Souls of Fire #8: Shattered Mirror

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.

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

Prison, Crystal Palace

One thing that beat being cooped up in an underground
command center was being cooped up in an underground
prison cell.

With a newly developed, jaded view on her life Ayame
rest on the single cot that served as furniture for the
ten-by-ten cell, folding her arms behind her head to
stare at the ceiling. She imagined patterns in the
crystal ceiling, pushing out all reason from her mind
and simply allowing her thoughts to wander.

I should've done this a long time ago, she realized.
This is much less stressful than being the leader of a
terrorist group.

That was what it all boiled down to, unfortunately.
They were branded the Fenril Knights, an obvious
connotation to Norse mythology's Fenris Wolf. The
creature was intended to slay the Midgard Dragon that
circled the World Tree, but a poisonous bite turned the
wolf against his masters. In effect, the connotation
was 'traitor.'

Her people have been called that long enough that
Ayame was beginning to accept the name. If one is told
a lie long enough, they are bound to accept it as truth
eventually.

At every turn the Sailor Senshi defeated her people
and her company's robots. They flatten Wiseman's
droids in no time flat, such that they were only good
for target practice for the sailor-suited girls for the
life span they averaged. Victory was nowhere in sight,
and yet, Ayame couldn't help but feel it wasn't over.

She wished it would be over, but Hokuto was right;
the others wouldn't stop until they sprung her out of
this cell.

She heard a loud thump outside her cell, and knew it
was heavy enough to be a body. Ayame knew there were
no guards standing in the prison block itself, so she
presumed it was Hokuto.

Partially correct, she told herself, as a shivering,
pig-tailed girl stepped into view.

"Ayame," she said, her teeth chattering from an
intense cold. Hokuto emerged from behind her, a soft
expression on her face, yet sunken as usual.

"Um, do I know you?" Ayame asked, sitting up in her
cot.

"Ayame," Hokuto introduced, "this is Ranma."

Ayame blinked. "Ranma's a guy."

"Never mind that," Ranma hissed. "That's neither
here nor there. Gimmie your crystal."

"What good will it do to you?" asked the leader,
holding out her black crystal shard. "It's useless
under the energy shield."

"Just give it to me!"

Her eyes turned toward Hokuto. "What's your game?"

"Just give it to him," the Shadow Weaver suggested.
"Ranma wants the power."

"If 'Ranma' wants to break me out, he'd better find
another way," Ayame replied. "I'm not going back."

"I can't force you to go back," Hokuto said. "That's
up to you, but you can't take responsibility for
everything bad happening."

"The others died because of my leadership."

"Bullshit," Ranma spat. "The others died because Neo
Queen Serenity is a soul-sucking leech."

"What?" Ayame eyed the girl curiously.

"I found their bodies," the martial artist explained.
"Kuno, Shampoo, and Miranda, at least. All of them had
their souls yanked out of 'em, otherwise they're still
dead living."

"What would she want with their souls?"

Ranma shook her head. "How should I know? I just
know what I saw." She reached her arms through the
bars, trying to grab Ayame's crystal shard. "I need
that thing to fight them."

"You want this worthless piece of crap for power?"

"I don't have time for this!"

"No wonder Hokuto thinks you're Ranma; you're so
butch, girl."

"I AM Ranma, you idiot!"

"What's going on down here?!"

All three girls jumped in surprise, and eyes turned
toward down the hall. The owner of the voice was none
other than Sailor Mars, and behind her, the other four
Sailor Senshi, obviously on the way to interrogate
Ayame.

Hokuto turned to face them, spreading her cloak out
in order to cast a larger shadow. "We've no time for
this," she muttered, and Ayame saw the Shadow Weaver
extend her shadow down the hall.

She pressed her face against the bars, trying to see,
and managed to catch black hands emerge from the cast
shadow and clutch on Mars's legs. With surprising
strength and speed the hands dragged her into the
darkness, as if the soldier of fire were falling into a
trap door.

"Stand back!" Hokuto warned. "Or which of you want
to be next?"

Ranma turned back to Ayame. "Look, we're out of time
here, just give me the crystal."

Sighing, Ayame lowered her head, staring straight
down at the floor. Somewhere in her mind she knew that
Hokuto's prophecy was coming true, unfolding right
before her eyes. Was there much she could do to
prevent it from happening?

Unconsciously, she held out her arm, and unpried her
fingers from around the black crystal shard.

"Finally," Ranma said, getting her hands on the last
crystal shard she needed to complete her plan.

Ayame looked back up, and saw that the pig-tailed
girl was in possession of six more shards. The girl
picked one up, and, with one hand, crushed it. A
violet, coursing energy emerged from her palm, and she
used it to gather the rest of the six shards, seemingly
crushing all of them as well, with surprising strength.

Amidst startled gasps Ayame saw what the girl was
doing when she completed her work; in her palm was a
small, spherical-shaped, jagged crystal.

"It's a black crystal!" one of the senshi shouted.

Tying it around her neck, the girl known as Ranma
began to course with power. The black crystal surged
with energy, and Ayame and Hokuto had to step back from
the intensity of the power. Black energy swirled at
the girl's feet, rising upward quickly and at the same
speeds, causing her to cry out in pain. Fire
incinerated the girl's features, only to replace them
with more sturdy, hardy features.

When the swirl of energy finished Ayame gasped, and
saw the one standing before her was indeed Ranma
Saotome himself.

"You!" she heard Jupiter shout.

"And that's only the first part," the martial artist
promised, clutching the black crystal dangling around
his neck. Violet light emerged from the cracks between
his fingers.

"What the...?!" Ranma gasped, obviously surprised by
the crystal's power. He screamed in terror and pain,
as energy coursed from the crystal all around his body.
Ranma threw his head and arms back, nearly bursting
his shirt in the process, and seemed ready to fall over
backward.

Ayame took several steps back, and Hokuto did the
same.

The energy surge complete, Ranma remained hunched
over, breathing heavily. Ayame could see his breath
steam from his mouth and nostrils, and shied back
further, only to realize that her cell simply wasn't
big enough.

Ranma's eyes darted in her direction, and it was
Ayame's turn to scream. She saw a lust for blood in
his eyes, without reason, and knew that she was going
to be the first target.

---

"Chaos infusion," Sailor Moon realized, having
witnessed the change in Ranma herself. "He's amplified
the power of the Chaos cells within his body to push
himself to the limits!"

She aimed her wand, and fired.

Ranma, his attention torn away from Ayame, feast his
eyes on Sailor Moon as he batted the light burst away
with his hands.

Before she knew what hit her Ranma was on top of her,
fist cocked back and augmented by what seemed like a
tornado. But Jupiter was quick enough to stop him,
blasting him back with a bolt of lightning, and giving
Moon enough time to recover.

"He's driven by instinct," Mercury realized. "Primal
instinct of man."

Spreading his arms out, Ranma let out a scream,
throwing a tornado straight up from his standing
position. Bits of crystal rained all about as the wind
scattered it, and Sailor Moon saw that he was lifting
himself up through his own tornado.

"He's going to try and escape!" Venus shouted.

Sailor Moon ran to the hole in the ceiling, seeing
no sign of the chaotic martial artist. She cast her
eyes in Hokuto's direction.

The Shadow Weaver stepped back as a blackened shape
emerged from her shadow. It glistened in the light
like oil, and masked whatever features there was, but
there was no doubt this was Sailor Mars.

"What're you doing?" Sailor Moon asked.

"I gave her a dip in the shadow stream," Hokuto said
calmly. "Don't worry, she'll be alright... in time.
But if you want to stay in this game, I suggest you
try and stop him."

Before any more questions could be asked, the
Shadow Weaver melted back into darkness, sinking into
her own shadow.

They felt a rumbling from above. "He's trying to
take down the shield," Mercury said.

Time to make split decisions, Moon realized. "Venus,
get that shield down. Mercury, watch Sailor Mars.
Jupiter, we're going after your friend."

---

Ranma threw several more tornado blasts at the
energy shield, unleashing all his pent-up frustrations
on that which caged him.

He felt the dark energy coursing through his veins,
felt each and every cell in his body pumping and
surging with unthinkable power. He felt everything go
on automatic, as if his thought was only along for the
ride.

And yet, he knew what he was doing.

In an instant, the shield collapsed before him, and,
now that the offending cage was dispensed of, Ranma
turned back toward the palace. He saw Sailor Moon and
Sailor Jupiter emerge from the gates, and the martial
artist smiled despite himself.

