Sailor Ranko - Thrice in a Millennium: Chapter 2 The new enemy
The ongoing saga of "Sailor Ranko", set after "Sailor Ranko: The Harder They
Fall"

Based on "Sailor Ranko" by Fire and "Twice in a Millennium" by Kevin D.
Hammel and acknowledging "Black Moon - Eclipse of the Sun" by Arthur Hansen
By Bill Heineman

I don't own these characters. Please don't sue me, kill me or make me upload
chapters to FanFiction.net without checking them.


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"Io."

"Yes Sun?"

"How're we going to take this kid to the ol' ghoul without blowing our
cover?"

"Well the disguise magic is supposed to prevent anyone from recognizing us
isn't it?"

"Hate to break it ya, but the old bat can see through the magic."

"Lovely."

Sun and Io sat on a bench in Nerima while the little Chinese girl they
rescued from the birdmen devoured her third parfait. "Can I have another one
honored guests?"

Io turned to Sun. "You're the master of free eats."

"Nag, nag, nag." Sun got up to go back to the ice cream parlor to work her
charm for another ice cream. She entered and a moment later she held a
chocolate and strawberry sundae, which was snatched by the starving little
girl.

"Thank you for your kind generosity." She bowed again as she did for each
meal she got from the two Senshi. She took a bite of the delicious
confection savoring the flavor. "There isn't anything like this where I come
from."

Io closed her eyes in the hope that the girl would open up to her. She had
been evasive to all their questions ever since they teleported to five
blocks from the Cat Cafe. "Where is it that you come from?"

The little girl looked around suspiciously. "I can't say until I can speak
with the elder. When can you take me to her?"

Io shook her head. The girl refused to say anything about why she was being
pursued, the identities of her pursuers, who she was or where she came from.
Sun turned to Io with an idea. "Io, stay here. My friend 'll be here soon to
take her to the Cat Cafe. After he gets here, you can join me back at
headquarters."

Io lowered her eyebrows while thinking about Sun's word. "Headquarters?
Huh?"

Sun walked off around a street corner. Io sat for a full minute watching the
little girl lick the bowl clean. "You've got a healthy appetite don't you?"

"Thank you again honored guest." She bowed for the tenth time. "I have been
hungry for quite some time."

"Why are you so hungry? Haven't your parents..." A sound of a male screaming
at the top of his lungs broke the conversation as a damp panic stricken pig
tailed martial artist ran around a corner with his arms in the air.

"Get it away from me! Get it away from me! YAH!" Ranma ran straight toward
Sailor Io and hid behind her cowering to the ground. "Keep it away from me!"

Io rolled her eyes in frustration to her husband's display of fear. She
stepped forward to the corner of the store, knelt down to the ground and
called out to the terrible creature. "Here kitty, kitty." A small black cat
came around the block and purred. She turned around to look at her big
strong husband who was curled up in a ball moaning. "I'll defeat this
terrible enemy Ranma, for love and justice." She giggled then assured the
martial artist. "A friend of mine will be back to help protect you if any
more of these horrible things show up." Io picked up the cat, petted it and
jogged away from sight.

Ranma teeth chattered as he bravely stood up to face the horrid triangle
eared demon. "Y-Y-yeah. I-I-I'll b-be r-right here." Once Io was out of his
sight and the black spawn of the fourth circle of hell was gone, he calmed
down.

The black haired little girl tossed her paper bowl into the trash. "Mister?
Where was the monster? All I saw was a cute little kitty cat."

Ranma pulled in his inner strength to keep from freaking out again. "D-don't
worry little girl. It was there all right. By the way, I don't think we've
met. I'm Ranma Saotome. What's your name?"

"Shouldn't we wait for your friend?"

Ranma stood up from his bow of greeting. He quietly cursed. "This girl's
really good. Wonder if she's been taking lessons from Nabiki."

"Ranma?" Akane came around the corner. "Have you... Oh there you are. Hello
little one, my friend told me all about you. I'm Akane, wanna be friends?"

The girl wasn't fooled. "I need to see Cologne. Can you either of you take
me to her?"

Ranma and Akane drooped their shoulders. Ranma led the way down the street.
"C'mon, it's 'bout five blocks this way."

"Where did the girls go?"

Akane gave a knowing smile. "They had to go somewhere. They told us to take
you to Cologne."

