Finally Completed!

----------------------------------
 Tomoe Souichi leant against the railing of the balcony he 
was standing on and ran a hand across his face, sighing into the 
darkness that hid him from the world.  
 His wife was dead and he didn't know how to carry on.
 But for Hotaru's sake he had to.  His wife would never 
forgive him if he abandoned her daughter just to be with her.  So 
he remained, shrouded in the darkness in which time passed more 
slowly, trying so very hard to find a way so his family could be 
together again.  So his wife could come back to him from where 
ever she had gone.  
 He glanced at the wrought iron table sitting on the balcony 
and the bottle of sake it held.  His hand moved towards it then 
jerked back.  Alcohol didn't work.  If anything it made the loss 
seem greater than it already did, hard though that might be.  He 
sighed again.
 "Otousan?"
 Souichi turned to the doorway and forced a smile onto his 
face as his daughter, Hotaru, joined him at the balustraude.
 "Hello, Hotaru-chan.  What is it?" he asked gently, his 
voice barely louder than a whisper.
 "I can't sleep, 'Tousan.  C-could you tell me a story?  
Please?"  A small black teddybear was clasped within the circle 
of her arms, a purple bowtie around it's neck, and Souichi's smile 
became both more sincere and more pained.
 She looked so much like her mother.
 "Of course, Hotaru-chan."  He held out his hand towards her 
and walked with her back into the mansion to read the story and 
tuck her in.  The way his wife had done.
 He brushed the hair out of Hotaru's flushed face and bent 
to kiss her forehead before heading back for the balcony.  
 He glanced again at the bottle of sake and picked it up to 
return to the cupboard.  His hand closed around the neck of the 
bottle when a movement at the corner of his eye attracted his 
attention.  He turned towards the corner it had come from and 
searched the shadows for whatever it was that had moved.
 "Tomoe Souichi."  
 He started at the quiet voice that whispered his name, 
feeling his heart begin to pound heavily and adrenaline beginning 
to work it's way through his body.
 "Tomoe Souichi.  You wish to be with your wife.  Let me 
help you."
 "W-who are you!?  W-what d-do you want?"  Souichi took a 
deep breath trying to bring his voice back under control.
 The voice laughed softly.  "I wish to help you be with your 
wife."  
 Another movement came from the shadows and Souichi found 
himself able to pick out a figure.  It emerged into the dim light 
thrown across the balcony by an inside light and lifted it's head.
 Souichi gasped and took a step backwards.  It looked alot 
like him.  It had the same pale lavender hair, fine features and 
was of a height.  But he didn't wear any aid to sight, he didn't 
wear the glasses that graced Souichi's face, and his eyes glinted 
red instead of the purple his own did.
 "W-who are you!?"
 The figure smiled a toothy smile.  "I am Cait Sith.  I am 
here to help you return to your wife.  You might call me 
a...guardian angel.  Yes.  A guardian angel."  His smile widened.
 "W-what?  How?"
 "I will remain here and take care of your beautiful daughter 
and you will join your wife, where ever she is."
 Souichi stared while he tried to take in Cait Sith's 
statements.  Then his eyes widened and he took another step back, 
glancing around in a panic.
 "Oh, don't bother trying to run.  You won't get away."
 The figure blurred forwards and Souichi choked, blood rising 
to his mouth and dribbling down his chin and neck to soak into his 
shirt.
 Cait Sith smiled again as he felt the body in front of him 
go limp.  He withdrew his hand from the corpse and stepped back, 
allowing it to fall to the floor of the balcony.
 The man would be thanking him, if he could.  Now he was with 
his wife and they would never have to be apart again.  And now it 
was his turn, to find his mother and bring her back so *they* could 
be together for always.
 His soft laughter hung in the air after he had cleaned up 
the mess Souichi had made and walked inside, ready to take over 
Souichi's house, position and his research into reincarnation and 
resurrection.
-----

Ranma � / Aa! Megami-sama / Sailormoon : Return - Chapter 2
A continuation of an idea by Long Ngo 
By Lei

Insert usual disclaimers here, characters don't belong to me but 
to someone(s) else but they were sooo much fun I just had to borrow 
them.   

-----
 <Osaka Naru.  15 years old.  Student of Juuban Junior High 
School, Tokyo, Japan.  Father - Osaka Kazuo.  Mother - Osaka 
Yoshiko, divorced.  No siblings...> 
 <She's cute.>  Ranma thought absently as he yawned and 
rubbed at the bridge of his nose as he read the file on his 
computer.  He leant back and stretched before going back to 
reading.
 So this is my next client.  Better set things up so she 
can make the call.  <Her mother owns a jewellery store in Juuban, 
let's see, she's going to be helping out there when she gets home 
from school...hmm...how about...?  Good, that'll do.  And until 
then I guess I'll go tell Skuld and the others my news.>  Ranma 
pressed a few keys on his keyboard, downloading his computer to 
Midgard so he could coordinate his client base from there and 
keep a close eye on Cait Sith and his activities at the same 
time.  He was glad he had gained Kami-sama's permission to take 
his computer with him or he'd have to use Skuld's and it was set 
up for her convenience, no one else's.  He'd had a few run-ins 
with her OS's before and didn't want to repeat the experience.
 Ranma smiled as his computer dematerialised and with a 
brief flexing of his own power he followed it, rematerialising in 
a beam of sunlight that had managed to break through the clouds 
and reach his room.  With a little help.  
 An unfamiliar tinkling sounded in his left ear as he 
swung his head to examine the new set up.  His hand went to 
his ear, playing with the earring that now sealed his powers, 
Kami-sama's mental lock having been removed.  He was back to 
being a god, first class, unlimited.  He smiled.
 Hooking up his computer to the local networks and power 
lines, he straightened the screen on the lowset table provided 
and flicked it on, the voice-control system having been 
nuetralised by Security during transit.  It was also disguised 
as a PC to avoid suspicion.
 Finishing the set up, he turned back to the rest of his room 
and blinked.  Urd hadn't changed it after he'd gone and the 
orange and blue patterned blankets and curtains still jarred 
on his eyes.  Sighing, Ranma began a spell to change it to 
something he could live with.
 The door banged open and Urd and Belldandy dashed into 
the room with their powers blazing, prepared to take on any 
demons or hostile gods that had decided to invade their home.  
 "Hi, guys."
 The two goddesses stumbled to a halt and glared at Ranma.  
 "You know, Ranma, you could have warned us you were back 
before using your magic.  You could get youself killed that 
way."
 "Oh, sorry.  It's just that I'm still not really used 
to being a god again, I keep forgetting things I shouldn't."
 "That's okay, just warn us if you're going to be 
using magic."
 "You're going to have to get used to my magic signature 
again, huh?"
 Urd and Bell looked at each other.  "Well, yeah."
 "Gotcha.  I'll tell you, or at least try to remember to."
 "Y'know, Ranma, you were only a 'mortal' for 14 years, how 
could you forget so much in sch a short time?"
 Ranma blinked then went into introspective mode for a few 
moments, "Um, well, humans, though they have short lives, seem to 
pack a lot into them.  Veeerry intense.  You get immersed in the 
life and, well, it seems, in some ways, more real than when I was 
back in Asgard."
 Belldandy nodded, smiling.  That was why she, a goddess a 
few thousand years old, could love an incredibly young mortal like 
Keiichi.  Urd began to look thoughtful as she contemplated the 
difference between her life here in Midgard and what it had been 
in Asgard.
 "So, how'd your meeting go?"  Belldandy stirred and lead 
her siblings out of the bedroom.
 "Good.  I'm back on the wish-granting roster, I've already 
set up the phone call which should come later on this afternoon.  
I've also been cleared to tell you about last night so you might 
want to sit down.  I'll go get Urd and Kei."
 
