Souls of Fire #9: Death Sphere 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. ---------------------------------------------------- Interview 1 "Perhaps it is naive to believe in the inherent good of humanity." "I pondered over the subject for many hours on end, and the conclusion became rather elusive. Perhaps there wasn't a single answer to my questions, and that I was looking for easy answers where a complicated solution was required. I didn't want a complicated solution, however... I wanted an answer that I could understand." "I think Neo Queen Serenity believes that humanity is inherently good. Maybe that's why, despite my misgivings, I was attracted to her. I lay down my arms for a chance to hear what she had to say, to explain why some things had to happen the way they did. Under this understanding I realized that Neo Queen Serenity was not the evil soul I once thought, but a truly good individual that also happened to make many, many mistakes, and tried to hide from them." "Perhaps that's why I hate her." "I can't imagine billions of life forces being snuffed out at once, nor can I imagine their faces. It is naive to think I could fight her with them on my mind. I can't do it. For all the faces that were terminated in the transition of worlds only one dominated my thoughts, well over those I considered my family." "Mizuki." "Deathclaw remembers how she died, because he was there. She didn't succumb to the Chaos Plague as I once thought; she died because her body and soul were consumed by the ghost dragon." "It's strange, remembering what Deathclaw did. He remembered the experiences of each host he took on under his eternal curse of unlife, and all of them were there with me... Mizuki, Shampoo, and countless others who could not hope to conquer their parasite. He scorned them all for their weakness, but there was a special place for me... because somehow, I was the one." "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that Deathclaw prefers my symbiosis, but I thought I'd be the last person he'd want as host. I'm evil, and he's evil... and evil people generally don't like each other. Even with a frail body as mine he thought I was the strongest, most able creature, and that's probably one of the reasons he so readily agreed to our summoner's pact." "I almost forgot the reason why I made that pact in the first place. No, I remember now... I was too weak to handle the threats looming in the calm before the Mekani decided to attack. I needed to become strong, and fast. Since I'm evil, I tried to get it in the fastest way possible." "Anyway, I had a long, melancholy reunion with my mentor. Her soul suffers eternal torment as one of those claimed under Deathclaw's curse, but that torture wasn't enough to bar her from telling me the truth. That is my curse... to know the truth." "In a rough order of events... she woke up one morning and knew, just as everybody else, that the seal on the Gate of Heaven expired. No one was prepared for this, however, as the seal was renewed on a regular basis. The Gate itself acts not only as a direct passage to the Kami Plane, but also as a means to strengthen this plane's 'inner border' containing the void where the Mekani were imprisoned." "Needless to say, while we already knew the Mekani were ripping holes on the Kami Plane's side of the void pocket (long story), the expired seal allowed the mechanical plague to use their void-rippers to carve holes into this plane like Swiss cheese. Mizuki had no idea of the extent of the damage until the Sailor Senshi approached the Shrine of the Four Gods with their problem." "Oh, sure, they were really mad when they learned what happened, but they also knew they didn't have much time before the Mekani holed themselves in on Earth. You see, they hate it in the void, where there's no raw materials to manufacture more of them, so they wanted to move their factory satellites here. Since they were so huge that bought us some time... not much, though." "Most of the people died within the first week, succumbing to the Chaos Plague's interior attack. It pretty much ate away at the body's cells until the body could no longer function... a terrible way to go. Mizuki knew she didn't have much time herself, so she had to turn to desperate measures." "Yeah, she made a deal with Deathclaw. Deathclaw was peeved that he couldn't find me... apparently my body was missing and he knew it. Of course somehow he knew I was still alive somewhere... but that's neither here nor there; nobody really knows where I went, not even me. Mizuki made an offer to him, and he accepted. And for a time he remained contented with Mizuki." "That is, until the Sailor Senshi discovered a solution of their own. By that time Mizuki was the only one left, and she tried to persuade them to look for another way... but that fell on deaf ears. They needed a solution, and Mizuki couldn't offer them a better one; she could not reseal the Gate herself because the Four Gods rejected her candidacy for that honor, and there wasn't anyone left alive who could qualify to learn the sealing rite." "They decided to fall in with the Mekani plan of collapsing the void pocket, and for that end they needed elemental-attuned artifacts in order to break each of the four pillars signifying each of the Four Gods: Byakko, Genbu, Seiryu, and Suzaku. Knowing she still had some time Mizuki tried to come up with an answer, but failed. Deathclaw also learned what they were planning, and eventually the two decided they had to stop the Sailor Senshi." "Needless to say Deathclaw took over in a big way, fighting all the Sailor Senshi by himself. They beat him, however, and there was nothing he could do to stop them." "And how ironic... they had no idea Mizuki was Deathclaw, so they thought she died...." "Mizuki/Deathclaw witnessed the destruction of home and the death of the Mekani. All that was left to do was hunt down any stray Mekani units and deal with the ghost dragon... that is, until the Infernals decided to start another war." "She witnessed that as well, and Deathclaw escaped numerous times and lost every battle in the end. By the time the Sailor Senshi destroyed the Infernals they still had no idea why Deathclaw would not die. So the only 'humane' thing to do was exile him to the void." "The fools... Deathclaw can't die because he's cursed to be in his living death state forever. That curse is so strong that even Neo Queen Serenity couldn't break it... or had no inclination to do so. The curse is so strong that the key to his fate lies in a naive and stupid girl." "Oh, gee... I wonder. The cursed like company, I suppose. Or is it as Mizuki says... my imperfect soul perfectly complements his. Gosh, that's so evil of me." "I'm still naive to believe that her way... Queen Serenity's way... that humanity is inherently good. It's enough to set up for the inevitable fall, and the cycle will repeat ceaselessly because I'm both naive and cynical at the same time." "I must be stupid." --- Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries Ayame didn't want to think after what happened in her absence. Although the underground compound should have been protected from EMP waves, the fact was the command center was fried, toasted, and useless. So was Shion, lying comatose in the same position Higure left him, minus the Orochi weapons were no longer in his hands. Not only that, but confirmed word came that Kodachi was killed. The only thing that went her way so far was the fact that the R&D block survived the shockwave. The weapons, at least, were still usable. She eyed the old man Higure, now promoted since Shion was no longer available. Ayame wondered why she never made him one of her advisors in the first place, and she had to, since he was still coughing up useful equipment like the Lightning Dragon Wire. "I need to know how far Kanna has gotten," she informed the technicians assembled in the command center. "To that end you guys are going to cobble together something that gives us satellite linkup back. Chief Dumbass?" "That's Dumas," Taydome's replacement voiced meekly. "Whatever," Ayame replied, shrugging. "You're an electrical engineer... communications is your specialty. I expect a solution by tonight. The Sailor Senshi likely know that the jamming curtain is out, and if they think to warn our target points Kanna is dead meat." "Do not underestimate her," Higure assured her. "She is more than capable to deal with minor setbacks as that." The leader nodded in the old man's direction. "Point taken, but I'm not convinced that the Sailor Senshi won't leave Crystal Tokyo. I don't think they know what our endgame plan is, so I guess we could relax for a bit." "Then what of the Dead End Buster?" Ayame shot a glance at Dumas. "Ah, yes," Dumas said, straightening his lab coat. "The Dead End Buster is almost completed. If nothing else interrupts us, then I project we can have it up and running in thirty-six hours." "Excellent," Ayame said. "Then we can still win." Kodachi, Shion, she added silently, I'll honor both of your hard work with victory. Thanks for giving this fool a second chance. --- Inner Sanctum, Crystal Palace "We've finally found where the Fenril rift is," Sailor Mars declared. Her eyes panned around the table, careful not to keep her gaze steady on the position where Sailor Venus should have been. Now was not the time to mourn a lost friend, not