~~~~~~~~
Chapter 3i: Living in Interesting Times
~~~~~~~
-RIFTS Earth
Over five miles below the tranquil surface of the Pacific Ocean
an ancient evil raged. In the depths of the Mariana Trench
unfortunate minions who came too close were simply crushed
into pulpy jelly by the Reachers. Hundreds of miles of black tentacles
whipped violently to batter rocks, water, and flesh indiscriminately.
A monstrosity so gigantic and hideous that the mere sight could drive a
man to madness, this was the undisputed terror of the seas. Kraken,
Leviathan, Terror of the Deep, Nightmare Beast, all names given to
the horror through the ages. This was the Lord of the Deep,
one of the most powerful Alien Intelligences in the Multiverse.
A being of unimaginable age and power that now found itself
threatened for the first time in its existance by insignificant mites.
The Lord of the Deep was angry.
In the last score of years more of its kind had been destroyed then
had perished in the past millenia. In the Americas, silence was the
only response where once over a dozen of its brethren had answered
its calls. It had felt the One of Many Faces perish in England only
a handful of years ago, not so long a time for an Intelligence.
It had not been the Long Sleep of before either, this time the
Final Death had overtaken it. There had been others, weaker cousins
that were barely related only in name who had fallen one by one by
one means or another as well. More often then not a particularly
unique energy signature was associated with their deaths.
A signature that the Lord of the Deep marked well, for none
could hunt the Masters with such impunity and be allowed to live.
That a puny mortal dared to do so was utterly intolerable.
But it was also beginning to experience the first signs of something
that its alien mind had never felt before. In a human, that emotion
would have been called fear. Dimly did it remember the only other
time that so many of its kin had died, during the War with the Old Ones.
Few dared to risk the wrath of their power now, but there was something
eerily familar about this one that dared to kill those who were gods in all
but name.
Something from long ago...
The physical outburst was replaced by a silence that was in its own way
even worse then the former violence. All those nearby who still lived
and could move left as quickly as possible as the Leviathan settled down
and brooded deep within itself.
For yet another part of Current-Rider's prophecy had been fullfilled.
And with each step accomplished the Leviathan's time drew
one day nearer to its end. It knew this, though the creature
did not know how it knew. The Age of the Intelligences was
drawing to a close. They had existed for far too long, their time was
over. Yet the vile creatures refused to succumb to the inevitable and
continued to live on in defiance of the natural order of things.
But now, an end this perversion of the Balance was beginning
to taking place.
That Cursed Prophecy!
In the hopes finding out how to destroy the Lord of the Deep
a brave group of wizards had dared to cast a spell never before
tried. All who participated had died in the attempt, except for
one. Current-Rider, a fusion of man and whale and the first Spellsinger,
who was struck blind and could only remember these words;
"A Band of Warriors, brave and strong.
A Circle of Wizards, wise and clever.
The Largest War Machine.
The Eternal Flame Blade.
The Fires of the Cosmic Forge.
The One True Eye of Eylor.
The Strength of an Unbeliever.
A Hundred Years War.
When All are Done, the Lord of the Deep will Fall."
-Prophecy of the Deep
For the Spellsinger had glimpsed something that mortal eyes
were never meant to see. In truth the words he remembered
were merely a fragment, that had been all that his mind and soul
had been able to stand without collapsing in on itself.
But Current-Rider's action had already been preordained by the Prophecy.
As had so many other events now taking place. A Prophecy which would
shake the very foundations of the Multiverse as it ran its course...
~~~~~~
-Elsewhere
Such a strange dream. But why couldn't she remember it clearly?
Come to think of it, why was it so dark? And why did her head hurt
so much? Had she overslept and missed her shift again?! Wait a second,
calm down, what was the last thing she remembered?
{We were escorting the transports...then the plantery base tried a last ditch
missile assault. The convoy tried to intercept them but some got through...so
the commander turned us into a decoy to lure the remaining missiles away...
it worked but then we couldn't take them out fast enough and some of them
got through...}
And then...and then?
Nothing. Just the memory of a blinding
white flash followed by total darkness.
She wondered if she was dead. She decided
against that possibility when another hot lance of pain
shot through her temples. If she was dead then it
wouldn't hurt so much, she decided.
Gunner Brandy Corbin bravely opened one eye wide
and immediately regretted it. It felt like her brain had just
caught on fire and someone was sprinkling kerosene on it.
{Ow ow ow!! Too bright!!}
A few seconds later she risked the dizzying pain again, only
this time Brandy only took a small look as she gave her body
time to get used to the emergency lights. It helped a little,
but the effort still left her drained.
Brandy coughed raggedly, the smell of smoke and scorched
wiring hang heavily in the air. Though it wasn't very pleasant,
it did beat some of the alternatives. At least there was air
to breathe. She also didn't hear the dreaded whistling of atmosphere
escaping into the vacuum of space. So it appeared that the turret's
structural integrity hadn't been compromised. But judging from the
damage to her station it looked like the power grid had overloaded
and blown out half of the circuits while frying the rest to a crisp.
Lifting her head up the petite Inquisiter was rewarded by abused nerves
informing her about a whole new batch of aches and pains as her body
violently protested against any further movement. Despite that she somehow
managed to achieve a position more vertical then horizontal and
began to take an assessment of the current situation.
It had been close. How close exactly was revealed when the gunner
looked down. Brandy blanched at the sight of what was left of her console.
It looked like a bomb had gone off in the middle of it. Without her Shield of
Inner Strength she would have been impaled by the dagger-like fragments
from the explosion. Summoning it had been the last thing she remembered
doing before losing consciousness. The blunted pieces now formed a large
pile in front of her where they had landed after impacting into the force field.
Even with the protection of the supernatural barrier it soon
became apparent that she had not totally escaped from harm.
A warm stickiness running down her right ear proved to be blood
from a long shallow cut near the top of her head. The young woman
swore softly as she tentatively touched the edges of the wound. There
was no telling what other injuries she had at the moment short of a trip
to the Med-bay. Which meant that Lotion would most likely try to jam
another one of her noxious concotions down her throat. The ship's healer
was notorious among the crew for preferring old fashioned remedies over
high-tech equipment and synthetic medicines whenever possible. Most
of those cures usually involved making the victim ingest large quantities
of substances whose actual origins were questionable at best. In many
cases the cure was often considered worse then the ailment. However,
there was method to her eccentricity. So far all of Lotion's potions had
worked, which was the only reason why the crew had put up with them
as long as they had. Needless to say, those who possessed their own
regenerative abilities or healing powers were much envied by the
crewmembers who did not.
Then Corbin paled again as she remembered that she wasn't the only
person manning the turret.
{Oh shit!! Amanda!!}
The time it tool her to unstrap herself from the seat's safety harness
was the longest minute of her life. As soon as she the last seal unlocked
Brandy started frantically looking for any sign of her co-gunner and friend.
She didn't have search very far. A dark stain on the far side of
the turret drew her attention and from there the gunner quickly
found what was left of Amanda.
Bile rose in her throat as Brandy's shocked brain tried to make
sense of the havoc. Although farther away from the console
Amanda had not had a personal forcefield to protect her.
That station had been blown violently outward and collapsed
partially on top of the woman. Corbin knew that everything
from the pelvis down had to have been crushed by the sheer
weight. One arm hung like a marionette's, twisted at a nightmarish
angle. Fearing the worst Brandy bent down to check for a pulse.
Nothing.
Still she kept trying, hoping.
Still nothing...wait.
There it was. Faint and thready, but stable for the moment at least.
*...'...*
Tears of relief filled her eyes.
"Shhh. Save your strength."
"..s...sh..shit.....th...that...hurt...."
One aqua blue eye hesitatingly opened. It had nearly swollen
shut and was the skin around it was even now an awful purplish
black. The rest of her wasn't in much better condition.
"...how bad is it? I....I...can't feel my legs."
"...."
Brandy averted her eyes, unable to actually say a
comforting lie yet not wanting to tell her friend the
gruesome truth.
"...that bad huh."
"I....I'm sorry."
"D..don't be. I knew the risks w..wh..when I signed up."
Amanda started coughing raggedly as splashes of dark
crimson decorated the floor.
"Just hang on!"
Rising to her feet she moved to where the internal comm
system was and prayed that it was still working. Brandy
slammed her hand on the red distress button with all of
her strength.
"Medical Emergency in Turret 3!! Get someone down here NOW!!!"
~~~~~~~~
-Ground Zero
Well, it looked like he'd found the cause of the disturbance.
Or rather, she had found him. It was enough to make a
guy think that he was cursed or something.
Was a fair chance for once really too much to ask of Lady Luck?
{Well, judging from my current situation I'd say the answer is "Yes".}
He did have to admit though, that rarely did trouble come in such an
attractive package. She was quite...exceptional, and her fighting ability
wasn't anything to sneeze at either. Long dark green hair, exotic red eyes
on a classic ageless complexion, a trim waist that most women would
kill for, smooth thighs with just enough muscle for a healthy figure, and a
chest that were certainly more than ample...
*whap*
{Bad thought! Bad thought!!}
He mentally slapped himself, that kind of thinking
would definitely get him into trouble! He had more then
enough girl problems as it was, the last thing he needed
was *more* of them. Especially when the woman in
question eclipsed everyone's auras there, even his!
The Cosmoknight had no trouble registering this Senshi's Power,
it had reached a level where it was so strong that it was simply
*impossible* to conceal. Ranma knew that although he was good,
he wasn't anywhere even remotely near the real powerhouses of
the Multiverse. Still, his current level of ability wasn't anything to
sneer at either. If necessary he could reduce a large city to a
blackened crater without even half trying. However, what he was facing
was on the magnitude of continental devastation, perhaps even extending
to a global level of impact. In either case, he had about as much
a chance in a direct confrontation as a butterfly against a thermonuclear
warhead. Except that you could probably get better odds on the butterfly.
Oh man, she looked like she'd like nothing better to do then to crack him
open like a walnut with that solid looking staff she was carrying. What was
even more unnerving was the way her crimson eyes seemed to pierce through
his armor's faceplate as though it wasn't even there. He had to fight the urge to flinch.
Whoever she was, she was obviously a lot older and much more experienced then
he could ever hope to achieve in a hundred years. The Knight could see it in her eyes,
she had that look. The one that said she'd seen it all, done it all, and gotten the free
T-shirt to boot. He was *way* out of his league here!
To make matters even worse, the alarm he felt was starting to be compounded
by the slow burning flames of desire, an extremely volatile combination indeed.
Already awakened by the bronze skinned goddess who was still much too
close for his comfort, his more primal instincts were calling for, no, make that
demanding that he make up for denying them for so long.
{This is nuts! She wants to kill me for crying out loud!!}
Sadly, Ranma's hormones were not listening to the head that had the brains.
They weren't about to let a little thing like his impending demise get in the way
of an opportunity to have some fun. Something irresistible was drawing him to her,
like a hapless moth to the beckoning flame.
{Stop it!! Damn it Saotome, pull yourself together!!!}
The violence of his reaction shocked him to the core, such a loss of self
control was completely out of character for him. He was a Knight of the Forge
and yet here he was acting like some poor sap who had never even seen a woman
before. Something was wrong, he didn't understand what was happening to him.
What kind of power did this woman possess that could cause this
uncertain feeling inside of him?
His subconscious knew, even if Saotome himself didn't.
Such a pity that he'd used the *cursed* scrolls of Sinanju
to learn the secrets of Anything Goes Marital Arts all those
years ago...
~~~~~~
Shadow shook his head, not sure whether or not
he should laugh or groan. Perhaps both. At this rate
the women were going to eat him alive.
"He's still pretty dense for someone so intelligent."
The Bard let a small puff of air escape from his mouth.
"Yes, it's rather sad actually."
"It gets worse."
The pair turned toward Zora.
"We already knew that."
~~~~~~
-Not the safest place to be
Sailor Pluto shook her head to clear it of the strange
sensations that had momentarily disturbed her normally
unshakable composure. An odd sense of excitement
coupled with a nervousness utterly foreign to the Time
Guardian had seized her upon getting her first good look
of the troublemaker that had forced her to intervene in the
timeline. Almost as if there had been a connection between
them for the briefest of moments. This wasn't what she had
been expecting, not by a long shot. For the second time in
the same century Sailor Pluto was caught off guard. This
was starting to get out of hand, she was *not* supposed to be
surprised!
Pluto had absolutely no idea what this stranger was, yet he seemed strangely
familar. But to the best of her extensive knowledge she had no recollection of
ever meeting anyone from either side that looked like this. She scanned
him closely, noting the predatory lines of his form and disquieting sense
of "presence" that surrounded him. Her eyes narrowed slightly as
she noted that the voluptuous platinum blonde seemed to be
all but glued to his front.
