Oh yes, and for whoever asked: I saw Rurouni Kenshin Saturday night at 9:30 Ohio-time on Cartoon Network. ^~

One more note: Adult Swim rocks!! Go Trigun!

Ranma 1/2: Probably the most famous thing about Ranma is that he's cursed. When splashed with cold water, he turns into a girl, and hot water changes him back. I don't intend for anything about his curse to show up here though, he's just a background character.

The second most famous thing about Ranma is that he's a martial artist. Think DBZ martial artist. Not only can he jump high, punch hard and all that crap, he can throw special energy attacks called 'ki blasts'. Ki is basicly a person's spirit and will-power, what I call their aura. His most famous attack is probably the Tenshin Amaguriken, or "Chesnut Fist". It allows him to use his ki to throw super-fast punches, usually as many as a hundred in one second! Since he trains in these types of attacks, over the years his aura has grown, which is why Ryou and Tenchi both commented on how big it was. The flip side of this is that Ranma has also learned to sense auras.

Another thing about Ranma is that he has at least three fiancees. His dad's a bit of a nut-case, and engaged him to two differnt girls while he was only a little kid. Later on Ranma met and defeated a Chinese Amazon named Shampoo in fair combat, and the Amazon laws state that now Ranma has to marry Shampoo, gaining him his third fiancee. The other two are Akane Tendo (who's generally excepted as the one Ranma really loves) and Ukyou Kounji.

The Chinese Amazons, whom Keith will be dealing with over the summer, are just that: Amazons. They train in all forms of martial arts and armed combat. And they don't like men very much, unless as mates. They judge men by their strength, not by their character or intellegence.

Fushigi Yuugi: You won't need to know much about FY, but I'll tell you a bit anyway. Miaka Yuuki was just a normal junior higher until she got sucked into another world through a book. There she became priestess to the god Suzaku and had to go on a quest to find her seven guardian warriors, of which Tamahome is the first. The others are Tasuki (a womanizer with a temper as red as his hair), Mitsukake (a healer with a sad past and an affinity for cats), Chichiri (a blue-haired monk who wears a mask to hide his scarred face and tragic past), Hotohori (the emporer of the land who falls in love with Miaka), Nuriko (a gay, cross-dressing man who loves Hotohori), and Chiriko (a genius kid who's smarter then he looks). Anyway, long story short, Miaka defeated the evil Nakago, who'd captured her best friend Yui. Miaka then had to go back to her world, but was able to bring Tamahome, whom she'd fallen in love with, back with her. They're still able to keep in contact with everyone else in the "book-world", or at least that's how I interpret the end of the series...

Tenchi Muyo!: Jeez, this one's almost as complicated as Ranma 1/2... ^^; Okay, where to start... (By the way, I'm using Tenchi Universe as the basis for this, because Kiyone's my fav character and we don't see her anywhere except Universe. ^^;)

Tenchi Masaki was just a normal teen. Emphasis on was. The day that Ryoko crash landed near his house was the day his life went to hell (or heaven, depending on who you talk to). Ryoko was a space pirate, and had been shot down by a Galaxy Police Officer named Mihoshi. Mihoshi's ship gets destroyed, and she attempts to send a distress signal. It's picked up by Princess Ayeka of Jurai, who's returning from some peace talks.

Ayeka comes down to earth, but it turns out that she and Ryoko have met before and there's some bad blood between them. Both of them go up into space in their ships and do battle. No one's hurt, but in the process both ships are destroyed and Ayeka, Ryoko, and Mihoshi are stranded on earth. They deside to stay with Tenchi. Both Ryoko and Ayeka are beginning to develop feelings for Tenchi.

Enter Sasami, Ayeka's little sister. She arrives to rescue them all, but through a weird twist of fate her ship is destoryed as well and she joins the crew at Tenchi's house. Also around this time it's discovered that Ryoko's ship was actually alive, and it's now been reborn into a sort of cat/rabbit thing called Ryo-Ohki.

Tenchi's grandfather, Yosho, who lives at a shrine near Tenchi's house, tells them about a goblin/demon thing that was sealed in a cave nearby. Tenchi, Ryoko, and Ayeka go to see the cave, and Ryoko and Ayeka start to fight again (they fight almost every episode for one reason or another). In the process they accidentally let out the "demon", which is actually an exiled mad scientist, Washu. She too moves into Tenchi's house.

Kiyone, Mihoshi's partner, is sent to look for her, and she joins everyone as well. The gang have a ton of adventures together, and eventually are joined by two knights of Jurai, Azaka and Kamidake, who are sworn to protect Ayeka. Yosho is revieled to be the legendary lost prince of Jurai, Ayeka and Sasami's half-brother.

So now the gang's complete. All six of the girls are speculated to be in love with Tenchi, in one way or another, but Ayeka and Ryoko are the main rivals.

Anyway, since Tenchi's grandfather is a Jurain prince, he has power that was passed down to him from that line. He has a sword (which is also named Tenchi. I'll refer to it as the Tenchi-ken) that is somewhat like a lightsaber, and can summon shields of energy, as well as toss out energy blasts. ^~ Which is why he has such a big aura, and he can sense auras. Yosho is also a Shinto priest, and would be able to sence great levels of power, aka Ranma and Ryou. *^^*

Goodness, how complicated. >> That's enough material for a chapter all its own right there... Ah well, on to the real chapter! ^^

WSJ: *grinding her teeth and glaring at Eternal Duelist Soul* Ryou. Does. Not. Say. HOWDY!!!!!!

