FIST OF THE MOON

Chapter 2: Old Enemies and New Friends

Bounding along the low shop roofs, Ranma reached the battle site much quicker then she expected, since she could not feel the Ki she thought was being generated yet. As the red-headed martial artist quickly analyzed the battle, she realized that none of the combatants were using Ki per se, but something stronger older. As she surveyed the situation, the night sky was lit up several times from the powerful energies being used.

In the partly demolished street below, four girls in short-skirted versions of school uniforms were standing at bay in a rough diamond formation. Three enormous, vaguely humanoid figures circled them, occasionally firing purple-black bursts of energy. From their body language and small, almost subliminal motions, it was apparent that the girls were used to dodging such attacks, but now were holding their ground and shielding themselves as best they could.

The reason was all too obvious, as a fifth girl in the same style outfit sheltered three children in the center of the formation. She seemed to be able to block the blasts with a short baton. Ranma grasped the situation in a few seconds, her eyes widening as the girl in red unleashed a stream of twisting fire stronger the any Ki blast she had ever seen. Her eyes widened further as the monster shrugged it off.

OKAY, this shouldn't be too hard. Get the kids out of the fire zone and the girls should be able to fight like they're used to. The red-head smirked. This calls for the masterful tactics Pops taught me. Taking a deep breath, she yelled, "Hey, buttface, up here!"

Eleven pairs of eyes swiveled to find the cocky martial artist on her perch four stories above the street. "And I thought Akane's cooking looked bad!" Two ogres fired blasts at the annoying girl, missing by a wide margin as the petite martial artist bounced 15 meters to the street below. She was pleased to see the tall girl in green fire off an attack, a savage bolt of lightning, taking advantage of the distraction.

Bouncing into a front flip and accelerating to her top speed of 60 kph, Ranma slid into the relative safety of the formation. She absently noticed that she couldn't really make out the faces of the girls, other then getting impressions of relative beauty. Nevertheless, as she looked into eyes of the girl crouching protectively over the kids, for an instant she saw eyes of perfect crystal-blue.

Ignoring Fire Girl's indignant "Who the heck are you?" Ranma smirked and told the protective girl, "I can get the rug rats out and then we clean up these bozos. There's about a million cop cars three blocks away. They should be safe there."

The blue-and-white-garbed girl studied the redhead for a second, then nodded decisively. "Sounds good. What you do need?"

"I'll take the two tigers here out first," motioning to the two small boys, then turning to the older child, "and come back for princess. Hey, Thunder Girl, Fire Girl, gimme some covering fire on three, okay?"

The red-garbed girl just nodded coldly, while "Thunder Girl" grinned and shot back, "You got it, Red."

"Ready? One. Two. Three!"

Ranma grabbed the small boys and shot away, as well-placed fire and lightning bolts knocked aside the two ogres blocking the speeding redhead's path. Taking to the roofs, she quickly disappeared from sight. The only comment was a whispered "Wow!" from Thunder Girl as the siege resumed.

Quickly checking that all was well with her cargo, Ranma raced across roofs to police cars' flashing lights below. Lightly dropping beside a plainclothes officer who looked to be in charge, Ranma handed the boys to him. "There's another kid, a girl, with the magic girls, I'll bring her back here in a couple minutes," she said with a grin. Leaping onto the adjacent roof, she sped back to the battle.

As the neo-girl neared the fight, she saw the orange-skirted girl point, crying "Here she comes," and firing off a glowing chain that wrapped up one of the ogres. Intent on clearing the redhead's path, Chain Girl didn't notice an ogre preparing a huge blast at her back.

Concluding that the girl didn't realize she could safely dodge the blast as the rest were clear, Ranma dropped down to the pavement and sprang towards the chain-wielding girl as the ogre released a potent black beam. The girl turned and froze, caught between the instinct to dodge and the duty to defend. Just before the beam struck, Ranma pushed her aside; the edge of the beam catching the martial artist's back. With a cry of "Red!" the green-clad fighter caught her and examined their helper's back.

Turning to her leader, Thunder Girl cried with great relief, "It's okay! The only casualty is her shirt." Ranma wasn't so sure. While not in pain, a wave of sickness passed through her.

