It is official, there is a bit of a Ranma glut on the ML (not 
that I'm complaining, but a bit of variety would be nice).  So here is a 
little Sailor Moon 'fic an aquaintance has written.
	Please send all Commentary, Criticism, Flamage, and Death Threats 
to this address: <marco@chinook.physics.utoronto.ca>.
	As for X-Change Students, part 3 approaches fruition....

HTG
______________________________________________________________________________
Teenage Wasteland


                                         Don't cry don't
                                         raise your eye it's
                                         only teenage
                                         wasteland





The eight figures cautiously advanced along the huge
cave. Although deep underground, the slightly phosphorescent
mineral which covered the walls filled the large tunnel with
a phantasmagoric, blue-ish glow.

    "C'mon guys! Hurry up!"

    "Amy, are you *sure* this is the right way?"

The girl's long blond pony-tails swung sideways as she
quickly turned her head, nervously surveying her
surroundings.

    "Of course I'm sure," the blue hair girl responded,
glancing at the screen of her hand-held computer.

    "Please Serena! For once try to get a hold of yourself,"
added the small black cat who walked besides her.

    "Yeah, Luna's right. Stop being such a cry-baby!"
sneered the long-legged girl in the red skirt, walking
just ahead of them.

    "Now Rei, don't ..."

Luna, however, was unable to continue, as Serena suddenly
exploded.

    "And just *WHO* are you calling a cry-baby?!?"

    "Girls, please ..."

    "Who do you *THINK*?!?"

    "Stop ..."

    "That's it Rei! I've had enough of you! In the name of
the moon I will ..."

    "Will you two cut it OUT!"

They both stopped their bickering and turned towards the two
girls watching them, their expressions a mixture of
impatience and exasperation.

    "This is no time for fighting guys," said the girl in
the orange and white sailor fuku, her hands firmly planted
on her waist.

    "Well said, sailor Venus," added the little white cat at
her feet, "we must be very careful. I can sense the presence
of the Negaverse close by."

    "Amy, how soon till we get there?"

    "I don't know Lita, but I'm getting awfully high
readings, they almost go off the ..."

She jerked her head up from the screen when they suddenly
heard a noise in front of them, its source hidden by the
darkness in the tunnel ahead.  At first it was like a moan,
a painful groan. Yet soon it grew louder, until it became a
deep, menacing snarl. Amy slowly began to walk backwards,
closer to her companions.

    "Wha... what was that?" Serena was noticeably shaking.

    "Calm down, all of you." If Rei was frightened, she
certainly didn't let it show.

About twenty metres ahead of them a figure started to form
within the shadows.

A large, menacing silhouette.

The monster was at least two metres high, covered with a
thick black fur which nonetheless couldn't hide the huge
muscles which delineated its body. Its intensely yellow eyes
pierced the girls with their stare, the putrid stench of
rotten meat emanating from the metallic teeth in its mouth,
blood red saliva drooling down its chin, titanium claws
glittering from the oily poison which covered them.

Suddenly the beast raised its head, fangs opening wide, and
let out a blood-thirsty howl, an inhuman shriek which
exploded throughout the cave.

    "I'll take care of him!"

    "REI! NO!"

Lita's scream came too late, as Rei darted forward, hands
clasped together as she spun in the air.

    "Mars fire ... IGNITE!"

A brilliant fireball suddenly erupted from her fingers,
momentarily illuminating the whole cave in an intensely
bright, red light.

The magic flame missed its target. The monster wasn't there.

Startled, she suddenly looked upwards.

The beast had somehow managed evade the fireball, leaping
with superhuman force straight towards her. She opened her
mouth in an attempt to scream.

It was the last thing she did.

The brutal blow shattered most of the bones in her delicate
body, the claws easily ripping through skin and flesh,
almost cutting her in half, leaving a mere strand of sinew
holding her corpse together.

For an instant the five remaining girls stood paralyzed,
unable to believe their eyes.

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Serena screamed, as Amy grabbed
her by the arm and pulled her back. Lita and Mina quickly
regained their senses, and glanced at each other.

    "Mina! NOW!!!" yelled Lita

The girls began chanting in unison, both their faces masks
of fury and determination.

    "Venus Crescent Beam ... SMASH!"
    "Supreme Thunder ... CRASH!"

