Chapter 26: The Gathering
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author's Notes: Going to try additional markings to indicate different languages.
" " - standard Japanese.
"% %" - Chinese.
"$ $" - English.
Previous chapters will be modified to be consistent with this.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"All units are in position, lord Magnetite," the youma reported.
"Good. When I give the signal, tell the recon teams to go."
"Yes, lord." The runner youma, a winged type, hovered near Magnetite, not wanting to get too close to Happosai. Magnetite wanted him close by, so that the aged hentai could be ordered to wherever Sailor Pluto was found. The youma assigned to keep him company were not too thrilled about the duty themselves; Magnetite knew they could hardly wait for Pluto to be killed, so that they could finish off the old man and never have to submit to his perversions again.
The youma had been organized into teams; two observers to keep an eye on each portal, and four or five member recon teams to go through. There was no way of knowing how the youma on station in each site had fared, so any team was subject to ambush as they came through; Magnetite had gotten an earth-shaper to make crude stone humanoid forms to send through first. They would be tied to chains or ropes and pulled back after a few seconds. Any that drew fire would get ranged attacks sent back in return.
Once the far sides were deemed clear, the teams would go through and meet the attendant youma on site, then fan out to scour the cities. They were to leave no guard at the portals themselves; instead, two youma were to be present on the tunnel side - one within sight of the portal, the other farther away, around bends or hidden in niches. Ideally, the first youma would run to report any Senshi coming through; if they were killed by an attack coming through, the second would be out of range, and would be able to make the report.
He wished he could wait for the portals to be passable to humans before sending his youma through, allowing the Senshi to make the first move, offering chances to ambush and slaughter them. But Beryl was watching, her abilities now recovering as the magical chaos subsided; her crystal ball could give her the view through the eyes of any of her minions, from footsoldier to general, and she would be shifting viewpoints rapidly as the recon teams scouted. She wanted to find the Senshi before they could make any moves, and so they would have to go through at the earliest opportunity.
The instruments before him indicated the stability of the portals. When they had calmed enough, he gave the runner youma the nod. She flew quickly out of the chamber, glad to get away from Happosai.
"Soooo... when can I have my student back?" Happosai said. "It's about time he learned his place!"
"Soon," Magnetite said, settling back to wait on reports. "Very soon..."
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Kunzite leaned against the wall of an apartment in Moscow and waited patiently. To anyone who happened by, he would have seemed very cool and calm. In fact he was bristling at the delay, and barely managing not to show it. It would not do for him to lose his cool now of all times, just when things were at their most crucial.
He would not say, however, that he was actually desperate. Desperation was the condition of the doomed. But his position at the moment was a bit sensitive. He was the reason the Sailor Senshi had escaped from the middle of an army of youma. Beryl was not likely to be forgiving if he came back without a victory. Only the guinzuishou would do.
He dearly wished he could take the Moscow station youma with him, and the few other youma now rampaging about the city, keeping the local police busy. A personal force was always useful. But they would still be subject to Beryl's monitoring, could still be seen through her crystal ball. So could he, of course, but she would think he was dead or thrown through time and space, and would be in no hurry to try to contact him.
The station youma continued to work in her office. No doubt as soon as the portal was stable, any minute now, Beryl would send a youma through to scour the city for any Senshi. And it would want to conscript the station youma to help. Kunzite knew their day would be wasted. There were no Senshi here.
He had an idea where he could find them. Tokyo was their usual residence, but there was no guarantee they had returned there. his rival Magnetite, however, had set up a command center there with televisions tuned to various channels and electronic signal intercepts listening in on law enforcement and military bands around the world. Kunzite had viewed the setup with some distaste; it was not his own style. But now it seemed he had a use for the equipment. The local Moscow TV stations were reporting on the youma activity in the city, and he could be sure other cities were suffering the same activity, and generating the same sort of news.
Presently a thump came from the gate. Kunzite looked over to see a stone statue lying on the floor in front of the portal. A chain around its waist led back to the other side. "Not taking any chances, are we...?" he chuckled. As if the Senshi would be stupid enough to fall for such a trick.
The presence of the statue was, however, a sign the portal was now passable. There was no time to waste. Kunzite teleported directly to his own castle on the other side, then to a safe house in Tokyo, then to Magnetite's monitoring center. He switched everything on and sat back to check the news.
The show was just warming up.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Sailor Pluto held her position in a box on the roof of the restaurant next to the alley where the portal was situated. The appointed time had arrived. Time to dive into the uncertainty and wing it like a Saotome.
There was a thump in the alley as the statue was put through. Pluto had to give Beryl some credit: she would have thought the evil queen would send a live youma through, they being expendable to her. Perhaps the Senshi had cut the size of her army more than they knew.
There was silence in the alley for a few minutes before a grating sound announced the statue being pulled back. Another few minutes, and the sound of footsteps as the team came through. Pluto felt relaxed in her shelter, no doubt a contrast to the youma team below, nervous that they might come under attack at any moment.
The team waited a few more minutes before moving off toward the entrance of the building Pluto was on, to recruit the local youma on station to their search effort. Pluto held her own position for several more minutes, ensuring there was no one left behind in the alley, then lifted the box, dropped down, took aim, fired, and darted through.
On the other side, she paused for a second to recover; she felt like she had caught Akane with PMS and hopped up on a dozen caffeine drinks. She shook off her discomfort and took stock of her surroundings. The tunnel was nearly as dark as the alley had been. A could of youma dust was swirling around several meters ahead. She gritted her teeth, aimed another shot, and fired, taking out the backup youma, and took off at a dead run.
After a few more minutes her watch pinged. "This is Sailor Mercury! Any Sailor Senshi, please respond!"
As expected. "Pluto here! I just got out of Bangkok. You're near... Brazil, aren't you?"
Mercury didn't sound too surprised to find Pluto knew the situation. "Just came through. Let me track you... about a mile from your position. Hold up, let me get there..."
"No. You go right, then toward center. Venus should be in the nearest portal. Then Neptune, then a couple away from there should be Moon. I'll head left and pick up Mars and Uranus."
"That will leave some portals between us. Is there anyone there?"
"No. Don't push yourself too fast, try to avoid getting seen by patrols. Pluto out." She closed her watch and pushed onward.
She reached a junction and took the Sydney branch. Again, she timed her shots, taking out two youma on guard and plunging through the portal. It was mildly easier this time; the portals were slowly settling down.
