Ryoga stared in shock as Ranma faded abruptly from view. At the same time, he lost his grasp upon the girl-cursed boy. Once more, he felt, he had been tricked by his sometimes friend, sometimes rival. Once more, he felt his anger and depression soar out of control.

"ArrrrrRRRRGH! RAAANNMAAAAA!" The lost boy raged as his massive battle aura exploded about him. Trembling, he stared at the place where Ranma had been, as he gathered his ki and his thoughts whirled. Ranma, the source of all his troubles was gone. Ranma, his greatest rival, has tricked him again. Ranma, his only friend, has abandoned him once more.

"Shi-Shi Hodoukan," he yelled, thrusting the gathered depression away. For a moment, he felt refreshed. For a moment, he was relieved the burden of his built up angst. The massive sphere of depression laden ki rose into the air and hovered a moment.

The lost boy gazed up on his creation as it hung in midair for a timeless moment. Without the weight of the depression, Ryoga was able, if briefly, to think clearly. He sought for the presence of a familiar feeling, one that he had become very familiar with over the past few years. His eyes widened as the expected sensation was missing. That subtle tug that had led him since Jusenkyo was missing. That fragile thread of ki that guided him faithfully to his most sought after destination, was no longer there. Somehow, he knew it was all Ranma's fault. His world turned green once more with the haze of depression as the ki plunged back down upon him. The resulting explosion erased the little camp from existence.

-----------------------

DISCLAIMER: I lay no claim to characters from Ranma 1/2, Tenchi, Sailor Moon, Ah! My Goddess! Or any other character of any other anime that may, inadvertently or not, be within this story. They are the property of their respective authors. Characters and situations from those series are used without their consent. This is a work of fanfiction for which I do not expect nor will accept compensation.

This fiction is based upon Ranma 1/2, with strong influence from Ah! My Goddess and lesser cameos from the Sailors and possibly Tenchi. Ranma will not be a scout, related to a scout or have a prior engagement to a scout. Ranma will not be related to or engaged to Tenchi.

------ Wildfire Chapter 5 ------

Night settled across the island nation of Japan as the world continued on its relentless dance through the heavens. Sheltered from the noise and light of the city, a small shrine housed two kneeling figures. Although it was a public place, they were the only ones present at that time. One of the pair stood with the easy grace of a trained athlete and moved to the doorway. In the twilight gloom, the man's features blended easily into the shadows, obscuring his identity. Glittering eyes gazed steadily toward the south, as if seeking to see through the thick growth of tress surrounding the lonely shrine.

After a moment, the other figure arose and stepped to the side of the man. The second person's shorter stature and generous figure revealed her gender, even as the shadows cloaked her identity as well. A slender hand placed upon the forearm of the man drew his attention to her.

"It has begun?" Her melodic voice was undeniably feminine.

The man turned to face the south once more before nodding slowly. "Yes."

The woman sighed and lay her head against the man's arm. After a moment, she asked, "Do you believe all of this has worked? Will they finally awaken?"

"I pray that it has," he replied as he turned and pulled her into a gentle hug. "I have prayed for that outcome from the very first day they arrived. I failed in my duty to her once before. Kami willing, I will not fail again. One way ot another, they will be the ones to restore the balance."

"True, if they are one. If not..." she paused, as the pair considered the remark before changing the topic. "Will they forgive us, do you think?"

The man hugged her tighter for a moment before relaxing his grip and looking off to the south once more. "Whether or not they forgive us does not alter our task. We must fight on as we always have, and perform our duty to the best of our abilities."

After a moment of silence, the woman spoke up once more. "I would not look forward to facing them as enemies."

"Nor would I," he replied,"Nor would I."

Both fell silent once more as they returned their attention to the bustling city beyond the canopy of the sheltering trees.

-----------------------

The golden brilliance of the setting sun cast the sky with a vibrant wash of colors. Golden white faded into flaming reds and oranges and finally a deep umber on the far horizon. Below, clouds reflected the sky's brilliant show with their own individual wash of silvers, golds, and reds. One feature stood out amidst this riot of color. A large island hovered in midair, looking as if it had been ripped from the earth. Although the underside was a jagged collection of stone and earth, the top of the drifting island was lush with a plant life. Several small streams flowed from a fountain near the center. Their path led a winding course across the gentle slopes of the central hill of the island toward the rougher region near the edge, and finally plunged off the side in a silver spray that scattered rapidly to the winds.

