KNIGHT
GUARD
A Ranma ½/Slayers/Sailor Moon Crossover Fanfiction
By Underlord Backlash
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, Slayers, Sailor Moon, or any of their characters. They all belong to their respective owners.
Part 4
"Transformations"
Emi Mizuno frowned. This was very strange. Mamoru and Usagi's cousin had passed out for apparently no reason at all. They were both healthy and didn't have a mark on them, yet they were almost unconscious. She sighed, they never teach you about anything like this in med school. On the positive side though, she and Usagi had managed to wake them up enough to walk them to Rei's temple, which was closer than either of their homes or a doctor. They were just reaching the top of the temple steps when they found Rei. She helped bring the two boys into the room they usually used for their Senshi meetings. After they were settled, Rei spoke up. "Sooo, who's the guy?"
A bit indignantly, Usagi replied. "The 'guy', is my cousin TJ."
"Cool it, odango otama. I didn't mean anything by it. Where's he from?"
"From? He's…not really from anywhere, but he was born in America if that's what you mean. He's been traveling around the world since he was about 9. Most of his family's dead, on his dad's side anyway. He's just got his brother, sister, and Great-Grandparents left, and my family of course."
"Hmph, has…he ever visited you before? He seems familiar somehow."
"I thought the same thing when I saw him," added Emi.
Usagi shook her head. "Nope, I haven't seen him since way before I met either of you."
Groans from the two boys caused the girls to turn their heads. TJ had managed to sit up, but was clutching his head, while Mamoru was still lying down, his eyes adjusting to the light. TJ muttered in English, "Unnhh, what happened? Did a train derail and hit me when I got off the platform?"
Emi, who had been taking English, answered him, "Not quite, you just passed out for no reason."
"Great, as if I didn't have enough to worry about, now I'm sick or something." He glanced at Mamoru and addressed him in Japanese. "Hey rose-boy, wake up."
Mamoru's eyes shot open and he immediately sat up. "What'd you say? Why'd you call me that?"
TJ blinked, not sure himself. "I don't know. It just came out. Weird, eh?"
"Yeah, weird." Mamoru continued to eye TJ uneasily. He wondered exactly what was with Usagi's cousin. He sat up. "Could I have a glass of water?"
Rei stood up. "Sure, I'll be right back." She walked over to the door, and just as she slid it open, a black kitten with a crescent moon on its forehead walked into the room. TJ's eyes widened slightly.
"Bast?" He turned to the others. "He's my cat, but I thought I left him back in Nerima at my apartment. What are you doing here buddy?" The kitten walked over to him and he scooped it up in his arms. "Hey, how'd you get that mark on your forehead?"
"He was born with it," a voice from the other side of the room answered. Luna was just walking past Rei into the room. "All lunar cats have that mark." There was a loud thud as TJ jumped up and pressed himself against the wall, screaming in English.
"THAT CAT SPOKE!!"
Bast glanced up at TJ, "Yeah, try to grasp the concept TJ."
TJ's eyes looked as though they were about to shoot straight out of their sockets and ricochet around the room. The only thing keeping him from freaking out completely was the fact that he had experienced an overabundance of weirdness in his life already. Having two curses kind of puts life in a new perspective. TJ started mumbling to himself under his breath, "I'm in control, I can get through this, even if he can talk, Bast is still just a cat…"
Bast began to look indignant. "JUST, a cat? We'll see about that." He jumped down from TJ's arms and transformed into a human. His human form looked about eleven years old. "Is this a little easier to deal with?" TJ gave a mute nod. "Good, it'll make things a lot easier if you're not freaking out as much. Now, where should I begin?" He chewed on his lip for a moment. "Onee-chan?"
Luna sighed, "All right, I'll tell them."
Usagi, slightly freaked out herself, finally managed to find her voice, which had recently jumped to ranges beyond human hearing. "Tell us what Luna?" Emi, Rei, and Mamoru nodded in agreement, they were just as confused as anyone.
"It seems that your cousin is from the Silver Millenium as well. He was one of the Knights of Terra, or, at least he would have been. The Dark Kingdom's invasion happened days before they were supposed to receive their gems."
Emi glanced towards Luna. "Gems?"
Luna nodded, "Their equivalent of your and the others henshin rods. Bast, would you please?"
Bast grinned. "No problem onee-chan." Bast resumed his feline form, did a back flip, and a red ruby, about the size of a child's fist, dropped onto the floor. "This is the Fire Ruby, one of the crown jewels of Terra. It's yours TJ, take it."