"Sailor Moooooon...!" he grunted, licking his lips
with anticipation.

---

Sailor Moon jumped out of the way as Ranma threw
another tornado fist in her direction. The wind tore
at the air, visibly spiraling dust and debris in its
path. She felt her hair being torn back, and had it
not been attached to her head she was certain she would
have lost it.

Another horizontal spiral flew over her head, and
Moon knew this blast caught Jupiter. She heard the
other's painful cry, and quickly cast a glance backward
to see that she was being slammed into the wall behind
her. The tornado blast drilled her into the crystal,
sending splinters of shards everywhere and pushing
Jupiter further through.

That was pushing it.

She stood up defiantly, the thought of her friend
in her dire predicament fueling her courage. Ranma
merely stood there, breathing heavily, laboring for
air, hunched over with his arms dangling down before
him, as if all the energy he was expending was finally
taking its toll. At the same time Sailor Moon pitied
the unknowing man and felt the need to punish him.

"No matter what cause you fight for, I can't forgive
you for what you've done!" she declared, and Ranma made
no sign of reaction contrary to his current behavior.
She spun out her wand in readiness. "Moon...."

However, before she could completely power up her
wand Ranma sprung into action, catapulting toward Moon
with a tornado propelling his feet. Flinching in
surprise her energy blast was interrupted, as she
hastily and instinctively raised her arms to block the
tackle.

A sharp zing flew across her hearing, and Moon found
that she'd also instinctively closed her eyes. Ranma
was standing no more than a couple meters away from
her, supporting his right arm with his left for one
reason or another. He removed his hand, and she saw
that his arm was cut swiftly, and Ranma turned around
and crushed the offending rose.

She turned to look toward the probable source of the
rose, and saw what she thought she would never see
again. Standing on a nearby street light pole was a
fellow in a black cape, allowing it to flow with the
wind. The newcomer, sure enough, was dressed in a
black tuxedo and top hat, but wore a full facial clay
mask, an eerie smile painted across its face.

"Tuxedo Kamen?" she whispered in surprise.

Wordlessly, the caped guardian vaulted up into the
air and over the buildings, disappearing from view.
Sailor Moon tore her eyes away from her mysterious
savior, and reaffirmed her grip on her wand.

That mystery would have to wait, she decided. She
raised the wand high, the head sparkling with energy,
and shouted the healing incantation.

White light bathed Ranma's features as he roared in
pain. The violet energy of the black crystal around
his neck scattered in all directions, the light
restoring the body to its proper function in an
instant.

The martial artist collapsed face-first on the
ground at Sailor Moon's feet, and she wiped her
forehead, wondering how the battle could've been so
easy. Ranma, empowered by Chaos, effectively
outclassed her normal abilities, and yet he lacked the
endurance to carry the fight on for more than five
minutes.

She remembered there was a black crystal still
hanging around his neck. If that device was still
functional then the nightmare was only beginning, for
both of them.

"Don't come any closer," Ranma warned, slowly lifting
himself from the crystal-layered pavement.

Moon stopped in her tracks. "What the...?"

Quickly, the martial artist was on his feet. His
right arm hung slightly limp at his side while his left
was searching his pockets for something. "I don't know
how you got past my attacks, but we ain't through yet."

What he produced was a radio transmitter. "Okay,
Dragonfly, give me Priority One extraction."

Sailor Moon turned her head to the air, realizing
it was the source of a sudden buzzing sound. A shadow
quickly concealed the morning sun, and a rope brushed
by her. She turned and saw that Ranma reached for the
rope that hung from the air, and followed it all the
way up to a large, insect-shaped airship.

"Don't think we're through," Ranma promised in his
crude manner. "I don't quit easily; next time it's
just you and me."

She watched as the dragonfly-like airship and Ranma
disappeared into the horizon quickly, and thought
better of giving chase. She turned back toward Sailor
Jupiter, who was already pulling herself out of the
crushed wall.

"Jupiter!" she cried. "Are you okay?"

The other girl merely smiled as she held her head up.
"Yeah... nothing like a little wind's going to take me
out."

---

Shizuka's Quarters, Mishima Heavy Industries

Shion felt silly about himself, as he let himself
inside after customarily knocking, knowing no one was
up to answer it anyway.

The room remained dark, save for one low-level heat
lamp near the bed where Shizuka lay, likely for the
coiled reptile. Her boa constrictor, Thanatos, lay
curled in a bundle, draped all over his master's prone
body, aware but obviously disturbed from his sleep.
Shion waved the snake 'hello,' also out of habit, as
he'd come to know Thanatos as rather intelligent-- for
a reptile.

"Hey there," he said, although his words were
directed more at Shizuka than at Thanatos. "Sorry I
couldn't get the chain gun you wanted; the guys in
Vegas I contacted couldn't scrounge one up before I had
to come back."

The mercenary glanced to one wall, where, held by
racks, were both of Shizuka's 'hand-me-down' swords, as
she referred them, and her favorite, old-style,
manual loading shotgun, with six bullets held on the
rack mounted on top of it. Between the two sets of
weapons Shion knew Shizuka liked the gun even more, but
still refused to part with the swords, likely on a
point of honor.

She loved guns.

"Things're going to Hell now that Mizuno turned on
us," Shion continued. "Ayame ran out on her own, and
now she's a prisoner of the Sailor Senshi. Kanna's
out trying to take over the world... and she won't be
back soon enough to make a difference. That leaves me
with the unenviable position of leader. I'm sure you'd
be laughing right now."

"I need to get Ayame back," he punctuated. "I've got
some of the guys working on a solution, but... I wish
you were here to help me." He lowered himself to his
knees, leveling his head to Shizuka's. "I mean, it's
been so long since we've... well... talked. You're so
close and yet so far, it's... silly."

He shook his head, standing back to his feet. "No.
I've got to stay focused. Everything rides on me now,
and no manner of pining is going to do any of us any
good. If I'm lucky, you'll wake up and never know that
I got to wear your 'Big Hat' for a while."

Thanatos flicked his forked tongue at the mercenary,
and Shion turned his attention to the creature. "Uh,
you'd better not tell her I said all that, okay? I
know you; don't even think about it or I won't feed you
tonight."

Again, the snake flicked his tongue. Shion sighed,
knowing that he'd have to feed the reptile anyway.

Silently, he backed out of the priestess's quarters,
leaving the serene girl, her snake, and the unseen
observer alone in the darkness.

"Why," Hokuto asked the boa constrictor, as she
stepped out of her dark corner, "can't he admit his
feelings even when Shizuka can't hear him? Could it
be that I'm too overbearing in my approach, or is he
afraid of rejection?"

The snake made no motion to reply, ignoring the
Shadow Weaver completely to resume his nap.

---

Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace

"I've had time to fully review the data I've
downloaded into my computer," Mercury explained to the
other Sailor Senshi, as she stood by a projection of
her data on a wall screen. "Mainly, this concerns the
seventeen Fenril Knights themselves."

"While we initially believed that all of them were
powerful warriors, like martial artists, it's been
proven that Death Phantom didn't pick them on the
basis of physical prowess alone, but also intellectual
abilities, connection, and charm."

The projected image changed to show a profile of
Ayame, the first of the Fenril Knights. Any further
attempt to draw information out of her ended in vain,
as she was too terrified by the thought of getting
killed by Chaos Ranma, as they've dubbed his powered
condition.

"Ayame Mishima was most likely chosen because of her
connection to Mishima Heavy Industries, formerly a
member of three rising arms suppliers and technology
developers. They have known ties to other,
untrustworthy organizations with similar goals, and it
is from them that they got their hands on the Mekani
device." Mercury shook her head. "But that's only
part of it. Not only did she have the connection,
Ayame also possessed charisma-- enough to bind the
others together and focus them on one goal."

"Something rather difficult with varied minds like
them," Venus added.

"And ego to match," Mars said, looking a little pale
in complexion after her unspeakable experience in the
shadow stream. It seemed to be the unspoken rule of
the house that no one made mention of her momentary
side trip to the primal elemental zone.

Mercury nodded in agreement. "In fact, she was all
but failing. Two have deserted their organization,
and four have died. Ayame thinks she's responsible for
all of this, and that's why she attacked us alone."

"The burden may be hard on her," Sailor Moon
commented sympathetically.

