Disclaimer" I own nothing related to Codename Sailor V, Sailormoon, or Ranma ½. As such the story below is entirely for amusement.

Author's note: The character Denburite (aka Adonis, aka Kaito Ace, aka Saijyo Ace) is from the Codename Sailor V comics (showed up ¾ through, and was like a precursor to Tuxedo Mask). Codename Sailor V was the precursor to the Sailor Moon comic by about a year I think.

Once again this story is based on Bob Lobster's "Hell Hath no Fury". Chapter 3 and 4 were originally going to be one chapter, but were separated due to editing reasons. I honestly didn't expect my proofreader to give me back the rest of chapter 3 (now chapter 4) for a week.

This chapter is a bit darker, but I've tried to include humor where it's possible. Maybe a darker sort of humor, or a humor based on misunderstanding, but humor nonetheless. As always I enjoy feed back about the characters, the plot, my writing style, and anything else about the story.

...

Last Chapter

Juuban Hikawa Shrine

Minako smiled as she continued talking. "It took me a long time to realize it but I did. Ranma wouldn't have been Ranma, if he didn't come to rescue me."

Makoto's eyes widened. "He rescued you? But I thought you said he couldn't fight youma?"

Usagi burst out, her eyes gleaming, "He sounds like Mamoru."

Minako shook her head, "He was nothing like Tuxedo Kamen, he was rude, obnoxious, and he never backed down from a chance to fight. But he was my friend."

Both Makoto and Usagi were immediately drawn in by the romantic potential of a knight in shining armor. Ami looked mildly interested as well. Rei just gave a terse nod, as she still had a poor image of Ranma from the first story about him.

"I've never talked about what happened those last few days to anyone other than Artemis." Actually she had thrown Artemis out a window last time he had brought it up. The time before that she had emptied her glass of water on him. The time before that…well maybe it was time to get it out in the open. "This is how the death of Ranma Saotome started to come about." And Minako began to slowly tell the story of her first love, and first heartbreak.

…

Elsewhere at the same time

Nerima

Ranma had been ambushed by many things during his life. Over the few relatively short years of his life, he'd been ambushed by monsters, demons, scantily clad martial artists of both genders, crazy teachers, and ghosts. But there was one person whom he had never expected to ambush him. So when it happened, he was entirely caught off guard until the trap closed.

"So Ranma, you promised to tell me more about Sailor V right?" Kasumi gave Ranma a look of pure innocence. Kasumi had lured him into the kitchen with promises of fresh cookies to try, and then proceeded to corner him for stories about his one time fighting partner.

In Ranma's humble opinion, he was by far the more interesting of the duo. Though V-chan was pretty good too, kind of.

Ranma munched on his cookie, and bait. Kasumi was definitely nicer to him than most of the others who ambushed him. She gave him food. Deciding that since he had promised yesterday that he would talk about it, he nodded. He owed Kasumi for a bunch of stuff, and this was the least he could do.

"Well what do you want to know?" Ranma asked blithely.

Kasumi just glowed with the enthusiasm she normally showed only towards housekeeping. As an otaku she had thousands of questions about one of her heroes. "What sort of person was she? How old was she? She couldn't have been more than a child at the time. Did you know her real name? And did she have boyfriend like in the series?"

Ranma started to wave his hands trying to slow down the barrage of questions. He had known that Kasumi was really into Sailor V and the other knock offs, but still this was a bit much. "Ok, ok, give me a moment 'k?"

Ranma paused trying to remember what he could. Kasumi just stared in a similar way to how Akane stared at Shampoo when Shampoo got too close to him. Nabiki had always teased Akane about being jealous or something shortly afterwards.

Kasumi's smile twitched slightly as he continued to think. For some reason it scared him slightly, as it somewhat reminded him of the possessed Kasumi's expression.

Hurrying up, Ranma chose to answer the question that jumped out the most. "Well I know V-chan had a boyfriend. His name was… oh right I think it was Adonis? Or was it Denburite? He also went by Kaito Ace and Saijyo Ace too. He went by a lot of names now that I think about it." Thinking about that guy irritated Ranma to no end. It was because of that idiot he hadn't been able to say good bye before leaving London. And then Sailor V had retired shortly after that. Ranma doubted he'd ever get the chance to meet his one time friend again.

Kasumi nodded and gestured for him to continue as she busied herself with cleaning up after supper. Sure Ranma could have slipped out, but he decided against it. Kasumi had asked after all.

…

5 years previously

1 month after the first meeting

Ranma was irritated. Ok, so what if he'd gotten better at fighting these stupid monster things, he still couldn't beat one. He suspected his pops had observed a few of the fights and that was why they were sticking around. Normally they would have left be now. But Ranma's pop was never one to miss out on a training opportunity, and demons made pretty good opponents. Well other than the whole energy draining thing. But Ranma knew he'd find a way around it eventually.

Right now he was sitting on the top of a building letting his legs dangle over the edge. His body was glistening with sweat from the fight earlier that night. But his current mood prevented him from enjoying the view of the glimmering fog that suffused the city's damp streets.

"Don't be sad, it's not your fault you can't fight them." A cheery voice came from behind him. Ranma continued to sulk, and replayed the fight in his mind for a crucial hint of how he could have done better.

"I mean we can't all kill demons. It's not your fault you aren't a hero, like Kaito Ace." Sailor V's voice was both love struck and snide at the same time. Which was pretty hard to pull off, but she managed it anyways.

However, Ranma's patience snapped. "I could take him easy. I mean all he does it throw those cards around. They have to be magic cards to kill a demon." And magic was cheating in Ranma's books. Well other than what V-chan used, because she was a fighter too.

"But he's so hot, and cute." Minako's eyes turned misty as she fantasized about her current obsession. Ranma was willing to put up with most of her crushes and fantasizing, but only because Ranma knew he was better than the others. It was either that or start retching whenever Minako went on one of her fantasy whirlwind day dreams.

Ranma reflected on the night activities. It had been a normal evening of fighting crime beside V-chan when things had started to go wrong. Firstly, the current demon had been taking control of humans to do its dirty work. Sure Ranma could take on dozens of unarmed, unskilled humans easily. It just got harder when there were over eighty of them, and he couldn't go all out without hurting them badly.

