Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, though I'd figure that that's a given. I also don't own Sailor moon, though if you thought I did you have mental problems. As for the many other series I've crossed with, I don't own those either.
Nephrite gazed into the astronomical map projected across the ceiling of the large mansion he stood within. This was his domain. The conduit between the heavens and the earth, a means of contacting the stars. This is where the General spent the majority of his time as of late, trying to develop a new plan.
"Jadeite was a fool. His pride got in the way of his mission. He wanted to destroy the Senshi more than he wanted to collect energy, thus all his plans failed." Nephrite was looking at a map of Japan he had placed on the wall. Next to it was a map of Tokyo, showing all the different districts. Upon it he had placed a large number of tacks, each one representing a Senshi sighting.
"Jadeite localized all his operations here, in the Nerima district, where the majority of Senshi sightings have been found. There are also a few in the districts directly connecting to Nerima, but the further one gets from there, the less frequent it becomes. Because of this, I have reason to believe the Senshi are based in Nerima." Nephrite was talking to himself, as no one else was in the room to hear this briefing. However, he found it easier to think when he did it aloud, and there was no one to disturb him here.
"From what the stars have told me, there are potential targets all throughout Japan. If I strike somewhere further from Nerima, I have a greater chance of success." Nephrite was grinning now. Now all he needed to do was choose a target, and he'd be set.
Bishonen Senshi Sailor Moon
Chapter 5
Ryoga's Vacation
Amawa sighed a bit to himself and looked at his watch. He had spent a lot of time debating with himself before finally deciding to take a chance on the T-shirt and shorts. It was either this or come to the interview as a woman, and he'd rather avoid that at all costs.
"I hope this principal isn't the uptight type." Amawa sighed again before walking into the school building. He had already steeled his resolve to come here, he wasn't going to back down now!
"Excuse me, do you know where the principal's office is?" Amawa asked, having stopped a teacher walking through the hall.
"I'm sorry, I don't know where it is." The elderly man responded. He seemed generally at a loss.
"Oh, are you new here as well?" Well, at least he wasn't the only new teacher around.
"No, I've been here for six years." Amawa face faulted at that.
"S...Six years? And you don't know where the principal's office is?" What was with this guy, was he senile? How could he not know where the principal was after six years?
"Oh yes. The principal is a bit of a loon, you see. He moves his office around constantly. A while back, it was in the basement. But then I heard he moved it to the roof. Oh, just last week he was in the janitor's closet. You could look there, if you want."
"A...loon...you say?" Amawa asked nervously. That certainly didn't sound good...
"Yes, quite eccentric. He's an obsessive fan of Hawaiian culture. Even styles his hair to look like a palm tree." Amawa was dreading the meeting with this principal the more he heard about him. At least the Hawaiian T-shirt and shorts he was wearing would be welcomed...
"Well, if you really want to talk with the principal, you could speak to the vice principal. She should know where he is. Her office is on the fifth floor." Amawa thanked the aging teacher and went on his way. This was starting to sound like it was more trouble than it was worth.
"Personally, I think Mars is the best. Did you see the way she was fighting that youma yesterday?"
"Mars? No way, Mercury is definitely better! Weren't you at the carnival?"
"Mars did some damage at the carnival too. She torched that crazy guy."
"Yeah, along with the rest of the carnival. If it wasn't for Mercury, it would have burnt to the ground."
Ranma groaned as he listened to the two girls go back and forth. He was leaning back in his seat, balancing a pen on his nose while trying to stay on two legs. How the hell did he get dragged into this stupid discussion anyway?
'Oh yeah, Nabiki.' Ranma thought. She had been on his case all week. For some reason, she was out to get him recently. So when Yuka and Sayuri went to her for information on the sailor Senshi, she of course directed the two to Ranma.
'Damn Nabiki. I nearly had a heart attack when they asked me who the Senshi were.' Ranma thought, still zoning out the discussion between the two. They had luckily been too busy discussing amongst themselves to ask him anything.
"Hey Ranma, what do you think?" One of the two suddenly asked him, causing Ranma to fall over.
"Eh, what?" He got back to his feet and picked his chair up, seeing Akane's two friends looking at him curiously.
"Which Sailor Senshi do you think is the coolest?" Sayuri asked as Ranma sat back down.
"Sailor Moon, no contest. The other two can't even compare to her." Ranma bragged. Sayuri rolled her eyes and Yuka scoffed; both gestures feeling like knives in Ranma's back.
"Oh Come on, Sailor moon is lame." Ranma flinched at Sayuri's words.
"Yeah. Even Mars is better than her." Yuka's comment made Ranma wince as if he'd been slapped.
"She didn't even show up to fight that monster from yesterday." Another wince.
"And Mercury did most of the work at the carnival." Ranma's ego was reeling at this point.
"Mars' magic attack is much cooler too." Sayuri went for a low blow. Ranma's ego was on the ropes now. Everything was becoming a blur.
"Besides, she isn't even all that good looking. Both Mercury and Mars have her beat there." And Ranma's Ego takes a Haymaker to the face! It's all over folks, Ranma's Ego is down! The ref has already started the countdown!
"That's a lie!" Ranma suddenly shouted, slapping the desk with both hands. "Moon was the first one! The other two are just her lackeys. She's a way better fighter than both of them combined. Mercury's magic is so lame she can't even kill a youma on her own and Mars burns everything with hers. Hell, she's a Pyromaniac!" Ranma was red faced from annoyance and from shouting, but he was starting to calm down. Both girls looked at him a little surprised, but seemed to be accepting what he said.
"You do have a point." Ranma's Ego is back on its feet folks! I don't believe it!
"However, I still think she looks stupid in her outfit. Mercury and Mars fill it out much better." The Ego is down again! He didn't see that left hook coming! Oh the humanity!
"Oh come on, Moon is way cuter than the other two. She's way more beautiful, and she's got bigger breasts to boot." Ranma boasted, closing his eyes as if he were trying to picture her in his mind.
"There's Akane..." Sayuri began, but was cut off by Ranma.
"Yeah right, Moon is way sexier than that uncute tomboy." Ranma suddenly blurted out.
"No, I didn't mean..."
"She's built like a marshmallow compared to Sailor Moon." Ranma opened his eyes as he said this, starting to gesture with his hands.
"Ranma, I..." Sayuri tried to speak again, but Ranma was on a roll.
"Sailor Moon has Akane beat in every way. She's cuter, smarter, better at martial arts. Hell, Akane's such a gorilla that she doesn't even hold a candle to Sailor Moon." Ranma looked like he was trying not to laugh as he spoke. He was having such fun, he almost didn't notice the way the room was getting hotter. Kinda funny that it was doing that. Sayuri looked like a deer staring down an oncoming train, and Yuka had a facial expression on par with The Scream.
"What's with you two?" Ranma asked, ignorant of the situation.
"Rannnnmaaaa..." Ranma's blood honestly turned to ice and started flowing backwards when he heard the inhuman growl that had just spoken his name. Every hair on his body stood on end and a good portion of it turned gray in that instant. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he just lost 10 years off his life from the amount of fright that just went through him.
"She's...right behind me...isn't she?" Ranma asked, seeing Sayuri and Yuki nod their head's slowly as they ever so subtly starting inching away from Ranma. For his part, Ranma did manage a sigh before the blow came.
"Ah, so you mus' be da brodda dat wan' da job as gym teacha, ya?" Amawa's eye was twitching as he sat across from the principal. This man was...unbelievable. The mental picture he had from what the old teacher had told him didn't compare at all to the real deal. And the way he talked...
'How does a native Japanese man have such a thick Hawaiian accent? It makes no sense.' Amawa thought to himself.
"So, do you be havin' any experience?" He asked, still in a heavy accent. That accent was starting to annoy him.
"Uh, yes. I recently graduated from college and I've worked a few months at Seito Sannomiya." The principal raised an eyebrow at Amawa's answer.
"Seito Sannomiya? Dat's a waihine school. Dey don' hire no brodda's der." The principal answered, a grim frown on his face that was slowing turning into a smirk. "Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Yo dat brodda dat tinks he's a sista! Amawa Hibiki, ya?" Amawa sighed. Great. He had a reputation.
"Yes, I'm Amawa Hibiki, but all that stuff with Seito Sannomiya was a big misunderstanding." The principal was looking at him with an eyebrow raised again. It seems he was considering Amawa's remark. Either that, or he was thinking about pineapples. There did seem to be an awful lot of pineapples lying around in his office.
"Misundastandin'?" The principal muttered to himself, getting out of his chair and facing the window.
Splash!
"Cough. Cough. What the hell..." Amawa brushed the water out of her eyes and coughed up a bit of the liquid that had flown into her nostrils and down her throat. What was the principal thinking, throwing water in her face like that?
"Ah! So dat's what cha meant! You got da same problem as Ranma Saotome!" Principal Kuno laughed. He stopped suddenly, a mischievous look crossing his face suddenly.
"Dis is perfect, yeah? You kin' teach da broddas as a brodda, an' da sistas as a sista!" The principal laughed, sitting back in his chair. "You're hired! Now, I jus' goan' git' a keiki to show you around da campus, yeah?" Right at that moment, the floor shuddered as Ranma shot through it, hitting the ceiling with enough force to crack the sheet rock before falling back down and landing on the floor, near the hole he entered through.
"Ah, Ranma Saotome, perfect timing keiki! You kin' escort da new teacha around campus, since you injured da last one." The principal said. Ranma groaned and got to his feet, complaining to himself about uncute fiancées.
"Yeah, sure." He mumbled. Man, Akane had really clobbered him. He just took the express route up to the fifth floor.
"Say..." Amawa spoke up, "Since I'm technically working two jobs, can I get two paychecks?"
"HA HA HA! You funny, yeah?" The principal laughed, slapping his desk a few times. Then, without warning, he sobered up and glared at Amawa from behind his sunglasses, frowning angrily. "Get the hell out of my office."
Ryoga grunted with effort as he continued his exercise, moving through his backyard as swiftly and efficiently as he could. The weather wasn't exactly warm, however the intense activity had already worked him up into a sweat. His shirt had already been discarded and the undershirt he was wearing was rapidly becoming damper by the minute. Pretty soon, He'd probably just toss that, too.
Though his body vigorously went through the movements, his mind was wandering to other topics. He had had the dream again last night, which only annoyed him even more. There was something about it that just felt weird about it. Out of all the dreams he could remember having in the past week, that dream was always the most vivid.
Ryoga leapt into a flip, twisting around in midair and bringing his weapon to bear against the ground. He had lost his umbrella again, so he was improvising with an old iron pole he had found in the basement. With sweat falling down his back like a river, Ryoga continued to fight his shadow. He had the sudden urge to practice shortly after waking up that morning, realizing that he had been forgoing his training in favor of Tetris. He was making up for that mistake now, pushing himself as far as his body would allow, then stepping over that line and going even farther. He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been training, but it had to be several hours, considering how high the sun already was.
Ryoga dodged another blow from the nonexistent opponent, spinning into devastating backslash with the iron pole, putting all the strength he had behind that single blow. Breathing heavily, Ryoga lowered his arm and brushed the sweat off his face with his other hand. At least his bandana had done its job of keeping the sweat out of his eyes.
Ryoga heard clapping and turned around, seeing Konatsu sitting on the barrier wall. He almost choked on his own spit when he saw what she was wearing. It looked like it had once been a kunoichi outfit she usually wore, only altered to be a million times more risqué. The top had been modified to show off some of Konatsu's cleavage while the sleeves and pants were totally removed. She still sported her ninja arm guards and wrappings and it appeared she was still wearing a fishnet shirt underneath her garments. She was also now sporting thigh high white stockings as well as her usual shin wraps and sandals. She now wore a skirt instead of pants, however it was cut up to her waist on both sides. The whole outfit was red and white, and Ryoga was pretty sure her panties were the same. She was sitting in such a way that he could barely see them. Not that he was looking, or anything.
