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.
Ryu sighed to himself as he gazed around the small, uninteresting break room. It was almost like a cross between a locker room and a waiting room, with tiled walls and floors as well as a series of couches and a rack full of magazines. On the other side of the room were a row of lockers, most likely reserved for the regulars. Overhead, a dusty florescent lamp hung, illuminating the room in its harsh light while simultaneously giving off an annoyingly constant hum. The air was stale and cold, like one would expect from a room with so little circulation. He was underground, after all, and only a small duct on the roof in the far corner served to move the air around.
"You Kumon?" A man in a well fitting suit asked, pointing at Ryu. He was so stereotypically Yakuza one would almost suspect he was wearing a Halloween costume, with his thick mirrored sunglasses and black suit. Why anyone would wear sunglasses at night in an underground building was a mystery. Maybe he thought he looked cool.
"Yeah, that's me." Ryu answered, sitting up on the uncomfortable couch. He had taken to lying down after realizing just how uncomfortable it was to sit up straight on the pathetic excuse for a piece of furniture. Lying down wasn't much better, but it was still slightly more bearable.
"You're up next, so don't even think about leaving the premises before the fight." The thug said, trying to sound threatening.
"Right." Ryu responded, lying back down. He resisted the urge to scoff at the guy. Like this guy could do shit to stop him from leaving. With another sigh, his thoughts instead turned to a certain blue haired girl that had given him the slip a few days ago. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tag. It had torn off her pack when she took it from him. He had hoped it would have given him a hint as to who she was or where she lived, but it was just the washing instructions.
'I wonder where that girl is now. She looked just like my old girlfriend. It's a shame I let her get away.' Ryu thought to himself, lost in his musings momentarily. He had lost complete track of time, not even noticing a good ten minutes past until two medics walked past him with a guy on a stretcher.
"Hey, Kumon. You're up." The Yakuza thug suddenly said. Ryu just nodded and got to his feet, stashing the tag away again and following the thug towards the main attraction. The stadium itself was fairly huge, considering the entire thing was underground. It probably cost a small fortune to dig it all out, but it had clearly been worth it. Not only were the tickets ridiculously expensive, but the bets were all high stakes deals, with a minimum spending limit well above what Ryu could ever reasonably get a hold of. Despite that, the stands were packed with screaming audience members. Whoever built this place was definitely getting his money's worth.
"And now, we begin the semi finals! These two young men have fought amazingly thus far, and now it's time for them to face off!" The announcer's voice reverberated around the Stadium as Ryu walked out through the large gates and into the main ring. The fighting area itself was fairly simple, with no actual ring to speak of. It was just a very large empty space surrounded on all sides by 12 foot high walls, atop which the bleachers sat. The ground was a tiled concrete, and one could tell just by looking at the cracked and shattered surface of the tiles in question that they went through great levels of abuse. As soon as Ryu was in the ring, the walls behind him shut, closing off the pathway completely.
"And here the fighters are now! On the right side of the field, a newcomer to our stadium and a fierce competitor, Ryu Kumon!" There was a chorus of cheers from the audience. Probably people who won bets on his previous fights. He wasn't egotistical enough to think he had any fans in the stands.
"And on the left side of the field, a returning fighter who has quite the following, Yun Lee!" The crowd went absolutely wild as the doorway on the other side of the ring slammed closed. Upon seeing the fighter, Ryu raised an eyebrow, almost not believing what he saw. The two were walking towards the center of the ring, eying one another carefully. The boy was wearing a white Kung Fu shirt and black pants, with a pair of yellow bracers tightly wrapped around his forearms. He also had a long pigtail braid reaching about mid back, and an annoyingly familiar smirk.
"The fight starts in five minutes, ladies and gentlemen! Fighters, get ready, and people, PLACE YOUR BETS!" This was typical. The two fighters were expected to just stand around and look tough for 5 minutes while the gamblers watching had time to make their wagers. Attacking during this period would get you an instant disqualification, and they really didn't like it when a fighter got disqualified. Judging from the way they made it abundantly clear he should do everything in his power not to be disqualified, Ryu was fairly certain they would try to break his kneecaps with a sledgehammer if he did anything stupid.
"You remind me of someone." Ryu muttered, pointing at Yun accusingly. The resemblance to Ranma was almost uncanny. It was kind of disturbing in a way.
"Is that so?" Yun asked, a bit wary. "Should I be worried then?" The boy started doing simple stretches, barely giving Ryu a second thought.
"Yes, you should. I didn't like him. In fact, it's his fault I had to abandon my old art." Ryu replied. He too began to perform a few stretches, but he was already fairly limber from his previous matches.
"You abandoned your art? Maybe you should forfeit. I'd hate to wipe the floor with a rookie." Yun said with a smirk on his face. Ryu only frowned slightly in response.
"The bets are closed! No more bets for this fight will be taken! All wagers are locked in!" The announcer shouted, though Ryu wasn't paying attention to him.
"It's really unfortunate for you that you look like Ranma." Ryu muttered, "Now I'm not going to hold back." As Ryu said this, he bent over and lifted his pant leg, revealing a band of bars tied around his leg. With a simple movement, he removed them from both legs, letting them hit the ground.
"Fighters, get ready!" The announcer shouted.
"Weights? Tch, I'm really scared." Yun muttered sarcastically. Ryu didn't respond, taking off his gloves instead. The wrist bands on each one hit the ground with a heavy thump.
"You should be," Ryu said, unstrapping his belt. It hit the ground hard enough to crack the concrete tile, "You won't even know what hit you."
"FIGHT!"
Bishonen Senshi Sailor Moon
Chapter 6
Thunder Storm part 1
Deep within the bowels of her dark lair, Queen Beryl stood before the resting chamber of her almighty ruler. Beryl had been waiting for this moment for what felt like an eternity. Finally, she'd be able to reawaken the sleeping giant!
"Awaken, oh great ruler," Beryl began, bowing before the large cocoon-like sack in which her ruler slept, "with this great energy, return to life!" Beryl lifted her hands towards the cocoon, where the massive orb of energy that Nephrite had brought her floated in all its glory. With the combined energy of Seiji Sawamura and Kouji Kudo, the orb was almost twice the size of Beryl herself, and let out a glow so intense it illuminated the entire cavern. As she offered the orb towards the cocoon, it exploded into a beam of power, flowing forth from Beryl's hands and into the cocoon with the force of a tsunami.
Bubbles started to form within the sack cocoon, and shortly after a dark shadow appeared, almost like a ripple on the surface of the ocean.
"This human energy has revived me from my sleep. However, I can still feel my consciousness drawing towards the depths of slumber. Bring me the Ginzuishou! Only then will I truly be reborn!" The cocoon spoke with a grating, almost robotic voice. And as it spoke, the dark shadow writhed and changed shape, though never truly gained any definition.
"But we know nothing of its whereabouts." Queen Beryl pointed out. The dark shadow within the cocoon writhed a few times, taking on various meaningless shapes.
"When the Seven Monsters have been revived along with the Rainbow Crystals, the Ginzuishou will shine!" The cocoon shouted, causing Queen Beryl's face to lighten up in joy. Finally, a clue to finding the Ginzuishou! Now all she needed was a means of locating the Rainbow Crystals. A beacon that would resonate and respond to their presence should be easy enough to create.
"I shall instruct Zoisite to search for the Seven Monsters immediately. The Ginzuishou will soon be ours!"
"It's been really peaceful lately, don't you think?" Ranma muttered wistfully, looking skyward as he strolled down the road. Luna was sitting on his shoulder and cleaning the back of her paws, not really paying attention to what Ranma was saying.
