for you to be here?" Michiru asked Kouma
once Ami had finished her briefing.
"Yeah, a little," Kouma shrugged. "If danger bothered me, I wouldn't
have become a senshi in the first place."
Michiru laughed a little at this and looked up at Haruka. "She sounds
a lot like you." She blinked a few times when she saw the sudden tensing of
the inner senshi. "What is it? Did I say something wrong?"
"It's not that," Makoto managed to say as she relaxed a bit. "It's
just that Kouma refuses to tell us who her mother is and it's causing a bit
of anxiety."
"I think it's a safe bet that I'm not going to be her mother," Haruka
laughed. When she finished laughing, her face took on a flinty look of
determination. "Even knowing that Usagi is the princess, it's still not a
sure thing that she is the messiah that we are looking for. We have to find
the messiah before the Deathbusters find their dark messiah."
"Easier said than done," Minako remarked. "We know nothing about this
messiah other than the ability to channel a tremendous amount of power from
the grail."
"Can anyone use this grail thingy?" Ranma asked as he scratched at the
base of his pigtail. "What I mean is, could we train someone enough to be
able to use it tha way yer talkin' about?"
The girls shared a looked of disbelief before they all turned their
eyes to Ranma.
"We never thought of that," Usagi admitted.
"I wonder if it could work," Ami wondered as she opened the Mercury
computer again and began typing rapidly. Everyone waited impatiently for
several minutes before Ami gasped in shock and stopped typing.
"What is it?" Rei asked anxiously.
"Ranma's statement made me stumble across something as I searched for
more data on the grail." She smiled brightly at the other girls. "He's
right, to a certain extent. All of us can train to increase the
effectiveness of our magic and our capability to channel magic as well."
"And?" Michiru asked, sensing a leading statement.
"The key to this training isn't just casting our spells over and over
again. From what I can tell our physical conditioning plays a factor as
well. Also, our state of mind has a tremendous impact on our abilities."
"Huh?" Minako and Usagi said in unison.
"She means that you have to be in shape and have a clear mind to
channel great amounts of magic," Rei snapped.
"If that's true," Makoto said uneasily, "then why is Usagi's magic
more powerful than mine?"
"Natural ability, I think." Ami concluded as she slowly shut the
computer. "Also, she focuses her energy through the Ginzousho. The stone
itself acts like a magical amplifier for her will."
"Well, I guess I'll just have to try harder," Usagi giggled.
"C'mon, it's starting to get crowded," Makoto said as she jerked a
thumb towards a rowdy group of students that had entered the arcade.
"Let's head over to my place," Rei suggested. "I think I still have
some old clothes that might fit Kou-chan."
"What's wrong with the clothes I have?" Kouma asked sourly.
"Other than the fact that they look just like the clothes Ranma's
wearing, nothing." Minako remarked. "Matching outfits are really
unfashionable right now."
Kouma sniffed disdainfully, but didn't say anything as they filed out
of the arcade.
"Mimett? Are you in here? Mimett?" Tellu called out as she opened
the door to Mimett's room. "The wretch is hiding from me, how can I gloat
properly if she isn't around to hear it?" Tellu laughed as she started to
close the door. She stopped when she noticed the computer was still on.
"What's this?" She asked as she sat down in front of the computer.
Her eyes widened and then narrowed as the data scrolled down the screen.
She smiled wickedly to herself as she turned the computer off and walked
towards the door.
"It's too bad, really," Tellu said finally as she turned to look back
into Mimett's room one last time. "I was really hoping for more time to
gloat."
She stiffened slightly as a pair of strong arms encircled her from
behind. She relaxed almost instantly, though, and leaned back into the
embrace.
"Gloat about what?" Endymion asked softly, his breath tickling her
ear. Tellu turned to look him in the eye opened her mouth to respond when
he swamped her with a kiss first. She squeaked indignantly as he pinched
her rear and herded her towards the unmade bed in the corner.
"This is important!" she protested as he lowered her onto the
mattress.
