Sound Hearts A Ranma 1/2/Sailormoon S crossover fanfiction By KaosQu Chapter 5 She was there again. The city, that dead and dark city covered with the blood red sky. It was different now, but she knew this was the same city, the same city where... where... It was the same city. She walked with feet no longer her own, and around her, was destruction. The once-foreboding city was reduced to rubble, it's ruins scattered along with the piles of stone that once bore faces. She walked past the rubble of cars, homes, skyscrapers... people. Her face cold and emotionless, she walked. And still, the part that was still herself... hoped. Messiah... She walked, the glaring red light beating upon her back, the quietness, the loneliness, permeating her shackled mind with every light step. Serenity... She walked, her mind quiet... like everything else. And with every further step that brought her no closer to finding another living, breathing being, that small flicker of hope died a little. Anybody... There was no one... nobody, nothing. Not one living thing; only one vast monument to... the end, to destruction, to... the Silence. And then she was in control. Her legs immediately gave away and she dropped to her knees, the gleaming weapon she didn't know she held dropping to the street with a clatter. Sobs wracked her body as she curled into herself, tried to warm her body, to ward of the cold silence that surrounded her in every direction. She cried for a long time, her sobs filling the deathly silent air, carrying into the endless distance and ultimately dying out, joining the rest of the thousands, millions of people that had once walked the now-dead city. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, and it may very well have been in that timeless, dead city, dead world, her sobs died out. Sniffling, she drew her head back up and opened her eyes, squinting in the glaring, merciless, light. A face stared back at her. Startled, she fell back, barely managing to catch the ground with her hands. Her heart beating rapidly, she stared back, blinking. And then, the tears returned as she realized, it was a stone face, a single, pigtailed, stone head staring at her. Ranma... Lurching forward, she grabbed the head cradling it to her chest and clenching her eyes as she once again sobbed, the tears sliding down her cheek, soaking her strange clothes and splashing on the stone head. If he was gone... then... then everyone else was gone. All that was left was her and this... this dead city... And then even that was gone. The stone head with its soothingly familiar features disappeared, the ground beneath her very feet disappeared. And as she discovered when she opened her eyes, the light... disappeared. It was dark, completely dark. There was nothing around her, just the darkness, the cold, the silence... the loneliness. She was alone, completely, utterly alone in an infinitely vast void that was... nothing. And she cried again, burying her face in her arms and wishing with every bit of strength that remained in her shattered spirit that... that she were with... him. She cried, and cried, feeling small and helpless in the absolute nothingness. In the great and terrible void that surrounded her, that was the very embodiment of nonexistence. And then he came. She lifted her head, saw the bright, shining light that cut through the heavy darkness and hurt her eyes. She felt the overwhelming presence made all the more awe-inspiring in contrast to the great void of nothingness. Pharaoh 90. And she trembled. With a gasp, Hotaru shot up in her bed, the warm blanket covering her sliding down her body and to her waist. Her breathing was heavy, a glean of sweat covering her face as she stared without recognition into the darkness before her. She tensed, fearing something she wasn't quite conscious of. Slowly, the fear faded away and her eyes made it's way through the darkness, the soft soothing darkness that covered her, and found her room. Her wardrobe, her chair, her table... But it didn't all go away. No matter how long she stared at the familiar objects scattered around her, no matter how long she stared and forgot about the dream, the fear persisted. Tears came to her, she could feel them forming in her eyes, condensing, ready to slide down her cheeks. Slowly, she pulled her legs out from under her blanket and got to her knees. Cautiously, she glanced around the room, looking for... something. After a few agonizing long seconds of waiting for... for something she feared, she then scurried forward, off her bed and across the floor to her desk. Quickly, she grabbed one of the books lying on top of it. Gripping it tightly, she shot back onto her bed. One hand clamped on the hardcover book, she jerked her blanket up to her neck, taking refuge in it's familiar warmth. And then, her legs drawn to her body, Ranma's history book clutched tightly to her chest, Hotaru quietly sobbed as the fear gnawed at her heart, the loneliness feeding it. She cried and waited; waited for the dawn to come, waited for it's warm, comforting light to sneak under her window binds, banish away the darkness and, hopefully, the fear. It was early morning in Juuban, and the Saotome pair of father and son were once again engaged in their usual morning practice. Unlike the previous day, Genma had once again awoken before his son, throwing him unceremoniously out the window. Though brief and unspectacular, the mid-air battle that ensued had managed to ease whatever lingering resentment the younger Saotome may have still harbored for his father. The anger at the lost ramen had been entirely dependent on his mood at the time anyway, and so it was quickly lost in the thrill and rush of cutting through the air in the most complex and advanced forms of the Saotome School of Martial Arts. Once his feet landed on the ground, Ranma's mind relaxed and started to mull over the Art in general as the rush of the fight faded away and he settled into a familiar slow spar with his father. That was when he suddenly remembered the certain thing his father had done the previous day. "So Pops, what the heck was that thing you did yesterday?" Ranma asked as he casually sent a kick in his father's direction. "W-What thing?" the older martial artist stuttered, absently dodging the kick and suddenly turning a little pale. "Y'know," Ranma started, oblivious to his father's apparent state of distress as he forced the old man back with an onslaught of quick jabs and hooks. "That thing where you were glowing all blue and stuff." "Oh, that," Genma deadpanned, though he was giving off a mental sigh of relief that Ranma wasn't curious about that OTHER thing he had done. "Yeah, guess you've still got a few tricks up your sleeve..." Ranma trailed off, hoping the old man would catch the hint. "Of course boy!" the balding martial artist exclaimed proudly as he suddenly launched back at his son with a lightning-fast series of kicks and punches, his second wind suddenly coming to him. "Why, I've mastered techniques you've yet to even dream of!" "Yeah?" Ranma said, his curiosity further piqued though he was certain his father was exaggerating a bit. Still... he definitely wanted to know more about that blue aura thing the old man pulled off. "Like that blue thing?" "That, my boy, is something you'll be learning soon enough." "R-really?" Ranma asked, caught by surprise, he hadn't expected his father to spill things so quickly and easily. Unfortunately, being surprised had the side effect of making him stop and drop his defenses a bit. Just a little, but he also wasn't actively blocking, launching any counterattacks or even moving backwards. Essentially, he was standing still with his mouth hanging open. "Don't let your guard down boy!" Genma, of course, took advantage of this opportunity to grab his son, throw him across the concrete ground and into a pile of conveniently placed boxes. Flying across the air, Ranma slammed into the pile of boxes and hit the wall behind with a loud thud. The second or so he had been airborne had been wasted feeling surprised, so despite the convenient placement of cardboard boxes, it still hurt. Still, the wall wasn't cracked, so the boxes had been somewhat useful. Ranma, on the other hand, didn't really care whether or not the wall was in one piece. "Hey, whaddya do that for?!" he demanded, cardboard boxes tumbling to his side as he stumbled to his feet. Rubbing his back in annoyance, he glared at his father, despite the fact that he knew it had been his fault for giving such a huge opening. "You're getting sloppy boy!" Genma shouted back. "Ah shut up Old Man, you just got lucky that's all!" was Ranma's angry reply as he started flicking some imaginary dust off of him, trying to ignore his father. Genma merely laughed back. Ranma stared, eyes twitching angrily as his father continued to laugh. "Hey, don't think I've forgotten about that ramen you ate!" "Eh, what?" Genma said, stopping his laughing and turning his attention back to Ranma, who suddenly seemed to be a lot closer to him. "You heard me old man!" And then, the balding martial artist found himself caught in a vicious uppercut. Once again, he found himself lifting off the ground, a powerful force propelling him into the air, higher and higher. About three seconds later, he managed to catch his breath and get his eyes to look down, where he saw a familiar pigtailed boy enveloped in a bright yellow aura. For a moment, he forgot the situation, a flash of pride coming to his face as he smiled at his son's progress. Then he realized that he was 20 meters up in the air and climbing higher every second. