Sailor Mercury was running through the streets, following the signal of the Zodiac Amulet.
When suddenly, someone screamed: "HELP! A monster!"
'Not again', Mercury sighed. With all these monsters running around in Juuban, she was somehow not surprised that this was the same in Nerima.
She followed the screams, while quickly scanning the area for evil energy.
"There IS some form of energy up ahead, and it's clearly magical," she murmured. "Let's see if it's also evil..."
The young woman was running away in fear as the giant, humanoid, winged bull (with an eel as a tail) came towards her.
"Help me! It's gonna eat me!"
'Stupid woman,' Taro wanted to say. 'I only want to know if you know something about Happosai!'
But, in this form, he could only let out unintelligible growls.
Mercury came past the corner when the woman fled, and she spotted the colossal form of the cursed martial artist.
"A Youma," she gasped.
Taro sweat-dropped when he recognized one of the Senshi. 'Why, oh just why do they have to confuse me with a Youma EVERY time they see me?'
Ami pulled out her communication device, but Taro quickly ran towards her and snatched it out of her hand.
Ami gasped as the monster threw her communicator up to the roof of the closest building.
'There! Now the others won't come and bug me as well,' he smirked.
He was going to leave, but Ami stepped into his way. "Stop right there, Youma! I may not be as strong as Mars or Jupiter... but I won't let you go and threaten peaceful citizens again."
'Damn those gals and their speeches... Well, if she wants a fight, she gets one!'
He growled and threw a mighty punch at Mercury. The Senshi of ice and water yelped and jumped aside. The mighty fist of the beast left a deep impact crater in the street's asphalt.
Ranma had just stepped outside, when he heard someone scream something about a monster. He sighed. Did this have to happen before he was eating?
Well, if he hurried, it would probably be over before Kasumi served dinner.
He jumped over the fence and started running.
Nabiki looked out of the window and saw Ranma jumping over the fence.
Sting jumped next to her. For a scorpion, he surely had powerful hind legs. "What a pity that you still haven't your amulet," he said. "Or you would be able to help Sailor Aquarius!"
Nabiki stared at him. "Say WHAT?"
Mercury wanted to use her Shabon Spray, so the Youma would lose track of her.
Sadly, she had to dodge all the time to avoid his powerful punches, so she had no time to use it.
Suddenly, a loud yell could be heard: "Hey Taro! Leave the girl alone, ya hear me?"
Taro turned around. Great! Fem-boy... As if his day wasn't screwed up enough... He growled menacingly at Ranma.
"Dunno what you meant with that, but I won't let you pound helpless girls around, got it?"
Mercury was clearly bothered by this. Helpless girl?
'Stay out of this, fem-boy,' Taro wanted to say, but it came out as a deafening "Moooo!"
"Don't say I didn't warn ya," Ranma smirked and jumped at the bull-creature.
Taro blocked Ranma's kick and reacted with a flurry of punches. 'Don't underestimate me, fem-boy,' he thought. 'I've gotten better since our last fight...'
'Dammit,' Ranma thought. 'How did he become that quick? Perhaps I should change into my girl form, I'm much faster that way...'
Ranma jumped back and looked around. 'Great, once you need water, there's none around... If I could just call it to me...'
A startled housewife yelped when the water she was just using to wash her dishes flew out of the window of her apartment.
Ranma grinned as he felt some water splash on his, now her head. 'Hey, that's better...' She cracked her knuckles. "Okay, Taro! Bring it on!"
Taro let out a mighty 'Mooo' and charged the trans-gendered martial artist.
"Let's see if you're quick enough to counter this... KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
Taro groaned as he got pummeled by the chestnut fist. 'Time to get out of here,'he thought and looked upwards. On the building on the other side of the street, he could see a big billboard. 'Perfect!' He flew up, towards the billboard. When he was in front of the building, he hit it with a powerful punch.