"I haven't had to transform once in over a week. This is great. I hope this keeps up. The less time I spend in that stupid outfit, the better." Ranma said. He was mostly talking to himself though.
"You should just get used to it, Ranma. It'll make things easier for you in the long run." Luna responded, and then went back to grooming herself.
"Tch. Like I'm gonna get used to that stupid thing." Ranma muttered, continuing on his way. School was out, he was bored, and he had nothing better to do. Nabiki was still doing her best to make him miserable, so avoiding the Dojo at all costs was a good idea. Not to mention Pops seemed to be on edge whenever Ranma was around. 'He's hiding something from me, I just can't figure out what it is.' He thought to himself.
With the Dojo out of the question thanks to Nabiki's quest for vengeance, it didn't leave Ranma with many options on where to go. Shampoo still refused to talk to him, and hanging around the Ucchan's all day would just be asking for trouble from Akane. He hadn't seen Ryoga or Konatsu in awhile. However, Ukyo had told him that Konatsu hadn't been back to the Ucchan's all week, and Ryoga was almost certainly lost anyhow.
'I can't stick around here though. If I wait around in the open any longer, the Sailor Senshi fan club are gonna hunt me down.' Ranma thought. Nabiki has been directing every question about the Sailor Senshi towards Ranma, and ever since his conversation with Yuka and Sayuri, those two had been intent on including him in all their Sailor Senshi related talks. Now, he must have at least 10 or 15 girls (and guys) looking to him for info on the Senshi. It was an awkward situation that he would like to avoid entirely, especially since a lot of them started to suspect that he knew a lot more than he was letting on.
"Ranma, I'm hungry. Why are we wandering around anyway?" Luna complained.
"I'm bored and have nothing better to do. And if you're so hungry, why didn't you stay behind at the dojo?" Ranma responded, continuing his aimless meanderings. Luna seemed to glare at the pigtailed boy, but he mostly ignored it.
"You haven't fed me once since I became your advisor. I get hungry you know! If it wasn't for Kasumi, I would have starved to death!" Luna ranted. She was getting really sick of Ranma's general neglect.
"Hey, I gave you that peanut butter and jelly sandwich, didn't I?" Ranma pointed out. Luna narrowed her eyes at him.
"That thing was toxic! It tasted like rotten garlic and sawdust! I mean real food, Ranma!" Luna was standing on her back legs and gesturing with her front two wildly now. She was clearly angry about this.
"Hey, I don't know what squirrels eat. Can't you just forage for nuts or something?" Ranma shrugged, causing Luna to wobble slightly from her position on his shoulder. Sometimes, Ranma's delusions about her species was really, really annoying. This was one such time. It was something she'd have to deal with though. Ranma acting delusional was better than him screaming and running for his life.
"Just...get me something to eat..." Luna muttered in defeat, slumping as much as she could without falling of Ranma's shoulder.
"Alright, fine. I'll swing by Ryoga's place and get you something to eat. Hell, maybe he's home. That'll give me something to do." Ranma said, leaping up to a fence post. Luna slipped off his shoulder as a result, hanging onto his shirt for dear life.
"You know, you're a bit too big to sit on my shoulder like that." Ranma muttered, Grabbing Luna off his back and holding the black squirrel in his arms. "Alright, hang on. I'm gonna take a short cut to Ryoga's."
-A little while Later-
Ranma chuckled to himself slightly as he walked down the road, Ryoga's house in plain view ahead. The reason for his mirth was walking slowly behind him, shaking like a leaf and stuttering to herself.
"Oh come on, you big baby. It wasn't that bad." Ranma said, looking down at Luna. The squirrel gave him a look like he had grown seven new heads and declared himself the king of the hydras.
"Are you kidding me? You were clinging to the side of a train! I thought I was going to die! Why can't you just buy a ticket like a normal person!" Luna screeched, clearly hysterical. Ranma's idea of a shortcut was absurd at best. It was bad enough when he started running over and through several buildings, but he actually had the nerve to jump onto a moving train! And he didn't sit on top of the train, oh no. He grabbed onto the side and clung to it one handed, with Luna held tightly in his other hand. It was absolute madness. She was sure the pigtailed boy was going to fall off at any moment, and yet he somehow managed to stay on until the train came to its next stop.
"What's the fun in that? Train rides are only worth it if you are outside. The people on the inside don't know what they're missing." Ranma answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Luna was still looking at him like he was crazy.
'She'll get over it.' Ranma thought, walking up to Ryoga's house. He approached the front door and opened it without a care, causing him to promptly get buried under a pile of appliances and furniture.
"What the hell is this!" Ranma shouted, pulling himself out of the pile and glancing around. He spotted Konatsu nearby, reading a book and glancing at him curiously.
"Ryoga's mom booby-traps the entire house. You gotta be more careful when you open the doors in this place." Konatsu said, as if it should have been totally obvious.
"What are you doing here, Konatsu?" Ranma asked, pushing the pile of crap aside so that he could close the door. Luna dashed into the house while Ranma was doing this, so that she wouldn't be locked out. "No, scratch that. When did Ryoga's mom come back?"
"Ryoga's mom? She hasn't come back. What gave you that idea?" Konatsu dropped her book on the couch and crossed the room to the door. Ranma thought at first that she was moving to clean up the mess, but then he realized that she was resetting the trap.
"Wait, you've been booby trapping the house?" Ranma asked, though he had no real reason to. It was quite obvious that Konatsu was positioning a large quantity of hard, blunt objects above the door so that they would fall on anyone who opened it.
"Of course not. These are all Ryoga's mother's traps," Konatsu said, tying a quick release knot in the rope, "I just put them back up whenever someone sets them off." Konatsu finished up what she was doing and hopped back to the ground, wiping some dirt off her pants when she landed. She had changed out of the outfit she arrived in, which Ranma was lucky enough to never see. She had since started raiding Ryoga's mother's closet for clothes, which is where she acquired the simple white blouse and yellow slacks that she was now wearing.
"So, what brings you here?" Konatsu asked, turning towards the confused looking Saotome boy.
"Boredom mostly." Ranma said. Konatsu seemed to nod in understanding, "Oh, and Luna's hungry." As Ranma said this, he turned towards the cat in question. However, she was no longer on the couch like she was before. Rather, she was climbing into an open fridge, trying to forage for food in the lower shelves and drawers.
"Boredom I can understand. There's nothing to do in this house." Konatsu said, grabbing the book she had previously been reading and plopping herself on the couch. "All I can do is read books, and the Hibikis don't seem to own very many books." Ranma briefly noticed that Amawa was walking down the stairs and heading towards the kitchen, but decided to ignore him.
"So, where's Ryoga?" Ranma asked, though he figured he already knew the answer.
"Beats me. Haven't seen him all week." Konatsu replied. Well, seems like Ranma was right on the money on his assumption.
"I'm Hom-AAHH!" The door opened suddenly followed by a brief avalanche, causing both teens to turn towards the door. Seems Ryoga wasn't expecting the trap anymore than Ranma was.
"Oh Ryoga, you're back." Konatsu muttered, glancing over her book to look at the boy. "Have a pleasant trip?" Ryoga merely glared at the kunoichi from underneath the pile of stuff.
There was an odd silence that settled upon the Kuno Estate that afternoon, as well as a feeling of tension that was so thick one could almost see it in the air. It was like the calm before a storm. Two forces were preparing to cross paths in a violent and destructive fashion, and the world was merely preparing itself for the worst.