Both V-chan and Ranma had been making pretty good progress towards reaching the boss, when some idiot threw a card at the demon mastermind and killed it. Supposedly the masked idiot, the male masked idiot not V-chan, was some sort of TV hero. And now Mini-Skirt just wouldn't be quiet about it.

But Ranma was kind of interested in the guy. Why hadn't he shown up earlier when things had still been in doubt? Ranma and V-chan had turned the tide, and only then did this new guy appear. Something just didn't sit right with Ranma. Of course it could be that V-chan went all girly.

After listening to Mini-Skirt go on and on about Kaito Ace, Ranma finally shrugged. "Well I'm off then. See ya later Mini-Skirt." Taking off, Ranma grinned as an orange beam of light nearly clipped him as he made his way across the rooftops. She was definitely getting better with that thing.

…

Minako just grinned watching Ranma's expression. Normally after a fight he'd be jumping off the walls talking about how awesome he was, or arguing about how close he had been to beating the latest monster of the day.

Minako planned on talking to Artemis about this new hero that had made an appearance. Kaito Ace was just so handsome, and the above all else, he was a world famous idol; it was like destiny meeting him like this. And if he was a hero like her, well it would make her job that much easier. Maybe she could look into teaming up with Kaito Ace to put Ranma and his pops in jail once. Minako doubted any jail could hold either Ranma or his pops for long. But it would be nice to put them there for at least a night.

…

3 weeks later

Ranma was bored. Really bored. Now, every time he went out to have some fun with V-chan, Kaito Ace showed up. Either Kaito took care of everything before Ranma arrived, or ruined an enjoyable fight. The fights weren't even worth going to anymore. The guy didn't even bother with letting Ranma have any fun at all. Kaito just gave a disgusted look as though Ranma was garbage or something, whenever Kaito saw Ranma.

Then again, Ranma had been getting that look a lot recently. The monks as the monastery had finally noticed that their donation box had been pilfered, and that Ranma's pops had been the last one spotted near there.

Also the wanted posters about his pops had started to feature Ranma's picture, as an accomplice. Which really sucked.

It was nearly midnight and his father had tracked him down. They were now both looking down on the city below from the top of a large building. "Well my boy, it seems it is time to continue our journey in the ways of mastering the art."

Ranma grinned. "Meaning the cops are getting too close to catching you."

"Insolent boy, I'll have you know that in this city there is simply no challenge for one as accomplished in the art as myself." Genma puffed himself up.

"Cough V-chan Cough."

"That was a one time thing. And woe is me for having such a girly, no worse then girly student, who cannot even defeat a minor monster."

"I bet you couldn't beat them either. And I'm getting closer to it alright." Ranma grumbled to himself.

…

Genma's lips quirked into a slight smile. Truly it seems his gamble had paid off. Letting the boy stay in the city with the magical girl had proved beneficial. Why, Genma wouldn't be surprised if the boy was ready for the more advanced chi techniques before Ranma was twenty. Maybe even before he was out of high school.

Genma had observed each and every single one of his boy's fights with the demons, utilizing the secret techniques of the Umi Senken. Had his son been in mortal danger, Genma would have rushed in. Perhaps. Then again, it was every true martial artist's duty to challenge themselves to the limits, and to grow in the art.

This reminded Genma that he really did need to check on the Kumon dojo about those techniques he had given them a few years back. Surely by now the Kumon dojo would be respectable enough now to bring his son to them. Which would allow Genma to have a short break, err planning session before continuing on their journey. Maybe it would also serve to impress the boy sufficiently into dedicating himself even more to the Art.

"Regardless boy, it is time to continue our training together. I assume you have learned all you can from the monastery, correct?"

"If you mean how to breath in through the mouth and out through the nose, stay quiet, and avoid boredom by going through patterns in my mind, then yeah." Clearly the boy did not yet understand the importance of breathing and meditation in the Art. The Art wasn't just kicks, punches, and stealing… 'rescuing' food. It was the deep mysteries of the world. Hopefully his son would one day realize this, and become a powerful master in his own right. Then, once understanding every thing, his son would be able to provide for his ailing father's health in Genma's golden years. Why, Ranma's dojo would be the epitome of the martial art's world. Men would send their children from around the world to learn at the feet of one of the last true masters of the Arts. Genma had nothing but contempt for most people claiming to be martial artists these days. Most couldn't even survive having a boulder dropped on them, what sort of martial artist was that?

Let it never be said that Genma cared nothing for his son. He loved his son dearly. And everything he did was to help his son. It was in Ranma's own interests to become the greatest martial artist in the world. And if by helping his son, Genma helped himself a little bit, there was no harm.

…

Ranma shrugged as his pops lectured him about learning everything that came to him. Ranma knew the Anything Goes School was one of adaptation and change, but Ranma didn't see the point of breathing techniques that calmed the mind. Those weird mental exercises the Tibet monks had taught were useful. These British monks didn't seem nearly as interesting to Ranma.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow evening my boy. If you have anything left in this city to do, I suggest you take care of it before then." That said, his pops hopped off the building. Ranma snorted. Clearly his pops wanted to get a move on before the police caught up to him.

Well, it was time to track down V-chan for one last romp through the city. Ranma really hoped that Kaito Ace didn't show up. Then again, it might be nice for that idiot to show up. Especially since Ranma wasn't planning on staying in the city much longer.

A small, light sparring match with the TV hero might be just the sort of thing to mark the end of Ranma's stay in London.

…

Minako was currently on cloud nine. She had been asked out, for the first time in her young life. Someone had finally noticed how awesome she was, and beautiful, and graceful. Minako wondered briefly if she was becoming too much like Ranma, but quickly decided that she would never be as arrogant as Ranma was. That sort of arrogance took a dedicated effort.

Both of her friends at school had crowded around her desk, asking her why such a famous idol like Saijyo Ace, had asked her out. To which Minako had replied by quickly put together a story about meeting him a few nights back. Actually that was kind of true for once. Saijyo Ace was Kaito Ace, and not only that, he said he loved her as both Sailor V and Minako Aino.

