Dear Listmembers,
I would like to offer these first two chapters (of a 13 chapter) fanfiction
for C&C.  I am looking for comments on creative content (plot,
characterization, etc.).
I am by no means an expert on Asian culture or language so I would also
appreciate
suggestions on correcting major faux paux.  This two chapter segment is 94
kb. I am not subscribed to the list so please send C&C to
   
samr@my-dejanews.com  
(samr was the name of my first Irish Wolfhound. ^_^  ) 
Please do NOT send e-mail to janne. 
I am using this e-mail (temporarily) until I can get a system that will
allow me to send larger packets at one time.  If anyone is interested I
have posted two fanfictions on the RAAC,
"Love is a Battlefield" and "Bloodfist" under the name Allyn Yonge.
Reading these may help explain the [dark/waffy.] I thought of using a new
acronym
[DAFFY] but decided that didn't really work either. ^_^ I think they're
more WAFFY than dark but there are scenes of violence and angst. 

I would like to thank my three present pre-readers KazamaJun, Thiemo and
Ken Wolfe for their patience and invaluable assistance. They have made this
fanfiction immeasurably better. Any omissions and mistakes are entirely mine.
 
BEGIN CHAPTERS 1 AND 2

The characters of the Ranma � universe are the creation
and possession of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. They belong to Rumiko
Takahashi and her licensees (Shogakukan Inc., Kitty-Fuji TV, Viz
Communications Inc.) No copyright infringement is intended. 
The characters of Sailor Moon are the creation and possession of the
brilliant  Takeuchi Naoko. They belong to Takeuchi Naoko,  Bandai, Toei
Animation, DIC, and all others associated
with rights. No copyright infringement is intended.

Please reply to samr@my-dejanews.com

 [fanfic][sailormoon/ranma] [dark/waffy]Nemesis

Prologue
     Technicians and repair crews scurried aside as the tall
blond Senshi stalked down the hallway. At her best
Sailoruranus was not one to cross. At her worst. . .well there
might be more painful fates. The entire universe hadn't yet
been explored.
     "Director Ras, how is the project coming?"
The elderly balding director of research bowed respectfully.  He
was one of the few people in the Imperium that had no fear of
Sailoruranus. She respected competency, whatever the field,
while he shared the Senshi's fanatic loyalty to the Crown. 
     "Oh it is coming very well indeed. All support and
control systems have been implanted. There are no signs of
rejection this time.  Your suggestion that we tear out the
original lymphatic system and replace it was pure genius."
Sailoruranus waved the compliment aside.
     "The fire control system checks out perfectly with the
secondary. . ."
	Sailoruranus cut him off.
     	"And the primary weapon? How long until full power
tests?"
The director frowned.
     "That will take some time. I did warn you. . ."
     'Show me."
Ras turned to a blank wall and waved a hand over it. The
featureless grey dissolved and was replaced by a scene from
hell.  A tiny girl was strapped  to an upright cruciform. Clusters
of wires, tubes and cables sprouted from her nude body like
weeds. In front of her face, at eye level, a cluster of tiny colored
hoops and spheres whirled and danced like a swarm of gnats.
To one side and slightly behind her stood two women in the
garb of Senshi. The taller, dark hared senshi monitored a bank
of screens, while the smaller, aqua-haired senshi  stood by, idly
tapping  a neural whip against her thigh.
     "Please.  It hurts. Please." The whispered plea seemed to
go  unnoticed as the two senshi conferred.
     "It will stop hurting when you get it right. Now, put the
spheres through the hoops, without touching the edges." The
aqua-haired senshi pointed to a screen just beyond the swirling
spheres. On the screen a colored alpha numeric series flashed
past in a blur. "The screen gives you your targeting priorities.
Don't miss any, don't get any out of order and it won't hurt."
So saying, she pressed the neural whip between the bound girls
legs and twisted the setting to high. The girl screamed and
arched against her bonds. If human strength sufficed she would
have snapped the battle steel bands like tissue.  Human strength
did not suffice.
     "Work through the pain." The dark haired senshi
commented. "You're losing focus. You'll never survive
activation if you can't work through the pain."
Sailoruranus looked down at the bound screaming girl.
     "What is her progress?"
     "Oh, excellent, really excellent. None of our other
subjects have made it this far. You'll notice" Ras pointed to
characters scrolling across the bottom of the window. "that
despite the pain she is accomplishing her task with better than
sixty five percent accuracy. And the pain inflicted by failure
never degrades her performance by more than twelve percent.
At this rate I expect we can have a full power test by the end of
the year."
     "Unacceptable." The response was flat and implacable.
"I want a full power test by the end of the week."
     "That's impossible. We've cut rest and recovery breaks
to the minimum now and. . ."
     "Eliminate them.  You can feed her through a tube. Add
stims to keep her awake." She stared down at the director.
"There's a war coming Ras. I know it, you know it. The
Imperium is going to need every weapon to survive. We need
this one, no matter the consequences. 
 

Chapter 1. 
Things were going badly for the Sailor Senshi. Venus was
down, bleeding form a score of wounds. Mercury stood over
her friend, trying to buy time for Venus to recover, for the
others to arrive.
     "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody"
The Millennial harp sang  as Mercury threw her most
powerful attack at the monster. Again. She was hitting the
thing. She could see the strikes hit home. With as little effect
as Venus's "Love and Beauty Shock". She had to do
something . . .
     "Shine Snow Illusion"
The deadly storm blasted the monster to it's knees, or
whatever it used in their place. Mercury had no faith in her
ability to actually stop the monster. Instead she used the
distraction to heave Venus over her shoulders in a fireman's
carry and run. She could hear the monster raking the air with
searching fire. At least the "Shine Snow Illusion" seemed to
confuse it a little. Her "Shabon Spray" and even the "Double
Shabon Spray freezing" hadn't done even that much. Zig-
zagging frantically, Mercury pounded for a low wall. She
threw Venus into the depression behind the wall and tumbled
inelegantly after. There was a snapping sound as she landed. For a moment
she wondered if she'd left a pencil stuck in her sash again. Then the pain
almost blasted the top of her head off. Biting back a gasp she dashed tears
of pain from her eyes , brought out
her computer and started checking Venus's injuries. She
prayed Minako would be all right. She prayed the monster
wouldn't find them and the others would get there soon. She
prayed for direct divine intervention . . .nothing
fancy, just a few angels with fiery swords and maybe a
Buddha or three when. . .
     "The people of Japan work hard all week and deserve
a break on the weekend. For disturbing the peace of this park,
perhaps the only green and unpaved non-neonlighted place in
all Japan--- plus the place where I got my first kiss, a place
where all young lovers can go. . ."
     "Will you blast it already!!"  A peevish voice came over the wall.
Mercury was having a
really bad day.
     ". . . to have quality time to. . ." Sailormoon sucked a
few cubic liters of air into oxygen starved lungs.
     "But I worked really hard on this speech."
     "Just do it!" 
     "Oh all right. ETERNAL MOO . . .Aaaaaaaa."
     "Aaaaa? What's Aaaa?" Mercury cautiously peeped
back over the wall to see Sailormoon frantically dodging and
leaping away from energy blasts. 
     "OAK"
Jupiter! They were saved.
     "EVOLU. . ." 
THWAK!!
A blast from the creatures right hand smashed Sailorjupiter
into a wall and unconsciousness. 
     "Sailormercury! You've got to help Sailormoon."
     "Luna, I don't have anything left."
     "You've got to. It's your duty to. . ."
     "I don't have ANYTHING LEFT!" Mercury half screamed as she frantically
typed commands into her computer,
searching for a weakness in their foe. 
     " I can't do a 'Shabon Spray' let alone summon
the �Harp'." Ami pointed to her leg, twisted under her. "I can't even get
up without help." She tapped another
command into her computer. "And something is still blanking
the communicators. I can't get a call through to the Outers."
     "Mars?"
     "I don't know if she heard the first All Call."
Frantically Luna looked over the wall as her princess dogged
and leaped to avoid the creature's attacks, trying to gain
enough time and space to launch her "Eternal Silver Kiss
Attack'. Suddenly Sailormoon turned on her opponent.
     "MOOOON FRISBEEEE MAGIC!" 
Hope blossomed in Luna's face as the monster staggered
under Sailormoon's oldest but now seldom used attack.
     "Ha, Moon dust. . . Eeeep!"
Sailormoon almost avoided the creature's return shot. The
near miss spun her around and slammed her into a tree. 
     "NOOOOOOOO!!!! Usagi!!"
Terror and despair broke down barriers in Luna's mind that
had existed since her long cryogenic sleep. The crescent moon
sigil on her forehead flared and a call that had not been heard
in ten times ten thousand years went out.  For the first time
since the fall of the Silver Millennium the Imperial Rally
summoned the Blood Guard to defend the Royal Family. 

     "Luna! Look!"
At Sailormercury's cry, Luna looked up in time to see the
monster blasted back, away from the fallen Sailormoon.. Luna
and Sailormercury watched in amazement as a figure
wreathed in flame charged the fallen monster. Luna groaned
in despair as the monster fired a blast that caught their
rescuer squarely in the chest. To the astonishment of Luna
and Sailormercury the onrushing figure charged through the
weapons blast as if it didn't exist. Closing with the monster, the
figure smashed it with what appeared to be an axe
or war-hammer. The monster went down, stunned for an
instant, then lurched to it's feet and soon the two were locked
in a furious battle.  The action was too close and too fast for
Sailormercury to make out any detail. She brought her visor
on-line and started feeding data directly into her computer. 
With the naked eye the battle was incredible. Viewed through
her visor it was impossible.  As Sailormercury watched, the
monster threw a flurry of short savage blows at its opponent.
Sailormercury suddenly realized that the monster was trying
to gain some distance in order to employ it's energy weapon
without destroying itself as well as it's target. This was
equally obvious to its opponent, who refused to allow it a
millimeter's space as it clung grimly to the monster.. 
Sailormercury was puzzled by their rescuer's  defensive
posture. No matter how tough it was, the monster's blows
would eventually kill or disable it. And in this kind of battle a
cripple was only someone waiting to die. Suddenly she
noticed an anomalous reading coming from the mysterious
figure. The power readings seemed wrong.  She tapped a few
keys. Startled at the result, she brought new sensors on-line
and added new commands. The mercury-computer thought
for a few moments then chirruped a reply. Sailormercury
stared at the result. Her head whipped up to stare at the
monster and the figure. The GLOWING figure. Her head
dropped back down to the computer screen to see. . .
    
 " oh dear "

God was knocking on the door, and he wanted in very badly.