An unfamiliar pang of...disgust?...anger?...jealousy?!...envy?! struck.
Why did she feel such a strong desire to separate the two of them?
And why did the image of a *100 ton* mallet suddenly pop into her head?
She was supposed to be removed from such things, the Guardian of the
Time couldn't afford such luxury of human emotions. But the sentiment
was there regardless, something within him was calling to a part of her
that she'd thought had been buried forever. Pluto didn't like this feeling at all,
it was so messy and strange. She told herself that it was only a temporary thing
that would go away once the stranger was dealt with, but that rebellious part of
her that had been reawakened refused to listen.
"Who are you?"
The slight tremor in her voice was practically unnoticable, but
she still cursed herself for it even existing in the first place.
"I should be asking you the same question."
Somehow Ranma managed to extract himself from Urd's clutches
between one moment and the next as he went on the offensive.
Not all fights were won with force, perhaps if he took the initiative
they could avoid something that they both would most likely regret.
If she beat him he lost, if he somehow managed to beat her he'd still
come out as the loser. And for some reason just the thought of having
to raise his hand against her made something inside him cry out in protest.
After all, it couldn't hurt to....
{Oh that's right, "Do or do not, there is no try".
You just had to drum that into my head didn't you, Luke.}
~~~~~~~~
-Not far enough
"Oh ho. So this is what you're up to Urd."
Demoness First Class Mara grinned nastily from
her perch above the action. The thrice-bedamned
temple was locked up tighter then a miser's safe,
she'd found that out the hard way this morning while
attempting to fullfill her mission of making Morisato's
life miserable.
It had been quite a shocking experience, thus her current
surveillance. It would be awhile till she was back up to full power
and since she couldn't get inside, that left causing trouble for
whoever was unfortunate to be outside the safety of the Ultimate
Ward of Protection. How fortunate that a sudden enormous burst
of divine energy from this district had caught her attention.
Now not only did she have the little techno-brat and Urd out
in the open, but as a *bonus* the newcomer was here as well.
This promised to be a profitable situation, her favorite kind.
{Now if Senbei manages to do his job properly,
things should start to get very interesting.}
The tiny imp had been ordered into action as soon as she'd
spotted Urd making a play for the stranger.
With his talents, a misunderstanding was sure to occur
and mayhem inevitable. At worst it would be a temporary
split that she could exploit, best case would be for the stranger
to be forced to reveal how powerful he really was, the Forces
of Darkness were always looking for new recruits. If he was
good enough to stand up against that kind of firepower...
She might even be tempted to bring him in herself
if he turned out to be worth her while.
A win/win scenerio, sometimes being evil paid off in spades.
Only one nagging little thing still bothered her, the discharge
of Holy Power from here that had caught her attention had
not come from either of the Goddesses on the scene.
Mara had come to recognize the power signatures of all three
from first hand experience, and that hadn't been Belldandy's
doing either. But there were no signs of any other higher
powers here, divine or infernal. Strange indeed, that Power
definitely had a female's markings all over it, but the
nature of the emanations disturbed her, they had been
far too old to have come from any of the current pantheons.
~~~~~
Ranma gestured toward the other Senshi
on the street.
"I'm not the villain here, your friends can
vouch for that."
At least he assumed that the similar fukus
were a standard uniform for all of them.
His luck would be running true to form if it turned
out that they were actually blood enemies instead.
"That's right! Can't you give him a chance Pluto?"
Jupiter was the unsurprisingly the first to speak in their
rescuer's defense. Why should Usagi be the only one to
get the hero?
Venus was of a like mind. Surely the others would
understand once she explained she had called dibs
on him, right?
"Yeah! He really shoved his sausage up our furnace!"
{{Huh?!}}
Everyone turned toward Senshi of Love with wide eyes and
even wider sweatdrops on the back of their respective
heads (and helmet).
"What? What'd I say?"
A redfaced Mercury explained while looking anywhere except
directly at her fellow Senshi.
"Venus, that's supposed to be "Pulled our bacon out of the fire.""
"Oopsie."
*CRASH*
Throughout Japan a not-so-mysterious occurence
of simultaneous facefaults took place.
~~~~~~
-Where Legends Dwell
"Trapping your knight with your own pieces? That's not like you."
-It is the beginning and the ending of the Circle.-
"Did you say something?"
A beak could not frown. But the figure came as close to
it as his features permitted. He loved a good intellectual challenge
as much as the next person, but still there were times when even
he wished that things could be simpler then they were. Moves within
moves, games within games, always were there too many secrets.
Sometimes he envied the mortals and the way they lived their lives in
blessed ignorance of the many tangled webs of power being woven
among the fabric of reality.
He sighed, such was not to be their fate. But for life of him he still
couldn't comprehend what sort of strategy he was facing. There was
no order, no patterns this time, instead the moves were seemingly at
random and utterly chaotic in their effect on the game. But now it
seemed that the other side had finally stumbled on an impasse.
"There's nowhere left for him to go."
[Only if he plays by the rules.]
~~~~~
"I don't want to fight you."
Pluto hesitated, her determination wavering for the
briefest of moments. There was something incredibly
compelling about his voice, a quality that made her
want to believe him despite her better judgment.
What if he was telling truth? Could he actually be
an ally instead of yet another enemy?
No, said the part of her that was a Senshi. He was
a man, and the power had always corrupted them
in the end no matter how noble they might have been in
the beginning.(1) They could never be trusted, betrayal
was inevitable. Perhaps he came in peace today, but
what of tomorrow? Best not to take the chance, her
warrior's instincts cried out to destroy him on the spot.
Yes, said another voice. It urged her to trust him, to let go
of the old fears and suspicions. If he was evil then why was
there no general feeling of malice or hatred surrounding him?
Serenity had once spoken of other forces who had come from
beyond their dimension to aid the founders of the Moon Kingdom,
a legend so ancient that it had only been passed down from each
descending Queen to the next. If Usagi hadn't been so young and
the danger from the Earth so great then the Queen would not have
had to entrust that knowledge with the Keeper of Secrets during
the last days of the Silver Millenium. So there were others besides
the Dark Ones, it was possible...
But how to be sure?
"Neptune."
"Yes?"
"I need you to use your Mirror."
"Alright, but what am I supposed to be looking for?"
"The truth."
~~~~~~~
-Trouble
Senbei, Sub-Demon of Unhappiness and Misfortune,
Second class Limited license, was getting ready for his
happy level to go up, up, up!
"Heh heh heh! Let the unhappy begin!"
Sailor Neptune frowned as she concentrated harder,
trying to get the image in the Mirror to focus. Yet the
murky cloud still remained there despite her best efforts.
She couldn't get a clear reading about him either way,
the Knight might as well have been a granite statue for
all that the artifact was able to tell her.
Finally the Neptune shook her head in a mixture of
frustration and defeat.
"I'm sorry Pluto, the Mirror either can't or won't
show me anything about him."
"I see."
Although alarmed by this setback, Pluto's mind was
still open. A few more minutes and Ranma might
have been able to bridge the gulf of suspicion and
mistrust that seperated them. But that was when
Senbei's surprise went off.
~~~~~~
-Phaseworld Center
Katrina suddenly stopped and shivered as a dark
chill seemed to brush across her very soul. It was too
much like the panic attacks she had suffered a few years
ago during the Gathering of Heroes. The unrelenting feeling
of terror, of being absolutely helpless to do anything, those
old fears threatened to drag her down once more into the darkness.
"No...no....NO!!"
"Are you all right?"
Her guide looked at her with a worried expression on his face.
"I..I'm fine. Just a bad memory."
The D-bee nodded and turned away even though he wasn't
completely convinced. The Alliance paid him to *not* ask
questions, and anyway he wanted absolutely nothing to do
with that crazy Saotome or any of his women.
Especially this one. There was something about her that
made him as nervous as a cat in a room full of sleeping
pit bulls. If the money for this job hadn't been so good.....
"Ranma..."
The way she said that name sent cold shivers
down the guide's spine. Yes, as soon as his task
was finished and payment delivered he was getting
as far away from her as possible!
~~~~~~
-In a galaxy far, far away...
"Master Skywalker! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, but just for a moment I thought I felt
a great disturbance in the Force."
Strange, why did he suddenly find himself thinking
about an old friend now of all times? It had been years
since his former student had left, but he would never
forget Saotome. Never had a more brash and headstrong
individual ever succeeded in passing the Jedi training, quite
an accomplishment when Ranma was barely able to tap into
even the most basic aspects of the Force. But now there was
a sense of urgency to those memories, yet for the life of him
he didn't know why.
{Something has happened. But what?}
Even a Jedi Master must wonder sometimes.
~~~~~~
-You Are So Screwed.
Unnoticed by Neptune, her artifact began to
grow dark as the barely adaquate forces of
adversity went to work.
"Hmm?"
{Someone's being very sloppy.}
Urd glanced around curiously, someone nearby was
expending quite a bit of magical power and if
the amount of leakage she was picking up was
any indication they obviously weren't very good at it.
{Now where have I seen that style before?}
The identity of the culprit was right on
the tip of her tongue when her attention
was suddenly called back to the little
drama unfolding in front of her. It looked
like the final act was about to begin.
~~~~~~
-You Think You Have Problems?
{I am not going to panic. It's
nonproductive and a waste of energy.
There has to be some kind of logical
explanation for all of this phemonena.}
Sailor Mercury kept telling herself that
as her VR visor hiccuped and finally
started displaying something coherent.
"Eep."
That statement pretty much summed up
her feelings when the nature of the
data she was currently receiving became
clear.
{This can't be right! There has to be
some kind of mistake!! It's impossible!!!}
~~~~~~
-You Ever Get That Sinking Feeling?
She still couldn't take her eyes off of him.
Why did she feel that there was a connection
between the two of them? This warm feeling
coming from inside her heart was filling her
entire body with a sense of...joy?
Who was he? What was he?
And most importantly, why did his presence
make her feel so safe and secure? She had
only experienced anything remotely like this
a long time ago, when she was being held in
her father's arms as he rocked her to sleep.
Yet she was feeling the same sensation now,
that complete certainty of being sheltered
and knowing that no harm would come.
Sailor Saturn looked at him,
and wondered...
~~~~~~
-You're Where?
{This sucks.}
Being stuck in a quasi-dimensional pocket
courtesy of an ancient martial arts technique
was not very high on Ishtar's list of things she
enjoyed doing. For one thing, it virtually cut
off her awareness of the outside world. The sword
intensely disliked this muffling of her senses,
which included even the bond that linked her
with her owner. She could still feel it in
the back of her mind like a warm ember, but
was otherwise "left in the dark", so to speak.
It didn't help matters any that gravity was
nonexistant in here, objects tended to just
retain stationary positions in what she
assmed was the middle. Even her sense of
time was distorted, although given the
nature of the surroundings that might
be considered a blessing in disguise.
Because worst of all...
It was so damn BORING!
She couldn't even have the satisfaction of
chewing Saotome out while she was stuck in
here. He had learned early on to tune out
her many complaints, it helped that this
was one of the few situations that dampened
her telepathy down to a level that even
an infant could block her sendings.
Not that Ranma's mental defenses were
much better then an infant's, at least
in her opinion. Honestly, how had that
silly boy ever managed to survive so
long without her?
{That over-inflated ego of his is going to
be the death of him yet. I didn't sense
anything really dangerous nearby, but still...}
The little tart of a goddess she'd dismissed
as a threat almost immediately, it didn't take
a genius to see what *that* one was looking for.
If Ranma couldn't win her over with that weird
enhanced sex appeal of his *then* she'd be surprised.
That way he had with women was part of the reason why
Ishtar tended to look down upon any female chasing her
wielder, she knew that most of them just wanted him for
his body. Even if it was a very nice body and even
if it took an exceptional willpower to resist his
semi-supernatural charm that was still no excuse!
Ishtar loved Ranma for who he was on the inside, not
for his looks (pleasing though they might be).
So naturally she got more then a little peeved
whenever one of those temptresses tried to get
their claws on him.
{Sigh.}
There *had* been the beginnings of a slightly
disturbing reading at the very edges of her
senses right before she had been returned here.
But it had been very far away and the contact
was too brief for her to confirm it.
{Well, it might have just been a fluke. And
even if it does turn out to be dangerous
I'm sure that he wouldn't be crazy enough
to confront it without me there...I hope.}
~~~~~~
-You Dirty Rat!
Sembei smiled nastily as
he snapped his fingers.
"Unhappy strike number one."
Black tendrils of ectoplasm erupted forth
from the face of Sailor Neptune's mirror
and launched themselves at the surprised
Senshi. Although their appearence was
rather horrifying they were actually quite
harmless. The imp was more concerned with
causing chaos then actual injury, not to
mention the fact that he lacked the power
to give his creations much substance anyway.
