Disclaimers: "Ranma 1/2" and "Sailor Moon" are not mine. All rights reserved,
used without permission. All other ideas and characters belong to me, Bambi
Star salee@crosswinds.net.

Author's Notes: Thanks to Raikyn and Beige Chocobo for pre-reading this fic
and for pointing out all my silly mistakes. The latter also writes fanfics
which are located at his own page http://www.geocities.com/beigechocobo.
And...

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY, CHRIS-SAN!!! -- A very special person and friend.
I dedicate this chapter/part to you! Please enjoy reading it.
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[SM/Ranma][Crossover FanFic]

[Destiny's Price]
A Sailor Moon / Ranma 1/2 Crossover
Part Four - Truth Or Dare
Written by Bambi Star
---------------------
The Sailor Senshi watched as their future Queen, and her two most protective
friends materialized into the room with a flash of light. The Senshi stared
at each of their state of dress.

Rei was wearing her temple robes and was looking weary, her eyes were
slightly blood-shot from the lack of sleep and the horrors of her nightmare.
Other than her eyes, she looked ready and awake.

Usagi was wearing a loose long-sleeved baby blue shirt that just passed her
bottom, and matching short baby pink pants. She was yawning, however; having
gone to bed after her shower not long ago. Her hair was a little ruffled up,
making her look incredibly cute and the innocence of a young girl shone
through. She looked around the room before fixing her gaze at the green-
haired Guardian of Time, questionably.

Ranma was wearing a close fitting top and short shorts. He was frowning, his
mind occupied by thoughts of something other than the current situation. (Did
I enjoy that dream? Was it a dream? Why about I dreaming about Akane anyway?
I love Usagi now. I should have dreams of her.) His frown deepened, (I will
not betray Usa. My heart already now belongs to Usagi, not Akane.) A conflict
of emotions swirled around inside of him as he sadden, (What do I do now?)

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Neptune stared at the pigtail martial artist, or, to be more precise she was
staring at his body. The clothes he wore did nothing to cover his modesty.
They looked very tight and his shorts looked very short. Various thoughts
entered her mind as she blushed, there were things she wanted to try but
couldn't because her partner was another girl. If only...

Uranus frowned, she didn't like the looks her partner was giving Ranma and
from the expression on her face, she had a very good idea what the aqua-
haired senshi was thinking of. She turned to look at Ranma. Sure, she was
only attracted to girls but she had to admit that Ranma was also very
attractive. Her mind wondered to think about a certain red-head, also known
as Ranko or onna-Ranma. She shook her head to clear her mind, they were here
to help Hotaru not have fantasies of Ranma in the middle of a crisis.

"Welcome my queen, Rei, Ranma." greeted the oldest senshi. "It seems that
someone is trying to taint Hotaru's mind and pull her to the dark side."

"Hello Koneko-chan, Rei, Ranma." Uranus grinned slightly to herself as she
saw Ranma flinched slightly. She knew of his phobia, it had gotten better but
still was one of his main weakness. His other weakness was seeing girls cry,
that amused her a great deal.

Neptune blinked, quickly wiping the drool away from her mouth, "Umm... hello
princess, Rei and Ranma..." her face went red as she looked away. (Oh god,
what they caught me staring?)

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

Uranus frowned again and she begun to think of a plan. Once this was over,
she was going to join the GRAUT (get Ranma and Usagi together) club. The
club's members consisted of people who believed that Ranma and Usagi should
be a couple. The leader of the club was Minako, who had started the whole
thing with some help from Makoto. Soon after it was formed, Rei and Ami
joined along with a few others, including Naru, Umino and, surprisingly
enough, Motoki; who was Mamoru's best friend. They had all been surprised to
see him there at the meeting, but Motoki voiced his opinions and had his own
personal reasons.

The GRAUTs* had been trying to find ways to get them together, either by
making them see how much they need each other, or by getting Ranma to admit
his love for Usagi. Their latest project was Operation - Photo shoots, was
trying to give them an idea of what it was like to be in each other's arms.
The project however didn't seem too successful; thus time for the next
Operation - Uncontrollable Love.

Uranus wondered what Usagi really felt for the sex-changing pigtail martial
artist. They had lived together for almost three years now and everyone was
positive that Ranma loved Usagi, but Usagi seemed to remain clueless. Who
knows, maybe she already knew.

Sure Ranma had a history... a really big history. But he was better for her
princess than Mamoru ever was. The only problem was that Mamoru, and not
Ranma, was the Prince of Earth. Ranma wasn't a prince at all. Prince of charm
and capturing hearts maybe, but not a prince of any planet. That would be a
problem for the future. But it seems that Ranma was not willing to let Usagi
go so easily. He knew of her possible future but he still loved her. He knew
about her future with Mamoru and Chibi-usa, and not with him. But still, he
would not give up. Uranus secretly admired his strength and determination
from a distance.

