Souls of Fire #7: Broken Sword
Ranma 1/2 VS Sailor Moon
Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/sm/index.html
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and characters belong to
Naoko Takeuchi. Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to
Rumiko Takahashi. Proper licenses belong to respective
properties and characters. The manga has precedence
over material in the anime.
This file can be freely distributed so long as it
appears in its complete form and proper credit. No
part may be reproduced for monetary gain without
permission from the author.
----------------------------------------------------
Observatory, Palace of Solitude
To the creature humans knew as Sypha Blade, the whole
of her existence can be summed up in one word: revenge.
The captive population of Crystal Tokyo, magically
transplanted on Nemesis, in the capitol city of
Darkhold, the home of their former enemies, knew not of
even that from the black sorcerer. Very few, outside a
small circle of trusted allies, knew the truth behind
the human-shape kami.
For well over a thousand years, before the coming of
the crystal civilization, Sypha was stranded on the
plane of ancestry, on the planet Earth. Cut off from
her homeland she studied Earth's magic system to become
strong, and research a method by which she could return
to the so-called Kami Plane, the artificial demi-plane
that served as a mirror of Earth on a different level
of existence. To that end she clashed endlessly with
the guardians of the Gate of Heaven, protected by the
Four Gods in order to keep the two populations apart
and prevent mutual annihilation of each other.
It was somewhat ironic that she found herself allied
with the last of their Order, the priestess Shizuka.
Shizuka herself was too naive and young to think Sypha
an enemy, and despite her hatred of her Order and a
thousand years of jaded views on humanity in general
the sorcerer could not help but like her. Her soul was
very un-humanlike in a sense, and perhaps that was a
reason she became a trusted ally, even back in the
warring days.
However, the warring days are long gone. In
replacement came a so-called Age of Peace, one which
its ruler, Neo Queen Serenity, openly admitted that she
was the one who wiped out the kami civilizations by
collapsing the demi-plane onto this one. This not only
restored the plane whole but destroyed the void
between the planes, which sealed the Mekani in
nothingness for what was believed to be for all time.
It was an unthinkable action, and at the same time it
was a desperate one; the humans screwed-up and tried to
make up for their mistake by sacrificing billions of
another world.
It was unforgivable. For Sypha, her Celestial home
was destroyed by an Order-inspired magical crystal that
shielded Earth's locales from being supplanted by
locales existing in the same place in the Kami Plane.
All of Earth would not have known about the kami at all
had the crystal stopped the collapsing plane in the
underworld.
They were called the Infernals, the kami who lived in
the underworld, and to which Cinder belonged. His
people, the salamanders, and many others, were
considered hellspawn in ancient myths and legends, and
perhaps that was why Neo Queen Serenity waged a war to
annihilate every last one of them. All save Cinder,
who, crippled as he was, was living on Earth in exile.
In effect, it produced an unthinkable alliance
between the sky-dwelling Celestial and a world-dwelling
Infernal.
Everything she worked for was gone before she could
grasp it. She could no longer gaze upon the Celestial
Palace again, nor share her findings while living
amongst the humans for over a thousand years. She
could not meet her love any longer, one who she was
certain was waiting those same years along with her,
no matter how much apart they were.
Damned to live the rest of her immortal existence
with the humans as the last of her kind, the only
motive Sypha had left in life was to get revenge on
those who took everything. No, it wasn't simply enough
to get revenge; Cinder was in agreement in this as
well. They had to humiliate them first.
In the humiliation part the last kami did splendid,
as, in a spur-of-the-moment plan, they managed to
embarrass the Sailor Senshi in front of their captive
Crystal Tokyo people. Realizing the two Sailor Senshi
had no idea who was in Darkhold, Sypha made it a point
to prevent them from learning until it was too late.
She had no doubt they were smart enough to figure it
out, if only she let them.
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune destroyed two of
Darkhold's five black towers, which regulated the
inherent magical energies of Nemesis as usable power
in the city. Although on paper cutting off the power
was a mere annoyance, the true outcome paid in spades.
For one, those people close to the towers when they
exploded were injured, and thus could lay good blame on
the Sailor Senshi. Two, it brought support for the
Crystal Tokyo defenders down a notch. And three, the
reckless energy usage weakened the two senshi enough
that it was a simple matter to capture them, leaving
them alive to both bear humiliation and open up to
future torture.
Shackled in the deepest cells of the Palace of
Solitude Uranus and Neptune were bound in cells set
apart by a long hall, each held down with magical
chains Sypha designed herself. The two could expend as
much energy as they wish, but, as a Chinese finger
trap puzzle, if one pulled on them enough the bonds
would get stronger. There was no better way to fuel
the chains than with the prisoner's own energy, and
centuries of unmarred use alone made them very
reliable.
Now that they fulfilled what the Wiseman asked, Sypha
was free to do as she chose, but the old man implied
that she must remain on Nemesis to keep watch. She had
no problems with that, save for the fact that she could
not see the results of her plans when they unfold on
the rest of the Sailor Senshi on Earth.
It would be a pain, but her work would have to be
carried out by proxy.
---
R&D, Mishima Heavy Industries
None of the techs were particularly interested in Ami
despite the fact that she wasn't technically allowed to
come into the research block. It took a little time to
hack a new passcode through the system as Shion had
changed the passwords after her previous stunt. She
was under the impression that the mercenary was
attempting to install something far more secure, but if
he was doing it the progress was slow.
Her eyes scanned for Chief Engineer Taydome, and Ami
found him in the lounge, having a bite at his meager
breakfast-- a toaster waffle-- and reading a progress
report or something to similar effect. There was
nothing impressive about the skinny man, save that,
unlike many surrounding him he was from America. That
did not stop him from rising to the position with the
big hat, however.
"Hello?"
Even a simple greeting caught Taydome by surprise, as
he jumped in his seat, throwing up his report into the
air. "Cripes, don't do that!"
"Sorry," she apologized quickly. "Chief Engineer
Taydome?"
"That's me," he answered. Holding his waffle by the
teeth Taydome reached to gather his scattered papers.
"You're Ami Mizuno, correct?"
Ami nodded. "I'm sorry we haven't met until now."
"Don't be," he insisted. "I spend almost all of my
time down in restriction land anyway. I hardly know
anyone outside this block other than Ms. Mishima and
a couple others."
"Then you don't have many friends, I suppose." It
was a rather logical conclusion, but it would help to
put the man off-guard for what she was planning to do.
"Nope!" Taydome said, seemingly proud of the fact.
He paused to swallow the last of his breakfast. "For
some it's having fun which makes life enjoyable, but
for me it's the scientific pursuit in engineering
robotics." He made a gesture in the air with one hand.
"After all, Ms. Mishima is using my prime robots now."
"You created those?"
"Mmmhmm. Pretty dumb, but I plan on installing
better AI routines in the next batch. That is, after
we complete upgrading the weapons on our existing
units." He shook his head. "We keep running out of
bullets, especially after the shield attack."
"Bullets?" Ami said, surprised. "I thought they were
illegal."
"They are. We had to manufacture our own, but
Management decided it wasn't very effective, as the
raw materials could be used to make more robots instead
of bullets. We're going for energy weapons now."
This was it, Ami decided. If the Mishima robots were
upgraded with the new energy weapons, they could
pummel the energy shield until their batteries ran
dry. In other words, ammunition was going to become a
non-issue when the techs were through.
But she had to keep him talking... at the very
least, long enough for her computer to alter the
security schematics enough to allow her complete access
to every room. "Why did you join in with these
people?"
"Eh?"
"Why did you join?"
"Oh." Taydome laughed to himself. "A fortune
cookie told me."
Ami merely blinked.
"No, I'm not kidding. When President Mishima
offered to cryo-freeze me for a future generation, he
gave me time to think it over. Me and a couple of
others went out to a Chinese restaurant, and I opened
up my fortune cookie. It said, 'You will receive a
great project in the future.'"
"Needless to say," he continued, recalling the
moment in his mind, "I was thrilled. Any doubts about
my existence were erased with such a golden promise.
It turned out that the cookie was right, and I've
accomplished several great projects within a month
alone! It's certainly a great time to be alive."
With that notion Ami had to agree.
---
Ami's Quarters, Mishima Heavy Industries
She was glad to be back in the privacy of her
allocated quarters, but there was no time to rest.
