Sorry about the first post, my 'puter interpreted a simple 's' as a send
command. Again.

Disclaimer: Various and sundry big players own these characters,
including but not limited to Takeuchi Naoko, Takahashi Rumiko, and Anno
Hideaki. They're used here without permission.


Lost souls

Two figures stood on the rooftop, watching the Sailor Soldiers fight the
latest monster. It was not going well, the fight had already gone on for
over an hour, and the monster, unlike the Soldiers, was not showing any
signs of slowing down. So far, the girls' attacks had mostly been
swatted aside, causing huge amounts of collateral damage, and the few
that had hit were not having any visible effect.

The fighting and dodging had taken a huge toll on the Soldiers' energy
reserves. Sailor Mars in particular was running dangerously low on
steam, and had somehow wandered straight into the path of one of the
monster's attacks. As the red-skirted girl flew toward a wall, the
taller of the two observers decided that enough was enough.

"Rei, get Lady Mars out of there. I'm finishing this fight."

The pale, blue-haired girl nodded, and abruptly phased out, reappearing
next to the stricken Soldier of Fire, and then the both of them phased
out again. The remaining observer, a slender dark-haired man, nodded to
himself, and then followed suit, appearing between the main body of the
Sailor Soldiers and the monster.

"Stay back! I don't want you getting caught up in this!" he yelled over
his shoulder, causing the girls to start in surprise. As a glow started
forming around the newcomer, the Soldiers complied. Whatever he was,
they decided, he was on their side at the moment.

"Thou Queen of Dreams that chill the soul
Thou Goddess of four lands
I as thou place the wrath of angels
Here between my hands"

The voice was barely above a whisper, but it seemed to be coming from
everywhere at once. The man held out a hand, and a flickering sphere of
purple energy formed around it.

"Turn shade to substance, dark to form
The stuff of nothing real
To shred the souls of gods to dust
And death to demons deal"

The sphere blackened as the spellcaster raised it above his head, and
elongated into the beginnings of a blade. The creature was backing a way
now, clearly not pleased with the interruption.

"Thy power and my will combined
We two stand side by side
And walk as one the nightmare road
My hand the blade to guide"

A large black sword of energy was now in the hands of the man, and he
was slowly advancing on the monster. He raised his voice called out,
"LAGUNA BLADE!" and charged. The blade split the monster cleanly - and
then the thing exploded, white-hot fragments showering the area.

When the dust settled, the man was on his knees, clutching his stomach
and coughing. A blue-haired girl phased in beside him.

"I should have listened to Lina, Rei," he whispered.

"Yes, Ranma," she answered.

And then he collapsed.

***

Author's notes: What is there to say? Saotome and Ayanami as sole
surviving souls of their respective worlds, both cursed with
immortality, wandering from world to world (including Lina's), never
truly fitting in. Now, a parallel of their own homeworlds have been
targeted by the same menace that killed everyone that Ranma loved...

Thanks to Irony-chan for rewording the "Laguna Blade" spell - it works a
lot better than the original translation.

SP



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