DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters are properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've written for whatnot purposes.
LOVE
By
Raymond Cooper
Chapter 3
** Omelette **
Ranma paused. Something in him tensed. He knew what was coming, and he couldn't stop it. He asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Natsumi Otohime, former Dark General of the Master, just stared.
Of course, she recognised the red-haired woman leaning over her - as the lead General for so long of her Master's forces, she knew the red-haired fuku-wearing woman on sight. Which was weird, in a way, since the senshi all had magical properties that led to hidden identities. Natsumi knew she shouldn't have been able to recognise the girl before her... but she did. So that meant, this girl wasn't a senshi. She was just super powerful, nearly on the level of perhaps the weakest senshi... but smart enough, aggressive enough, just plain more skilled than the reincarnated warriors from the Silver Millennium. She fingered her VR helmet slowly, sitting just above her eyes, tempted ot check out the power levels of the girl, but she decided not to. She was currently in no position to do anything based on what she might find.
She paused. She knew that the red-haired girl was uncertain here, not wanting to help, but being driven to it all the same. She looked up at the girl again, squinting into the light. "Why? Why would you ask me that?"
The red-haired girl shrugged. "Perhaps it's something to do with fate. Maybe it's something with the differences between us." She hesitated, then added, "You really don't expect me to help you, do you?"
Natsumi shook her head. "No. No, I don't. I've tried to kill you - and your friends. Why should you?"
"Because I'm in the position to."
"What would you expect from it?"
"I dunno," the girl said thoughtfully. "Maybe to walk out of this alley alive and in one piece? Maybe to help someone who's not in the best of condition. Maybe just a story. Surprise me."
So, Natsumi surprised both the girl and herself by beginning a story, as the girl bent down to help bind wounds.
******
Two weeks ago.
******
Natsumi knelt before the Master.
"Yes, Master." His form was swelling, and had dulled considerably since the last time Natsumi had laid eyes on him, only scant hours before. Umiko was nowhere to be seen; indeed, her ki aura couldn't even be detected by Natsumi's VR helmet. She used that to scan the Master, finding that his time was almost at hand. The final hours before his transformation to his adult form were now. He spoke in her mind, telling her what she needed to do.
She nodded as she accepted his instructions. Take a contingent of troops out, find a large number of people, absorb their energies into fuel for the Generals and the Master's adult form. They'd need it for the next stage of his plans.
"It is time. I will assemble the troops."
Natsumi ducked her head in a bow, then stood, turned on her heels, and left the room. All was silent as the Master's sightless eyes tracked her path along a corridor, seeing through the walls. A black polyp swelled up behind the Master, and disgorged Umiko, eyes closed, hands folded across her chest. She opened her eyes, lowered her arms, and looked at the door to the chamber.
"She will make her move soon."
The Master spoke in her mind. Umiko nodded. "She is a good General, Master, but her hunger for power is corrupting her views."
She listened some more, then nodded.
"Yes, Master, I will do this." Umiko nodded, and teleported out of the chamber, leaving the Master's crysalis to shiver in anticipation.
******
Natsumi stood in the underground meeting chamber, with a dozen lower youma. They were of all varieties: skeleton people, half-plant abominations, people whom had had their skulls explode under growing brains, fire creatures, were-cockroaches, and more. She enjoyed the rush of power from them, their loyalty to her every word. There was nothing better about being a powerful creature.
She could have altered her form when she had been inducted, forcibly originally, into the Master's forces, but had decided rather to take advantage of the technical knowledge of the Master himself and developed an upgraded version of a typical VR helmet. Based around components dating back to the Silver Millennium and eras of advanced human and non-human solar system life forms even more prior to that, the VR helmet was supposedly superior in computing power than the device Sailor Mercury had been observed using. In addition, it had some nifty features that Natsumi hadn't made enough sue of, like for instance being able to project people into computer games.
Also, it was great for playing Princess Maker 3D with.
The troops before her now were some of those Natsumi had made herself since her turning. Yet not all - it wouldn't pay to perhaps lose all of her loyal troops.
Standing in front of heryouma like this, though - it gave her such a rush. She hesitated a few moments to soak up the slavish devotion to her they offered.
"The Master has given us a mission!" she called out, just loud enough to be heard by all. "We will proceed to a location where there are plenty of people! We will absorb their life energies, and bring them back here, for the glory of the Master."
The largest were-roach lifted a foreclaw. "Will the senshi be there? They have that habit of showing up."
Natsumi shook her head. "I have it on good authority that they will be... shall we say... delayed." She smiled.
******
Tokyo University.
And the library explodes.
******
"We leave - now!"
Natsumi called up a dimensional slipgate, teleporting the youma with her to the location she had chosen while on her way to the meeting chamber.
It was a mall, large, long, filled with people of varying ages, nationalities and colours. The speech in the area was mostly Japanese, but there was some English, along with a smattering of Chinese and Korean. Natsumi's VR set automatically subtitled what she couldn't understand directly.
Several people noticed, turned to look, and most thought the youma attack force was a promotional gimmick - although the flaming skeleton and huge, bulky dogman looked almost too real to be faked. A nervous titter went up from someone in the crowd as more people noticed the strange figures, and at least one teenaged girl buried her face in her laughing boyfriend's shoulder.