She was in a warehouse, well lit, with a puddle of gasoline on the floor in front of her. She called up into the rafters. "Yo! Nap time's over. We gotta move!"
Cologne dropped down to the floor, carrying a can of gasoline and a box of long nails. "What took you so long? I was about ready to go get a manicure."
"You knock over a hardware store like me?"
"Construction site. Just a few things that might come in handy for slowing down patrols." She indicated the pool of gas on the floor. "I was about ready to burn this place down if they sensed me. Lucky they didn't. Although, I suppose we can use it to cover our escape..." She dug a nail out of the box and prepared to strike a spark.
Pluto stayed her hand. "They'll just know we made it through. Might as well let the team here stay here and not have to deal with them. Come on."
They had to hold a minute on the other side; Cologne was hardier than any hundred-year-old had a right to be, but the passage through a still only barely stable portal took its toll. When she was ready to move again, Pluto let her lead the way. "Which way are we headed?"
"Take a left at the split. We're heading for Calcutta. Shampoo should be there."
"What about the old fool? Is he out and about yet?"
"He could start moving any time in the next few minutes. If we're lucky, and quick, we can put him off till after Cairo."
They bounced down the tunnels until they reached a youma on patrol. Pluto motioned to stay back. "This might be a few minutes," she whispered.
"Seconds count here," Cologne whispered back. "Let me handle this." She popped out of hiding and bounced straight up to the youma, throwing two nails in its eyes. While it screamed in pain and tried to pull the nails out, she doused it with gasoline and struck a spark with another nail.
The two left the burning, screaming youma behind. "Brutal," Pluto observed. "But I could have taken it out faster."
"Better to save your staves. We don't know how many shots you'll need. And it might confuse them somewhat. It will recover, but it won't know you were here, only me. I'm less of a priority."
Pluto saw she was right; Happosai wasn't any more likely to start moving than before the encounter. She renewed her pace, hoping luck would stay with them for the next few minutes.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"So what's the story with those Kuno guys?" Sailor Moon asked. "They didn't exactly sound like they had all their marbles or something."
"They don't," Akane said. "Tatewaki is one of those guys with an over-inflated sense of his own worth. Old samurai family, definitely not a modern zaibatsu clan, but he seems to think he's living before the Meiji Restoration. Or maybe the Tokugawas. And his sister... I don't even want to know what's up with her."
They had rearranged the wicker baskets in the storage room into stacks against the wall with the exit, leaving a narrow space for themselves to hide behind. The first youma through the portal at the far end of the room, about twenty feet away, would see a solid wall of baskets with no exit, and be easy prey for a tiara throw.
"It sounded like he has a thing for you. Is that good or bad?"
"Very bad. At the beginning of the school year, he made this stupid speech that somehow convinced about three dozen guys I was the only girl in the school worth having as a girlfriend, and said they had to fight me for the right to date me."
"Fight to date you? Well, that just sounds like he's trying to play off his competition. Could be a smart move... wait, fight YOU to date you?"
"Yup. Every morning for weeks they attacked me before the start of school. Ranma didn't even have the decency tell them to back off - he said I was up for grabs!"
"But you are, aren't you? I mean, you don't want him as your fiancee, do you?"
"But he could at least help someone who's living under the same roof!"
"Huh. I guess. But can't you just transfer to another school?"
"What's the point? Guys are guys. They'll be the same anywhere I go."
"Well, maybe not THAT bad... I know there's some good guys out there. Ones that will worship the ground you walk on..."
"Kuno does that. It makes me sick. I don't like the pushy type."
"Well, you just have to find the right guy for you. I'm sure there's some guy out there who will just be a friend for a while, and he'll get all stuttery and trembling when you say anything nice to him, and hesitate to ask the simplest things, and then you know -"
She was stopped by a thump from the portal. The pair looked out between the baskets to see a stone statue with a chain around its waist in front of the portal. They held their breath as the statue just stood there for half a minute before being pulled back.
Sailor Moon took off her tiara and prepared to throw. When not one, but five, youma appeared out of the darkness, she gave a yelp and darted out the door. Akane followed, more in exasperation than fear. "Hey! Wait for me!"
The youma couldn't miss the commotion. They were soon giving chase through the streets of Cairo, getting farther from the portal as they did so.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
In Cape Town, South Africa, the recon team had to sort out a confusing situation.
"Why is this one chained up?" the leader asked. He was staring at a young male youma struggling against chains that held him to a support beam. For some reason, though the others were naked to the fur, this boy was wearing human clothes and glasses.
Like many other portals worldwide, the Cape Town portal was situated in a warehouse where staff youma could infect transitory merchandise with dark power. The four youma the recon team had found in the warehouse were all feline; their erstwhile leader was a dark-furred female named Pumara. "This is the idiot who got most of my team killed. He said one of the Senshi would be afraid of us!"
"Figures, with a name like 'mouse'. Fine name for a CAT!" a white-furred girl, Angora, said.
"That's 'Mousse'," the boy said. "Pronounced 'moose.' And he WAS afraid of cats, last I saw of him."
"Well, you were wrong. And now you'll have to answer to Queen Beryl."
"That will have to wait," the recon youma said. "Our orders are clear. All youma found on site must join the search. That means him too. Release him."
"Don't tell me you're willing to trust this bozo?"
"Hardly. He will be with me. I will make sure he stays in line." He got into Mousse's face. "If we DO find Senshi, I want you on point. You ARE clearly the most expendable one here."
"Don't worry," Mousse said as he was freed from his chains. "I can handle any of them alone. But you're welcome to help."
The team commander was impressed the boy's spirit seemed undamped by failure. Pity he would likely end up dust when Beryl was through with him. "Very well. Even if you survive you will still have to face Beryl's judgement. For now we will search the city and see if any Senshi are active. If not, we will try to draw them out by attacking the humans openly. The Queen or General Magnetite may order us to move at any time if the Senshi are found elsewhere. Be ready for anything. Now MOVE!"
The group headed out into the immediate neighborhood, forming a police line at one-block intervals, with the recon leader in the center, Mousse just ahead of him, always in sight and reach. Their one flying member was sent to a search pattern, at an altitude hopefully out of reach of any Senshi attacks.
"Shouldn't we leave someone to watch the portal in case one of the Senshi slip through?" Mousse asked as he leaped an alley.
"I'm not some low-grade youma," the commander said. "You won't be getting away from me that easily. The portals are being watched by two sentries on the other side."
