Z-Senshi Mercury

by Trooper1023

--WARNING--

This story ends with a reference to a serious lemon scene. I've cut the scene itself, but the story end in the classic "They went up the stairs to the bedroom together" way. Sorry about the suggestiveness of that bit, but I can't cut EVERYTHING you know. Other than that, this is pretty much a PG13 fic.

0 - Prologue

How could they have possibly defeated the minions of the Negaverce time and time again? It wasn't until recently that it made any sense, Shein-ko-Shen thought to herself. Back then these "Sailor Senshi" seemed so weak. But now I see their power, their true power. And now that I can see it, I can take it. "AHH HA HA HA HAAAAA!" Shein-ko-Shen's evil laughter rang out in her dark sanctuary, and the air itself seemed to grow a little colder. "AHH HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA……………"

1 - That Girl

"Ami, sheesh! You just don't give up!" Kino Makoto exclaimed, flabbergasted as one Mizuno Ami yet again worked herself to exhaustion. This was the fifth night in a row that Ami had stayed up all night working on her special project. While the new strength that the Sailor Senshi had found within themselves was boosting all of them, and Ami the most, everyone has limits. The blue-haired girl's only response was a grunt.

"UGH! Did it! I finally completed my dimensional analyzer!" Ami squealed in delight as she sagged backward in her chair.

"Earth to Ami! Get in bed! You've been up all night, every night, for the past week! Why don't you just give it a rest already?" Makoto's voice was an exasperated sigh.

Ami pouted cutely, then slinked over to her bed. Makoto grinned, which the other girl returned, and ducked out of the room. The next day…

"You wanna go to the mall? Bet you need some new cloths!" Makoto taunted.

"Hey! I resent that!" Ami snorted, un-ladylike, then laughed. "I'll see you in a couple of minutes." Ami ran upstairs to her room. Makoto did the same.

2 - That Guy

What a day, Son Gohan thought to himself has he flew home from the training center. And Vegeta worries that he's getting soft! As if he ever could! Gohan winced a little as that thought ran through his mind. He prided himself in being a good fighter, but Vegeta was beyond just being a good fighter; he still had that viciousness that had made him so dangerous in the past, and gave those that sparred with him the bruises to prove it. Gohan's mind was elsewhere as he sped home.

3 - Evil Intentions

Perfect! The 8 Stars of Jepoc are almost in line! When they are, they will serve as a conduit through which I can take the strength of Mercury's Princess! Then I will be INVINCIBLE! HA HA HA HAAA! Shein-ko-Shen could hardly wait for the alignment to happen, after she saw that girl's strength. She had considered her choice carefully, since she could only steal the strength of one of the Sailor Senshi, and had decided that Mercury was the most vulnerable. She was so used to being the brains of the group, and she had gained the most, power-wise. Almost! ALMOST! THERE!

"THE TIME OF MY ASENSION IS AT HAND!" Shein-ko-Shen roared triumphantly. She began chanting, and a portal began to form before her…

3.1 - Drawn In

SSSHHHHWWWWSSSHHHHH

"WHAT THE HELL?!?" Gohan yelled as he felt himself being pulled upward. He looked up.

"Oh shit…" was all he could say as a swirling purple vortex pulled him up into its elliptical plane… and then through its center.

3.2 - Drained

Makoto was figuring out with outfit to wear when she heard Ami's scream.

"AAAIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Makoto bolted for the stairs, bounded down the hallway, and into Ami's room. What she saw nearly tore her heart out of her chest. NO! Not again!

Ami, suspended in a ugly purple light, was writhing in pain! Her once-powerful aura now looked like it was being sucked up. When the light faded, Ami dropped to the floor and feinted. Makoto ran over, and picked up Ami's thin, light body and carried her downstairs. Placing her on the sofa, Makoto grabbed the phone and began dialing the other Senshi's numbers.

Before long, Ami's house was swarming with activity. The air was heavy and oppressive. Ami sat on the sofa, sobbing. Tsukino Usagi sat next to her, trying to offer comfort. All the other Senshi were present.

"It's alright Ami, it's al…." Usagi was saying.

"NO!" Ami yelled, startling everyone. "Don't you understand? I've got this feeling like I'm not going to get all my power back! No, it's not like last time!" Ami was referring to an incident when one of the last Generals of the Negaverse stole her strength for his own evil purposes.

"But how can you be so sure?" asked Hino Rei.

"I don't know. I just know…" Ami's voice trailed off. Suddenly she jumped up, pulling out her henshin wand and yelling her transformation phrase. Everyone blinked; there was no whirl of colors, no transformation, nothing. Ami yelled it again, "MERCURY COSMIC POWER!" Still, nothing happened. Well, not quite. Luna swore uncharacteristically.