The girl jumped on Ranma's back. "Let's run! I need to see her now."

Ranma dropped his head in defeat. "This had better be good, I'm tired of
earning detention for being a taxi service."


========================================


Ryoga sat on the roof of his farmhouse looking at the clouds in a wistful
manner. He was in peaceful bliss since his marriage to Akari Unryuu but
something was still missing in his life. He just couldn't put his finger on
it as he thought about what led him to this point and why he was here. He
spoke to the empty rooftop. "Akari. How did I ever deserve someone like her?
What did I do to earn her love?" He sat up to meditate for a little while
clearing his thoughts but his mind wandered away again. Wandering like he
used to do in a physical sense until recently.

Akari climbed up the ladder that was attached to the side of the house to
visit her daydreaming husband. She carefully crawled on the roof to slide
next to Ryoga. She was terrified of the roof since it was slippery, slanted
and just wasn't that safe to be on. She slid next to her husband and held
him tight. "Oh Ryoga."

Ryoga squeezed Akari's hand that she placed it on his shoulder. He tilted
his head against hers and sighed. Akari blinked then pushed herself harder
against Ryoga's head as if she could somehow become one with him by pressure
alone.

The little girl held her beloved's face to hers. She pressed her lips to his
and gave him a gentle kiss. "What's wrong Ryoga?"

He sighed again feeling a wave of depression that for all rights shouldn't
exist in his soul but did. "Nothing."

"Liar." Akari playfully smiled. She grew concerned and looked into his eyes.
"Tell me what's wrong. Please darling." She batted her eyes and then lowered
her head to show him that she deeply cared about him and his feelings.

Ryoga turned away. "Nothing. Nothing's the matter."

Akari pulled back dejected and sad. "Ok." Her face fell into a sorrowful
state since her husband was hiding something from her. "I understand if you
don't want to talk about it." She pulled away lowering her hands to crawl
back to the ladder.

"Wait." Ryoga pulled his knees to his chest in contemplation. "I..."

Akari gave an expectant look. "Yes?"

"I... I..." Ryoga wimped out. He couldn't tell her his true feeling because
he didn't want to hurt her. He buried his head into his knees trying to
summon the courage to speak.

"Ryoga." Akari whispered. "Please tell me what's wrong. You've been spending
so much time up here. You hardly eat. You..." She felt sullen and alone.
"You don't spend much time with me anymore." Her eye watered a tiny bit. "Am
I not a good wife?"

Ryoga snapped back into reality. "Akari, please forgive me. I-I never said
you weren't a good wife. Y-you are the best thing that's ever happened to
me." He held out his hands to take hers. "I'm sorry but... but..." He went
back into reality denial mode with a full dose of cowardice.

Akari lifted her head up to watch Ryoga drop his head back down. "Is there
someone else?"

Ryoga flung his head up. "No! There's no one else!" He flashed an image of
Akane in his mind then pushed it aside.

Akari was nearly in tears. "Then why are you so sad? Why are you always
depressed lately? Did I do something wrong? Did I do something to offend
you? Please tell me." She shed a few tears. "I don't want you to be sad.
We're supposed to be happy together."

Ryoga pulled his head back to gaze at the clouds. He ran his pitiful thought
processes to try to make sense of what he felt. He watched the clouds roll
by as they traveled across the sky to parts unknown. Traveled? Journeyed?
Voyaged? He contorted his face and clutched his chest to the stark reality
that presented itself to him. He was tied down. He had to be free. He had
to... Had to... No! He couldn't do it to her. He was found. He gave up the
title of the lost boy for Akari's sake. He couldn't do it to her anymore but
the road was calling his name.

Ryoga's dreams were filled with images of far off places. Many of them he
had already been to in his journeys. He remembered the despair, the
loneliness, and the isolation that the open road offered. It was nothing
like what he had right in front of him. He had a wife, a home and a pen full
of sumo pigs that tolerated his company. It wasn't much but it was a
destination to a very long journey. Ryoga knew deep in his heart that the
destination was never the goal; it was the journey itself that made
everything worthwhile. He desperately wanted to embark on another trek
through the woods, deserts, fields and plains of the world. He could just
hear the sounds of the distant lands waiting for him to visit, to partake in
their cultures and to move on.

"Akari, I'm not sad." He tried to put on a happy face for his wife and
failed miserably.

