OK, here we go again.  The characters in this story are not mine.  The 
belong to the respective creators of Sailor Moon, Ranma ½, and Rurouni 
Kenshin.  The rest is all my thoughts and ideas.
I hope you enjoy.  Send your comments to dark_knight_ranma@yahoo.com.

For Better or For Worse

Chapter 2
For Better,

A Dark Dimension . . .

	Two men walk into a room from opposite sides.  They meet in front of a 
reflection pool.  Soon, they are joined by a women and three other men.  The 
first two men are dressed very differently.  One is dressed in wrappings 
from head to toe.  He was joined by the woman.  The other is dressed in a 
gray generals uniform.  He was joined by the other three men.  Together they 
started to make plans for the strike and elimination of all of Tokyo's 
defenses.  From there, they would be able to start taking over the world.  
All they needed was Tokyo and its vast connection of Ley Line energies.  
They agreed that they would work as a team because then they would be able 
to defeat those who stood in their way.  They decided on the pair of 
monsters to send and sent them on their way.  Their plan was to have 
everything taken care of in two months or less.  They had no idea what was 
about to come their way.

Juuban High School
Lunch Time

	Four girls and a boy are sitting down having lunch together.  They are all 
good friends by the names of Ranma, Usagi, Ami, Minako, and Makoto.  Classes 
had been on the boring side and both Ranma and Usagi both at one point in 
time had to stand in the hall for sleeping in class.  The only difference 
was Ranma had known all the answers to the questions and was sent to the 
hall on principle.  Now that they were out for their lunch, Ranma had 
started to get a little nervous.  People had always called him a little 
naive, but after what had happened to Akane and Genma he decided it was time 
to wake up.  Only now he wished he hadn't.  Every girl in his class was 
trying to get a chance to speak with him and get him to go out with them.  
When lunch rolled around the four girls that joined Ranma had gotten very 
menacing looks until they realized that one of the girls was Makoto, she had 
gotten kicked out of several schools for fighting, then they decided to 
leave well enough alone.
	"What is it with all of the girls around here?" Ranma asked as he was 
taking a rather large bite out of his lunch.
	"They all want to date a really hot guy, that's all, and you are the best 
looking man to come along since they can remember." Minako quipped as she 
was having her own daydreams about a romantic evening for two, namely her 
and Ranma. "Ranma, how would you like to go to the park this weekend and 
show me some of those moves of yours."
	"Yah, Ranma could you teach me some of those things moves?" Asked Makoto as 
she edged in closer.
	Ranma seeing he was about to get in over his head in trouble again decided 
the best course of action was to tell them, "OK, but only on one condition.  
You find a total of five people who want to seriously learn and I will show 
ya'll some of the basic self-defense styles I know.  If you are not there to 
learn then don't be there. OK"
	Makoto was in seventh heaven and Minako was close but she already knew all 
that she thought she needed to know, but if it meant seeing Ranma in a Gi 
sweating she would do anything it took.  They agreed to meet at the park for 
lessons at around four o'clock.  Now all that Makoto and Minako needed to do 
was find a few more people to join them.  Haruka should be interested, maybe 
even Rei.  That made four, so who would be the fifth?
	The bell rang and all thoughts of this afternoon were suspended.  The rest 
of the day was rather uneventful.  Boring classes, other than P.E. where 
Ranma was the star student in the gymnastics division, that was until he 
sparred with some other students.  The teacher was already having visions of 
gold with his new discovery when Ranma dashed all of his hopes by saying 
that he wasn't interested.
	After school, the Minako and Makoto went to gather up the people they would 
need to have a class of five people.  They stopped by Haruka and Michiru's 
and got both Haruka and Hotaru.  The last stop before the park was at Rei's 
shrine.
	"Rei, we need you to come along with us to the park for a little while."
	"What do you want me there for anyway?"
	"Ranma said that if we can get five people interested in learning, he would 
teach us some of his martial arts moves," replied Makoto with a gleam of 
hope in her eyes.
	"Not only that but we will also get to see him in a Gi and maybe even less 
if we are lucky," added Minako daydreaming about the their new teacher and 
friend.
	Rei could only groan at those two.  Maybe she could learn a few things from 
him if she could get past Makoto and Minako's reaction to every time Ranma 
would try and show them something.  "OK, just let me get ready."
	"YES!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you......." The two girls cried out as 
they now had the five they would need.

