Souls of Fire

by Razorclaw X

Picking up where 'The Geometry of Shattered Souls' and 'The Geometry of Vanished Souls' left off, the Fenril Knights emerge to challenge the authority of Crystal Tokyo. In the wake of the Black Moon War the fifth and final of the Children of Chaos works t

4. Electrical Burn

Souls of Fire #4: Electrical Burn

Ranma 1/2 VS Sailor Moon

Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/sm/index.html

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and characters belong to
Naoko Takeuchi. Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to
Rumiko Takahashi. Proper licenses belong to respective
properties and characters. The manga has precedence
over material in the anime.

This file can be freely distributed so long as it
appears in its complete form and proper credit. No
part may be reproduced for monetary gain without
permission from the author.

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

Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries

Ayame tapped her foot in disappointment as she
glanced at the console where Kanna was seated at. On
the main viewscreen she saw the retrieval of Miranda
in progress, who was the only one with enough luck to
not encounter a Sailor Senshi at all. Shampoo had a
run in with Venus, Shizuka with Mars, and Ranma with
Jupiter, and the rest of the twenty-six droids sent
out were completely wiped out.

And none of them returned with a single heart
crystal.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked her
master tactician.

"You wanted me to retrieve at least five heart
crystals, but you never added the criteria that they
must be brought back," Kanna replied smartly. "On the
other hand, you'll find the true intent of my plan
most pleasing."

"You wasted my robots for retrieval," Ayame said.
"You wasted my droids for nothing. Why did you spread
them out so thinly?"

"The droids are expendable," answered the Crystal
Spider. "Your robots are expendable. The humans,
however, are not. They are far more powerful than your
machines can ever be, be they technological or magical
in origin. They need a reason to fight, and the will
to stick to their decision. I simply made it so with
our biggest doubter."

"Ranma Saotome," Ayame realized.

"In the process I managed to wring back Ukyo Kuonji
as well," she added proudly. "The droids were not
positioned in haphazard locations; they were placed in
areas where they could lead the Sailor Senshi on a
trail to the specific targets."

"You got them attacked on purpose."

"You got it. Of course, there was much risk
involved, and some unforeseen events, but more or less
everything is going according to plan."

"I hope the mage bomb at the Crystal Palace was part
of your plan," Ayame hoped, realizing there was a good
chance that Neo Queen Serenity was taken out.

But Kanna shook her head. "That wasn't my idea, it
was Pantyhose Taro's."

"Pantyhose Taro? How...?"

"Someone as sneaky as he would surely get suspicious
of my plans, so I counted on him doing something. Did
you ever notice that Ryoga Hibiki was missing from the
compound? It was Taro, of course. The explosion was
what Ryoga did."

"So we lost another," the leader realized.

"I sincerely doubt we've heard the last of Neo Queen
Serenity," Kanna added. "Ryoga is lost to us, for
sure, whichever way it went, and we can deal with Taro
later; he still serves a useful asset. All we need to
do is wait for one of my pawns to execute the next
phase of my plan."

"And that is...?"

The tactician offered a knowing smile. "You'll see,
and you'll be very pleased with the results."

After all, it was no accident that the four ended up
where they were.

---

Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace

"Your Highness!" Venus exclaimed, the moment she
appeared at what was left of the inner sanctum.

She stared down at the five-meter deep crater in the
center, where Neo Queen Serenity stood, unhurt, with an
unconscious young man at her feet, his aura clear of
impurity as far as the soldier of love could tell.

"Sailor Venus," the queen said softly, "see to it
that this young man, Ryoga Hibiki, is given proper
care. I will be quite busy channeling energies to
restore the city with the Silver Crystal."

Venus nodded carefully. She knew using up so much
energy to restore the city's damage would drain a lot
out of the queen and the Silver Crystal, likely opening
her up to more attacks. Yet, Queen Serenity knew what
she was doing, and she had complete trust in her
people.

If only she could say the same thing about herself.

---

10th Street Subway Terminal, 10th Street District

The drilling robot model called URANOS burst through
the collapsed rubble, sending those people digging from
the outside into a panic and running. The machine
pulled itself out through its own hole, and rolled off
to the side, allowing the light of the afternoon sun to
reach those that were buried alive moments before.

Ai was the first to be lifted out of the hole, in
Sailor Mars's hands, and she pulled herself out the
rest of the way. Soon her little brother Masa
followed, and by the time Sailor Mars poked her head
out she saw the two running to their parents, happy.

She couldn't help but smile. "It's things like this
that make this job worthwhile."

Down in the hole, Shizuka shouted, "Damn, yeah." She
cursed painfully. "Now I don't have to pretend I'm not
hurt."

"You can't get up anymore?" asked Mars. "You really
should see a doctor or something."

Mars frowned in disappointment that Shizuka was none
the least surprised that she knew she was really hurt,
what with shielding the kids from the collapse. She
herself had numerous bruises, but nothing too serious,
thanks to her training, but on Shizuka's own admission
she was not physically fit for this type of damage.

"What's going on?" Kanna asked through the URANOS, as
Sailor Mars dropped back into the hole.

The darkness of the tunnel consumed her once more.
She looked toward where Shizuka was leaning against the
wall, her head tilted back, eyes closed, and a strange
grin on her face, as if she was thinking of something
rather amusing.

"I'm no doctor," Mars admitted, "so I'm not sure if
it's such a good idea if I move you."

"Well, that's swell," the priestess said, chuckling.
"Prisoner of war, incapacitated. I really hope
Thanatos gets fed while I'm gone."

"Thanatos is your...?"

"Pet boa constrictor. He ate something bad yesterday
for dinner."

The light of the sun blotted out as URANOS dropped
back down into the hole. "Shizuka? What's wrong?"

The priestess laughed softly. "I've fallen and I
can't get up."

Mars turned toward the death's head seriously. "She
needs to see a doctor. Leave her with me, and I'll
take care of her."

"I don't think that's a viable option," Kanna
replied. "We'd get in big trouble for that."

"She's hurt!" the senshi insisted. "I don't know
what you guys've got, but I promise that Shizuka will
get the best treatment."

"Kanna... my back hurts, and it's getting hard to
move my legs," Shizuka added. "Go back and tell the
others what happened. Tell them I'm okay, and that my
prism's fractured. Tell them that we can't fight with
these civilians around...."

The death's head's red eyes glowed in compliance.
"Okay, we'll let this go for now." Kanna directed her
attention to Sailor Mars. "You can take her to your
doctors, but for only as long as it take for Shizuka
to recover. No funny business, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer URANOS dropped back
down into its original tunnel, and as soon as it was
gone the hole collapsed on itself, stopping any chance
they could figure out where the hidden Fenril Knight
base was.

On the other hand, Mars thought, Ami would likely get
that information to us anyway.

And here she was, the original initiator of the
entire conflict, Shizuka Minazuki. While Mars did
promise to get her the best of attention, it also
occurred to her that they could learn more while
holding this girl in captivity.

---

Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries

Ayame leaned over Kanna's seat like a hawk. "I hope
you know what you're doing. It looks to me like you're
making stuff up as you go along."

From Shion's console the mercenary said, "At least
she's okay."

"I'll admit it wasn't part of the plan," Kanna said,
turning away from the console as the URANOS went back
to automatic. "I'm certain the Sailor Senshi know the
possibilities of what they have in their hands. On the
other hand, we've also got a foot in the door."

"I don't understand," Ayame admitted. "Explain."

"False sense of security. So long as they hold her
they'll think they have a chance to stop us, either by
putting her in front of themselves as a shield, or try
to turn her. Shizuka's too good for that." The
Crystal Spider folded her arms. "Beside that, I've got
what I wanted. I got Shizuka, too, to clamor in favor
of removing the civilian population."

"THIS was part of your plan?" Shion yelled. "I
wasn't looking forward to looking after the snake for
a couple weeks, but now you're suggesting we remove all
the people, too?"

Ayame nodded, finally understanding where Kanna was
going with all of this. Turning toward Shion she
ordered, "Summon the Wiseman. We need to talk."

---

Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace

There was little time as Neo Queen Serenity and
Sailor Mars exchanged their stories, and soon Jupiter
and Venus arrived to join them, each having taken care
of their appointed tasks for the moment.

All four of them stood in the partially-rebuilt
crystal chamber, where progress was done only to seal
the holes in the wall and ceiling, but the crater
remained. A layer of crystal was layered over the
crater, leaving the floor beneath the four hollow, but
no less sturdy. The Silver Crystal rest on a new
pedestal, similar to the one destroyed in Ryoga's
superior Shishi Hokodan attack.

