Souls of Fire #5: Metal Flame Ranma 1/2 VS Sailor Moon Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com) http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/sm/index.html Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi. Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Proper licenses belong to respective properties and characters. The manga has precedence over material in the anime. This file can be freely distributed so long as it appears in its complete form and proper credit. No part may be reproduced for monetary gain without permission from the author. ---------------------------------------------------- Northwest Hydroelectric Plant, Crystal Tokyo Sailor Jupiter had no idea what to expect when she walked into the plant. The first step she made through the door several floodlights blinded her eyes, each light coming from multiple directions and above. "Pity," a female voice said, her voice echoing over speakers. "I was hoping for a chance to meet your esteemed leader, Sailor Venus." Shielding her eyes to the light, Jupiter shouted, "Where are you?! Show yourself!" "Perhaps you should find something of interest at the main engine room," the voice offered. "Be my guest; it appears I will turn my attentions elsewhere while you thwart us." At the same moment the floodlights shut off, and despite the fact the Fenril was implying that she would not attack, Jupiter knew it was a trap. Nevertheless, after taking a few moments for her eyes to adjust back to the relative darkness of the plant, she continued on steadily. No more interruptions marred her trek to the main engine, where the electrical energy generated by the turbines was channeled into the cables that carried power to the city. Against its side there was a small metallic cone stuck to it, and a light on its pointed end blinked like a beacon. "Well," she decided, "nothing else but to smash it." She raised a fist, and thrust. Only to have it caught by another's hand. "Geez, who woulda thought you girls fought with fists?" "I knew it was too good to be true," she muttered, bracing herself for the inevitable follow-up attack to the counter shot. "I'm Ranma," the martial artist introduced nonchalantly. "We've got some serious talking to do." "Really," Jupiter replied, her mind racing for a counter of her own. "Like what?" "Like what we're going to do about this lousy society of yours," answered Ranma. "Like how you're leaving yourself so open to attack it's not even funny. How do you expect to beat anyone, much less us, if the only people that defend it are four people?" After mentioning this, Ranma paused, his expression showing shock. "Wait a minute, there's four of you, and...." Before Jupiter would allow him to come up with the answer she grabbed the Fenril's arm, and, throwing all her weight back, hurled him off his feet and over her. --- Northern Wind Plant, Crystal Tokyo Sailor Mars fought against both the high wind and the projectiles of the attacking Mousse, who, with great acrobatic precision despite the weather, bounced off each fan tower easily, making himself a terrible target to aim for. Forced totally on the defensive Mars wished the queen would simply change the weather control system around the windmill plant to suit her style better. However, the plant must stay up and running for the city, and such the handicap must be taken. The Fenril, Mousse, on the other hand, seemed to take such a 'handicap' with ease, as if it never hindered him one bit. She threw a Fire Soul at the incoming knives, each melting quickly into nothingness and scattering to the winds long before reaching Mars. "This isn't getting us anywhere," she realized. "They're trying to stall me and keep me from the plant itself... but why?" --- Western Magic Plant, Crystal Tokyo "No enemies," Venus said to herself aloud as she walked into the engine room. She spied the conical beacon attached to the side, blinking periodically at regular intervals. "Nothing left but to get rid of that thing, whatever it is." "Stop right there!" Venus's attention was torn away from the Fenril device, focusing on a silhouette standing against one of the windows on the upper catwalk. She could make out the outline of a woman figure, with plenty of hair reaching down well below her waist. "Stealing the hearts of man, woman, and child!" she accused, in a tone reminiscent of Sailor Moon's old speeches. "Transforming this Earth into a shadow of its former glory... it's unforgivable!!" "What the...?!" "Well, I stand for love and justice!" the Fenril shouted, mimicking familiar hand gestures. "I'm Sailor Miranda! And in the name of the Earth, I'll punish you." Taking no appreciation of the parody shot Venus's eyes followed the Fenril's leap over the catwalk, and saw that she was going for a drop kick. She threw herself to the right, feeling the wind scrape against her hair as she tumbled. "Boy, you girls suck in the spiel department," Miranda said contemptuously, landing on her feet. "And for the next item up on our bid...!" She cocked one arm back, spreading fingers outward, and a glowing disc of energy began to form. Venus scrambled back on her hands and feet as sawblade-like energy discs flew from the Fenril's hand, each making a sizable tear in the floor where the senshi used to be. "Geez, Rubber-bitch!" someone shouted. "Catfight already! Show me how woman you are!" "Shut up, Pantyhose Bastard!" Miranda cried back to the unseen Fenril. "Who's side are you on, anyway?!" "Stop calling me that!" Taro demanded angrily. Taking the momentary distraction to get back to her feet Venus raised her index finger and pointed it toward the attacking Fenril, throwing off a Crescent Beam. However, Miranda appeared to be paying more attention to her enemy than her unseen ally, throwing another energy discus and shredding the beam into nothingness. The discus continued on its path, forcing Venus to duck an allow it to pass overhead. "Buzz off!" the Fenril girl shouted. "I'll take care of you!!" --- Rec Room, Mishima Heavy Industries "Ah, look," Higure told Ami, nudging his head in the direction of the television set. "It appears we made the evening news." Curiosity piqued, Ami got up from her seat, leaving Higure to his Solitaire, and turned up the volume. Sure enough, it was the evening news, and the story was indeed on the Fenril Knights. "Word has been released by the palace this morning that confirms that a terrorist group calling themselves the Fenril Knights are responsible for the recent chaos occurring in the world." "Humph, listen to her," Higure snorted, holding no respect for the anchorwoman. "She behaves as if we chose this way of life, much less chose that name. They use it often enough and it sticks." "The Fenril Knights have taken blame for the bombing in Iwata two weeks ago, and for yesterday's subway collapse. The Iwata bombing resulted in a couple put in the hospital with critical burns and a destroyed home, both patients are recovering swiftly but have declined to comment." "And with good reason," the old man chipped in, his card game forgotten. "However, we have learned recently that one of the Fenril Knights is being held in captivity tonight after the destruction of the 10th Street subway station. A name or identity has not been released at this time, but we have...." "They captured one of you?" Ami said, surprised. Higure nodded. The telecast changed to another reporter standing outside the Crystal Palace. "We have learned that the Fenril Knight is being held in the royal palace itself. While we have not learned the identity of the terrorist in question already people have lined up by the walls demanding justice." The camera panned away from the reporter to punctuate on the reporter's point. Ami's jaw dropped in surprise, watching an actual group of protestors marching around the front gate, chanting and holding signs demanding the 'terrorist' be given swift justice. To her eyes and ears the disguised senshi she saw only a bloodthirsty mob, crying for vengeance; while that was supposed to be impossible in this society it was what she was seeing. "We can't let these people run amok and ruin our world like this!" one interviewed protestor told the reporter. "We had to put up with the Black Moon when they kicked us around, but they never got the justice they deserved!" Higure only shook his head in disgust. "However, opinions are divided on a smaller camp," the reporter continued, and the camera switched to a second quick interview. "The way these people demand 'justice,'" the woman said, holding the last word in contempt, "is like they want someone to blame for all their problems. They couldn't do it to us, they shouldn't be doing it to them." "Former Black Moon warrior," Ami realized. "Is that so?" the old man asked, his interest perked. She nodded. "After the war was over Neo Queen Serenity accepted the rest of the Black Moon Family with open arms, and each voluntarily reintegrated themselves back into society, since all their leaders were dead and defeated. They lost the will to war over their home. But the people they attacked... they never forgave them. No matter how much a part of society they are on the surface, they're treated like second- class citizens." "I see." Higure stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Such as it in civil war that one cannot trust the other side even after they are broken." "I don't understand it," Ami admitted. "The war was draining for both