"Kami-sama… Ami, every bit of your power is gone. We… we're going to have to try to track down whoever stole Ami's power," Makoto said, and smacked her fist into the palm of the other hand for emphasis. "She's always been a major part of our team!" The other Senshi knew she was right.

"Wait guys. First we gotta figure out if my power was draining into another dimension or not. If it is, the search will be ten times more difficult." Ami was becoming herself again. She grabbed her compact computer, called up her recently-completed dimensional analyzer, and started taking readings. The other Senshi let Ami do her part.

"Well?" Luna asked after several minutes. "What did you find?"

"Our thief is living in this dimension," said Ami. "The trail I've picked up doesn't end abruptly, like it would if it was leading to another dimension. Instead, the trail leads out into deep space. You'll have to follow it, since I don't know how to teleport to a place that I have never been to."

"I'll stay behind with…" Usagi started.

"No Usagi." Ami interrupted. "If you find whoever stole my powers, you can bet that they will have combined it with their own. Remember how strong we've gotten individually, and remember who suddenly became the team's power-house, as far as magic power was concerned. That means that it will take all of you to defeat them." She looked very dejected. "I'd come, but I'm finding that I'm even weaker than I was before my full power was released." The others looked at her, stunned.

"This is getting weirder by the minute!" exclaimed Ano Minako.

"Are you getting weaker right now?" asked a concerned Luna.

"No, I just feel weaker than I was before our full powers were released… it seems so long ago…" Ami's voice trailed off again. "But don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You guys go find my uncle at Star Labs. Maybe he can build you a ship. If they can't… well, let's hope he can. Now get moving guys." And they moved.

4 - Where am I?

The first thing Gohan saw when the vortex dumped him out was a seagull.

"Get outta my face ya dumb bird!" he growled, swatting at the gull. At least I know I'm still on Earth. But then, where on Earth? Gohan thought. Things could be worst though, I could have been in my fighting gi. Then I'd stand out in a crowd like a Namek at a human wedding!

He touched down on a rooftop, then leaped down into an alley. Now if I just can find out where I am…

That question was answered when he walked out of the alley. A Tokyo news van sat by the curb. What the…? Tokyo didn't look like this the last time I was here! What's going on?! Gohan was getting really disoriented when he realized that he couldn't feel the ki of his friends. This is worse, he thought to himself. It's going to be difficult to find somebody that can help me, so I better start looking…

After a couple of days of fruitlessly asking questions and searching, Gohan felt something… like a really low ki, but somehow it was…different. Weird. I feel… like I can trust whoever this person is. He slipped into an alley, leaped up to the roof, and blasted off in the direction of the ki he had felt. It's really faint, I hope it doesn't fade out before I can get closer…

5 - Stolen

"YES!!! It is done!" cried Shein-ko-Shen, funneling the pure power of Sailor Mercury into her own strength and speed. After all, I wouldn't want to be dressing up in those silly costumes they wear, wouldn't I? She had never felt so strong in all 5,000 years of her existence. Now I wait for the other Senshi to return… AND THEN I WILL SUCK THEM DRY AS WELL! "AHH HA HA HA HAAAA!" Once again, Shein-ko-Shen's dark voice rang out in her dark lair.

6 - Out of Place

It had been a few days since the other Senshi had left in search of whoever stole Ami's power, and she was beginning to feel a little bit down. Yes, she had been doing her usual research and study, but somehow, Ami's heart just wasn't with it. So she decided to go shopping. She put on a well-used sweat suit and tied her hair behind her head in a bun. With that she left her house to go shopping, hoping that when she came back she would be able to do more…

Shopping went as usual for her… well, sort of. She still couldn't shake the feeling that she wouldn't be getting her strength back… or was it something else that was nagging at her. Why am I feeling so weird?

All of the Senshi had a sort of sixth sense, which gave them "feelings" about things. The Senshi had learned to trust these feelings, because whenever one of them had a gut feeling about something, almost every time they were proved right. And now, Ami's "gut" was telling her that she was being followed.

That's GOT to be her! There is no one near her, so that ki I'm feeling must be from her! Gohan had followed an attractive, blue-haired woman, probably 20, from the exit of the mall down the street without her noticing. But from the way her back suddenly straightened, he knew that she had finally picked up on him. He needed to make contact somehow, so he picked a street corner, stopped, and locked his gaze on her, intending to zanzoken into that alley she was about to pass after she saw him. Sure enough, she began looking around… her eyes freezing on Gohan.

Ami began a quick sweep of the area, and was about to dismiss the feeling when her eyes meet those of a young man, who seemed to be staring right at her. No, he IS staring at me! Something's really wrong here, I'm reacting as if he's from another planet or something… She felt herself shudder slightly as she looked him over. He had a solid build, with mid-length black hair spiked out in all directions; his coal-black eyes seemed to hold her in position. She shook her head, turned, and kept walking. He looks normal, but my gut keeps telling me he's not, and…

"Hey, slow down. I need talk to you," came a voice from an alley on her right.