Taking a quick glance in the direction of her desk
she found her palm computer finished its work. Now
that her program was done there was no need to fear
about getting caught in the act.
Sitting down Ami ran a quick check of the current
status of the compound, stopping the automatic
scrolling when a personnel list passed by. Backing up
a bit she realized she hit a gold mine: it was the
complete roster of all seventeen members of the Fenril
Knights, along with their recruits and technicians.
Scanning the list Ami saw it was updated yesterday,
as there was a status listed next to each name. It was
likely a bookkeeping device, she thought. She read
the list aloud:
"Ayame Mishima: on leave. Shion Kagami: on leave.
Kanna Rajura: on leave, don't bother me." She laughed
to herself quietly, realizing that Kanna was probably
the one compiling the list.
Strangely enough, that also meant the Triumvirate
was gone, and not watching her.
"Ranma Saotome: MIA. Ryoga Hibiki: AWOL. Shizuka
Minazuki: unavailable. Tatewaki Kuno: KIA. Kodachi
Kuno: Standby." Well, that put at least one person on
her list to deal with, if this one was even looking.
"Shampoo: unavailable. Mousse: Standby. Miranda
Kusao: on assignment. Ukyo Kuonji: on assignment.
Cinder: on assignment. Sypha Blade: on assignment.
Higure Furui: Standby. Pantyhose Taro: AWOL. Hokuto
Takemasa: unknown."
'Unknown?' Ami thought back into her mind, and could
not recall actually meeting the one the others called a
recluse.
The list went on, listing Taydome and the rest of the
technical staff. She paused at her name at the end of
the list, and blinked when she saw the status next to
it: "Unreliable."
"I don't understand," Ami said aloud. "Why would
Kanna put something like that there and then leave?"
"She knows something, that's for sure; she wanted me
to find it. Maybe she wants me to become uneasy and
panic. But there is no use second-guessing myself
while Kanna is nowhere to be found. For that matter,
most of the Fenril Knights are not even in the
compound... and the window of opportunity may be
quite small."
The time to act is now. It was too good to resist
destroying the entire Mishima robot army while the
three heads of the hydra were looking away.
But, almost certainly, it had to be a clever trap.
Or could it be an honest mistake? From what Ami
gathered Kanna was supposed to be the most brilliant
tactician, but she is still human.
At least the search produced the names of all
seventeen Fenril Knights, a list that may prove key to
the rest of this pointless war.
---
Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace
It was a pain in the ass for Ranma to figure out how
to beat the Sailor Senshi.
Snooping around early she resolved to find out what
gave the girls their special powers; only by harnessing
those powers herself could she hope to match them. She
did manage to find each of their quarters, but there
seemed to be an extra room, one with no occupants, and
with the sign of Mercury. Ranma had no idea what that
meant, but it hardly stopped her from learning about
the Sailor Senshi.
Using her innocent curiosity guise Ranma made small
talk with three Sailor Senshi, trying to pull as much
information as possible without drawing suspicion.
Of course, when posed with the 'source of power'
question they answered, "From our hearts."
It was the lamest thing she ever heard, but on some
level it probably made sense to them, considering all
three of them gave almost the same answer. Ranma
concluded that it must have to do with the Silver
Crystal thingy the queen keeps in her private quarters.
For some reason the way to the inner sanctum was
unguarded... it was likely laziness on the part of Neo
Queen Serenity. Too much confidence in their shield
generator... Ranma reminded herself to find where that
device could be before leaving.
She stopped in her tracks, hearing footsteps echo
from down the hall. Ranma ran back to the nearest
corner and hid, creeping her eyes around to see Neo
Queen Serenity walk by, talking about something to
Sailor Venus. She guessed they were leaving the place
where the crystal was.
Counting several heartbeats Ranma decided it was a
good time to sneak in, dashing down the hall with all
haste. She spotted a large set of double doors, shut
closed, and smiled to herself.
Looking around to make sure no one was watching,
Ranma pushed herself in.
Disappointment mounted on her ego. The pedestal for
the Silver Crystal was certainly there, but the crystal
itself was not.
"She has it," Ranma realized, although she couldn't
think of a reason why the queen would want to take it
anywhere.
---
"Death Phantom is forcing my hand," Neo Queen
Serenity told Venus as they walked through the halls,
the Silver Crystal resting in the brooch on her dress.
"There is no longer a choice; I must fight him as
well."
"Are you sure?" asked Venus, even though she knew
her words could never dissuade the queen.
She nodded. "The Child of Chaos appears to be
working openly; he wishes to goad this world into
fighting, and in this recent attack he is succeeding.
I once said that disputes can be solved by talking,
and Death Phantom attempted to show me that talking is
useless last night."
"So now we're stooping to his level," Venus noted.
"We must protect the peace we worked so hard to
build, and I cannot allow my friends to do that alone.
I must do something about it."
"What about the Silver Crystal?"
Neo Queen Serenity shook her head. "If there is
indeed a threat of Mekani invasion, we need to save its
power for them. The Fenril Knights and Death Phantom
would only drain its energy too much. I am
responsible for an entire world; I cannot use this
power recklessly."
"Oh yeah," Venus interrupted. "The expedition you
wanted to send out? I just heard back from them...
apparently people are gathered outside the city, so
they didn't have to go very far."
"And?"
"Every time someone tries to go in or out a bunch of
machines appear and shoot everybody." She quickly
added, "No fatalities so far, but everyone's keeping
their distance. The robots are apparently also cutting
any communication wires we try to run over the border."
"That might explain why our computers cannot reach
beyond the city limits," Serenity thought.
"Yeah, but I doubt the Fenril would cut themselves
like that, too. There's got to be a way they're
keeping tabs on us like that. We've got to do
something about the robots."
"So far it is a standoff," the queen reasoned. "If
the Fenril only wishes to keep everyone out of the city
and us in, then we must play by their rules for the
moment. I doubt the Peacekeepers can offer us much
aid anyway. Any word from my husband?"
Venus shook her head. "Want me to send another
expedition out?"
"No," she replied with a sigh. "It appears we are
on our own in this one."
---
Palace Gates, Crystal Palace
Shampoo paced the front gates like a caged animal,
waiting to strike. She eyed the clear path to the
front gate, unguarded as it was, with a certain
patience.
The only reason she remained outside was due to the
fact that an energy barrier was preventing her from
getting inside.
Behind her, Mousse watched, running his hand up and
down his face, both tired and flabbergasted at the
sudden change in Shampoo's attitude. His eyes followed
her predatorial pace, hypnotized by the spectacle, or
rather, by the events which lead to their current
situation.
He had no idea what she was going through at the
moment, but the weapons master knew it had something to
do with her brief possession by Deathclaw, the ghost
dragon now inhabiting the comatose Shizuka. Mousse
was there to witness first-hand the rage of Deathclaw
when he attacked the palace, as he was nearly blown
away from the energy shockwaves from him pounding on
the energy shield a lot. There was no way for him to
know what it felt to be trapped in a void space
without the means to die, but Mousse was certain that
Shampoo understood completely, and that was what's
driving her over the edge.
"Shampoo," he said, gathering himself slowly. "I
don't think there's a point to be out here... not with
the shield up and all."
"There has to be a way inside," Shampoo replied.
"But not that way," the weapons master added.
"It's either this or nothing," she insisted. "All I
need is a way to bleed off all the energy from the
shield and I can finish Sailor Moon myself."
"You mean before Kodachi gets her?" Mousse sighed,
knowing that the other insane girl was busy at the
other end of the palace trying to get in as well.
While she vocally affirmed that she was after Venus,
Shampoo still looked to her as a rival to her goals.
In any case he knew Kodachi was being more productive,
as she had a small group of GAIAs working on the shield
with their retrofitted energy busters.
He wondered why Venus so cowardly refused to accept
Kodachi's challenge; that would at least make Shampoo
relax a bit more.
"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," he
suggested.
"What?" Shampoo flashed him an angry look.
He raised his arms, and took several steps back.
"No, wait! Hear me out. I mean, think about it... why
should we let them sit in there, drink tea or
whatever, and laugh at us, while we're still standing
out here waiting for a blue moon? Why not make them
come outside?"
Shampoo raised an eyebrow. "You know, Mousse, that
is the smartest thing you said yet," she said in a low
tone. "Killing a few bystanders should get their
attention quickly...."
Mousse suddenly realized she was talking about him.