Ryou: ^^;;

WSJ: Grrr...

Disclaimer: WSJ doesn't own YGO, TM!, GW, FY, R1/2, or anything else mentioned. Brood owns Amoura, Amoura's family, Lisa, and Yunet, SJ owns Gwen, Hiro, Scott, Raiden-san and various others.

Just to let ya'll know, I am a firm Miaka/Tamahome shipper, as ya'll saw last chapter. ^~ Other couples that I'm a fan of that I just may throw in include Tenchi/Ryoko (sorry to all Ayeka fans, but she annoys me!!), Sakura/Li, Ranma/Akane, and Duo/Hilde. ^~ For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, just ignore it. ^o^\\//

Someone asked me if I've ever been surfing. No, I haven't, but I'd love to try. ^^ I plan to honeymoon somewhere with surfing. ^^; I wanna suuuurf... It looks so fuuuun... *grins sheepishly* Okay, enough whining, I'll get to the fic now...

()()()()()

Home Sweet Home

Chapter 3: No Need For Fighting!

Serenity was busy writing a letter while Miaka finished unpacking up in their hotel room. There were only two beds, so Miaka and Serenity had agreed to switch who slept on the floor every night. That is, if Sakura agreed. Serenity somehow doubted she would, especially if it meant sleeping on the floor while Serenity got a bed, even for one night. Serenity and Sakura had never been best of friends, and were really only a step away from worst of enemies.

Miaka stowed the last of her shirts into a drawer, and wandered over to look over Serenity's shoulder. "Who're you writing to?"

"My boyfriend Ryou." Serenity said, smiling a little as she mentioned his name. "I'm giving him the address of the hotel and its phone number, so he can call me if he needs to. I'm also telling him I love him, I miss him, you know, all that stuff."

Miaka smiled. "How adorable! I'm going to have to meet this guy." She sighed dreamily and her eyes went unfocused. "You know, I was just about your age when I first met Tamahome... A little younger, actually. How old are you now?"

"Sixteen." Serenity said, signing her name at the bottom of the letter and reaching for an envelope.

"I was fourteen." Miaka said, and sighed again. "That seems like so long ago... I wonder how Hotohori and the others are doing?"

"Hoto-who?" Serenity asked, turning around in her chair to face her cousin.

Miaka grinned. "Hotohori. He's a friend of mine and Tamahome's, but he had to, ah, move away. He was in love with me, in fact I think he still is, but it was either him or Tamahome, and Tama's the one I love."

"That's so sweet..." Serenity smiled. "Yes, you'll definately need to meet Ryou. Hold on, I think I have a picture of him around here somewhere..." As she rumaged through her purse, there was a knock on the door. Miaka went over to answer it, only to find Sakura Kinomoto on the other side. She had a bag slung over her shoulder, and a suitcase was sitting on the floor outside. "Hi Miaka-chan!"

"Sakura-chan! It's good to see you!"

"Aha!" Serenity immerged from behind the door and handed Miaka a picture of her and Ryou that'd been taken last Christmas. "That's him."

Sakura frowned as she saw Serenity. Looking over Miaka's shoulder at the picture, she asked "Who's the albino guy?"

"He is not an albino." Serenity hissed, her eyes narrowing. "He's my boyfriend, the sweetest guy in the world, and the best martial artist ever. Don't tell me you've never heard of Ryou Bakura?"

"Sorry no," Sakura said. "And it just so happens that it's my boyfriend who's the best martial artist ever. Li could beat that white-haired dodo any day!"

"Oh no..." Sencing impending doom, Miaka backed out the door and into the hall as Sakura and Serenity got into a screaming match. Then again, this was nothing new. They always seemed to find something new to fight about.

"Agh, call in the national guard, they're at it again!" Miaka turned around to see Scott, Joey, Tamahome, and their step-cousin Duo Maxwell coming down the hall. "Hi guys, what's up?"

"We were wondering if you wanted to come out to dinner with us." Scott said, sweatdropping. "But I guess Sakura and Serenity-chan are busy..."

"And maybe hit a few parties afterward - " Duo was cut off as both Joey and Tamahome hit him across the back of the head.

"Baka Maxwell..." Tamahome muttered. "The girls are too young to drink."

"Owwie!" Duo cried, holding the back of his head in pain. "I thought I was getting away from Wufei[1] for a few weeks..."

Joey sighed as he peeked into the hotel room. He quickly had to pull it back to avoid being hit with a flying shoe. "Hey," Miaka frowned. "Those are mine..."

The fighting had escalated, and the group outside sweatdropped. "Shall we go?" Tamahome asked, taking Miaka by the elbow and beginning to lead her away. Everyone else nodded enthusiasticly and sprinted for the elevator as the cat fight continued behind them.

The fight was absolutely amazing. Tenchi, Ryou, and Ranma had been going at it for fifteen minutes already, and none of them showed any signs of tiring out. All three were throwing punches and kicks faster then the eye could see, their auras sprung so high that they were visible as a glow around them. Ryou's silver-white, Tenchi's bright purple, and Ranma's blue.

"This is amazing..." Raiden-san said, his eyes wide. "I had no idea Ryou or Ranma were so powerful!"

"It's the stuff legends are made of." Yosho agreed. "If any of these three set their mind to it, they could probably destroy the world."

