Queen of Insanity - *laughing to hard to respond*
Kyra - *bows* I am very proud of myself. I am queen of pride. I am far
from humble. Bloody smear on the floor, more like it.
Shinigami; The Ginzoushou's never been "human" before. That's how.
Evil Strategemini - *laughs* Hyne is fun. Hyne created the Sorceresses
in Final Fantasy Eight. And I didn't change the Glaive simply because a
scythe is highly overused when someone "becomes" Death. I know it's
his/her traditional weapon, but... well, I'm not exactly traditional,
now am I? *grins*
Adyen - Glad you still likes ^___^
Hmm... not so much SchuKen kicking it up yet, Chibi Kitsune... but
there's more in book 3 though. Book 4, too. (Schuldich manages to get
Ken to go on a date with him ^___^)
Ran... Uh... *glances at the epilogue* Er... well... at least book 3
comes out in it's entirity at the same time, right? x.x
True Identity
Chapter Twenty-seven: Vengeance
Li Xiang
The Ginzoushou stepped forwards with slow, measured steps. Her eyes
were blank sapphire, and the smile creasing her face was plastic and
unfeeling. Her prey was bound, there would be no escape.
Idly, the crystal reached out, to brush against the power her two
captives were desperately beating against her restraints with. Perhaps
it could be something she could tap into...?
Then, she hesitated. These two bore the powers she had granted to her
champions. Why would they be going against her host?
Her hesitation brought Rache and Ranma salvation. She had loosened her
grasp on them, just a mite, but it was enough for the Soldier of Death
to insert her own power into the space, and wrench herself free.
With the sudden emptiness in her power, the Ginzoushou automatically
released the spell. Ranma went free.
"Dumbass," the martial artist laughed gleefully, and he promptly lunged
at the blue-skinned young woman. The Ginzoushou, having never been
physically attacked before, was unprepared to find herself flung
through the air by Saotome's kick.
Death picked up the pace, winging her way behind the slowly recovering
former sacred crystal, "What, too hard?" and swung her pole arm. The
crystal shrieked, leaping forwards, and losing the majority of her
hair.
She had never focused energy before-- her hosts had always been the
ones to do that-- so she was used to merely pouring her power out,
without direction, without meaning. For a moment, Rache and Ranma were
blinded by the flare of light, but the being that had been awoken to
fight was unaware that Ranma was capable of fighting sightless. He
reached out mentally, locking onto the only unfamiliar presence in the
House, "Mouko Takabisha!"
The output of white magic cut off suddenly, the Fierce Tiger
Domineering Blast catching her squarely in the stomach, and Rache
unleashed another 'Silence Glaive Surprise'. The Sacred Crystal howled
in pain, as the vaporizing blast barely shot past her-- and took off an
arm.
The stump was neither cauterized nor bloody. Crystal had grown over the
injury. Rache noted this, as Ranma lashed out with his ki-claws, raking
them across her chest-- against, no blood, only a crystalline scabbing.
Interesting... to test a theory, she twirled the Glaive around her
hands, whisking past the Ginzoushou, carving a trail in her hip. The
trail shined with it's crystal.
By this point, even Ranma had noticed, having been continuously mauling
her, and not getting the blood he had been seeking. Only bits of blue
flesh, and crystal shards were removed from his foe's body.
"What the _hell_ are you?!"
"I am the Ginzoushou," that ringing voice sang, "You _can_not_ destroy
me!"
"Don't want to destroy _you_," spat Death, "We want _Tsukino_!"
The blue-skinned one turned shocked eyes on the Senshi-turned-assassin,
"W-what?"
Ranma growled, "We were hired to kill the Senshi. That includes Moon."
"B-but _you_ are Senshi!"
"I am," Rache nodded, drawing back and sighting the crystal along the
Silence Glaive, "Yet I am not. Ranma is Ranma is Ranma--" she didn't
hear him mutter 'is Orfiel', "-- he's no Senshi."
The Ginzoushou looked terribly confused, sinking to the floor. Rache
grinned ruefully, "I should feel bad to this... but it's vengeance, and
it's what I'm named for. Silence Glaive Surprise!"
When she cut off the power, Ranma leapt forwards to make _sure_ she had
not gotten away, or transformed again. It had been a fairly
anti-climatic battle, he sulked, although if they hadn't had the power
of a Senshi, it probably would have gone the other way.
