***Disclaimer***

I do not have any right to be writing this except for writer’s curiosity. I don’t own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon or have any relation to the creators to possibly be able to do this. I can’t be sued, because, well you won’t get anything from a poor student. So please don’t try, it will be considered a financial loss if you do.

Time period: Ranma - about year after manga’s, Ranma and Akane are nearing graduation

Sailor Moon - before the Sailor SS, scouts not can go super as of yet.

Other notes: Italics represent thought and quotes are speech unless noted otherwise.

Knight of the Moon

Chapter 4

[In another dimension]

A man and a woman are standing in front of an oval display as words scrolled down it. The print though was not in any known language; it was in a language that was older than caveman. Yet, the two seemed to be having no trouble reading the text as they commented softly to each other about portions of it. After several minutes, the text finally ended and the two turned and started walking to a desk to a table several feet back as the woman hooked her arm around the man’s as he offered it.

“Well, my dear, it seems that there are some people that can give our units some trouble after all.” Reaching the table, the man picked up a fancy looking pen and wrote, in the same language as the text, what their latest scout discovered. “From the description though, this one appears to be from the group in our secondary objective. We might need to modify our earlier findings and put this group as the primary if the others are on par with this lad.”

On the table was a large chart with a bunch of names in several groups; two groups though seemed to be of more importance than the others and of the two, one seemed to hold top priority than the other. Where the note was just written was next to the top name in the second group. Everyone else had a few notes but most of the notes seemed to be next to the first group.

“What you say has truth behind it dear, but the people in the city of Nerima are not the true threat.” She paused for a few moments before continuing. “The Queen’s Senshi are still a serious threat to our plans. Remember that they are the best fighters of the Silver Millennium.”

“They weren’t the threat to us then and they aren’t now. They can’t fight for prolonged periods of time and they are too slow to be a threat to our warriors. There is only one that was a threat to us and he is dead. The Nerima martial artists are the real threat.”

The woman turned to face him and simply shook her head, “Anata, the Colonel’s body was never found. I saw him on the moon when it was attacked but never saw his body after Beryl was defeated. He is still out there and if we want our revenge we need to bring him out into the open.” She turned back to the chart and started to smile nastily. “The Senshi are the only ones that can detect our portals and to let that be left alone could only mean trouble later. Once they are neutralized, we will have free reign to deal with the other opposition.”

The man could only smile at his wife’s cruel intentions and straight thinking. “It’s times like this that I remember why I married you,” he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “We will be able to send one more insertion group in a week, after that the dimensions won’t be properly aligned.” He paused for a moment of thought, “We have one squad of four ready. One will be the distraction for the Senshi, two will be the collectors, and the last I want to start observing the opposition in Nerima, as they are the closest threat at the moment.”

“And it’s time’s like this that ‘I’ remember why I fell in love with you. I agree with your plan. The next time our dimensions are aligned, we will have a stockpile of energy waiting for us. Let’s start the preparations early so we can think about other things.” He didn’t need help to read what she was talking about.

--Back on Earth--

Ranma smiled to the sunshine as she walked toward the Tendo Dojo. Even though he was a girl again, nothing could dampen his mood right now. His stay at home with his mother last night was just the thing he needed. His fears about here were put to rest when he finally sat down and talked to her without a certain panda trying to interfere. She could only hope that by graduation, everyone will be free of their obligations to him and be able to start over again.

As she walked into the Tendo house, she headed to the kitchen to put some water on. As she neared the kitchen, she heard the soft noises coming from it. Must be Kasumi getting breakfast ready, she’s the only one besides Mother that is quiet while working in the kitchen; Akane makes enough noise that I can hear her upstairs. Might as well and talk to Kasumi now. With purpose, Ranma-chan walked into the kitchen.

“Morning Kasumi, do you have any hot water ready?”

Kasumi turned to Ranma smiling her usual cheerful smile, “Good morning Ranma-kun. The water is ready on the stove.”

Taking the offered pot Ranma poured enough to trigger the curse and handed it back, “Thanks Kasumi. Lady washing her sidewalk got me again coming home from Mom’s.”

She nodded, having heard about his ability to get hit by water from people washing the sidewalks. “How is Auntie, Ranma? It’s been a while since she visited.”

“She’s well and sends her love. Mom also told me to let you know that she will be visiting next week to help out with the graduation plans and setup.” Now was the hard part. “I was also told that she thinks you deserve a weekend of rest and wants to do majority of the work next weekend when she comes over.”

It took a couple moments before the statement finally registered, “That wouldn’t be proper Ranma. She would be a guest here, just as you and your father are.”