"Then what are you?" Akari held her gaze onto his face, desperate for an
answer to her question.

Ryoga held her hand tight. "I'm in love." He moved toward her in a gentle
motion. Akari closed her eyes and savored his sweet lips. They felt their
love electrify the moment and in the instant their lips parted, the moment
was gone.

Akari giggled like a schoolgirl charged up by her moment of passion. "Then
come down with me." She tugged his hand. "Katsunishiki's hungry and it's
time to feed him." Her eyes sparkled. "Together."

Ryoga quickly stood up. "Then let's not keep him waiting." He scooped up
Akari and jumped off the roof to the ground with Akari screaming all the way
down.

Katsunishiki snorted from his pen at the sound of his master's scream.
"Bwee!"

Ryoga jerked at the sound of a pig's squeal that reminded him of his curse.
Akari pounded Ryoga's head with very little force since she just wanted to
get his attention. "Don't do that! You know I hate that!"

Ryoga put his wife down. "Let's get the slop and give it to him."

Akari ran to the kitchen while holding Ryoga's hand. They were a happy
couple.


========================================


The Cat Cafe stood before the Saotomes and their newfound friend. Ranma
checked himself to make sure that neither he nor Akane had anything visible
on them to give away their positions as Senshi. He checked his Senshi
communicator to make sure it was on vibrate mode to avoid a telltale beep in
the cafe. Satisfied, he entered the front door.

Mousse walked up to the entrance. "I'm sorry but we aren't serving lunch for
about two hours. Please come back when we're open. Oh, it's only you. Are
you here to take my darling Shampoo?"

Ranma was impressed. Duck boy was wearing his glasses this time around.
"Actually, we're here because of her." He pointed to the little Chinese
girl.

Mousse adjusted his glasses to get a better look at the child. "And who
might you be?"

She bowed to Mousse. "I'm here to see the great elder Cologne."

Mousse was suspecting that this was some sort of trap to lure him and
Cologne away from his true love. "That's nice, but who are you? What
business do you have with Cologne?"

The child recognized Mousse's style of clothing that it came from the area
of China that she was from. She decided to trust the near-sighted man in
front of her. "It's a matter of Jusenkyo."

Ranma, Mousse, Akane and Shampoo who was in earshot shouted. "JUSENKYO!"

Shampoo ran up to the girl, kneeling to her level. "You come from China no?"

"I'm from China. My father works at Jusenkyo."

Ranma raised his eyebrows. "Your father? He isn't the Jusenkyo guide is he?"

Mousse lamented his luck at finding a bride. "That fat guy's got a wife! I'm
much better looking than him and he's the one who gets a wife!"

Shampoo slapped Mousse back to earth. "Stupid Mousse! Stop talking stupid."

The girl got impatient. "I need to see Cologne. Take me to her."

Cologne emerged from the kitchen to hop on her cane in sight of the little
girl. She read her ki and checked her out using her ancient Amazon skills to
make sure that she wasn't some sort of infiltrator or spy. "I'm the elder of
the Amazons." The old woman stared at the little girl and recognized her.
"You're Plum of Jusenkyo aren't you?'

"Yes! It is I. It is good to see you honored guest." She bowed down before
the matriarch by bending her stomach to arch her chest to a ninety-degree
angle. She held her bow for a few seconds before coming up again. "We have
much to discuss. Jusenkyo is in danger."

Shampoo dropped the dish she was holding. "Jusenkyo?"

Cologne remained steadfast. "What's happening in Jusenkyo that required you
to come all the way here? You could have asked for help from the elders back
in our village."

"Sorry respected elder, but my father instructed me to come here. He wanted
you to protect this." She reached into her shirt and pulled out a folded
brown parchment.

Cologne took the parchment and unfolded it. It was a map showing landmarks
in the area of Jusenkyo. "What's the significance of this child?"

"It is Jusenkyo's secret. My father was very specific that I give this to
you and you alone."

The old woman scanned the map looking for anything out of the ordinary.
"This shows the flow of water from the mountain of Jusendo to the springs.
If this falls into the wrong hands, it could mean disaster."

Shampoo picked up the broken dish from the floor. "How so great
grandmother?"

"The water is imbued with raw magic. It's what powers the cursed springs. If
someone was to redirect or dispel the water, the springs would dry up."

Mousse went rigid with fright. "That would mean..."

