________________________
    /                        \
    |  Vengeance And A Half   |
    \________________________/

Thanks to my pre-readers:
Ben
aevan			  http://aevan.virtualave.net
Kevin D. Hammel     http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~khammel/
Blood Blade         http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/5920
Mike Rever

Visit my website at
dzillman@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dzillman/fire

What has happened:
The time travel of Prince Diamond and the Inner Senshi at the end of 
Sailor Moon R has caused a paradox. Now the Outer Senshi are awake, the 
Death Busters are active, and the Dark Moon Family are still trying to 
conquer the world. In a desperate bid to stop a Daimon from gaining her 
Heart Crystal, the Outer Senshi were responsible for Akane's death. Now 
Nabiki, Cologne and Genma are providing support for the growing team 
seeking to defeat the demons and the Senshi.  

Refusing to recognise Sailor Moon as the real Moon Princess due to her 
actions against them, the Outers have decided that the only course of 
action is to defeat all their enemies in Tokyo and create a new Moon 
Kingdom. Unfortunately, this also means removing the "traitorous" Inner 
Senshi, something the coldly calculating Sailor Uranus has no qualms 
about.

While the Inner Senshi seem plagued on either side, things are moving 
from bad to worse. Not only do they have to contend with two sets of 
villains and the deadly Outer Senshi, but now abnormally strong humans 
seem to be out to get them as well.

For Ranma and his friends, their attempts at exacting revenge for Akane 
seemed doomed to failure. In every battle they have come off second 
best, and now Emerald, with the help of her improved Droids, is 
preparing to reduce the number of living fiancees further.

For now, it would seem the only thing holding back the quick and 
overwhelming victory of evil is the presence of other evil. War rages, 
and all of Tokyo is the battleground.


Part 6: Frozen Consciences
==========================

"I don't like it, Luna."

"I don't like it either, Usagi-sama. Something is very wrong."

Tsukino Usagi brooded and nibbled on another of Rei's red bean buns. 
The way she nibbled slowly at it was testament to her level of worry. 
The fact that Rei did not even chide her for her eating, let alone the 
theft of the food spoke volumes about that girl's concern. Unlike Usagi, 
Rei's concern was on more than just the errant Outer Senshi and their 
victims. The main focus for her concern was sitting opposite her eating 
a bun.

It was hard to stay objective about the safety of a person when you 
have given your life for them once before. Lots of people - soldiers, 
parents, bodyguards - are willing to give their life for someone else. 
Rei could not readily think of anyone other than the Sailor Senshi that 
had actually given their life, and then been brought back to serve 
again. Although she could not remember anything between her death and 
coming back, it was a defining experience. 

With eyes narrowed in thought, Rei tried to think of a way out of their 
current problem. Thinking up complex schemes and discerning complex 
patterns might traditionally be Ami's forte, but they were all doing 
their best. Usagi did it because her heart was so big that she could 
not live with the idea of people like the Outers acting the way they 
did. Simply because Luna and Artemis had told her that they were once 
her mother's soldiers in the time of the Moon Kingdom, she had assumed 
responsibility for them and their actions. The Outers callous disregard 
for life hurt her more than any demon could.

While the other Inner Senshi were determined to stop the Outers from 
hurting anyone, and were willing to risk their lives to save the people 
threatened by the bigger girls, none of them were as determined or as 
committed as Usagi was.  To Usagi, everybody and anybody was worth 
saving, from the small and deadly Sailor Saturn to the enigmatic, 
unseen Pluto.  And if she had anything to do about it, they would be.

None of the Inners were able to convince her that she was more 
important than any other man in the street, but it was that reluctance 
to set herself above anyone else that made the Moon Senshi so endearing. 
It was also the mark of a true queen, someone that does not rule out of 
a craving for power or control, but to serve the people and make their 
lives better. She was a queen that would lead them into battle, rather 
than simply ordering them to fight. While she hoped that someone would 
do something about the Outers, Usagi was not content to sit and wait. 
She would be doing everything in her power to make Tokyo safe, and if 
someone else came along to help, they would be welcome, but she would 
always uphold her own responsibilities.

After several minutes of near silence Minako finally spoke up. "Come on, 
we have to do _something_!"

"But what can we do, Princess Venus?" Her loyal advisor Artemis queried. 
The use of the name 'Princess Venus' earned him a quick glare from all 
of the assembled girls. One of the first things they had put an end to 
was the fancy titles. Each of them was a Senshi, with none of them 
being willing to take on the mantle of Princess for a planet they ruled 
in nothing more than name. The cats still insisted in calling Sailor 
Moon 'Your Highness' or 'Usagi-sama', but they were working on that too.

"Well, why not try what I used to do back in England? Rather than just 
waiting for something to go wrong, we start looking for trouble."

Usagi's brow furrowed as she thought about Venus going out and picking 
a fight with a bunch of tough guys in some dark alley, but she quickly 
dispelled that idea. Venus was too nice for that. Obviously she meant 
something slightly different.

Ami nodded. "Mina-chan could be right. If we all spread out, with a 
couple of streets between us, we should be able to catch anyone working 
for the Dark Moon Family or these Death Busters."

"Right!" Rei added. "And if we call everyone on our communicators the 
first time we spot a Daimon, we can still all get together quickly."

Rubbing her left arm, Makoto grinned. "Sounds good to me. I still need 
to get back at them from the last fight we had. Besides, I bet Mina-
chan is still looking for that rotten little girl that broke her nose."

Concern covered Usagi's face as she captured her tall friend's hands. 
"Promise me you won't go in without the rest of us, Mako-chan! Please! 
We can't afford to fight any of these things one-on-one. Please say 
you'll wait for us all."

Looking into the big, concerned eyes of her leader, Makoto's heart 
softened like a marshmallow left in the oven. Also like the marshmallow, 
she too was sweet and nice, and was unable to resist the warmth of 
Usagi's feeling. "All right... I'll wait, but if I see someone getting 
hurt, I'll have to do something."

"I know that, but please... Be careful? For me?"

A nod of the head from Makoto and the other three girls, and the plan 
was ready. Simple and elegant, it was easy enough to follow that even 
Rei could not find anything to complain about. Then again, it was 
Minako's plan, and Rei only tended to pick on Usagi. For good measure - 
and since she had finally noticed the nearly empty plate of sweet buns 
- Rei stuck her tongue out. While she blew a raspberry at the blonde, 
she smiled inside, glad that the worry had been extinguished from 
Usagi's heart.

Running through the brightly lit Tokyo evening streets, Sailor Venus 
knew that this was what she had been born for. Blonde hair flowing in 
the slipstream behind her like a wave of golden surf, she stepped 
lightly through the crowds. 

All around the blonde agent for the goddess of love, people 'oohh'ed 
and 'aahh'ed. To her adoring public, Venus knew that she was a godsend, 
a heroine, a vision of beauty, not just the person that they could turn 
to in their darkest hour and know that she would be there. Although she 
was both beautiful and graceful, Sailor Venus was modest enough to 
realise that she was still an ordinary girl, and not quite as grand as 
she appeared to the people watching her in awe. Recalling the delight 
she always received when a movie star or someone would recognise her, 
she smiled back to the people. 

Waving back as she ran along, Venus realised just how right Usagi had 
been that morning. This was the reason that they fought, that they had 
their powers; to help the people around them. Without her adoring 
public, Venus knew that she would just be another beautiful, talented 
heroine. With them, she had purpose and something to strive for. For 
the sake of a cheer and a friendly wave, Sailor Venus was willing to 
give up an evening of boy chasing and hanging out at the game centre. 
She knew that what they did mattered, and almost as importantly, other 
people did too.

For all her soul searching and ruminations on the 'whys' and 
'wherefores' of saving Tokyo, Venus was not distracted from her true 
role. She might have wanted to stay and pander to the crowds, but she 
would have plenty of time for that later when she became an Idol. For 
now, she was on the lookout for just the sort of thing she saw ahead.

One of the big nasty things they were fighting - Venus could not tell 
if it was a Droid or a Daimon at this distance - was choking the life 
out of someone. Giving a tap to her communicator, Venus kept running 
while she talked. It was all well and good to plan on attacking as a 
team, but when one of her adoring fans - everyone loved Sailor Venus, 
didn't they - was being killed, she could not afford to wait around.

"Everyone! I've found the bad guys. I'm about a block from the station, 
and you had better get here fast. This looks like a job for... SAILOR 
VENUS!"

Had she kept her communicator open any longer, Sailor Venus would have 
heard her team mates advising her to caution, but that was not 
something she could wait for. She needed to act, and she needed to do 
it now. Waiting would only make things worse.

*	*	*

When Ranma came to, she realised she was lying down with her head 
resting on something warm and comfortable. At the same time, a gentle 
hand was brushing her hair back from her eyes, soothing her brow with a 
soft touch that seemed to fill her with energy and make all her pain 
disappear.

Reality returned to her with a shocking thump, and Ranma's eyes flashed 
open in horrid realisation. Looking straight up, she found herself 
staring upside down at a pair of big pair of big, concerned looking 
purple eyes, framed by a golden tiara across the girl's brow.

"H-Hotaru..." Ranma had a distinctly sinking feeling that she knew 
where her head was resting. 

With a voice that managed to sound relieved despite the exhaustion, 
Hotaru smiled down at her. "I... I'm glad... I was trying to heal you, 
but you were unconscious and I..."

With that final effort - and seeing that her idol had regained 
consciousness - Hotaru's eyes rolled up into her head and she slumped 
sideways. Rolling over with the speed of a striking snake, Ranma caught 
the small magical girl before she hit the ground and placed her against 
the side of a building to rest. The last thing she could clearly 
remember was passing out as she flew through the air from the Droid's 
heavy blow. That meant that Hotaru must have caught her and healed her. 
Either of which would have taxed the small girl, but Hotaru was 
determined, and if she could not defeat the Droid with her own attacks, 
she had decided to help Ranma so that she could fight in Hotaru's place.

Gritting her teeth and standing up, Ranma took one last look at the 
fainted girl and clenched her fists. Turning back to face the battle 
down the street, a green glow of anger and hatred began to flicker 
around her body.

Regrettably, while she was out of it, things had gone from bad to worse. 
Her allies were all on the ropes or unable to attack. Worst of all, 
Ukyo was in the clutches of the Droid, and did not look like she would 
be able to keep struggling much longer. Already the kicking of her feet 
and the ineffectual way she clawed at the Droid that held her by the 
throat was weakening. Without air, Ukyo would surely die, and Ranma 
would never allow that happen. She might not have been there to defend 
Akane, but she would be there for Ukyo, no matter what it cost.

"Ryogaaaaa!" She called, running down the street full speed. If she 
attacked fast enough, not even a magically powered Droid would be able 
to catch her. She had not managed it before, but if it was distracted 
fighting both of them at once, she might just make it this time.

Ryoga was already glowing a bright enough green to be able to begin 
throwing Shi Shi Hokodans. If he could convince the boy to attack with 
that power at the same time as he did, they would be able to take the 
plastic monstrosity apart like a Lego set.

Every step Ranma took - even as Ryoga changed his stance to one for 
fighting rather than throwing Ki blasts - she felt more confident that 
the would succeed. A few moments more would be all it took. Still half 
a block away, Ranma suddenly heard words that chilled her to the bone.

"Droid! Kill her! Do not hesitate! We will take their energy and rise, 
more powerful than ever!"

Even at her best speed, there was no way that Ranma could cross that 
distance in time and save her fiancee. All it took was for the Droid to 
clench its fist, and Ukyo would be lying in a cold locker next to Akane, 
never to make Okonomiyaki again. Forcing herself to move faster still, 
Ranma gathered herself for a jump, all the while knowing she was too 
late to stop the inevitable.

Watching the red haired girl sprint towards it with surprising speed, 
the Droid did not feel worried. There was nothing that could be done. 
Nothing could save the girl in its hand. Slowly, the Droid closed its 
chunky fingers around Ukyo's pale, slender throat until...

Until a thin golden beam cut through the darkness of the street and the 
plastic of the Droid with equal ease. As a cloud of black, burnt 
plastic smoke rose into the air, Ukyo fell down. The oversized toy hand 
was still around her neck, but she could breath again. Rolling to the 
side, Ukyo tried to ensure that she was anywhere other than where the 
fighting was.

"I am the sailor-suited soldier, Sailor Venus. For picking on seriously 
cute boys like that, I'm going to punish you!"

Ukyo had a moment to groan in irritation as she rolled away. She did 
not make a conscious effort to dress like a boy these days. She had 
more important things to do that hiding her sex while plotting revenge; 
she needed to woo Ranma. Despite that, old habits held, and people were 
still mistaking her for a boy, especially at a distance.

Ukyo's decision to roll out of the way proved to be an incredibly 
valuable one, since the moment she was gone, a pair of very angry 
martial artists closed on that space and began to show the startled 
Droid exactly what they thought of it trying to strangle one of their 
team members.

Had the Droid still held Ukyo, it would have kept a valuable shield 
that they would have been forced to dodge. Instead, it had gone from a 
position of strength to a position of weakness in a heartbeat. Bereft 
of its defence and missing a hand from the painful surprise attack, the 
Droid was disoriented, outnumbered and overwhelmed.

Ranma was all over it like a rash. Rather than his previous attack that 
relied on a single, powerful strike to take it down, Ranma was moving 
and striking like a horde of bees. None of the attacks bore the same 
power and fury that Ryoga unleashed each time, but most of hers hit, 
and she could keep hitting like this for a long, long time.

As Ranma distracted the Droid with blows that were hardly cracking the 
armour, Ryoga closed for his own favourite close combat. Hampered in 
its dodging by the nimble Ranma, Ryoga was blessed with an opponent who 
was fast, but not able to avoid his attacks like was so often the case. 
Some of his blows missed, but each one that hit was sure to cause 
misery.

