Insertion

 Part 52

 Raid on Tsunami!

++++++++++++

 "Where the hell am I?" muttered Akane as she looked around with a scowl
on her face. She sighed and hung her head, it didn't matter much really,
she wasn't going anywhere in particular. "Great, I suppose I'll just go
this way." She started down a nearby road and simply walked.

 In the shadows, a figure watched her calmly. Chuckling to himself as she
wandered. "I think it's time she found a destination. Don't you agree?"

 A shorter figure looked up at him and snorted; it sounded like the voice
of a young boy. "I've got other things to do, she's your problem." The
child vanished leaving the taller man alone.

 "Oh. I suppose you're right. How to manage it though... Ah! I've got
just the thing!" He melted back into the shadows.

++++++++++

 Akane was not in a good mood, it was hot, she was tired, and she hadn't
eaten in a while. The problem with food was easy enough to fix,
considering the amount of wildlife that now roamed around. She could rest
as well, but the heat was something she had no real control of. "Damn. I
never knew how much wandering aimlessly sucked." She wiped her brow and
sat down on a rock.

 She pulled out a small folded cloth that she had been carrying inside of
her shirt; she unwrapped it and frowned. It was meat, sort of. In truth
it was more like charcoal, on the outside anyway. The interior was hardly
cooked at all. Still, it was food. She bit down on it and made a face,
but continued to snack on it anyway. "I've got to work on this."

 A sound caught her attention and she looked up from her lunch. "Huh?
What's that? It sounds like..." Turning her gaze, she noticed a small
spring nearby. She almost thought she would cry tears of joy. Jumping up,
she rushed over to the spring and removed her clothes. After all, who
would possibly see her in the middle of nowhere?

 After a moment, she was relaxing in the cool water. "Ah. This is nice."

 She froze when she noticed an image within the pool. "Huh?" She blushed
and shrieked when she saw herself sitting in the middle of Mamoru's face.
"EEEEEEEEEE!!!"

 She quickly rushed over to the edge of the pool, but calmed when she saw
that it was just an image. "What the? What kind of weird pool is this?"
She blinked and relaxed a bit more.

 A scene was playing out before her. Her eyes went wide with shock as a
tall red-haired figure attacked the senshi. "What! No!" She rushed over
to the image and tried to attack the man as he stole the Silver Imperium
Crystal from Usagi. "Bastard! You give that back right now!" she
screamed.

 "I'm afraid they can't here you," said a familiar voice.

 Akane blinked and looked up to see Xellos standing at the edge of the
water, peering at the scene as well. 

 "Imagine meeting you here!" he said cheerfully.

 "Mega Brunt!" screamed Akane as she blasted him with yet another new
spell.

 Xellos stood there looking singed and frowned at her. "That wasn't very
nice."

 "You pervert! How long have you been there?" she screamed as she dove
deeper into the water and covered herself up.

 "Not long. Don't worry, I didn't see much," he said apologetically.

 "What do you mean much!?" she snapped angrily.

 "It's not my fault you're naked in the middle of nowhere," he replied
calmly. He finally turned his back to her and sighed. "If you don't want
me to see anything, go ahead and get dressed."

 She scowled at him and quickly did so behind him, keeping a watchful
eye. He remained turned away and turned around after she had finished
without her saying anything. She narrowed her eyes at this, but said
nothing.

 "This pool seems to be a result of the unusual amount of magic that's
been going around lately," said the man calmly as he looked into the
water curiously.

 "Magic?" she said as she followed his gaze. 

 Gaav was just leaving the old village. 

 "It has the power to show things, past, present, possibly even the
future," he replied calmly. "Most interesting."

 "So, what was that?" she asked as she continued to glare at him.

 "I believe that was the past. Most unfortunate," said the man
cheerfully.

 Akane frowned as her eyes fell to the now normal pool of water. "Then
that means..."

