Hi, all!

Hi, all!

There's something to be said for repetition. Sadly, it doesn't bear 
repeating. ^_^

Sorry. I have to do at least one really stupid thing I'm going to regret per 
response, so I'm hoping to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Thanks 
a bunch for taking the time to write back! I really do appreciate the C&C.

Barring a delicious, delicious cookie, I also accept C&C. I mean, if I am 
sitting here in my Inbox, and someone is all, like, "want some C&C?", I'm, 
like, "Heck YEAH, I want some C&C! That stuff's AWESOME!" And then I read 
it, and I am happy. It's really a beautiful and delicate part of the cycle 
of life.

	<Breaks out into a Disney tune>
	<beats self senseless with Tendo, Inc Hyper-Mallet-Sama>

I would like it noted that I was under the influence of severe medication 
and sleep deprivation when I wrote that. Plus, there were a whole bunch of 
little gnomes who kept poking me and making me do it. Blame the gnomes.

But just out of curiosity - which Disney tune? I like "Poor Unfortunate 
Souls", myself. That, and "Jack's Lament". You can't mess with the Pumpkin 
King! ^_^

I know, you're thinking "But how could I participate in this glorious 
rejoicing at the beauty of existence?" Well, that's the easy part! All you 
need to do is click that little "Reply" button and drop me a line! Why, I 
wouldn't be surprised if I even wrote you back - I'm cool like that. ^_^

	"...mommy, the author is scaring me...."

I repeat: Blame the gnomes. They also have a bad habit of hiding my keys in 
places that I know I am far too smart to have left them the night before. 
^_^

	#Engaging stream-of-consciousness mode.
	#Initializing....

Cool.. I like a good stream of consciousness critique. You'd be amazed how 
much stuff these things catch.

                      RONIN SUMMER: CONVERGENCE

	Interesting title.  Nice centering, given the raw-text format.  The 
capitalization is nice and crisp.

Thanks. I had to center that by hand, actually. It's the only formatting 
that stays in place.

(sniff)

I swear, I indent when I'm typing it... since when does Notepad eat your 
indents?

	(Hey, it's Friday, and I've been averaging 17hr work days and less than 4 
hours of sleep per night all week.  What do *want* from me, *blood*?)

Nah, I'm good for now. And I've been there myself, too: sorry to hear you've 
got it so rough. Really, that totally sucks. I only have eight and a half 
hour shifts, but they last until two in the morning, so I know what it's 
like to be on short sleep. Thankfully nobody's gotten the brillaint idea of 
extending our work days yet.

It's about the only thing they haven't tried yet, though. Work sucks: write 
fanfic. ^_^

  A Bishoujou Senshi Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over

Welcome to my fic, where the Eighties survived!  ^_^

"Convergence (n) - the approach of an infinite series to a finite limit."

	But never actually reaches it.

Aw, you figured it out! I honestly expected that to take longer. :(

So if we were to plot YST as, say, y=1/x^2, and SM as y=-1/x^2, both series 
would infinitely approach zero (from opposite directions), but never 
actually meet in the center....

Yeah. The old Ronin Summer series was about as famous for its length as its 
quality. Nothing like trying to condense a good sixty-some chapters of 
merged universe into a shorter, more coherent form. I figured this series 
was as close to "infinite" as a fanfic was going to get, and this was my 
attempt to force it to a finite limit.

Of course, since I am re-writing everything over, I have no real way of 
saying when this supposedly finite series is going to END, so it may 
actually wind up longer than the original. I picked the title "Convergence" 
because it had that nifty double meaning. I pick a lot of names that way. Be 
warned. ^_~

Chapter Three: The Castle of Eternal Regret

	As opposed to Chapter 2.7a:  The Castle of "Man I REALLY Wish I Hadn't 
Gotten Drunk Last Night"

One of the reasons it took so long to get the YST OAVs released in NA was 
that they spend part of the first episode at Ryo's birthday party drinking 
what is blatantly alcohol. There was no real way to edit it, either - Touma 
was leaning against a bar stocked with wine and other spirits the whole time 
he was drinking away. That, and the fact the plot revolved around an evil 
necromancer using Seiji's armour to murder countless innocent people so he 
could feed on their souls. Oh, yeah, and that one part where the Troopers 
get attacked by the NYPD...

Actually, that whole series was a nightmare for the dubbers. Most of us are 
just glad that Ronin Warriors was still able to include words like "die" and 
"kill". Plus, they left in that nude scene of Kayura's, for, like, three 
whole years before Cartoon Network finally edited it out. Bad voice work 
aside, RW got off a lot easier than SM did.

	Makoto had always firmly believed in happy endings. With her life,
she had needed to. After all, if everything didn't turn out okay in the

	My inner ear suggests dropping the second 'had,' but that's just me.

Okay, sounds good to me, but won't that change the past tense of the 
sentence? I'm a little hazy on some points of grammar. Which shames me, 
since I speak the stupid language, like, every day.

The only trick to
making it through life was to keep going until you reached the good part.

	Works for me.:)

Makoto is a surprisingly chipper person, considering her life. It's one of 
her strongest personality traits that she never seems to get down about 
things. No matter how many potential boyfriends let her down, she is always 
convinced that the next one will be the one who makes it all worthwhile...

Makoto was in serious trouble. Not the kind of trouble that she
was good at, like trouble with the law or trouble with monsters coming to 
claim her soul, or anything easy like that. This was an entirely new and 
disturbing kind of trouble.

	Heh.  Don't you just *hate* the kinds of problems you can't shoot, bomb, 
beat, or thunderbolt into oblivion?  Gordian Knot, meet Alexander.  
Alexander's sword, meet Gordian Knot...

Sometimes those are the worst problems you can have. Especially when being a 
superhero has absolutely no impact on them whatsoever. For every Doctor 
Octopus devastating downtown Brooklyn, there's a sick Aunt May who needs to 
get to her doctor's appointment and a J.J.J. who's going to fire you if you 
miss another assignment for the Daily Bugle.

Some heroes can never catch a break. Or, as Batman once put it: "Some days, 
you just can't get rid of a bomb!"

Yes, he DID. :p

<snip!>

	"That's only because you kept trying to rush," Ami argued
sensibly, before turning to Makoto and nodding her head slightly. "It was
very kind to wait for us, Makoto. Will you walk Usagi home? I have to go
to my Chess Club meeting, and I'm already ten minutes late."

	Which is, at Ami's level of chess, what, one move?  Less?  Heck, the 
players are probably still considering the relative merits of opening with 
Kasparov's Gambit over the classic Pawn Blitz...

Well, not everyone in Ami's club will be as good as her. I figure she would 
be president, if she ever bothered to run for the position. As it is, she is 
likely the club secretary or something equally important yet easily 
overlooked. Still, she would hate to miss the opening stare-off. Or the 
smack talk. The Juuban High Chess Club's smack talk is legendary. ^_^

	"Uh, actually, the... Track and Field... club wanted to see me
after school today," Makoto said, thinking quickly as she guiltily slid

	<Cue ZZ Top:  "Legs">

(sigh) Makoto Kino is not Stacey Keibler.

Cool song, though. ^_~

her hand into her pocket and toyed with the crumpled note. "Something
about how I thrashed their president in P.E. last week. They're going to
try to convince me to join again." She shrugged nonchalantly. Hey, what

	...okay, for just a moment, I thought it was a challenge note.  I took 
"thrash" wrong, obviously.

No, the track and field club knows better than to compete against Makoto 
Kino. They want to compete WITH Makoto Kino. How else do you expect them to 
beat the Mugen Gakuen team? That Haruka girl does the whole meet by herself! 
Including the relays! ^_^

The track and field club had been after Makoto
for the past two years. There was just something about track that made

	Ah, they're only after her for her body.  Uh, er, I mean...

Track Club: YES! Uh, wait... we mean... uh.... YES!

_<

	"Wow, what's with those guys?" Usagi asked, frowning prettily and
giving a murderous look at one of the students who happened to be passing

	"Giving...to", or maybe "shooting...at"

Good call. Will fix!

	And one of which students?  I'm *assuming* a T&F member....

Yeah, I should probably make that a little more clear. Sorry for the 
confusion.

by at the moment. "At least the Karate club left you alone after the first
few times."

	Mass hospitalization will tend to do that.

Only after the first few times. ^_^

<tiny snip!>

	"Sure," Usagi replied, looking a bit upset. "It's not like I can't
walk home by myself, you know! I mean, I'm not six years old, or anything.
Man! You girls spend two hours talking to Rei and now nobody trusts me
to chew gum and walk at the same time..."

	Usagi, sweetie, we *never* did.  Trust your heart, sure.  Your loyalty, 
always.  But your DEX score?  Never.

I remain convinced that Usagi learned to fly from the Hitchhiker's Guide. 
Namely: throwing herself at the ground and missing. The wings are purely 
there for decoration. You know that old saying "if it weren't for gravity, 
you wouldn't even hit the ground?" Well, she found a way around that. ^_^

	"Usagi, you can't chew gum and walk at the same time," Ami gently
reminded her. "Remember?"

	<plotz>
	Maybe an emphasis on "can't"?

Good point. It's so hard to tell when to emphasize and when not to. I don't 
like to use caps too much, or it seems like everyone is screaming all the 
time. That being the case, I do tend to err on the side of caution.

