Chapter 23: Gambles
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
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Ryoga reached out a trembling hand. He could not believe his eyes! It was true! They were here!
"Mother... Father... you're HOME! We're all HOME!"
"Ryoga!"
"Son! Dear!"
The three shared a family embrace. "It's been such a rare sight in my life... to see the both of you at once..." He could see very little now, with his eyes blinded by tears. "Welcome home!"
"It's a miracle!" his mother said. "I was near Nagoya... or was it Kobe...? I was struck by a bolt of lightning, and ever since then..."
"Me too," his father said. "I was in Hiroshima, I think. Since that time, when I try to get somewhere, I don't get lost anymore!"
"He did it... he really did it... Ranma cured us..." Ryoga didn't know what to think. His greatest curse... defeated by his greatest rival. "Why...?"
"You know something about this, son?" his father asked.
"If you know how this happened, please, tell us!" his mother insisted.
"Ranma... I thought you were my enemy... but now... you may be the greatest friend a man could have..."
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Ranma felt strange. It had been over six years now since he had been able to look at a cat without going out of his mind with fear. Now, at last, he didn't. It felt all the more strange that these cats did something he had never seen - or heard - cats do before: they talked.
"Pleased to be able to see you at last, Ranma. I am Luna," the dark cat said.
"And I am Artemis," the white one added.
Ranma poked a finger at their faces. He giggled. "I did it," he said softly. "I really did it. I'm cured!"
"Well, we get to see a softer side of him now," Ukyo said. "I knew Ranchan had it in him! I think he was always supposed to be a cat person."
"He was afraid of cats before? That must have been tough on Luna," Minako said.
Luna hung her head in exasperation. "I was beginning to feel a bit left out..."
"Well, now you're not!" Usagi beamed. "So, whaddaya think? Has he been as good a manager as you?"
"Well, his information was a bit more detailed than mine ever was..."
"Well, yeah," Ranma conceded, "but it's kind of a pain to maintain. Specially when Happosai does stuff. It keeps changing."
"That theft was a big change," Cologne pointed out. "We were going to keep the last wish in reserve."
"Well, I could have told you to wish to get the Dark Kingdom's crystals back!" Usagi said. "If fact, you should have told the rest of us! I could have used a wish for myself!" The Inners all chimed in on that.
"Most of you would waste it on a boyfriend..." Luna sweatdropped.
"Hey! A boyfriend is not a wasted wish!" Minako insisted. "Love is important!"
Haruka chuckled at that. "Boyfriends come and go," she said.
"You'd want to ask for something more permanent," Michiru agreed.
"Well, then I'd just ask for a husband!" Minako said.
"At our age?" Rei objected. "It's way too early for that!"
"Tell me about it," Ranma said with a sigh. "I got the opposite problem. Fiancees I DON'T want. If I had a free wish I'd ask for Pop and Mr. Tendo to lay off."
"Well, I have a future husband," Usagi said, hugging Mamoru. "I guess if I want to be smart about it... Hey! That's it! I'd ask to be as smart as Ami-chan! Then I wouldn't have to worry about exams!"
Ranma looked at her with something approaching respect. "That... actually would be good for you," he said.
"But how long did it take to figure that out, baka?" Rei teased.
"I'm sure I wouldn't waste all of them before I got to that one!"
"Why keep the last wish in reserve?" Michiru wanted to know. "Wouldn't our situation be helped most by wishing for the Rainbow Crystals the Dark Kingdom had? Then we'd still be where we are now."
"I wanted to do some more investigations," Ranma said. "I wanted to see if it could help contain Happosai until we're finished. With him out of the picture, we could have won Kunzite's challenge for the crystals pretty easy. Everything after that goes smoothly too."
"Well, now they need the whole guinzuishou," Artemis said. "What are they going to try?"
Ranma settled down at a table. "At some point Kunzite will want an open challenge like Jadeite," he said. "Get all of us in view. It's not looking like we can hide our full strength until then."
"Unless we can get some new allies," Michiru pointed out. "Do you have any other martial artist friends you can call on?"
Ranma made a face. "My pop and me were pretty good at making enemies and leaving bad impressions..."
"What about Sailor Saturn?" Usagi asked. "Are you still having trouble seeing her?"
"You don't want to go there," Haruka said. "What we remembered of Sailor Saturn ... she would be worse than the Dark Kingdom."
"No way!" Usagi said. "WORSE than them?"
Michiru nodded. "The Dark Kingdom only wants to rule the world. If Sailor Saturn were awakened... she would destroy it."
The Inners were all depressed at that. Ranma's next news didn't cheer them up. "There's worse. It looks like Happosai is fully siding with them."
"What does that mean?" Haruka asked.
"It means we won't be able to predict them anymore..." Ukyo said in horror.
"The next fight with Kunzite I can see clearly," Ranma said. "After that, I think, they start using him."
"Alright," Rei said, "so what's the next battle like?"
"Falling back on luring us to a fight. Kunzite has some trick where he can turn humans into youma, so we'll need cleansing."
"Don't worry about it!" Usagi said with enthusiasm. "I'm right on it!"
"Not right away, you're not," Ranma said. "He's going to try preparing the ground. There will be all kinds of their own youma in reserve."
"So we catch them when they arrive to prepare," Ukyo said.
"It might be better if we keep some of our own people in reserve. I want to visit the place later this week to get a better picture of youma placements and everything. And some will come out of the sky. We'll have to pick them up as they arrive."
"Sounds like a mess," Usagi said in disgust.
"It does sound like they are getting smarter," Cologne said. "We will need to keep getting stronger if we want to defeat them in the long term."
"I think I can kill a youma in two shots now," Mokoto said.
"Might want to work on a chain lightning attack too," Ranma added. "If they're going to try to smother us with numbers, we'll want area attacks."
"If you can line them up..." Haruka suggested.
"We can work on stuff in practice. For now, let's just see where they are..."
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After the meeting, the group broke up, with the older teens moving away in a separate group from the younger. When Ukyo left to get to work at her own diner, Haruka asked Ranma to stay for a bit.
"The kids were down about the death toll in the big battle," she said. "But you went for their general, didn't you? If you hadn't, you might have saved more lives."
