YIPE,

This is a long chapter (for me anyway).  The "Whispers" arc is almost 
over and a special treat is coming up after it.
_________________________

				  TRIO:
			  WHISPERS OF THE PAST:
				 Part 7:
			 THE FINAL BATTLE BEGINS

	"YOU ARE AN IDIOT!!!!"

	Kunzite lowered his head more as Eclipse Lord continued his rant, "I 
ORDERED YOU TO *DESTROY* THE TRIO!  WHAT WAS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND 
ABOUT THAT?!!"

	Kunzite gulped, he would have preferred having Matalia herself chew 
him out then the being who was currently doing it.  For though 
powerful, Metalias strength didn't even come close to the energy that 
crackled from the infuriated Eclipse Lords body.  He took a deep 
breath and replied, "I was...."

	Blade Bot cut him off, "He was simply showing that he just doesn't 
have what it takes to serve you Master.  I could have done a much 
better job then him."

	Seer whispered to him, "Suck up."

	Even thought he didn't have a tongue, Blade Bot gave Seer a soft 
Bronx Cheer in reply.

	Eclipse Lord suddenly lashed out his right hand and grabbed Kunzite 
by the throat.  He lifted the general off the ground and squeezed.  
As Kunzite gagged, the master of the Eclipse Syndicate growled, "You 
have ten seconds to convince me not to listen to him."

	"I...I," Kunzite tried to talk around the pressure on his neck, "I 
was simply prolonging their agony.  I want to see Sailor Moon and her 
friends suffer before I destroy them..."

	"So you wanted to accomplish your own vendetta," Eclipse Lord said 
as he tightened his grip, "when you should have simply completed the 
assignment I gave to you.  I should simply break your neck and be rid 
of your incompitance.  However...."

	Kunzite never felt more relief in his life when Eclipse Lord let him 
go.  Gasping for breath, he crawled away from the throne and the 
Inner Four circled around him.  Eclipse Lord suddenly vanished and as 
he disappeared his voice echoed in the room, "Lujane.  I have other 
duties to attend to.  I leave you in command of this assignment."

	Lujane aproched Kunzite and snapped, "You heard the master.  Explain 
your plan."

	Kunzite got to his feet and ordered, "Broli, come forward."

	The giant Super Saya-jin came out of the shadows, cradling the 
unconscious form of Sailor Mercury in his arms.  Around the neck of 
the sleeping Senshi was a Neural Stunner, much like the one that had 
keep Broli comatose.  Kunzite continued, "As you can see, I have 
captured Sailor Mercury.  I will use her as bait to draw the others 
into the open and then I shall call in Broli to destroy them."

	Lujane replied, "For your sake, it had best work.  Eclipse Lord 
knows better then to eliminate new servants for a minor mistake...

	"However, if he thinks that a new warrior of the Eclipse Syndicate 
will prove themselves incapable of doing a compitant job, he will 
eliminate them.  I have seen it happen before," she grinned evilly, 
"it is never a pretty sight."

	Outwardly, Kunzite seemed unaffected, inwardly however, he gulped 
nervously.

	The next day...

	Gohan woke up with a groan and the feeling that his skull was about 
to burst from the pounding of his brain.  He tried to sit up but the 
lurching of his stomach convinced him other wise.  Two faces came 
into his field of vision as Dr. Tofu and Usagi looked down at him.  
The latter had a large bandage on the right side of her face as well 
as a shiner under her left eye.  "Good morning," he rasped.

	"Good afternoon is more like it," Usagi replied, "you were out all 
last night and all this morning."

	"What happened to you," Gohan asked, "no offence, but you've looked 
better."

	"The big guy that Ranma warned us about is what happened," Usagi 
replied, "he caught Ami and me by surprise."

	"Don't worry about your secret identities," Tofu interjected, "I 
already know."

	"WHAT?!" Gohan exclaimed as he shot up to a sitting position, this 
time earning a cry of pain from his stomach and his back in stereo, 
"How?"

	Usagi looked embarased as she explained, "He woke up when I was 
crying on Ranmas shoulder.  Then he remembered me from earlier and...
"

	Gohan looked directly at Tofu, "You put two and two together."