Ami would have ignored the voice, but suddenly an image of the man that had been staring at her popped back into her mind and attached itself to the voice. But that's not possible! He couldn't have gotten from there to here so fast! What's going on?! "Want do you want?"

"Please don't panic. I don't want to call attention to myself, I feel really out of place right now. If you don't mind, I'll follow you back to someplace you're willing to talk to me. If you aren't going to trust me that far, we can talk in here." Gohan had thought over what he would say, and he figured that if he could give her options, she wouldn't feel as threatened.

He saw her blow out a tense breath. "Ok, follow me, but don't try anything funny, or I can guarantee that you will be hurting."

Gohan chuckled nervously, more from the fact that he'd be hurting because he hurt her when she tried to hurt him. Boy, that would make a bad impression, he thought. "Go."

Ami heard the chuckle and thought, Is that nervousness I hear in his voice? This is getting more and more interesting. She hurried home, with the young man following at a discreet distance.

7 - A New Enemy, A New Friend

Ami unlocked her door, stepped into her home, and as she shut it behind her, something incredibly fast whizzed through the closing door and past her. What was tha… "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN HERE!?!" Ami snapped into her fighting stance when she saw the same guy standing right there in front of her. Am I glad that Makoto has been teaching all of us hand-to-hand combat! She was about to tackle him when he spoke.

"I can move really fast if I need to, and if I didn't want to be seen, then I had to move fast, unless you intended to let my in through a window or something." he said, breathing hard as he looked back at her. Whoa… the zanzoken's never been THAT tiring… She wasn't buying it. "Sorry if I scared you…" Gohan said nervously, somewhat embarrassed, and beginning to blush a little as he got a good look at her for the first time. Ami noticed, and couldn't help but feel a bit calmer.

Hmm… embarrassed, nervous, and not a hint of threat or malice. She lowered her guard some, and was about to speak when he did.

"I'm sorry for the awkward way of meeting you, my name is Son Gohan."

Strange name, she thought to herself. "Nice to meet you, Son-san. I am Mizuno Ami. So… you got through my door before I shut the same way you got from across the street into that alleyway in just over a second, right?"

"There's no need to be so formal; just call me Gohan. And yes, you're correct." There was a pause. Both people sweat-dropped as they tried to figure out what to say.

"Why did you single me out? Why am I the person you followed?" Ami finally asked.

"Out of all the people in this city, your ki was the only one I could feel. And from that sense, I felt like I could trust you. That made you the only person that had any chance of not totally freaking out when I told them who I am, where I'm from, and what happened to me."

Ki? That word is familiar, somehow. Where did I hear it? "What happened to you? You mean something strange happened to you too?" Asked Ami, surprised.

"Beyond strange, I mean something down-right wrong." Gohan paused for a second, thinking about what he heard her say, "What you just said… something strange happened to both of us?"

"Um… why don't we sit down first, this could take a while to explain." Ami said, a bit embarrassed that she forgot that they were standing around with two comfortable chairs nearby.

"Thanks, my feet could use a rest." He plopped down in a chair, then looked up.

"I…" she stopped without going any farther, fear and suspicion forming in her mind. AMI! What are you doing?!? You barely even know him, and now you are about to tell him about your magic powers as a Sailor Senshi!?! What's wrong with you!! Gohan was perceptive; he saw that he still wasn't trusted (no big surprise) and spoke up.

"Ok, I know this is really weird, so as a sign of trust I'll tell you what happened to me first. I was flying home after…"

"Flying?!" Ami interrupted, surprised. "You can fly?"

Gohan stood up, and Ami gasped. He was floating a couple of inches off the ground, and not holding onto anything with his hands either!

"Flying isn't a common thing here, right?" he asked as he sat back down, then finished for her, "No, it wouldn't, if this Earth is anything like the Earth I'm from."

That startled Ami. "You're from Earth?" How many times can I be surprised in one day? They just keep coming! she thought.

"Like I said, not this one. This Tokyo looks very different than the one that I visited. Anyhow, I was flying home after a sparring match with Vegeta, one of my father's friends, when this swirling, purple vortex appeared above me. I got pulled through and ended up above a city that I know I've never seen before, but somehow its named Tokyo. The looks of the people tell me that I'm still on Earth, but the facts that one, I can't feel my father's ki or any of my other friends and two, Tokyo is suddenly unfamiliar to me, tell me that something is seriously wrong."

It was becoming obvious to Ami that, in spite of the fact that he had just met her, he was about to ask for her help. And while she still didn't know if she could really trust this Gohan, her instincts told her that he would be on her side of the upcoming battle… Upcoming battle?! Where did that come from!?!

