Apotheosis 1:
                  Quarter Moon Madness



     Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate,
     All but the page prescrib'd, their present state.

     Alexander Pope: Essay on Man


     I take disasters in my stride - they don't upset me;
     And boys that mean me harm are sorry that they met me.
     But what will I do without you?

     Lene Lovich: What will I do without you?



     "We're lost, aren't we?"

     "No, we're not."

     "Admit it - you have no idea where we are."

     "Sure I do. We're in Juuban."

     "So where is this bookstore? And don't tell me it's in Juuban."

     "Uh, I'm not exactly sure. We should be close."

     Akane sighed. "Ranma, you've been saying that for the last half
hour. Now are you going to give up and ask someone? You're a girl at
the moment, so it shouldn't bruise your delicate male ego."

     "All right, all right," Ranma grumbled. "I'll ask the next person
we see."

     There was no one to ask just then. They were walking through a
quiet residential neighborhood, trim houses with yards fenced off from
the street by a concrete wall.

     As they walked, Akane tried to recall just how she had been
dragooned into accompanying Ranma. Ranma's father had suggested he
visit a bookstore owned by an old friend. Her father had suggested she
go along, hinting (if you could call it that) how beneficial it would
be for their relationship. She'd declined. So far, so good. Her father
had pleaded. She'd refused. Ranma had made several insulting comments
expressing his marked preference for her absence. She'd punched him.
Her father had cried. She had remained obdurate. Nothing out of the
ordinary. So what had gone wrong?

     It must have been Kasumi, she decided. Somehow, in the midst
of the usual clamor, Kasumi had come in and swept them both up and
out the door, saying something about being home in time for dinner.
Before they really knew it, they were standing outside, looking at
each other blankly. She'd still wanted to refuse, but somehow she
always had a hard time saying no to Kasumi. Ranma felt the same
way, apparently. She'd expected him to balk when, not a block from
the house, a car driving through the puddles left from the previous
night's rainfall had splashed him, triggering his curse, but he'd
simply sighed and kept walking. Still, it hadn't been too bad. In
truth, when they weren't being pushed this way or that by their
families or his "harem", she generally got along fairly well with
Ranma. "It's too bad," she thought, a bit wistfully, "we don't get
more times like this."

     She glanced at Ranma out of the corner of her eye. It was
actually rather nice, walking with Ranma like this. She didn't even
mind that Ranma was currently a girl - rather the opposite, in fact.
This way, people they met didn't make the automatic assumption that
they were a couple, and somehow that made it easier to feel like one.
Not that they were a couple, of course. Not exactly. Still, at least
Ranma was walking next to her, and not up on a fence, taking any
excuse to separate himself from her. Maybe he enjoyed times like this
too. "So why aren't you doing any of your 'balance training?'"

     Ranma shrugged. "No point. The wall's so wide it's no challenge.
Hell, even a klutz like you could probably do it."

     On the other hand, Akane reflected as she knocked Ranma into said
wall, maybe he was just a jerk.

     They walked another block before seeing anyone. Ahead of them, a
small figure swathed in voluminous robes of red and yellow turned a
corner and headed toward them. Akane nudged Ranma. "There's someone.
Ask him - or her."

     "I said all right!"

     As they neared the - person - Akane became more and more
uncertain. Perhaps it was the fact that she couldn't actually see
anything of the colorfully dressed man or woman: the robes trailed on
the ground, obscuring the feet; long sleeves completely enveloped the
hands; and a hood concealed any view of the face. It might almost have
been a heap of living clothing walking towards them, she told herself
with a nervous smile. The thought wasn't quite as amusing as it might
have been; with Ranma around almost anything was possible. Then
there was the way the mysterious figure moved - not walking, or even
gliding, but almost hopping, rather like a large bird. She was about
to tell Ranma she'd changed her mind, when her fiance addressed their
fellow pedestrian.

     "Excuse me, can you tell us where -"

     "Goodness me, what are two such lovely young women doing, walking
around unescorted in such a dangerous place?" a high-pitched, sibilant
voice interrupted her.

     Akane and Ranma stared at the speaker for a moment, then glanced
at the peaceful surroundings. Ranma said slowly, "Uh, yeah. Look,
there's nothing to worry about -"

     "You're quite right, of course, I'm sure two such powerful
martial artists aren't likely to encounter anything they can't handle
around here." The robed figure pushed back its hood to reveal a face
the color of old ivory, crossed by more lines than Ranma could readily
count. For some reason she felt that the speaker was male, though she
wasn't sure why, and very likely the oldest person she had ever met.

     "Anyway, we're looking for -"

     "And about time too, I must say," the old man interrupted again.
"Fortunately, you're not too late. Go down the street and turn right
at the next corner. And no dawdling, my dear Ranma. Time and tide wait
for no man, not even you." Turning to Akane, he reached out and took
her hands, the touch of his unseen fingers as delicate and clinging as
spider webs. Looking into her eyes, he said compassionately, "'There
is a curtain, thin as gossamer, clear as glass, strong as iron, that
hangs for ever between the world of magic and the world that seems
to us to be real.' Do you know which side you're on, my dear? Do you
know which side you want to be on?" Without waiting for a response,
he pulled his hood back up and scampered down the road at an amazing
pace.

     The two girls stared after him, then looked at each other.
Finally, Akane said, "Well, that was ... strange."

     "No kidding."

     "Did you know that guy?"

     "Didn't look familiar."

     "He called you by name, Ranma."

     "I noticed."

     "Are you sure you don't know him? You do seem to have a hard time
remembering names and faces."

     Ranma shook her head. "I didn't recognize him, and I don't think
I'd have forgotten him easily. Funny thing is, if I did know him once,
it would have been as a guy, and he recognized me in girl form. Knew
we were martial artists, too."

     As they resumed walking, Akane pondered the odd encounter, and
finally concluded, "You know, it's all your fault, Ranma."

     "How ya figure?"

     "Nothing weird ever happened to me before you came here."

     Ranma glanced at her skeptically. "Beating up a couple dozen guys
every morning at school was just run-of-the-mill, huh?"

     "Compared to what's happened in the last few months?"

     Upon consideration, Ranma had to admit that she had a point, but
she had no intention of giving Akane the satisfaction of actually
agreeing with her. As they approached the indicated turning, she
looked at Akane out of the corner of her eye and murmured, "That guy
gave us directions even though I never actually told him what we were
looking for. Think we ought to turn here?"

     Akane thought for a moment, then shrugged. "We might as well. If
we don't, whatever it is will probably just come after us." As she
spoke, she looked up and caught sight of a small, orange tabby-striped
cat sitting on top of the wall across the street staring at them. She
assumed Ranma hadn't seen it yet, since she hadn't gone into a spasm
of fear. She would have thought no more of it, had not the cat started
to vanish before her eyes.

     Indeed, the operative word was "started." It was as if some
celestial artist had begun slowly erasing the cat from the bottom up,
as first the feet and tail, and then the cat's body disappeared. For a
moment, only the cat's head remained, floating calmly in the air. The
cat looked at her, and blinked, and shook its head, before resuming
its strange departure. By the time Ranma noticed that Akane had
stopped walking, and looked back to see her standing still, gaping,
the last inch of the cat's ears was vanishing.

     "Akane? Is something wrong?" Despite Ranma's best efforts, a note
of concern had intruded into her casual-seeming question.

     "What? I thought I saw...." Akane's voice trailed off. As she
thought about it, it seemed to her that telling Ranma she had seen a
cat would only cause more trouble than it was worth. Moreover, she
had the distinct impression the cat hadn't wanted her to tell Ranma
anything. It occurred to her she might be reading a little too much
into the incident, but then, she really didn't know what to make of it
all. Finally, she decided to make discretion the better part of valor.
"Nothing, I guess. Just - forget it." Ignoring Ranma's curious looks,
she resumed walking.

     Hearing voices ahead, they turned the corner, and stopped dead.
Six boys in their late teens surrounded one young girl, who couldn't
have been more than fourteen or fifteen. Akane made as if to step
forward, but Ranma held up a hand, hoping to find out what was going
on. Akane's father had warned them before they set off that morning
to be at least somewhat circumspect in their behavior. Nerima tended
to adopt a fairly relaxed attitude toward the incidental damages
associated with a large concentration of overpowered martial artists;
not all districts of Tokyo were quite so enlightened.

     "Well, well," the apparent leader of the group said. "Look at
this, boys. It's been a while, but I'd recognize those two long
ponytails anywhere. We were just getting acquainted last time when
that Amazon friend of yours showed up. You owe us big time for that,
sweetheart, and we're here to collect."

     Ranma dropped her hand and grimaced in disgust. She hated bullies
of any kind, and seeing a gang of them against one small girl....
"Come on, guys, where do you get this dialog? Watching too many bad
movies?"

     The leader's head whipped around at her words, but he relaxed
when he saw the two girls standing at the corner. "Look, little girls,
you'd better get lost. This is none of your business."

     "No?" Akane said ominously, cracking her knuckles. "Unless you
leave her alone, I think we're going to have to make it our business."

     Ranma regarded her with amusement. "I thought I was the one
always getting into fights."

     "Well, since you came around I've only had the chance to beat up
one jerk at a time instead of a mob. I'm getting out of practice."

     "Tsk, tsk. How unladylike."

     The leader gestured to one of the punks beside him. "Nobuhiko,
get rid of them."

     Nobuhiko, a tall, gangly boy with greasy hair and a repellent
air vaguely reminiscent of Keanu Reaves on an off day, grinned and
shambled toward the two girls. The grin vanished as Akane evaded his
attempted grab, picked him up one-handed, and threw him across the
street. He impacted a lamppost with an audible thud and slid to the
ground, out cold.

     As the rest of the gang stared in disbelief, Ranma shook her head
and said, "Forget it, Akane. These punks ain't even worth bothering
with." Then, raising her voice, she said, "Guys, listen up. This,"
touching the wall next to her with a fist, "is your head. This,"
extending her arm and effortlessly punching a hole straight through
the concrete, "is your head with my fist through it. Any questions?"