Think you're right here, though. Ami needs some more punch in that line.

	"I've been working on it!"

	This was where I had to stop reading and walk away for a minute.  The heck 
of it is, I think they're *serious.*

I vaguely recall a joke in one of the old dub episodes where they 
established that Usagi is, in fact, unable to both chew gum and walk in a 
straight line. It was in the first season, so I can only assume that Mamoru 
was somehow responsible for her embarassment. I have but a hazy memory of 
the episode in question, though - I remember the gag, but not the plot or 
the context of it. Somehow I've never caught it again in all my years of 
wandering about the Internet, so I'm not even sure if the joke was in the 
original Japanese.

Regardless, I thought it was funny, so I brought it back. Considering how 
hard Usagi works to cure her other ills, I figured she might very well be 
hiding out in her room and working on the "step, chew, step" routine. For 
some reason, the mental image strikes me as cute. Maybe because my mental 
image has Luna yelling into one of those megaphones that they use in boating 
races to call out the strokes while she's doing it. And that Usagi is 
wearing a helmet and pads. ^_^

	Makoto laughed and shook her head, and bid her farewells to her
friends, and walked off with a spring in her step to determine the rest
of her life. After all, nobody liked a whiner, right? She vaguely
remembered her mom telling her something like that once. Ami was way too
busy trying to help Usagi get over her compulsive failing, and Rei was

	"compulsive failing" just doesn't work for me.

Yeah, I need a better way to put that. I'll look it over it later and see if 
anything comes to mind. Suggestions?

going nuts trying to find some way to restore Usagi's powers. The last

	<blink>  I must have missed the last chapter.

I hope not, it was a kind of important one. ^_^

Nah, this is just a bit of foreshadowing as to Rei's motivation. You know 
Rei: just because she pretends she doesn't care doesn't mean she isn't 
losing sleep over the ol' meatball head. Sailor Moon's current lack of power 
is a big concern for Sailor Mars - there will be more on that later.

thing that any of her friends needed to do was waste their time worrying
about little old Makoto Kino. She was going to be just fine, as soon as
the good parts started.

	Except for, you know, that part where they find out that they *should* 
have been worried about you, and you held out on them, which will make them 
feel *worse* than if you had just *let* them worry about you too, on top of 
everything else....

Well, yeah. But since Makoto is going to be fine, there is no point in 
bothering anybody.

I swear, it all makes sense when you're in her head. Not a NORMAL kind of 
sense, mind...

	They had to start, eventually.

**********

	Sanjiro Mishawa had wanted to make Physics his life since he was
twelve. Physics was how people understood the universe, how all of its
mysteries could be revealed in all their glory. Maybe he was never going

	<blank>  I thought that was religion.  <snerk>

For some people, science is a religion. Some of those people become science 
teachers. I've had a few of them; they can be really fun. ^_^

<snip!>

	That blue-haired kid had built it out of a few juice cans and a
penknife. That one kid had left him with a permanent phobia of anyone
with blue hair. It had taken weeks of counseling before he had dared let
that Mizuno girl answer a question in class. After she had, it took

	<snicker>

Always beware the blue-haired! They are smart, skilled, and socially 
maladjusted!

Seriously, like *every time*. What are the odds of that?

Were they all in some kind of weird know-it-all cult where
they were brainwashed into being geniuses? It was like trying to teach
little computers that already knew everything better than you did.

	Huh!  Wonder who the blue-haired boy is-- oh!  Gotta be one of the YSTs, 
duh!

Yep! Bachelor number one is the mystical warrior of Intellect, the bearer of 
the armour of Tenku, and the wielder of the Sho Ha Kyu, a collapsible golden 
bow that shoots arrows like lightning bolts. His final attack is called the 
"Arrow Shock Wave". He's also a Libra, who enjoys books and long walks 
through the air. Did we mention he can fly?

Touma Hashiba, come on down! ^_^

It was Makoto Kino: one of the normal ones. She was still wearing her
white and brown school uniform: nobody had ever told him exactly why she
was allowed to break the regulations and wear something different from
the other girls, but at least it made her easily distinguishable. The fact

	"Because we're all SCARED of her!  That Tsukino girl is the only one who 
can kep Kino from GOING POSTAL and KILLING US ALL!"

Actually, I think the canonical reason was that Makoto really is the most 
"talented" of the Senshi: so much so, that none of the local school uniforms 
are big enough to fit her. If it isn't canon, it's at least been around long 
enough to become fanon, and it's the best explanation I've heard.

that he had to crane his neck up to look her in the eye helped, too. Tall
girls were not a problem for Sanjiro, as long as their hair was the right
colour. People could not help being different, after all.

	Blindness, thy name is irony.  Or vice versa.  Or something.

Sanjiro: Hey, some people are different, and some people are FREAKS. A man's 
got to draw the line somewhere, darnit! >_<

	"Ah, Miss Kino! You got the note I attached to your most recent
test, right?"

	So much for the 'love note' theory.

Nope, no love notes for Makoto. Besides, everyone was so sure that the 
reason she was missing from the vacation trip was that she was boy chasing 
that I just COULDN'T let it actually be the reason! I prefer to think that 
love is going to wallop Miss Kino upside the head right when she is least 
expecting it. It's more ironic that way.

After all, the whole
teacher's lounge knew about Makoto Kino. She had mediocre grades, average
attendance, and a file that was two feet thick. Sure, she hadn't been
caught doing anything lately, but as far as Sanjiro could tell most of
the teachers were pretty sure she had been a lost cause long before she
showed up at this school.

	I'm torn between hating that attitude, and remembering the various 
students I've met who most definitely *did* fill that bill...

Yeah, but I was lucky enough to catch the live-action Great Teacher Onizuka 
on a friend's laptop a while ago, and it was awesome. Sanjiro is not GTO, 
but he is seriously making his best attempt, here. He is still new enough to 
think he can make a difference, so at least he tries. Some kids may be 
irredeemable, but a lot of them are not. I think we can agree that Makoto 
fits into the "needs another chance" category.

	Miss Sakamura did not think so. Miss Sakamura was the new Home
Economics teacher, and she seemed to really care deeply about the future
of Makoto Kino. It was the usual fervor that only a fresh, naive young
teacher can have for someone with a record like Makoto's: the rest of the

	Well, that and the fact that Mako-chan's sukiyaki is, like, to DIE for.

Yeah, of COURSE the home economics teacher thinks Makoto shows signs of 
greatness. It's the only class where she gets better marks than Ami. ^_^

faculty tried not to pay attention to Miss Sakamura's impassioned pleas.
Sanjiro, however, had been paying a lot of attention to Miss Sakamura

	Oh Ho!

Yeah, he's got it bad. It's not that he wouldn't care on his own, it's just 
that he wouldn't have noticed if someone else hadn't pointed it out to him. 
And he is willing to bend a few rules if it helps him get in good with the 
pretty home ec. teacher.

	Makoto sighed, her shoulders slumping as though her bookbag had
suddenly doubled in weight. "I know," she admitted. "I mean, I'm trying,
I really am, but it's just... Physics is no good for me."

	The girl throws lightning bolts from her fingertips.  She toys with 
elemental universal forces bare-handed.  Physics may be no good for her, 
but it's certainly good *to* her.

Yeah, but she still sucks at it. Probably because she is able to ignore so 
many of those pesky little laws on a regular basis that learning them seems 
almost stupid. The chapter on electromagnetism alone must have seemed like a 
huge joke at her expense.

Makoto: "Stupid book! What do you MEAN I can't? I just DID, dang it!"

	"Ah, I'll be okay," the girl replied gamely, shrugging off his
concern and smiling brightly. "I mean, school's just not really my thing,
you know? I try to study, but I'm just not built for it. Some people have
brains for books, and some people just don't, I guess."

	Nah, you just need to fit the questions into her context.  Like: 
"Calculate the height from wich to drop a broken egg into a pre-heated 
frypan in order to achieve maximum spread without splatter, preperatory to 
creating a fluffy omlette."  Or: "Determine the minimum amount of force 
required to destroy a second-generation daimon via experimental testing.  
Be prepared to present your notes and perform a practical demonstration in 
front of the class."
	See?  Easy.

Yeah, Makoto's biggest problem is that she lacks focus. In one of the manga, 
she admits that every time she sits down to study she starts thinking that 
she needs to go make some tea, or that the curtains need cleaning...

Books are not how Makoto learns. Unfortunately, almost the entire Japanese 
school system is learning by rote: read it from the book, repeat it out loud 
and write it back down until you get it right. It's small wonder she does 
poorly in school.

Plus, there's that whole thing where demons keep trying to devour the world 
right when she's about to get to her homework that really interferes with 
her study session. ^_^

How do you study? I mean, do you leave the book open while you're
doing other things, like watching television? Do you study with your
friends?"

	"Well, usually Ami lectures me while we're fighting for our lives againt 
the Force Of Darkness Du Jour..."

Great. Now I have a mental image of Sailor Mercury standing in the back of 
the battle with an open text book and a bunch of flash cards for the other 
Senshi while they're fighting. Thank you for that. :p

	"Oh, a whole bunch of us have been getting together for a while
for study sessions," Makoto said, before pausing and biting her lower lip.
"Although, we don't always get a lot of work done. Usually, we just go
over the stuff we did at home. And, uh... other stuff."