Further back from the Droid, Sailor Venus cursed her luck. She was not 
sure if it was good or bad to have saved the pretty boy from the Droid, 
since she immediately saw the two people that had attacked them and 
hurt her so badly previously. Now that she had more time to compare and 
check her memory, Venus realised that the person she had saved was not 
really a cute stranger who would be overwhelmed by her presence and 
might be convinced to be her boyfriend. Instead, it was one of those 
nasty girls that had attacked them last time. 

Looking around at what she had stumbled onto, Venus involuntarily 
backed up a step. She was no coward, but the prospect of fighting 
almost all of the Senshi's enemies at once was a bit much, even for her. 
Not only were the couple they had assumed were Dark Kingdom generals 
here, but also all of their lesser minions. To all appearances, they 
were facing off against Emerald and one of the Droids. They might have 
been losing before, but thanks to Venus' timely appearance and 
contribution, they were definitely winning. All she needed now to 
complete her collection of enemies was for the Death Busters to turn up. 
However, if they did that, Venus decided it might be time for her to 
start looking for a safer way to spend her evenings.

Emerald - having fended off the human attacking her - was standing back 
with an expression on her face like she had just bitten an apple and 
found half a worm. Sailor Senshi to one side, and these... These 
inhumanly powerful humans to the other. There might only be one Senshi 
at the moment, but she had fought them often enough to know that you 
could often find others nearby. She had been winning a moment ago, but 
now this... Her victory was reduced to ashes.

That phrase became even more appropriate when a stream of fire boiled 
down from a side street, impacting the Droid in the side and sending 
both of the attackers flying from the blast. The Mars Fire Soul should 
not have been powerful enough to kill a Droid, but this one had been 
weakened by battle. Wounded by that nasty Sailor Venus, and brutalised 
by those incomprehensible humans, the Droid caught alight and began 
screaming in pain.

Giving a flick of her wrist, Emerald spread her fan and looked over it 
at the boys standing on the road glaring at her. It was a shame to 
leave the field of battle, especially since there was obviously no lost 
love between the Senshi and the humans, but she did not want to be 
between the two groups when they fought each other. Worse yet, both of 
them might decided to attack her, and that might even be dangerous.

Giving a last, grand laugh, Emerald teleported away. There was no need 
to stay. This battle was lost, but she would win next time. She would 
make sure of that.

As Sailor Mars closed in on Venus' left, other short skirted heroines 
appeared from nowhere, until the street was arrayed with them. Venus, 
Mars, Moon, Jupiter and Mercury. The forces of good stood side by side, 
hair and skirts gently moving in the evening breeze. From off to the 
side, the flickering light of the lingering plastic fire that had once 
been the Droid bathed them in a ruddy glow, adding colour and mystery 
to their already stunning visage.

Forming up in their own team was the _other_ force for good. Led from 
the centre by a pair of boys who towered over their female companion, 
they were flanked by more girls and a long haired boy off on the far 
side, opposite Sailor Mercury. Where the Senshi stood tall and proud, 
noble looking in their fine clothes, the martial artists were all 
coiled and tight, ready to fight, their clothes no better than those 
you would find on any common teenager.

Surprisingly enough, a faint green aura flickered around the small girl 
in the centre, and the large, bulky boy standing next to her. The 
almost ethereal fire flickered and danced around their skin, and seemed 
to move in time with the looks of anger that distorted their faces.

"P-Pig Tailed Girl! Say it is not so!"

The tall boy caught the attention of everyone around them, momentarily 
distracting the short redhead, so that the green flames surrounding her 
began to gutter. "What's that?"

"These... These fine specimens... These... These astoundingly pretty 
soldiers... Pig Tailed Girl, tell me that these are not our dread 
enemies!"

Ranma gave herself a moment to look at her enemies as people, rather 
than murdering scum, and decided that perhaps Kuno was right. The 
Sailor Senshi were not a bad looking bunch. Some of them might even 
give Shampoo a run for her money in a beauty contest. Be that as it may, 
that did not make any difference. While their outsides might be as 
beautiful as the lilies covering a pond, underneath that pond was 
filled with darkness, corruption and scum willing to kill his fiancee.

"They're bad guys all right. When you look at them, just remember that 
their the ones responsible for killin'Akane. If it weren't for them, 
you might be on a date with her right now." The thought of that made 
Ranma ill, and she knew that it was about as likely as her learning how 
to fly, but she needed to keep Kuno focused on winning the battle.

For a moment the leader of the Senshi looked as though she was going to 
say something, but Kuno beat her to the punch. Moving with a speed that 
he only exhibited when chasing the girls he professed to love, Kuno 
crossed the space separating the teams faster than Sailor Moon could 
utter a single word.

In an instant, the great Blue Thunder, Scion to the House of Kuno, and 
heir to their mighty fortune clasped the two most beautiful of the 
pretty soldiers to his firm, manly chest. As he spoke, he could feel 
his lady loves begin to swoon against him, overcome by his words of 
love, if not for their simple proximity to his magnificence.

"You are my Venus! You are my fire! What's you desire?"

Ranma and Ryoga's mouths fell open in astonishment. They had been 
barely able to touch the Senshi in a fight, but Kuno had just managed 
to catch two of them, and they seemed unable to escape his octopus 
embrace. Ranma could testify just how difficult that could be, but she 
was still surprised that it worked on the Senshi.

Baring her teeth and setting her face into a ferocious frown that 
looked almost comically cute, Ranma yelled. "Get them!"

Acting like a starter's gun for both sides, the two forces ran at each 
other, projectiles flying between them. Ki, spatulas and chains crossed 
against lightning and ice, while Sailor Moon charged the short girl, 
oddly glad that for once that she had found an enemy that was not 
taller than her.

Meanwhile, as most of the Inner Senshi charged into glorious combat 
against their foes, Mars and Venus struggled against the man that held 
them in his embrace. "Let me go, you pervert! Let me go!"

"Ah, but truly, this must be a match made in the heavens! I, the great 
and noble son of a proud samurai line, have come to lead you from the 
darkness and corruption that has led you into error. For without doubt, 
it would fall upon a man such as I to have a heart great enough to 
bathe you in the love that you need."

Pausing dramatically while crashes and explosions rang about him, Kuno 
looked to the sky and wept. "Oh, but the trial, the tribulations, the 
enormities which do beset me! How could it be that I have found not one, 
but two such beauties, deserving of my love and needing of my deft and 
brilliant guidance? Clasped within my right arm, I see none other than 
my blonde goddess, surely fairer than the goddess Venus herself! And lo, 
snuggled gently against my other side, another suitor. One possessed of 
fire and spirit, energy and vitality!"

"Though you come to me, as quiet and shy as maidens, modest and 
nameless, I, the mighty Blue Thunder shall comfort and protect you. I 
shall watch over you for the rest of your days, as we live in divine 
bliss together. But yet... Without names, we are naught by fleeting 
shadows on the canvas of the world! So let it be! From this day forth, 
let it be known by all that you are my suitors, named by myself."

"To you, fair haired lady, idol to all whom may behold her, you I shall 
name Venus, in honour of the Goddess Venus. For while Aphrodite may 
have driven me to the same temptation you do, all acknowledge Venus as 
the most beautiful in the heavens!"

"And you, whom so coyly pretends to struggle, my raven haired beauty, 
know that I can see your true heart, and I feel its desire beat in time 
with my own. You I shall name Spirit Of Fire! For I can feel the heat, 
the warmth, the power in your spirit!"

"Oh, my dears, from this moment forth, let none separate us from our--- 
Urk!"

The tall teenager slumped to the ground, finally releasing Sailors 
Venus and Mars from his grasp. Shuddering slightly in relief from being 
freed, the girls looked up at Tuxedo Kamen and smiled gratefully. 
"Thanks, Tuxedo Kamen. I don't think I could have coped with that for 
much longer."

Lowering his cane from where he had bonked Kuno on the head, the 
aforementioned hero bowed graciously and smiled.

"My pleasure, Sailor Mars. But I have to ask... Why didn't you just hit 
him like I did?"

"He may not look it, but that guy is really strong." Venus blushed 
slightly. "Besides, it's hard to shoot someone with a Crescent Beam 
when all they're doing is hugging you and declaring that they love 
you."

Reluctantly, Mars nodded. "She's right. And it's not as though he was 
as bad as half of the bad guys we meet. I don't know whether to be 
insulted or relieved that he held us like that and didn't even try to 
have a grope. Relieved, I guess... But..."

"There is no time to think of that, Sailor Mars. I fear Mercury is 
suffering at the hands of that boy with the large spatula, and Sailor 
Jupiter is not doing much better. You go and help them, and I shall 
save Sailor Moon!"

"Right!" Chorused the girls before spinning on their heels and racing 
to their team mates. The masked man barely managed to take a step on 
his own quest before a cough caught his attention. Turning back, he saw 
the man he had struck earlier. Such a blow from his cane should have 
rendered anyone unconscious; the only reason Tuxedo Kamen had not 
feared killing the man was the fact that he was consorting with their 
enemies, and therefore likely aligned with evil himself.

"That did not hurt."

Behind his mask, Tuxedo Kamen's eyes goggled. Was this man even human? 
What sort of a person could take such a blow and not even be hurt? He 
had fought Youma to a standstill before, and had not needed more 
strength then.

Lifting his head proudly, Kuno pulled out his spare bokken and traced a 
circle in front of him, ending with one hand held high, pointing to the 
sky. "You would dare to separate me from the women I love? So be it! 
Let the vengeance of heaven descend up you! Know now that the one you 
face is undefeated in any battle! Every opponent I face, I arise 
victorious! I have never been beaten in battle or game! I am... The 
Blue Thunder Of Tokyo!"

In a titanic crash, lightning surged down in front and behind the 
kendoist, silhouetting him. At the same time as Sailor Jupiter sent a 
Supreme Thunder at one of her foes, blue lightning raced from the 
evening sky to flash against the background of the city. All in all, it 
was a terrifying sight, and as the wooden blade lowered to point at 
Tuxedo Kamen, he realised that he must now be facing the true leader of 
the enemy forces. Someone powerful enough to command the elements like 
Sailor Jupiter, the strength of Queen Beryl, with the charisma and 
presence of Prince Diamond all rolled into one.

Raising his cane so that it was pointed at the man in the classical 
sword fighting attire, Tuxedo Kamen hoped he was not making a big 
mistake. If this man truly was their leader as he suspected, Tuxedo 
Kamen would not stand much chance of defeating him without Sailor 
Moon's help. However, he was certain he would be able to hold him long 
enough for the Senshi to be able to reorganise and begin to fight back 
properly.

Sighting over his bokken, the Blue Thunder laughed at his opponent. 
"You would seek to master me in the art of the sword? I, who has no 
master? Very well, commoner. For now you shall surely learn your place 
in the scheme of things."

With his bokken brought back in a cross cut position, Kuno knew that 
this was what he had been born for. All his victories over the sorcerer 
Saotome were just training for this day. Surely no rose as beautiful 
and precious as his loves could possibly be the evil that the Pig 
Tailed Girl has spoken of. That only left one option... This vile 
serpent in front of him must be enslaving his loves for his own 
purposes!

"Know this foul varmint! By defeating you, I shall free those whom you 
have enslaved to your evil and twisted mind. When I defeat you, my 
beloved Venus and darling Spirit Of Fire shall be free to date with 
me!"

Charging forwards Kuno lashed out with a speed born of years of 
practice. Fighting Ranma for so many months may not have brought him 
the victories he believed, but it did give him the advantage of losing 
against one of the greatest martial artists in Japan. Once, twice or 
three times a day, Kuno would go all out, attempting to free those he 
believed Ranma held captive. While he may not have won the battle, he 
had fought and improved constantly. 

Against someone as nimble and unpredictable as Ranma, Kuno was unable 
to win. Against someone fighting within the strictures imposed by 
orthodox sword techniques, Kuno's skill and his own speed was enough to 
offset Tuxedo Kamen's magical advantage. With strength, tenacity and a 
brainless idiot's ability to ignore pain, the Blue Thunder kept Tuxedo 
Kamen on the ropes.

The rest of the battle was not doing well, for either side. Out-
numbered and out-skilled initially, the Senshi had taken a nasty 
beating. Sailor Moon was largely unhurt due to an unlikely combination 
of incredible luck and astounding clumsiness that moved her out of the 
way of almost every major attack. Ryoga had made a special effort to 
destroy the girl for what she had done, but her uncanny ability to be 
somewhere other than where he attacked was rapidly wearing down his 
patience. While he was more capable of throwing Ki attacks from the 
frustration, his inability to get his hands on the girl was beginning 
to degrade his skill.

Sailor Mercury was not so lucky. While she managed to hold off the two 
bigger girls - the one armed with spatulas and the one armed with what 
looked like baby rattles - she had done so at a cost. Bruised, battered 
and almost broken beyond repair, Sailor Mercury was preparing for the 
final curtain. As she felt her left knee give out from a brutal strike 
from the brown haired girl, Mercury gave a cry of pain and closed her 
eyes.
 
She knew that this would be the end, and only regretted that she would 
not be there to help Sailor Moon next time they fought. Then, before 
either of her attackers could land the killing blow, twin streams of 
energy cascaded over her head. Caught unawares, both Shampoo and Ukyo 
were catapulted backwards, away from the blue haired Senshi who 
promptly collapsed unconscious.

While the Senshi did not have the skill levels of the martial artists, 
their magical attacks more than made up for it in power. A Senshi or a 
martial artist who was struck by a normal blow would be sent reeling, 
but they could fight on. When an ordinary person was hit by the furious 
energies contained in one of the Senshi's magical attacks, it could be 
lethal. However, neither of the girls that were hit could be considered 
_ordinary_ by any measure.

Thus, rather than having a pair of fried corpses littering the street, 
all Sailors Venus and Mars managed to accomplish was a pair of knock-
outs. Mercury was down and out, but so were two of the fighters.