Having experienced this type of unexpected
situation before, she naturally responded
with all the calm and dignity one would
expect from such a mature young lady.
"AAAHHH!!!"
Then again...maybe not.
Everything seemed to happen at once after that.
~~~~~~~
-Ristmoth, Governor Ryga's Palace
The remaining Imperial troops crouched nervously behind
whatever cover they could find. They knew it was only a
matter of time until the rebels finally broke through.
The armored doors might look thick and solid,
but it wouldn't last long against any real firepower.
This was going to be their last stand,
none of them held any illusions as to what fate
the rebels had in mind for them. The problem
with serving a huge evil empire that trampled
the masses into the dirt was that occasionally
those masses clawed their way out and then
pulled their oppressers down into the dirt
and buried them in it.
Suddenly it grew quiet.
The constant background hum of energy
discharges had ceased.
Soldiers clutched their Power Halbards and Pulse Rifles closer.
For a long moment eerie silence filled the building.
No one dared to even breathe, afraid that it would
shatter their temporary reprieve.
Then the sound of many footsteps moving toward the
palace broke the illusion. Snipers stationed at
the windows started to open fire. Bodies could be
heard dropping on the grounds outside by the dozen.
The return fire from the attackers was overwhelming
in its intensity. Snipers who survived the initial
hailstorm of plasma bolts and laser beams became
the recipients of mini-missiles and fusion grenades
as rebel forces dislodged them from their tenaciously
held positions.
A dull red glow started to appear in the middle
of the armored doors protecting the main entrance.
The glowing area slowly grew from the size of
a quarter to nearly twice the diameter of a
normal man. The center went from dull bloodish
red to bright cherry red, then to molten yellow
orange, and finally to a blinding white.
*BOOM*
Charging through the wreckage came
the screaming hordes.
"For Freedom and Liberty! Death to the Empire!!"
~~~~~~~
-Yikes!
{So it was lie after all! Damn him!}
For some reason this betrayal hurt far more
then it should have even though she had been
expecting it all along. There wasn't much
comfort to be found in being proven right all
the time. For a few precious moments, she had
secretly hoped that for once her instincts were
wrong. But now it was too late for regrets,
all that remained were the bitter ashes of
lost hope and a burning desire for vengence.
"Dead Scream."
Sailor Pluto initiated her signature attack.
~~~~~~
-Double Yikes!!
"Neptune!"
It was the equivalent of lighting a
match in a room full of dynamite.
To say that Sailor Uranus was angry would
be the understatement of the century.
She was FURIOUS.
{This guy is *HISTORY*!}
"Space Sword Blaster!!"
~~~~~~
-You couldn't figure it out earlier?!
She spotted the culprit
just one moment too late.
{Senbei? That little..!! So this is all MARA's fault!!}
Urd rolled up her sleeves as she prepared
to teach that no-good two-bit imp a lesson.
"Lightning STRIK..Eek! Put me down!"
~~~~~~~~
-Are You Confused Yet?
He didn't know what was going on.
One second it seemed that everything
would be all right and then all hell
had broken loose.
That girl, Sailor Neptune, was struggling
against what looked like dark jello.
Ranma realized after a moment of confusion
that it was ectoplasm, though he'd never
seen it in that color before. The stuff
was practically harmless, although it
could be kinda disgusting for the unprepared.
The other two took one look and turned back
toward him with grim expressions on their faces.
{Uh oh.}
Ranma knew a setup when he saw one. It was obvious
that someone had just framed him. Unfortunately
there was no way for him to prove it right now,
and simply proclaiming his innocence at this point
was obviously not going to do any good.
{So much for talking my way out of this.}
The short tempered blonde confirmed
his suspicions about the sword when
she shouted out some kind of command
phrase and her blade fired an energy
bolt at him.
Ranma couldn't make heads or tails
of the "sphere" (for lack of a better
term to describe it) that the other
woman shot at him. It looked pretty
nasty though, so it would probably
be in his best interests to avoid it.
That one called Sailor Pluto(?) looked
really pissed off at him, and the
unfairness of it all made the Knight
want to scream with frustration.
Then Ranma saw that he wasn't the only
one in danger here. What was that goddess
doing?! Didn't she realize that those
projectiles were going to...
{Oh screw it! I can apologize
to her later.}
With no time to lose The Cosmoknight
grabbed the platinum blonde in one
arm and slung her over his shoulder
as he leaped out of the way of the
incoming attack.
An explosion rocked the ground
where he'd been standing just a
moment earlier. Oddly enough, it
didn't seem to cause much damage
to the street. Which either meant
that those were very weak attacks
(not likely) or they were similar
in nature to phase weapons in that
they were meant for *live* targets
(Quite probable *shudder*).
~~~~~~~~
-Phaseworld Center, Level 2-B: Spacetown
"C'mon, We have to get going.
Our contact is waiting in the
Seel's Whails."
"The what?"
"Seel's Whails, it's a Spacer bar.
Lotta freelancers and runners hang
out there. Most of them are sympathetic
to the Rebels so it's as safe a place
as any for us."
"If you say so."
Privately Sun had her own doubts about that.
This part of the city was only slightly rundown
but she had the uncomfortable feeling that
their passage was being watched by many pairs
of eyes. Even though the streets were nearly
empty of people there was a dangerous tension
in the air. She rested a hand on her holdout
blaster, its familar presence on her hip was
reassuring as always.
"Just keep a low profile and we should be
able to avoid any trouble."
The guide just hoped that none of the
rough and tumble types around here
noticed his client. Her exotic beauty
had not escaped his notice, even in
this interdimensional hub of the
multiverse the woman stood out.
{Yes, she's quite a looker.}
He briefly found himself almost
envying Saotome. But that only
lasted until he saw that *look*
in her eyes again. No siree,
he couldn't wait to part company
with her. The sooner, the better!
~~~~~~~
-You'll be sorry!
Urd's shapely posterier wiggled
in vain as she struggled to escape
from her new position. Being carried
over this barbarian's shoulder like
the spoils of war was most embarrassing.
"Do you have any idea how undignified this is?!"
Beating her hands against the back
of his armor proved equally fruitless.
She might as well have been a sack full
of groceries for all he seemed to care.
{Oh no! My nails! And I just had them done too!}
"Would you settle down please?
I'm a little busy at the moment!"
Ranma was having some trouble holding onto
the scandalously clad woman while
simultaneously jumping and dodging about
as not one, but two infuriated opponents
tried their damned best to make him very,
very dead. Sadly, this was a situation
that he was much too familar with, having
experienced variations of the same theme
many, many times over the past couple of
years.
Of course this *was* the first time
that he found himself unable to fight
back. These girls weren't really bad,
they'd just been tricked into thinking
he was the villain here. That observation
still didn't help his situation any though.
In the course of most events there
will occasionally be *accidents*.
When the event includes frantic evasive
maneuvers coupled with a handicap that
was both soft and curved in all the right
places the odds of one of those *accidents*
taking place tends to skyrocket into the
stratosphere.
*goose*
"Eek! You pervert!"
"Sorry about that!"
"Release your hostage! And stop molesting her!"
"Hostage?! You're the one who's trying
to kill us! At least let me put her down
first! And that was an accident!"
"Shut up! Space Sword Blaster!"
"Watch those hands buster!"
{Why do these things always happen to me?!}
~~~~~~
-Are You Sure You Know What You're Doing?
"Stop it! You're making a mistake!"
"Pluto! Uranus! Wait! There's been some kind
of misunderstanding!"
When Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus are the
sole voices of reason in a conflict, it's
time to start worrying.
The other Senshi prudently decided to
take cover, as did Sasami and the now-awake
and very confused Skuld.
The little goddess felt a lot better now,
but why was everyone fighting again?!
Tuxedo Kamen produced a rose in one hand
and watched the battle carefully, waiting for an opening.
~~~~~~
-High Orbit Over Ristmoth
"Is everyone alright?"
Assorted affirmative replies came in
as the bridge's emergency lights flickered
wildly. There were many cuts and bruises
but amazingly no real serious injuries.
It appeared that body armor and natural
toughness had saved the day once again.
"I need a status report. Sammy, weapons and
navigation. Tania, check the communications
broadcast array and all decks and turrets.
Ana, can we still cloak? And someone contact
the engine room, I'm sure Silvia is pretty
pissed about all the abuse her "wee lil' bairns"
have taken."
"Yes, Ma'am."
The crew went about their tasks quickly and
efficently despite their recent near brush
with oblivion. It was simply part of the job.
"She can still cloak, but the grid is looking
pretty unstable. I wouldn't recommend it
short of a complete emergency. Our active stealth
systems are pretty overloaded at the moment,
we need time to let them cool down."
"Noted."
"We're at 85% of optimal power, capacitors
for the main guns are off-line and our shields
are so thin that you could throw a spitball
through them. Ship's navigation seems to have
survived quite nicely though, some luck seems
to be finally going our way. Missiles and
torpedos are available but the Reaper cannon
is off-line. Secondary batteries are still
functional, but it looks like they'll be only
at half strength for little bit. Starboard turrets
are down, looks like numbers 3 and 6 are a total loss."
"Medical Teams have been dispatched. Yes Brandy,
they're coming so please stop yelling at me! Commander,
the crew manning turret 6 reports that they're fine,
they just got tossed around a bit."
"Casualties?"
"Well...just a moment. Brandy! I told you they're
on their way! Stop screaming already! What was that
again?"
"Casualties?"
"Coming in now. Whoa, looks like Dr. Lotion
is really going to be earning her pay this time!"
"Lieutenant."
"Forty eight crew members have reported injuries so far.
Twelve of them are going to require hospitalization. Only
two really serious cases though, Amanda and Ikeya."
"I'm sure the doctor will be thrilled."
Now the Commander hesitated, this was always
the worst part about being in command.
"...fatalities?"
There was a brief pause as Tania checked the
incoming reports.
"Looks like we cheated the piper again, Ma'am."
Ayla let out a breath she didn't
even know she had been holding.
{Thank the Goddess.}
"Alright people, don't relax just yet.
We still have a job to do."
"Aye aye, Commander."
~~~~~
-You Were Warned About Days Like This.
"Dead Scream."
Ranma found himself forced to alter
directions in midair once again, that
Sailor Pluto seemed to have an uncanny
knack for being able to correctly predict
where he was going to touchdown.
"World Shaking!"
So far he'd been able to avoid coming
into contact with whatever it was they
was shooting at him, but it hadn't been
easy. No sooner did he manage to dodge
one then the other would launch her attack.
The two of them were working as a team,
keeping him off balance so that he couldn't
retake the initiative.
{This is getting me nowhere! I need a plan,
but...aw no, please don't tell me I'm grabbing
what I think I'm grabbing!}
"You better not let me go because the
moment you do I'm gonna KILL you, Pervert!"
{Oh joy.}
Correction, first he needed to deposit his unwilling
passenger somewhere safe. *Then* he could worry about
what to do with latest additions to the long line of
people trying to kill him.
Well, it could have been worse.
They could have been trying to marry him instead.
~~~~~~
-You're Despicable!
{This is GREAT! Explosions, a beautiful
woman in peril, the Sailor Senshi, and
lots of gratuitious violence! Who could
ask for more?}
The News Anchor and his trusty sidekick were
happier then pigs in manure. Even if they
didn't know what was really going on.
On a related note, the camera man *was* able
to get an indecent shot of Urd's panties
when she was hoisted over the Knight's shoulder.
This resulted in several million slaps being
delivered to viewers nationwide by angry wives
and girlfriends.
Plus one electrocution.
Keiichi Morisato could only
cover his eyes and groan.
~~~~~~
-High Ristmoth Orbit, Free World's Flagship
"Admiral Iblis, the Ristmoth system has been
secured. All Imperial ships have been destroyed
or have retreated from the sector. We've won, sir!"
"Don't get your hopes up just yet, Captain.
We still have to capture this planet first."
"Yes sir."
"Ensign, status of the troop landings."
"Proceeding as planned, Admiral. The convoy's
escorts suffered heavy losses though, we lost
nine corvettes and six other ships are out of
commission."
"Did we lose any of the transports?"
"No sir. It appears that they were
able to stop all of the missiles."
"Good, we can't afford to lose any of them
before they hit the planet. Our resources
are stretched thin enough as it is, High
Command is taking an awfully big risk here."
"Sir, The first wave of transports will be
landing in the capital city in twenty minutes."
~~~~~~
-You Can't Be Serious?!
An opening finally presented itself.
Sailor Pluto was forced to abandon her
next shot when it became clear that the
Knight had somehow managed to maneuver
himself directly between his two opponents.