"So is this," Endymion grinned at her. He waved his hand at the open
door and an invisible force slammed it shut.
Rei deftly steered Kouma into her room as the others made themselves
comfortable in the next room in preparation for another study session. Rei
suppressed a smile as she appraised the younger girl. ::She looks so much
like Ranma's girl side. She'll be a real heartbreaker when she gets a
little older.::
"How old are you?" Rei asked Kouma as she opened her closet and
started rooting around for old clothes.
"Thirteen last January," Kouma replied.
"Thirteen?" Rei gave her a quick glance. "Are you sure?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kouma asked with just a hint of
defensiveness in her voice.
"Well..." Rei drawled and slowly looked her from head to toe before
stopping her gaze at her chest. Kouma immediately crossed her arms and
blushed a bit.
"Daddy told me that when girls exercise a lot, they grow later, ok?"
Kouma mumbled.
"Of course," Rei said evenly as she turned back to the closet.
"It's the truth!" Kouma half shouted before she began to cry. Rei
gave her a sharp look before she knelt in front of her.
"Kou-chan, there's no reason for you to be so self conscious about
it. You're still growing and, well, some people just fill out a little later
than others." Rei said soothingly as she hugged her.
"You sound just like Mommy..." Kouma sniffled. "But all the boys at
school are making fun of me. I'm taller than them, and yet I look younger
than some of the girls in my class."
"Is that all?" Rei asked in mock amazement.
"Isn't that enough?" Kouma demanded.
"Not at all," Rei said sternly as she held the young girl at arms
length. "Don't pay those boys any attention. They just feel intimidated
because you are taller than them. Just be yourself and you'll be fine." Rei
paused for a moment and then grinned wickedly. "However, if they get to be
really nasty, why don't you tell your father about it?"
"Why? He wouldn't fight those boys, he wouldn't even want me to fight
them 'cause they aren't martial artists." Kouma asked, confused.
"No, but I'm sure he could come up with some really nasty tricks to
play on them... Like changing into a girl and picking you up at school
claiming to be your older sister."
Kouma looked at Rei with wide eyes for a moment before she burst out
laughing. "That'd be funny!"
Rei laughed with her for a while before she turned back her closet and
began tossing a veritable storm of clothes at the younger girl. Kouma
grinned as she caught each item, folded it and placed it on Rei's bed a
split second before catching the next one.
"Rei!" Usagi whispered urgently as she stuck her head through the
door.
"What is it?" Rei sounded exasperated as she leaned back from her
closet.
"Come on, you gotta see this!" Usagi's ponytails shook as she giggled.
She gestured again for Rei and Kouma to follow her as she scampered off down
the hallway.
"Come on Kouma," Rei sighed. "She'll be back again in a minute if we
don't go and see whatever it is she's talking about."
Kouma nodded and the two of them stood and walked out of the room.
Once they were in the hall, they saw most of the others gathered around one
of the windows.
"Well?" Kouma asked eagerly. "What is it?"
"Shh!" Makoto hushed her. "They'll hear you!"
Rei and Kouma peeked out the window and saw Ryouga and Minako talking
softly while holding hands. Minako had an expectant look on her face while
Ryouga looked slightly confused.
"I wonder what they're talkin' about," Ranma grunted.
"A planetarium?" Ryouga asked.
"Sure!" Minako gushed. "You get to see all the stars and
constellations that you can't see from the city there. Not to mention when
they show you the movements of the stars and planets. It's really cool!"
"I don't know," the bandanna clad boy hedged for a moment. "I've seen
the stars plenty of times while traveling..."
"I haven't," she pouted. "Please? For me, Ryo-chan?" She grasped his
hand in both of hers and held it up against her chest. She batted her eyes
as she looked up at him. She knew she had won when she saw the sweat on his
face and he was visibly trembling.
"Ah, alright then. Let's go," Ryouga barely managed to squeak out.
Minako squealed with delight and hugged him. Ryouga's face turned
beet red as he slowly brought his shaking arms up.
"Gently," Minako whispered when she felt his arms move.