"I'm glad they're on our side." Akane noted, over-hearing him. Sasami and Raiden-san nodded in agreement.

Suddenly one of Ranma's kicks got through, sending Ryou blasting backwards and through the wall of the dojo, out onto the street beyond. He wasn't hurt, and was back on his feet in an instant, beconing the other two to come outside. "We shouldn't damage the dojo." he said. "I'll fix the hole later Raiden-san! Gomen nasai!" he added.

Nodding, Tenchi and Ranma followed him outside, where a crowd was beginning to gather. Out here in the open, the boys didn't have to be so careful. Ryou released his full aura, which burst into existance around him like a small, white-hot star. Ranma did as well, his pig-tail flapping behind him. Tenchi fell into a strange stance and muttered some words the others couldn't hear, powering up into his Jurain battle armor. The other two raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't comment.

"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Releasing his Chesnut Fists technique, Ranma aimed at Ryou. The telepath grunted as several blows landed before he was able to teleport away. Watching him disappear and reappear several feet up, and float there, Tenchi blinked. "Hey, you're not a space pirate or an alien prince or anything like that, are you?" [2]

Ryou face-faulted briefly. "No! I'm a telepath!"

"Ah." Tenchi said, then something seemed to dawn on him. Slowly he grinned. "What say we kick it up a notch?"

"How so?" Ranma asked, eyeing Ryou, who was still hovering five feet off the ground.

Still grinning, Tenchi pulled what looked like a small stick out of his belt. He concentrated for a moment, and a blade of pure energy sprang to life above it. "Hey," Ranma asked. "What's with the lightsaber?"

"That is the Tenchi-ken," Yosho explained from the sidelines. "It is a legendary sword that has been in my family for generations. Tenchi I warn you, don't hurt them with it. Neither of them are armed!"

Ryou snorted. "Speak for yourself." He gathered a ball of energy in his left hand and fired it toward Tenchi, who quickly put up a shield. Ranma grinned ferrily. "Don't worry about me either old man! I've fought Kuno and Mousse enough times to know how to dodge a blade."

Now all three of them were grinning in a half-insane way. Tenchi charged at Ranma, the Tenchi-ken poised to strike. Ranma leaped out of the way and kicked hard at Tenchi's back, only to be knocked down by a blast from Ryou. Yosho, Sasami, Raiden-san, Akane, and the crowd of onlookers just stared with their mouths open. Never had any of them seen such raw power before! And the three combatants looked as if they were enjoying it!

Ranma's grin widened as he saw Shampoo, Mousse, and Cologne push their way through the crowd to gape at him. Kuno was yelling at him from the side (although no one was paying him any attention, of course), and Ukyou was standing with Kasumi, looking confused. And, oh my! was that Nabiki circulating through the crowd and taking bets on the outcome of this little match?

Tenchi had also spotted people he knew in the crowd. Ryoko was yelling at him to beat them good, while Ayeka looked rather nervous that Tenchi was fighting at all. Kiyone and Mihoshi were openly staring, and Tenchi was sure Washuu was watching from somewhere, even if he couldn't see her.

Ryou chuckled slightly and waved at Kaiba and Rebecca from where they stood watching. Grampa and Mako and Tristan were in the growing crowd too, cheering him on. And was that - Oh hell!

Diving down, Ryou grabbed Ranma and Tenchi by their collars and hissed "Kill the auras! There's a news crew coming this way!"

Tenchi groaned in disappointment and echoed Ryou's thoughts. "Oh hell! I wanted to finish..."

Ranma thought for a moment. "Meet me at the Tendo Dojo in Nerima in two weeks time. We can go all out there, no one will care. Residents of Nerima get used to it." Tenchi and Ryou nodded at him, and a moment later Ranma was gone, leaping over rooftops in the direction of Nerima. Tenchi winked at Ryou and banished his armor, sliding effortlessly into the crowd. Ryou quickly killed off the glow that was still hovering around him, then took to the skies, rocketing quickly toward the Game Shop, where he knew no news crews would follow him.

By the time Channel 7 news arrived at the scene, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening. An old man and a little girl with blue hair were shooing away a crowd, but no matter who they talked to, no one seemed to be able to tell them why the crowd had gathered in the first place.

In the midst of this scene something happened that you readers may not have noticed. While cheering on their respective loves, Ayeka and Shampoo happened to meet. ^~ But of course, that story can be saved for another time.

(WSJ: ....I hate the flu.... *pauses to sneeze* Gaaaah... ^^; I'm writing this at, like, midnight, because it's the only time I get peace and quiet!!! XP Anyway... Oh yeah, just a note here. ^~ Madame's deck is a mix between mine (which is spellcaster/fiend-based) and my sister's (which is warrior-based). Yami's deck is based completely around the one he uses on the Eternal Duelist Soul video game, with one exception. ^~)

Yami chewed on his lower lip as he drew his first five cards. Mystical Elf, Dark Magician, Raigeki, Alpha the Magnet Warrior, and Monster Reborn. Well, since they were playing by Battle City rules, he couldn't bring out his Dark Magician without sacrifices. So... "I play a monster card, face down defence position [Mystical Elf], and I place another card face down [Monster Reborn]."