Sailormercury dragged herself back to consciousness.
Sucking in a deep breath, she immediately choked on the
layer of dirt covering her face. Brushing her face clear, she
looked groggily around to see Sailorvenus, still lying
unconscious and remarkably free of dirt and debris.  Propping
herself shakily on one elbow she scanned the rubble filled
depression until she saw
     "Luna!"
Sailormercury rolled over, grabbed the black tip that just
protruded above the gravel and trash and heaved.
     "Ackkk, phhttt, bleah." Luna shook herself and
staggered a bit as she turned to face Sailormercury.. What
happened? Where's the monster?  Where's . . . USAGI!
Where's Usagi?" Luna started to scramble to the top of the
wall when Sailormercury grabbed her by the scruff and
yanked her back down.
     "Don't you mean where's Sailormoon?" Sailormercury hissed. 
     "Keep your head down till I can check things out."
Sailormercury brought her visor back on-line. Then in a
move that surprised Luna, Mercury removed the visor and
cautiously stuck it above the wall, all the while looking at her
computer screen.
     "Well, what do you see?"
     "Do you have any Windex?" Sailormercury's voice
was strained.
     "What! What!" Luna sounded frazzled. "What do
you mean? What do you need Windex for?"
     "Because that's what you use to clean glass."
Luna popped her head over the wall before Sailormercury
could stop her. The monster had been replaced with a six
meter crater of vitrified rock and fused sand that was still
glowing white hot.
     "Usa. . .  Uh I mean . . .Sailormoon. Where is she!?"
     "Over there Luna." Luna followed Mercury's
pointing finger to see Sailormoon still sprawled on the
ground. The tree that had rendered her unconscious had also
sheltered her from the worst of the blast and debris. 
     "Thank the Goddess she's all right."
     "Venus and Jupiter are going to be fine as well.
Thanks for asking."
Luna just nodded absently at Sailormercury's sarcasm,
leaped over the wall and sprinted toward her princess. 
     "Wait. . . never mind." Mercury muttered and
continued her scan. "Now where is the other. . .Ah ha. There
it is." Mercury changed filters on her scanner and zoomed in
on their mysterious savior. It appeared to have sustained
major damage, both from the monster's attack and its own
weapon, whatever that had been. Still the monster was 
dead . . .Mercury glanced at the crater. Beyond dead. And they
were alive. That counted as a victory in anyone's book She looked back at
her computer. Their savior was in trouble . . .
power levels were fluctuating badly, and it seemed to be
leaking a viscous black fluid that sizzled and popped where it
spattered thickly on the ground. Sailormercury shuddered as
she got her first clear look at the thing. It was twisted and
bent. Its flesh and features seemed to melt and reform as she
watched, like wax in a flame. Still, it had helped them. They
should try to help it.  If for no other reason than that Usagi
would want them to help.  She couldn't move but . . .
     "Venus. Sailorvenus get up."No response.
     "Sailor V, there's danger!" Nothing. 
     "LOOK! An Idol talent scout."
     "What! Where? I've got my portfolio righ. . . Oh, it's
you? What's up?"
     "Not much. Monster attacked. Trashed you, me,
Jupiter. Was about to kill Sailormoon when THAT"
Sailormercury pointed over the wall at the figure, standing 
amidst the devastation. "showed up, killed the monster and
saved us all. It's hurt. Maybe dying. I can't walk." Mercury
indicated her leg. 
	"It's broken or dislocated at the least. My senshi form
can control the pain but healing it is going to take a while.
Luna is with Sailormoon, and my scans show that she's not
badly hurt.  I need you to check on Jupiter. Then I'd like the
two of you to see about Sailormoon and our new friend."
     "Friend?  That!" Venus could see the figure clearly
now and her stomach clenched in revulsion.
     "Friend!" Mercury repeated firmly, though she
sympathized with Sailorvenus's reaction. 
     "But . . .that thing is  so . . .so . . ." Venus made a face and
shuddered in revulsion.
     "We would be dead if not for that �THING''." Mercury replied sharply.
"And until and unless we find otherwise, a friend.
Now . . .would you please go check on Jupiter?"
Venus grinned and hopped over the wall headed toward
Sailorjupiter's prone form while Mercury turned her scanner on her own
injuries.   
     "Come on Sailorjupiter, wake up." Venus ran her hand
over Jupiter's prone form with a gentle expertise that would
have surprised anyone not familiar with her days as Sailor V.
Sailorjupiter moaned and stirred groggily. 
     "Ha, I knew your head was too hard to crack."
     "Oww! Watch what you're doing."
     "As soon as you're through complaining we need to
check on Sailormoon and then our new friend."
     "Friend?" Jupiter followed Venus's pointing finger.
     "Ewwww!!!"
     "Never mind that. Can you stand?" At Jupiter's nod,
Venus helped Jupiter to her feet and the two bent, but unbowed
Senshi headed toward their princess. As they passed by, their
new "friend" suddenly seemed to notice them.
     "Seensssshhhii." The word was distorted almost
beyond recognition, rising and falling like the cry of a lost
soul.
     "Seeennnssshhhiiiii." The figure stalked them, its body
wreathed in flickering flame like the fires of hell. 
     "Uh oh."
     "Uh oh! Is that all you can say?"
     "'Run away' comes to mind, but we can't leave Sailormoon.
VENUS . . .LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"  
Venus watched in dismay as her attack hit the figure with all
the effect of a lightning bug striking a main battle tank.
     "OAK EVOLUTION!"
     "Good one Jupiter. I think you made it mad."
     "As opposed to it's former good nature!"
At Jupiter's strike, the figure produced a weapon, which
appeared to combine the features of a naginata mated with a
war-hammer, as designed by Salvador Dali and fed growth
hormones. It was big, sharp, nasty and kept melting and
reforming. Just like its master. 
Jupiter and Venus readied their attacks, hoping a combined
strike might stop it. Or at least slow it long enough for Usagi
to escape.
     "Stop!. . . Stop fighting."
     "Usagi, what are you doing?" Luna's anguished cry
wrenched Venus's and Jupiter's attention from the creature. 
They watched in horror as their leader, their princess , their
friend and reason for living limped forward and  placed herself between
them and their antagonist. 
     "It's all right. You don't have to be afraid." Sailormoon's voice was
low and soothing.
     "IT doesn't have to be afraid!" Jupiter whispered
harshly. "Personally I've always thought a little fear was a healthy thing"
Out of the corner of her eye Venus
could see Mercury dragging herself along the ground, grimly
determined to defend her princess.
Usagi ignored the commotion behind her, concentrating on the
lurching, shambling figure in front of her.
     "I'm not going to hurt you. You saved me. You saved
all of us. You don't have to be afraid." Talking soothingly, as
if to a wounded animal, Usagi slowly walked closer and
closer. As she did so she released her transformation and
reverted from Sailormoon to schoolgirl. The shocked hiss from
her Senshi was nothing to the creature's reaction. It backed
away from Usagi as if she were the devil incarnate.
     "Seerrrriiiinnnnnniiiittttttyyyy!"
Usagi stopped, shocked to hear that name no matter how
distorted, issue from the creature. 
     "Ssssseeerrrrrrinnnniittyyyyyy!
Mmmaaajjjjiiissssttttyyyyy!"
The creature took a step toward Usagi, then another and
another. A fiery hand reached for Usagi. Behind her, Venus
cursed and tried to maneuver for a shot.
     "Ppprrrrinnnceesss? Ppprrrrriiiiinnnnceesssss!"
The hand jerked back and the creature spun in a circle,
scanning its surroundings. Then it looked up to see a full
moon, hanging just above the horizon. It froze for a moment,
staring at the huge, cratered surface.
     "NOOOOOOOOO!!"
With an awful cry, the creature leaped away and quickly
disappeared from sight. 
     Usagi stood staring after the creature, tears cutting
tracks in her dusty cheeks.
     "Usagi" Venus discarded concern for secret identities
in her concern for her friend. "Are you all right? Did it hurt
you?"
     "Oh Minna-P" Usagi turned a grief stricken face to her
friend. "She's so sad and lost. So very alone." And to Venus's 
dismay Usagi burst into tears. 

Several seconds and almost as many kilometers away a flame shrouded figure
dropped to it's knees in the deserted corner of a night shadowed park. The
flaming corona brightened momentarily, then vanished with a sharp crack to
reveal a shaking form in a torn and bloody school uniform. A trembling hand
went to a tear that ripped through cloth and flesh and came away smeared
with blood. The shadowed figure lurched forward suddenly to land on all
fours spewing bile and blood in a wrenching convulsion.
	"Who are you?"
The whispered question came hoarsely past vomit slimed lips.
	"Who are you . . .what do you want?"
	##Sta'nat nat o' la tres naz. Sta'nat!##
The figure rolled back up to its feet and staggered out of the shadows.
Star light and neon gleamed softly off a cap of blue-black hair. 
	##Sta'nat! L'n trnn om'qin sar ivnrrl . . .##
	"SHUT UP. I don't understand. Just shut up. Leave me alone. Please . . ."
		Her mama and papa were laughing together and looking at each other with
love in their eyes . . . as the earth rose up and smashed them . . . she
was screaming . . .
	##Sta'nat. L'n trnn . . .##
. . .a deliciously cool breeze ruffled the puffed sleeves of her gown as
she walked in the gardens with her friends.  The center of her universe . .
.a small girl with hair so blond it was almost silver turned speaking
laughingly to her. Overhead she could see the full earth hanging like a
blue . . .
	##NTR'LANZ! STA'NAT . . .##
 . . .HATE . . .so much hate that she was sick with it. Her lips drew back
from her teeth and she lunged, snapping like a rabid wolf . . .
	"NO! STOP IT, STOPITSTOPITSTOPSTOP . . ."
Gasping like a trapped animal the figure whirled and spun . . .slashing and
kicking at  phantasms that rose and melted . . . and rose again. 
	"GO AWAY!! YOU'RE NOT REAL. YOU'RE . . .NOT . . ."
Shadows . . .blacker than old sin, crawling through the ruins of paradise ,
eating the light like maggots in the belly of god  . . . 
	"NOOOOOO! DAMMMMNN YOU!!"
A corona of light flared, dimmed then flared again. A pulse of energy
blasted into the heavens ripping the sky . . .and barriers fell . . .and
connections were made.
	## . . .amage. Autonomous Defense Mode engaged. Command Input required.
Passive scanners working. Active scanners on stage one standby.  Initiating
All-System repair. Stealth. . .##
The figure sank to the ground, blood mingling with tears that had waited a
hundred thousand years to be shed.
              

     "Oh Akane. You missed dinner. I wish you would call
if you are going to be late. I put a plate in the refrigerator, but
it's never as good reheated."
     "That's all right Kasumi. I'm not very hungry."
     "You're limping! Did you have an accident?
Should I call Dr. Tofu?"
     "I'm fine Oneesama. Just a little tired. I think I'll just
go to bed."
     "If you're sure." Worry was evident in the elder
Tendou sister's voice. 
     "I just need to lie down. But thanks for asking."
In her room, the youngest Tendou peeled off her blouse.
Impassively, she examined the massive bruising on her side.
Turning, she looked at her back in the mirror. There too was
bruising and a large gash running from her right shoulder
down and across to her left hip. As she watched, the edges
closed, leaving a red lump of tissue. Even that would be gone
in a few hours
	. ##Regeneration in progress. Energy levels at
37%."##
She ignored the voice whispering in her head..
##Primary systems on line at 65%. Secondary systems coming
up. Primary weapon recycling.##
 Akane moved to her closet and took out her favorite yellow pajamas. 
	##Sensor sweep shows no hostiles within engagement range.##
 The pajama jacket slithered over head with a cool silky feeling. ##Unknown
targets detected. No weapon signatures detected. Targeting priorities
assigned according to estimated threat level.## Akane slipped the pajama
trousers over her legs. As she did, pictures and numbers seemed to scroll
across her mind's eye. There
was a brief flicker. 
	##Input accepted. All targets re-classified as
friend. Defense priority Phoenix, second only to the Princess.
Self repair progressing. Estimated time to complete.. . .##
Akane swung out of her window and up onto the roof with a
grace and agility that would have flummoxed her fianc�. 
 ## . . .owering down main system while repair underway. Active
sensors to standby. Passive sensors set to sentry mode.##
Akane let the voice whisper on. She settled on the roof and
looked at the moon hanging above her head. The rough,
pocked features leaped into sharp focus that was not unusual
for an observatory telescope but was quite unusual for the
unaided human eye. The night passed quietly, except for the
whirr and chitter of insects and the silent voice whispering in
her head as Tendou Akane sat looking up at her dead world. 