sides, and it was in everybody's best interests that the Black Moon Family be accepted without condition." "The people need a scapegoat," Higure offered. "It is in human nature to want a reason to feel better after being wronged. In this case, Shizuka is in deep trouble because the pent-up frustrations over your Black Moon general pardon have not left the minds of the people. The queen is wise to keep her within the palace." She nodded, understanding that Neo Queen Serenity knew what she was doing when she decided to release information on the Fenril Knights. It was a terrible risk, but one that had to be done if the war would continue. Keeping Shizuka in the palace was more a practical than a political maneuver. Even though the hearts of the people have changed, there was nothing to do about basic human nature. If only some of the more closed-minded Fenril understood that, talks could have ended the war long before it started. For a moment Ami wondered how closed-minded Ayame Mishima was; it was obvious that the Fenril looked toward her for leadership collectively, even if one or two objected to her personally. She is the major key in the puzzle. She allowed the news report to absorb her attention once again, and the peaceful protesters still looked like a bloodthirsty mob to Ami's eyes. --- Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries "All beacons are in place," Kanna reported. "All we have to do now is power-up the funnel." "Three of the Sailor Senshi are confirmed to attacking our groups, but so far none have gotten through," Shion added. "Ayame, if we're going to do it, we have to do it NOW." Ayame folded her arms, tapping her arm with her fingers expectantly. "Think about it, Shion... there is supposed to be... how many Sailor Senshi?" There was cause to worry, she knew, because the triumvirate overheard everything their groups said using the remote control watchers. And Ranma Saotome, for all his honor bluster, brought up a rather interesting point, one which even Kanna hadn't considered. It left the funnel open to a really nasty attack if the last senshi showed up, and that was something Ayame refused to accept as a possibility. "A grand total of seven, I think," the mercenary answered. He raised up both hands and counted down with his fingers. "Supposedly, one of them is dead for sure; she died in the last war. Two are beyond the solar system doing who-knows what. There are supposed to be four guarding Crystal Tokyo at all times." He closed his remaining hand to a fist, nodding in understanding. "But there should be one for each planet, shouldn't there?" wondered the Crystal Spider. "The pattern fits with a couple skips, after all." "So where's the last one?" the leader wondered. "I never seen hide nor hair of the fourth senshi... Sailor Mercury, as I believe she's called." "She's supposed to be their smartest girl," Kanna offered. "Usually she's advising the queen, from what I gather." She shook her head. "Not only that... but if she's as smart as they say she is, there's a possibility of a counter-strategy at work. I agree with Shion; you have to turn the funnel on now." "Prepare more CRONOS units at the funnel, if necessary. I'm not taking any more chances. Activate the funnel now." --- Nanjo Heavy Industries, Crystal Tokyo "What do you mean, 'we're turning the funnel on?'" Ukyo complained, standing up from leaning against the side of the energy funnel. "I thought we were going to wait for the beacons to warm up first!" "They've warmed up enough!" Ayame hissed, her voice screeching through the radio in the chef's hand. "My trigger finger's itchy, so I suggest you back off a few more feet." "But I...!" "No time!" Hokuto yelled, yanking Ukyo back and away from the funnel, just as energy welled out of the top of the funnel like a volcano. --- North Wind Plant, Crystal Tokyo Shampoo blinked in surprise when the beacon started to glow. "What's going on?!" she yelled in surprise, just as lightning lanced straight into the air. --- Nanjo Heavy Industries, Crystal Tokyo A beam of energy lanced out from three different directions, traveling through the air in a distinct arc pattern, emerging from the beacon and plunging directly into the top of the funnel. Ukyo and Hokuto shielded their eyes as the three pumped power sources combined into the massive engine. The brightness illuminated the night sky even further when the combined energy lanced out into the stars above at an accelerated pace, traveling faster than the eye can see. Faster than light, toward the planet of darkness that absorbs such waveforms, Nemesis. --- Wiseman's Citadel, Nemesis Wiseman's eyes twinkled in delight when the energy burst cascaded around the Black Crystal, suspended in the air by its own sheer force. He watched it as the jagged edges grew larger, increasing the crystal's surface area many times beyond it's golfball size in mere seconds. "Yes," he whispered triumphantly. "Yes!! The Black Crystal grows with this crude energy! Marvel at its omnipotent power!" --- Crystal Palace, Crystal Tokyo Neo Queen Serenity gazed toward the stars, realizing the intention of the Fenril Knights after long last. They were going to power the Black Crystal. She felt it in her bones. "Please," she pleaded to the stars, "no more wars. The Earth tires of the endless fighting... must we keep fighting more?" --- Rec Room, Mishima Heavy Industries The answer, Ami knew, was 'yes.' "Magnificent," Higure praised, his eyes sparkling at the sight of the live-broadcast of the funnel on the evening news. "Simply magnificent!" "What is that?!" Ami wanted to know. "Hopefully," the old man replied, "the key to our future." --- Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries "Old man," Ayame whispered, watching the funnel do its work while the power to the city faded drastically around the Nanjo building, "you'd better be keeping your promise." --- Wiseman's Citadel, Nemesis "That I shall, Ayame Mishima," Wiseman said, having heard the comment made by the Fenril leader through his own scrying crystal ball. "As a reward to the ingenuity of your team, you shall have that, and more." He began to complete the ritualistic rites that would bind the spell together, and channeled it to the Black Crystal. --- Crystal Palace, Crystal Tokyo The queen's eyes noticed a new energy surge coming from space, this one a deep violet or black; she was unsure of which. It stopped in a fixed location in the sky, and spread outward and downward at an arc, forming a huge, black dome of power in the blink of an eye. Neo Queen Serenity turned her attention toward the people down below, gathered around the wall, staring up at the sky in horror. Each knew of the fate that was coming to them, and it hardly stopped those who tried to run for cover. It was the Black Moon invasion all over again. Human shapes melted into nothingness, bathed in violet energy and melting into the streets. The queen did not feel their life forces being snuffed out; no, it was simply the abduction of it. Abduction of body and soul off the face of the Earth, even. She stared back up toward the sky, satisfied that the emergency dome of power erected itself in time to protect the palace and its inhabitants. The ruler of the Earth could not tell if the others were being abducted as well. Suddenly, Queen Serenity realized that the Fenril Knights figured out the secret; it was far too late to stop them from opening the Kami Plane now. --- Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries "Pure genius," Kanna declared, watching as the unprotected population of Crystal Tokyo disappear from the surface of Earth, and reappear on the surface of Nemesis. "Everything happened as I predicted." "What?" Shion shouted. "You WANTED to send everybody to Darkhold? Why?! You sent my sister there!!" "She'll be fine," Ayame insisted. "I wouldn't have approved of the plan had it been any other way." The mercenary stared at the leader incredulously. "What good is this going to do?! We're just going to make the rest of the world upset at us!!" "You're thinking rather short-term in a long-term sense," Ayame pointed out. "All we need are our allies on the Kami Plane and we won't have to worry about anything at all." "Shion, let me put it this way," Kanna offered. "When you extract a heart crystal from someone, and keep it from them for longer than a half-hour, they die. It's effectively sucking the soul out of a person. Pantyhose Taro was perfectly willing to do this for us, but I'm not sure the others could do it if they knew that fact. So we abduct more people, and extract a little energy off a lot of people." "And thus not put anyone at risk of dying," Ayame added. "People can replenish their energy easily enough if we take only a fraction of it. And besides that, there's a bonus to it all." "All the inhabitants of Earth purified by the Silver Crystal possess a strong pure heart," the Crystal Spider finished. Shion blinked. "Y... you mean the Deathbuster program was a piece of junk?! We spent all this time on that thing for nothing?!" "No, not for nothing at all. You see, after I updated its database it showed me that conclusion. And now we have a really strong power base sitting in Darkhold, waiting to be tapped." The main viewscreen displayed the angry face of Ukyo Kuonji, the energy funnel in the background, still pumping energy into the atmosphere. "What the hell do you guys think you're doing?!" "Cool," Kanna whispered. "She actually