Although it seems that Usagi and Ranma aren't dating, the others wouldn't
dare to imposed on their relationship. Not to mention if they _did_ dare,
the GRAUTs would be sure to hunt them down. Even though Ranma and Usagi are
the most popular and desired guy and girl respectively, they were both very
well respected and so the others would keep their distance. That was some-
thing they were both grateful for that. Especially Ranma, after attending
high school full of hormone-crazed boys; who sometimes chased after his girl
side, even with the knowledge that Ranma was really one of them.

She felt kind of ill at the last thought. All guys but Ranma were perverts,
and only want one thing. She was glad that Ranma was different, otherwise,
he might be dead right now.

Now back to the situation, if only she could keep her mind on track.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The GRAUTs - means the members of the GRAUT club. Think of it this way:
The Get Ranma and Usagi Togetherers. Odd yes. But... *shrugs*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rei shivered feeling cold and vulnerable, she didn't like the feel of this
room. The evil vibes were getting to her and she wanted out. The room itself
was poorly lit, despite that the light was on. She could see shadows and
ghostly images in every corner of the room. It made her feel like she was
back in her nightmare, suffocating. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to
block out the horrible images.

Her body trembled, and the fear of losing another of her loved ones
overwhelmed her. Tears leaked out from the corner of her eyes. She wanted to
escape, but there was nowhere run. If only she wasn't involved.

Usagi nodded, "Right, so we need to enter Hotaru's mind." She turned to look
at Rei. "Rei?" The raven hair priestess' knees weakened and she collapsed.

"Rei!" gasped Ranma as he suddenly disappeared and appeared again to catch
Rei in his arms. (Ok, I admit it. I'm jealous.) thought Uranus, (I didn't
even see him move). She looked at her princess, who didn't even looked
slightly surprised or impressed. Uranus got to her feet*, gritting her teeth
to ignore the pain. "Are you alright?" asked Ranma. Confused for a second,
Uranus turned to look at Ranma but discovered that he was talking to Rei.

The young woman choked back a sob, "I-I'm sorry... I can't help you guys
fight."

Usagi's expression softened, "It's alright. Ranma and I will go." Ranma
kneeled down, placing Rei down next to Uranus to rest.

He finally turned to her, looking up, "Are _you_ alright, Haruka-san?"

Uranus had her pride, she wasn't willing to acknowledge him that she was
hurt. "I'm fine." Ranma stood up as she looked at him in the eyes. She hated
it when there was someone else taller than her, especially when that person
was younger. It was only a few centimetres more in height but it made all the
difference to her. She was proud of her height, it gave her the strength. But
when Ranma grew taller than her, she became withdrawn and was fast becoming
jealous of his success. It wasn't until she realised how much Ranma had
suffered, did she finally decided that Ranma needed the strength more than
she did.

"Ok, I believe you." Said Ranma as he smiled. He knew her well enough to know
that she was lying. He was like that, pride and all. "It's just that, if we
are gonna fight, we mind as well all be in perfect health." He shrugged as
Uranus gritted her teeth. (Why... why that... jerk!) Ranma then moved to look
at Hotaru.

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* Refer to end of last part/chapter where Uranus was thrown to the wall.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The girl was no longer trashing in her bed but her face was filled with pain
and conflict. She had also stopped growing and was about the age of 14, the
age she would have been if she haven't been reborn the first time. Her hair
was long and the Mistress Nine and the Saturn symbol kept flicking back and
forth on her forehead, as if a great battle was taking place in her mind.

Ranma clenched his fist in anger; whoever was doing this to her was going to
pay. It pained him to see her like this: no one deserved this type of
torture... especially not her. She was like a younger sister he never had. He
enjoyed spending his time with her, even if she was 10 years younger than
him. He loved her just as much as he would love his mother.

He had first met Hotaru when she was only 11 years old. As soon as Usagi
introduced her to him, he had instantly felt an need to protect her. She was
easily tired out then, and he had seen the loneliness in her eyes. Eyes such
as he had often seen when he looked into the mirror. He felt a bond to her,
and made sure that she was never hurt at school. He would walk to her to her
elementary school every morning and walk her home afterwards to ensure that
she wouldn't be picked on and teased. She was really a sweet kid. That was
why it really hurt when they discovered that she was Mistress Nine...

He clenched his fists, they had tried to kill her. Tried to kill Hotaru, the
innocent kid, the Sailor Senshi of Saturn. She was just so young; she hadn't
done anything to deserve this! He would eternally be thankful to Usagi for
having to be her back alive, even if it was in a form of an infant. Usagi had
risked her life to save Hotaru's, a truly selfless deed. That was one of the
reasons why he loved her with all his heart. Slowly, he begun to focus his
attention on the girl before him again.

Her breathing was becoming ragged and strangled as if someone or something
blocking out her wind pipe. (Idiot! Why didn't you think of it before!) Ranma
mentally slapped himself and quickly turned to Usagi, "Usa, can you get
Hotaru's clothes off her? They're several sizes too small." He then turned to
Pluto who nodded and ran out of the room.