While he had stolen the spot light from her and Ranma over the past few weeks, it wasn't that bad. Minako was actually enjoying the down time. For once, she could just relax and be a normal school girl. It was also fun to rib Ranma about a second person who could fight youma and actually win against them.

Thinking about Ranma caused Minako to dwell on the past few nights. Lately Ranma had stopped coming; Minako suspected it was because Kaito Ace kept showing Ranma up. But she was starting to miss him, a little bit.

Grinning, Minako planned on letting him know about her new boyfriend. Normally, Ranma just teased her unmercifully about her crushes, but Saijyo was just as good as Ranma at fighting youma. This time, Ranma would have nothing to complain about. And Minako would have her fairy tale romance with her white knight.

But right now, she had more important things to think about, such as the three youma that she had tracked down. They had been running an energy collection operation through a blood bank when Minako caught wind of them. Minako had lured them away from civilians and into a mostly abandoned factory district. But now came the hard part of beating three at once. Hopefully that idiot Ranma would show up soon. He'd been complaining about not being able to fight, and now he wasn't even here. Sometimes Minako wished Ranma had a communicator too. Just so she could get in contact with him.

…

When Ranma finally located V-chan, she was surrounded by three demon thing. They didn't look like much, but V-chan was having a few problems with them since they kept covering for each other, which prevented her from finishing any one of them off.

"Oy, V-chan! I know you suck without me, but come on, these guys shouldn't even be a challenge for you. Or are you purposely holding back to have some fun?"

"Idiot. We're not all battle crazy jocks like you," Minako yelled back, pushing her sweat soaked bangs out of her eyes.

The three blade wielding youma sneered up at Ranma. "This is no place for weakling humans. Leave or die." One of them cackled madly.

Ranma's brow twitched, he really didn't like being called a weakling after these past few weeks. "I'm Ranma Soatome, and I never lose." No way was he going to lose to a stupid demon, or three. Not this time. Ranma dived into the fray, only pausing long enough to untie his trusty steel pole from its strap.

The fight quickly fell into a pattern. Ranma held off one demon while Minako focused on the second demon. The third demon, when it jumped in to the brawl, became Ranma's new opponent, letting V-chan take his old dance partner. Leaving the first youma, that had been V-chan's original partner, to try and jump back into the fray again. Slowly, between Ranma and Sailor V's team work, the three youma appeared to be tiring, and their movements grew sloppy.

"So where's that other guy? The one with the dorky mask." Ranma asked as he dodged a particularly nasty swipe from the demon.

"Oh worried about losing? I promise I'll protect you." Sailor V teased. Sailor V had clearly learned too much about how to annoy someone. Ranma wasn't sure if he should be pleased or not about that.

"Riiight." Ranma said sarcastically, as he swiped out against his current dance partner. "I'm just worried that your boyfriend will show up and steal my fight again." Ranma laughed as he switched off with V-chan, to prevent one of the youma from attacking her.

"Are you jealous? He's actually killed a youma, unlike you." V-chan's cheery voice came from behind him.

"Who'd be jealous of some weakling like him?" Ranma yelled. He let loose a particularly vicious strike against the demon he was currently fighting. It was at this point he remembered the purpose of wanting to see V-chan tonight. "Oh V-chan, about tomorrow night…" Ranma's opponent sped up a bit, forcing Ranma to focus on not getting hit.

But on the positive side, Sailor V finally managed to strike one of the youma directly with her beam and finish it off. Two on two was much more to Ranma's liking. It was now only a matter of time before the arguing duo won the fight.

Sailor V finally said. "I won't be able to meet up tomorrow."

"Why's that? Don't tell me it's one of those girl things." Ranma joked as he put off telling V-chan about leaving. No need to mention it right away.

Minako glared at Ranma. "No! I have a date." She blasted her opponent to dust with a final shot of the V Crescent.

Ranma laughed at this to hide his twinge of irritation. It had to be that his opponents kept being beaten by a girl, not because he cared who V-chan dated. "You mean someone as…" Ranma had been about to say ugly, but Ranma's almost never used self preservation made a miraculous appearance. "…klutzy as you has a date? I mean you can't even fight." Every time previously that Minako had developed a crush on someone it ended badly. Most of them had been in love with someone else, or they moved. Sometimes Ranma honestly thought Minako was cursed in this regard. How else could someone like her, not that she was cute or anything, have such problems with dating?

"Not everyone is a fighter jock. Some boys are more interested by beauty and womanly grace." The final youma looked more then a little annoyed, that it and its brethren, had been dealt with so handily.

Ranma poked fun at Minako's description of herself. "Right. So why was he asking you out again? Cause there's no way you have any one of those traits."

"What was that? Are you saying I'm not womanly?"

"Ummm… maybe? Actually now that I think about it, definitely."

Venus began firing more indiscriminately. Ranma let out a squawk of outrage as a beam came far too close for comfort. The remaining youma hit the dirt as well. "Hey watch it. I know you suck at aiming, but you nearly got me. If I wasn't as awesome as I am it would have hit."

"Ahahah" Minako just gave an icy laugh. "Excuse me. I'm just an uncute girl who can't shoot straight."

"Uhhh. Normally." Duck. "You." Sidestep. "Aren't." Jump. "This." Swivel. "Bad." And finally Ranma got out of Minako's line of sight behind some cover.

"Besides, he asked me out so romantically. It was amazing." Sailor V's eyes began to sparkle in joy. Ranma just hopped out from behind cover once Sailor V stopped blasting in his direction, and reengaged the remaining youma.

"Romantically? So he like gave you some food, right?" Ranma just needed to figure out how to kill an energy sucking demon and he'd be satisfied. But similar to his fight against Belzebug, hitting the stupid demon with the metal pole didn't really seem to do much.

…

Minako had been reliving the wonderful moment when her current infatuation… 'destined' love had asked her out. Not only was Saijyo Ace handsome, he was also the secret identity of Kaito Ace. It was like a romance destined to be. But at the mention of food, Minako grimaced.