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" Down below, Ranma watched as his father flew away into the distance. "Stupid old man..." he muttered to himself as the yellow aura surrounding him started to fade away. "And he calls me sloppy..." Shuddering, Ranma rubbed his arms, suddenly feeling a little cold, as if a warm blanket had just been taken off of him. Angry thoughts about his father fading away into the sudden unexplainable chill, Ranma realized what he had just done. Again. "Whoah," he muttered to himself, lifting his right hand up to his face and staring at it with a bit of wonder. "Man I'm good..." Dressed in his school uniform, bandana tied around his head, Ryoga was standing in the middle of his room, punching in the air as rapidly as he could. His face was focused, determined; his eyes staring straight ahead as he occasionally paused in his punching and sent several roundhouses into the air. He was training, preparing for Ranma to come. The pigtailed boy always came these days, and he always brought a fight with him. It was one of the few consistencies of his life, and he wouldn't admit to anyone, perhaps not even to himself, but he took a little comfort in it. Took comfort in the thought that there was some purpose in his life, something to expect and look forward to other than an 'adventure'-filled day of wandering around Juuban, or even Japan. Still, whenever Ranma brought a fight, he had also, so far, always brought the bitter taste of defeat. It agitated and annoyed the Lost Boy to no end, caused every amount of misery that Ranma had always beaten him in a fight so far. Whether it be in the traditional way, or with strange and suspiciously cowardly maneuvers like yesterday, Ryoga's pigtailed rival always found a way to pull a miracle and win every single duel between the two. The Lost Boy grit his teeth, anger flooding over the small amounts of gratitude he felt, at the thought of how he was always beaten, how all his years of training under his father, all the lonely days and nights spent wandering Japan fighting off thieves and crooks were... all for nothing against one annoying pigtailed boy. Ryoga's concentration slipped away as his mind started getting side-tracked on these angry thoughts, his punches starting becoming fiercer, stronger, snapping through the air with the force of his anger. His eyes started narrowing, his kicks flying with strength enough to easily dent a bus, Ryoga remembered all the fights, all the bread stealing... That bread, that bread that he should have gotten, should have eaten... snatched away and devoured by that same pigtailed boy who mocked his skill with every blindingly fast attack that won their duels... the Lost Boy thought silently to himself as he started to lose himself in the familiar anger. His ridiculously strong kicks snapped in the air, closely followed by his trademark ridiculously strong punches. He kicked, punched, losing himself in every satisfyingly powerful attack. And soon, with enough strength to easily shatter an average person's skull, he started upper-cutting, back-fisting, side and spin-kicking. Crescent, snap and straight kicks linked with jabs, spears and elbows. Ryoga went through all this and more, thoughts of Ranma beaten and bloodied, groveling at his feet swirling through his mind. And then he stopped. His anger disappeared, melting away like snow in the spring as he stopped and lifted a hand, staring at it sadly. "What am I doing..." he muttered to himself with a sigh and shake of his head. "I need to get faster, not stronger!" Sighing once again, the Lost Boy started punching again, trying to keep cool and do everything in a perfect and flawless form, pulling and pushing his arms as fast they could go. His thoughts wandered again, but this time it was to something, someone else. He thought of how impressed Minako would be, when she saw his skill, his strength, his... speed; and most of all, when she saw him finally defeat Ranma. And Ryoga smiled. In another room miles away from where Ryoga was currently training, a blonde haired girl groggily stumbled off her bed and to her feet, inadvertently knocking a white-furred cat out of her bed as she clumsily searched for her alarm clock. She eventually found it, lying on it's side, on the ground. Picking it up with a yawn, she found that it had been some twenty minutes since her alarm had first rang. Artemis, complaining about the rude wake-up as he stumbled to his feet and hopped onto the bed, saw this too. Despite it being more like the Minako he knew, he still found it odd and voiced his opinion loudly. Minako waved a hand in casual dismissal and set out in search of her uniform. Ryoga winced, a half dozen rapid punches sneaking past his defense and thudding against his chest. Gritting his teeth, the Lost Boy knelt down, sweeping the ground with a kick as his opponent finished his attack. The kick didn't hit, the Lost Boy didn't really expect it to, his enemy was too fast to be taken by something like that. What it did do was cause his opponent to jump into the air to dodge the kick. That, Ryoga did expect, and he was prepared for it. Cutting off his kick before it even finished, the Lost Boy was shooting to his feet in an uppercut. What he didn't expect was for his opponent to continue flying up. The blue blur continued into the air, higher and higher and completely out of the Lost Boy's reach. Then, the blur shot back down and, just as Ryoga realized what his opponent was intending to do, impacted the Lost Boy's skull. Ryoga, of course, dropped like a rock. Leaning lazily against a tree, Ranma absently chewed on the piece of bread he had in his hand, the multiple bruises he bore on various parts of his body more or less forgotten. Nearby, Ryoga was busy glaring at the pigtailed martial artist. That stupid attack Ranma had done hadn't knocked him out, not by a long shot, but in the 9 seconds or so the Lost Boy had spent rubbing his head and cursing his rival, Ranma had retrieved the bread and was leaving the cafeteria. And thus yet another lunch period had begun with the Lost Boy's defeat. "Will you hurry up and finish eating the stupid bread already, Ranma!!" Ryoga demanded angrily, turning his gaze away from the piece of food that served as a reminder of his defeat at their usual lunch-time brawl that day. Incoherent grunts was the vague reply. Ryoga gave an exasperated sigh and turned around completely, deciding not to look at Ranma, period. He just couldn't understand it, he had practiced all morning, and he still lost! Twice!! A small part of the Lost Boy, meanwhile, reminded him that it took a little more than an hour or so of punching and kicking to improve significantly. After several careful seconds of studying that thought, the small part of logic spontaneously grew a pigtail and was rudely shoved off a mental cliff. "Stupid Ranma..." the Lost Boy muttered. Humming to herself as she sat down in the shade of a large tree, Minako leaned back, placing her lunch before her as she closed her eyes, taking a moment to enjoy the atmosphere of her favorite part of school. The sun was shining, the sakura were blooming, the peaceful chatter of her fellow classmates were all around her, and the birds... well, the birds were making their annoying bird noises and darting around stealing people's food, but she didn't mind that, as long as the sneaky little things stayed away from her lunch... The only thing that could make things better right now was Ryoga... Minako opened her eyes and sighed for a moment. Well, she'd see him soon enough; school was already half over after all! So thinking, Minako opened her lunch and took a bite out of one of her sandwiches. Her mood was a little dampened, but as the magic of the lunch period worked on her, she soon found herself smiling again. Meanwhile, in a place not far away from where Minako was currently eating, a pale, red-headed woman walked silently through the heavy shadows of a school basement, somehow making her way effortlessly through the jumbled rooms in the nearly non-existent light. She was in, incidentally, the basement of the very same school Minako was currently pursuing her education in. "So this is the where that new friend of Hotaru goes to school..." Kaolinite murmured to herself as she suddenly stopped, a small cloud of long-undisturbed dust floating around in her wake. Slowly, she extended a closed hand forward, as if offering it to something before her, something that lurked in hiding within the heavy darkness. Smirking coldly to herself, the red-head opened the closed fist, and for a quick moment, a glint of white light seemed to flash off of an object in her hand. And then, still smirking to herself, Kaolinite disappeared from the room, leaving behind nothing in the darkness but a trail of disturbed dust and... something else. Ryoga didn't really know why, but he found himself following Ranma around. Of course, he had followed Ranma around during lunch for the past week, but that didn't stop the Lost Boy from wondering, as he always did, why he put up with his pigtailed rival. Today, he was especially irritated, Ranma having been strangely silent and distant. Not that Ryoga minded, of course, but Ranma was just so different from his usual loud and obnoxious self that he, Ryoga Hibiki, was actually starting to feel... uneasy. "What's wrong Ranma?" the Lost Boy finally asked, bluntly and to the point. Ranma was silent, continuing his slow pacing around the school grounds, arms crossed over his chest and head bent down and staring at the ground. Ryoga spent the next minute or so following a silent Ranma around the school, stubbornly refusing to voice his question again. "Ranma..." the Lost Boy eventually started again, strangely not quite as irritated as he thought he'd be. "What's wrong?" There was yet another long minute of silence in which the Lost Boy waited for Ranma to say something, remarkably keeping his calm in a situation he would've, under more familiar circumstances, turned into an all-out brawl. As Ryoga was about to repeat his question for the third time, however, his rival stopped, lifting his head and staring into the sky, hands now propped behind his head. "What makes you think there's something wrong?" Ranma asked softly. The bandana-clad martial artist opened his mouth, but words failed to come forth. Ryoga struggled for several moments, his mouth snapping shut. "What kind of idiot do you think I am?" he finally said after a quick brainstorm. "You've been acting strange all morning..." The pigtailed martial artist came to a stop, still staring up into the sky, his face a blank mask. "Strange?" was his simple reply. "Strange," the Lost Boy returned bluntly. Shrugging, Ranma dropped his gaze and turned around, a hand now rubbing his chin as he stared at the Lost Boy with a slight smirk playing across his face. "Geez Ryoga, I didn't think ya cared..." The reaction was instantaneous; Ryoga immediately started sending out a stream of stuttered half-words quickly followed by a forceful "What??" The demand made, the Lost Boy then proceeded to glare at Ranma. Ranma, for his part, laughed a little, a strange smile not usually found when he laughed at the Lost Boy now accompanying him. "Yeah, just kidding around..." The