Elsewhere in Juuban.

	"Mom, I'm going to go to the park for a while.  I am giving a free 
beginners course this afternoon."
	"What time do you think you will be back?"
	"Later tonight because I also want to get in some more practice with the 
Sakaboto as well"
	"OK, see you later."

The park . . .

	Ranma had gotten to the park early enough so that he could go through some 
of the exercises that Kenshin had taught him over the last few nights.  As 
Ranma practiced he never noticed the gathering crowd at his little 
demonstration.  Oblivious to the fact that not only had his students 
arrived, but he was going to have a larger group of people than  he thought 
he would.  When Ranma finished his kata with four new technique everyone was 
jaw dropped.
	"DO RYU SEN"
	"HI RYU SEN"
	"RYU SHO SEN"
	"RYU TSUI SEN"
	The tree that Ranma was using for a target dummy was first covered in a 
dust cloud then hit with the Sakaboto like it was an arrow, followed by an 
uppercut strike that would knock someone out followed by being split in two. 
  The crowd gave a huge round of applause stirring Ranma from his trance 
like state of training.
	"Well. . . a. . . When did you get here?"
	"We have been watching your moves since about ten minutes ago." commented 
Rei as something in the back of her mind was trying to tell her something 
but she couldn't place it.  *oh well, if its important it will come to me.* 
she thought as she prepared herself for class.
	Haruka on the other hand walked up to Ranma with full intentions of getting 
him to teach her that sword style for use with the Space Sword.
	"Ranma, right."
	"Yes, what can I help you with Haruka?"
	Drawn back by the fact that Ranma could remember her name after one short 
meeting at Makoto's last night Haruka took a step back to reform her 
question. "Uh. . . What style was that you were just practicing?"
	"It is called the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.  Why do you ask?"
	"I was wondering, could you teach me that sword style?"
	"I'm afraid not.  That sword style belongs to my ancestors and I was told 
to teach it to only my heirs for only they would be able to understand its 
true purpose."
	"If you don't mind me asking, what is its true purpose?"
	"It was originally designed to be the swiftest form of killing known to 
anyone.  The major user of this art was known as the Battousai during the 
Meji Restoration.  After that time period and a great deal of mourning for 
the lives he took, the Battousai turned the art into a truly defensive 
style.  Protecting others instead of killing them.  It was used for several 
decades to stop the deaths of many innocent people.  That is why the style 
is only taught to family members who would respect what Himura Kenshin did 
all those years ago."
	"What if I gave my word to use it in defense of those of this world?"
	"Again, I cannot teach this style to anyone not of my family line.  The 
only person that I can pass this style on to is my wife after she reads our 
family history and swears by our creed.  And before you ask, no.  I will not 
be getting married to anyone any time soon."
	Haruka didn't know what to think.  From what Ranma had just told her, only 
his wife would learn the style and he didn't plan on getting married.  Ever 
by the way he was talking.  It would be a shame to lose such a valuable 
style like that, especially if the style could be used with her Space Sword. 
  Not that she wanted to get married to any guy.  She was perfectly happy 
with the arrangements as they were now with Michiru.  She backed up and 
everyone began to get ready for day one of Ranma's self defense lessons.  
There were about thirteen people who Ranma would teach that day.  He was 
surprised by the number of people that had showed up.  He began to wonder if 
this was a good idea.  All thoughts aside, he began to teach everyone a 
basic kata for warm ups followed by a simple sparring match to gauge were 
everyone was in their level of training.  Not surprising, Haruka and Makoto 
were the two best here today so they were paired with each other for 
practice partners.  Rei and Minako had also been paired.  Everyone had been 
paired up but Hotaru who was about to walk away when Ranma walked over to 
her.
	"Would you like to be my partner and help me demonstrate what the others 
will be doing?" Ranma asked with a wink in his eye.  Hotaru looked to Haruka 
who gave her a nod of approval.
	"Sure Ranma-San!" Hotaru said as she ran all the way up to the front of the 
class with Ranma right behind her.