"Only two? Good. Then I should have no problem." With that, he produced a smoke bomb from his clothes and threw it at the commander's feet.
As the commander had noted, he wasn't stupid. He immediately backpedaled and scanned the area for the boy, assuming he was headed straight for the portal. He was, but the commander never caught up with him: the next item Mousse produced with his Hidden Weapons mastery was a bolo. He made good use of the time the commander spent disentangling his feet.
By the time he was able to pursue, the line of youma had come to a halt. His lieutenant, covering his immediate right, had come to his side. "Should we go after him?"
"Don't bother. Let Beryl finish him. We have our own job to do."
"He was a new recruit, wasn't he?"
"He just washed out. Some people just aren't worth the trouble."
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"SUPREME THUNDER!" Another youma screamed and vanished into a cloud of dust. Jupiter wiped sweat from her brow and looked warily around. "Is that all of them?"
Ryoga maintained his stance for a moment, then began pulling some of his chi-stiffened bandannas from nearby walls. "For the moment, anyhow. I guess they were really active in this city."
Ryoga hadn't been the only one to know what a literal bolt from the blue meant. It seemed like every youma in the city had been attracted to them now. They had dispatched four so far.
"It would help if any of them knew where the nearest portal was," Ryoga seethed. "You'd think one of them would have some idea."
Their battles with the youma had carried them some distance across the city; police sirens were wailing in the distance, and military trucks had started to appear. The street Jupiter and Ryoga were on was clear at the moment, but the authorities would be moving in soon once it was clear the fighting was done. Jupiter looked down the street, where a barricade was going up some blocks away. "You want to talk to these guys? Find out where we are?"
"I can ask for directions to an embassy in 18 languages," Ryoga said. "No African ones, though. Maybe..." He looked up and down the street, settling on a drug store. "Let's see what the magazines say." He led the way there.
There were only a few magazines and newspapers, in strange languages. "This one is in Arabic," Ryoga said, holding one newspaper. "The date is today's. We haven't gone back in time, at least. We're in someplace called Nairobi."
"Thank Ranma for that, I guess," Jupiter said.
"Feh. I wouldn't go thanking him yet. He's the reason we're here!"
"That's a fine attitude toward someone who basically fixed everything wrong with your life! You could show a little gratitude!"
Ryoga shook his head as if to clear it. He headed back out into the street and began walking toward the barricade. "Aaaarrrghh! I don't even know what to think of him anymore. My hatred of him kept me going for three years. Now he wants to just forgive and forget? A man's pride isn't fixed so easily."
"Oh, yeah. You guys and your macho posturing. I guess you have to get it out of your system. I don't think you'll beat him, though. He's trained all his life to be the best. Is that what you were doing before you met him?"
Ryoga scowled. "I was just trying to get by. My family curse made my life pretty tough. I did hold my own with him."
"Well, good luck with him. I just don't think he's worth twisting yourself in a knot over. Make it a friendly rivalry."
He started to reply, but the words died in his mouth as he was a flying shape above the barricade. The shape seemed humanoid, but with insectile wings. "Looks like we didn't get them all after all."
The youma started to fly off away from them. Jupiter tried to charge up a bolt, but it picked up speed too fast and outranged her. She cursed under her breath. "There would have to be one with some sense."
"Unless it's got friends. We better be ready for another fight."
"Let's stay away from those guys," Jupiter said, gesturing at the police. "I don't want them getting hurt."
They waited for several minutes. A man in green military fatigues broke from the ranks of police and tried to shout something at them as he got closer. Neither of them could understand him. He shouted something else. "That sounds like English," Ryoga said. He shouted back at the officer: "$I am Japanese! Where is the embassy?$"
The officer seemed dumbfounded for a moment. He got in a short conversation with Ryoga, and ended up gesturing in one direction.
"He asked if we needed help. I asked him which way that thing went. I'm trying to get us a jeep to follow it."
They were still waiting for a response on it when Ryoga suddenly rushed Jupiter, pulling her to one side. She yelped in surprise just as something whooshed by her from behind. Suddenly there were darts stuck in the street.
They looked around at the rooftops. There were at least five youma visible, including the flyer. The one that had fired the darts - porcupine quills, in fact - sent another volley as the rest leapt at the two.
The dance began, the youma all having ranged attacks, throwing quills, bombs, darts, shards of crystal, a cloud of spores from the flyer. Jupiter and Ryoga had to stay constantly on the move. Ryoga opened his steel umbrella, providing some degree of protection, but they were surrounded.
"We have to get to cover!" Jupiter said. "I can't get a shot off!"
"There!" Ryoga tried heading toward the barricade, but the youma team was smarter and more coordinated than usual, shifting fire to cut them off.
"No good!" Jupiter said. "We have to get inside! Over there!" She pointed at the nearest shop. They tried to move that way too, but the youma shifted too fast again.
"Dammit! If only I could get a moment!" Jupiter was becoming more frustrated but the second. These things were not giving them a moment to breathe.
"Maybe I can do something!" Ryoga pulled a few bandannas from his head and threw them at the youma. Three were injured, giving the pair time to make it to the store.
The police and military, thus far watching the battle as if it were a football game, now had a clear street. They opened up with everything from pistols to rocket launchers. The youma were briefly caught off guard and forced to take cover. This only bought a few seconds, of course, just long enough to reform their bodies whole, closing up slashes and holes. Then they shifted focus to the police.
Something snapped in Jupiter as she looked on from the store window. She didn't think about the fact that these were police and army personnel, that dealing with danger was their job; to her they were humans, innocent bystanders, with no means to defeat the youma on their own. Her rage rose, and new power welled up from inside.
"We've got to take the pressure off them!" Ryoga said. "Can you get a shot now?"
"Oh, I can get a shot," Jupiter said. "I've got their pressure right here." New words came almost unbidden to her lips. "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" The energy formed in her hands, shaped quickly into a ball, in the shape of an American-style football. She threw it underhand toward the knot of youma now harrying the human defensive line. The energy tore into them, disintegrating two of them outright. The others were stunned and vulnerable. They humans quickly gained the upper hand, and only one managed to get away.
Jupiter started toward the barricade, but Ryoga grabbed her arm and tugged her to follow him. "Hey! We've got to see if they need help! Some of them might be hurt!"
"They have medics," Ryoga said. "We have to follow the last one and see if it knows a way out of here."
