Disclaimer: I don't own em.
Authors Notes: Here is the first chapter of the civil war arc. It is a rather slow chapter as it sets up the setting for the next few chapters and although there is a battle scene it is small and may be quite poor, this is my first time writing this kind of fight. Hopefully the chapters will pick up and the fights scenes get better. So onto the reviews
Reviews: Once again many thanks to all those who reviewed the story. Every one seems keen for the next part and hopefully this will not disappoint you (at least not too much anyway). So thank you all for you reviews and please keep them going.
RanmaChaos: Thanks for the review. I will try to update as quickly as I can.
James Birdsong: Thanks for the review. May this next chapter also garner a hearty Hoorah as well.
Ranma girl 14: Thanks for yet another wonderful review. The sides will remain pretty static for now though in the future things will change as everyone will eventually have to face their demons and what they are fighting for.
Madtic: Thanks for the review. The NWC will appear along the way and Ranma is present and accounted. The war is upon them all he he he.
Ranko lina inverse: Thanks for another review. I have always felt that my love is Chaos was an excellent counter argument to the whole Chaos is evil thing.
Jerry Unipeg: Thanks for the review man. It is always a blessing to receive a review from you.
NightmareSyndrom: Thanks for another review. Great to hear that I am improving
Once again a big thanks to all those who have reviewed and a big thanks to everyone who have put me on there favs or alerts lists. No on to the story everyone. Hope you enjoy the show.
Mizuryunokamioh: I have always wondered why if the Silver millennium had the time gates why did it fall, why was there no plans in place to prevent it from falling or at the very least plans in place to save at least a part of it so it could be rebuilt
This is my answer to that question.
The Pluto Protocols
Chapter 6 – Civil War Part1 – Positioning
'Speech'
"Sound Effects"
(Thoughts)
Earth
Tokyo City – Jubaan Ward
Year 2004
Usagi Tsukino yawned as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen, her thoughts milling over the recent events. It had been one month since the Senshi had betrayed her and she had made her deal with Chaos.
After her return from the Zero Star Usagi had returned home leaving Ranma and the Animates at the abandoned shrine. At her house Usagi had found her parents excited, raving about having a solution for their daughter's bad grades. After her parents got over the embarrassment about being caught by their daughter while doing a victory dance (both were dancing around the kitchen table waving victory fans yelling we're going to have a smart daughter over and over again) Ikoku and Kenji explained that Usagi had been accepted into a prestigious new school that was established to bring out the full potential of a child. Though initially upset at her parent's decision to send her to a new school without even discussing it with her, Usagi realized that with the school being a boarding school, she would have a perfect way to escape the Senshi and any attempts they would make trying to take the Silver Crystal (which Usagi reasoned was their target).
Usagi was naturally surprised when she discovered not only was the school itself a rather large mansion sitting at the edge of the Jubaan district but that Ranma and the Animates were also students their. Her suspicions remained aroused until upon entry into the room that was to be hers, she found a letter with a silver crescent embossed on the paper. The letter stated that the school had been set up as a front for Usagi and her new Senshi and that the owners, a pair of scientists, would be working for her by preparing equipment for Usagi and her new team to use against the Senshi. The letter had finished off by saying that the scientists would reveal themselves in due time (they would be acting as the school teachers and would be actually providing materials for Usagi and her Senshi to learn from, as well giving tests with Usagi's results being sent to her parents). The letter was signed by Dr I and Dr A. Since then Usagi, Ranma and the Animates had been living in the mansion and had been taking lessons, with Usagi actually making some decent improvements on her grades.
Along with the lessons from the two doctors (which came by mail) Ranma had also been talked into teaching the girls basic combat techniques. Each day was pretty full, though they could take time outs from learning whenever they wanted to, with learning various courses from the two doctors and combat from Ranma as well as finding time to take up hobbies for themselves (something doctor I had suggested). The group had decided to make Sundays a full day off from any learning and with this particular day being Sunday Usagi had slept in till late (it was now quarter to eleven) and was attending to her first task, food.