He turned his back on the newly-grown teenage girl and began to get angry at
himself. She could have died while he had been lost in his thoughts, and it
would all have been his fault! He then examined Uranus, trying to forgot the
matter and remove the dull stone from his heart... Uranus seemed fine now.

He went to Rei and kneeled down in front of her. Watching from the corner of
his eye as Pluto quickly ran back into the room with some clothes in her
hand. He placed a hand on Rei's shoulder. "Try and get some rest Rei." The
young woman was no longer crying but still looked really pale and sick. Ranma
gave her a reassuring smile. "Try to go to sleep. And when you wake up again,
everything would be taken care of, ok?"

Rei nodded weakly as Ranma embraced her warmly. He then stood up and faced
the others. "Ok, Pluto, tell us how we can get into Hotaru's mind and destroy
that evil." He clenched his fists, "Whoever is doing this to Imouto will
pay... Dearly... Even if it's the last thing I do."

Usagi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll make sure
of that." She smiled at him to confirm that she was with him, he nodded in
reply.

Uranus and Neptune nodded as they all turned to Pluto for the instructions.
Since she was the guardian of time and space, she obviously knew more on this
subject than others did in this world.

"I will stay here with Rei. Usagi-hime and Ranma please transform and then
everyone form a ring around Hotaru. Clear your minds and prepare for a Sailor
teleportation. I will do the rest and send you there." instructed Pluto as
she raised up the time key above her head.

Usagi took out her eternal moon brooch while crying out, "Eternal Moon, make
up!" She was lifted to the air as she was bathed with light. Her clothes
were removed and with a flicker of feathers, Eternal Sailor Moon stood in
Usagi's place. While Usagi was transforming, Ranma did the same thing... only
with a red rose. Ranma hated the rose, it reminded him of the Kunos back at
Nerima and too much of Mamoru, especially the part where he was the Prince of
Earth. And how he was 'destinied' to marry Usagi. Oh, how he hated Destiny.

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

Up in the heavens, Sin was looking down at unfolding scene... And sneezed.

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

TM2 (Tuxedo Mask II), Moon, Uranus and Neptune gathered around Hotaru as they
held hands, each with their own thoughts. (I hope Hotaru-chan would be ok.)
(Those bastards! I'll kill them! I'll kill them!) (Whoever is doing this to
Imouto will pay on my hands.) (I'm worried what Ranma and Ka-chan will do.
They think alike too much sometimes, too protective of Hotaru-chan.)

"Remember, this is a human mind and, as such, there are things that person
will want to keep hidden. I trust you all to know where you can tread and you
can not." Everyone nodded as Pluto continued, "Be careful and I will await
your return. Good luck."

The four nodded once again as they sealed the light away from their eyes.
Each one silently calling out to their power. (Eternal Moon Power!) (Uranus
Planetary Power!) (Neptune Planetary Power!) (Terra Planetary Power!) Pluto
also closed her eyes, (Pegusus, help me open the portal to the subconscious
world to save Hotaru's soul.) She raised her staff over her head and pointed
the orb directly above Hotaru's mind.

Streams of deep purple light reached out towards the four senshi, and wrapped
them up like ribbons. Each person had their own aura appeared and flared up.
TM2 had the aura of purple and yellow sparks, Moon had a pink aura, Uranus
had gold and Neptune had a aqua aura. On everyone's forehead was a glowing
symbol. Suddenly their auras formed a ball over Hotaru's mind and it entered
her mind. A white glow surrounded all four people and as Pluto opened her
eyes, the four senshi collapsed to the ground. Their spirit and mind entering
Hotaru's.

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

Pluto took a deep breath... That exercise had taken a lot out of her. She
then went to check on the four senshi and she could see a slightly fainted
glow still coming from each of their foreheads. She smiled, (So, it begins.
And I'll be closer to keeping the promise I made a thousand of years ago.)
She saddened, as a memory that could never be forgotten resurfaced in her
consciousness, (I will NOT make the same mistakes again.)

Her eyes turned to study Ranma's face. It was strange how quickly everyone
disregarded Ranma's abilities to be Tuxedo Mask. How he could use all of
Mamoru's attacks especially making red roses appear, much to his(Ranma's)
displeasure. The girls were all glad that Ranma had agreed to become Tuxedo
Mask for their sake. He had proven to be much more useful than Mamoru ever
was, with his martial arts skills and the cane and... roses. But truth to
be told, it was only neccessary for him to become Tuxedo Mask to prevent
any suspicion rising from the media and public: Why Tuxedo Mask had suddenly
stopped showing up.

Pluto frowned, her eyes narrowing. Because of Mamoru, the future was now no
longer stable. She sighed, glad that Ranma had turned up at the right time.
Everyone had preferred the transaquasexual pigtailed martial artist and heart
breaker, over the cold hearted b****** who left without a word. She felt
sorry for her princess, she would have the most difficult choices to make
regarding of the world and it's future. After all, she _was_ Destiny's Child.

