Chapter 2, Life In Hell

I don't own these characters. Please don't sue me, kill me or give me the T-Virus.


Being buried deep inside of a pile of trash allowed Ranko to dwell on her current situation. It was possible that Ukyou would never forgive her for choosing Akane, but it was a price that had to be paid whether she liked it or not. When Akane was taken by the youma months ago, Ranko swore no price was too great to bring her home safely, and it nearly cost her life. Now, it was going to cost her best friend in the whole world, perhaps her only true friend.

How much more was she going to have to pay before her life debts were settled? Ranko pondered the question as she slowly pulled herself out of the garbage. She brushed herself off and gazed longingly at the Ucchan's. Minutes passed, and no sign was visible that Ukyou was going to reopen her shop or allow Ranko to see her to mend the fence that was broken between them. Sullenly, Ranko walked toward the Tendo household, pausing twice to look back at the restaurant for any clue that she would be allowed to return.

She put her hands in her pockets and walked aimlessly, drowning in her sorrow. Earlier, her mother rejected her and Ukyou's reaction only deepened the wound. She ignored the people around her and kept walking randomly until she happened upon a small park. In the center of it was a small lake with a boathouse and a dock to one side, and a group of snack vendors on the other. She didn't feel like eating anything, since she had no money and she wasn't in the mood to do the cute girl act to get free food. She plopped herself down on a bench and stared at the waters of the pond, mourning her losses.

Not long ago, a body of water like this lake was something Ranko thought she'd never see again. Her mind wandered as she admired the things she had missed, trees, grass, other people and the safety in knowing that she was not going to be attacked at any moment by something that wanted her or Akane dead.

Ranko softly cried as the enormity of her loss settled in. "Pops, why'd you promise me to her? Why'd you tell mom that we'd commit seppuku? Why'd you take Ucchan's family's okonomiyaki cart? What were you thinking? Oh, Pops..." Ranko's lip trembled as she fondly remembered that Ucchan was someone she could always talk to, to rely on, to trust. If Ucchan could ever forgive her, things would never be the same between them. Ucchan had already paid a steep price, the loss of her family vending cart, her femininity, her family and all for what? So she could extract revenge on the Saotome family only for her to fall in love with Ranma again? Ranko felt a craving for Ucchan's famous okonomiyaki and she held her stomach back, letting it know that the empty feeling inside was one that was going to stay for a while.

Her mother was another thing. Months of hiding in plain sight as Ranko and Mr. Panda had taken its toll, and now she could never see her mother again, unless she wanted to don the traditional kimono to be worn when committing ritual suicide. A man among men? Some man she turned out to be. Even with all the Sailor Senshi acting as her references, it didn't matter. Nodoka Saotome didn't see her son, but an aberration. One, who should be cast aside for the sake of family honor. Ranko buried her head in her hands and cried.

There had to be a way to convince her mother and Ukyou that she only did what she knew was right. She saved thousands of people from enslavement by Jadeite and his armies. She rescued Akane from certain death. She was a Sailor Senshi. A wave of pride washed over her as she thought about Akane, and the progress the young Tendo had made in her training.

She relaxed her head back and look upwards into the cloudy sky. High above, fluffy cottony balls of water vapor shifted and moved in odd shapes. She smiled, thinking about games she used to play with Ucchan when they were little. Almost a lifetime ago, the two of them played near Mr. Kuonji's cart while Ranko's father was building an obstacle course to test his six-year-old son's newest skills. One of the many games the two kids enjoyed together was to gaze at the clouds and call out what they saw. At the present moment, a white cloud to the south had a long thin line that ended in a trapezoid; a viewer could almost see it as a giant spatula. Ranko blinked her eyes and rubbed them in astonishment. She looked again and saw a long thin circular cloud with some holes inside that somewhat looked like the outline of a shrimp studded okonomiyaki.

Ranko held her hands to the side of her head in a crazed attempt to flush Ucchan out of her mind. "Aaahh!"

Spent, she spied a nearby tree and wandered over to it and sat near its trunk on the shade-covered grass. She lied on her back and paid attention to nothing in particular. It had been a long time since she was at ease, and she allowed her mind to wander again. Suddenly, Ranko sat up, and assumed a combat pose. What was that? She wondered.

Listening carefully, she heard the sound again and prepared herself to fire a bolt of ki at the enemy. She aimed her hands upward toward a low hanging branch and stood still, waiting for her opponent to make the first move.

A snap was heard and Ranko called out, "Moko Takabisha!" A bolt of life energy streamed out and hit the branch, slicing it in two. A startled squirrel jumped out, landed on the ground and scurried off to the safety of another tree.

Ranko chastised herself for being so jumpy. "It's just a stupid squirrel." She slumped to the ground and flopped backwards onto the soft grass. Feeling relieved, she whispered in a calm voice. "I'm not there anymore."

Tired, worried, and exhausted, she thought about Akane and drifted off to a nap.