Madame nodded, but she had a smug smile on her face. She glanced down at her own cards, then placed two face down in the magic field. "I call Neo the Magic Swordsman [1700/1000], in attack mode!" She then ordered her Swordsman to destroy his facedown monster, but the Mystical Elf was too strong, bringing Madame down by 300 life points right off the bat. [Madame: 3700/Yami: 4000]

Yami drew his next card, which was one of his Summoned Skulls, and grinned quietly to himself. Madame really didn't know what she was getting herself into. "I sacrifice Mystical Elf to bring out my Summoned Skull! Attack and destroy her Magic Swordsman!" Madame growled as Yami brought her LP down further, her hand poiced over her deck. As soon as Yami declared his turn over she snatched for her next card. [Madame: 2900/Yami: 4000]

She looked over her cards a moment, pondering her play. Bakura glanced over her shoulder and nodded slightly, then leaned over to get a look at Yami's cards as well. "I play a monster in defence position, and another card face down." That made three in her magic/trap zone.

Yami frowned slightly and drew another card. His Buster Blader. That would be a help later on, he decided. "I also play Alpha the Magnet Warrior [1400/1700] in attack mode! Alpha, destroy her face down monster!" In that split second after he'd declared the attack, Yami regretted it. Why? Madame was grinning.

"I activate my trap card, Mirror Force!"

Yami cursed vibrantly in Egyptian (causing Bakura to snicker) as his Summoned Skull and Magnet Warrior got sent to the graveyard.

"And flip-summon my face down monster to reveil Hibikime [1450/1000]! Hibikime, attack his life points directly." Yami growled and Madame smiled smuggly. [Madame: 2900/Yami: 3550]

"You asked for it..." Yami muttered, drawing his next card, Big Shield Gardna [100/2600]. "I lay the monster I just drew in face down defencive, and I activate Monster Reborn."

"Ah ah ah..." Madame said, her smile widening. "Sorry." She flipped over Magic Jammer, discarding one card from her hand to do so. Yami growled through gritted teeth, "Your move."

Madame nodded, the smile on her face just infuriating Yami more. She glanced down at the card she'd drawn and nodded to herself. "I play Maha Vailo [1550/1400] in attack position. Maha Vailo, attack his face down card!"

Yami's smug smile returned as she attacked his Big Shield Gardna, bringing her LP down further. "As dictated by the card's effect, I now have to switch Big Shield Gardna to attack mode." He did so, but it was immediatly destroyed by Madame's attacking Hibikime, leaving him defenceless again. [Madame: 1850/Yami: 2200]

It was Yami's turn again, and he drew. Unfortunately, it wasn't the card he needed. He could, however, make do. He snickered, and played a magic card he'd had in his hand all along. "I play Raigeki, sending all your monsters to the graveyard." Madame hissed something in French that made Annalee gasp and Amoura blush, and Yami's smirk widened. "And I place a monster in defence mode."

Madame frowned as she drew a card and glanced over her hand. Yami thought he caught a glimmer of a smile, but he wasn't sure. "I also place a monster in defence, just so you can't attack me, and I end my turn."

Yami wondered what she was up to, but the next card he drew was the one he'd been waiting for, so it didn't matter anymore. Or did it? "I play Change of Heart, taking control of your face down monster. I sacrifice both monsters on my field to summon the Dark Magician, in attack mode, and equip him with Book of Secret Arts [2800/2400]! And I use him to attack your LP directly, which means I win!" Yami crowed, a pharoahly grin lighting up his features.

Madame scowled, but flipped over her last trap card. "Sorry, no. Waboku protects me from damage this turn." She drew a card and smiled. "But now it's you who's going down. I play Dark Magic Ritual, and sacrifice the Witty Phantom and Labrynth Wall from my hand to bring out the Magician of Black Chaos [2800/2600]!"

Tea, Amoura, Yugi, and Bakura looked at each other. Now Yami and Madame were at a stand still. Either one of them could win this game. Yugi and Tea, of course, were cheering for Yami openly. Bakura was a bit more subtle, but was still rooting for the pharoah to win. Amoura wasn't really sure which way to cheer.

Yami and Madame weren't even aware of the spectators anymore. Both were entirely focused on each other. Briefly, Bakura wondered if he should go find some wild west showdown music to play.

In the Shadow Realm, where they were waiting since this wasn't a magicly enhanced duel, the Magician of Black Chaos and Dark Magician looked at each other and sighed.

She was just part of the background, blending easily into the crowded nightclub. If anyone noticed her at all, they noticed her melancholy expression and deduced (rightly) that she would rather be alone. She sat in a shadowed corner, wrapped up in her thoughts and her voluminous black trench coat. Staring down into her nearly untouched drink, she tried to ignore the pulsing music of the club and the rancious laughter of its patrons.

She was a long way from home, but she didn't think anyone would miss her. No one ever did. Except...

But she wasn't here to think about him. She was here to remember the other 'him' in her life, the one who'd left her for good. Forever. For eternity. He. Was. Dead.

Remembering that fact, she lifted her glass to her lips and drained it all in one go. He was gone. Dead. Forever. And even if she learned to love again, someday, there would always be that nagging feeling that maybe it could have been him instead. Maybe, if he'd just lived...

And they'd parted in such bad blood. That's what hurt. But he'd protected her anyway, and had died for it. In a forgotten back alley in a stupid gang brawl, he'd died with no one to mourn him except her. No family, no friends, no one that cared but her.

She was startled out of her contemplations when a burst of particularly drunken laughter caught her attention. Turning toward the bar, her eyes widened until they threatened to pop out of their sockets. She quickly pulled her coat tighter around her and turned up the collar, although the group at the bar probably wouldn't be able to see straight, let alone well, until tomorrow afternoon.