"Vile woman! What have you done with my Pigtailed Girl posters!" The outcry of rage broke the calm around the estate. Within the building, the sound of walls been knocked down could be heard as Kuno went on his rampage.
"I fed them to Midorigame-kun! That's what you get for using my statue of my Ranma-sama as a training dummy!" Kodachi shouted back. Judging from the way explosions started to rock the home, she was fighting back as well.
"You fed them to that disgusting beast? You foul wench, I'll make luggage out of him!" Kuno bellowed before storming out of the house. Kodachi was right at his heels, throwing various house hold objects at her brother.
"Don't you dare hurt my Midorigame-kun!" She screamed. Kuno reached the edge of the pond and grabbed his bokken from where it was sheathed at his side. He unsheathed it and slashed the pond in the same motion, parting the waters like the red sea in a straight line across the entire body of water. Hmm, it seems like he missed. Where was that blasted reptile hiding?
"You bastard! Don't hurt my Midorigame-kun!" Kodachi screamed again, grabbing her brother around the waist and trying to pull him away from the pond.
"Get off me, woman!" Kuno shouted and struggled with his sister. "I'm sure the Pigtailed Girl would like a pair of Alligator skin boots!" Kuno got closer to the water, dragging Kodachi behind him as he prepared to strike again. Kodachi suddenly let go of him, causing Kuno to stumble forward from the unexpected loss of weight. As he attempted to regain his balance, Kodachi pulled some powder out of somewhere and blew it in his face. Kuno could feel his muscles seizing up.
"You...Dirty...Whore..." Kuno grumbled out, wobbling in place as the paralysis powder started to take effect. He noticed Kodachi was now holding a large mallet behind her head, as if preparing for a golf swing.
"Farewell, dear brother!" She exclaimed, hitting Kuno with the mallet and sent him flying in a fashion that would make the greatest golf players proud. He soared into the distance in a perfect arch, quickly disappearing from view.
Kuno hit the ground a good mile or so away and bounced, landing a second time far more gracefully than the first. It was a good thing he had built up immunity to Kodachi's poisons and such over the years. The paralysis had already worn off.
"Damn my sister and her antics." Kuno grumbled, wiping the dirt from his hakama as he got to his feet. Kuno glanced around a bit to try and gain his bearings. How was he going to enact his sweet vengeance if he didn't even know where he was?
"Hmm...I seem to be in the market." Kuno said to himself, noticing the nearby shops and stores. "Kodachi must have been practicing. This is indeed a record distance."
After establishing the proper direction to travel in from the impact craters he left, Kuno set off in the direction of home with thoughts of retribution on his mind. He came across a raised walkway and started to cross it before stopping halfway, trying once again to locate the direction he needed to go. This is when he noticed something rather unusual. Nabiki Tendo and an odd, uniformed man seemed to be deep in conversation on the lower level. From the looks of things, they were being very hostile with one another.
"Has Nabiki Tendo finally earned the ire of the criminal underworld? This is a day I have feared was coming for a long while." Kuno mused to himself. That was when the uniformed man pulled a strange object out of his coat and held it in Nabiki's direction. The object started to shine and unleash a yellow light, at which point Nabiki started screaming in pain.
"What the..." Kuno unsheathed his weapon and leapt off the walkway, landing near the uniformed man and lashing out with his bokken. The man seemed to notice his entrance, however, and quickly floated away. Nabiki Tendo fell to the ground, clutching her chest in pain.
"What have you done to Nabiki Tendo, sorcerer!" Kuno roared, standing at the ready and glaring at the floating man. The sorcerer slowly hovered down until his feet touched the ground, keeping his eyes on Kuno. In his right hand, he clenched a strange crystal.
"K...Kuno...What are you doing here?" Nabiki got out between labored breaths. She was sweating heavily and clutching her chest in pain. Whatever that crazy man did, it had hurt like she couldn't believe.
"Save your strength, Nabiki Tendo. I will vanquish this foul vermin." Kuno answered, never taking his eyes off Zoisite.
"Vermin! Why you..." Zoisite growled and lifted his left hand towards Kuno, "Zoi!" A pulse of force seemed to erupt from his palm. Kuno took the blast head on, but stood his ground.
"Your dark powers are no match for me, sorcerer!" Kuno roared, facing the attack like a man staring into an intense wind. After a few moments of punishment, Kuno managed to take a single step forward. Then another, and another. Soon he was running at Zoisite as fast as he could, practically ignoring the attack. Kuno swung his sword at the Dark General's face, barely connecting at all, but still managing to cut his face slightly.
"You bastard, you harmed my beautiful face!" Zoisite cried out, touching the cut tentatively. He glared at Kuno suddenly, lifting both hands towards the kendoist and unleashed an intense blast of sakura petals. Kuno was hurled from the attack, landing on his back near where Nabiki was struggling to get back to her feet.
"Damn it, Kuno...you're useless..." Nabiki mumbled, getting back to her feet and glaring at Zoisite as he approached again.
"Give it up, girl. I've already released your true self. It's only a matter of time now." Zoisite said simply, raising the black crystal. "Now give me the Rainbow Crystal!"
"NO!" Nabiki screamed, closing her eyes shut and throwing her arms out towards Zoisite. The black crystal started to glow before it was inexplicably stripped from Zoisite's hand and thrown over his shoulder.
"What..." Zoisite managed to get out, before the full implications of this occurrence hit him; literally. It felt like he had just been hit head on by a car. Zoisite was lifted off his feet and tossed back by the unseen attacker, landing near the black crystal.
Nabiki opened her eyes slowly, looking mildly confused by the fact she hadn't been attacked yet. That was when she noticed Zoisite climbing to his feet a distance away. That's funny, there was a crack in the asphalt that went from where she stood to where Zoisite had previously been. Where did that come from?
"You little bitch..." Zoisite growled, grabbing the black crystal as he got back to his feet. "How dare you attack me!"
"Attack him? But I..." Nabiki stopped and looked down at her hands briefly. She idly noticed that Kuno was getting back to his feet, but she had other things on her mind. Now, Nabiki was a smart girl. It didn't take her very long to look at the puzzle pieces in front of her and figure out how to put them together. She had apparently attacked the General. There was a crack in the ground that seemed to travel right to where he had been standing. She hadn't moved, but she had thrown her hands out towards him and tried to will him not to harm her.
Conclusion?
She was telekinetic.
"Knave, now dare you strike the blue thunder with such a feminine attack! Have you no masculine pride?" Kuno growled, clearly having regained consciousness. Nabiki glanced at her hands momentarily before spotting a small chunk of asphalt that had been broken during whatever attack she had unleashed. Curious, she held her hand out towards it and tried to grab it with her mind, imagining it lifting into the air. Miraculously, the small chunk of asphalt started to vibrate before it floated skyward.
Oh, she was going to enjoy this.
"What the hell is going on here?" Nabiki turned around when she heard the voice, spotting three fuku clad teenagers standing at the edge of the raised walkway, looking down at them.
"The Sailor Senshi?" She muttered, rather surprised to see them. Her attention was no longer on Zoisite, which was all the opportunity he needed to point the black crystal at her.
"That's weird. According to the mercury computer, Nabiki is the youma." Mercury muttered, too quiet for those on the lower level to hear her.
"You are too late, Sailor Senshi!" Zoisite shouted. Nabiki cursed to herself and turned around, but it was indeed too late. The yellow light given off by the black crystal enveloped her once again, bringing the pain back to a new level. It was far too intense. She couldn't concentrate at all, making her newfound power useless.