This is it, thought Sailor Sun as she prepared to touch the clear stasis crystal. With a scream of "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" the crystal shattered, spewing hundreds of shards outward. They struck the Sailor Senshi all over her body and she raised her arms as a shield against the onslaught. It took Sun a moment to recover from the stinging pain and as she lowered her arms she saw Akane's naked bodying lay helpless on the floor. With a look of rage, she flipped in the air and landed where Sailor Mercury once stood. Sun glanced back and confirmed that Mercury was carrying the tomboy to safety. Using the magic within her, she posed with her arms stretched forward and in her hands formed a ball of fire. Focusing her anger and her magic together, the fireball grew larger and larger. The three youma that Mercury had been keeping busy a moment ago paused and grew nervous as the flames became three meters across.

That's for taking Akane! "SEARING PLASMA BLAST!" Sun threw the fireball and it hit the lead youma in the chest, which didn't slow down the attack as it vaporized the creature and kept going. The other two were partially engulfed by the inferno and they died instantly. A second later, the plasma struck the corridor beyond and exploded, sending fire ricocheting back toward the Sailor Senshi.

Sun reacted in shock and surprise at the ferocity of her attack and leapt backwards, performing somersaults until she was out of the chamber and bounced off a wall toward where Mercury carrying Akane had disappeared to. In mid-flight, the concussion wave hit, and she was hurled into a wall and slid downward and fire bathed her body in an orange glow for an instant. Once the building stopped shaking and her attack subsided, Sun lifted herself off the ground, no worse for wear. Frightened that her attack caused collateral damage, she hurriedly ran in the direction that Sailor Mercury had traveled. Turning a corner, she found Akane laying on the ground, unburned, and Mercury on top, acting as a shield. Relieved that Akane wasn't blasted to pieces, she lunged forward and grabbed Mercury by her Sailor collar and lifted her to her feet. Sun scooped up Akane in her arms and planted her lips on the tomboy's mouth and softly sobbed with relief.

Sailor Sun broke off her kiss with her unconscious fiancée and turned toward Mercury. "I got her! Let's go!" Gesturing away from the gaping, smoldering hole, she shouted, "this way, NOW!" Instantly, she sprinted down the corridor.

Mercury commented as she ran after the redhead. "Wow. I haven't seen a girl kiss like that since Michiru's slumber party." Even at top speed, she could barely keep up with Sailor Sun's insane pace. Alarm klaxons sounded everywhere, signaling that in moments the place would be swarming with hundreds of Jadeite's youma. Beads of sweat formed on her brow as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. They ran down hallway after hallway until, straight ahead, were a pair of tall white metal doors blocking the exit and they were guarded by six giant youma, the same ones the two Senshi had seen lining up in formation outside. Six against us? Not good, thought the worried Sailor Mercury.

With a furious kick, Sailor Sun, with Akane held close in her arms, bowled over the youma like bowling pins. She didn't even pause to finish the fight. She tumbled into a ball, rolled on the floor and with blinding speed, spun around to avoid a blob of green acid. A look of terror was on Sun's face as she narrowly avoided the goop and used her shoulder to shield her fiancée from another attack.

Mercury shouted while ducking under a youma's punch. "Don't panic, Sun. She's just sleeping. I think she's probably exhausted from having her energy drained for the last week. Let's go!"

Sun paused for a second and touched one of the doors with her finger, instantly it exploded showering her with metal fragments and bright sunlight. "This way out!"

"How are you doing that?" asked the shocked Sailor Mercury. Sun didn't wait to give an answer. The red-skirted girl leapt out of the hole and sprinted down the ramp to the ground below. She checked on Akane as she ran away from the city with Mercury close behind. Sun was starting to tire and in moments, Mercury overtook Sun and the two spied in the distance a raised dais with an activated portal and a small group of youma milling about.

Giving each other a nod, they both ran toward the portal, completely ignoring the youma guarding it. Sun was fast, but with Akane's extra weight slowing her down, Mercury was faster. The blue-skirted Senshi darted ahead and before the youma could react, dived headfirst into the shimmering vortex and only an instant after the soles of her boots vanished from sight, so did the portal. Immediately after seeing Mercury reach safety and her method of escape cut off, Sailor Sun turned ninety degrees and ran at top speed away from the three startled youma manipulating the portal controls. Sun hoped that Mercury would remember the instructions she was given about the signal flares. Mercury was the smart one. Sun knew she could trust her. The redhead ran, carrying the only thing that mattered to her in the whole universe, Akane.

Akane, you've gotta lose some weight, thought Sun as she struggled to keep up her sprint. She didn't bother to look back for it didn't matter what happened behind her. Akane was safe. The way home was shut down. The city was no concern of hers anymore. The area was swarming with youma and Sailor Mercury had already escaped. The only thing left to do was to get away and find shelter.