Centered at the highest point of the island, a raised platform of polished black marble glistened as it reflected the perpetual sunset. Surrounding the platform, a ring of gleaming white and gold marble pillars supported a partial dome of translucent white crystal. Only the apex of the dome, the part directly above the black marble platform, was open to the sky above. Intricate gilt inlaid tiles radiated from the raised dais, continuing the octagonal shape of the marble out beyond the ring of pillars to the series of steps leading down to the natural paths leading off into the surrounding trees.

A breeze sighed through across the island, rustling the trees and setting several crystal chimes to singing as they danced among the trees. The breeze quickly died as a feeling of power began to build around the glittering marble and crystal structure. In moments, the clear sounds of the crystal chimes fade, but the sense of power only grew.

Centered above the central dais, a pinpoint of brilliant blue light appeared abruptly. Runes on the black marble platform began glowing softly as the spark rapidly swelled and at the same time dimmed to form a large faintly luminescent sphere. Crackling energy snapped between the pillars in response to the surge of power hovering over the platform.

More bolts of energy lanced between the sphere and the paltform, building rapidly in intensity, before both erupted into incandescent brilliance. With a thunderous crash of discharged power, the sphere exploded outward, sending a shockwave rippling through the air. The glow faded to reveal a pair of figures hovering above the surface of the dais.

Haisano glanced around nervously as her eyes cleared from the brilliant flash of energy. The Jubaan District park had vanished, only to be replaced with a different park, with the sun low in the horizon. She found herself hovering about a meter above a large black stone slab. It looked to be two meters across. On it, a tracery of runes glowed with a subdued blue radiance. The runes somehow appearing to be glowing from just under the surface of the shiny black stone.

Looking around quickly, she noted the absence of anything that would indicate she was still in Japan, much less Tokyo. Suddenly, whatever was holding her in the air stopped. With a startled squawk, she fell to the black marble and found herself looking at the sky through the circular opening in the dome over the dais.

Urd's smirking face drifted into view above her, eyes twinkling, as she hovered over the confused redhead.

"Urd?" Haisano asked.

"Yes?" the silver haired goddess asked after a moment.

"W-what have you done?" she asked. "Where have you taken me, and why?"

"Well," Urd drawled out. "We are at what my sisters and I call The Observatory, although it had a different name in the past. From here, you will have the opportunity to remember your past without interruptions. It exists outside the flows of normal time and few have reason to visit here anymore. For now, this is your home."

The redhead sat up and faced the Norn. "What do you mean, my home?"

Urd smiled broadly at Haisano as she drifted back and rolled upright to face the youth directly. "You will find everything you need on this island. Study, train, and learn of yourself, Haisano. I will return when I can."

"Hey!" Haisano began to protest, but cut off as the runes in the stone below the Norn flashed blindingly. When her vision cleared once more, Urd was nowhere to be seen.

-----------------------

After leaving Sailor Mercury to look after Mars, the remaining Senshi cautiously moved toward the other end of the park. It was easy to see where the explosion had occurred, unless the city Parks and Sanitation department had fallen behind, the flattened copse of trees was an obvious clue. The fact that the area was still smoking slightly from the blast was another.

The trio dashed across the open, grassy field towards the ruins of the small wooded area. Their advance was abruptly halted when Sailor Moon tripped over something with a metallic clang and fell to the ground in a tumble of long limbs and hair.

"Owww..." Moon moaned, clutching her head where her odangos had been mercilessly tugged during the unanticipated tumble. Finding another source of discomfort, she rolled off of a mangled piece of aluminum that may once have been a camping cook pot.

"Sailor Moon," the other blonde Senshi called out, "are you okay?"

"I - I think so," Sailor Moon responded, stifling a sniffle. Landing on that little pot hadn't hurt, thanks to the magical protection from her uniform, but the inadvertent yank on the hair had brought tears of pain to her eyes.

Sailor Venus hauled her teammate to her feet, saying, "Come on then. Jupiter went on ahead alone." Turning, she ran after the tall Senshi of Jupiter while dragging Usagi along by her arm.

-----------------------

Makoto, in her alternate guise as the Senshi of Jupiter loped ahead of her two teammates, intent upon reaching the scene of the battle. Smoke was still rising from the corner of the park where the blast had originated, so she believed that there might still be time to save whomever was being attacked. She was so focused on getting to the battle, that she failed to notice that Sailor Moon had tumbled to the ground or that Venus had stopped to help her.

She leapt onto the lower branches of one of the few surviving trees and surveyed the scene. Flattened shrubs and small trees ringed what appeared to be the remains of a small campsite. Two large backpacks lay just outside a small steaming crater with a singed body lying face down at the bottom of it. The tattered remains of a small tent lay draped over the splintered limbs of a tree on the other side of the clearing. Jupiter's searching gaze snapped back to the still form after her quick scan showed nothing else in the area.