He let out a small sigh, realizing that he was in for a fight. “Kasumi, you talk about what’s proper but you turn your eye to what my father and I have done to you and your family.” He looked up and saw a shocked expression on her face. Good, now it’s time to open her eye’s a little more. “What’s currently improper is the leeching that Pops and I have done to your family. I have been trying to help my own way, but it isn’t enough with a father like mine. So, Mom has asked that she be given the house duties for a couple days to let you relax and get out of the house.”

Kasumi heard everything that Ranma said to her, but she still hadn’t moved. The neural synapses were firing like mad everywhere in her head as they passed information and tried accessing areas that have been ignored for a long time. Finally, things came into focus for her completely as she blinked a couple times as the brain reconnected itself with her mouth. “Ranma-kun, I need to think about what you said, but please tell Auntie that I will welcome her taking care of the house.”

“Good, Mom said something about being out of practice for over ten years and wanted to get some practice in,” smiling warmly to the sister he never had and temporary mother for two years. “I’m going to go wake Pop up Kasumi, he’s slept in long enough don’t you think?”

Kasumi stood still as she watched Ranma start heading out of the kitchen when a thought came to her and before she knew it, she stopped him with her hand on his shoulder, “Ranma?” Ranma turned to see Kasumi in a state he never thought he would actually see; confusion. “Ranma, can I ask you something?” With a simple nod, she asked the plaguing question, “What will I do?”

Ranma knew she would ask this, but the bluntness was still a surprise, “Huh?”

“I mean, I don’t know what I will do if Auntie takes control of the chores around the house. I have a few things that I do to kill some time between tasks, but none of them… I’m so confused.”

Seeing her distress, Ranma put a supportive hand on her shoulder. “First off, you need to get out of the house and walk the town and see it again. You’ve been stuck here that I’m sure there have been some changes that has happened in the last several years.” Kasumi just gave him a look implying, “And what was that supposed to mean?” Ranma just smiled back, indicating he meant nothing by the remark. “Secondly, you are going to have to find something to do with your life. Akane and Nabiki aren’t going to be here much longer and I have a feeling that your father would be visiting Mom’s house plenty of times to spend time with Pop.

“I think I can assume that you have an interest in the medical field.” Kasumi looked at him in surprise; that was a very closely held dream that she put off for her family. “Don’t act so surprised. From all the medical books that you have borrowed from the library, it didn’t take too much to guess. So, as a gift to you and as a request from a very good friend that we both know, you are invited to meet this person next weekend at a designated spot. I will escort you there where our friend will take over for the remainder of your time together. What you two do with the time is your own business. So prepare yourself for this weekend Kasumi. It will be a weekend that you’ll never forget.” This time, he left the kitchen without interruption.

Kasumi remained standing, watching the doorway that Ranma just left in. Feelings that she hadn’t experience in a long time, such as curiosity, excitement, etc. She began to sort out her feelings as she turned back to making breakfast that morning when another question popped up. “What am I going to wear Saturday?”

Outside the door that Ranma shared with his father, he held another kettle of water. Focusing his ki, Ranma began to heat the water. When he felt it was at the right temperature, he opened the door to see his father in the assumed position: panda, rolled to the side, and dead to the world.

Setting the kettle down, Ranma opened the window wide, letting the cool morning breeze waft into the room, of course, his father wouldn’t notice due to the panda’s fat and fur. Walking back around, he picked up the kettle again, reheated the kettle again, just in case, and reared back. Taking careful aim, Ranma kicked his father out the window and two seconds later, while still in hang time; Ranma threw the kettle of now boiling water at him. “GROOHHHHOOOOOTTTTT!” the panda now man screamed. Trying not to laugh too hard, Ranma jumped out the window, aiming for his fathers landing spot and began their ritual early morning spar.

[Several days later]

“Hello Auntie, how are you today?” Kasumi said, greeting the matriarch of the Saotome Clan that afternoon. Kasumi put on her best smile but deep down, she was nervous about this weekend. The entire week, ever since Ranma’s very forward statement, she was so sure that someone would ask her what was wrong. And when they did, she would not be able to answer them, for she didn’t know how to put it herself.

“Good afternoon, Kasumi dear. I hope you don’t find it too difficult to turn over the Tendo household duties to me?”

Kasumi found herself for a lost of words. She was loosing control of things and was having a hard time getting them back, “N… No, Auntie. It’s ok. I’m just glad that it’s you that is taking over.”