Sun wished she were home right now. Not at Mr. Miyagi's dojo in Juuban, but back at the Tendo compound where she happily lived a lifetime ago. She hoped she could wake up from this current nightmare and find herself lying on the floor of the guest room, clad in her boxer shorts, white tank top and hearing her father in Panda form snoring like a buzz saw. Moments later, she'd be sparring on the roof yelling and receiving taunts from her father like she always did for the last ten years on the road. Soon, she'd finish her sparring only to be fed breakfast by someone who couldn't tell the difference between salt, sugar and baking soda. What's with this tomboy? Why can't she make a decent meal?

Glancing down without breaking her stride, she saw a piece of reality that hit her square in the face. In her arms was the naked body of Akane Tendo, tomboy, Martial Artist, pathetic cook, gymnast, volleyball star, horrid swimmer and only recently, a huge power source for Jadeite's war machine. Closing her eyes and holding back her tears, Sun held her bundle tightly to keep her fiancée safe from harm. She failed her once, but never again. Even at the cost of her own life, she swore to herself that she'd never let anything ever harm Akane. Looking forward and picking up the pace a bit, she made a beeline toward an opening between two tall rock formations. The pass ahead appeared to be the most likely path to the other side of a range of craggy mountains.

How was she going to find safety in this forsaken land? In all her travels, she had never been to a place as barren and devoid of life as this. The great deserts in China were nothing compared to what lay all around her. Mercury told her that the sky was cloudless due to lack of water and with the sun hanging low in the sky, it wouldn't be long before it would heat the land to a nice warm temperature, but that was only temporary. When the sun reached midday, the ground would be too hot to walk on barefoot and without shade, Akane's skin would sunburn in moments.

What am I going to do? Sun had to figure out a solution to her dilemma and quickly. Her thoughts racing, she knew there had to be a cave or outcropping she could use for shelter close by. Sun made a high leap and flew over a three-meter tall rock with little effort. She quickly looked around for any sign of danger and continued her running. In moments, she was in the center of a tall canyon, forty meters high and ten meters wide. It was a great place for an ambush, and perfect to lose her pursuers if they were even chasing her. Ahead, the canyon split, and then split again as if a long dried up river had formed it and it followed the teachings of the Ryoga School of travelling in a straight line. Randomly choosing to turn left or right and stepping only on rocks to avoid leaving footprints, Sun began to slow down. She listened to the sounds around her and only heard the patter of her own footsteps and Akane's shallow breathing.

Sun stopped for a moment, panting heavily and weary from running. She could hear Akane's heartbeat in the silence of the dead riverbed, despite making raspy sounds from her own lungs. There was no other life here on Jadeite's world. Nowhere could be found a blade of grass, tumbleweed, bushes or even long dead wood, nothing. Not even the common sounds of cicadas or birds could be heard which made the planet even creepier then it already was. There wasn't even a hint of wind at the moment, which made Sun's ears ultra-sensitive to even the sound of how air was flowing within Akane's lungs.

With new resolve, Sun bent her knees and gave it all her might as she leapt high into the air and scaled the canyon wall in a single bound. From her new vantage point, she was able to see for kilometers in every direction. She would find a place of safety. She would find somewhere that she could protect the only thing that had any meaning for her.

Akane.


Jadeite was angry. No, more than angry, he was completely furious. Not just furious, he had reached a Queen Beryl level of furious. He completely understood why his former Queen wanted to destroy her underlings when a mission didn't go according to plan. He counted to ten, all the while the youma in front of him sweated nervously as it awaited its impending destruction at the hands of its master.

He knew he was better than Queen Beryl. He wasn't going to waste valuable resources just to make himself feel better for a moment. He found his center and took a deep breath to release his anger. Calm restored, he waved off his servant. "That will be all."

Wasting no time, the youma made itself scarce before its master changed his mind and decided to blow it to smithereens because it delivered the bad news of the Senshi's escape.

Jadeite turned his chair around and pressed several controls for his viewing panels. He played back the recording on a data crystal that showed a Sailor Senshi destroy his once thought impervious stasis crystal with only a single touch. He played the video frame by frame, carefully watching how this act was performed, looking for any way he could create some sort of defense to keep his prisoners captive without the Senshi freeing them as easily as they just did. He played back the clip where Sailor Sun touched the main door causing it to explode and tried to glean what spell was cast to cause such an effect. He reached for the wall fragments that were recovered from the rubble and piled on the flat area of his desk. Holding a fist-sized chunk of shattered metal, he studied it carefully. He performed a magic detection spell and the spell dissipated revealing no aura of residual magic. "Non-magical? Impossible! What sort of Sailor Senshi magic can avoid detection?"

It doesn't make any sense, thought the soon to be leader of the planet Earth. When the two Sailor Senshi appeared on his world, he didn't know who they were. He thought they were just a scouting party who'd be intimidated by how well organized his base of operations was laid out. He knew the Sailor Senshi were in fact just school girls with super powers and as these kids suffered defeat after defeat, they'd be demoralized or better yet, they'd give up. Instead, these two girls had the audacity to actually infiltrate his base and get within five hundred meters of his main chamber without tripping a single alarm. It was only when Sailor Mercury struck the stasis crystal did he even know that he had intruders.