Kneeling in the trench-- the third one!-- in the floor he picked up the
two sparkling items left behind. One spiky little white crystal that
hovered over his hand, and the spherical, inert form of the Ginzoushou.
Apparently, not even Saturn's power could destroy it.
His rage faded away, leaving him to his depression as he stood. The
presence that had guided his movements slipped into the back of his
mind once more, and his jacket seemed to fall to pieces, the tatters
fluttering to the ground. Stepping out of the trench, his boots faded
away, and he looked over at the lady Death.
Her wings had vanished, and the shadows had pulled away from her face.
She appeared to be wearing a black unitard now, like Ranma wore black
silk pants and the chains around his chest.
"Anything...?"
"Just these," and he put the Ginzoushou into her hands, keeping the
other crystal to himself, "What is this thing?"
"Tsukino's pureheart crystal," mused Rache, upon searching Hotaru's
memory, "As long as that exists, Usagi's soul is bound to it. The
Ginzoushou must have protected it through my attack."
"Really?" Ranma eyed it speculatively, "Heh, well, she sure as hell
isn't going to live much longer!" he started to close his hand over it
when another voice cut in.
"Don't you want to leave that to Farfello?"
"Crawford!" both Ranma and Rache had forgotten that Oracle had remained
in his room for the night, and had no doubt known all about the fight.
Ranma suddenly deflated, "But... Cosmos killed Jei-sama..."
"Hardly," smirked the seer, "Yuki transported them out before her power
could rip them apart. They're at the Tendou Dojo."
Eyes widened with hope, "Really?"
"Yes, really," the eyes behind the glasses were narrowed with
exasperation, "And since you decided to fight in here, we have no
transport."
For once, the pair looked at the property damage wrought in the battle
with Ginzoushou and Cosmos. Crawford's Mercedes was totaled, and Fei
Li's low-rider was apparently one with the rubble. Oh, _that_ would be
fun to explain to the bass guitarist.
"So I guess we're roofhopping," Ranma's shoulder's slumped, "I _really_
don't think I've enough energy left. Feels like I took on Saffron all
over again."
Crawford smirked at them, yet again, "This would be where I step in.
The... Gates and I have come to an... understanding."
/Understanding?!/ an unfamiliar mental voice whined, surprisingly loud,
/You think forcing me to be a _gun_ of all things is an
'understanding'?!/
"Who was--"
"--that?" the pair wondered, blinking at the seer. He looked fairly
annoyed, but flicked his wrist. To Ranma and Rache's surprise, a purple
tinted silver gun appeared in his hand. Both had to snicker, though,
because the handle of the gun seemed to be a red crystal.
"That was the Gate Key," he shot Ranma an annoyed look, "Apparently I
am the... 'next Sailor Pluto', since your sister didn't think to absorb
her powers."
Kitty began laughing, "You're kidding me! Now we've got two Senshi on
our side-- and the battle's already over!"
"If you're quite done with your impersonation of a hyena," the American
drawled, "Do you think we should go yet? I'm sure Farfello is worried
about you."
"Jei-sama!" Ranma snapped to attention, "Right! Let's go!"
Crawford turned to his female German teammate, "Did you feed him
chocolate?"
"No," Rache shook her head, "And it's scaring me, too."
---
"Where are they, where are they, where _are_ they?!"
"Calm down, Yotan," Omi muttered, watching his friend and teammate pace
the floor of the Tendou's living room, "Rache is a Senshi, she's
_fine_."
Aside from Yuki and Jei-- who had been relegated to the Dojo, as they'd
started to frighten Soun and Kasumi by trying to out-do each other in
describing previous kills-- the entire group was holed up in the Tendou
Living Room. Yohji had wanted to head back to the House immediately,
except that the two Sorceresses had "explained" to him that the amount
of power at the House would rip anyone untuned to it into their
separate atoms.
Yohji didn't want that to happen-- and he really didn't want to get hit
by another fire spell-- so he didn't go. This did _not_ mean he wasn't
worried for his girlfriend's safety. It was all he'd thought about
since arriving.
He was jerked out of his worry when a crash echoed through the dojo.
For a moment there was silence.
Then an annoyed voice cut through the air-- two, actually--
"_BRADLEY_!!"