"Okay, okay! We don't need to do it my way...!"
"Then shut up, go away, and stop trying to baby-sit
me!" she hissed. "Find yourself a new girl to latch
onto, because from here someone is going to die. I
prefer it to be Sailor Moon first."
He blinked in surprise. "You don't plan on coming
back, one way or another. Why are you throwing your
life away?"
"Understand this, Mousse," she replied. "I refuse to
live, knowing the atrocities done here. I refuse to
have anything to do with humanity, if it can be as
cruel as to thrust me into a cold void. I reject
immortality. If you value your life, you will leave
now."
Mousse wanted to continue reasoning with her,
convince her there was another way, but saw the
futility in it; Deathclaw did more than enough damage
to her in his killing rage. There was too much hurt in
her eyes; too much horror to simply forget. Too much
pain. Shampoo was already dead, and she knew it; it
was all a matter of convincing the rest of her body
the same.
For a moment, he wondered how Shizuka planned on
surviving such a terrible beast.
---
Ranko's Quarters, Crystal Palace
Ranma sighed to herself, throwing herself onto the
bed she was given for the duration of her stay in the
palace. Staring at the ceiling, the martial artist
wondered how long she could keep up the charade before
somebody realized that she was cursed.
"No Silver Crystal," she said to the air. "Their
source of power gives them an edge over us that we
haven't been able to beat. The answer has to be in
front of me...."
She produced the three black crystal shards she
collected over her stay, and held each of them up to
the light. "These things are kinda worthless, but
couldn't I use these as my own source of power?"
Could that even be done?
Each of the prism shards glowed softly, and Ranma
found that if she drew them closer together the glow
became much brighter. The magic was working with each
other, certainly.
In a flash she knew: it can be done.
And yet she also felt that three crystals was not
nearly enough; Ranma knew she had to get more of them,
but getting more prisms while a prisoner in the palace
could present a problem.
---
Ami's Quarters, Mishima Heavy Industries
She had her head buried in her arms while sitting at
her desk, but she was stirred awake by the sound of a
voice whispering in her ear.
"Don't you want to help me?"
Sitting up quickly, rousing herself from her nap, Ami
quickly grabbed her computer from her desk and looked
around. "Who's there?" Her eyes looked around, and
saw....
Darkness, and nothing more.
"I can help you," the voice whispered, seemingly
coming from nowhere.
Shizuka, she recognized.
"We can call it an even trade," she offered quietly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ami said,
standing in her seat, looking for any obvious bugs she
might have missed. She shook her head, deciding that
it wasn't anything that simple. "Aren't you...?"
"Yes."
"Why can I hear you?"
"Because I wanted to talk to you... before you made a
terrible mistake."
"If it's a trap, I'm prepared for that," Ami replied
confidently. "Kanna knows already."
"Then there's no hope for you to succeed."
"I won't know unless I try."
"I see... but you can still help me. Wake me up."
"Wake you?"
"Surely your magicks work flawlessly," Shizuka
reasoned, her voice remaining at the same level. "Can
it be that you can't do what I request?"
"I don't have that kind of power."
"I see."
"Shizuka," she said, "I'm doing this to help
everybody. I can't help you directly, now... but what
I'm doing is for the good of...."
"Of the greater whole," the priestess interrupted.
"Of course; how typical of you, Mizuno."
She didn't call me 'Mercury' this time. That was a
good sign, at least. "When I leave I promise I'll ask
Neo Queen Serenity to help you... to help all you
people. The fighting must end."
"I agree," Shizuka replied. "But not in the manner
in which you intend to end it."
"You don't have to understand now; it'll come in
time."
"I understand everything. I think you're making the
wrong choice. It's not too late to convince Kanna
you're not a traitor."
"If I stay I betray my queen," Ami pointed out. "I
knew this when I started this journey. I promised
myself I wouldn't betray my friends."
"In the end, none of us are your friends." There was
bitterness in Shizuka's voice. "I trusted you."
"That's not what I meant...."
"Of course you did." Ami jumped in shock when the
priestess materialized in front of her, anger in her
expression. Her voice raised an octave. "Such is the
nature of an infiltrator; they will betray the trust
of someone. If you were otherwise you wouldn't have
ever thought to infiltrate us in the first place."
"Maybe, but I love this world too much to see it fall
into ruin."
"Then perhaps you need to put your priorities
straight, Mizuno," Shizuka hissed. "In the guise of
benefiting the many this world was designed to cater to
the few. Your Sailor Senshi friends cater to the few--
that is, themselves-- by shaping the world to their
liking, then forcing everyone else to conform to their
views. Did they ask the world if they wished for
Earth to be this way? No. Is this what the planet
wishes out of humanity? No. The course of human
evolution was altered to suit the petty wants of a
handful."
"There's no disease," she continued, pacing a circle
around Ami. "There's no murder, war, fighting,
famine, flood, or pollution. There's no room for human
error or human expression, because avenues are closed
off to make way for what the Sailor Senshi consider to
be the high form of art. It disgusts me to think that
everyone works toward the interest of Neo Queen
Serenity, in the name of bettering the human race...
in the name of love, justice, and goodness." It was
obvious that those last words were held in contempt.
She came to a stop, gazing Ami directly in the eye.
"Tell me, Mizuno, when was the last time you
encountered a big game hunter on this Earth? There are
none. When was the last time you saw a horror movie?
There are none. When was the last time you saw a
simple bank robbery, even?" Shizuka shook her head.
"I liked humanity much more when each knew what they
wanted to do in life, and worked their lifestyle toward
that goal. I like the selfish human race; I can trust
it much more than a collective that selflessly gives
their lives to each other... or to a dictator."
Ami shook her head. "I'm sorry you think that way."
"Then I can't persuade you," the priestess decided.
"Know this, Mizuno: you made a mistake by thinking you
can defeat us. We were not the first, nor are we the
last, of humanity to challenge your queen. We will
continue to fight until we are either wiped out, or
the head of your queen is skewered on a pike in the
garden. Enjoy your small victories while you can,
Mizuno, because you'll never win."
---
Ami burst awake at her desk, sweating profusely. She
looked around, quickly snatched up her computer from
the desk, and looked around.
Silence, and nothing more.
"Dream," she realized. "I must've fallen asleep."
Perhaps that was a very dangerous thing to do from
here on out, Ami decided, if Shizuka could easily rip
her appart that way. There was a good chance that she
was still in deep slumber, but the consequence was her
dream reaper form... however she was doing it.
For a moment she wondered if the other Fenril Knights
were receiving such dreams.
She checked her desk clock, and saw that it was well
into the night already.
Gathering her important belongings, Ami quickly
freshened herself up, then gave the room one last
glance. If all went well, she would never have to see
it again.
With silent determination, Ami set out to complete
her mission.
---
Palace Gates, Crystal Palace
The moon had already reached its zenith for that day
as Shampoo continued to pace in front of the shielded
gate, no more tired or bored of herself than when
Mousse parted hours ago. Kodachi, even, went home
when the sun went down out of boredom. That pretty
much left Sailor Moon all to herself.
"There's much more productive ways to get inside,"
someone said from behind.
Shampoo snatched up her bonbori from the ground and
lunched at the speaker, but she hit only air. She felt
a presence behind her, and took another swing. Again,
there was nothing.
"Come now, I can help you get in the shield," Hokuto
Takemasa said, her form lifting from her own shadow on
the ground. She threw open her cloak and held out her
hand. "The shadow stream can bypass the shield."
The Chinese Amazon's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Why should I trust you? How do I know you aren't
after Sailor Moon too?"
"That depends whether or not you know another way to
get past the shield," the Shadow Weaver pointed out.
"I didn't think so."
Shampoo snarled.
"I'll take that as an acceptance of my offer," she
decided.
---
R&D, Mishima Heavy Industries
Mentally, she ran her plan through her head once
again as Ami taped the explosives onto the support beam
with duct tape, tearing off wide strips. She thought
about running over to the storage facility where the
Mekani void-ripper was being kept, but it was still
attached to the cubic engine-- a fusion bomb waiting
to explode if it detonated due to the lingering
energies from the heart crystals. It was fortunate
that the Fenril thought to keep it locked up when not
in use.
She found these explosives in the armory, likely the
same explosives that Kanna used to blow up her
friend's house earlier. Each detonated on a remote
control, with a link option that allowed one explosive
in a sequence to detonate with a press of a single
button. Or she could blow them up all at once.