TJ did as he was told and picked it up off the floor. It began to glow as he touched it. "It feels…alive."
Bast nodded, "It is in a way. Within the gem, are the collective souls of all who have held the title of the Knight of Fire. Now it's your time."
"What do you mean, 'my time', what's that supposed to mean?" TJ started to edge away again. He eyed Bast and Luna carefully. "And what's this 'Silver Millenium' you're talking about?" He turned to his cousin and her friends. "Aren't the four of you finding this the least bit disturbing?"
Usagi shook her head. "Nope, you just sort of get used to this sort of thing." The others nodded in agreement.
TJ's eye started to twitch violently, "What do you mean, 'get used to'?"
Usagi turned to Rei, "Rei, is there anyone around besides us?" Rei shook her head. Usagi stood up and took out her locket. "Let me show you what I mean, TJ-kun." She raised the locket above her head. "ETERNAL MOON MAKEUP!" The light show began and TJ ran screaming from the room.
***
Makoto and Minako were making their way up the temple stairs. "So, why do you think Luna called us and told us to come here?" asked Minako.
Makoto shrugged, "Got me. She sounded pretty frantic though, so I don't think we should push the issue when we--"
She was cut short by a blur of a boy headed towards them at top speed. Whoever it was barely had time to shout, "Get out of my way!" before he crashed into Minako. The two of them hurled backwards down the stairs, both going airborne. Somehow though, the boy managed to turn so that he took the brunt of the impact at the foot of the stairs. The boy groaned and held his head. "Ugh, sorry about running into you, but I guess serving as a crash-mat makes us even. Are you al--" He cut off. His and Minako's faces were about a hair's width from each other. They were both frozen in embarrassment, and were blushing as well.
Makoto snapped them out of it by picking them both up by their collars and standing them up. TJ made doubly sure he was 'out of it' by smacking himself across the face. "Umm, sorry about that Miss. I was just really freaked out because my cousin Usagi turned out to be Sailor Moon…." TJ's eyes shot wide open as he realized what he had just said. His eye developed a nasty twitch as he heard running footsteps coming down the steps. He turned around slowly to see Rei, Emi, and Mamoru running after him, with Usagi some distance back. It had taken her the extra time to de-transform before coming outside.
Makoto eyed TJ uneasily. She turned to Usagi, "Err, Usagi, your cousin…he thinks…"
Usagi waved her hand dismissively. "It's OK. He's one of us."
Minako seemed a bit unnerved by that comment, since she had landed on top of TJ only a few minutes. "One of us? You mean…a senshi? Your cousin is a 'he' isn't he?"
"Not a senshi, a Knight." Everyone looked down at the voice, which had come from Bast. "Hi there, I'm Bast, guardian and advisor to the Knights of Terra. TJ here is the Knight of Fire. Just as each planet had one of the Sailor Senshi, Earth has four Knights, one for each element."
Emi spoke up again, "Excuse me, but shouldn't we take this inside? We don't want anyone else hearing about this." The others nodded and proceeded up the stairs, Mamoru and Makoto each dragging TJ by an arm so he wouldn't run off again.
Once they were back inside, they sat TJ down against the far wall, so that everyone else was blocking the way out. Mamoru and Makoto knew it was futile though. From the strength of his struggling, they could tell he could easily go straight through any of the walls if he wanted to. Bast stepped forward. "Now, TJ, you don't have a choice about whether or not you want to be the Knight of Fire. It's your destiny. Trying to defy it will leave the Earth without the Knights to defend it; and they're being awakened now because the Earth is otherwise doomed. Some powerful force has entered the solar system, and without the Knights to help them, even the combined Senshi won't be able to stop it."
Everyone but Luna's eyes widened. Mamoru leaned forward, staring at the kitten. "You mean this thing is more powerful than even Galaxia?"
Bast glanced up at him. "Easily." Mamoru sat back down, a grim look on his face. Bast turned back to TJ. "Now, due that curse that you happened to gain when you turned thirteen and the one you picked up in China, your memories from the Silver Millenium are lost; so you're just going to have to trust me."
Usagi stood up abruptly. "Curses?! What on Earth happened to you?" She could handle her cousin having to fight alongside them, but what horrors had befallen her favorite relative in the world?