 Ranma-chan was lying on the floor in the passageway, next 
to the table that held the phone, waiting for it to ring.  She 
stared at the ceiling blankly listening to the tapping of her 
fingernails against the wooden legs of the table thinking back 
to that morning and her sisters' reactions to the news that 
someone was trying to ressurrect the mazoku.  All of them knew it 
was a Bad Thing, in fact they knew it fell into the even more 
worrying category of a Really Bad Thing, they just weren't too 
sure what to do about it.  
 The phone rang and Ranma sat up, grabbing the receiver.
 "You have reached the Goddess Help Line, a consultant will 
be there shortly."
 "Eh?  Um, sorry, I..."
 Ranma hung up on the strongly accented voice and caught a 
beam of sunlight.  Time to go to work.
 She reappeared in a small office occupied by a young 
redhead who was hanging up the phone slowly.  Ranma waved her 
hand and a small slip of paper containing the temple's phone 
number disappeared from the desk in front of her.
 Naru sighed and reached for the paper that had been sitting 
in front of her holding the number of a client.  It wasn't there.  
She began looking through the other papers on the desk, then 
moved out to look at the floor and found Ranma who was standing 
quietly in the beam of sunlight that cut through the slight 
gloom in the office.  Her white robes almost glowed and Naru 
blinked.
 "Ah, who are you?"
 Ranma bowed, "I am Ranma, God of Destiny, Goddess of 
Change and I'm here to grant you a wish."
 Naru blinked then recovered.  "Yah, right.  Customers 
aren't allowed back here, could ya' please wait in the shop 
until someone can assist you."  Naru motioned towards the door 
and ushered Ranma out.  Or tried to.
 With a twist she slipped away from Naru and went back to 
stand in the shaft of sunlight.  "I forgot that people find it 
hard to believe in stuff like this.  Um...look, could you do me 
a favour and make a wish?  I can't go home until you have."
 The fear that had been lurking in Naru's eyes since first 
discovering Ranma in the room became more pronounced at her lack 
of cooperation.  In the past year a lot had happened to her, to 
the point where she was unwilling to trust her own eyes.  Her 
mother had turned into a youma and her first love, Nephlite, 
had turned out to be a general in a strange dimension called 
the Negaverse.  And she had lost her best friend of fourteen 
years.  In the entire year not one *good* strange thing had 
happened to her so what was the likelihood of it happening 
now?  Naru opened the door and took a quick glance into the 
shop outside.  She saw her mother who was busy talking to one 
of their best clients and knew she would not be happy to be 
called away if it was nothing.
 Ranma sighed where she stood and then sat on the floor, 
folding her legs beneath her and tilting her head to one side 
as she continued to regard Naru.
 "I'm not really surprised you don't believe me if that's 
what's happened to you in the last year."
 Naru's eyes widened.  "What do you mean?"
 "All your run-ins with the Sailor Senshi and the 
Negaverse."
 "How did you know..."
 "I am permitted to read your mind for the duration of this 
consultation."  Ranma recited the standard answer in a monotone.
 Naru was really scared now.  The girl sitting on the floor 
looked harmless but she was picking her brains.  She started 
wishing that Umino was still in that Tuxedo Umino Kamen stage 
where he was always hanging around somewhere.  
 Ranma dropped her head into her hands and sighed deeply.  
"Did I always have this much trouble?"  
 She stood and began to glow, the light obscuring her form 
though it looked as though her silhouette was changing.  The 
light faded and Ranma stood revealed in street clothes, a pair 
of black, ankle-tied pants and a scarlet silk shirt cut in 
the chinese style with knotted fastenings that started at 
her throat and marched across almost to her shoulder.  Naru 
stared.
 "Look, maybe it'll make you feel better if we go 
somewhere less...private.  An ice cream parlour or something?"  
 Naru saw Ranma's eyes light up at the thought of ice 
cream and almost began relaxing.  Going out would be a good 
idea, she might be able to get away from the crazy girl in 
front of her.
 "How 'bout if I spring for the ice cream?  I think my 
budget could stretch to that.  What do you say?"
 Naru considered for a few moments until something 
else occured to her.  "But I can't go out, I'm working."
 "It's always something," Ranma muttered.  "You 
finish at seven, right?  I'll come back and we can go then.  
In the meantime, why don't you try to think of something 
you'd like to wish for.  And I'll see you later."  So saying, 
Ranma disappeared through the sunlight and reappeared again 
in a park just in time to avoid crashing into a small blonde 
girl that was flying down the previously deserted path.
 "Ah!  Gomen, gomen nasai."  The girl bowed 
apologetically before taking off again at full speed, two 
long pigtails flying behind her until gravity finally caught 
up with them when she barrelled into a young man who smiled 
at her tenderly whilst enduring the hug.  He looked up to see 
who was watching, not particularly self-conscious but still 
wanting to know if people *were* watching.  
 His eyes met another pair the same colour as his own 
and he blinked at the girl standing in the dappled shadows 
under the trees.  Just because he had a true love didn't 
mean he couldn't appreciate true beauty when he saw it.  
The girl smiled at him and his own smile widened in 
response as he nodded an acknowledgement of her presence.  
 Then his Usako said something and his full attention 
turned to her.
 Ranma watched the couple as they headed out of the 
park, intercepted by a young girl whose pink hair was 
styled similarly to the blonde's and then turned to 
contemplation of what they were.  All three of them had 
kami blood, something to look into.
 But that was for later.  Just now, she had a free 
hour before going back to grant Naru her wish and she 
didn't want to waste it.  All she had to do was decide how 
not to waste it.  And, these days, whenever she had free time 
it meant training.  Well, that or trying to figure out the 
curse-control trigger.  But since Naru would be expecting a 
*goddess* to turn up she supposed it meant staying as she 
was.  She would therefore have to avoid all hot water till 
after the meeting.
 Ranma dropped into a kata and began a workout which 
encompassed the entire area beneath the trees.  She swung 
from branches, bounced off tree-trunks and pulled hundreds 
of leaves from bushes using the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken, 
the words yelled at a volume much lower than normal.  She was 
working on making those words unnecessary.  
 After half an hour of workouts, avoiding all 
pedestrians, Ranma turned straight into one.  Blinking up 
from where she had landed after rebounding off the 
aforementioned pedestrian, she found herself staring into a 
very familiar face framed with short, black hair and a yellow 
bandana covered in black spots.
 "Ryouga?"
 Ranma ducked to the side just in time to avoid a thrust 
from Ryouga's umbrella.
 "What the heck didja go 'n do that for, P-chan!"
 She jumped to her feet and stood facing her arch-rival 
looking the very picture of outraged, feminine indignation.  
Her hands were even planted on her hips.
 "How could you do that to Akane-san!?"  Without waiting 
for an explanation, Ryouga attacked again, sending his unfurled 
umbrella spinning through a few trees that happened to get 
in the way and drove his fist through another.  Ranma, having 
dodged both attacks, grinned briefly and cracked her knuckles.
 "You wanna fight?  I haven't had a good fight since I 
left Nerima."  Ranma weaved through Ryouga's next series of 
attacks and threw an Amaguriken of 618 punches, which 
predictably, had almost no affect on the strongest boy in 
the world.

 Some time later, in a different part of Juuban, a beeping 
could be heard echoing through a spatious apartment a few floors 
up at one of the better addresses around.  The blonde who had 
been running through the park earlier rolled over onto her back 
and lifted her watch in front of her face.
 "Yeah?"
 "Usagi-chan, there's a job for the Sailor Senshi over at 
the park.  Transform and get there as soon as you can.  Bring 
Chibi-usa, these daimons seem to have different energy signatures 
from anything we've faced before."  The tiny colour LCD screen went 
blank and Usagi moaned in dismay before pushing herself into a 
sitting position and turning to Mamoru, whose arms were still 
resting lightly on her waist.
 "Another job for the Sailor Senshi."  She pulled herself 
slowly to her feet and walked over to Chibi-usa.  "C'mon, we've 
got another daimon to fry."
 Chibi-usa looked up from where she was putting the finishing 
touch to her homework assignment and climbed to her feet.  
 The trio made it's way out of the apartment, stopping only to 
lock the door before heading for the park.

 Ranma laughed as she ducked another of Ryouga's punches, 
exhilarated by the exercise.
 "Man, I haven't had this much fun for ages!"
 She swept a low kick at Ryouga's legs, he jumped and drew 
a number of bandanas from his forehead.  Ranma dodged the rain 
of black and yellow, at the last minute changing the direction 
of a dodge till he was in position to catch one of them.  The 
deadly blade stopped it's whirling and again became a piece of 
cloth.
 Ranma considered it, still dodging puches and kicks then 
bounced off Ryouga's head, flipping out of range and smiling.  
He began to spin the bandana and watched it carefully as his 
opponent spun around, his anger still at full fury.  Finally 
judging the bandana ready he let it go with a flick of his wrist 
and watched as it headed for Ryouga, cutting easily through the 
cloth of a sleeve as the Lost Boy tried to dodge.
 Neither of the two noticed the arrival of four fuku-clad 
girls who stopped as soon as they had reached the scene of the 
battle to watch.  
 This was not what she had expected.  Mercury pulled her 
computer out of sub-space and keyed her visor into existence to 
study these strange daimons that were actually attacking *each 
other*.  She watched the complicated list of data roll up the 
screen of the computer but again found them to have energy 
signatures different than the usual daimons.  There were also 
differences between the two opponents, one had as much power 
as he was using, but the other seemed to be holding back.  
 "Uh, Venus, why don't you try to get the guy with your 
Love-me Chain.  Mars, you go for the girl, Jupiter you're back 
up."
 "Shabon Spray!"  A cloud of fog burst from Mercury's 
hands to cover a large area of the park and the other Senshi 
charged in, each with their own task in mind.
 "Ranma!  Where did you go!?  How dare you run out on 
our man-to-man fight!?  Again!?"  A muffled shout could be heard 
in the fog, it's volume fading in and out in eerie cadence 
before fading out entirely.
 "Burning Mandala!"
 "Sparkling Wide Pressure!"  
 An orange glow illuminated one area of the fog followed 
shortly afterwards by a flash of white and electric blue.  Then 
silence until the fog began to clear.
 Mercury looked around and found Mars, Jupiter, Venus and 
the red-haired human-looking daimon, but she couldn't see the 
male anywhere.
 "Eh?  Where'd he go?"  The redhead asked the air then 
shrugged.  "Probably got lost again."
 Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi-Moon chose that moment to 
appear, accompanied by Tuxedo Kamen.  Moon looked around with a 
mixture of disappointment and relief on her face, she wouldn't 
have to fight, but nor would she get to make a speech.  And 
she'd had a good one ready.
 All the Senshi remained frozen in an awkward tableau as 
they all looked around wondering what to do next.  The daimon 
wasn't reacting the way it was meant to.  
 "Oh, hello.  You guys are the Sailor Senshi, right?"
 Venus nodded.  "Yeah."
 "So it was you who threw the lightening and fire around?  
And the fog?"
 "Yeah."
 Tuxedo Mask was frowning.  He had seen this girl somewhere 
before, somewhere...Ah!  She was the girl from the park earlier.
 "Um, I don't think she's a daimon, Sailors.  I passed 
her earlier and didn't get anything from her."
 "A daimon?  You thought I was a daimon?  Why?"
 The Senshi all looked at Mercury who had been the person 
to first suggest the possibility.
 "Oh, well, I was getting alot of strange power readings 
from here and there had been reports of a fight.  Most strange 
power readings mean something bad, so...  If you're not 
a daimon, what are you?"
 Ranma looked thoughtful for awhile.  "Well, I'm a 
god.  Maybe that's what you picked up."
 Everyone's mouths dropped open and there was an 
audible gasp to accompany the rustling in one of the bushes 
off to the side.  Turning their heads towards the disturbance, 
the Senshi watched as two futher Senshi clambered their way 
through the leaves to stand upright before them.
 The expressions on the faces of all the Inner Senshi, 
except Sailor Moon, became hostile.  Neptune and Uranus 
ignored that and faced Ranma.  "You're a god?"
 "Uh huh.  You are too, a bit.  In fact I haven't seen 
so many people with kami blood around since last time I was 
up in Asgard.  Strange, to find that here."
 "Um," Mercury asked diffidently, "What do you mean by 
that?"
 "Well, I noticed you three,"  Ranma nodded in the 
direction of Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi-Moon and Tuxedo 
Kamen, "Earlier.  I can sense the kami-blood in you.  And the 
rest of you guys have the same feel.  Some weaker than others 
but it's still definately there.  Come to think of it...You're 
Sailor Uranus, right?" 
 Uranus nodded her eyes narrowed.  
 "Thought so, you look kind of like him and Sailor Mars...?" 
she lifted an eyebrow in Mars' direction.  
 Mars nodded.  
 "Looks like Mars.  The same eyes, you know."
 "So, we're all descended from kami?  The ones our 
Sailor forms are named after?"
 "Guess so.  I'd have to check in with Yggdrassil to 
know for sure, but it does make sense.  So where's Sailor 
Pluto and Sailor Saturn?"
 "Pluto's..."
 "Right behind you."
 Ranma spun around.  "Yo, Setsuna!  Hey, haven't seen you 
in ages."
 "Who are you?"
 "Eh?  It's me, Ranma."
 "Ranma?  But Ranma's a..."
 Ranma looked down at himself and shrugged.
 "A guy?  I had a little accident on that last job and 
ended up with a way to make those illusions, well...real."
 Pluto's eyes narrowed.  "Can you prove that?"
 Ranma blinked and went all thoughtful again.  "I 
suppose...Sailor Neptune, your attack is a water one right?  
And Mars' is fire, I've already found that out so... Okay, can 
you two combine your attacks?  And fire them at me."
 "But, you could get hurt!"  Sailor Moon exclaimed.
 "Nope.  Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.  Carry on, 
you two."
 The water of Neptune's Deep Submerge and the fire of Mars' 
Fire Soul combinded to provide the hot water Ranma needed to 
trigger his transformation since he still hadn't worked out the 
mental control.
 "AAGH!"  Ranma quickly worked a change clothes spell as 
the shirt and pants he had been wearing began to pinch.  And 
he'd thought that being kami again he would be safe wearing 
clothes that fit his female form properly. 
 His clothes became his kami uniform and he sighed in relief.  
"I'll *have* to remember that in future."
 Tuxedo Kamen came out of the sympathetic wince and Jupiter 
tried to keep from laughing.
 All of a sudden Sailor Pluto smiled and glomped onto 
Ranma's arm, "Ranma!  You're back!"  She released him and a 
fierce glare came over her delicate features. "Why didn't you 
call me?  I haven't heard from you since before you went off 
on that wish-granting job and never came back!"  Her voice 
had risen as she went on, ire rising at Ranma's neglect.  The 
rest of the Senshi looked on in shock.
 "Wish-granting?  Oh, man, I'm late!  Sorry, gotta go, bye."
 And Ranma disappeared up one of the last rays of sunlight 
that was dappling the ground of the park in the late evening.
 Pluto ground her teeth in frustration and muttered under 
her breath as she opened a portal, stepped through it and 
sealed it behind her.  A single word echoed in the air behind 
her.
 "Jerk."