 "It seems that the Silver Imperium Crystal has been stolen," said Xellos
with a short nod. "I wonder why someone would steal it?"

 Akane glanced up at him again. "How would you know what it is?"

 "What? The Crystal? The weapon of the famed Dark Sailor Moon? Chibi-Usa
wasn't exactly secretive about the fact that she had it," replied the man
with a shrug. 

 Akane nodded, it was a plausible explanation. "Who was that guy? Why did
he steal the crystal? What's going on? He doesn't look like any Youma
I've seen before."

 "You're right, he isn't a Youma," said Xellos.

 "Who is he then?" she said as she frowned at him.

 "How should I know?" he replied with a shrug.

 "You seem to know a lot," she replied.

 "It comes with traveling as much as I do," he said with another shrug.
"I hear all sorts of interesting things."

 "I'll bet you do," snorted Akane angrily.

 Xellos smirked at her, and touched the water with his staff again. The
act went unnoticed and Akane turned away. "Well. This is certainly
interesting."

 Akane turned to see him looking into the pool again, this time with a
frown on his face and a slightly worried look.

 "What is it?" she asked as she looked over his shoulder and gasped.
"No!"

 Gaav was standing in the middle of a burning town, holding the crystal
over his head and laughing. A dark shadow loomed overhead, filling the
sky completely.

 "What is that?" gasped Akane.

 "The future this time, a possible one anyway," replied the man. "This
does not bode well."

 "I've got to do something!" cried Akane. 

 "That would seem to be wise," said Xellos with a short nod. 

 "Do you think it could tell us where I can find this guy?" she asked
him.

 "Huh? I don't know, maybe," he said with a shrug. He closed his eyes and
held out his hand over the water dramatically. The pool glowed and
another image formed. This time it showed a mountain with a castle built
into the side of it. The sun was rising behind it, and the ocean could be
seen nearby.

 "It's a castle, on the eastern coast," he said calmly.

 Akane's jaw almost dropped. "How did you do that?"

 "You should know," he replied calmly. "You didn't think you were the
only person who could use magic did you?"

 "This pool is yours?" she asked him.

 "Why would I make a pool like this?" he asked her. "There's a lot of
magical energy floating around these days."

 Akane nodded and looked at the pool again. "So. I guess I'm going east
then."

 "Well, best of luck to you. Who knows, we may meet again," said Xellos
as he turned away and started walking.

 Akane was relieved more than anything else. She still didn't trust him
at all. 

 As he walked away, she never saw the smirk forming on his face. He had
indeed created the pool, just to send her on her way. There was no real
reason to tell her that though. 

+++++++++++++

 Mars, the Amazon colony...

 "Elder, we have not received any word from Kuroi in some time," said a
young woman who bowed before the shriveled old woman who stared at her.
They were inside a large hut, that rested in the center of hundreds of
smaller ones. 

 "What? This is most unusual," said the hag thoughtfully. Several other
older women sat around her, ranging from late forties, to around her own
age. "Have we attempted to contact them ourselves?"

 "Numerous times elder, there is no response," confirmed the young
Amazon.

 "This is most distressing," said one of the older women who sat next to
the head elder.

 "Indeed. We shall send two ships to investigate," said the Elder calmly.
"Go and give the order at once."

 "There's no need. I can tell you what happened to them," said a child's
voice from the doorway.

 "What?" gasped the old woman as she stood up and frowned. "Boy! What  do
you think you're doing here? If you were any older, you would be killed
for interfering with the business of your betters! You will be severely
punished!"

 The young boy strolled out into the room fearlessly, glaring at them. He
was a beautiful child, and the women gasped. "I do not recognize him!"
commented one of the older women.

 "You? My better?" snorted the boy calmly. "I think not."

 "Child, watch your tone..." warned the old woman.

 "Your predecessor would realize how much danger she was in. You're not
even smart enough to consider it," said the boy calmly.

 This caught the room by surprise.

