Chapter 7: Contact

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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"HIII -YAAAA!"

Akane shattered another pile of bricks. A satisfying release of tensions. She needed it as much as before, in spite of having the horde of admirers lay were at least normal guys. Since Ranma came to live with them, her problems with normal guys were being replaced with problems with some absolutely strange people. She didn't like where her life was heading at the moment.

"Ranma... this is all YOUR fault," she muttered.

The object of her ire walked in. "What did I do THIS time? Other than live?"

"Isn't that enough? All I want is a normal life. A life where I don't have to deal with sex-changers or animal-changers or cross-dressers or whatever else is following you."

"Heh heh. We belong to the same school. Our pops trained together for years. Are you SURE your Pop didn't get you into any more engagements than my Pop did for me?"

Akane's eyes narrowed. "He wouldn't!"

"Actually," Nabiki said, coming into the dojo with a notepad, "I'm afraid he might. Ranma's had me check out a few obscure schools of martial arts, and, well, it looks like we do have at least one commitment. Some French cuisine thing."

Akane sweatdropped. "See? You bring all kinds of weirdness wherever you go!"

Ranma held up his hands. "This one was made years ago," he said. "They would have come to ask about you guys even if Pop and I had never come."

"Gahh. So then, are they going to want a good cook? Maybe Kasumi can take it..."

"Then who'd cook for us?" Nabiki asked. "You? You know how your cooking has been doing."

"I'VE BEEN GETTING BETTER!"

"Yeah. We pass out after three bites instead of one."

Ranma was rubbing his temple as if stressed. "Sounds like there's a challenge there for you, Akane." He turned to Nabiki. "Should I?"

"What did you have in mind?"

Back to Akane. "How about you eat nothing but what you cook for yourself for a week? Nabiki, I take it you can come up with the right incentive?"

Nabiki had one of her trademark Evil Grins. "This sound like fun..."

"I'll do it!" Akane said. "Whatever it is I'll do it!" She ran off to soak in the furo before hitting the kitchen.

"Headaches, Ranma?" Nabiki asked as he rubbed his temple again.

"A bit of stress. Your sister isn't the easiest girl to deal with."

"And yet half the school is after her. Go figure."

Ranma smiled to himself. Akane would be sick as a dog for the next week and unable to interfere with whatever was to come. One less bit of stress in his life. The headaches he had no doubt were from constant use of his future-sight. There were now significant blind spots in the near future; he knew less about the next week or so than he had about past weeks since gaining his curse.

Well, at least he had already simplified things to where he could deal with them without using the sight. He would give it a rest for a week. Tomorrow's youma battle and the meeting with Sailor Moon had been gamed out. He could just go in and follow the script. Hopefully that would also clear up some blind spots.

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The auditorium was becoming a battle scene. Usagi had come to see a talent show some of her friends were trying out for and found the celebrity MC had been replaced by a youma. She ran into the seats, ducking to the floor to hide.

"Trying to run?" the youma said, scanning around. It lifted off the ground and flew over the seats, not finding Sailor Moon where expected. "Where did she go?"

Usagi huddled down on the floor. "Luna, where are you? Where is she when I need her?"

"You don't need her," a voice whispered from the next row up. "You need me."

Usagi looked over to see a woman crouching low. "Who are you?"

"One of you, I think. A teammate. I'll distract that thing. Get your tiara ready."

"Teammate? I have a team?"

"No time to argue! Get ready!" The woman sat up, readying a leap.

Well, if someone was offering to help... She pulled off her tiara.

"There you are!" The youma spewed crystallizing fluid from its mouth at the stranger. She deftly leapt and dodged, striking the youma in midair. "KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" There was a sound almost like a buzzsaw.

"Moon Tiara Action!" Usagi threw her tiara just as the woman kicked off from the youma, flying to the balcony. The tiara shattered the youma into crystal shards, which fell lifelessly to the floor.

On the balcony the newcomer turned to face another: Tuxedo Mask. "Looks like you get a break this time, tux-boy," she said. "Don't go slacking, though. She's going to need you for a while."

The man's expression was, of course, unreadable behind the mask. After a moment he simply nodded and left. The woman leapt down to join Usagi on the floor.

"Thanks," Usagi said. "Usually Tuxedo Mask helps me, but I'll take all the friends I can get. Ummm... who are you, though?"

"Call me... Setsuna. I believe you have an... advisor who can prove my identity. I'll need her help."

Usagi looked down at the floor. "Luna! Where are you? Do you know this woman?" Not seeing her cat on the floor, she ran up to the hall.