	Tofu nodded and replied, "I'm just glad that those two friends of 
yours got you back here.  You were in pretty bad shape.  Your ribs 
and spine were bruised.  You had several lacerations on your face, 
arms and legs.  You sustained a mild concussion.  You took a good 
shot to the stomach, so I wouldn't recommend eating anything too 
heavy...."

	"I get the idea," Gohan groaned, "that guy beat me good... but it's 
like I've seen him before... I just can't place the face," then he 
realized something, "you said Ami was attacked too, how is she?"

	Usagi lowered her head, "Gone.  That big guy and the one in the 
fancy uniform kidnapped her."

	Gohan felt his heart break.  He hadn't know her that long, but the 
feelings he had for that young lady were very strong.  "We've got to 
get her back," he said, his voice filled with determination.

	There was a knock on the front door.  "I'll get it," Usagi said as 
she moved off to suit actions to words.

	The next thing they knew, Usagi let out a scream of surprise and 
rushed back into the room.  "Gohan," she yelled in a rush, "you've 
gotta come see this."

	Tofu placed his arms around the teenagers shoulders and helped to 
lift Gohan out of bed.  They moved into the living room and saw 
Samaron standing in the middle of the living room.  The dragon 
samurai stood erect stiffly and his calm eyes observed the two heros 
and their doctor emotionlessly.  "I have not come to battle you," 
Samaron stated, "in your present condition and in your own home, such 
actions would be dishonorable.  However, I have come to deliver a 
challenge."

	With a practiced flourish, Samaron pulled forth a letter from the 
sleeve of his armor.  He casually tossed it and Gohan caught it 
between the second and middle fingers of his left hand.  Usagi asked, 
"Who are you?"

	"His name's Samaron," a voice from the kitchens doorway said, "he's 
one of the Inner Four creeps we had to fight a while ago."

	"I'm glad you remember me Saotome," Samaron replied without turning 
around, "I have heard some destresing rumors and I hope that you will 
be there for this battle.  It would be a shame to discover that one 
of your skill has lost all of his courage.  Until then..."

	Samaron placed the first two fingers of his right hand onto the 
exact center of his forehead and he teleported away.  After a short 
pause, Gohan opened the letter and gasped at its contents.  Inside 
was a picture of Sailor Mercury being held by the neck by Broli.  
Stapled to the picture was a note that read, <Rosevelt Island. The 
Ruins.  Tonight.  11:00 pm.

Don't be late,
Kunzite>

	"Kunzite," Gohan muttered, "must be the one with the long hair."

	"I know that name," Usagi said, "but I don't know from where."

	"We should have stuck with Ryoga," Ranma grumbled, "At least he 
didn't go kidnapping people.  Even if he was a total a..."

	"Ranma," Usagi cried out in alarm, "what happened to your HANDS?!"

	Ranma looked down at his clenched fists, the skin over the knuckles 
had been split and covered his hands in a red gloss.  "It's nothin'," 
he replied as he hid his hands behind his back.

	Tofu steered Gohan towards the couch and said, "Let me have a look 
at those hands Ranma," as he helped Gohan to sit down.

	The good doctor led Ranma to the kitchen table and as they sat down, 
Tofu said to Usagi, "Could you get some medical gauze and the 
antiseptic?  I left them in the bed room."

	Usagi nodded and ran off.  Tofu turned to Ranma and said, "Okay, 
how'd you do it?"

	"Huh," Ranma brilitantly replied.

	"Your hands?  It's okay, I've seen you with worse, you can tell your 
doctor."

	Ranma sighed, "I guess a lot of the junk that's been going on has 
gotten to me.  I just started punching a tree and didn't stop until I 
shattered it."

	Tofu was about to answer but Ranma continued his rant, "The thing is.
.. when I turned into Woe Bringer, I lost all control of myself, 
something a martial artist should never do.  I hurt my friends and... 
and..."

	Ranma muttered something under his breath and Tofu leaned closer.  
"What?" the doctor asked.

	Ranma looked flustered as he leaned closer to Tofu and whispered in 
his ear, "The... the... the g..." Ranma took a deep breath and 
blurted out, "thegirlIlove."

	Tofu's eyes widened but he said nothing.  "If that's true," Tofu 
replied, "then why didn't you tell what you told me to her.  I can 
tell she really cares about you."

