Heir
to the Empire
By
Ozzallos
A
Fukufics (dotcom) Production
Part 4
"The Enemy lives?"
Cologne frowned into the crystal ball. "That is uncertain at this point." She clarified for the elder at the other end of the magical connection. A casual observer would have sworn she was talking to her own distorted image, as the face therein was easily as wrinkled and gnarled as her own. "But her name has come up under… unusual circumstances."
The crystal ball sat silent for a moment, its curved face contemplating. "Such a name does not come up in casual conversation. You will investigate further?"
The Amazon elder fought to keep the scorn off her face. Just who did the woman take her for? Some unblooded neophyte? "Of course. There will be ample opportunity to observe events play out."
The crystal-borne visage frowned. "We cannot afford to allow events to merely play out. If the enemy has been reborn, then we must act quickly. A council will be assembled."
"I would advise prudence in this matter." Cologne shook her head. "It involves the Saotome child."
"And as such, requires urgent attention." The crackled voice countered. "If the boy and The Enemy are one in the same, we can ill afford to wait."
"We can ill afford to rush headlong into this." Cologne replied, aggravation creeping into her voice. "You do not poke the slayer of Saffron with a stick lightly."
"We both know the boy had help, nor was Saffron a god." The crystal image retorted testily. "Regardless, I will inform the council of your… hesitance in this matter. Good day."
Cologne clutched at her ever-present staff, stifling her anger as the image faded out. That stuck-up woman had no idea of the mess she was walking into. That, and she sensed a coup de tat brewing downwind. The Elder glared into the now empty crystal ball, where only her distorted reflection stared back. Obviously she had been away too long and the political landscape was changing. Under normal circumstances, she would simply go home and give the woman a pasting, but she could hardly afford to leave Nerima at such a crucial juncture.
The old woman sighed, covering the crystal with a silken blue sheet. It was by no means an easy choice. Ride the storm out her in Japan and allow her opposition to fester back in China or go home and kick some political buttox. She shook her head. much as she would have liked the latter option, her place was here at the moment.
Cologne sat at her table as she sorted through a number of scrolls by the light streaming through her doorway. Let's see, she mulled over the parchments carefully. Pressure point scrolls, magical scrolls, herbal scrolls… She studied each paper briefly before rolling it back up into it's tie and gently placing it into the correct pile. While she generally loathed spring cleaning, she didn't particularly mind this part. All of the old tomes and tribal techniques were like family to her after two hundred and fifty years of life. The tribe's elder was about to finger another roll when her light was blocked, casting shadows across the room. Cologne frowned, turning to find the obstruction.
She blinked at the figure in the doorway as her eyes adjusted to the backlit body and smiled. "Ah, grand daughter, how are you this day?"
The purple haired twenty-some inclined her head slightly, taking the greeting as an invitation. "Very good, grand mother."
Cologne set her current pile of scrolls aside carefully and replaced them with a setting of two tea cups and steaming pitcher. The woman sat down and her great grandmother smiled, pouring out tea. "So how is my great grandchild behaving?"
"Still waking us up at all hours of the night." The Amazon admitted, faintly amused. "Gillete is a good male, though. He has a knack for rocking her to sleep." She paused, shaking her head. "And the diapers. I don't know what I'd do without him."
"Indeed." Cologne chuckled. "Better him than you." The pair sipped their tea in silence for another few minutes before the Elder broke it. "But you did not come to talk about my grand daughter or sip tea with an old lady, Starch."
"Not exactly," The purple haired woman fingered her strait hair nervously. "I… I have come to ask permission."
The Elder frowned and silence reigned. After a few more drawn out moments, the Cologne sighed. "I guess it is that time, isn't it?"
"You did promise." Starch pressed quietly. "If I won the tribes tournament…"
"Yes, yes…" Cologne grumbled, remembering the promise clearly. "If you won the tournament, I would concede that you were ready for the Rite." She looked the woman in front of her up and down. "And so you are. It's just..."
If there was one thing Starch knew about her grandmother, it was that she loathed losing yet another to the rite. Friends were bad enough. Family was another matter entirely. But her grandmother was one of the most faithful and loyal she knew. The fact that she had not ascended was no dishonor in the slightest, having saved a child and felling two of the guardians in the process. Beryl simply had another path for the Elder, and now it was time for her to find her own.
She took the tiny old woman into her arms. "I know grandmother. But it is through your honor and skill that I may defeat the guardian."
Cologne nodded. The words were the correct ones, but they just sounded so hollow today. "You… you will do just fine, grand daughter. What of Shampoo?"
"I would ask that you look after her…" Starch smiled gently. "While I trust Gillete implicitly, he's only a male."
Cologne nodded, understanding. "Of course. I'll walk you to the edge of the village." Both women started for the door when Cologne halted. "Just a second." In the space of seconds, she had hopped from her grand daughter's side to the the back room. Soon, she reappeared with a decorated Shuang Tou Qiang in hand. "This weapon has been in our family for several generations, Starch." She pogo'd up to the woman and pushed it into her stunned hands. "It has been used my grandmother, mother, myself and your mother. Nearly all of our blood line has ascended with its assistance, save myself." Cologne pogo'd out of her residence and her grand daughter followed, eyes drinking in the double-bladed Chinese spear. Two pink gems were imbedded along the flat of the spear point, sun refracting off its edge in a pink-hued rainbow of light.
"That weapon alone has slain five of the guardians." Cologne smiled grimly as grand mother and daughter made their way to the village edge. "I have no doubt a sixth will fall by your hand."
The pair shared another moment of prolonged silence before Starch nodded and turned down the path to face her destiny.
It was another two days before Cologne learned what that destiny was as the Elder supervised the training of a small group of eleven year old girls. "Again." She stated from her staff-bound perch and the girls rushed the wooden dummies before them, striking a group of red dots painted up and down the logs in sequence. Cologne repeated the command, and more fingers struck the wooden target, some of them bloody. The Elder paid that no mind. She was in a bad mood.
"Elder Cologne?" The grey haired woman looked over her shoulder to find one of her lieutenants wearing a carefully neutral face. In her hands was a long, something wrapped in silk. She stared at the woman and her item carefully. It wasn't like the blue haired woman to be so pensive.
"What is it, Douche?"
