Mirrors Reflected: Shadows on the Moon, formerly Rune With A View 2

by Gregg Sharp

=====

DISCLAIMER: once upon a time, in a land far, far, away,
there was a not-so-magical kingdom with sarariman, OLs, and
middle management hell. So a whole bunch of people came up
with a whole bunch of situations and characters that helped
the people of that kingdom (and a few others) cope with
their nonmagical existence. This story is one such story,
involving characters and situations from these other
storytellers, hopefully in a new manner.

by metroanime@mindspring.com, though many many less
flattering names have oft been suggested. most of those who
have done so go on the spam filters immediately thereafter.
the following is meant for entertainment, a light reading
that will hopefully amuse those who are not out for an Epic
or Great Art. If i were capable of Art or Epic, i would not
be currently making $8.50/hour as computer
helpdesk/physician contractor/billing troubleshooter. (wear
a lotta hats for such a low amount, ne?)
 note: a fair amount of C&C indicated that this was due for
a darker flavor than i usually favor, so it is.

==============================
 The hilltop looked different to different beings. Even a
shift in mood would cause the environment to subtly alter.

 There was always the Well at the center, whether it took
the form of a projection TV, a well of water, or a crystal
ball. Surrounding the Well were three arches on a hill,
whether they were menhir arches, golden arches, or palatial
ruins was another variable as was the condition of the
slope. Surrounding the hill was a field, sometimes a
desolate wasteland, sometimes a field of poppies, sometimes
ruins of an ancient kingdom. It wasn't unknown for it to
appear as a hexmap or boardgame surface, but those
manifestations were rare.

 Mimir's Well was one of a handful of places where multiple
Realities overlapped. Or it might be more accurate to say
that the Shadows of various Realities flowed together here
before continuing their course elsewhere.

 Mimir's Well also had the distinction of being one of those
few places where one could literally meet yourself, or at
least the Self that had grown up under entirely different
circumstances. Which was how the first millenial Belldandy
Convention had occurred.

 Here a former demon, recently returned from a failed test
where his flesh had been eaten away, sat brooding over his
most recent efforts. He'd discovered that a job he'd done
for the Rival Relief Office (substituting over at the Spells
R Us store) had gone sour, a spell on the door of the cursed
shop sending people across the Shadow Realities. While he
*had* successfully altered the program of the spell so that
the destination wasn't "Place The Victim Least Wants To Be"
it still deposited them elsewhere. Grey had tried to set
things right. He'd helped two, the third had gone sour and
he'd made things worse.

 In one, a world where the Tsukino family had frozen a
fertilized embryo for raising a child later, the Phoenix
Mage had a spellbook. It was all Grey could do there,
despite that the Mage and Sailor V were badly outnumbered
and underpowered against the threat of Metal'la. Without
Usagi, the other Scouts had yet to awaken. Sort of like
going into a ballgame with one inning left to play and the
other team had an overwhelming advantage.

 It wasn't like a VX-500 Triax "Manhunter" full conversion
cyborg was exactly inconspicuous in 1990s Japan. Especially
with some of the modifications. Most people would assume he
was a "boomer" or something similar.

 In the second, a lonely young man had found an android
girl-of-his-dreams. HE, at least, had been given shelter and
a basic translation program, as well as the proper
documentation for staying in a foreign country. It looked
like with the Sabre Marionette Kasumi doing the art, Mr.
Jamieson would go on to become a great manga artist.
Particularly with things that had never been released in
THAT Reality. But then that was how extradimensional
merchants usually worked.

 The third had been bad. A young man had gotten greedy,
sought the power to become a god himself, and had ended up
in the Arena of the Dimensional Market of Splynn. While he
had Ultimate Power over tea cozies and a fairly nifty energy
blast, rescue or aid had become impossible. The little bit
of assistance Grey had been able to give had merely
indicated the new slave had required... disciplining.

 This had proven again, this was a form built for combat,
and that job would have been better accomplished by someone
who could blend more into a crowd. Grey was rather hoping
that a called in favor to the rogue mage Chasaji would pull
victory out of the jaws of disaster.

 So, with almost no sense of smell or taste, sense of touch
reduced by 60%, and a lack of anatomical correctedness, the
full conversion cyborg looked into the Well apparently
without seeing or speaking. He was in one of *those*
mind-numbingly depressed angst attacks. It happens.
Especially after the subject had spent more than four years
in such a level of pain that had driven him insane.
Especially after said individual's mind had been slapped
together, but was missing a few pieces.

 A few yards away, the drow elf Edema traded shifts on the
"suicide watch" with a vaguely concerned Amazon named Miya.
There was a certain curiosity, but there was one hopeful
sign. Though there was a superficial resemblance to those
"boomer" artificial lifeforms from the BGC hub of timelines,
the cyborg was engaged in not only a human but a peculiarly
*male* activity.

 The camouflage-painted cyborg was channel surfing.

<CLICK!>
Label: Wishbringer 4

 "...I am *not* VIOLENT!"

 "So you no dispute pervert?"

 Kasumi didn't look up from her sewing. Nabiki snapped a
couple of pictures of Akane snarling at Shampoo. Ukyo
started to cuddle against Ranma only to have Shampoo *and*
Akane take exception to this.

 Ranma fingered the sword Wishbringer in his right hand even
as his left was massaging his left temple. As happened too
often, he reacted without thinking. "Geez, I'm just a bone
of contention here, ain't I? Sometimes I wish you all got
along better, or actually did love me instead of seeing me
as an excuse to get mad or possessive, or... uh oh." Brain
caught up with mouth and was registering what was going on.

 "Your wish is my command," said Wishbringer as it
teleported away.

 "Eeep," said Ranma, summing it up quite nicely.

<CLICK!>
Label: TM-RN-WH 20217

 "Son, no practitioner of Anything Goes could master this
manuever." Genma was reluctant to admit it, but the entire
thrust of Anything Goes was action without thought. This was
diametrically opposed to Anything Goes.

 "There ain't no martial arts manuever I can't learn!" Ranma
was angry at the implication. Hadn't baka oyaji always
insisted that Ranma was worthless if he wasn't the best?

 Nabiki found an opportunity to be both honest (mainly) and
engage in one of her favorite activities: baiting Ranma.
"Get off of it, Saotome. The scroll says that in order to
unleash this technique, you have to reach a zuzen trance
state. To be able to put aside all Self and resonate with
the Universe. Even if this manuever is possible, *YOU*
simply aren't up to the challenge."

 Kasumi, of all people, winced. Nobody noticed.

 "I'll show *all* of you," said Ranma as he assumed the
familiar (often called mule-headed) attitude. "I *SHALL*
master the Eternity manuever!"

 Nabiki continued to smirk, as she'd found the old scrap of
blank scroll and had written it up herself. This would
really be a joke to pull off on him, and maybe make a few
bets here and there on how long it would take him to learn
the manuever. Of course, since she had made the whole thing
up just to hit Ranma with something he couldn't do, she'd
clean up when he failed to do the manuever.

<CLICK!>
label: SM-TM-OMG-341241

 "Welcome to Jeapordy. Please welcome our returning
champion, Ami Mizuno..."

<CLICK!>
label: Haurvatat's Bet Entry

 "Ranma, do you recall how Nabiki was trying to sell you
back to Akane for 500 yen?"

 Ranma nodded, sighing deeply.

 "And how Akane refused?"

 "Yeah yeah yeah," grumbled Ranma. He knew what would come
next, he would be told to make up with Akane, but it wasn't
like he'd done anything wrong! It wasn't his fault!

 Kasumi held a piece of paper in front of Ranma's face. It
was... a receipt?! Handwritten by Nabiki, indicating the
sale of one Ranma Saotome to one Kasumi Tendo, no exchanges,
substitutions, or refunds. A moment later a book was being
thrust into the stunned Ranma's hands. The title reading
"Relationships For Dummies" but someone had pencilled
"Martial Arts" over the word "Relationships."

 Kasumi smiled proudly. The "wa" of the household would be
maintained, and when everyone had settled down Akane could
have her fiance back. In the meantime, if he read that nice
book she'd spotted on sale - he might actually stand a
better chance of getting along with Akane. She'd put
"martial arts" over the title in an effort to get Ranma
interested in the book.

 Ranma stared at Kasumi, then glanced down at the book, then
back at Kasumi. He'd never noticed her to the extent he was
noticing her now. Kasumi tended to fade into the background,
always nice and helpful and there. And he had *never* seen
this coming! Ranma watched as Kasumi's smile brightened a
little and she went off to another chore. His gaze came back
down to the book.

 She wasn't selling him. She wasn't betraying him. She
wasn't telling him to make up with Akane for something he
hadn't done. She wasn't yelling at him or beating on him.
"...she must really want this to work out..." Ranma
swallowed, scared and uncertain, and began to read.

<CLICK>
label: Meetings three, Viper's entry

 "There was a pervert in the bathtub," Akane dusted her
hands off as she walked into the living room. "Don't worry
though, I just acted glad to see him, then held his head
under until he stopped moving. Oh, sorry Kasumi, I guess
there's a little mess for you to clean up in the bathroom."

<CLICK>
label: Journey 4

  Ranma brushed hair away from the girl's face. "It didn't
work? Wake up! I couldn't have beaten Saffron without you...
Don't leave me! I... I... didn't even get the chance to tell
you that I loved you..."

 Ranma screamed Ukyo's name to the heavens.

 "R-R-Ranchan," moaned Ukyo. "Can you be a little quieter?
I've got a really nasty migraine."

<CLICK>
label: MM-547146
Mirrors Multiplied Home Universe

 Ranma tackled Ukyo, the two tumbling to the grass in a
laughing heap. Nodoka looked on approvingly beside Kasumi
and Belldandy. Things had been so hectic lately that a
chance to unwind was more than welcome, it had become a
necessity. Rae came in, noticed the two in a tangled heap,
and decided to get in on the fun.

 It had been rough on Sailor Mars lately, too.


<CLICK>
label: POK4
 "So all the Nurse Joys, the Officers, and all are
genetically engineered?!"

 "Ash, you're such an idiot. EVERYONE knows that!"

 "Yeah, they were developed at the same time as the
Pokemon." Brock sighed. "Just imagine if the original
Masters had perfected the process! All the pokemon would
have a female humanoid evolved form."

 "Brock, you're giving me a headache."

<CLICK>

 The cyborg stopped as he ran across something that sparked
a bit of interest, then rewound and began watching in
earnest.

-------------March 12, 1992-------------------------

 "He's a couple all by himself! Pervert! Peeping tom!" Akane
turned away from the (ugh) BOY. "And if you ever--"

 "Goodbye!" Ranma spun on her heel and started stalking off.
Her father had hid the backpack to keep her here, but this
was just intolerable.

 "Where are you going, boy?" Genma glared at his
son-turned-daughter. Ungrateful whelp spoiling this
beautiful moment where both Genma and Soun's dreams of
uniting the schools were being realized.

 "Back to CHINA!" Ranma growled. "I have to find a way to
change back for good. This is no time for 'fiancees.'"

 Ranma partially turned, saw the hostile look on Akane's
face and wondered why she had ever thought the youngest
Tendo was cute.

 "By the way, YOU took a pretty good look at me, too. And
I'm better built!"

 Ranma stepped down the hall, just one step ahead of a
thrown table. She was pursued by a number of hurled heavy
objects all the way outside.

 When Akane got back from chasing the perverted jerk
outside, Ranma's father was chuckling.

 "He'll be back, Tendo. I hid his backpack. Besides, I've
spent years manipulating him, teaching him to be dependent
on me, discouraging any hint of being able to actually think
about situations. Why, just his social skills alone are
abyssmal."

 "So that he'll be dependent on Akane when they're married,
very clever Saotome!"

 "I WILL NOT MARRY THAT JERK!"

 Kasumi blinked, turned to her middle sister and asked for
help with the dishes. Time for another little meeting.
WITHOUT Father.

------------April 1, 1992-----------------------

 Ranma poked the fire. She'd almost done it, and Jusenkyo
was less than five miles away. Tomorrow this girl's body
would be gone *forever*. And then what?

 Ranma started speaking aloud, hoping that this would help
him focus his thoughts. "NOT going back to oyaji. First the
bit with the c-c-c-cats, then getting dragged all over the
damn place, getting me cursed, engaging me without a thought
to some girl that'd rather kill me than kiss me. NO, I am
*not* going to let him run my life ANY MORE! Couldn't even
bloody stick around long enough for him to find out if there
was a cure. No, we gotta go running off to visit some
*friend* - pfeh!"

 Ranma allowed herself a small smile as the water heated.
Taking control over one's own life. No roof over her head,
food was scarce, but she felt *good* about herself.

 "RANMA! DIE!" A purple blur launched itself from the
shadows.

 Ranma smashed out, a flaming log from the fire making a
glowing arc in the manner of a baseball bat making contact
with the projectile.

 Shampoo landed in a heap, eyes crossing.

 Sighing, Ranma tied the girl up to a tree, and considered
her options.

 1) Let her go, and Shampoo would continue with the "Die
Ranma" stuff. This was unsatisfactory, as Ranma now had
control over her life and was discovering that she liked
being independent and able to set her own course in life. At
least for the moment. She still liked the idea of a
permanent address, warm baths, and regular meals.

 2) Kill Shampoo and be done with the matter. Ranma
considered this briefly, but decided she just couldn't do
it. She didn't want to kill anyone, even girls who had major
attitudes.

 Ranma decided she needed more options and moved back to her
position near the fire. After a few minutes, she judged the
water hot enough and the kettle cool enough, and Ranma
dumped most of the water over herself.

 A ragged gasp told him that the prisoner was awake and that
Ranma would not be able to change genders for a quick
disguise.

 "You... boy?"

 Ranma watched the shocked girl for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I'm a guy."

 "Was girl. Now boy. Which real?" Shampoo trembled under the
shock. It couldn't be, could it?

 "Like I said, I'm really a boy." Ranma paused, curiosity
swelling. "Okay, since we're playing twenty questions, it's
my turn. Why did you always give me warning before
attacking. Sometimes you were real subtle, but you always
gave me a chance to dodge."

 Shampoo continued to stare but managed to reply in a soft
voice. "You mistake. Shampoo no warn target. You is boy?!"