"Only you would think that's romantic. He gave me flowers." Minako finally returned to the present and saw Ranma fighting the last demon by himself. She considered briefly finishing it off, but she knew that if she did Ranma would probably just get annoyed. He refused to accept that normal humans couldn't fight demons. Then again, most normal humans wouldn't even be able to last as long as Ranma had. Sighing, Sailor V settled back to wait for Ranma to finally admit he needed her to finish it off.

"Wuss," was all Ranma had to say about Minako's boyfriend. Minako watched as Ranma continued dancing around his opponent. It was rather beautiful, in a deadly way.

"He blushed as he said it." Minako was slightly giddy at this recollection. It had been so cute.

"Major wuss. I mean, he sounds like a wimp." Ranma appeared to be trying something new with his pole.

"Ranma you idiot." A twinkle appeared in Sailor V's eyes. "Or are you jealous? I know that a young child like yourself is probably overwhelmed by such a womanly figure such as mine." Minako gestured to herself as she said this.

"No way. Why would I like such an uncute, klutzy, unskilled, can't even shoot straight girl like you. And who are you calling a kid. I'm the same age as you." Ranma appeared to be trying to stab the creature's joints. Too bad it failed. Minako thought it was a nice attempt at least.

"Girls mature faster than boys. It's a proven fact, so of course I'm more mature than you."

"Says the girl who cried after breaking a nail."

"It wasn't broken, it was nearly torn off. I'd like to see if you could stand having something nearly tear off your nail."

"I wouldn't have been clumsy enough to let it happen." Ranma's cocky grin just served to annoy Minako further. "By the way V-chan, who is this guy you're going to be dating?"

"Saijyo Ace." Minako grinned as she said it.

"Saijyo Ace….. Wait isn't that guy like some sort of super idol?"

The youma Ranma was fighting appeared to have long since given up hope of surviving. Every move was weak and sloppy. It growled out angrily, "Just die you stupid human."

Both Ranma and Minako ignored the demon. Ranma seemed to be barely paying it any attention as they fought. Minako nodded "Yeah, that's the one."

"Aww man, that guys an idiot. I mean doesn't he play Kaito Ace in that TV show? If the real Kaito Ace is such an idiot, then this guy has to be ten times worse."

"Saijyo Ace is Kaito Ace. And he asked me out right after school in front of everyone. It was so amazing."

"He knows who you are?" Minako almost thought she heard something akin to hurt in Ranma's voice. "Well I guess you must be getting sloppy, if a second rate guy like him can figure out who you are V-chan."

"What do you mean by that? He's a first rate guy, unlike you. He's handsome, kind, polite, sauvé, and above all he's a better fighter than you." Minako grinned cheekily as she said the last. Sure it was a cheep shot, but Ranma always aimed below the belt when insulting her too. She really was getting into these verbal sparring sessions.

Ranma snorted. "Aren't you just saying that 'cause you can't beat me? Sure you can beat these monsters easy enough I guess, but you have yet to beat me. It's like you're an idiot savant at it." Ranma just gave a somewhat forced looking grin. Then he smirked as he said something Minako thought he would never say again. "Then again, what else can you expect from a girl?" It was at this point that a look of shock appeared on his face, as though his brain had only now processed what he said.

Minako was shocked. Her face grew red, her shoulders shook with rage. "V Cresent Shower." Blazing shots of energy began to fall around the youma and Ranma.

Still glaring at the dodging martial artist, Minako took her leave. Hopefully that would teach that muscle-bound, annoying, jock what it meant to insult girls.

…

Ranma rose from the pitted ruin of the warehouse floor. A few of those beam things had hit him and they hurt like hell. Looking around for something to do, he saw the pile of dust that had once been a youma. "Damn it." Kicking the dust and scattering it did nothing for Ranma's mood. He hadn't meant to say it, but she had started it. He didn't care one bit who the klutzy irritating girl dated, or who she told her real name to, or that she thought him weaker then some idiot with cards.

No Ranma didn't care one bit. But he paused looking in the direction V-chan had taken off in. "Bye V-chan, it was fun." His voice was regretful as he paused for a long while. Maybe he shouldn't have said what he said, but he had wanted to say something to annoy her just as much as she had… annoyed him.

…

The next night Ranma waited anxiously at the meeting place for his pops. He had his pack of clothes and other necessities for their training journey. Ranma was not looking forward to swimming across the English Channel again. But it was much easier than crossing between China and Japan. Everything was relative Ranma supposed.

It was at this point Ranma felt a familiar aura of misery and despondency. An aura that drained energy from its surroundings. Maybe he would get his chance to see V-chan again after all. Not that he wanted to or anything.

Turning around, Ranma smirked as a large demon slowly made its way out of the shadows of a nearby doorway. Compared to some of the others he had fought in the past month, this one looked pretty weak. Then again he thought that about every demon so far, and had yet to beat one.

The demon, instead of attacking, began to speak in a soft sibilant voice. "My master Denburite wishes for me to deliver a message to you, human." The creature clearly looked unhappy at having to speak to a lowly human.

"Right. And why would I want a message form someone like him? I mean I don't usually talk to slimy monsters. I'm too busy beating them up, and stopping whatever dumb plot they're involved in." Ranma was pretty sure that running a fishing contest to harvest energy had to be the stupidest idea in the world. But that gambling one was pretty stupid too. Who would gamble away their energy for a chance at something as useless as money?

The monster's fanged mouth quirked into a grim parody of a smile. "Your partner has been captured by my master."

Ranma looked surprised for a second, before he just started laughing. "You almost had me there. I mean I know she's not as good as me, but there's no way any one, or any dozen, of you guys could take her down."

"Oh? Not even if I told you my master's human form possesses the name Saijyo Ace?" the creature looked even more pleased as it slowly revealed the message piece by piece.

Ranma's arrogant smirk dropped. It seemed impossible, but he couldn't take that chance.

The demon's inhuman mouth sneered at Ranma. "Oh I see I have your attention now. My master's instructions were to escort you to the location of the date." The inhuman mouth clearly didn't understand the significance of the word date.

But Ranma did. Minako was on a date tonight with her boyfriend. If the demons knew that, then maybe it wasn't so far fetched that Kaito Ace was really this Denburite guy.