In a way, Pluto also had always envied her. Usagi had her family, she had her
friends, a good heart, innocence and choices, different paths to travel.
Since she herself was now a immortal, she only had one path to travel. To
guard the Gate of Time until Time itself no longer existed. Her eyes started
to water. Life was so unfair to her, not long after the Silver Millenium had
started, she was called to duty.

Since then, she always longed to have a real family, to be able to hold her
own child in her arms instead of just watching her from a distant. Tears fell
to the ground with a small splash, and like the rain, more teardrops
followed. It was so unfair... Not even her child's father knew of their own
daughter.

Life alone, a LONG life alone was not very pleasant. It pained her to watch
her love forget all about her, to watch her daughter grow up never knowing
her mother was always there.

She fell to the ground and sobbed, her staff falling to the ground beside
her with a *clang*. She felt so alone... So very alone...

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

Rei watched the scene unfold from the corner of the room with startled
eyes... What could have hurt Setsuna-san like the way she was crying now? It
was... disturbing in a way, yet she felt her heart wanting to help her and
comfort her. As Rei made her way to the green hair older woman by crawling,
her own problems were forgotten as she begun thinking of reasons for Set-
suna's breakdown. She always had the strongest will to success. Now, to see
her like this...

Setsuna had always seemed emotionless, like she was inhuman. Like she had no
life to live but just be the Senshi of Time. (That's it!) thought Rei with
realisation. Now she knew why Setsuna never expressed her emotions much, it
was to protect herself from getting hurt. After all, she had to always
guarded the Gate of Time where she was placed alone from human interaction.
Rei wondered if there was a time, where even Setsuna had a normal life. (She
must feel so alone.)

She reached the still crying woman, placing a hand on her shoulder and asked
worriedly, "Setsuna?" After all, it wasn't like it was often that someone
will just break down and cry like Setsuna currently was. AND it wasn't very
often that Setsuna would even show ANY emotions at all.

Teary garnet red eyes met dark violet ones, as Rei wrapped her arms around
the much older woman's shoulders, drawing her in protectively and allowing
her to cry on her shoulder. While patting her on the back she whispered,
"Let it all out. Just let it all out."

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

As the light died away from their eyes, they examined the area. "Where are
we?" asked Moon. "It looks exactly like the room we were just in, only much
colder and darker." She shivered, emphasizing her point.

TM2 looked through his mask, (Stupid costume, why did I have to wear this?)
he thought bitterly. "I guess we're in Hotaru's mind now," said Uranus.

They walk around examining every centimetre of the room. "Where exactly are
we? Do you think the enemy is close by?" Moon asked as she slightly shivered
again. The darkness, the evil, was clawing at her... scratching her and
calling out to join them. She tired to hide behind her friends and be as
small and unseen as possible. "I don't like this room."

TM2 turned around and placed a arm around her shoulders as she jumped
slightly and tensed up. He pulled her close to him, protectively and away
from the danger. It was a cute picture and Uranus and Neptune had to smile
at that, despite their situation. If only Ranma would tell Usagi of his
feelings... If there was one thing that puzzled them all, was why Ranma just
couldn't say that he loved Usagi to her face. After all, it was obvious that
they both loved each other. Well... no one was quite sure about Usagi's
feelings, but Ranma's were very obvious. He would do *anything* to make her
happy. Was that what he was afraid of? That he couldn't make her happy?

"Come on, let's go." He said, no, more like commanded as he felt Sailor Moon
relax slightly. "After all, if the enemy wasn't nearby then why would Pluto
send us here?" Uranus frowned slightly, but nodded in agreement as all four
of them headed towards the door as one. Everyone tensed, getting in slightly
defensive stances as each felt an evil presence.

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

"Ohohohoho." Laughed a voice as TM2 shivered, (The voice... so familiar...)
"Ranma-darling! Let's run away together!" Slowly the sound changed to the
one of starving cats, each clawing at him.

TM2's eyes widened as he yelled in terror, "NO! Get away!" He pushed Moon
away as clenched his head in agony as a sharp bolt of pain flashed ripping
through his mind. "AHHH!!!"

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

She was startled when he pushed her away, but horrified when he started to
scream. "Ranma!" she cried out in horror from the cold ground. His screams
filled her ears as the two outer senshi quickly ran to aid him, trying to
hold him down. "What's wrong Ranma?!" asked Moon as she tried to stand up.

She felt so heavy, like the time in Rubius' spaceship. It was not long after
she met up with Ranma again. She felt as if her bones were crushing in her
body against her weight. "Help me..." she cried out weakly, struggling to
stand up. But Ranma's screams only filled the air. The ground around her were
collapsing from all the pressure. She looked up to see that the others were
all gone, but the screams still filled her ears. Blood flowed to her eyes,
and soon she could only see red. What was going on here...? She continued to
fight, no way was she going to let this... this evil win.