	"Other stuff."  Yeah.  Little things like THE END OF THE WORLD, PREVENTION 
OF.

Like she said, other stuff.

Seriously, how much work do you think those girls actually get done at those 
constant study sessions we always see them at? I'm betting Usagi 
deliberately changes the topic of conversation to evil every time she starts 
to get bored. Or hungry. Or sleepy. Or...

	"Listen," he said, rubbing his face vigourously with one hand. "I
know I'm not supposed to say this, but you are going to fail my class if
you don't do something to get your grades up. Maybe your friend Miss
Mizuno could-"

	"Hey, Ami?  Can I borrow a quart of IQ points?"

Aaand there's another mental image I could have done without. For some 
reason, it is reminiscent of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. You know, 
with that oil can? ^_^

You will
need to incorporate everything that we've covered to date and argue your
point eloquently and with notated references. Anything less than an 'A'
and I will disregard it entirely, is that clear?"

	Yiiiii...

He's feeling guilty because he's giving her extra attention, so he needs to 
be super harsh with it or else he will feel like he is going soft. Odds are 
he will forget all about that by the time she hands it in and just give her 
some extra marks as long as the paper is even halfway good.

	"I might be able to help you with that, too," he admitted, hanging
his head. "Miss Kino, have you considered hiring a tutor?"

Hey, look!  Convergence!  Well, more like an intersection, really...

Hey, not every pair of heroes need to meet in the middle of a battle. Given 
how bright Touma is, this seemed like a nice, non-aggressive way to get him 
into Makoto's life. Plus, the idea of Shuu selling him on eBay to the 
highest bidder really stuck in my head for some reason. It just seemed like 
such a perfect example of the kind of trouble Shuu can get Touma into.

Shuu Rei Fuan is not one of those friends who will bring you bail money at 
two in the morning. Shuu Rei Fuan is the kind of friend who will be in the 
cell with you, sitting on a cot and saying "Man, that sure didn't LOOK like 
a cop, did it?"

<snip>

Tucked under  the back of her vest was a large placard on which she had 
carefully scribed
the words 'Touma Hashiba - Osaka'. Casually pulling it out of hiding, the
leggy brunette held the sign over her head and waited for someone to

	"I'd like to buy a vowel, please."
	Sorry -- just, the *image*....

Consider it payback for the last couple of images you put in MY head. ;)

respond to it. It was better than having to stop everybody her age who
came off the train and asking them their name.

	Just look for someone who looks like Ami's twin brother, or maybe a close 
cousin...

Twin brother. Trust me on this. Have you seen a picture of him? If not, I 
will send you a picture of him. I'm telling you: twin brother.

	She hoped this guy was going to be worth it. She had needed to
arrange for a sleepover with all of the other Senshi and then stay up all
night to get a shot at using Ami's computer without her knowledge.

	She used the *Mercury Copmuter* for a web browser?  Don't they have 
cybercafes in Juuban?

Yeah, but cybercafes cost *money*. Borrowing Ami's stuff while she is asleep 
is always free! ^_^

staying in Juuban to help out. Ami had been working hard enough all year
trying to keep Usagi's grades at floor level: she deserved a break as

	Maybe "ground floor"?

Maybe. I was working off of the "grades so low they are posted in the 
basement" reference earlier. Ami may be helping Usagi a little, but she's 
not a miracle worker.

some boy genius shipped all the way from Osaka to help her with her paper.
Even if it had cost her almost forty thousand yen.

	Yipe.

For those who are curious, 40,000 yen == 337 dollars USD. Give or take a 
little. So Makoto is not exactly throwing around chump change, here. She is 
very serious about this.

	She really hoped this guy was going to be worth it. What kind of
tutor sold himself on eBay, anyway? Then again, considering how heavy the

	You saw that Digg.com article too, eh?

No, actually - it just seemed like the sort of thing Shuu would do to Touma. 
What article? Now I'm interested.

bidding had gotten during that last hour, she guessed she was not the only
girl in Japan desperate enough to take a shot at him. Maybe that Shuu Rei

	*Why* do I suspect that some of the bids weren't for his *brain*?

Heh. Actually, very few of them were. Touma is too ignorant of his own sex 
appeal to suspect anything, though.

Fuan guy who had been running the sale had been right when he called
Touma 'the hottest thing in the field of smart guys who help you with

	Ahem.  For just what definition of "hot", I wonder...?

Hey, Shuu knew exactly what he was doing with that ad. Nice and ambiguous... 
^_^

Maybe this
guy would be nearly as good. Makoto hated to think she might be settling
for less than the best.

	Venkmann:  "Touma and Ami?  We have *got* to get these to together."
	Spengler:  "Peter, I think that would be extraordinarily *bad*..."

Nice Ghostbusters ref. That movie rocked. ^_^

As he turned and saw the sign she was
carrying, he smiled brightly and a long forelock of blue hair swung free
of his crimson headband to hang over his face.

	Cue slo-mo, sparklies, gooey "enter the bishie" music...

I actually reference that later in the fic, but I'm glad you got the idea. 
^_^

	Makoto began feeling better almost instantly, especially when he
slipped his hand into his pocket and donned a pair of large oval glasses.

	<snerk>

Oh, come on. You know that all blue-haired super geniuses have to wear big 
glasses. Not often, just occasionally enough to remind you that they are, in 
fact, smart. :)

It was like the gods had cut her a break and sent her a fill-in Ami! Aside

	Cologne:  "Okay, who's been nipping the Instant J-water again?"

And while they're at it, someone might want to take a look at Ryo and Rei 
and Seiji and Minako, too. Talk about seperated at birth... O_O

he was seriously reminding her of the smartest
person she knew, and that was not a bad place to start.

	Not a single thought as to how cute he is/isn't, or how might might (or 
not) resemble her old boyfriend.  She really *is* fixated on this grade 
thing.

Yep. She's not even letting her usual bishonen radar take over like usual. 
Yet. There will be time for the rainbows and the sparklies later.

	"Hi!" she said cheerily, bowing so quickly that she nearly hit
herself in the face with her own ponytail. "I'm Makoto Kino: thanks for

	Instead, she hit *him.*

That would be so cool if I had done that. ^_^

"I've
never been too comfortable being called 'senpai'. For starters, we're the
same age. Besides, it's a special thing, not a word you should call just
anybody. Save it for the person who really means something to you. Do you
mind if I just call you Makoto? I don't really do the whole 'chan' thing.
Wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea."

	From what little I know of how Japanese -honorifics work, I suspect this 
is going to be a real problem for people familiar with the language.

Yeah, Touma is a little odd. He spends way too much time in America Village 
down in Osaka (where everything is exactly like how the Japanese think 
America is like). It might explain that awful Brooklyn accent he had in the 
dub: he sounded like a male version of "Molly" from the SM dub.

Little note: Back in the old days, dubbers would give characters a thick 
(and fake) New York accent to show that they were from Osaka. This was 
because those characters were speaking with an Osakan accent in the 
original, and it is hard to translate that difference over. As time has 
passed, the Brooklyn accent has given way to a more generic "Southern" 
accent. Touma and Naru were dubbed back in the "Brooklyn" days. Ukyo Kuonji 
got very, very lucky. ^_^

	"Sure, I guess."

	"Great!" Touma smiled. "I hope we can be friends, Makoto. Is there
anywhere nearby where I can get some food? I slept all the way here, and
I didn't get a chance to have anything on the train."

	...boy, did *you* come to the right place.

(snerk) Yeah, sometimes Touma gets lucky without even realising it. He's 
kind of the underdog of the Troopers - he tends to succeed, but usually when 
nobody is looking. It's like he wins by accident, or something. ^_^

"I guess I need to meet the rest of the people
I'm going to be staying with, too, huh?"

	Makoto bit her lip and blushed slightly. "Uh, yeah, about that...
there may be a few things I didn't get around to explaining to you before
you got here..."

	<histrionically>  Oh, the Impropriety!

Hey, it would be a big deal if anyone found out about it. Touma is going to 
be a live-in tutor: he stays with his student and teaches them every day for 
as long as it takes. Normally, there would be a whole family of people to 
watch over him and make sure that nothing untoward happens. Since Makoto is 
an orphan who lives by herself, it becomes a very different kettle of fish.

<snip>

heard very often, indeed; usually after their latest hobby had wiped out
the local power grid again. Somewhere back in Osaka his father was still

	And here I thought the 'peasants with torches and pitchforks' thing had 
died off with Boris Karloff...

Well, the power grid was out. They needed to be able to see where they were 
going. And once you've got a mob with torches, you just KNOW someone is 
going to start passing out pitchforks. It's like how there always seem to be 
rotten tomatoes on hand right when you're getting upset at the person giving 
a speech. One of those universal things. ^_^

working to perfect atomic powered muffins. Touma figured that as long as

	For those with *strong* stomachs.

Tired of your muffins going stale overnight? These babies have a HALF-LIFE! 
^_^

He had once run off for
more than a year to save the planet from demons, and his father was still
convinced that he had just been out picking up some milk.

	Distant relatives of the Hibiki clan, perhaps?