Nodoka wore a happy smirk as she watched the eldest Tendo daughter stammer with her words, instead of speaking like a full-grown woman. She’s still a young woman inside despite appearances. That is a good sign. She smiled as she put her hand on Kasumi’s shoulder, attracting the young woman’s attention, “Kasumi, this is something that you need and something that my son asked me to do and I’m more than happy enough to do this. He’s right; you need a small vacation from being the mature one in the family. Use this chance to be the young woman that you passed up so long ago.” She then looked into Kasumi’s eye’s, showing no malice, “You will still be able to take care of the house like you always have, Kasumi-chan. The only difference is that you will be helping me when I’m around, alright?”

Kasumi thought hard over what Mrs. Saotome told her. She realized that the house couldn’t be in better hands when she was around. The young woman that never got to live was finding ground and beginning to come through. “Thank you Auntie.” She moved the last few feet between the two and grabbed the older woman in a hug. Caught by surprise, it took a couple seconds before Nodoka returned the embrace with a loving smile.

[Later that day in Jubann]

Hotaru Tomoe walked through the door with a smile on her face. For the past week, she was coming home in a better and better mood. Seeing her smile as she walked through the front door was now common, instead of occasional. It was strange though, shortly after her being saved by Ranma, the other kids at school were beginning to talk to her without teasing her.

One of the kids, now a friend, told her what caused the change when she asked about it. Apparently, the group of boys had been seen being chased off by someone that wasn’t one of her guardians. And when that person stayed with her, without running in terror, it was realized that maybe they were wrong. Ranma had saved her a second time without even realizing it. Now she only wished that she wasn’t leaving for High School. But with this problem out of the way, it shouldn’t be too difficult to make new friends and meet old ones at her new school.

Haruka and Michiru watched as Hotaru ran upstairs too her room with knowing smiles. After the first day of school that week, their charge had been coming home happier and happier. When they found out why from her, they realized that they owed Ranma for what he did for her that they somehow weren’t able to. They resolved to ask Setsuna if she knew anything about him when she decided to show up again.

Ever since the scout meeting last week, Setsuna had disappeared. No one was really worried since this was a normal occurrence when it came to the Senshi of Time. The only aggravating part was that you would never know when she would be back so you could talk with her. If Setsuna didn’t show up soon though, there were other ways of finding someone. Sometimes it helped that your parents were well off.

[A place where time has no meaning]

She couldn’t understand the feelings that washed over her. She was the Senshi of Time, one that is to put her job above personal feelings and affections so they wouldn’t be in the way of the job. A job that was difficult without having personal opinions getting in the way of wanting to tell your friends about the impending disaster.

To protect herself, she began to shut everyone out and only reported to the Queen when she needed to or was called. Otherwise, she kept herself busy with guarding the gate or assisting the Outers in meeting outside threats. She was successful in what she did though, too successful. Most of the time that she could remember, she was alone; no one wanted to go to the boring planet of Pluto. In fact, scientifically, Pluto wasn’t even a planet, but a very large comet that lost its momentum to the gravitational forces of the sun.

But something changed in the wind; when, even she couldn’t determine. It was all due to a specific Moon Knight that decided to annoy her every chance he could; at least to her he was annoying. But watching the past unfold before her thanks to the Time Gate, she saw the Knight was just trying to strike a conversation with her. No malicious intentions, no secret plot to ‘get in her pants,’ in this case a skirt, no angle what so ever except to be friends.

It didn’t happen right away, far from it. But due to the Knight’s constant talking to her, her defenses were slowly brought down and she began to enjoy their time together, even if they only talked. As a result, the Senshi of Time became another person, one that was a little more human and began spending more time when she could, instead of the Time Gate.

It was near the end of the Silver Millennium that she began to feel something else for this annoying Knight. It was something that was similar to the loneliness that she felt when she was a workaholic, but much stronger. She had fallen for him. Her feelings could openly admit it now, after all this time. It was this feeling that drove her to attempt to break one of the rules that she was sworn never to break, in order to save the one person that meant so much to her, but trying to change future for her own desire.

When she tried to warn him, he flashed out faster than she could register and tapped a point on her throat. Before she knew it, her voice was muted. His only reasoning for his attack was that it was to protect herself and everyone else of the Silver Millennium from the possible harm that could be caused by telling him what she saw. Then with gentle ease as she recovered from the shock, he tapped a few more points on her body as she collapsed to the ground. She was seething mad as he gently picked her up, chiding her on leaving her defenses open like that. Just before he sent her through the portal to Pluto Castle, he told her one thing, “Destiny and Fate always stay the same, no matter what you try to do, but the future is always changing and it is that, that she is to protect from outside influence. The last thing she saw was his warm smile as she was teleported to Pluto.