The Warrior handed her the silk wrapped length. "This was found at The Stones."
Cologne paled. There was no question as to what stones she was referring to, and the Elder unwrapped the silk carefully. Within was the spear she had only days ago given to her grand daughter. "No body?"
"No, Elder. She has Ascended."
Cologne nodded. "Watch the young ones here. I'll be in my hut." As soon as she found her home and was able to latch the door, the tears began.
They wouldn't stop for a long while.
Ranma stopped at the gates of the temple before her, looking at the structure curiously. She glanced back at her magical girl escort. "You guys live in a shrine?"
Michiru shook her head. "Of course not, your Highness. It is, however, a convenient place for meetings."
"One that doesn't raise too many questions." Haruka added, Hotaru nodding in kind.
Made sense, Ranma thought as the four passed through the gate to the interior courtyard. Can't have enemies going after your families, right? Ranma paused on that thought. Speaking of which, how many times has that exact same thing happened to me? If it wasn't Akane-snatchers, it was always somebody- or something -else. The pigtailed girl shrugged mentally and followed the frail looking girl into the shrine.
Hard to believe she could destroy a planet.
Another mental pause. Now just how in the hell do I know that? Ranma wondered. Memories of course, the same memories these girls had baited her with into coming along. It was all trouble, she thought. Nothing but trouble. No good could come of being surrounded by magical girls, of that she was certain. Sooner or later, they would get the genius idea that she was a guy and he was fiancée material. All the more reason to stay girl-type for just a bit longer. Ranma eyed the slight girl once more as they led her into the shrine's inner sanctum. She can destroy a world, huh?
The four walked through another hallway and to a comfortable room where four girls were happily chatting away while one sat in silence and the other watched the rest passively. Chit-chat immediately stopped as Ranma and her escorts and the red-eyed woman smiled.
"Thank you for coming, Serenity-chan." Setsuna walked over, lightly hugging the silver-haired martial artist, who was surprised that it not only felt so natural, but that the woman somehow managed to bypass her instinctive flinch reflex concerning female contact. Everything about the green haired woman just clicked with her at some level. It was so easy that it worried Ranma to no end.
The woman withdrew and Ranma's nodded, eyes flicked across the room's occupants. "Not much of a choice if I wanna find out what the heck is goin' on." Her eyes narrowed at the blonde odango who stared at her with wide eyes. "You done trying to take the rock?"
The blonde in question looked down at her feet, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry… mom."
Ranma's cheek twitched and the Princess of Pluto frowned. The girl wasn't claiming to be Serenity, but she certainly had all of her mannerisms. That particular one normally indicated her friend was about to ream somebody up one side and down the other, and Setsuna moved to intervene before she could get a full head of stream going.
"How much do you remember, Serenity-chan?"
She flashed an edgy look at the green haired woman, but somehow found it impossible to bite her head off for not calling her Ranma. Anybody else, however… "Look, I don't know what you're talking about… I'm just seeing things is all. Probably just got knocked by my fiancées one to many times."
"Fiancées?" Ami leaned forward, while Haruka and Michiru's attention focused suddenly and for obvious reasons. They had no idea their queen was like that.
Ranma nodded, still standing warily despite the seat that had been pulled out for her. "I think Nab's last count was at seventeen."
"SEVENTEEN!" Minako blurted. If it hadn't been her, it would have been Rei, followed shortly thereafter by Makato. Even Hotaru couldn't help but to stare. "You've got to be kidding me!"
A wry grin lapsed across Ranma's face. Telling people that always did make for an amusing reaction. "Nope. Thanks to my old man, mostly."
"Your father… engaged you to seventeen women?" Usagi wallowed in shock.
Ranma nodded. "Feh. That ain't nothing compared to what he can do if he puts his mind to it."
"Excuse me." Setsuna mentioned, then promptly disappeared into thin air. Ranma was left staring at the space she had just vacated.
"Neat trick."
"Teleport." Haruka supplied. "Though where she was off to in such--"
"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" The green haired woman suddenly popped back into existence, glowing with power and fury. She balled her fists and stared at Ranma. "He did THAT to you?"
The martial artists blinked. What the hell? "Um, which 'that' are you refereeing too? God knows I can't keep count."
"Pluto?" Usagi stepped forward tentatively. The woman looked like she was about ready to murder somebody.
"He sold you for a bowl of rice and two pickles!" Setsuna fumed and Ranma blinked.
"You know that?" She asked, disbelieving that the woman could have simply pulled such a detail out of thin air, let alone be so upset by it. Nobody else ever was. Hell, Akane never got that upset. Maybe 'that sucked', but never the outright fury Setsuna was displaying now. "Look, it ain't no big--"
"Big deal!" Her rage continued. "Why he even tossed you in--" Setsuna stopped short and a mask of seriousness fell across her face. "Oh shit."
"Oh shit?" Ami blinked. Setsuna didn't cuss. Period. Of course, she hardly ever displayed an emotion beyond that of cool mystery, so today was just a red letter day.
"Whatever you do, your Majesty, do not look in the corner." Pluto ordered quietly. Something told Ranma she should trust the woman and she simply arched an eyebrow curiously.
"What's in the corner?" Rei asked, turning around.
Makato shrugged. "Just the cats as far as I can tell."
Ranma's eyes widened. "C… c… cats?"
"Girls, SHUT UP." Setsuna hissed and the winced at her tone, but fell silent. She turned to Ranma in a softer tone. "Look at me and me only." Ranma's eyes found hers. "There are no cats in this room."
"But Luna and Artemis are--"
Setsuna's head snapped around on Minako. "If you don't SHUT THE HELL UP, I'm going to hang you by your toes somewhere in the Australian outback, do you understand?" Minako whimpered an affirmative, and Pluto turned back to Ranma one more time. The girl's eyes were pooling with terror.
"As I was saying," she continued, softly. "There are no cats in this room. There are Moon Court Advisors. They would like to say 'hi'."
"A..Advisors?" Ranma managed through her fear soaked brain.
"Advisors." Setsuna soothed. "They're sitting in the corner. Now do cats talk, Ranma?"
"N…No."
She never took her eyes off Ranma's. "Luna, Artemis… Say hello to the Queen."
"It is good to see you again, your Majesty."