Shampoo crossed her arms holding herself tight. "No more spring of Drowned
Girl."

Mousse lowered his head in despair. "No more spring of Drowned Man."

Shampoo grew teary eyed. "Shampoo change to cat forever."

A part of Ranma cried out in anguish at the loss of a possible cure, but an
overwhelming part of him wanted to see the springs vanish without a trace.
He looked at the faces of the people he sometimes called friends and felt
empathy for them. "What do we do about it?"

Cologne led the little girl to a table. "First thing we should do is care
for our guest. Shampoo, please give our guest some food. She must be hungry
after such a long trip."

Shampoo bounded off to the kitchen. "Yes great grandmother, Shampoo bring
good good food for guest."

Cologne turned to Ranma and Akane. "Now, why are you two here? Aren't you
supposed to be in school right now?"

Akane stepped forward since she wanted to avoid Ranma from saying something
dumb. "We were asked to take this girl, Plum wasn't it? And bring her here
to you. Well, since we did out good deed for the day, I guess we'll be
leaving." Akane stepped back to go.

Cologne gripped Akane's arm in a vice like hold. "Not so fast young lady.
You're two hundred years too early to pull something on me." She turned to
Plum. "Plum, who asked these two to escort you here?"

Plum got comfortable at a large table with chopsticks at the ready. "Oh, it
was two girls who called themselves Sailor Senshi."

"Two girls?" Cologne looked Akane straight in the eye and read her ki. She
gave a toothy grin and released her grip. "Good for you."

Akane brushed her arm. "Good for me what?"

Cologne continued her omnipotent smile. "I think you two may want to stick
around for a bit. You might learn something. Shampoo! Hurry up!"

Shampoo bounded with a hastily prepared bowl of ramen. She placed the
steaming hot bowl in front of Plum who ate it in a very ladylike fashion.

Cologne looked around the restaurant. "Mousse! Get here as well." The myopic
martial artist took a seat at the table. "Now, let's begin. First, who is
after this paper?"

Plum stopped eating. "Bird men attacked my father. They wanted the secret. I
barely escaped and came here."

Cologne pondered Plum's words. "Bird men did you say? You didn't see what
they looked like did you Ranma?"

Ranma answered in the best way he knew how. "Uh."

Plum slurped down a noodle. "Elder, they didn't see anything. The girls who
rescued me saw them as I did. There were two men, the same two who attacked
my father. One had black wings and dark skin and the other had white wings,
light skin and black stripes."

The elder looked downcast. "Did these men have the ability to fly?"

"Yes respected elder. They can fly very high."

"Lastly, did they transform into humans?"

"Yes. It rained and they lost their powers. The girl with red hair who saved
me beat one up and I punished the other one."

Cologne snickered then stifled the laugh. "Where are the bird men now?"

Plum dropped her face. "I don't know. They got away."

"Well. If this is what they're after. They'll come here for it. We have to
prepare. Feel up to it sunny boy? Ha ha ha! Sunny boy!" Cologne gave a
hearty laugh.

Ranma looked around the table for any reason to stick around. "What's it got
to do with me? I'm no babysitter? C'mon Akane, let's get out of here."

"I'm with you."

Cologne slammed her stick to the ground. "So sonny boy, running away from
fight? That's not like you at all."

"What fight? All I saw was... Uh..." Akane poked Ranma in the ribs.
"Nothin'. I saw nothin'."

"Well then you've got nothing to be afraid of."

Ranma got his feathers ruffled at that remark. "Who said I was afraid? I'm
not afraid of no oversized crow!"

Cologne cracked a smile. "Of course you aren't sonny boy. But you need to
know a bit more about whom we're facing. Let me tell you youngsters a
story." She waved her hands to get everyone to huddle around her. "There is
another place with a cursed spring. It's on the top of Mount Phoenix where
many birds live atop its craggy peak. Many birds drowned in the spring that
exists up there and the water became cursed. The people who lived there,
drank the water from the spring and in time grew wings and became part
bird."

Ranma cut in. "Are these people related to the Musk?" Ranma got his head
smacked with a cane.

"Be quiet sonny boy. I'm telling this story, not you. No, they are not
related to the Musk. Now where was I, oh yes? These people became half bird
as their natural form. They kept to themselves, rarely ever venturing away
from their homeland. Something must have happened to make them travel so far
away from home."