"Don't call me that!" barked Crawford, as he untangled himself from the
other two. Everyone had rushed out to find the trio in a mess of limbs.
The American dusted himself off once free, glaring at everyone, "I
haven't exactly _perfected_ it yet."
"Well it didn't have to _hurt_ so damn much!" Rache snarled, pulling
herself and Ranma apart.
"Rache!"
"Kitty!"
"Little brother!"
The sixteen year old and the eighteen year old found themselves swept
up-- Rache in an embrace that crushed her to Yohji, as the man gave
thanks to God for bringing her back; and Ranma was caught between his
master and his sister. Jei was wrapped around him and was growling into
his pet's neck, while Yuki was beating him over the head and shrieking,
"Don't _do_ that, _baka_!"
Finally, Ranma extracted himself from the pair, and pulled a crystal
out of his pocket. He bowed to his master, "May I present... the
pureheart crystal... of one Sailor Moon. In other words... her soul."
Jei reached out, cupping the crystal gently, his golden eyes glowing
with delight as he held it in his palms. He watched it for a small
while...
...then crushed it into a fine white powder, dropping the powder to the
ground. He spat in it, "Good Riddance!"
There was a cheer from the onlookers, as they found themselves finally
able to go back to their lives, after so long. Yuki pumped a fist into
the air, "Party at the House! Party at the House!"
The wall of the Dojo swirled into a portal as Yuki and Nabiki pooled
their magics-- Yuki went through first, and took a look at the damage
her brother, Rache and Cosmos had brought. It would take some stronger
spells to fix, so she merely cast a barrier to prevent the others from
entering it. Soon there after, everyone else piled through.
On the other end, Nabiki stood ready to walk through the wall. She
paused, glaring up at the sky, "Don't you worry, Akane-chan. I haven't
forgotten. I _will_ get your revenge..."
And then she went through, to celebrate, and to watch for the perfect
opportunity to strike.
---
End Chapter
Nabiki gets her revenge in book 4, since she isn't around for very long
in Book 3. However, she does get to humiliate Ranma a bit, even if
she's not there. Any ways, next week, Epilogue, Hidden Identity, and
(hopefully) Book 4 Prologue. Hope ta see you then!
Kyra - *bows* I am very proud of myself. I am queen of pride. I am far
from humble. Bloody smear on the floor, more like it.
Shinigami; The Ginzoushou's never been "human" before. That's how.
Evil Strategemini - *laughs* Hyne is fun. Hyne created the Sorceresses
in Final Fantasy Eight. And I didn't change the Glaive simply because a
scythe is highly overused when someone "becomes" Death. I know it's
his/her traditional weapon, but... well, I'm not exactly traditional,
now am I? *grins*
Adyen - Glad you still likes ^___^
Hmm... not so much SchuKen kicking it up yet, Chibi Kitsune... but
there's more in book 3 though. Book 4, too. (Schuldich manages to get
Ken to go on a date with him ^___^)
Ran... Uh... *glances at the epilogue* Er... well... at least book 3
comes out in it's entirity at the same time, right? x.x
True Identity
Chapter Twenty-seven: Vengeance
Li Xiang
The Ginzoushou stepped forwards with slow, measured steps. Her eyes
were blank sapphire, and the smile creasing her face was plastic and
unfeeling. Her prey was bound, there would be no escape.
Idly, the crystal reached out, to brush against the power her two
captives were desperately beating against her restraints with. Perhaps
it could be something she could tap into...?
Then, she hesitated. These two bore the powers she had granted to her
champions. Why would they be going against her host?
Her hesitation brought Rache and Ranma salvation. She had loosened her
grasp on them, just a mite, but it was enough for the Soldier of Death
to insert her own power into the space, and wrench herself free.
With the sudden emptiness in her power, the Ginzoushou automatically
released the spell. Ranma went free.
"Dumbass," the martial artist laughed gleefully, and he promptly lunged
at the blue-skinned young woman. The Ginzoushou, having never been
physically attacked before, was unprepared to find herself flung
through the air by Saotome's kick.
Death picked up the pace, winging her way behind the slowly recovering
former sacred crystal, "What, too hard?" and swung her pole arm. The
crystal shrieked, leaping forwards, and losing the majority of her
hair.