Ranma tried to gauge what Haruka was getting at. Was that look on her... admiration? "It was the best way. That didn't mean I had to like it. It's not the way my pop trained me. He trained me to protect EVERYONE. To give it my all, all the time. He was training me to fight battles, not wars. I only had to win the day. Tomorrow was a different day. A different battle."
"And now it's all the same battle," Michiru said.
Haruka nodded. "I understand. Kind of like the samurai who gives up a hand to finish the enemy off. If he doesn't, his body may be intact, but it's still him and not the other guy who dies."
"This curse I have... it really IS a curse," Ranma seethed. "More than just what I look like, how people want to treat me. It's making it hard for me to be what I'm supposed to be."
"And what are you supposed to be? Does it really matter so much that you be a guy all the time?"
"It's going to matter to my mother. If she finds out I turn into a girl, she forces me to commit seppuku. Seriously. It's a matter of life or death."
"Forces you to...?" Haruka laughed at this. "That's pretty dumb. With what else I've heard about your situation I wondered why you hadn't just gone ronin or something. They mean so much to you?"
"There's still a chance I could break this curse soon. Then there's no problems. I just got to keep going forward."
Haruka looked at Michiru for a moment. "You're a lot like me, then. I want to live without regrets. Never look back, and just be yourself." The pair went their own way.
Ranma headed back to home for the night. "Seems a lot like Ucchan, the way she looks and acts like a guy... I wonder if they would be friends." He would ask Ukyo about her impressions later. For now, he had other concerns.
"Kunzite, and someone else... who is he? And what's his game?"
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Magnetite watched Ranma split from the other new faces. "New Senshi? Well. Isn't Kunzite going to be in for a nasty surprise?" *And Beryl will see my view was correct...*
He noticed a squirrel following Ranma along the rooftops. Normally squirrels stuck to trees, and if there were none, streets. And they could be territorial: they should not venture through built-up areas with no vegetation, as around here. He adjusted his sight, looking into the ether. "Dark energy... something familiar about the signature... what are you, little one? An animal... or something more?"
The squirrel was moving with intelligence. It stopped close to the Tendo home. Magnetite decided to see what it was about. He reached out with his power, risking detection, drawing the squirrel to his hand before teleporting across the city.
The rodent squealed as he examined it. "I know this energy... one of our own spells. Let me see..." He called on his elemental powers, similar to his rivals, summoning a ball of water and charging it with energy to heat it. He splashed it on the squirrel.
He found himself facing a naked man, backing away in stance. "Who are you?" the young man asked. "Are you an enemy of Ranma?"
Magnetite smiled. "And what if I am?"
"Then we'd be on the same side," the young man said, not relaxing his stance. "I have to warn you: I must be the one to kill him. Then Shampoo will belong to me!"
Magnetite thought it odd that a man would kill to possess hair cleaner. But if he could be a useful weapon... "It seems we are in agreement. Perhaps you'd like to meet some friends of mine..."
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Elsewhere on the street, Minako was enjoying time spent with her new friends. They had gotten to discussing the older members of the team. "It's too bad Ranma's taken," she said. "Ukyo's lucky to have a guy like him. If only I could find someone like that too..." Her eyes started to glaze as she imagined the possibilities.
"Well, he does seem okay," Rei said, "but I don't think it would work out. He keeps hiding stuff from us."
"Like he doesn't trust us," Makoto said.
"Gee... I wonder why?" Artemis said, sweatdropping.
Minako didn't notice. "If he could just learn to be honest, I'm sure he'd be great. Honesty is the best policy!"
"He told me he doesn't worry about policy," Mamoru said. "He doesn't have to. He just says and does whatever gets results."
"His 'Anything-Goes Style'," Makoto said. "His father basically taught him that martial arts IS life, for them."
"He's kind of like you in a way, Ami-chan," Usagi said. "He studies really hard - only with him it's just martial arts, and you study everything else."
Ami was a bit embarrassed. "Maybe," she admitted. "But studying only one subject is no use. You have to know a lot of different things to do well in school. Isn't Furinkan a lower-tier high school? You want to do well on entrance exams to avoid having to go there."
"No wonder Ranma goes there, then," Minako said.
Rei got an evil grin. She nudged Usagi. "Better study hard, odango atama, or you may end up being Ranma's classmate."
Makoto chuckled. "Usagi going to Furinkan... wouldn't that be a kick..."
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There was still a week to go until the next battle with Kunzite. In the meantime Ranma and Ukyo had come to another enemy of their own.
Ukyo as opening her shop for the day when it started. "Another day at the salt mines..." She suddenly sensed an attack. "Hm? Danger...? Who's there!" She threw a spread of spatulas.
They passed through a similar array of cards heading the opposite way. Ukyo caught them and formed them into a hand.
"Heh heh heh... You lose, Ukyo," a voice said. "You hold only a pair. Whereas I hold... THIS!" A rotund figure stepped forward holding another hand. "A royal flush!"
A vein popped on Ukyo's forehead. "Oh no. Time for you already?"
"Already?" the Gambling King said. "It's been ten years. Plenty of time for you to get your house in order. Go tell your boyfriend I'm coming for what's mine!"
That she did. "So... are you ready, Ranchan?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," he said, not sounding too confident.
"You still don't have a good poker face," she worried.
"He cheats," Ranma said. "This'll just be a crazy fight."
As if to prove his point a giant six-sided die - a painted wooden box - came flying at him. "Snake eye!" the Gambling King said.
Ranma intercepted it in midair and knocked it back at the King. "Or is it boxcars for you?"
The King pushed the die off of himself. "You should know better than to try your luck against the Gambling King! For ten years... 520 weeks... 3,653 days... I have waited to defeat you. You should feel honored!"
"I can imagine," Ranma huffed, giving the King a boot to the face.
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The Gambling King sat down with Ranma, Ukyo, Genma, and the Tendos, explaining the gambling loss of Ramna and Ukyo and their subsequent treachery. They openly admitted what they had done. "...We wrapped him up like sushi and threw him in the river," Ukyo finished.
"You... what?" Akane said. "No wonder he hates you so much!"
"You see?" the King said. "I'M the victim here!"
"You were using a pack of all Jokers," Ranma reminded him. "So who's a victim?"
"Have you forgotten? I still hold the papers!"
Soun now made his opinion known. "If you made an agreement, you must live up to it," he said. "Ranma... hand over whatever you promised him, and have him go on his way."