He already had made plans for how to improve on base security. It had cost him some time because he had to assign some of his super youma that he'd been stockpiling for his final assault on Tokyo for sentry and guard duty. A slow victory was far better than a rapid defeat caused by being too cocky, as evidenced by Queen Beryl's failures. He ran some numbers and found the increase in security would only cost him a few days of time and ensure that the pesky Sailor Senshi would never get near him again.

Glancing at a security camera feed, he spied a pair of his super youma walking down a hallway, inspecting the area for any sign of an intruder. A small man-sized youma was near them and was installing an alarm switch on the wall. He had given orders to his youma that if anyone saw a Sailor Senshi, they were to hit the alarm button before attacking, even if it meant the youma would be killed. He sat back with a smug look on his face. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, never.

Another thing puzzled Jadeite, the girl in the stasis chamber was supposed to be Sailor Mercury, yet in the video of the escape; it was clearly Mercury who was standing in the room with Sailor Sun. So, who was his prisoner? She wasn't as slender as Sailor Mars and her hairstyle and color didn't match any of the other Senshi, yet she emitted more life energy than any human he had ever found. He was convinced that he had captured a Sailor Senshi in human form, but which one? The report he got about her capture only reinforced his belief that she was one of them. It took three youma to restrain her and she killed one of them with an energy attack that only a Sailor Senshi could deliver. He pulled out the report of the capture and re-read the notation about a very large mallet being used to send a youma out a window while others piled on her to stop her attacks. Jadeite pulled up the information he had on the known Sailor Senshi past and present, and the only weapons he found were swords, mirrors, glaives, staffs, but not mallets.

He raised his hand to his chin deep in thought. Maybe this girl was a Sailor Senshi trainee? After all, they recruited a new Sailor Senshi and called her Sailor Sun so why not? Could this girl be the fabled Sailor Terra? Maybe she's a Sailor Senshi of another celestial body like Saturn's moon Titan? He wasn't going to take any chances. This girl had powers of some sort and he wasn't going to allow this new girl to get too comfortable in her new role as a Sailor Senshi. She, as well as Sailor Sun were going to find out that being a Sailor Senshi only meant one thing; a short lifespan.

Jadeite began to plan. He would ensure that these two girls were no longer going to be a problem for him and the only permanent solution involved a burial.


Sailor Sun cautiously walked along what was once a riverbed, but now was a testament to how lifeless this world was. All that could be seen were red and brown rocks littering a semi-smooth floor covered in fine brown sand. She poked her finger into the sand, looking for water and as before, came up empty. Given the fact that she hadn't seen any water anywhere ever since she had arrived worried her greatly. With the exception of Jadeite, his youma and the mana melon farm, the world was totally dead. Only a slight rustling of small pebbles being moved by a moderate wind gave any hint that where she was was real. Walking slowly, careful to avoid leaving any tracks that would lead the youma to her, she continued her search. "Where was it?"

Days ago, she had found a series of caves that she and Mercury hid in until they were ready to strike. It seemed as good a place to hide as any until Sun could figure out what to do next, however none of the area she was wandering around in looked familiar. The sun was climbing higher into the sky and the ground was warming up. Rocks, boulders, sand, and oh, my, more rock, were all Sun could see in every direction. She muttered in a quiet worried tone, "this isn't happening..."

Ahead, at the base of a cliff, partially hidden behind a boulder lay a cave entrance. Excitedly, Sun ran up and took a peek inside. Darkness was all she could see. She raised her hand and a flame appeared in her palm giving off orange light. She tossed the fireball into the cave and watched it fly ten meters in before hitting the back wall and the light went out. Nodding in approval, she made another fireball and held it high and was about to enter when an irritated voice called her, "find anything?"

Sun turned around to see Akane, dressed in a red silk shirt, black cotton pants and black cloth slippers, the clothes Ranma usually wore, but now were the only clothes that Akane could wear since there wasn't a clothing store anywhere on the planet. Keeping her mouth shut, she studied how they looked on her fiancée; I can't believe that fits her. She nodded in response to her fiancée's question, "I think so. I don't see anything dangerous."

"Okay." Akane smiled and entered the cave without hesitating.

Sun waved her hand to stop her. "Wait! I hadn't checked it out yet."

Akane huffed. "Are you going to start treating me like a baby again?" She edged further inside and was quickly swallowed by the blackness.

"Get back here! I can't have you running around like that!" Sun ran in and grabbed Akane by the shoulder to pull her back and instantly the slightly taller girl screamed in pain as the fire Sun held in her hand burned the spot she touched.

"AAAHHH! You idiot!" Akane punched Sun in the face, sending the Sailor Senshi flying into a cave wall. The magical fire went out and the redhead slid down to the ground, out cold.