"I get a gut feeling about things, Gohan. And right now it's saying that I should explain what happened to me, in depth, even though there is no way I should do that, having just met you."

"Thanks for trusting me, Ami. Hopefully, I wont be around long enough to cause too much trouble." She's acting like she's incomplete, like there's a part of her that's missing. But what could Ami have lost?

"Gohan, lets assume that you are from another dimension, one that I have not found. In this dimension, the Sailor Senchi protect the Earth. Each Senshi is the reincarnation of the Princess of a kingdom of one of the planets of our solar system, one millennium ago. I'm the reincarnation of Princess of the Mercury Kingdom, now known as Sailor Mercury while in uniform."

"Are the other Senshi off-planet? That would explain why your ki is the only one I can sense right now," Gohan said.

"That's right, they're not on Earth. When I'm done, could you tell me, what a 'ki' is?"

"Sure."

"Thanks. Back to what I was saying. About nine months back, we confronted one of the most powerful enemies we had ever faced. We lost. Lucky for all of us, we managed to live through it and escape. We knew we didn't have much time before we would be attacked again, so we all put our powers together, and managed to unlock the secret potential with in each of us. With our newfound power, we beat the Negaverse General at his own game, and saved our planet once again. When we returned home, we found that all that power carried over into our daily lives. Even without transforming, we still have access to a large chunk of our physical strength and speed. I was the one who gained the most in that department. I used to be the physically weakest; what made up for that was my mind. I've been called a child-genius, and I've used my head to root out the weaknesses of many foes until I gained the extra strength and power. Unfortunately, my new power would not last. A couple of day ago…"

"Wait a second! Could this have happened at about the same time that I got pulled through that vortex?"

"Well I'll be… you could be right! And the beam of light that trapped me as my power drained away was an ugly purple, just like the vortex you described. The pieces of this puzzle are starting to fall into place now. I think that the vortex you got pulled into was part of a string of portals, and that particular one somehow intruded into your dimension."

"But what could these portals be for?"

"They could only have been acting as a conduit, through which my power was stolen, and they also served to carry that power to whoever stole it."

"Your power was stolen?! Damn. Somebody really wants you and your friends dead. Either that or they want the Senshi out of the way so the Earth can be attacked." Gohan's heart began to pound as he realized that he'd seen this kind of thing before. He knew what was going to happen.

"Whoa! How did you jump to that conclusion?" Ami was a little surprised. Here's somebody that actually thinks faster than I do! Or maybe he just has had different set of experiences to draw from…

"Ok." Gohan said, taking a few calming breaths. Kami had said that you think best when you are calm. "What kind of person would steal someone's strength?"

"An evil one." Ami responded easily.

"Right, but why? Either they're jealous of that person's strength and want it for themselves, or they want that person to be LACKING that strength when they come to town. Sometimes it's both."

That makes a lot of sense. "You think that the Earth is about to be attacked?" Ami asked, feeling a twinge of anger and fear that started to grow.

"Could be," Gohan was grim.

"NO! This can't be happening! I'm even weaker than I was before my strength was released!" Ami started to panic.

What was that!?! Her ki just surged! Hmm… maybe her 'power' was magic-based. If that's so, then her ki would obviously still be there. And I could train her, so she can help carry the fight when this power thief shows up. "Ami calm down! I think I know a way you can make a difference in this fight."

She started to calm down. "No I can't, I'm too… what did you say?"

"This power you keep referring too, it's magic-based right? 'Ki' is different; it is one's inner soul. With proper development and training, it can be used to boost one's strength and speed, and with even more training it can be tapped as pure energy. Some species have a naturally higher level of attunement to their ki than others do - this attunement is often referred to as one's 'ki/power level'. My father is a Saiyajin; they are one such race that has a naturally high power level. And even within a species that has a low average power level, there are exceptions. Humans generally have a low average ki level, but my mother is one exception. So are several of my friends. And so are you." He waited a moment for his words to sink in. "Anyone with power level high enough to be detected can be trained to use their ki to great effect. Just now, when you were flipping out, I felt your ki spike upward."

"Hey, now I remember where I hear the word 'ki' before," exclaimed Ami. "I saw that word in a book of magic, used to teach beginning mages how to tap the astral plane for the energy needed to cast a spell. 'Ki' is an archaic word for the internal balance of the spirit that mages need to find before they can draw energy from the astral plane. I never realized that one could draw power from the balance itself. Hang on a second, I want to try something…" Ami said, and whipped out her Mercury computer. Ami finished recalibrating the computer's sensors, scanned him, and turned so white Gohan thought she would feint. He jumped up and grabbed Ami's arm to keep her from falling out of her chair.

THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE! This power reading is off the charts! And yet I didn't feel him until my mystic sense told me I was being followed! "Gohan," Ami said slowly, "Do you know how powerful you are?"