There was a girl in the hall holding Luna tightly, a hand over the mooncat's face. Next to her was a wizened old woman on a staff. Usagi noted the girl was wearing a purple wig, or maybe a dye job. One of the contestants, no doubt.

"Some of my friends," Setsuna called from the auditorium.

"I am Cologne," the old lady said, "and this is Shampoo. Setsuna has... issues in dealing with normal cats, to say nothing of magical talking ones. She will have to keep her distance. Come, let's get out of here before people start to wake up."

Usagi looked around. Energy-drained people all around the auditorium were starting to recover. It was time she made good her escape. "Okay. Let's go."

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Hikaru Gosunkugi almost couldn't contain himself. He had found it! He had Saotome's weakness! Following him in boy and girl forms had paid off.

"Cats... I wouldn't have thought it would be something like that... but if it works..." He headed off to tell Kuno. Ranma would soon be brought down and Akane would be free again!

Then he would only have to deal with Kuno as competition. If only he could arrange for the two rivals to kill each other...

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They stopped in an alley a short distance away. Normally Usagi would return to civilian guise here, but these new people would want to talk to Sailor Moon.

"Usagi-chan, I don't know about these people," Luna said. "How do we know you aren't with the enemy?"

"I believe you have the means to verify that," Cologne said. "You have some test for the Senshi? Check Setsuna."

Usagi turned to Setsuna. The woman stood a good twenty feet away, blindfolded. "You really have issues with cats, don't you?" she asked.

Setsuna nodded. "Just get this over with," she said with a distinct edge to her voice. Usagi noted the woman's hair was tinted green. Had she also come as a contestant?

Luna concentrated a moment. A cone of light emitted from the crescent mark on her forehead, shining on Setsuna, then focusing into a beam on the corresponding point on Setsuna's forehead. A mark like a combined Latin alphabet letters P and L appeared.

"The mark of Pluto!" Luna said as the beam faded. "So... you are Sailor Pluto!"

"Ah," Setsuna said. "So I am one of you. What do I have to do to use my full powers?"

"Oh my... this is... unusual. I have transformation pens for all the Inner Senshi... but Pluto is an Outer Senshi. I don't think I have their pens..."

"A transformation pen?" Cologne asked. "How would that work?"

"Well, talismans, originally, but I've modified them to take the form of pens so the Senshi could carry them without drawing attention. They would hold them up and call out a transformation phrase. For you, it would be "Pluto Planet Power Make Up."

"Make up?" Setsuna gave a chuckle. "Great. More girly stuff. So, if you don't have my pen, who does?"

"I'm not sure. My memory still hasn't recovered from hibernation. But I think Pluto had special duties. She wouldn't have worked with the Inner Senshi. They guarded the peace of the Solar System from within. The Outer Senshi protected against external invaders."

"Huh. Well, you won't be seeing much of me for a while. I have some things to deal with on my own. We should be on the lookout for any other Senshi, Inner or Outer, and find out how to get my talisman. I have some of my powers, but if I'm really to be effective I need to be fully powered up."

"Can you help us find the Princess?" Luna asked. "She should be around somewhere. The heir to the Moon Kingdom, who should have the power to defeat the Dark Kingdom."

"Your memory really is clouded," Setsuna said. "Let's lay it out, here: What I... remember... is that you, Sailor Moon, ARE are the princess."

"EEEHH?" Usagi and Luna were aghast.

Setsuna nodded. "It's true. You might also remember an artifact called the 'guinzuishou'. It was used, I think, by the Queen of the Moon to destroy the Dark Kingdom the first time. It cost her life... and now you, princess, are the heir to its power."

"Guinzuishou..." Luna pondered. "I don't have anything like that in my keeping."

"It got split into seven shards," Setsuna said, "which are attached to the souls of seven people. Do you have any way of getting them out without killing their hosts?"

"All I have now are pens," Luna said.

"The Dark Kingdom will be after them as well, and they will have a crystal that can extract them. We should try to take that." She turned away. "It's time we got back. There are people waiting on both of us." She started to jog off.

"Wait!" Usagi called. "There's so much we can talk about!"

"It will have to wait," Cologne said. "We all need to be going." "Where can we find you if we need you?" Luna asked.

"You won't need us for a while. Not with that tuxedo-wearing boy around, and other Inner Senshi awakening soon. When we want to meet you again, we'll find you." Shampoo released Luna, and girl and old woman departed.

