Twilight of the Senshi

by Eric Thorsen

A Ranma, Sailor Moon Crossover. This story is based on a common theme, with uncommon execution... What if the Moon Kingdom wasn't the only government in the solar system during the silver millenium? What really happened back then? What does it mean now?

2. Part Two

1This is a Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, Self-Insertion

Legal Notes: Every thing mentioned in this Fanfic belongs to their respective creators, and no infringement was intended here. This Fanfic is for entertainment use only.

Twilight of the New Senshi

by

Stacko

Edited by Lord Dragonbane

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Part Two

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

"You mean that you fight Kuno every morning?" Steve asked in surprise at what all Kuno has done to Akane.

"And for some reason I always win." Akane told Steve, who was surprised that he was able to calm Akane down for a bit.

"Well, when a guy fights a girl, he lets up a lot." Ranma said to Akane while he was looking away.

"Don't underestimate me." Akane said to Ranma. "Try me for real sometime."

"No way." Ranma said. "Violent or not, you are still a girl. I couldn't do that."

"How about if you're a girl?" Akane said as she placed one of her buckets down and then grabbed the other bucket and held it like she was about to throw it at Ranma.

"W-wait..." Ranma was stuttering as he was backing away from Akane.

Steve was watching as Ranma was backing away from Akane. It was then that Steve heard someone running in the hall. He was looking up at the same time that Ranma sensed danger. Steve saw Kuno running up and in his Kendo garb, his bokken strapped to his back, and carrying two buckets of water. It was then that Steve watched as Kuno threw one of his buckets of water at Ranma. Ranma jumped out of the way as the water came near him.

"Yah!" Ranma said as he jumped out of the way of the water. When he landed, he looked over and saw Kuno standing there, with an empty bucket of water.

"Never, Ranma Saotome!" Kuno said angrily.

"What do you think you're..." Ranma began saying.

"Upperclassman Kuno..." Akane started saying as Steve got closer to Ranma and her.

"I shall never accept your engagement to Akane!" Kuno shouted out load.

Just then, the windows behind Ranma, Akane, and Steve, flew open and the classroom personnel were at the windows with a surprised look to their faces. Steve looked around and saw that all the boys were at the windows on Ranma's side, and the girls were on Akane's side. Ranma was looking at the boy's while Akane was looking at the girls, and Steve was looking back and forth between the two.

"What! Engagement?" The boys were asking.

"How could you, Akane! And you said you despised men!" The girls were saying to Akane.

Everyone was asking questions left and right. Some of the questions were getting too personnel for Akane, Ranma, and Steve, since one question was asked if they were doing a threesome. The evil glares that Akane and Ranma gave that person, shut that person up right away.

"Wait! It's not true! It's..." Akane started to say.

"Our parents decided! We never..." Ranma tried to explain.

It was then that Kuno got tired of being ignored, and went to strike Ranma with his bokken. Ranma had dodged out of the way, but forgot that Steve was behind him. When he looked back, his eyes opened in worry when he saw the bokken heading for Steve, and Ranma knew that he would be to slow to get there in time.

Ranma watched as Steve threw his buckets in line with the bokken and jumped to the left, where Ranma was standing in worry. The bokken had sliced through the two buckets, spilling the water over the floor. The bokken had just missed hitting Steve by a fraction of an inch. Steve rolled on the ground until he was at Ranma's feet and quickly stood up before the water reached him.

"Stand your ground." Kuno said turning towards Ranma and Steve.

"This is no place to fight." Ranma said, turning around and grabbing Steve's sleeve. He started running down the hall, keeping Steve ahead of him. "Follow us."

"That I shall!" Kuno said, chasing after them.

Akane was about starting to run after them, when the classroom emptied out and was following right behind her. It was then that she heard some of the comments that they were saying and a sweat dropped formed behind her head as she ran. As the group was following the three ahead of them, they passed a teacher in the hall that was yelling for them to quit running in the hall.

Ranma and Steve were keeping a good lead in front of Kuno, when Ranma saw an open window up ahead.

"Let's get outside." Ranma said to Steve as he grabbed Steve and threw him out the window. He then turned to face Kuno as he was leaping out the window. "Follow me."

"Fear not." Kuno said as he followed Ranma out the window.

"Hey, this is the third floor!" Yelled one of the classmates as they reached the window that Ranma leaped out of. Ranma failed to notice Kuno's surprised looked or Steve's exclamation of being thrown out a third floor window.

"No sweat. I'm..." Ranma started saying when he then looked down and saw a swimming pool below him. "Yow!"

"Baka!" Akane shouted at Ranma, with a small feeling of concern for Steve.

"Boy, lucky there's a pool there." Said one female classmate.

"Yeah, lucky." Said another male classmate.

"Lucky, he says." Ranma said to himself right before all three of them splashed into the swimming pool.

Everyone was watching the pool closely when Kuno's body floated to the surface, face down, with his bokken floating nearby. They kept looking, but they still didn't see Ranma or Steve surface yet.

"Look, it's Kuno. He's coming up." Said one student.

"But, what's happened to Saotome and Stachowicz?" Asked another student.

Under the water of the pool, Ranma was swimming away, thinking about trying to get away from the situation that she is in. She saw that Steve was in front of her so she swam up to her. Ranma got Steve's attention, Steve turned around and saw Ranma and relaxed a little bit. It was then that Steve saw Kuno's body and pointed up. Ranma looked up and saw Kuno's body also. Ranma decided that she couldn't leave Kuno floating in the water face down, so both of them swam up and Ranma started to swim with Kuno's body to the pool side, and to get some air.

As they were swimming to the end of the pool, it was then that Kuno started coming around. When Kuno got enough bearing, he looked down and saw a person with a pigtail style hairstyle, and since he only knew one person with that hairstyle, he went and grabbed that person.

"Ranma Saotome, I fight on!" Kuno said as he went and wrapped his arms around Ranma's body. Steve had saw what happened and ducked below the surface of the water.

"Gyaaaaaaaaa!!!" Ranma screamed as Kuno wrapped his arms around her body.

"The jig is up." Akane thought when she saw what had happened.

Ranma was waving her arms trying to get free of Kuno's grasp, while saying to let her go at the same time. Kuno held on tight, but when Ranma tried to wiggle out, Kuno shifted his grip on Ranma. Where he gripped his left hand, surprised both of them, but for different reasons. For Kuno, he was surprised because he was all of a sudden, grabbing something round, firm, but yet squishy, that shouldn't be on a male body. Ranma on the other hand, reacted when Kuno grabbed her breast, painfully. Ranma reached behind her and grabbed Kuno's head in a tight grip.

"Pervert!" Ranma yelled as she flipped Kuno over her head, and slammed him on the ground, out of the pool, very hard. Ranma then fell back into the water and came jumping out of the pool with her grip around Steve's waist, and kept jumping out of the pool area and into the woods nearby. Kuno just remained laying on the ground with a surprised look to his face.

"What ... what..." Stuttered one student.

"Ranma's and Steve's body..." Started another student.

"... Didn't they look a little ... smaller all around?" Finished another student.

"Must have been an illusion." Answered another student. Akane used the confusion to sneak away and try and find a kettle of hot water.

In the meantime, Kuno was still lying where Ranma had threw him. He was rethinking what had happen in the last few minutes. He remembered chasing Ranma and the other fellow out of the window, and then landing in the pool. He had taken a short nap and when he woke up, he thought he had Ranma right in front of him, but when he had grabbed that person, that person had a female breast. So with that information in mind, he came to a conclusion.

"A woman. Yes, that was a woman. Which means..." Kuno then suddenly sat up and started shaking his fist, then shouted out loud. "Ranma Saotome, you wretch! Do you think you've escaped?"

Speaking of Ranma, she and Steve were sitting up in a tree on a tree branch, pulling off their pants and ringing out the water out of them. Ranma was complaining all the time about what Kuno had done to her.

"What a pervert. I mean, he didn't have to squeeze that hard." Ranma was complaining while she was wringing the water out of her pants.

"Well, it could be because you were wiggling around so much that he had to get a better grip." Steve was saying while doing the same thing with her pants also.

"I guess, but that hurt a lot." Ranma said.

"I know what you are talking about." Steve said.

"How do you know, you got no breasts." Ranma said, and then yelped when she heard a snap and then a stinging feeling on her back. She looked back at Steve and saw her looking angry at her.

"Red, you need to lose that attitude you have soon, just because this body is younger than yours, doesn't mean it don't have breasts. You, at least, should know that I do have breasts, they may not be as developed as your breasts, but I do have breasts. Not to mention that I also have a sister, and I have been hearing about her problems when they were growing." Steve said angrily to Ranma, who looked apologetic to Steve.

"Sorry, Stack." Ranma said.

