"Cometary orbits are really interesting. A piece of debris, that gets pulled into an orbit that may only passes by a star once or might become a permanent body in the system. Haley's Comet is just one of the most famous of these heavenly bodies." - HS Physics
"The Devil's in the details. It's just that the details are important enough to warrant letting the Devil get his chance." - Anonymous
"Is it just me," a bemused Usagi inquired of her near-twin/future daughter, as they made their way to the Juuban High School, "or do you take after your mother?"
Usa smirked, flipping a ponytail over a shoulder with a negligent hand. "Funny," she mock-growled. Her face twisted into a haughty, 'better-than-thou' expression. "I'll have you know that this is 'high fashion' where I'm from." She couldn't stop herself form giggling slightly. "But it was priceless to see the look on Luna's face as she came downstairs this morning."
They both snickered as they remembered the look on the poor, black moon-cat. The furry adviser had reached the bottom of the stairs, where she had seen the pink- and blond-haired duo arguing on who was going to use the 'bunny' bookbag. At that point, she had stood there, mouth agape and eyes bugged out for a whole minute, before she had creakily fell forward into a slow-motion faceplant, already unconscious.
The pair spent the rest of the, for once, slow paced walk to the schoolyard chatting about inconsequential things.
Hotaru sighed as she straightened her new uniform skirt, under the watchful eyes of her barely-older 'guardians'. "Mou, Haruka-kun," she groused, stealing a glance at the blond in the boy's uniform, "why can't I wear a uniform like yours?" She tugged at the pleated blue fabric once more. "I hate how this gives perverts 'panty shots'."
Michuru waited for a moment for her significant other to respond. When she heard nothing but strained breathing, she glanced over at her companion, then slapped a hand over her face.
The blond's face was twisting between three expressions: a leer of perversion, the patented 'parental outrage' glare and outright shock.
The former child rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Forgot who I was talking to," she muttered. She waited for a few moments, then cleared her throat. "Back to my question," she growled lightly.
The turquoise-maned senshi of water waited for a few more moments, then used her free hand to slap Haruka in the back of the head. "Love," she growled out in a voice that indicated her displeasure, "answer the question that our daughter asked you."
The strike in the back of her head, coupled with the irate tone, pulled the tomboy from her brain-freeze. "Ahem, well," she stated, falling into a phony 'preaching father' attitude, – which was destroyed by the glint of lechery still glittering in her eyes, - "but it is only proper for a young lady, like yourself, to wear the proper garments. As for myself, I am not 'proper', so I can get away with wearing male clothes." She then ruined any value in her statement, when she continued absentmindedly with, "Now, surprisingly, Ami or Makoto could pull off the 'boy look' easily."
The remaining two women were about to place some female retribution on their unsuspecting companion when they both paused. In perfect synchronization, they both wiped a line of drool at the thought of the two named girls sheathed in a form-fitting dark blue uniform that was mandatory for the male students. "Oh, yeah," the pair sighed in chorus. After a moment, each of them realized that the other had stated the same thing and glared at the other woman in the room.
Haruka blinked as her vision was filled with the features of two highly-pissed house-mates. "What'd I do?" she squeaked in fear.
Setsuna calmly filed her nails as she leaned on the door frame, watching as the blond was team-beaten by the other two. "Should I start the list now?" she asked over the sounds of violence.
In the recesses of her mind, the girl who housed the spirit of Akane mused as she fixed her appearance. As bad as it may seem, she decided, there is a simple way to figure this out. Ranma will be the same in her attitude and morals, no matter what the outer body looks like. She passed each of her teammates basic attitudes through this filter, and gaped at the result. Masaka! She griped internally. By my figuring, the entire group displays things that make Ranma what he... or she... is. Schooling her expression into the usual one this body wore, she headed out the door.