when there was still much work left to be done. "Even though our computers are fried," she continued, "their equipment is, too. Mercury's computer still worked, and we used it to scan the area now that their jamming towers were down." "The rift is located in Central Park," Mercury said, picking up the torch. "It is not guarded at all, but there is something keeping the rift open. We believe it is shadow substance." "Then not only are we going to have to seal the rift, but uncork it, too?" asked Jupiter. Sailor Moon nodded. "I think the rift should be our first priority now. Tracking down Pantyhose Taro will have to wait; we need to eliminate Hokuto from the equation before she decides to attack us." "She's already attacked," Mars pointed out, annoyed. "I'll plug her myself if I have to." "It's almost certain that Hokuto will try to stop us," Mercury added in warning. "We'll have to be extra careful." --- Rec Room, Mishima Heavy Industries Ranma felt more hungry than tired, and he had the black crystal to thank for it. Essentially raiding the food stocks the martial artist swallowed and chewed on anything he could get his hands on, and there was the off-chance that someone would get mad at him later. On the other hand, it was because of the black crystal, and his lack of control over it. It felt strange, fighting on instinct alone. Ranma knew he was going nearly even with Sailor Moon, but it wasn't enough; he had to get his mind back into the equation as well. That would likely require more control... and how to do that was beyond him. He stopped for a second, feeling a premonition. Someone was watching him. Ranma grabbed a bag of unopened chips and threw them over his shoulder. His eyes followed, catching sight of a black-caped intruder escaping out the door. "Dammit," he cursed, getting up out of his seat. Dashing out of the sliding doors, Ranma caught sight of the caped intruder ducking down one of the side halls. He gave chase, mapping out the corridors in his mind, and predicted where the intruder would go. Ranma kept going straight, then turned down the next hall. As he predicted the intruder was being lazy, as he caught sight of the masked, tuxedo-clad man in his sights. "Oh no you don't!" he yelled, throwing a flying kick at Tuxedo's back. It all happened quickly: the top hat flew off, the mask shattered like the clay it was, and the grunt of a girl. Ranma picked himself and the intruder up, and his jaw dropped in surprise. "Akane?!" "Is this what you've been doing all this time?" Akane asked angrily. "Eating like a pig?" "What the hell are you doing here?!" the martial artist demanded. "I thought you were supposed to be on Nemesis." "I was," she admitted. "Sypha approached me and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. She would send me to Earth, so long as I wore this stupid costume and tried to stop you." "Stop us?" That definitely didn't sound like Sypha's doing. "Why?" "How should I know?" Akane asked in frustration. "I just wanted to end this stupid conflict, so you can come home." "Akane, this isn't my home." "Of course THIS place isn't!" "I meant this world!" "What's so bad about it, anyway?" "Don't you see? We're beating the Sailor Senshi! They can't possibly protect a planet." And to that Akane nodded. "Maybe. But that's still no reason why you... and the others... are fighting. Look at Ukyo... she's not fighting." "Ukyo's working with us." "What?" "She's not supposed to blow her cover or anything; she's just there to keep people happy." "Is Ukyo happy about it?" she asked. Ranma shrugged. "I haven't seen her for a while. How should I know?" "Although she doesn't look it, she's miserable," Akane informed him. "She says she likes all the business she gets, but I can tell. Her eyes say something different." "As if you're one to know." Akane sighed. "Where's the others?" "Gone, dead, or whatever," Ranma replied. "The question I've got is, what am I going to do with you? Do you have any idea the kind of position you're putting me in?" "You're not going to send me back to Nemesis, are you?" "Of course not. I want you where I can see you. You get yourself into more trouble without me." For that, Akane's worries melted away, and Ranma wondered if he said something. --- Interview 2 "I think I owe a lot of my time to Hokuto, my dear, dear friend." "Well, not really... she pisses me off sometimes, but in the end she's still my friend." "If it wasn't for her I'd never have learned as much as I did. It was she who gave me the insight on Ami Mizuno, in her weird way. What she did was this: first she would induce Mizuno to fall asleep. That way, Hokuto can use her dream walking powers, and she used those to bridge a gap between her and myself. See the relationship? Since I was constantly asleep it was easy for Hokuto to do." "Sure, I had choice words with Mizuno, but still... even if I didn't ever know her that much, I still felt crushed that she was an enemy spy. Everything I told her was the truth, and all from my heart... how else do you expect to win people over? Yet, she was so evil that no words could sway her (on the other hand, I'm more evil still)." "Hokuto served as my eyes and ears throughout the whole ordeal; she would go around and do her usual stuff: watch and observe. Then she'd come back and relay the news to me. In effect this surprised everyone who thought, since I was unconscious, that I'd be unaware of the events going on around me." "And I know for a fact that Shion knows that I know, even after what happened. He thinks it's the snake, but really, Thanatos never tells me anything important, ever. I felt his presence, I felt his breath, and I... I felt how he feels for me. God dammit, he makes me feel like such an idiot." "No, I don't mean that I was oblivious to his inner feelings... in fact, I shared them. The funny crap was that we couldn't say it to each other, no matter how alone we could get, no matter how intimate the moment. Our first 'date' was a spontaneous trip into town to the karaoke bar... I had loads of fun, and so did Shion, even though both of us are terrible singers. Something clicked then... we both knew we wanted to go, and we both knew we wouldn't refuse. Is this how it feels like to be in love?" "You see, I love him. He knows it, and I know he is the same. We just never said it... and for some reason there was no reason to. Everyone else knew, too, and in result they were pushing that we actually say it. That's pretty mean... but for some reason it doesn't put minds at ease until it's actually said." "Maybe that's why I... overreacted over what happened to him that day." "Slumbering between life and death, hanging by a thread, I wasn't sure if he'd ever wake up again. In fact, I did the most girly thing imaginable... I broke down and cried, right there, in front of everybody. I showed weakness, and that in of itself is unforgivable, but most of all... I never told him." "Not only am I stupid, but I'm also a coward." "The only consolation I had in that situation was that Kuonji wasn't there to see me. This may sound strange, but I'm jealous of her; she manages a strong balance between sexes, something I thought I could do since I was four. Although she sometimes dresses like and is mistaken for a guy, Kuonji's quite secure in her femininity. I, on the other hand, pretty much discarded both in my upbringing." "Oh, you want to hear about that? Well... here's how it goes. In a sense men and women aren't all that unalike; the most differences are physical. In the mind both can achieve an equal standing. It seemed to me, however, that either side was obsessed with the body of the opposite sex; my senses are too dulled to get excited over that sort of thing, thankfully. That doesn't mean I have no modesty; I treasure my body, but I also know that, compared to many others, it's frail, weak, and, well... lacking in attributes. So I'd rather if guys not look at me that way... but they still do... those perverts." "I think some call it a feminine mystique. It's not that I'm ashamed of my body or anything, you know. It just happens to turn out that way." "Just like the rest of the crap that happens to me. Shit happens." --- Central Park, Crystal Tokyo Hokuto watched them arrive. The Shadow Weaver hid amongst the shadows, watching as the four remaining Sailor Senshi arrive at the 'secret' location of the planar rift. Wedged open with solidified shadow substance Hokuto used it as a conduit to touch the shadow stream, and without it she felt powerless. The intentions of the girls was clear: they wanted to seal the rift, and Hokuto knew it would mean the end of her if they did; the void-ripper was destroyed in the last battle, and it would be difficult to obtain another working machine. Therefore, if the rift was sealed here, Hokuto would lose her shadow powers for good. And that was unacceptable. "Stop there!" she commanded. She saw the Sailor Senshi throw their eyes every which way, but none looked too surprised to note that she was there. "Hokuto Takemasa!" Sailor Moon cried. The Shadow Weaver emerged beneath the rift hovering over the smashed grass where the Mishima engine cube once stood. She kept her arms folded, and her cloak closed. "I can't let you touch this rift." "Hokuto," Moon said, obviously trying to reason with her, "the shadow stream is too dangerous. You don't need it to live." "Being a Shadow Weaver is my way of