"I guess you're right," Jupiter said, not happy with the situation, but unable to deny the truth of it. She followed Ryoga as he tracked the last youma.
They followed it several blocks until it ended up in a storehouse. Inside was a deep shadow on one wall.
"Jackpot," Ryoga said. "That's the portal. Let's get back to the others."
"Are you sure?" Jupiter wondered. "What if that thing has friends waiting for it on the other side?"
"Only one way to know for sure. But we can be careful..." He took off another few bandannas and threw them through the portal.
"Yeah, we can," Jupiter agreed. "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" She threw her own ball of energy into the portal, hoping it gave a nasty surprise to anyone on the other side. And with that, the two rushed through to rejoin the main battle.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Sailor Venus whistled idly and kicked at the leggings of her chair. "This is a fine way to treat the heroes of the city, wouldn't you say?"
"Waste no thought on these peasants," Tatewaki Kuno replied calmly. "They know not of our struggles."
"Well, they SHOULD know something," Venus said. Hopefully they were contacting the Interpol number she had given them and establishing they were for real. In fact, if they and the other Senshi had been scattered over the world, the youma in the area had gone with them, so Interpol should be busy all over, and would be looking for her. She could hardly wait to get back to the action. This police station waiting room was about the most unexciting place in the world right now.
The bounty hunter, Rally, wandered over, waiting for the cops to have time to decide whether she should be paid a fee for helping take down the youma. "$So, how do you guys like Chicago?$"
"$Kinda disappointing, to be honest,$" Venus said. "$I imagined it was more like gangsters and shoot-em-ups and such. But I guess that was a long time ago, wasn't it?$"
"$Actually, it's like that again these day. Only the gangsters are black instead of Italian, and the speakeasies are rave parties, and the Tommy guns are now MAC-10s, and the drugs of choice are a little different. But yeah, not so different.$"
"$Really? Maybe I ought to come back here sometime...$"
Detective Coleman then came through the inner door. "$Looks like things aren't going so well down at the warehouse,$" he said, fixing his gaze on the two Japanese kids. "$A whole bunch of those monsters just showed up. They need you ASAP.$"
Venus perked up immediately. "$A bunch? Did they come through that black area?$"
"$Looks like it. Maybe it was just booby trapped or something. There's a firefight going on there now, the guys we got watching it are trying to keep the new guys pinned down.$"
Venus smiled. "$Let's not keep them waiting.$"
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Just outside the gates of Ohtori Academy, a group of five varied youma stood ready. The leader, pale and nearly featureless, looked around for traps. "Nothing I can see from here," it said. "Spread out and keep out of sight. She generally doesn't do anything to hostile, but she isn't likely to receive our message well. Be ready for anything."
The leader walked calmly onto the campus as its team fanned out and kept to the shadows, heading for higher floors as they entered the main building. The pale youma stopped in the middle of the atrium under the central tower and called out, "Anthy Himemiya! I come with a message."
The feminine voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. "I am still not interested in your queen's offer. I prefer to remain here."
"The terms are a little different this time. Queen Beryl has run out of patience. Remaining with your beloved brother is not an option. You will come with us or die."
"That sounds very impolite. I might almost think Beryl-san were desperate. Is there some problem?"
"Beryl will explain the situation to you when you arrive. Will you come or not?"
"I'm sorry, youma-san. I am afraid I will be remaining here. And you will not be going anywhere, either."
"As if you could stop us." The youma exerted itself, trying to move, only to find it was trapped in place.
"What is the matter? Aren't you going to come after me?"
"Come down here! My team, down here!"
The other four youma entered the atrium, carefully keeping their distance from their paralyzed leader. "It's a holding circle," one of them pronounced, examining the floor. "Pathetic." It scraped at the floor with its foot, rubbing out part of the pattern. The leader began to move again.
There was sudden movement from the shadows in the second floor balcony. A new voice shouted, "Akuryou Taisan!" Wards flew down, holding the group in place before any of them could react.
"What's this?" The lead youma was incredulous. A new factor? It could only be one of the Senshi. "You've got a Senshi here! Hand her over and we will consider your loyalty to be demonstrated."
"I wonder how Beryl-san will take this demonstration, then?" Anthy called. "Mars?"
"Gladly." Sailor Mars came down the spiral stairs from the balcony and took up a calculated position. "Let's see if I can do this..." She concentrated on the image, trying to apply what Anthy had explained to her. "BURNING MANDALA!"
The fire arose from her fingers, as always, but instead of shooting it forth in a simple blast, she drew it in a circle, where it fired off several circles of flame toward the trapped youma. In seconds, all were burned to ash.
"That's that," Mars said. "Will you be okay here? Beryl may send more after these don't report in."
"If she's busy looking for you and your friends, she won't worry about me," Anthy said, coming down the stairs herself. "I should be safe here, if you and Sailor Moon are able to win. And if you lose, well, it would have been the same for me anyways."
"I'll want to visit again someday, when I have time," Mars said. "Good luck."
Ten minutes later Mars had followed the directions Anthy had given to a small bakery in the town. The portal was in a back room. There was no one on guard outside.
"Right, then." Mars said a short prayer, then dove into the blackness.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"DEEP SUBMERGE!" Another youma disappeared in a splash.
Ukyo pumped her fist. "Yes!" She looked to Katrina. "Just one more, wasn't there?"
Katrina had just been on her radio. "In Chelsea. Looks like two, actually. They're bickering or fighting right now. If we're lucky one may finish the other off."
"Let's hope so," Ukyo said as they all got back into Katrina's police car. A police van with a SWAT team stayed behind to keep the battle area secure while a forensics team scoured it.
"Headquarters in Paris was talking about these things showing up all over the place in the last few hours. I don't suppose you have a faster way to the Continent than a jet?"
"I would need my teammates," Neptune said. "And Ukyo-san would still have to go by jet. Unless that portal stops killing things that try to go through..."
"Well, then, it looks like you may have to wait here a while as we sort things out. You can rest up at our London office for a bit."
"I could use the sleep. And a chance to warm up. We've been fighting for hours, at least. Mostly in the cold."
"So how is Minako-chan? Last I saw of her, she was going into a warehouse that exploded on her. How did she survive?"
Ukyo and Neptune looked dumbfounded. "That sounds like it came right out of a movie," Ukyo said. "She hasn't told us anything about that. She only just joined us a couple of weeks ago."