Strangely enough Usagi's acted all too similar to her former team. This gave Usagi a small measure of comfort when spending so much time with her former enemies. Sailor Platinum Fox was the teams normal leader and Usagi's new second in command. Fox was also very similar in ways to Sailor Pluto, calm, collected and well informed of what was occurring in the world. Every Sunday would find the woman, who was also of similar age to Pluto being 21 years old, in one of the main mansions various tea rooms (their were five in total, two on the first floor, two on the second floor and one on the 6th floor) sipping tea and reading the Japanese edition of the Wall Street Journal.
The next two animates also bore similarities to the planetary Senshi (the name Usagi was now giving to her former comrades) specifically the outers Uranus and Neptune. Sailor Titanium Kero Kero (Sailor Kero for short) was a near copy for Neptune, aside from using her name sake at the end of every sentence she spoke. Kero was calm and serene never seeming to raise her voice even when using her attacks and like Neptune was artistic, though instead of a violin she played a flute and instead of paint she wrote poetry. While sailor Pewter Papillon held a similar personality to Sailor Uranus being cynical and charming and easy going. Though Papillon wasn't an actual racer she did have a preference to racing games on the mansions various game consoles and loved to chase her own name sake around the yards outside for hours on end.
The next three animates all bore mixed traits of the inner Senshi. Sailor Lead Crow, the self styled second in command of the Animates, bore similarities to both Mars and Jupiter. She had a fiery temper and was outgoing; she could also be serious when needed. Like her name sake though Crow had a habit of collecting shiny things. Sailor Aluminium Siren bore a personality similar to that of Mars and Mercury, as she was calm and serious most of the time, she was like Mercury a good swimmer and loved to watch fish swim around in the mansions aquarium. Sailor Tin Nyanko bore similarities to Venus and Jupiter, she was very flighty and tended to be lazy but at the same time was also a tough no nonsense type of person. Like Kero Nyanko had a tendency to say part of her name at the end of every sentence, which freaked Ranma out every time she spoke and like the creature which made the sound of Nyanko's name she had a tendency to chase around odd items and sleep in the sun.
Finally Sailor Iron Mouse who bore similar traits to both Saturn and Mini Moon. At times Mouse would act shy and timid often hiding behind furniture around the house (especially when Nyanko was feeling playful). While at other times Mouse would be brave and excitable and had already explored many of the Mansion and its yards nooks and crannies.
Then there was Ranma, Usagi had know idea what she was supposed to do with him. As his martial arts, his curse and his mission to protect the Princess were all the boy could remember, interacting with him was both entertaining and annoying. Sure it was funny to see him leap up onto the ceiling when ever Nyanko would suddenly appear next to him alerting him to her presence with a 'Nyah' or two but when he got into his not letting the Princess out of my sight routine following her everywhere it was just frustrating. So far the only memory he seemed to have gotten back was that he hated cats and was afraid of them (not that he would admit it to anybody, even if it was obvious). Even worse was that Usagi was beginning to notice just how attractive the boy really was. With Ranma seemingly having no modesty Usagi had often seen him walking around without a shirt on. However with Mamoru's betrayal still fresh in her mind Usagi had no intentions of trying to start up a relationship with anyone, also there was the curse to think about. Usagi was pretty sure that wasn't bisexual in any way so dating somebody who could turn into a girl was a turn off, well at least that what she believed so far anyway. All of this made being around Ranma difficult, still at least he was training her in martial arts, though even that had its own problems.
Having made it to the kitchen Usagi prepared her breakfast, deciding to go with the western option of cereal. For Usagi and Ranma cereal was a kamisend, the perfect food for those who are hungry and couldn't wait even the two minutes it would take for instant ramen. With food in hand Usagi made her way to the ridiculously large lounge and sat in one of the spare lazy boys. Looking directly over to Fox who was occupying the other extremely comfortable furniture piece. Noting quickly at the other occupants in the room Usagi wolfed down her meal and then asked the Animate leader about the two missing team members.
'Um Fox where are Ranma and Kero'
'Kero is outside chasing butterflies and Ranma is probably under the waterfall again' came the reply.