 Ranma watched as Shampoo suddenly started struggling with
the ropes. "Nah, I don't think so. I think you just ain't a
killer."

 "YOU LIE! SHAMPOO WARRIOR!"

 "Same as me, you just ain't a killer." Ranma waited for a
moment. The girl had gone from shocked to angry, and now was
looking ashamed and sad. "No big deal, but I gotta sleep. So
YOU keep quiet or do I have to gag you?"

 "Shampoo be quiet." Shampoo hung her head, shame
overwhelming her.

 Ranma waited for awhile until he was sure that his knots
were going to hold the Amazon. Tomorrow he'd get cured, come
back, knock the Amazon out again, leave her behind, then
back to Japan and leave China once and for all. It was the
*after* he got back to Japan thing that was still a mystery,
but he'd worry about that later.

-----Mimir's Well---------------

 Edema exchanged a glance with Miya, who looked over at the
newest arrival.

 "What'cha got there, Tennyson?"

 The Beholder god of "Live and Let Live" (supported by a
small but fanatical sect of beholders who'd use their
Disintegrate beams on anyone who'd suggest this wasn't an
enlightened philosophy) lowered the case to the ground via
telekinesis. "Current tasks for cyborg Grey. He to try bring
up karma level by make up for past mistakes before go on
Twelve Labors. First Labor is to track down Ranma analogue
in dimension Fiddlesticks and get him to help with update."

 "Fiddlesticks?" Miya shook her head at this. Well, she
supposed it was a better name than a near infinite string of
numbers.

 "Ah, the 'Planewalker's Guide To The Continuua' - I've
heard of it." Edema smiled at the Amazon. Hmmm. Maybe she
ought to suggest Miya go work there.

 "Planewalking Ranma to get offer. Take Guide along, scan
when in new timeline or Reality. Help assimilate data for
next update."

 "Why not use that Yggdrasil thingie?"

 Edema mouthed 'Yggdrasil thingie' a couple of times while
stifling a chuckle.

 "Bureau that do 'Planewalker's Guide' is seperate system.
Update and maintain if Yggdrasil ever compromised. Form
backup of important data."

 "Ah," agreed Miya. All the powerarmor manuals suggested
backing up the OS before adding enhancements, so this made
sense. "How work?"

 The Guide flipped open at Tennyson's telekinetic nudge with
a sensor pointed at the pool Grey was watching.

"Reality: Relat's Bet Entry. Temporary Timeline RAN-SM-MK-SF
547147.
  Divergence point: Manipulation of emotional state vs
rational framework via neurochemical variance of .000071%
  Analysis: Unresearched. View of main subject at this point
indicates that pride is now reinforcing decision to 'grow
up' and 'take responsibility for self' leading to a more
self-reliant individual.
   Ranking: Unvoted. Relat's entry disqualified. Secondary
divergence placed by Warnas Redsword in major branch of
which this is a sub-branch as part of long standing
animosity between Relat and Warnas. Secondary divergence was
family Tsukino moving out of the Tokyo area in 1984 to
Hiroshima area due to employment opportunity.
   Effect of Secondary Divergence: Queen Beryl was not
awakened by emanations of the awakening Princess Serenity
until much later. Sailor Senshi not active at this point.
   Remainder of timeline unresolved. Scanning."

 Miya eyed the little black box with interest. Maybe she
could make use of such a thing.

----April 4, 1992--------------

 Shampoo blinked herself awake and realized that she was not
alone. "Great Grandmother?"

 "Ah, awake at last, eh child?"

 "Great Grandmother, what happened?"

 "Apparently the girl you chased wasn't a girl after all.
You caught up with her at Jusenkyo after freeing yourself
from her ropes, do you remember?"

 "Yes, but I..." Shampoo's voice trailed off into
uncertainty.

 "He thought you were attacking again and dodged. You
slipped and fell. INTO one of the pools. It was an uncursed
one, and you were drowning. Do you remember what else
happened?"

 Shampoo shook her head, gently though as she had a headache
that seemed to extend further than the boundaries of her
skull.

 "Not only did this male defeat you twice, child, he saved
your life. He had a long talk with the Guide, and the Guide
contacted me. You were asleep for most of two days. Tell me,
Shampoo, what did you think of this young man? You observed
and tracked the girl who had defeated you, surely you have
some opinion."

 "Well, he's cute. He's *very* different away from his
panda."

 "The panda is his father according to the Guide, and no
doubt holds considerable influence over his behavior.
Further, the boy appears to be on a journey of
self-discovery. He is learning to think for himself instead
of simply following his father's lead, and is using his
solitude to explore who and what he is. Go on, child."
Cologne nodded, her conversation with the Guide had been
*very* interesting.

 "The girl,er -boy,  is fairly skilled at living off the
land. Very good martial artist. Uhm..." Had she mentioned
that he was cute?

 Cologne waited for a few moments to see if Shampoo would
figure anything else out on her own. "And what does the law
say if an Outsider *male* defeats an Amazon in combat?"

 "But I TRIED to give him the Kiss Of Marriage!"

 "Well, if it's any help, I don't think he'd be willing to
be your husband anyway, Shampoo."

 "WHAT?!" Shampoo looked shocked at first, then saddened.
"But... why?"

 "He's apparently decided, based on your attacks, and
something that happened in his homeland, that he doesn't
like violent girls. He was quite adamant on that point."
Cologne shook her head. It was too bad, certainly the boy
had to be fairly strong and therefore good Amazon breeding
stock, but his conversation with the Guide had strayed to
that area and he had been quite clear. "No More Violent
Chicks."

 Noting that Shampoo still looked saddened, Cologne smiled
at her daughter. "Come now, Shampoo, you're still young and
beautiful, it's just you couldn't possibly learn discipline
enough to stay your temper and win the boy's heart after
that REALLY bad first impression."

 Shampoo winced. Yes, chasing after him and yelling "die!" a
lot probably hadn't convinced this Ranma that Shampoo was a
particularly desirable woman.

 "And, after all, there's still Mousse..." Cologne
suppressed a smile at Shampoo's look of revulsion. Well, at
least she wasn't being depressed about getting dumped.

 "What was it you were saying, Great Grandmother, about a
'journey of self-discovery?'"

 Cologne raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question. "Do
you know of Amazon wanderers? This is the same principle.
You get out on your own and try to figure out who you are,
what your place in the world is, and what you want out of li
fe. It sounds as if the boy needed it."

 Shampoo nodded, looking thoughtful.

 Cologne was not surprised the next morning to find Shampoo
had vanished. Cologne shrugged. Shampoo would either be
back, or she had better send her Great Grandmother the
wedding invitation!

-----July 12, 1992---------

 Ranma woke up and found himself wondering exactly where he
was. Then the smell of food reached him and drove less
demanding concerns away.

 "I guess you really were hungry!" A girl's voice sounded
amused after Ranma had begun inhaling the food that had been
set out.

 He blinked and looked up at the girl standing near the
stove and wondered why he hadn't noticed her before. Well,
it *had* been several days since he'd eaten. He tried to
slow down, knowing from experience that a lot of people
didn't like to see that sort of display.

 "Anyway," the girl continued. "I wanted to thank you. Azabu
Juuban had been a quiet little place up until a couple of
weeks ago. Now we've got these 'youma' things battling
'daimon' things. We've got crazed martial artists attacking
the Rhythmic Gymnastics team, we've got other crazed martial
artists fighting other crazed martial artists, vampires
attacking cat-girls, and... sorry. I'm rambling a bit."

 Ranma grunted as he shoveled food into the pit that was his
stomach.

 "Oh by the way, my name is Makoto Kino. That was cool, what
you did with the bottle of water."

 "Name's Ranma," he managed after finally swallowing.
"That's it though, I was saving that bottle of Nannichuan
for later. Next time it won't be so easy."

 "You called that easy?" Makoto shook her head, causing her
ponytail to slide to the side. "Well *I* thank you and my
friends thank you."

 Ranma grunted again, having a mouthful of rice.

 "Uhm, you've been out of it for awhile, haven't you? I mean
you look like you haven't had a roof over your head for
awhile, and you haven't been eating regularly either. At
least, that's what Ami says and she's pretty much an
authority on things like that. You're also running a slight
fever."

 Another grunt, and Ranma tried to slow the rate of
inhalation down again. He was just *so* hungry. And the food
was *good.* It had been quite some time since he had food
nearly this good.

 "Ami was the one with short hair." Makoto hesitated. "Uhm,
you know, you really look a lot like my old sempai."

 Ranma stopped inhaling food with considerable effort. He
was feeling a little nauseous now, adequate indication that
he was still fighting that cold.

 "So, uh, where are you staying?"

 Ranma considered the girl for a moment. She was *certainly*
nothing like that crazy Shampoo chick or that violent
tomboy. Maybe he could let his guard down a little. It would
certainly be nice to have a friend again. "One of those
vacant lots they use to store construction materials out by
the canal and Shinohara Street. Got a tent set up there."

 "You're kidding," began Makoto then shook her head. "You're
not kidding. Why? I understand if you don't want to say, but
I'd really like to know."

 Ranma considered a moment longer then motioned Makoto to
take a chair. "Hang on, this'll take awhile. Uhm, you might
ask your friend to take a seat too."

 The short haired girl from earlier stood up from where she
thought she had been concealed and smiled a little.

 Ranma sighed and began speaking honestly. While he might
have details wrong, he was giving a subjective account that
had been analyzed over some serious soul-searching time.

 "I don't know anything about my mother, I assume I've got
one but I'm not sure if she's alive or dead. I've been
raised by my crazy father to be a martial artist, and only a
martial artist. It was the focus of my life, and I ain't
sure I want that to continue."

 "You mean you don't enjoy the martial arts, you were *very*
good out there." Makoto said sincerely, she'd been wanting
lessons.

 "Ain't sure," Ranma sighed and settled back in the chair.
"It's all I've known, and when I've accomplished something
with it - yeah, it's a rush. But is it what I want to do
with my life? Is the Art all there is? Or is it a means to
an end?"

 "That's fairly deep," noted Ami, who hadn't expected
anything like that from such a rough looking young man.
Especially with his mode of speech.

 "My pop's run my life up until two weeks ago. Since then, I
spent a lotta time thinkin'. It's been kinda a change of
pace." Ranma considered, trying to put into words the ideas
he'd developed. "My pop's been wrong. Wrong about a lotta
stuff. For him, the Art was everything. I cut ties with him
when he pulled a couple more just plain fool stunts. So now
I ain't got no family. Home, that ain't something I've had
in years."

 "So why did you leave your father?"

 Ranma considered the two girls before deciding how many
problems in his life could have been solved if he actually
had friends. If he could trust someone, and they understood
where he was coming from. It had been a revelation four days
ago, that while he'd always *wanted* friends, his pop had
always opposed the concept. And he had to start somewhere,
didn't he?

 Ranma started speaking. He started with his earliest
memories, of the Cat Fist training. He spoke of barely
remembered friends, of being dragged around for years, and
of the rare occasion when he had a roof over his head -
usually an abandoned building. Yes, it had made him tough,
but had it made him happy? He spoke of getting cursed,
coming back to Japan, finding that his Pop had engaged him
to some violent maniac, and his departure with "baka oyaji"
and his ways. Going back to China, some boy (that looked
oddly familiar) had attacked him. Then some crazy Amazon
chick had done the same deal, then he'd gotten cured, then
he'd had to go rescue the Amazon because it was his fault
(kinda sorta) that she was drowning. Then he'd wandered
around making a little money in these street-fighting
tournaments until he'd lost almost everything a week and a
half ago. He'd figure out how those "Hadoken" thingies
worked eventually, he was just *so* tired and hungry.

 "Well, I suppose if I can believe in those 'daimon' things,
I can believe in curses, but it's kind of..."

 Ranma frowned. Trust or not? His father would never have
done so. Wasn't he trying to be different from his father?
He checked the tea, judged it cool enough, and dumped the
cup over his head.

 "Now do you believe?"

 The two girls facing Ranma nodded.

 "Anyway, I had the one bottle there because I was planning
on using it," the purple-haired girl said with a frown. "I
have another bottle back that I was debating whether to send
to my Pop or not. He may be an idiot, but he's still my
father, and I didn't want him to remain cursed if I could
help it."

 "Why did you wait?" Ami was curious about the change.
Center of gravity was different, weight redistributed, and a
vast number of other alterations were quite apparent. She
wouldn't get *too* personal until Ranma knew her and she
knew how he'd react to getting examined. He still looked a
little bit like a wild animal that was considering a baited
cage. The boy (even in girl form) had such a lack of a poker
face that Ami was having no trouble reading him.

 "Something about the curses stabilizing. Also you need to
use a full dose. Anything less and you end up mixing the
curses. The Guide wasn't real clear, apparently some people
can just jump into the right spring and get cured right
away. Some others, well, he turned kinda green while he was
talkin' about 'em so I didn't press too hard."

 Ami turned a bit green herself as she pictured Ranma being
stuck with the likely consequences of mixed curses.

 "So, uhm," Makoto hesitated. "You're..."

 "One of the 'crazed martial artists' - yeah. Problem is
that there's three circuits out there, and I just ain't
ready to do much in any of 'em yet." Ranma sipped at the
tea, feeling a lot more contented with a warm meal inside
her. "Oishii, by the way."

 Makoto nodded at the ritual compliment, but doubted that
the now-girl had actually tasted any of it.

 "Anyway, you've got the usual 'Streetfighter' circuit. I
did OK in that one until I ran into that 'Ryu' guy. The
other two are basically by invitation only. One involves
'creatures of the night' and the other is some kinda hidden
tournament. You gotta be enhanced somehow for the second
circuit, and ya gotta have a really strong rep for the
third. Right now, I ain't got either."

 "And right now you're reassessing whether or not you want
to continue in the martial arts," Ami concluded.

 "Up until recently, I didn't even realize I *had* other
options. From what I heard from the people at that match,
that guy Ryu is into martial arts but he ain't exactly
happy. More like me, kinda, but I ain't sure that's how I
want to turn out, y'know?" Ranma closed her eyes, trying to
find the right words. Words were something she wasn't
particularly skilled at. "Least not anymore."

 A warm kettle being placed nearby provided Ranma-kun a
chance to restore himself.

 "You have to be true to yourself," agreed Ami.