"Why is your nose bleeding?" Konatsu asked, causing Ryoga to blush and turn away from the kunoichi, wiping his nose.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" He lied. "What are you doing here, anyway?" Apparently, Konatsu had decided to throw all caution to the wind and let the entire damn world know he was now all woman. Not even the greatest of cross dressers could have pulled off that outfit. He briefly wondered how the hell Konatsu had gotten out of the Ucchan's without Ukyo noticing her obvious gender.
"Well, I was trying on this outfit and Ukyo walked in. I'm pretty sure she knows I'm a woman now, considering she screamed and threw me out the window." Konatsu explained, hoping off the wall and stretching a bit. "I figured I should let her cool off for A while, and I have no where else to go." Well, that explained it. Konatsu didn't make it out without Ukyo noticing. So much for that. Ryoga peeled his undershirt off and tossed it onto the back porch with the rest of his things, switching the iron pole to his off-hand in the process. His right arm felt numb from the workout, but he hadn't been using his left much.
"I'm surprised you aren't playing Tetris." Konatsu spoke up, apparently not liking the awkward silence.
"I beat it." Ryoga stretched a little before getting back into his exercise, attacking and defending against an invisible opponent with the iron pole.
"You beat Tetris?" Konatsu asked. Ryoga had no response. He was too engrossed in what he was doing. Konatsu wasn't very experienced in video games. In fact, she'd never really had the chance to play one. Her stepsisters played a lot of them though, and from what she could remember, Tetris wasn't the kind of game that was beatable.
Konatsu moved out of the yard and towards the house. She hated being bored. Konatsu wasn't accustomed to boredom. When you're raised as a personal slave to your evil siblings, you always have something to do. The kunoichi leaned against the wall of the house, watching Ryoga perform his exercise. That kept her busy for a little while, at least. There was something about the way the sweat was trailing across his firm, well sculpted abdomen that Konatsu found almost hypnotic. And his hard, muscular arms would catch her eye as he moved and struck with precision. Since when had Ryoga looked so...appealing?
Konatsu was fidgeting now, the annoyance of boredom setting in fully. Just standing there wasn't working, she had to do something.
"Want to spar, Ryoga?" Stopping in mid swing, Ryoga turned to see Konatsu was already coming at him with clear intent to attack. He didn't mind much. Fighting a real person was always better than fighting no one.
Ukyo was in the middle of cooking up a storm, lost entirely to her work as she mixed ingredients into culinary art. Cooking was the only constant in Ukyo's life. Cooking never changed, it didn't differ and it never strayed from the expected. With cooking, Ukyo could relax her nerves and focus her mind, confident in her skills to take her where she needed to go. It cleared her mind, helped her think. While most martial artists would likely practice a kata or meditate, Ukyo would cook. It just worked so much better for her.
Due to recent events, she had a lot to think about. The most important thing was Konatsu, and what she had seen the kunoichi doing earlier that day. Now, Konatsu had always had a surprisingly girly figure for a boy. So much so, that from behind he could pass for female, even when wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. He could pull off a variety of female clothes that would be impossible for the typical cross dresser. Not even Tsubasa could pull off some of the outfits Ukyo had seen Konatsu wearing. Even Konatsu had his limits though. And there were just some things that a man just can't manage.
'He had cleavage for god sakes...' Ukyo thought to herself, pouring another spoonful of batter onto the grill. Cleavage was not the kind of thing that could be faked. Not even fake breasts could pull off the effect. You either had it, or you didn't. Apparently, Konatsu had it. And that was definitely a new addition.
'I don't know why I'm getting so worked up over this. Ranma magically turns into a girl all the time. So why should it be any different with Konatsu?' Ukyo thought. Why was it so disturbing to see Konatsu as a girl and perfectly okay with Ranma? The only reason she could think of was because Ranma didn't like it. Konatsu clearly did.
"Well, to be fair, if I had seen Ranma dressed like that, I'd probably have punted him out the window too..." Ukyo muttered to herself. A few seconds later, the door of the Ucchan's opened, revealing Ranma himself. 'well, speak of the devil...'
"Hi, Ranchan. Can I get you anything?" Ukyo asks enthusiastically, only to see Ranma's sullen face in response.
"Sure, Ucchan. I'll take a seaweed and pork." Ranma responded a little half heartedly. He wasn't really in the mood to talk. He was just hungry.
"Something wrong? You look like something's bothering you." Ukyo said with concern. Ranma looked up at her for a second, noticing that Ukyo looked pretty bothered herself.
"Yeah, so do you. Did something happen?" Ranma replied.
"I asked you first." Ukyo insisted, not wanting Ranma to change the subject.
"I'll only tell you if you tell me." Ranma replied, intent on doing just that.
"Alright, fine. But you're still going first." Ukyo kept cooking Ranma's okonomiyaki while the pigtailed boy sighed a bit. Great. He had been hoping to avoid the conversation completely. This was like asking for trouble...
"Shampoo refuses to talk to me. I tried to go into the Nekohanten and she kicked me in the face." Ranma said. Huh, so that's why Ranma's forehead was discolored. Ukyo had thought it looked kinda like a footprint.
"Why would she do something like that?" Ukyo asked, genuinely curious. She was also suspicious, since anything involving her Ranma and Shampoo couldn't be good.
"Er...Hell if I know. How about you? What's bothering you?" Ranma quickly changed the subject. He wasn't stupid enough to tell Ukyo he ditched Shampoo in the middle of a date. She'd skin him alive.
"Well, this actually might surprise you a bit." Ukyo said. Ranma resisted the urge to scoff. Nothing surprised him. "I walked into Konatsu's room and saw him changing. And...well..." Ok, that was mildly surprising. "He's a girl, Ranma." Actually, that should be really surprising. He'd better fake it, or she'd be suspicious.
"GASP!" Ranma gasped loudly, grabbing his chest and falling out of his seat.
Ukyo blinked a few times before leveling a half lidded glare at Ranma. "Ranma..." Ukyo began, pointing at the pigtailed boy flailing around on the ground. "...Why are you pretending to have a seizure?" Uh oh, she saw through his brilliant theatrics.
"Er...I was aiming for heart attack, actually..." Ranma muttered, stopping his random flailing and getting back to his feet. Ukyo was looking at him suspiciously. Damn it!
"You know what happened to Konatsu! You jerk, fess up!" Ukyo shouted. Great, now he was going to have to explain what happened. How the hell was he going to get out of this one?
"Sorry Ukyo, I can't talk. Too busy eating." Ranma suddenly said, snatching the okonomiyaki off the grill and taking a sizable bite out of it.
"That's not finished yet, Ranma." Ukyo deadpanned, watching batter drip out of Ranma's mouth as he shoved the partially liquid okonomiyaki into his mouth.
"Thass awrigh. I plefew it siss ayy..." Ranma garbled out, power housing the disgusting, partially cooked piece of raw batter. Oh man, this tasted way worse than he thought it would.
"That's alright. I'll wait for you to finish before you explain yourself." Ukyo said simply, watching Ranma's eye twitch a few times. He was already resisting the urge to gag, now he had to eat slowly to give himself time to think. Great.
"Take your time, Ranma. Really, I can wait all day." Ukyo sat down on a stool and crossed her legs, watching Ranma chew the leaking chunk of batter intently. He glared at her before deciding to get it over with and just swallow the damn thing, happy it was over with. His stomach was protesting the intrusion. Oh shit, that wasn't good. His body, after being succumbed to so many bouts of Akane's cooking, had long since become accustomed to food poisoning. This was a play it had performed so often it had practically become a muscle memory. Air raid sirens went off in his intestines as everything moved into position. The stomach and esophagus started trading messages back and forth, quickly coming to an agreement on a clear course of action. Passageways became aligned, targets acquired. Somewhere in his gut, a cell was giving the thumbs up to its superior before hitting a large button labeled 'launch.'
Ranma gagged and bent over. Almost as quickly as it had gone down, the uncooked okonomiyaki came right back out and spilled all over Ukyo's floor. Huh, it actually tasted a little better coming up than going down. Probably had something to do with that soda he had during lunch.
"You're cleaning that up, you know." Ukyo said simply, pointing towards a mop and bucket she had leaning against a back wall. Ranma just looked at her and sighed, spitting a few times to get the bile out of his mouth before making a move for the mop.
Nephrite grinned to himself as he spotted his latest target. This was perfect. He was hardly the most powerful sources of human energy, but stealth was what Nephrite needed right now, not high turn outs. This boy was one of the first he had found that were far enough away from Nerima to drop the chances of Senshi interference to a minimum. Without the Senshi getting in the way, his energy was ripe for the picking. It didn't matter that he wasn't particularly powerful, it'd be enough to please Queen Beryl.
The boy in question was currently performing vertical push-ups one handed on a fence top. With his feet pointing into the air and his left hand folded firmly behind his back, He continuously lowered himself towards the fence until his nose practically touched the bar before pushing himself back up with only his right arm. He had short yellowish orange hair and was wearing the pants and shirt of his school uniform, his jacket currently resting on the side of a nearby bench.
Nephrite smirked before leaping towards the fence, landing on it with ease and shaking it just enough to surprise the boy.
"Hey, watch it!" He muttered, glancing up at the man briefly before returning to his exercise. The last thing he needed was to fall off the fence and land on his head.
"My apologies." Nephrite said simply, smirking down at the boy. "You are Seiji Sawamura, are you not?" Seiji stopped his exercise briefly, once again glancing up at Nephrite suspiciously.
"Who wants to know?" Seiji asked, pushing off the fence with his hand with enough force to get him airborne. With an awkward twist, Seiji was right side up and once again lands on the fence, briefly losing his balance and nearly falling off.
"My name is Masato Sanjoin. I'm just an eccentric martial arts coach." Nephrite remarked, watching Seiji wobble on the fence. "I had heard rumors of a great fighter in this area named Seiji Sawamura, but now I see you're just a delinquent brawler." Seiji growled a bit at that and clenched his fists.
"We'll see about that!" He shouted, launching a left punch towards Nephrite's face. The dark general caught the fist in one hand, raising an eyebrow slightly as he felt the impact. Nephrite didn't waste an instant to counter attack, taking Seiji's legs out from under him with a sweep before nailing him in the chest with a punch backed by his dark powers. Seiji gasped out in pain as he was hurled from the fence, landing roughly on the dirt ground several meters away. He clutched his chest in pain, glaring angrily at Nephrite from his position on the ground.
"You have potential, Sawamura-san, but you have much to learn." Nephrite chided, jumping to the ground and reaching for Seiji's jacket.
'my faithful youma...' Nephrite thought, willing his magic into the garment, 'possess the holder of this object and steal their energy!' a symbol appeared on the jacket suddenly before vanishing. As if nothing happened, Nephrite picked up the jacket and approached Seiji, who was just now getting to his feet.
"You have a lot of power behind your punches, however you aren't utilizing them properly. You need to control the path of your punch so that all your strength is transferred into your opponent, instead of wasting energy." As Nephrite finished speaking, he offered the jacket to Seiji.
"Seiji-kun!" A nearby female voice briefly distracts both Nephrite and Seiji, stopping the high school student before he could grab his jacket.
"Ah, Midori! What are you doing here?" Seiji asked, greeting the green haired girl as she arrived. Just as she got close to the two of them, a rock seemed to catch her foot, causing her to trip straight into Nephrite and send both of them to the ground.
"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Midori suddenly said, getting back to her feet and bowing to Nephrite, who was still getting back up. Midori moved towards the jacket suddenly, grabbing it before he could stop her. Nephrite silently cursed to himself as he saw the girl go rigid, signifying that she had been possessed.
'Foolish girl! I've no use for your energy!' Nephrite thought, getting back to his feet angrily.