Sailor Moon clenched her jaw in determination. Hurt or not, she still had her
friends to save. Dimly, she didn't notice that she was back as just Sailor
Moon. Without her wings and new powers.

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

"Ranma! Usagi!" yelled out both Uranus and Neptune, suddenly there were all
alone with only each other. It was only a few seconds ago when they were
trying to help TM2. They turned around to check on their Princess, to
discover that she had disappeared, maybe under the layer of fog that suddenly
appeared. They turned back to TM2 to also discover that he too was no longer
there. His screams of agony were gone, and there was now only complete
silence.

They pressed their backs against each other for support as they stood their
ground. Uranus had took out her sword and Neptune, her mirror. Both women
were looking back and forth, cautiously. They had both refused to believe
that they had already failed.

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

Images, memories swirled around his head. Memories that didn't belong to him
filled his mind with such agony. He fought to stop them from invading his
mind. These memories were not his own. He shouldn't be seeing them...

Various images of Hotaru plagued his mind, ones when she were young, and some
of when she was older. The times when her father took care of her, when her
mother had never came back home to Hotaru's school life before both Usagi and
Ranma came into her life. The only memories that were missing was of the
times where Hotaru's body were taken over by Mistress Nine.

He then realised that he and Hotaru had much more in common than he had first
realised. They each only had a father to take care of them for so long. Both
wishing that they have friends and to be like everyone else, someone normal.
Both longing to have another sibling to share their secrets with...

Slowly, the magic around him started to disappear and he was just left with
wearing his long sleeved red chinese shirt and black pants. It had been so
long since he had worn these clothes.

Ranma rose to his feet with determination. He now knew what to do. Fight.
Survive. And love.

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

Sailor Moon gasped for air. Why was this happening to her again? Tears fell
from her face. "You cannot not resist my powers. You will love me."

She looked up at the long dead Prince Demando of the Dark Moon family. Her
eyes opened wide. (NO!!!) her mind screamed as more tears fell from her eyes
uncontrollably, (Please... anything else but this!!!) He leaned forward to
kiss her, and she couldn't do anything, he was paralysing her. (Ranma...) She
squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the paralysis off her body. She didn't want
anyone but the one she loved to kiss her.

It had been almost 3 years now, but the memory was fresh still in her mind.
She had woken up on his bed wearing some sort of gown. He wanted her to be
his queen, and he had undressed her.

Her fear turned into anger as she looked at him with fury in her eyes and
sneered. "You're already DEAD." She clenched her fist, the paralysing spell
wearing off as he took a step back startled.

"No, how can this be?" he gasped shocked.

"You never learn, do you?"

She swung her fist forward hoping for contact, but he teleported away just
in time. She gasped and quickly looked around for any sign of him. Damn it!
Why was she so slow all of a sudden? Like before she met Ranma again and
started training in the art... Suddenly she felt two hands grabbing her arms
from behind, pushing her roughly down to the ground. She cried out in pain as
her arms were pulled back behind her back, her wrists were held onto so
tightly that she thought none of her blood could flow through her veins.

She tried to push herself up from the ground but he was sitting on her,
making her place her body into too much strain. So she did the only thing
she could. Scream; "LET ME GO!!!"

"Either way, you will be my bride." he whispered into her ear. His breath on
her neck making her shiver as she continued to struggle under his weight.
"It's so nice of you to be doing all that training to improve your body." She
growled under breath, if she wasn't feeling so weak then she would...

He yanked her back ribbon, and she watched in horror as her Sailor suit begun
to unravel into pink ribbons around her body, leaving her only to what she
was perviously wearing. He turned her around so she could face him. She
quivered in anger, (No way is this bastard going soil my honor!) He pinned
her arms above her head as he sat on her.

"There is no escape." He ripped open her shirt with one hand, leaving her
chest bare. Any hope that she will be able to walk away from this incident as
a virgin dimmed in her mind. She never ever felt so vulnerable...

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!" she screamed out in anguish knowing what was going to happen
next. She would never be able to face the world or Ranma again without having
to look down in shame. (Please god, no. Anything but this.) Tears ran down
her face as she laid down hopelessly, unable to do anything as she was able
to be raped. (What have I done to deserve this...?)

He laughed with triumphant in his voice, "I once told you not to resist. Now
just be a good little girl and relax. I'll make it enjoyable for you too."

She then gritted her teeth, her hormones* pumping through her bloodstream.
All the times of when she fought back came to her, why was this time any
different from the last? (No, I'm not going down without a fight. Not without
a proper fight.) "You can never make me happy." With that, she spat on him.

