Private Bet #10: Chapter III: Opening Moves....
by Shade

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and affiliates are the
property of Rumiko Takahashi, Rifts and
Phase World are owned by Palladium. Other
references belong to their respective owners.
~~~~~~~~~
Part 1a: The roll of the dice.....
~~~~~~~~~

Tsunami, Goddess of the Planet Jurai and the
most powerful battleship in her Universe rested
inside the safety of quantum space, hidden from
the prying eyes that coveted her. Her connection
with Princess Sasami provided the powerful entity
with all the outside information she needed without
the need to reveal her presence. Lately Tsunami's
thoughts had been troubled, there was discord forming
between her chosen champion and the current ruler of Jurai.
Although Tenchi bore no ill will toward the Emporer, the
same could not be said of Azusa. Despite his wive's best efforts
he seemed bound and determined to make the Masaki boy's life
a living hell. Steps needed to be taken to put a stop to that.

This newest complication might make things even more difficult.
Now was the worst time for interdimensional meddling to occur.
But who was responsible for it? It was unlikely Tokemi would try such
a risky gambit, her sister preferred to use her pawns much more
calculatingly despite her role as a Goddess of Chaos. Washu could
possibly attempt to summon one of her old allies but so far it seemed
that the scientist remained unaware of her divine origin although she
too had selected her champion......

Champion......

Could this be....Tokemi's chosen one?!!

If so, then this situation was more serious then any of them
realized! While Tokemi would not waste such resources on
a paltry minion, her champion was an entirely different story!!

Tenchi wasn't ready yet. Even the formidable powers of
the others would not be enough, not against Tokemi's champion
if indeed as the Goddess feared it was. It made chillingly perfect sense
to dispatch both of their chosen before they could master their powers.
Something so logical that Tokemi would do it in a moment.

They would need help. A warning in Sasami's dreams should
be enough to alert the household while she arranged
a few things elsewhere.

Tsunami set her plan into action at once.
~~~~~~~~~

In the vast emptiness of deep space Minagi's spaceship Hinase
patrolled in search of evildoers to steal from. Following in her
sister Ryoko's footsteps the cheerful swordswoman had chosen
the life of a space pirate, though she only only preyed on
bad people. Minagi was a good friend of the Masaki Household,
her physical features were identical to Ryoko except for two old
sword scars, one on each cheek given to her by her father Yakage.
But her personality was more like Mihoshi's, lighthearted and carefree.

A beeping from the main console caught her eye.

"Hmm?"

{We're near the Sol System!? I haven't visited them
for the longest time!}

"Hinase!"

"You called, Minagi?"

"Set course for Earth!"

"Yes ma'am!"

A faint reflection on the viewing screen
that might have been a beautiful woman with
turquoise hair smiled and vanished.

Step one was complete. Now for step two.
~~~~~~~~~

Nagi was not happy.
And for once it wasn't Ryoko's fault.
Well actually in a way it was partially Ryoko's fault,
if only she didn't have that damn....

"Ciao!"

"For the last time NO!!!"

"Ciao!!!"

"Absolutely not!!! You don't know where she's been!
You'll probably catch a disease from that furball!"

"CIAO!!!"

"How about a carrot instead?"

"Ciao!! Ciao!!!"

"You're turning down a carrot!? Are you feeling alright?!"

"Ciao!! Ciiiaaaaooo!!!!"

"Stop that!"

The ship's caterwauling continued unabated.
Nagi tried to harden her heart to Ken-ohki's
pleading, if she went to Earth she'd have to
go after Ryoko again. Not that she'd ever
admit it but in her hearts of hearts the bounty hunter
had developed a grudging respect for the one person
who had ever escaped her time after time. An unoffical
truce had finally developed between them, As long as Ryoko
didn't leave the Sol System Nagi left her alone with
that boy of hers. Part of the reason behind that
was the current problem, their cabbit partners were in love
with each other. If either owner killed or seriously wounded the other
the consquences could be....bad. Best to put as much space between
her and Ryoko as possible to avoid any unnecessary temptation.

"Ciiiiiiiaaaaaaaoooooo!!!"

But she couldn't go like this. Day in and day out, the endless
begging and wailing......

"All right!!! You win! We'll go visit your girlfriend already!!
Just...Stop that racket!!!"

"CIAO!"

Tsunami nodded her head as she faded away from
the top of the rapidly departing vessel. Sometimes a
little push in the right direction was all that was needed.

Black Bishop takes White Rook.
~~~~~~~

Rei was not in a good mood. A visible dark aura of doom and
destruction seemed to hang over her bent head.

Nervously Makoto and Ami snuck occasional
worried glances at their friend. The recent nightly patrols
had been hard on all of them. For weeks they'd been
keeping an eye on the city,  but aside from the rare mugger
or burgler their efforts had come up with zilch so far.
There hadn't even been any of the youma attacks that usually
preluded the entrance of a new supervillain. Tempers were
wearing thin from having to be at a constant state of readiness
even though they now only had two or three of the Senshi
patrolling a night, Inners and Outers included. But Setsuna
insisted that they keep on their guard, so they continued
remaining on alert despite their mounting doubts about the accuracy of
her warning. Surely if whatever it was was so dangerous they would
have seen some sign of it by now?

"Waaah! I can't believe it! I actually woke up on time today!"

A pair of familar blonde meatballs bobbed into view as Usagi joined
her friends with lunch in one hand and her schoolbag in the other.

The part time Shinto priestess merely growled in reply.

"What's with Rei?" Usagi asked, puzzled by this
odd behavior, normally her friend was more vocal then that.
She missed the frantic waving and desperate shaking of heads as
the others tried to warn her. Too late....

"I DIDN'T GET ANY SLEEP LAST NIGHT OKAY!!!"

Flames billowed forth from the Giant Demon Head Attack.

"WAAAAAHH!! She's scary!!!"

The others didn't think any less of their leader for her panicked
reaction to Rei's explosion. She DID look scary at the moment.
Besides if they made any noise she might notice *them* instead
of focusing on Usagi. Okay, so it wasn't a particularly noble
choice. But they still weren't about to try and interrupt her
unless their friend tried something drastic.

Rei Hino was normally a quiet, demure, peaceful maiden.
And anyone else that dared say otherwise quickly learned
the error of their ways. She didn't have a Black Belt in
Karate for nothing!

But the visions that sometimes came to her, the ones that had more
often then not had proven right and aided her and the other Senshi in
their battles against Evil had been particularly bad the past night after
she'd finished her patrol.

No sooner had she closed her eyes to get some rest then her mind was
bombarded with scattered random images that didn't make any
sense to her at all.The surreal vividness of the few psychic fragments
she'd received were so clear that even now she could remember
practically every detail of the visions...
~~~~~~~

The first dream had been the worst.

A Darkness where no light shown, cold as the grave
and worst of all, totally devoid of all existance. No surface met
her feet yet she did not fall. Too dark to see, too quiet to hear,
no substance to touch. It was like being dead except she knew
she was not for even death was this,this...Void......

Rei had screamed herself awake. It took her several minutes to calm
down enough to lie back down.

 The second dream brought only more questions then it did answers.

Warmth, hidden from view yet comforting to the soul. A sense
of purpose that brightened her surroundings to reveal a shining white
crystal about the size of a human heart. Not the Silver Imperium
Crystal, it did not emit the sense of power she associated with it,
this was different somehow. A strength that was both less and more ran
through the very core of the dazzling object that seemed to burn with a
pure inner flame of its own. But as she reached out to touch it.....

Try as she might she could remember no further what had
happened until she awoke again.

The third vision had been frightening, fears long lost in the rebirth of
the Senshi had been revived.

Green fires of envy and jealousy reaching out to envelop and
consume the world and all within it. Among the faces of the
dead had been her own, while a horrifyingly familiar laugh had
roared triumphant.....

But it was the last one that had haunted her thoughts till dawn
had banished the ghostly phantoms.

A sense of deep loss, the ultimate price paid.....A life for a life....
....Swirling drops of twilight upon the clear canvas of the
Heavens.....Two stallions standing over a Moonlit pond....
......A single tear had falling, the silver droplet bright as
the full moon as a burst of scarlet sprouted forth....

The same sequence had repeated over and over again throughout the
night and into the earliest hours of morning.

By the time Rei had to get ready for school she was a wreck, the drain
on her internal strength and sheer physical exhaustion leaving her with a
serious case of industrial strength Crankiness.
~~~~~~~~~~

"GET BACK HERE MEATBALL HEAD!!!"

"No way! Baggy Eyes are contagious!! Bieee!!!"

The Japanese Red Eye was presented. (1)

"Grrrrr!!!"

A chase ensued between the two.

With large sweatdrops behind their heads the other three
girls watched as their dear (but rather embarrassing at times like this)
friends vanished in a trail of dust.

"Ah....Should we try and stop them?"

Ami asked Minako and Makoto hesitatingly.

"Are you out of your mind!?"

They looked at her as if she'd grown a third eye and
said they should join a convent. Not even Makoto, the
strongest out of all the Senshi got in the Hino girl's
way when she was in one of her *moods*.

"I guess that is a silly question."

White Queen moves to block Black Pawn.
~~~~~~~~~
-Masaki Household

"Minagi!!"

A delighted Sasami enveloped the cyan-haired space pirate
with a enthusiastic hug.

"You're just in time for breakfast!"

"That's great! Your meals are the best in the Universe, Sasami!"

"Ah, Welcome back Minagi."

From the open door in the stairway a familar crab haired
figure stepped out.

"Miss Washu!"

"Ahem...that's Little Washu."

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!"

The loud male scream coming from upstairs indicated that
Tenchi was now up, the explosion that came a split second later
also meant that Aykea was now awake and not pleased to see how
Lord Tenchi had been roused from his slumber.

The rest of the household was already digging in, they were
getting used to it by now. Mihoshi waved hello to Minagi before
getting another helping of pickles. Kiyone blinked and sweatdropped,
just what she needed to deal with, another Ryoko. Noboyuki smiled
as he saw that another one of the pretty space ladies had returned,
maybe his son would finally choose one of them! An unlikely event
but still,  he kept hoping anyway. Washu sat herself down and dug into
Sasami's heavenly cooking, she amused herself by calculating the exact
moment when things should reach critical mass.

Right about.....now.

"Yaaaahh!!!" The heir apparent to the royal
house of Jurai came flying down to make a spectacular
crash landing at the base of the stairway followed by a
few stray chips of wood that had once been the
door to his room.

{I am such a Genius!}

"Good morning Tenchi! Breakfast is ready!"

"Morning Sasami." Tenchi pried himself out of the floor
and and then did a quick double take as he saw Ryoko
smiling in front of him.

Wait a second.

"Oh! Minagi! You startled me for a second, I
thought you were..."

Shouting from above interrupted him.

"Now you royal pain in the butt, prepare to pay!!!"

"Begone Demon Woman!"

Blaster fire and electrical forcefields clashed and
resulted in yet another devaluation of property values.

Tenchi winced. Bad enough that they were fighting yet again,
but why did they have to do it in the house?!

"Nice to see you again Tenchi. I just popped by for
a little visit. Is that all right?"

"Sure, feel free to stay as long as you like."

At least Minagi didn't blow the house up......at least not since
she'd tried to kill Ryoko and Tenchi. But almost everyone tried
that at least once so he didn't hold it against her.

{Mmmm...the grilled fish seems especially tasty this morning.}

Tenchi realized that he was starving, being the unintended
victim of multiple acts of random violence was hungry work.
He'd have to eat fast if he wanted to get to school on time.

"That's the spirit my boy! You can never have too many
pretty ladies around, why when I was your age..."

"Dad!!"

"Mihoshi, can you take me to the market to pick up some
chicken for tonight's dinner?"

"Sure!" The eternally cheerful detective giggled,
of all the adults there only she and Noboyuki had
a driver's license. Since the architect had to work that
left Mihoshi in charge of ground transportation.

A fact that gave her partner Kiyone the chills every
time she thought about it. It flew in the face of all
reason that the ditz of all people had managed to acquire
the one thing that she'd failed to pass the exam for.

"I think I'll go with you."

{Just in case.}

"Yay!"

Black Knight takes White Bishop.
~~~~~~~

Ranma Saotome awoke at the crack of dawn.

A glance to his right revealed that Genma
would probably be sleeping for a while. The
old man looked rather charred, apparently
instead of doing the smart thing and letting go after
the mazor had zapped him the first time Pops had
instead tried to smash the lock open.

Unfortunately the case's built in defenses had reacted
a bit more severely to that......

Well.....Genma was still breathing so it looked like no
permanent damage had been done. The scorch marks would fade
away eventually and it wasn't like he needed all that smelly fur
anyway.

{At least I'll have some privacy this morning.}
Ranma mused as he quietly slipped out of the guest room
and headed to the Dojo to unpack and train without interruption.

He had a feeling that he was going to need every minute of it.
~~~~~~~~~

Retina and DNA scans passed.

With a small hiss of escaping air the pressure seals opened.

His time in space had taught him to appreciate the
advantages of high tech, especially while traveling.
When it came to keeping his personal belongings in one
piece through even the roughest of conditions Advanced
Micro-tech was the only way to go. This particular model of
luggage was from Bushido Industries and cost a small
fortune with the advanced security upgrades package.

Credits well spent since the cargo inside was
priceless by any standards.

[It's about time you got me out of that stuffy case!]

"Sorry!"

With the greatest of care Ranma removed Ishtar from
the fine white silk that covered the shining instrument of
Light. As always the sheer unearthly beauty of the
Greatest Rune Weapon's lines took his breath away,
the Spulgorth were sadistic alien bastards but he had to
admit that their preference in fine craftsmanship was
unmatched. Only the foulest beings could take such a
work of art and pervert it into such a damnable prison
for a living soul.

He made a few practice swings, Ishtar seemed to fit
his hand as if she were made for him. The only time Ranma
had felt something similar to this sense of rightness was when
he summoned his Cosmic Weapon. It was a mystery that he'd
just accepted as being real enough. Besides, what did he have
to complain about?

[Yes!]

Pure unadultrated sensation filled the
trapped psyche with sweet bliss.

Physical contact took the psychic bond between
weapon and wielder to a whole new level.

While they could communicate with each other
up to three miles apart, aside from advice and information
there was not much else that Ishtar could do when she was
seperated from him.

But once Ranma had her in hand the two became as one.
As long as he held Ishtar the Goddess's formidable
defenses protected him and gave him access to some
badly needed special abilities that helped balance out the
Cosmoknight's formidable fighting strength. In a sense
Ishtar became a second set of eyes and ears that watched
Ranma's back. She felt what he felt, knew what he knew,
and in return for this gift the imprisoned soul was able to get a taste,
no matter how brief, of feeling.

There was no greater reward for one doomed to
exist in a eternal limbo.

When she had existed free of the captivity that now chained her the
dusky divinity had been a patron of nature and healing, under her
tutelage Ranma had discovered a new joy in creating life instead of
destroying it. Though her powers were bound within the cursed core
of the metal and crystal cage that held her entrapped like a fly in
amber, he could still carry on her work and did so willingly.

Though Ranma didn't use use her as often
as she wanted him to, the weapon didn't begrudge
him for it.

She knew and understood his reasons, Rune Weapons
were the most coveted magical artifacts in existance.
Wars had been fought and Empires crumbled over the
possession of these legendary indestructible tools of
power. Probably the one thing that was most responsible
for the weapons' notoriety was the whispered ability of the
most powerful and corrupt blades. Soul Drinking, the weapon
literally tearing out the helpless spirit of the victim and devouring
it, destroying them forever. The slightest scratch from such a
Rune Weapon could prove lethal, all that was needed was a
single drop of blood to be spilt and it would all be over.

Fortunately that was not one of Ishtar's properties, such an
abomination was completely against her nature. That hadn't
stopped the fools from across the Megaverse who'd tried to steal
her from Ranma though. But once bonded, only death could
severe the link forged between them. No one else could use her,
not even those pure of heart, Ishtar was his alone. And woe to
the one who tried to seperate the two!

"How do you feel?"

[Heavenly.]

She gave a warm mental purr of contentment.

[By the way.....why the sudden change? Not that I'm complaining
mind you.....but I thought the reason you kept me in there with the rest
of your gear was to keep the presence of so much supernatural energy to a
minimum?]

"Well, I sure as heck don't want Pops to finding you and
if those presences you detected are unfriendly it would be better
to have you close by. Especially if they're Psychic, I hate getting
hit by Bio Manipulation. It's a real pain, no pun intended."

[I'm hurt, here I thought you just missed little ol' me....]

"Well.....that too. But I can't just carry an ancient glowing
rune-covered weapon around in plain sight, you'll have to
stay in the sub-dimensional pocket."

[Hmph!]

{Look, I'm sorry. It's the best I can do right now
until I can think of something better.}

[You owe me another one Saotome.]

*Sigh*

{Add it to my tab.}

[Don't worry...I will.]

Uh oh. That did not bode well for him.

He concentrated for a moment, a brief distortion
shivered through the air and soon Ranma's hands
were empty once more.

{Now for the rest of the stuff}

A small branch with five buds that
radiated vitality was the next thing he
pulled out....

It never hurt to be prepared.
~~~~~~~
-later

A small fortune in gems lay in front of Ranma, during his last stop
to Phase World Ranma had purchased a quantity of flawless
diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and pearls. Since Universal
Credits had no value back home he'd needed something that
he could trade for local money, it helped that the stuff was
practically dirt cheap in an age where the rare precious metals
and gemstones were either common or easily synthesized.
Even Ranma was unaware of the true value of his little stash,
the pile of glittering stones lying in the case were valuable
enough to make Saotome one of the richest men on the planet.
He made a mental note to see a jeweler and get some of the smaller
gems appraised.

{I think this is going to come in handy soon enough.}

Pocketing a few of the priceless jewels Ranma continued to
rummage through several years worth of accumulated stuff
both magical and not. By the time Kasumi awoke and started
to get the kitchen ready for breakfast his luggage was secured
once more and the young martial artist had begun his morning
katas.
~~~~~~~~~~


It was a quiet morning, the previous night's rain left few traces
in the bright light of the new day. A light mist shrouded the Nermia
neighborhood and had draped the Tendo's yard with a covering of dew,
the diamond drops sparkling as the warm rays of the sun struck them.

It was this serene scene that the eldest daughter of the household enjoyed
as she prepared her family's morning meal. Kasumi had learned to find and
enjoy the simple pleasures of life, they were all that she had now.

The notes of the local avians sounded sweetly as the rice cooked,
vegetables
were chopped, and leftovers warmed up. (2)

Looking out toward the Dojo as she fixed a steaming pot of green tea,
Kasumi noticed that the door was ajar. Everything was fine here so she
could afford a few minutes away to see what was going on. Perhaps
Ranma or his father had got up early to practice.

She couldn't resist checking the guest room on her way out.

A snoring well done Genma was its only occupant.

That meant.....
~~~~~~~
-Tendo Dojo

Front Kick.
Turn.
Open Tiger Palm Strike.
Step Forward..
Block.
Snap Kick.
Step Back.
High Punch.

A light sheen of sweat developed on his naked chest as Ranma put
his body through a workout that made Marine boot camp seem like
a Hawaiian Vacation. He pressed his physical limits to their max
in a graceful dance of strikes and parries that started with basic
Kempo before flowing through dozens of other martial arts forms.
Somehow the diverse moves that came faster and faster until his arms
and legs started to blur had been woven together into a unique harmony
that was as beautiful as it was effective. A slight change in stance to
gain
a better base to strike from, the adjustment of an attack by a few
centimeters, signs so subtle only a master would be able to
spot the small characteristics that identified the Anything Goes Style.

Relentlessly he continued to test himself, even though
the strain of keeping up such a grueling pace had now
reached a point as to daunt even the healthiest human
Ranma's breathing still remained smooth and even.

One of the few useful things he'd learned from Genma during
their training trip was that you couldn't slack off if you were a
true Martial Artist, it was an all or nothing proposition. For over an
hour his kata went on, blows that could crush a tank like tinfoil
hissed through the air and exotic styles long lost to this world
were performed with a grandmaster's ability.

At length even a CosmoKnight's extraordinary stamina
must succumb to fatigue. His Forge blessed body ached
all over, but it was a good pain. The fire in his muscles made
him feel alive, a natural rush that cleansed the mind and body.

{I wonder what's for breakfast?}

Ever since his transformation Ranma had been keeping
up his illusion of mortality. He ate, he slept and he trained.
Never did he allow himself to forget what it meant to be human.
As long as Ranma remembered to live, his power wouldn't corrupt
him as it had so many others before.

Few beings had ever seen his true form and lived to tell about it, Ranma
had
only summoned his armor in the past for real emergencies. Even then he made

sure that nothing ever linked him to the mysterious Knight that showed up
every now and then. Evil-doers who had discovered the truth usually did so
with their dying breath.The number of people that were aware of his
deception could be counted on two hands with fingers to spare. Even most of

the other Knights didn't know that he was really one of them, especially
given his penchant for relying on magic. As a rule CosmoKnights usually
tended to rely chiefly on their natural powers, magic was usually avoided
by them
like the plague because it was one of their few vulnerabilities. As Ranma
could have pointed out though, he was still alive and lots of other
CosmoKnights weren't.

A small gasp from the entrance of the Dojo caught his attention as
the half naked young man started to wipe off the sweat from
this morning's training.

"Oh my!"
~~~~~~~~~
-A whole Universe away

"CAPTAIN!!!"

"Uh?"

Lt. Commander Justie Tylor of the CAF Space Force
was jolted awoke from his nice nap and great dream.
In it he'd been having a great time at the beach with Emi,
Yumi and Azalyn-chan. That reminded him, one of these days
he'd have to show the Empress how much fun the sand and surf were.

Speaking of which, he STILL hadn't found out about those
Raalgon hotsprings yet! Maybe the next time Dom captured him
he could find out. It was a shame that the others couldn't join in until
they came to *rescue* him from the enemy.

Even though both governments were now members of the Consortium
of Civilized Worlds (CCW) they had never actually signed a peace
treaty and were technically still at war with each other, although by
CCW law they couldn't actually engage in hostilities. So every couple
of weeks when Azalyn, Holy Empress of the Raalgon wanted to see her
pet Paco-Paco, Dom or his subordinate Shia Has (depending on which
one of them was unlucky enough to get the short straw that week) went
out to *capture* Tylor and bring him back. He came with them willingly
enough most of the time, but then the women on board the Soyokaze
would get jealous and so the crew had to go and get him back from
the Melva, the Raalgon Mothership.

But at least the eighteen year old monarch was only one person.
The legion of WAIT (Women After Irresponsible Tylor) numbered in
the hundreds of millions. Discovering the planet Victoria's Secret
had been a big mistake, the Captain volunteering to lead the
investigation expedition had been an even worse one.

But at the moment none of that was Tylor's concern, his
indifference to even the most grave crisis was already legendary
throughout the known Universe.

"CAPTAIN!!!"

"What is it Mr. Yamamoto?"

First officer of the infamous destroyer, Lt. Yamamoto was a
man who routinely gave himself an ulcer trying to make up
his mind. Usually a by the book officer, Yamamoto possessed
an irresponsible streak that rivaled his superior's though
he usually covered it up quite well with layers and layers
of regulations.

"We have detected a group of unidentified ships closing fast!"

"Oh? That's probably just Azalyn-chan coming to pick
me up again."

"Captain! They don't match any Raalgon signature! In fact their profiles
are more like the space pirates we were sent to apprehend!!"

Lt. Yuriko Star, the efficient intelligence officer of the Soyokaze and
perhaps the most responsible person on board (which wasn't really
saying all that much) shot an exasperated look at the man that she both
loved and wanted to strangle whenever he behaved irresponsibly.
In a way she envied her counterpart aboard the Untamed Stallion,
at least Ranma behaved sensibly some of the time. Of all the men in
all the planets in all the galaxies in all the Universe she had to fall for

the most Irresponsible Man Alive. Granite had nothing on Tylor.

"Oh, I guess that means we better do something then."

*CRASH*

The entire bridge picked themselves up from their
collective facefault. Sometimes they thought that
the Captain was actually more sensible then he
was letting on and then he'd go and do
something like this. Either he was a tactical genius or the
luckiest idiot in the Universe. The popular money was
riding on the latter, although after awhile several people
were now coming to suspect the former.

"What are your orders Captain?"

Lt. Katori was the only known Buddhist Monk navigator
in the Consortium Armed Forces (CAF). His dazzling
head of blonde hair was actually a wig, though even a close
inspection could fail to spot the difference. Undisputedly one of
the best capital ship pilots living, the handsome officer seemed out
of place on the rather rambunctious ship. Without his skills however
the Soyokaze would have been scrapped long ago.

"Hmmm...."

The twenty two old Captain looked
like he was thinking seriously.

By now though every one of the officers on board
knew that appearences could be deceiving, especially in
Tylor's case.

"Let's talk to them! Lt. Kim, open a channel."

"Of course, what else could we expect from you Captain."

A runway fashion model in her off hours, the young
and beautiful brown haired communications officer
possessed a tongue sharp enough to geld even the
most officious superior. Naturally she often directed
her scathing comments toward Tylor's relaxed attitude,
though every now and then the part of her that really liked
him slipped past the mask of professionalism.

"Standard hailing frequency ready."

"Yoo hoo! This is Captain Justie Ueki Tylor, Age 22. Please
identify yourselves since you're approaching the Soyokaze and
we don't know who you are. It's common courtesy after all."

"Uh...captain...."

The crew had much faith in Tylor, but once again that loyalty
was being put to the test. Sure the Captain was able to get them out of
the messes that the Soyokaze encountered but he was usually the reason
that they got into them in the first place!

Nervously everyone (with the exception of Tylor) looked toward the
bridge's display to see the unidentified ships' response.
~~~~~~~~

Aboard their ships the Scourges of the
Spaceways (a fancy way of saying
they're scumsucking pirates) were breaking
out in a full blown panic attack.

THE Tylor was facing them!!!

The most feared man in all of space, hailed as the greatest military
mind in the Three Galaxies (3), had obviously been sent here by the
CAF to utterly destroy the pirate problem that the CCW had been
having in this sector. So now their problem was trying to decide what
they were going to do about it.

The majority wanted to surrender immediately before
they were brutally slaughtered by the Tylor.
Several wanted to just run away and never come back,
the only problem with that was he'd probably kill them if they
did. And a very small group actually wanted to try
attacking the Soyokaze.

Of course that resulted in quite an argument.

"We must attack!!! If we destroy the Tylor we will become famous!!"

"You FOOLS! The Soyokaze's marksmanship
is unequalled!! They have a PERFECT to-hit ratio!"

That was common knowledge. What *wasn't*
well known was *why* its record was so
flawless, the reason that the destroyer had never missed was
because it had never fired a shot at the enemy since Tylor
became captain!

Captain Tylor's opponents were their own worst enemies.
He didn't have to attack them, they did all the work for him.
Once again this point was demonstrated.

"We should run!"

"We should give up!"

"We should kill him! He's only one man with one small
ship! If we stick together we can destroy the Soyokaze!"

"Are you out of your MIND?! I don't want the Raalgon Empire
after my head!! Not to mention W.A.I.T., do you know what those
Amazons do to people that get on their bad side!"

"Bah, Stay here then you cowards! We'll do it if you're too
afraid to!"

"No! Stop them!! If they anger the Tylor we're all dead meat!!!"
~~~~~~

The astonished oberservers on the bridge had a front
row seat to the ensuing havoc that broke out.

A fraction of the pirates broke from the rest to attack and
were promptly fired upon by their comrades. The fight that broke
out between the two factions soon ended with most of the ships on
BOTH sides either destroyed or badly damaged.

Kim was the first one to relay the good news.

"Captain, they say that they are the Space Pirates
in this sector! And they want to surrender!!"

"Captain you're a genius!"

First Officer Yamamoto had never doubted him for a minute,
never mind the fact  that he'd been about to declare Tylor unfit
for command a minute ago in this situation.

"What'd I do?"

Captain Tylor looked puzzled before deciding to just
smile and go along with it.

White Queen takes Black Knight.

*$*$*$*$*$*

(1) Pulling down the lower eyelid and sticking out the tongue,
      a commonly used insult in Anime.

(2) It’s a Miracle!

(3) Scary thought isn’t it.

~~~~~~
1b: And the Band played on.
~~~~~

"Oh? Good morning Kasumi!"

Ranma had decided to do without his shirt since his workouts
tended to work up quite a sweat and he didn't have that an
extensive a wardrobe in the first place. His crew had never
complained about it though so naturally he figured that the
same would be alright here. His years spent in other dimensions
had not destroyed the core of innocence that lay within his heart,
a fact that continued to draw members of the opposite sex to him
like moths to a flame. The main drawback of that well meaning
naiveté was that it also meant that short of directly confronting
him with said interest (and sometimes not even then) the poor Knight
would never realize that it was there in the first place.

Now was no exception to the rule.

That rosy tinge to those flawless cheeks, those sparkling eyes
simmering with barely repressed lust, and the way she tore a
perfectly good apron into teeny tiny shreds of white would
have clued even the most dense of men that something was up.

But this was a Saotome.....their cluelessness was legendary.

"So what brings you out here this morning? If you're going
to practice I just finished so the Dojo's free."

It took Kasumi a moment to realize he was talking
to her as her attention wasn't focused on his head.
Her appreciation of Chinese garb rose enormously
as she noticed that after his workout the black silk
pants now molded onto Ranma like a second skin.

"Oh no, I don't train anymore. Akane is the heir
to our family's style. I was curious to see who was
out here at such an early hour, usually Akane goes
out jogging in the morning. She prefers to save her
workouts in the Dojo for when she comes home
from school."

"Sorry about that, I didn't think anyone would mind if
I trained here."

"It's no trouble at all. This place has
been so quiet since mother..."

Kasumi looked down as her voice trailed off.

Human perception is an unpredictable thing. While he couldn't
pick up even the most blatent come on if his life depended
on it Ranma had a uncanny knack for being able to recognize
the signs of emotional distress and help a person deal with it. This
was due in part to the fact that he was an excellent listener (though
with rather selective hearing) and a very compassionate
person by nature. So as soon as the words "quiet" "since"
and "mother"were uttered tiny alarms started going off in
his head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to remind you of
any painful memories."

Leaning closer toward Kasumi who still averted her eyes away
from him Ranma placed a warm hand on her cheek and gently
tilted her head up to face him.

A chance ray of sunlight chose that
particular moment to illuminate the
young man's features with a bright
halo as his smiled warmly in an attempt
to let the Tendo daughter know she wasn't
alone and that he was there for her.

A quiet hush descended on the premises
as Kasumi became lost in those concerned
 pools of sapphire blue. They seemed to promise
a safe haven from the storm of turmoil that surrounded
her as she kept the household together day after day. Her body
unconsciously swayed and started to lean toward him, bringing
them closer together. She could almost taste his lips, the
moment was so perfect.....

Closer....just a few inches more.....

Almost there.....
~~~~~~~

Just as this scene was about to become
prime time viewing one of the simmering pots
in the kitchen started to bubble over on the stove.

A slighty unpleasant smell coming from the
direction of the house caused the couple's respective
noses to twitch in alarm, breaking the mood.

"Oh my! Breakfast is burning!"

Withdrawing with a guilty look of disappointment
Kasumi started to rush toward her little kingdom
to avert a potential disaster.

Ranma followed close behind. He still hadn't
put a shirt on yet. Kasumi wisely didn't turn around
to look as she fought to keep her composure. But she also
didn't point the young man's state of disarray to him either....
~~~~~

"I'll give you a hand in the kitchen."

"It's alright, you don't have to...."

"It's no trouble, as a guest here it's the least I can do."

"Oh....Thank you."

Such a simple gesture of kindness, yet it made her feel
all warm and tingly all over. Had anyone ever done anything
like this for her before? Akane's ill fated attempts at helping her
usually sprang from wanting to impress friends or out of a
desire to simple show the world that she was just as good at the more
feminine arts as "Big Sister Kasumi". Somehow cleaning up the
messes she inevitably made and compensating for the utensils and
dishes she broke or rendered unfit for human contact was always
ignored and left for Kasumi which only added to the workload of
cleaning and cooking for a family of four.The only time Nabiki ever
entered her domain was to pick up something to munch on. As for Father.....

though she knew in her heart that he was a good man even he didn't lift
a finger to do the chores and she didn't have the heart to try and tell him
to
do them.

Yet here was someone who she had just
met and he offered his help without asking
for anything in return. Not that she'd mind if he did want
something...oh my...that thought was becoming most improper.....

If Kasumi had been wearing glasses they would have fogged
over at that moment.

Fortunately Ranma was able to keep her from accidently
pouring kerosene onto the grill, otherwise the still slumbering
residents would have gotten the mother in law of all wake up calls!
~~~~~~~~

As the hours passed the glorious yellow sun started
its climb across the sky and brought lifegiving light
and heat to the citizens of Tokyo.

Akane and Nabiki opened their slightly bloodshot eyes, yawned
and cursed the early hour that forced them from their beds, then
went to attend their individual morning toiletries. Both made very sure
to check the furo for occupants before entering. Oddly enough both suffered

minor twinges of disappointment upon the discovery that it was indeed
empty after all.

Genma woke up, relatively speaking. Perhaps it would be
better to say that he regained consciousness. Or rather what
passed for a state of consciousness.

{Urghghhh......no more all night sake binges.....
..wait a second...this doesn't feel like a hangover...}

The thick stench of burnt fur and body hair quickly got his eyes
open as he sat up.

*CRICK*

Genma's eyes widened as tears of pain formed.
Sometime during the night when that evil suitcase had
sprouted giant mechanical gloved hands and dribbled
him around like big furry basketball before tossing him
into the koi pond a disc had slipped in his back. And
boy did it hurt!

Training the boy could wait, he needed a chiropractor ASAP.

"Morning Pop."

It took only a glance to figure out his father's predicament.
Even though he knew it was wrong Ranma couldn't help but
smirk a little. That "ACME Warner surprise upgrade" had been
worth every credit he'd spent for it.

"Ranma my boy...your father needs a doctor. Be a good son
...and run along and get one."

"No need, I can fix it."

"Ah..wait a second boy, do you have license for this!?"

"Don't worry Pops....I had a good teacher....trust me...."

Somehow that didn't reassure Genma any, it sounded too
much like him right when he'd suggested the trip to Jusenkyo.

`I'm sure it's nothing Ranma, you don't have to!!"

"Oh but I insist...."

The older man did not like that grin he saw on his son's face.

"Wait wait wait!!"

"Now hold still...this may....sting a little."

"Ack!"

Locating the appropriate spot in the small of his father's back
Ranma gave a small tap to it.

*SNAP**CRACKLE*POP*

"YEEEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!"

The house shook for a moment before settling back down.

`THAT HURT!!!"

"You're standing up aren't you?"

"THAT'S...uh..I guess I am....."

"Now if you'll excuse me I've got
to set up the table for breakfast."

"Wait a second boy! It's time for your training! I've
been too lax on you lately! You've become soft and weak
like a woman!"

Ranma tryed not burst out into hysterical laughter.  If Genma
had ever dared to say something like that on the Untamed Stallion
no one would ever find his body. If there
was one thing that he’d learned, it was that
women weren’t weak at all.

This was not the reaction the overweight martial artist
had expected, normally even implying that he was
remotely like a girl was enough to send his son charging in
with a full head of steam.

And the boy had even left his back wide open, such sloppiness
was disgraceful! A good thrashing should teach his son better.

The older heavyset man crept up to Ranma as the young man set the table.
Then as his son bent down to place a cup he struck.
Ranma would never know what hit him.
~~~~~~
-1.2344433446 seconds later

*SPLASH*

A soggy brown muzzle poked its way out of the koi pond.

"Nice try Pops."

A few late blooming flowers were being carefully arranged
 among the dishes to form a decorative work of art.
~~~~~~
-1.1118327483 seconds later

*SPLASH*

A large bulky form floated to the surface of the water.

"Would you at least wait until I finish?"

The tea set tastefully offset the rice bowls but the chopsticks
needed to be moved a little bit.
~~~~~~
-1.26457 seconds later....

*SPLASH*

“Knock...

1.00033 seconds....

*SPLASH*

“...it...”

.93465 sec....

*SPLASH*

“...off already!”

*KLONG*

A large lump formed on
the now unconscious bear's head
as it slumped against one of
the ornamental rocks bordering the pool.

"He's stubborn, I'll give him that much."

Ranma went to pull his father out before he drowned.
Maybe now Genma would leave him in peace.

{Nahhh.}
~~~~~~

Breakfast progressed smoothly with only one interruption.

"YOU'RE going to OUR school!?"

Akane's look was one that said she obviously
hoped that she'd heard him wrong.

"Yes, Here's my transcript."

"How did you get it so fast?! You just arrived yesterday!"

Nabiki was a little flabbergasted, her contacts should have
informed her about something like this weeks ago!

"I made a few arrangements before I came to Nerima. No biggie,
just a little this and that to smooth things along.."

He deliberately left out the fact that he'd hacked his way into
the government servers to register and set up a passable background
that would minimize the paperwork the moment he'd set foot in Japan.
Ranma hated paperwork, it was the bane of all decent military personnel.

"Well then, me and Akane will just have to walk
with you to school then and show you where it is."

{Time to start revealing the disadvantages of the competition.
Is that a silk shirt? It looks...nice.}

"Gee thanks!"

"NABIKI!"

"Oh my."

{Drat, I've already graduated.}
~~~~

Akane and Nabiki looked at the carefree
martial artist casually strolling along. This
wouldn't have been so strange a sight
had it not been for the fact he was doing so on a narrow
chainlink fence that was taller then they were.

"Why are you walking up there!? Too good to
 walk on the ground like the rest of us normal people?!"

Akane took this as yet another slight toward herself.
At this rate she was going to earn herself an ulcer before
she graduated.

"She does raise at least one valid question Ranma, why
are you up there?"

Nabiki was genuinely curious to hear his reason
for being up there.

"It's kinda fun."

*WHAM*

After picking herself up from an impressive facefault Nabiki
shot a disbelieving look at what had to be the most
totally unorthodox person she had ever met.

"You're walking on a fence because it's *fun*?!"

"Well, why not?"

"....."

Okay, so for once the Mistress of
Wits didn't have a ready response at hand.
It happens.

Silence filled the gap between the three.
Of course Ranma didn't notice it much.
It gave him more time to do important stuff,
like thinking.

"I'm NOT going to marry you, you know!"