"Moron! Be more careful." The Tendo placed her right palm on her left shoulder and plucked at her shirtsleeve. It was scorched, but not burned through. Peeking under her shirt collar, she saw that her skin was turning red, but it wasn't serious. She gently rubbed the area to soothe the growing pain and waited a moment for her eyesight to adjust to the inky darkness. A minute later, with the bright daylight outside providing some illumination, she was able to examine the interior of the cave.

The walls, ceiling and floor were made out of somewhat smooth red rock, as if long ago, water had flowed inside and eroded everything into its present state. The floor of the cave was peppered with patches of sand and dust that made walking a little tricky. The ceiling was three meters above the ground in the center and quickly lowered to barely over two meters at the sides. The cave extended ten meters deep into the cliffside, so there was plenty of room to store things if they needed to.

Akane's stomach growled in hunger and she thought about when was the last time she ate anything. Ranma said earlier that they were going to have to steal some food, and she hoped it would be soon. She was starving. All the training Ranma had been subjecting her to back in Tokyo had given her an appetite that rivaled her fiancé. She moved a few rocks from the center of the cave over to the side to make space so she could sit down comfortably. Sitting, she sighed and gazed at her future husband with envious eyes. "A Sailor Senshi... Of all the crazy things that could happen to him, why that?"

She slumped forward in depression. "My battle do-gi, my being Juliet," she lowered her voice to barely a whisper, "my popularity, he took away everything."

Picking up a small rock, she threw it at Sun and it bounced off her tiara. "Idiot."

Slowly waking up in a daze and the world shifting spinning all around her, Sailor Sun groaned. She opened her eyes and with blurry vision, she saw someone but couldn't recognize who it was at all. She made a guess. "Aa... mi?"

Akane rolled her eyes in disgust. "No, she's not here."

Realizing her mistake, in a flash, Sun was standing in front of the seated girl and formed a ball of flame in her hand. "Akane? Akane!" Sun looked in every direction, searching for anything that could harm the woman she loved.

Akane rubbed her shoulder again. "Hey, firebug. Put that down before you touch me again with it."

"Oh, sorry." She put the fire out and paused for a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark cave. "It's a bit too easy to make these things."

Rolling her eyes again, the Tendo scoffed, "so you say." Then in a more serious, worried tone, she asked, "Ranma?"

"What, Akane?" Sun sat down next to her fiancée, and without thinking, put her hand on top of Akane's with a gentle touch.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by the blue haired girl, and she formed a smile. "I'm wondering. Where exactly are we? I mean, this place kind of looks like Mars."

Sun shrugged. "For all I know, it is Mars, but I'd really doubt it. Sailor Mars would probably know if someone was on her planet."

Akane froze. "What do you mean, her planet?" She raised her hands with warding signs, "is that it? You're aliens?"

"Get real, Akane. I'm not an alien and neither is Re... I mean Sailor Mars." Sun rubbed her head where Akane had struck her earlier to relieve her headache. "I heard them talk about their powers come from the planets."

"And you're Sailor Sun, so you're tied to the Sun?" Akane relaxed a little, and then crossed her arms. "Figures you'd pick the biggest thing in the solar system. I'm surprised you didn't get Sailor Universe."

Sun said excitedly, "hey! That's an idea!"

Akane buried her head in her hand, "forget I mentioned it."

She dreamily contemplated a new role in the Sailor Corps, "Sailor Universe... Sailor Universe..."

The youngest Tendo took a good look at Sun's uniform as the redhead kept imagining something stupid. The white leotard, the bright red mini-skirt, the huge yellow bow on her chest covering some sort of breast armor made of a soft material, the white gloves that had three red rings where they ended at the elbows, the gold tiara with a red gem that almost gave of a glow that reminded her of a lit candle, all made her feel depressed. Why him? Why did he join them when...

Akane stopped her chain of thought and slowly turned away from the beautiful girl sitting across from her. But the image of how lovely she looked wouldn't leave her mind, her bright red knee high boots with yellow trim at the top, the pretty yellow bow attached to the small of her back and two long trailing ribbons, the red button earrings, and her makeup, complete with bright red lipstick. She was awash in envy.

She began to cry.

It took a moment for Sun to realize that Akane wasn't looking at her anymore and her soft sobbing got her out of her trance. She slipped closer and held her in a soft embrace. "Don't worry Akane, I'll find us a way home."

Instead of returning the hug, Akane shoved her away. "Why you? Why did they pick you? You're not even a girl."

Surprised at Akane's shove and her question, Sun raised her arms in dismay. "Don't ask me! I turned them down and they wouldn't take no for an answer."

"You? Turn down a power up? Tell me something believable. When I got the battle do-gi, you couldn't handle that I was the one it chose. You were so jealous that all you did was keep challenging me to fight until you cheated by making my suit come off."