Damn it. Ranma was still a bit irritated with V-chan, but she was his friend. Actually his only friend since Uuchan. Ranma threw his pack on the ground. "Fine. But if I find out you hurt her, I'll show you what a martial artist can do." Coming from anyone else of Ranma's age, it would have sounded funny. But the youma felt the raging energy behind the youth, and nodded slightly. Maybe in respect, or maybe simply to humor Ranma.

That said, Ranma let himself be led away from the meeting place. As much as Ranma normally hated to ask his pops for help, he hoped his father would get to the meeting place soon and come after them. Ranma knew damn well he was going into a trap. But if V-chan was in danger he couldn't very well ignore it.

…

Minako had been enjoying her date. The play had been enjoyable, the dinner delicious and Saijyo had been a gentleman. But it was missing something. She had fun but…

"Something the matter Minako?" Saijyo asked smoothly as he refilled her glass. Everything about tonight had been perfect. Everything Minako had ever imagined about her first date.

Minako just waved her hand. "It's nothing." Taking a large gulp of her now refilled wine glass, Minako let loose a large "Kampai."

"Cheers." Saijyo took his own glass and tapped it against hers. Looking deeply into her eyes, he leaned closer. "Are you thinking about that other boy? Ranma I think his name was."

Minako blushed bright red. "No way. Why would I be thinking about someone as irritating as him tonight? You're way cuter then him," Minako blushed slightly after saying this, "nicer then him, more polite then him…" Minako's voice slowly became thoughtful and trailed off.

Saijyo didn't' take offence at this in the least. "You love him don't you?"

"No way. He's just my side kick." But Minako couldn't get her mind off that infuriating boy. The constant verbal fighting, the rivalry, the knowledge that no matter what happened to her, that Ranma always had her back. That's what had been missing tonight. Sure she hadn't known Ranma long, but it was impossible to hate him after everything they had been through. Though, Minako wouldn't mind locking him up for a few years. Maybe jail would straighten him and his thief of a father out. Minako chuckled at the thought of Ranma looking sad behind bars.

"You're thinking about him right now aren't you?" Saijyo asked when Minako didn't continue speaking. Raising his own wine glass to his lips he took a sip, and sighed heavily. "I suppose that even in this life we're not meant to be together. A pity."

Now Minako looked confused. "This life?"

Saijyo nodded slightly as he swirled his drink in its glass. "Minako have you ever wondered about the past? About how past lives could effect the current world?"

Minako raised an eyebrow. She knew exactly how past lives effected the world. She was the reincarnated princess of Venus, and the demons she fought were servants of the Dark Kingdom. "Yeah. I've thought about it a lot some days." Minako wasn't sure why he was asking such an odd question now, especially after the last topic of their conversation.

"I would expect it of you, the Agent of Venus, our most precious and greatest warrior." Minako's head started to spin slightly. The conversation seemed slightly off. More than a little bit. She had been drinking juice right?

"Have you made any progress in finding the silver crystal or the Princess?" Saijyo's voice was as slick as ever and Minako found herself answering.

"Huh? What's that?" Minako put her hand onto the table to support herself. Was the world suddenly turning upside down or was it just her?

"I see. You haven't awakened entirely yet. A pity." He leaned closer to her his voice barely a whisper. "Hopefully one day you will know what I do here tonight is for your best interest. For I do love you princess of Venus, in my own way." Saijyo rose and then snapped his fingers.

A humanoid youma entered the room and bowed deeply. "Denburite-sama, as you have requested the message has been sent. Requal will arrive shortly with the boy. General Nepherite will be pleased with you. "

Saijyo nodded slightly. Minako just looked at her one time date in confusion. Why was he talking to a youma.

"Is everything prepared for our guest?"

"Everything is as you wish my lord." The youma bowed deeply.

Minako wanted to scream. The boy she had developed a crush on was in league with the dark kingdom. Minako managed to extract her henshin wand from her pocket and transformed. But the magic of the transformation made her previous illness worse. With no strength left in her legs she collapsed, only to be grabbed by Kaito Ace.

…

"Tch, I've seen better." Ranma said as he looked around at the large palatial entrance of the mansion he had been led to. It just went to show how rich Saijyo Ace was from his acting career.

The youma he had been following finally turned. "You are to go on alone from here. My master awaits you in the main ball room." The inhuman face turned into a perversion of human grin. "Why my master plays these games and does not kill you now, I do not know. But I look forward to eating what ever remains are left of your body when Lord Denburite is finished with you."

Ranma would have fought the monster right then and there, but he knew he probably couldn't take one of these things without Minako's help. He still might have tried under normal conditions, but not with Minako's life at stake. "Right, you just know you'd lose. Bad guys always send the disposable minions to deliver messages. No life expectancy."

The demon grimaced. And Ranma grinned before going deeper into the mansion. It was as unlike a final dungeon as possible. No puzzles to solve, no minions to fight through, it was just a straight hallway. Ranma kept feeling the draining presence of the demons, but whenever he looked he couldn't find them. Someone was playing with him, and Ranma couldn't do a thing about it.

Finally Ranma managed to reach a large looking door. It looked pretty impressive and heavy. Well if Ranma was a final boss sort of guy, he'd be behind the largest door in the building. If for no other reason then that it looked cool. Ranma just grinned to himself slightly as he braced himself and shoved open the two doors.

The room beyond the door was covered with Roman pictures dedicated to Venus, not that Ranma was aware of this. Some few pictures featured Adonis kneeling at the feet of Venus. At the far side of the room on a throne of gold sat Sailor V, her form bound to it. "V-chan!" Ranma called out to her as soon as he saw her. Judging by the way her eyes were glaring at him she wasn't happy that he was here.

From the shadow of the throne stepped Saijyo Ace. "It seems I was correct in judging your feelings about the Princess." Even now he appeared elegant and calm.

"Naaa, I'm not interested in any princess, just that uncute magic girl over there. So if you don't mind we'll be leaving." Normally Saijyo/Kaito Ace only exuded a bit of energy, no more than an average person, but right now Ranma could feel a literal mountain of energy behind the guy. And if Ranma was entirely honest, he didn't think he could win in a fight.