Chapter 2.
Ami settled comfortably in the nest of cushions Makoto had
made for her. She stretched her injured leg out and sighed in
relief. It had been dislocated AND broken. And even with a
senshi's powers a green stick fracture took time to heal. And it
all hurt. A lot. 
     "USAAAAAGI."
Ami winced at Rei's shrill tone. She turned to see the senshi of
fire looming over Usagi. 
     "MY MANGA!" Rei snatched the magazine out of
Usagi's hand. "We're supposed to be having a meeting. It's
not for you to stuff your face and read manga. You're going to
sit here and pay attention for once." Rei dropped down beside
Usagi with an air of permanence. 
     "And not a word out of you!" She cut Usagi off as she
started to speak. "BE QUIET!. Sit. Listen. LEARN!" 
Ami stifled a chuckle. Rei had been wild when she'd found out
about the attack and Usagi's injuries. She hadn't let Usagi out
of her site since then. She was sleeping  over at Usagi's  house
and even  following her into the toilet at school Ami had no
idea how she had arranged to be at their school, but had no
doubt Rei was going to be a permanent fixture until the crisis
has passed. 
     "I know a few things about what happened, not much,
but a little."
Rei and Usagi stopped their fighting and swivelled to face Ami.
Minako and Makoto joined the semi-circle facing Ami.
     "I'll divide this into two parts. First, our new enemy.
I'll call him a cyborg, though neither term is quite correct."
     "Cyborg?"
     "You know Makoto ,a robot, like Ultra Man."
     "Not quite Usagi. Cyborg means cybernetic organism,
a melding of animal and machine. Although in this case, the
machine isn't like anything I've ever seen. And the animal,
well it's definitely not terrestrial."
     "Well that's a relief."
Everyone stared at Usagi .
     "Well I'm tired of fighting all these terrible things. It'll
be nice to have something that's not terrible."
Rei jerked Usagi's head around.
     "That's terrestrial. Terr-es-trial. NOT Terr-able. Don't
you know anything You're going to get killed . . ."
Usagi pushed her face close to the enraged fire senshi until
there noses touched.
     "GOT-TCH-A"
Rei stared, frozen, at the laughing moon princess. Then with a
howl of rage she launched herself at Usagi knocking her to the
floor. She began screaming and shaking Usagi.
     "You idiot. You stupid, stupid, useless, clumsy. . ."
Rei was sobbing uncontrollably "You could have got yourself
killed, you could have died. Stupid, stupid girl. You could
have died. . ."
Usagi grabbed Rei in bear hug and started rocking her back
and forth.
     "I'm OK Rei. I'm OK. Go ahead and cry. It's all right.
Every thing is OK." She continued to cradle Rei in her arms,
stroking her back ,murmuring soothingly to her until her tears
abated. 
     "Feel better now? Here blow." She handed Rei a
tissue.
Rei looked up shamefaced. 
     "I'm sorry I . . ." 
     "It's all right Rei. Believe me, no one wishes you had
been there more than we do."
     "That's right." Makoto added. "It was just luck I was
close enough to get the all call before the communicatory went
out." She turned to Ami. "How did that happen anyway?"
     "Perhaps I should start over. The new enemy seems to
be a cyborg, of alien origin. It's covered in some kind of
composite armor that's very tough."
Minako and Makoto nodded in unconscious agreement. 
     "Unfortunately the armor also kept me from getting
very good sensor readings. And I didn't manage to get a
sample to analyze." She turned slightly toward Minako. "You
saved all our lives yesterday."
     "I did? I did! Well of course I did." Minako struck a
pose . "For am I not the  agent of love and beauty, called by
the goddess. . .uh how did I save every one?"
Ami grinned at Minako's infectious exuberance, then sobered. 
     "Your first attack damaged this." Ami brought up a
schematic of their attacker on her computer. Everyone
crowded around to see. "This 'gun' for lack of a better word,
warps space."
Everyone stared at Ami.
     "I don't know how, but this �gun' can warp space, basically twisting
anything it hit out of our space and into another..
It will destroy anything it hits and it will hit anything it can see,
within  certain limits."
     "Which are?" Minako was suddenly very serious. Ami
suspected she was seeing Sailor V, rather than Sailorvenus.
     "First, it takes a lot of power. I think this is a single
shot weapon. No more than two, unless it's got a power supply
that I couldn't scan. Which is possible. Secondly, it may be possible to
develop a counter generator that will dampen it's power. But for that I'll
need an intact weapon to examine. Even with an example developing a defense
will take time if it's possible at all.  And finally, it seems to be very
short ranged.. This may be a design limitation of the weapon or it may be a
safety feature. In any event, coupled with everything else it gives the
weapon a maximum range, in atmosphere, of less than fifty to one hundred
meters."At the looks of relief on the other's faces she added a stern
warning. "You must understand, within these limits this weapon is
unbeatable. There is nothing that will protect you. It will cut a
battleship in two as easily as you'd cut a stick of butter with a hot
knife." Seeing that her teammates were properly chastened she continued.
     "These �cyborg's' are very strong and fast. In senshi form we are
faster, marginally. I think it's stronger, but not as maneuverable as we
are. It's got another weapon. What's known in science fiction as a 'Blaster'."
     "What's that?"
     "A controlled  discharge of very high energy . . ."
     "You mean it shoots lightning bolts."
Ami stared at Usgi who gave her a gamine grin.
     "Hey, I'm not as stupid as you think I am"
     "No one could be"
Usagi nodded happily, then whipped around. 
     "Hey, pyro. What's that crack supposed to mean?"
Ami gently cleared her throat. The bickering stopped instantly.
     "I've evolved some tentative tactics to deal with this
enemy." She pulled some papers out of her bag and passed
them around."This is a schematic of the thing. I've outlined
the weak points in red, with text describing which attack
should be most effective. Obviously first priority in an attack
must be the warp gun. As long at that gun is intact we're
at a great disadvantage. The tactics I've evolved depend on
teamwork, our superior maneuverability and sniping at it
beyond the weapons maximum range." She paused and fixed
everyone with a very un-Ami like glare. "NO ONE is to fight
one of these things alone. Wait until we are all together. If
there's more than one of them, we have to separate them and
hit them five against one." She waited a moment to be sure
everyone understood. 
     "Now for our second visitor. It seems. . ."
     "She."
     "What?"
     "She. You said it. It's  a she. I mean she's the it. "
Usagi foundered a moment. "I mean" Usagi enunciated
carefully "that she is a she.  A girl. Not an it." At the looks
from the others she went on defensively. "Hey, I talked to her.
And she's real sad about something."
     "Maybe 'cause she didn't get to fry us." Makoto
muttered sotto voice. Not sotto enough as Usagi glared at her.
Makoto  shrugged apologetically and turned her attention back to Ami.
     "I couldn't get very good readings. And a lot of the
ones I did get don't make much sense. To start with it . ." she
paused as Usagi gave her a hurt look. "To start with SHE
seems to be in a higher energy state." At the blank looks
elaborated. "All of her electrons appear to have been kicked
up to the next shell." The looks slipped from blank to vacant. 
     "Essentially she is in a  gaseous state, a living plasma. 
Vacant became vacuous.
     "A flame. She's a living flame, alright!"
     "Jeeez. Get a grip Ami."
     "Sorry." Ami flushed in embarrassment at her
uncharacteristic loss of temper.
     "I have no idea how she maintains stability. I mean, a
plasma isn't normally stable like that. Not to mention I have
even less idea  how she stays alive.  Of course you need to
know that it was almost impossible to get any readings
through the . . .'energy field', so this might all be completely
wrong." Ami paused to gather her thoughts. "The only things I
can be sure of are effects, even if I'm not sure of the cause. For
instance she seems to be almost completely invulnerable to
energy weapons. The creatures blaster and Venus's 'Love and
Beauty Shock' had only minimal effect. Direct physical
attacks have slightly more effect, but she is incredibly resistant to even
those. She seems to have three weapons. Some sort of missile weapon that
fires slugs of extraordinary dense matter very fast."
     "Uh, how dense, and how fast?"
Ami looked embarrassed at Minako's question.
     "I'm not sure. My computer doesn't seem to be able to
deal with velocities that high."
     "It's not your fault Ami. Don't worry about it. I think
you're doing great. None of us would have the slightest idea
what to do."
Ami smiled gratefully at Usagi
     "She has an energy weapon. I think it's" her voice
dropped to a whisper "a graser." At the half expected blank
looks she opened her mouth to explain. 
     "That's a . . ."
     "A gamma ray laser. Cool."
Jaws kissed tatami all around the room. 
     "Usagi." Ami said faintly "How do you know. . ."
     "Oh, I love science fiction. I got sort of interested from
some of the video games." She smiled brightly at the
dumfounded faces.
     "Uh, yes. Well as Usagi says, a gamma ray laser.
VERY powerful. Much longer ranged that the warp gun
and probably able to fire more often. I can't be sure because I
couldn't get a good reading on the power supply. And lastly,
the final defense is some sort of variable geometry impact
weapon. That is, it seems to be able to change shape. I have
pictures of what look like a staff, a hammer, an axe and
transitional forms as it shifted from one shape to the next."
     "Any thing else? I mean it seemed to recognize us?"
     "What! You didn't tell me that Minako!"
     "Sorry Rei, things were a little confused when we met you after the
fight." 
Ami typed a few commands into her computer.
     "All right, here's the video and audio from the crea. . .
from her."
All the senhsi fell silent and listened to the weirdly distorted
voice.
     "I've run it through several filters, just to make sure.
It's definitely a voice. She recognizes Venus and Jupiter as
senshi. At first she seems to think Usagi is Queen Serenity,
then seems to recognize her as Princess Serenity. Here" Ami
pointed to the screen "she seems surprised by something, turns
around almost three hundred sixty degrees. Looks up. Sees the
moon. And here she runs off. I don't know what kind of
shielding she uses but she disappeared off my sensors even
before she was out of visual range."
Minako stared down at her folded hands for a moment.
     "All right Ami, what do you think all this means?"
Ami looked distressed.
     "Minako, I don't have enough information to . . ."
     "Give me your best guess Ami."
Ami was not fond of guessing but for Minako. . .
     "Well, we've defiantly got a new enemy.  Intentions,
unknown. Capabilities, very powerful. But with only one
sample there's no way to know it total abilities. I can only tell
you that it's unlikely that we've seen the worst they can do."
Ami took a deep breath.
     "As for. . . the other. . . I don't know. She saved our
lives. If she hadn't come when she did we'd all be dead. But
she didn't seem to happy to see that we were senshi. And I
don't know what to make of her reaction to Usagi, or Serenity
rather." Ami looked down at her computer as if for inspiration
then back up. "I wish I knew what to tell you. Until we know
more we've got to classify her as a new enemy with 
unknown . . ."
     "No."
The single word, silk soft , unrelenting as a drawn katana
froze the assembled senshi.
     "No." Usagi repeated firmly. " She's not an enemy. She's hurt, angry,
afraid. But she's not an enemy."
     "Usagi" Makoto turned pleading eyes to her princess
and friend "I know you want . . ."
     "She's our friend."
Makoto looked despairingly into Usagi's calm implacable
eyes. 
     "Hai, Usagi. She's our friend."
Usagi swept the rest of her senshi with her eyes, holding each
with her gaze 'till they nodded in agreement. Rei was last.
     "Usagi, this is crazy! Luna would never. . ."
     "Luna's not here. She and Artemis are out trying to
find our new enemy.  Enemy" Usagi emphasized the singular word.
"Not enemies. This girl is our friend. And I'm sure that if I can
just find her, talk to her, maybe alone so she's not afra. . ."
     "You are NOT going anywhere alone." Rei grabbed
Usagi by the shoulders and twisted her around. "You are not
playing video games, you are not going to the mall and you
are NOT going out to make new 'friends'."
     "But Rei . . ."
     "But NOTHING!" Rei thundered. "If you even look
like you're THINKING of going off to find this 'friend' I'm
going to paddle your little princess butt until you can't sit down
for a month. Do you understand THAT!!"
     "Yes Rei." Usagi agreed meekly.
Rei nodded satisfied. She would have been much less pleased
had she seen Usagi's crossed fingers behind her back. 
*******************************************************
	"Kohanasan, please recite the attributes of the Dragon."
The young man in question rose and cleared his throat before begining.
	"When the Dragon tries to ride the clouds and come into heaven there
happens immediately a furious storm. It has the eyes of a tiger and the
horns of a deer and the body of a crocodile and the claws of an eagle and
two trunks like the trunk of an elephant. It has also a moral: We should
try to be like the Dragon, and find out and adopt all the good qualities of
others." Kohan bowed jerkily to the teacher and sat down.
	"Very good, Kohansan." The teacher beamed at the student his eyes
searching the class until they settled on . . .
	"Tendousan, would you please recite the virtues of the Moon."
Akane looked blankly at the Sensei a slight tic forming over her right eye. 
	"Tendosan." The Sensei repeated. "Would you recite the virtues of the Moon
please."
For a moment Akane sat, unmoving and unblinking her attention seemingly
turned inward. Then, suddenly, she seemed to become aware of the teacher
and bolted upright.
	"Hai, Sensei. I can!" She paused, flustered and spoke again in a very
different voice. "Ummm. What was the question?"
Sensei silenced the tittering class with a stern look, then turned a
disapproving frown on Tendou Akane.
	"Tendousan, if you can not pay attention in class, perhaps you shouldn't
BE in class. Perhaps you would prefer to stand in the hall . . .holding a
bucket of water?"
	"Yes Sensei . . . I mean no Sensei . . .I'm very sorry."
Akane looked miserably down at her feet, flushing at the renewed tittering
of her class mates. So miserable was she that she didn't notice when the
mirth stopped, like a dog run over by a train. Nor did she notice the
blazing look from Ranma that effected this sudden influx of manners.
	"If you would Tendousan . . .please recite the virtues of the Moon."
	"The Moon appears melancholy to those who are sad, and joyous to those who
are happy." As she spoke Akane swayed a bit and put out a hand to steady
herself.
             "The Moon makes memories to those who travel, and creates
homesickness." Akane stared blindly ahead, a slight tremor shaking her
body, as if from some "suppressed emotion.                "When the Emperor
Godaigo, exiled by the traitor Hojou, beheld the moonlight on the seashore,
he cried out, �The Moon is heartless.' . . .But she's not heartless. She's
not." This whispered protest was low and shocking in it's intensity. Sensei
started to reprimand Akane for departing from the established list of
virtues, then stopped as Akane continued on.
	"Our hearts ought to be . . ."Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her
voice was choked. 
	"Our hearts ought to be pure and . . .and calm . . . like Seren . . .like
the light of the Moon. The light of the Moon shines alike upon foul and
pure, upon . . .upon high and low."  By ones and twos the rest of the class
started crying as well . . .not knowing why.  
	"That beautiful Lamp is neither yours nor mine, but everybody's.  When we
look at the Moon, we should remember that its waxing and its waning are the
signs . . .are the signs that the culmination of all things is likewise the
beginning of their . . . .of their . . .end"
Akane dropped into her seat sobbing.
	 "I'm sorry . . .I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
*******************************************************
	"I'm fine Ranma. So just stop following me around."
The object of Akane's ire was perched nonchalantly atop the dugout roof.
	"Hey, who says I'd WANT to follow an uncute chick like you. I got to take
PE class too, ya know." Ranma stated righteously .
	"Since when have YOU ever . . ."
It was perhaps just as well that Akane's furious rejoinder was interrupted
by the Coach.
	"Attention, please. Because of illness, injuries and other factors the
boys base-ball team will be unable to field two full teams for the next few
weeks. In order that they not miss practice it has been decided to fill
those missing positions with the best members of the girls soft-ball team."
There were excited shrieks from the girls and disgusted moans from some of
the boys.
	"Will the following girls please report to the base-ball field as I call
your names." The coach started to read names from a list. As he did so
there were sullen mutters from the boys team.
	"Man. This sucks." This came from a tall, thin boy with hair that gleamed
wetly with styling gel.
	"Hey, wassa matter Tomo." Tai leered at the girls as they trotted off to
suit up. "Don' you LIKE girls." Tai winked slyly. "Maybe Tomoi likes . . ."
Tai made a rude hand gesture that indicated a boy who . . .was different.
	"I like girls all right." Tomo retorted hotly. ". I just don't want �em
messing up practice. We've got a good chance at the championship this year
. . .we need REAL practice. Not playing with girls."
	"Yeah . . .but I wouldn't mind playing with some of that!" Tai jerked a
thumb at the girls who were running, giggling, out onto the field.
	"Ahhh Mannn." Tomo was really disgusted now. "They're wearin' SHORTS. How
the hell �r they gonna' SLIDE in shorts."
	"Girls don' slide play'n softball." Instructed one of his sage comrades.
	"Whooo!" Tai wolf-whistled. "Well they can play soft-ball with ME any
time. Would you look at that." He pointed at the gaggle of girls swinging
back in forth in warm up exercises. Each time they twisted, white shirts
rose up, revealing a tantalizing band of bare girl flesh.
	"Especially that Tendou chick. Ya know I hear she's really hot. I heard
that she's done it with the entire Kendo team."
	"Ahhh man. That's stupid. She doesn't like boys." A boy named Kieko leaned
in close to whisper confidently. "She only likes girls.  I heard my brother
and some friends 
talking . . ."
	"Bull." Tai retorted. "She like's boys alright. Hell, she's always with
some boy . . .or bein' �kidnapped'" Tai leered suggestively. "That Ryouga
guy's always hanging around and she's got Ranma livin' with her an' . . ."
	"But he's her fianc�." One of the other boys protested.
	"Fianc�!" Tai laughed. "Is that what you call it. I say she just a little
nanpa who'll give it away to any . . ."
A cold shadow fell across Tai and he looked around to see Satoume Ranma
standing behind him holding a bat in his hands.
	"Do you know how many bones there are in the human body?" Ranma asked
conversationally.
	"Three hundred fifteen. I had to learn all of �em."
Ranma straight armed the bat, holding it between the thumb and forefinger
of each hand.
	"An' how to break." Tai flinched as the bat snapped with an explosive crack. 
	"Each . . ."
Ranma slid the broken halves, one over the other. Another explosive crack,
and he held four pieced of wood.
	"And every. . ."
BANG!.
 Ranma held eight splintered pieces of bat, and Tai fell heavily to the
ground as his legs gave way. Numbly he stared up as Ranma loomed over him
and crumbled the shattered wood into dust that dribbled over Tai like a
pelting rain.
	"You don't look so good. I think you should go home. An' stay there �till
whatever problem you have . . .is gone."
Ranma swept the rest of the boys with a look that seemed mild, until you
looked into his eyes.
	"Anybody else got the same problem Tai's got . . .they better go home
�till they're over it." 
*******************************************************
It had been too much to hope that the story wouldn't get around. Akane was
by turns embarrassed and angry. And it didn't help any that Tomo, the
opposing pitcher had fanned her out her first two times at bat.
	"Now, just take it easy Akanechan." Her friends told her soothingly. 
	"Don't let this guy get to you." Came another voice.
	"HEY! AIR HITTER!" Tomo's taunting voice drifted into the dugout from the
pitcher's mound. "Aren't you gonna' come out and at least PRETEND to be a
ball player. I'll even throw underhand . . . just like a GIRL."
Akane made a noise like a rusty hinge as her back molars met and tried to
interpenetrate. 
	"Now Akanechan." Came the pleas from her teammates.  "The bases are
loaded. This is our last out. So just stay cool and . . ."
Akane stomped out to the batters box and planted herself. A few
experimental swings tore the air with tremendous power, but little control.
Ranma, at shortstop, looked at her wild swings and sighed. It would relieve
a lot of her frustration if she could just  hit a good one . . .he watched
another wild swing knock some perfectly inoffensive electrons loose from
the air and sighed again.
The first ball was fast and out side. Akane's bat hummed with the force of
her blow.
	"STRIKE ONE!"
	"Come on Akanechan!"
	"You can do it. We believe in you."
Akane set her self, pounded the ground a couple of times with her bat then
brought it back over her shoulder.
The ball was low and inside. Akane swung with enough power to orbit the
Tokyo dome. Unfortunately a base ball is much smaller than a sports
stadium. She hit only air and  almost went over with the force of her blow.
	"STRIKE TWO!"
	"Hey . . .ONE MORE an' you can go home and play with your dollies!"
Ranma speared Toma with an incredulous glance, wondering if her were
suicidal or just stupid. He stared at the pitcher for a moment, wondering
if Toma could absorb enough punishment to make it worthwhile to let Akane
pound him a bit or if . . .A sudden prickling between his shoulders brought
Ranma around. Akane . . . Akane wasn't seething anymore. She wasn't
grinding her teeth . . .she wasn't mad. She was . . .focused. Ranma turned
and trotted quickly to the pitchers mound.
	"HEY . . .Satoume, get back into position."
Ranam ignored Toma and dropped cross legged to the ground beside the pitcher.
Toma shrugged his shoulders and began his windup.  With the way this skirt
hit It didn't matter, anyway. 
The ball was a slider, fast and impossible to hit. His best pitch. Toma
chose it  just to show her up.
	"STR . . ." The umpire started his call 
early . . .anticipating what had come before. 
There were three distinct cracks. The first as the tip of Akane's bat went
trans-sonic. The second occurred when the core of the ball burst through
the disintegrating outer-covering  Ranma reached out from his seated
position, snagged Tomo by the sleeve and tugged him gently aside as the
core of the baseball scorched through the space previously occupied by
Toma's head at Mach 1.2.
	". . .IKE . . .uuuuu. I mean . . .uhhhhh. FAIR BALL! TAKE YOUR BASES."
Akane stared at Toma for a moment. She turned and  walked over to the
dugout to  replace her bat in the bat-stand with exaggerated precision,
then trotted toward first base as the first of her teammates triumphantly
crossed home plate.
Ranma let go of Toma's sleeve and the  pitcher rocked back into place,
looking more like the statue of a ball-player than flesh and blood.  An
acrid smell wrinkled Ranma's nose and he glanced down to see a dark
spreading stain just below Toma's belt level.
	"Aaaah Maaan!" Ranma grimaced. He looked stealthily  around to see that
everyone was distracted by Akane's home run. Quickly he removed Toma's
jacket and tied it about the frozen boy's waist.
*******************************************************
Cooking class with Akane was always exciting. There were always interesting
sights, and sounds and smells. Akane approached cooking the way  marines
approached a hostile beach but with less restraint . . .and with a level of
violence that would have gotten her thrown out of any properly run street
gang. It wasn't that she couldn't cook quite edible meals, her class mates
agreed. After all, she made a very . . .tasty . . . curried rice.  It was
just that the struggle to . . .subdue . . .all the evil ingredients . .
.well, after that kind of fight the poor dear was just too tired to cook
anything complicated.  Besides, men were all unappreciative pigs . . .who
should be grateful for a hot meal to swill down like the ungrateful swine .
. .they probably spent all their time with loose women while their poor
wives slaved to keep home and children. . . The discussion soon dissolved
into a general debate about men, with the girls divided into two camps. One
group favoring castration and shock collars for husbands, while the
extremists . . .But not today. Today there was no light hearted banter
about boys . . .no excited anticipation of the perfect souffle . . . Today
Tendou Akane was cooking . . .calmly . . .quietly . . .well, ALMOST quietly. 
	"Quit that . . .you'll spoil your dinner." Akane absently rapped her right
hand across the knuckles with a spoon as said hand stealthily tried to
scoop a dollop of cookie dough out of a bowl.
Nervously her classmates squeezed together, like sheep huddling against a
storm.
	"What do you think . . .beef for a main course?"
She cocked her head as if listening.
	"Well . . ." She sounded doubtful. "I don't know . . .do you really think
. . ." Her face brightened and she banged a fist against the counter top.
"I'LL DO IT!"
 The huddle of girls jumped and made a sound very 
like . . .sheep bleating. 
Happily, Akane began pulling ingredients from cabinets almost dancing in
her excitement. Mesmerized, like someone who looks up and sees the lights
of an oncoming train, the cooking class watched Akane burble happily to . .
. herself . . .as she peeled, and chopped and seasoned . . .occasionally
stopping to rap the naughty right hand that continued to make sneak attacks
on the cookie dough.  
*******************************************************
Delicious smells wafted down the hall as Akane passed by, almost floating
in her excitement. In her hands, as delicately as if she carried the
Imperial Regalia, she held a covered tray. And on that tray . . .Akane
started to hug herself in her excitement . . .remembered the tray in her
hands at the last minute and recovered with a gasp and a giggle. And on
that tray . . .oh it was wonderful . . .marvelous . .. beef . . .chicken .
. .trout . . .three vegetables . . .and for dessert . . .a strawberry
crepe. Delicate, paper thin, golden brown pastry. It was all so perfect.
She just knew that Ra . . .Her mind stuttered away from the name. Anyway it
didn't matter. It was perfect. She didn't have to prove anything to  . .
.to anyone. And anyway he . . anyway some people didn't appreciate good
cooking . Still . . .it would be wasteful . . .to waste all this food.
Kasumi wouldn't want her to waste food. Her mother . . .Akane knew her
mother wouldn't have  wanted her to waste food. Well then. . .there wasn't
any choice , was there. Absently Akane thumped a lower form student on the
head as he reached under the covering, rendering him instantly unconscious.
She couldn't let this food go to waste . There was really no choice . Akane
batted aside the chemistry club as they leapt salivating for the tray . .
.No choice at all. She'd just have to find Ran . . .find someone . . .so
all this food didn't go to waste. Filled with the golden glow that comes
from making the hard . . .but correct decisions Akane turned the corner and
. . .
	"Ooow!" Stumbling back Akane twisted to keep the tray steady. Offended at
the inconsiderate person who would stand in the middle of the hall she
looked up . . . and up . . .and UP."
	"Oh. It's you." Akane raked the person with a long up and down glance.
"That's a new look."
	"Do you like it? I know the old freak will."
Akane stepped back, startled at hearing a deep, human voice, instead of
animal sounds.
 The scorpion tail lashed suddenly over Akane's head to smash into the
wall. Akane leapt aside with a distressed cry, covering the precious tray
with her body.
	"Not bad, huh. And I've made some other improvements."Pantyhose Taro swept
his wings forward to show a row of razor sharp teeth along the edge. Thick
tentacles lashed the air, each now tipped with a poison spike.
	"I've chased the old freak over half of China, through India and back to
here. It ends . . .I'm tired of this. The old-man's got to change my name
this time. Or I'll . . ." A deep chuckle rumbled in the massive chest. "Who
am I kidding. I think I'll just kill him . . .whether he changes my name or
not. Maybe I should just kill fem-boy and take HIS name."
	"R . . .ranma!"
Taro looked down as if just remembering Akane's presence.
	"Heh. Yeah. Satoume Taro. Has kind of a ring to it. And it's not like
fem-boy deserves . . ." He sniffed the air.
	"What's under there?"
	"Nothing that concerns you." As Akane tried to edge past Taro snatched the
tray and held it tauntingly above her head as he removed the covering.
	"Well, what do we have here?"
	"Give that back!" 
Taro held the tray just out of reach as he scooped a claw full of beef into
his mouth.
	"Hey, this is pretty good. Who cooked it?"
	"I cooked it." Akane huffed , offended.
	"YOU!" Taro chuckled. Then paused as a thought struck him.
	"If YOU cooked it, then that means this is for fem-boy." He looked
consideringly at the trays contents.
	"That means that this . . .and this . . .and this . . .you cooked for
fem-boy." One by one Taro slid each dish off the tray. Akane stood frozen
as she watched all her work, all her 
lov . . .all her work,  land on the floor with a splat. Finally, there was
only one item left . . .the crepe. The delicate . . .delicious . .
.DIFFICULT crepe.  As if in slow motion Akane watched Taro nudge it,
teasingly, with the tip of a claw . . .closer . . .closer . . .it teetered
on the edge . . .gravity and
 pastry fought . . .gravity won. And the golden confection tumbled through
the air . . .end over end . . .falling like a wounded angel . . .
	"Murderer!" The thought tolled through Akane's brain. He'd killed it. Her
poor, innocent crepe. It never had a chance . . . And the rest. Gone. All
gone. All her hard work . . .
S-P-L-A-T. Beef, chicken, fish . . all gone. It was too late to start over.
. . where would she ever find the ingredients . . .
SNAP!
Taro looked around startled. He thought he'd heard something . . .well . .
.SNAP. But what . . . He looked down to see the Tendou girl staring at him.
	"BEEF!" She raked him with eyes that made him . . .uncomfortable. Like she
was mentally undressing him. Which was silly since he was already . . .
	"CHICKEN!" 
Involuntarily Taro's wings snapped back into the closed position, tight
against his body. 
	"Now just what do you think you're  . . ." He started arrogantly, Then
hastily stepped back as Tendou Akane slid toward him, graceful as a dancer,
with a very unhealthy light in her eyes. 
	"FISH!"
Instantly his waving tentacles stilled and curled up out of sight.
	"Uh... actually octopus isn't really a fish . . ."Uneasily Taro began to
back away. Step by step Tendou Akane matched him. This was silly. HE was
bigger . . .stronger . . .faster . . .

