He walked down the street, feeling happy.  Indeed, he seldom felt otherwise.

He passed a fellow citizen.  He nodded and smiled to her.  She smiled back at 
him, and they shared their happiness.  It was always such, but no less wonderful 
for its frequency.

He had to turn a corner, but stopped to admire the structure rising in the 
distance.  It was beautiful.  Well, *everything* was beautiful, but this was 
even more so.  He allowed the sight to fill him; then he moved on.

As it happened, he was alone on the street.  This happened sometimes; eventually 
he would meet someone else.  Until then, he let his joy carry him along.

A shadow passed over him.  His smile dimmed slightly; if he recalled the weather 
plan, today was supposed to be sunny and bright all morning.

He looked up, and as he did the shadow deepened.  Became black.  And the 
blackness was filled with... something.  Something that roiled and moved and 
hated.  It hated everything, but at this moment it hated him in particular.

He had seldom experienced fear, and it soon built into abject terror.  He had no 
idea how to respond.  He wasn't sure if he should run or call for help or try to 
make friends with it.  So he just stood still.

The shadow seemed to sense his helplessness, and seemed to take great delight in 
it.  It drank in his fear, and looked for ways to increase it.

He could only whimper as the shadow descended.


The Price of Heaven

by Richard Lawson


"Do you see, Nouma?"  Ranma repeated the leap and kick.  Airborne attacks were 
the specialty of the Anything Goes School, and it was time Nouma began learning 
them.  "You let the force of the jump move your legs into position.  You must 
time your leap perfectly.  That's why I'm always teaching you about how to 
control your jumps so precisely.  All you need to do now is add the kick."

Nouma was frowning thoughtfully.  Ranma smiled a little; Nouma was a serious 
boy.  After four years under Kodachi's tutelage, he had taken a very studious 
approach to the Art, carefully studying every move, examining every angle, 
making sure he thoroughly understood before he attempted anything.  This both 
pleased and frustrated Ranma; while it was good that Nouma had more discipline 
at ten than Ranma had had at sixteen, at the same time he took fewer chances, 
and sometimes that kept him from being able to achieve the highest skill level 
possible in the Art.

Nouma finally nodded, then turned towards the center of the dojo.  He ran and 
jumped, putting his legs in the right position to strike a hypothetical opponent 
in the chest.  He executed it fairly well; Ranma smiled.

That is, until the ground came rushing up to meet Nouma.  Ranma saw Nouma panic 
and try to move his legs so he could land properly.  He didn't make it in time, 
and tumbled along the mat until he hit the wall.

Mikanma laughed and laughed.  Ranma glanced at his four-year-old daughter; she 
was dressed in a gi, but had spent most of the training session talking to her 
stuffed pig.  Now, however, she pointing at Nouma and giggling.  "No-chan fell 
down!  He looked so silly!"

Nouma sprang to his feet and glared at her.  He spoke in an injured tone of 
voice.  "That's not very nice, Mi-chan.  I'd like to see you do it!"

Mikanma giggled again and ran towards Nouma.  Halfway to him she jumped in the 
air and stuck her foot out.  Nouma clearly wasn't expecting it, and made no 
effort to catch her as she struck him in the chest.  He fell over backwards and 
landed heavily on the mat.  Mikanma landed astride him, grinning and still 
clutching her pig.  "Like that, No-chan?"

Ranma shook his head, unsure if he believed what he had just seen.  What he had 
spent the last year preparing Nouma to do, Mikanma had picked up instantly.  
Nouma was going to be an exceptional martial artist; Ranma wondered what Mikanma 
would be able to achieve.  The thought filled him with a mixture of pride, awe, 
and just a touch of apprehension.

"Okay, kids, enough for today."  He had a lot to think about.  "Go inside and 
wash up; your mother will be home soon.  Nouma, watch your sister for me."

"Yes, Daddy."  Nouma sat up, moving Mikanma off him at the same time.  Mikanma 
grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the dojo.  She enjoyed playing in the 
water, which caused the family a certain amount of grief, Ranma especially.

Ranma smiled after them, then began his own workout.  There was something in his 
mind that he needed to shake out, and this was the best way to do it.

He jumped about, off the walls and into the air, letting the rhythm clear his 
mind.  The speculations about his children drained away, to be brought up 
another time.  The classes he was teaching, the duties he had to perform around 
the house while Akane was off working... those responsibilities left him for the 
moment.  He was alone, and he was practicing the Art, and nothing else should 
bother him.

Except, of course, something *was* bothering him.

Finally, he could deny it no more.  He stopped and looked around.  He was about 
to have an adventure.

It was a kind of sense of wrongness, of something that was out of sync in the 
world, something that needed to be set right.  He'd had it happen to him often 
enough to be able to recognize all the signs.

This time felt different.  Something was calling to him, to *him* specifically.  
It wanted him, *needed* him.

He looked around the dojo again.  Something was happening to his brain.  Some 
sort of d�j� vu thing.  He closed his eyes, trying to define it.

Dissolution.  Blackness.  Death.

He shuddered and opened his eyes.  Fleeting images had passed through his 
eyelids in a second, too fast to be able to define.  The only image he could 
recall was of a black hole sucking him in.  And the only reason he was able to 
recall that image was because the black hole in floating in the center of the 
dojo reminded him of it perfectly.
 
He examined it curiously.  A neat little hole in the air, showing nothing but 
blackness about a meter in diameter, hovering just in front of him.  Please, it 
seemed to say.  If you wouldn't mind terribly, jump inside.  I won't bite.

Ranma walked around it.  The hole seemed to turn with him, always presenting its 
face to him.  Please sir, if it's not a bother.

The cries from the house of "Mommy!" made him look towards the dojo door.  Akane 
was home.  She was with the children, she would watch over them.  While Ranma 
seldom left without a word, it had happened a couple of times.  Akane never took 
it well, but at least she understood.  Still, he winced in anticipation of the 
yelling he would have to endure when he came back.

If he came back.

He looked at the hole again.  "Will you have me back by dinner?"

No answer came from the hole, just more polite insistence.  Please, sir.

Ranma looked around one last time, took a breath, then took a step back and 
leapt into the hole.

---

This time his body didn't fall apart.  He wasn't sure what he was using as a 
frame of reference.

He passed through the blackness and broke out into open air.  He landed on a 
street, somersaulted forward out of a vague desire not to land where he has 
expected to land, then stood up and looked around.

He seemed to be in a painting of some sort.  The street he was in was clean and 
perfect.  Houses made of a strange, translucent material lined both sides.  The 
trees were not too tall, green, and rustled in the pleasant breeze.

Ranma spent a minute trying to figure out where exactly he was.  He couldn't 
place the architecture.  Wherever he was, it was the rich part of town.

For lack of anything more intelligent to do, he began to slowly walk down the 
street. He'd run into someone eventually.

The birds began to chirp, and two flew by his head as they chased each other.  
Ranma smiled; they seemed to exude playful joy.  As his eyes followed them, he 
saw a couple coming up the street.

Ranma blinked, trying to place them.  He wanted to call them Japanese, but they 
seemed to have some Caucasian features as well.  The man was dressed in... Ranma 
wasn't sure what to call it.  Kind of a kimono.  Toga, the word came to him from 
somewhere.  Except he thought those were supposed to be white, not bright orange 
with green horizontal stripes.  The woman was wearing what looked to be a pair 
of black pants with one leg missing, and a long-sleeved silver shirt with one 
arm missing.  Both had long, flowing hair tied in a braid down their backs.

Ranma studied them closely, and as they approached he realized he was being 
rude.  He tried to smile in apology.  They smiled back at him, and spoke in 
strangely accented Japanese.  "Greetings, citizen," they said in almost perfect 
unison.

Ranma fumbled to answer.  "Uh, greetings."  He wanted to ask where he was, but 
he couldn't get the question off his lips before they passed him.

Ranma frowned, trying to put it together.  The fact that they spoke Japanese 
limited the number of places he could be.  Yet, he still had no clue where that 
place could be.

Dammit, where had the hole taken him?

He reached an intersection and turned slowly around.  In the distance he could 
see several tall structures, but one in particular caused his mouth to go dry.  
A tall, metal structure he'd seen many, many times.  A tourist attraction of his 
home town, one that he had actually never visited himself, just idly noticed in 
the distance.

The Tokyo Tower.

Ranma shook his head.  It didn't make sense.  The people here spoke Japanese.  
The Tokyo Tower was here.  He had to be in Japan.  Yet this was no part of Japan 
he had ever seen or heard of.  In fact... he looked at the Tokyo Tower, then 
looked up at the sun.  He wasn't sure if it was morning or evening, but if it 
*was* morning, then he should be somewhere in Nerima right now.  He would not be 
at all surprised if where he had fallen was where the Tendo Dojo was supposed to 
be.

So where was it?  Where was he?  The future?  That seemed the best answer.

Something tickled the back of his brain.  He stood absolutely still and 
stretched his senses.  His sense of danger had been lulled by this new world; 
now it was rising again.  Something was wrong, and it was very close by.

Almost as soon as the screaming began, he was running down the street.  He 
practically flew, still as fast as he had been as a teenager.  The scream was 
one of terror more than pain, but in Ranma's experience, the pain was usually 
not far behind.

He ran around a corner, just in time to see... *something* drop a man, move up 
into the sky, and disappear.  A dark gray cloud of some sort, gone before he 
could make out any details.

Other people were coming in response to the screams.  Some were closer than 
Ranma, and reached the man first.  They stood over the man; another, tall man in 
green bent down and started speaking in a curious, cajoling tone of voice.

Ranma finally reached the group.  He wanted to spend time examining the people - 
they were *all* dressed differently, with no consistent sense of fashion in 
their dress, makeup, or hair - but the fallen man was his top priority.  He 
knelt beside the fallen man and put his fingertips on the man's neck.

The tall man looked at him curiously.  "What are you doing, citizen?"

Ranma ignored the question, relieved to find a pulse.  He examined the fallen 
man.  He was wearing a turban and an open shirt.  He had a deathly pallor, and 
his breathing was shallow.

Ranma knew quite a bit about first aid, but his was out of his limited scope of 
medical knowledge.  He looked up, wishing for Tofu.  "Has anyone called an 
ambulance?"

By this time a fair-sized crowd had gathered.  As Ranma scanned the blank faces, 
he realized that "ambulance" was not a word they were familiar with.  He growled 
in frustration; the fallen man needed a doctor, and quickly, and Ranma had no 
idea how to get one.  Evidently, neither did anyone else.

A rustling from the back of the crowd got his attention.  "Warrior."  The word 
passed through the crowd, spoken in an awed hush.  "Warrior."  And another 
phrase:  "One of the Warriors has come."

The crowd parted, and a woman stepped next to the fallen man and knelt at his 
side.  She held her hand on the man's head and seemed to focus her entire 
attention on him.  Since she seemed to know what she was doing, Ranma stood up 
and took a step back.

He examined the woman.  Here was yet another fashion variation.  Her main piece 
of clothing seemed to be a set of gymnastic tights.  Added to that was a short 
orange skirt and a long, flowing ribbon.  Some kind of kerchief was around her 
neck, reminding Ranma vaguely of a school uniform.  She had gloves and boots, 
and a tiara that was almost hidden by her long, flowing blonde hair.

The clothes seemed... familiar, somehow.  They tickled something deep in Ranma's 
mind.