"We've missed you, your Highness."
Ranma blinked. No, those definitely weren't cats. A male and female voice. Setsuna watched her neck muscles twitch and spoke. "Don't look at them yet. Do you remember Luna and Artemis?" Ranma shook her head. The names were familiar, but like so many of the fragments, the associations hung just out of reach. "Then let me tell you who they are. They are you're your foreign and domestic political advisors. You couldn't ask for a better pair of… souls."
"Then why can't I look at 'em?" Ranma mouthed nervously. Sure, the initial shock at the mention of cats had worn away, but there was still the other shoe waiting to drop. Everybody else looked at her intently, then to the corner and back to her.
"Because, well…" Setsuna paused, waffling. There was no real way to sugar coat it. "Because they only look like cats."
Ranma began to twitch again. "O… Only?"
Crap, crap, crap… Setsuna mentally chaste herself. This wasn't working. She was going to need time and the Queen's memories to break that psychosis. Now wasn't the time for immersion therapy, and her friend's fears wouldn't care if they were talking cats or not. She didn't want to banish them, but-- She watched Ranma's eyes snap over into the corner, finding two innocent moon cats.
"C… c… c… " Ranma gasped as her worst fears were uncaged in her mind. She took a step back, jarring a small table and knocking over a lamp. "C… c… c…"
"Setsuna, is there something we should…?" Artemis asked, clearly taken back by their Queen's reaction.
Ranma took another step back, cheek twitching. "N..Nuthin's wrong!"
A deep frown crossed the Princess of Pluto's face. Tiny flames danced in her eyes. "The Queen's biological father in this day and age subjected her to torture."
Haruka snarled. "That fat-ass tortured the Queen!"
Setsuna nodded grimly. She now had everybody's attention. "I won't detail the exact form of that torture, but needless to say it involved…"
"Cats." Ranma hissed, trying to still her trembling. It was all she could do from not bolting outright, through the fact that these particular cats were forming coherent sentences did help prevent a full blown anxiety attack. Arms enclosed her in an embrace and Ranma looked up to find Setsuna's eyes glowing with concern. Somehow her touch managed to siphon away a fraction of the fear and trembling. She could stand in the presence of talk cats… She could… She could…
"It's okay, Senny," She stroke the pigtailed girls hair and the trembling lessened another fraction. "I'll ask them to leave if you--"
"I think I may have a solution, Miss Pluto." Luna sat up from the cushion both moon cats had been sitting on. A pink aura engulfed the black cat. A few second later it peaked, washing the room out in pink before fading away, leaving a girl in its wake. The shivering all but died away in Setsuna's hands and Ranma blinked. The cat just turned into a wavy black haired girl who was wearing a yellow and black fuku. She looked down at Artemis, who nodded. A soft white aura engulfed the male moon cat, and he promptly shifted into the form of a white haired teen in a white business suit and black tie. The trembling stopped completely and Ranma stared at the pair curiously.
Artemis bowed low and Luna kneeled at her feet. "We apologize if our natural forms caused you any anxiety, your Eminence."
Ranma blinked, her fear all but gone. "Huh. Whattdya know… More transforming cats."
Luna tilted his head. "More?"
The silver haired girl pulled away from Setsuna with a weak smile. "Uh, thanks… For that." The Guardian of Time favored her with an understanding look. The fact that the older woman was affecting her so was downright unnerving.
Ranma turned to her captive audience. Dammit, she knew these people! But who the hell were they? And the girl calling her mom! Somehow she knew that the transforming cats shouldn't have come as a surprise either. She studied the nearly all girl audience once more and sighed.
"All right. I'll tell you my story if you all tell me yours."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding." Serenity frowned as she stepped into the room that held half a few dozen easily recognizable faces, as well as a liberal dose pink and blue party streamers. Glossy ribbons were spread throughout the room and smiles were plastered on everybody's face, including Setsuna, the other Senshi, her Advisors, and assorted friends and well-wishers. She found her best friend's eyes were bubbling with mirth. "Tell me this wasn't your idea."
"Oh no, your Highness," Setsuna looked aghast at the suggestion and Serenity couldn't help but to roll her eyes. "I do believe that honor falls to your advisors."
The Queen turned to find both cats on a chair beaming wide smiles. "I should have known. And what do you have to say for yourselves?"
Luna's smile widened, if at all possible. "It was Michiru's fault. She coordinated everything." Their monarch's eyes swiveled onto the Princess of Neptune, who was affecting a look of absolute innocence.
"Not my fault, your Highness." She protested. "Makato bought the party favors."
Makato's face scrunched in mock irritation. "I'm pretty sure all the blame falls onto Minako. She chose the theme."
"Huh?" She blinked, as if totally clueless of the events around her. Serenity would have bought the act too if she hadn't hand picked the woman to take the mantle of Venus herself. "I only heard about the party from 'Ruka-chan."
"Wild accusations and unsubstantiated testimony, your Highness." The Senshi of Uranus waved the blame aside. "Besides, I'm quite sure the chief architect of this heinous crime is Hotaru." Everybody looked at Hotaru, nodding.
"Definitely
Hotaru."
"Ru-chan,
how could you?"
"Don't
you know the Queen doesn't like surprise parties?"
"A
horrible thing to do."
"What
do you have to say for yourself, Saturn?"
A moment of silence followed the interrogation, and Hotaru's neutral expression gave way to a smile. "It was Setsuna's fault."
Serenity simply stood there, shaking her head. "Mutinous lot, all of you." She cast a baleful glare across the entire smiling room. "I'll have you all strung up tomorrow. Where's the cake?"
"Can't hang people on an empty stomach, can you?" Setsuna stepped up to her best friend's side with a wicked glint in her eyes. "At least your priorities are straight."
The pair walked through the colorfully decorated room, amid the well-wishers and congratulations. The party guest ensured they gave their queen a wide berth to accommodate her recently acquired roundness. The monarch's eyes flicked to the wrapped presents with bows. "A little late for a baby-shower isn't it?"
"It wouldn't be if you didn't keep yourself so busy, Serenity-chan." Setsuna sniffed haughtily. "Besides, didn't La Phoite tell you to take it easy this far along?"