While Ranma took on Sailor Jupiter, Mousse was also busy. Bereft of his 
glasses early in the fight - before the Senshi even arrived - Mousse 
was impaired only in direction, not effectiveness. Thus, using every 
weapon in his arsenal, Mousse taught a store dummy a lesson that it 
would never forget. 

Ranma, contrary to what she had expected, was having the fight of her 
life and loving it.

Knowing that Sailor Mercury was the weakest, Ranma had sent his friends 
after her, hoping for an overwhelming victory. It had not come out that 
way, but while he kept tabs on them, Shampoo and Ukyo did manage to 
defeat the girl without being unduly hurt. Or so it seemed right up 
until the end.

With Ryoga and Mousse occupied, Ranma had attacked the green skirted 
girl. Unlike the rest of the Senshi, this girl knew how to fight. She 
might have the devil's own time hitting Ranma with her lightning, but 
when Ranma closed in; the girl's skill made it a nightmare fight. 
Sailor Jupiter was quick, nimble and athletic. She was skilled in 
fighting, and practiced at dealing out damage to anyone that cared to 
take her on; as a Senshi or otherwise. But the difference between 
Ranma's skill and Kino Makoto's was enormous. Makoto was good. Ranma 
was great. The difference between Ranma's ability and Sailor Jupiter's 
was marginal. It was also marginally in favour of the Senshi.

Since Ranma had been a little boy, she had fought opponents who were 
often better than her. It was only recently that Ranma had reached his 
current level and had been able to take on all comers. She could 
remember so many times when she had fought her father as a child. Those 
were the fights she remembered and loved the most. Not the ones where 
she won easily - like her current training - but back in the days when 
she would lose. Ranma did not like losing, but she _loved_ improving, 
striving, and pushing just that little bit further to defeat a superior 
opponent.

Sailor Jupiter was such an opponent. No matter what Ranma dished out, 
she came back for more. Kicks, punches, throws and strikes. They all 
hurt, but the big girl would get back up again after every one of them. 
In exactly the same manner, when Jupiter showed the advantage of her 
superior reach or magical speed, Ranma would be thrown into a wall or 
bashed into the ground, but she would get up again.

As the minutes ticked by and Mercury was worn down beside them, Sailor 
Jupiter and Ranma began to question who would walk away from the battle 
between the two of them. Both of them bore more cuts and scrapes than 
you would get wrestling an electric cheese grater. Ranma's right eye 
was swollen and half lidded from a hay maker that caught her square on 
the face, but that was countered by the stiff way Jupiter held her side, 
courtesy of Ranma's counter strike.

Giving a grin that was more cockiness and bluster than real energy, 
Ranma gestured to where Shampoo and Ukyo were about to put the final 
touches on Sailor Mercury. "Looks like we've got you on the ropes now."

Speaking too soon, Ranma's allies flew backwards in a 4th of July 
pyrotechnics display. "Heh... You'll never beat the Sailor Senshi!"

"Damn!" Another Senshi, the blonde that had shot him across the back 
last time, was coming to join them.

"One, two or ten. I'll take you all on." Spitting a little blood from 
her mouth, Ranma fixed her stance, took a deep breath and prepared to 
dodge. Behind her enemies, she could see Ryoga beginning to make hard 
work of it for Sailor Mars. Fortunately Sailor Moon was not doing much, 
or the lost boy would have been in trouble.

The blonde frowned prettily at Ranma and ran a hand across the side of 
her face. "I still haven't had a chance to get you back for what you 
did to my nose! That's a rotten thing to do to a face as pretty as mine. 
VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"

There. That was what Ranma had been waiting on. As the arm came up, 
Ranma knew she would only have one chance at this. If she could get 
inside the girl's guard quickly enough, she would be able to make a 
repeat of last time they fought. Already moving as the girl began to 
speak, Ranma bent low as she ran and kept one eye carefully on the 
Senshi in green. 

Sailor Jupiter could not move quickly enough to stop Ranma's attack, 
but the redhead had not counted on how much her own injuries slowed her 
movements. Venus might not have been a fighter like Jupiter and able to 
read the martial artist's actions to get more warning, but her magic 
enhancements were just as potent. She brought her elbow down on Ranma's 
back, just as the red-haired girl was coming in to abuse her undefended 
stomach.

Dropping like a sack of potatoes, Ranma found herself looking at the 
tip of an orange shoe as she struggled to draw air into her lungs. Her 
back felt like it had been broken in five hundred places, but past 
experience told her all that pain was a good thing. If she had taken a 
blow that heavy and not felt anything... That would have been the real 
time to worry.

While the sounds of two swordsmen duelling with wooden weapons reported 
across the battlefield like a machinegun, Ranma tried to pull herself 
up. She tried, she honestly did, but her muscles felt slow and sluggish. 
She had barely reached her knees when she looked up and caught the 
faces of two very, very unhappy looking girls. 

"This is going to be the last time you or your friends ever attack us." 

"You've got that right."

Heads whipped around all over the battlefield at the sound of the new 
voice. Young, but commanding. Scared, but dedicated and firm. The voice 
had all the trademarks of the legendary and terrifying Sailor Saturn, 
including - but not limited to - a small girl in a dark skirted sailor 
suit holding an enormous pole arm.

"I learnt this one from Ranma-san's father... And if we can't win any 
other way, I'll use it to end this battle for good! Utilising all the 
power of the Anything Goes Secret Technique, prepare yourself for..." 

As Hotaru spoke, everyone stopped to listen, even the battling Tuxedo 
Kamen and Kuno. At her words, most of the Nerima martial artists' faces 
began to glow with recognition. The Saotome Secret Technique might not 
be subtle, but it certainly worked. When the Senshi saw the attack's 
morale effect on the girl's allies as she prepared for it, they could 
only believe that the Silence Glaive's power would be multiplied 
greatly

Kuno was unfortunately the only person on their side unfamiliar with 
the irresistible power of the technique, but in this, he was helped by 
Tuxedo Kamen. The masked defended was well versed in the power of 
Sailor Saturn, and Usagi had previously told him all about her 
dangerous nature. If the girl was going to unleash some horrible attack, 
the only thing he could do was try and save his lady-love from whatever 
hideous effects it might have.

As the blade of the Silence Glaive swung down and Sailor Saturn called 
out her attack, Tuxedo Kamen abandoned his fight with the enemy 
mastermind and sprinted to Sailor Moon. Moving at speeds even he rarely 
displayed, he scooped her into his arms and immediately reversed course.

"ANYTHING GOES SILENCE GLAIVE SECRET TECHNIQUE!"

As one, the Senshi covered the faces and braced themselves. They might 
not survive the attack, but they would die trying.

A gentle wind blew down the street.

In the distance, a bird squawked. 

The traffic on Yasukuni-dori rumbled nearby.

Sailor Mars slowly lowered her arms. "W-What was that?"

Venus: "I... I don't know... I don't feel any different..."

From where she had tripped and landed on her bottom, Sailor Jupiter 
looked up. "I don't get it... I don't think it did anything at all."

Up on a building, where Tuxedo Kamen had lifted her to hopeful safety, 
the leader of the Senshi looked down on her fellows. "WAAH!!! They got 
away!"

Of course, a Kuno would not flee from any battle, no matter how great 
the odds may be. On the other hand, when he saw himself alone on the 
street while everyone else retreated and left him facing all the enemy, 
the great Kuno Tatewaki felt a sudden urge to go and remonstrate his 
comrades for such cowardly action.

Thus, while Kuno did not flee from the bemused Senshi, he did quietly 
slip into the shadows and took advantage of the confusion to leave. 

*	*	*

The week passed with great rapidity and sureness. Everyone's greatest 
enemy, time, pressed on with less care for mortal's wishes than a 
Senshi and more power than an entire army of Daimons. Time was Ranma's 
enemy as surely as anyone else in Tokyo, since every day was torture 
while Akane lay unavenged and Tokyo was left prey to the murderous 
minions stalking her streets.

As much as Ranma may have wished to disagree with his father's and 
Cologne's words on the subject, he could not. After his friends recent 
defeat against the Senshi he could hardly deny that they were not able 
to win a stand-up battle at the moment. Thinking back to what he had 
seen, he could not refute it, but he would also not accept the concept 
of defeat. It was a setback, and that was all.

The setback was precisely why time ticked over so quickly. If everyone 
was as great as Saotome Ranma, they would have been able to defeat the 
Senshi. Of course, who could possibly be as great as Saotome Ranma, 
other than the man (or woman) himself? 

Going through his Kata, Ranma grinned and answered his own question: 
everyone. Everyone in this yard would be as good as Saotome Ranma was... 
They would be as good as he was when they fought the Senshi, but they 
would never catch him. For every hour his friends trained, he would 
train two. For every battle they fought, he would fight two. For 
everyone fight they lost, he would win one. That was the true path to 
success. Forget what his father said, what mattered was who wanted it 
more. To Ukyo or Shampoo, this was a matter of pride, but if he was not 
there, they would soon let it go, and hope someone else would settle 
things. Mousse was the same, only dedicated to Shampoo. Ryoga 
approached him in his conviction, but Ranma knew in his heart of hearts 
that Ryoga would not be the one to win this war.

Having watched the fight, Ranma was no longer certain he understood 
Kuno's motivations. Ever since he had known him, Kuno had just been a 
blowhard annoyance. When he went up against the Senshi's groupie, he 
had demonstrated so much more than that. For the first time in his life, 
Ranma witnessed just how dangerous the Kuno fanaticism could be when 
directed against someone of lesser ability than himself.

If only they could convince him to get rid of the pictures of Sailor 
Venus and Sailor Mars that he insisted on carrying around with him now. 

Battered by magic or beaten by fists, everyone in Ranma's little troupe 
had been feeling the worse for wear. Even Kuno - the man who defined 
the comment "no brain, no pain" - was a wreck afterwards. Taking it 
easy was out of the question since there were lives at stake, but 
Nabiki pointed out that they did not necessarily have to tackle 
everything head on. He smirked as he remembered how she had led them 
all by the nose to the conclusion she had wanted.

"Come on, Ranma. You don't have butt heads with every bad guy you find, 
do you?"

"Yes." Was the answer from every martial artist in the room, including 
Genma.

"No, no, no. You have to keep your eye on the target. Always remember 
what you set out to do. It's just the same as in business. Now, what 
were your goals when you started this?"

"To get revenge for Akane." Ryoga's low growl was full of emotion, and 
it was not hard to guess which emotion.

"And?..." Nabiki prompted.

"To make sure no-one else suffers the way she did."

"Exactly. Now... Just say that you spent the next few weeks rescuing 
people, rather than fighting the Senshi and the Death Busters. A week 
from now, you'll all be better fighters, and no-one would have suffered 
like Akane..."

"People would still get hurt, Nabiki. We can't save everyone." 

"You're right, Ukyo. But what happens if Sailor Moon zaps you with her 
Moon Mindless Medication or whatever? Who's going to save the world 
then?"

So it was said, so it shall be done. As Nabiki had pointed out, by 
splitting up into several groups, they could each cover more territory. 
Also, since they had no chance of winning, they took fewer risks. Fast 
in an out, rescue the damsel in distress and come back for a late night 
snack.

While their wounds had healed, the fighters had kept pushing themselves, 
striving to be better. They might not be able to take on Emerald and 
the Droids, one of the Death Busters, or a group of Sailor Senshi, but 
they could certainly put a hole in their plans. As Ranma was willing to 
testify, tweaking someone's nose to make them mad was almost as much 
fun as fighting them for real.

That was how they had come to their current state. Less than a week had 
passed since the battle, but now all of the vigilantes were fully 
healed and ready for trouble. Under Genma's none-too-gentle guidance, 
the teenagers had found that trouble at home, rather than going out and 
looking for it. 

Ranma was working his way through a relaxing kata that most black belts 
would have balked at when Ryoga's shout of joy drew him, and everyone 
else in the area, to where the lost boy was practicing. Anything that 
could make Ryoga happy was something worth finding out about.

*	*	*

Looking into the fire that was his eternal enemy, Ryoga clenched his 
fists and concentrated even harder. It was two weeks since Ryoga had 
started to learn the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken, and every time he came 
close to victory, that fiendish, devilish Saotome would make it harder 
for him. In some ways it surprised him that the elder Saotome could be 
as wilfully cruel as his prior nemesis, but Ryoga guessed that Ranma 
must have learned it from somewhere, and Genma made a great teacher on 
that subject.

Just when Ryoga was almost able to grab the chestnuts from the fire and 
prove his speed was as good as Ranma's, Genma would pile more wood on 
the fire. Of course, this made it hot further out, and hotter at the 
centre where the chestnuts sat amongst the coals. Ryoga knew that Ranma 
never had it this hard when he was trying to learn, but that just 
proved how much better Ryoga was. His arms had been singed bare more 
times that he could count, and he had lost his eyebrows on more than 
one occasion, but Ryoga would not give in. Anything Ranma could master, 
he could too.

So it was that Ryoga was standing in front of a small bonfire. Flames 
reached above his head, and Ranma's father stood back several meters to 
avoid the heat, but Ryoga simply ignored it, concentrating on his goal. 
He would catch those chestnuts! He would catch them all!

Flexing his hands once more, Ryoga leaned forwards slightly, then 
struck. Hands moving at speeds that they started to blur, Ryoga reached 
in, grabbed the sizzling chestnuts and piled them on the ground beside 
him. Forcing himself to go just that little faster, to ignore the heat 
just a little longer, Ryoga finally reached in a pulled out the last 
chestnut, dropping it too the ground beside him.

For a moment he held there, shocked by his success. He had done it... 
He had really done it... "I DID IT!!!!!"

Grinning from ear to ear, and showing a set of fangs the average 
vampire would envy, Ryoga stood with one fist raised into the sky as 
Genma slowly nodded and looked smug. One-by-one the rest of the 
household arrived, crowing around the bonfire, asking what the 
commotion was about.