Finally the youngest Tendo daughter decided
to break the stifling quiet with her flawless logic and insight.

The handsome pigtailed young man shrugged carelessly.

"Fine with me."

Akane's eyebrows twitched with suppressed
irritation at having been dismissed so casually....again.

Enter the comic relief.

"You WILL marry one of  Tendo's daughters, Ranma!!!"

"Gotta catch me first old man!"

Laughing gleefully Ranma took off across the rooftops
at a speed that a peregrine falcon would have envied.

"Come back here!"

Huffing and puffing, Genma scrambled off in pursuit.

"Honestly, those two are so embarrassing. Why do
they have to stay at our house?"

`Now be nice Akane, they are our guests after all."

"Hmph!"
~~~~~
-About 2 miles later

*pant**pant*'

"Co...co...come...*cough*cough*....bac...
...back..*wheeze*.he..he...he...here....*ugh*...."

Genma collapsed, sweating like a pig and totally
exhausted as he watched his boy vanish in the distance.

{When did he get so damn fast?!}
~~~~~~
-Whoops

Ranma looked around at all the big stores and little shops.

He must have taken a wrong turn back there. This
was the commerical district, not Furinkan. Although it was
rather nice to know where he could go this afternoon to get
some local units of exchange. Money couldn't solve every
problem but it certainly worked well for most of them!

It looked like he'd have to hurry if he didn't want to be late for
his first day of school. A jade green blur bounded from roof to
roof as he finally determined the right direction to go. It was
rather embarrassing to admit that even with his instinctual
knowledge of his exact position in the Multiverse at all times
he STILL got lost sometimes. The funny thing was it had only
started happening after that side trip to a little backwater
dimension......
~~~~~~~

One particular building was home to a pair of sharp eyes.

"Micheru, what are you looking at?"

"I thought I saw someone for a second, Haruka."

"On the roof? Are you sure?"

"Funny though, I could have sworn it was carrying....."

"Carrying what?"

"A...a schoolbag."

".....Maybe you need some rest."

"Only if you're here to share it."

"Well then...hey!..*mmm*......*light sigh*.....*giggle*...
...aren't we full of energy all of a sudden....
....*sounds best left to the imagination*......"
~~~~~~~~
-Now where am I?

How hard was it to find one school in Tokyo?
Ranma was about to find that out the hard way.

"Sorry, this is Tomebiki."

He sighed, this wasn't it either.

"I knew I should have taken that right turn at the
Cat Cafe!"

"Look, I've got to get going. Sorry I can't help you out."

"Oh that's okay,....um...."

"Ryuunosuke, my name's Ryuunosuke Fujinami."

"Ryuunosuke? That's strange, what kind of an idiot gives
such a cute girl a guy's name?!"

"..Cu..c...cute?"

*Ba-Bump**Ba-Bump*

"Sure! I mean anybody could see what a pretty young lady
you are. Oh where are my manners, I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome."

His devasating smile was on full power, he wanted to
make the best impression he could. It worked well.....too well in fact.

"..Pr..p..pre...pretty?!"

Ryuunosuke had just passed Cloud Nine and didn't show any signs
of coming back down to Earth anytime soon.

"Sorry to bother you! Ja ne!"

Off he bounded like a grasshopper on steroids. Leaving behind
one very dazed crossdressing girl.....

{Furinkan High.....maybe I can see him..er..I mean it, later.}

Somewhere in the neighborhood a monk named Cherry raised his
head and uttered two words that pretty much summed up the
building situation.

"Most ominous...."
~~~~~
-Uh....

Saint Hebereke. Nope, he definitely had no
business at an all girl's school.

Maybe he should have checked the map
*before* he left. The only consolation he
had was that at least none of the people
he knew were here to see this, he'd never
live it down.

He wondered if that kid he had met in junior
high had gone through this. What was his name again...
.Ryo.....Ryoda Hidiki... or something like that....

Far, far away in the wilds of China something warm, fuzzy,
and pure evil sneezed.
~~~~~~~~
-This is getting ridiculous

{Not again!}

This was starting to get out of hand.

"Ah, excuse me. This isn't Furinkan High School is it?"

"No, this is Gravitron High."

{DOH!}

"Thanks anyway Miss ah...."

He was talking to a dust trail.

"Oh well. Let's try that again."

He'd probably never run into that redhead again anyway.

Once more into the breach.
~~~~
-Good Night Everybody!

"WHAT THE HECK?!!"

{Big...Toenail...of....Satan.....Educational.....Facility?!!}

This didn't look anything like a school, he'd seen Kreeghor
Prisons less intimidating!!

A very naked young lady ran past dressed in a red mask with
a matching pair of high heel boots.

"....."

Carefully Ranma blinked his eyes a few times.

{I did not just see a naked girl in a red mask run by.}

Today was not shaping up to be a good day.

Try again.
~~~~~~~~~
-One more time!

*ZOOM*

At this point Ranma was getting a little desperate,
if he couldn't find Furinkan soon he was going to
be late. So here he was chasing after a bicycle doing
better then 80 mph in the quiet Nermia streets.

At least the girl was cute.

"HI!"

Amazingly she could talk to him and pedal like a maniac
at the same time without running into something.

"Hi, do you know where Furinkan High is?"

"Hmm....Nuku Nuku remember! Take next right and go straight!"

"Thanks!"

"BYE BYE!"

Nuku Nuku waved back at her new friend as
she decided to start really moving.

*WHOOSH*

The ten speeder that was going at least nine speeds faster
then it was intended to abruptly went from Warp drive to
Ludicrous speed.

Lines of plaid bounced off Ranma's now sheepish
face as he was left behind in the dust.

{This IS my home planet, right?}
~~~~~~~
-Elsewhere

Ranma wasn't the only one having a hard time swallowing this.

"I don't believe this! How can anyone fumble SIX
navigational bearing rolls in row and not be a Hibiki?!"

Even dressed in stately white platemail, somehow
the figure managed to convey a sense of twitching
incredibility.

The grey robed one pulled out a small notepad and
then looked at the various enchantments and alterations
in play on Saotome to jot them down for posterity.

After a moment of looking a very oversized
sweatdrop appeared.

"I think I'm going to need a bigger notebook."

~~~~~
-At long last

"Whew! Finally found it!"

He had arrived just in time, Akane and
Nabiki already approaching the front gates.

He waved at them, happy to see that he'd made
it just in time. Jumping down to join the Tendo girls
Ranma clasped both their hands in his own in relief.

"Man, you two have no idea how happy
I am to see you guys."

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Akane wasn't the only to react to this strange twist of events,
several dozen angry male voices yelled from the school yard
as they witnessed this undreamed of sacrilege.

"Huh?"

Ranma looked to see a weird sight, it looked like every boy
attending Furinkan was dressed up in sports equipment or martial arts
outfits and gathered in front of the school building.

One of them, dressed in an *ice* hocky uniform
gasped in shaky disbelief.

"He's...He's...HE'S TOUCHING AKANE'S HAND!!!"

Cries of outrage sprung up from all around at that observation
as if they couldn't see that perfectly well for themselves.

The group seemed to come to a consensus after some dark muttering.

"Let's get him!!!"

The horde of beserk hormonally driven jocks
charged toward the new student,  intent on turning
the infidel who had dared defile the skin of their pure
goddess Akane into a stain on the concrete.

{You have GOT to be kidding me.}

A large sweatdrop formed on the back of
Ranma's head as he saw the angry mob heading
toward him.

{Now the fun begins.}

Nabiki smirked, this was sure to discourage any chance
of anything forming between her younger sister and
their potential fiancee.
~~~~~~~~~
-Saotome Residence

"So when will we meet Ranma, Aunty Nodoka?"

"Chi! You and Azusa didn't have to tag along!"

It wasn't fair! How was she supposed to be able to
spend any quality time with fiancee and get to know him
better when her manager and apprentice in training would be
watching over her shoulder every minute!?

"Very soon, once you've gone through the Anything Goes
Bridal Training we'll join my son and husband at the house of
an old family friend."

{Poor Soun, I do hope he's recovered from the loss of his wife.
My son's wedding shouldn't be disrupted by one of his crying sprees.}

"Wha?! Anything Goes BRIDAL TRAINING???

"Of course dear, when I'm done you will be the
perfect match for my manly son."

Something sent a cold shiver running down the
spines of the three girls. It might have been that
eerie confident tone, the twinking sparklies shooting
out from big eyes filled motherly love and pride, or
the battle aura of motherly pride that towered over them.

The sudden crackle of thunder and lightning in the
clear blue sky had absolutely nothing to do with it,
nor did the flock of frozen black ravens crashing down
into a nearby temple, and it couldn't possibly be due to
the fact that every chopstick in sight had just broken in half
for no conceivable reason at all.

Heh. Hehehe...yeah right.

The three girls almost made it out of the house
before the arms of well intended doom dragged
them back in to meet their fate....

"Wait!! I'm not the one getting married!!!"

The fine wooden door slammed shut with a solemn finality.

Black Queen takes White Pawn.
~~~~~~~~
-Furinkan

Ranma Saotome was being given a warm
welcome by the local athletes.

{Oh Fershlugger!}

While being attacked by an bloodthirsty mob was
not totally outside of his experience this was the first
time they used bats and rackets instead of guns and
grenades. Japan was supposed to be a peaceful country
after all, had things really changed that much in ten years?

He'd have to follw that line of thought later, as for now....

[Tactical Mode Engaged.]

[Multiple hostile contacts detected.]

[Threat value: 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000001
i.e. you’re kidding right?]

[Options: 1. Attack -Unacceptable, Ethical conflict
    2. Run -Unacceptable,  Honor conflict
    3. Nonlethal Neutralization -Unacceptable, 99.9% certainty
                   that hostilities will resume in 23.68 hours
    4. Bluff -Loss of dignity within acceptable parameters
                  Commencing with Style #37: Lee Kwan Choo
       Initiating.....]

Hopping back a bit to get some room to manuver
Ranma avoided no less then twelve different types of
sports balls, half a dozen training weights, and a javelin
that some wise guy from the track team had borrowed.
Not to mention all the punches, kicks and miscellaneous
attempts to cause great amounts of bodily harm to him.

It helped that every one of them fought like individuals instead of
as a team. That meant that their attacks often got tangled up as they
tried to attack from the same direction at the same time.

Akane watched this with a little shock.
The crowd that normally challenged her
each morning had gone right past her today.

Why weren't they attacking her?
They were attacking...HIM?!

Relief was the first thing she felt. That lasted for
only a moment before Anger hit.

HOW DARE HE INTERFERE WITH HER FIGHT!!!

She was a martial artist too! No boy was going to upstage her!!
Ooohhh...She hoped that he got creamed, that would teach him to
stop butting in!

In fact she was going to give him a piece of her mind right now!

Akane started stalking over to the genral melee going on, the slower
boys that had the misfortune to be in her way quickly learned of their
error before heading to La la land.

"Ran....!"

If Akane had been able to finish what she was about to say the entire
course of the story might have been different. But that was the
moment Ranma choose to make his move.....
~~~~~~~~~

A lot can happen in fifteen seconds.

In that short span of time battles can be won or lost.

Within that brief fragment of time a decision can
be made that will have earth-shaking effects in the future.

In fifteen seconds a person's opinion of another can
be forever changed or set in stone for eternity.
~~~~~~

1...

The more observant ones closer to him spotted it first.
The new kid was starting to light up as a prismatic
glow enveloped him right before their eyes. Ranma's stance
now looked a lot like a large cat preparing to pounce.

...2...

Those with a lick of sense in their heads hesitated in their attack
and began to find that the idea of a strategic withdrawal had
considerable merit. The majority of the pack charged in heedless
of the consquences. Ranma's features hardened as a deadly gleam
appeared in his eyes.

...3...

Now the rest of the boys noticed, even the most hardened of them
were taken aback by the sheer force behind that chilling expression.
Some of the more superstitious found themselves remembering stories
of the boogie man and the many demons of Japanese legend.

Now more of the jocks were beginning to reconsider this impulsive
attack. But it was already too late....

"KIYA!!!"

The battle cry struck like a physical blow, stealing
away their confidence and weakening their muscles with
the first venomous drops of terror.

~~~~~~~
-Eyecatch 1

(Scene: Ranma is chasing a horde of monsters and
villains from various Anime and RPGs (Rifts, Slayers,  BGC, SM, etc.).
They run from left to right and then offscreen for a moment. Then
Ranma comes running back from the right side with a look of pure
terror on his face. A moment later a *gigantic* mob of women with
Kasumi, Tsunami, Urd, Ayla, Shayla Shayla, Misato, and Jaina Solo
among them coming charging after him.)

-Eyecatch 2

(Ranma looks nervously to both sides, then breathes a sigh of
relief when he sees that he's alone. Then he spots a gourmet feast laid
out on a white picnic blanket. When he leans over and tries to grab some
of the tempting food the trap springs and a dust cloud briefly obscures the

screen. Sasami, Kasumi and Makoto(SM) step in and smile, Ranma is revealed
to be caught in a fish net hanging from a wooden rod behind them.)
~~~~~~~

....15

Furinkan's finest athletes were frozen in place by a combination
of terror and disbelief. Growing dark stains on both ends of their
pants along with a foul odor that started to fill the air
were clear evidence of the effectiveness of Ranma's
attack. The entire student body (minus one) was stunned by
it, even Akane had to admit that she wasn't good enough to
pull something like that off.
~~~~~~

"Damn...."

Shadow let out a soft whistle of admiration.

Who would have ever thought to use the
Neko-ken style that way?! The fact that he
was able to relearn it without going insane
was incredible enough!

"I don't believe it! He's not supposed to have
a horror factor unless he's transformed!!!"

Zora dumped a bucket of ice water to end the
Guardian's ravings quickly.

The screams of outrage were another story.
~~~~~~~~~

{How'd he do that?!}

Akane wondered, if she
could learn a trick like that......

Casually the pigtailed martial artist relaxed from
his ready state and dusted off a few wood and
metal splinters from his hands.

"That's the only warning you get gents. I strongly suggest that you
leave both me and the Tendos alone or you won't be so fortunate
next time."

Seeing that the gentlemen in question were incapable of even coherent
thought at the moment Ranma started to head toward the school building.

Akane blinked as he walked past her then went after him.
She reached out to grab him by the arm, as her
hand encountered a solid array of muscle a small shiver
that wasn't at all unpleasant in the least ran through the rest
of her body and sparked a few emebers in her lower abdomen.

"Wait a second Ranma!"

"Who dares approach the fierce tigeress of my heart?!!"

Tatewaki Kuno's rehearsed speech was forgotten as he beheld
this affrontery to his refined senses. So immersed in his fantasies
that he'd missed the fireworks earlier, the would be samurai
had strode out just in time to see his beloved Akane grab some
strange boy's arm!

{Unforgivable!!!}
~~~~~~~

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.

{There's always one more to deal with. The
Universe never cuts me a break!}

What was next, giant singing fuzzy
purple dinosaurs doing the Macrena? (1)

"Who are you Cur?" Not waiting for a reply Kuno ranted on.

"Ah! But it is the custom to give one's OWN name first!"

{Is he for real?}

"Fine then! MINE I shall GIVE!"

The rumble of the approaching storm grew louder.

{This is ridiculous. I came back home to escape
from the craziness, NOT make it worse!}

Ranma heaved a disgusted sigh as he looked up at the
darkening heavens. It was going to rain any minute now
and he wanted to get inside his class, not deal with this blowhard.

"My name is Upperclassman Kuno. I am captain of Furinkan Kendo club and
the undefeated rising star of the high school fencing world. But my peers
call me...."

{A loudmouthed idiot with more pride then sense by any chance?}

"The BLUE THUNDER of Furinkan!"

*KRAKKA**BOOM*

A perfectly timed bolt of blue lightning ripped across the sky.

{What a show off.....}

Several students watching the unfolding spectacle from
the second story of the school building looked slightly puzzled
by that last statement. Among them was Nabiki.

"Blue Thunder?"

"Have you heard about that Nabiki?"

"News to me, last I heard he was calling
himself the Shooting Star or some such junk."

The entire student body looked upon the poor doomed fool
who had attracted the attention of the school's best fighter.
Even though he'd just beaten the rest of the male population,
 Kuno was in another class altogether. It was rumored that he
 might even be better then Akane! So everyone watched and
whispered conversations sprang up among them. Those that
were still conscious that is. Which meant that the
crowd was composed mostly of girls. Lonely girls who hadn't
been able to get a date for weeks since Kuno's stupid declaration
had sent practically every eligible boy in school after Akane Tendo.

"Oh no! Kuno's going to kill our one chance for happiness!!"

"Maybe he'll just break a few bones and be content with that?"

"Shhh...look! Something's happening!"

Having decided there was no other viable way out of this Ranma
decided to just go along with this little farce until an opening
appeared.

"I'm Ranma Sao......"

Trying to stop this Akane blurted out the first thing
that came to mind without bothering to think of the
consequences.

"He's just staying with us, Kuno!"

{Oh swell, that really helped.....}

"What?!"

Kuno's shock was nothing compared to the student body's reaction.

"WHAT?!"

Told ya.

An ugly red glow formed around the slightly shaking
son of the noble house of Kuno.

"Under the SAME roof as AKANE?!! I FORBID IT!!!"

The Insane Strike of Righteous Justice (patent pending)
came slashing down. Kuno might as well have sent his opponent
a formal letter announcing his every movement, he telegraphed his
attacks like a professional wrestler.

Ranma merely jumped backwards, then continued on from his
new spot several yards away from the angered kendoist.

"As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me..."

{Foul lowbred dog! You dare insult the noble House of KUNO!?}

Tatewaki growled like a feral animal at this base attack
to his noble samurai heritage. At this point he wasn't about
to settle for anything less then this peasant's head mounted
on a pike.

"I'm Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes
School of Martial Arts. And to be completely honest,
you don't impress me one bit."

After that statement was heard the betting tripled.
Nabiki found herself hard pressed to keep up, even she
was astounded by Saotome's guts to say something like that!

But could Ranma back up his bold words?

It looked like they were about to find out.
~~~~~~~
-Somewhere not revealed yet

"Is something wrong old friend?"

The figure's features were lost within the grand hall
that stretched as far as the eye could see as he gestured
toward the exquisitely crafted platinum board between the
two players.

"You've yet to make a move, in all the millenia I've
known you I've never seen you play so poorly before.  "

The setup of the game in progress revealed that
Black was swiftly gaining control of the board despite
the solid defense of White. Currently it was White's turn
to move. There were few options left, no matter which
direction a move was made one of the important pieces
would be lost. A closer inspection revealed that the pieces
were in fact miniature representations of various beings and
creatures from from across the Multiverse. Even more telling
was the fact that Ranma represented the Knight for White.

The figure expected no response, he'd learned long ago
that there was a reason for everything it did, the trick was
finding out and more importantly, understanding it.

Their friendship was an unusual one even by his standards.
Both of them possessed ancient secrets and long lost
knowledge that mortals would kill for, their seperate existances
had been recorded at the dawn of the written word and spanned
far before that through half remembered legends passed down through
near ritualistic oral tradition. Unique and alone, scholar and meddler,
yet who both found a common enjoyment in a simple friendly game. For
a brief drop in the sea of time their responsibilities were set aside
for the only true peace they had.

But now....

The change in his friend's choice of pieces had not gone
unnoticed either. He was worried, it seemed as if the other
was playing an entirely different game this time
rather then the one between them....

[The Circle must be completed once more.]

Shock held him in its grip. For the first
time ever his friend had spoken to him!

Ranma's armored form moved across the board
to quietly knock over one of the opposing Black
pieces.

Knight takes Rook

(To be continued...Hehehehehehe......)

*$*$*$*$*

(1) I'm a fanfic writer, not a sadist!

~~~~~~~
1c: The other shoe drops...

-Negaverse, T-minus 7 hours

From the lifeless depths of the dark void came
the order that they had been dreading.

"It is time. Go, and do not fail me."

The three generals knelt partly in respect,
but mostly in fear. Maybe death wouldn't
be so bad after all compared to having to
live in terror and suffering for all eternity.

"As you command, Master."

But it was a millennia too late for them.

They left for the Material Plane with their individual
signatures of teleportation, smoke, cherry blossom petals, and
shards of crystal respectively. But they did not go alone.

A number of smoky, featureless wraiths went with them.

Metall'a was through with being subtle and letting
the Senshi nibble away at her resources, her string
of defeats spanning back to the Silver Millenium
had shown her that when it came to death and
destruction sometimes the old fashioned ways are best.
Instead of using one youma at a time that would quickly get
blasted into Moon dust and result in yet another loss of her
precious psychic energy this time her minions would be prepared
and numerous enough to overwhelm even that old Time Witch. It
would be amusing to watch as the mighty Sailor Pluto was slowly
broken by a thousand years of degradation at her tendrils. Yes, the
Intelligence had many plans for its hated enemies.

If the first attack failed then another would soon follow it, and
another, and another, and so on. It would strain her reserves to
the limit but the end result would be forth the lost power.
Unlike Metall'a the female warriors needed to eat and rest.
For every youma that she lost two would be sent in the next
attack, but when one of the Sailor Senshi eventually fell that
would mean they would have one less for the next attack.
The Senshi were mortal, and therefore weak.

While the Gaki she had created from her own life essence were not
as strong as her greatest warriors, the Seven Shadows, they had one
cruical advantage over her lost minions, they knew their opponents. They
knew their strengths, their tactics, and most importantly of all,
their weaknesses......

It was a foolproof plan.

Too bad nobody bothered to tell a certain Cosmoknight that.
~~~~~~~
-Again that unnamed place

"A bold move, but you've left your King wide open."

The ebony Queen seemed to ooze menace as it slid into
position in front of the opposing ivory ruler.

"Queen takes pawn, Check."
~~~~~~~
-Furinkan High

"Prepare to face the wrath of the heavens, swine!"

{Doesn't this guy ever shut up?! What's his problem anyway?}

Ranma could honestly say that of all the
people and creatures he'd ever met, Kuno
was not the most annoying or even the most
thickheaded. He'd run into people back in
Rifts that made this guy look like a bona fide
genius. But the loudmouthed kendoist definitely
was up in the top ten and he had to repeat to himself
over and over that "A Knight fights only to destroy evil and defend
the innocent...this loudmouth isn’t worth it...he’s just stupid...."

"Hah! I see that yon base frame doth tremble at the prospect of
facing such a magnifience as mine own! Your foul hands clench in
the grip of mortal terror at the sight on my noble blade!"

{Isn't cruel and unusual punishment illegal on this world?}

"Whatever, this is pointless. I'm going to class."

With that Ranma pointedly turned away and
started walking.

"You dare to try and flee from the raging
wrath of Kuno!? Take this fool!!!"

Kuno charged toward from behind with
his bokken overhead to deliver a deadly slash
aimed toward this insolent newcomer's back.

"Look out!"

Nabiki looked shocked by her outburst.
She wasn't the only one.

*Chungggg*

"Eh?!"

Impossible! How had the cur avoided his perfect
technique?! Instead of the satisfying sensation of his blade
striking flesh he had merely cut a sizable hole in the school
building's side.

"Blast!"

His second swing fared no better, a mere tree branch was
severed instead of the legs he had been aiming for.
This was fast wearing away the few bits of restraint that
Tatewaki possessed. Was he not the greatest warrior in this school...no,
on this planet...no, in the entire Universe!? How could this mere flea
continue to elude his righteous blows?!!

"Hold still! Cease thy infernal movement that spirits
you away from the Blue Thunder's strikes!!"

*Slash*
Miss.
*Slash*
Missed again.
*Slash*
Sorry, better luck next time.

"Um...that's the whole point of dodging."

"Silence Fiend!"

For just a brief moment he considered
just ignoring the pompous buffoon and let him
find out on his own that sticks and stones would
NOT break Ranma's bones.

"Demon! Honorless dog!! Fight me!!!"

{Ah, the heck with it.}

Throwing any pretense of caution aside, Ranma
ran straight toward Kuno and the school doors behind him.

"I have you!!"

Kuno proclaimed triumphantly as
he brought his sword to bear.

*Swish*

The running figure's lines blurred as he zoomed past
the attempt to strike him down.

At that moment the young knight did commit
an error most grievous that would bring him only more headaches
in the future. Even as he reached his class right before
the bell rang the upperclassman remained outside, frozen in
mid-swing by a small cluster of nerves in his wrist that had
been hit just right. Unmoving except for a insane fire in his
burning eyes.

For he had a perfect view of his blade and the desecration
performed upon it. It had been intended as a lesson of sorts,
to give the young man time to think about the errors of his ways
as he was forced to see the message left to him by the upstart
newcomer.

So it was that Tatewaki Kuno age 17, did swear to have his revenge
upon the foul sorcerer, for only the most dark and vile magic could have
defeated a noble samurai warrior. He looked at his defiled sword and his
rage burned ever hotter.

Scratched deeply into the side of Tatewaki's noble
bokken was one simple word.

[Imbecile.]
~~~~~~~

Noble Rook moved into position, putting the Dark Queen
in peril now.

"Ah, I didn't see that reversal......"
~~~~~~~~

"What the heck is he doing?"

The sounds of lots of big heavy things being
moved around was quite noticeable.

"You know how he is, always a performer at heart."

Shadow didn't look up from where he was standing
even as he answered his counterpart.

"Does he really need that many speakers?"

"Well he said he wanted to give the scenes a little more pizazz."

"More like he's going to give us a temporary case of deafness at this
rate."

The Guardian really wished he'd gotten a pair of earplugs, the
Half-elf's reputation was not without some basis in fact. In that
minstrel's hands music was literally a lethal weapon.

"I'm almost ready...."

*SSSRRRRIIIEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCHHHHH*

The feedback squeal nearly blasted the entire
gathering into next Tuesday.

"oops."

"I TOLD YOU IT WAS A BAD IDEA TO LET HIM DO THAT!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! MAYBE IT
WAS A BAD IDEA TO LET HIM BE IN CHARGE OF THE BGM."

~~~~~~~~
Tokyo, T-minus 3 hours

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

`Wow! This is so cool!"

"The truck!! The truck!! Watch out for that TRUCK!!!"

Driving with Mihoshi was a unique experience.
The same way skydiving without a parachute is a
unique experience. It wasn't that she was a bad driver,
rather the detective seemed to have forgotten about a
few basic concepts like inertia, gravity, and friction.

"It's just like being in a rollercoaster!"

Needless to say, Sasami was having the time of her life.

"Look out! Wrong lane!! Wrong lane!!!"

Kiyone was well on her way to a nervous breakdown.
For the umpteenth time since buckling her seatbelt at the
start of this little demolition derby from Heck she swore
that she was never going to do this again. Kiyone made
a lot of promises like that, sorta like how she always promised
herself she would get a transfer and a new partner.

"Oh...umm....now where are those brakes again?"

The Eternally Innocent Blonde was oblivious to her passenger's
reactions as it required all of her attention and reflexes at these speeds
to keep the car from winding up as a metal and glass stain
on the road.

Her partner's skin was starting to turn the same color as her hair.

Kiyone gave serious thought to praying for divine intervention.

*thunk**smash**crunch*

Mihoshi let out a nervous giggle.

"Oops! Umm.....oh well, they didn't really need that sign anyway."

Kiyone then considered fainting.
~~~~~~~

"Black Bishop moves to block."

The named piece slid into place to defend the
stronger piece from danger.

In response a white pawn knocked off one of the opposing knights.

"Cute, but that won't work a second time."
~~~~~~
-A certain temple, T-minus 1 hour 37 minutes 25 seconds

"Keiichi, have you seen Skuld?"

"No, I haven't seen her all day now that you
mention it."

"She must have gone out for ice cream again."

"I'm sure she'll be fine Belldandy, Skuld's a big
goddess now. Plus Banpei's not here either, she
proably took him along too."

"I hope you're right, I'm just worried that something
bad is about to happen...."

Once again Keiichi Morisato faced that age old dilemma.

How do you reassure a goddess that is both smarter and
more powerful then you could ever hope to be?

Well.....hot tea helps.

~~~~~~
Furinkan High

"Class, I'd like you to welcome a new student recently
arrived from China, Mr Ranma Saotome."

Hushed whispering broke out.

{"He's only a sophomore?!"}

{"Wow! I thought for sure he was a senior..."}

{"Looks so mature for his age..."}

{"Sayuri! You already have a boyfriend!"}

{"You can have Daisuke, good thing I brought an extra lunch with me."}

{"No fair! Who wants that Akane chasing loser?!"}

"Uh…hi."

Ranma knew he was forgetting something important. But all the stares
he was getting since he'd entered the room were making it hard to
concentrate on remembering the customs of this time period.

"Hello Ranma!" The all female chorus replied, their voices
dripping with sugar and spice. The boys that were supposed to
be in here had all mysteriously come down with some ailment just
minutes earlier (a sudden need  for spine transplants, perhaps).
 The predatory undertone to their greeting were completely missed by
the uncomfortable target, though not by a glowering Akane. Just her luck
that she wound up in the same class as that....that....

{How dare he act like he's innocent! That womanizer!}

Now he remembered! He was supposed to bow
as a sign of respect to the class.

Instead of the traditional polite gesture that the class
was expecting, they were treated to a bow more
fitting for a royal palace then a simple school classroom.

"Ranma Saotome, at your service."

{"Wow! It's so romantic....."}

{"Like a prince out of a fairytale..."}

{"....We must not rest until one of us dates with him!"}
~~~~~~~~
Juuban District, T-minus 45 minutes

Trouble was brewing.....

Skuld looked a little guilty as she exited
from the ice cream parlor, she knew she
was supposed to tell one of the others or
leave a note behind so that Belldandy, Keiichi,
and Urd (yes, even her) wouldn't worry about where
she was. But there had been a sale! A real honest to
goodness half-price on all three hundred twenty seven
flavors of that cold sweet ambrosia! Once she'd seen the
advertisement in today's paper the next thing Skuld knew
she was riding on Bampei and telling him to get the lead out.

And it had been worth it. Oh had it ever been worth it!
The sugar rush alone was enough to have the petite
techno-goddess floating a few centimeters off the ground.
Banpei, her trusty robot sidekick, was currently in scooter
mode and parked a little further down the street.

Skuld wasn't worried, Banpei's scanners would pick up
any trouble way in advance and give her plenty of time
to deal with it. Her patented super duper weapon system
would easily wipe out any possible threats if they dared to
show their faces here.

She would not have been so confident had she known that
Sailor Mercury's visor was just as high tech and the Sailor Senshi's
attacks had grown over the years to such an extent as to match even
divine craftsmanship. But Metall'a's minions had come prepared with
just such an eventuality in mind. So quietly had they crossed over that
even the Guardian of Time herself was unable to detect them......at
first. So it was that while the guardian robot's screens remained clear,
evil had already penetrated into the heart of the city and prepared to
strike the first blows of their mistress's revenge.

Skuld's morale would have plummeted even further had
she noticed the watching darkness lurking above, where
no shadows should be. A darkness that paid very close
attention to the unsuspecting Goddess....

Black Rook takes remaining Bishop.
~~~~~
Juuban District, T-minus 30 minutes

Amazingly despite Kiyone's worst fears they had all arrived
alive and in one piece. After taking a moment to kiss the sweet
ground and then another one to verbally chastise her partner
(i.e. screaming and ranting only to find that Mihoshi wasn't
paying attention again) the three finally walked into the supermarket.

For the youngest princess of Jurai, it was like stepping into her own
little world, all these yummy ingredients to cook lots of delicious
meals for everyone were stacked from floor to ceiling all around her.
The smell of fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices mixed with that of
beef, fowl, fish, and cheese to become a heady perfume that tickled
and teased the palate.

Sasami loved the supermarket with a child's innocent glee, for it
was here as in the kitchen that she wielded ultimate power. Washu
knew science, Ayeka had manners and rituals, Kiyone carried the
GP manual in her heart, Ryoko could party like no one else, and
Mihoshi....Mihoshi.....could.....could...karaoke and knew the story
of every soap opera in known Universe. But when it came to
cooking, it was Sasami who they all bowed down to.

Kiyone and Mihoshi quickly became loaded down by the little
sprite's shopping list. Surprisingly there weren't many people
shopping that day which left the usually bustling building rather
quiet.

In the silence a certain stomach growled.

"Mihoshi!"

"Waa! I'm sorry, but I'm just so hungry Kiyone!"

"You just ate a few hours ago!"

"But that was just breakfast!"

"Well just wait till we get back to the house!"

"I...I...I can't!"

"Mi...ho...shi!"

"Waa!"

*Boom**Crash**

"Oh no!"

"This is all your fault Mihoshi!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Why me?! If I've offended some unknown deity and am
being punished for it by this...then I'm sorry already!!"

"Kiyone!!"

"*Ack*...can't......breathe...let go..Mihoshi......"

"Kiyone!!"

A flood of tears worthy of the Anything Goes School
poured onto the rapidly turning blue officer's new skirt.

"....*gasp*...*everything going dark*.....*must escape
from hug of death*......"

Somewhere in the excitement the third
member of their party had vanished.
~~~~

The White Queen took the other rook.

Now both sides had totally lost an advantage in the field.

Yet Black still held the upper hand.

{What are you planning old friend? This stratagem is only
delaying the inevitable. You can't hope to win by staying on the
defensive, not against me at any rate.....what are you up to?}
~~~~~~~~
-Alliance Space <BGM: Return of the Jedi: The Fleet enters Hyperspace>

Like a small sea of shining jewels the largest armada of
Rebel ships gathered in a decade amassed at the edges of the
Ristmoth system. Hidden from Imperial sensors by the
gas and dust of the nearby asteroid belt, the final preparations
for their attack were underway.

"All wings reporting in."

From the command ship a pleasant neutral female voice
went about the task of getting the various task forces organized.

"Red group standing by."

"Green group standing by."

"Gold group standing by."

The various strike craft and bomber squadrons
sounded off as they moved into position. They, along with
the faster escort vessels, would spearhead the first strike.
Their job was to engage the security perimeter defenses
while the more heavily armed capital ships took out the orbital
battle-stations and ground defenses. At the very rear of the armada
were the troop carriers and heavy transports, accompanied by a smaller
rear guard taskforce and the fleet's medical ships.

"Alliance Corvette 119 assume point with Destroyer forces 4 and 9."

"Understood HopeBringer. We're moving into place now."

The Untamed Stallion's sleek lines seemed to radiate the predatory
nature of the ship itself as it's four engines powered up to maneuver
the small (in comparison to the assorted cruisers, dreadnoughts, and
carriers) but deadly craft around its larger neighbors until it finally
reached
the very edge of the gathering. Two flights of twelve destroyers joined it,

as well as their accompanying fighter patrols.

"All ships are in position Admiral."

"Prepare to make the jump into Hyperspace."
~~~~~~~

"I keep expecting someone to say 'Lock S-foils into attack position'."

"Don't give them any ideas!"
~~~~~~~

As the stars streaked into lines, the entire Alliance fleet made the
transition to faster-then-light speed. In the space of a few seconds the
area that they had occupied was cold and silent once more.

A few moments later, the first lights of battle lit up the
early morning skies above the third planet of the system…..
~~~~~~
-Furinkan High

Nabiki Tendo didn't care much for Tatewaki Kuno, but he was
rich and the bills needed to be paid. So it was with some reluctance
(and a substantial reduction in the weight of his wallet) that she
finally dragged him into their class, the upperclassman still paralyzed
by the nerve strike Ranma had delivered earlier that morning.

She did get a fair bit of amusement from the look in his eyes at having
to be dragged into class by the female he despised most. The word
scratched into his prized weapon was worth a small laugh too, though
she had to make sure that Kuno didn't see it. As long as he remained
her biggest source of income she had to display at least the
pretense of discretion around him.

The raspy whisper was barely audible as locked vocal cords
finally unfroze.

"….…..damn…you….foul…sorcerer…."

"Looks like whatever he did to you is finally wearing off, Kuno baby."

Nabiki's voice dripped with sympathy, or rather a severe lack of it. He
had it coming for having every eligible boy in school chasing after Akane
and
leaving her out in the cold and without a date for every weekend of the
school
semester.

"…….I….despise…you….."

"I am *so* glad to hear that."

Liquid magma would have frozen at that frosty tone. Unfortunately for
all Humanity, stupidity is a natural insulator.
~~~~~~
-Juuban District T-minus 15 minutes

Two girls ran headfirst into each other.

*Crash*

"Ooof!"

"Ouch!"

Royalty met Divinity.

"Sorry about that!"

"No, It's my fault. I should have watched where I was going."

"My name's Sasami. What's your name?"

"I'm Skuld, Goddess Second Class Limited……Oops! You
didn't hear that from me!!!"

If Urd learned about this she would never hear the end it!
But something about this girl reminded her of Belldandy,
it had simply felt wrong to try and hide anything from her.

Sasami laughed at the look of sheer panic on the
other girl's strangely marked face.

For some strange reason she was reminded of Washu.
That subtle aura of scientific mayhem was unmistakable.

"You're silly."
~~~~~~~~
-Not so nice watchers

They were obviously too young to be the Senshi, but
such an opportunity couldn't be passed up.

"Wait for my signal."

Swiftly and silently the forces of darkness moved into an entrapment
configuration, there would be no escape for the princess this time.

Jedi'te and Malach'te exchanged a look, despise each other they
might but both knew that they had no choice but to work together.

