There was a train. It was unremarkable except in its survivability, for it ran the route between two very dangerous districts in Tokyo: Nerima and Juuban. This time, the train carried several people, each of whom had contributed his or her fair share to the destruction that often occured in Nerima. Of all of them, however, the most notable was one Ranma Saotome. Currently, he was griping to himself. *Man, why do I gotta go to this stupid shrine, anyway?* he wondered as he glared out the window at the passing cityscape. *********************************************************************** Based on stuff that's not mine *********************************************************************** Written by Cyclone *********************************************************************** W H I R L W I N D P R O D U C T I O N S *********************************************************************** presents *********************************************************************** T H E L U N A R K N I G H T S *********************************************************************** Author's Notes: Not really much to say here except to reiterate my comment at the end of the last episode about Makoto's old sempai. I am assuming he never shows up or is discussed too much in the series. A note on pronounciation: Branaugh is pronounced brawn-NOW. Lathian is pronounced lay-THEE-en. *********************************************************************** Episode Three--Meetings Ranma sighed as he watched the city go by. At their fathers' insistence, Akane sat next to him, but he was hardly aware of her presence. He was currently pondering the dreams he had been having for the last couple of weeks. It always started out the same. He would be fighting something (he wasn't sure _what_ it was, but it was evil) with Ryouga, Mousse, and Shinnosuke fighting alongside him. Considering they each wanted to kill him for some reason or other (though by now, Shinnosuke probably forgot he wanted to kill him), that sort of alliance was _highly_ unlikely without the persuasion of Akane and Shampoo, who weren't in the dream. There _were_ girls in the dream, though. Several of them, dressed in what looked to him like abbreviated school uniforms of the sailor suit variety. This last bit disturbed him the most. *Maybe Akane's right. Maybe I _am_ some kinda pervert.* "RANMA!" He jerked away from the window, startled by Akane's shout. He turned. "Y-yeah, Akane?" She glowered at him. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Umm, no. Sorry." She blinked. *Ranma? Apologizing?* She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead. "Are you okay, Ranma?" "Huh? 'Course I am! I don't _get_ sick. Whydja ask, anyway?" "Well, you just apologized. You _never_ apologized before." He sighed. "Akane, the reason I apologized was 'cause this time, it actually _was_ my fault, since I wasn't payin' attention." Akane leaned back and bit her lip. She really wanted to yell and hit him, but his words had the ring of truth in them. Her innate denial tried to kick in, *Who does he think he's kidding? It's ALWAYS his fault! *Isn't it?* Akane frowned as she turned away, instinctively steering away from that line of thought and instead wondering what had gotten into Ranma. He had been acting strangely lately. They hadn't had a serious argument for weeks, and it was unnerving her. They would argue, but he'd stop and shut up after insulting her only once or twice, long before she got mad enough to hit him. Now, he was apologizing. To her, it seemed unfair that Ranma wasn't playing by the rules ingrained into their lives. *Maybe he's been kidnapped and replaced by a clone or android or something like that? *No, we would've heard the explosions when they tried. *Maybe Shampoo fed him kinda potion? *No, if anything she'd want to make him act as mean to me as humanly possible.* The inevitable thought finally hit her, *No way! He... he can't actually... be growing up, can he??* Startled by this revelation, the blue-haired girl slumped in her seat, wondering what to do about this latest problem. Ranma maturing meant he might soon pick which engagement to honor. If he thought too long about the situation, he might realize the most honorable way out of his predicament... marry Ukyou and have Mr. Tendo adopt her, thereby fulfilling the two most valid engagements. *No! H-he _can't_! I won't _let_ him!* A tiny little voice in the back of her head asked, *But how are you going to stop him? He hates you. How could he not, after all that you've done to him?* She rode out the rest of the train trip pondering that question. Elsewhere... The six girls gathered in the shrine. Rei and Usagi were fighting over another manga as Chibi-Usa encouraged Rei and Ami tried to calm them both down, the latter without much success. When Luna had _finally_ gotten them to shut up and listen, by the simple expedient of taking the manga in question and threatening to claw it pieces, she and Artemis were able to provide them with the new information. "The Sailor Senshi" Luna announced, "weren't the only protectors of the Moon Kingdom. Though fewer in number, the Lunar Knights were each more powerful individually than even the Outer Senshi." Artemis nodded, "They were hardly ever needed, so they were pretty much forgotten as a military force. There were four of them: Sir Terra, their leader and the Lord of Air; Sir Titan, second in command and the Lord of Earth; Sir Phobos, Lord of Fire; and Sir Charon, Lord of Water." "They had been on a covert military operation when the Dark Kingdom attacked," Luna said. "From what we remember, they were working to stop the Dark Kingdom's attack. Since they obviously failed, we'd thought they'd been killed. Apparently, we were wrong. For some reason, we only started remembering them recently, after Sir Terra showed up." The two moon cats had previously agreed not to mention certain... other details they had also remembered about them. There was no need to distract or put any additional anxiety on the Senshi at such a grave time. The door suddenly burst open, and Rei's grandfather rushed in, a frantic expression on his face. The six girls each sucked in a breath as he looked around at them. Then he turned to Rei and blurted out, "Rei! I can't believe this! Have you forgotten your cousins are coming today?!" Rei frowned, "What are you talking about, grandfather? Which cousins?" The old man froze and blinked. "You mean I didn't tell you?" Rei's eyes narrowed, "No, you didn't." "Oh. Ah. Aheheh. Well, I'm sorry about it. Must've slipped my mind. Still, your friends are going to have to leave." Rei's face contorted in anger, "What?! There is no way I'm kicking my friends out just because your own absentmindedness!" Grandfather Hino took an uncertain step back, a large sweatdrop forming on the back of his head. "Ah, sure. No problem." He was saved by a knock at the door. "That must be them." He rushed to the door and answered it. A moment later... "Soun Tendo! It's good to see you again, m'boy! Is this...? Why so it is! Genma, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you since Soun married my daughter. Y'know, I always thought you and Atsuko would get together and honor the agreement." "Ah, well... aheheh... you know... it couldn't... really work out... what with her temper and my mouth." Ranma cocked an eyebrow and gave a side glance to Akane, who nodded in understanding. That relationship problem seemed awfully familiar. Akane's memories of her mother were rather hazy, though, so she wasn't too sure about her mother's temperament. Ranma's thoughts, though, were more along the lines of, *Like mother, like daughter.