Sailor Moon - Warriors of Ether
by David Farr

Disclaimer: The characters of Sailor Moon belong to their copyright
holder. The characters of Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi. They are
used here with permission for fanfiction purposes.

Author's Note: Don't worry, this is as close to a cross-over that this
series is going to get.

*****
Chapter 6

	Raye Hino looked at the mess of a temple courtyard. Despite council
promises of help, or perhaps because of it, a week had passed without
repairs beginning. The battle between the angles, devils and the scouts
had left the courtyard full of holes., Thankfully the temple building had
been repaired, or else sleeping at night would have been drafty.
	"Hey, Raye!" Her head shot up when she heard Serena's voice. Raye almost
had to smile when she saw her four friends standing at the temple gate.
	Mina, the only member of the scouts to be seriously hurt, still walked
with exaggerated care. Raye guessed her bruises still hadn't faded.
Artemis was probably a little grateful, seeing as Mina wasn't swinging
his basket all over the place as she usually did. Luna was along too,
draped over Serena's shoulder as usual. Raye just had to wonder how
comfortable that was. The small group weaved there way across the
battlefield to Raye.
	"So, Serena, what plan have you come up with to take my mind off
things?" Raye asked when they got to her.
	"This," the blonde announced, shoving a brightly coloured piece of paper
into Raye's face.
	Raye pushed Serena's hand back so that she could see it. She mumbled as
she read, then turned to look at her friend. "A school fair?" she
repeated incredulously. "In Nerima? Where'd you get this?"
	Amy smiled. "Someone had dropped a number of them into the Pigeon's
Nest. Serena saw one last night, and called the rest of us."
	"Yeah, she wanted to surprise you," Lita added.
	Raye sighed. Her chances of talking them out of it were slim. Of course
there was one avenue she could try. "What do you think about this Luna?
Shouldn't we stay in Juuban in case something happens."
	Luna did her best to shrug. "I think you girls should go have fun, I'm
sure Katsuko can handle anything that comes up."
	"Yeah, and take us with you!" a voice piped up from Mina's basket.
Artemis poked his head out, grinning, and immediately pulled it back in
when Luna glared at him.
	Raye nodded, knowing she was defeated, but not really caring. "Okay
then, I'll just go tell grandpa."

*****

	Junko fiddled impatiently. She had already flicked through the magazines
in the office, they would have been more interesting if the martial
artists in them hadn't been wearing shirts. She glanced around the room,
wondering what was taking Katsuko so long.
	The school's receptionist glanced over at the hyperactive youth. "I'm
sure she won't be much longer. Tell me, why don't you go outside and
enjoy yourself?" the woman asked.
	"Oh, I couldn't, I promised Katsuko I'd wait," Junko informed her
sincerely.
	"Well, these things can take some time," the secretary explained in a
comforting voice.
	As if on cue the door to the inner office opened, admitting Katsuko and
the schools personnel officer.
	"... I'm glad to give you the job." The latter was saying. "Frankly
it'll be a relief to have someone on the staff who can fight."
	Katsuko smiled and shook her head. "This'll be the first time I ever got
a teaching job with that criteria."
	"Yes, well, the staff are caught between two warring factions, the
principle and the students, and with all the martial artists around it
really is a war."
	Katsuko nodded again. "Well I'll be glad to help. Pity I can't start for
a couple of months."
	"Yes, well, I'll see you in a few months then."
	The two bid each other goodbye, then Katsuko turned to Junko. While the
youth had decided to wear a normal dress, a cute little yellow thing with
bows, Katsuko had come in a formal Kimono. Junko was surprised to find
that Katsuko, seemingly a modern woman, seemed almost at ease as she
glided around in the traditional attire.
	Junko positively bounced over to her friend, smiling happily. "Come on,
the fair's started already, lets go play!" she demanded in a way usually
only children could manage.
	"Okay Junko, I suppose I promised." Katsuko sighed and let herself be
dragged from the office and through the building.
	The school fields were packed with stalls and people. The nattering of
hawkers attracting customers filled the air along with the smells of
exotic foods. Bright colours and flashing lights dazzled the onlookers
into playing the various games on offer. All the proceeds from the stalls
went to the clubs, so it was all in a good cause.
	"Oh, look at that!" cried Junko. "Come on Katsuko!" She grabbed
Katsuko's arm and pulled her towards one of the stalls. As they
approached Katsuko could easily see what had caught her friends
attention. Sitting in a position of honor was a stuffed panda only
slightly smaller than a person.
	Junko wilted when she saw the game in the stall. "Ow, its a dart toss,
I'm no good at that," she whined.
	"Have a go anyway young lady," the student behind the counter suggested.
"You never know you might get lucky."
	Junko perked up. "Okay!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, handing over a
coin.
	As the student handed over three darts, Katsuko started looking around
the other stalls. She heard two soft twacks and a startled cry. Turning
back she found an unhappy Junko standing frowning at the dart board, and
the student operating the stall hiding beneath the counter. The first of
the darts had struck the five wedge of the dart board, unfortunately it
was the board next to the one Junko had been aiming at. The second dart
was buried in the wood panel very close to one of the soft toy prizes. Of
the third dart there was no sign.
	"Damn!" swore Junko, stamping her foot.
	"How much for the panda?" Katsuko asked of the student.
	"Three bullseyes," he replied, poking his head up over the counter. "But
I'm not letting her throw again."
	Katsuko nodded. "Okay, give me three," she ordered, pulling out a coin.
She took the darts from the nervous student, taking a step back. The
student had a strange sinking feeling as he watched his latest customer
take up a stance and gently weight the dart in one hand.