"I was saving you. That thing was a pervert!"

"It was my friend! I can't believe daddy took it back to the monastery where you got it."

"Well it kept coming back from the thrift store!"

"That's because it missed me!"

Sun crossed her arms. "The thing wanted to peep on you." Then she added without thinking, "no accounting for taste!" It was at this moment her brain caught up with her mouth and braced her body for impact.

"Ranma, you jerk!" WHAM!

Sun went flying out of the cave and bounced off the large boulder directly outside. She kept going and she spread her arms to guide her flight and smashed into something soft. Both her and the object rolled on the ground and were covered in reddish brown dust.

Sun chastised herself. "Man, I've got to keep my big mouth shut."

The youma she landed next to sat up and rubbed its belly. "Oh, what hit me?" The orange creature was two and a half meters tall, somewhat human like except for the elfin ears, vampire fangs and a Mohawk hairstyle in her green mane.

Sun and the youma looked at each other and they both screamed. "AAAAAAHHH!"

Akane emerged from the cave, battle aura glowing. "You're always putting me down!"

Sun jumped up into the air as the youma's mighty fist slammed down where the Sailor Senshi had landed. As soon as she touched ground, the youma's two companions, one with yellow hair, and the other with lavender hair arrived. Sun contemplated her tactics and chose the best course of action, run like hell. She ran over to Akane, crying out, "we gotta blow this place!"

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Akane grabbed a very large rock and in a show of her super human strength, held it above her head. "Take this!" She hurled the rock at Sun who ducked and it flew straight into the green hair youma, smashing it down. The other two youma looked at each other in shock, since the green haired one was their leader.

"Akane! Oh, man!" Which was worse, the two remaining youma, or Akane? Decisions, decisions, she backpedaled from the greater threat, the one she was engaged to.

"Get back here and take it like a man! THUNDER HAMMER STRIKE!" Akane raised her arms above her head and formed a ball of blue ki.

Sun got an idea. She jumped into the air again and taunted her fiancée. "Nyaa! Nyaa! You can't hit me!" Then she landed behind some cover.

Akane's eyes twitched and she hurled her life energy at Sun, impacting on her shield, blasting it to fist sized pieces.

The lavender haired youma stood dumbfounded as its yellow haired companion exploded. Retreat and bringing an army seemed to be a better option. It backed away and turned tail. "I've got to tell them where you are."

"Oh, no you don't!" Sun grabbed the creature's arm and pulled it back into the fight. The youma struck back, punching the redhead in the chest. Sun recovered from the blow and delivered a high kick then a follow up punch, which pushed the creature backwards.

Akane screamed in anger, "stop ignoring me!"

Dodging between blows, Sun retorted, "I'm a bit busy here."

Akane reached over and grabbed the youma, who was shocked at how strong this human was. With little effort, the Tendo swung it around like a bolas and slammed it on the head of Sailor Sun. "I'm not done talking to you!"

From under the dazed youma, Sun moaned. "Thanks for the help."

"Thanks? Thanks! She grabbed the youma by the legs, swung it over her head a second time and as the youma whimpered, smashed it down harder on top of her fiancée. This time, the youma broke apart and dissolved into dust.

Sun stood up, facing the dark blue haired Tendo. "Are you done yet?"

"No, I'm not! It's all your fault you moron!"

"What do you mean this is my fault?"

"They were after you!"

"In case you hadn't noticed," Sun angrily turned her attention to the green haired youma that was freeing itself from Akane's boulder. She formed a fireball and threw it at the monster, "SEARING PLASMA BLAST!" The youma only had a second to make peace before it joined its friends in oblivion. Then Sun turned back to face her soon to be spouse, "they're after us!"

"They were attacking you, not me!"

"They're after us!"

"They're after you!"

"Fine." Sun crossed her arms in defiance. Then she had brilliant rebuttal, "if they're not after you, why'd they kidnap you?"

"Because they thought I was you, idiot!"

"Huh?" Sun blinked. "I thought... How could they? I wasn't there..." Sun allowed depression to take her as she recalled the day she lost Akane.

"That's right, you weren't. You were at the store getting groceries when they came for you."

Sun's confident defiance shattered and she hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry, I should have been there."

"It's a good thing you weren't. They sent an army to get you." It was Akane's turn to feel depressed and worried. "They would have killed you."

A hint of Sun's arrogance peeked out from behind her sad expression as she raised an eyebrow at Akane's remark. "An army? How many showed up?"

"I couldn't count them all, about fifty I think."

"F-fifty? Jadeite only sends groups of four or five, not fifty."

"Yes, fifty!" Akane's battle aura grew again. "I was in the back throwing away the pot when they appeared out of nowhere. I got one, and then the alley was full of them. So I ran in the house and bolted the door. They busted in and they kept telling me 'we've got you now Sailor Senshi'! I didn't have a clue what they were talking about, but now that I know about your hobby, everything makes sense."