Natsumi gave them a cursory glance, then turned to address her troops once more. "Now! Strike! Strike for -" Someone tapped her on the arm. A security guard, with a small taser on his hip. A second guard hung back about a dozen metres, a third on the other side of the mall's atrium where they had teleported in. Natsumi could feel another half-dozen congregating on this location. She sighed.
"I'm afraid you'll have to move along," the guard said in a calm, reasonable voice. "We're a family-oriented mall, and you'll have to wear appropriate, uh, outfits if you want to enter here."
He knew what they were. He HAD to know, Natsumi thought. Perhaps he was hoping either to stop a panic, or to talk himself out of seeing a bunch of monsters appear from nowhere. Oh well. Time to disappoint the poor human. She turned back to her troops momentarily. "Rip them apart. Suck them dry. Leave no human to tell the tale." She turned back to the security guard directly in front of her. "Except for this young man. He's mine." The smile she gave him wasn't pleasant, and promised much pain and agony.
His hand gripped at his taser, and it was about then that the crowd realised something was up, that something here wasn't right. Like all good citizens of Tokyo, and in fact all of Japan, they knew of the existance of monsters dedicated to stealing ki from all people. But in time-honoured tradition, everyone believed in the simple phrase 'it couldn't happen to me'.
Usually, they were right. With a country of nearly three hundred million people, the chances of the remaining youma hiding in dark places on the island attacking any particular one of them were staggeringly low. Over ninety-nine percent of people would never experience any evidence of a youma.
That is, natural youma.
Dark Kingdom youma... were a lot more common, but also, not as strong in the main as some of the ancient stand-bys, like Kappa of the bays and rivers, the occasional giant dinosaur throwback, and whatnot. And Dark Kingdom youma were often in the mood to procreate, especially the Generals. Stealing others' energies wasn't nearly as exciting if you didn't have anything else to show for it. Hence, most liked to make a troop or two if they could.
Previous to now, the invasions hadn't often allowed for troop-making by the Generals. But the Master was different to Beryl and the others... he had plans that involved things a little more complicated than revenge on the Moon Kingdom, a little different from chasing after schoolgirls in short skirts.
In the long-run, anyway, Natsumi thought with a smirk. The Master in his adult form would likely have some kind of sexual preference - but it might run the other way from the norm - he might chase after schoolboys in their long trousers.
Or perhaps even schoolboys in short skirts.
Natsumi stepped forward, towards the guard. He raised the taser from his hip, jammed it in her stomach just as the first youma behind her started to head towards the crowd. The guard could feel the panic rising, not just within himself, but within the crowd. Why'd this have to happen now? He was off-duty in half an hour, and the city was in an uproar and on alert for terrorists after the university library had been blown up. And now there was a creepy girl in front of him, who KEPT SMILING THAT CREEPY SMILE, who didn't seem to be alarmed at the taser in her stomach.
Natsumi shrugged and yawned as he pulled the trigger. Bands of electrical current writhed around her body for thirty seconds, until the weapon fell from the fingers of the disbelieving guard. He gaped, then made to step back.
A woman screamed in the crowd as the dogman reached her, pushed her aside, and tore her son in two. He grabbed at a tiny flash of light most people simply couldn't see, not being able to see that high into the EM spectrum, and absorbed the boy's ki. He then did the same to the mother, and continued in a line through the crowd.
Other youma were more subtle, drawing the energy out of people with beams of light, sucking it out parasitically through the mouth, or in one case, eating eyeballs.
The guard didn't quite manage to step back. Natsumi's leg swept under him, and he fell heavily to the ground. Then Natsumi was on him, tearing out his throat, splattering his comrade with his blood, making the other man turn to flee. The flaming skeleton got him in a deathgrip, burnt him alive. Toasted flesh assailed Natsumi's nose, and she felt aroused by that. Mmmmm... the blood soaking her clothing was also doing that. She captured his life essence before it could pass into the next world, and stood up to continue the work of directing the hit.
******
Now.
******
Ranma wound the ripped sheet around the General's arm. "So, you killed people," he tried to say casually. But somehow, the words stuck in his throat. Still, he knew he wouldn't be able to try and reason with her if he came off all high and mighty on her, so he did his best to fake it. He knew she knew he wasn't okay with her actions, but he was trying to be understanding.
And for some reason Ranma didn't quite understand, Natsumi seemed to be grateful for his assistance. The story came easier now, and she seemed to be almost contrite for her behaviour. Whether this was ana ct or not, Ranma didn't know. But if she continued on this track, it wasn't too unlikely she could fall at his feet, apologising for even being a glint in her father's eye.
"Yes," the General said, looking down at her hands, "I killed people."
"So what did you do so wrong that your master wanted you dead?"
The General eyed Ranma. "Master, with a capital m." Ranma nodded. "Well. The strike had gone well."
******
A week ago.
******
Natsumi lay on her bed, in the otherworldly base of operations the Master had set up for them. With his power, he had shifted a chunk of the sewers beneath Tokyo into a pocket dimension some time ago, and had set up permanent slipgates to Earth at certain sites in the complex for access. Of course, his Generals could teleport to and from Earth with ease, this was more for the average youma or espionage agent.
