Prologue

     This is my story so I at least get to tell you the start of it.  I'm
Titanite of the DKR, you might know me better as the Sailor Senshi fighting
for love and justice, Sailor Polaris!
     OK, you've probably still never heard of me.  I'm not as well know as
the other Senshi, matter of fact I'm not exactly an official Senshi yet.
But someday ...
     Anyway that's not what I wanted to tell you about.  This is the story of
how I unlocked my full powers, fought a hentai god and met a lot of crazy 
people who are supposed to be fictional.  It's a little saga I call:

Dark Kingdom Renegades : Titanite's Bogus Journey

    Now where to start ... okay, I've got it.  
    It was our first autumn in Tokyo, we'd arrived back in winter.  The last 
couple of months had been busy what with Magnesite, Jadeite, the Knight 
Sabers and a few other weird events but it had been quiet enough the past
couple of weeks.  At least for me, Margrave and Azurite had had a run in with
those two new Senshi not long ago.  That was sort of my fault, I was trying to 
get them to get along which was why they were out together.  But it seemed to  
have backfired as Azurite and Pyrite were moving out as soon as they find 
their own place.  Which wasn't going to be too long.  Matter of fact they were
close to closing the deal.  They'd decided to rent a house rather than an 
apartment.  Pyrite wanted to have a few rooms to use as a lab so that meant
they needed space.  Which is at a premium in this city.  Luckily we're well
enough off.  We'd be real well set except as I understand it most of our gold
reserves were placed in England before the Kingdom fell.  After all that was 
supposed to be our final destination.  But things got weird and so we're stuck
in Tokyo.  Not that I mind but it makes the others a bit edgy.
     Sorry I'm getting sidetracked, now where was I?  Oh yeah ... well the 
morning in question I'd headed down to cook breakfast.  No one makes me but I
like cooking and I've been doing it for a couple of years now.  I like to feel
I'm pulling my weight around here.  It was a little tricky after our arrival
because I couldn't get the ingredients for any of the stuff I knew how to 
make.  But I picked up a few cookbooks and after a while got the hang of doing
human style food.  My early efforts were edible at least and now I think I'm a
pretty fair cook.  Which is good, much as I like anime I'd hate to emulate it
and cook like C-ko or Akane.  As for the latter I can tell you that they don't 
exaggerate what her cooking's like ... but I'm getting ahead of myself.
     As I headed downstairs I was surprised to run into Margrave as she's not
much for early rising.  Then I realized she wasn't up yet being sprawled over 
the couch and snoring slightly.  Looked like she'd had a very late night and 
got this far before collapsing.  It wasn't the first time this had happened
but it still annoys me.  She spends most nights with Calcite but every now and
again she goes out looking for "variety".  I try not to ask for any more 
details.  It's things like this that keep the two of them from getting any   
more serious.  Cal'll just shrug it off and say he doesn't own her so she's
free to do what she likes.  At least as long as she keeps to her vow about 
not causing youma style trouble.  I think it hurts him more than he lets on.  
At least it did, I guess he's used to it by now.  But it means there'll never
be anything permanent between them.  It's exasperating really.  Sometimes I'd 
swear she's going out of her way to make sure Cal and her don't get too close.
     Still when all's said and done I like her.  There's a softer side to her 
that she won't let most people see.  Actually the others wouldn't see it 
anyway as they've already made up their minds about her.  Cal's caught 
glimpses of it but she keeps distracting him from getting any further.  If
he got another look inside her mind he might get a real surprise.  But she's
not going to volunteer and he won't force his way in so that's that.  Bottom
line is I've given up expecting to get a catwoman sister-in-law.
     Another thing I like about having Margrave around is that means another
anime fan in the place.  She's become a big fan of Nuku-Nuku, Cheshire in that 
Clamp Wonderland thing and the Puma Sisters.  Matter of fact after she saw 
Dominion she kept pestering Cal to buy her a machine gun.  Wonder what she 
would have done with one?  Now that I think of it Azurite kept a closer than 
usual eye on her that week.  Anyway the more perceptive of you will have 
noticed a certain pattern in her fave picks.  Still is it surprising she's a 
big neko fan?