Nah, his dad is just that unaware of Touma's existence. He gets so worked up 
over which of his projects is alive, he forgets that his son is. On the one 
hand, it sucks. On the other hand, Touma more or less comes and goes as he 
pleases, which is great for a young superhero on the go.

As usual in anime, the parents are nowhere to be found. At least Touma's 
aren't dead.

A large amount of their
income came from places that were pre-emptively paying Touma's father
NOT to build things. There was, for instance, a governmental ban that

	Okay, I *want* that job.

Are you sure? It comes with a "no giant robots" rule....

prevented anybody in his family from even TRYING to build a giant robot

	Awww...

Yeah, I didn't think so. I wouldn't want that job either. The whole "no 
Mazingers, no Voltrons" rule is kind of a deal-breaker for a lot of us. ^_^

A recent addendum had been inked that extended the ban to
include stuff that transformed INTO giant robots and combined to BECOME 
giant robots, too.

	Darn!  So much for that loophole.

Yeah, the Hashiba are a family who tend to obey the letter of the law, 
instead of the spirit. And sometimes not even the letter, if it is one of 
those pesky "laws of God and Man". All of the really cool stuff worth 
building is in violation of at least TWO of those laws.

after the last few incidents, nobody wanted to see
it encouraged.

	Okay, so he just needs to move downscale to Patlabors, or Gasaraki-style 
Raidens.  As long as it's below Kaiju Class...

Yeah, like they haven't tried the "not even a LITTLE one?" argument already. 
Give these guys some credit, would you? That was the first thing they tried. 
After the so-called "Boomer Rampage", they needed to shut down half of the 
shopping district and call in the JSDF. ^_^

It's not that he builds them badly; it's that he builds them TOO WELL. Poor 
guy never means any harm, he just gives them death rays because THAT IS WHAT 
GIANT ROBOTS HAVE. ^_^

<big snip!>

Sorry, but I have work tomorrow, and I need to finish this within the hour. 
Rest assured, I did read the whole thing, and I thought it was really cool. 
No worries, right? ^_^

	Touma was usually sure that things were going to work out fine. It
was an inherited trait which had allowed many of his ancestors to face
angry mobs while armed only with the calm assurance that there was a
reasonable explanation for everything.

	Match made in heaven, eh?

Well, they ARE both from outer space, so I guess you could say that. :)

Still, Makoto is likely one of the only girls who could be equally convinced 
that his latest invention was actually going to end in something other than 
disaster. Plus, she'd be real convenient to have on hand when he needed help 
sweeping up the debris and putting out the fires. If he's smart, he'll hang 
onto her.

And we both know that Touma is very, very smart. ^_^

Even her books were carefully
ordered by size, colour, and name of authour. Touma plucked one out and

	So much for te Dewey Decimal system.

That doesn't look as pleasant from a distance. Makoto was going more for 
aesthetics than ease of location on this project. Although I agree: Yomiko 
Readman would take one look at these shelves and have a seizure.

glanced at the cover. A swarthy pirate glared back menacingly, and the
girl in his arms was clutching at her tattered dress while swooning
dramatically over the title.

	"The Hidden Trove of Passion," Touma read aloud, before raising
an eyebrow and quickly sliding it back into place. Okay, that had been a
little more than he had wanted to know. A quick glance at the spines of
the carefully ordered books was enough to imply that his host apparently
really liked reading about pirates.

	Yeah.  Sailing.  That's the ticket.

Pretty much the same conclusion he reaches. Touma is almost deliberately 
dense when it comes to some things.

in sailing, or something. Touma preferred reading about starships and
disintegration rays, himself, but whatever she liked was cool.

	A man after my own heart.

Well, Touma's interests include just about anything that keeps him up late. 
Canonically, he is usually up until dawn playing video games or reading. 
Which is why he is rarely awake before noon. By comparison, Ryo wakes up at 
the crack of dawn and goes for a ten mile hike in the woods.

Sitting on the couch, he picked through the magazines.
Flowers, fashion, and who was dating who. Not one thing about swords,
cars, or baseball. His hopes officially dashed, he sat back and stared

	Darn.  No romance in the air.

Not at the moment, at least. Touma and Makoto are a little too reserved to 
go into an all-out true love confession without twenty minutes of meeting 
each other. It'll take at least a day. ^_^

Too bad -- Touma seems like the kind of guy who oculd use a keeper.  
Someone who can cook, and maybe clean things up a bit, and call down 
thunderbolts on the occaisional Unruly Peasant Mob...

And best of all, no more sitting around the lab with Igor playing cards and 
waiting on the weather to complete your latest creation! With Sailor 
Jupiter, you can crank out inventions like there's no tommorow, and you'll 
never run out of lightning! ^_^

They are going to have the WEIRDEST kids....

Touma sniffed experimentally and smiled to himself. Was
that okonomiyaki? No way some Tokyo girl was actually going to try to
pass off okonomiyaki to a guy from Osaka. He had been eating okonomiyaki

	Ooooooh, boy, you did NOT just think that.  Prepare to have your 
preconceptions deconstructed.

Go easy on him - it's his first time. He doesn't know any better. ;)

Makoto set a plate in front of Touma and sat on the floor on the
other side of the table from him. Resting her elbows on the table's edge,
she rested her chin on her folded hands and looked up at him expectantly.

	...fanart.  must... have... Mako-chan... fanart....

I'll see what I can do - need access to a scanner first. Then you can all be 
amazed by my poorly drawn art!

I've been working on Touma lately. His hair is harder than you'd think. :(

	"Sorry I don't have any okonomiyaki sauce," Makoto said, looking
a little sad. "I wasn't really expecting to have to make this stuff on
short notice. I can make a quick run to the stores if there's anything
you need..."

	I'm a bit surprised she didn't whip some up from scratch, but I suppose 
that was due to time constraints.

Yeah, it takes a while, and Touma was pretty hungry. She didn't want him to 
wait.

	"It's okay," Touma reassured her, "I'm great."

	...not touching that one.

Good idea. I won't either. ;)

It wasn't like he was
reknowned as a picky eater. Ryo had once gotten him to eat twenty hot
dogs in twenty minutes for a dare. Man, those had been some good hot dogs.

	....

Touma has the second largest appetite of all the Troopers. He only comes in 
slightly behind Shuu Rei Fuan. Canonically, he admits to having a bit of a 
sweet tooth. In doujinshi, he is usually able to steal the other Troopers' 
food while they are not looking: especially Shuu's. Picture Ami, but with 
Usagi's appetite.

the more he thought about it the
more he was pretty sure he had missed supper the night before, too. Going
so long without food was not a usual event for him.

	Definitely needs a keeper.

He really is a bit absent-minded at times. I think Makoto would be very 
happy picking up after him.
The boy is in desperate need of some kind of attention, and Makoto is the 
queen of giving attention to people. True, it is usually unwanted attention, 
but in this case...

He took another bite, just to check. There were no
noodles. It was almost enough to make him cry, it was so good.

	"Are you *sure* you're not from Osaka?"

Of course not: she doesn't have a ludicrous accent. ^_^

	"What do you think?" Makoto asked curiously. "I had to rush a
little, so it's not up to my usual standards, but I think it came out
about average."

	BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!

Oh, you knew that was coming. No way was this the best she has ever cooked.

	"Honestly? I think this is the best food I've eaten in about
three years." Touma quickly shovelled some more into his mouth and

	Somewhere, Nasuti just decided to strangle Touma, for no special reason 
she can determine.

Touma gets that, sometimes. One of my favorite things from the previous 
Ronin Summer was Touma's trademarked "smile that made girls want to smack 
him on general principles". He has no charm whatsoever. It's like he has 
this strange kind of anti-charm that actually makes him cute and endearing 
in a clumsy, puppy-dog kind of way.

	"Really? Thanks!" Makoto picked at the okonomiyaki on her plate,
staring down at her food. "I like to cook for other people, you know? It
kinda never seems worth it when there's just one person around..."

	"Yeah, that's true. Are you going to finish that?" Touma asked,
gesturing towards her plate and holding up his own empty one with the
other hand.

	So many IQ points, so little tact.  He must get by on sheer niceness.  :)

Yeah, like I said: anti-charm. He is so obviously in over his head that it 
actually works for him somehow. It's the puppy dog thing; I'm convinced.

<big snip - sorry!>

"I figured maybe the reason you were having trouble was
that the guys who wrote your book were just explainin' everything all 
wonky. Different book, different way of explaining stuff. I brought my 
text, too,

	Is it just me, or did his speech pattern just change?

Yeah - I was trying to show that he was talking while eating. Plus, he does 
have a bit of an accent that he does slip into when he isn't careful. 
However, I don't like his accent, because it makes him sound too coarse: 
almost rude. I probably won't use it in the future. In fact, I'll probably 
re-write this bit, too, just so it will match the rest of the dialogue. 
Thanks for catching it!

	"Okay, cool," Makoto agreed. "Whatever you say, Touma. I just
really gotta do well on this thing, or Mister Mishawa says I'm totally
busted."

	...fighting... to suppress... hentai comment....

I appreciate it, thanks. Ronin Summer is not a hentai zone. It may 
occasionally wander into lime territory, but it never quite makes it all the 
way to lemon. I'm hoping for a PG-13 rating here, maybe an R, tops.