"If you want what I owe you," Ukyo said, pointing to Genma, "talk to HIM. He ripped off our okonomiyaki cart!"
Genma tried to evade. "Well, er, let me see if I can find it... I must have it around here somewhere..." He began to inch away.
Ranma blocked him. "Let me give you a hint: You ditched it a few days later when it ran out of food." Genma did his best to disappear between the cracks of the floorboards.
"Well, in any case..." The Gambling King dug into his travelling pouch. "I can at least collect what Ranma lost to me."
"Ranma? What did you bet?" Akane asked.
Ranma declined to answer, leaving the King to show it to them all. It was a handwritten note: "Entitles the bearer to ownership of the Tendo Dojo. Signed, Ranma Saotome." There was a handprint in lieu of a signature. "As we agreed," the King said, "I will take the Tendo Dojo!"
There was a moment of stunned silence. Soun broke it, raising his Demon Head aura at Ranma. "Heh heh heh heh heh..." Ranma could only cower in shame.
Akane's anger was rising. "Ranma... you are so... STUPID!" She knocked him out the side door into the koi pond.
The King got up to leave. "I'll be back tomorrow to move in. Please be ready to move out. Good night!"
"Well... it's a legal document..." Soun mused.
"You're calling THAT a legal document!" Ukyo was aghast. "It's a child's handwritten note! There were no other witnesses!"
"That doesn't matter," Soun judged, in a stunning display of obtuseness. He grabbed Ranma-chan as she emerged from the pond. "You lost it... YOU GET IT BACK!" He kicked Ranma-chan through the roof.
Nabiki smirked. "I'd love to know how he's going to manage this, if he still has a terrible poker face."
Ukyo tried to adopt a friendly face. "I don't suppose you'd like to help...?"
Nabiki huffed and looked away. "You want my help...?"
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That night Ranma stayed at Ucchan's. Akane showed up to listen at their door.
She hear Ukyo speak. "Nabiki said you had to have seen this coming. If you wanted her help you should have chosen her."
"Figures she'd say that," Ranma said. "We all know that's crap. Especially her. She only protects what's hers. And ownership isn't a two-way street for her. I'm not the one that has to choose her. SHE has to choose ME."
"Maybe if we had just let her down easy, instead of the way we did..."
"It's going to come out the same. She won't get involved until there's a stake for her. She won't care about the dojo, only the house when her pop loses it."
Akane cringed at that. *Dad is going to lose the house?* She listened more intently.
"So do WE care about the dojo? Are we going to settle down here?" Ukyo wondered. "If you're not marrying into the family, you could just leave them be."
"It's a matter of pride," Ranma said. "I'm a man. I gotta fight for what's mine. I just have to do it on my terms, not his."
"And how DO you get him to fight on your terms?"
"Oh, there's a point where they're about the same..." he said.
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Akane quickly returned home to report on what she had overheard. The sisters were soon commiserating. "Ranma said that?" Nabiki said darkly. "Feh. I'd expect nothing less of him."
"Won't you think about it?" Akane asked. "If you can gamble in Dad's place..."
"I'm sure he'll do fine."
"But Ranma was talking to Ukyo when he said that," Kasumi said. "Why would he...?"
"Do you really think he wouldn't know Akane was listening?" She turned to Akane. "He was using you. I'm not going to play his game."
"You'd better be right," Akane said. "If you're not, you'd better get ready to play."
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Oblivious to events in Nerima at this time, Kunzite was scouting his terrain. Keen tactical eyes evaluated the downtown store he intended to use as a battleground.
"Plant one here... another there..." The youma at his side, disguised as a human secretary, took notes on a clipboard. The glamour he employed convinced store employees he was a manager from the chain headquarters.
"Twelve in the store... twelve on the roofs. That should catch the Senshi."
"What will be our signal to attack?" the youma asked.
"You will each be given numbers," Kunzite said. "I will call out numbers over the store PA. Only attack when your number is called. I expect the Senshi and their allies will not show themselves all at once. Sailor Moon usually shows herself first, but when she gets in trouble the others will appear to save her. I will keep your team members in reserve and activate them as needed."
"And if they do not all show up? What if not all of us are needed?" she asked.
"So much the better for us, then. If the full team takes to long to show up, they will start losing their friends. But I expect they will all show. There will be glory for all of you as they are finally destroyed."
He smiled. Soon, his beloved Zoicite would be fully avenged. Sailor Moon would finally be dead, and the guinzuishou theirs.
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The following day the Gambling King made good on his word; a moving van arrived with casino equipment, which was set up in the dojo. He was soon in business, catering mainly to the children of the neighborhood. Nabiki was actually working a table as a part-time employee, to Kasumi's surprise. Genma's work as a barker out front was a bit less surprising.
Soun soon arrived. "Gambling King! I challenge you to a match for the ownership of the Tendo Dojo!"
"It's your funeral," the King said. "What will you give me if you lose?"
Soun held up another hand-written note, with his signature and thumbprint. "No less... than the Tendo family's living room!"
They played Old Maid. Needless to say, Soun quickly found himself with the Joker. "Daddy!" Nabiki said in exasperation.
"Try again!" Soun insisted. "This time I wager the front porch!"
Nabiki began to worry as he lost more of the house: the kitchen, hallway, stairs, bathroom, Akane's room. When he tried to bet Nabiki's room, she knew it was time to intervene.
"Father, it's time to stop," Kasumi said, as Nabiki sat down to play. The Tendo patriarch was becoming a nervous wreck.
The King was not worried. "No matter who challenges me, it will be all the same," he said. "I'll take you for all you have."
Not this time. "You lose!" Nabiki said, as he drew the Joker. "Shall we go again?" The king sat in shock for a moment. "She... she beat me! She did what no one else has been able to..." He began to grumble in rage. "But then... she IS in high school!"
"Maybe he can't beat anyone who knows more than an elementary school student..." Kasumi said.
"That would fit the facts..." Akane noted.
"And what does that say about ME?" Soun cried.
"Should I spell it?" Kasumi asked.
"GAMBLING KING!" Ranma's voice, slightly muffled, now came from the doorway. "I challenge you!"
The family turned to see Ranma and Ukyo had arrived. Ranma's face was covered by a full Kabuki mask. The pair had several packs of cards with them.