The question surprised him. "Yea, I have a pretty good idea."

"How powerful?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes Gohan, I want to know."

"Well, if I put all my energy into it, I could probably blow up a planet. Or at least a big chunk of one," he said quietly, wondering if she could turn any whiter. To his surprise, she didn't.

"Yea… that sounds about right. My computer is picking up a huge amount of power from you."

"Um, Ami, I'm not even at full power right now," said Gohan, standing up yet again.

"What?! No way!…" her voice trailed off as Gohan ground his teeth together, focusing. A glow formed around him, and then, with a silent bang, the bluish-white glow snapped into an aura the likes of which she had never seen! Its like he's on fire… but it's white!

Gohan was getting worried. He hadn't had to strain that hard to bring out his ki flame since he was a kid. What's going on here? He released his mental hold and the aura dissipated.

Ami noticed the look. "Gohan, what's wrong?"

"I've never had to strain that much to bring out my ki flame."

"This is worse than I thought."

"Huh?" Gohan was confused for a moment, and then it hit him like one of Vegeta's punches. And I was winded after a pair of zanzokens… this is real bad!

"You've been weakened to!"

"Well then, we better get started."

Now it was Ami's turn to wonder. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to teach you how to fight…" he couldn't finished because Ami cut him with a frown.

"Gohan… take two steps toward me," she said, standing up. Gohan blinked at the odd request, but complied anyway. What surprised him was Ami's actions. At the peak of his second step, Ami darted toward Gohan, snatching one of his arms from his side and pulling it (the rest of his upper body following) forward, down, then back at his own legs. That motion combined with Gohan's own momentum, flipping him over to land on his back with a startled squawk. In that time, Ami moved from applying leverage to his arm to being positioned over his prone form with one arm poised for a knife-hand strike to his exposed throat.

There was a pause, during which Gohan stared into Ami's blue eyes, and Ami stared into Gohan's black ones. Ami found herself breathing a bit harder than normal. He's so… solid. So strong. That Aikido move shouldn't have taken so much effort on my part, yet I know I executed it perfectly. The muscles in his forearm felt like corded steel, no diamond… I wonder if the rest of him is as hard-What am I thinking?! Ami shook herself, snapping her mind away from that line of thought even as a blush grew on her face. Gohan noticed but decided it didn't matter, so he immediately went back to the subject at hand.

"…Ok, ok, so you know some of the basics; great, that's less time wasted! Now I just have to teach you how to find your ki and how to use it." Gohan rubbed the back of his neck as he stood, not noticing the slightly disappointed look on Ami's face. Which she didn't notice either, possibly because it had nothing to do with what she said in response.

"Basics!? Makoto has been instructing the rest of us in hand-to-hand combat for at least three years now!"

"Whoa, calm down. I've been practicing Martial Arts since I was five years old. As far as I'm concerned, it takes three years to learn the basics."

Ami blushed again, in embarrassment as well as in… something else. Well, that explains why he is so well-formed. Idly she thought, I wonder what he looks like with his shirt off-Get ahold of yourself girl! Gohan is an thinking person, he doesn't need me going lovesick on him. And the other Senshi don't need that either. Speaking of which, he is very intelligent… Ugh, what is wrong with me? I am not Minako or Makoto! "Oh… All right, tell me out you would start from scratch."

Totally unaware of the thoughts run amok in Ami's head, Gohan took a moment to gather his thoughts. "The base of it all is finding one's centre. Once the mind is focused and in balance, then inner soul can be brought forth from within. The body is the vessel for your power: it links you to your source of energy, the soul. The mind, of course, directs this energy. In order to really make use of that power, you must bind your body, mind, and soul as one, so the energy becomes a part of you, accessible for use…"

"And just how do you do that?"

"Your inner soul is strengthened and brought forth with extensive Martial Arts training. You know you've got it when you can call forth a 'battle aura', a visible expression of one's inner energy, at will. Then, there are meditations used for the process of the binding…"

"Ok! When do we start," Ami said excitedly.

Gohan's stomach interrupted rudely. "…But, if you don't mind, I'm really hungry. I haven't eaten in days!" Ami sweat-dropped.

"Um… ok, sure. Do you have any preferences?" she asked.

"Nope, so long as its edible!"

Ami started on dinner. She made it a point to make an extra portion of everything, in case Gohan was a big eater, and it sounded like he was. She set the food down on the table… and before she sat down herself, Gohan started attacking the food! He was devouring it so fast, shoveling in more before he had swallowed what was in his mouth already!

"You pig!" she yelled, thinking, God, he eats what, TWICE what Usagi does? And he does it THREE times as fast! But when Ami saw his cheeks were puffed out like a squirrel's, she was hit with the worst giggle attack ever. It was so much that she fell off her chair!

