Years before the fall of the Silver Millennium:

	Medgar was a very nervous man. It did not take any degree of
psychic power to tell that he was going to get stomped on.  A dojo
destroyer had come round to his little training school on Titan to
challenge him for his dojo sign.  He guessed she must have heard of his
combination of telepathic powers with martial arts and wanted to test her
skills.

	Unfortunately, he'd already tested her mental defenses, and didn't
rate his chances against them too highly.  Invading the mind of one of the
Senshi of the Moon Kingdom or any of the various Planetary Defenders was
neither easy or advisable.

	Senshi Saturn bowed to him.  "Are you ready?" she held her Glaive
lightly in one hand, looking for all the world like a teenage girl someone
had dressed up in a Senshi costume as a prank.

	He knew better, from the stories he'd heard.  Her powers were
sealed away, only for use against the most horrific of threats, and so,
unlike the other Senshi, she'd trained extensively in various forms of
combat in order to defeat monsters without the use of magic.

	"While I hate to quibble, I don't suppose you could use something
less deadly than your Silence Glaive for this?" he asked.

	"Alright."  She thrust it into a stone, and took a staff off the
wall.  He gave a sigh of relief; I'll live through this now, he thought.

	He unleashed a psychic barrage on her as a prelude to leaping to
her left and trying to sweep her legs.  She jumped out of the way of his
attack and then darted back in and struck him in the stomach.

	Twenty minutes of combat ensued; he did better than he'd expected,
though he could tell she wasn't going all out against him. He managed to
surprise her once or twice, once he had penetrated her mental enough to
anticipate her actions, but he hardly ever managed to hit her.

	Finally, he fell down and stayed down.  She bowed to him, took his
dojo sign, and departed.  A minute later, she came back, laughed
nervously, took her Glaive, and left again.

	She's not called the Mistress of Anything-Goes Martial Arts for
nothing, he thought.  

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

       Children of Fire
       A Sailor Moon/Ranma Elseworld

       Chapter 16: Enter the Princess

       By
       John Biles

	http://maison-otaku.net/~rhea/SMR/

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

	"This is my daughter, Princess Ruby," Beryl said to her assembled
generals.  "You will show her the deference you show me."

	All four surviving generals knew that Beryl didn't have a
daughter.  They also knew that protesting against this would likely earn
them Jadeite's fate.  Only Tourmaline actually knew where she had come
from, though Nephrite had strong suspicions.  They all bowed.

	Nephrite asked, "What duties will she be assuming now?"

	"Ruby will be undertaking some special missions for me on Earth.
Should any of you suffer the fate of Jadeite, I will likely assign her to
take over your duties."  Beryl said.  "I hope this will not become
necessary."

	"Do Zoicite and Kunzite actually do anything useful?" Ruby asked.

	They both glared at her.

	"Besides providing gossip for everyone, anyway?"

	"We're in charge of finding the Moon Princess," Kunzite said.
"Our search continues."

	"Well, I already found her, so I guess Mother will need to find
you new jobs."

	"..."

	Tourmaline snickered, and Nephrite smirked.

	"I'd have thought that you'd remember there wasn't a Sailor Moon
in the Silver Millennium," Ruby said.  "I mean, she might as well put up a
big sign saying 'Here I Am'."

	"..."

	"Now that she has been located, I am assigning you two to
preparing our forces for the invasion.  Once we secure the remaining
crystals and reconstruct the Silver Crystal, we should be able to easily
gather enough energy to awaken Metallia, and then the Earth will finally
be ours."

	"At the current time, our forces are unable to go far from major
magical nexuses," Tourmaline says.  "Have we found a way to increase the
Earth's supply of magical energy to enable us to operate freely across the
entire planet?"

	"Metallia has that much power," Beryl said.  "Especially when her
might is combined with the Silver Crystal.  All things then will be
possible."  She turned to Nephrite.  "I expect to hear from you soon as to
your plan to secure the remaining crystals from the Senshi."

	"I am working on my next plan, your highness."

	"Very good.  You are all dismissed, except for Tourmaline, with
whom I wish to speak to in private.  That includes you, Ruby."

	"Yes, mother."  She bowed and departed.

	The other generals soon left.

	Tourmaline asked, "How may I serve you, my queen?"

	"I am sure you are aware of Ruby's origins."

	"Yes, your Highness," she said.  "I hope you will not be expecting
me to keep my father's ludicrous promise to Gluttony."

	Beryl laughed.  "Only if you fail me, Tourmaline.  No, this is a
reminder that no one is to know of that.  And an order to prepare a plan
to deliver the Moon Princess into our hands.  Given you've infiltrated the
Senshi, I assume that you can achieve this more easily than Nephrite."

	Tourmaline said, "I will develop a plan and present it to you as
soon as it is ready."

	"Good.  You have done well so far, Tourmaline.  I expect much of
you in the future as well."

	"Thank you, your Highness," she said.  "I live to serve."  

	"You may go now."

	"As you command."  Tourmaline quietly teleported out.

	Beryl sat alone in the darkness.  The Silver Crystal was the key.
Obtain it, and everything else would fall into place.  Without it, they
were probably doomed.  Princess Serenity might have to commit suicide to
use it to stop Metallia, but that hadn't stopped her mother.  This new
warrior version of the Princess was even less likely to balk at such a
stroke, Beryl feared.  

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

	"She's Happousai's GRANDAUGHTER?" Nodoka asked in horror.  

	"Yes, she is," Usagi said.  

	Nodoka looked down at the cute twelve-year-old, who stood
nervously next to Usagi.  Hotaru smiled at her.  "My name is Tomoe Hotaru.
Nice to meet you."  She bowed to Nodoka.  

	Nodoka smiled back at her.  "Nice to meet you.  Your...grandfather
trained my husband."  

	"Grandpa made me a really great martial artist!  I'm sure he
trained your husband well too."  

	Nodoka looked her up and down.  "So how long have you been
training with Happousai?"

	"For years now."  She counted in her head.  "Since I was five,
when everything blew up."

	"Blew up?" 

	"I hardly remember any of it, but evil aliens blew up the house
where I was staying.  I think.  Grandpa knows the story better than I do,
but my parents got blown up, and the aliens stole all the underwear too."

	"..."

	"So we have to collect all the underwear the aliens are after
before they can get it."

	"..."

	"And he taught us how to absorb energy from it to become stronger,
though he says I'll have to get a little older before I get good at it.
But he also taught me the Happo-Goen-Satsu, to absorb energy from bad
people."  Hotaru demonstrated the pose.  

	Nodoka's eyes widened slightly.  "That's a very powerful
technique."

	Hotaru nodded.  "When I absorb enough energy, I turn into an
adult, so I have to wear clothing that's too big for me normally, so when
I grow I don't end up with it all tearing and falling off."

	Nodoka nodded.  One of the Dark Kingdom Youma apparently knew that
trick as well, according to what Rei had told her.  She thought for a
moment.  "So who did Happousai teach you to use it on?"

	"Bad people like monsters and thieves, and agents of the aliens."

	"And how do you recognize the agents?" Nodoka asked.

	"They try to stop us from saving the panties," Hotaru said.  

	"Or from getting food?"

	"Yeah."

	"Well, the aliens have taken your sisters, Happousai, my
ex-husband, and a lot of other people," Nodoka said, deciding she would
have to work slowly on deprogramming the girl.

	"I remember all the monsters," Hotaru said, solemnly.

	"I'd like to see how good you are.  Would you like to spar with
me?"

	"I need to get big first," Hotaru said, "if I'm going to fight a
big person."

	Nodoka frowned.  There wasn't exactly a handy supply of 'bad
people' lying around the temple for Hotaru to feed on.

	Usagi said, "You can borrow some of my energy.  I could use a good
nap anyway," to Hotaru.

	Hotaru's eyes widened.  "Are you sure?  I know it doesn't feel
very good."

	"Just be ready to catch me," Usagi said to Nodoka.

	Nodoka frowned slightly, then nodded.  

	"Happo-Goen-Satsu!" Hotaru shouted, holding up a five yen coin
towards Usagi.  A bright yellow glow flowed out of Usagi and into Hotaru,
who grew taller and older in appearance.  Her gi pants didn't quite reach
her ankles any more, her hair now flowed freely down her back, nearly to
said ankles, and her figure was fit to burst out of her gi if she wasn't
careful.  

	She helped Nodoka lay Usagi down on the porch, then borrowed
Usagi's staff and got into a fighting stance.  Nodoka took a wooden
practice sword and advanced on Hotaru, who moved swiftly to one side and
struck a blow at Nodoka's ankles. The younger girl missed and had to leap
backwards to avoid Nodoka's return blow.

	She was fast and nimble, one of the hallmarks of Happousai's
fighting style, Nodoka quickly realized, which Happousai had developed to
offset not being very strong.  Hotaru's adult body was stronger than her
child body, but not as strong as it would be one day when she reached
adulthood in her own right.  

	Nodoka began to press her attacks harder, trying out a variety of
strokes to see if Hotaru had any particular weaknesses of defense or body
she could exploit.  Hotaru was not as good as Nodoka was, but she would
have been good for an adult, and was quite excellent for a
twelve-year-old.  

	Nodoka jumped over one of Hotaru's sweeps, only to be surprised
when Hotaru brought her staff up early, snagging one of Nodoka's legs.
Nodoka tumbled, rolled, and got up, then feinted right and moved left,
getting in a solid blow on Hotaru's right arm.  

	Okay, I think I've taken her measure, Nodoka thought.  She moved
to go for a disarming blow, and took a staff to the chin instead.  She
managed to get a solid poke in on Hotaru's chest, knocking her down, then
tried to get her own balance back.

	Hotaru stood and bowed.  "You're very good, Saotome-san."

	Nodoka smiled.  "Thank you.  You're very good also, Hotaru-chan."

	"I'm not half as good as Grandpa."

	Thankfully, Nodoka thought.  As you'd likely be freaky beyond
repair, but I think there's still hope for you.  "Did he ever teach you
how to use chi to enhance the power of your blows?"

	"It tends to shorten how long I can stay grownup, so we never got
around to me learning yet," she said.  "Although I can do a few tricks if
I have to."

	"Alright," Nodoka said. "Would you like to learn how?"

	"Sure," Hotaru said, smiling.  

	"Alright, now, this is what you have to do..."
	  
***************************
AAA

	Sailor Pluto stood in her backyard; her parents had gone to the
grocery store, which meant they'd probably be gone for weeks.  She wasn't
so easily rid of Ryouga, who did katas nearby.  But he knew who she was,
so it didn't matter.

	She concentrated, trying to call forth the Gate of Time.  She
could fix things if only she could call it.

	Sweat ran down her brow, and her whole body ached with tension as
she concentrated.  Still it would not come.  Losing her staff had greatly
weakened her, and she hated it.  

	Finally, just as she was about to give out, the gates appeared and
swung open.  She gave a cry of triumph, and staggered towards them.  Only
to be blocked by herself as she had been in her days guarding the tunnel.
"No," Older Pluto said.  "You may not return for this purpose."

	"Why?" she shouted angrily.  "Why can't I go fix this?"

	"Some things must be, as we determined when you were me.  Not all
of them are enjoyable, but we do what must be done."

	"I have to save him!" the 'younger' Pluto shouted.

	"You must find another way.  I shall not let you pass."

	"WHY?"

	"It is not necessary.  Time travel, as we both know, is very
dangerous.  You nearly killed yourself summoning the gate.  Do not try it
again until you have your staff once more, and even then, hesitate."

	The younger Pluto pounded on the chest of her implacable 'older'
self.  "Dammit!  How else can I save him?"

	"You can't do it alone," her older self said.  "Not now that
you've entered time.  Don't worry, he isn't dead yet.  But you've got to
make sure you don't die before he does."  Then she stepped back inside the
gates, which slammed shut and vanished.

	"Dammit!"

	"Stupid Ranma.  He probably let himself be captured so he could
get a bunch of youma women to be his harem too," Ryouga said.  "And he
can't go die before I get to kill him myself!"

	"Oh shut up about your stupid bread," Sailor Pluto muttered.  "I'm
sick and tired of listening to you whine about how Ranma took your bread."

	"He owes me justice!" Ryouga shouted back.

	"I've waited for him for 25,000 years!  I think MY WAITING takes a
little priority here!" Sailor Pluto shouted back at him.

	"You shouldn't have let them take him, then!" Ryouga shouted back.

	Pluto began to cry.  "I couldn't stop them!  I wasn't there!
Dammit, why did it have to happen this way?  WHY?"

	Ryouga began to flail with the look of a man who knows he made a
woman cry and doesn't know what to do.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to,
Setsuna, I'm sorry."

	She latched onto him and began to cry on his shoulder.  "I might
not ever see him again.  What am I going to DO?" she asked.

	"I don't know," he said softly.  "I don't know."

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

	Zoicite paced back and forth, making Kunzite jumpy.  "Can you stop
that?" he asked irritably.  "I'm trying to focus on this."  He was trying
to make sense of the jumbled hierarchy of Beryl's armies.  Each of the
generals had organized their forces on different principles, and Jadeite's
forces had never been properly reintegrated after his removal.

	"I don't trust this 'Ruby'.  Beryl doesn't HAVE a daughter, unless
I'm losing my mind."

	"If Beryl says she has a daughter, she has a daughter.  I remember
the pony."

	Zoicite shuddered.  "The pony.  Let's not remember the pony."

	"Anyway, probably she's some new favorite of Beryl's she's adopted
and put out to see if any of us strike at her, so as to test our loyalty.
I know you're already plotting against Ruby, but I advise you to give up
on that."  Kunzite turned to face Zoicite.  "I remember what happened to
Crysolite."

	Zoicite frowned.  "Are you just going to sit back and let us be
shunted aside like this?"

	"Better to let them destroy themselves against the Senshi, so we
can then look better when we sweep in and clean up their mess."  He
sighed.  "You're not listening to me."

	"I am listening.  I'm just not convinced you're right."

	"Fine.  Go spy on Ruby and Tourmaline and Nephrite and get
yourself punished by Beryl," Kunzite said.  "I'm going to stay here and
try to do what Beryl told us to do, so that when they screw up, I'll be in
a position to reap the benefits."