	Across from where the two teens struggled their way through the

	Across what?  The street?  The city?

The street. Sorry, should have made that a little clearer. Will fix! ^_^

The only sign at all that he was even there was
the gentle flickering of his glowing blue eyes that stood in lieu of
blinking. A passing breeze stirred his velvety robes, and he quietly

	"Only sign," besides him being, y'know, *there.*  Sug:
	The only evident sign of life he displayed was that occasionally his 
glowing blue eyes would flicker in lieu of blinking.

Good point, again. Man, this bit had a lot of errors in it. Must be because 
it was the first time I was presenting the character. It's hard to be this 
morose. :p

	So. It seemed that the Princess of Jupiter had returned to the
world of mere mortals once again. Try as she might, she could not conceal
her natural sovreignity beneath that mortal shell: his eyes saw far deeper

	SP:  sovereignty, according to my spellcheck.

(groan) I made it this far into the fic without needing a spell check, and 
then I forgot to run it through before I posted it. I deserved to get nailed 
on this one. Will fix.

even than those of Touma Hashiba, for his were the eyes of the spirit. For
millenia his predecessor had stood as the sole defender of this land, the
last vestige of his lord Endymion's dying kingdom. Perhaps now he could

	Hm.  So the YSTs are leftovers from Endymion's Earth?  Interesting. I 
wonder what their relationship to the Fab Four was?

They weren't fans. ^_^

Seriously, though, the YST are a little too late to be from Endymion's 
Earth. Their creator, though, is another matter entirely. YST made it clear 
that Kaos (or the Ancient One, if you prefer) had been defending Earth for 
countless ages before he first encountered Arago (and took him down with one 
hit, thank you very much!). Kaos then built the nine mystical armours to 
fill in for him and defend the world in his place when Arago returned one 
thousand years later.

That old monk kicked way too much ass not to be from the Moon Kingdom. I 
figure he was the last of his breed - a lone warrior from Endymion's forces 
who was left behind after the fall of the Silver Millenium and had to hold 
everything together as best he could. The Troopers were his attempt to 
replace the Senshi: nine great warriors who controlled the powers of the 
elements and could unite against the forces of evil that threatened the 
world. Since they were not lucky enough to be born with special powers, he 
built magical armour that would give them the strength they needed.

And so goes my slightly revamped origin of the Samurai Troopers, based in a 
world where Sailor Moon was equally canon. I'll get into it in more detail 
in the fic itself. ^_^

He could tell that the Senshi were a part of it, perhaps
even the sole reason for it. He wanted to leap through the window and
confront her, demand she explain where she had been while so many others
had fought and died for her over all those long and bloody years.

	She was spending a few millenia dead for tax reasons.

LOL! ^_^

	It does seem as if Toshi has missed a few recent events, though -- Beryl's 
return, Pharoah 90 and the Death Busters, the whole Nemesis thing.  The 
senshi are victims as much as the Troopers, and in much the same way.

True, but I can explain. (I actually worked this out!)

Sailor Moon Season One: This happened first. When it starts, the Troopers 
are still looking for their armour, and they have not fought Arago yet. When 
it ends, the Senshi have all lost their memory.

YST Season One: This happens slightly before the R season, while the Senshi 
are still all amnesiac. With no powers and no memories, the Senshi were just 
more victims of the Dynasty until the Troopers saved everybody.

Sailor Moon Season Two: The "R" season. The first part of this season (The 
"Doom Tree") is very low key. The Troopers were all the way on the other 
side of Tokyo while this was happening, and they were looking for the 
Dynasty. While the Senshi fought Ail and Ann, the Troopers fought Saranbo 
and quested for the Fervour Swords. During the second part of this season 
(the "Black Moon Family"), the Troopers had a very good reason not to be 
present: they were in the Dynasty, fighting Arago yet again.  This was 
SeasonTwo of YST, as well.

Sailor Moon Season Three: The "S" season. This was the year that the 
Troopers were disbanded: they had all gone home to live their own lives. 
Touma had to save his mother from a plane crash (the drama CD "Tenkuden"), 
Shin had to deal with his sister's new fiance and an ice demon (the 
"Suikoden" CD), Seiji was injured in battle and slipped into a brief coma 
(the "Korinden" CD), and Shuu had to fight with a demon who wanted to become 
the new leader of the Masho (the "Tsuki" CD).

Sailor Moon Season Four: The "Super S" season. The Troopers were in New York 
while most of this was happening (the "Message" OAV). Even if they weren't, 
I doubt that the actions of the Dead Moon Circus was of much importance to 
them. They did not know about Pegasus, and would have no idea that someone 
was hunting him. Stealing dream mirrors is not really high profile enough to 
get the Troopers' attention from all the way over in Shinjuku.

So basically, Toshitada was still evil during Beryl's return, fighting in 
the Dynasty during the Black Moon Family arc, and dead before Pharoah 90 was 
more than a rumour. He can't be blamed for being a little out of the loop. 
^_^

There was little enough to keep him, he knew: only his concern and love
for the eight young men he had once fought beside and the one spirited
lady that he had gifted with his mystic armour.

	Hm... my YST-fu is weak, but IIRC four of the original Troopers went bad, 
one got killed and "ascended" to become the monk-guy, and the remaining 
three bad ones got redeemed (at least paritally) at the end of the first 
season.  Plus wossername ended up getting the dead one's armor.  Okay, this 
tracks.

Correct! The characters you are thinking of are:

Kujuurou Sasaki, aka Anubis: the Masho of Darkness, the Black Jackal, and 
the Dark Demon of Corruption. Seiji's counterpart, he is the embodiment of 
winter. Specialises in darkness and cold. Also wolves. Lots and lots of 
wolves.

Yamanouchi Naotoki, aka Naaza: the Masho of Poison, lord of snakes, and 
half-demon himself. He of the crazy eyes and the wild green hair. Shin's 
favorite opponent, he is the embodiment of autumn. Everything he touches 
withers and dies, because his armour is coated with a highly acidic venom.

Jirougorou Kuroda, aka Rajura: the Masho of Illusion, and master of spiders. 
Usually pitted against Shuu, Rajura has all the powers of Spider-Man and 
Mysterio combined. He controls the vertical, he controls the horizontal, and 
his mind is a complex web of plots and counterplots that are so complicated 
that sometimes even he isn't sure what he's up to. He is the embodiment of 
summer.

Toshitada Koma, aka Shutendoji: the Masho of Cruelty. Former leader of the 
Masho, this red-haired warrior realised that he was being used by Arago and 
turned to the side of good just in time to get struck down. He even kind of 
LOOKS like Nephrite. :p Unlike Nephrite, though, Shutendoji got to hang 
around for a while as the fill-in ghostly mentor/last-second-rescue provider 
of the team before he shuffled off the mortal coil. Which is why he is 
currently a ghost.

Oh, and wossername, aka Kayura: the Mistress of Pain. Not actually a Masho, 
but an amazing simulation. She gets props for taking out both Touma and Ryo 
at the same time while armed with nothing more than a pair of sai and a 
dazzling smile. Plus, she was the original queen bitch of the universe, back 
when she was evil. She turned good, got Toshitada's armour, and was made the 
unofficial leader of the other Masho after Shutendoji died.

I hope you're paying attention: these five WILL become important later. And 
that ought to make at least a few of my readers happy, since most of my 
responses so far have been asking when the Masho will come back. ^_^

it had all been their fault. They had left humanity to its fate without
any warning, and now, just when it was all finally returning to normal,
they had waltzed back in like they somehow deserved to own the place.

	...say what?  Did he somehow miss the fall of the Silver Millenium? I'm 
*sure* it was in all the papers.

Toshitada is only about 600 years old. Most of what he knows about the fall 
of the Silver Millenium he picked up second hand from Kaos and Sailor Pluto. 
Given his natural habit of being highly critical of whoever is currently in 
charge, it's clear he has been drawing his own conclusions based on 
information that is sketchy at best.

Setsuna and he had deserved better than the fate
they were given: an eternity alone, unable to touch, or feel....

	Well, well.  The plot thickens.

He's a wee bit bitter, this fellow. I wonder why? (blinks innocently)

<tiny snip!>

	He had looked for her, of course. He had scanned the globe for any
sign of Setsuna Meioh, but she was gone as if she had never been. He was

	Did'ja check, y'know, *Pluto*?  Or, less sarcastically, the Gate? Well, he 
probably doesn't have access to that 'place.'

Heh. Well, actually, he can't get to the Gate at the moment. And, of course, 
Setsuna vanished way back at the end of the "S" season, so it's not like 
he's the only one who has been wondering where she is lately. Darn those 
cursed powers that force you out of existence when you use them! I mean, 
what if you use them twice? Where does that leave you, back IN existence? 
^_^

Fool that he was, he preferred to think that they had been more than just
another machination to each other.

	Heh.  If you're retaining the elements I vaguely recall from the original 
run of Ronin Summer, that's a safe bet.  But only time will tell, I guess.