"Oi, Midori. Are you alright? Midori?" Seiji said, looking at his girlfriend curiously. She looked disturbed, as if she had been electrocuted or something.
"It's too late now. Go, Clokise!" Nephrite shouted. Midori suddenly started screaming. A dark shadow appeared from the jacket and Midori was cast in a dark light, all her energy being rapidly depleted.
"Midori!" Seiji shouted, watching in horror as a cloaked female youma materialized over the body of his downed girlfriend. Seiji turned on Nephrite with a glare, clearly pissed by this turn of events.
"Masato Sanjoin...What did you do to Midori?" Seiji growled out, his knuckles turning white. Nephrite merely chuckled, smirking at Seiji evilly.
"I'm afraid you have other problems to attend to. Clokise, Steal this boy's energy!" Nephrite commanded.
"Yes, master!" The youma answered, rushing forward suddenly and burying her fist into Seiji's gut. The boy grunted as he was tossed back from the impact, hitting the ground heavily once again. Seiji growled a little as he got to his feet, spotting the unmoving body of Midori lying behind the Youma.
"You want my energy?" Seiji grunted, getting to his feet and clenching his fists. "You're going to have to take it then!" With that, he was off like a bullet, rushing the Youma with his left fist cocked back and ready to punch.
After the morning workout with Konatsu, Ryoga had set out towards the Tendo Dojo, deciding it was about time he get even with Ranma for infecting him with those stupid dreams. Of course, he had promptly gotten lost, leaving him to his aimless meandering through yet another wooded area. In his hands was the Mercury computer, however for once he wasn't playing Tetris. He had been fiddling with it all day, trying to see what else it was capable of that wasn't Tetris. After playing Breakout and Pong for a few hours he returned to fiddling with the more useful features. So far, he'd been playing around with the mapping system for the better part of the day.
"Stupid thing can't give directions worth a damn..." Ryoga muttered, walking down a new path only to have the computer beep once again, signifying that it had to recalibrate. It could never give him directions for more than a few moments before it said it had to recalibrate. It was becoming incredibly annoying. It finished its calibration and told him to take a left, at which point Ryoga immediately turned right.
A new beeping noise suddenly went off, sounding suspiciously like a victory tune. "That's new." Ryoga muttered, looking at the screen.
"Transportation Method Identified." The computer suddenly said, the map it had previously been showing replaced by a picture of a small humanoid woman in a blue lab coat giving him a thumbs up. Ryoga scratched his head at this, not entirely sure what to make of it. Transportation method? It took it this long to figure out he was walking?
"Updating Mapping System And Directional Protocol. Please Wait..." The computer spoke again, now showing the same woman tapping her foot and glaring at her watch. There was also a progress bar directly below the woman, which was slowly moving from the left side of the screen to the right side. With an audible 'ding,' the bar finished loading, and the small woman was once again giving Ryoga a thumbs up.
"Update Completed. Mapping System Now Configured To Armorian Terranautic Translocation." The computer said before the screen went blank. Ryoga was now downright confused. He had no freaking clue what that was supposed to mean, but it sure sounded confusing. The screen suddenly lit up again, showing a simple text box.
'Where do you want to go today?' it read, followed by instructions telling Ryoga to speak his destination out loud. He blinked a few times before shrugging, figuring he might as well try it out.
"Tendo Dojo." Ryoga said aloud, triggering the computer again as the text box was once again replaced by the woman tapping her foot and watching her clock. The words 'please wait while locating destination' were scrolling across the top of the screen. An error beep suddenly sounded, showing the lab coated woman slumped in a chair and crying into her arms.
"252 Locations Found. Insufficient Information. Please Give A More Specific Location In The Following Format: Location, City, Country, Continent, Planet, Star System, Galaxy." Ryoga blinked. He then blinked again. After that, he reconsidered what he just heard, making sure he understood that correctly.
"Er...Tendo Dojo, Nerima, Japan, Honshu, Earth, Sol, Milky Way?" Ryoga muttered, glad he had paid attention in science class those few days he had shown up. Good thing for him they were discussing astronomy. The computer thought for about a split second before he was once again greeted by a woman giving him a thumbs up. With that, the woman disappeared, being replaced by a symbol so bizarre that Ryoga's eyes crossed just by looking at it. He could only assume it was an arrow, however he couldn't tell for the life of him what direction it was pointing at. At the top of the screen he saw the words "ETA: 2:50:35.2301" with the last digits rapidly increasing. Beneath the symbol he saw a tab labeled 'options' and moved the cursor to click it.
"Let's see...Ah, audio instructions. I'll turn that on." Ryoga muttered, choosing the option and going back to the map. The symbol was still there, however the computer was now speaking as well.
"Turn Double-Left Back In Five Meters." The computer said. Ryoga blinked again.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" Ryoga shouted in frustration. That arguably made less sense than the mind boggling symbol. Great, he somehow managed to break the mercury computer so now it only gave directions in gibberish. Sighing in defeat, Ryoga started walking, figuring he'd follow the incomprehensible directions as best he could. Surprisingly enough, that was easier than Ryoga had thought. The ETA was counting down now, and for the first time in his entire life he actually felt like he knew where he was going.
"Youma Activity Detected. Redirecting." The computer suddenly said. The ETA and direction changed dramatically and Ryoga began to follow the new directions, despite not really knowing what the hell they meant.
"Continue Up-North For 17 Meters And Turn Right-Down Break. ETA Two Minutes." The computer said and Ryoga followed. After exactly two minutes, the forest cleared and Ryoga found himself standing in the middle of a park. Directly in front of him was a cloaked youma fighting a blonde teenager. From the looks of it, the blonde boy was on the ropes. The cloaked Youma was literally running circles around him.
"I can't believe those directions actually worked..." Ryoga muttered. He had more important things to deal with though.
"Damn it, stand still!" The blonde screamed, punching at the youma again, only to have it duck the blow and plow straight into his sternum with a fierce punch. Seiji was sent flying yet again, skidding across the dirt like a rag doll. Ryoga wasted no time as he tore across the field, nailing the surprised Youma across the cheek with a vicious right hook. The Youma was blown clear off its feet from the punch, landing roughly and rolling back into a ready position.
"You alright?" Ryoga asked, turning towards the blonde. He was getting back to his feet and briefly looked at Ryoga, nodding his head to answer the question.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked. Ryoga wasn't paying attention, as the Youma was already getting up and coming right at the two of them.
"We don't really have time for that right now!" The Youma came in with a speed Ryoga had not been expecting. One second it was slowly shambling to its feet, the next it blurred across the field in a fraction of a second. It had been more a reflex than anything else that allowed him to dodge the first punch, however he never even saw the follow up coming. All he managed to catch was the sound of its cloak fluttering before he felt himself flying backward. He hadn't even felt the punch until after he had already hit the ground.
Seiji was already in motion before Ryoga was even done flying backward, rushing in with a fast jab towards the Youma's face. As Ryoga got back up, he just managed to see the Youma dodge the punch with ease before a blur flew from within its cloak, sending Seiji on a similar flight path Ryoga took. Unlike with Ryoga, however, the Youma rushed to follow him, intent to beat the blonde teen in the ground without remorse.
"Nice to see I've been ignored..." Ryoga grumbled, getting back to his feet and dropping his pack. He still hadn't replaced his umbrella, however he remembered the pole he had been practicing with that morning, having slipped it into his pack.
"Get off of me!" Seiji shouted, kicking at the youma. It blurred to the side and grabbed a hold of his leg, a sneer appearing on its twisted lips as it prepared to hurl him like a rag doll. That was when Ryoga's pole came in, smashing the youma in the face with a metallic chime, as if Ryoga had just struck it with a tuning fork.
"You're interfering, human!" The youma growled, glaring at Ryoga with its teeth bared. He seemed to have broken its nose. How nice.
"Got any plans?" Seiji asked, standing next to Ryoga at the ready while the monster got its bearings. Ryoga just shrugged and tightened his grip on the pole, holding it like one would a sword.
"Hit it until it stops moving?" Ryoga offered.
"Sounds good to me!" As the two of them rushed forward, the Youma growled and moved to intercept. Ryoga came in high with an overhead swing, which the Youma promptly dodged to the side to avoid. As it moved to counter attack, Seiji came in with a right hook that sent it reeling back. Seiji followed up with a left jab, getting the youma in the jaw and throwing it off balance again. Ryoga pushed this advantage, keeping the youma off balance with a horizontal slash that dug so deep into its side he practically touched the thing's spine. This blow sent the youma tumbling end over end across the dirt field, being followed closely by the two fighters.
"We got it on the ropes now!" Seiji came running at the Youma just as it was beginning to get back to its feet. His uppercut snapped it right back up to a standing position, its feet very nearly leaving the ground. Ryoga didn't allow that to happen though, intercepting the youma with his jumping slash and smashing it right back down into the ground again. The sound of bones crunching awarded him for his efforts. The Youma suddenly blurred, sending up a cloud of dirt and dust as it forced itself away from the two, but they didn't want to give it enough time to recuperate.
"I've had enough of this! Grenadier!" The youma's cloak parted suddenly, revealing a large cannon attached to one of its hands. Seiji had the time to note to himself that the youma had thus far only used one hand moments before the attack struck. His world became full of pain as the air was forcefully removed from his lungs. His shirt was annihilated by the bright blast of white light, leaving nothing between it and his flesh as it exploded violently against his body. Seiji was sent flying backwards, his torso smoking and his body limp.
"Shit." Ryoga grunted, watching as Seiji was taken out of the fight in one shot. As he turned his attention back to the Youma, he had just enough time to curse again as he saw a large amount of energy collecting in the monster's arm cannon.
"Grenadier!" The bolt of magical energy flew across the short distance like a shining cannon ball, nailing Ryoga directly in the chest and erupting in a brilliant blast of white light and sound. Somehow, Ryoga knew the blast he had been hit with was much more potent than what Seiji had been given. Maybe it was the fact that the explosion had been so much larger. Maybe it was the fact he was being propelled back at such high speed that he managed to get all the way back to the forest he started in, while Seiji only moved a few meters.
Actually, it was probably the fact he felt his abdomen explode from that blast, or the blood he could see freely spilling from the wound.
"Hmph. That takes care of him." Nephrite muttered, glad to see the interloper was out of the picture. Seiji was stirring, slowly but surely getting back to his feet after being nailed by that attack. It was a good thing Clokise had the foresight to hold back, or else that boy would be dead right now. Too bad for that other fool, Nephrite hadn't instructed her to give him that same courtesy.
"Alright Clokise, He's too weak to fight back. Drain his energy!" Nephrite commanded. Clokise nodded her head and started moving towards the injured teen.
"I'm not done yet." Seiji muttered, standing up straight and grabbing his chest in pain. He wasn't going to let this damn thing beat him. Unfortunately, his body wasn't up to the job his spirit was demanding. He felt like he could barely stand, let alone fight.
"Give up, Human." The youma growled, stalking slowly towards the injured teen. For a moment, it thought it had seen a flash of light coming from where that other human had landed, but Clokise paid it no mind.
"Bubble Spray!" The Youma blinked in surprise as the world around it suddenly disappeared into a thick mist. Seiji was only a few meters away before and now he was gone, lost in a featureless blue fog. The youma growled in a combination of anger and frustration before it started dashing randomly through the mist, trying in vain to find its target.
"What is this?" Nephrite gasped, looking around in confusion. It only took him a moment to realize what had happened. One of the Senshi could create a mist! How had they found him? They shouldn't be anywhere near this area of Tokyo.
"Who the hell are you?" Seiji grunted, looking up at the strange blue haired girl in the ridiculous outfit. She was currently dragging him through the bizarre mist that had sprung up, and for some reason she looked just as hurt as he was.