She seemed to be very young - not even eighteen by her appearance.  Yet the way 
she had moved, and the look she was giving the fallen man, spoke of wisdom and 
experience far beyond her apparent age.  She reminded Ranma of someone with 
Cologne's experience and Shampoo's body.  It was as if her body had simply 
stopped aging at a certain point.

The woman looked up after a while.  Her eyes swept over the crowd.  Her eyes 
rested on Ranma for a fraction of a second before settling on the tall man.  
"Mizun, what happened?"

"I do not know, Milady."  The tall man - Mizun - spoke in a deferential, almost 
reverent tone of voice.  "I heard Nixtil scream, and when I came to see what 
ailed him, I saw a cloud drop him and disappear."

The woman frowned slightly.  "Is that all?  What kind of cloud?"

Mizun seemed to be losing his composure.  "I - I do not know.  J-just a cloud.  
Like when the plan is to have rainfall."

The woman's voice was all business, a tone of command that definitely made it 
stand out from the tentative voices around her.  "Can you be more specific?"

"Um, it - it was..."  Mizun looked ready to faint.

Ranma came to his aid.  "A spheroid, slightly flattened, about four and a half 
meters round.  Dark gray and black mixed together.  When we arrived, it was 
holding... Nixtil... about two meters off the ground.  It dropped him, rose 
about ten meters, then disappeared all at once."

The woman gazed at him, and he could see himself being measured in her eyes.  
Ranma returned her gaze calmly.  One thing he had never been lacking in has 
self-confidence, and he never backed down, not from anyone.  Well, except maybe 
Akane once in a while.

After a moment she nodded.  "Thank you, citizen."  She rose to her feet and 
spoke to Mizun again.  "Please take Nixtil home and have him watched over.  Let 
me know the moment he awakens."

Mizun bowed his head.  "Yes, Milady Venus."

Without another word, the woman spun and walked quickly away.  As before, the 
crowd parted before her.  Ranma looked after her, uncertain about her 
instructions.  He would have insisted that Nixtil be taken to a hospital.  
However, as highly respected as she was by these people, he'd have a hard time 
convincing anyone to disobey her commands.

The crowd began to disperse.  Two women helped Mizun lift Nixtil, and together 
they began to carry him to a nearby house.

Ranma took a step after them, then stopped.  He wasn't sure what he could do 
other than sit watching the man for however many hours or days it took him to 
recover consciousness.  It would be better if he could get more of an idea of 
where - or when - he was.

He began slowly walking down the street, thinking hard.  This was obviously what 
he was here for:  a mysterious cloud creature that attacked people and then 
disappeared.  Clearly the local populace was unprepared for it.  That would be 
Ranma's job.  This was a scenario he had played through before.

The woman - Warrior Venus, if he understood her title correctly - seemed to be 
the civil authority here.  She was definitely one to take charge and solve 
problems.  The way she had handled the incident left a lot to be desired.  She 
had not bothered to corroborate the story, and had seemed almost unconcerned 
about Nixtil's well-being.

Which meant, Ranma suddenly realized, that this was not the first time this had 
happened.  She had stayed long enough to ascertain that this attack was like 
other, similar attacks, then had rushed off somewhere to share the news.

He wondered where.  Perhaps he needed to go there.  Sometimes he worked with the 
police or local authorities and sometimes he worked by himself.  He wasn't sure 
yet which way he would go this time.

"Hello, citizen."

While Ranma had been peripherally aware of someone approaching him, the greeting 
caught him a little off guard.  He blinked his eyes a couple of times at the 
smiling face before him.

The woman looked to be about thirty or thirty-five.  She had short dark hair and 
large blue eyes.  Ranma was almost relieved that she was wearing a normal-
looking green blouse that went well with her long turquoise skirt.  She had a 
book clasped in her hands in front of her.  

She crinkled her eyes at his befuddle stare.  "I'm sorry, I did not mean to 
startle you.  You looked lost.  I wanted to know if I could direct you 
somewhere."

Her voice was warm and friendly, and Ranma couldn't help smiling back at her.  
"Thank you, er, citizen.  I, uh, could use a little help, I guess."

The woman beamed at him.  "Let me help, then."

Ranma looked around to see if anyone was nearby.  "Uh, this may seem like a 
silly question, but... is this Tokyo?"

The woman didn't seem to find the question unusual.  "Crystal Tokyo, yes."

Crystal Tokyo.  Ranma ran the name through his mind a few times to see if it 
rang any bells.  It didn't seem to.  "I'm, uh, not from around here.  Could you 
tell me a bit what it's like?"

The woman studied him closely for a second, almost frowning.  "What would you 
like to know?"

Good question.  Ranma thought about it.  "Um, like, what kind of -"  He paused.  
"Is there somewhere we could get some tea?  I, uh, feel a little uncomfortable 
standing out in the open like this."

"Of course, citizen."  She indicated a direction.  "I can answer your questions 
while we walk, if you'd like."

Ranma nodded.  "What kind of government do you have?"  It would be a good idea, 
he thought, to figure who exactly was in charge here.

"Crystal Tokyo is ruled by Neo-Queen Serenity and her consort, King Endymion, 
from the Crystal Palace."  Her voice took on a reverential tone when speaking 
their names.

Ranma waited, but that seemed to be it.  The Emperor had been replaced by a 
Queen and King, evidently, and the titles seemed to be more than ceremonial.  It 
seemed more like ancient England than futuristic Tokyo.  "Uh, I met a woman - I 
think her name is Warrior Venus."

"Sailor Venus, although she *is* one of the Warriors.  You are lucky indeed, 
citizen.  One rarely sees a Warrior these days, not since the fall of the evil."

Ranma decided not to press about what exactly "the fall of the evil" was all 
about.  It was probably something he was supposed to know.  "Is she, uh, like 
the police around here?"  He hoped "police" was not an unheard-of word like 
"ambulance".

The dark-haired woman seemed to understand.  "All of the Warriors are 
responsible for maintaining harmony within Crystal Tokyo, along with the Queen 
and King.  Sailor Venus, however, enjoys patrolling the city, and it is she who 
is often the first to arrive at the scene of any disturbance."

That was quite a mouthful, and Ranma took a second unraveling it and making sure 
he understood it.  As he did, the woman brought them to an outdoor caf� of some 
sort.  They sat at a table, and she ordered a pot of tea from the server, 
calling her by name.

Ranma looked at the woman.  "Everybody seems to know everyone's name."

The dark-haired woman smiled.  "It is part of the magic of Crystal Tokyo.  Here 
we are all friends, and we all know each other.  However, I do not know your 
name."

Ranma flushed.  "Sorry, that was rude of me.  I'm Ranma."

"A pleasure to meet you, Ranma.  I am Ami."

Ranma bowed his head.  "Ami."  The familiar form of address seemed prevalent 
here, so Ranma went with it.  "Thank you for taking the time to answer the 
questions of someone who really should know better."

"Should you?"  Before Ranma could try and scramble a response, she moved on.  
"Are there other questions I can answer for you?"

Ranma was thankful that the tea arrived.  As they served themselves, he 
considered the problem of asking her what year it was without coming across as 
completely nutty.  He couldn't think of a way to do that.

He finally let it slide, deciding he would find a newspaper or the equivalent 
and find out for himself.  He took a sip of the tea, and smiled.  It was 
delicious, easily the match for anything Kasumi had ever produced.  "This is 
nice, Ami.  Thanks."

She lowered her eyes.  "The thanks are not mine to take.  Be sure to thank the 
one who prepared it for you."  She lifted her eyes again.  "Have you decided 
whether to ask me whatever awkward question you've been struggling with?"

Ranma chuckled.  "I've decided not to, sorry.  But that doesn't mean I'm not 
thankful for the answers you've provided."  He took another sip of his tea.  
"Uh, where is this Crystal Palace?"

Ami pointed off to the right.  Ranma looked to see a spire rising high, higher 
even than the Tokyo Tower.  Even at this distance, it glittered in the sunlight.  
It seemed to radiate peace and happiness.  Ranma almost chuckled again.  
Serenity.  Just like the Queen.

Took another sip of the tea, lost in thought.  This seemed to be a world driven 
by magic.  There wasn't much empirical evidence of that.  It was more of a 
feeling Ranma had.  Everyone was happy; everything was perfect.

Except for the attack earlier.

Ranma looked up at Ami, and caught her examining him closely.  For a second, he 
caught a glimpse of something behind her friendly smile and warm demeanor.  
Something that reminded him a little of Sailor Venus.  Then she smiled, and 
whatever he saw was washed away, so much so that Ranma wondered if he had seen 
it at all.  "Shall I take you there, Ranma?"

"Uh, no.  I don't know if I'm going there yet."  He floundered for a bit, trying 
to act like the tourist he was supposed to be.  "Want to see more of Crystal 
Tokyo, first."

He stood up, reached instinctively for his pocket, and froze.  He forgot that he 
was still wearing his gi.  Fortunately that didn't make a difference in this 
place, given the lack of fashion standards.  The bigger problem was that he had 
no money.  Not, for that matter, that it would have made a difference; they 
would probably not have taken his yen anyway.

He stared down at Ami, his face set in a kind of comic horror.  Yet the chagrin 
he felt was quite genuine; he had asked for tea without the means to pay for it.

All in all, he was slightly relieved that the gray cloud chose that moment to 
reappear.

It blocked the sun, causing everyone to look up.  It radiated menace and evil, 
and people began to scream and run.

Lightning erupted, accompanied by tremendous thunder, and stuck a man as he 
attempted to flee.  The man fell, smoking.

Ranma picked up the table and threw it at the cloud.  Lightning stuck the table 
and continued around it to the ground, but by that time Ranma had picked up Ami 
and leapt away.

They landed near the wall of whatever building housed the caf�.  The cloud began 
to drift towards them, blasting a couple of people as they ran away.

Ami struggled in Ranma's grasp.  "Let me go!  I have to get away!"  Her voice 
was calm and urgent and contained no trace of the panic her words suggested.

Ranma kept his grip around her waist firm.  "It's safest that you stay with me.  
That cloud strikes quickly at people who run.  I'm fast enough to make sure 
neither one of us gets hit."

"No!"  Ami continued to pull ineffectually at Ranma's arm.  "You don't 
understand!  You have to let me go!"

Ranma shook his head while he concentrated on the slowly approaching cloud.  
"Come on, you seem like a reasonable person.  I mean, what're you trying to do?  
Run off so you can change out of your secret identity and become a superhero?"

Something about the way her body went rigid made Ranma look at her.  She was 
blushing furiously and staring at him in open-mouthed surprise.

He blinked at her.  "That was a joke."  He paused a second.  "Wasn't it?"

Ami lifted her jaw up and down a couple of times, but no sound came out.

A vague premonition was all the warning Ranma had.  Fortunately, it was all he 
needed.  He leapt to the side just as lightning struck the building where they'd 
been standing.  He landed a few meters away and leapt onto the roof of another 
building.  He ran a couple of steps, still holding Ami, and leapt again.  

He landed in an alley a couple blocks away from the caf�.  He put Ami on her 
feet and stepped back.  "I don't know how much time we got before that cloud 
finds us, so if you're going to do this, you'd better hurry."

She stared at him for a few seconds in shock.  The sound of thunder from a block 
over seemed to shake her out of it.  She held up her hand and made a fist, then 
flung it over her head while shouting.  "Mercury Power!"

Ranma, despite himself, was quite surprised.  Her clothing vanished in a second 
and her body was covered in a blue haze.  She spun around, and new clothing 
appeared.  Gymnastic tights, bow, tiara, the works.  Slightly different color 
scheme, but the same costume.

