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Chapter 3, Life As A Sailor Senshi
Ranma knocked on the door of Ami's condominium and
stood there waiting until the door was opened. He had walked here in a complete
daze. All he could think about was Akane yelling at him: 'I never want to see
you again'. She looked so sad, so hurt, so betrayed. He always knew what he had
done would hurt, it had to, and it was planned that way. He just never realized
how much it would hurt him. Ranma had thought that any price was worth the
chance that she would be able to protect herself. Now all that he could think
was that it was not worth it. He should have settled for being condescending to
her. He should have ensured that he was by her side every minute of every day.
Anything but losing her forever.
Ranma wondered if she had read the note he left. He
had to write it twelve times before he got it right. The last nine times had
just been to get the last two sentences right. He still did not know what Akane
felt about him, but if that was going to be the last chance that he would have
to speak to her, Ranma eventually realized that he had to tell her how he felt.
Oh, why did
he have to say those horrible things to her? Sure, it was the only way, but... Ranma's musings were interrupted when the door in front of him
opened. "Oh, Ranko, what are you doing here?"
Ranko looked down at herself. She was dripping wet
and quite obviously female. I wonder when
that happened? Oh, that's right, it was raining for a bit. She was so
depressed she didn't care. She looked up at Ami and saw concern in the girl's
eyes. Ranko was about to reply when Ami continued. "Did I miss an alert or
something? No, there's something else wrong, isn't there? Oh my! You're soaking
wet! Get inside, we need to dry you off and get you some clean clothes."
Ranko numbly followed the girl into the neat upscale
condo. Ranko had been here once before, briefly when the Senshi had started to
try and get her to open up to them. She would have to be careful that she
didn't show too much knowledge of the place, after all, Ranma had been here
almost every day for a month and a half, and he knew the place well. "Um,
Ami, err, I saw Ranma on my way over here. He said he and Akane had just had a
big fight and told me all about it. So, if Akane calls, just tell me, and I'll
apolo... I'll go talk to her."
Ami's eyes narrowed. There was something a bit odd
about this. She knew that Akane and Ranko were cousins, but from what Akane
said, it seemed Ranko avoided her. But now, Ranko was having deep
heart-to-heart talks with Ranma, and they appeared to affect her deeply.
"You really care about Ranma, don't you Ranko."
Ranko looked very guilty and stared at her feet.
"You could say that we're pretty close. Heh, heh. I suppose that's right,
really. No matter what people have tried, they just can't separate Ranma and me.
I know Akane and Pops have tried often enough."
Ami dropped the clothes she was getting and put her
hands on her hips. "Ranko, that's terrible! Akane is your cousin! How can
you possibly try and seduce her fiancée? That's a terrible thing to do!"
Ranko looked up in shock, and then began to laugh.
"Is that what it looks like? I guess it does. I mean we dress the same,
and we do the same sort of things. Heh, perhaps we could be a good match. But,
Ami, believe me. There's nothing between the two of us. We're more like brother
and sister. If Ranma is cut, I bleed. If I hurt, he hurts. Trust me, Akane
knows it, I know it, Ranma knows it. It's really impossible for anything to,
you know, happen between Ranma and me. Impossible, between us, get it, Ha, Ha,
Ha, Ha!"
Ami watched as Ranko fell to floor laughing at some
private joke. She didn't understand, but apparently Ranko thought that the very
idea of her seducing Ranma was a stupid one. She might have thought some
relationships were impossible too, but she had seen Makoto in action. Makoto
proved almost anyone could fall for a nice smile and a pretty face, and Ranko
had those. Eventually Ranko realized that she was the only one laughing, and
calmed down. "Thanks, Ami. I think I needed a bit of a laugh just now. Um,
someday I may explain it to you, but I'm afraid I can't just now."
Ami sighed. Well, so much for the hopes that Ranko
had come over to finally want to be friends with some of the Senshi. Picking up
the clothes she had dropped, she displayed them for Ranko. There was a pink tee
shirt, some blue shorts, and some underwear. "We look about the same size,
so you can borrow some of my stuff until yours dries. We don't want you
catching a cold, do we?"
Ranko looked at the underwear in disgust. "I
can't wear that! They're girl's clothes!"
"What's wrong with girl's clothes? You're a
girl."
"I'm a g... Um, yeah, I look like a girl, but I
always wear guy's clothes, they're much more comfortable, see."
Ami blushed as Ranko showed her that she was
actually wearing boxer shorts. Perhaps this was what she meant about not being
able to have a relationship with Ranma. "Err, Ranko, does that mean that
you're, you know, um, that way?"
Ranko was perplexed. "What way?"
"You know... THAT way."
"Um." Ranko stood there confused. She
managed to follow what Ami had been talking about until the conversation
stopped being clear. Unfortunately after living on the road for so many years
with only an obsessive father for company, Ranko missed out on some of the
finer points of people's conversations. When people went 'nudge, nudge, wink,
wink', all Ranko understood was a nudge and a wink. Innuendo was something that
went right over her head.
"Well, I was just wondering if the reason you
never wanted to go out with the Sailors is if because, well, you were a little
bit of a cross dresser and worried about what we would say. But it's OK. I
mean, not all of us are quite normal either."
Ranko went pale. "I'M NOT A CROSS DRESSER! It's just a curse, OK? But, err, yeah,
that's why I never went places with the Senshi. I just... just didn't know how
you would react. Wow. You must be really clever, Ami. When did you figure it
out?" She scratched the back of her head in relief.
Ami beamed at the complement, so she realized that
Ranko was a lesbian. It was no big secret, really. "Oh, just now. I sort
of looked at the boxers, and thought of the confusion that Sailor Uranus
sometimes gets, and well, it fell into place."
Ranko was seriously impressed. One look at her
boxers, and Ami knows all about her curse. Ranko was just amazed that it took
this long. But then, Ranko had been avoiding them whenever possible. When she
saw Ranma, he really was a guy, so no clues there. Ranko was still impressed
that she figured out about it so quickly. "Well, I still think you must
have a pretty good brain to put it all together. I suppose there's not really
much point in hiding it from you now, but don't go telling the others, OK? I
really don't like people to know about my curse."