"No one you need to concern yourself with. Come on, I'm getting you out of here." Mercury muttered and continued to walk through the mist. 'I'm glad this stupid spell is useful for something.' she thought to herself.
"Gahk." Mercury uttered, coughing up some blood and falling to her knees. This is what she got for being stupid enough to get hit by another damn magic attack. She really had to stop attacking the monsters before transforming. As stupid as the costume looked, it was better than getting holes blown in her.
"All you alright?" Seiji asked, watching as the blue haired girl fell to her knees and held her torso in pain. Now that he looked, her leotard was stained red. She was bleeding pretty badly.
"Shit, you're hurt worse than I am." Seiji said, surprised.
"I'm fine. Worry about yourself." Mercury grumbled, getting back to her feet. The mist started to waver and vanish, much to her annoyance. 'Damn it, I can't keep this up. I don't have the strength to maintain the mist...' Mercury thought, watching the mist vanish as Clokise came into view.
"There you are! Grenadier!" The Youma shouted, lifting the cannon on its hand and launching its magic attack.
"Get down!" Mercury grabbed Seiji and dove out of the way of the blast, grunting as she landed on her injury. She looked behind herself, noticing too late that they had been standing right in front of the unconscious green haired girl.
"MIDORI!" Seiji shouted, his eyes widening in horror. The world seemed to move in a sudden slow motion as the brilliant white blast of explosive energy tore through the air towards the downed girl. He couldn't let this happen. He refused to let her come to harm! Before Seiji was even aware of it, he was in motion. His face was a mask of pure determination as he drew on strength he didn't know he had. He had to get to her in time. There were no other options.
The blast was getting painfully close as Seiji moved, finding himself standing directly between it and Midori. Once he was there though, he suddenly realized the slight problem with his plan. Not knowing what else to do, he lifted his right hand and punched the approaching attack with all his might.
Nephrite nearly fell off the fence by what happened next. Energy. Immense human energy springing out of seemingly nowhere. He couldn't understand it. 'What is this power? There's so much ambient human energy here. The air is saturated with it. This is double...no...Triple the energy Seiji Sawamura had. Where did this energy come from?' Nephrite wondered. He wasn't about to let this opportunity pass him up though, and immediately began draining the human energy out of the air.
"Wh...What the..." Mercury muttered, looking at Seiji in total shock. The youma shared her expression, openly gaping at Seiji as he stood protectively in front of his girlfriend, his right arm still extended forward in a punch. There had been no explosion, at least not the kind of explosion they were expecting. As Seiji's fist hit the blast, he had exploded with an intense aura. The blast had just up and disappeared, almost as if Seiji absorbed it. But the most remarkable thing was his right hand. His hand had been replaced by a glowing white sphere. It shone like a frozen explosion, a white fire seeming to flow across the smooth surface of the spherical limb. Another interesting thing Mercury noticed was the complete lack of a wound on his torso. Somehow, Seiji had become completely healed.
"Can you feel it?" Seiji muttered evilly, never moving from his position with his new hand extended forward. "Can you feel its fury?" The youma took a step back, visibly shaking with what could only be fear.
"I'll show it to you." Seiji muttered. He had a maddened look in his eyes, as if he had completely snapped. "I'll show you the true power of my Akuma no Migite!" Seiji was off like a shot, dashing towards the youma at a speed far surpassing what he had been able to pull off earlier. As he approached, he pulled back his right hand and readied it for a punch. The youma was too shell shocked to do anything but scream.
In an instant, Seiji struck. As his glowing hand struck the Youma, an explosion identical to the Youma's Grenadier attack erupted at the point of impact. As the blinding light cleared, Seiji seemed to return to normal. His aura vanished, his senses came back, and his right hand was once more a hand. The Youma was not fairing so well, as it had been blown in half and was in the process of disintegrating into dust.
"What...what the hell happened?" Seiji muttered, looking at his own right hand in awe. He turned towards the fence, seeing that Masato Sanjoin had run off at some point. He clenched his fist a little in anger, but let that pass as he spotted the blue haired girl in the weird outfit. He remembered how she had been bleeding and quickly moved towards her.
"You alright?" Seiji quickly ran over to the girl, briefly wondering why he felt so energized. As he got close to her, he offered to help her up, getting little more than a glare in response.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Mercury slapped Seiji's hand away and shakily returned to her feet. She felt so weak. The fuku seemed to be functioning fairly well as a bandage, but she had still lost a lot of blood. Both Seiji and Mercury turned their attention away from each other though, as the green haired girl was beginning to stir.
"Midori!" Seiji was by her side in a flash, helping the disoriented girl get back to her feet. "Are you okay?" He asked. She blinked at him a few times, as if confused to see him.
"Seiji-kun? What happened? Why am I in the park?" She asked, letting her boyfriend pull her back to her feet.
"You tripped on a rock and bumped your head. That's all." Seiji answered. He didn't really feel the need to explain the whole business about monsters and crazy martial arts instructors. It'd just worry her.
Mercury sighed a bit as she put the pole away and shouldered her pack, hoping to sneak away from the couple without incident.
"Oh, Sailor Mercury!" Midori suddenly exclaimed, causing mercury to stop in her tracks and sigh a little. She was in no condition to stick around any longer.
"Eh? That guy's stuff..." Seiji muttered, pointing at the pack, "Was he a friend of yours? Where is he? Is he okay?"
"Yeah...He's fine..." Mercury said, 'if you don't count the fact I'm slowly bleeding to death.' she added to herself.
"Well, Thank you. Both of you. I couldn't have saved Midori without your help." Seiji suddenly said, standing rigid and bowing deeply. "Thank you very much!"
"You're welcome. Bye." Mercury needed to get out of there fast, preferably to seek immediate medical attention. They both waved goodbye to her and headed off in a different direction, much to her relief.
After a few more minutes of walking, Mercury collapsed against the wall of a nearby building, her legs no longer able to support her weight. The pack fell off her shoulders without resistance, hitting the sidewalk with a thump as Mercury began to slowly slide down the wall. She was breathing heavily, clutching her bloody side in pain as she tried to move on through force of will. She barely noticed her fuku turn into ribbons of water before being replaced by her male clothing. Apparently, she no longer had the strength to maintain the transformation. Unfortunately, the fuku had been keeping her wound closed. The blast had shredded her shirt, leaving it to bleed freely again.
"I think I'll just...rest here awhile..." Ryoga grunted, sinking further down the wall until she was sitting on the sidewalk. Her tattered shirt left her chest bare for all to see. The rather large wound in her abdomen would probably garner more attention though, as it was currently spilling blood into the street. Damn, that blast had been a lot more potent than she had thought. For some reason, her body just didn't want to move anymore.
"This energy is indeed impressive, Nephrite. I was right to assign you to this job in Jadeite's absence." Queen Beryl declared, staring lovingly into the sphere of human energy before her.
"Thank you, my queen." Nephrite replied, bowing deeply. He smirked to himself, mentally cheering a bit. There was no way she would have him killed now.
"Let's hope for your sake you can keep this up, Nephrite." Queen Beryl said, causing Nephrite to look up in surprise momentarily.
"You are dismissed." Queen Beryl announced.
"Yes, my lady." With that, Nephrite quickly stood and took his leave from the throne room.
"That wasn't very bright, Nephrite." Nephrite frowned when he heard the voice of the effeminate general. He never liked to interact with Zoisite. Just hearing his voice made Nephrite's skin crawl.
"What do you want?" Nephrite growled, glaring at the blonde man.
"Me? I'm just here to give you some advice." Zoisite uttered. Nephrite just continued to glare at him.
"If I desire your advice, I will ask for it. Begone!" Nephrite commanded. Zoisite merely chuckled to himself.
"I think you should hear this. Delivering so much energy to queen beryl this soon will only raise her expectations of you. Even if you deliver her energy regularly from this point on, you will only earn her ire if you can't match what you brought her today. You're as good as dead. I'm sure Jadeite will be eager to see you in the afterlife." Zoisite looked rather smug as he spoke, which only made Nephrite laugh even harder.
"What's so funny?" Zoisite asked angrily. "That energy must have come from hundreds of humans. There's no way you can keep that up!"
"Fool. I gained that energy from a single human." Nephrite replied smugly. Zoisite glared at him angrily, but Nephrite continued. "I'll let you in on a little information, Zoisite. I have discovered that when a human achieves their true potential, they release a massive amount of energy, ready for the taking."
"So it was a fluke. What are the chances you'll encounter more humans about to reach their true potential?" Zoisite asked, regaining some of his smugness.
"Oh, I'll have a way to locate such humans soon enough." Nephrite remarked, laughing to himself as he teleported away.
Ryoga groaned as she came to, sitting up in bed and grabbing her head in pain. It took the blue haired girl a few moments to realize that she was in a hospital, and when she did she sighed in annoyance.
"I hate hospitals." Ryoga grumbled, pulling the various needles and sensors that were stuck to her body out before getting out of bed. It sure was nice of them to leave her pack in here. It made escaping so much easier. As quickly as she could, Ryoga shed the hospital gown and put on some normal clothes from her pack, shouldering the large bag just as a group of nurses burst into the room.
"What are you doing? You shouldn't be out of bed yet!" One of them protested. The whole lot of them moved to block the door, knowing the girl was trying to run off without paying the hospital bill.
"Sorry, but I don't have time for this." Ryoga responded, spotting a nearby window. It was a good thing she didn't own any form of ID. It meant the chances this would come back to bite her in the ass were practically zero. Ryoga dove out the window with little hesitation, grunting in annoyance as she tore an air conditioning unit apart in the process. The air conditioner hit the ground 2 stories down and shattered to pieces, followed shortly by Ryoga, who immediately made a break for it the second her feet touched the ground.
"That was a close one." Ryoga muttered, feeling the bandage around her mid section. She lifted her shirt and tore the bandage off, happy to see her wound had healed already. Curious, she pulled the mercury computer out of her pocket, checking the built in calendar briefly.
"It's been six days? Jeez, that youma was way stronger than I thought." She muttered to herself, making a mental note yet again to never get into a fight with a youma without transforming first. Seeing that the hospital was no longer in sight, she slowed down to a walk and grabbed a thermos out of her pack. Happy to see it still contained hot water, she splashed herself in the face, transforming back into a man.
"There we go, much better." Ryoga said to himself before starting to fiddle with the mercury computer again. In a few seconds the little woman in a lab coat appeared on the screen again, looking inquisitively at him. The words 'where would you like to go today?' had once again appeared on the screen.
"Youma Activity Detected. Auto-Directing." Before Ryoga even had a chance to give it directions, the computer decided to point him where it felt like once again.
"What? Screw that, I don't care. I just got my ass handed to me by a Youma, take me somewhere else" Ryoga grumbled, fiddling with the computer. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it to change directions off of the Youma.
"Fine, I'll get there on my own." Ryoga pocketed the computer and set off in a random direction. He'd show that computer who was boss. He didn't have to go fight a Youma if he didn't want to.
"Arriving at Destination." The computer suddenly said a few minutes later, much to Ryoga's surprise. As if to prove a point, He once again found himself staring at the sight of a strange Youma stirring up trouble. It was once again clearly female, however this Youma had a series of tentacles sprouting out of her back and was currently in the processes of beating the crap out of random people on the street.
"You...cheating..." Ryoga muttered, pulling the computer out again to see the woman in a lab coat whistling innocently and averting her eyes away from him. Somehow, the stupid computer sent him straight to the Youma without him having to follow its directions. That wasn't even fair.
"Hmm?" Nephrite muttered, turning his head towards the nearby alley, spotting a boy with a large traveling pack over his shoulder. Upon seeing him, the boy ducked back into the alley, obviously wanting nothing to do with the Youma attack.
'That boy looked familiar...' Nephrite thought to himself briefly. 'No matter.' He turned his attention back to the Youma.