She finished up and looked at him.  Years had melted from her.  Now she looked 
no older than sixteen.  Yet it was still her, still the woman who had called 
herself Ami.  Ranma wondered briefly which was the secret identity and which was 
the real person.

Something else bothered him.  The whole transformation had seemed hauntingly 
familiar.  Another frustrating sense of d�j� vu settled over him.  He'd seen 
this before; he just had no idea when.

He had no time to consider such esoteric philosophical topics.  He turned and 
looked over his head as the cloud appeared.  "Neat trick.  Can you do anything 
else?"

Out of the corner of his eye he sensed her assuming a pose and whirling around.  
"Shining Aqua Illusion!"  Streams of what looked like water leapt towards the 
cloud.  Before they could strike, the cloud vanished.

Ranma sighed and turned his head.  "That was easy, Ami."

"Call me Sailor Mercury."  No longer smiling, she turned to face him, her 
demeanor all business.

Ranma nodded, working it out.  "I really should have known.  In Crystal Tokyo 
everyone knows everyone, but no one knows me.  Sailor Venus didn't know me and 
was suspicious, so she sent another one of the Warriors - you - to keep an eye 
on me."

Sailor Mercury's face was still calm and serious, but she blushed slightly.  "We 
needed to know who you were and what you had to do with this cloud."

"You have to admit," Sailor Venus said as she stepped into the alley, "that it 
does seem suspicious that the last two appearances of the cloud have found you 
nearby, citizen."

Ranma met her steady gaze.  "Well, as for the first time, I just responded to 
the screams like everyone else.  It did seem to be coming after me or Ami - er, 
Sailor Mercury - the second time."  He paused, then shrugged.  "And you probably 
have this figured out already, but I'm no citizen."

"Indeed."  Sailor Venus walked down the alley and came within two meters before 
stopping.  She was on the other side of Ranma from Sailor Mercury.  Ranma 
immediately began almost subconsciously planning a defense should he come under 
attack.  "And where do you come from, stranger?"

"His name is Ranma."  Sailor Mercury sounded sympathetic and slightly pleading.

Sailor Venus quirked her mouth in annoyance.  "Ranma, then.  Where are you 
from?"

Ranma glanced back at Sailor Mercury, who gave him a reassuring nod.  He sighed.  
"Well, it's kinda complicated.  I come from Tokyo, actually.  Tokyo of the past, 
I'll bet.  It was 2007 when I left.  What year is it now?"

"We are asking the questions here, Ranma."  Sailor Venus' voice was harsh.

Sailor Mercury, on the other hand, spoke in a soft voice.  "It is thirty-seven 
years since the founding of Crystal Tokyo, which is how we measure time.  And 
that date is, indeed, far in the future from where you come from."

"From where he *claims* to be from."  Sailor Venus folded her arms.  "And how 
did you accomplish this time travel of yours?"

"Uh, well, this, uh..."  He *knew* this wasn't going to go over well, but he 
didn't see that he had a choice.  "This, um... black hole sorta appeared in 
front of me and I... well, I jumped in and it took me here."

"Oh, come *on*."  Sailor Venus threw up her hands.  "You expect me to believe 
such nonsense?"

"Ranma would not lie, Venus."  Sailor Mercury took a step over and placed her 
hand gently on his forearm.  "He knows he's among friends here."

Ranma gaped at her smiling face for a minute.  Then he began to laugh.

The two Warriors gaped at him for a minute.  It only made him laugh harder.  
Sailor Venus finally tsked at him.  "What is so funny about this situation, 
stranger?"

Ranma finally got himself under control.  "It's just that I've never played 
'good cop/bad cop' before.  It's kind of fun, is all.  Except now it's 'good 
Warrior/bad Warrior', which is even weirder.  I've been interrogated before, but 
never by middle-aged teenagers in tights."  He began snickering.

Sailor Mercury began giggling, which set Ranma off even more.  Sailor Venus 
glared at them, and Sailor Mercury covered her mouth in an attempt to keep from 
laughing out loud.  Finally, Sailor Venus lifted a corner of her mouth, and 
Ranma and Sailor Mercury lost control.

For a moment they laughed together, and somehow it felt quite natural to do so 
after having survived a brutal attack.  They were in the heart of Crystal Tokyo, 
after all.

Ranma finally brought himself under control, and the two Warriors quickly 
followed suit.  Sailor Venus shook her head.  "Drat.  I thought it was working 
so well, too."

"Face it, Venus."  Sailor Mercury spoke in a teasing tone of voice.  "You hated 
acting mean.  It sure isn't like you anyway, and you prefer being open and 
honest."

Sailor Venus smiled.  "That's all true, Mercury.  But we do have to remember 
that something evil is loose in Crystal Tokyo, and we have to do whatever it 
takes to track it down.  No matter how unpleasant."

Sailor Mercury nodded soberly, the last of her amusement leaving her.  "Yes, 
quite right.  I'm sorry."

Sailor Venus reached over and squeezed Sailor Mercury's forearm.  "Don't be.  
It's always good to know that you're always looking out for my well-being."

Ranma watched them smile at each other, sharing something deep and special.  He 
knew what it was like; he had very much the same thing with Akane.  These 
Warriors were obviously more than mere compatriots; they were special friends.

Sailor Venus turned towards Ranma.  "Well, we still have the same problem we 
started with.  You should know, Ranma, that while I have no reason to believe 
that you are lying, I have no reason to think you're telling the truth, either.  
The cloud creature has been attacking with greater frequency.  Each attack has 
been more violent than the last.  It has yet to kill anyone, but I think that is 
only a matter of time unless we stop it first."  

"You are our best lead, so far."  Sailor Mercury was eyeing him quite frankly.  
"Ranma, *no one* lives outside of Crystal Tokyo.  No one good, that is.  Most of 
the world was destroyed a millenium ago - very close to the time you claim to 
come from, in fact."

Ranma felt something cold settle into his stomach.  His family was back there.  
"I gotta get back.  What happened?  How was Tokyo spared?"  The Tower was still 
intact; perhaps all he had to do was get them there.

Sailor Venus shook her head.  "If you are from the year 2007, it should have 
happened already.  I hate to say it, but that's a reason to suspect that you're 
not telling us the truth."

Ranma felt a little of his panic drain away.  Akane and the kids would be all 
right.  "Uh, well, I *am*.  It was the year 2007, and this black hole appeared 
in front of me, and I jumped into it, and I was here."

Sailor Mercury tilted her head.  "I'm curious... why, exactly, did you decide to 
jump into the hole?"

Another difficult concept to explain.  He sighed.  "Well, uh, I'm kind of a 
troubleshooter.  People have problems, and I help solve them.  Sometimes it's 
ordinary stuff, and sometimes... well, sometimes it's magic.  I've never had 
something come to me in exactly that way before, but I knew my help was needed 
somewhere, so I went."

Sailor Venus raised an eyebrow.  "Trouble finds a way of coming to you?"

"Like youma always seemed to be finding us, Venus."  Sailor Mercury drew a 
breath.  "What he's told us so far is pretty outrageous.  Strangely, that's what 
makes it believable."

"Then again, perhaps he's making the lie so unbelievable in an effort to make us 
think he couldn't possibly making it up."  Sailor Venus sighed again.  "Ranma, 
we need to take you to see the Queen.  She'll know if you're telling the truth."

"If you don't mind."  This time, Sailor Mercury's concern didn't seem affected.  
"I think you were planning to go to the palace anyway."

Ranma smiled.  Although Sailor Mercury was ostensibly giving him a choice, he 
suspected his welcome would quickly wear out if he refused.  "Yeah, you're 
right.  I stick out like a sore thumb here.  If I'm gonna be at all helpful, 
I'll need to talk to this Queen of yours first and clear it with her."

"Good."  Sailor Venus smiled at him, then turned and walked down the alley.  "If 
you'll follow me."

Ranma complied, and noticed that Sailor Mercury was following behind him, in the 
familiar style of guards escorting a prisoner.  Ranma couldn't blame them, and 
actually admired them - they knew how to take a threat seriously, and reacted to 
it appropriately.

Which meant, he realized, that if they were overmatched by this cloud, he might 
be in a lot of trouble himself.

---

In a bit of a switch, Ranma had to remind himself he was *not* a tourist.  The 
closer they got to the center of Crystal Tokyo, the more beautiful the city 
became.  The palace itself was breathtaking, easily putting to shame any place 
Ranma had ever seen or heard about.

There was magic here, quite a lot of it.  Ranma felt his skin practically tingle 
in response.  The magic was unquestionably benign; indeed, it filled him with a 
general sense of wellness, of "all's-right-with-the-world", "don't-worry-be-
happy".

It freaked Ranma out a bit.  He didn't know why.  He wanted to stop and try and 
think it through, but he was being led quickly along.  He filed it away for 
future consideration.

No one challenged the Warriors.  In fact, Ranma realized, there seemed to be 
little in the way of security.  Some people gave his group a curious look as 
they moved through the palace, but Ranma saw no one who looked like a guard.

They reached a large pair of open double doors.  Waiting at the entrance was 
another Warrior.  Ranma noted that her costume had a couple of differences from 
the others. Ranma kept himself from asking how anyone calling herself a Warrior 
could wear high heels.

For the first time, he realized that all of the Warriors he had met were women.  
He wondered if there were any male Sailors, and what their costumes might be 
like.

The new Warrior - who had black hair in equal amounts to Sailor Venus's blonde 
hair - scowled at Ranma.  He got the distinct impression that she would play the 
'bad cop' very well.  "This is him?  Are you sure he won't be a threat to the 
Queen?"

"Really, Mars," Sailor Venus chided gently, a smile on her face, "do you think 
that anyone could threaten the Queen here in the palace?  Besides her own powers 
and the three of us to protect her, if he were to try something he'd find an 
entire rose garden growing out of his chest."

Sailor Mercury chuckled.  Sailor Mars didn't seem amused, and scowled some more 
at Ranma.  "Listen, if you try anything, you'll be burned to a crisp before you 
could move a foot.  Just so you know."

You'd be welcome to try, he said silently.  However, over the years he'd learned 
enough self-control not to say the first thing that came to mind.  Sometimes.  
"Don't worry.  If I'd wanted to attack your Queen I wouldn't do something as 
stupid as this."

As Sailor Mars glared at him fiercely, Ranma reflected that sometimes the second 
thing that came to mind wasn't any better.

Fortunately, Sailor Mercury provided a distraction.  "Where are the rest of the 
Warriors?"

Sailor Mars shifted her gaze over to Sailor Mercury, and her expression relaxed.  
"The King has them spread throughout the city in the hopes that one of them will 
be well-placed should the cloud creature attack again."

"Ah, good, I was going to suggest that myself."  Sailor Venus looked over Sailor 
Mars' shoulder.  "Let's not waste any time.  I'd sure like to find out what 
Ranma here has to do with what's going on."

Everyone nodded, and Ranma allowed himself to be escorted into the throne room.

Splendor, Ranma reflected, was a word he had known the meaning of but had never 
used to describe anything.  The throne room was the living embodiment of the 
word.  It seemed to be carved entirely of crystal.  Light pulsed at irregular 
intervals through the crystal, leaving pleasant little chimes in its wake.  
Trees grew right out of the floor, forming an aisle that lead to the throne.  
They were green and beautiful and birds sang in them.  Ranma gaped up at them, 
mesmerized.  