Nodding with a slight sweat drop Usagi had to wonder just why an already ridiculously lavish property needed its own waterfall for. Rising from her seat Usagi sighed to herself and went in search for her erstwhile Kamen.
Break
Ranma Saotome was indeed at the mansions waterfall; or rather he was under it. He was sitting under the water fall hands on his lap fingers and thumbs touching together in the traditional Buddhist meditative pose. Ranma was also thinking over the last month, though his thoughts were focused more on his own missing memories. Ranma could remember his time as Aka; in fact he could remember a lot of things. The problem was he couldn't remember how or why he knew the things he remembered. He knew what a fork was and how to use it, he knew what chopsticks were and even how to make them. Hell he knew how to read and write not only in Japanese but also in English, French, Russian, Italian, German as well as both Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, he even knew how to read and write Flemish and he was pretty sure there was no country called Flem. He just didn't know how he knew these things and that was the frustrating part. Ranma wish he knew why he was afraid of cats or why he could pluck roasting chestnuts off an open fire without burning his hands.
Missing memories were not the only problem Ranma had to deal with. The waterfall was a kamisend for the young man who had to live with eight girls, seven of which seemed to have no idea what modesty or decency were (actually Ranma didn't really know what those things were either). Ranma knew that he should be ok with it, in fact he knew he should be ecstatic and that most guys and some girls would be jealous of his situation but he didn't know why he should or why he wasn't happy with the arrangement. Actually he sort of knew why he wasn't happy, it was due to the fact the seven of the eight girls had a habit of walking around the house in nothing but their panties and night shirts and sometimes without the night shirts as well. Thus the waterfall had helped keep his blood away from both his manhood and his nose. Not only did the girls run around nearly naked they also constantly invited him to bath with them in the hot springs, why the property had its own hot springs Ranma didn't have a clue. Usagi seemed to be the only one with a sense decency around the place but even that seemed to simply go out the door as both Usagi and Ranma seemed to have the uncanny knack walking in on each other either while getting dressed or having a shower or bath. All of this and his missing memories were giving Ranma a terrible headache (not to mention felling weak from blood loss).
Rising from the poring water having had enough soul searching Ranma decided it was time for some training. Exiting the small pool at the base of the waterfall Ranma reached for a towel just as Usagi came around the edge of the cliff base which hid the falls from view.
'Hey Ranma are you hear, Ranma oh' Blushing slightly at the sight of the topless Ranma-onna Usagi quickly spun around to face away from the half naked girl.
'Uh sorry about that Ranma'
'Er no worries Princess' replied Ranma who was also blushing.
Ranma quickly towelled himself of as he tried to banish thoughts of all the times he had seen Usagi in an equal state on undress, while Usagi was busy with her own thoughts.
(Bad Ranma, Bad Ranma we are not supposed to think of her that way. She's the Princess we are not supposed to think of the Princess half naked with her perky breast and her pink … WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING)
(Damn it Usagi why the hell do we keep on ending up in these embarrassing situations and why can't that baka keep his shirt on jeez, it's a good thing I'm not into girls like Haruka and Michiru or a would have been tempted to go over there and grab his… WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING)
Break
After Ranma finished dressing herself and changing back into a guy, the two embarrassed teens headed back to the main house. Once there Usagi announced that she was sick of being cooped up in the yard and wanted to go out. Though initially against it Ranma and the Animates eventually gave in to their leader's demands and Usagi along with Ranma, Crow, Mouse and Siren headed into Jubaan towards the Aishiteiru Mall.
The Aishiteiru Mall was relatively new opening three months ago. It was a specialty mall that catered mainly to couples, featuring stores that specialised in gifts for things like anniversaries; birthdays and f course Valentines Day. This was shocking to Usagi who had know idea that this was the malls focus and now found her self wondering around the place feeling more and more depressed with so many couples about.
After a couple of hours window shopping and trying on clothes Usagi and her companions came to rest outside the restrooms of the second floor. For Ranma the experience had been harrowing, with some of the clothes stores specialising in more risqué styled clothing. After the having to watch each of the girls including Usagi try on skimpy outfits Ranma was about ready to burst and almost did when the mischievous Crow suggested that the girls have Ranma try some outfits.