life," Hokuto replied. "My order will not end with my generation. You can't possibly understand those who are touched by the gray." "I'll bet," Mars snorted contemptuously. "That stuff is no instrument of good." "It was never meant to be!" Hokuto shouted, throwing open her cloak. Spreading her shadow out before her she unleashed a pair of shadow tentacles, each flailing in seemingly-random directions. "The shadow pure in essence because it is aligned to no superficial human value!" The Sailor Senshi scattered, and Sailor Mercury paused long enough to summon a blinding mist. Hokuto remained calm, however, and allowed the tentacles to seek targets on their own while searching out for their minds with her telepathic powers. She homed in on one just to her left, and ducked under the fireballs that sourced from that direction. Winding her arm up Hokuto threw a black bolt of shadow in Mars's direction, but she had no idea if she hit or not. She felt one of the tentacles tag Mercury, and the other go after Sailor Moon. And too late she figured out where Jupiter went, as she was caught in her headlock. "Give it up!" she hissed into Hokuto's ear. "When faced with death of life, how can one surrender?" the Shadow Weaver replied, and started to sink into her shadow. But Jupiter refused to release her hold, and tried to keep Hokuto from sinking completely. However, Hokuto had gravity on her side, and dismissed the solid shadow supporting her feet to allow the natural force to do its work. "Sailor Moon!" Jupiter cried, just as she entered the shadow stream, along with Hokuto. --- As a consequence of having temporarily left this plane the tentacles badgering after Mercury and Moon vanished into the ground, the shadow of Hokuto which collapsed on itself. "It's now or never!" Moon heard Sailor Mars shout. "But what about Jupiter?" she wondered, worry in her voice. "She can't buy us time forever," Mars pointed out. "If we don't collapse the rift now Hokuto'll be back, and without Jupiter." "You might be right," Mercury agreed. "We can't just leave her like that!" Moon protested. At that moment a dark, oily substance spilled through the rift, and a black hand reached out. However, it was pulled back in just as quickly by more black hands, these more refined than the first, and more clawed. Hokuto was winning, Sailor Moon realized. "Forgive me, Sailor Jupiter," she whispered. At the same time Mars and Mercury threw fire and water attacks at the rifts shadow, and Sailor Moon began the sealing incantation. --- "There's no escape," Hokuto gloated as she stood over the shadow stream, watching her shadow hands push Sailor Jupiter's head back into its oily mass. "You're so foolish enough to step into my domain, and now you'll die." "After you, I'll deal with your friends as well. So long as you think I'm a threat I'll never be left alone, and my life will be in danger. The only possible response is to kill you first." "Never again," the Shadow Weaver concluded, "will you ever seal the shadow." It was no use waiting for Jupiter to die; she would do so even without Hokuto's supervision. In her mind she willed herself back to Earth.... But something was wrong; the rift was getting smaller! "Dammit," she cursed, focusing her thoughts on a desperation attack. "Not now...!" --- Both Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars jumped back as Sailor Moon stood her ground, trying to complete her sealing spell, just as an even larger shadow hand emerged in a balled fist. "She's trying to wedge the rift open again," Mercury realized. "Not this time!" promised Mars, raising her arms. "Burning Mandela!" "Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury shouted. But the hand only absorbed the attacks, and Hokuto realigned it to target Sailor Moon, totally ignoring the other two opponents. The closing rift struggled against the thickness of the shadow hand, and it appeared that the hand was winning. "You can't win!" they heard Hokuto shout in their minds. The hand's fist reared back for a direct punch. "I won't let you!" "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" "Mars Flame Sniper!" --- Hokuto realized too late that there was literally a hole in her desperate attempt to keep the rift wedged open, and that was the fact it was dependent on the hand being intact. The Sailor Senshi were clever enough to sever the hand at its base, rather than blow it up outright. Head sinking low, she couldn't help but smile in her melancholy way. "Touché...." --- The mass of shadow substance that once made up Hokuto's shadow hand exploded like a water balloon, throwing the oily substance all over. Sailor Moon collapsed on her knees, breathing heavily with her mind racing over what went wrong. Hokuto was ready, that was certain. Mercury's plan didn't go as hoped, as, along with Hokuto, Jupiter was sealed out of Earth as well. It would be a difficult task to find her again, much less get her out without letting Hokuto back in, too. That is, if Hokuto saw it fit to leave her alive. Finally, Sailor Moon understood why the Fenril Knights refused to stop fighting... it was for the same reason she refused to give up when up against many other opponents. "Sailor Moon..." Mercury said, her voice trailing off. "Why?" she asked no one. "Why can't this cycle ever end?" --- Interview 3 "Darkness is the most pure of all that is pure." "That in of itself sounds quite radical, and I didn't come up with it myself... but in the beginning, that's all there was. Just plain darkness, blackness, whatever... it was so dark that you couldn't tell what the father of all creation looked like. IF there was such a being. All I know is that light is defined by the darkness around it." "In most creation myths and such there was a darkness before the dawn... heck, even that adage itself, too! In Greek myth Chaos spawned Nyx, the darkness, and she and Erebus eventually gave birth to light. In Genesis God created light. In our own stories there had to be a goddess of the sun before there was even a sun. See my point? Before light, there had to be a darkness there to define it." "They say it is because we are attracted to the light, and for one I don't blame them." "Neo Queen Serenity would have you believe that it is the light that is more pure, but if that were the case I think we'd all be trying to make the world darker (laughs). In the universe the darkness came first, and the light came afterward. Which is more pure? The darkness, of course." "The Black Crystal is perhaps the most brilliant example of that which is pure of the darkness. Whereas the Silver Crystal embodied all that was good and righteous in the hearts of men the Black Crystal embodied the leftovers.... It's the heart of the people, discarded by the people when they were 'purified' by the Silver Crystal. It is one giant heart crystal of greatest purity." "She refuses to believe that, either because she, too, is naive, or an idiot. Maybe we're not so different, after all, considering that." "I think the reason why the Black Crystal emerged at certain points in time has to do with the light of the Silver Crystal. Whenever the light gains the upper hand in the eternal conflict the Black Crystal is born... and when it is shattered so too is the Silver Crystal. Not literally, of course... the Silver Crystal never got destroyed in its history, if Neo Queen Serenity is to be believed." "Two major events surrounding the appearance of the Black Crystal involved an Age of Purity; definitely not a coincidence. If the Black Crystal should fall now, this Earth is doomed, and the cycle will repeat." "I think this is what Wiseman fears most; we are caught in a never-ending loop of creation and destruction, between light and dark, order and chaos. If there's anything anyone should fear most, it's history repeating itself... and we may be powerless to stop it." --- R&D, Mishima Heavy Industries Moving an office from the top floor down to a lower floor was a depressing way to look at it, Ayame thought, as the tech staff busied themselves in the security office overlooking the hangar, trying to convert it into the new control center. The equipment in the command bowl was deemed too far gone to be salvageable, as Chief Dumas informed Ayame in his analysis report. However, he went on, Kanna had the foresight to make backup copies of all essential files and functions, and while it would take several hours to convert the security office functions to primary command it allowed them the ability to keep running. She glanced over the terminals before the window, and stared down into the deep hangar bay that was ruined by Sailor Mercury only hours before. Most of the mess was cleaned up, as the shrapnel and parts were simply pushed into the recycler to be re-manufactured into more robots. One oddity discovered, however, was the missing body of Dr. Taydome's, which was replaced by a set of extremely dried bones that obviously didn't belong to the late engineer. Ayame reminded herself to summon Wiseman to answer that burning question, but that would have to wait. She was itching to find out whether or not Kanna was running into any problems on her mad sojourn, as it was critical to endgame. Standing behind her and to the left was Higure Furui, and when she looked back at him he seemed to be staring off into space. "Something the matter?" "I felt a disturbance in the wind," the old man replied. "It