She planned on being clear from the R&D block by the
time she pressed the button. She wanted to make sure
it all went at once.
Ami found an ideal escape tunnel in the schematics
provided in her computer search. She had no plans to
utilize the black prism shard given to her, as she had
the idea that the Fenril could easily track her while
she was carrying it. The escape tunnel was simply a
small car shot through a pipe at high velocity,
ultimately ending out in the sea. It was designed
such that, if it were ever used, the tunnel would
collapse behind it, so no one could use it to enter the
hidden base.
That was another thing that bothered Ami. While she
suspected that the underground base was under the
Mishima building, nothing in the records even pointed
that way. It was likely that it wasn't directly under
the building, but at least in that area. Or... it was
entirely possible that the base was mobile.
She strapped on the last of the explosives, wiping
her forehead and discarding the spent roll of duct
tape. Ami reached for the remote control in her
pocket, and extended the antenna while keeping the
cover over the large square, red button.
Time to leave, she decided.
"Hold it right there," she heard a man say from
behind. The command was followed by a telltale click
of a removed safety.
Philip Taydome pointed his gun toward the back of
Ami's head. "Now I want you to stand, slowly."
Link option it is, Ami decided, flipping one switch
before pressing the red button.
The explosion rocked the entire block, the blast
rebounding off the wall opposite it and creating a
larger cloud of destruction. Taydome was knocked off
his feet, and that gave Ami enough time to spin and
deck him with her foot. The gun was sent scattering
across the floor, well away from the chief engineer.
All around the room inert GAIAs sprung to life, their
hunting eyes scanning for Ami. She cursed silently to
herself, realizing that Taydome wasn't the only one who
was on to her. Quickly, she pressed the button again,
and this time the blast caught her would-be attackers
in the back.
Already chunks of ceiling began to fall, and when
Ami turned to the sound of Taydome's scream he already
disappeared under debris. Surveying the wreckage
quickly Ami decided that the man couldn't possibly have
survived, and headed toward the exit as more of the
Mishima robots climbed over their fallen brethren to
continue the pursuit.
Leaving the block, Ami slammed her fist into the
control box near the door, sealing it shut. Raising
her hand and the remote control, she pressed the
trigger several more times before retreating down the
hall.
A door slid open down the hall, and the barrel of a
weapon poked out. Ami stopped in her tracks as its
owner stepped into the hall, and knew this was the one
who was trying to activate the robots to stop her.
Aiming the Fire Buster Mark III squarely at her head,
Shion Kagami said, "I thought you were smarter than
this."
Ami detected a tinge of disappointment in his voice.
"How long have you known?"
"A long, long time ago," Shion answered. "I've known
Kanna for most of my life, and she's almost never
wrong." He snorted. "I'm just too trusting, then.
Drop the box."
Slowly, Ami held out her arm, and dropped the remote
control, allowing it to clatter on the ground.
"Where's Dr. Taydome?" he demanded.
"He's dead."
"Then there's a life on your head. I can't even get
a decent vacation because of you, Ami. I trusted you,
and this is how you repay me?"
"I'm sorry," she offered sincerely, but knew the
mercenary would never accept it.
"'Sorry' doesn't cut it." He tapped the buster's
trigger anxiously. "How can I trust a world that
betrays me at every turn? How can I believe in a
bright future for this Earth with people like you
running it?"
"It's not too late," she began to say.
"It is for you," he replied simply. "Traitor."
The moment Shion squeezed the trigger, Ami threw her
arm into the air, shouting, "Mercury Crystal Power,
Make-Up!"
Flames deflected and jetted around her, and Shion
was forced to step back and shield his eyes as the
transformation protected her from the flame.
"Sailor Mercury," he hissed, anger boiling. "It was
you...."
Clamping onto the fire buster much tighter, Shion
screamed, "IT WAS YOU!!!"
"Shabon Spray!" Mercury shouted, throwing a thick
mist into the hall.
Flames erupted in the space she once occupied, and
Mercury hoped the mist would distract Shion long
enough for her to make her escape. She slipped past
the mercenary quickly while he was still focused on
his forward direction.
But the flame would evaporate the mist quickly, and
there wasn't much time.
---
Throwing off his steamed glasses, Shion breathed
heavily as he stared at where Sailor Mercury was
supposed to be, and found nothing. Angrily, he tossed
the fire buster on the floor, and reached for a
transmitter in his jacket pocket.
"Initiate Priority One Emergency Lockdown sequence!"
All around him the lights dimmed and turned red in
hue as sirens blared on speakers. All doors slammed
shut and incremental barriers fell on the hallway as
Shion collapsed to his knees, defeated.
Slamming his knuckles into the ground, he wanted to
cry, but there were no tears to shed.
Endgame begins now.
"I'll kill you," he vowed in a low tone. "Even if
it's the last thing I do, I'll rip you apart, Sailor
Mercury!"
---
For each barrier that got in her way Sailor Mercury
destroyed them quickly, wondering what effect Shion's
lockdown would have on the escape vehicle.
She found it easily, and the bullet-shaped car looked
untouched by the emergency lockdown. Mercury slipped
into the car and sealed it shut behind her, then pulled
out her palm computer and plugged it into the system.
With a few keystrokes she override the system and the
care was on its way.
"I trusted you," Shizuka had said, strangely echoing
the sentiments of Shion.
"How can I believe in a bright future for this Earth
with people like you running it?" Shion had said, the
words echoing in Mercury's mind as the car made its
escape.
In the end, she concluded, they had no reason to stop
fighting, and it was her fault.
"Enjoy your small victories while you can," Shizuka
also said, "because you'll never win."
---
The debris burying Philip Taydome, the late chief
engineer of Mishima Heavy Industries' R&D, disappeared
into nothingness as Wiseman waved his hand. The body
of the crushed man, while having imperfections here and
there, was reasonably intact.
And just in time, he added, reaching into his hood
and throwing his lower jaw at a wall.
The crystal ball levitated away from Wiseman,
hovering over Taydome's body. A dark bolt of lightning
lanced downward, engulfing the body in darkness. The
cloaked form of Wiseman clattered to the ground
lifelessly.
Taydome's fingers began to twitch, and his eyes were
thrown open suddenly.
The spirit of the former gone, Wiseman rose from the
dead once again.
---
Ranko's Quarters, Crystal Palace
Ranma stared up at the ceiling, lying on her bed
with her arms folded behind her head. Sleep was not
easy to come each night, and she wished her mind was
at peace. Yet, something nagging in the back of her
mind kept the martial artist awake each night.
It was either the exhilarating thought of being
caught, or anxiousness from doing nothing, she
decided.
However, that situation seemed to change in an
instant. Despite the lights being out Ranma detected a
movement in the shadows, against the dimness of the
light. She made out a silhouette that rose out of the
shadow, one of a vaguely familiar shape.
And very close.
"Yaaahh!!" she screamed, the Shadow Weaver Hokuto
emerging seemingly from nowhere.
"I'm glad I found you," she said quietly. To Ranma's
ears Hokuto sounded like her usual, bored self, one
resigned to whatever Fate had in store for her. It was
a stupid way to live, but no one could convince her
otherwise, much less change her mannerisms quick
enough. At least she was trying to change.
And yet she was uncomfortably close. "Hokuto... how
the hell did you get in?!" Ranma demanded.
From beneath the folds of her traveling cloak Hokuto
produced her black crystal prism, and held it out for
Ranma to take. "I'm certain you'll need this; I
require it no longer, now that a rift exists to the
outer planes."
"Shadow skills," Ranma decided. "So it really did
work, huh?" she asked, accepting the prism.
Hokuto nodded. "All that is required is a link, no
matter how miniscule, to the pure element domains, the
building blocks of the universe. A quick shortcut
through that which links shadow together is all that is
required to bypass the impassible shield."
"Great, so now you can get me out of here?"
She shook her head. "That's not why I'm here. For
one, I want to make sure you complete the new black
crystal you're assembling."
"How'd you know about that?" Ranma asked, startled
that someone knew what she was planning.
"I read your dream."
"Well, then... stop doing it, you creep."
"It's difficult when thoughts wander so freely," the
Shadow Weaver offered in explanation. "It's so bad I
have to close my mind to the world to hear my own
thoughts."
"Great."