"Feh." Serenity snorted and picked up a random present, shaking it. "Shows you what the Her Majesty's Royal Physician knows."
An older officer with a graying mane of hair leaned in, his eyes twinkling. "You break it, you buy it."
Serenity's random shaking of her presents stopped immediately, and she looked at the thing man with a perturbed look. "Don't you have some small empire to crush, Andrew?"
"I thought that was your job, your Highness?" He grinned and leaned in. "So is it a boy or a girl?"
"Oh, pah-lease." Serenity rolled her eyes. "If you don't know by now, I'm obviously paying you too much."
"True, true." The Joint Chief of Staff nodded as if her statement were a given. "Sure, I could have assigned a special op to the task and raided the Omnet for the information, but I thought some creativity was in order for this delicate mission."
"You asked La Phoite."
"I asked La Phoite."
"That man has entirely too loose a tongue." The Queen shook her head.
"Cut it out?" Pluto inquired dryly and Serenity nodded.
"Yes, make a note of it." The trio stared seriously at one another for a moment before busting into laughter.
"Say, can I get that done for Jupiter?" Minako ducked in, having snatched an hors d'oeuvre from a nearby tray. "She keeps complaining that I'm guy crazy. I'm sick of it."
Setsuna arched an eyebrow. "You are."
The Princess of Venus blinked. "Oh, that's right…" and stalked off after one of the party attendants.
Chief of Staff Andrew Kay stared after the Senshi. "Are you sure she's a Champion of the Realm?"
Serenity shrugged. "Last I checked." She looked at the mingling party goers. "So you're telling me you people had nothing better to do than ambush Her Expectedness today?"
"Ran out of small empires to crush." The Chief nodded.
"Kids are all here." Pluto mentioned, motioning to the other Senshi.
"And instead you decide to torment me with a baby shower." The Queen frowned.
"Yeah."
"Pretty much."
Haruka and Michiru wandered over to the trio hand in hand and smiles on their faces. Michiru put a delicate figure on the Queen's belly, producing a light kick. "Whoops, felt that one. So what are going to name her, your Roundness?"
"I swear, somebody is going to burn for this." The Queen's words were at odds with the smile on her face. "Not sure yet."
"Better get cracking on that, your Highness." Haruka pointed out. "You're what, eight months now?"
"As if the little girl will let me forget." Serenity sighed, rubbing her silk covered belly. Hotaru offered her a small china plate adorned with a large piece of cake. The Queen's attention immediately focused and she smiled at the soft spoken girl. "You know what would go great with--" Rei stepped up and scooped some chocolate ice cream onto the plate. "Ah, that's the stuff. Hotaru and Rei get raises."
Makato blinked. "What about me!"
"You," She pointed at the Senshi of Jupiter with a cake laden fork. "Get the satisfaction of obediently serving your Queen."
"I'd rather have had the money." Makato grumbled, but broke into a grin moments later.
The shower began in earnest, and Serenity was more than happy to put her nose to the task of unwrapping presents, most of which were, in some way shape or form, for the baby to be. If the gifts were any indication, she promised to be a damn cute little girl. The party wore on and one by one, the guests excused themselves until the only people that were left were Setsuna and Serenity, surrounded by empty glasses and colorfully ripped wrapping paper. The Princess of Pluto tipped her own beverage back and finished it off.
"For somebody who doesn't like parties…"
"Yeah, yeah." Serenity waved the accusation aside as she rested on a chair. She certainly didn't have the social endurance she had eight months ago. "Mainly it's the next day's gossip I hate. I'll probably have slept with you if you listen to The Exquirer headlines tomorrow."
"I say orgy with the Senshi." Setsuna challenged, holding out her hand. Setsuna took it and shook.
"I'll take that bet."
Both women laughed at one another for another few minutes until Serenity grew silent with a slightly pained expression on her face. Her best friend waited patiently.
"I was thinking about naming her Usagi."
Pluto nodded gravely. That was his name. His family name. "I think it's… appropriate. And cute."
The last comment managed to cute through the somber nature of their discussion. "Cute?"
Setsuna smiled. "Your daughter will be the rabbit in the moon. Very appropriate for a Moon Princess."
Ranma sat on the padded chair, clutching her head. She took a deep breath and looked into those blue eyes. It looks as if I'm looking into a mirror, the martial artist noted, then chopped that line of thought off abruptly. No! I'm not that girl's mom!
"I know… It's hard to accept." Setsuna let her hand rest on the silver haired girl's shoulder gently. "Every one of these girls are still coping with the fact they are the reincarnated guardians from a kingdom fourteen thousand years dust."
Ranma stared up incredulously at the green haired woman and her patience expired abruptly. "Do you even realize what you're saying! Okay, so they're the guardians of a dead empire. Fine! I have no trouble believing that! I meet stranger things on a daily basis! But you're saying I was pregnant! With HER!" Ranma shook her head violently. "No! Uh-uh! Didn't happen!"
Setsuna watched the girl deny everything, and marveled how her foreign frame so closely mimicked the behaviors of the friend she used to know. She knew Serenity's idiosyncrasies like the back of her hand and recognized one in particular playing across the girl's body language even as she fumed… It wasn't just a denial born from ignorance. It was a denial of not wanting to face the truth. After nearly a millennia of friendship with the woman, the Princess of Pluto didn't have a doubt…
"You remember Usagi, don't you?"
The anger instantly began to transform into something else and Setsuna watched fear pool in her monarch's eyes. "No… They're just visions… Hallucinations! I don't… I can't…"
"How do you know so much about me, Ranma?" She deliberately used her reincarnated name, hoping to prevent the total mental collapse that was waiting in the wind. "Look at the girls. You know them too. Hallucinations don't do that."
"B... but I'm a guy…" Her voice cracked, and only somebody with Setsuna's lifetime of experience could tell there was something more within those words. There was the tiniest hint of defeat. "I… I'm Ranma Saotome, ruler of the Silver Millenium--" Her eyes widened as the words slipped from her mouth involuntarily. "No! I didn't mean--!" Setsuna and the girls simply watched silently as the martial artist sorted herself out. "Dammit, this sucks." Usagi couldn't help but to chuckle and Ranma shot her a look. "What?"
"Just remembering how I was told by a cat that I was the Princess of the Silver Millennium for first time." She smiled warmly and the pig-tailed girl's irritation faded into a simple frown.