Mercury was startled by Ranma's transformation, but now she had something else to worry about. "Oh no," she gasped. "The billboard is about to crash!"
That's right, by punching the wall, Taro had caused the billboard to tilt and slowly fall over. Several passengers who were in front of the building didn't realize the danger.
"Damn you, Taro," Ranma snarled and started running. But she had the feeling she wouldn't make it in time...
Taro used the distraction to fly away safely.
And while Ranma saw how the billboard was tilting even more, a voice behind her shouted: "Shine Aqua Illusion!"
A jet of cold water shot over her head, hit the billboard and coated it with thick ice.
Ranma let out a sigh of relief. The billboard was frozen in place, the people were safe... for now.
"Hey, you better get out of here," she shouted. "Take a look upwards." As the people realized the danger they had been in, they quickly left.
Ranma turned around and grinned at Sailor Mercury. "Hey, good work!"
Mercury nodded... but then she gasped and screamed: "LOOK OUT!"
Ranma looked up. The ice coating had started to melt in the sun, and the billboard once again was tilting... and then it cracked off its hinges and fell down... towards Ranma!
"Shine Aqua Illusion," Mercury shouted again, but she had the feeling that her attack wouldn't be enough to stop the falling billboard.
And Ranma acted solely on instinct. A voice deep inside her told her what to do... So she grasped the amulet around her neck and shouted:
"AQUARIUS ZODIAC POWER, MAKE UP!"
A bright light and a cascade of water surrounded her as the Senshi magic turned her clothes into a Sailor Fuku with a light blue skirt.
Sailor Aquarius acted on instinct again: "Liquid Control!" The freezing water attack of Mercury was still flying through the air at that time, so Aquarius used her powers to redirect it... towards her own body.
Coating her body with a thick armor of ice, Sailor Aquarius became a living pillar of ice that smashed right through the falling billboard.
CRASH!
The billboard broke apart in a shower of debris and ice shards.
Mercury gasped. That girl... boy... whatever... was one of the Zodiac Senshi? And she controlled her own water attack?
Ranma looked around. Her ice armor got cracked, but she didn't even get a scratch.
"Wow..." she murmured as she looked down at her fuku.
"I really look stupid in that thing."
Mercury sweat-dropped.
Kasumi smiled as she put the final bandage on Luna's leg. "There, as good as new."
Luna looked at Kasumi's work approvingly and meowed a thanks.
Kasumi looked up as Nabiki came down the stairs. "Oh, Nabiki! Dinner is almost ready. I had to take care of a little problem first, though..."
Nabiki groaned. "Everyone, we have a guest..."
"Oh, that's nice!" Kasumi looked around. "Um, where is he?"
Nabiki pointed to her shoulder. "Up there!"
Akane yelped. "Nabiki, that's..."
"A scorpion!" Nabiki nodded. "Thank you sis, I already knew."
"Be careful! It might sting you!"
"Let me at him," Ukyo said and raised her battle spatula. "I'll smack him into the ground!"
Sting sweat-dropped. "You have become pretty violent since you got reincarnated, Libra..."
Akane and Ukyo stared. "It talks?" Akane murmured.
"Why did he call me 'Libra'?" Ukyo murmured.
Kasumi just smiled. "Oh, nice to meet you, scorpion-san! Would you like some tea?"
"Thank you," Sting replied. "But no, thanks! But if you had a little water..."
"Ill get you some," Kasumi said and brought him a bowl with water from the kitchen. She put it onto the table. "Here you are!"
Sting jumped down from Nabiki's shoulder and greedily slurped down the water. Ukyo fought her impulse of smacking him with her spatula. She just didn't like critters with more than four legs.
All the time, Luna had stared at the scorpion. When Sting looked up, he finally saw her. "Oh, hi there, Luna! Nice to see you again!"
Luna groaned. "Sting..." she whispered. "You stupid dolt... we're supposed to keep our identities secret."