     Apparently there were none, as they all remembered other
appointments and dispersed rapidly, save for the hapless Nobuhiko.
Their intended victim approached them with a hesitant smile. "Thanks
for helping me out. I'm Usagi Tsukino." As she got a look at the hole
Ranma had made, her eyes widened and she began to back away nervously.

     Akane snorted. "Nice going, Ranma. I thought we were going to try
to avoid significant destruction of property on this trip."

     Ranma scratched her head. "Heh heh. Forgot about that. Just a
second." She leaped over the wall, and began picking up the pieces of
shattered concrete and fitting them back into the hole. Before Usagi's
astonished gaze, the hole shrank rapidly and disappeared in seconds.
Ranma hopped back over, remarking nonchalantly, "See, good as new."

     "Well, almost," Akane replied dryly.

     "Ah, you're just jealous," Ranma declared, waving a hand. Turning
to Usagi, she said affably, "Glad we could help. I'm Ranma Saotome and
this violent tomboy is Akane Tendo."

     Akane elbowed her in the ribs, and, after glaring at her, hissed,
"Don't forget the directions, jerk."

     "Oh yeah. Do you know how to get to the Southern Cross bookstore?
It's supposed to be around here somewhere."

     Usagi had stopped backing up to observe the by-play between her
two rescuers. She looked troubled for a moment, and finally said, "It
doesn't sound familiar. They don't sell manga, do they?"

     Ranma shook her head. "Nah, it's supposed to sell stuff about the
martial arts."

     She pondered, then brightened. "I know, we can ask Mamo-chan! I
was just on my way to meet him. Come on!"

     Ranma and Akane walked along with Usagi, who kept up a constant
stream of chatter. After a few blocks, they came out into a small
retail district. Usagi's face lit up when she spied the tall boy
standing outside a small restaurant. "Mamo-chan!" she shrieked,
running forward to throw her arms around him.

     Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Excitable girl," she said with a smile,
glancing at Akane, who could only laugh in agreement. "Kind of an age
gap, though, ain't there?"

     Akane nodded. "I just hope he's not some kind of pervert. I can't
stand perverts."

     "Yeah, I know what - hey!" Ranma glared at her fiancee, who
looked back with a wide-eyed, innocent gaze.

     As she hugged her boyfriend, Usagi whispered urgently, "Invite
them to lunch or something. We need to keep an eye on them. I think
they might be, like, youma or cardians!"

     Mamoru Chiba looked at the two girls, who were talking quietly.
They didn't look like non-human monsters from another world, but then
you couldn't always tell. Indeed, the most powerful ones were often
the best at simulating humanity. "Are you sure about that?"

     "These guys were bugging me, and the shorthaired girl picked one
of them up with one hand and threw him across the street. Then the
pig-tailed one punched a hole in a concrete wall, and she made it look
easy! She must be as strong as Makoto, in Senshi form! Then she put it
back together in seconds, as fast as any of us could have done!"

     "Are you all right?" After she had reassured him, Mamoru began to
consider her statement more seriously. When he and the Sailor Senshi
transformed, they gained strength, speed, and stamina far beyond
normal human limits; otherwise, they'd never have survived the battles
they'd been through. If these girls approached that level of power,
they were certainly more than they seemed. If they were youma, though,
why would they have saved Usagi, and made such a display of their
abilities? Unless it was some sort of trap, and they were trying to
get close enough to kill both Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen. Still, if
Usagi's identity were known, it would have made more sense to take her
out at once. In any event, this bore looking into.

     "I'd like to thank you for helping Usagi," he said to the two
girls, in his most charming manner, "and invite you to lunch with us,
as a means of showing my gratitude."

     Akane had opened her mouth to utter a polite refusal, but she was
too late to forestall her companion.

     "Free food? You got it! I'm starving!"

     Akane rolled her eyes. "If you're not independently wealthy,
you might want to reconsider that offer," she advised their would-be
benefactor. "Ranma's got a rather astonishing appetite."

     Mamoru smiled indulgently. If he could afford to take Usagi
out, he wasn't too worried about these two, neither of whom were
particularly large specimens.

     Fifteen minutes later, he was worried. Oh, the one named Akane
was no problem, but this Ranma! She ate like - like - Usagi. Currently
they were racing each other through another - "Beef bowl!" the two
girls shouted simultaneously, then grinned at each other. Mamoru
sighed.

     Akane, sitting across from him in the booth, smiled
sympathetically. "Maybe you are independently wealthy," she teased
him. "I never thought I'd see anyone keep up with Ranma! How does she
do it?"

     "Usagi? She's basically got a metabolism like a hummingbird. Just
burns it all off," he shrugged. "Ranma?"

     "Aside from being a pig -" here Ranma muttered something Mamoru
couldn't make out, but subsided after a glare from Akane, "she trains
incessantly, I've got to give her that."

     "Trains?" Usagi chimed in. "Are you, like, an athlete or
something?"

     "Martial arts," Ranma said briefly, unwilling to take too long a
break from the serious business of eating.

     Mamoru studied the two girls across the table from him while
Usagi pelted them with questions. Though it would have surprised
many who knew him, or thought they did, Mamoru Chiba was a keen and
perceptive student of human nature - when it suited him. For the most
part, he simply didn't care. The people who mattered to him were,
first and foremost, Usagi, followed (at a bit of a distance) by the
rest of the Senshi. His few friends, like Motoki and Reika, came in
third, and after that, in last place - the rest of the world. It was
self-centered of him, he knew, but he didn't let the knowledge affect
him. His priorities were clear.

     Now, though, these girls could pose a danger to Usagi. He had
observed them closely as they ate, noting the way they interacted with
each other, with Usagi, and with him, and his observations left him
generally reassured.

     The shorthaired girl, Akane, talked with Usagi about shopping,
idol singers, favorite television shows, and a number of other topics
that Usagi introduced in scattershot fashion, all in a perfectly
normal and natural manner. Her manner with him was normal too, showing
an awareness and appreciation of him as an attractive male, though no
specific interest. Her attitude towards her companion though....

     Akane was always aware of Ranma. Sometimes she acted as if
she were ignoring Ranma. Sometimes they quarreled about something
trivial - Ranma was fond of disparaging Akane's remarks as being
either "just like a girl," or, somewhat confusingly, "just like a
tomboy." He had noticed that the quarrels that blew up disappeared as
rapidly as they had started. Sometimes the girls addressed cryptic
remarks to each other, filled with elliptical references that remained
tantalizingly obscure. On the whole, Akane was very much at ease with
Ranma. Always, though, she was aware of Ranma. They were constantly
touching, sometimes when they brushed against each other as they
shifted position, sometimes when she slugged Ranma in the arm, or
smacked her on the head for some slight, real or fancied.

     Summing up, she appeared to harbor some definite romantic
feelings toward her companion, feelings she was evidently repressing.
Since she seemed to be attracted to males more than females, this
might well be explicable. In any event, there was nothing overtly
suspicious about her.

     Ranma had taken little part in the conversation so far, being
more inclined to get through as much food as possible as quickly as
possible. Indeed, to Mamoru's surprise, she seemed to be staying ahead
of Usagi. From the gibes she threw in, she seemed to take little
interest in what might be called traditionally female interests and
pursuits. Ranma showed no interest at all in him, and precious little
in Usagi. All of her attention - at least that part not exclusively
occupied with food - was covertly focused on Akane. Curious, then,
that she seemed to be repressing her attraction just as thoroughly as
Akane. Perhaps Akane's own reluctance was the cause. He shook his head
slightly. The exact nature of their relationship was not his concern.
The key point was that these girls seemed unlikely candidates for
inhuman, energy-sucking creatures from beyond.

     When Akane made a reference to the dojo her father ran, Mamoru
decided to ask a few general questions about the branch of martial
arts taught, and their own involvement. He had heard some rather tall
tales of the abilities of more advanced practitioners; perhaps that
and a touch of exaggeration on Usagi's part would account for her
stories of their feats.

     "Anything goes style? I don't believe I've heard of it."


**********************************************************

     If time and tide and life conspire to defeat me,
     I smile and carry on, I will never let them beat me.
     But what will I do without you?

     Lene Lovich: Ibid.



     Meanwhile, the waitress hurried back into the kitchen. "Two more
beef bowls!" she said happily. "I think this new recipe is going to be
a hit!" She smiled at the short, slender man working at the stove.

     "Great! I really think I'm getting the hang of this cooking
business," he replied enthusiastically, smiling fondly in turn at the
tall, willowy woman in front of him.

     "I'm ever so delighted to hear that," a third voice cut in dryly.
"So if this whole world domination gig doesn't pan out, at least
you'll have something to fall back on."

     The two turned guiltily to face the speaker, a stocky woman
dressed in a conservatively cut navy blue skirt and jacket. "If you
can possibly tear yourself away, Brookite, perhaps you could tell us
what the results of your scan were?"

     The waitress flushed. "I'm sorry, Marialite, I sort of - got
distracted."

     Marialite closed her eyes wearily. "My dear Brookite, you and
Adamite seem to have forgotten something. Running this restaurant is
just a front, remember? A cover for our energy-gathering activities,
nothing more."

     "I know, I know," Brookite muttered.

     "Then perhaps this time, when you take their food out, you could
remember to check their energy levels? If it's not too much trouble,
of course."

     The two men assisting the cook sniggered as the scarlet-cheeked
girl took the bowls into the dining room. Adamite glared at them, but
before he could say anything, Brookite hurried back in, her face now
dead white.

     "What is it?" he asked in concern.

     "I scanned them," she said faintly. "Marialite, their energy
levels are Senshi-class!"

     "WHAT!" their leader shouted. Then, calming herself with an
effort, "Are you certain? It would be something of a coincidence for
three of the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen to pick our restaurant
purely by happenstance."

     "Check it yourself," Brookite retorted. "You can sense them in
here easily enough if you make the effort."

     Marialite's eyes unfocused briefly before she came back to
herself abruptly. Turning to the others, she said, "She's generally
correct. Three of them show energy levels similar to what was reported
of the Senshi, although one of them feels a bit ... odd. The fourth is
at a somewhat lower level, but still much higher than any humans we've
drained so far."