This time, Gohan sweat-dropped. He swallowed everything in his mouth and asked, "Ami? Are you ok?"

Ami couldn't answer for a while, trying as she was to regain control of herself. "What are you? Some kind of eating machine?" she asked.

Gohan shrugged. "Uh… yea… that IS a pretty accurate description of my eating habits," he said, a little embarrassed. Ami looked at him as he started eating again, and the giggling came back. This time she aimed the giggle attack at him, and when it hit, he nearly choked. This just got Ami giggling even harder, even as she got up to fetch a towel for Gohan to clean himself up with. Ami directed him to the hamper when he was done. Then Gohan turned back to the table, and when he did his eyes locked with Ami's. They started laughing all over again, Ami's near-hysterical giggle and Gohan's roaring laughter.

"Ohhhh, my gut hurts like hell! I've never laughed that hard before!" Gohan was shaking his head, grinning like an idiot. Still, he couldn't help but notice just how Ami looked as she laughed. She's pretty cute, laughing like that… he thought.

Ami was wiping tears from her eyes. "I don't think I've ever laughed that hard either. Hey!" she jumped up suddenly. "Go back to eating Gohan, I want to get a picture. God, Usagi is going to loose it when she finds out that there's somebody who can eat more than her, faster than her!" Gohan's grin grew, to the point of stretching from ear to ear.

Sounds like Ami has some interesting friends. The introductions will have to wait, however… Gohan never saw the slight blush on Ami's face. And she went into full denial of… something… later that night.

Which didn't change the Path of Destiny, of course.

8 - Turning Up the Heat

For the next four months, Gohan and Ami trained non-stop. She felt weird, not doing the usual Senshi magic exercises every day (even though they weren't possible with her power gone), but Gohan proved that she wouldn't need them if she could master her ki. Ami thought back to the day they started… as a demonstration of ki, Gohan blew up a tall rock spire with the 'Demon Bullet' ki-blast he learned from his old master, Piccolo. Ami remembered standing there, dumbfounded, as he braced himself, legs apart, and put his open hands over his head, the words "MASENKOU DAN!" starting as a chant and becoming a yell. Beams of light seemed to gather in front of his palms as he spoke, becoming a pulsing ball of green energy that he launched at his target, trailing a streamer. The shock wave from the explosion had almost knocked her over…

~WHAP! POW! THWAP!~ A three-hit combo from Gohan sent Ami straight into the ground with a loud thud, and brought her back to the present.

"Don't back-slide now Ami. You're doing too well to let that happen."

Ami wiped the blood from her mouth as she stood up. Grrrr… I can't let my mind wander like that! Every time it happens he pounds me into the ground. She let the snarl form in her throat before she launched herself at Gohan.

That's the way! Just don't let up… Gohan had to admit, Ami had made more progress in these four months than he himself had in the whole year that Piccolo trained him. Then again, I was 5, and Ami is 20, and has already been trained to fight…

The training continued, as the half-saiyajin and the former Senshi of Mercury mercilessly struck, blocked, countered, threw, and blasted. Ami's superb focus had helped tremendously in her training. She quickly found her centre, boosting her strength and speed back up, though not as high up as her old Senshi abilities. She also mastering ki-field manipulation so fast that Gohan went straight into flying and then ki-blasts. Now their sparring matches would go on hundreds of feet in the air. The impact of their punches and kicks were so powerful that each could be heard from miles around, and at each point of contact, the air rippled visibly. The two fighters, however, were anything but visible. As Ami became more adept at using "hyper-speed" or the zanzoken, Gohan found himself tracking her more and more by sensing her ki. Good, now I can start speeding up as well, and force her to develop her own sense more. She is still relying too much on her eyesight. He kicked his speed up a notch and seemed to melt into the air. Ami swore to herself. Where did he go? Damn! She got her question answered when a powerful kick connected from behind, bowing her back and propelling her forward.

"ARGH! I'll get you for that!" she yelled.

"Really?" Gohan asked from above, grinning and diving down with left arm back for a big punch.

"Yea! Really!" Ami grinned back. She had something special in store that she had been quietly working on, and now was the perfect time to try it out. Gohan's fist shot toward her, but at the last second, Ami slipped past his punch, grabbed his wrist, and added her own push to his momentum. Now it's his turn to bit the dust! It worked too: Gohan couldn't quite recover and slammed into the ground. He flipped up onto his feet, and was about to spring back up at her when he heard "MASENKOU DAN!!!"

Time to show her the other energy trick I've got up my sleeve… thanks, Dad, Gohan thought.

"KA…"

What's that? Ami thought.

"ME…"

This isn't one I've heard before.

"HA…"

Oh boy, this is going to be big.

"ME…"

Ami visibly gulped.