When she finally was able to move, it was too late to stop what was already in motion. The Moon was under attack. He was right though; not everyone that she foresaw died that night, just those that she cared about. She saw him take the final blow as he protected the Senshi of Silence for the last time. When she finally succumbed and watched as the Queen begin to send everyone into the future, she turned away, not wanting to watch anymore; already knowing what she had to do.

She didn’t care if it was Fate’s doing or Destiny’s handiwork; either way, she hated both of them. But she also hated him, not totally, just for forcing her to do her job and not use her position of knowing the future to her advantage. For over a thousand years, she stayed at her post, coming out at rare moments to interact some with society and learn hands on.

Now, she sat in front of the gates; barred from viewing the future. Watching old memories resurface that she had thought were buried along with all her emotions. The walls that she had around her emotions were beginning to weaken. Quickly, she left the gate and teleported to a secluded area of a park, near where she was staying, in normal guise. There she sat down on a bench to try and regain her emotions before it got too late. Damn you Logan Somerled.

[Nerima, later that night]

Nabiki gazed up at the ceiling as she lay in bed. A change had happened to the household and she couldn’t quite figure it out. When she came home from finishing her first year in college she found Auntie running the house with Kasumi helping. She didn’t question this and figured it was about time something like this happened. But there was something about Kasumi that bugged her; she seemed nervous about something.

The other thing was Ranma. When she first walked in the door, she saw Onna-Ranma having a chat with her father, who was currently a panda. This by itself wasn’t odd, but the fact that Genma didn’t move or react as he stood in an attacking stance from the large boulder around the pond. A little curious, she tried to figure out what was wrong. She was surprised by her discovery and had underestimated how much Ranma really did know.

A soft knocking coming from her door interrupted her thoughts. “It’s open,” sitting up. She wasn’t too surprised to see Kasumi walking in. “What’s up, Oneechan?” indicating the desk chair.

“Nabiki, I need your help with, something.”

Nabiki’s interest was immediately perked. “What would this something be?”

Kasumi tried to hide the shyness, but was failing poorly. “Ranma is taking out tomorrow.” Nabiki nearly fell off her bed right. “He says there is someone that would like to meet me. I don’t know exactly what to wear. This is the first time something like this has happened to me, except Toma’s island. I’m wondering if you could help me figure out something to wear?”

Nabiki recovered herself quickly and watched her older sister’s shyness and embarrassment. So this is what was bothering her. She is finally getting out of the house, though rather forced by Ranma, but it’s needed. She wouldn’t leave the house even if there were no one here to take care of. “Kasumi, I would be happy to help you tomorrow.” She smiled as Kasumi visibly relaxed, “Care to tell me though what started this?”

[Next Day]

The Tendo house was in a normal routine for a weekend. Ranma and Akane were sparring; well Ranma was dodging and taunting Akane as she continually struck air while continually cursing him. Soun and Genma, panda form as usual, were cheating at shogi again. The only difference was that Mrs. Saotome was in the kitchen cleaning the dishes from breakfast.

Kasumi was upstairs getting dressed for an unexpected date with Nabiki’s help. As Nabiki helped go through her older sister’s closet, she was smiling inwardly. Nabiki had cornered Ranma right after breakfast and he agreed to tell her what was going on. Who would have thought that Ranma could plan something like this? But that wasn’t right. There was something different about him when they talked. He was finally growing up.

“Ok, oneechan, we have a little problem?” Stating matter of factly while turning to face her sitting on the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Kasumi was now worried. If Nabiki said something was wrong, that meant it was serious.

“This is what’s wrong.” indicating her closet. Kasumi looked over and saw nothing wrong. All the clothes that she wore were hanging up. Nabiki could see that Kasumi was having a problem, “Oneechan, these are clothes that are fine for your daily work around here, but you are going out too meet an old friend. Don’t you have something a little nicer?” Ashamed, now realizing the problem, Kasumi shook her head. “Don’t worry sis, I have something that you can wear that will be perfect.”

“Come on you clumsy, tomboy, can’t you hit faster than that?” Ranma taunted while nimbly jumping over Akane’s leg sweep. Akane only responded by changing her sweep into a kneeling kick. “Saw that coming a mile away,” jumping back for some room.

Akane was very angry. She had gotten him to spar with her today but like every time since their first spar, all he’s done was dodge. Not once has he struck back or even attempted to block, as usual. “Damn it Ranma fight back for once,” yelling back as she lashed out with a roundhouse.

Ranma casually leaned back to perform a back flip but when his hands hit the ground, he pushed back flipped over Akane as she drove a punch into the floor where he had been. “No,” he casually responded while sidestepping Akane’s charge from behind. “When you get fast enough to hit me and be able to absorb Ryoga’s hits.”