"Apology accepted, if you try to learn to think first before speaking." Steve said.

"I'll try." Ranma said. "Well, I guess now Kuno knows about me."

Before Steve was able to reply, a female voice interrupted them.

"You Baka's." Said the familiar female voice. Both of them looked down and saw Akane standing there with her arms behind her back.

"Akane?" Steve asked in confusion.

"What..." Ranma also started asking in confusion.

"Just how dumb can you two be?" Akane said. "I mean, jumping into a pool of your own free will."

"I wouldn't say I jumped in on my free will." Steve said.

"Shut up!" Ranma said, giving Akane the red eye.

"Humph." Akane said, cause Ranma to stop giving her the red eye. "Then maybe I'll just throw away this hot water."

"No!" Steve said loudly when she saw the kettle of hot water that Akane showed them.

"Meanie, meanie." Ranma said, hugging the tree branch when she saw the kettle.

It was then that they all heard some sloshing sound from nearby. All three of them looked in the direction and saw Kuno walking nearby. He was yelling out, in his poetic way of talking, where Ranma was. It was then that Akane decided on a decision.

"Catch!" Yelled Akane as she threw the kettle over her shoulder towards Ranma and Steve.

Unfortunately, her throw was a little short and Ranma had to stretch out to grab it. Akane didn't realize that her throw was short, because she had immediately ran over to confront Kuno. Kuno turned when he heard someone approaching and was expecting Ranma, but was surprised when it was Akane facing him in a ready stance.

"Upperclassman Kuno," Akane said challenging. "I challenge you."

"Akane, oh Akane," Kuno said dramatically. "Never did I dream that YOU would challenge me." Kuno sighs. "So be it."

Kuno then got into a ready stance and got ready to fight Akane.

"If you win, I shall let you go out with me." Kuno said, posing in affect. "Thus I shall lose with all my might."

"Who's asking to go out with you?" Akane shouted, then thought to herself. "Stacko, Ranma, turn back while I buy you guy's time."

The said two were still on the tree branch. Ranma had leapt for the kettle, she got a hold of the kettle, but she was stretched out so far that she was staying on the branch by her feet holding the branch. Steve saw that Ranma was having a little trouble about staying on the branch, so she reached out and grabbed a hold of Ranma's shirttail and tried to pull her back to the tree branch.

Meanwhile, Kuno had started to charge towards Akane, and Akane went into action. As Kuno was coming at her with an overhead swing, she slapped her hands together to stop the bokken and started leaning back. As she fell to the ground, she brought her left foot up to Kuno's chest and pushed him up. The act caught Kuno off guard as he lost the grip on his bokken and went flying in the air, towards the nearby woods. Akane stood up, smiling at her handy work and looked in the direction that Kuno was flying and realized that she had tossed him towards Steve and Ranma, so she started running towards them, with the bokken in her hand.

At that precise time, Steve had managed to pull back Ranma to the branch. Both of them were happy that they were about to change back into their male forms, when all of the sudden, Kuno's head was implanted into the side of the kettle. With Kuno hitting the kettle, the contents were forced out. It was then that Kuno turned somewhat and saw who was near him.

"You're that girl." Kuno announced. Ranma was getting a little nervous about Kuno knowing about her curse. As she was about to say something, Akane arrived and shouted up at Ranma and Steve.

"You guy's are still female." Akane shouted up to them.

"What'd you expect?" Ranma shouted down to her, thinking that Akane should've known what was going on.

"So," Kuno started talking again, totally ignoring the fact that Ranma and Akane were talking. When Kuno started talking again, Ranma faced him. "Did you see where that boy in the pigtail, and his gaijin cohort, went?" Ranma quickly shook her head negatively. "That coward! Running away from a fight. No doubt he feared my prowess. Bah! He is no man, he is no man!"

During Kuno's rant, Ranma's nervousness faded and slowly turned into anger. At the finish of Kuno's ranting, Ranma released the kettle she was still holding and let Kuno fall. Kuno landed on the ground, head first, and rolled over into a sitting position. He crossed his arms and looked up at Ranma as she landed nearby.

"That hurt you know." Kuno pointed out.

"I'm not gonna hang there and take this." Ranma said, totally ignoring what Kuno had said. She then proceeded to get into a ready stance facing Kuno. "I can take you any time, come on!"

"Heh. Amusing." Kuno stated as he stood back up and took his bokken from Akane. "Well, should you win, I will allow you to go out with me."

Kuno had then proceeded at swing at Ranma, to take her down. When Steve had heard what Kuno had said, she couldn't believe the delusion that Kuno was living in and automatically wanted to set things right.

"Who in their right mind would want to go out with you?" Steve shouted and jumped off the branch and aimed her landing to be on top of Kuno.

The distraction that Steve caused by shouting, caused Kuno to stop attacking Ranma and look up at the source of the person who shouted. Kuno only had a very brief second as Steve landed on him and caused him to fall on the ground. Steve then quickly got off of Kuno and stood back up next to Akane.

Kuno sat back up and was about to reprimand the person who jumped on him. As he turned to face the person and start his spiel about the injustices of what the person did, he stopped before he even began. As he got a better look at the person, he saw it was a young girl of about thirteen years of age, wearing what appeared to be nothing but a black Chinese silk shirt, and holding a pair of pants in each hand.

"Who is this lovely young maiden that bears the resemblance to my fierce tigress, Akane Tendo?" Kuno asked no one in particular. Kuno had failed to notice the panicked looks that Ranma, Steve and Akane had. Suddenly Akane had an idea pop in her head.

"She's my sister, uh ... Talia." Akane blurted out. Ranma, Kuno, and especially Steve, were surprised at what she had said. It was Steve who got her voice back first.

"Uh, yeah, you leave my oneechan alone." Steve, now newly named Talia, said in her best little girl voice.

"Since when did you have a younger sister, Akane?" Kuno asked, somewhat confused.

"Hey, don't forget about me." Ranma shouted because of two things. One being that Kuno wasn't fighting her anymore, and the second being that she saw that Steve and Akane were having trouble covering what Akane had blurted out.

"Oh yes, I am at fault for forgetting such a lovely woman such as you." Kuno said as he turned back to face Ranma. He then proceeded to start swinging at Ranma again. But this time, after the first swing, Ranma seemed to have disappeared from where she was standing. Kuno had his bokken still in his finished swing and was looking for Ranma.

"Up here." Ranma said. Kuno turned and saw that Ranma was standing on his bokken. Ranma took two steps and kicked Kuno in the head. He proceeded to fall to the ground onto his back as Ranma landed on her feet. Ranma then kicked Kuno's bokken into the air and caught it, setting it on her shoulder. "And guess what Kuno? Ranma Saotome's even better'n me!"

Ranma then proceeded to walk over to where Steve and Akane were standing. Once Ranma got there, Steve handed Ranma her pants and all three of them headed out of the woods. They were out of ear shot range, so Kuno didn't hear them say anything about Ranma wanting to go home, and then 'Talia' persuading Ranma to stay until School finished for the day.

As Kuno was lying on the ground, he was thinking about had just happened. He was trying to think about the red-haired girl that he was beginning to think was more skilled than Akane, and then the new Tendo sister that Akane said she had. He figured he had to know more about them.

xxxxx

Later that night, back at the Tendo Dojo, in the dojo, Ranma and his father were sitting crossed legged on their heads, while Steve was practicing some basic kata's. After a few minutes, Genma and Ranma were talking about the first day at school. Ranma replied to the questions as much as he wanted. Then Genma got into the part on how Akane had helped him.

"Ranma, Akane really looked out for both of you in school today, didn't she?" Genma had asked.

"It's not like I had asked her to." Ranma replied.

"You should thank her for her help." Genma said.

"Why?" Ranma asked.

"Come on, Red, let's go thank Akane." Steve said, stopping his kata's and wanting to stop a fight from starting between father and son.

"Do we have to?" Ranma asked.

"Yes, besides, I need to talk to her about this morning with Kuno." Steve replied.

"All right." Ranma said and then stood up.

Both Steve and Ranma left Genma in the dojo and headed towards Akane's room. They were standing outside her bedroom door, and were about to knock, when they heard Akane talking loudly to Nabiki. They both heard Akane, rather loudly, complain about being engaged to Ranma, being her worst nightmare. Ranma, upon hearing that, didn't want to thank her for her help and Steve agreed with him. Since Steve still needed to talk to Akane, he bid Ranma off and knocked on the door. He entered the room when he was told to come in.

When Steve entered the room, he saw Akane sitting at her desk, doing her homework, and Nabiki sitting on the bed, reading a magazine about stretching exercises. They were both looking at him, waiting for him to give the reason why he was there.

"What can I help you with?" Akane asked after a bit.

"Well, since Nabiki is here, this will make it easier for me." Steve said.

