If you have gotten to this chapter without reading the disclaimer, then you will be utterly confused by the events detailed in it. Still to be complete: Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz video and others. Sailor Moon belongs to a bunch of other people and almost all the other works in this fic belong to other people as well. In point of fact I don't own a single stitch of this and am writing it without any compensation at all. I would, however appreciate a review.
Note: Where necessary, our Ranma will continue to be referred to as Ranko to keep confusion to a minimum.
Chapter 16 – Confrontations part II
Three sailor girls appeared in front of the Tomoe home. The red haired one shook her hair, cracked her knuckles, and started to knock on the door. A smaller black haired girl grabbed her hand and said, "Sol-san, should we really knock?"
"I don't see why not. I'm always annoyed when challengers break through the door screaming, 'prepare to die!' so I figure we ought to provide some courtesy even if we are planning on destroying all the Daimons here." Ranko glanced at the third Senshi. and said, "What do you think Sailor B?"
The tall and languid girl still looked much like she had previously. To a sailor senshi she would resemble Black Lady wearing a brown and green senshi uniform, while to Ranko saw was just a well endowed young lady with grayish pink hair. She glanced back with a seductive little smile and then said, "Whatever you prefer Sol."
Ranko gulped at the seductive look and the said, "Uh yeah. We knock on the door. Is that okay?"
"Okay Sol-san–you win."
Sailor Sol fluttered her flaming wings and knocked on the door. It was answered by the red haired witch, Kaolinite. She gasped and said, "You, you're the one who took my hand! Daimons, I summon you in the name of master Pharaoh 90!" She used her good hand to summon forth two Daimons. The creatures came forth to confront the Senshi while Kaolinite slammed the door and retreated into the house.
The two Daimons were very large and quite powerful. One of them tried to slam into Sailor Sol, but she deftly stepped out of the way and it went crashing down on the street. Sailor Sol laughed at that and walked towards it with a cocky grin. "I'll take out big, slow, and stupid over here. You guys concentrate on old ugly at the door."
The other large Daimon seeing its ally's error decided to create a giant broadsword from one of its arms and slashed it at the remaining two sailor girls. Sailor B blocked the blade with her oak staff while Saturn cleaved one of its arms off with her glaive. After that, the creature was easy pickings and the two sailor girls dusted it. They looked over to where Sol was fighting her Daimon just in time to see it go up in a torrent of plasma flames.
Sol rejoined her friends at the door. She smiled somewhat sheepishly and said, "Alright so knocking didn't work so well. Let's just smash down the door and attack."
The other two Senshi nodded and proceeded to smash through the door and into the house. Once inside the house they were met by more Daimons. After fighting and destroying the Daimon welcoming committee, the three girls made their way towards the basement of the house killing more Daimon adversaries as they went. In the beginning the battles were not terribly difficult and the girls were able to work as a team to defeat each set of adversaries, but as they won each fight the next seemed to get just a little tougher. The girls were slowly, but surely tiring themselves out.
Finally, they reached the basement door sweating and only Sailor Sol was not gasping for breath"Is everyone okay?", she asked. The others only nodded in return.
"Alright we take a quick break here to regain our energy and then we're going downstairs. I'll take point and attack the witch and whatever Daimons are left. You two see if you can find and heal Hotaru's dad okay?"
"Will you be okay against that witch and her Daimons by yourself Sol-san?"
The red haired Senshi nodded and said, "Yeah, I'll be okay Saturn. If it comes to it, I think I can use my Super Nova. Ever since Taya and I got in touch I've been able to see the flow of magical power from the Sun and I think I should be able to manipulate it somewhat more now."
Saturn jumped up and hugged Sol. "See I told you that getting closer to Taya would be good for you."
Sol nodded "Yeah, you were right." She extricated herself from the hug and said, "Now if you have enough energy to glomp me I think we should be fine to go downstairs."
Ranma Saotome teleported into the basement of the Tomoe household. He was still using most of his power to keep himself alive while he clutched the gaping hole in his chest, but he was indeed alive and victorious. He held the Holy Grail in his hands and walked towards the machine. He smiled and thought about the lovely machine. They had joined the witches at the behest of the master and Dr. Tomoe had designed and built this machine that not only allowed them to communicate with master Pharaoh 90, but also would bring the master to earth if provided enough power. Putting the Grail in the machine and brining the master to earth would be the culmination of his father's training years and years ago.