 "Right. And I'm still trying to figure out who that is."
Ranma shrugged. It had been easier to just follow Oyaji's
lead, but it was more rewarding to blaze his own path here.
"Hey, I just realized, where's your parents?"

 Makoto looked sadly down. "They died in a plane crash.
It... I'm alone too."

 "Hmmm. Well, if you need anythin' done, I owe you one for
the meal."

 "Oh no, you saved us from that daimon thing, *we* owe
*you*," Ami shook her head, mind flashing back to that
battle.

 Makoto looked up, a decision forming. "Hey, Ranma, most of
the recipes I know are for more than one person, why don't
you come by for dinner? In exchange, you can teach me some
of those martial arts you *do* know."

 Ranma was about to reject the concept, but the prospect of
regular dinners at least was too strong a lure. He accepted.

-------August 5, 1992------------

 The workout had been hard, demanding, painful, and
exhausting. Makoto had also found it exhilarating beyond
belief. For two weeks now, Ranma had been determining the
levels of the three friends and had been working out ways to
improve their skills. It appeared that he had studied dozens
of martial arts styles over the years, and had chosen to
train each of them in a way to emphasize their natural
strengths and "nature." He'd also spoken of how everyone had
a sort of elemental nature to them, and that various styles
could compliment those tendencies.

 Makoto's big advantage, he had decided, was strength and
reach. Weight training and kempo. Earth was her element, or
close enough to Ranma's estimation. As she was the most
enthusiastic about the martial arts, he took her through the
paces even more thoroughly than Minako or Ami.

 Ami was learning aikido. Minako, with her dancing skills,
was learning something called capioera. All three were also
learning something of Ranma's Anything Goes style.

 Makoto began to recover consciousness, sprawled across the
top of her bed. She remembered all the instances where she
had gotten to lean on Ranma or be held by him during
innocent training. Well, *he* had been innocent. Makoto had
found herself feeling rather less innocent about such
things.

 A wonderful smell reached her, and Makoto pried herself up
to her aching feet to go investigate. She blinked at the
sight of Ranma fixing a large meal. She noted the second
plate and hobbled as quietly back to bed as she could.

 Ranma could cook. He was fixing her breakfast in bed. He
looked like her old sempai, but had a warm and caring
nature. He also genuinely liked, respected, and trusted her.

 Makoto held back a sniffle. So this is what they meant by
having one's heart sing...

 Ranma entered, eyebrow raised. His father had been lavish
with harsh tasks and harder training. Genma had also been
sparse with affection and praise. In his travels and
observations, Ranma had learned that everything could be
martial arts training, but that not everyone was cut out to
be a martial artist. So Ranma was taking a *different*
approach here, with a more gentle and positive manner of
being sensei. He was trying to encourage the best from his
students and it seemed to be working.

 "You did good. I'm also glad to see you're stretching out
and bathing after these workouts."

 Makoto nodded, remembering how stiff she'd been after the
workouts had first started, then winced at the growl from
her stomach as the aroma of food intensified.

 "Good," Ranma said with a smile. Makoto and her friends
were his first students, and while they lacked the focus
necessary for martial arts mastery of his level, they were
showing improvement. He admitted some pride there, different
from mastering a complex manuever himself. He had taught,
and his students were doing well. It was a different warmth,
but still welcome.

 Ranma watched his student begin inhaling her meal. Maybe
she was *too* good a student.

--------August 12,1992------------

 "I think it's sprained," Makoto said, holding the area as
she sat on the ground.

 "Who is this 'Kodachi' person, anyway?" Rei looked at the
leotard-clad girl tied up and hanging from the branch of a
tree.

 Ami hesitated before speaking. "I've heard of her, she is
with Saint Hebereke's Rhythmic Gymnastics Wrestling Club.
Their opponents have an odd habit of forfeiting the match."

 "Mmmmmfffmm!" Kodachi protested, however one of the loops
of ribbon tying her up was currently forming a fairly
effective gag.

 "Well, she shouldn't have badmouthed Mako-chan." Ranma
said, flipping his pigtail back. "Attacking from ambush and
all too. If she wanted to fight she could have at least
issued a challenge letter."

 Minako waited for her opening. Watching the two dance
around anything actually like saying they liked each other
was *torture* to her. The two had been steadily getting
closer for the past month. They kept looking at each other,
glancing away when the other noticed. The way they
apparently didn't notice the way they kept leaning towards
each other.

 Ranma knelt to examine Makoto's knee. Minako chose her time
and angle of attack precisely and struck, "accidently" falli
ng against him.

 Ranma fell against Makoto. His face a matter of inches from
hers. There was a quiet moment as the two stared into each
other's eyes. Makoto closed the distance.

 Even Ami sighed. Makoto had that martial arts hold down
perfectly.

--------August 14, 1992-----------

 "Where, where is Crossroads High School?"

 The young boy being lifted by the collar, managed to point
at the sign on the wall nearby.

 "Crossroads High School... AT LAST! Now, where is Ranma
Saotome?!"

 "Do you mean Tenma Kazeno?"

 Ryoga snarled. (That's right! He changed his name to hide
from me!) "You know him?"

 Umari pointed. Ryoga followed the direction of that arm
until he saw his hated enemy! Standing there, laughing, some
girl hanging onto him. AND he was surrounded by other girls!
How dare he!

 Ryoga charged forward. "RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!" (Whoa, deja
vu.)

 Ranma flipped away from the impact point. Ryoga landed, and
an impact crater formed. Ryoga was ready to say something
scathing when he noticed that Ranma had landed, the girl
with the ponytail in his arms, and she was *blushing*!

 "Still good at running away, Ranma? And now you're
molesting girls?"

 Ami blinked. "Tenma, is this someone you know?"

 "Actually, I'm Tenma Kazeno now, whoever you are. Ami
helped me get my name legally changed and all. Uhm, well,
I..." Ranma puzzled. "He *looks* kinda familiar."

 "You really don't remember me?" Ryoga grimaced, revealing
fangs.

 "A VAMPIRE!" Minako declared, pointing at Ryoga.

 Tenma found himself flanked by his students and felt a
moment of pride as he noted that they had slipped into
credible martial arts stances. From that basic Anything Goes
stance, they could dodge or attack quite easily.

 "I AM NOT A VAMPIRE!" Ryoga yelled sufficiently loud that
echoes formed in the school courtyard despite the number of
students present. "Tell me, Ranma, why did you run out on
our fight?"

 "AH!" Tenma slapped his right fist into his left palm. "I
remember you now! It's Ryoga Hi-something, and you were in
Junior High with me!"

 "RYOGA HIBIKI! Answer the question!"

 "I waited three days at the appointed place," argued Ranma.
"It was the vacant lot right behind your house, wasn't it?"

 "When I arrived on the fourth day, you had already fled!"

 "Four days to reach a vacant lot behind your house?" Ami
blinked. "Is this some kind of directional curse, perhaps?"

 "Maybe it's just a bad sense of direction," offered Minako.

 "Very bad," agreed Makoto.

 "That's awful," said some girl with a really awful odango
kind of hairstyle who was wondering if this was just a very
weird area or was she just getting a bad impression on her
first day?

 "Breaking a vow between men, and running to China with your
father!"

 "In other words, you want to have our little duel now?"
Tenma was again pleased with his students as he noticed they
had subtly fanned out now. If this was a duel, they'd stay
back. Well, he hoped they'd stay back. Makoto could be a
little *enthusiastic.*

 "'Little duel'? How feeble!" Ryoga's umbrella snapped out.
"This is about revenge!"

 Tenma dodged the spinning umbrella, again idly noting that
his students dodged the returning umbrella without
significantly shifting their combat readiness. Excellent.
"Revenge? Revenge for what?"

 "As if words could convey the depths of my suffering!"
Ryoga grabbed the returning umbrella. "No matter what it
takes, Ranma. I shall destroy your happiness!"

 One of the girls blushed furiously. Ryoga gaped as he
realized that all THREE of the girls were blushing, one
delicately, one turning a strawberry tinge, and the last was
actually sweating!

 Ranma frowned. "Ain't gonna happen. I ain't sure what
you're going on about, but you do *not* mess with any of my
students. You gotta complaint with me, you name the time and
place, fang-boy."

 Ryoga's stomach growled. Ignoring it, he charged forward.
"HERE AND NOW!"

 "HADOKEN!"

 Umari pulled a microphone out of his bookbag. "It's another
great day here at Crossroads, young challenger Hibiki leads
with a charge attack while the current champion Ranma builds
and releases his powerful Hadoken technique. OOH! It doesn't
look like the challenger was expecting that. He's tough,
ladies and gentlemen, and is attempting to retaliate by
using the Iron Cloth manuever on what seems to be an endless
stream of bandanas."

 Ranma leapt and twisted, causing the bandanas to miss. They
swept out over the heads of the audience.

 <WHISH WHISH>

 Usagi came back down after leaping up, trying to get a
better view of the battle from her position behind the
crowd. Something was wrong. Something...

 Usagi looked down at the two long ponytails sitting on the
ground and maintained a calm dignity worthy of a future
princess of the Moon Kingdom.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

 "Ooooh, and the new transfer from Hiroshima has gotten a
really bad cut at the hands of the challenger. The Champion
responds with a devastating Twister Punch but the Challenger
blocks. Ah, the Challenger attempts to retake the offensive
by attacking Kino-san!"

 Ryoga rolled forward, intent on reaching his umbrella.
There was just some girl in his way, the one that Saotome
had been holding hands with earlier!

 Makoto Kino saw the figure darting towards her and reacted
accordingly. The snap-kick was just as she rehearsed it.
Unfortunately Ryoga's jaw was somewhat harder than what she
was used to hitting. "Owie!"

 Tenma, on the other hand, saw Ryoga lunge for Makoto and
reacted a bit... harshly.

 "Oh it looks as though Champion Kazeno is reacting in
exactly the sort of fashion one would suspect to protect his
'cousin.' A forty seven hit combo! Oooooh. The Challenger
seems to be only slightly inconvenienced. OH! THAT's gotta
hurt."

 Usagi had lived up to her name and delivered an
unexpectedly accurate and powerful rabbit-kick.

 Ryoga squeaked. Ryoga fell down.

 Ranma winced in sympathy.

-----August 15, 1992------

 The lunchtime crowd at Crossroads High School had fallen
into a sort of pattern over the past few weeks, occasionally
broken up by an energy-hungry youma, a daimon seeking
something, or some martial artist attack. Or perhaps it was
better described as a play, as many of the same lines were
spoken by the same players day after day.

 "Gah! They're at it again!" Mitsuko looked at the two
figures eating lunch in the courtyard and grimaced.

 "Yeah!" A fair number of girls sighed, hearts in their
eyes. Mitsuko grumbled about that too, feeling the whole
thing was sordid and lacked dignity.

 Umino looked around. "What're the odds up to today?"

 "Well, they've held hands since the 6th," began Ritsuko.

 "Yeah, but they've only been doing that since the 10th
without looking like they were gonna die of embarassment as
soon as they realized they were doing it!" Shoko was quick
to point out.

 "Then there was *some* sort of breakthrough on the 13th."
Ritsuko frowned. If only she knew what had happened!

 "AH! They're feeding each other again!" Mitsuko considered,
as she did every day, complaining to the principal about
this unseemly display.

 "Awwwwwwww!" There were a number of girls completely
ignoring their lunch as Makoto was quite obviously lost in a
giggling fit at something Tenma had said.

 "I can't believe this," growled Mitsuko.

 "We agree," grumbled a fair number of boys who couldn't
believe how that Kazeno boy was acting. And if asked if he
had #$(!$ Makoto, he had not only said no but that any
further attempt to smear Makoto's honor with such rumors
would be met with a short and violent response. When Gamori
had followed up with a question about if Makoto screamed
when they #$#!, Gamori had discovered that Tenma hadn't been
kidding. Or exaggerating. Gamori still had a black eye.

 "Mako-chan's got some rice on her cheek," noted Ami with a
sigh before turning back to her book. She could just picture
herself in that position. She could readily see herself just
where Mako-chan was. Not that she could spare the time from
studying, but that warm glow surrounding her friend looked
so... nice? Comfortable? Strangely satisfying?

 "He's brushing it off, he's moving closer," Minako almost
fell out the window she was leaning so far from. "He's...
YES! Bwahahahaha!" Not as nice as if *she'd* landed him, but
knowing that she'd literally pushed the two together was
somewhat satisfying.

 "Oh, they've kissed before, haven't they?" Naru asked a
little timidly.

 "Yeah, but it's always been Mako-chan who's been the
*kisser* and Tenma who's the *kissee* - now the boy's
finally showing some initiative." Minako grinned. "And it's
about time! I was beginning to think we wouldn't see this
until wigs could fly!"

 Usagi sighed deeply, watching the display as Tenma and
Makoto's lips briefly touched. Once, twice, then a slightly
deeper one. Followed by two people staring into each other's
eyes.

 "Awwwwwwwww!" Another chorus from lovestruck females.
Another groan from the male populace at these displays. Of
course, all the girls wanted someone to be romantic with
them like that. Of course, none of the boys possessed both
the nerve and the necessary amount of "slick" to pull this
off to any of the girls' satisfaction.

 Usagi smiled, thinking how lucky her friend was, when she
noticed a black cat staring at her from the fence. How very
odd.

-----August 16,1992------

 "He's gone into the Nekoken," explained Makoto to the
crowd. "Something he told me and Ami about. Everyone remain
calm."

 "He's gone into this twice now," Ami explained, and as this
was Ami speaking even the teachers started listening. "His
father subjected him to a training technique that causes a
normally latent animal personality to manifest when
subjected to a phobic trigger."

 "Huh?!" There were a few teachers asking this as well as
most of the students.

 Minako opted for a less cerebral explanation. "His father
screwed up something in his head, and so he's scared of
cats. If he gets too scared, he starts thinking like one."

 "Oh..."

 "The first time we saw it, a catlike daimon was threatening
a little girl, then turned on us," Ami continued. "Tenma
went into this animalistic state and shredded it."

 "Little pieces of daimon everywhere," said Minako with a
grand gesture.

 "Oh..." Several of the boys immediately dropped the idea of
teasing Tenma about it.

 "Cats?" Usagi looked around but couldn't see Luna anywhere.
Oh, there she was, she must have been spying on Tenma again
and gotten him cornered. Usagi ran forward and checked,
relieved when it was apparent that Luna had merely been
stunned.