The alternative wasn't even worth thinking about…..
~~~~~~~~
-Furinkan High

"E equals mc squared."
"42."
"Boron."
"Charles Dickens, Mary Shelly, Sir Francis Bacon…. "

Mr. Yoshida didn't like disturbances in his average boring dead-end job,
his idea of excitement was springing a pop quiz on the class on
subjects that he'd never taught them. He was also one of the few
instructors that had disapproved of the daily morning brawls for Akane.
The uproar that had caused by this new student hadn't exactly pleased
him either. For the past hour he'd attempted to demonstrate his superior
intellect by throwing questions that were more appropriate for collage
graduates then simple high school students. So far all his efforts had
proven in vain.

A fine sheen of sweat had started to build on the increasingly annoyed
teacher's brow.

Finally the balding man started to pull out the big guns,
there was no way that this wise guy could possibly
answer a question that had stumped the most brilliant
scientific minds on Earth!

"GUT, which was resolved by the discovery of the anti-graviton
and harmonics of electromagnetic particle waves. The principle
equation was the basis of all contra-gravity theory and led to
faster-then-light drive development."

Mr. Yoshida's jaw smacked painfully onto his desk. He shot an evil
glance at the Saotome boy's slumped head. Bad enough that he was a
bloody know it all, but literally answering the questions in his sleep
was going too far!

"Please keep your flights of fancy out of school Saotome.
Making things up will only get you into trouble. In fact for
not paying attention go stand out in the hall."

"Sensei?"

"GET OUT!!!"

{"I thought that this was supposed to be a History class?"}
Yuka whispered to Sayuri, disappointed by the loss of the
view she had been getting from her seat behind Ranma.

"Everyone else turn to page 576 of your text and get ready for a pop
quiz!"

The entire room groaned in dismay and more then
one of the girls there gave serious thought to breaking
a few rules in order to get out of class and joining the
cute new student in detention. The veins throbbing
violently on the instructor's forehead and the slightly
bloodshot maniacal look in his eyes was enough to
discourage them however. Yoshida-san was going
to make it his personal quest in life to utterly crush,
humiliate, and otherwise make his new student's life
completely miserable.
~~~~~~

Holding the two heavy water filled metal buckets with
his pinkies, Ranma yawned and tried to keep in mind that
nothing exciting happening was supposed to be a *good* thing.

If this was what Furinkan was normally like he decided that
he should sleep in class more often. He could survive lasers,
bombs, bullets, even magical girl speeches, but he had yet to
find a defense against plain old boredom. The whole point of going
back to school had been to start learning how to live in this planet's
society without commiting too many gaffs that would reveal him for
what he was. So far the results hadn't been very promising.
Ranma wasn't sure who was wackier here, the students or the teachers.

And it was only his first day attending this place.

Maybe it wasn't too late for a transfer.
Tomebiki High sounded good, or maybe
the Ohtori Acadamy.
~~~~~~~~~

There are some Universal constants that hold true no
matter how much the fabric of reality is reshaped and
rewritten.

For example; Akane Tendo will never be able to cook, Ryoga
Hibiki will always lack a sense of direction, and Tatewaki
Kuno…

"WHAT? FIANCE?!"

"Well actually Kuno, he…"

"I WILL NOT ALLOW SUCH A TRAVESTY!
SAOTOME YOU FIEND!!!"

{...managed to squirm out of it for the moment
and he's just a guest of the family now. Not that
you'd bother to listen once you set your mind on
something. Honestly, you and Akane deserve each other.
Everything goes in one ear and out the other.}

The bored voice of educational authority interrupted
the dramatic speech in mid-rant, much to the relief of
those few students with a sense of good taste.

"Go wait out in the hall Kuno."

Grabbing two buckets, the *former* greatest fighter of
Furinkan High ran out to rescue his beloved fierce flower.
After ducking into a nearby empty locker for a moment, the
sound of a shirt being ripped in two came from behind the door.

"Never fear Akane! Kendo Champion Man is here!!"

Out popped Tatewaki in his traditional samurai fighting gi
with one addition, a big red cape. Recently he'd been exposed
to a 24 hour marathon of poorly translated gaijin television
programs by his father and there had been some lasting results....
~~~~~~~~
Juuban, T-minus 14 minutes

Sasami's pink eyes widened in horror as she looked up
and saw the dark forms descending behind Skuld.

Her scream rang out loud and clear as a bell in the quiet district.

A second scream joined her a moment later when the girl with
strange markings on her face turned around.

The youma thought that they had found easy prey, but though young,
 Skuld was a Norse goddess descended from Heaven's finest warriors
and fighting ran in her blood. Once she got over her initial panic the
monsters found out firsthand that their chosen victim wasn't quite
as easy a target as they'd thought she'd be.

"Bampei! Attack sequence #35 anti-monster mode! And make it quick!"

The little robot beeped an acknowledgement even as Skuld pulled
out her Bug Masher Mark II and brandished the dreaded atomic
mallet. The faithful machine hopped up to defend its creator, a double
rocket punch took care the first wave. The Gaki's forms were partially
insubstantial , a protection against normal physical damage and some
energies but useless against divine craftsmanship. Concussion grenades
fired from two launchers that popped out of the robot's shoulders,
scattering the evil creatures in every direction.

Meanwhile the spunky patron of the future had not been idle as
her invention's program ran its course.

*TWHACK*
*CRACK*
*SMACK*

“Neo-Skuld Bomb!!!”

*KABOOM*

It is a well known fact that a mallet in a woman's hands is the most
dangerous weapon on Earth. When that woman happens to be a
Goddess, heaven help the poor fool who has incurred her wrath.

A lifetime of squashing bugs had given Skuld a strength that went
beyond mere appearence as well as refined her technique over the
millenia.

Metall'a's forces never knew what hit them.
~~~~~~~~

"Wow! You did it! You beat them!!"

Sasami was impressed and it showed, if Kiyone and
Mihoshi could see this she bet they'd be amazed too.

"Hah! That'll teach......them?! Hey! You're not supposed
to get back up!!"

Both girls paled a little as the fell creatures arose once more,
seemingly unscathed by the blows they had taken just moments earlier.

"BAMPEI!!!"

They could only watch helplessly as the dark swarm congregated
on the more dangerous of the opposition. Ruthlessly the creatures
attacked through the blasts and explosions to rend and tear at the
metallic covering of their enemy. The valiant creation was pulled
down by sheer numbers, fighting to the end.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Juuban, T-minus 10 minutes

After such a long strained expectant wait, the first actual
attack came as a kind of relief to the Senshi. Those that could
transformed and headed toward the disturbance immediately.

Those that couldn't were stuck in detention and trying their best
to come up with a excuse to leave. It was going to take them awhile
to catch up to the others and the shift schedule had already left the
Sailor Senshi at barely two thirds strength. The first girls to
arrive were going to find themselves badly outnumbered.
Worse for them, the generals sent to Earth were expecting
that and intended to take full advantage of this oppertunity.
~~~~~~~

As the living nightmares closed in on the two
frightened girls reinforcements finally arrived.

"Shabon Spray!"

A cold blue white fog filled the street, concealing
everything from sight.  Using it as cover Skuld and Sasami
managed to put some distance between themselves and their
pursuers.

Jedi'te smiled maliciously, his revenge was finally at hand.
Of all the Sailor Senshi, he hated Mercury, Mars, and that
blasted Sailor Moon the most. It was all their fault that he'd
been imprisoned in the horror of eternal sleep. The other two
would get theirs soon, but Mercury would be at his mercy!

"Not this time Sailor Failures. Today marks the beginning of my
vengence and the end of you and your pathetic friends."

Malach'te was of a similar mind as a giant bolt of green lightning
and a yellow laser beam heralded the appearence of Sailor Jupiter
and Sailor Venus. His palms crackled with dark energies that paled
next to the black fire burning within his breast.

"Take them!"

The youmas rushed out to fullfill his order. In the span of a few
heartbeats the three Senshi on the scene found themselves
badly outnumbered and fighting for their very lives. No
matter how many times they blasted, fried, or froze the
horde, it would only slow them down, after a few moments
to bioregenerate the monsters entered the fray once more.
Even the appearence of Sailor Saturn a few minutes later failed
to turn the tide, there were just too many of them.

Saturn was hampered by the fact that they were in a commercial
district and didn't dare risk using her destructive powers, the
possibilty of civilian casualties was simply too high. Metall'a
had planned her attack well, while the sailorsuited warriors were
crippled by their morals her minions had no such qualms.

As long as they got their targets it didn't matter who else got
hurt in the process.

A third Pawn fell to the Black Knight.
~~~~~~~

Sasami was starting to regret leaving the Galaxy Police
officers behind while she did some more shopping on her own.

{I wish Kiyone and Mihoshi were here right now!}

She hadn't felt this frightened since Kagato had nearly trapped
her and Tsunami. Except this time there was no Tenchi to save her.

The Sailor Senshi were doing their best and even Skuld was
getting into the thick of things with her mallet and explosives
but even she could see what the likely outcome would be.
The wraiths were too many and too hard to destroy, and
they weren't fighting fair at all.

"Someone please help us!!"
~~~~~~~~
-Furinkan High

A burning pain suddenly enveloped one of
the bucket carrying digits.

"Yeouch!!"

Ranma yelped in pain as he spilled the water all over the floor.
Clutching his hand protectively, he looked to see that the ornate
silver ring he wore was glowing slightly, that could only mean one
thing...

Sticking his head out a nearby window the young Knight started to
look around, searching for any sign of the trouble that he was being
warned of.

{Now how am I going to find it? Give me a sign or something.}

A blue geyser of flame exploded high into the sky from a
city district not too far away, followed by the faint sound of
multiple explosions and the scream of emergency vehicle
sirens.

{Call me crazy, but I think that's where I need to go.}

Reflexively he leaped up to avoid the bucket full of dirty
mop water hurled at him by the upperclassman charging
toward him with a full head of steam.

"What's your problem now Kuno?"

Ranma asked distractedly as he tried to think of
a plausible excuse to leave the campus without
raising suspicion. From what he'd seen so far,
he might not even have to.

"NEVER! NEVER, Ranma Saotome!! I will never accept
your engagement..."

"Hey! Now just wait a second here!! I ain't engaged to nobody!!"

"...to fair Akane!!!"

{Arrrggghhh!!! Why me?!}

*ZHOOP*

The windows behind Kuno slid open
in response to the shocking news.

"WHAT!?"
"Engagement?!"
"NO!!! She's stolen another one!!"
"I thought she was you know, *nudge nudge* *wink wink*."

The crowd's mood was starting to turn ugly.
There was only so much they were willing to
put up with, having both the most popular girl in
school and now the most eligible boy both rendered
unavailable was simply going too far.

"Wait!! It's not true!! Our parents decided!! Who'd
want to marry a pervert like him anyway!!"

Ranma would have been tempted to ask Akane where
she had come up with that pervert crack if it hadn't
been for the insistant spiritual tug he was getting from
the little trinket he was wearing. He started running
toward the nearest available exit with a swordswinging
caped nutcase following close behind.

The mob of students with Akane at their head followed
a few seconds later. The marathon passed the pool side of the
building and made a left toward the side that faced the soccer field.

"Stand your ground coward!"

"I don't have time for this Kuno! And for the record I'm
not engaged to any of the Tendos!!"

"Liar! Relinquish your hold on Akane!!"

Ranma leaped out the nearest open window without
another word. He was severely tempted to demonstrate
his control of multidimensional profanity but managed to
resist....barely.


"You think to escape me?! I follow!!"

"HEY! This is the THIRD FLOOR!!"

The speaker's jaw dropped a moment later as he saw the new
student make a three point landing by one of the large oaks
next to the school building.

Kuno wasn't as fortunate, in his haste he had
jumped out a little too far.

*Crack*
~~~~~~~
-Elsewhere

There was a brief moment of respectful silence among
the men of the gathering, several of the heroes doffed
their hats and muttered a few ancient prayers as they
averted their eyes.

"Well, I think I'm emotionally scarred for life now."

The Bard squeeked in a high pitched voice.
His legs, like the others, were crossed tightly
in instinctive reflex.

"Knock on wood anyone?"

The groans at that horrible pun nearly drowned
out the whimpers from the more sensitive members
of the audience.
~~~~~~~
-Furinkan

Slowly, ever so slowly Tatewaki slid from where he'd
landed, clutching himself where he'd had the misfortune to
encounter a very large and very, very solid branch.

Ranma was already long gone much to the disappointment
of the students who'd been expecting a entertaining fight.

Nabiki was not amused when she heard about this.
~~~~~~~
Tokyo, T-minus 5 minutes

Even as he moved across the roofs of the city at a pace
that would give most cheetahs a heart attack Ranma was
hoping for a fight. He was just itching for something to
work off the frustrations of his first day at school.

But first there were certain formalities that needed to be followed.
Cosmoknights had the ability to transform for a very good reason.

"Cosmic Armor up!"

A bright flash of white surrounded him as
Ranma's assumed his true form and became the Forces’ of
Evil’s worst nightmare.

The energies involved in the transformation did not go
unnoticed, even with the ring's jamming in place that much
power being released all at once was impossible to fully conceal.

Especially from the greatest scientific genius in the Universe,
the Guardian of Time, and a Goddess First Class Unlimited.
~~~~~~~

"Aaaa!!!"

"Setsuna!! Haven't you ever heard of a thing called privacy?!"

"You can indulge in your love play later, get your uniforms on
and get ready to move out. I've finally gotten a trace on the Invader."
~~~~~~~

Somehow the media had found a news crew brave
enough (or stupid enough) to televise the battle
between the famous Sailor Senshi and the horrible
monsters tearing up a good sized portion of prime
real estate.

So it was that every household in Japan with a
television on got a special live coverage of the
battle and some of the events that would follow it.

In fact, a tape of this scene would eventually be rebroadcast
on an international scale, something Ranma would not find out
until much later unfortunately.
~~~~~~~~
Juuban, T-minus 1 minute

Sailor Jupiter clutched her bruised ribs with her good arm
as she stumbled back from the line of fire. A dazzling Love and
Beauty Shock bought them all enough time to catch their breaths,
but things looked grim. The little girl with strange markings and
the big hammer had been clipped by a blow that would have caved
in her skull had it connected fully. As it was she was barely
conscious and had been dragged back to relative safety by the
cute little blue haired girl.

Venus was limping slightly and her normally cheerful blue eyes
showed signs of strain and exhaustion. Mercury's uniform had
become a two piece set and the ugly bruises to her shoulders and
midriff would take a while to heal even with the accelerated recovery
provided by their Senshi transformations. Saturn had fared the best
out of all of them despite the fact that main concentration
of attacks had gone to her. With the Silence Glaive and
her Silence Wall to protect her from their blows she had
actually managed to destroy a number of quick healing monsters.
But for every one that fell, half a dozen were ready to take its place.

The sheer amount of special attacks that all the Senshi had
been using had taken its toll, they could all feel themselves
getting weaker with every second of fighting that passed.
It was only a matter of time now, then the two Generals
waiting patiently behind their minions would move in for the kill.

Even though things looked hopeless the Sailor Senshi fought on,
they wouldn't give their enemies the satisfaction of just giving up
and being slaughtered like sheep in butcher's shop.
~~~~~~~
T-minus 20 seconds

Disaster struck.

One of the larger youma broke
through their desperate last stand
to go after the two girls that the Senshi
had been doing their best to protect.

Only Sailor Saturn had stood in the seven foot
hulk's way and she was swatted back only to
trip over Skuld's semiconscious form.
~~~~~~~~~
T-minus 15 seconds

Her glaive skittered off to the side with a metallic
clang of finality. There was no way she could possibly
reach it in time. With a sort of morbid fascination Saturn
watched the inky black clawed limb raise for the death blow.
Then a small form got between her and the monster and
spread its arms out in defiance.
~~~~~~~~~~
T-minus 12 seconds

It took all of Sasami's courage to not
run away screaming from the horror she
faced, but she couldn't just let the girl who
had been fighting to protect her and the others
be killed. The youma didn't even hesitate, her death
simply meant that the amount of life energy
they would rip from her body would double
and three kills instead of only two.

The grotesque appendage reached its peak and
then descended.

Sasami, Skuld and Sailor Saturn shut their
eyes as they braced for the final blow.

It came impossibly silent, impossibly fast.

Someone screamed.
~~~~~~~~
T-minus 10 seconds

A gust of heated air rushed up against her
trembling form. Slowly, unable to believe
that she was still alive, Sasami opened her eyes.

The monster that had been in front of her
was gone, only a large smouldering crater in the
street where it had been standing just moments
earlier remained.

"How?" The Warrior of Silence asked softly, relief at not
having to die again left her limbs as weak as wet
spagetti.

"Urd, is that you?" Skuld's head ached even as she
tried to find any sign of her older sister.

"WHO DID THAT?!" Malach'te and Jedi'te both yelled
out in shocked fury as their eyes finally recovered from the
blinding light that had just come out of nowhere and wrecked
their careful plans.

As if in common accord everyone (as well as the only
working camera there) turned toward the direction
that the mysterious beam had come from.

<BGM: Iczelion Opening Instrumental>

…5…

The Senshi's eyes widened as they looked up. This
definitely wasn't Tuxedo Kamen! Sasami let out a
cheer as she beheld the awesome figure standing above.

…4…

The youma instinctively knew that this newcomer
was an enemy, a very dangerous enemy. Fear swept
through them and even affected the hardened Generals
as they beheld the terrifying apparition. More then mere
physical appearence, this newcomer radiated an aura
power that made the hair at the back of Malach'te's
neck stand on end.

…3…

-Masaki Household

"Oh no! Sasami!! Miss Washu do something!!
My sister is in danger!!!"

"Come on Ryo-ohki! Let's go!!"

"Right behind you sis!"

Minagi was already in her combat outfit, but it was a
toss up as to which one of them was more intimidating
at the moment. The house odds currently favored Ryoko.

"Hold it!"

"Miss Washu?!"

"Look!"

"What in Tsunami's name is that?!"

"It looks like....my soon-to-be new guinea pig!"

…2…

-A familar temple

"Skuld?!"

"What's she doing all the way over in Juuban?"

"And what in Heaven's name is THAT?!"

…1…

The Cavalry had arrived.

And as the Knight moved into place,
it came within striking distance of the
Dark King.

Check.
~~~~~~~
For that pure undiluted spine-tingling atmosphere of excitement,
nothing beat the classics. And when you have a semi powerful
nearly cosmically talented demi-human musician in charge of the
gosh darn biggest speaker system ever set up in the past several
thousand years with a full case of movie and anime music CDs at
his disposal....well.....

"Popcorn?"

"No thanks."

The giant widescreen 3-D viewer had been a nice touch too.
Craning one's head to look down into a small pool for hours on end
only benefited one's chiropractor. So now the couple hundred or so
entities that had been watching and making side wagers on the events
taking place were now all comfortably seated and ready for the
mayhem to resume.
~~~~~~~~

While they are feared and reviled by the Kreeghor, hated by
the Splugorth, loathed by demons and alien intelligences, and
absolutely despised by Genesplicers, Necromancers, Dominators,
and other assorted baddies, even the most megalomaniacal of their
enemies respect the potential power of even the most novice
of CosmoKnights. A respect that more often then not turns
to fear when facing a veteran Knight, and with good reason.
Most CosmoKnights are usually killed or fall from grace within
the first three years of assuming their role as Guardians of the
Cosmic Forge. Those that survive accumulate enough experience
that only a full scale armada or the most ancient beings of darkness
have a prayer of actually killing them.

Along with that experience comes a hard earned knowledge of
what not to do when confronting an unknown supernatural enemy
who has superior numbers. The first and most important rule is to never,
*ever* confront them head on. Common military wisdom holds that
it's best to divide and conquer whenever possible. The vast majority
of CosmoKnights felt it was folly to go against conventional tactics.

Ranma Saotome wasn't one of them.

It was a risky course he had chosen, one that allowed for no
mistakes if he was to have any chance of success. By not
immediately engaging after firing that one blast he'd forfeited
the advantage of surprise, a mistake more suited for a beginner
rather then a warrior with Ranma's experience.

But he didn't care, in fact he had a lot of unrelieved pent up
stress and frustration to vent right now and so wasn't thinking
very clearly at the moment.  Being forced to leave his ship and
crew behind during rumors of a new assault being planned against
the Empire, the discovery that his father had treated him like a
damn commodity to be traded for whatever the old bear wanted, the
stupid engagement they'd tried to force on him, that viper Kuno with
his words of slander, and now this.....

The bastards were attacking children.

That was it. The final straw. They had crossed the line
and all bets were off. Forget sensible, forget stratagy.
He was going to send this scum to Hell in a handbasket
one piece at a time.

It was stupid, it was foolhardy, it was totally reckless.

His former weapons instructer would probably have applauded.
~~~~~~~
<BGM: Maze Opening: Megaburstspace>

...0...

A CosmoKnight in full armor is one of the
most impressive sights one can see in the
Multiverse even when one knows what
to expect.

Standing nearly seven feet tall, the metallic
black armor's design was somehow reminiscent
of a high tech powered combat suit combined with
the more sleek lines of modern padded body armor
that molded along him like a second skin.

The helm was beautiful and inhuman at the
same time, envoking the image of a bird of prey
or perhaps even a more fantastical predator.

In fact he looked more like some great dark metal
angel then a man. The small protrusions along the
back even vaguely resembled razor sharp wings.
~~~~~~

"Looks like one of the Iczelions except with
more coverage."

"Really? I thought it was more along the lines of
Tekno-man meets Transformers."

"You're both nuts, he looks more like Macross
crossed with Triax."

"Well, it's very impressive anyway."

"On that we're all in agreement."

"Uh oh....that's going to be trouble."

"What?"

"Take a look at that little thing on his left breastplate."

A moment of shocked silence descended.

"Damn, you didn't...."

"She did."

"Oh dear."

"Oh my."

"Oh hell."

"Already checked the book, no rule says can't do it."

"You are one devious Cosmoknight, aren't you."

"Flattery gets you in trouble."
~~~~~~

For a long moment Ranma's armored form
regarded the horde of smoky shifting forms.
No two of them were alike, some bore a
resemblance to certain predatory invertebrates,
others appeared to possess a more reptilian nature,
and the remaining few were grotesque mockeries
of the humanoid form that were too horrible for mere
words to describe. It was not a sight for the faint of heart,
by his hurried count they outnumbered him 46 to 1.

And then he was upon them like a merciless dark bolt
of Divine Retribution(tm). Ranma's earlier gamble
had paid off, unaccustomed to feeling the terror
that they themselves inflicted on the puny mortals,
the youma were crippled for those first few precious
seconds of the melee.

His first enraged punch tore the head off of something that
looked like a giant mantis with traits of a scorpion and a octopus,
 it's mandibles continued to click in denial even as the macabre
missile went flying back with enough force to slam into a
telephone pole. The reinforced titanium proved harder then the
luckless youma's skull, splattering it like an overripe melon.

Even as the first body started to disintegrate into dust
a side kick from Ranma buried itself so deeply into another
gaping Gaki's scaled midriff that its back bulged impossibly
outwards. Its fanged maw opened in a futile attempt to scream
even as an open palm drove the front portion of its skull in and
reduced the contents to processed jelly.

Three more of the disgusting monsters fell before the rest
finally recovered enough to start fighting back. They closed in
on all sides, trying to overwhelm him with sheer numbers
as they had done to the Sailor Senshi. Special attacks of every
possible description were released from innumerable orifices.
Gouts of dark red flame, streams of sizzling green acid, puffs of
noxious purple gas, wicked barbed spikes, even a occasional bolt
of bio-electricity was fired toward the intimidating CosmoKnight.
In addition those closest to him tried to pin Ranma down in hand to
hand combat long enough for their foul brethren to finish him off.

But it was like trying to hit the wind, no matter how hard they
tried the Knight was never where they aimed at. More then once
they wound up striking each other in their attempts to hit him.
He was running them in circles, using his superior speed and agility
to keep them off balance as he picked them off one or two at a time.
The few hits that Ranma took were absorbed by his Cosmic armor
and amounted to little more then a few scratches that quickly
dissappeared thanks to its remarkable regenerative properties.

The two generals watched in unbelieving shock as their forces
were wittled away youma by youma. Even bioregeneration was
insufficient to heal the grevious damage being inflicted on their troops.
Something had to be done before all of their forces were wiped out!
~~~~~~~~

Finally they managed to keep Ranma in one place long enough to
dogpile him, burying him underneath a squirming black hill of monsters
that  clawed and tore away at the nearly impenetrable protection
surrounding him.

Malach'te's cruel eyes narrowed as he saw the opportunity presented.

"Now's our chance! Blast him!"

Jedi'te looked at him in disbelief.

"But the youma are in the way!"

"So what? Do you want to report a failure to Metall'a?"

"Good point."

Together the two let loose a devastating
barrage of magical energy that enveloped
the entire area in a ever expanding chain
of white hot explosions.
~~~~~~~~~~

A gasp of dismay arose from the spectators
as their savior vanished in the inferno of destruction
wrought by the villainous pair. Nothing could have
possibly survived that hellish holocaust. As the glare
subsided a little behind them the generals swiveled to face
the battered Senshi. The few remaining youma still in one
piece (more or less) began to close in. It was obvious to all that
the heroes were on their last legs, only sheer stubborness still kept
them standing. Even Sailor Saturn had somehow manged to struggle
back to her feet and stood with the others on shaking legs that
threatened to give out at any moment.

"So, you little girls are still defiant. No matter, it
doesn't make any difference in the end! Time to
be embraced in the arms of oblivion!"

Manical Ranting 101 is not a required course for
demented supervillians, but it should be.

"Think again."

On the other hand Witty Retorts 241 *is* standard
material for all true heroes. And the look on their
prissy faces was worth spoiling another opportunity for
a surprise attack. Stepping through concrete that had
become runny and sticky due to the tremendous residual heat,
 Ranma's armored form emerged unharmed from the heart of the
conflagration with a pale blue glow surrounding him. A deathly chill
descended down the spines (or in several cases, exoskeletons) of
the surviving forces of Darkness, what did it take to stop this thing?!
~~~~~~~~~

"I think I like this guy, talk about devious and
sneaky sleight of hand...."

"Come again Shadow? How the heck did he manage to
survive that? Even with the armor he should have sustained
some injury."

"He used his invincibility power tattoo to absorb the blast,
see how the blue aura surrounding him is nearly transparent now?
Normally it'd be really bright, but its protection is almost all
used up. But now those little baddies think that Ranma is some
kind of monster, in fact I'd wager that the foppish duo are wetting
their pants right about now."

"You're on, fifty platinum says you're wrong."

It was almost too easy.
~~~~~~~~~

"Get him! Get him!!"

None of the remaining monsters made a move
to follow Jedi'tes slightly hysterical shouting.
They had no intention of confronting that one
again anytime soon, seeing so many of their
fellows being massacred so easily had cowed
the normally ferocious beings. The youma were
evil, not suicidal. Metall’a had to be told of this
new threat immediately.

In spite of the threats and direct orders given to
them, one by one they teleported back to the
shifting darkness of the Negaverse, leaving the
two villains alone with a very annoyed celestially
powered being that was capable of taking on large
alien warships....and winning.

"Since you two have already given me your
best shot, I guess it’s my turn."

The Malach'te and Jedi'te were already opening
fire with dark blasts of Negative energy that
dissipated the last wisps of the protective aura
surrounding the Knight's armored form.

Then there was a snap of rapidly displaced air
followed by a minature sonic boom as Ranma
went from 0 to 1,200 mph in less then three
seconds.

Only sheer reflexes saved the blond Jedi'te from meeting
the same fate as his minions. A nanosecond before black
metal knuckles crushed his face in his telekinetic
forcefield snapped into place and the killing blow
meant for him smashed into it. A spectacular
shower of sparks erupted from the point of impact.
A noticable dark stain started to spread down
the front of the pale twitching general's long pants
as his eyes crossed to stare at the hand that would
probably have been squishing deep into his grey
matter if his psychic based defense had been even a
hair slower.

Malach'te's slightly crossed legs hid his secret
shame a little better. He'd never thought that
anything could move that bloody fast!

{By all that is unholy, what kind of monster is that?!!!}


Jedi'te's relief at having narrowly avoided
a gruesome painful death was shortlived as
Ranma withdrew his fist only to start throwing
a dozen rapid fire punches in the blink of an
eye at the barrier seperating him from his quarry.

Hits that could crush a heavy tank like an empty
aluminum can struck the solid energy shield at
supersonic speeds. The intense tempo pounded
on relentlessly as the substantial amounts of kinetic
energy being delivered were absorbed and converted to
thunderous sound. Almost immediately shimmering cracks
started to form on the nearly transparent surface as the forcefield
started to buckle under the incredible hammering it was taking.
~~~~~~

"Arrrgghhh!!!"

"You should have known better Guardian."

"I'll just add it to his tab."

Shadow rolled his eyes a little as he continued to watch.

"I guess the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken is going to be a little
redundant. The look on Cologne's face should be priceless."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sailor Mercury finally managed to pry her jaw
off the ground and through a heroic effort of willpower
managed to tear her eyes away from the spectacle
unfolding before her.

A quick glance at the others revealed
they were similarly mesmerized by all that
damage being caused by that one man, if there
really was a man behind that stern faceplate.

While she was very grateful for the
*just in the nick of time* rescue, seeing
how casually and effectively he inflicted
such brutal violence was extremely disturbing.
Especially since they had no idea as to who's side
this guy was on, sure he was fighting against the
Negaverse at the moment, but if he decided that
the Senshi were enemies too the results would
most likely be....extremely unpleasant.

Mercury didn't even have to think to activate
her visor, it had become as natural as breathing
to her. But the results were not what she expected.
Instead of a detailed readout listing the figure's
power level, structural composition, possible
weak points, and just about anything else possible
that her sensors could detect, all she got was static
punctuated every now and then by brief spikes of
high energy that had her computer throwing a fit.
It couldn't determine if it was Senshi energy, Negaverse
energy, or something totally alien to this Universe.

One thing was for sure, she *really* didn't
want to have to fight this guy, no matter what
Sailor Pluto had told them about Rifters.

"I want one of those." Sailor Jupiter sighed, surely
all of that well defined muscle tone wasn't just the armor.

Sailor Venus just nodded her head in agreement.
It was getting rather warm over here all of a sudden.

The expression on Saturn's face was unreadable.
But she never took her eyes off Ranma for a second
as he continued to fight.
~~~~~~~~
-That darned temple again

"What?! For your eyes only?!"

The platinum haired goddess continued to
hold the phone long after the click of a dial
tone ended her call. Skuld was in trouble and
their father was worried about keeping secrets?!

"Is something wrong Urd?"

"I think Father has been watching
that Ian Fleming marathon
on cable again."

"Oh dear."

Belldandy was a fine example of the power of
positive thinking and her prayers sent toward
Juuban had a greater impact then most.
~~~~~~~~
<BGM: Ranma 1/2 Movie 1: Seven Lucky Gods vs Team Ranma>

Dozens of deadly explosive black spheres hurtling toward him
forced Ranma to disengage before he finished busting through
the terrified life essence's telekinetic forcefield. It was also at
that moment that Jedi'te finally remembered that he possessed
several supernatural abilities useful in situations like this, such
as the ability to teleport. He did so immediately.

Hovering several dozen feet off the ground Malach'te released
yet another small swarm of marble-sized death at his quickfooted foe.
Again Ranma was long gone before the balls were anywhere
near enough to do any possible damage.  In return he grabbed and
threw a loose piece of pavement about the size of a bowling ball
with crackshot accuracy and a physical force equal to that
generated by a small cannon.

It blew up harmlessly against the sorcerer's magical forceshield.
And to make things matters even more unfair to boot, the sneaky
SOB had teleported too. This time he reappeared a safe distance
behind the Knight before raining blue bolts of magical destruction
in a spread pattern to limit Ranma's ability to get out of the way.
It looked Jedi'te would join in the fun as soon as he got
over his fright and his normal malicious nature reasserted
itself.

Now that was starting to finally get Ranma annoyed.
Magic users were always a pain to deal with even in the best
of circumstances and the little free for all with those wimpy
monsters had finally cooled the roaring heat of his anger down
to glowing embers.

It looked like it was time to start bringing out the big
guns....the *really* BIG guns.

Hidden beneath his faceplate, Ranma smiled knowingly.

{Oh partner, it's time to come out and play...}

[You say the sweetest things.]

The two villians paused in their attack as some long
dormant hint of common sense registered that
something very *bad* was happening.

The space around Ranma's outstretched right hand shifted
and shimmered as ripples of extradimensional fabric parted
to reveal Ishtar in all her shining glory.

Gold, silver, and ivory intertwined into one to form a hilt
emblazoned with symbols that had been old when this world
was still cooling from its fiery creation. A silver angel with
wings of purest gold served as the crossguard for the magnificient
Rune Sword. The ornamentation was neither gaudy nor simple, rather
it was just enough to give the blade a powerful presence without
making its appearence cheap and overblown. Two tiny wingless ivory
dragons uncurled from the handle to come around Ranma's wrist and form
the beginnings of a pure white kote over his armor.(1)
Twin white curved talons branched out over his knuckles to add an extra
layer of protection that could also be used for attack.

In short, it was a very impressive sight.

The two servants of Metall'a took one look at
her and promptly fouled their suits.

"Oh shit!!!"

Malach'te's mouth opened and closed, but for
once he'd been rendered completely speechless.
Greatest Rune Weapons tend to have that effect
on those who recognize them for what they truly are.

"Welcome to the Big Leagues boys."

*$*$*$*$*$*

(1) Japanese armored sleeve, Thanks Gregg

*$*$*$*$*$*

1e: Let’s Rock!
~~~~~~~~~

It had not been a good day for the forces of Evil.
And now it was about to get a whole lot worse.

But mindful of the horrible punishment awaiting them
if they returned in failure, the villianous pair were
determined to try and defeat the intimidating armored figure
opposing them or at least find out more about his capabilities
before having to retreat.

Hovering at what they believed to be a safe distance, about
fifty feet above the street, the generals fell back to their tactic
of attacking from a distance with their lethal supernatural abilities.
The fact that this strategy hadn't worked before didn't deter them
from using it again. Their initial fright at the sight of a Rune weapon
was eclipsed (just barely) by their fear of their mistress's wrath.
The sword was only dangerous if it could reach them after all,
but *her* grasp stretched across the dimensions.
~~~~~~~~

Unfortunately for Metall'a's minions, Ishtar happened to be one of
the Splugorth's latest models, or so was commonly believed. Perhaps
it would be more accurate to call her the Asgardian Dwarves' final
masterpiece before their secrets were stolen and perverted by the
dimensional invaders. The sword itself had remained hidden for eons,
a lifeless shell awaiting the proper rituals that would bind a helpless
soul into the weapon's heart for all eternity. Even the entrapped goddess
didn't know the true age of the ancient weapon, it had been old when
she was was first assimilated into it and that had been untold ages ago.
Time had little meaning to those it did not touch.

For what purpose had such a cruel yet hauntingly beautiful
thing been intended for? She had often wondered about that
during those long stretches when she was not being wielded
by her owner, when she was truly alone. Perhaps it was just
a silly whimsy but Ishtar felt sure that there had to be some
greater destiny that they had yet to fulfill. At the very least
it helped her stay sane, yet recently there had been more then
a hint of truth to support her belief in a larger plan at work.

Since her creation the sword had known many owners,
a few had been good creatures of renown, but far too
many had turned out to be inhuman monsters that had
forced the proud spirit to cater to their sadistic whims.
Each one had used her differently from the rest, through
some process that she still didn't understand the powers
accessible from the Rune Blade varied with the individual
who possessed Istar. At least that was how it had been,
until Ranma had come and freed the sword from her last
master, a ancient Intelligence that was twisted and corrupt
even by the loose standards of the Splugorth.

He was different, and not just because she loved him. Ranma
was truly her first, never before had the lonely soul residing
within formed such a complete bond with her owner. He
completed her, filling the dark emptiness and making the
longing spirit whole once more. The boy, who was in truth
more of a man then many she had met (both before and after
her imprisonment), had unlocked the powers of healing and
rejuvenation that had been buried so deeply within that Ishtar
had thought them long since lost to the ages.

In his hands Ishtar had finally become the weapon of Life
the she was originally intended to be and the sword would
defend that cherished link between them at any cost. A link
that not only shielded Ranma's mind but also provided a
early warning system that increased his combat effectiveness
tenfold by keeping him one step ahead of his opponents.

A Cosmoknight might not be able to use the mystical "Force" one
of his instructors had once told him about, but with Ishtar in hand
he could certainly fake it. Small wonder that the Sploogies had put
out such an obscene reward on his head.

So when Malach'te and Jedi'te hurled a volley of levin-bolts, (small
bluish white torpedoes of pure magical fury) at Ranma, it came as quite
a nasty surprise to see him twirl his sword in a defensive weave
that not only managed to parry every one of their attacks but also sent
the projectiles hurtling back to their points of origin.
~~~~~~~~~
-A short distance away

"Are you getting it all?"

The News 5 anchor looked as close to total ecstasy
as a normal person can get (short of summoning the
monster with two backs), what had been another boring
day of noodle shops and long interviews with middle aged
housewives had turned into the opportunity of a lifetime.
First the famous Sailor Senshi and now this! He could see
the headlines now: "Japan's newest superhero; The Knight Hawk!"
or some such junk that the public would eat up.

Never mind that they didn't even know who he was,
just imagine the awards and accompanying pay raise
for this brilliant stroke of journalistic luck!

"I'm getting it! I'm getting it! I just ain't believing it!"

The camera man was entertaining similar fantasies.
The tabloids were going to pay a fortune for his story.
Heck, this might be enough to finally pay off the camera
loan from that Nabiki girl.
~~~~~~~~

"Well, now we know he's definitely been
hanging around with the Jedi."

The Guardian slumped back, having long ago given up
trying to comprehend the insanity of this complex
timeline and just had decided to just keep accepting
it on faith. He squinted a bit to get a better of look at
Ranma's movements, it looked more like dancing then
martial arts swordplay from here.

"Some of that foot work seems strangely familar."

"That's because he's using parts from *MY* fighting style!!!"

Now Shadow looked rather peeved. He turned toward Zora
and asked the obvious question.

"There are only five people in the Multiverse who have ever used
that particular style of sword fighting. Two are dead, one's an evil
assassin scum and I know for sure that I didn't teach it to him,
so who....."

He saw that "gleam" in her eye. The same one that she'd had
every time some new insanity sprung up to add to the already
chaotic nature of her Bet.

"....Oh no....."

Shadow could do math as well as anyone else. Five minus
four meant that there was only one possibilty left. A moment
later Zora confirmed his worst fears.

"Ranma deserved the best instructor."

"But why HIM?! That guy's even more reckless then *I* am!"

{"I wouldn't be so sure about that."}

"Your point?"

That seemed to silence him as he tried in vain to
muster a counterargument.

Seeing that Rowan seemed to know what was going on
again (like always), the curious musican directed his query
to him.

"What gives?"

"Ranma's using a modified Drow fighting stance,
which also happens to be the same one that Shadow
favors in combat."

"A Drow fighting stance?!"