caught a watcher." "Ukyo, we're shutting off the funnel, but don't leave it," Ayame ordered. "We still need it. A group of CRONOSes will remove the funnel now." "What about the others?!" the chef demanded. "What did you guys...?!" "We'll be looking forward to explaining this all to you as soon as everybody comes back," Ayame insisted. "Take care." --- Northwest Hydroelectric Plant, Crystal Tokyo Both of Ranma's fists were caught by each of Jupiter's hands, and each warrior pushed their weight into each other in a deadly hold. He had barely the time to notice the beacon shut itself off, now that he was thoroughly engrossed in battle. "You're strong, for a girl!" Ranma hissed. "Good think you aren't such a pushover!" Jupiter shot back. "Now go ahead and give in!" "Answer the question!" the martial artist insisted. "You can't answer something as simple as that?!" "It's nothing you should concern yourself about!" the senshi insisted. "Why don't you guys just go home and be happy with your lives? We're sacrificing ours for you guys, and this is how you repay us?" "Feh," Ranma snorted, "when I want someone to feed me like a baby, I'll ask for it! Better yet, I'll scoff at it, then ignore you." A sudden surge of energy rushed through Jupiter, and Ranma felt fear the moment he felt it. His feet gave way and he was forced backward by Jupiter, and Ranma felt the hard wall against his back. Unwilling to give in so easily he dropped down to his knees quickly, throwing Jupiter off balance and getting her head to crash into the wall. Now that his fists were free Ranma slipped away from the wall just as Jupiter recovered, wishing for a second he was fighting Ryoga instead. This Sailor Senshi was completely aggressive, to be sure, but was by no means on a level to compare with himself. "Freaky," he said. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you girls aren't fit to protect me." "Martial arts isn't the only skill available to me," she hissed, raising her arms. Her fingers crackled with arcs of electricity. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Ranma somersaulted backward and high over the lightning attack as it ripped by, his hands in his pockets, as if bored. "Wow, you can do that?" "Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter cried, throwing another, larger bolt of lightning off her fingers. Again, Ranma dodged, this time bouncing off the wall and giving the raspberry in mid-air. He laughed as Sailor Jupiter quickly lost her temper, knowing that she was outclassed and outmatched by a real martial artist. But the cockiness ended there when Jupiter managed to get in a lucky shot with another lightning bolt. Ranma howled in pain and was thrown backward against the wall from the blow. He felt the crystal surface crack against his back, realizing that making the girl angry was probably a really, really bad idea. His ear heard the cracks become more frequent, and soon he could hear the rush of water. And soon, water was the only thing he could see as the plant within the hydroelectric plant began to flood with the water flow that was supposed to turn the turbines. --- Kodachi Kuno watched from the catwalk above as Ranma and Jupiter were swept away swiftly by the incoming river flow, laughing at both their plights as she willed herself back to headquarters. --- Rec Room, Mishima Heavy Industries "What happened?" Ami wondered aloud, too shocked to think of an answer for herself as she gaped in front of the television set. "Part one of the master plan," Higure answered calmly, as if he expected the results. She stared at the old man angrily. "You KNEW about this?!" "To a point; I am unsure as to the means by which this is possible," he admitted. "On the other hand, if...." The disguised soldier was already out the door as he continued his rationalization, as the only thought in Ami's mind was her critical mistake. I should've seen this coming, she told herself. I could've prevented this... and now the Fenril Knights have the means to power the Mekani void-ripper! The only way to make up for that is to destroy the engine before they can power it up. However, any such idea disappeared when Ami bumped into another, sending her and the other sprawling to the ground. "Geez, watch where you're going, okay?" Shion yelled, rubbing his side. "Shion!" Ami cried. "What have you people done?!" "Perfect, I was just looking for you," the mercenary said, getting back to his feet. He offered his hand to Ami, but she refused to take it. "Look, I had no idea they were going to do this, either... but in a way it makes sense." "Wholesale slaughter?!" She knew well enough that knowing too much would get her in trouble. "Abduction," he corrected. "The entire populace of Crystal Tokyo has been transported to Darkhold, the capital city of Nemesis. The others refuse to fight until the civilians are taken out of the equation, and Ayame just gave them their wish." So that's your cover story? "Anyway, I wanted to stop you before you tried something stupid," Shion said, withdrawing his hand and straightening his jacket. Turning to the side he rubbed his chin. "Kanna suspects you're not on the level, so it's not in your best interests to affirm that idea, is it?" Ami blinked, realizing that Shion was giving her a chance to save herself. How much do you know? she wondered. "What makes you think I was going to do something?" "Look, you know even less than I do about what's going on in this place," the mercenary said sternly. "You're the most likely to panic about what's going on around you, but I know you're smarter than that. People like us need to stick together; look out for each other, you know? Other people fear us because we know so much, or THINK we know so much. Heck, some might be happy to see ME go. I mean, unless you're planning on earning Ayame's wrath...." She sighed. "Shion... for what it's worth... thank you for your concern." --- North Wind Plant, Crystal Tokyo "Mousse!" Shampoo cried, her voice carried by the winds. "We're through here!" The Master of Hidden Weapons nodded mentally as he bounced off the sides of the wind towers, occasionally throwing darts at Sailor Mars. Although the wind did serve to hamper his movement he realized the best way to get around it was to allow the winds to help propel him, rather than try to work against it. He allowed the winds to carry him, easily avoiding Sailor Mars's flaming snake. Mousse folded his arms into his robes, shouting, "It's time we end this game, Sailor Spaz! Eat my new Chain Buster!" Throwing out his arms Mousse threw out a metal discus, cutting through the air and leaving vacuum in its wake. Unimpressed by the throw Mars leaped back and out of the way as the discus slammed into the ground, but the weapons master knew better. The discus began to glow and shake violently, and burst in all directions in the form of numerous heavy chains. Each chain having a head tipped with a piercing arrow head they lanced out at high velocity, narrowly missing Sailor Mars, and embedded themselves into the wind towers. From there the chain burst into three more chains each, further sending more deadly chains in the senshi's direction, gradually forming a web of chains. Despite her best efforts to avoid the chains Mars found herself tangled in them. As the Chain Buster finished its attack cycle Mousse grabbed the nearest chain and began swinging his way toward his opponent. "Now we end this!" he declared, as Mars struggled against the chains. But almost at the last moment he recognized the danger he was putting himself in, as Mousse recognized that the chains Mars was grasping were turning red with intense heat. Quickly he turned tail and headed back out from the chain web, but the moment Mars's fire seared through the chains the web structure began to collapse raggedly. Hanging on to one chain for dear life he lost track of his enemy. He was flung toward one of the towers, and he held out his feet to brace himself on impact. Succeeding, Mousse rebounded off the side of the tower several more times, until the chains around him merely dangled uselessly. Catching his bearings, he saw no sign of Sailor Mars anywhere. "Dammit!" "Mousse, stop playing monkey and let's go!" Shampoo shouted from below. Heh, he thought, not bad for a first field test. No doubt there would be time to make more of these Chain Busters.... --- West Magic Plant, Crystal Tokyo "Don't you think you ought to lend me a hand?!" Miranda shouted, cutting a vacuum slice with her hands, but Venus was faster still at dodging. From the catwalk above Pantyhose Taro merely snorted. "Great," she hissed, swinging wide as Venus ducked. "Always have to do things myself!" "How do you expect to win," Venus said, dodging to the side, "if you can't even work together?" "Oh, sure!" Miranda wheeled her foot around for a slash. "As if you're doing any much better, prissy sissy!" But she heard a familiar voice commanding, "Miranda, it's time to regroup. Forget the senshi." "Dammit," she cursed, realizing it was Ayame calling her. Flipping backward several times the martial artist backed away from Venus and closed in on the engine. "Well, playtime's over for now, I'll be seeing you again!" With superior speed Miranda sliced at the engine, and held her arm there momentarily as magical energies sparked out of the new hole. She spun around to the side and kicked a hole in it's side, then spun around for another, and another, until completing a