He shook himself and looked forward at the thrones at the end of the aisle.  
While the King was resplendent in regal attire and his bearing was powerful and 
commanding, there was no doubt that the true power lay with the woman dressed in 
simple white.  She seemed to be the focus of the entire palace - of the entire 
*city*.  Concentrated good and light seemed to radiate from her; Ranma's eyes 
almost hurt with the beauty of her sight.

Ranma deliberately closed his eyes, ran through a couple of quick mental 
exercises to discipline his mind, and opened them again just as Sailor Mars was 
speaking.  "You stand before Queen Serenity and King Endymion, the rulers of 
Crystal Tokyo.  While they require no obeisance even of their own subjects, 
nevertheless I would strongly recommend that you show them the respect they 
deserve."

"Sailor Mars, please be gentle with Our guest."  The Queen's voice was a 
delight.  Regal, commanding, gentle, and kind all at once.

And... familiar.

For the first time, Ranma *looked* at the Queen.  She had long blonde hair tied 
into two ponytails from the top of her head.  She had a friendly face, and her 
eyes crinkled at him almost mischievously.

And Ranma saw an image of the Queen, younger than she was now, bowing to him, 
apologizing, begging.  And he saw her yelling at him and threatening him.  And 
he saw her filled with worry and concern, that those she knew were in trouble 
and needed her help.  And he saw her dressed much as she was now, but with a 
savage look of concentration on her face as pure power erupted from something 
she was holding.

All these images flickered through his mind faster than he could hold onto them.  
They left in their wake one word.  A name.  "Serena!"

The effect of Ranma's startled exclamation could only be describe as 
devastating.  Almost as one, everyone around him dropped their mouths open.  
Ranma looked around at the shocked surprise, and felt that if touched any one of 
them with a feather, they would all fall down at once.  Which, Ranma was forced 
to admit, was not too far from what he was feeling right now.

"How-"  The King's voice was strangled, and he obviously had difficulty getting 
the words out.  "How do you know my wife's - the Queen's - pre-Millenium name?"

Ranma was trying to figure that out himself.  "We've met."  How and when, he 
wasn't yet prepared to answer.  He could see, however, that the King was going 
to ask him exactly that.

The Queen, however, came to his rescue.  "Ranma?"

Relief flooded Ranma.  He *wasn't* crazy.  Or at least, he wasn't crazy alone.  
"You remember?"

"I... believe so."  She stared off into space.  "You... you took the Silver 
Imperium Crystal from me."

Suddenly an image came to Ranma's mind of pulling a crystal from a vague shape.   
He gulped, and suddenly wondered if he *wanted* to remember.

"And... you gave it back.  And quite possibly saved my life and the lives of my 
husband and the Inner Warriors."  She smiled at him.  "It is good to see you 
again, Ranma."

Serena getting attacked.  Ranma leaping in front of her, taking the blow meant 
to kill her.  Somehow using his chi to absorb the power that wanted to... 
uncreate him somehow.  The horrible pain, the weakening of his defenses, 
eventually succumbing.  Death.

Yet he was alive.  "Can you tell me what happened exactly, Serena?  I only get 
bits and pieces.  Flashes, really."

"A moment, please."  The Queen closed her eyes, clasped her hands to her chest, 
and bowed her head.  Light seemed to get drawn into her, then burst outward in a 
wave that left Ranma dizzy.  When his head cleared, more and more images 
involving Serena came flooding into his brain.  And he could hold on to them, 
remember them.

"Wow."  This from Sailor Mars.  "We almost died.  Again."  She held her hand 
against her ribs.  Her eyes widened and she looked at Ranma.  "You.  You 
protected the Queen while she attacked."

Ranma nodded, hoping this would get her to treat him better.

"Well, it wouldn't have been necessary if you hadn't taken the Crystal from 
her."  She took a step closer to him, staring up into his eyes.  "She nearly got 
killed because of you!"

"Rei, dear."  The Queen spoke in a slightly chiding tone of voice.  "Jadeite was 
ready for the seven of us.  He was *not* prepared for Ranma.  Ranma was the 
random factor that worked in our favor, and very likely tipped the balance in 
our favor.  He has Our thanks; please treat him accordingly."

Sailor Mars deflated.  "Forgive me, Majesty.  I... sometimes lose my perspective 
when it comes to your safety."

"I know."  Now the Queen's voice was gentle and warm.  "It is part of why I love 
you so."

Sailor Mars blushed slightly, bowed, and stepped back.

Ranma took a couple of deep breaths.  He'd been ready to yell right back in 
Sailor Mars' face; the Queen had prevented a major blow-up.  He tried to 
remember why he was here.  "So, Serena, it seems like you might need my help."

Sailor Mars exploded from behind him.  "You will say 'Your Majesty' or 'My 
Queen'!"

Ranma grimaced, then bowed.  "Sorry, Your Majesty."

"You are of course forgiven, Ranma."  The Queen was smiling again, and the room 
brightened when she did.  "Although we are old acquaintances, it is perhaps best 
that you use the proper forms in this hall.  When we are private, we can relax 
the formality."

Ranma tried to hide his irritation.  He hated formalities.  "So, uh, Your 
Majesty, how can I help you with this cloud thingy?"

"I do not know.  Do you have any suggestions?"

"Not really.  What, uh, can you tell me?"

Sailor Mercury stepped forward.  "I have already told you all that we know, 
Ranma.  A cloud creature of unknown origin and intent has been attacking the 
citizens of Crystal Tokyo."

"Hmm.  Dunno what to do about that.  Just attack it when it comes again, I 
guess."

"And what kind of attacks do you have, Ranma?"  Sailor Venus was appraising him 
yet again, this time with the attitude of a swordsmaster studying a new katana.

"Well, I'm a pretty good martial artist."

"Oh, wonderful."  Sailor Mars still sounded testy.  "That'll do wonders against 
the cloud creature."

"Uh, well, there's more to it than that.  I can do chi attacks, too."

Sailor Venus blinked.  "'Chi attacks'?  What are those?"

Ranma frowned, suddenly remembering a disembodied conversation with Serena.  He 
was from a different Tokyo than the one he came from.  This also explained why 
his world was still intact while theirs had been destroyed.  Another difference 
seemed to be that they didn't have chi.

He decided to try a demonstration.  One thing he'd been experimenting with was 
creating a ball of chi-energy similar to his Moko Takabisha, but instead of 
hurling it immediately, he held onto it until he was ready to fire it.  He 
concentrated, wondering briefly if it would work here.  To his relief, a ball of 
chi-energy formed.  He held it suspended between his two hands and showed it to 
the group.  "I can fire these things off.  They can do a lot of damage."

Sailor Mercury nodded as he let the energy drain away.  "Magic."

Ranma shook his head.  "Not quite.  It's just chi.  Magic is something entirely 
different.  Er, at least in my world it is."

Sailor Mercury sounded puzzled.  "Your world?"

"Ranma comes from a different universe than ours."  The Queen smiled.  "These 
'chi attacks' may prove useful, especially if the cloud creature is unfamiliar 
with them."

"So, if chi isn't magic, what *is* magic on your world, Ranma?"  Sailor Mercury 
tilted her head.  "Do you have any magic?"

"Er, well, yes, kinda."  Ranma shuffled.  Explaining his curse was never fun; he 
avoided it as much as possible.  "I am, uh, imbued with this magic that I can't 
control.  Sometimes it has its advantages.  I think we could use it to help us 
here.  If I wander around, I might be able to find the cloud creature for you.  
Trouble has a habit of coming my way."

"Like at the caf�?"  Sailor Mercury tapped her chin thoughtfully.  "That was 
because of your magic?"

Ranma nodded.

She frowned.  "Was it your magic that created that black hole that brought you 
to this world?"

Ranma frowned back.  "I don't know.  I mean, it doesn't usually work like that."

"How *does* it work?"  Sailor Venus was still looking at him intensely.

"Uh, I told you, trouble finds me and I help fix stuff."

Sailor Venus raised an eyebrow.  "There's something you're not telling me."

Ranma flushed.  "It's nothing, really.  Nothing relevant."

Sailor Mars sounded irritated.  "Perhaps you should let us be the judge of what 
is or is not relevant."

The Queen evidently decided to come to his rescue again.  "Ranma's magic is of a 
nature that is, in one important respect, similar to that of the Star Lights."

The Warriors all gave an "Ah."  Sailor Venus began giggling, and everyone was 
smiling, even Sailor Mars.  Ranma did his best not to glower, secretly wondering 
if these Star Lights had been to Jusenkyo.

Sailor Mars sounded amused.  "Well, Ranma, you are probably right that it won't 
be too useful.  You never know, though, when we might need to put someone into 
another set of tights."

Visions of his first fight with Kodachi came to Ranma's mind.  He shuddered 
involuntarily.  This time he *did* glare at Sailor Mars.  She only grinned at 
him while Sailor Mercury joined Sailor Venus in laughing.

Ranma suffered it as well as he could, which was not very.  "Ha ha, okay, very 
funny.  Can we talk about the cloud creature now?"

Sailor Mars clasped his shoulder, still grinning.  "Very well.  All business.  I 
like that."

"This cloud creature has attack Our citizens for three weeks now."  The Queen's 
voice put a gentle damper on the humor.  "We are very concerned.  It should not 
be able to get through Our defenses, but somehow it has.  This is quite 
worrisome."

The King, who had so far remained detached from the proceedings, finally spoke 
up.  "Is it possible that this cloud creature comes from the same place you do, 
Ranma?"

"Uh, I don't know."  He thought about it for a while.  "I've never run across 
anything like that.  I've never even heard of such a thing as a 'cloud 
creature'."

"Still, it might explain why you are here."  Sailor Mercury had some sort of 
computer in her hand and was typing into it furiously.  "Perhaps it has the same 
kind of magic and/or chi that you have.  That could be the reason why it got 
past the Queen's defenses; it's quite probable that magic from another universe 
wouldn't be recognized by her spells."

Sailor Venus put a finger alongside her cheek.  "So do we do as Ranma suggests?  
Have him go around and see if his magic draws the creature?"

Ranma shrugged.  "I'm game."

The Queen frowned slightly.  "Are you sure, Ranma?  This is not your risk to 
take.  Do you not have a family of your own that loves you?"

Ranma shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.  "Well... yes.  But, you see, 
Akane... they know about my curse.  And my curse leads me to where I can be of 
use.  If I can help you stop that thing before it kills anyone, then that is 
worth the risk."  He straightened slightly.  "Besides, I can handle it."

"No doubt.  Please, though, do be careful."  The Queen looked around to include 
everyone.  "All of you."

People around Ranma began nodding and bowing.  Ranma paused briefly, then bowed. 
himself.  Then he moved with the others out of the palace.

He was frowning to himself when Sailor Mars spoke up.  "What's the plan, Venus?"

"Well, let's walk through the city and rendezvous with the other Warriors one by 
one.  If Ranma is indeed the trouble magnet he says he is, then eventually the 
cloud creature will find us."

"Uh, yeah."  Ranma looked around at the women he was walking with.  "Say, can 
you guys give me an idea of what the setup is like around here?  It may be 
helpful, you know, to have some background information."

"That's reasonable."  Sailor Mercury moved over to stand next to him.  "It began 
over two thousand years ago, in the Moon Kingdom."

"Moon Kingdom?  Where was that?"

Sailor Mars snorted.  "On the Moon, idiot."

Ranma blinked.  "Oh.  Wow, your universe is way different from mine.  The Moon's 
just a hunk of dead rock where I come from."