"What I want to know is how the Queen of the Silver Millennium was reincarnated a boy." Ami leaned forward, staring at Ranma and remembering yesterday's transformation.
"Yeah," Minako chimed in. "We came through it just fine."
"The Queen intervened on your behalf." Pluto emphasized the silver haired martial artist at her side. "She had no such intervention. I imagine there's a huge difference between shot toward your destiny and drifting there, metaphysically speaking."
Michiru nodded. "In that case, it's a miracle she's even here at all."
"That was her, not me." Ranma retorted, though with considerably less edge than before. "I didn't get pregnant and I ain't no mom."
"But… You remember me?"
Ranma studied the blonde with a critical eye. Those blue orbs eyed her back and continued to unnerve her. "Yeah… I… she remembers you."
"So how is she a girl?" Ami boggled, calculating variables. "I can see the coming back through an uncontrolled reincarnation event… But to stumble across a magical girl spring? The odds are… Staggering."
"Tell me about it…" Ranma grumbled, remembering the most pivotal day of her life quite clearly.
"The only thing I can figure is that magic attracts magic." Rei commented, familiar with the domain she was speaking on. "Maybe her inborn magic sought to correct the imbalance it saw in her gender." Ami eyed the shrine maiden skeptically and the Senshi shrugged. "Okay, so it's only a theory."
Setsuna watched her friend as theories were thrown back and forth as to her reincarnation and improbable existence, to which even she admitted were damn long odds. But at least she was accepting the memories, if not the identity, the Princess of Pluto thought. The rest would come, and all she had to do was worry about keeping her sane in the mean time. Being reborn the guardian of a long dead empire more or less as you were was one thing. Being completely reshaped in the process would tend to screw up one's perspective, Setsuna imagined.
She was just about to cut through the wild speculation when Ami's Mercury link did it for her with a couple of polite chirps. The cobalt blue-haired girl flipped it open and studied it with a frown.
"Youma attack, near the market district."
Ranma arched an eyebrow. "Just how do ya know that?"
"Well, we couldn't have Rei erect detection wards across the entire city," She explained, smiling at her own cleverness. "So I rigged the computer to scan police and military traffic for the words like 'monster' and 'demon'."
"Alright then, let's kick its ass!" Ranma smiled too, happy to finally be back on familiar ground; that being the strangeness whose ass she could kick, as oppose to the intangible sort she couldn't.
"I don't think…" Haruka started with a concerned look on her face
"You really shouldn't…" Michiru continued with a similarly pained look.
Hotaru simply shook her head. "The Queen shouldn't be involved in frontline warfare, your Eminence."
Ranma scowled and Setsuna couldn't help but to chuckle. "Look, I'm being told I'm the Queen of magical girls, the ruler of an empire and a mother. You better damn well bet I'm gonna pound on something."
Ranma watched from a rooftop overlooking the youma beatdown occurring on the street below. On her left was Setsuna Meiou, Princess of Pluto, while her ever-present Outer body guards had taken up positions around her. The silver haired martial artist watched the spectacle critically as the younger Inners danced around their pinkish grey opponent, lobbing magical attacks in a semi-coordinated assault.
"Moon Tiara Action!"
Setsuna watched her Queen carefully and noted the frown that was developing. "They're really a lot better than they first appear, your Highness." She inserted, addressing what she knew were her friend's concerns directly. "We just haven't had a lot of time to concentrate on formal training."
"Venus Love-Me Chain!"
Ranma nodded, dismissing yet another 'your highness' comment from the only person that didn't outright grate against her. The ease at which she had grown used to Setsuna's company was frightening in itself, as if her presence were as expected as her own shadow. That, and she had accurately addressed her worries concerning the girls below. Two youma had already gone down under the Inner's magical fire, but the third was proving to be a nimble nuisance. The only thing that made sure it was nothing more than a nuisance was the number of magical girls attacking it simultaneously, ensuring that the creature couldn't press any one individual for any length of time. Still, it was fast and seemed to have enough intelligence to stay inside the myriad of ranged attacks that made up the bulk of the Senshi's arsenal.
"Earth Shaker!"
"So they've taken out this barrel woman, you say?" Ranma commented skeptically. Now why did that name in particular sound familiar? Regardless, the level of skill they were displaying was pretty mediocre.
"Beryl." Setsuna correct. "And several other opponents that would have otherwise destroyed the world as we know it." Ranma arched an eyebrow and the Senshi smiled. "Let's just say they tend to rise to the occasion."
Ranma simply nodded and watched another sloppily coordinated attack take place, accompanied by the call of magical attacks. "If you say so."
Setsuna smiled at her best friend's reservations. Her concerns were valid ones, at least for now. Every last one of the girls had been skilled fighters in the Silver Millennium, and once they recovered their full memories, would be once again. Still, she couldn't expect the Queen to remember that at the moment, could she? The girl herself watched the fight unfold and cocked her head curiously, as if noting something. "Senny?"
Ranma stared into the fray a moment longer before taking a step to the ledge. Sailor Uranus' eyes widened. "Your Highness?"
Pluto restrained the Senshi and Ranma dismissed her with a non-chalant wave. "Relax. My turn to take a crack at it."
Michiru mirrored her partners gaping as the silver pigtailed girl took the six story drop like she was wearing armor, only that she wasn't and should have been severely injured. Instead, they watched as she landed gracefully and walked over to the melee already in progress.
Sailor Moon was about ready to launch another tiara moon into the nimble demon when she caught the girl- her mother -out of the corner of her eye smiling coldly. She took a step back and moved to her side.
"Um, are you sure you should be out here?" Worry sparkled in the blonde's eyes and Ranma simply shrugged.
"I was bored." She stated and watched another go at the youma. "Call 'em back."
"Are you sure that's a wise--"
Ranma frowned. "Who's the Queen again?"
Sailor Moon twitched at the pointed remainder and Ranma's mental aspect took on a wide smile. If she was going to get all this crap heaped on her, no reason she couldn't have fun with it. Moon gave the teen that was supposively her mother another skeptical look before jumping back to the melee and recalling the Senshi around her.