smile still plastered on his face, Ranma turned around and headed for the shade of a conveniently-placed tree. "C'mon, let's get in the shade before you get a heat-stroke or something..." Ryoga was silent, staring at Ranma's back with a strange look of suspicion now on his face. Suspicion of what, even he wasn't quite sure of, but he was confident it couldn't be anything good. Nonetheless, he quickly followed Ranma into the shade of the large, conveniently-placed tree that, he had to admit, was refreshingly cool, especially after the fight and time spent following Ranma around in the sun. Leaning against the trunk of tree, Ranma once again stared out into the sky. The smile he had worn had slipped off his face sometime after he had turned his back on the lost boy and Ranma was back into his apparently brooding mood. Sighing, Ryoga followed suit and leaned back onto the tree as well, still waiting for Ranma to say something and still not yet resorting to violence to make Ranma talk. Instead, he followed Ranma's gaze and looked out into the distant blue sky. The Lost Boy stared into the sky, the vast and seemingly endless sky. His eyes peered into the distant horizon as far as he could; his gaze climbed it's empty and brilliant heights and tried to just... see it, see whatever Ranma was seeing as he stared into it at that very moment. "I'm worried about her," came the voice, soft but with the same effect as a sudden burst of lightning or thunder. His musings abruptly cut off, the Lost Boy snapped up, blinking a few times. "What?" he asked, more out of reflex than anything. "I'm worried about her," the pigtailed boy repeated, still staring into the sky, but this time without a long minute of delay. "Her? You mean Hotaru?" Ryoga asked as he shifted slightly and looked at Ranma. "Who else...?" Ranma muttered, almost too softly for the Lost Boy to hear. Sighing, Ryoga turned back around and leaned on the tree again. "I don't see any reason why Hotaru shouldn't be fine right now, Ranma; you're just worrying too much." "Maybe..." the pigtailed martial artist replied, his voice still soft, seeming to sound doubtful and anxious to the Lost Boy's ears. "But..." Ranma trailed off, seeming to be at a loss of words for a few seconds. "I'm just worried about her." "There's no reason for you to be worried, Ranma, Hotaru's fine and we'll be seeing her in just a few more hours." Crossing his arms, the Lost Boy easily put up a confident front, even going so far as to smirk. "Yeah but..." Ranma started again, still not convinced, not even really paying attention to anything other than Ryoga's words as he stared blankly into the sky. Sighing in exasperation, Ryoga threw up his arms, once again wondering why he was even with Ranma right then. "Hotaru's fine!" he almost shouted, cutting off whatever words Ranma had been about to say. "It isn't like she's going be attacked by demons from hell in the next five minutes!" "..." Getting no reply, the Lost Boy turned around and looked at Ranma once again. What he immediately noticed was the tightened muscles and how the pigtailed martial artist pressed his feet into the ground. Almost shouting in exasperation as he quickly deduced what was going through his rival's mind, the Lost Boy instead choose to shout into Ranma's ears. "I said she's alright!!" This time, Ranma did respond with more than a few words, straightening up and taking a few steps away from the tree, his face a stone mask of resolve. Holding a clenched fist in front of his face, his eyes staring ahead with fiery determination, he said, with a tone more suited to times of making solemn promises, and indeed perhaps he was making one, "I'm going to see her." Ryoga Hibiki almost fell over. About twenty seconds of staring in shock at Ranma's retreating back later, though, the Lost Boy snapped back to his senses and dashed after the his rival. "Ranma you idiot!! Do you even know where her school is?!" Seated quietly on a bench outside, near a massive steel and concrete structure that rose into the sky, was a young girl, dressed in the dull red shirt and green skirt uniform of a student of Mugen Gauken. The sun was shining warmly down on the dark-haired girl, the long shadows of the giant school building managing to miss her, the serene post of her bench, and the nearby green field of grass; and yet the girl was apart from all this, cold and distant, not paying the slightest bit of attention to the occasional student who hurried past her. She was bent slightly forward, her arms drawn to her chest and her dark hair falling gently around her face. Her eyes were still, seemingly fixated on a single spot before her. She rarely even blinked as she seemed to stare emotionlessly downwards, at the rough concrete surface of the sidewalk below her. The dull gray ground was far from being on her mind, however, for though the sidewalk held her eyes, her thoughts were far away. "Ranma..." Hotaru murmured softly, her lips barely parting as the word was released from her throat. As if on cue, a sudden chill wind blew across the area, causing the young girl to shiver slightly and draw up a little, her arms tightening against her to gather warmth. And as she shifted, a lone ray of warm light fell upon her arms, drove away the dark shadows that played across her chest and illuminated, for a single instant, a thick, worn book and the word 'History'. It was for no apparent reason that Minako Aino dropped her lunch and jumped to her feet, spun to her right and stared in the direction of the school building. A hand clenched tightly at her side, the blond-haired Senshi stood staring silently at the school, her lunch forgotten. "Something..." she started, almost muttering as she stared ahead. "Something's wrong..." When the ground burst open in an explosion of concrete and dirt, Minako knew something was wrong. The large humanoid creature that shot through the dark opening, blinding almost everybody with the glare of it's metallic skin confirmed the fact. Landing on the ground, the creature, slender and glinting gold in the sunlight, seemed to drop into some sort of fighting stance even as concrete and dirt rained down around it. "Vikry!!" it shouted out in a ringing voice that seemed to float and linger in the air. Staring grimly ahead, Minako instinctively summoned her transformation pen, the familiar cold touch of its shaft comforting her even as she knew she couldn't use it with so many civilians around. "I have to get out of here..." she murmured as she kept her gaze on the creature. Flinching as she saw the students stumbling and scrambling away from the creature, Minako glanced desperately around for a place to safely transform. A sigh of relief escaping her lips as she realized hiding behind the tree behind her and transforming would work, Minako glanced one last time at the creature before dashing behind the tree and raising a hand into the air. "Venus Star Power, Make Up!" A flash of light that went unnoticed by the running and otherwise panicking students, and Sailor Venus was dashing towards the monster. "Vikry!!" she screamed triumphantly into the air as she dropped lightly to her feet, bending down slightly and dropping into a low stance. The creature slowly scanned the area, taking in the young teenagers scrambling away, a few screaming, and slowly smirked. "Crystal Heart!!" she screamed, her voice splitting the air and nearly blowing eardrums as she dashed forward towards a nearby student, a young girl who had the signs of a particularly pure heart. All she needed to do was retrieve the heart, then the Talisman surely inside it, and it would all be over. The creature blurred as she ran forward, its eyes moving only slightly from side to side to quickly take into count all potential threats. There were none. She smirked, confidence filling her. Fulfill the mission, serve to guide Pharaoh 90 to this planet, it depended on her. "Venus Love-me Chain!!" Danger! A slight twist, a leap into the air, and she was rolling safely away from the attack and onto her feet. Spinning around, her hands held up in a loose stance, she focused on her attacker. "I am Sailor Venus, defender of Love and Justice! How dare you interrupt this peaceful school's lunch period, I can't allow it! In the name of my guardian planet, Venus, I will punish you!" Senshi. She knew that word, a hated, reviled word that caused her to tense and hiss. Senshi... that was what this blond-haired, skirt-wearing human striking a pose 6 meters in front of her was: a Sailor Senshi, enemy to her and the coming of Pharaoh 90. She must be destroyed. "Vikry!!" With that splitting scream that actually caused the Senshi to flinch, she shot forward, almost blurring. Kill the Senshi, serve Pharaoh 90. The Senshi seemed surprised but quickly lashed out with her strange chain-whip. Duck to the left, let the attack miss... Leap and kill! She was lunging at the Senshi, under the glowing whip, right hand extended, razor-sharp nails ready to rip out the girl's throat and end her futile resistance to the will of Pharaoh 90. But the Senshi surprised her again, the girl's left hand darting forward and pointing at her. A beam of light and a shout of "Venus Crescent Beam Shower!" later she was forced to abandon her attack, leaping to a side and rolling on the ground and to her knees, the swarm of magic narrowly missing. She was on her feet in an instant, dashing towards the Senshi, who was now jumping back and pulling her chain whip in for another strike. Then it hit. She screamed, a mixture of pain and shock and dropped to her knees, clutching her head as she felt the shockwaves of psychic trauma battering and calling her... It was _her_... the Mistress... She was... She was on her feet and breaking into a full sprint away from the school, bending slightly and leaping with ease onto a nearby rooftop. The Senshi was not important, Mistress 9 was awakening. "Ranma... we're lost!" These words, coming from the mouth of Ryoga Hibiki were strange ones indeed, so strange that they might have actually caused the pigtailed boy addressed to laugh under other circumstances. In their current situation, however, Ranma merely decided to rub his chin and stop, glancing around. Strange and unfamiliar buildings and street signs met his gaze at every turn, and Ranma was forced to admit that maybe they were lost. "Great, this is all your fault Ryoga..." the pigtailed martial artist muttered absently, stopping and