The woman she didn't know. The two men on either side of her (one of which was nibbling on her ear) she didn't know either. But the final two members of the party she knew very well. In fact, one of them was the 'him' who was still alive. The one that would have missed her. If he was sober enough to tell she was gone, anyway.

She stood up quickly and paid her bill, making sure to keep her face turned away from them, just in case. Quickly she slipped out the door into the cool Kyoto air, leaning back against the side of the building in sheer surprise. She stared up at the stars, trying to stop her heart from pounding and wondering if the kami had it out for her after all. "Joey Wheeler, what in hell's name are you doing in Kyoto...?"

Joey giggled and leaned toward Duo, although he had to try a couple times before he actually grasped his step-cousin's shoulder. "Why don'tcha go see that little blond chickie in the tanktop?"

Duo swung around on his stool, very nearly knocking both himself and Joey off their seats, and tried to focus on the girl Joey meant. "Whazza? Hilde-chan'd kill me."

"Too late anyway..." Joey noted sadly as Scott stumbled up to said blond.

"Hiya onna."

The tanned, blond girl turned around, raising an eyebrow at Scott. "Excuse me?"

Scott slung an arm around her shoulder, not noticing how she wrinkled her nose at his breath. "Why don' you an' me go finda *hic* corner somewheres?"

The girl, who looked about seventeen, looked disgusted and was about to say something when a man about eighteen wandered up. "Who's this loser Momo?"

"Oh Kiley! Thank God!" the girl named Momo said, attempting without sucess to pry Scott's arm from around her. "Get this guy off me, please?"

"You bet." Kiley, the man, said. He scanned the crowd for a moment, then waved an arm over his head. "Toji!" Another man, this one with red hair as opposed to Kiley's black, wandered over and glanced at Scott.

"He bothing you Momo?"

"Well duh..." Momo muttered, giving them both odd looks.

"Pest extermination?" Toji asked, cracking his knuckles.

Kiley grinned widely. "Hell yeah!" Together they took hold of Scott and began to drag him toward the door. Duo and Joey looked at each other as the barman began to come toward them.

"Time to go?" Duo quirried. Miaka and Tamehome had disappeared, but both boys presumed they could take care of themselves, and neither really wanted to think about what possition(s) they'd find them in if they did go looking.

Joey sweatdropped as Toji and Kiley tossed Scott uncerimoniously out the door, and drained his drink. "Hell yeah."

(WSJ: *^^* If I may just break in here for a moment... Yay for Peach Girl! Kiley/Momo forever! ^~\\// Anyway...)

The next morning, Ishtar woke around noon to find the Kennady house all but deserted. The only ones around were Gwen's dad, her aunt and uncle, and baby Jake. "Where'd everyone go?" Ishtar asked as he snagged a bagel from the counter, where the remains of a huge breakfast buffet were spread out. With eight kids plus, the Kennadys usually found it easiest to lay out as much food as could fit on the counter, and let everyone grab what they wanted.

Gwen's dad looked up from where he was feeding the baby. "Everyone went down to the beach, I think. Why don't you join them?"

"Thanks, I will." Ishtar said. He stuck the bagel in his mouth and climbed back upstairs to change into his trunks. Three minutes later he swallowed the last few crumbs around a yawn as he stepped onto the beach. As he did, something caught his eye and he stopped dead, staring.

Hiro was laying on a beach towel in a pair of hunter green trunks, reading a manga of some sort with a surfboard stuck into the sand next to him. But that's not what Ishtar was looking at.

Gwen's many siblings were all over the place, some building sand castles, some playing with other kids, some in the water. Gwen herself was just climbing out of the water in the tankini from yesterday. She fished a matching yellow and pink surf board out of the water and wandered over to plant it next to Hiro's, plopping down into the sand next to him and grabbing a spare towel to wipe the water out of her eyes. But that's not what Ishtar was staring at either.

Gwen noticed him and laughed quietly, nudging Hiro in the side. "You sure slept late Ishtar. About time you joined us."

"B-but - he - hikari - water... Bwah?"

Gwen snickered again. "He's good, isn't he? He surfs like a natural! And to think this is only his first time..."

Malik indeed looked like he'd been surfing all his life. His blond hair and deep tan only added credence to the fact. If Ishtar hadn't been living with him since he was ten, he would have never believed Malik had never surfed before today. The Egyptian was wearing a pair of skin-tight black trunks that looked like they'd been cut out of a wet suit. These were shorts that would have made Heero Yuy jealous, people! His hair was back in a high ponytail.

He was apparently using one of Gwen's spare boards, a sweet black and red number. As Ishtar watched in awe and amazement, Gwen's brother Josh pulled along side Malik as they coasted in toward shore, and the two shared a high-five before jumping off their boards and into the waist-deep surf.

As they reached the beach, several girls flocked around the Holder of Hatred and began squealing at him in English. Of course, neither Ishtar nor Malik understood, but it roughly translates to:

"~Oh you're so good! Can you teach me?~"

"~Teach you? Screw you! Wait, don't! Screw meeeee!!!~"

"~Nooo! He's so hott! I want him!~"

"~We all do hon, now back off!~"

As the fangirls got into a brawl over Malik, Gwen pulled Ishtar down so he was sitting next to her and Hiro, a still semi-dumbfounded expression on his face. Hiro frowned and socked Gwen lightly on the ankle. "Stop drooling."