"Incidentally," Hokuto offered, "there are now two
more crystal shards to be gained while you're still in
here. One you can find easily, if only you can find
Tatewaki Kuno's body."
"I thought Kuno didn't have it on his body," Ranma
pointed out.
"It's not on his body, but you might be interested
to know why his wooden sword is heavy on one end," she
added. "It rests with the one who wielded it."
"Kuno stuck it in his sword?!" the martial artist
realized. "No wonder he didn't make it...."
She paused in her thought. "Wait a minute, what
about the other?"
"Shampoo's body, although your window of opportunity
is small," Hokuto answered. "Or rather, her body will
be made available shortly. Even now, I imagine she's
getting killed by the Sailor Senshi."
Ranma grabbed Hokuto by the shoulders. "You let
Shampoo in, too?! Are you out of your mind?!"
"I'm doing her a favor," the Shadow Weaver said,
trying to justify her actions. "Deathclaw already
killed her, it's only a matter of discarding the
flesh."
Despite wishing to get up and do something, Ranma
found she could not get off her bed. Staring down, she
saw that Hokuto's shadow was sprouting black claws,
each clamping the martial artist down tightly.
"Your turn will come when you complete the black
crystal ball," Hokuto said, leaning closer.
Much to Ranma's surprise, disgust, and protest, the
Shadow Weaver held her head tight, and gave her a deep,
passionate kiss.
---
Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace
Shampoo had plenty of time to hate Hokuto Takemasa
for dropping her in the middle of a Sailor convention,
as she appeared from the shadow of the rectangular
table dominating the meeting room. Four enemies were
present, but her numerical disadvantage hardly
registered in her rotting mind as she waved her two
bonbori expertly, keeping the Sailor Senshi at a
distance.
The Chinese Amazon claimed the high ground, standing
defiantly on top of the table, knocking over the
hanging crystal chandelier in the process. She saw
Queen Serenity at the long end, grasping her brooch,
trying to think of what to do. To the left and right
were Mars and Venus respectively, and Shampoo knew that
Jupiter was directly behind her.
It was no consequence; they wouldn't dare use their
special powers in this close quarters... unless they
really were fools.
"What do you want?" demanded Sailor Venus.
"And how'd you get in here, anyway?" demanded Mars,
coming off as much more forceful.
Shampoo's lips curved into a smile. "Information
that goes to the grave!"
She made her strike, lunging with both her bonbori,
one with Mars as a target, the other with the queen in
mind. However, it seemed that the two were expecting
this, and took care to move out of the way.
Venus took advantage of Shampoo's momentary opening,
throwing a chain that threatened to bind the Chinese
Amazon. But Shampoo was too strong for such trivial
magicks, as she burst them apart easily by flexing her
arm muscles. She threw out her left leg in Venus's
direction as if to kick her, but instead it triggered
a mechanism on her leg that threw a concealed dagger.
She had no idea if the weapon hit its mark, as
Jupiter tackled her from behind, using her full body
weight to try and pin her down. Shampoo pushed against
the ground and inadvertently threw off her enemy.
Almost as an afterthought, Shampoo tossed her left
bonbori over her shoulder, and was rewarded with the
telltale cry from Sailor Mars getting hit. She glanced
in Venus's direction, and saw that the dagger only
grazed her arm... she then threw the right bonbori at
her, and nailed the girl square in the chest.
Seemingly weaponless, Shampoo nonetheless stared
down Queen Serenity, who was backing against the wall.
"What's the matter?" she taunted. "Why don't you use
that wand of yours and destroy me?"
Neo Queen Serenity shook her head, obviously still
shocked at how quick everything seemed to happen.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Put up a fighting chance," Shampoo demanded.
"Maybe I can get some satisfaction before I die."
She saw that the queen was staring down her eyes,
and the Chinese Amazon could see the reflection of
herself in her eyes. She saw the feelings, the fears,
and the scattered thoughts, racing for an answer that
simply did not exist.
"Deathclaw..." she whispered.
It was always handy to carry a backup weapon, Shampoo
thought, as she pulled a knife from her belt. "Pity
you wouldn't even allow me to feel satisfaction,
either." She raised the knife high.
And caved in her stomach painfully. Shampoo stared
down at her chest, and saw that a blade was sticking
through it-- the one from her leg.
"That was pitiful, you know," Shampoo said flatly,
craning her head around to see that it was Jupiter
who attacked her. The enemy ducked as she made a
downward slash.
"Still kickin'," Jupiter muttered. "Geez you're
tough!"
And yet the distraction proved to be enough, as a
bright flash of light blinded Shampoo's eyes. She knew
what happened; the precious few seconds she was
distracted from killing the defenseless queen was all
the time she needed to transform into her Sailor Moon
form.
Perfect.
"Now we dance!" Shampoo declared, charging at Moon,
who stood with her magic wand ready.
All her senses dulled in a moment, but still the
Chinese Amazon rushed toward the light. Everything
around her seemed to transform into darkness, further
illuminating the one bright light ahead, as if at the
end of a long tunnel. Distance seemed to warp around
her as she ran, as Shampoo felt she could never make
it to the end.
But she would, she knew. The light was waiting for
her to come.
---
Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries
Ayame Mishima was in no mood for this crap.
Standing in her usual position at the center of the
bowl, she stared down Kanna Rajura coldly. "I want to
know what the hell you've done, and you'd better
explain quickly."
"We needed a way to get rid of her," Kanna said. "I
gave Ami all the incentive she needed to blow her
cover and retreat. Now we no longer have a mole within
our organization. All of our problem people are gone,
and they think they left of their own volition."
"At the cost of what?"
"Fifty-two robots," the Crystal Spider answered,
"plus Shion's pride. Taydome's reported dead, but we
can't seem to find his body anywhere. In this case I
outwitted Ami Mizuno quite handily, because that's not
even a fraction of our standing force."
Ayame nodded.
"It's a terrible gamble, but it worked." Kanna
shrugged. "Oh yeah... I got a note from Hokuto. It
seems that Miranda's dead; the Sailor Senshi got her,
I wager. They have her body, at least."
That news stung Ayame more than it should have,
and she knew it.
"Shampoo might not be back, Mousse says. He thinks
she's already dead or something. In the meantime, our
standing army is poised to take over the world from
hidden installations in every country. The people
should be cake to take care of."
"So now we're at endgame," the leader realized. "I
want you personally to supervise the army, you
understand? I don't want to see your face again until
you come back with the world."
Kanna smiled. It was the perks of handling the
Geneva project personally that made her happy. "With
pleasure."
Ayame stood her ground as her advisor got up and
left, the double doors sliding shut behind her. She
stood there for several heartbeats before turning to
leave herself, her face stone and silent.
Tatewaki, Miranda, Taydome, Shampoo... all gone,
because of terrible leadership. Ryoga, Taro, Ami...
all traitors, because of terrible leadership. And one
sadistic tactician, who shall remain nameless, because
of terrible leadership.
She walked through the now-empty and quiet halls back
to her quarters, sealing the door shut. Immediately
Ayame headed straight for the shower, stepping in
without taking off her clothes, and turning it on cold
all the way.
She leaned against the wall opposite the shower
head, and slid all the way to the floor, and, without
any witness, broke down and cried.
---
Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace
Sailor Moon stared down at the collapsed husk that
was her attacker... Shampoo, as she recalled. It had
been weeks since she last saw this Fenril Knight in
action, but it seemed that time did little to improve
on her health.
It had something to do with the fact that when
Deathclaw bonded with Shizuka, Shampoo's body was
discarded by the ghost dragon. There was no other
reason why her attack could kill Shampoo so quickly.
Or even why it could kill her at all.
"She was Deathclaw's pawn," she realized, "sent by
proxy in order to kill me. This girl was already dead
by the time she made it in here."
"Yeah, but how'd she get in?" wondered Jupiter,
prodding the lifeless body with her foot. "The energy
shield's still up, isn't it?"
"Yeah," confirmed Venus. "We'd know if it'd gone
down."
"Then they're using an entirely different means to
get inside the palace," Mars said. "From what we've
seen if the Fenril Knights had the power to do that
with their weapons they'd be better off taking down
the shield than filtering people in like this."
"I agree," Moon said. "It must mean that their rift
is still open. They're using extra-planar means."
"Rift?" Mars blinked. "Wouldn't we know if there
was one still existing?"