"Help me!" She cried out, still screaming at the top of her lungs. Kuno was already rushing forward, however Zoisite blasted him away without even taking his attention off of Nabiki.
"NABIKI!" Sailor Moon cried out, just as the three senshi leapt from the walkway and charged towards Zoisite. A black hole had opened up in Nabiki's chest, revealing a red crystal to be floating there.
"The Rainbow Crystal is mine!" Zoisite declared, holding his hand out towards the crystal as it shot out of Nabiki's body and flew towards his hand.
"Moon Tiara Action!" Moon's Tiara lanced out and struck Zoisite's hand just as his fingers closed around the crystal, causing him to drop it.
"I don't know what the hell that thing was, but you're putting it back!" Moon shouted, landing in front of Zoisite and kicking him in the face. The dark general was hurled back against the wall by the attack, watching as moon scooped up the Rainbow Crystal. Today just wasn't his day, so many people kept hitting him in the face.
"Are you alright?" Mercury asked, kneeling before the injured Nabiki. She didn't look so hot. In fact, she was starting to glow now. "Moon, I think she's gonna need that crystal back!"
"Give me back the Rainbow Crystal!" Zoisite shouted, getting back to his feet and rushing towards moon.
"Fiend!" Kuno declared, jumping in between the two and slashing Zoisite's hand. "Take care of Nabiki Tendo, Pigtailed Senshi! I'll handle this one."
It was too late for that though. Mercury and Mars, who were both tending to Nabiki, were each hurled back by a sudden wave of pressure that exploded outward from Nabiki's body. A wall of dust suddenly erupted and swirled around the Tendo girl like a tornado, completely enveloping her from view.
"What the hell?" Mars grunted, shielding her eyes from the dust and dirt. The tornado stopped just as quickly as it started, revealing a blue skinned woman where Nabiki had previously been. She was wearing a tight bodice and thigh high leggings, with a loin cloth tied around her waist that hung down to just above her knees. She wore an odd crown on her head as well, which seemed to glow slightly with power.
"No wonder the mercury computer said she was a youma..." Mercury muttered to herself, getting back to her feet.
"It's about time," Zoisite grumbled, "Mystice! Destroy these foolish girls!" The Youma that was once Nabiki only nodded, immediately following Zoisite's command.
"KNAVE!" Kuno bellowed, lashing out with his bokken and striking Zoisite in the temple. The Dark General crumbled to the ground, letting out a feminine cry of pain from the blow.
"What have you done to Nabiki Tendo!" Kuno demanded, pointing his bokken at the downed general. Zoisite grunted as he got back to his feet, feeling something wet drip down his face.
"You...You cut me. How dare you make me bleed!" Zoisite shouted, getting back to his feet and blasting Kuno away. That was when he noticed something odd. The Black crystal was responding.
"Heh, so you are also one of the Seven Monsters?" Zoisite asked. The irony was amazing. "Zoi!" in an instant Kuno was enveloped in a yellow light, letting out his own scream of pain as a hole started to form in his chest.
"Shit, he's doing it to Kuno now!" Moon shouted, spotting Zoisite extracting another Rainbow Crystal from Kuno.
"An opening!" Mystice cried out, gesturing in Moon's direction as a telekinetic burst exploded forth and hit the senshi head on. Moon paid for being distracted, getting hurled into a phone pole by the attack.
"Fire Soul!" Mars shouted, letting lose her blast of flames. And invisible barrier of power seemed to manifest itself in between the youma and the attack, however, and the flame was stopped in its tracks. Mystice gestured towards Mars and the barrier became a blast, blowing a hole in the wall behind Mars when the senshi dodged out of the way.
"So, either of you managed to hit her yet?" Mercury asked, looking towards Moon and Mars as the two senshi formed up on either side of her. Both shook their heads in the negative, neither having been able to break through her defense thus far. That was when a new youma joined the fray. Kuno had become a white skinned man wearing silver samurai armor with a katana in each hand. From the looks of him, he was just as formidable as Mystice.
"Mystice, Bureedo, take care of those senshi." Zoisite commanded, floating skyward, "I'll be back for their Rainbow Crystal later." With those words, the general disappeared in a swirl of sakura petals, leaving the two youma to face off against the three senshi.
"Two against three? Well, at least we've got the advantage of numbers." Mars muttered.
"Two against two, more like. Mercury's magic is useless." Moon added.
"Hey!" Mercury shouted, punching Moon upside the head for the insult.
"Enough of your foolishness! I strike!" Bureedo shouted, running at Moon with a cross strike with both swords.
"Thanks for the warning!" Moon replied, jumping over the attack and vaulting off of Bureedo's helmet. She grabbed her tiara mid jump, twisting around in the air to get a good shot.
"Moon Tiara Action!" The attack took Bureedo full in the back and hurled him back a few meters, causing him to land beneath the raised walkway. "You guys take Nabiki! I've got Kuno handled!" Moon shouted back at the other two, charging after Bureedo with her Tiara ready.
"How nice of her to leave us with the harder one." Mercury muttered, leaping to the side as Mystice sent a telekinetic spike in her direction. The asphalt cracked under the attack as Mercury and Mars both charged towards the youma. Mars went high with a jumping kick, being blocked by another telekinetic barrier. Mercury went low, trying to sweep her legs, only to be blocked by the very same barrier. The two immediately abandoned the separate attacks and both started unleashing blow after blow aimed for her midsection, each one hitting the same invisible shield.
"Shit." Mercury muttered, leaping back and charging her aura. "Shishi hokodan!" The attack exploded forth and parted around the telekinetic barrier like a river flowing around a stone, leaving Mystice totally unharmed. Mars seemed to vanish suddenly, appearing behind the monster and lashing out with a punch aimed for the back of her neck. Mars' knuckles struck a barrier, however Mystice seemed to be fairly startled by it.
"That barrier is spherical. It totally surrounds her body." Mars pointed out.
"You can't break my telekinetic barrier! It is just as strong as my mind." Mystice boasted, grinning at the two senshi.
"Aren't you going to fight back?" Mercury asked, a little surprised to see the youma speaking. These things usually weren't very talkative.
"Why? This is so entertaining. Besides, you'll be easy pickings once you've tired yourselves out with your futile attack." Mystice pointed out. The two senshi just glared at her in response.
"Any ideas?" Mars asked, turning towards Mercury. Mercury had a strange blue visor covering her eyes with data running across it. After a few moments, she smirked.
"Yeah, I do. How much do you think she weighs? 50 kg? 70 tops?" Mercury asked. Mars blinked in confusion, before seeing Mercury rush towards the youma. She stopped short and lashed out with her foot, as if she intended to punt something.
"Hiiiiya!" Mercury grunted. Her foot struck the youma's barrier and kept going, taking the youma and the barrier with it. In an instant the youma was airborne, hurtling through the air and smashing through the wall of a nearby apartment building 4 or 5 stories up.
"How'd you do that?" Mars asked, dumbstruck.
"Her barrier was a perfect sphere. She wasn't bracing it against the ground. Basically, she turned herself into a giant beach ball, so I kicked her." Mercury explained. Mars chuckled a bit, watching as the enraged youma leapt out of the building and landed in front of them.
"You'll regret that!" She shouted, glaring at the two senshi. She was slightly surprised to see that they were both already in motion. Before she had a chance to bring up another barrier, two gloved fists found their way into her face and sent her flying back once again, this time taking out a wall on ground level.