"We have to figure out what we're going to do with
her, too," Sailor Venus said.

The display changed to display the second profile.
Mercury continued, "This one's Shion Kagami, a
freelance programmer. Not much background could be
found on him, as he's likely covered it all up. I
think he's much more than what he says he is, but that
may be difficult to find out; his skills can match my
own."

"Met your match?" Jupiter jabbed in a friendly
manner.

"In any case it's not readily-apparent what he
brings to the Fenril Knights," the soldier of water
said, moving on. The third profile came up. "Kanna
Rajura, also known as the Crystal Spider. Reputedly
she studies military history to become a great
tactician; this likely is what she brings to the Fenril
Knights. She's also known to be a childhood friend of
Shion's, but I'm not sure how far that relationship
goes."

"No wonder she drifted to their side," Sailor Moon
said. "Her studies gravitated toward a world with
conflict, and joining them provided one."

"The next is Ranma Saotome, who I'm sure we're all
familiar with," Mercury continued, switching to the
fourth profile. "There isn't a lot of documents on
him, but he's known to be a brilliant martial artist
and highly sought for his abilities."

"The fifth is Ryoga Hibiki; he's Ranma's rival, and
supposed to be a good match for him."

"Good thing he's on our side," Jupiter muttered.

The sixth profile produced yet another familiar face
to the gathered senshi. "Shizuka Minazuki, a priestess
in practice, hunter by trade. She willingly puts her
life on the line to hunt demons causing general
problems to people. Apparently, she was sent to the
Shrine of the Four Gods when she was four; the reason
is not specified, but her parents and siblings are
still alive and well."

"That could prove crucial in turning her to our
side," Sailor Mars pointed out. "This means she does
have a family left."

"The seventh is Tatewaki Kuno, who I will omit only
for the fact that he's dead. The eight is his kid
sister, Kodachi. Her profile conflicts with our
current information on her, as she is a rhythmic
gymnast, and yet she fights like a kendoist." Mercury
shook her head. "It almost seems as if she took up
the sword in her brother's memory."

"The ninth is Miranda Kusao, who was a martial
artist on par with Ranma's abilities. The tenth is
Shampoo, a powerful warrior from China. She, too, is
no longer a threat to us, but the next one, Mousse, may
prove as such. His martial art is based on weapons,
and he mastered many, so his attacks are varied. One
Achilles Heel, though, may be in his glasses; he can't
see well without them."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sailor Moon replied.

The twelfth profile appeared on the projection.
"This is Higure Furui, the one who recruited me. He
seems like a thinker to me, and there's no real
information in his profile. I think, if there's any
chance of turning the Fenril Knights to our side, he's
the key; Master Higure encourages thinking among his
fellows, and is less likely to stand against us."

"The next is the one known as Pantyhose Taro; his
name was given to him by a martial artist, and by the
law of his people he can't change his name unless he
got a new one from his namer."

"Yes, we know about him," Moon voiced. "His
whereabouts are unknown."

"He's otherwise a very powerful martial artist, and
despite that he's not very well-liked by the others."
Mercury moved on to the fourteenth profile. "Ukyo
Kuonji...."

"Her, huh?" Jupiter said. "The girl with the big
spatula?"

"You saw her?" asked Mercury.

"Yeah, we had a little scuffle."

"We don't know where she is," Mercury added. "She
is apparently a professional chef as well as a martial
artist, but neither of those are likely the reasons
why she's with the Fenril Knights."

"She said it was because of her friends, I think,"
Jupiter offered. "That girl seemed pretty mad about
that."

"In any case it's her contact with the people that
makes her desirable. Many report she carries a certain
charm about her, as she seems very friendly to
everybody. If that's any indication, it may be easy to
sway her as well."

Mercury ran through the next two profiles quickly, as
each turned up a blank slate and no pictures. "These
two are Cinder and Sypha Blade, respectively. No data
can be found on either of them, and I've never seen
them, much less heard of them, during my time with the
Fenril Knights."

Switching to the last profile, the other Sailor
Senshi were not surprised to see a familiar face. "She
is Hokuto Takemasa, known esper, and of a hereditary
order called Shadow Weavers, the users of shadow.
Their role is to observe events, but Hokuto's task goes
far beyond that; she claims she can see the future
before it happens."

"A prophet?" asked Mars.

"She's apparently adept at occult readings," Mercury
added quickly. "That's likely where she gets her
'knowledge' from. Others describe her as reclusive and
mysterious, so not many people know what she's really
after."

"A dangerous opponent, yet," Sailor Moon pointed out.
"If she took the time to fight us rather than
observe, the Fenril Knights could have beaten us much
sooner."

"Her shadow power draws from the shadow stream,"
Sailor Mars pointed out. "She couldn't do us in before
because the regions beyond this plane are restricted by
the Silver Crystal's power."

"Yeah, the rift must be the key," Venus said in
agreement. "Is there any information about the rift's
location?"

Sailor Mercury shook her head. "None of that
information was in the computer, but Ayame may know
where it is."

"But why should she tell us?" Jupiter wondered. "She
may be our prisoner, and a reckless one at that, but I
don't think she's ready to betray her pals."

"If we can't convince her to tell us, we might have
to use her own misgivings as backup," Venus suggested.
"Sure, all we know is why she attacked us, but she had
a very good chance to get away, and she didn't take
it."

"That's true," agreed Mercury.

"So who wants to talk to her?" Sailor Moon asked
finally.

---

Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries

A large, rectangular slab decorated the center of the
command bowl, having been hastily erected. A soft,
feather pillow was placed near the head, and a large,
blinding white light hung overhead, attached to several
pieces of complex machinery. Resting on the man-sized
slab was a pair of iron knuckles, appearing no more
special than any other hand-held weapon.

Shion and Higure entered quietly, their steps echoing
off the steel grate stairs as they descended into the
bowl. The old man stood off to the left side from the
head, and Shion to the right, both staring at the
knuckles lying on the slab.

"Are you certain you are up to this?" Higure asked,
concern in his voice. "This is not unlike the path
Ayame chose."

"I know what I'm doing," Shion replied confidently,
picking up the knuckles. He quickly and quietly
slipped both knuckles on, flexing his fingers against
the stiff devices.

Flicking a finger, a thin wire flew out from under
it, sourcing from the knuckle. The wire stopped in
its path, quickly coiling in the air expertly. He
jerked his finger back, recalling the wire back to its
original position.

"The Lightning Dragon Wire," Higure explained, "is a
powerful Orochi weapon. Not only do you have complete
control over the wire, but you can send electrical
pulses through them and shock your enemy. In this same
manner, by planting the wires into certain spots of a
creature you can manipulate his movements like a
puppet, using electrical pulses to control body
functions."

"However, after a month the weapon will have taken an
affinity for your body, and the wires will be
permanently grafted to your body. The knuckles will
vanish, and you'll become the user of lightning until
the day you die."

"Then all I have to do is make sure I don't wear this
thing that long," Shion determined. He pulled himself
over the slab and lay on his back, staring straight up
at the light, and resting his head against the soft
pillow. It truly felt uncomfortable to lie there.

"Even though I didn't invent it," he continued, "I
helped define the Internet the way it is today; every
trick in the book should still work for me. Key
points in hardware and software can be exploited at the
touch of a button, but now I need more than a simple
keyboard to control it all. For no matter how
brilliant the human mind is humans can only divert
their attentions to one pursuit at a time."

He raised his hands to the light. "That's where
these Orochi weapons come in. These wires will allow
me to divert my influence on the computer networks
much easier, and I'll need all the advantage I can get
when Mizuno decides to accept my challenge."

Shion's eyes narrowed, hidden from Higure's view by
his tinted glasses. "Mizuno," he muttered under his
breath.

Quietly, Higure slipped on a wired headband onto
Shion's head, then turned away. Shion knew the old man
was on his way to activate the machine, and a split
second later he wondered if he was just as crazy as
Ayame.

He shook his head. Of course not.

Saotome returned only a while before with the
Dragonfly, and he's a martial artist; he had real
trouble fighting the Sailor Senshi even with his new
black crystal necklace. Shion himself was no martial
artist, much less a fighter at all, therefore he had to
make up that deficiency with his other skills.

To that end he decided to fight the Sailor Senshi in
his own way, on his own terms. No matter what
happened, Ayame Mishima's life was far more important
than his could ever be.