 "What would you know of Cologne?" snapped the Elder hatefully.

 "That is for me to know," he replied.

 "Seize him! At once!" snapped the old woman as she pointed a familiar
looking staff at the boy.

 The guards standing at the door moved in to grab him, but were promptly
thrown away by an unseen force. They slammed into the walls and fell to
the ground out cold. 

 The boy chuckled and continued to stare at the old woman. 

 "What are you?" gasped the Elder in shock.

 "I've just come to tell you that the flagship has been destroyed, and to
banish you and your people to Mars for the rest of your miserable
existence."

 "What?" gasped the elder.

 "You betrayed your entire race, left them to die for your own survival.
It's pathetic..."

 "How dare you! Hateful thing! You do not know what you are facing!"
snarled the elder as she jumped down to meet him on the ground.

 "I know exactly what I am facing, do you have any idea what you are?" he
replied calmly.

 "Tell me then," she snapped.

 "I am Phibrizzo, the hell master..." he chuckled as a burning light
began to form in the back of his eyes. "And this place, is now hell."

 "What?" stammered the woman.

 "I've changed my mind. There's no need to banish you and your people. In
fact, I'm going to send some of you to the Earth personally." His tone
told them there was more to that than he was letting on. "As my servants.
My master has granted me the power to enslave you all. Your children will
be mine, as will your children's children. For the rest of eternity, your
people will be hated by the humans on the blue planet. You'll become the
monsters you truly are."

 The elder gasped as a wave of power erupted from the boy's body.

 "What are you doing?" she gasped as she fell to the ground in pain.

 He grinned at her as she began to grow and swell. Slowly, the women
within the room began to fall, each deforming as they writhed in pain on
the ground. "Mine." He said calmly as he watched them change. "You're all
mine."

 The energy wave overtook the entire planet, every Amazon settlement was
touched by it. All of the people began to fall, their bodies changing and
swelling as they changed into something else.

 Phibrizzo smirked as he walked up and sat down on the head elder's
throne. "Now, my monsters. We should prepare for the trip."

 The elder looked at her claws, her vision blurred by the light within
the room. She tried to speak, but only the grunting sound of a troll
escaped her lips. She roared with terror, clutching her head. The others
in the room followed. Each had changed into something different, some
more horrible than others.

 "I think the master will be pleased with your punishment," said
Phibrizzo calmly. "Now. Go, and set up a temple. We'll need one for our
trip to Earth."

++++++++++

 Gaav smirked as he looked into the mirror in front of him. "So, you are
almost ready?"

 "It will take a few days to set things up on my end," said Phibrizzo as
his image flickered in and out of existence. 

 "Understood. The Senshi will have to build their paradise in their own.
I hope our plans don't disrupt them too much." He held up the crystal and
grinned.

 Phibrizzo laughed at this and nodded. "Right."

 "The time is growing near. We must prepare for Metallia," said Gaav with
a frown forming on his face.

 "Metallia?" asked the young Mazoku in confusion.

 "I have recently received word from the master on this. It seems she'll
be needed after all."

 "We aren't going to seal her away again?" asked Phibrizzo.

 "No. Plans have changed, we'll be using a more permanent solution."

 "I see," said the young Mazoku with a short nod. "Just make sure things
stay on track."

 "Xellos could be a problem, he exists outside our mission," said Gaav.

 "It can't be helped, worry about your end."

 "Agreed." Gaav turned away and waved his arm, causing the mirror to
vanish.

++++++++++

 Ranma chuckled to himself as he walked out of one of the rooms onboard
the ship and dusted off his hands. "Well, that takes care of her."

 "So now what?" asked Dan.

 "We should go say hello, it's only polite," said Carrot.

 "Okay," agreed most of the others.

 "You perverted assholes! I can't believe you did that to her!" snapped
the only one who didn't.

 "She'll get over it," replied Carrot. "Probably not for a while. Kinda
wish we could be there when she wakes up though."