 "So why is Kino-san sitting there on the ground?"

 Everyone watched as Tenma slowly approached, then began
rubbing his whole body against Makoto in just the sort of
way a cat does before crawling up into her lap and seeming
to take a nap.

 "Awwwwww!" The chorus of girls began again.

 "They look so cute like that," agreed Minako. She exchanged
a glance with Ami. Ranma-neko had proven fairly cuddly with
all three on that occasion, though his obvious favorite was
Makoto.

 "He'll come out of it on his own soon." Ami sighed.
Remembering when she'd run her fingers through Ranma-neko's
hair and he'd *purred* and rubbed against her. Not that she
could spare time from her studies!

 "He's... purring?!" Naru sounded startled. "That doesn't
even sound humanly possible!"

 "I *knew* there was something strange about him," said Luna
in a low voice to Usagi. "I'll bet he's connected to the
Dark Kingdom!"

 "Well, *maybe* his father is..." Usagi allowed.

-----September 20,1992-------

 One week, that had been how long it had taken. Tenma
Kazeno, once known as Ranma Saotome, was feeling more
uncertain and alone than he had since coming to Juuban.
Perhaps more alone than he'd ever been.

 Makoto had become secretive, was gone for long periods of
time, and was often talking to Ami, Minako, and Usagi. They
hadn't come out and said it, but he was clearly not welcome
in their conversations.

 Was he imagining that they'd all suddenly gotten colder to
him? That these people he'd grown to trust and even...
love(?) were keeping secrets from him? He'd even tried
apologizing to Makoto, not having any idea *what* he was
apologizing for.

 Tenma didn't have anyone to talk to. Nobody at school had a
clue, though Tenma eating alone at lunch *had* become a
topic of conversation.

 He was no longer welcome. Tenma could remember when Ami had
*welcomed* the company of him and Makoto as they walked her
home from her juku. Sure, daimon or youma attacks weren't
that common, but they *did* happen. And now... he was being
told not to bother.

 Tenma didn't want to think about it, but what if the other
boys at school were right? That Makoto had merely been
showing sympathy for him, not a real romantic interest. That
now she'd found someone she really liked, and was off with
*him.*

 Tenma had avoided prying, he'd asked her for details. He'd
asked her to please tell him what was going on. And she'd
gotten a phone call and been gone a moment later.

 He was a man, and he would *not* cry, damn it!

 He looked up at the clock, noting the time now at 11:00pm.
Tomorrow they would have it out. He had to know.

 And he'd seen a scribble that Makoto had put in her
notebook. "Mamoru Chiba." A boy's name. And he'd felt as if
Ryoga had reached into his chest and crushed his heart.

 "Damn it, Mako-chan," mumbled Tenma to the empty room, "why
won't you talk to me?"

------September 21, 1992-----

 Makoto entered the darkened apartment, her eyes seeking out
the figure at the dinner table watching her in silence.
"Err, Tenma?" She flicked the lights on and almost wished
she hadn't. The growing tension between them showed clearly
on his face.

 "Who is it, Makoto?"

 Makoto winced. Mako-chan was no longer in use. Bad sign.
"It's just us girls, there's nobody..."

 Tenma sighed and got up. "Ya won't trust me, but you ask me
to trust you. You're off long hours with Ami and Minako and
that Usagi. What am I *supposed* to think, Makoto?"

 Makoto couldn't meet his eyes. "I promised. I promised I
wouldn't tell anyone." (Don't do this, Tenma. Please don't
do this.)

 "I trusted you. And Ami. Y'all were my friends. Now I'm
just gettin' in the way, it looks."

 Makoto shook her head. She'd *promised* Luna to keep this a
secret. "You can trust me, can't you? When have I ever lied
to you?"

 "I *have* trusted you. But you keep vanishing without a
word, get mysterious all of a sudden, and you're not..."
Tenma broke it off. They hadn't done *that* but they had
gotten to the point where they could hold each other and be
comfortable with their closeness. Finding refuge, no matter
how crazy the world seemed to get, within each others arms.
Until this past week. "When will you tell me about it, or
him?" Was this was what he got for trusting someone?

 "It's... give me a couple of days. I'll see... if I can
tell you about it." Makoto wasn't sure that Luna would give
permission but she had to try. There was still a lot of
trust and affection in Tenma's eyes, and she didn't want to
see anymore of it die.

 "Two days then," Tenma agreed and went to his room.

 Makoto watched him go, but once Luna gave the OK she'd tell
Ranma and everything would be all right.

-------September 25, 1992------------

 Ami followed Makoto into the apartment, Minako and Usagi
bringing up the rear with two cats trying to hide nearby.
Everyone knew that Tenma was afraid of cats, and watching
him go into a panic attack didn't amuse anyone present.

 Usagi had finally put her foot down and overruled Luna,
with the other Senshi openly speculating about Luna making a
trip to the local vet if the little black mooncat didn't
make certain allowances.

 "TENMA!" Makoto called into the quiet, a little alarm
beginning to sound in her subconscious as she noted the
silence and dark. "Errr, Tenma?!"

 The small group seemed to clump together, the atmosphere in
the apartment seemed to be missing something. Makoto went to
check Tenma's room. Ami was the first to notice the note on
the desk.

 Makoto turned pale when she read it.

"Kino-san,
  For offering me a place to stay, friendship, and stability
when I needed it, I thank you. I have learned much since
that day I fought the daimon and woke up in that bedroom.
   I thought that we were developing a relationship that
went, well, deeper than friendship.
   Clearly I was wrong.
   I have learned that there can be no relationship without
trust, and while I was able to trust you, clearly you could
not trust me.
   I have learned much, and I wish you well with your new
and mysterious friends. I hope that one day we can meet
again as friends, but frankly it will be some time before
the hurt wears off.
Till that day, farewell,
Ranma"

 "I thought his name was 'Tenma'," said Luna as Makoto
slowly crumpled.

 "His name was originally Ranma Saotome, he changed his name
to 'Tenma Kazeno' to break with his past."

 "I guess maybe we should'a told him before now, huh?" Usagi
speculated.

 Luna scowled and defended her refusal. "He isn't of the
Moon Kingdom, and therefore.... gakkk!"

 It took Usagi, Minako, AND Ami to pull Makoto off Luna
before she set about finding a new way of skinning a cat.
She probably wouldn't have done it, but why take chances?

--------December 24, 1992------------

 "Aw c'mon, *another* Streetfighter match? They're
booorrring!" Usagi fingered her bangs. Her hair now long
enough for a single ponytail since that Ryoga person had
used bandanas to shear off her odangos and longer ponytails.

 "Except when youma or daimon or those challengers show up.
THEN we get to transform and kick butt!" Minako said with a
grin, trying to get Makoto to show a bit more life again.
"Besides, a few of those Streetfighters are hunks! That
Guile is *so* fine!"

 "Uhm," said Makoto without any real enthusiasm. She
appeared to be searching the crowd for something.

 Their newest addition, Rei Hino, was clearly excited.
"Guile was nice but a little humorless. Don't you think that
Ken Masters had a certain wild charm?"

 "Uhm," said Makoto with even less enthusiasm.

 "I'd like to examine Blanka myself. Such an extreme
mutation seems unlikely without some sort of manipulation or
mutagenic agent." Ami looked thoughtful, as usual.

 "Uh----AH!"

 Everyone stopped to see why Makoto had stiffened and was
staring off at one corner of the makeshift arena. As one
their heads swiveled to traverse her line of sight.

 Purple hair, silk clothing, two bonbori held in a ready
position.

 The announcer got to his position as the two fighters
finished stretching out. "From the depths of China, in this
corner... that can't be right? Who names their kid after
hairsoap? Oh well, Shampoo!"

 "Isn't that the girl who was tracking Ranma down so she
could kill him?" Ami remembered Ranma telling her about
this, he'd defeated her twice, saved her life, then left her
in the care of some caretaker of the Cursed Springs.
"Makoto, it isn't Ranma. He *cured* himself of that curse,
remember?"

 "What, you know Shampoo?" Rei blinked as suddenly she was
surrounded by her new teammates and the focus of intense
scrutiny. "Eeep."

 "How do *you* know her?" Makoto had a fire back in her
eyes, and Rei wasn't sure she wanted to see anymore of it.

 "She stayed at the temple a few days just before I met you.
She fought off one of those daimon long enough for me to
slap some spirit wards in place. Uhm, is it important?"

 "And in this corner, local favorite E. Honda! Round one,
fight-o!"

 "Yes, it's important," hissed Makoto as the sounds of
combat commenced behind them. "Is she still trying to track
down and kill Ranma?!"

 "No, nothing like that." Rei made a dismissing gesture.
Though she *was* curious, she'd only known Makoto for a
month now, and there was a spark present she'd never seen in
the taller girl. "She's after some guy who defeated her in
combat, then saved her life, so she's going to give him the
Kiss Of Life and marry him. Urk!"

 "SHE'S HUNTING RANMA FOR WHAT?!"

 "Mako-chan, please put Rei down."

 "Oh, sorry Rei. Heh heh. Uhm," Makoto visibly calmed
herself down. "Did you say she was hunting my Ranma down so
she could marry him?!"

 "Put Rei down again, please, Mako-chan. Maybe someone else
defeated her and saved her life."

 "Maybe she knows where Ranma is?" Ami suggested.

 "Ranma? You know where is Ranma?" A different voice
interjected.

 Everyone turned to look at the cute Chinese girl, then over
at where the large sumo wrestler was being pried out of the
floor.

 "Uhm, No. Tenma, that was his name. Ahahahaha!" Makoto
tugged her ponytail, unconsciously copying a gesture.

 Shampoo blinked. "Shampoo was sure she heard name of
Ranma."

 The others quickly affirmed that they had been talking
about *Tenma* and gee, wasn't it getting awfully late!

 Shampoo watched the girls leave. Well, she wasn't the best
tracker of her tribe, but she wasn't a slouch, either! She
left the arena keeping to the shadows.

 One of the *other* shadows followed, checking that "his"
combat spatula was in place. "Ranma... tonight I gain
vengeance for ten years of betrayal!"

-----------

 Shampoo snuck closer to the two girls, now aware that some
boy (NOT Ranma) was pursuing HER. If she turned to deal with
the intruder, she would likely lose the trail of THAT one.
The one with the ponytail had seemed the most suspicious.
Why Rei was with them, she didn't know, but she could always
claim that the priestess was a friend of hers and she was
just following out of concern.

 She'd track down Ranma and PROVE she wasn't just violent.
She still wasn't sure *how* to go about doing that, but she
was certainly going to try.

-------------

 "Luna," came Makoto's voice, a note of curiosity creeping
in.

 "Uhm, yes, Jupiter?" Luna's voice cracked. The mooncat was
*quite* aware that while Sailor Jupiter was devoted to her
Princess (whoever that turned out to be), Luna was very much
still on Makoto Kino's sh*t list.

 Makoto wasn't slowing her walk down any, nor was she
looking down at Luna. "The Silver Millenium. Did *any* of us
have husbands, boyfriends, lovers?"

 "Well... " Luna began. "Yes. Princess Serenity had a
boyfriend, I think. Prince Endymion of Earth. I can't
remember all that clearly..."

 "How convenient. I take it then, that *I* was alone, as
were all of the other Senshi?"

 Luna didn't have to look to know that more than one of the
Senshi was frowning at this revelation. Japan didn't have a
Fifth Amendment, but Luna was ready to invoke it anyway.

 "Yup." Artemis interjected, completely missing the various
expressions. "The Senshi were completely devoted to the
Princess and the Kingdom. Outside interests, careers,
families, these would have all detracted from your duties."

 "Hmmmm," said the various Senshi as they considered this.

 Ami wasn't that anxious to have a boyfriend, but someday
she at least wanted the option! And no career? She'd have to
put off becoming a doctor indefinitely?

 Minako fumed. Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity? If she
wasn't the Princess, she was doomed to never have a career
or boyfriend? This was intolerable!

 Makoto looked down at the perspiring little black mooncat
as she considered the possibility that Luna had
*deliberately* torpedoed her relationship with Ranma.

 Rei frowned, most guys were jerks but she didn't find the
idea of a potential lifespan of thousands of years *without*
boyfriend/husband/lover nearly as appealing as Artemis
obviously thought it would be. What about her dreams of
becoming a seiyuu (voice actress)?

 Usagi pouted. No career didn't sound too bad to her, she
could certainly slack in her classes. No cute boys? Spending
thousands of years alone with Rei didn't sound amusing.
"What about Tuxedo Kamen?"

 "We still don't know who he is or why he shows up. Since
there are more evil forces than just the Dark Kingdom, we
can't take any chances. He could simply be assisting us
because he serves one of the OTHER villains." Artemis
quickly pointed this out. It never hurt to be too paranoid,
that was Artemis' view. Besides, he'd never quite forgiven
Ranma for almost coming between Venus and himself. She'd
joked about putting him up for adoption after they'd learned
that Ranma was afraid of cats.

 "Afraid one of us might get close to him and thereby have
an outside interest?" Makoto's voice was cold enough to send
a chill up Luna's back.

 "Not at all," huffed Artemis, though that *was* a concern.
"I just don't think we can afford to trust any outsiders."

 "So that's why you two wanted to get rid of Ranma..."
whispered Makoto.

 "That's right," agreed Artemis, who then stopped as he
considered what he said. "I mean... that's why I and Luna
advised caution."

 "You dolt." Luna winced as she felt the heat coming off of
Makoto. Minako and Ami didn't look too happy either.

 "Whichever one of us turns out to be the Moon Princess,
there are going to be some changes!" Makoto growled.

 There was a chorus of nods at this.

 "We keep our duties as Senshi, but we are allowed to have
careers," offered Rei.

 "We are allowed to have husbands and families!" Makoto's
look at Luna just DARED the mooncat advisor to disagree.

 "If we find friends we can trust, then we DO trust them.
And if they can fight alongside us, we let them," Minako
suggested, rubbing a portion of anatomy that was still
tender from a fight two days ago.

 "No, absolutely not," began Artemis. He didn't get any
further.

 "The Moon Kingdom's future depends on you, and finding the
Princess," interrupted Luna, hoping to head things off
before Artemis' mouth caused the Senshi to disband.