"Then you guys haven't been with the team for long?"
"I awoke to my Senshi powers just before Venus joined us," Neptune said. "Ukyo-san has been working with them a bit longer, I think?" She gave a questioning look at Ukyo.
"Not too closely, actually," Ukyo admitted with a blush, "but I know what's been going on with them. They're all around Minako's age, real kids. But when they get into a fight, they tend to do all right. Ranma's helped, he makes all the plans and scouts things out ahead of time."
"Ranma? Is that the name of the tuxedo-wearing guy that's been seen with them?"
"No, that's Sailor Moon's boyfriend. They were lovers in a past life, I think. Ranma is *my* boyfriend."
"And Sailor Pluto," Neptune added.
"Oh? Not all of the Senshi are girls?" Katrina asked.
Ukyo sweatdropped. Why did Neptune have to mention this? "Ummm... well, technically they are... it's kinda complicated..." She gave Neptune a glare to warn her not to volunteer any more information.
"So he's a special case?"
"Yeah, that's it." Ukyo hoped Katrina would leave it at that.
Luckily for her, she would. "What about you?" the Interpol agent shifted her attention to Neptune. "Any nice young boys you're dating? Or just playing along?"
Now it was Neptune's turn to blush. "Not so far," she said. "But I just know the right person is nearby..."
"Would this also be someone from your past life?" Katrina teased.
Neptune seemed uncomfortable with this. "I'm... not sure, really... I'm still sorting through my memories... I don't recall all that much so far, to tell the truth..."
She was saved from further explanation by their arrival at the battle site. A crowd had gathered outside a toy store, with local police blocking the entrance. Katrina immediately addressed the lieutenant in charge. "What's the situation?"
"They started fighting in a clothing store up the street," he said, "made a right mess of the place. One of them was in a leotard, has some kind of killer laugh attack. Looks a bit like a gymnast, actually. She grabbed a coat and led the other one down here, said there was some 'tools of the trade' she could use."
Within a few minutes, Katrina went in, followed by Ukyo, then Neptune. The Interpol officer stayed on the floor, while the martial artist and Senshi took to the tops of the tall racks of toys, amid large boxed items.
There was activity near the back of the store. One whole rack had been pushed over. One of the youma seemed to be attacking the other, throwing what seemed to be bowling balls. "Stand still, dammit!"
"OH HO HOHOHOHOHO! You're hopelessly slow and clumsy. You hardly even stack up to my usual class of opponent." A ring similar to a hula hoop flew at the first youma's head. It dodged, cursing.
Ukyo grumbled. "SHE'S here? Gahh. I was hoping she would end up alone in Timbuktu or somewhere..." She mouthed to Katrina "ONLY ONE", then motioned to Neptune to move into position.
"This is starting to bore me," Kodachi said. "Perhaps I should keep your head parted from your shoulders this time. Unless you wish to tell me how to get out of this city? I will admit London does have its charms, but no place is as charming as wherever my dear Ryoga-sama is."
"How about I smash YOUR head in?" The youma summoned another bowling ball and threw, only to have Kodachi easily dodge.
"DEEP SUBMERGE!" Neptune's shot caught the youma completely off guard. It didn't even have time to scream.
Kodachi gave the new arrivals a severely annoyed look. "Now what did you have to do that for? that one could have told us where the portal out of this city is! Now I will be forced to call Sasuke to arrange a plane ticket."
"We got the portal under guard," Ukyo said. She nodded toward the pile of youma dust. "That one probably got thrown here with us. It wouldn't have known any more than we did."
"You know this youma?" Katrina asked.
"She's not actually a youma," Ukyo said. "Though frankly, if I'd only just met her, I wouldn't know the difference myself..."
"You're one to talk about not recognizing appearances. If I didn't know otherwise I should think the girls of your school were justified in pining after you."
"Now this sounds like an interesting story," Katrina said. "You guys will have to tell me more on our way back to headquarters..." She was suddenly interrupted by her radio. The Interpol agent's eyes went wide as she heard the report. "Looks like that portal in the garage is working again," she said when she had finished. "A bunch of monsters just came through."
"Ooooh-kay," Ukyo said coolly. "That sounds like WE could get back through. How many are we talking here?"
"They said four or five. They're keeping the place tear gassed and locked down. Just waiting on you."
"Four or five at once? This may be a bit much for us to handle..." Neptune said with fear in her voice.
"Piece of cake!" Ukyo said. "We've got their number now. We'll get through."
"We have numbers on our side, at least over here," Katrina observed. "What about when you get to the North Pole? For all you know, they may still have most of their army set up there."
Ukyo sighed. "One disaster at a time..."
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Haruka Tenoh advanced cautiously down the street. She was attired a bit out of season, given the temperatures here. No one seemed to give her a glance. Maybe they thought she had just been skiing in the Himalayas or something.
She had arrived in the middle of a shantytown, and quickly found Shampoo was also in the area - apparently they had landed less than a mile apart. Haruka had been rather annoyed at being stuck in a slum, it wasn't her type of place at all, but she supposed heroes often had to operate in dirty environments, preferring to keep the action - and possibility of property damage - away from the high-rent districts. A small sacrifice to duty.
Shampoo, being a girl of no pretensions, had seemed much more comfortable here. She had taken to picking through trash for newspapers and any other written or printed material for information. It had been futile; in the slums, there were many languages spoken, but few from beyond India. No Western or Chinese dialects that they could recognize.
She had led them to the downtown area, where she suspected there would be a more cosmopolitan crowd. She was right: there were a good many Westerners and East Asians here, workers for foreign companies and multinationals, business travellers and tourists. She moved casually through the crowd, trying to discreetly steal glances at newspapers, magazines, and blaring TVs.
She walked down one street, up another, making a circuit of a few blocks, going into a department store at one point, absorbing information as she went. It was slow going, but she eventually got an idea where they were and what was happening. She completed her circuit at the alley where Shampoo was still hiding.
"Where we is?" The Amazon warrior was still dressed up as Sailor Moon. With no magical transformation, she could not easily blend in with the crowds. Haruka was more worried about looking silly than any youma that might be attracted. Sailor Uranus would finish them off in one shot.
"I think we're in Calcutta. All the TVs are showing some police actions in other countries - Chicago, London, Paris, Moscow, probably a few others. Has to be youma activity. I think it's only a matter of time before they show up here."
