"Ranma, hurry," Makoto called to me. Telerin and I were discussing
some of the eccentricities of the strange religion that had sprung up
around the spell constructs and how the citizens of Chicago lived.
Thousands upon thousands of years must have passed since the Chicago I
knew existed. The culture here had absolutely no memory of its
origin.

There was a knot of girls gathered around south facing window.
Telerin and I walked over, still talking."Chicago is constantly on the
move," the Caretaker explained."When resources begin to grow scarce,
teams of men are gathered to make excursions to the surface."

I had figured something like that."What about food? There must be a
lot of people to feed in a city this size." There were small gardens
behind most houses, but they couldn't possibly support the multitudes.

"Perhaps I should rephrase my last response. The teams of men are
trained foragers that work in groups of several thousand, at the very
least. Littered across the world are tracts of land completely barren
of life, despite our passage having been centuries ago." Okay, that
was a pretty good answer.

"And what happens when the city is over open water?" That comment
about the land being barren after Chicago's passing was unusual, but I
decided to drop it for now.

Telerin shrugged."Chicago is adequately supplied with fishing vessels.
Fish, and especially whales, have many useful bodily components." I
hadn't seen any harbors, and boats didn't just park themselves in a
gargae somewhere. That was another unimportant issue.

We were right behind the girls now. They made a path for me, either
unconsciously or intentionally blocking Telerin's further
approach."Wow, nice mob." Mob didn't really describe the mass of
screaming maniacs that was slowy crawling towards this building. I
squinted and sharpened my vision as best I could with chi."It's
Stinky!" Sure enough, the first Caretaker we had met was leading the
ravening army of idiots towards us, waving his unbroken arm wildly
above his head.

"He works fast," commented Telerin, finally managing to squeeze his
way through the girls' defense."What did you do to the Tyrant?"

Tyrant didn't sound much like an insult when Telerin said it. It
sounded like a title."I broke his arm in seven different places."
Telerin looked at me in horror."What?"

"He-he's t-the Tyrant. The Tyrant is the spiritual leader of the
entire city of Chicago!" I don't think Telerin was too happy to be my
associate anymore. In fact, I think Telerin was seriously thinking
about jumping out of the unglazed window and ending what he felt would
be a significant amount of future pain.

I laughed at the distraught man. I couldn't help it."What kind of
idiots are you people, to let a monster like that come to power?" The
sneer on my face was a nice addition to the derisive tone I took. The
odor alone should have kept the pervert out of office.

Telerin seemd unfazed by my attitude. He looked mournfully down at
the approaching horde."My life hasn't really been very enjoyable,
anyway. Maybe I'll be reincarnated as a bird or something."

Ah geeze, he was about to start crying."Cheer up," I said."Stinkey and
his crowd aren't going to bother us, I assure you." This is where
having legions of pokemon comes in handy. The deeply ingrained fear
of all non-human(with the exception of horses and a few chickens I saw
earlier) life the people of Chicago seem to have, doesn't hurt one
bit.

So much for cooperation from the population."Time to turn loose the
pokemon," I informed the senshi. They were each carrying their six
strongest, most fearsome beasts, with the exception of Rei, who's
super rat was the only occupent on her ball-belt. Usagi had thrown a
bitch fit about leaving all her others behind, but we'd convinced her
to leave them under guard with a couple of Dragonites.

Chances were that no one would bother our pets, then again, those
tapestries had depicted men doing battle with demons. That must have
been a long time ago.

"I don't understand what-" That was as far as Telerin got, seeing as
how twenty eight pokemon were materializing a few hundred feet in
front of the mob. He screamed, like I'd expected, and tried to bolt
for the stairs. I reached out and grabbed him by the hood of his
robe, jerking him back to the window. He screamed again when I made
him look at the pokemon who were doing their best to look mean.

"Calm down, man, calm down!" I shouted in his ear."They're not
demons!" He probably thought I sounded like a lunatic, trying to
convince him that Demon and the other pokemon weren't actually demons.

Telerin screamed. I slapped him. He didn't stop screaming. I
finally just gave up and decked the wuss."I guess we should try out
the cute, cuddly ones next, eh?" I asked as we watched the mob come to
a screeching halt. It didn't really slow down all that fast, mobs
don't do that, but they took a lot less time than I had imagined.
Demon threw his head back and cut loose with an absolutely huge column
of flame. I was really proud of him. The other pokemon followed his
lead and within seconds there were all kinds of deadly energy attacks
blazing through the sky.

Poor mob, I almost felt sorry for it. All those people that got
trampled as it turned around and ran for its collective life probably
weren't feeling too well either.