"I did it! I finally mastered the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

The girls - the real girls at any rate - started clapping, but Ranma 
simply frowned. Putting on a girly pout, Ranma pointed at him and tried 
to steal his glory. "Come on, Ryoga. You'll never be fast enough to do 
the Roasting Chestnuts Over An Open Fire."

Ryoga snorted. "Admit it, Ranma, you're just jealous that I'm better 
than you are. You've never done it in a fire that large! I bet you 
couldn't even get them out."

"Ha! Just try me. It's not how big the fire is that matters, it's how 
quick you grab them."

"Fine then! Get these out!"
 
Ryoga tossed a fresh packet of nuts onto the fire and crossed his arms 
over his chest. Acting just like a girl, despite his present form, 
Ranma was standing as far back as everyone else, obviously afraid of 
the fire. Suddenly Ryoga's confidence was shattered. Before his eyes, 
Ranma seemed to blur. One moment he was standing next to Kasumi, next 
he was right up next to the fire, his arms not even visible. So quick 
that a watcher would have missed it if they blinked, Ranma was back 
where he had been, offering Kasumi a freshly roasted chestnut.

"Thank you, Ranma-kun."

"See, Ryoga. That's how it's done. Don't tell me you can do that."

"Humph! Just watch me." Snarling, Ryoga hurled yet another packet of 
nuts onto the fire. Grinning at Ranma across the heat haze, Ryoga moved.

Seconds later, Ryoga had retreated from the worst of the fire's heat 
and smugly held up his own catch. Naturally, everyone was staring at 
him with stunned expressions, most of them were too shocked to speak, 
let alone move. Obviously Ryoga had showed them just how much faster he 
really was, and they had missed his performance.

Surprisingly, the first person to move was little Hotaru. Skirting 
around the fire, she came in close and took one of Ryoga's hands, 
turning it over in one of her own. His hand - so much larger than hers 
- was scarred and weathered. It was thick, calloused and powerful. It 
was, however, completely unburned.

"I... I don't understand..."

In the stunned silence, finally Ranma found his voice. "T-That was not 
the Amaguriken... I don't know what it was, but it sure wasn't the 
Chestnut Fist."

"Shut up, Ranma! You're just jealous because I've finally shown 
everyone I'm better than you are."

For a moment, Ryoga was tempted to go over and show Ranma that he 
really was the fastest now, when he caught sight of everyone else's 
faces. None of them were disagreeing with Ranma. Even Cologne was 
sitting there, surprised, but nodding to what Ranma said. 

Quietly, so softly it could hardly be heard over the fire, a cough was 
heard. "Perhaps I did not myself sufficiently clear when I started this 
training."

Now Genma had everyone's attention, and he was loving it. "I never said 
I was going to teach him the Chestnut Fist... Well, maybe I did, but 
that was just a little misdirection. All I really wanted to teach him 
was enough to get his nuts out of the fire... So to speak."

If they had been confused by Ryoga's lacklustre speed before, they were 
baffled now. What was the use of the training if not for the speed. 
Genma enjoyed their confusion for a few moments, drinking it like a 
fine wine, until he saw enlightenment appear on Cologne's withered 
visage. Understanding and even a measure of respect.

"Ryoga, step to your left... No, your other left. Good. Now another 
step."

Awe and comprehension flashed across everyone's faces now. When 
confronted with facts this evident, even the slowest people could 
understand. "What? What's going on?" Well, Ryoga was an exceptional 
case.

"Look where you're standing boy."

Looking down, Ryoga noticed that he had one foot in the fire, but it 
did not even hurt. Nonetheless, he gave a yelp of surprise and jumped 
away. Cologne spoke up, saving everyone from having to wait all night 
before Genma decided to speak plainly.

"In much the same way the Bakusai Tenketsu gave you incredible 
tolerance to physical beating, this man's training has given you the 
same tolerance for heat. Yes... With all his speed, Son-In-Law never 
needed this resilience. While you might not have his speed, I can see 
this will be of great benefit to you."

"What?! You mean I've been wasting my time? What use is being able to 
stand in a fire going to be for me?"

"Foolish boy," Genma's voice rang out. Ryoga might not be his son, but 
he abused him just as much in training. "Does not one of the Senshi 
rely on fire for her attacks? What need do you have of fearing her 
now?"

Genma drew a deep breath and continued "Answer me in truth boy... What 
do you need to fear from her now that her main weapon is impotent 
against you?" 

Slowly, comprehension seeped through Ryoga's thick skull. Starting 
slowly Ryoga began to chuckle, which quickly ascended into a full blown, 
evil sounding belly laugh that rang off against the compound walls. The 
prospect of doing battle with the Senshi again and being immune to 
their attacks while they fell to his insurmountable speed and power 
struck the lost boy as immensely funny.

*	*	*

Kuno Kodachi, the Black Rose of Saint Hebereke High School, walked 
through the rooms of her massive house and gently ran the fingers of 
one hand over the surface of a table. There was no dust here, that 
would never be allowed. This might be one of the restricted rooms that 
her brother had told her was off limits to her, but even he would not 
stop the cleaning staff from doing their job.

Stepping gracefully to the left, Kodachi avoided a descending battle 
axe as it swung through where she had just been standing. They might 
lose a few cleaners each year who did not pay enough attention to where 
the traps were located, but that was not an issue that she was overly 
worried about. As long as the house remained clean, that was the main 
thing.

She had been looking through the house all afternoon because she was 
sure she had heard voices and the sounds of an intruder. No-one, as far 
as she knew, was either impertinent enough or stupid enough to try and 
break into the Kuno mansion. No-one aside from the pig-tailed strumpet, 
but her brother was off courting her.

For a moment Kodachi shivered at the idea of having someone as 
despicable as that pig-tailed girl in her family, but she quickly 
stopped. While her dear brother might lust after her now, she knew that 
his desires would be easily sated when he finally caught her. Her 
brother was such a simpleton, it was a wonder that he had the brain 
power to chase two girls at once... Surely that was why he failed to 
catch either of them, since any normal peasant out there would 
immediately fall for the Kuno charm, in just the same way that her 
Ranma-sama had.

Kodachi had nothing against the pig-tailed girl personally. Naturally, 
since the girl was in a completely different social class to the Kuno 
family, it would not be fitting for Kodachi to bear her a grudge. The 
fact that the girl took her beloved Ranma's name, mocked his manly ways 
by dressing the same, and continually cheated in every endeavour to 
keep Kodachi and Ranma-sama apart; these things were all beneath 
Kodachi's notice. She simply hated the girl as an annoying insect, 
nothing more. 

Mind you, if a terrible, horrific and exceptionally painful "accident" 
were to befall the pig-tailed girl, Kodachi promised herself that she 
would not celebrate for more than a week. You can't get more generous 
and magnanimous than that, surely.

Sweeping through the house in a floor length black gown - over her 
gymnastics uniform - Kodachi looked like a text book example of a well 
bred member of the upper classes. Her walk was soft and graceful. Her 
poise perfect and collected. Her laugh loud, insane and grating, but 
politely concealed behind one upraised hand. Image, as anyone could 
tell you, was everything.

She had just passed the third bathroom complex in the West Wing of the 
Kuno mansion when she noticed something amiss. While the builders had 
been very careful, she knew from previous experience that there should 
have been a trap in the area that she just walked through. She was not 
sure if it was the vial of knockout gas, or if it was the trapdoor that 
released the army of Brazilian ants, but she knew this passage was 
supposed to be trapped. If the builders had been through here recently, 
then it must mean that the disturbance she had heard came from this 
area.

Looking around, Kodachi tried to find what was amiss in her home. This 
might be the section of the house that her elder brother had told her 
never to come, on pain of complete excommunication and loss of the 
family fortune, but she could remember it well from her weekly visits. 
Oddly enough, she knew this area of the house better than any other, 
simply because of the fact that she had been told not to come here.

Casting around, she catalogued things mentally, checking them off 
against a list in her mind. Moat outside the window, filled with 
piranha... Check. Thirteenth century marble flooring, laid in a 
checkerboard fashion, land mines every first and third square... Check. 
Edo era hand carved table with an original copy of Musashi's memoirs... 
Check. Ornate, black statue of a lady done in flawless crystal... 
Check...

A frown crossed her brow for a moment. It was only brief, since Kodachi 
was well aware that frowning caused lines, and she would not want to be 
any less than her current perfection for her Ranma-sama. That statue 
was new. She could have sworn that it was not there last time she had 
visited. 

Walking closer, Kodachi took a seat on another priceless piece of 
furniture from Japan's history and looked at the statue more closely. 
There was no doubt that it was fine work, and the quality of the dark 
crystal alone would make it valuable, but she could not understand why 
it was here. This was her brother's special section of the house. He 
had not contaminated it with pictures of either of the trollops, but 
for some reason he cherished this wing more than he was willing to say. 
For him to bring in a new statue like this was very strange.

She could have understood it if the statue was of Tendo Akane or that 
pig-tailed girl, that would have simply been a weakening of his will. 
But this woman... This woman was tall, mature... Not as elegant as 
Kodachi herself, but the woman of the statue carried herself with a 
certain air that befitted nobility.

Resting one hand upon the crystal, the Black Rose was surprised to find 
it slightly warm to the touch. "Interesting... Where did you come from, 
I wonder? Most thieves do not break in and leave expensive statues for 
the owners."

Turning the statue one way then another, Kodachi continued on with her 
thoughts, missing the way that a small purple ring began to pulse on 
the ground under the statue. "I believe I do remember the last time a 
thief broke into my beloved home. This was before I met my beloved and 
could count on him to defend me at all times of the day and night. 
Yes... At that time, I was all alone, just myself and my pretty pet, 
Midorigame-san. I do believe I was quite frightened at the time."

With nothing more to do than while away her time in quiet recollection, 
Kodachi reminisced about how she had lured the burglar through the 
house. Initially she led him through a safe path, then she gave him a 
good scare with one of the bottomless pits near the heart of the house. 
As the poor man scampered and ran, trying to escape, he triggered 
almost every trap they possessed. 

Surely the thief must have been very skilled at his trade, for while he 
was heavily wounded by the time he had stepped onto the grounds outside 
again, he was still alive. That was, he lasted a little while longer, 
since he unfortunately took a wrong turn and ended up in Midorigame's 
pond. Could there possibly be a cuter name for a massive, hungry 
crocodile than Midorigame?

Her story finished, Kodachi focused back on the here and now. Blinking 
her eyes, Kodachi tried to reconcile what she saw with what she 
remembered. Normally she did not have any problem with that. Ever since 
she realised it was better to test your psychotropic poisons on your 
brother than on yourself, she had not been prone to those annoying 
hallucinations. But now... She could have sworn that the statue had 
grown while she had been talking to it.

"Interesting..." Placing a finger on her lip, she pondered the 
possibilities. "I wonder if you enjoy happy tales as much as I do. I 
know that my beautiful black roses grow when you talk softly to them. 
When you tell the joy of fighting your opponents, of beating them in a 
fair fight while they lie sleeping in bed... My word... I think even 
that got a little reaction... I must try this some more."

Settling back, Kodichi's eyes shone with enthusiasm. She had a new pet 
project, and the Black Rose of Saint Hebereke was famous for making 
things grow.

*	*	*

Puffing slightly, Shampoo leaned on her bonbori, wiping sweat from her 
face with her other hand. "Spatula Girl much better than before."

Ukyo made a face halfway between a smile and a grimace. She was not 
sure whether to thank the Amazon, hit her for the annoying nickname or 
just groan in pain after hours of all-out training. "Thanks. You're not 
too shabby yourself, Honey."

"Is only right. Shampoo great Amazon. Shampoo train all life to be 
great fighter."

"Fighting against the ocean for a decade is no rest cure either."

There was a brief silence then. Both girls knew how they fared against 
each other. They knew all too well. Both Cologne and Genma agreed that 
either of them fighting Ranma or Ryoga was not going to gain too much, 
so they tended to fight each other. The boys were too gentle on the 
girls to be really effective, and although Ryoga was behind Ranma for 
speed, even he could make the girls look slow. Kuno might have been a 
good match, but oddly he did not seem to do much practice. He spent his 
time in either meditation or slow katas. That seemed to get results for 
him, and that was what mattered.

"Is good thing Spatula Girl can fight. Shampoo think Ai--- Ranma need 
all help he get."

Four eyes flickered around, but there was sign of Ranma or Ryoga. 
Recently Ranma had not been reacting well when Shampoo called him her 
husband. He was prone to storm off in an angry fit, the recent wound of 
Akane's death having once again been reopened by the comment. Ryoga on 
the other hand would build up into a tower of fury and race around 
trying to kill Ranma, claiming that the pig-tailed martial artist was 
already desecrating Akane's memory by chasing other girls. It might be 
great training, but it was hardly a boost to team morale.

"You've got that right. I still can't believe how easily we got handed 
our behinds last time... Mind you, it'll be different next time, 
right?"

"Shampoo agree. Shampoo and Spatula Girl win when we fight girls again, 
yes?"

Ukyo's hesitation was only the barest of margins. A month ago, she 
would have done anything to sabotage Shampoo's chance of getting closer 
to Ranma. Anything that made Shampoo look bad would have made Ukyo look 
better. Now, things had changed. In today's world, if she helped 
Shampoo bring the end to one of the people terrorising their city, both 
of them would be one step closer to freeing Ranma from the nightmare he 
was living. 

"You bet, Sugar. You bet. With all that training your granny's given us, 
I bet we could take on any of them."

"Shampoo not so certain. Shampoo know she not as tough as Angry Boy. 
Every time Shampoo fight, Shampoo get shot. Shampoo no enjoy it. 
Spatula Girl better watch herself."

Ukyo raised an eyebrow at that. "I'd better watch myself? You're the 
one that seems to enjoy making herself a target."