"Why is me being here, going to be easier for you?" Nabiki asked.

"The 'Talia' situation." Steve said flatly.

"Oh yes, I was wondering about that myself." Nabiki said. "What brought this about?"

"It's my fault." Akane replied sadly.

"I know that." Nabiki said. "Kuno had said you told him about us having another sister."

"Kuno had seen Stack's other form and said how much Stack and I looked similar." Akane tried to explain.

"Why a sister, not a cousin or just someone that looked similar?" Steve asked Akane.

"I don't know why I said it." Akane admitted. "It was just something that came to mind."

"I don't mind playing the 'Talia' role, but there are several holes in that plan though." Steve replied.

"What are they?" Nabiki asked, thinking about how much the situation that Akane put them in, is going to cost to keep damage control down.

"The big one is making your father believe he has a forth daughter." Steve replied to Nabiki.

"I see where you're getting at." Nabiki said smiling. "Leave everything to me and I'll fill you in on what you need to know."

"Okay." Steve said and then looked at his watch. "I'll talk to you two later, I'm going to call my parents and inform them where I am, so they are not worried about me and don't worry Nabiki, I'm using my phone card."

Steve left Akane's room and headed downstairs. When he reached the bottom, he realized he didn't know where the phone was kept. So he entered the kitchen and asked Kasumi where the phone was. After Kasumi told him where it was, he went over to it and called his family.

"Hey mom, it's me ... I know it's early over there, but this was the only good time I could call you guys ... Where am I? Well you could say I took an unexpected trip to Japan ... I, uh, met some friends and they asked if I wanted to go to Japan with them, and since I really didn't have anything to do, I went with them ... They are very nice people, a little socially inapt, but okay ... I'm staying at the 'Tendo Training Hall' ... Martial Arts ... Hold on, I need to ask while you get paper and a writing utensil." Steve said and then set the phone down. He went and asked Kasumi for the address and phone number, and after Kasumi gave it to him, he then gave his mother that information. "I'm doing fine, mom ... Sure I'll talk to dad ... Hey dad, how's the family doing ... That's good to hear ... I'm in Tokyo right now ... I'll write you guys a letter explaining how I got here ... Uh, Nerima district ... That's right, Uncle Kenji lives near here, you got his phone number? ... Okay, thanks dad, tell everyone Hi for me and tell sis I'll get her a gift from here. Talk to you later, bye."

Steve hung up the phone and smiled. It was nice talking to the family and he looked down at the phone number and decided to call the friend to his family. After a few rings, the phone on the other end picked up.

"Can I speak with Kenji Tsukino, please ... Steve Stachowicz ... Hiya uncle Kenji ... I'm in the area, so I decided to give you a call ... I'm in the Nerima district and I'm staying at the Tendo Dojo. I'm going to be staying here for some time; I don't know how long ... Sounds good to me. Is it okay if I bring a friend along, if he wants to come ... What time would be good to come over? ... Okay, I'll see you then, bye."

Steve got the directions to the Tsukino residence and then hung up the phone. He put the address in his pocket and headed upstairs to retrieve his homework. After he got it, he went downstairs to the living room to finish the homework he got. As he was doing his homework, he had this nagging feeling he was forgetting about something.

xxxxx

JUUBAN DISTRICT, AFTER SCHOOL

Usagi was coming out of detention, for not paying attention in class. The teachers were happy that she wasn't sleeping in class, but she wasn't paying attention either. Some of the teachers could tell that she wasn't daydreaming, but in deep thought about something. In actuality, she was trying to think about the Star Kingdom.

Throughout the school day, she was trying to recall anything she could about that kingdom, but was coming up with nothing. During one of her classes, the teacher got fed up with her not paying attention and sent her to detention. Usagi accepted her fate and went to detention after school. During lunchtime, the other Senshi was asking Usagi what was bothering her, and she only replied that they would find out at the meeting after school.

When Usagi got out of detention, she ran over to Rei's shrine, to hear what Luna had to say about the Star Kingdom. She hoped what Luna said would help her locate the Senshi she was suppose to find. When she got to Rei's shrine, she was surprised to see the Outers, except Pluto, waiting there also.

"What are you guys doing here?" Usagi asked surprised.

"Luna had called us, saying we had to be here, that she had something really important to say to everyone." Michiru replied.

"Oh." Usagi said.

"It's about time you got here." Rei said angrily.

"Hey, I can't help it I had detention." Usagi replied back to Rei.

"Probably sleeping again." Rei said.

"I wasn't sleeping." Usagi said, with tears starting to form.

"Then you were daydreaming again." Rei continued to argue with Usagi.

"I wasn't daydreaming, but I did have something on my mind." Usagi replied.

"What? What you would do when Mamoru returns?" Rei taunted.

"No, it's about what Luna has to say," Usagi said then looked down at Luna. "Okay Luna, everyone's here, now tell us what is so bad about this Star Kingdom. The way you were talking last night, you made it sound like they were as bad as Beryl and the Negaverse."

"Better yet, tell us who the Star Kingdom is." Rei interjected. "This is the first any of us even heard of it." The other Senshi nodded in agreement with looks of interest.

"The Star Kingdom consisted of the royal families of the Sun, major Asteroids, and other Celestial bodies." Luna began. "They were very similar to the Moon Kingdom in many aspects, but there were two major differences. Firstly the Star Kingdom rulers were all male, and it was a common belief among them that women were incapable of understanding. That was why they weren't part of the Moon Kingdom from the beginning. Second was a more philosophical differences."

"I can't wait to hear this," Makoto groaned. "As if thinking women were too stupid to understand things weren't bad enough."

"What was this philosophical difference, Luna?" Hotaru asked, interested.

"They felt that using the energy of Planets, or Manna, to provide Senshi with their abilities, replied too much on outside sources for strength." Luna replied, her own opinion of this obvious. "They were warriors by nature and felt that anyone's spirit could be developed enough to provide the necessary power for a Senshi. That, as well as their distrust of female leaders, is what was the foundation for our differences, but because of several incidents, the relations between the Kingdoms degraded until there was little communication between them."

"So were they right about people's spirits being able to supply enough power for a Senshi?" Makoto asked, interested by the idea.

"They claimed to have done it, but refused to allow observers from the Moon Kingdom to investigate." Luna said, her tone showing her doubts about those claims. "Then the Moon Kingdom was attacked by the Negaverse, and the Star Kingdom ignored our distress calls. So I wouldn't be too surprised if they were behind this new threat. They probably made an agreement with Beryl not to interfere when the Negaverse invaded in the first place."

"How can you say that, Luna?" Usagi asked in shock, remembering that her mother had said they needed the Star Kingdom as allies. "What are these incidents you are talking about?"

"One of the big ones was about ten years before you were born." Luna began. "The Star Kingdom restricted access to the shipping routes through the Asteroid Belt. They claimed it was to protect their mineral rights, but your grandmother felt it was more out of spite than concern over their rights. The loss of an ore carrier that went off course, traveling through the belt, damaged relations pretty badly when strange blast damage was found on the wreckage. The Star Kingdom claimed it was an accident, but your grandmother refused to accept it."

"What else?" Usagi asked, her assurances slipping away.

"When Hotaru was chosen as Sailor Saturn, her sister, Saria, left the Moon Kingdom due to a disagreement. The official statement of why she left was that she went to the Star Kingdom to train." Luna replied. "When the Queen of Saturn petitioned the King of the Aeriss Asteroid, for the return of her daughter, he denied that any such person had entered his kingdom."

"He lied, even though everyone knew Saria had gone there?" Rei asked in surprise. "That doesn't make sense."

"A lot of what the Star Kingdom did doesn't make sense." Luna said scornfully.

"What did Saria look like?" Hotaru asked curiously.

"She looked exactly like you, Hotaru." Luna replied. "Because she was your older twin sister, who held the mantle of Sailor Titan."

"A twin sister?" Hotaru replied while showing a face of confusion and then excitement. "I have a twin sister."

"She may not be your twin in this life, but she may look like you." Michiru tried to reason to Hotaru, but Hotaru still showed excitement.

"What was another problem?" Makoto asked really interested in this look at their past. "You said there were several of them."

"Three girls from the Star Kingdom were caught in one of the royal garden outposts on Earth, talking to Endymion." Luna replied, glancing at Usagi. "This was shortly before Beryl's attack, but rumors were already circulating that the Star Kingdom had made an alliance with the Negaverse. The royal guards watched them for several minutes, trying but failing to hear their conversation. When the three girls were leaving, the guards chased them into one of the restricted high magic areas, resulting from a mage war before the Moon Kingdom formed.