"But... But... Akane, you gotta believe me, I quit being a Sailor Senshi so that wouldn't happen. I didn't want any more trouble."

Akane looked Sun up and down. "Yeah, you quit alright. Why are you dressed like that then?"

"I... I... I had to get you back. So I signed up again so I can get my powers back. I... I... I didn't mean for this to happen, I mean, uh... I gave up being a Senshi 'cause I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Stop treating me like a baby!" Akane stomped her foot down. "I'm sick and tired of you always thinking I'm helpless. I'm a martial artist too. Before you came along, I was the best in Nerima."

"You gotta understand. I quit so I could keep you safe."

"Safe? You call this being safe? What's wrong with you?" She fired a small bolt of ki to make a point. "I can defend myself. Maybe not against an army, but I can fight." She took a good look at Sun's eyes and read her soul. Sun's face was an expression of fear and love. Akane softened, "why won't you let me fight with you?"

"You don't know these things like I do, they're more powerful than anyone we know, except maybe Herb."

"And you beat Herb."

With pride, she gloated, "yes I did."

"And I didn't have any problems with those two."

It dawned on Sun that Akane was right. She was capable of defending herself. In a matter of seconds, she killed two of Jadeite's minor youma. Maybe, Akane was able to take care of herself after all? "Yes, you did."

Akane asked, half begging, half demanding. "Then teach me. Teach me how to fight people like Herb. You promised."

"Yes, yes, I did." Sun's stomach growled. "Man, I'm hungry. We gotta get some food."

Akane's stomach growled in agreement. "So, what's to eat around here?"

"You don't want to know."

"What do you mean, I don't want to know?"

Sailor Sun's face displayed a look of sheer disgust. "I'd eat a rat any day over what they got around here."

Akane's eyes grew wide at the idea of eating a rat, then she wondered, how could I make rat stew?


Night was falling and it would be dark soon, giving more reminders that they were far far away from home. Akane stood, feet apart, her right hand above her head and was in front of a small group of rocks that would soon become more numerous and smaller in size. She cried out, "Hyaa!" and slammed her hand down in a karate chop and shattered the stone as she had done thousands of times back home.

Sailor Sun kept a vigil, sensing the area for any youma activity. Jadeite had to know they were still around and she was sure he would stop at nothing to make sure the pair were dead or in a stasis chamber having their life energy sucked out. She watched the sun quickly move toward the horizon and sink behind some distant mountains. The sky changed from the purple it usually was into a rainbow of colors. Green, yellow, and reds shaded the atmosphere until it all became a uniform color of darkness.

Sun got up from the rock she was sitting on and summoned her magic. A ball of red fire appeared in her hand creating a ball of light that allowed them to see. The landscape in every direction was completely encased in darkness. There were no stars in the heavens, no moon to cast a nightly glow, nothing even resembling illumination from anywhere except from one location: Jadeite's city of youma far off to the east.

Akane huffed, a little angry that her practice had to be cut short. The world revolved at a faster rate causing the days to be only sixteen and a half hours long. Sun examined Akane's handiwork and smiled at the young Tendo in pride.

Holding her flame above her head like a torch, she waved at her partner. "Okay, Akane, let's get inside. I think I figured out how to teach this to you, c'mon."

The Tendo followed Sun with a little trepidation. Earlier in the day, the two raided the mana melon farm and Sun commented how Akane could steal them faster if she knew the Chestnut Fist and without a bag of chestnuts, it was going to be tricky for her to learn it. But Sun did learn it by using a tank of goldfish, so improvisation was the answer.

Once the pair entered the cave, Sun paused. She turned around and stood next to the large boulder outside of their cave and with a shove, tried to move it. It slid a few centimeters and stopped. Sun put more effort into it, and moved it another few centimeters. With her third effort, Akane joined in and the rock moved easily into place. "Thanks, Akane."

The short haired girl growled, "you could have asked for help instead of trying to do everything yourself, you know."

"Oh, sorry. Mars gets on my case about that all the time."

"She's right. When I see the Sailor Senshi on TV, they're always working as a team. How in the world are they putting up with you?"

Sun was a solo act for over a week, and tricked the other Sailor Senshi into getting her here. I'd better not tell Akane that. "I dunno. I mean... Oh... Let's get inside before it gets cold."

Sun led Akane into the cave, as the temperature outside plummeted and the once hot desert became a cold one. Once they were in the center of the cave, the pair sat opposite each other on square rocks that doubled as chairs. Sun piled a number of fist-sized rocks and encircled them with larger stones. After her little pile was complete, she focused her magic and touched the rocks, and soon, they glowed with heat and light.

"Neat trick. You have to teach me that too."

"I wish I could." Sun sat back. "But that wasn't martial arts, it was magic; Sailor Senshi magic. But I can teach this." She produced a small pile of pebbles in her fist.

"You're going to teach me to hold rocks in my hand?"