circle. "Enjoy your fireworks party!" she cried, grasping at the crystal prism hidden in her left glove. Willing herself back to headquarters, she left Taro and Venus to their demise, if they were too slow to react, that is. Miranda imagined the plant would make really nice fireworks. --- Infirmary, Crystal Palace "We found a strange anomaly," the chief physician reported to Neo Queen Serenity as they proceeded down the hall, alone. He held up a manila folder with his findings within. "Even though it looks like Shizuka's no longer in danger of dying on us... we found some extra organism in her bloodstream." "It is a micro-organism previously unencountered by Earth's medical science," the monarch replied knowingly, before the doctor could explain. "It is a remnant of the Chaos Plague that should have been eliminated from the planet's inhabitants entirely." "The Chaos Plague virus?" exclaimed the doctor. "I thought the Silver Crystal completely eradicated it when you woke the world from slumber." "The obvious implication is that Shizuka, and perhaps her allies, were never awakened by the crystal," Neo Queen Serenity considered, "but that...." She shook her head. "I cannot begin to think how we missed some people, but it would explain why they were never around to be purified." "Well, if this is the Chaos Plague virus, then it's not doing what it's supposed to," the doctor informed her. "Supposedly it was going to eat cells and multiply, but instead it's actually replicating the body's own cells... effectively giving the patient a rather rapid natural healing process." "Then that would explain why she did not want to be healed completely." "Precisely. Assuming this is the same virus, it must have mutated heavily." Or magically altered. "At the observed rate how long will it take for Shizuka to fully recover?" The doctor shook his head and shrugged. --- Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries "Phase one of our plan is complete," Ayame announced, her eyes following the line of all her gathered operatives. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw Pantyhose Taro wasn't paying attention, standing with his arms folded and staring down, as if asleep. "Now, all of you did a good job." "Yeah, whatever," Ukyo snorted. "Why didn't you tell us about this?" "Because you're new; everybody else knew," Higure pointed out. "Ukyo, they'll be okay in Darkhold," Shion assured her. "This way, everybody we care about wont get hurt in any future battle." "Yeah, but how do we know for sure?" the chef asked. "None of us are stranded in Darkhold." "So nice of you to volunteer," Ayame interrupted. "In fact, you're perfect for the job of overseeing the people we transplanted." Ukyo blinked. "What?" "Your face has been around town," the leader explained. "You're known, liked, and trusted. In fact nobody knows you're one of us. Not only that, but you have it within your power to lead them. You're perfect for the job." "You want me to go back to being a cook, after all I just did to get here?!" "Precisely." The okonomiyaki chef groaned. "Gee whiz, at this rate I'll NEVER get a shot at the Sailor Senshi. No, it's all about 'cook and stay out of the way....'" "Don't take it personal, Spatula-girl," Shampoo said, "it's your life." Ukyo balled her fists angrily, staring down the Chinese Amazon. "You want to make something of it, kid?!" "You'll also be meeting with Sypha and Cinder later," interrupted Ayame. "They're already on Nemesis, there to keep tabs on approaching enemies from beyond the system. So if you think you're alone... you're not." "Aren't we spreading our resources a little thin that way?" voiced Miranda. "At this rate we'll run out of good bodies." "We've got more than enough machines to supplement your numbers," replied Ayame. "I wasn't talking about the machines," Miranda said. "They suck at fighting, and you know it." "Well, that's beside the point now," Kanna said. "Now we're entering Phase two of our plan, which is realigning the funnel to transmit energy from Nemesis to the void-ripper. Once we fuel the Mekani device with enough power we can force a tear in the space-time continuum and make our way to the parallel plane, thereby bypassing the Gate of Heaven altogether." "Assuming it works... then what?" wondered Mousse. "Hopefully, one of us can make a deal with the inhabitants," Ayame answered. "If we can make a deal with even one of the kami lords, we're set on the course to victory." "How long until the funnel is realigned?" asked Higure, obviously itching in anticipation. "We've already sent the funnel into space with several space-equipped machines," Shion answered. "In no circumstance can those Sailor Senshi get to it without an air to breathe, that much is for sure. What they will interfere with, however, is the tear we make. In fact, we need all of you to be around the tear zone we move the void-ripper to, in case they try to destroy it." "Why not make the tear here?" asked Mousse. "I'd rather not have something potentially lethal in my back yard," the leader replied sternly. She looked around again to the others. "We all have our jobs to do, so get some rest while you can; we're going to move the ripper tomorrow morning." --- Infirmary, Crystal Palace Ranma woke with the thought of drowning in her mind. Surprisingly enough, she found herself quite alive, and best of all, high and dry. She stared down at herself, recognizing she was wearing a hospital gown, and took in her surroundings. Yep, no doubt, this was a hospital. The opaque crystal surfaces reflected the dim lights in the room, and Ranma knew it was likely still the same night, probably rather late. Glancing over at the wall clock at the opposing end of the room, she realized it was very, very late in the night... or rather, very, very early in the morning. "Dang, they're really going to miss me," Ranma realized. But another realization hit her: the Sailor Senshi were probably unaware that she transformed into a girl when splashed with cold water! Taking a silent, triumphant victory, Ranma looked around for her clothes, and found them hanging over near the shower drain. Quickly she slid out of bed, feeling the floor was cold to the touch, but ignored it. She pulled aside her shirt, and looked for the inner pocket he had sewn in, and sighed in relief when he felt the prism was still there. Of course, escape was far from Ranma's mind. There was still time to wreak havoc while within the home of the stuck-up Sailor Senshi and their queen. She felt a yawn coming on, and decided that would have to wait until morning. MUCH later in the morning. --- Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace Millions of people vanished without a trace, Neo Queen Serenity thought. The only survivors of the onslaught was herself, the Sailor Senshi, the Fenril Knights, the handful of doctors, technicians, and guards working in the Crystal Palace at the time of the attack, and a girl Jupiter found after the Fenril attack, the sole survivor of the attack, it seemed. The energy shield put in place around the palace was holding well, but the power generators could only hold out for a week; less if someone decided to pound on it. The city could still draw upon the main power plants as well, but the magic plant was completely demolished, and the hydroelectric plant was ruined with the flooding of the engine room, leaving only the wind plant up and operational. The Fenril could easily destroy that as well, if they were inclined to do so. Not only that, but they also had access to the greatest power source in the universe at their fingertips; there was nothing to stop them from powering-up the Mekani void-ripper now. She collapsed on her grand bed, and stared at the ceiling wearily. Everything was happening too fast; whoever was behind the Fenril Knights' plans was obviously a keen mind. She wished Ami was still in the palace, that she would do something to stop the Fenril Knights... but knew well enough that it was under her discretion. It was likely too late to stop the funnel, she thought. Ami probably did not know in time to destroy it herself, she wanted to hope. There was no reason why she would betray her planet. Was there? No, she thought, shaking her head. That kind of thinking is the doubt of Chaos, attempting to make her question her judgement. It was this type of thinking that would give Death Phantom the upper hand. Death Phantom. He wanted to meet her in another night, in the Crystal Garden. What he wanted to talk about, and why so far ahead in time was beyond Neo Queen Serenity's thinking. --- Central Park, Crystal Tokyo, The Next Day If there was a good place to hide something, Kanna said, it was in plain sight. Somehow, Shampoo thought she was overdoing it. The cube-like engine and the open flower machine on top of it stood out in the open in the abandoned park, sitting next to the fountain at the center. The only other noise beside the chatter of the technicians setting up the machine came from the water flowing down the fountain, as the birds fled a long time ago, and the people were removed. She paced back and forth alone quietly, listening to the sound of engineer Taydome get upset with one of the workers. Shampoo had no idea why Ayame would only let her guard the void-ripper, or what the others were supposed to be doing, but it certainly made the niece of Mishima look rather weak. The only reason she called the shots was because she inherited the