"It is the same here, Ranma."  Sailor Mercury sounded sad.  "It did not used to 
be so.  Indeed, we had pockets of humanity all throughout the Solar System."

Ranma suddenly made a connection.  "Sailor Mercury?"

She nodded.  "I - that is, my original incarnation - came from Mercury.  It... I 
understand that it was a beautiful place."  She sighed and stared into the 
distance.

Sailor Venus picked up the table.  "All of the Solar System was ruled from the 
Moon.  We were all subjects of the Moon Kingdom.  Only the Earth, with its vast 
populations and many different nations, was outside the Moon Kingdom's purview.  
Each planet had a protector - a Warrior.  We were granted our power from the 
Silver Imperium Crystal and willingly bound in service to the Queen.  The Moon 
Kingdom was well protected, and had become a shining example of the best kind of 
civilization the human race could achieve."

Ranma looked around.  "So what happened?"

Sailor Mars grimaced.  "The Negaverse."

"The whataverse?"  Ranma fought off a feeling of d�j� vu.

"Another universe, very close to this one.  An empty, dead place.  The forces 
that existed there wanted another universe to destroy.  They gathered their 
energy and created a gateway.  Through it the sent their army, led by Beryl and 
her generals.  They conquered all of the other planets, and gathered around the 
Earth and Moon."

Mercury took up the narrative.  "The Earth sent forces to the Moon to help 
prepare for the attack, for it would be there that Beryl would focus her attack.  
And if the Moon fell, the Earth would be helpless."

"Oh, yeah?"  Ranma tried to figure that one out.  "Why?  I mean, even two 
thousand years ago..."  Ranma trailed off; this would have been around the year 
1000 A.D.  Things could not have been too advanced back then.

As if reading his thoughts, Sailor Venus nodded.  "The Earth was quite primitive 
then.  Yes, there were a hundred people on the Earth for every one living on the 
Moon, but they would merely have been stalks of grain to be harvested by the 
forces of the Negaverse if the Moon was conquered."

"And it nearly happened, too."  Sailor Mars looked grim.  "Beryl nearly won.  
She beat all of our soldiers... including all of the Warriors and Prince Darien.  
Look, there's Jupiter."

Ranma looked over to see a tall woman waving at them.  She came up to them and 
frowned at Ranma.  "Who's this?"

Sailor Mercury spoke up.  "Ranma.  An old friend of the Queen.  He is going to 
help us find the cloud creature." 

"Great!"  Sailor Jupiter sounded enthusiastic.  "About time!  Uh, how?"

"By just being here.  Let's find the others."  Sailor Venus turned and led them 
down another street.  She began to explain about Ranma as Mercury continued the 
history lesson.

"So, Beryl had beaten the army of the Moon and had all but destroyed the Moon 
Kingdom.  Queen Serenity - this would be the present Queen's mother - used the 
power of the Silver Imperium Crystal."

Ranma suddenly remembered Serena destroying demons by the dozen with her 
scepter.  "Why'd she wait so long?"

There was a slight pause, and Ranma could almost feel the disapproval radiating 
from Sailor Mercury.  "The Queen does not participate in front-line battles.  If 
she were to fall because of a chance blast, the Kingdom would die with her."

"Oh."  He supposed that was why Serena - the present Queen - wasn't with them 
now.  "So, what'd she do?"

"The Queen cast a powerful spell.  One that took her life."  Sailor Mercury 
spoke with a touch of awe in her voice.  "She banished Beryl and her forces back 
to the Negaverse and sealed the gateway."

"Wow."

"Yes, 'wow'.  The force of the spell destroyed what was left of the Moon 
Kingdom."

"Really?"  Ranma had the familiar feeling that he was about to say something 
stupid.  Sometimes he could stop himself when he got that feeling.  Sometimes he 
couldn't.  "Seems kinda childish, doesn't it?  I mean, she broke her toy rather 
than give it to someone else."

The air was suddenly electric.  Ranma stopped as the Warriors as one turned to 
glare at him.

"If she hadn't done that," Sailor Mars said in a voice that could ignite water, 
"the Earth would have been destroyed and all of this universe would be on its 
way to becoming as dead as the Negaverse."

"But," Ranma said despite himself, "she had alternatives, didn't she?  If she 
was that powerful, she didn't have to wait until it was almost too late to do 
something, did she?"

Sailor Mars brought clasped her hands together, her forefingers extended.  A 
small ball of fire formed at the tip.  "You were not there, Ranma.  You have no 
right to judge the Queen.  She did all she could.  Say one more thing, and I'll 
fry you where you stand."

Ranma felt the situation getting out of hand.  Part of him still wanted to 
question the scorched earth policy - or scorched moon or whatever - that the old 
Queen had used.  Fortunately, he was able to bring that part of him under 
control again.  He held up his hands in supplication.  "I'm sorry, you're right, 
that was rude of me.  Please, forgive me."

Sailor Mercury stepped between him and Sailor Mars.  "We accept your apology, 
Ranma.  You spoke out of ignorance, asking questions that seem logical to 
someone who doesn't know the history of the Moon Kingdom.  We forgive you."  
While she was looking at Ranma, he felt that her words were directed at Sailor 
Mars.

With a disgusted tsk, Sailor Mars dropped her hands, the ball of fire 
dissipating.  She turned and stalked away.  Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter 
quickly followed after her, looking more than a little irritated themselves.

Ranma sighed.  Sailor Mercury smiled reassuringly, gently took his elbow, and 
pulled him along after the other Warriors.  "Now, part of the Queen's spell was 
to send the spirits of the Warriors, Prince Darien, and Princess Serena to the 
future, where they would be reborn to fight the Negaverse again."

Ranma tried to move past the unpleasantness of a moment ago.  "Oh, I must have 
met her then.  The Queen, I mean."

"Yes.  That was after we had beaten Beryl when she reemerged from the 
Negaverse."

"Oh.  So had the world been destroyed then?"

"No, that happened later."  Mercury sighed sadly, then thought for a moment.  
"Much happened to us before that tragedy, and much afterwards.  To simplify, we 
were able to protect Tokyo and the surrounding environs when the calamity befell 
us.  We had to sleep for nearly a thousand years, with help from the Queen's 
magic."

"Not all of us slept."  Ranma blinked as a woman with long green hair considered 
him.  At least, Ranma reflected wryly, it was what he would have called long 
before meeting Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars, not to mention the Queen.  Unlike 
the others, she carried a weapon, a staff of some sort.  "But all of the 
Warriors helped defend Crystal Tokyo when it was at last awakened."

"This is Sailor Pluto."  Sailor Mercury seemed to treat her with a little 
deference, leading Ranma to believe that she was a senior member of the 
Warriors.  "Pluto, this is Ranma.  He's going to help us..."

"Yes, I know,"  Sailor Pluto interrupted brusquely.  She considered him a long 
moment, then turned without a word as Sailor Venus continued to lead the 
expedition.

Ranma looked around the crowd.  "So, you've got... what, nine Warriors?  Oh, 
probably ten if you include Sailor Moon."

"There are nine Warriors."  Sailor Mercury had resumed her lecturing tone of 
voice.  "The Queen has passed the mantle of being Sailor Moon on to her 
daughter.  She isn't here right now; she's leading an expedition to see if we 
can't begin building a city again on the Moon.  Also, there is no Sailor Earth.  
Remember, it was not part of the Moon Kingdom."

"Oh, yeah."  Ranma wondered what that had to do with it, but decided not to 
press the issue.  He'd tasted enough of the soles of his shoes today already.  
"So, you founded Crystal Tokyo and all was light and happiness?"

"Not exactly.  Evil had thrived during the millenium we were asleep, but it 
could not reach us.  Frustrated, it eventually tried to rewrite history by 
attacking us in the past.  That proved to be its undoing."

Ranma's head began to swim a little.  Time travel, too?  What an interesting 
universe this was.  "So what happened then?"

"Well, you did mention light and happiness.  All has been peaceful since the 
evil was defeated.  We've begun to revitalize the rest of the Earth.  We call 
this period the Silver Millenium.  It has proved to be ample reward for the 
people who suffered through the years past."

"Heaven on Earth, as it were, huh?"  Ranma frowned slightly at the new Warrior 
who had joined them.  "What are you, twelve?"

The new Warrior sniffed.  "I was born over a thousand years ago.  How old are 
you?"

"Uh, not nearly that old."  Ranma remembered Sailor Mercury reverting to a very 
youthful appearance when she'd transformed.  This Warrior evidently took that 
de-aging a step further.  "Sorry.  I sometimes speak too fast."

Sailor Mars lifted an eyebrow.  "Only sometimes?"

Ranma grinned at her.  "Okay, a lot of times."  He turned towards the latest 
arrival.  Like Sailor Pluto, she was carrying a staff.  "I'm Ranma."

"Saturn."  She was eyeing him critically.  Ranma could see that, like the other 
apparently young women around him, she carried wisdom and experience far beyond 
what her youthful features suggested.

"Well, that's it.  Neptune and Uranus are with the Princess."  Sailor Venus 
turned towards Ranma.  "Now what?"

"Give me a sec."  Ranma closed his eyes, seeing if he could sense anything.  He 
disciplined his mind and let his sense drift.

It was quiet.  Very quiet.  Ranma realized with a start what it was that 
bothered him about this place.  Back home, his sense of danger had always been 
buzzing on a very low level.  There was always some sort of danger present, even 
if it was nothing worse than the possibility of getting hit by a car or being 
caught in an earthquake.  Here, there was *nothing*, no danger at all.  The 
Queen had mentioned some sort of spells that kept evil at bay.  Evidently it 
worked so well that no one was ever in danger.  That's why, he realized, no one 
knew what an ambulance was or knew how to react when someone got hurt.

Ranma wasn't sure he liked that.  Life without danger would be... boring.  Why 
would anyone ever need to learn martial arts if there was never any reason to 
fight?

Ranma put that speculation out of his head and concentrated further.  If there 
was no danger around him, then he should be able to find the evil cloud creature 
all that more easily.  Anything that *was* dangerous was outside the influence 
of the Queen's spells, which so far seemed to be limited to the cloud creature.

He spent some time letting his mind drift.  He wasn't so good at this stuff - 
meditating was something Pop hadn't believed too strongly in, and had never 
taught Ranma much about it.  Ukyo had been a big help; despite the fact that she 
could sometimes act quite irrationally, she was one of the most disciplined 
people Ranma knew.  She'd been taught good meditation techniques by her father, 
and had passed some of that knowledge on to Ranma.  Akane, somewhat to Ranma's 
surprise, had insisted on being taught those lessons, too.  She been able to use 
the lessons to -

Suddenly, he felt it.  Something that tickled his mind from a distance; a sense 
of wrongness.  Evil.  And as he touched it, it became aware of him.  And it grew 
in his mind, the danger exploding through his senses.

Ranma popped his eyes open.  "Look out!"  He leapt to the side, grabbing Sailor 
Saturn on the way.  Lightning struck the ground where he'd been standing a 
moment ago.  Part of it brushed Sailor Pluto, who fell back with a shout.

"Let me go!"  Sailor Saturn shoved Ranma off of her - for an apparent twelve-
year-old, she was incredibly strong - and looked up at the cloud creature, 
hovering about ten meters above the ground.  She grabbed her staff with both 
hands and leapt.

And kept on leaping.

It took Ranma a moment to realize she was flying.  He gaped at her as she flew 
towards the cloud creature.

"Come on!  Wedge formation; I'll take point."  Sailor Venus leapt after her, the 
rest of the Warriors close behind her.  They quickly formed a V and approached 
the creature.