Comprehension started to dawn, The Bard's home
dimension was a backwater place but it wasn't
*that* out of touch with the other worlds. (1)
~~~~~~~~~
-Masaki Household

Washu Habuki was both intrigued and frustrated,
a combination that spelled nothing but trouble
for the poor soul who had attracted her interest
(something a certain Tenchi Masaki had learned
through first hand experience).

These camera devices were so primitive!
How was she supposed to get the scientific
data she needed on that interesting specimen
when the blasted things couldn't even register
the infrared spectrum?

Her hyperdimensional keyboard was already
being put to work analyzing the scant information
being provided by the broadcast. That fighting style
was like nothing she had ever seen before and there
was no match to be found in a cross-reference
against the Universal database either, something
Washu would have previously sworn was impossible.
There was also that remarkable interaction with a
extra-dimensional pocket of subspace, something
that should be lightyears beyond the inhabitants of
this backwards little planet. And then there was that
sword! Without proper testing she couldn't know
exactly how powerful it was, but she could make a
reasonable estimate. If she was right (almost a given)
then that weapon was almost as strong as Ryoko's
and Minagi's blades combined.

{Very interesting....}

It wasn't every day that the genius discovered
something that might possibly surpass her masterpieces.
Tenchi had been one, could this be another?

{I'll have some fun finding out!!}

The spiky red haired scientist made a mental note to
dispatch some of her new probes to Tokyo. It just
wouldn't do to have her data on this interesting person
remain so incomplete. A gleam came to her green eyes
at the thought of all the samples she would need.
~~~~~~~~

Once Aeka saw that her younger sister was no
longer in immediate danger she calmed down
enough to start paying attention to the rest of
what was being broadcast. Specifically the rather
imtimidating newcomer was the focus of her
attention. She was already favorably inclined
toward him seeing as he'd just saved Sasami,
for a moment she even briefly considered that it
might be Lord Tenchi beneath that dark armor.

{No! Lord Tenchi would never be so
forceful...so...savage...so virile....}

At some point during this interesting line of
thought her cheeks had turned beet red and her
hands began to twiddle her fingers together
aimlessly as the princess's imagination placed
her in Sasami's place with a fierce looking Tenchi
in Jurai battle armor coming to her rescue.
~~~~~~~
-Juuban District

Being a true hero in modern times is often a
thankless duty where the hazards of the job
usually outweigh the potential rewards involved.
But there are some fringe benefits, like seeing
the evil warlocks frantically doing their best
to dodge their own magical missiles and looking
like complete buffoons in the process.

"Look out!"

"Get out of my way!"

And while those two were busy on avoiding their own
levin-bolts they wouldn't be able to muster up
enough concentration to teleport....

Ranma was already moving as soon
as he'd blocked the last one of their shots.

Jedi'te was the first to realize their peril.

"He set us up!"

Too late.
~~~~~~~~~
Eyecatch #3

(Ryoga Hibiki comes running on screen shouting
his traditional battlecry.)

(Ryoga: "Ranma! Prepare to die!!")

(Ranma turns around and eases into a ready stance.)

*Whump*

(A large metal foot squashes Ryoga right
before he can take a swing at his nemesis.)

(Ranma looks up to see a Triax Ultimax robot
armor, the cockpit pops open to reveal a smiling
Makoto-chan who waves down at him.)

(Ranma heaves a small sigh as the Ultimax lumbers
to the side.)

(Ryoga, slightly battered but still angry,
gets up and tries again.)

(Ryoga: "Die Ranma!!!")

(Once again Ranma gets ready for a fight).

*Stomp*

(Cutey Honey and Nuku Nuku in a modified
Spider Walker (has a smiling kawaii cat face instead
of the traditional skull) walk through to get a good
view from the sidelines.)

(Ranma has a small sweatdrop on his head.)

(Now a rather dazed and bruised Ryoga
staggers weakly to a sorta upright position.)

(Ryoga: I'm going to kill...
*pauses as he looks up*....
Oh no, not again!")

*SCRUNCH*

(An AT-AT with Skuld at the helm has arrived.)

(Skuld: "Oopsie!")

(Ranma has a *big* sweatdrop on his head now.)

(Ranma: "Hey! How am I supposed to be a hero when
you girls keep beating up all the villains?!!")

(Ryoga is now a crumpled mess as
the giant war machine moves off.)

(Ryoga: "Why is this happening me?!!")

*STOMP**GRIND**SCRAPE**SCRAPE*

(Eva units 00 and 02 take a moment
to wipe their feet.)

(Asuka: "Ewww....and I just had it washed too.)

(Ranma slaps a hand to his forehead and sneaks
away as the gathered girls get into an argument
over who he's going to be riding home with.)
~~~~~~~~~
-Ristmoth System, 4 hours into the battle
<BGM: Return of the Jedi, Battle of Endor 2>

"Watch it Falcon! You've picked up a tail!"

"I see him. Get ready to deliver an industrial strength
wedgie Hornet."

"Just leave it to me. On three."

The Imperial Fang closed in on the Rebel starfighter
with g-cannons blazing, its pilot totally focused
on aquiring his next kill of the day. He never saw the
the other Black Eagle starfighter sneaking up on him
from behind.

"Three!"

So when his quarry suddenly made an
abrupt climb with full afterburners on he was still
trying to keep his dogtail when the first laser blasts
punched through his fighter's shields and penetrated
past the armored engine housing into the delicate equipment
maintaining the protective electromagnetic barrier around his
ship's antimatter fuel supply.

In space your first mistake is also usually your last one.

The conscripted pilot, fresh from the Imperial Acadamy
went out with a bang. One tiny insignificant death among the
hundreds of thousands that took place that day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Back to Earth (relatively speaking)

As a dedicated martial artist Ranma could jump
unaided to a height of thirty feet. And that had
been *before* his transformation. By the time
they saw him coming he was already too close.

Ranma felt a brief stab of guilt for actually enjoying the
look of absolute terror on his target's face. Ishtar on the
other hand had no such qualms. This was what she lived for,
the total destruction of the forces of evil so similar to those
that had enslaved her.

The silver blade glowed hungrily as it came
cutting down, blasting through Jedi'te's forcefield
as it were no more substantial then a soap bubble.
Then it hit something more solid, though not by
much considering that the weapon was capable of
cutting through high grade duranium alloy like it
was cotton candy.

"Eiieeaauugghh!!!" The blond general howled in
inhuman agony as his arm dropped to
the street, cleanly severed at the shoulder. The wound
was cauterized almost instantly as the sword's magic
went to work, inflicting additional damage to his
corrupted flesh. Despite the incredible pain he was in
Jedi'te retained enough of his senses to realize he
couldn't survive another blow like that. Using the last
remaining reserves of his inner strength the badly wounded
villian dematerialized back to his home dimension just as he
was about to be made a head shorter.

A split second later the Rune sword slashed ineffectually
through the empty space he'd been occupying.

{Sithspawn!}

[Damn! I almost had him too!]

And then there was one.
~~~~~~~~~
-Cosplay City

The Hayami household was glued to the television.
After all it's not every day that you get to see someone
*else* fighting the big bad monsters for a change.

There had been a few bad moments when things
had almost gotten out of hand, namely when
the guy holding the camera tried to sneak a
few shots beneath the Sailor Senshi's skirts
as they high jumped every which way during
the first few minutes of the battle.

Akakabu Hayami was still nursing a black eye
where his wife Daiko had belted him a good one.

His son Chokei was in a similar position. Natsuko
had given her boyfriend the patented  *evil eye of a
jealous significant other* along with a slap to the back
of his head to break the spell of the skimpy uniforms.

Grandfather Danbei and Professor Kabuto had just stared
and drooled like the dirty old men that they were.

Honey Kisaragi on the other hand
had remained silent, at least until the
the mysterious newcomer had shown
up. After a few minutes of watching
him in action it was she could do to
keep her quiet composure. It was
almost scary how efficiently he dealt
with those shadowy creatures. Then
he'd produced that sword from thin air
and any uncertainties about making a visit
to Tokyo vanished then and there.

Mayor Light would understand the
necessity once it was explained to him.
Youma and evildoers alike beware,
Cutey Honey was coming to town!
~~~~~~~~~
-Furinkan High

Nabiki Tendo was not happy.

"Where is he?"

Her agents were the most clever girls on
campus, masters of secretive spying and
schoolyard gossip. Right now they cringed
before the barely controlled wrath of their
mistress as they reported their first failure.

"Um.....we don't know."

"You....don't...know?"

Somehow she managed to loom over all of them,
proving that Nabiki was indeed an heir to the
Tendo side of the Anything Goes Style.

"He's not anywhere on campus. The last time
Ranma Saotome was seen was right after the
incident with Kuno on the field.
We checked and he'snotthereanymore."

Near the end they started to babble in fear as
Nabiki upped her financial aura. While not
as physically imposing as a battle aura it was
more then enough to cow her fellow students.

"That was over thirty minutes ago ladies, and
you know I pride myself on only having the
latest up to the date information on every
student here."

The little group began to eagerly nod their heads,
anything to avert the other shoe from dropping.

"So go out and look again! He's just one guy!
How hard can it be to find him?!"

Oh, if she only knew....
~~~~~~~~~
-500 miles north of Tokyo

Ryoga Hibiki, after much trial and hardships
was finally back on his native soil.

He'd had to leave China rather quickly, before
the bodies of his latest victims were discovered.
It was only a stroke of luck that had allowed him
to learn that his hated nemesis also intended to
return to Japan. The poor old man who'd been nice
enough to tell him that had payed for his kindness with
his life. His cursed body had new cravings now, needs
that could only be satisfied by the pain and suffering of
others. Their blood and death made him stronger, more
powerful then he had ever dreamed imaginable. But still he
hated his cursed form's looks, why did it have be so...so...
.....so damn CUTE?!

Like everything that went wrong in his
miserable life it had to be all Ranma's fault.
If it rained, it was Ranma's fault. If he walked
into the woman's side of the public bath it
was Ranma's fault. If he went berserk in his
cursed form and started slaughtering innocent
people it was still Ranma's fault. Even the misery
he'd suffered before he even met that accursed
Saotome for the first time was somehow still
Ranma's fault. If he ever bothered to sit down
and actually think about it he was sure he would
eventually find a connection linking the two.

Onward the relentless monster in
the guise of a man strode, seeking
his arch-enemy.

"Damn you to everlasting hell Saotome!!"

A giant sumo pig suddenly rose up in
front of the ranting lost boy to block
his way. Unknowingly Ryoga had wandered
onto the Unryu Fighting Pig Farm.

Katsunishki grunted a warning to the
stranger, the animal could smell the
taint of bloodshed clinging to this one.
It was a faint sickly sweet odor that
would always mark the human to
those who could sense such things.

Ryoga almost smiled, his face was so
unused to that expression that it came out
more like a mangled grimace. At least during
those moments when he fought man or beast
he didn't have to think. He licked his parched lips.

"Fresh meat."

The pig was loyal and well trained.
It would rather die then ever desert
its post as defender of the farm.

Katsunishki was big, he was strong,
he was brave. But that would not save him.

Luck was with Akari that day, she had gone to
town that day with one of the piglets to get it
treated by the local vet for a mild cold.

Unfortunately, her grandfather wasn't with her this time.

A loud agonized squeal rang out once
before suddenly going silent.

It was not the first death that day,
nor would it be the last.
~~~~~~~~~~~
-Saotome Residence

"Chi, Azusa, have either one of
you ever heard of this Kama Sutra
book before?"

Yohko Mano held up a rather plain
little hardcover book that looked rather
old and only had the short title on its front.

"Can't say that I have Yohko, though it does
sound rather familar for some reason. It's
probably filled with recipes or something."

The brown haired freckled manager was munching
on another one of those cookies Mrs Saotome had
left out for them.

" Well, Aunty Nodoka said that we should study
it until we know the contents by heart."

Azusa, Devil Hunter in training piped up as she set
down yet another batch of study materials that they
had been given as part of the Anything Goes Bridal
Instruction.

Yohko sighed, who would have suspected that the
nice lady they'd first met was such a formidable
taskmaster?! It was like training under Grandma
all over again.

"In that case I guess we should all take
a look at it then..."
~~~~~~~~~~
-Juuban District

After the retreat of Jedi'te the battle between
Ranma and Malach'te had quickly turned into
a high speed game of tag, except the loser
wouldn't survive being "it".

No sooner did the white-blond sorcerer materialize
at one spot then he immediately released a flurry of
red flaming bolts before teleporting to another
location where the process was repeated yet again.

While Ranma was able to deflect each attack
with Ishtar's help, his opponent wouldn't
remain in one place long enough for his partner
to finish him off. So it was now a stalemate,
and the Knight found himself in the uneviable
position of having decide whether to up the ante
by revealing more of his Forge granted abilities
 or try one of his special techniques. Either one
was probably going to result in some major property
damage and possible civilian casualties, something
he wanted to avoid at all costs.

{Got any ideas?}

[Why not use your normal strategy
against teleporters?]

{Two reasons. First, using fusion blocks
in this area would be a very *bad* thing.
Second, I don't have enough of them with
me anyway, they're for emergencies only.}

[Oh right, I forgot how primitive this planet is.
Well, there's always plan B.]

{Plan B?}

The goddess wasted little time filling him in
on the specific details. Fortunately for Ranma's
dignity his helm completely hid his expression,
otherwise his wide mouthed gape of astonishment
 would have been displayed to half the households
in Japan. Outwardly the only sign of his reaction
was a slight pause in the middle of his pursuit of
the slippery general.

{Let's do it.}
~~~~~~~~
<BGM: Saber Marionette J: Iza! Junjou ni, jinjou ni.>

At first it seemed that nothing had changed, as
Malach'te continued to stay out of reach of the
Rune sword and Ranma continued to pursue him.
But in actuality the general was being gradually
herded right where they wanted him....

The enchanted blade came in a quick cross slash,
once again too late to hit the already departed
villain's foul flesh. The expected response came
directly from behind, forcing Ranma to make an
abrupt about face even as he brought Ishtar up to
parry. Several black flakes scattered outward from
his right arm where one of the blasts finally slipped
through. Even as the Knight whirled to confront his
tormenter, the white robed figure vanished in the
shimmer of tiny multifaceted crystals.

{Just a couple more feet.}

Ranma was starting to see a pattern to the teleports,
and if his guess was right then his opponent should be
popping up right over ther....

His overhand block caught the first three shots,
and he was quick enough to be able to get out of
the way of the last two blasts. Small curls of
smoke arose from where the magic had burned
deeply into the already much abused concrete.

The Knight could feel Ishtar's eagerness to end
the evil mage's existence. A sentiment he
wholeheartedly agreed with, but they had to be
patient if her plan was going to work.

Everything hinged on if the villain remained in the
pattern he had set, otherwise Ranma would probably
be forced to destroy half of the remaining neighborhood
in order to finish this fight.

Several shots struck his armor hard, but the young warrior
took them without complaint, knowing that it was a
necessary sacrifice. His attention was totally focused
on Malach'te's position, a few hits were a small price
to pay in order to end this.

There he was!

This time, instead of charging forward in a futile attempt
to get a hit Ranma hopped back and pointed the sword not
at Malach'te, but toward the fire hydrant he had chosen to
reappear over.

[Gotcha!]

Concentrating on staying as far away from the
dangerous stranger and that deadly sword, the general
wasn't expecting an attack from another direction.
So his surprise was complete when first a red
metal hydrant slammed into his stomach from below,
followed by hundreds of gallons of water which at
that volume and velocity hit him like a brick wall.
~~~~~~~~
-Someplace else in the Juuban District

"You've both got your uniforms on inside out."

Sailor Pluto wanted some aspirin.

"Neptune, I believe those are Uranus's undergarments."

"So that's why they're so tight."

"Hey!"

Scratch that, she wanted a *lot* of aspirin.
The Senshi of Time silently vowed that she
was going to take a *long* vacation when the
current crisis was over.

Somehow everything finally got settled down
and then the rest of the Outer Senshi were off to
eliminate whatever new terrible menace that had
dared to enter their world.
~~~~~~
-Masaki Household revisited

"Magnificent." Minagi was impressed, she
had trained under her creator Yakage and could
recognize someone who was a true master
of the sword on sight. That blade seemed to
have become a natural extension of the fighter's
arm,  she had seen such a thing only three times before
in her life. Once with Yakage, a swordsmaster who had
survived over 5,000 years through repeated cloning.
Another time in a duel with Tenchi's Grandfather.
And the last had been when she had been seen
Washu's records of Tenchi defeating Kagato and
Yakage.

Her father had wanted Minagi to become the best,
and she had challenged the greatest fighters in the
Local Cluster in order to fullfill his dream. Now it
seemed she had found a new challenge for her skills,
one worthy of facing the sword that was Yakage's
last gift to his daughter.

{I will make you proud Father.}
~~~~~~~~
-Hidy ho, back to the Temple we go

Belldandy found herself being pulled in opposing
directions by her feelings. The goddess wanted to
help her younger sister but at the same time she
also didn't want to leave Keiichi alone and unprotected.
She gave a helpless look in Urd's direction, a subtle
(yet strangely powerful) plea for her help.

"Alright, I'm going, I'm going."Urd mock grumbled
as she stepped into the television set, Father having
decided to be lenient and giving her a reprieve from
probation pending a future review by the higher powers.
~~~~~~~~~
-Juuban

"Yeah! Go get him!" Sasami had quickly gotten
into the spirit of things and was rooting for the
good guy to trash the bad guy really good. It was
just like one of those bedtime stories that Ayeka
or Tenchi would read to her. The little princess
had quickly placed the Knight in the same category
as the rest of her friends like Minagi and Ryo-ohki.
She tended to trust her first impressions of people
and those same feelings told her that this new person
meant no harm to them, only to the forces of Evil.

Malach'te was in a bad spot, pinned to the upper wall
of a fancy electronic goods store by the pressure of
the redirected water geyser. The beating he was taking
as a result of the intense water pressure made any sort
of concentration practically impossible and also kept his
arms pinned helplessly to his sides. It seemed all over
except for the clean up as Ranma started to slowly head
over toward his neutralized foe, careful to maintain the focused
state needed by Ishtar to direct the continued water flow.

Then a pair of long bronzed legs stepped out of
one of the televisions in front of him, followed
by an even more stunning (and lightly clad) body.

That got his attention fast. Ranma had seen a lot of strange
things in his lifetime, but this was new even to him. Maybe
it was something like the Nightbane Mirror-Walk?

Unfortunately during the brief slip in his concentration,
the geyser had slipped from Ishtar's control and his trapped
opponent was free once more. Malach'te had only moments
to act before his enemy figured out what had happened.

Realizing that he stood no chance in a direct confrontation,
the evil general did what all nasty people do when confronted
by a challenge beyond their abilities...he cheated.

A barbed purple javelin of dark power
formed in one hand as the life essence
invested the last of its remaining
energy reserves into a final weapon which
would ensure that it would have the last laugh.
The effort nearly caused him to pass out, he had
exhausted much of his power in a short span of time.

Perhaps it was not strong enough to slay the demon
hounding him.....

....but it was more then enough to kill one of *them*.

His viperish gaze focused on the little girl cheering his
pursuer on. Yes, he would have his revenge on them all.
They would suffer with that innocent's blood haunting
them till they died. Somehow Malach'te found the strength
to burst into evil laughter.

Ranma looked up back toward the general, then he turned
his head to see what the maniac was looking at.

The cute blue haired girl with the two ponytails.

Sickening comprehension struck.

"You bastard!!"

It was an instinctive reaction beyond any conscious
thought, one second he was holding the Rune
weapon in hand, the next instant Ishtar was being
hurled toward Malach'te.

"You fool! You're too late!!"

The villain's throw was fast and true.

Even as four feet of enchanted silver alloy plowed
into his gut and through to the other side till
the blade was buried hilt deep within his abdomen
and pinned him back against the wall like some
winged insect in a bug collection , even as gouts
of dark green blood spouted forth from the mortal
wound, even as the outraged soul inhabiting the weapon
started to fry Malach'te from the inside out,
that cursed missile was still heading straight
toward Sasami.

Ranma found himself in a race against Death.
There was no time to think, no time to plan,
no time to regret. It was just him, the girl, and
that weapon speeding toward her.

Even moving at full speed it was going to be close.
Too close.

Time seemed to slow down as he shot
down the street like a Boom Gun round.

The expressions of horrified realization appeared
on the Senshi's faces first. Jupiter even began to
move in a vain attempt to either get the girl out of
the way or block the spear herself. She was too
far away and she'd never make it in time, but still
she tried anyway.

Sasami watched the javelin coming with the same
look that little rabbits give to hunters with automatic
rifles.

"Tsunami!!"
~~~~~~~~~
-Masaki Residence

"No! Azaka, Kamidake!!"

Even as the words left her throat Ayeka
knew it wouldn't be in time. But she couldn't
just sit here helplessly either while that madman
murdered her sister!

"Yes ma'am!"
"Yes ma'am."
~~~~~~~~~

Ryoko steeled herself for a extra long teleport.
It was feat she'd never attempted before, her
range was normally within eyesight and even
then hadn't gone beyond a few miles.

{Don't do it.}

[Washu?! Sasami's in trouble!! It's the only way!!!]

{Even you can't make it. You know I'm right Ryoko.}

[Damn you Washu! I have to do something!!
How can you be so heartless?!!]

{I'm just as worried as you are my dear,
but I have some faith in that one.}

[You're trusting some guy in a metal suit with Sasami's life?!]

{Just as you trusted a simple schoolboy to rescue you from Kagato.}

[That has nothing to do with this!!]
~~~~~~~~
-Juuban

{Oh man....}

This was going to hurt.

Ranma didn't even have enough time to raise his
arms to block when the spear hit his chest plate
and kept right on going. Fiery pain registered
from the point of entry as first one rib, then a
second snapped under the impact. His flesh was
considerably tougher then the average human's
(or the average bulletproof vest) though and
the shaft's head quickly became lodged deep in
muscle tissue, stopping far short of the armor
protecting Ranma's back.

As injuries went, it looked much worse then it
actually was. Sure it would probably have
incapacitated or possibly killed even a minor
supernatural being, but he'd had worse. Getting
eaten by a Demonshark, now *that* had been bad.

Bio-regeneration was already starting repair the
damage and had begun to eject the supernatural weapon
from his body. Even the broken ribs would
reknit themselves back together in a few minutes. Still,
the trickle of crimson dripping from his front where the
rest of the javelin stuck out drew the attention of
everyone else like a magnet.

"Red blood."

Sailor Venus didn't even realize she
had spoken out loud, or that her thoughts
were running along similar lines to the
others present. If this being was human,
then what? How much of Sailor Pluto's
warnings had been true and how much just
myth and legend? Did they really want to
fight someone who'd just saved their eggs
from the basket?

Mercury took particular note of where
the scarlet drops fell, she would get a
sample for later analysis. Her suspicions
about the truth of their rescuer would be
confirmed one way or another.

Skuld took one look, turned green, and passed out.
The sight of any sizable quantity of blood always did
that to her. She was still young for a goddess and the last
big war between Good and Evil had been long before
her time.

Urd was still struggling with an inconvenient
(not to mention embarrassing) predicament.
Somehow or the other she seemed to have become
entangled in what seemed to be every extension cord
in the store's window after she popped out.
For the moment her garments were still within the
bounds of decency (for her anyway), but her struggling
was making it more and more of an iffy thing.
~~~~~~
-Masaki Household

"Oh dear."

"She appears to have fainted."

The two loyal guardians gently used
their telekinetic powers to arrange
their charge more comfortably on the couch.
~~~~~~~
-Juuban again

Malach'te had thought he'd known what
pain was before. Now he was finding out
what the word truly meant. The accursed
blade was searing his innards to ash, its
magic inhibiting his body's healing and
kept the wound open and bleeding. Worse,
gravity was tugging his upper torso down
onto the razor sharp edge, slowly tearing
the cut open even farther. All the while the
spirit inhabiting the weapon struck out with
a intangible force that set his nerves screaming
in agony as it overloaded his neural pathways.
The most horrible thing of all was that the
vengeful Ishtar had frozen his vocal cords,
making it impossible for the general to even
scream.

The dying villain grasped the sword's handle
in a vain attempt to pull it free of himself. A
moment later he found out why that wasn't
such a good idea. The surge of searing psychic
energy nearly blew his arms off, leaving his
hands blackened and curled into bony claws.

[How dare you hurt my Ranma!! Fry you unholy
piece of *big censor here*!!!]

{Ishtar! That's enough! Finish him!!}

A white glow started to form within the
core of the weapon's silver blade in
response to its owner's command.

The horrified Malach'te could only look
down helplessly at the tremendous charge
he sensed the sentient weapon was building up.

Then there was a blinding flash of light as
Ishtar released the holy power she had called
forth directly into his body. Malach'te was
consumed in an instant, his head arching back
in denial even as flesh and bone was reduced to dust.

A small thunderclap sounded as
the life essence was banished back
to the shifting darkness of the Negaverse,
leaving the Rune weapon as pristine and
untouched as it had been the day it was
created.
~~~~~~~~

With the death of its creator the summoned
Psi-lance dissolved back into nothingness it
had been formed from, making it easier for
both Ranma's body and armor to start fixing
themselves. Within a minute two small pops
signaled that his ribs had just reset themselves,
and the hole torn in his armor had shrunk noticeably.

{Geeze, that stings! He just had to go and fight dirty! Jerk!!}

Without even bothering to look up Ranma held up
his hand to catch the returning Rune weapon.

[Are you all right Ranma?]

{I'm fine. We'd better see to those girls though,
they were getting worked over pretty rough by
those creatures before I arrived. No telling
how long they were fighting or what kind of injuries
they sustained. Those monsters threw everything
but the kitchen sink at me.}

[How horrible, they're just children!! The poor
dears must have been so frightened.]

Ranma was just glad that his partner's maternal insincts
seemed to have been awakened, if she had seen those girls
as women (and hence unwanted competition) things probably
would have gotten ugly very quickly.
~~~~~~~

Turning to face the wide eyed little girl he'd
shielded earlier, Ranma bent to one knee in
order to meet her on equal terms. Children
had always been a wonder to him, perhaps
because he'd never really had much of a
childhood before the responsibilities thrust
upon him by first his father and then later
on by the Alliance and the Forge.

"Are you alright? Did those creatures harm you?"

Sasami silently shook her head. Awe shone in
her eyes as she looked back at the helmet of
the one who had protected her life with his own,
trying to find the nonexistant eyeholes in it. Nor
could she see any opening for the mouth or nose,
both areas were well armored since such a feature
was unnecessary for a Cosmoknight. It was like
watching one of her sister's guardians speak, the
words came from his direction but there was no
indication of how it was being done.

Seeing that she was indeed uninjured, Ranma got
up and turned toward the rest of the girls.The
gathered Senshi looked rather nervous when the
Knight strode toward them with sword still in
hand. They hadn't realized just how big he really
was until now. The armored figure towered over
even Jupiter, and although he held his weapon in
a nonthreatening way they had all witnessed its
lethal cut.

Ranma really wished that he could reasssure them of his
intentions but time was running short. The authorities
would be showing up soon now that the danger was over
and he had no wish to still be here when they did arrive.
Besides he didn't have any clue as to who these girls were.
He'd seen and heard of some people who liked to dress up
for a fight, but why skimpy school uniforms?

A red rose chose that moment to become
embedded in ground in front of him.

<Tuxedo Kamen's annoying theme music begins to play>

"Where the cause of justice is imperiled, so shall the forces
of righteous come to protect the good and the innocent. Do
not lose hope Sailor Senshi, for Tuxedo Kamen has arrived
to aid your struggles against this abomination."

A large sweatdrop formed on the back of Ranma's helm,
it was matched by the one hanging from Ishtar's hilt.

[You have got to be kidding me. That overdressed jackass
should take a good look in the mirror before calling someone
else an abomination!]

{I don't believe this, *two* poetic idiots in one day. Who
does that clown think he is? Where the heck was this
Tux-baka when the real threat was present?!}
~~~~~~~

"Mwahahahahaha!!"

"I think all that power is going to the Bard's head."

"I told you this was a bad idea!"

"Eyecatch?"

"Eyecatch."
~~~~~~~~~
Eyecatch #4

(Mihoshi is dressed in white shirt
and pants and holding small metallic
cylinder in her hands.)

(The blue energy blade emerging from it
reveals that she's holding a lightsaber.)

(Shampoo lands next on her right, oufitted in an
Iczelion battle armor and produces a purple
Beam Saber.)

(Sailor Venus lands on Mihoshi's left, a wave
of her hand summons a yellow Psi-sword.)

(Devil Hunter Yohko comes running and stops
next to Shampoo, her Soul Sword at ready.)

<All four proclaim>: "All for one and Ranma for all!"

(P.O.V. changes to see who the four girls are facing.)

(Akane in her gi wielding a oversized
wooden bokken is revealed. A very
*large* sweatdrop pops up on her head.)

(She silently forms the words;
"You have *got* to be kidding me!".)

(Four slashes later Akane is just holding a
small wooden stub in her hands.)

(Akane: "That's it! I quit!")

(She starts to stalk off only to
be knocked off screen by the familar
"Ranma 1/2 with a twist" logo.)
~~~~~~~~~
<BGM: Imperial March, The Phantom Menace Version
(in full Doby Surround Sound(tm))>
-Somewhere deep in the Heart of the Trans-Galactic Empire

The first sign that trouble with a capital *T* was coming was
the sixteen Raptor starfighters that screamed through space a few
kilometers ahead of a mile long Imperial Battle Cruiser and it's
fifteen smaller escort ships. The giant war machine looked like
some giant archaic alien bladed weapon from the distant past,
a deliberate choice meant to strike fear into the hearts of those
who dared to resist the might of the Kreeghor. Although this
choice in design left the vessel with several very *obvious*
structural weak points, it was still quite an impressive sight
to behold. Aside from its white running lights the entire cruiser's
hull was dark grayish blue-black, a far departure from the customary
bright blood red and absolutely hideous greenish orange that were the
Fleet's traditional colors.(2)

The infamous dark ship's registry was known and dreaded
throughout the Empire and the Free Worlds.

INS 1027-NC443 Dark Impaler.

Standing at the front of the bridge, Captain Jarenz gazed out into
the dark void between the stars, the small flare of the capital defense
patrols the only illumination visible nearby. He was a cold hard man and
his subordinates moved with the extra caution that visceral fear gave
them. The Ironclaw despised incompetence among
his men and his preferred method of punishment
ensured that there were never any repeat offenders.

An aide walked across the bridge, his stride controlled but with a
nervous reluctance visible to the watchful observer. In the Empire,
the old saying about "killing the messenger" was often taken
at face value.

"My lord, we have just received word that the Rebels
have launched an all out assault on our base in the
Ristmoth system. Shall we prepare an intercept course?"

Bracing for an explosion, the petty officer started scoping
out potential routes of escape....just in case.

Whatever reaction he had been expecting, it wasn't the
amused chuckle that was his superior's reply.

"So, they've finally mustered enough of a
backbone to begin their long delayed offensive
against us."

"Ah...sir? Your orders?"

"Remain on course, they are
not our concern. I have my orders
from the Grand Admiral himself,
the location and capture of Ranma
Saotome is the only mission of any
importance to us."

"But our base?! All the troops stationed
there will be slaughtered without reinforcements!!"

A cool glance made the aide realize he
had overstepped his bounds. But the
Ironclaw demonstrated unexpected
restraint as he returned to his
contemplations of the stars.

"The Emperor has something
special planned for the Rebellion. You
would do well to learn your place in the
grand scheme of things if you wish to
continue serving the Empire."

The implied threat of that last
statement was enough to send the
trembling Silloutte scurrying away.

Captain Jarenz tightened his bionic
hand into a eager fist. Soon, he
consoled himself, soon he would
accomplish what the others had only
dreamed of. Then the ghosts that
haunted him would finally be put
to rest at last.

"It is only a matter of time now....."

The Dark side was no longer in check.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(1) Give yourself a pat on the back if you
figured it out before the Bard does.

 (2) Don't ask, just don't ask *Shudder*


~~~~~~~~
-From the Journal of Erin Tarn

It has been many weeks since last I heard of
my dear friend and I fear that the worst has befallen
him. My contacts among the dimensional travelers
have informed me that he has apparently vanished
without a trace and is now the subject of one of the
largest manhunts the Megaverse has ever seen. It
seems that my friend has finally bitten off more
then he can chew this time. The man I speak of
is of course Ranma Saotome, quite possibly the
most interesting and yet at the same time the
most impossible young man I have ever met.

It seems strange to feel so strongly about him when
he spent such a short time with me and my
companions. There is some intangible quality to
that young man that seems to draw others to him
like moths to a flame. Ranma possesses a refreshing
zest for life that remains undampened despite the
worst that the Fates seems to keep throwing at him.

I first encountered the poor boy during that little
mishap with a dimensional rift that landed me in the
strange world known as Wormwood. Such an idealistic
lad he was, brash and yet possessing an innate sense of
honesty and a code of honor that I found quite charming,
as did the other females in my party. Yet Ranma also quickly
proved his mettle as a formidable fighter when he helped us
to fend off one of the Horde's raiding parties. By all rights
any normal human should have been dead many times over after
sustaining the amount of blaster fire he did. Amazingly
enough he came out of the fight with nary a scratch, though
his raiment wasn't nearly as fortunate.

Saotome soon became a welcome addition to our traveling
party and escorted us through some rather nasty territory.
Suffice to say within a week we finally managed to reach one
of the world's free cities and regretfully parted ways. He was
our very own knight errant right out of the tales of old, minus
the shining armor. Ah, if I were only thirty years younger...

There was little hope of ever seeing him again, though I did invite
him to visit me in the city of Lazlo if ever he should happen to
journey there. As luck would have it, he did go to Lazlo during
the Mechanoid crisis, although I wasn't present at the time and only
learned of his appearance through second hand accounts.

I suppose that I should have known better then to believe
that our paths wouldn't cross again. The next time I saw that
pigtail of his was at the Gathering of Heroes. It was hard
to tell who was more surprised when we ran into each other,
him or me. Once again he had just shown up where he was
needed most, the only reason he would give for his presence was
that "It's a martial artist's duty to help a just cause".

His aid in defeating the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
proved invaluable. I personally witnessed his battle with
Pestilence, which only confirmed my earlier belief that Ranma
was more then just the superb fighter he claimed to be. In the
fight against the Demon and its minions my friend revealed
several amazing abilities that he used to send the monstrosities
back to whatever Hellish plane had spawned them. Flight,
incredible supernatural strength and stamina, reflexes that a
Juicer would be envious of, a capacity for somehow surviving
even the most grievous injury, and the ability to rapidly discharge
very powerful beams of energy from his hands at will. When I
I later confronted him with the evidence he finally capitulated to
my inquiries as to who and what he really was.

I must admit, the truth came as quite a shock. Whatever I
had been subconsciously expecting paled in comparison to
the reality. I have promised Ranma that I will not reveal his
secret, even though it pains me that his heroism will never
be recognized by the rest of the world.

Something changed between us after that, though I do not think
he meant to distance himself he did so nonetheless. There was a
new sadness in his eyes after the fighting was over, but he hid it
so well that of the surviving heroes of the campaign only myself
and the mysterious Katrina Sun noticed it. Then one night, during
one of the many parties being held to celebrate our victory, he
simply vanished. Though everyone searched the town he was
nowhere to be found, I knew then that he had gone back to where
he was most needed.

It would be nearly two years before I saw Ranma again....
~~~~~~~~
-Ristmoth, 9 hours into the attack

After hard fighting that had claimed many lives
on both sides, the way was finally clear. Alliance
Battleships had established a solid perimeter for
the vessels carrying their valuable ground troops
to pass through. The occasional flash and cloud of
superheated dust on the planet's surface arose from
the continuing suppression of strategic planetary defenses
and military bases. Careful precision was necessary for
the orbital bombardment, the civilian population was
already in uprising against their former masters and
the fleet had no wish to hit friendly forces.

"The transports are preparing to make
their drops. Escorts, take your positions."

The Untamed Stallion, along with her escorting squadron
of fighters was joined by several other older corvettes
and half a dozen Assault Frigates along with their capital
space patrols to form a protective screen for
the convoy of slow and quite battered barges.
The transports were an old design and had been
mothballed ages ago by the Empire. But now they
pressed back into service by a Rebellion that
desperately needed every functioning ship it
could get.

With only light shields, a few nearly antique
laser batteries, and practically no armor
whatsoever, these ships were the equivalent
of big, fat, sitting ducks for even the smallest
and weakest Kreeghor vessel, hence the need
for the strong escort. By now, the remaining
Imperial capital ships that could had already
fled from the system, while the rest were now
either expanding spheres of light and heat or dark
gutted hulks depending on whether or not the
ship's engines had been breached. But despite the
through sweep that Alliance forces had made,
an occasional squadron of enemy fighters still
managed to slip out from one of the hidden hangers
on the planet's surface. Just one squadron would be
more then enough to decimate the transports.

The anti-fighter defenses on the Untamed Stallion were
the best in the fleet, her fellow corvettes also mounted
impressive deterrents as well. If by some chance they
ran into something larger then just fighters that's where
the frigates would come in. But their abilities were about
to be put to the test as the planetary defense forces played
their final and most lethal trump card.

"I'm detecting multiple launches coming from the planet's surface!"

A hundred hidden armored silos belched smoke and flame as their
contents climbed for the upper atmosphere and escape velocity.

"Missiles incoming!"

"Keep them away from the transports at all costs!!"

"Activate the Defense Grid and prep point defense!"

The Rebel cruisers Vigilant and Liberty quickly moved
into position to pound the previously concealed launchers
into fine grade powder. That just left the cruise missiles
heading toward the fleet's transports as the only visible
remaining threat for the escorts to deal with.

Sophisticated ECM disabled a few before they
ever reached space, in an ironic twist sending the
missiles back toward the base that had launched
them. The faster escort fighters came within range
of the deadly swarm first, taking their toll on the
evasive smart bombs with energy cannons and rail
guns. But there were simply too many of the missiles
and not enough fighters, despite their best efforts at
least half of them got through. There was no time for a
second pass, even as the pilots turned the massive rockets
altered their heading to keep them out of range as
they continued to close on the helpless transports.

Then the corvettes began launching countering volleys
of their own, going for multiple fratricide. More explosions
briefly lit the darkness of space, yet the remaining warheads
still headed relentlessly toward their targets.

Now was the most dangerous time as the escorts were forced into
close range in order for their guns to come into play. Cruise missiles
could cross the short distances quickly enough that there wouldn't
be enough time for an unlucky vessel in its way to even think of
evading. With
few exceptions the ships of the convoy could not hope to survive
a direct hit from even one of those gigantic warheads. It was a
grueling trial of the crews' nerves and the gunners' accuracy, there
was almost no margin for error and casualties started mounting almost
immediately. In the blink of an eye one of the leading corvettes
vanished
in the white hot flare of an antimatter explosion as a missile struck it
head on.

Onboard the Untamed Stallion Commander Ayla was
a shouting orders to the rest of the ship, her draconic
nature evident despite being shapeshifted into a human
in the sheer force behind her commands.

"You know the drill ladies, aim straight and shoot fast!"

>From the comlink there was a chorus of affirmatives
from the various gunners manning the weapons turrets.

A score of enemy missiles died in the ensuing storm
of point defense lasers, particle beams, plasma bursts,
and hyper-velocity duranium rail-gun rounds. But more
were still coming, the Assault Frigate Spirit nearly joined
the first unfortunate escort in oblivion as its weak point defense
was overwhelmed by over half a dozen of the guided
warheads. The first missile was destroyed as was the
second, but the third and fourth ones got through and
inflicted a savage punishment on her faltering shields.
By some quirk of fate the fifth warhead missed completely
and was vaporized by the Untamed Stallion's guns as
it came around for another attack. The sixth
warhead punched through Spirit's weakened variable
forcefield to explode violently against her hull, crippling
the valiant escort vessel. The ship's lights went dark and
the battered hulk was forced to use its remaining engine
power to limp away.

Three of the corvettes took up new positions to cover the
vector left open by the withdrawing frigate. They succeeded
in stopping the missiles coming from that direction, but the
escorts paid the ultimate price for their bravery. All three ships
were nothing more then expanding clouds of superheated gas
by the time the fleet's fighters came screaming back into the fight
with with full afterburners blazing fiery streaks behind the small
craft.

Ten cruise missiles managed to evade the gunners' tracking systems,
and the defenders were running out of time. In a few moments the
warheads would reach the transports and over a hundred thousand of
their irreplacable troops would be lost.

Commander Ayla realized that they had only one option left
if the convoy was to have any chance at all. They
were the only ship still between the warheads and
the convoy. The missiles couldn't be allowed to
get pass them, no matter what it took to stop them.
Even though it might cost them their lives, death was
something each and every member of the crew had
accepted as a possibility that came with the job.

"Set our ECM to deception mode. Use Alliance
transponder setting seven."

Tania winced but responded without hesitation.

"Copy, Commander. Reconfiguring ECM now."

The communications officer took a moment to whisper
a short prayer in her native tongue. Setting seven meant
that they would register to the missile guidence systems
as a group of three Alliance Starcruisers. In theory
the command protocols of the warheads should override
control and change the target priority to the more enticing
false readings. Of course if this worked then that would
leave the Untamed Stallion with ten really big and very
nasty smart bombs with anti-matter payloads aimed at it.

She decided to pray a little harder.
~~~~~~~~~
-Juuban

For some reason the Sailor Senshi weren't as
glad to see their traditional rescuer as they
normally would be. Perhaps it was due to the fact
he was making a total fool of himself on national
television. It might have something to do with
his challenging someone who'd just wasted two
of the Negaverse's finest military commanders
just few minutes ago. Or it could be that he'd been
late for the scheduled last minute rescue, which
wasn't a good thing. Especially for the ones who
were supposed to be rescued. Either way, to say
they were quite miffed with him would be quite an
understatement.