****

"Setsuna, how could you trust someone who so blatantly associated with
demons?" Haruka shouted, shocked at Sailor Pluto's(the single person
whom was never ever supposed to be wrong) blunder and the toll it had
taken on the ranks of the senshi.

"Don't question me, girl," commanded Setsuna rigidly. She couldn't
blame Haruka for being mad about being taken out of her car in the
middle of a race, it had then hit the wall and exploded, but she
wouldn't allow the lesser being to question her."I am not totally
infalable. Whoever manipulated me into contacting Ranma must be
unimaginably powerful. I fear that even if the Inner Senshi were
here, this new threat could simply ignore us."

"What about Crystal Tokyo? Can't we get some help from the future
senshi? The way I understand it, the Inners bailed them out of a
pretty bad situation before Haruka and I awakened." Michiru reached
out to stroke Hotaru's hair. The little girl had taken a turn for the
better after the phenomonal growth spurt last year that had returned
her to preadolescense, but now her health was worsening almost by the
day. Setsuna believed Ranma or his master to be the blame for this,
too.

Setsuna shook her head in frustration."As of right now, the Inner
Senshi have no future. Therefore, there is no Crystal Tokyo."

"Is there anything we can do?" Haruka asked, her hands gripping the
arms of her chair tightly enough to make the wood creak.

"We have one chance and one chance only," Setsuna answered. The
Outers leaned forward in anticipation of the solution."I can send you
two back in time, without your powers, and hope that you'll be able to
manipulate other magical warriors into destroying Ranma before his
powers are fully realized"

"Why wouldn't we have our powers?" Haruka asked, sounding angry, but
inwwardly frightened. She'd been an absolute bitch to almost
everyone, and relied heavily on the security of being able to
transform into Sailor Uranus. Afterall, who in their right mind
messes with someone capable of calling up an earthquake with a snap of
her wrist?

Setsuna sighed."Since you already exist in the past you will be
travelling to, the link between your planets belong to your past
selves. Unlike the Inner Senshi who are true sorceresses, you three
get your power from a direct mana-bind with your respective planet."

Michiru asked,"Won't this course of action violate the blood pact
between you and Ranma, Setsuna?"

"No, as long as I don't directly participate in harming or killing
Ranma, the pact remains intact." Setsuna had made the mistake of
underestimating Ranma and the amount of spite he carried within her
heart. He would pay, oh he would definitely pay. With his miserable
life.

"Hotaru can't come with us, then," Haruka said firmly. They all knew
that the little girl's power as Sailor Saturn was the only factor
keeping her alive.

"Of course not," confirmed Setsuna.

****

"Oh, Ryoga, ohhhh!!!" Kasumi moaned into her pillow as Ryoga thrust
into her for the last time, spilling his seed deep into her womb.
Still trembling as tiny orgasms rocked through her, Kasumi drew Ryoga
into a pssionate kiss.

The eldest Tendo was just drawing back for a breathe of air when her
door banged open. Ryoga sqeaked in fright and attempted to hide under
the covers.

"There you are," Nabiki snapped. She was dressed in a leather neglige
and had a coiled bull whip hanging at her hip."It's my night with him,
Kasumi."

Kasumi looked down at Ryoga, his cock still held tightly within
her."But, Nabiki," Kasumi whined,"I thought you had a date tonight.
Can't we make work something out?"

Nabiki shook her head."I'm horny." She walked over to the bed and
grabbed Ryoga by the ear."Come on, lover boy."

Ryoga finally spoke."Um, can-can I have a break, please?" His face was
flushed and his left eye kept twitching. Between them, the Tendo
sisters hadn't let him get a night of sleep in almost a week.

Nabiki shook her head. She reached down and carressed Ryoga's dick,
still hard and ready to please."No, I'm afraid not. Akane's waiting
for you in my room and she's a little desperate for relief. You
should do just the trick. Then it'll be my turn for a few hours."
Ryoga looked like he would cry."Don't worry, Kasumi, I'll bring him
back in the morning," she assured her older sister.

****

Downstairs, Soun Tendo cowered in his closet, weeping uncontrollably.
He clutched his head in a desperate attempt to keep out the horrible
sounds coming from upstairs. It did him no good.

****

Telerin came awake with a start and hurriedly surveyed the room. When
he found no demons-or pokemon, he calmed dramatically. I couldn't
spoil the moment, so I said,"No, it wasn't a dream."

The man didn't even scream."What are they? The old tales claim that
demons have no masters, yet you and your women clearly control those
creatures."

I ignored the growls of promised pain to come from the girls. Telerin
was just not at his best today."Demons do, in fact, have masters. But
that's beside the point. Those creatures you saw are called pokemon.
They're animals on the last world we visited. Most of them are too
cute to believe, but we picked our meaner looking ones for today, just
encase crowd control became a problem."