I'm retaining a fair number of the elements I used in the original Ronin 
Summer, but some of them are not quite being used the same way. Last time, 
Shutendoji was the one who first brought the Troopers and Senshi together. 
This time, he seems to be more interested in keeping them apart. As for the 
whole Setsuna/Shutendoji connection, well.... wait and see. I can't go 
giving it all away so soon, now, can I? ^_^

That was all ghosts could do: fade away with the
dawn, like all the other unwanted memories.

	Oh, I wouldn't say he's *completely* unwanted.

Ghosts can be so maudlin sometimes. ^_^

	It looks like there's been some *serious* miscommunication gone on between 
the Senshi and the Yoroiden, waaay back when.  It'll be interesting to see 
how this plays out.

Thanks, I certainly hope it will!

Some of the older players in the YST universe have ties to the Moon Kingdom, 
and they are not all in favour of seeing it come back again. The Masho 
especially have reasons to object: they're kind of planning to build their 
OWN empire, after all.

<snip!>

She tended to have a real Bride of Frankenstein thing going on
first thing in the morning, and this afternoon was no different. No point
scaring Touma out of his wits before they had a chance to grab any

	Somehow, I suspect it wouldn't faze him.

Somehow, I suspect he wouldn't notice. Sweet guy, but if he's working on 
something important, you could set his sleeve on fire and he wouldn't notice 
until it had spread to the drapes.

Quickly folding all
of her clothing into a neat pile, she placed the basket holding her
bathing supplies on top of it. Tapping her finger to her lips

	Boy.  Girl.  Bath.  We're about to hit a genre convention landmine, aren't 
we?

Yeah, but fortunately I don't always go straight for the obvious. Makoto has 
seen enough anime and read enough manga to know where this is going. The 
question is, will she resist, or play along? After all, it's practically a 
LAW that this kind of thing has to go wrong somehow... it might be better to 
just get it over with.

Sure, she had never
actually NEEDED to transform into Sailor Jupiter during her morning bath,

	For some reason, this broke me.

I'm not sure whether to feel guilty, or pleased. Maybe a little of both? ^_^

Touma was
probably still asleep, but she had seen enough anime to know that it might
be a good idea to check and make sure he wasn't already in the bath ahead

	OTOH, some people are smart enough to try and disarm the minefield ahead 
of time.

Like I said, Makoto knows better. And if she's ever alone in a dark, scary 
tower and hears a noise, she will know better than to split up and 
investigate, too.

Beast Boy: "Everybody knows the cute, funny guy goes first, and I'm probably 
delicious!"

As she watched, unnoticed, he let go of the steel rail with one hand and 
extended it out to the side while keeping his entire body perfectly 
balanced. Then he slowly began to lower himself until the rail rested 
across his collarbones before straightening his arm and pushing himself 
back up again. Through the entire thing, she didn't think his body so much 
as quivered. His astoundingly toned, incredibly lithe, noticeably 
shirtless body...

	Ping!  Ladies and gentlemen, Makoto's Brain has *left* the *building.*

It was bound to happen sooner or later. She just realised that she is 
trapped in her apartment with one of the most bishie of bishounen. And she 
was doing so good at not thinking about him that way, too. Curse you, Touma! 
Curse you and your supernatural gymnastic abilities!

	"Oh, hey, Makoto!" Touma glanced over at her and waved as he
gripped the rail firmly with both hands and let his body fall into a

	Waving *and* gripping the rail with both hands?  What's he waving a-- 
nevermind, I don't wanna know.

(groan) Uh, yeah, would you believe that was not how that was supposed to 
come out? I meant to type "at her and waved, THEN gripped the rail firmly 
with both hands, etc." This was the result of poor editing on my part. Will 
fix. :(

"You just... reminded me of
someone I used to know, that's all. No big deal. I'm over it."

	<emoticon of raised eyebrow>  Oh HO!  And no, she is definitely NOT "over 
it."

Heck, no. She's not even doing a very good job of lying about it.

And what the heck would that emoticon be? Surely, we must have come up with 
one for that by now! It's, like, the most common emotion we have to stuff! 
Can it be that the raised eyebrow has no emoticon? O_O

I got a friend who works there, and she knows a guy who can get us into 
the labs as long as nobody asks too many questions. Thought it might help 
if we could actually work
with some stuff hands on

	A good idea -- Mako's probably one of those people who's better at 
hands-on.

As you mentioned earlier, yeah. Touma figured out pretty early that Makoto 
and books were not a good mix. Now he's getting creative. And what's the 
point of being friends with Nasuti Yagyu if you can't take horrible 
advantage of her? ^_^

<snippity-snip!>

Makoto eased the door shut again and
groaned. A few more weeks living with that?

	Doomed.

	No way was she going to make it.

I like how you and Makoto have about equal opinions on her odds of getting 
out of this in one piece. Touma's going to end up wearing that girl like a 
wet sweater if he isn't careful. Welcome to glompville, population: you. ^_^

**********

	Touma figured he could handle making toast. He hadn't managed to
explode toast once in all his years of making it. Heading into the

	O_O

Dude. Atomic. Muffins. Do you WANT to guess what breakfast looks like at his 
house?

He would
have to make them some coffee, just to be safe.

	Oh, yeah, wire her up.  Goooood plan.

Touma: I am a teenaged mad scientist! Sailor Jupiter on coffee is what ALL 
of my plans look like!

He had once tried to build his
own coffee maker when he had been bored, but somewhere along the way he
had been forced the shelve the design due to lack of plutonium. In fact,

	@_@  No, I don't think I want to know.

It started out perfectly normal, I swear. But by the end of the blueprint, 
there was a big box with "plutonium goes here" written in it, and SOMEBODY 
must have put it there, right? I mean, you can't NOT put plutonium in the 
part marked "plutonium goes here". That would just be madness.

	The phone continued ringing, and Touma glared at it in annoyance.
Who the heck called somebody at an ungodly hour like eleven in the

	Hear, hear!

Touma does not believe there should be an eleven in the morning. He's not 
sure when they started doing it, but he has never once been awake to see it 
and not regretted the decision. :p

the last thing he wanted to do was have one of Makoto's
friends wondering what a strange boy was doing answering her phone at this

	Wow.  An unusual degree of social awareness, there, for a teenage mad 
scientist.

Yeah, but a situation like this one is like juggling hand grenades. You may 
avoid the first few problems, but eventually you are going to get a big 
ka-boom. Touma is being a little something I like to call "not quite careful 
enough". So is Makoto, of course.

He opened the bag and
took out a chirping cellular phone. According to the caller display, it
was some public phone in Yokohama somewhere.

	Ah, yes, the post-Yokohama battle report.  I forgot that was running 
concurrently.

Yeah, and last chapter Ami said she had tried to reach Makoto at home, on 
her cell phone, and one other way...

Let me think... what was it Ami had said?

Almost on cue, a completely different chime began sounding

>from somewhere in Makoto's bedroom down the hall. Touma turned and glanced

	Uh.  Oh.  She remembered her wand, but not her communicator...

Oh, yeah, Ami said she also called her on her communicator! That was what 
that third thing she had done was!

Taking your henshin wand with you so Touma will not find it == careful.

Forgetting your communicator in your bedroom == not quite careful enough.

^_^

<sorry for all the snips, but I'm hoping to make my response shorter than my 
story! Trust me, I loved every comment!>

(another time, another place...)

Lady Kayura would have fallen, and with her gone there would be none left
with any solid claim on the throne. Who would have dared stand against
him? The entire Dynasty trembled at the mere mention of the Troopers and
their legendary armour.

	Good plan.  Logical, methodical, detailed... and utterly doomed by first 
contact with the enemy.  Raddy-boy needs to brush up on his Clausewitz.

Radanthus is just smart enough to realise that all the other bad guys are 
stupid. He's not quite smart enough to realise that he is stupid, too. He 
actually expects everyone to behave exactly the way he wants them to. If 
they did, then his plan would work perfectly. But Badamon has already 
managed to throw a monkey wrench into those plans without even trying hard. 
Badamon, of course, is not even close to being on Radanthus' side.

The trick is, Radanthus knows this, but he assumes that Badamon is just out 
to help himself. It has yet to occur to him that Badamon may actually be 
working for someone even nastier than him, because Radanthus would never 
willingly work for anybody. He can only understand self-serving motives: 
anything else is completely alien to him.

	Jadeite had been the youngest, most brilliant of all Beryl's
Shittenou. His had been the army of the Far East, and to this day,

For certain given qualities of "brilliant". I mean, he wasn't exactly being 
compared to Stephen Hawking, here. The Shittenou were cool, and all, but 
none of them were exactly going to take away a Nobel Prize for genius in the 
field of villany. Keep in mind that most of them managed to wipe THEMSELVES 
out while Sailor Moon stood nearby and watched.

I love and respect these characters. I still get to make fun of them. ^_^

Rescuing Jadeite from his eternal sleep would gain Radanthus not only an
effective scapegoat for the Senshi to focus on, but also the service of
the largest and most coherent force that still remained in the region he
sought to conquer.

	Well, that makes sense.  Of course, *Jed* might have something to say 
about it...

Hey, Jadeite has been in that giant block of ice (or crystal? I am not sure) 
for a couple of years now. I'm sure being randomly punished by his Queen 
despite the fact he had done the best he could has done nothing to sour him 
on showing blind loyalty to anybody who wants to be in charge of him. ^_^

The youma
and daimons who served Radanthus were tired of rulers who saw them as
expendable: if Badamon's careless handling of them was not addressed,
Radanthus would soon find himself with no troops at all.