*****

	Serena, Amy, Raye, Mina and Lita stood at the Furnikan High gates,
gazing at all the colour. The trip from Juuban had been long and boring.
Raye's temper had quickly worn thin, and the others found themselves
hoping that the fair was worth it. It looked like they weren't going to
be disappointed.
	Serena sniffed the air. "Hmm, food," she commented. "Let's eat!"
	"Typical Serena," grumbled Raye, "always thinking with her stomach."
	"Actually Raye, I think it's be good to stop for lunch," Amy put in.
	"Yeah," Mina agreed vocally. "Then we can have some fun."
	Raye shook her head as the others trooped off, following Serena's nose.
It wasn't long before they found a pair of food stalls. The banner above
one proclaimed the stall as Ucchan's Okonomikya, the second was from a
restaurant called the Cat Cafe. As the girls stood discussing the choices
Lita noticed something strange heading towards them.
	She blinked a couple of times, but it remained. "Uh, tell me, is there a
huge stuffed Panda headed this way?" she asked the others in a distant
tone.
	The other four girls turned to find that there was indeed a stuffed
panda the size of a person making its way through the crowd towards them.
As it got to the open area a familiar figure stepped out from behind it,
although a restraining hand placed on the shoulder of whoever was behind
it.
	"Katsuko?!" the five girls chorused.
	Katsuko, hearing her voice, turned to see them. She waved and directed
whoever was carrying the panda towards them.
	"Hello girls, nice to see you. Surprising, but nice," she smiled.
	"Hey, watch it!" Lita snapped as the panda bumped into her.
	"Sorry," came the muffled voice from behind the toy. "Can't see a thing
from back here."
	"That voice is familiar," Serena commented. "Who's back there?"
	The panda rotated itself to reveal Junko clutching the Panda's back. She
had turned her head so she could see off to one side, and it could be
seen that she wore a large smile on her face. "Hey, its Serena and her
friend Amy," she announced, somehow brightening her smile.
	"Perhaps we should make some introductions," Katsuko suggested. "Girls,
this is Junko, my friend and the barmaid at the Pigeon's Nest." Raye
groaned and rolled her eyes.
	Serena smiled and introduced her friends. "We were just about to get
lunch, would you like to join us?"
	Katsuko paused for a second. "What do you say Junko?"
	"Sounds like a good idea," Junko exclaimed happily, "but someone's gonna
have to carry mine for me."
	It wasn't long before the group had brought their food and started
looking for a place to eat. In the end they sat down on the embankment
overlooking the lower field, where a ring had been  set up. People had
just started gathering so there was still a lot of space. Serena
shovelled away her food while the others calmly ate and talked.
	"Did you come just for the fair, Katsuko?" Raye asked between bites.
	"No, I had business in Nerima," Katsuko replied, slowly shaking her
head. "Junko and I had a day off, and seeing as I was coming here anyway
she joined me."
	"Glad I did to," Junko added, reclining against the oversized panda.
	Luna and Artemis poked there heads sleepily out of Mina's carrying case.
"Merrow?" the black cat asked.
	"Oh, you brought your cats, cool," Junko leant past Lita to stroke the
nearest furry head. Artemis seemed to enjoy the attention.
	"Do you carry those two everywhere?" Katsuko asked, smiling in an
attempt to hold back her laughter. "It can't be very comfortable for
them." Luna and Artemis both gave that slit eyed, 'oh, you wouldn't
believe it' stare.
	Mina pulled a sour faced Luna from the basket. "This is Serena's cat,
Luna." She passed him over to Junko, who dropped him in her laps and
started stroking her. Luna looked almost looked pleased to by away from
Mina. "And this," Mina announced, pulling Artemis from the basket,
"is..."
	"Maria!" another voice announced, and Artemis was snatched from Mina's
hands. A cute girl in a frilly dress was standing behind the group
cuddling the white moon cat a little to closely. Artemis, for his part,
was trying not to make choking sounds that would give away the fact he
could speak.