	They glared at each other for a little bit, and then Zoicite
teleported out.  Kunzite sighed.  Now I'm going to have to chase him all
over creation.  Not that I wanted to shuffle papers, but...


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

	Usagi said to her gathered Senshi, "So, does anyone have a good
idea on how to lure out Nephrite and his crystals?  We have a fake we can
use as bait, but I'm not sure of a good way to get him to come after
them."

	"Are we sure he'll fall for it?" Setsuna asked.

	"Well, it should hold up to casual inspection," Ami says.  "And we
should be able to grab him before he has time to do more.  If he falls for
it."

	They were gathered in Ami's backyard, sitting on the grass in a
great sprawl which roughly resembled a circle.  Luna lay in Ami's lap,
while Artemis perched on Minako's head.  Mamoru's team sat in a clump
under one tree, though it wasn't a very large clump, since Ukyou was still
in Osaka and Ranma was in the hands of the enemy.  Usagi's clump spread
out under several trees, though Rei sat close to Usagi.

	Haruka sprawled out on her back, staring at the sky.  "We could
just try calling him out to a battle.  Rig the battlefield in advance
against him.  If he's an honorable idiot, he'd go for it."
	
	"We can't count on that," Usagi said.  "And he may be working with
Tourmaline, and we know she doesn't worry about honor."  She frowned
slightly, not liking the way Haruka casually connected stupidity and
honor.

	Mamoru said, "We probably should capture a Youma at our next
fight, mention that we're planning some mystic ritual to yank the rest of
the crystals to us, then let the Youma escape.  We can then use Haruka's
idea of rigging the site to favor us."

	"That might work," Shampoo said.  "But that doesn't mean they'll
bring their crystals.  If they're very smart, all theirs are in a locked
vault in the Dark Kingdom."

	A gloomy silence settled over everyone at that thought.

	"Maybe we can capture Nephrite and trade him to get them," Mercury
suggested.

	"Beryl will likely see the Crystals as more valuable than he is,"
Luna said.

	Artemis nodded.  "We need to find out if the crystals are in the
Dark Kingdom and whether or not Nephrite has handed them over to Beryl.
If he hasn't, then we may have a chance."

	"I still say we challenge him.  Get him to bring his as part of
it," Haruka said.  "Either that or we're going to have to find a way into
the Dark Kingdom and raid the vaults, which would be pretty damn
dangerous."

	"I suppose if we make it clear he has to bring his if he wants a
chance at ours..." Usagi said.

	"Perhaps we should first try and find out if Nephrite still has
them, then make a plan," Ami said.  

	"He's going to try something eventually," Shampoo said.  "Since
the only way we can find him is one of Mercury's searches, we might wish
to fortify the temple's defenses and keep our crystals there, under
rotating guard, so as to force him to come to us on ground of our
choosing, should he strike before we find out if he has them and where he
is."

	Setsuna nodded.  "That's a very good idea, since now Grandpa knows
about all of us from Nodoka finding out."

	"We'll need a shielded vault for the real one and an unshielded
one for our fake," Usagi said.  "Keeping a rotating guard is going to be
hard when all of you have to go back to school, but hopefully, we'll beat
him by then."

	"We'll be pretty vulnerable if we don't beat him by then, though
we'll get Ukyou back at that point," Haruka said.

	"Well, let's see about using our powers to make ourselves a vault,
then," Usagi said.

	"I hope Grandpa will agree to us digging under the temple," Rei
said.  "And none of us are exactly experts at excavation."

	"I suppose I should have studied Martial Arts Mining when I had
the chance," Usagi said.  "Can you design us a vault with your computer,
Ami?"

	"I can try," Ami said.  "I'll start working on a program right
away."

	"Okay, then, I guess we'd all best practice sparring and stuff,"
Usagi said, rising.  "Unless anyone has any other business?"

	Makoto said, "Maybe we should ask the Kunous to help.  They've got
a lot of money, and they do know about the existence of monsters and so
on."

	Mamoru nodded.  "I'll see if he and Kodachi can help."

	Usagi said, "That could be a BIG help."	

	Rei said, "There's also a fair chance that Tourmaline has one of
them, given she and her family came after Gluttony and the blue crystal."

	"We may be able to draw her out by locating one of her energy
draining operations and wrecking it," Haruka suggested.  "We might even
want to focus on that first, as that way we'll have them all once we beat
Nephrite."

	"I can try and scan for youma," Ami said, typing away on her
computer.  "Hopefully, we'll turn something up."

	"Doesn't guarantee she'll show up," Shampoo pointed out.

	"Unfortunately, no, it doesn't," Rei said.  "But short of invading
the Dark Kingdom..."

	"It's a good start," Usagi said.  "Second order of business."  Her
voice caught in her throat.  "Ranma."

	Everyone stared silently at the ground.  Rei said softly, "They'll
probably brainwash him and turn him against us."

	Luna said, "It should be possible to unbrainwash him pretty easily
once we have the Crystal intact, and probably we can even do it with the
fragment we have amplifying your natural abilties, Usagi.  But unless they
do use him against us, it's too risky to try to rescue him."

	"We can't just leave him," Setsuna said.  "What if they decide to
kill him instead?"

	"They didn't kill me," Michiru said.  "I think Beryl would rather
subvert us or use us as bait than just kill us, the way she brainwashed
four of Endymion's guardians before."

	Rei said, "We have to save him.  We HAVE to."  Her voice was tight
with controlled passion.

	Haruka began to crack her knuckles one by one.  "We will.  Oh, we
will."

	"Have you tried asking the Sacred Fire for help?" Shampoo asked.
"Perhaps it knows something."

	"I have tried," Rei said.  "But I will try again.  I can't just
leave him in those bastards' hands.  Damn Tourmaline and her damn sisters!
Damn them all!"

	Naoko winced slightly.  "Getting angry won't help," she said
nervously.

	"I want to make them PAY," Rei said.  

	"They'll pay," Usagi said quietly.  "They'll pay."

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

	Rei woke up in the middle of the night, hearing movement in the
bedroom.  Usagi seemed to be sleeping right through it.  She looked around
warily in the darkness, but she could hardly see anything.  

	'Help, we're being kidnapped!' Rei heard a spirit voice shouting.
She turned and saw a short female slowly emptying her underwear drawer
into a bag.

	Rei leaped and tackled the girl.  "No one steals my...Hotaru?"

	Hotaru's eyes were shut, though she now yawned and rubbed them.
"Oh, hi, Rei."  She looked around in confusion.  "Am I stealing underwear
in my sleep again?"

	"..."

	"I'm sorry, let me put it all back."  She started putting it back,
but periodically stopped to rub some items against her face.  "Wow,
there's a lot of power in your underwear," she said.

	Rei turned red.  "Don't rub my undies against your face!"

	"But it's the easiest way to absorb the power," Hotaru said.

	Usagi yawned and sat up.  "Whazz goin' on?"

	"Hotaru got into my underwear in her sleep, supposedly," Rei said.

	"Aren't you supposed to be camped out with Shampoo?" Usagi asked.

	"I sleepwalked," Hotaru said.

	"Uh huh," Rei said.  "All the way here?"

	"I can sleep tightropewalk too."

	"..."

	"Grandpa wanted us to be sure we didn't fall down and hurt
ourselves while sleepwalking, you see," Hotaru said.

	Rei picked her up.  "Back to bed with you, young lady."

	"Okay," Hotaru said.  "I see you sort yours by brand too."

	"..."

	"Brand, then color," Hotaru said.  "Natsumi likes to sort hers by
age, but I'm not good enough to sense the age of underwear yet."

	"..."

	Usagi looked thoughtful.  "Hmm, I wonder if they'll try using
Happousai to drain energy through one of those used underwear and sailor
fuku shops."

	"I think we should discuss this at some far future date which
hopefully will never come," Rei said.  "Go to bed."

	"Okay."

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

	Kunzite stood on a balcony, and watched the massed youma drill.
Normally, he wouldn't waste time on such things, as the individual nature
of youma powers made massed drilling rather difficult and not much use for
combat.  However, he hoped it would provide a good test of his
reorganization of units, which had been necessitated by the breaking up of
Jadeite's forces after his being sent to Eternal Sleep.

	It was also somewhat soothing to his nerves after hours of trying
to restrain Zoicite from doing something suicidal.  He'd finally sent
Zoicite off to check the armories.  

	Zoicite now appeared on the balcony next to him.  "Hmm, the drills
are going very well," he said.

	"Have you come up with another suicidal plan?" Kunzite asked.

	"This one is much better.  You see, this time I remembered we have
a sleeper agent planted among them.  We can set up Nephrite to fall at
their hands, then have our sleeper agent grab the crystals and run back to
us with them."

	Kunzite frowned.  "I do not think our little pawn is good enough
to pull that off.  However, she might be able to make off with the only
one the Senshi actually have at the moment."

	Zoicite nodded.  "True, true.  I'm not sure if it's worth exposing
her for just a single crystal."

	"Should the chance arise to take that one successfully, it would
be good to have her do so.  But for the moment, best not to risk exposing
her for nothing."

	"We also should have her watch for Tourmaline's agent," Zoicite
said.  "Assuming she really has one."

	"Probably.  I don't see why she wouldn't," Kunzite said.  "Yes,
she'll probably try to use hers to make off with the Yellow Crystal."

	"Hmm, if we use ours to expose hers, it'll help to ensure that
ours is not suspected," Zoicite said.

	Kunzite nodded.  "Yes, it would.  Good idea.  Assuming we can
figure out which one she's replaced."

	"Jupiter and Prudence are the most likely ones, assuming she's
doing the infiltration herself."

	Kunzite nodded.  "I suggest we have them both watched."

	"A very good idea.  I will see about planting some spies."

	"And I will see if I can get any information from Nephrite's
flunkies, since I know he and they don't get along too well," Kunzite
said.

	"Good luck," Zoicite said, then kissed Kunzite farewell.

	"Zoicite, honey, you've turned female again."

	Zoicite sighed and turned back.  "Right.  See you, then!"  And
then he vanished.

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

	"Things have fairly well gone to hell," Shampoo said to Cologne
over the phone in Greek.  "I hate to call you in, but we've lost Ranma and
things are not looking good for the mission you gave me."

	Cologne nodded.  "To know when one is in over one's head is the
beginning of wisdom.  I will come as soon as I can."

	"Thank you, Great-Grandmother," Shampoo said.

	"Is she still seeing that Rei girl?"

	"Yes.  They seem to have mostly patched things up."

	"Do you think she would make a good Amazon?"

	"She's a very strong woman," Shampoo said.  "But it seems more and
more likely that Usagi may never return, as neither Rei nor Ranma wishes
to come to our village."

	"Then I will have to see about changing their minds..."

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

	A windchime rang gently near Nephrite.  He studied the map of
Tokyo carved into the floor of the room; windchimes hung over every
district.  "Sandstone," he said to the Youma near him.  "Assuming this
worked correctly, Ruby has just entered that ward.  Go find her and keep
an eye on her."

	"Yes, sir."  Sandstone teleported out.

	"What's the point of spying on Ruby when you're supposed to be
making a plan?" Emerald asked.

	"I want to know what Ruby is doing, so I can factor her into my
plans.  I have a very strong suspicion as to her origins, and I'd like to
confirm it.  She could be very useful."
	
	"Or she could just be a loyalty test."

	"That's why I will watch and wait for now."  He turned to Iron and
Pumice.  "You two will go and keep an eye on Kino Makoto.  We know she's
Sailor Jupiter, so she can lead us to the others.  Emerald, select four of
the others and begin watching the Hikawa Temple.  I believe the Sailors
have an interest in it; hopefully you can spy them out."

	"And the rest of us?" Silicon asked.

	"Whoever Emerald doesn't select will remain here and assist my
work and planning until I find specific work for you to do.  Now, all of
you, go."

	Once the others left, he said, "Monitor this.  Contact me if it
senses anything else."

	"Yes, sir," Silicon said.

	He then teleported off to an alleyway near Osa-P and changed his
appearance.  He was going to need help he could trust.  It was time to
recruit her formally; she had the potential to be far more than just
cannon fodder like most of their reawakened warriors.  And her daughter
had potential as well...

************
AAA

	"Grandpa, I need your help," Rei said to Grandpa.

	He blinked.  "Help?"

	"I've been trying to get a vision from the Sacred Fire to help me
figure out how to save Ranma, but I don't know what to do."

	He smiled.  "Good, you do want to save him."

	"Of course I want to save him!" Rei snapped back, then tried to
calm herself.  "I...I don't want to see him get hurt."

	"Alright," he said, getting out of his chair.  "Let us go and see
what we can see."

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

	"You want me to what?" Negiri asked Mikado.

	"Follow him.  Find his dirty secrets so I can blackmail him,"
Mikado said.

	For a while, Negiri simply munched on the ice cream sundae she'd
required Mikado to buy her just to listen to his request.  "So why aren't
you hiring a real private eye, since you have so much money?"

	"It takes a woman to really destroy a man," Mikado said.  "Or vice
versa."

	Negiri smiled.  "You're smarter than you look," she said.  "Well,
if the pay is good, I'll give it a shot, though from what little I know of
the man already, I think he doesn't have any dirty secrets."

	"Everyone does," Mikado said.  "Find them."

	"Alright, let's talk about price..."

	  
***************************
AAA

	Usagi sat quietly and stared into the depths of the one rainbow
crystal they'd been able to secure.  The Dark Kingdom had been kicking
their ass and kicking it hard.  They'd managed to save most of the Shadows
and turn them back to normal, but the crystals had mostly gone to the Dark
Kingdom.  And with Ranma in their hands, they could know who everyone was,
and make war very brutally and efficiently on everyone.

	Ranma.  Her heart ached when she thought about him.  She missed
him, and she knew she'd hurt him.  I should have been able to wait, she
thought.  But she hadn't, and history couldn't be changed, and now she
couldn't even say she was sorry to him.  They're going to use him against
us, she thought.  The idea of fighting him was abhorrent to her. 

	I wish I could just rush off and try to save him, she thought.
But I can't.  We're not ready to invade the Dark Kingdom yet.  But we have
to become ready.  They will come for us soon.  

	Ranma...  She stared into the gem, trying to force it to show him
to her.  Unfortunately, this was beyond it's powers.  