A feeling of warmth flooded through Ryouga when he realized that
despite the fact that he had inadvertently hurt her with his strength twice
before she was not running from him. The blond girl sighed contentedly as
Ryouga engulfed her in a firm, but still gentle hug. She leaned her head
against his firmly muscled chest and closed her eyes. Minako could feel his
heart racing as she snuggled closer to him.
"Don't they look sweet together?" Usagi whispered to the others as
they watched from inside the house.
"They haven't changed a bit," Kouma sighed, a dreamy expression on her
face.
"Hey, where are they going?" Makoto asked as Ryouga and Minako ended
their embrace and proceeded down the temple stairs hand in hand.
"A date?" Ranma wondered. "I woulda thought that Ryouga'd be pretty
content just holdin' her..."
"Let's follow them!" Usagi declared as she pointed towards the stairs.
"We really shouldn't," Ami blushed, "what if they want to be alone?"
"If it starts to look like they're going to do that, we can always
make sure that they stay undisturbed," Rei giggled wickedly.
"Come on!" Usagi half shouted, "They're getting away!" She dashed
towards the temple stairs with the other girls not far behind.
"Why do I get the feelin' that we're gonna regret this?" Ranma asked
rhetorically as he followed the girls out.
Professor Tomoe scowled as he entered his lab and found that Akane was
gone. There was nothing damaged, so he knew that someone had let her out.
"Endymion!" the Professor bellowed. Almost immediately he could hear
the steady clinking of metal shod feet striking concrete.
"What is it this time?" the armored man asked sourly. "I was getting
to know Tellu better."
"You can amuse yourself later!" Professor Tomoe snapped. "Someone
took Akane out early!"
"Was the infusion complete?" Endymion asked, suddenly all business.
"The secondary infusion, yes. The final infusion, which would have
completely separated her spirit from the daimon was not done. As things
stand now, there is a small chance that she could break free of its control.
She will remember everything, should that happen."
"How small?" Endymion growled.
"Moderately," Tomoe adjusted his glasses. "If she meets with someone
she knows the chances will increase exponentially."
"I've got to stop Mimett!" he turned to leave, his cape swirling
dramatically.
"How do you know it was Mimett?" the Professor asked as he followed
the prince towards the exit.
"It has to be her. Tellu was with me and the twins were with you."
Endymion said shortly. "It's also the kind of half baked thing she would
do." He paused for a moment and turned to Professor Tomoe. "Would you be
able to do the final infusion despite this interruption?"
Tomoe shook his head. "No, once she left a controlled environment my
ability to further adjust the fusion was effectively countered."
"Damn. Send my daimons after me once they are ready to fight again.
I may need them to counter the Senshi." Endymion nodded curtly to him and
then broke into a run.
Minako was hugging Ryouga's arm as they leaned back in their seats and
enjoyed watching the stars projected on the domed roof. The announcer spoke
often, describing the movements that the projected stars were taking, but
they ignored him completely. They also ignored the large group of monitors
that showed telescope images of nebulas and other galactic phenomena.
Unknown to them, the others were three rows back watching the couple a lot
more intently than the spectacular representation of the stars.
"Ryo-chan," Minako whispered.
"Hmm?"
"I want to watch the real stars with you someday," she snuggled closer
to him.
"Soon," Ryouga promised. "When the fighting is done we can take a
trip."
Minako resisted the urge to shout in triumph and settled for kissing
him on the cheek. She could feel the heat radiating from his blush even
before she had finished pulling her lips from him. She giggled softly and
leaned her head on his shoulder.
Their peaceful moment was broken when someone else in the audience
stood and approached the announcer.
"Excuse me," the announcer said in an irritated tone. "Please return
to your seat so that you do not disturb everyone."
"Oh, don't worry, the only one I really plan on disturbing is you!"
Mimmet said as she opened her briefcase and released the daimon. The rest
of the audience screamed and stampeded to the emergency exits.
"Stiletto! Take the pure heart of this man!" Mimett yelled.
"Damn it!" Ryouga swore as he and Minako ducked into one of the
alcoves.