 Ranma appeared outside the OSA.P and walked inside to 
find Yoshiko, Naru's mother, serving a customer.  Naru wasn't 
in the store.  He sighed and moved across to the till and 
waited for Yoshiko to finish her sale then stepped forwards 
to make an enquiry.
 "Hi, um, I'm a friend of Naru-chan's.  I was meant to
meet her here after she finished work but I was delayed.  
Would you happen to know where she is?"
 Yoshiko looked the young man up and down taking in his 
clean-cut appearance.  Even the earrings didn't leave the same 
impression it normally would have.  "One moment, please."  
 "Thanks, I'll wait outside."
 Yoshiko headed for the back room.  "Naru-chan?  You have 
a visitor.  He's waiting outside."
 Naru looked up from where she was finishing off her maths 
homework while she waited for her mother to finish up before 
they went to find something to eat.  She had also been waiting 
for the return of the girl that called herself a goddess; not 
because she believed her, though she had some reason to, but 
because she was curious.  
 Naru nodded up at her mother and stood, straightening her 
skirt.  The only guy she could think of who would visit her 
was Umino.  She smiled and went out to meet him.
 "He said he'd wait outside."
 "Okay, thanks, Mom."
 Naru walked across the shop to the front door that slid 
open with a gentle whoosh of air and she stepped out onto the 
pavement looking around for her boyfriend.  He wasn't there.  
The only person she could see who wasn't rushing down the 
sidewalk purposefully was a young man in white with his black 
hair tied back in a pig-tail.  He smiled at her and made his 
way over.
 "Hi.  Sorry I'm late but I was delayed by the Sailor 
Senshi."
 "Ah...who are you?"
 "Eh?  I'm Ranma... Oh."  Ranma looked around to see if 
there was any water around he could use to change.  No such 
luck.  His father had a warped sense of humour.  He sighed.
 "Well, I am Ranma it's just that I can, uh, *change* 
genders.  That's why I'm the *God* of Destiny and the *Goddess* 
of Change, like I said before.  I'd show you if I had some water 
but I don't at the moment.  Anyway, you decided on anything?"
 Naru shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other 
and wondered if it was her fate to get saddled with all the 
weirdos.  But one thing she'd have to say, this guy took the 
cake; claiming to be a god was one thing but also insisting 
you could change gender...even the Senshi and Umino weren't 
that weird.
 "Hey!  I'm not that bad.  Besides most of it's not my 
fault.  You'd have to blame my families for that."
 Naru looked up, startled.  "You..."
 "I did say I was allowed to read your mind for the 
duration of the consultation.  Which hasn't finished yet, since 
you haven't made a wish."
 Naru was silent digesting that.  Unless he was who he said 
he was, him and that girl whom she met earlier were in cahoots 
and they were good at reading people.  Coincidence was stacking 
up in such a way that she was seriously considering that he 
was telling the truth.  First there was his supposed mind-reading 
and repetition of what the redhead had told her.  Combined with 
that were the physical similarities between the two.  And if 
they were the same person, just inhabiting a different form, there 
was also the appearing out of nowhere and disappearing again the 
same way followed by the change of clothes.
 "Look, the easiest way to sort this out would be if you 
could get me some cold water.  Then I'd be able to show you 
me and her are the same."
 Ranma looked at the doubt in Naru's mind and eyes and 
tried once again to trigger the curse.  He pictured a bucket 
of water suspended over his head and mentally overturned it, 
trying to feel the first shocking coldness followed by the 
tiny trickles that ran down his neck and between her breasts 
before ending up at the waist of whatever she was wearing and 
being absorbed into the cloth.  He even conjured up the usual 
tingling that accompanied the change without success.
 Naru turned and headed back inside.  She was gone for 
a couple of minutes before returning holding a mug of water.
 Ranma reached for it when she offered it and looked 
around for somewhere less conspicuous to change.  
 "Um, come on.  It's probably better if I change over 
there so I don't freak people out."  He gestured to the gap 
between the OSA.P and the building next to it.
 Naru followed Ranma but stopped before she could be 
obstructed from view by passersby.  She knew what could 
happen to girls who weren't careful around strange men.  
But her reluctance vanished when Ranma turned around to face 
her and tipped the water over his head.
 Naru watched in surprise as the water seemed to push 
down on him until he was much shorter and also washed the 
black out of his hair, leaving it the same bright red it 
had been earlier in the day.  
 Ranma shook her head to get rid of most of the water 
and sighed at the sleeves that insisted on getting in the 
way when she tried to brush the worst of the water off her 
face.  Uttering the change-clothes spell for the third time 
that day she stood revealed wearing a different red silk shirt 
and drawstring pants.
 "That's better.  So do you believe me now?"
 Naru nodded dumbly.
 "Great.  So what do you say we go grab something to 
eat while you decide what it is you want to wish for?"

 Outside the Crown Fruit Parlour an hour later, something 
strange could be seen.  A glow began in the window and continued 
to grow until light streamed out onto the sidewalk.  Small 
droplets of airborne food splattered across the windows and ran 
down them in multicoloured rivulets of slime.
 Naru looked on in horror as the petite redhead sitting in 
the booth across from her began to glow.  Her bangs lifted in an 
unfelt breeze and revealed the marking on her forehead.  The 
four-pointed star was also glowing.  It expanded a little and a 
burst of light shot upwards forming into a column of blue-white 
light that reached the heavens.
 Closer to home, Naru noticed things starting to move.  The 
salt and pepper shakers danced across the table-top and her napkin 
went swirling away to join the whirlwind that had begun with Ranma's 
glowing.  
 The other patrons of the Fruit Parlour, those that hadn't 
fled, ducked under tables, trying to avoid the bits and pieces 
flying through the room.  Naru decided that might be a good idea 
and headed for the floor.  
 She didn't notice her teacup being sent flying by an ice 
cream spoon that came out of nowhere, nor did she see the hot 
liquid arc across Ranma's torso, effectively deactivating the 
curse.  The pillar of light took on the slightest tinge of purple, 
but continued on in the same manner.
 All of a sudden things began dropping to the ground.  Plates 
shattered and salt spilt across the floor in tandem with milkshakes 
and half-melted ice cream.  Naru poked her head out from under 
the table and blinked at the now male Ranma.
 "Well, Naru-chan, your wish has been approved."
 "W-wish?  Uh..."
 "Yep.  'I wish I knew why Usagi's been avoiding me lately' 
you said.  So, wish approved.  We'll do the leg work...tomorrow?"
 Naru, still dazed, nodded her head without thinking.
 "Great, then I'll meet you at the OSA.P at...um, when's a 
good time?"
 "No school."  She shook her head and the glazed look in her 
eyes receeded.  "Um, but I'm meeting my boyfriend in the morning so 
it'll have to be evening.  Um...same time?"
 "As today?  Sure."
 "I-I don't know whether I really want to know why she hasn't 
been around.  Maybe she just doesn't like me anymore.  I don't 
know if I want to know something like that."
 "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing like that."  Ranma stood then 
reseated himself, wincing.  "Oh boy, do I have to key that change 
of clothes spell to the change of gender thing."
 Naru giggled.  "Thanks for listening to me, Ranma-sama."
 "Hey, no problem.  Besides, you're cute, I can handle 
listening to cute girls for looong periods of time."
 A blushing Naru stood and smiled down at Ranma as he 
muttered the necessary spell and joined her.  
 "I'd better get home now."  
 Ranma nodded, "I'll walk you back."
 They fell into step and leaving money on the table headed 
through the shards of broken plates and glasses.  Something 
shattered further under Naru's feet and she winced.  Ranma 
noticed and sighed.
 "Guess I'd better do something about this, hunh?"  He 
stopped when he reached the front door and turned to the now 
fully deserted shop.  The exodus had continued on after the 
energy storm had died down.  He raised his hands, chanted a spell 
of restoration and watched as everything that had been broken was 
restored.  Glass fragments melted into one another, plates regained 
the meals they had lost and chocolate sprinkles that had found 
their way to the floor rained backwards into the container they 
had fallen from.  Clapping his hands together with a satisfied 
smirk, Ranma began the walk back to the OSA.P to drop Naru home 
before heading back to the temple.