     "The Senshi?" said one of the men, a balding little man with
glasses. "Oh Metallia, we're going to die. We're all going to die,
unless we get out of here now! I knew we should have left this city,
this whole country if we needed to!" He fumbled his glasses off and
wiped his face with a towel.

     "Shut up, Brucite," the remaining man, a hulking, bearded brute
with a curiously blank expression, said tonelessly. "Kunzite ordered
us to remain here until he summoned us, and that's what we'll do."

     "And how long has it been since we heard from your precious
Kunzite?" Brucite fired back. "Have we heard from anyone since
we found out the portal at the game center was closed? Face it,
Franklinite: we're on our own."

     "This isn't the time -" Marialite began, but Adamite cut her off.

     "No, I think this is exactly the time," he said, with
unaccustomed force. "Since it doesn't look like the Senshi are going
to attack us, at least just yet, we need to decide what we're going to
do."

     He looked over to Brookite, who nodded, before he continued, "We
haven't had any contact with the Dark Kingdom since the day the sun
went black. When it happened, we all thought it signaled the beginning
of the invasion. We waited for the call to join the fight, the call
that never came. After a few days, we looked around and found out the
portal was closed.

     "Then, nothing. Weeks went by, with no word from the Dark
Kingdom, and no sign of the Senshi, as we continued our discreet
energy gathering. Finally, the Senshi reappeared, battling those
creatures called 'cardians,' whatever they were. Since none of the
things have been seen since the top of that apartment building got
blown off a couple of weeks ago, I think we can conclude that the
Senshi won that fight.

     "Look at the facts," he said, crossing his arms and staring
calmly at Marialite. "We lost. At the very least, the Senshi managed
to close the portal to the Dark Kingdom, and it will take them several
millennia to open another one. Frankly, I think it's likely that the
Senshi killed Metallia before sealing the portal - they seem to be
pretty thorough."

     "Don't be ridiculous," Marialite snapped. "How could those brats
manage to destroy Metallia? They're not even as powerful as their
counterparts from the Silver Millennium, and look what happened to
them!"

     "And look what happened to us afterwards," Brookite countered.
"Our entire army, along with Metallia, was defeated and banished
to the Dark Kingdom by Serenity alone, using the power of the
ginzuishou. Is it so hard to believe that Sailor Moon could have
destroyed Metallia with that same power?" She hesitated a moment,
then continued, "I have a reason for thinking Metallia is truly
dead. Shortly after we found the portal was sealed, I began having
- dreams." Expecting a derisive response, she saw that all of her
listeners bore identical, haunted expressions.

     "So you have, too," she said softly. "Like me, you've started to
recall more of your life before Metallia. You've been having dreams
about the old days, about things you haven't remembered since we first
found ourselves in the Dark Kingdom. It must have been Metallia who
blocked those old memories, and I think their release means that that
- abomination - is finally dead.

     "Don't you see?" she went on, her voice rising. "This is our
chance. We can give up the energy stealing, except for what we need to
stay alive, and devote our efforts to making a place for ourselves.
After thousands of years of fighting, first against the Moon Kingdom,
then amongst ourselves, we can finally find some peace!"

     "Peace?" The normally taciturn Franklinite was startled into
speech. "How can there be any peace between ourselves and humans
unless we control them?"

     "I have to agree with him on that score," Brucite said
reluctantly. "You saw the humans' reactions to us. To them, we're
monsters from another world, here to suck the very life from them. Of
course," he reflected, "when you think about it, that's pretty much
the case. That's why I wanted us to move somewhere else, somewhere
that had never heard of youma or the Sailor Senshi."

     "But what good would that do if we kept up our old ways?" Adamite
said earnestly. "Brookite's right. We have to try to make peace with
the humans, and with the Senshi."

     "Peace? Between youma and humans?" Marialite retorted scornfully.
"I think you must still be dreaming! We're natural enemies."

     "I won't claim it would be easy," Brookite said soberly, "but I
know it's possible to reach an understanding. I know it is."

     "You know," began Marialite, derisively, then broke off to stare
in disbelief at Brookite, as she finally made sense of what she was
feeling over the empathic link they all shared. "How could you know
that," she said slowly, "unless you've already told someone?" She saw
the confirmation of her intuition in the nervous glances Brookite and
Adamite exchanged. She closed her eyes as she struggled to regain her
composure.

     "You told someone? Are you mad? That must be why the Senshi are
here!" she exclaimed. "Well, they'll find we're no pushovers. We've
collected enough energy over the last few months to equal their power,
and I don't care how well they've done so far, they can't match the
millennia of practice we've had in working and fighting as a team!"

     "Calm down, calm down," Adamite said urgently. "Look, we can
guarantee that no one's told the Senshi anything."

     "You expect me to believe you've told someone we're youma, on a
mission to steal energy and pave the way for a takeover of the Earth,
and you can guarantee there's no leak?" she asked incredulously.
"There's no way -" she stopped short. Although the link between
them all was no longer as strong as it had once been, the feelings
currently washing over her were clear enough to tell the story, now
that her rebellious comrades were too upset to suppress them. Looking
hard at her two fidgeting subordinates, she went on, "Unless you know
exactly what's happened, because you have access to their memories.
Let me guess - you've let your host minds awaken."

     Brucite and Franklinite stood staring at their compatriots,
mouths agape, as Brookite and Adamite both nodded in an embarrassed
fashion.

     "Oh, that's so much better. Instead of telling our secret to a
random human, who might well not believe you, you've let one have
free access to all your memories." Marialite closed her eyes again
while she massaged her aching temples. "I'm not hearing this. This
is all some bizarre dream. I'm not really standing in the kitchen of
a run-down restaurant, with the Senshi waiting in our dining room,
while two of my teammates tell me they're chatting with the humans
whose bodies they've taken over." She opened her eyes and said, in an
artificially cheerful voice, "Here's an idea, Brookite. Why don't you
take several more bowls out to our esteemed customers, just so they
don't decide the service is a little too slow for their liking, and
blast us all into dust?"

     While Brookite hastened to comply, the others stood silently by.
The ghastly grin playing across Marialite's face was enough to daunt
even Franklinite, who was normally not the most quick-witted youma
around, even in groups consisting solely of himself.

     When Brookite came back in, Marialite smiled at her with false
benevolence and said, "Let me get this straight. You two were feeling
a little lonely one day, so you decided to let the humans you'd
possessed wake up, to have a bit of a chat. In the process, of course,
you've let them know who we are, what our mission is, and anything
else about us they might care to find out. Is that about it?"

     "Are you mad?" Brucite sputtered. "When you possess a person's
body, you never let his mind wake up. You're taking a chance on
getting thrown out, and if you don't have another body to go to, and
no time to reconstitute your own, you're dead! Even if you're not
concerned about your own lives, think of the rest of us! With the
knowledge your hosts would have acquired from you, we'd be helpless
against the Senshi!"

     "Besides, it's completely against orders," rumbled Franklinite.

     "Yeah, well I didn't hear any helpful suggestions from any of you
when we got into trouble with the tax people a while back," the cook
retorted. "Except for Franklinite's idea that we should enslave all
the government people who came in to talk to us, which, considering
that we were supposed to be keeping a low profile, might not exactly
qualify as 'helpful.'"

     Marialite blushed slightly. "Well, how was I supposed to know we
needed to pay taxes?" she asked defensively. "I mean, taxes aren't
something we had to worry about in the Dark Kingdom. There, if you
were strong enough, you took what you wanted, and if you weren't, you
tried to keep your head down, and attached to your shoulders."

     "That's Adamite's point," Brookite interjected gently. "We
were trying to pull off a long-term possession, not just a simple,
short-term replacement, such as most of the other youma were assigned.
To do that without attracting attention, we needed reliable sources of
information on the human world. Yukari was able to help me with that."

     "And it's not just taxes," Adamite said, waving his hands
animatedly. "Take the cooking, for example. Let's face it, cuisine
in the Dark Kingdom is pretty limited. 'Do you want shadowgrass or
deathfern root with your roast slinkerbeast? Or maybe, for a real
change of pace, you'd like your slinkerbeast boiled?' If we'd actually
depended on food to stay alive, instead of the energy we stole from
each other, and the leakage from this universe, we wouldn't have
lasted twenty years, let alone twenty thousand.

     "I freely concede my first efforts at cooking were a real
disaster," he continued earnestly. "If I hadn't awakened Tetsuo, and
got him to teach me how to cook, we'd have been out of business a
while ago, which certainly would have put a crimp in our operations."

     By this time, Marialite had regained control of herself. She
regarded them for a moment, then said, "And how do your hosts regard
this intrusion?"

     "Well, they're not exactly happy about it," Brookite admitted.
"They'd like their own lives back, but I think we understand each
other pretty well, and if we could just give up on this 'conquer the
world' notion, I think we'd get along all right."

     "But how can we give up on it?" Marialite asked quietly. "Humans
are our food source. How do you think cattle and chickens and pigs
would feel about sharing the world with humans if they had a choice?"

     Brookite retorted angrily, "You keep going on about humans like
they're some alien species, or lower life form! We were human once,
before Metallia. Remember?"

     Marialite stood silent for a time. Finally, she replied softly,
"Yes, I remember. We were all human then, back in the old days in
Lemuria. Until Metallia came." She seemed to look off into the
distance as she went on, "I remember Beryl summoning us to the throne
room, the day it all began."


**********************************************************

     And if my seven senses one by one should leave me,
     In the silent darkness I would be all right, believe me.
     But what will I do without you?

     Lene Lovich: Ibid.



     Marialite strode along the corridor, her comrades ranged behind
her on either side. On her left, Brookite and Adamite walked together,
of course. Strange that the wielders of Fire and Water should get
along so well, but so it had been since they were first brought
together. Brookite had the warmth of her element, while Adamite - if
he resembled any aspect of his element, it was the still, peaceful
depths of the ocean. On her right, Brucite and Franklinite, Air
and Wood. And how appropriate, she sometimes thought in her less
charitable moments. Brucite was as flighty as a spring breeze, and
Franklinite was certainly pure wood from the shoulders up. She
wondered idly what they would say about her. Would Metal be equally
suitable for her: cold, hard, and glittering? Still, the loss of any
one of their members would have left them woefully incomplete. Since
their joining, they had never been separated for more than a day at a
time.