fortress. --- Infirmary, Crystal Palace Shizuka heard the knock outside her room door, and saw Sailor Mars peek her head in. "Are you awake?" she asked. "No, I'm sleeping; what do you think?" the priestess answered sarcastically. "It's so darn quiet here there's no way anybody could sleep." Shizuka sighed to herself, sitting up in bed straight and catching sight of her 'Fire Buster Mark III' down to her right, propped up against the wall, within arm's reach if necessary. "You may as well come in." Mars did so, slowly entering and sliding the door closed with as little as a creak. "So how are you?" she asked. "Geez, get to the point already," Shizuka complained. "When does the interrogation begin?" "There's not going to be an interrogation," the senshi of fire informed her. "That's not the way we do things around here." "Very inefficient, that. If you hunt someone you get your information as quickly and as concise as possible, otherwise you'll regret it later." "We're not hunting. We're trying to help you." Shizuka snorted. "If I wanted your help, I would've asked for it. Not that your previous 'help' did me a whole lot of good." "You're not dying anymore," Mars pointed out. "That wasn't what I was talking about," she countered quickly. "I'm talking about your hand-held disco ball." "The Silver Crystal is an artifact of light," the senshi replied. "It can't do evil." "Probably not directly, but indirectly... I'd say so, wouldn't you?" Mars was about to object again, but held her tongue. "Gee whiz, you pyro. You're a priestess; you should know as well as I that you can't make everybody happy with what you do." Shizuka shrugged. "I've made plenty of people mad even though I know I'm doing a good thing." "But what your friends are doing now isn't," Mars replied. "Do you know what they did to the city?" Shizuka waited for the answer, folding her arms. "They kidnapped the entire population of Crystal Tokyo, and destroyed two power plants supplying energy to the city. We're lucky that we don't have as much power consumption, so one plant can hold, but that doesn't excuse your friends' actions." "You think I had any idea they were going to really do it?" Shizuka said. "Heck, I think they're doing you all a favor." "Why's that?" "Because this time there's no reason to hold back." Mars's expression transformed into subdued shock, and Shizuka realized she hit a nerve. Yes, you'd have liked to have hid behind hostages, wouldn't you? Or do you think I know something I shouldn't know? "Leave me," she ordered. "Not until you answer me one thing," Mars insisted. Once again the priestess shrugged. "Back when we first met... a couple weeks ago," she began, "you were emitting a dark aura. But, when I tried my spirit wards on you they didn't work... which means you're not truly aligned to evil. Something you have, or maybe it was you yourself, was masking your goodness under a blanket of darkness. Why are you aligned with those who would destroy everyone's happiness?" "Feh, long-winded, aren't you?" Shizuka considered not answering the question, but she felt feisty at the moment. "Okay, you want the truth? You can't handle the truth: I'm evil. I'm really, really evil. Anything you see that's good in me is an illusion. I'm so evil that it'll make your head spin. I'm so evil I'm banned in forty-two prefectures. I'm so evil my fellows call me the 'Silencer of Souls.' I'm so evil I have a pet boa constrictor that good girls would run in terror from, just because they think he's a slimey, scaly monster." "Well, here's another thing you should know; consider it a bonus answer. 'Good' and 'evil' are defined by society. Whatever the trend of the vast majority collectively determines what is good and evil. Such arbitrary labels, they become. What's good for one can be just as evil to another; you do remember what I told the kids, right? I told them that story because it's the cold, hard, truth, and it's the truth of my existence. Whoever controls society controls what is good and evil. I'm evil, because society deemed it so." Smirking, she finished, "Is that the answer you were looking for?" Her rival breathed a heavy sigh. "There's good in you; you just won't admit it," she decided. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday, you will." As she watched Mars exit the room Shizuka muttered under her breath, "When you and your queen's regime are nothing but dust in the wind, prostitute; perhaps then society could judge me 'good.' How little you understand, Hikawa priestess... I'm evil because I'm good." --- "Hey, how're you doing?" Sailor Jupiter shouted, causing Ranma to jump in place. "Who let you in?!" Ranma demanded. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "Didn't mean to scare you." "You could've at least knocked," the martial artist pointed out. "I was worried about you," the senshi admitted. "I mean, what were you doing in a place like that in the first place?" Ranma froze in her tracks, racing to find an answer in her mind, but fortunately Jupiter came up with one of her own. She shrugged. "I guess that's not important. You're the last person left in the city besides the workers here at the palace." "I am?" Ranma said, surprised-- although more of it was finding out she was in the palace itself. "For your own safety we can't let you go outside," the senshi continued. "Bad guys are poised to attack it, so we don't want you to get hurt. Otherwise, if you're okay, I guess you're free to run around." "Thanks," she replied, smiling. This Sailor Jupiter had no idea what she was offering, Ranma thought. It was almost too good to be true. --- Inner Sanctum, Crystal Tokyo Neo Queen Serenity sighed in frustration, now that static was showing on all channels of her viewscreen. She tried every frequency she could think of to make a call out to her husband, King Endymion, in Geneva, but none of them could go through. In fact, as she understood it, no frequency made it anywhere outside the city limits, likely a consequence of the Fenril enchantment, or they set up jamming towers overnight. Whichever the case, they did a thorough job of doing it, as the jamming blanket did well enough to cover the palace. For a brief moment she remembered the journal Death Phantom's host left behind, recalling that they, too, experienced something similar then, but they had no idea it was because of the last comet that fell on the city, just before the world was awakened. The last battle... it was all that she and her senshi could do to demolish the comet before it destroyed anything on earth. Trusting their power in the Silver Crystal they defeated Pharaoh 90's final weapon in the atmosphere, before impact point, but it was likely a disturbance in the magnetic field that caused the frequency shift. She was unsure as to the exact cause, but it likely had to do with the comet. But apparently, Pharaoh 90 was no fool, as even the destruction of his simplistic weapon was enough to give birth to his more dangerous brother, Death Phantom. "We need someone to try and escape the jamming curtain," she decided, turning around to face Sailor Venus, who was waiting the entire time. "I am unsure how long we can last while the Fenril Knights have the upper hand, and we need help as soon as possible." "What kind of help?" asked Venus. "The Peacekeepers aren't armed, either. They're not equipped to deal with the Fenril Knights; their skill is far superior that they totally ignored the Peacekeepers in the city, too." "What choice do we have?" countered the queen. She glanced at the Silver Crystal, lying on its pedestal. "Many times we turned toward this relic for the answer, but too often. Perhaps we have caused as much grief as joy with its power. It was this object of power that created the Black Moon Family, no matter how hard we tried to prevent it." "You're letting them get to you!" Venus said anxiously. "How can you believe the Silver Crystal is the thing causing all this grief? How many times has it saved us, and the Earth, from destruction? How many times have we prevented the Silence? Without that crystal, everything we fought for would've been lost." "Which is the reason we are relying on its power too much," Neo Queen Serenity replied calmly. "Even if they have Death Phantom behind them, the Fenril Knights never needed the Black Crystal in order to stand against us; they did that out of their own free will, trusting their own strengths and abilities. That girl Shizuka... she is about as average, if not weak, a person as anybody, but somehow she finds the strength to fight us, and in an adept manner. The two warriors Mousse and Shampoo... individually, they have trouble defeating one of you, but together, their power is unparalleled." She shook her head. "Who knows how much more powerful the rest of the Fenril Knights are? The point is they do not rely on a magical artifact to win." "Is that what you want?" wondered Venus. "Are you ready to cave in to their demands, just because they're more admirable in their way of fighting? Their goal, even? Your Highness, forgive me if I'm out of place, but I think you're off your royal rocker." The words seemed to stir old emotions up in the queen's heart, but nevertheless she allowed Venus to continue. "We've come too far to just give up. The stakes are higher; it's not because it's the Earth in danger, but you're the queen of Earth, and you have a big responsibility to the people under you. Just because seventeen guys want to start