She knew in her head what she wanted to do, and was working out exactly how to go about it. She'd given the energy she had gathered from the mall to the Master, or rather, tried to. He hadn't wanted it - denied giving her the orders to carry out that mission, in fact. That had confused her, but she reasoned, she could do with the power it granted. Within her, she felt it made her much stronger than even perhaps the Master.
The last week, he had been mobile. Out and about, as it were, walking the streets of Earth. He'd already gained a reputation as an arrogant gaijin in more places than one, yet he'd never had a problem from those annoying senshi. At least the older, more experienced women weren't around any longer. Pluto, Neptune and Uranus thought things out a little better than the younger Inner senshi seemed to. But there was that nasty Nemesis around still... the Master's plans for her hadn't gone quite according to plan. And the red-headed senshi... she seemed to be much weaker than the others, but much, much more skilled in martial arts - which made her dangerous as the average youma was slow, unresponsive and weak compared to skills such as those observed in that girl.
The Master was off on another of his jaunts right now, as a matter of fact. What he hoped to accomplish by doing nothing was yet to be made clear to Natsumi - perhaps his transformation to adulthood had readjusted his brain or something? He certainly didn't seem to be thinking right. No more 'go on the offensive, kill them all, we can always make more footsoldiers' strategies, instead he was more, 'I'm going out for a walk now, dear Umiko.'.
The way he fawned over Umiko turned Natsumi's stomach.
In fact, the more she thought of it, she could run this outfit better than either of them.
Her plans had only called for showing herself to be stronger, more capable than Umiko, to replace the Master's favourite General. After all, Umiko was weak, a sop, unwilling to do the hard work that went with such a position. And Natsumi was willing.
So very, very willing.
But with the Master's habits of late, maybe she should set her sights higher, do something a little more... active in taking over the heirarchy of the organisation or something. Depose the ruling despot. Make herself one.
She didn't quite realise it, but this was what she had been subconsciously moving towards. Natsumi's plans to oust Umiko had been born of the urge to lead, to rule, to not have to be under someone ever again. Power was her goal here, power over her own life. And if that meant power over others, hey, that was an added bonus.
The more she thought about it, the more getting rid of Umiko now seemed like a good idea. Why? Because then the Master couldn't interfere in the outcome of the battle. Natsumi could take Umiko easily, she thought, but the Master would tip things in Umiko's favour. Hence, the General lifted herself from her bed, pulled her VR headset down over her eyes, and headed for the Master's bedchamber.
******
Umiko stood, ready. She already knew what was to come. She waited, ready for the imminent attack, yet relaxed, cool, calm. When she felt Natsumi's power levels flicker, in an attempt to cloak herself from others, Umiko knew this was the time. She flexed a hand at her side, feeling long-disused power crackle inside her fingers. It had been some time since she'd last powered up - heck, she hadn't used or abused her abilities sicne she had finished her initial alteration.
And to be honest, Umiko didn't really want to waste another nurse's uniform. They were getting harder to come by.
Natsumi was just around the corner now. Umiko forced herself to relax. The fight, definitely about to happen now, would be tough, but Umiko knew she outweighed the younger General. There were reasons the Master had stuck with Umiko as his nurse, as his mother, after all.
The younger General stepped into the chamber, not so quiet now. Standing behind Umiko. The nurse turned. "So. It's time."
Natsumi's eyes narrowed under the VR set, but she smirked. "Yes. Your time is finished, old hag. Time to make way for the younger generation."
Umiko waved a hand around the chamber. "The Master will be back soon. How will you explain your injury, or even death, to him?"
"Who said it will be e dying?" Natsumi snarled in reply, and let off a burst of energy.
For a moment, Umiko was somewhere else, in a maze filled with dots. She could hear a steady chomping somewhere, and then in front of her, from a break in the walls, came a giant yellow dot with a mouth. Umiko blinked, then sighed, folded her arms, and snapped back to the base's pocket dimension. "Really. Children's games. Do you expect to beat me so easily?"
"A girl can always hope," Natsumi snapped back, and struck a combat pose, resting her weight on her rear foot, pulling a hand up alongside her chest. Umiko sighed, then copied the position. Natsumi moved through a series of ever-faster poses, attempting to set up an attack posture Umiko couldn't match.
Umiko lazily met all of them.
Finally, the younger General had had enough. Natsumi leapt forward, strategy forgotten, relying on sheer physical power. An aura of flame sprung up around her body as she shifted forward, faster than the eye could make out over such a short distance. A mini sonic boom snapped stones in the nearby chambers in half.
The girl's left leg swung up, and clipped Umiko on the ear. The older woman staggered back, her hand going up to check on the damage. Her fingers came away bloody, and she blinked. Natsumi was moving forward again, at speeds Umiko couldn't match, and snapped out a series of punches and kicks and the occasional tackle. Natsumi's fists and feet flew, looking as if not attached to the ends of her limbs.
After a few minutes of being punched and kicked around, Umiko stood, panting in the middle of the room, blood leaking to the ground in numerous places. Natsumi stood back, getting ready to deliver the coup de grace.