"Ryoga is resting in one of the guest chambers,"
Venus reported. "He's probably going to end up
sleeping it all off until tomorrow; he sure used up a
lot of energy, but the doctors say he'll be fine."

"Allow him to take his time," suggested Neo Queen
Serenity. "When he wishes to return home, permit him
so."

"The city's a disaster," Jupiter said, taking her
turn. "Everything within a thirty kilometer radius of
the palace's been hit by the debris, but any injuries
are minor. Only the buildings suffered major damage,
and work crews are busy cleaning them up now."

The queen nodded. "It appears we can no longer keep
news of the threat from the people now. I will have to
address them on the matter later."

Sailor Mars took her turn. "The doctors are trying
to examine the girl I brought in, Shizuka, but she
doesn't want them touching her. She's holding on to
that fire buster of hers like a doll, and won't part
with it. Even though I didn't get a good look at it,
it looks almost exactly like the Deathbuster weapon
Eudial used."

"So they really are using Deathbuster weapons,"
Venus said. "The question is, where did they get them
from? I thought we destroyed them all."

"So did I," agreed Mars. "Otherwise, I think we can
hang on to Shizuka for a while; she doesn't look like
she'll be moving around much. We're keeping her in the
palace."

Queen Serenity nodded. "In any case the reason is
not as a human shield. It is for her protection as
much as our own when the people discover she is one of
the enemy responsible for the damage."

"In any case I think we need to be a little tighter
on security on the palace from now on," suggested
Venus. "From what the guards say Ryoga just walked in
with the tourists, and nobody could stop him. I
suggest we limit the amount of visitors until we can
put an end to all of this."

"In the event of an emergency I have ordered the
installment of backup generators," Neo Queen Serenity
revealed. "If worse comes to worse, we can shield the
palace by fueling the barrier with these generators
instead of your own powers. Unfortunately, it is not
enough to protect the entire city."

"Not that shielding the whole city'd help," Jupiter
pointed out. "The Fenril guys are based in the city,
too, and all we'd be doing is closing ourselves in with
them."

"What about Ami?" asked Mars.

"She has not communicated, and will not communicate
until later tonight."

"So what can we get off this Fenril Knight we
captured?" asked Venus.

Mars shook her head. "I don't think we can get a lot
out of her; she's the type that talks to pass time,
but I did get some information out of her." She turned
toward the Silver Crystal. "For one thing, she was
fixated on her summon beasts, which I think means they
are after the Gate of Heaven and its dimensional
weapons."

"The Kami Plane?" both Jupiter and Venus said,
surprised. Neo Queen Serenity only nodded, slowly.

"Apparently, they don't know, and I'm not going to be
the one to break the news to her," the soldier of fire
finished. She shook her head. "I kinda feel sorry for
them, really...."

"Don't you think we should try to tell them?" Jupiter
wondered.

"I doubt they'd believe us," Venus answered. "If
they hear it from us, they won't listen and go on.
When they find out for themselves, they won't be
happy. Either way, the result isn't going to be
pretty; they're probably going to keep attacking no
matter what we do."

"In their desperation to force open the Gate of
Heaven," Neo Queen Serenity said, a certain sadness in
her voice, "many more may suffer. Even if there is
little or no chance for success, we must inform them."
She turned to Sailor Mars. "I leave it up to you."

"Me?"

"This Shizuka may be more partial and open to
suggestion coming from you. If she cannot be convinced
of the danger, then it may be up to Ami to deal with
the situation. The fact is, we do not know how they
plan to force the Gate open."

"But we can't drop it on her, not this soon," Mars
suggested. "She's still pretty closed-up, so it'll
take some time."

"Pray that it does not take too long," the queen
hoped, "for when that time comes it may be too late."

---

Rec Room, Mishima Heavy Industries

"No, you're hitting the buttons too early," Ami
instructed, watching Mousse try to execute her lesson
in 'Fighting Games 101.' "Take it at a slower, more
rhythmic pace."

Mousse winced, the effects of his mistake reflecting
off the lenses of his glasses. "Great, I'll never beat
her at this rate!"

"It takes time and practice," the disguised senshi
told him. "You don't get good at these kind of games
overnight. It is much like your physical martial art
in that sense."

"Right," he scoffed.

"Perhaps if you look at it as a form of training,
much like your art, maybe you can find the drive to
learn."

Before the weapons master could come up with a
response the two were no longer alone in the rec room,
as Miranda Kusao barged in, unannounced.

"Hot damn, you're STILL playing that?" she shouted,
her voice carrying across the room.

"Where've you been?" Mousse asked, looking over his
shoulder. "Everybody was gone when I woke up."

"Early birds, man," Miranda said with a shrug.

Ami took in the features of the newcomer as she
turned to face her. She appeared about the same age
as Mousse, and possessed hair just as long, but more
frazzled at the edges compared to the weapons master's
clean cut. She dressed in a plain, baggy, blue battle
dress, tied off loosely at the waist with a simple
belt. Miranda wore rubber gloves going up nearly to
her elbows, and matching boots that extended over her
kneecaps. The edges of her skirt were short enough
that Ami noticed she was wearing a black body suit
underneath, likely of much better material than
rubber.

Her most noticable feature, however, was her pair of
red, demonic eyes. While the possibility existed that
it was due to contact lenses, something in Ami knew
that they were the real thing, and that alone set her
apart from the others in that she could sense fear
radiating from them.

"Hitched up with a new girl?" Miranda teased,
playing with her hair in a bored fashion.

"Oh, this is Ami Mizuno," Mousse introduced. "Kanna
says she's a substitute teacher." He turned toward
Ami. "That's Miranda Kusao, Cinder's star-- and may I
add, only-- pupil."

"Heh, jet that, teach," the martial artist said,
flicking a thumb backward. "This ain't kiddie stuff
you're looking at, so how'd you get in?"

"Pleased to meet you, all the same," Ami said,
ignoring the girl's rudeness. "Mr. Furui invited me
to come and go as I please." Mentally, she made a note
to find out who this 'Cinder' was, if he or she was
already taking on a student.

"Gosh, and Ayame let you?"

"So what's going on?" asked Mousse.

Miranda shrugged. "I don't know, those commander-
types are keeping to themselves, but I heard from Taro
that Hibiki jumped ship on us. I don't care; I won't
miss that spineless wuss. Oh, and Kuonji's back."

"He left, huh?" Mousse said. He nodded to himself.
"I guess it was bound to happen sometime." Looking
back he asked, "Where's Shampoo?"

"Probably in the gym, making a good punching bag out
of a dummy droid mockup of Sailor Venus. At this
rate, I won't be surprised when the next of us leaves,
one way or another. It's getting crazy."

Ami nodded in consideration. The Fenril Knights were
not nearly as cohesive as she originally thought, and
they were losing faith in themselves as more left their
number. Perhaps this was another point in her favor;
fifteen-- if you subtract the three heads, twelve--
was starting to generate better prospects for battle.

But any ideas would have to wait, as she would have
to relay what went on in the compound to the queen
later.

She felt a tug at the back of her mind, and Ami
knew that something bad was happening, and it was
happening within the compound.

Turning toward Mousse, she suggested, "Keep
practicing, I have something to do." Standing and
turning toward Miranda, she added, "Again, it was nice
to meet you."

Quickly, she left the rec room, and her sense told
her to turn right. Whatever was going on, it was
important.

---

Wiseman's Chamber, Mishima Heavy Industries

Sometimes it seemed to Wiseman that he was back
assuming his role he served to Prince Diamond on
Nemesis-- that of an advisor. In a strange sense, he
thoroughly enjoyed such a position, and the benefits
were threefold. One, all attention was on someone
else, and thus he had time to spend on his own
machinizations. Two, the leader often relied on his
advice, which made him or her very controllable.
Three, it felt good to be needed.

It was a good sign that, upon his initial arrival to
the Mishima compound, Ayame instantly took up the
reigns of leadership, giving life to the uprising all
by herself. She possessed an energy Wiseman no longer
had, not since before his transformation on Nemesis.

She, too, possessed the drive necessary to push on to
the end, even without Wiseman's help, when the
eventuality finally passed.

He levitated in the air, showing no signs of
weakness, and neither did Ayame, who stood up straight
and proud, with her back to the door. Unlike other
times she was alone, and standing on her own feet, with
her own will as support.