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

* No, not sexual hormones, but the famous hormone known as adrenaline. I
thought to include the word 'hormones' in because I found it interesting.
Hormones are the messagers for your endocrine system; used to produce the
chemicals that are involved in a lot of bodily functions, from your sexual
development to your arousal, mood and metabolism. The endocrine communication
system not only helps you regulate everyday alertness and mood, but it helps
you respond to emergencies, i.e. adrenaline; 'fight or flight.'

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

Usagi's act of defiance gave her the confidence she needed to perform the
next task. If things would work at according to plan...

He looked down at her angrily, wiping away her spit as she had anticipated.
As he raised his clenched fist above her face, she prepared herself for the
blow, she knew this was going to hurt. He slammed his fist into her left
cheek as she felt a surge of pain and her head was knocked to the side.
Blood was trailing down her cheek as she grinned. She turned to face him,
(So predictable). And laughed.

"Wha-?"

She saw his confused expression. (Now!) She narrowed her eyes then slammed
her clenched fist to his face with all her might, sending him flying off her.
She stood up slowly and looked down upon him smugly. He fell for her little
diversion and was freed to use one of her hands. She watched as he stood up
towering over her like a burning mountain. A faint crackling aura around him
could be seen. For a second, she felt only terror for her actions, and her
confidence was gone. Soon it was replaced only with the desire for vengeance.

Usagi wiped the blood from her chin as she took up an defensive stance. Her
jaw set with determination and her eyes burned with fire; she will remove
this nightmare from the rest of her life. "Prepare yourself."

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

Ranma ran as fast as he could, he knew his Usagi was in danger. After living
with her for a few years, he felt that they had a strong bond formed between
each other. He could just feel Usagi's fear, pain and anger as if it was his
own emotions. He paused for a moment, 'his Usagi'? (Usagi is not mine, but
she is for everyone. But I am hers.)

Suddenly he saw a beam of light shooting up at the sky, ones like Chibi-usa
had... (Usa-chan!) He lowered his head and sprinted towards the beam,
ignoring the painful throbbing at the back of his head and the agonising
screams.

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

"World Shaking!" "Deep Submerge!"

The two outer senshi yelled out, launching their attacks out at the youmas,
quickly disintegrating them. They had appeared not long after both Ranma and
their future queen had disappeared. It was useless though, as only more
youmas appeared to replace the former ones. Sweat dripped down from their red
faces as they looked at each other, not knowing how much longer they could
withstand against these increasing amount of youmas.

"Well... I'm impressed." laughed a feminine voice, "You two are still in one
piece. I guess Lord Antonia was right about you guys after all." All of a
sudden, the youmas disappeared and they took a quick gasp for air before
preparing for battle once more.

Uranus clenched her sword tightly in her hand, "I don't care who your damn
Lord is. But if he was the one to have contaminated this mind, he will pay!"
She clenched her teeth. "Show yourself, you coward!"

The voice tsked, "My my, Haruka. You sure are impatient as always."

"How do you know my name?!" demanded the blond tomboy senshi with fury in her
eyes. This girl was going to pay.

A figure came into the light and the two senshi gasped, slightly lowering
their guard. Long pink pigtails, large rabbit like buns and red eyes...
"Black Lady?!"

The pink hair young woman smirked as she spread her arms out like wings. "The
one and only."

"How can this be?" gasped Neptune as she quickly took out borrowed Mercury
computer and did a scan on the girl in front of them. "To make a clone of the
Princess... or to have turned her to their side..."

"Scan all you want, Michiru." laughed Black Lady, as Neptune frowned. "But
all you would find is that all my DNA codes matches Chibiusa's." Uranus
glared at her, she looked exactly like the description Usagi had told them,
only she had a black eight pointed star on her forehead, instead of an black
crescent moon. Either way, the girl in front of them was evil; She must die.

Uranus stood back into a defensive stance, waiting for her to make the first
move as Neptune placed the computer away and stood next to her lover,
mirroring her stance. "And why is that?"

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

Rei looked down at sleeping Setsuna and brushed her fringe away from her
eyes to see a faint glowing Pluto symbol on her forehead. After crying her-
self to sleep in her arms, Rei placed her down gently onto the ground and
covered her with a blanket. Not long after Pluto had fallen asleep, she
reverted back to just Setsuna.

Rei stared at the woman in front of her, was this the real Setsuna? Was this
fragile woman really the core of the unemotional senshi of Pluto? It was only
then did she come to realise how little people know of this woman. It didn't
help matters when she wouldn't talk about herself, even with the encourage-
ment from everyone else.

Standing up, Rei walked to Hotaru shivering. With Hotaru's hair long, it
reminded of her of the time when Hotaru's body was taken over by Mistress
Nine and how close it was to the end of the world. The raven hair woman
wondered if she would be standing right there, if Usagi had not wanted to
bring baby Hotaru to this world.

She placed a hand on the girl's forehead. What she felt shocked her, as she
stumbled backwards and landed on her bottom painfully. The amount of evil
energy she felt inside the girl...

Her eyes widen, and with the others in Hotaru's mind... "I have to warn
them!"