Summoning her resolve, the diminutive martial artist grinned at the young girl. "Okay, princess, your mom called and said it's past your bedtime, so we're gonna get you outa here." The child nodded. "Fire, Thunder, fire down the opposite street on three, okay?"

At "three," lightning and fire roared once again. Ranma bounded behind the screen of energy and quickly reversed course, faking out the ogre. As she reached the police barricade, she dropped to one knee. The plainclothes cop steadied her, noting her damaged clothes, and asked with concern in his voice, "You okay, miss? Maybe you should let a paramedic check you out? You're already a hero for saving those kids."

The redhead looked up with a grimace. "I'm okay, I gotta go back and help." With that, Ranma once again bounded off, although at a much slower pace. As she arrived back at the battle, the formation had changed. Thunder, Fire and Chain were formed up in a loose line, dodging and trading attacks with the ogres. Leader girl was hanging back, watching the last girl working on something, the girl's eyes covered by a glowing visor.

Without turning, Leader Girl asked, "Are the kids okay?" Sensing Ranma wobble, she slid a shoulder under the girl's arm.

"They're good, I think their parents were there to pick 'em up. What do we got?"

Fire Girl loosed another column of flame and looked back at the trio, "C'mon Mercury, what's their weakness?"

"Almost got it …" the visored girl murmured. "Almost … Got it! Aim for their "

At her triumphant cry, all three ogres had sent powerful energy bolts at the distracted Senshi. Before she could hope to react, a ragged figure pushed her out of the way. Leader girl had tripped, luckily spilling Ranma right into position to save Mercury. But, slowed by her condition, Ranma was again clipped by one of the energy beams, this time sending her to the ground in a crumpled heap.

With a wordless cry, Leader girl leapt over to their semi-conscious helper, cradling the smaller girl in her arms. With tears in her eyes, Mercury jumped to her feet shouting, "Aim for the fin on their backs! It acts like an antenna, allowing them to drain power from their surroundings."

Free to maneuver and with a clear target, the three remaining Senshi made quick work of their opponents. As the last ogre fell to a well placed Crescent Beam, the three warriors raced back to their Princess.

"What's wrong with Red?" The tall girl in green asked worriedly. The smaller girl's shirt was in rags, but there wasn't a mark on her. Mercury was busily scanning the fallen girl, tears dripping.

"I'm not exactly sure, Jupiter. She has some kind of powerful magic and it's interacting with the negative energy she absorbed. I think I think she's dying!"

"What!"

"No! We gotta do something!"

"Moon, can't you heal her? Use the Scepter!"

Mercury's tears continued to shine in the dim light, but Moon's eyes were beyond tears. She tenderly brushed the hair from the redhead's forehead. "We tried that already, Venus. She was beyond that power when she took the little girl. By the time she returned, she was dying on her feet," Moon remarked conversationally. "The only thing that can save her is the Crystal."

A collective gasp of denial arose, especially from the red-skirted Fire girl. She dropped down beside her Princess. "No, please, Usagi, it's too dangerous! We don't know this girl. Please," the raven-haired girl whispered. "Gods, I hate that life-sucking rock."

Moon smiled. "We know her, Mars. She rescued three children and two Senshi, putting her life on the line. We know her very well." The other Senshi nodded, even a reluctant Mars.

"Anyway," Moon continued in that same conversational tone, "I don't expect too much trouble healing one small girl, even if she is the bravest girl in Japan." Moon paused. "Just remember, if something does go wrong, Sailor Mars – Rei you are my heir and will carry on as Princess." The other four girls stared at her dumbstruck. They had never seen their friend so deep into her "Princess Persona" before.

The Senshi of the Moon reverted to her more bubbly aspect. "C'mon, nothing's going to happen, I'm not gonna die!"

Sailor Mars looked at her leader with stricken eyes, whispering, "You said that before, and – and …"

Removing the brooch from middle of the large bow on her chest, Moon stood and smiled at Mars. "I promise. We waited until you guys were done with the Youma good job by the way so that you could reinforce me if I need it." Looking at Mercury, who nodded sharply, Moon waved her hand over the brooch, crying "Moon Crystal Power!" The brooch opened to reveal the Imperial Silver Crystal. With one last smile for Rei, Sailor Moon directed the power of the Silver Crystal at their fallen friend.