"We'd better transform!" Minako said as she held up her henshin stick.
"Venus Planet Power, Make Up!"
Ryouga nodded and channeled some of his ki into his armor, doing his
best to ignore his girlfriend's nude, glowing form.
"You'd better call the others," Ryouga said once she had finished her
transformation.
"No need," Sailor Moon said as she and the rest of the senshi dashed
past their hiding place.
"You followed us!" Sailor Venus spat accussingly as she and Ryouga
followed them out of the alcove.
"We can discuss this later," Ranma barked. "I'll get the guy away
from the daimon, then we can get 'em."
Ranma leapt towards the daimon, his leg extended into a kick when a
blast of dark energy knocked him out of the air. He landed roughly and
rolled quickly to his feet and glared towards his unseen attacker. Much to
his surprise, Akane stepped out of the shadows wearing a black and red skin
tight outfit that exposed a lot of cleavage. A mallet formed in her hands
and dark energy began coursing across its surface like black lightning. The
ruby embedded in her forehead glinted as she grinned maliciously at Ranma.
"Hello, Ranma. Did you miss me?" she asked mockingly as she raised
the mallet and charged him.
The pig-tailed martial artist dodged almost mechanically as he stared
in slack-jawed amazement at his former fiancee. He grunted as he was tagged
by a follow up attack that came much faster than anticipated. Ranma stepped
back to gain some breathing room and maybe find some sort of an advantage,
but that small hope died as Akane rushed in close, discarding her mallet in
favor of punches and kicks.
Despite everything, Ranma still couldn't bring himself to strike
Akane. Every time he saw an opening, he ignored it and dodged or blocked
every punch and kick she sent his way.
"What's the matter? Is the great Ranma Saotome afraid to fight me?"
Akane taunted him as they locked arms.
Ranma growled deep in his throat and shifted his stance ever so
slightly before he bunched his muscles and lifted the surprised girl off of
her feet. Deprived of any kind of leverage her kicks on his armored ribs
had little to no effect.
"Ya know what?" he growled, "I think it's high time I did fight you
for real." With that, he tossed his opponant into one of the support
columns. Akane slumped briefly and shook her head.
"Come on then," Ranma gestured to her with one hand. "Show me what
you've got."
Akane screamed wordlessly as she launched herself at him. A mallet
formed of dark energy appeared in her hands a split second before she swung
it at his head. Ranma bent over backwards, placed one hand on the ground
and kicked her wrist hard enough to send the mallet flying. He finished the
backwards flip and smirked at Akane as she formed another mallet.
He dodged the next attack by flipping over her head. When he landed
directly behind her, he couldn't help but tap her on the back of the head
with a single finger; just like he had when he had first met the Tendo girl.
Akane turned slowly and Ranma could see that the evil expression had been
replaced by one of fear.
"Help me, Ranma!" Akane yelled as she grabbed her head in both hands.
"It's in my mind!"
"Akane?" Ranma asked as he leaned over her and placed his hands on
her shoulders. "What did they do to you?"
"They put one of _them_ in my head, making me do and say things I
don't want to do! Get it out! Get OUT!" She screamed and backed away from
Ranma as a blue aura and a black aura sprung up around her and seemed to be
battling for control.
"Akane?" Ranma asked again and stepped closer to her.
"Get away!" she screamed as the black aura lashed towards Ranma and
sent him tumbling head over heels. Just as suddenly, the black aura
overwhelmed the blue one and Akane charged Sailor Mercury with a murderous
expression on her face.
"Ranma!" Sailor Moon yelled as she moved to cover for the downed
martial artist. "Are you alright?"
"Fine," Ranma grunted. "Get rid of that daimon quick and then we can
concentrate on helping Akane."
Sailor Moon nodded and looked over the battlefield. Sailor Mercury
was being hard pressed by the possessed Akane, but Sailor Jupiter and Sailor
Mars were leaping to her assistance. Sailor Daichi, Sailor Venus and Ryouga
were fighting the daimon while Mimett was fiddling with something near the
monitors.