He remembered the first day he met the master vividly. He was a young boy all tied up in fish sausages. His idiot of a father threw him in a pit full of cats and as the cats clawed at him a voice called to him. It was the voice of the master promising him glory and power; promising him protection from the cats. He had accepted that power and killed all of the cats by draining them of their life essence. When he exited the pit he had been changed by the master. When he introduced his father to the power of the master, the old idiot was changed as well. Genma trained Ranma in the deadly sealed techniques over the next few weeks and the two continued their training journey seeking out only the deadliest of martial arts techniques. Much later, they met up with the witches and traveled to China searching for Jyusenkyo. Who would have thought that a cursed training ground wouldn't be a great source of evil power? Still they had run into that Amazon village and by fighting, killing those girls, and taking what power they could from heart crystals they had learned new and powerful techniques such as the Amaguriken and the Hiryu Shouten Ha.
Ranma smiled as he thought about the slaughter at the Amazon village. He finally snapped out of that fond reverie when he could see Kaolinite standing in front of the machine and speaking with the professor. He clutched his chest wound and smiled an evil smile as he realized that they hadn't seen him. He cloaked himself in the Umi Sen Ken and walked closer to the pair. Kaolinite was speaking to Dr. Tomoe, "They have entered the house and are killing the daimon guardians. If we do not act quickly they will be down here and able to stop us."
The professor looked a bit panicked as he said, "I have tried to reach Cyprine and Ptiliol, but they were not available." He held out seven daimon eggs and said, "This is all we have left. I'm afraid we will have to contact the new messiah for help."
Ranma appeared behind Kaolinite and said, "That won't be necessary."
The red haired witch jumped in surprise and turned towards Ranma just in time to have him blast her chest with his black energy. Her heart crystal came out and he grabbed it in his hands. Looking at professor Tomoe he handed him the Holy Grail and said, "Begin the process. Bring our master to this realm."
"What about her?"
Ranma took the heart crystal and consumed it. His body healed all of its injuries and he gained even more dark power than he had previously. With a sneer, he blasted Kaolinite's empty shell and it was gone. The Saotome boy looked menacingly at Professor Tomoe and said, "Who?"
The professor did not argue and walked over to the machine. He was about to place the Holy Grail inside the machine when the basement door exploded open and a blast of energy sent him flying.
Setsuna was healing using the powers of the gates of time, but even with its remarkable energies, it was a slow process. Her body had been broken and she had almost died at the hands of Ranma Saotome. She cursed the evil boy and all of his machinations. She had not seen him in the Gates of Time until it was too late, due to both his chaotic nature and Pharaoh 90's interference. Because of that, she had never taken precautions against his plots and schemes. Thus, the evil boy had been able to take the Holy Grail.
Setsuna cursed the Saotome name once again and stared at the gates of time as they showed events as they were transpiring. Sailor Moon and her remaining allies appeared in front of Sailor Sol.
Setsuna saw the Solar Senshi and raised her voice in anger growling, "There you are Ranma Saotome. I can't believe there are two of you and both are threats to Crystal Tokyo." The green haired girl shook with her anger. "Ranma Saotome, how I despise that name!"
Setsuna's injuries caught up with her and she cried out in pain. She calmed herself down a bit and continued to watch the scene with fear and trepidation as the Solar Senshi raised her fist. If the girl attacked now and killed Usagi then all would be lost and Pluto would be able to do nothing to prevent it.
"Brother Wait!" Yelled the bandanna clad boy.
Beryl and Hotaru were also encouraging the Solar Senshi to calm down. But what made her truly calm was Sailor Moon. The princess seemed to have a regal air about her as she stepped towards Sol and then prostrated herself. "Please Sailor Sol; I beg your assistance and I ask that you not judge me and mine by the actions of our evil counterparts." The girl held the Ginzuishou up in her hands and said, "As a token of my goodwill take this and do with it as you see fit."
The red haired girl did not attack and so Setsuna sighed in relief. That relief was short lived however, as Sailor Moon handed Sol the Ginzuishou. Setsuna cringed again as she waited for Sol to destroy the artifact, but that did not happen either.
It was not really Ranma or Ranko who took the crystal. The Taya portion of Ranma's mind took over and grabbed the crystal. Taya held the Ginzuishou in her hands and carefully examined it. The small crystal was responsible for the destruction of so many people and for causing a solar system wide war. She could feel power radiating from the crystal, but not nearly as much power as the one that Imperial Queen Serenity's crystal had.
She looked deep in the crystal and could see the magical flows within it. She saw that the crystal could indeed increase its power by taking a small piece out of someone's soul. Without that piece a person would become cleansed: an almost mindless servant to the crystal and its wielder. Through this process, the crystal would gain power and as it gained power the crystal would hunger for even more power. With every cleansing the crystal would demand more and more power, twisting any user into a person like the one that Serenity had become.