It seemed that both Usagi and Ranma were more than ready to leave the mall when trouble decided to make itself heard. Trouble was a Youma (though the Youma's name wasn't actually trouble) that had been awakened by the massive increase in life energy swarming around its resting place. Upon awakening the Youma set about completing its ingrained commands, to steal said energy. Bursting forth from one of the many shops it immediately began its attack. However nearly two years of inactiveness had left the Youma sluggish and everyone around the creature managed to evacuate with most of their energy intact.
Hearing screams from around the corner Usagi followed by Ranma took off to investigate while the three Animates ducked into the thankfully empty restrooms to transform. Upon seeing the Youma Usagi slid to a halt and began to move backwards while Ranma launched himself into the attack. Hitting the youma with a shoulder charge Ranma sent the creature flying into a yattai, not giving the Youma time to gather itself Ranma continued to press the attack. As he reached the now rising Youma Ranma began raining punches into it, with a right hook into its chest followed by a left hook before sending it flying again this time with an uppercut. As the Youma hit the ground for a second time Ranma also felt himself falling. Hitting the ground Ranma suddenly felt as though he had been fighting for hours, groaning he managed to force himself up to his knees just in time to see the Youma walking towards him an evil smile on its face.
The Youma was surprised as the human attacked it even more so when it had been sent flying for a second time. Humans were usually unable to significantly damage a Youma with just their hands but that was exactly what happened. As it rose however the Youma realised that the initial damaged it received was weakened severely by the energy it had absorbed form the human's impacts. By the time it was fully upright the Youma realised that not only did the Human have know idea that it was being drained with each blow it managed to land but that the Humans energy was far more potent than the others it had managed to partially drain. Wanting more of this delicious energy the Youma began its advance a grin spreading across its features, it already felt more powerful than id ever had in its long existence.
Ranma could only stare he felt his body getting even weaker as the Youma continued its advance. Soon a thin tendril of energy became visible to the pigtailed martial artist allowing him to realise exactly what was going on.
(It's draining my chi) Ranma thought to himself as he managed to get himself to an upright position. Just as the Youma reached striking distance Ranma heard a cry above him
'GALATIC CRUNCH'
A blast of grey energy slammed into the Youma breaking through the floor and sending it plummeting to the ground floor of the Mall. Sailor Iron Mouse and Sailor Aluminium Siren quickly followed it each firing off their attacks.
'GALATIC CRUNCH'
'GALATIC TSUNAMI'
The blast of grey energy being followed this time by a wave of water, both smashing into the Youma sending it flying through several seats, Usagi quickly rushed up to check on Ranma both turning their attention to the battle below.
'Are you feeling ok Ranma' Usagi asked her friend and body guard.
'Just drained that's all, though my prides going to be bruised for awhile' Ranma replied angry at himself.
'I can't believe I let myself get beat by that thing'
'It didn't beat you Ranma and you got some good hits in. You didn't know it drained energy that's all' Usagi said.
'That's no excuse Usagi' Ranma growled 'I'm supposed to be protecting you. How can I do that if I can't even beat a stupid monster like that? I've been getting to comfortable at the mansion and haven't been taking my training seriously. Well that's going stop, from this day forward I'm not going to let myself lose to a monster like that again'
As Ranma made his proclamation Usagi noticed two new figures appear on the other side of the second floor. Ducking down behind a series of potted plants she frowned as the two newcomers reached the railing and peered down into the first floor.
'Like the Gentle Breeze'
'Like the calm seas'
''We are the twin warriors of the outer Planets, we are''
'Sailor Uranus'
'Sailor Neptune'
Having down their introduction the two Senshi then stood on top of the railing, Uranus drawing forth the space sword taking aim at the Youma who was now looking at his two newest enemies, while Iron Mouse and Aluminium Siren both disengaged and leapt back upon the second floor next to Ranma and Usagi. Lead Crow also moved towards to Princess having been waiting behind her in case of a second Youma appearing. The three watched as the Youma prepared its own attack while Uranus unleashed her's
'SPACE SWORD BLASTER'
The golden energy of the space sword slammed into the weakened Youma and even with the energy drained from Ranma was unable to withstand the attack become nothing more than a pile of dust.