Moon immediately fell into a deep trance. Opening her eyes, she found herself in a marshy plain, dotted with numerous small pools. Most of them had rickety-looking bamboo poles jutting out towards the sky.

Looking at the sky, instead of clouds or stars or clear blue, the Senshi saw swirling black-purple energy. A tremendous splash from behind her brought her eyes back down to earth, and she sensed rather then saw a person crashing into a pond. As the water subsided, the surface was placid until a familiar figure erupted out of the depths.

Their red-haired savior looked down at herself and screamed "I'm a girl!" Moon blinked and then smiled. A beautiful girl! "What's wrong with that, Red-chan?" The girl looked at her and smiled back. "Nothin', I guess. It was just quite a shock at the time."

"So, where are we Red-chan?"

"Oh, this is Jusenkyo, the Pools of Sorrow, where I got cursed to turn into a girl. Well, it ain't much of a curse these days, I guess."

Moon nodded. "Judging from the sky, this is the magic the negative energy is attacking. It's killing you Red-chan."

Wading out of the pond, Red-chan shrugged. "Maybe. I don't think here is the real problem. I think maybe up that path is the real problem."

The blonde looked inwards and agreed. Waving good bye to her new friend, Moon walked up the path. Her last sight of Red-chan was the girl wringing out her shirt. Up ahead the Senshi heard a faint caterwauling.

Walking around a bend in the path, Moon found herself in a lightly wooded glade. The pools had disappeared. Worried, the blonde wondered what was going on. She guessed that she was in Red-chan's mind somehow, but the Crystal had never done anything like this before. This whole situation felt … important. As important as the saving the life of a brave ally was, this seemed even more important. Like she-couldn't-screw-this-up important. Thinking she knew her own stupidity, there was only one way she could do this.

Follow her heart.

With a deep breath, Sailor Moon to the Dark Pit came.

The scene was not what she would have expected. A balding man in a once-white gi was looking down into a hole, from which a hair-raising hissing and yowling was emanating. Faintly, Moon heard crying and pleading coming from the pit.

It was Red-chan.

Without a moment's hesitation, the blonde girl threw herself towards the pit, steeling herself for a hideous sight. What she saw would plague her nightmares for years. A much younger version of the Sailor Senshis' latest ally was lying in the pit, bound hand and foot. She was covered in fish sausages and a layer of starving, feral cats, who were clawing and biting the child in a desperate bid for food. The hole reeked of waste and dead and dying cats, adding to the horror.

Sailor Moon began tearing cats off the tiny, sobbing figure, tears of rage cascading down her cheeks. After an eternity, she managed to liberate the young girl, although at times she appeared to be a boy. After severing his/her bonds, Moon gathered the abused child into her arms and prepared to leap out of the pit. Red-chan clung desperately to her, mumbling, "It ain't their fault."

The blonde girl paused and looked down at her charge. The now black-haired boy murmured, "Are you an angel? Can't you save them too?" A red-haired girl turned her enormous, trusting blue eyes to meet the Senshi's. The older girl looked at the horde of cats, milling just out of easy kicking range, wondering what to do. Follow your heart.

"Yes, I think I can, Red-chan, but you have to help me. Okay?" The boy nodded. "What do I have to do?"

Calmly, the older girl instructed, "Gather up the fish sausages and then we start feeding the cats. Once they're calmed down, I'll lift them out of the pit." Coaxing the feral cats to eat out their hands seemed to take a long time, but eventually all of the cats were fed and had calmed considerably. There had seemed no shortage of sausage.

Looking at the swarm of cats, Moon felt the hairs on her neck rise as she noticed that half of the cats, the ones she had fed, had glowing moon crescents on the foreheads. The ones Red-chan had fed had a black-and-red yin-yang symbol, instead. There were exactly a dozen of each in the pit with them.

Once again a girl, Red-chan turned those achingly innocent eyes on the older girl. "Um, Angel-sama, shouldn't we get the kitties out of the pit?" Nodding, Moon began lifting them out of the noisome hole. In short order, the two dozen cats and two girls were freed. The man Moon had noticed earlier was no where to be seen.