Taya held the crystal out in her hands and said, "I will give it back to you, but you must promise never to use it to cleanse a single soul. Use it for attack, for defense, for healing or what have you, but you must not ever use it to try to remove the darkness from a person's soul. You must not use it for cleansing."
Usagi stood up with all of her regal bearing and said, "As one princess to another you have my word that I will never use it to cleanse a single soul."
Taya then imparted a tiny piece of her power into the crystal and handed it to Usagi saying, "Solis Custodes Omnis. That means the Sun watches over everything. So, I'll be watching you. Okay?"
Setsuna screamed at the gates of time as she heard those words and saw Sailor Sol impart a piece of her own power into the crystal. Pluto raged at the scene in front of her shouting to the image of Sailor Moon, "No! Don't let her do that!"
Setsuna's shouting was to no avail. The deed was done. The Senshi of Time knew that as long as that piece of Solar magic was within the Ginzuishou the girl would know when a cleansing had occurred and could possibly even use her imparted power destroy the crystal. Setsuna knew that as long as Sailor Sol lived, Crystal Tokyo could not exist.
Usagi nodded to Sol with understanding and took the crystal back. Then she changed gears as she said, "Very well, now let's work together. We need to find and defeat Ranma Saotome. He has the Holy Grail and we believe that he is in this house. I fear that he will use it for vile ends."
"I bet that we'll find the bastard down here." Sailor Sol pointed to the basement door and said, "Alright change in plans. I'll take on Saotome. Saturn and Sailor B will try to heal Professor Tomoe and you three will help me by fighting the witch and her Daimons."
Sailor Sol raised her fist and used it to destroy the basement door. She flew down the stairs and the rest of the group followed behind.
As the group went down the stairs Setsuna cursed to herself once again and tried to stand up, but her legs were not yet healed. She fell against the Gates of Time and her anger burned hotter and hotter as she lay there healing. She muttered curses and epithets while practically begging the Gates to give her the vitality and magical energy necessary to help her destroy every single version of Ranma Saotome that she could find.
A cruel smile appeared on Ranma Saotome's face as he watched the basement door explode open and six people run down the stairs. A beam of energy blasted Dr. Tomoe and sent him flying across the room with the Holy Grail. Ranma cursed briefly and then quickly sent some of his newly enhanced dark power into the remaining Daimons. Each one rose up into a six armed copy of Ranma and the only difference between them was their color. He smiled an evil smile and the seven colors of the rainbow smiled the same exact smile right back at him. "Come my minions let us destroy these interlopers!"
As she ran down the stairs Beryl saw Professor Tomoe standing in front of a machine with the Holy Grail in his hands. She called for a Clinging Vine Blast, and a burst of green energy hit the Professor and sent him flying across the room covered in vines. Beryl continued down the stairs with Hotaru. They went towards the immobile Professor, when their way was blocked by green and orange Ranma Daimon Clones. The creatures blocking their way were tough, strong, and fought quite well. Fists flew, but were blocked by the two Sailor girls. They fought back and their own attacks were countered by the Daimons. Beryl fired newly granted earth-based spells at their attackers and that seemed to hurt them somewhat and even slow them down. The combination of Beryl's attack magic, physical combat, and judicious use of the Silence Wall kept the pair from being overwhelmed, but it did not give them a fighting edge. They were too evenly matched and Hotaru was somewhat afraid of using her own powerful magical attacks.
They continued to fight the Daimons, but meanwhile something else was happening. The two girls did not see what exactly what it was, but suddenly the Daimons they were fighting became even faster and stronger. That changed the battle and the two girls were no longer so evenly matched against the creatures. Beryl and Hotaru were now slowly losing the engagement.
A fist slammed into Beryl and she felt something snap. She looked at the young girl beside her and realized that there was only one way to win this battle. She saw Hotaru about to raise the Silence Wall again and said, "No, we can not win this battle by being completely defensive. We need to attack."
With a soothing voice Beryl continued saying, "I know you're afraid to use your attack Saturn. It's okay to be afraid, but you must attack. Look for an opening, I will try to assist you and then when you see the opening; use your attack. I know that you can do it."
Hotaru heard Beryl's encouragement and took confidence in her friend's support. She did not put up the Silence Wall and instead put out a hand to block an attack coming her way. She dodged another attack and looked for an opening. She prayed that she could use her powers without endangering innocent lives.