This made it impossible for either one of
them to attack him without risking the
chance of hitting the other.
The advantage only lasted a moment as
they both quickly moved to get out of
each other's way. But a moment was all
he really needed.
"Oof! Hey! You Jerk!!"
It was not exactly the most
gentle of landings, Ranma was
in a hurry after all. At least
she was on the ground and now
safely out of the line of fire
(he hoped).
Urd rubbed her tender bottom with
one hand while shaking her fist at
him with the other.
"Ohh, you're gonna get it!"
Now that he finally had full mobility
again it was time to think up a plan
of action.
That took him about ten seconds,
which was nine more then he normally needed.
{Okay, there's no way to calm them down.
But I *can* make them even madder then they already
are. Let's hope that certain universal principles
hold true, otherwise they're probably going to be
picking me off the street with ink blotters.}
Once he started on this path, there would
be no going back. Did he really want to do this?
"Die, Monster!"
{I guess that answers my question.}
Ranma took a deep breath (don't ask me how)
and unleashed his most devastating special
attack, one so horrifying that it was
only passed down through the Saotome
line and even then, only from father to son.
"You stupid uncute tomboy!"
~~~~~~~~
-O_O'
"He calls *that* a plan?!"
"I...believe so."
"Zora, I think your Ranma lost a
few marbles when he came back to
his home dimension."
"Always a method to the madness, there is."
"In other words, he's nuts."
~~~~~~~
-You're In For It Now!
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!!"
She might dress like a man in her civilian
form, but Haruka still had her feminine
pride. Yet even though Uranus was seething
with rage she was still in control of herself.
Something more was needed to tip the scales.
"You're also a flatchested maniac."
That did the trick.
Of all the things he could have picked,
Ranma had to choose the one which she
was most sensitive about.
*VOOSH*
A gigantic red-hot battle aura sprang up
around Sailor Uranus. Nobody insulted her
chest!! Nobody!!!
The sun hid its face behind clouds of
darkest black. Lightning danced across
the heavens and vermin within a two mile
radius suddenly found that they had
pressing business elsewhere.
{Uh oh. I may have overdone it a little bit.}
"CRUSH!! KILL!! MAIM!! DESTROY!!!"
She came in swinging hard and fast.
Any Amazon warleader would have been
proud to call her one of their own
at that moment.
As soon as he dodged the first thrust to
his head the Knight was forced to twist back
and to the side as the lunge turned into a
slash aimed for his abdomen. Her second stab
came in unexpectedly low in an attempt to sever
one of his hamstrings while he was in such an
awkward position, but it was thwarted by his
armor. The attack did leave a deep cut in the
ultra-hard material though, and that fact
did not go unnoticed by anyone present.
Recovering quickly, Ranma was able to
avoid Uranus's next attacks by shifting
just enough to the left and right to prevent
the blade from skewering him in the vitals.
It helped that her swings were beginning to
get wilder and more frenzied with every miss.
He continued to give ground freely to her
furious assault, always making sure to stay
close enough that the other Senshi after his
hide couldn't use that strange attack of hers
without hitting them both.
'If the enemy's forces are united, seperate them.'
'All warfare is based on deception.'
'If your opponent is of base temper, seek
to irritate them.'
The wisdom of Sun Tzu still held true thousands
of years later. But his entire plan depended on
the last two being correct as well. Timing would
be everything. He would have only one shot,
they wouldn't fall for this a second time.
~~~~~~
-Do You See What I See?
Uranus's readings were nearly off
the scale. She was actually *glowing*
from all the battle energy radiating
forth from her body!
Mercury used one hand to push her
jaw back up into position.
The blue haired Senshi didn't even try to
get a reading from Pluto. She knew it
would only give her nightmares in the
days to come.
The Time Guardian looked really angry.
That was *scary*, especially since this was
the strongest emotional reaction that Setsuna
had ever shown!
{Is he insane? They're going to kill him!}
Once again she tried to scan the stranger,
although his constant movement made that
quite difficult.
{Strange...the jamming seems to have stopped.}
Not that it did much good. Whatever that armor
was composed of, it wasn't anything that her
computer could recognize. It also seemed to
block any attempts to scan deeper, infrared
and ultraviolet sensor beams were absorbed
into it without a trace.
{This can't be right!}
How could his power level be at practically zero?!
Even youma and daomons had a level of energy that
could be detected.
Yet his reading was as cold as ice...
{Ice?}
Something about that last observation sent alarms
ringing in her head. Why was this person trying so
hard to intentionally keep Uranus in a burning rage
while at the same time maintaining a personal power
level that was almost on par with a corpse?
{Hot and cold...what's the connection?}
*beep**beep*
Then she saw it. As the Outer jumped into
the air with her Space Sword held high,
the Knight's right arm suddenly became
a black void as every last bit of heat
energy was expelled from it.
"Uranus, look out! It's a trap!!"
Too late.
{Gotcha.}
Ranma's fist rocketed out into an uppercut.
"Hiryu Shoten Ha!"
~~~~~~
-(O_O)
"I don't believe it. It actually worked?!"
"Looks like it."
"Told you so."
"Okay, so now how is he going to deal with Pluto?"
An uncomfortable silence descended.
Crickets decided to chirp in the background
and were promptly devoured by several dozen
woodland spirits who were in urgent need of
some munchies.
"I thought so."
Shadow sighed wearily, that was the trouble with
these heroes. They always forgot about those little
details until it was too late.
~~~~~
-So Tell Me, What You Plan To Do About The Rest Of Them?
Ranma had been aiming for just the edge of Sailor
Uranus's battle aura, so he only knicked it a little
with the "Soul of Ice" technique. Of course, considering
how much heat she was putting out he had to pull his
punch quite a bit short in order to keep the size of the
resulting tornado down.
*WHOOSH*
The twister was only a couple dozen meters high.
But it was strong enough to pick up the unfortunate
Outer and send her hurtling skyward like a helpless
stray leaf. Through long practice and experience Ranma
had learned how to direct where the Rising Dragon
Ascension's victim(s) would land. Normally he used
it to make sure his enemies wound up in the worst
possible spots. This time he was trying to make
sure that this woman didn't break anything when she
hit the ground, even magic could only go so far when
it came to preventing damage from falling several stories.
How fortunate then that there was a truck
lying on its side nearby, its cargo of
leafy vegetables spilled out nice and high
next to it. Apparently the driver had
abandoned it sometime during the first battle,
since the once fresh produce had grown rank in
the daytime heat. It would certainly cushion a
landing, but the smell...
{Oh well, beggers can't be choosy.}
It was good plan, all things considered.
Unfortunately there was still a hostile
factor that Ranma failed to take into
account.
"Heh, time for Unhappy Strike Two!"
~~~~~~~
-Well, You Tried.
Neptune, still struggling to get the
slimy gunk off of her, just happened
to pick that moment to look up.
Upon seeing her beloved about to come
crashing down into the street Neptune
did the first thing that came to mind.
She jumped and tried to catch her.
But a sudden stray updraft threw her timing off.
*Kabonk*
Instead of catching Sailor Uranus,
they collided in midair.
The two of them quickly discovered that ectoplasm
is *very* sticky, right before they crashed into
a small hill of stinky rotten greens.
Their screams of outrage could
be heard for miles around.
~~~~~
-You Can't Win Them All
Right after Sembei finished his latest act
of mischief an annoying tapping sensation
started on his back.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It just wouldn't stop, so the little imp
turned around. His eyes were met by a
pair of feet.
{Uh oh...}
He looked up.
"Eep."
Skuld looked down at him with a scary expression
on her face. Her slightly dented Bug Masher
Mark II balanced on one shoulder.
Sembei pulled out a pair of old fashioned
spectacles and put them on.
"You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?"
The young goddess's rebuttal was
simple but quite elequent.
*WHAM*
~~~~~~~
-Do You Have Any Last Words?
Ranma winced behind the safety of his armor,
so much for his plan going the way it was
supposed to. He had not been expecting the
third girl to get in the way.
That *had* to have hurt.
But on the bright side, at least
they wouldn't be after him for awhile.
However he wouldn't want to be around when
those two finally freed themselves from
that gooey little mess they were in.
Two down with only one left to worry about.
Speaking of which...
{Where'd she go?!}
Somewhere in all the excitement he'd
lost track of where Sailor Pluto was.
He looked frantically around,
but couldn't spot her anywhere.
Ranma didn't even try to kid himself into
believing that she had actually left. He
could still feel her presence, a pressure
that weighed down heavily on the air itself.
Seeking a better position from which to defend himself,
the Knight went from the street to the rooftops.
From up there he'd have more manuvering room and a
better view of the surroundings.
Still he found no sign of her.
{I think I'm in trouble.}
~~~~~~~
-You think?
Mara froze where she was as the armored
figure turned to look in her direction.
But her barrier held and he looked
straight through her position without
even seeing her.
She let out a small sigh of relief.
That had been too close for comfort.
{It wouldn't do to spoil the game
this early. I've got plans for you.}
A soft *bamf* behind her along with a hint
of sulfer alerted Mara to the return of her
servant.
"You've done well Sembei. Remind me
to reward you when we get back."
"...Which way did he go George? Which way did he go?"
"Huh?"
She turned around, only to stare at the
little imp in disbelief.
"What in the Nine Hells happened to you?!!"
Sembei was sporting the biggest, meanest
looking bump on his head that she'd ever seen.
It was obvious that her minion wasn't running
with all of the lights on.
"I'm only twee and a half yea's old...bwebubwubweble..."
A large sweatdrop appeared on the back of the
demoness's head. Perhaps it was time to leave
before someone put two and two together.
~~~~~~
-You Have Issues, Don't You?
Sailor Pluto has not survived this
long by underestimating her opponents.
It had quickly become clear that their
regular special attacks weren't up
to the task, stronger measures were
needed in order to destroy this threat.
With her Time Staff in hand Setsuna
started to gather the energy she
needed to invoke the power of the
Garnet Orb.
Each of the Outer Senshi possessed a
unique talisman of power. Uranus had the
Space Sword, Neptune's was the Aqua Mirror,
and Saturn was the owner of the deadly
Silence Glaive. But Pluto's artifact
was perhaps the most unusual of them all.
Unlike the other talismans, the Orb
was a sentient artifact and served
as one of the Guardians of the Timegate.
But most importantly, by channeling
potential psychic energy through it
Pluto could amplify her abilities
to a new level, allowing her access
to the most dangerous Senshi attacks.
One of those was the forbidden
"Time Protector", which halted
the passage of time itself. But
that wasn't the only one available
to her. In a few seconds she would
be ready to unleash an attack that
made her Dead Scream look like one of
Sailor Chibi-Usa's Pink Sugar Hearts.
~~~~~~~
-o_o'
"Oh no, please tell me she's
not using *that* one."
Shadow and the Guardian exchanged worried looks.
That attack had killed them each once before, fortunately
they had gotten better afterwards. Death wasn't much fun,
not unless you were lucky enough to get the cool chick
with the ankh and a sense of humor.
"What's the attack roll?"
"Give me a sec, Bard."
Rowan swore softly when he got the result.
"Damn. This is not good."
"C'mon , how bad can it be?"
"A natural twenty ."
This time the curses came from several other throats as well.
Everyone present knew what this meant. A critical strike,
practically impossible to dodge.
"Well, it's only double damage....he can survive that."
The Bard tried to look on the bright side.
"Try damage x12 instead."
Rowan was quick to shoot his hopes down.
"What?!"
"Evil magical curse #34, victim takes triple damage from Rune Weapons.
Since she's focusing it through the Garnet Orb, it still counts.
Plus it's a surprise attack, so she automatically gets another
bonus modifier of x2 to her damage roll."
"Oh hell."
"Exactly."
~~~~~~~
-Did You Have To Do That?
It was time.
A crimson flare of raw temporal energy
screamed forth from the head of the Time Staff.
It took all of Pluto's concentration to keep from
being caught in the backlash as the tidal wave
of raw destruction spewed out. The Senshi of
Time was in her element at that moment as she
fought to master the wild power she had unleashed.
"Chrono Trigger!"
Sailor Pluto was also very good shot.
After all, she'd had more then enough
time to practice while awaiting the
rebirth of the other Senshi.
Ranma never had a chance. Even as he turned to
face the threat he knew it was already too late.
He only had a moment for one last meaningless thought.
{I survived the Mechanoids, the Four Horsemen,
the Vampire Kingdoms, the Splugorth, and even
the Transgalactic Empire only to end up as the
victim of a beautiful woman in a fuku? Damn it,
looks like I owe Drizzt that round of drinks after all.}
And then there wasn't any time left even for that.
*KABOOM*
-To be continued...