 "Shampoo is Princess, or at least Heir to Clan Matriarch,
is close enough?"

 Everyone stopped in mid-argument. There was an eerie
synchronized blink with accompanying sweatdrop.

 Shampoo smiled sweetly at these "Senshi" she'd heard about
and wondered if *she* could get a fuku.

----

 Ukyo watched from the shadows as the girl she'd been
trailing joined the others, followed by an argument.

 Something was wrong. They apparently all knew Ranma, but
none knew where he was.

 Then an idea struck Ukyo Kuonji with sufficient impact that
her head rung. Maybe *all* of these girls had been
abandoned. Betrayed by the same young boy and that rotten
excuse for a father. (Those... ENEMIES OF ALL WOMEN! How
many times did they pull this scam anyway? How many lives
have they ruined? How many...)

 Ukyo's mental rant was interrupted as someone picked her up
by the back of her collar and rear of her belt, hoisting the
disguised chef over their head, and walking back to the
group.

 "Sneaky Boy shouldn't sneak around Amazon warrior. Time for
boy to tell everyone why he need to follow Shampoo and Rei's
friends."


---December 27, 1992---

 The shrine had become a meeting spot shortly after Ranma's
departure. Everyone noted how little time Makoto wanted to
spend at her place, where the phantoms of what could have
been were all too obvious. Over the past three days,
however, the tension level of the shrine had gotten rather
high. It was ebbing now, but even Rei's grandfather had
commented on the feeling that a match brought into the room
would spontaneously combust.

 The uneasy truce was still in effect. Ukyo had promised to
observe and judge later, the crossed fingers behind her back
duly noted by two of the observers. Shampoo promised not to
try and kill OR marry Ranma immediately, not that anyone
thought she could manage either very easily.

 Once bitten, twice shy. Ranma had been bitten three times
now, at least in his understanding of events.

 Not surprisingly, two mooncats were being eyed with
suspicion by most of the girls present. Ukyo was looking at
them as potential allies. Shampoo was alternating between
potential allies and sharing the other girls' desire to
pound vile manipulating romance-trashing felines into
pancakes. Rei was somewhat sympathetic to Luna and Artemis,
but wasn't about to say anything of the sort near Makoto or
Minako OR Ami.

 The overall plan was to have someone other than Shampoo or
Makoto make the approach when/if Ranma was found. Someone
neutral like Rei or Usagi.

 If/when Ranma was found, and the whole sordid mess
straightened out, two mooncats were planning on heading back
to the moon for a little vacation while tempers cooled off.

 Shampoo eyed the group warily, but was trying to sincerely
cooperate. Attacking one of these "Senshi" wouldn't be good.
Not only would she be proving herself a "violent chick" but
she'd be attacking one of these sworn protectors of Earth.
The Amazons might isolate themselves, but they were still a
part of Earth's populace. Besides, this Silver Millenium
thing was a matriarchy- and therefore a sensibly run society
that her Great Grandmother would approve of. She didn't
think the others would mind that she had sent a quick letter
off, in her native dialect, advising her Great Grandmother
that there were matters here of concern to the village's
survival and that the Matriarch's advice could help
enormously. In the meantime, she could and was training
these "warriors of love and justice" in Amazonian Wu Shu.
Even if she couldn't power-up into a Senshi, Shampoo was
determined to help protect the Earth and her Village. It was
part of the duty of the Amazon Champion, after all.

 If Shampoo was wary, then Ukyo was as nervous as a long
tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. A quick
"friendly sparring session" had revealed that she was better
in the martial arts than any one of the Senshi, providing
they didn't power-up. Shampoo was better, much better, but
had said that Ukyo was a better workout than some guy named
Mousse. If Ami, Minako, and Makoto attacked at once- they
worked sufficiently well as a team that they could hold
their own against Ukyo. Ukyo had no illusions as to what
would happen if the Senshi powered up and attacked her, with
or without Shampoo's help.

 Makoto had a bit more "life" showing than she had since
Ranma had left. The first few days after Tenma had taken his
old name back and left, Makoto had been rather listless and
depressed. She had thrown herself into her duties as a
Senshi after that, but there had been something missing from
her eyes. Now something was showing again, and that
something was determination.

 Minako and Ami nodded to each other over the improvement.
They'd given up on Ranma when it had become apparent that
Makoto and Ranma were getting closer. Concern for two people
they thought of as close friends had made the collapse of
that relationship painful all around.

 Rei frowned, wondering if she really wanted to bring this
up. This might be a match and there were a lot of explosives
here. "Uhm, well, y'know... I..."

 Everyone turned their attention to Rei. This didn't help.
Yeah, she was the tough Shinto priestess, she was forceful
and strong. About the only one around here she could
intimidate physically was that klutz Usagi though. In a
sparring session, the little bookworm Ami had proven capable
of holding off Rei pretty well. Minako and Makoto were both
better than her. As for Shampoo, so far Rei had avoided any
sparring sessions because she privately felt it would be too
humiliating.

 "I was doing some fire readings. I got the usual recurring
stuff about the dark figures." Rei noticed the blank looks
from Shampoo and Ukyo. "A queen with pale skin, clothed in
darkness. A Chinese man, surrounded by serpents, sitting on
this really loathsome looking throne. A really muscular
looking vampire ruling over a court of shadows. A pale
prince on a black crystal throne. A skeletal dwarf. A demon
with three eyes. A giant formed of flames. There were others
but one by one, they've gotten eaten by the remainder."

 "We've been calling 'em Nasties for a reason," quipped
Usagi, nudging Shampoo with her elbow and winking. Usagi
caught the look Shampoo shot back at her and decided that
level of familiarity might be a bit much at present.

 "Last night," continued Rei, "it was a little different.
There were the various dark figures again. There was also a
Princess of Light and some Chinese guy with lightning
playing around him. This time there was a circular table
with a lot of miniatures in the center. Most of the figures
didn't make any sense, but there was a big one that looked
like a winged horse."

 Makoto restrained herself. Shaking Rei wouldn't help
matters any. "Tenma Kazeno. Sky Horse Of The Wind."

 "I saw the pegasus leave the pack in front of the Princess
and get snatched up by the Dark Queen..." Rei flinched as
she saw the look on Makoto's face. She was *really* glad she
wasn't Luna, the recipient of that gaze. "Errr. Anyway, the
various pieces in the center were being snatched up by most
of the figures around the table. And for some reason there
was a panda and a pig moving through the pieces, looking for
something. Uhm, the pieces in front of the Princess were us,
plus four others I didn't know dressed in seifuku. Some
older woman with a sword. Shampoo and a few other girls,
including someone who looked kinda like Ukyo but she was a
girl."

 Ukyo nodded, though a little surprised that nobody had
figured out her disguise yet.

 "Lunnnnaaaa," growled Makoto, to absolutely no one's
suprise.

 "Anyway, the Dark Queen clapped her hands over the pegasus,
and when she removed them the horse had a big black splotch
on it that kept getting bigger. Errrr. Makoto-chan, could
you please calm down?" Rei could have sworn Makoto was
glowing blue, which had to be a trick of the light as she
was currently not in Sailor Jupiter mode. Oddly enough she
wasn't looking at Rei but seemed to be focussed on a cushion
from which a black tail protruded.

 Shampoo blinked and whispered to Usagi that she had no
psychic abilities but she could somehow see this image of
something nasty occurring to Luna. Especially if left alone
with Makoto for any length of time. Usagi nodded, having a
succession of the same images occurring to her.

 Ami was about to comment further when her computer bleeped.
"Sensors have picked up Dark Kingdom activity near the Crown
Arcade!"

 "So do we go?" Ukyo wasn't sure how this would work. She
had a mask she could flip on, but wasn't sure about going
into a fight against youma.

 "We go. We fight. We continue discussion later, yes? Maybe
find further clue to 'Tenma', yes?" Shampoo was up for a
fight. To her, it was a good way to release stress.

--------------

 "Luna," said Artemis, watching their young charges leave
the room.

 "What?" Luna said sadly. Even Usagi didn't trust her
anymore.

 "Maybe we shouldn't have..."

 "They have to be completely focussed on the Princess. There
can be no room in their hearts for anyone else."

 "Well..." Artemis began fidgeting.

 "You know that as well as I do! This thing would *never*
have been allowed in the Silver Millenium. Having lives
outside of their Senshi duties, that's almost as bad as
allowing the common people to have free will."

 "I wasn't proposing anything that radical," said Artemis
with a huff. "When the Princess awakens and begins the
Crystal Millenium, she will use the Crystal and purge the
evil from her subjects, right?"

 "Well, yes."

 "At which point, things like 'free will' or 'independent
thought' are moot points, right?"

 "Well... yes."

 Artemis pounced. Cats were good at that. "So we let them
develop these relationships, forming more allies for the new
Moon Kingdom, and when the Princess uses the Crystal those
relationships will dissolve anyway!"

 "That isn't one hundred percent and you know it," Luna
grumbled. She started batting at cushions in her unease.
"They're not cooperating, and it's all that damn Tenma's
fault. I *knew* he was bad news."

 "I don't know. I didn't particularly like him, Venus kept
talking about him in her sleep, but he seemed to be a good
trainer."

 "Usagi did a lot of that, too. Girls these days, nothing
like the properly trained and educated young princesses from
OUR time."

 "Yeesh, the worst were when she had the erotic dreams.
Squealing and moaning, and... not proper at all."

 "Usagi did the same thing. Honestly. If Queen Serenity
could see these girls, she'd be *so* ashamed."

 "I know, but I..." Artemis looked at something that Luna's
fidgeting had revealed. "Uh oh. Is that what I think it is?"

 "It's a transmitter. No doubt placed here by the Dark
Kingdom." Luna sounded hopeful.

 "Uhm," said Artemis past a suddenly dry throat.

-----------------

 They continued to run even as they listened over their
communicators.

 Minako had turned scarlet and was sweating heavily. Usagi
was doing the same. Ukyo was snickering. Shampoo merely
wondered what the two girls were embarrassed about, as this
was just healthy behavior as far as her culture was
concerned. Makoto looked back and forth at the two blondes
and wondered if anyone else had been interested in her
Tenma. Ami was thanking the kami that she slept alone.

 "Shampoo think need new advisors," Shampoo seized the
opportunity and ran with it, as a martial artist should.
"Anyone mind if contact Great Grandmother? She Warmaster of
Amazon Tribe and Matriarch. Know many many things may help."

 "About so tall with a staff?" Rei indicated, glad to focus
on something else. "I saw her in the vision. She was one of
the pieces the Princess Of Light gathered to her."

 "We can't simply get rid of Luna and Artemis," Ami advised
Makoto. "They are our sole link to the Moon Kingdom and have
knowledge of the Dark Kingdom. Without them we wouldn't have
the Mercury Computer, our hensshin sticks, or
communicators."

 Makoto frowned but allowed that might be true. "Still, if
they want to make it up to me, they can help find Tenma and
give *him* a powerup so he can fight alongside us. That way
there won't be any conflict."

 Everyone blinked at that. Shampoo grinned at the thought of
a Senshi powerup. Besides, defending the world didn't count
as far as being a "violent chick" or something.

 The Crown Arcade finally came into view as thoughts of
felines with hidden agendas were tabled for the moment.

----------------------

 The air ripped open and rubbery-limbed youma stepped forth.
They swarmed forward, one casually draining the energy of
the Jusenkyo Guide the moment he stepped out of his hut.

 Tenma grinned evilly at Jadeite.

 "Are you *sure* about this?"

 "Read 'The Art Of War' sometime, will ya? I'm positive. A
few minor youma back in their home territory to draw off
those Senshi *and* our other opponents. They'll think it's
just another minor energy raid while we hit our real
objectives. Misleading the enemy about your own goals and
objectives weakens their chances of countering them." Tenma
shuddered slightly as the original personality beat against
the walls of dark energy surrounding it. The moment passed
and the spirit inside weakened again. "You look at this
place and see what kind of energies it holds."

 Jadeite didn't like this upstart. Not at all. Still, Beryl
had commanded and Jadeite knew the penalties for
disobedience. Reluctantly, Jadeite focussed on the area with
"over 100 springs" and took in the flow of energies. "Dear
kami..."

 "Enough dark energy, you think?" Tenma smirked at the Dark
Kingdom General. "Set up a 'tap' on the magical forces here,
and we can overwhelm that Prince Diamond fellow's Dark
Crystal. Or, better yet, take control of it ourselves. Then
the Dead Moon and Nemesis can be stripped of power. THEN we
might be able to take on Shang Tsung and his Emperor."

 "Shang Tsung is not concerned with us. Yet. He might be
after some of our warriors, particularly those we culled
from Shadowloo." Jadeite considered. "With this sort of
magical power, we can further enhance those youma and
warriors we already possess. Those four are the strongest of
the springs. If we do too much right now, we'll draw
attention from the others. We are still too weak to
withstand all of them. So if we place a youma here, we can
then direct that youma to draw on the energies here and
channel them directly to us at need. Then, when we are more
consolidated and the playing field is level, we can more
openly drain the area of magic."

 "Queen Beryl should be pleased, then."

 Jadeite could not help but agree.

=======================================
Rune 2. part 2/2
 yo people, standard disclaimers apply. intended as light
reading and an attempt to work out a divergent history.
Don't expect an Epic or Great Literature.


----December 31, 1992-------

 The gnome looked over the assembled girls and realized that
she had to work with worse. Not terribly inspiring for
saviors of the world, but it could be worse.

 "She is *not* of the Moon Kingdom!" Artemis protested.

 "Could'a fooled me," whispered Rei to Usagi. "She looks
like she could have been around back then..."

 "No reincarnation, either," agreed Usagi.

 "So, Shampoo gave me indication that you could use some
help with a major task..."

 "No! How do we know she's not with the Dark Kingdom!"

 Cologne jumped slightly, then realized that whatever the
talking black kitty cat was, a god of mischief wasn't on the
list. A relief to be sure. "What an odd crew we have here."

 "We're just normal teenage girls?" Minako tried.

 "Other than you have talking cats, magical auras, a girl
disguised as a boy, and a handful of magical items?"

 "A girl disguised as a boy?!" Rei, Usagi, and Minako
squeaked.

 Ukyo groaned. Busted.