After dropping to the ground with practiced ease, she carefully approached the crater. Her gaze continuously jumped from scanning the surroundings to watching the figure in the crater. When no Youma leapt out at her from the ruined brush, she relaxed, moved down into the shallow depression and knelt next to the apparent victim.

Now that she was able to get a closer look, she saw that he was a slightly older boy, probably in high school. He was dressed in a yellow linen shirt and dark brown pants. A spotted bandanna and leather boots with strap leggings completed his ensemble.

Fearing the worst, Jupiter reached out to roll the older boy over. He was heavier than he looked. Even so, she was able to roll him onto his back. This earned her a pained groan from the boy. She sighed with relief. He was still alive. Looking him over once more, she began to flush a bit as she muttered, "Man, what a hunk!" She blinked out of her momentary daze as she heard something approaching at high speed. Jupiter took a defensive stance over the unconscious boy. She wasn't going to let anything hurt him anymore.

Two figures appeared in the branches of the very same tree she had first jumped into and one shouted, "Hold it right there! Parks are for the enjoyment of the people... oh. Jupiter, where is the Youma?"

"Wherever it is, Sailor Moon," Makoto shouted back, slapping her right fist into her other palm, "it better not come back here."

"Did you find anything? Anything at all" the other blonde Senshi asked.

"Yeah," Jupiter replied, "there is a civilian down here, and he looks hurt."

"Is he cute?" the Senshi of Venus asked as she and Sailor Moon jumped down from the tree and ran over to the small crater. They reached the edge just as Sailor Jupiter jumped out. Makoto landed with a grunt, set her unconscious passenger down and propped him up against one of the packs.

"Oh my, GOSH!" Minako exclaimed once Jupiter moved enough for her to get a look at the victim of the attack.

Her sudden outburst startled the other two Senshi. "What? Where?" Jupiter demanded as she spun about, looking for whatever had startled Minako.

"That's HIM!" the Senshi of Venus squealed, pointing at the older boy.

Sailor Moon looked at where she was pointing. "'Him' who?"

"Him!" Minako repeated. "You know. The guy I was cha... er, following earlier today." She rushed to his side, pulled his head onto her lap, and brushed aside his unruly bangs. Strangely, even though his clothing was scorched and tattered, physically, he didn't seem all that injured.

"Hey, I found him!" Jupiter protested. "I should be the one cuddling him, not you!"

Ignoring Jupiter's outburst, Minako looked up at her teammates and asked "What kind of monster would do such a thing?"

A groan form older boy drew their attention to him once more. He twitched as his eyes fluttered open and stared blankly at the sky. A fist rose shakily as he muttered, "R-Ranma Saotome, D-damn you. I'll never... forgive..." He broke off abruptly as his eyes focused on the three figures leaning over him. His gaze tracked slowly from Sailor Jupiter to Sailor Moon, and finally came to rest on Sailor Venus. He twitched again and flushed brightly before passing out once more, this time with a trickle of blood seeping from his nose.

The three scouts looked at each other for a moment before their gazes hardened and all nodded in silent unison.

-----------------------

Skuld glanced once more at the SkuldScan Super Bug Tracker Mk II as she hurried down the road. "Drat!" she thought. "The Alpha got away. But at least the Beta is still there. I'm sure to get him this time. And, I'm gonna do it myself. I don't need Urd's help."

Her thoughs drifted back to the conversation a short time ago.

"Urd?" Skuld called out, before sliding the door open. Stepping into her sister's room, she blinked at the sight of her eldest sister... working. The eldest Norn sat, in midair, before a Yggdrasil holo-link. Skuld could barely see her through the stream of characters flowing past. Abruptly, the link shut down before she could make sense of what was being displayed.

Sighing, the bronze skinned goddess glanced at her youngest sibling as she dismissed the remote terminal. "Don't you know how to knock, Skuld?"

"I did knock," Skuld protested, impatiently. "Several times."

"Oh," Urd replied, then shrugged it off. "What can your big sis do to you today?" A slow grin began to spread across her features.

"What makes you think I need your help?" Skuld shot back.

"Oh, then I guess you just decided to come see me for no reason. How sweet." Urd deadpanned, gazing at the young goddess through half lidded eyes.

"No, that's not it," Skuld countered. "I've been tracking a pair of big system bugs for months now. Every time I get close, somehow, they get away or switch places with someone else. Belldandy suggested I get he... that I see if you kno... I mean, that I should tell you for some strange reason, as if you would know anything about it."

A mini-Urd bounced into the room and slid to a halt beside the larger Urd. Abruptly, she vanished as she rejoined her larger self. Urd's expression fell as she absorbed whatever memories her mini-self had for her.