"They come here, they die." Shampoo hefted her sword. She wished it had some magic in it, like the one boy - Kuno, she thought he was called - who had joined them for this mission.
Haruka started thinking out loud. "I don't like the idea of searching the city on foot. Rather be on a bike or car. But if the Dark Kingdom is starting to attack openly everywhere, we can't afford to waste time. Though I'm sure the cops will find them first, they might start putting out APBs any time..."
"Shampoo go look." The Amazon warrior simply took off out to the street.
Haurka cursed, then transformed and followed. So rash and instinctive, a simple mountain girl, not considering the delicacy of the situation. But was she really? She was well trained as a warrior, and of late, experienced; she SHOULD have the better judgement of them. Perhaps she knew their situation was really that simple: stay and wait for the youma to make noise, or go and find them, and spare the civilians some grief.
They made their way up and down streets, covering the built-up districts, then headed outward, taking to the rooftops as the buildings got lower. They had been looking for perhaps ten minutes when Uranus saw something in the sky, too big to be a bird, too small for a light plane. It was moving in a slow arc across their own direction of travel, then curved toward their right.
Uranus put on a burst of speed to catch up to Shampoo and pointed. "Up there! I think that's one!"
They paused and held their ground as the winged youma curved about them, then dropped low and flew closer, coming within a block. Uranus started casting a World Shaking, but the flyer quickly turned away.
"We follow!" Shampoo took off again, heading after the youma. She asked Uranus as they ran, "You no shoot?"
"Too far! It would dodge!"
"Can move shot?"
Move shot? "You mean... like a guided missile? I just got these powers lately, I haven't had time to practice!"
"Can try now!"
Uranus stopped at their next roof landing. "Heh. Why not? Here goes. WORLD... SHAKING!"
The ball of golden energy curved away, but not as fast as the youma. Uranus guessed it would take some days or weeks of work to be able to intercept a moving target at any range. "No good," she told the Chinese girl. "Just have to get closer." She put on a burst of speed after the flyer, trying to close the gap.
They ended up back near the shantytown they had first landed in. The flyer dropped low, then began circling. By the time they had caught up to it, they could see it had friends: it was now one of a group of five youma of various types and colors, spread out across the roofs.
"So it's true," the center youma said. "Sailor Moon is here. You'll be coming with us. Queen Beryl has plans for you..."
Shampoo's disguise was still working, it seemed. "In name of moon, you die!" She brandished her sword and charged.
The youma scattered, the flyer heading up, the footsoldiers, heading away, then curving. Uranus drew a bead on one. "WORLD SHAKING!" Her target dodged, the shot barely missing and dissipating far downrange. She then had to dodge return fire, some sort of summoned crystals, and fired again, this time near the youma's feet. The shanty it was standing on was destroyed, and the residents probably made quite angry, but it was vulnerable to a follow-up shot. One down.
Then she heard Shampoo's cry, and the leader's laughter, and saw the flyer had swooped down and grabbed the Amazon warrior like a bird on its prey. Shampoo was held by the back of her costume, unable to swivel around for a cut, and then her sword was batted out of her hands, and the youma was flying off.
Uranus made to follow her, but the remaining three youma blocked her way. "Beryl only wants her alive," the leader said. "Any other Senshi we are free to kill."
Uranus cursed again. "Three on one. You guys are gonna pay for slowing me down."
Pay they did. But they gained their comrade a good five minutes. As their dust settled, Uranus headed for where she had seen Shampoo's captor enter one of the shanties, presuming it to be the portal, and hoping she could catch up.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Any student of military history will explain that information is one of the keys to warfare. Among many other shortcomings as a leader was Beryl's overreliance on one particular means of gathering information: her crystal ball. A powerful tool for magical scrying, but it had its limitations. She had spent many fruitless months, for example, trying to dredge up the location of the guinzuishou in a wide-cast search before remembering it had been broken up into the Rainbow Crystals.
It was serving her better now. She was only calling on it to do something it had no problems doing, something that could not be blocked: looking through the eyes of her youma. Like a channel-surfing couch potato, she shifted her point of view quickly from one team to the next every few seconds, in hopes of not missing anything.
Early reports were thoroughly boring. Paris, Rome, Sao Paolo, Sydney, Bangkok, so many places showed no immediate action. The teams were not surprised at their arrival, and spread out uncontested.
Chicago and London were more interesting; the teams there had run into police ambushes. London she might have expected, given Sailor V's activity earlier in the year, but there should be no reason for the locals in Chicago to suspect anything. Perhaps the situation bore monitoring.
Cairo was the jackpot. Sailor Moon turned out to be right there at the portal. for all of a few seconds. Of course the little coward ran immediately. The team was giving chase. Ordinarily she would be chastising them for letting their quarry get away, but this time it didn't matter. There was really only one place she could go. She barked an order to a runner to move a response team to the Cairo portal to be ready to receive the fleeing Senshi when she came through.
Things got more interesting when another "Sailor Moon" was sighted in Calcutta. Ah yes. One of them was a decoy. No matter. "Take them both," she ordered.
With her survey of the away teams complete, there had been enough time for any wily Senshi to try to slip into portals behind them. She began rotating through the tunnel watchers; again, most had nothing to report. The Sao Paolo tunnel had something - it was obscured by fog.
"That will be Sailor Mercury," Magnetite guessed. "I will vector a patrol."
Other patrols were sent to cover Bangkok and Sydney; the youma stationed at those portals could not be found, which could only mean they were dead. She quickly checked patrols nearby to see if any Senshi were loose in the tunnels. She found one on the way from Bangkok to Calcutta - only a brief glimpse, cut short by an onrushing ball of purple energy, but enough to know who she was dealing with.
"Magnetite. The one you were looking for, with the staff. She is heading for Calcutta."
"Excellent." Magnetite turned to Happosai, and pointed out a position on their map. "It seems your student is there."
"Oh, goody!" Happosai began bounding off. "Ranma! You won't get out of your training like your worthless father! I'll teach you the TRUE way of the Anything-Goes School!"
Magnetite smiled. The little pervert could keep Sailor Pluto occupied for a while, but experience had shown she would get free just long enough to cause trouble. She was too dangerous to be allowed to live. He would have youma waiting to finish off master and student when they had weakened each other.
Things were starting to get under control at last.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"Here we are," Pluto said. "Calcutta." With magically enhanced strength, speed, and stamina in Senshi form, moving as fast as the twisting tunnels would allow, and carrying Cologne on her shoulders, she wasn't even breathing hard.