Ranma began walking nonchalantly forward as though he was completely at ease. If he rushed, he wasn't quite sure what might happen to V-chan. "Truly, I have no idea what you see in him, your Highness." Saijyo raised his hand. "That's far enough Ranma. I think it is time for a story."

"Aww man this is where you're going to tell us your master plan right? And then we'll escape and ruin it. I've always wanted to try this out." Ranma grinned as he said this, but he did stop where he was. He had to find an opening, and once he found it, he was going to grab V-chan and then get the hell out of here.

"No, not exactly, more of a history lesson. Did you know that once, long ago, on each one of the planets in the solar system there lived a long lived race of celestial beings?"

Ranma just blinked in bewilderment, this was not what he had expected. "Right, and this is why you should always make sure your boyfriend didn't escape from the house with the men in white. He just might think he's a Martian."

Saijyo didn't appear the least bit ruffled. "Venusian actually. In my past life I was but a lowly soldier in the army of Venus named Adonis, when I encountered a goddess in the flesh. The Princess of Venus, guardian of our world. But sadly she was already in love with another. And then came the war."

Ranma always suspected celebrities were a bit crazy. This just proved it. Aliens, princesses, and a war, it was pretty crazy. Which was why Ranma only paid a bit of attention to the story as he tried to figure a way out of this mess.

"You don't believe me do you?" asked Denburite.

"Nope. Not at all, but go on, I need a laugh," smirked Ranma.

"Regardless, a war came and shattered the empire of the moon. In a last ditch effort to stem the inevitable, the queen of the moon sealed the darkness away at the cost of her life. Those that died in that final battle were reincarnated again on earth, in this time period. As one of the soldiers of Venus, I too followed my princess into this time. But I was awakened by the fell power I had once fought against."

"Ok, so basically some queen beat some army a long time ago, and you're some sort of alien monster thing from Venus. Gotcha." Ranma nodded sagely.

Saijyo grimaced. "Are you going to continue to ignore everything I say to you?"

"Yep. Well unless you say me and V-chan can go, but somehow I'm guessing I'm going to have to fight you. But yeah, V-chan you really need to get a new boyfriend." This last part was addressed the V-chan. Judging by her scrunched up brow, Ranma was grateful she was gagged, as she would have been yelling at him.

"Very well, since I doubt you'd understand much of what I had planned to tell you, let us begin. Sailor V if you can defeat me I will reveal to you the location of the Dark Kingdom, the source of the Youma." A flash of light later, Saijyo became Kaito Ace, and V-chan's bindings disappeared. "Guards destroy the human, Sailor V has escaped."

Both Sailor V and Ranma looked confused at the challenge and the sudden change. Was this some sort of trap? But before they could question it, Kaito Ace took off out of the room.

Sailor V looked torn. "Let's go!" Ranma yelled out and began running. V-chan nodded before taking off after her one time boyfriend. Ranma followed her only up to the entrance of the passage way. Pulling the doors shut he blocked the entrance with a large statue.

Ranma turned around and faced the door he had come in from. He wasn't as good as his pops at sensing energy, but after the past months training at the monastery, he was better at it. From what he could tell, a veritable ton of demons were coming. Too many for V-chan and him to beat at least. Sure, she could have killed a few, but against a dozen, it would have been slaughter. At least she had a chance in a one on one with the boss

This many demons was just… Ranma smirked. Attitude was half the battle, and the monsters needed this sort of advantage just to be a challenge. "You know I've been working on a few techniques. This is just the perfect opportunity to test them out." A few of the demons were just starting to enter the room. "I'm Ranma Saotome and I never lose."

…

Minako was down right pissed. Not only had her first boyfriend been a monster, but Ranma had saved her. There was no way she could throw him in prison now. But smiling to herself she knew she'd probably give Ranma a kiss once this was all over.

But right now she had to catch Kaito… Denburite. The stairs he had fled up flew by as she followed the retreating sound of his footsteps. Surprisingly, Ranma hadn't caught up to her yet. Minako figured he was right behind her.

Reaching the top of the stairs a star lit sky greeted her. Across the roof stood Denburite. "Denburite for playing with a young Maiden's heart I will punish you!"

Denburite just nodded. "Of course my princess. I deserve no less for what I have done." Minako paused confused, as this was normally when the enemy tried to attack her. They never admitted that they deserved to be punished.

"As a guardian of Venus, our Princess must chose her duty over any personal feelings. I loved you, your highness, and perhaps in different circumstances you could have loved me." Minako doubted that. Not only had he kidnapped her, he had gotten Ranma involved in this. Though, he had helped her realize something about her feelings for Ranma.

"As my last gift to you I give you the gift of freedom. Your love will be hopeless for all eternity. Now you can go on living without having to torment yourself over the ultimate choice of love or your duty. You will continue to fight for all eternity."

"What are you talking about?" Minako yelled as she began to feel an ill foreboding in the back of her heart.

"Where is your companion?" Minako's eyes widened. "Exactly. He is below with the remaining youma under my command. I do not believe a human can stand against the dozens that remain here for long."

Minako spun around and rushed for the door she had come through, only to find it locked. Kicking it did nothing to the steel frame. Turning she glared at Denburite, feeling a hatred stronger than anything she had ever felt before. Minako could feel the magic flow through her. "Crescent V Smash." A beam tore outwork and slammed into Denburite. He didn't try to dodged it or even block it. He simply gave a sad, yet peaceful look as the blast tore through him.

"I've done what I needed to do your Highness." Grimacing in pain he smiled before turning to dust. In his own way he had loved her, though his love was an obsession that lasted from one life into the next. But, for a brief moment, he looked at peace.

At this moment, a loud yowl could be heard from below. The building began to collapse beneath her feet as a mighty force tore the place apart from within. Minako lost consciousness when a large beam struck her in the back of the head.

…

Ranma glared at the demons surrounding him. So far it was a giant game of c-c-c those things and mice. With Ranma as the mouse. This was not something Ranma enjoyed in the least.

"I think the human is tiring," hissed one of the snake like demons.