	Ranma waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, "Ah, it's a guy thing. 
 She wouldn't understand."

	SLAM!  The bottle and gauze roll were smacked down on the table as 
Usagi glared at Ranma.  "'Wouldn't understand?!'" she growled, "What 
is THAT supposed to mean?!!  How much of an airhead do you think I AM?
!"

	Ranma didn't say anything as Tofu jumped in and said, "Thank you for 
getting gauze and antiseptic."

	"Yes," Usagi replied, "the antiseptic," she leaned towards Ranmas 
face, venom dripped from each word as she said them slowly and 
carefully, "Hot... burning... STINGING... antiseptic."

	As Usagi stalked off, Ranma managed to look sheepish and Tofu 
chuckled.  "What's so funny?" Ranma asked.

	Tofu replied, "It's just nice to know that the old Ranma is still in 
there."

	Ranma frowned sourly as he said, "So your saying that I ALWAYS stick 
my foot in my mouth."

	"Not always... just most of the time."

	That night: 10:00 PM...

	"I still don't recommend this," Tofu said, "You're not ready yet."

	Great Sayaman replied, "I heal fast."

	Sailor Moon nodded, "I don't like our chances, but we HAVE to save 
Sailor Mercury."

	Sayaman popped his back, trying to loosen himself up for the 
upcoming battle.  He also didn't think that the two of them had much 
of a chance of winning, but they had to try.  "Ranma," he said, "you 
staying?"

	"No."

	The two looked at their friend in surprise and smiles bloomed on 
their faces.  "You mean.." Sailor Moon asked.

	Ranma nodded and held out his hand.  Sailor Moon reached into her 
subspace pocket and pulled out a ring with a small black and white 
gem on it.  Ranma took it and placed it on the ring finger of his 
right hand.  Taking a deep cleansing breath, he pressed the gem and 
his Yin Yang costume wrapped around him.  "I'm still frightened," Yin 
Yang said, "but I've got to get over it sometime.  May as well start 
now."

	Sailor Moon moved over to Yin Yang and kissed him on the forehead.  
"I know I got angry at you before," she said, "but I still love you.
"

	Yin Yang smiled and said, "Now let's go save our friend."

	An hour later at Rosevelt Island...

	Kunzite and Broli, along with a contingent of Scarab Demons, 
prepared for the arrival of their foes.  Broli had Mercurys' 
unconscious form cradled in his arms.  Kunzite ordered, "I want to 
take that Stunner off.  Find a way to restrain her."

	The Scarab Demons nodded and spit a green slime at a free standing 
brick wall.  The goo stuck with a thick splat and Broli walked over 
and slammed Mercury against the wall.  The Scarab Glue made a goshey 
sound as she was mashed against it and she stuck.  Broli reached up 
and violently yanked off the Neural Stunner.  Kunzite sighed, "I wish 
you would not be so... liberal with the equipment."

	Broli made a soft growl in his throat as Sailor Mercury groaned.  
Mercury opened her eyes and her head moved around as she tried to 
orientate herself.  "<Tikk, tikk, tikk> Don't bother trying to escape,
" one of the Scarab Demons said, "thanks to the upgrade Master Seer 
gave us, our saliva can hold even a rhino still."

	"If I want you to explain things," Kunzite said, "I'll TELL you 
to!"

	The Scarab gulped and ran off.

	"How..." Mercury started to ask as she regained more of her 
consciousness.

	"'Did you survive'," Kunzite finished, "my new master, Eclipse Lord 
is the one responsible for my renewed health."

	"Eclipse Lord... who IS he?"

	"A being whos powers far surpass both Metallia's, Serenity's and, 
most importantly to you, yours."

	Elsewhere...

	Yin Yang-chan sighed, "It just HAD to be raining."

	"It sets the mood," Sayaman replied.

	"Wrong mood," Sailor Moon replied as she shivered in her uniform.

	The rain had started several minutes ago and had cut visibility down 
severely.  "This could work to our advantage you know," Sayaman said.


	The two drenched heroines screamed, "HOW?!!"

	Sayaman chuckled, it was good to have the old team back.  He stifled 
down his amusement and replied, "If we can't see them, they can't see 
us either and we can sneak up on them."

	Yin Yang-chan felt a shiver go up her spine, that had nothing to do 
with the rain as she said, "That works both ways."