	Ranma began teaching his new students the basics of kicks and punches while 
teaching the more advanced people some of the more flashy moves.  He was 
surprised to find out how quickly Hotaru picked up the styles that he was 
showing her.  They practiced what Ranma showed them for almost two hours 
before some of the people got exhausted.  Seeing an opportunity, Makoto 
walked up to Ranma who was showing Hotaru one of his flip kicks.
	"Ranma, would you mind showing me one of the moves you used in the dojo the 
other day?"
	"Why do you want to know those old moves for?"
	"You never know when they will come in handy.  I may need to defend myself 
against a real martial artist.  Please!" Makoto asked in a voice coming 
extremely close to one of Usgai's pleading cries.
	"All right, but only if you promise to use it in self-defense when nothing 
else will work.  OK?"
	"You've got yourself a deal, Ranma-kun"
	"OK it will take a while to learn so lets start after classes are over."
	"Mind if I get in on the advanced class as well?" Asked Haruka who had been 
listening with interest as Makoto had gotten Ranma to teach her one of the 
better moves.
	"All right, but the same deal applies with you."
	"All right everyone lets get together and do the kata one last time for a 
cool down before we go our separate ways."  Ranma lead everyone through a 
now familiar form with everyone keeping up at the slow pace that Ranma was 
taking the kata.  After he was finished he turned to everyone and bowed.
	"For anyone who wishes to continue this type of training, I promise to be 
here every weekday at about 4 and on Saturdays at 2.  That's all folks"
	Most of the crowd took their leave of their new sensei and went on their 
way.  The only ones there were Rei, Minako, Hotaru, Makoto, Haruka, and 
Ranma.
	"OK ladies, anyone who doesn't want to learn this technique or is too young 
(looking at Hotaru with a smile in his eyes), please move over to the side." 
  Only Makoto and Haruka were left.  "Now, lets sit down and meditate for a 
few minutes.  I want you to try and center yourselves.  Look for the Ki in 
everything around you and then see it coming into yourselves.  This is 
called drawing Ki.  It is the first step in I will be showing you to do.  
What I am going to teach you is a Ki blast.  Mine will be different form 
yours because I am focusing my confidence because it is my strongest 
emotion.  Each of you need to find your strongest emotion and draw upon that 
emotion.  The next thing for you to do is to this emotion into a ball.  I 
want you to see the ball growing in size until you can't hold it anymore.  
That is when you will release your stored energy in the form of a Ki attack. 
  Now stand up and I will show you the MOKO TAKABISHA."
	The three of them stood up, Makoto and Ranma completely refreshed, and 
Haruka feeling a little better.  One thing Ranma noticed was that Makoto had 
a little bit more of a handle on meditation and drawing Ki than Haruka did.  
He would have to work with Haruka more on this if she wanted to compete with 
Makoto in Ki combat.
	"Now watch," as Ranma took up his stance for the MOKO TAKABISHA," and stand 
back."  Ranma aimed his sights on the pond about three hundred meters from 
him.  He focused and the girls eyes widened with shock as he started glowing 
a bright blue.  They really started noticing when a ball of yellow energy 
formed in his hands and started to grow to the size of a basketball.  They 
didn't have to wait long after that when he released the ball with a cry of 
"MOKO TAKABISHA!!!!"  The ball flew at high speeds toward the lake were it 
landed in the middle causing a giser of water to erupt from the pond.
	"WOW, is it that easy?"
	"Not really, it takes a while for you to find the right emotion to base the 
blast on and it is different with everyone.  Now, Makoto, are you ready to 
give it a try?"
	"OK, here goes nothing."  Makoto gathered her thoughts for a while and 
began drawing the Ki for the attack.  She focused her powers into the one 
emotion that come in many forms to her.  Passion.  Passion for cooking, 
passion for fighting, and above all passion for defending the weak.
	"NETSURETSU RAKURI!" screamed Makoto as a bolt of pink lightning shot from 
her hands and barely missed Ranma on its way to a nearby tree.
	"Passionate Thunderbolt???  What made you decide to do that?" Ranma asked 
shaking the back of his head.
	"It just came to me.  I mean you said to focus on the emotion that came 
easiest and that was it."
	"Well Haruka, your up next"
	Before Haruka could get to where Ranma was, all Hell started to break 
loose.