Ranma rolled his eyes heavenward for a moment and
then interrupted the cliche inspiration speech. "Lemmee skip
the preliminary stuff and cut to the chase scene. Are you by
any chance an Alien Intelligence? A God? A Demon? Some
powerful supernatural fiend I've probably never heard of?
A mage with a bad taste in overpriced wedding garments? One
of those master psychics that have lost more then a few marbles?
Or are you packing any 30th century firearms? Carrying a weapon
of considerable magical power by any chance?"

"Um...no."

"Then stop bothering me and go get a real job."

Tuxedo Kamen facefaulted, unfortunately for him
he was leaning toward the wrong side of the roof at
the time. The watching Senshi winced as he hit the
pavement with an audible splat.

Ranma ignored his twitching form as he went to check
on the unconscious Skuld. His fingers gently probed her
for injuries with a deftness and throughness that rivaled
a experienced battlefield medic.

{Hmmm, a light concussion, some bruises on her
back and along her side and a twisted ankle.}

[Fascinating.]

Uh oh. Whenever she said something like that trouble always
followed sooner or later. He was almost afraid to find out
what she found so interesting *this* time.

{What is it?}

[Her psychic energy level is nowhere
even near a normal human's. In fact I'm
pretty sure she's not even a mortal.]

This wasn't as bad as the malfunctioning
thermal detonator or the fairy ring incident,
but it came close.

{What?! Are you telling me she's some kind of godling?!!}

[Bingo. This is looking less and less like that quiet
vacation you kept promising. On the bright side I
haven't been this entertained in centuries!]

Ranma winced as the sword burst into telepathic
laughter. With Ishtar as his partner he never had to worry
about his ego getting too inflated, she was always there to
cut him down to size.

{I'm glad one of us is finding this situation funny. Now
are you going to heal her or is there anything else you'd
like me to know about?!}

[Well, aside from the fact that those other girls
are some of the sources of those magical
emanations from last night and that weirdo in
the black tuxedo and hat seems to have recovered,
nothing much.]

{.......Ishtar!}

[Fine, fine. Spoilsport.]

Resting the flat of the blade across the
young goddess's chest Ranma watched
as a soft yellow light flowed from the sword
into the girl's body. The most visible of the
bruises shrunk and vanished, revealing unmarred
skin. Although he couldn't see the rest of the effects
of his partner's healing power, he did note with
some relief that the girl's breathing was even and
untroubled. Ishtar couldn't do anything about her faint,
that was one of those little medical mysteries like the
common cold that had never been solved by magic
or anything else even in the advanced society he'd
come from. Skuld would have to come out of that
one on her own.

He did his best to arrange her more comfortably on
the ground before turning toward the nearest of the
strangely dressed girls, which turned out to be Sailor Jupiter.
She eeped in surprise at how fast he moved and took an
involuntary step back. Ranma's action was also misinterpreted
rather badly by a certain thickheaded masked crusader of justice.

*Thwack*

Something hit Ranma in the back. It turned out to
be a fancy walking cane and was about as effective on
his Cosmic Armor as a piece of down. The sound of wood
hitting something considerably harder then mere metal was
rather annoying though. He decided to just ignore it and hope
that this weirdo came to his senses, only a complete idiot
would keep on attacking him.

"Get away from them!!"

*Thwhack**Thwack*

[Well he's got guts. No brains, but guts.]

~~~~~~
-A few moments later

*thwhack**thwack**thwack*

The cane was looking much the worse for wear.
It was meant as more of a gimmick really, great for
parrying attacks or polevaulting but leaving
something to be desired as a melee weapon. The
cantrips that enchanted the wood were no match
for Ranma's skin, let alone his armor.

"*huff* I will *puff*  defeat *gasp* you *wheeze*!"

Tuxedo Kamen resolved to get more exercise after this
was all over. Normally all he had to do was toss a rose in,
make a pretty speech, maybe make a few fancy moves with
his cane and "presto" the crisis was over. Consequently he
had no stamina to speak of, only his pride was keeping him
going this long. It didn't help his confidence any that his
target didn't even seem to notice his best efforts.

"Those ribs seem to be only bruised Miss....ah... I
don't believe I've caught your name yet."

"Mako...err I mean Sailor Jupiter! Yes,
that's right, it's Sailor Jupiter."

Ranma raised an eyebrow beneath his helm as his patient
turned bright cherry red with embarrassment and laughed
nervously.

"Okay... hold still, this should only take a second."

Once again the Rune weapon's healing ability went to work.
Almost immediately Jupiter breathed easier as the pinching
soreness eased around her midsection. Even the rest of her
cuts and bruises didn't hurt as much as they had earlier. She
wasn't afraid of this stranger anymore, his kindness just had
to be genuine. He probably looked just like her old sempai
underneath that tight armor.

"Thank you."

Ranma nodded in acknowledgement before
going to see to the others, he totally missed
the little hearts floating in the girl's eyes.

But his path was suddenly blocked by a
slightly exhausted caped crusader.

"Hey you! Quit ignoring me!!"

"Huh? You're still here? And still dressed like that?!"

That was the last straw, an outraged Tuxedo Kamen
threw a wild punch toward the armored form that
seemed to just keep on mocking him.

A moment later he was nursing severely bruised
knuckles and doing his best not to scream from
the pain. That action would be filed under the
heading of *things you now know not to do*.

"Knock it off, you're only hurting yourself Tux-boy."

"Don't call me Tux-boy!"

Sailor Jupiter picked that moment to drag Tuxedo Kamen
off in order to explain to him a concept known as "punctuality".
~~~~~~~~

Shadow and Rowan exchanged
looks then turned to Zora.

"How much for a DVD of that scene?"

"50,000 yen per disc."

"We'll take ten."
~~~~~~~
-Furinkan High

Akane Tendo was angry. While this was
not a unusual state for her to be in, the cause of
her irritable state today was. Ranma Saotome this,
Ranma Saotome that, she was getting sick of hearing
his name on the lips of what seemed to be every student
on campus. Even the boys were talking about him, though
they were only concerned about a.) finding a way to
beat him by tomorrow morning or b.) find a way to
become his buddies and benefit from it with the girls.
The only exception to this was the Furinkan Martial
Arts Club, they wanted to recruit Ranma so that they
could finally trash their rival schools.

What was worse, they'd all turned to her for more
information about him since Nabiki tended to charge
too much. Akane had enjoyed being the most popular
person in school and though she'd never admit it,
being upstaged like that had hit both her vanity and
pride rather hard. Consequently any residual attraction
she might have felt toward Ranma was now buried under
a flood of outrage and annoyance at being practically
forgotten by the entire school.

"Akane, my love!"

*Wham*

Well, *almost* the entire school.

Just wait till they got back to the dojo,
then she'd show that showoff what a
"true" martial artist couild do! Turn down
her offer to spar and fight *her* battles for her
would he, well she'd have the last laugh!!

*Crack*
*Boom*

That was strange, why was there a storm
suddenly brewing over the Juuban district?
Today's forecast had said there'd be clear
skies all day.
~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~
-Juuban

Ranma glanced up at the rapidly darkening sky with
some concern, he could sense that the building storm
wasn't entirely natural in origin. There was an almost
electrical feeling in the air, as if every molecule had been
supercharged with mystic potential. This didn't bode
well, already he could feel his own power starting to
flare up instinctively in response to the presence of so
much excess psychic energy despite his efforts to keep his
power signature to a minimum. An occasional spark of static
electricity would briefly snap into existance around Ranma
where his aura met the increasingly agitated atmosphere.

Either he was in the middle of a leyline storm again or
something or someone possessing as much potential
psychic energy as all these girls combined was close by.
And as far as he knew this part of Japan didn't even have
leylines.

Ranma was pretty sure that whatever it was wasn't like
those diabolic monsters from before, figuring that he'd
have gotten an early warning from his partner if that was so.
That he wasn't starting to glow was also good sign, it meant
that at least for the moment both parties were on the same polarity.
If the other party was truly evil, his armor would have started
to light up like a christmas tree from their aura's negative charge.
The electricity wasn't as promising, he could almost taste the hostility
that was fueling it.

{Someone doesn't seem to like me very much.}

Something this big showing up so soon with a chip
on its shoulder was more then just a coincidence,
and it didn't take a genius to figure out what had
probably attracted their attention. That ring he'd
gotten from the Harpells must be on the fritz again.
A magical artifact that didn't always work properly,
most people would swear that was impossible. Of
course most people had never met the Harpells before
either.

{Now if I only knew how to take the damn thing off...}

Ranma tended to trust his feelings, another bit of wisdom
from an old friend and teacher. Right now, those feelings
were telling him that staying around to find out who was
trying to find him would be a *very* bad idea. His hunters
might not harber any ill intentions toward the other people
here, but Ranma got the impression that whatever was out
there would not be so lenient with him. Fighting here wouldn't
solve anything, and it would put innocent lives in jeopardy.
Better to confront them at a time and place of his choosing,
hopefully one where a peaceful settlement could be reached.
While his injuries always healed fast, they still hurt. And despite
sordid rumors to the contrary, he was not a masochist!

{Time to go.}

Slipping away shouldn't be too much of a problem,
it looked like everyone else's attention was on the little
squabble taking place in front of him. He'd put away
Ishtar once she was done healing the girls, no sense
in tempting fate by leaving her out where she might
change her mind about them. A jealous Rune Weapon
was not a pretty sight, especially when she could read
his thoughts as clearly as a book with glass pages. For
a moment he almost reconsidered retrieving her again,
the sense of unrelenting loathing had been nearly overpowering
and her abilities could come in handy if worst came to worst.
But he resisted the temptation, such an act might be viewed as
provocation and Ranma was determined that if there was a
fight that he wouldn't be the one that started it.

Much to his amusement, after he'd finished healing them
the girls wearing the colorful fukus had surrounded the poor
chump in the formal eveningwear and were currently
berating him within an inch of his life. Ranma had never
seen a guy that wasn't already married look so whipped
before, after this he'd probably never be able to take that
Tuxedo character seriously ever again.

Ranma was congratulating himself for his cleverness on having
avoided a potentially sticky situation as he quietly walked
away. Then a sultry voice stopped him in his tracks and
brought the others' attention back to him.

"Hold it right there buster."

A stunning platinum blonde blocked his escape, some idle
corner of Ranma's mind noted that it was the same woman
who'd fallen out of the television. He also noticed that she
seemed to be at least partly responsible for the magical
saturation of the surrounding area. The small jolts of lightning
that kept popping up around her as she approached him was a
pretty definite confirmation of that.

No doubt about it, he was in trouble again.
~~~~~~~
-Tombiki High

Somehow a television had been smuggled into
class. A certain Shuutaro Mendo might have
had something to do with that, but there was no
proof that could be traced back to him.

"What a babe!!"

The most lecherous boy in the universe soon
regretted his comment, however true it might
have been.

"Darling no baka!!!"

Hell hath no fury like an Oni scorned.

*ZAP*

*$*$*$*$*

1f: Life Just Isn’t Fair Sometimes
~~~~~~~

Phaseworld Center, Free Trade Zone (Naruni Enterprise's Headquarters)

Trader Smythers paced nervously, even within the relative security
of his own office he didn't dare let his guard down. Being on the
Board of Directors for Naruni meant that he had to not only worry
about rivals such as the Splugorth, but threats from within the company
as well. There were far too many ambitious beings surrounding him for
Smythers to ever totally relax no matter how well he was protected.
Especially now, the current operation that was on his authorization was
both risky and potentially dangerous to the company itself. If any of the
other members were to find out about this there was a more then likely
chance that Smythers would be *retired* from the Board. Such a
retirement usually involved a NE 20 mm plasma cartridge at point
blank range.

Yes, the risks of taking action were great. But the dangers of not doing
anything at all were much, much greater. The information Saotome possessed
couldn't destroy the company, but it would give Naruni's public reputation
one
heck of a black eye if it was ever made public. Yet Smythers had been
unable
to take any direct action against the troublesome officer while he had been
surrounded
by friends and connections, there would have been too many questions
raised.
Questions with dangerous answers, answers that might lead to old secrets
that
the Trader intended to keep buried at all costs. But now that the
irritating flea had
foolishly disconnected himself from his support network there was an
opportunity
here to finally get rid of the pest once and for all. Separated from his
allies,
Saotome would simply quietly disappear, never to be heard from again.

Smythers had no intention of wasting this chance he had been given.
Any remaining trace of the botched M'kri affair would finally be
eliminated.
And if his agents could get their hands on the disc as well, so much the
better.

"Do you understand your orders? I want no mistakes this time."

The dark metallic form that stood at attention nodded once.

"Make absolutely sure that we can't be traced in any way to this."

It nodded again with a trace of impatience, this briefing was unnecessary.
It knew what had to be done, the orders had already been directly uploaded
into its system. But Smythers was the one in charge, so it had to humor
him.

Thankfully, the director soon finished and dismissed the subordinate.
It left the office quickly, this kind of business always left a bad taste
in its
internal recepters. In a way it was a pity really.

Kehal Redge was a shrewd negotiator, one of the company's finest. But he
was also a very efficient enforcer and downright lethal (though reluctant)
assassin. Although he maintained a healthy professional respect for Ranma,
that wouldn't stop him nor would it sway from his duty. Naruni Repo-bots
served the company with no exceptions, no excuses, and no mercy.
~~~~~~~
-The planet Ristmoth

The capital was in a state of revolt as Imperial garrisons
battled rioting citizens for control of the city. Rebel
warships bombarded any detected signs of military
fortification from high orbit, paving the way for the
descending transports. Meanwhile, armed with Naruni
plasma rifles and portable missile launchers provided by
the Alliance months before, the locals threw themselves
against their long hated oppressors with a vengeance.

Blood ran rampant in the streets as they clashed with
seasoned Kreeghor shock troopers. Humans and D-bees
alike died by the score against the well entrenched Imperial
forces, but inch by costly inch they clawed their way forward.
Civilian hovercars with hastily added armaments and portable
force fields faced off against hovertanks and military class powered
armors, only sheer numbers gave them any sort of edge against the
superior army weaponry.

It was a terrible slaughter that went on and on beyond any standard
of sanity, men and women who had lost their weapons earlier were
clawing and biting at their foes where the fighting had broken down
into chaotic close combat. Against the natural armoring of the Kreeghor
and Machine People troopers all their efforts were usually for naught
and death usually followed swiftly. The rebels fared a tad better against
the Human,Wolfen, and Silloutte troops, the sight of fellow soldiers being
literally torn to shreds by wild-eyed rioters sent military morale plunging
to new
depths.

Then someone came up with the bright idea of improvising weapons
from the high tech construction equipment that lay across the city,
abandoned by their owners at the beginning of the attack. Laser torches,
plasma drills, and construction bots soon joined the general melee,
and this time it was the Kreeghor’s turns to do the dying.

 Bodies and pieces of bodies went flying everywhere as weapons
and heavy explosives found their mark, even after centuries of
refinement the business of warfare was still quite messy, and
especially now it showed.  Corpses started to quickly pile knee
high in the streets, the smoking remains quickly growing rank
under the putrefying heat of the glaring sun. More were pulped
under the treads of high-tech armored killing machines that crushed
enemy and ally alike indiscriminately.

After a hundred years of pain and suffering under the
iron foot of the Keeghor Empire, it was all finally being
repaid in the work of a single brutal day. High Governor
K’tarthkl’ppe Ryga had earned a special hatred in the
hearts of the planet’s people for his harsh rule and
exploitation of those lacking enough funds to bribe him
and his administration.

Millions had died working as forced laborers in the most
hazardous and ill equipped areas of the industrial areas,
thousands more had been seized and sold into slavery on
the slightest excuse or whim. The depravities that those
poor souls were forced to endure made the slow lingering
deaths of the workers by starvation, radiation poisoning,
asphyxiation, and disease seem like a blessing.

Ryga had grown fat while the populace starved to death just a few yards
beyond his diamond gates. The rebellion had no intention of taking him
alive,
the sadistic monster had been responsible for too many outrages, had sent
too
many good people to their death. They would bring out his head on a pike to

be paraded across the entire planet.
~~~~~~~

Dennis Skythe let loose a blistering oath as he picked off a sniper
defending the governor’s palace before ducking back down to avoid
the return fire from the other troops defending the tyrant’s stronghold.

“Damn, I’m gettin’ too old for this crap.”

Though his hair had gone completely milky white in the last
few years and his body wasn’t as strong as it had been, the
general of the Resistance was still a formidable trooper.
He signaled back to one of the soldiers in his squad, within
moments a disposable one shot heavy rocket launcher was hauled
up to his position behind one of the many fortified buildings
that surrounded the decadent estate of the planetary tyrant.
The cleverly designed Naruni weapon allowed Dennis to use the
built in targeting to lock onto a heavy Dreadguard Tank defending
the main entrance without exposing any part of himself to the enemy.
A moment later a heavy armor piercing warhead came shooting down
the street, penetrating deeply into the hard outer shell before exploding
violently in the soft electrical innards of the machine. The thick blast
armor
actually increased the destruction caused by containing the explosion
inside
of the tank.

With its propulsion system gone, there was nothing to keep gravity
from asserting itself. The enormous hulk keeled over with a groan,
squashing three troopers that weren’t fast enough to get out of the
way in time. Whoops and cheers erupted from the other rebels as
they renewed their assault on the now rapidly weakening Imperial
position. The high pitched whine of balls of energized particles being
fired from Imperial rifles mingled with the roar of plasma discharges
from the freedom fighter’s own weapons.

Skythe turned to see that the leaders of the revolt were
making their way to him, despite his insistence that
they remain back at a safer distance from the front lines.
But there wasn’t much he could do, this was their planet. He
was just here as an advisor from the Free Worlds. The real
leaders of this planet’s rebellion were an unusual lot,
two humans, a machine person, and a Silhouette. But they
had all rallied under the cause of freedom, so now it was
Skythe’s job to keep them alive so that their dream
would succeed. He sighed and wiped the sweat off of a brow that
had the consistency of dried leather. Those civilian leader types
were going to be the death of him, he just knew it. Then the grizzled
old rebel looked up toward the clear blue sky where flashes of light
still appeared every few moments.

“I wager those fleet boys are having a peach of a time right now.”
~~~~~~~~
<BGM: Irresponsible Captain Tylor: The Soyokaze battle theme>
(Yes, it does have one!)
-Above the planet

“All hands brace for impact!!”

Alarm klaxons sounded as the corvette made an abrupt right
turn and rolled 90 degrees in a desperate attempt to either
dodge, or failing that, to minimize the blast damage of the
incoming bundles of high powered death.

Though the Shadowstar prototype was fast and heavily armed,
it had one major flaw. The ship’s engines, no matter how advanced
and powerful they were, could not supply the necessary power for
 *all* of the energy hungry systems onboard. Especially when in a
combat situation, the ship’s guns and forcefield simply required
too much power in active mode, which meant that sacrifices among
the nonessential systems had to be made. So in exchange for an
armament that outgunned anything smaller then a good sized battleship,
the crew was forced to put up with some rather trying inconveniences.

One of the biggest of which had been the inertial dampeners, the device
that kept the people onboard from being squashed to the thickness of
a pancake every time the Untamed Stallion changed her velocity or
direction. During non-combat operations it was set at the normal rate
for a vessel of her size. But in battle the dampeners were reduced to
their lowest possible safety setting to keep the enormous drain on the
engines down, even then the strain of acceleration was so rough that
the normal humans and D-bees were required to wear full environmental
body armor to their stations.

Sammy, the Untamed Stallion’s navigator and helmsman was nearly
thrown from her seat despite her safety harness as the force of inertia
tried to smash her into the ceiling. She was forced to hang onto the
guidance controls for dear life to prevent the ship from slipping out of
her control. The plan had worked to a “T”, the cruise missiles were
currently doing their best to kill them instead of the transports. Now
all they had to do survive their success long enough to deal with the
stubborn warheads before they were blown to kingdom come.
Point defense managed to take out one more before the rest closed in.

One of the nine remaining missiles actually skidded off of the
ship’s shields before detonating, thanks to Sammy’s amazing
maneuvering only part of the blast caught the protective barrier.
The bluish green energy bubble flickered momentarily as the
damage was absorbed and dispersed across the entire facing side,
but stabilized quickly as more power was drawn from the shield generators.
The next three overshot their target and came around for
another pass, but hot on their heels was the return fire from
the corvette’s guns.

One of the missiles was winged but not badly enough to cause
it to self destruct, the other two went into preprogrammed
evasive maneuvers that were only partially successful. A lucky laser
beam sliced off a stabilizer, sending the rocket careening wildly
away from the ship and back into the planet’s atmosphere
where it impacted and detonated harmlessly. Another missile
impacted against the Untamed Stallion’s shield which still
held, though the forcefield’s color dimmed and became almost
totally transparent as it was exposed to the full destructive
fury of an uncontrolled antimatter reaction. Yet another missile
was intercepted by point defense, but the last five came as a
volley and there was no chance to dodge this time. The intrepid
vessel was engulfed by the ensuing chain of explosions.
~~~~~~~~~~
Eyecatch #5

(Fade in)

(Caption: Washu’s guaranteed way to decide who Ranma ends up with!)

(Overhead shot of a spinning roulette wheel, instead
of numbers on the panels there are the names and pictures
of various interested ladies.)

(A SD version of Ranma’s head is thrown in as a roulette
ball. It goes bouncing along inside the spinning circle.)

(SD Ranma Head: “Ouch! Oof! Hey! Doh!”)

(The little head passes several dozen names before it lands
in Washu’s panel and sticks there.)

(Washu: “Oh my! It looks like the one Ranma is
destined to be with is me!!”)

(The other girls: “Oh no you don’t!!!”)

(Mihoshi: “Um....Washu, why is your panel coated with superglue?”)

(Washu: “Mihoshi!! *Sees that the girls aren’t
taking this development very well* Uh oh....”)

The SD head takes matters into its own hands and
manages to free itself with some difficulty.)

*Rip*

SD Ranma Head: “Owww!! You girls are all nuts!! I’m outta here!!!”

(It bounces out of the wheel and starts to escape.)

(Washu: “Wait for me!!”)

(Washu runs after the bouncing head)

(A moment later all the girls start chasing after them, telling
SD Ranma to be a man and pick one of them. The strength of their
argument is hampered by the fact that most of them are also packing
several blunt instruments to *persuade* him who to pick.)

(The real Ranma is shown to be hanging overhead with a resigned
expression on his face. He’s wrapped up in so many chains that it looks
like he’s in a metal cocoon.)

(Ranma: “Would someone please untie me now?”)

(Fadeout)
~~~~~~~
-Juuban

Urd walked straight up to Ranma. The fact that the
Knight was bigger then she was didn’t seem to deter
her aggressive stance at all as she poked a manicured
finger against his breastplate. It felt like she was tapping
against a brick wall. That almost gave her pause for thought.

Almost.

“Okay you, I want some answers.”

“………”

Ranma stayed silent.

This whole situation was rapidly spiraling out
of his control, and he didn’t like it. But before
he got himself into even more trouble then he probably
was in already, he needed to know what in the Nine
Bleedin’ Hells he was dealing with here!

{Damn, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use this again.
But I can’t keep plunging around blindly anymore, all
the power in the universe won’t save me if I don’t have any
idea of what (or who) I have to watch out for. So far the
score is Murphy’s Law: "Way too many to count", Saotome: "Zero".}

A small unobtrusive brush of his left hand against his
right forearm, an infusion of mystic energy from his
internal reserves, and Ranma’s vision suddenly changed as
his eyes now saw into a medium beyond the spectrum
of visible light or conventional instruments, simultaneously
expanding and narrowing his focus and opening his awareness to
a realm of sensitivity where he was normally blind as a bat.
The darkening surroundings now glowed softly with occasional
blue flares marking the swirling eddies of power that fed the hungry storm
brewing overhead. A second look at Urd was enough to cause Ranma to
tense up involuntarily and take a wary step back.

This was bad.

This was very bad.

This was "The Universe is using me as its
personal chamberpot” bad.

Most normal people tended to have auras that were little
more then blobs of grey with the occasional streak of red, blue,
black, green, yellow, or pink to determine alignment. Those who
were either naturally strong in the supernatural or had trained
themselves in the way of magic had auras that were rough
approximations of their natural form and were usually a mixture
of one or more of the basic colors. Adult dragons and the like had
auras that were even more impressive, individual details peculiar
to the being in question could often be made out by those who
could see it.

The auras overlaying this exotic woman's physical body were *very*
realistic.
That's right, auras, as in plural. The first one was almost perfect replica
of the
original body, right down to the individual strands of hair cascading down
her neck.
It was the second one that towered over the first that sent a shiver down
his spine,
seeing the true form of a kami tends to have that effect on anyone that's
not one
of them, even a Cosmoknight wasn't immune from the effect. It also didn't
help
Ranma's confidence any that both auras looked a *lot* more substantial then
the
'real' form.

The other little thing was the telling lack of any garments on those
images.
Not that Ranma really noticed this, since it didn't have any tactical
significance
that little observation was shuffled off to a far distant corner of his
otherwise
preoccupied mind where it would be filed away with all those other little
things
that Saotome either didn't think were important or just didn't understand.
While
this dusty little corner wasn't as big as it used to be, it still
maintained a respectable
amount of volume.

What he did know was:
1.) This lady wasn't human.
2.) She was *much* more intimidating than an adult dragon.
3.) Judging from the way the intensity of the colors kept
constantly shifting from one extreme to another, while she
had oodles and oodles of power, she almost certainly lacked control.

That was both a good thing and a bad thing, good because
it meant that she probably wouldn’t be able to cast any of
those really nasty high level spells that required discipline
and focus. Bad, because if things came down to a fight there
was absolutely *nothing* more dangerous then an unpredictable
female. Well...except perhaps a group of jealous unpredictable
females....(ahem) getting back to the current crisis at hand....

Reflexively he looked over his shoulder for a way out.
No dice, eight pairs of eyes were looking right back at him.

{Wait a second. Eight?}

You could almost see those little gears turning in his head
come screeching to a halt. Now that Ranma could actually
'see' them, he was getting quite an eyeful.

The tall girl in the green fuku was mostly a mixture of medium
green and blue, with green holding dominance. No surprise there.
What was a surprise was that instead of manifesting as a person
or creature like most beings, her inner self was projected as a tree.
A tall majestic oak tree to be precise. Ranma had heard stories
about this kind of thing, it was rumored that occasionally those
with strong ties to nature and the natural order reflected that bond
in their auras. There was also a small red stain that ran into the
very heart of the tree that looked an old emotional wound that
had never fully healed. He prayed that the light pink tint on the
very fringes was a mistake, that kinda thing was only supposed
to plague his human form.

The girl in the blue fuku was slightly more normal.
'Slightly' being the key word here. A standard
'real-form' projection, while not as luminous
as the others it was remarkably well structured.
Almost completely ocean blue, her aura was
a textbook example of calm and tranquility. This
would be a good person to cover his back in
a fight, someone who could remain cool under fire.
It didn't hurt matters any that she wasn't hard on the
eyes either. She looked like his best chance to talk
things out later if he ever ran into these girls again,
a possibility that he was finding more and more likely
with every passing moment.

Now, the cute blonde in the orange fuku wasn't what
he'd expected. Her colors were much richer in tone
then her companions, but the very fringes were worn
and lacked a certain vibrancy that the others had.
This one wasn't a stranger to battle, definitely some combat
experience here. She looked pretty good (nowhere near his
level of course), but there seemed to be some kind of block
that was keeping most of her potential locked up. It required
some pretty heavy duty magic to accomplish something like that,
but for what reason? Uh oh, that pink showing was definitely there
and getting more solid every minute. Definitely not good!

The quiet one in the violet fuku seemed normal enough, but a
little *too* normal. Despite the fact that it was exactly what he'd
expect from someone her age with some minor psychic ability
it just didn't seem to fit with the person he saw before him. But
try as he might Ranma couldn't find anything else, she had a benevolent
alignment and possessed a small amount of supernatural talent and
that was it. But still, something about her aura bothered him...

Now Mr. Fashion Embarrassment wasn't much to look at. Ranma
had seen imps with more impressive fighting spirit. With such
a weak aura challenging even a minor supernatural fiend would
be an automatic death sentence. This guy was either really brave,
really stupid, or just plain nuts. Judging from his earlier actions,
Ranma was willing to lay money on the latter theories. But maybe,
just maybe, by the smallest, most remote margins of possibilities,
that little spark of power within his soul might actually amount to
something worthwhile under the right circumstances.

The little girl he'd rescued was another story all together. In
all his years adventuring he had never seen anything even
remotely like this. A natural living Power Nexus, and untrained
to boot. No wonder those things had been after her, she was a
walking battery of potential psychic energy! Although unable to
use the power that they generated for themselves, with the proper
training these incredibly rare talents could temporarily boost another
person's personal power. This would allow a magic user to cast spells
and attempt rituals normally only possible during solstices and solar
eclipses,
special times when magic was at its strongest. But it normally took decades

of training to achieve the abilities of a Nexus and only a dedicated few
had ever
acomplished it to the best of Ranma's knowledge.

{What's going on here?!}

He almost missed the news crew. Compared to everyone else there they
were like weak shadows on the wall, eclipsed by the brilliant lights
shining
around them. In fact he would have missed them entirely if the one holding
the camera hadn't come closer for a better angle. The sudden movement in
his
direction caused him to instinctively focus his attention on them, but he
quickly
determined that they were no threat.

Out of curiosity Ranma did a quick scan of the girl that was still
unconscious.
She was a Godling as he'd guessed earlier, the signs were unmistakable now.

His effort was also rewarded with a fascinating discovery, yet another
double aura!
Not anywhere near as strong as that mystery woman's, but remarkable
nonetheless.
There was even a faint resemblence to the other aura, were they siblings?
If so, that
might explain the woman's agitation.

That little nagging feeling that something was wrong was back....

{Wait a second. A news crew?}

The full impact finally started to sink in.

{...A NEWS CREW?!!}

The equation was simple, but not at all comforting.

Media + Cosmoknight = A whole lotta trouble.

And that also meant.....

.....Uh oh.
~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey! Are you hard of hearing or something?”

Seeing that no response was forthcoming,
Urd decided to change her tactics. The buxom
goddess stalked forward until she was practically
in the poor guy’s faceplate. Her voice took on a
sultry tone, and her body started to move in ways
that made it quite clear that she was very much a
woman.

“Well? I’m waiting for an explanation.”

She emphasized her point by somehow getting even *closer*.
You could now slip one, maybe even two sheets of paper
between their respective forms, but no more.

The Inner Senshi glared.

The news crew started drooling.

Ranma was suddenly very grateful for his armor's ability to automatically
adjust itself to fit his form, thereby avoiding a potentially embarrassing
predicament. Of course given the circumstances he would have had to
be dead as a doornail *not* to be affected.

{Well, at least it can't get any worse.}

“So are we.”

...Ah damn.

{Just had to think it, didn't I.}

The rest of the Outer Senshi were here.
~~~~~~~~~~~
<BGM: Space Lonely Soldier: Megumi Hayashibara>

With a resigned sense of dread Ranma looked up.

“I am the protector of a new age, Sailor Uranus!”

“I am the soldier of elegance, Sailor Neptune.”

{Oh boy....}

The other girls he could understand, they were still young
enough to get away with the whole fuku thing. He might not
approve of their choice of combat apparel, but at least it
wasn't tacky. The same could not be said of these new arrivals.

The short haired blonde could have passed for a good looking guy,
at least until you looked below the neck. Not exactly his type, but
she was a looker in her own right. Of course her attractiveness was
dimmed a bit by the dark looks she was giving him. Talk about hostility,
this one was just oozing bad vibes. Nice legs though.

The girl with sea-green hair was a bit nicer to look at, but still seemed
out of place in the fuku. She was harder to read, her expression was as
cool as ice. But it was a safe guess to say that her intentions were not
friendly.
One did not make a dramatic entrance from a strategically advantageous
spot in order to invite someone to tea and crumpets.

Unfortunately these two had the power to back up their pretty speeches.
One of them alone he could have handled with little worry, but dealing with

both at once would probably require more then he was willing to use in a
heavily populated area. His ethical and moral code would not allow
him to risk such an action unless it was a real emergency. This hadn't
reached that point of no return yet, but it was getting there.

Their psychic energy signatures were each about half
as strong as his own, which meant that they were about
twice as powerful as the fuku wearing girls who were
already here. Unfortunately their higher level of experience
also meant that they could partially shield their auras from
his detection.  There was no telling what other kind of
nasty surprises they might be hiding, he'd have to treat it
as a worse case scenerio until he knew otherwise. Ranma
especially did not like the look of that sword. It had to be
magical, nobody in their right mind would ever use such a
silly looking weapon unless it was enchanted with some
heavy duty power ups. Too bad that his tattoo didn't allow
him to check items, it only worked on living things.

The third member of their troop was a whole different
story altogether. Not only was she the best looking of the
three but her power level was....

{Oh shit.}

(To be continued....)


PB #10 9c....Or what the heck am I supposed to do now?
~~~~~~~~
-Rifts Earth

Over five miles below the tranquil surface of the Pacific Ocean
an ancient evil raged. In the depths of the Mariana Trench
unfortunate minions who came too close were simply crushed
into pulpy jelly by the Reachers. Hundreds of miles of black tentacles
whipped violently to batter rocks, water, and flesh indiscriminately.
A monstrosity so gigantic and hideous that the mere sight could drive a
man to madness, this was the undisputed terror of the seas. Kraken,
Leviathan, Terror of the Deep, Nightmare Beast, all names given to
the horror through the ages. This was the Lord of the Deep, one of
the most powerful alien intelligences in the Multiverse.

A being of unimaginable age and power that now found itself
threatened for the first time in its existance by insignificant mites.

The Lord of the Deep was angry.

In the last score of years more of its kind had been destroyed then
had perished in the past millenia. In the Americas, silence was the only
response where once over a dozen of its brethren had answered its calls.
It had felt the One of Many Faces perish in England only a handful of years

ago, not so long a time for an Intelligence. It had not been the Long Sleep

of before either, this time the Final Death had overtaken it. There had
been others, weaker cousins that were barely related only in name who
had fallen one by one by one means or another as well. More often then
not a particularly unique energy signature was associated with their
deaths.
A signature that the Lord of the Deep marked well, for none could hunt
the Masters with such impunity and be allowed to live.

That a puny mortal dared to do so was utterly intolerable.

But it was also beginning to experience the first signs of something
that its alien mind had never felt before. In a human, that emotion
would have been called fear. Dimly did it remember the only other
time that so many of its kin had died, during the War with the Old Ones.
Few dared to risk the wrath of their power now, but there was something
eerily familar about this one that dared to kill those who were gods in all

but name.

Something from long ago....

The physical outburst was replaced by a silence that was in its own way
even worse then the former violence. All those nearby who still lived
and could move left as quickly as possible as the Leviathan settled down
and brooded deep within itself.

For yet another part of Current-Rider's prophecy had been fullfilled.
And with each step accomplished the Leviathan's time drew
one day nearer to its end. It knew this, though the creature
did not know how it knew. The Age of the Intelligences was
drawing to a close. They had existed for far too long, their time was
over. Yet the vile creatures refused to succumb to the inevitable and
continued to live on in defiance of the natural order of things.
But now, an end this perversion of the Balance was beginning
to taking place.