	The heros looked around the ruins carefully as they searched for 
their foes.  Suddenly, Sayaman held up a hand and the others stop.  
"Wha..." Sailor Moon started to ask but Sayaman stopped her with a 
hushing sound.

	After a long pause he whispered, "You hear that?"

	Yin Yang-chan and Sailor Moon strained their hearing and after 
several seconds of breathless listening, they heard the soft, "<Tikk, 
tikk, tikk>," of Scarab Demons in the distance.

	"That way," Sayaman said as he hovered off to the left, the others 
close behind.

	A minute later....

	Kunzite leaned closer to Sailor Mercury as he sneered, "It's almost 
time.  Your friend will be here along with her new allies and they 
WILL die."

	Kunzite was so into taunting Mercury that he didn't notice Broli as 
he cocked his head to the right slightly, sensing the presence of 
someone approaching.  It felt like... Kakaroto... but since Broli had 
not been given orders to attack or to report, he stood still and said 
nothing.

	Kunzite did however, hear the sneeze that emanated from behind a 
pile of rubble and he whirled towards it.  He thrust his hand at the 
rocks and fired a pulse blast at it.  The ruble exploded and three 
figures jumped out from behind it.  "Almost," Kunzite taunted, "but 
not quite."

	Yin Yang-chan, Sailor Moon and Great Sayaman landed several feet 
away from where Kunzite had fired and Yin Yang-chan grumbled, "Yeah, 
but SOMEBODY needs to work on their stealth skills."

	Sailor Moon rubbed her nose as she shot back with, "Sorry."

	"Broli!  Scarab Demons," the former Dark Kingdom General ordered, 
"destroy them!"

	"I'll handle Broli," Sayaman said, "you handle the Scarabs and 
Kunzite."

	"Do you think you can?" Sailor Moon asked worriedly, "He took you 
out pretty quick before."

	"He caught me by surprise.  I'm ready this time."

	Sayaman went Super Saya-jin as Yin Yang-chan and Sailor Moon moved 
off to battle the Scarabs.  Broli snarled at him and the two flew off 
into the air, leaving a golden trail in their wake.

	Sailor Moon jumped over a Scarabs pincer and lashed out with a stiff 
kick to the Demons mandibles.  The Scarab squawked once before 
falling over.  Yin Yang-chan grabbed an incoming Scarabs arm and spun 
it around before throwing the Scarab into two of its companions.

	Sailor Moon managed to get a good forward punch into a Scarabs gut 
before she had to roll away from another ones kick.  After coming out 
of her roll, she hit both Scarabs with a roundhouse kick and they 
fell back.

	Yin Yang-chan noticed this and she thought, "She HAS gotten better.  
I guess there's hope for her yet.  As for me..."

	"TENSHIN AMAGURI KEN," she cried as she unleashed the "Sweet 
Chestnut Fist" on three Scarabs at once and finished her thought with,
 "...I've still got it."

	Up in the sky, Broli and Sayaman clashed in a violent meeting of 
fists and feet.  Sayaman felt as if he had never had to move so fast 
in his life and yet, Broli looked like he wasn't even coming close to 
using his full speed.  Broli got in a swift kick to the chest but 
Sayaman answered with a right cross to the jaw.

	Sayaman felt it.  Broli didn't.

	"This is NOT good," Sayaman deduced as he clutched his ribs and 
winced.

	Sayaman changed tactics and unleashed a ki ball at Broli from point 
blank range.  When it hit the Legendary Super Saya-jin, Sayaman flew 
back several yards and unleashed a veritable storm of the small 
yellow projectiles.  Sayaman didn't stop as Broli was covered by 
smoke.  He just kept throwing them, one after another after another, 
making sure he got the job done.  As the final touch, he gather a 
large amount of his ki into his cupped hands and cried, "KAME... HAME.
.. HAAAAAAAAAA!"

	The Kame-Hame-Ha wave smashed into the smoke cloud that covered 
Broli and it exploded against the mad Saya-jins form.

	The explosion died down and when the smoke cleared....

	Broli was ANGRY.

	Back on the ground...

	"Ready Sailor Moon?" Yin Yang-chan asked as she pulled on one of the 
Scarabs arms.