"Give me some juice," he ordered Higure.

"Good hunting," said the old man, and Shion felt
his senses dull as the machine consumed his mind.

---

Internal Security, Crystal Palace

The moment the energy shield went down unexpectedly,
the four technicians on duty started to panic.

"What the heck...?!" one shouted. "Who ordered the
power-down?"

"I didn't do it!" another cried, raising his hands
away from his console.

"Everything's powering down by itself, and I do mean
everything!" said a third.

Sure enough, the moment the technician said that the
lights of the security office dimmed along with the
sudden shutdown of the computers. In the blink of an
eye the four technicians were plunged into darkness,
without any source of illumination.

Their panicked screaming was only a fraction of the
terror falling upon the palace's overworked staff.

---

Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace

"What's going on?" demanded Sailor Moon, as all the
lights of the chamber died, unfurling a curtain of
darkness.

The darkness was soon banished as Sailor Mars
whipped up a small candle flame in her fingers, the
fire dancing just micrometers over her gloves. "I
think we've just got hit by another attack."

---

Palace Gates, Crystal Palace

Kodachi Kuno rubbed her eyes in amazement, wondering
if Shion's promise was for real.

The palace that served as the home of the hated
enemy was unprotected. The shimmering energy shield
that prevented her from exacting vengeance on Sailor
Venus was gone, at long last.

She turned to Mousse, who was standing beside her
with his arms folded in his sleeves. "It appears our
mutual ally has come through for us!"

"About time something's going right," he snorted.
He looked over his shoulder, and found no one, to
Mousse's continual disappointment. "Too bad there's
only us left; we don't even have the robots anymore."

None of the Master of Hidden Weapon's complaints
fazed Kodachi, so focused on her goal. Their primary
objective was to make use of the chaos Shion created
in order to spring Ayame out of prison; while Kodachi
was perfectly willing to do this favor her true goal
was to find and destroy Sailor Venus.

It didn't matter that there was no one left to help
them out; Kodachi knew she was more than a match for
the Sailor Senshi.

"Shall we go?"

Mousse bowed, and stood aside. "After you."

---

Internal Security, Crystal Palace

"What's our status?" asked Sailor Moon, as she and
the other four Sailor Senshi entered the security
office, with Mars in the lead.

The technicians, suddenly finding themselves with a
source of light, struggled to regain their composure
in front of their leader. The head technician spoke
up.

"All power in the palace is off," he reported. "We
don't know what's causing it, or...."

His words were interrupted, as the main viewscreen
flickered back to life. All eyes turned toward the
now-white, blinding screen, and an image of the
Mishima logo appeared.

"Fenril Knights, of course," Venus muttered.

"Greetings," they heard a voice say, echoing off all
the speakers in the office. "Neo Queen Serenity?"

"That's me," Moon replied, wondering how the Fenril
knew she was there. Silently she eyed Mercury, who
pointed up toward the ceiling, where a security camera
was mounted under an opaque black dome.

"He's turned on enough systems to communicate with
us," Mercury explained.

"Oh, Mizuno, so nice to hear from you again."

"I wish I could say the same, Shion," she replied.

"This is Shion, eh?" Jupiter commented, eyeing the
other senshi carefully.

"You girls have someone I want," the Fenril stated
plainly. "I want her."

"What makes you think we'll let you have her?" asked
Sailor Mars.

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't want Ayame, I want
Mizuno... or whatever name she's going by these days."

All eyes turned toward Sailor Mercury. She blinked
in mild surprise. "Me?"

"Surely you girls have the equipment, so why don't
you join me on the network? Because if you don't, I
can make life much, much harder than it already is."

"Don't do it!" warned Moon. "It's a trap!"

"But he's also offering us a chance to fight back,"
Mercury pointed out. "Shion didn't have to do this;
like he said, he can make our lives much worse than it
is now, now that he's hacked into our computers."

She produced her palm computer, and switched on her
visor. Mercury took the seat of the nearest empty
console, hooking her computer into the console's
terminal and the visor to the computer.

As she continued in her setup Sailor Moon turned
toward the remaining three and the technicians. "See
if you guys can find candles or something."

"Leave that to us," volunteered the head technician.

Nodding, she addressed the other three senshi. "You
three split up and search the palace. Even though
we're technically under attack, we're still without
our energy shield. If you find any Fenril Knights,
try to capture them."

All three nodded in understanding. "Yes, Your
Highness!"

---

Prison, Crystal Palace

Darkness made no difference to Ayame as she stared
up at the ceiling, pondering the day's events so far.

She was less than a day incarcerated, and already
someone tried to break her out. Ayame had no idea she
was that popular among the others, but it hardly did
anything to stave away the feelings pouring into her
mind, consuming her thoughts.

Thoughts of self-pity were thrown out the window when
she saw the light from a flashlight, probably a heavy
duty one, judging from how low to the ground it was.
Ayame raised her hand to her eyes as the light shined
in her face, blinding her.

"Found her," declared a familiar voice, the owner of
the flashlight.

"Ayame?" she heard Kodachi shout from down the hall.

In a moment the rhythmic gymnast, Ayame's former
boss and mentor, appeared beside Mousse, each carrying
a flashlight. Kodachi set hers down to the floor, and
reached for the sword sheathed on her left.

"Ha-hah!" she declared, laughing. "Prepare to be
liberated!"

"Don't bother," Ayame replied. "If you're planning
on rescuing me... I don't want to be rescued."

As if on cue the lights in the prison block flickered
back on, and Mousse reached down and switched his
flashlight off. But Kodachi's hand remained on her
sword and sheath.

"Would you care to explain your boss why?" she
asked, purring slyly.

"I'm not fit to be your leader," she replied in her
canned response. On paper it should've been good
enough an answer to get replaced, but somehow it didn't
seem to work on these two.

"Don't be stupid," Mousse hissed. "What makes you
think being a prisoner is any better?"

"The Sailor Senshi know how useless I am as a
hostage," Ayame continued. "It doesn't matter what
they do to me." She reached into her inner coat
pocket, and produced a pair of black pills.

"You're going to take the same drugs your uncle
took," the weapons master realized. "You're intending
to wipe the slate clean; is that it?"

"Are you mad, woman?!" Kodachi shouted, her voice
thundering and echoing enough that Ayame nearly dropped
her pills.

To Ayame's ears Kodachi sounded almost like her
dead brother.

"Have you no shame, hiding from your problems?!"
she railed, unsheathing her sword and waving it around
angrily. "What thought have you that suggest pain and
suffering goes away at the insistence of drugs?!"

"I'm doing this to redeem myself, and save the rest
of you," Ayame said, trying to justify herself. "You
can lead... you always could... better than I did. You
never lost your teammates back in school."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mousse
demanded.

"Ayame," Kodachi said, lowering her voice to a more
controlled level. She held her free hand out. "Give
me the pills."

She shook her head. "I need them. We can't win
unless I take them."

"The HELL you do!!" the other girl screamed; this
time Ayame cowered from Kodachi's voice, charged with
deeper emotion.

"What do you know?!" Ayame yelled back, summoning the
courage to stand up to her old friend. "You don't
know how much better these'll make things."

"OF COURSE I DO!" replied Kodachi. "I DAMN WELL KNOW
BECAUSE THEY STUCK ME IN A HOME FOR IT!!"

Mousse stepped back in surprise, and Ayame kept her
mouth shut. She never heard of such an incident, and
apparently, neither did Mousse.

Kodachi took several deep breaths, obviously
gathering her thoughts and considering her next words
carefully. In a more controlled tone, she said, "When
I was fourteen, long before we would meet, one of my
instructors decided that I was a menace. She did not
appreciate my dominance and power I held, and therefore
she attacked me in the best way possible-- using the
authority of her position."

"Finding sufficient evidence this instructor had me
seized and placed in the hospital, citing that I was
'mentally unbalanced.'" She spat the last two words
with more contempt than for the teacher. "Needless to
say I had little choice in the matter, as I was still
but a child. Despite my family's influence or power in
this city those hack doctors decided they needed to
drug me to 'cure the chemical imbalance in my head.'"

"I did not leave until the following weekend, by
which time those fools had plenty of time to poison my
mind. It was my brother's task to undo the
prescription and mine to endure the course of the
poison. I returned to class much more subdued, dead,
and sunken so low that I drew stares from the other
girls who liked me for who I was. They pitied me."