"Oh, Ranko. It's not a curse, really. You're
just a bit different from others. No one would mind, honestly."
"Ami, it is a curse. When Pop and I were
training in this place in China called Jusenkyo, I fell into the spring of
drowned girl. And that made me into what you see today."
"Oh, Ranko, it really is OK." Ami patted
her on the shoulder. "Besides, if you feel more comfortable not wearing
girl's clothes, then I think I can find something more to your liking."
Ami rummaged through her drawers, and then found
some more nondescript clothes. Ami was glad that she and Ranko had this little
chat. If she could make her feel comfortable with herself, perhaps Ranko would
really become part of the team, a real member, not just one that helped in the
fights. When Ranko was dressed, they headed to the kitchen for some tea.
Perhaps if she could steer the talk to more neutral topics, she continue to
draw Ranko out of the shell she had built.
Ami came back from the kitchen, holding a tea set on
a tray. She placed it down on the table and sat down. To break the ice, she
thought it would be good to talk about one of Ranko's favorite subjects, namely
fighting. "Ranko, what's that attack that you use when you fight the
youma?"
"It's called the Moko Takabisha. It's a ki-based
attack. Basically you summon up your internal energy and project it at the
target. Why?"
"That's the same attack that you used when you
fought the youma before you became a Sailor Senshi, isn't it?"
"True, but when I'm Sailor Sun, I can regain my
ki much faster. Since I'm not in danger of seriously draining myself, I can use
bigger and better blasts every time I let loose. You're right though, it's the
same attack."
Ami smacked a fist into her palm. "I knew it!
Rei did a fire reading before we first met you, and saw you surrounded by
flames. Artemis also said that according to legend, Sailor Sun is supposed to
have the most powerful attacks of any of the Senshi. Now I hate to say it; your
ki attacks are OK, but not that great. Take my Shabon Spray Freezing: it can do
about as much damage, but it does it to everything it touches, if I want it to.
Your Moko Takabisha is good, but it still doesn't have the power you need.
"Next time we encounter a youma, I want you to
concentrate. Feel the magic, feel the power flow through you. When you attack,
don't force it, just use what comes naturally."
They continued to talk for a while, usually
inconsequential things. Ami deliberately stayed away from personal information
so that she did not scare away the slowly opening Ranko. Ranko was equally
willing to stay on lighter topics. Thoughts of Akane kept breaking to the
surface. All that she wanted to do was run back to Mr. Miyagi's and apologize,
but she knew it would be impossible. If Akane read the note, she would either
forgive her or not. If she had not read the note, it would be months before
Akane would let Ranma speak to her again, if ever.
They were on their third cup of tea when their
communicators signaled. Trust the youma to ruin a perfectly good Sunday
afternoon, moments later, a pair of Sailor Senshi leapt from roof to roof on
the way to their rendezvous.
Jadeite looked into the screen that showed the
battle about to take place. The last few weeks had been a greater success than
even he had anticipated. While there had been losses, they were lower than
expected. While the Senshi had a new one added to their number, the attacks
which she possessed was not great enough to create a decisive advantage.
He puzzled over this new girl. He didn't recall a
tenth Senshi during the Silver Millennium and this girl wasn't nearly as
powerful as any of the others. She was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but that
was it. Her magical ability was mediocre at best.
"Sailor Sun, indeed." Chuckled Jadeite. It
seemed that the Senshi were getting desperate and were trying to recruit new
members into their midst. Without Queen Serenity's magic or experience, he
believed they could never hope to be able to endow a new Senshi with powers
sufficient to repel even a minor youma. This so called Senshi of the Sun never
was able to kill a youma alone. She always had to have another Senshi deal the fatal
blow.
He was worried at first when she appeared, thinking
that this girl may have had powers worthy of her guardian star, but now all she
was, was a stupid joke; a joke that Sailor Moon would live to regret.
Recently, he detected a burst of life energy in the
area of Tokyo he knew the Senshi lived. He knew Usagi, Rei and Ami's identities
but he didn't know where they lived. Now, he had a possible location for one of
them. The idea of the kidnapping of a Senshi in human form was an idea he
couldn't resist. The amount of energy he could drain from her opened up
possibilities that he dared not dream of.
He had time to deal with this possibility soon
enough. Right now, it was time to spring the next phase of the invasion.
A force of youma would be sent to earth. Not just
one or two, but over thirty, thirty of the new generation of powerful youma. It
was costly, but it would be worth it. Jadeite knew that the Senshi would stand
a chance of winning against them. Not a big chance, but it was a chance.
Unbelievably, the Senshi had managed to win from impossible positions so often;
Jadeite was beginning to expect it. This time there would be no failure.
The youma would not fail because the Senshi had less
brains than the youma did. You play with them a while, and they fall into a
pattern. Then you trap them, so they see traps everywhere. It was a battle
against superior forces, so sneakiness was needed. Over the time he had
gathered the power for his army, Jadeite had let the Senshi become used to
fighting one or two youma. He had also let them get used to the idea of being
ambushed by a larger force.
When he launched a convincing attack against them
that is all they would see. It would be more of the same, just on a bigger
scale. They would never see the dimensional beacon. They would never even look.
From what he knew, thirty youma should be sufficient to destroy the Senshi. But
Jadeite could not get his hopes up. Injure them, almost certainly, but kill; he
felt he could not be so lucky. Something would save them, it always did.
The dimensional beacon was another matter. It would
enable his forces to move back and forwards at a fraction of the current cost.
Where sending thirty youma expended so much energy, he would send over a
hundred at a much smaller cost.
The Senshi gathered and looked at the youma. Their
detectors had registered the arrival of one or more in this area, and this was
all they had been able to spot. Now it had drained the energy from over twenty
people at an amusement arcade. They were ready to attack when Sailor Mercury
spoke up. "I've been having a chat with Sailor Sun, and I think I have an
idea on how we can release her full powers. Venus, if you can use your chain to
hold the youma, we can give Sailor Sun the time she needs to realize her
attack."