	*	*	*

In the Dark Dimension. . .

	"Well Shi Shi O, I guess its time to make our presence known."
	"As you wish Kallyen.  Yumi, please get one of the foot soldiers ready and 
have him escorted by one of Kallyen's Youma friends."
	"Yes my master"
	"Soon all of Tokyo will be ours, then the world will fall just as easily."
	Maniacal laughter spread through out the entire dimension as a gateway 
opened up to reveal a tranquil park where their invasion would begin. . .

	*	*	*

Juuban Municipal Park

	"What the hell is that?" Ranma asked as he looked to where a dimensional 
gate was forming.  His eyes were greeted with the sight of a five ft. six 
skeletal figure in a samurai's armor stepped out followed by a six ft. tall 
Youma.  Ranma decided that this would not be the best time to have a bunch 
of young girls around.
	"Run!! Get out of here while I hold those things back!!"
	Not receiving any kind of complaint from anyone Ranma grabbed his Sakaboto 
and charged the two beings that had just stepped through the dimensional 
rift.  Taking the opportunity, Minako, Rei, and Makoto ran for cover to 
change as Haruka grabbed Hotaru and sprinted for a safe place to hide her.  
Ranma was almost to them when he was greeted by a blast of pure evil energy 
that sent him flying into a nearby pond.  Ranma-chan stepped out of the 
pond, adjusted her clothes and then took up a defensive stance waiting for 
the monsters to attack him.  She didn't have to wait long as the Youma 
charged her and was meet  with a very big surprise.
	"RYU SHO SEN"