The beast darted forward, once again jumping in the
air. This time, however, the soldiers were prepared, and the
combined attack formed a powerful blast of electricity and
magical energy which caught the creature in midair. With
inhuman speed the monster somehow managed to twist itself,
contorting its body so that the discharge grazed its
side. Yet the energy was so intense that part of the flesh
which covered its ribs was scorched away, the flaming fur
still attached to its body painfully burning the skin
beneath, the nauseous stench of burning meat soon filling
the cave.

The demon savagely snarled, a howl of pain and fury. And yet
it somehow managed to control its trajectory, spinning in
the air and landing on its feet, directly in front of the
two sailor senshi.

In an instant, its right hand shot out towards Mina. The
girl, stunned by the creature's inhuman resilience and
speed, tried to step back, but it was too late. The enormous
hand surrounded her neck, immediately cutting the air flow
to her lungs. As she desperately tried to break the steel
grip, the hellspawn closed its fist, crushing her windpipe,
snapping her neck, and ultimately beheading the girl.

Lita was terrorized, paralyzed by sheer panic.

    "Lita! RUN!"

The small white cat leaped towards the monster, extending
the claws in its paws, aiming for its cruel, yellow eyes.

Before reaching his intended target, the creature turned its
head and opened its enormous jaws. The cat desperately tried
to evade the beast's fangs to no avail. As soon as he made
contact with the metallic teeth the monster's mouth
violently snapped shut, effectively severing the feline's
body in two.

    "ARTEMIIIIIS!!!" Luna shrieked in despair.

Lita staggered backwards, consumed by a horror which tore
through the very core of her soul. She somehow managed
control her fear and began to recite her enchantment.

    "Supreme Thun ..."

A whooshing sound ripped through the air as the monster's
arm lashed towards her. The back of its fist struck her face
before she managed to finish the spell. The blow instantly
destroyed her head, splattering small pieces of skull and
brains in all directions within a fine mist of blood.

The demon was suddenly violently thrust backwards by a blast
of bright bubbles. They smashed against its body, painfully
bruising it. It turned towards its attacker.

Sailor Mercury's face was a contorted expression of barely
controlled panic. Everything was happening so fast that by
the time she managed to slap Serena out of her hysterical
frenzy her teammates had been slaughtered. Sailor Moon was
now crouching on the ground, sobbing in despair. It was up
to her to defeat the beast.

But the monster had other plans. Unable to approach the girl
through the barrage of bubbles, it grabbed the first thing
it could find and furiously flung it towards her.

This turned out to be sailor Venus' corpse.

As the body swiftly flew towards her, Amy screamed, a
strange, high-pitched squeal of horror, disgust, and
impotence. A split second later Mina's lifeless body smashed
into her, and the dull sound of crunching bones shot through
the air. Luna, who had been standing just behind the girl,
suddenly saw Amy literally blown off her feet by the force
of the impact. Before the cat could do anything, both
corpses landed heavily on her, crushing her underneath their
combined weight.

Slowly the beast advanced towards Serena, who lay on the
ground, curled up, whimpering in terror. A small figure
stood a few metres behind her, in the shadows. This went
unnoticed by the creature as it approached the helpless
girl.

Suddenly a crimson streak flashed in front of the monster,
stopping it on its tracks.

A beautiful red rose stood between them, its stem firmly
embedded in the ground.

    "Fear not, meatb ... uh, Sailor Moon! I have come to
save you!"

    "Tuxedo Mask!" Serena cried, her teary eyes opening wide
with newfound hope.

The demon looked up only to be quickly blinded by this new
foe's black cape. As the beast tore through it with its
claws, the man leaped by Serena's side and swiftly lifted
her to her feet.

    "Quickly, call your friend," he said grabbing her by the
arm, "we must get out of here before ..."

He turned around as he spoke, only to find himself looking
directly at two rows of shiny blood-drenched teeth which
formed a hideous, utterly evil grin.

    "WHOOOOOOSHHH!"

Tuxedo Mask felt a tug on his stomach. Looking down he saw
his bowels pouring out of five deep lacerations which the
monster had clawed through his belly. He grew intensely
pale, his grip on Serena's arm quickly loosening, until he
fell, first to his knees, and then face down to the ground.

Serena staggered back a few steps, her glance shifting
rapidly between the lifeless body at her feet and the beast
in front of her.

Her face deformed into a mask of pure, unadulterated hate.

    "I WILL KILL YOU!!!"

She furiously spun the golden baton in the air.

    "Moon Sceptre ... ELIMINATION!!!"

She pointed the magic staff at the beast, the sceptre
shining like a star, its power fueled by her rage and fear.