leaning against a wall. "How is this my fault??" the Lost Boy demanded incredulously, resisting the urge to try and pound Ranma's face into that nice hard wall he was resting on. "It was your idea to go find Hotaru, not mine!" Ranma merely shrugged, replying, "Your bad luck probably rubbed off on me or something, I actually have a good sense of direction, remember?" This time, Ryoga did punch at Ranma, his fist rocketing out in a collision course with that aggravatingly matter-of-fact pigtailed head in front of him. Ranma was just a little bit quicker however, ducking down with not a flinch as the Lost Boy's fist broke through hard brick just centimeters above. In a second he was behind Ryoga, sighing and staring down the road. Normally he'd actually enjoy a little stress-relieving fight, but... Gritting his teeth in frustration, Ranma clenched his fists and put all his formidable strength into staring down the road as if he could somehow pierce the hundreds of stone and concrete walls and buildings before him and find his friend. Instead, he felt a hand gently drop onto his shoulder. Turning his head slightly, he saw Ryoga, head tilted slightly toward the ground and seeming a little uncomfortable. "Ranma..." the Lost Boy started softly, trailing off and seeming to be struggling for the right words. "Ranma," he started again after a few moments of silence, this time looking into Ranma's eyes. "I think we should go back now." Ranma's reaction was instantaneous, his mouth flipping open and an angry retort, something about not taking advice from brain-dead idiots who didn't care about his friends, on the tip of his tongue. It died off quickly however, as he looked into Ryoga's eyes, saw the sincerity and serious expression, registered the sudden tenseness of the Lost Boys hands when he spoke. Clenching his fist in frustration, Ranma turned back around, shrugging off Ryoga's hand and taking a few steps forward before sighing and falling tiredly back against the wall. "I have to find her..." he muttered, half to Ryoga, half to himself. "You don't even know where she is," Ryoga replied briskly, leaning back against the wall next to Ranma and staring blankly ahead. "Lets just get back, we'll see her after school like always." The Lost Boy's fist clenched a little, emphasizing the last word with an edge of steel-cold confidence. "She's close, I know she is...!" Ranma whispered softly and yet with such adamant and desperate intensity that Ryoga was for a moment at a loss for words. "You don't know that..." the Lost Boy finally said after several more moments of silence interrupted only by the stutter of engines as the occasional car passed by. Ranma was silent, his eyes now gazing sightlessly down at the ground. "I..." he started, before trailing off and raising his head slightly, his mouth half-open as if he were struggling to say something important. "I just-" "And just what are you kids doing here?" Two head turned simultaneously towards the new voice, and the first thing either noticed was the light blue shirt and crossed arms. She blurred across the rooftops, a golden streak that blinded any who happened to look up at her. Concrete cracked under her impact and the roof threatened to give way every time she jumped from one building to the next, but never did she give pause. The wind beat against her, the sun tried to blind her, and she could feel the enemy trying to keep up with her; she didn't care. She was bent low, bolting across the rooftops like lightning. Keep going, keep running, take the fastest possible way, all else was negligible, all that mattered was to reach the Mistress and serve. She leapt again, shooting through the air for what could have been the hundredth time, but this time there was no roof to land on, just a quick 10 meter drop onto a grassy field. She didn't miss a beat, landing lightly and hardly pausing before she was bolting down the green field in the direction of the Mistress. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw humans shouting and scrambling away from her projected course. Some felt like they had unusually pure crystal hearts, but she paid them no heed; they were not of importance. All that mattered was that they were out of her way and- Raising her arms up before her, she crashed through a wall that had been in her way, the concrete crumbling before her like paper. Now indoors, she mowed through desks and chairs, even slamming into the occasional human that got in her way before crashing through another wall and beginning the cycle of crashing through desks, chairs and students anew. Screams, shouts, a high-pitched bell, panic and fear. She crashed through another wall, and green fields were before her again. She ran, broke through a thick stone wall, and jumped onto another roof. Ryoga had quickly dropped into a defensive stance, his left leg pushing back against the ground as he raised his hands, fingers spread loosely apart, before him. Ranma had merely turned towards the newly-arrived police officer, regarding him with an emotionless stare. There was no doubt in his mind that this blue-shirted policeman intended to drag him back to school or something. He had done something he wasn't supposed to do, and now the the law had come; it didn't take Einstein to connect the two... Ranma absently thought, as he stared into the officer's face, that he should feel angry for being caught before he could find Hotaru... but he had just been forced to admit to himself that he had about no chance of finding her. Maybe it was better this way, at least he wouldn't have to admit to Ryoga that he was wrong... Looking back up again, he was a little surprised to see Ryoga apparently arguing with the officer. The Lost Boy was speaking loudly, almost shouting at the man, who answered with calm and collected replies that only seemed to encourage Ryoga to argue even louder. "You kids are supposed to be in school," the officer said matter-of-factly. "I'm not a kid!!!" Ryoga angrily shot back. "You are in the eyes of the law," was the smooth reply, followed with a short nod. "Now just come with me back to school and there won't be a problem; but if you insist on resisting..." the officer trailed off, letting his words linger in the air. If anything, it only further angered Ryoga, and for a moment, it almost looked like he was about to attack the policeman. The man remained cool though, his arms still crossed and away from the dark club on his hip. A long second later, the Lost Boy had calmed down a little, just enough to restrain himself from attacking the man. Ranma was absently impressed that he didn't have to stop Ryoga himself. He and Genma had already had enough run-ins with the law, and he'd rather stay out of trouble for as long as he could... "Now you just tell me what school you go to, and I'll walk you back," the officer said, his voice somehow managing to not sound threatening. For a few tense moments, Ranma stared silently at the two in indecision. The lost boy was silent, staring back at the officer, muscles tensed. The officer was calm, collected, and most importantly, patient. Run away... run away... he could run away, he was sure he could make it away from the man, but... a small part of him somehow equated running away from this situation with running away from Hotaru, and at the same time, Ranma had already admitted he had no idea where Hotaru was... Taking a breath, a deep one that seemed to carry with it an air of resignation, Ranma quietly slid one of his feet back, his legs tensing as he prepared to... Ryoga turned around, the officer turned around, and both set of eyes focused on Ranma. "W-what??" he stuttered, stumbling back slightly, surprised that the two had noticed him. Well... he half-expected Ryoga to maybe notice him, but not the officer! The guy may look fit, but he definitely didn't _look_ like a martial artist... He had overestimated the silence though, overestimated how engrossed the two had been in their staring contest, and now he was the center of their attention. "What?!" Ranma asked again, quickly recovering from the sudden combined stares and straightening up, staring back at the officer with a defensive defiance usually seen on the Lost Boy's face. Ryoga just gave an indifferent shrug, but the officer stared silently at Ranma, glancing him and his uniform over before carefully asking "and where do _you_ go to school?" Ranma choked, his face turning towards the ground and his hand sneaking to the back of his head somehow, rubbing it sheepishly. He almost started to give a nervous chuckle, but caught himself and just gave a few decoy coughs for a couple of seconds before raising his head and giving the officer a sheepish smile. "Well..." Ranma started, making sure the officer's eyes were fixed on his own while he started making hand motions to Ryoga to start sneaking away. The Lost Boy didn't move, and Ranma didn't notice. "I go to-" He started to shoot forward, a burst of strength surging through his body, that familiar sense of breaking free coming to him as he started to move and... A flash of inspiration, a perfect idea, one so obviously obvious that he was surprised he didn't think of it sooner. The famed Saotome ability to think up of an idea at the last possible moment kicked in, and Ranma quickly ground to a halt, a little disoriented from the rapid acceleration and stop in the space of about a second, but very excited. Ryoga was giving Ranma a quizzical, almost worried look, and the officer was blinking, trying to figure out what had happened. Ranma merely grinned, not even sparing the time to cover up the strange display. Instead, he excitedly shouted out the words that would solve all his problems. "Mugen! We go to Mugen Gauken Academy!" The dark haired girl finally sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment before tiredly opening them again, and lifting her head up. She straightened her back, staring ahead silently, the wind still and the voices of the other students littered around the school seeming to have faded away, leaving her alone. It didn't matter, she already felt alone, so alone beneath the rays of the sun, sitting by herself quietly on the bench. Almost like... almost like... For a short second, a flash of fear shot through her, her breath catching, her heart skipping a beat, and she lowered the hands that had been held to her chest, her eyes staring down at the object she had clasped to her heart... A... a... Her