"Can you feel it, old woman? Can you feel the darkness waiting at the edgees for you?" Natsumi smirked, and parted her hands for her final attack. A small ball of energy formed, growing ever larger as she began to announce it. "Final power up - Excellent Attack!"
The now-much larger energy ball was flung towards the slumping Umiko, and for a scant moment, time seemed to slow. Umiko smirked, just before the ball hit.
It impacted and exploded, the wind from the strike and the debris pushing back at Natsumi's clothing. She held her forearms up over her face to protect her VR headset from chips of rock and metal, and then lowered them, waiting for the dust to clear.
When it did, Umiko still stood, smirking. Not wounded now, she resembled something like a giant cat-person, her uniform ripped and torn, fur jutting out all over. And green cat's-eyes glared at the young General.
'My strongest attack... didn't even phase her?' Natsumi thought, her last coherent thought before sixty kilogrammes of muscle and fur smashed into her.
Umiko didn't care for niceties with her fighting, her greater strength and endurance allowed her to tear the other girl to shreds. Blood splattered the remaining walls of the chamber, slices of clothing and the occasional spurt of black ichor.
The younger girl tried to block with magical attacks, but the older woman tore through her defences. She tried to counter the moves with her own, but Umiko was just too fast. Finally, she curled up in a ball on the ground, wrapping her hands around her head and pulling her knees up to her chest. Umiko didn't stop.
And then, she did.
The cat-thing stepped back from the bloodied girl, and snarled. Natsumi didn't dare look up. There was a burst of dark power from beside Natsumi, and she knew the Master was there. "Ah, poor girl, you've suffered so much. So very, very much. Which made you a perfect choice for this role. Conniving, scheming, grasping. And you've paid the price for it. Yet... your treachery was planned from the beginning, dear Natsumi. And I owe you something for that." He paused, stood up. "Go. I won't kill you. This time. Yet, if I see you again... Live a normal life, Natsumi Otohime. Be with your sister, your family. Fall in love and have children, and forget about this. Forget this ever happened." He turned, and left, a now-human Umiko by his side.
The nurse paused a moment, looked over her shoulder at the girl shivering on the floor in a huddle. "You might not know it yet, but you just got the greatest gift of all." Then she, too, was gone.
******
Now.
******
"That's the story, girl." The General spoke quietly now, remember where she had gained her wounds. She had healed mostly faster than an average person, incredibly quickly, as a matter of fact. Yet her pride was hurt. Her self-esteem, her ideal life shattered in a few moments of frenzied clawing and biting.
It all caught up with her as Ranma finished binding her wounds. She looked up, almost in panic. "What do I do now? Where does my life go?"
"I think... your Master said it best. Live a normal life." Ranma sat back on his heels, tugging his skirt down absently over his knees as he did so. Damn the senshi and their wardrobe.
"A normal life?"
"Marry. Have kids. Work. Make the world a better place for everyone."
"People... do that?"
"Yeah. Why does your Master do what he does?"
"I... I don't know. I used to, I think, but I don't know now at all." Natsumi paused. "I always thought it was to make a world for us."
"Yet he can make pocket dimensions? And he wants this world?"
"I... I don't know."
Natsumi had changed greatly from the girl Ranma had stopped to help. She was nervous again, upset, saddened by her loss of what she viewed as her self and her mission. Ranma smiled. "You know. If you can keep quiet, I think I know a place where you can stay until you figure out what you want to do in life. How does that sound?"
******
It soudned good.
******
Natsumi's eyes opened when she saw the room. A decent futon to sprawl on, built-in wardrobe, connecting bathroom that had only been fixed a few weeks earlier, and most importantly -
She ran to the window. The view of the surrounding city and mountains beyond lifted her heart immensely. The air was so fresh up here, and the light -
That was one thing she had thought was bad in the pocket dimension she had lived in - there was no sun. No warmth, no light. Almost as if there was no love, and there wasn't. Not really. Deep down, even Natsumi had realised that what she felt for the Master was filial duty rather than love - and it seemed she'd been turned with even less of that than most of the youma had.
So, what was she to do now?
Ranma shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, you're welcome to stay here until you can figure things out. Just, uh, stay out of sight of the other girls, okay? They're... a little touchy." Natsumi frowned, wondering why they would dislike a stranger, until Ranma mentioned one of the girls had been the boyfriend of Keitaro Urashima. Oh. That explained a lot. She promised the red-haired girl she would keep out of their way as best she could, and turned back to the window, inhaling the air.
How could she have ever forgotten what it was like to just stand there and smell the freshness of the world?
******
Ranma stopped just down the hallway, head lowered in thought. He didn't know if this was a good idea, having a Dark General in the dorm, but then, did he have a choice? He didn't want to try and force her to change her mind about her path in life, but she had warned him of various things to come. He owed her a chance at a normal life, if that was what she decided.
So he shrugged, and went downstairs to find something to eat.
******
Hotaru stepped up the hill's stairs slowly, deep in thought. A rose-scented man. A mystery. A prince. She already had a prince, though.
Was a girl allowed two?
SAILOR MOON SAYS:
Mmmm. Late again. This one would not write at all. I think it turned out okay, though.
Next time: Ummm... you're asking me to think again. More with Natsumi, of course. And Hotaru's Rose Prince. Ahh, young love...