Sailor Moon nodded. "Great idea. See Sailor
Sun, soon you'll really be one of us girls. Not only do we get these great
costumes, you also get to have your own cool magic attack!"
As everyone leapt into position, Sailor Sun
hesitated and in a small voice whispered. "But I don't want to be one of
the girls."
"Amusement centers are a place for happiness
and enjoyment of children and families. To pervert such a place and harm people
is a thing of evil. For your actions, the beautiful sailor suited warrior for
love and justice, Sailor Moon, shall defeat you."
Finishing her set of poses, Sailor Moon threw her
tiara. "MOON TIARA ACTION!"
Weaving a beautiful stream of light, it flew at the
youma, causing it to dive out of the arcade, and into the open. With elegant
poise, Sailor moon reached up and collected her tiara as it flew back. While
she replaced it on her head, blonde hair flying, the others went into action.
The twin calls of "SHABON SPRAY FREEZING!"
and "BURNING MANDALA!" Sailors Mercury and Mars managed to confine
the ugly beast, and obscure its vision. Neptune and Uranus leapt to either side
of the monster outside of the burning ring, which surrounded it. There was no
escape now. With all the others forming a defensive line in front of Sailor
Sun, Sailor Venus moved up to attack.
Spinning slowly, she began to fire the chain of
hearts from her hand. When she screamed "VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!" they
flew out. In no time, a chain of glowing orange hearts snaked out, bailing up
the youma.
Sailor Moon looked on impressed. Their attack had
worked perfectly, something to be remembered for the future. Behind her, Sailor
Saturn placed a hand on Venus, and the two continued to feed power into the
Love Me Chain. With this much effort, even a youma of this strength could not
hope to escape.
Sailor Sun looked on, feeling impressed. She had
been fighting with them regularly now, but this was one of their best-coordinated
and executed attacks yet. It was amazing what these girls could do with little
notice. They obviously worked together so much; they could almost read the
thoughts of their compatriots. Clearing her mind of the ki attacks that she
usually used, Sailor Sun meditated for a moment.
Somewhere deep within her, Sailor Sun could feel the
magic responding to her request. Before, there had always been a sharp
distinction, it was Ranko and Sailor Sun, and they were separate people. Once
she had fought the idea of being Sailor Sun. She was a guy, she was a Martial
Artist, and she didn't need the silly magical powers. As a consequence, all she
received from being Sailor Sun was the minimal powers possible to be a Senshi.
The true powers of attack, and the ability to withstand magical damage had been
withheld. Now, deep inside her soul, Sailor Sun called for those powers.
But she did not call for them for herself. She
called for them so that she could save Akane, and others like her throughout
the world. Then the powers came. Suddenly Sailor Sun could see what she was
missing out on. Within her soul, she could feel the very energy of the sun, the
linking of her life force to the power that rules the solar system. Barely
seconds had passed before Sailor Sun opened her eyes, but she felt like it was
years, an entire lifetime.
Sailor Moon stared at their latest recruit. She had
watched seven other Sailors come into their powers. She had been there when all
of them had had their first boost in their powers, changing their battle cry
from 'Planet Power, Make Up' to 'Star Power, Make Up'. Now she realized that
she was seeing the true Sailor Sun for the first time. When the girl had closed
her eyes there had been a pause, then a flare of flames. For several moments,
Sailor Sun was bathed in the fire, which Rei had witnessed in her fire reading,
all those weeks ago.
When Sailor Sun opened her eyes, the others fell
back in surprise. Gone were the sparkling blue eyes that they were used to
seeing. In their place were twin flames, burning in the darkness where her eyes
should be. With a manic grin, Sailor Sun trotted to the front of their line.
Passing her hands in front of herself, she began to gather small flames, then a
glowing ball of red. Moving like she was pitching a baseball, Sailor Sun drew
back the flaming, crackling sphere she was making. "SEARING PLASMA
BLAST!" Like a whip, the arms shot forward and a flaming comet charged at
the captive youma.
When the blast struck, the fireball exploded. A wave
of heat came over them, and the two Senshi nearest cowered behind their arms,
fending off the effects. The bitumen street where it had been targeted was
cratered and melted, still bubbling and boiling in parts. Nearby shop signs had
caught fire, and the force of the blast had smashed several windows. Of the
youma, there was simply no sign.
The red head was overjoyed. "YEE-HAH! I did it!
Whoo-hoo! Take that you evil demon, you! Go the Sailor Senshi!"
Sailor Sun danced around, her ecstasy obvious. While
everyone else watched in awe of her demonstrated powers, she ran over to the
hole in the street she had made. Sailor Moon was the first to recover. It's a
good thing she's on our side. I wouldn't want to fight her! Shortly all the
Senshi were running to her, cheering.
The crowd of super powered girls in short skirts had
almost reached their friend when Sailor Mercury's computer beeped a warning. A
youma was still nearby. It was only her excited dancing which caused the youma
to miss Sailor Sun when it fired at her.
The youma was a new variant, something else they had
never encountered. Rather than the heavy, bulky youma with devastating
strength, this was a tall, skinny, hunchbacked creature, fairly human in shape,
although almost twice as tall. This one also seemed to have some sort of long-range
weapon.
Sailor Sun had missed being hit by the youma, but
when the blob it fired landed, she was splashed. It must have been acid of some
sort, because the much-abused street began to bubble and hiss. Sailor Sun also
began to scream as drops of the fearsome gel clung to her in spots. As the pain
began to register, she began swatting at the burning spots, smearing the acid
with her gloved hands. The damage was only minor, even if painful. Sailor
Neptune rushed up and summoned some cold water with which she washed off Sailor
Sun. The acid gone, they could see several holes in her skirt and suit, and the
glove on her right arm was almost destroyed.