 Cologne waited a few moments as exclamations, questions,
and recriminations (punctuated by Luna exclaiming that this
proved you couldn't trust these Outsiders) before using a
minor chi attack that amplified the noise of her clap to
aircraft-taking-off levels.

 She waited a few moments for the various ears to stop
ringing. "Again, my great granddaughter indicated that the
matters were unpleasant. So I used my own sources to
determine the reality of the situation. I arrived here two
days ago and continued my research. My goodness, I haven't
been on a major Quest since I was a little girl!"

 "I told you she was around in the days of the Moon
Kingdom," whispered Rei.

 "The most I expected out of this," Cologne continued, "was
that Shampoo had some problems acquiring her groom!"

 "TENMA IS NOT HER GROOM!"

 "Mako-chan can be scary..." Usagi said into the silence
that immediately followed.

 Makoto hid her face and dropped back to her cushion.
"sorry. sorry."

 Cologne grinned. "Well, child, you've also got a claim on
the boy. I understand this. You let him go once and you've
been kicking yourself ever since. We're all young once and
make such mistakes, it's part of growing up."

 Makoto made an embarassed sound.

 "Since Shampoo's letter indicated something supernatural
involved, I took the precaution of checking some resources.
While fairly ambiguous against day-to-day events, the I
Ching and the Tarot are fairly accurate in divining
supernatural threats. Let me know if I'm off the mark at
some point.

 "There are several menaces but only one you need to worry
directly about. There is one menace tied directly to you,
and that is where Shampoo's groom has been taken. He's now
been possessed by the Darkness."

 Makoto made a reference to a trip to the vet, just so that
two mooncats would have less distractions from *their*
duties.

 Rei considered making some anti-possession spirit wards.
"The Queen of Darkness. I've seen her in my fire readings."

 Ami and Minako exchanged a glance and nodded. There had
been a sort of voyeuristic quality to watching Makoto and
Tenma, seeing the two hold each other and imagining
themselves in that situation. (Not that Ami would admit it
aloud like Minako would.) It looked like keeping sharp
instruments, the two advisors, and Makoto seperate would
remain a concern for a little while. Not that they thought
Makoto would actually do it, but why tempt fate?

 Cologne raised an eyebrow and filed more data. My goodness,
this at least looked like it wouldn't be boring. "The horse
has led the Queen to victory over several of her other
opponents. A pity, as they have largely been concerned with
each other until now. You have never been considered enough
of a serious annoyance to spare the effort while their
rivals have posed adequate threat."

 There were several winces but no disputes to that
statement.

 "I still say we shouldn't trust..." Artemis began, being
interrupted with a stout piece of wood bonking his head.

 "I found other allies for you. With your permission, I can
contact them and see how well you mesh as a team. They do
not know you, but I have promised each that if they come I
will help them with problems each deals with."

 "Allies, Great Grandmama? Shampoo thought you bring other
Amazons."

 "Yes, child. But... well... you know Sash. She spotted an
Ani-mart and I suspect it will be some time before Sugar and
Spice can get her out without causing a major scene. Tigar
is hunting on her own." Cologne shrugged. Having someone
else do a lot of the footwork seemed a wise move, especially
as she might have enough here to keep her hands busy.

 "What kind of allies?" Luna said distrustfully but was
keeping the Elder in between her and Makoto.

 "A werewolf who could benefit from certain Amazon
techniques to control the beast within. A catgirl who seeks
acceptance..."

 "A catgirl?" Artemis said, only to be fixed by glares from
Luna, Makoto, AND Minako.

 "...a couple of exceptional streetfighters who have cause
against the successor for Shadowloo. Allies. They may not be
of your 'Silver Millenium'or have access to great magical
powers, but they are powerful in their own way."

 "Werewolf?" Ami blinked. Well, there was a moon connection
at least. Time for her own contribution. "Speaking of
Shadowloo, I've got some data from the United Nations
Special Taskforce computers." She brought the pictures up on
the Mercury Computer.

 "TENMA?!"

 "RANMA?! Oh, Shampoo mean 'Tenma'?!"

 The two rivals looked at each other before returning their
attention to the picture on the computer screen.

 "Shampoo think Tenma look good in uniform, pants tight
right in all areas."

 "Yeah. Something wrong with his eyes though."

 "Shampoo agree. Also uniform would be better if different
color."

 "Yeah," Makoto agreed thoughtfully. "Who's that big guy
he's pounding into the pavement?"

 "His name is Balrog. One of the lieutenants for a man named
Bison," Ami answered and pulled up an appropriate text file.

 "So we have this balance of terror which is currently
rearranging. I would expect events very shortly to get to
the point where all of you are in danger from this Dark
Queen..." Cologne looked out the window. To the Senshi she
looked philosophical.

 Actually, Cologne was just wondering how long it would take
Sugar and Spice to pry Sash away from the "Secret Of Blue
Water" display.

--------

 Ranma's feral grin was in place as he lifted the severed
head of Prince Diamond into the air. "FOR BERYL AND THE DARK
KINGDOM!"

 The youma cheered as best they could.

 Others were less thrilled.

 "Young upstart," grumbled Jadeite.

 "Punk kid. Lucky but just a punk kid," put in Zoacite.

 "Pfeh," agreed Malachite.

 "As his power and favor with the Dark Queen waxes, so does
ours wane." Nephrite had really gotten to dislike punk kids.

 "The taint and our Queen's control isn't complete yet,"
noted Malachite thoughtfully. "Up until Prince Diamond
produced that sword, I was certain that Tenma wasn't going
to kill him. The original spirit of the boy is fighting for
control still."

 "So we produce a situation where his old loyalties and
friendships are conflicted with Beryl's orders, thereby
either crushing the boy's resistance or causing him to
betray the Queen." Jadeite grinned at the thought of being
allowed to crush this upstart personally.

 "Do we know of his past? We corrupted him because the Queen
saw his fighting potential, but what do we really know about
him?" Nephrite glanced back at the young warrior, noting
that he'd tossed the head aside with an expression of
disgust.

 "When he went down finally, he called out a name. 'Makoto'
I think." Jadeite had been cursing that he had left the boy
alive for some time now, and that night had been engraved in
memory.

 "Under torture he had mentioned that name again," smiled
Zoacite. "Also an 'Ami' and a 'Minako'. His resistance was
sufficient that there were few details, and finding out
about some sordid affairs wasn't high priority then. However
just the amount of resistance he put up on behalf of those
names *was* intriguing. So how about we arrange to put those
names into a scrying, then go off on other missions. When we
get back, either Tenma has betrayed the Queen *or* he has
slain those he loves. Delicious, is it not?"

 They were evil Dark Kingdom Generals. They practiced their
'Demented Villain With A Plan' laughs for just such an
occasion.

-----------------

 "WAIT! WAIT!!" Sash grabbed at the pile of stuff on the
counter. This was made more difficult by the fact that both
of her arms were immobilized and she was literally being
dragged out of the store. "My life sized Ryo-oh-ki! My
Totoro stuffed doll! That's the last 'Secret Of Blue Water'
Nadia's Pendant they've got! A cutscene garage kit of the
Space Battlecruiser Yamato! A 'Bird Of Prey' technical
manual! Gotta get 'em all!"

 Sugar grimaced. "<While Sash may be the most fluent of all
our village in Japan and its language, I can well appreciate
why the Elder wanted to leave her behind.>"

 "<Hmph. The air stinks, the water smells funny, the
Japanese look at us like we're dirt, and I doubt there's
many guys here worth *half* the effort. If this didn't
promise to be a good fight, I'd be back on the boat by
now.>" Spice sniffed. Privately she thought that some of the
boys looked cute, but how would one arrange to lose to an
outsider like *that* boy? Besides, some of them might be put
off by being part of a threesome, fragile male egos and the
like.

 "A 'Dagger Of Kamui' wallscreen! AAaaaa! A Belldandy
cookset! They've got the newest collection of Psychic
Fighter Midori tapes!"

 "<Aren't we out of sight of the damn store yet!>" Sugar
turned suffering eyes heavenward.

 "<Almost, just as soon as we turn this corner.>"

 "Aw, c'mon, let me at least get the 'Technomage Zen' art
book. I've gotta... <Hey. Where's Cologne?>"

 Sugar and Spice let out a sigh of relief.

------January 1, 1993-------
cue music: Mortal Kombat theme

 Shang Tsung smiled as Beryl's newest recruit took a
position on one side of the ring, his own warrior already in
place. The two facing each other were similarly dressed and
had similar potential if he was any judge. Both were part of
the recent surge in recruits, each of the various forces
seeking to bolster their own ranks with appropriate fodder.
Some only required a little bit of power to release their
own gifts. "BEGIN!"

 "WORLD SHAKING!"

 "DEEP SUBMERGING!"

 Shang Tsung watched, delighted smile on his face as the two
began doing their level best to kill each other. Beryl had
decided to play the tournament, and this was just the most
recent of her corrupted soldiers.

 "SPACE SWORD!"

 Shang smiled and stood as one of the corrupted Senshi fell.

 Shang held his hand out and the mists rose around the
fallen warrior. She would make an interesting addition to
his forces, after Beryl's taint had been replaced with his
own. "Haruka! You have done well. You shall join Sagat and
Akuma in recruiting new participants for the Tournament."

 Sailor Uranus knelt at the feet of her Master without
thinking about it. Not that she could think of much anything
anymore. Her opponent had looked vaguely familiar, but had
been defeated as easily as any of the others who had come
before her. "Yes, milord."

 "Sagat," commanded Shang Tsung.

 The balding and scarred figure formerly of Shadowloo
stepped forward, giving a cold glare to SubZero and
Scorpion. Mind control had not been necessary in his case,
but in the case of those two it had been required just to
get them to keep from killing each other. "Where do you want
me to begin?"

 "Tokyo is the current area we're fighting over, it being
one of the easiest places to open a Gate to." Shang Tsung
made a dismissing wave as this wasn't one of *his*
limitations but it was a consideration for his opponents in
this game. By enslaving their warriors before his opponents
could likewise recruit them, he was both weakening them and
increasing his own power. "Take Haruka, Akuma, Mako, and a
few of the faceless minions. I think you should continue the
'dojo destroyer' roles. Challenge the master, and if they
are sufficiently skilled to meet my minimum standards,
capture them and bring them here for recruitment."

 "And if their talent is insufficient..." Sagat inquired.
Beating on people without permanently hurting them was a
talent. There were parts of this job he didn't like but he
did owe Shang Tsung a debt for getting him out of that mess,
and Sagat always paid his debts.

 "Punish them as you see fit. Mako may have some interesting
ideas in that regard." Shang returned Sagat's smile. It was
so nice to work with a kindred spirit. Even if the bald Muay
Thai warrior seemed a bit squeamish at times. "Oh, and if
you run into those minions of either Raideen or Beryl, be
sure to respond appropriately."

 "What of this Moon Princess?"

 "A minor player of no consequence. Try not to kill any of
them though. I may start a collection," Shang made a gesture
towards the Sailor kneeling before him. "Or perhaps I may
yet use them as a catspaw against another opponent."

 "Of course," Sagat agreed, anxious to go bust some heads.
It was better than sticking around here, at any rate.

------------------

 Ranma glanced at where the Queen had taken that young man
to her couch again. (Well, at least this means she's gonna
be in a good mood.)

 "My newest general, you have done well so far." Beryl moved
past the sleeping Endymion to regard the youth.

 Ranma knelt. "My Queen." As far as jobs went, this wasn't
too bad, after all. He mainly was used to go kick behinds on
the opposing teams.

 "Shadowloo has fallen and two associated with it have
become our servants. You have done well in the Streetfighter
battles, and two of those you defeated have likewise been
'persuaded' to join. Strengthening our own ranks while
keeping that Outworlder from acquiring their talents."

 Ranma didn't bother to point that out Queen Beryl wasn't
exactly a Tokyo native herself. Not that he could, though th
e level of mind control on him had been slightly relaxed of
late.

 "Your defeat of the Darkstalker Lillith was quite
ingenious. Now she serves my cause as well." Beryl paused
and strengthened the control she had over her pawn. "We have
recently lost one of our newest recruits, the Sailor
Neptune, and what I originally planned was to send you in
her place to battle through Shang Tsung's childish
tournament."

 Ranma remained silent, but nodded, having heard the rumors.

 "Instead, I think that I shall send the Lost Boy. You, on
the other hand, had students of your martial arts style, did
you not?"

 "Yes, my Queen," Ranma saddened as he remembered Makoto,
Ami, and Minako. Throwing him over for that Mamoru guy.
(Well, maybe she's happy with him now that I'm out of the
way.)

 "Find them. Capture them, bring them here that they may be
properly recruited." Beryl's eyes widened slightly as
Ranma's full force of will started beating against the walls
of dark magic enslaving his mind. She was impressed.
Endymion was a prince, and not nearly so strong of will or
such a fighter. "If you need to, hurt them. But bring them
alive before me. You will take Vega, Sasquatch, Bishamon,
and Lillith with you."

 "Sasquatch and Bishamon are in Hokkaido. Lillith, Honda,
and Cammy are all in the Jusenkyo region. Vega is doing the
'dojo destroyer' schtick in the Kansai area."

 Beryl frowned, accidently opening a lip on one of her
fangs. "Well, at least take a few of the Senshikiller
youmas..."

 "Currently all are being used by your other Dark Generals."

 Beryl continued to frown. "Well, with the power sources
we've available now, we have plenty of faceless minion
youma."

 "With all respect, Great Queen, the typical 'faceless
minion' youma is about as bright as an alligator and about
as threatening. Against a typical Japanese, fine. Some of
the police are now carrying firearms or stunsticks and could
quite likely kill one or two. Not to mention the problems
with trying to sneak around with a large number of youma."

 "Point taken." Beryl *was* impressed with her newest
general. The Dead Moon and Dark Moon kingdoms had fallen, as
had Shadowloo and that vampire's castle. Admittedly, many of
the stragglers and survivors of those battles had been
snatched up by Shang Tsung, but many of their artifacts and
items of power (Beryl's main interest) had been added to the
Dark Kingdom's resources. "As tipping off the Outworlders is
not desirable, you will have to go alone then."

 "Of course," Ranma agreed. He worked best alone anyway.

-----January 4, 1993----------

 "GET OVER HERE!"