vision flashed, her surroundings seemed to fade and be replaced with red skies and shattered rubble, and as she looked down saw a hard stone face resting in her arms, staring at her. And just as quickly, it was gone, she was back in the school, the voices of students filtering back into her hearing, and a thick and worn history book rested gently in her hands. Clenching her eyes shut, she pulled the book back against her, her arms tightening and her head bent down as she softly sobbed. She didn't really know why the tears came, but they did, and as they slid down her cheek, the loneliness in her heart seemed to grow, slipping free and forming a vacuum of... silence inside her, a silent vacuum that yearned for comfort, a single smile or touch. And all she could do was sniff, the air flowing into her delicate nose tinged with the salt of tears. The lunch period was almost over now. Ranma grinned, waving back at the police officer and nudging Ryoga to do the same. After a few dark mutters, the Lost Boy looked stoically up and waved at the officer, who nodded and turned around, walking away from the two and the towering structure behind them. When the officer was far enough away, Ranma spun around, grinning. "Hah! How bout that Ryoga, pretty smart huh?" Ryoga turned around and gave a short chuckle, nodding. "I have to admit that was pretty smart of you Ranma, even if you are an honor-less thief." "Who's an honor-less thief?!" Ranma snapped back, turning on the Lost Boy with an annoyed scowl. "You!" Ryoga shot back, grinning. This was more like it! Ranma had finally gotten out of that slump of his; of course, it had to take something like ditching school to go check on his girlfriend to do it... "And you're ugly too!" Ranma blinked, dropping back into a deceptively casual stance and giving Ryoga an odd look. After a few long moments, the Lost Boy staring into Ranma's eyes seriously, he started chuckling. "You gotta be kidding me... That was the..." The pigtailed martial artist trailed off, shaking his head in a mix of amusement and disbelief. The Lost Boy grinned, his serious facade slipping off as he started chuckling along, and for a single odd minute, the two laughed together, and someone passing by would've said that the two seemed like the best of friends. The minute passed though, and their chuckles subsided, Ranma shaking his head one last time before turning around and facing the school. "Alright Ryoga, lets go find her..." The Lost Boy nodded and the two walked into Mugen Gauken. As the duo followed the concrete paths winding around the school, they seemed to attract a lot of stares. Ryoga didn't really notice or cared, his constant travels having already hardened him to the curious looks of people. Ranma, who had spend most of his life on the road, didn't really pay attention or mind either, unless of course one of those frail-looking guys in those fancy red uniforms tried to attack him or something... Ranma blinked, looking over one of the guys, causing him to flinch and hurry away. "Whoah..." Ranma muttered to himself, attracting Ryoga's curiosity for a moment. "What?" the Lost Boy asked. "Found Hotaru?" Ranma shook his head. "Haven't you noticed? Our uniforms are different from theirs." Ranma waved a hand in the general direction of one of the passing male students. Ryoga glanced at the student and saw that the uniforms were indeed slightly different. His and Ranma's shirts were blue, but Mugen's was white with a green tie, complete with dull red blazers, their pants a rather glaring green with a patchwork of black plaid stripes. The color scheme looked a lot better on the girls and their skirts... Ryoga shook his head, wondering how the police officer had fallen for Ranma's little trick. "This just proves you're an idiot, Saotome..." Ranma just rolled his eyes. "Why don't you try calling me something else for a-" He abruptly shut his mouth, his left hand raised up in front of the Lost Boy, somehow holding him back more effectively than solid concrete could. Almost running on reflex, Ryoga's head turned to Ranma, an annoyed look on the bandanna-clad face. "What the hell's the big... idea...?" Ryoga trailed off, his annoyance turning into fascination as he observed the silent face of his rival, saw the way his mouth was just slightly open, his eyes seeming to have filtered out everything else but one thing... one person... The Lost Boy followed his pigtailed rival's eyes, and soon saw what had so completely caught his attention. There, just 15 or so meters ahead of them, hunched quietly on a bench, was... "Hotaru!" Ranma was already dashing towards the girl. She was near, she could feel it. The earth, the air, it all seemed to sing to her, in her, throughout her very being. The closer she got, the more the power burned within her, and she knew the Mistress was nearer. Every building she leapt, every meter she shot forward brought her closer to the Mistress, why or for what she did not know, all she knew was to serve Pharaoh 90, and to serve Mistress 9 was to serve Pharaoh 90. So close... so close that the power nearly burst from her, such raw, pulsating waves of power that it nearly drove her to her knees; but she reveled in it! Reveled in the will of... of her gods and that she might be so blessed as to feel their presence! One last building! She jumped into the air, her eyes sweeping across the earth below her. Immediately, she felt the throbbing pulse of dark energy flowing from the stretching structure of metal and concrete that towered over the ground; but that was quickly washed out, dwarfed and shadowed by... there! Her eyes shot onto her, focusing, bringing into crystal clarity the one, the goddess that she was to serve. There, on the bench, by the human. Mistress 9, her mind seemed to scream at her, but then... what was this? The waves were weakening, the energy dissipating, her goddess staring at the human standing in front of her. The human... what was... he dared challenge the Mistress's power?! With a splitting scream, she dived towards the ground, glinting like a bolt of golden lightning, arms extended, ready to rip out the pigtailed human's heart and present it to Mistress 9. "Hotaru, it's me!" Ranma said, sliding to a stop in front of the dark-haired girl, the silent and intelligent dark-haired girl that had been his best and sometimes only friend for the past week. He didn't know why, but his heart was pounding, his breath coming quickly, almost as if he had just gone through a round of sparring with his father; but all he had done was sprint 15 meters... There wasn't anytime to wonder about that though, and as the eyes of his friend slowly, almost hesitatingly lifted up, he quickly forgot about everything else. "Ranma...?" He saw her delicate face look up at him, her dark, purple eyes staring at him as if in disbelief. Then, he saw the eyes clenched shut, tears welling up and threatening to burst free, and for a moment he was afraid that he had done something wrong. But then he saw the smile, a relieved smile that broke across her face like ripples across water; light and playful ripples spreading over a gaping abyss of darkness. "Ranma!" She jumped up, her arms wrapping around him and holding him close, the thick book that had been pressed against her chest sliding down and dropping to the ground with a dull thud. She sniffed, blinked away the tears and just held onto him, held onto Ranma. He was here... he was here with her and the darkness that had been haunting her seemed to slip away, the void that had been gnawing at her heart fading into nothingness like mist as she felt him, felt his slowly rising chest around her arms and pressed against her cheek. "I'm so glad you're here..." she murmured softly. Ranma was frozen, confused by the storm of emotions that seemed to be whirling around his friend. When he had first looked into her eyes he had glimpsed a deep despair, and now... Slowly, he wrapped his arms around his friend, pulled her a little closer. Something was wrong... he was right to go look for her... "Hey, Hotaru..." he said softly, not sure what to say. "I was... worried about you, so um..." He trailed off, now at a lost for words, and instead just held his friend. "That was sweet of you..." the girl softly whispered back, not really caring why Ranma was there, just glad that he was there, living and real... The pigtailed martial artist shifted slightly, giving a few sheepish chuckles. "Um... yeah, I guess..." Hotaru smiled softly at his words, her heart growing lighter, the demons that had haunted her now nearly forgotten. "You are, Ranma, you-" She stopped, suddenly growing cold, an almost-familiar shadow slowly spreading through her being. She opened her eyes, confused, and for some reason beyond her comprehension, she pushed herself up slightly and looked behind Ranma, over his shoulders. Her eyes widened, she gasped, and dark, icy terror clamped around her heart, shot through her body like lightning. She would've screamed if her vision hadn't flooded white then, and her consciousness slipped away into the recesses of her mind. The last thing she saw was a golden blur and a fluttering pigtail. Ranma tensed, as he felt Hotaru's distress. He was about to ask her what was wrong, but at that same instant, his mind seemed to scream at him to turn around, that something was coming at him. He heard Ryoga shout a warning and stupidly, against an entire lifetime of training, Ranma instinctively, mechanically turned around. He only saw a golden blur streaking across the ground and glinting under the noonday sun before something hurtled into his chest, knocked the breath out of his lungs. Before his head had even snapped back from the shock of the impact, cold and icy steel seemed to wrap around his throat and he felt himself being lifted into and pushed through the air. He could feel himself hurtling through the air, his lungs screaming for oxygen and his throat slowly being crushed, as if somebody had grabbed him by the neck and was about to- His back seemed to explode in a sharp spike of pain as something hard collided into it, or maybe he hit something, he couldn't tell with his lungs burning, his limbs growing numb and his vision becoming hazy, all he could do was grunt out a strangled cry of pain as he felt himself being pulled forward. He heard crumbling gravel behind him through the ringing of his ears and then, the icy pressure on his neck seemed to tighten