Within minutes, the entire group had gathered in the school yard, and everyone was now aware of the visible changes that had occurred. Incognito, the spirit of the youngest Tendo ground insubstantial teeth. If anything else were a help, not having the entire group nearly the same age would have made all of this easier. The nine girls chatted for a few moments before they began to head for the first classes of the day, Hotaru and Usa going to the offices to register for classes while the others went down the halls.
She sat in her usual desk, waiting for class to start. The homeroom teacher, smiling, stated that there would be some new students joining them. Akane's spirit moaned. Let me guess, she moaned.
A certain dark-haired teen was followed into the room by a girl with a distinctive hairstyle. She let her head drop to the desktop, fortunately at the same time as her teammates did. Yep, she realized, just what I figured.
The Senshi, minus Setsuna, were gathered, after the school day ended, in the Crown Ice Cream Shoppe. In between the nine people, there happened to be three conversations going on at once. These conversations mutated, shifting between participants and subjects like water in a river bed, until one of the participants looked out of the front windows.
"WHAT THE %^@#&& IS THAT!"
Everyone gave the blushing Hotaru a quick glare, then glanced out the window themselves. Suddenly, their only thoughts were of battle.
The creature was about nine feet in height, with sharp splines emerging from the shoulders that added a full foot of height. Its body was covered in a bizarre combination of textures, from oily-looking eel-skin to rough, baggy flesh that one sees on an elephant. It's face was hideous, with a mouth that was straining to clench around teeth that must have been donated from a veterinary dentist's trash. The eyes, however, were human-seeming and filled with a rage that spelled death to anything that stood in it's way.
The girls scattered quickly, to change into their fighting costumes. As they arrived, the group was surprised to see a single girl, dressed in a emerald-green pantsuit with golden armor epaulets, staring the demonic creature down. They paused in their entry, waiting to see what the girl would do.
The new fighter stood there one hand resting on her hip, the other hanging down at her side. "So, youma," she growled in a surprisingly melodious contralto voice, "you seek to enter this world to conquer it." She raised her hanging hand, to wave a finger in a 'no-no' gesture. "I can't just let you do that. As the scout of pure Chaos, I, Sailor Loki, will stop you,"
The Planetary Senshi group-blinked. "Did she just call herself 'Sailor Loki'?" the original Sailor Moon asked.
Surprising everyone, Minako gave the answer. "Loki was the Norse god of Chaos and Trickery. He would be just as likely to help you out as to knife you in the back." She glared at their shocked faces. "Hey," she complained, "I spent my time in England going to an English school. They teach fun things there."
The self-proclaimed Sailor Loki waited for the attack. She didn't wait long. The mad creature whipped its arms out, their length stretching to attempt to ensnare the girl. With a flicker, the girl disappeared from within their grasp, reappearing suddenly high over its head, calling out an attack phrase. "FENRIS WAVE!" From her cupped hands, a sphere of gray light, with the ghostly image of a wolf's head hovering inside, formed, then streaked down; the sphere, in it's flight, stretching out to take the shape of a ghostly, snarling timberwolf. The sound of the attack was that of a mournful howl.
The attack struck, engulfing the menace momentarily. As the green-clad girl fell lower, she smirked for a moment, until one of the beast's arms flew out from the light to smack her into a wall. The new fighter looked up, dazedly, at the fuku-clad girls on the rooftop and growled, "Magic alone isn't enough. You girls take a crack at it," before she passed out in pain.
Mercury quickly outlined her plan, before they jumped. The group quickly assumed their positions.
The senshi of ice nodded at Sailor Mars. "Oh, Sacred Fire," the senshi of flame chanted, "oh, Mars, my patron; hear my request. PLASMA SPHERE!" Above her clasped hands, a ball of golden-red light formed, its interior filled with ribbons of other colors.
"I pray to Mercury, grant me the frigid cold of ZERO AURA!" Mercury prayed, a glow of the deepest blue limning her form. She opened her eyes, then pointed at herself. Mars released her attack, and concentrated.