Ranma jerked upright from his nap as a scream, like a cat being skinned
alive with a dull knife, pierced the quiet day like a needle through the
eyeball. 
AKANE! Damn. He knew he should have stayed with her. But cooking class. It
was not a good thing for him to stay around Akane when she was cooking. He
had a habit of saying . . .unfortunate things. And she was already upset .
. .and what could possibly happen . . .Asking himself questions he couldn't
answer Ranma pounded across the grass toward the main building. The wall
exploded and . . .something . . .blasted overhead,  past Ranma and toward
the empty swimming pool. He looked up to see Akane, chest heaving , fists
clenched, but looking unhurt. Just as Ranma started up to her . . .screams,
lots of screams, sounded from the girls locker room. Ranma froze . . .he
wanted to go to Akane. But she looked all right . . .and those girls
sounded really frightened . ..  but Akane. . . 
	"Yo . .. Akane . . .you OK?"
She tensed for a moment . . .then looked down, through the broken wall at
Ranma. 
	"I'm fine . . .just . . .FINE!"
Akane turned and stalked off.
Ranma debated following for a moment, but the screams were louder and more
desperate . . .besides he recognized that look. Better give Akane some time
. . .a lot of time . . .to cool off.
Ranma dashed for the girls gym. As he sprinted in through the front door a
jet of cold water hit him.
	"Ranma-my-boy." An obscene little . . .something . . .fastened leach like
between breasts that were just forming.
	"AAAAAA!"Ranma screamed and batted at the . . .thing. He cringed as it
nuzzled and fondled and . . ."
	"GET OFF ME, ya old freak."
	"Now is that any way to talk to your master?"
	"You . . .ain't . . .my . . .master." Ranma panted as he struggled to
dislodge . . .Sprinting suddenly forward, Ranma tried to crush . . .it . .
.between him and a concrete column. It . . .leapt off, just before impact,
cackling as Ranma reeled back, stunned from his impact..
	"Heh, you'll never beat me at this rate. If you'll wear this bra I'll
train . . ." The obscene voice broke off and . . .the thing . . .sprang
aside, like a roach on a hot plate, as Ranma launched a flurry of punches
and kicks. Ranma followed this up with a chi blast that sent . . .it . .
.tumbling outside the girls gym. Winded from his exertions, Ranma was slow
in following and lost track of . . .it.
Laughing with the innocent glee of a dammed soul the ancient pervert
bounced along the halls of academia looking for fresh meat. Suddenly,
senses honed by centuries of perversion and debauchery tingled. He could
sense what he needed . . .youth . .. innocence . . .virgin meat. It drew
him . . .excited him, like blood in the water attracted a shark Except the
old pervert was less like a shark and more like  some poisonous bug as he
skittered quickly through the empty corridors. The scent was stronger.  His
groin tightened with the familiar sweet pain. His heart pounded at the
thought . . .first there would be fear . . .fear and the desperate futile
struggle to get away. He liked that almost best of all . . .almost. There!!
He suffered a momentary pang as he finally recognized his prey. Too old and
tough . . .still there were compensations. The thought of Soun's revulsion
. . .of her poor . . .departed . . .
	"Oh, Akane. Just what a tired old man needs . . .a fresh young thing to
ease his declining years."
Akane looked up from contemplating the tops of her shoes as she trudged
along the empty hallways. She had a brief impression of a giant cockroach.
Then a blurring in the air and a weight . . . a heaviness on the spirit
rather than on the body.
Happosai, master of arts martial and perverted snuggled between the warm
soft mounds with a sigh. Akane was really too old, the old man thought
regretfully. Ahh, if only he could have gotten to her a decade earlier
,when she was in her prime. He thought wistfully of how he first seen her.
Young, tender, so full of energy. He pictured her again in his mind. In her
little gi, sweat making dark patches in . . .interesting places. In a
darling little ruffled dress. With matching panties. Ancient blood, cold
with centuries of life and evil, heated at the remembering. He remembered
other things. Little Akane in the furo, water beading on her soft skin. Her
back to the window . . .she didn't notice the thickening shadow creeping in
the window. But soon she would see . . .would cry out . . .would fight . .
.wiggling and twist . . .  His pleasant day-dream was clouded by another
memory. Of a strong hand around his ankle. Being ripped from his perch from
the wall and thrown to the ground, to land like a sack of garbage. Of
looking up, and silhouetted against the sky . . .an avenging angle come to
send his soul to hell. He'd been afraid then . . .for the first time in
years. Afraid that the Kami's had finally come for him. Then he'd realized
it wasn't an angel, wasn't the Kami's , but something worse. Much worse.
Akane's mother.  
He was the Master. No mere woman could beat him. He'd tried . . .but her
mother had been too quick with her naginata. And Soun, the ungrateful worm,
had found his backbone and tried to . . .Happosai winced as the scar that
ran halfway around the inside of his thigh and up his belly twinged in
remembered pain.  Still, makeup and the right clothes could shave years . . .
SNAP!
	"You disgusting little pervert."
That was no way to talk to her elders. It was shameful the way Soun was
letting Akane run wild. And he would tell him so, just as soon as he could
breath.
	"You dirty little . . ."
Where HAD little Akane learned those words . . .and where had she gotten
the hydraulic clamp?
	"Always looking . . . leering . .  touching."
	"Now Akane, you're very young . . .and must be guided by your elders."
Happosai leered up from his position between Akane's breasts. 
	" You have a responsibility . . .a duty in fact . . .both to your family
and your ryu . . .after all, without ME there is no Tendou School . . .no
dojo."
Happosai went on grandly, in a tone that he imagined conveyed his
importance and stature. 
	"I am the Master, and I decide who will be my successor. Your father . .
.your sisters, they depend on you on how well you. . ." Happosai wiggled
suggestively against her breasts.
	"Listen to you? O-be-y you?" Akane's voice was flat, toneless.
	"Why yes." 
Akane really was a bright girl, Happosai thought fondly. Perhaps she wasn't
too old after all perhaps . . .
	"Akane, dear. You're . . .squeezing . . .too . . .tight . . ."
	"If you can still breath . . .it's not too tight."
He really had waited too late, Happosai thought regretfully. She'd grown up
with this . . .attitude. Well, perhaps her daughter . . . or Kasumi's. Now
that was a thought. A daughter of Kasumi's. His withered manhood tightened
at the thought. Kasumi's daughter, fresh, gentle . . easily frightened. A
proer Japanese girl. And if her started while she was young enough to be
trained properly.  He shivered in excitement at the thought. But first . .
.Akane . . .misguided child . . .needed to learn who the master was. 
Happosai knocked a hot coal from the bowl of his pipe onto a chi point on
Akane's hand,  a maneuver that worked well on Ranma . . .and worked on
Akane. The python grip loosened and Happosai slithered out. He turned
casually and . . .really quite lightly he thought, rapped the iron bowl of
his pipe against her temple. He hated to do it . . .but it was cruel to let
girls have so much independence.  It was a mistake to educate them. And
this silly business of letting them won property, vote . . .learn martial
arts. They started thinking about things . . .talking back . . .resisting.
A little resistance was good, stimulated the juices. But too much was
irritating.  No it was much better for them if they learned young who the
Master was. Another . . .gentle . . .rap against the opposite temple sent
Akane reeling, blood tricking from her ear. 
	"Now Akane dear." Happoasi moved close to the stunned girl and tickled his
pipe up and down her side bringing the stem to rest at the tender juncture
between her legs.
	 "I think it's time that you learned some important lessons . . .about
life . . .proper respect . . .obeying your elders." Happosai gave her a
saintly smile. "Don't you agree that it's time you learned these things . .
.how to behave like a good girl? The womanly arts . . . so that you can
please . . .your master."
Akane's lips drew back from her teeth in an expression that would have
resembled a smile only if you were a shark, accompanied by a low rumbling
growl that would have made a rock crusher lose bladder control. 
Centuries of martial practice roused the ancient lecher from his dreams of
perversion. Angered by  this obvious sign of rebellion . . .and when he'd
tried so hard to treat her gently in recognition of her faulty upbringing,
Happosai brought his pipe slashing forward intending to smash the nerve
cluster just under the breast. A move intended to paralyze the arm while
causing intense pain. An attack that Happosai enjoyed as much for it's
devastating psychological effect . . .women were very sensitive about
attacks on their breasts . . .as for the simple pleasure of watching them
cringe in . . .
Happosai's strike stopped as suddenly as if he'd slammed into Mt. Fuji. He
blinked . . the end of his pipe vanished in Akane's fist. Akane made a
sudden, sharp motion and his pipe was ripped from his fist with a quickness
that peeled skin from the palm of his hand.  At this point any normal
pervert with more than two functioning neurons would have surmised that
�something-had-gone-wrong' and slithered back under his rock.
Unfortunately, for Happosai he had sacrificed cognition for perversion a
century or so earlier. 
	"Master . . ." Akane purred, rather like a cat . . .a large hungry cat.
	"Ahh . . .yes . . .but you don't have the tone quite right. It should be
softer, demure . . .respect.  . ."
	"Mas .s .s .s .t .e .e .e . r."
There was something about the way Akane rolled the word around on her
tongue . . .not with respect . . .but as if she
 were . . .tasting . . .
Before Happosai could decide if this was a good thing . . .or a bad thing .
. .a hand like a power shovel clamped around his throat.
	"urrrrrrrrr." Sounding like a leaking tire and looking like
toad-under-a-tire, Happosai dangled from Akane's fist.
	"Teach me . . . a lesson?" She questioned. 
	"With . . .this?" She rapped Happosai sharply between the eyes with his
own pipe.
	"With THIS!" She rapped him again, harder. 
	"ullll ulll."
Akane seemed to take that as an affirmative. She placed the stem of the
pipe between her lips and drew on it until the bowl glowed cherry red. She
looked at the pipe . . .she looked at Happosai . . .and smiled.