Kodachi raised an angry fist. "They pitied me!!"
Raising her sword she took one good slash across the
bars holding Ayame, cleanly slicing them, but it was
not enough to tear them down. Ayame pressed her back
against the wall.

"Those drugs were meant to ease my mind, but I felt
it destroy me. The same night I returned home, their
faces on my mind, I threw out those poison concoctions,
but there was a price. I had gone a week being forced
to adjust my psyche around the poison, and being
without it.... Pain wracked my mind, and there was no
one who could understand. Pity from friends, laughter
from enemies... I could hear them all! They wanted to
drive me mad, using this wicked poison."

She broke out of her story suddenly, and Ayame knew
the memory of that event was likely more powerful in
her own thoughts than she was telling. "If you think
any sort of mind-altering substance can offer an easy
escape, then I pray your fall be much softer than
mine."

Swinging her sword around again, Kodachi sliced
through the bars, this time at a lower point. The bars
clattered off and rolled away in several directions,
and Ayame flinched at the noise they produced.

"Ayame, it's do or die time," Mousse insisted. "We
wasted plenty of time here already, and I don't know
how long Shion can keep them occupied."

Ayame said nothing, taking in deep breaths, thinking
over what Kodachi had said.

"Drugs are not an answer, they are a means to an
end," Kodachi added, grasping more control over her
emotions. "In your case the end is your own ruin, and
the ruin of us all. If you are so concerned with
keeping us out of trouble, the drugs are the wrong
solution. A leader sets an example by her actions;
have you learned nothing from me?"

"I've learned much, thanks to you," Ayame replied
slowly, glancing at her former mentor, then back at the
pills lying in the palm of her hand, beckoning her.
"For that, you have my undying gratitude. But I can't
lead."

"If you take those pills, then it is certain that I
will never get that 'undying gratitude,'" she pointed
out. "And leadership... I will let you in on a secret,
Ayame. I had no intention of being captain of the
team when I joined the gymnastics club. That position
was thrust on me because I was the daughter of a
wealthy and influential figure... a mere school
headmaster with a lot of money. I was elected leader
by no virtue of my own; it was out of fear from power.
To the human mind power is often equated with ability,
and it makes them feel better knowing they have a good,
strong leader to protect them. They believed my
influences could bring them great glory."

"Needless to say they were wrong about me." Kodachi
laughed lightly at the thought. "Where they thought
they could become complacent I became their harshest
taskmaster."

"I know," Ayame replied with a smile. "You did the
same to me when I joined.

"Nevertheless, as time passed, I made this team my
own. Time passes a year, and no one would think to
take my place. Whether they respected me or feared me,
I was their undisputed leader."

"And you trained me harder, specifically to take your
place once you graduated," Ayame added.

She eyed her former pupil. "Such is the same for
you, Ayame. We... we are termed Fenril Knights. We
are here because you are our leader. You know what to
do, and how to get it done. When something must be
done you make things happen. All of us look toward
you for guidance, because you are that which keeps us
from turning against one another. That is why you are
our leader, and you must continue."

Ayame chuckled to herself. "Guess I wasn't planning
far enough ahead to place a successor...."

She tossed the pills into the corner, and saw
Kodachi's approving smile. She offered her hand.

"Now," Mousse said impatiently, standing all but
forgotten by the two girls, "can we leave?"

---

Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries

Higure watched from Shion's usual chair as the
reluctant leader lay on the slab, his fingers wired to
the ceiling contraption, pulling them like the strings
on a marionette. Every once in a while he would say
something into a microphone installed near his mouth,
and those words, and the words of those on the other
end, echoed on the main speakers.

The old man imagined it was difficult for the hacker
to manipulate 'his world' in such a fashion, but the
headband transferred electrical impulses from his
brain faster than doing things manually. In effect,
Shion had to visualize the happenings in his head, and
his thoughts would make things happen. It was nothing
like the proposed virtual reality, however, and by no
means was it a substitute for the proper mindscape
travel. It was all in his head, but Shion would always
remain where he was, his mind never wandering.

That said, that position left Shion in a particularly
vulnerable state. If something went wrong, Higure
would have no idea how to remedy it; he never had the
time to figure out how to use any computer more
sophisticated than a four-function calculator. And
Shion blatantly refused to allow anyone else into the
command center save Higure, since he did have a number
of hidden enemies that would like to take him out for
good; he had no idea who they were, of course. Any one
of the technicians could have hated his guts enough to
finish him off.

Paranoia, the old man thought, can often be a life-
saver, but, as a double-edged sword, it could claim
life as well.

"Hello, Mizuno," Shion said. "Glad you could make
it."

"What's this about, Shion?" Higure knew this voice
to be that belonging to Ami Mizuno... Sailor Mercury,
that is.

"Welcome to my space," the mercenary said. "Whereas
the others are more physically-inclined, I am the
master of a digital realm. With a simple thought I
can make computers directing the weather control
system summon a flood if I wanted to."

"You want Ayame," Mercury stated as a fact. "But you
know as well as I that the prison doors are not
electronically locked like most other prisons."

"Oh, that's good," Shion replied sarcastically. "I
can still get my way. I'll club you into submission
if I have to."

"So why are we here?"

"I decided I wanted the pleasure of flaying you
alive myself."

Higure heard a startled scream, and the cry of a
second girl on the other end. The old man was under
the impression that Shion sent a nasty electrical
impulse up to Mercury, but it was only the beginning.

"Did it hurt?" asked Shion. He paused for a reply,
and was rewarded with Mercury's heavy breathing. "Ah,
good. That's the beauty of the human brain; I can
trick it into sending synaptic pulses through your
body, telling you that you got stabbed through your
left hand."

"Is that what you've done?" asked Mercury.

"You shouldn't have come; you're so immensely
gullible, just like my sister."

---

Palace Gates, Crystal Palace

"We made it," declared Mousse, rushing out ahead of
Ayame and Kodachi, looking to each side. "I can't
believe they didn't spot us."

The two girls joined him. Ayame cast her eyes toward
the left, where she had caused a ruckus earlier. Was
it only hours that she recklessly threw herself at the
Sailor Senshi?

She noticed Kodachi flinch a moment. Ayame asked,
"What's wrong?"

"I can feel her," she replied cryptically. Kodachi
gripped her sword in both hands. "Sailor Venus!"

"Hold it!"

Sure enough, Kodachi was right. Coming from around
the corner, toward the three's right, was the leader of
the Sailor Senshi. She took a step back in surprise,
her jaw dropping when her eyes glanced on the one
holding the sword.

"So," she said, "it's time."

"Ayame," Kodachi hissed, "get out of here."

The leader gave Mousse a quick glance, and both
nodded, understanding. "Good luck, my friend," she
said, taking off in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?" the weapons master wanted to
know as they rounded the perimeter of the palace. "The
gate's that way!"

"I know," Ayame replied, coming to a halt at the
collapsed wall. She was certain that Mousse understood
why by now.

The Metal Smasher, lying in the hole it crushed in
the palace wall on its side, lay untouched since
Ayame's capture. While the front end of the vehicle
was blackened and melted, she felt sure that it could
still work.

Provided they could get the thing back on its feet
again.

Before she could make her request known, Mousse was
already holding out the disc-shaped Chain Buster out
for her. Ayame smiled. "You know, maybe Kodachi's
right, after all."

Both Ayame and Mousse rushed to Metal Smasher's side
that lay exposed to the outside. Mousse planted the
Chain Buster onto it, quickly punching in a few buttons
on its surface as Ayame forced open the cockpit. As
soon as she was inside, Mousse gave her the thumbs-up,
and ran for cover.

A few moments later chains burst from the device,
embedding themselves in the far wall and pulling the
Metal Smasher's cockpit up along with it. Several
seconds later the chain spread ceased, and Mousse took
the opportunity to remove the buster from the cockpit's
side.

"Hey!" they heard another Sailor Senshi shout.

Mousse glanced back into the hole the Metal Smasher
left as its mark, then toward the cockpit. He
shouted, "Get going! I'll take care of this one!"

Ayame nodded, even though she knew Mousse couldn't
possibly see her through the window. No, the others
would be alright.

She guided the Metal Smasher toward the nearest wall,
and flicked the switch that would power on the twin
buster cannons. Satisfied that they were powering up,
Ayame switched their settings, and sprayed liquid ice
toward the nearest wall.