 He found Megumi waiting for him.
 "Where have you been, Ranma?  We were supposed to go to 
that movie, remember?"
 Ranma smacked his forehead and shook his head in contrition 
glancing at Megumi through slitted eyelids and the accompanying 
curtain of eyelashes.
 "I'm sorry, Megumi-san, I forgot."  He looked around and 
noticed the silence that covered the temple grounds.  "I take it 
everyone else has gone?"
 "Yeah.  So, where were you?"
 "Would you believe I was accosted by eight cute, superhuman 
girls in short fuku who all happened to have names beginning with 
the word 'Sailor'?"
 Megumi gasped.  "The Sailor Senshi?  But I thought they only 
worked in Juuban!"
 Ranma grinned.  "They do.  I had to head over in that 
direction to talk to a client and managed to...er, attract their 
attention.  They insisted on speaking to me after that until, 
finally, I convinced them I was late.  The movie's started by 
now?"
 Megumi nodded.  
 "Great, so we have the temple all to ourselves."  
Ranma's voice dropped seductively and his eyebrows waggled 
suggestively as he sidled closer to the brunette.  "Whatcha 
wanna do, now that you've managed to get me all to yourself?"
 "Y-you can tell me all about your meeting with the 
Senshi."  A slight flush of red adorned Megumi's cheekbones but 
she was determined that Ranma would not get to her the way he had 
to so many of her girl friends when he had visited Bell and Kei 
on campus that day a couple of weeks ago.
 Ranma's face fell into an expression of mock-disappointment 
but his eyes still sparkled brilliantly.  He threw a casual arm 
across her shoulders and guided her inside.  "Weeeell.  If you're 
sure that's what you want.  Still, can't do a *real* story-telling 
without snacks.  Lets go raid the kitchen."
 "Did you really meet the Senshi?"
 "Eh?  I thought we'd already established that.  You know 
I wouldn't lie to you, don't you, Megumi-chan?"
 "Uh, well..."
 The phone rang, interrupting the touching scene and Ranma 
sighed as he disengaged his arm and headed for the phone.  
"Stay right there.  I'll be back shortly to tell you all about 
it and then we'll..." he waved his hand vaguely, "I dunno, watch 
a movie on television, or something."
 Megumi nodded and leant back against the wall in earshot 
of Ranma and the phone.  Ranma *had* told her to stay where she 
was.
 "Moshi moshi?"
 There was a pause as Ranma held the phone away from his 
ear.  From where she was, Megumi could hear the tinny echoes 
of the caller coming from the reciever.  
 Ranma grimaced and waited for the caller to stop yelling 
before bringing the phone back up to his ear.  Megumi grinned 
as he rolled his eyes at her.
 Ranma focussed on whatever was being said over the phone.
 "Hey, Setsuna.  What can I do for you?"
 Megumi frowned.  It was a girl.  One she'd never heard of.
 "What?  Oh, uh..."  Ranma shot a look at Megumi and ran 
a hand through his bangs, "I can't just now..."
 Setsuna obviously said something else as Ranma stopped 
speaking and listened, his eyes distant.  
 "Mm?  No, I was meant to be working and I was late due 
to that run-in with Ryouga..."
 "No, of course not.  If I'd had the time I would have..."
 "Now?  Well, I'm with a friend at the moment..."
 "No, she doesn't."
 The volume of the caller went up again and Megumi winced 
in sympathy for Ranma's ear drums.  It didn't take as long for 
her to calm down this time and Ranma went back to listening, then 
laughed.
 "No, she's not my girlfriend.  Why do you ask?"
 Megumi felt a pang at his statement and told herself it 
didn't matter that Ranma had laughed at the idea of her being 
his girlfriend because she didn't want to be his girlfriend in 
the first place.
 "I'm not that bad..."
 "Yeah, yeah, whatever.  Look, I need to get in touch with 
you and your friends tomorrow anyway so I'll talk to you then, 
'kay?"
 Megumi sighed.  This was getting boring.  Listening to 
one-sided conversations was all very well if it was *interesting* 
but apart from that one comment this wasn't.  There was no way to 
tell what Ranma was talking about either.  She crossed her arms 
over her chest and settled back to wait some more.
 "Uhuh.  Well, I'll see you soon then.  Bye."
 Ranma hung up and turned to Megumi with a resigned look that 
changed when he caught her look and he smirked.  "Well, now that 
you *really* have me all to yourself, Megumi-chan..."
 Megumi pushed herself away from the wall and glared at 
the martial artist.  
 "Shall we raid the kitchen?"

 Miyu faded into the real world and looked around.  Behind her, 
her servant-companion also appeared, hovering protectively, his mask 
in place.
 "We must find Cait Sith.  He has to be stopped."
 Larva nodded.  "And he is somewhere here, in Tokyo."
 "Yes. Let's search."
 Miyu took a step and another then began to run silently through 
the streets followed by the shadow that was Larva.

 Cait Sith turned to face his subordinate and raised an eyebrow 
at the troubled expression on her face.
 "Professor?"
 "Yes, Eudial?"
 "I've - I've been investigating the Holy Grail and there's 
something...strange.  I keep seeing a shadow of someone.  Someone 
who's connected to the Grail in some way."
 Cait Sith nodded.  "Of course.  That would be the person who 
can use the Grail.  If he is on our side, we will triumph."
 "And if he isn't?"
 "Then we will lose.  But that is not an option, we will 
succeed."
 "How can we be sure of that?"
 Soft laughter emerged from Cait Sith's throat and Eudial 
shivered.
 "Because, my dear Eudial, I know who that person is and 
the other side, does not."    

 Naru waited impatiently in front of the OSA.P, pacing back and 
forth as she waited for Ranma to turn up.  She still didn't know 
whether she really wanted to know why Usagi had been avoided her but 
it would be a waste of a wish if she didn't go with Ranma, who had 
said it wouldn't be that bad, so here she was waiting.  
 "Oh good, you're ready."
 Naru whirled around to see a male Ranma grinning at her.
 "So how do you want to do this?  Teleportation or walking?"
 Naru looked at him in surprise at the question and shrugged.  
"Whatever."
 "Okay then."  Ranma took a hold of her shoulder and catching 
hold of her eyes disappeared, accompanied by Naru.
 Reappearing outside of Usagi's house, Naru staggered and 
nodded gratefully to Ranma when he steadied her.  She had no memory 
of the transition between places and the only difference apart from 
place was the lightheadedness that had caught her when they arrived.
 "Okay, lets go."  
 Ranma turned and walked up to the door and pressed the 
doorbell before beckoning for Naru to join him.  
 The door opened and Tsukino Ikuko, Usagi's mother, stood there 
smiling pleasantly.
 "Hello, can I...Naru-chan!  Come in.  My, I haven't seen for 
a long time."
 "Hello, Ikuko-obasan.  Um, we're looking for Usagi-chan."
 Ikuko looked at Ranma, taking in his cleancut appearance and 
smiling delightedly at him.  "Is this your boyfriend, dear?"
 Naru blushed.  "No.  He's.."
 Ranma bowed. "Just a friend.  It's a pleasure to meet you."
 "Oh, you too...?"
 "Ranma."
 "Ranma-kun."  There was a brief moment of silence.  "Well,  
I'm afraid Usagi isn't here right now.  I think she went shopping 
with Rei-chan and Mako-chan."
 "Oh.  Okay, thanks anyway, Ikuko-obasan."
 "Anytime, dear.  It was nice meeting you, Ranma-kun."
 "You too, Tsukino-san.  Arigatou."
 The two turned away and headed back towards the street and 
headed off in the direction of the Crown Fruit Parlour and the 
mall Usagi frequented.
 "So, what now?"
 Ranma frowned briefly then smiled and pulled a cell-phone out 
of nowhere.  "I'll just call Directory.  They should be able to 
tell me where Usagi is."
 He punched in a number and lifted the phone to his ear, 
waiting for his call to be connected.
 file://<Hello, Directory, Hermes speaking.>//
 <Hermes?  I thought you'd made it to Enquiries?>
 file://<Oh, that you Ranma?>//
 <Yep.>
 file://<Oh, well, I did make it to Enquiries, but then, well... You 
know how I'm meant to be the 'Messenger of the Gods' and all that, 
right?  Well, I was in my office playing darts with...>//
 <The picture of Mercury?  Oh man, I remember that thing.  
Mercury and his afro...he *hated* that picture.>
 file://<Yeah, that's the one.  Anyway, I was sitting there playing 
darts, it gets boring now, what with all the instant transportation 
kami around now, when Aphrodite walked in carrying this data 
crystal she wanted delivered.  So she asked me to deliver it and 
looked at me with those eyes of hers, her lips all red and pouty and 
she said...>// Hermes adjusted his voice and went on in falsetto.  
 file://<Oh, Hermes, would you do me an teeny weeny favour...>//
 file://<She wanted me to deliver it to Vulcan and Hephastes over 
in the Phillipines where they were playing with a volcano and it 
*had* to get there as soon as possible.  Made me damn well think it 
was a matter of life and death the way her eyes went all big and 
sad.  So, of course, I said I'd deliver it...Aphrodite's not 
exactly easy to say no to...and I took the disk and was about to 
head off when she looks at me again and says 'As fast as you can, 
please?'  Now what else can you do when Aphrodite asks so nicely, 
but do your best.  So I...uh, kinda borrowed Helios' chariot since 
it's faster than I am and he wasn't using it at the time.  It 
didn't take me long to get there and I was back before you'd know 
I'd left, but wouldn't you know it, I'd forgotten to extinguish 
the flames.>//
 Ranma couldn't help it.  He started laughing.
 file://<Hnn.  Look if you want your enquiry answered you'd 
better shut up about *now*, Ranma.>//
 <Oh, sorry man.  So what happened then?>
 file://<Atheism and Agnosticism, etc, went waaaay down and worship 
waaaay up on the polls.  I believe most of the people who saw me 
thought it was the End of the World, Armageddon, that sort of thing.  
So here I am, serving my time.  I wish I'd gotten a license 
suspension like Urd instead, at least I wouldn't have been as 
bored.>//
 <Oh well, it happens to us all the first time Aph asks us for 
a favour.  Venus too, for that matter.  At least it's not as likely 
to happen next time.>
 file://<That wasn't the first time, Ranma.>//
 <Oh.>
 There was silence for a few seconds.
 file://<So what was it you wanted anyway?>//
 <Right.  I need to know the whereabouts of a semi-mortal 
named Tsukino Usagi.>
 file://<Coming right up.>//
 While Hermes was playing with the Directory computer, Ranma 
looked up to see where he and Naru were and found her glaring at 
him, her foot tapping impatiently on the footpath.
 "You do know we stopped walking five minutes ago, don't you?"
 "Uh..."
 "Ranma-sama, I've been trying to get your attention for those 
five minutes because," she paused dramatically, "Usagi's...in there."  
She pointed to the small cafe they were standing in front of.
 And sure enough, the blonde girl was sitting at a booth plying 
another blonde, whom Ranma pegged as Aino Minako, Sailor Venus, with 
energy drinks.  Ranma's mouth fell briefly open.
 <Um, cancel that, Hermes, I just found her.>  He flipped his 
cellphone closed and made it disappear back to wherever it came 
from and smiled sheepishly at Naru.
 "Sorry."
 Naru sighed and followed him into the shop.
 Minako brushed by them on the way out, not even noticing them.  
A car screeched to a stop behind them and they heard the report of 
a gun going off.  They spun around in time to a crystal emerge 
from Minako's chest and an ecstatic expression appear on her face.
 Usagi passed them, heading for Minako.  Eudial was also 
heading in that direction.
 "Minako-chan!  Watch out!"  Usagi yelled.  
 Minako looked at her and giggled then turned and ran, cradling 
the crystal in her hands.
 Eudial did an about face and hurried to her car, setting off 
in pursuit.  Usagi followed.
 "Hmm.  Well, we should probably go see if we can help, too."
 "Of course."
 Ranma and Naru took off after Usagi and Minako.
 They didn't stick around long enough to see two cats and five 
girls emerge from various hiding places and join the parade.