Beryl hit the green Daimon and slammed it into its ally. As that happened Hotaru recalled her previous fight against the evil panda. The young girl purposefully flung herself to the floor underneath the feet of the two Daimon attackers. There on the floor both of the Daimons tried to kick her repeatedly, while they attacked Beryl with their fists. Saturn just grunted while the attacks hit her and then glanced up to make sure that her firing line was clear. Saturn pointed her glaive straight up at the two Daimons from her position on the floor and shouted, "Silence Glaive Surprise!"
The room was totally enveloped by The Silence as it came, not a single sound of combat dared to be heard as the destructive power of The Silence came forth. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The green Daimon readied another kick into Hotaru's side, but it was engulfed by The Silence. The orange Daimon standing right next to the green one could only stare in shock as it too was engulfed by the power of The Silence.
The Silence destroyed the two creatures utterly and then reached out. It punched a large hole through the upper floors of the Tomoe home and then continued on high into the sky. The beam rose higher and higher, searching for something else to eradicate, but it had been perfectly aimed and could not find another thing in its path. The beam finally reached its zenith and dissipated harmlessly into space.
Ryouga was facing off against an indigo version of the Saotome boy. The indigo Daimon was almost as quick as Ranma himself and nearly as well trained. Even more, it was wearing bracers that could take hits from Ryouga's lightsabre with no problem.
The fanged martial artist fought on slashing at the Daimon and then parrying attacks from it. The battle raged around them, but Ryouga knew he could not focus on anything except the foe in front of him.
The two combatants fought back and forth almost evenly matched, but Ryouga was slowly winning as he made some cuts into the side of the indigo Daimon. Suddenly, Ryouga saw Sailor Sol go crashing through a wall. She had been blasted through it by a combined attack from two Daimons.
Ryouga saw the black clad form of Ranma Saotome chuckle. The evil Saotome took that moment of respite to glance around the room. He sent some energy into all of the attacking Daimons and then specifically concentrated on the indigo Daimon in front of Ryouga. The creature received a power boost, grinned a familiar evil grin, and attacked with all six arms using the speed of the Amaguriken.
Fists went flying at Ryouga without mercy. The fanged martial artist was slammed again and again by the six armed Daimon, but this time he was determined not to be thrown back. He resist the attack! The powerful blows rained down onto Ryouga, but he just reached deep into himself and found his tenuous link to the Force.
The trickle of the Force flowed through him and he found that his lightsabre was blocking blows that were headed towards him. Not necessarily every single strike, but it was enough that he could block the strikes that were headed towards vital areas and turn them aside. Ryouga continued to block and probed his tenuous link with the Force again.
Snatching onto the Force Ryouga gathered it and he yelled, "Don't Move!" The indigo Daimon listened to him and obeyed the Force empowered Yama Sen Ken maneuver. It froze in place for just one moment and Ryouga quickly swung his blue blade and cut the creature in half.
Suddenly, The Silence completely engulfed the room. Ryouga watched as the destructive energy of The Silence ended the lives of two Daimons. Sailor Saturn was lying down on her back and the Senshi named Sailor B held out a hand to her. The two of them then took off towards professor Tomoe and the Holy Grail.
Seeing that they were okay, Ryouga glanced over to Sailor Moon and Jupiter. Then he ran towards them as fast as he could to prevent their deaths.
Moon and Jupiter were not faring well at all against the red and the blue Daimon clones. Both of the Sailor girls had been retreating around the room firing their most powerful attacks. The Daimons however had been avoiding those attacks. Moon complained, "If they would just hold still!"
Jupiter replied, "I only wish!" and continued to retreat around the room with her friend.
When the two Daimons gained a power boost from Ranma they were finally able to catch up to the retreating forms of Jupiter and Moon, forcing the girls into physical combat. The Daimons punched, kicked, and pummeled them both across the room. It was all the Sailor girls could do to keep stay alive, let alone use their attacks on the creatures.
Still, they soldiered on against the new onslaught taking hits and trying to fight back as best they could. When The Silence filled the room their Daimon attackers stood still for a moment and in that moment Moon and Jupiter extricated themselves from physical combat. The two girls began retreating again and actually hit the two Daimons with a few of their magical attacks.
The distance advantage was short lived and once again the two Daimons were able to avoid the attacks. Once again, the Daimon clones of Ranma caught up to the Sailor girls and began the physical punishment. Sailor Jupiter lost consciousness and Sailor Moon was fading fast when Ryouga finished his fight and joined the fray.
Instead of attacking with his lightsabre the young Hibiki boy just bowled into the two Daimons and grabbed them in his strong arms. The two Daimons struggled against him and started using their free arms to hit the boy who was holding them. Ryouga grunted with effort and said, "Sailor Moon, use your most powerful attack now!"