	Hotaru loomed over her.  "What's wrong?" she asked softly.

	"The Dark Kingdom took someone I love," Usagi said softly.  "Right
after I had a big fight with him, and never got to make up."

	Hotaru sat down next to her.  "That's not good."

	"I know.  It was all my fault, and I don't know if I'll ever get
to say I'm sorry."

	"Don't worry," Hotaru said.  "We'll beat the Dark Kingdom.  The
bad guys always lose in the end."

	"I wish I could be so optimistic," Usagi said to Hotaru.

	"That's what Grandpa taught me.  The goodguys always triumph in
the end."

	It was hard for Usagi to imagine the old perverted underwear their
saying that.  "You really care about your grandpa," she said softly.

	"After Daddy got blown up..."  Hotaru hesitated, looking depressed
herself now.  "He took me in and took good care of me.  He's always
protected me, and he helped me to be strong."

	"Well, now the Dark Kingdom has him."

	"I know.  I'm afraid they might brainwash him to stop liking
underwear or something!"

	I wish their intentions were so innocent, Usagi thought sighing.
Or that I could be.


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

	Sandstone, having taken on his human form, walked along down the
street, trailing Ruby, Morganite, and Aquamarine, all of whom were dressed
as ordinary female humans, and seemed to be doing various things that
didn't bear much resemblance to Dark Kingdom plots.  Unless Beryl had
something secret planned involving large amounts of trying on dresses.

	After about five hours of watching Ruby, Morganite, and Aquamarine
run various clerks ragged, Sandstone was starting to feel a little energy
drained himself, or perhaps simply heading for a state of exalted zen-like
boredom.  

	Surely they'll do SOMETHING interesting soon, he prayed.	

****************
AAAAA
	
	"And why exactly are we kneeling in the bathroom and dumping
buckets of water over our heads?" Rei asked.

	"We don't have a cold waterfall to purify ourselves in," he
replied.

	She sighed. "Okay, I've exorcised myself, hung by my foot from a
tree, and now I've dumped buckets of water over my head.  Am I ready?"

	"You're still complaining, so no, you are not ready," Grandpa
said.  "You must approach the sacred flame with purity of purpose and
heart.  We will try again tomorrow."

	"Tomorrow????"

	"Tomorrow.  Now, go and pray and meditate."

	She sighed.  "I'd think you'd want Ranma back quickly."

	"The Sacred Fire must be approached with a purified heart, or it
will burn you.  We will go to it when I say you are ready."

	"Yes, Grandpa."  She rose.  "I'll go and pray and meditate.  I
just...I can't rest while Ranma is being held by them."

	"Good," he said.  "I wish you'd been this dedicated before you
decided to sleep with the Amazon."

	Rei sighed.  "Yes, I screwed up.  Can we have this fight later?"

	"So long as you are conflicted, you will have no luck calling on
the Sacred Fire," he said.  "Your love for your fiancee must guide you."

	"I can't just turn off my feelings!"

	"Until you are focused, the Flame's power will elude you."

	He's right, the bathroom floor said.

	Shut up, she told it.  "I'll go pray now."

	"Pray to be shown the true path," he said.  "And think of Ranma."

	I wouldn't feel so conflicted if I wasn't, she thought.  Dammit,
Ranma, I'm sorry.  I will find you somehow, she thought.  Some way.
Somehow.

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

	"A vault?" Kunou asked.

	Mamoru nodded.  "We're hoping to lay a trap to catch Nephrite when
he comes for it."

	"You should challenge him to honorable single combat!" Kunou
declared.

	"I don't think he'd say yes," Mamoru said.

	"Dishonorable cur!" Kunou shouted.  "The world seems beset by foul
sorcerors of late."

	"Well, if we want to build a death trap, it's always been a bit of
a hobby of mine," Kodachi said, smiling and taking Mamoru's hand.  "In
fact, I've already got one set up under the mansion.  If you'll just come
with me..."

************
	
	Iron stared down through the skylight.  "They're skating," he told
Pumice.

	Pumice sighed, tugging irritably on one of the long black braids
she'd put her hair into today.  "Amazing that, given this is an ice rink."

	"There's six of them.  I can hear them through the metal support
beams in the walls.  It looks like four of them are skating for fun, while
Jupiter is giving Guardian Pluto some kind of ice combat lesson," Iron
said.

	Pumice came over to look; Makoto and Gosunkugi were practicing
skating in tandem, while Minako, Tsubasa, Ken, and Naoko were all skating
around together, having fun.  "So, we have four people who might be more
of the Senshi or who might simply be friends of theirs."

	"So they're associated with the Senshi?" a woman asked as she
kneeled next to them, looking down.  "Interesting."

	Iron and Pumice looked over at the blonde teenager, who had her
hair braided and wore thick glasses.  "Who are you?" they asked the woman.

	"You can call me Shusendou Negiri.  I'm just here to spy on the
same people you are," she said.  "I take it some woman's jealous of this
Gosunkugi guy?"

	Iron and Pumice glanced at each other, then Pumice said, "Yes.
She's just completely berserk over the whole thing."  Well, our human
disguises are good enough to fool at least some people, I see, she
thought.  

	"Well, he hardly looks like the mad womanizer I was told he was,
but it doesn't matter much to me, so long as I get paid," Negiri said.  

	Pumice nodded.  "Money makes the world go round."

	"Exactly."

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

	Mamoru dived to avoid a swinging blade, then watched Kodachi leap
up on top of the blade and ride back and forth, laughing.  "I think
turning off the death traps first would have been a good idea!"

	"But then we wouldn't get to test if they work!" Kodachi said,
snagging a light fixture with a ribbon and swinging up onto a ledge.

	Exactly, Mamoru thought.

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

	Sandstone lurked, battling the icy hand of boredom by eating a
triple-scoop bowl of strawberry, vanilla, and rocky road ice cream.
Watching Ruby, Morganite, and Aquamarine eat wasn't his idea of an
exciting time, though Morganite's capacity for food was somewhat
impressive.  And watching the servers become frantic as Morganite bellowed
for more did have a certain entertainment value.

	Come on, do something EVIL, he thought.  Before I snap.

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

	Ken sat with Naoko; Tsubasa and Minako and Gosunkugi and Makoto
were still skating.  He took a sip of his soda.  "I sense someone's a
little jealous."

	"I'm not jealous," Naoko said, her gaze following Minako and
Tsubasa's every move.

	"Well, if you wait too long, someone else tends to swoop in.
Although I'd heard you had a bit of a thing for Ranma."

	She sighed.  "That was...it's a long story, but I wasn't really
interested in him."

	"Wise, as I think he must be secretly gay," Ken said.  "Or else is
really damn picky about his women."

	Naoko laughed.  "Something like that."

	Ken stared out across the ice.  "You think I have a chance with
Rei now that Ranma's gone off on this training trip or whatever he's
doing?"

	"Probably not.  But you might have a shot at Naru," Naoko said.
"She's not taken, and I know you think she's cute."

	"Hmm."  He stroked his chin thoughtfully.  "So you really want
Tsubasa, hmm?"

	"I didn't say that," Naoko said, slightly embarrassed.

	"But it's obvious to anyone who isn't blind and stupid," Ken said.
"Except maybe Tsubasa, who could probably win a few awards for not
noticing things."  He took another sip of soda.  "Hmm, maybe I can seduce
Minako, and then you could get Tsubasa and we'd all be happy."

	"..."

	He held out his hand.  "How's that for a plan?"

	"You call that a plan?" Naoko asked.
	
	"It's a start," he said.

	"Alright," she said, shaking his hand.  What have I got to lose?
"How do you plan to seduce Minako?"

	"My native charm and good looks."

	"And we see how far that's gotten you."

	He winced.  "That was cruel."

	She sighed.  "Minako seems to be pretty smitten."

	"Hmm, she works for you, right?"

	"Right," Naoko said.  "For my family."

	"So, you could, say, order her to serve as my bodyguard against
some imaginary menace, which would keep her away from Tsubasa so you could
move on him, while I worked on her."

	Naoko blinked.  "Hmm, you know, that's a quite reasonable plan to
start with."

	He smiled.  "Well, we can see how our luck goes, eh?"

	She nodded.  "Let's see how it goes."

**************
	
	"Grandpa-sama, will you come with me?" Hotaru asked Grandpa, who
was in the middle of reading some sacred texts in his office.

	He laughed, and got up.  "Alright."  He put down his book and
followed her around and into the parlor next to the bathroom.  

She pulled away several books on a low shelf, revealing a hole in the
wall.  "Someone filled in all the peepholes, so I drilled you a new one."

Grandpa could hear the sound of bathing and one of the many lovely young
women living at his temple singing a song to herself.  It was certainly
tempting to take a look, but not with a twelve year old girl watching him.
"Hotaru, have you told anyone else about this?"

"Grandpa taught me that peeping is very important for old men; it keeps
their skin healthy.  But that I should always be discreet about who I tell
about it, as most people don't know this," Hotaru said.

Grandpa nodded.  "Yes, it would be a good idea if you not tell anyone
about this."

"Or they'll fill in the hole."

"Exactly."

"Would you like me to get you some tea?" she asked.

"Yes, please," he said, putting the books back and resolving to come fill
it in later before he could be tempted any further.  "You're a very good
child, Hotaru."

She smiled.  "Thank you."  And then she left.

And very strange too, he thought.

***************
	
	"A vault?" Nodoka asked Rei.

	Rei nodded.  "Yes, a vault.  We're hoping the Kunous can help."

	"Hmm, I know someone who might be of some help, but I don't know
if it's wise to bring her into this," Nodoka said.

	"You're thinking of Wasyuu-chan?" Rei asked.

	"Yes, I am," Nodoka said.  "She might be able to help with
breaking into the Dark Kingdom, too."

	"That's true," Rei said.  "Well, we probably should ask."

	"Well, I should check on how my nephew is doing, anyway," Nodoka
said.  "I'll give them a call later."

	"Thank you."

	"We may be able to get the help of the whole gang of loons," she
said.  "For when we make our final assualt."

	"They're not all insane," Rei said.  "Well, not very insane.
Well, alright, yes, best to save them for when it won't matter how much
property damage they do."

	"Ready for some sword practice?"

	Rei nodded.  "Let me get Usagi and Shampoo and see if anyone else
is interested."

	"Don't forget Hotaru too."

	"Having any luck with her?"

	"Not yet," Nodoka said.  "She's got a lot of VERY strange ideas in
her head."

	"Well, so did Usagi, and she's starting to get over some of them.
We just have to give it time."

	Hotaru walked by the doorway with a bag over her shoulder.

	"That had better be full of laundry and not my underwear!" Nodoka
shouted.

	They could hear running footsteps.

	Nodoka sighed, and took off running after her, with Rei in close
pursuit.  

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

	Tuxedo Mask (Mamoru had transformed to increase his survival
chances) leaped over the flaming pit and caught Kodachi, just barely
landing on the far side of it.  "I think you overdid it with the traps,
Kodachi-san."

	"I suppose, perhaps, that shutting them off before displaying them
next time, would be good.  But do you think this is good enough?"

	"Your skills are very impressive," he said.  "If we weren't both
much tougher than ordinary people, we'd be dead."

	"Good enough to protect your crystal?" she asked.

	"It's going to have to get even nastier, but it's a great start."

	She leaned up and kissed him on the lips.  To her surprise, he
didn't resist at all.  Also to her surprise, he stopped moving and fell
down off the ledge they'd landed on, tumbling towards the pit of flaming
cream cheese, his paralyzed arms locked around hers.

	Note to self, do not ever wear paralysis lipstick again, Kodachi
thought.

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

	"Hotaru, repeat after me," Nodoka said.

	Hotaru nodded.

	"Stealing underwear is bad."

	"Stealing underwear is good martial arts practice."

	Nodoka twitched.  "That's not what I said!"

	"I was only being honest," Hotaru said.  She held up a blue bra to
Nodoka's face.  "Doesn't this feel soft and nice?"

	Nodoka twitched and moved back a step.  "Underwear is for wearing,
not for snuggling up to."

	"Well, I'd have to...oh wait, you can't absorb any power from your
OWN underwear," Hotaru said, slapping her forehead.  "Here, try some of
Rei's."  The red panties were also soft and nice, but Nodoka didn't want
THEM pressed to her face either.

	"Rei wouldn't like me rubbing her underwear against my face,"
Nodoka said.

	Rei nodded.  "Hotaru, people shouldn't steal each other's
underwear."

	"Well, you can just steal it back when you need it, since I live
here," Hotaru said.  "And you're welcome to steal any of mine you like."
She paused.  "Although most of my collection hasn't been worn in a while,
as it's too big for me except when I'm grown up."

	"..."

	Hotaru climbed inside the bag of underwear.  "I found this one
that was really, really powerful.  It's in here some...ahh!"  They could
see her legs lengthen, and it was adult Hotaru who emerged from the bag
holding a black lacy bra.  "I accidentally absorbed all the power, though.
Sorry!"

	Nodoka snatched it out of her hand and turned red.  "Hotaru, you
didn't have to tell the whole world," she mumbled.

	"Did you wear that for your last boyfriend a lot?" Hotaru asked.

	Nodoka turned more red.  Rei stared at her.  Nodoka said faintly,
"Hotaru, did Happousai teach you about... umm... those sorts of things?"

	"Grandpa taught me how to tell if someone wanted to do that to my
adult body so I could beat them up," Hotaru said.  "Since I'm really only
twelve and not old enough for it yet."

	Nodoka gave a great sigh of relief.  "How old did he say you had
to be?"

	"He told me fourteen was the legal age, but that boys would only
distract me from my martial arts studies, so I couldn't have a boyfriend
until I got good enough to be a master."

	Nodoka frowned.  It seemed uncharacteristically responsible of
Happousai to say something like that.  On the other hand, from the stories
she'd told him, he really did seem to regard the three girls he'd taken in
as his own grandchildren and treated them as such.  

	"Do you have a boyfriend, Nodoka-sama?" Hotaru asked.

	"No.  I don't even have my ex-husband because the aliens took
him," Nodoka said.  "They took our son too."
	
	"They're gonna pay for that," Rei muttered.

	"How old were you when your master let you have a boyfriend?"
Hotaru asked.

