SMST: Journey into Mystery! By DS Wynne

Disclaimer: "Sailor Moon", "Ranma ½", "Star Trek", and other properties belong to their respective owners.

Note: This is a multi-genre story.

Part 7

Sheriff Oleson walked through the empty, snow-covered streets of the town of Barrows.

CLAK!

"Stella?" Oleson says, as he suddenly turns around, with his gun drawn. "STELLA!"

"No one is here, you know," says a voice.

Oleson turns around and sees Ranma, who was scanning the entire town with his gaze.

"RRRAAGH!" Oleson yelled, as he rushed over to grab

"It's all your fault! I should have been here to…to…"

"To do what, sheriff?" Ranm replied. "Get yourself killed?"

"At least I'd be there for Stella and the others?"

"You still can," says Ranma, as he continues to scan the town. "Hot dog, you're really taking a chance, Usagi."

Oleson gives Ranma a perplexed expression.

"I do not understand."

"You wouldn't…unless you are familiar with temporal mechanics."

"Huh?"

"Take a look at the night skies," Ranma says, as he points to the night sky.

Oleson, not really knowing what to do next, looks up.

"Okay," Oleson says. "I'm looking."

"You notice anything unusual?"

"Well, I see the Moon-"

It was then that Oleson notices how quickly the phases of the Moon were occurring.

"Wait," Oleson says, as he spoke to Ranma without turning his head. "That…that can't be right…"

"Normally, no. However, given what you are seeing now, I do believe that temporal manipulation is involved."

Oleson gives Ranma a perplexed look.

"…"

"You know it as 'time travel'."

"Oh. Huh?"

Ranma gives out an exasperated expression himself.

"Look, sheriff. Usagi and I have special 'talent', some of which are deemed to be miraculous to some…unnatural to others. I can't get into the back story, but you have to trust me on THIS one…when I say that time travel is indeed possible, and the manipulation there of."

Ranma looks around the town.

"We got to return to the power and telecommunications station," Ranma says, as he begins his trek back out of town.

"But-"

"We have the time. But we need to use that time to OUR advantage."

Oleson looks Ranma.

"Fine, but I still don't understand ANY of this."

"That makes the both of us, Oleson."

Meanwhile, somewhere else…

Stella looks at the monitors that were set up at the auxiliary site. Although Usagi's plan appears to be working, Victor and the other vampires have proven themselves to be more relentless in their pursuit of victims. Previously, one of Stella's old acquaintances had to search for his senile father out in the cold. Unfortunately, this brought out the vampires to feed, causing a near-melee. Now, only a few within Stella's group remained, though it was good that they had found the auxiliary site that Usagi had set up before hand…in the basement of the general store.

"This jerky tastes good," Usagi says, as she sat on the stool. Only she, Stella and Jason were awake. The rest were in another room within the basement area.

Stella turns to Usagi.

"How can you think about food like this?" Stella says. "And how is it that YOU, a vampire, can eat?"

"I may not get nourishment from food in normal circumstance, but I still like the taste," Usagi says, as she sits the bag down. "Even if I wasn't dhampire, I still wouldn't need food to survive."

"Easy for you to say," Stella replies. "And tell me, what was this brilliant plan of yours again?"

"Simple. I'm shifting the entire town forward in time. For every day that passes in the normal world, only an hour does in this one. And right now, we're out-of-synch with the world, thereby preventing Victor and his 'friends' from escaping into the rest of the world. Still, when the thirty days are up, the sun will be back…and no more Victor."

"Oh."

Silence.

"So…who is this 'Victor'?" Jason asked. "You said that bastard's name before."

"Ah, Viktor Sokolov," Usagi says, as she thought back. "I knew him back before the first World War. Then, I worked as an agent for the British crown with a…league of extraordinary gentlemen, who banded together to keep war between the great nations from happening. Feh. So much for THAT."

Usagi looks away.

"Viktor was an idealistic man out of St. Petersburg, who believed in pan-Slavism."

"What's that?"

"You know, anyone with a seemingly Russian sounding name…even if you weren't Russian. Viktor was so proud to be Slav that he learned ancient Slav in order to make sure that the tongue he spoke was anything but Slavic. It's kind of how the French make an effort to NOT have any English words in their Franco-lexicon. Go figure."

"Okay…"

"Anyway, my band and I were tracking down a series of murders caused by a clan of vampires known as Brujah. Brujah are vampires are anarchists and warrior-philosophers within the society, which is probably why they liked the Viktors of the world. And when he was brought across, I could do nothing but guide Viktor until he found a proper mentor…since I had already Viktor's sire during ritual combat."

"Then…why is he's here?"

"Because some vampires don't believe in being civilized. When that happens, they are known as 'antitribu' or 'anti-tribe'. In fact, antitribu can be used for any vampire who goes against the edicts of his or her clan."

"So…by helping us, does that make YOU antribu?"

"In some ways, sure. But being the lord of my particular clan, I can bend the rules a bit."

"Then why can't you do the same here?" Stella asks.

"What do you think I've been doing? Technically, I should allow Viktor his hunt, but then again, I don't like it when vampires act like predator around humans."

Stella sighs, as a thought whirls in her head. She had been mulling this thought for a while now…

"You said that YOU couldn't do anything about Victor. Right?"

"Yes. As a 'vampire lord', I have certain obligations."

"Does this obligation apply to vampires you create?"

Usagi raises an eyebrow. However, Jason caught on with what Stella was implying.

"Stella, no!" Jason yelled.

"But what can we do, huh?" Stella yells at her brother-in-law. "These monsters are out there. I don't know how long any of us will survive…even WITH the time thing happening."

Stella turns to Usagi.

"Make me into one, like you," Stella says.

"Stella, I haven't 'turned' anyone…at all," Usagi says. "Even if I agree with your request, I don't know what will happen to you."

"We have to try something."

Usagi sighs.

"Fine. But I rather do this in private."

Stella turns to Jason.

"Jason, leave."

"Stella-"

"Please…just go."

Jason, almost shedding tears, nods his head. He hugged Stella, and then looks at Usagi.

"I swear…if you hurt her-"

"I know," Usagi says quietly. "But my experience tell me that the change will…hurt."

Jason takes one last look at Stella, and then leaves. Once the door is shut, Stella turns to Usagi.

"Okay, so how do we-"

In a flash, Usagi was on Stella. Frightened, Stella tried to break the hold, but couldn't, as Usagi bit into Stella neck. Stella felt the equivalent of pin pricks go into her neck. Slowly, her conscious mind began to grow dark.

"I apologize for that," Usagi says, as she cradles a slumping Stella while biting into her own wrist…causing blood to be drawn. "Drink."

Feeling thirst, Stella began to drink from Usagi's wrist.

"There, there," Usagi says, as she rocked Stella in her strong arms while her eyes were a mixture of red and green. "In a few hours, you will be a new woman."

Tbc.