LOVE
By
Raymond Cooper
Chapter 3
** Omelette **
Ranma paused. Something in him tensed. He knew what was coming, and he couldn't stop it. He asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Natsumi Otohime, former Dark General of the Master, just stared.
Of course, she recognised the red-haired woman leaning over her - as the lead General for so long of her Master's forces, she knew the red-haired fuku-wearing woman on sight. Which was weird, in a way, since the senshi all had magical properties that led to hidden identities. Natsumi knew she shouldn't have been able to recognise the girl before her... but she did. So that meant, this girl wasn't a senshi. She was just super powerful, nearly on the level of perhaps the weakest senshi... but smart enough, aggressive enough, just plain more skilled than the reincarnated warriors from the Silver Millennium. She fingered her VR helmet slowly, sitting just above her eyes, tempted ot check out the power levels of the girl, but she decided not to. She was currently in no position to do anything based on what she might find.
She paused. She knew that the red-haired girl was uncertain here, not wanting to help, but being driven to it all the same. She looked up at the girl again, squinting into the light. "Why? Why would you ask me that?"
The red-haired girl shrugged. "Perhaps it's something to do with fate. Maybe it's something with the differences between us." She hesitated, then added, "You really don't expect me to help you, do you?"
Natsumi shook her head. "No. No, I don't. I've tried to kill you - and your friends. Why should you?"
"Because I'm in the position to."
"What would you expect from it?"
"I dunno," the girl said thoughtfully. "Maybe to walk out of this alley alive and in one piece? Maybe to help someone who's not in the best of condition. Maybe just a story. Surprise me."
So, Natsumi surprised both the girl and herself by beginning a story, as the girl bent down to help bind wounds.
******
Two weeks ago.
******
Natsumi knelt before the Master.
"Yes, Master." His form was swelling, and had dulled considerably since the last time Natsumi had laid eyes on him, only scant hours before. Umiko was nowhere to be seen; indeed, her ki aura couldn't even be detected by Natsumi's VR helmet. She used that to scan the Master, finding that his time was almost at hand. The final hours before his transformation to his adult form were now. He spoke in her mind, telling her what she needed to do.
She nodded as she accepted his instructions. Take a contingent of troops out, find a large number of people, absorb their energies into fuel for the Generals and the Master's adult form. They'd need it for the next stage of his plans.
"It is time. I will assemble the troops."
Natsumi ducked her head in a bow, then stood, turned on her heels, and left the room. All was silent as the Master's sightless eyes tracked her path along a corridor, seeing through the walls. A black polyp swelled up behind the Master, and disgorged Umiko, eyes closed, hands folded across her chest. She opened her eyes, lowered her arms, and looked at the door to the chamber.
"She will make her move soon."
The Master spoke in her mind. Umiko nodded. "She is a good General, Master, but her hunger for power is corrupting her views."
She listened some more, then nodded.
"Yes, Master, I will do this." Umiko nodded, and teleported out of the chamber, leaving the Master's crysalis to shiver in anticipation.
******
Natsumi stood in the underground meeting chamber, with a dozen lower youma. They were of all varieties: skeleton people, half-plant abominations, people whom had had their skulls explode under growing brains, fire creatures, were-cockroaches, and more. She enjoyed the rush of power from them, their loyalty to her every word. There was nothing better about being a powerful creature.
She could have altered her form when she had been inducted, forcibly originally, into the Master's forces, but had decided rather to take advantage of the technical knowledge of the Master himself and developed an upgraded version of a typical VR helmet. Based around components dating back to the Silver Millennium and eras of advanced human and non-human solar system life forms even more prior to that, the VR helmet was supposedly superior in computing power than the device Sailor Mercury had been observed using. In addition, it had some nifty features that Natsumi hadn't made enough sue of, like for instance being able to project people into computer games.
Also, it was great for playing Princess Maker 3D with.
The troops before her now were some of those Natsumi had made herself since her turning. Yet not all - it wouldn't pay to perhaps lose all of her loyal troops.
Standing in front of heryouma like this, though - it gave her such a rush. She hesitated a few moments to soak up the slavish devotion to her they offered.
"The Master has given us a mission!" she called out, just loud enough to be heard by all. "We will proceed to a location where there are plenty of people! We will absorb their life energies, and bring them back here, for the glory of the Master."
The largest were-roach lifted a foreclaw. "Will the senshi be there? They have that habit of showing up."
Natsumi shook her head. "I have it on good authority that they will be... shall we say... delayed." She smiled.
******
Tokyo University.
And the library explodes.
******
"We leave - now!"
Natsumi called up a dimensional slipgate, teleporting the youma with her to the location she had chosen while on her way to the meeting chamber.
It was a mall, large, long, filled with people of varying ages, nationalities and colours. The speech in the area was mostly Japanese, but there was some English, along with a smattering of Chinese and Korean. Natsumi's VR set automatically subtitled what she couldn't understand directly.
Several people noticed, turned to look, and most thought the youma attack force was a promotional gimmick - although the flaming skeleton and huge, bulky dogman looked almost too real to be faked. A nervous titter went up from someone in the crowd as more people noticed the strange figures, and at least one teenaged girl buried her face in her laughing boyfriend's shoulder.