She had never focused energy before-- her hosts had always been the
ones to do that-- so she was used to merely pouring her power out,
without direction, without meaning. For a moment, Rache and Ranma were
blinded by the flare of light, but the being that had been awoken to
fight was unaware that Ranma was capable of fighting sightless. He
reached out mentally, locking onto the only unfamiliar presence in the
House, "Mouko Takabisha!"
The output of white magic cut off suddenly, the Fierce Tiger
Domineering Blast catching her squarely in the stomach, and Rache
unleashed another 'Silence Glaive Surprise'. The Sacred Crystal howled
in pain, as the vaporizing blast barely shot past her-- and took off an
arm.
The stump was neither cauterized nor bloody. Crystal had grown over the
injury. Rache noted this, as Ranma lashed out with his ki-claws, raking
them across her chest-- against, no blood, only a crystalline scabbing.
Interesting... to test a theory, she twirled the Glaive around her
hands, whisking past the Ginzoushou, carving a trail in her hip. The
trail shined with it's crystal.
By this point, even Ranma had noticed, having been continuously mauling
her, and not getting the blood he had been seeking. Only bits of blue
flesh, and crystal shards were removed from his foe's body.
"What the _hell_ are you?!"
"I am the Ginzoushou," that ringing voice sang, "You _can_not_ destroy
me!"
"Don't want to destroy _you_," spat Death, "We want _Tsukino_!"
The blue-skinned one turned shocked eyes on the Senshi-turned-assassin,
"W-what?"
Ranma growled, "We were hired to kill the Senshi. That includes Moon."
"B-but _you_ are Senshi!"
"I am," Rache nodded, drawing back and sighting the crystal along the
Silence Glaive, "Yet I am not. Ranma is Ranma is Ranma--" she didn't
hear him mutter 'is Orfiel', "-- he's no Senshi."
The Ginzoushou looked terribly confused, sinking to the floor. Rache
grinned ruefully, "I should feel bad to this... but it's vengeance, and
it's what I'm named for. Silence Glaive Surprise!"
When she cut off the power, Ranma leapt forwards to make _sure_ she had
not gotten away, or transformed again. It had been a fairly
anti-climatic battle, he sulked, although if they hadn't had the power
of a Senshi, it probably would have gone the other way.
Kneeling in the trench-- the third one!-- in the floor he picked up the
two sparkling items left behind. One spiky little white crystal that
hovered over his hand, and the spherical, inert form of the Ginzoushou.
Apparently, not even Saturn's power could destroy it.
His rage faded away, leaving him to his depression as he stood. The
presence that had guided his movements slipped into the back of his
mind once more, and his jacket seemed to fall to pieces, the tatters
fluttering to the ground. Stepping out of the trench, his boots faded
away, and he looked over at the lady Death.
Her wings had vanished, and the shadows had pulled away from her face.
She appeared to be wearing a black unitard now, like Ranma wore black
silk pants and the chains around his chest.
"Anything...?"
"Just these," and he put the Ginzoushou into her hands, keeping the
other crystal to himself, "What is this thing?"
"Tsukino's pureheart crystal," mused Rache, upon searching Hotaru's
memory, "As long as that exists, Usagi's soul is bound to it. The
Ginzoushou must have protected it through my attack."
"Really?" Ranma eyed it speculatively, "Heh, well, she sure as hell
isn't going to live much longer!" he started to close his hand over it
when another voice cut in.
"Don't you want to leave that to Farfello?"
"Crawford!" both Ranma and Rache had forgotten that Oracle had remained
in his room for the night, and had no doubt known all about the fight.
Ranma suddenly deflated, "But... Cosmos killed Jei-sama..."
"Hardly," smirked the seer, "Yuki transported them out before her power
could rip them apart. They're at the Tendou Dojo."
Eyes widened with hope, "Really?"
"Yes, really," the eyes behind the glasses were narrowed with
exasperation, "And since you decided to fight in here, we have no
transport."
For once, the pair looked at the property damage wrought in the battle
with Ginzoushou and Cosmos. Crawford's Mercedes was totaled, and Fei
Li's low-rider was apparently one with the rubble. Oh, _that_ would be
fun to explain to the bass guitarist.
"So I guess we're roofhopping," Ranma's shoulder's slumped, "I _really_
don't think I've enough energy left. Feels like I took on Saffron all
over again."
Crawford smirked at them, yet again, "This would be where I step in.