	"I had my first boyfriend when I was sixteen," Nodoka said.  "I
was twenty-two when I got married to Genma, and twenty-four when Ranma was
born.  Now, I'm forty."

	"You don't look forty," Hotaru said.

	"My studies of chi and my healthy lifestyle have kept me younger
than I should be," Nodoka said.  "Some martial artists live for centuries.
And my family is fairly long lived.  My great-grandfather is still alive,
and he's one hundred and eight years old."

	"Wow, he's lived through a lot," Rei said.

	"Grandpa Happy told us once he was three hundred and sixty-six.
But then he was three hundred and fifty-eight at his next birthday.  I
think he lost track," Hotaru said.


	Rei boggled, then asked, "So why do you steal underwear, anyway?"

	"Well, you see, the innermost layer of clothing next to the body
absorbs chi as you engage in activities.  The more passionate the
activity, the more energy absorbed," Hotaru said.  "And the more
passionate the person.  Also, those with more native chi give off more
than those with less."  She held up two bras, both sky blue  "I can tell
this one on the left is Usagi's in two ways.  First, it's bigger.
Secondly, there's more chi in it."

	"Bigger?  Bigger?" Rei asked angrily, recognizing the other one as
one of hers.

	"This one," she pulled out a green bra.  "Is obviously
Nodoka-sama's, as it's larger than either of yours, and has much more
chi."

	Nodoka was both pleased and embarrassed.  "Hotaru, it's not
considered polite to discuss such things."

	Hotaru poked Nodoka's left breast.  "But it's true.  You do have
more chi and you are bigger."

	Rei said, "Usagi does NOT have bigger breasts than me."

	"One can't simply use one's own underwear, as it's hard to
reabsorb one's own chi once it's been shed like that," Hotaru said.
"Unless one is really expert."

	"There are many other ways to gain and manipulate chi which don't
require underwear," Nodoka said.

	"They aren't as fun, though."

	"You have a weird idea of fun," Rei muttered.

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

	Iron watched Negiri inhale food as he and Pumice sat with her in a
restaurant, watching Makoto and Gosunkugi and their friends eat dinner.  I
never should have agreed to pay for her meal in return for her agreeing to
give us copies of the pictures she took, he thought.  Going to have to go
steal my own camera tonight.

	"Are you sure you can eat that much without getting sick?" Pumice
asked.  	

	"I'll be fine," she said.  "So, have you actually gotten any dirt
on Kino yet?  Or still looking for something?"

	"No luck," Iron said.  "She seems to be pretty clean-cut."

	"Yeah, same for Gosunkugi," Negiri said.  "But I'm getting paid by
the hour, so I'll watch as long as I need to."

	"We get paid on results, unfortunately," Pumice said.

	"Well, that sucks.  Have you tried sneaking into her house yet?"

	Iron blinked.  "Hmm, good idea.  Might find something."

	"Yeah, she's likely got her love letters, pictures, and so on
stashed somewhere," Negiri said.  "And with two people, one of you can
keep an eye on her, while the other breaks in."

	"Oooh, good idea," Pumice said.

	Negiri finished her last bowl of soup.  "Well, I'm stuffed."

	Iron gave a sigh of relief.

	"I'll just barely have room for dessert."

	Iron resisted the urge to cry with effort.

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

	"And thus, our warriors were reborn, unknowing of their true
selves, here on Earth.  Even now, Serenity's reborn warriors seek to stalk
and kill us," Nephrite told Misao Osaka, Naru's mother, as she lay in his
arms in her bed.

	"That's horrible," she said.  A tiny part of her brain wondered
why she was believing such a silly sounding story, but it resonated with
truth to a much stronger part of her mind, while the rest of her simply
wanted to believe in her boyfriend.  

	"I believe you are one such," he said.

	Her eyes widened.  "ME?"

	"Yes, you.  There are certain tests we can try if you like."

	"Yes," she said.  "I'll give it a try."

	"Good," he said.  "I'll come by tomorrow with the items I need,
after you're done with work."

	"Do you think Naru might be..."

	"I think it's worth testing," he said.  

	She smiled, stroking his back with one hand.  "I always feel so
safe when you're with me."

	"Thank you," he said softly.  "I am grateful the stars guided you
to me."

	"I don't believe in destiny," she said softly.  "But I do believe
in love."

	"The stars guide everything.  If we go along with their will, we
will flourish.  If we try to fight it, they destroy us."  He sighed.
"They know what is best for us, to take any other course is to stray from
what should be."

	"I create my own future," she said.  "Not the stars.  And I want
to create it with you."

	He leaned over and kissed her.  "It's not going to be easy, if you
choose to walk this road with me."

	"I have never chosen to walk the easy path.  That's why I got out
of the little farm town I grew up in and made something of myself.  From
what you say, it will be dangerous, but these evil people have to be
stopped before it's too late."  She began to run her fingers through his
hair.  "I will do what I can."

	He smiled.  "You are a strong woman, and I love you for it," he
said.  "I'm sure Beryl will be very pleased with you."

	"I hope so," she said, then yawned.  "I need to sleep."

	"Then let us sleep," he said.  

	Sleep took them swiftly.

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

	"It isn't wise to let them sleep together," Grandpa Hino said to
Nodoka.

	"If we try to stop them, they'll just find ways to do it anyway,"
Nodoka said.  "I have abandoned traditional ways, and that includes
arranged marriages.  Unlike my husband, I will not push Ranma into
something he doesn't want."

	"But he does want Rei," Grandpa protested.

	"What he wants is to be able to make his own choice without people
pressuring him," Nodoka replied.  "As I know from having actually talked
to him about it.  Usagi's family is hoping to move out soon, so this won't
go on too much longer, anyway."

	"I hope so," Grandpa said.  "And I hope we can rescue Ranma soon,
before Rei loses interest in men entirely."

	"I don't think she's going to lose interest in men," Nodoka said.
"I'm going outside to practice a while."

	"Alright," he replied.

	She went outside and began working on her swordforms.  Unknown to
her, Emerald was perched up in a tree nearby, watching her invisibly.
She'd had to assign her four subordinates to watching the approaches to
the temple.   Grandpa Hino and Rei were both sensitive enough to sense
them.  Still, they'd learned quite a bit just from observing who
frequented the temple.  

	She'd learned more, studying the Mooncats and quietly listening in
on conversations.  She knew enough of recent events to have put together
the pieces; this Ranma was obviously Guardian Saturn and probably had been
turned into a woman and made into 'Ruby' as part of some strange plan of
Beryl's.  Several of the others had given away their identities as well.  

	The question was how much to tell Nephrite, and how much to hold
back and give to Beryl privately.  She sat and watched Nodoka practice
with interest.  Nodoka was quite skillful, and also quite lovely.  And
quite single.  While Emerald found herself becoming far more used to being
a woman than she had wished to become, she was still more interested in
women than men, and she found Nodoka quite interesting in both a physical
and mental sense.  

	It might be possible to turn her, he thought.  She was a sensible
woman, and her son might make good leverage.  Her skills would make her
very useful.

	Shampoo now came out of her tent, and perched on a bench to watch
Nodoka practice.  Nodoka asked, "Would you like to spar with me a while?"

	Shampoo smiled.  "Shampoo would love that," she said.

	She came over and they bowed to each other, then started going at
it.  As she ducked under one of Nodoka's swings, aiming a blow at Nodoka's
right leg, Shampoo said, "Shampoo has asked great-grandmother to come
help."

	"Thank you," Nodoka said as she leaped over the blow and kicked
Shampoo in the head.  "We're going to need a lot of help for this."  She
then whacked Shampoo in the shoulder as Shampoo tried to get back up.
"Which reminds me, I need to call Wasyuu tonight."

	Shampoo nodded and bowed, stepping back.  "Better go do that
before you forget."

	Nodoka nodded.  "A good idea.  See you later, Shampoo."

	"See you."

	Nodoka picked up the phone.  Before she finished dialing, Wasyuu
answered.  "Hello, Nodoka-chan!  I see you need the help of the greatest
scientist in the universe, Dr. Wasyuu!"

	Nodoka blinked.  "How did you know..."

	"I've been bored, so I've been watching you for a while.   I saw
you were about to call me, so I hacked the phone."

	"..."

	"I'll be right over."

	The wall shimmered and a door appeared in it.  It opened and
Wasyuu stepped out.  "Hmm, so you need to build a large vault in order to
protect this Rainbow Crystal thing?"

	Nodoka nodded.  "Yes.  If Nephrite doesn't accept a challenge to
fight him for his crystals, we need a place to guard the one we have, so
Usagi doesn't have to carry it everywhere."

	"They're linked, right?"

	"Right."

	"Well, I'll build you a vault, and I should be able to build
something to trace the links through subspace and pull the other ones to
you."

	Nodoka's eyes widened.  "Really?"

	"Really.  I'll get right on it, once I see the one you have."

	"Alright, I'll get Usagi."

	Usagi and Rei soon joined them in the living room with the Yellow
Crystal, which Wasyuu began to scan.  Wasyuu soon frowned.  "Well, I have
good news, and I have bad news."

	"What's the good news?" Usagi asked.

	"I believe I can build you a very good vault to protect this."

	"What's the bad news?"

	"It's magical, and I have little skill with magic.  So I can't
trace the links to the other ones, as it involves magical dimensions, not
technologically accessible ones."  She frowned.  "But I think I could
construct some fakes which would fool casual observation and the
weak-minded.  You see, while I can't duplicate magical energies well
enough to fool anyone smart enough to detect them in the first place, I
can build suggestion devices which will make people THINK they're sensing
the magical energies."

	"That would be a great help," Usagi said.

	"Fortunately, many leylines converge at this point, which I can
tap in order to provide power for the defenses here..."

	Emerald listened from the hallway, frowning.  This may be my best
chance, she thought.  I can't teleport out to get help; they'll sense
that.  But perhaps I can dart in, grab it quickly, and get out.

	Wasyuu cocked her head and said very softly, "Is there supposed to
be someone invisible in the hallway listening in?"

	"No," Nodoka said softly.

	The soft voices were not, however, soft enough.  Emerald decided
it was worth taking the risk.  "Emerald  WHIRLWIND!"  A whirlwind of green
energy erupted across the room, flinging Usagi, Rei, Nodoka, and Wasyuu
like straws in a hurricane.  The yellow crystal flew out of Wasyuu's hands
and into the air.  Emerald tried to go for a dramatic dive to catch it,
but missed it, and it rolled under the table.

	Thus, she was in a rather undignified position of fumbling under
the table when Nodoka kicked her in the ass, sending Emerald sprawling and
knocking the table over, in the process sending the crystal spinning away
from both of them.  Usagi and Rei stumbled to their feet and transformed.  

	"Emerald Shield!" Emerald put up a wall of energy between herself
and the Senshi.  Unfortunately, this still left Wasyuu and Nodoka on the
same side as her.  The Senshi began trying to blast their way through the
barrier.

	Wasyuu was diving for the crystal; an Emerald Bolt knocked her
away from it and sent her tumbling.  But while Emerald did this, Nodoka
drew and drove her katana into Emerald's side, drawing blood.  The
chi-backed blow hurt tremendously.  

	Emerald formed twin blades of glowing green energy and began
driving Nodoka back.  The woman was good, but Emerald had centuries of
experience.  The lack of worthy foes had kept Emerald's skills far less
than they might otherwise have become, but she was still far better than
Nodoka.  

	She should have just blasted Nodoka full force, but she felt
Nodoka might be useful in the future, and she did not wish to mar Nodoka's
beauty, either.  Instead, she focused her power into a mighty blow which
broke Nodoka's sword into small bits, then turned and telekinesed the
yellow crystal into her hands right as Wasyuu dove for it again.

	Sailor Moon then did something Emerald had been afraid she'd think
of earlier; she'd blown a hole in the wall behind her, and crossed over to
the next room to get into the hallway and circle round the barrier.

	There was no need for Emerald to stick around, so she teleported
away.

	Sailor Moon cursed and swore, then pulled herself together.  "We
lost our last crystal!"

	Wasyuu reached into her pocket and extracted a small remote
control.  She pushed a button and the yellow crystal appeared.  "No, we
didn't."

	"You gave him a fake?"

	"I'm not fast enough to make a fake that quickly.  I just stuck a
nano-homing beacon on it so I could pull it back."

	"I suspect Emerald's not going to be feeling too happy right now,"
Nodoka said.

	Wasyuu smiled.  "Well, he'll have something to keep him company."

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

	Emerald stared at the smiling Wasyuu plushie, then threw it on the
ground and stomped on it.  I had it!  I had it in my hands! She thought.
She contemplated getting the youma she had been assigned to join her in a
second assault, but decided it would likely be too late; the Senshi would
be on alert.  Better to report to Nephrite that she knew who had the
crystal and where, and let him call up all his resources to make a play
for it.

	The information she'd gathered would be valuable.  And it was
probably time to report to Beryl, as well.

*****************
	
	Ken finished changing into his pajamas and got ready for bed, but
he had a nervous feeling, like something was watching him.  

	He sat down on his bed, and got out the latest novel in the
Defenestrator series, _Fifty Stories to the Concrete_, in which Mack Bolo,
the Defenestrator, went up against a Colombian drug cartel.  He'd just
reached the part where Mack was trying to survive clinging to the outside
of a speeding bus in six-lane traffic on a four-lane road.  

	Then there was a rustling noise in his closet.  He rushed over and
opened it, but didn't see anything.  He closed the closet, picked up the
book, and heard a sneeze.  He went and looked again.  Still nothing.

	After doing this four more times, he finally said, "Tsubasa, if
that's you disguised as something in my closet, please come on out."

	"I am NOT a guy!" Minako proclaimed.

	He blinked, and opened the door again.  Minako's head was sticking
out of one of his boxes of magazines, which was now full of Minako
instead.  "Why are you in my closet?" he asked.

	"Naoko told me a Dark Lord of the Sith was after you, so I needed
to bodyguard you.  I figure they'll never find me here."

	"..."

	"I'm starting to get a cramp, though."

	"Why don't you just come out and hide under my bed where you can
stretch out?" he asked.

	"Good idea," she said, unfolding herself and emerging.  "Hmm, so
why is this Dark Lord after you anyway?"