Sun growled as she examined the damage to her
bodysuit, "You ruined my uniform!" The pissed off Senshi charged the
beast.
Moon looked around and spotted the fleeing youma.
"Come on Sailor Senshi! We can't let it get away!"
Everyone yelled, and gave chase. The youma was fast,
but they were faster, and slowly made up the distance. Now that they knew what
to look for, the acid attacks that the youma possessed posed little problem.
The Senshi were so fast on their feet that even minor splashes were uncommon.
They had chased the youma to an old area of the
city, filled with abandoned warehouses when it stopped. It slowly turned and
faced the formation of Senshi. Each of them stood ready. The chase and the
minor burns most had received made them mad. Staring at the one youma, nine
powerful Senshi readied an all out attack. Just as they prepared to deliver it,
they were attacked.
Only the sixth sense for danger, which they
possessed, had saved them. It had been finely honed from years of fighting, and
even without thought, they abandoned their attacks, leaping to the air. Looking
down, Sailor Saturn saw the boiling remains of where they had stood, covered
with acid. Looking up, the small Sailor saw legions of youma gathered on the
buildings. In their arms (or tentacles) they carried bloated looking sacs of a
pale, sickly green fluid. Seeing their surprise had failed, the youma launched
the acid bombs indiscriminately at the Senshi, blasting walls and road with
assorted misses.
Sailor Saturn watched as her teammates nimbly dodged
the bombs, and she joined their efforts. With so many incoming attacks, dodging
was everything. After what seemed to be an eternity, the bombs stopped landing.
Sailor Saturn brushed her short black hair from her eyes and looked around.
Everyone was basically unhurt, but the street had become a minefield. One
misstep would put you in the acid, and it would eat your foot off before you
could stop it.
Then the little Sailor saw why the youma did not
care. Dozens of the beasts were leaping off warehouse roofs, or through the
walls. When they attacked, the demons did not care where they stood; they were
equally happy on concrete or acid. It was just one more problem to contend
with. When a demon stepped in the gel, it would splash, giving you something
else to dodge. But the youma would have a foot (or hand, or whatever), which
was now a fearsome weapon. A simple touch could cause debilitating pain.
A tall youma with a dozen long tentacles landed in
front of Sailor Saturn. Bopping it on the head with her glaive, she retreated
next to Sailor Uranus who was laying about with wild abandon. While battle
cries and the occasional scream of pain filled the air, Sailor Uranus watched
over her adopted daughter. When Saturn was sure the path was clear, she struck.
When she cried "SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!"
and lowered her weapon, everything in its path was shattered. In the distance a
warehouse began to fall as its corner support was ripped away, while right in
front of her a many tentacled beast split apart and began to dissolve.
The other Sailors were not doing as well. Like
Sailor Saturn, they needed to be very careful with the attacks they launched,
lest they hurt a friend. With so many youma to attack, hand-to-hand fighting
was not working well. Outnumbered more than three to one, the youma could gang
up and almost take turns fighting a target.
When one youma became hurt, it would withdraw
slightly, its friends taking up the slack. When Sailor Jupiter attempted to
chase one and press her advantage, she suffered a beating at the hands of a
huge tiger striped youma with pile driver arms. By the time she recovered, her
target was safely healing, and she was moving stiffly from the blows.
Sailor Neptune was the first to fall. Surrounded by
six creatures, she had missed an attack from behind and was knocked stunned to
the ground. Before the youma could press the advantage, an enraged Uranus had
charged in, knocking monsters flying. Taking station over her fallen lover,
Sailor Uranus fought with a berserker fury, driving back all who would attack.
The battle continued and began to drag into minutes,
with both sides showing signs of wear. Sailor Saturn was the second to be
knocked out. She did not have the strength for hand to hand against the youma,
and her Silence Glaive Surprise was too dangerous for indiscriminate use. By
the time she was down, she was the most successful, having claimed a total of
four kills. All of the Senshi were injured, and quickly tiring. The youma were
also faring badly. A quarter of their number were down, and many were injured.
Unfortunately it looked like they were winning.
The Senshi were using their magic less and less as
fatigue set in, and Sailor Sun had been beaten soundly. The youma had targeted
her specifically with many of their fighters initially. It was known that she
was the most powerful Senshi in hand to hand, and Jadeite had expected this to
be a long-term battle right from the start. Jadeite had planned that the Senshi
should not be able to group and focus their powers as they had so often in the
past. Instead they had been forced to act as a group of individuals, dangerous
individuals to be sure, but individuals. Fully expecting them to tire and lose
the use of their powerful magic attacks, Jadeite had wanted the Senshi with the
most long term power to be out of commission before it was a contest on equal
grounds.
When the youma had realized that Sailor Sun also had
one of the most dangerous magical attacks, the plan only made more sense. They
had recently managed to break Sailor Sun's left arm, rendering her incapable of
casting the powerful Plasma Blast that she had revealed. Now she was mainly on
the defensive, holding her own, but unable to make headway against those
arrayed against her. With Sailor Saturn down, Sailor Moon was the next target
of priority. She was good, and wielded her staff to telling effect, but the
battle was shifting against her.
With a scream and a leap Sailor Sun launched herself
to where Uranus was guarding Saturn and Neptune. Sticking her arms in the air,
she tried to ignore the way she could feel the bones grate in her left arm.
"Sailors, join on me!"
Despite not knowing what she planned, all the
Sailors moved. Teamwork was the key to their success. If Sailor Sun knew
something they did not, they did not have time to question her. Sun took one
last look around her, making sure her friends were close enough. Closing her
eyes, she called on the one other attack she knew she had. "SOLAR
FLARE!"
A sudden concussion knocked most of the Senshi off
their feet, and shook the youma, causing them to pause. Even though Moon fell
straight onto Sailor Sun, the red haired girl did not move in the slightest.
While she channeled massive quantities of power, the ground began to shake, and
an ominous thunder rose from all around. The youma had just rejoined the attack
when the full force appeared.