Having finished their attack Neptune and Uranus both turned their attention to Iron Mouse and Aluminium Siren and leapt towards the two Animates, who in turn both gave a mock salute to the outer Senshi and took off in the direction of the restrooms.
While this happened Lead Crow de-transformed and turned to Usagi.
'Time to leave Princess'
Nodding she went to head towards the elevators only to feel an arm wrap around her waist and then be lifted into the air. Ranma with Crow under one arm and Usagi under the other leapt over the railing onto the first floor and headed out of the main entrance. Outside several EMT's along with a mid-aged woman were checking many of the Malls patrons for any injuries. Upon seeing Ranma and the girls the woman moved over to them and began to check them over.
Kotari Mizuno was not having a good day. Well actually it had been a really good day until a monster had decided to attack the mall. It was supposed to be her day off and Dr Mizuno had decided to hit the mall like she had done in her youth. Winding up treating people for minor shock and the after effects of being drained by a monster were not on her list of to do's. Upon seeing three more people exiting out of the mall the Doctor moved over to check for injuries. Seeing one of the three girls present looked familiar Kotari decided to see if she knew her.
'You know you look familiar young lady do I know you' She asked Usagi who immedialty shook her head. After finishing her checks of the girls she moved on to the sole male of the group lifting up his shirt causing him to begin panicking
'Hey lady what do you think your doing' Ranma yelped as Dr Mizuno lifted he shirt up exposing his chest.
'Relax young man I'm a doctor I'm just checking for any possible internal injuries. Besides you're a little to young for me' Kotari joked, which only served to make Ranma even more nervous. The doctor frowned as she noticed the boy had quite a large number of scares all over his chest and stomach and several of them looked familiar.
(These look like surgical scares, in fact they look like the ones that red head I operated on a month or so ago would have had, had she not run away. Jeez Kotari get you head straight it's not the same person he's a boy she was a girl.) She thought to herself (And what's with the blond I'm sure she looks like Usagi only the hairs shorter and died with bits of pink but if it is Usagi why did she lie to me. Come to think of it Ami hasn't mentioned her much lately and has become a little withdrawn as well.)
Finishing off her examination Dr Mizuno gave the teens a smile.
'Well no injuries so you can all go now' (I wonder if Ami and Usagi have had a fight and aren't talking to each other. I will ask Ami when she gets home)
As Usagi, Ranma and Crow moved away from the Mall Siren and Mouse now untransformed both sided up along side them smiles on their faces. Looking over at the two Usagi asked
'What happened' Mouse grinned and replied
'Well we smashed the window at the end of the hall and then ducked into the rest room, Neptune and Uranus saw the smashed window and jumped out of it didn't even think to check the restrooms at all. After we were sure they had left we climbed out the bathroom window and powered down, easy'
'Well I think we've had enough excitement for today so let's go home' Crow stated.
Usagi nodded and the teens set of towards the mansion, though an uneasy thought passed through Usagi's mind.
(I'm sure Mrs Mizuno recognised me and will probably tell Ami, which means they will know I haven't left Jubaan and will probably begin searching for me again and that's means next time we may not get away so easily)
Break
The civil war of the silver millennium began during the rain of queen Serenity the 10th. Caused by increasing tensions within the ranks of many Nobles especially those who not the first born of the houses. The war would see over 7 million killed and 14 million wounded, with millions more left homeless or imprisoned. Among the deaths would include nearly to thirds of the millenniums nobles and the complete eradication of all the branch lines of the royal families and the loss of the entire lines of the rulers and Senshi of the planets Eris and Ceres. In the aftermath of the war two secret plans would be enacted. The first was to attempt the creation of a Senshi, something that had been thought impossible since the Senshi were first created and the second was the Pluto Protocols.
End?
Well that's the first chapter of the civil war saga finished. So pleases read and review. Let me know if it sucks if it's so-so or if it's spectacular. Well until next time
Sayonara