"Shampoo glad Sailor Girls like to call name of attack first. Save 
Shampoo life."

"That goes double for me. Unlike some people, I haven't benefited from 
the advantages of having the Bakusai Tenketsu training."

Grimacing, Shampoo rubbed her arm, trying to smooth away a large, 
purpling bruise. "Great Grandmother's training hard. Hurt much to learn. 
Many pretty girls... They not pretty after learn Bakusai Tenketsu."

Quiet for a moment, Ukyo studied the flat surface of her battle spatula, 
wondering how her face would look after so many devastating impacts by 
a large rock. "Well, you're taking a bit of a risk if you ask me. What 
do you think would happen if you're all messed up afterwards and I'm 
still pretty? Sounds to me like Ranchan would be mine for the taking."

Shampoo laughed, bold and hearty. "Shampoo in no danger. First day 
Shampoo chase Ranma, she say 'This body be yours.' Ranma no care. Ranma 
no look at face. Ranma no look at skin. Ranma look inside. Shampoo no 
care if she ugly or scarred. Shampoo no care... Because Ranma no care."

Silent, Ukyo contemplated what her companion said. There was no doubt 
that Ranma was surrounded by beautiful girls. Herself, Shampoo, Kodachi, 
Kasumi or even Hinako-sensei. Despite that, he had stood by Akane. She 
might have been pretty - in a tomboyish way - but she was not as nice 
as her sisters, and Ukyo did not think she would win any contests 
against the rest of Ranma's fiancees and suitors.

"You could be right... But forgetting about that, how long do you think 
it will take you to learn the Exploding Point technique?"

"Shampoo not sure. Angry Boy learn in week. But he spend all time 
training. Shampoo must practice other things. Must be faster. Must be 
stronger. It may be long time before I learn."

"Wasn't Ranchan learning the Bakusai Tenketsu, too? I could have sworn 
I saw her in some weird setup in the back yard."

"Ranma learn in girl form... Maybe... Shampoo think Ranma just pull up 
boulder then get hit by it."

Ukyo's mouth dropped open and her eyes bugged out. "What?! Why would he 
be doing that?"

"Ranma no care about Exploding Point. Ranma only want tough. Why he 
need blow things up?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Ukyo stumbled to a halt. Could that be right? 
Ranma was just going through the training, but not really trying to 
learn the Bakusai Tenketsu. It hardly seemed likely, but Shampoo's 
explanation made sense. She had only watched her fiance a couple of 
times while he undertook the gruelling training, but he definitely made 
no move to try and destroy the boulder. Shoulders slumping in defeat, 
Ukyo conceded the point to the Amazon. "You could be right... I would 
hate to think of going through all that without learning a new 
technique, but after hearing some of Genma's stories, I guess anything 
is possible."

Shampoo nodded. She too had heard the elder Saotome's stories of how he 
had trained his son. Whenever Shampoo or Ukyo would slack off in their 
training under Genma, he would exhort them on with another anecdote of 
how much harder his son had trained. Flaming pits, ravenous animals, 
long marches through arctic wastes; these were all just a sample of the 
sorts of things Genma had done to his son. While neither girl could 
dispute the fact that the results spoke for themselves, both had a hard 
time accepting that the end had justified the means used. 

Silent for a time, the girls looked around the yard, taking in the 
others that trained there. It was strange in many ways; it was only 
after the Tendo Dojo was destroyed that it really became a centre of 
training for martial artists. Without boasting, the girls could proudly 
say that they were a part of what was probably the most highly skilled 
group of fighters in all of Japan. There might be other fighters out 
there that could take them on - Ukyo had not heard of them, but they 
might exist - however there were certainly no teams as strong as theirs.

From where they stood, Ukyo and Shampoo could see Ranma bouncing around 
his father. The boy was doing speed training by taking on both his 
father and Ryoga at the same time. While both of the fighters got in 
each other's way, Ranma was obviously learning how he could take on 
more than one Senshi at a time. Ryoga did not mind being in the 
embarrassing position too much, that morning he had been the centre of 
the training, with everyone taking turns beating on him with the weapon 
of their choice... Sort of an advanced course for Bakusai Tenketsu 
users.

Ukyo settled her eyes on Kuno for a while. The tall boy was sitting on 
the back porch, a pad of rice paper and a brush beside him. All morning 
he had been composing poetry to his new loves, then at lunch he had 
deigned to fight Mousse to give the Chinese boy some training. 
Surprisingly enough, although Mousse won, it had not been an easy fight. 
Kuno was still rigidly stuck in the forms of his beloved Kendo, but he 
was very, very good at Kendo. Ukyo hated to admit that if she did not 
have a plethora of "dirty tricks" in her repertoire ranging from flour 
bombs to exploding flakes, she might lose against him. Fortunately, she 
recognised the value of having more than one way to attack. Now Kuno 
was back to his meditating; he said it "raised his awareness of the 
world, and made him superior in all the ways only a Kuno can be".

That accounted for everyone in their troupe of martial artists, since 
Cologne - to the amazement of everyone - was actually teaching Mousse 
something. She had gruffly mumbled something about making him less of a 
burden on Shampoo and Ranma, but she was definitely helping. If that 
was the sort of miracle they could come to expect, Ukyo knew they would 
win without fail.

A nod from Shampoo in the direction of the house made Ukyo realise she 
had missed one of their team. While Hotaru was not a martial artist in 
anyone's imagination, she was part of the team. "What Spatula Girl 
think of Little Girl?"

Shampoo's question caught Ukyo by surprise, but she answered it easily 
enough. "Heck, Sugar, if it wasn't for Hotaru, I wouldn't be here now. 
I guess I owe her for that."

"Shampoo no think Little Girl proper fighter. All defence... Is no way 
to fight. Shampoo think Little Girl should go home. Leave fighting to 
us."

"I can't disagree with you on that. Look at her, she's just a kid. She 
shouldn't be involved in stuff like this."

"Shampoo think we need more like men like Lost Boy."

Ukyo stared at her in shock. "You're saying we need more men? I thought 
Amazons hated the idea of men being able to fight."

"If more Amazon here, Shampoo feel happier in battle. Shampoo feel much 
frightened when not fighting. All Amazons want Ranma too too much. If 
more Ryoga, Shampoo happy in fight, happy out of fight."

"Sometimes you surprise me, Sugar. I hadn't thought of it that way. I 
guess every girl he runs into falls for him, doesn't she?"

Feeling annoyed, Shampoo stayed silent for a while. Just because she 
could not speak their language well, everyone assumed she was an idiot. 
She was going to be the next Matriarch of the Amazons some day. She 
knew she had a long way to go until she was as good as Cologne, but she 
was a long way from being as dumb as she felt these Japanese credited 
her for. "Only girl Ranma notice now is Little Girl. Shampoo wait. When 
Ranma see women again, Shampoo be here for him."

Laughing, Ukyo looked at where Hotaru was sitting with Kasumi. "You 
know, your right. She lives here, she spends most of the day with him, 
and she's about the only person I've seen him pay attention to. If she 
was a few years older, I'd be worried."

"Shampoo not worried. Ranma need real woman for wife. Ranma much older 
than Little Girl. Shampoo be here for Ranma. Take him home to China."

"Oh, really?... And you think you're good enough to be able to get him 
past me?" Ukyo hoisted her battle spatula threateningly.

Grinning to match her opponent, Shampoo raised her own weapons. 
"Shampoo show Spatula Girl how good Amazon is."

With a crash and a clang, the training resumed, and violence regained 
control where for a few fleeting moments there had been peace. In the 
house, the most recent subject of the girl's conversation was having a 
talk of her own. 

Ever since she had been very young, Hotaru had wondered what it would 
be like to have a brother or sister. At school, she had always dreamed 
of having a big sister. Someone that would stick up for her in the 
playground when the other children picked on her. Someone that she 
could talk to about all the little things that worried her. Someone 
that she could share her hopes and dreams with. When she was alone at 
night and the storms were raging, she sometimes dreamed of having a big 
brother. He would be brave and strong, always there to protect her when 
she was scared, and always willing to help her when was too sick or 
tired to finish walking home.

When she met Ranma-san, Hotaru thought that all of her dreams had come 
true at once. Ranma-san seemed to be everything she had always hoped 
for. He was kind and caring, but at the same time he could be strong 
and brave. To here, Ranma was a bright knight and a shining princess 
all in one. 

No matter how great Ranma-san was, Hotaru would not give up her big 
sister Kasumi. Ranma-san might have been the big sister that would take 
care of her in the playground at school, but Kasumi was the sister she 
would turn to when she was sad and lonely. Somehow, Kasumi-neechan 
seemed to always know the right answers. She always had a pot of fresh 
warm tea or a warm set of arms perfect for hugging, just when you 
needed it.

Right now, Hotaru needed a hug. It was over a week since she had seen 
her father, and watching Ranma-san jump around and laugh at her father 
made the little girl feel the loss even more. Maybe that was why she 
liked Kasumi so much, Hotaru thought. She was more than just a big 
sister, she was like the mother she had never known too.

Kasumi had found her sitting in the living room, watching Ranma battle 
her father while silent tears fell down her face. Instinctively known 
that this pain was something more than just the scrapes and bruises her 
guests seemed to attract, Kasumi had settled down next to the small 
girl and placed an arm around her shoulders. Before Kasumi knew what 
was happening, Hotaru was leaning against her, crying her eyes out.

When the girl finally stopped crying enough so that Kasumi could be 
heard, she pulled out a tissue and wiped Hotaru's face. "What's the 
matter, Hotaru-chan?"

She sniffled, but did not start crying again. "I miss my Daddy."

"Oh, dear. I know it must be hard."

"Do you really, Kasumi-neechan? Last night, when we went out, Ranma-san 
took us near when I used to live... Da--- He had made our home again, 
just like it used to be. I looked at it, and I thought it had all been 
just some horrible dream. I kept hoping that I could walk in there and 
Daddy would be all right, and he could take me home again..."

"But it wasn't?..." It was half a question, half a statement. Kasumi 
knew that if everything truly was all right, she would not be nursing 
the girl now.

"It looked the same on the outside, but I could still feel the evil all 
through it. The house was just the same as Daddy last time I saw him. 
On the outside, it was all friendly and warm and loving, but inside..." 
Hotaru sniffled again and looked up at the brown haired girl who was 
gently brushing her own black tresses.

"When I was a little girl," Kasumi began. "Just a little younger than 
you are now, my Mummy got very, very sick. Akane-chan and Nabiki were 
even younger, and they did not understand what was happening. So I was 
the one that had to start looking after things around here. I'd cook, 
and I'd clean, and every day after school I would go and visit my 
mother in the hospital."

For a moment, Kasumi looked into the distance, remembering how her 
mother looked. Her skin was as pale as the white sheets she lay in, and 
towards the end she seemed to have more tubes and wires going into her 
than there was space for them on her arms.

"Every day, she would get just a little sicker. It's not the same as 
your Daddy, but when our mother lay there, I felt so bad because there 
was nothing I could do. I could look after the house, and I could make 
sure my sisters were healthy, but I couldn't do anything for my mother. 
I loved my mother just as much as you love your Daddy, Hotaru-chan. You 
just have to remember that even if someone you love is sick, sometimes 
the best thing you can do for them is try and be well yourself."

"R-Really?"

Kasumi smiled. "Of course. If your Daddy could talk to you, do you 
think he would rather you were at home now, getting sick or attacked by 
whatever attacked him; or do you think he would want you here? Safe and 
sound with Ranma-kun, Nabiki-chan and all of us together?"

"He... He'd want me to be here..."

"See? I've never met him, but I'm sure your Daddy must be a very 
special person to bring up a little girl like you by himself. I'm sure 
he would be very sad to see you crying now."

"But... But I've got all these powers, and I can't even help him..."

Kasumi was quiet for a moment. "Do you see Ranma-kun out there? Do you 
think he is good enough to fight off all those nasty people that hurt 
your Daddy?"

"No... Not yet, but I know he will be!" Hotaru's faith was unswerving 
and unshakable.

"So... Why do you think you need to be able to do everything right now? 
You have a very precious gift, Hotaru-chan. I don't mean being a 
magical girl, I mean being able to heal someone. Oh... The number of 
times I wish I could have been able to heal Akane-chan just like you 
healed Ranma-kun. You never met my little sister, but she was always 
getting scrapes and bruises. If it was not one thing, it was another... 
See how Ranma-kun is training? Well, he promised to help you train too, 
didn't he? Ranma-kun always keeps his promises, he's a very good boy 
like that. I'm sure he'll help you get stronger too."

"You mean I might be able to..."

Giving the girl another strong hug, Kasumi spoke softly. "I can't 
promise, Firefly. I wish I could. I wish I could bring my mother back, 
but I can't do that either. All I can say is you have some very good 
friends here, who like you very much. If you all work together, I'm 
sure you can save your Daddy."

Muffled from where she was holding the bigger girl, Hotaru's voice came 
out quietly. Quiet, but strong, filled with renewed hope, and a 
determination that had been all but lost recently. "Thank you, Kasumi-
neechan. Thank you so much. I... I always wondered what it would be 
like to have a mother or a big sister, and now... And now I know. Thank 
you, Kasumi-neechan."

Looking down at the straight, dark black hair, Kasumi briefly closed 
her eyes and remembered a time in the past when she had cradled Akane 
in exactly the same manner, explaining why they would no longer go to 
the hospital to visit their mother. Sometimes a good cry and a talk 
helped; even if you were trying to be the strong one. "You're welcome, 
Hotaru-chan. You're welcome."

*	*	*

It was getting chilly at ten o'clock at night when Ranma and Hotaru 
were finishing their patrol with Ukyo. By general agreement, Shampoo 
and Ukyo traded nights for patrol with Ranma, the other one going out 
with Ryoga to keep him on track. Mousse and Kuno went out patrolling 
together, despite their protests. 