She is indeed strong.

"I need to ask you a favor," the leader said, getting
directly to the point.

"Indeed." Wiseman's ethereal hands waved around the
crystal ball in his lap. "Understand that favors are
at the costs of others in turn."

"Yes, yes, I know," Ayame replied, nodding. "Kanna
managed to engineer the idea that it would be better to
remove the civilian population from Crystal Tokyo, so
we may attack the Crystal Palace without fear of
tripping over our toes."

"I see." Wiseman chuckled to himself quietly.
Prince Diamond's people also had a problem with this,
feeling that the civilian population would only get in
the way of the true goal. "What do you have in mind?"

"We want the simplest thing possible," Ayame said.
"We want you to move the entire civilian population of
Crystal Tokyo to Nemesis's capital city, Darkhold. The
palace should be exempt of this."

The old wizard nodded. "Such power is only provided
by the power of the Black Crystal. It will require an
enormous amount of energy."

"Forget that part, we've already got that covered,"
Ayame assured him. "We need to know it can be done.
We'll have the energy ready to channel to your Black
Crystal by tomorrow night; I've got the technicians
busy working on an energy funnel already."

"I see. The price is the service of two of your
warriors, Cinder and Sypha."

The leader blinked in surprise. "W-why?! They're
our most powerful warriors!"

"And such is the reason why I require their services
on Nemesis," Wiseman continued, ready to throw the
conversation in his favor. "Two more Sailor Senshi,
Uranus and Neptune, are beyond the solar system at the
moment, but they are poised to return in a matter of
days. They are the Sailor Senshi's greatest warriors,
each easily twice the match of the ones you have fought
here on Earth."

"So you're taking two of our finest," Ayame realized.

"We will keep them busy from our staging ground on
Nemesis," continued the old man. "I will prepare the
Black Crystal for the energy funnel by tomorrow night;
you will have your wish carried out, Ayame Mishima."

For a moment Wiseman considered asking about Kanna's
ulterior motive for this drastic measure, but decided
against it. Time would tell if this gamble of a plan
would work out.

---

Ami watched as Ayame exited the unmarked room, taking
a brisk walk as she went, as if in a hurry. She
turned to look at the door, peering suspiciously.

There was no doubt in her mind that was where the
negative energy was coming from, and it was far
greater than that of each of the Fenril Knights
themselves.

As soon as she was certain that Ayame was gone and
not coming back Ami stepped in front of the door, and
eyed the security key lock to the right. Taking out a
duster she lightly dusted the panel, finding which
buttons had been pressed recently.

She remembered that, before Ayame went in, she pushed
six buttons, but only five of the buttons had been
pressed, which made one of them a repeat. Thinking
back more, Ami tried to remember the hand movements,
but drew up a blank.

Deciding it was worth the risk Ami tapped the hidden
switch behind her left ear, allowing her scanner to
form over her eyes. Using its functions she analyzed
the depression scheme, calculating the last time each
button was pushed. Finding the sequence quickly Ami
slipped on a clean glove, deactivated her scanner, and
input the code.

At least now she could get to where she wasn't
supposed to be.

The double doors slid open quietly, opening up the
hall to the inky blackness within. Ami gasped in
surprise at what she saw inside, as it was the last
thing she thought she would find.

Death Phantom's pin-point light eyes peered down at
her, piercing her soul.

"What do you want?" he asked, in the voice Ami could
never forget.

---

Ukyo's Quarters, Mishima Heavy Industries

The okonomiyaki chef lay stretched out on the cot
that served as a temporary bed, her arms folded behind
her head, staring up at the ceiling. The nearly
empty chamber once belonged to Ryoga, she knew, and he
never had any possessions to leave behind. In a sense,
it was almost as if the underground resistance was
trading one martial artist for another.

For a moment she wondered about Konatsu, and leaving
him alone again so suddenly. The restaurant was a
mess, that's for sure, and it was the only thing that
was needed to get Ukyo to snap. It was one thing to
live in a perfect utopian society, but it was another
to lose one's livelihood due to the blatant
totalitarian attitude of the world's enforcers.

She could not forgive them for branding her friends
and acquaintances as traitors of the state, not when
they had not done wrong. Ranchan himself had done none
of the despicable acts the evening news put so much
attention on, but he was blamed by association. Even
her own association with them bought her a brand of
treachery without justification.

A low chime indicated someone was at the door. Ukyo
reached to the box next to the cot that served as a
makeshift nightstand, and pushed the lock control on a
remote control key.

Double doors slid open to the sides, and Ranma
Saotome entered her life once again.

Sitting up on the cot, she forced a smile on her
face. "Hiya, Ranchan! What brings you here?"

"Well... I was just seeing how you were, that's all,"
he answered nervously. "I couldn't help but thinking,
though...."

"Did we do the right thing?" she guessed. "Of course
we did!"

Ranma raised a hand to object, but kept quiet. "It
wasn't that, really. I was wondering if it was...
okay for you to leave your restaurant and everything."

"Ranchan, you gave up everything because you hate
this world government, and I needed to do the same,"
Ukyo replied. "We all had to make personal sacrifices
to get here."

"Yeah, but Ryoga's gone, and I have a pretty good
idea who's behind that," the martial artist said,
clenching his fists. "Whenever I find that bastard
Pantyhose Taro...."

Another chime sounded, and Ukyo switched the door
open again.

"Well, if it isn't the spatula girl," Shampoo said
in greeting. She turned toward Ranma. "What's taking
so long?!"

"Shampoo!" the chef exclaimed. "What're you doing
here, giving me a welcoming party?" She turned to
Ranma. "You're not throwing a party in my room, are
you?"

Ranma shook his head defensively.

"Sitting back lazy on the job!" the Chinese Amazon
accused. "It's YOUR turn to cook!"

"Cook?"

"Well... uh... Ucchan, it's like this," Ranma said
with a nervous chuckle. "Y'see, nobody wants to eat
Kodachi's food, everyone is pretty much a mediocre
cook and cooks for themselves...."

"And Shampoo is the one stuck serving everybody!" she
finished. She grabbed Ukyo by the arm. "From now on
you're on kitchen duty!"

"Oh great," she muttered, getting dragged away by
her old nemesis, "I came here to fight, and I get
delegated kitchen duty."

"Well... we all gotta do our parts," Ranma said,
shrugging.

---

Kodachi's Quarters, Mishima Heavy Industries

The brotherless girl sat in the corner of the dark
room, with all lights turned off. Not even that,
however, could stop the illumination that bothered her
eyes so much, not because of the light, but because it
reminded her of the now-lost Tatewaki Kuno.

The heart crystal belonging to the now-dead kendoist
levitated in the air over the Deathbuster star now
lying on top of the nightstand, easily removed from
Kodachi's palm. She gazed at the light through dry
eyes, for she had long since cried out all the tears.

There was no longer a need to cry.

Uncurling herself Kodachi stood up, and approached
the heart crystal slowly, thoughts of her dead
brother dredging up as she went. She remembered the
first time she recognized his face, as a little girl.
She remembered each and every fight she had with him,
over the most insignificant of things, and each time
they made up. She remembered his laugh, his smile,
his flair, his skill....

And now, she would never forget those memories, and
Tatewaki Kuno would live forever.

Seizing the heart crystal from its suspension Kodachi
felt nothing in her hands as she held it; the crystal
was as light as a feather. Gazing into the light, she
hesitated, but found new strength to go on as she
finally remembered how Tatewaki died.

A slow, dishonorable, treacherous death, in a duel
won unfairly by the enemy.

"On my dear brother's name," she vowed, "I will find
that woman who stole her ill-gotten trophy of battle,
the wooden sword of Tatewaki Kuno, and destroy her.
When that sword is back in Kuno hands, only then can
he rest easy!"

Opening her mouth wide, Kodachi Kuno swallowed the
heart crystal.

---

Ami's Apartment, 10th Street District

Ami collapsed on her bed, thankful that she got
through the day at the Mishima compound relatively
well for a spy.

She knew her work was not done, however, as she
slipped the communication mirror into her fingers and
opened its magic to communicate with Neo Queen
Serenity, who was waiting anxiously.

"Ami, we have reason to believe that the Fenril
Knights may be planning on forcing open the Gate of
Heaven," the monarch said quickly. "There is little
time to act. You must find the means by which they are
going to force the Gate open, for I fear they have the
means."

Ami blinked, speechless. "They... they can't!"