Frowning, the Senshi of the Moon saw the black energy above them seemed to be getting closer. Again pulling out the Silver Crystal and activating it, the blonde girl directed the energies against the blackness, which dissipated in short order. Blinking in surprise at the ease of her victory, she watched as the silver energy grew and expanded, washing out the world around her. The last thing she saw was a still-female Red-chan, holding a pair of cats, one with a crescent symbol and the other yin-yang, smiling. Then everything disappeared in a tide of brilliant light.

Sailor Moon opened her eyes to take in a dimly lit and battle-worn street and the prone form of a buxom red-head. She thought she noticed a black-and-red Yin-Yang symbol fading away on the girl's forehead.

Sailor Mars grabbed the blonde's arm. "Are you all right? What happened?"

Taking stock of herself, Moon realized, "I feel great! I can't believe how good I feel after using the Crystal! It was weird though. It was like I was transported to another world or to the past. I ended up in this marsh with lots of pools. Red-chan fell in one and then told me that this wasn't the problem. So I followed this path and there was this man, I think it was Red-chan's father. He was looking in this pit and it was horrible! Red-chan was a kid, maybe 6 or 7, and she was tied up at the bottom of this pit and the smell was awful!" Moon began to cry. "She was covered in fish and there was a swarm of cats tearing and biting at her trying to get the fish. They looked like they were starving."

Fighting back a sob as Mars stroked her back, Moon continued, "I rescued her and was gonna leave when Red-chan wanted me to save the cats! So we did. It got even weirder then, the cats got a moon crescent or that double-teardrop thingy on their heads. Then I dispelled the negative energy and came back here. It felt like hours! How long was I gone? I hope you guys didn't worry."

The four girls looked at each other. Mercury cleared her throat. "Um, Moon, you activated the Silver Crystal, closed your eyes and then opened them." Moon blinked in confusion. "Even Mars didn't have time to worry." The blue-haired Senshi smiled as she ignored the outraged denial on Mars' face.

"Huh," commented their Princess wisely. "Well, something else. When I was … doing whatever I was doing, it felt important. More important then anything I have ever done."

"More important than Beryl?" asked the Senshi of Thunder. Usagi nodded. "Wow."

"Why, Sailor Moon, why was it so important?" Mercury asked.

Moon shrugged. "I have no idea, it just was."

The Moon Princess knelt by Red-chan and gathered her into an embrace. Resting the smaller girl's head in her lap, she brushed the red bangs from her forehead. Looking to Mercury a little worriedly, Moon asked, "Shouldn't she be waking up?"

The Senshi of Ice nodded, absently wiping away spent tears. "I'm a little worried about that too," and once again deployed her computer and scanner.

With a series of "hmms" and "that's interestings," which the other Senshi had long since learned to disregard, Mercury analyzed their redheaded ally. Finally, she came up for air. "I'm not exactly sure what's happening. The energy readings I'm getting from her are on a par with a Senshi. Some kind of interaction is happening, but I can't tell what."

Their blonde leader chewed her lip. Turning to Mars, she sought advice. "Well, Second, where should we take her, Jupiter's place or the shrine? We need some privacy for Mercury." Moon looked down on their charge.

"Second?"

The subdued blonde nodded. "I have no children yet. You're my heir. Second in command. So should we tell her our identities, or keep 'em secret for a bit? If we want to keep 'em secret, the Shrine would be better.

Fighting back tears, Mars distractedly replied "The Shrine would probably be best. More room, and I can do a fire reading."

Mercury broke in. "I think that's a good idea, Moon. Red-chan's abilities appear akin to Mars' civilian abilities. A Fire reading may tell us more then I can."

"Okay, then lets meet up at Hikawa. Jupiter, can you please carry Red-chan?" The tall girl nodded briskly. "Okay. Let's go."


A/N I want to thank all the reviewers who took the time to comment on the first chapter. It was quite a thrill to recognize the nom ge guerres' of several people I respect on these boards.

Suikie: Commas, the bane of my existance. I blame it on a Catholic elementary school education. "A comma at every pause in a sentence." I will try to fight this curse!

Ozzallos: Much thanks for the comment on dialog. My editor and I both come from a non-fiction background and totally spaced that important rule of style.

Chapter 3 will proably be a while, since it was not "in the tank" before Chapter 1 was published.