Centered on Sailor Sun was a small area of calm in
which the Senshi and two youma hid, too stunned to speak or move while the force
of nature raged beside them. A third youma almost joined them, but it had been
caught on the invisible dividing line between safety and destruction. With half
its body vaporized in a raging inferno, the youma fell to the ground and began
to dissolve. All the Senshi could see was a dome of fire, covering them,
surrounding them. A muted roar of flames could be heard, as though far away.
Inside the dome, it was calm and cool. After seeing what had happened to the
youma caught in the surrounding fires, none felt the desire to try putting a
hand outside.
Outside it was another matter. For almost two
hundred meters all around a blazing conflagration raged. Flames powered by the
surface of the sun melted the ground, and reduced everything they touched to a
seared plasma. A burning, inverted tornado of flame reached almost eight
hundred meters into the air. While the top of the solar flare wavered and
wobbled, the base stayed perfectly solid, an immovable circle of destruction.
Her spell lasted for only forty seconds, but to
anyone watching it, it was an eternity. Past the circle of the outer radius,
everything was unhurt, and the same was true for the small haven at the heart.
But between...
Between the two regions the destruction was
complete. Fire had sterilized both air and ground, melting through the street
and rock underneath, leaving a bubbling seething mess of slowly cooling lava.
Sailor Sun collapsed unconscious; unable to help as
the victorious Senshi dispatched the last of the youma.
Akane knocked on the door of Ami's condominium. No
response. She tried again, and then was greeted by the face of an older woman.
Bowing her head, Akane introduced herself. "Good evening, Mrs.
Mizuno."
"Hello, Akane. I'm sorry, Ami's not here at the
moment. She went out a while ago with a friend."
"Oh, sorry to disturb you Mrs. Mizuno. I don't
suppose Ranma is here? He mentioned he was going to see Ami this
afternoon."
Ami's mother looked confused for a moment, then
explained. "No, Ranma hasn't come here. Ami's friend Ranko came over for a
while, then they both went out. They should be back soon for dinner. Would you
like to come in and wait? You can stay for dinner if you like... Ami may know
where Ranma is."
Akane beamed. "Thank you Mrs. Mizuno! I'm sure
Ranko will know where Ranma is."
The words had hardly left her lips when Mrs. Mizuno
raised her hands to cover her mouth and she screamed. Turning around, Akane saw
a horrid sight. A beaten and battered Ami was walking toward the door along
with a semi-conscious Ranko draped over one shoulder. Both looked in terrible
shape. They were smoke blackened, and coated in scratches and the odd gash of a
more serious cut. Ranko looked like she had forced to go without food for a
month, and then had been beaten with an iron bar, repeatedly. Her face was
drawn and haggard. What was worse was the delicate and unnatural way that Ranko
held her left arm.
Both women raced out to meet them. Ami smiled with
relief when her mother reached her, and Akane lifted Ranko into her arms. She
did not like to deceive people, but Ami thought it was best that Akane did not
see her or Ranko in their Sailor suits. Let Ranko explain what had happened at
another time.
Inside the condo, Ami's mother gathered her doctor's
bag, while Ranko and Ami were placed on beds. Akane was getting ready to do
some really serious crying - the sort that would really make her father proud -
when a thought crossed her mind. Dashing out of the room, she grabbed Ami's
mother while she was getting things. "Mrs. Mizuno! Ah, Ranko has a bit of
a problem with hot water. It's something that happened when she was younger.
When you wash her up, can you make sure the water is only slightly warm? It
would really distress her if she felt hot water, and I'm not sure if she could
take it at the moment."
Ami's mother looked at her for a second then nodded
her head. Since Ranko was injured and dirty, the best thing would be to sponge
bath her with hot water. However if something horrible had happened to her -
say, having a kettle of boiling water poured on her when she was a baby - Ranko
might have some sort of severe psychological reaction to hot water. Best to
trust her cousin and not risk it.
While Akane cried over Ranko and apologized for all
the things she ever said to Ranko, which hurt her, Ami was checked out, and
then it was Ranko's turn. Aside from the broken arm, Ranko had a number of
large cuts, dozens of small burns, and many, many bruises. Akane was shocked.
She had known Ranma for almost a year now, and she had never seen him so badly
beaten. When he had fought Ryoga, Kuno or any of the innumerable monsters or people,
which tried to kill him, he had been knocked about or even cut a bit. Never
like this. Whoever did this must be some sort of animal... or a demon.
Akane suddenly realized what must have happened.
Ranko (why as a girl she did not know) and Ami must have gone out, and Ranko
must have fought a youma. She knew Ranma would never risk endangering a friend
- especially a girl - so the youma must have attacked them. Oh, Ranma, you gallant fool. Please be all
right.
That night Ami's mother took Ranko and Akane back to
Mr. Miyagi's place by taxi. Before taking the dazed Ranko in to the dojo, Akane
hunted up the thermos of hot water that had been hidden out in the yard. A
quick look and a quick check: no one around, and still hot. Hey presto, instant
Ranma.
Late that night, while Ranma lay in bed, Akane sat
by his side and watched over him. When he woke up, Akane was there, checking he
was OK. But it was Akane he was worried about. Despite all that had happened to
him that afternoon, it was still the events of the morning, which weighed
heaviest upon him. When Akane told him that she had read his note, and of
course she forgave him, he sighed, closed his eyes, and slept soundly.
Ranma woke up late the next day. Beside him was a
note from Mr. Miyagi and some breakfast. Propping himself up with one arm,
Ranma began to work his way through the food and read the letter. Apparently
Mr. Miyagi had been suddenly called away by one of his past students.
Daniel-san had managed to get himself involved in some Martial Arts contest
over a girl and needed the wisdom of his old sensei. Mr. Miyagi expected to be
home in a few weeks, and he hoped that Akane and Ranma would be all right,
especially since Ranma was doing a good job of teaching Akane, and would be
unable to study himself while his arm healed.