Mercury began to circle the confused monster, the ball of immolating heat tracking inches behind her. "On your way to oblivion," she growled, as she circled closer, "tell your masters this:..." She was now within the arm-span of the youma, yet still circling closer as she continued. "...HYRUU SHOUTEN HAA, REVISED! MERCURY DRAGON..." She stopped directly in front of the monster and ducked, letting the super-hot attack from Sailor Mars strike the creature in it's chest, covering it it solar-heat flame as she concentrated the aura into her clenched fist and twisted arm. "...UPPERCUT!" she screamed, delivering her corkscrewing punch directly in front of the monster's widening eyes.
From her fist roared a humongous eastern dragon made of ice, spinning at tremendous velocity. The construct clenched the demonic enemy in it's frozen jaws as the pillar of whirlwind formed and lifted it high in the sky. At it's base, an exhausted Sailor Mercury slumped. "Smash it, Saturn."
The violet-black haired senshi smirked. "Saturn, hear my call," she sang in a monotone moan. "To this enemy, I gift... ECHOING SILENCE STRIKE!" Her weapon expanded in length in that instant, seeming to connect her in an eternal moment to the invisible foe, before returning to it's original length. From the rapidly dispersing funnel erupted a cloud of ash that momentarily appeared to form a shrieking face.
As the Senshi of Destruction went to help the pant-suited girl, Jupiter ran over to the panting Sailor Mercury. "How did you come up with that attack?" she asked in wide-eyed admiration.
After huffing a few more deep breaths, the blue haired girl answered the question. "Saw it on the television," she responded weakly. "The anime used chi, but I realized that magic could work."
Jupiter sighed. "What's the name of this cartoon?" she asked. "Dragonball GT?"
Mercury shook her head. "No," she corrected gently. "It was called 'Ranma Nibunnoichi'."
Jupiter's eyes widened in shock. "WHA?!!!!?"
"You mean you never watched it?" Moon asked in her usual bubbly manner. "It's just the most popular television show ever!" The way she emphasized her words implied that you either had to be dead, or possibly youma-infested, not to have seen it.
The redhead senshi blinked. "Ranma changes sex with water, right?" she inquired warily. At the others nods, she slapped a gloved hand to her forehead. "Oy, have I seen it," she admitted with a deep sense of dread. I've seen more than you might think, she stated mentally.
THE NOWHERE BAR AND GRILLE:
Jupiter launched a spittake that thoroughly soaked his tablemate.
Wiping his face, Pluto groaned. "Relax, boss," he attempted to soothe as he dabbed at the ambrosia that stuck to his skin. "Wasn't that Grey character proof that things like this are possible?"
The head of the pantheon sighed heartily. "Why me?" he just moaned. "Her habits make her better suited to be Thor's Avatar."
The Norse thunder god shook his head rapidly. "Nuh-unh," he yelped. "Women aren't strong enough to handle my power." Anything else he wanted to add was halted by his wife, Sif, and her judicious use of a large war-hammer. Various female entities applauded, including those who only occasionally mimicked it. Loki, for one, took great pleasure in it, as for once it was his/her half-brother getting the smackdown laid on, and not his/her own corpus.
Jupiter sweatdropped. "On second thought," he muttered, "she has too much tact to be allied with him...."
TBC..........................
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, any guesses as to who Akane is? You're probably right. And who's Ranma? Maybe, maybe not. If I told you that, it wouldn't be a good fic, now would it?
So, here's the first Balance Senshi, Sailor Loki. She's True Chaos (True Neutral, for you AD&D people,) so she's just as likely to do nasty things as to do nice ones. If it weren't for the opponents that are just appearing, it might be a problem. Who is she, what's her agenda and where's her allies are going to be answered in a little while.
And just what is going to happen when a certain tall tomboy watches a certain anime of a certain martial artist's life, finding out just what she's missed in her former life? Trust me, it won't be pretty.... but it probably will be funny.
So, hang loose until I can write the next section, OK?