 Minako finally collapsed in a parking building, the heart 
crystal's absence finally taking it's toll.  Eudial smirked as she 
jumped out of her car and headed for the softly glowing crystal 
that had fallen to the ground.  Someone had to be very strong to 
keep going for that long after having their crystal taken, maybe she 
had finally found a Talisman.  
 "Stop!"
 Surprised, she turned to see the same blonde with the 
ridiculous hairstyle that had been there earlier.  
 Calling upon one of her daimon she sealed the building.  This 
girl's crystal had already been checked but even this girl would 
probably delay her long enough for the Sailor Senshi to arrive.  
Those girls had ridiculous amounts of luck.  The grates over the 
entrances slammed shut, but not before four figures managed to make 
their way in.  Eudial ground her teeth in frustration and ran for 
the crystal, setting the daimon to guard against the interlopers.
 Usagi saw Eudial looking at something and looked over her 
shoulder to see four very familiar figures.  She only hoped Ranma 
could do some useful things in the way of dusting daimons.  Haruka, 
Michiru and Naru she could do nothing about.  She *had* to help 
Minako.  
 Taking a firm hold of her brooch, she called out her 
transformation and as the flash of light claimed her she wondered, 
very briefly, if she maybe she could stop keeping secrets from her 
best friend.
 Three pairs of eyes widened and Eudial turned back from her 
run to see Sailor Moon standing in front of the daimon.  She 
dismissed it with a sigh of frustration and continued towards her 
goal, knowing the daimon would keep Sailor Moon away for long 
enough.  It always took more than one Sailor to take on a daimon.
 Unfortunately, she had discounted the other four people 
present.
 Ranma went into action, dodging around the daimon and heading 
for Eudial and Minako.  He reached the crystal just before Eudial 
did and managed to push it back into her chest.  Eudial, looking 
angry, took out her gun again and pointed it at Ranma.
 "Then we'll try your heart crystal!"  
 The gun went off.  
 The projectile released bounced harmlessly off the shield 
formed by Ranma's crossed arms.  Eudial gaped and backed away, 
readying the gun once more, for defence this time.
 On the other side of the building, Sailor Moon was being 
attacked by the daimon, and managed to dodge the bursts of energy 
being sent her way, with a minimum of wailing.
 She had managed to get in a speech, finishing with her usual 
'In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!' but wasn't doing a great 
job of living up to her promise.
 Michiru and Haruka watched with concerned eyes while Sailor 
Moon, their adorable little friend Usagi, continued to dodge.  Then 
came the attack when she didn't quite move in time.  The daimon's 
extendable appendages wrapped themselves around the Senshi of the 
Moon and began to exert pressure.  Sailor Moon screamed.
 Naru ran forwards and began to hit the daimon on an 
unprotected flank, hoping it would stop hurting her friend.  She 
had had suspicions about Sailor Moon's true identity before, but 
finding out for sure was still a bit of a shock.  Usagi was Sailor 
Moon, Champion of Love and Justice.  
 ^Is this what Ranma was going to show me?^
 She managed to get the daimon's attention, but instead of 
releasing Sailor Moon it merely swatted her away using one of 
it's arms that hadn't been used in trapping Sailor Moon.
 "Leave her alone!  Let her go!"  Once her head had stopped 
spinning she began to verbally attack the daimon, knowing she 
wouldn't be effective in any other way.  And probably not even 
that one.
 Off to the side, Michiru and Haruka were still standing, 
but they were now watching each other as much as the battle.  
Should they help out, or not?  The heart crystal was no longer 
available to inspect and they had a strict mission to fulfill, but 
they'd always had an urge to help Usagi and Sailor Moon.  It was 
now that they would have to decide whether sometimes, just 
sometimes, a person *could* come between them and their quest.
 Then it didn't matter any longer, because Ranma was there, 
having dismissed Eudial for the time being.  A flying kick to the 
daimon's head and it was sent staggering back, allowing him to pull 
out the rapier that was part of his battle uniform.  He slashed at 
the rubbery vines surrounding Sailor Moon and, snagging her around 
the waist, jumped out of the way of the recovering daimon.
 Putting her down next to Haruka and Michiru he grinned at 
her then turned to his sword and frowned at it briefly.  He swung 
it a few times and nodded.  A blue glow surrounded the blade and 
became almost blinding for a split second as it became liquid.  When 
the light dissipated he was left holding a katana, much like 
Nodoka's.
 Satisfied, he turned to Haruka and Michiru.
 "So, why didn't you two transform and help out?"
 The pair's eyes widened and Haruka began to glare.  Ranma was 
saved from whatever she had chosen to say by the appearance of Naru 
on the scene.  She threw her arms around Sailor Moon and held her 
tight for a moment.
 "Are you alright?"
 Sailor Moon nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."
 "I *knew* you were Sailor Moon!  Well, I didn't know, but I 
thought you were.  You always saved me and you knew my name and you 
have the same hairstyle and everything.  That's why we haven't been 
spending as much time together, isn't it?  You've been too busy 
being Sailor Moon and saving the world."  By the time she had 
finished speaking, most of the group was feeling slightly 
breathless.
 "Um, yeah."
 Naru smiled brilliantly and Sailor Moon had no choice but 
to smile back.
 "She also didn't want you to be in danger because of her." 
 Naru looked at Ranma then back at Sailor Moon who was looking 
sheepish.
 "You always used to get attacked and I thought, maybe if I 
stayed away from you, it wouldn't happen.  And I was right.  You 
haven't been attacked for ages."
 Naru nodded slowly, "I guess."
 "Actually, that was purely coincidental.  Except for the 
Nephlite part, none of the attacks were deliberate and could have 
happened to anyone.  And you weren't unhappy with *that* attack."
 It was unfortunate that the group was so busy talking they 
didn't see Eudial sneak closer and level her gun at the group.  She 
got off three quick shots before it became imperative for her to 
back off.
 The first shot headed for Ranma and hit.  A slight shimmer of 
red appeared about him but nothing else happened, except that it 
drew his attention towards Eudial.  The other two shots also hit, 
one getting Haruka, the other, Naru.  Two heart crystals popped out 
of their respective chests.
 Haruka collapsed, Michiru catching her before she hit the 
ground.
 Naru was caught by Sailor Moon.
 A group of four different daimons jumped on the group, forcing 
Michiru and Sailor Moon to set their friends down and dodge various 
projectiles.
 Michiru took the first available chance to transform, knowing 
that now was not the time to worry about who would see her.  The 
flash of light distracted the daimon she was fighting and also 
tore Sailor Moon's attention away from the big blue spider-like 
daimon she was up against.  Thrown backwards, she crashed into 
one of the concrete pillars that were dotted throughout the 
building.  She lay unmoving for a few moments while the daimon moved 
forwards, readying the hand-nozzle that was it's main weapon.  
Seconds later Sailor Moon found herself stuck to the pillar with 
strands of the sticky silk.
 Sailor Neptune had powered up her attack, sending a wall of 
watery energy flying towards her chosen target, a daimon whose 
powers seemed based on fire.  The energy collided with the daimon 
sending it staggering back, half of it's body mass having been 
dissolved away.  Neptune followed up with a second Deep Submerge 
and washed the daimon away.
 Meanwhile, Ranma had leapt to engage the third daimon, this 
one psychadelic with a snail shell attached to it's shoulders.  His 
first leg sweep caught the daimon at knee level, sending him 
crashing to the ground.  Ranma's second move caved in the creatures 
fore-head, the silvery viscous liquid that took the place of blood 
dribbling down its face.  It's iridescent skin began to bubble and 
the daimon screamed, retreating.  Ranma stood up and ducking the 
arm swipe of the fourth daimon, fired off a moko takabisha from the 
end of his katana.
 "Venus Love-me Chain!"
 A golden chain of stylised hearts emerged from a conscious 
Sailor Venus' fingers, smashing into the daimon that was advancing 
towards a wildly struggling Sailor Moon who couldn't wriggle out 
of the cocoon that held her fast.
 "Fire Soul!" 
 Sailor Mars, flanked by Mercury, Venus and Chibi-moon stood 
a little to one side, having finally found their way inside the 
sealed building.  The carefully controlled flames set the 
spider-silk on fire, burning it away and singeing Moon a little.  
Mercury and Jupiter ganged up on the daimon, weakening it while 
Sailor Moon finished yelling at Mars and fired off a Moon Princess 
Halation, dissolving the daimon into pretty sparkles of light.
   Out of the corner of his eye, Ranma saw the original daimon 
sneak in and collect the two heart crystals, taking them to it's 
mistress.  Moving to intercept, he was ambushed by the fourth 
daimon.  Sent flying, he flipped, landing lightly on his feet then 
took a quick look towards Eudial who was accepting the heart 
crystals into her possession.  His eyes narrowing, Ranma banished 
his katana and held his arms out above his head, rattling off a 
quick spell.  The bolt of lightening usually associated with Urd 
broke through the ceiling of the building and burnt a hole into 
the concrete where the daimon had been standing before it too had 
been hit.
 Eudial began to laugh triumphantly, tossing one heart crystal 
over her shoulder and holding the other up to her face, before 
disappearing.
 Ranma growled and made to move towards where she had been.     
 A flash of light lit up the room and Sailor Pluto stepped 
out in front of him.
 "Ranchan, what are you doing!  The timeline's been altered 
thanks to you and there's nothing I can do to change it back.  This 
fight was meant to take place but they weren't meant to get the 
Talisman yet!"
 Ranma looked at her in surprise then he frowned.  "What?"
 "I said..."
 "I know what you said.  Do you mean to tell me you've been 
controlling the timeline?"  Ranma's voice rose and by the end of 
the sentence he was shouting.  "You can't *do* that!  The timeline 
is meant to be fluid, dammit!  It's why I'm in charge of Destiny 
and Change.  The two work together!"  He faded off into 
incomprehensible mutterings while everyone stared at him, Pluto 
having gone pale.  Suddenly he looked at Pluto again.  "Just don't 
do it again.  You're meant to be guarding the time-gates, that's 
*all*.  Nothing else.  Chronos will not be pleased if he finds out 
about this."  
 Ranma turned away from her and looked towards the unconscious 
Naru and Haruka.  He walked over and picked up the crystal that had 
been thrown away, taking it to Naru and pushing it back into her 
chest.  Then he stood and looked at the Senshi surrounding him.  
 "Okay, Neptune, Pluto, I suggest you work with the Inners now 
that Uranus is out of commission.  I also suggest you find something 
to keep her alive until we get her heart crystal back.  And I'm out 
of here, I have a report to make."
 A high-pitched giggle made him pause, having taken only one 
step.  "One moment, please, Ranma," the voice called from within the 
shadows cloaking one of the corners of the building.  A young girl 
stepped out, a cloaked man at her shoulder.  "We've found Cait Sith.
Why don't you save your report until after you've checked it out?"
 Ranma smiled a welcome to his two new friends and nodded.  
"I'll just let Bell-chan know I'll be late for dinner and we'll head 
off, okay?"
 Miyu's golden eyes shone as she inclined her head gracefully, 
sinking back into the comfort of Larva's cloak while Ranma took out 
his cell-phone.
 The Senshi looked at Miyu curiously as Ranma talked, only Mars 
showing a different emotion.  She was getting vibes from this girl 
and her companion, evil vibes.