Ukyo put a hand on her face. "Riiiight..." she muttered. "Now the cats start talking as well... I think I'm a case for the psychiatrist..."
"Oh, don't worry, Luna," Sting said after slurping some water. "They're four of the Zodiac Senshi... in their reincarnated form."
"I already guessed it," Luna moaned. "Leo, Libra and Virgo, right? And, if I'm not mistaken... Scorpio?"
"Yup, you got it!"
"Wait a minute," Ukyo intervened. "We're no Senshi!"
"Oh, really?" Sting chuckled. "Didn't you use your balance powers somehow? But I think it looks like you have the same wound as Luna had before... pure coincidence, eh?"
Ukyo gasped and looked at her bandaged arm. "You mean... I used some special powers to heal her?"
"Not exactly healing, I think," Luna explained. "I think you just balanced out our health by removing one of my wounds and giving it to you..."
"Excuse me," Nabiki pointed out. "But if it is supposed to be a secret that we are Senshi, why are you talking about it in front of Daddy and Mr. Saotome?"
They all looked over to the man and panda who were playing Shogi.
"Don't mind us," Soun mumbled. "We're just going to finish this game, and afterwards we'll pretend nothing happened."
Genma held up a sign. 'Happened? What happened? I didn't see a thing! Especially not a scorpion talking to a cat...'
Luna blinked. "Those people... are weird."
"So, you're ready to help us?" Sailor Moon asked in a hopeful voice. After Ranma had recovered Mercury's communicator from the rooftop, she had contacted her and the other Senshi.
Ranma sighed. She really thought this fuku looked silly, but she just couldn't resist Usagi's puppy-dog-eyes. Besides, fighting for something good sounded... well, good.
"Okay, count me in," she finally said. "If I'm really a reincarnated Senshi, then I guess it's my duty to find the other ones, huh?"
"That's the spirit," Jupiter cheered. "And we'll help you find the others and their amulets."
When Ranma went back to the Dojo, most of the original Senshi decided to go home for now, as the Dojo would be surely crowded if they all were coming. So only Ami and Usagi came along.
When Ranma came through the door, Nabiki was already waiting for her. "Took you long enough, Saotome," she said in a cool voice. "And you are...?"
"Um... Ami Mizuno," the blue-haired girl replied.
"Hi there, I'm Usagi Tsukino," shouted the cheerful blonde.
Nabiki chuckled. "Usagi, eh? I believe we have something that belongs to you..." And she pointed inside.
Usagi looked past her and saw a black cat with a bandaged hind leg lying on the couch. "LUNA," she shouted and scooped up her royal advisor. "Luna, thank goodness you're alright, I was soooo worried!"
"Well, you certainly are late," Akane snickered. "Is that any way to keep fellow Senshi waiting?"
Ranma scratched her head. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Um, you don't mean..." Ami started.
Nabiki grinned. "Sailor Aquarius, meet fellow Sailors Leo, Libra, Virgo... and last but not least, Sailor Scorpio. That would be me!"
Ranma was baffled. "Akane? Nabiki? Kasumi? Ucchan? How?"
Kasumi giggled. "A little scorpion told us."
From the table, the small shape of Sting was waving with his scissors. "Howdy!"
Luna grinned. "Everyone, meet Sting! A friend of mine from the Silver Millennium!"
"Luna, you have some weird tastes," Usagi murmured.
After a while, they all sat down around the table while Kasumi was serving dinner. As before, the two fathers just pretended nothing would be out of the ordinary.
As Soun's motto was: Ignore the weirdness, and maybe the weirdness will ignore you.
Luna spoke up: "Well, at least we know the whereabouts of five Zodiac Senshi, and they all are willing to help us... but the problem is, most of them still don't have their amulets."
"That's true," Ami nodded. "And we have no idea where we should search first."