"Sure we will!" Mercury replied as she and Mars followed the Youma into the building.
Luna pushed against her icy prison with all her might, trying in vain to free herself from this realm of darkness and misery. She could feel the air getting harder to breathe, and she was already losing strength in her limbs from the intense cold. What cruel fate had caused her to come to this? Was this truly how her end would come, frozen in this tiny box, doomed to live forever in darkness?
As the moon cat was beginning to give up hope, a ray of shining light broke forth from the edge of her cell and illuminated the box with its brilliant warmth. Finding new strength, Luna threw her entire body against the parted walls, pleased to find them open even further with little resistance.
"FREEDOM!" Luna bellowed, leaping out of the refrigerator like a bat out of hell. Amawa, who had just opened the fridge to get some milk, did not react favorably to this black blur exploding out from the appliance.
"AAAAAAAH!" She shrieked, jumping back and slamming the fridge door shut, just in case the vile creature had back up. Luna had already darted past and was in the living room, noticing that Ranma and Konatsu weren't where she last saw them and quickly leapt out a nearby open window, deciding to follow her senses to the senshi magic she could feel a ways away.
'How could they leave me to die in the fridge like that?' Luna wondered, still having enough adrenaline pumping through her veins to keep up her break neck speed. "When I get my paws on them, I'm going to give those two such a mauling."
Luna shook some of the frost out of her fur as she continued her high speed sprint. It felt much better to get out of that freezing hellhole. The warm afternoon air was already heating her chilled body, and she was regaining feeling in her limbs now that they weren't frozen anymore. Hmm, from the way she was going, she was almost certain that Ranma and Konatsu were back in Nerima. It'd take her forever to get back there!
"Unless..." Luna muttered, stopping at the edge of a canal with wooden posts leading towards the other end. "...Unless I take Ranma's short cut. Then I could get there pretty fast." The thing was, Ranma's shortcut was fairly absurd. After all, it did involve clinging to the side of a train. However, the moon cat was desperate, and thus began to hop across the posts towards the train station.
Ryu Kumon sighed a bit to himself as he watched the landscape roll by. He was beginning to get bored of the street fighter life. Ever since his defeat at the hands of Ranma Saotome and the subsequent loss of the Yamasenken, he had lost his purpose in life. How could he resurrect the Kumon Dojo without the Saotome Senken schools? He didn't even remember the original art his father taught in the dojo. The only art his father left to him was the Yamasenken, and now he was forbidden to use it.
'Damn that Ranma...' Ryu thought to himself, clenching his fist, 'beating the snot out of that look alike didn't help my frustration at all.'
If anything, giving the look alike the beat down only made Ryu want a rematch with Ranma even more. That Yun guy was good, but he couldn't hold a candle to Ranma's Umisenken. Ever since he handed that guy his ass on a silver platter, Ryu felt like he had an itch he couldn't scratch. Ranma had been the first person to ever defeat him. And thanks to that bastard, he lost his main style of attack. He had to fight Ranma again. He craved a rematch at this point.
Ryu felt the train coming to a stop and glanced around, wondering if he was at Nerima yet. It was kinda hard to tell from where he was sitting, what with him being on the roof and all.
"Next stop, Nerima. Next stop, Nerima." Ryu heard over the PA system. That was good, he was nearly there. As the train started to pull out again, Ryu noticed a small blur in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and noticed with some confusion that there was a black cat with a moon shaped bald spot on its forehead clinging to the roof of the train for dear life.
"A cat?" Ryu muttered, looking at it curiously as the wind picked up from the speed of the train. 'What's it doing up here?'
For a few moments, Ryu looked at it curiously and wondered how long it had been there without him noticing. It didn't take long for the cat to return his look, and soon the two were locked in a staring contest of sorts. Neither one let up, each staring intently at the other. Ryu wasn't sure why, he just didn't want to lose a staring contest with a cat.
'Do cat's even have eyelids? It wouldn't really be fair if this thing isn't capable of blinking.' Ryu thought to himself, trying to recall every time he had encountered a cat in the past. He didn't know if they did or not. All his memories of cats involved them staring intently into his soul without blinking or even moving.
Just then, Luna blinked. "Aha! I win!" Ryu exclaimed, pointing at the cat in victory. Luna cocked her head and looked at the martial artist like he was insane.
"Don't give me that look." Ryu said, though his voice was fairly hard to hear over the sound of the wind. After a few more moments, the train began to pull into a stop, causing both Ryu and Luna to get to their feet in preparation to abandon ship. Ryu shouldered his pack and leapt off the train, leaping into the terminal and running off before the security guards could catch him for hitching a ride. Within moments he was in the city streets themselves, trying to remember where the hell Ranma lived so he could challenge the bastard.
'Why do I feel like I'm being followed?' Ryu wondered, slowing to a stroll. He tried to concentrate on his surroundings, however he couldn't hear any footsteps but his own. Regardless, he had the feeling of being watched, as if someone was looking intently at his back.
"Who's there?" Ryu demanded, spinning around suddenly and looking down the road for his stalker. No one was there. The street was empty. Glancing down, Ryu corrected that last statement. The street was empty save for a black cat with a bald spot shaped like a crescent moon.
"Why are you following me? Go away. Shoo." Ryu said, waving his hand at the cat in a shooing gesture. It was then that he noticed a pillar of blue green light rising into the sky in the distance, immediately catching his attention.
"What the hell was that?" Ryu muttered. He ran off in the direction of the disturbance, being followed closely by the black cat.
Mercury panted as the smoke cleared, revealing a totally unharmed Youma in the crater with her. Damn it, that stupid barrier didn't even budge after a perfect Shishi Hokodan!
"I'm getting really sick of that barrier of yours!" Mercury shouted, glaring at Mystice. The Youma looked like it was under a bit of strain itself. That counted as a slight victory in Mercury's book. It had apparently taken a lot of effort to keep that shield up under the onslaught of the Shishi Hokodan.
"You seem to be slowing down a bit, Sailor Mercury." Mystice muttered, her barrier flickering around her. "I think it's about time I started fighting back." The barrier vanished in an instant as Mystice threw her hands up, pointing her palms towards the blue colored Senshi. Mercury didn't have time to react before the psychic onslaught nailed her head on, hurling her against the back wall of the crater.
'Anytime now, Konatsu...' Mercury thought, struggling against the telekinetic attack that was slamming against her like a waterfall.
"Fire Soul!" The youma's concentration was broken when it suddenly burst into flames, causing it cry out in pain as Mars leapt down into the crater.
"You okay?" She asked, looking as Mercury fell out of an imprint in the wall.
"I'm fine." Mercury muttered, watching the Youma flail around in pain. After all this time of fighting it, it turned out a single attack was all it took to take it down. If it wasn't for that stupid barrier, they could have beaten her over half an hour ago.
"Bubble Spray!" Mercury called out, throwing the mist at the Youma. The flames were quenched in an instant, leaving behind a burnt and smoking Youma. As the monster started struggling to its feet, Mercury lashed out with a kick aimed for its forehead, blowing the monster off its feet and knocking it out cold.
"What now? How do we change her back?" Mars asked, grabbing the charred Youma and dragging it out of the crater. This thing was technically Nabiki, after all. If they killed it, wouldn't they also end up killing her?
"I don't know." Mercury answered, pulling out the mercury computer. She didn't get the chance to use it though, as a blast of magical energy tore by them, carrying Sailor Moon with it.
"You are indeed a formidable foe, Sailor Moon. But I, Suupa Bureedo, will come out victorious!" The armor clad youma declared, waltzing confidently down the street towards Mercury and Mars.