     I was tiptoeing past so as not to wake her when the point became moot.
Azurite came stomping down the stairs looking unhappy.  Which probably meant
Margrave had done something again.  Margrave's eyes opened and she stretched
making a noise somewhere between a yawn and a purr.  "Morning Ti.  Oh and  
good morning Azurite."
     "Good morning."  Azurite sounded a bit terse, yes Margrave had definitely 
done something.  I excused myself and headed for the kitchen leaving the door 
ajar.  The toaster has a nice shine and if you position it right you get a 
great reflection of the living room.  That's just a bit of trivia you 
understand.  So I busied myself getting breakfast together and if I happened 
to overhear ... well it's hardly my fault that sound travels.
     Azurite's a very different person from Margrave.  Normally she's calm,
strong and dependable but capable of raising hell when she has too.  Have I
mentioned she's secretly Sailor Arcturus?  Well it's not that secret, everyone
here knows it and I guess the Senshi do to.  Unlike me she doesn't want to be 
a Senshi, it's just a way to use her powers publicly when necessary.  The
problem is Margrave gets a kick out of trying to break her composure.  They've
had a rivalry for years now but we (that's me and Cal) didn't find out the 
cause until recently.  With that resolved I was hoping they'd become friends.
No such luck.  They don't want to be friends and I think they're determined to
keep it that way.  Last time I asked Azurite about it she said that it was so
unlikely to happen that if it ever did it would probably be a harbringer of
the end of the world.  Personally I don't want to see that, it was bad enough 
being almost caught in the Kingdom's version of armaggedon.
     Azurite sounded edgy.  "Okay I've torn the bathroom apart.  So where are
they?"
     Margrave looked coy (which would make any of us suspicious).  "Whatever
do you mean?"  Before Azurite could tell her (probably loudly) she went off on
a tangent.  "It must be a wonderful thing to have a regenerative factor like
you Renegades have.  With the odd exception."
     "Margrave ..."
     "Have I ever mentioned how much I envy those metabolisms of yours.  Most 
of time anyway."  She grinned.  "The only biological trick I can do is 
shutting down my breeding cycle.  Which is and was certainly handy.  Otherwise 
given my popularity back in the Kingdom I'd have been whelping litters left 
and right."  I've heard her mention this before, apparently it was a fairly 
common ability in the Kingdom among youma females.  Unfortunately it's unknown 
among Renegade females.  I decided I knew what this was all about.  Margrave 
continued.
     "Must be especially difficult when you're committed to not having 
children.  Contraceptive magics are no more certain than those human devices.
There's always surgical solutions ... sorry I forgot, you both regenerate
don't you.  Tricky, tricky, tricky.  I suppose the only real solution is
abstenance during these ... peak times."
     "Where are they Margrave."  Azurite's voice had a definite edge.  "This 
is the worst possible time to hassle me."
     Margrave chuckled slightly.  "Please Azurite spare me the barely 
controlled death machine act.  I've talked to Pyrite, your healing factor 
keeps your hormones from getting to far out of whack.  No the only real 
trouble here is that for the past few days you haven't been able to get ..."
     Azurite cut her off, she sounded cold.  "Margrave, have you ever stopped 
to think what the main problem with taunting a Renegade is?  I'll tell you.
We lack the desire to sadistically gloat before striking.  When we decide to 
take someone out we do it quickly and cleanly.  We don't taunt or savour the
fear, we just take the target out.  So the day you finally push me too far
you'll never know what hit you."  Margrave was definitely looking a bit 
uncertain.  "Now with that in mind where are ..."  Margrave pointed to the 
laundry hamper in the hallway holding the washer.  Azurite flipped the lid 
open, scrabbled around and emerged with a box of tampons.  With a final glare 
at Margrave she headed back upstairs.  Margrave whistled a tune and Azurite
froze in place for a moment.  Then she kept going and slammed the bathroom 
door.  I think Margrave muttered something about no sense of humour.
