DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, Oh! My Goddess, or any other property which might show up. What I do own is the idea for this story, the concept of the Flower Knights (but not the individual characters who become one), and story elements unique to this tale.
That Old Time Renewal
by Faerie Knight
"I never really understood why she wanted me to do those things. That it helped me was enough to know at the time. And yet now that I do see the reason, I can't help but wonder if it had been a mistake. But such questions are always there when the end finally comes."
-Queen of Ice
August 21th, 1995
The day wasn't even half done and already she had a massive headache. That in part was due to having been slammed through a brick wall twice. The first time had hurt. The second time had made the teenage champion named Knight Rose stagger around in a daze for almost a minute. It was more then a little embarrassing to know a walking female ice-cream cone was tossing her around like a rag doll. And not just Rose either. All around her were warriors dressed in skimpy mini skirts and color coded blouses.
The only one not wearing such an outfit was Ranma Dreamweaver, who was currently male and wearing his typical red silk shirt and black kung fu pants. He pulled himself out of a collapsed brick wall and dived back into the melee. After landing two lightning fast punches he was forced to dodge to the left. Where Ranma had been standing a weighted chain was impacting the bizarre creature. Why can't we hurt this one? The Flower Knight leader wondered as her head finally cleared.
"Venus planet power make-up," Ranma found himself whispering.
It was taking all his concentration to call forth the power. The transformation wand had proven a bust originally. Or at least it didn't work quite the way other wands did. It took a lot of focus and effort to transform. Which was the main reason he hadn't done so yet. That, and Ranma was worried about what he would be forced to wear. Light surrounded the teen as he lifted into the air. Where's that music coming from? He wondered even as the foreign magic forcibly triggered his transformation into a girl.
It felt like all his, now her clothing pulled off in little flakes. A gemstone appeared on Ranma's forehead. From it she felt metal extending into a tiara. Thankfully the brief period of being unclothed had been obscured by a ribbon of gold energy which Ranma found herself twirling in a spiral. At the same time the tiara formed a white body suit When what felt like light solidified into gloves and heeled straps it was all the neo-girl could do not to groan. Her flowing red hair got pulled back and secured by a bright red bow.
"I am the," mortified she thought, "beautiful soldier of love, Sailor Venus. In the name of the moon I will," throw up in my mouth, "punish you!"
One flying kick later and for the first time in the entire battle the ice cream monster seemed to be on the defense. Knight Magnolia paused in helping the others to their feet in thought. It's almost like when we fought Beryl. Jane could barely do anything against yoma, while we were nearly useless against her foes. Not for the first time Magnolia wished she could access the mercury computer while a flower knight. That she still had it hinted that her powers as Sailor Mercury were still there though
"Shellflower, perhaps we should try contacting the other senshi. Didn't Knight Rose once mention that her magic was barely effective against demons?"
The new 'Knight Rose' found herself frowning as the whip ineffectively lashed at their ridiculous foe. While the thorny weapon was scratching the creature, it would take far too long to actually defeat it. Especially with the way this humanoid ice cream cone kept tossing them around. Knight Clover charged back into the battle, her weighted chain swinging in a clumsy arc. It missed the monster, nearly wrapping around the red haired senshi's neck.
At the last moment Venus grabbed the chain and wrapped it around her forearm once. With a mighty pull she drew the Knight of Passion towards the monster they were fighting. Knight Clover was initially startled by the shift in action. Quickly she recovered, turning the headlong flight into a flying kick. With a cry of "Icy!" the monstrous treat hit Knight Clover with a glob of frozen dairy product. This caused her to fly backwards and slip unconscious. A heeled footprint being the biggest indication she had done anything at all.
"Hurry up," Venus shouted as she launched a couple dozen punches within a few seconds. "I can't keep it busy for long!"
XxXxX
Half a world away six people were meeting. Among them were an unusually tall man with green skin and a well muscled middle aged man who possessed naturally ice blue hair. Others included a woman with lavender skin and moth-like gray wings, and a brown haired man wearing a solid white body suit. The ninja caused the sixth person to raise an eyebrow. This final person was wearing a forest green gown and had a silver circlet resting upon her brow. This woman appeared to be a teenager, yet projected a casual aura of nobility.
Most of the group appeared tired. An observation backed up by the fact the winged woman had on what appeared to be some sort of backless night gown. The man with blue hair also had pajamas on, although he also was wearing a thick wool robe. A tag sticking out indicated the man wearing white had put on his outfit backwards. As the six eyed each other an uneasy silence fell over the room. Seconds became minutes and still the tension grew. The green man's hand twitched towards his hip as if reaching for something not there.
The red haired teenager giggled softly before speaking. "A storm is coming, it starts with the rising sun."