	This guy actually has more than two brain cells to rub together. 
Dangerous.

Yep, Radanthus is much smarter than his brutish exterior would lead people 
to believe. However, he does have one great weakness: he is relying WAY too 
much on other people to do very important jobs that they can not necessarily 
be trusted with. He even punishes Badamon by proxy: using Irduk instead of 
doing anything himself.

	"My... fervour to my master... consumes me," Badamon wheezed, a
thin green fluid oozing from between his teeth as he spoke. "This form is

	Okay, *ew.*

I got that response a lot. As I explained elsewhere, I watched a lot of 
George A. Romero movies as a kid. Sometimes I will be laying on the 'ew' 
factor, especially with Badamon. He is a very nasty, ugly little pickle 
right now.

I will try to be a little careful in how I show it, though. Some people may 
have less tolerance for the gore than I do. Like I said, going for a PG-13, 
here. R, tops.

Your choice of agent for this
matter had led me to doubt your judgement, Badamon. Or perhaps it is
merely your loyalty which I should doubt?"

	Sug:  "has lead"

Oops! Typo! Will fix! ^_^

	"Oh, but my loyalty is beyond reproach!" Badamon replied
petulantly. "Everything that you have asked of me I have provided for you,
oh disturbingly perceptive one!"

	That was... internally contradictory.

Badamon does that a lot when he's talking to Radanthus. All of his 
compliments can be taken in more than one way - it's kind of a Freudian 
slip.

	Badamon made a face. "And what of my own position, he whose power
shatters the very ground on which he walks?"

	Looked at the right way, that 'title' could be pretty backhanded...

Like I said, it's a Freudian slip. Badamon does not think very highly of 
Radanthus at all. Having to make up obsequious titles for him every time 
they talk only makes it worse until he starts to phrase them as veiled 
insults. So far, Radanthus has either not noticed, or not cared.

Besides, what's he going to do, kill Badamon? Been there, done that. Badamon 
is not afraid of dying.

He's afraid of it HURTING. ^_^

	"Do you know what I wish of you, Fei Lian?"

	The youma bowed deeply. "We are to free Xiang Yao from the Castle
of Eternal Regret, I am thinking. The only reason for calling me here,
that is. We know the price for her freedom, do we not? The great archer
must take her place; the one who imprisoned her must set her free."

	Great archer?  ISTR that one of the YSTs used a bow.  And I'll bet it's 
Touma.

Good call! Yep, Touma is indeed the archer of the group. He is one of the 
only people in either team who actually has a good ranged weapon. ^_^

There would be no
chance for Touma to warn anybody, and no hope of his rescue. It would mean
that the Troopers and Senshi could reman ignorant of Xiang Yao until she
chose to strike, as long as Shuu Rei Fuan did not suspect anything. "Go,
and take him quickly, before the others can know of his danger."

	Defeat in detail.  Classic.  Unfortunately, Raddy's intel appears to be 
less than complete.

Yep! Radanthus was so worried that one of the other Troopers might be nearby 
that he didn't think to check and make sure that none of the Senshi were 
around, either. He's trying to do things too quickly, and that means he is 
having to change his plans on the fly. The real question now is how well he 
can improvise.

Now Jadeite's retrieval was back on track, Xiang Yao was
as good as freed, and without Touma Hashiba's intelligence and assistance,
the rest of the Troopers would be all too easy to distract and pick off
while he focused on his real goal of taking care of the Senshi.

	Even after he should learn better, he keeps expecting these plans to 
*work,* doesn't he?

Yeah, it's kind of sad when even the *villains* are optimistic, isn't it? 
Radanthus is thinking just like Touma and Makoto are: everything is going to 
be fine, I just need to get past this minor inconvenience and it will be 
smooth sailing the rest of the way. A happy ending is all but guaranteed.

Of course, they can't BOTH be right, because their ideas of a happy ending 
are very much opposed.

<tiny snip!>

	It was late, much later than he had intended to stay out with
Makoto when they had left. Tokyo University had been fun, to say the
least; he had never seen a supercollider before, and Makoto had been

	What, he doesn't have one in his shoe locker?

Supercolliders are one of the many things that people try to keep Touma away 
from. He's enough trouble when all he has is a penknife and some juice cans 
to work with. ^_^

	It's amazing how no one in the canon series ever stops to ask, "hey, what 
if some other branch of Evil Inc is attacking in, say, Peru?  Or France 
(good riddance)?  Or Mexico City (who'd notice?)?"

Well, Sailor V was nice enough to go and check out London. And the Troopers 
did visit New York. I think the trick is that they are only willing to go 
places where their shows are popular. ^_^

	The question was, did it matter? If Makoto Kino was Sailor
Jupiter, what difference did that make in anything?

	OTOH, opening negotiations with an eye towards some kind of mutual defense 
agreement wouldn't be a bad idea.

Yeah, but that's a really awkward conversation to start up. Unless, like Ryo 
Sanada, you lack any sense of tact and just go for that "hey, how's it 
going? I'm a superhero, too. Want a snow cone?" approach. And Touma is too 
smart to do something that blatantly stupid. Ryo only did it because (say it 
with me, YST fans) RYO NEVER THINKS.

Ryo: See, that's your problem, Touma. You're living up *here*, in the 
forebrain. You need to start living back HERE! In the impulse centre! ^_^

It was as if she just refused to believe
that anything bad could happen to her. Just being around her made him
want to look after her, make sure that she never had to suffer or hurt

	Awwww...

Yeah, Touma is a gigantic softie at heart. He's a huge romantic trapped 
inside a walking calculator.

again. He wasn't like Ryo: he didn't need to be everybody's hero. Most of

	Nope.  Just One Special Girl's hero.  Yep, that'd be fine.

Touma really doesn't care about saving the planet. He does it for his 
friends, and the people he loves. As far as he's concerned, the rest of the 
planet just gets to come along for the ride while he rescues the people who 
matter to him.

And considering that he has a habit of literally going through Hell to help 
the people he cares for, Touma Hashiba is one guy you want to have thinking 
you're worth the effort.

She
probably couldn't open her shoe locker without an avalanche of love
letters. What hope would a nerd like him have of getting her attention?

	'scuze me while I beat my head against this convenient concrete post.

Like I said earlier, Touma has no idea that he has any attractiveness to the 
opposite sex whatsoever. And Makoto is actually very close to his idea of 
the perfect woman - Touma likes girls who are athletic and energetic, not 
quiet bookworms. "Must play baseball" is on his list of important qualities 
in a mate. It's only natural that he would assume all of the boys at her 
school are as attracted to her as he is.

He could tell she wasn't interested in him that way. It would
be a betrayl of her trust in him as her tutor to do anything. He had to

	SP:  betrayal.  Glory be, some actual concrete C&C!

Oops! Sorry! Will fix. ^_^

<snip!>

and there was no
driver, and they had no way to stop the train, and he was holding his hand

	*Any* train ought to have some kind of panic button.

Duly noted, but Touma is panicking. He just didn't think to reach for it.

<snip!>

She was buried, oh God,
she was buried in people, just like every night, and this time she was not
going to wake up because she was already awake! They would never find her

	...well, that explains why she always ends up on the floor.

Makoto does not sleep well. She has certain issues which we are all well 
aware of. It goes a little beyond just a fear of airplanes, IMHO. ^_^

<snip!>

	"It's okay," she said softly. "You did great, Touma. You saved
everybody you could."

	"No... he's still out there. Some monster in armour, he flipped
the whole train over. I... I wanted to protect you, Makoto." Touma
coughed, and a trickle of blood slipped from the corner of his mouth. "I
really messed it up, Mako-chan. No way I can fight him now."

	He called her Mako-chan.

Yep, he sure did. And after he made such a big fuss about not wanting to, 
earlier. Makoto kind of gets a little fixated on that fact, too. ^_^

	Well, Touma, that's okay.  You just *happen* to be lying in the lap of the 
Lady of Lightning and Mistress of the Thunders.
	Can I get a price check on Can O'WhupAss, please?

I think tonight they're giving it away free. ^_~

<snip!>

You have very good taste in fight music, incidentally. Well chosen. ^_^

His
spirit soared as the mangled doors on the side of the crumpled train car
gave and broke free of their frame to clatter to the ground below. After
so much time, their first and final battle would be glorious!

	He's gonna be SO disappointed...

And in SO many ways...

There was
something about the way this girl stood, her fists clenched tightly at her
sides, her face clouded with darkness as lightning crackled from the
corners of her eyes, that made Fei Lian pause with mortal fear.

	Ooooooohhh, YEEEEEESSSS!!!!!!!!!!

I'm glad to hear that scene worked for you. I was really trying to establish 
that Sailor Jupiter is not someone to be taken lightly in this fic. The 
Sailor Senshi really do strike fear in the hearts of villains who know about 
them, and some of them (like here) can even manage to scare monsters who 
have no idea who they are.

I mean, someone who throws LIGHTNING BOLTS is mad at you. If you have any 
instincts at all, they ought to be telling you to run like hell and never 
look back, right?