That Cursed Prophecy!

In the hopes finding out how to destroy the Lord of the Deep
a brave group of wizards had dared to cast a spell never before
tried. All who participated had died in the attempt, except for
one. Current-Rider, a fusion of man and whale and the first Spellsinger,
who was struck blind and could only remember these words;

"A Band of Warriors, brave and strong.
A Circle of Wizards, wise and clever.
The Largest War Machine.
The Eternal Flame Blade.
The Fires of the Cosmic Forge.
The One True Eye of Eylor.
The Strength of an Unbeliever.
A Hundred Years War.
When All are Done, the Lord of the Deep will Fall."
-Prophecy of the Deep

For the Spellsinger had glimpsed something that mortal eyes
were never meant to see. In truth the words he remembered
were merely a fragment, that had been all that his mind and soul
had been able to stand without collapsing in on itself.

But Current-Rider's action had already been preordained by the Prophecy.
As had so many other events now taking place. A Prophecy which would
shake the very foundations of the Multiverse as it ran its course....
~~~~~~
-Elsewhere

Such a strange dream. But why couldn't she remember it clearly?
Come to think of it, why was it so dark? And why did her head hurt
so much? Had she overslept and missed her shift again?! Wait a second,
calm down, what was the last thing she remembered?

{We were escorting the transports...then the plantery base tried a last
ditch
missile assault. The convoy tried to intercept them but some got
through...so
the commander turned us into a decoy to lure the remaining missiles away...

it worked but then we couldn't take them out fast enough and some of them
got through...}

And then...and then?

Nothing. Just the memory of a blinding
white flash followed by total darkness.

She wondered if she was dead. She decided
against that possibility when another hot lance of pain
shot through her temples. If she was dead then it
wouldn't hurt so much, she decided.

Gunner Brandy Corbin bravely opened one eye wide
and immediately regretted it. It felt like her brain had just
caught on fire and someone was sprinkling kerosene on it.

{Ow ow ow!! Too bright!!}

A few seconds later she risked the dizzying pain again, only
this time Brandy only took a small look as she gave her body
time to get used to the emergency lights. It helped a little,
but the effort still left her drained.

Brandy coughed raggedly, the smell of smoke and scorched
wiring hang heavily in the air. Though it wasn't very pleasant,
it did beat some of the alternatives. At least there *was* air
to breathe. She also didn't hear the dreaded whistling of atmosphere
escaping into the vacuum of space. So it appeared that the turret's
structural integrity hadn't been compromised. But judging from the
damage to her station it looked like the power grid had overloaded
and blown out half of the circuits while frying the rest to a crisp.

Lifting her head up the petite Inquisiter was rewarded by abused nerves
informing her about a whole new batch of aches and pains as her body
violently protested against any further movement. Despite that she somehow
managed to achieve a position more vertical then horizontal and
began to take an assessment of the current situation.

It had been close. How close exactly was revealed when the gunner
looked down. Brandy blanched at the sight of what was left of her console.
It looked like a bomb had gone off in the middle of it. Without her Shield
of
Inner Strength she would have been impaled by the dagger-like fragments
from the explosion. Summoning it had been the last thing she remembered
doing before losing consciousness. The blunted pieces now formed a large
pile in front of her where they had landed after impacting into the force
field.

Even with the protection of the supernatural barrier it soon
became apparent that she had not totally escaped from harm.
A warm stickiness running down her right ear proved to be blood
from a long shallow cut near the top of her head. The young woman
swore softly as she tentatively touched the edges of the wound. There
was no telling what other injuries she had at the moment short of a trip
to the Med-bay. Which meant that Lotion would most likely try to jam
another one of her noxious concotions down her throat. The ship's healer
was notorious among the crew for preferring old fashioned remedies over
high-tech equipment and synthetic medicines whenever possible. Most
of those cures usually involved making the victim ingest large quantities
of substances whose actual origins were questionable at best. In many
cases the cure was often considered worse then the ailment. However,
there was method to her eccentricity. So far all of Lotion's potions had
worked, which was the only reason why the crew had put up with them
as long as they had. Needless to say, those who possessed their own
regenerative abilities or healing powers were much enived by the
crewmembers who did not.

Then Corbin paled again as she remembered that she wasn't the only
person manning the turret.

{Oh shit!! Amanda!!}

The time it tool her to unstrap herself from the seat's safety harness
was the longest minute of her life. As soon as she the last seal unlocked
Brandy started frantically looking for any sign of her co-gunner and
friend.

She didn't have search very far. A dark stain on the far side of
the turret drew her attention and from there the gunner quickly
found what was left of Amanda.

Bile rose in her throat as Brandy's shocked brain tried to make
sense of the havoc. Although farther away from the console
Amanda had not had a personal forcefield to protect her.
That station had been blown violently outward and collapsed
partially on top of the woman. Corbin knew that everything
from the pelvis down had to have been crushed by the sheer
weight. One arm hung like a marionette's, twisted at a nightmarish
angle. Fearing the worst Brandy bent down to check for a pulse.

Nothing.

Still she kept trying, hoping.

Still nothing...wait.

There it was. Faint and thready, but stable for the moment at least.

*...'...*

Tears of relief filled her eyes.

"Shhh. Save your strength."

"..s...sh..shit.....th...that...hurt...."

One aqua blue eye hesitatingly opened. It had nearly swollen
shut and was the skin around it was even now an awful purplish
black. The rest of her wasn't in much better condition.

"...how bad is it? I....I...can't feel my legs."

"...."

Brandy averted her eyes, unable to actually say a
comforting lie yet not wanting to tell her friend the
gruesome truth.

"...that bad huh."

"I....I'm sorry."

"D..don't be. I knew the risks w..wh..when I signed up."

Amanda started coughing raggedly as splashes of dark
crimson decorated the floor.

"Just hang on!"

Rising to her feet she moved to where the internal comm
system was and prayed that it was still working. Brandy
slammed her hand on the red distress button with all of
her strength.

"Medical Emergency in Turret 3!! Get someone down here NOW!!!"

The injured Sea Titan smiled wearily at her panicking friend's back as
Corbin screamed at the bridge demanding that they get off their butts and
do something. Brandy had obviously forgotten about her supernatural
heritage, it would probably take a few weeks but even the worst of her
wounds would heal eventually. As she slipped into the comforting embrace
of unconsciousness Amanda made a mental note to herself to tease the poor
girl about her oversight later.
~~~~~~~~
-Ground Zero

Well, it looked like he’d found the cause of the disturbance.
Or rather, she had found him. It was enough to make a
guy think that he was cursed or something. Was a fair chance
for once really too much to ask of Lady Luck?

{Well, judging from my current situation I'd say the answer is "Yes".}

He did have to admit though, that rarely did trouble come in such an
attractive package. She was quite....exceptional, and her fighting ability
wasn't anything to sneeze at either. Long dark green hair, exotic red eyes
on a classic ageless complexion, a trim waist that most women would
kill for, smooth thighs with just enough muscle for a healthy figure, and a

chest that were certainly more than ample....

*whap*

{Bad thought! Bad thought!!}

He mentally slapped himself, that kind of thinking
would definitely get him into trouble! He had more then
enough girl problems as it was, the last thing he needed
was *more* of them. Especially when the woman in
question eclipsed everyone's auras there, even his!

The Cosmoknight had no trouble registering this Senshi's Power,
it had reached a level where it was so strong that it was simply
*impossible* to conceal. Ranma knew that although he was good,
he wasn't anywhere even remotely near the real powerhouses of
the Multiverse. Still, his current level of ability wasn't anything to
sneer at either. If necessary he could reduce a large city to a
blackened crater without even half trying. However, what he was facing
was on the magnitude of continental devastation, perhaps even extending
to a global level of impact. In either case, he had about as much
a chance in a direct confrontation as a butterfly against a thermonuclear
warhead. Except that you could probably get better odds on the butterfly.

Oh man, she looked like she’d like nothing better to do then to crack him
open like a walnut with that solid looking staff she was carrying. What was

even more unnerving was the way her crimson eyes seemed to pierce through
his armor’s faceplate as though it wasn’t even there. He had to fight the
urge to flinch.

Whoever she was, she was obviously a lot older and much more experienced
then
he could ever hope to achieve in a hundred years. The Knight could see it
in her eyes,
she had that look. The one that said she'd seen it all, done it all, and
gotten the free
T-shirt to boot. He was *way* out of his league here!

To make matters even worse, the alarm he felt was starting to be compounded

by the slow burning flames of desire, an extremely volatile combination
indeed.
Already awakened by the bronze skinned goddess who was still much too
close for his comfort, his more primal instincts were calling for, no, make
that
demanding that he make up for denying them for so long.

{This is nuts! She wants to kill me for crying out loud!!}

Sadly, Ranma's hormones were not listening to the head that had the brains.

They weren't about to let a little thing like his impending demise get in
the way
of an opportunity to have some fun. Something irresistible was drawing him
to her,
like a hapless moth to the beckoning flame. Ranma's hands itched to explore

her secret pleasure points and discover those hidden centers of stimulation

that would invoke soft cries of passion, to breathe in her scent and taste
her....

{Stop it!! Damn it Saotome, pull yourself together!!!}

The violence of his reaction shocked him to the core, such a loss of self
control was completely out of character for him. He was a Knight of the
Forge
and yet here he was acting like some poor sap who had never even seen a
woman
before. Something was wrong, he didn't understand what was happening to
him.
What kind of power did this woman possess that could cause this
uncertain feeling inside of him?

His subconscious knew, even if Saotome himself didn't.
Such a pity that he'd used the *cursed* scrolls of Sinanju
to learn the secrets of Anything Goes Marital Arts all those
years ago...
~~~~~~

Shadow shook his head, not sure whether or not
he should laugh or groan. Perhaps both. At this rate
the women were going to eat him alive.

"He's still pretty dense for someone so intelligent."

The Bard let a small puff of air escape from his mouth.

"Yes, it's rather sad actually."

"It gets worse."

The pair turned toward Zora.

"We already knew that."
~~~~~~
-Not the safest place to be

Sailor Pluto shook her head to clear it of the strange
sensations that had momentarily disturbed her normally
unshakable composure. An odd sense of excitement
coupled with a nervousness utterly foreign to the Time
Guardian had seized her upon getting her first good look
of the troublemaker that had forced her to intervene in the
timeline. Almost as if there had been a connection between
them for the briefest of moments. This wasn’t what she had
been expecting, not by a long shot. For the second time in
the same century Sailor Pluto was caught off guard. This
was starting to get out of hand, she was *not* supposed to be
surprised!

Pluto had absolutely no idea what this stranger was, yet he seemed
strangely
familar. But to the best of her extensive knowledge she had no recollection
of
ever meeting anyone from either side that looked like this. She scanned
him closely, noting the predatory lines of his form and disquieting sense
of "presence" that surrounded him. Her eyes narrowed slightly as
she noted that the voluptuous platinum blonde seemed to be
all but glued to his front.

An unfamiliar pang of....disgust?...anger?....jealousy?...envy? struck.
Why did she feel such a strong desire to separate the two of them?
And why did the image of a *100 ton* mallet suddenly pop into her head?
She was supposed to be removed from such things, the Guardian of the
Time couldn't afford such luxury of human emotions. But the sentiment
was there regardless, something within him was calling to a part of her
that she'd thought had been buried forever. Pluto didn't like this feeling
at all,
it was so messy and strange. She told herself that it was only a temporary
thing
that would go away once the stranger was dealt with, but that rebellious
part of
her that had been reawakened refused to listen.

"Who are you?"

The slight tremor in her voice was practically unnoticable, but
she still cursed herself for it even existing in the first place.

"I should be asking you the same question."

Somehow Ranma managed to extract himself from Urd's clutches
between one moment and the next as he went on the offensive.
Not all fights were won with force, perhaps if he took the initiative
they could avoid something that they both would most likely regret.
If she beat him he lost, if he somehow managed to beat her he'd still
come out as the loser. And for some reason just the thought of having
to raise his hand against her made something inside him cry out in protest.

After all, it couldn't hurt to....

{Oh that's right, "Do or do not, there is no try".
You just had to drum that into my head didn't you, Luke.}
~~~~~~~~
-Not far enough

"Oh ho. So this is what you're up to Urd."

Demoness First Class Mara grinned nastily from
her perch above the action. The thrice-bedamned
temple was locked up tighter then a miser's safe, she'd
found that out the hard way this morning while attempting
to fullfill her mission of making Morisato's life miserable.

It had been quite a shocking experience, thus her current
surveillance. It would be awhile till she was back up to full power
and since she couldn't get inside, that left causing trouble for
whoever was unfortunate to be outside the safety of the Ultimate
Ward of Protection. How fortunate that a sudden enormous burst
of divine energy from this district had caught her attention.
Now not only did she have the little techno-brat and Urd out
in the open, but as a *bonus* the newcomer was here as well.
This promised to be a profitable situation, her favorite kind.

{Now if Senbei manages to do his job properly, things
should start to get very interesting.}

The tiny imp had been ordered into action as soon as she'd
spotted Urd making a play for the stranger.
With his talents, a misunderstanding was sure to occur and
mayhem inevitable. At worst it would be a temporary
split that she could exploit, best case would be for the stranger
to be forced to reveal how powerful he really was, the Forces
of Darkness were always looking for new recruits. If he was
good enough to survive against that kind of firepower....

She might even be tempted to bring him in herself if
he turned out to be worth her while.

A win/win scenerio, sometimes being evil paid off in spades.

Only one nagging little thing still bothered her, the discharge
of Holy Power from here that had caught her attention had
not come from either of the Goddesses on the scene.
Mara had come to recognize the power signatures of all three
from first hand experience, and that hadn't been Belldandy's
doing either. But there were no signs of any other higher
powers here, divine or infernal. Strange indeed, that Power
definitely had a female's markings all over it, but the
nature of the emanations disturbed her, they had been
far too old to have come from any of the current pantheons.
~~~~~

Ranma gestured toward the other Senshi
on the street.

"I'm not the villain here, your friends can
vouch for that."

At least he assumed that the similar fukus
were a standard uniform for all of them. His
luck would be running true to form if it turned
out that they were actually blood enemies instead.

"That's right! Can't you give him a chance Pluto?"

Jupiter was the unsurprisingly the first to speak in their
rescuer's defense. Why should Usagi be the only one to
get the hero?

Venus was of a like mind. Surely the others would
understand once she explained she had called dibs
on him, right?

"Yeah! He really shoved his sausage up our furnace!"

{{Huh?!}}

Everyone turned toward Senshi of Love with wide eyes and
even wider sweatdrops on the back of their respective
heads (and helmet).

"What? What'd I say?"

A redfaced Mercury explained while looking anywhere except
directly at her fellow Senshi.

"Venus, that's supposed to be "Pulled our bacon out of the fire.""

"Oopsie."

*CRASH*

Throughout Japan a not-so-mysterious occurence
of simultaneous facefaults took place.
~~~~~~
-Where Legends Dwell

"Trapping your knight with your own pieces? That's not like you."

It is the beginning and the ending of the Circle.

"Did you say something?"

A beak could not frown. But the figure came as close to
it as his features permitted. He loved a good intellectual challenge
as much as the next person, but still there were times when even
he wished that things could be simpler then they were. Moves within
moves, games within games, always were there too many secrets.
Sometimes he envied the mortals and the way they lived their lives in
blessed ignorance of the many tangled webs of power being woven
among the fabric of reality.

He sighed, such was not to be their fate. But for life of him he still
couldn't comprehend what sort of strategy he was facing. There was
no order, no patterns this time, instead the moves were seemingly at
random and utterly chaotic in their effect on the game. But now it
seemed that the other side had finally stumbled on an impasse.

"There's nowhere left for him to go."

[Only if he plays by the rules.]
~~~~~

"I don't want to fight you."

Pluto hesitated, her determination wavering for the
briefest of moments. There was something incredibly
compelling about his voice, a quality that made her
want to believe him despite her better judgment.

What if he was telling truth? Could he actually be
an ally instead of yet another enemy?

No, said the part of her that was a Senshi. He was
a man, and the power had always corrupted them
in the end no matter how noble they might have been in
the beginning.(1) They could never be trusted, betrayal
was inevitable. Perhaps he came in peace today, but
what of tomorrow? Best not to take the chance, her
warrior's instincts cried out to destroy him on the spot.

Yes, said another voice. It urged her to trust him, to let go
of the old fears and suspicions. If he was evil then why was
there no general feeling of malice or hatred surrounding him?
Serenity had once spoken of other forces who had come from
beyond their dimension to aid the founders of the Moon Kingdom,
a legend so ancient that it had only been passed down from each
descending Queen to the next. If Usagi hadn't been so young and
the danger from the Earth so great then the Queen would not have
had to entrust that knowledge with the Keeper of Secrets during
the last days of the Silver Millenium. So there were others besides
the Dark Ones, it was possible...

But how to be sure?

"Neptune."

"Yes?"

"I need you to use your Mirror."

"Alright, but what am I supposed to be looking for?"

"The truth."
~~~~~~~
-Trouble

Senbei, Sub-Demon of Unhappiness and Misfortune,
Second class Limited license, was getting ready for his
happy level to go up, up, up!

"Heh heh heh! Let the unhappy begin!"

Sailor Neptune frowned as she concentrated harder,
trying to get the image in the Mirror to focus. Yet the
murky cloud still remained there despite her best efforts.
She couldn't get a clear reading about him either way,
the Knight might as well have been a granite statue for
all that the artifact was able to tell her.

Finally the Neptune shook her head in a mixture of
frustration and defeat.

"I'm sorry Pluto, the Mirror either can't or won't
show me anything about him."

"I see."

Although alarmed by this setback, Pluto's mind was
still open. A few more minutes and Ranma might
have been able to bridge the gulf of suspicion and
mistrust that seperated them. But that was when
Senbei's surprise went off.
~~~~~~
-Phaseworld Center

Katrina suddenly stopped and shivered as a dark
chill seemed to brush across her very soul. It was too
much like the panic attacks she had suffered a few years
ago during the Gathering of Heroes. The unrelenting feeling
of terror, of being absolutely helpless to do anything, those
old fears threatened to drag her down once more into the darkness.

"No...no....NO!!"

"Are you all right?"

Her guide looked at her with a worried expression on his face.

"I..I'm fine. Just a bad memory."

The D-bee nodded and turned away even though he wasn't
completely convinced. The Alliance paid him to *not* ask
questions, and anyway he wanted absolutely nothing to do
with that crazy Saotome or any of his women.

Especially this one. There was something about her that
made him as nervous as a cat in a room full of sleeping
pit bulls. If the money for this job hadn't been so good.....

"Ranma..."

The way she said that name sent cold shivers
down the guide's spine. Yes, as soon as his task
was finished and payment delivered he was getting
as far away from her as possible!
~~~~~~
-In a galaxy far, far away....

"Master Skywalker! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, but just for a moment I thought I felt
a great disturbance in the Force."

Strange, why did he suddenly find himself thinking
about an old friend now of all times? It had been years
since his former student had left, but he would never
forget Saotome. Never had a more brash and headstrong
individual ever succeeded in passing the Jedi training, quite
an accomplishment when Ranma was barely able to tap into
even the most basic aspects of the Force. But now there was
a sense of urgency to those memories, yet for the life of him
he didn't know why.

{Something has happened. But what?}

Even a Jedi Master must wonder sometimes.






Constructive C&C is always welcome. 
~~~~~~~~~~
Part 2.5c: Why ask why?
~~~~~~~~~~
-You Are So Screwed.

Unnoticed by Neptune, her artifact began to 
grow dark as the barely adaquate forces of 
adversity went to work. 

"Hmm?" 

{Someone's being very sloppy.}

Urd glanced around curiously, someone nearby was 
expending quite a bit of magical power and if 
the amount of leakage she was picking up was 
any indication they obviously weren't very good at it.

{Now where have I seen that style before?}

The identity of the culprit was right on 
the tip of her tongue when her attention 
was suddenly called back to the little
drama unfolding in front of her. It looked 
like the final act was about to begin.
~~~~~~
-You Think You Have Problems?

{I am not going to panic. It's 
nonproductive and a waste of energy.
There has to be some kind of logical
explanation for all of this phemonena.}

Sailor Mercury kept telling herself that 
as her VR visor hiccuped and finally 
started displaying something coherent.

"Eep."

That statement pretty much summed up 
her feelings when the nature of the 
data she was currently receiving became
clear. 

{This can't be right! There has to be 
some kind of mistake!! It's impossible!!!}
~~~~~~
-You Ever Get That Sinking Feeling?

She still couldn't take her eyes off of him.
Why did she feel that there was a connection 
between the two of them? This warm feeling 
coming from inside her heart was filling her 
entire body with a sense of....joy? 

Who was he? What was he?
And most importantly, why did his presence
make her feel so safe and secure? She had 
only experienced anything remotely like this
a long time ago, when she was being held in 
her father's arms as he rocked her to sleep.

Yet she was feeling the same sensation now,
that complete certainty of being sheltered 
and knowing that no harm would come. 

Sailor Saturn looked at him, 
and wondered....
~~~~~~
-You're Where?

{This sucks.}

Being stuck in a quasi-dimensional pocket 
courtesy of an ancient martial arts technique  
was not very high on Ishtar's list of things she
enjoyed doing. For one thing, it virtually cut 
off her awareness of the outside world. The sword 
intensely disliked this muffling of her senses, 
which included even the bond that linked her
with her owner. She could still feel it in 
the back of her mind like a warm ember, but
was otherwise "left in the dark", so to speak. 

It didn't help matters any that gravity was 
nonexistant in here, objects tended to just 
retain stationary positions in what she
assmed was the middle. Even her sense of 
time was distorted, although given the 
nature of the surroundings that might 
be considered a blessing in disguise.

Because worst of all....
It was so damn BORING!

She couldn't even have the satisfaction of 
chewing Saotome out while she was stuck in 
here. He had learned early on to tune out 
her many complaints, it helped that this 
was one of the few situations that dampened 
her telepathy down to a level that even 
an infant could block her sendings.

Not that Ranma's mental defenses were 
much better then an infant's, at least 
in her opinion. Honestly, how had that 
silly boy ever managed to survive so 
long without her? 

{That over-inflated ego of his is going to 
be the death of him yet. I didn't sense
anything really dangerous nearby, but still....}

The little tart of a goddess she'd dismissed
as a threat almost immediately, it didn't take
a genius to see what *that* one was looking for.

If Ranma couldn't win her over with that weird 
enhanced sex appeal of his *then* she'd be surprised. 
That way he had with women was part of the reason why 
Ishtar tended to look down upon any female chasing her 
wielder, she knew that most of them just wanted him for 
his body. Even if it was a very nice body and even 
if it took an exceptional willpower to resist his 
semi-supernatural charm that was still no excuse! 
Ishtar loved Ranma for who he was on the inside, not 
for his looks (pleasing though they might be).
So naturally she got more then a little peeved 
whenever one of those temptresses tried to get 
their claws on him. 

{Sigh.}

There *had* been the beginnings of a slightly 
disturbing reading at the very edges of her 
senses right before she had been returned here. 
But it had been very far away and the contact 
was too brief for her to confirm it. 

{Well, it might have just been a fluke. And
even if it does turn out to be dangerous 
I'm sure that he wouldn't be crazy enough 
to confront it without me there....I hope.}
~~~~~~
-You Dirty Rat!

Sembei smiled nastily as 
he snapped his fingers.

"Unhappy strike number one."

Black tendrils of ectoplasm erupted forth
from the face of Sailor Neptune's mirror 
and launched themselves at the surprised 
Senshi. Although their appearence was
rather horrifying they were actually quite 
harmless. The imp was more concerned with
causing chaos then actual injury, not to 
mention the fact that he lacked the power
to give his creations much substance anyway.

Having experienced this type of unexpected 
situation before, she naturally responded
with all the calm and dignity one would 
expect from such a mature young lady.

"AAAHHH!!!"

Then again...maybe not.

Everything seemed to happen at once after that.
~~~~~~~
-Ristmoth, Governor Ryga's Palace

The remaining Imperial troops crouched 
nervously behind whatever cover they 
could find. They knew it was only a 
matter of time until the rebels finally 
broke through. The armored doors might 
look thick and solid, but it wouldn't 
last long against any real firepower. This 
was going to be their last stand, none of 
them held any illusions as to what fate 
the rebels had in mind for them. The 
problem with serving a huge evil empire 
that trampled the masses into the dirt 
was that occasionally those masses clawed 
their way out and then pulled their oppressers 
down into the dirt and buried them in it.

Suddenly it grew quiet. 

The constant background hum of energy 
discharges had ceased.

Soldiers clutched their Power Halbards and 
Pulse Rifles closer.

For a long moment eerie silence filled the building.
No one dared to even breathe, afraid that it would 
shatter their temporary reprieve.

Then the sound of many footsteps moving toward the
palace broke the illusion. Snipers stationed at 
the windows started to open fire. Bodies could be 
heard dropping on the grounds outside by the dozen.

The return fire from the attackers was overwhelming 
in its intensity. Snipers who survived the initial 
hailstorm of plasma bolts and laser beams became 
the recipients of mini-missiles and fusion grenades 
as rebel forces dislodged them from their tenaciously 
held positions.

A dull red glow started to appear in the middle
of the armored doors protecting the main entrance. 
The glowing area slowly grew from the size of 
a quarter to nearly twice the diameter of a 
normal man. The center went from dull bloodish
red to bright cherry red, then to molten yellow 
orange, and finally to a blinding white.

*BOOM*

Charging through the wreckage came 
the screaming hordes.

"For Freedom and Liberty! Death to the Empire!!"
~~~~~~~
-Yikes!

{So it was lie after all! Damn him!} 

For some reason this betrayal hurt far more
then it should have even though she had been
expecting it all along. There wasn't much 
comfort to be found in being proven right all 
the time. For a few precious moments, she had 
secretly hoped that for once her instincts were 
wrong. But now it was too late for regrets, 
all that remained were the bitter ashes of 
lost hope and a burning desire for vengence.
 
"Dead Scream."

Sailor Pluto initiated her signature attack.
~~~~~~
-Double Yikes!!

"Neptune!"

It was the equivalent of lighting a 
match in a room full of dynamite. To 
say that Sailor Uranus was angry would 
be the understatement of the century.

She was FURIOUS. 

{This guy is *HISTORY*!}

"Space Sword Blaster!!"
~~~~~~
-You couldn't figure it out earlier?!

She spotted the culprit 
just one moment too late.

{Senbei? That little..!! So this is all MARA's fault!!} 

Urd rolled up her sleeves as she prepared
to teach that no-good two-bit imp a lesson.

"Lightning STRIK..Eek! Put me down!"
~~~~~~~~
-Are You Confused Yet?

He didn't know what was going on.
One second it seemed that everything
would be all right and then all hell 
had broken loose.

That girl, Sailor Neptune, was struggling 
against what looked like dark jello. 
Ranma realized after a moment of confusion
that it was ectoplasm, though he'd never 
seen it in that color before. The stuff 
was practically harmless, although it 
could be kinda disgusting for the unprepared. 

The other two took one look and turned back 
toward him with grim expressions on their faces.

{Uh oh.}

Ranma knew a setup when he saw one. It was obvious 
that someone had just framed him. Unfortunately
there was no way for him to prove it right now, 
and simply proclaiming his innocence at this point 
was obviously not going to do any good. 

{So much for talking my way out of this.}

The short tempered blonde confirmed 
his suspicions about the sword when 
she shouted out some kind of command 
phrase and her blade fired a energy 
bolt at him.

Ranma couldn't make heads or tails 
of the "sphere" (for lack of a better 
term to describe it) that the other 
woman shot at him. It looked pretty 
nasty though, so it would probably
be in his best interests to avoid it.
That one called Sailor Pluto(?) looked 
really pissed off at him, and the 
unfairness of it all made the Knight 
want to scream with frustration.

Then Ranma saw that he wasn't the only 
one in danger here. What was that goddess 
doing?! Didn't she realize that those
projectiles were going to...

{Oh screw it! I can apologize 
to her later.}

With no time to lose The Cosmoknight 
grabbed the platinum blonde in one 
arm and slung her over his shoulder
as he leaped out of the way of the 
incoming attack.

An explosion rocked the ground 
where he'd been standing just a 
moment earlier. Oddly enough, it
didn't seem to cause much damage 
to the street. Which either meant
that those were very weak attacks
(not likely) or they were similar 
in nature to phase weapons in that 
they were meant for *live* targets 
(Quite probable *shudder*).
~~~~~~~~
-Phaseworld Center, Level 2-B: Spacetown

"C'mon, We have to get going. 
Our contact is waiting in the
Seel's Whails."

"The what?"

"Seel's Whails, it's a Spacer bar. 
Lotta freelancers and runners hang 
out there. Most of them are sympathetic 
to the Rebels so it's as safe a place 
as any for us."

"If you say so."

Privately Sun had her own doubts about that.
This part of the city was only slightly rundown 
but she had the uncomfortable feeling that 
their passage was being watched by many pairs 
of eyes. Even though the streets were nearly 
empty of people there was a dangerous tension 
in the air. She rested a hand on her holdout 
blaster, its familar presence on her hip was 
reassuring as always. 

"Just keep a low profile and we should be 
able to avoid any trouble."

The guide just hoped that none of the
rough and tumble types around here 
noticed his client. Her exotic beauty
had not escaped his notice, even in
this interdimensional hub of the 
multiverse the woman stood out. 

{Yes, she's quite a looker.}

He briefly found himself almost 
envying Saotome. But that only 
lasted until he saw that *look* 
in her eyes again. No siree, 
he couldn't wait to part company 
with her. The sooner, the better!
~~~~~~~
-You'll be sorry!

Urd's shapely posterier wiggled 
in vain as she struggled to escape 
from her new position. Being carried 
over this barbarian's shoulder like 
the spoils of war was most embarrassing.

"Do you have any idea how undignified this is?!"

Beating her hands against the back 
of his armor proved equally fruitless. 
She might as well have been a sack full 
of groceries for all he seemed to care.

{Oh no! My nails! And I just had them done too!}

"Would you settle down please? 
I'm a little busy at the moment!"

Ranma was having some trouble holding onto 
the scandalously clad woman while 
simultaneously jumping and dodging about 
as not one, but two infuriated opponents  
tried their damned best to make him very, 
very dead. Sadly, this was a situation 
that he was much too familar with, having
experienced variations of the same theme
many, many times over the past couple of 
years. 

Of course this *was* the first time 
that he found himself unable to fight 
back. These girls weren't really bad,
they'd just been tricked into thinking
he was the villain here. That observation 
still didn't help his situation any though.

In the course of most events there 
will occasionally be *accidents*. 

When the event includes frantic evasive 
maneuvers coupled with a handicap that 
was both soft and curved in all the right 
places the odds of one of those *accidents* 
taking place tends to skyrocket into the 
stratosphere.

*goose*

"Eek! You pervert!"

"Sorry about that!"

"Release your hostage! And stop molesting her!"

"Hostage?! You're the one who's trying 
to kill us! At least let me put her down 
first! And that was an accident!"

"Shut up! Space Sword Blaster!"

"Watch those hands buster!"

{Why do these things always happen to me?!}
~~~~~~
-Are You Sure You Know What You're Doing?

"Stop it! You're making a mistake!"

"Pluto! Uranus! Wait! There's been some kind 
of misunderstanding!"

When Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus are the 
sole voices of reason in a conflict, it's 
time to start worrying.

The other Senshi prudently decided to 
take cover, as did Sasami and the now-awake
and very confused Skuld. 

The little goddess felt a lot better now, 
but why was everyone fighting again?!

Tuxedo Kamen produced a rose in one hand and watched 
the battle carefully, waiting for an opening.
~~~~~~
-High Orbit Over Ristmoth

"Is everyone alright?"

Assorted affirmative replies came in
as the bridge's emergency lights flickered 
wildly. There were many cuts and bruises but
amazingly no real serious injuries. It 
appeared that body armor and natural 
toughness had saved the day once again.

"I need a status report. Sammy, weapons and 
navigation. Tania, check the communications 
broadcast array and all decks and turrets. 
Ana, can we still cloak? And someone contact 
the engine room, I'm sure Silvia is pretty 
pissed about all the abuse her "wee lil' bairns" 
have taken."

"Yes, Ma'am."

The crew went about their tasks quickly and 
efficently despite their recent near brush 
with oblivion. It was simply part of the job.

"She can still cloak, but the grid is looking 
pretty unstable. I wouldn't recommend it 
short of a complete emergency. Our active stealth 
systems are pretty overloaded at the moment, 
we need time to let them cool down."

"Noted."

"We're at 85% of optimal power, capacitors
for the main guns are off-line and our shields
are so thin that you could throw a spitball
through them. Ship's navigation seems to have
survived quite nicely though, some luck seems 
to be finally going our way. Missiles and 
torpedos are available but the Reaper cannon
is off-line. Secondary batteries are still 
functional, but it looks like they'll be only
at half strength for little bit. Starboard turrets 
are down, looks like numbers 3 and 6 are a total loss." 

"Medical Teams have been dispatched. Yes Brandy,
they're coming so please stop yelling at me! Commander,
the crew manning turret 6 reports that they're fine,
they just got tossed around a bit."

"Casualties?"

"Well...just a moment. Brandy! I told you they're 
on their way! Stop screaming already! What was that 
again?"

"Casualties?"

"Coming in now. Whoa, looks like Dr. Lotion is 
really going to be earning her pay this time!"

"Lieutenant."

"Forty eight crew members have reported injuries so far. 
Twelve of them are going to require hospitalization. Only
two really serious cases though, Amanda and Ikeya."

"I'm sure the doctor will be thrilled."

Now the Commander hesitated, this was always 
the worst part about being in command.

"...fatalities?"

There was a brief pause as Tania checked the
incoming reports. 

"Looks like we cheated the piper again, Ma'am."

Ayla let out a breath she didn't 
even know she had been holding.

{Thank the Goddess.}

"Alright people, don't relax yet. 
We still have a job to do."

"Aye aye, Commander."
~~~~~
-You Were Warned About Days Like This. 

"Dead Scream."

Ranma found himself forced to alter 
directions in midair once again, that 
Sailor Pluto seemed to have an uncanny 
knack for being able to correctly predict 
where he was going to touchdown.

"World Shaking!"

So far he'd been able to avoid coming 
into contact with whatever it was they 
was shooting at him, but it hadn't been 
easy. No sooner did he manage to dodge 
one then the other would launch her attack. 
The two of them were working as a team, 
keeping him off balance so that he couldn't 
retake the initiative.

{This is getting me nowhere! I need a plan,
but...aw no, please don't tell me I'm grabbing
what I think I'm grabbing!}

"You better not let me go because the 
moment you do I'm gonna KILL you, Pervert!"

{Oh joy.}

Correction, first he needed to deposit his unwilling 
passenger somewhere safe. *Then* he could worry about
what to do with latest additions to the long line of 
people trying to kill him.

Well, it could have been worse. 

They could have been trying to marry him instead.
~~~~~~
-You're Despicable!

{This is GREAT! Explosions, a beautiful 
woman in peril, the Sailor Senshi, and 
lots of gratuitious violence! Who could 
ask for more?}

The News Anchor and his trusty sidekick were 
happier then pigs in manure. Even if they 
didn't know what was really going on.

On a related note, the camera man *was* able
to get an indecent shot of Urd's panties 
when she was hoisted over the Knight's shoulder.

This resulted in several million slaps being 
delivered to viewers nationwide by angry wives 
and girlfriends.

Plus one electrocution.

Keiichi Morisato could only 
cover his eyes and groan. 
~~~~~~
-High Ristmoth Orbit, Free World's Flagship 

"Admiral Iblis, the Ristmoth system has been 
secured. All Imperial ships have been destroyed 
or have retreated from the sector. We've won, sir!"

"Don't get your hopes up just yet, Captain.
We still have to capture this planet first."

"Yes sir."

"Ensign, status of the troop landings."

"Proceeding as planned, Admiral. The convoy's 
escorts suffered heavy losses though, we lost
nine corvettes and six other ships are out of 
commission."

"Did we lose any of the transports?"

"No sir. It appears that they were 
able to stop all of the missiles."

"Good, we can't afford to lose any of them
before they hit the planet. Our resources 
are stretched thin enough as it is, High 
Command is taking an awfully big risk here."

"Sir, The first wave of transports will be 
landing in the capital city in twenty minutes."
~~~~~~
-You Can't Be Serious?!

An opening finally presented itself.

Sailor Pluto was forced to abandon her 
next shot when it became clear that the 
Knight had somehow managed to maneuver 
himself directly between his two opponents.
This made it impossible for either one of 
them to attack him without risking the 
chance of hitting the other.

The advantage only lasted a moment as 
they both quickly moved to get out of 
each other's way. But a moment was all 
he really needed.

"Oof! Hey! You Jerk!!"

It was not exactly the most 
gentle of landings, Ranma was
in a hurry after all. At least
she was on the ground and now
safely out of the line of fire
(he hoped).

Urd rubbed her tender bottom with
one hand while shaking her fist at 
him with the other.

"Ohh, you're gonna get it!"

Now that he finally had full mobility 
again it was time to think up a plan
of action.

That took him about ten seconds, 
which was nine more then he normally needed.

{Okay, there's no way to calm them down. But 
I *can* make them even madder then they already 
are. Let's hope that certain universal principles
hold true, otherwise they're probably going to be
picking me off the street with ink blotters.}

Once he started on this path, there would 
be no going back. Did he really want to do this?

"Die, Monster!"

{I guess that answers my question.}

Ranma took a deep breath (don't ask me how)
and unleashed his most devastating special
attack, one so horrifying that it was 
only passed down through the Saotome 
line and even then, only from father to son.

"You stupid uncute tomboy!"
~~~~~~~~
-O_O'

"He calls *that* a plan?!"

"I...believe so."

"Zora, I think your Ranma lost a 
few marbles when he came back to 
his home dimension."

"Always a method to the madness, there is."

"In other words, he's nuts."
~~~~~~~
-You're In For It Now!

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!!"

She might dress like a man in her civilian
form, but Haruka still had her feminine 
pride. Yet even though Uranus was seething 
with rage she was still in control of herself. 

Something more was needed to tip the scales.

"You're also a flatchested maniac."

That did the trick. 

Of all the things he could have picked, 
Ranma had to choose the one which she 
was most sensitive about. 