 They wandered through the empty halls within the ship for about ten
minutes. Not bumping into anyone.

 "Man, sure is quiet around here," commented Pissant. 

 "I guess so," said Carrot with a shrug. "Let's see what's going on in
here."

 They walked into a new room, where a tree was sitting in the middle of a
pool of water.

 "Ships core," commented Carrot as he walked over to the huge trunk and
put his hand on it. 

 "You know too much," said Xianfu irritably.

 "So what?" snapped Carrot in retort. 

 "Who are you?" said Tsunami's voice inside their head.

 "Gaaah! Another one!" screamed Ranma in terror.

 "Relax, it's just the tree talking to us," said Carrot.

 "Oh my! It's quite crowded," commented the Goddess as she realized how
many voices were inside the head of the person touching her.

 "You're tellin me?" grumbled Ranma.

 "Quit complainin," snapped Dan.

 "Stuff it!" countered Ranma.

 "That's enough! We have a guest!" chided Pissant.

 "I say we let them kill each other," said Xianfu irritably.

 "Will you cut it out with the suicide thing already?" grumbled Carrot.

 "Never!" retorted the girl. "We're gonna kill ourselves like we were
told to! Stop procrastinating and just do it!"

 "Sorry about her, she's on the rag," said Carrot to Tsunami.

 "Oh dear," exclaimed the tree in confusion. "Who are you? What are you
doing here?"

 "Well, we're Ranma Saotome. We just stopped by to drop off a friend of
ours, and say hello."

 "Ranma Saotome?" gasped the tree in shock. 

 "Yeah...Oh. Him. Sorry, we aren't him. He died a few days ago. We're
sort of...well...He was our bad side. He got loose and killed us. We came
back and got him finally, but it took like twenty years."

 "Oh," muttered the tree as it calmed down. "Could you stop draining my
power then?"

 "Huh?" said Ranma dumbly. 

 "What do you mean?" asked Carrot in confusion.

 "Please stop touching me...I feel faint..." said Tsunami in alarm. "No!
Stop it!"

 "Gah!" cried Ranma as he pulled their hand away. It was still tingling
from the power he'd absorbed. "What the heck are we doing?"

 "I dunno. I wish we'd stop it," said Carrot irritably.

 "I hope she's all right," grumbled Pissant.

 The lights went out suddenly, leaving the whole ship in total darkness. 

 "Oh crap," said Dan.

 "Oh my god! You killed Tsunami! You bastards!" cried Xianfu.

 "Maybe she does have a sense of humor after all?" said Carrot in
surprise.

 "What have you done!?" lamented the woman. "We must commit ritual
suicide in order to cleanse our honor!"

 "Or maybe not," said Dan flatly.

 "We should probably leave now," said Carrot nervously. There was a lot
of shuffling about within the ship.

+++++++++++++

 Tenchi smiled as he greeted his two wives and their younger sister.
"You're here!"

 "Tenchi!" cried Ryoko as she flew into his arms.

 Ayeka frowned at this, but walked up and bowed politely. "I hope you are
well."

 "I am," he said cheerfully.

 The lights went out. 

 "What happened?" said the prince as he looked around in alarm. They
slowly began to dim a little, enough so that they could see at any rate.
"Oh no!" He pushed Ryoko away and rushed by Ayeka.

 Sasami was lying on the ground, out cold. 

 "She fainted?" muttered Ryoko dumbly.

 "Sasami! No! Are you all right Sasami!?" cried Ayeka as she moved up
next to her sister. 

 Ryo-ohki had detransformed and was now sitting on the young teen's
chest, meowing pathetically.

 "What happened to her?" cried Tenchi.

 "Take her to the infirmary at once!" commanded Ayeka. Several men
nodded, and helped their prince lift her onto a stretcher. 

 "Sir! There's an intruder!" cried another man who rushed into the room
suddenly.