Chapter 3i: Living in Interesting Times
~~~~~~~
-RIFTS Earth
Over five miles below the tranquil surface of the Pacific Ocean
an ancient evil raged. In the depths of the Mariana Trench
unfortunate minions who came too close were simply crushed
into pulpy jelly by the Reachers. Hundreds of miles of black tentacles
whipped violently to batter rocks, water, and flesh indiscriminately.
A monstrosity so gigantic and hideous that the mere sight could drive a
man to madness, this was the undisputed terror of the seas. Kraken,
Leviathan, Terror of the Deep, Nightmare Beast, all names given to
the horror through the ages. This was the Lord of the Deep,
one of the most powerful Alien Intelligences in the Multiverse.
A being of unimaginable age and power that now found itself
threatened for the first time in its existance by insignificant mites.
The Lord of the Deep was angry.
In the last score of years more of its kind had been destroyed then
had perished in the past millenia. In the Americas, silence was the
only response where once over a dozen of its brethren had answered
its calls. It had felt the One of Many Faces perish in England only
a handful of years ago, not so long a time for an Intelligence.
It had not been the Long Sleep of before either, this time the
Final Death had overtaken it. There had been others, weaker cousins
that were barely related only in name who had fallen one by one by
one means or another as well. More often then not a particularly
unique energy signature was associated with their deaths.
A signature that the Lord of the Deep marked well, for none
could hunt the Masters with such impunity and be allowed to live.
That a puny mortal dared to do so was utterly intolerable.
But it was also beginning to experience the first signs of something
that its alien mind had never felt before. In a human, that emotion
would have been called fear. Dimly did it remember the only other
time that so many of its kin had died, during the War with the Old Ones.
Few dared to risk the wrath of their power now, but there was something
eerily familar about this one that dared to kill those who were gods in all
but name.
Something from long ago...
The physical outburst was replaced by a silence that was in its own way
even worse then the former violence. All those nearby who still lived
and could move left as quickly as possible as the Leviathan settled down
and brooded deep within itself.
For yet another part of Current-Rider's prophecy had been fullfilled.
And with each step accomplished the Leviathan's time drew
one day nearer to its end. It knew this, though the creature
did not know how it knew. The Age of the Intelligences was
drawing to a close. They had existed for far too long, their time was
over. Yet the vile creatures refused to succumb to the inevitable and
continued to live on in defiance of the natural order of things.
But now, an end this perversion of the Balance was beginning
to taking place.
That Cursed Prophecy!
In the hopes finding out how to destroy the Lord of the Deep
a brave group of wizards had dared to cast a spell never before
tried. All who participated had died in the attempt, except for
one. Current-Rider, a fusion of man and whale and the first Spellsinger,
who was struck blind and could only remember these words;
"A Band of Warriors, brave and strong.
A Circle of Wizards, wise and clever.
The Largest War Machine.
The Eternal Flame Blade.
The Fires of the Cosmic Forge.
The One True Eye of Eylor.
The Strength of an Unbeliever.
A Hundred Years War.
When All are Done, the Lord of the Deep will Fall."
-Prophecy of the Deep
For the Spellsinger had glimpsed something that mortal eyes
were never meant to see. In truth the words he remembered
were merely a fragment, that had been all that his mind and soul
had been able to stand without collapsing in on itself.
But Current-Rider's action had already been preordained by the Prophecy.
As had so many other events now taking place. A Prophecy which would
shake the very foundations of the Multiverse as it ran its course...
~~~~~~
-Elsewhere
Such a strange dream. But why couldn't she remember it clearly?
Come to think of it, why was it so dark? And why did her head hurt
so much? Had she overslept and missed her shift again?! Wait a second,
calm down, what was the last thing she remembered?
{We were escorting the transports...then the plantery base tried a last ditch
missile assault. The convoy tried to intercept them but some got through...so
the commander turned us into a decoy to lure the remaining missiles away...
it worked but then we couldn't take them out fast enough and some of them
got through...}
And then...and then?
Nothing. Just the memory of a blinding
white flash followed by total darkness.
She wondered if she was dead. She decided
against that possibility when another hot lance of pain
shot through her temples. If she was dead then it
wouldn't hurt so much, she decided.
Gunner Brandy Corbin bravely opened one eye wide
and immediately regretted it. It felt like her brain had just
caught on fire and someone was sprinkling kerosene on it.
{Ow ow ow!! Too bright!!}
A few seconds later she risked the dizzying pain again, only
this time Brandy only took a small look as she gave her body
time to get used to the emergency lights. It helped a little,
but the effort still left her drained.
Brandy coughed raggedly, the smell of smoke and scorched
wiring hang heavily in the air. Though it wasn't very pleasant,
it did beat some of the alternatives. At least there was air
to breathe. She also didn't hear the dreaded whistling of atmosphere
escaping into the vacuum of space. So it appeared that the turret's
structural integrity hadn't been compromised. But judging from the
damage to her station it looked like the power grid had overloaded
and blown out half of the circuits while frying the rest to a crisp.
Lifting her head up the petite Inquisiter was rewarded by abused nerves
informing her about a whole new batch of aches and pains as her body
violently protested against any further movement. Despite that she somehow
managed to achieve a position more vertical then horizontal and
began to take an assessment of the current situation.
It had been close. How close exactly was revealed when the gunner
looked down. Brandy blanched at the sight of what was left of her console.
It looked like a bomb had gone off in the middle of it. Without her Shield of
Inner Strength she would have been impaled by the dagger-like fragments
from the explosion. Summoning it had been the last thing she remembered
doing before losing consciousness. The blunted pieces now formed a large
pile in front of her where they had landed after impacting into the force field.
Even with the protection of the supernatural barrier it soon
became apparent that she had not totally escaped from harm.
A warm stickiness running down her right ear proved to be blood
from a long shallow cut near the top of her head. The young woman
swore softly as she tentatively touched the edges of the wound. There
was no telling what other injuries she had at the moment short of a trip
to the Med-bay. Which meant that Lotion would most likely try to jam
another one of her noxious concotions down her throat. The ship's healer
was notorious among the crew for preferring old fashioned remedies over
high-tech equipment and synthetic medicines whenever possible. Most
of those cures usually involved making the victim ingest large quantities
of substances whose actual origins were questionable at best. In many
cases the cure was often considered worse then the ailment. However,
there was method to her eccentricity. So far all of Lotion's potions had
worked, which was the only reason why the crew had put up with them
as long as they had. Needless to say, those who possessed their own
regenerative abilities or healing powers were much envied by the
crewmembers who did not.
Then Corbin paled again as she remembered that she wasn't the only
person manning the turret.
{Oh shit!! Amanda!!}
The time it tool her to unstrap herself from the seat's safety harness
was the longest minute of her life. As soon as she the last seal unlocked
Brandy started frantically looking for any sign of her co-gunner and friend.
She didn't have search very far. A dark stain on the far side of
the turret drew her attention and from there the gunner quickly
found what was left of Amanda.
Bile rose in her throat as Brandy's shocked brain tried to make
sense of the havoc. Although farther away from the console
Amanda had not had a personal forcefield to protect her.
That station had been blown violently outward and collapsed
partially on top of the woman. Corbin knew that everything
from the pelvis down had to have been crushed by the sheer
weight. One arm hung like a marionette's, twisted at a nightmarish
angle. Fearing the worst Brandy bent down to check for a pulse.
Nothing.
Still she kept trying, hoping.
Still nothing...wait.
There it was. Faint and thready, but stable for the moment at least.
*...'...*
Tears of relief filled her eyes.
"Shhh. Save your strength."
"..s...sh..shit.....th...that...hurt...."
One aqua blue eye hesitatingly opened. It had nearly swollen
shut and was the skin around it was even now an awful purplish
black. The rest of her wasn't in much better condition.
"...how bad is it? I....I...can't feel my legs."
"...."
Brandy averted her eyes, unable to actually say a
comforting lie yet not wanting to tell her friend the
gruesome truth.
"...that bad huh."
"I....I'm sorry."
"D..don't be. I knew the risks w..wh..when I signed up."
Amanda started coughing raggedly as splashes of dark
crimson decorated the floor.
"Just hang on!"
Rising to her feet she moved to where the internal comm
system was and prayed that it was still working. Brandy
slammed her hand on the red distress button with all of
her strength.
"Medical Emergency in Turret 3!! Get someone down here NOW!!!"
~~~~~~~~
-Ground Zero
Well, it looked like he'd found the cause of the disturbance.
Or rather, she had found him. It was enough to make a
guy think that he was cursed or something.
Was a fair chance for once really too much to ask of Lady Luck?
{Well, judging from my current situation I'd say the answer is "Yes".}
He did have to admit though, that rarely did trouble come in such an
attractive package. She was quite...exceptional, and her fighting ability
wasn't anything to sneeze at either. Long dark green hair, exotic red eyes
on a classic ageless complexion, a trim waist that most women would
kill for, smooth thighs with just enough muscle for a healthy figure, and a
chest that were certainly more than ample...
*whap*
{Bad thought! Bad thought!!}
He mentally slapped himself, that kind of thinking
would definitely get him into trouble! He had more then
enough girl problems as it was, the last thing he needed
was *more* of them. Especially when the woman in
question eclipsed everyone's auras there, even his!
The Cosmoknight had no trouble registering this Senshi's Power,
it had reached a level where it was so strong that it was simply
*impossible* to conceal. Ranma knew that although he was good,
he wasn't anywhere even remotely near the real powerhouses of
the Multiverse. Still, his current level of ability wasn't anything to
sneer at either. If necessary he could reduce a large city to a
blackened crater without even half trying. However, what he was facing
was on the magnitude of continental devastation, perhaps even extending
to a global level of impact. In either case, he had about as much
a chance in a direct confrontation as a butterfly against a thermonuclear
warhead. Except that you could probably get better odds on the butterfly.
Oh man, she looked like she'd like nothing better to do then to crack him
open like a walnut with that solid looking staff she was carrying. What was
even more unnerving was the way her crimson eyes seemed to pierce through
his armor's faceplate as though it wasn't even there. He had to fight the urge to flinch.
Whoever she was, she was obviously a lot older and much more experienced then
he could ever hope to achieve in a hundred years. The Knight could see it in her eyes,
she had that look. The one that said she'd seen it all, done it all, and gotten the free
T-shirt to boot. He was *way* out of his league here!
To make matters even worse, the alarm he felt was starting to be compounded
by the slow burning flames of desire, an extremely volatile combination indeed.
Already awakened by the bronze skinned goddess who was still much too
close for his comfort, his more primal instincts were calling for, no, make that
demanding that he make up for denying them for so long.
{This is nuts! She wants to kill me for crying out loud!!}
Sadly, Ranma's hormones were not listening to the head that had the brains.
They weren't about to let a little thing like his impending demise get in the way
of an opportunity to have some fun. Something irresistible was drawing him to her,
like a hapless moth to the beckoning flame.
{Stop it!! Damn it Saotome, pull yourself together!!!}
The violence of his reaction shocked him to the core, such a loss of self
control was completely out of character for him. He was a Knight of the Forge
and yet here he was acting like some poor sap who had never even seen a woman
before. Something was wrong, he didn't understand what was happening to him.
What kind of power did this woman possess that could cause this
uncertain feeling inside of him?
His subconscious knew, even if Saotome himself didn't.
Such a pity that he'd used the *cursed* scrolls of Sinanju
to learn the secrets of Anything Goes Marital Arts all those
years ago...
~~~~~~
Shadow shook his head, not sure whether or not
he should laugh or groan. Perhaps both. At this rate
the women were going to eat him alive.
"He's still pretty dense for someone so intelligent."
The Bard let a small puff of air escape from his mouth.
"Yes, it's rather sad actually."
"It gets worse."
The pair turned toward Zora.
"We already knew that."
~~~~~~
-Not the safest place to be
Sailor Pluto shook her head to clear it of the strange
sensations that had momentarily disturbed her normally
unshakable composure. An odd sense of excitement
coupled with a nervousness utterly foreign to the Time
Guardian had seized her upon getting her first good look
of the troublemaker that had forced her to intervene in the
timeline. Almost as if there had been a connection between
them for the briefest of moments. This wasn't what she had
been expecting, not by a long shot. For the second time in
the same century Sailor Pluto was caught off guard. This
was starting to get out of hand, she was *not* supposed to be
surprised!
Pluto had absolutely no idea what this stranger was, yet he seemed strangely
familar. But to the best of her extensive knowledge she had no recollection of
ever meeting anyone from either side that looked like this. She scanned
him closely, noting the predatory lines of his form and disquieting sense
of "presence" that surrounded him. Her eyes narrowed slightly as
she noted that the voluptuous platinum blonde seemed to be
all but glued to his front.