*VOOSH*

A gigantic red-hot battle aura sprang up 
around Sailor Uranus. Nobody insulted her 
chest!! Nobody!!! 

The sun hid its face behind clouds of 
darkest black. Lightning danced across 
the heavens and vermin within a two mile 
radius suddenly found that they had 
pressing business elsewhere. 

{Uh oh. I may have overdone it a little bit.}

"CRUSH!! KILL!! MAIM!! DESTROY!!!"

She came in swinging hard and fast. 
Any Amazon warleader would have been 
proud to call her one of their own 
at that moment.

As soon as he dodged the first thrust to 
his head the Knight was forced to twist back
and to the side as the lunge turned into a 
slash aimed for his abdomen. Her second stab 
came in unexpectedly low in an attempt to sever 
one of his hamstrings while he was in such an 
awkward position, but it was thwarted by his 
armor. The attack did leave a deep cut in the 
ultra-hard material though, and that fact 
did not go unnoticed by anyone present. 

Recovering quickly, Ranma was able to
avoid Uranus's next attacks by shifting 
just enough to the left and right to prevent
the blade from skewering him in the vitals.

It helped that her swings were beginning to 
get wilder and more frenzied with every miss.
He continued to give ground freely to her 
furious assault, always making sure to stay
close enough that the other Senshi after his 
hide couldn't use that strange attack of hers
without hitting them both. 

'If the enemy's forces are united, seperate them.'

'All warfare is based on deception.'

'If your opponent is of base temper, seek 
to irritate them.'

The wisdom of Sun Tzu still held true thousands 
of years later. But his entire plan depended on 
the last two being correct as well. Timing would 
be everything. He would have only one shot, they 
wouldn't fall for this a second time.
~~~~~~
-Do You See What I See?

Uranus's readings were nearly off
the scale. She was actually *glowing*
from all the battle energy radiating 
forth from her body! 

Mercury used one hand to push her 
jaw back up into position. 

The blue haired Senshi didn't even try to 
get a reading from Pluto. She knew it 
would only give her nightmares in the 
days to come.

The Time Guardian looked really angry.
That was *scary*, especially since this was 
the strongest emotional reaction that Setsuna 
had ever shown!

{Is he insane? They're going to kill him!}

Once again she tried to scan the stranger,
although his constant movement made that 
difficult. 

{Strange....the jamming seems to have stopped.}

Not that it did much good. Whatever that armor 
was composed of, it wasn't anything that her 
computer could recognize. It also seemed to 
block any attempts to scan deeper, infrared 
and ultraviolet sensor beams were absorbed 
into it without a trace.

{This can't be right!}

How could his power level be at practically zero?!
Even youma and daomons had a level of energy that 
could be detected. 

Yet his reading was as cold as ice...

{Ice?}

Something about that last observation sent alarms 
ringing in her head. Why was this person trying so 
hard to intentionally keep Uranus in a burning rage 
while at the same time maintaining a personal power 
level that was almost on par with a corpse?

{Hot and cold....what's the connection?}

*beep**beep*

Then she saw it. As the Outer jumped into 
the air with her Space Sword held high,
the Knight's right arm suddenly became
a black void as every last bit of heat 
energy was expelled from it.

"Uranus, look out! It's a trap!!"

Too late. 

{Gotcha.}

Ranma's fist rocketed out into an uppercut.

"Hiryu Shoten Ha!"
~~~~~~
-(O_O)

"I don't believe it. It actually worked?!"

"Looks like it."

"Told you so."

"Okay, so now how is he going to deal with Pluto?"

An uncomfortable silence descended. 

Crickets decided to chirp in the background
and were promptly devoured by several dozen
woodland spirits who were in urgent need of 
some munchies.

"I thought so."

Shadow sighed wearily, that was the trouble with
these heroes. They always forgot about those little 
details until it was too late.
~~~~~
-So Tell Me, What You Plan To Do About The Rest Of Them?

Ranma had been aiming for just the edge of Sailor 
Uranus's battle aura, so he only knicked it a little 
with the "Soul of Ice" technique. Of course, considering 
how much heat she was putting out he had to pull his 
punch quite a bit short in order to keep the size of the 
resulting tornado down.

*WHOOSH*

The twister was only a couple dozen meters high. 
But it was strong enough to pick up the unfortunate 
Outer and send her hurtling skyward like a helpless
stray leaf. Through long practice and experience Ranma 
had learned how to direct where the Rising Dragon 
Ascension's victim(s) would land. Normally he used
it to make sure his enemies wound up in the worst 
possible spots. This time he was trying to make 
sure that this woman didn't break anything when she 
hit the ground, even magic could only go so far when
it came to preventing damage from falling several stories.

How fortunate then that there was a truck 
lying on its side nearby, its cargo of 
leafy vegetables spilled out nice and high 
next to it. Apperently the driver had 
abandoned it sometime during the first battle, 
since the once fresh produce had grown rank in 
the daytime heat. It would certainly cushion a 
landing, but the smell...

{Oh well, beggers can't be choosy.}

It was good plan, all things considered.

Unfortunately there was still a hostile 
factor that Ranma failed to take into 
account.

"Heh, time for Unhappy Strike Two!"
~~~~~~~
-Well, You Tried.

Neptune, still struggling to get the
slimy gunk off of her, just happened
to pick that moment to look up.

Upon seeing her beloved about to come 
crashing down into the street Neptune 
did the first thing that came to mind.

She jumped and tried to catch her.

But a sudden stray updraft threw her timing off.

*Kabonk*

Instead of catching Sailor Uranus, 
they collided in midair.

The two of them quickly discovered that ectoplasm 
is *very* sticky, right before they crashed into
a small hill of stinky rotten greens.

Their screams of outrage could 
be heard for miles around.
~~~~~
-You Can't Win Them All

Right after Sembei finished his latest act 
of mischief an annoying tapping sensation 
started on his back.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It just wouldn't stop, so the little imp
turned around. His eyes were met by a 
pair of feet.

{Uh oh...}

He looked up. 

"Eep."

Skuld looked down at him with a scary expression
on her face. Her slightly dented Bug Masher 
Mark II balanced on one shoulder.

Sembei pulled out a pair of old fashioned 
spectacles and put them on.

"You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?"

The young goddess's rebuttal was 
simple but quite elequent.

*WHAM*
~~~~~~~
-Do You Have Any Last Words?

Ranma winced behind the safety of his armor,
so much for his plan going the way it was 
supposed to. He had not been expecting the 
third girl to get in the way. 

That *had* to have hurt.

But on the bright side, at least 
they wouldn't be after him for awhile.
However he wouldn't want to be around when 
those two finally freed themselves from 
that gooey little mess they were in.

Two down with only one left to worry about. 
Speaking of which...

{Where'd she go?!}

Somewhere in all the excitement he'd 
lost track of where Sailor Pluto was.
He looked frantically around, 
but couldn't spot her anywhere. 

Ranma didn't even try to kid himself into
believing that she had actually left. He 
could still feel her presence, a pressure 
that weighed down heavily on the air itself. 

Seeking a better position from which to defend himself, 
the Knight went from the street to the rooftops. 
From up there he'd have more manuvering room and a 
better view of the surroundings.

Still he found no sign of her.

{I think I'm in trouble.}
~~~~~~~
-You think?

Mara froze where she was as the armored 
figure turned to look in her direction. 
But her barrier held and he looked 
straight through her position without 
even seeing her.

She let out a small sigh of relief. 
That had been too close for comfort.

{It wouldn't do to spoil the game 
this early. I've got plans for you.}

A soft *bamf* behind her along with a hint 
of sulfer alerted Mara to the return of her 
servant.

"You've done well Sembei. Remind me 
to reward you when we get back."

"...Which way did he go George? Which way did he go?"

"Huh?"

She turned around, only to stare at the 
little imp in disbelief.

"What in the Nine Hells happened to you?!!"

Sembei was sporting the biggest, meanest 
looking bump on his head that she'd ever seen.
It was obvious that her minion wasn't running
with all of the lights on.

"I'm only twee and a half yea's old...bwebubwubweble..."

A large sweatdrop appeared on the back of the 
demoness's head. Perhaps it was time to leave 
before someone put two and two together. 
~~~~~~
-You Have Issues, Don't You?

Sailor Pluto has not survived this 
long by underestimating her opponents.
It had quickly become clear that their 
regular special attacks weren't up 
to the task, stronger measures were 
needed in order to destroy this threat. 

With her Time Staff in hand Setsuna 
started to gather the energy she 
needed to invoke the power of the 
Garnet Orb. 

Each of the Outer Senshi possessed a 
unique talisman of power. Uranus had the 
Space Sword, Neptune's was the Aqua Mirror, 
and Saturn was the owner of the deadly 
Silence Glaive. But Pluto's artifact 
was perhaps the most unusual of them all.

Unlike the other talismans, the Orb 
was a sentient artifact and served 
as one of the Guardians of the Timegate.
But most importantly, by channeling 
potential psychic energy through it
Pluto could amplify her abilities
to a new level, allowing her access 
to the most dangerous Senshi attacks.

One of those was the forbidden 
"Time Protector", which halted 
the passage of time itself. But
that wasn't the only one available
to her. In a few seconds she would
be ready to unleash an attack that 
made her Dead Scream look like one of 
Sailor Chibi-Usa's Pink Sugar Hearts.
~~~~~~~
-o_o'

"Oh no, please tell me she's 
not using *that* one."

Shadow and the Guardian exchanged worried looks. 
That attack had killed them each once before, fortunately
they had gotten better afterwards. Death wasn't much fun,
not unless you were lucky enough to get the cool chick 
with the ankh and a sense of humor.

"What's the attack roll?"

"Give me a sec, Bard."

Rowan swore softly when he got the result.

"Damn. This is not good."

"C'mon , how bad can it be?"

"A natural twenty ."

This time the curses came from several other throats as well.
Everyone present knew what this meant. A critical strike,
practically impossible to dodge. 

"Well, it's only double damage....he can survive that."

The Bard tried to look on the bright side.

"Try damage x12 instead."

Rowan was quick to shoot his hopes down.

"What?!"

"Evil magical curse #34, victim takes triple damage from Rune Weapons.
Since she's focusing it through the Garnet Orb, it still counts.
Plus it's a surprise attack, so she automatically gets another
bonus modifier of x2 to her damage roll."

"Oh hell."

"Exactly."
~~~~~~~
-Did You Have To Do That?!

It was time.

A crimson flare of raw temporal energy
screamed forth from the head of the Time Staff.
It took all of Pluto's concentration to keep from
being caught in the backlash as the tidal wave
of raw destruction spewed out. The Senshi of 
Time was in her element at that moment as she
fought to master the wild power she had unleashed.

"Chrono Trigger!" 

Sailor Pluto was also very good shot. After all, she'd 
had more then enough time to practice while awaiting 
the rebirth of the other Senshi. 

Ranma never had a chance. Even as he turned to
face the threat he knew it was already too late. 

He only had a moment for one last meaningless thought.

{I survived the Mechanoids, the Four Horsemen, 
the Vampire Kingdoms, the Splugorth, and even 
the Transgalactic Empire only to end up as the 
victim of a beautiful woman in a fuku? Damn it,
looks like I owe Drizzt that round of drinks after all.}

And then there wasn't any time left even for that. 

*KABOOM* 

-To be continued....

*$*$*$*$*

Author's note: I did it!I did it!! I actually made a deadline!!!
And I ended this part on yet another cliffhanger, damn I'm evil
aren't I? Heh, well just going to have to wait awhile because
I'm off for the holidays.

Next time on Private Bet #10:

-The conclusion of Chapter III!
-Intriuge, mystery, and betrayal in the Phaseworld Universe
-More about Ranma's past from Erin Tarn
-Genma engaged Ranma to <???>?!
-Amazons about to come calling!
-Ryoga, killer at large!
-More villains, lots more villains!
-More Fiancees then you can shake a stick at!
-Big Freakin Explosions! (No, wait. That's in Chapter IV, my mistake!)
-Is that damn Chess game ever going to end?!
Plus: How many secret organizations are out there anyway?!

Looking at least a 60+ K finale...after which you'll
just have to wait for Chapter IV!  Bwahahahaha!!

Merry Christmas to all...now I'm going to sleep!

-Shade (Shooting little black pigs wearing bandannas just because I feel like it!)
Holy Knight of Mihoshi (Hail the Goddess of Coincidence!)
Ranger of the Crossover Fiancees
~~~~~~~~~

"You know, a lot of guys would love to be in
your position right now. So just lie back and 
enjoy the ride."

"No! Let go!! Help!!!"

Ryoko paused for a moment as a 
sudden thought hit her.

"Say, you wouldn’t happen to be...."

Ranma’s face reddened angrily as he 
figured out what she was asking.

"I AM NOT GAY!!!"

-Scene from Private Bet #7





It's funny the things that come to mind
when you think you're dying...

~~Flashback~~

-A while back

The need to unburden himself had been 
growing for a long time, yet he'd always 
managed to resist the temptation.

But Ranma couldn't deny it any longer. 

He needed help. 

The fight at Atlantis had shown him
just how careless he was getting. 
They would never have been able to 
capture him had he been paying proper 
attention to his surroundings. 

Next time he might not be so lucky.

And of all his friends, Erin alone might 
be able to understand this emptiness 
inside of him that he could feel 
growing larger with each passing day.

There was also the matter of Ishtar.

What the hell was he going to do with a Rune Weapon anyway?

~~End Flashback~~~

"Irony is the Axis of the Universe."
-AAnn proverb

And now... 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Private Bet #10: Chapter III 
by Shade

Disclaimer: Yo ho, Yo ho, A Disclaimer's life for
            me! Argh maties, we be using these characters
            that be belonging to other people cause we're too 
            lazy to come up with our own!

         "We can proceed about our business." 

         You can go about your business. 
 
         "Move along."
         
         Move along, move along.

~~~~~~~
Part 3: The Season of Light..... 
~~~~~~~
-Ever Have One Of Those Days?

"This is Go Takarada of Action 5 news, 
coming to you live from Juuban's 
commercial district where the 
Sailor Senshi have just blown 
up an entire city block!!"

Upon seeing his chances for fame and fortune go 
up with a bang, Takarada was naturally more then 
a little upset. His dreams of an early retirement
had vanished when that Sailor Senshi had blasted 
his story to kingdom come.

"Only moments ago a battle was being fought between 
the Sailor Senshi and a mysterious armored figure 
who had saved them earlier from a horde of evil
youma. But the reason behind their sudden attack 
against their rescuer is a mystery, could it be
that they're afraid of a little competition?!"

{Goddamnit! So much for my "Knight Hawk" exclusive!!
Maybe I can play up the fact that the Senshi are 
responsible for all of this destruction. That's sure
to make at least the six o'clock news.}

Nothing could have survived that blast.
And since he was a pragmatic sort...

"Or have these so called Defenders of Justice finally 
turned to the Dark side? We will continue to 
cover this alarming situation of "Magical Girls Gone Rogue"
with further updates to follow!"

Scruples and Takarada were like oil and water.

And his cliches *sucked*.

Meanwhile his assistant continued to keep the camera
rolling, not noticing that a stray bit of shrapnel had 
killed the transmitter beaming the signal to the station. 

Perhaps it was better that way.
~~~~

The Inners could only stare as the settling 
cloud of dust and rubble started to reveal a scene 
of total devastation. While ground zero was still 
shrouded from view, what they could see wasn't very 
encouraging. Pluto's attack had left nothing but 
rubble in its wake, every structure in the blast 
zone had been completely totaled.

Apparently the Senshi of Time had never 
heard of a little thing called "overkill". 

Shock set in.

It started as a pulling emptiness in the pit of the 
stomach followed by a glazed over look in the eyes
of those who had seen their hopes raised and then 
cruelly shattered. There were no tears, not yet at 
any rate. It had all happened too fast, their minds 
just couldn't accept what they had just seen.

So for now, a blessed numbness settled over them.

~~~~

It was times like this that made Urd wish 
she was allowed to curse. Even at her most 
vindictive she had only wanted to teach that
impudent jerk a lesson, not kill him.

"Mara's going to pay for this."

What a waste. Come to think of it,
that guy hadn't been really that bad. 
He probably hadn't meant to grab her like 
that and he *had* been trying to protect her
(no matter how misguided that protection might have been).

"I think there's someone still alive in there!"

An excited cry from her left derailed the goddess's train of thought.

"Huh?!"

Urd stared at her younger sister and the strange device 
that she'd produced out of (their) Father only knew where. 

"Skuld..when did you-? How-? He's still-? What?!"

"It's pretty faint, but I'm definitely getting a 
life force reading. There wasn't anyone else 
there when it blew, so it's gotta be him!"

"Before you start celebrating sis, you might want
to think about *them*."

Urd gestured toward a exhausted looking Pluto and 
the struggling Uranus and Neptune.

"Oh...right."

Her cheery expression dampened slightly upon being
reminded about the precariousness of the present situation.

But that was easily fixed!

"Skuld, put the bomb away."

Urd didn't even have to bother looking, 
she knew by now how her younger sister's 
line of thinking worked.

"Spoilsport."

Reluctantly the petite little goddess removed her finger 
from the detonater switch and tucked it back into one of
her many subspace pockets.

"Relax, just leave everything to your big sister."

Skuld's complexion turned blue upon hearing that dreaded statement.

"Now I'm worried."

~~~~
-From the Journals of Erin Tarn

"What is the true measure of a hero?"

I have asked that question many times over the years. 
There have many responses, yet not one of them 
is ever alike. Each individual holds themselves 
to a different standard in their heart. 

But Saotome's answer managed to surprise me.

For several minutes after I asked him that 
Ranma remained quiet, staring into his cup of tea 
as if it was showing him something from the past 
that he could not forget. 

I shivered when he met my gaze again. 
To this day I wish that I had left well 
enough alone. There was such pain in his 
eyes, more then any person should ever be
forced to bear. For a moment I was nearly 
overwhelmed by this glimpse into his very being.

So many shadows. I could not even begin to 
imagine what had done this to him. It was 
the first time he'd ever dropped his guard
so completely in front of me. I guess that 
this was the first time it finally sunk in 
that Ranma was just as human as the next 
person. He just hides it better then the 
rest of us. 

Even as the realization hit I could see 
the barriers falling in place once more.
The window into his soul vanished as if 
it had never existed in the first place.
But the new awareness that I had of him 
did not leave me, things had changed 
between us. We were still friends, but
now there was distance between us that
could never be bridged. 

Then he gave me a small sad smile.

"A real hero is someone that doesn't screw up."

"What do you mean?", I asked him. His answer
didn't make any sense to me at the time. Surely 
he didn't think that such perfection was possible, 
and I told him so.

"We all make mistakes, that's part of being human."

But it didn't seem to help. The somber expression on 
his face didn't waver, he was dead serious.

"A true hero can't afford to be wrong. Not once. Not ever."

So that was it. 

In a softer tone I asked him, 

"What happened to you, Ranma? It's been two years
since I last saw you. But it seems that more time 
has passed for you then me."

I didn't expect him to answer me, but he did.

"I'm tired Erin. I'm just so tired..."

He turned to look out the balcony, his 
friend's home was cozy but by no means
small. It afforded an excellent view
of the surroundings and the setting sun.

The sunsets of Lazlo are one of the most 
beautiful sights one can see on Rifts Earth. 
Part of that attraction is being able to 
actually relax and enjoy it, secure in the 
knowledge that the City of Learning is one
of the safest places in North America.

But Ranma had no eyes for the glorious natural 
spectacle taking place outside. His thoughts 
were turned toward the past.

"I've seen too much evil....
Too much cruelty...
Too much hate...
Too much pain..."

His voice was empty, and his
eyes had a haunted look in them.

"And always Death. It follows me like a shadow, 
never ever going away. So many friends, 
people I cared about, have died because of me. 
No matter what I do, they die....and all I can 
do is find the bastards responsible and make them
pay. But it's never enough. It won't bring them back."

There was nothing I could say, 
simple words of comfort couldn't 
help him. It just kept spilling out of him,
like a dam that had been finally breached
and would not stop till it had run its course.

"I hate having to kill. But I've become 
damned good at it. Too damned good. 
And the worst part of it is that I'm 
beginning to not give a damn anymore."

The tears in his eyes refused to fall. 
But I could see his body quivering like a bow 
that had been drawn too tight from the pain
he sought to keep in control.

"Ranma..."

I was sure that he was being too hard on himself.
The Ranma I knew wasn't a killer, the only time
he ever took a life was when defending himself 
or others. He took no pleasure in it, he simply 
did what had to be done.

"I've done a lot of stuff over the years that I'm not 
proud of, Erin. All of it was in the cause of what's 
supposed to be right, battling evil and injustice.
But the dividing line between the two has become so 
blurred now that there are times when I can't help 
but wonder who's side I'm really on.

"Wha..what?!"

I couldn't believe my ears, but I could 
see that he wasn't lying. The pain was 
being replaced by an empty expression 
in his eyes, and it scared me. 

Ranma had always been so strong, the person
that could be counted on when things got bad. 
But now he was here before me, on the verge 
of burning out both emotionally and mentally.

Never had I felt so helpless, it hurt so badly 
to see him like this.

"I don't know who I am anymore and I'm starting 
to think that I never did. There's so much darkness 
out there and the best we can ever hope to do is 
check it in a bloody stalemate. I can't go on like this, 
there has to be another way!!"

"You can't save everyone."

"I know. I thought I could make a difference,
but nothing's really changed. Sometimes...
I feel like just giving up."

When I heard that I just couldn't help myself.
I'd never been so angry, and I slapped him. Hard. 

*CRACK*

I regretted my action almost immediately. 
Ranma's face was *much* harder then my hand.
It felt like I had struck a steel wall.

"Erin!?"

The dark emptiness clouding his eyes vanished 
and was replaced by a shocked and hurt expression
directed at me. 

Of course, I wasn't exactly keep much track
of all the details going on as I was rather 
upset at the time.

"Now you listen to me, Ranma Saotome! Don't you 
DARE take that defeatist attitude with me!! 
Just because you're not perfect doesn't make 
you a failure! You say that you haven't made a 
difference. Well, take a good look at me Ranma!
YOU saved my life!! And not just once, but several times.
Hell, you helped save this entire planet from total 
annihilation at *least* twice!! I'll be damned before 
I repay that debt by letting you snivel in fear like some coward!!"

He went from shocked and confused to just plain angry. 
I have admit I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking 
at the time. When I look back now all I can do is shake 
my head in disbelief. Ranma can have that effect on a person.

"-What- -did- -you- -call- -me-?"

The glare he shot at me was hot enough to vaporize a SAMAS.
For once I was glad about that little quirk Saotome had 
about not hitting women. I suspect that if anyone else had 
said that to his face they would have had trouble trying to
pull their ankles out of their tonsils. I'm not saying
Ranma is a violent person, for a person his age he 
possesses a remarkable sense of self control. But
he has very little tolerence for fools or troublemakers.
Anyone stupid enough to challenge his sense of honor falls 
into *both* catagories.

So what did that make me at that moment? 

Hmmm...Better not explore that line of thought any further.

"A coward. If you're not one, prove me wrong!! Damn it, 
after everything that's happened you just want to throw 
it all away?! I thought I knew you better then that!! 
You may not care about what happens to you anymore 
but your friends care!! *I* care!!"

There. I had said it. Now all I could do was brace 
myself for the coming explosion. He had every right 
to be angry. But I wouldn't back down. I believed 
every word I had shouted at him. The universe would 
be a much darker place without Saotome in it.

"...I..."

His mouth stayed open but nothing more came out.

A mask seemed to slide over his emotions
and I could no longer tell what he was thinking. 
Somewhere along the line Ranma'd finally 
managed to pick up an effective poker face. 

It was a little *too* damn effective if you asked me.

"Ranma?"

Finally he seemed to snap out of his little trance.

"Erin..."

Despite myself, I flinched. His voice sounded so soft, 
and it was filled with an emotion I had never heard in 
it before. I was truly afraid at that moment, convinced
that I'd failed and he was going to let himself be beaten
by the ghosts of his past.

"Thank you. I needed that."

All I could do was blink.

I couldn't even manage a decent "Huh?",
you could have knocked me over with a
feather at that moment.

Then he smiled. A  actual honest to goodness,
heart stopping, "Hoo boy! I *REALLY* wish 
I was forty years younger!!" smile. 

(*Ahem*, sorry about that. But it's just not fair!
Why couldn't he have been available when *I* was 
looking for a man?! -Erin)

I smiled back as the Ranma that 
I remembered finally returned.

"So why don't you sit down and tell me what 
you've been doing since we last met."

"It's a long story."

"Those are the best kind."

I started to brew up another pot of tea.
If he said it was going to be long that 
meant it could take four or five days
before he finished. 

Heh, but at least his stories were never boring!

~~~~~~~
-All Present and Accounted For

{Let's see...that's 24 charged Energy-clips, 
one slightly used Mantle of Displacement,
53 Class IV type fusion blocks, 247 socks
that don't match, duct tape, 6 modified Kittani 
Sentry Turrets, that old HI-80 laser rifle he 
insists on dragging around with him, couple of 
spare parts for who knows what, one really beaten
up copy of the Book of Five Rings, more duct tape, 
and....}

Ishtar was busy taking inventory of the other 
items that resided with her in the dimensional 
pocket. There wasn't much else to do here and
Ranma was always putting stuff here and forgetting 
about it. So it was left to his partner to keep
track of what he collected. It was not a job
of the faint of heart, there was stuff scattered 
about as far as the human eye could see.

{Geez, where the heck does he find all of this junk?!}

A pair of white silk panties drifted past her position.

{And what the hell is *THAT* doing in HERE?!

It was followed by several other female undergarments 
ranging from "Skimpy as Hell" to "Guaranteed Nosebleed".
Ishtar could only recognize about half of them as having
belonged to certain "acquaintances" of her partner.

(He is *so* dead when I get out.}

That was when the explosion hit.

*KABOOM*

The dimensional pocket shuddered violently
as its connection to the real world was 
briefly thrown out of alignment by the
raging maelstrom.

[OOOF!!!]

The startled weapon was hurled into a pile of old scrolls 
and assorted knicknacks. She bounced off of 
a very patched up suit of light body armor 
and went into a uncontrolled spin.

[AAAAAHHH!!! WHAT'S GO-GO-GOING-NG-NG O-O-ON-N?!!!]
 
Thinking quickly, Ishtar erected a TK(TeleKinetic) 
field around herself. It brought her to an immediate
halt. Fortunately whiplash wasn't something she 
had to worry about, so the sudden stop was annoying 
instead of painful. Once the sword's position was 
stabilized within the protection of the field,
Ishtar's attention turned toward the cause
all of this. Somehow she just knew that her 
partner was the cause of all of this. 

[HEY! What's going on out there?!]

There was no response.

[Ranma?]

Now she was beginning to get worried.

[Ranma?!]

Something was wrong. She should have
gotten some kind of response, even
if it was only a mental brush off.

The only reasons why she wouldn't be able to 
contact him would be if he was unconscious, 
inside a psionically shielded area, or...

...or...

...if he was dying.

[Ranma!! I swear that if this turns out to 
be a false alarm and all my worrying is
for nothing I'm gonna KILL YOU!!!]

~~~~~~~
-Ouch

{.....}

Darkness. Void. Pain.

{!}

Sensations that had become all too familar to him
since he'd fallen through the looking glass.

{?}

Especially the last one. Physical pain had always 
been a part of his life ever since he could first 
remember. Ten years of training had taught him the 
hurts that could be inflicted by fist, feet, and words. 
Rismoth had introduced him to the agonies of weapons
both ancient and modern as well as the horrors of magic
and psionics. But it wasn't until after his Transformation 
within the heart of the Cosmic Forge that he learned 
the true meaning of Pain.

{!?}

The disorientation he felt started to fade as
his mind eased its way back into consciousness.
It wasn't a very pleasant trip. 

{....Did anyone get the registry number of that Star Destroyer?}(1)

Memories of the fight started to return. 
It was accompanied by a splitting headache, 
his brain felt like was going to explode into 
a billion bloody pieces any second. This was
on par with his first(and only) hangover in the 
"Experiences I don't think I'm gonna survive; 
Just let me die already!!!" department.

{Damn it, I can't believe I got my 
ass kicked by a girl....*again*.}

He cursed softly, then groaned as the effort 
made his head hurt even more. 

What kind of an attack was that anyway?!
And more importantly...could he learn how to do it?

{Well, I'm not going to be doing much of 
anything if I don't get up soon.}

Ranma's first attempt to rise proved futile. 
Something heavy was pinning him down and 
for some reason he couldn't lift it off. 

{Huh?!}

He should have been able to move whatever 
was lying on top of him, it wasn't *that* heavy.

{What's the matter with me?! I feel so weak...exhausted....}

He couldn't see a thing either, and it was 
then that he realized his tatto's power had 
expired. But that didn't make any sense, 
like all experienced martial artists his body
kept precise track of time's passing, and according 
to his internal clock he'd been unconscious for 
only a few minutes. The magical enhancement
should have been good for at least another hour.

Something was wrong here.

{Okay, no need to panic. First thing to do is find 
out exactly what I've got left to work with and 
then go from there.}

A quick but through internal check of his status
wasn't very encouraging. His power reserves were 
*much* lower then they should have been. Even 
taking into account the extra energy needed to 
activate his tattoos, it still didn't explain 
why most of his available PPE was missing.
In his current condition he just *might* 
be a match for that Tux-boy jerk.

{Magga cammara(2), I haven't been this wasted 
since taking on that Nightlord bastard....}

Just thinking about it brought up a whole bunch of 
really bad memories. His stay there had nearly cost him 
his life, his sanity and his soul. Mind and spirit 
had both eventually recovered from that horrific ordeal. 
But without Erin Tarn and Ishtar, he would never have 
been able to find the will to keep on going. He owed 
them both a debt that he would never be able to fully repay.

But there was no magic in the Universe that could fully heal 
a broken heart. Ranma would carry those scars till the day he died. 
Which, if things kept going the way they were, might be sooner
then expected.

{Damn it all!! I can accept dying for a good cause!!
BUT I REFUSE TO GET KILLED BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THIS STUPID!!!}

In his anger Ranma found the strength to move. 
A surge of raw power snapped through his muscles as 
he strained to shake off whatever was pinning him down.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then there was a creaking groan as 
the pieces of roof began to shudder 
and give way. A loud crash sounded 
as the remaining debris collapsed 
on either side of him.

{I'm free!} 

But the effort had cost him dearly. Ranma 
could barely find the strength to stand up.
He was forced to lean heavily on the remains 
of what had once been a wall. Even with its 
support he stumbled twice. 

{Kuso!}

Gut wrenching nausea struck as he finally 
reached a more or less upright position.
The unlucky Knight had to fight the reflex 
to drop to his knees and puke his guts out. 
His sense of balance was going crazy, the world kept
dipping and swaying and spinning and twirling
with the occasional loop-dee-loop for good measure.

The low pitched drumming that some sadistic 
musician was beating into his eardrums wasn't helping 
him either. And it was getting a bit chilly for some 
reason...

{Wa-wa-wait a sec. Why is it so drafty?}

Ranma looked down. His body was bruised 
and battered, but still in one piece.

His Cosmic Armor on the other hand...

{!!!}

Now that was a totally different story!

All he could do was look down in disbelief
at a lot of bare skin that *wasn't* supposed 
to be exposed.

There also seemed to be a lot of little black bits
of material scattered all around the area. 
In fact that debris looked *awfully* familar...

{*GACK* Th-tha-that's my ARMOR!!!}

She had blown up his armor.

She had blown up his *COSMIC* armor.

But that was supposed to be impossible!!

A Cosmoknight's armor was one of the best protections in 
the Multiverse. That wasn't just an idle boast, it was a fact.
Not only did it possess the innate resistance to energy that 
Ranma himself had, it was also capable of sustaining an 
incredible amount of abuse from practically any source *and*
repairing that damage within a few minutes.

Although some attacks were able to penetrate his armor, 
the sheer power needed to completely *destroy* the suit 
was on a scale that was simply mindboggling!

{How in the Forge's name did that woman *DO* that?!} 

Ranma shuddered to think of what could have happened had 
he not been in his Cosmic form. Those dark fragments 
scattered across the ground would probably have been 
bits and pieces of *him* instead. 

As it was, enough of the blast had still gotten 
through to leave him damn near helpless. Right now 
all he was running on was plain old fashioned 
guts and stubborn determination.

It wasn't enough, and Ranma knew it. 

{Shit! I really underestimated her. Gotta get 
outta here fast, I need time to let my body
pull itself back together.}

Speaking of which, why hadn't his  
healing factor kicked in already? 

Unless...

{Uh oh.}

He couldn't feel the telltale tingle that 
was the usual indicator of his armor putting
itself back to rights like it was supposed to. 
Nor was his own body recovering at its normal 
rate, while Ranma could sense some life returning 
to the most damaged areas it was taking *much* 
longer then it should have. 

That was an even more horrifying and unwelcome 
discovery then the amount of damage the blast 
had caused. Getting severely injured wasn't 
normally that much to worry about, it happened
to him all the time. But not being able to 
recover from those injuries in a few minutes, 
now THAT was a problem!

{Okay, *now* it's time to panic.} 

~~~~
-The Deadliest Emotion

Sailor Pluto slowly sank to her knees in exhaustion,
without the Time Staff as a support she would have collapsed
totally. Her reserves had been virtually depleted by the 
enormous energy requirements of the "Chrono Trigger" technique.

It was easy enough to make a hole in space-time and direct
the resulting flood of wild quantum level energies at the enemy.
Usually no more then a few seconds of exposure were needed to assure
complete and total annihilation of the target(s). The hard part 
was *closing* the tear before it got out of control and ended up 
wiping out all existance within several hundred kilometers.

And she hadn't used this attack in almost a thousand years,
because it reminded her of...Ran. 

Even a millenia later her memories of him remained dark and 
bitter. She hated him more then anything in the Universe, 
there were simply no adequate words capable of describing 
the sheer burning rage she felt whenever she remembered 
the man who had gained her trust, stolen her heart, and 
then cruelly betrayed her.

Because of his treachery a kingdom had fallen. Everything 
that she had fought for, all that she had sworn to protect 
with her life and honor, gone. Her ruler and fellow Senshi 
dead, along with over a billion innocent souls. But what 
he'd done to her personally had been far, far worse then 
mere death. That would have been a blessing compared to 
the fate he had inflicted upon her.

Ran had left her alive, the only surviver of the once 
proud Silver Millenium Empire. For that alone she would 
have seen him writhe in agony within the deepest pits of 
the Abyss for all eternity. 

Trapped within the Corridor of Time and helpless to intervene, 
all she had been able to do was watch the horror repeat 
itself again and again as the currents of the Timestream 
flowed endlessly before her. It was enough to drive a 
lesser person completely insane, but she had been denied
the easy escape of madness. Instead, her shame and guilt 
had grown until she now loathed herself almost as much as 
she hated her betrayer.

Setsuna had learned her lesson well. Love was a fantasy 
for fools and dreamers, she was neither of those anymore.
Ran had destroyed her illusions, all she had left now was
this last attempt to make amends.  By ensuring the security 
of the future Crystal Millenium Empire she sought redemption 
for her one fatal lapse in judgement. It was her self-imposed 
penance. She would not fail Serenity a second time. One way or 
another this threat to the Princess and the future would end, 
no matter the cost.

A single lonely tear ran down a face that might as 
well have been cast in marble for all the emotion 
it showed. Only her crimson eyes did any trace of 
emotion escape the control that had cost her so 
much to learn.

"No matter the cost..."

~~~~
-Be Afraid. Be *VERY* Afraid.

*CRASH*

"What was that?!"

"It came from over there!"

The Inners snapped out of their 
trance-like states as if awakening 
from a bad dream, right now they 
were willing to grasp at any straw 
of hope no matter how slim it was.

"Can you see anything?!"

"No, there's too much dust!"

"If he's hurt *I* get to nurse him back to health!"

"In your dreams Venus! He'd be in even worse 
 shape afterwards!"

"You're one to talk, Jupiter! As I recall you 
*flunked* First Aid training!"

"Um, guys we have to *find* him first. Besides, 
I'm studying to be a doctor anyway..."

"Hey! I have dibs!!"

"No, I do!!"

~~~~~~
-Say It With Flowers

The Universe had an unwritten law concerning Ranma Saotome
that was similar in nature to the one it had concerning a
certain blonde Galaxy Police detective. Although the wording 
of that law was quite long and tedious, what it boiled down to 
was "The given odds for any event happening are no longer 
applicable when said individual is involved".

Case in point. Having already sustained considerable damage
to his person from Sailor Pluto's attack, Ranma was now 
practically helpless and it looked more and more likely that
he would wind up being fussed over by pretty girls yet *again*.

This had happened quite often back in the Three Galaxies and on 
Rifts Earth...and Wormwood...and the Forgotten Realms...
and...and...well, you get the idea. Let's just say that
Saotome was no stranger to the horrors of being nursed 
back to health! It would be faster (not to mention *safer*)
for him to tend to his own injuries, and if Ranma could 
have had his way that's just what he would have done.

Unfortunately for him, Fate loves to kick a guy when he's down.
It's one of her little quirks that tends to send most sane beings
running if they know what's good for them. Which is why people
tend to stick with Destiny, who is kinder and much more reliable.

So it was cruel twist of Fate (pun intended) that the first 
person to spot him was none other then the only person there
who was willing and able to deliver some serious payback.

{There he is!}

Yes, Tuxedo-Cuckoo was just determined to make an already 
lousy day for Ranma even worse. But then again, Mamoru Chiba 
could never be accused of any of those silly things like 
fighting fair, respecting rules of engagement, or not 
taking advantage of a clearly incapacitated individual. 
After all, the best opponents to hit were those that 
couldn't hit back.

Of course he just *had* to use the one item in his rather 
tiny arsenal which was capable of actually doing anything.

The rose throw was cliche, annoying, 
and an otherwise stupid looking attack.

But it worked. 

"YES!! I got him!!!"

Tuxedo Kamen would have jumped up and down in glee 
if he could have found a dignified way to do so.

"You did WHAT?!!"

Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus obviously didn't share 
his feeling of accomplishment. The two Senshi made that 
very clear when they kicked his shins with all of their 
strength. 

"OWWW!!"

Then they got *really* violent.

Sailor Mercury sweatdropped before running
out to hopefully fix the mess the Caped 
Blunder had made of things. Minako and
Makoto would be right behind her as soon 
as they finished venting a little post-battle 
stress and she wanted some time to attend her 
patient alone. There was no telling *what* 
further calamities might occur when those 
two tried to help.

Mercury was so caught up in trying to avoid attracting 
attention from the others while making the best possible
speed that she completely missed Sailor Saturn's silent
presence following right behind her.