	"Akane!"
Ranma bounded through the school grounds, peering in window, looking on
roof tops. 
	"AKAAANEEE!" He was getting worried . . .really worried. No Akane . . .and
the pervert was . . .Ranma jarred to a sudden stop as the shrill terrified
scream of a rat being ripped apart by starving cats echoed across the campus. 
	"Uh Oh."
Ranma turned and sped back toward the direction of the sound. That hadn't
been Akane's scream . . .he was sure of 
that . . .well pretty sure . . .but whatever it was . . .it might be
dangerous. A whimpering noise brought him to a sudden stop. Looking around
he didn't see anything. closing his eyes he extended his highly trained
senses and . . .
	"Hi guy. What's up?"
Hopping down in the bottom of the pool that had been emptied for cleaning
and repair he found the battered form of Pantyhose Taro huddled in the
corner, knees drawn up to his chin. Ranma noticed a variety of interesting
scars . . .was that from a . . .fork? One wing dangled limply and two
tentacles had been ripped completely off his body.
A sudden sound, like the hunting cry of a mountain wolf broke the still
air. A shudder ran through the huge body.
Taro turned to Ranma with a wide eyed stare, like a baby owl.
	"She scared me."
Ranma wrinkled his nose as an all too familiar acrid odor assaulted his
nose. He looked down at Taro's feet and grimaced in wry sympathy. 
	"You're not the only one pal."
	"She scared me." Taro repeated in a small voice. "She . . .she  tried to .
. .eat me." His lower lip trembled and his eyes filled with tears. "I don'
like her . . .she tried to eat me."
It didn't take much imagination to realize who SHE must be. Ranma patted
Taro's shoulder awkwardly.
	"Nah man. I think she just wanted to hurt you really, really bad." Ranma
said comfortingly.
	"She wanted to EAT me." Taro insisted shrilly. 
While Ranma tried to think of how to respond to that, the heard a
skittering sound. A sound that reminded him of cockroaches in the wall.
Listening carefully Ranma moved suddenly, shoving Taro's massive bulk aside
to reveal . . .a tattered bag of ground beef?
	"Eeeeewww!" Ranma stepped back in disgust. Looking around he found a stick
that had been used to mix sealant  to fix cracks in the pool . Using the
stick, he flipped the disgusting mess over. It was even worse on the other
side. The . . .thing . . .mewled in panic and tried desperately to scrabble
through the concrete bottom of the pool. Stepping forward Ranma took a
closer look to make sure . . ."Yeppers." . . .it was the old pervert . .
.bare from the waste down. Ranma shuddered. The freak was disgusting enough
under normal circumstances. There were welts all up and down his backside .
. .it looked like someone had spanked him . . .with . . .Suddenly Ranma
 noticed . . .
	"Ahhh Man. That's gonna hurt commin' out." Ranma looked at the tip of the
perverts pipe protruding from . . .he shuddered again in revulsion.
	"Maybe a good dose of prunes . . ." 
His stomach churned at the thought. Then again . . .it couldn't happen to a
nicer . . .whatever.  There was a sudden low pitched growl that seemed to
shudder the bedrock. The growl of a very big . . .very angry . . .predator.
The growl came again . . .Happosai commenced his mad scrabble, trying to
claw his way into the earth. Taro whimpered and wrapped his tattered wings
around himself, rocking back and forth. 
	"OK, guys. Here's the deal. Old man. Hey, old man" Ranma made as if to bop
the pervert on the head, stopping when he realized he'd have to touch him.
	"Listen to me old man . . .or I let HER have you." The scrabbling sounds
stopped instantly.
	"Here's what we're gonna' do. The two of you are certified psycho's . .
you're always kidnappin' people, blowing things up . . .startin' fights all
over the place Somebody's gonna get hurt. Now then, Old Man, you 're gonna
give the . . .you're gonna give Taro here a new name You been jerkin' the
poor guy around long enough. You're his god parent for Kami's sake. You're
supposed to take care of him . . .not make his like hell. You're gonna give
him a good name. . .any name he wants. An then you an' him are gonna go
away. Whatever spot on earth's the direct opposite of Nerimia. And stay
there. Unless someone asks you to come back. An' that's not gonna be until
you learn some manners."
Another angry growl, closer this time, forced a frantic assent from the
cringing pervert.
	"OK." Ranma said hopping out of the dry pool. "I'm gonna go distract
Akane. I expect you guys to get gone, real soon. An' remember . . .NO
tricks. Or . . ." Ranma drew a finger across his throat. 
The two figures huddled in the bottom of the pool, listening to Ranma's
retreating footsteps. Suddenly a shadow fell over them from above . . .a
shadow with a female silhouette. The two huddled together like frightened
children.
	"Gentlemen, have I got a deal for you." Came a low voice from above. "
Today, only, transportation to the Airport, tickets to the destination of
your choice and clean underwear."
The two looked up to see Tendou Nabiki grinning a sharks grin down at them. 
	"And, for the two of you . . .a special price."
*******************************************************It wasn't fair,
Akane thought resentfully. Kuno blows out all the windows in the school,
pretends to be a ghost . . .Ranma and Ryouga regularly re-enacted the
warring-states period . . .Hinako Sensei, for goodness sake, could have a
full scale battle with Ranma on the soccer field. And did anyone notice?
NO, they did not. But just let her break a little piece of the school . . .
 Akane winced as part of the roof slid off onto the ground with a crash of
masonry and a cloud of dust.
 . . .just let her break a LITTLE, a tiny piece of the school . . .and
every body acted as if
	"What pervert girl do to Ranma?"
Akane snapped out of her reverie to see another Chinese invasion. 
	"There's never a divine wind when you need one."
	"What? What you saying?"
	"Nothing." Akane replied wearily. "What do you want Shan Pu?"
	"Shan Pu want to know what pervert girl do to Ranma."
	"What? What are you talking about? I Haven't 
done . . ."
	"Don't try to fool us sugar." Ukyou stepped from behind a tree. "Ranchan's
been following you around all day like he was your shadow." Ukyou snapped
her Spatula into guard position. "Something's going on . . ."
	"Indeed peasants . . .your feeble minds have struck the heart of the
target. Some foul sorcery no doubt."
The cool arrogant tones dropped from the trees, followed closely by a tall
figure that landed with pantherish grace. 
Akane dropped her head into her hands.
	"Hello Kodachi." She spoke from between her fingers.
	"Do not seek to sway the righteous anger of the Black Rose, she who dwells
among . . ."
	"The lunatics." Ukyou muttered. 
	"Who dwells among the stars" Kodachi continued firmly. "The light that
pierces the darkness, the wind that blows . . ."
	"Shan Pu can feel big wind alright."
Ukou stifled a chuckle as Kodachi swung around to glare at the big Amazon.
She started to day something then turned back to Akane.
	"Well peasant . . .what do you have to say for yourself? Speak!"
	"Go away, Kodachi. I have a headache."
	"We all want answer." Shan Pu moved to Akane's side, flanking her.
	"That's right sugar. Something's going on, and were here to get answers." 
Akane looked up to find herself surrounded. Ukyou was struck by the strange
feverish glitter in her eyes.
	"I don't know anything about Ranma. Just . . .just go away. I don't feel
good." Akane dropped her head back into her hands. "Just go away."
	"Don't you ignore me!" The Black Rose's hand snapped forward, releasing
her ribbon like a striking snake. As the deadly tip approached Akane,
Kodachi felt a brief tug. Startled she looked down to find her hand empty.
Looking up she saw Akane, still with her head in her hands, and the black
ribbon curled at her feet.
	"Pretty good, you take away crazy-talk girl toy." Shan Pu slid forward a
heavy mace in each hand. "Now you try Amazon warrior." As she spoke Shan Pu
launched a straight blow that Akane would have to either block or slip. If
she blocked, Shan Pu would counter with the second mace before Akane could
recover. If she slipped the blow, avoided it. Well, that would just move
her INTO Shan Pu's counter strike. No matter what Akane did or did-not do .
. .Shan Pu had her.
Her predatory smile of victory was jarred loose as her mace smashed to a
unexpected halt as Tendou Akane CAUGHT the war-hammer in one hand.  Her arm
went numb to the shoulder and the mace dropped from suddenly nerveless
fingers.  A lifetime of training brought the second mace around in a
crushing blow without conscious thought. Akane's head came out of her hands
at last. Her free hand snapped forward . . .the heavy mace slammed into her
open palm . . .and stopped as suddenly and finally as if it had run into
Mt. Fuji. Stunned and off balance Shan Pu stood frozen as Akane tightened
her grip on the heads of the two heavy steel balls. Shan Pu could hear the
metal collapse, see it crumple like rice paper and her mouth went suddenly
dry as two brown eyes made contact with her violet ones.
	"I . . .don't . . .feel . . .good."
Akane took a step forward with each word . . .and Shan Pu, as well as Ukyou
and Kodachi matched her step for step . . .in the opposite direction. 
	"My head hurts."
Ukyou winced as the steel mace heads collapsed in Akane's grip with a bang.
Suddenly aware of the battle spatula in her hands Ukyou, showing a rare
prudence for a resident of Nermia, tossed it out of sight.
	"Now Akanechan. . ."She started pacifically.
Akane growled and Ukyou took a step back.
	"My HEAD hurts. MY STOMACH hurts. I don't feel . . ."
Suddenly Kodachi was right in Akane's face, a surprising look of sympathy
and concern spread across her visage. Looking about, she pressed a small
white bottle in Akane's hand.
	"I quite understand. Please forgive me for bothering you. I didn't realize
. . . " Kodachi stopped suddenly and drew herself up coldly. "We shall, of
course, finish this another time." Kodachi turned to go, then looked back
over her shoulder. 
	"Take two tablets, every four hours." With that, the Black Rose vanished.
A look of astonished understand passed across Ukyou's face. She turned to
whisper something in Shan Pu's ear, then spoke to the bewildered Akane, who
was looking at the spot that had recently contained the Black Rose. 
	"I'm sorry Akane." Ukyou said contritely. "I never would have. . . . I
mean, if I had known . . ." She broke off, embarrassed. 
	"Well, I know how you feel . . .and if I can do anything . . ." She broke
off again, and turned to leave, dragging Shan Pu with her. As they left
Akane could hear Shan Pu's voice, disappearing in the distance.
	"Why leave so quick . . .Shan Pu have good herb . . .help pervert girl . .
. bloat . . .cramp . . ."
Astonished and bewildered Akane looked as the two antagonists went away,
then looked at the small white bottle in her hand.
	"M . . .I . . .D"
Slowly she spelled out the romanji as she turned the bottle in her hand.
	"O . . .L"
Her shriek of embarrassed rage registered at 4.3 at the Tokyo earthquake
center and prompted a second stage alert.
	 