"We are attempting to work on a means to counter
the threat, but we may not be able to stop them," the
queen added. "Sailor Mars has brought in one of the
Fenril Knights, Shizuka Minazuki, and we are attempting
to reason with her."

"You have Shizuka?" Ami said. "Does she know?"

Queen Serenity shook her head. "We also have a
reformed Fenril in the palace, recovering. However,
their numbers may not dwindle fast enough. They may
complete their plans soon."

"Oh, there's something else," Ami voiced. "I trailed
their leader, Ayame, to a sealed-off room. I managed
to get inside, and Death Phantom was there."

The monarch's eyes widened. "What happened?"

Ami shook her head. "I have no idea. I opened up
the door, and even though he didn't look surprised to
see me, he also had no idea who I was. He asked what
I wanted... and I asked him to show me the future."

"Then?" Ami could see her friend's excitement.

"He showed me Crystal Tokyo, demolished. After that,
he told me to leave." She paused to catch her breath.
"Do you realize what this means?"

"Death Phantom is up to his old tricks again," Neo
Queen Serenity concluded. "Thinking you are one of his
pawns he is showing you exactly what you want to see."

Ami shook her head. "No, it's much more significant
than that. In the past Death Phantom could see through
our magicks as easily as if it were a veil. Now,
though, he can't tell the difference. There's
something wrong with him."

"He should not have survived in the first place,"
the queen pointed out. "We thought the Silver Crystals
should have destroyed him, but his reappearance proved
otherwise. It may be possible that he did not escape
completely unscathed." She turned her attention back
to Ami. "Please, Ami, refrain from taking such risks
again. If you encounter Death Phantom a second time
the results may not be the same."

"I understand," Ami replied with a nod. "But now
that I have the access code I may be able to find the
way the Fenril Knights are planning on opening the Gate
of Heaven. If I have to I'll expose myself to destroy
it."

---

R&D, Mishima Heavy Industries,
The Next Day

Early morning, Ami knew, was the best chance to get
things done without anyone noticing.

She made her way through the halls, to the area where
a security code was required to enter the rest of the
compound. The elevator would only go up or down a few
floors with no access key, and it required a card key
to access the other floors, therefore Ami had to rely
on the stairs.

She stopped her descent down the stairwell when she
hit the first door with a security lock on it. She
was tempted to type in the access code she had, but
stopped, remembering that it was Ayame's own code, and
it would definitely look suspicious if she herself was
the one who entered.

Ami switched on her scanner, and tried to find any
sequences in the panel, but it appeared that no one
had touched this door for over a thousand years. She
produced her palm-top computer, extending a jack at its
end into a terminal port at the bottom of the button
pad. Utilizing her more advanced machinery Ami easily
hacked through the Mishima central computer, and it
spit out the access code of a former employee.

Committing the code to memory Ami put her equipment
away and typed in the code with her gloved fingers,
sighing with relief when the lock accepted the code.

Peering into the new hallway Ami was surprised to see
there were no security cameras at all; it was quite a
bit of overconfidence on the side of Mishima for this,
as it made her job easier.

Quickly she raced down the halls, looking for door
markings that would indicate a special importance. In
her mind, Ami rationalized that Mishima would make
their most important developed merchandise in a less-
obvious location-- namely, among the rest of the
mundane equipment.

However, the trend did not follow when Ami noticed
the double doors at the end of the hall were wide
open. She quietly made her way there, noting with
puzzlement that someone left it open on purpose,
sticking a wooden plank between the two doors on the
floor.

Peering inside she found the area devoid of people,
and unoccupied due to the darkness. Not willing to
risk turning on the lights, Ami stepped within.

This development chamber was far larger than any of
the other ones, and likely covered many of the lower
floors. Ami stared over a catwalk railing, seeing that
the bottom was well over a hundred meters down. She
turned her eyes to what was being worked on that was so
huge, and gasped.

The monstrosity was a giant mechanical creature that
vaguely resembled a suited knight. Standing over
seventy meters tall it severely dwarfed Ami many times
over. From the looks of it the giant machine was not
yet completed, but Ami knew stories well enough to know
it was a mecha, straight out of television anime.

"What're you doing here?"

Ami jumped in surprise, turning left toward the
source of the voice. Ascending stairs up to her level
of the catwalk was one of Ayame Mishima's right-hand
men, Shion Kagami, holding a flashlight in Ami's
direction.

"Sh... Shion?" she blurted.

"Geez, it's you, Ami," he recognized. "How'd you
get in?"

Quickly racing for a cover story, Ami answered, "I...
well... just walked in because the doors were all open,
and...." She hoped there were more open doors.

Somehow, luck played on her side. Shion sighed. "I
guess so... but please don't tell Ayame I've been doing
it, okay? It's a major pain in the ass to keep opening
all the doors like that...."

Ami nodded. She gestured toward the mecha. "That...
what is it?"

"Isn't it impressive?" Shion said proudly. The
mercenary folded his arms, and focused the flashlight
on the mecha. "Ayame wasn't too happy that I was
getting this built, but I couldn't resist. It's got no
power plant yet, so when it's finished it'll just be a
life-sized model." He chuckled. "For now."

"You're a fan of mecha anime?" she asked, gaining
confidence.

He nodded. "This is my favorite one of all time,
Neue Ziel. I mainly wanted to see how it would look
like in person, and the eggheads never disappointed
me a bit." Shion sighed. "I don't think it'll ever
fly, realistically. It's way too heavy, and it was
meant for space combat."

"I see." Well, that was one reason to be fortunate,
Ami thought. A monstrosity that huge would be a
difficult opponent to destroy.

"Well, while we're here," he continued, "I may as
well show you the power plant the eggheads finished a
little while ago. It'll never get used for the Neue
Ziel, but you may as well know while you're here."

Shion beckoned Ami to follow, and he lead her down
the catwalk whence he came. They stopped at an
elevator car, taking it all the way down to the bottom,
allowing Ami to take in the scale of the nightmarish
Neue Ziel.

But her attention was quickly torn away when she
saw the engine. It was not nearly as large as Neue
Ziel, as it was a cube roughly nine meters in length.
Cables and tubes ran to diagnostic equipment strewn
around all over the place. Sitting on top of the cube
was what appeared to be a perfect sphere, with lines of
cracks running down in what Ami imagined would reveal a
flower pattern once opened up.

She knew it to be a flower pattern, because the
spheroid device was a Mekani void-ripper.

"What's wrong?" Shion asked, and Ami realized she
gasped out-loud.

"N-nothing!" she replied quickly, trying to recover
from her shock, but failing miserably.

"Scary, isn't it?" he continued. "I could go through
so many descriptions how something so perfect in shape
could be frightening. It's a monument of the regime of
order, just like the spires of the Crystal Palace. No
imperfections mar it, no randomness at all, and no
chaos element." Shion waved his arms about grandly.
"The penultimate evolution of the machine is perfect,
rigid order. It's a wonderful thing, to work as
efficient as possible, but it also loses the flair of
being unique."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that this engine mirrors Crystal Tokyo,
and the Earth, for that matter." Shion removed his
glasses, and held them out before his eyes. "It is
where the individual thought and personality is
obliterated in favor of harmony. It is where order
takes precedence of chaos. It is where the sheer
randomness is taken out of the equation, because all
variables are controlled."

"That's not true," Ami countered. "The people of
Earth are free to express themselves, but not to the
point where it interferes in the lives of others.
Every day is a day full of new experiences; it's not a
matter of repeating the same routine over and over
again. And while order exists to keep the people
harmonious, some randomness still occurs; just like
the attack on the Crystal Palace yesterday."

Shion snorted, apparently unsurprised that Ami knew
of the incident. "Well, whatever. I can't argue for
extended periods of time on an empty stomach. Care to
join me for breakfast? We've got a new cook, Ukyo
Kuonji."

"I'd like that," she answered, thinking that leaving
sooner would be best. After all, she was certain she
was already suspicious enough to Shion.

---

Infirmary, Crystal Palace

Although it took much effort to remain awake during
the entire period, Shizuka Minazuki was aware of what
was going on around her.

She clutched onto the fire buster more tightly, the
last working device she had on her. Shizuka rolled to
her side, glancing at the fractured black crystal
prism lying on the desk across the room, away from her
bed, and knew her only chance of easy escape was gone
before she thought of it.