tells me that there has been a recent shift in the dimensional balance." "A shift?" The old man nodded. "Yes, and there may be a consequence to our idling at the moment." "What will you have me do?" asked Ayame. "We're stuck in a rut right now, and we've already exhausted the day and our people. Besides, what're we going to do, attack the palace again? They can just as easily do that to us." "The fact is they have not." "And that's how I'd like to keep it. I don't know how much Mizuno learned from her little spin trip with us, but she potentially knows about all our weapons, our strengths, weaknesses, and worst of all, our location." "You need to know if Kanna predicted this as well, and took proper measures?" Ayame nodded. "Why do you think the satellite link-up is our priority right now?" "Then perhaps your strategy depends too much on one person," Higure pointed out. "At this point our next action depends entirely on Kanna Rajura." "You don't think I know that?" Ayame shook her head, shrugging. "She set herself up that way; Kanna's leader in all but name this way. She's got an agenda of her own, that's for sure, but so long as that coincides with us I'm willing to let it slide." "When it does not?" "I sincerely hope it never comes to that." --- Rolling juggernauts tore through the streets, the army of Mishima Heavy Industries plowing over cars like they were nothing. People fled and scattered in all directions, just to get away from three of the tank-treaded menaces known as GAIAs. The central GAIA held a large, black crystal in its arms, holding it out in front like it was diseased. The leader and its escort came to a stop at a central connection street in the city, where a fountain flowed serenely in the middle of the chaos. In mere seconds the lead GAIA was up to the fountain, and raised the black crystal chunk high into the air. With great power behind it the machine smashed the fountain, wedging the crystal chunk as large as its own body into the base. An incident similar to this one occurred all across the globe in every major city at key locations, each attacked by three robots carrying a black crystal chunk. In some of those cities the Peacekeepers, the volunteer organization designed to help prevent future conflicts, tried to stop the Mishima machines, but all attempts were met in failure as the robots were more than a match for them. Whenever a squad successfully placed a crystal they remained behind to keep guard, and while it served to diminish the Mishima army Kanna Rajura saw no reason to worry, as she still had plenty of machines to deal with the rest of the world. Escorted by the aerial CRONOS robots Kanna guided her Mosquito-- a faster variant of the Dragonfly, into a pass over the black crystal placed on top of the fountain. She lowered the buzzing airship closer to the ground as the three GAIAs did an about-face, with their backs to the crystal, arranged in a circle. The one known as the Crystal Spider watched as the black crystal chunk began to radiate its violet energy, spreading in a wave pattern centering from the chunk itself. By itself the chunk could do little harm to anything, but once the rest of the chunks were in place the real plan would begin. "This is going faster than I expected," Kanna admitted to herself. She shrugged, remembering that she was the only human in her army. "The robots can handle all of this, so perhaps it's time to secure the prize." With her escort following in tight formation, Kanna headed out toward her final destination. --- Rec Room, Mishima Heavy Industries Since most of the technicians were too busy trying to set up the new control center for Ayame that left the others to fend for themselves in the quest to alleviate boredom. Ranma and Akane reentered the room which they first encountered each other, finding that all the trash Ranma left in his hog meals was cleaned-up. Leaning over the back of the television set was Mousse, his back turned toward the door, and obviously engrossed in getting his video games to work again. "Hey, Mousse," Ranma greeted, his voice echoing off the walls, making it sound the more cavernous. "What's up?" Slowly the Master of Hidden Weapons pulled himself from over the set, and did a double take. He adjusted the glasses on the rim of his nose, then took it off and rubbed his eyes. "Is that Akane I see there?" he asked. "Or am I seeing things?" "Hi, Mousse," Akane greeted, feeling somewhat sheepish. "You look well." Mousse smiled. "Nice to see you again." He pointed a wrench toward her. "What's with the getup?" She looked down at herself. "Oh, nothing, really." "At least some of the old gang is still here," Ranma said, sighing. "Now all we need are Ukyo and Ryoga, and maybe we can die happy." "Such a jaded outlook Saotome," Mousse replied. "We lost too many of us, and there shouldn't be a reason to. I can beat the Sailor Senshi...." "On a one-on-one basis, you mean," Ranma added. "I think Ayame's right about this... if we actually stuck together from the start maybe we could've clobbered them a long time ago." "That didn't happen," Akane knew. The martial artist shook his head, and so did the weapons master. Akane saw Ranma's expression, and knew it was hard for him to admit that he was wrong about something. "We're the only ones left," Mousse shared sadly. "Shampoo, Kuno, and his sister. Miranda, Shion, Taro, Ryoga, and Hokuto, too." "Hokuto's gone?" Ranma said, sounding a little too hopeful. "Master Higure did one of his divination things, and that's how we know. We can't detect her presence on this world anymore, and the planar rift is sealed." "So you guys are losing?" Akane realized. "I thought you guys were winning." "You could look at it both ways, Akane, and both would be right," the weapons master replied. "We win, of course, but our price is often very high. Ayame and Master Higure don't fight, Kanna's disappeared. Ukyo, Sypha, and Cinder are on Nemesis, and Shizuka is in a coma. Even if there's still plenty of us left our resources are spread too thin for it to make a difference anymore." "Then what?" "We either quit, or hit them with everything," Ranma answered. He held up the black crystal hanging around his neck. "You know, Akane, there's one thing I can thank you for, and that's for that rose of yours." "Really?" "There's no way I can beat Sailor Moon without also tapping my mind." The martial artist tapped the side of his head with his index finger. "While I was in the berserk state I couldn't think straight, and if I can't do that I can't counter anything she throws at me." "Sailor Moon also healed you with her magic," Akane pointed out. "That's why you helped. Her magic didn't affect me enough to turn me into a zombie, but it did allow me to get control over my body again." Ranma smiled. "Next time I fight them I think I can control the power instead of allowing it to control me." "At least someone's got an edge," Mousse muttered. "I don't need any fancy crystals to beat them." "Suit yourself," Ranma said, shrugging. "You've still got that Chain Buster thing, too." "Oh, one more thing," the Master of Hidden Weapons added, "and it's good news. Apparently, Kodachi and Hokuto did enough damage to the Sailor Senshi that they're down by two." "That IS good news!" Ranma exclaimed, overshadowing Akane's worry. "That, and Sypha and Cinder holding up the other two, that leaves us three between the two of us," Mousse figured. "Still uneven odds, but doable. Even better if Kanna and Shizuka come back." "The fighting's not going to end," Akane realized, sighing. She faced Ranma. "Why are you still going on with this? If this keeps up both you and the Sailor Senshi will destroy each other, and then who'll protect Earth?" The excitement in the air dulled, as reality in Akane's words brought both Ranma and Mousse back down to earth. It was apparent to her that neither one of them thought of the situation in that manner, as they were too engrossed in beating their enemy that took away their friends and allies. She knew she would not get an answer, not now. Mousse resumed his work on the television set, occasionally pulling out wires and circuit boards, and Ranma wandered off to eat more of the Fenril food supply. Akane sighed, wondering if she was throwing her lot in with the 'enemy.' Ranma and Mousse accepted her without question, and she suspected that the others may accommodate that... what was left of the others, that is. There was no reason to alienate Ranma over her, at least. Yes, she decided, she was joining the 'enemy.' --- Interview 4 "Deathclaw likes me a lot, and I figured out why." "Over the millennia that the ghost dragon lived the only way he can touch, smell, eat, or any of the other things we corporeal, living, breathing creatures take for granted is to take on a host body. The sad part about it is that, after a while, the host is absorbed into Deathclaw's essence, becoming trapped with the curse of the ghost dragon." "With that in mind, I'm special somehow." "Theoretically speaking, as Mizuki tells me, since I am such a perfect match for Deathclaw, my body and soul will never be consumed by him. For all I know that could mean I'm like his reincarnated mate or something... brrr...." "It doesn't scare me in the least. At worst I could join the other lost souls absorbed by Deathclaw. At best, Mizuki tells me, I could be the solution to his curse. What that means is beyond