     With a slight grimace, she wondered why Beryl had summoned
them. Perhaps it was time for another tirade on the treachery of
the Moon Kingdom. After all, there were those rumors that Prince
Endymion of Shamballah had been wooing the Moon Kingdom's princess. If
Beryl had gotten wind of that, she'd be good for a two-hour rant, at
least. Beryl wasn't a bad ruler, on the whole, but she was becoming
dangerously obsessed with both Endymion and her ongoing vendetta
against Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom.

     As they approached the great golden doors of the Throne Room, she
saw the four generals of the Lemurian armies coming from the other
direction. Kunzite remained at least outwardly placid, but the other
three evinced varying degrees of displeasure. She felt her own facial
muscles tighten in response as she forced a smile. There had always
been a certain degree of constraint between the four generals and the
five Elementals. Partly it was due to Beryl's decision to leave the
Elementals, her most powerful team of fighters, outside the permanent
command structure. She stated that it was to allow them to be used
to greatest effect wherever she needed their abilities; Marialite
privately thought that the divisiveness it fostered between the two
groups was at least as important. Certainly it reflected the balancing
act she engaged in as she played the generals themselves off against
each other. Trust Beryl to minimize the chance that her underlings
could ever get together to conspire against her.

     Even if it were not for Beryl's policy, though, there would still
have been a gap between them. Though none of the Elementals were
individually as powerful as any of the generals, their teamwork was
greatly superior, and in any group training events, any combination of
Elementals always defeated any similar combination of the generals,
even Kunzite and Zoicite, the two who worked best together. The
generals were all proud men, and found this difficult to accept.

     As they reached the doors, Marialite came to a stop, her
teammates as always right in step with her, and waited politely for
the generals to enter first. She managed to keep her face a perfect
mask as her nominal superiors went ahead, but smirked inwardly at the
expressions on their faces. Except for Kunzite, of course. Presumably
he was as little pleased as the rest that the Elementals had been
summoned along with them, showing once again their independent status,
but as always he maintained control. She admired him the most of all
the generals - he might not like her team, but if he ever gained
command over them, he at least would not try to break them up simply
to assuage his wounded feelings.

     The two groups filed in and lined up before their ruler. Queen
Beryl sat before them in her throne carved of the stone that shared
her name. She looked at them all and smiled. As she did so, all nine
took an involuntary step back. Beryl could inspire fear when she
wanted to, but there was more to it this time. Something had changed.
There was an edge to her, a look in her eyes, which chilled them all.

     "Greetings, my loyal subjects," she purred, obviously aware of
and relishing their feelings. "I have good news for you all. The day
of our deliverance from the cursed Moon Kingdom is at hand. My arcane
researches have brought us the assistance we need. Allow me to present
to you - Metallia." She gestured theatrically to one side.

     At first Marialite thought Beryl had lost her mind. There was
nothing there. It was completely - wait. There was, indeed, nothing
there, but it was a curiously disturbing nothing. She couldn't quite
focus on it, and yet she couldn't stop looking.

     Suddenly, a grating voice issued forth from the nothingness.
"Followers of Beryl, I am Metallia. Having released me from my long
imprisonment, your queen has sought my aid against those who would
deny Lemuria its rightful place. I have gladly committed myself to
this noble goal."

     Beryl laughed, a wild cachinnation that echoed around the stone
walls of the great room. "With Metallia to assist us, we shall finally
be able to end the internecine squabbles between nations and unite the
Earth under our leadership!"

     The generals and Elementals exchanged uneasy glances. Finally
Kunzite spoke. "This is good to hear, Your Majesty. Yet how are we
to accomplish this union when the Moon Kingdom, with its armies and
its Senshi, stands in our way? As you yourself have observed, it has
always been in their best interest to keep us divided and fighting
amongst ourselves."

     The others flinched slightly, and waited for the imminent
explosion. Kunzite had couched his objection as diplomatically as
possible, but they all knew Beryl of old. She did not take kindly to
naysayers.

     All the greater was their surprise, then, when Beryl simply
smiled at him. "Your concerns are understandable, Kunzite, but
unfounded. Our armies shall sweep across the Earth like a tidal wave.
Each of our soldiers shall be the equal of a dozen of our enemies.
The Earth shall fall before the Moon Kingdom has time to rouse itself
and prepare for war. If the Senshi dare to stand against us, you, my
generals and my Elementals, shall easily destroy them."

     Marialite's brow furrowed. She was at a loss to understand
Beryl's confidence. None of them was a match, individually, for
any one of the Senshi. They could prevail, had they the advantage
of sufficiently superior numbers, but nine generals and Elementals
against nine Senshi was a recipe for disaster, not for a victorious
Lemuria.

     "What? Do you doubt your queen?" Beryl asked mockingly. "Believe
me in this: with the aid of Metallia, all that I have said and more
is possible. That is why I have summoned you. As the commanders of
my armies, and my greatest warriors, you shall be given the first
opportunity to undergo the transformation, to become the vanguard of
my invincible, all-conquering army of youma!"

     Marialite bit her lip. Apparently Beryl was serious. She could
feel her comrades' nervousness through the link they shared. Beryl
was their sworn ruler, and the prospect of being powerful enough to
challenge the Senshi was an intriguing one, but none of them were easy
in their hearts with the idea of letting this Metallia change them
into - whatever. She could only wonder what the ultimate price would
be.

     "Step forward, my subjects," Beryl commanded.

     Apprehensively, they complied.

     "Metallia, transform them!"

     Like the rest, Marialite stood, apprehensively awaiting whatever
happened. For a long, tense moment, nothing did. Just as she started
to relax, horrendous pains ripped through her body. She fell to the
floor writhing, her voice joining her comrades' in a hellish chorus of
screams. She felt as if chunks of bleeding flesh were being torn from
her body, while white-hot daggers plunged into her eyes.

     Just as suddenly as it had struck, the pain disappeared. Shaking
and sobbing, she lay on the cold flagstones for long moments, the
cessation of agony seeming in its own way almost as hard to bear as
the pain itself. She was intensely aware of every nerve ending, every
square inch of her body quivering with the aftershock of what she'd
been through. As she regained control, she realized that something
felt different.

     The link she shared with her fellow Elementals was still there,
though seeming somewhat muted, but now she realized that she could
sense the generals too. Each of them appeared in her mind as a glowing
presence, and she could tell that the brightness of the glow in some
manner reflected their power. She could sense Beryl and Metallia as
well, though in their cases the glow was so bright as to be almost
"blinding", if that term made sense for a purely mental impression. If
she concentrated, she could sense other people scattered throughout
the castle. At the same time, her power over metal had grown as well.
Previously, her control would have been limited to her immediate
vicinity - the throne room, in this case. Now she could sense metallic
objects at a greater distance, including the weapons of the guards
stationed down the hall. Through the link, she could feel the wonder
and growing excitement of her teammates as they realized their
heightened abilities.

     Beryl regarded them with a dagger-sharp smile. "Now you see. Yet
even so, you still do not realize the full scope of the changes that
Metallia has wrought. You can now sense the life energies of beings
around you, human and otherwise. You will find that you can absorb
those energies also, strengthening yourselves while weakening your
opponents."

     Marialite could feel the truth of her sovereign's words. The glow
she sensed from those around her seemed to call to her, and she knew
that if she opened herself to that call she could satisfy the hunger
that had awakened within her. A part of her wanted to recoil in horror
from the sensations coursing through her, but it was overridden by the
part that lusted for those dark pleasures she could as yet only dimly
envision.

     "With these abilities," Metallia rasped, "conquest of the Earth
is all but a foregone conclusion. All I ask in return is a fraction of
the energy you harvest, to allow me to replenish my strength after so
many long years trapped in the desolate world you rescued me from."

     "Such was our agreement," Beryl said with a nod, "and I will hold
to it."

     "Then assemble your armies, my Queen," Metallia directed. "The
conversion of your forces will ring the death knell of the Moon
Kingdom."

     The conversion of Beryl's armies to youma was swift and complete.
In less than a week, it was done. Toward the end, Beryl and Metallia
had even begun to experiment, taking their inspiration from the
Elementals to create powerful linked teams of warriors like the Seven
Great Youma to be hurled into the breach against their mightiest
enemies.

     The days and weeks that then ensued were ever after a blur to
Marialite. Battle followed battle, and no one could stand against
them. Like the others, she became intoxicated with the power she
drained from those she fought. Hunger, thirst, pain, weariness became
little more than memories, temporary discomforts quickly overwhelmed
by the surge of stolen energy. After each victory, she became more and
more impatient for the next fight, the next chance to bathe in the
life force of those mortals foolish enough to oppose them. She became
a connoisseur, especially prizing the last reserves of energy that
could be drained from the dying, and those in the greatest agony. Had
it not been for Beryl's explicit commands, not one soldier of their
enemies would have survived. No good thing lasts forever, though. As
it became evident that no force on Earth could even slow them down,
countries began surrendering as soon as Beryl's fliers were spotted on
the horizon. Sooner than she could have imagined, the generals and the
Elementals were back in the throne room, reporting to their monarch.

     Kunzite stepped forward and bowed. "Complete success, Your
Majesty. Your forces now control the entire Earth."

     Beryl smiled a cold, cruel smile. "Excellent. And Prince
Endymion?"

     Kunzite's expression never changed. "I regret to inform Your
Majesty that when Shamballah's palace fell, the prince had already
fled. Questioning his servants leads us to believe he has gone to the
Moon Kingdom."

     "So they dare to keep him from me?" Beryl said grimly. "They will
regret their impudence when I bring their precious kingdom crashing
down around them. Great Metallia," she called out. "You have advised
us well so far. We have taken the Earth. Shall we now proceed to the
Moon, and teach its people their proper place?"

     "I think that would be the wisest course," the phantom responded.
"The Moon Kingdom houses the only real obstacle to our domination of
the Solar System." The voice fell silent for a moment, then continued.
"The Hidden Worlds are as yet unaware of my return. The Snake Mother
still sleeps. The Sun Stone has been lost these thirty thousand years.
Only the ginzuishou poses a threat to me - to us. Though its power is
lessened without Inanna to wield it, I am no longer what I once was,
either. Let the Moon therefore be our next target."