 "What?" gasped Tenchi. He looked down at Sasami and gasped. "Tsunami! To
the core! At once!"

++++++++++++

 Ranma was walking along with his hands in his pockets, whistling to
himself cheerfully. "Man, we still haven't seen anybody."

 "Where are we now?" asked Carrot. "Even hell has directories. You'd
figure Jurai would put them on something this big."

 "It does?" asked Dan in confusion.

 "Yeah," said Ranma.

 "Halt! Hold it right there!" cried a group of armed men who rounded the
corner. 

 "Hiya!" said Ranma cheerfully as he waved at them. 

 The men stood in a battle ready pose and waited for him.

 "So, you gonna arrest me or what?" asked the pigtailed boy after a
moment of standing there.

 The soldiers blinked and looked at one another.

+++++++++++

 "We found him in the hallway, he was just wandering around. He let us
capture him," said the lead guard as he stood next to the prince.

 Tenchi was glaring at the boy inside the wooden prison hatefully.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here. You'll be killed, you know
that right?"

 "Huh? What for?" said the boy as he stood up from where he was sitting
and smiling at them.

 "What for? You dare ask me that!?" snarled Tenchi.

 "Well yeah. I think you got me mixed up with someone else. He was older
anyway," said the boy as he grinned back at his captor.

 "Huh?" said Tenchi dumbly. He was starting to realize something was
wrong. "What do you have to say for yourself."

 "It's kind of a long story, but I'm not the guy who you think I am."

 "Don't believe a word of it," said a new voice.

 "Ryoko! Hey! You never call," said Ranma as he put his face up against
the branches that held him and grinned at her.

 She promptly decked him.

 He staggered back, clutching his nose. "Ouch! That wasn't very nice!"

 "I'll show you how nice I can be!" snarled the woman as a blade of
energy formed in her hand.

 "Set a course for Jurai!" snapped Tenchi. 

 "You're not thinking of taking this monster to Jurai are you?" cried
Ryoko.

 "We'll put him in trial, and then execute him," said Tenchi coldly.

 "Ranma died though," said the boy inside the cage as he looked at them.

 "What?" said Ryoko as she looked at him.

 "I'm not Ranma...well, I am, but I'm not the guy who took over Earth and
all that," he said with a dumb grin on his face. 

 "You won't escape this time," she snapped.

 "Okay. I'll just sit here for a while then," said the boy as he smiled
at her. "I guess I'll see you in a while then."

 Tenchi narrowed his eyes at the boy and turned away.

 Ranma sat down and looked up at where Ryoko was still glaring at him.
"D'ya gotta stare at me?"

 Her face contorted and she spit on him.

 "Eew!" he cried in shock. "I'm gonna get ya for that later!" 

 She turned away and left him alone.

 "So now what?" asked Ranma.

 "We wait for a while. I wanna get some sleep," said Carrot.

 "Okay," said Pissant.

 "I don't like this," said Dan.

 "I think it's a perfect idea," said Xianfu cheerfully.

 "You just want them to execute us," countered Carrot.

 "Is that such a bad thing?" she asked.

 "Yes," said Ranma.

 "Well, it's too late now," she chimed cheerfully.

 "Not really, we can leave any time we want," said Carrot. He waved his
hand and the bars holding them spread apart. With another flick of his
wrist, they closed again. "We should relax for now though."

 "Right," agreed Ranma as they lay down for a little sleep.

+++++++++++

 "Is it really him?" asked Ayeka as she looked up at her husband. 

 "It is," confirmed Tenchi.

 "That bastard. We finally have him," snapped Ryoko as she punched her
fist into her palm.

 "Do we?" said Tenchi with a scowl on his face. He looked at Ayeka. "How
is Sasami?"

 "She's resting. She just got a little tired it seems. There isn't
anything wrong with her, not that we can find anyway."

 Tenchi nodded at this. "We all need some rest."