"No one really knows what happened, but all three girls drowned in the pools there. A short time later, the sentries placed there as a protection for the ordinary citizens, found that it was Princess Saria and one other princess from the Star Kingdom, floating in a pool. The Queen of Saturn accused King Appollyon of Killing her daughter in cold-blooded revenge, which he of course denied. Two days later, Queen Beryl attacked. When Appollyon didn't answer our calls for help, the Royal Council came to the conclusion that the rumors of an alliance were true and focused all our energies on defeating the Negaverse. You know what happened after that."

"The Royal council of the Moon Kingdom always did have a tendency to jump to conclusions." A male voice said from the far end of the room. A small shadowy form detached itself from the trees and walked into view, revealing itself as a flame orange fox. "Beryl wasn't the type to leave anyone around to contest her rule."

"Who ..." Minako began, then Artemis interrupted her.

"What do you want, Helios?" Artemis demanded with a growl. "You're not welcome here."

"Tsk, tsk, Artemis. I would have expected better from you." Helios said with a laugh. "I only came to tell you two things. First, that the threat you're facing is worse than you realize. It was the main reason the two Kingdoms formed. Second, King Appollyon never betrayed his wife, no matter how bad it looked." The fox ran off at this point, laughing, vanishing into the shadows. The Senshi stared after him for several minutes.

"Who was that and what did he mean by that, Luna?" Usagi asked, turning toward the cat.

"His name is Helios, and you would be best to know of his as the Star Kingdom's version of me and Artemis." Luna replied and inwardly chuckled at the expressions the Senshi had on their faces. "What he meant, was Queen Serenity, your grandmother, sent your mother to the capitol of the Star Kingdom, shortly after the incident with the ore transport.

"The treaty that was finally agreed upon had several strange additions to it, but one of the conditions was that your mother had to marry Appollyon. Helios was the Ambassador that presented the treaty to the Royal council."

"What did he mean about the council jumping to conclusions?" Ami asked curiously. Luna looked over at Artemis uncomfortably, and the Senshi were surprised when he laughed.

"What he meant was that when he presented the treaty, Luna and several other councilors accused Appollyon of holding your mother against her will." Artemis said, while Luna cringed at the memory. "What actually happened is that your mother fell in love with Appollyon, and knowing her mothers prejudices against the Star Kingdom, made their marriage a requirement of the treaty. When the truth came out, four councilors resigned in shame and the treaty was immediately approved."

"So who was the other person who drowned?" Usagi asked in shock when she heard how her mother got married, and then remembering something that Luna said before. "Didn't my mother have that investigated?"

"Absolutely." Luna replied. "Unfortunately, the guards who chased them into the valley were killed in an avalanche as they were coming out of the valley. No one saw what actually happened, they only found the girls floating in the pools. It was obvious that they were murdered, but we never found out who did it."

"Who was the third girl, Luna?" Usagi asked somewhat angrily at Luna, whom she thought was avoiding the question. Luna looked at Usagi and sighed.

"The girls name was Solona, your twin sister." Luna replied.

"I had a twin sister?" Usagi asked in total shock and surprise.

"Yes you did." Luna replied, knowing what was going on with Usagi. "After your parents married, they had agreed to let your mother run the Moon Kingdom, and your father the Star Kingdom. Both of them wanted a heir for their respective Kingdom, so the Queen had used the crystal to make sure she had twins, but when you two were born, both of you were girls. That saddened your father, but he still loved both of you dearly. It was because of your mother that your father had created the first female Senshi in the Star Kingdom. But an occurrence that happened, drove a wedge between your mother and father."

"What happened?" Usagi asked quietly.

"There was an argument, shortly after you two were born, about who and how the Gates of Time and the Guardian should behave and conduct. Appollyon said there should be two guardians, not one. The power of the Gates was too powerful for just one to handle. Your mother believed that one would be sufficient."

"What happened after the argument?" Ami asked.

"King Appollyon grabbed one of his children and went to his palace in the Star Kingdom. When Serenity tried to contact Appollyon, he would refuse to talk to her or let anyone from the Moon Kingdom into his Kingdom. It was several years after that, that Beryl rose and you guys know what happened then." The Senshi sat silently after Luna finished talking, saddened by what happened to the three girls, one thousand years ago.

xxxxx

"Those cats can be incredibly rude some times." Helios said to his companions. "What is the status on locating the Senshi and Haiyashi?"

"I've located Haiyashi three or four times, but that random disappearances of his, keeps screwing me up. One second I'm right behind him and the next, he's gone." Achilles grumbled, his black fur bristling in agitation.

"What about Saria?" Helios asked another fox, this one bluish-black.

"She's in Nerima." Polyarch said with her teeth set in a grimace. "Are we sure we want to wake her up? That guy, Steve, may not be ready to handle Saria's presence in his mind."

"Actually I think she'll help him make the adjustment to his curse faster." Myria, a red haired fox with strange neon green marks on her tail, said seriously. "He's doing okay, but I think he's going to get a nasty surprise when Saria's period forces him to stay in female form for three days."

"What do you mean?" Helios asked in confusion. "I thought only water could change them?"

"With Haiyashi and his human form that's true." Polyarch explained. "But the guys who change to girls have an added 'bonus' curse if you will. When their female bodies would be having their period, if they get changed or they are in their female form at the time, they will be locked if their female form until it passes. I just hope none of them get raped and get pregnant. If that happens, they're stuck until the baby's born."

"Couldn't they abort?" Achilles asked, then jumped backwards when Myria turned on him with a growl.

"Don't even think it Achilles." She barked angrily. "The instant any of them do something like that, their power will be gone forever, because of the spiritual damage. Now they are unlikely to get pregnant, but if they do, they must carry the child to term. Anything else would ruin all hope for defeating our enemy."

"Now we have to contact our wards soon, because we have to activate their powers soon." Helios said as Achilles apologized. "Mine SHOULD be easy, since Solona has grown up with her twin sister. Solaris could be a problem though, since that idiot father of her host has pushed him so much and programmed him to think girls are weak and stupid. Do you think you can deal with it Myria?"

"I could use help from you and Solaris." She replied cautiously. "If we can show Ranma the advantages of his female side, Solaris can do the rest."

"Now, Luna and Artemis still have a grunge against us, so don't be too surprised if the Moon Kingdom Senshi are resistant at first." Helios said to the others. "I made contact with Central though and somehow Serenity is now part of the system. When I explained to her what was coming, she agreed to talk to her daughter. Until we can get the others to trust us, she's our only point of contact."

"How are Sirius and Orion doing with finding the others?" Polyarch asked. "If the Dark One really is waking up, we'll need all seven of the Senshi awake and ready."

"Tirlia is on her way to Nerima." Helios replied. "Orion says she's as ready as she will ever be, but I have to wake her up. So Orion will bring her to me as soon as she thinks she can do it safely. Sirius is still trying to find her ward, but says she has a few leads on where to find her."

"All right." Polyarch said with a sigh. "Has anyone found Draconia? If we can, that will shift the balance in our favor."

"The only one I've seen who fits the genetic profile of Draconia is that girl, Akane." Myria replied. "She has the looks, the temper, and the sheer brute strength, but it's Haiyashi that will be able to recognize her. He is the only one that could."

"Okay everyone, remember, we have to get these Senshi ready for full activation." Helios said, looking at each of the guardians. "Normally they would have been preparing for their entire lives, but that wasn't possible. Do everything you can to help with the transition." The foxes all nodded, then headed off in separate directions.

"I just hope they'll be ready in time." Helios said to himself as he went to put his part of the plan into action.

xxxxx

Usagi was walking home with Luna and Chibi-Usa in silence. After what Luna had told everyone, she was surprised at what was in store for her. From what she remembered, from what her mother told her, and what Luna had hinted at the night before, she thought she was ready for what Luna was going to tell them. She just wasn't ready for what Luna really told them.

"I had a twin sister." Usagi mumbled out loud.

Luna and Chibi-Usa could tell that Usagi was going in shock, after finding out about her twin sister, and what had happened to her. Chibi-Usa thought Hotaru would go into shock upon finding out she had a twin sister, but Hotaru was very happy to know that maybe her twin was out there somewhere. Chibi-Usa decided to keep an eye on her 'mother' until she knew her 'mother' was okay. The rest of the trip was made in silence.

Once they made it back home, Luna and Chibi-Usa ran off to other parts of the house. As Usagi was walking down the hallway, the phone started ringing. Since she was the closest to the phone, she answered it.

"Moshi moshi ... May I ask who's calling? ... Okay, please hold on." Usagi said as she set the phone down, she then went looking for her father. She found him sitting in the living room reading the newspaper. "Dad, there is a person by the name of Steve Stachowicz on the phone for you."

"It is?" He asked in surprise. "Thank you."

He set the newspaper down while Usagi headed upstairs to her room. He got up and went to the phone.