TJ slapped a hand to his forehead and let it slide down his face. He really did not want to have to tell anyone about this. He had learned to live with his curses as well as anyone could, but they were still embarrassing. He hung his head and sighed. "All right, I guess I'll start with the one from China. I need a glass of cold water and a thermos of hot water. It'll be easier to explain if you see the curse in action." Minako stood up and left the room. She returned a few minutes later with a glass of water and a thermos. TJ took the glass reluctantly. "Thanks. Well, here goes. Douse me with the hot water afterwards." He splashed himself with the water.
Everyone present, except Bast, developed a rather severe eye-twitch as his or her jaw dropped to the floor. TJ's human form melted away, his clothes falling to the ground, and a small white wolf pup sat on the floor, slightly wet. After recovering, Usagi scooped up the pup and nuzzled it against her face. "Kawaii!" Everyone watching sprouted a sweat-drop, and they would even swear they saw the wolf's eye twitching. TJ-chan growled at Usagi. He nipped her finger and she dropped him. He landed on his feet and snorted at his cousin.
Minako opened the thermos and started towards TJ-chan. Bast noticed and jumped towards her. "No! Wait!" He was too late. Minako had already emptied the contents of the thermos onto TJ. He returned to normal, completely human and completely naked. Someone passing by the temple would most certainly have thought someone was being murdered by the sounds of all the screaming that ensued. All of the girls were blushing to the point where it resembled sunburn, and had fallen over themselves to scramble to their feet and exit the room. Mamoru respectfully left also, although not quite as panicked as the girls. Still enraged, TJ had to go to great lengths to not run outside and hurt someone. If it weren't for the small detail that he was naked he would have hurt someone. As it was, he got dressed again, muttered a variety of curses that he probably should not translate for the others, slid open the door, and beckoned them back in. He noticed with a slight bit of satisfaction, that Minako was still blushing bright red. The satisfaction left his mind immediately after realizing that she had been standing right in front of him when he changed back. His eye twitched worse than ever.
Bast spoke up before TJ could lose his temper. Like his great-grandfather, TJ usually stayed very composed, but it was wise to evacuate the surrounding homes when he lost it. "Ahem, anyway…once you unlock your armor from the gem, the other three gems will appear and go to the Knights of Ice, Earth, and Wind. All you have to do is hold the Fire Ruby and shout 'Fire Ruby Power, Armor Up!'"
TJ seemed skeptical, "That's it? All I have to do to become a defender of Earth is say something? Ah well, here goes." He raised the Ruby above his head. "FIRE RUBY POWER, ARMOR UP!"
No sooner were the words out of TJ's mouth, than the Fire Ruby flashed to life. Three other gems appeared: a sapphire, an onyx, and a diamond. All three of them shot out the open door, seeking out their Knights. Meanwhile, fire swirled around TJ, solidifying into armor, as the symbol of Terra blazed bright red on his forehead. It was the same sort of armor that Mamoru had worn as Prince Endymion, back in the Silver Millenium, except where it was black, TJ's was fire-red. A sword apparently made of red crystal was at his side. TJ found his arms and legs moving on their own, forcing him into a male equivalent of one of the Senshi's poses. Words were also coming out of his mouth on their own. "I pledge to uphold truth, honor, justice, and loyalty; to protect the weak, and to vanquish the evil. I am the Kingdom of Terra's Knight of Fire, Bishonen Knight Ferrov!"
Everyone was staring at TJ in slight awe when three flashes of light appeared in the room and three more Knights stood before them. These were in armors of blue, black, and white, all in the same style as Ferrov's. The one in blue had a blue crystal scythe strapped to his back. The one in black had a five-foot war hammer hewn of black stone on his back. The last one had a foot and a half-long diamond dagger at each hip. They each went through their own pose as Ferrov had; and gave the same speech, replacing "fire" with their respective elements, and using their own names, "Ralceig", "Rotrem", and "Dronoat." The four of them then formed a group pose and called out in one voice, "We are the Knight Guard of the Silver Millenium!"
Then, as quickly as the whole thing had begun, the armors disappeared, the energies swirling around the boys' right hands, and solidifying into rings of gold and gems. Now it could be seen who the others were. All three of them had black hair; the ice one had a braided ponytail and red and black Chinese clothes; earth was more muscular than any of the others, with a yellow shirt and black pants, and a fang was poking out of his mouth; wind had coke-bottle glasses, hair that fell down his back, and was wearing some kind of kind of white Chinese robe. All three of them looked unbelievably confused.
TJ blinked several times as he looked at the others. "R-Ryoga? Mu Tzu? You guys are the other Knights?" He noticed Ranma. "Hey, you're in my homeroom, right? Ranma, was it?" Ranma snorted and tossed his head back.