"Aku Ryo Taisan!" the senshi of fire yelled as she attached one of
her wards to Akane's forehead. Instead of freezing her in place, Akane
reacted as if the ward was red hot and was scrambling to remove it.
Interestingly enough, while one hand was trying to remove the ward, the
other was fighting to keep it in place.
"Tie her up! Quick!" Sailor Jupiter yelled and then ducked to avoid
a vicious slash from the daimons blade covered fingers. She snarled at the
daimon and electricity arced around her as she charged her attack.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Sailor Jupiter yelled and threw her ball of
lightning at the daimon, hitting it square in the chest.
The daimon screamed and stood stock still. Sailor Moon wasted no time
and cast her magic as quickly as possible, reducing the daimon to a small
dagger that quickly fell to the floor.
Mimett trembled slightly as the Senshi fanned out and surrounded her,
ignoring Akane's struggles for the moment. The orange haired witch fumbled
with the last connection and then plugged the device she was working on into
an outlet.
"Ha! It's too late now!" She screamed in triumph. The lights dimmed
as she threw a switch. "With this I will have more than enough power to
destroy all of you!"
The assembled senshi and martial artists covered their eyes as the
monitors on the wall began emitting a bright light. The witches laughter
changed in tone as her body disappeared and then reappeared as a gigantic
image on the screens.
"Oh hell," Ranma muttered as he crouched in preparation.
"Now I have the all the power of Tokyo behind me!" Mimet's image
gloated from the wall of televisions.
"There's only one problem," a voice called from the shadows.
"What? Who's there?" The orange haired witch screamed when she saw a
tall form in the shadows near the device. The newcomer took a step forward
and revealed the smirking face of Endymion. He gestured slightly and the
ward on Akane's forehead burst in flame. The possesed girl stood and moved
to stand at his side as the senshi boggled.
"Tellu told me about this thing," Endymion said as he picked up the
power cord. "Do you know why Eugeal never used it, despite the potential
for such power?" He shook the cord twice to make his point clear.
"You wouldn't!" Mimett screamed, her face distorting as she gathered
power to lash out at him. "I love you!"
"The feeling was never mutual, you were nothing more than a toy for my
pleasure. You've failed me for the last time Mimett," Endymion said as he
held up the cord so that she could see him yank it out of the wall. Mimett
screamed in agony as she was slowly torn to pieces as the capacitors
gradually discharged and finally emptied. The sailor suited defenders of
love and justice covered their eyes as the screens suddenly exploded,
sending shards of glass everywhere. When they dared to look again, more
than one of them felt ill when they saw the gore that dripped from inside
the shattered electronics.
"How could you?" Sailor Moon sobbed as she clenched the Spiral Heart
Moon Rod tightly in both hands, "How could you just throw away a life like
that?"
"Easy," he leered at her briefly before continuing. "First of all,
her power is nothing to what I would gain should I tame you, but I needed
some power to quickly recover my full strength. Since I only know one way
to do that she made a very useful play toy." He looked up as if in
recollection. "The screaming was easy to deal with, but those nails of hers
were murder on my back."
"You're sick," Ranma spat.
"Thanks awfully," The tall prince of the Earth sneered. "At any rate,
I recently drained the last of her magic and since she's too bony to be a
good concubine, I discarded her."
Ranma didn't hesitate any longer. He rushed towards him, roaring his
anger and defiance only to have Akane smoothly step in the way and throw one
of her mallets at him. Ranma ducked and quickly swept the feet out from
under his former fiancee before launching himself at Endymion.
"Fool!" the black armored man yelled as his eyes glowed crimson. The
pigtailed martial artist's forward motion took a sudden reversal and he flew
backwards past his stunned allies. Ranma's eyes went wide as he was slammed
into the far wall and held motionless.
"Shi Shi Hokkoudan!" Ryouga launched his ki blast at Endymion and
readied his umbrella. He still didn't want to hit Akane, but the swirling
black aura she had was enough to convince him that she had to be stopped
before she could be helped.