"Steve? ... Hello Steve, what are you calling for? ... Where are you and how long are you in the area? ... That is good to hear. I would like to hear why you're here. How about coming and visit tomorrow evening? ... Sure, if he wants to come, it's all right ... Any time after dinner sounds good ... Bye."

After he gave Steve the directions on how to get to his place, he hung up the phone. He smiled because it was good to hear from the son of his friend from the states. That was how his wife saw him when he entered the kitchen.

"You seem in a joyous mood all of a sudden." Ikuko said.

"I got a call from the son of my friend in the states." Kenji replied.

"Really? Isn't he the one that keeps calling you 'uncle' since he was young, and why did he call?"

"Yes, the last time I took a business trip to the states, he was away at college. He called to say hi and that he was in the area."

"Where is he staying?"

"The Tendo Dojo in the Nerima district."

"You should invite him over."

"I already did. Is tomorrow after dinner sound good?"

"Sounds perfect."

"Since Shingo is going to be at a friend's house at that time, I'll see if Usagi can be here."

"Okay, dear."

Usagi was in her room, lying on her bed, just staring up at the ceiling. She was still thinking about what Luna had told them, and what Helios had brought up. Finding out you had a twin sister that you never knew existed, and then finding out that she was murdered, puts a hard feeling in her heart. She was contemplating wither or not to find the Senshi of the Star Kingdom. Her mother had said that the enemy was too strong for the Moon Kingdom Senshi alone to fight, that they needed their help. She didn't know what to do when there came a knocking at the door.

"Come in." Usagi said. The door opened to reveal her father and Luna running inside. "Hello dad. What could I do for you?"

"What are you doing tomorrow night after dinner?" Kenji asked.

"Nothing to important, why?" Usagi asked.

"The son of a friend of mine from the states is going to visit tomorrow and may bring a friend."

"Was that who was on the phone?"

"Yes, I've known his family since he was about four years old. Every time I've taken a business trip to the states, I've stayed at his parents place. He's been calling me 'uncle' for years now, so don't be surprised if he calls you 'cousin'."

"Uh, okay."

"Good night Honey."

"Good night dad."

After her father left, Usagi went back to staring at the ceiling. Luna jumped up on the bed and walked up until she was near Usagi's head and sat down. Luna waited a while for Usagi to start talking, but Usagi remained quiet, staring up at the ceiling. Luna was getting worried and broke the silence.

"Are you all right, Usagi?" Luna asked, worried.

"Was it true on what you said about the Star Kingdom?" Usagi asked back.

"I'm afraid so." Luna replied.

"Was what Helios said true also?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't trust him or his companions."

"I see."

"Are you going to be all right if we have to face the Star Kingdom?"

"I don't know. How would you react if you have to face your twin?" After Usagi asked that, Luna could only remain silent. "I have a lot on my mind right now."

"I understand." Luna said and then jumped off the bed and crawled under it and fell asleep.

xxxxx

It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining, birds were singing, and there was a slight breeze in the air. Steve had gotten up early and helped Kasumi make breakfast. Kasumi tried telling Steve that he was a guest, that he didn't need to help out, and Steve told her that he went to school to be a cook and he needed to keep in practice. Kasumi reluctantly agreed and let him help her out, but secretly she was glad that someone was helping her out with the household chores. Steve helped her out until he had to join Ranma and Genma for the morning workout session.

After the workout, Ranma and Steve grabbed a quick bath before joining everyone for breakfast. Everyone thanked Kasumi for the great breakfast, and Kasumi said that Steve helped her in making the meal. Everyone then thanked Steve for him helping Kasumi, but before everyone left the table, Nabiki said that she had some information to put out.

"As everyone knows by now, because of a slip of tongue by Akane," Nabiki started saying, and Akane started to blush when she figured out what her sister was talking about. "Everyone now thinks that Stack's cursed form is our new youngest sister. So to cover that blunder, I created a history and a new identity. Stack's cursed form's name is now Talia Tendo, thanks to Akane. We adopted her and she arrived yesterday. The reason we didn't tell anyone, if someone asks, is that we wanted her to feel at home before anyone started pestering her. And if anyone asks about her education, we are home tutoring her. Here you go Stack, read this so you can know what you should when you are 'Talia'."

Nabiki passes a folder over to Steve and he quickly pages through it before he nods at her. Then Steve, Ranma, Nabiki, and Akane leave for school.

xxxxx

It was in the middle of the second class that Kuno had came up to Nabiki and asked her if she knew about the girl he had met yesterday.

"Sure I know her." Nabiki replied. "The girl with the pigtail and Chinese clothes."

"Nabiki Tendo, can this be true?" Kuno exclaimed.

After Nabiki nodded her head, Kuno quickly went to his desk and quickly started writing a note. While he was writing the note, he was smiling insanely.

"If she thinks she can defeat Upperclassman Kuno and simply walk away, she thinks wrongly." Kuno though while he was writing the note. After he was done, he handed the note to Nabiki. "Here."

After everyone returned home after school, while they were waiting for Kasumi and Steve to finish up dinner, Nabiki handed Ranma the note that Kuno had written. When Ranma took the note, he saw it was addressed 'To the Tree-Borne Kettle-Girl'.

"This is to me?" Ranma asked confused.

"'To the girl side,' he said." Nabiki replied. "I don't think he believes you're the same person."

"'On Sunday in the tenth hour, meet me in the second field of Furinkan High School.'" Ranma read.

"Sounds like a duel, huh?" Akane said as she heard what Ranma had read.

"Little Kuno just hates to lose." Nabiki said.

"Vengeful, hm?" Akane said.

"Oh, I don't think it will be much trouble." Ranma said, then Kasumi came out and called everyone to dinner.

xxxxx

JUUBAN WARD

It was after school hours in the Juuban Ward. All the Inner Senshi, with Chibi-Usa, is at Rei's place doing their homework. It was a rare occasion because Usagi didn't get any detention, even though she had kept thinking about her 'cousin' that her father said she now had. She kept thinking what her 'cousin' would be like; she knew from her father that he was older. It was then that the others got her attention.

"Hey, Usagi, quit day dreaming, we have homework to do." Makoto said.

"I'm sorry, it's just that my father said that I have a 'cousin' coming over to visit tonight that I didn't know I had." Usagi replied.

"Cousin?" Everyone else exclaimed in surprise.

"Well, he's not really my cousin by blood, it's just that he's been calling my father 'uncle' for his entire life." Usagi said.

"What does he look like?" Minako asked.

"Is he cute?" Makoto asked.

"I don't know I've never met him before." Usagi replied. "But what I got from my father, he's older than us."

"Why is he visiting you?" Ami asked.

"He isn't visiting me, he's visiting my family." Usagi replied. "He's in the area and wanted to say hi while he was here."

"When is he coming over?" Rei asked.

"After dinner, so me and Chibi-Usa have to leave shortly." Usagi said. So they continued to study and do homework until Usagi and Chibi-Usa had to leave.

xxxxx

While Usagi was getting out of her school uniform and dressed in her normal clothes, she was talking to Luna about meeting her cousin. She remembers his family always sending Christmas cards every year, and ever so often, getting a present from them. Luna couldn't help her much, but told her to act normally and be nice. When Usagi was done getting dressed, her mother called her down for dinner. After dinner, the Tsukino's were waiting patiently for Steve to arrive.

About fifteen minutes after they finished cleaning up after dinner, the doorbell rang. Mr. Tsukino got up and answered the door. On the other side were two people, one person he recognized as the son of his friend from America, and the other was a Japanese boy. The one he knew was dressed in a black, silk, Chinese shirt and pants, the Japanese boy was wearing a red shirt version of what Steve was wearing. He smiled and let them in.

"Hello, uncle Kenji." Steve said.

"Hello Steve, who's your friend?" Kenji asked.

"This is Ranma Saotome." Steve replied. "He's one of my sensei's in martial arts."

"That's nice to hear." Kenji said and then turned to face Ranma. "How do you do young man?"

"I'm fine sir." Ranma said bowing slightly.

"That's good, please come in." Kenji said, moving over slightly so Steve and Ranma could enter the house.

"Thank you." Steve said.

"Meow."

Kenji noticed that Steve and Ranma had suddenly froze in their tracks. He saw that Steve had a look on his face that looked like he suddenly remembered something that was very important, while Ranma had a look that he had just heard his greatest fear.

"Meow."

He saw as both Steve and Ranma look down and he looked down also and saw Luna and Diana sitting there looking up at Steve and Ranma. He then heard Ranma scream 'cats!' and he looked up and saw Ranma running out of the house like there was a fire behind him. He looked back at Steve and saw him shaking his head.

"What just happened?" Kenji asked confused.

"I forgot to ask if you guys had any cats. Ranma is afraid of cats, so if you can, please hide the cats for a bit." Steve replied.