"Hey, what gives?" Sailor Venus bristled at the order to withdraw, as did the other Senshi. They gathered around Moon expectantly, only to watch her point to a knuckle cracking Ranma. The silver haired girl's entire focus was on the youma.
"You mean she's gonna take it on!" Mars blurted as the martial artist turned Queen of the Silver Millennium stepped toward the youma. "She'll--!"
"Probably kick some butt and take names." Ami inserted. "Don't forget who she is." Usagi nodded with that statement, causing the remaining Senshi shut up and watch round two of the youma beat-down.
Ranma sized up the ugly pink beast with a smile. It was good to be back on familiar ground, even if that familiar ground consisted of demonic smack down. Not that there was really much of a difference. The line between Phoenix people, Amazon assassins, hybrid Musk and ugly pink beasties was getting pretty thin these days.
The demon paused with the change in players, casting a wary sidelong glance after the retreating Senshi, then to the diminutive girl who took their place. Its limited intellect simply couldn't comprehend why the enemy would sacrifice the tactical advantage in favor of… this. It looked the silver haired female over and was disgusted. Her life force would barely make for a good--
PHoooMMP!
A hot wind blasted across the youma's psyche as the girls power spiked abruptly, its potential translating into the visible spectrum in the form of soft white glow flowing around the woman. The waves of power crashed against the demons probe and it staggered back on reflex. Had it any choice in the matter, the pink scaled beast would have turned tail and ran for the hills. Hard. Unfortunately, there was programming to consider and that programming left only one option available to it.
RWoooWL!
Pinkish-black claws racked in and Ranma bobbed just out of reach, having clearly expected the attack. Wind ruffled the girl's silver bangs and another claw swiped at her with much the same results as the last. It clearly didn't have it's full attention on task, the martial artist realized quickly as she found its slitted eyes darting from her to the numerically superior Senshi across the street. Still worried about a second front, eh? Ranma thought with mild annoyance.
"Fight's here, asshole."
The silver haired girl stepped in between the youma's third and forth strike, landing a hard palm to the chest and blowing the demon fifteen feet into the street. The thing tumbled across the ground before regaing some semblance of balance, flipping upright with nothing worse than a few scrapes. The demon snarled and Ranma smiled. That got its attention.
Fanged teeth snapped at her and the youma charged, totally disregarding its former magical girl opponents in favor of bringing the cocky little pigtailed girl down. There was a small portion in the primitive difference engine it called intellect that knew the chances of that actually happening were slim, but that just made her all the more a priority target. The segmented bone tail punched in first at high speed, rapidly followed by two claws that threatened to shred any flesh the spiked barb manage to miss. In Ranma's case, the lethal attacks perforated the air around the martial artist but failed to touch her. To the untrained eye, it looked like each attempt missed the Saotome by the narrowest margin, but looks were deceiving. The Youma was putting everything it had into offense, only to managing a hit ratio to rival a certain Akane Tendo's.
From the top of the building, Haruka Tenoh's mood was brightening considerably. Her first encounter with her would-be monarch ended with her ass getting handed to her so fast it made her head spin. Literally. It was a blow to her ego, especially considering the fact that she was probably the best martial artist of the entire group. But now she was watching her Queen engage a youma, unarmed, at knife range and at blinding speed.
Nope, she didn't feel bad anymore. Not at all.
Setsuna was in much the same condition, only just managing to keep her mouth from hanging in the breeze. She was certain that the woman below her was Serenity. One hundred percent so. But this… It was almost frightening. She had never known her friend to be so… Physical. Not just physical, but her skills at hand to hand combat now seemed to rival her past ability to manipulate magic. She watched her best friend dodge attack after attack with frightening ease. It was simply…
"Sugoi…." Usagi whispered breathlessly as the person that was her mother effortlessly danced with the youma they had been trying to put away for the last ten minutes, and suddenly understood why she had been so confident in her ability to stand against it alone. It was a sentiment shared by the rest of the Senshi, who could do nothing but gwak at the display of martial arts prowess. Had there been another youma hiding in the bushes behind them, the magical girls would have been powerless to stop it.
Ranma was in high spirits now, as it was probably the best workout she had received in a while. Fun as it may have been, she was actually down here for more than a round of sparring. She had seen something from the rooftop and now it was time to put that something to the test. The pigtailed girl stepped out of the youma's attack arc momentarily and switched stances on the fly into one that favored Amazon-shu. She stepped back inside the monster's circle and made a big production of her attacks, delivering them in such a way that would have been impossible not to read. She even delivered them at half her normal speed and the youma responded in kind, attempting a hasty defense as its prey pressed it back meter by meter down the street.
"Come on, ugly, I know you're in there somewhere…" Ranma growled and continued the purposely sloppy offense. Any halfway competent martial artist would have spotted the holes in her form and she frowned mentally as the demon failed to notice them. She slowed her attacks and loosened her form even further, bombarding it with technique after technique of Amazon origin in an attempt to elicit some response. Finally it came as her fist blazed in from below. A spark of inspiration jumped the gap somewhere in the youma's brain and it brought its claw down on instinct, cutting off the attack and deflecting it sidewise. Ranma smiled ferally as the demon moved to exploit the opening in the only way the form allowed, only find its scaled arm seized and jerked right, spinning it violently in preparation for the savage kick that was already inbound. What passed as the youma's ribcage collapsed violently and the demon was skidding across the concrete once more.
"Gotcha." Ranma smirked, relaxing her stance as the youma tumbled to a halt.
Rei blinked, shaking her head as the demon tried to gain its footing unsuccessfully. "You mean she was just playing with it?"
"Your Mom's so cool!" Sailor Jupiter blurted at Moon, causing a giant sweat drop to run down the side of the blonde's head.
Pluto, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn took the six story hop from their perch with the intention on joining their monarch, when the beast stirred once more, righting itself with a flip and charging Ranma suddenly. The girl's attention was turning back to the youma in an almost lazy manner when a rose floated in from out of nowhere and detonated in the creature's face, turning the immediate area around it into explosive sheet of fire and molten concrete. All eyes turned down the vector of the rose to find a young masked man clad in a black tuxedo and top hat.
"Fear not, fair maiden… For as long as there is justice in this world, I, Tuxedo Kamen will be there to defend the flowers of innocence such as yourself."