 Sailor Moon eeped and fell over, narrowly avoiding the
living spear extending from the yellow-garbed warrior.

 "CRESCENT BEAM!"

 "SHABON SPRAY!"

 "SUPREME THUNDER!"

 Scorpion was hit by all three attacks. He struggled to his
feet and reached up to remove his mask.

 "HADOKEN!"

 "TENMA!?" Sailor Jupiter stopped to stare at the figure
standing atop the cafe.

 "MOON TIARA ACTION!" Sailor Moon finally got her "finishing
move" in, then went into a staring mode along with everyone
else.

 "Hmmmph, the Sailor Senshi. Pathetic. I'd defeat you now
for the Dark Kingdom, but I'm on a mission for the Queen.
Maybe later."

 "...tenma...?!" Sailor Jupiter looked at the figure leaping
away, feeling sick to her stomach as his words echoed within
her.

 Mercury watched him from behind her visor. "He's filled
with dark energies. And he's heading in the direction of
your apartment!"

 "I *knew* he couldn't be trusted!" Luna said smugly.

 Sailor Jupiter twitched. A fitful blue glow formed.

 Luna realized that she was suddenly alone on the street,
Sailor Moon currently hiding behind Rei.

 The rapidly-becoming-familiar routine of Sailor Jupiter
attempting to pancake a cat into the ground was interrupted
by, of all individuals, Sailor Venus.

 "What if Sailor Moon used a Moon Healing Escalation?
Wouldn't that free him from the Dark Kingdom influence?"

 Luna hid under a car while Sailor Jupiter came to a
stumbling halt. She'd been kicking herself for NOT forcing
the issue, or for so getting wrapped up in her new role that
she'd given the completely wrong message to Tenma. Guilt had
been driving her up the wall and the mooncats and their
agenda had been a do-able target. "You think it would work?"

 "Worth a try, isn't it?" The plucky blonde superheroine
gave a thumbs up to her colleague.

 Ami started working up a simulation based on the data she'd
received earlier.

 Luna prayed.

-----------------

 Makoto was nervous. Changing back from Senshi mode had been
necessary, but without the added protection coming from
being Sailor Jupiter, she wasn't sure how long she'd last
against a Dark Kingdom general.

 As expected, Tenma was waiting just outside her apartment
complex.

 "T-Tenma?" Makoto winced at her stuttering but noticed the
name caused a number of emotions to pass across his face.
She hoped that the video pickup that Ami had linked to her
computer was picking this up, and that Tenma just thought it
was a brooch.

 "It's back to being Ranma now," said the boy sitting at her
table. "Well, Kino-san, how's things going with your *new*
boyfriend?" Ranma gave a short, humorlesss, laugh.

 "I wanted to tell you, Te- Ranma. But I gave my *word* that
I wouldn't say anything." His voice was different. A
definite cruel, sneering, quality to it.

 "Nervous, Kino? Why? It's just me."

 Makoto was about to answer when she noticed something. His
expression kept changing, especially the eyes. Why was Ranma
going into shaking fits?

 "Run, Mako-chan."

 Makoto started. That had sounded like the Tenma she had
gotten to know, almost.

 Ranma shrugged off whatever had been going on. "Anyway,
Kino-san. There's someone I want you to  meet. You can come
with me of your own will, or..."

 Makoto added several things up and lost her nervous edge.
"No."

 Ranma sneered. "Well, if you insist."

 "Stop it, Tenma. You're not like this. You said you trusted
me. Can you trust me one more time?"

 "Puh-leeze, K-Kino." Ranma frowned as another bout of
shaking occurred. "Don't think you can appeal to my good
side, I don't have one. Nor do I have any trust for you, you
managed to kill that off quite effectively."

 "I'm not talking to YOU, Ranma. I'm talking to Tenma."
Makoto offered a silent prayer that she had come to the
correct conclusion, and was rewarded by seeing a flash of
uncertainty and a pleading look in those eyes before the
arrogant mask resumed. "I'm not talking to the Dark Kingdom
general. I'm talking to my boyfriend Tenma who was prepared
to wait for me. The boy who trusted me when I *really*
mishandled a secret I should never have sworn to keep by
avoiding him.

 "No. A man. He came to me as a lost boy, trying to find
himself. He matured into the man who proved he could
overcome a bad childhood. The man I loved." Makoto's eyes
widened, she hadn't intended to say that last. Now that she
thought of it, though, it was true.

 "M-Mako-chan?" Ranma had sweat pouring off of him and was
shaking so badly that Makoto was afraid he'd fall over.

  She went to him, gathering him into her arms, feeling the
shaking continue so badly that her teeth rattled as a silent
battle went on within the Dark Kingdom general. "Fight it,
Tenma. You're stronger than this. You're better than him.
You can do it."

 "Moon..."

 Makoto cursed Usagi silently as she felt the body in her
arms stiffen. Her arms involuntarily tightened around Tenma
as he shifted in her grasp.

 "...Healing..."

 Ranma broke the girl's grasp and flipped upward to a
windowsill. There was a brief look of betrayal on his face
as he looked down at Makoto. She knew that look had come
from Tenma and felt sickened anew.

 "...Escalation!"

 The burst of white light hit, but Ranma was already gone.

 "Usagi... your timing sucks," said Makoto, looking in the
direction Ranma had vanished.

-----------

 Night had fallen and the dreams of one Rei Hino were
troubled.

 She saw the familiar pegasus, the dark stain still
spreading like a cancer across his hide. She saw the hands
of the Dark Queen (who could really use a good manicurist,
some odd part of Rei's mind noted) close a second time
around the pegasus.

 Black mists jetted between the Queen's fingers.

 When the hands were removed, the pegasus was sickly, the
wings broken. And the darkness moved visibly across the
skin, and where it passed the once-shining hide was leprous.

 The horse's eyes came up to meet her own and the look in
them was of a soul being tortured and pleading for release.

 The scene changed. She saw a Citadel of Light where Usagi
(Usagi?) sat upon a crystalline throne, surrounded by the
rest of the Senshi and the mysterious Tuxedo Kamen. Except
that there was someone who *wasn't* Makoto who was wearing
the Sailor Jupiter uniform.

 The dream changed. Rei saw a rustic-looking village of
women carrying martial arts weapons welcoming... her and the
other Senshi. And then some boy in glasses attacked telling
them to stay away from his shampoo. How odd to be that
obsessive over hairsoap. Oh, wait a minute, maybe he meant
Shampoo?

 The dream changed again. Rei saw herself, and herself, and
lots of herself. Dozens of Rei Hinos, some were Sailor Mars,
some appeared to be ordinary Japanese schoolgirls, some were
dressed in the garb of a Shinto priestess. One looked to be
in an "Indiana Jones" role, another was composed of living
fire, yet another was dressed in a manner similar to that
Amazon Sash, there was even one wearing a skimpy harem
costume!

 A quick look around revealed the same thing with her other
friends. There was a small procession of Ami Mizuno (Ami
Mizunos?) in various costumes. There were Sailor Mercury Ami
copies, Ami in a number of different school uniforms, and
even one where she was wearing wizardly-looking robes. There
was an "Indiana Jones" Ami, an Ami with dark glasses and a
white cane, even another Ami whose skin was blue and looked
like she had gills!

 There was Makoto in a similar crowd. Except that there was
something wrong with one of the Sailor Jupiters. She
stumbled and fell from the pack. A Makoto Kino in a harem
costume moved past her, apparently unseeing. Another Makoto,
this one dressed in some sort of fantasy warrior costume,
hesitated before moving past, shifting the elaborate hammer
in her hands as she did so.

 Rei looked past and recognized the figure further on from a
trip to Makoto's apartment. There was a picture on the real
Makoto's dresser, showing this boy and Makoto leaning
comfortably together on a bench. There were versions of this
boy, whom she knew from that photo to be Tenma Kazeno. Some
dressed in Chinese clothes, some in a Japanese boy's school
uniform, some in a gi, a few redhaired girls (for some odd
reason), and a powerfully built one whose eyes met hers
briefly despite the surreality of the scene. There was also
one sprawled on the ground near the "dead" Makoto, their
hands almost touching.

 Again the shifting and Rei saw the table again. More
figures on the table were distinct, and fewer players were
present.

 The man resting on a loathsome throne had gathered several
pieces to his side. The muscular vampire lord and giant of
fire were now pieces in his pile, not players on their own.
There was also a skeletal figure, another that had four
arms, and yet another which wore elaborate samurai armor.
There was even a snowman. There was also a few pieces that
she recognized from Streetfighter tournaments, such as that
Bison fellow.

 The Princess Of Light had a few more pieces as well. A
cat-girl stood beside a wolf-man. A thickly muscled and
unhandsome fellow, a woman with batlike wings, three more of
the streetfighters she had seen, and others she didn't
recognize.

 The Chinese man and the Dark Queen also had larger rows of
troops. As soon as she saw the Dark Queen, though, Rei's
heart felt like it would stop. The Queen was about to try
and steal some of the pieces from in front of the Princess!

 Rei woke, shuddering, and wondered if she ought to mention
any of this to anyone.

 Sometimes, she knew, ignorance could be bliss.

 Sometimes, Rei also knew, ignorance could be fatal.

------January 5, 1993----

 It had started right in front of the Osa-P. First had been
a few "faceless minion" youma. Then others had started
showing up, until the scene was now a chaotic tangle of
warriors doing their level best to kill or at least beat the
snot out of the others.

 "Look out!" Sailor Venus threw her chain up into the air,
having seen this manuever on "Saint Saeya" and having wanted
to try it. "Venus Chain Rolling Defense!"

 "Karame Dama!" Bishamon's spirit blast impacted the chain
and was mainly deflected.

 "Ahhhh!" Sailor Moon added helpfully. "Which ones are the
bad guys?!"

 Ken Masters smiled as he passed the young girl. "The ones
trying to kill you are the bad guys."

 With a howl of bloodlust, a werewolf named Jon Talbain
started tearing into a four-armed half-dragon named Goro.

 A tangle of chains marked where a Chinese ghost named
Hsien-ko was fighting a Chinese boy named Mousse.

 "Ring Defense!" Sailor Venus called out one of the
manuevers that Cologne had coached them on. Sailor Venus
lengthened her Venus chain to mark a circle. Sailor Moon and
Sailor Mercury ran to the center. Venus, Jupiter, Mars,
Shampoo, a huge man who insisted on being called "Frank", a
street fighter named Blanka, Sash, Sugar, and Spice formed
the outer ring.

 "Where's Felicity?" Mars looked around but couldn't spot
the cat-girl.

 "She buried in store. Flattened by fat boy in diaper." Sash
answered.

 "That's E. Honda, he's a streetfighter. Apparently under
Dark Kingdom control." Mercury started reading off her
screen. "I've identified the ones apparently on our side as
an American actor named Johnny Cage, Interpol agents Sonya
Blade and Chun Li, and I don't know about that girl with the
spirit ward stuck to her face. I'm getting some dark
readings from her and from the girl in the odd leotard."

 "Gee, you think the batwings are a clue?" Rei said drily.

 "HADOKEN!"

 Sailor Jupiter jumped at the familiar attack phrase only to
realize that it wasn't Tenma.

 "Shampoo! At last I've found you, Shampoo!"

 "Who're you calling Shampoo? SOUL FIST!"

 "Jupiter. The big guy on three. One, two, three. BURNING
MANDALA!"

 "SUPREME THUNDER!"

 The one identified as Chun Li grabbed some blonde girl's
pigtails and slung her towards the circle. Frank leapt up
and demonstrated a volleyball spike.

 The battle was beginning to wind down when the air rippled
and a gateway formed.

 "Quickly, forces of the Dark Kingdom, retreat while I cover
you."

 "Tenma?!" Sailor Jupiter gasped at the haggard appearance
of the boy standing in the gateway.

 The Dark Kingdom General held his hands about a foot apart,
darkness seeming to grow in the space formed there. The
sphere burst, forming several jagged spears which slammed
into the majority of still standing opponents. The Dark
Kingdom forces poured through the gateway behind Ranma,
taking their wounded with them as they escaped.

 "Meowwww!" Felicity moved forward at high speeds, counting
on what she had heard of the cat-fear to take out this Ranma
with minimal damage. Ranma merely held his hand up and
another sphere of darkness formed, this one blasting out
fully at the cat-girl.

 "Anyone else want to get hurt?" Ranma looked at those
remaining upright and dismissed most of them as being a
threat.

 The werewolf leapt, only to be blocked, spun and thrown. He
was still in the air when four Hadokens slammed rapidly into
him.

 "SHABON SPRAY!"

 "CRESCENT BEAM!"

 Ranma leapt over the attacks, landing in front of Sailor
Mercury. Mercury stared at the smirking general just long
enough for him to dodge again as Hsien-ko's chains shot
through the recently occupied space and around the Senshi.

 "FLAME SNIPER!"

 "Whoah, not quite as pathetic as you used to be, eh?" Ranma
sneered as he flipped out of the way of the flame blast. "I
guess you might be silly little girls but you ain't *total*
losers."

 "Tenma! Don't!" It was easy for Makoto to think of Ranma as
the Dark Kingdom general, Tenma as the boy she loved.

 Ranma frowned as he regarded Sailor Jupiter, idly throwing
a Super Hadoken towards the approaching Ken Masters. His
face slipped once more into a sneer after a moment. "Makoto?
You're one of these Senbei?"

 "That's Senshi!" Mars attacked. Ranma struck her in the
throat. Mercury went to help Mars recover as the other
Senshi started choking.

 "Well then, Makoto, tell you what. The gate behind me is
open. If you can beat me, then you have a chance to deal
directly with your Enemy. If I beat *you*, I'll take all of
you to see her. Once you've been properly subdued, of
course."

 "Jupiter, he's radiating Dark Kingdom energies. I don't
detect anything of Tenma left."

 "I... I..."  Jupiter fidgeted.

 "Let me make it easy on you," Ranma said, looking for the
Senshi who had struck from ambush earlier. "YOU!"

 Sailor Moon squeaked as a black aura surrounded the general
and he did another of those incredible leaps towards *her*,
a sword forming in his hands.

 "JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!"

 The blast, to almost everyone's surprise, struck.

---------------------------

 Makoto held the figure in her arms, ignoring the smoking
hole in his chest as she wailed to the heavens.