"Go, Tentos! Free as much human energy as you can!" Nephrite commanded. He needed a means to find humans about to reach their potential, and he knew of only one way to achieve that. Unfortunately, he needed a lot of energy to create the crystal locater, thus he was forced to resort to a tactless assault of random humans. It was a means to an ends, however. It needed to be done.
"Shit." Ryoga muttered, his pen falling out of his sleeve and into his hand. He looked at it for a few seconds, knowing exactly what it meant.
'I'm willingly transforming. Luna isn't pushing me into it, and my life isn't in danger. I could walk away right now and not have to deal with it.' He thought to himself, gripping the pen a little tighter. He could hear the people screaming as they were attacked by the Youma only a few yards behind him.
"Screw it. Mercury Power, Make up!" In an instant, Ryoga had transformed, quickly dashing back around the corner and heading straight for the tentacled youma.
"Prepare to die!" Mercury shouted, leaping at the confused youma. Before it even had the chance to turn around and look at its attacker, Mercury was already upon it, kicking it in the face so hard that the Youma was sent flying back, skipping across the asphalt like a rock across a pond. The people the Youma had previously been terrorizing made a break for it, happy to have the opportunity to escape.
"You damn human!" The youma roared, getting back to its feet. Much to its surprise, the blue haired Senshi was once again right in its face. It didn't even get to stand back up all the way before Mercury smashed the thing back into the ground. It jumped back to its feet again and was intercepted in the chest with a vicious side kick, hurling it through a street light and causing it to crash into the brick wall behind it. Before it even fell off the wall, Mercury was upon it once again with a blow that shattered the wall and sent the Youma into a building.
"You'll pay for this!" The Youma growled, grunting as it got nailed by a back fist in the face, followed by a jab from the opposite arm and a front kick that hurled it through a concrete pillar. Judging from the way the ceiling collapsed on it, that had been a load bearing pillar.
"Starlight Attack!"
"Eh?" Mercury turned around, just in time to spot Nephrite unleashing a blast of white blue light. 'Shit, it's moving too fast!' Mercury thought, taking the blast head on. The blast struck her and kept moving, pushing her all the way into and through the opposite wall before finally exploding, hurling Mercury across the street and into a phone pole. People gaped and started running once Mercury burst through the wall. A few were sticking around, but once Nephrite and the Youma showed, the rest started to scatter.
"I will not sit idly by and let a Sailor Senshi interfere with my business." Nephrite growled, approaching the downed Senshi. He was glowing angrily, causing his hair to start floating behind him.
"Then I guess I'll just have to take both of you on." Mercury muttered, getting back to her feet. She was surprised by how little that attack had hurt. It felt no worse than one of Ranma's Mouku Takabishas. The stupid fuku really did make a surprising difference when it came to getting shot by magic.
"Tentos, steal her energy." Nephrite commanded. Before Mercury could react, the Youma's tentacles seemed to grow dramatically as they shot across the gap of the street and grabbed her around the legs, arms and torso.
"Damn you, let go!" Mercury yelled, pulling against the tentacles as they dragged her across the street toward the youma. More tentacles joined the first few and Mercury was soon completely bound, held in the air with her arms tied behind her back and her legs spread eagle. She had almost no leverage in this position, and her struggles didn't seem to be doing much anymore. The tentacles started glowing slightly, making Mercury struggle even more.
"It's not working, master. I can't steal her energy." Tentos muttered in surprise. The glow got stronger as the monster put more effort behind it, but still nothing happened.
"Let. Me. Go!" Mercury growled, struggling to no avail. This was so remarkably frustrating, being tied up like this by tentacles. And the way the slimy appendages were feeling their way up and down her thighs was really starting to get annoying.
Mercury froze up suddenly, looking down at her current predicament. She was suddenly reminded of a comic one of her classmates in junior high had brought in and showed her, about a magical girl who was fighting a demon with tentacles. It had been an all boys school, so the types of magazines and comics the boys tended to bring in were rarely of the innocent variety.
Mercury suddenly came to several simultaneous realizations.
She was a Magical Girl.
This Youma had tentacles.
She was currently tied up in said tentacles and totally at the mercy of the youma in question.
"Oh hell no!" Mercury shouted, struggling even harder than before. There was no way in hell she was going to let that happen! A blue green aura began to build around mercury's body as her struggles increased. If struggling didn't work, she'd just flatten the thing.
"What's going on?" Nephrite asked. He felt a sudden increase in human energy. A dramatic increase. What was this build up?
"Master, she's getting heavier..." Tentos complained. Sweat began to form on its face as it struggled to hold mercury up. After a few moments it became too much for it to take and it was forced to release the blue haired Senshi.
"Shishi Hokodan!" Mercury roared, unleashing the full fury of her chi. Nephrite's eyes widened in shock at the giant pillar of energy firing straight into the sky, shattering nearby windows and tearing apart the buildings on either side of the road as it went up. That blast was nothing but human energy!
"Tentos, absorb it!" Nephrite shouted, noticing that the blast was coming back down. The youma acted immediately, throwing its tentacles up with full intent to catch the orb of energy. There was a brilliant explosion of power as the shishi hokodan collided with Tentos, however it was blatantly obvious which of the two were coming out victorious in the struggle. After a few moments, all trace of the shishi hokodan was gone, leaving only a cackling Tentos behind.
"Kill her." Nephrite commanded, a smirk on his face. With the energy Tentos just absorbed, he had more than enough to create the crystal.
"With pleasure!" Apparently, this particular youma got stronger when it absorbed energy. Before Mercury could even blink, Tentos was upon her with a punch the likes of which had no comparison. Not even Lime had ever hit her that hard. Time seemed to slow down as the monstrous fist compacted her torso, her body doubling over and her ribs creaking from the strain.
Then in an instant she was off, propelled like a missile by the intense force of the punch. She didn't even notice the street light as she tore through it, or the tree at the end of the street. She went straight through the window of a department store and tore right through the opposite wall before the pain in her back started to outweigh what her chest felt like. She went through another two walls, followed by several shelving units and crates that had been stacked in the room. By the time she broke through the back wall and was in the next street over, she had already been de-transformed. She didn't even notice it happen.
"What the hell!" She heard someone shout, right before feeling herself get caught in his arms. He clearly wasn't prepared to deal with the significant amount of momentum she still had, however, as the guy in question was blown off his feet, not stopping until he slammed into a solid concrete telephone pole on the opposite side of the street, which promptly fell over.
"Shit...that hurt..." Ryoga heard him mutter. People were starting to gather around the two of them, clearly concerned. Others were staring at the row of holes Ryoga had put in the two buildings she had gone through. With a groan, Ryoga got to her hands and knees, wobbling slightly before emptying the contents of her stomach in the nearby gutter.
"You okay?" Ryoga looked up at the guy for the first time as he offered her a hand. He looked like he was straight out of the army or something, wearing a pair of camouflage pants, a black tank top and combat boots. He even had a belt and harness with various pouches and items attached to them, and a large traveler's pack on his back. Ryoga half expected to see an M-16 slung over one shoulder as well.
"I'm fine." Ryoga answered, getting to her feet on her own. She immediately regretted it as a stab of horrible pain raced across her entire midsection, sending her right back to her knees.
"You don't look fine." Army boy said, shaking his head to himself. Ryoga glared at him and tried to stand up again. She got to her feet fairly well, however she was still holding her abdomen in pain.
"I told you...I'm fine..." Ryoga didn't give the guy a second glance, instead turning towards the crowd that had gathered around the hole. She needed to go pick up her pack, which she had left in the alleyway when she transformed. And now, she had no idea where that alleyway was. Great.
"Whatever. Suit yourself, Blue." Ryoga glanced back towards the army guy as he started to walk away. Damn it, She was going to need help if she ever intended to get that pack back again.
"Hey, army boy." Ryoga said. He stopped and turned around, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"What, now you want my help?" He asked. He looked at Ryoga skeptically, almost as if he was wondering if he should even bother at this point.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I just need help finding my pack." Ryoga replied. For a few moments they stared each other down before Ryoga sighed and started moving through the crowd towards a handy alley that looked like it led right where she was trying to go. She hadn't even taken two steps before she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up to see the army guy was standing beside her.
"Alright, I'll help. You look so pathetic clutching your chest like that." Ryoga glared at him, but said nothing. She'd hit him after he found her pack.
Nephrite grinned to himself at his personal victory. Not only had he gathered a large amount of energy, but he had successfully defeated one of the sailor senshi in the process. It was indeed a good day. Now all he needed to do was complete the creation of the crystal and he'd be able to supply Queen Beryl with all the human energy she'd ever need.
"The stars know everything." Nephrite began, closing his eyes as the star map appeared on the ceiling above him. The planets soared around their orbits around the central sun with the stars covering the room. Somewhere, a good distance behind him, a far off star was experiencing a super nova while comets and asteroids shot through space around Nephrite's body.
"When the sun aligns with the first three planets, and the great hunter Orion clashes with Sagittarius, the power to guide shall be revealed." Nephrite muttered to himself. He opened his eyes and glanced up at the sun, just as the first three planets fell into alignment with the burning star. Nephrite cupped his hands together as black lightning danced across his arms and began to collect at the point between his palms.
"That guide shall take the form of the White Crystal." Nephrite muttered as the lightning increased in intensity. An orb of white light started to form between his hands with the black lightning flowing out of it, forming an odd contrast of color as it grew.
"The White Crystal, the harbinger of human potential. Take form!" The white orb grew exponentially until it was several times larger than Nephrite himself. A storm of black lightning was striking the orb repeatedly in a violent display of power. Just as the orb reached its peak size, Nephrite began step two, and forced all the human energy he had just collected into the giant orb.
With a sudden and mighty explosion, the spell was complete. Nephrite was briefly blinded by the intense white light and was forced to shield his eyes. The light soon died down though, and when he lowered his arm he could see his completed work lying on the floor. One, final bolt of electricity raced across its surface before it laid still.
"So, this is the White Crystal." Nephrite muttered, picking up the pale white crystal. It shined slightly, revealing a young adult wearing a yellow jacket in its prism like surface.
"Kouji Kudo," Nephrite muttered, the crystal bestowing him with the knowledge of the man's name and whereabouts. "So this is a man who will soon achieve his true potential. I suppose I should help him along in that process." Nephrite grinned evilly for a few moments before he started to laugh. Oh yes, today was a good day indeed.
"Satou-senpai...please help me change senpai back..." Kouji begged, tears streaming down from his eyes as he sat on his knees before the older woman. Asami Satou just glanced down at Kouji from over her work, a look of general confusion on her face.
"I don't know what you mean, Kudo-kun. I changed Aihara back into a man just last week." Asami replied, turning back to the large stack of papers in front of her.
"I know! I want you to help me change him back into a woman!" Kouji shouted, bowing and scraping and begging. Asami just blinked a few times before taking off her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. She was getting a headache.
"I don't think Aihara would appreciate that." She uttered, shaking her head.
"Please, Satou-senpai! I'll do anything!" Just then, the door opened, causing Kouji to jump back to his feet.
"Excuse me for interrupting. My name is Masato Sanjoin. I'm looking for a Ms. Asami Satou." Nephrite said, closing the door behind him. He glanced around the room briefly, smirking slightly as he saw the boy that would soon give him all his energy.
"Yes, I'm Asami Satou." Asami answered, picking up her glasses and putting them back on. "Kudo-kun, could you please wait outside?" Kouji looked at her for a second before nodding and leaving the room.
"So, what can I help you with?" The blue haired woman asked. Nephrite smirked slightly before lunging forward. Asami's eyes widened in shock as Nephrite suddenly approached. She was about to scream when he threw her against the wall and covered her mouth with his hand, placing his other hand over her forehead.