An unfamiliar pang of...disgust?...anger?...jealousy?!...envy?! struck.
Why did she feel such a strong desire to separate the two of them?
And why did the image of a *100 ton* mallet suddenly pop into her head?
She was supposed to be removed from such things, the Guardian of the
Time couldn't afford such luxury of human emotions. But the sentiment
was there regardless, something within him was calling to a part of her
that she'd thought had been buried forever. Pluto didn't like this feeling at all,
it was so messy and strange. She told herself that it was only a temporary thing
that would go away once the stranger was dealt with, but that rebellious part of
her that had been reawakened refused to listen.
"Who are you?"
The slight tremor in her voice was practically unnoticable, but
she still cursed herself for it even existing in the first place.
"I should be asking you the same question."
Somehow Ranma managed to extract himself from Urd's clutches
between one moment and the next as he went on the offensive.
Not all fights were won with force, perhaps if he took the initiative
they could avoid something that they both would most likely regret.
If she beat him he lost, if he somehow managed to beat her he'd still
come out as the loser. And for some reason just the thought of having
to raise his hand against her made something inside him cry out in protest.
After all, it couldn't hurt to....
{Oh that's right, "Do or do not, there is no try".
You just had to drum that into my head didn't you, Luke.}
~~~~~~~~
-Not far enough
"Oh ho. So this is what you're up to Urd."
Demoness First Class Mara grinned nastily from
her perch above the action. The thrice-bedamned
temple was locked up tighter then a miser's safe,
she'd found that out the hard way this morning while
attempting to fullfill her mission of making Morisato's
life miserable.
It had been quite a shocking experience, thus her current
surveillance. It would be awhile till she was back up to full power
and since she couldn't get inside, that left causing trouble for
whoever was unfortunate to be outside the safety of the Ultimate
Ward of Protection. How fortunate that a sudden enormous burst
of divine energy from this district had caught her attention.
Now not only did she have the little techno-brat and Urd out
in the open, but as a *bonus* the newcomer was here as well.
This promised to be a profitable situation, her favorite kind.
{Now if Senbei manages to do his job properly,
things should start to get very interesting.}
The tiny imp had been ordered into action as soon as she'd
spotted Urd making a play for the stranger.
With his talents, a misunderstanding was sure to occur
and mayhem inevitable. At worst it would be a temporary
split that she could exploit, best case would be for the stranger
to be forced to reveal how powerful he really was, the Forces
of Darkness were always looking for new recruits. If he was
good enough to stand up against that kind of firepower...
She might even be tempted to bring him in herself
if he turned out to be worth her while.
A win/win scenerio, sometimes being evil paid off in spades.
Only one nagging little thing still bothered her, the discharge
of Holy Power from here that had caught her attention had
not come from either of the Goddesses on the scene.
Mara had come to recognize the power signatures of all three
from first hand experience, and that hadn't been Belldandy's
doing either. But there were no signs of any other higher
powers here, divine or infernal. Strange indeed, that Power
definitely had a female's markings all over it, but the
nature of the emanations disturbed her, they had been
far too old to have come from any of the current pantheons.
~~~~~
Ranma gestured toward the other Senshi
on the street.
"I'm not the villain here, your friends can
vouch for that."
At least he assumed that the similar fukus
were a standard uniform for all of them.
His luck would be running true to form if it turned
out that they were actually blood enemies instead.
"That's right! Can't you give him a chance Pluto?"
Jupiter was the unsurprisingly the first to speak in their
rescuer's defense. Why should Usagi be the only one to
get the hero?
Venus was of a like mind. Surely the others would
understand once she explained she had called dibs
on him, right?
"Yeah! He really shoved his sausage up our furnace!"
{{Huh?!}}
Everyone turned toward Senshi of Love with wide eyes and
even wider sweatdrops on the back of their respective
heads (and helmet).
"What? What'd I say?"
A redfaced Mercury explained while looking anywhere except
directly at her fellow Senshi.
"Venus, that's supposed to be "Pulled our bacon out of the fire.""
"Oopsie."
*CRASH*
Throughout Japan a not-so-mysterious occurence
of simultaneous facefaults took place.
~~~~~~
-Where Legends Dwell
"Trapping your knight with your own pieces? That's not like you."
-It is the beginning and the ending of the Circle.-
"Did you say something?"
A beak could not frown. But the figure came as close to
it as his features permitted. He loved a good intellectual challenge
as much as the next person, but still there were times when even
he wished that things could be simpler then they were. Moves within
moves, games within games, always were there too many secrets.
Sometimes he envied the mortals and the way they lived their lives in
blessed ignorance of the many tangled webs of power being woven
among the fabric of reality.
He sighed, such was not to be their fate. But for life of him he still
couldn't comprehend what sort of strategy he was facing. There was
no order, no patterns this time, instead the moves were seemingly at
random and utterly chaotic in their effect on the game. But now it
seemed that the other side had finally stumbled on an impasse.
"There's nowhere left for him to go."
[Only if he plays by the rules.]
~~~~~
"I don't want to fight you."
Pluto hesitated, her determination wavering for the
briefest of moments. There was something incredibly
compelling about his voice, a quality that made her
want to believe him despite her better judgment.
What if he was telling truth? Could he actually be
an ally instead of yet another enemy?
No, said the part of her that was a Senshi. He was
a man, and the power had always corrupted them
in the end no matter how noble they might have been in
the beginning.(1) They could never be trusted, betrayal
was inevitable. Perhaps he came in peace today, but
what of tomorrow? Best not to take the chance, her
warrior's instincts cried out to destroy him on the spot.
Yes, said another voice. It urged her to trust him, to let go
of the old fears and suspicions. If he was evil then why was
there no general feeling of malice or hatred surrounding him?
Serenity had once spoken of other forces who had come from
beyond their dimension to aid the founders of the Moon Kingdom,
a legend so ancient that it had only been passed down from each
descending Queen to the next. If Usagi hadn't been so young and
the danger from the Earth so great then the Queen would not have
had to entrust that knowledge with the Keeper of Secrets during
the last days of the Silver Millenium. So there were others besides
the Dark Ones, it was possible...
But how to be sure?
"Neptune."
"Yes?"
"I need you to use your Mirror."
"Alright, but what am I supposed to be looking for?"
"The truth."
~~~~~~~
-Trouble
Senbei, Sub-Demon of Unhappiness and Misfortune,
Second class Limited license, was getting ready for his
happy level to go up, up, up!
"Heh heh heh! Let the unhappy begin!"
Sailor Neptune frowned as she concentrated harder,
trying to get the image in the Mirror to focus. Yet the
murky cloud still remained there despite her best efforts.
She couldn't get a clear reading about him either way,
the Knight might as well have been a granite statue for
all that the artifact was able to tell her.
Finally the Neptune shook her head in a mixture of
frustration and defeat.
"I'm sorry Pluto, the Mirror either can't or won't
show me anything about him."
"I see."
Although alarmed by this setback, Pluto's mind was
still open. A few more minutes and Ranma might
have been able to bridge the gulf of suspicion and
mistrust that seperated them. But that was when
Senbei's surprise went off.
~~~~~~
-Phaseworld Center
Katrina suddenly stopped and shivered as a dark
chill seemed to brush across her very soul. It was too
much like the panic attacks she had suffered a few years
ago during the Gathering of Heroes. The unrelenting feeling
of terror, of being absolutely helpless to do anything, those
old fears threatened to drag her down once more into the darkness.
"No...no....NO!!"
"Are you all right?"
Her guide looked at her with a worried expression on his face.
"I..I'm fine. Just a bad memory."
The D-bee nodded and turned away even though he wasn't
completely convinced. The Alliance paid him to *not* ask
questions, and anyway he wanted absolutely nothing to do
with that crazy Saotome or any of his women.
Especially this one. There was something about her that
made him as nervous as a cat in a room full of sleeping
pit bulls. If the money for this job hadn't been so good.....
"Ranma..."
The way she said that name sent cold shivers
down the guide's spine. Yes, as soon as his task
was finished and payment delivered he was getting
as far away from her as possible!
~~~~~~
-In a galaxy far, far away...
"Master Skywalker! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, but just for a moment I thought I felt
a great disturbance in the Force."
Strange, why did he suddenly find himself thinking
about an old friend now of all times? It had been years
since his former student had left, but he would never
forget Saotome. Never had a more brash and headstrong
individual ever succeeded in passing the Jedi training, quite
an accomplishment when Ranma was barely able to tap into
even the most basic aspects of the Force. But now there was
a sense of urgency to those memories, yet for the life of him
he didn't know why.
{Something has happened. But what?}
Even a Jedi Master must wonder sometimes.
~~~~~~
-You Are So Screwed.
Unnoticed by Neptune, her artifact began to
grow dark as the barely adaquate forces of
adversity went to work.
"Hmm?"
{Someone's being very sloppy.}
Urd glanced around curiously, someone nearby was
expending quite a bit of magical power and if
the amount of leakage she was picking up was
any indication they obviously weren't very good at it.
{Now where have I seen that style before?}
The identity of the culprit was right on
the tip of her tongue when her attention
was suddenly called back to the little
drama unfolding in front of her. It looked
like the final act was about to begin.
~~~~~~
-You Think You Have Problems?
{I am not going to panic. It's
nonproductive and a waste of energy.
There has to be some kind of logical
explanation for all of this phemonena.}
Sailor Mercury kept telling herself that
as her VR visor hiccuped and finally
started displaying something coherent.
"Eep."
That statement pretty much summed up
her feelings when the nature of the
data she was currently receiving became
clear.
{This can't be right! There has to be
some kind of mistake!! It's impossible!!!}
~~~~~~
-You Ever Get That Sinking Feeling?
She still couldn't take her eyes off of him.
Why did she feel that there was a connection
between the two of them? This warm feeling
coming from inside her heart was filling her
entire body with a sense of...joy?
Who was he? What was he?
And most importantly, why did his presence
make her feel so safe and secure? She had
only experienced anything remotely like this
a long time ago, when she was being held in
her father's arms as he rocked her to sleep.
Yet she was feeling the same sensation now,
that complete certainty of being sheltered
and knowing that no harm would come.
Sailor Saturn looked at him,
and wondered...
~~~~~~
-You're Where?
{This sucks.}
Being stuck in a quasi-dimensional pocket
courtesy of an ancient martial arts technique
was not very high on Ishtar's list of things she
enjoyed doing. For one thing, it virtually cut
off her awareness of the outside world. The sword
intensely disliked this muffling of her senses,
which included even the bond that linked her
with her owner. She could still feel it in
the back of her mind like a warm ember, but
was otherwise "left in the dark", so to speak.
It didn't help matters any that gravity was
nonexistant in here, objects tended to just
retain stationary positions in what she
assmed was the middle. Even her sense of
time was distorted, although given the
nature of the surroundings that might
be considered a blessing in disguise.
Because worst of all...
It was so damn BORING!
She couldn't even have the satisfaction of
chewing Saotome out while she was stuck in
here. He had learned early on to tune out
her many complaints, it helped that this
was one of the few situations that dampened
her telepathy down to a level that even
an infant could block her sendings.
Not that Ranma's mental defenses were
much better then an infant's, at least
in her opinion. Honestly, how had that
silly boy ever managed to survive so
long without her?
{That over-inflated ego of his is going to
be the death of him yet. I didn't sense
anything really dangerous nearby, but still...}
The little tart of a goddess she'd dismissed
as a threat almost immediately, it didn't take
a genius to see what *that* one was looking for.
If Ranma couldn't win her over with that weird
enhanced sex appeal of his *then* she'd be surprised.
That way he had with women was part of the reason why
Ishtar tended to look down upon any female chasing her
wielder, she knew that most of them just wanted him for
his body. Even if it was a very nice body and even
if it took an exceptional willpower to resist his
semi-supernatural charm that was still no excuse!
Ishtar loved Ranma for who he was on the inside, not
for his looks (pleasing though they might be).
So naturally she got more then a little peeved
whenever one of those temptresses tried to get
their claws on him.
{Sigh.}
There *had* been the beginnings of a slightly
disturbing reading at the very edges of her
senses right before she had been returned here.
But it had been very far away and the contact
was too brief for her to confirm it.
{Well, it might have just been a fluke. And
even if it does turn out to be dangerous
I'm sure that he wouldn't be crazy enough
to confront it without me there...I hope.}
~~~~~~
-You Dirty Rat!
Sembei smiled nastily as
he snapped his fingers.
"Unhappy strike number one."
Black tendrils of ectoplasm erupted forth
from the face of Sailor Neptune's mirror
and launched themselves at the surprised
Senshi. Although their appearence was
rather horrifying they were actually quite
harmless. The imp was more concerned with
causing chaos then actual injury, not to
mention the fact that he lacked the power
to give his creations much substance anyway.