Ranma sighed and shook his head.  "Easy for you to say."  Ranma leapt to the top 
of nearby house.  It took him closer to the creature, but still too far to do 
anything useful.

Lightning erupted from the creature.  It struck Venus head-on; she shrieked and 
fell.  Ranma leapt after her catching her in the air at the same time Sailor 
Mars reached her.

Sailor Mars held on to him, too, lifting them both off the ground.  They looked 
at each other.  "Let me go, I got her.  Go after that thing."

Sailor Mars looked at where the other Warriors were attacking the creature.  For 
all its size, it seemed to have almost no mass; it flitted back and forth, 
avoiding the attacks with ease.  She nodded and released him, flying after the 
creature.

Ranma hit the ground easily, his legs absorbing the shock while his arms cradled 
Sailor Venus.  She was already opening her eyes.  "What... How..."  She focused 
on Ranma, then pushed herself off of him.  She swayed on her feet a moment, 
clasping his shoulders.  "It's so powerful.  I mean, not even Galaxia..."  She 
looked up at the sky.  The battle had already moved a small distance off.  She 
growled and jumped, pushing off on Ranma's shoulders and flying off after the 
creature.

Ranma shook his head, admiring her determination.  He leapt onto the rooftop 
again, then ran along the tops of the building, jumping from roof to roof in an 
effort to catch up with the battle.

It didn't seem to be going well for the Warriors.  Lightning, fire, water, and 
other forms of energy were being hurled at the cloud.  It somehow avoided them 
all while counterattacking with its own lightning.  As Ranma watched, one bolt 
hit Sailor Pluto.  She seemed to try to fend it off with her staff, but it 
seemed only partially successful.  While she didn't fall down, she did drift 
down until she hit a rooftop, where she knelt on one knee and held her head with 
one hand.

Ranma got as close as he could.  He tried to get a feel for the creature's 
attack and defense patterns.  He watched as it avoided the attacks of the 
Warriors buzzing around it like bees and threw lightning at them.

Ranma gathered a Moko Takashiba and waited.  He saw the Warriors attacking, the 
cloud creature moving, and then he found an opening.  With a cry, he let loose 
his attack.

The creature moved into a certain area of space trying to avoid the lightning of 
Sailor Jupiter.  Ranma's attack struck it just then and exploded.

The only effect seemed to be that the cloud creature moved towards Ranma.  Ranma 
rolled to the side as lightning struck.  As he regained his feet, he could see 
the cloud creature move off as other Warriors attacked.

Sailor Venus, still looking a little beat up, flew up close to him, asking a 
question with her eyes.  He gave her a quick thumbs-up to let her know that he 
was all right.  She nodded and turned.  With a shout of "Venus Love-Me Chain!" 
she sent her own attack at the creature, then flew after it.

Ranma blinked for a moment.  Venus Love-Me Chain?  Still, he supposed, people 
who roast chestnuts shouldn't throw rocks.  Or something like that.

Ranma leapt after the cloud creature.  He just couldn't get close enough to it; 
the immediate area seemed to contain nothing but single-story houses, and the 
creature was above his immediate reach.  Plus he didn't know what he could do 
anyway.  One of his most powerful attacks had apparently done no damage.

As he watched, Sailor Mercury was caught in a blast of lightning.  She cried out 
and fell.  Ranma leapt and caught her.  They landed and Ranma set her on the 
ground.  She wasn't opening her eyes; she looked quite unconscious.  The 
lightning had burnt her outfit and her skin, and her breathing was rapid and 
shallow.

Ranma grimaced and looked up to see Sailor Mars falling out of the sky.  He 
panicked, knowing he wouldn't be able to catch her in time.  He ran after her 
anyway.  Sailor Jupiter caught her and held her.  Ranma's relief was only 
momentary, as the cloud creature struck them both with another lightning attack.

Ranma leapt and caught each Warrior in an arm.  His landing was not graceful, 
and he dropped them as he stumbled.  He quickly sprang to his feet and looked at 
the Warriors.  Sailor Jupiter looked bad, but Sailor Mars was not breathing.

Ranma knelt over her, putting her on her back.  He straightened her head and 
neck, opened her mouth, and blew in two deep breaths.  He turned his head and 
listened for a second, but didn't hear anything.  Grimacing, he placed his hands 
over her sternum and began pumping.  One, two, three... he counted up to 
fifteen, then moved over to give her two more breaths.  He listened for another 
second, then repeated the cycle.  Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, one 
breath, two breaths.  Listen, then again.  Fifteen, two.  Fifteen, two.  Tears 
began to form at the corners of his eyes as he worked.  He ignored them and the 
despair behind them as he continued to work on Sailor Mars.  Fifteen, two.  
Fifteen...

This time as he blew air in, it was blown right back at him.  He quickly turned 
his head and listened to the sound of her breathing.  He sat back on his heels 
and closed his eyes as relief flooded him.

Only for a moment.  Then he sprang to his feet.  The cloud creature was still 
overhead, either having remained there the entire time or having been chased off 
and returned during the battle.  Ranma suspected the latter; he vaguely recalled 
the sounds of battle growing distant, then louder again.

It didn't seem to be going well for the Warriors.  Sailor Venus was missing and 
Sailor Pluto seemed to be in very bad shape.  Sailor Saturn was firing powerful 
blasts at the creature, but it continued to avoid them as it tried to strike at 
her.  Sailor Pluto seemed to be trying to cover for Sailor Saturn, attempting to 
distract the creature as it attacked Sailor Saturn.  As Ranma watched, though, 
she got caught by a blast from the creature.  She didn't get her staff up in 
time, and fell.  Fortunately, she was right over a rooftop, and fell only two 
meters.  Still, Ranma winced as she struck the house.

Ranma ran over to a building and jumped onto its roof.  He quickly made his way 
over to Sailor Pluto.  He knelt over her.  Her arm was clearly broken, and she 
had several serious burns, but she was alive.

Ranma looked up at a sight that wrenched his heart.  He knew that Sailor Saturn 
was no child, but she looked rather defenseless against the might of the cloud.  
Her staff was pointed at the creature as she flew around it, trying to catch it 
off-guard.  The cloud creature kept throwing lightning at her and missing.  The 
battle seemed to have reached an impasse.

Ranma leapt to the ground and ran to a spot directly under the creature.  He 
planted his feet and gathered all of the chi he could muster.  With a shout of 
"Moko Takashiba", he fired another powerful blast at the creature.

As before, the chi hit the creature and exploded, doing no apparent damage.  He 
somehow felt, however, that he had the creature's attention.

Sailor Saturn seemed to sense the opening, too.  She let loose a blast with a 
shout.  It was a powerful one, much more powerful than Ranma could manage with 
his chi.  The attack struck the creature.  And disappeared.

Sailor Saturn gaped, apparently unable to believe that her attack had done no 
appreciable damage.  The cloud creature took the opportunity to zap her.  She 
recovered her wits enough to take the blow on her staff.  The force was still 
enough to send her flying backwards where, like Sailor Pluto before her, she 
began to drift down towards the roof of a house.  Unlike Pluto, when she reached 
the rooftop she collapsed, dropping her staff.

Ranma gulped and looked up.  The cloud creature began to descend towards him.

Fighting off panic, Ranma closed his eyes and concentrated.  He had no hot chi 
to work with, so he had to do this the hard way.  He still could do it, with 
difficulty and not as effectively.  But it was the only thing he could think of.  
He spun in place a couple of times, then shouted "Hiryu Shoten Ha!"

A whirlwind of chi energy erupted from around him and flew towards the cloud 
creature.  It ripped into the cloud, seeming to dissipate it.  The cloud was 
rent asunder; it rippled, then disappeared.

Ranma blinked his eyes just to make sure.  The cloud creature was gone.  He had 
won.

Ranma frowned.  Something was bothering him.

He heard someone running up.  He turned to see Sailor Mercury come to a halt, 
looking around frantically.  "What happened?  Where'd it go?"

"It, uh, disappeared."  Ranma tried to focus on the immediate situation.  "Uh, 
Sailor Pluto has a broken arm, and Sailor Mars needs some serious medical 
attention right away."

"I'm fine."  Ranma nearly leapt out of his skin as Sailor Mars landed beside 
him, Sailor Jupiter right on her heels.  "Or at least, I will be in a little 
while."

Ranma gaped at her.  He could have sworn that her burns were much more extensive 
than they appeared to be now.  And for someone whose heart hadn't been beating a 
few moments ago, she looked remarkably alert.  "H-how... I mean, you, you were-"

"We heal very quickly, Ranma.  Even faster than we did when you last met us.  
Our abilities have grown significantly since than, along with our recuperative 
powers."

"I'll say.  I didn't know you guys could fly."

"We only acquired that ability after the founding of Crystal Tokyo."  Sailor 
Venus was limping slightly as she walked up.  "What happened?  Where is it?"

Ranma sighed.  "Let's get everyone together so I don't have to repeat myself.  
Sailor Saturn's on that roof, and Sailor Pluto on that one."

The other Warriors were soon gathered.  Ranma could only shake his head.  He had 
good regenerative powers himself, but even he couldn't mend a broken bone in 
fifteen minutes like Sailor Pluto apparently could.  "Man, that's a useful 
talent to have.  Can you guys even be killed?"

"Oh, yes."  Sailor Pluto looked sad.  "It is more than possible."

Sailor Mars shrugged.  "We've been dead several times already.  Trust me, it's 
not a fun experience."

"You've been dead one more time than the rest of us."  Sailor Saturn was leaning 
on her staff, but she seemed all right otherwise.  "I saw Ranma giving you CPR.  
You're lucky, Mars.  I doubt there are more than ten people in Crystal Tokyo who 
remember what CPR is or how to do it."

Sailor Mars stared at Sailor Saturn in shock.  "I was?  He did?  I am?  I 
mean..."  She trailed off and looked at Ranma, the shock still on her face.

Ranma looked back at her, feeling uncomfortable.  "Uh, it wasn't as bad as she 
says.  I mean, with your ability to heal yourself, I'll bet it was you more than 
me that got your heart going again."

"But you kept her blood flowing and air moving long enough for her to recover.  
I think Sailor Mars owes you her life."

"Again."  Sailor Mars looked down.  "Th-thank you, Ranma."

"Uh, you're welcome."  He didn't know what to say, so he sighed and changed the 
subject.  "I don't think we've seen the last of this creature."

He described everything he'd done from the time he had closed his eyes and 
opened his mind to the Hiryu Shoten Ha that had sent the creature away.

Sailor Venus frowned as he completed his story.  "Sailor Saturn's attack didn't 
hurt it?"

Ranma shrugged.  "Didn't *seem* to.  Don't know enough about this creature to 
say for sure."

Her frown deepened.  "But your whirlwind attack did."

"Possibly because it has an element of air in it."  Sailor Mercury had a 
computer in her hand again.  "We may need to adapt our attacks to exploit this 
weakness."

Sailor Jupiter scowled as Ranma shook his head.  "What, you think we can't do 
it?"

"No, that's not it.  I mean, it shouldn't have worked, my attack shouldn't have 
worked.  I'd thrown more powerful attacks at it, and nothing happened.  Air is a 
pitiful excuse for why my attack worked.  Plus, it had already shown itself to 
be quite capable of avoiding attacks.  Why did it just sit there and let me hit 
it?"

"Maybe it was weakened by our previous attacks."  Sailor Mercury tapped a few 
things into her computer.  "Even if your attacks and Saturn's attack seem to do 
anything, maybe they were draining away energy."