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

As the captain of the Negaverse army made his way to the throne room, his
hard, metal-plated boots tapped against the marble floor of the palace. His
brown hair was short and wild a contrast compared to his deep purple stony
eyes, and expressionless face. He was wearing a black armour and had a large
bastard sword at his side.

He kneeled down before the person currently occupying the throne, his armour
screeching in protest. "My Lord."

The man looked down at his minion, his red eyes glowing slightly.
"Naitsuusha, what do you have to report about the invasion?"

"We are approaching the core, my Lord." Naitsuusha reported, "None of our
generals have been injured, yet."

"Very good. You are dismissed." Naitsuusha bowed and left the room, leaving
the lord to his thoughts.

"So... we are winning." he spoke out loud, spinning his chair around. The
light illuminated his face. He had blood red hair and eyes, a large scar
starting from above his right eyebrow, going straight down to his cheek. If
one looked closely enough to his eyes, they would see that his right one was
glass. He took a sip of his blood red wine, his fanged teeth showing for a
few moments.

"How surprising, I thought that they were stronger than that." He propped his
left elbow up and rested head on it, thinking.

"Don't underestimate them, Antonia." A screen flared up in front of him,
revealing another figure. This one had long black hair and dark red eyes,
wearing a crown on his head. Despite his young looks, his eyes showed
knowledge, wisdom and age. "That was how they had never managed to secure
this universe in history."

Antonia smirked, "Where they failed, we will succeed." With that he laughed
malignantly.

"Yes..." (And finally will I be able to rule this universe with Princess
Mulan and my two children.) He then turned to the arrogant man in front of
him, "You have more important matters to settle."

Antonia stood from his chair and bowed, "Of course, my Lord." With that, he
teleported away.

"Naitsuusha, approach." The door opened and the captain from before entered.
"You are aware of our situation here. No matter what happens, you are to
watch and protect her. For that, I want you to attend her world."

Naitsuusha bowed deeply. "I am honored to be entrusted with this mission. I
will not fail you."

"I know." his eyes softened, "After all, you still love her."

"Lord Lanis?" asked Naitsuusha confusedly as he looked up at his king.

The king's eyes hardened once more. "Begone."

Naitsuusha bowed once more before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Lanis
looked up, (Forgive me, daughter. But this must be done.) With that, the
screen winked out of existance.

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

Isthar sighed. Being a mortal again was going to be hard, especially after
she had experienced at least a thousand years worth's of immortal pleasures
that simple mortals did not have. Being a mortal meant that she was going to
have to shower at regular intervals, she couldn't eat what she wanted, she
could die or worse. The only good thing she could keep was her divine powers.
But more importantly was that she would be able to get closer to her son; to
train, comfort and protect.

She grinned, (And perhaps make Usagi-chan jealous.)

"Hey babe." A man approached her from no where and placed a hand on her
shoulder. "Ya lookin' for a good time?"

She sighed. Ok, so maybe she should have thought about a new ware robe first
before coming down here. "No thanks." She peeled off his grabby hand from her
shoulder and continued walking.

"Come on babe. You got to be lookin' if ya wearing that 'round." he continued
to pester her as she grew more impatient with him.

Him pinching her bottom was the last straw. "That's it! Die, you pervert!"
She spun around, her eyes flashing for a few seconds. The man thought he may
have made a mistake when he suddenly saw a fist flying at him then saw stars
going around his head while twitching in incontrovertible pain.

"Hmph." Isthar cracked her knuckles, "Man, it's been a while since I last had
a good fight." She then grinned, "I know! I'll spar with Ranma!" With boosted
enthusiasm she started to sprint off, her clothes changing to a more
'earthly' one.

"Did you hear that Daisuke?" asked his partner, Hiroshi.

Daisuke nodded. "Yes, Ranma that heart breaker just added another woman to
his list."

Hiroshi nodded. "Isn't he just a little too greedy?"

They looked at each other then grinned, "Let's play him a visit tomorrow. And
maybe we can see that chick again!"

"She was HOT!"

"Totally hot."

The two old friends started to walk off.

"Ever hotter than Yuka?"

"No way. No way she's hotter than Yuka."

"Yep. No way she's hotter than Sayuri."

They both grinned with lechery then sprinted off home to their wives.

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

Usagi rolled to the side, narrowly missing the blast shot by the evil Prince.
She looked up at him while trying to catch her breath back, sweat dripping
down from her face. Demando had obviously forgotten about his plan to make
her his queen, and had replaced it with just killing her. Through the course
of the battle she had thought about attempting to transform into Sailor Moon
again but there was just not enough time. While she could be transforming, he
could attack her from behind and she could be dead. Plus, she didn't know for
such that if her brooch will work in a place like this.

She gritted her teeth, she already felt so worn out and it was just a few
minutes into the fight. Normally, a battle like this would have easily been
finished before he could even touch her. What was wrong with her? She felt
her body ache. It wasn't necessarily that she was getting physically hurt,
but it would due to the fact that she was too weak to defend herself that
really hurt and left her mentally drained.

