The Eternal Lost Lurker (EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net)

Disclaimers: 
Ranma 1/2 property of Takahashi Rumiko,  Kitty Animation, Shogakukan, VIZ
Communications.
Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon property of Takeuchi Naoko, Kodansha, Toei
Animation, and is horribly mangled by DIC and MixxZine.


Nibun no Senshi Sailormoon

Episode 3

Who is this girl? Why is she afraid of cats?

   The Senshi followed Shin Sailormoon to a secluded park. Once Shin
Sailormoon felt like they were alone, she reverted to her normal
self--well, normal being a relative term. The other Senshi did the same.
   "Okay," Minako said, "Why don't you start with your name."
   She sighed. "My name is Saotome Ranko." <Gotta keep the real truth
hidden as much as possible. I don't want them to know I'm really a guy!>
   The others introduced themselves to Ranma. Luna and Artemis approached
the group. Ranma's eyes bulged out.
"C----c----c-----c---c-----c---CAAAAAATS!"
   Everyone stared at her. She began to shudder violently.
   "What's wrong with her?" Makoto asked.
   "Ailurophobia," Ami answered.
   "Huh?" the others chorused.
   Luna nodded in understanding, but her ears drooped a bit. "She's afraid
of cats."
   "Oh." 
   Luna stepped forward, causing Ranma to lose control even more. Her
crescent moon shone brightly, and she began to speak in a calm, soothing
voice. "You should not fear me, or Artemis. We are gentle. We will not harm
you. You should not be afraid of cats with crescent moon markings. We are
only here to help you. Please. Do not be afraid."
   As Luna delved into the frighten girl's mind, she probed around for the
reason she feared cats. She uncovered an image of a six year old boy being
dropped into a pit of cats. That puzzled her, so she dug further. She found
no images of this girl until hitting the memories from the teen years. She
gasped inwardly. <This girl is really a boy!> Probing, she slowly uncovered
the whole truth about Jyusenkyou, and about Saotome Ranma. She decided not
to tell the Senshi of this, and broke the link with Ranma's mind.
   Ranma blinked, and looked at Luna. "Hello," she said. "I'm sorry I
reacted that way to you."
   "It's quite alright," Luna said soothingly. "You had a terrible ordeal
as a child."
   Ranma blinked. "How'd you do that anyway? Normally I can't look at a cat
without goin' nuts."
   "Artemis and myself are not Earth cats. We have certain...abilities."
   "Oh." Ranma digested this, then said, "Okay, now what?"
   Ami stepped forward. "Ranko, I've picked up a lot of strange energy
readings around here. I was wondering if you could help me figure some
things out."
   Ranma shrugged. "Sure."
   "Alright, the first thing we discovered is the Ginzuishou, which is the
reason we came to Nerima in the first place. We were looking for you, and
used its energy signature to locate you."
   Ranma nodded, and pulled the brooch out of her pocket. It was a bit
startling for the others to see that brooch in anyone's possession other
than Usagi.
   Suddenly, the brooch opened, and the Ginzuishou flared brightly.
Everyone gasped a bit.
   The henshin sticks of the Senshi appeared before them, hovering in the
air. 
   Luna gasped. "Incredible...they're going to receive new powers."
   Artemis grinned. 
   The brooch began to change, becoming a crescent-shaped medallion,
dangling from a silver chain. The crystal embedded itself in the center of
the medallion.
   The henshin sticks began to change. The star-shaped ornaments atop them
vanished, and swirls of golden light wrapped around the sticks. The light
solidified into twisting golden dragons, their heads where the stars had
been.
   The sticks returned to the four Senshi, and the medallion disappeared
into Ranma's shirt.
   Ami ran a scan on her computer. "The power is different this time,
somehow."
   "I'll say," Rei commented.
   "It probably has something to do with Ranko," Artemis said. "She isn't a
reincarnated child of the Silver Millenium."
   "Yes, that would explain it," Luna said. "Since the Princess named Ranko
here as her replacement, and Ranko is different from the rest of you in
that aspect, the Ginzuishou probably saw that as a cause to alter the rest
your powers as well."
   With that resolved, Ami continued, "Alright, Ranko, about those other
strange readings..."
   "Go ahead, I'm listening."
   Ami told her about the other Silver Millenium power reading that had
appeared. Ranko frowned, and shook her head.
   Luna looked troubled. "I only wish I knew what that could be..."