The King, fearful of further defeats at Nabiki's hands, jumped at the chance to face someone he knew he could beat. "A mask? Hiding your face will not change your luck."
"Luck has nothing to do with it," Ranma said. "Let's play!"
The King soon found himself wishing he had faced Nabiki after all. "Akane's room! Bathroom! Stairs! Hallway! Living room! Porch!"
"Only the dojo left..." Akane said anxiously. "You can do it, Ranma!"
The King was fearful now; he struggled not to show it. "I am impressed," he said. "Your skills have improved over the years. But you will still not beat me. I will bet some other properties I have against the entire Tendo house."
"On one condition," he said.
"Name it," the King said uneasily.
Ranma began removing his shirt. "We do this stripped to the waist."
"If that will include removing your mask," the King replied.
Ranma took the mask off as well, handing it to Ukyo. The Gambling King was shocked to see his face covered with bandages. "You injured yourself...?"
"Trianing for a poker face," Ranma explained. "I wanted to make sure this was a fair game. To prove that I could beat you."
"You mean... I was your personal test...?" The King was now honestly impressed. "I'm sorry, Ranma Saotome!"
"Then you understand?"
"Here are two cards," the King said, holding up the Joker and the ace of spades. He rubbed them between his hands quickly to shuffle them, then placed them face down on the floor. "Fair and square. If you pick the Joker, you lose."
"Okay!" Ranma crouched in stance, left arm outstretched. "Here goes!" His hand darted down and up, coming away with a card. He showed it to all.
It was the ace.
"Ranma... SON!" Soun exclaimed. There was applause from the whole family and the children that had gathered to watch. The expression on the King's face was priceless, jaw dropped in shock.
"Looks like you lose, King," Ukyo said. "Now pack up and move out!"
"I'll be generous," Ranma said. "You can keep your other properties if you agree to leave us alone."
"Hey!" Nabiki said. "Can't we at least look at their books first?"
"Feh," Ranma said dismissively. "If you think ripping off a gambling den is dangerous, wait till you try RUNNING one."
The King padded out to the street, still dumbfounded. "I don't get it. I could have sworn I put down two Jokers..."
"Come along, children," Kasumi said. "The games are over here. We need our dojo back." The children complained, but went as asked.
The rest of the family went back into the house. Ranma noticed something as he walked in. "I'm gonna wash up," he said, leaping up to the second floor.
"That's funny," Akane wondered. "Who'd leave a window open up there at this time of year...?"
"What I'd like to know," Nabiki asked Ukyo, "is how he won? Did the King really play fair?"
"Of course not!" Ukyo said, showing Nabiki the inside of the Kabuki mask. There were a few extra cards in it. "Just sleight of hand. If the King was going to cheat, so were we."
Nabiki smiled. "But why not in girl form? Wouldn't he need to see the whole game?"
Ukyo shook her head. "You saw the King's face? He can't exactly hide his card hands, either. Ranchan didn't really do anything to injure his face, he just needed to hide his expressions."
"Ahhh. He saw the King's telltales."
"And he didn't want to have to be the Gambling Queen. Could have been another guy after his girl side."
Nabiki giggled at that, and headed up to her room.
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Haruka finished her stretching and looked down the railroad tracks.
She often used this stretch of intercity rail line for time trials: it was a relatively straight and flat two miles. The late autumn-early winter chill was invigorating. There was even a wind at her back, about twenty miles an hour according to the weather report; a light rain was expected later. It could be just another daily run.
But today would be a run like none before it. Not for her, not for anyone. She knew very well what Haruka Tenoh could do in the 1500 meters. Time to see what Sailor Uranus could do.
"URANUS PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!"
She set the stopwatch, put on her protective glasses, took her position, crouched down along the side of the tracks as if waiting for a gun. A horn sounded behind her. A rushing and ratcheting sound began to rise: wheels clattering, a large diesel engine running, the wind being dragged by hundreds of tons of steel. She wondered what the passengers would think, seeing a girl in outlandish costume running alongside at this hour.
In her mind, the gun went off. She started the watch and exploded off her mark.
The first push carried her an absurd distance - was it possible she had just become the first person to do the 100 meters in ONE JUMP? The second step was even more powerful. Left, right, left, right, bounding along the landscape like gravity had gotten weaker. Was this what the lunar astronauts had experienced?
The locomotive was now ahead of her, gaining on her. But not as fast as it should be. The wind at her back, so steady now, faded and died, then began to pick up from the front.
She was exhilarated. She had CAUGHT THE WIND!
She kept pressing, harder, faster, pushing off with ever greater force. The land began to speed by. The wind in her face fought back, ever harder, feeling more like she was on her bike going flat out. Her eyes darted to the train again. Was it...? Yes. It was inching back.
She was almost surprised to see her usual finish line coming up, a fence post at the foot of a hill. She hit the stopwatch as she ran through, leaping into the air and using the hill to burn off momentum.
It took some distance to come to a full stop. She saluted the gawking passengers in the cars roaring by. She looked back on the stretch she had just run.
*A real super hero! Faster than a speeding locomotive! I should try to leap a tall building...*
She checked the time on the watch. Fifty-seven seconds.
She fell to the ground, still huffing. Under a minute! And her form had been terrible. She wasn't used to this type of running, operating at this power level. She might yet shave seconds off her time. Perhaps the 5000 meters was a more appropriate distance for gauging this level of performance.
Too bad she would never get in the record books this way. She could imagine the IOC would declare magical enhancement no different from steroids. "WAAAYYY more powerful..." she breathed. "I'm as good as my machines now."
Better than any machine. Better than any youma... she hoped. She would have to see if the Dark Kingdom could find anything to match her.
No. Something that could come close, perhaps. But she could not let them match her. Not with the stakes being what they were. These powers weren't for her vanity. They were for the safety of the world.
She got up and headed for home, ready to tackle the entire Dark Kingdom if need be.
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A few days later, Ranma knocked on Nabiki's door. "I'm heading into town. I won't be back for a while. Maybe not ever."
Nabiki looked at him knowingly. "Gee, you don't have to make it sound so dramatic, Ranma. I'm sure you'll come through like you always do."
"Oh, I'll beat the snot out of the youma," he said. "The problem is you."
"Moi?" she asked mischievously. "What could I have done?"
"Don't play coy. You called my mother."
"I did. What's wrong with that? It's a little suspicious that you didn't do it before now, isn't it?"