 Eudial slammed her way into the laboratory underneath the 
Tomoe mansion and screeched to a halt in front of the Professor, 
still breathing hard.  She held out her hands, revealing the 
Talisman heart crystal.
 Wildly elated, she cast a triumphant look across at Kaoru and 
the other four members of the Witches 5, her smug gaze resting 
longest on Mimete, her closest rival.  The blonde scowled but made 
no further move.
 "Ah, one of the Talismans," Professor Tomoe took a hold of 
the crystal then waved his hand at the Witches.  "Go and find the 
others."  He turned away towards the door leading out of the 
laboratory.  "Kaoru, go and get the girl.  Meet me in the throne 
room."
 Kaoru bowed and followed the professor out of the room, 
taking the opposite direction that led to the public parts of the 
mansion.
 Eudial's triumph began to feel a little sour at the complete 
lack of praise.  But an order was an order so she made her way back 
to the office with the others.  From now on this was going to be a 
joint effort since the Professor hadn't specified any one of them 
over another and the others would make sure they played a part in 
what would happen.

 One of the mini-Ranma's exploring the Tomoe mansion froze at 
the sound of the door closing behind him.  Footsteps came closer 
and he slowly turned around, wondering if whoever it was had seen 
him.  Then the red-headed woman swung onto the stairs and made her 
way up, the heels she wore clicking ominously against the wood.  
Mini-Ranma peered after her then, with a shrug, followed.  None of 
the other hims had explored upstairs yet and now was as good a 
time as any.  He bounced his way up the stairs, having as much 
fun as if he were roof-hopping.
 He flattened up against the wall next to the opening door 
when the woman reached her destination and slipped through, 
dodging the spiked heels that entered the room.
 She walked across to the canopied bed where a small lump 
lay curled up.
 "Hotaru-chan?  Hotaru-chan?  Your father wants you to come 
downstairs.  He has something for you."
 The lump moved and a pair of large violet eyes blinked up 
at Kaoru.  Hotaru nodded and climbed off her bed, picking up her 
little black bear and clasping it to her chest as she followed 
her father's assistant.
 Mini-Ranma followed again.

 A different mini-Ranma stood in the corner of a shadowed 
room watching the lavender-haired professor tweaking a curtain 
back into place over a strange-looking contraption that made 
him shiver.  The glow of the tiny stars within the 
globular-centrepiece was too real to be anything else, which 
meant...well he wasn't sure what it meant, but he knew it 
wasn't good.
 It was then that mini-Ranma saw what the professor held 
in his hand and frowned.  What did Cait Sith want with the 
Talisman?  Again, the answer had to be nothing good so he 
resolved to try and get it back.  Haruka wouldn't last very 
long without it, though the fact that she was part-kami 
protected her somewhat.
 
 A third mini-Ranma snuck into the room that held the 
Witches 5 and began listen carefully, taking mental notes 
for future reference.

 In the undergroung laboratories, Miyu appeared, her eyes 
gleaming gold and a chime sounded, in a separate dimension.  
Out of the darkness behind her a white mask appeared, it's 
one ruby eye scanning the area.  But the room was silent, 
deserted, even the daimon-vats were still.  
 Miyu stepped forwards to investigate laying eyes on the 
computer standing on one of the benches.  She looked it over, 
noting all the buttons, but she had no idea how to turn it on.  
Banishing Shinma back to the abyss did not prepare one for the 
material plane's technology.  She glanced back over her 
shoulder at the silent Larva then shrugged and moved on.  Maybe 
she could find something else.
 Behind her the screen lit up and the beep of a computer 
loading sounded loud in the shadows.  Miyu spun, Larva throwing 
his cape protectively around her as they searched for the 
culprit.
 Standing in front of the keyboard, waving at them brightly 
was mini-Ranma-chan, her red hair haloed by the glowing screen.  
Behind her stood Marller who had managed to turn up at the same 
time.  Turning back to the screen, mini-Ranma-chan began jumping 
across the keyboard trying to access useful information.  Marller 
watched and waited for her to find something for a few moments 
before getting impatient.  She took hold of mini-Ranma-chan 
around the waist, firmly set her to one side, pulled up a chair 
and began typing.  Mini-Ranma-chan placed her hands on her hips, 
glared until she realised nothing was happening then began to 
direct Marller's search.
 Miyu smiled and left, Larva following, his ruby eye somehow 
conveying amusement.

 Back with the Sailor Senshi and Naru, the last of the 
mini-Ranma's currently in existance sat comfortably on Setsuna's 
shoulder and watched as Michiru and Mamoru settled Haruka onto 
the bed she and Michiru shared.  After this was accomplished they 
all stood around staring at each other until Setsuna directed 
everyone into the lounge where they could talk.
 Mini-Ranma jumped off Setsuna's shoulder when she sat and 
began pacing across the table and watching his reflection in the 
glass top.  He listened as the Senshi began to talk.
 "It's time you knew what was really happening, Inner 
Senshi."
 "About time."
 "*Past* time."
 "Yep."
 Usagi stared down her friends until the muttering stopped 
and turned attentively back to Setsuna, pulling Mamoru's arm 
more comfortably around her shoulders at the same time.
 "The daimon's are being sent out by the Deathbusters to 
find the three Talisman's, which together can summon the Holy 
Grail.  It will appear when the need is greatest, at the time 
of The Silence.  But the Grail can be used by two people.  The 
Messiah and the Dark Messiah.  One good, one evil, and the 
results of the Grail's use depends on who uses it..."
 Michiru handed her a drink from the tray she had bought 
in.  Setsuna took a sip then put it on the table in front of 
mini-Ranma who took the opportunity to take a drink himself.  
Hoisting himself up the side of the glass he balanced himself 
on the rim.  Looking down at the liquid below his feet he 
paused then knelt.  Grabbing hold of the edges with his hands 
to keep from falling in, he lowered his face until it was in 
position for him to drink.
 Setsuna realised that her audience had found something 
more interesting than her lecture and glared down at mini-Ranma.  
She looked at him leaning over her drink and a wicked smile 
appeared on her lips.  Reaching out, she tapped mini-Ranma 
lightly on the back, sending him sprawling forwards into the 
glass.
 Sputtering, mini-Ranma-chan emerged from below the 
surface and vaulted out of the glass to land furiously on the 
table.  
 The Senshi tried not to laugh, really they did, but it 
just wasn't possible not to.
 Mini-Ranma-chan glared some more, then humphed and decided 
to ignore everyone.
 Setsuna coughed, calling everyone's attention back to 
herself, and continued her explaination.  She didn't want to do 
this, would rather continue being mysterious and protecting the 
Queen from the possibilities that a monitored timeline could 
throw at her.  The protecting part would be so much harder now 
that she didn't know what was going to happen, but Ranma had 
warned her of the consequences were she not to back off.  And 
when a god told you to back off, you did, even if you were 
half-god yourself.  Setsuna had always been fascinated by the 
difference between Ranma's professional and private personas, 
and after this last sojourn on Earth, the contrast was far 
more pronounced.
 After her explaination, she leaned back and waited for 
questions and comments.  She hadn't expected Ranma to be the 
first person to speak.
 "She's right about what's going on, mostly.  Things have 
changed a little.  The professor isn't actually the person in 
charge of all this, that's actually Cait Sith, and he's not 
trying for Pharoah 90, he's trying to raise himself a mazoku.  
And I suppose he could use the Talismans to do that as easily 
as if it was Pharoah 90."
 Setsuna frowned.  The timeline had changed that much, 
that fast?  She looked at mini-Ranma-chan, still standing on 
the table, and sighed.  She expected he would have that sort 
of effect on things even if he wasn't the God of Destiny and 
Change.
 But she had more important things to worry about.  
Pharoah 90 would have been bad enough, but a mazoku, depending 
on which one was called, was much worse.
 "So what do we do?  We can't let them resurrect the 
mazoku."
 "No.  We can't," Rei remembered the legends as did 
everyone else.  They all nodded in agreement, silently 
offering their services. 
 "We've also got to get Haruka back," Michiru stated 
quietly.  
 A further round of nodding.
 Mini-Ranma-chan looked around and slowly joined the 
nodding.  She wouldn't normally let mortals face a threat like 
this, but these weren't your run-of-the-mill mortals and they 
weren't going up against Caith Sith alone.  Miyu, the shinma, 
Marller, his sisters and himself would also be there.  And if 
the mazoku arrived there wasn't going to be much chance for 
them anyway.  They'd all go challenge it like the protectors 
they were, and they'd all die.  So mini-Ranma-chan watched as 
they all transformed into their Senshi-forms then led them to 
the mansion where Cait Sith was slinking around, planning.  

 Marller and mini-Ranma-chan hid as Eudial entered the 
laboratory and moved to the computer consol they had just 
vacated.  She typed in a few things and the computer beeped 
as data began flying up the screen.
 This was what she would have used to find the Talismans 
had she not stumbled across the first one earlier that day.  
She'd been working on the programme for a number of weeks and 
had finally finished it last night but hadn't had the chance 
to implement the search.  But there was nothing to stop her 
now and perhaps she could still salvage her position as the 
first of the Witches 5.  
 The computer beeped twice in rapid succession, and 
Eudial straightened from where she had been leaning against 
a nearby table, focusing her attention on the screen.  
 Two red dots were blinking as they moved down a street 
on the map of Tokyo that took up most of the screen.  Two 
images also took up space, each of the green-haired women 
wearing familiar-looking tiaras.  Eudial's eyes widened in 
surprise, then a smirk appeared on her lips.  So the two 
other Talisman-bearers were Senshi.  That was a bonus.  
 The smirk slipped though, when she saw the two dots 
running down a street that turned into the street the mansion 
was on.  And sure enough, when they reached that corner, they 
turned and made their way closer.
 Eudial turned and went to find the other Witches 5, they 
needed to ready themselves for their visitors.  
 She didn't see the blonde who stepped up beside her, 
carrying a blunt object she had found in the shadows of the 
laboratory.   
 Marller looked down at the unconscious Witch at her 
feet then looked at the screen.
 "Shall we go meet them?"
 Mini-Ranma-chan nodded from her shoulder and the two 
turned to go and find the group converging on the Tomoe 
mansion.
 Unfortunately they found themselves faced with another 
of the Witches 5 who had been following Eudial.  Tellu smirked 
as the power she had gathered in her fist burst against 
Marller's chest, knocking the demon unconscious.  
Mini-Ranma-chan managed to land gracefully on her feet after 
falling off the blonde's shoulder and immediately felt the 
pressure of a hand cosing around her.
 With a silent promise to come back for the demon she 
disappeared with a whoosh of displaced air, leaving Tellu 
to deal with Marller.
 The witch looked at her empty hand for a few seconds 
then shrugged and bent to lift Marller to her shoulder.  The 
professor would want to know of this and maybe, just maybe 
this woman would have a heart crystal they could use.