 "There must have been some of him not completely
corrupted," opined Ami. "He let your blast strike at the
end."

 Makoto laid Ranma down gently, her tears dampening his
uniform. Her shaking slowed as she regained control. "I
swear by all the kami, Moon Kingdom, or whatever forces of
Good we're to represent. I've lived before, and the next
time, if it is even slightly possible, we *WILL* be
together. Ranma, no, Tenma. I love you."

 Nobody within earshot doubted any part of that for a
moment. Even Luna and Artemis.

 "We've got to go," Rei hissed, feeling some sympathetic
tears form herself. She had never met Ranma prior to his
corruption, and judged from the expressions of grief around
her that she had really missed out. "They'll be sending more
forces after us."

 Luna, wisely, kept her mouth shut.

 Makoto took a moment to watch Tenma's form dissolve in a
manner similar to the youma, the usual effect of Dark
Kingdom energies consuming a human body. This seemed just a
little different, somehow. "Next time, Ranma, it doesn't
matter who stands in our way. I *will* save you."

 "Got it!" Morrigan looked back at the small group. "A few
of you can go through while the rest of us anchor or guard
the gate. Sash, I'll need you to help me keep the gate
open." After all, Sash would generate power just from being
shown the Arion Roman Album that Morrigan had stashed away
for just such an emergency.

 "I'll go," said Makoto, shifting back to Sailor Jupiter
without a perceptible transformation sequence. Nobody wanted
to argue.

 "Shampoo go." Shampoo didn't have any noble reasoning.
Vengeance sounded good to her.

 "Well, I'll have to go, and I think Sailor Moon should go."
Cologne glanced around. "Just a suggestion, mind you."

 Sugar and Spice exchanged a glance and nodded. The
swordswoman and the spear-maiden put in their vote to be
part of the protection. They had rapidly developed into the
role of shield-maid to two of the Senshi. (Though they were
hoping for some powerups soon so that they could take more
active roles.) Shampoo was sticking close to Moon as she
could since Cologne's privately revealed suspicion that the
"Moon Princess" was likely the air-headed ditz.

------------------------------

 "BERYL! IT ENDS NOW!" Sailor Jupiter seemed to ignite as
she launched herself at the Dark Queen.

 Artemis gasped. "She's drawing on the full power of her
planet! She'll burn herself up at that rate!"

 Ami looked sadly as the green comet rocketed across the
chamber. "I think that's the idea."

 "SUPREME THUNDER!" Jupiter snarled and threw blast after
blast as soon as the patterns emerged from her mind,
reaching further and further for something to smite this
blotch. "JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER MAKE UP!" She was aware that
she was reaching past her safe limits. "SUPREME THUNDER
DRAGON!" There was a lingering sensation of heat building on
her. It didn't matter. "JUPITER PLANET POWER MAKE UP!" This
wasn't about revenge, this wasn't about pride, it wasn't
even about being pushed into Seriously Pissed Mode.
"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" This was about duty. "OAK
EVOLUTION!" Duty to the Princess, duty to the Moon Kingdom,
duty to love and justice. "JUPITER AVATAR MAKE UP!"

 "She can't use that yet!" Luna watched as events she had
set in motion moved to a conclusion. "Her body can't handle
that level of power until she's reached full maturity as a
Senshi!"

---------

 Cologne watched from across the cavern as Sailor Jupiter
began her final attack. She smiled and reached out to tap
the Dark Crystal in front of her. She could sense the
intricate web of energies between the various energy focuses
that Beryl and her minions had collected. Ah, if one had to
go, one might as well go with a bang, eh?

 "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"

-----------

 Beryl's smirk failed as her shield abruptly weakened. She
could draw power from Jusenkyo to replenish it, but it would
take time. She scrambled for the power she needed.

 "VENGEANCE OF THE HEAVENS!" Sailor Jupiter felt the power
burst through her, burning away the frail mortal body trying
to channel the forces.

 Beryl's time ran out.

 Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury found themselves being
lifted up and carried away at breakneck speed ahead of a
massive series of explosions. Each of the Senshi being
carried by an Amazon.

 "MAKO-CHANNNNNN!" Sailor Moon kicked. "Let me go! Mako-chan
is back there."

 "She is dead," said Shampoo at the apex of a thirty foot
leap. "Shampoo see. She go out like proper Amazon."

 "No! No, she can't be dead!"

 Shampoo kept moving, feeling the heat of another wave of
explosions toasting her backside. "She go out like Amazons
of legend. Shampoo will see she be honored as Amazon, her
story added to Village Lorekeepers. Shampoo honored that if
have competition for Tenma, Makoto Kino be rival." Shampoo
silently added her Great-Grandmother and Tenma Kazeno to
that list. It was in genre for the heroes to win, but not
all to survive.

 Usagi blinked and watched another set of explosions
reaching for them as the two exited the citadel into the
cold air beyond.

 Behind them, two cats, one with her tail on fire, exited
from another tunnel.

-----------

 Beryl lifted herself from the smouldering ruin of her
throne and staggered upright. Scarred, dying, and low on
power, she still possessed enough energy to summon a
clairvoyance globe. There were those filthy Senshi, escaping
the destruction of the citadel that still raged around her.

 Dark Queen Beryl fancied herself an epic villain, and there
are certain things expected of epic villains. One of those
things is the Vengeful Rant. "You think you can attack me
personally and escape? Fools! All it will take me is a few
moments to stabilize the web of magic here and I will awaken
great Metal'la from the slumber I have bound her in. You and
this world will be consumed by the forces therein and I
shall..."

 Two gloved hands grabbed Beryl's head from behind as a
blistered leg swept in to lock the Dark Queen in place.
There was a twisting motion accompanied by a grisly little
noise. Beryl fell.

 Sailor Jupiter looked down at the Dark Queen, noting the
surprised look on Beryl's face. "I don't think so."

 Looking up at the underground palace collapsing around her,
Sailor Jupiter managed a bloody smile even as she sank to
her knees. She'd been reincarnated once, was it too
difficult to believe that it would happen again? "Next
time... I promise!"

----Mimir's Well--------

 Edema frowned as she passed Miya a cucumber sandwich. "That
doesn't look very cheerful at all."

 A short distance away, Grey watched as the temporary line
merged with a more major line.

------------------------
Newly merged timeline: MM- 547146

 Lita Storm rubbed sleep out of her eyes, feeling as if she
had just come through a major battle instead of a
"bachelorette party" for her friend Rae. A glance over at
where Rae was sprawled revealed that she *still* had that
Wedding Dress Mars doll nearby. Except that today it was Rae
herself who would be wearing a real version of the same.

 Lita's eyes focussed on the doll, and a memory rolled over
her. "Tenma..."

 Sitting back on her futon, Lita wondered what she was going
to do about *this* development.


------------------------

author's notes: first off, i *like* Makoto Kino. The young
romantic whose heart gets constantly stepped on, yet
recovers to try again. The friend who tries but gets
overwhelmed through no fault of self - a role i can readily
identify with as i spent years like that.
 hmmm. Makoto (SM) + Krillyn (DB)? It would have to be prior
to meeting 18.
 This was one of those where i started writing, and it just
went off on its own. This was intended as a Mirrors
Multiplied tie-in once i started receiving C&C requests for
a Tragic ending.
 In Mirrors Multiplied, for those unfamiliar with the story,
Ranma has lived a thousand incarnations of himself. Some
good lifetimes, some bad, some merely weird. In his current
incarnation, he's about to marry Rae/Sailor Mars. (Among
others.)
          mirrors multiplied can be found at:
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/seagate/131/mirrors/


oh well.

OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE

something i've been accussed of, that i thought might be fun
to actually do intentionally. If Teresa, Cheryl, Glory,
Patricia, or one of the other man-haters i've met recognize
some of themselves in here, it's intentional as you've been
such inspiration over the years.

WHAT IF AKANE *WAS* A "PSYCHO-BITCH"

 "Kasumi, Nabiki, Ak..." Soun started, then reconsidered.
"Kasumi! Nabiki!"

 Kasumi demurely took a seat at one end of the table, Nabiki
uneasily in the middle, and Akane flopped down at the end.

 "Uhm, Akane, this, er, doesn't really concern you," Soun
said uncertainly.

 Akane glared at her father, taking this the wrong way.
"Having a family meeting *without* me, father? You KNOW how
I feel about that."

 Soun swallowed nervously and decided to just bull ahead.
"Kasumi, Nabiki, I've just received word that an old friend
of mine is coming to visit and bringing his son, Ranma."

 "A BOY?!" Akane growled angrily. "WHY do we have to put up
with a MALE presence in the house? It's bad enough that
there are BOYS at school!"

 "I-I-I'm sorry, Akane. It's a matter of honor that the
Tendo and Saotome families be united, so if Nabiki or Kasumi
marries him..."

 "WHAT?! How DARE you make such an arrangement!"

 "Is he cute?" Nabiki wanted to know.

 "Oh my," said Kasumi with a slight smile. There was a
chance to get out of this house?

 "It's an arranged marriage. It's not unheard of." Soun
cringed.

 "Do you HONESTLY expect me to sit still for this?" Akane
wondered if she had been too lax with her father of late.
Males needed to be put in their place, unfortunately the law
would only allow her to go so far in that regard.

 "...but of course, I'd never consider you for such a thing,
Akane." Soun quickly said, after all they were supposed to
*unite* the two schools. If Genma's son turned up missing
some day, then there wouldn't be much uniting done.

 "WHAT?! Are you saying I'm not good enough?"

 "Oh no, Akane. I'm sure father was just thinking about
providing for us." Kasumi shifted slightly, trying to favor
the injured leg. Akane hadn't meant to break it in three
places, she just got enthusiastic. Kasumi was mainly sure
about this.

 "LEMMEE GO YOU OLD FOOL!"

 "OH! It must be Ranma!" Nabiki ran for the door. First
come, first served. First away from Akane.

 Akane watched Kasumi start limping towards the door and
felt a momentary pang of guilt. No, if she were to save
Kasumi from a loveless relationship, she had to keep her
from spending time around Doctor Tofu. A few threats to the
Doctor kept him from doing much (other than falling apart)
and eventually Kasumi would realize the truth. As an
American feminist had once stated "the only true love is
that between two women, everything else is rape."

 "Lemmee go, you're scaring 'em spitless!" A short person
being carried along by a panda caused Nabiki and Soun to run
back along the hallway.

 The short person indicated this this *was* indeed Ranma
Saotome. Then Nabiki made an observation about the
newcomer's gender. Soun and Nabiki started arguing, but upon
Nabiki's discovery that the boy was actually a girl, Akane's
attitude transformed.

 "You *can't* be a girl!" Nabiki held the girl by her shirt
and was shaking her. "You *can't* be! The kami can't be that
cruel!"

 "No..." Kasumi sniffled. There went her chance.

 Ranma looked at the two older girls and wondered exactly
what was going on here.

 "Oooo. You're cute," Akane said, already thinking of ways
to find out how this newcomer would look without her
clothes. And once she was sufficiently "broken", there would
be many pleasures she could explore at leisure. If the girl
*was* a martial artist, then she'd be a little more durable
than most of Akane's previous recipients of affection.

 Akane smiled. "Hey, you're a martial artist. You want to
see the dojo? I'm Akane, do you want to be... friends?"

 Kasumi and Nabiki winced as they watched Akane lead Ranma
out.

 "Father, this is such a disappointment." Kasumi sighed. She
was the oldest, she was the one her father should be
arranging to be married first.

 "No duh! Really Father, did you think we were *all* lesbian
psychopaths?" Nabiki could admit that she *might* bend in
more than one direction, but whips and chains and fish-hooks
were *not* her style.

 "But I thought Genma's son was a boy!" Soun watched the
puzzled-looking panda briefly. "Well, Akane won't kill
another girl, so that's *some* consolation."

 "I thought I'd have an excuse to get away," grumbled
Nabiki. "A chance to get away. Do you have any idea what I
have to go through when Akane isn't getting any from those
girls at school?"

 "Or when she hasn't been able to 'vent' on any males,"
Kasumi added, rubbing her knee.

 "Look! Akane's chasing the girl around the backyard."

 "So, she's a better martial artist than Akane?"

 "Hmmmm," hmmmed Soun.

 "Needs to work on her 'avoiding large thrown blunt objects'
skills," noted Kasumi as a stone lantern connected with
Ranma's head.

 Akane immediately grabbed the girl up and shook her,
threatening worse if the shorter girl ever crossed her
again.

 "Well, maybe she can get a bath, then maybe I ought to warn
her to leave while she's got a chance."

 "Don't do that, Nabiki, you *know* how poorly Akane will
take that."

 The panda blinked.

-------------------

 "Well, your problem isn't so bad is it?" Soun laughed.
"These are my daughters. Kasumi, Nabiki, and, er, Akane.
Pick the one you want and she'll be your new fiancee."

 Akane drew a finger across her throat and mouthed the word
"die." Give her half a chance and *she* would show this
fake-girl what she thought of the male gender. She wouldn't
kill him, but all sorts of "accidents" could be arranged. Or
he could be taught the same lesson those jerks at school
had. She only had to come near the gates before the (lowly
disgusting) males fled like the vermin they were.

 "I... I don't have time for this, I need to go back to
China and look for a cure!" Ranma got up, preparing to exit
stage right.

 "What a wonderful idea!" Nabiki produced a backpack out of
nowhere. "The perfect chance for me to get to know my fiance
better!"

	"Nabiki, we have to let Ranma choose." Kasumi shouldered
her own backpack. "I've always wanted to see China, anyway."

	"What?!" Ranma managed as he was dragged out the door by
two girls.

	Akane blinked. "But... I just got some new toys..."

	Genma glanced over at his old buddy Soun, who had a
cigarette in his mouth and a blindfold covering his eyes.
"Uhm."

---------------------

	"I can walk by myself!"

	Kasumi and Nabiki stopped dragging Ranma.

	"Well, come on, Ranma. China and your cure is waiting."

	"Oh, uh, right..." Ranma said hesitantly after a moment. He
wasn't at all sure about this, but oyaji could stay with his
friend and he could go to China and get cured.

	That didn't sound so bad. Certainly it could have been
worse.

--
-----------------------------
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
metroanime@mindspring.com
"Still searching, still hoping, still alone."
-N.Brazil