   P-chan slept soundly, curled up on Akane's bed while Akane was out doing
some errands for Kasumi.
   A soft light descended through the window. The light coalesced into a
crescent moon shape, and headed towards P-chan.
   The pig awoke, and blinked at the light.
   *do not fear me*
   *i need your assistance*
   *i am here to guide the new sailor moon*
   *i do not have a body of my own*
   *will you help me, hibiki ryouga*

   P-chan's eyes bugged out as the voice spoke within his mind. Collecting
his wits, he thought, <What do you need from me?>
  
   *i need to use your cursed form*

   <In what way?>

   *will you allow it*

   <Is this going to hurt?>

   *no*

   <This won't affect me when I'm human will it?>

   *only if you allow it to*

   Ryouga considered this, and nodded.
  
   <Alright.>

   The light descended into the piglet's body. A brilliant crescent moon
sigil flared into existence on his forehead...

   Ami's computer beeped frantically at her. She examined it, and blinked.
"That Silver Millenium signature has just solidified. It's...merged with
one of those other power readings I got earlier."
   "What power readings?" Ranma asked, confused. Ami explained the odd
power readings she'd picked up around Nerima.
   Ranma thought about that, then laughed. "Oh...see, there are a lot of
really strong martial artists here. The reading you sensed with the crystal
is probably me."
   Rei smirked at that obvious bit of bragging.
   "And the other one? The one that was near you?"
   Ranma thought. "Hmmm...that'd probably have to be Ryouga. He's the only
other person around here besides the old ghoul and the old fart who can
throw chi blasts."
   Makoto's eyes widened. "CHI BLASTS!?"
   Ranma shrugged, and nodded. "Yeah," she said, concentrating and
gathering a bit of her chi, letting it form a ball of energy on her palm.
The girls gasped, and Ranma dissipated it.
   Rei's eyes were even wider than Makoto's. "You can do that, WITHOUT the
crystal?"
   Ranma nodded. "Yeah. So can Ryouga. The only difference is my blasts are
powered by confidence, and his are powered by depression."
   "Depression...that would explain away one of the negative energy
readings. What about the other one?" She explained the very powerful evil
reading she'd picked up.
   Ranma thought about it for a minute. "Happousai," she said. "Gotta be
Happousai. He's an ancient pervert who trained my pop and my fi...my
friend's father. He's got some really strong chi attacks, and he gets
energy from girls' bodies and their underwear."
   The girls all gasped, horrified. "You're kidding. You've got to be
kidding," Makoto said.
   Ranma shook her head. Then, changing the subject, she said, "What did
you mean that other reading you'd gotten merged with Ryouga?"
   Ami frowned. "I'm not sure. But the two are overlapping now."
   Ranma cursed. "We've got to get to him, dontcha think?"
   The others nodded. "Alright, I think he's at the Tendou dojo. C'mon,
follow me!"
   The five girls and two cats dashed out of the park and across town.

   The piglet blinked several times, then oriented itself to his location.
He left the bedroom, and headed downstairs.
   Kasumi spotted him, and smiled cheerfully. "Why hello, P-chan!"
   "Bukii."
   Kasumi looked at him. "Something seems different about you today...ara!
When did you get that odd marking on your forehead, P-chan?"
   P-chan blinked. "Bukii?"
   Kasumi smiled. "Well, it's cute, anyway." She walked off into the
kitchen.
   <How could she see that?> the piglet thought. <Normal people aren't
supposed to notice the crescent moon mark...>

   {You have failed me again, Apollo.}
   {Forgive me, lord. I underestimated the power of that new Senshi. It
will not happen again.}
   {It had better not. You have yet another chance. DO NOT fail me again.}

   As the girls ran, Ami called out, "Everyone, something's happening!"
   They stopped, and Minako asked, "What is it Ami?"
   Ami frowned at her computer. "Some kind of rift is forming. It's filled
with negative ener---heads up! Something's coming out of it!"
   They all looked up into the sky, and gasped. A large, glaring red hole
had opened in the sky above them. The hole was somewhat crescent shaped.
They dove for cover as something descended from the rift. 
   "Ugh...what a horrible monster," Rei frowned.
   The monster was about four meters tall, and almost as wide as the road.
It resembled nothing so much as a large, ugly, living mech. It had
wart-covered, shiny grey legs which ended in black talons, and four thick
arms which resembled limestone, and ended in four different appendages. One
had a lobster-like claw, another opened into what looked like a fanged,
drooling mouth, the third possessed a barbed lash, and the fourth ended in
something long, sharp-looking, and most probably extremely deadly. Its body
was a mass of spherical segments, that appeared to have been stuck together
with congealed snot. It had no head to speak of, but near the top of the
body, a bubble-like sphere, which seemed to be filled with some kind of
flowing red mist, seemed to glare at them. 
   "Okay guys...I think we better transform," Ranma said.
   "Let's see how well these new powers kick some butt!" Makoto cried.
   The others nodded, and raised their new henshin sticks.