With a gleam in her eye, Sun smiled evilly. "No, think of them as chestnuts."

The word had special meaning, and it caught Akane's attention. "I'm listening."

"Watch carefully." She tossed the pebbles onto the hot rocks. Focusing her ki, she rapidly snatched them all back and placed every one of them into a small pile in front of her. In a matter of seconds, she collected all the pebbles. "Do you need me to show you again?"

The Chestnut Fist! "Yes!"

Sun repeated the demonstration four times. Each time she changed her technique slightly, either by going faster, slower or placing the pebbles in different locations. Each time, it was to let Akane view the technique from a different angle to ensure she understood how it was being done. "Ready to give it a go?"

Excitedly, she replied, "yes!" She kneeled in front of the hot stones and held her arms close with her hands forward.

Sun tossed the pebbles in and called out, "go!"

Akane reached in and pulled her hand back in pain. "Ouch!"

Sun shook her head in disapproval. "Focus. The key is speed. Don't give the heat any time to do anything to you. If you're too slow, you'll get burned."

Nodding, the student put her arms up and was about to reach in when her teacher stopped her. "No... Focus your ki. Let it power your movements. Understand?"

"My ki?"

"Your Thunder Hammer Strike comes from your ki, your ability to make those mallets, same thing. Focus." Sun released Akane's hand. "You can do it."

With a new resolve, Akane closed her eyes and focused. After a brief meditation, she opened her eyes, reached in and pulled out a stone and placed it on her lap. She clapped her hands together in glee. "I did it!" Then she froze and instantly jumped up in the air leaving a smoldering pebble behind. "YEOOWWW!"

"Akane!" Sun grabbed a mana melon and broke it open. She carved out a small piece of the rind and placed the soft juicy part on Akane's wound where the pebble burned her on her thigh. "There, that'll fix you up." She kicked away the hot pebble to keep it from harming Akane. "We'll try again in the morning."

"Owwww... That was hot!" Akane reclined a little and relaxed as the pain subsided. "Isn't that our food?"

"Yeah, but it's the only thing we got that I can use for this."

"Well, I'm hungry." She reached over and picked up the brown fruit, the size of a small watermelon.

"Uh, Akane... There's something about..."

The Tendo bit down and her expression went from relaxed to revulsion. "Yuck." Akane couldn't take another bite, and tossed the mana melon rind away.

Sun caught it and gently placed the half eaten fruit with the rest of the melons they had stolen. "We gotta make this stuff last."

Akane spat out some of the seeds and gagged. "How did you eat that stuff? It tastes like cardboard."

"I had some practice..." She completed the sentence quietly; it tastes kinda like your fruit salad. "It's all we got."

The Tendo coughed and spat out the last of the seeds, careful not to get any of them on her clothes. "I don't know how long I can eat that garbage." Then she thought about something else. "I wonder what those youma taste like?"

The redhead shrugged. "Dust, probably. They don't last long after we kill them. C'mon, we gotta work on your form."

"Just a minute, I gotta wash the taste out of my mouth. Hey, do we have any water?"

Sun sheepishly held out a mana melon.

"That's just great. How am I going to wash up?" Then she noticed her Senshi fiancée was only a little dirty. "How do you wash up?"

"Um... It's not a problem for me."

"Explain."

"Well, I just call up the uniform and it gives me a bath."

"Oh. So, where can I go to get a bath? After all the running around in those fields and my workout, I'm filthy."

You can say that again, thought Sailor Sun. "I dunno where there's water around here, but there's gotta be some. Jadeite can't be growing those things without it."

"We're better find some soon." She sulked as she slumped against the cave wall. She made motions with her mouth and spat out the last remaining seed. "Ick, that thing really tastes terrible."

Sun sat next to Akane. "Try living on that for a few days."

"How long were you here?"

The redhead placed her hand on Akane's without thinking about it. "A couple of days, not long." She turned to her partner, "I got you back, and that's what's important."

Akane shivered in the frigid air. The cave offering no comfort and Sailor Sun, looked sullenly at the ground. The dark haired girl closed her eyes, tears flowing from the hopelessness. "I want to go home! Why did we go to Juuban? What was dad thinking?"

Sailor leaned back against the cold, damp and unyielding stone cliff wall, trying to get comfortable. All around, an eerie deafening silence surrounded her. She looked up at her companion and replied with the same amount of sadness. "I do too. I... I want to go back to the way things were." She held out her gloved hand and held it in front of her face in disgust. "I never asked for this."

Akane blew out a puff of air and stifled a chuckle. "Yeah, sure you did."

"I didn't! They practically begged me to join!"

"And look where it got us."

"Yeah, look where it got us."

"I don't want to be here. It's cold. I'm hungry. I wanna go home." Akane placed her head on her fiancée's shoulder.

"Me too," and the pair settled on to a restless night's sleep.


Please review my story. It makes me feel oh so happy and keeps me from eating your fresh, sweet, juicy, and delicious brain.