me, but Mizuki thinks that, when I die, Deathclaw can finally die, too. I don't think he's eager to die yet, though, as his depravity from the living experience has him yearning for more. He wants to live as I live, and I've no problem with that." "There's plenty of other experiences I want to feel for myself. It's so much to do, and I've only one life to live it... but if I do it right, once is enough." --- World Parliament, Geneva 'Chaotic' would be the one word Kanna would use to describe the scene as she and her CRONOS honor guard hovered over the scene. Geneva, the capitol of Switzerland, was in a panic, as people from all over the world, seeking to see their new world government in action, fled for their lives as swarms of Mishima robots entered the city limits from all sides. The enclosed city, the traditional neutral ground, was systematically blocked-off to all traffic, in or out, as the GAIAs rolled on. Kanna spent a great deal of time planning what she termed as the Geneva project. After the siege of Crystal Tokyo the queen of the Earth was cut-off from the rest of the world, leaving King Endymion and his world parliament to handle running the world, as he wanted them to. However, the parliament was still in its infancy stages, and could not organize the Peacekeepers in an orderly fashion. Kanna scoffed, remembering that the bulk of the people camped outside Crystal Tokyo's makeshift border was made up primarily of news crews and thrill-seekers. The Peacekeepers themselves were a joke, as they had no means by which to stop the Mishima robots on their own. Any cudgel or kitchen knife they armed themselves with did little to dent the armor of the superior robot army, and eventually they had to retreat along with the people they were supposed to protect. As she predicted, the world was too dependent on the Sailor Senshi, and it certainly proved their undoing. If Kanna was in charge, she would make sure her Peacekeeper force COULD keep the peace before letting them go out and do nothing. She instructed the robots to ignore the bystanders, as they were mere nuisances. Any that were in danger of being killed were spared, of course, but attention was only spent on them long enough until such time they were out of danger. Nothing would halt the rolling juggernauts until they completely surrounded the place where the world parliament was meeting at. They did a fantastic job of clearing the way of people, Kanna noted. She wanted nothing between her and the parliament by the time she got there. --- With her death scythe in hand Kanna marched through the halls of the parliament structure, once used for the now-defunct United Nations, followed by two smaller-scale Mishima robots that were roughly the size of humans; Taydome termed them as RHEAs, and they were nothing more than scaled-down GAIAs. Somehow the name seemed appropriate to the Crystal Spider. She met no resistance the entire way when she finally barged into the enormous parliament chamber. The boom of the door echoed throughout the chamber like a vast cavern, and suddenly Kanna understood the scale of the operation she undertook. Her eyes slowly passed from one side to the other, and she could make out the dignitaries from each of the governmental regions that took the place of countries. Each chair was manned by one of the many regional governors, who held the sway of power, representing their part of the world. Once she took it all in, she fixated her eyes toward the seat opposite the doors, where one man stood, dressed in a lavender tuxedo, and wearing a mask over his eyes. He was flanked at both sides by an honor guard, but that wasn't enough to magnify his importance. This man seemed to shimmer in the chamber, well over anyone else. All attention was certainly on him. "King Endymion," Kanna shouted, gripping her scythe tighter in her right hand, "I have come to demand the immediate surrender of the world parliament in the name of the human race." There was no laughing, as she expected. The world parliament members obviously knew about the onslaught Kanna was leading to their city for hours. Kanna herself was surprised she made it this far so fast, as she expected much more resistance out of the so-called Peacekeepers. "Who are you?" the king asked in reply. She spun her scythe around, and tapped its butt end down on the ground, allowing the sound to echo. "I am Kanna Rajura, the Crystal Spider. Your Sailor Senshi refer to me and my associates as the Fenril Knights." A wave of murmuring spread throughout the gathered crowd of dignitaries, each expressing their surprise or distaste at the mention of the well-known name. "You have many fine representatives from all around the world," Kanna continued, making a sweeping gesture with her left hand around the room. "However, none of the people I see here represent the interests of the human race." Another, much louder wave spurted from the crowd, and someone saw it fit to insult her. But the Crystal Spider was above such petty insults of her person. King Endymion raised his hands for silence, and the dignitaries slowly died down in their protests. He stared Kanna directly. "And what would the interests of the human race be?" "This world parliament is a step in the right direction," she said, and Kanna knew they would think she was dodging the question. "The people can have the decision power, as it's right there in their grasp! But, King Endymion, while they do have this choice now, who's end will they serve?" "They will serve the people," Endymion answered. Kanna shook her head. "No, Your Highness, not the people, but your own self interests." She allowed her words to sink in before continuing. "When your wife, Neo Queen Serenity, decided to take the world under her wings, did she not decide that the people of Earth needed to be cleansed?" "We determined that the source of conflict in humanity was our inability to communicate effectively," Endymion corrected. "Fights between the people are born from miscommunication and conflict of interest, and it hurts to see loss of life." "Ah, how sweet," Kanna replied sarcastically, starting a pace around the room. "You deny that you sought to cleanse the Earth, that's fine. Yet you admit that humanity was flawed." "Not flawed, but misguided," the king insisted. "We knew humanity desired peace and harmony." "But at what cost?!" Kanna thundered, silencing any stray whisper in the chamber. "What is the price of peace, King Endymion? Could it be the heart and soul of that which makes us human?!" "I've heard the words of your wife, Your Highness," she continued, moving on a roll. "She admitted that she used the Silver Crystal to 'change the hearts of man' in order to usher this era of peace. Do you deny what your wife and queen says?" Endymion offered no reply. "CHANGE the hearts of men!" Kanna repeated, for the benefit of the dignitaries. She thrust a finger in Endymion's direction. "A true confession in silence!" "Are you quite through yet, young lady?!" she heard one of the governors shout. "I'm the one down on the floor, governor, so you'll listen to what I have to say!" Kanna shouted back, her voice carrying more power that the governor was silenced in an instant. "So we have a non-believer," the Crystal Spider said. "That's fine by me, but," and she produced a tape player that was hanging on her belt, "I have here the audio proof that your queen altered your hearts and souls to suit her own needs!" "It was never our intention to take anything from the human race!" Endymion thundered, unwilling to let Kanna take pot-shots at his wife. "We removed that which was evil from humanity." "King Endymion, I quote a friend of mine when I say, 'society judges what is good and evil.' I'm not saying that you injected evil into the people, but what I am saying is you altered the hearts of men to suit your ideal of humanity!" The audience murmured to itself. The master tactician produced a folded piece of paper, and allowed it to drop all the way to the floor as it unfolded. "What you see here is a laundry list of what is now considered 'evil' today, and what it was like before Neo Queen Serenity came to power." She lowered the list and began reading. "Slasher flicks, which used to be extremely popular in the late '90s, are now a harmful influence on people. Hunting as a sport is cruelty to animals. Cigarettes... well, maybe that's a good thing, but still. It goes on with everything else, like breast implants, assisted suicide, graffiti, pornography, Big Macs, guns, violent video games and films, and MP3s. It's a wonder chocolate shakes aren't banned, you know?" "All those have been proven detrimental to society," Endymion justified. "How nice and caring of you," Kanna jeered. "You're not my mother; I would like to choose my path, not have it chosen for me. And somehow, I doubt the human race was designed to cater to the image of the world's mother, Neo Queen Serenity!" "We are not children to be spoiled! We are grown human beings; we are adults. We should have the ability to make our own decisions, be they right or wrong, or whichever way the wind takes us. I want to be free to choose what movie I want to see on a Saturday evening. I want to eat heart-attack meals if I wanted to. I want to be able to skydive. Heck, I bet lots of you guys miss your porn." Of course they wouldn't admit it. "The human race is not a race of children. The human