an uprising and you like them it doesn't mean you should let them get their way. You set an example for your subjects; what would they think if you surrendered to them? We'd all lose face, and everything we fought so hard to build. Every enemy we fought before... everything would've been fought in vain. People died, and we can't disgrace their memory because of these Fenril Knights." "Too much has happened to simply give up, Your Highness," she repeated. "The Fenril Knights are poised to attack the palace; we've detected their presence all around. We'll defend the palace, but it won't stop them from opening the rift to the other dimension. Are you just going to let them find out on their own? The Sailor Moon I know certainly wouldn't." "Sailor Venus," Neo Queen Serenity replied, "I am not Sailor Moon. As you said, I have a much larger responsibility. I am the queen of Earth. If my example is the wrong one, then is it not my right to change it?" She took in several deep breaths, realizing she was getting upset at the wrong person. "Forgive me, Venus. Of course you are right; we should try to warn them. But I still want an expedition formed to leave the jamming curtain; my position still stands. Take any necessary steps to ensure that they make it safely." "So how're we going to tell them? The Fenril Knights, I mean." "The only way to know for certain is to tell the one we have in our palace." --- Rec Room, Mishima Heavy Industries Ami felt like doing something, but Ayame made it quite plain to her there was nothing for her to do. Anyone that had no specific duty, for that matter, was moping about in the rec room, trying to keep themselves busy. Ayame left the task of guarding the void-ripper up to Shampoo and Chief Engineer Taydome, a Mishima employee from the old days, and gave the information on the location to nobody. Ukyo had long since vanished, likely taking on her role as steward of Darkhold. While Ami never got to know the okonomiyaki chef well enough she felt certain that she would take her duty seriously. Perhaps she was the best choice to watch over the captive city, if her vocalized anger over their captivity was any indication. It turned out that one of the warriors, Ranma Saotome, never returned after the fight the previous night. The reactions out of Pantyhose Taro and Miranda Kusao were of pleasure, while the others expressed indifference. Kodachi Kuno, for her part, hardly believed a little water could finish him off... if her thinking could count for anything. The girl known as Kodachi was a complete screwball, as far as Ami could tell. Beyond her flowery speech Kodachi made it a point to essentially become her deceased brother, apparently a kendoist. She practiced alone in the training hall often, but anyone watching her would say that she was a master of the blade, even though it was never her original art. Ayame sent the bulk of the fighting crew out to assault the Crystal Palace in its moment of weakness, leaving only Higure, Hokuto, and herself behind. They were bored. Very, very, bored. Both Fenril were playing a silent game of chess, each taking their time to make a move. Ami sat on the couch in front of the television set, finding that no channel was available, due to some sort of interference. She felt powerless to stop the Fenril Knights from using the void-ripper, but, on the other hand, they had very little to gain by using it. It wouldn't do if she told them that, or that would blow her cover. The only thing she could do now was wait, and waiting made her anxious. --- Crystal Palace, Crystal Tokyo Pantyhose Taro was completely bored. It was his task to pummel the Crystal Palace's tough force barrier from the north, and to supplement his attack he was given a platoon of GAIA robots, direct fresh from the hidden Mishima factories. He had little respect for the machines, even less for the ones who built them, and none for the ones who used them. Ayame Mishima was the one who was using them. The idea was to surround the palace on all sides: Mousse held the west, Miranda held the east, and Kodachi held the south. Taro knew well enough that their presence was required only to deal with the Sailor Senshi, but even they weren't worth his time. The one he wanted was the queen. Each of them was backed by a platoon of GAIAs of their own, all waiting for the order from Ayame to pummel the shield. The idea was to drain the energy from having to deflect so many shots, then roll the machines in and slaughter the queen. If Taro knew the guardians of Crystal Tokyo, they could deal with the machines without a problem. After all, the droids were far more intelligent, and they got wasted really fast. He produced the black crystal prism in his hand, the one thing that kept him tethered to Ayame Mishima and her crack head. No, today was the day that she would regret showing him up. Today was the day of reckoning, in more ways than one. All he had to do was kill the queen, and he would have no need for Ayame anymore. --- Ranma stared out the balcony, her eyes catching view of the platoon of Mishima robots lined up at the south end of the palace through the blue-tinted energy barrier. She produced a chunk of crystal she broke off one of the walls, glad that her defiling would go unnoticed when the crystal grew over it. Raising her arm, she threw the chunk at the barrier. It splashed off the edge of the barrier, rippling a wave of energy from the impact point like a rock thrown in a still pond. She saw the crystal chunk explode into nothingness... and the martial artist realized that there was no way she was going to get out that way. She took a moment to stare out at the gathered GAIAs once again, and wondered why they were waiting. Ranma knew enough about Ayame and her twisted schemes that she was planning to pummel the shield to death, until the palace's power plants ran dry, but neither of them had any idea how prepared the queen was for this eventuality. Ranma shook her head, unable to imagine how many of their valuable bullets they'll end up wasting before the shield goes down. Bullets had to be manufactured in-house in the hidden factories because of the world- wide disarmament, but there was a shortage of raw material and time. Yes, the GAIAs would run out of bullets before they break the shield. As she turned back inside, walking in the halls alone and unmolested by the occasional doctor or tired-eyed worker, Ranma wondered how the Sailor Senshi planned on getting in and out. She came to a full stop when she heard a familiar voice shout a doctor out of her room. "Touch me again, and you're fish bait!" she cried, sending the doctor scrambling to safety. "It can't be," Ranma thought, but she knew it was true that voice belonged to the living oxymoron. Poking her head into the door where the doctor was recently kicked out the martial artist saw the priestess of Genbu lying in bed, reading a magazine, her right foot propped on top of her left. To her right Ranma saw the weird flame-thrower weapon Shizuka was given before she was captured, and for a moment she wondered why the Sailor Senshi would leave such a weapon in an enemy's hands. "Shizuka?" Ranma asked testingly. Throwing down the magazine on her lap angrily, the priestess opened her mouth to yell down another doctor, but stopped before any word could come out. She rolled her tongue around once in her open mouth, obviously confused, flustered, or stumped... perhaps all at the same time. Quickly Ranma slid the door shut, hoping that nobody saw her enter. "It's me, Ranma?" Again, no words would come out of her mouth. She mouthed silently, "What the hell are you doing here?" "I was going to ask you the same thing. You look like you're making yourself comfortable, traitor." "Don't you call me 'traitor,' transvestite," Shizuka seethed, finally finding her voice. "You think they don't know that's really you in that girl's disguise?" "It's not a girl's disguise," Ranma corrected. "And it's their fault they don't know I'm cursed." "So when'd you get here? And did they finish the Dead End Buster yet?" "How should I know? Both questions." "What's going on out there? I can't get up... well, because I'm not supposed to be able to get up." She rolled up her sleeve, and showed Ranma her arm. "It might not matter for long because they already got a blood sample off me." "Shit," Ranma cursed. "So much for that advantage." "They're probably trying to figure a way to counter it even as we speak." "Probably, and they'll get all the time in the world now that they got the energy barrier around the palace. Nobody's getting in or out until the palace runs out of power." "Then just cut off the power plants." Ranma shook her head. "We did that already. They probably prepared backup generators, but I don't know where they are." "Don't bother looking for them, then," suggested Shizuka. "You'll blow your cover. Focus on finding a way out of this dump, because if what you're saying is true neither of us are going anywhere." "Do you still have your prism?" Shizuka nodded. "Mine got broke, so I switched mine with Ryoga's while he was here. He's probably long at home by now." "Well, the prisms don't work in the palace for some reason," Ranma explained. "I tried it already... wait a sec... what about Ryoga?" "That dipstick caved in," the priestess explained. "He got himself purified by the Silver Crystal. He told me to tell you it was the best thing he'd done in his entire life. Feels good and