"Okay." Kenji said.

So Steve then goes out to retrieve Ranma, who had knocked himself out cold by running into the brick wall fence line. At the same time, Mr. Tsukino is making Usagi and Chibi-Usa take their cats up to their bedrooms. Steve came back in with a groggy Ranma. Mr. Tsukino shows them to the living room. Steve and Ranma sat down on the couch, next to each other, as Mr. Tsukino sat in an easy chair to the right of Steve. Shingo sat on the floor near to the TV, and Mrs. Tsukino came in with snacks and drinks.

"Hello, Aunt Ikuko." Steve said as she passed the snacks to him.

"Hello Steven, how are you?" Ikuko replied.

"I'm doing fine." Steve said.

"We'll get going once my daughter and niece come back down." Kenji said.

"Okay." Steve said as they waited a couple of moments before Usagi and Chibi-Usa came downstairs and sat near Mr. Tsukino.

"Now that everyone is here, let's get started." Kenji said. "This is Steve Stachowicz, the son of my friend in America. I've known him since he was about five years old."

"How do you do." Steve said to the other members of the Tsukino family. There was a round of hellos from the other Tsukino family members.

"Since you know my wife, Ikuko, this is my daughter Usagi, my niece Usagi also, but we call her Chibi-Usa to tell them apart, and this is my son, Shingo." Kenji introduced to Steve and Ranma. Both of them said a greeting to them.

"This is my friend, Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome school of Anything-goes martial arts, and my current Sensei." Steve started saying.

"You've taken up martial arts? Last I heard, you were hiking around America for a bit." Ikuko said somewhat confused.

"Yes I was." Steve replied. "It was something to do when I met my first Sensei in America."

So Steve started talking about everyday things, explain what has been going on lately, telling how the family has been doing lately, how he met Ranma, but leaving out Jusenkyo. It was then that Usagi asked the question that has been on her mind.

"Why are you afraid of cats?" Usagi asked Ranma. Ranma glanced at Steve in a panic. Steve looked back with a look saying if he should be the one to answer. Ranma just took a deep breath and let it out.

"It was a martial arts technique that my pop came across that was suppose to make the trainee invincible, by making them have the fierousisty of a cat." Ranma said.

"What is it called?" Ikuko asked.

"Neko-ken." Ranma said.

"How did the training go?" Kenji asked.

"The trainee is tied in fish sausage and thrown into a pit of hungry cats." Ranma said.

"What!" All the Tsukino's exclaimed.

"What would your father do something like that?" Ikuko asked.

"My pop would stop at nothing to train me in martial arts." Ranma said.

"Luckily it only happened once." Usagi said.

"Who said it was only one time?" Steve asked Usagi as he looked at her.

"What!" Exclaimed all the Tsukino's in shock.

"Pop kept trying different fish products until it proved some results." Ranma said.

"How could your father do something like that?" Ikuko said shocked.

"The idiot failed to read the entire book that talked about the Neko-ken." Steve said.

"Did you learn the Neko-ken?" Chibi-Usa asked.

"Oh yes, but at the cost of my sanity." Ranma replied.

"What do you mean?" Kenji asked. "You look very sane to me."

"Red here can only do the Neko-ken when his fear of cats peak and he becomes a cat himself." Steve said.

"Becomes a cat?" Ikuko asked confused.

"I mean acts like one." Steve corrected himself.

"Oh." Ikuko said understanding more what Steve had said.

They got off that topic because they noticed that Ranma was getting uncomfortable talking about it. So they talked about future plans that Steve and Ranma had. Everyone failed to notice that Luna and Diana were listening in on the top of the stairs. Both of them felt sorry on what happened to Ranma and understood what he did.

Steve explained that he was just planning to explore the area some more, while he learned more martial arts, before he had to go back to find a job in the culinary arts area. Ranma explained on how he was going to be a martial arts sensei when he was able to. The Tsukino's gasped when they found out he was all ready engaged. Ranma grumbled that it was his father's fault that he was engaged.

After a while, Steve realized it was getting late and that he and Ranma had to be getting back. The Tsukino's said their good-byes and Steve and Ranma left. Before they left, Mrs. Tsukino asked if they wanted to come over again on Sunday. Ranma had declined because of a challenge he had, and Steve said that he had nothing going on and would be glad to come over. They set a time and then Steve and Ranma left.

After Steve and Ranma left, Usagi and Chibi-Usa went up to Usagi's room. There they met Luna and Diana waiting for them.

"I can't believe that Ranma's father would do that to him." Chibi-Usa said.

"I know I feel sorry for him." Usagi said and then noticed Luna and Diana. "Sorry about putting you two up here."

"Don't worry, we heard the reason why." Luna said.

"His father is inhuman to do that." Diana said.

"I wish we could help him." Chibi-Usa said sadly.

"Well, I sensed something strange about those two, something weird." Luna said.

"Not this again." Usagi started complaining. "You kept saying that when I met the other Senshi."

"I know, but there is something about those two that I sensed." Luna replied.

"Well I'm tired and we can talk about this later, good night." Usagi said and went to her bedroom to get ready for bed, leaving the others standing there.

xxxxx

As Steve and Ranma were walking down the street, Steve was apologizing for not checking to see if the Tsukino's had any cats. Ranma told him not to worry about it, that he couldn't remember to do everything. They continued towards the train station and talked about the Tsukino's.

Most of their talk was Steve saying how he knew of the Tsukino's, the reasons why he calls Mr. Tsukino 'uncle', and similar topics. Then their talks went on about the girls, Usagi and Chibi-Usa. The discussion went to the girl's unusual hairstyle, to their looks; to the way their eye's looked. Steve even noticed that in their eyes seem to hold a portion of long experience of life in their innocanse look. It was then that they walked in front of a yard and a sprinkler system came on and hit Steve and Ranma with cold water, changing them into their other form.

"Man, I hate this." Ranma complained.

"Just be glad that it happened now and not back at the Tsukino's place." Steve said.

"I guess you're right." Ranma said grumbling.

"Let's get back." Steve said.

"Okay." Ranma said.

After wringing out as much water as they could, they continued on. As they rounded the corner, Steve collided with another person. As they stood back up, Ranma and Steve noticed that the person that Steve walked into was a woman in mid-thirties, wearing a blue kimono, had auburn hair done in a bun, and had a long item wrapped up in cloth.

"I'm sorry ma'am." Steve apologized.

"That's all right dear." The woman said. "You should be more careful next time."

"I will Ma'am." Steve said.

Steve and Ranma continue on and failed to notice the strange look the woman was giving Ranma.

xxxxx

SUNDAY AT FURINKIN

Ranma was standing on the appointed field at the appointed time. She was getting bored waiting for Kuno to show up. As the School bell chimed the appointed hour, Ranma was about to complain that Kuno was late when she noticed a figure approaching in the distance. When the person came in better view, Ranma saw that it was Kuno in his usual garb. Kuno walked up to stand a short distance away from Ranma.

"So you have come, my Tree-borne-kettle-girl." Kuno said after a while of looking at each other.

"You don't learn quick, do you, pal?" Ranma asked. They stood staring at each other for another several minutes. "Well, where's your sword?"

"Heh, I have no need for a sword." Kuno said confidently.

"Yeah? Pretty confident, I guess." Ranma said.

"Confident enough you give you THIS!" Kuno shouted as he reached behind himself and threw an item at Ranma.

Ranma reacted and caught the item with her right hand, as it was about to fly over her head. Ranma wondered what Kuno was doing when she noticed red flower petals start falling in front of her face. She looked up at the item in her hand and found out that she had caught a bouget of roses. She then looked at Kuno in surprise and saw him walking away. He then stopped and faced her.

"I love you." Kuno said and continued walking away. Ranma was shocked at what happened and just fell to her knees in shock as she watched Kuno walk away.

xxxxx

SUNDAY WITH STEVE

After a late breakfast, Steve had left to go visit the Tsukino's. He got there a little bit before ten in the morning. He got dressed in a white, short sleeve, Chinese silk shirt, with yellow ties and black pants. When he got there, he wondered what he was going to do. After he entered, they talked for a bit about what's been going on lately for the past few day's and how is the challenge Ranma has. Since the time was at ten, he didn't know.

After they stopped talking, Usagi wanted to show Steve to her friends, since Chibi-Usa was over at Hotaru's. Mr. And Mrs. Tsukino said it was up to Steve if he wanted to go. Usagi quickly ran to Steve and quickly asked him about meeting her friends. Because she asked so fast, he couldn't understand a single word. He looked at her blankly for a moment and then placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Take a deep breath and ask me again slowly." Steve said calmly. Usagi did what he asked her and asked her question again.

"I was wondering if you would like to go out and meet my friends for a while, if you want to." Usagi asked.

"I would like to." Steve replied.