"Oh, no," Urd sighed. "Look, Skuld, I'm sorry, but I can't help you right now. Something has come up with an assignment that can't wait. I have to attend to it now."

"But," Skuld said, as Urd flew toward her TV. "what about the bugs?"

"Sorry, kiddo, but this is more important than a couple of bugs. I'll help you when I get back. See ya'," she said as she vanished through the television.

"'I'll help you when I get back,'" Skuld echoed sarcastically as her attention returned to her persuit. "I'll show you, Urd. I don't need your help after all. " Skuld huffed as she flew over the wall and into the Jubaan Park. The SkuldScan Mk II still detected the Beta, but a few other small bugs had popped up as well. "What a mess."

Slipping on her special glasses, she began looking for the bugs her tracker showed to be in the area. She quickly spotted one of the lesser pests clutching onto the head of one of a pair of class five restricted empowered mortals near the gates. The short haired class five was typing away at a quaint mini-comp, while the other class five knelt on the ground sobbing as the bug twitched atop her head.

"Why doesn't she just zap it?" Skuld asked herself as she approached the pair. Shrugging, she decided to take care of it for them. Gliding closer, Skuld saw the one dressed in blue react to something she saw in that blue visor of hers. The older girl turned toward Skuld just as she moved up beside the pair.

"Excuse me," she said cheerfully as she reached past the blue and white garbed class five, and bopped the bug resting on the other mortal with her debugging tool. The red garbed class five immediately stopped sobbing as the bug squeaked its demise. Skuld waved to them and moved off toward her next target... The Beta.

-----------------------

"Mars, are you okay?" Sailor Mercury asked as she checked over her teammate for injury from that strange girl's little hammer. The other Senshi blinked for a moment, and then looked back at the Senshi of Mercury.

"Sailor Mercury, what happened?" the Senshi of Mars asked as she stood up.

"That," Mercury replied. "is what I was going to ask you. There was an explosion in the park and you stopped talking on the communicator. When we got here, you were, well, distressed, about something. You would not talk to us, so the others went ahead to find the Youma. Then, this young girl with strange markings on her face flew up and tapped you with a small mallet before flying off again."

Mars looked down and closed her eyes. After a moment of silence, she shuddered, looked up at her teammate, and replied. "Well, when I got here, I sensed a strong source of chi nearby. I tried to pinpoint it by opening my senses like I do for fire readings. Just then, a huge amount of negative chi flooded the area. Next thing I remember is waking up with you standing over me."

Ami gasped, one hand rising to cover her mouth. "Negative chi? Was it a Youma?"

"No," the Rei said after another long pause. "I don't think so. None of the Youma we've encountered so far have used chi. They've been using magic to attack us. The only life force they have is what they've stolen."

"If it wasn't a magic attack, why did it affect you then?" Mercury asked.

"It caught me off guard, all right? If I hadn't been trying to find the source of the chi, then that attack wouldn't have done anything to me. It wasn't directed at me anyway. I felt a lot of self pity, loneliness and depression in it, and a little anger." She was interrupted by a surge of power from nearby that set Mercury's computer to beeping. "Uhh, by the way. Where are the others?"

"Oh, my. I forgot!" Mercury exclaimed. "They went off to where the blast landed, looking for a Youma. That is where that other girl went, too, and it is also the location of this latest energy source."

"Then, what are we standing around here for," Mars snapped. "Meatball-head might be in trouble!"

-----------------------

Skuld stopped three more times on her way to the Beta bug in order to dispatch normal system bugs trying to flee the area. Strangely enough whenever they had spotted her, instead of running away from her and her debugging tool, they ran in confused circles. One even knocked itself out against a tree instead of phasing through it. Even stranger, for some reason, the Beta wasn't moving, unlike the last time she had chased it. it was just sitting there.

She flew over the shredded and burnt remnants of the small stand of trees and settled down in the clearing beyond. Two more of those class five restricteds stood before a prone figure as a third class five held his head in her lap. The three class fives looked at each other and nodded for some reason.

"Hmmm," she thought, "those three seem normal enough." Glancing around, she saw the fresh crater in the clearing. Pooled at the bottom of it was a surging mass of thrashing furry bodies, resembling white furred spiders with the head of rabbits. As she watched, another bug wandered into the crater from nearby and joined the milling mass. Drifting over the edge of the crater, she summoned a machine looking like a rice steamer with several hoses running into it and a large dialed analog alarm clock.

"Well Mister Bug Zapper, time to get to work again," she said smugly as she activated her invention and dropped it into the squirming mass of bugs. If she wasn't able to debug the source of all these little vermin, then at least Mister Bug Zapper would keep them from spreading too far.