'My youma...possess this young woman and make her my obedient servant.' An archaic symbol suddenly appeared on Asami's head and glowed brightly, causing the woman to spasm as if electrocuted for several moments, her eyes wide with fear. After a minute, however, her struggles ceased. The symbol disappeared as if it had never been and Asami's eyes took on a mischievous look. Nephrite smirked at his handwork, releasing Asami from the wall and stepping back.
"What do you wish of me, my master?" Asami asked humbly, bowing before the dark general.
"I want you to do everything in your power to bring out Kouji Kudo's true potential, through any means necessary." Nephrite commanded, a smirk forming on his lips.
"As you command." Asami stood back up straight and gave a mischievous smirk to her master before returning to her desk. Nephrite turned back towards the door, making his exit.
"Oh, Kudo-kun!" Asami shouted in a singsong voice. Kouji was back in the room in an instant, looking at Asami curiously.
"Yes, Satou-senpai?" Kouji muttered, looking a little nervous. He didn't like the way Satou-senpai was looking at him. She looked like a hungry lion who just happened across a large group of injured baby zebras.
"I think I will help you with Aihara-kun." She said. Kouji was about to celebrate, but she waved her hand at him to stop. "But, there's a condition."
"Anything Satou-senpai! Just ask!" Kouji said.
"Well, I'm going to need you to test some potions for me." Asami said, an evil grin on her face. She'd do what her master asked of her, even if she had to kill Kouji in the process.
Several Hours Later...
Asami was biting her nails in frustration. She had been force feeding Kouji all kinds of potions that should have been enhancing his strength, but so far they've had no effect. She was starting to get really annoyed by it. All her attempts had ended in total failure. One of them should have worked by now!
"Satou-senpai...can I go home now? I don't feel well..." Kouji complained, holding his stomach and rocking back and forth in his seat. Asami just glared at him for a few moments from behind her hands.
"No, you can't go home! You aren't going anywhere until I get this right!" Asami shouted, causing Kouji to shrink back.
"Wahh...Satou-senpai is scary..." Kouji started crying. He wasn't up to this anymore. He just wanted to go home. Maybe he should have asked Chisato to help him with changing senpai into a girl? She would still test on him, but she wasn't as mean about it.
"Alright, Kouji. I've got another potion for you to try." Asami said, pointing at a vial at the end of the table. It was one that Asami had made prior to being possessed. Thus far, she had been avoiding giving Kouji anything at random. However, at this point, she was way too annoyed to care.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get up and get it!" Kouji shrunk back at Asami's tone before doing as he was told. As he stood up though, he immediately became lightheaded. He felt dizzy, and his eyesight was starting to tunnel. Despite this, he made a move for the potion anyway. He had just picked it up when his vestibular totally failed him, causing him to fall over suddenly and accidentally toss the potion.
"Ah! I'm sorry Satou-senpai!" Kouji cried out, getting back to his feet. That was when he noticed he had accidentally spilled the potion all over Satou-senpai, who was now thrashing around.
"...Senpai?" Kouji uttered. She was screaming and thrashing around as if in terrible pain. A mysterious symbol appeared on her forehead suddenly before the woman was bathed in a black light. In an instant, a shadow emerged from the woman, solidifying into the shape of a dark skinned Youma who bore a striking resemblance to Asami.
"You damn human! You'll pay for this!" The youma shouted, moving towards the cowering man with murder in its eyes.
"There it is." Ryoga said in relief, spotting her pack in a nearby alley. She and the army boy had been wandering around the area for several hours in search of it. The army boy had started giving her looks she really didn't like, and Ryoga was almost certain he had started to get ideas. At least her torso didn't hurt anymore.
"This is your pack?" The guy asked, grabbing one of the straps and starting to pick it up. His eyes widened in shock as he felt the weight. This thing weighed even more than his own pack, and he stuffed his with bricks!
"Yeah, that's it." Ryoga answered. She grabbed the pack away from the army boy and lifted it easily to her back, causing the army boy to raise an eyebrow.
'Wow, this girl's got everything. She's gorgeous, strong and clearly skilled. Come on, Ryu. Take a shot at her. She's perfect.' The army boy thought to himself, a sly smirk appearing on his face.
"You know, I don't think I've even told you my name yet," He said, "Ryu Kumon. Heir to the Kumon Dojo." Ryu said, hitting Ryoga with all the charm and charisma he could muster.
"Nice to meet you." Ryoga was barely paying any attention, instead turning her back on Ryu and walking on her way. To be honest, she was getting sick of his presence. She could just tell he was getting ready to hit on her, and she'd rather not have to kill a man today. Ryu was put off balance by her total lack of interest for a few moments, but quickly got his nerve back.
"We spent all day looking for your bag. You're probably starving. How about we get something to eat? My treat." Ryu suggested. Ryoga's eyebrow started to twitch in irritation. He was a sly one, that Ryu. That almost sounded like a perfectly innocent suggestion. If she were as stupid as Ranma, Ryoga probably would have jumped at the opportunity. Good thing she wasn't as stupid as Ranma.
"You know, that sounds-" Ryoga began, turning to face Ryu. As soon as she turned around, a look of mock horror crossed her face, just as Ryoga pointed behind Ryu. "Look out behind you! A three-headed monkey!" Ryu spun around in an instant, ready to fight off the beast and impress the girl. However, he saw nothing. The street was empty.
"Wait a minute, there's no such thing as three-headed monkeys..." Ryu muttered, turning back around. Well, what do you know? The street was empty in that direction too. The girl had totally ditched him. "Great, now I feel like an idiot. Can't believe I fell for that."
-x-
Ryoga sighed in relief as the hot water cascaded down his body. He shook his hair to get the liquid out and wiped the liquid away from his face and eyes. His shirt was now soaked, as if he had been sweating all day, but he didn't really care. All that mattered was that he was male again and he didn't have to deal with Ryu anymore.
"Youma Activity Detected. Auto-Directing." The mercury computer suddenly intoned from Ryoga's pocket.
"What? Again? That's the second time today!" Ryoga complained. He was getting really tired of all these damn Youma attacks. He needed a vacation.
Unfortunately for Ryoga, he was unable to defy the Mercury Computer ever since he recalibrated the mapping system. Even when he didn't want to, he ended up following its directions. Within minutes, he had arrived in front of a college building. It didn't take him long to figure out why, considering Nephrite was floating in front of the building in question.
"Him again." Ryoga muttered, dropping his pack into a nearby alleyway.
"You again!" Nephrite suddenly shouted, causing Ryoga to jump a bit. The dark general was looking straight in his direction with annoyance in his eyes. Ryoga dashed away quickly, heading into the school.
'That strange boy keeps showing up.' Nephrite thought to himself, letting Ryoga get away. 'No matter. He never causes any problems for my youma.'
-x-
"No! Stay back!" Kouji began to crawl away from the angry youma, tears still streaming from his eyes as the monstrous beast continued to growl and glare at him.
"I will tear you apart, human!" The Youma growled, grabbing Kouji by his orange sweater and throwing him into a nearby cabinet. The wooden construction shattered as the man flew into it, sending splinters and dust shooting into the air. Broken glass from the various vials and containers also shot out like shrapnel, however the majority of it ended up in Kouji's back.
Kouji screamed out in pain as he hit the ground, the variety of chemicals that had been stored in that cabinet now coating most of his body. He cried out a few more times as the liquids soaked into his clothes and mingled with his blood and tears.
"It burns!" Kouji cried, starting to writhe a bit from the pain. The chemicals were even starting to seep into his skin as steam started to rise from his body.
"What is this?" The youma muttered in surprise, watching as Kouji started to scream even louder, his body producing a significant amount of steam. He started to rise off the ground, however he wasn't standing. He was literally floating above the floor as electricity seemed to dance across his body.
'There it is!' Nephrite thought, feeling Kouji reaching his peak. The resulting explosion was truly spectacular. It was like a miniature hurricane had momentarily formed within the small confines of the lab. The walls exploded outward from an intense wind within while electrical spikes rushed across the edges of the building. When the smoke cleared, Kouji could be seen hovering a few feet off the ground, surrounded in a corona of electric energy. The youma was cowering under a pile of rubble, staring at Kouji in fear.
"Ha! Fool!" The youma shouted, gathering its courage and returning to its feet, "This is what my master wanted all along! You've fallen right into our trap. And now, you get to die!" The youma rushed towards Kouji with its claws at the ready, fully prepared to tear the boy apart.
"This is the end, human!" It screeched, slashing at Kouji with its clawed hand. Kouji merely narrowed his eyes and raised one arm to block the blow. As soon as the Youma's hand came in contract with Kouji's bright aura, an intense electrical shock tore through its body. Its limb burst into flames and vaporized in an instant from the contact, sending the Youma to its knees.
"What...what are you?" The youma growled out, holding the stump that used to be its arm. Kouji merely stared down at the creature in disinterest. All signs of the whiny coward he had previously been were gone. Instead, he stood stoically at the ready, the electrical aura still crackling around his body.
"I'm no longer a mere human." Kouji muttered, kicking the youma in the chest. His leg struck like lightning, hurling the Youma across the room with a smoking foot mark now burned into its chest. "I am no longer normal Kouji Kudo!" Kouji shouted, rushing towards the Youma and punching it with a fierce electrical blast. The youma cried out from the blow, flying out the open hole where the wall had once been and plummeting down into the courtyard below.
"I have become Powerful Kouji!" Kouji roared. The youma got back to its feet and looked towards the man with fear in its eyes. Without even considering another attack, it turned tail and ran. Kouji would have none of that, however. He roared and held his hand high, his electric aura flaring with power while an orb of energy collected in his hand. With another roar of effort, Kouji hurled the orb like he was tossing a javelin, causing it to transform in an instant into a bolt of lightning. It struck the Youma with all the fury of Zeus himself, obliterating the monster in an instant. All the remained was a pile of dust, which slowly blew away in the wind.
"Impressive." Nephrite muttered with a smirk on his face, pulling the White Crystal from his coat and pointing it towards Powerful Kouji. "But your energy is mine now."
Kouji convulsed suddenly as a beam of light shot out of the crystal and struck him in the heart. His electrical aura started to bleed away, pulled into the light emitting from the crystal. All the energy Kouji had released into the air upon reaching his peak was also being pulled into the crystal, leaving nothing left as Nephrite drained him.
"Shishi Hokodan!" Nephrite cried out in pain as the blunt chi bolt struck him head on, nearly knocking him out of the sky and interrupting his draining of Kouji. Kouji hit the ground hard, his electric aura diminished to nothing.
"I'm getting tired of your insolence, Sailor Senshi." Nephrite growled, glaring at the blue haired Senshi who had appeared out of nowhere. Mercury stood her ground from a balcony above the room Kouji was in, glaring at the dark general.
"And I'm getting tired of your constant attacks. Who the hell are you, anyway?" Mercury demanded. She could hear Kouji coming to on the floor below her, but paid him no mind.
"I am Nephrite of the Dark Kingdom, and you have interfered for the last time! Starlight Attack!" Mercury leapt off the balcony as it exploded into splinters, aiming straight for Nephrite with a leaping kick. He was too surprised to react in time and took the blow head on, falling out of the sky a few meters. Mercury hit her target and leapt right back off his chest, landing in the hollowed out husk of a room where Kouji was getting back to his feet.
"You insolent little..." Nephrite cursed. It was then that he noticed his first target was back on his feet, and his right hand was glowing with electrical current.
"Take...this!" Kouji shouted, unleashing a blast of electricity towards the floating general. Nephrite cried out in pain as he was electrocuted, falling even further from where he had previously been floating.
"Come on, Nephrite! Do you really think you can fight both of us?" Mercury taunted. The Dark general growled at the words, but knew better than to attack. He was already injured, and probably wouldn't fare well against the two.
"My work is done here. You haven't seen the last of me!" The general threatened. And then, he was gone.