	"Ready," Sailor Moon replied as she pulled on the arm of another one.


	The two heroines heaved and flung the two Scarabs into each other.  
As they fell to the ground, Sailor Moon pulled out her scepter from 
its subspace pocket and cried, "MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"

	The crescent shaped energy bolt slammed into one of the Scarab 
Demons and the energy wake took out all the others, blasting them 
into piles of white ash.  Kunzite grumbled, "That's a new trick."

	Kunzite then proceeded to shoot at them with a pulse blast and the 
two heroines cleared the area it hit by mere inches.  Sailor Moon 
landed on her face while Yin Yang-chan flipped in mid air bounced off 
a wall and aimed a flying kick at Kunzite's face.  Kunzite raised his 
personal shield in the nick of time and Yin Yang-chan bounced off.

	Suddenly, someone said, "Dead Scream," and Kunzite barely managed to 
block the deep red energy ball that flew at him.

	Trunks, in Super Saya-jin form and Sailor Pluto had arrived.  The 
oldest of the Senshi ordered, "Trunks, go help Sayaman with Broli.  I 
will need time to set up what is to come."

	Trunks nodded and flew up into the air as Pluto began to concentrate.
  "HEY," Yin Yang-chan yelled," what about US?!!"

	"Be silent," Sailor Pluto shot back, "this is a delicate situation, 
I must concentrate all my power on preparing a Time Vortex."

	"'Time Vortex'?" Kunzite growled, "so YOU are the legendary Sailor 
Pluto.  You're planing to send me back to my own time period, aren't 
you.  Well, I don't plan on going back to die."

	Yin Yang-chan and Sailor Moon jumped in front of him.  "Oh yeah," 
Sailor Moon shouted, "well, you're going to have to get by US first.  
For I am the Pretty Sailor Suited Soldier Sailor Moon!  Your timeless 
evil, Yin Yang and I shall not stand for!  In the name of the moon, 
we'll punish YOU!"

	"What she said," Yin Yang-chan added as she rolled her eyes.

	Kunzite smiled as he replied, "I think not."

	Back in the air....

	Sayaman cried out in pain as Broli struck him again with a hard 
punch to the stomach.  Sayaman felt the bile rise in his throat and 
he knew that he would be spitting up something soon if he wasn't 
careful.  He tried hitting Broli with a left jab but the mad Saya-jin 
grabbed his arms and brought both their heads together with a sick 
crack.  Sayaman, his head ringing, floated away from Broli.  "Gohan," 
he heard someone below him shout, "hang on!  I'm coming."

	Sayaman looked down and saw Trunks flying up towards him.  The time 
traveler floated next to him and looked at their opponent.  "So 
that's Broli," Trunks said, "he looks pretty tough."

	"You better believe it," Sayaman replied, "I hit him with a Kame-
Hame-Ha and all it did was upset him."

	"Oh boy," Trunks said under his breath, then he said aloud, "then 
let's try taking him out together."

	Sayaman nodded and the two Super Saya-jins charged.

	Broli meanwhile, was powering up.  He raised his right hand and 
fired a green energy ball at the two heros.  They dodged the ball but 
never noticed it explode and expand until it was too late.

	On the ground....

	Sailor Moon and Yin Yang-chan looked up as they heard the explosion 
that had punctuated Kunzites statement.  They saw as Sayaman and 
Trunks fell out of the sky and crashed into the ground, leaving small 
craters.  Trunks, who was still conscious but badly weakened, crawled 
out of his hole and staggered over to Sayamans.  He jumped down into 
it and he shouted up the one thing the others didn't want to hear, 
"He's out cold."

	Broli landed next to Trunks as he was reaching for a senzu and 
casually batted him away.  Trunks went flying out of the crater and 
landed several yards away, making the remains of an old building 
collapse on top of him in the process.

	The others gasped as Broli rose out of the hole and glared at them.  
Yin Yang-chan got into a ready stance and said, "Sailor Moon, guard 
Pluto.  I'll handle this guy."

	"Ran.." Sailor Moon corrected herself, "Yin-chan, don't do it!  
You're not strong enough to beat him."

	"No choice," the young martial artist replied, "I have to try.  
Besides, I may not be strong enough... but I may be FAST enough."

	"Please, be careful."

TO BE CONCLUDED....