"It's not time yet. We're both not ready. If she finds out about my curse, she's gonna freak."
"Yeah, well, I have a big problem with YOU. Your mother is going to be here but you don't want to see her. I've got a little secret for you: there are people here that no matter how hard they wish, can never see their mother again."
"Don't say I don't want to see her," Ranma said darkly. "No one wants to see her more than me. I just CAN'T. Not without..." He shook his head. "Better you hear it from her. I can MEET her, but we just gotta make sure she doesn't find out about the curse. Not till after I'm cured."
"Ranma..." Nabiki said after a few moments of silence, "I'm not going to try to make a profit off of this. Just... talk to her while she's still around."
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Kunzite watched from the security center of the store as his youma got into position. The actress hosting the karaoke competition was getting the crowd fired up. He looked through the camera views for signs of the Senshis' allies, who had no glamour to change their faces.
He was suspicious when he saw what looked like Sailor Moon herself, dressed in civilian clothes and escorting an aged woman on a staff. The blond hair gathered in two balls with streamers coming down from them was a dead giveaway. So, the Senshi knew about the ambush and was going to try to counter? Well, they would not find it so easy.
He looked through the other monitors, but found no conclusive matches, as expected; the other Senshi were not of distinctive appearance. No matter. They would reveal themselves to save their leader, and then they would find Kunzite had a few surprises of his own.
It was nearly time. He felt very cool, in spite of the risk - he had committed most of his available youma to this operation. It surely had to work.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Ranma-chan was getting annoyed. She could see very little of what happened a few days hence - other than that Happosai seemed to show up. Exactly where, and what he would do, were subject to his usual variability.
Nabiki was another annoyance for being uncooperative. It was now virtually certain she would explain Ranma's curse before learning how serious Mrs. Saotome would be about the seppuku contract. She would have to stay away from home a few weeks.
She focused on the battle before her. The Senshi were inside the store, ready for a cascade sequence battle: one youma appears, one Senshi counters, then dodges as the next youma appeared. They were outnumbered in the store, and Ukyo hadn't had enough trap material to delay all of the youma; it would be up to martial arts skills to delay them.
She found Shampoo and Cologne among the housewares. "Five minutes," she said in a low voice. "My staff is in place?"
"It's there," Cologne said. "Be careful with it. It's the last good one we have."
"Lady must have own staff," Shampoo guessed.
"Indeed," Cologne said. "I should wonder why it was not with the gear Luna had. Or why it was not simply attached to you, as the transformation pen was."
"Considering how she died," Ranma said, "I think it's a pretty safe bet the bad guys have it."
Cologne was, if anything, even more sober. "Then there's a chance they may use it against us?"
"They haven't yet," Ranma said. "Maybe they can't. But if they figure out a way ... I'll have to be prepared. Whatever that may take."
They parted ways, the Amazons moving in the direction of the stage where a karaoke contest was being hosted by some minor actress who Ranma had said would become a youma. Ranma left the store for a nearby building, where she found her silver-cored tungsten staff on the roof.
She checked her lines and sighted along the staff. Then opened her communicator - she, Haruka, and Michiru had gotten together with Luna to search the subspace pocket where the Senshi's gear had been stored. It had turned out the Outers had their own pocket, which they accessed after some amount of meditation.
"The sea is rising," Neptune said from her end.
"And the sky is growing dark," Uranus said, not referring to the clouds over their heads.
"The time is right," Ranma said, and closed the watch.
"PLUTO PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!"
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Ukyo stood in the lingerie, listening to the music from the contest and watching with one eye. Any second now...
Right on schedule, the audience began collapsing. She put earplugs in her ears, watching Shampoo and Cologne doing the same, and readied her spatulas. There, the position she had been told to watch was suddenly being occupied by a shopper come to gawk. She pulled out a radio transmitter and thumbed the button.
A series of explosions went off around the store. Several unsuspecting shoppers found themselves mired in batter and noodles. Human shoppers began to scream in terror and flee. In the noise and confusion, no one seemed to notice several figures in overlarge coats and hats staying where they were.
Ukyo moved to a large shelf on the wall, pulling her large spatula from behind it. She charged her mark, whacking her over the head.
"OW!" the woman said. She turned to look at her assailant. "You crazy girl! What do you think you're doing!"
Ukyo was suddenly doubtful. Had Ranma gotten the mark wrong? He never had before. She backpedaled. "Oh! I'm sorry! I thought you were someone else!"
"Sorry isn't good enough! I'll sue!" She got up and advanced on Ukyo, shouting an imaginative stream of insults and threats.
Ukyo shrank desperately away from the ranting woman. On the stage, the karaoke host's skin suddenly turned green and her hair flaming orange. She began singing something off-key into her amplifier mike.
A lightning bolt shot out from the apparel racks, destroying it, and continuing for a few seconds around the stage, trashing speakers and audio equipment. The youma didn't bother to go after Jupiter. Instead, a masculine voice called over the PA. "Troubleshooter 3! Respond!"
A shopper near Jupiter's position turned into a youma. Jupiter was already making evasive manoeuvers. Ukyo decided the woman still shouting insults at her was due to be shut up. "Pipe down!" she said, smashing the woman repeatedly over the head with her spatula.
The woman seemed unusually resilient. "That hurts, you know! I'll have you locked up so long -"
Ukyo threw several mini-spatulas at the woman's chest and neck. They dug into the flesh, then popped out. The wounds sealed quickly. "Bah," the youma said, ditching its human disguise. "This was getting boring anyways."
Ukyo led it on a chase through the apparel racks, which the youma quickly began knocking down to clear space. The announcer over the PA had gone crazy: "Troubleshooters one through six! Respond! Troubleshooter ten! Respond! All troubleshooters respond! ALL ACTIVATE!"
Ukyo smiled and continued to dodge the youma. She wondered what fun Ranma was having outside right now.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"WORLD SHAKING!" A youma barely had time to turn around before it was struck by a blazing golden ball and turned to dust.
Uranus opened her communicator watch. "Done with mine! Anyone need help?"
"I'm fine," Neptune reported.
A purple ball of energy shot over the rooftops from her left to her right, smashing through a large sign to kill the youma hiding on the other side. "Done," Pluto said. "Let's take this downtown."