	 
	"Yo, Akane! What's up?"
	"Hi Ranma." Akane picked listlessly at her bentou.
Ranma looked at Akane's slumped form with concern. 
	"Uh, would you like some of my bentou? Kasumi made it."
Ranma winced as he suddenly realized the implications of what 
he'd said. 	
	"Not that I'm saying your cooking's  bad or nothing, I just  thought. . ."
	"Thank you Ranma. That's very nice of you. I just have a lot of things on
my mind right now." Akane looked up at Ranma's concerned face with a small
sad smile. "I'm not very hungry, but some company might be nice."
Flustered, Ranma froze for a moment.
	"I'm sorry. I guess you've got things to do with your friends." Akane
sadly lowered her head .
	"No, no,no. You've got it all wrong. Geez, Why dya always gotta take me
the wrong way?" Ranma plumped himself down beside Akane. "If you want me to
sit with you, I'll sit with you. I got nothin' better to do anyway." Ooops.
"Uh I mean. . . that is I didn't mean. . . uh. . ."
Akane chuckled softly and laid a hand on Ranma's leg.
	"Slow down before you hurt something. I know what you meant. Thanks."
Ranma stared amazed into Akane's big brown eyes. He was struck by how soft
and warm they were. Ranma wiped sweaty palms on his trousers. His pulse
thundered in his ears. He was dizzy. All he could see were Akane's eyes,
and her lips. Almost against his will he felt himself being drawn down,
down ,down. . ."
	"I've got to go. Here." Akane thrust her bentou into Ranma's hands and
dashed off. Ranma sat staring at the bentou for a bemused second, then
leaped to his feet, scattering food everywhere.
	"HEY! Hey, Akane. What's going on. Where're you goin'?" He dashed after
around the gym in pursuit, but there was no sign of her.
	"Hey, Akannnneeeee!" Ranma leapt form roof to roof calling her name.