The... Gates and I have come to an... understanding."
/Understanding?!/ an unfamiliar mental voice whined, surprisingly loud,
/You think forcing me to be a _gun_ of all things is an
'understanding'?!/
"Who was--"
"--that?" the pair wondered, blinking at the seer. He looked fairly
annoyed, but flicked his wrist. To Ranma and Rache's surprise, a purple
tinted silver gun appeared in his hand. Both had to snicker, though,
because the handle of the gun seemed to be a red crystal.
"That was the Gate Key," he shot Ranma an annoyed look, "Apparently I
am the... 'next Sailor Pluto', since your sister didn't think to absorb
her powers."
Kitty began laughing, "You're kidding me! Now we've got two Senshi on
our side-- and the battle's already over!"
"If you're quite done with your impersonation of a hyena," the American
drawled, "Do you think we should go yet? I'm sure Farfello is worried
about you."
"Jei-sama!" Ranma snapped to attention, "Right! Let's go!"
Crawford turned to his female German teammate, "Did you feed him
chocolate?"
"No," Rache shook her head, "And it's scaring me, too."
---
"Where are they, where are they, where _are_ they?!"
"Calm down, Yotan," Omi muttered, watching his friend and teammate pace
the floor of the Tendou's living room, "Rache is a Senshi, she's
_fine_."
Aside from Yuki and Jei-- who had been relegated to the Dojo, as they'd
started to frighten Soun and Kasumi by trying to out-do each other in
describing previous kills-- the entire group was holed up in the Tendou
Living Room. Yohji had wanted to head back to the House immediately,
except that the two Sorceresses had "explained" to him that the amount
of power at the House would rip anyone untuned to it into their
separate atoms.
Yohji didn't want that to happen-- and he really didn't want to get hit
by another fire spell-- so he didn't go. This did _not_ mean he wasn't
worried for his girlfriend's safety. It was all he'd thought about
since arriving.
He was jerked out of his worry when a crash echoed through the dojo.
For a moment there was silence.
Then an annoyed voice cut through the air-- two, actually--
"_BRADLEY_!!"
"Don't call me that!" barked Crawford, as he untangled himself from the
other two. Everyone had rushed out to find the trio in a mess of limbs.
The American dusted himself off once free, glaring at everyone, "I
haven't exactly _perfected_ it yet."
"Well it didn't have to _hurt_ so damn much!" Rache snarled, pulling
herself and Ranma apart.
"Rache!"
"Kitty!"
"Little brother!"
The sixteen year old and the eighteen year old found themselves swept
up-- Rache in an embrace that crushed her to Yohji, as the man gave
thanks to God for bringing her back; and Ranma was caught between his
master and his sister. Jei was wrapped around him and was growling into
his pet's neck, while Yuki was beating him over the head and shrieking,
"Don't _do_ that, _baka_!"
Finally, Ranma extracted himself from the pair, and pulled a crystal
out of his pocket. He bowed to his master, "May I present... the
pureheart crystal... of one Sailor Moon. In other words... her soul."
Jei reached out, cupping the crystal gently, his golden eyes glowing
with delight as he held it in his palms. He watched it for a small
while...
...then crushed it into a fine white powder, dropping the powder to the
ground. He spat in it, "Good Riddance!"
There was a cheer from the onlookers, as they found themselves finally
able to go back to their lives, after so long. Yuki pumped a fist into
the air, "Party at the House! Party at the House!"
The wall of the Dojo swirled into a portal as Yuki and Nabiki pooled
their magics-- Yuki went through first, and took a look at the damage
her brother, Rache and Cosmos had brought. It would take some stronger
spells to fix, so she merely cast a barrier to prevent the others from
entering it. Soon there after, everyone else piled through.
On the other end, Nabiki stood ready to walk through the wall. She
paused, glaring up at the sky, "Don't you worry, Akane-chan. I haven't
forgotten. I _will_ get your revenge..."
And then she went through, to celebrate, and to watch for the perfect
opportunity to strike.
---
End Chapter
Nabiki gets her revenge in book 4, since she isn't around for very long
in Book 3. However, she does get to humiliate Ranma a bit, even if
she's not there. Any ways, next week, Epilogue, Hidden Identity, and
(hopefully) Book 4 Prologue. Hope ta see you then!