That was it for her. One too many times had he implied that she wasn’t good enough in her families art; the art that she was the heir to. “Ok then,” stepping back and taking a formal position, “Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes Martial Arts, I challenge you her and now for the title as the best martial artist in Nerima.” She smiled as she watched him stare at her in surprise. Got you finally Ranma. You never back down from a challenge and you will take me seriously. Her smile of victory dropped to intrigue as Ranma simply walked over to a training post and indicated her over.

Ranma new what this was all about; since he only hit girls when he was formally challenged. He never thought that Akane would pull this though. He studied the post, thinking the best way to respond to her challenge before answering. “No.”

Akane’s smile of victory dropped to shock, “What!” Genma, who was outside, ran in to teach his son a lesson. But before he could strike his son, a hand darted out and he felt a particular sensation pass over, recognizing it after receiving it multiple times this week. Unable to move or say anything, he collapsed to the ground without any fanfare. Akane didn’t even notice, as she was still in shock from Ranma’s answer.

“Let me explain before anyone tries anything,” giving his father a cold stare. “I will not accept your challenge, as is my right, because you are not ready.”

“Not ready? How dare you judge me when you never fought be seriously before.” Her mallet hand was beginning to tingle in a familiar sensation.

“One. Ever since I started training you, you have been fighting all out to try and get a hit in. Don’t you dare lie and say you weren’t ready or you haven’t been fighting all out. If you weren’t ready, then why start the attack and I know you have been fighting all out. The way you are sweating is a dead giveaway.”

“When have you ever trained me?” Akane yelled back, seething slowly. “You have not once demonstrated anything that was training.”

“What do you think we’ve been doing in here? You would never be as good as you are now if I hadn’t been here to help.” Akane stopped and thought about what he said, but was interrupted when he began again. “Second. You have improved but you aren’t in my league of skill to be able even stand ten seconds against me; even when I hold back where you aren’t seriously hurt. Plus, you aren’t fast enough. You rely too much on strength to win your battles, a bad lesson from fighting the school mob and Kuno for so long.

“Finally. Your anger is out of control as you anger too quickly and you let it control you. When you are able to dissolve your anger and harness it will you be able to go beyond the next step. Then go beyond that and become of your surroundings at all times.” Then without any warning, he stepped back from the post and punched it with minimal effort. CRACK!

“When you are able to do that with little effort and be able to take a punch like that, then I will fight you more seriously.” Picking up the top portion of the post that was broken off, tossing it to her. “Akane, you are so close to going that next step. The skills are there and you do them unconsciously without realizing it. Wake up to what you are doing and figure out how they are being done then harness them and train in them.” He then left leaving Genma as he was and Akane with a confused expression in the dojo.

He met Nabiki on the porch heading in for quick shower and change. Her expression was not a kind one. “Saotome, I thank you for what you did with Kasumi, but you tossed out my faith with what you did you Akane. You have just destroyed her confidence.”

“Nabiki, she needs to wake up to what she is as a martial artist. Only then can she progress to be better. As of now, she still thinks she knows enough. But deep down, she still thinks she’s fighting Kuno.”

“Ok, you have a point. But I agree with her, you have never trained her in the art.”

“Tell me Nabiki, why do you think I’ve been dodging everyone of her strikes, why do I constantly tease her when I know it will only anger her, and why would I let her mallet me when I can stop it or move out of the way.”

“You don’t hit girls unless challenged, you enjoy teasing her, and you toughen yourself up while absorbing to blows to the house floor.”

“Heh, your right about those but you forgot part of it. Anything Goes relies on speed and ability to use hundred of styles in one main style. With the speed comes the ability to think faster in combat and see what your opponent is doing so you can adapt. She is too quick to anger and anyone who’s seen her knows it. The opponent will not hesitate in using this anger to his or her advantage. Finally, she can access her ki very well, subconsciously. With repetition comes clarity in the technique and can be applied elsewhere such as speed, toughness, strength, etc…”

Nabiki could only stare and try to figure out where this Ranma came from. This was a completely different person than the one she knew two years ago. But as she looked at it slightly differently, she saw the training that he actually did. Ranma could see the question forming on her lips, “Because Anything Goes doesn’t allow woman to learn anything more than the basics. If Pop’s, your father, and Happosai knew what I was actually doing, Akane would never be able to become the martial artist that she wants to be.”

He passed Nabiki and then stopped a moment, “We both hide our full potential from people Nabiki. I hide how much I really know while you hide your friendly and caring side. Take advantage of that hidden side though, like I am. Friends and people that trust you, and them, are more efficient and able to do more for you when you ask than anyone that isn’t among those groups. We don’t have many friends in life and we all need them, besides our business acquaintances. If you ever need to talk to a friend, look me up.” He then ran upstairs to clean himself up.