Cologne hopped down from her shoulders. Unlike the Bangkok and Sydney portals, which entered directly into tunnels, the Calcutta portal was in a small room with another exit. The ancient Amazon matriarch peered down the other tunnel. "Odd. I thought I saw something come from the portal and go down this way."
"Praobably a runner reporting Uranus is there," Pluto said. "Come on. Her and Shampoo should be close to the portal there."
"What about the panty thief? Has he started moving yet?"
Pluto peered into the darkness for a few seconds, then made a face. "Looks like it. I think we can stay just ahead of him all the way to Cairo."
"Maybe I can delay him a bit. Which way will he come from?"
"The way we just came." Pluto chuckled. "I guess if anyone can even slow him down, it's you."
"Actually, any of us could do it, if you're willing to get your hands a little dirty." She still had the box of nails raided from a construction site in Sydney; she now pulled out a nail and leapt up to jab at the roof of the tunnel, hitting a pair of Breaking Point strikes to bring the ceiling down.
Pluto stood there momentarily agape. "Yeah, that might do it..." She shouted as if she could make herself heard through the pile. "SEE YOU IN A BIT! DON'T DO ANYTHING SILLY!"
There was no word from the other side. Futures light and dark danced around her, inducing a storm of feelings, of hope and of impending doom. She followed her training, stifled them, and dove into Calcutta.
The arrival point could not generously be described as a building; Pluto could only call it a shack, cobbled together from odd bits of particle board and aluminum sheets. She keyed her communicator and was about to call shout out to Uranus when the other Senshi landed in the street in front of the door.
"Pluto! Thank Kami! Did it go in there?"
"Did what? A youma? We thought we just missed one. I wouldn't worry, Beryl probably knows we're running around but we can keep her guessing where we are if we move quickly." She looked around the street. "Where's Shampoo? She should be with you."
"That youma had her! That stupid costume of hers. They thought she was Sailor Moon, they wanted her alive."
"Dammit!" Pluto put a hand over her face, then started running down the tunnel, Uranus following. "We can't go after her. We're on a tight schedule. The real Sailor Moon needs us in Cairo. I wouldn't worry. When they see she's not the real one they'll put her in with my family. We'll catch up with her later."
"Can't you track her?"
"Not right now. All kinds of stuff happening, too much interference. We just gotta do what we can do, and pray."
Pluto's watch chirped. "This is Sailor Venus! I just got in from Chicago! Is anyone else here?"
"Sailor Mercury here. I'm coming up from Sao Paolo. Try to stay where you are and I'll meet you in about five minutes."
"Sailor Neptune here, with Kuonji-san. We're at the London portal. My map doesn't cover this area. Which way should we head?"
"This is Sailor Mars, in the Japan area. My map covers part of this area. Should I go in deeper or come across to someone?"
"This is Jupiter, with Ryoga, out of Africa. We're lost. Anybody wanna come pick us up?"
Mercury chimed in again. "Pluto, are you still there? What can you see?"
Crunch time. Pluto didn't have time to deal with this, and the others would do just fine without her for a few minutes. She hit her all-call. "Everyone who just got in, stay where you are. Mercury, keep heading toward Venus, then move over to Neptune and keep moving from there. You can work it out. I don't have time for a detailed look, I'll get back to you in a few minutes."
It would be a busy few minutes.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Shampoo struggled in futility against her captor. It held her with inhuman strength, its talons like steel. She could bend mild steels, if she could get the proper leverage, but the youma had her by the shoulders. She wished she had brought a dagger to throw in its eye.
It carried her along tunnels sometimes too black for human eyes. It was in one of these stretches that it stopped, quite suddenly. "Out of my way. I have someone the Queen wants to see immediately."
There was someone blocking their path. Someone who sniffed the air. Someone with a very familiar voice. "No, she doesn't. That's a decoy. I'll take her off your hands."
"The Queen will decide what to do with her. Move or suffer."
A sound of steel being drawn, quick motions by the youma holding her, then it just seemed to come apart, the legs falling away. Strong, furry arms held her. "%Don't worry, Shampoo. You're safe. They won't hurt you.%"
"%Mousse? But... this can't be you... all furry...%"
"%Shh. Let's go somewhere safe. Somewhere they won't find us.%"
More movement through the dark. This time she could struggle against him. She didn't. She had to ask, had to hear it from his lips. Before she did what had to be done.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Kunzite scanned through the channels with amusement as the human world scrambled to come to grips with the sudden widespread youma activity. So many youma displaced by Pluto's stunt, operating without orders, doing whatever came to mind. A building closed off in Los Angeles, a commuter train near Paris, and entire street lying unconscious in Mexico City. They had not been prepped and briefed for field duty; no one had told them to keep a low profile.
No doubt some who did, in fact, have field experience were out there, keeping out of sight, perhaps gathering energy as long as they could do it quietly. On the other hand, those who had no idea how to get back to the Dark Kingdom lands and no powers for directly gathering energy were causing destruction, making spectacles, just to draw attention and get someone sent to pick them up.
Would Beryl care about any of this? Surely not about the property destruction. She might want to gather the lost youma to bolster her numbers, but with final victory close at hand, she would be most interested on managing what she had. The Sailor Senshi were out there, in no better circumstances than the youma. And now Beryl would send what she had left to hunt the cursed Senshi down.
The team in Chicago did not seem to be having much luck. They were penned in by police, who had apparently expected them. Ah, there was a live shot showing Sailor Venus approaching the portal site. One possible companion, a boy in hakama, not a Senshi. There was a chance the team in the warehouse was about to finish her career at last.
Another Senshi in London, also alone, or with only human companions. This looked to be one of the new ones, with unknown powers. Well, as long as she was alone, Beryl would be able to field enough youma to overwhelm her. Though it would be less costly if they had had time to plan their moves and assign youma with special powers to the teams. But often events forced one's hand.
A new report came in from Cairo, described as "demons running through the city chasing after someone." Footage showed a pair of figures... ah, one of them looked like Sailor Moon. Kunzite was not about to be fooled by a decoy again, not after the debacle at the store in Tokyo. He let the tape machines record the full report and rewound, looking carefully at the image.
It was her. The image was too indistinct and distant to make out her face, but he knew how she moved. There was real terror in her strides. The decoy had seemed fearless, and used conventional weapons, like swords. This one moved like the Sailor Moon his fellow generals had faced.