	
	"Innncommiiinnng!"
Venus ducked behind a car, then rolled right. The car and part of the
roadway exploded in a shower of steel and stone fragments. 
	"Mercury, where are they!"
	"I'm trying!"
Sailormercury was belly down in a crater with only her dismounted visor
peeping over the rim. Sailorjupiter lay half on top of her, shielding her
with her body and firing �Supreme Thunder' as fast as she could generate
power.
	"WORLD SHAKING!"
	"Dead Scream"
The combined attack of two of the most powerful senshi blasted a small
office building into dust.
	"Got the bastard!" Sailoruranus was exultant.
	"Yes, well that only leaves about a dozen more."
	"Oh, don't be such a pessimist Sailormars."
	"Would you let me go!"
Sailormoon struggled futilely in Sailormars grip. Mars increased pressure
on her headlock.
	"Would you stop that. Baka." Sailorsaturn stood to one side, Silence
Glaive in guard position, Sailorneptune to the other side and slightly
behind, guarding their rear.  Both very studiously ignored their princess
being womanhandled by the senshi of fire. 
	"Let me go. I've got to help them."
	"Dammit, if you want to help, then stay here. There's too many of them and
they're to spread out. You might get a few, maybe even a lot. But it only
takes one to get lucky . . . to get you!"
	"I don't care." Sailormoon was sobbing in frustration and fear for her
friends. "I don't care, I've. . ."
Her  head rocked back from the impact of Sailormars slap.
	"LISTEN! You're our big gun. We're only going to get one shot at this. Let
Ami find all of them. Let Venus, Pluto and Uranus draw them out. THEN you
can dust them. But if you go out there now, we loose our advantage. And
maybe everyone dies."
	"I'm sorry Rei, it's just. . ."
Sailormars gathered her tiny princess close.
	"I know, I know. I'm scared for them too. You've just got to. . ."
A sudden rippling explosion of fire, and steel brought them around in time
to see  Uranus and Pluto buried under a twenty story office building.  
	"NOOO!" Sailormoon wrenched out of Sailormars's grasp and sprinted toward
her friends.
	"Shit!" Cursing bitterly,  Mars pounded after her friend, followed by
Saturn and Neptune. They caught their princess as she skidded to her knees
by the rubble and started wrenching and clawing at the debris.
	"Dammit Usagi." Fright had driven every thought from Rei's mind except
concern from her friend's safety. 
	"Dammit Usagi. You can't help them. Get out of the open."
	"I'm not going to leave them." Usagi didn't even look around as she
wrapped her arms around a stone that was the size of a minivan and heaved.
Nothing happened. Her fingers biting into the stone until they bled, Usagi
set herself again, and heaved. Still nothing. Weeping in frustration Usagi
began beating and kicking at the granite monolith baring the way to her
friends.
	"Sailormars is right Sailormoon. There is nothing we can do here. We must
get you to a place of safety."
Usagi wiped a grimy hand across a dirty tear streaked face and turned to
face Sailorneptune.
	"Sailoruranus is down there! How can you leave her? Don't you even care!."
A slight tightening around the eyes was her only response. 
	"Come on!"Sailorneptune repeated "We must get you to safety."
Usagi stared at her senshi for a moment. Then her face took on a hard set
look.
	"Usagi. . ." Sailormars started.
The Eternal Tier appeared in Sailormoon's hands. Wings erupted from her back.
	"ETERNAL" 
	"Princess, please. . ." Sailorsaturn was pleading
	"MOON"
	"This is not a good idea." Sailormars added.
	"SILVER"
	"OH SHIT!!"Sailorneptune grabbed her sister Senshi, and leaped for cover.
	"KISS!!!"
A really big noise slammed the three senshi into the ground in mid leap.
The resulting shockwave tumbled Sailorvenus head over heels for thirty
yards and left Mercury and Jupiter deaf and dazed. 
Groggily Sailormars dragged herself out from under Neptune and Saturn. She
looked around to see Eternal Sailormoon standing with outspread wings, like
an angel at the gates of hell. She staggered toward Sailormoon, limping and
cursing ribs that she was sure were broken.
	"I did it!"
Sailormars looked down where Sailormoon was pointing. At first all she
could see was blackness in the pit Eternal Sailormoon had blasted. Then two
pairs of eyes, surrounded by layers of dirt and grease. . . blinked.
	"I've got them."
Mars looked to see Sailorvenus extending her chain to the two at the bottom
of the hole.
	"I did it, didn't I?" Sailormoon repeated.
	"Yes you did. Now don't do it again."
	"OK, I won't" Sailormoon answered muzzily.
	"And for goodness sake, put some clothes on.."
Eternal Sailormoon looked down to see that she was in her formal Eternal
Sailor Suit (i.e. not even a bobby pin.).
	"OK, I will." Usagi's eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed like an
empty rice bag into Sailormars arms.
	"Ami. I need you." 
Sailormars smiled wryly down at the grubby girll in her arms She was
getting too old for this last minute Usagi-risks-death-to save-everyone
stuff. . Usagi was going to be the death of her yet, if she didn't learn a
little common sense.. The sudden appearance of an enemy soldier shouldn't
have been a shock, but it was.  Sailormars looked in horror as the glowing
hellmouth of a warp gun pointed at her. . . at USAGI!  Rei moved in what
she knew was a futile effort to shield Usagi with her body. Out of the
corner of her eye she could see Venus , moving in slow motion. Her hand
coming up for a �Crescent Beam.' But so slow . . .too slow. Rei wept
inside, not for her own death, but for Usagi, and cursed herself for
failing to keep the princess safe. The upper third of the enemy soldier
vanished.  Rei blinked, unable to believe her eyes. Then trained reflex
took over and she leapt away, Usagi cradled in her arms.  From behind cover
she watched her sister senshi also leap away as a fiery figure charged into
the battle zone. As she watched black soldiers popped out of hiding and
launched a storm of blaster fire at the newcomer. They might just have well
tried to stop a bullet train with a paper sword. The figure raised her
right arm and a hurricane of needles moving at .3c ripped through the
invaders. Ten of the invaders were reduced to a fine yellow mist in a
fraction of a second. However using the weapon seemed to have affected the
newcomer for she staggered and went to one knee, as if she were exhausted.