"I'm not!" Gwen insisted, wiping a bit of mosture from the corner of her mouth. "It's water, okay? I was just swimming."

Hiro and Ishtar both rolled their eyes. "Oh suuuure..."

"Oh come on!" Gwen protested in her own defence. "He is hot stuff! Any girl would fall for him. Where'd he get those sexy tattoos Ishtar?"

Hiro choked, and Ishtar twitched slightly. "Our father." he said in a deadpan voice that said not to argue.

But Gwen was a blond.

"Oh, your father is a tattoo artist? Awesome!"

"...."

Rei gasped as she realized she was having the same dream again. Everything was stained red, like it was washed in old blood. The Sailor Senshi sans herself, Jupiter, Venus, Moon, and Mercury, were in front of her, frozen in stances of fear and fleeing. A giant wave of silent destruction was barreling toward them, and Rei watched as one by one her friends were destroyed.

There were other statues, frozen people, around as well. She recognised her cousin Duke, and he held an auburn-haired girl protectively in his arms as he looked steadily toward somthing behind Rei's back, an expression of determination on his face. The girl looked like she was struggling to get away from him.

Nearby Duke and the girl, three men stood together with looks of courage and hope on their faces. Like Duke and unlike the Senshi, they weren't looking at the coming doom, but were faced instead the other way, toward something behind Rei's back. The first of the men had hair that stuck almost straight up, as did the shorter man next to him. The third had shoulder-length spiked hair that was almost a pure white, even through the washed-out crimson overtones everything had taken.

Suddenly there was a burst of light from behind Rei, and she spun around. This was undoubtably what the three men and Duke were looking at. Behind Rei stood a tall stone pillar, remenicent of the ones she'd seen on the Senshi's trip backward in time to the Moon Kingdom. A light was shining down on it from above, illuminating a sketchy figure that seemed to be only half-there. Hovering behind him was another figure, this one female, with great wings stretching back from her, her hands resting lightly on the man's shoulders.

Both of them were transparent, Rei had to squint to make them out. All she could see clearly were their eyes, one pair muddied and unclear, the other as sharp as an autumn sky. The man lifted one of his hands, and the wave of darkness ground to a halt. The man stayed motionless after that, but the woman with the wings turned to look at Rei. She didn't seem to speak, but Rei heard a voice and somehow knew it was hers.

'Fight the good fight, Sailor Senshi. We are with you. Find the Talismans to release the Messiah, and you will gain our help.'

"Wait!" Rei tried to call. "Who are you?" But her voice echoed away into the darkness. The woman and man on top of the pillar flashed brightly, and for a moment Rei had the impression of three bright stars, and then they were gone.

She groaned slightly as she woke up, only to find herself face-to-face with Usagi, who was also asleep, snoring, and drooling. Rei twitched slightly as she lifted her head off the table to find Ami, Makoto, Minako, and Duke staring at her oddly. She remembered that this was one of their study sessions for the high school entrence exams, and while it was normal for Usagi to fall asleep, it was almost unheard of for Rei. Since Duke was already a sophmore in college, he'd agreed to help them study for the high school exams, and it was beginning to turn out that his knowledge almost rivaled brainy Ami's. Already Duke and Ami had gotten into debates over American politics, English vs. American literature, and ancient Egyptian religion (something Duke knew a surprising amount about).

"Are you all right Rei?" Minako asked.

"Uh, yeah..." Rei said, trying to stifle a yawn. "I've just been staying up too late."

Ami, Mina, and Makoto exchanged unconvinced glances, and Rei laughed falsely. "I'm fine, really! Let's get back to the books. Now where were we...?"

After everyone else (except, of course, Duke) left, Rei changed into her red and white preistess clothes and headed for the shrine to pray. She didn't know what her reoccuring dream meant, but she was sure it was a vision of the future. If she had told anyone else about her dream, they would have been able to help, especially Duke. But Rei didn't know this, and didn't want to worry anyone, so she kept the dream to herself.

Stepping down into the small courtyard at the front of the shrine, Rei chuckled quietly. Her pet crows, Phebos and Deimos, seemed to have taken a liking to Duke. Currently, one was perched in his hair, and the other was on his shoulder as he swept the courtyard. It was still strange to Rei to see her cousin in leather pants and a vest one minute, and in the blue and white robes of a Shinto priest the next. She didn't think he'd quite gotten the hang of the robes yet either, as every now and then he would trip over the pants.

Leaning over the counter of the shrine, Rei pulled out one of the small wish papers that could be tied to the tree out in the courtyard so that the spirits could read and grant your wish. Leaning in farther to grab a pen, she wrote down her wish, peace, and sighed as she headed for the tree. It was a futile wish and she knew it, especially with the Daimons running around, but she had to wish, at least.

As she tied her paper around one of the small branches of the tree, she noted out of the corner of her eye that Duke wasn't in the courtyard anymore. She didn't have time to speculate on it any more though, as the tree in front of her let out a burst of energy, nearly knocking her off her feet. She stared in horror as the tree shrunk, and grew arms and legs, and became a Daimon. One of the more normal-looking ones, actually. She looked human enough, if you ignored the purple skin and the giant bells in her hair.

Rei gasped and gave in to her first reaction, which was to turn and run. The Daimon followed her, into the woods and through them, until they literally hit the wall that ran around the edge of the shrine property. Rei's hand dived into her robes, seeking out the special, hidden pocket she'd sewn in and grabbing her henshin wand. This was a time for Sailor Mars!