	"Hey, give me back Artemis!" Mina demanded, jumping to her feet and
turning on the girl.
	"No, my Maria!" the girl stated and hugged Artemis even tighter.
	"He's mine, and his name's Artemis!" Mina declared.
	"My Maria!" the girl repeated.
	"Artemis!" Mina was almost yelling.
	"Maria!" the girl yelled.
	"Ack!" Artemis croaked.
	"Asuza, there you are," said a calm smooth voice. A handsome young man
sauntered up to the arguing pair and extracted the cat from Asuza's arms.
"Why must you always cause trouble?" He turned back to Mina. "I must
apologise for my skating partner. She just gets this way sometimes." He
handed the cat back to Mina. As he did so, he leaned close to her.
"Perhaps, for such a pretty girl, I can apologise with a kiss."
	Mina stood there not moving, holding Artemis to her chest, as the young
man's lips came closer. She was totally taken in by his charm, and would
have let him kiss her if his head hadn't suddenly been beaten into the
ground by a plate.
	"Give me back Maria!" Asuza demanded, holding the two halves of the
broken plate.
	The young man immediately popped back up and dragged the strange girl
away, grumbling.
	A small ripple of laughter passed through the assembled girls. Artemis,
having been rescued from Asuza's crushing embrace, now found himself held
in the tight embrace of someone gazing longingly after the retreating
boy.
	"He's cute," Mina sighed.
	Artemis "ack"ed once more, then nipped Mina's arm. She immediately
realised him with a cry of surprise.
	"What did you do that for?" she snapped angrily.
	"It was probably because you were cutting off his breathing," Raye
pointed out. Artemis shot Mina a glare over his shoulder before
scampering back into the basket.
	Mina dropped back into a sitting position. "I didn't even get his name,"
she pouted.
	Lita laughed. "Girl, you've got your priorities skewed. Get his name
before you get the kiss."
	Katsuko leaned forward, staring at the ring. "Looks like they're getting
ready to start their main event," she commented. She turned her gaze to
the large crowd that now sat round them. "Looks like its popular around
here."
	"Remember what that woman said about martial artists," Junko commented.
"You know, how there were lots around here."
	Katsuko nodded in thought. "You're right, this may actually be
interesting."
	"I didn't know you were interested in martial arts," Lita said.
	Katsuko waved dismissively. "Just something I picked up over the years."
	Below in one corner of the ring a small group had gathered. A teenaged
boy stood in the ring, leaning against the ropes, talking to those about
him. There seemed to be a heated discussion between the boy and a girl,
apparently the same age. It wasn't long before the argument ended with
the girl mallet the boy (where did that mallet come from?) and stalking
off. Moments later the boy was helped to his feet by...
	"A panda?" Lita asked incredulously.
	The others, who'd been been chatting away and generally not paying
attention, turned to look where Lita was staring in wide eyed shock. Sure
enough, what looked like a big panda bear was standing at the edge of the
ring, holding up a sign. If the group had been able to read the sign they
would have been surprised to see that it read "Are you okay boy?"
	"That has got to be a man in a suit," Amy commented. "No one would let a
panda wonder around a school fair."
	Katsuko peered down at the bear. "Pretty convincing suit as far as I can
see."
	A second young man carrying a bullhorn walked out into the centre of the
ring. Moments later the first young man, seeming to have recovered
perfectly from the malleting, walked out to join him.
	"Come," the student yelled through the bullhorn, and was immediately
drowned out by the squeals of feedback. He fiddled with the loud hailer
while dodging missiles thrown by the audience. "Come one, come all, to
the greatest show in Nerima. We have prizes to give away, and all you
have to do to get them is last thirty seconds in the ring with the great
Ranma Saotome!" There was a small commotion on one side of the ring and
everyone could see that a small knot of contestants had already formed.
"I've got an idea, why don't we give anyone who just gets in the ring a