     "Very well," Beryl said with a nod. Turning to her subordinates,
she commanded, "Prepare the transports. Mass the troops. We will
launch our attack against the Moon Kingdom at once. And this time, let
none survive."

     "Your Majesty," Nephrite said reluctantly. "I feel I must point
out one problem. Between ourselves, the Elementals, and the Seven
Great Youma, we are certainly more than a match now for most of the
Moon Kingdom's Senshi. There are two, however, whose powers cannot
be discounted. Sailor Saturn has power enough to destroy a planet,
even the Earth, while Pluto's control over Time makes her a threat to
reverse any gains we may make."

     Beryl frowned at him, but before she could express her
displeasure in words, Metallia interrupted, sounding almost smug.
"The Outer Senshi will pose no difficulties. While our conquest of
Earth was still in its early stages, I split off a portion of myself,
with instructions to simulate a threat from out-System. As expected,
Serenity dispatched the Outer Senshi, save for Sailor Titan, who is
no threat to us, to investigate the matter. The Moon Kingdom will lie
in ruins before they can possibly return to help. Once we possess the
ginzuishou, Saturn will be powerless to stop us. As for Pluto, she is
not the only one who has access to the Time Gate. Although I cannot
use it freely, any attempt by her to travel into the past to forestall
our plans will draw me back in time with her. She will know this, and
not make the attempt."

     At first, Beryl had been angered at Metallia having taken such
actions without consulting her, but Metallia's final words restored
her good humor. "Then our plans are set," she decreed. "Put all in
readiness for our departure."

     "Do you remember our destruction of the Moon Kingdom?" Brookite
asked quietly, jolting Marialite from her reminiscences. "I do, now. I
remember attacking them completely without warning. I remember lashing
out with our powers against anyone we saw, men, women - even children.
There was a house you destroyed, Brucite, just smashed it flat. A
woman came staggering out, with a dying baby in her arms. She was
crying hysterically, because one of the baby's arms had been torn
completely off, and the blood just kept pouring out, no matter what
she tried to do to stop it. It couldn't have lasted that long - I
mean, a baby doesn't have that much blood, but it seemed to go on
forever. I looked at them, and I laughed. I raised my hand, and burned
that baby to a cinder with one burst of Fire. I gave the mother time
enough to realize what had happened, time enough to feel that her own
arms had been flash-fried, before I burned her as well. I burned her
so quickly the ashes hung in the air for a moment, forming her image,
before the winds blew them away. And I laughed."

     Adamite put a hand on her shoulder as she paused, trying to fight
back tears. "We killed every single person in the Moon Kingdom, except
for Queen Serenity, and reveled in it, and feasted on their dying
energies like psychic vultures. And why? What had they done to deserve
that? Don't give me any of Beryl's usual garbage about them trying
to destroy our economy, or isolating us diplomatically to weaken us.
Serenity showed us that if she had wanted to take us over, she could
have done it, all by herself, with just the power of the ginzuishou.
We killed all those people because Beryl hated Serenity, and wanted
Prince Endymion. That was all it was. Her jealousy, and our blind
obedience, brought all this about. For that, we gave up our humanity.
For that, we became monsters."

     "Forget it," Marialite said harshly. "We made a choice, a long
time ago. We chose to stay with Beryl after she pledged herself to
Metallia. We didn't know exactly where that choice would take us, but
it's too late now. We're not human any more, and we never will be.
We're youma now. We're predators, and humanity is our prey."

     Her voice softened. "Do you remember those horrible centuries
in the Dark Kingdom? Our army disintegrated as we all fought to
survive, as we came to understand that, except for the few wary beasts
inhabiting that desolate place, and the slow trickle coming through
from this universe, the only source of the energy we needed was - each
other. We would have died like so many of our comrades if we had not
stayed together. That is what we must do now.

     "As I see it, if we are to survive, our only option is all-out
war. Either we kill the Senshi and take over this world, or they will
kill us, and frankly, I couldn't blame them. I could wish things were
different, but that changes nothing. I'm the leader - I could order
this, but I will abide by our ancient agreement. Let the vote decide.
I say that we drain the humans out there, if we can, and continue
gathering energy as quickly as possible, toward the day when we can
strike back against our foes. If those out there turn out to be the
Senshi, and the battle begins now, at least we outnumber them, and
have a chance to catch them by surprise. Brookite wishes us to proceed
cautiously, in an attempt to remain inconspicuous for as long as
possible, with an eye to eventually trying to find a place in human
society. Who is with me?"

     Franklinite held out his fist, and placed it atop her
outstretched hand. After a long, tense moment, Brucite did the same.
She looked at the two dissenters. "The vote is for action. Will you
join us?"

     Brookite and Adamite looked at each other. They wanted to refuse,
but the old loyalties were too strong. They held out their fists to
signal their acquiescence.

     "It is agreed." Despite her victory, there was no triumph is
Marialite's voice. This had been their first serious dispute since the
terrible early days in the Dark Kingdom. They had been hard pressed
then to keep Brookite from killing herself in revulsion for their
actions in the fighting. In the end, the amnesia Metallia had imposed
on all of the youma had brought them a measure of peace. She wasn't
sure what the return of those buried memories signified; perhaps
Metallia was dead, though it was hard to imagine how that could happen
without the destruction of the entire Dark Kingdom, a scenario she
couldn't really envision. In any event, the team's old unity was gone,
and she could only hope that one day they could regain their former
closeness.


**********************************************************

     If that dark angel raises bony hands to clutch me,
     I will not fear his sting, if he decides to touch me.
     But what will I do without you?

     Lene Lovich: Ibid.



     Meanwhile, Ranma was beginning to get a little concerned. There
was something odd about this Mamoru Chiba guy. The offer of lunch
was a nice gesture, but then, while they were eating, he'd started
flirting, or something like it - first with Akane, and then with
Ranma. All this while sitting next to his oblivious girlfriend!
He'd knocked that off, but since then he'd been asking some probing
questions about them - nothing out and out rude, but a little too
pointed for polite conversation. He was after something, that was
clear. Ranma just didn't know what, and it made her uneasy.

     As if that wasn't enough of a problem, now the waitress had
disappeared. It had been several minutes since Ranma had had anything
to eat. Fortunately, just as she was getting seriously concerned, the
waitress returned with more food, looking pale and worried. Setting
down the bowls, she hurried off. Ranma looked after her with a slight
frown. The woman had seemed friendly enough when they first sat down,
but somewhere along the way something had upset her. Ranma was just
about to chalk it up to boyfriend troubles, or something of the sort,
when Akane elbowed her in the ribs and gave her a murderous glare.
Apparently she'd been watching the waitress a little too closely to
suit Akane. Ranma thought about protesting her innocence, but gave
it up as a lost cause. For someone who claimed she didn't want to be
engaged, Akane certainly got jealous a lot. "Girls," Ranma thought,
with a mental sigh. "Who can figure 'em?"

     Halfway through the next bowl, she suddenly stopped dead.

     "What's the matter, Ranma?" Akane asked, apparently still
annoyed. "Don't tell me you're actually getting full!"

     "That ain't it," Ranma responded absently, trying to reach out
with her awareness. "There's something wrong...."

     "If you're not full after the exhibition you've put on for us,
there's definitely something wrong!"

     Disdaining further comment, Ranma closed her eyes and focused.
There was a threat somewhere near, very near. It seemed to be coming
closer - and was approaching from - that direction. She opened her
eyes and saw a stocky, mannish looking woman staring at them intently,
holding a small crystal. Without even being aware of it, Ranma grabbed
her teacup and threw it, knocking the crystal from the woman's hand.
She only realized what she had done when she saw the others at the
table staring at her.

     "Ah, Ranma, did you have some particular reason to attack
that woman, or was your tea just too hot for you?" Akane inquired
cautiously, half-afraid that Ranma would tell her the woman was yet
another fiancee, or perhaps the leader of a demonic cult that had been
tracking him for years. Probably not, she knew, but only because,
where Ranma was concerned, the truth was usually stranger than
anything you could come up with on your own.

     Before a flustered Ranma could respond, Marialite overcame her
shock. "So," she said coolly, "you're not planning to make it easy
for us. No matter. You Sailor Senshi have had it your own way for too
long." Mamoru and Usagi started at this, but no one else noticed.
Marialite reached out with her mind and took hold of all the loose
metal objects she could find. "In the name of Beryl, die!"

     As a hail of cutlery, serving trays, and other objects flew
at them, Ranma leaped up and began to intercept and deflect them,
her hands blurring. She spared a brief glance back, where Akane had
picked up the table and was using it as a shield to protect their two
helpless companions. "Akane! Get them out of here, and I'll follow!"
With these words, she hurtled forward, knocking Marialite to the
ground.

     The rain of metal slackened, and Akane grabbed Usagi and Mamoru
and dashed toward the door as four more people emerged from the
kitchen, only to be thrown back by Ranma's furious assault. Heading
for the exit full-tilt, Akane was shocked to rebound from an invisible
wall perhaps an inch short of her goal. Snatching a chair, she began
attacking the obstacle with all her strength, to no avail. She looked
back at Ranma, now engaged in battle with five opponents, opponents
who were no ordinary people, judging from the flying objects and
bursts of fire making that whole end of the restaurant a hazard.
Moving so quickly she was little more than a blur, Ranma was holding
her own at the moment, as the close quarters prevented the Elementals
from summoning their full powers for fear of hurting each other,
but her strongest blows seemed to do no more than inconvenience her
attackers. If one good hit got through Ranma's defenses, Akane knew,
it could slow her enough to end the battle in a matter of seconds.
Making her decision quickly, she turned to the others. "Stay back here
out of the way - I've got to help Ranma!"

     Before she could act, Mamoru stepped forward and placed a hand
on her shoulder. "Thank you, but from what that woman said, this is
actually our problem. Usagi," he said calmly, "transform and call the
others to get here as quickly as they can. I'll deal with the door."