Endymion was forced to dodge the glowing green sphere of angst laden
ki and when he did so he lost his concentration. Ranma dropped lightly and
landed on his feet and was instantly moving again. He saw out of the corner
of his eye that the Senshi were spreading out and launching their magic at
the evil prince randomly. At least it seemed random at first until he
dodged a Burning Mandala only to get hit with both a Sparkling wide pressure
and a Shine Aqua illusion.
"Keep it up!" Ranma yelled as he leapt past Endymion and dented his
breastplate with a ki charged punch.
Sailor Venus barely heard him since she was slowly circling Akane, the
crystal sword held low and its point weaving in the air.
"Your move," Akane said easily as she flexed one darkness enshrouded
hand. Sailor Venus slashed at her opponent once, aiming to sever the major
muscles in the leg. Unfortunately for her, Akane was much to quick for that
to be effective. Before the blonde senshi could recover from her swing and
bring her guard back up, Akane had stepped forward and punched her in the
ribs several times. Sailor Venus screamed as the dark energy coursed over
her midsection like bolts of black lightning and her vision went dim as she
fell back from the assault. She never saw Ryouga leap between her and
Akane.
"Snap out of it, Akane!" Ryouga pleaded as he blocked her punches and
kicks. "This isn't you!"
Akane's face twisted suddenly into an expression of anguish and a look
of terror could be seen deep in her eyes.
"Kill me!" She pleaded. "Before it can take over again!"
"Akane?" Ryouga hesitated.
That hesitation nearly proved fatal as Akane's features returned to
being an angry sneer and she slammed Ryouga across the room with her mallet.
Only Ryouga's superior endurance from the bakusai tenketsu training
prevented him from becoming a pancake. As it was, he was badly bruised and
shaking as he regained his feet.
Even as the senshi and Ranma repositioned themselves to cover for
their weakened comrades, Endymion's daimon bodyguards burst into the room,
surrounding them.
"Damn," Ranma muttered as he looked around. "This don't look none too
good."
"There's too many of them for us to fight," Sailor Mars muttered
angrily as she turned to face one of the daimons.
"What can we do?" Sailor Moon asked as she fidgeted with her rod.
That action caught Ranma's eyes and he thought rapidly. "Sailor Moon,
when you do that heart thingy, don't you have to spin really fast?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"Does it all go into that heart?" he asked intently.
Sailor Moon's brow furrowed as she thought. "No, some of it spirals
off on it's own. It helps to contain the blast."
"Everyone, hold onto something!" He said urgently, but only just loud
enough for the senshi to hear him. "Sailor Moon, I want you to do that
attack, but aim it straight up,"
"Up?" She asked.
"Yes, up!" He yelled as he concentrated on the Soul of Ice. "Do it
now! Mars, when that spiral starts to form, shoot as much flame as you can
into it!" Sailor Mars nodded and concentrated.
"Are you crazy?" Ryouga demanded as he threw himself over Sailor
Venus and dug his hands into the floor. Ranma didn't respond, an icy blue
aura was visible around him as Sailor Moon began her spin. Sailor Daichi
swallowed hard and flattened herself against the ground.
"Maybe, but he's doing it anyway!" she replied for her father.
"Moon..."
"Now Mars!" Ranma yelled.
"Fire Soul!" Sailor Mars yelled as she released a continuous torrent
of flame into the forming spiral.
"What is he planning?" Sailor Mercury asked curiously as she started
to reach for her computer. Ranma's sweat was visibly freezing against his
skin now and the air around them seemed cooler.
"Spiral..."
"Hiryu..."
"Shut up and hit the deck!" Ryouga yelled as he grabbed Sailor
Jupiter with one hand and pulled her to the ground. The flames had them
encircled, forcing the daimons to keep their distance. A spiral of pure
fire radiated out from the center of Sailor Moon's rod. Cold air drawn from
Ranma's body had also entered the spiral. The senshi were alternately
roasting and freezing.
"Heart..."
"Shoten..."