One thing the boys did not deny was that they had an edge on the girls. 
Kuno might not be able to beat the Senshi or a demon, but he had 
demonstrated more than once in the last week that he could mysteriously 
be saved by the fortuitous actions of a well hidden Kuno family ninja. 
Between Mousse's weapons and Kuno's capacity for distraction, they were 
more than capable of delaying any foe long enough to effect some sort 
of rescue. 

They might not win, but they seemed an oddly capable team when it came 
obstruction. That did not mean they had to like it. Mousse would rather 
have been with Shampoo than Kuno, and Kuno resented the way that Mousse 
impinged the character of the two girls that he loved. Although he did 
not tell his partner, Kuno silently vowed that he would save his lady-
loves and prove to the world that they had been enslaved by the foul 
sorcerer going by the name of Tuxedo Kamen.

With the martial artists split into smaller teams, they did not force 
battle with their enemies, but instead simply sought to distract their 
foes until their victims escaped or one of the other groups in the 
grand melee arrived. It was funny in many ways, watching two sets of 
dire enemies slugging it out while you could sit back and watch.

A little earlier Ranma, Ukyo and Hotaru had been fortunate enough to 
save an up-and-coming piano star from death. From Nabiki's intelligence 
gathering that went on undaunted day and night, they could identify the 
attacker as Witch Mimete, one of the Death Busters. So far Nabiki's 
sources had failed to turn up anything resembling an explanation as to 
what the Death Buster was after, other than the fact that it required 
pulling some sort of shinny star from a person's chest, and that lead 
to their death.

They had arrived just in time to see Mimete shoot the person and summon 
forth a Daimon. Acting without concern for their own lives, Ranma and 
Ukyo had charged the attackers with Hotaru close behind, though rapidly 
losing distance. Without trying to seriously attack her, Ranma closed 
in on the Witch, and Ukyo had struggled to grab the star-thing before 
the Daimon got it.

Distracted by Ranma, Mimete had been unable to stop Ukyo from returning 
the star to its rightful owner. Things would have gotten very messy 
then, since there was no way that the three of them could defeat the 
Witch and her Daimon by themselves. In previous battles, Ranma had seen 
the entire team of five Senshi defeated by that same Witch, so she was 
well and truly happy when the distraction she coveted appeared.

Since Ukyo was an easy target - being crouched over a motionless body - 
it made sense for the Outer Senshi to attack her first. The Daimon was 
too resilient to be put down by a single volley of their attack, but 
Neptune and Uranus knew that an ordinary human - or even extraordinary 
ones like Ukyo and Ranma - would be doomed from the Deep Submerge and 
World Shaking. Such would have been the truth had the golden and aqua 
magic reached the girl, but Hotaru's defence proved timely and 
impenetrable.

As Ukyo grabbed the unconscious piano player and Ranma turned to run, 
tucking Hotaru under one arm like a bag of rice, Mimete spied the 
Senshi, and set her sights on extracting a pound of flesh from a more 
worthy target.

The net result was that they had saved an innocent man with no real 
harm to themselves. They had also been privileged to watch a fast and 
furious battle, that ended up disintegrating into a mutual withdrawal 
with no real winners. The Outer Senshi may have defeated the Daimon, 
but there seemed to be no end to those around.

One the way back home, Hotaru sat on Ukyo's shoulders, getting a piggy 
back. She was tired from all of the exertion of running around, even if 
she was in her magical girl, powered-up form at the moment. Resting her 
head on one shoulder, Hotaru looked sideways and watched the confident 
way Ranma strode along the street. The redhead was not much taller then 
Hotaru, but she had an air of confidence and ability that Hotaru knew 
she would never come close to emulating. 

Letting her mind wander with the relaxing bounce of Ukyo's walk, Hotaru 
thought how lucky Ranma-san was. Although she had heard some Ukyo-san, 
Shampoo-san, Ryoga-san... Well, although she had heard everyone aside 
from Kasumi-neechan saying nasty things about Ranma-san's father, she 
still thought he was lucky to be able to live with his father.

Not only that, but Ranma-san's mother was also still alive. In that, he 
seemed fairly unique of all of their friends. In a flash, Hotaru's eyes 
went open and she remembered several things all at once. Not long ago, 
Ranma-san had told them all that he had not seen his mother since he 
was six years old. Just as importantly, she could remember Kasumi-
neechan holding her, and saying how much she wished she could bring her 
mother back.

Deep down, Hotaru knew that although Ranma-san was bravely working 
through this horrible and difficult quest, he must really want to see 
his mother. Now, while Ranma-san could not spare any time to go and 
look for her since he was so busy training so he could defeat all of 
the evil in Tokyo, there was no reason that a friend of Ranma could not 
go looking for his mother on his behalf.

A small smile settled on Hotaru's weary face as she thought of how 
right it was. He was working every day to become stronger so that he 
could help her father and get rid of the evil. If he was doing so much 
for her, she should do this for him. Silently Hotaru swore to herself: 
she would find his mother and bring Ranma-san's family back together.

*	*	*

Kaiou Michiru appeared on the street as the elegant Sailor Neptune 
released her powers and returned to her mundane state. Around her, 
shops lay in ruins, and a broken water main spouted into the air. From 
the distance came sirens, but she knew that she and her companion would 
have time to leave the vicinity before they were identified. 

"It's OK now, Haruka. You can change back now."

The tall Senshi in the dark blue gave a slight nod, the only sign that 
she had heard. "Death Busters again."

Michiru nodded and began to pick her way through the rubble. The fight 
had been long and violent, but they had won. As Sailor Uranus always 
told her, that was the main thing. Stepping over some brick shards that 
wobbled dangerously under her feet, Michiru wondered if her partner had 
the right idea by staying a Senshi for a while longer. While Sailor 
Uranus' boots had heels, she had less trouble stalking through the 
rubble than Michiru, and the green haired girl was wearing sneakers.

Waiting on the other side of the devastation, Sailor Uranus looked back 
at where she had fought without any sign of distress. Michiru knew that 
whenever she looked at the damage they did, she felt a terrible mixture 
of fear and revulsion. She knew what they were doing was right, but it 
did not help to see her efforts branded as "over-enthusiastic 
vigilantism" on the evening news.

One of the keys that kept Michiru sane and going in the battle was the 
constant strength and determination of her bigger friend. While they 
had both inherited powers beyond comprehension when they became Senshi, 
Haruka had gained something more. Somehow, across time, the soul of the 
dead Senshi had travelled with the powers. This imbued Sailor Uranus 
with a fire, a drive, a constant determination to do what needed to be 
done. It filled the blonde with a recognition of destiny and an ability 
to tell right from wrong with such certitude that Michiru found herself 
following, even when she was Sailor Neptune.

"Daimons again. They're the worse enemy."

Catching up with her friend, Michiru walked along beside her. "Well... 
They're certainly strong. I don't know if I would say they are the 
worse. Black Lady or the Inner Senshi might be stronger."

Uranus was cold and calculating. It was better to win battles if you 
lived that way. "Black Lady, yes, although the rest of the Dark Moon 
Family are not much of a concern. The Inners... No. Despite their 
sudden interest in team work, they present no real threat to us."

"But still, if Sailor Moon is the Moon Princess---"

"No!" Uranus cut her off with a sweep of her hand. "There is no more 
princess, remember that. Everything we fought for, everything we died 
for, is gone. Always remember that. Whoever this Sailor Moon is, she is 
not the Princess. She does not have her power, and she does not act 
like the Princess of the Moon Kingdom. When I lived before, I served 
someone wise, someone greater than us all. I refuse to bow down before 
a mindless child that consorts with our enemies."

"You're right. I just..."

Stopping part way down an alley, Sailor Uranus turned and looked at her 
friend. Tall already, in heels she topped Michiru neatly, even though 
the girl was not short herself by any means. Placing a hand on either 
of Michiru's shoulders, Sailor Uranus looked down into her eyes. 

"We all want thing to be the way they were. I'm sure that even Sailor 
Pluto and Sailor Saturn want them back to normal. Pluto might still be 
in a coma, and Saturn may prefer a 'death and rebirth' philosophy, but 
we all want the same thing. Just wishing it was so does not make it 
happen, however. To bring about this new future requires effort, 
determination and sacrifice. Always sacrifice."

For a moment, sadness seemed to cross the blonde's eyes, but it was 
banished by the rock hard control that Sailor Uranus routinely 
maintained. Continuing on as though she had never been caught by her 
own words, Uranus turned and continued walking. She might love Sailor 
Neptune / Michiru more than life itself, but as Sailor Uranus, she knew 
she needed to put the system first, to put duty before love or honour.

Walking quickly to keep up, Michiru looked up at the stern visage 
beside her. "Have you had any thoughts why the Death Busters are trying 
to collect Heart Crystals?"

"No... Unless they know about the Talismans."

"The Talismans?..."

Uranus' eyes flicked to the side briefly to see if Michiru understood, 
or if she was confused. This was not uncommon for them, and it was one 
of the reasons why they made such a good team. While they both 
acknowledged that the reawakening that had occurred had been wonderful, 
it had been sadly lacking in thoroughness. So often, Michiru could 
remember something from the Moon Kingdom that Haruka could not, or vice 
versa. 

"The Talismans were items of great powers, weapons for the Outer Senshi. 
Sailor Saturn had her Silence Glaive which she would not part with, but 
the remainder of us had other powerful items, known as the Talismans. 
The Garnet Rod, the Space Sword and the Deep Aqua Mirror. These three 
items were there to bolster our strength in battle, making us even more 
feared by those who would harm our beloved Kingdom.

"According the Royal Command, the three Talismans were to be stored in 
the Heart Crystals of those pure enough to hold them. This would ensure 
that the weapons did not fall into the hands of our enemies, nor could 
they be found or stolen easily."

They were near the end of the alley now, Haruka's car only a short 
distance away across the road. "What are the chances of our finding 
them?"

Uranus smiled coldly. "Excellent. Other than the energy value of the 
Heart Crystals, I cannot think why the Death Busters would be after 
them, unless they knew about the Talismans. So long as we always arrive 
at the battle first and never let our determination stray, we shall be 
victorious."

Sailor Uranus took a step forward out of the alley's shadows and she 
suddenly felt Michiru's hand restraining her. "I thing it would be best 
if you transformed. People might begin to wonder if they saw the 
magnificent Sailor Uranus driving Tenou Haruka's car."

Uranus opened her mouth to object, then closed it again. Michiru was 
right, and this was not an argument she could win. Taking a few more 
steps back into the alley, Sailor Uranus took a deep breath, then 
released her magic, transforming back into an ordinary school girl.

As the glow of the magic faded, Haruka fell to her knees, one hand 
against the cold hard brick of the building, the other barely managing 
to keep her face for lying on the ground. Shaking and quaking, she 
began heaving violently. One after another, scenes from their recent 
fight barraged her mind. The violence, the destruction, and worst of 
all; the blood. No longer able to retain her control, Haruka lost 
mastery of her stomach, and the contents returned to lie under her as 
she threw up again and again.

Kneeling there in the cold and the dark, Haruka could not feel the 
reassuring presence of her friend. All she could understand was the 
horrific images of what had just occurred. Pain, misery and loss, all 
for a war that the average Tokyo resident did not even know existed. 
All for a war in which she was a key author of the pain. Wracked by a 
guilt and anguish so strong it was physical, Haruka let out a low 
keening sound and rolled sideways, panting desperately.

When she had fought the Daimon and its mistress, the battle had only 
lasted minutes. While the after-battle shock really only lasted a 
similar time, the effect was much more draining. When Haruka regained 
her senses, she found she was still lying in the alley, but now her 
head was resting on Michiru's leg while her girlfriend brushed the 
blonde hair from her forehead. Steadying her breathing, Haruka 
shuddered once more and looked up to meet the concerned eyes of her 
impromptu nurse.

Michiru sounded concerned, naturally enough. "Are you all right? What 
was that?"

Spitting to remove some of the horrible taste from her mouth, Haruka 
looked away. "Just... Shock or something... I think. I've noticed it 
happening more often these days. Once I change back from Sailor Uranus 
I no longer... I mean I can remember what happened and... I just..."

"Shhh... Hey, it's OK." Continuing to sooth her friend, Michiru was 
more worried than ever. By the sounds of it, this was not the first 
time that Haruka had felt this way, but she had not told her before. 
Reflecting, it was only after a foray that they did not end up fighting 
that Haruka was still with her when they transformed. Normally the 
blonde would dash off, meeting up again an hour or so later, once she 
had a chance to freshen up.

Michiru could understand Haruka's distress; she felt upset whenever 
they had to hurt someone to save the world. The level of Haruka's 
distress, that was something else all together. It was almost as if 
everything Sailor Uranus experienced, she bottled up and put it aside, 
waiting until some time after the battle for it to affect her. As soon 
as the Sailor transformed, that masterful control was lost, and Tenou 
Haruka - ordinary schoolgirl - was subject to the full force of emotion 
and horror that would make a seasoned warrior cringe and cower.

Helping her friend into the car, Michiru took they keys with only a 
token protest from the ex-racer. Normally Haruka would refuse to be in 
the car if someone else was driving, but currently she was in no state 
to protest. Her hands shook, and her face was cold and clammy. As the 
car moved off, Michiru waited in silence, a willing ear for her 
friend's problems.

"W-When I'm Sailor Uranus, it's like everything is so clear. I can 
understand what needs to be done, and I can do it. It's... It's easy. 
Everything's black and white. Good, bad. Us, them. But when that leaves 
me... Oh, Michiru, I don't know how you do it. It's bad enough going 
through it after the battle, but how do you manage to fight when 
everything is beating down on you like that."

"I rely on my partner. She helps me get through." There was not 
recrimination in her voice, but there did not need to be. Haruka knew 
she should not have tried to keep this from Michiru. They were partners, 
lovers and more. The key to any good relationship was communications, 
and her suffering in silence was the worst sort of action. It hurt her, 
and that in turn hurt the woman she loved.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to think less of me. I wanted to be a 
real soldier. I know how you look up to Uranus - even I do. I just 
didn't want to seem any less in your eyes."