She glanced once again at the SkuldScan Mk II. It indicated the Beta was right over... there. Looking up, she found herself looking once more at the group of class fives and the older boy lying on the ground. She decided to triangulate, just to make certain. She settled to the ground and walked quickly around the edge of the camp to take another reading. Moving around the camp drew the attention of the class fives, but Skuld ignored them. Sure enough, the indicator on the SkuldScan was still centered on their group.

Turning to face them, she saw that the three class fives had arranged themselves between her and the boy. It looked like the Beta was in human form, too. She adjusted her glasses, increasing the resolution, and looked over the young man again. No, Belldandy had been correct. The boy wasn't the Beta. The bug was actually buried in his spirit.

As Skuld began walking towards them, the blonde with the twin hair buns and long ponytails stepped forward a few steps. "Hi there, little girl," the class five said. "you shouldn't be out this late, especially when monsters are out."

Before Skuld could respond, the other blonde interrupted, "Hey, Sailor Moon. Look at her face. Do you think she might be another Senshi?"

"Don't call me a little girl just because I look younger than you do." Skuld complained. "I am hunting bugs, and I need to get to the one behind you."

"Oh! Collecting bugs for a school project?" The brunete in the green fuku piped up as Skuld walked past them.

Glancing at the tall class five with a look of disgust, Skuld shook her head. "No, that's silly. Bugs cause all kinds of system problems. You debug them, not collect them."

"Err, what do you mean, 'debug them'," The pony tailed blonde class five identified as Sailor Moon asked.

"Well," she said as she pulled out her debugging tool. "First, you take your debugging tool."

Skuld channeled some energy into her tool, programming it, and continued, "then you load it with the appropriate debugging program. In this case, this bug is a very powerful one, so I needed to load a stronger program, and it may take more than one application to work."

She stopped over the prone boy, who was beginning to stir. "Then, you smack the bug with the tool, activating the program, and removing the bug." With that, Skuld's hammer blurred down atop the boy's head.

The class fives, who had leapt forward to stop her, were thrown away by the soundless concussion of energy as the debugging mallet connected with the bug buried deep in the spirit of the boy. Skuld herself was knocked back several feet. After regaining her equilibrium, she looked around. The crater was empty, and no more bugs were wandering around.

The boy was sitting up with a confused expression on his face as he rubbed the top of his head. Skuld flew over to him, and looked over him intently as he focused on her.

"Uh, e-excuse me, miss," the boy said, "w-w-what just happened?"

"Hmm? Oh, just a bit of debugging going on." Skuld replied as she added another program to her tool. "You still have a nasty bug in there somewhere. It's a big one too. Even bigger than that first one. But, I'm sure I can get it with this program."

The boy blinked at that. "Huh, w-what do you mean?"

"Just hold still, this won't hurt," she said, raising her mallet shaped tool once more.

"Eeep!" he yelped as he rolled out from under the blow. "N-now hold on j-just a minute."

"Hold still! This is for your own good." Skuld said, moving for another attempt.

Before she got close, another voice called out, drawing their attention. "Stop right there!"

Looking toward the voice, Skuld saw that the three class fives were once more on their feet. They appeared upset about something. Sailor Moon spoke up once again now they had her attention.

"Parks are for the enjoyment of the people. Your impersonation of a little girl and attack upon this hunk cannot be forgiven." She began making wild gestures that may have been an attempt at being intimidating. Skuld was not sure about that though. "I am the pretty soldier, Sailor Moon. In the name of the Moon, we punish all evildoers." The girl finished her gestures with her arms crossed, one fist held high, the other arm crossing over it with her finger pointed toward Skuld. "This means you!"

Skuld blinked a few times as the three class fives held their pose. She glanced over at the boy, only to discover that he was gone. While these dummies had distracted her, the Beta got away. Again.

"Say," she heard one of the class fives whisper loudly to the other, "shouldn't she be attacking us right now? I mean, that's what all the other Youma did after our speech."

"He got away." Skuld said before turning to face the three dummies once more. "I have been tracking the bug in him for three months, and you let him get away!" Winds started to whip around her as she lifted off the ground a hovered before them.

Before the three class fives could split up, Skuld powered up her quickest attack. She would show these three just what she thought of them. "You... You DUMMIES!" she yelled, lashing out with her power, backed by her bottled up frustration.

The blast washed over the three class fives. Satisfied that these three wouldn't soon forget her wrath, Skuld flew off into the night after recovering Mister Bug Zapper.

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------ End Wildfire Chapter 5 ------