"Maybe."  Ranma thought about if for a few seconds, then sighed.  "We may need 
more help.  Does the Queen still have the Imperium Silver Crystal?"

Sailor Mars shook her head.  "She passed it on to the Princess.  Well, sort of."  
She flashed a grin for a second, then continued.  "But the Queen has plenty of 
magic in her own right.  The Crystal... changed her."  Sailor Mars turned down a 
corner of her mouth and looked away.

"Still, you're right, Ranma."  Sailor Venus jogged in place for a few seconds, 
then nodded.  "This cloud is more powerful than we imagined.  We will at least 
need the Queen's council, if not her magic.  The King, too, is very strong; we 
can probably persuade him to help."

Ranma watched as the others nodded.  Now that he was looking, even their 
clothing seemed to regenerate itself.  There were far fewer burn marks than 
before, at any rate.  Ranma thrust that thought away; he had more important 
things to think about.

He moved with the Warriors towards the palace.  Sailor Venus was leading a 
discussion of the battle, of what exactly everyone did and what effect it had.  
Ranma was impressed with her debriefing skills.

She began questioning him in detail about the Hiryu Shoten Ha.  After he had 
described it in adequate detail, she shook her head.  "This 'chi' of yours seems 
capable of some remarkable things.  Yet I can see no reason why your whirlwind 
worked, and your fireball did not.  Or why the cloud creature would not try to 
avoid it.  Mercury, do you have any ideas?"

Sailor Mercury was still tapping at her computer.  "No.  I didn't get much time 
to analyze the creature during the battle, so I don't have any data to 
extrapolate from."  She blew out a frustrated breath.

Sailor Jupiter frowned.  "I hate to say it, but... did anyone see Ranma hit the 
creature?  I mean, we only have his word that his attack worked."

The silence hit Ranma hard.  He suppressed a growl; did they still think he was 
working for the cloud.

"I... I don't think he's lying, Jupiter.  I mean, he could have helped it 
destroy us quite easily.  And he seems like a good, honorable man.  I think he's 
on our side."

Ranma stared at Sailor Mars, blinking his eyes several times.  She looked back 
at him, giving him a look that was neither hostile nor friendly, but... frank.  
Of one equal to another.  Ranma nodded to her, his own expression serious.

Conversation came to a halt as they entered the throne room.  They walked down 
the tree-lined aisle to stand before the Queen and King.

The Queen seemed slightly frantic.  "I felt you all getting hurt, and badly.  
Are you all right?"

Sailor Venus stepped forward.  "Yes, Majesty.  We survived, thanks in no small 
part to Ranma."

The Queen looked at him, a look of relief and gratitude covering her face.  
Ranma looked back at her, his own face blank.

"However," Sailor Venus continued, "while Ranma was able to drive the creature 
off, we were not able to destroy the creature, or ascertain its nature or where 
it came from."

The words were off his lips before he could stop them.  "That's not true."

Sailor Venus stared at him at surprise, as did the others.  "What do you mean, 
Ranma?"

Ranma cursed silently.  This was not how he had meant this to go.  "Um."  He 
rubbed his chin, trying to figure out how to proceed.  "Well, okay.  You know, 
there's no danger here."

"What do you mean?"  Sailor Mars sounded quite annoyed.  "What about -"

"I mean, besides that cloud creature."  Ranma looked around.  "You all remember 
what life was like back before whatever disaster destroyed the planet, right?"

Heads were nodded, a little to Ranma's relief.  "So, you know that bad things 
happened sometimes for no reason.  Someone trips and breaks their arm, people 
get drunk and get into fights, somebody robs somebody else and hurts them while 
doing it... that kinda stuff just happens.  But it doesn't happen here."

Sailor Mercury frowned thoughtfully.  "That's all true, but what's your point?"

"Well, why doesn't that kind of stuff happen?"

The Queen spoke from the throne.  "It is because of My spells, Ranma.  After 
thousands of years of strife and suffering, My subjects deserve peace.  I help 
maintain that peace."

Ranma looked at her.  "Like your mother did, right?"

The Queen nodded.  "If you refer to she who was my predecessor, then yes.  She 
maintained the peace of the Moon Kingdom."

"And yet it was destroyed."  Ranma couldn't figure out how to say it delicately, 
so he didn't.  "She didn't try to use her power to save the Moon until it was 
too late to do anything *but* destroy it in order to protect everything else."

Sailor Mars growled behind him.  "That was because of the Negaverse, jackass.  I 
warned you."

Ranma ignored her, keeping his eyes on the Queen.  "Do you know why that would 
be, Your Majesty?"

The Queen looked at him uncertainly.  "My memories of my previous life are hazy 
at best, Ranma.  I cannot speak for the old Queen, but I am certain that she did 
all she could to keep the Moon Kingdom from being destroyed."

Ranma nodded.  "And you?  Why aren't you doing anything to keep this cloud 
creature from destroying your subjects?"

A hand grabbed his arm from behind.  He stood still and didn't allow himself to 
be pulled back, instead locking his gaze with the Queen.

She raised her hand.  "Be still, everyone."

The hand on his arm squeezed tightly for a moment, then released him.  Ranma 
continued to look at the Queen.

She looked back at him, her face still calm but no longer friendly.  "We have 
other resources to use before We need to get involved.  Our Warriors are quite 
capable of dealing with these threats."

"I'm sure the old Queen said much the same thing.  I'm sure she was saying it 
right up to the point where her kingdom fell around her."

The King rose from his throne and put his hand on his sword.  "Get to the point 
quickly, Ranma, before I have to call you out."

The Queen stood up and stepped next to her husband.  Her proximity seemed to 
calm him a little.  She continued to stare at Ranma.  "I will act before it gets 
to that point, Ranma."

"Will you?"  Ranma took a step closer to her, despite the fact that doing so set 
off all sorts of warning bells as he felt the Warriors around him preparing to 
jump on him.  "Tell me, when you keep everyone from getting hurt, when you 
protect them from danger and evil, where does it go?"

The Queen frowned.  "What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's *always* evil.  You can't keep it from existing.  It's always 
present somewhere.  I want to know where your spells keep the evil."

The Queen shook her head slightly.  "I keep evil at bay, Ranma.  It doesn't come 
here."

"*Yes* *it* *does*."  Ranma took another step towards her.  "When I stretched 
out my senses, feeling for danger, I found a city completely free of all danger.  
Except in one place.  I found evil - concentrated evil - in one location.  One 
person."  He pointed a finger.  "You, Serena."

The room fell completely silent.  The very fact that he had made such an 
accusation seemed to paralyze everyone.  Which, Ranma supposed, was the only 
thing that kept him alive.

The Queen was the first to respond.  She looked shaken and hurt.  "I -  I am not 
evil, Ranma."

Ranma lowered his hand.  "I know.  Not totally.  Not yet.  The creature has only 
hurt people, not killed them.  But you're losing control.  You keep absorbing 
the evil around you, and it's growing inside you.  It's becoming more violent.  
*You're* becoming more violent.  Soon it will start killing.  It almost killed 
Sailor Mars today.

"But part of you knows what's happening, and is trying to stop it."  Ranma tried 
to keep his voice soft.  "I think you were the one to send the black hole for 
me.  You're the one who brought me here.  You knew you needed help, and that I 
would be able to give it."

He took another step, so that he was only a meter from her.  "Please, let us 
help.  Let us help before it's too late, before you become like your mother.  
Before you have to kill yourself to keep the evil from killing everyone else."

Ranma fell silent.  The Queen was breathing heavily, her mouth open, her face 
frightened.  Ranma risked a quick look around.  The King seemed equally 
stricken.  The Warriors were staring at the Queen in shock, which Ranma took to 
be a good sign.  It meant that, while they didn't necessarily believe him, they 
weren't dismissing it out of hand, either.

He looked back at the Queen in time to see tears form in her eyes.  "Ranma, 
I..."  She reached out her hand towards him.  "I'm sorry."

Lightning erupted from her hand and struck him in the chest.  He was flung 
backwards a considerable distance before he hit a tree.  He fell to the ground, 
stunned.  He wondered if he was breathing.  He could still hear; the sounds of 
startled exclamations and more lightning blasts rang in his ears.

Ranma tried to get his muscles to work.  He spluttered a couple of times, and 
then finally drew a shaky breath.  This seemed to free up the rest of his 
muscles, and he rolled onto his side, trying to gather himself.  Damn, that had 
*hurt*.

He got to his feet, leaning his back against the tree trunk.  He looked to see 
the Queen floating high in the middle of the chamber, surrounded by a dark 
cloud.  Lightning shot out from at irregular intervals.  The Warriors were 
dancing around her, avoiding her attacks but not attacking themselves.  Ranma 
thought he could hear impassioned pleading, although he couldn't make out the 
details.

He looked down at the throne.  The King was standing there, staring up at his 
wife, still frozen in shock.  Ranma stumbled over to him.  "Hey, you!  King 
Andy-whatsis!"  He grabbed his shoulders and spun him around so that they were 
face to face.  "Can you do that flying thing?  I need to get close to Serena!"

The King merely gaped at him.  Ranma growled and slapped him.  "Hey, wake up!  
Get off your butt so we can save the Queen!"

The King rubbed his cheek, then slowly nodded.  "Uh, yes.  Right.  What's your 
plan?"

Ranma shrugged.  "I don't know.  I'm making this up as I go along.  Get me up 
there."

The King grimaced and nodded.  He put his arm around Ranma's waist and lifted 
him into the air.  They flew towards the Queen.

Lightning jumped through the air towards them.  Ranma crossed his arms and 
deflected the lightning with his chi.  He was beginning to get a feel for it, 
and could almost figure out how to counteract it.  Almost.  The force was enough 
to send him and the King flying backwards.

They came to a rest a small distance away, still floating above the ground.  
Ranma turned his head.  "Do you have power?  Can you add your power to mine?  I 
think I can fend off her attacks."

The King nodded and held Ranma in front of him, very much like a human shield.  
Ranma felt a strange power flowing through him.  He combined it with his chi and 
formed a shield again with his crossed arms.  They began to approach the Queen.

Lightning struck him again, nearly ripping away the shield.  It held, but Ranma 
wasn't sure how many more blasts he could take.  He looked above his arms at the 
Queen.  "Serena!  Let me help you!  Let me come closer!  I know what you need to 
do!"

Another lightning bolt struck him.  He cried out in pain, and heard the King 
gasp as well.  The Queen had a tortured look on her face as another lightning 
bolt split the air.

Behind him, Ranma could hear someone shouting.  "Mercury Power!"  With those 
words, more energy flowed through him, increasing the power of his shield, 
enough so that it absorbed the Queen's attack.

With another cry of "Mars Power!", the energy increased.  More shouts from 
behind him, each of the Warriors adding their energy to his and the King's.  
Ranma was dizzy with the power flowing through him.

The Queen attacked again, but this time the lightning merely bounced harmlessly 
off his forearms.  Ranma turned his head and gestured forward.  The King 
understood, and they began to drift closer to the Queen.

"Serena!"  He shouted above the crackling of the energy surrounding them both.  
"There's evil inside of you.  You have to let it go!"

"Liar!"  Lightning struck his shield again.  This time, however, it kept 
striking, a continual blast of power from the Queen.  "You only want My subjects 
to feel pain again.  They've suffered enough.  You want them to get hurt and 
killed!"  The power she was throwing at him increased.  "I won't let that 
happen!"