Sailor Mercury had pulled her computer out and was staring wide eyed
at the readings she was getting. Ranma moved into a crouch as he prepared
to launch his uppercut.
"No way! No-one can do that!" Sailor Mercury protested as she flung
herself to the ground and held onto Ryouga's arm as hard as she could.
"ATTACK!" Sailor Moon finished charging her spell and launched it
straight up.
"HA!" Ranma yelled as he drove his fist directly into the giant heart
right as it finished forming.
The room exploded in a furious maelstrom of fire, wind, glass and
debris!
"Hang on!" Ranma yelled as he clung to a metal post. Sailor Moon
screamed as the seat she was holding onto broke free of its mounting and she
was sucked into the cyclone.
"Sailor Moon!" Mars called out as she grabbed her friend's foot, only
to be sucked in as well.
"Look after the others, Ryouga!" Ranma shouted as he leapt into the
whirlwind. It was hard to breathe as he leapt from one chunk of debris to
another in a vain attempt to reach the two girls. He swore as loudly as he
could when the roof finally gave way and flung the two senshi away from him.
There was no sign of Akane, Endymion and his daimons as Ranma was catapulted
from the twister as well. Ranma narrowed his eyes and was barely able to
pick out where Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars landed before he crashed into the
side of a building, leaving an impression shaped like his body. With a yell
of sheer determination he forced his battered body to move towards where he
saw the girls land, ignoring the stares coming from the people below him.
::I'm coming!:: he thought furiously.
Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars landed in a tangled heap in an alleyway.
They lay unmoving for several minutes until finally Sailor Mars stirred.
"Ok, that was pretty stupid," she muttered as she slowly worked her
way out from under Sailor Moon's unconscious form. Her skirt was mostly
shredded and the ribbons were missing except for tiny scraps where they were
attached. She was bruised all over and very tired. With a grunt she sat up
and checked on Sailor Moon. The pony tailed senshi wasn't in much better
shape.
"Wake up," Sailor Mars said softly as she tapped her hand on Sailor
Moon's cheek. "We've got to go."
Sailor Moon groaned and slowly sat up and took in the dark and dirty
alley they were in.
"Where are we?" she asked as she struggled to stand.
"I can't really say, let me look around a little while you catch your
breath," Sailor Mars spoke softly as she walked towards the mouth of the
alley.
Sailor Moon bent over and placed her hands on her knees and breathed
deeply. Just as she was starting to feel more like a human being again she
heard an ear piercing scream. she turned to the source of the scream and
saw Endymion's four daimons had surrounded Sailor Mars and were punching and
kicking her repeatedly. Finally, one of the daimons picked her up by the
throat. Sailor Mars kicked weakly for a moment before her eyes rolled back
in her head and she stopped moving.
Sailor Moon screamed in horror as Sailor Mars' limp form was callously
tossed aside by the daimon. Only the slow rise and fall of her chest kept
Sailor Moon from believing her to be dead.
"How careless of you," Endymion said as he stepped in front of his
body guards, causing Sailor Moon to back up a step. "You shouldn't have
allowed yourself to become separated from your protectors."
Sailor Moon tensed, her eyes flicking back and forth between Endymion,
his daimon guards and Sailor Mars. "What do you want?" She asked as she
tried to put up a brave font.
"You know the answer to that question," he said coldly as he brushed
his hair back with one hand. "Join with me and I'll let her live. Refuse,
and Sailor Mars dies here and now!"
Sailor Moon froze in shock. She knew she couldn't join Endymion, but
she couldn't let her friend die either. Her hesitation betrayed her as
Endymion made a lightning fast grab for her. She snapped out of her
confusion just as his grasped firmly onto the front of her fuku. With an
ear splitting scream she struggled to pull away from him.
"You're mine!" Endymion growled.
"Never!" Sailor Moon screamed her defiance as she gave one last,
desperate pull. The dark blue bow on the front of her fuku finally ripped
and Sailor Moon fell backwards. She gasped in shock as translucent red
ribbons encircled her quickly and then retreated, leaving her in her regular
school uniform.