* "You must be Ranma. So good to finally meet you. And, girls, how you've grown! Oh, where are my manners? Come in, come in." The five guests entered the shrine, removing their shoes at the door, and followed Hiroyuki Hino into a large room where six girls sat in a circle. Ranma gave a faint shudder as he considered the likely reactions of these girls... and Akane's likeliest reaction to their likely reactions. He glanced at each one in turn, assessing them. The pink-haired girl wasn't going to be a problem, and the blonde with the goofy hair style acted like she already had someone else. The other blonde and the brunette would be a problem, though, and the black-haired girl seemed thoughtful. Then his eyes landed on the blue-haired girl. He blinked and looked from her to Akane. The resemblance was astonishing. The black-haired girl rose and bowed, then rushed over and bowled over Mr. Tendo in a fierce hug, "Uncle Tendo!" Introductions were soon made, and everything began to settle down. However, Ranma couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that he'd met Ami somewhere before, and it was driving him nuts. Everything about her seemed familiar, from the way she spoke to the way she moved. He recognized her for many things beyond her appearance, which only superficially resembled Akane's. He made his observations very discretely, though. Some primal instinct made sure he would avoid the Wrath of Akane (tm). Her studiousness, her shyness, her intelligence, her smile. They all reminded him of... whom? While on his training trip, Ranma had met many people, but he was certain he had not met anyone so shy or smart during that time. *Who does she remind me of? Argh!* He did not have time to ponder the question further as the wall caved in. On the other side of the room... Despite his precautions, Akane had noticed Ranma eyeing Ami. She bit her lip. A part of her was angry and upset, but the larger part of her was depressed. What did she have that could compete with any of the girls? Ukyou had been his best and only friend for years, which had to count for something; Shampoo was sexier and a better martial artist; Kodachi had money (even if she lacked sanity); and this girl, Ami, was smarter, cuter, and probably a better cook than her. *It's not fair!* Then the Voice spoke up again, *Oh, and it was fair the way you've always blamed him for everything that went wrong, even when you knew it wasn't his fault?* *Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! It's all your fault! It was you! You were the one who always made it so... so _easy_ to blame him!* *There you go again, not willing to take responsibility for your own actions, shifting the blame to the most convenient target. All I am, all I offer, is the truth, and you know it.* She cringed, *Just shut up!* *As you wish.* And the Voice went silent, just as the wall exploded. In another corner of the room... Ami was puzzled. Her mind whirled with questions. She had the distinct impression that she had met Ranma, or someone like him, before and that he had been very important to her. *So why can't I remember? Do I know him from the Moon Kingdom? If that's the case, what happened to him? Who was he? How did he get reincarnated?* What irked her the most was the nagging feeling that the answer was right in front of her and that she simply wasn't seeing it. Her train of thought was interrupted as the wall collapsed. A few minutes earlier... Ryouga growled in frustration. He was lost again, and it was starting to irritate him. He had been lost since that time he had fought Ranma by the bridge over the river. He was certain it was Ranma's fault that he was lost. He wasn't sure how, but he was sure he could figure it out if he took the time to try. He wandered again, eventually running face first into a wooden wall. Irritated and frustrated enough already, he decided to relieve some stress and clear his path at the same time. With a loud cry, he knocked the wall down. Back in the shrine... The wall exploded, and a young man stood there with a frustrated look on his face. The Tendos and Saotomes recognized him instantly, but they were not the first to react. "RYO-CHAN!" Ryouga suddenly found himself wrapped by a pair of warm arms and held against an obviously female body. He blinked. A girl was hugging him? He focused his eyes on the face little more than two centimeters in front of him. He blinked again. "M-M-Mako-chan?" Minako eyed Ryouga speculatively and asked, "You know him, Mako- chan?" "Of _course_ I know him! He's my old sempai. He trained me in the Art." She turned and glared at him, "What happened to you, anyway? I went to the park, and you weren't there any more!" "Ah, well, I, uh, got lost." "Whoa! So the lost boy's got a girlfriend! That makes two, considering how Akari's fawning over you." Ryouga sputtered, "I-it's not like that! Ranma, I'll get you!" "Ranma, stop picking on Ryouga!" Akane swung her mighty mallet... and Ranma caught it. The Tendos, Mr. Saotome, and Ryouga all stared. Ranma had actually stopped the mallet. Before anyone could comment on it, however, an explosion erupted outside. KABOOM! *********************************************************************** Akane Voiceover: Oh, no! Did Happosai summon another demon? It's just like that thing that attacked the school! Huh? Where'd those girls go? No, I am _not_ going to run and hide, Ranma! I'm a martial artist, too! Hey, who's that cyborg? Well, whoever he is, he seems to be on our side, so that's some good news, I guess. And why won't this voice just shut up?! Join us next time on The Lunar Knights: "A New Ally?" *********************************************************************** Author's Postscript: Part three done before I even post part one! Whaddaya know, I can write quite a bit when I want to, after all. This is Cyclone, signing off.