     I have to say there are some things about growing up I could do without.
That's one of them.  Especially since it's totally useless.  Humans and youma
can't interbreed, the genetics are just too different.  So if I ever wanted
to have kids I'd need a youma male to father them.  As the only ones left 
are my brother and my cousin that's more or less that.  Could be worse, I 
could have a monthly cycle.
     Here's a really sick thought.  Jadeite was probably the only chance I'll
have ever had to be a mother.  Yuck, that creep!  Forget it, I'm glad he's 
dead.  As I thought that I got one of those funny flashes.  Something about a
tiara.  Just as suddenly as it came it was gone.  Nothing worth worrying 
about.  Probably some sort of side effect to getting hurt in MegaTokyo.  Like 
those nightmares I had during our first weeks in Tokyo about Magnesite coming 
to get me.  Of course he did but since he became an ornament I haven't had a 
single bad night's sleep.
     Margrave slunk in and headed for the fridge.  She'll insist all the time
that looking feline doesn't make her cat-like.  But she has a definite 
weakness for cream and fish.  She was still humming the tune she was whistling 
at Azurite.
     "What's that song?"
     "It's a Rolling Stones tune, 'I can't get no satisfaction.'"
     "Oh."  Boys are something of a mystery to me.  Circumstances required
growing up in near isolation so I didn't get much contact with members of the
opposite sex my own age until recently.  Not that I'd have wanted to know 
Kingdom guys.  I did have a crush on this guy (at least I thought I sort of
did) but there was a bit of a problem.  This definitely wasn't something I 
could ask Calcite about.
     "Margrave ... could I ask your advice on something?"
     She put down the cream bottle and looked at me.  "Is this about a boy?"
     "Sort of."
     "In that case, no I can't help you."
     "Just like that?"
     "This is some sort of first love problem?"
     "Well yeah."
     "Then I'm definitely not qualified.  Now if you had a nice healthy case 
of lust I could give you plenty of advice but romance isn't my style.  I'd
suggest talking to someone else.  Someone other than Azurite."
     "I know the two of you don't hit it off ..."
     She shook her head.  "This isn't about that.  I was thinking about that
mess she got herself into with Pyrite and Calcite.  She let that drag on for
years.  Anyone who could mess herself up that badly is definitely not an
authority worth consulting."  That made a certain amount of sense  Anyway I
plowed on.
     "The problem's this.  I've fallen for this guy ... at least I think I 
have.  There's a lot of problems.  He doesn't know I exist, besides he's 
already got two fiancees and a lot of other wannabe girlfriends."
     "Sounds like a lot of complications."
     "Thing is I've never actually met him.  Just sort of seen him from a
distance.  So I'm wondering if it's worth trying.  If I meet him then I think
I'll know for sure if he's worth pursuing.  Of course that'll mean a lot of 
competition.  So what do you think I should do?"
     Margrave looked thoughful, as if she was reliving some old memory.  After
a pause she shook herself and said, "All I can give you is my opinion.  Which
is go meet him.  If you don't you could spend the rest of your life regretting
it.  If he turns out to be a loser then you can stop worrying you missed out
on something great.  From a personal survival viewpoint if I hadn't gone after 
your brother I doubt I'd have survived my teenage years.  Besides I think 
you've already made up your mind to meet him.  You just wanted someone else to 
tell you to go for it."
     "I guess that's right."  She was right, I was planning to do it anyway
but I wanted someone to reassure me I was doing the right thing.  So who is
this mystery man you ask?  His name is Ranma Saotome.
     Hold on, you say.  He's only a character in a manga or ink on a cartoon
cel.  It's ridiculous to fall for a fictional character.  
     Normally you'd be right.  But I know something you don't know.

End of Prologue