before he felt his back again slammed into something, a splitting crack and the sound of crumbling rock managing to reach through his ears. Fight back... he had to... break free. Weakly, he tried to lift up a foot, kick at whatever was attacking him, but once again he felt himself slammed through the air and into something. Pain exploded in his back, he was sure he was bleeding by now and his legs just seemed to give out. "Let go of him you monster!" That voice... that was... he gave out another strangled cry as his neck was seemingly jerked to a side, almost tearing his head and body apart. But then he felt the icy steel that had been clamped around his neck disappeared and he slumped onto the ground. He lay there on the ground, his eyes shut and gasping for breathe. His neck burned now, his back throbbed in pain and every muscle in his body seemed to scream at him to lay down and rest, let soothing darkness envelope him and silence the ringing in his ears. Hotaru... He had to... look out for Hotaru... Weakly, he grabbed onto something, a rough and uneven jag of brick, a hole in the wall, and pulled himself back to his feet. Gently touching his forehead with one hand, as if that would somehow make the ringing in his ears go away, he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, the world fuzzy and surreal, but gradually, he made out the dark, running form of students. Gradually, the ringing in his ears subsided and he could hear screams, shouts, and... an explosion! His eyes shot to the source, his legs slipping into a weak stance, his arms raised shakily in front of him. A blue form, a yellow bandanna barely visible on a blurred head shot across Ranma's vision 10 meters in front of him, and slammed messily into a bench. The bench cracked and split in two, and the bandana-clad figure rolled to a side and jumped back onto his feet with a shake of his head. Ryoga! Ranma opened his mouth, tried to call out to the Lost Boy, but his voice was hoarse and his throat cracked. Eyes clenched momentarily in frustration, Ranma forced a hot mess of saliva down his throat. It seemed to burn as he swallowed it, but it brought moisture back to his throat, and he was able to shout out to the Lost Boy. "Ryoga!" he called out, not sure why he did, but not knowing what else to do. The Lost Boy glanced in Ranma's direction, and for a moment, his eyes closed and he sighed, seemingly in... relief? The look quickly passed and Ryoga's face hardened as he glared at Ranma. "Damn you Ranma, you're always causing me trouble!" Ranma was silent, his breathing just starting to return to normal, the pain in his chest and back slowly starting to fade away. 'Don't blame this on me!' he wanted to shout back at the Lost Boy, among a myriad of other things, but something else quickly reminded the pigtailed martial artist of its importance, and Ranma shouted back "where's Hotaru?!" Instead of replying, Ryoga ducked, dashing forward to shoulder ram something. Ranma stared confusedly, his vision still shaking and a little blurry. What was Ryoga... Then he saw her, saw it. Ranma saw the thing Ryoga was fighting, the thing that easily sidestepped Ryoga's attack, was even now lunging at him in a furious barrage of slashes that cut the Lost Boy and sent him sprawling into the ground. She had the slender form and curves a female, but... everything, from the boots that seemed to meld into her skin to the glinting and frozen ponytail that didn't so much as sway with her attacks, was completely golden. Glinting and shining under the sunlight, she was gold, a real, metallic kind of gold that sparkled with an almost hypnotic glare. She was like... like some kind of living statue; her feet even clicked and clinked with the concrete as she... walked... Ryoga! The Lost Boy was down, grunting as he stirred slowly on the ground, blood starting to trickle down his side and defenseless against his approaching enemy. Ranma jerked his shoulders back, rolling and stretching the joints, forcing the pain in his back out of his mind with a frustrated sigh. Then, sliding his right leg back, he bent down slightly and broke into a dash towards the golden figure. "Leave him alone ya crazy girl!" To his relief, the golden girl, golden creature looked up, looked at him and turned her attention away from Ryoga. It was too late, he had her. He shifted his weight, just a little, and leaned to his left, still darting like lightning across the ground. He raised his right arm, tensed the muscles and prepared to slam the arm against her gut and pull her to the ground. Now! He gave his body an extra shove of energy, almost lunged at the girl, left hand guarding his face while he tackled her with his right arm. Pull her- He missed! His arm shoved through air and he overextended himself, his spurt of speed sending him toppling towards the ground. Quickly, he shoved his arms straight ahead of him, caught the ground with his hands as he fell and sprung himself back into the air, wincing in a bit of pain as he landed lightly on the ground. He knew it was coming without even seeing it, her right fist, rocketing towards him. He couldn't block it, not something that fast, he could almost feel the air move from its speed alone! But he had known it was coming and as he spun around to face her, he ducked low, coming up on her left and grabbing the arm with his left hand. Vaguely, even as his right elbow arced up to catch the arm and twist her onto the ground, he noticed that her arm _felt_ like steel, cold and hard, smooth as crystal. It was only a fraction of an instant later, before his elbow was even halfway to its target that he felt his entire body jerked upward, swinging into the air. Instinctively, he shifted his form, tried to make himself flow as smoothly with the air as possible, and when he finally slammed into the ground, it was on his feet. Pain shot upwards through his legs like lightning as he hit, the strength and power of the impact more than he had expected, drawing a barely choked-off cry of pain from him. It was only because of years of training that he remembered, instinctively, to follow through with the attack, use the momentum of the throw and try to throw his attacker in turn. He nearly jerked his arm out of its socket trying to, and the next thing he saw was a flash of gold. Not even a blur, just the glint of light off her arm and he was flying through the air, his grip on her arm torn off by the sheer force of the strike to his chest. He collided into a tree with a gasp of air being knocked out of his lungs. Vaguely, he heard the wood groan and crack behind him, the tree shuddering from the impact. Weakly, he rolled to a side and back onto his knees, gasping for breath as he raised his head. He inhaled sharply and forced himself upright as he saw her, a golden blur streaking right at him. Desperately, he threw himself to a side, no skill, no form, just a wild attempt to get to safety. He hit the ground with a thud, taking the fall to one side. His lungs still burned for breath but somehow, he knew he had to move fast, never hesitate, and he pushed himself to a side, rolled away from where he had been lying. Just a split second later he heard the shuddering crash of something crushing into the ground, felt chunks of dirt and rock raining onto him. He didn't spare the time to think about how close he had been to having his head caved in. Raising himself just a little bit off the ground, he swung his left leg at where he had been, where his enemy was. He put everything he could into the kick, all the desperate strength he could burst into a blinding half second, all the willpower he could strain into twisting himself into perfect form. It was a perfect mix, a seamless merging of the sheer force and power of desperation, the careful restraint and control of the mind, and the pure heart and instinct that guided him; it was an attack the martial artist in him could, looking back on, be _proud_ of. Pain, sharp and fast, shot through his leg, he felt his shin colliding against her leg. Hard, harder than steel and unyielding to his leg, he felt as if he were kicking a mountain. Control. His teeth grit against the pain, he kept control, didn't reflexively pull his leg back, away from the unyielding mountain and the pain. His eyes clenched, his throat screaming a silent battle cry with air his lungs could not give, he forced himself to follow through with the kick and continue twisting his body. And then the mountain gave way. His leg broke through and he felt only the stinging pain and rush of air as his enemy fell backwards. This time, he let instinct take over, planting his foot, still sharp with pain, into the ground and twisting himself into the air. A lesser man would have hesitated after the first painful kick, probably dropped to the ground to nurse his leg. Ranma did neither; he let himself spin around with the momentum in a kick that slammed his right leg into the enemy's back. He struck solid metal once more, hit the mountain full on and pain now shot through his good leg. But it was his good leg, and with the momentum of the first kick behind him, he was able to just barely reverse his enemy's fall, push it forward again. One more time! He pulled his feet back to him, landing on the ground with a sharp shots of renewed pain, his legs almost buckling under him; but once more, he spun around, this time his left arm, stiff and tense, shot through the air and collided into the enemy's cold, hard gut. Steel, the pain of slamming into a solid granite wall, and a sudden burst of dizziness as his brain screamed at him for oxygen, and he felt his enemy crashing backwards again. He spun to face his enemy just as it hit the ground. Adrenaline surged through his body and he gasped for the air he had went without for the last few excruciating seconds. He wanted to drop for his knees and fall on his side and gasp for air for the next hour; but instead he shifted his weight onto his right leg, his... better leg as he slipped into a limp stance. Here was something dangerous, his senses seemed to scream at him. Here, lying slightly imbedded into the ground, was something that would kill him and everything he cared about without so much as a moment of hesitation if he didn't stop it! Kill it, his mind seemed to shout at him, protect Hotaru his heart whispered to him... Only his iron control- and his pain-wracked body- kept him from immediately lunging at his downed enemy to finish the damn thing off and end its existence. Though it seemed to shake and squeeze his brain into itself, Ranma shook his head, giving an angry grunt. It... enemy... when had he started thinking of... of _her_ like that? When had he started thinking about _killing_ this girl?! Ranma clenched his eyes close, inhaling angrily. He wasn't like that... he wouldn't kill a girl, defenseless on the ground like that... 