Uranus went back to the roof access on her building and jumped down the stairwell several floors at a time. She literally jumped over the street, smashing through a window to get into the store where chaos now reigned.
There was a limit to how finely Ranma could choreograph the fight; in principle he could give instructions for where to look and move for the whole duration, but it would have overwhelmed them. From this point, she was to look around for whoever needed help. She ducked as some bladed weapon soared near her head and checked the floor.
Fog suddenly obscured her vision - only to be blown away by some sort of wind powers within seconds. She looked for the youma that had used them - "WORLD SHAKING!"
The youma crumbled to dust. She saw Neptune pick off another, then Pluto's shot crashed through no less than three. A glowing disc - Sailor Moon's tiara - began circling the floor, tagging four over the course to two orbits.
A few youma were still on the floor when a wave of dark energy erupted from the stage, knocking her and everyone else down. A man in austere gray uniform - Kunzite - appeared on the stage. He grabbed at 'Sailor Moon' - Shampoo - who was knocked down near the stage. "Give it up, Sailor Moon! Give me the guinzuishou and maybe I will allow you to live!"
Pluto had laid herself flat on the floor just before the wave hit; she popped up immediately, grabbed a fallen clothing rack, and leaped at Kunzite's back. The hit distracted him; the blinding flurry of punches that followed were even more effective. "KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
Uranus wondered if Ranma were getting a little to much into the Christmas spirit. She got up and prepared to fire her own attack as Shampoo struggled free of Kunzite's grip. Pluto leaped back and reached to recover her own staff from the ground. On Kunzite's other side Neptune was ready to fire as well.
They did not get the chance. Kunzite began radiating waves of dark energy again, keeping them going and pinning everyone to the floor as he addressed Shampoo. "Your tricks are futile! Call as many allies as you wish! They will not help you! Hand over the guinzuishou now or your friends will perish!"
Uranus struggled to rise against the pressure for what seemed like minutes. No one could get anywhere, least of all the fake Sailor Moon. Shampoo gritted her teeth and glared defiance at Kunzite, determined not to lose the battle of wills even if she could not answer his power directly.
A bright light erupted near the entrance to the store. A wave of power washed across the floor, pushing back against the darkness. Uranus found the pressure subsiding. She began to stand, moving around Kunzite toward Pluto. Neptune inched toward Pluto from the other side.
Kunzite's attention was now drawn to the light. He looked from the source to Shampoo and back again. "Ah. I see now. Another trick. Little good it did you! Now the true Sailor Moon is revealed! Now you will die!" He pressed his attack, focusing his energy on Sailor Moon, who had now transformed again into her princess dress.
The weakening of the pressure waves allowed all the others to stand. "We'll only get one shot at this!" Pluto said. "Let's do it!"
Everybody pounced at once. "FIRE SOUL!" "SUPREME THUNDER!" "CRESCENT BEAM!" "SHABON SPRAY!" "WORLD SHAKING!" "DEEP SUBMERGE!" "DEAD SCREAM!" "MOON HEALING ESCALATION!"
Kunzite was hit from all angles, but hardest from the back, where the Outers were clustered. He hit the floor, power visibly weakening. His face registered shock for an instant, then disgust. "So... you have learned to use the guinzuishou," he said, looking at Sailor Moon, "and you have more powerful Senshi with you. I will not underestimate you again." He teleported away.
Everyone gathered at the center of the store. Mercury checked the actress-turned-youma, now changed back after getting caught in the wash from Sailor Moon's cleansing. It was evident she would be all right.
Everyone else was on the lookout for the youma that had still been active at the time Kunzite had showed up. There was no sign of them now. "Where did they go?" Venus asked.
"I'm not reading anything," Mercury said. "I think they all left with Kunzite."
"I thought I saw one of them die from Sailor Moon's attack," Mars said. "I hope we got them all after all."
"I'd hate to have to hunt down rogue youma all week," Pluto said. "I'll keep on the lookout. Let's clear out." She motioned to the store entrance, where several news crews were getting footage of the battle.
They headed for the rooftops to escape, heading their separate ways.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Pluto detransformed on the way back to Nerima, then met up with Ukyo.
"What a mess," Ukyo said. "I bet Akane will be sore at missing the action."
"She'll have other things to worry about," Ranma-chan said. "My mother is visiting."
"Your mother? Did't you say she wasn't due for a while yet?"
"Nabiki's calling her in early. It's going to be very tricky. I have to control things, to make sure she doesn't find out about the curse yet."
"Are you going as a guy or a girl?"
Ranma considered that. "It might be safer if I meet her in girl form, and say I'm a cousin or something. I could see everything just before it happens. If I try to go as a guy, I'd want at least a day to figure everything out. It could be an awful lot of stuff to remember."
"I'll help! I can vouch for you!"
"Thanks, Ucchan. That'll be a big help..."
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Other than Nabiki, the Tendos were unaware of the events downtown. Even as the battle was ended, the doorbell at the Tendo home was ringing. "I'll get it!" Nabiki said.
Akane initially dismissed it as one of her sister's contacts from school. She became curious when Nabiki led a thirtysomething woman in kimono and carrying something long and wrapped in cloth into the living room.
Genma was playing shogi with Soun. He was not one to be polite, and did not want to give Soun the chance to rearrange pieces on the board during a distraction. This distraction, however, he could not ignore when she recognized him. "Husband! So it is true! Where is he? Where is my Ranma?"
Game suddenly forgotten, Genma cowered in fear. "I-I... think he's out on a training trip! Uh... let me go get him! It might only take a few days!" He darted out the side door. His wife followed him into the yard, but he disappeared over the rooftops, leaving her standing there frustrated.
Akane was at her side, looking in the direction Genma had fled. "Wait... you called him 'husband'? Then you would be Ranma's...?"
"Everyone," Nabiki announced, "I'd like you to meet Mrs. Saotome. Ranma's mother."
Soun was intrigued. "Really? Strange your husband hasn't mentioned you."
Mrs. Saotome sat down as Kasumi went to make some tea. "I'm not surprised. He was always embarrassed about me. But what of my son? Is Ranma really going to be back soon?"
"Well, he did go out on an errand, actually," Nabiki said, "something that might take a few days. Why? How long has it been since you last saw him?"
"Not since he was two years old..." she said wistfully. "He probably doesn't even remember me..."