Without thinking the sailor girl held the Ginzuishou up and using it she directed a "Moon Supreme Eternal Meditation!" A kaleidoscope of deadly energy came forth and right towards the two creatures. The energy slammed into them and destroyed them, but a part of that massive power impacted upon Ryouga as well. After that and the many attacks he had received, he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
Sailor Moon stared at Ryouga in shock and then sadly thanked his unconscious form. That was when two large explosions filled the room. The force of those explosions rocked her and sent her tumbling to the floor. As the dust settled, she saw the black clad form of Ranma Saotome rush over to the strange machine. Once at the machine he quickly ripped the Holy Grail out of Sailor Saturn's hands and threw her across the room.
Sailor Sol had come into the room and right towards the red and the yellow Daimon clones that were in front of her evil counter part. She powered up her sword and didn't even bother to yell out her attack as she used the Amaguriken to speed up her flaming blade and sent it slicing into the two creatures. They screamed in pain and pieces of them fell to the ground. She stepped past as their bodies slumped on the floor and then sent a right cross screaming into her counterpart's face. The six armed boy just smiled and took it without flinching. "I have grown much in power since we last met! I will not be defeated by such as you again!"
He attacked her with his own six armed Amaguriken, but she had enough magical and chi enhanced speed to block the blows. They traded attacks back and forth for a while with neither of them clearly superior to the other when the evil boy smiled and said, "You miscalculated."
"Yeah, how did I do that?"
"You left your foes alive." Suddenly Sol felt two powerful punches rock into her body from behind her. She was sent sailing right through one of the walls. Once she was high in the air, her fiery wings finally caught her and she started to fly back towards the battle against her three foes. As she flew back to the battle, Sailor Sol cursed herself for not realizing that the Daimons had only slumped to the ground and had not been destroyed.
Then she thought for a moment and prodded her magical energy. She smiled in the air and said, "Let's try this. Solar Flare revised Solar Shield."
A flare of plasma came forth from her hands and merged with her sword. The enhanced piece of plasma then wrapped itself all around her body. She smiled at her success in sensing the flow of magic from the Sun and manipulating it in new ways. She sped back into combat against her three foes.
Sol flew into the room and right at Ranma just as he glanced her way. The evil boy blocked her fiery kick and then scoffed. "You would dare to attack me and my allies while surrounded by flames?"
Ranko didn't reply and continued her assault against the boy and his allies. She punched and kicked at them with plasma-enhanced blows. This kept them uncertain, and unable to co-operate effectively. The battle continued with her attacking and the other three defending against her attacks.
While they were fighting, the room was enveloped by Silence. Sol could not help but take a moment to see what had happened–and sighed with relief when she realized that Hotaru and Beryl had won their battle.
The mere moment that Sailor Sol used to glance towards her friends was enough for Ranma Saotome and his allies to gain the upper hand. The two Daimons pressed the attack and Ranma started the spiral pattern towards the flaming girl. Sol defended against the attacking Daimons and tried to think of some strategy to prevent the oncoming Hiryu Shouten Ha.
If she dropped her shield, she would be pummeled by multiple attacks, but if she kept it up she would be ripped apart by the upcoming attack. With three attackers she would be unable to prevent Ranma from creating the spiral and so she pressed her mind to come up with new options. As she thought about her strategy, she could almost feel Taya within her helping her to understand the magic that was at her command.
She had already examined the magical patterns previously and at the time she had thought of a few revisions to some of the attacks. Still nothing was coming to mind until she re-examined the powers of her own chi healing technique and the power of her Super Nova attack. That was when she decided to implement a new strategy.
Sailor Sol continued to defend herself against the two Daimons, but while doing this she allowed herself to be drawn into the diminishing spiral that Ranma was creating. When the evil Saotome boy came close to finishing his maneuver and was standing right next to his two Daimon allies Sol attacked. She glanced behind her and then jumped slightly into the air while sending simultaneous punches into the separate Daimons. She briefly concentrated on her healing and then on her magical powers. "Super Nova revised Twin Nova!"
The red and the yellow Daimons exploded sending their own energies along with those of Sailor Sol outwards in a frenzy of destruction. Ranma Saotome saw this and put all of his effort and power into his Daimon arms, and held them out to protect himself from the destruction. The dark power inside him flowed and expanded out to the arms creating a black shield. That shield held for one moment and then shattered to pieces. The energies from the Twin Nova attack drove him back until he was crushed, and all four of his Daimon arms were destroyed.
The evil boy opened his eyes and slowly lifted himself off the ground. He had no magical reserves left and only about half of his chi reserves. His ribs were broken and his Daimon arms and armor had been destroyed, but he was alive! Looking around the room he could see no sign of Sailor Sol and cackled with glee.