"Shit, this Super Burrito guy is tougher than I thought..." Moon muttered, getting back to her feet and clutching her chest in pain.
"That's SUUPA BUREEDO, you foul woman! Get it right!" The Youma declared angrily, slashing one of his swords in Moon's direction and sending a crescent shaped blast of magic towards her.
"Put a sock in it, Super Burrito! I've been pronouncing it right the whole time!" Moon shouted back, dodging the projectile and landing near her two comrades.
"Having trouble?" Mercury asked, glancing towards the redhead curiously
"My tiara keeps bouncing off. He doesn't seem to feel my punches through that damn armor, and the Mouku Takabisha doesn't do squat." Moon answered, glaring at the approaching youma. "Not to mention he isn't giving off any heat, so the Hiryuu Shoten Ha is useless. So yes, I need some help."
"Fire Soul!" Mars collected the flames in her hands and launched them at the approaching youma. For a few moments it was bathed in fire, however it seemed to ignore it.
"Foolish wench, my armor is fire proof! Suupa Bureedo Sutoraiku!" The youma slashed at them, once again hurling a crescent shaped magic attack. The senshi leapt away from the attack as it cleaved right through a solid brick wall, cutting it cleanly in two.
"Well, that didn't work." Moon muttered, turning towards Mercury. "Hit him with your mist. Maybe you can make him rust." She was promptly punched upside the head by the blue senshi.
"Do you yield, Sailor Senshi?" Bureedo asked, raising his katanas above his head in preparation for another attack.
"Look out behind you! A three headed monkey!" Mercury suddenly declared, pointing behind the youma. Bureedo lowered his swords and looked at the blue haired girl in confusion.
"Surely you jest." He said. He was then promptly hit upside the head by a light post, sending the poor youma flying a good distance.
"I am not a three headed monkey." The masked man in a tuxedo muttered irritably, dropping the light post he had used as a weapon.
"Great, this guy again." Moon muttered, sighing in annoyance. "Who the hell are you anyway?"
"No one of consequence." He answered. Moon resisted the urge to attack him.
"Not that crap again, tux boy. Gimme a name." Moon responded. The masked man in the tuxedo didn't get a chance to reply, as the Youma he had knocked out of the park was roaring in frustrated rage and charging back into the fray.
"Disrespectful cur!" Suupa Bureedo shouted, rushing past the senshi at top speed and slashing his swords at the insufferable man in the formal wear. Much to the youma's surprise, a cane in the man's right hand seemed to become a sword in his left, which he promptly used to block the attack.
"Who dares assault the greatness of Suupa Bureedo?" The youma growled out, pushing his swords against the single blade held by his opponent.
"I'm not one to give my name to fools." The tuxedo man replied, pushing back. Moon couldn't help but be annoyed by that reply.
"You dare call me a fool! You are a true jester amongst men! What kind of warrior enters the battlefield in a tuxedo?" Bureedo taunted, overwhelming the masked man and tossing him back on his swords and rushing forward for another attack.
"I'm the fool?" The tuxedo man scoffed, dodging the first slash and leaping over the next, "You are the one calling himself Super Burrito!" The Tuxedo man lashed out with his sword, sending sparks flying as his weapon bit into the metallic surface of Bureedo's armor. However, the youma came out completely unscathed and the armor wasn't even scratched by the attack. Behind his mask, the tuxedo wearing man raised an eyebrow, but no one could see it.
"Are you three going to just stand there gawking, or are you going to assist me?" He asked, turning towards the three senshi who seemed to be perfectly content in watching.
"What's that? Mr. Knight-In-Shining-Armor can't fight the monster alone? And here I thought you were going to jump in and save some poor defenseless girls with your amazing chivalry!" Moon mocked. From the looks of things, the three of them had no intention of helping the guy in the tux, much to his annoyance.
"Sailor Moon!" a voice cried out, causing the three senshi to turn around and spot a small black cat heading their way.
"Eh, Luna?" Moon muttered, not expecting to see the cat. Her gaze immediately traveled up, spotting another person she had not expected to see. "Ack, Ryu!" She exclaimed.
"Great, him again." Mercury added.
Ryu, who was a bit surprised when the cat suddenly sprinted past him and started talking, raised an eyebrow at this reaction.
"Do I know you?" Ryu asked, looking at Moon curiously. She sure didn't look familiar...
"No, of course not! Whatever gave you that idea? Move along, citizen, nothing to see here!" Moon sudden nervously, trying to shoo Ryu away.
"What's going on here?" Luna asked. She briefly noticed a weird guy in a tuxedo and a mask fighting a weird guy in full samurai armor wielding two swords nearby. At first, she wasn't quite sure which one of them was the youma.
"Some guy pulled a crystal out of Kuno and Nabiki, then they turned into monsters." Moon answered, showing the moon cat the red Rainbow Crystal she had taken from Zoisite.
"Ah! That's a Rainbow Crystal!" Luna exclaimed. In the background, one could see the Masked Tuxedo man fighting a losing battle against the armored Youma. However, the only person who seemed to be paying any attention to the fight was Ryu, as the three senshi were too busy talking to Luna.
"What the hell is a Rainbow Crystal?" Mercury asked, right around the time the man in the tux got disarmed.
"I have you now!" Suupa Bureedo exclaimed. No one cared.
"I don't have time to explain!" Luna shouted, doing a back flip and generating an unusual object in the air. It was a pink rod with a large crescent moon attached to the end of it. It also had a series of small gems in the handle, just below the crescent moon. "Sailor Moon, take this and use it on the youma!"
"What is it, anyhow? A Moon Stick?" Moon muttered, picking the object up and looking at it. "It looks stupid." Behind her, the man in the tuxedo flew by and collided with a light post, causing it to bend out of shape. Suupa Bureedo pressed his advantage and attacked, cutting the post in half as the man in the tuxedo dodged.
"It's the Crescent Moon Wand!" Luna insisted.
"Hey, aren't you three monster hunters or something?" Ryu asked, looking rather confused. "Shouldn't you be helping that guy in the suit?"
"Nah, he can handle himself." Mars replied, just as the man in the tuxedo got nailed head on by one of Suupa Bureedo's magic attacks. Ryu sweat dropped upon hearing her response. That guy sure didn't look like he could handle himself. It looked like he was getting his ass kicked.
"I think I'll just call it Moon Stick." Moon replied after a bit of thought. Luna growled slightly, but decided to go on.
"You can use it to turn the Youma back to normal. Just say 'Moon Healing Escalation!'" Luna insisted. Moon just shrugged, figuring it was worth a shot.
"Bastard!" The masked man called out, spinning around and nailing Bureedo in the torso with a vicious roundhouse kick that would have crushed the ribcage of a lesser man. Unfortunately for him, all it did was made a loud 'clang' noise upon contact with his armor. This guy seemed completely incapable of feeling pain.
"It's no use!" Bureedo gloated, attacking once again.
"Moon Healing Escalation!" Moon cried out, stopping Bureedo in his tracks as he turned around to see what she was shouting about. Moon was holding the wand above her head as a golden mist seemed to pour out of it and cover the area. Along with this mist, an odd melody seemed to play, though its source didn't sound to be the wand itself. Rather, the song seemed to come from everywhere at once.
"Refresh!" An odd voice suddenly shouted from nearby. Turning towards it, Ranma spotted the other youma standing up with its arms raised skyward, its body glowing a bright white. The light vanished and Nabiki took the monster's place, quickly slumping to the floor.