"Um, if I may..." Sting raised his scissors. "I DO know where Sailor Scorpio's amulet is... After all, I was guarding it for all these times. Only when I realized that my old partner had to be reincarnated by now, I started to take action. I left it behind in a certain valley in Brazil, well hidden... So I'm pretty sure it's still there."
"You just left it behind?" Nabiki asked in a disapproving voice. "Not very reliable, I must say..."
"Hey, I had to do something to reawaken your memories... and I can only do that if you have your amulet. So I had to get you to Brazil somehow."
"So you just sold yourself and a big pile of rocks to the reincarnated version of your old partner per internet and travelled to Japan in a big cardboard box? Great plan..." Luna groaned.
"But how are we going to get to Brazil?" Usagi wondered. "I mean, Africa is pretty far away, isn't it?"
Ami wasn't the only one to sweat-drop. "Usagi, Brazil is in South America, not in Africa..."
"Well, a journey to Brazil for several people won't be very cheap..." Akane sighed. "Hey, Nabiki, do you have...?"
"Forget it," Nabiki grumbled. "Have no more Yen. All invested in a certain dull-witted crustacean..."
"Hey!" Sting sounded offended.
"Guys, that's not our only problem," Ukyo spoke up. "Remember? Akane, Kasumi and I don't even know where our amulets are."
"Well, that won't be much of a problem," Sting said. He waved around his tail... and out of nowhere, a small item appeared.
Usagi giggled. "Luna can do that too."
Ranma picked it up. It was a little quartz crystal, attached to a string. "What's that?"
"That's the Zodiac Pendulum," Sting explained. "Whenever a Zodiac Senshi is separated from her amulet, she can use this to find it... all we need is a world map. The respective Senshi has to take the pendulum, let it hang down over the map, and spin it around. It will point to the place where her amulet is being hidden."
"Lemme try it," Nabiki said. She took the pendulum from Ranma and fetched a world map. She opened it and twirled the pendulum around.
After spinning for a while, it stopped and pointed directly at Brazil.
"Well, whaddya say?" Ukyo grinned. "It works! Gimme! I wanna try!"
She snatched it out of Nabiki's hand.
"Careful, children, that's no toy," Sting scolded them.
Ukyo didn't listen. She used the pendulum, and waited until it stopped.
"It's pointing towards Scotland," she said in a surprised voice.
"I see it already, this will be a long journey all over the world," Luna groaned.
Afterwards, Kasumi and Akane used the pendulum as well. According to it, the Leo Amulet was somewhere in Germany and the Virgo Amulet in California in the United States.
"We reeaaaally don't have enough money for such a long trip," said Akane.
"Maybe we should ask Setsuna," Luna said to Ami. "She always has a lot of money, perhaps she can help us."
"The Outer Senshi are not home," Ami sighed. "Setsuna didn't tell me where they went, but she said something about a 'vacation'."
"And they took Hotaru-chan with them?" Luna wondered. "Strange... I wonder what's going on. It's not like them just to leave like this..."
Suddenly, Usagi grinned. "Don't worry, I've got a great idea how we can get some money..."
Mamoru Chiba grinned as he looked at his bank account. He never had that much Yen before.
But he sure had been lucky... last week, he got the message that he won the lottery jackpot... and he only did play because he had some spare money to spend, just for fun.
He began dreaming of what he was going to buy with all that money... perhaps a brand-new sports car? He chuckled. Motoki would be sooo jealous...
Suddenly, the phone rang and pulled him out of his daydreams.
He picked up. "Chiba?"
"Oooooh Mamo-chaaaaaan," a sweet voice called though the phone.
"Hey, Usako, what's up," he replied cheerfully, while on the inside, he already prepared for the worst... if Usagi used that tone of voice, it usually meant she wanted something from him.
"I have a biiiiig favor I wanna ask of you... You just won all that money from the lottery, riiiight?"
He gulped. "Y-yes, why do you ask?"