	"Damned if I know," Ken said.  "I probably figure in some prophecy
of his destruction or something."

	She nodded.  "The usual.  And of course, you'll only destroy him
because he came after you, whereas, if he had left you alone, you'd have
remained a nerfherder forever."

	"Something like that," he said.

	She scrambled under the bed.  "Don't worry, you're safe under my
protection."

	Well, this is going well so far, Ken thought.  Now I just have to
win her over with my charms, and Tsu will be free for Naoko to grab.  I
can't see WHY she wants Tsu, but to each their own.

	He sat down on the bed again.  Minako said to the bed, "You
picking up any Dark Lords yet, Tsu?"

	From inside the bed, Tsubasa said, "Not yet.  Hey, Konatsu, you
heard anything?"

	From inside the dresser drawers, Konatsu said, "Nothing over
here."

	"..."

	"I thought it best to bring backup," Minako explained to Ken.

	I hate my life, Ken thought.

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

	"A vault?" Beryl asked Emerald.

	"Yes, my Queen.  It might be possible to make an immediate assault
before they are ready."

	"It also might be possible to get our forces slaughtered.  We are
still low on energy, and cannot afford to transport enough troops to make
our victory guaranteed, and the Senshi are many and strong.  None a match
by themselves for any single one of my generals, but their luck is good.
Too good.  We have enough energy to avoid starving to death, so we need
not rush ourselves.  Our strength will grow faster than theirs as we
recruit and train more people from the city.  People not bound to the high
magical energies of Tokyo as we are.  In time, we can drown them if we
must.  We need to get the Princess, and then they will be unable to make
adequate use of the crystal even if they collect all the parts."

	Emerald said, "We also have to worry because their new ally seems
to have some knowledge of dimensional barriers and the like, and may be
able to help them break through to us."

	"That is not entirely a bad thing," Beryl said.  "As anything that
can be used to get in, can be used by us to get out.  But yes, we will
have to heighten security.  I will talk to Moonstone about it."

	"You seem to trust her very much," Emerald said.

	"She has made our survival possible, and given us the way by which
we may finally escape this hellhole.  Her mind is brilliant, even if she
is weak in power.  She is dependent on me to supply her with what she
needs, and in return, I get what I need from her.  We need each other, and
that is the basis of any healthy relationship.  Neither of us is
expendable to the other."

	Emerald nodded.  "How much of this do you wish me to tell
Nephrite?"

`	"Tell him everything.  He will need the information to build a
successful plan to recover the last crystal."

	Emerald nodded.

	Beryl looked thoughtful at Emerald.  "You have served me well in
the purpose for which I set you since I gave you new flesh, Emerald."

	"Thank you, your highness."

	"Tourmaline was very broken up when she heard of your condemnation
to Eternal Sleep."

	Emerald stared at the floor.  "I am glad to know that she cared."

	"I will not inquire as to how far your relationship had gone.  So
long as it does not interfere with your obedience to my orders, I care not
of such things.  Should you serve me well enough, I may come to see fit to
'release you from Eternal Sleep' that you might resume your relationship."

	Emerald bowed.  "You are quite generous, my queen."

	"I know."  For a moment, the harshness of her features softened.
"Love often betrays us, lovers fail us, hope perishes, and joy dies.  And
yet, we find ourselves chasing it again and again.  Perhaps it is our
nature."

	"Perhaps it is, your highness."

	"Go now and tell Nephrite what you have learned."

	"He is likely in bed with his harlot," Emerald said.

	"Likely, but best you pass him the news immediately," Beryl said.
"Any other effects are merely a side benefit."

	Emerald smiled slightly.  "Yes, my Queen, I go to do thy bidding."
And she vanished.
	

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

	"So, I understand you know everything that goes on around here,"
Negiri said to Umino.

	"Before it happens, sometimes," Umino said.

	"I, like you, am a collector of information," she said.  "Perhaps
we can make a trade."

	"Hmm, got any dirt on the next Star Wars movie?" Umino asked.

	"I'm afraid not.  I have managed to acquire some information on
the tennis scandal at Torio, though..."

	His eyes widened.  "With the instructor who was turning the tennis
team into his personal harem?"

	"Pictures, private accounts, etc," Negiri said.

	"Ooooooh.  I'd trade quite a bit for that."

	She opened her carrybag and extracted a folder.  "Take a quick
look, so you know I'm telling the truth." 

	He quickly paged through it, eyes bugging out.  "Alright, this
looks good.  What are you wanting in return?"

	"Information on Gosunkugi Hikaru."

	"Oooh, I know him.  He's a good photographer, and very lucky with
dice and cards and all."

	"He cheats at them?" Negiri asked.

	"I've never caught him cheating; he's just lucky with them.  And I
hear he and Ken are into freaky jello wrestling."

	"..."

	"With each other."

	"..."

	"Then again, I've also heard he's dating Kino Makoto of the Golden
Pair, but I can't find that too plausible either."

	"Hmm, tell me a little more about this Ken fellow..."

**************
	
	"Well, sir, I can say that they didn't really do anything."
Sandstone stood rigidly at attention in Nephrite's cathedral.

	"Didn't do anything?" he asked dubiously.

	"Unless going to a movie, several restaurants, multiple clothing
stores, and an ice cream parlor counts," Sandstone said.

	"They just ran around all day being frivolous?" Nephrite asked in
disbelief.

	"Yes, sir.  And several other Youma were there spying on them."

	"Did you recognize any of them?"

	"Boron works for Zoicite.  I didn't know the others."

	Nephrite frowned.  "Well, I suppose it was inevitable that we'd
all get a little curious."

	Sandstone nodded.  "Yes, sir."

	Nephrite frowned.  "Return to your station. Should I sense Ruby's
return, I will send you to observe her again."

	"Yes sir."  He vanished.

	Ruby...Guardian Saturn had been named Ruby, but Ruby was a male.
He knew Gluttony had been captured on Tourmaline's recent venture out into
the wilds, along with one of the Crystals.  Perhaps Guardian Saturn had
fallen into the hands of Tourmaline as well.  By why turn Saturn into
Beryl's 'daughter'?  It made no sense.  It couldn't be Guardian Saturn;
gender changing magic was possible, (Zoicite's problems illustrated that
well)  but if the intent was to hide his identity, why name him 'Ruby'
when all of the Generals but Tourmaline remembered the old days and would
recognize the name?

	Then again...His eyes widened.  The Sailors might know; some of
them seemed to have some knowledge of the Senshi of the Silver Millenium.
And indeed, might well be those Senshi reborn.  If Guardian Saturn HAD
fallen into the hands of Beryl, then this Ruby might be a fake intended to
snare the Sailors.  As for Ruby being a woman, well, most Youma (for
reasons which remained unclear to Nephrite or anyone else, so far as he
knew) seemed to be female.  Men were outnumbered somewhere around ten to
one, even though the bulk of the original youma, millennia ago, had been
male.  But all of them had died out over the years except the Generals.  

	Alright, so this was probably some trap of Beryl's.  No doubt she
was watching Ruby, in the hopes the Sailors would find her, and then use
her to lead them into a trap.  He frowned.  The woman thing still bothered
him.  There must be something I am not understanding, he thought.

	Iron came in.  "Sir, I'm here to report."

	"Very good."

	"We've assembled a massive list of associates, but they didn't do
anything yesterday which gave away who is and isn't a sailor.  At least
not when we could get close enough to listen in.  But these people can be
watched, and hopefully, we'll have better luck today."  He passed the list
to Nephrite, who studied it.

	"Hmmm, interesting, interesting..." he said.  "Alright, you seem
to be making progress.  Continue the observations."

	"There's another thing, sir."

	"Yes?" Nephrite asked.

	"There's another person, a mortal named Shusendo Negiri, spying on
Jupiter's boyfriend, Guardian Pluto.  Working for someone named 'Sanzenin
Mikado'.  Might be an agent of another general.  Or just a jealous rival,
as this Mikado is apparently Jupiter's skating partner."

	"Hmm, I believe further conversation with him would be good.  Have
Pumice keep an eye on Jupiter.  Take Carbon and Granite and go get this
'Mikado' and bring him to me."

	Iron saluted.  "Yes sir.  Any further orders?"

	"Grab me this Negiri as well."

	"Yes, sir!"  Then Iron vanished.

	Time to prepare for the testing, he thought.

************
   
	"Well, we could just improve Kodachi's deathtrap," Mamoru said.
"It's already quite impressive."

	"But the temple is our headquarters," Rei said.  "Well, more or
less.  And several of us live here and can thus defend it better."

	"Simply solved," Wasyuu said.  "I'll remove it into a subspace
pocket, then tow it over and anchor it 'under' the temple."

	Kodachi said, "But then there will be a big hole under our
mansion."

	"I'll terraform it into your own private zoo," Wasyuu said.

	Kodachi clapped her hands.  "Can we have a water part for Mr.
Green Turtle too?"

	"Of course."

	"How quickly can you do this?" Usagi asked.

	"In just a few days," Wasyuu said.  "Barring disaster."

	"Good, you'd best get onto it," Usagi said.

	Wasyuu smiled.  "I haven't built a good deathtrap in a while."

	Setsuna's eyes widened.  "Hmm, are you any good at breaking
chains?"

	"Chains?" Wasyuu asked in confusion.

	Setsuna explained the Chains of Love to Wasyuu in great detail.

	Wasyuu replied, "Hmm, come to my lab.  I'll see what I can do for
you."

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

	Ken looked up at the ceiling; Minako was still up there between
the rafters.  "Are you going to stay there all day?" he asked, sitting on
the couch in the living room of his family's house.  His folks were at
work. 

	"I have to be ready for any Dark Lords of the Sith," Minako
replied.  "They won't expect a ninja on the ceiling and another one in the
couch."

	At least Tsubasa had finally gone home, Ken thought.  This wasn't
working out like he'd hoped for at all, though.  "You'd best change out of
ninja garb and sit on the couch with me," he said.  "That way, you'll be
hidden in plain sight, as you won't look like a ninja."

	"Hmm, good idea," she said, dropping down and tossing a pepper
grenade to hide her quick change.  Unfortunately, pepper grenades make
poor cover, though the heavy sneezing which followed DID cover the SOUND
of the quick change.

	He began flipping channels.  "So what's up with you and Tsu,
anyway?"

	"Mad passionate sex every night until we pass out."

	Ken turned red.  "Daaamn."

	"Hmm, Konatsu was right, you did turn beet red."

	"..."

	"Actually, I'm still a virgin, though I wouldn't be if I hadn't
gotten the love potion and the itching potion backwards."  She sighed.
"Tsu's a nice boyfriend, but every time I try anything, the furniture
starts talking to him, and he just loses the mood."  She sighed.  "Do you
know how to make spirits shut up?"

	"..."

	"I suppose not," Minako said.  "Are you still mad at me about that
disaster with the love potions?"

	"No," he said.  "Although if it ever happens again..."

	She leaned over and kisses his cheek.  "That's sweet of you to be
so forgiving."

	Well, that's further than I've gotten with anyone else, he
thought.  "So you serve Naoko's family?"

	She nodded.  "Yes, as she won me away from the Gambling King.  He
won me away from the teahouse where I was trained."

	"You must have had a strange life."

	"Yes, I certainly have," Minako said.  "Tea House Ninja, Sailor
Senshi, dating a man who talks to spirits, and all."  She paused.  "You
didn't hear me say the Sailor Senshi part."

	"You're one of the Sailor Senshi?" Ken asked.

	"I meant to say...I sailed with Mensa.  Yes.  I was a Mensa
Sailor."

	"Minako, please don't insult my intelligence with that claim."

	She sighed.  "Yes, yes, I'm one of the Senshi.  But don't tell
anyone, pleeeeaaaasssse."

	He was thoughtful.  "I can do it on one condition."

	"I'll do anything!!!"

	"Hmm, I'd like a kiss."  Here's my chance to wow her with my raw
masculine appeal, he thought.

	"I can't do that!  I have a boyfriend!"

	He sighed.  "Bitter and alone, I must go and shout out my sadness
to the heavens."  He rose.  "How the Senshi of Love couldn't grant my
request for just one tender kiss."  I'd better lay it on thick, he
thought.

	"And I thought you liked guys, anyway."

	"That was YOUR fault!"

	"Oh, right."  She sighed.  "Okay, one kiss."

	He smiled where it couldn't be seen, then turned to face her.
"I'm ready."

	She whipped a roll of tape out of her sleeve, taped his mouth
shut, then kissed the tape.  "There you go."

	"Mrrrr!!!!"

	"Don't worry, I'll pull it right..."  She yanked and yanked and
yanked, and it wouldn't come off.  She checked the label.  Oh no, I used
my special super sticky ninja tape!  "Hey, Konatsu, do you have any Ninja
Tape Remover?"

	Konatsu rolled out from under the couch, holding a sword.  "Does
this count?"

	Ken waved his arms wildly.  Minako said, "No."

	"We could dissolve it with acid."

	Ken shook his head no.

	"Well, I'll run to the nearest NinjaMart and see if I can get some
tape dissolver."

	"Thanks," Minako said.

	Konatsu took off.

	"You know, this would be a really bad time for the Dark Lord of
the Sith to attack," Minako said.

	There was an ominous pause.

	And another.

	And another.

	Because, in fact, nothing was going to attack any time soon.

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

	Nephrite felt quite proud of himself for having figured out the
basic principle on which the transformation items of the Senshi worked.
It was partly magical, and partly psychological, and he believed he could
use it to test out potential recruits much more easily and familiarize the
reincarnated with using their abilities much quicker than the methods
they'd been using.  The downside was that it did take a while to actually
make the appropriate item, and it had to be hand-tailored to the subject.
Fortunately, his intimacies with Misao had given him enough knowledge of
her to make something appropriate, combined with his observation of her at
the Temple.  

	She looked around his 'cathedral' nervously as she stood in the
center of the Zodiac wheel he'd carved into the rock.  Various symbols
glowed and various lines formed as it traced out her horoscope for the
day.  

	He stepped forward and handed her a broach, a carnelian set in the
center of a zodiac wheel.  "First, put this on."

	She did so.  "Alright, what is next?"

	The lines on the wheel glowed brighter, and now they duplicated
themselves on the broach itself.  "A good sign," he said.  "Now, you must
say, Carnelian Transformation, Activate!"