Bureedo, on the other hand, seemed totally unaffected.
"Well, Nabiki is back to normal," Moon noted, "But Kuno didn't even blink. What gives?" She noticed that Bureedo seemed to have lost interest in his punching bag and instead was now approaching the four of them with both swords held at the ready.
"You have to weaken the youma first." Luna commented, briefly wondering what the three of them had been doing if this youma wasn't even harmed yet.
"What sorcery was that?" The youma demanded, drawing both his swords and holding them in front of his body. "You three she-devils are no match for me! Begone! Suupa Bureedo Asaruto!" The Youma started slashing in their direction rapidly, unleashing a crescent shaped magic blast each time.
"Shit." Moon muttered, preparing to move. She was rather surprised to see Mercury jump out in front of the incoming attack though, and thus didn't actually go anywhere.
"Bubble Spray!" The mist formed and the magic attacks dissipated into nothing, as if they were never there in the first place.
"What the...His attack disappeared." Mars muttered.
"So it's not totally useless." Moon added.
"Would you quit mocking my magic attack already?" Mercury asked, angrily.
"What? It's so easy to mock..." Moon replied. Ryu just glanced around in confusion, wondering where the voices were coming from, since he could no longer see an inch in front of his face. The man in the tuxedo was happy for the distraction, taking this moment to locate his discarded sword. Bureedo just glanced around, having no idea what was going on.
"Where hides you? Come out and show yourself!" The youma demanded. As if answering his call, a trio of blurs suddenly appeared before him. The three senshi were moving in unison, all lashing forward with a punch aimed for Bureedo's chest. Their punches struck and put a significant dent into Bureedo's armor while simultaneously hurling the youma back several meters.
"That didn't hurt!" Bureedo insisted, getting back to his feet. He still couldn't see anything through the mist, thus he completely failed to see the triple jump kick to the face coming. He was once again sent flying, a large crack now marring the face mask of his helmet.
"Foul women! You'll pay for that. Suupa Bureedo Randamu Asaruto!" Bureedo starting spinning around and began to fire his magic attacks in every given direction, clearly no longer caring if he actually hit anything or not. Mercury's mist was blown away by the deluge of power, forcing the three senshi to split up and take evasive action.
"Shit! I can't get close to him!" Moon muttered, leaping back and forth to avoid several blasts. "Moon Tiara Action!" The redheaded senshi tossed her tiara into the fray, hoping to get a hit in on Bureedo, even though that spell had been fairly ineffective thus far. It didn't even manage to reach him though, instead getting nailed by one of the blasts and being blown off course.
"Fire Soul!" Mars' fire didn't fair much better, barely getting a few feet before the attacks tore it apart.
"Bubble..." Mercury began, leaping to the side to avoid one of the stray blasts. Suddenly, and inexplicably, Bureedo stopped launching his attacks at random. In an instant, before Mercury could even finish the words to her attack, He concentrated the entirety of his assault on the blue haired senshi. She didn't have time to get out of the way, getting nailed head on by the blasts. Ryoga hit the wall and coughed up some blood before slumping to the ground. Luckily for her, the fuku had prevented those attacks from tearing her limb from limb. It was still too much for her to take though, as the transformation became overpowered and the fuku vanished in an instant.
"Ha ha! I have defeated the foul sorceress and her despicable mist! Now that she be vanquished, victory shall soon be mine! I am Unbeatable! I am the Unstoppable champion of the sword! I am-"
"Don't Move!"
"-What?" It was the only thing Bureedo managed to say before Ryu hit him. Ryu had rushed at the youma the second he saw what had happened to Sailor Mercury. When the transformation dropped, he had immediately recognized the girl he had saved several days prior. And to see the cute blue haired girl slumped over in the corner practically unconscious caused his blood to boil.
As he got closer, Ryu suddenly realized he had unconsciously fallen back into the Yamasenken and cursed himself. He reached Bureedo and changed tactics, lashing out with a two fisted punch aimed for the dent in the front of his armor. The dent deepened and the youma staggered back, but it was clear that the punch barely fazed him.
"Knave. You dare strike me?" Bureedo growled, lashing out with his swords at Ryu. Damn it, if only he hadn't sealed the Yamasenken. He could have taken the youma out in one hit. Ryu dodged the slashes and snaked in for another attack, jumping into a spinning kick that took the youma in the side of the head.
"You cur!" Bureedo shouted, regaining his footing. "Suupa Bureedo Sutoraiku!" Ryu was far too close to the youma to properly dodge the attack, forced to take it head on. He leapt back as the crescent shaped blade of magic nailed him dead center, hoping the backward momentum would help lessen the impact. Ryu hit the ground hard and rolled back to his feet, his shirt falling open after being cleanly split and his bandana fluttering to the ground without resistance. He now had a clean, though shallow, cut running up his entire torso, as well as a second cut in the middle of his forehead.
"That mark!" Luna suddenly exclaimed. On Ryu's head, marred slightly by the blood trickling out of his open wound, was a glowing green symbol that resembled a 4. "He's a Senshi!"
"You have got to be kidding me..." Moon muttered, smacking herself in the forehead just as Luna manifested another transformation pen.
"Take this and say 'Jupiter Power Make up.' Quickly!" Luna exclaimed, dropping the pen near Ryu's feet. Ryu picked the pen up and looked at it for a few seconds before stashing it in his pocket.
"I can beat this thing on my own!" Ryu shouted, rushing towards Bureedo again.
"You are truly a fool. I, the great and powerful Suupa Bureedo will never be slain by a pathetic mortal like you!" Bureedo called out, getting nailed in the torso by a jumping kick that hurled him back several feet. "That tickled! Suupa Bureedo Asaruto!"
"Moon Tiara Action!" "Fire Soul!" The two attacks hit Bureedo from either side. The tiara ricocheted off his sword, stopping him from performing his attack, while the flames did practically nothing.
"Clearly this is not working, Sailor Moon." the masked man in the tuxedo said, walking up behind the redheaded senshi. Ryu took the opening Moon and Mars gave him to rush back towards Bureedo and kick him in the face, though this had just as much effect as every other attack so far.
'Damn it, tux boy is right. We need to try something new.' Moon thought, watching Ryu trying and failing to do anything worth a damn to the armored bastard. 'Maybe if Ryu would transform, he'd have a spell that'd actually work. It's worth a shot.'
"Hey Ryu! Just use the stupid pen already!" Moon shouted, distracting Ryu long enough for Bureedo to send him flying back with another attack. He just glared at moon in response before rushing back towards Bureedo. Mars, who had noticed by now that her attacks were totally useless, had already helped Ryoga back to her feet and was currently walking with the untransformed senshi back to where moon and Tux were standing.
"What's going on?" Ryoga asked. She was still sore from the past week of getting her ass handed to her by youma, so having it happen again was starting to get on her nerves. She needed a vacation. A real vacation. Maybe when she got back home, she'd just leave the mercury computer on her desk and go wandering through a forest somewhere. At least then she wouldn't run into any youma.
"Turns out Ryu is another senshi, but he won't transform." Moon replied. Ryoga nodded. Honestly, she couldn't blame him for that decision. If that stupid cat hadn't tricked her, Ryoga never would have gone through with the transformation either.
"This new senshi seems to be our best chance. None of us have been able to hurt that monster at all. Not even me." Tux said with crossed arms.
"I think we need to trick him into transforming." Mars muttered, watching as Ryu got hit by another flurry of sword slashes. If his clothing got any more cut up than it already was, it'd soon be indecent.