Akane tapped the table. "Why is it that these people change when hit with
cold water?"

"Well the obvious answer is that they fell into the spring of Drowned Man.
Perhaps it was to give them disguises to walk among normal humans."

Ranma cut in again. "So you're saying that their human forms is their cursed
form and the Hawkman imitation is what they really look like? OW!"

Cologne smacked him again. "That's just what I said. Weren't you listening
to me?"

Shampoo waited to Cologne to stop hitting Ranma. "Great grandmother, why
they want map?"

The elder examined the map again looking for anything out of the ordinary.
"I don't know child. We'll have to wait until they come here to get some
answers."

Mousse felt his danger sense go off. He coughed to get some attention. "I've
got to go to the restroom." He got up to walk to the back.

Shampoo gave a look of disgust. "Mousse, why you go when important meeting
happen."

Mousse walked carefully to the back. "When nature calls my darling I have to
ANSWER IT!" He threw a chain at a decorative wall partition smashing it into
pieces.

Cologne leapt into air and smashed the adjacent partition knocking down the
two former birdmen hiding behind it. "Who are you and what do you want?"

A tall white haired girl in a white Chinese collared sleeveless leotard with
a very large sword answered from the front entrance. "I am Captain Kiima of
Mount Phoenix." The girl made an imposing presence with her giant white
wings folded behind her. Her bracers emphasized the look of deadliness of
her razor sharp fingernails that doubled as talons.

The dark skinned black haired man stood up. He wore a loose fitting light
blue Chinese jumpsuit with black trim and a medium sized sword on his belt.
"I'm Koruma."

The light skinned man lifted himself from the ground, pushing aside the
broken partition. He had a wild forward swept mane of black hair and wore an
off white jumpsuit with a cheetah pattern on the trim. His boots had a white
tiger striped pattern. He was armed with a bow and arrows. "I'm Masara."

Kiima took a step forward. "You have something we want."

Cologne slid the paper into her tunic out of sight. Ranma stood forward to
challenge the intruder. "And what's that?"

"Hmph." She gazed at Plum who was hiding under a booth. "Give me the secret
and we'll leave in peace."

Shampoo held out her bonbori. "Why you want secret?"

Cologne held her hand to her face. Shampoo just gave away that fact that
they had anything.

"I see. I tried to be reasonable with you." Kiima stretched her arms wide.
"Thousand Wings of the Seabird Attack!" She flapped her wings and dozens of
dart like feathers flew toward the collected martial artists.

Ranma jumped out of the way. "That's it, you've got a ticket to the
emergency ward."

"Aiya!" Shampoo blocked the darts with her bonbori.

"Thunder Hammer Strike!" Akane threw a ball of ki at Kiima knocking her
aside but not down.

Mousse threw out a chain at Masara knocking his bow out of his hands. Kiima
glared at Akane then focused on Cologne. "Give me that paper!

Cologne used her cane to pick up a bowl of hot ramen. She threw it at Kiima
scalding her. "Aww!" Kiima backed up out of the room holding her burns.
"You'll regret this!" She ran out of the cafe with her two minions close
behind. "To the skies!" She cast a hateful glare back at the group. "We will
be back for what's ours."

Ranma yelled to the group. "After them!" The warriors sans Cologne charged
the door. Kiima grabbed a bucket of mop water that Mousse had left near the
front door and splashed the team to blind them.

Ranko jumped up and down like an idiot. "A C-c-cat!" Feline Shampoo held on
the Ranko's shirt while the red head went violently insane. Mousse flew into
a wall and Akane slipped on the water on her butt.

Kiima watched the transformations and made mental notes. She ignored the
melee and took to the air. Her underlings ran on the street below in
pursuit. "Kiima! Don't leave us!"

"Get it off! Oof!" Ranko ran into a post crushing Shampoo and falling on the
floor unconscious.

Akane rubbed her sore behind shaking her head in dismay. "She took us out
with a bucket of water? Look at my dress!"

Cologne hopped into the middle of the sleeping group. "We've got bigger
problems."


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Author's Notes: Please review my story. It makes me feel oh so happy and
keeps me from making that bump in the night sound you hear at midnight.


Bill Heineman
February 17th, 2003
========================================
burger@contrabandent.com
http://www.contrabandent.com/burgerbill
========================================


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