The Daimon didn't give her time, however. Grabbing Rei's wrists, the Daimon dug her nails into the wall, leaving Rei'd hands pinned. Rei watched in horror as the Daimon's hands hardened into a rock-like substance, then broke off, leaving the hardened, rock-hands in the wall and growing new ones with what seemed like ease.

The Daimon then opened the neck of her kimono a little farther, reveiling a black star tattooed onto her chest just at the base of her cleavage. 'She's going to steal my Heart Crystal!' Rei realized in horror. But no matter how she tried she couldn't free herself, and it was too late anyway. She watched as a bolt of black energy shot out of the star-shaped tattoo and hit Rei square in the chest. Oh, how it hurt! She'd seen other people get their Heart Crystals stolen before, but she'd never realized how much it hurt...

A person's Heart Crystal was like their soul. They needed it to survive. It also acted as a sort of mirror, reflecting what a person was really like on the inside. The more pure and good-hearted they were, the more powerful and bright their Heart Crystal would be. Heart Crystals looked a little like ruby-coloured crystals, and floated of their own propulsion. There was a legend that the three most powerful of the Heart Crystals carried items of great power, not unlike the Millenium Items, only not as ancient and not nearly as powerful. To extract a person's Heart Crystal, you had to shoot a certain amount of dark energy into them.

Unfortunately, the Daimon didn't have the time as something small and hard hit her in the side of the head. "Hey, what was that?" The Daimon's voice was high pitched and unnatural, but it could speak. Looking around, it spotted a die by its feet. "What the-"

Rei looked up weakly and groaned. "Duke..."

"REI-CHAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Duke came running out of the forest and slammed into the Daimon with his shoulder, knocking it off its feet. It hissed at him as it jumped easily back to its feet, and now wary of Duke's attack.

"Duke..." Rei whispered, which was about as much as she could manage. "Don't..."

Duke didn't hear her, as he charged at the Daimon again, fists clenched. The Daimon avoided him and he threw assorted punches and kicks at her, and then the inevitable happened. Unused to the long robes, Duke tripped and fell headlong into the Daimon's arms. It smirked at him, and his eyes went wide in real fear. Picking him up by the back of his collar, the Daimon spun and threw him hard into a tree.

Duke yelled in pain as he flopped to the ground. He coughed hard, and pulled himself to his knees. The Daimon walked up to him, snickering, and then threw a round-house kick that hit him in the side of the head, throwing him against the wall with a dull crack. Duke was, effetively, out of the fight.

Minako, Ami, and Makoto had arrived just as Duke had first charged at the Daimon, and had watched the whole thing in horror. "That's it!" Makoto said finally, cracking her knuckles. "No one hurts Rei, or someone as incredably cute at Duke, and gets away with it!"

"Yeah!" Minako agreed, pulling out her henshin wand and trying her best to ignore the smear of blood on the wall where Duke had hit it. "Nothing should happen to Duke to mar his sexiness!"

Ami sweatdropped slightly as she pulled out her henshin wand. "For truth, justice, and cute boys?" she asked sarcasticly, but Minako and Makoto didn't seem to catch the tone of her voice.

"Yeah!" they echoed. "For truth, justice, and sexy Duke!"

All in all, it was probably a good thing that Duke was unconcious at this point. After all, he'd left one group of cheerleaders/fangirls back in Domino, and he wasn't too keen on gaining another.

Unfortunately for them, all their yelling had attracted the Daimon's attention to them. Smirking, she shot what looked like long bamboo rods out of a small canister strapped to her back, and sent them flying toward the girls. Minako, Makoto, and Ami stared at them dumbly, until they got near and split into what looked for all the world like bamboo spider webs, tying all three girls to the trees behind them and rendering them unmovable.

"This is all your fault Minako!" Makoto hissed.

"My fault? You were the one yelling about Duke!"

"Rei!" Ami's shout alerted the other two squabbling Senshi, and they finally looked away from Duke long enough to notice Rei's plight. Now that all her distractions were taken care of, the Daimon had gone back to shooting dark energy into Rei. "Oh no! It wants Rei's heart!"

"Oh, where's Sailor Moon when you need her..."

"Someone call for Sailor Moon?"

Minako, Makoto, and Ami looked up to see Usagi, already transformed into Sailor Moon, standing above them with Luna at her feet. "All right! Sailor Moon!"

"You won't get away with hurting Rei-chan like that you nasty Daimon! Moon Princess Hal-"

Before Sailor Moon could call her attack and kill the Daimon, the Daimon was on top of her. Sailor Moon gasped in surprise as her sceptre was knocked out of her hands. The Daimon pinned her against a tree, her hands and feet hardening and pinning her there, just as they had Rei. To Sailor Moon's increased surprise, the Daimon closed its mouth around her broach, biting it in a fanged grip. Like her hands, her face hardened into stone, and when it pulled back the face detached, and the Daimon grew a new one.

Sailor Moon watched in horror as her broach deactivated, chaging her from Sailor Moon back to plain old Usagi. Tuxedo Kamen, when he arrived, was quickly taken down by the same sort of webbing that held Minako, Makoto, and Ami. Now that all those who'd tried to fight her were down for the count, the Daimon was finally able to turn its attention back to Rei. One last burst of energy and a brief scream, and Rei's Heart Crystal was floating in front of her. Rei went silent, and her skin took on a greyish cast.