"Should we give it a break? We don't want it to break too fast." asked another one of the demons.

The ogre-like demon's punch whistled harmlessly by Ranma, as Ranma tripped the monstrous brute with his pole.

Ranma sneered. "Wow, you really are clumsy. And you know what they say, that the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

The ogre let loose a bellow as it forced itself onto its feet again. "Gratch kill human." It swung clumsily out at Ranma, allowing Ranma to cause it to hit one of the monsters encircling the fight.

"Tempting offer, but I've got this appointment with my dentist tomorrow. Do you want me to refer you? Cause looking at that mouth you need some help. Or do you need glasses, my doctor does both." Ranma taunted the ogre hoping to use its massive strength to take out a few of his opponents.

The other monsters laughed, howled, or clicked their mandibles in amusement. "Gratch no have bad breath," the massive demon bellowed as it began swinging its monstrous fists at its allies. Unfortunately, while Gratch may have been a big guy, he wasn't that strong. A few of the smaller demons quickly knocked him unconscious once he turned away from fighting Ranma.

Ranma's breath was haggard, and he took the moment to catch his breath and look for a way out. The monsters were making jeering noises, and were arguing about who would get to go into the ring next. Ranma hadn't been able to kill any of them, but he'd fought his way past the first group which had charged in. It had been easy enough to manipulate them into hitting each other. But now it seemed like the demons were content to play with him. Which meant it was now one on one.

"He's like a little mouse surrounded by the cats. Nowhere to run." Three human looking things emerged from the crowd. Something was off about them. Something was really off about them. Ranma, despite fighting monsters a great deal stronger then him, hadn't let himself feel the slightest bit of fear. But right now he was starting to feel a burning desire to get out of there.

The three humans began to change into massive lion-like demons. The other monsters laughed at the fearful expression plastered on Ranma's face. "What's the matter human? Cat got your tongue?" The lead cat demon spoke with a purr in its voice.

"Caaaaaaaaat!" Ranma tried to run, but he was quickly batted down by the one of the monstrous felines. The demon cat held him under a single paw. Ranma struggled fiercely for a moment before going limp.

"I think the human died," spoke one of the bystanders.

"Can humans die from fear?" asked one of the demons cats.

"Of course, my magnificent form was far too much for him," spoke the large lion that had pinned down the martial artist. Then the demon felt something odd. Like he was missing a limb.

"Mrrrrrrroooowwww."

…

Present Day

Kasumi looked over at Ranma as he stopped talking. "And then what happened?"

Ranma just pulled on his pig tail. "Well those demon things were kind of C-c-cat demons. And well… I don't know what happened afterwards."

Kasumi clearly didn't like how the story had ended. "But how did you survive? You were surrounded; you can't just leave a story like this Ranma, it's not polite." In her agitation, she knocked over a nearby glass. Ranma quickly grabbed it before it could smash on the floor.

"The Neko-ken…" Ranma finally ground out. Seeing Kasumi's blank expression Ranma continued, "The Neko-ken… alright. I couldn't beat the stupid things and then I blanked out." Ranma hated the blasted technique. It was a crippling weakness, but it still saved him more times than he would like to admit. It helped him against the old ghoul, and a few other opponents.

"But if you couldn't beat those demons on your own, then how did something like that help you?"

"Don't know." Ranma shrugged "Pops told me he found me more dead than alive after everything, and I believe him too. I couldn't move for weeks, and it took me a few months to recover. But I asked around later, and it seems that all that talk pops and Mr. Tendo are always spouting has some truth to it. A martial artist can kill demons, with the Neko-ken or some other high end chi techniques. I wouldn't be surprised if the old ghoul knew some nasty things too."

Kasumi looked as though she wanted to know more about the fight. To know how it ended, and most of all what happened. But questioning Ranma would be useless, as Ranma knew nothing about what happened after he blanked out. Finally Kasumi smiled at Ranma comfortingly. "Still you were able to survive, and that's amazing Ranma."

"Not really, I mean now I could probably beat them without the Neko-ken." It irked Ranma that his ultimate attack, at that age, involved going berserk with no control. Now Ranma had a bunch of techniques that could probably work fairly well.

Deciding to wrap up the rest of the story, Ranma quickly continued "After that, me and pops took off and left London. I was pretty beat up then, and I never had a chance to see V-chan before we set out. Shortly after that V-chan retired." Ranma shrugged, before leaving the room.

Kasumi looked pensively after his retreating form. But she didn't stop him from leaving.

…

The scouts were quiet as Minako's tale finally wound to its conclusion. "And that's how Ranma Saotome died. Fighting dozens of demons, which no human could stand against." Minako gave a forced grin. Despite her change in perspective, it was still a painful story for her.

Usagi burst into tears, and did a flying glomp towards Minako. "That's so sad Minako. Bbbut I'm sure Ranma loved you."

The other scouts were quiet, not knowing what else to say. Really there wasn't much one could say after such a story.

"That's why tomorrow I'm going to go back to Nerima and see Genma. I want to show him how strong I've become, and that I've honored Ranma's sacrifice. And to tell him everything that happened that night. He deserves to know the whole story." Seeing both Makoto and Usagi staring very determinedly at herself, Minako quickly added "Of course I won't be going alone."

"Of course not." Makoto pumped her arm. "And if that doesn't work, we'll keep on trying."

"Right!" The other four cheered. Minako smiled softly. She was very grateful for her friends. Once she might have wondered why she deserved such friends, but now she was proud to stand beside them.

…

5 years previously

The Unknown Story

Genma had arrived at the meeting place, only to find the boy's pack discarded on the ground. Grumbling about disrespectful sons, he leaned over and picked it up. Then he felt it, that faint aura. A demon had been here. In light of this, the pack on the ground took on a newer more sinister meaning. Genma threw both packs into a nearby tree, before taking off after his wayward son.

It wasn't long before he reached a now destroyed building. This close to the building Genma could feel the evil rolling off it in waves. Genma wouldn't be surprised if anyone with a hint of spiritual power wouldn't be arriving soon. Whatever had been here must have cloaked its presence well.