"We didn't even detect the first rift which that
ghost dragon came through," Venus pointed out. "It
might be because of their jamming field."
"So it could be anywhere," Jupiter realized. "We
don't have time to track down a rift in a city this
big."
"We'll have to deal with it later," decided Moon.
Her eyes passed to Shampoo's corpse. "Right now...."
She sighed wearily, wondering when the killing would
end.
---
Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries
Ayame was not surprised to see that Shion was busy at
his workstation when she reentered the control center,
having the sense to at least change to dryer clothes
before walking out of her room. She kept her soaking
hair down, and knew it was likely a dead giveaway on
her current mood, but Ayame didn't care at this point.
"What're you doing?" she asked, her feet echoing
against the metal grate stairs as she descended into
the bowl.
The mercenary did not look away from his monitor.
"I finished inventory, and it seems that our dear
friend Ami left us that which can get us past the
energy shield."
"Really," the leader said, unimpressed.
"The void-ripper is still functional; it hasn't been
touched at all," Shion explained. "We know that Hokuto
found a way in and out of the shield, and I think it's
because of her shadow powers."
"So?"
"So we tear open a hole from one end of the shield
to the inside," he told her. "If Hokuto can bypass the
shield using extra-planar means, why can't we?"
Ayame's eyes brightened. "You know, that's the best
thing you've come up with yet, Shion."
"Of course," Shion added, "the trick is we've got to
make two rifts, and that requires us actually moving
the void-ripper into the empty space outside this
plane. That requires a pretty big hole, considering
the size of the engine."
"Is it really necessary to thrust the whole engine
into the rift?" asked Ayame. "The void-ripper itself
isn't that big; can't we just run a cable into the
first rift, then use it that way?"
Shion turned in his seat, pausing to consider the
suggestion. "Maybe... I guess it's worth a shot, eh?"
"How many robots can we divert from other projects to
send through the rifts?"
"Considering we're out of droids because of what
Sypha and Cinder did with them, and Kanna blew up
fifty-two of the ones held here, and everybody wants
all our resources anyway..." he held up his fingers and
counted down. "I think we can pull three groups back
without any major repercussions, plus the mole group,
if you're through with them."
"Pull back just the mole group," Ayame said. After
all, it was a waste of time trying to bore a hole under
the shield if the shield extended under the ground as
well. "Set primary objective: destroy the shield
generator. Get them into position by dawn."
---
Ranko's Quarters, Crystal Palace
Even at the lateness of the night, Ranma could not
shake the thought of Hokuto from her mind.
"I'll be waiting," she promised, just before
disappearing hours earlier.
It took all of her self-control to keep from slugging
the Shadow Weaver good. Can't that girl see that I'm
a girl, too?
No, it probably didn't make much difference to her
warped mind. Hokuto knows very well who I am and what
I am... and unlike most people external appearance
was not likely why she fell in love with Ranma Saotome.
What she saw in a cursed guy like her was a mystery
to Ranma, and a subject Hokuto was reluctant to
elaborate on.
Why did she have to be the one to find the time to
spend on romantic ventures? Ranma wondered.
She slipped quietly out of her room, keeping in mind
that, the sooner she assembled the crystal, the sooner
she could ditch Hokuto's unwanted advances.
Ranma paused for a second, wondering where the Sailor
Senshi would keep the bodies of their enemies. Was
there a some type of mini-morgue in the palace? No,
not in the palace... under it. The basement....
For the life of her Ranma had no idea how to get to
the stairs down. As far as she could tell there wasn't
any.
Okay, Ranma, think. Where would you put the stairs
to the basement?
The answer, of course, was 'over there.' Certainly,
in any arbitrary direction that Ranma could easily see.
Well, she decided, I guess it wouldn't hurt to peek
around a bit....
---
Docks, Crystal Tokyo
Sailor Mercury never felt more cold or tired in her
entire life as the escape craft finally puttered its
way to shore.
In her haste to escape she failed to note that the
escape vehicle was an old Mishima model-- the type of
machinery that possessed an inherent flaw in its
design somewhere, something the Mishima Heavy
Industries of old was known for until they replaced the
chief engineer. It would have been nice to notice that
the craft did not possess its own motive force; it
forced Mercury to paddle the craft back to shore with
a simple makeshift rudder machine.
Every turn of the paddles, every step of the way,
Mercury's thoughts were hammered by Shizuka's words.
Betrayal, friendship, trust, priority, obligation,
honor, justice... all were themes of the mental
attacks, and although Shizuka had not communicated
since she was last napping Mercury could feel the
repercussions nonetheless. Each word was driven
precisely and expertly like knives, each piercing her
mind from different angles.
There was no regret for what she did; Mercury knew
what she was getting into, and knew the risks involved
well... which was why she never asked any of the others
to do the job in her stead. The problem was she
allowed herself to sympathize with their cause, and
Mercury wondered if it had something to do with her
constant exposure to the black crystal shard she left
behind.
She wondered if Death Phantom was only pretending to
forget who she was, and he did something to her during
that time.
Mercury shook her head, sighing wearily. She
glanced off toward the direction of the Crystal
Palace, now surrounded by a shimmering, rainbow-hued
energy shield.
There wasn't much time left, she knew, but now her
problem was getting past the shield herself.
---
Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries,
The Next Day
Shion punched in more keys on his console as he did
not like what he was seeing on the monitor. He blinked
and rubbed his eyes, even stared closer, but it would
not go away. It had absolutely nothing to do with his
apparent lack of sleep.
Instantly he was on the horn, grabbing his headset
and turning on the microphone. He patched himself
through to whoever it was that answered the call down
at the hanger bay.
"Hello?" he heard from a squeaky technician.
"Tell me the Metal Smasher's there," Shion said,
although his tone suggested that he already knew the
answer.
A slight pause. "Nope, sir, it's gone."
"What do you mean, 'gone?'" the mercenary demanded,
instantly drawing Ayame's attention. He heard her
approach, and felt her overbearing presence over his
shoulder.
"It left a little while ago," the technician
explained. "Ms. Mishima asked me to install the Mekani
device onto it, and...."
"Wait a minute," Shion ordered, spinning around in
his seat. He eyed Ayame carefully. "What are you up
to?" he asked, momentarily cutting off the microphone.
"What?" the leader said, sounding surprised.
"The guy down there says you gave the order to
install the void-ripper onto the Metal Smasher, and now
it's gone." He pointed to the monitor. "According to
this, you're the one who checked it out, and yet you're
still standing here in front of me."
He stood up in his seat and stared the girl down.
"Who are you?"
Ayame offered a weak smile, and then exploded into
soft, white feathers. In the blink of an eye Shion saw
her height change, her features melt into new, yet
recognizable, features. The old man waving the
feather fan replaced the girl.
"You," Shion said, recognizing the old man Higure.
"It is too late," he said. "Ayame made her decision,
and there is no reason to stop her."
It all made sense now. "Ayame's going to try and
finish the fight all by herself."
"She is personally leading her machines out to
battle," added Higure. "We estimate that, if we power
on the void-ripper ahead of time, it would have
sufficient charge to function for five hours, or around
three Metal Smasher-sized rifts, whichever comes first.
Therefore, there is no reason to take the heavy
engine, too."
"That idiot," the mercenary hissed, "what does she
think she's doing?"
---
Palace Gates, Crystal Palace
The mechanical monstrosity was easily twice the size
of the Mishima robots, and it resembled a cockpit
mounted on two chicken legs. On each side of the
vehicle was a modified buster weapon, replacing the
old gattling cannons due to lack of ammunition. The
cockpit window was opaque from the outside, and merely
tinted on the inside against the sunlight.
Ayame sat alone in the cramped cockpit, her hands
firmly clamped on the driving levers as she stared at
the energy shield. The flower-like void-ripper was
jury-rigged to the front of the cockpit, a hasty
assembly that was rather fragile, but would do the job
just as well.
The radio to her left crackled to life, and the
leader knew who it was already.
"Ayame!" she heard Shion yell, as predicted. He was
so predictable at times. "What the hell do you think
you're doing?!"
"What does it look like?" she replied, slipping her
hand over the radio toggle. Ayame felt it was a wasted
effort now that her soaked clothing was plastered to
the chair. At least Master Higure did his part in
distracting the jerk.
"Why?" he demanded.
"Think about it, Shion," Ayame explained. "Four
peoples' deaths are on my head, three people betrayed
us, and I don't want to be responsible for any more of
it. I'm through being leader."