Ryoga and Mousse responded in one voice. "TJ? What's going on?" Their eyes gleamed and they turned on Ranma. "Ranma, this is all your fault!" Ryoga shouted at him.
Mousse slid a knife out of his sleeve and pointed it at Ranma's throat. "Saotome, you cur, what sort of foul, evil magic have you used on us?"
Ranma batted Mousse's wrist away. "Hey, I don't know what's going on either. The last thing I knew, I was at the train station, and then this blue gem shoots out of the sky at me and turned into that armor. Then, I'm here making a stupid pose and spouting a sappy speech. McCarron here is the one who was already here, blame him. Oh yeah, you guys know each other?"
Mousse and Ryoga nodded. Ryoga spoke up first. "TJ and I went to grade school together. He'd, umm, help me get there without getting lost in the morning and afternoon." Ryoga scowled at Ranma, almost daring him to make something of it.
Mousse cleared his throat. "I met TJ in China about three years ago. I did him a small favor, and taught him some martial arts."
TJ's eyes bulged. "A small favor? Mousse, you practically saved my life! I'd be married now if it weren't for you!" The others were all staring at him. "Umm, let me explain. Mu Tzu is from an Amazon tribe in China. When I was passing through China, I stopped nearby to do some training and rest, and this freaky old ghoul called Cao Lon saw me practicing. Apparently, she thought I'd be a fine addition to the tribe's bloodline, and asked me to fight one of her Great-granddaughters. I agreed and the match was set for the next day. What she neglected to mention however, was that any Amazon who is defeated by a male outsider…she has to marry him." He paused for a moment to let everyone absorb what he had said so far, particularly Usagi, who never been the brightest crayon in the box. "Mu Tzu was kind enough to come to me before the night before the match and warn me. Once I found out I was being manipulated like that, I was about ready to blow up the entire village. Fortunately, Mu Tzu helped me to get out unnoticed. We traveled together for about a month, teaching each other. He taught me some martial arts, and I tried to teach him magic...but he didn't really have the capacity for it." TJ looked apologetically at Mousse, as though he felt it was his fault.
Ranma broke in at this point. "Whoa, hold up a minute. Magic?"
TJ froze, realizing he had said more than he should, but it was too late, everyone in the room was staring at him, demanding an explanation. Luna was the first to respond. "What kind of magic?"
At this point, Ranma noticed Bast, Luna, and Artemis. He started to twitch violently then burst out screaming. "CAT! CAT! CAT!" He promptly ran through the far wall and rushed across the temple grounds.
TJ turned to Luna and the others with a sigh. "This kind." He squinted at Ranma's receding form, and a green glow appeared around his hand. He raised his hand above his head and then swung it down with a cold whisper of "Shadow Snap." The glow shot towards Ranma, and struck the ground just behind him, stopping him cold.
Mousse nodded. "Your aim's gotten better. I remember you hitting a few of your targets directly back in China. That was rather messy."
TJ nodded with a shudder. "And you've apparently learned Japanese as well as English by now. We're both skilled at what we do. How about you Ryoga? You stopped getting lost on the way to school yet?" TJ backed off a bit and raised his hands in front of him in response to Ryoga starting to grind his teeth. "Umm, forget about that." He turned to Usagi. "Usagi-chan, get the cats out of sight, and I'll get Ranma. Ryoga and Mousse, come with me. You'll have to hold him after I release him." He followed through the hole and proceeded across the temple grounds to Ranma, with his friends close behind.
Ranma was struggling to move; the cats were probably following him already. Of all the things in the world, cats were all that Ranma Saotome was afraid of. Well, except for Akane's cooking. He would have been halfway back to Nerima by now if it weren't for...what had stopped him anyway? He looked behind him and saw a dagger stuck in his shadow. He scowled. "So, that gaijin really can use magic. I'll see how well he handles in a fair fight, as soon as I get loose."
"That won't be necessary Ranma. I have no intention of fighting someone who I have to fight alongside." TJ, Ryoga, and Mousse had reached Ranma. Mousse and Ryoga each latched onto one of Ranma's arms as TJ knelt down next to Ranma's shadow and the dagger. "Lighting." A ball of light appeared in TJ's hand, dissipating the shadow and freeing Ranma. "Now calm down and come with us." After thinking for a moment, he added, "The cats are gone." Ranma twitched at the mere mention, but was not struggling against the other martial artists. "Turns out we're all going to be superheroes."