"HAA!!!" Goku's signature move, the 'Kame Hame Ha', leapt from Gohan's hands to meet his student's 'Masenkou Dan'. The green and blue energy beams met, the shockwave from the collision bowling over trees across a wide area. But it wasn't over yet. Both Ami and Gohan poured more energy into their beams. At first it seemed that Gohan was going to win, for his beam was steadily pushing Ami's upward. Then the blue beam slowed, and soon it was Ami that was winning this power struggle. Strange… it's like Ami is getting stronger by the second… She was actually beating him in a head-to-head 'push-fight'. Good Ami, you're using anger. But your going to have to do better if you want to win. He pushed harder. It wasn't enough. Wait, she ISN'T using her anger! And she's still winning! Gohan let his own anger build. He pushed even harder. Still wasn't enough. I need to teach her that controlled fury will help her past this block she's at. Then Gohan heard it: a war cry.

Ami screamed in triumph. And it's all thanks to you, Tifa. The Limit Break was just what I needed to give Gohan a run for his… WHAT THE %@$#!?! (A.N.: sorry, I just HAD to slip in a Final Fantasy cameo!)

Gohan heard Ami's bellow of victory… and he let go. His own yell became a roar. His ki flame and hair flashed gold. His eyes burned blue-green. And his strength skyrocketed, as did his attack.

NO WAY! I HAD HIM! was all Ami could think of as her beam was battered back upward. Finally, it hit… and the world went dark.

9 - She Almost Did It

When Ami came to, she was on her back, still in her fighting gi, or what was left of it. And standing over her was… "Gohan?" He laughed.

"Yup, it's me." Gohan pointed to his gold hair and blue-green eyes. Ami noticed that his eyes were totally without pupils. "Like I said when we first met, I'm actually half-human. The most powerful Saiyajins are capable of transforming into a higher state, called 'Super-Saiyajin'. So far we know of three levels beyond the base; this is the first."

"And that means what? Your twice as strong now?" Ami asked with a pained grunt.

"More. A Saiyajin's power increases exponentially with every level above the base."

Ami just blinked at that. "Then why do you need my…"

"I need your help because, unfortunately, I had enough trouble getting to the first level just now. There's no way I'm going to get to the second level any time soon. Hopefully, you, me, and the Senshi will be enough… Ami? Are you all right?"

Ami's head dropped as she realized that she still hadn't completed her body/mind/soul meld, the whole point of this most recent part of her training. "Gohan, why can't I?"

"Why can't you what?"

"Why can't I finish the meld? I've been trying so hard for these last three weeks, and I still haven't done it," Ami said dejectedly as she stood up.

"Don't worry about it, today you came closer than you ever did before."

"Really?" she asked, stunned.

"Really, Ami." Gohan paused. "By the way, I'd like to know how you increased your strength that much, right in the middle of the fight."

"It's called a 'Limit Break,' and what happens is that the damage inflicted on me is stored up as energy, which I can release all at once."

"Oh," Gohan responded. She still doesn't understand that the anger I can feel deep inside her is the key to completing her meld and unlocking her hidden strength. I thought she had, but apparently it was just this 'Limit Break' move. Blast! She is too gentle a person to completely devote herself to the warrior's path, which makes her darker emotions the only thing that could driver her far enough and hard enough to make a difference. And I feel like we are almost out of time! The last option that we have is for us to just work on completing her meld. Worse comes to worst, she'll complete it during the upcoming battle. Hopefully…

"Gohan?" Ami asked, bringing him back from his thoughts. "You still there?"

"Yea I'm still here. Let's give it a rest for now. We will continue tomorrow." He let out a breath, and his hair fell lower and turned to black as his eyes became dark again.

"No Gohan, I must push harder. I have to complete the meld!"

Gohan grinned at her determination. Now that is the attitude that will win her a fight. "Ami, I have sometime to tell you."

"Yes?"

"You've gotten as good as you're going to get until you complete your meld. And I know why you haven't."

"What do you mean? How come I haven't?" she asked, confused.

"Ami… you aren't making use of a key source of power: your anger."

Ami was incredulous. "You can't be serious! How can I win a fight if I lose control of myself? Anger doesn't solve anything."

"Whoa, whoa! I never said that you had to lose yourself to your anger, I meant that you can, and need, to make use of it." Gohan paused for a moment, looking deeply into Ami's eyes. Reaching out, he brushed a few stray locks of blue hair away from those deep, blue orbs. "I… realize that you are by nature a gentle person…"

For a moment, Ami's breath was caught in her chest. He… He…

Then he was stepping back, his hand dropping back to his side. "…That's why this is such a struggle for you. That gentle nature is warring with your desire to protect yourself, your friends, and the Earth as well." Gohan paused again, this time to get his breath back. "Look at is this way: there are two kinds of anger: hot anger and cold anger. Hot anger is a reaction; it controls you. Cold anger is a tool; you control it. And it is this cold anger that I can just barely make out in the depths of your being. It's a powerful source of energy. Used right, 'cold fury' can sharpen your senses, increase your strength and speed, and triple your determination to win. And often enough, determination is the key, while the emotion simply drives you on."