"Thank you for helping me, ma'am." Kouji said, bowing deeply to Mercury. She just sighed in response, resisting the urge to hit him for calling her 'ma'am.'
"...Don't mention it." Mercury finally got out. She was getting really tired of all this nonsense with the youma and the transformation. She didn't even give Kouji a second look before jumping down to ground level and heading back to where she left her pack. At this point, she just wanted to go home.
"This energy is truly amazing, Nephrite. You have out done yourself." Beryl muttered, looking into the orb of energy with awe. She hadn't seen this much pure energy in centuries.
"Thank you, my lady." Nephrite responded. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with the queen, though. He had other things on his mind. Most specifically, how to extract his revenge on a certain Senshi.
"You may leave." Beryl dismissed Nephrite with a wave of her hand, uninterested in the general in favor of admiring the energy further. Nephrite eagerly left the queen's chambers, appearing in an instant back in his mansion.
"I should consult the White Crystal again. Perhaps gathering more energy will get my mind off that insufferably annoying Sailor Mercury." Nephrite muttered to himself. He pulled the crystal out of his jacket and looked into its surface, a look of surprise crossing his face as he saw the person within it. That look of surprise quickly turned into a smirk. Oh yes, this one would definitely help him blow off some steam.
"I think I will handle this one personally. Ryoga Hibiki, prepare yourself." Nephrite began to laugh maniacally as he planned his attack against the Hibiki boy. He had gotten in the general's way a few too many times. And now, it was time for retribution.
Ryoga sighed in relief as he continued down the road, trudging along in search of home. He had told the Mercury Computer to take him home about a day ago, and thus far he had yet to be interrupted by a Youma attack. It looked like his luck was looking up. He may actually get back home by the end of the day.
"The sun's starting to set. It's not much further to Nerima now. I'm almost home." Ryoga said to himself. He was a big fan of talking to himself, actually. He felt it helped him stay sane. Crippling loneliness on the road had a tendency to mess with his head, and talking to someone, anyone, had always helped. As the lost boy trudged on down the road, his eyes turned skyward, gazing at the orange red hue of the clouds and sky caused by the setting sun.
"I'm afraid you won't be getting home today, Ryoga Hibiki." Ryoga froze in his tracks at the familiar voice, slowly turning around to see Nephrite leaning against a street lamp a few meters back. The presence of the dark general set Ryoga's danger sense on overdrive. This just didn't seem right, not at all. Where was the youma? Why hadn't the Mercury Computer warned him?
"Nephrite..." Ryoga growled, glaring at the man. Nephrite raised a single eyebrow, but otherwise made no movement.
"Why am I not surprised to find you in Nerima?" Nephrite suddenly asked, standing up from his position against the street lamp and slowly walking towards the Hibiki boy.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryoga questioned, putting up his guard and taking a few steps away from the general. He knew what this guy was capable of. Ryoga wasn't about to let Nephrite catch him by surprise.
"This city has the highest concentration of Senshi activity in all of Japan. And you always seem to show your face around Senshi appearances." Nephrite answered. Ryoga cursed to himself silently. He knew he should have transformed before he actually got to the youma attacks. He was just asking to be noticed by showing up in his normal form first.
"You have a connection to the Sailor Senshi, don't you?" Nephrite accused. Ryoga wasn't about to let Nephrite get to him though. Instead, the Hibiki boy dropped his pack on the sidewalk, removing the iron pole from it in the process.
"You didn't track me down just to ask that, did you?" Ryoga asked, holding the bar at the ready. Nephrite just smirked upon seeing his stance, holding one arm out from his body. A stream of light erupted from his clenched fist, solidifying into the form of a blade.
"You're right. We should get right down to business." Nephrite flicked some of his hair out of his eyes before hardening his glare at Ryoga, raising his weapon in front of him. "I've come to rob you of your energy, Ryoga Hibiki. Prepare yourself!" Nephrite was off like a bullet, rushing straight towards the Hibiki boy with his sword at the ready. Ryoga responded in kind, raising his pole with full intent to strike. In an instant they were upon each other, blade and pole against each other as they each pressed all their strength into their weapon.
"Do you really think you can best me in a sword fight, human?" Nephrite growled out between his teeth, pushing even harder on his sword. Sparks started to shoot out from the place the two weapons met, showing just how much force they were applying to the weapons.
"My mother was an accomplished swordswoman. She taught me everything she knew." Ryoga grunted out, pushing Nephrite back a step. "I'm not about to lose to a monster like you." Ryoga suddenly stopped pushing, side stepping Nephrite as he was suddenly put off balance. Ryoga swung his pole with all his might at the stumbling general, fully intent to send him flying. Nephrite successfully blocked the blow with his blade, however he was in no position to stop his backwards momentum, and was tossed like a rag doll by the swing.
"Impressive!" Nephrite shouted out, stopping himself in midair before flying towards Ryoga at high speed. They met in a shower of sparks as their weapons recoiled off one another before meeting, again and again. Ryoga was starting to get forced back by the General, blocking and parrying a literal barrage of sword swings. Ryoga grunted under the onslaught, waiting for Nephrite to slip up. His opportunity came after Nephrite missed with a powerful down slash, giving Ryoga a perfect opening as he swung upward into the General's unprotected midsection. The blow never hit, however, as Nephrite floated backwards and held his palm up in Ryoga's direction.
"What?" Ryoga muttered in surprise, hitting nothing but air as a pulse of energy shot out of Nephrite's hand. He was unable to do anything but take it head on, being hurled back by the blast. Ryoga landed roughly a few meters back, barely able to lift his pole into a defensive position before Nephrite rushed again. His sword was glowing with Nephrite's fury, and the best Ryoga could do was put the pole in-between the sword and him.
With a single swipe, the pole was in two pieces. Nephrite followed the momentum of his swing for a second attack, however this time Ryoga was ready for it. Catching the second half of the pole as it fell, Ryoga leapt back and charged both halves with his chi until they were literally glowing. Nephrite swung and missed, just as Ryoga hurled both pieces of his pole. Nephrite had been kind enough to hit it at a diagonal, giving both pieces a nice, sharp edge. The first hit the blade so hard that it sung like a tuning fork, loosening Nephrite's grip on the handle. The second took Nephrite in the palm, impaling his hand entirely.
"ARG!" Nephrite cried out, his sword blinking out of existence. Green blood poured out his hand from around the pipe as Nephrite gripped his hand in pain. Ryoga didn't waste time pressing his advantage, rushing in and decking Nephrite with all the power he could muster. Nephrite hit the ground so hard he bounced a good foot back up, getting nailed by Ryoga's follow up ax kick without even seeing it coming.
"Bakusai Tenketsu!" As Nephrite landed on the ground on his back, Ryoga dove towards the ground and buried his finger into the asphalt right next to Nephrite's head. The world seemed to explode around the dark general, peppering his body with sharp pieces of stone shrapnel as he was hurled skyward.
"You will pay for this insolence, human!" Nephrite growled out, green blood dripping from open wounds and his uniform torn almost to shreds. Ryoga rushed forward and attacked again, however Nephrite floated out of his reach, stopping about 25 feet above the ground.
"Starlight Attack!" Nephrite cried out, crossing his arms and letting loose with the blue white blast of star energy. Ryoga braced himself for impact, remembering this attack from the last time Nephrite hit him with it. However, he was in for quite a surprise as it struck him head on, pushing him into the ground and exploding violently.
'What the hell...' Ryoga thought, struggling to get back to his feet. He was now lying in a large crater, and his body had been pretty singed by that attack. 'That had hurt a hell of a lot more than the last time he hit me.' Ryoga thought, noticing to his extreme annoyance that Nephrite was charging another one.
"Starlight Attack!" Ryoga made a break for it, however he didn't get away in time as the blast struck the ground directly behind him, exploding violently and hurling him further down the road. Had Nephrite gotten stronger? Why were his blasts so much more potent?
"Die, human!" Nephrite held his palm out towards Ryoga now, a series of purple orbs shooting out of his hand. They peppered the ground around Ryoga and exploded like grenades, once again sending Ryoga flying in pain.
'Of course! They're magic attacks.' Ryoga thought, realizing what was different. 'I was transformed last time. The fuku sure does make a difference.'
"Starlight Attack!" Nephrite shouted, letting loose his attack again.
"Shishi Hokodan!" Ryoga countered, gathering his depressed energy and hurling it skyward to meet the magic blast. The two attacks exploded in midair, sending a brilliant flash of white light around the area.
"That attack!" Nephrite shouted in surprise. Sailor Mercury used that attack constantly. Is that the connection this teen had with the Sailor Senshi? Had he been the one to teach them to fight?
"Mercury Power, Make up!" Another flash of light joined the first, however this one was centered around Ryoga himself. Nephrite could only watch in abstract horror and amazement at what was happening right in front of him.
"I don't believe it! You are Sailor Mercury!" Nephrite exclaimed. His surprise soon turned to malicious joy as he began to laugh maniacally. "This is too perfect! I'll be able to eliminate two annoyances at the same time!"
"Just try it, pal!" Mercury shouted, leaping up towards Nephrite.
"Starlight Attack!" The blast was right on target, however it completely failed to slow down the Senshi as she punched right through it. The blast exploded against the ground beneath her, sending Mercury flying even further up. "Impossible! How'd you do that?"
"The outfit makes all the difference!" Mercury cried, getting up to Nephrite's level before cupping her fists together and bringing them down on Nephrite's head with all her might. The hammer blow knocked the dark general clear out of the sky, causing him to hit the ground with enough force to crack the asphalt.
"Shishi Hokodan!" The follow up blast was enough to put Nephrite into a crater. As Mercury came down, she pulled her fist back, fully intent to end this battle with one last punch. Unfortunately, she hit nothing but the street, as Nephrite rolled back to his feet before she landed. Cursing herself slightly, Mercury tried to recover and get back to her feet, only to get nailed in the face by a punch with a hell of a lot more power behind it than she had been expecting. Mercury went flying back from the blow, landing roughly in a crouch.
"It looks like I've been underestimating you." Nephrite said smugly, raising his hands. "Perhaps I should stop holding back." Nephrite rose one arm and suddenly two Nephrite's appeared on either side of him, then two more, and so on until there were 8 Nephrite clones on either side of the original.
"O Regulus, star of Leo, shining in the southern night sky," The 17 Nephrite's spoke in unison, "grant me your power!" with that, the sixteen Nephrite clones rose into the air and rearranged themselves before shining white and becoming glowing spheres. Mercury briefly realized they had taken the shape of a constellation before the form of a lion materialized in the air and came to life.
"The hell?" Mercury muttered, getting back to her feet just as the blue lion touched down on the ground. She didn't have much time to react before the giant beast pounced on her. Mercury gasped out in pain as a large claw dug into her side, tearing her fuku and drawing blood. With a grunt, she planted her legs into the lion's belly and hurled it with all her might, sending it straight into a street light. Even though the light pole bent from the impact, the lion didn't seem too affected. It just got back up as if nothing had happened.
"Damn it, Shishi Hokodan!" The lion pounced again and got caught in midair by the blunt chi wave. Once again, it flew straight into the street light, this time knocking it over completely. It still wasn't finished though, and got right back up.
"O Hamal, star of Aries..." Mercury looked away from the lion momentarily to see Nephrite once again cloning himself and reciting a spell, clearly about to summon some other animal to assist him. Mercury didn't have much time to worry about that, though, as she was once again pounced by Leo and forced to the ground.
"Stupid lion..." Mercury muttered, holding the lion's mouth open with her hands as it vainly attempted to tear her throat out. This wasn't going very well, and any second now she'd have some other annoyance to deal with.
"Get...off!" Mercury lashed out with her left leg, nailing Leo right in the testicles with the tip of her boot. The mystical lion let out a bizarre sound that was like a cross between a gurgle, a scream and a whimper before it simply fell off of her and disappeared into dust. As Mercury got up, however, she noticed a blue ram was now heading straight for her.