"Weeeeell, we just found out that there are some other Senshi and we need to find their transformation amulets. Problem is: They're scattered aaaaall over the world. And we have no money... so, pretty pretty pretty please, could you pay for our journeys, pleeeeaaaaase?"
"But... but..." Mamoru stuttered.
"OOOOOOH PUH-LEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE?"
Mamoru sighed. "Of course, Usako... if it's thaaaat important..."
"Oh THANK YOU, Mamo-chan, thank you, thank you, thaaaaank yoouuuu!"
Mamoru whined. So much about a brand-new sports car...
While Ranma and the girls were having dinner, Happosai was hiding under the ceiling of the room, all the while listening to the talk of the gathered Senshi.
'So, Ranma and the gals are Senshi, eh?' he mused. 'Well, doesn't matter... as long as they show me where those amulets are hidden...'
He smiled when he remembered how he found an ancient text inside the old cave. It was written that the one who gathered all of the Zodiac Amulets would be granted a wish... and Happi knew exactly what he would wish...
'Ooooh, a world where the beautiful girls don't mind that I take a look at their wonderful bodies, clad only in the most glorious underwear... that would be the most noble of all wishes...'
And think about it... When would he get the chance of seeing the Senshi that close? Those lovely fukus... those short skirts... Yum yum...
If he just knew that these amulets were actually the items they used to transform... perhaps he would start to get doubts about the parchment he found...
"I think we should split up," Ami suggested. "That way we can save time. I think at least one of the original Senshi should be paired up with one of the new Zodiac Senshi... especially because they still can't transform, so their powers are still a little low..."
"Well, Ami always has the best ideas, so I'm for it," Usagi smiled.
"Okay, we'll tell the others, and then we can arrange who is going to be whose travel companion," Luna said.
"Okay," Ranma said. "Sounds good..."
Luna looked at him. "Ranma... why are your eyes closed?" When she thought about it, he had his eyes closed for almost the whole time they were here. Only when he took a look at the pendulum, he had opened them.
Ranma gulped. "B-b-because this way I can try to convince myself that you aren't a c-c-c... a c-c-c..."
Luna sweat-dropped. "What, you're bothered by the fact that I'm a ca..."
"NO!" Ranma nearly screamed. "Don't say the word!!"
"What's wrong with him?" Sting asked in a curious voice.
Akane shook her head. "It's sad, somehow... You know, Ranma has a very big problem with... you know... THAT kind of animal." She pointed to Luna. "He's deadly afraid of them. And I think he's trying to control his fear by imagining Luna as a human girl."
"Oh, Ranma..." Luna sighed. "If you're that afraid, you should have said something. I could have left the room."
"N-n-no, it's all right..." Ranma stuttered, still with closed eyes. "How can I be a defender of the planet if I can't even endure being in a room with a c... with a ca... you know?"
Sting chuckled nervously. "Don't tell him that Venus' advisor is a cat as well..."
"WHAAAAAH!" Ranma freaked and ran out of the room.
Luna stared at the scorpion. "Sting, you really need to learn when to shut up..."
Among the many people standing and walking in the waiting hall of the airport, the ten teenagers felt pretty cramped. Luna and Artemis were pretty ticked off when they realized they had to travel in the cargo area of the planes, and Sting... well, they had to hide him, because no one of them was too sure if it was legal to take scorpions with them.
The previous day, they all had met in the Shrine of Rei's grandfather, and Rei, Makoto and Minako met the new Senshi for the first time. Artemis and Luna decided to stay hidden, because of Ranma's fear. Because of this reason, Ranma wouldn't join one of the teams they would accompany.
Mamoru had decided to come along as well, so they still had to wait for him. After some time, Usagi saw him walking towards them through the crowd.
"Sorry I'm late," he apologized. Usagi forgave him. She introduced her new friends to her boyfriend and afterwards, they all got ready to leave for their flights.
Of course, Nabiki and Sting would fly to Brazil together.
But... who would come along with them?