 Tellu opened the door into what had been dubbed the Throne 
Room and walked down the long dark carpet until she stood in 
front of the throne where Kaoru and the professor were seating 
an unconscious girl and waited until they were ready to deal 
with something else.  She set Marller down, keeping a close eye 
on this woman who had managed to get into the mansion undetected 
and take down Eudial.  She also took the time to decide not to 
tell the professor of the tiny person who had disappeared from 
her grasp.  Such admissions were generally bad for your health.
 The professor finally turned back and eyed the crumpled 
figure on the floor.  He smirked a little and glided down to 
crouch next to her.  
 Cait Sith turned her face upwards and nodded in 
recognition of the demon.  Marller was one of the shinma, the 
demons who had had the most contact with the group he had 
recently left.  Apparently she and Water Lipper of all people 
had become friends at the International Academy of Nefarious 
Deeds, where all the brightest shinma and demons were sent.  
 He had never even been considered for that honour.  He 
sniffed.  The high councils obviously couldn't recognise true 
talent when they saw it.  Just look at him, he had devised 
this brilliant plan to resurrect the mazoku and no one had 
even discovered him yet.  And in a few days, when his plan 
came to fruition all those people who didn't think he could 
do it would be proved wrong.  They'd be forced to add him to 
the Abyssinian Hall of Infamy.
 Cait Sith supressed the urge to laugh maniacally.  He 
wasn't that sort of villian: he'd chosen to go for the cold, 
silent type back when he first decided on his course and he 
couldn't destroy his reputation now.
 "Professor?  We're ready."
 Cait Sith came back to himself at the soft words from 
Kaoru and leaving Marller on the floor, turned to see what 
had been happening during his ego trip.  He nodded his 
satisfaction at the sight of young Tomoe Hotaru tied to the 
Throne, her disconcertingly old violet eyes closed in 
unnatural sleep.
 "Good."  He pulled the heart crystal that held the 
Talisman from his pocket and turned it over in his hands.  
Then, giving a small nod of his head, he dug his fingers 
directly into the gem itself.  It began to glow and the 
deeper his fingers delved, the brighter the glow became, 
until even with his eyes closed he could see it's brightness.  
Then he felt what he had been searching for, something hard 
in the liquid that filled the pocket dimension within the 
crystal.  Taking a hold of it, he pulled, then took a firmer 
grip and yanked.  With a splerch the hilt of a sword emerged 
from the crystal along with his hand.  He kept pulling and 
was rewarded with the sight of the blade.  
 Aha, the sword.
 Now all that was needed was a little luck and ingenuity 
and they'd have their mazoku without having to bother with the 
other Talisman's.
 Cait Sith tossed the crystal over his shoulder and strode 
to the little alcove where the strange contraption he had built 
for this very purpose sat.  
 He looked at it then at the sword and heaved a deep sigh.
 Why hadn't he thought to make an adjustable brace?  
 He looked around the Throne Room searching for something 
that would help him attach the sword to the contraption and 
stopped when his eyes fell on the ropes tying Hotaru to the 
throne.
 "Kaoru, bring me some of those ropes."
 The redhead nodded and bent to pick some up before she 
realised they were being used.  "Um, Professor, they're being 
used."
 "I _know_ that.  Undo them and cut a bit off then re-tie 
it and bring me what you cut off.  I shouldn't think that was 
beyond you."
 Kaoru looked at him blankly for a second until Cait Sith 
schooled his expression into one of disdain and contempt rather 
than the frustrated and annoyed one it was currently displaying.  
He would have to watch that.
 A few moments later, his assistant set a length of rope 
into his hands and he used it to tie the sword to the 
contraption.  He stepped backwards and surveyed his rather 
sloppy work then shrugged.  A boy scout he had never been.
 "Okay, Tellu," this to the witch who had been silently 
watching since she had arrived, "when I tell you to, you flip 
this switch.  Kaoru, you take the handle."  Here Cait Sith 
pointed to the handle of a crank which would be responsible 
for powering the contraption.
 Kaoru looked at it in horror but accepted her orders, 
merely sending a glare towards Tellu and muttering under her 
breath, "Has he never even heard of _electricity_?"
 "Begin turning."
 Kaoru began turning the handle, slowly at first then 
faster and faster until her arms felt like they were going 
to fall off and she was getting dizzy just from watching it.
 "Tellu, now!"
 The witch flipped the switch and the trio held their 
breaths, waiting for the fireworks or whatever was supposed to 
happen.
 Nothing did.
 Mumbling, Cait Sith shuffled halfway across the room 
before standing up straight and falling silent.  
 'Reputation' rung as a refrain in his mind as he 
continued towards the contraption.
 He stumbled over Marller whose unconscious presence he 
had forgotten.
 Cait Sith blinked then grinned, stooping to her side 
once more.  But this time, instead of merely looking at her, 
he tried thrusting his fingers into her as he had done to the 
heart crystal.  A shimmering red light appeared briefly around 
her body, echoed by the one surrounding Cait Sith's arm.  It 
solidified briefly then shattered and Cait Sith's arm was 
within her chest.
 Marller's body jerked a little then became limp once more 
as the shinma drew a crystal out from within her chest.  It was 
a crystal that was different from all of those the witches had 
extracted before, glowing in a rainbow of shifting dark colours.
 Cait Sith let go, threw his head back and laughed as he 
held the crystal aloft.  Then he stood and skipped over to the 
contraption.  He balanced the crystal precariously on top of the 
globe containing the miniature galaxy then motioned his 
assistants back to their positions.
 "And again!"
 A long-suffering sigh emerged from Kaoru as she bent once 
more to the handle.
 Seconds later, Hotaru's hair was floating as though caught 
by static electicity, which it was.  Small blueish sparks began 
roaming up and down the strands and overflowing, passing down 
across her body and dispersing through the floor.
 Slowly a glow built up as above her a small cloudy vortex 
began, writhing black swirls of fog and smoke with arcs of light 
jumping between the two.
 A sound began somewhere in the distance, swelling until it 
could be quite clearly distinguished as a yell.  Then there was 
a flash of light and a thud as a shadowy figure slammed into 
Hotaru's body, changing it.

 Elsewhere in the mansion heads came up at the aura of evil 
that had appeared within the building.  Each of the Ranma's 
shuddered, as did Marller.  A golden chime indicated Miyu's 
awareness and Mars began fingering an ofuda bearing the spell to 
banish evil.  Larva's reaction couldn't be seen, hidden as it 
was beneath the mask, but Mercury's computer began to beep 
loudly, essaying a rather louder round of hisses from her 
companions.  All of them held their breaths for a few moments 
until they were sure no one had heard, before continuing on.

 When Cait Sith's sight cleared someone he had never seen 
before sat on the throne.  He rubbed his hands together in glee 
and moved to a place more convenient for conversation.
 He noted the similarities between this creature and the 
girl that had been sitting there and wondered if perhaps that 
was why the resurrection had been so easy.
 Then the eyes of the creature opened and he found a 
further similarity, though fortunately this pair of violet 
eyes were dazed.
 "Welcome, mazoku."
 The head turned in his vague direction.
 "Would you grant us the honour of your name?"
 The mazoku, still dazed from it's trip replied with the 
first phrase that entered it's mind, something it could remember 
saying often to a girl though he couldn't at this moment remember 
her name.
 "Ah!  That is a secret."  
           