"Don't give me that bullshit!" the mercenary yelled
angrily. "Don't you run away!"
"I never asked to be leader," she continued. "I
don't care which of you wants it, you can have it. I
can't stand it anymore, so to make up for it I'm going
to finish endgame all by myself."
"You can't!" Shion pleaded. "Not by yourself! I'll
get Kodachi, or Mousse, or...."
"Leave them out of it!" Ayame snapped. "They're free
to do as they please; it doesn't matter. I won't take
responsibility for others anymore, you understand?"
"Ayame, wait...!!!" She had no inclination to hear
whatever it was Shion was trying to say, cutting off
the transmission.
No 'good-byes' were necessary. Not one of them would
miss such a screw-up as Ayame Mishima.
---
Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace
To Ranma, this was the least obvious place to put
dead bodies.
In one of the adjoining rooms near the center of the
palace, obviously within an easy distance for the
queen to get to, three bodies were laid out on crystal
slabs, each resting with their arms crossed over their
chests, their wounds cleaned and dressed, such that
each of them looked to be in mere slumber.
She checked each and every one of the notes hanging
at the foot of the slabs. "Tatewaki Kuno. Cause of
death: heart crystal removed. Miranda Kusao. Cause of
death: heart crystal removed. Shampoo. Cause of
death: heart crystal removed."
Of course... all of them died in the exact same way,
if the circumstances were different. The bastard
queen was stealing their souls.
It hardly took long for Ranma to find Kuno's bokken,
as it was resting to the body's left. Picking it up
the martial artist found that it was indeed heavier at
the handle. She found that the end was a screw cap,
and quickly undid it to reveal the black crystal shard.
Holding it up to the light Ranma saw that it was
undamaged... for the most part. It was riddled with
minor scratches, obviously a consequence of having it
hidden inside a swinging weapon. Ranma pocketed the
shard and headed for Shampoo.
Despite the best works to mask her pain and torment
Shampoo looked as if she were burned alive, even though
her expression was as serene as the other two. Ranma
winced, and suddenly the idea of pilfering dead bodies
was revolting to her.
Where would she keep it, anyway?
There was no sign of the shard in her pockets, nor
in her shoes, sleeves, hair, or any other place Ranma
could think of without violating the body. And somehow
she knew that Shampoo wouldn't be so sneaky as to hide
the shard; it simply wasn't her style.
Taking in a deep gulp, Ranma reached her hand down
Shampoo's shirt.
"What're you doing?!" she heard a man shout.
It was too late, however, as Ranma found it dangling
from a necklace inside Shampoo's shirt. She turned
toward the man, who was obviously some kind of doctor,
or even a mortician, ripping the necklace off the
Chinese Amazon's corpse in the process.
"I've no time for you!" she cried, pulling off
Shampoo's left shoe and throwing it at the man.
Her attack found its mark, as the shoe clocked the
doctor in the head, taking him out for the count.
Quickly Ranma was at his side, and dragged him inside
before anyone else could see the downed man.
Several seconds later Ranma was already on her way
back to her quarters, having obtained six black crystal
shards all by herself.
It doesn't matter if they find out I did that, she
decided. It'll be over real soon.
---
Internal Security, Crystal Palace
"Oh, that's just great," Venus muttered, watching the
main viewscreen as a planar rift opened on the inside
of the shield. "They're coming through!"
The rift grew quickly, and as Fenril robots entered
through the rift on the outside they instantly appeared
on the inside, each ready for battle. The only good
count on the side of the palace's defenders was the
fact that these robot models were armed with heavy
drills rather than projectile weapons, meaning they
were designed for boring rather than fighting.
On the other hand, if she knew the Fenril Knights,
those machines could fight just as well even if they
were armed with only drills.
"Tell everybody what's going on," she told the
nearest technician. "I'm going down there."
---
One after another Ayame watched the URANOS boring
robots enter the rift, and she could barely make out
their work on the inside of the shield. Spinning their
drill bits madly the robots began to tear away at the
crystal walls that made up the palace.
The goal was simple and effective; a building with no
legs to stand on collapsed on itself, taking out
anything unfortunate enough to be under it.
She counted to twenty, allowing the last URANOS
through before sitting up in her chair. Now it was
her turn to enter.
---
Mercury watched the Mishima command vehicle enter the
rift after the last of the robots, and she was certain
that was the void-ripper attached to it.
So they figured out a way in, she thought. I should
have taken out the Mekani device while I had the
chance.
On the other hand, this offered her a perfectly good
way to get inside without lowering the shield.
---
By the time Ayame entered the confines of the energy
shield she saw that the Sailor Senshi were already at
work tearing the URANOS pack apart. She maneuvered the
cockpit and aimed its side-mounted busters at the
nearest enemy, and squeezed the trigger.
Liquid ice spewed out of the weapons inspired by the
Fire Buster Mark III, and the target, Sailor Venus, had
the sense to get out of the way, allowing the URANOS
she was attacking to get iced. Ayame chuckled to
herself as the hulk, frozen solid, fell over and
crashed against the wall it was boring, shattering into
a million pieces.
She wondered how long it would take for the Sailor
Senshi to destroy all the robots... and knew that no
matter how quick they did it at least one wall would
fall from the palace.
The cockpit recoiled from a blow, and Ayame saw that
Sailor Jupiter was sending lightning bolts her way.
The electrical energy dissipated harmlessly, and Ayame
was thankful the engineer who designed the Metal
Smasher had the foresight to include a grounding
mechanism. She brought the busters to bear and fired
more ice shots, but none found their target.
"Neo Queen Serenity," she shouted, picking up her
radio and broadcasting outside the Metal Smasher, "come
out and we'll deal with this like women!"
"You there!" she heard, the voice filtered back
through into the cockpit. Ayame spied another Sailor
Senshi, one she did not recognize.
"Who're you?"
"I am Sailor Moon!" she declared. "Champion of love
and justice!" She waved her hands around in some kind
of funny gesture. "On behalf of the moon, I'll punish
you!"
"Punish this!" Ayame cried, aiming her sights on the
offending girl.
Sailor Moon dodged the buster blasts, and Ayame
wished that the weapons fired faster. Setting the
Smasher into gear the heavy legs trampled over the
palace's lawn after Moon, firing all the way. Despite
the fact that the target was evading every attack, she
was clearly running out of running space.
And then Sailor Moon had the bright idea of running
under the Metal Smasher, and Ayame cursed her luck.
She quickly swiveled the cockpit around, just in time
to see a spray of light wash over the window, blinding
her. Shielding her eyes with one hand Ayame reached
down and fired off more random shots, hoping one of
them would plug the more maneuverable warrior.
No such luck, however, as the Metal Smasher lurched
forward, then to the side, then from the other side,
and then from behind. Ayame knew her robots were
through, and now she was getting hammered on all sides
by the four Sailor Senshi.
Blinking her eyes back to normal levels, she saw that
Sailor Moon was directly ahead, holding out her wand,
ready to blast.
Well, we'll see about that, Ayame thought, reaching
for the makeshift control of the Mekani flower device.
---
The moment Mercury stepped through the rift, she knew
the void-ripper was getting ready to fire. Violet
lightning danced across the petals, collecting at the
center, with Sailor Moon as the intended target.
In an instant she knew what the Fenril was up to;
instead of simply tearing a hole in the dimensional
fabric the pilot was attempting to use the void-ripper
as a miniature black hole generator. Her mind raced
back to the Mekani War, and she knew at this point the
rift to vacuum would devastate the palace and everyone
else within the shield.
Which also meant the pilot had a death wish.
She wanted to shout a warning to Sailor Moon, but
knew she would not stop the void-ripper in time.
It happened in an instant.
Sparks burst from the Mekani device, having suddenly
lost its power concentration. In the blink of an eye
the device exploded, forcing Mercury to shield her
eyes from the intense heat. Her ears deafened to the
blast as it roared and ricocheted off the interior of
the energy shield many times.
Blinking her eyes back to normal levels she barely
caught sight of an individual, dressed in black, run
into her. Mercury lost her balance as the unknown
person passed by, disappearing into the rift.
The fleeing individual pushed out of her mind,
Mercury saw the Fenril machine had crashed into the
side of the palace, and a moment later the rest of the
wall collapsed on top of it, having its supports
weakened, likely by the drilling robots. For a moment
she wondered who the pilot was, and if he or she was
alright.