Ranma Saotome then brushed himself off and examined the entire area. He saw Sailor Saturn holding the Holy Grail in triumph, while Professor Tomoe and the other sailor girl were unconscious on the floor. He could see that Saturn was hurt and injured from her battle, but she was still standing.
The Saotome boy cursed and pumped some chi into his legs speeding over to Saturn, ripping the Grail from her hands, and throwing her across the room. He slammed the Grail home inside the machine. The machine had been damaged by the explosions and battle, but it was not yet destroyed. It swallowed the Grail and then whined and groaned. Metal ground against metal and the machine made hideous shrieking protests, but the power of the Holy Grail was forcing it to work.
Everyone in the room except Ranma covered their ears while the clattering whining and shrieking continued. Then it was all over. The machine stopped and the shrieking and grinding sounds were replaced by one single low-pitched sound. That sound was an ominous hum.
Sailor Moon took her hands off her ears and the looked to the center of the room where the hum was coming from. There, making the low pitched and ominous hum, was a dimensional portal. Inside the portal Sailor Moon could see a figure coming closer and closer towards them.
Ranma Saotome stood in front of the portal alone and bloody. He had only his two regular arms but he screamed in triumph, "Come my master. Come forth to your messiah! Come and defeat the fools who would dare to defy us! Together we shall bring them and this world to its knees!"
Sailor Moon looked across the room and Saw Sailor Saturn pick herself up. The two Sailor Girls looked each other in the eye and prepared to attack when they heard a voice say, "Yeah is that right Bakamono? (1)Because I think you're both going down."
Sailor Sol woke up flying through the air. She was no longer wearing her Solar Shield, but she was alive. As she flapped her flaming wings she said to herself, "Well I guess that worked, eh Taya? Jumping into the air allowed me to be propelled by the explosion. The only flaw was that the shield I created wasn't enough to protect me from all that energy."
She grinned and sped back towards the Tomoe home saying, "I guess I'll have to work on that huh?"
When she arrived at The Tomoe household she saw a strange energy portal glowing in the center of the room. Her evil counterpart was standing in front of it babbling something about world domination. She landed in the room and said, "Yeah is that right Bakamono? Because I think you're both going down." She cracked her knuckles in preparation and saw Sailor Moon and Saturn still standing.
She smiled at them and said, "Hey why don't you two see what you can do about this portal and the thing inside. Bakamono here and I have some business to finish."
Sailor Moon and Saturn approached the portal while Sailor Sol sped towards Ranma and slammed a super fast right cross into his chin and sent him flying. She said, "Guess that works now huh?"
After that she thought to herself, "Well I don't have much magic left, and my chi is half strength, but it looks like I'm faster and better than him." Out loud she said, "Hey jerk face! Are you going to stand up or is this fight over?"
The evil boy stood up from the sucker punch and knew that he needed more speed to equalize the battle. He concentrated on his dark power and it wavered over him like a cool refreshing rain shower. When the shower was over Ranma had become female. The red haired girl then smiled at her counterpart and said, "I think we are matched in speed again. Why don't we find out who is truly the best!"
Ranko gasped and then realized that it should have been obvious that the evil Saotome would have the curse and yet she hadn't seem him use it until now. She wondered what that meant. Did the boy hate the curse as much as she once did and if so how could she use that to her advantage? She thought on that and about this Ranma's fighting style. He was more aggressive and easier to anger than she had ever been. Even if he did not hate his curse that combination might just work in Ranko's favor.
Sailor Sol attacked with Amaguriken speeds, but the blows were blocked. As she fought she spat out epithets about how feminine Ranma was, but the insults did not seem to anger him at all. The two fought back and forth across the room each looking for some upper hand, but none was forthcoming. Sol cursed herself and wondered how the hell she had been able to fight Ranma and his Daimon allies if just the two of them were at a stalemate now.
She wondered if her magic was really that much more powerful than the dark magics employed by this Ranma and if so how could she regain some more of that power. She thought on that as she tried multiple different techniques, but the other girl seemed to know almost all of them.
As the evil Saotome girl fired a vacuum blade at her Ranko dodged and remembered. Then suddenly Ranko was gone. The evil Saotome girl might not have Ranko's training in all of her techniques; in fact, Ranko knew from the previous fight that the evil Saotome had not been prepared for her expanded chi senses. The external proprioception (2) technique that she had learned from Cologne to fight the alien predator was most likely an ability that the evil girl had not learned when she destroyed the Amazon village.