A second page of the note was from Akane. They had
left him to sleep, and she wanted to ensure that he would stay in bed for the
day. Since she knew about his pride, she was just going to tell their friends
that he was sick. No point in her telling everyone that the strong Martial
Artist had received the beating of his life. She would see him tonight after
telling Ami to cancel his lessons.
There was also a request in there. Stop fighting the
demons. It was short. It was simple. It was also impossible. Rei had been right
all that time ago; if not him, then who? He needed to do this or Akane and
people like her could never be safe. Ranma lay down and sighed. His arm and
body was hurting again. He needed time to think, perhaps there was some way
that he could tell her he was one of the Senshi, then she would understand.
Akane. He had finally said that he loved her. It was
even written down. It was on the letter she had read, so he was sure she had
read those words too. But she never said a word about it. Did she even care for
him the way that he cared for her? Ranma seriously wondered that sometimes. She
could be so nice one day, and then a minute later she would be trying to kill
him. Ranma tried to think of the ways that he may have hurt her to make her so
mad.
There was the time that Shampoo was looking for him,
and when Akane stepped in, Shampoo gave her the kiss of death. And then Shampoo
erased Ranma from her memories. Ranma sighed, how could he forget the fact that
it was his and Ryoga's fault that she had short hair now, sure it suited her,
but she was the casualty of their fight? It was also his fault that she lost
any chance with Dr. Tofu. And Ukyo had taken a go or two at Akane. It was only
that he had stepped in with another fight, which caused Kodachi to try and hurt
Akane. There was also the time that...
Ranma sat bolt upright in bed. Not once had he ever
done anything to Akane. But the number of times she had been hurt or endangered
because of him was beyond counting. Ranma knew he was a trouble magnet; he even
liked it that way, sort of. Trouble made life interesting, and the worst thing
that could happen would be if things were quiet. He could deal with trouble...
but Akane could not. She was good and getting better, there was no doubt, but
Ranma also had no doubt about the outcome if she faced a youma.
Ranma did not think that black was his color, and
the thought of attending Akane's funeral was too much. Somehow he needed to
stop being the trouble magnet that he was. He pondered on that one for a while.
That was one thing that being bed ridden was good for: plenty of time to think.
It did not take him too long to figure out the common elements for most of the
times Akane had been hurt.
What had he done recently? What was he doing that
was kind or noble in some way? What was it that was dangerous? What was he
doing that would help others, but take him away from protecting Akane? What
made him a target for retribution? What could he give up without compromising
his honor and life completely?
Sailor Sun.
That afternoon Ranma left a note for Akane should
she return while he was out. It simply said that he was going for a walk
because he could not stand being in bed all day. He would be back in time for
dinner. As he left the house, he doused himself with water. Fortunately he had
been able to arrange to get an adjustable splint for his arm (actually it was
all that Mrs. Mizuno had available). While the transformation hurt for a few
moments, there was no serious pain. Quickly she tightened the straps and moved
into the distance.
She had considered calling Sailor Moon on her
communicator, but Ranko did not feel like confronting all of the Senshi at one
time. She felt bad enough giving up the mantle of being a Sailor, but it was a
matter of priority. When she was Sailor Sun, she could not be Ranma, which
meant she was not protecting Akane. Since Ranko knew she was the only person
who was remotely capable of protecting that tomboy from the youma that meant
that Sailor Sun had to go. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one?
Not in this case, nothing outweighed the needs of Akane, not where Ranma was
concerned.
If she could not call Sailor Moon and give her the transformation
stick, which left only two options: Sailors Mars and Mercury, the only two she
knew as people as well as Sailors. Of those two, Ami was out of the question
since Akane was going to visit her this evening and that left Rei, which was
quite acceptable. She was the person who initially convinced her to become a
Sailor, and who seemed to be the nominal second in command. Perhaps even the
person who really was in charge given the way that Moon acted most of the time.
Ranko arrived at the Shinto shrine where Rei lived
and trained. Before entering, Ranko checked to make sure that no warm water had
hit her, which she did not notice. The chances were slim, but Ranko could
guarantee that the curse attracted water at the worst possible times. She was
entering the grounds of the shrine when she saw a couple of brief flashes
through some partially closed windows. Oh,
well, looks like Rei saw me coming, and she had some company. Ranko was
just about to knock on the door when it opened and Rei gestured her inside.
Haruka had been doing some push-ups in the garden of
the shrine while Michiru and Rei talked. The three girls had come here after
school to discuss the battle. Rei went to a different school then all of the
other Sailors, so unless someone visited, she began to feel a bit left out.
Knowing that they needed to discuss how to deal with a menace greater than any
expected, the two upper class girls from Juuban High had dropped over. Part way
through her exercise, Haruka had seen Ranko coming up the street. Since Sailor
Moon's order for secrecy still covered Ranko, Haruka and Michiru transformed to
ensure their identities remained hidden.
When Rei invited Ranko in and gave the injured girl
a hug, Uranus thought of what she had heard from Ami that day. Apparently Ranko
was inclined the same way as her and Neptune. Watching the cute little red head
- looking so vulnerable with her arm in a sling - Uranus wanted to reach out
and hold her. Casting a sidelong glance at Sailor Neptune, she wondered what
her thoughts were.
Ranko looked around at the three girls. All were
looking at her intently, and somehow she even thought that Uranus had the same
sort of predatory look that so many boys had, but since they were both girls,
that was obviously wrong. "I won't stay long, but I need to say something.
This isn't about the battle yesterday. I've seen worse than that, and fought monsters
ten times the size. It's not even whether I want to be a Senshi. It's whether I can."
Ranko held out her transformation stick and
communicator to Rei. "I'm sorry Rei. I can't do this anymore. Neptune,
Uranus, I'm sorry, and please tell the rest. I can't be a Sailor. As a matter
of fact, you'll probably never see me again. Sorry."
The two Sailors standing there were stunned beyond
words. Hesitantly, Rei reached out. Before she took the items she looked Ranko
in the eye. "Why?"
Ranko heaved a big sigh and looked Rei in the eye,
holding her gaze.