     Akane's protests died unspoken, as she watched in astonishment
as her two seemingly normal companions transformed, amidst a shower
of light, into Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen. Sailor Moon pulled a
small device from thin air and began speaking into it urgently,
while her nattily dressed boyfriend produced a rose and hurled it
like a dart at the unseen barrier. The flower exploded in a blinding
coruscation of energy, and while she was trying to blink away the
glowing afterimages, the two costumed warriors for love and justice
seized her and darted outside.

     Though most of her concentration was focused on the brawl she
was engaged in, Ranma had never lost track of Akane. Her momentary
shock at seeing the transformation nearly cost the martial artist her
life. A blow from the hulking brute the others called Franklinite
smashed her into the wall, and she barely managed to leap away in time
to avoid the concentrated blasts that blew a hole through her former
position. These guys didn't know much about fighting, thank the gods,
at least compared to her, but they were as strong as she was, and
nearly as fast, with some sort of strange powers to boot.

     Akane was clear, though, so it was time to take her leave. She
leaped straight up, spinning in mid-air so that she hit the ceiling
feet first, then proceeded to bounce off the ceiling, walls, and floor
like a demented rubber ball until she came flying out of the door
unscathed.

     Ranma ran to the three figures standing in the middle of the
street. Ordinarily, this would not have been a wise place to wait in
downtown Tokyo, but the appearance of the Sailor Senshi was enough
to warn savvy Juuban residents to clear the area. Somehow the normal
street traffic had evaporated for a three-block stretch. A number of
curious onlookers waited to see what their fuku-clad defenders were
up to now, but by unspoken consensus they stayed well back from what
would soon become a battlefield.

     "Are you all right, Ranma?" Akane asked anxiously, forestalling
Ranma's intent to ask the same question of her.

     "Huh? Yeah, I'm okay." Ranma eyed their erstwhile tablemates. "So
you're Sailor Moon, and that guy who hangs around her."

     "Tuxedo Kamen." He wasn't in it for public acclaim, but there
were times Mamoru seriously considered the need for a PR staff. At
least enough of one so people knew who he was.

     "Tuxedo Kamen, huh?" She glanced over his outfit with a decidedly
jaundiced expression - not exactly the best costume for combat she'd
ever seen. At least Sailor Moon's fuku wasn't likely to get in her way
while she was fighting. "How long did it take you to come up with that
name? And what do you do if it's at the cleaners? Fight monsters as
the mysterious Sweatsuit Kamen?"

     As Usagi choked attempting to suppress a snort of laughter,
Mamoru sighed. Forget the PR staff - perhaps it was better if he had
as little to do with the general public as possible. "Could we ask
you to keep our identities secret? It could cause us a great deal of
trouble if others learned of this."

     Ranma nodded sagely. "Yeah, if I had to spend a lot of time
dressed up in goofy costumes I'd probably want to keep it a secret
too. Ow!"

     Akane's glare was intensified by the stinging in her hand; she
should know better, she supposed, than to hit Ranma in the head
without using some large, solid object to absorb the damage. "Let me
apologize for Ranma. H- she has no manners, but she usually means
well. Most of the time. Anyway, of course we'll keep your secret.
After all, we all have secrets we'd just as soon others didn't learn,"
here Ranma had the grace to look slightly, though only slightly,
abashed. "As for costumes, believe me, Ranma's worn worse, so don't
pay any attention to her."

     "What's that supposed to mean?" asked an outraged Ranma.

     "I could mention your okonomiyaki-selling contest with Tsubasa,
or those pictures you took for Happosai when you lost your strength,
or ...."

     Usagi and Mamoru exchanged mystified glances as the
incomprehensible argument raged.

     Inside the restaurant, Brucite was in the middle of a
full-fledged panic attack. "It's the Sailor Senshi! I knew it! We're
all going to die!"

     "Calm down, Brucite," Adamite said gently, guiding him to a
chair. "You're hyperventilating again. Put your head between your
knees and repeat your mantra, all right?"

     "Okay," the little man responded weakly. Soon he was chanting
softly, "I'm here with my friends. They won't let me down. I won't let
them down." Soon enough, he had calmed down sufficiently to take part
in the hurried conversation going on among the others.

     "So two of them were indeed Senshi," Marialite noted. "Should we
conclude the other two are not?"

     "I think so," Brookite said judiciously, all business now that
the fighting had begun. "There would be no reason not to, and from
what little we know of them they don't have full access to their
powers until they transform."

     "But that means the other two were normal humans with
Senshi-class energy levels," Franklinite said, puzzled. "The girl
fighting us was able to hold us all off, for a little while. This
could mean trouble, even if we manage to defeat the Senshi."

     "Not necessarily." Marialite frowned in thought. "True, she
possessed as much energy as one of the Senshi, although, as I said,
with an odd feel to it. You'll note that she was unable to make
effective use of it, however; no matter how strong and fast she may
have been, there's no way we can be simply punched and kicked into
submission. Moreover, these are the only two humans with such high
levels we've detected in the months we've been operating here; I think
we can conclude they're fairly rare."

     "So we go out there and fight them," Brucite said fatalistically.

     "Remember, we are the Elementals," Marialite told them all,
fixing each one with a serious look. "We have never lost, and I don't
propose to start now."

     Outside, Mamoru broke in on the heated discussion between the two
girls before it had quite turned into a brawl. "I'd like to thank you
for your assistance, but I think you'd better get out of here before
the battle begins. I'd hate for you to get hurt, and if these really
are youma, they won't hesitate to attack anyone who gets in their
way."

     Ranma frowned. It definitely went against the grain to run out on
a fight. On the other hand, she did want to get Akane out of there -
no question that she'd be outmatched.

     Before the battle between Ranma's ego and her over-protectiveness
could be decided, the door of the restaurant burst open and her recent
opponents poured out.

     Sailor Moon stepped forward, declaiming, "Interrupting people's
enjoyment - ACK!" Her speech was cut short as a manhole cover nearly
cut her in two, forcing her to dive to safety. Another one would have
caught her in the head had Akane not leaped forward and grabbed it,
then hurled it with even greater force back at the youma. Marialite
deflected it, and the battle was on.

     Wood and metal missiles flew at the four teens from all
directions, water and fire blasted all around them, and gale-force
winds tried to knock them over. Ranma and Akane either deflected or
returned the solid objects while trying to avoid the other attacks.
Tuxedo Kamen hurled roses, to little or no avail, while Sailor Moon,
the target of the brunt of the assault, merely tried to stay alive.

     The battle would likely have gone badly for the defenders of
the Earth had not matters taken a different turn; with a cry of
"Supreme Thunder," a bolt of lightning struck the street between the
combatants. The rest of the Sailor Senshi had arrived.

     Blasts of magic flew back and forth as the Senshi strove to drive
the youma back and buy their leader enough time to use the Cutie Moon
Rod. Marialite realized that, having lost the advantage of numbers,
their only chance lay in utilizing their superior teamwork. Dropping
back, she shouted, "Elementals! Link up!"

     Without ceasing their attacks, the other youma retreated to stand
in a circle with their backs to each other. The air around them began
to glow as the five figures slowly rose into the air, stopping about
thirty feet up. Chunks of metal and wood ripped from the buildings and
vehicles around them rose up as well and began orbiting the floating
Elementals.

     Now the battle raged anew, and now the tide turned. The
Elementals' link allowed them to act and react almost as one being.
The Senshis' powers were easily deflected or absorbed, while the
attacks of the youma became more and more dangerous.

     Never one to stay out of a fight, Ranma ripped a lamppost from
the ground and hurled it like a javelin. What one Elemental saw, they
all saw, however, and Marialite easily took control of the metal
spear and flung it back at Sailor Moon, who would have been impaled
had Akane not pulled her out of the way. Frustrated by her lack of
success, Ranma leaped high into the air, flying directly at the youma.
No normal human could have approached that feat, but if the Elementals
were surprised, they overcame it quickly, and a tongue of flame licked
out at her.

     It should have been impossible for her to avoid it, but somehow,
by dint of furious bodily contortions, Ranma managed to escape
incineration and land safely back on the street below, before leaping
out of the way of the parked car Marialite attempted to drop on her
head.

     After another unsuccessful attack, Mamoru took momentary refuge
in an alley beside Ranma and cursed the fate that always made him a
supporting actor in the drama of his own life. Once again the girl
he loved and her friends, who were also his friends, were fighting
for their lives and for the safety of the world, and all he could
do was throw those idiotic flowers. His fragmentary memories of the
Silver Millennium told him he should be able to do more, much more,
but whenever he reached for the power it eluded his grasp. At least he
still had the flowers, unlike those occasions when he found himself
unable to do anything but offer the Senshi some supposedly inspiring
words.

     "What's the deal? Why ain't Sailor Moon attacking?" Ranma asked
him.

     Tuxedo Kamen grimaced. "Every time she tries to do the gestures
and say the words, the youma attack her before she can finish."

     Ranma stared at him. "So why don't she just forget the rigmarole
and blast 'em?"

     "She can't. It's like the safety on a gun - and believe me, if
you knew what that rod could do, you wouldn't want it going off just
because she pointed it in your direction accidentally."

     "Then we got a problem," Ranma said bluntly.

     "I know. Their powers seem to be based on control of the five
elements, and unfortunately they can cancel out the Senshis' powers.
Fire and Water can absorb or deflect Mars' and Mercury's attacks. Wood
can insulate against Jupiter's electrical bolts, and Metal can reflect
Venus' light based powers. That leaves Air to take care of any solid
objects, including my roses, as well as stopping Sailor Moon from
using the Moon Rod. Even worse, they seem to be able to co-ordinate
their actions better than we can."

     Ranma leaped out of the way of another fire blast and ended up
crouching in the doorway of the cafe next to Akane. "This stinks.
Throwing stuff at them ain't working, and if I jump up to them again I
could get roasted."

     Akane said urgently, "There's still one attack you've got that
can reach them. Why haven't you tried that?"

     "They got control over the elements, right? Including air?
Hitting them with a hurricane's gonna be worse than useless if they
can take it away from me."