Leaving no time to waste, Genma began to desperately search threw the gravel for his son. Had he not trained his son enough? Had he instilled too much belief in Ranma about his own prowess? No time for recriminations, Genma searched and then he heard it.

"Mrrrowwww." Genma turned and saw Ranma's injured form. Ranma was bleeding from many wounds, and his right arm hung listlessly. The cat Ranma hissed at Genma weakly. It had never liked Genma at the best of times. But it was far too weak to run away when Genma approached it, and subsequently used a few quick shiatsu pressure point techniques. Genma caught his now sleeping son, before Ranma's prone body collapsed.

"It appears you have much to learn in the art still, my boy."

"Lord Denburite? Lord Denburite?" a shadowed form called out. The youma turned towards Genma and his son. It was a ugly thing, made even more horrifying by the three large gashes that ran across its chest. "You. You dared to do this to me, human? Die!" The demon lunged forward trying to grab Ranma.

"Fanged Fingers of Welcome Gate!" Genma's strike speared through the tough hide of the monster in a single motion. Even as the demon drained energy from Genma in its death throws, Genma remained standing. Shaking his head, Genma decided it was far past time to leave London.

…

A day after chaining Ranma into a ship's medical bay to heal (the boy would never have stayed still otherwise), Genma made one last look around the city for that girl. The ship bearing both him and his son would depart at first light tomorrow. But Genma wanted to take care of the last few loose strings.

He found the young girl roughly tieing up some crooks over in the shopping district. From the way the criminals looked, she clearly hadn't held much back. "Girl." The young teen looked up. She glanced at him and then lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault."

"Of course it's your fault, because of your negligence last night, my son is in his current state. My son could no more fight against demons, and win, than any other normal martial artist." This was something Genma planned on fixing once Ranma was up and running again. A few trips to some esoteric training grounds and temples seemed to be in order.

In Genma's haste to criticize and his own distraction, her he failed to notice the tears that rolled down her cheeks. Unlike Genma, who knew Ranma was alive, she believed him dead.

"Train harder girl, so that when you next meet my son you can hold up your head and face him. When next we meet you had best be my son's equal in combat." Genma left it unsaid that he knew Ranma would probably challenge her immediately afterwards. Before saying anything else, or giving her the chance to arrest him, Genma took off for the hills.

If Genma was lucky, maybe Ranma would marry her. Or if not, there were 13 other fine young female fighters that Genma had arranged engagements with. Why his son would have the pick of the crop, when the time came. Of course the fact that Genma had taken full advantage of his son's eligibility also went unsaid. So what if he stole, errr appropriated… commandeered the dowry for his own use. The girls were getting the once in a lifetime chance to marry his son. Genma wondered what sort of dowry a magical girl had? Well it was too late now to go back and make arrangements with her parents now.

It wasn't until an unfortunate event in Tibet that Genma learned the folly of engaging his son to as many women as he had. In the years that followed Genma decided the only way to go was the Tendo fiancée. No crazy mother in laws there, or traditions of magically branding Genma into following the contract.

...

Omake:

Or the fight sequence I couldn't find a way to include logically with the people narrating not knowing what happened. This scene has been requested by my proofreader. Told form the perspective of Neko-Ranma

Neko-Ranma was not happy. No he was not. A large non-cat cat had pinned Neko-Ranma down, and Neko-Ranma did not like this at all. Lashing out with his claws the pig tailed cat quickly deprived the unclean thing of its offending appendage.

Scampering away, Neko-Ranma let loose a powerful battle cry. His back arched in challenge. He would show these foul unclean things pain for having dared to pretend to be cats.

"I think the human has some fight left in him," spoke one of the not-cat cats.

"Kill the human!" The injured beast yowled as it clutched its stump of an arm.

But Neko-Ranma didn't wait for the unclean things to come to him. He was a cat, and as such was far beyond these puny unclean things. Neko-Ranma pounced into the midst of the unclean one's pride. They tried to catch Neko-Ranma, but Neko-Ranma was far too fast.

A demon slammed the floor barely missing Neko-Ranma, only to have its arm lacerated. A demon breathed fire, only to have Neko-Ranma whirl away, causing the fire to burn the demon's allies. A hundred talons reached for Neko-Ranma, clutching and stabbing, only to have cruel unyielding pain for their reward.

But Neko-Ranma was not perfect. No cat can fight forever, and Neko-Ranma, despite his form, was only a cat.

Many demons died beneath his claws, but many more came in. Against claws that tear, and fangs that pierce, Neko-Ranma began to slowly weaken. It came slowly, a scratch here, a bite there, all attackers rewarded with death, but the injuries built up.

Finally, a large demon slammed into Neko-Ranma's arm. A crack could be heard as Neko-Ranma flew through the air into a wall. Neko-Ranma knew his paw was now useless. With only one set of claws, it wasn't going to be much more of a fight.

Neko-Ranma hissed as the unclean demons backed him into a corner. Neko-Ranma would die, he knew. There was no way around it. But like all cats, Neko-Ranma would die in a method of his choosing. He drew on the last of his power, and yowled a final cry to the heavens and charged. Neko-Ranma's once small claws grew large, each swipe tore into the ground and walls around it. The great building shuddered as the demons once again renewed their assault. Demons smashed the walls by accident in their attempts to catch Neko-Ranma, and other demons were sent flying into the wall in pain.

And then the world began to crumble and fall.

Large chunks of stone, and wood came crashing down as Neko-Ranma and the demons danced to one final song, oblivious to the destruction around them.

…

Neko-Ranma was weak, far weaker then he had ever been. Each muscle in his odd body was hurting, and he had no energy with which to heal. He forced himself out from under the rubble. The demon's scent was weak on the air. None remained. Neko-Ranma was happy.

He heard something amongst the ruins. Making his way slowly he found the bald fat one. The one who made Neko-Ranma have this odd body. Neko-Ranma hissed, and wanted to play with the bald one. But Neko-Ranma was too weak. The bald one quickly moved close and then Ranma fell into darkness.

Neko-Ranma was content, as only a cat can be. The enemy was dead, and now was the time to sleep, and eat. Neko-Ranma slept well until he next awoke.