 "Well, the princess can rest, but you're not," said Ryoko as she grabbed
him by his arm.

 "Ryoko. I'm tired," he whined. 

 "I haven't seen you in a month!" she countered as she pulled him into
his room and opened the door.

 Everyone froze.

 Sprawled out on his bed was Tsuki, she still had the mustache and
glasses drawn onto her face, and was now wearing a pair of his boxers,
with the rest of the contents of his underwear drawer spread out around
her on the sheets.

 Ryoko clutched Tenchi's arm so hard that it hurt him. "Who the heck?" he
muttered. It was then he realized who was with him. "Uh-oh."

 "So...you're tired are you?" asked Ryoko through her teeth.

 "Yes dear. I do believe you have some explaining to do," agreed Ayeka as
she cracked her knuckles.

+++++++++++

 Sasami woke up slowly and shook her head. "What happened?" she muttered
to herself. "Where am I?"

 "You're in the infirmary dear," said the nurse who was attending her. 

 "Oh. What happened to me?"

 "Just a little fainting spell, that's all," said the woman sweetly.

 "Oh. I guess I got a little excited," muttered the teen nervously. "I
can't remember why though..."

 "It'll come back to you," said the woman cheerfully.

 "What's that? Who's screaming?" said Sasami as her eyes suddenly went
wide.

 "Oh my! I hope Prince Tenchi doesn't hurt himself again. He gets so
embarrassed when I have to treat him sometimes." 

 Sasami blushed profusely and hung her head. "I think I'm gonna go take a
nap now." She started to get up, but the nurse pushed her back down.
"Here is fine. I don't want you walking around just yet."

 "All right," said the girl as she lay down on her back. She closed her
eyes and drifted off to sleep.

++++++++++++

 "Nobody knows, the trouble I've seen! Nobody knows my sorrow!" sang
Ranma as he hit a small tin cup against the branches of his prison.

 "Shut up Dan!" snapped Xianfu.

 "This is boring. Are those two idiots still sleeping?" he asked her.

 "Yup," said Pissant lazily. "I'm starting to get kinda tired myself."

 "We have been using a lot of power lately," agreed Dan.
 
 "Not so much we should be tired though," said Xianfu with a scowl on her
face.

 "We've been flying through the void for a couple of days now, holding
that stupid girl," countered Dan.

 "I guess so. We should rest, if only to recharge," agreed Pissant.

 "Oh, all right," said Xianfu with a sigh. 

++++++++++++

 Gaav strolled into a large empty room. Dramatic organ music played in
the background as he waved his arm and summoned his mirror.

 A dark shadowy figure stared back at him, speaking in a low hissing
tone. "It is done?"

 Gaav bowed to the floor and hung his head. "Yes master! Your plan is
coming together as you envisioned it."

 "Yes? Well that never lasts long," said the figure. It paused and looked
down at him. "Stand up! Look at me when you're speaking to me! I hate
that!"

 "Of course," grumbled Gaav as he stood up and dusted off his pants. "Is
the music really necessary though?"

 "Yes," said the shadow coldly.

 "Very well. I have obtained the crystal, Phibrizzo has cursed the
Amazons as you had requested, and Xellos is off doing whatever it was
that you told him to do."

 "That is my business," said the thing.

 "Of course, I wasn't asking master," said Gaav.

 "At any rate, things should get more difficult. There is no doubt that
the senshi will try and retrieve the crystal, and prevent you from
resurrecting Metallia. Be cautious."

 "Of course," said Gaav as he nodded his head. "What should I do when
they do try?"

 "Stop them, but don't kill them. I still have uses for them," said the
shadow.

 "As you say," commented Gaav as he nodded his head. The image vanished,
leaving him alone once again.

 With a smirk on his face, he pulled a remote control from his hand and
turned off the gothic organ music. "This should prove interesting."

++++++++++

 TBC...

 Next Time: The trial of Ranma! 
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