   "Mercury ryuu power henshin!"
   "Mars ryuu power henshin!"
   "Jupiter ryuu power henshin!"
   "Venus ryuu power henshin!"
   "Tsuki no suishou pawaa henshin!"

   Ami was surrounded by a watery dragon, which flowed into her body as her
sailor fuku formed. 
   Rei's fuku formed as a fiery dragon descended upon her.
   Makoto's fuku formed from the leaves shed by an oaken dragon.
   A glowing orange dragon shed its heart-shaped scales over Minako,
forming her fuku.

   A shimmering silver dragon coiled itself around Ranma. Above her head, a
crescent moon revolved around a spinning yin-yang symbol, and the pair
descended over her. The dragon became a silver mist which dissolved into
her body, and the sailor fuku of Sailor Moon began to form on her. However,
there was now a slender silver belt above her skirt, in the shape of a
dragon eating its own tail. Small, silver yin-and-yang earrings adorned her
ears, with gold crescent moon accents. 

   As the transformations completed, the Sailor Senshi turned to face the
horrible monster. "Alright you, time to go down! Ai to seigi no,
sailor-fuku bishoujo senshi, Shin Sailormoon! Tsuki ni kawatte, oshioki
yo!"
   Under her breath, she could be heard to mutter, "I wish I didn't have to
make that stupid speech..."

   The monster raised the arm with the mouth on the end, and it spat a
stream of acid at them. The Senshi dove for cover, then Jupiter stood and
scowled. "SONIC THUNDER!" she bellowed, as four bolts of lightning gathered
into the lightning rod on her tiara. She flung the bolts at the monster.
With a tremendous sonic boom, the ground beneath the thing erupted, and it
was thrown backwards several meters.
   "Hey cool, let me try!" Venus cheered. "VENUS LOVE-ME STRAFE!"
   A hail of glowing orange hearts shot forth from Sailor Venus, striking
the monster like a spray of machine gun fire. The creature bellowed as it
staggered to its feet. It launched another stream of acid, and charged
towards them.
   Mercury was nearly hit by the acid. Scowling, she tried out her new
attack. "TORRENT!" she cried. 
   A stream of freezing cold water slammed into the monster. The creature
managed to block the hit with its claw arm...at a price. Mercury's attack
tore the arm completely off of the beast. The Senshi cheered.
   "Don't hog all the fun!" Mars shouted. She held up one of her spirit
wards. "SPIRIT BLAZE!"
   The kanji on the ward burst into flame. On the chest of the monster, the
same kanji appeared, etched in white-hot fire. The beast clutched at its
chest and bellowed in rage.
   "Finish it off Sailormoon!"
   "Right!" Shin Sailormoon shouted. She approached the monster. The
flaming kanji on its chest began to flow outward, forming a scorching hot
nexus of energy. Shin Sailormoon gathered the heat, and extended forward as
if throwing a punch.
   "TSUKIRYUU SHOUTEN HA!"
   A powerful glowing whirlwind shot forth from her outstretched arm,
slamming horizontally into the monster, snaring it in the roiling winds. A
sparking crescent-shaped chi blade ripped along the twister, spinning as it
slammed into the evil creature. When the winds died down, pieces of the
monster rained down all over the street.
   "Messy, but effective," Venus commented.
   The bubble sphere that they had assumed was the thing's eye had remained
intact. As it hit the street, it cracked open, releasing the mist from
within with a hiss. A small shape emerged from the bubble. Everyone stared.
   When the mist dissipated, the shape was revealed to be a cat, with
orange and black tiger-striped fur. A blood red crescent moon glared at
them from the cat's forehead. It hissed. "You've won this time, little
Sailor punks. But I'll kill all of you next time." The cat did a backflip
into the air, and vanished in a burst of scarlet energy.
   "What was THAT!?" Mars asked.
   Luna and Artemis shared a worried glance. "That couldn't have been..."
Artemis began.
   Luna stared at the disintegrating remains of the monster. "I hope not."
   "Couldn't have been what?" Venus asked the white cat.
   Artemis sighed. "Apollo."

   After the battle, the Senshi reverted to their normal forms and
continued onward to the Dojo. Ranma told them to pretend to be prospective
students.
   As they arrived at the Dojo, they were met in the courtyard by a black
piglet with a crescent moon marking on its forehead. It nodded
satisfactorily as it saw them. Ranma blinked. "What the--?"
   "Greetings, Sailor Senshi," it said in a rather quiet voice. "I was sent
to be the guardian of Shin Sailormoon. My name is Charon."

   To be continued...