The Metal Smasher rocked slightly, and Ayame saw
pulses of electricity wash over the front of her
cockpit, but paid it no mind. Mousse has this under
control.

Putting the vehicle into gear, Ayame plowed through
the iced wall, and on toward freedom.

---

Kodachi leveled her sword carefully as she
sidestepped into more open space, carefully watching
the unarmed Sailor Venus.

"So is this how the great Sailor Venus wishes to
perish?" she purred.

Venus raised her hand into the air, and in a
shimmering flash a weapon appeared in her hand. To
Kodachi the weapon bore a certain resemblance to that
of a proper sword, but the blade was made not of
refined metal, but of opaque crystal. She scoffed at
the idea that a weapon so brittle could be used so
seriously.

On the other hand, it was possible it was made of the
same crystal that blankets the world.

"Is this more to your liking?" Venus replied,
lowering her arm into a ready position.

Kodachi's lips curved into a sly smile. "For honor
and dignity, I challenge you!"

Both warriors charged.

---

Internal Security, Crystal Palace

Moon looked toward Sailor Mars as she entered, her
face stone. "What news?"

"They've sprung her, alright," Mars reported. "The
others are looking for them now." She glanced toward
Sailor Mercury, who yelped momentarily. "What's going
on?"

"Shion's controlling her mind somehow," Sailor Moon
replied. "Actually, I don't think it's even that...
he's making her think she's getting mutilated."

"That creep!"

The leader of the world sighed. "There's nothing we
can do to help her. See if you can help Jupiter or
Venus... I'll stay here with Mercury."

Silently, Mars nodded, turning to leave once again.

"Don't give up," Sailor Moon pleaded, wondering if
Mercury could hear her over the pain.

"Had enough yet?" she heard Shion say over the
speakers. She could detect no hint of satisfaction out
of the Fenril. "Why don't you fight back?"

"Fighting you will solve nothing," Mercury replied,
her voice cracking from pain. "You have every right to
be angry."

"What?" There was no doubt that Shion was surprised
to hear this. "You ARE a Sailor Senshi, aren't you?"

"Despite what you believe, we're human, too," she
continued. "We have feelings. You were right, back
there, when you said that I shouldn't have tried to
spy on you. I never used to think that way... but that
was a long time ago."

"Oh?"

"I've lived far longer than you have," Mercury
explained. "I've lived a thousand years time while the
rest of the world was sleeping; a handful of people
against all odds. A thousand years is much time to
change, even though we don't realize it ourselves. I
realized how much I changed that night."

"Over the time we spent defending this world our
views became more hardened than what it used to be. In
result we allowed ourselves to make enemies of you. If
we remembered to take the time to talk things through
perhaps we could've avoided this conflict."

"Well... now you want to talk. Oh, sure, brings a
tear to my eye."

"We made a mistake," Mercury punctuated. "For that,
I am sorry."

However, her only response was laughter. "You know,
that's hella funny! I never would've thought you'd
stoop so low."

Now it was Mercury's turn to be surprised.

"You have no idea why we're fighting," Shion said
matter-of-factly. "All that time you spent spying on
us, pretending to be our friend... and you still can't
figure out something so simple."

"I don't care where you got the idea from," he
continued. "We aren't fighting because it's Order
against Chaos... we like order. It's a man's invention
rooted from Chaos, the father of everything, if you
follow Greek myths. We like chaos, too. We're
fighting Good against Evil."

Suddenly, both Mercury and Moon understood.

"How can you believe we're evil?" the soldier of
water asked. "We've done so much for this world!"

"You're still equating Chaos with Evil and Order
with Good; that's your defect," Shion accused. "Order
too can be evil, just as Chaos can be good. The trick
with Good vs. Evil is someone is either on one side or
the other. I think, Mizuno, you demonstrated which of
us was the evil side."

"Because good people wouldn't spy? Is that why?"

"If you're so purely good as you think you are, yes."

"You're a hacker," she pointed out. "Do you admit
that you have done illegal acts yourself?"

"Why not?" Shion asked. "Should there have been a
reason why I should respect a flawed law as they had
then? Why should I respect your law any more, when
it's just as flawed?"

"Then how can you judge yourself good and me evil?"

"Did I say I was good? We know what we're doing;
we're not the ones claiming to be the defenders of
love and justice, and all that is good."

"Then what is it that you want?"

"I want a better world, that's what," Shion
answered. "Even though the world we left behind was
flawed, it was also the one humanity shaped on its
own. It wasn't thrust upon them like your world was.
And after that, we want the people of the world to
choose how they wish to live. You gave them no such
choice."

"It couldn't be helped."

"Oh, that's right. Your leader's mistakes."

"Hey!" Sailor Moon cried.

"I've traced the events," the mercenary claimed. "If
I traced back the events leading up to your Great
Sleep, then all the problems come from your stupid
Silver Crystal. Don't you think on shifting blame on
your enemies; you knew it would bring them to you and
yet you thought you could live on, like nothing was
wrong. You tried to bury a leaky pipeline before
fixing it."

"Enough," Mercury decided. "Two can play at this
game."

"Oh?"

"You won't tell anyone your past because you're
ashamed of it; you're no different than we are."

"Is that so?"

"Information can be buried, but it can be found.
Even though it wasn't in your Mishima database I found
it elsewhere. Your biological father was law
enforcement."

"Clever," Shion commented evenly. "Records such as
those are very difficult to bury."

"He wasn't the best officer, but he was good at his
job. He got many commendations and high marks from
his superiors. Officer Kagami's otherwise bright
future was cut short when he was stabbed to death and
left to die in an alley, being at the wrong place at
the wrong time. He left a wife and son... you."

"Shut up."

"You took it upon yourself to become the man of the
house in your father's place," Mercury continued.

"Shut up."

"But, since you were still a child you couldn't get
any traditional job."

"Shut up!" This time the mercenary's voice was on
the edge of exploding.

"You turned toward illegal activity to make enough
money to support your mother and your lifestyle, and in
the end you made it even better."

"Shut the hell up!!"

"You betrayed all that your father stood for in order
to survive," Mercury concluded. "You had the best
intentions in the world, but the memory of your real
father haunts you even now. You won't let it go
away."

Mercury winced in pain, and Sailor Moon wondered if
she pushed the Fenril too far. But her friend's
expression relaxed slowly, a good sign.

"You damn well know how to screw people up," Shion
said finally, his voice wavering. "Fuck you."

"We're not all that much different, Shion," Mercury
said, offering the olive branch. "We can't change the
past any more than you want to change the world back
to the way it was... I'm sorry, but that's the truth.
Perhaps we could understand each other... talk to each
other... and resolve our differences. No one else
needs to suffer or perish."

For several breaths silence hung over the security
office. Sailor Moon realized she was holding her
breath, and exhaled. "Is this such a good idea?" she
asked. "You just made him real mad... and he might not
be thinking straight."

Mercury turned her head, and smiled. That was
enough to wash away any doubts in the ruler's mind.

"Alright, Mizuno... what do you want to discuss?"
Shion said finally.

---

Somewhere, hidden in darkness a black, gloved hand
held up a remote trigger. The owner of the hand smiled
maliciously, pressing a hard thumb down on the large,
red switch.

An explosion could be heard in the distance. Fire
and debris flew everywhere, and the bomber only
laughed.

---

Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries

Higure jumped out of his seat the moment he
recognized the danger, but it was far too late for
Shion to avoid it.

A massive power fluctuation in the power grid
funneled through the system, and arcs of electricity
sparked from the control center's consoles. The old
man turned toward the center, where Shion was screaming
out terribly through the pyrotechnics consuming the
control device hanging over the slab he rest on.

---

Internal Security, Crystal Palace

Unfortunately for Mercury, she, too, shared the pain
Shion was feeling. Crying out louder she remained
frozen in her seat as electrical pulses threatened to
shock her to death.

Sailor Moon instinctively pulled the connection wire
from Mercury's visor out, and the painful shocks
ceased to wrack her body. She raised her hand to
shield her eyes from the electrical arcs dancing on
the fried console, and quickly pulled Mercury's seat
away from it.

Bending her knees to her level, Moon shook her friend
anxiously. "Sailor Mercury!" she cried.

"It's... it's too late," she muttered, her eyes
slowly fluttering open.

"You're okay!" Sailor Moon let her emotions overcome
her, and she threw her arms around her friend.