Natsumi gave them a cursory glance, then turned to address her troops once more. "Now! Strike! Strike for -" Someone tapped her on the arm. A security guard, with a small taser on his hip. A second guard hung back about a dozen metres, a third on the other side of the mall's atrium where they had teleported in. Natsumi could feel another half-dozen congregating on this location. She sighed.
"I'm afraid you'll have to move along," the guard said in a calm, reasonable voice. "We're a family-oriented mall, and you'll have to wear appropriate, uh, outfits if you want to enter here."
He knew what they were. He HAD to know, Natsumi thought. Perhaps he was hoping either to stop a panic, or to talk himself out of seeing a bunch of monsters appear from nowhere. Oh well. Time to disappoint the poor human. She turned back to her troops momentarily. "Rip them apart. Suck them dry. Leave no human to tell the tale." She turned back to the security guard directly in front of her. "Except for this young man. He's mine." The smile she gave him wasn't pleasant, and promised much pain and agony.
His hand gripped at his taser, and it was about then that the crowd realised something was up, that something here wasn't right. Like all good citizens of Tokyo, and in fact all of Japan, they knew of the existance of monsters dedicated to stealing ki from all people. But in time-honoured tradition, everyone believed in the simple phrase 'it couldn't happen to me'.
Usually, they were right. With a country of nearly three hundred million people, the chances of the remaining youma hiding in dark places on the island attacking any particular one of them were staggeringly low. Over ninety-nine percent of people would never experience any evidence of a youma.
That is, natural youma.
Dark Kingdom youma... were a lot more common, but also, not as strong in the main as some of the ancient stand-bys, like Kappa of the bays and rivers, the occasional giant dinosaur throwback, and whatnot. And Dark Kingdom youma were often in the mood to procreate, especially the Generals. Stealing others' energies wasn't nearly as exciting if you didn't have anything else to show for it. Hence, most liked to make a troop or two if they could.
Previous to now, the invasions hadn't often allowed for troop-making by the Generals. But the Master was different to Beryl and the others... he had plans that involved things a little more complicated than revenge on the Moon Kingdom, a little different from chasing after schoolgirls in short skirts.
In the long-run, anyway, Natsumi thought with a smirk. The Master in his adult form would likely have some kind of sexual preference - but it might run the other way from the norm - he might chase after schoolboys in their long trousers.
Or perhaps even schoolboys in short skirts.
Natsumi stepped forward, towards the guard. He raised the taser from his hip, jammed it in her stomach just as the first youma behind her started to head towards the crowd. The guard could feel the panic rising, not just within himself, but within the crowd. Why'd this have to happen now? He was off-duty in half an hour, and the city was in an uproar and on alert for terrorists after the university library had been blown up. And now there was a creepy girl in front of him, who KEPT SMILING THAT CREEPY SMILE, who didn't seem to be alarmed at the taser in her stomach.
Natsumi shrugged and yawned as he pulled the trigger. Bands of electrical current writhed around her body for thirty seconds, until the weapon fell from the fingers of the disbelieving guard. He gaped, then made to step back.
A woman screamed in the crowd as the dogman reached her, pushed her aside, and tore her son in two. He grabbed at a tiny flash of light most people simply couldn't see, not being able to see that high into the EM spectrum, and absorbed the boy's ki. He then did the same to the mother, and continued in a line through the crowd.
Other youma were more subtle, drawing the energy out of people with beams of light, sucking it out parasitically through the mouth, or in one case, eating eyeballs.
The guard didn't quite manage to step back. Natsumi's leg swept under him, and he fell heavily to the ground. Then Natsumi was on him, tearing out his throat, splattering his comrade with his blood, making the other man turn to flee. The flaming skeleton got him in a deathgrip, burnt him alive. Toasted flesh assailed Natsumi's nose, and she felt aroused by that. Mmmmm... the blood soaking her clothing was also doing that. She captured his life essence before it could pass into the next world, and stood up to continue the work of directing the hit.
******
Now.
******
Ranma wound the ripped sheet around the General's arm. "So, you killed people," he tried to say casually. But somehow, the words stuck in his throat. Still, he knew he wouldn't be able to try and reason with her if he came off all high and mighty on her, so he did his best to fake it. He knew she knew he wasn't okay with her actions, but he was trying to be understanding.
And for some reason Ranma didn't quite understand, Natsumi seemed to be grateful for his assistance. The story came easier now, and she seemed to be almost contrite for her behaviour. Whether this was ana ct or not, Ranma didn't know. But if she continued on this track, it wasn't too unlikely she could fall at his feet, apologising for even being a glint in her father's eye.
"Yes," the General said, looking down at her hands, "I killed people."
"So what did you do so wrong that your master wanted you dead?"
The General eyed Ranma. "Master, with a capital m." Ranma nodded. "Well. The strike had gone well."
******
A week ago.
******
Natsumi lay on her bed, in the otherworldly base of operations the Master had set up for them. With his power, he had shifted a chunk of the sewers beneath Tokyo into a pocket dimension some time ago, and had set up permanent slipgates to Earth at certain sites in the complex for access. Of course, his Generals could teleport to and from Earth with ease, this was more for the average youma or espionage agent.