"It's not the fight. I finally realized
something today. It's not me that I'm worried about: it's my fiancée. Every
time I get involved with something like this, the danger seems to follow me
around. If those youma attack my fiancée, she might be hurt or even... even
dead. I can't risk that. I think that I can protect us while we're together,
but if I'm fighting demons elsewhere, who will protect her?"
Almost imperceptibly, Rei nodded her head. She did
not like it, she did not agree, and she would not make that choice. She also
thought Ranko was wrong, but you can't force someone to be a Senshi. A Senshi
was something you must be committed to. It must be everything in your life. If
Ranko could not do that, Rei could accept it, even if she wished it otherwise.
"Is that legal?" Sailor Neptune blurted
out, her eyes glimmering with hope.
Everyone looked at her, confusion evident. "I
mean, is it legal for two girls to be married to each other? You just said your
fiancée was a girl. I just wanted to know whether it was legal..."
Ranko blushed deeply. "I'm a g... It's a long
story. Lets just say that that our parents arranged it before I was born, and
well, one thing led to another. I love her and that's all that matters."
Ranko was amazed. She had just said it again. It
just sprang out. Ranko realized that her mouth worked about twenty times faster
than her brain. Did that mean what it seemed to mean? That Ranko really did
love Akane? Ranko shivered at the thought, she thought she did, but, well....
Eventually Rei took the offered items. "What if
we need to contact you?"
"Don't... All right. If it becomes that
desperate... Speak to Ranma. He's almost a brother to me. You could even say
he's my better half. Tell him anything and he'll get it to me in no time
flat."
With that, the girl turned and left. Behind her, the
Sailors looked on, feeling somehow that one of them had just died.
Jadeite smiled. He was feeling so good, he proceeded
to smile wider, and then wider still. Shortly he was laughing, and screaming
with glee. Sailor Sun was dead. Four days had passed since the battle. Four
days in which his youma had returned from their energy raids. Four days of
increased, constant pressure. Four days of no Sailor Sun.
All the other Senshi were there. Time and again they
arrived to kill his servants. Time and again there was no Sailor Sun. After
rattling his brains, he remembered his history. Sailor Sun was that Senshi
wannabe who sacrificed herself in a devastating attack when the Moon Kingdom
was first destroyed. Now she had done it again. She had saved the other Senshi
back then and somehow she was reincarnated like the rest of them. But now she
was dead, again. This was the first time in thousands of years that the Senshi
had suffered a loss. He almost wished Beryl were still alive so that he could
grind her face into the victory he had attained.
Four days of easy movement between the universes.
Now he had energy stores to begin to really build his Empire. For an Empire
needed energy. An Empire needed a constant supply of energy, for spells and new
youma. One day he would rule the Earth, and all its power would be his. For
now, however, the easiest way to ensure continuous energy was to get some
'volunteers' to supply it.
Jadeite was just setting up for another round of
really good laughter (the best thing about being the only person in the
universe was that you could be as loud as you liked and no-one complained) when
he was interrupted. "Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the Tanaka Dojo
in Hokkaido?"
Jadeite spun around and glared at the young man with
the unruly black hair. He was dusty and dirty, and judging by the size of his
backpack, he had been traveling for a while. None of that was a reason to
interrupt the future ruler of the world! "Get out of here! Go, foolish
mortal! How dare you interrupt the mighty Jadeite in his moment of triumphant
introspection!"
Ryoga backed away from the raving nut case. If he
did not know where it was, he could just say so. Moments later Ryoga was out
the door and getting lost down the hall.
Jadeite turned back to his screens, then looked
behind him again. Wait a moment... He
was the only one with the dimensional travel necessary to get here... Who was that man? How did he get here?
Jadeite ran from his control room and looked for the boy, but he was nowhere in
sight. Re-entering the room, Jadeite checked his screens. He had not imagined it;
the boy had been there. Following his progress with the cameras, he watched his
guest travel through the maze of his base.
After a time the boy moved down a corridor where the
cameras no longer could watch. Fifteen minutes of waiting had not caused the
boy to reappear. When Jadeite sent a trio of youma down the corridor, they walked
from one end to the other. There were no exits and no places to hide, but
somehow the boy had vanished.
People can't just lose themselves like that... can
they?
Sailor Moon looked at the slowly dissolving youma
corpse and cried. "Why did she have to go? I'm sooooo tired! Wah!"
Sailor Mars gave her a poke. "Grow up, Moon.
She felt she had commitments elsewhere. The Senshi are supposed to be fighting
so that people can make their own choices. She made hers. We just have to deal
with it."
Moon felt Tuxedo Kamen's strong arm around her
shoulders. "She's right, Sailor Moon. We've coped before, and we'll cope
in the future. I know you have the strength to carry on."
"But I'm so tired. We train in the evenings and
then fight youma all night; I can hardly stay awake at school! I wanna
rest!"
Out of sight of the public, the Senshi shed their
sailor suits and became another group of teenagers. Minako eventually spoke up.
"You know she's right. If we had Sailor Sun, we might be able to spit up
into teams again. With two or three youma attacks each night, I don't know how
long I can keep this up."
Rei smacked her fist into her palm. "We'll keep
it up as long as we need to, or we'll die trying. And no, we won't call for
Ranko. If she wanted to be out, she's out. We can't ask her just because we get
a bit tired. We're supposed to be the ones who do the protecting. If that means
that we need to work harder, then I say we do that. Besides, she's only one
person, and there are nine of us. I say we're a team and we can defeat anything
that they send against us!"
The rest of the girls looked at her with admiration,
and just a little bit of chagrin. She knew how they felt. Every day Rei wanted
to contact Ranma and have him beg Ranko to rejoin them. She was only with them
a while, but now that she was gone, they felt her absence. Every day she
resisted, only in a dire emergency. Only then.
Ranma and Akane were witnesses to the first series
of abductions that occurred. They were walking through one of the shopping
centers near the Miyagi dojo when a youma appeared out of nowhere. Ranma
immediately leapt in front of Akane, but fortunately it was far enough away
that they were not the creature's prime targets.