	In an alley way, where the girls meet, "OK Hotaru, stay put until I come 
back and get you, OK?"
	"OK Haruka-papa!"
	"MARS CRYSTAL POWER! MAKE-UP!"
	"JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER! MAKE-UP"
	"VENUS CRYSTAL POWER! MAKE-UP!"
	"URANUS PLANET POWER! MAKE-UP!"
	With that the four Sailor Senshi made a b-line for where Ranma was fighting 
whatever those things were.  They were meet by a flying Youma and the girl 
who had just sent it flying.  What they saw next was next to unbelievable as 
the girl went toe-to toe with the skeletal samurai and not giving any 
ground.  She finished the skeletal warrior with a technique that no-one had 
seen yet.
	"RYU TSUI SEN ZAN, piercing strike!!!"
	The skeletal samurai was not only sent into the ground but also had a 
Sakaboto sticking out of its head.  It gave out a cry of agony as it was 
shattered into a thousand different pieces.  The four girls looked in shock 
as the girl wielding the Sakaboto dropped it.  She looked s if she was 
horrified.
	"I. . . I . . . I just . . . Killed with the Art."
	Jupiter was at the girls side instantly trying to shake her out of shock 
and get her out of there before the Youma returned.
	"It was already dead.  It wasn't real.  You just released it to go back 
where it needed to be."
	"I . . . Just . . . Killed with the ART!"
	"Snap out of it.  You need to get out of here before the Youma returns."  
But the girl wasn't moving.  She was too much in a state of shock to realize 
that another small girl was about to be in even more trouble.  The four 
girls were brought back to attention by the blood curtailing scream.
	Uranus looked over to where Hotaru was and nearly screamed herself.  Hotaru 
was in the vice grip of the Youma the girl had sent flying not a minute ago. 
  If she didn't do something fast, then Hotaru would be killed.
	"NOOOOOOO ! ! ! ! ! !"
	Uranus was stopped by one of the fragments of the skeletal samurai that had 
just formed into a brand new warrior.  She was trapped and there was nothing 
she or the other Senshi could do.  The rest of the Senshi had arrived just 
in time to be caught by the new warriors that sprouted up form the shattered 
remains of the first skeletal samurai.  Even Pluto was cut off as she and 
Neptune came into the fight.  All three of the Outers screamed as there was 
no way to reach there young charge.  Their screaming brought Ranma back from 
her shock as she saw that there were even more of those skeletal things 
holding back the Senshi.  She then noticed that little Hotaru was being held 
by the Youma.
	"You . . . Will . . . Not . . . HURT . . . HER ! ! !" Ranma screamed as she 
picked up her Sakaboto and was surrounded by a swirl of cherry blossoms.  
Ranma could feel a new power flowing through her.  This power was of the 
Earth itself.  When she looked up she was wearing a new set of clothes.  A 
Purple Kimono, White Hakamas, Purple Socks, and Sandals with a blood red obi 
holding up her Sakaboto.  At the same time Hotaru screamed out as the symbol 
of Saturn appeared on her forehead.  The Youma was turned into nothing as it 
absorbed the full power of Saturn transforming for the first time in almost 
a year.  Instantly the other three Outers power was increased with the 
rebirth of Sailor Saturn.
	"Round them up in the center and then STAND BACK!" The newly transformed 
Ranma screamed out as her aura turned ice cold.  The rest of the Senshi 
complied after they saw Sailor Saturn obeying the new girl on the side of 
love and justice.  The Senshi set about beating the warriors into the center 
as Ranma ran in circles around them barely touching each of them to stir up 
their anger.  "Mars, send a Burning Mandala into the center when I say now!"
	"You got it."
	"NOW ! ! !"
	As the rest of the Senshi stepped back Mars powered up for the attack as 
Mercury brought down the visor to see what the girl was trying.  It took her 
all of five seconds to see what the girl was doing to the air currents.
	"BURNING MANDALA"
	"EVERYONE GET DOWN! ! !" Mercury screamed after the attack was fired.
	As the Burning Mandala hit, Ranma made her move.
	"COMBINED TECHNIQUE : RYU SHO SEN HIRYU SHOTEN HA ! ! ! !"
	The skeletal warriors were caught in a gigantic whirlwind as the four 
Outers powered their attacks.
	"WORLD SHAKING"
	"DEEP SUBMERGE"
	"Dead scream"
	"SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE"
	All of the attacks hit at the same point in the whirlwind causing a shower 
of ash and bone particles fell to the ground.  When the whirlwind subsided, 
the Sailor Senshi and the now present Tuxedo Kamen were looking at the girl 
in awe.  As Sailor Moon went to approach the girl, the girl looked directly 
at her and raised her hand to stop her.
	"I'm the Rurouni Knight.  I pledge myself to the protection of the 
innocent.  I am not looking to join you or be your friend.  I will help when 
the time is necessary, but do not seek me out for you will not find me."  
With that the girl left with absolutely no trace, as if she vanished.
	"Well that's gratitude for you," Mars said as she crossed her arms.  
Something didn't add up.  The figure she saw in her vision had been one of a 
man with dark hair, not a girl.  Then she remembered the second half of the 
vision and she reasoned that the boy was a past reincarnation.  Mars never 
knew how close she was to both answers being right.  At that very moment, 
Ranma was sprinting back to her house.  As she entered the door, Nodoka 
stopped her.
	"Why are in your girl form? I thought that you were going to be training 
the girls in male form."
	"I got hit with water as some monsters attacked the park we were training 
at.  No one got hurt and I got the girls out of harms way just in time for 
the Sailor Senshi to take care of that thing."
	"That's good to hear.  Will the girls be coming here to check up on you?"
	"Maybe, if so tell them that I'm in the shower."
	"OK, see you in a few minutes."
	Ranma went upstairs so she could take a shower and change back into his 
male form.  He was hoping to be able to think of a good excuse for running 
out on them when he saw them again.
	*This is not turning out to be the way I wanted to spend my time.*

To be continued . . .