Ranma began to feel the strain again, despite the tremendous power he yielded.  
"Serena, for God's sake, if you don't let it out, it'll grow and grow until the 
one killing your subjects is *you*.  Do you want the Earth to end up like the 
Moon?  Let it out before it's too late!"

The Queen had a wild, mad look on her face.  "Liar!  Traitor!  All of you, 
traitors!  Get out!"  She began shrieking and babbling.  "Getoutgetoutgetout... 
GET OUT!"

The power of the Queen was beginning to get through Ranma's shield.  He grunted 
and turned his head to shout at those behind him.  "Give me all you have!  We 
almost -"

The Queen suddenly began howling, an inhuman shriek that split the air.  Ranma 
wished he could cover his ears.  Her attack grew yet again in intensity.  He 
felt the power he was getting from the Warriors and the King also growing, but 
he could also feel that it was a momentary surge.  It wouldn't last long.

Ranma faced the Queen again.  Her head was flung back as she screamed, her hands 
flung forward as the lightning poured from her.  Ranma tried one last time.  
"Serena!  Remember when we went to go face the evil in that pocket universe or 
wherever we were?  We went side by side.  When we were attacked, we stood 
together and beat that crystal thingy.  Well, I'm here now.  Together we can 
face the fight again.  Let me help!"

"Serena, I love you!  Let me help!"  This from the King.

More shouts from behind Ranma as each of the Warriors began shouting again, each 
offering her love and support.  Even as they did, though, he could feel their 
power failing.  The Queen stopped screaming and looked at Ranma, an inhuman 
expression of rage on her face.  She clapped her hands together, and power on 
levels Ranma couldn't begin to comprehend exploded from her.  It brushed through 
his shield as if it wasn't there, and sent him flying backwards.  The King lost 
hold of him and he fell.

Ranma struck the ground hard.  He tried to roll with it, lessening the impact.  
Still, he felt something snap inside of him, and a stabbing pain came from his 
left shoulder.  He cried out and rolled onto his right side, the pain washing 
through him.

He tried to fight past the pain and concentrate on what was happening.  The room 
was eerily quiet.  Ranma got up on one knee, afraid of what he was going to see.

The Warriors stood in a circle in front of the throne, looking down on 
something.  Ranma lurched to his feet, holding onto his shoulder.  He staggered 
over to the Warriors and looked over Sailor Saturn's shoulder.

The King was kneeling on the ground, the Queen cradled in his arms.  Her face 
was quiet and peaceful, but her eyes were closed.  Ranma swallowed, fighting off 
another sense of d�j� vu.  He'd been in this situation himself.

This time, however, there were no dramatic speeches.  The Queen simply opened 
her eyes and looked up at the King.  "Oh Darien, what have I done?"  She began 
to weep.  "The evil's loose.  It's out there again, and it's hunting My - the 
citizens of Crystal Tokyo.  I failed, I couldn't keep the evil contained, and 
now everyone's going to suffer again."

"Serena."  The King smiled sadly at her.  "That's the way it's supposed to be.  
Ranma's right; there is always going to be evil.  If you try to contain it, you 
only focus it and allow it to reach dreadful proportions until it has the power 
to destroy everything.  If it's all around, at least it's diffuse, and 
controllable.  Our job is not to prevent evil.  It's to make sure that when evil 
does occur, it does as little damage as possible."

Sailor Jupiter spoke sadly, too.  "If there's no evil to fight against, then we 
won't ever be able to accomplish anything good.  It was getting so boring around 
here.  We aren't ever going to get better if we don't overcome some obstacles."

"I think Lita's right."  Sailor Mercury was crying, too.  "Progress only comes 
at a cost.  Otherwise we stagnate, and eventually wither and die.  Doing good 
doesn't mean eradicating evil, it means overcoming it so you can accomplish 
more."

The Queen only began to weep harder.  "I didn't want it to be that way.  I 
wanted everyone to be happy all the time.  Is that so terrible?"

"No."  Sailor Mars spoke gently.  "But the human race made a choice a long time 
ago.  Rather than being content with what we had, we decided to strive for more.  
To try and reach perfection.  But we'll never reach it, because it's impossible.  
But we can't ever stop trying; it's the effort that defines us.  And, 
unfortunately, the struggle comes at a cost.  We must be prepared to pay the 
price of heaven, or we will find ourselves cast down."

The Queen wailed and clutched the King, sobbing hysterically.  The King held her 
and began making soothing sounds.  The rest of the Warriors crouched around her, 
touching her, lending their support.

Ranma smiled at the scene, knowing that the Queen would recover and would rule 
once again.  She had good friends, friends who loved her tremendously, and would 
help her rule with wisdom.

Something made him look behind him.  A black hole hung in the air, facing 
towards him.  Thank you, sir.  Time to go home.

Ranma turned and looked at the Queen one last time.  She was just bringing her 
sobs under control.  She looked up, and for a moment their eyes met.  In her 
eyes he could feel an immeasurable amount of misery, gratitude and love.  She 
was sorry for so much, and she was thankful for so much, and she couldn't 
express it with words but her eyes told him all of it.

He smiled at her and nodded.  He turned, considered the hole, carefully gathered 
himself, and jumped through it.

---

He landed in the dojo.  He winced as the impact caused his shoulder to flair up 
again.  He'd broken something somewhere.

He looked around.  The dojo was empty.  He walked over to the door and slid it 
open.  Outside it was night, but not too late.  The dining room lights were on.  
He walked up to the porch and looked inside.

"Ranma!"  Akane leapt up from the table, ran over to him, cupping his face in 
her hands.  "Are you all right?"

"I, uh, broke my shoulder blade I think.  How long have I been gone?"

"Four hours.  Where the hell did you go without so much as telling anyone!"  She 
glared at him for a second, then immediately softened.  "Never mind, that can 
wait.  We need to get you to the hospital.  Let me tell Father where we're going 
so he can keep an eye on the kids."

Ranma nodded, and Akane ran off.

He turned and looked up into the sky.  The Moon was waning, only a quarter full.  
He examined it thoughtfully.  Hard to imagine it being the seat of a powerful 
kingdom.  And yet, who was to say that it hadn't?  What about those... who was 
it... the Incas, who had quite the advanced civilization and then died out for 
no readily apparent reason?

Ranma frowned.  Whichever universe he was in, the Moon would be a good reminder 
that he had to be careful in how he chose to fight evil.  Battle not with 
monsters, lest ye become a monster.

Ranma swallowed apprehensively.  He did a lot of battling.

Akane came running back to him.  He allowed her to gently lead him out of the 
house to someplace where he could get help.

---

Neo-Queen Serenity stood with King Endymion on a parapet overlooking the city.  
Night was falling, and the city was lighting up.  As she looked, one section of 
the city went dark.  A power outage of some sort.  The kind that had never 
happened before.

She sighed.  "Mina tells me that someone stole food from a cart today.  This 
despite the fact that there is plenty of food for everyone."

The King nodded.  "I have had a report from some of our engineers.  They report 
that much of the infrastructure is failing.  They are quite frankly amazed that 
we got by for as long as we did, depending on things that were, in some cases, 
over a thousand years old.  They're working on a plan to repair and replace much 
of the old technology, but until then, things like that blackout are going to be 
quite common."

A tear fell from Serenity's eye.  "Is this how it's going to be from now on?"

"Do not feel sad, my love.  Even as my engineers were dismayed by the amount of 
work that needs to be done, at the same time they were excited.  They were 
looking forward to the challenge.  You must consider all aspects of this 
situation, my love.  While the citizens of Crystal Tokyo will once again feel 
pain, at the same time they are going to be more... *alive* than they were 
before."

Serenity considered that for a moment.  "Do you suppose Ranma was right?  That 
my mother - Queen Serenity - that she allowed the attack of the Negaverse to 
wipe out her kingdom?"

Endymion was silent for a moment.  "I don't know.  I doubt we'll ever know for 
sure.  I *do* know that she saved us, and sent us where we could protect others 
from the Negaverse.  And that she's been watching over us ever since.  I think 
we have to remember that aspect of her nature, rather than speculate on evil she 
may or may not have unwittingly done."

Serenity sighed.  "I came so close.  I was so close to becoming another Beryl.  
If it hadn't been for Ranma..."

"Don't forget, love, it was you who sent for Ranma.  You knew that there was 
evil growing in you, and you did what was necessary to get rid of it before it 
grew out of control.  Give yourself some credit.  You've always been able to 
stop evil, no matter what it takes, no matter where it comes from."

Serenity nodded.  Suddenly her confidence came surging back.  She spoke in a 
firm tone of voice.  "And now evil is loose again, and My subjects are going to 
be under attack.  It is time."

Endymion looked at her in surprise.  "Time?  For what?"

Serenity glowed, her strapless white dress flaring around her.  A flash lit the 
parapet temporarily.  When it was gone, the Queen had been replaced by a 
sixteen-year-old woman wearing a familiar costume.

She grinned, and gone from her voice was the formal, regal speech she used as 
the Queen.  Now she spoke in an excited rush, her voice bantering and full of 
life.  "Time for Sailor Moon to right wrongs and triumph over evil.  On behalf 
of the Moon!"

As the King gaped at her, she turned and leapt from the parapet.  She fell a 
small distance before catching a breeze and flying away over the city, looking 
for evil that she could punish.

~*~


AUTHOR'S NOTES

In case you didn't know, this is the sequel to "Out of Sync", my first 
Ranma/Sailor Moon crossover.  Like the first one, this isn't meant to be 
particularly deep; it's just an idea I had and decided to go with.  For me, it 
was a *lot* of fun writing this story, and that's what's most important.

A couple of notes:  this takes place not in the dub continuity.  Not the manga, 
not the anime, but the North American dub, which has a different plot line from 
all of the others.  So that's why I use the North American names instead of the 
Japanese ones.  Don't go changing the names or you'll be changing the story 
(this means you, Sean).

Now obviously I incorporated a lot of the anime into this, especially the stuff 
about Crystal Tokyo.  I don't know how much of this I got right.  Please let me 
know what I did wrong; that's what the FFML is for, after all.  :)  I did a lot 
of extrapolation, including the fact that the Sailor Scouts would age normally 
outside of their powerup modes, and the fact that they could fly (I did that 
because the sight of them flying during the beginning of Sailor Moon SS really 
takes my breath away).  The things I don't know are, what exactly was the 
disaster that befell the rest of the world and when was it supposed to have 
happened?

"Warrior" is the translation for "Senshi".  I liked it better than "Scout".

Feel free to disagree with my interpretation of the old Queen's actions.  Sure 
seemed like the equivalent of setting off a nuclear bomb in order to keep the 
enemy from having your city.  We are told so little about the attack of the 
Negaverse on the Moon Kingdom that there's not a lot of data to extrapolate 
from, but it sure seems to me that the ol' super-powerful Queen shoulda done 
something *before* her daughter was zapped by Beryl.

You may notice some similarities between this story and episode 200 of Sailor 
Moon.  All I can say is that I had this plotted out before I laid eyes on the 
ending of the anime.  I was quite bummed out that there were so many 
similarities.  Still, I decided to stick with it.  No plagiarism intended; after 
all, there really is no such thing as an original story.  It's all been said 
before, one way or another.  :)

Well, that's it.  This story is not like a Davies or a Biles... er, I mean it's 
not like a story written by Davies or Biles... but heck, I had a lot of fun with 
it.  ^_^

Let me know what you think.

-Richard
sterman@sprynet.com