Not that they'd want her concern, after what she did
to them.
Quickly she rushed to Sailor Moon's side, as she
stood her ground, staring at the rubble that claimed
the Fenril machine.
"Sailor Mercury!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry I'm late," Mercury said. "I wish I'd made it
here sooner." Changing the subject, she added, "We
have to seal the rifts, before more of them get
through."
Sailor Moon nodded, grasping her wand tighter, and
turned do her work. Mercury glanced back at the
rubble, and saw that the others were busy trying to
get the debris off the toppled machine's cockpit.
"Well, here goes," she told herself, joining her
friends.
---
Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries
"Why did you let her go?" demanded Shion, staring
up at Higure angrily. "Well?"
"I took responsibility for Ami Mizuno's actions,
since I brought her in," the old man replied. "When I
submitted myself to Ayame she asked me to keep you busy
until morning as punishment. As you can see, she did
not wish for anyone else to get hurt in her stead."
"She's a freakin' idiot, that's what," the mercenary
snapped. "Who the hell does she think she is, running
off like that without telling anyone?"
"She is our leader."
"Damn straight." Turning around in his seat, Shion
leaned back against his chair, and sighed.
"Shall I bring Kanna back from her mission?" asked
Higure.
"No, don't bother," he replied. "Kanna'll get the
job done much sooner than lead us. Does that make me
leader by default, or are we leaderless?"
"Do you want an answer to that?"
Shion offered a weak smile. "No."
---
Palace Gates, Crystal Palace
When the cockpit window was finally opened, Mercury
was the only one surprised to find that Ayame Mishima
was the one inside, as she was the only one who knew
what she looked like.
"Ayame," Mercury gasped.
"Pff, Mizuno," Ayame said, lying back in her seat,
apparently unharmed by the collapse of wall. "How'd I
know it'd be you I see when the sunlight comes in?"
"You know her?" asked Jupiter.
Mercury nodded. "She's the leader of the Fenril
Knights."
At the mention of that, the girl started laughing, in
a low, eerie tone.
"What's so funny?" demanded Mars.
"You haven't a clue," Ayame replied.
---
Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace
"We've got Ayame in a cell for now," Venus informed
Sailor Moon, as all five Sailor Senshi gathered in the
council room for the first time in a while. "That
girl creeps me out, the way she's laughing."
"What about the metal beast?" asked Moon.
"It's going to be hard to move without any of the
right equipment," answered Jupiter, "so I think we're
going to have to live with that thing lying there for
a while."
"Something disrupted the power flow of that Mekani
device attached to the armor," Mercury added. "I went
ahead and tried to piece together what happened to it
already, and it may have something to do with our
black-caped friend that ran through the rift before we
closed it off."
"Black-caped friend?" Moon blinked.
"Don't you think that's a little conspicuous in a
closed-off place like this?" asked Mars.
"He may have come in the same time as the Fenril
did," offered the soldier of water. "I think he did it
because I found this in the wreckage of the Mekani
device."
She held up a burnt rose for all to see.
"Tuxedo Kamen?" Sailor Moon said in surprise.
"Or a copycat," Mars pointed out. "We know the real
King Endymion is in Geneva... right?"
Mercury shook her head. "We can't know for certain,
so long as the Fenril are cutting off all ties outside
the city."
"Then that's the next item on the agenda," Venus
declared. "We need to get out of here."
---
Prison, Crystal Palace
Many would ask what was so amusing to Ayame as she
lay in the single cot of the ten-by-ten cell. She
stared up at the ceiling, still finding amusement that
the turncoat Mizuno thought she was still the leader of
the Sailor Senshi's enemy.
"Why did you do it?"
Ayame did not have to sit up to see the owner of the
voice. "Don't you see? I'm completely worthless to
the cause. It's much better off if I died; maybe
everyone else could be spared the same fate."
"Fate," Hokuto repeated, folding her arms within her
traveling cloak as she stared down at the fallen
leader. "You know nothing about Fate."
"A cruel twist that none of us can take out Neo
Queen Serenity in the process."
"Neo Queen Serenity is Sailor Moon."
"That's plain as day, Shadow Weaver. Any idiot
knows that."
Hokuto nodded. "The Metal Smasher can still
function, even if the void-ripper is gone. You're
fortunate that machine was built extremely well,
otherwise you'd really be dead."
"Who cares if I'm alive or not?" she asked honestly.
"I spurned my parents, and let down the people that
believed in me, whether they were pretending or not."
"The others do care; the problem is, your cold airs
routine backfired on you. You think you're alone in
your position, but trust me, the others share the same
sentiments as you do."
"No they don't."
"You have no idea what it is to be alone," Hokuto
countered. "Before I met all you people, I was a
wanderer; whenever something went wrong I'd run away.
I never made friends, nor had family that cared about
me, because I always kept to myself. That was before I
met all of you."
"You, Ayame Mishima, genuinely care about the people
around you enough that you put your own, personal
stakes aside to make it all work. The difference
between you and me from then is that caring aspect.
Did you not weep because you lost more lives, or
because you take personal responsibility for Miranda's
death?"
Ayame refused to answer, and her need to laugh died
with it.
"Don't believe that nobody cares," Hokuto said in
assurance. "Trust me, when word spreads that the
leader of the Fenril Knights is defeated an in
captivity, it won't end the war. They will come after
you because you're their leader."
---
Ranko's Quarters, Crystal Palace
Anything that drew attention away from her actions
was a good thing in Ranma's book, she decided.
She lay the six shards of black crystal on the desk
before her, wringing her hands in anticipation of a
power that could match that of the Sailor Senshi.
Finally, we'll be able to fight on more even terms.
On the other hand, now that she had the shards,
Ranma had no idea what to do with them.
Picking up two of the shards Ranma tried touching
their points together, but saw that nothing was
happening. Anger rising she grabbed a third one and
tried to arrange them in a tripod formation, but that
didn't seem to work, either. Grabbing a fourth she
built a log cabin formation. Still nothing happened.
"What the hell did I go through all this trouble for
if you stinkin' baubles don't cooperate?!" the martial
artist wanted to know.
"You need another one."
Ranma jumped in surprise, despite the fact that she
should've been used to Hokuto's comings and goings by
now. "Will you stop doing that already?!"
"Sorry," she replied, sounding quite sincere. "You
need the seventh one to trigger the fusion process. In
that respect, you have to break one, and the other six
will fuse to form the whole crystal."
"And where the hell am I getting another one?!" Ranma
shouted angrily. "Wait until someone else dies?"
"No, the solution just dropped right into your lap,"
the Shadow Weaver replied calmly. "Come with me and
I'll show you."
Ranma knew that wasn't a request, realizing she was
sinking into Hokuto's extended shadow.
---
Palace of Solitude, Nemesis
Sypha could not believe her day could get any better
as she entered the cell which served as the new home of
Sailor Uranus.
The Sailor Senshi was hanging limp from her shackles,
obviously out of energy from trying ot aggressively
pull her way out. It was a pity that all that energy
went to waste; Sypha could think of much more
constructive things to do than struggle all night.
"I hope you're at least conscious," the sorcerer
said. Uranus made no move to respond. "It has come
to my attention that there are three objects of power
being held by you Sailor Senshi, ones that are
traditionally known as the three sacred treasures of
Japan."
Still she made no reply.
"How fortunate it was that you happened to be one of
the bearers of said artifacts," Sypha said, her voice
purring in delight. "With artifacts of their power
Neo Queen Serenity's Silver Crystal would be no match
for us. The trick is, of course, extracting said
artifacts out of your persons. I imagine you and
Neptune would not give them to us willingly, but we
have ways around that."
"I predict a bleak future for you," she continued,
finally forcing a response out of Uranus when she
raised her head. "You see, I've tortured many who
thought they could defy me, and thus I've learned the
science of inflicting pain. I imagine the process is
going to be long, hard, and ultimately, fatal."
"You can't win," the soldier spat defiantly.
Sypha seized Uranus's head in her claws. "And I'm
going to enjoy every second of it, Destroyer of
Worlds. You think you're the will of Heaven? I AM
Heaven!! You haven't had the benefit to know the
wrath a Celestial can bring upon their enemy."
----------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes
Stay tuned for more.
--Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOhotmailSPAM.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/index.html
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