"Yeah!" Usagi exclaimed and jumps up in excitement.

She forgot that Steve was still holding her shoulders and lost her balance coming down. She came crashing into Steve, causing him to lose his balance and making them fall to the floor. Usagi looked up at Steve embarrassed.

"I always wanted a pretty girl falling for me." Steve said smiling, causing Usagi to blush even more than what she all ready was. "Don't worry about it."

Usagi stood up with Steve's help and went upstairs to change clothes. When she came back down, all that Steve noticed of what she changed from her with shorts and a white t-shirt was added a pink sweater and white tennis shoes. Usagi told her mother that she was going out to meet her friends and was taking Steve with her. Her mother told her to be back by dinner and not make it too hard for him.

Usagi said she would and grabbed Steve's arm as she was leaving and dragged him with her. After they got several blocks from her house, Steve broke free from her grip and told her he can follow her just fine. She apologized and continued walking towards the arcade. As they made their way to the arcade, Steve asked Usagi to tell him more about her friends that he was going to meet. Steve then noticed a chain linked fence approaching.

Usagi started explaining that some of her friends won't be there, but there will be four there. One is named Ami, and she is the smartest of them all. Next is Rei, and she is a Shinto priestess at a nearby Shrine. Next is Makoto, saying that she is a good cook. Finally Minako, and she is very athletic. Usagi described them as best as she could, and felt like she could describe them better.

"Don't worry about it, I'll make my judgment when I meet them." Steve said.

Usagi smiled and turned her head to face Steve, only to find him not behind her. She became concerned and stopped and started looking around for him.

"Up here." Usagi heard Steve's voice above her.

Usagi looked up and didn't believe her eyes, she saw Steve walking on top of the fence. Steve knew what her question was going to be and explained to her the method of training for balance. He then decided to change the topic before something happened.

"Last one to the arcade pays the first round of games." Steve announced and started running down the fence.

"Hey, no fair." Usagi shouted out.

Usagi started after Steve when he started running down the fence. Usagi caught up to him and past him when he ran out of fence and had to jump down to the road. Steve was only several steps behind Usagi when she reached the arcade. Usagi saw that she won and started jumping for joy. Steve came up to her and handed her a 1000-yen to spend there. Usagi quickly took the money, thanked him, and ran inside.

Steve shook his head at Usagi's obvious enjoyment and followed her in. When he entered, he looked around and found her over by a 'Sailor V' arcade. He smiled and walked over to the token machine and got some tokens. He looked around to see what game he wanted to play and noticed the crane game. Inside he saw a white with pink highlights, two foot in length, plush rabbit. He smiled at it as he thought of Usagi liking it, so he tried to get it.

Usagi used up all the yen Steve gave her playing 'Sailor V'. When she lost her last life, she became chest fallen because she didn't get pass the part she wanted to. Then all of a sudden, she felt something touch her left shoulder and turned her head to see what it was. She saw she was face to face with a white and pink fur ball. She jumped back a little in surprise before she saw it was Steve holding a plush rabbit, smiling at her.

"Don't do that, you scared me." Usagi said to Steve.

"I didn't mean to." Steve replied.

"What is the rabbit for?" Usagi asked.

"I won it in the crane game and decided to give it to you." Steve replied.

"For me?" Usagi asked surprised.

"From what I know of Japanese, your first name means 'rabbit', so when I got this, I thought of you. So here." Steve said as he hands the rabbit over.

"Uh, thank you." Usagi said somewhat confused.

"Isn't it time to meet your friends?" Steve asked.

"Oh yes, come on, lets go." Usagi said after looking at her watch and then drags Steve out by the arm.

After a couple minutes of being dragged by the arm, Steve and Usagi came up to a food court of the strip mall they were at. They came up to a food place that had outside sitting. Once they got there, Usagi looked around real quick and then started dragging Steve to a table that had four girls sitting there. One had long black hair, red t-shirt, red skirt. One had long blond hair with a red ribbon, yellow shirt, white shorts. One with brown hair, done up in a ponytail, green sleeveless shirt, blue shorts. Last had short bluish black hair, blue blouse, blue shorts, and was reading a book. The long blacked haired one noticed them first and glanced at her watch.

"Well, what do you know, she made it on time." The long black haired one said.

"Cut it out, Rei." Usagi grumbled.

"Who's that with you, Usagi?" The long blond haired one with a red ribbon asked.

"Remember I told you about my cousin visiting?" Usagi asked the group and saw them all nod their heads in remembrance. "Well, this is him."

"Am I missing something here?" Steve asked confused.

"Nothing much. Just I was telling them I had to meet you the day you came over instead of staying in our study group." Usagi explained.

"Oh okay." Steve accepted her explanation. "So who are your friends?"

"Oh yeah. Well, over to our left is Rei Hino, next to her is Makoto Kino, the one with her face in the book is Ami Mizuno, last is Minako Aino." Usagi introduced them. Everyone replies back with a greeting. "Everyone, this is my unofficial cousin, Steve Stack ... uh, Stach ... uh ..."

"Stachowicz." Steve helped Usagi out.

"You're American, aren't you?" Minako asked in English, causing a few of her friends to look at her in confusion.

"Yes I am." Steve replied, picking up a British accent in her question and replied back in English. "You speak British English very well."

"I did grow up there for several years." Minako said.

"I see." Steve said.

"Good, I now have someone I can keep up with on my English." Minako said.

"I'll be glad to help out, but I think we better go back to Japanese. We are getting confused looks from most of everyone here." Steve said.

"Okay." Minako said when she did see the looks her friends were giving them.

"What was that about?" Usagi asked.

"Mina here was happy that someone was around to help her with her English." Steve said as he messed Minako's hair. Minako knocked his hand away and scowled at him, but smiled a little bit later.

They had then ordered their lunch and had some small talk, mostly centered on Steve about his life and what he has been doing lately. When he informed them that he was 24 and had graduated college all ready, that most of them exclaimed how young he looked. He explained how he accidentally came across a place in China that helped, but he couldn't remember exactly where it was. He explained what he did after college and how he ended up in Japan, but making it more believable and leaving out Jusenkyo, to the point where he met Usagi for the first time. At about that time, they were done eating their lunch.

Steve excused himself and went to the restroom. As Steve was in the restroom, the girls suddenly heard several screams of terror nearby. They quickly got up and went to explore what was going on. When they got to the area, they saw two creatures that looked like a cross between a bat and an ape, basically an ape body with a bat like head. The both of them were basically walking through the mall just destroying anything in their way and tossing people that were unfortunate enough to be within their reach. They quickly ran into an alleyway and transformed.

Steve had left the restroom; several people running in a panic away from nearby greeted him. He got to the table where he was having lunch, and found that all the girls were gone. He noticed that Usagi left her plush rabbit on the table. So he went over and grabbed it and started wondering where Usagi could have ran to until he heard a commotion farther down the mall. Being cautious, he made his way over there to see what was going on. When he got within sight of what was going on, he stared wide-eyed at what he saw.

He saw ape-like creatures with mutated bat-like heads, fighting five girls in what Steve thought were cheerleader outfits. He just watched on as the girls fought the creatures with minor difficulty. The creatures seemed to be shrugging off all the strange attacks the girls were doing. Some of the girls were taking some bad hits by the creatures. The girls were about to lose when four more girls showed up. When they did, the girls quickly took out the two monsters. Steve was surprised at what he saw, and he had a nagging feeling about the girl in purple with the glaive.

As the girls were catching their breath, Steve was wondering what happened to Usagi. He took one last look before he decided to look for Usagi. As he looked at the group of girls, he noticed that the one in blue had noticed him and went over to the person that Steve figured was the leader. He watched as the one in blue talk to the leader, the leader quickly turned her head in his direction and had a wide-eyed expression, and then the leader turned to the other girls and said something and then all of the girls started running away. Steve figured he wasn't supposed to see them and then started to look for Usagi.

He made his way back to the restaurant and started calling out Usagi's name as he started looking for her. After calling her name for several minutes, he finally came across her. He found her hiding in an alleyway, breathing hard, and looking very tired.

"Usagi!" Steve shouted as he ran over to her.

"Steve." Usagi said and hugs Steve tightly like she was very afraid.

"Are you all right?" Steve asked.

"I was so scared." Usagi said shakily.

"Don't worry, those things are gone." Steve said assureaningly. Then placed Usagi's arm around his neck and he placed an arm around her waist. "You look tired, rest upon me."

"Okay." Usagi complied.

"Where are your friends?" Steve asked her as they started heading back to her place.

"Ahh, they continued running while I fell behind." Usagi nervously explained.

"That's all right, at least you're all right." Steve said.

"Yeah." Usagi replied.

"I just wonder what those things were and who those cheerleaders were that were fighting them." Steve wondered.