free visit to Doctor Tofu." A small ripple of laughter passed through the
crowd. "There's only one thing folks, a chance at Ranma will cost you
five hundred yen." The group of contestants didn't seem to be getting any
bigger.
	"Looks like they won't be getting a lot of money," Mina commented.
	"The real money is in concessions," Amy commented, pulling a book from
her bag and opening it.
	"What?" Mina asked, confused.
	"She means selling snacks and drinks," Raye explained.
	"Oh, I see," Mina declared, then turned to look for someone selling
snacks and drinks.
	Katsuko and Lita were watching with intense interest as the first
challenger entered the ring. He was wearing samurai robes and carrying a
bokken.
	"That doesn't seem fair," Lita commented.
	"The boy seems confident," Katsuko pointed out.
	The samurai lasted twenty seconds, before flying out of the ring.
	Lita sat staring at the ring. She wasn't sure what had just happened,
but the fight was an impressive display.
	"That had to be fake," she decided.
	"I don't know," Junko commented, thinking back to the waiting room.
"They seem quiet keen on their martial arts here."
	"Fascinating, that looked like Anything Goes," Katsuko muttered.
	The fights continued, and it didn't take much to realise that the
champion was merely playing with most of them. While there were a large
number of contestants, a small number kept coming back, the samurai was
one, a young man in Chinese robes and a few other strange boys. The
battles tended to take most of the thirty seconds, but end very suddenly,
as Ranma suddenly took out his opponent.
	Everyone gave a startled jump when Katsuko's kimono started beeping
loudly. The nearby crowd turned to stare at her as she reached in and
searched for something. It was only a few moments before she pulled out a
cellphone and silenced it with a button push.
	"Yes," she demanded of the small device, there was a short pause. "This
had better be important, this number is only for emergencies." The scouts
watched Katsuko, her face growing darker as she listened. "Damn," she
swore at last, "I'll have to come in."
	"Trouble?" Amy asked.
	"Yes," Katsuko replied angrily. "The stockmarket just took a turn for
the worse. My investment advisor wants to talk about the repercussions."
The girls all sighed in relief. "Junko, I have to go back home, do you to
come with me, or stay with here and catch the train home with the
others?"
	Junko looked thoughtful for a few moments, glancing at the stuffed panda
then about them. "I think I'd better go back with you in the car, I don't
want to be carrying this all day."
	Katsuko nodded. "Okay, lets go. See you girls."
	Luna leapt off the small girls lap. Junko lifted her panda once more,
and with Katsuko leading her, managed to totter off. The five girls left
behind watched them leave before turning their attention back to the
fight.
	"You know he reminds of my old boyfirend," Lita commented, staring
dreamily at Ranma.
	The other four girls, plus the two cats, looked at her and groaned.

*****

	Sunset cast the a red hue to the landscape as it speed past. Inside the
train the five exhausted teenagers relaxed after a long day.
	Mina sighed as she stared out the window. Her elbows rested on the
window sill, her chin in her hands. She gazed out the window into the
darkening sky, and let out another big sigh.
	"I'll probably never see him again," she sighed.
	"And I thought Lita was bad," Artemis commented, a little too loudly.
	"Hey!" both girls complained, looming over the cheeky cat. Artemis
quickly scrambled away before things got violent and settled next to
Luna, hiding under the chair.
	"That wasn't a very smart thing to say Artemis," Luna commented, glaring
at the other cat.
	"It got her out of her funk," the cat commented.
	"I suppose so." Luna nodded.  "I'm glad they enjoyed today, despite
Mina's search for that young man."
	Artemis looked at  her quizzically. "That sounds ominous."
	Luna frowned. "I know, I just feel like this might be the last chance
they get to have fun for awhile."

-----
-----------
Rarstarr,
David Farr
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/
djfarr@ihug.co.nz