The Daimon chuckled evilly, and reached for the Crystal. Before it could close its hands around it, however, two balls of brightly coloured energy, one aqua and one gold, came out of no where and crashed into the Daimon. It screamed, and then was gone. The Heart Crystal floated up into the trees, where two shadowy figures sat. They examined it for a moment, then tossed it back toward Rei. Only Luna and Artemus, who had arrived just behind Luna and Usagi, noticed as the shadowy figures lept away.

When the Daimon had died the stone hands and webbings holding the Senshi imprisoned had vanished. Rei slumped to the ground, and Usagi was the first to reach her. All four Inner Senshi dropped to their knees beside their fallen Mars as Usagi tried to wake her up. "Come on Rei, wake up! Please Rei, we need you with us!" Without prior warning, her Heart Crystal floated toward her and disolved, merging back into Rei's body. The colour returned to her cheeks, and after a moment she opened her eyes. The Inner Senshi almost cried in relief. "Rei, you're all right!"

"Senshi!" All five girls turned at Luna's shout. Luna, Artemus, and Mamoru were kneeling next to Duke, who had yet to wake up. Rei's eyes widened until they threatened to burst out of her skull, and she struggled out of Usagi's grip. Although still weak, she managed to make it to Duke's side before any of the other shell-shocked Senshi could.

"Duke!"

Yami drew a card, and his grin widened. "You played a good game Madame, but I shall be the victor. I use Horn of the Unicorn to power up my Dark Magician further [3500/3100], making him strong enough to defeat your Magician of Black Chaos." He did so, leaving Madame growling. [Madame: 1150/Yami:2200]

"And," Yami added, selecting another card from his hand. "I play Gemini Elf, which, I believe, wipes out the rest of your LP."

Tea, Yugi, and Bakura celebrated quietly as Madame leaned over the coffee table, growling at Yami's face, "Don't think this is over."

"Oh, indeed, I know it isn't." Yami said, smirking and crossing his arms. "Not by a long shot."

"Everyone, I think he's waking up!"

Duke groaned and opened his eyes to be greeted with the relieved faces of five girls, a man, and two cats. "Rei-chan, you're all right..." he said, sighing in relief.

"Me?" Rei asked, trying not to let how utterly happy she was show. "Duke, we were all worried about you!"

"Me?" Duke asked, puzzled. "Whazzat?"

Ami, who had the most medical knowledge out of them, pursed her lips and began to tick things off on her fingers. "Two broken ribs, another two cracked, fractured collar bone, any number of twisted joints, and a minor concussion. You've been out for three days and you'll be in bed for at least another week."

"What were you thinking, going against that thing?!" Minako burst out at Duke blanced at his list of injuries and realized that that was why he hurt all over.

Duke smiled sheepishly. "I couldn't help it... Rei was in trouble, I couldn't just sit there and watch! Double trouble, since she couldn't henshin in time to fight as Sailor Mars." He didn't notice everyone's shocked expressions as he went on. "So, Usagi, I take it you got there in time to get rid of it before it could really hurt Rei?"

Usagi blinked, trying to recover from the shock of Duke knowing their other identities. "Um, well, I guess you could say that... How do you know who we are Duke?"

"What? Oh, that? A couple of friends of yours hinted at it, and I figured out which of you was which by myself. Has anything happened since I've been knocked out?"

"One thing." Makoto said, leaning back in her chair. "We had another battle, and Usa-chan got another attack!"

"And there's two other imposter-Senshi out there." Minako added, scowling slightly.

"Don't scowl like that Mina-chan, it wrecks your beauty," Duke said absently. He and Mamoru engaged in conversation as Minako and Makoto began to squabble over the fact that Duke had paid Minako a compliment, whether he meant to or not. Ami, Luna, and Artemus sweatdropped.

"Well, I guess it's too much to hope for that Minako and Makoto wouldn't go after the same guy... Again..." Artemus noted.

Duke choked. "Gah! Talking cat!"

Artemus and Luna looked at each other and sighed.

[1] Wufei is one of Duo's friends and fellow Gundam pilots. Duo annoys him, and Wufei is constantly calling him "Braided Baka" or "Baka Maxwell".

[2] Tenchi seems to attract weird things, like space pirates and alien royalty. ^~

()()()()()

WSJ: Oo;; ....LONG chapter! *jibbers madly about the sheer SIZE of it*

Ryou: ^^;;

WSJ: ^o^ Writing the Sailor Moon section was fun today! You know, I've always wondered where Yuuchiro and Jiisan were during that episode. Out buying groceries, or what?! *shrug* Anyway, I love the way Duke attacked the Daimon with dice. *chuckles* Mwaha. Thank you for all being patient about this chapter, I'll try and be quicker about the next one.

Chapter 4: WSJ: Well, we've got letters flying all over the world! Let's take a peek at some, shall we?

Ryou: (V/O) I miss you a lot, but then, I guess you already knew that.

Duke: (V/O) If you get a chance, come on down to Juuban. There's some really intence stuff going on here that I think you'd be intrested in.

Yugi: (V/O) Yami and Amoura's grandmother are at each others' throats constantly! I don't know how much more I can take!

Isis: (V/O) You'll never believe what we've found! You must come visit us! Plane tickets are enclosed.

WSJ: *chuckles* All this and more on the next Digimon: Digital - I mean... YGO: Home Sweet Home! ^~ Ja!

God bless minna-san!