Having experienced this type of unexpected
situation before, she naturally responded
with all the calm and dignity one would
expect from such a mature young lady.
"AAAHHH!!!"
Then again...maybe not.
Everything seemed to happen at once after that.
~~~~~~~
-Ristmoth, Governor Ryga's Palace
The remaining Imperial troops crouched nervously behind
whatever cover they could find. They knew it was only a
matter of time until the rebels finally broke through.
The armored doors might look thick and solid,
but it wouldn't last long against any real firepower.
This was going to be their last stand,
none of them held any illusions as to what fate
the rebels had in mind for them. The problem
with serving a huge evil empire that trampled
the masses into the dirt was that occasionally
those masses clawed their way out and then
pulled their oppressers down into the dirt
and buried them in it.
Suddenly it grew quiet.
The constant background hum of energy
discharges had ceased.
Soldiers clutched their Power Halbards and Pulse Rifles closer.
For a long moment eerie silence filled the building.
No one dared to even breathe, afraid that it would
shatter their temporary reprieve.
Then the sound of many footsteps moving toward the
palace broke the illusion. Snipers stationed at
the windows started to open fire. Bodies could be
heard dropping on the grounds outside by the dozen.
The return fire from the attackers was overwhelming
in its intensity. Snipers who survived the initial
hailstorm of plasma bolts and laser beams became
the recipients of mini-missiles and fusion grenades
as rebel forces dislodged them from their tenaciously
held positions.
A dull red glow started to appear in the middle
of the armored doors protecting the main entrance.
The glowing area slowly grew from the size of
a quarter to nearly twice the diameter of a
normal man. The center went from dull bloodish
red to bright cherry red, then to molten yellow
orange, and finally to a blinding white.
*BOOM*
Charging through the wreckage came
the screaming hordes.
"For Freedom and Liberty! Death to the Empire!!"
~~~~~~~
-Yikes!
{So it was lie after all! Damn him!}
For some reason this betrayal hurt far more
then it should have even though she had been
expecting it all along. There wasn't much
comfort to be found in being proven right all
the time. For a few precious moments, she had
secretly hoped that for once her instincts were
wrong. But now it was too late for regrets,
all that remained were the bitter ashes of
lost hope and a burning desire for vengence.
"Dead Scream."
Sailor Pluto initiated her signature attack.
~~~~~~
-Double Yikes!!
"Neptune!"
It was the equivalent of lighting a
match in a room full of dynamite.
To say that Sailor Uranus was angry would
be the understatement of the century.
She was FURIOUS.
{This guy is *HISTORY*!}
"Space Sword Blaster!!"
~~~~~~
-You couldn't figure it out earlier?!
She spotted the culprit
just one moment too late.
{Senbei? That little..!! So this is all MARA's fault!!}
Urd rolled up her sleeves as she prepared
to teach that no-good two-bit imp a lesson.
"Lightning STRIK..Eek! Put me down!"
~~~~~~~~
-Are You Confused Yet?
He didn't know what was going on.
One second it seemed that everything
would be all right and then all hell
had broken loose.
That girl, Sailor Neptune, was struggling
against what looked like dark jello.
Ranma realized after a moment of confusion
that it was ectoplasm, though he'd never
seen it in that color before. The stuff
was practically harmless, although it
could be kinda disgusting for the unprepared.
The other two took one look and turned back
toward him with grim expressions on their faces.
{Uh oh.}
Ranma knew a setup when he saw one. It was obvious
that someone had just framed him. Unfortunately
there was no way for him to prove it right now,
and simply proclaiming his innocence at this point
was obviously not going to do any good.
{So much for talking my way out of this.}
The short tempered blonde confirmed
his suspicions about the sword when
she shouted out some kind of command
phrase and her blade fired an energy
bolt at him.
Ranma couldn't make heads or tails
of the "sphere" (for lack of a better
term to describe it) that the other
woman shot at him. It looked pretty
nasty though, so it would probably
be in his best interests to avoid it.
That one called Sailor Pluto(?) looked
really pissed off at him, and the
unfairness of it all made the Knight
want to scream with frustration.
Then Ranma saw that he wasn't the only
one in danger here. What was that goddess
doing?! Didn't she realize that those
projectiles were going to...
{Oh screw it! I can apologize
to her later.}
With no time to lose The Cosmoknight
grabbed the platinum blonde in one
arm and slung her over his shoulder
as he leaped out of the way of the
incoming attack.
An explosion rocked the ground
where he'd been standing just a
moment earlier. Oddly enough, it
didn't seem to cause much damage
to the street. Which either meant
that those were very weak attacks
(not likely) or they were similar
in nature to phase weapons in that
they were meant for *live* targets
(Quite probable *shudder*).
~~~~~~~~
-Phaseworld Center, Level 2-B: Spacetown
"C'mon, We have to get going.
Our contact is waiting in the
Seel's Whails."
"The what?"
"Seel's Whails, it's a Spacer bar.
Lotta freelancers and runners hang
out there. Most of them are sympathetic
to the Rebels so it's as safe a place
as any for us."
"If you say so."
Privately Sun had her own doubts about that.
This part of the city was only slightly rundown
but she had the uncomfortable feeling that
their passage was being watched by many pairs
of eyes. Even though the streets were nearly
empty of people there was a dangerous tension
in the air. She rested a hand on her holdout
blaster, its familar presence on her hip was
reassuring as always.
"Just keep a low profile and we should be
able to avoid any trouble."
The guide just hoped that none of the
rough and tumble types around here
noticed his client. Her exotic beauty
had not escaped his notice, even in
this interdimensional hub of the
multiverse the woman stood out.
{Yes, she's quite a looker.}
He briefly found himself almost
envying Saotome. But that only
lasted until he saw that *look*
in her eyes again. No siree,
he couldn't wait to part company
with her. The sooner, the better!
~~~~~~~
-You'll be sorry!
Urd's shapely posterier wiggled
in vain as she struggled to escape
from her new position. Being carried
over this barbarian's shoulder like
the spoils of war was most embarrassing.
"Do you have any idea how undignified this is?!"
Beating her hands against the back
of his armor proved equally fruitless.
She might as well have been a sack full
of groceries for all he seemed to care.
{Oh no! My nails! And I just had them done too!}
"Would you settle down please?
I'm a little busy at the moment!"
Ranma was having some trouble holding onto
the scandalously clad woman while
simultaneously jumping and dodging about
as not one, but two infuriated opponents
tried their damned best to make him very,
very dead. Sadly, this was a situation
that he was much too familar with, having
experienced variations of the same theme
many, many times over the past couple of
years.
Of course this *was* the first time
that he found himself unable to fight
back. These girls weren't really bad,
they'd just been tricked into thinking
he was the villain here. That observation
still didn't help his situation any though.
In the course of most events there
will occasionally be *accidents*.
When the event includes frantic evasive
maneuvers coupled with a handicap that
was both soft and curved in all the right
places the odds of one of those *accidents*
taking place tends to skyrocket into the
stratosphere.
*goose*
"Eek! You pervert!"
"Sorry about that!"
"Release your hostage! And stop molesting her!"
"Hostage?! You're the one who's trying
to kill us! At least let me put her down
first! And that was an accident!"
"Shut up! Space Sword Blaster!"
"Watch those hands buster!"
{Why do these things always happen to me?!}
~~~~~~
-Are You Sure You Know What You're Doing?
"Stop it! You're making a mistake!"
"Pluto! Uranus! Wait! There's been some kind
of misunderstanding!"
When Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus are the
sole voices of reason in a conflict, it's
time to start worrying.
The other Senshi prudently decided to
take cover, as did Sasami and the now-awake
and very confused Skuld.
The little goddess felt a lot better now,
but why was everyone fighting again?!
Tuxedo Kamen produced a rose in one hand
and watched the battle carefully, waiting for an opening.
~~~~~~
-High Orbit Over Ristmoth
"Is everyone alright?"
Assorted affirmative replies came in
as the bridge's emergency lights flickered
wildly. There were many cuts and bruises
but amazingly no real serious injuries.
It appeared that body armor and natural
toughness had saved the day once again.
"I need a status report. Sammy, weapons and
navigation. Tania, check the communications
broadcast array and all decks and turrets.
Ana, can we still cloak? And someone contact
the engine room, I'm sure Silvia is pretty
pissed about all the abuse her "wee lil' bairns"
have taken."
"Yes, Ma'am."
The crew went about their tasks quickly and
efficently despite their recent near brush
with oblivion. It was simply part of the job.
"She can still cloak, but the grid is looking
pretty unstable. I wouldn't recommend it
short of a complete emergency. Our active stealth
systems are pretty overloaded at the moment,
we need time to let them cool down."
"Noted."
"We're at 85% of optimal power, capacitors
for the main guns are off-line and our shields
are so thin that you could throw a spitball
through them. Ship's navigation seems to have
survived quite nicely though, some luck seems
to be finally going our way. Missiles and
torpedos are available but the Reaper cannon
is off-line. Secondary batteries are still
functional, but it looks like they'll be only
at half strength for little bit. Starboard turrets
are down, looks like numbers 3 and 6 are a total loss."
"Medical Teams have been dispatched. Yes Brandy,
they're coming so please stop yelling at me! Commander,
the crew manning turret 6 reports that they're fine,
they just got tossed around a bit."
"Casualties?"
"Well...just a moment. Brandy! I told you they're
on their way! Stop screaming already! What was that
again?"
"Casualties?"
"Coming in now. Whoa, looks like Dr. Lotion
is really going to be earning her pay this time!"
"Lieutenant."
"Forty eight crew members have reported injuries so far.
Twelve of them are going to require hospitalization. Only
two really serious cases though, Amanda and Ikeya."
"I'm sure the doctor will be thrilled."
Now the Commander hesitated, this was always
the worst part about being in command.
"...fatalities?"
There was a brief pause as Tania checked the
incoming reports.
"Looks like we cheated the piper again, Ma'am."
Ayla let out a breath she didn't
even know she had been holding.
{Thank the Goddess.}
"Alright people, don't relax just yet.
We still have a job to do."
"Aye aye, Commander."
~~~~~
-You Were Warned About Days Like This.
"Dead Scream."
Ranma found himself forced to alter
directions in midair once again, that
Sailor Pluto seemed to have an uncanny
knack for being able to correctly predict
where he was going to touchdown.
"World Shaking!"
So far he'd been able to avoid coming
into contact with whatever it was they
was shooting at him, but it hadn't been
easy. No sooner did he manage to dodge
one then the other would launch her attack.
The two of them were working as a team,
keeping him off balance so that he couldn't
retake the initiative.
{This is getting me nowhere! I need a plan,
but...aw no, please don't tell me I'm grabbing
what I think I'm grabbing!}
"You better not let me go because the
moment you do I'm gonna KILL you, Pervert!"
{Oh joy.}
Correction, first he needed to deposit his unwilling
passenger somewhere safe. *Then* he could worry about
what to do with latest additions to the long line of
people trying to kill him.
Well, it could have been worse.
They could have been trying to marry him instead.
~~~~~~
-You're Despicable!
{This is GREAT! Explosions, a beautiful
woman in peril, the Sailor Senshi, and
lots of gratuitious violence! Who could
ask for more?}
The News Anchor and his trusty sidekick were
happier then pigs in manure. Even if they
didn't know what was really going on.
On a related note, the camera man *was* able
to get an indecent shot of Urd's panties
when she was hoisted over the Knight's shoulder.
This resulted in several million slaps being
delivered to viewers nationwide by angry wives
and girlfriends.
Plus one electrocution.
Keiichi Morisato could only
cover his eyes and groan.
~~~~~~
-High Ristmoth Orbit, Free World's Flagship
"Admiral Iblis, the Ristmoth system has been
secured. All Imperial ships have been destroyed
or have retreated from the sector. We've won, sir!"
"Don't get your hopes up just yet, Captain.
We still have to capture this planet first."
"Yes sir."
"Ensign, status of the troop landings."
"Proceeding as planned, Admiral. The convoy's
escorts suffered heavy losses though, we lost
nine corvettes and six other ships are out of
commission."
"Did we lose any of the transports?"
"No sir. It appears that they were
able to stop all of the missiles."
"Good, we can't afford to lose any of them
before they hit the planet. Our resources
are stretched thin enough as it is, High
Command is taking an awfully big risk here."
"Sir, The first wave of transports will be
landing in the capital city in twenty minutes."
~~~~~~
-You Can't Be Serious?!
An opening finally presented itself.
Sailor Pluto was forced to abandon her
next shot when it became clear that the
Knight had somehow managed to maneuver
himself directly between his two opponents.