"Oh, Haruka. I would never think badly of you, no matter what 
happened."

The remaining drive back to Michiru's home was done in silence, and by 
the time Haruka stepped out of the car, her earlier distress could 
hardly be seen. Walking into the house, Michiru took her friend's hand 
and looked at her green eyes. "Now... Is there anything else you need 
to tell me?"

"No... Not really. Sometimes I have a bit of trouble getting to sleep 
at night, but that's all."

Placing an arm around Haruka's waist, Michiru pulled her in the 
direction of the guest's room. "How about we check on our visitor, then 
I'll give you a massage. Maybe you're just working too hard and you 
need to help relax."

"Yeah, maybe." Haruka did not sound convinced, but she allowed Michiru 
to lead the way. The real reason she could not get to sleep was the way 
she kept remembering the faces of all the people that had been hurt or 
killed at her hands. While she was Sailor Uranus, she had no problem, 
since she knew the end justified the means they were using. However, 
that was cold comfort while she was alone in her bed, only her guilty 
conscience to keep her company.

The "visitor" in the guest room lay there as quiet and still as the day 
she had arrived. Long dark green hair spilled out over the pillow and 
across the fine sheets, bracketing the well tanned features of the 
Guardian Of Time. In another example of the way their splintered 
memories worked, it had been Michiru that had remembered why Sailor 
Pluto had such a good tan. While she had been a rather pale girl when 
she first took the mantle of Sailor Pluto, constant exposure to the 
radiations in the Time Stream had tanned her through even the Sailor 
suit's magical protection.

Delicate pink lipstick, red shield-shaped earrings and a black, sailor 
style collar were all that could be seen of the woman to reveal her 
magical heritage. Even her tiara was covered by the fringe of her 
lustrous hair. Sailor Pluto's breathing was slow but deep and regular, 
much like a normal person sleeping. But while she might be sleeping, to 
date nothing had been able to awaken her.

Every day Michiru and Haruka would share the duties of cleaning and 
taking care of her. She did not need to bathe, as the Sailor suit kept 
her in pristine condition, but they took no chances. Since they could 
not remove the white bodysuit, they cleaned what they could, and combed 
her long hair. Several times a day they would feed her a simple liquid 
diet high in protein and energy. While the Senshi would drink what 
passed her lips, she showed no other signs of noticing the care that 
was being taken.

Their patient's failure to respond had no effect on the two girls 
tending her. The would look after her as long as they lived, and if she 
survived them - which seemed likely during some battles - they had left 
detailed instructions for her care. Their loyalty to the comatose 
Senshi did not just stem from a sense of solidarity. Instead, they 
remembered the closeness the three Outers had once shared, and held a 
hope that one day it may return. In the meanwhile, they would care for 
Sailor Pluto at home and defend the virtues and future they held dear 
while outside.

Though their hope was unfailing, they could not help but feel a 
constant slight despair. When would Sailor Pluto reawaken?

*	*	*

Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Hey! Hotaru! Wake up!"

"Wha?..." Slowly, with tired eyes, Tomoe Hotaru sat up on her futon and 
tried to understand where the noise was coming from. Looking around the 
room, she could not see anyone. At the moment, she was sharing a room 
with her new sister, Kasumi. For a while, she had been using the 
Tendo's guest room, but when she had found out that meant Ranma-san and 
his father were sleeping in the dojo, she had asked Kasumi is she could 
move in with her. Naturally the eldest Tendo was delighted, and Ranma 
had once more gained the use of his room.

Normally Kasumi was an early riser, something that Hotaru was not able 
to match, especially with the late nights she often had these days. Out 
of consideration to her roommate, Kasumi would leave the blinds down, 
dress and then go and start her day, all without waking the small form 
sleeping on the futon near her bed. Kasumi had offered to share the bed, 
since she knew the small girl was lonely and scared, but Hotaru did not 
want to impose any more than she needed to.

Now she was awake - at least slightly - and the tapping sound was still 
coming. Turning her head, Hotaru looked at the door and blinked. 
Normally when someone knocks, the sound comes from the door, but she 
could swear that...

Throwing aside her sheets, Hotaru walked to the window and pulled aside 
the blind. Blinking slightly at the bright morning sunshine, Hotaru 
recoiled slightly. Grinning at her through the closed window was Ranma. 
He was hanging upside-down, and looked entirely too sprightly for this 
time of the day.

"Good morning, Hotaru. Time to get dressed and get ready."

Hotaru blinked a few more times. "Ano... Get ready for what?"

"Training! Yep. Today, I'm going to start training you. Can't have you 
being the only one left out, can I?"

Amazed, Hotaru gaped several times, then let the blinds fall shut again. 
Safe in the darkness, Hotaru doffed her nightshirt and began hunting 
around for clothes. "I'll be right down, Ranma-san!"

Pulling on her school dress, Hotaru could hardly believe it. Ranma-san 
had said he would train her, and now he was really going to! She just 
knew in her heart that any day now she would be as good as Ukyo-san or 
Shampoo-san. They would all go into fight the evil Witches or the Dark 
Moon Family together. Side by side, her and all of the other pretty 
girl soldiers in Ranma-san's team.

Bursting with excitement, Hotaru dashed into the hallway, her socks 
slipping slightly on the smooth wood floor. Bouncing down the stairs, 
she looked this way and that, before seeing Ranma sitting at the dining 
table. His arms were crossed, and he wore a very serious expression on 
his face.

"Good morning, Hotaru. Today I shall start to teach you the first 
precepts of being a martial artist."

Trying not to show her excitement, Hotaru gave a bow. "Hai, Sensei."

"First thing... Sit down... Good... Now, Kasumi, could you please bring 
in the first item?"

Kasumi, who had obviously been waiting in the kitchen came in with a 
covered tray, which she set down on the table between them. Giving a 
quick smile to Ranma and a reassuring nod to Hotaru, she again withdrew 
to the kitchen.

"My father, although he is a fat, inconsiderate slob, is also a real 
good teacher of martial arts, Hotaru. Since he taught me what's 
important, now I'm gunna teach you. Are you ready for your first 
lesson?"

The small girl gave a nervous nod. She had seen the sort of training 
that Ranma, his father, and his friends did. Although she knew she 
could transform into her magical girl form, she did not know if she 
could keep up with that sort of work. 

"Right." With a flourish, Ranma lifted the lid on the tray, revealing a 
tray full of Kasumi's finest cooking. A hearty Japanese breakfast, it 
had eggs and some meat for protein, rice for energy, and vegetables 
for... Well, vegetables were supposed to be good for you somehow, so it 
had some of them too. "Your first task, is to eat this. Pops always 
taught me that you can't fight on an empty stomach. So... Before we do 
anything else, you gotta eat all this."

The meal was not large, but it was more than she was used to eating. 
"Are... Are you serious, Ranma-san? I thought you were going to train 
me?"

"I am!" Ranma almost sounded hurt. "Pops taught me to eat everything I 
could get by stealing anything I had. I kinda figured I'd try something 
a bit easier, you know, you being older than I was and all. So, come on, 
eat up. Body's gotta have fuel if it's gunna grow."

"Yes." She said quietly and began to eat. Hotaru started to feel full 
around half way through, but under Ranma's watchful gaze she persisted. 
Pointing out that green things and rice were supposed to be good for 
your skin, Ranma urged Hotaru to finish the meal in the hopes she would 
begin to regain the colour and vitality that she was still lacking.

With the meal done, they took the dishes into the kitchen. Hotaru 
wanted to help clean them, but Kasumi shooed her out, saying that 
everything was taken care of. Following Ranma, they put their shoes on, 
then proceeded out of the house and grounds. They were halfway down the 
block when Hotaru looked up and finally asked. "Ranma-san, where are we 
going?"

"That way."

She peered down the street. "I don't see anything... Are we going 
somewhere special? Why don't we train with the others?"

Sighing slightly, Ranma stopped and faced the small girl. In his boy 
form he was substantially taller, and looked strong and resilient, just 
like Hotaru had always imagined heroes to look. "All right, Hotaru. Do 
you wanna be able to do this?"

With that, Ranma jumped into the air and performed one of his flashier 
katas. Arms and legs slashed, swept and struck imaginary opponents, 
while he seemed to hover in the air longer than any person bound by 
Newtonian physics had any right to. Touching down, he looked to her for 
an answer.

Eyes shimmering with hope Hotaru nodded. If that was what he was going 
to teach her today, she could not wait. With her ability to fly, she 
could stay up even longer than he could!

"Right. But to do that, you gotta know the basics. More than that, you 
gotta be in great shape. Them guys... They might call this hard 
training, but not one of them - not even Akane would've - none of them 
would train for less than two or three hours a day normally."

Kneeling down, Ranma looked her right in the eye. "That's what it takes 
to be this good, Hotaru. You gotta live the art. And you gotta live it 
all your life. Now I ain't saying you can't be a martial artist. All 
I'm saying is you've gotta start at the beginning. Right?"

Saddened slightly, Hotaru nodded. Perhaps she was being foolish 
thinking she would be able to fight along side her idol. "Yes, Ranma-
san."

"Good, 'cause once you got the basics right, then we can start you on 
some more stuff. Time and effort, that's all it takes. If you've got 
the guts and the determination, the rest comes naturally. So... Do you 
reckon you're up to it, or should we head back now?"

She knew this was the point. Ranma-san would not force her to train if 
she did not want to. He would not force her to do anything. But... But 
if she told him she was scared. If she told him she was worried she 
would fail at this like every other time she had done sport at school, 
he would take her back, and that would be the end of it. To Ranma-san, 
she would still be a magical girl, but that would be all. She knew how 
much he loved martial arts, and she had seen his respect for the others. 
If she said yes, if she kept trying, then she knew that with Ranma-
san's help, someday she would have his respect too.

"Let's keep going."

"Good girl." 

Ranma led off again, but they only covered another hundred meters 
before Hotaru found herself asking again. "Um... Where are we going? I 
don't think you said."

"That way."

"But _where_ that way? Where are we going?"

Ranma scratched his head for a bit. "I ain't real sure how to say this, 
so gimme a second to think... All right, here's your next lesson: it 
ain't where you're goin', it's how you get there."

"How I get there? I don't understand."

Ranma's brows knotted together as he tried to put in words what his 
father had taught him. Most of his father's lessons were by example, 
and usually they were an example of what not to do. "All right... Say 
you're a gymnast. Now, would it be better to win first place, if you 
had to go around and hurt everyone before the match. Or would it be 
better if you got second, but did it honest."

"Second." There was no hesitation at all.

"Right. That's what I mean. Same with saving Tokyo. Them Senshi go 
around hurting people, but they say they're saving Tokyo. We go round 
helping people, and we say the same thing. You see the difference?"

"Yes."

"Good. So... Do you understand where we're goin' now?"

Hotaru shook her head. "Not at all."

Ranma sighed and hung his head. "We're just going for a walk, OK? 
Walking's about all you can do now, so we'll walk until you have to 
stop. And we're gunna do it every day, until you can start to run for a 
while. You see what I'm getting at? We're going to make you a martial 
artist. Well, to get there, we gotta get you fit. Everything make sense 
now?"

"Yes." Unfortunately she had missed most of the message after he said 
that it was just the two of them going for a walk. Roses seemed to 
sprout up around Ranma's handsome visage, and she could hear gentle 
music playing in the background. Sighing, Hotaru felt like she could 
walk forever, so long as Ranma-san was with her. For once, the thumping 
of her heart had nothing to do with the exercise.

Working on the principle that it is easier to exert yourself when you 
are distracted, Ranma tried an alternative to one of his father's 
training techniques. Rather than him running through a forest chased by 
a pack of wild, hungry dogs, Ranma had a slight improvement planned. 
After walking to a nearby subway station, they took a trip to another 
part of the city. The whole idea was that by walking around unfamiliar 
stores, it would help distract Hotaru and let her keep going longer 
than she expected.

As an idea it worked quiet well. Hotaru walked around the shops with 
him for over an hour before suddenly becoming more pale and needing to 
sit down. Rather than undo all of their hard work building her strength 
by eating junk food, Ranma got them a pair of yakitori each. Once they 
were finished with the food, Ranma juggled the skewers for a while, 
simply showing off. 

Almost literally, a light went off over Ranma's head, and he turned 
around searching for something. After a moment, he turned back to 
Hotaru and beckoned her towards the shop they were in front of. "Hand-
eye coordination, Hotaru. You've always gotta remember how important 
that is to a martial artist. Just keep in mind what my Pop told me: 'A 
martial artist is always in complete control of their body.' And this 
looks like just the right place to start developing that coordination."

Dubiously, Hotaru looked up at the large neon sign. 'Crown Arcade'. Did 
martial artists really train by playing video games? According to Ranma, 
they did. As he had explained on the walk, everything was training, if 
you looked at it in the right manner. Most people looked for the 
easiest way to do things. A real martial artist would look for the 
hardest, and do it that way just for the training advantage. Of course, 
to Hotaru's delight, Ranma had demonstrated this by walking along a 
fence with her on his back.

Entering the arcade, Hotaru let her eyes adjust before following Ranma 
up to the back. Of course he would not chose any of the normal games 
for his training. The one he was standing in front of had a large 
padded mallet, and lots of little gophers that would pop out of the 
ground. The whole idea of the exercise was to be able to hit them and 
get enough points to keep the game going.

Taking the first game, Ranma demonstrated how it was supposed to be 
done. The fact that he normally fought bare handed did not seem to 
phase him when he worked with a weapon. Nor did the fact that he 
normally faced her and directed an ongoing commentary on how to play. 
One after another, all the gophers were struck. Even on the higher 
levels, where several came out of the game at the same time, he would 
still strike them all. Then, in the middle of a record beating game he 
stopped and let his credit expire.