	##Princess located## the voice whispered. A grid map of the area seemed to
float before her eyes. On it blinked icons, red for the black soldiers,
orange for the senshi and a bright pink for the princess. Red icons were
coming in behind and to the flanks of the princesses position. Cursing her
weakness Akane diverted power to the contra-gravity unit and leaped.

Sailormars watched in astonishment as the fiery figure suddenly seemed to
soar up and over her head to come down behind her.

	##Warning. Accumulators at 43%.  Field integrity below 83%## the voice
paused consideringly##Hostile's detected. Mutliple contacts. Requesting
fire support and power link.## There was a brief silence. ##Unable to make
contact. Negitive fire support. Negative power link.##
	"No kidding." Akane muttered too herself. "They've only been dead for
about a hundred thousand years."
	##Input not understood.##
	"I said we're on our own."
	##Acknowledged.##
	"How are we fixed for weapons? Can we use the big gun?"
	##Insufficient internal power for energy weapon. Sufficient power remains
for a one second minimum power burst from projectile weapon.##
	"Is that the best we can do?"
	##A larger energy drain will compromise shield integrity.##
	"Well, we don't want to do that now do we." Akane shuddered mentally as
the memory came to her of how . . .unpleasant . . .and messy shield failure
could be.
	"Ok, time for a little attitude adjustment." A short thick rod appeared in
Akane's had. Obedient to her mental command the rod the rod expanded and
formed a short beaked war-hammer topped with a triangular spike. The hammer
finished forming just as Akane lightly touched down in the middle of a six
�man' formation of the black soldiers. She had a brief moment to appreciate
the beautifully articulated obsidian armor that covered her foes. Then the
closest raised an arm and lightning blossomed at less than a meter. Akane
shivered at the sensation, as if someone had poured ice water through her
bones. The soldier seemed surprised to see Akane emerge unharmed from �his'
blaster fire. He raised his arm for another shot when Akane pierced the top
of his skull with her hammer putting him out of everyone's misery.
Whipping her hammer free Akane brought it back and around in a spinning
arc, catching a second soldier just below his �ribs'. The hammer caught,
just for a second, slowing Akane's recovery as she wrenched the hammer free
with a cracking splinter of armored flesh and a yellow spray of �blood'.

Sailormars crouched behind the broken wall, tending to her fallen princess
as best she could. The other senshi were busy fighting so she was on her
own. Despite her worry for Usagi and her friends she was captivated by the
battle between at least ten of the enemy and their new �friend'.  All of
Rei's doubts (well most of them) had been removed along with the enemy
soldiers head, shoulders and torso. Anyone who saved Usagi's life was a
friend in Rei's estimation. Almost gleefully she watched her �friend' smash
the head of one enemy, then smash the chest of another. Then . . .
disaster. Helplessly Rei watched the war hammer stick in the armor of the
soldier. Just for a moment, but moment enough for another soldier to come
from behind and fire its warp gun at almost point blank range. Rei summoned
her �Mars Flame Sniper' knowing it was too late, and knowing it  endangered
Usagi. It wasn't the  smart thing to do but it was the honorable thing.
Besides, Usagi would have  approved. 

The rubble strewn battlefield, close range weapons fire coupled with the
enemies unfortunately sophisticated stealth field prevented Akane from
sensing the attacker behind her until the warp gun's power signature peaked
just before firing. And by then it was much too late.
	Akane felt as if she was being ripped to pieces by barbed hooks. She
doubled over as a blowtorch of energy gutted her like a pike. 
	##Warning! Accumulators at 22%. Shield integrity 12%. Containment failure
in 4.32 seconds. Warning!
 Accum. . .## 
A normal human would have died  instantly from the pain . A dead man would
have risen screaming from his grave and a saint would have confessed to any
sin to make it stop. Tendou Akane was no normal being. One hundred thousand
years earlier she had been �gifted' with the deadliest weapon system the
Silver Imperium had been able to devise. A weapon system that had so
horrific an effect on the user that only four people had ever survived it's
first use and three of those had suicided rather that face it again. The
fourth stood squarely in the path of the black soldiers ultimate weapon.

 In centuries of battle the final weapon had never failed them. Until now.
They watched their strange antagonist double over with a scream that even
their armor couldn't filter out. Disbelieving they watched the figure
straighten and turn toward them.

	##Warning! Containment failure in 3.32 seconds.  Accumulators at 19%.
Field . . .##
	"Arm Graser."
	##Insufficent power. . .##
	"Override failsafes. Divert power from containment field."
	##Anti-suicide protocols forbid. . ##
	"Imperial Override. Serenity is in danger.  Disable all failsafes. Leave
only enough power for a crash translation to normal-space." 
	##Imperial Override accepted. Diverting all power to graser.##
	Akane gasped in pain as the containment field flickered and dimmed. Her
enhanced sensed rapidly spooled down to normal and her preternatural
strength failed as power went to her graser. 
	##Ready## whispered the voice. ##Ready to fire.#
Akane straightened, turned toward her opponents. They couldn't believe she
was still alive. As alien as they were she could sense that much. They
struggled to bring their own weapons to bear. Blaster fire sparkled and
danced across her shield. She could feel it now in her diminished state,
like a hot iron punching into her vitals. Enough hits like these could kill
her. Or if they hit her with another warp gun. If they had time. . .
	##Target acquisition.##
Hellfire blossomed as a  blade of gamma radiation blasted through armor,
stone, steel and flesh.  Akane spun, her remaining sensor capability
questing for hostile's  as the deadly beam smashed black armored soldiers
into atoms. It was like using an H-bomb to kill butterflies, only not as
subtle. 
	##Power exhausted. Crash translation initiated.##
Akane screamed as flesh was stripped from bone, bone from muscle and mind
from body. She could feel her body being twisted and crushed through
dimensions only dreamed of by philosophers. A normal translation was a trip
to hell. A crash translation was hell multiplied with a few new torments
added in. 

Usagi  regained consciousness just in time to have Sailormars shove her to
the ground and shield her with her own body. She could hear the scream of
steel and stone vaporizing, smell the stench of ozone mixed with burnt
alien flesh. This was followed by an even more terrifying scream. Usagi
pushed and shoved herself free of Sailormars. She could no more resist
someone in pain than a moth the flame. And Sailormars, like all of her
friends was afraid she would bet burned. Mars made a desperate grab for
Usagi's ankle, then lunged to her feet after her certifiably crazy friend.
Almost as quickly as she started she slammed to a stop as she  rammed into
the back of Usagi who stood frozen in place. Sailormars started to berate
her friend for recklessness when she saw what was occurring. Their �friend'
was crumpled on the ground, her fiery aura crackling and sizzling like a
burning corpse.  Before Rei's horrified gaze she watched the figures
vaguely humanoid form twist and flow like a blob of putty in the hands of a
madman.  With an explosive crack what appeared to be a girl in a school
uniform appeared.  Uasgi started to bolt out in the open toward the girl
only to be grabbed by Sailormars. 
	"Wait baka! You don't know if it's safe."
	"I need to see if she's hurt."
	"You need to put on some pants."
Usagi looked down, only then realizing that in her exhausted state she had
not regained her street clothes when she'd reverted from her Eternal Moon
Angel form. She looked up just in time to see the figure disappear at a
shambling run into the ruins.
Then Sailorjupiter and Sailorvenus showed up carrying the injured Pluto and
Uranus and it was too late to follow.


******************************************************
Ranma had been drawn to the sight  and sound of fighting with a sick
certainty that Akane was in trouble. He almost missed seeing her torn and
bloody body lying like a heap of trash in an alley. 

******************************************************
Nine billion miles from earth a relay closed. Computers analyzed data and
decisions were made. Another relay closed and engines powerful enough to
melt a continent roared into life.
******************************************************

END CHAPTERS 1 AND 2
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