She knew in her head what she wanted to do, and was working out exactly how to go about it. She'd given the energy she had gathered from the mall to the Master, or rather, tried to. He hadn't wanted it - denied giving her the orders to carry out that mission, in fact. That had confused her, but she reasoned, she could do with the power it granted. Within her, she felt it made her much stronger than even perhaps the Master.
The last week, he had been mobile. Out and about, as it were, walking the streets of Earth. He'd already gained a reputation as an arrogant gaijin in more places than one, yet he'd never had a problem from those annoying senshi. At least the older, more experienced women weren't around any longer. Pluto, Neptune and Uranus thought things out a little better than the younger Inner senshi seemed to. But there was that nasty Nemesis around still... the Master's plans for her hadn't gone quite according to plan. And the red-headed senshi... she seemed to be much weaker than the others, but much, much more skilled in martial arts - which made her dangerous as the average youma was slow, unresponsive and weak compared to skills such as those observed in that girl.
The Master was off on another of his jaunts right now, as a matter of fact. What he hoped to accomplish by doing nothing was yet to be made clear to Natsumi - perhaps his transformation to adulthood had readjusted his brain or something? He certainly didn't seem to be thinking right. No more 'go on the offensive, kill them all, we can always make more footsoldiers' strategies, instead he was more, 'I'm going out for a walk now, dear Umiko.'.
The way he fawned over Umiko turned Natsumi's stomach.
In fact, the more she thought of it, she could run this outfit better than either of them.
Her plans had only called for showing herself to be stronger, more capable than Umiko, to replace the Master's favourite General. After all, Umiko was weak, a sop, unwilling to do the hard work that went with such a position. And Natsumi was willing.
So very, very willing.
But with the Master's habits of late, maybe she should set her sights higher, do something a little more... active in taking over the heirarchy of the organisation or something. Depose the ruling despot. Make herself one.
She didn't quite realise it, but this was what she had been subconsciously moving towards. Natsumi's plans to oust Umiko had been born of the urge to lead, to rule, to not have to be under someone ever again. Power was her goal here, power over her own life. And if that meant power over others, hey, that was an added bonus.
The more she thought about it, the more getting rid of Umiko now seemed like a good idea. Why? Because then the Master couldn't interfere in the outcome of the battle. Natsumi could take Umiko easily, she thought, but the Master would tip things in Umiko's favour. Hence, the General lifted herself from her bed, pulled her VR headset down over her eyes, and headed for the Master's bedchamber.
******
Umiko stood, ready. She already knew what was to come. She waited, ready for the imminent attack, yet relaxed, cool, calm. When she felt Natsumi's power levels flicker, in an attempt to cloak herself from others, Umiko knew this was the time. She flexed a hand at her side, feeling long-disused power crackle inside her fingers. It had been some time since she'd last powered up - heck, she hadn't used or abused her abilities sicne she had finished her initial alteration.
And to be honest, Umiko didn't really want to waste another nurse's uniform. They were getting harder to come by.
Natsumi was just around the corner now. Umiko forced herself to relax. The fight, definitely about to happen now, would be tough, but Umiko knew she outweighed the younger General. There were reasons the Master had stuck with Umiko as his nurse, as his mother, after all.
The younger General stepped into the chamber, not so quiet now. Standing behind Umiko. The nurse turned. "So. It's time."
Natsumi's eyes narrowed under the VR set, but she smirked. "Yes. Your time is finished, old hag. Time to make way for the younger generation."
Umiko waved a hand around the chamber. "The Master will be back soon. How will you explain your injury, or even death, to him?"
"Who said it will be e dying?" Natsumi snarled in reply, and let off a burst of energy.
For a moment, Umiko was somewhere else, in a maze filled with dots. She could hear a steady chomping somewhere, and then in front of her, from a break in the walls, came a giant yellow dot with a mouth. Umiko blinked, then sighed, folded her arms, and snapped back to the base's pocket dimension. "Really. Children's games. Do you expect to beat me so easily?"
"A girl can always hope," Natsumi snapped back, and struck a combat pose, resting her weight on her rear foot, pulling a hand up alongside her chest. Umiko sighed, then copied the position. Natsumi moved through a series of ever-faster poses, attempting to set up an attack posture Umiko couldn't match.
Umiko lazily met all of them.
Finally, the younger General had had enough. Natsumi leapt forward, strategy forgotten, relying on sheer physical power. An aura of flame sprung up around her body as she shifted forward, faster than the eye could make out over such a short distance. A mini sonic boom snapped stones in the nearby chambers in half.
The girl's left leg swung up, and clipped Umiko on the ear. The older woman staggered back, her hand going up to check on the damage. Her fingers came away bloody, and she blinked. Natsumi was moving forward again, at speeds Umiko couldn't match, and snapped out a series of punches and kicks and the occasional tackle. Natsumi's fists and feet flew, looking as if not attached to the ends of her limbs.
After a few minutes of being punched and kicked around, Umiko stood, panting in the middle of the room, blood leaking to the ground in numerous places. Natsumi stood back, getting ready to deliver the coup de grace.