The remaining five exchanged looks which spoke volumes. Even the most tired of them no longer felt lethargic. The woman with lavender skin finally leaned forward. After examining the late night guest she frowned. By the mother forest, who is she? And is this a warning, or a threat? As the team leader this month, I suppose I should try to ascertain motive. With a deep sigh she broke the pregnant silence with a pair of questions.
"Who are you, and what do you mean by 'a storm is coming'?"
"I am Jane," the woman in the green dress said simply. "Don't know exactly. I probably could have, but traded the ability to speak with the magic. Oh well."
"Listen lady," the blue haired man snarled angrily, "we need information and you have it. Better start talking before I get... urk!"
His threat got interrupted by a bored wave of her hand. Involuntarily the angry man found himself compelled to climb onto the table. When the angry man started to dance wildly he let loose an ear splitting scream. The fact he kept tripping over the air caused Jane to laugh with joy. Her reaction and subsequent actions caused the others in the room to pale considerably. The sound of an energy weapon powering up caused Jane to turn from her amusement.
"Put that away Cree," she demanded. "What makes you think I'm a threat, when I risked my life a few months alongside you fighting a war?"
XxXxX
A cry of "regretful rose storm" filled the air as petals swirled around Flower Knight Rose. After a few seconds they surged forth towards the ice cream cone shaped monster. While hundreds of shallow cuts were carved into the creature, it seemed to otherwise ignore the mystic assault. Sailor Venus also found herself caught in the blast. The fae warrior of love stoically refused to even wince as the razor sharp plants tore into skin.
She froze, not in pain but from visions that kept assaulting her. Poppa said it was a training game, that makes it all right. Doesn't it? So why are the nice people from those buildings yelling and chasing him? Why do they call him a thief? Poppa says the things taken will be returned after all. This is just for training, right? He looks down at the gold and silver bands of metal with shiny rocks inset on them. Is what he's doing wrong? Did poppa lie to him?
Venus stood there unseeing as an ice cream fist smashed into her face, sending her flying backwards into a wall again. He knows it's wrong, but he's hungry. Maybe if he had money it would be different. Nabiki never lets him keep more then twenty yen on him at any given moment. Which is why he's currently wearing a dress and posing as a girl. The fact ice cream tastes better as a girl is immaterial. At the moment all he cares about is the fact he can trick venders into giving him free food anytime he wants. That they expect 'favors' for it is known, but he doesn't care what those favors are. They will never be called in.
In the back room Usagi and Ami had detransformed already. As they stared at their transformation items a single thought was going through their minds. Can I still become a senshi? It was something they hadn't tried in a while. Until now there hadn't been a need to. He stands there looking at his hands. At the time it had seemed like there was no other way. And yet maybe there was and he'd just not bothered to look for It. Could everything have been avoided? He now has blood on his hands, and all because of a stupid map.
Tears flowed freely down Sailor Venus's cheeks. They were not tears of joy or sorrow. No, instead they were tears of deep remorse. Every dishonorable trick, every undeserved insult, every lie and assault all came crashing back. As the seconds ticked by resurfaced memories pointed out every single time her pride and arrogance had hurt another. And it had been often. All the times Ranma had stolen, either items or family techniques. The worst was reliving the first time she'd killed.
Everyone claimed it had been justified. But Venus knew that wasn't the case. Her own pride had been the real reason. The battle had not been about protection originally. It had been about protecting a possible cure for her curse. It had been an unnecessary fight and could probably have been avoided without repercussions. After all, what can be turned on can be turned off as well. Saffron had hinted the 'ascension' had happened in the past, yet the cursed springs still existed.
So deep was Venus's mental anguish that she didn't notice the monster anymore. Or the fact that it had managed to get hold of a fire ax. She was still unseeing as the ax descended towards Venus's face. The remaining flower knights stared in mute horror as an ally was facing her death. Everything seemed to shift into slow motion. The blade began it's lethal path. Sailor Venus stood there unseeing as tears flowed freely. Knights Rose and Clover started running across the room, knowing they would be too late.
"Moon tiara ACTION!"
The phrase echoed through the ruined store as a discus of light traversed the distance. It impacted the yoma's arm and severed it cleanly. The fire ax clattered to the ground even as the severed arm turned into dust. Unfortunately the monster reformed the missing arm within seconds. The senshi of Mercury had held back from fighting. Instead she was scanning the ice cream yoma with a hand held device. While the others distracted it Mercury did what she does best, find it's weakness.
"Got it," The senshi of ice shouted. "If it's melted and frozen at the same time the regeneration will be negated, allowing Sailor Moon to finish it off."
"Great idea," Knight Rose deadpanned as she lashed out with her thorny whip. "Where we getting the fire? Not like I have any incendiary pellets on me."
Mercury checked her computer again and blinked. "How about twenty feet strait down? I'm picking up large readings of liquid nitrogen and magnesium There should be a way down..." Mercury was interrupted as Sailor Venus was thrown into her. The two of them then crashed through one of the remaining display stands. "Right there."
To be continued