     Akane frowned thoughtfully. "We've got to try something - it
looks like the Senshi are losing. Hmmm. The only thing I can think of
is to try to overload them somehow. Maybe have everybody hit them at
once, full strength?"

     "Worth a shot. In fact," said Ranma, with a glint in her eyes,
"I can use the Senshi to help charge up my attack!" She ran over to
Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury, and hissed, "Listen, I got a plan, if
you can help me out. Mars, instead of just blasting 'em, can you send
your fire spiraling in on them?"

     Sailor Mars looked at her in confusion. People didn't normally
come up to her during a battle with some monster or other and not only
offer to help, but try to take charge. "I guess so, but what..."

     "Okay, here's what we do. Mars, when I give the word, use your
fire like I said. Mercury, you concentrate your cold right in front
of me and try to drop the temperature as much as you can. The rest of
you," Ranma said, raising her voice, "when I start my attack, throw
everything you got at 'em."

     "What are you trying to accomplish?" Mercury asked, perplexed.
"What attack are you talking about?"

     "Don't worry, you'll know when you see it," Ranma asserted
confidently.

     "Who died and made you princess?" Mars asked angrily, as she
dodged an air blast that was propelling gravel from the street at her
with nearly the speed of a bullet. "Fighting creatures like this is
our job!"

     "And right now you're getting your butts kicked," Ranma retorted.
"Look, I know what I'm doing. You might as well give it a try; you're
losing as it is. Go ahead, cut loose."

     Mars felt that there was an inherent fallacy in that reasoning,
but she couldn't quite identify it in the middle of another barrage
from the Elementals. Finally she decided she might as well vent her
frustration by blasting the cause of the whole problem. "Fire Soul
Bird!" The fire circled the hovering youma several times as it closed
in on them. The youma simply absorbed the heat until they were glowing
red.

     "Shabon Spray Freezing!" Mercury brought forth a field of intense
cold, which she managed to focus in front of the young martial artist.

     Ranma concentrated as hard as she ever had. "Hiryu shoten ha!"
She had been reluctant to invoke the full power of this attack, ever
since she had nearly killed Ryoga with it. Now, thrusting her fist
forward, she unleashed the cool ki she had summoned. Boosted by
Mercury's cold, the ki arrowed in through the waves of heat pouring
off the five figures in the air. The contrast between the temperature
extremes created the most powerful twister she had ever seen. She
fought to maintain control of the spinning winds, forcing them into
the most compact funnel she could manage.

     "Crescent Beam Shower!"

     "Supreme Thunder Dragon!"

     Venus and Jupiter unleashed their powers, as Tuxedo Kamen
whipped open his cape and produced a tremendous barrage of roses.
The energy-charged blossoms and the bolts of force converged on the
spinning column of air, where the ki-charged walls of the twister
contained and reflected and amplified their power, to focus it all on
the barely visible figures at the heart of the maelstrom.

     Inside the miniature tornado, the Elementals struggled to hold
their shields against the tremendous forces battering them dozens of
times every second. Brucite fought to take control of the winds, or
slow them down, but he was unable to concentrate, or take any power
away from the joint defenses that were only barely holding up, as
Ranma and the Senshi threw everything they had at their foes.

     "Fire Soul Bird!"

     "Shabon Spray Freezing!"

     Ranma gritted her teeth and continued to release her ki to feed
the whirlwind. She had to maintain control of it as long as possible
before the energies she fought to contain proved too much for her.
The howling of the winds rose higher in pitch to an almost deafening
scream as the Senshi poured more power into the glowing funnel.
"Sailor Moon, do it now!"

     "Moon princess halation!" The lunar energies hit the twister,
which exploded in a pyrotechnic display as Ranma sagged to the ground.
At the moment, all she wanted was a good night's rest, but a shout
from Akane galvanized her back into action.

     "Ranma! They're dropping out of the sky!"

     The two martial artists leaped into the air, each managing to
catch two of the unconscious forms. Sailor Moon rescued the last
inadvertently by managing to have the girl fall on top of her.
"Oooof!"

     After reassuring herself and Tuxedo Kamen that she was relatively
intact, she checked the girl's condition, and was relieved to note
that she was already regaining consciousness. "Are you all right,
miss?"

     "I - I think so," she said groggily. "Tetsuo - where's Tetsuo!"

     "I'm over here, Yukari," a voice answered her. Nearby, a young
man sat on the street, looking around in a dazed fashion. She got up
and stumbled over to him.

     Satisfied that the once-possessed victims were back to normal,
Sailor Moon rejoined the other Senshi. Meanwhile, Yukari reached
Tetsuo and sank down to the street beside him.

     "You okay?" he asked her diffidently.

     "I'm fine," she said, looking at him out of the corner of her
eye. "It's nice to be back in control of your own body, isn't it?"

     "Yeah." He said nothing for a moment, then added, "They weren't
all that bad, though - I mean Adamite wasn't, anyway."

     "I know what you mean," she responded quietly. "I liked Brookite.
What happened to them, what they became - it wasn't their fault."

     "It almost makes me wish Adamite could have survived," Tetsuo
said, carefully not looking at her. "Although I don't suppose either
one of them would have wanted to be left without the other."

     Yukari turned and looked him squarely in the face. "Adamite?
Are you still there? It feels like it, a little, but everything's so
strange."

     Tetsuo nodded. "He's still here. I'm in control now, so it's
kind of the reverse of the previous situation. I take it you've got
Brookite in there with you, Yukari?"

     "Yes." She brushed her hair back from her eyes. "How did it
happen? I remember Sailor Moon's blast hitting us, and then nothing
else."

     "All we can figure out is that, as the blast hit them, you and I
reached out instinctively and 'held on' to them somehow. Instead of
forcing them out of us, Sailor Moon managed to destroy the part of
them that had been subject to Metallia. Think about it, Brookite. Do
you feel anyone's life force any more? Or the need to drain anyone?"

     Yukari frowned. "No, she doesn't. She points out, though, that
she can barely feel anything at the moment, even the link."

     For a moment, Tetsuo said nothing, before asking quietly, "Can
she feel anything of the others?"

     A long pause. "No."

     He nodded slowly. "We were afraid of that. Adamite doesn't know
if it was because they never let their hosts wake up and befriended
them, or because they still couldn't let go of their youma nature;
whatever the reason, they didn't survive."

     They sat together for a time, ignoring the commotion behind
them. Finally Yukari seemed to shake herself, then indulged in a
long, slow, self-consciously sensual stretch, not failing to notice
Tetsuo's face reddening as he quickly looked away. "So," she said, her
mouth quirking into a smile, "what do we do now? Try to get on with
our lives, ignoring the fact that we have the spirits of two twenty
thousand year old warriors inside us?"

     "We were thinking about that," Tetsuo said in a partially
successful attempt at a casual tone. "Adamite was telling me that
he couldn't think of anything he'd rather do than work in a small
restaurant."

     "What a coincidence. Brookite was telling me the same thing."
She bit her lip, then mustered up her nerve. "It might be a little
awkward, what with them being - ah - involved, you know."

     Tetsuo's mouth opened and closed several times, in a rather
passable fish imitation. Suddenly his expression changed, and with
a mischievous grin he replied, "I don't think it'll be that big a
problem. Tetsuo's had an enormous crush on Yukari for a long time -
he's just been too shy to tell her." He immediately clapped his hands
over his mouth and blushed deeply, while muttering indistinctly,
"Adamite! What are you doing?"

     An impish smile flitted across the features of the girl next
to him. "Well, that's a relief. Yukari was wondering why he never
asked her out, despite all the hints she kept dropping." She instantly
blushed red as fire herself. "You're not supposed to say things like
that, Brookite!"

     The two regarded each other for a moment, then burst out
laughing. "Don't worry, children," Adamite said, once again borrowing
the voice of his host. "We'll try not to embarrass you too much. It's
just that when you've reached our advanced ages, you don't really
feel like wasting time when you're dealing with the really important
things."

     "It'll be all right," Brookite added with a smile. "I think we're
all going to get on very well together."

     Meanwhile, the Senshi clustered around Ranma and Akane, curious
to know more about them, especially the pig-tailed girl who had won
the fight for them. Akane was just thankful that her fiance was
currently female; his ego was getting swollen enough as it was from
all the attention. If she'd had to stand there watching a flock of
cute young girls crowding around him, looking him up and down with
lustful gazes, eagerly pressing their slender, nubile bodies up
against his firmly muscled form - she lost track of what she'd been
thinking about. Certainly seemed to be warm out today. Anyway, it was
a good thing he was a girl.

     Of course, thoughts like that simply invite cosmic intervention.
In the final assault upon the Elementals, Sailor Mercury had created a
good deal of ice. This had been melted by Sailor Mars' fire, and the
explosion of Ranma's tornado had blown a large quantity of warm water
into the sky. Normally, one might have expected it to be dispersed
over a wide area; given Ranma Saotome's unique nature, including but
not limited to the unusual circumstances of his birth and heritage,
and the four curses he was currently laboring under, it was not really
surprising that several gallons of warm water chose that moment to
fall on the young martial artist's head.

     The Senshi had all leaped back when the water hit. Now they stood
stock still, staring blankly at the sopping wet, obviously male figure
in their midst. None of them quite knew what to make of the situation
- except for Sailor Mars.

     "A demon," she shouted. Whipping out an ofudo, she leaped forward
and slapped it on Ranma's forehead, chanting rapidly, "Rin, pyou, tou,
sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen. Akuryou taisan!" Stepping back, she
waited for him to burst into flame, or dissolve into a puddle of goo -
at the least she expected him to fall to the street in convulsions.

     Alas, nothing so entertaining occurred. The piece of bespelled
paper clung for a moment, then fell off and fluttered to the ground.
"Excuse me," Ranma said with a frown. "What was that all about?"

     "A tough one, huh?" Mars growled, bringing up her hands in
readiness to blast him if he made a wrong move. "I don't know if you
were trying to catch us off-guard by helping up against those youma,
but it doesn't matter. We know how to handle demons like you."

     "Demons? Don't be ridiculous!" Ranma scoffed. "It's just a curse,
that's all."

     "A curse? So there IS demonic involvement!"