Before she manage to fire, however, the monster smashed the
tip of the baton with one powerful blow. Such was the force
of the impact that the sceptre was actually torn from her
hands, breaking three fingers of one hand, four in the
other, including her right wrist.

Serena howled in pain, trying somehow to cover herself with
her destroyed hands while attempting at the same time to
protect them and herself.

It was too late.

The beast's arm shot out, grabbing her whole head in one
hand. Slowly it began to twist it backwards. She arched her
back in a desperate attempt to avoid her neck from
fracturing, but it was useless. Her vertebrae began snap
like popcorn, one by one, three in total, until the back of
her head touched the region between her shoulderblades.  The
demon let go and her body collapsed like a ragged doll.

The creature grinned, looking around at the carnage. It knew
it had done well. Its masters would be pleased, perhaps they
would even offer to heal the painful wounds it had suffered
during the battle.

Suddenly it froze, its sensitive ears picking up a barely
audible rustle, its highly developed sense of smell
capturing a tenuous fragrance in the air.

It brusquely turned its head and peered into the
shadows. Its night vision soon took maximum advantage of the
wall's slight glow as it pierced the darkness.

A few metres away stood a lonely little girl in a sailor
fuku, quietly glaring back at it. Her expression was calm,
almost featureless. Only her large honey eyes showed any
glimpse of emotion.

And fear it was not.

The beast let out a low, guttural growl. It peeled its lips
revealing the set of deadly metal fangs.

The girl didn't even blink.

Without hesitating, the monster leaped towards her, a
powerful jump that sent it flying through the air, both arms
fully extended, claws aiming directly for the girl's little
body.

It was then when *she* leaped *towards* it.

The girl somehow managed to twist her body in mid-air so as
to evade the bulk of the creature's body. Instead she passed
right besides it. In one blinding move her fist shot out,
directly towards the large wound on the monster's side. She
grabbed one of the exposed ribs, and used it as a handle to
swing around. She flung herself, making a full circle as her
hand tightly held the bone. Before the beast realized what
was happening both her feet smashed against the back of its
head, and the demon stumbled forward. She violently yanked
the rib, tearing it out of the creature's torso. Before
touching the ground she performed an impossible somersault
from the monster's back.

The beast's face violently smashed against the ground. In
spite of the truly unbearable pain which almost blinded it,
it managed somehow to instantly regain its footing and dash
towards where the girl had landed.

Or at least where she should have landed.

The monster thrashed its head sideways, wildly looking for
the girl.

By the time it looked upwards it was too late.
 
The girl's feet smashed into the beast's back, right between
it's shoulders. Its spine snapped with an atrocious crack,
almost breaking its torso in two. The monster spun around,
its useless legs unable to get it up. It swung its claws
towards her face but she effortlessly evaded the blow,
ramming a fist into its exposed elbow, destroying the
articulation.

The beast was being shredded alive. It gnashed its jaws,
trying to bite her arm off. A brutal kick to its face
somehow managed to break the metallic teeth, which tore into
its head like half a dozen pieces of shrapnel.

The monster was now agonizing, black blood gushing from the
hole in its side, its splintered arm, nostrils, mouth and
ears. And yet it continued to blindly lash out its remaining
arm, pitifully squirming on the ground like a giant black
worm. The girl decided to put an end to it.

She slowly approached the beast, and in one violently swift
move she rammed her elbow through its left eye, directly
into its brain.

---

The girl placed the mangled bodies of the two small cats on
top of those of the other four sailor senshi. She muttered a
small prayer for the fallen valiant warriors, and quickly
filled the grave she had made.

She turned around. Only the bodies of Serena and Tuxedo Mask
remained, as the monster had suddenly turned into a small
card which had quickly burned away. She carefully positioned
Serena's body on top of Tuxedo's, gently placing his arms
around her. She silently stood besides them for a minute.

After one last goodbye, her hand ignited, and she slowly
proceeded to cremate them both.



_______________ 
Acknowledgments 

First of all to heretic@hops.cs.jhu.edu, who suggested to me
the idea of writing "a lighthearted adventure about Bishoujo
Senshi Sailor Gally".

Credit is also due to dfukushi@hawaii.edu, who unwittingly(!)
encouraged me to rewrite this thing after I lost the
original when my modem connection broke off. His later
suggestions, however, were made in full knowledge of what
he was getting into!

And I *still* think Gally-chan would look kawaii in a sailor
fuku!

_________________________________
marco@chinook.physics.utoronto.ca
Gunnm: Broken Angel
http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html