Usagi detransformed when they were out of sight. "This is getting so exciting, Luna! Other Senshi, code names, it's starting to feel like a spy thriller!"

Luna sweatdropped. "I don't think they were spies..." She was wondering about the Outer Senshi. There was too much she still couldn't remember.

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The Amazons had started a restaurant in the Nerima commercial district, calling it the Nekohanten. Ranma met up with them there.

"She knows," Ranma-chan said. "That cat knows everything. Do those herbal shampoos of yours work on cats?"

"No cat. Only peoples," Shampoo said.

"We can fudge that," Cologne said. "I can order some Spring of Drowned Girl water brought over."

"We have to get her to remember everything about the Moon Kingdom and the Outer Senshi. When I start getting clear visions again I want to -"

She froze. A white tiger wearing thick glasses had come wandering in.

"C-c-c-cat..." Ranma-chan fled out the back door.

Cologne eyed the tiger suspiciously. The glasses were a dead giveaway. She got a pan of hot water and doused the cat.

"Shampoo! At last we can be together!"

BONK. "Stupid Mousse! Shampoo no have time for you."

Cologne sighed. This was a complication she hadn't counted on. Now Ranma wouldn't be able to meet them here. And Mousse had to be kept away from him at all costs.

"Shampoo. You will need to return to China and get some Jusenkyo water. Generic Drowned Girl for the mooncat. And something small and controllable, and non-feline, for Mousse. We will need to move fast to keep control of our situation..."

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Ranma-chan had calmed down by the time she had arrived at the Tendo home. Now she knew there was more to her blind spots in future sight than stress. Her mental block against facing cats kept her from seeing things when there was a chance they might be involved.

She fetched a steaming kettle and changed back to male form. *Dammit... I can't let the guys from school find out about this. Kuno will start keeping cats around to get an advantage. I can handle him anyway, but..."

A rustle in the bushes attraacted his attention. So, someone was spying on him? "Not so fast!" He reached into the bushes to grab the spy.

"GYAAAHH!"

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"Hanachiyo!" Kasumi exclaimed. The cat in question was sitting on Ranma's chest. Ranma was lying on his back, dazed.

"Ranma!" Akane checked him over. There were no signs of having been beaten up. But they had all come running at his scream. What could have done this to him?

Genma walked up with a pail of water. "Mr. Saotome?" Akane asked, wondering if he could guess what had happened to his son.

SPLASH. "COWARD! You call yourself a MAN!" Genma was clearly disappointed.

"Shut up! This is all YOUR FAULT!" Ranma-chan tried to charge but was brought up short by her father holding the Hanachiyo.

A short explanation ensued. "Ranma's weak spot is cats?" Akane asked.

"Sadly, yes," Genma said. "When he was 10 years old..." Faces paled as they listened to the tale of the Nekoken training.

"I can't believe it," Nabiki said. "The great Ranma Saotome afraid of a little kitty cat..." She held Hanachiyo forth. This time Ranma found his legs and ran off into the neighborhood at high speed.

"Pathetic," Genma said. "I'll have to train him all over..."

"Haven't you done enough?" Nabiki said drily. Genma, as usual, seemed not to hear.

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At school the next day, Ranma found a letter in his locker - a distress letter from Akane, claiming she was being held hostage in the gymnasium. Given that Akane had come to school with him, this was less than effective.

Akane herself wouldn't let go so easily. "I want to know who wrote this letter," she said. Somebody was showing a distinct lack of imagination.

Ranma would have preferred to spring the trap and deal with the idiot up front, but he was getting very suspicious of the blind spots in his prophetic vision. It might signal word of his weakness had leaked out. He would have to confront Nabiki later. He gave Akane a shrug. "Check it out. I'm going to class."

"Don't you want to see who it is too?"

"I got better things to do than see what stupidity Kuno is cooking up."

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"Better things" included a meeting in a park with Usagi. Ranma brought a thermos of hot water for the necessary demonstration. Cologne was already sitting on a bench talking with Usagi.

"So how did you guys come up with your code names? It's like something out of a spy movie."

"Code names?"

"Yeah. 'Cologne' and 'shampoo'. Not what I would have chosen... okay, maybe I would..."

"Ah. They aren't code names, really. We're Chinese. Our names are written like this." She pulled out a pad and pencil and wrote down 'Koh Lon' and 'Xian Pu.'

"You've got to be kidding me. That's soo funny!"

"Yes, well, language curiosities aside, Setsuna here is... well, why did you choose 'Setsuna?' Feeling lonely?"

"With everyone that's after me? No way," Ranma said.