Sailor Moon instantly developed a starry eyed stare for the young man while the other Inners developed similarly glazed-over expressions. The outers simply rolled their eyes while Ranma had an entirely different reaction.
Her eye was twitching.
The last thing she needed in life was another goddamned Kuno, and it took every bit of effort not to launch a low yield Moko Takabisha downrange into the tuxedoed interloper. Instead, she turned her attention to the blast zone where the smoke was clearing, only to find… Nothing. Ranma blinked, her eyes frantically searching the scorched crater for anything resembling the demon. It was gone, which left only two possibilities. Either the Tuxedo fool's rose had been sufficiently powerful to vap her youma outright or… The twitch gained intensity.
"YOU ASSHOLE!"
"Uh, excuse me, miss?" Tuxedo Kamen blinked, having expected the young woman's praises to fill his ears at any moment. His surprise was rather understandable, however. Most victims of a youma attack were happy for his intervention on average. Across the street, the Senshi were jolted from their lust induced stupor, staring at their monarch as if she had grown a second head. She just called Kamen a…?
"You let the thing escape, dammit!" The pigtailed girl fumed, burning a hole into the man with her leaded glare. "I wasn't done with it!"
"Wasn't done…?" Tux shook his head, as if trying to make sense of the outlandish situation. Girls in her situation were normally worshipping the ground he walked on by now, not cursing his name. Sadly, he had absolutely no proper grasp of exactly what sort of situation this particular girl was entangled. Had he known, the masked defender of justice probably would have given the fight a wide berth.
Sailor Moon took a tentative step over to her rather irate mother. "You can't…! He's… That's…!"
Ranma barely registered the girl stumbling over her words until Sailor Pluto joined the pair, Outer body guards in tow. "He's an ally, your Highness." She supplied, gaining a skeptical look from Ranma. "He's also your daughter's fiancé."
The silver haired girl's head swiveled onto to Moon. "That pompus ass is your fiancée?" Moon's mouth fell open while the remaining Inners were aghast. "God, and I thought I had it bad. You're engaged to a Kuno."
In that time, Tuxedo Kamen joined the group, eyeing the new girl carefully. "Excuse me, I'm not sure I--"
Ranma's focus immediate snapped from the Senshi back to the source of her irritation. "Back off, rose-boy. I ain't too happy with you right now."
Sailor Moon visibly flinched at the insult and the Inners simply couldn't believe that somebody was verbally assaulting not only Usagi's future husband, but such a fine specimen of manhood. It was also all Setsuna could do not to collapse into a fit of insane laughter.
"I, ah, that is to say… but I just saved your--!" Kamen stumbled over his next words.
"You let my youma get away!" Ranma bit back sharply, then turned to her supposive daughter with an evil thought that made her smile. The smile wasn't a pleasant one. "You say you're engaged to this idiot?" Usagi nodded her head in slow shock. Something wasn't right here….
"Not anymore."
"WHAT!" The word came from every direction at once and the evil grin grew in intensity
"But you can't! He's… I'm…! MOM!" The blonde wailed plaintively. Tuxedo Kamen simply blinked with confusion
Ranma Saotome savored the chaos of the moment. If they were going to saddle her with this queen thing and the mother bit, she was damn well going to have fun with it. "Nope. No way am I letting my daughter marry a Kuno."
"Mom?" Tux was thoroughly confused as he studied the rude girl he now regretted saving. "Would somebody care to…"
Pluto stepped forward with a grin that mirrored her friend's eerily. She took a sidelong glance over at Ranma who met her eyes. The smile widened as a mutual understanding passed between them. "Tuxedo Mask, I would like you to meet Ranma Saotome-Serenity, reincarnated queen of the Silver Millenium. Moon's mother."
It took another minute for the masked man to digest the information, and another to comprehend the full ramifications. "She's… You… The Queen!"
"Oh, for shame! What ever did I do to be cursed with an ungrateful daughter of loose morals?" The smile vanished from Ranma's face with the overly dramatic scene and Setsuna couldn't help but to snicker now.
Usagi's face pitched a deep pink as her eyes widened, while Kamen gibbered wildly. Finally, a coherent thought formed in the odango-atama's brain. "But you can't do this!"
"Hush, child." Ranma admonished, pulling out the best Nodoka impression she could muster. "I'll only have my daughter engaged to a man among men, several if necessary."
The blush deepened and it took Kamen a moment to perceive the insult. "Man among… Wait! HEY! I AM a man among men!"
Ranma arched an eyebrow, dropping all pretense. "And what kinda man chucks roses at his opponents?"
Tuxedo Kamen was speechless for a moment but recovered quickly. "Those are very POWERFUL roses, I'll have you know!"
The martial artist simply rolled her eyes, and turned her back on the Tuxedoed avenger. "Come on, Set-chan. We got an old mummy to visit."
Setsuna chuckled again as she, Ranma and the Outers made their way into the heart of Nerima. In reality, it was probably the most fun she had had in nearly two millennia. She looked down at her best friend and smiled. "You're not seriously going to dissolve their relationship, are you?"
The martial artist snorted with amusement. "Nah, what do I care? I'm not exactly one to go talkin' anyway."
Setsuna nodded thoughtfully, remembering the redhead's life being played out before her in compressed time via the Gates. The smile disappeared and she mentally resolved once more to skin the hide of a certain Panda. But that could wait. "Even so, Tuxedo Kamen is formidable. More so during the Silver Millennium."
"Ya keep saying that." Ranma commented as they rounded a corner and the Cat Café came into view down the street. "But none of 'em are exactly overflowin' with skill."
If the trailing Outers heard, they kept their opinions to themselves, regardless of how right or wrong she was. The Senshi of Time simply nodded. "True, but they lost a lot when you shot them forward." That gained Ranma's undivided attention. "Their memories are fragmented just as yours are. The only difference is that they've had a bit more time to adjust."
Ranma held her silence, and for a moment, could almost believe the green haired Senshi that was fast becoming her friend. Not only was it nice to have a sympathetic ear that wasn't trying to marry her at the same time, but one that seemed to know her and her problems so intimately. All that, and it was an eerily natural condition to be in. She paused and cursed herself for even thinking such a thing, though it was getting harder to deny the situation, just as it was getting harder to explain away the flashes of memories as being produced by a knock on the head.