Nabiki was still trying to recover from her shock. “If you ever need to talk to a friend, look me up.” Nabiki knew what a friend was but because of her dealings in school, she never allowed people too close. The closest she had to friends were her business associates. So why was this different? She needed to talk to Auntie and see if she knows.

[A little bit later]

Nodoka watched her son walk with Kasumi to the train station where they would ride to Juuban. Nabiki stood beside her, watching as well with an expression that worried the Saotome Matriarch. She would have to talk to her and little Akane. Both would have questions now that need to be addressed. When Ranma disappeared around the corner, she turned to say something to Nabiki but was interrupted from behind, “Where’s Kasumi, Auntie?” Akane was standing there, still in her gi, holding a portion of a post.

[Mid-afternoon that day]

Ranma smiled as he watched over Kasumi and Dr. Tofu seated at their table. It was an outside restaurant that Dr. Tofu usually went to for a light meal and he thought that this would be a good neutral place to meet. Ranma had to agree, the atmosphere was light and the weather today was good for early summer. He probably shouldn’t be doing this, he was spying, but he felt responsible to make sure things worked out between the two. So, that was why he was still in Juuban and casually seated on a roof about a block down from where they were.

During the trip, Kasumi kept bugging him about who they were meeting and if what she was wearing was too much. When Ranma first saw her, he guessed that Nabiki was a good influence on the clothes. It was a business casual, if he remembered correctly, and it seemed to suit her. She wore a light green blouse with brown skirt that came up to her knees while wearing low pumps. She looked like a different person.

During the trip, Ranma tried to get her to open up some more and was able to ease her nervousness. She told him about how she was interested in the medical field and how her dream was put on hold to help her family. Ranma hoped that things would work out for her.

When they arrived at the destination, it took a moment for Ranma to find him, and rightfully so. Dr. Tofu wasn’t dressed in his usual outfit either today. He was dressed in a pair of kaki slacks and a matching polo shirt. Luckily, his ki sensing had found the doctor sitting at a table. When Ranma saw him, he apparently had seen them as well because he had a stunned expression; must be Kasumi. It only took a few moments once he started taking Kasumi over when he felt a change in Kasumi as she finally recognized him; she thought she would never see him again after he left Nerima.

After doing the introductions, Ranma handed her off to Dr. Tofu and bade them farewell and to enjoy themselves. Then once he was out of sight, he jumped up to a rooftop and watched over them, making sure nothing would ruin their day. With the doctor finally cured of his problem, Ranma still didn’t know how he did that, the doctor was a true gentleman and from what he could catch with Kasumi’s reaction, as she laughed at the doctor’s good humor, she was living life again.

A couple miles away from the couple, a portal opened in a hidden alleyway and four figures appeared. Two had large packs, one with a smaller pack, and the last with nothing. The three with packs were dressed in casual clothes, jeans, shirts and shoes. The last one was dressed in a dark gray combat uniform. The one dressed for combat, called Sarge back at the base, walked to the end of the alley and took a quick look around. Satisfied, he turned to the others and gave them a simple nod. Seeing their signal, the three jumped to the roofs and disappeared from view. Seeing his comrade’s get away without incident, he casually walked out of the alley and began to do his job. Randomly selecting a building, he brought his arm up and fired off a small ball of energy. The explosion upon impact did the job as everyone that was near him panicked. The process was continued but he started to randomly drain groups of terrified people as they tried to get away from him.

[Just before the portal opened]

Ami Mizuno, also known as Sailor Mercury, was sitting at her desk when an all too familiar sound interrupted her studies. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! She quickly abandoned her assignment and picked up her Mercury Computer that was lying on the bed. Opening it, she expertly typed a few keys and studied the readings. Oh no! It’s one of them again. Better get everyone for this. She quickly shut her computer and flipped up her communicator and sent the emergency signal to all of the scouts.

After ten minutes, she closed her computer and pulled a simple rod from behind her and raised it to the air, calling out, “Mercury Star Power!” When the transformation sequence was over, Sailor Mercury jumped out her window and headed towards the rendezvous point. Elsewhere in Juuban, there were seven other transformation sequences as they ran to their destination.

The Sailor Senshi looked over the carnage in horror from the top of a roof along the street. Up until now their enemies weren’t too interested in property destruction, only in gathering people’s life force. This enemy though was switching between attacking and stealing peoples life force. Sailor Moon had enough. Standing tall and regal, such is the image of the Royal Princess of the Moon, “Cease your actions! The sidewalks and streets are for window-shopping and travel, not destruction of homes and stores. I am Sailor Moon and these are the Sailor Senshi…”

Sarge stopped and grew bored of this little girls speech and pointed his palm right at her, “Whatever.” As he said this, his hand rapidly glowed blue and a basketball size ball or energy shot out and rapidly closed the distance to the assembled Senshi.