~~~~~
-Oro?

Saotome normally liked roses. They were pretty, smelled good, 
and *really* useful for when he was in a pinch involving 
women. But he didn't enjoy it when one was hurled at his 
body with the intent to maim or kill. 

And he *really* didn't like it when that rose turned 
out to be a surprisingly effective projectile weapon
against him. 

{SONAVABITCH!! I should have kicked his ass when I had the chance!!}

Ranma jerked backwards in agony as the razor sharp stem 
sunk deeply into his already weakened flesh just past his 
collar bone. On a scale of one to ten, this rated a solid 
seven on the Saotome Pain-O-meter. It felt like he'd just 
been hit by a Hyper Grav-Cannon round, even though the actual 
injury was insignificant. It was the enchantment placed on the 
flower that was now draining into him which was doing the real 
damage. Flashes of red and white briefly obscured the badly wounded 
Knight's rapidly blurring vision as his sorely taxed body fought 
a losing battle to stay upright and conscious. 

"Some...vacation...this is..."

{And to think that the Forge said this was going 
to be a good chance to relax and unwind. I should 
have seen this coming....}

Ranma teetered, then he slowly started to collapse.
The last thing he saw before everything went black 
was a generous amount of tanned cleavage.

Okay, so even Fate can be merciful once in a great while.

~~~~~~~~
-From the Frying Pan to the Breakfast Platter

"Whoof!"

Urd had to scramble to catch the young man as he fell.
She hadn't been expecting him to suddenly come crashing 
down onto her like that. At least he was lighter then
he looked. 

"*This* is your very cunning plan?! Just run in and grab him?!!"

The sad thing was, Skuld had been expecting some kind of 
harebrained stunt from her older sister. Just not *this* crazy!

"It worked didn't it? So stop complaining and give me a hand here!"

Under other circumstances Urd would have enjoyed having a young 
man's head pressed firmly against her ample bosom, but right now 
she was too busy trying to keep her balance while holding onto
the unconscious stranger. He wasn't that heavy, but it was all 
dead weight, which made holding onto him clumsy and uncertain. 

On a more positive note, she was learning more about him now 
then during the entire time he had been wearing that strange 
armor. A pity that it wasn't *all* gone, part of his helmet 
and some scattered half-melted bits that had apparently avoided 
the worst of the blast were still obscuring most of the important
parts. But the goddess had still gotten a good look at him before 
he'd passed out on her. 

Urd *liked* what she saw. 

Lean and tight in *all* the right places, not rippling with 
bulging muscles in every possible direction like most of 
the Asgardian Patheon, but definitely packing some serious power. 
She was willing to wager that if this guy were patched up and 
cleaned up a bit he would be quite a treat for the eyes,
among *other* things...

{Hmmm. Maybe I should just let him *work* his debt off.}

Her thoughts were interrupted by a warm stickiness 
soaking through the front of her garments.

Puzzled by this strange (but oddly familar) 
sensation, she took a moment to look down. 

The first thing that came to mind was "What a mess".

The second one was "Belldandy's going 
to have her work cut out for her trying 
to get *this* stain out".

And it was one of her favorites too!

She gave the offender an annoyed look.

"You're going to owe me big time for this."

Fortunately Ranma was in no condition to answer her.
His shoulder continued to bleed like a leaky faucet
as the embedded thorns tore deeper at even the 
slightest movement.

{Don't you *dare* die on me!}

The brief feeling of possessiveness was 
noted and logged for later contemplation. 
Right now she had bigger things to worry about.
Like getting the heck out of there before 
something *else* went wrong.

It looked like it was time for 
"Urd's Super Duper Clever Distraction"(tm)!

"Uh oh."

Skuld eyed her now glowing sister nervously.

This was going to be *bad*.

"Hey, look over there!!"

Urd pointed at a spot that coincidently 
happened to be the exact opposite direction 
from where she was currently standing.

~~~~~~
-Masaki household (Where Truth Is Stranger Then Fiction)

Washu snorted in disbelief.

"Oh c'mon! What kind of two-bit 
idiot would fall for that old gag?!"

"Where? Where is it?! I wanna see!"

Ryoko, Minagi, and the recently recovered 
Ayeka all craned their heads in an attempt 
to get a glimpse of what everyone was making 
such a fuss about.

*KA-BOOM*

The greatest scientific genius in the 
universe facefaulted onto the living 
room floor and started twitching. 

Ask a stupid question...

~~~~~~
-Ready. Set. Run away!

"Urd, that was so...STUPID!!"

"Hey, don't fix it if it's not broken."

"And what's *that* supposed to mean?!"

But her big sister wasn't paying attention,
instead she seemed to be looking for something 
in the rubble.

"Oh c'mon...they can't *all* have been destroyed."

Then she spotted it.

{Bingo!}

Not the most ideal focus for a tranport, 
but since this was an emergency it would do.

Urd grabbed her little sister, secured her 
unconscious passenger, and got ready to skedaddle.

"Hang on, we're getting outta here!"

The young goddess blanched as she
listened to the chant that her older 
sibling was using.

She wouldn't! 
Anything but *THAT*!! 
Not the "Official Heavenly Sake Hangover Instant Transport" spell!!!

"Wait! Wait!!"

Skuld shouted frantically as she 
struggled to escape before it was 
too late.

"...She who parties and gets away, 
lives to get drunk another day!"

Divine power surrounded them 
as the platinum bombshell 
finished her casting.

"Aaaaa-"

*Insert Spiffy Goddess Special Effects Here*

The trio vanished in a swirl of white light.

So did several scattered bits and pieces 
of what appeared to be random junk.

~~~~~~~
-There's A Nice Bridge In Brooklin Available For A Reasonable Price...

The still smoking remains of what had once 
been a deluxe television set tipped over with 
a loud *Crash*.

Everyone that was still there turned back around.

"..."

A long silence followed.

Jupiter was the first one to recover 
and point out the obvious.

"They...disappeared!!"

A brilliant deduction by Venus followed.

"Gah! She tricked us!!"

A red faced Mercury closed her eyes and wished 
that the ground would just swallow her up. 
She was NEVER going to live this one down.

{I-I can't believe *I* fell for that!!}

Could things possibly go any more wrong right now?

Emergency sirens blared as a swarm of 
patrol cars came rushing toward the scene.

{Of *course* they could...}

Since all the monsters were gone 
Tokyo's finest had decided that 
*now* was a good time to show up.

"Hey guys! Did we miss anything?"

"Whoa! What happened here?!"

Sailor Mars and Sailor Moon looked
at the other Senshi curiously. They 
looked rather surprised to see the two of 
them there. Okay, so they were a *little*
late. But the situation seemed to be under
control. It wasn't anything to make a big 
fuss over, right?

"WELL IT'S ABOUT BLOODY TIME YOU TWO SHOWED UP!!!"

Sailor Moon might not be so hot as a fighter.
But she knew how to grovel at a level that 
put the "Crouch of the Wild Tiger" to shame.

"AAAHH!! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll never be 
late again!! Just stop making those scary faces!!"

Fortunately Mars managed to stop herself before she
followed her first instinctive reaction of hurling 
spirit wards at the terrifying apparitions looming 
over her.

"We can assign blame later! Let's just get out 
of here before something *else* happens."

That was when it started to rain.

"Doh!"

~~~~~~~
-Heaven on Earth (Or The Next Best Thing)

"Keiichi, you might want to back up a little bit."

"Why's that, Belldandy?"

"I'm afraid that Urd used one of the more esoteric Holy magics."

Keiichi looked properly horrified as he sprang 
back from the television screen, he remembered 
the *last* big spell that Urd had attempted. 
It had taken two weeks for the antenna to fall 
off of his forehead. He still broke out into
cold sweats whenever he saw a flyswatter.

Still, even that couldn't prepare him for what came next.

Three small sonic booms shook the temple in quick succession.

Urd, Skuld, and some half-naked guy who was bleeding like 
crazy from a nasty chest wound came crashing out of a 
large crystalline gate that appeared directly in front
of him.

A moment later the gate imploded back into 
the nothingness it had originated from.
Its passengers were deposited almost 
exactly where Keiichi had been sitting 
before Belldandy's warning.

"Wh-who is this?!"

"He's the one that saved Skuld's sorry tush,
not that you could tell by looking at him now."

"I said I was sorry for going out alone!
Hey! Where's Banpei?!"

A small downpour of robotic parts dropped on Keiichi.

"Ow! Ouch! Hey! That hurts!! Quit it!! Ow!!"

"Banpei-kun!!"

Crying with relief, the petite goddess grabbed 
all of Banpei's components and disappeared into
her room in record time.

"Don't worry my precious!! You'll be as good as 
new in no time!!"

"Uh..."

Morisato rubbed a sore spot on his nose where 
a gear had bounced off, he should have known 
that Skuld would be Skuld.

~~~~~~
-Tendo Household (We Lower Your Property Values For Less)

To the casual observer everything 
appeared to be normal.

Genma, having already disregarded his son's 
warning to "Get off your lazy butt and find 
an honest job for once in your life",
was playing shogi with Soun on the porch by 
the koi pond. Naturally both of them were 
cheating like crazy, resorting to lame 
tricks that even their much dreaded 
master would have been ashamed to use.

Pathetic, but perfectly in character for those two.

Meanwhile, Kasumi was doing the chores
which the so called "men" of the house 
seemed to think were beneath their dignity
or simply beyond their intellectual capacity.

Again, nothing out of the ordinary.

Or so it seemed...

A closer look revealed that the eldest
Tendo daughter was doing something that 
could be considered slightly odd for her.

Kasumi was *singing*.

"I've been looking for this emotion,
 Pure feelings hidden inside of me."

A genuine glow of happiness seemed to
emanate from her as she twirled through
the house with broom and duster in hand.

"The harder I chase my dream..."

There was a light spring in her step,
as for the first time in her life 
the willowy beauty let herself picture 
a future where the family she took care 
of would be her own.

"...the more I experience the time for smiles and tears."

It might be a little difficult at first 
for her younger sisters to take over 
the running the household once she was gone 
but Kasumi was sure that they would be 
up to the challenge.

"I know that, but..." 

A small feeling of doubt arose.

Did she dare to leap into the unknown?

Could she afford *not* to try?

Would there be someone waiting to catch her on the other side?
Or would she find herself falling forever, helpless and alone?
To risk it all, or not at all.

"...sometimes I want to be more like myself and feel the wind.
 I want to find the future of no one else but me."

For a long time Kasumi had been following 
a safe and mundane road in life. Now the 
way to a new path was being offered to her,
one that promised to turn her entire world
topsy turvy but at the same time tempted 
her with a chance to fullfill a deep 
heartfelt longing which had remained 
buried and nameless for a very long time...

~~~~~~~
-The Cure Can Be Worse Then The Disease

"Move him over to the futon."

Belldandy was relieved to see that her
older sister had already started to apply
a compress in order to slow the bleeding.

Even if she did look less then thrilled about 
having to use the small remaining part of her 
robe that hadn't already been splattered as 
a makeshift bandage.

{Darn it! I'm a Goddess of Love, not a field nurse!!}

Urd glared at the nearest conscious target 
for her irritation.

"Make yourself useful and hold him down. 
I need to pull this stupid flower out 
of him."

Keiichi gave her a funny look in return. 

Hold him down?! 

She had to be kidding! 

Just *look* at him! 

He felt like a twig compared to this guy!

"Do I have to do *everything* myself?"

Morisato sighed in defeat, his head 
bowed in shame at having to surrender 
so easily. 

It was sad but true, he was a weenie.

"I'm coming."

~~~~~~
-Exactly 1 minute 32 seconds later (Or It Simply Sucks To Be You...)

Keiichi Morisato, perhaps the most lucky (or 
unlucky depending at how you look at it) guy
on Earth, was currently regretting that he'd
never taken the time to exercise and workout
more. 

"AAAAAAAA-"

He was also wishing that he had taken skydiving lessons.

*CRASH*

"-AAAAAAA-"

It was a good thing that the wall he went
through was actually nothing more then a 
flimsy screen divider, otherwise someone 
might have gotten hurt.

*CRASH*

"-AAAAA-"

Well, it was only *two* screen dividers.

*CRASH*

Uh oh.

"-AAAAAA-"

*CRASH*

Oh dear.

"-AAAAAAA-"

*CRASH*

[How do I get into these messes?!!}

~~~~Two Seconds Earlier~~~~

"Be careful, this is probably going 
to hurt him a bit. Be sure to brace 
yourself, he's kinda strong."

Urd had an infamous talent for understatement.

~~~~Back To The Predicament At Hand~~~~

"-AAAAAA-"

*CRASH*

This was so unfair! The most perfect woman
in the world was in love with him and he 
was going to die a virgin!

"-AAAAAAA!!!"

*squish*

The realization that he wasn't dead started to 
slowly sink in.  With that matter settled,
he proceeded to try and identify the puzzling
incongruity here.

{Squish?}

That was funny, he didn't remember
putting such soft cushions in this room. 
And warm too. How odd.

For some reason they reminded him of 
Belldandy but for the life of him he 
couldn't figure out *why*.

They even smelled like her. A subtle 
perfume of fresh baked cookies and 
spring flowers that he never got tired of.

"Keiichi?"

Uh oh.

A feeling of dread and foreboding(tm)
started to creep in.

{Kami-sama wouldn't be that cruel...}

In retrospect, it was a *really* 
bad idea to open his eyes. 

~~~~~~~~~
-Furinkan High (Where The Quality Of Education Is The *Least* Of Your Worries)

The lunch hour had come and gone. But 
she *still* couldn't find him anywhere. 

To say that Nabiki was more then a tad peeved 
by this was like saying Tatewaki Kuno was only 
slightly less intelligent then your average cucumber.

Ranma had been gone *far* too long for any "reasonable"
explanation. And despite Kuno's loud and pompous speech 
about how he'd "driven off the craven coward like the 
sniveling peasant trash he was", any student with more 
then two brain cells to rub together knew better then 
to listen to him. Naturally the male students on campus 
bought every word of it.

Even despite the fact that Kendo-boy was
currently unable to stand up straight without 
immediately going cross-eyed and clutching 
at the Kuno family baubles.

{Where *is* he?}

And while she would never admit it (even under oath), 
she was starting to worry about him. He didn't 
seem like the type to up and vanish like that 
without a word to anyone else. 

Something was up.

And whatever it was, she was going to get to the 
bottom of it. There was her reputation to consider 
after all. *Nobody* pulled a fast one on Nabiki Tendo.

It had been awhile since she'd faced such a difficult 
puzzle and Nabiki could feel her insatiable curiosity 
start to lick its chops in anticipation of the challenge 
to come.

{I must be out of my mind...}

Ranma might be attractive but was he *really* 
worth the headaches that seemed destined to 
accompany him?

{Who am I kidding? Like I'll ever 
get another opportunity even remotely 
close to this one?}

Nabiki was not a fool. 

"Kyyaa-*thump*-oww!!"

Her sister on the other hand...

"Give it up already, Akane! You're never 
going to be able to accomplish a double 
spin kick somersault-flip with a butterfly 
open hand strike after just seeing 
Ranma use it this morning!"

The judges were out on that one. 

"If he can do it, so can I! 
I'm a martial artist too, you know!!"

Nabiki could feel a headache coming on.

{Sis, you only shout that out to the 
entire world every couple of hours. 
Maybe you should say it a little louder, 
I think a few people in Antarctica haven't 
heard you yet.}

Why the heck was Akane so upset anyway? 
Just because someone else had *finally*
done something about the morning spectacle
and given Kuno-chan a much needed lesson
in humility? Or was little sister jealous
about no longer having the attention of 
the entire school anymore? 

She tried to shake off the smug sensation
produced by that line of throught, but her 
efforts weren't very effective. There was 
just something deliciously ironic about Akane
being upstaged by *Nabiki's* prospective fiance'.

{Well, as soon as I *find* him....}

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

{Watch out Saotome, you've just met your match.}

And she always played to win.

What she forgot to figure into her calculations 
was that even fools can be dangerous under the 
right circumstances. 

~~~~~~~
-The Stuff Dreams (And Nightmares) Are Made Of

Cosmoknights rarely dreamed.

Their minds were restructured by the Cosmic Forge 
during their initial transformation into an efficient
configuration that didn't require much to continue 
functioning. Most Knights could go for weeks or 
even months without rest, suffering only minimal 
reductions to their performance and efficiency. 
"Sleep" for them usually consisted of nothing 
more then a few minutes of simple meditation 
where the poisons and stresses that have been 
built up by activity were purged by their 
unique metabolism. They possessed a mind-body 
relationship which in some ways surpassed even 
that of the dreaded Phase Adepts.

It was this control which enabled them to access
so many of their unique abilities. Their power
of flight was governed by pure will, a Knight 
merely had to concentrate and his body followed. 
Similarly their FTL capability was a product of 
mental discipline and focus. Through meditation 
a Cosmoknight's absolute mastery of each and every 
cell of their body enabled them to temporarily 
transform from matter to pure Cosmic Energy capable 
of surpassing even the most powerful hyperdrive.

One of the side effects of such rigid discipline
was an inability to naturally achieve the REM state 
necessary for dreaming under normal circumstances. 
It was extremely difficult to relax their self control 
long enough for theta waves to be produced, the closest 
thing to real dreams that most Knights ever experienced 
was a kind of "Zen" state where their consciousness 
received orders and information from the Forge.

This particular situation was far from ordinary.

Ranma's ravaged system was busy trying to overcome 
the effects of Sailor Pluto's attack that had 
irradiated his body with dangerous and unstable
quantum level energies. The effect was compounded
by the raw magic leaking from Tuxedo Kamen's
sloppily enchanted bit of foliage. Even the 
considerable protection granted by the Cosmic 
Forge had never been intended to defend against 
such an unusual combination like this.

All it had been able to do initially was keep the 
damage from spreading further, but nothing could be 
done about the ice cold fire that screamed down 
every nerve cluster as millions of living cells 
were torn asunder, only to regenerate in whole, 
only to be ripped apart once more. The cycle of 
death and rebirth repeated itself without any 
end in sight, only the unceasing pain was constant.
Even the strongest will could remain in control for 
only so long under these circumstances. 

All that was required was the smallest 
slip to achieve the necessary conditions.

That chance came when his body, instinctively sensing 
that further measures were needed, slipped further 
into unconsciousness in order to initiate a desperately
needed healing trance. 

Ranma dreamed. 

Through a haze of pain and delirium, he dreamed.

~~~~~~~
-Governer Ryga's palace (Firefight In Progress)
<BGM: Mad Machine (Bubble Gum Crisis)>

The Imperial Forces were putting up one heck of a fight.
But then again, the rebels wouldn't have it any other way.
The hatred between the two sides ran too deep.

"Squads 1 and 2 take point, clean out 
those hallways and make sure those Imps
didn't leave us any nasty parting gifts."

His sergeants nodded and signaled their
teams to advance, the troops used whatever 
scant cover was available as energy beams 
and solid slugs hissed and screamed back 
and forth between the lines. Their efforts 
were only successful part of the time. Several
unlucky rebels were hit on an exposed front 
or flank. Very few of them got back up afterwords.

War hadn't gotten any prettier 
in the future, only more efficient. 

"Squad 4, form up and protect the Resistance
Leaders, we didn't come this far just to lose
them to some stupid private with shit on 
his boots."

The squad's soldiers started to carefully pull back, 
each person laying down covering fire for the next
as they regrouped behind the front lines. A fresh 
squad quickly moved to replace their positions, 
though not without suffering casualties in doing so.

"The rest of you, let's kick some Legionnaire ASS!!"

"YES SIR!!!"

General Skythe possessed that rare mix of charisma 
and brimstone which his troops would gladly follow into 
Hell itself if he asked them to. Having lost his wife
and only son to the Kreeghor's brutalities, 
Dennis Skythe had dedicated his life to destroying 
the Empire. He was a hard man, but fair in his own way.

"So which position should I cover, Grandpa?"

Skythe's lower jaw smacked painfully onto the 
cold permacrete floor as he did a double take
at the sight of his 16 year old granddaughter 
standing next to him wearing worn combat fatigues 
and shouldering a laser rifle like she had been 
born for it.

"Hsi-Feng?! What the hell are you doing here?! 
I told you to stay back at the base!!"

Heads were going to roll when he found out 
who was responsible for this mixup!!

"There's no way I'm staying behind 
during a major engagement like this!"

Scratch that, he should have known that the 
little mule of a brat would try something
like this on her own. She had her mother's 
features, but she'd gotten her damned 
pigheadedness from him. 

Dennis rued the day he'd been forced 
to assume responsibility for raising her.
How the heck anyone back then had expected 
him to know diddlysquat about taking care for 
a little five year old girl in the middle 
of damn intergalactic civil war was beyond 
even his comprehension. He'd done the best
he could of course, but as she'd gotten older
Hsi-Feng had turned into a complete tomboy.

Hell, she could use that rifle she was 
carrying better then most of his troops. 
That *still* didn't excuse her being 
here though!!

"You little...don't you realize how 
dangerous this is?!"

{I swear that when this is all over 
I'm going to tan her little bottom 
so hard, she'll be standing for a month!!}

Although even that probably wouldn't stop
her from pulling another harebrained stunt
like this. 

{Goddamnit! I'm getting too bloody old for this!!}

"By all rights I should have you thrown in solitary 
with nothing but bread and water!! But-"

"But you can't afford to detail any soldiers off 
from securing the palace to escort me back to base,
now can you?"

He glared at her. 

"You knew."

Hsi-Feng stood her ground as she faced his
his stormy expression. They both knew it was 
an empty threat, but he still had to try and 
save face in front of his men. There really 
was no good reason for him to send her back.
She was just as qualified, if not more so, as 
any of the other soldiers to be there. 

"Just a logical guess."

A flicker of grudging admiration 
crossed his face, his granddaughter
might have many faults, but a coward 
she was not. The girl was going to give 
him a stroke one of these days.

Unexpectedly Skythe felt a 
pang of sorrow in his heart.

Where had all the time gone?

He could barely see any traces of that cute 
little tyke who had laughed so happily at 
her "Gwamps Skytights" in this hardened 
young soldier. 

For fifty years he'd been fighting in this bloody war. 
During that time his duties had cost him many things, 
but none of them were more painful then seeing the 
only family he had left denied the chance to 
experience more in life then just the battlefield.

Maybe...

Maybe it was time to start thinking about Hsi-Feng's future.

But first he had one last promise to keep. 

Only when K’tarthkl’ppe was dead would he finally be 
able to lay the ghosts of the past behind him. It had 
taken over a decade of searching, but at last the 
bastard who had murdered his son was going to pay. 

"Stay close to me and for once, 
try to keep out of trouble!"

"Don't I always?"

She smiled back at him. For a moment 
he caught a glimpse of that little 
girl he remembered in those laughing 
gray eyes.

A renewed sense of certainity filled him.
This was why he was fighting, for Hsi-Feng
and all the others like her that deserved
better in life then this.

"ATTACK!!"

~~~~~~~

Floor by floor they cleared the governor's palace 
of Imperial scum. It was hard and bloody work, 
the butcher's bill was going to be far too high 
when all of this was over. They were winning,
slowly but steadily. It was only a matter of time.
But every minute that the battle continued increased
the grim toll for Rebels and Imperials alike.

{Damn this war and damn the people who forced 
us to fight it in the first place!!}

Skythe hoped Ryga was pissing himself right now.

With all of the exits sealed off and the sky 
being watched by Rebel forces, there was no
escape for the tyrant. 

He and Hsi-Feng had split off from the main group,
taking a small band with them to search for the 
governor while the others finished mopping up the 
remaining spots of Imperial resistance. It was a 
tricky business, they might be winning but their 
hold on the palace was far from secure. The Imps 
were still fighting for every meter of ground that 
they took, but there was an increasing sense of 
desperation in their resistance. The Rebels had 
cleared most of the main halls, but there were still 
occasional groups lurking around that they'd missed 
during the initial sweep.

To add to their headaches an occasional automated 
defense system would still pop out in areas that 
the rebels had already secured, they had few options
except to always watch their backs. And until their 
electronic-countermeasures teams went through this 
place there was always the danger of stumbling upon 
a makeshift mine or bomb.

Dennis let his reflexes take over as he led his 
troops through each room. There was no time for
hesitation, no time to think, not if he wanted 
to stay alive and in one piece. Rather then 
suppress the fear which rose up in him, he put 
it to work for him. Everyone got scared, the 
trick was not to let it cripple you at a critical 
moment. All of his senses were keyed up, on the 
alert for even the slightest hint of danger.

It was that alertness which saved his life.

Just as he was about to head back down one of the 
previously checked side passages connecting to the 
heart of the palace Skythe caught a flash of movement 
in the shadows.

He rolled to the side, while a quick snap shot took out 
the trooper lurking behind a lifesize crystal statue 
of the governor.

The acrid smell of ozone from his plasma charge 
burning through the air had just reached him
when a "colonial" laser rifle blasted from his 
near right to take out the Imperial lacky who had 
been drawing a bead on him from the *other* side of 
the statue.

Hsi-Feng's shot burned through the other Imp's faceplate, 
which mercifully obscured the graphic demise of the being 
wearing it. 

Skythe spared a moment to give his granddaughter
a look of irritation. That shot of hers had
been much too close for comfort.

"How about a little warning before you fire that damn thing?"

Hsi-Feng shrugged carelessly. 

"Sorry, there wasn't any time."

But the impish gleam in her eyes indicated 
that she wasn't the least bit contrite.

"Humph!"

Turning away, he performed a quick search but found
nothing of any real importance. It seemed that they'd 
just caught a pair of stragglers from the main enemy body. 

But where had they come from? The only ways out 
led back to the main hall where they had come from. 
Skythe and his men had already searched this exact 
same room just a few minutes earlier...

Click.

"What the...?!"

One of the wall panels slid *inward* at his touch.

"So that's how they got here." 

Hsi-Feng ran a finger along the rim of the entrance
then tapped the butt of her rifle lightly against 
the dark blue crystals that were revealed.

A thoughtful frown crossed her face.

"Looks like psynetic shielding. That would 
explain why nobody picked this up earlier."

Skythe nodded in agreement, that was what 
he had figured too. Of course Ryga would 
have taken precautions against supernatural
as well as technological forms of detection.

"It figures, vermin will always have 
bolt holes handy in their nest."

Her expression said it all.

"Let's flush this rat out."

~~~~~~~
-Smoke And Mirrors

Ryga's office turned out to be actually easy 
enough to find. They simply looked for the 
biggest room overflowing with extravagent and 
gaudy displays of wealth and power.

But when they burst inside, 
the surprise turned out to be on them.

The first thing that hit them was the smell.

The misma of recent death was strong,
nearly a tangible presence in the room.
It was a stench of fear and suffering 
that could only be described as...Evil.

Then they saw it. 

Or rather, what was *left* of it.

The ghastly sight in front of them was enough 
to cause even professional soldiers to recoil 
involuntarily.

Ryga K’tarthkl’ppe, merciless tyrant of
Rismoth, butcherer of countless millions,
the most despised individual in this region
of space, was dead. Murdered. And it did not 
look like his end had been a quick one.

The taste of bile rose in Skythe's throat,
even in his most vindictive moods he'd never
imagined anything remotely close to *this*.

"Bloody hell! What's going on here?!"

~~~~~~~
-A Knife In The Dark

Guard duty is almost always a boring job, 
sorta one of those near universal constants. 
What most people fail to understand is that 
boring is a *good* thing. It's on those rare
occasions when something exciting happens 
that trouble starts.

Unfortunately, the unlucky rebels who'd been
assigned to sentry duty inside of the main 
computer control room inside the palace didn't 
share this sentiment. 

"Damn, I'm bored."

"Would you shut up already! It's not like your 
complaining is helping the time pass any faster, 
you know."

"Okay then, let's talk about something 
else. How do you think the others are doing?"

"Better then we are, that's for sure."

"I can't believe we got stuck with standing 
watch back here. Man, we're missing all the action!"

"That suits me just fine. Getting killed 
ain't exactly high on my list of things 
to do."

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Where it belongs, safely buried
beneath my sense of self preservation."

"Are you a man or a mouse?"

"Squeak squeak."

"Oh very funny. What do you do for an encore?"

That question would never be answered,
because at that moment the two sentries
finally sensed the presence behind them.

As they turned their plasma rifles were 
just starting to drop into firing positions. 
But when they saw who it was they hesitated 
for a fatal second.

"You?!"

The sounds of a blaster firing twice in 
quick succession drowned out any further speech.

Both guards dropped like sacks of wet cement, 
steam rising from the gaping holes in their chests. 
Their faces frozen in expressions of surprise and 
horror.

The killer regarded the corpses briefly,
then dismissed them from any further concern.

All too easy. 
 
A dark gloved hand reached out and 
pushed the body slumped across the 
communications board to the floor.

Sensitive fingers lightly skimmed over the 
decorative red runes that seemed at first 
glance to be nothing more then standard 
Imperial bureacratic artistry.

But those who had built this device always 
had more then one purpose in mind for 
everything they designed. 

One simply had to know where to look.

The symbols for "Fate" and "Destiny" 
were found and pushed down into the board.

*Click*

His efforts were rewarded by one of the console 
heads sliding back, revealing a previously hidden 
control panel. 

It didn't take long to punch in the proper access codes, 
sending out a prearranged set of commands out into a part 
of the continent that most people considered the middle 
of nowhere.

The figure slipped back through the concealed entrance
once the green light indicated a successful transfer.
His job here was almost done. Ryga had been successfully 
disposed of. The signal he'd been instructed to deliever
during the Rebel attack was even now being sent.

All that was left for him was to tie up some loose ends.

The rest was up to the Empire.

~~~~~~~
-Elsewhere

Tucked securely inside a concealed bunker, 
obscured from long range electronic sensors 
by the high metallic content of the surrounding 
mountains, a compact and extremely powerful 
pulse transmitter started to power up.

Within mere seconds it reached full capacity 
and began to beam a series of carefully modulated
signals out towards deep space.

~~~~~~~
-High Orbit, Rebel Fleet

"Commander, I just picked up a short high frequency transmission burst from the planet."

"Source?"

"Unknown, it was too quick for me to get a lock.
It wasn't using any encryptions that I could 
recognize either."

"Strange..."

"If it weren't for the fact that the burst itself 
was on such a high energy wavelength, I would have 
thought it was just random electromagnetic static 
from the mop up of the planet. But there was 
definitely a delibrate pattern embedded in it,
so that rules out any natural cause."

"Hmmm. It's probably nothing, but we'd better inform 
the Admiral anyway. Tania, patch me through to the Hopebringer."

"I'm on it!"

~~~~~~
-Phaseworld, The Seel's Whails
(BGM: The Cantina [Star Wars: A New Hope])

It wasn't what she'd expected.

Instead of being a dark and dirty
vermin hole, the place was warm, 
well lit and almost cozy in a 
weird futuristic sort of way. 

"*This* is a Spacer bar?"

"What, you thought they'd be hanging 
out in some kind of sleazy dump like 
in the movies?"

"Well to be honest, yes."

"Actually, that's often the case. 
But the owner of the Seel's Whails has 
a full set of house rules that she's 
good about enforcing. Plus, this is 
one of those rare places where a 
civilized being can get a decent 
drink for a reasonable price and 
not worry about getting a blaster bolt
or a vibroblade in the back, so the 
patrons tend to try and keep it that way.

"I see. So who is "she"?"

"Miss Rairruk."

"Does Miss Rairruk have a first name?"

The guide shrugged.

"If she does, she ain't telling."

Katrina's eyes widened as she spied what
was hanging on the wall behind the main bar.
Resembling a high-tech samurai, the empty 
Warlock Combat Armor silently watched over 
the rest of the room. Suddenly those last 
few statements made a whole lot more sense.

"Oh my."

If even *half* of what she'd heard about 
the Warlock Marines was true then things 
were probably going to get *very*
interesting soon.

~~~~~~

Their entrance had not gone unnoticed,
many sets of eyes had come to rest on the newcomers.
The pair didn't look like regulars, the man 
might be from the Center but his companion 
was most certainly not. 

It wasn't her exotic good looks, or the way she was 
dressed, or even the fact that there was a Millenium 
wand hanging from her belt along with several of the 
more dangerous techno-wizard devices.

She just didn't have the "feel" of a Spacer.

This meant she was either a potential 
client or *really* stupid. After seeing 
her deliver a nasty but effective kick 
to the crotch of an overeager pilot with 
more liquer in him then common sense, 
those watching revised their opinions accordingly.

Noting that the rather large male humanoid 
failed to stir from where he lay in a curled
up fetal position after several minutes, 
the majority of the patrons wisely decided 
to turn back to their drinks and other forms 
of exotic stimulants. It was obvious that
this one could look out for herself.

Those remaining were mostly hoping for some 
work to come their way. Most of them didn't
care who they worked for, as long as they 
were paid on time.

But there were always exceptions to the rule.

A pair of hooded eyes paid very 
close attention to the unusual woman... 

~~~~~~~~~~

Their contact announced his presence with a 
low whistle of admiration accompanied by his hands 
clapping in respect. It wasn't often that he'd seen
such a commotion dispatched with so little fuss.

"Not bad. I must admit that I was 
rather worried when you two showed 
up as you did."

"Oh?"

Katrina assessed the man before her carefully.
A mop of black hair flecked with traces of silver, 
enough wrinkles to give his face character, and
his brown eyes had the mark of combat experience.
He wasn't young, but given the level of medical
science available here that meant nothing. It was 
interesting to note how well he seemed to blend in 
with his environment, her gaze tended to slide off 
of him if she didn't concentrate.

"You're not exactly the type of gal that 
blends in with the local scenery. We've 
been keeping tabs on you since the Central 
Checkpoint."

It spoke well for her credentials that she could take 
care of herself so easily. If she really was one of 
Ranma's *intimate* friends, that would explain a lot.
The captain's taste in women was the stuff of minor 
legend in the Rebellion. 

Lt. Nicholas Croaker even had a few credits 
of his own in the "Saotome" lottery that had 
started up a few years ago. Wagering on who 
would be his next conquest was common but 
small potatoes, the bookies had learned the
hard way not to give anything but token odds 
on that. The real money was in the "Who he'll 
finally end up with" pool. The odds were long, 
*very* long. But the potential payoff for the 
winner was incredibly lucrative, at last check 
the pot consisted of enough credits to buy an 
entire planet!

Putting his dreams of a wealthy retirement aside
for the moment, Croaker gave his full attention 
to the woman before him. 

"My name is Katrina Sun. I..I..."

Flustered, Katrina berated herself silently as she 
struggled to ask what had suddenly become a most 
difficult question.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves,
she plunged ahead.

"I'm looking for..."

He raised a hand to interrupt her.

"You want to know about Ranma."

"How-how did you know?"

"These days *everyone* wants 
to know about him. Ever since 
he disappeared..."

The look on her face was absolutely priceless.

"He's gone?!"

Nicholas nodded. She must have come from 
somewhere *really* out of touch if
she hadn't heard about this until now.

"Just up and vanished somewhere among 
the Rim systems a couple months ago. 
Nobody's seen a trace of him since.
Not even his friends, and if *they* 
don't know then it's a pretty safe bet 
that Saotome doesn't want to be found."

Seeing that Sun was still stunned by the news, 
he tried to clarify his words.

"Not that I can blame him. That poor guy 
has got so many death warrants on his neck 
that even if they ever catch him, they'll 
never be able to agree on how to execute him.
He's probably just taking a vacation away from 
it all. I know I would if I were in his shoes."

"Death warrants?!"

He was just about to answer her when all 
conversation inside the bar came to an 
abrupt halt. 

The Guide had been waiting patiently behind the 
pair as they conversed, wanting them to finish 
quickly so that they could pay him and he could 
get out of there.

He turned to see what was the trouble 
while praying that nothing was wrong. 

Then he froze as his eyes went wide
at the sight of someone he had always 
hoped never to see in person. 

"Oh shit, not him!"

~~~~~~
-The Scales Turn

Against all the odds, White had somehow 
managed to rally and now stood poised on 
the brink of total victory. 

His forces had been scattered across the board,
and were now left in a last ditch defense that 
was just waiting to be swept away. 

"It seems that I underestimated you yet again."

His opponent had been very cunning in utilizing 
Ranma to cover a devastating counter offensive.
It was amazing how much trouble even a replica 
of that boy could do. 

Thoth contemplated Black's next move, his long
fingers dangling over one of his few remaining 
pieces as he searched for a way to at least 
make his opponent pay a heavy price for victory. 

{So few options left...}

"But wait, what's this?"

An opening? Yes, there was a single avenue 
of attack offered...There!

His dark knight struck down White's 
defender like an angry bird of prey.

"Gotcha!"

The repercussions would soon be 
felt throughout the Multiverse.

Things were never going to be the same.

~~~~~~
-Rismoth System

Tania had been half-right. That transmission *had* been 
purposely sent. But there were no hidden messages contained 
within it, the transmission itself *was* the message.

In an asteroid belt similar to the one that 
had hidden the Rebel invasion force from 
detection, the signal that the Untamed 
Stallion's sensors had briefly picked up 
was finally received.

Communication lasers quickly spread the word 
to others waiting impatiently behind the 
shielding asteroids.

It was time.

-End Part 3

*$*$*$*$*$*

(1)For those of you who are wondering; 
   Yes, he *did* actually collide into one before. 
   It was an Impstar II. (Imperial class II, 1.6 km in length. Ouch!) 

(2) Translates as: "By the stones" 
    Bonus points for anyone who gets this reference

*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*

Author's notes: Oopsie, this was originally planned to be released way back
                in April. But the almighty Muse of writing has no respect
                for deadlines. I must also admit that having to focus on school
                and work doesn't help matters any either. 

                I didn't intend to break this up into two parts, but since I'm going
                offline for a month and the second half is only 30% finished, this was 
                how it ended up.

                My apologies to those who wrote to me and got no response, netaddress
                lost some of my mail and when I complained to their service dept. they
                told me that the data was unrecoverable. -_-'
                 
                Let's not even get into the eternal struggle between Windows and Netscape
                that's been haunting my cpu...
                
                Oh well, time to start working on the other PBs for a change.
                
                -Shade