Satisfied he had his quarry, he teleported away. The guinzuishou would not slip through his fingers this time.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Happosai bounced down a tunnel heading for the Middle East portals, passing Cologne just outside a junction room. She simply pogoed her way on past him. "Good day, Happi."
The ancient pervert stopped and turned around. "Cologne? Aren't you going to stop me?"
"It looks like I have. Unless you want to keep going the way you were."
Happosai scowled and followed after the Amazon matriarch as she continued down the tunnel. "I mean by DOING something!"
"Like what?"
"Fighting me!"
"Not just now." She began to whistle idly as she went along.
More suspicious than ever, Happosai was not about to keep going his original way. "What's ahead? Ranma? Can't be just him, he still can't beat me when I really try. And this time I am REALLY going to try!"
"As you wish." She seemed determined to show no concern.
Happosai scowled again and kept following. "Tell me. They have them all up there, do they? Or is it Akane? Shampoo? The Kuonji girl? I can handle them all at once if I have to!"
"You don't have to."
"Hmmmm. Well, if that's the way you want to be, fine! I'll just take them all on!" He continued bounding on his original course. Cologne kept calmly moving the other way.
She finally stopped, looked up and down the tunnel, and examined the ceiling carefully. "I suppose this will be good." She held an industrial nail in one hand and used it to execute Breaking Point strikes at two points in the ceiling, bringing it down and blocking the tunnel. She coughed and waved dust away.
When she got back to the junction room at the crossing point of three tunnels, Happosai came running out of the tunnel ahead. "So, you collapsed it. Hrmph. I suppose you've done the same for these other ones?"
"Well, I WAS getting around to them..."
"Hah! Too slow! Some job you did. You should have stayed with Ranma." He began humming happily and went down a different tunnel.
Cologne sat in the center of the room and began to meditate. She sensed much energy flowing around here, including chi energy. The Dark Kingdom had been gathering it from across the world for months, and apparently their reservoir was leaky. Their loss, Cologne's gain. She began a chant, drawing energy into herself, boosting her strength and endurance several fold.
Happosai came and went down every tunnel, eventually returning with an annoyed look. "So. You DID get them all. Well, you may have slowed me down, but it's going to take more than that to stop me."
He spent several minutes roaming around through the chamber and tunnels, probing for weak spots. Finding none, he spent several minutes trying to remove the debris blocking one tunnel, only to give up as he found he was using up too much energy. Without access to nubile flesh to restore himself, he would not have enough to confront Ranma. He returned to Cologne in the central chamber. "Oh, okay. I give up. I know when I'm beaten. I suppose you'll want a promise to give up on Ranma and let you train him. Is there any chance we could work out a deal? Maybe you get him every Tuesday?"
Cologne said nothing, continuing her chanting. "Hmmm. I can see you're going to be a tough nut to crack. Maybe if I cut back on the panty raids?" the old pervert offered. No response. "All right. I'll give up all the trinkets I took from you all those years ago."
Still nothing. By now he had run out of patience. He interrupted her chanting with a solid thwack on the head. "Dammit, you dried-up old bat! I haven't got all day! I can promise you I'll be good!"
Cologne bonked him back. "As if a promise from you could ever mean anything. You don't have the discipline to keep it. We're two old people who are what we are. Good and evil. There can only be one end to this."
"Exactly!" Happosai beamed. "The good guy always wins! So I guess that means YOU should give up and accede to my inevitable victory!"
BONK. "I didn't say YOU were the good one!"
Happosai rubbed his forehead. "Well, I can't see that I'm all that bad. I'm just an old man who wants to enjoy a few pleasures in life in my fading years and see that my legacy is secure in my apprentice."
"Your legacy is a school known for its master and its students. It mystifies me how Soun Tendo is able to call his practice a branch of your school. He would be much better off changing the name and getting distance from the Anything-Goes reputation."
"Well, look at your legacy! A bunch of humorless old crones taking all the fun out of life! The way you misguide your girls into resisting the charms of men... it's absolutely criminal!"
"My legacy will be stopping you from interfering with the Sailor Senshi. Your 'harmless fun' would ensure the victory of the Dark Kingdom. And I don't expect you to understand a people that has actual STANDARDS for the men in their lives." She sighed heavily. She had about as much energy as she could contain, anyway. "I believe there's nothing more to say. If you want out of here, it will have to be over my dead body."
"Maybe not," Happosai said, pulling out an enormous Happo Fire Burst bomb - only to have Cologne swipe it with a hand, chi-claws extending beyond her fingers, shredding the wrappings and leaving a pile of gunpowder all over the floor.
Happosai spluttered and wiped gunpowder from his face. "I suppose you're right. Well, then, if that's what it takes..."
The Master of the Anything-Goes School leapt at the Matriarch of the Joketsuzoku, and the duel of masters began.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
In Cairo, Akane Tendo and Sailor Moon were trying to move nonchalantly through the crowd in stolen burqas. The flying youma passing above them kept the pair on edge.
They nearly jumped out of their burqas, and their skins, when Moon's watch chirped. Moon quickly covered her wrist with her other hand to muffle the sound and looked for cover. She settled on a covered alcove and darted in.
"This is Sailor Pluto," the watch hissed when Sailor Moon opened it. "I'm at the portal building. Sailor Moon, Akane, are you guys safe?"
Both of them sighed in relief. "Finally! We thought you'd never get here! There's a youma flying around, but we're under cover. We might be able to move, but we're kinda lost..."
"Hang on, we'll draw the youma off. Can you get to a rooftop?"
They edged out of the alcove and bounded up to the top of a three-story building and looked around. They soon saw a series of orange balls of energy flying into the sky. The flying youma started angling toward the source, followed by four small figures on distant rooftops around the area.
"Thay may need our firepower," Akane said. "Let's go."
There was an ominous chuckle from behind them. "Heh heh... I rather think you'll be coming with me." Kunzite grabbed Sailor Moon and Akane Tendo by the arms, and then all was darkness.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Next: Dance of the Fates
Further notes:
Much of the delay in writing in recent months has been figuring out where to put each character and how they will come together. I didn't want the placements to be too convenient; they had to seem random. When working on the next chapter, I realized there was a better-looking placement, putting Ryoga with Venus in America and Tatewaki Kuno with Jupiter in Africa. But, too much had been written at that point.
Now for the big battle. Things will get serious...