"We lost him," Mercury insisted, her voice cracking.
"And with him, all hope of ending this stupid war...."

The ruler of Earth pulled herself back, and stared
into her friend's eyes, as if she didn't believe what
Mercury was saying.

"It was a powerful shockwave," she said. "If you
hadn't pulled me out when you did I would've been
caught by it, too. But Shion... he was too attached to
the system. He was still in there...."

For the first time in a long time, Mercury allowed
the tears to flow, and it was all Sailor Moon to do but
console her.

---

Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries

It was a terrible sight to behold, Higure knew. It
was a terrible curse that so many of these young
people were checking out of the hotel before he was.

The wires that connected Shion's fingers to the
control machine hung taut, as the mercenary's arms were
hanging limply over each side of the slab. Although
his body was otherwise untouched and undamaged, Higure
checked for a pulse, and his suspicions were confirmed.

The latest shock pulse was more than enough to send
pulses to his brain to shut down his body, leaving
Shion in the state between life and death.

Higure surveyed the rest of the command center, and
saw that the rest of the equipment was fried, and
likely beyond repair. The Mishima hidden fortress was
likely going to need an overhaul-- at least, for the
machines that were directly connected to the affected
system.

"What a mess," was all he could say.

---

Palace Gates, Crystal Palace

Oblivious to the conflicts around them Kodachi and
Venus continued their heated engagement, each parrying
each other's blows with their swords, neither gaining
an apparent advantage.

"You practiced since we last fought!" Kodachi
declared, barring her teeth.

"We NEVER fought before," Venus pointed out,
catching Kodachi's blade on her own, then shoving her
back.

"Whether it be myself or my brother, you fight Kuno!"
Kodachi tossed her sword up into the air, allowing it
to arc backward.

Before Venus could wonder what she was getting at
her opponent started backward in perfect backflips,
moving fast and precisely like the rhythmic gymnast
she was reputed to be. Stopping with one final flip
Kodachi held her arms out as in traditional form,
catching the sword she threw in her left hand.

If anything, it was pretty darn impressive.

Lowering herself back into battle stance, Kodachi
shouted, "Feel the sting of the Black Rose!"

With her other hand she whipped out a gymnastics
ribbon, and twirled it in a storm of black rose petals.
Venus shielded her eyes as the petals blew in her
direction, and lowered them to cover her mouth and nose
when she realized they were laced with some kind of
powder.

However, Kodachi was taking advantage of her own
distraction, rushing back into the fray. Venus felt
the true weight behind the Kuno sword as she raised
her crystal sword to deflect it, and barely succeeding.
With one hand her swordplay was vastly diminished, but
Venus did not dare risk breathing in the powder,
whatever it was.

Whoever she is, this Kuno is much more difficult to
battle than her brother, she decided.

She fell down to the ground as Kodachi landed a much
harder blow, shattering the crystal sword clean
through with the force of vengeance behind it. It was
one thing to lose her weapon, but Venus also
accidentally breathed in some of the powder. She felt
her body freeze in an instant, and her arms and legs
would not respond to her command.

Kodachi stood there, the rose petals and cloud
vanishing with the wind, but Venus was still paralyzed.
Her steel blade lowered under her chin, and she knew
it was all over.

"I won," Kodachi declared. "For the honor of my
brother, I won!"

A dark shadow appeared over the two girls, and Venus
knew that, even if she could, shouting a warning would
have been too late.

Although Kodachi won, both of them ended as losers.

---

Masses of chains dotted the region of the outer
courtyard as Mousse's domain, as Sailor Jupiter
remained tangled within the metal masses. She dared
not use her lightning bolts to break free, knowing full
well that any shock she sent through the chains would
eventually end back at her.

And Mousse knew that all too well.

The Master of Hidden Weapons stood on a chain above
where Jupiter was entangled by the Chain Buster, his
arms folded beneath his long sleeves. He raised his
glasses on his forehead, allowing the wind to blow in
his triumphant face.

"In Confucian teachings Metal is the opposition of
Wood," he noted. "How unfortunate for you that I
finally managed to find the right match."

And yet he managed to jinx it when he heard, "Mars
Snake Fire!!"

He knew what was coming, and backflipped up and away
from the tangle of chains as the fire snake seared
through the chains, quickly melting and breaking links
that turned the web into dangling strands.

Landing on the ground, he replaced his glasses and
eyed Sailor Mars angrily. "Do you just LIKE following
me around?"

"Get fire-proof chains," she suggested sarcastically.

"I'll do better," promised Mousse. He spread his
arms wide, unleashing a flurry of throwing knives that
threatened to pierce Mars.

Not waiting for the weapons to connect or miss,
he reached for the crystal prism in his sleeve pocket
and willed himself home.

---

It was difficult to be oblivious of an EMP Shockwave
if one was operating electronic machinery.

Ayame sat in the Metal Smasher's cockpit, with the
window open, sitting back in the leather seat with her
chin resting on her propped hand. She tapped on the
console with her other hand, fingers rattling on amidst
the ambient sound of electrical shorts.

"Busted," she knew. There was no saving the Metal
Smasher without giving it a complete overhaul now.
Shion will be pissed when he find out what happened to
his favorite toy.

Deciding there was no use in waiting around for the
Sailor Senshi to catch up with her Ayame took off her
heels, and vaulted over the side of the cockpit,
landing on her feet. Quickly throwing her shoes back
on she stood up and brushed off invisible dust on her
lab coat, then set out to find the nearest entrance to
the Mishima fortress, not knowing that another was
tailing her.

---

Sailor Moon refused to believe it until she saw the
truth for herself.

Lying in the grass, curled on her side, was Sailor
Venus, defeated and dying, shivering from a cold that
the ruler of Earth could not feel. Not far away was
one of the Fenril Knights, Kodachi, lying more still,
and very much dead, from what Mars and Jupiter informed
her.

However, Venus was still in the shock stage, and she
would soon suffer the same fate as Kodachi.

Sailor Moon got down on her knees, trying not to cry,
in front of Sailor Venus.

Her body quaking, it took all of Venus's discipline
to get her message across. "Heart crystal...."

Moon nodded. "I know." She brushed Venus's hair
away from her face with a mother's touch.

"H..he...." Venus swallowed. "Kodachi had two heart
crystals... both came out... of her."

"Who did this?"

But this time Venus's voice was barely over a
whisper, and Sailor Moon had to lean closer to hear.
Her eyes widened, and she backed away.

"Rest well, my friend," she told Venus. "We'll get
them back."

Venus offered a courageous smile, one final time
before the silence claimed her.

---

"Heh, heh, heh, heh... hah, hah, hah, hah!"

An evil laugh echoed throughout the city that
morning as the silent victor disappeared back into the
confusion that spawned him. Pantyhose Taro held out
his right arm, opening his palm upward toward the sky,
allowing his new collection of four strong heart
crystals to dance for him like a light show.

"It won't be long now," the martial artist knew.
"The more heart crystals I collect, the more powerful I
become; that is the secret of these treasures! With
enough of these I'll be more than a match for Neo Queen
Serenity. World domination can become a reality."

---

Palace of Solitude, Nemesis

Formalities became a thing of the past, as the robed
salamander, Cinder, lead Ukyo Kuonji through the dark
hallways, remaining silent, yet emitting smoke every
so often. The okonomiyaki chef attributed that quirk
as a sort of exhale; she was unsure how much the kami
needed to breathe, but what she did know was that he
required an enormous amount of oxygen just to keep his
fire going.

Anyone clever enough to figure that out likely could
stand a chance against him. Maybe.

She sighed, thinking back again to Cologne's offer
back at her restaurant. Not only did the old woman
demonstrate that she did in fact know she was one of
the enemy, she wanted to become a part of it. By then
there was no use denying her cover to the hag; Konatsu
figured it out as well, and he didn't tell anyone,
either.

She was afraid that, if the captive Crystal Tokyo
population learned Ukyo, the monopolizing supplier of
real food on Nemesis, was a Fenril Knight, they would
storm her restaurant and tar and feather her... or
something to that effect. It would most certainly kill
her business forever.

The old man, Wiseman, never seemed to emerge from
his hidden citadel anymore, and in effect the ones in
charge were Sypha and Cinder. Technically, though,
Ukyo was supposed to be in charge, but she saw no
reason to exert her sphere of influence on two
individuals who could potentially turn her inside-out.