Over the night the priestess of Genbu had a terrible
time sleeping, and every once in a while picked up on
the conversations that the Crystal Palace personal
doctors were talking about outside, as they always left
the door open, to Shizuka's annoyance. She had no idea
how they found out, as she was resisting all
examination quite fiercely, but the doctors mentioned
that she was bleeding internally, and there was very
little they could do to help.

She wanted to curse her luck, and curse a few more
times, but realized the futility of such things; Mizuki
would berate her if she tried, wherever she was.

The only way they could have examined her was if they
did it while she was asleep... knocked out with drugs,
or whatever....

"Your Majesty!" she heard one of the doctors
exclaim. "What are you doing here?"

"Is the patient awake?" she heard-- she guessed the
queen herself-- ask, in a gentle tone.

A moment later the doctor poked his head inside for
a second. "I think it'll be okay, but keep it limited
for now."

Shizuka rolled back onto her back, and was thankful
the mattress was very comfortable, as it helped relieve
the pain in her back. She watched as Neo Queen
Serenity, decked in blinding white robes, entered,
followed by Sailor Mars. Shizuka already had a pretty
good idea where this was going.

"So you're Neo Queen Serenity," the priestess said.
"Sorry, if I could kneel before you, I would, but the
doctors say I'm not going to live long enough-- tough
luck for you."

"I'm glad you're in high spirits," Mars replied
neutrally, and Shizuka was unsure if she was amused or
pitying her. "How're you feeling?"

"As well as anyone can be when they're dying a rather
slow death, what else?"

"Your name is Shizuka, of Genbu, correct?" Neo Queen
Serenity asked.

She nodded quietly.

"Shizuka, your life is important," the monarch
continued. "The doctors can no longer help you, but
there is a way to save you."

"Like you saved Kuno?" Shizuka shot back, visibly
wounding Serenity. "He died a lot quicker, but you
made no move to help him."

"That was different," Mars countered. "Your friend
had no inclination to try and save himself if he had
one of those Black Crystal shards like you do."

"Oh, that's the funny part," the priestess said. "He
didn't have it on him when he died, but he had to have
it when he went to duel your Sailor Venus. You have
the body; you find it."

Mars drew up a blank stare, realizing that Shizuka
was right about the shard.

"I am truly sorry about your friend," the queen
offered, "but it cannot be helped anymore. We can help
you." She held up the Silver Crystal in her hands.

Shizuka peered at the shining crystal, unable to lean
forward in bed to get a closer look. "Oh swell, I'm
placing my life in the hands of a bauble."

"With your permission, I would like to heal your
injuries with the crystal."

"But what's the catch?"

"There is no catch. You will be free to do whatever
you please."

"So you're saying that I could be healed in seconds
than weeks, if I wasn't going to die. Did your
priorities change all of a sudden, and I became much
more important?"

"We wouldn't have offered you this unless we were
certain your life was in danger," Sailor Mars assured
her. "We had no idea that your wounds were that
serious."

"So now we're at a funny dilemma." Shizuka snorted,
holding the fire buster up with nozzle toward the
ceiling. "Since I'm bleeding internally, and there's
nothing the docs can do to help, you can't keep me for
weeks on end and crunch all the information out of me
like you hoped. On the other hand, I rather value my
life, and you want to use the bauble to fix my little
problems. But then, that's probably the same bauble
that took out everybody on Earth, so what's to stop you
from changing me into one of your drones while you're
at it?"

"We promise not to do anything like that," Mars
replied convincingly. To Shizuka's ears she sounded
quite sincere. "If you don't want to change, that's
up to you, but what's important right now is seeing
that you don't die. We won't let you die."

"No, of course not," Shizuka muttered, lowering the
fire buster with the nozzle end facing toward Neo
Queen Serenity and Sailor Mars. "If I die there's no
way you can stop us from blowing your city to Hell.
Yet... I'm sitting here, at an interesting position.
I'll die anyway, and I can take both of you out with
me. Wouldn't that be a treat?"

"You would not do that," Neo Queen Serenity replied
calmly. "Mizuki would be sad."

For the first time Shizuka lost her perceived verbal
advantage. She blinked in confusion as the queen's
words settled in her mind, tossing it about like the
dryer at the Laundromat. She tried to say something,
but all that would come out was nothing, instead
mouthing the words, "How did you know?"

A sudden chill ran down her spine, and ran through
the rest of her body, up her arms and through her
legs, and Shizuka found that she could no longer keep
her grip on the fire buster. It fell to the ground
at the side of the bed, clattering against the crystal
floor and rolling a little. Neo Queen Serenity's eyes
appeared much sadder than they had before, and somehow
Shizuka realized what she was trying to say.

"Damn you," she hissed, fighting against tears that
formed against her will. "Damn you and your Silver
Crystal...."

Sailor Mars was apparently surprised at the sudden
turn of events, but Serenity only moved closer,
offering a shoulder to lean on quietly.

"Damn you, damn you, damn you," she repeated, each
successive statement growing progressively weaker as
she collapsed on her own feelings.

---

Silently, the queen of Earth and Sailor Mars walked
the empty halls of the palace, still being magically
reconstructed by the crystal growth, and the supports
designed to train the growth in certain directions.
Neither spoke a word as they finished their business
with Shizuka, who collapsed unexpectedly to news
completely out of ears to Mars.

Shizuka was in no mood to be healed completely, as
she only agreed to be healed enough such as to stop her
internal bleeding, and put her out of danger. The rest
of the healing process was up to her, if she wanted to
be helped at all.

"You didn't tell her anything I didn't hear, did
you?" Mars asked her friend carefully. "From what it
looked like Shizuka figured everything out just from
mentioning 'Mizuki.'"

Neo Queen Serenity nodded. "That she did. This girl
may know more than she lets on, and that makes her more
formidable an opponent."

"Which makes it all the more important that we make
her an ally," Mars replied. "She has to know a lot of
things we don't. What I wonder is if her Fenril pals
know this, too."

"I am under the impression that they are unaware of
this apparent fountain of knowledge," Serenity said.
"Had this been the case they would be unwise to allow
her to roam free as she did."

"Maybe. But what'll we do about her now?"

"Continue visiting her, but not too often," the
queen suggested. "It will take time before we can
convince her to side with our cause. For now, allow
her time to think through the recent events. She is
no danger to us."

---

Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries

Shion barged into the chamber alone, where the only
occupants were, as usual, Kanna and Ayame. "Well, you
can lay your worries to rest, Ami can be trusted."

"You've got to be kidding," Ayame replied. "I
thought you said she snuck into the R&D."

"She did." The mercenary held up a folder. "First
of all, I left certain doors open on purpose to see if
she'll come in. Not only did she come in, but she
lied and actually hacked one of the security doors with
an old access code. Rather sloppy to use that code,
but I commend her for not using one of ours."

"Typically I'd think that means you CAN'T trust
her," Kanna pointed out.

"She's a fellow hacker," Shion replied, as if that
alone would answer any question. When both girls drew
blank stares he explained, "She's got the guts to go
into places where she's not supposed to be. She's got
a curiosity edge, too. And when she got caught in the
act, she backpedaled onto the obvious... the doors were
all open."

Ayame waved her arms in confusion. "Is this another
of your 'honor among thieves' things?"

"I'm not a thief," the mercenary corrected, "I'm a
hirable professional. Anyway, I had a little chat with
her over breakfast, and it turns out Ami knows a good
deal about computers, electronics, and the rest of the
whole shebang. Everything guys like me need to know.
Best of all, she's smart."

"The more the reason to be wary," Kanna said dryly.
"She could easily pull the plug on us."

"The fact is, she didn't."

"Not yet."

"Enough," Ayame decided. "Shion, do you trust her?"

He nodded.

"Kanna, do you trust her?"

She shook her head.

"That's good enough for me, then." Ayame turned to
consider the split in her two closest advisors. "You
see, that means one of you is right. Furthermore, it
means I really do have to listen to both of you, and
that each of you have differing thinking. Do you
understand why I trust you both completely?"

Both nodded.

"As for our Ms. Mizuno, relax your watch on her, but
keep an eye on her. I don't expect her to do anything
drastic, but just in case wipe the old access codes,
and re-encrypt our own codes."

"Well, there's only a finite number of combinations
in a keypad lock," Shion pointed out. "She's bound to
get where she wants if she wanted to."

"That's why I want you to implement new security
measures," Ayame replied. "Ones that are not readily
apparent, and that cannot be toggled with simply a
key pass."

"Where is Mizuno now?" asked Kanna.

"She should be at work," answered Shion. "Why?"