stuff." She shrugged. "He said you need to go back to Akane." "Well, too late for that now," Ranma replied. "She's probably on Nemesis by now. At least Ukyo's there to look after her." "But still... she's your girlfriend." "She's not the same girl... she'll never be the same until we get this Neo Queen Serenity to change everybody back to the way they were." Shizuka reached out and grabbed the martial artist's arm firmly. "Ranma, listen to me," she said in her serious tone. "It'll never go back to the way it was before. And I mean never. It's too late." "W...what are you talking about?" They heard a knock on the door. Both girls froze in their tracks. Silently Shizuka mouthed, "Don't do anything." Turning toward the door, she shouted, "Who is it?!" Slowly, Ranma backed away from Shizuka as the door opened. Neo Queen Serenity entered the room, in all her radiant glory. Her eyes passed from Shizuka to Ranma, and back to Shizuka. "I was unaware you were hosting a guest." "Well, I..." Ranma stuttered. But Shizuka already seemed to have an answer. "She just came in after I threw in one of your doctors out. Those creeps keep wanting to 'examine' me. Blasted perverts." Best of all, it was the truth. "I'm Ranko," Ranma introduced herself. "Pleased to meet you, Your Majesty." She bowed, adding to the charade. "A pleasure to meet you, too," replied the queen. "Would you please excuse us? I must have a word with Shizuka." "Well, 'Your Royal-Pain-in-the-Brain,'" Shizuka said disrespectfully, "I don't think there's anything you have to say that's too soon for the rest of the people to know, isn't it? Don't you want to elaborate on the true history of your world?" Ranma blinked in surprise. "What?" Neo Queen Serenity nodded. "I see. You have known in advance as to the nature of my words." She sighed. "Perhaps nothing more can be done about it." "It all began in 1999...." --- "Sailor Venus!" Kodachi shouted toward the energy shield, standing on top of the lead GAIA with her sword raised. "I know you are listening! Hear me, I am Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose, sister to the man you have wrongly slain, my brother, Tatewaki Kuno!" She got no obvious reply. Continuing, "You possess that which brings shame to my family and my brother... the very weapon he used when you slew him, and that you wrongfully stolen from me! If you Sailor Senshi have any sense of justice, then you will meet me out here in single combat. The victor shall keep the sword and honor of my illustrious family." "What say you?!" Several moments passed, and nothing happened. Nearby, at a pay phone, Kodachi heard a ringing. Jumping off the GAIA, curious, she walked to the booth and picked up the phone off the hook. "Hello?" "Kodachi Kuno, this is Sailor Venus," she heard in the receiver, "I'm truly sorry about your brother, and if there was another way I wish he hadn't fallen in battle like he did. You've challenged me to a duel for your family's honor. Understand that what you're demanding is unfeasible, as I can't give back what I hadn't taken." Angrily, Kodachi threw the receiver out of her hand, and spun her sword about in an arc. With a precise drive she smashed the pay phone in two, sending coins and sparks showering around her. "You coward," she hissed, "you would dare to insult the name of Kuno in this manner?!" Sheathing her sword hard, Kodachi produced a radio transmitter from her belt. Clicking a button, she shouted, "Ayame, kill them! Kill them all!!" All at once, all four GAIA platoons opened fire on the energy shield surrounding the Crystal Palace. --- "I need a sword," Venus decided, watching the main viewscreen, where the Fenril robots were unloading their gattling cannons on the energy shield. "I mean a real sword." The nearest technician replied, "But Lady Venus, the use and manufacture of weapons has been banned by the state." "Look at that out there," Venus countered, pointing one gloved finger toward the viewscreen. "Are you going to tell them that? Sooner or later that Kodachi is going to corner me into a fight, and I'm going to have to defend myself against that big heavy steel she's swinging around." "The Fenril Knights just proved to us how dangerous it is to be without a way to fight back," she continued. "We can set up all the defense shields we want, but it's never going to hold up against anything they're throwing at us. We're running out of time." Send an expedition? Venus thought. They'd be lucky to get past that, much less the shield. --- "Powering up the void-ripper, now," Taydome announced to Shampoo, followed by a low-powered hum. Slowly the noise grew, until the engine of Mekani design began to turn its gears for the first time. Shampoo saw a ring of energy form over the flower- like void-ripper mechanism, followed by static discharges that were short lived that one had to be looking intently for them in order to see them. "Is this what it's supposed to do?" she asked no one in particular, as a dark tear in the dimensional fabric began to form over the void-ripper. Slowly, the hole grew larger, throwing the sky into blackness. --- "The year 1999, on June 30th, was the last day of the old Earth," Neo Queen Serenity said. "It was that day that Vizier, the fourth Child of Chaos, appeared on Earth, seeking the Silver Crystal. It was strange, in that more of the Chaos Children were appearing even after our confrontation with Chaos itself. We fought the monster upon its descent on the Earth, but even in defeat Vizier's plan was put to action. We failed to stop his attempt to bring the Silence, as his death introduced what we term as the Chaos Plague to humanity." "This plague consisted of a virus: of sophisticated cell-like creatures that entered the human body and proceeded to destroy people on the cellular level. If we did not act quickly those infected were projected to die in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately, the plague was an airborne virus, and it spread quickly. The only thing we could do was halt the virus in its tracks until we could devise a means to wipe it out completely." "It was then we devised a daring plan: we would place the human population in a state of suspended animation, not unlike cryo-freezing technology, and initiated the Great Sleep. With the Silver Crystal at our disposal we thought we had time on our side, but that was not to be." She shook her head sadly. "The Great Sleep... it was the last any of our subjects would know about the history of my kingdom's birth." "You see, numerous problems arose from placing the entire world to sleep. Disasters left unchecked, nuclear arsenal threatening to fire without proper maintenance, and still-functioning machinery that put the sleeping populace in jeopardy. It took many months to set those problems right, but it was not until a year later we realized a more dangerous consequence." "The Gate of Heaven," Shizuka realized. "No one was left to keep it sealed." "The invaders attacked without warning. They were the mechanical plague, the beings known as the Mekani. We do not know where they came from originally, but they emerged from the void between this plane and the Kami Plane. In leaving the seal on the Gate of Heaven to expire we allowed alien invaders to threaten the planet." "We could not counter the spiderian Mekani on our own as their mechanized numbers overwhelmed us. Our only hope was to awaken those who lived and died to watch the seal." "My people," the priestess finished. "Awakened prematurely they were still infected with the Chaos Plague. Those men and women volunteered their lives to find a way to defeat the Mekani threat once and for all. Unfortunately, most died before the final solution was realized. Shizuka, your mentor, Mizuki, was the last of them. The only way to wipe out the threat forever was to collapse the void between the planes. After doing so, it was a simple matter to mop up the rest of the Mekani Hive." "However, Mizuki warned us of a consequence of such an action. If we collapsed the void we would topple the Kami Plane on top of our own. In effect the two planes would merge, merging locales, or wiping them out entirely on a purely random basis. Therefore, before we could collapse the void we had to devise a means to protect the Earth from being demolished." "Our solution was the crystal you see around you today. It was a special material from the old Silver Millennium days that would maintain order against chaos, and it was exactly what we needed. We introduced enough of the crystal to the Earth that covered the entire planet. By then we were ready, and we collapsed the void." "And in effect you created another problem," Shizuka pointed out. "You wiped out the people of another world in order to save this one. The Kami Plane was a small parallel plane created by the kami long ago in order to live apart from humanity that threatened to destroy them. The Kami Plane also served to create the void that sealed the Mekani, a threat they could not counter. Inevitably, the two planes were always connected, as what happened on one affected the other. Disasters in this world could be attributed to a battle in the other world, and vice versa. In a sense, it wasn't a true plane at all, but yet it was." "But, by collapsing the void, you broke a sacred trust. You wiped out the Mekani, yes, but you also sacrificed the lives of numerous peoples on the Kami Plane." Neo Queen Serenity nodded. "The only survivors were the