"I don't know what those things were, but I know those 'cheerleaders', as you call them, are called the Sailor Senshi." Usagi said, minerly upset that Steve called the Senshi cheerleaders.

"Sailor Senshi?" Steve asked in confusion. Usagi then started explaining about the history of the Senshi as they walked back to Usagi's house.

After dropping Usagi off at her house, after explaining to her parents what happened at the mall, Steve headed back to the Tendo Dojo. As he was walking down the street, a bunch of kids were running around playing a game. He realized that they had Super Soakers, after they had soaked him. The kids didn't even notice the change, so Steve kept on going.

As Steve walked pass an alleyway, she felt several hands grab her and pulled her into the alleyway. Steve stumbled about and landed on her hands and knees. When she looked up, she noticed four boys around thirteen years old, and they didn't look too happy to see Steve. They slowly approached Steve and she slowly backed away from them.

"What are you doing here freak?" One of the boys said. Steve was wondering how they knew about his curse and probably figured they saw him change forms.

"You're a freak, get out of here freak." Another boy said. Steve tried to get up, but the boys pushed her back down.

"Where do you think you're going, Hotaru." The third boy said. Steve then realized they though she was someone else.

"My name isn't Hotaru, it's ..." Steve tried saying but was cut off.

"Shut up freak." The first boy said as he slapped Steve across the face. "You have no right to go to our school."

"Listen, you have ..." Steve tried explaining again and was cut off again.

"Shut up freak." The first boy said and shoved Steve so Steve landed on her back. Then the other boys went and held her arms down and the first boy noticed something and reaches out and grabs Steve's left breast. Steve broke free from the boys holding her arms and shoved the boy that was holding her breast away from her. She then used her arms to cover her breasts. "Hey guys, she's not wearing a bra."

The guys smiled lustfully and closed in on her. Steve got a serious look to her face as she confronted the boys.

"I don't think so, perverts." Steve said angrily and then proceeded to beat the boys up some. Steve didn't injure them that bad, but they would have bruises in the morning. Steve ran out of the alleyway, leaving the four boys moaning.

Steve quickly made her way back to the Tendo Dojo. After Steve got into the house, she sat on the porch, curled into a ball and caught her breath. It was then that Akane and Ranma came out of the Dojo and saw Steve sitting there. They saw the look of Steve's face and wondered what was wrong.

"Hey Stack, what's up?" Ranma asked, getting Steve's attention.

"Oh, hey Red." Steve said quietly.

"You seem a little down, what's wrong?" Ranma asked.

"Two things actually happened to me, and one of them is a reason I'm a little uncomfortable with this form." Steve replied.

"What happened?" Akane asked.

"Akane, do you know about monster attacks in the Juuban Ward?" Steve asked while Ranma looked at Steve like she was crazy, and then became wide-eyed at Akane's reply.

"Sure. They've been happening on and off for the past two years, why?" Akane wondered.

"There was a monster attack at the mall me and my cousin were at, having lunch with her friends." Steve replied.

"Are you and your cousin all right?" Akane asked in concern.

"Yeah, we're fine. I was in the restroom when the monsters struck. When I came out, I saw the Senshi fighting them." Steve said.

"You saw the Senshi?" Akane asked in amazement.

"Yes, nine of them." Steve said.

"Oh, I wish I could see them." Akane said.

"Who are these Senshi you two are talking about?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"Only the greatest female superhero group around." Akane said.

"I wouldn't know." Steve said. "But my cousin adores them, especially the one called Sailor Moon. But to me at first, they looked like cheerleaders." Akane and Ranma chuckle slightly at that.

"So what is the other thing that happened to you?" Akane asked and then saw Steve got depressed.

"When I was walking back to here, after dropping my cousin back home, I got soaked by kids with Super Soakers. After that, four thirteen year old boys pulled me into an alleyway and started calling me a freak." Steve started saying and Akane and Ranma got wide-eyed. "I was wondering how they knew, thinking they saw me change, but it turns out they mistaken me for someone else. I tried to tell them that they had the wrong person, but they wouldn't let me talk. It was then that they got physical by holding my arms so I couldn't move. Then one of them went and grabbed my breast."

"What!" Ranma was shocked.

"Those perverts." Akane said angrily.

"I know, I broke free of their grip and proceeded to beat them up. I didn't hurt them to bad, but they'll be feeling it in the morning." Steve said.

"Good for you, sis." Akane said and then proceeded to hug Steve affectionately. Steve froze up at the contact and Ranma stared at them in surprise. Akane then realizes what she did and releases Steve. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, onnechan." Steve said, smiling up at Akane, and having her smile back. "So Red, what happened at the challenge?" She then hears Akane chuckle and Ranma grumble for a moment. "What happened?"

"It wasn't really a challenge. It was Kuno expressing his love to his 'Tree-borne-kettle-girl'." Akane said chuckling. Steve looks at Ranma for confirmation and see Ranma nod slightly.

"Man, we both have had crappy afternoons. I'm going to take a bath, I'll see you two later." Steve said getting up and heading to take a bath.

xxxxx

THE NEXT MORNING

Ranma woke up screaming. Once he calmed down and realized what he had was just a nightmare and he started to breath normally. Because he screamed when he woke up, he woke Steve up.

"Hey, Red, you all right?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, just had a nightmare." Ranma replied.

"What was it about?"

"Kuno falling in love with my female side." Ranma replied with a shiver when he remembered the dream.. He then felt a hand on his arm and saw that it belonged to Steve.

"I can guess what you're feeling." Steve said with a sincere smile. "But since we're going to be getting up soon, let's go practice before Genma wakes up and you can tell me what happened in your dream."

"Okay." Ranma said and both of them got up and started practicing.

After breakfast, Akane, Ranma, and Steve started running towards school in a hurry. Actually, it was Akane and Ranma running with a purpose and Steve was running hard just to keep up with them. As they entered the school gates, Steve saw the usual mob of boys waiting to fight Akane. As Steve watched, Akane and Ranma just plowed a path right through the mob without even stopping. At the end of the mob stood Kuno. Steve remembered what Ranma told him what the nightmare he had was, and he watched as Ranma suddenly charged Kuno and watched as both Akane and Ranma jump up and kick Kuno in the face. Before Kuno landed on the ground, Akane and Ranma were almost inside the school. Steve had made his way through the path and heard what Akane and Ranma were talking about before they entered the school.

"Hey, don't fight my fights for me!" Akane yelled at Ranma.

"I'm not doing it for you." Ranma said flatly as they entered the school.

xxxxx

During lunch in Nabiki's classroom, Kuno came over to Nabiki and tossed a plush panda on her desk. She was drinking from a juice box when she looked up at him in confusion.

"What's this?" Nabiki asked.

"A present." Kuno said blatantly.

"Not my style." Nabiki said and tossed the panda back to Kuno.

"Did I offer it to you, Nabiki Tendo?" Kuno said and set the panda back on her desk. "This sweet treasure I save for my Goddess in Pigtails." When Kuno said that, it caused Nabiki to spit the drink she had in her mouth into Kuno's face.

"Now look at what you made me do." Nabiki said with a little anger.

"What ... I ... made you do?" Kuno said with the drink dripping off of his face.

Nabiki then reached in her book bag and laid down five pictures for Kuno to look at.

"Set of five for 3000 yen. You want?" Nabiki asked.

"Oh ... she is so ... so ... so ..." The five pictures were of Ranma's female form. One was Ranma sleeping in boxers and a tank top. Another was Ranma sleeping in boxers and her Chinese shirt, with several top buttons undone to show a lot of cleavage. Another was Ranma and Steve accidentally being hosed down by Kasumi. Another was Ranma in tank top and boxers, fanning herself to cool down. And the last one was Ranma taking off her shirt with Mr. Tendo in the back ground spitting out what he had in his mouth. "... Defenseless."

"Kinda like a boy, huh?" Nabiki said smiling and accepts the money that Kuno hands over to her and starts counting it. "You're really something, you know? I mean, dropping Akane just like that."

"Dropping her?" Kuno said like it was of no concern. Both Nabiki and Kuno look at each other.

"You're not going to two-time her?" Nabiki said with a little anger in her voice.

"Hmph. Don't be vulgar." Kuno said thinking of Akane and his 'pigtailed girl'. "Akane, so pure and tidy. The pigtailed girl, bursting with health beauty. Both so dear I can give up neither. Do you call it 'deceit' that I would openly wish them both?"

"No, I call it ..." Nabiki said, slapping down five pictures of Akane in several different workout poses. "... Two timing!" Kuno picks up the pictures and looks at them.

"Set of five for 3000 yen." Nabiki said smiling.

"Such ... such ... ferocity. Sold." Kuno said slapping down the money.

xxxxx

To Be Continued