"So they're not going to eat my soul and wear my skin as a trophy?" ha
asked hopefully. Where had he been getting his information? Sure,
demons ate souls, well most of them did, but none of them wore human
skin. From a demon's point of view, wearing a human's skin would be
about as bad as draping themselves in used tampons.

"No, Telerin, none of that. The big one with the wings that started
out blowing fire into the air, he eats other pokemon sometimes, but
that's nothing for you to worry about."

"That pokemon is a menace," Rei snapped. She had her super rat in her
lap and was scratching it affectionately behind the ears. It had burn
slave spread across it right side and most of its fur had been singed
off, making it even uglier.

"Demon isn't the only fire pokemon, you know?" I think Rei was just
jealous that her only pokemon was so small that it could fit between
the teeth of Demon. Telerin started to look panicky again."Don't
worry, Telerin, Demon is just the name of one of my pokemon. He's not
really a demon." I wonder if Ami could whip up some homemade prozac,
or maybe some perkeset(not sure on spelling), because we needed this
guy sane and if he started freaking out every time we mentioned
pokemon, we might as well toss him out the window and find another
Caretaker.

"Well if that monstrosity hadn't decided to show off, Ratty wouldn't
be burned, now would he?" I'll be glad when some of the girls' pokemon
mate and start laying eggs. Rei really needs something to focus on
besides that beaver-toothed rodent.

I waved the matter aside with a dismissive gesture I just knew would
piss her off."Give it a potion and a few hours sleep and it'll be
fine." Back to scaredypants."How about we head on down to those
archives you mentioned earlier? I need to look through them and see
if there is anything I'm forgetting to ask you."

"Anything to get out of this place before another mob shows up."
Telerin stood, then his eyes got that nervous quality to them
again."It doesn't really bother me, since I'm of the much smaller
order of Caretakers that remain celebate, but your women aren't
properly dressed to move through Chicago. We would be able to pass
with much less attention being drawn if they were better conceiled."
He didn't even know how close he was coming to getting mauled by a
pack of angry senshi.

"We'd better clear something up real quick. These girls aren't my
'women'. They're my friends and students for the most part, and
royaly of a sort on our home world. Actually, if those Wings of God
things weren't annuling their powers, each of them would most likely
be able to destroy this city by themselves, so treat them with some
respect." There was just enough implied threat in my voice to get the
message through.

Telerin coughed, then looked at the group of senshi who stood glaring
at him."I'm terribly sorry for my earlier behavior, ladies, and your
clothing is nice, I assure you, but no woman in Chicago is allowed out
in her undergarments. Unfortunately, what you are now wearing is
quite a bit more revealing than the standard undergarment would be."

The senshi were nodding reluctantly. I thought they all looked pretty
good, myself. They wore colors that matched their elemental
affinities, an unconscious action I think. The shirts and tank tops
were pretty tight and the shorts and skirts could have been longer,
but back in Japan and PokeWorld, those clothes hadn't been anywhere
near daring."What would you suggest they wear?" I asked.

Telerin looked around the room. There were lots of cloaks and robes
laying around, some left behind in the evacuation and others hung on
racks."If you ladies kept the hoods drawn and altered your stride
adequately, we could all pass for men. 'That' would save us a lot of
hassle when we get to the Archives."

I nodded and began collecting armloads of the garments. I wasn't the
only one to do this and we soon had four giant piles of black, green
and purple robes and cloaks. The senshi took way longer than I
thought necessary to find stuff that fit them. When they finally did,
though, we headed down the stairs with Telerin in the lead.

****

"Your mirror should allow you to find Ranma, Michiru," Setsuna told
them."It's power is directly related to your soul, so it will still
work, as will your sword, Haruka. Once you find the boy, do not harm
him," the temporal mage stressed."Break this vial over his head and
use a rag to smear it as thoroughly as possible over his body. If the
contents touches you, whatever it touches will have to be cut off or
every devil hunter in Japan will be after you." She handed Michiru a
small glass vial with a clear fluid inside.

"We understand," the two senshi said almost simultaneously.

Setsuna didn't bother to transform to her senshi state, simply
summoning the time key and opening a portal to seventeen years in the
past. The Outer Senshi lept through the portal holding tightly to one
another's hand.

The portal had just closed when Setsuna realized what a horrible
mistake she had just made. She was the reason that Ranma was so well
liked by demons! Without her interference, Ranma Saotome would have
died during the cat-fist training. Setsuna fainted, all the while
screaming at the injustice of it all.

And so the cycle continues.

(I think it's sorta funny to have Setsuna be the cause of her months
of torment, don't you?)

****

Author's Notes: Short chapter, I know, but a good stopping point.
C&C welcome at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com