	"Why do you oppose, young amazon?" he asked, tilting his head to
one side and looking at her curiously. "With you, my quarrel is not; it
is the archer I seek. Unnecessary, your death this night shall be."

	Not hearing much 'mortal fear' here.
	Polite cuss, for an Evil Minion.

I figure any time an Evil Minion is trying to talk his way out of a fight 
rather than leaping into it with his tongue hanging out, he is probably 
scared. And Fei Lian is being very, VERY polite: he's kind of hoping that if 
he handles this nicely enough she will go away. ^_^

	"Garbed in the colours of my passion, I am Sailor Jupiter!" The

	"The Green Thunder of Juuban High School!"
	<erk>  Sorry, too many crossovers lately...

No, it's okay. I kind of got that image, too. Sadly, these speeches are a 
part of the genre. Once you get into them, they're actually kind of neat. 
Sailor Moon's in particular are best taken tongue-in-cheek. ^_^

"In the name of the planet Jupiter, I shall defend the unbreakable
bond between teacher and student! Touma risked his life to rescue these

	<wince>  Okay, that was cheesy.  Genre requirement again, I suppose.

Yeah, and sadly IC for the Senshi. I mean, c'mon, who can resist a good 
monologue? ^_^

<snip!>

	"And..." Sailor Jupiter said, slowly raising her fists, "To me...
And, to me..."

	Say it!  SAY IT!

	**It's a special thing, not a word you should call just anybody.**

	"Touma... He is..."

	<jittering on edge of seat>

	**I wanted to protect you, Makoto.**

	"To me... To me he is..."

	<biting fingernails>

	**I hope we can be friends.**

	"To me, he is my senpai!" Makoto cried out defiantly, as a peal

	<facefault>  Well, okay, that's *something.*  Darn you, Morgan, you had me 
expecting declarations of True Love or something.

Sorry, not that far just yet. "Senpai" is a very big step in the right 
direction, though. A senpai is more than just an upperclassman or a senior 
in Japan. Senpai are the people who are supposed to look out for you and 
teach you how to live. The basic idea is that since they've already been 
through what you're going through, they can show you how not to make the 
same mistakes they did and teach you the best ways of getting ahead. It's 
kind of like being a role model, a mentor, a confidante, and an older 
sibling all in one package.

Makoto is basically saying that Touma Hashiba is all the things that 
Tatewaki Kuno pretends to be. And when you consider all the things Tatewaki 
Kuno pretends to be, that means she thinks Touma is pretty darned spiffy.

	Well, the war is young.

It certainly is. There is a lot more to come, and it will get even better (I 
hope). ^_^

Diverted only slightly, the spears slammed into
the side of the train and Makoto was thrown violently to the ground as
the steel car behind her exploded in a pillar of flame.

	Uh oh.  Hope nobody was in that one.

No worries: Touma had already cleared that car out. This fight had no 
fatalities, and most of the innocent people involved got away with mild 
concussions and a few broken bones at most. Just in case you were worried.

a daughter of dragons cannot hope to defeat one such as I." He chuckled, 
and for a moment in the rain his
shape seemed to change, growing larger and winged, with the impression of
a thousand tightly coiled scales writhing as a giant rattle on the end
of his tail shivered and rustled warningly. Atop the piled coils, a
stern face with a massive rack of antlers and the cold, dark eyes of a
stag glared down at her, and Makoto cringed.

	????  Half rattlesnake, half deer?

That is the true form of Fei Lian. He doesn't use it quite as much as he 
used to back in the old days. Fei Lian and the Archer go WAY back. All the 
way to the Moon Kingdom, actually. They were enemies when Beryl was still 
just toying with the idea of maybe going bad someday.

Somewhere along the line, Fei Lian became convinced that Touma Hashiba was 
"the Archer" (Because they dress alike, perhaps? It's hard to say). He may 
be right, or he may be wrong. The important thing right now is that *he* 
believes it.

	The pouch rattled slightly as Fei Lian shook it, and he smiled.
Carefully, he pulled the drawstring open and removed what appeared to be
a puzzle box made of cedar and covered in mystical wards.

	Aaagh!  Hellrasier!

Wow, I was not thinking of that. But I guess it does sort of fit.  Good 
catch! I hadn't even realised I was making a reference on that one! ^_^

Imprisoned within, Xiang Yao has been for these
past eleven years. Eager for her freedom, she had become."

	11 years?  But if it was Touma who put her there, and he's only ~16 right 
now... nah, that doesn't add up. What am I missing?

Actually, it does add up. You are correct: Touma was FIVE when he did this.

I mention a little lower that he first dealt with the puzzle box when he was 
very young. He recognises that it is "the box from grandfather's shrine" and 
says that "Shuu and I sealed it away when we were just kids". He also 
mentions that opening the box is easy for him because "he first did it when 
he was five".

Long story short, Touma had a very unusual childhood and this box was 
involved. Long story long... well... keep reading the fic and find out. :p

	"What?" Touma gasped, the arrow falling from his mouth as the
bow's string snapped back into position. "I... I know that box! That's
the box from Grandfather's shrine!"

	Gah!  Idiot!  Why didn't you take the shot!

Standard hero mistake number two: letting the enemy surprise you with 
something that completely makes you forget what you are doing. He really 
should have just shot Fei Lian right between the eyes, like you say.

For that matter, why didn't you get him between the eyes with the *first* 
shot, when he didn't know you were there?

Well, that would be standard hero mistake number one: playing fair. Striking 
an enemy down from behind is cowardly and dishonourable: your first shot 
should always be a warning shot, so that you can get his attention and let 
him know that you have come to destroy him. It's also why sentai heroes are 
big on speeches: it is only fair to let your enemy know who he is 
confronting, so that he has a chance to realise he is outclassed and back 
down without losing face.

If he fails to back down and run away, you are free to beat him like he owes 
you money. ^_^

	Wow.  It's like the Black Gate from FMA all over again.  But green.

Full Metal Alchemist rules. I've only seen the first half, though. Been 
meaning to grab the rest when I get the chance. I liked what I saw. I'm in 
the same position with Bleach, too. At least I was able to catch all of 
Count of Monte Cristo. Those are some quality anime.

	A shadow fell over Touma, as Makoto stepped in front of him with
her arms outstretched. Eyes shut, she turned her head away from the
onrushing column of mist as its tendrils reached her. Touma reached out 
for her, and she looked over her shoulder at him.

	Oh.  No...

Sorry, yes. That's where this is going. Don't worry, though; it's not going 
exactly where you're expecting it to.

With a clatter of metal on stone, Tenku no Touma
collapsed onto the wet gravel. Clenching his fist, he struck the earth as
though it were somehow responsible.

	That... did NOT go at ALL like I thought it would.

Hang on, I'm not done yet. ^_^

	"Sound as though you are already within, you do," Fei Lian said
mockingly, balancing his spear on the tip of one finger as he stood
over the fallen Samurai Trooper. "How dearly she fought, that girl. A
shame she lacked taste in her choice of senpai, it was."

	Okay, Windbag *dies*.  Slowly.  *Painfully.*  *After* we get Mako-chan 
back.

That is almost exactly what Touma is thinking right now. If Fei Lian was not 
his mortal enemy before, you better believe that he is going to be NOW. And 
Touma is one of the two Samurai Troopers you never want to see angry. The 
other one? Shin Mouri.

Shin is not a pleasant person when he is mad.

	"An eternity of torture, and the end of your realm, you have
chosen," Fei Lian said cheerfully, as the final piece slid into place.
"Sweet words to contemplate, within the Castle of Eternal Regret. Enjoy
the prison that held Xiang Yao, I am sure you will."

	Piss off, Windy.  This is one battle, not the whole war.

Yeah, Fei Lian is counting his chickens well before hatching season. But 
then again, he is assuming that just because nobody has ever gotten out of 
the Castle of Eternal Regret that there is no way to do it. Touma knows 
better. Like he says, he's smarter than they are. ^_^

Fei Lian
had thought this was a trap: it was really a rescue mission. Sailor
Jupiter was somewhere in this place, and he was going to find her, and
he was going to protect her, and they were going to escape.

	Touma Hashiba had always firmly believed in happy endings...

**********

To Be Continued.

	AGH!  Morgan, you cliffhanging sonnuva--!

Sorry. It seemed like such a good place to leave things, you know? Plus, I'm 
trying to keep my chapters a reasonable length. We will get back to Touma 
and Makoto and the Castle of Eternal Regret very soon, I promise. I would 
never leave you hanging for TOO long.

	Write.  Faster.
	grrrrrrrr

I shall do my best. Work on my next chapter is already under way (I just 
took a little break so I could get back to you in a timely manner). Sorry I 
had to do so much snipping, but I was trying to finish this before work. I 
really did like all of your comments, and rest assured that I will be taking 
all of your suggestions. Thanks for the extensive C&C! It was really 
helpful, and I'm glad that you took the time to write and let me know how 
you were finding things. Sorry if I got a little long-winded at times: I 
love to expound on the intricacies of my fic when I get the chance. 
Sometimes I go a little too far and start giving stuff away. I think I was 
able to avoid that this time out.

Glad you like my fic! Hopefully the next chapter will be even better! ^_^

Anyway, I have to get back to work on my next chapter. Thanks again for 
writing!

Later!

-Morgan



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