"Oh, he's mentioned you," Kasumi said, returning with the tea, "but he said he wasn't ready to meet you yet. Or you weren't ready to meet him... one or the other ..."
"So... Mrs. Saotome ..." Soun said, "the whole time that Mr. Saotome and Ranma have been traveling, you've been home all alone...?"
"Yes. I was waiting at home... I was so heartbroken at losing my Ranma..." She explained about her husband taking their son, and her conditions for allowing it.
"Take... their own lives...?" Everyone stared in disbelief.
"For a long time Genma kept me posted on their travels. But suddenly, for some reason, he stopped writing... just when they were about to visit some 'magic springs' in China..."
The Tendos pondered this, knowing what it meant. "But Mrs. Saotome," Akane asked, "you wouldn't hold him to that, would you? Suicide is so... extreme!"
She replied by unwrapping the cloth covering of the object she carried. It was a sword, good steel. A family honor blade. She tried to draw it, only to throw it out onto the porch. "I'm so sorry!" she said. "I'm not good at handling this..."
She produced a written copy of the vow from her kimono. "I too come from a martial arts family... I know how sacred such vows are. Should it turn out that Ranma has not become a man among men, I shall humbly serve as his kaishaku, and then follow them to the grave by slitting my own throat with the same sword."
The atmosphere of the room had gotten gloomy. She tried to lighten the mood. "But why does it matter? I'm sure Ranma is as manly as can be!"
"Oh, every bit..." Soun said, with just a hint of sarcasm.
"But... when will I ever see my manly son?" Nodoka was now wistful. "I DO wish I could have seen him... even for just a moment..."
"Well," Nabiki said, "your husband and son are staying with us. But Ranma just went out on a training trip today, and your husband did just go to get him. As he said, it might take a few days..."
"But if Ranma isn't ready..." Kasumi sounded worried. It seemed clear to her that Ranma had reason to avoid her now.
"It doesn't matter if he is fully ready," Nodoka said. "I would like to see what progress he is making. If you don't mind, may I stay a few days? Just to see him?"
"Oh, w-we can't send you away this late!" Kasumi said. It was, indeed, now after dark.
There was a knock at the door. It was Ukyo and Ranma-chan. Kasumi greeted them. "Oh, Kuonji-san... and your friend..."
"Setsuna," Ranma-chan supplied.
"Ah, yes. We have another guest tonight. Ranma's mother is here!"
"I heard," Ukyo said. "I'd like to talk to her."
They headed into the living room and introduced herself. "Mrs. Saotome? I'm Ranma's fiancee, Ukyo Kuonji. This is a friend of mine..."
"You can just call me Setsuna."
"Fiancee? I thought one of these girls was his fiancee," Nodoka said.
"Well, that was your husband's doing. He sort of got Ranchan a lot of fiancees ..."
"A lot? Oh, yes! My son is so manly!" Nodoka seemed to be relieved. "You must know my son well. Tell me... in your eyes, is he manly?"
"Oh, of course! Very manly!"
"Well-groomed? Polite?"
"Uh... sure!"
"No more so than your own husband," Setsuna said. "He was the one who raised Ranma, after all."
"I see. What about his hobbies? What does he like to do?"
"Other than martial arts?" Akane asked.
"Well... there is his cross-dressing," Nabiki put in.
Sudden worry again. "Cross-dressing? That's not very manly..."
Setsuna shot her a death-glare. Then her face brightened again. "She likes to tease," she told Mrs. Saotome.
"Well, you're a known cross-dresser yourself, Kuonji-sanm" Nabiki countered. "It's no surprise with Ranma engaged to someone like you..."
"Back off," Ukyo said. "Or are you going to challenge me?"
"Why doesn't Ranma show up himself? He's got to be at your place." She looked intently at Ranma-chan.
"He is?" Nodoka said. "Shacking up? Well, that's manly..."
Ranma-chan sensed she needed to take control of the situation. "Look, he has a few problems right now. Sort of a phase he's going through... you're not ready for each other yet. He's told us about the contract you made with his father... but you can't pass judgement on him just now. It's too early." Her expression softened. "I know how hard this must be for you. It's hard on him too. But you've waited so long. Just a few more weeks and you can see him face to face."
Nodoka nodded. "I understand. Well, you can tell him I will be staying here waiting for him." She turned to Ukyo with a gleam in her eye. "And I can recommend some good marital aids for you to try..."
Ukyo and Ranma-chan both sweatdropped.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Beryl was incensed. "Almost two dozen youma killed, and for what? We still do not have the guinzuishou! And the Senshis' numbers continue to grow! What do you have to say for yourself, Kunzite?"
Kunzite bowed his head. "Forgive me, my queen. I had assumed there might be more Senshi than we had seen, but there was no way of knowing they would be so powerful."
She turned to his rival. "It seems you were right, Magnetite. There were more Senshi to reveal. Do you also know which of them is able to sense our plans as we make them?"
"Not AS we make them, my queen," Magnetite said, taking a deep breath. Time to lay his cards on the table. "BEFORE we make them. A precognitive."
He projected an image of recent battles, showing several members of the team together. The image focused on the one with the staff. "That one. She has not announced herself as the others do, but I have done some research, and found she is known as Sailor Pluto."
"Fascinating," Beryl said. "And how do you propose to fight such an opponent?"
"She has her weaknesses," Magnetite said. "She has other enemies than us. I have acquired the services of two of them. One has reported she is afraid of cats. So much so she cannot see events where they are present." He shifted the image to Happosai. "Another is this human. His abilities, in some way, are on a par with her power level. She cannot predict him. And he is welcomed in the home where she stays."
"Then you can attack her directly? And the other Senshi as well?"
"Better. Why fight on their ground when we are so much stronger on our own? I will force them to come here, where they cannot survive."
Beryl understood what he meant. "Excellent. You may proceed. This time, we will have the guinzuishou, and the Sailor Senshi's deaths!"
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Akane was a bit surprised to see Ranma at school. She walked straight up to him. "You ARE coming home with me today," she insisted. "You HAVE to let her meet you as a man."
"I want to," he said. "I think I can do it, if we keep cold water away from me. But things weren't as clear as I'd like last night."
"There's a chance Happosai may show up," Ukyo said.
"Where has he been?" Akane asked. "He's been away for a while, hasn't he?"