"Can you feel it, old woman? Can you feel the darkness waiting at the edgees for you?" Natsumi smirked, and parted her hands for her final attack. A small ball of energy formed, growing ever larger as she began to announce it. "Final power up - Excellent Attack!"
The now-much larger energy ball was flung towards the slumping Umiko, and for a scant moment, time seemed to slow. Umiko smirked, just before the ball hit.
It impacted and exploded, the wind from the strike and the debris pushing back at Natsumi's clothing. She held her forearms up over her face to protect her VR headset from chips of rock and metal, and then lowered them, waiting for the dust to clear.
When it did, Umiko still stood, smirking. Not wounded now, she resembled something like a giant cat-person, her uniform ripped and torn, fur jutting out all over. And green cat's-eyes glared at the young General.
'My strongest attack... didn't even phase her?' Natsumi thought, her last coherent thought before sixty kilogrammes of muscle and fur smashed into her.
Umiko didn't care for niceties with her fighting, her greater strength and endurance allowed her to tear the other girl to shreds. Blood splattered the remaining walls of the chamber, slices of clothing and the occasional spurt of black ichor.
The younger girl tried to block with magical attacks, but the older woman tore through her defences. She tried to counter the moves with her own, but Umiko was just too fast. Finally, she curled up in a ball on the ground, wrapping her hands around her head and pulling her knees up to her chest. Umiko didn't stop.
And then, she did.
The cat-thing stepped back from the bloodied girl, and snarled. Natsumi didn't dare look up. There was a burst of dark power from beside Natsumi, and she knew the Master was there. "Ah, poor girl, you've suffered so much. So very, very much. Which made you a perfect choice for this role. Conniving, scheming, grasping. And you've paid the price for it. Yet... your treachery was planned from the beginning, dear Natsumi. And I owe you something for that." He paused, stood up. "Go. I won't kill you. This time. Yet, if I see you again... Live a normal life, Natsumi Otohime. Be with your sister, your family. Fall in love and have children, and forget about this. Forget this ever happened." He turned, and left, a now-human Umiko by his side.
The nurse paused a moment, looked over her shoulder at the girl shivering on the floor in a huddle. "You might not know it yet, but you just got the greatest gift of all." Then she, too, was gone.
******
Now.
******
"That's the story, girl." The General spoke quietly now, remember where she had gained her wounds. She had healed mostly faster than an average person, incredibly quickly, as a matter of fact. Yet her pride was hurt. Her self-esteem, her ideal life shattered in a few moments of frenzied clawing and biting.
It all caught up with her as Ranma finished binding her wounds. She looked up, almost in panic. "What do I do now? Where does my life go?"
"I think... your Master said it best. Live a normal life." Ranma sat back on his heels, tugging his skirt down absently over his knees as he did so. Damn the senshi and their wardrobe.
"A normal life?"
"Marry. Have kids. Work. Make the world a better place for everyone."
"People... do that?"
"Yeah. Why does your Master do what he does?"
"I... I don't know. I used to, I think, but I don't know now at all." Natsumi paused. "I always thought it was to make a world for us."
"Yet he can make pocket dimensions? And he wants this world?"
"I... I don't know."
Natsumi had changed greatly from the girl Ranma had stopped to help. She was nervous again, upset, saddened by her loss of what she viewed as her self and her mission. Ranma smiled. "You know. If you can keep quiet, I think I know a place where you can stay until you figure out what you want to do in life. How does that sound?"
******
It soudned good.
******
Natsumi's eyes opened when she saw the room. A decent futon to sprawl on, built-in wardrobe, connecting bathroom that had only been fixed a few weeks earlier, and most importantly -
She ran to the window. The view of the surrounding city and mountains beyond lifted her heart immensely. The air was so fresh up here, and the light -
That was one thing she had thought was bad in the pocket dimension she had lived in - there was no sun. No warmth, no light. Almost as if there was no love, and there wasn't. Not really. Deep down, even Natsumi had realised that what she felt for the Master was filial duty rather than love - and it seemed she'd been turned with even less of that than most of the youma had.
So, what was she to do now?
Ranma shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, you're welcome to stay here until you can figure things out. Just, uh, stay out of sight of the other girls, okay? They're... a little touchy." Natsumi frowned, wondering why they would dislike a stranger, until Ranma mentioned one of the girls had been the boyfriend of Keitaro Urashima. Oh. That explained a lot. She promised the red-haired girl she would keep out of their way as best she could, and turned back to the window, inhaling the air.
How could she have ever forgotten what it was like to just stand there and smell the freshness of the world?
******
Ranma stopped just down the hallway, head lowered in thought. He didn't know if this was a good idea, having a Dark General in the dorm, but then, did he have a choice? He didn't want to try and force her to change her mind about her path in life, but she had warned him of various things to come. He owed her a chance at a normal life, if that was what she decided.
So he shrugged, and went downstairs to find something to eat.
******
Hotaru stepped up the hill's stairs slowly, deep in thought. A rose-scented man. A mystery. A prince. She already had a prince, though.
Was a girl allowed two?
SAILOR MOON SAYS:
Mmmm. Late again. This one would not write at all. I think it turned out okay, though.
Next time: Ummm... you're asking me to think again. More with Natsumi, of course. And Hotaru's Rose Prince. Ahh, young love...