'Not even for Hotaru?' something seemed to ask him. Movement, light playing across glinting metal. Ranma's eyes snapped open, shot back onto the girl, and he quickly took a few pained steps backwards, kept his distance from her as she pushed herself backward and rolled into a low crouch. Slowly, almost eerily, with the light dancing and flickering off stiff, golden bangs, she lifted her head and stared at Ranma. Cold, golden eyes, elaborate and finely detailed in contrast to the rest of her body, stared into Ranma, and for a moment, the pigtailed martial artist even thought he saw something flash across their sleek, empty surface. Anger, caution, a brief moment of... confusion? "Vikry!" she almost shrieked, a sharp and piercing cry that made Ranma wince and almost turn his head. It was probably the most effective use of a battle cry Ranma had ever seen, and in the split instinct that he let himself be distracted by the piercing scream, the girl was bolting at him, crouched low and almost too fast to see. With almost nothing to guide him, Ranma let reflex take over and jumped to his left, his left foot throbbing with pain as his full body weight was pressed into it. It burned even more as he balanced himself and twisted his body, kicking at the girl with his right leg. He hit only air, the girl seeming to have just teleported out of harm's way, and he followed through with the kick until he had spun completely around. As he came around and faced the girl, the first thing he saw was a flash of gold. Too blurry, too fast to recognize, he just trusted his gut and leaned back. His back protested, throbbing in pain, and he bent a little to the side, just barely in time as a streak of gold shot past him. The girl seemed to stay still for an instant, as if not believing she had missed, and Ranma could see the clenched fist hovering where his head had been. Slowly, like rose petals parting, the hand unclenched and the girl twisted her head around. It felt strange, and it seemed to Ranma as if her solid neck would creak and groan like a thin layer of concrete cracking; but it was smooth instead, silent and graceful, like quicksilver, and she once again stared at Ranma. 'Do something!' his mind screamed at him, a half-dozen strategies and attacks he could use silently pounding in his mind. It was too late; the outstretched hand locked into a knife edge, stiff and solid as a sword and stronger than any steel edge. Swiftly, silently, it swung at him, at his neck. Reacting once again, he ducked low, crouched slightly, and bolted under her arm and to the other side. Spinning around, he had a split second to see that she was lunging at him shoulder first before he felt his chest exploding with pain. Gasping as the air was knocked out of his lungs once more, he flew through the air again. This time, he didn't hit anything and quickly crashed into the ground, sending bolts of pain ripping across his back. Biting off a scream, the pigtailed martial artist rolled to a side and pushed himself up. Gasping for breath, he stumbled back to his feet, only to suddenly feel his head explode with white as something slammed into it, sent it snapping violently back and him onto the ground. He hit the ground, hurting all over. He couldn't even spare the time to gasp for air, instead rolling to the side again, the violent gush of air that fluttered his pigtail justifying the effort. He was on the ground... she was trying to attack him while he was on the ground? Grunting, he shoved himself to the side, away from the girl and onto his knees. Gasping for breath, he pushed himself back to his feet and- "Vikry!" He almost instinctively turned around to the source of the voice, but didn't have the strength. Instead, he stumbled to his left, barely dodged the punch that ripped through the air. Chest heaving, he turned clumsily around, hands held up weakly before him in a gesture of defense. Still breathing heavily, he ducked again, dodged the elbow that arced towards his head. Offensive... he had to go on the offensive... even with the adrenaline pulsing throughout him, did he have the strength to go on the offensive? He tried not to show it, didn't hesitate as he came up, but Ranma was at a loss for what to do; if he kept letting her run the fight like- He sidestepped to the left and narrowly dodged the fist that tore through the air. It was followed up by another elbow arcing towards him, and he hopped back, the golden metal of the arm slashing by just centimeters from his face. It was already pounding, but as he felt strength enough to crush his head in so close to him, his heart seemed to jump into his throat. Dammit, he had to do something! Adrenaline surged through him anew, and for a brief moment, his pain was forgotten, the burning in his lungs fading away. Pulling his left hand protectively close to his face, he bolted forward, jabbing out with his right fist. He kept it loose and relaxed as it shot through the air, light and relaxed, only clenching it tight and hard at the last instant. The girls body seemed to almost teleport to the side, too fast for his attack, and his fist hit air. He didn't stop, going with the momentum of the attack and keeping from overextending himself at the same time as he arced his left elbow at the girl. Light glinting off her skin, she shot down, his elbow slicing harmlessly through the air. He didn't stop, the momentum of both attacks flowing with him as he twisted to his left and lashed out with his right leg. He hit solid steel, his bone clanking painfully into a golden hand that wrapped itself on his leg with iron tenacity. Still, he did not stop. Focusing his strength and willpower into a piercing shout filled with a whirlwind of emotion, he pushed himself into the air with his caught foot, twisting himself around and yanking the foot free. Spinning over her, he pulled his feet into him, dropped lightly onto the ground and spun on his left foot, lashing out with his right leg like lighting. She was already gone, in the air and now hurtling towards him feet first. Shift his body, just a little. Don't move, just shift at exactly the right... now! She missed him, crashed passed him and into the ground. Cant let her go first, have to attack...! His right fist shot out, tried to knock her in her head even as she spun around to face him. She ducked before she had even completely turned around, his fist sailing harmlessly over her. He didn't hesitate, followed with a simple roundhouse that she easily blocked. Shoving his kick to a side, she lunged forward, swinging at him with her right arm. "Vikry!" Barely able to keep his balance after his leg had been shoved aside, Ranma just lunged at the girl as she came at him, his shoulder crashing against her and pulsing in pain. But she stumbled back, and his right hand, loosely clenched in a fist, shot at her again. He never got the chance to tighten it; her hand shot up, impossibly fast and glaringly golden, and the next thing Ranma new, his fist was being crushed. Only years of intense training and conditioning on the rough roads of Japan kept Ranma from crying out in pain as he started falling to his knees. Instead, his eyes clenched shut and he gasped for breath, as if somehow taking in the air his lungs so desperately wanted would numb the pain in his hand. Do something... other hand... opening there was... he couldn't see her, but he knew there was an opening. Weakly, Ranma tried to raise his left arm, grab her throat, punch her gut, anything! Before he had even raised his hand 2 inches, fresh waves of pain, sharp and agonizing, shot through his immobilized fist. He thought he heard bones cracking, he _felt_ bones starting to creak and crack, his nails digging into his palm as it was forced smaller and smaller. His body slumped forward and jumped as something thudded against his chest. It felt like a telephone pole had slammed into his chest, or perhaps even Ryoga tackling him, and it knocked the breath out of his lungs. As if once wasn't enough, it came again, and then again; pain spreading through his chest and the terrible feeling of not being able to breathe as his already empty lungs were emptied again. He was wheezing now, coughing and gasping for breath, his free arm hanging limp by his side, _himself_ slumped and limp, held upright only by the girl. Something... somebody was shouting something... he could just barely hear it through the ringing in his ears; just barely even recognize it as words through the pain throbbing throughout his mind and body. Abruptly, he felt himself jerked to a side, as if the girl holding him had suddenly tried to yank his arm out of its socket. But in the next instant, his hand was free and he collapsed onto the ground, an aching, gasping wreck that couldn't even open his eyes. So much pain... his head throbbed and burned, his brain felt as if it were being squeezed as his hand had been and his entire body was wracked with the sharp agony of the fight. His hand... his hand lay limply by his side; even if he could comprehend more than the need to just breath, he wouldn't have tried to move it. Slowly, after what seemed like an unbearably long eternity of lying on the ground- in the shade of something he felt- he started to make out grunts and shouts: the sounds of fighting. Ryoga! He almost bolted upright, but the quick knife-sharp spike of agony that attacked him quickly brought him back onto the ground. "R-Ryoga..." he muttered. He had to help Ryoga... Weakly, he groped blindly around with a hand, tried to find something to hold onto. After a few slow seconds of grabbing at air and grass, Ranma caught onto the rough bark of a tree and managed to pull himself upright. Leaning back against the tree, the martial artist opened his eyes, tiredly looked over the area for... there, there was Ryoga. The Lost Boy was fighting a losing fight; already he was limping, blood even trickling down his face. He had the strength of a stubborn ox though, and kept on swinging, jabbing, kicking and lunging at the girl. She seemed to