	She blinked.  "Alright.  Carnelian Transformation, ACTIVATE!"  

	The broach and the wheel flared in unison, and thousands of stars
rained down around her, forming a glowing sheath of energy.  She could be
seen rising off the ground inside it, her clothing ripping itself apart
and reforming into Greek-style armor (a helmet with a crest, a sleeveless
breast-plate and back which covered the torso and neck, but left the arms
mostly bare except for just below the shoulders, and a short skirt of
overlapping plates), the outfit being made of magically reinforced
carnelian.  The broach fused with the armor itself, just above her left
breast.  Her skin had turned fairly pale, and her hair had grown out to
several times its length and turned blood red.  Her eyes glittered violet.
She bore a spear in her right hand.  After looking down at herself, she
asked, "Do you have a mirror?"

	He nodded and handed her one.  She studied herself.  "I look
rather different."

	"Your powers have been awakened, though it will likely take a
while for you to recover all your memories and build your body up to
whatever your old power levels were, Carnelian."  He stepped forward,
pushed her helmet back a little (it left the face bare, but the crest got
in the way of what he wanted to do, since he was taller than her), and
kissed her softly on the lips.  "You are very beautiful to me."  He looked
contemplative.  "You look rather like the Queen."

	"Perhaps we were related," Carnelian said, listening to her own
voice, which sounded different.  "Do I sound different?"

	"Yes, your voice is a little deeper," he said.  "We will need to
present you to Beryl soon, but I'd like to spend a few days training you
up in your powers first."

	She nodded.  "Alright."  She shyly took his hand; she felt strange
and wonderful, full of power and strength.    "What do I do?"

	"The first thing is to learn your basic attack.  It is called
'Gemstone Strike'."

	She nodded.  "More shouting and pointing?"

	He laughed.  "More or less.  Let me see about getting you
something to shoot at..."

	After some thought, he called up an image of Sailor Jupiter.
"What does she evoke in you?"

	Carnelian frowned.  "I don't remember meeting her, but I don't
like her at all."

	"Good, good.  She will be your target.  She's just an illusion,
but I will do my best to make her give you a work out."

	She nodded, and got into something she hoped might be a fighting
stance.

	Jupiter began to run back and forth.  Carnelian studied her
movements, then shouted, "GEMSTONE STRIKE!" and aimed where she hoped
Jupiter would be.  Jupiter leaped out of the way, but Carnelian's hands
glowed, and a barrage of gemstones erupted from them, firing off across
the cathedral, then exploding when they hit the wall.

	"Very good," he said.  "Try again."

	On the fifth try, she nailed Sailor Jupiter, who exploded.  "Got
her!" she crowed triumphantly.

	"Very good," he said.  "Now, let's work on defenses..."


******************
 
	"Spin," Usagi spun, then kicked.  "And kick.  Got it?"

	Naru, who had been following along, now tried to do the kata
herself.  She got most of the way through it, then got lost right after a
triple punch.  "Wait, how does it end?"

	With Ranma and Genma both gone, the martial arts lessons had come
to an end, but Usagi was still working on training Naru.  They were out in
the courtyard, working on a new kata.

	"Leap, then a low punch, a kick, then you land, then you spin and
kick."  Usagi demonstrated.

	Naru nodded, and redid the kata from the start.  The kick during
the leap threw her off balance and she landed on her side instead of on
her feet.  Usagi ran over to her, but she was already getting up and
dusting herself off.  "Are you alright?" she asked Naru.

	"That wasn't fun," Naru said, then she moved into the opening
stance.  "But it doesn't hurt half as much as when you kick me, so..."

	Usagi sighed.  "I'm sorry, Naru."

	"Don't be sorry.  I've got to be able to take being hit if I'm
going to do this," Naru said, trying to make herself smile.  "I want to
get good enough to help you fight the monsters so I can try and help you
get Ranma back." 

	Usagi's eyes widened.  "Naru-chan..."  She felt a flare of guilt
that she hadn't been able to do anything to help Ranma yet.  

	"I guess I've mostly gotten over the crush I had on him, but I
still...I know you love him, and he's my friend, and I want to be able to
help him."

	It would be a while, probably quite a while before Naru was good
enough for Usagi to be comfortable with letting Naru help fight the
monsters.  But she didn't want to discourage her.  Naru was practicing a
lot harder lately, Usagi now realized.  She probably started because she
had a crush on Ranma, Usagi thought.  But I bet I can make a strong
warrior of her.  She did her best to smile, which wasn't easy after being
reminded again of Ranma's plight.

	"Thank you, Naru-chan," Usagi said.  "It'll be a while before
you're that good, but I can tell you're getting better every day."

	"I'll do my best!" Naru said, smiling, then tried the kata again.
Some parts of it were wobbly, and a few moves were out of order, but she
got through the whole thing this time.

	Usagi corrected her, and after four more tries, Naru got
everything in the right order without any accidents.  "Good," Usagi said.
"Now, do it ten times."

	"Ten times????"

	"It'll help you learn it well enough to be able to practice it at
home."

	Naru laughed nervously, then began doing it, over and over.  Usagi
began running through it alongside her, synching herself to Naru's speed;
she could do it much faster, but that wouldn't help.

	Shampoo came out of the temple and sat down and watched them, then
said, "You keep hesitating after the back kick, Naru."

	Naru laughed nervously.  "I have to pause and remind myself of the
second half of the kata."

	"Hesitation in battle can be fatal," Shampoo said.

	"Which is why we practice these until they become second nature,"
Naru said.

	Shampoo's eyes widened slightly, then she smiled.  "Exactly.
Perhaps you've got the makings of a warrior more than I thought."

	Naru frowned.  "I'm learning as fast as I can."

	"Oh, you could learn much faster if you tried," Shampoo said.
"But most Japanese women are soft."

	Naru frowned.  "That's because we learn to make our brains strong
instead."

	"Strong brain won't stop a sword," Shampoo said.  She moved in a
blur, and stopped with her bonbori each an inch from Naru's head.  "Now, a
strong woman would have blocked those."

	"I didn't know you were going to attack me!" Naru said.

	"Enemies usually don't bother to send invitation to die," Shampoo
replied.  "Strong women must always be ready for attack."  Her hand came
up and caught Usagi's foot as it lashed out at her head.  "Like that."

	"Don't be mean to Naru-chan, big sister," Usagi said.  "She's
doing her best."

	"If that's her best, it's not good enough," Shampoo said.  "Naru
wouldn't last three minutes against a youma.  She's going to have to do a
lot better."

	Naru glared at Shampoo, then stepped back from her, and started
doing the kata with a look of grim determination on her face.  Shampoo
watched carefully; there was no hesitation at the midpoint this time.
"Hah!" Naru said at the end.

	Shampoo said, "Better.  Not good enough, but definitely better."

	"That was very good, Naru-chan," Usagi said.

	"Usagi is too kind.  Shampoo not want to see Naru die pointlessly.
That was not adequate either.  But keep working, and in a few years, you
might make it."

	"Years?"

	Usagi frowned.  She didn't need Shampoo discouraging Naru
"Shampoo..."

	"Shampoo not lie to Naru.  Naru has potential, but it takes many,
many years to get as good as Shampoo or Usagi.  Monsters are dangerous,
powerful fighters.  There's no point in getting yourself killed because
your training wasn't good enough."  Shampoo folded her arms across her
chest.  "When you good enough to hit Shampoo, then you good enough to
fight monsters."

	To her surprise, Naru didn't immediately lash out at her to try to
score the hit.  Good, she thought.  The girl can keep a rein on her
temper.  Martial artists who couldn't tended to quickly end up dead.  

	"I'll show you!" Naru said.  "Sooner than you think!"  She turned
back to her kata and began practicing it intensely.  

	Shampoo turned and walked away, smiling once Naru couldn't see it.
That would light a fire under the girl's feet, Shampoo thought.  And she
needed to know the truth.  No point in getting Usagi's friend killed or
too overconfident.  

	Usagi ran after Shampoo.  "That was mean."

	"Shampoo just administering a dose of truth.  Great-Grandmother
would never approve of Shampoo letting Usagi's friend get killed because
Usagi filled Naru's head with too much hope."

	"You have to encourage people so they don't give up!"

	"And you have to make sure they don't get false hopes," Shampoo
said.  "Teachers can't always just be kind."

	"She's learning very quickly."

	"Not as quickly as you did," Shampoo said.  "Or I.  Part-time
training takes much longer."

	Usagi sighed.  "Naru doesn't have time to train all the time like
we did.  Especially since once the summer break is over, she'll be back to
school."

	"Shampoo understands.  Shampoo just doesn't want Naru to get crazy
ideas about trying to fight monsters when she's not ready."

	Usagi nodded.  "I know.  I don't want her to get killed either.
But you catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

	"Naru deserves to know the truth.  Shampoo thinks she has
potential and wants her to live to fulfil it.  Naru will work hard to make
Shampoo eat Shampoo's words now, and hopefully think twice about anything
crazy."

	Usagi paused and looked her up and down.  "That sounded just like
Great-Grandmother."

	Shampoo laughed.  "Grandmother used same trick on Shampoo long
ago."

	"I'm glad she's coming; we can use her help," Usagi said.

	"We'll see if Usagi thinks that once Great-Grandmother puts her on
full-time training again."

	"Eeeep."

	"Exactly.  See you later, little sister."

	"See you."


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

	"You want me to WHAT?" Haruka yelled at her mother.

	Her mother smiled.  "It's time to take you to the beauty salon,
and finally do something with your hair."  Ten'ou Momoe patted her own
curly black hair.  "We'll get you a nice perm like mine."

	Haruka cringed.  "I don't WANT a perm."

	"Sure you do.  It's good for you."

	"Good for me?  I can't go racing with a PERM.  All the guys will
laugh their asses off."

	"If their asses are so poorly attached, they deserve to lose them.
Now, I've already made the appointment, so we're going, and that's that.
Don't worry, I'll ask them for the most masculine perm they have."

	Haruka sighed.  "There's NOTHING masculine about a perm."

	"Hmm, we could get you an afro, maybe."

	Haruka twitched.  "Okay, you win."

	Momoe smiled.  "It'll be lots of fun."

	For you, Haruka thought.		
	

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

	Iron, Carbon, and Granite threw their two captives down on the
ground.  "We've got them, sir," Iron said to Nephrite.

	Nephrite looked down at the woman and the man.  "So, what is your
interest in Sailor Jupiter, Mr. Sanzenin?"

	"Who?  Is she cute?" he asked.

	"He doesn't seem to be aware of that," Carbon said.

	"Hey, he's one of the Golden Pair," Carnelian said.

	"Golden Pair?" Nephrite asked.

	"He and Kino Makoto.  They're pretty good skaters."

	"So, he's just a stupid jealous mortal, and this is some woman he
hired to spy on her?" Nephrite said.

	"That would seem to sum it up, sir."

	He frowned.  "Hmm, well, I may find a use for them anyway."

	"You can't stifle the Press!" Negiri shouted.

	"You're not a reporter," Granite pointed out.

	"Had to try," she muttered.  "So what are you going to do with
us?"

	"Are you familiar with the concept of 'cannon fodder'?" Nephrite
asked.

	"I didn't realize cannons eat," Mikado said.

	"I think I'm smart enough to qualify to operate the cannon,"
Negiri said.

	"Really?" Nephrite asked.

	"Or at least I don't want to die anywhere near this moron," Negiri
said.

	"Alright, I can appreciate that sentiment."  Nephrite looked
thoughtful.  "I'll give you a chance to make something of yourself."

	"Good.  You won't regret it."

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

	Ryouga stared at the giant buzzsaw.  "Do you really need to make
it that big?"

	"Yes."  Wasyuu grinned.

	Setsuna suspected Wasyuu was lying, but she was the best hope they
had.  "So what do we need to do?"
	
	Wasyuu punched away on her keyboard, after which two tables moved
over close to each other.  "Lie down on these tables and extend your
chained arms towards each other."

	They both laid down and extended their arms.  Then Wasyuu
manuevered the buzzsaw into position to slide between them.  It moved
through the space between their arms.  "There you go," Wasyuu said.

	Ryouga blinked.  "That was easy."

	"Well, the trick, you see, is to extend the polydimensional
buzzsaw through all possible dimensions to cut the actual energy conduit
connecting your chains," Wasyuu said.  "They should now no longer be
linked, so I can cut them off, easily."

	Setsuna said, "Let's test that."  She went over and walked out of
the room.  A few seconds later, she fell from the air onto Wasyuu.
"Didn't work."

	"They must extend through magical dimensions.  I'll have to see if
I can hack their defenses.  This way..."

	She lead them to a huge machine full of switches, dials, and
knobs, with a large arm-shaped hole in it.  "Okay, Ryouga, put your arm in
there."

	Nervously, he did so.

	Wasyuu began pounding away at her keyboard, periodically telling
Setsuna to flip various switches and turn knobs for her.  Finally, she
said, "Very, very ingenious.  And rather magical, which is making things
difficult.  So, I will have to take drastic measures."

	"Like what?"

	"Clone your bodies, then transfer your minds into the clones,
leaving your old bodies chained together," Wasyuu said.

	"..."  Ryouga stared at her.  

	"Umm, I think maybe we should exhaust less radical solutions
first," Setsuna said.

	"I could cut off your arms and grow you new ones or give you
cyberlimb replacements," Wasyuu said.

	"Mmm...no." Setsuna said.

	"But they could be a lot of help to you!"

	"Not the kind of help I need."

	Wasyuu sighed.  "Hmm, we'll have to try the precision laser,
then."

	She took them over to a ten foot wide, one hundred foot long giant
laser.  "Alright, Ryouga, stick out your arm."

	Ryouga said, "Uhh, is this the right cannon?"

	"Don't worry, it doesn't damage human flesh."

	Ryouga frowned.  "You sure?"

	Wasyuu lead him around to the side.  "Here's the label, you see."

	"Model X-$-7 Laser Cannon.  Fries human flesh to ash in 3 seconds
flat.  Warning:  Do not point at friends."

	Wasyuu laughed nervously.  "Oops, the X-$-7 looks just like the
X-%-7, which doesn't damage human flesh."