Morning was the best time to tear herself away from
her restaurant, and role of local gossip on par with a
traditional bartender. Although Ukyo opened the
restaurant early each morning it was the time there was
least business, and when nobody was likely to miss her
presence.

Cinder lead Ukyo through a dark passage, and down a
flight of stone stairs. The okonomiyaki chef kept one
hand on the wall as she descended the spiral steps, as
there was very little illumination; Cinder certainly
didn't need it, not with that eye implant of his. And
Sypha likely didn't need to see light, either. That
left the wimpy human to deal with that problem herself,
of course.

No one believes I'm a good martial artist, she
thought to herself, and that's why I got stuck on this
backwater planet, babysitting. Ranchan is probably
laughing or something... that jerk. Probably forgot
I'm even here....

She realized that she was at the bottom of the stairs
the moment she tried to make another descending step,
nearly tripping into Cinder's back. The cloaked
salamander's mechanical eye flashed in her direction,
as if he knew what was going to happen, but said
nothing of it.

The fire master lead Ukyo to one of the cells, and
she peeked inside. Sure enough, there was a Sailor
Senshi chained to the wall inside, one appearing much
older than the ones defending Crystal Tokyo. Her eyes
were closed, as if exhausted, or in slumber, and hung
limp against her bonds.

Cinder pulled the door open quickly, creating a huge
grating sound that forced Ukyo to cover her ears. She
wanted to have a word with the salamander about his
lack of tact, but caught herself. She allowed him to
step inside first, then followed quietly after.

"This is one of the prisoners," the salamander said,
his chasm voice filtering through mechanical implants.
"They call her Sailor Neptune, the bearer of the
mirror."

Ukyo studied Neptune closely. "The mirror that is
part of the three sacred treasures, eh?" she remembered
Cinder mentioning earlier. She saw no obvious hiding
places for such a contraption. "Yata's mirror...."

"If we can harness the power of all three treasures,
one of you may prove a match to defeat Neo Queen
Serenity," Cinder explained. "The orb, however, is
held by unknown hands."

"Wiseman explained all this?" Ukyo asked. She wished
the old man would at least try to tell her interesting
stuff like this.

"We have no interest in eliminating the queen of the
Earth," Cinder revealed. "I loathe her and her
people. On Nemesis, we reign supreme over a kingdom of
dust."

"Then you're not going back to Earth, after all?"
That was news to her.

"Deliberating late the previous night," the
salamander explained, "Lady Sypha and I decided, as
the last of the kami we should stick together. Our
kind is not welcome among the humans; we are seen as
devils. Nemesis, however, is not a haven of man, but
it can be made ours."

"Just the two of you?" asked Ukyo. "Are you sure
you guys haven't thought it through?"

"We have. I received word from Earth that my first
and last student was slain. I have no reason to
return to that wretched planet, nor have I the
inclination to see my devastated homeland. It's all
gone, and I wasn't there to die with it."

"Sucks to be the last of your kind, doesn't it?"
Ukyo said, shaking her head. "There's nothing more to
do about it, though."

"Only to humiliate the Sailor Senshi who destroyed
our people," Cinder corrected.

"Didn't you do that already?"

"Only to these two. We need to finish it with Neo
Queen Serenity. To force her to live shamefully is the
best revenge we could hope to achieve."

"Geez, you guys sure are pretty lenient."

"Not likely," Neptune muttered.

Both Ukyo and Cinder turned toward the prisoner,
with the okonomiyaki chef being the only one surprised
that she was listening in.

"Y... you're awake?!" she managed to say.

"Who would've thought that humans, too, sided along
with the kami of the Black Moon."

"We're not Black Moon," Ukyo corrected. "We're just
people."

"People don't suddenly decide they want to overthrow
their ruler," Neptune countered.

"No," the chef admitted. "That world you've got down
on Earth is great and all... for business, really. I
mean, working is great now, but it's almost the same
thing every day. I miss having Ranma end up in my
garbage cans every once in a while, or someone trying
to out-market me. I even miss that annoying Kuno; he
made my day sometimes with that weirdness of his."

"What I'm probably getting at is... well... nobody
fights anymore, and it's pretty boring."

"'Boring' is hardly how I'd term it," Neptune
replied softly. "'Peaceful,' maybe."

"You're not like those other Sailor Senshi, are you?"

"Their outlook is more naive, if that's what you
mean."

"Maybe."

"That's why we took it upon ourselves to take care of
alien invaders," Neptune said. "But you have to let us
go, because more are coming, and we don't have enough
power to stop them."

"Who?" asked Cinder, curiosity piqued.

"Invaders from another galaxy, called the Mekani."

The name of the new threat sent a shiver down Ukyo's
spine. "Mekani? Again?"

"What do you mean, 'again?'" the soldier asked,
genuinely unaware of their previous attacks.

"Foolish," Cinder rumbled, more smoke bellowing out
from under his hood. "You Sailor Senshi didn't even
know the extent of the threat before you made it
worse."

"Then tell me," Neptune dared.

"Think about it," the fire salamander told her. "Did
you really think the Mekani scout force you demolished
tried to overrun Earth once? They tried many, many
times since their sealing between planes, and we were
among those responsible for repelling their latest
attack. Before you even knew they existed."

Ukyo nodded. "The Mekani tried to take away
everything. It happened quickly... all in one night.
Many people were hurt, but no one would know of the
danger Earth was in, thanks to Ayame's people for
cleaning up the mess."

"Then you understand why we have to warn the queen
immediately," Neptune replied, a sense of urgency in
her voice. "This new scout force is much more
advanced than the last, and they are far more prepared
to defeat us."

"I expected as much," Cinder said, turning toward
Ukyo. "There was another reason we decided to stay.
The Timeless Ones cannot be allowed to turn this
galaxy into another arm of their empire."

"A foothold scenario, huh?" Ukyo realized. "Bloody
their noses here, they turn around and look somewhere
else?"

"If we understand Mekani hive-mind thinking, then
they'll ignore us until they feel they can send another
scout force sufficient enough to defeat whatever it was
that beat them last time."

"Then why aren't we letting these two go?" asked
Ukyo. If both of you know about the Mekani coming,
then that's more than enough reason to band together."

Cinder shook his head. "The scouting party has no
reason to hurry here if they perceive no threat. If
they realize we're preparing for their arrival then I
can assure you they'll take extra measures to get here
before we're through."

"Then you've got secret weapons in the work?" she
hoped.

Again, the salamander shook his head, to the chef's
disappointment. "We suspect Wiseman is up to
something."

"Wiseman?" Neptune echoed. "I thought he was
destroyed."

"Then you thought wrong," Cinder replied harshly.

"He is a spawn of the darkness!" the captured Sailor
Senshi cried. "How can you trust such a creature?"

"Then you shouldn't parlay with similar creatures!"
the fire master snapped angrily. "Perhaps you would
think better who to judge your enemies if there is a
next time. Perhaps, if your leader thought ahead of
time, maybe she could have had the backing of my
people and other spirit folk. But, that's all in the
past, and it's too late to cry over spilt milk, as your
adage goes. You and your friend, at least, will face
the consequences."

"Cinder," Ukyo voiced, summoning her inner courage,
"what good will it do to torture her to death? She's
obviously not going to cough up the mirror, wherever
it is, and I think Neo Queen Serenity's our best
chance to get rid of the mechanical plague."

"Are you talking to me, human?" Cinder seemed
amused by the gesture.

Ukyo glanced to Sailor Neptune, then back at Cinder.
"Yeah, I guess so...." She shook her head. "Yes, of
COURSE I'm talking to you! Who died and put you in
charge? Ayame put ME in charge."

"Is that so?"

She had no time to wonder if challenging the kami's
authority was wise. "I'm your leader, not you, not
Sypha, and not Wiseman. I don't care who you think you
are, or why you're doing it, but you don't blink unless
I tell you to. When I say 'jump,' I wanna see air
beneath your feet. Do I make myself clear?"

The salamander didn't move to kill, a good sign.
"Then what is it that you wish of me...."

"Ukyo," she corrected preemptively.

"Lady Ukyo," Cinder finished.

She glanced toward Neptune again. "First of all, I
want you two to stop torturing the prisoners. Next, I
want you to make sure Sypha listens to me. Third, you
untie the prisoners, and bring them to the meeting hall
tonight at eleven, Earth time."



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

Author's Notes

Stay tuned for more.


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

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