Now that Ranko was hidden, she jumped out into the open air and the sunlight. She felt the energy from the sun slowly powering her magical reserves. She stepped behind a wall and focused her chi hoping that her study of the Amazon techniques given to her by Cologne would be enough to make this work.
Ranko dropped the Umi Sen Ken and whispered, "Splitting Cat Hairs." An image of Sailor Sol appeared just outside the house and yelled, "Hey Bakamono!"
Ranma glanced towards the chi image and it continued, "Yeah you! The stupid girl looking for me. Why don't you come and get me?" The evil girl growled at her nemesis and powered up what was left of her chi. The angry Saotome girl ran right towards the image with anger and hatred in her eyes.
Ranko watched the evil girl come and said to herself, "That's right…aggression and assault. Don't think about any danger just use that anger and come to me."
Ranko didn't have to wait long as she gathered more solar magic and combined it with her chi. Ranma Saotome continued on at full speed, right at the now magically charged chi image. When the evil red haired girl ran outside and collided with the Solar Senshi's construct, and realized her peril it was too late.
Ranko explained it was a "Miniature Nova!" and it was all over. The small amount of solar magic did what it was meant to do and set off an explosion in the chi making up the image and within the evil version of Ranma Saotome herself.
Ranko almost collapsed on the spot after using up her last bit of chi, but she realized that the job might not be finished. She stood up in the sunlight and gathered what she could of its magical power, then she walked into the Tomoe home just in time to hear a voice coming from the portal yelling, "Death Reborn Revolution!"
The part of her mind that was Taya reacted to that phrase and sent the red headed girl rushing towards the portal. Finding reserves that she didn't even know she had she rushed in and arrived just in time to catch the unconscious forms of Hotaru and Usagi as they toppled to the ground and the portal disappeared.
She hugged them both and smiled. They had won the battle! She only hoped that she would stay on this world long enough to say goodbye to all of her friends. As she continued to hug Hotaru and was in the process of gently putting Usagi down; a voice called out and said, "Ranma Saotome! Drop the princess or Die!"
Beryl woke up she remembered fighting against Hotaru's father. "Professor Tomoe" she thought. She shook her head and then said to herself, "Okay he hit me in the head, but I took the blow and sent my magical healing power into him along with Hotaru. Then I remember being in his mind. There we fought whatever the hell that ugly thing was. I guess I took myself out of that fight when I tried using as much power from the earth as I could channel. I remember it flowed through me and it hurt! I guess I must have fried myself."
The grayish pink-haired girl stood up, brushed herself off and then checked her magical reserves and said, "Alright, I think I have about half of these magical powers left. Let's see if someone needs a last minute rescue."
Just as she finished that statement she heard, "Ranma Saotome! Drop the princess or Die!"
She turned towards the voice and saw a pissed off green haired Senshi holding a rod. The Senshi stood in front of Ranko and the red haired girl was backing away with her hands out in a placating gesture. "Aw man! Come on, you've got the wrong girl! I'm Sailor Sol. I'm one of the good guys!"
The green haired senshi just whispered, "Dead Scream" and a blast of energy knocked Ranko out.
Beryl thought for a moment and said, "It's Sailor Pluto. Why the hell is she attacking Ranko? Screw it!"
She finished the thought and started to race towards her unconscious friend, when the Solar Senshi was picked up by the green haired girl who said, "I can leave Saturn and Beryl alive, but I'm going to have to take you to the gates of time. I think I should be able to use your sacrifice to undo all the damage you have caused."
With those disturbing words, the green haired senshi disappeared. Leaving Beryl to end up standing with her fist directed into empty space. "Damn it! I won't let her hurt you Ranko." Beryl cried as she realized that none of her current magical powers seemed to include teleportation.
The Grayish pink haired girl broke down and sobbed, "I can't let her hurt you. I just can't!" Voices came from her oak pole. They were the voices of her Generals all combined saying, "Princess of Earth you have done well, but do not despair. Use the last of our powers and you will be sent to your friend."
"What about you? I won't let you destroy yourselves for me. You have already done so much."
The voices soothed her and said, "Worry not for us princess when we are gone our souls will go to a better place. Take our power and use the last of it. Save your friend."
Beryl grabbed her oak staff and felt the power come to her. The last remnants of power came from her generals and it brought her into closer alignment with the earth. She felt the power and said quietly, "Terra Eternal Power Makeup."
The light brown outfit that Beryl had been wearing transformed entirely into green and the leaves that had previously patterned it became blossoms. Flowers exploded into bloom all over. They were alive with their life and vibrancy. Her inordinately short skirt became one gigantic rose and her earrings and tiara became lovely pink cherry blossoms. Butterfly wings sprouted from her back, but her oak staff did not burst into bloom. Instead the wood grew colder and turned into a solid piece of marble with wicked obsidian blades.