	"No lasers," Ryouga said firmly.

	"Hmm, hmm."  Wasyuu began pounding away on her keyboard.  "Going
to have to take drastic measures."

	"Drastic measures?"

	"I'll marry you to each other, so you can get the chains off, then
give you a quickie divorce."

	"You can do that?" Setsuna asked in surprise.

	"I am a mail-order bishop."

	"..."

	Ryouga said, "I'm not sure if the Chains acknowledge mail-order
bishoprics."

	"Well, we can try it.  Either they will or they'll ignore me
completely, and I'm sure the marriage ceremony won't explode," Wasyuu
said.

	"Well, I suppose it can't hurt," Setsuna said.

	"Worth a try," Ryouga said.

	"Alright.  Give me a second to find my hat."  Wasyuu wandered
around, and finally extracted a tall white hat, covered with images of
brightly colored fish and marmalade jars.  She put it on and her clothing
transformed into similarly decorated priestly robes.  "Alright, where's my
staff..."

	She reached behind a bookcase and extracted a long staff with a
hooked end.  It was decorated with fish and marmalade jars.  "Alright.
You two ready?"

	"Umm, I guess," Ryouga said.

	She tapped each of them on the head, then began reciting from a
holy book.  This went on and on and on as the two of them stood nervously,
worried that something would go horribly wrong.

	Ryouga began wondering if maybe Wasyuu was secretly working for
his parents and once she got him married off to Setsuna, then she'd refuse
to grant the divorce, and he'd be stuck.  Once the idea got in his head,
his depression began to swell, worse and worse.  He was going to end up
having to marry Setsuna, and then he would never know true happiness.

	Setsuna felt her danger senses beginning to twitch.  Something was
wrong.  "Wasyuu-san," she began.

	"Call me Bishop Wasyuu-chan," Wasyuu said, then resumed the
reading.

	"Bishop Wasyuu-chan, I'm sensing danger."

	Setsuna tried to focus, and realized she could feel pulses of
energy from the chains.  Her head was starting to swim.  Her nerves began
to jangle.  Something horrible was going to happen, she could feel it.
Something...  She glanced over at Ryouga, who was starting to glow
blackly.  

	Dammit, she thought.  His shadow self must be trying to break free
or something.

	Wasyuu said, "Dan...uh oh.  As Bishop, I declare you both man and
wife!  Chains be gone!"

	There was a bright flash of light from the chains, which appeared
again and fell to the ground.  Ryouga stared at them in shock, and the
black aura around him grew higher.  

	Wasyuu glanced at him, as Setsuna transformed, just in case.
Wasyuu said, "Unfortunately, I must now annul this marriage, because
Setsuna's status as foster sister to Ryouga imposes a blockage of
affinity.  Or is it consanguinity?  Or maybe fosterinity or..."

	Ryouga stopped glowing black as it sank in that he was now
chain-free.  

	The chains suddenly glowed black.

	There was a terrible silence.  

	And then hundreds of chains with a manacle attached to one end
erupted out of the manacles on the ends of the Chains of Love, and began
to snake out in all directions.

	"This is going to be one of those very painful learning
experiences, I see," Wasyuu muttered.

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

	Michiru sat back and let her usual hairdresser, Biyoshi, ramble on
about her love life, politics, and gossip about the stars while she simply
enjoyed being waited on hand and foot.  As she drowsed, Biyoshi said, "I
hear there's some band, the Three Stars, they're very popular with the
younger girls these days."

	"I hear they're cross-dressing freaks," Michiru said a little
loudly, as she saw Haruka come in the door with some older woman.  

	Aiyoshi, the tall, hefty hairdresser who was sitting in her own
service chair next to Michiru got up and said, "Now, now, one shouldn't be
judgmental at such a tender age, Kai'ou-san."

	"That's our job, after all," Biyoshi said.

	Momoe guided Haruka over to Aiyoshi.  "This is my daughter,
Haruka.  She needs a perm."

	"And etiquette lessons, and some proper clothing," Michiru said.

	"Getting yourself all prettied up before you go perform for your
two boyfriends?" Haruka asked Michiru.  "Better make sure her hair can't
fall down over her eyes, when she's taking off..."

	Momoe put a hand over Haruka's mouth.  "Now, now, hair salons are
meant to be places of peace and happiness, where our hair is transformed,
and we're made to feel pretty, inside and out."

	A redheaded teenager a few chairs down, who was getting her hair
done along with two of her friends (one tall and dark haired, one shorter
with brown hair,) said,  "Exactly.  And where you can get people to pamper
your every whim."  She turned her attention to the hard-working
hairdresser, "Don't forget to scrub down to the roots."

	"Yes, ma'am."  

	"I don't want a perm," Haruka muttered.

	"I could use my special hair-growth tonic, and grow your hair out
and give you a pony-tail," Aiyoshi suggested.

	"Not the hair-growth tonic again," Biyoshi moaned.  "Every time
you use that stuff, we have some sort of horrible disaster."

	The redheaded woman twitched every so subtly.  "Hair growth
tonic?"

	"Yes, I got it from this Chinese salesman a while back.  It works
very well," Aiyoshi said.

	The redhead's hair dresser, Seiyoshi, said, "If by well, you mean
'abject catastrophe'."

	"May I see it?" the redhead asked.

	Aiyoshi passed the bottle over to her.  The redhead studied it
carefully.  

	Haruka sat down in the chair, feeling her skin crawl at the
thought of a perm.  

	Michiru could feel her skin crawling at the thought of being stuck
next to Haruka.

	The redhead said, "So you have to heat it before you use it?"

	Aiyoshi blinked.  "Heat it?"

	"Right here.  The instructions are so small, you can hardly read
them."

	"Ahh, heat it, not beat it."

	"..."  Biyoshi stared at Aiyoshi.

	The redhead passed it back to Aiyoshi.  "There you go."

	"So, would you like to try it?" Aiyoshi asked Haruka hopefully.

	"Oh hell, why not.  I can always have you cut my hair short again
afterwards if it looks terrible," Haruka said.  Might as well do something
to make mom happy; she's always wanting me to grow my hair out.

	"Alright, let me heat this up..."

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

	"Ruby is doing WHAT?" Zoicite asked 

	"She's gone to a hairdresser.  With Neptune and Uranus!"  Boron
shouted.

	"Are you sure it's Uranus?"  Zoicite asked.

	"Yes.  Assuming the information we got from Neptune about the
Senshi when you had her captive is correct, anyway," Boron said. 

	"And what are they doing?"

	"Getting haircare."

	"Just getting haircare?" Zoicite asked dubiously.

	"Yes."

	"They can't JUST be getting haircare!"

	"Umm, well, maybe Ruby is secretly controlling everyone who gets a
perm or something."

	"How cunning," Zoicite said.  "But not cunning enough.  I bet
she's planning to betray us to the Senshi!"

	"Or maybe she just needs a good hair washing.  She has enough hair
for three women."

	"Hah!  I'll go and spy on them myself and get PROOF!"

	"I'll just go let General Kunzite know about this."

	"You do that. I'm off to crush this MENACE!"  Zoicite turned into
a woman.

	"Sir, you..."

	"This time, I MEANT to do it," Zoicite said, turning her uniform
into a frilly dress.  "They'll never recognize me in this cunning
disguise."

	"As you like, sir." 

	Boron and Zoicite both teleported out.

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

	"Okay, now aim the punch like..." Usagi had to cut herself off to
leap up high over the chains erupting out of the temple.  

	Naru was not fast enough.  A manacle clamped onto her leg, and
then glowed brightly.  "What the..."  A second later, she vanished.

	Another one came after Usagi, who ran.  She saw manacles grab
Shingo-neko, who vanished.  Grandpa sprinted out of the temple, only to be
grabbed by a manacle and vanish as well.  

	The manacles were multiplying. Usagi fled across the yard and
tried calling people desperately, while running to stay ahead of the
manacles.

	It took her a while to assemble her strike force.  Rei, Grandpa,
Nodoka, Naru, Shingo-Neko, Hotaru, Wasyuu, Setsuna, and Ryouga were all
captives of the manacles, trapped in Wasyuu's lab by them.  Shampoo had
managed to evade them and hooked up with Usagi.  Mamoru soon arrived with
Ami, Gosunkugi, and Makoto.  Minako wouldn't come because she seemed to
think Darth Vader was after Ken or something (although she said she could
come if they really, really, really needed her), and Haruka, Naoko, and
Michiru weren't taking calls.  

	Sailor Moon petted Luna absently while Mercury scanned the chains,
which were now latching onto everything they could, though fortunately
they didn't seem able to teleport trees and the temple buildings.  "Found
anything?"

	"The Chains of Love have gone berserk," Mercury said.

"We sorta noticed that already," Jupiter said.

	"They're coming out of Wasyuu's laboratory through the dimensional
door in the living room," Mercury said.  "If we get through it and shut
it, we can keep the chains from reaching out all over the temple."

	"But then we'll be trapped inside with the chains," Guardian Pluto
pointed out.

	"If we all pool our powers and back up Tuxedo Kamen's dispelling
abilities, with Guardian Pluto guiding the attack to the weakest point in
the chains, we should be able to knock out the chains once we get through
to the heart of them," Mercury said.  "How does that sound?"

	"Sounds reasonable to me," Sailor Moon said.  "We'd best form a
wedge to make our way through the chains to the door."

	She and Shampoo formed the apex of the wedge with Jupiter and
Tuxedo Kamen backing them up, followed by Guardian Pluto and Mercury at
the ends of the wedge.  "Okay, LET'S GO!" Sailor Moon shouted, and they
charged across the courtyard and towards the temple.

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

	"Yes, it would appear some sort of giant chain monster is
attacking the Hikawa Temple," Emerald reported to Nephrite.  "This might
be our ideal moment to strike."

	"Hmm, it would be good to have more time to prepare, but yes, if
they're in the middle of fighting a monster, this might well be ideal.  Is
it one of ours?"

	"I have no idea whatsoever where it came from, but it's grabbing
anything that gets too close to the temple."

	"Alright, let's gather our forces, and see what we can do."
	
****************

	Haruka could feel her hair growing; it was kind of creepy. I'm not
going to look like me at all by the time this is done, she thought.  I
should have just taken the perm, but no, I had to decide to experiment.
I'll end up looking like Michiru or something, I just know it.

	Michiru laid back and tried to ignore Haruka, while Biyoshi
rambled on.  She gossiped a bit with the redhead, who had introduced
herself as Jacqueline Ruby (her friends were Mary and Morgan Water).  She
seemed much more feminine than that thug Haruka.  

	A tall, thin blonde woman now entered, wearing a very expensive
looking dress.  Another one of the hairdressers ushered her to a chair and
soon began tending to her needs.  Haruka and Michiru could feel their
nerves jangle just looking at her.

	She's probably a youma, and I'm going to end up having to blow up
Mom's hairdresser, Haruka thought.  Hmm, this may not be so bad after all.

	If she's a minion of evil, she'd better not attack me before I get
my nails done, Michiru thought.  And if I chip a nail, someone dies.

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

	Nephrite, Carnelian (who had insisted on coming, though Nephrite
wasn't sure if she was ready), Emerald, and the rest of the Dirty Dozen,
teleported into the temple grounds.  There were chains everywhere, trying
to grab everything.  Half the Dirty Dozen got grabbed and vanished in the
first few seconds.  The rest formed a circle and began blasting their way
through the chains and into the temple.

	"This is going to be very annoying," Nephrite said.

	"You're telling me?" Emerald replied.

	"They're coming out of that..."  A manacle grabbed Carnelian's
ankle.  "Ahh!"  She vanished.

	"CARNELIAN!" Nephrite shouted, blasting more of the chains apart,
and running towards the door Carnelian had been pointing to.

	"Nephrite, no, we..." Emerald shouted.  

	Nephrite running left a gap in the circle.  The chains flowed in
through the gap, soon overwhelming the remainder of the Dirty Dozen,
except for Emerald, who teleported out.  Going to have to get help, she
thought.  Much as I hate Nephrite, I can't leave him to die while he has
five of the crystals.

	Time to go find Tourmaline, she thought.

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

	Zoicite listened carefully to Ruby and Michiru.  It all seemed to
be insane, incessant prattle about makeup and dresses and rockstars and
other things.  Her brain was starting to melt just from listening.

	It must be a code, Zoicite thought.  She's subverted our sleeper
agent, and now Michiru is reporting to HER.  I should just kill them...no,
no, can't be hasty.  Beryl might have approved this for some insane
reason.  I'll just listen carefully, and report it all to Beryl.

	Haruka looked at herself in the mirror.  The long hair wasn't bad
looking, and she had to admit Aiyoshi had done it up very well.  Even the
two 'antenna' strands arcing up in front looked kind of neat.  But it
didn't look like the hair of a racer.  She looked too feminine.

	Moemi smiled.  "You look beautiful."

	"You actually look less thuggish than usual like that," Michiru
said.

	"Hmm.  Well, I sort of like looking thuggish," Haruka said.

	"Which is why you don't have a lover," Michiru said.

	"Better than having two like you."

	"I think you look very lovely like this," Moemi said to Haruka.

	"I do not have two boyfriends!  My parents are making me get
engaged to Kunou, and Mamoru is not my boyfriend!" Michiru said heatedly.

	"When Kunou is looking," Haruka said.

	"At any time!  Not that you, who has never had a boyfriend, would
understand!" Michiru shouted.  I don't even like men, Michiru thought.
Although if Mamoru was a woman...  But best not to think of silly things
like that.

	"I could have as many boyfriends as I want," Haruka said.  "Even
looking masculine."

	Michiru laughed sarcastically.  "Uh huh.  No one could ever fall
for you."

	"Oh yeah?" Haruka said.  "I'll show you!  I can get a boyfriend
any time I want!"  A tiny part of Haruka's brain told her that she was
being an idiot, but the part which was too competitive for its own good
was in the driver's seat.

	"Well, then, willing to put something on the line, hmm?" Michiru
asked.

	"Any time!"  

	"You have one month to get a boyfriend.  If you get one in that
time, I'll cut my hair short and dress as a man for a month," Michiru
said.  "If you can't find one, then..."

	"She has to try to seduce Umino," Jacqueline Ruby suggested.