almost taunt him, weaving in and out, away and behind him. With the sun glinting off her brilliant golden form, her attacks swift and strangely graceful, she looked almost... beautiful. None of that mattered to Ranma, all he saw with his white-spotted vision was Ryoga, Ryoga too slow, determined, strong and even skilled, but all too slow... Who the hell was that girl?! Dammit... even he could barely touch her... Anger surged through him, and Ranma tried to jump up, shout something. His mouth was dry, the cry getting caught in his throat and coming out as a hoarse croak. Gasping and panting heavily, he dropped back against the tree and just watched. All Ranma could do was watch as the Lost Boy, screaming and attacking with furious abandon, was ultimately beaten into a limping mess and flung against a wall. The bandana-clad martial artist shattered the wall, sent up a small cloud of dust and debris that half-buried him. The Lost Boy stirred weakly in the pile and tried to get up, but the girl had already turned her attention back to Ranma. The pigtailed martial artist stared at the girl grimly, eyes narrowed and breath still coming in quick, long gasps. She was walking towards him now, long swift strides that seemed almost surreal. Like a statue walking towards him... Grunting, Ranma tried to force himself to his feet again, and once again he dropped back down. He felt so weak... so tired... and he hurt so much, his vision almost swam in pain every time he tried to move... Gasping, panting, prone and defenseless, all Ranma could do was stare at the light glinting off her metallic form as the girl approached him. He had to do something... had to do something before she got to him... dammit, what was she going to do?! "Ranma!" a voice called out, distant but clear and familiar. He jerked upright, immediately slumped back down again as his head exploded in pain. After a second, he forced his eyes open and quickly focused on the source of the voice. There... "Ranma, hold on!!" As his eyes rested onto her, the young girl dashing towards him, the first thing Ranma felt was relief. It washed over him as he saw her face filled with worry, and the lethargy that clung onto him seemed to lift a little, the pain in his body fading just a bit. "Hotaru..." he murmured. Then he remembered the girl and his eyes shot back onto her golden form. She had paused now, and as she turned her head and looked at Hotaru, it seemed as if every fear that had been eating at the pigtailed martial artist were manifest. He saw Ryoga crashing into a wall, saw himself beaten and tossed around like a rag doll, and then he saw Hotaru, frail, defenseless Hotaru being stared down by the golden statue... "N-no...!" the martial artist gasped out, and with a burst of sheer willpower, he grabbed onto the tree and managed to pull himself to his feet. Not thinking straight, seeing only Hotaru and the girl in his eyes, he tried to walk towards them, only to stumble and drop to his knees at the first step, his legs giving away as if they were collapsible chairs. On his knees, hands barely keeping his body from dropping onto the ground, Ranma slowly raised his head, looked up at the girl. She was walking towards him again. Shakily, he turned his eyes back to Hotaru; she was still now, hands held against her chest and eyes staring blankly at the girl. "Ranma watch out!" Ranma turned weakly back to the girl. She had somehow made it in front of him now, probably ran up to him in the second he had turned away from her. It didn't matter, he couldn't have defended himself even if he had seen her anyway. Weakly, he shoved his right arm at her in a slow, tired imitation of a punch. It burned with pain and even if he had the strength to pull a punch, the cracked and brittle bones of the hand would've kept him from even forming a fist. She swatted it aside with one of here legs, stared down at him and seemed to growl, soft and deadly, "Vik Ry..." In the next instant, Ranma's vision flooded white and he was shooting backwards again, through the air and past the tree. He thought he heard Hotaru scream his name, he didn't even feel the pain anymore; maybe he had been throbbing in agony for so long now that this new injury just faded into the river of existing injuries, or maybe his body had just taken so much pain that he couldn't feel it anymore. All Ranma knew was that he was dizzy all over again, tired all over again, panting and gasping for breath all over again. Still, stubbornly he opened his eyes, looked hazily at Hotaru. Her face was contorted in fear, her lips were moving, her mouth opening wide. Was she trying to tell him something? He couldn't hear her anymore... he couldn't even hear his own breathing. The girl... she had turned around, was walking towards Hotaru now... Hotaru... anger flooded into him, he felt his lips move, knew he shouted something out, but couldn't quite grasp what. It was all so surreal, as if he were watching himself lurch forward and collapse onto the ground from outside... except he was inside. As if it were someone else that pushed himself back up, moved his arms, moved his lips, screamed at Hotaru, at the girl, screamed his fear, anger, frustration, hate... love... Then, his vision seemed to flood yellow, the world fading away into brightness and warmth. All of a sudden, he felt safe and warm, as if someone had covered him in a warm blanket and was holding him close. For a brief instant, smiling softly at him as if to say everything was alright, he saw Hotaru's face. Clinging onto that image, Ranma fell face forward into the ground, and knew no more. Slowly, her steps grinding sharply into the earth like a knife, she walked forward. There were craters everywhere, mostly from the wild attacks of that bandanna-wearing human and her slamming him repeatedly into the ground. He had been strong for a human, just as that other one had been, but in the end they both lay broken and shattered at her feet, her tribute to the glory of Pharaoh 90. Mistress 9... She could feel the Mistress's power, spiking and rising again! There, ahead of her... The Mistress was trapped in the frail body of a human girl, but it was her. That strength, the pure rivers of dark energy that seemed to roll from her, there was no mistaking her! Yes, it had been the human who had somehow challenged Mistress 9. Smiling softly as she walked into her goddess's presence, her heart seemed to sing out. Senshi, crystal hearts... it all seemed so distant and trivial, so utterly human concerns in the face of such power. How could such a pathetic world challenge Mistress 9? How could it even dream of challenging Pharaoh 90? How could it challenge... gods? Energy, a spike of power from behind her! Spinning around and crouching low, she quickly scanned the battered field, her eyes quickly resting on the human she had broken just moments earlier. He was on his knees, shouting something at her; such raw emotion and energy, fear, anger, hate... all whirling around him in a wild mix of power. He lifted his arms, still shouting madly, and she pushed one of her feet back against the ground, prepared to bolt at the stubborn human and end his dizzying projections of pathetic human emotion. Just as she stared to sprint forward, the human seemed to burst with power, a spike of energy that saturated the air with such raw emotion and so suddenly that it battered her mind and drove her to her knees. Clutching the ground with her hands, as if it were the only thing keeping her from being blown in away in the hurricane of dark energy, she slowly raised her head. What was... he doing? Was he trying to attack the Mistress before she had fully awakened? He had to be stopped! Carefully and deliberately, with the dark energies that was the blessing of Pharaoh 90 to all his children pumping through her, she got back to her feet. She would never let a human like him so much as touch Mistress 9! He seemed to flare with power now, real and physical, a burning aura of brilliant yellow, already beating against her own golden form with its shining color as if to say challenge her. Then, as the glaring light seemed to reach it's brightest, it burst into the heavens in a brilliant pillar of light; she screamed, lifted her hands in front of her eyes and bolted forward, blindingly fast. She would rip his heart out!! The world all around her seemed to flash away into nothingness then, a quick flood of shining yellow, brilliant as the sun. For a brief second, she felt a surge of electrifying power course through her body, and all she could do was scream "Vikry!!" one more time before she herself faded into nothingness. After the light faded away, and Ranma had collapsed onto the ground, all that was left where the golden skinned, living statue had been, was a small metal figure, glinting a dirty, rusty gold and shaped with the figure and curves of a female. Etched on a rusted plate on its base, a slab of dull marble, were the words: 1st Place Juuban Martial Arts Tournament Women's Division To be continued... Well, I bet some of you thought I was dead by now, but its finally out, chapter 5 of Sound Hearts. For those of you that actually emailed me... thanks, I really appreciate it. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter; there are a lot of things I'm proud of in it. I also recall making several promises for more action, and well... here you have it! Hopefully it was good; I had to start it two times before I got it the way I wanted... And thanks to my prereaders too, who pointed out such crucial mistakes as the fact that Mugen's boys uniform was not blue and that I had spelled Pharaoh two different ways... Well, those of you that responded anyway. For the prereaders out there that didn't send back C&C, I understand that most of you haven't heard from me in awhile, so I can understand that something may have happened like the changing of emails or marriage. (Congrats again Will!). But if you're still interested in prereading, please email me sometime before chapter 6 gets out... Other than that, thanks for reading! Lates! KaosQu kaosqu@hotmail.com "Sometimes, when I'm by myself, with the wild sky overhead, I look up. I look into that dark, stretching ocean of air, and I wonder to myself... Where the hell are the stars?" "If you've dear sweet thoughts about me then why not whisper them to me? Don't you know twould make me happy and as glad as glad can be?" - Excerpt of 'I Love You Now and Forever'