Ranma sighed mentally. Some days it just really didn't pay to roll out of bed.
"If I may, your Highness…" Hotaru cut in politely, "Why are we going to see the disciple of Beryl?"
Ranma gave the frail looking girl a queer look, as that wasn't how she'd normally described the old ghoul. "Cuz of the youma."
Michiru's eyes widened. "She created the youma!"
"Nah." Ranma waved her off. "She may be a tough old ghoul, but she ain't gonna go around draining people's life force. No, that youma had elements of Amazon-shu imbedded in its combat style and she's the best person to ask about it."
"You're kidding." Haruka stated flatly and Ranma shook her head.
"Nope. Sloppy as hell, but it's there." She confirmed. "I purposely set it up and it responded to the form, alright."
"So you're saying it's Amazon?" Setsuna cocked her head, following her friend's logic. It also explained her irritation toward Usagi's fiancé quite handily.
"Kinda doubt it." Ranma replied. "They're homicidal fruitcakes at times, but using demons to do their dirty work ain't their style."
The group stepped up to the establishment and Ranma paused before pushing open the door, turning back to her entourage. "Don't care what she says about me, don't go pickin' fights. The prune is so far out of your league it ain't funny." She paused and considered the green haired Senshi. "Cept for Set-chan, maybe."
"Your confidence in my abilities is positively heartening." The Senshi deadpanned, causing both to grin at the mutually shared humor. The remaining three outers looked at one another, finding the normally barren Setsuna's display of emotion positively creepy. With that, they entered the restaurant which was bustling with lunchtime activity. That didn't stop a certain black haired Amazon male from noticing their presence.
"May I help--" Mousse stopped, adjusting his coke bottle thick glasses with a scowl. "Oh. It's you."
"Yeah, just me," Ranma grunted to nobody in particular. "Good ol' queen of the Silver Millennium." Mousse's open salvo of hostility was promptly derailed by the enigmatic comment. "Old ghoul in?"
He leaned in closer to the martial artist as if to scrutinize her further. "You're not here to see Shampoo?"
"Not unless she aged a few hundred years and dried up into an--"
ThwaWP!
"OW!"
Ranma's sharp retort was cut off as a cane dipped from behind Haruka and Michiru, cracking the martial artist and would-be queen over the head painfully. Her four escorts spun around suddenly, finding the old ghoul in question standing on a table. "You should know better than to bad mouth your elders, son in-law."
Haruka forgot her Queen's warning and lunged, only to watch as the elder retracted the gnarled cane and push its tip into her torso. Only Ranma was able to make out the blur of the attack and watched as the tension melted from the dishwater blonde's body, sending her stumbling to the floor. The lunchtime crowd around them gasped and clapped enthusiastically at the performance. Cologne gave them a curt bow while Ranma simply shook her head, staring at Haruka's limp body.
"Told ya so."
Cologne looked from Ranma, down to the limp magical girl and back to Ranma. "It would appear that your magical girl escort is in need of some skill, son in-law."
"Tell me about it." Ranma sighed.
"But I'm assuming you didn't come by to enlist my aid in polishing their technique." Cologne smiled mischievously. "What brings you here today?"
"Youma."
The elder cocked her head in curiosity. "While my knowledge on the matter is extensive, I'm not sure what you're asking in particular."
"There was an attack in the Juuban ward today." Setsuna inserted. "While that isn't exactly unusual…"
"…The fact that it was using Amazon-shu was." Ranma finished naturally, causing the old woman to stare at the pair with an arched eyebrow. That exchange was far too natural for two people who had only just met. Regardless, the information was interesting.
"Are you certain?" She queried skeptically. "The Amazon do not traffic demons, son in-law. If anything, it sounds like the antics of your school's master."
Ranma blinked. She was right. She would sooner suspect Happosai than the old ghoul here any day of the week. Haruka's pressure points wore off and Michiru helped the disgruntled bodyguard to her feet. "Ok, you got me there, but the ugly thing knew your moves. No doubt about it."
Cologne's eyes slitted as she concentrated on the dilemma. The Amazon's didn't use demons to do anything, period. How one would come across them was positively beyond her, but that didn't cause her to doubt the Saotome's words. If she said it knew Amazon-shu, then it knew Amazon-shu. "Perhaps you can describe it for me?"
"It stood six-eight, had a long tail with a spike grafted to the tip." The Senshi of Time explained. Normally Cologne would have ignored her in favor of Ranma's testimony, but the bond between the two was obvious. "Its exterior is primarily pink scaling, two arms topped off with three razor-sharp talons." Cologne froze with the new information as an ill wind blew the dust off an old memory. "The demons are invariably humanoid female in nature."
Ranma noticed the stillness and called the elder out on it. "You know something, dontcha Old Ghoul?"
"I…" Cologne paused, stroking a lock of her long white mane. "Do you have a picture of this beast?"
The Senshi of Time turned to Michiru, who pulled an intricately designed mirror from behind her back, and both Ranma and Cologne recognized the move as something akin to Mousse's hidden weapons technique. The woman held it out flat and closed her eyes. "Deep Aqua Mirror, show us the form of our queen's foe…"
"Which one?" Ranma whispered, and Setsuna nearly choked with laughter while Cologne couldn't help but to chuckle herself. Regardless, the mirror seemed to divine which foe from intent and cast a faint image of the pink youma above the mirror's surface. Any humor Cologne may have held died in that moment. She leveled a grave gaze onto Ranma, who stared back curiously as Michiru returned the mirror to safe storage.
"Come, son in-law. We have much to discuss."
Author's notes:
Ok, so I'm estimating six parts at the moment, but no guarantees. You all know how tBoT went. Mot much in the way of comments this time around. Still developing story and still thanking the crew at fukufics. The site is down at the moment, but that's life. I know I should update my own site as well, but I'm just lazy like that.
It's my birthday today, so Part 4 here is my present to all yas. Enjoy.
Я знаю я имеет больше чем немного русских читателей вне там, настолько здесь kricat-vne к вам. Спасибо за чтение и меня надеются вы имеет как много потеху по мере того как я!
Of course, the above probably came out to translate into something like "Chickens! Purple underwear stoled Utah's carborator!"