This made it impossible for either one of
them to attack him without risking the
chance of hitting the other.
The advantage only lasted a moment as
they both quickly moved to get out of
each other's way. But a moment was all
he really needed.
"Oof! Hey! You Jerk!!"
It was not exactly the most
gentle of landings, Ranma was
in a hurry after all. At least
she was on the ground and now
safely out of the line of fire
(he hoped).
Urd rubbed her tender bottom with
one hand while shaking her fist at
him with the other.
"Ohh, you're gonna get it!"
Now that he finally had full mobility
again it was time to think up a plan
of action.
That took him about ten seconds,
which was nine more then he normally needed.
{Okay, there's no way to calm them down.
But I *can* make them even madder then they already
are. Let's hope that certain universal principles
hold true, otherwise they're probably going to be
picking me off the street with ink blotters.}
Once he started on this path, there would
be no going back. Did he really want to do this?
"Die, Monster!"
{I guess that answers my question.}
Ranma took a deep breath (don't ask me how)
and unleashed his most devastating special
attack, one so horrifying that it was
only passed down through the Saotome
line and even then, only from father to son.
"You stupid uncute tomboy!"
~~~~~~~~
-O_O'
"He calls *that* a plan?!"
"I...believe so."
"Zora, I think your Ranma lost a
few marbles when he came back to
his home dimension."
"Always a method to the madness, there is."
"In other words, he's nuts."
~~~~~~~
-You're In For It Now!
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!!"
She might dress like a man in her civilian
form, but Haruka still had her feminine
pride. Yet even though Uranus was seething
with rage she was still in control of herself.
Something more was needed to tip the scales.
"You're also a flatchested maniac."
That did the trick.
Of all the things he could have picked,
Ranma had to choose the one which she
was most sensitive about.
*VOOSH*
A gigantic red-hot battle aura sprang up
around Sailor Uranus. Nobody insulted her
chest!! Nobody!!!
The sun hid its face behind clouds of
darkest black. Lightning danced across
the heavens and vermin within a two mile
radius suddenly found that they had
pressing business elsewhere.
{Uh oh. I may have overdone it a little bit.}
"CRUSH!! KILL!! MAIM!! DESTROY!!!"
She came in swinging hard and fast.
Any Amazon warleader would have been
proud to call her one of their own
at that moment.
As soon as he dodged the first thrust to
his head the Knight was forced to twist back
and to the side as the lunge turned into a
slash aimed for his abdomen. Her second stab
came in unexpectedly low in an attempt to sever
one of his hamstrings while he was in such an
awkward position, but it was thwarted by his
armor. The attack did leave a deep cut in the
ultra-hard material though, and that fact
did not go unnoticed by anyone present.
Recovering quickly, Ranma was able to
avoid Uranus's next attacks by shifting
just enough to the left and right to prevent
the blade from skewering him in the vitals.
It helped that her swings were beginning to
get wilder and more frenzied with every miss.
He continued to give ground freely to her
furious assault, always making sure to stay
close enough that the other Senshi after his
hide couldn't use that strange attack of hers
without hitting them both.
'If the enemy's forces are united, seperate them.'
'All warfare is based on deception.'
'If your opponent is of base temper, seek
to irritate them.'
The wisdom of Sun Tzu still held true thousands
of years later. But his entire plan depended on
the last two being correct as well. Timing would
be everything. He would have only one shot,
they wouldn't fall for this a second time.
~~~~~~
-Do You See What I See?
Uranus's readings were nearly off
the scale. She was actually *glowing*
from all the battle energy radiating
forth from her body!
Mercury used one hand to push her
jaw back up into position.
The blue haired Senshi didn't even try to
get a reading from Pluto. She knew it
would only give her nightmares in the
days to come.
The Time Guardian looked really angry.
That was *scary*, especially since this was
the strongest emotional reaction that Setsuna
had ever shown!
{Is he insane? They're going to kill him!}
Once again she tried to scan the stranger,
although his constant movement made that
quite difficult.
{Strange...the jamming seems to have stopped.}
Not that it did much good. Whatever that armor
was composed of, it wasn't anything that her
computer could recognize. It also seemed to
block any attempts to scan deeper, infrared
and ultraviolet sensor beams were absorbed
into it without a trace.
{This can't be right!}
How could his power level be at practically zero?!
Even youma and daomons had a level of energy that
could be detected.
Yet his reading was as cold as ice...
{Ice?}
Something about that last observation sent alarms
ringing in her head. Why was this person trying so
hard to intentionally keep Uranus in a burning rage
while at the same time maintaining a personal power
level that was almost on par with a corpse?
{Hot and cold...what's the connection?}
*beep**beep*
Then she saw it. As the Outer jumped into
the air with her Space Sword held high,
the Knight's right arm suddenly became
a black void as every last bit of heat
energy was expelled from it.
"Uranus, look out! It's a trap!!"
Too late.
{Gotcha.}
Ranma's fist rocketed out into an uppercut.
"Hiryu Shoten Ha!"
~~~~~~
-(O_O)
"I don't believe it. It actually worked?!"
"Looks like it."
"Told you so."
"Okay, so now how is he going to deal with Pluto?"
An uncomfortable silence descended.
Crickets decided to chirp in the background
and were promptly devoured by several dozen
woodland spirits who were in urgent need of
some munchies.
"I thought so."
Shadow sighed wearily, that was the trouble with
these heroes. They always forgot about those little
details until it was too late.
~~~~~
-So Tell Me, What You Plan To Do About The Rest Of Them?
Ranma had been aiming for just the edge of Sailor
Uranus's battle aura, so he only knicked it a little
with the "Soul of Ice" technique. Of course, considering
how much heat she was putting out he had to pull his
punch quite a bit short in order to keep the size of the
resulting tornado down.
*WHOOSH*
The twister was only a couple dozen meters high.
But it was strong enough to pick up the unfortunate
Outer and send her hurtling skyward like a helpless
stray leaf. Through long practice and experience Ranma
had learned how to direct where the Rising Dragon
Ascension's victim(s) would land. Normally he used
it to make sure his enemies wound up in the worst
possible spots. This time he was trying to make
sure that this woman didn't break anything when she
hit the ground, even magic could only go so far when
it came to preventing damage from falling several stories.
How fortunate then that there was a truck
lying on its side nearby, its cargo of
leafy vegetables spilled out nice and high
next to it. Apparently the driver had
abandoned it sometime during the first battle,
since the once fresh produce had grown rank in
the daytime heat. It would certainly cushion a
landing, but the smell...
{Oh well, beggers can't be choosy.}
It was good plan, all things considered.
Unfortunately there was still a hostile
factor that Ranma failed to take into
account.
"Heh, time for Unhappy Strike Two!"
~~~~~~~
-Well, You Tried.
Neptune, still struggling to get the
slimy gunk off of her, just happened
to pick that moment to look up.
Upon seeing her beloved about to come
crashing down into the street Neptune
did the first thing that came to mind.
She jumped and tried to catch her.
But a sudden stray updraft threw her timing off.
*Kabonk*
Instead of catching Sailor Uranus,
they collided in midair.
The two of them quickly discovered that ectoplasm
is *very* sticky, right before they crashed into
a small hill of stinky rotten greens.
Their screams of outrage could
be heard for miles around.
~~~~~
-You Can't Win Them All
Right after Sembei finished his latest act
of mischief an annoying tapping sensation
started on his back.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It just wouldn't stop, so the little imp
turned around. His eyes were met by a
pair of feet.
{Uh oh...}
He looked up.
"Eep."
Skuld looked down at him with a scary expression
on her face. Her slightly dented Bug Masher
Mark II balanced on one shoulder.
Sembei pulled out a pair of old fashioned
spectacles and put them on.
"You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?"
The young goddess's rebuttal was
simple but quite elequent.
*WHAM*
~~~~~~~
-Do You Have Any Last Words?
Ranma winced behind the safety of his armor,
so much for his plan going the way it was
supposed to. He had not been expecting the
third girl to get in the way.
That *had* to have hurt.
But on the bright side, at least
they wouldn't be after him for awhile.
However he wouldn't want to be around when
those two finally freed themselves from
that gooey little mess they were in.
Two down with only one left to worry about.
Speaking of which...
{Where'd she go?!}
Somewhere in all the excitement he'd
lost track of where Sailor Pluto was.
He looked frantically around,
but couldn't spot her anywhere.
Ranma didn't even try to kid himself into
believing that she had actually left. He
could still feel her presence, a pressure
that weighed down heavily on the air itself.
Seeking a better position from which to defend himself,
the Knight went from the street to the rooftops.
From up there he'd have more manuvering room and a
better view of the surroundings.
Still he found no sign of her.
{I think I'm in trouble.}
~~~~~~~
-You think?
Mara froze where she was as the armored
figure turned to look in her direction.
But her barrier held and he looked
straight through her position without
even seeing her.
She let out a small sigh of relief.
That had been too close for comfort.
{It wouldn't do to spoil the game
this early. I've got plans for you.}
A soft *bamf* behind her along with a hint
of sulfer alerted Mara to the return of her
servant.
"You've done well Sembei. Remind me
to reward you when we get back."
"...Which way did he go George? Which way did he go?"
"Huh?"
She turned around, only to stare at the
little imp in disbelief.
"What in the Nine Hells happened to you?!!"
Sembei was sporting the biggest, meanest
looking bump on his head that she'd ever seen.
It was obvious that her minion wasn't running
with all of the lights on.
"I'm only twee and a half yea's old...bwebubwubweble..."
A large sweatdrop appeared on the back of the
demoness's head. Perhaps it was time to leave
before someone put two and two together.
~~~~~~
-You Have Issues, Don't You?
Sailor Pluto has not survived this
long by underestimating her opponents.
It had quickly become clear that their
regular special attacks weren't up
to the task, stronger measures were
needed in order to destroy this threat.
With her Time Staff in hand Setsuna
started to gather the energy she
needed to invoke the power of the
Garnet Orb.
Each of the Outer Senshi possessed a
unique talisman of power. Uranus had the
Space Sword, Neptune's was the Aqua Mirror,
and Saturn was the owner of the deadly
Silence Glaive. But Pluto's artifact
was perhaps the most unusual of them all.
Unlike the other talismans, the Orb
was a sentient artifact and served
as one of the Guardians of the Timegate.
But most importantly, by channeling
potential psychic energy through it
Pluto could amplify her abilities
to a new level, allowing her access
to the most dangerous Senshi attacks.
One of those was the forbidden
"Time Protector", which halted
the passage of time itself. But
that wasn't the only one available
to her. In a few seconds she would
be ready to unleash an attack that
made her Dead Scream look like one of
Sailor Chibi-Usa's Pink Sugar Hearts.
~~~~~~~
-o_o'
"Oh no, please tell me she's
not using *that* one."
Shadow and the Guardian exchanged worried looks.
That attack had killed them each once before, fortunately
they had gotten better afterwards. Death wasn't much fun,
not unless you were lucky enough to get the cool chick
with the ankh and a sense of humor.
"What's the attack roll?"
"Give me a sec, Bard."
Rowan swore softly when he got the result.
"Damn. This is not good."
"C'mon , how bad can it be?"
"A natural twenty ."
This time the curses came from several other throats as well.
Everyone present knew what this meant. A critical strike,
practically impossible to dodge.
"Well, it's only double damage....he can survive that."
The Bard tried to look on the bright side.
"Try damage x12 instead."
Rowan was quick to shoot his hopes down.
"What?!"
"Evil magical curse #34, victim takes triple damage from Rune Weapons.
Since she's focusing it through the Garnet Orb, it still counts.
Plus it's a surprise attack, so she automatically gets another
bonus modifier of x2 to her damage roll."
"Oh hell."
"Exactly."
~~~~~~~
-Did You Have To Do That?
It was time.
A crimson flare of raw temporal energy
screamed forth from the head of the Time Staff.
It took all of Pluto's concentration to keep from
being caught in the backlash as the tidal wave
of raw destruction spewed out. The Senshi of
Time was in her element at that moment as she
fought to master the wild power she had unleashed.
"Chrono Trigger!"
Sailor Pluto was also very good shot.
After all, she'd had more then enough
time to practice while awaiting the
rebirth of the other Senshi.
Ranma never had a chance. Even as he turned to
face the threat he knew it was already too late.
He only had a moment for one last meaningless thought.
{I survived the Mechanoids, the Four Horsemen,
the Vampire Kingdoms, the Splugorth, and even
the Transgalactic Empire only to end up as the
victim of a beautiful woman in a fuku? Damn it,
looks like I owe Drizzt that round of drinks after all.}
And then there wasn't any time left even for that.
*KABOOM*
-To be continued...