"Here you go. Don't want you to have to start off on the tricky stuff." 
He might have said tricky, but it looked very easy for him.

Stepping up to the game, Hotaru hesitantly held the mallet and struck 
the first gopher. She got that one, but while she was recovering, the 
next one popped up then dropped down again, a point lost for her. 
Gripping the mallet tighter, she resolved to keep trying.

Needless to say, the game defeated her long before she reached anywhere 
near Ranma's level. Despite that, Ranma offered her a few tips on how 
to hold the weapon, and how to stand so that she could react easier. 
Slipping another hundred yen piece into the machine, she started again, 
a smile creeping across her face. She might not be much good, but with 
Ranma-san as a teacher, learning was sure to be fun.

Near the door of the arcade, a slight disturbance was occurring. 
Fortunately, it was sufficiently small not to bother the customers. In 
fact, it was the desire not to disturb the customers that caused the 
staff member on duty to try and bar access to one of the arcade's most 
notorious visitors.

"I'm sorry, Kino-san. You can't come in here."

"What? But Matoki-san..."

Matoki crossed his arms and stood up to the girl. He had seen Kino 
fight last time she was here, and he knew that he was in trouble if she 
wanted to make an issue of it like she had last time she visited. He 
was not on duty at the time, but the report from the boy she had 
hospitalised said enough. As far as Crown Arcade was concerned, Kino 
Makoto was persona non-gratis. He might be a boy and slightly taller 
than the brown haired girl, but he did not care to take her on.

Looking through the window to the store while the Kino girl fidgeted, 
he spotted Tsukino Usagi. Nothing like Kino Makoto, this girl was one 
of his regular visitors. If he was really lucky, she would have her 
boyfriend with her. Usagi-chan might be too small to fight, but he had 
seen Chiba-san taking on some drunks outside before, and he was nothing 
to sneeze at.

"Look, come on, Matoki-san. I'm supposed to meet some friends here..."

"Friends of yours are not the sort of people I want to meet, Kino-san. 
Now, please leave."

Surprisingly enough, the young thug looked like she was about to leave. 
Then, to Matoki's everlasting surprise, Usagi came through the door and 
pulled Kino's head down for a quick, quiet conversation. "Did you 
forget, Mako-chan? Ami-chan said this was one of the things that had 
changed by Prince Diamond coming back in time. I don't know what 
happened here, but Matoki-san doesn't like you anymore."

Nodding her head in sadness, Makoto agreed. She remembered what Ami had 
said, but she did not really believe it. In the time that they had come 
from, Matoki was a good friend of theirs. Before Usagi had started 
going out with Mamoru, both of the girls had shared a serious crush on 
the tall, good looking boy that worked in the Crown Arcade. Needless to 
say, both of them had been heartbroken when they found out he had a 
kind, beautiful fiancee. Despite getting over their crush, they had all 
remained good friends.

Even though she had never known Ami to be wrong, Makoto had hoped she 
had been mistaken about what she had heard about Makoto's reputation. 
Always a fighter, in this timeline, she had not had Usagi's friendship 
to temper that edge. That, combined with fighting the Dark Kingdom, had 
left her more bitter and violent that she had ever been. This in turn 
had gotten her thrown out of school, various restaurants, and also the 
Crown Arcade.

Patting her tall friend's hand, Usagi boldly walked forwards and smiled 
up at Matoki. While her flame only burned for Mamoru these days, she 
could still smile sweetly and charm boys when she needed to... So long 
as she did not trip over something in the meantime and make a fool of 
herself.

"Matoki-san. Could you let Mako-chan in... For me?"

Matoki worked his mouth several times before any words came out, and 
even then, it sounded like he could not believe the words he was 
uttering. "_You're_ the friend she was going to meet?"

"Nnn. And Ami-chan and Mina-chan too. Rei-chan is busy at the temple 
today."

"No way! I don't believe it!" Matoki made warding gestures with his 
hands. "There is no way Mizuno Ami would ever be in the same room as 
Kino Makoto! Those two hate each other!"

As though summoned by his name, a blue haired girl entered the Arcade, 
walking side by side with a bright, cheery blonde. "Hi, Mako-chan. How 
was your day?"

"Fine, Ami-chan. But I think we might have to find somewhere else to 
go." Gesturing with her head, Makoto indicated where Usagi was talking 
to Matoki.

"Don't worry, Mako-chan. I'm sure Usagi-chan can make him understand. 
We're all friends now."

"Yeah." The tall girl's eyes shimmered slightly. She had never had any 
real friends until she joined the Senshi. The prospect of her having 
lost them in this timeline had disturbed her badly.

Back where the significantly shaken Matoki was talking with Usagi, the 
boy was trying to pull himself together. While he had not heard with 
the girls had said, there was no doubt that Mizuno Ami and Kino Makoto 
had just managed to have a civil conversation. Even more astounding, it 
looked like Ami was trying to cheer up the Kino girl. From what Mokoti 
knew of her, Kino was as friendless as a leper, but more deserving of 
it. Yet just now he had seen two of the sweetest, gentlest girls he 
knew be nice to her, and she was nice back.

"Pleeeeeease Matoki-san? Please let her in..."

Looking down at Usagi, Matoki shrugged his shoulders. "All right, but 
just because you and Minako-chan are my two best customers. I don't 
know what's come over her, but if she starts getting rowdy, she'll have 
to leave right away."

"Yay!" Usagi jumped up and waved to her friends so they could enter. 
"Don't worry about Mako-chan. She's like a different person now, 
honestly!"

As Usagi bounced off to play games with her friends, Matoki sighed and 
leaned against the counter. He hoped the blonde girl was right about 
Kino Makoto. Usagi seemed happier these days too, and if she had really 
managed to make the Kino girl into a decent person at the same time, 
the world would be a better place. But somehow he felt that hoping for 
that was like hoping for a miracle.

Two hours later when the girls left after causing no more disturbance 
than Usagi spilling her drink, Matoki sighed in relief. Perhaps there 
was such a thing as a miracle after all.

*	*	*

Daimons... 

Sailor Moon could not decided which she hated more. Droids or Daimons. 
Of course, Youma were not all that nice either, but they had not faced 
any of them for a while. So that left Droids and Daimons. Droids were 
bad, they tended to summon large quantities of Dark Energy into an area 
and then do all sorts of nasty things, not least of which was trying to 
steal people's energy. Daimons on the other hand tried to steal 
people's Heart Crystals, and that was seriously deadly.

In some ways she preferred facing the Daimons. While the Witches that 
controlled them were more powerful than Emerald, at least she was not 
forced to fight Black Lady. Sailor Moon could still not forgive herself 
for the fact that Chibi-Usa had been turned into one of the enemy by 
the evil and insidious Prince Diamond. 

How she felt about them was a fairly moot point, considering she had a 
job to do, and tonight that job was defeating a Daimon and returning an 
innocent victim's Heart Crystal.

They had caught the Daimon while it was attacking a girl in the park. 
While they had saved the girl, the Daimon was still giving them a hard 
time, and they knew they had to destroy it, otherwise it would just go 
out and find more people to prey upon. The only upside to the encounter 
was that there were just the two forces there, good and evil. No Outer 
Senshi, no almost-super-powered humans, no Dark Moon Family. It was 
just a nice simple fight between light and dark, where everyone knew 
where they stood, and who their enemies were.

For the last ten minutes, Sailor Moon had been running around, 
constantly harassed by a string of stinging nettles that the Daimon 
kept shooting. By her count, Sailor Mars had saved her three times, 
Jupiter twice, and Mercury another three or four times by laying down 
concealing fog. The problem they faced was that every time she would 
try to attack, the Daimon would strike first. This kept her on the run, 
and the others busy defending her.

Sailor Venus had tried to attack the Daimon a couple of times, but her 
attack did not seem to worry it too much. Her Venus Love-Me-Chain would 
hold it up for a while, but her Crescent Beam attack - normally so 
effective - made the plant-like Daimon just grow even more.

Getting up from where she had been hiding behind a park bench, Sailor 
Moon looked around. Everyone was puffing and panting, and even Tuxedo 
Kamen looked tired. He was still impeccably dressed and perfectly 
groomed - you could expect no less from a hero like him - but his cape 
seemed to flutter with slightly less flourish, and from time to time he 
would rest on his cane, rather than brandishing it at their enemy.

"Sailor Mercury! Buy us some more time! Please!"

"Right, Sailor Moon! MERCURY... BUBBLES... BLAST!"

Streaming from the blue haired Senshi's hand, the bubbles quickly 
spread out and became an impenetrable barrier of fog. Used to operating 
in those conditions, the Senshi quickly found each other and gathered 
around.

"OK, everyone, this is what we're going to do. Mars, Venus, you go to 
the left. Tuxedo Kamen, go with them. If we can, I want it to think 
Venus is me for a bit and concentrate on her."

Tuxedo Kamen was not to happy about that, but held his piece as the 
Senshi's leader outlined the rest of her plan. "Mercury, you stay here 
with Jupiter. If you see anyone start to get into trouble, lay down 
your fog again. Jupiter, I want you ready to blast any of those vines 
if they catch someone. Everyone understand?"

There were nods, but Mars was the first to query the missing point in 
the plan. "And just what do you think you're going to be doing all this 
time, Meatball Head? While you're all alone? Hmmm?"

"Well... While you and Venus distracted it, I was going to run over 
there by the statue. That way I could blast it from behind..."

"Oh, and so what are we supposed to do if it decides to attack you 
instead?"

"Umm..."

"Exactly! Now what I think we should do is---"

Suddenly Mercury burst in. "Guys! The fog's starting to thin. I think 
we had better do what Sailor Moon says."

While Mars grumbled and looked on unhappily, the team broke up and 
Sailor Moon ran off into the thinning fog by herself. When the last of 
the cover lifted, the Daimon was revealed in all its evil glory. Like 
them, it had not been wasting its time. The plant-like Daimon had 
driven roots into the ground, letting itself grow to even greater 
proportions. As soon as Venus and Mars were revealed, it struck.

Dozens of rope-like vines shot out of the ground, capturing the two 
girls, tying their arms to their side, and preventing more than the 
slightest motion. Caught by surprise, Sailor Jupiter was still getting 
into a position where she could shoot, and was unable to help. All 
seemed doomed until a pair of bouquets slices through the vines.

Bouquets of roses.

With a hint of dramatic music playing in the background, everyone 
turned up to look at a stranger who was standing imperiously on a 
nearby wall. He was tall and handsome, with an aristocratic face and 
perfect tailoring. Perfect, that is, if you think a top hat and cape go 
well with traditional samurai skirt pants and jacket.

Holding another bouquet in his left hand, the mysterious stranger 
raised his bokken to the Daimon and spoke in a strong voice that echoed 
across the park. "Never let it be said that any man may outdo the great 
and noble Blue Thunder Of Tokyo!"

Lightning crashed and thundered roared. As blue lines split the sky, 
Kuno stood there in his glory.

"Where this peasant below me throws but a single rose, I shall throw a 
dozen, for the love of the Blue Thunder is surely a dozen times that of 
any normal man! Come, my darling loves! Free yourself of his control, 
as I have freed you of the foul embrace of this creature!"

Leaping from the wall, the Blue Thunder sailed to the ground, his cape 
billowing behind him. Having spent countless hours watching footage 
that his servants had accumulated from the news, Kuno had mastered 
Tuxedo Kamen's routine. Pausing only to strike a brief pose, Kuno went 
into battle against the Daimon, his bokken flying this way and that, 
blocking the strikes from the vines.

He had barely reached the Daimon and started to attack it when the 
Daimon gave a shudder and a moan. Then, before the assembled Senshi, 
the mysterious Blue Thunder seemed to defeat the Daimon in a single 
instant. Briefly it was outlined in gold, then the Daimon turned black 
and faded into the ground.

With a smile of victory befitting someone of his greatness, Kuno turned 
and smiled at his true loves. "Ahh! Now that I have defeated the foul 
beast, surely you are free to date with me!"

Eyes fixated on Venus and Mars, Kuno gave up any pretence at being 
heroic or noble. Arms wide, he charged them, seeking to gather them up, 
one in each arm. Unfortunately, Sailor Mercury was ready for this. 
Expecting to have to hide the Senshi from the Daimon, she had her 
attack prepared, and coated the world once more in a blanket of white.

Minutes later, as the fog lifted, Kuno looked around and cursed to 
himself. Once again the foul sorcerer that ensnared his true loves had 
spirited them away. The other girls - lowly types, hardly worth his 
notice - were no doubt also pawns in his depraved plans, but Kuno wept 
at the thought of his beautiful ladies being kept by one so base and 
evil. 

"Ahh", he soliloquised. "If only they were free! They would be mine, to 
have and hold, to love like no other, and to keep to myself. For am I 
not the great Kuno Tatewaki? Am I not the greatest fighter in all of 
Japan, yea, all the world? Oh, my loves! I shall free you and make you 
mine!"

Meanwhile, across the park and out on the streets, little Tsukino Usagi 
was trying to convince her friends that it had really been her that had 
dealt the fatal blow to the Daimon. While she insisted that it was her 
Moon Sceptre Elimination that destroyed it, every other person in the 
team swore blind that it was the enemy leader that had bested the 
Daimon in a single blow.

As his girlfriend ran off in a sulk even Chiba Mamoru - the real man 
behind the elusive Tuxedo Kamen - was reluctant to admit to her version. 
While he had seen her defeat dozens of enemies in her time, the timing 
could not have been that coincidental, could it? From all he had seen, 
the Blue Thunder must be truly powerful, probably more than a match for 
Prince Diamond or any of the Witches 5.

Usagi couldn't really be right, could she? That would mean that their 
opponent was nothing more than a fraud, someone getting by on posturing 
and good luck. And that was just ridiculous...

Wasn't it?

---
End Of Chapter.