She finished her transformation filled with the vitality of the Earth itself. She held onto her staff and felt the connection to the raw elements of the Earth itself. She had become a true avatar of the Earth.
The voices of her generals were gone, but Beryl seemed to instinctively know what to do. She held up her new staff and said, "Terra Transport!"
She appeared in an endless gray dimension. She looked around and in the distance, she saw Sailor Pluto tying Ranko's body onto the Gates of Time. The red haired girl slumped against her bonds and Setsuna slowly pulled a knife out. "With your sacrificial blood on these gates I can erase any action of yours that I need to erase. Do not be sad for you will die in the service of Crystal Tokyo."
The knife started to descend, almost in slow motion, when Beryl placed her staff on the ground and shouted, "Eruption!" Hot magma and spiked stone columns appeared and almost burned and skewered Pluto, but the green haired girl had heard the attack and dodged just in time.
The Senshi of Time looked at the Senshi of Earth and said, "Do not be a fool! Do you think you can defeat the Senshi of Time in her own plane and next to her most powerful artifacts?"
Pluto saw Beryl's hesitation and continued, "Be gone Beryl, you have been given a second chance. Do not ruin it by once again betraying the Moon Kingdom and joining forces against the Queen."
Beryl looked at Pluto and hung her head in shame. "What I did against the Moon Kingdom in the past was wrong. I admit that."
The Senshi of Earth then raised her head and said, "What you are doing to remake the Moon Kingdom is just as wrong Pluto. I will not allow you to kill my friend so that the Moon Kingdom can be reborn."
Fire came into Beryl's eyes as she finished by saying, "I have truly have learned what it means to be good. I have learned and I have understood my lessons. No matter how valuable and how good the Moon Kingdom in the future might be it can not justify killing innocent lives to create it."
"Very well, you have consigned yourself to the same fate as Sailor Sol." The rod that Pluto was holding went up and then she whispered, "Dead Scream!"
In another place, an old crone sat in front of a scrying pool. She was as thin as a skeleton with dull iron teeth and a gigantic wart filled nose. Her hair was a dull waxy gray and looked to be the texture of flax.
She looked behind her at a black mist with milk clouded eyes and said, "Your pawn has become my playing piece."
The mist replied, "So it seems, but Pluto is mine now."
The old crone stared at the mist and smiled saying, "Would you care to up the ante?"
"Very well, oh great Baba Yaga" Replied the mist sarcastically then it continued and said, "The winner gets the Gates of Time and the servitude of the loser for one thousand plus one years."
Baba Yaga smiled and pulled out a yellowed piece of parchment. Disembodied hands rose up around her and one used ink and a quill pen to write words on the parchment. Then the old crone tore at one of her fingers causing it to bleed. She made a bloody imprint on the parchment and said, "Done!"
The yellowed and now bloody parchment floated towards the black mist. The parchment stayed inside the mist for one moment and then floated back down. Next to Baba Yaga's bloody thumb print was curling black script. It read simply, "Wiseman"
(1) For any fan of anime we know that Baka means idiot. Bakamono means stupid/idiot person while bakemono means monster. By calling Ranma (who is a monster) a Bakamono, Ranko is basically making a bad pun. What? My first year Japanese teacher would have laughed and then she'd yell at me for not continuing my studies...
(2) Check out chapter six and seven for the origin of this technique. It allows Ranko to sense some of the external world as if it were part of his/her own body. For the fight against Ranma where she uses it check out chapter 11.
Author's Notes: Next Chapter is the end of the Baba Yaga Quests. I'll probably have an epilogue after that, but saying anything else might just ruin the surprise. Thanks again to Isaac "Will it Work" Dansicker for his capable pre-reading and suggestions. From a conversation with him Ihad this idea...
-Omake-
A cruel smile appeared on Ranma Saotome's face as he watched the basement door explode open and six people run down the stairs. A beam of energy blasted Dr. Tomoe and sent him flying across the room with the Holy Grail. Ranma cursed briefly and then quickly sent some of his newly enhanced dark power into the remaining Daimons. Each one rose up into a six armed copy of Ranma and the only difference between them was their color.
"Red Daimon Standing by."
"Orange Daimon Standing by."
"Yellow Daimon Standing by."
"Green Daimon Standing by."
"Blue Daimon Standing by."
"Indigo Daimon Standing by."
"Violet Daimon Standing by."
Ranma smiled with glee and said, "Now I have my own sentai team! Daimon force form Pharaoh 90 thunderzord!"
End Omake...