race is nothing like sheep; we were never to be shepherded by those greater than us as the Sailor Senshi seem to make themselves out to be. We have no purpose in the cosmos without the desire or need to break beyond the barriers of our great mother, Neo Queen Serenity. The state humanity lies in is that of the mother and her children. But there is no room for the children to grow, learn, and experience life to their fullest potential. There's no room for us to make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes, because our mother keeps us from experiencing it. We are a stagnant race because of her. It's the classic 'do what I say.'" Kanna glanced around the room once, and stopped when her eyes fell on King Endymion. For the first time since she entered no one dared to breath a word. The king himself seemed to be at a loss of words, as his stance seemed to slump in place. "King Endymion," the Crystal Spider said, addressing the king directly, "perhaps you assume the role of the father. You don't know much of taking care of a child... or, at least, not as much as your wife, the queen. The foundations you lay here can only work toward the child's assertion toward independence, but it's not enough to hand them the tools, you have to allow them the chance to grow without bound. Each and every human being has the right to make their own choices, their own decisions. It's certain that you trust them enough to make decisions on their own, but still you shield them from possibilities." "Is that what you fight for?" asked Endymion. Kanna nodded silently. The king of the Earth sighed wearily, trying in vain to gather his thoughts. "Perhaps there was never a reason to fight to begin with. Our goals are the same, yours and mine. We seek the betterment of humanity, but, where you liken Neo Queen Serenity's rule as an overbearing mother to children, I see it as a protector of a young race with great potential for good." "And that's where we disagree, Your Highness," Kanna pointed out. "You're directing humankind in one direction and slapping them on the wrist when they try to look the other way. You're trying to build some kind of master race, guiding people on the path you think is right and desirable. Hitler was trying to do the same." "And let me tell you, there's no such thing as a master race. No matter how well you groom us there's always a bigger kid in the playground we call the universe, and if you force everyone to conform to one set of values you squelch the possibility of another's outlook saving your skin. Sometimes it is the differences between people that produce a good outcome in the end, isn't it, King Endymion?" "Whether that be a difference of opinion or a difference of appearance," he said. "People can still make those choices." "But it's not enough when you limit the range of thought, is it?" Kanna shouldered her death scythe for the first time, and held up both hands, parallel to each other. "Ideas are confined into a box like this, and you actively discourage going outside the box. If it requires the sacrifice of life, of course it has to be evil. Yet those to be sacrificed sometimes do it willingly, but those who aid them are condemned for their heinous acts. If it required the death of three people to find a cure for cancer, would anyone take it? No... because three lives is three lives too many." "No one in their right mind would think to go outside the box, because Neo Queen Serenity used her Silver Crystal to scrape it clean from man's soul." "Humans thrive on imagination, and history has proven that those who dared to defy the norms are the ones who define the world today. The Wright Brothers proved that man could fly. Columbus proved there was more out there, beyond the vast sea-- the so-called New World to explore and conquer. Newton's theories gave way to the rise of modern physics. All of them were radical for their time, ridiculed for their outrageous thoughts, and yet their work endures to this day." She stared King Endymion straight in the eye. "If you're telling me that limiting humans is the road to salvation, then you're dead wrong." "Then what would you have me do?" asked the king. The Crystal Spider's lips curved into a sly smile, and immediately she felt the worry in his eyes, despite being masked behind a mask. "You will remove yourself from this chamber, and we will allow the regional governors to decide who should rule the Earth... Queen Serenity, or themselves." "Under the duress of your robotic army, of course." "Of course not. I plan on leaving for a good twenty- four hours so they can make their decision, and that's why you're coming with me." "So I cannot influence their decision, either?" King Endymion realized. He held up his cane. "Kanna Rajura of the Fenril Knights, I challenge you to a duel." Kanna laughed. "On what grounds?" "For the safety of the world and its people, I will not allow you to destroy all that we built!" She shrugged, pulling her death scythe from over her shoulder. She flipped a switch on the shaft of the weapon, realigning the blade into naginata form. "I see...." "If you lose, you and your Fenril Knights will surrender immediately," Endymion said, naming his terms as he descended to the floor. "And if you lose, you'll come with me." Endymion nodded. "Fair enough." Kanna took the initiative, raising her weapon high for an overhead slash. Endymion caught the shaft with his cane, holding it up with one hand at each end. He forced her back a few steps with surprising force until Kanna broke off the attack. She spun her weapon in one hand behind her, holding out her other, free hand in a 'stop' gesture, seemingly gauging distance. The king held back his left arm, holding the end of the cane, and slid the other end through his raised index and middle finger, mimicking a sword stance. Both he and Kanna circled slowly, each gauging the other, trying to anticipate the other's movement. This guy's a fool, Kanna thought, her eyes quickly passing from the masked face to the cane. I've definitely got the reach advantage, and he knows it. However, judging from his stance he is preparing for a high thrust. She read the intent in his eyes as he attacked. In a quick sweeping motion Endymion attacked from below, and Kanna reached down with her outstretched hand and grabbed the cane. His weight thrown off- balance, Kanna quickly switched off her hand and stomped down on the cane with her foot, freeing her hands to wheel her death scythe around to smack Endymion across the face with the butt end. Although hurt from the quick blow Endymion still had his wits about him, and used the force of both his hands to bring the cane back off the ground, throwing Kanna back a couple steps. He raised his right white glove up to his cheeks, feeling the sting of the blow. Kanna swept the weapon's blade close toward the floor, and a white column of ki energy roared to life. Tearing through the floor, throwing debris everywhere, the column launched itself toward the king. Endymion leaped to the right, avoiding the hit, but it collided with the podium behind him, throwing his honor guard into the air. He threw his body into a desperate lunge at Kanna, reaching his cane out to deflect the death scythe naginata away from the ground before the Crystal Spider could create another ki column. Kanna kicked the king in the face, valuing her distance game, and waited for Endymion to get back up to his feet. Although he staggered, Endymion appeared he would not give up. "Leave the others out of this," he demanded. She shrugged, holding her weapon back and her free arm forward. "Suit yourself!" Holding his cane close to his chest, Endymion charged. Obviously to the man's surprise, Kanna was almost expecting the attack. She quickly dodged the cane, but at the same time planted her free hand onto the king's chest. Using his own momentum against him the Crystal Spider heaved Endymion over her head as she lifted her arm. In a motion too quick for the gathered delegations to see Kanna quickly grabbed her death scythe with both hands, spun in place, and slashed upward at the flying Endymion, the curved end of the blade facing upward. Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Kanna as she lowered her weapon. Endymion crashed on the ground, face-first, his cane scattering across the floor. Trailing his descent was the two halves that was the remains of the mask he wore. The audience seemed to hold its breath as they waited for King Endymion to rise against the foul one, but Kanna Rajura knew who the victor was. With deliberate strides she came to his side, kicking him to roll over onto his back. She shouldered her death scythe, and picked up the defeated king by the shirt. Although Endymion was unharmed by the final attack, it was more than apparent that he was beaten. "This is why wars aren't settled in one-on-one duels, King Endymion," she hissed. Kanna turned to address the rest of the delegates. "As for the rest of you, you all have twenty-four hours to reach a decision." One of the two RHEAs approached, producing an hour glass from a chest compartment. Kanna snatched it with her free hand, and turned it upside-down. "When the sands run out, I'll be back." --- R&D Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries "Well, Ms. Mishima," Chief Engineer Dumas reported, "communications are back online. We can initiate the satellite link-up at your order." Ayame nodded, folding her arms. About time something was going right. "Punch it," she ordered. Dumas nodded, initiating the link-up. And no one was surprised to see that Kanna's mug was dominating the signal. --- Internal Security, Crystal Palace "What's this?" Sailor Mercury said aloud, as she finally finished repairing the communication system. "People of Earth," Kanna announced, and judging from the backdrop she was in Geneva, Mercury guessed. That already wasn't good news. "Your king has fallen." --- World Parliament, Geneva Kanna stood before the communications hub her machines took over, staring at the camera as she gave her announcement. This chamber was meant to be used by the world parliament to address the world on important matters of the state, and since no one else was going to be using it for a while, she decided to take advantage of it. She allowed the camera a quick side pan toward the beaten King Endymion. "This man is unharmed, but now, my fellow people, we are at a crossroads. In twenty- four hours your world parliament will rend a decision put forth to them that will decide the fate of Earth forever. In twenty-four hours, the world will belong to the people, or to Neo Queen Serenity." "There has been some misinformation spread about us. You may know us as the Fenril Knights, a band of terrorists of the likes of the Black Moon Family. What I tell you is this: we are human beings. We are not your enemy, but your brothers and sisters, your sons and daughters... your fellow human beings. We, too, share the same basic human rights as you, and it is by that right we rose up against the dictator known as Neo Queen Serenity in dispute of her rule. It is our right as people to decide who governs us." "In good faith your world parliament is deliberating even now to decide if we shall be free from one who oppresses the expression inherent in the human race. I ask each and every one of you... 'Is this right?' That is a question each of you must ask yourselves, because it is you who will decide the outcome of this conflict." --- Internal Security, Crystal Palace Sailor Mercury, with both Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars hovering over her seat, all stared at the screen until it blanked out, the world-wide transmission terminated. Perhaps along with their hopes of a future. "She could've convinced me," Mars admitted, "but she's only telling one side of the story." "In her position, I wouldn't, either," Mercury said. "I should've seen this," Sailor Moon said, berating herself verbally. "The Fenril Knights are appealing to the people as their basis of power." "What sort of division do you suppose this could cause around the world?" Mercury wondered. "It doesn't matter; twenty-four hours is still a long time," Mars pointed out. "Just because that girl said they'll wait for a decision doesn't mean we won't get attacked." "You're right," Moon knew. "It's not over yet." --- R&D Control Center, Mishima Heavy Industries "Kanna, you've really outdone yourself this time," Ayame muttered, shaking her head. She felt the presence of Higure behind her. "Well? What do you think?" "If you hope to justify your victory on the basis of the right of the people, then you are naive," the old man replied. "Neo Queen Serenity will likely be unwilling to give up even if Kanna has her husband in her hands." "So they're going to fight anyway," the leader said. "It looks like we may have to deploy the Dead End Buster after all." "Much of the equipment has been set-up already," Dumas informed her. "All we need to do now is get the buster itself into position." "Get Ranma and Mousse ready anyway," Ayame ordered. "If the Sailor Senshi are on to us, we'll need their help. In twenty-four hours, this war will be over... one way or another." --- World Parliament, Geneva Kanna glanced down at King Endymion, quite disappointed in the monarch. "Your plan will never succeed," he muttered. "It doesn't have to," Kanna assured him. "Even if I don't get my way I've bought more than enough time for my comrades to finish Neo Queen Serenity." She turned to look over her shoulder, where a third, dark form appeared. "I trust you're satisfied, Wiseman?" Wiseman's robed form levitated in the air behind the Crystal Spider, and the old man waved his shimmering hand over his crystal ball. The scene of the unprotected Crystal Palace appeared within. "The cycle of good and evil is about to draw to a close." "As it should be," Kanna replied. It took a great deal of time to work in Wiseman's plans into her own without making Ayame suspicious. While her plan to secure Ami Mizuno's body failed, at least Wiseman still had Taydome's body to work with. One brilliant mind was as good as another to the one born of Chaos. "And yet the close of one era is the beginning of a new," she continued. "Perhaps the gods will forgive us when the Mekani arrive... and Earth can finally work toward our most basic, common goal: survival." --- Interview 5 "Time travel's such an ugly concept." "We didn't find out until much, much later that it was possible for the Sailor Senshi to manipulate time. In fact, it was the dominion of one Sailor Pluto, who, as far as we could tell, was dead because she violated some fundamental law of time, a force definitely far beyond human comprehension." "So what could stop us from undoing our past?" "A lot, actually. According to Hokuto time has a very high resistance to change once its course is set; you have to overcome that incredible resistance in order to change the flow of time. It's almost like an electrical circuit in that respect, where a high- rated resistor can drop lots and lots of voltage, and it takes a lot of voltage to even get a decent current through it. Sure, a miniscule amount gets through it if you try, but it's usually so negligible that the effects aren't entirely noticeable." "For instance, let's say you wanted to stop the Black Moon invasion. That's almost what happened in Neo Queen Serenity's case, when her past self was brought to this time. Anyway, she went back home, armed with the knowledge that somehow, sometime, her subjects would stage an uprising, and she would be forced to exile them 'humanely' to Nemesis." "Okay, you don't have exact circumstance... you never can, really; it's usually something vastly different than what you thought it was. But you try to stop it anyway. You think you can change the hearts of the people and they would accept it. They'll accept it out of gratitude and a hope for a brighter future, where all the birds and bunnies are playing in the fields... yadda, yadda, yadda. Problem is, you can't predict everything, and there's always a rotten apple somewhere. Lots of rotten apples, in this case." "Blah, blah, blah, she couldn't prevent it. See what I mean? The effects of her attempt to avert the disaster are so barely noticeable that they may as well not have been done at all. Heck, I'm not even sure what she tried to do differently; I don't have the benefit of knowing how things went before, and Neo Queen Serenity probably doesn't know for sure, either." "The other reason you don't change time is because, when you change your past, you also lose your experiences in that timeline. I think humans learn better from their mistakes... I think. It helps prevent them from making the same mistake later on. So maybe the catastrophic annihilation of the kami was a terrible event... but at least Neo Queen Serenity is wiser because of it. After all, you just can't forget that you slaughtered billions of lives; you can only hope you never do it again." "If we changed the past to avert the uprising, then I don't think I'd be talking about this now. I wouldn't remember anything that's happened, and that's simply too important to me. I treasure and value my memories." "On the other hand, what would this world be like WITH the kami still around? That's the trade-off." "It drives me nuts to think of time travel; don't ever mention it again. However, if there's one thing to learn from all this, it's that events in time are created as we live them; THAT is what we can change because it hasn't happened yet. Time moves forward, and so do we." --- Council Chamber, Palace of Solitude Ukyo suppressed her surprise when Sypha and Cinder entered with Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune as she sat back in the tall chair at the end of the table. The two Sailor Senshi were devoid of any shackle whatsoever, as Sypha saw to it that the two would not be able to try anything rash. The okonomiyaki chef knew it had nothing to do with the two kami, but for the reason the senshi held their hands out in front of them: both their index fingers were stuck in an old- fashioned Chinese finger trap. Other than the utterly ridiculous measure, Ukyo couldn't believe Sypha would listen to her. As the two Sailor Senshi were seated across the table, Ukyo cleared her throat. She realized it was pretty far down the table, and both Cinder and Sypha were making no moves to take seats of their own, as if waiting for something. "Well... I thank you for joining us," she began awkwardly. "As if you gave us a choice," muttered Uranus. Sypha raised her claw to pound on the insolent senshi, but Ukyo waved her away with her hand. "Well, geez, I think you decided. Why else would you come and attack the city I'm supposed to protect?" She knew the truth of the matter, but Ukyo