"Screw this. Bubble Spray!" In an instant the mist blanketed the entire area and the ram simply vanished. Mercury blinked a few times when she saw that, not expecting that effect. Apparently, her mist could cancel magic attacks.
"So it's not totally useless..." Mercury muttered, heading for cover. Her side was bleeding pretty badly, and Nephrite was probably just lying in wait for the mist to clear. And once the mist cleared, he'd probably just start making more animals again.
'Damn it, I need a plan.' Mercury thought, stumbling through her own mist while cradling the wound in her side. Nephrite glanced around in the mist in annoyance, unable to see so much as a shadow within it. With a scoff, he started floating higher until he eventually cleared it completely, looking down into the mist with an expression of disdain.
"You cannot hide forever, Sailor Mercury!" Nephrite bellowed into the mist. Unfortunately for him, he received no reply. There went his plan to locate her by sound, it seemed. Nephrite grumbled to himself about annoying girls in short skirts as he looked at the pole stuck in his right hand, figuring he might as well pull it out while he has the time.
'Damn it, I'm losing blood. I won't be able to keep this mist up much longer...' Mercury thought to herself. That was when she spotted the shadow of Nephrite above the mist, smirking slightly to herself upon seeing him. 'Perfect.' As she positioned herself just below him, Mercury hunched over into a horse stance and crossed her arms in front of her body. She closed her eyes and began to gather her chi as well, thinking of the most depressing thoughts she could manage.
'What's this?' Nephrite thought to himself, gazing curiously into the mist, "I sense immense human energy." The dark general started glancing around, trying to locate the source of this disturbance. That's when he noticed a light slowly building beneath him. Unfortunately, he noticed a bit too late.
"SAI DAI KYU SHISHI HOKODAN!" Mercury screamed at the top of her lungs. Nephrite barely had time to gape before the massive column of energy hit him head on, dragging him skyward at high speed. After going up nearly 100 meters, the orb successfully managed to pass Nephrite, allowing the general to regain his position floating in midair. It only lasted about two seconds though, since the blast almost immediately came right back down and dragged Nephrite with it.
The Shishi Hokodan hit the ground with incredible force, punching a crater in the ground several meters deep and even more meters wide. At the very center of this crater stood Sailor Mercury, and at her feet was Nephrite. The mist had been completely dispersed by the explosion.
"I'm not yet beaten..." Nephrite muttered, slowly but surely getting back to his feet. He was bleeding pretty badly now, and his uniform was barely in one piece anymore. He was wobbling on his feet, but for the most part seemed perfectly able to fight. Unfortunately for him, Mercury was just as willing to fight, despite the large hole the lion had torn in her side.
"Damn it, just stay down already." Mercury muttered. She clenched her fist and struck Nephrite full in the sternum, hitting hard enough to momentarily lift the general off his feet. She followed this punch up with a left hook, and then a right uppercut. Nephrite was lifted clear out of the crater by the final punch, landing roughly on his back just at the rim.
"You are indeed strong, Sailor Mercury..." Nephrite muttered, coughing up a bit of green blood as he got back to his feet. Mercury leapt from the crater with a spinning kick, fully intent to take Nephrite's head off with the blow. Unfortunately for her, he caught her leg and countered with a punch to the abdomen, hurling the blue haired girl across the crater.
"But I am still stronger. Prepare yourself, Sailor Mercury! I will no longer show you mercy!" Nephrite shouted. He crossed his arms, as if to fire another starlight attack. However, instead he uncrossed his arms after the orb had formed and grasped it firmly with his right hand. The starlight energy flowed into his arm and collected around his clenched fist, causing his hand to shine a bright white.
"Starlight..." Nephrite cried out, cocking his fist back as if getting ready to punch. Mercury merely stood her ground on the other side of the crater, confident that the fuku would protect her from the brunt of the magical blast. "...Blitz!" Nephrite practically teleported across the gap between them. Before Mercury had blinked, his glowing fist was deeply implanted in her abdomen.
"You say your outfit protects you from my magics..." Nephrite growled out, watching as the surprised girl was bent in half around his fist. "...Too bad my Leo tore it open." With these words, the orb of energy Nephrite had shoved into Mercury's wound exploded, sending the stunned Senshi hurtling backwards. The pain was almost unbearable. Clearly, Nephrite didn't believe in fighting fair, as he had deliberately unleashed the full power of his attack into Mercury's wound. The blue haired girl hit the ground and bounced like a rock off the surface of a pond, hitting the corner of a building spine first. Mercury opened her mouth in a silent scream of pain, wanting to cry out but unable to voice it as the sharp brick corner of the building dug painfully into the small of her back. She feel to the ground like a limp doll, having hit the building hard enough to send spider web cracks down both sides of the building.
Mercury hit the ground and curled up into a ball, holding her abdomen wound in pain while her spine screamed in protest from the impact with the wall. She could see Nephrite approaching slowly, his green blood staining his body and clothes. However, despite all his open wounds, he still didn't seem like he was going to fall anytime soon.
"How the mighty have fallen. It seems you don't have anything left." Nephrite muttered. Ryoga blinked a few times, noticing that she was back in her normal clothes. When had the transformation failed? She hadn't even noticed. As Nephrite got close, he lashed out with his foot and struck Ryoga in the claw wound again, earning another cry of pain from the blue haired girl.
"So pathetic." He muttered smugly, grabbing Ryoga by the neck and easily lifting the small girl into the air. Ryoga glared down at her tormentor, kicking him a few times in the chest and shoulders. It didn't seem to do much. Ryoga felt too weak to put any power behind the blows. "You were indeed a worthy opponent. But it seems your fight is over." Nephrite said, tightening his grip slightly. Ryoga's vision started swimming as her lungs burned for the need of air. She increased her struggles, however they were even weaker with the lack of oxygen.
'Damn it, I can't let this bastard beat me.' Ryoga thought, gripping at Nephrite's fingers and trying to pry them off her throat. She was getting lightheaded. This wasn't good.
"What's wrong, Ryoga? Need some help?" A voice said from seemingly nowhere. It sounded familiar. In fact, it sounded a lot like Konatsu.
"Of course he does. Ryoga's useless without us." That one was definitely Ranma. Where were they? Why did it sound like their voices weren't coming from any specific location?
'Shut up, Ranma. I'm fine on my own.' Ryoga thought, angry at the pseudo-Ranma's comment.
"Is that so? How many Youma have you killed, Ryoga? Your magic attack is useless. Not even the Shishi Hokodan beat any youmas. You always needed help to finish them off. You can't fend for yourself." Ranma mocked, making Ryoga even angrier.
'That isn't true, Ranma!' Ryoga thought angrily. She didn't even realize she was starting to hallucinate from a lack of oxygen. Didn't matter much, she'd suffocate soon at this rate.
"What are you talking about? I've killed more youma than you can shake a stick at! I even beat the last big general guy! I've always been stronger than you, you just never wanted to admit it." Ranma taunted. Ryoga started to glow suddenly and twitch slightly in Nephrite's grasp, causing the general to raise an eyebrow. For some reason, he felt like he was forgetting something. Something very important. He tightened his grip, just in case.
'Shut up, damn it! I can beat you any day of the week, Ranma! You've never been better than me! I can kill Youma just as well as you can!' Ryoga insisted. The glow got stronger, much to Nephrite's annoyance. Why did he get the feeling he was forgetting something?
"Than prove it, Pig Boy! Kick his Dark General ass!" Ranma yelled in Ryoga's mind. Nephrite gasped in shock as he suddenly felt a remarkable jump in ambient human energy. The air was soaked with it. What was going on?
'Oh great god of chaos. He's reaching his peak!' Nephrite thought, remembering that this fight started in the first place because the White Crystal had directed him to Ryoga Hibiki. He also remembered what had happened to the last two Youma that had been on the receiving end of an angry human who had just hit their peak potential. They had been completely annihilated.
Nephrite put all his strength into his grip, trying to crush the girl's windpipe. It was too late, however. Ryoga's eyes shot open suddenly, revealing a pair of frightening looking eyes. Her irises had changed shape and color, now being an intense golden pentagon. Her hands reached up and pried open Nephrite's grip with ease, followed by a kick to the chest that sent Nephrite flying across the street.
"What the...Where did this power come from?" Nephrite muttered in surprise, getting back to his feet. He looked towards Ryoga in surprise as the girl was bathed in another corona of light, much like when he initially transformed into Sailor Mercury.
"Another transformation?" Nephrite muttered. He didn't care though. He'd finish her off while she was distracted. He once again crossed his arms in preparation for the Starlight Attack, pumping all the power he could manage into the orb as he reached out and grabbed it with his right hand.
"Starlight Blitz!" Nephrite cried out. He rushed across the distance between them with his fist cocked back and ready to hit. However, before he got there, Ryoga's transformation finished. Nephrite struck with all his might, fully intent on blowing the girl away.
Ryoga caught his fist like it was nothing. The following explosion didn't even cause her to lose her grip on Nephrite's hand.
"Good bye." Ryoga muttered, pulling her other fist back. Nephrite's eyes widened in terror as he watched a strange energy start to gather around the cocked fist, something he was totally unfamiliar with. Ryoga didn't even call out a spell as she punched, but the attack was just as potent none the less. Nephrite couldn't even scream as the blow literally blew a hole in his torso, utterly obliterating his lungs and other major organs. The White Crystal shot out of the hole in his torso and hit the far wall, clattering to the ground. It had been in his jacket when the blow came, and had been pushed right through Nephrite's body by the blow.
Nephrite opened and closes his mouth wordlessly before falling over on his back, very dead. In his last moments, Nephrite did manage to take in the odd new transformation. Ryoga was now decked out in an odd golden armor. She still had the short blue skirt and the white leotard, however she now also sported a golden breastplate, golden belt, golden boots that rose up to her knees and a gold gauntlet on her right arm. Curiously, the left one was absent. Her Tiara seemed to still be intact, however it had changed shape, now being more of a cross between a crown and a crest. It now wrapped around her head entirely, and had a metallic V shaped design sticking out around the central jewel.
"It's over." Ryoga muttered. She was suddenly overcome by wooziness and fell to her knees, her transformation dissolving around her. Ryoga blinked a few times in astonishment as her normal clothes returned and her eyes took on their usual appearance again.
"What...just happened?" She muttered, looking over at Nephrite's corpse as it slowly transformed into a rainbow light and floated away. Clearly, she had won. However, she wasn't entirely sure how. What was that weird power she had felt? Why did it feel so...familiar?
"Ugh...I'm definitely going to need a vacation after this." With those words, Ryoga got to her feet and headed back in the direction she left her pack, wanting nothing more than to go home in peace.
As Ryoga walked off, a figure emerged from the shadows of a nearby alleyway, looking towards Nephrite's decomposing corpse with mild curiosity.
"Interesting." He muttered, bending over and picking up the gore covered White Crystal. "Very interesting indeed."
To be Continued.
Current Cross Count: 7
Note: I've moved the counter to the bottom of the chapter to be nicer. Now, all crossovers up to and including this chapter are in the counter.
Author's Notes:
Holy Crap, what an update! This chapter is almost TWICE as long as the previous one! And it was practically all about Ryoga! Don't worry though, that won't happen again anytime soon. Expect to see a hell of a lot more screen time given to Ranma, Konatsu and the other people of Nerima in the upcoming chapters.
Next time: With Nephrite dead, Queen Beryl decides to turn to a new strategy. Zoisite starts targeting people around Nerima in search of Rainbow Crystals, and Kunzite seems to have his own agenda involving Nephrite's White Crystal. What could this mean? And how will Ranma and the others deal with a two pronged assault? All this and more in the next chapter of Bishonen Senshi Sailor Moon: Thunder Storm.
Ryo-Wolf