---

Ami's Apartment, 10th Street District

The disguised soldier of water squelched her
disappointment as she gazed into the mirror, finding
that the queen was away from the Inner Sanctum. She
tapped certain locations on the mirror, inputting a
recorded message.

Placing the mirror steady on the night stand Ami
stared into it. "Your Majesty, I'm sorry that I was
unable to communicate this in person, but I have
discovered that the Fenril Knights are planning on
powering a Mekani void-ripper. They do not appear to
have the energy to run it, which is why they are after
the heart crystals. It appears they will be unable to
work it for quite some time, therefore I believe it is
safe to wait and see for now."

"However, I am attempting to find a means to destroy
the void-ripper without compromising my cover. It
seems that the triumvirate leaders are suspicious of
me, so I may be unable to do anything for now. This
may be the last report you hear for a while if this is
the case; I don't want to risk drawing more attention
to myself than I have to."

"Please leave the door open for me, and wish me
luck."

---

Infirmary, Crystal Palace

Ryoga Hibiki felt as if he woke from a terrible
nightmare, for the second time this month.

"I'm... I'm alive?" he stuttered, looking around the
room occupied only by himself. He patted himself down,
unsure what to think. "It's... it's NOT a dream! I'm
alive!"

"I remember now," he thought aloud. "The queen used
her magic crystal on me...."

He turned to the nearby sink and mirror, jumping out
of bead and almost slipping on the polished crystal
floor. Gently he turned on the faucet, allowing cold
water to run. Cupping his hands Ryoga gathered the
water, and splashed it on his face.

Staring back into the mirror, he decided, "It's not
a dream!"

Quickly, he turned to the nearby showering hose, and
flicked it on. Holding it over his head, Ryoga felt
the cool stream of water soak him, and he did little to
contain his excitement.

"I'm free...!" he yelled. "I'm FREE OF THE PIG!!"

Dropping the hose Ryoga danced and skipped about
gleefully, throwing his arms out in victory. However,
now that his feet were soaking wet he slipped on the
floor, and was sent flying through the wall.

Landing on his back, the pain of crashing into the
next room did little to contain his excitement, and
Ryoga resumed his victory dance.

"Hey, shut up!" complained Shizuka, still lying in
bed.

Feeling his thunder stolen, Ryoga did a double take.
"Sh... Shizuka?!"

"They got you, too?" she snorted.

"Doesn't it feel great?!" he cried, opening his
greatest smile in years and pressing his face into
the priestess's.

"Egh, don't you ever brush your teeth after you
eat?" Shizuka commented, pinching her nose and waving
her other hand like a fan.

"This Silver Crystal thing is wonderful!" he decided.
"Akari was right, I DO feel better!"

Pushing Ryoga's face away, Shizuka stared at the
martial artist intently. "Eh? You actually switched
sides?"

"There's no side to switch!" he replied. "I don't
feel depressed anymore; that's good. I don't have to
deal with the pig anymore; that's good. And best of
all, we can share all this with the others! Ranma can
go back with Akane, and...."

"Hold it, Skippy," she ordered. "I only let them
stay long enough to fix my bleeding."

At the news Ryoga stopped in his tracks.

"I'm planning on healing the rest of it the old
fashioned way, if I can," Shizuka continued. "And
under no circumstances am I going to get myself
'purified' by the light. After I recover I'm going
back to Ayame; I'll just have to let her know you're a
traitor, and then she'll come after you and kill you."

"Y... you're not serious...."

"How well do you know Ayame? I know her better, and
even then, I don't know her enough. So MAYBE you'll
get away scot free, and maybe you won't."

Suddenly the weight of reality anchored Ryoga down.
He had forgotten about Ayame Mishima, and the weapons
she had under her power. "I'll take my chances. I'm
going back to Akari, and you let Ayame know that."

Shizuka shrugged. "Suit yourself." She rolled over
onto her side. "You still have your prism?"

Ryoga nodded, reaching into his pocket to produce it.
"Not sure what I can do with it."

"Let me see." Without a word Ryoga handed the
prism to the priestess. "So when are you leaving?"
she asked, holding up the prism to the light.

"Oh, I don't know... I was thinking about leaving
sometime this afternoon. If I hurry I can make it to
Akari's by tonight."

"Provided you remember how to get there."

"I think I know where it is."

"Really." She handed the prism back to Ryoga. "So
anything you want me to tell the others when I get
back to them?"

"Yeah," Ryoga replied, accepting the prism back.
"I need you to tell Ranma that I've found my answers.
If he wants his, he ought to get himself purified by
the crystal. Akane's probably missed him too long."

"I see."

Ryoga eyed the hole he made in the wall. "Well, I'd
better start getting ready to go. Who knows how long
it'll take to get there."

"Unless, of course, you don't have that poor
direction sense anymore," Shizuka pointed out.

A flash bulb went on in Ryoga's head. "Hey, you
might be right!"

He stumbled back into the room whence he came,
leaving Shizuka alone to her devices. Ryoga noted
that the crystal was already beginning to grow over
the hole he made; strange, but efficient, and makes a
whole lot of sense, he thought.

---

Unknown to him, however, the crystal prism he carried
was fractured. Shizuka held up Ryoga's perfect, intact
crystal up to the light once more, satisfied that there
were no imperfections on its surface.

Good, she thought, this is one way to guarantee a
quick escape, if necessary. There's no reason to
summon the Dragonfly now. Now lets see if I can do
some good work while I'm here.

She tried to get up, but the pain shot up her spine
once again. Shizuka only had herself to blame for
declining to heal herself completely.

"Then again, maybe not."

---

Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries

The eyes of all three members of the triumvirate
turned toward the door in surprise as Kodachi Kuno
entered, commanding attention by mere presence. She
stood confidently, and maintained her proud stance as
her boots clomped against the metal stairs.

She dressed entirely different from her usual formal
kimono attire, favoring a much more looser training
suit for kendoists. At her left side was a sheathed
sword, one which Ayame knew belonged to her deceased
brother.

"Kodachi," the head of the triumvirate said, "are
you okay?"

"Oh, never better, Aya," Kodachi replied, her voice
carrying the same confidence as she held herself. "I
never felt more certain in my life."

"You know, Kodachi," Kanna voiced, "maybe you should
rest a bit longer. After all, your brother...."

"My brother's sword is in the hands of the Sailor
Senshi," she snapped. "It is my duty to bring that
weapon back, for his sake."

"Revenge?" Shion wondered.

"Kodachi, please," Ayame said, "you were once my
mentor, even my superior. For that, you have my
friendship, and my respect, but I'm your superior now.
I could order you to stay... heck, I could force you
to stay if I wanted to." She nodded toward Shion.

"But I'm not talking to you as your superior, but as
a friend." She placed her arms on Kodachi's shoulders,
and she made no move to remove them. Staring into her
eyes, Ayame tried to convey her concern efficiently.
"You can't go out looking for revenge. Your brother
was way stronger than you; he always was, and the
Sailor Senshi bat him aside like he was nothing. If
you go now I might lose you. I've lost my uncle to
them already; I wasn't fond of your brother too much,
but I lost him, too. I don't want to lose any more
people I care about."

Kodachi fixated her gaze back intently. "Aya, here
is how it works. My soul has become one with my dear
brother. With our combined power we can defeat the one
who slayed him mercilessly, the one they call Sailor
Venus, their leader." She brushed off Ayame's arms
and drew her sword, forcing her to take several steps
back. "With this sword my brother inherited, and I
in turn, I will recover his honor!"

To the others' surprise she spun the sword almost
effortlessly in a vertical circle several times, much
like a flag, then took several practice swings, each
with the precision of an expert. Raising it up high
Kodachi brought the blade down quickly, and Ayame felt
the rush of wind blast pass her, created by a vacuum
strike only a master swordsman could pull off.

Ayame froze in place, speechless.

"Ayame?!" Kanna shouted. "What's wrong?"

"Damn, did you see that?" Shion gasped.

"It's him," Ayame realized.

Quickly sheathing the sword, Kodachi folded her arms
intently. "Are you satisfied?"

She nodded. "Kodachi... I'm sorry I doubted you....
Perhaps you can beat them, after all. But that's
neither here nor there." Ayame placed an arm around
her friend and motioned toward the main viewscreen.
"You see, we've already got the next operation planned
out, and maybe we could use your help after all."

"I care not of your deeds and misdeeds," Kodachi
said in clarification. "My only drive is to avenge my
brother."