wanted to see how the two Sailor Senshi would react to that. To her disappointment neither one budged or cracked in their composure or expression. Ukyo sighed. "Well, that's neither here nor there. What I'd like to discuss is the Mekani." Neither Uranus nor Neptune made a move to reply. "The only thing we know for certain is that they're coming. What I want to know is when they'll arrive, and in what number. Then I want to know our chances, given our current information." "They will arrive in five weeks," Cinder said, speaking up. "This is considering they have no incentive to speed-up their travel plans. We have no estimate on the scout party's numbers, but if they decide to speed-up their timetable I estimate their force will decrease by twenty-percent, judging from what we know of the Timeless Ones." "They're willing to sacrifice some of their kind to get here," Sypha added, "but not so much that they can't beat whatever is at their destination. If they decide to make haste they can be on us in three days with the bulk of their warriors, leaving their factory satellites, a light guard, and workers behind to catch-up later. The factory satellites are the key to their expansion." "Okay," Ukyo said, taking it all in. "So there's another variable. Given we really don't have anything around here to beat them up with, our chances go from slim to none." "The Silver Crystal," Uranus spoke up. "It can potentially wipe out the invasion party." "That's nice, but we don't have it," Ukyo replied. "If you let us go, then we can warn the queen and use it," Neptune added. "And what makes you think she doesn't already know about it?" asked Sypha. "Yeah, we're still sitting here," the okonomiyaki chef agreed. "Your queen is holding back her secret weapon to use against the Mekani. If she were ignorant of that she could've wiped us out a while ago." "Then you don't know Neo Queen Serenity that well," Uranus replied evenly. "Given the situation, and judging from your lack of cooperation," Ukyo stated, propping her feet up on the table as she leaned back, "I'd rather take the five weeks and try to come up with a good weapon. By then I think our people can beat your despotic queen, too." "If you want us to cooperate, you'd better tell us what you want; I don't read minds." Ukyo sat up, leaning forward in her seat. "What I want out of you two is to surrender. I know my side won't surrender, and I'm doubting your side would, either... but the fact of the matter is, if we don't get on the same side somehow, the Mekani will gut us alive." "Why not forge an alliance?" asked Neptune. "Don't you get it? We're enemies. We don't like you people, and we're too proud to even ask you for help." "Aren't you asking for that help now?" "I'm asking for cooperation." Uranus snorted. "You're so reasonable." "I'm not the prisoner," Ukyo pointed out. "If you value your queen and your freedom, you'd better surrender. Or maybe you value your lives; I'm sure Sypha can find a way to take the sword and mirror from you two. We like sacred treasures." Neither Sailor Senshi said a word, opting to remain silent. Sypha, for her part, seemed rather eager to carry out that order. "They can't be used by an evil force like yours," Neptune informed her. "They're useless without us." "We're not interested," Cinder said, fuming under his hood. "The power is enticing, however." "Are you two jackasses so stubborn that you'd rather die than join forces?" asked Ukyo angrily. "Are you people such pig-headed jerks that you can't accept us for who and what we are? You and your queen never gave us a chance from day one, branding us as outlaws the moment one of us loses her temper. Your thought police that defends Crystal Tokyo hunts us down because we're different from the rest of your carbon-copy cattle-people. I was just working, and I STILL got attacked, because my friend was there. Have you people no shame?" "Anything you people come up with is fraught with treachery," Uranus spat. The movement was too fast for the okonomiyaki chef to see, but Uranus somehow managed to kick her chair back into Sypha, and Neptune did the same with Cinder. A bright flash blinded her for a second, and Ukyo saw a sword appear, and slice through the finger trap holding Uranus's fingers together. She grabbed the sword with her now-free hand and freed Neptune in the same manner, just as the two kami were recovering. "Deep Submerge!" Neptune shouted, unleashing a magical torrent of water in Cinder's direction. For his part the cloaked salamander stood his ground, raising his heavy sleeve up to shield his face. As the torrent passed the salamander remained standing, apparently unharmed. Cinder threw down his arm, jetting out steam from his flame-thrower. Uranus busied herself parrying an overhead blow from Sypha's claw, then retreated and jumped over the claw on the sorcerer's other arm. The sword began to glow in her hand. "Space Sword Blaster!" Ukyo shielded her eyes as the attack impacted against Sypha, but the light was not due to the kami's death, but from the energy shield surrounding her. At that moment Cinder decided to change partners and slashed at Uranus, keeping her from pursuing her attack further. And somehow the chef was lucky enough to be the next of Neptune's targets. "Don't think I'm so out of shape," Ukyo warned, just as another torrent appeared, threatening to wash her out of her seat. Instead, the chef was ready for it, and leaped straight up into the air, reaching for her throwing spatulas. Taking aim, she threw, and the darts would have hit their mark had Neptune not been paying attention. Sypha chose that moment to butt-in, as her claws raked from behind. Neptune dodged to the side, spinning around as she went to face her new opponent. Ukyo watched as the two kami expertly attacked their enemy, forcing the two Sailor Senshi to put their backs together. Both senshi glanced at each other, and suddenly the mirror appeared in Neptune's arms. She shielded her eyes as the mirror unleashed a bright flash of light, blinding her eyes. She heard Uranus shout, "World Shaking," which was followed by an explosion. A draft filled the chamber, and Ukyo knew they were attempting to escape during the flash. As her eyes adjusted back to normal, Ukyo saw that both Sypha and Cinder remained standing in the same places as before. The flash was like a tick to Cinder, thanks to his mechanical eye's filters, and Sypha was likewise unhampered by the light, yet neither decided to give chase. Just as planned. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Sypha, eyeing Ukyo suspiciously. "Taking them out would have been too easy," Cinder added. "If you thought of a better way than torturing them to death, then I would've listened," Ukyo said, turning her back to the two kami. "Face it, no matter how you look at it they'll be suspicious; the best way is to stage their escape. We can't just simply 'let them go;' we'd look like fools." She didn't feel the presence of either kami behind her back, which was still a good sign. At least they were still going along with her idea, even if it did seem stupid in its execution stage. At least the seed was planted; all they had to do now was wait for it to sprout. No, she didn't know Neo Queen Serenity at all, but she hoped the queen was a lot more willing to listen to her message than her outer-planet soldiers were. The fighting had to end, but the queen had to make the next step. It was only a matter of time before her two messenger-girls arrived on Earth, and Ukyo somehow knew that tipping-off the Mekani was a worthy price. She would rather face just the warriors than the warriors backed-up with the satellites that produced even more warriors, whichever way Neo Queen Serenity went. Everyone would lose when they arrived if no one was prepared to unite against the mechanical plague. --- Interview 6 "It's one thing to fight for what you believe in, and another to fight for what you think is right." "Strange, isn't it? To some people they essentially mean the same thing, but what you believe isn't necessarily what you think is right. What I mean by this: my fighting against the crystal Earth. I thought myself kind of lost, and I believed that the Sailor Senshi held the answer to my burning questions. I fought them because I thought they were responsible for what happened. I fought them because I believed they were the enemy." "But here's where it conflicts with what I think is right. If I fought for what was right, I would've sided with the Sailor Senshi. What is right is to fight for the people, and by fighting against the defenders of the people I was fighting against the people. It's a strange, ambiguous moral dilemma, and you know very well which choice I stuck with." "I don't regret my choice... not one bit. If we all took the time to ponder what might have been instead of what we can do to avoid it later then the human race should have died out a long time ago." --- Shizuka Minazuki emerged from her quarters, shotgun slung over her shoulder, and her twin, snake-headed swords sheathed at her left. "Now," she muttered to herself, "it's time to end this once and for all, Neo Queen Serenity." ---------------------------------------------------- Author's Notes Stay tuned for more. --Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOhotmailSPAM.com) http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/index.html