 The mini-Ranma-chan riding along with Sailor Pluto 
blinked as she felt one of her other selves join with her.  
She took in what the other mini-Ranma-chan had learnt and 
then turned back to more immediate worries.
 The group of Senshi had managed to find their way into 
the mansion and had decided to rescue Uranus' heart crystal 
first.  After that they could deal with Cait Sith and his 
minions.
 They snuck their way down a few corridors, following 
mental directions from the mini-Ranma still observing Cait Sith, 
past the blonde witch Mimete who was lying on one of the couches 
in the lounge giggling madly at one of the soaps that was 
screening.  
 Two steps past the door Jupiter stopped and frowned.  Then 
she turned back, snuck up behind the Witch and with a grimace of 
distaste for such a task, chopped at the back of her vulnerable 
neck.  Panic began in her when, instead of slumping to one side, 
the blonde turned an outraged look in her direction.  Jupiter 
tried again and this time Mimete's amber eyes glazed and she fell.
 It would be some time until she was a threat once more, 
hopefully.
 Catching up with the others, Jupiter shrugged at the 
questioning gaze Venus sent her and continued to follow silently.
 Then out of the shadows in front of the group, a gleam of 
white could be seen and Larva lifted his cloak revealing Miyu, 
her golden eyes laughing in private amusement at everything.  
Mini-Ranma-chan lifted a hand in greeting and followed with a 
brief conversation using hand signals, culminating in Miyu and 
Larva choosing to join them in their sneaking.
 They made their way through another door into what looked 
like an ante-chamber and mini-Ranma-chan motioned them to stop.  
>From behind the door on the other side of the room came the 
murmurings of voices.
 Sailor Moon moved to the door and pressed her ear against it 
above where mini-Ranma was doing the same thing.  He had arrived 
on the tail of Kaoru and the girl and had been listening ever 
since.  He'd also been witness to Tellu and her burden, who from 
what he could tell, had yet to awaken from her involuntary sleep.
 His female counterpart joined him at the door and the two 
merged, briefly appearing as a red-headed male before settling 
back into full male form.  
 Above them Sailor Moon shook her head and moved back.
 "I can't hear a thing," she complained quietly.
 "We need to know what's going on in there.  We should see 
if we can find somewhere else," Venus whispered back, gesturing 
to the door they had just come through.
 "Wait."  Mini-Ranma flapped a hand at them to get them to 
stay and listened for a few more seconds before turning and 
looking at them all.
 "Okay, from what I can tell, we've got Kaoru, Tellu, Cait 
Sith, Marller, Uranus and the mazoku in there..."
 "Mazoku?!  I thought we were here to stop that from 
happening!"
 "We were, but it's a little late to stop this one and at 
the moment it doesn't sound as if he'll be too difficult to 
deal with."
 The others weren't sure about this as they'd never run 
across mazoku before and didn't know what condition this one 
was in.  Ranma wasn't sure about it either, but he was sure 
he could beat it.  
 None of the group noticed the incorporeal figure 
watching them from one side of the room, a long, bladed 
weapon held in her hands, glinting wickedly.  Her eyes 
rested longest on Sailor Moon, a faint wistful smile appearing 
on her face before she drifted through the wall.
 "Okay, so what happens now?"  Venus asked, her blue eyes 
narrowed in concentration.
 "Ah, now there's the question.  As far as I can tell 
there's only the one entrance apart from any windows so we'll 
end up going through the door."
 "We'll meet you in there," Miyu offered.
 Ranma frowned breifly wondering how she'd manage that. 
Then his eyes cleared of their confusion and he raised an 
eyebrow, "The Spirit World?"  
 Miyu smiled her agreement and Ranma nodded.
 "Right, we'll meet you in there then," He turned back to 
the Senshi.  "I suppose we'll all just run in, spread out and 
hope they're all too focussed on the mazoku to notice?"
 Sailor Pluto shook her head in disgust at the plan but 
had to admit she couldn't think of any other way to get in.
 Miyu and Larva faded out of sight and Ranma took ahold 
of the doorhandle as the Senshi prepared to run.  Ranma began 
mouthing the countdown and tensed his arm...
 ...three...
 ...two...
 ...one...
 The door was flung in and Mars and Venus ran into the 
room, veering off to the sides as soon as they were in.  
Mercury, Jupiter, Moon, Pluto and Neptune followed with Ranma 
bringing up the rear, pulling the door closed behind him and 
locking it with a quick spell.
 Cait Sith and his assistants had just turned, surprise 
written across their faces at the appearance of these people. 
Tellu, being the fastest to react, sent a globe of destructive 
energy speeding towards the door.  
 Ranma dove out of the way, rolling gracefully to his 
feet beside Mercury.  He lifted his head and swept his gaze around 
the room, staring briefly at the purple-haired man sitting on the 
throne then turned back to his companions and the rather 
impressive light show they were putting on with the help of Tellu, 
Cait Sith and Kaoru. 
 A few of the drapes were already cheerfully blazing away 
and the edges of the carpet was smoking from where Mars' Burning 
Mandala had been deflected or dodged.  One of Venus' Cresent 
Beams was still bouncing around a small alcove behind where Kaori 
had been standing and Mercury had managed to freeze Cait Sith's 
feet to the floor, accidently getting the still unconscious 
Marller's at the same time. 
 Ranma looked around at the chaos and smiled widely.  Now 
_this_ was fun.  Then he looked at Marller again, her eyes 
closed, body limp and arm and shoulder frozen to the floor.  He 
made his way through the various Senshi attacks, being tagged by 
the Love-Me Chain as it was winding itself around the spot where 
Kaoru had just been and snorting in disgust when the edges of 
Neptune's Deep Submerge tagged him.
 He felt the change and almost immediatelt after that, the 
weight of eyes on herself.  Surprisingly heavy eyes.
 Then she was beside Marller and shrugged off the pressure 
that threatened to squash her.  She placed her hands on Marller's 
stomach, closing her eyes to figure out what was wrong with her 
friend.
 Her hand sunk downwards, merging into Marller's stomach.  
Ranma jerked her hand back in shock.  The blonde's AT field 
wasn't there anymore and nor was her heart crystal.  Her eyes 
narrowed as she looked up to search for the crystal and collided 
with a pair of brown boots that were resting on the other side 
of Marller.
 The purple-haired mazoku that had previously been sitting 
on the throne was smiling down at him with his eyes closed.
 "I suppose," he said, reflectively, his smile becoming a 
grin, "that since Lina isn't here, you look a bit like her and 
for the moment I'm stuck here, you'll do very well."
 Ranma blinked in surprise wondering what the mazoku, who 
was obviously a fruitcake, was talking about.  "Hunh?  What do 
you mean?"
 The mazoku laughed and wagged a finger at Ranma, "That 
is a secret!" 
 So saying, the mazoku disappeared, leaving Ranma puzzled 
and the slightest bit frustrated.  Then he shook his head to rid 
himself of thoughts of the mazoku and turned back to his original 
purpose for looking up.
 It didn't take him long to find Marller's heart crystal 
and get it back to her, pcketing Haruka's heart crystal on the 
way.  He didn't want anyone to step on it the he nearly did.  
That would be, well, tragic.  No one could live without a heart 
crystal.
 After making sure Marller was recovering he looked around 
to see what was happening.
 Somehow, the Senshi had managed to take out Kaoru and T
ellu, leaving Cait Sith to be dealt with.  And from the looks of 
his damaged clothing and various bruises, it wouldn't be long 
before he was also dealt with.
 Then he noticed to figures phasing into the room and his 
lips twitched upwards.  Not long at all.
 Red spirit-flames sprang up around the lavender-haired 
shinma and with a few words, Miyu banished him back to the abyss.
 The Senshi's mana dissipated back into the atmosphere and 
they stood there, looking around in anticlimax, only then 
noticing the disappearance of the purple-haired, throne-sitting 
man.
 Sailor Mars gasped, "The mazoku!  It's gone!"
 Ranma, helping Marller to her feet nodded.  "Yeah."
 "What are we going to do.  We can't just let it run around 
free like that.  Who knows what evil the monster is capable of!"
 "I'm wounded!  Insulting me before we've even met."  the 
mazoku appeared beside Jupiter and opened his purple eyes, tears 
beginnning to shine within them.  Then he laughed and bounced 
towards Ranma-chan.
 "This is going to be so much fun!  You've got to be this 
world's equivalent of a dragon!  Dear Filia will be sooo jealous 
when I tell her about this.  But I won't be able to stay and play 
long or Lina-chan will miss me!"
 The mazoku reached up and grabbed the dragon-hair from 
Ranma's pigtail, her red hair unravelling until it fell loosely 
down her back.
 "That's better."
 "Why you...!"
 Ranma lunged for the smiling mazoku who disappeared just 
in time leaving one final sentence hanging in the air.
 "...By the way, my name is Xelloss..."

 Back in the temple that evening, Ranma, his sisters, 
Keiichi, Naru, Marller, Miyu, Larv, Pazusu and the Sailor 
Senshi were talking after a silent dinner made with the 
combined talents of Belldandy and Makoto.  Each now had a 
steaming cup of tea sitting in front of them as they discussed 
what had happened and what they were doing next.  Not 
surprisingly most of their conversation had concentrated on 
the strange behaviour of the mazoku and possible motivations.  
None of them expected evil beings to act quite that cheerful 
and that he did was...disconcerting.
 It was, perhaps, expected that Venus had been the one 
to suggest that Xelloss had fallen in love with Ranma's girl 
form at first sight.  It was Xelloss himself who refuted that 
suggestion, appearing at the table next to Ranma and shaking 
his head in disappointment.
 "Didn't you know?  Mazoku can't love, so that's obviously 
not it.  Maybe I'm waiting for the right time to..."
 He didn't get any further before Ranma's hands wrapped 
themselves around his throat, "You know, fruitcake, you _could_ 
knock!"
 "Nagh!  What...would be the...fun in that?"  Then Xelloss' 
voice rose to a whine and he began to complain, "And...why did 
you...have to call me...that?  I get enough...of it from...
Zel-kun!"   
 Snorting in disgust, Ranma let go and began glaring, "So 
what do you want?"
 "Want?  That is a..." Xelloss grimaced, "Actually, I'm a 
little lost.  This isn't exactly my world so I don't really have 
anywhere else to go.  I'm not going to be here long enough to 
worry about making my own place, hopefully, so I thought I'd come 
annoy you for a while."
 A collective blink later Belldandy smiled at Xelloss, 
"Oh my, yes, it must be horrible to have been taken from your 
home like that,"  She paused, her manners warring with the 
knowledge that this was a mazoku.  Her manners eventually won 
out, after all technically speaking Marller was meant to be an 
evil demon and she was here.
 "Would you like some tea?"
 It was Xelloss' turn to look surprised, then he bowed his 
head politely, "Thank you..."
 "Oh, I'm Belldandy."
 What followed was a round of introductions, all those 
surrounding the table giving their names and Xelloss taking 
all of them in with a smile.  
 The last introduction was one that was unexpected by 
anyone.
 From the corner of the room behind Sailor Moon, a 
shimmering figure spoke, drifting forwards a little as she 
bowed, "And I am Sailor Saturn, Senshi of Creation and 
Destruction."
 Pluto's eyes opened wide, "S-saturn?"
 "Hai," the black-haired spirit smiled gently and letting 
go of the glaive she held sat at the table between Sailor Moon 
and Sailor Chibi-Moon.  The glaive disappeared.
 Pluto cleared her throat and asked a question that occured 
to her, "Um, how come you're, er...?"
 Saturn looked down at herself, "Half-invisible?  Xelloss 
is currently occupying my body.  I'm hoping to get it back when 
he leaves and returns to his own.  Until then, I expect I'll be 
following him around."  She smiled at the mazoku, a slight edge 
of maliciousness in her soft voice.
 Xelloss looked unhappy, "Let me guess, you've still got a 
link to this body?"
 "Yes."
 "And you'll make sure I don't do anything...evil?"
 "Yes."
 "Then I definately want to get back as soon as possible.  
Who knows what certain people could be doing to my body if they 
think it's, er, dead."
 Belldandy looked at Xelloss, "Would you like us to help you 
get back?  I'm sure we can have you back in your own body in no 
time."
 "Um, thanks for the offer, I'll think about it."
 Belldandy nodded, "And in the mean time you're welcome to 
stay with us.  We don't have any spare rooms but I'm sure Ranma 
won't mind sharing his with you."
 Ranma looked at Bell in disbelief and Xelloss returned to 
full cheerfulness, "Why that would be wonderful.  Thank you 
very much, Belldandy."
 Belldandy nodded serenely and turned to Sailor Saturn, 
"You're also welcome to stay, though I think maybe you should 
share with Skuld?"
 "Thank you, yes," the spirit replied.
 Living arrangements organised, the group broke up, the 
Senshi heading home, Miyu, Larva, Pazusu and Marller heading 
back to there respective lairs or duties, leaving three 
goddesses, one god, one half-god spirit, one human and one 
mazoku to organise themselves for sleep.
 In Ranma's room, the two occupants rolled out their 
futon's then looked at each other, Ranma with wariness, 
Xelloss with his habitual smile.
 "If you dare try anything, fruitcake, I swear..."
 "Yes, yes, I know, you'll kill me."
 Ranma looked at him for a few seconds, "Er, well, 
something like that."
 "So...how come you turn into a girl?"
 Ranma growled, "None of your business.  Just go to 
sleep."
 Xelloss sighed, "I was just trying to make conversation.  
Everyone misunderstands me."
 "Do they?"  Ranma asked, sceptical.
 "Yes," the mazoku laughed and settled onto his futon, 
"They do."
 Ranma watched him for a few more seconds before sighing 
and turning the light off.  He'd just have to live with it 
and at least Xelloss didn't spout Shakespeare like it was going 
out of style.  Yep, at least there was something positive about 
all of this.  He smiled into the darkness as he wondered what 
the mazoku would think of being favourably compared to that 
bokken-weilding idiot.
 Ah well, at least if Xelloss annoyed him too much he 
had something he could use for revenge...
 With that satisfying thought, Ranma turned onto his side 
facing the wall and slept.
----- 
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