"Well, the more you understand what's going on, the
better," Ayame pointed out. "Most of all, we need to
work as a team. You taught me that, and we're going to
stick with it."

"This is not a petty rhythmic gymnastics competition,
little Aya."

"I can't believe Ayame's letting her belittle her
like that," Shion muttered, shaking his head.

"It runs deep with friends, four-eyes," Kanna
replied.

"The event may be different, but the situation is the
same," Ayame countered. "Each one of us must succeed
at each target point. Everybody needs to complete the
goal to ensure our chances of success. Failure is not
an option, and it never was. We have a deadline to
fill, so all the mission points must be completed by
midnight."

Unlatching herself from Kodachi Ayame turned toward
Shion. "Is everybody accounted for?"

The mercenary nodded. "Almost. Higure is still out
doing his usual thing. Sypha and Cinder have already
left for Nemesis, so we can't count on them for a
while. Shizuka's still being held, and we don't know
when she'll come back. We gained Ukyo, but lost Ryoga.
I tried bringing him back via the switchboard earlier,
but something's blocking the prism's signal."

"Likely the emanation from the Crystal Palace,"
Kanna offered. "It's power is greatest there, so it's
likely to blot out anything counter to its own energy.
This won't matter to Shizuka much since her crystal is
fractured."

"Interesting," Ayame considered. "So if any of us
gets into the palace we can't use the prisms to
escape?"

"It'll likely start working again if you leave the
premises, or maybe it extends a little beyond the
gates," the Crystal Spider conjectured.

On the main viewscreen the chief engineer, Taydome,
appeared. "Sir, we've completed adjustments on the
energy funnel, and are waiting to finish our prelim
tests. However, we can't guarantee the funnel will
actually work...."

Ayame nodded. "Then we're just going to have to go
at it based on the simulations alone; there's no way
to field test it, so we're going to have to trust that
it'll work as advertised."

Nodding, the image faded out.

"Gather our people," Ayame instructed. "We need them
ready by tonight, so the sooner we brief them, the
sooner they get ready, and the sooner we finish the
mission."

---

Rec Room, Mishima Heavy Industries

Upon her entrance into what seemed to be the most
popular of the compound's rooms, Ami was disappointed
to see that it was very empty. Considering it was
after the dinner hour the room was usually full with
those Fenril who needed to kill time; now, however,
where seven or eight might occupy it at the same time
there was only one.

The old man, Higure Furui, sat alone at one of the
tables, deeply into a game of Solitare. While Ami did
see him on occasion at the school, the observer often
set aside time for idle chat anymore, as he was
constantly watching for people, much as he watched over
her before inviting her to the compound. So far he
had not approached anybody as far as Ami knew.

"Mr. Furui," Ami greeted.

Looking up from his game, the old man smiled. "Why
hello, Ms. Mizuno." He waved toward the seat to his
right. "Make yourself welcome."

Nodding, she pulled aside the chair and seated
herself quietly. "Is there something wrong? I don't
see anyone here, and usually everybody's here."

"They are planning a complex operation once more,"
Higure informed her. "The advisor, Kanna, has proven
that her idle time was not for waste; her previous
operation was a complete success."

Ami nodded, unsure as to the reason yesterday's
attacks-- most all ending in failure-- could be seen as
a victory. "I haven't seen Kanna lately... I wanted to
tell her that the flowers got delivered."

"Flowers?"

"She asked me to send flowers to her friends that got
caught in an explosion a couple weeks ago," she
explained. "I just wanted to let her know, that's
all."

"I see." Higure nodded. "Then earning her respect
is one of your occupations. A wise choice indeed; the
one known as the Crystal Spider would make a valuable
ally."

"What do you mean?" Ami asked, puzzled.

He shook his head. "It is nothing. Some of our
number are becoming restless, and some even question
the leader, Ayame, and her competence. To them it
appears that all she can do is direct, but it takes
great skill to direct a production such as this."

"So someone's trying to undermine her position?" A
possible internal conflict could be advantageous.

"The most vocal would be Pantyhose Taro, Shampoo, and
Sypha, all of which are too proud to remain on such a
short leash. The problem with Sypha has been dealt
with for now; however, Pantyhose Taro and Shampoo
cannot be dismissed as easily. It is a known fact that
Pantyhose Taro could not gather support around himself,
and his treachery is known. Shampoo, on the other
hand, could raise support for her own position if she
so chooses."

Pantyhose Taro again, Ami thought. The one known as
Sypha was unknown to her, but Shampoo, she knew, was
one of the warriors Sailor Venus fought at the
beginning of the conflict-- the one who appeared to
complement Mousse's abilities. Since that was the case
perhaps it would do well to bolster Shampoo's position
in the ring.

On the other hand, Ami had no idea what Kanna's
standing was with Ayame or Shampoo. The Crystal
Spider fancied herself a master tactician, that much
she knew, and it was likely for good reason. If this
plan would go through, it would be important to know
where Kanna's loyalties lay.

---

Northwest Hydroelectric Plant, Crystal Tokyo

Ranma had to hand it to Kanna; when she wanted things
done her way, she made it so.

The hydroelectric plant was nothing more than a
glorified dam, set up since Neo Queen Serenity rose to
power, in order to save the planet's resources. As a
bonus it provided a wonderful water recreational area
for anyone who liked boating in calm waters.

Water, he thought. Cold water. If only there was a
nuclear plant, I would've taken that one gladly.

Yet, there was no such thing as nuclear power plants
anymore, as they were deemed too hazardous for the
environment, and the planet as well.

The northwest plant was but one of three primary
power stations that fed electricity into Crystal Tokyo
and its neighbors; much power was needed in order to
compensate for the lack of nuclear power. The other
two, the wind-powered northern plant and the new,
experimental magic engine western plant, were in the
capable hands of the others.

Of all the people Ranma had to be partnered with, he
wished it hadn't been Kodachi Kuno.

She glanced over the catwalk railing, standing beside
Ranma, and stared down into the deserted plant.
Laughing quite loudly, Kodachi said, "The forced
evacuation of the entire employee segment! If this
were not the means by which to summon the guardians of
Crystal Tokyo...."

The martial artist shook his head. It certainly beat
being partnered with Pantyhose Taro.

He held up the object he had been carrying the entire
trip, a cone-shaped steel object with no apparent
orifices. According to Kanna they need only be set in
the vicinity of the primary power engine; the energy
funnel set up elsewhere would draw the power through it
as a remote beacon. Ranma had no idea where the
funnel was being set up, but it was not his problem.

"Let's get this over with," he decided.

---

North Wind Plant, Crystal Tokyo

"Everything the wind fans collect in terms of power
from this artificially-breezy area," Mousse explained
to Shampoo, "is collected in a central generator,
which in turn pumps the power to the city." He held
up the cone beacon. "All we need to do is place this
there and we're through."

Shampoo nodded. Even though she knew all this
information thanks to Kanna's briefing, she could not
help but stare in wonderment at the rows of collector
fans set on the high mountains. Thanks to the magic of
climate control, in this localized area the wind was
constantly blowing, providing constant power that
rivaled that of the hydroelectric plant.

Both Chinese martial artists dashed through the rows
of fan towers toward the central structure which
housed the plant's main generator. Against the force
of wind most people could not bear to keep on their
feet, but intense training paid off.

---

Western Magic Plant, Crystal Tokyo

The newest of the three plants supplying power to
Crystal Tokyo the western plant housed the experimental
magic engine, a structure the size of the mainframes of
old and housed in a building no larger than a large
warehouse. This new engine, a combination of magic and
technology, draws upon the ethereal weave that
permeated throughout the world, and was virtually
unlimited in source.

Miranda suspected the designers had little idea
where they were drawing the power from, but paid it no
mind as she tossed the cone beacon toward the engine,
allowing its bottom surface to stick to the side
without a hitch.

She glanced to her partner, Pantyhose Taro. "Well,
that's that. All we need to do now is wait."

"I doubt it," the older martial artist replied. "I
bet you ten to one that the Sailor Senshi are going to
come the moment we start pumping energy to the funnel."

Nodding silently, Miranda knew Taro's words to be
true, even if she hardly liked the creep. When it came
down to it Kanna wanted the six best available warriors
to look after the plants, and Taro happened to be one
of them. When nobody else wished to go with him it
left Miranda to that honor when Mousse and Shampoo
stuck together, and Ranma and Kodachi paired up, even
though the martial artist knew that none of them liked
each other enough to pick favorites like that.