Seeing the attack coming, everyone followed their instincts and dodged to the sides. However, Sailor Moon’s clumsiness reared its ugly head at the most inopportune time as she tripped trying to dodge and fell off the side. Luck was with her though, which usually was the case when she became clumsy in combat, since she missed being hit by the attack as it flew over her as she fell off the roof. Her luck ran out there though as instead of landing on her feet, or trying to fly, she landed on her rear, hard, “Owie.”

Looking up, she stiffened with fear as she saw the enemy running in her direction at impossibly fast speeds. She quickly picked herself up but knew that the attempt was futile with the speed he was moving. Suddenly, Sailor Saturn landed in between them, “Silence Wall!” As the wall started to appear, two more shouts from opposite sides, “Deep Submerge! Sparkling Wide Pressure!” as the two attacks collided at the same time where the target would be, if he had not jumped out of the way at the last moment. Sailor Moon sighed as she gathered herself for battle. It was another glorious beginning by the Sailor Senshi.

About a mile away from the scene of battle Ranma causally hopped over the rooftops keeping a safe distance ahead of his target. Dr. Tofu and Kasumi were enjoying the each other’s company as they walked down the street. Ranma could guess by their direction that they were going to the park.

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion interrupted Ranma’s thinking. Twirling his head to the sound, he could see the smoke rising in the distance, about a mile away he guessed. From the corner of his eyes, he could tell that the people on the street also heard it, but reacted as if it was perfectly normal. These people act like those in Nerima. I wonder what’s going on? Ranma knew what Dr. Tofu was thinking and once he heard the sound of battle, Ranma started running toward the sounds. He only hoped that he could take care of the problem before Dr. Tofu found the destruction. As he neared the scene, Ranma could see people running from the battle and put an extra burst of speed.

What he saw when he got there was a scene that was usually left behind when he and Ryoga were fighting. Buildings were complete wrecks in a large area stretching almost a mile long. Along the stretch were people collapsed on the ground. Not seeing any blood, he hoped that the people were only asleep. Ranma continued to the scene of battle but kept back to observe.

This time he saw a group of girls dressed in exaggerated versions of school uniforms. If Happosai saw this, the old pervert might actually have a heart attack and die happily. Something about the uniforms bothered him though; it was a feeling of recognition and a couple other feelings that were similar. He guessed that the threat was the person dressed in a gray combat uniform. Ranma could tell though, that this enemy was an excellent martial artist by the way he weaved through the attacks and moved in close for hand-to-hand combat. When he saw him perform a ki attack, he knew that this wasn’t going to be a pushover. But from the way things were going, the girls were being beaten, badly.

“Burning Mandila!” Mars shouted, as she aimed the multitudes of burning disks at her target. He was currently distracted with Sailor Uranus and Jupiter who were fighting close in. When she called her attack, they both jumped away hoping that he would get caught in the blast. Sensing the attack, Sarge used his quickness and weaved through the multitudes of burning discs. He didn’t get away unscathed as a few managed to scratch him.

Uranus was getting frustrated, seeing Sarge only getting scratched from the attack. She herself was already sporting bruises from the numerous times she tried fighting hand-to-hand. “World Shaking!” Releasing her attack, she pulled out her space sword and lunged as he landed from the dodge. She admired her enemy’s ability to dodge her attacks with the sword but really wished he would just die. That was the last thought as an uppercut knocked her into a wall, causing loose debris to fall around her.

Mercury silently cursed seeing another of their rank fall. Neptune and Venus were already heavily damaged while protecting Sailor Moon. She relaxed slightly seeing Uranus move out of the rubble, but she was running out of steam. They needed a quick breather and a chance to regroup. The enemy was damaged from a few attacks when they attacked multiple times or attacked him as he was landing after a dodge. “Shabon Spray!” causing a thick blanket of mist to cover them as she moved over to the rest of the group.

“How much more can this guy take?” Jupiter asked, leaning on her knees.

“We’ve been fighting all out and only been able to get a few hits against him,” Uranus stated, helping Neptune. Hotaru was using her glaive to rest against as she listened.

“We need to try to contain him like we did with the other enemy, but this one seems to avoid that situation too well. I suggest another multi-attack from different directions. This time though, Moon will attempt to finish him,” Mercury stated calmly. “It’s been the only effective way to counter his speed and the delay of casting our attacks. Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus will start off while Neptune, Venus and myself will get him in position with their attacks and hopefully Moon will be able to get her attack in. Saturn, standby incase we need to fall back.” Hotaru nodded as she saw the cloud start to disperse. “Okay, get in positions. I don’t think we can do a second attempt.”

