This is a 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.  :)

This was not particularly well-received the first time I sent it to the 
FFML.  I was going to change a bunch of stuff.  But then I read it... and 
darn it!  I *liked* it the way I wrote it the first time.  :)  I did make 
some changes based on some excellent C&C I got, but this is not the 
wholesale rewrite I first imagined.

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).  I *do* use "Ami" for "Amy" 
and "Rei" for "Raye" since they're close enough to make no difference.

Lots of extrapolation here.  It's what I like to do.  :)

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, like I said, 
I had a lot of fun with it.  ^_^

Let me know if the formatting is screwy.  I'm trying something slightly 
different in posting this story.

Let me know what you think.

-Richard
sterman@sprynet.com

|------------------------------------------------------|
| All of my fanfics can be found on my fanfic web page |
|  http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/sterman/fanfic.htm  |
|------------------------------------------------------|


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 to the shadow.  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

Comments & Criticism Welcome!
sterman@sprynet.com


"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 watching 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, pleased.

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 déjà vu thing.  He closed his eyes, trying to define it.

Dissolution.  Blackness.  Death.  Something sucking him in, a black hole 
that led to nothingness.

A black hole, he thought as he opened his eyes, rather like the one in 
front of him right now.

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 fly 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 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 hometown, 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 this 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 befuddled 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 
café 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 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, radiating menace and evil.  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 café.  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.  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 café.  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 déjà 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 café?"  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 attacked 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 was not 
always 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 tale.  "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 déjà 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 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 after that?"

"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 of some sort. 
 This had a blade at the end, however.  "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 would be 
outside the influence of the Queen's spells.  So far, that 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 
wedge 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 tried to fend it off with her 
staff, but it seemed only partially successful.  While she didn't fall 
exactly, 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 once again 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 more 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.  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.

The battle was going very badly for the Warriors.  Sailor Venus was missing 
and Sailor Pluto seemed to be in 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.  That bothered 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 badly 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 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.

A hand roughly grabbed his shirt and spun him around.  He looked into the 
angry face of the King.  Angry, and terribly frightened.  "You!  How did 
you know?"

Ranma was still feeling slightly disoriented, which was the only thing that 
kept him from wrenching the King's arm out of his socket.  "Weren't you 
listening?  I felt it.  Felt the evil.  In her."

"In Serena."  The King looked up at the Queen, still surrounded by an ugly 
gray mass that shot lightening all around.  "I can't feel it.  And my link 
to her is much stronger than yours.  I can feel her, angry, confused, and 
so full of rage.  But none of this 'evil' you spoke of."

Ranma stretched his senses again.  He really didn't need to; the sense of 
evil was so overwhelming he felt slightly nauseous.  "It's still there. 
 She's practically dripping with it."

The King turned his gaze back to Ranma.  He stared into his eyes for a few 
long seconds.  Then he wilted slightly before stiffening into a kind of 
terrible resolve.  "Then you must be the one to confront her.  If you can 
feel the evil, you may be able to block it while we try to get through to 
her."

Ranma chewed his lip.  "I- I don't know that I've got that kind of power. 
 She's so strong.  She damn near killed me just now."

"I will give you power."  The King put his arm around Ranma's waist and 
lifted him into the air.  Ranma swallowed an exclamation and looked up. 
 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.

Ranma winced.  "I, uh could use that power.  I don't if I can take many 
more like that."

The King 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, nearly ripping away the shield.  It held, but Ranma 
wasn't sure if the King's power would be enough to sustain it for long.  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!"  From behind him the King shouted above the crackling of the 
energy surrounding them and the Queen. "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 déjà 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."

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."  Tears were falling from Sailor Mercury's eyes. 
 "Progress only comes at a cost.  Otherwise we stagnate, and eventually 
wither and die."

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 
flare 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, dear.  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:

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.  :)