They just didn't want to get stuck with Taro, like
she did.

As for the funnel, Kanna told them that it was up to
Ukyo and Hokuto to look after it; Ukyo was upset that
she was considered weak, and Hokuto wondered why she
should bother, believing her esper powers were no
substitute for fighting ability. The Crystal Spider
suspected that the Sailor Senshi would rather look
toward the power plants, and therefore the funnel would
not be smothered in any way. To be on the safe side,
however, the funnel was set up away from the Mishima
high-rise.

However, since the funnel was more important than
the beacons, the warehouse was also equipped with a
sizable number of Mishima robots. Miranda wished Kanna
hadn't wasted the initial batch of droids on the
previous day, as she wished some were still around to
help outnumber the Sailor Senshi when they came.

Shrugging, she muttered to herself, "Sometimes you
just can't get things to go your way."

---

Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries

"Kanna, a moment of your time?" Ayame purred, walking
to her seat.

"What?" she asked.

"About Taro... I hope you know what you're doing,"
the leader said, a hint of worry in her tone.

Kanna smiled. "Oh, worried that he'll usurp your
position. Don't worry, I think it's safer to have him
actually doing something than doing nothing. It's
when the cunning are quiet when you should worry."

Ayame couldn't help but smile. "Always one step
ahead of me, eh?"

"Well, the trick is to be one step ahead of everybody
else, particularly the ones you don't trust," the
Crystal Spider corrected. "Right now we need to
maintain the illusion that we don't know what he's
been doing behind our backs."

---

Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace

"I felt the negative energy again," Mars informed
Queen Serenity. "They're much larger than the ones we
detected yesterday. In fact, our computers aren't even
picking them up."

The queen nodded in understanding. "With each
passing day it appears our enemies are becoming more
ept in their attacks. Nevertheless, they will be
expecting us this time. Where are they?"

"There's three of them," the soldier of fire
replied. "Each of them are coming from the three main
power plants that pump electricity into the city. They
may be trying to cut all power to the city."

"Then I leave it up to you, Jupiter, and Venus to
guard these facilities."

Mars bowed, then exited quickly. Neo Queen Serenity
shook her head sadly, knowing that, despite the stress
and fatigue of watching over the city almost twenty-
four hours a day, the Sailor Senshi would not let down
their guard, not while the Fenril Knights were still
at large.

It was a fault in the city's protection, she knew,
that the seventeen Fenril Knights could have easily
overwhelmed the senshi by numbers alone. However, it
is the reason they did not do so already was what
interested Serenity even more.

In fact that was the sole reason she allowed Sailor
Mercury to proceed with her idea in the first place;
the Fenril Knights did not appear to follow toward any
certain goal. While now they had a good idea what
they were after what was still unknown was the ends of
their means. They were likely to be severely
disappointed when they found out about the state of the
Kami Plane, but Serenity knew it would not stop there,
not by a long shot.

She glanced into a nearby mirror. Only one more
night before her 'meeting' with Death Phantom; she knew
it would be a trap, but if there was any way to get to
the bottom of things it was getting that information
from the head himself.

The queen thought back to her ultimate encounter with
Chaos in the Cauldron. It was there she learned that
the Children of Chaos were attracted to the light; in
this case, the Silver Crystal, and the world it
protected. They were born of darkness; the light was
something they could never have, never touch, never
experience. That same situation worked in reverse as
well; Serenity could never feel the darkness, but was
attracted to it nonetheless.

Darkness and light were the two opposing forces that
defined one another, and for a moment Queen Serenity
wondered if her dream that was born from Earth's great
utopia was simply that.

"As long as the Silver Crystal shines," she said to
herself, "so shall there be the darkness to oppose it."

---

Nanjo Heavy Industries, Crystal Tokyo

Perhaps it was a touch of irony on Kanna's part, but
the fact remained that the energy funnel, a large
machine that vaguely resembled an actual funnel on its
back, was set up and ready to go on top of the high-
rise office building belonging to one of Mishima Heavy
Industries' former rivals.

Placed across the industrial area of Crystal Tokyo
the office building was no different than that of the
Mishima office-- completely deserted. Since the three
big heavy industries conspired to create the base which
Ayame Mishima used to her will it was no surprise that
this company, too, was without an apparent owner, and
therefore the structures could not be auctioned off
as easily. In fact, the former CEOs of the three rival
companies had enough foresight to tie up their holdings
in the banks for years to come.

Ukyo sat with her back against the funnel, holding
her combat spatula tucked in her folded arms, allowing
the head to lean off to the side. She watched Hokuto
Takemasa, the reclusive esper, stand and stare up at
the stars above longingly, her traveling cloak blowing
in the wind.

"Do you really think they'll come?" the esper asked.

"Feh, I doubt it," Ukyo snorted. "The trick is we're
not going to be obvious until the funnel starts sending
the juice to Nemesis."

"I was just thinking..." Hokuto said. "I've not had
much chance to see what Crystal Tokyo... and the rest
of Earth... was like. I would have loved to travel to
the places I visited before, but it's just not the same
doing it with this prism than with the shadow stream."

"You're that anxious to enter the shadow stream?"
wondered the chef. "You sure you aren't addicted to
that power of yours?"

Ukyo knew well enough the answer, however. It was a
no-brainer to know that Hokuto was not called a Shadow
Weaver for nothing. Being an esper was only a part of
her heritage; the other half was the manipulation of
the shadow stream that existed in the void between
planes. She remembered well enough what Hokuto could
do with that shadow, and it made her extremely
powerful indeed.

Yet, while she retained her psychic powers Hokuto
almost never used them by themselves while growing up,
and therefore was severely hurt now that planar access
was completely shut to Earth. Ukyo was still wary,
however, keeping her mental guard up in case Hokuto
got the idea to probe her mind.

Not that it was the least of her dangerous esper
powers.

"It could be our fates that we fight this battle,"
Hokuto continued. "Perhaps we are destined to battle
with those who fight in the light, and we are destined
to stand in the shadow of that light. If death is what
awaits us, then I accept."

"Don't mind me, but I prefer to live while I can, if
I were you," Ukyo said, shrugging.

Money, greed, profit... they were considered
undesirable traits in a merchant of Crystal Tokyo. It
was against the okonomiyaki chef's nature to look at
her business any other way; preparing the best food
she could offer was only part of the joy she got out of
running the restaurant. It was a surprise to her that
money still existed in a utopian society, but it was
good nonetheless. The problem was, however, profit was
a non-issue; Ukyo was the odd-girl out in the business
district for thinking in terms of money.

It was too unnatural, but she thought she could be
content with her own success.

Contention, however, would not come. Starting with
Akane's brief visits to her restaurant Ukyo felt an
undercurrent of doubt that living the rest of her life
as a restaurant chef was her path, especially when she
knew many others who were putting themselves in the way
of danger. Their reasoning was sound on a basic level,
as the world changed too much overnight to bear. And
yet, Crystal Tokyo was a nice place to live in.

On the other hand, it was terribly boring. She
thought back to the old days, when she first arrived in
Tokyo, where Ranma, Akane, Shampoo, and the rest added
a certain lively element to her life. Each one of them
made her days special, and there was never a dull
moment to complain of. It was the best time to be
alive, she realized.

She grew up with them to adulthood, never a dull
moment... until the world changed overnight.

Fundamentally, Ukyo, too, was dissatisfied with the
state of the world.

Kuno died fighting for what he believed in, and while
Ukyo was never particularly fond of the swordsman for
all his bumbling charm, she vowed to ensure that his
sacrifice would not be in vain. Something will come
out of the uprising against Neo Queen Serenity's rule,
she knew, but that outcome would depend on the efforts
of a small handful of people willing to sacrifice their
lives for billions.

No, Ukyo decided, this has nothing to do with what I
want.

---

Wiseman's Citadel, Nemesis

"They are coming," Wiseman informed the two standing
before him, the robed Cinder, and the sorcerer Sypha.
"Intercept them, and dispose as you will. They must
not be allowed to reach Earth."

Both nodded in understanding, and in a bright flash
of light they transformed into ethereal fireballs, and
rocketed upward through the ceiling to meet their
enemies, Uranus and Neptune, on their own terms.



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

Author's Notes

Stay tuned for more. Action will be delivered in the
next chapter for those of you wondering at the lack of
action in this part; it is particularly due to the fact
that much needs to happen before the battle actually
began.


--Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOhotmailSPAM.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/index.html

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