	"Ooooh, that's evil.  I like it," Michiru said.  "And you have to
dress like a proper woman for a month."

	Haruka scrunched up her face.  "Then, if I win, YOU have to go
seduce Umino.  Fair's fair."

	Michiru smiled.  "Alright."  Even with beautiful long hair, that
thug could never win a man's heart, she thought.  I can't lose.

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

	Nephrite tried blasting the chains as he hung from a giant laser
by his foot, but here, they seemed to regenerate as fast as they were
blasted.  Most of the Senshi, his youma, and various other folk all
dangled from various objects.  "Damnation."

	"This isn't even how they're supposed to work!" Setsuna said.
"They didn't do this before."

	"They're malfunctioning," Wasyuu said.  "I fear my marital powers
didn't read properly, and a magical subroutine crashed, and now the chains
are thrashing."

	Naru said, "I feel woozy," as she swung back and forth.

	"Oh, the chains are slowly draining all our power to make more
chains," Wasyuu said.  "I have to say, when these things go berserk, they
go berserk."

	"Maybe Emerald will rescue us," Carnelian said.

	"Emerald will probably only show up to laugh at us," Nephrite
said.

	"Look, if we all work together, we can beat this thing," Sailor
Moon said.  "I know we're enemies, but I also know you don't want to get
killed by these stupid chains any more than we do."

	"What do you propose?" Nephrite asked warily.

	"I suggest we pool our powers, and augment Tuxedo Kamen's
dispelling abilities, like we tried to do earlier.  All of us together
ought to be able to do it."

	Wasyuu said, "I could try marrying you all to each other again."

	"NO," Ryouga said firmly.

	Nephrite nodded.  "Alright.  That seems reasonable enough."  Once
the chains are off, we can attack while they're all tired, he thought.  

	Everyone began concentrating, and trying to pool their power.  It
was a good plan, and might have worked, except that trying to pool good
and evil magic together is not the wisest of ideas.  Black and white
strands of power came together, and for a moment, there was silence.

	And then there was a huge explosion of magical energy.  

	Everyone felt very tired, and the chains had all vanished.
Instead, everyone now had an invisible bracelet on, and could feel someone
else in the room.  Nephrite was joined to Sailor Jupiter, Iron to Tuxedo
Kamen, Carnelian to Guardian Pluto, Hotaru to Silicon, and so on, one
person from each side linked to someone on the other side.  Sailor Pluto
wasn't sure if being chained to Sandstone was a step up or down.  

	Hotaru tried draining energy from one of the youma to restore her
own energy, but it was like trying to get water from a stone; there wasn't
enough energy to take to make up for the amount of energy she had to spend
to get the process going.

	Exhausted, Sailor Moon said to Naru (Who hadn't been able to
contribute any chi or magical power to the whole deal, and found herself
unchained), "Go get help!  If someone who isn't exhausted gets here, we
can...catch them all!"

	Naru took off running.

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

	"There's been an attack at the temple?" Haruka asked Naru over the
phone.

	"Almost everyone but you and Minako and Naoko and Michiru are down
there, too tired to fight," Naru said.

	"Right.  I'll be over as fast as I can."

	"Can you, umm...pick up Michiru?  She needs a ride," Naru asked
nervously.

	Haruka sighed.  "Alright."

	"And Minako too."

	"This is gonna slow me down," Haruka said.

	"I'm sorry."

	"Do I get to pick up Naoko too?"

	"She's not answering her communicator," Naru said.

	"Right.  I'm on my way, then."

	"There's a magic door in the living room to get into Wasyuu's
lab," Naru said.

	"Magic, door, right.  Okay, NOW, I'm on my way."

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

	Uranus, Neptune, Artemis, and Venus ran up the steps into the
courtyard of the temple at the same time that Emerald appeared with
Tourmaline, Feldspar, Gluttony, and Amethyst.

	Emerald smiled.  "You can't possibly stop all five of us," she
said.

	"We don't have to," Uranus pointed out.

	"What?"

	"I'm not dumb enough to explain my plans," Uranus said.
"Everyone, follow me!"

	Uranus, Artemis, Neptune, and Venus took off running, with
Tourmaline and company in hot pursuit.  They all ran at high speed through
the temple for a while, and then finally ended up in Rei's bedroom.

	Tourmaline looked around in confusion.  "And the point of this
was?"

	"OUT THE WINDOW," Uranus shouted.

	The Senshi went out the window.  By the time the Dark Kingdom folk
reached the window, the Senshi were gone.

	"What the..." Amethyst began.

	"They teleported!" Tourmaline replied.  "Dammit."

	In the living room, Uranus hustled them all through the door, then
quickly closed it behind them.  "Hah!" she said.

	Venus asked, "Umm, Uranus-chan, can I ask you a question?"

	"Mom dragged me to the hair salon."

	"It's not a wig you bought to be like me?"

	"NO!"

	Venus looked disappointed.

	They soon found everyone sitting around exhausted in one of
Wasyuu's labs.  "Grab Nephrite!  Get the crystals!" Sailor Moon shouted.

	"Fork 'em over or die," Uranus said to Nephrite.  "We've got you
surrounded.  Give up if you like living."

	He summoned his willpower, and tried to use the crystals he had to
strengthen what few sparks of energy the stupid chains hadn't stolen.
Uranus and Neptune were already rifling through his pockets.  Uranus
brought a hand up, holding two of the crystals and grinning, right as the
rest all flared to life.

	The crystals Nephrite still had flared, and the Dark Kingdom folk
all vanished.  Everyone with a manacle on them felt a tugging and began to
fade.  Then they turned solid and the Dark Kingdom people appeared as
ghosts.  Then it reversed again.

	"What's going on?" Sailor Moon shouted.

	"The chains are trying to reunite the chained couples, but I don't
think they were designed with dimensional travel in mind!" Wasyuu shouted.
She typed very slowly, trying to push herself to type faster.  "We've got
to dimensionally seal this place, or else we may be yanked out and into
their dimension!"

	"Or it might bring them back, right?" Venus said hopefully.

	"Probably some will come and some will go, and those of us who go
will be in big trouble," Wasyuu said.

	"How do we stop it?" Uranus asked.

	"Well, I have an idea."  She pushed a button.  "Alright, plug all
your crystals in there."

	A large metal box now opened up, and something which rather
resembled a hi-tech egg carton slid out.  Uranus slid the two crystals
into it, and got the one Sailor Moon was carrying.  "Now what?"

	The egg carton closed and slid back into the metal box.  "I use
those to power up the defenses long enough to try and come up with a
better solution."

	"I have a computer that is designed for analyzing magic.  Would
that help?" Mercury asked.

	"That would be VERY helpful," Wasyuu said.

	Mercury staggered over to her, and plugged her computer into a
port Wasyuu called up.  They then began studying the chains using
Mercury's visor and computer, which had the technical data and sensory
capacity they needed, backed up by the massive computing power of Wasyuu's
system.

	By the time they figured out what to do, everyone was starting to
feel somewhat better.  Uranus was only gloating a little.  "Uranus to the
rescue as usual."

	"It's the long hair," Venus said.  "You can't lose with long
hair."

	"Guardian Pluto, can you help us?" Mercury asked.  "Your powers
should help us find a weak point in how the chains work."

	"Uh, sure," he said, coming over and helping as best he could.

	Tuxedo Kamen sat down by Neptune.  "You okay?" he asked.

	"I'm fine," she said.  "Fortunately, my salon appointment finished
before things fell apart here."  She looked over at Uranus.  "Don't forget
our bet.  I won't let you wiggle out of it."

	"I don't wiggle out of bets.  I'll...I'll win it, no sweat."

	"Bet?" Tuxedo Kamen asked.

	Neptune explained the bet.

	"I thought you were into women," Sailor Moon said to Uranus.

	"It would be too easy if I had to find myself a girlfriend within
a month," Uranus said.  "Not that this will be very difficult."  

	"Just ask Ken out.  He'll date anything with breasts," Shampoo
said.

	"Heck, I could probably get two if I wanted to be like Neptune
here," Uranus said.

	"I do not have two boyfriends!" Neptune protested.  "Mamoru is not
my boyfriend, and I didn't have a choice with Kunou!"

	"Nothing wrong with having two boyfriends if they don't mind,"
Sailor Moon said, then stared at the floor, as did Mars.  "When it works
out, anyway."

	"I'd settle for just one," Sailor Pluto said softly.  

	"So, if I was, to say, ask Mamoru out, you wouldn't care," Uranus
said to Neptune.

	"Being a man of taste and distinction, he would never say yes to
you," Neptune replied.  "Right, Mamoru?"

	"Being a man who is not suicidal enough to get in the middle
between two angry women, I refuse to get involved in this," Tuxedo Kamen
said.

	"Now, now," Grandpa said.  "Pretty girls shouldn't fight."  He
came over to them.  "I'm sure Mamoru would be willing to date both of
you."

	"Mamoru wants to live," he said, getting up and going and sitting
over by Sailor Pluto.  "I'm just going to sit quietly over here, out of
the blast radius."

	"Ahah!  Found the problem," Wasyuu said.  "Let's just kill this
out of control magical subprocess..."  She pointed to the screen of
Mercury's computer.

	Fingers flew, and then all of the manacles on people's wrists
vanished, except for two; one was around Hotaru's wrists and another on
Guardian Pluto's.

	"Much better," Sailor Moon said, staring at the manacles.  "Now we
just need to get the Chains of Love off Hotaru and Gosunkugi."

	Venus asked, "Have you tried playing that Erasure song at them?"

	Everyone stared at her blankly.

	"I guess not," she said weakly.

	"This could be really bad, given Hotaru lives here, and Gosunkugi
lives with his parents, and it might be a little hard explaining to them
how she keeps turning up," Sailor Mars said.

	"I'll tell his parents he is possessed, and has to come live at
the temple for a while," Grandpa said.  "It's not like half the population
of the Earth doesn't live here already."

	Nodoka sighed.  "I'm sorry, Hino-san."

	"Dad's found us a place, so we'll move out soon," Sailor Moon said
to Grandpa.  "I'm sorry."

	"Some things can't be helped," Grandpa said.  "Unless someone has
a better solution?"

	"Not really," Guardian Pluto replied.

	"This was a really close call," Sailor Moon said.  "We're going to
have to heighten our security.  And we're going to have to try to find
some way to force Nephrite into a battle as soon as possible.  As it looks
like they know where to find us."

	"I will build you the best defenses I can.  But if you all remain
scattered all over, it's going to make them less useful," Wasyuu pointed
out.

	Sailor Moon sighed.  "I know.  Our secret identities don't seem to
be able to hide us very well now.  Unless we can eliminate everyone who
knows, we won't be able to have normal lives much longer."

	"What passes for normal with us," Sailor Mars said.

	"Well, I suggest we detransform to save energy, and then we need
to do some brainstorming," Sailor Moon said.

	It would be a long planning session.

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

	Beryl contemplated all the reports from her generals.  They knew
the Senshis' base, they knew the identity of many of the Sailors.  Once
she had raised enough forces and secured the crystal, it would be easy to
put forth her strength and destroy them.

	Once they had the crystal.  That was the sticking point, really.
Too risky to try anything too large until she had it.  She sent out a
summons.

	Tourmaline appeared.  "Yes, my queen?"

	"Have you prepared a plan as I asked?"

	"Yes," she said nervously.

	"Good, tell me about it."

	"Alright, it all starts with this..."

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

	Setsuna did a little jig as she walked home.  No more stupid
chains.  No more engagement.  No more stupid parents...okay, the parents
would still be there, but no more stupid chains and no more getting lost.

	"So, Ryouga..."  She paused, Ryouga was gone.

	He must have gotten lost, she thought.  Well, I'll just go...

	Setsuna stared at the huge wall in front of her, which stretched
to both horizons.  Oddly, she was now in open countryside.

	She looked up the wall and at the farmland and sighed.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   "WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW????"

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

	Gosunkugi tried to sleep, but he kept hearing an odd hissing noise
in the darkness.  He sat up and looked around the dim room.  He spotted
Hotaru, sitting on the floor next to his bed.  Moving a little closer, he
saw she was busy ironing and folding a large pile of underwear.  Some of
it looked very familiar.  "Hotaru, what are you doing?" he asked.

	"Sorting and folding and pressing my new items for my collection,"
Hotaru said.

	"..."

	"Am I keeping you awake?"

	"A little."

	"Okay, I'll go to sleep, then."  She went and disconnected the
iron and put it up on a shelf, then climbed into the bed.

	"What are you DOING?" he asked.

	"Going to bed."

	"With me?" he asked.

	"There's plenty of room," she said.  "And it's warmer at night if
you cuddle up to someone."

	"But...you're only twelve, and I mean..."

	"I can go drain chi from the underwear and get big if it helps,"
she said.

	"Yes.  No.  Aaaargh."  Makoto will kill me dead, Gosunkugi
thought.  "Shouldn't you sleep where you normally do?"

	"Too far away. I'll just get teleported back."

	Gosunkugi scooted as far over as he could.  "Okay, okay, get in
bed."

	She did so.  "Can you tell me a bedtime story?"

	Gosunkugi rolled onto his back.  "Once upon a time, there was a
frog.  The frog sat in his lily pond and watched beautiful princes and
princesses go by.  But they never really noticed him.  Then one day, a
princess picked him up and kissed him, and he turned into a prince, and
she asked him to be her friend.  So he went and had lots of fun with her."

	"But he knew that she had only kissed him to make her prince
boyfriend jealous because he ran around with other princesses.  So, he
didn't know how long she'd want to be his friend, or when she might walk
away and leave him to turn back into a frog."

	"So how did it end?" Hotaru asked softly.

	"I don't know," Gosunkugi said softly.  "The princess hasn't left
the frog-prince behind yet, but he doesn't have an answer either."

	Hotaru frowned.  "That's not a very happy ending."

	"It's not an ending, but it's the story on my mind."

	"Does the frog-prince love the princess?" Hotaru asked.

	"The frog-prince is falling in love with her," Gosunkugi said
softly.

	"Then he ought to trust in the one he loves," Hotaru said.  "I'm
sure anyone whose love could turn a frog into a prince wouldn't throw them
away."

	"I hope you're right," he said softly.  "I hope you're right."









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