"Well, her actual name is Ranma Saotome, and she has more magic than just the Senshi powers affecting her. Go ahead and change."

Ranma dumped the thermos. Usagi was impressed. "Woah. You can turn into a BOY? That's just too weird. I don't even want to try that with my disguise pen. And what's with the water?"

"Ordinary hot water. It's a special curse Ranma has. Cold water changes her back."

"A curse? From the Dark Kingdom?"

"They cursed some natural springs near our village so that anyone who falls in one of them is cursed to transform into whatever drowned there last. Apparently, they made Sailor Pluto their first victim."

"Wow. That must be harsh, being unable to take a shower without turning into a guy."

Ranma chuckled. "Actually, it's cold water that activates the curse, and hot water that restores the original form."

"Hot water restores...? Wait a minute, you're saying -"

Ranma nodded. "I'm a guy."

"Ouch. But it's kind of cool, isn't it? You can hide from the Dark Kingdom this way."

"This ain't funny. I want to be a REAL man ALL the time. It's important."

"Oo. Sorry. I can see you might be sensitive..."

"The form of Sailor Pluto isn't all the curse bestows," Cologne continued. "Her great power was apparently of prophecy. Whoever has received the powers of Sailor Pluto has gained the ability to see the future."

"I bet that comes in handy. So do you know -"

"We knew your true identity before we met you. We knew when that battle would take place. We know who the other Inner Senshi are, and where they live." She gave them the names and addresses of Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter. "Venus, or Sailor V, is in England right now, so you will have to wait until she returns to Japan. She will contact you."

"Sailor V! I finally get to meet her!"

"We are working on tracking down the Outers. If what Luna said was true, they might not be of help to you, but it won't hurt to let them know who they really are. And we also know that as you and the other Inner Senshi are, you are not likely to defeat the Dark Kingdom and survive."

"Eep! I was going to...die?" Usagi paled.

"Fortunately, we are all trained martial artists. We can show you how it's done. You could stand to be a bit less sentai-posing-and-speeches and more ninja-attacking-from-shadows. We can train you, if you can stand for it. But first and foremost, you must accept who you are: a Warrior-Princess. You must be strong and brave, keep a level head in battle, and focus on your objectives."

"Now you're sounding like Luna. She tried to tell me stuff like that, but I have a life to live, you know?"

"I understand," Ranma said. "But we need your power. I got other commitments, other people I can't just blow off. And I don't want you getting mixed up with them, or them with you. Things are complicated enough as it is."

"There is something else we would like to try," Cologne said. "Shampoo is a master of some shiatsu techniques. She might be able to help you regain memories. She is running to China to get some things right now, so when she gets back we would like you and Luna to try it."

Usagi realized what this would mean. "A princess... I would become a princess ... oh definitely! This is great!"

Great wasn't what Ranma would call it. She had no martial arts training, no discipline, no fortitude. He was amazed she didn't trip over herself.

Somehow, he wasn't surprised when she did just that on a crack in the sidewalk.

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AN: I've seen 'Quantum Leap' type stories where one of the Ranma cast is sent back in time QL style to live their life again from the start of the series. They get the main advantages of being older, wiser, and knowing what's going to happen. If I had the time I would do a series of fics exploring what each of the main cast would do if transported from fifty years in the future:

Ranma: Would land at the point he is being carried into the Tendo home on his father's shoulder, in girl form. Demonstrates curses before Soun can pass out. Knows his best chance for happiness is Ukyo, so he takes the engagement to Akane provisionally but avoids getting close to her or treating her well. Willing to bargain with Shampoo, offering a secret marriage. No longer automatically antagonizes people, thinks before he says things, has gotten over his pride and is past the stage of needing to enjoy being single.

Akane: Has grown up, no longer a man-hater, accepts engagement and explains the niceties of civilized behavior to Ranma. Moves to cure his curse ASAP.

Nabiki: comes back with the knowledge of devastating warfare in the future, which Ranma can be instrumental to winning/preventing, IF he isn't fixed up with Akane. Reluctantly, she takes the engagement, and begins to study martial arts again.

Kasumi: takes the engagement, over Nabiki's protests. She knows better now that Ranma and Akane don't really work out.

Shampoo: Already in Japan. Goes straight to the Tendo house. Steals Ranma away in the middle of the night and effectively controls him all the way to China. Cures his curse immediately, then bargains: he does not have to stay in the village, and she does not care if he has "mistresses" elsewhere, as long as they have children. And they have to kill Happosai...