     "No, no, no!" Ranma said disgustedly. "Look, I didn't want to get
into all this, but here's the deal. I was over in China at a place
called Jusenkyo. There's a whole lot of springs there, dozens, maybe
over a hundred. The place has got a curse that says, if you fall in
a spring, you take on the form of whatever originally drowned in the
spring whenever you're splashed with cold water. Hot water gives ya
back your real body. It just changes your body though, not your mind.
I fell in the Spring of Drowned Girl."

     "So even though we first met you as a girl, you're really a guy?"
Tuxedo Kamen asked with some interest. If true, this vindicated his
analysis of Ranma and Akane's characters.

     "Yep."

     "Do you turn into anything, Akane?" Sailor Moon asked, with
genuine curiosity. It was odd but, if you thought about it, no
stranger than holding up a pen and transforming into a sailor-suited
warrior for love and justice.

     "No, no, not me," Akane replied hastily. Noticing the looks some
of the Senshi were giving Ranma, she added, impelled by feelings she
was careful not to analyze, "I'm Ranma's fiancee."

     Sailor Moon blinked. "You're engaged to a boy who turns into a
girl? And you don't have a problem with that?"

     Akane hesitated. Her normal response would have been to disclaim
the whole notion as a harebrained scheme dreamed up by their fathers,
but she wasn't sure she really wanted to give these girls any ideas,
considering the dreamy expressions on a couple of the faces she saw.
"It - could be worse, I guess."

     Raising an eyebrow at her moderate response, Ranma said, "Yeah,
it could be worse. My pop turns into a panda, and I've got a fiancee
who turns into a c-c-cat."

     Mercury was puzzled. "But Akane just said she didn't turn into
anything. Unless -" she was suddenly taken aback, "since you turn into
a girl, you're engaged to a boy also?"

     "Oh gross," Ranma said, with a revolted expression. "I said I
still think like a guy."

     "Ranma was talking about one of his other female fiancees," Akane
explained, baring her teeth at him. "He's got four, you see."

     "You're always exaggerating," Ranma groused. "It's only three. No
way you can count Kodachi. And it's not like I asked for any of them,
so you can just lose the attitude, okay?"

     "Well, it's not as if you've actually tried to get rid of any of
them,is it?"

     As the confusing argument went on, Sailor Venus roused herself
from rapt contemplation of the boy before them and turned to speak to
Jupiter, only to find her friend also gazing at him starry-eyed. "Hey,
Jupiter, wake up! Are you still in there?" she jested, waving a hand
in front of her companion's face.

     "Huh? Venus? Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that ..."

     "Let me guess. He reminds you of your old sempai?"

     "No, not particularly. He's just really cute." Loftily
disregarding Venus' startled expression, she added meditatively, "It's
just a shame about that curse. I don't know if I could handle having a
boyfriend who could turn into a girlfriend if we were out walking in
the rain."

     "Oh, I don't know," Venus said, looking thoughtfully at Ranma.
"It could be a lot of fun."

     "Eh?" Jupiter turned to stare at her friend in surprise. She
couldn't mean -

     "Just think of the possibilities," Venus went on with mounting
enthusiasm.

     Jupiter edged away a bit.

     "I mean, you could shop for clothes together, or borrow each
other's shoes," she continued blithely, breaking off when she noticed
Jupiter's dumbfounded expression. "What? What did you think I meant?"

     Their argument finally having wound down, and their listeners too
perplexed to even venture a question, Ranma and Akane took their leave
of their erstwhile allies. As they walked off, Ranma turned and waved.
"Next time you need some help saving the world, give me a call," he
shouted. Akane slugged him in the stomach.

     "Ow! What'd you do that for!"

     "You just want another chance to ogle them in those skimpy
outfits. You're not fooling me!"

     "What? Are you nuts?"

     "No, and I'm not blind either. I saw Sailor Jupiter and that
Sailor Venus making eyes at you! Venus, hah! I'll bet I can guess how
she came by that name!" Akane muttered darkly.

     "C'mon, give me a break! I think you're just jealous 'cause
you're too chunky to wear one of those getups -"

     "Chunky? Chunky! Would you care to repeat that remark?"

     "- while it's obvious I'd look pretty damn cute in a sailor
fuku."

     "You are SUCH a PERVERT!"

     At the back of the crowd stood a tall Westerner, face burned
brown by the sun, staring at the piece of electronic gadgetry in his
hand. "That settles it," he grunted. "Professor Hikita's source was
right - there's definite evidence of an extraterrestrial presence."
He stowed the device in his briefcase with a frown. "Buckaroo won't
like it, but we'll have to postpone the test of the Oscillation
Overthruster until we can be sure of our security."

     He wasn't aware he'd spoken those words aloud, and if he had
been he might not have been unduly concerned - what were the odds
that anyone overhearing him would understand his words? He wouldn't
have been quite so sanguine had he noticed the tall woman, her dark
hair glinting with green highlights, standing behind him, listening
intently. Still, he didn't notice her, as was only to be expected; few
people noticed Setsuna Meiou when she wanted to pass unobserved.

     Now she nodded to herself as she turned to leave. "A few more
pieces move into place," she murmured quietly.

     "As you knew they would," a bored voice responded, seemingly from
somewhere in the vicinity of her left shoulder. "I don't see why you
even bothered showing up. Can we go now?"

     "No one forced you to come, Persephone," Setsuna replied, a
trifle testily. "You could have stayed back at the sanctum."

     "That would have been even more boring," the voice complained.
"There's nobody to talk to except your mother, and she's not exactly
the most stimulating conversationalist these days. Look, it's over.
Can we go do something fun now?"

     "All right," Setsuna said with a sigh. "I just wanted to make
sure this meeting went smoothly. We can go."

     She paused for a moment, following the two bickering martial
artists with her eyes as they moved off down the block. "You've
trained him well, Genma," she whispered. "Let's hope it's enough.
We're only likely to get one chance at this."

     "Look at it this way, my dear Pluto. Win or lose, at least it's
likely to be interesting."

     With admirable self-control, Setsuna managed to refrain from
leaping into the air with a loud shriek. She turned to regard the
red-and-yellow clad figure standing next to her. "Greetings, Tyddo,
Lord of Folly," she intoned formally. "Does the Time of the Awakening
approach? Is there aught you require of me or mine?"

     "Nothing at the moment," the old man said airily, waving a hand.
"Kind of you to offer. Hello, Persephone. Nice to see you again."

     "Hello, Tyddo," the voice responded cheerfully. "I thought that
was you I saw. Are you involved in all this? Maybe it'll be more fun
than I thought."

     With a feeling of dread, Setsuna realized that he had only
answered one of her ritual questions. Paling, she asked again, "Does
the Time of the Awakening approach?"

     The old man tipped his head to one side and regarded her keenly.
"Time's a funny old thing, as you should know better than anyone.
There are so many different possibilities."

     Setsuna regarded him with a slight frown. She much preferred
playing the role of the mysterious, all-knowing one herself.
Fortunately, there were few entities in the galaxy that could beat her
at being enigmatic. Unfortunately, the being before her was one of
them. "Then, pray tell me, what is the closest Time? What is the most
probable Time?"

     "Funnily enough," the Lord of Folly confided breezily, "they
happen to be one and the same - about a hundred years from now."

     "What!" Setsuna felt as near to fainting as she had in millennia.
"But that's when it all comes to a head!"

     "Quite so." Tyddo looked at her reprovingly. "Honestly, you
should have known. You're attempting to set events in motion so a
select group of people may be able to handle a situation you fear you
will be unable to. It shouldn't be too surprising that they may be
capable of some things you really don't want them to do."

     Her mind raced as she considered possible courses of action.
"I suppose I could just go ahead and kill the Saotome boy, or at
least remove him from the equation," she muttered. "That would be
the easiest way to defuse things. The only question is, would I have
enough time to come up with a workable alternative?"

     Tyddo shrugged. "It's up to you. You've been working at this
for eighty years now, and even with a century to go success is by no
means guaranteed. I think it's a little late to start over. If you're
unsure, you might check out the jukebox."

     "Oh dear," she said with a grimace, "not Inverness. It's such a
silly place."

     "Indeed," he agreed blandly.

     "Yay!" Persephone cheered. "We haven't been there in centuries!
Let's go now, Setsuna. I want to see if Little Frieda is still there."

     Setsuna massaged her aching temples. "We can't go now," she
protested. "You never know how long you're going to end up spending
there, and I've got that meeting at the Nekohanten coming up, and I
need to make arrangements to get Ranma to leave the Tendos, that is,
if I'm still going to use him. All that, and Small Lady should be
showing up here soon; at least, if there's any chance of the proper
timeline being restored she will."

     "Pretty please?" Persephone wheedled. "It'll be fun! And after
all, there's no point in going to the Nekohanten if you're going to
decide you need to kill Ranma."

     Unfortunately, thought Setsuna, she had a valid point. "All
right," she said, shaking her head and then wincing. "You'll get your
visit." Ignoring the gleeful noises coming from her unseen companion,
she looked back at the Lord of Folly. "Very well. Until I have a
chance to do as you suggest, I won't do anything drastic."

     "Good girl. Just look on it as giving you a little extra
incentive," he said with a grin, before vanishing.

     "Marvelous. Just in case the extinction of all life in the Solar
System isn't incentive enough." Setsuna sighed. Shaking her head, she
too vanished.


**********************************


     Ranma 1/2 was created by Rumiko Takahashi. Sailor Moon was
created by Naoko Takeuchi. Tyddo and the Snake Mother are taken from
"The Face in the Abyss" by A. Merritt. Inverness and Little Frieda
were created and owned by the ZBS Foundation. Rights belong to their
respective holders.

     For those who may wonder: no, Ranma is not Sailor Titan, Sailor
Earth, or any kind of Sailor Senshi. He should be so lucky that the
worst that happens to him is he has to wear a fuku.

     Tune in next time, as Sailor Pluto and Persephone travel to the
Valley of the Ten Thousand Oms Unfolded to visit the Bodhisattva
Jukebox in "Apotheosis 2: Dancing With Myself."


Reid Carson
http://www.rcarson.com/rcarson/
rcarson@rcarson.com
rcarson@mnsinc.com