underworld civilizations: places that could not be annihilated by the crystal upon the merge. Angered at the change of their world, and the massive genocide of their fellow spirit folk, the Infernals, as they were called, waged a terrible war against us. It took several years to defeat them, and we were forced to destroy them to the last." "Master Cinder is not going to be happy," Shizuka noted. "Many wars later, we were getting too old, and a solution to the Chaos Plague was a long time coming. In order to carry on our work we extended our life spans. We are effectively immortal, and have lived for over a thousand years." "Gimmie a sword, and I'll cut off that head of yours." "In the coming years numerous threats from beyond the stars attacked us. One after another we suffered attacks from Tau Ceti, the region of space dominated by Pharaoh 90. Even though we had destroyed him, the Bringer of Silence had given itself a new spawn, one that was poised to Silence Earth once and for all. He sent numerous space-borne potential disasters against us for a long time, until Uranus and Neptune volunteered to travel to Tau Ceti and defeat Pharaoh 90's spawn. We have not heard much of what they did in Tau Ceti, but we were informed that the attacks would end." "The last attack came and went, and by then we had found a solution to defeating the Chaos Plague. Slowly we reawakened the populace of Earth, and eliminated the virus as well. It was determined that, in order to usher a new era of peace and harmony, we would have to change the hearts of men such that they would no longer desire to fight." "Conflicts became a thing of the past. People settled their differences with talks and words, not guns and tools of destruction. Tolerance became the accepted common rather than the awkward outcast. Humanity worked toward the common good rather than the selfish interest. All of that and more made this new Earth a true utopia." "That is, until the uprising. Many men and women were unprepared to set aside all they had lived with, much less their lives, to live under my rule. They took up arms and tried to wage a war against us, but ultimately they failed. I could not force them to live under my rule, but they could not be allowed to stay on my Earth. In order to protect my people I exiled them to Nemesis, a habitable world that would have eventually become one of Earth's first colonies. I believed they could make Nemesis habitable for the people of Earth. I believed that good could come out of their impure natures. I believed they would eventually embrace what the rest of humanity had, because they, too, craved peace and harmony." "I was wrong." "I'm glad you admit that," Shizuka replied flatly. "Those people exiled to Nemesis eventually became known as the Black Moon Family. They struggled to get their lives together for many years, but revenge was always foremost in their minds. They truly wished for peace and harmony, but they did not agree with the vision I had for Earth. They believed I removed that which made humans human. For that they secretly geared up for war." "But they could not do it alone. One of the first people exiled to Nemesis was a brilliant man. I could not understand why one of his mind could not tolerate living on Earth any longer, but he chose his path. On Nemesis he discovered the traces of an ancient civilization, of a kingdom wiped out by the Sailor Senshi of old. There, he discovered the Black Crystal, an artifact of immense power, but he also was discovered by the last of the Chaos Children, the Death Phantom." "Death Phantom rose to power, eventually mastering the ancient black magic well beyond that of the rest of the Black Moon Family. He became the advisor of their charismatic leader, Prince Diamond. Manipulating him Death Phantom guided the Black Moon to attack Earth, using his dark magic in order to bring about the Silence." "His power became so great that the Silver Crystal alone could not counter his Black Crystal, but we defeated him. We believed we destroyed him, but again, we were wrong, because he still walks among us. On Nemesis, Death Phantom was called the Wiseman." "If you thought I was going to be surprised and join your side over this little story, think again," the priestess of Genbu said quickly, venom dripping in her words. "You've openly admitted to exterminating entire peoples just to satisfy your ambitions." "Is this true?" asked Ranma. Sadly, the queen nodded. "Many had to make sacrifices in order to create this perfect world, and it is only the seventeen of you, the Fenril Knights, that would threaten the peace and harmony forged in blood. We have no wish to war." "You used her," Shizuka accused. "You used Mizuki, my friends, and everybody I considered family, just so you can correct your first mistake. Not only that, but in order to fix your second mistake you exterminated more friends and enemies. Just because the kami aren't real doesn't make them any less real! They breathed and thought just like you and me, and you threw them away just to save humanity, you disgusting woman." "You exterminated millions of people of other races in order to forge a utopia in your vision," she continued angrily. "In the name of peace and harmony, you really did forge this world of yours in blood. No one would know about it, either, because it would mar your perfect history of benevolence. You don't want war because you like the way things are, not because you're tired of it." "You banished people to Nemesis because they were the first who saw what you did. No matter how good your intentions they recognized that they had to sell their souls to live on the planet they loved. Maybe they didn't know what happened when you made this rock your own, but they were at least still human." "I wish I wasn't right," Shizuka admitted. "I really wish the concept of good was the same for everybody, but this is harsh reality... and it always said it wasn't. Your Highness, you don't have any idea how much I wanted to believe you were the real deal, but now my heart and soul has seen the truth, at last." "Shizuka... calm down," suggested Ranma slowly. "And you don't know anything about Wiseman," she continued, ignoring Ranma completely. "Sure, he's not the most believable guy in the world, and certainly he ought to get a girlfriend, but at least you could depend on him. He shares our vision. And this Chaos thing... who are you to decide that the random element of chaos be eliminated entirely from the human race? Don't you appreciate ANYTHING about the chaos in your life? It's what makes life worth living... living each day... and you're forgoing that in favor of rigid Order." "I couldn't agree more," a fourth voice said, this time muffled by a slight bit of static. "Eh?" gasped Ranma. Shizuka reached up her sleeve, and produced a radio transmitter. A light was blinking on top, indicating that it was on and in use. Neo Queen Serenity's eyes opened wide with surprise. "The jamming curtain... it does not affect every frequency...." "Hello, Neo Queen Serenity," continued the voice. "I'm sure you've heard of me by now, and yes, we're on our own frequency, a hole in the range of the jamming curtain. I'm Ayame Mishima, niece of the former head of Mishima Heavy Industries, and everything you two have said was quite interesting." The queen lowered her head sadly. "Know this, Neo Queen Serenity," Ayame warned, "if you don't surrender yourself now, we will continue to attack until your world order is nothing but dust in the wind. We will not rest until we avenge the deaths of those on your head, and restored Earth to its original state. We will lay down our lives for the rest of humanity. And know this, my dear queen... we thank you for leaving behind the one kami that could turn the tide of this war between us." Shizuka felt a cold spasm in her heart, and immediately knew the answer to that which Ayame was speaking of. "He's back." --- Taydome shirked back, hiding behind Shampoo, who was also about ready to break and run. The hole the void- ripper tore into the dimensional fabric indeed lead to nowhere, but nowhere happened to contain something chained within. At first its ethereal, ghost-white boney skull emerged from the rift. Resembling that of a great reptilian creature the head was soon followed by the rest of its skeletal body, all the way down to its boney tail. Spanning its wings spread widely, if the creature had skin and meat on it Shampoo would have thought it to be a Western dragon, but it was picked clean to the bone and magically animated somehow. Although she could see through the creature the sharp talons on its claws looked very solid enough, and the ghost dragon dug its toes into the ground, ripping up crystal. An opaque white emptiness filled its rib cage, and it didn't take a genius to know that something was missing there. "Free," the creature rumbled, its voice coming from the pits of the Abyss itself, "free at last!" The ghost dragon roared in delight, an eerie laugh that sent the Mishima technicians scrambling for their very lives. Shampoo rubbed her eyes, wishing she never saw what she saw before her again. Deathclaw, the ghost dragon, has returned to Earth. ---------------------------------------------------- Author's Notes The first part of the story is over; stay tuned for more. --Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOhotmailSPAM.com) http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/index.html