"Hey Moon, does Ryu have a Jusenkyo curse?" Ryoga suddenly asked, watching Ryu rush forward and nail Bureedo in the face with a right hook.
"Uh...no, don't think so." Moon replied.
"Hey Ryu!" Ryoga shouted. Ryu turned his head to look at the blue haired girl. Luckily for him, that last hit knocked Bureedo far enough away that the distraction wasn't about to cost him a hit. "If you use the pen, I'll go out with you!"
For a few moments, there was silence. Moon, Mars and even the man in the tux looked at Ryoga as if she had lost her mind. Bureedo stood with his swords ready, but did not attack, as he too seemed to be confused for some reason. Ryu was just standing there like a deer caught in headlights. For all of 5 seconds, anyhow.
"Jupiter Power, Make up!" Ryu shouted, pulling the pen out of his pocket. The symbol at the end of the pen began to glow and rotate as Ryu rose into the sky. His body suddenly became bathed in a rainbow light while electricity started shooting out of the pen tip like miniature bolts of lightning. A good portion of the lightning collected around Ryu's body in a series of electric rings that orbited him like the electrons of an atom, however the rest of it flowed across Ryu's body itself. As the lightning danced across his body, he began to change. His body slimmed and shrank, though he became no shorter. In an instant his once male form was replaced by a body that was distinctly female, from head to toe, hips to breast, and everything in between. Shortly after, the 4 or 5 rings of electricity collapsed in on Ryu's body, exploding into a brilliant light. As the light cleared, Sailor Jupiter remained, wearing a green themed outfit with pink bows.
"What the HELL!" Jupiter screamed, looking down at her outfit in horror. "I did not agree to this!" Jupiter was outraged. If she had known that pen was going to turn her into one of them, she'd have force fed it right back to that creepy talking cat! Well, at least she was getting a date with the hot blue haired chick out of this... With this thought in mind, Jupiter turned her attention on Bureedo, who seemed far too confused to do anything but stare at her dumbly.
"I'm really annoyed right now, pal. And you seem as good a target as any." Jupiter muttered, cracking her knuckles with a frown on her face. That seemed to snap Bureedo out of his stupor, just as Jupiter crossed her arms in front of her face and concentrated on the words that were flowing into her mind.
"You foul enchantress! I will not be swayed by your bizarre magics! I attack!" Bureedo bellowed, rushing forward with both his swords ready.
"Supreme..." Jupiter began, an antenna popping out of her tiara which started to spark from electricity. "...THUNDER!" A bolt of lightning leapt from Jupiter's fingertips and struck Bureedo with an impressive flash. A tortured scream of pain echoed off the nearby buildings as the electricity flowed through the mostly metal youma's body, causing him to light up like a Christmas tree under the assault. After a few seconds of this, Jupiter stopped, leaving the charred and smoking body of Bureedo swaying on his feet.
"Ouch." The youma muttered, hitting the ground with a thump. Beyond the occasional twitch, it didn't seem like he was going to be moving anymore.
"Damn. That worked surprisingly well..." Moon muttered. Then she remembered that the metal bastard who had given them so much trouble was actually Kuno and pulled out the Moon Stick with a great deal of hesitation.
'This is Kuno, after all. Should I even bother?' She thought, looking at the wand in her hands. 'Then again, he was actually less annoying as a human. I'd hate to have to deal with this metal bastard again.' Moon nodded to herself upon reaching her decision, holding her wand out towards the fallen Youma. "Moon Healing Escalation!"
"REFRESH!" Kuno stood tall for a few moments before slumping to his knees, shaking his head in obvious confusion.
"Where am I?" Kuno muttered, getting back to his feet. His vision was swimming a bit, but it didn't take very long for it to clear. That was when he noticed the girls standing around in miniskirts.
"Eh? The Sailor Senshi? What are you doing here?" Kuno asked, glancing at the 4 girls curiously. Wait a minute, 4? Weren't there only 3 of them? "And where's the bozo with the blonde hair? I still need to kick his ass."
"Isn't he acting a little odd?" Mars asked, leaning towards Moon to ask the question.
"Yeah. That's not like Kuno at all." Moon replied. After seeing that his blonde opponent was no where to be found, Kuno turned back to the senshi and bowed deeply to them.
"It was nice to meet you, but I've got to run. I'll never forgive myself if I don't beat the ever living crap out of that blonde guy, so I need to go find him." Kuno said, standing back up straight and heading down the street. "See ya!" He shouted over his shoulder.
"You broke him." Ryoga suddenly blurted out.
"I didn't break him." Moon replied, trying to defend herself.
"You broke his brain." Ryoga said again.
"I consider this an improvement. If anything, I fixed what was already broken." Moon shot back. Oddly, Ryoga had no response to that. Jupiter walked over to the four of them, looking just as annoyed as she did when she pumped enough juice into Kuno to power the entire city.
"You owe me a date." Jupiter said, pointing accusingly at Ryoga. "And you, how do I change back into a guy?" This question Jupiter directed at Moon, who suddenly looked very nervous.
"Well, I can see I'm no longer needed here." Tux suddenly blurted out. Before anyone could respond, he leapt straight up and onto a nearby building, disappearing into the distance as fast as his legs would take him.
"I think I hear my mother calling me." Mars suddenly said, running off just as suddenly as Tux did. The fact that Konatsu's mother was dead did not escape Moon's notice, as she promptly glared at the retreating girl.
"You know, I was supposed to be back home hours ago. I'll have to take a rain check on that date." Ryoga muttered, dashing off as well. Moon made a grab for the back of the girl's shirt, but missed, forced to watch her race off and quickly get lost.
"I don't have all day. The sooner I get out of this outfit, the better. How do I change back?" Jupiter asked again, narrowing her eyes slightly at Moon. Moon chuckled nervously, glancing towards Luna for assistance only to see that even the squirrel was running for the hills.
'Damn them. I'll get them for this...' Moon thought, vowing vengeance on the others for abandoning her like this. "Well, you see...It's kinda like this..." Moon began, backing up a few steps as she started to explain.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Kasumi was humming a little tune to herself as she began to take the laundry off the clothesline to bring it inside. She had just heard on the news that a storm was coming their way, and it was better to be safe than sorry and get the clothes inside before the rain hit.
"WHAT?"
Kasumi flinched a little as she heard the remarkably loud voice, turning her head in the direction of downtown.
"Oh my, I wonder what that was." She muttered to herself. She could hear the sound of car alarms going off in the distance, clearly set off by the unusual noise. Without a second thought, she went back to attending to the laundry, briefly wondering when Ranma and Nabiki were going to be back. She was going to have to start dinner soon, after all. She'd hate for them to miss supper.
To be Continued.
Current Cross Count: 7
Author's Notes:
I changed the Summary, as you probably noticed, since it didn't seem necessary to hide the real plot anymore. Hopefully now it's a bit more descriptive than it was before.
Also, I kinda messed up. A lot of the stuff I wanted to do in this chapter didn't happen, and I really didn't feel like making another 20,000 word chapter. Instead, I'm just splitting this into a two parter.
Next time: Ryu disappears after realizing the true tragedy of the transformation. While Luna makes Konatsu and Ryoga hunt the unwilling senshi down, Ranma turns his attention to getting Shampoo to talk to him again. Unfortunately, Zoisite interrupts. Can Ranma beat another of the Seven Youma solo, or will the others arrive in time to back him up? Find out in the next chapter of Bishonen Senshi Sailor Moon: Thunder Storm part 2.
Ryo-Wolf