Endymion opened his hand and stared at the broach for a moment before
he started to chuckle. This quickly turned into an evil sounding belly
laugh.
"It seems you no longer have a choice in the matter," he said finally
as he placed the broach inside a pocket. "You will be coming with me now,"
He looked over his shoulder at his daimons. "Kill the other one. We have
no use for her."
"Mars!" Usagi screamed as she slapped Endymion as hard as she could.
He sneered at her before backhanding her hard enough to send her back to the
ground. Before he could take a step forward to claim the rest of his prize,
he was cut off by Ranma leaping in front of him.
"Looks like I finally found ya," Ranma growled.
"Too late, I might say," Endymion smirked. "Kill them and bring
Usagi to me!" he commanded his daimons as he faded from view.
"Not gonna happen," Ranma snarled as he flared his aura. The alley
was narrow enough that the daimons could only approach him one at a time.
As the first one cocked its sword to run him through, Ranma deftly twisted
its wrist to force it to drop the sword. Without slowing down he slammed
his elbow into the daimons chest, shattering the breastplate.
"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" The pigtailed martial artist's hands
blurred as he brutally pummeled the daimon. Broken and battered, the daimon
fell back and the next one took its place in front of Ranma. He snorted as
he almost casually kicked it in the face. Purple ichor splashed from under
his heel and the daimons head snapped backwards. Ranma spun on his heel and
kicked the daimon on the back of its knees, toppling it over.
"Come on you worthless piles of trash!" Ranma yelled. "Show me what
you got!"
The third daimon approached cautiously, its sword point weaving
threateningly in front of it. Ranma gestured for it to come at him. The
daimon scowled as it raised the sword for a powerful downward stroke.
Ranma's form blurred as he stepped inside its guard and unleashed the
Amaguriken on its unprotected belly.
"Oh no you don't," Ranma snarled as it started to fall back. His left
hand flashed out and grabbed it by the neck as he continued to rain punches
down on its face and chest.
Usagi watched in horror as the last daimon leapt over Ranma and his
opponent and reached out for her.
"Ranma!" Usagi screamed as the daimon grabbed her blouse and lifted
her off her feet.
Ranma spun and kicked off the daimon he was mauling and launched
himself at the daimon that was getting ready to leap off. He paused only
briefly to scoop up the sword that the first daimon had lost. The armored
martial artist leaped over the daimon, turning in a flip as he did so. When
he was upside down directly above the daimon, he slashed once with the
sword, cutting off both of its arms.
Usagi was blinded by a spray of purple blood and she fell backwards
screaming, only to be caught by Ranma as he landed.
"Hang on a second longer," Ranma muttered as he set Usagi back on the
ground and dropped the sword. His aura flared larger than Usagi had ever
seen and then flowed into the ball of ki that he held in the palms of his
hands.
"Mouko..." sweat poured down Ranma's face as the ball swelled to a
tremendous size and electricity arced from the ball to the surrounding
walls. "Takabisha!" Ranma roared as he launched the ki towards the daimon
he had just maimed. The daimon screamed once as the ki impacted it and
burst through its chest and out its back to continue on and explode amongst
the remaining three, scattering them. The other daimons took one look at
the shattered remains of their companion and fled.
Ranma stood straight and tall only until he saw that the other daimons
had retreated. Once they were out of sight, he slumped over in exhaustion.
"Are you alright, Ranma?" Usagi asked as she placed a hand on his
shoulder.
"A bit winded," Ranma gasped. "I'll be alright. Why ain't ya Sailor
Moon anymore?"
Usagi let out a low cry and glomped onto Ranma's chest, nearly
knocking the worn out martial artist over.
"H, Hey! What's wrong?"
Usagi looked up at Ranma with tear filled eyes. "He has the
Ginzousho! I can't transform into Sailor Moon anymore!"
---End Chapter 6
Author's notes:
Daichi is one of the Japanese words for Earth, for those that were
wondering. For those that have been following this story, I apologize for
taking so long to write it, but I would rather take the extra time than send
out something that was only half done.