Ranma watched with a discerning eye, while Akane
took up a battle stance beside him. The youma was definitely draining people,
that were normal, but something was amiss. It only really dawned on him when a
small - man sized - youma ran towards them. It almost looked human, aside from
the fact that it was covered in a dirty brown sludge. When it reached them, it
immediately tried to grab his arm.
Ranma ducked under the reach, and kicked it in the
face. When it recoiled, Akane came in from the side and delivered a strong two-punch
combination, which would have broken five bricks. The youma backed up, and then
charged again. One more they hit it in combination, this time Akane first, and
Ranma cleaning up. Almost instantly the youma stood up, none the worse for
wear. Whatever the sludge was that it wore, it not only smelled bad, it was a
good armor.
At his instance, Akane stood back and prepared her
ki attack. Ranma kept the youma off of her with a series of repeated kicks.
When he saw she was ready, he moved away, and Akane let fly. The blue bolt of
her Thunder Hammer knocked it back, a small burn appeared through the sludge.
Shouting encouragement to her, Ranma unleashed his
own - more powerful - attack against another of the small youma, which was
attacking some kids in a shoe shop. So the uneven fight continued for several
minutes. Akane received practice firing her ki, and Ranma tried to protect
those he could. He knew he could have done better. He even realized that he
could have defeated the main youma if he was Sailor Sun. But if he did that,
who would be there for Akane when she tired?
She did tire, and quickly too. Ki attacks were
draining, and only superb, experienced Martial Artists like Cologne, Happosai,
Ryoga or himself could keep them up for long. Ranma found he did not need to
step in to defend her, much to his surprise. Akane was finally nearing
exhaustion when all the youma retreated. The demons fell back to their master,
and ran through a black portal. The last youma paused and studied the pair for
a moment, especially Akane, before jumping into the energy field and vanished
from sight.
It was Ranma's single-minded focus on Akane's well
being which prevented him from noticing the most important part of the youma
raid. There were now fewer people around than there had been, and not all of
them had run away.
Ranma congratulated Akane on her prowess. Despite
glowing with pleasure from his complements, she couldn't help but feel betrayed
in some way. From the way he stood by her in the fight, he obviously thought
she still could not protect herself. He should have been helping the others,
not her; she was a Martial Artist too. Dwelling on this for a few moments, she
ignored what he was saying and brought out her mallet.
"Ranma, you idiot! Why didn't you help those
others? I can look after myself."
While he pulled himself out of the wall she had
knocked him into, Ranma tried to plead that he only cared about her, not them.
Akane was too far away to hear him, and in no mood to listen. Ranma groaned and
rubbed his sore head. I thought girls
were supposed to like it when a guy stuck up for them. Doesn't she even
appreciate it a little? What have I done this time?
The Sailor Senshi arrived at the scene almost three minutes
too late.
Ami sat in her darkened room and looked at the
computer screen. The energy readings she had been getting recently made no
sense, according to what she was seeing, the youma now transported into Tokyo
with hardly any effort. It was so little effort; they even held the portal open
for several minutes.
All of the Sailors agreed that the tactics had been
different recently, but none had been able to pin down exactly what the
difference was. The youma came in ones, twos or threes generally, so that was
about the same, only a slight increase. Most of the time, the Senshi were able
to kill the youma with difficulty but without great risk, so that was also the
same. The number of attacks was up, that was certain, but if whoever was
sending them had managed to reduce the cost, that also made sense.
The only thing that did not make sense was the
smaller companion demons. The Senshi had largely been ignoring these since they
had bigger fish to fry. The little demons were no real threat to the Senshi:
several could attack at once and a single girl would defeat them all. Since a
big demon draining energy was what they were there to stop, and the little ones
avoided them whenever possible, the Senshi concentrated their efforts on the
one target.
Something struck Ami as wrong. Summoning up a
recording of the last battle she watched it again. That was it: the little
fellows were not draining energy from anyone. That was also why the Senshi
ignored them. If Ami's computer did not flag them as doing the normal sort of
demonic attack, and the Senshi went after the threatening target. Why were the little ones there?
She did not have to watch for long to find out.
Using purely mundane means, the little demons would grab someone, and then
throw them through the open portal. There it was, right under their noses the
whole time, and they had been blind to it. The youma were not just draining
people for their stored energy value. They had stepped up to kidnapping them
for their energy production values.
She was about to call the Senshi and tell them when
she heard a knock on the door. Damn, it was Ranma for his tutoring. She could
tell them later.
Ranma looked around his temporary home and
shuddered. It looked like a war zone. The only person which would have caused
this much damage to Mr. Miyagi's house was Akane, and she had no cause to do it
since he was out getting them food for the evening. After all, if he were not
there to anger her and be beaten up, who else would suffer this much damage?
Momentarily he thought of Kodachi, but there were no black rose petals anywhere
to be found.
Ranma dropped the groceries on the floor and looked
more closely at the damage. Not who, what. Yesterday he had seen Sailor Moon
making a statement on the news. Youma attacks were on the increase, travel in
groups, stay away from strange monsters or people, and report any kidnappings
to the police. The Sailor Senshi had discovered that the youma were now
kidnapping people and they were doing everything in their power to try and get
those people back and protect everyone else. Ranma's heart filled with fear.
"AKANE!"
The scream echoed around the house, but there was no
reply. He ran upstairs, he checked the kitchen, and he checked the dojo. No
matter where he looked, she was not there. Ranma walked back to the main living
area. Right there next to the TV: a small spot of sludge. A few burn marks on
the wall, possibly from a ki blast, which only just hit. No Akane.
"AKANE!"
No blood. Some damage to the walls.
"AKANE!"
Another burn mark, possibly from the portal‚"
"AKANE!"
Ranma collapsed to the ground. Tears flowed down his
face. A real man would not cry, but then a real man would have been able to
protect her.
"AKANE!"
He would get her back, no matter what the cost.