He approached her, with his left black eye making it more imitating. She took
a step back, focusing the last of her energy into one attack behind her back.
However before the attack was completed, the energy disappeared as she
clenched her head in pain and screamed out in anguish, dropping to her knees.
It felt like lightning bolts shooting into her head as her moon symbol
appeared on her forehead, releasing the moon beam.

Demando frowned as Usagi dropped to the ground, unconscious. "I didn't need
your help."

The figure was revealed as she moved away from the shadows, "... Mistress
Nine."

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

Setsuna woke up from her deep sleep, her eyes wide with shock, "No... Please
no, anything but that."

She sat up abruptly, causing her head to ache. Placing a hand on her forehead
she looked around to see where Rei was. She saw that the priestess had
transformed and was mediating near Usagi. Sensing that she also needed to do
something to herself, she transformed into Sailor Pluto.

Sailor Mars turned around, "Setsuna?"

"Come on, we have a job to do," said Pluto as she sat next to the other
woman.

Mars nodded and they both closed their eyes to concentrate. If they had
closed their eyes a fraction of a second later, they would have witnessed
Sailor Moon detransforming to just Usagi and her brooch glowing slightly.

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

"You guys have gotten stronger." said Black Lady breathing heavily. "But not
strong enough." She charged at the two exhausted outer senshi.

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

Demando picked up the fallen blond, as Ranma breathlessly entered the area.
"Usagi!" The evil prince looked at him and smirked. Before Ranma could reach
him, Demando teleported away.

"USAAGGGGGIIIII!!!!" yelled Ranma as he fell to his knees, not yet noticing
another occupant in the area. "Damn, I was too close!" He punched the ground
in anger as hot tears dripped down.

"But not close enough."

Ranma looked up and glared at her hissing, "Mistress Nine."

She smirked, "I've been waiting for you, Ranma Saotome."

to be continued...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahhh! Gomen Gomen!!! Gomen minna for the long wait. Ahahaha... Would a little
preview make up for it?

Preview:
Ranma glared at the woman in front of him with fury in his eyes. "You will
die!" Clouded with the colour of red, he charged at her blindly.

Mistress Nine smirked, "Pathetic, brother dear."

Ok... ok... maybe that wasn't much help... Well then! That's just gives you
more of reason to stick around for the next part, right? Right? No answer?
*pouts*

Next time on Destiny's Price: While recovering from their first major attack
in a long time, Usagi is visited by old friends, bringing with them the first
prophecy of the future. Things only get worse for both Ranma and Usagi when
Usagi struggles to sort out her feelings on her mother. When will Ranma ever
tell Usagi how he really feels? Or would it be too late for him when he does?
Read the next parts to find out. (When I get around to write it. =P) (Some
people on my animexovers ML may find some scene familiar...)

Bambi: HEY!!! Watch the rotten fruits! If any of this stuff gets on me
then... I'll... I'll...

Thinks for a good threat

Bambi: I'll charge you for my laundry bill! That's it! I'll charge you! And,
and, and... So there! Phhhtttpppp!!!

Sticks tongue out

Bambi: HEY!!! You hitted me!

Several other fruits about thrown at her. Bambi is angry.

Bambi: That's it! I'm not going to start working on the next part until a
fortnight. Muahahahahaha!

*SPLAT*

Bambi: A chocobo? Again?! WAHHH!!! MUMMY!!!

Runs off balling her eyes out

BStar: Don't worry about Bambi here. She's just a little stressed out about
school work. Now... to deal with the person who catapulted that chocobo...

Rolls up sleeves and cracks her knuckles

BStar: AHA! There you are!!

Runs off chasing about mysterious figure
Moments later BStar returns running back

BStar: AHHHHHHH!!! Ranma and Usagi are going to be torn apart in chapter 5 or
6?! NOO!!! More rivals for Usagi's heart?!

A paper is thrown at her head

BStar: What's this? reads BStar, YOU BAKA!!! You're not meant to tell them
that! And you better not tell them that it 'might' be really upsetting in the
future parts, or that someone really really close to Usagi is going to become
evil. No, no. Don't tell them that, ok? Bambi

Looks at audience

BStar: Whoops...

A mallet appears and knocked her out and Bambi appears again, covered in
rotten fruit

Bambi: Ahahahaha... stupid me for having to write that in the letter...

Picks up BStar

Bambi: Ja ne!

*ZOOM!*

Bambi pokes her head back in

Bambi: And don't forget to write to me to tell me what you think!!! And no,
not about this silly thing me and my other side wrote up. ANYHOWS, You can
find me at: salee@crosswinds.net or if that doesn't work, then write to to ME
at: bambi_star9@hotmail.com. But PLEASE try the first e-mail first.

JA NE!!!

Finished on 05/06/01
Revised on 10/06/01