"He might be with the Dark Kingdom," Ranma said. "Even if he isn't, he won't care about my mom."
"Well, I'm sure you can dodge any spills. You have to be brave, Ranma. This is your mother."
"I shouldn't have to be brave for my MOTHER!" he shot back. "Damn Pop. Had to go make that contract..."
"Well, we can keep Happosai under control," Akane said. "Don't worry! I'm sure everything will run smoothly!"
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Around midday Nodoka was surprised by an uninvited guest around midday. Kasumi saw him land on the edge of the koi pond. "Oh! Grandfather Happosai! Welcome home! How was your trip?"
"Happosai!" Nodoka immediately headed for the living room. He was indeed there, in the yard, her husband's tyrannical mentor. "You! Because of you I have hardly seen my husband! Have you taken him back now?"
"Why, Nodoka, my dear! Fancy seeing you here. This is an unexpected bonus. Tell me... have you seen your son today?"
"Ranma is away for a while," Soun said, suspecting he was actually at school at this hour but knowing he should cover for the boy until he chose to show himself.
"Then... you haven't seen him either?" Nodoka asked.
"Well, I was training him... but the boy is hopeless. He wants to be too well-behaved. Maybe it's his being a-"
Soun immediately charged Happosai, intending to keep him dunked in the pond until drowned. Happosai simply leaped aside as the Tendo patriarch splashed into the pond.
"What's gotten into you? Finally getting some backbone?" He looked around. "What about your husband? Where has my Genma gone?"
"RIGHT HERE!" Genma's shout came from behind, his leap also aiming to hit Happosai. He had more luck than Soun, and both went into the pond. Much wrestling ensued.
Nodoka sighed. "It looks like they are back to their old tricks," she said.
The men of the house held up for a few minutes against their old master. In the end, the three of them broke apart, facing each other off in combat stances, as if taking a breather before renewing their struggle. "Something's gotten into you two," Happosai mused. "You aren't usually this aggressive. You must be hiding something."
"Oh, we're just glad to see you, master!" Genma said. "Let's show our appreciation again!"
They chased Happosai around the yard for a few more minutes, this time not able to lay hands on him. When they took another breather, Happosai made a gesture to the sky. "Well, a fine reception I get from my vacation!" he said. "I met some very nice people. I've even brought a few with me! Ladies! Come on down!"
Several women in skimpy outfits dropped from seemingly nowhere, landing around the yard and even in the house. Kasumi wondered about them. "Grandfather Happosai - were you in Hawaii or somewhere?"
"Oh, much better than that!" he said. "You should come and see for yourself! I've arranged an all-expenses-paid trip! Ladies, let's show them your home..."
The women all smiled, advancing on everyone in the home with outstretched arms.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"Where's Nabiki?" Akane wondered. "She wanted to be with us when we went home today."
"To keep an eye on Ranchan for herself?" Ukyo asked. "I think Kuno mentioned something about her being taken out of class by some counsellor or something. She hasn't been seen since then."
"Oh. Well, we should see her at home then." She grabbed Ranma's arm. "Come on, buster."
"Hey!" Ukyo objected. "Since when do you act like his girlfriend?"
"I AM NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND!" Akane yelled. "I just don't want to see him run off again."
"Oh, I ain't running off," Ranma said. "I want to see this through myself."
Things remained tense between Akane and Ukyo as they escorted Ranma home. Ranma, unusually, made no attempt to break for it. He seemed completely stoic, ready to face whatever came.
"Tadaima! Mrs. Saotome? Ranma's here!" She looked around the house. No one in the kitchen, living room, laundry, bathroom, upstairs...
"Maybe they went shopping," Ukyo suggested after they had searched the whole house.
"But Dad usually wouldn't go with them," Akane said. "And they didn't even leave a note..."
"Something doesn't feel right..." Ranma said uneasily. "Like someone was here. Someone evil..."
"Happosai?" Ukyo asked. "Could he have come back already?"
The TV suddenly turned on of its own accord. They were all startled. "Wha-? Ranchan, did you do that?" But Ranma shook his head.
The picture brightened, showing a man with dark hair and eyes in Dark Kingdom officer's uniform. "Ah, you are home at last, allies of the Sailor Senshi."
They were suddenly on their guard. "The Dark Kingdom!"
The man gave a low laugh. "Yes. My name is Magnetite, in case your friend Sailor Pluto hasn't told you. I would suggest you call your Senshi friends and tell them we have some new guests."
"You MONSTERS!" Ranma shouted. "Leave them out of this! They have nothing to do with the Senshi!"
"There are no innocents or civilians in our fight," Magnetite said. "This is total war. All of you humans will have to join us or die. Your friends and family who lived here will get the opportunity a little sooner than most people." The screen showed an image of Soun, Kasumi, Nabiki, Genma, and Nodoka in some sort of beds with dark energies washing over them.
"Fight me!" Ranma said. "I challenge you! Tell me where to meet you and I'll fight you for them!"
"Oh, your challenge is accepted. As to where to go... I do suggest you ask Sailor Pluto. She should have all the answers. She knows where all this will end." The TV suddenly turned off.
Ranma made a fist, battle aura rising. "Damn him... it must have been Happosai! He must have led them here!"
"What are we going to do, Ranma? The bad guys have got them! We have to get them back!" Akane was frantic. Her family was at risk. No martial arts opponent would be so cowardly to use someone's family to get to her or Ranma. This was a level of ruthlessness she had never encountered before.
"What can we do?" Ranma said. "We have to get everyone together and go after them!"
"But he mentioned Sailor Pluto!" Ukyo said. "He said she would know where this would all lead! He must know about your power! He'll be prepared!"
Ranma was suddenly subdued. "That's right..." He pondered the situation for a few moments. "No! We have no time anymore! We have to finish this now!" He looked to both of them. "This will have to be the final showdown. There's no time for fear or doubts. It doesn't matter if they know we're coming. We're going to beat them no matter what!"
A dark look came over him. "Beat them... or die trying."
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
AN: Next one may take even longer to finish. There's a great potential that Kunzite's 'Dimension of Random Time' attack can be used for sending the Senshi to various anime worlds for up to a few months on end. This would backfire horribly on him, of course. Usagi showing up with her Eternal power-up... or Lina Inverse coming back with them, using a Dragon Slave to clean up the youma armies... so many possibilities...