As everyone moved into position, Uranus commented, “We sure could use Pluto’s help here.” Mercury had to agree as she moved to her position; Pluto’s attacks are always welcome and her skill with the staff could even things out a little bit more.

From outside the mists, Ranma could see the enemy standing towards the cloud and begin focusing. He could tell he was going to fire off a large attack as soon as the mists fell and it was a good guess that he knew, from the ki signatures, where people were in the mists. Part of him wanted to jump in and intervene while he could but he held back. He had to take care of things at home before he involved himself in another problem; Ranma had promised himself this. I might have made a promise with Logan about getting myself involved, but it didn’t say anything about outside interference. By this time the fog was beginning to fall. Sensing the attack coming, Ranma mentally called for his sword. Sword in hand, he quickly jumped to a different position for a better angle.

The Senshi readied their attacks as the fog dissipated. When they saw the enemy standing there, waiting for them, they hesitated, being the first time this had happened to them. The distraction was all Sarge needed as he fired his attack at the main target, Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon lost color to her face as she saw the attack coming right for her, but this time it was larger than a beach ball. She just stared at the blue energy as it closed in on her, too frightened to be able to do anything. Just when things were near the end, there was a flash out of nowhere and a sudden explosion.

“NO!” screamed the Senshi as they ran to the blast, hoping that their princess was still alive. As the dust subsided, they and Sarge were shocked to see her standing up from her crouch, unscathed. Hotaru saw something that she hadn’t seen since the Silver Millennium and let out a gasp that gathered everyone’s attention. Then they saw it, a very handsomely decorated sword was stuck in the ground, blade first about 5 feet in front of the princess. The real surprise was the crest they saw on it, the symbol of Serenity on the butt of the sword.

Sarge was really disappointed that his attack failed, but didn’t give up. Using the distraction, he charged the group in hopes of taking them all out at once. As he was about to pounce on them, something got tangled in his feet and he tumbled to the ground. Everyone whirled around at the noise and a few became especially angry with their enemy. Just as they were preparing their own surprise attack, Sarge and the Senshi heard a quiet and cold voice, “Dead Scream.”

On a rare moment of insight, Venus, calling up her Love-Me Chain faster than ever, tied Sarge’s legs together, preventing him from getting out of the way. Sailor Moon was surprised that as soon as Sailor Pluto’s attack hit, he crumbled away to dust, not needing her attack to finish him off. The streets suddenly became deathly quiet as the wind carried the evidence of the enemy’s existence away.

Sailor Saturn quietly walked over to the staff that tripped and stopped the last attack. She didn’t know why, but she recognized the staff. Turning it over in her hands, it felt familiar somehow; and it wasn’t the symbol of Serenity that was in the center of the staff either. There were only two people that she knew that used a staff. The one was walking up to them right now and the other was… He’s alive? She looked at the sword again when she put the two together. He is alive! The two and two were put together. And that means… She stood up and started to walk to Pluto.

“I apologize for my tardiness, Princess. But I was busy at the Time Gate. I can now answer some questions.” She paused for a moment as she noticed the sword sticking in the ground. “Princess, it would be prudent that you pick up the sword and bring it with you. Do not worry, it is not heavy, like all the swords made back then.” A couple people’s eyes went up. They knew what ‘back then’ meant. “You can store it like you do with your Moon Scepter. Meet at the usual place at the usual time.”

Just as she was about to leave, she finally noticed Saturn holding a staff that was as long as her Time Staff. She knew Saturn’s look all too well as it is a look she used many times on the scouts before. It was time to talk. She quietly nodded to the younger senshi and jumped to the roofs and disappeared. Quickly, the rest of the senshi recovered from their shock and quickly dispersed from the scene before the officials could arrive.

“What happened here?” Dr. Tofu asked, looking over the scene. Buildings and sections of street were destroyed, busted water pipes were drenching everything nearby, and many people were face down in the street. Dr. Tofu felt a squeeze from his right hand. Turning he saw Kasumi nod, smiling a smile that warmed his heart like never before. He quietly squeezed back and together they went about helping the people as authorities began to arrive.

In an alley, a shadowed figure smiled at the scene and turned back to the direction the Senshi disappeared. After a couple moments, the figure turned and walked down the alley. However, just as the figure was halfway, an overstressed pipe finally gave way and sent a geyser of water into the alley. Almost immediately, a couple rounds of cursing arose. As the figure finally started to leave again, the figure seemed to be a bit shorter than before.