Ami didn't speak for a long time. "… I… I'll have to think… about what you've said…" And I thought he was going to say something sweet! Hmph, men! Somehow, Ami couldn't put nearly as much irritation into that thought as she believed was warranted.

"Tomorrow Ami. We will start focusing on it tomorrow." He started back toward Ami's house. Ami remained where she was, still trying to figure out her feelings.

Gohan noticed (that she wasn't following, that is). "Come on, let's head back to your place. We've got better things to do than just around, right?"

Ami's head snapped, heat flooding her cheeks as several… interesting… images of her and Gohan together sprang to mind. "L-like what?" she asked, cursing the waver in her voice.

Gohan gave her a strange look. "What else? I'm starved!"

With a loud ~THUD~ Ami facefaulted. I should have guessed. Then she groaned at the thought of cleaning up another of Gohan's eating frenzies.

10 - Almost All Over Again

"Feel it Ami! Feel the fury deep down inside you! They stole your strength, and they won't think twice about using it against your friends! And you won't be able to anything about it… unless you find your power! I can feel it in you; the iciness. You are still the Princess of Mercury, with or without your Senshi magic. Feel that anger Ami! Let it out! Feed it! It grows colder each time you use it! It's your strength, your fury!" Gohan was sitting on boulder not too far from where Ami. Her feet apart, her hands clenched into fists, her eyes squeezed shut, Ami ground her teeth together as she focused. He kept talking, despite the fact that Ami wasn't listening.

She's so close! I didn't believe she could be any closer than she was on the day she forced me to go Super-Saiyajin, but I was wrong! Gohan's jaw was tight as he felt the winds pick up. What had started as a faint outer glow around Ami was getting stronger. She pushed harder, her battle aura brightened, and a faint rumbling noise could be heard. Ami was sweating hard, but she didn't acknowledge it nor anything else around her. It was her determination was what was driving her now.

Anger will get me nowhere. Why doesn't Gohan realize that? She just pushed harder, using pure determination and willpower. Ami's battle aura, almost five inches of shimmering blue power thick, began to crackle with energy. The rumbling noise grew, the winds picked up even more, and pebbles began to rise from the ground. Cracks began to form in the cliff they were standing on.

Almost Ami! ALMOST!! The light around Ami began to wavier, ready to flare up into true ki flame. A shock wave blasted out from Ami, buckling the ground. SO CLOSE!

Then… it was gone. The rumbling faded, the dust settled, the air lost its charge, wind died down, the impressive battle aura withdrew… and Ami, the center of the storm, collapsed. Leaving Gohan sitting on a boulder, thinking about what had just happened. She's got to get past this mental block about using her anger if all this training is going to be of any use. She's more determined than ever, but without some kind of emotion backing that determination, she has nothing to drive her to her limits…

11 - Bad News

Yes, YES! The Senshi return from an unsuccessful search, soon they will all be together, where I can destroy them! Shein-ko-Shen frowned for a second. Still, there is the matter of this boy that has suddenly appeared, teaching the Mercury Princess some fighting style that I have never seen. It hardly matters though. She cackled evilly. He can't possibly teach her anything that could overcome her own Senshi power, power that has aged with time and never dies, even in the user does. Now is the time to go to Earth, and begin my REVENGE! " HA HA HA HAAAA!"

12 - The End of the Beginning

Ami had never been so depressed.

She stood before her mirror, looking at her vastly changed reflection. Training scars marked her body here and there, and with her tan they made her look tougher. More impressive was the serious muscle that showed on her formally thin frame. Of course, appearances were deceiving; she still wasn't back up to where she was before. Then again, I have never felt so in touch with myself: with my body, with my mind, and… with my heart.

Ami sighed. Yesterday had been like all the others. She had come so close to linking her body, mind, and soul each time, but each time she had failed. Still, I'll never be anything like I was before…

A flash from her mystic senses cut off her thoughts, followed by a wave of uneasiness as she picked up on a powerful source of obviously evil ki.

"Ami! We've got company! Another purple vortex has appeared over Tokyo, and something big and nasty is coming out! I can feel it! We have to move, NOW!!" Gohan's yell battered its way through the door to her room, and she knew he was right. In a blur, Ami changed into the fighting uniform Gohan had designed for her.

Well, not all was wasted, because I can actually feel his ki, and that of our visitor… hey, something is really familiar about that parts of that energy… "Gohan! It's the bastard who stole my strength! I know it!" Ami was starting to get a little frightened. The last time the Sailor Senshi faced the power of one of their own the results hadn't been pretty, and now it was about to happen again. There was something else there to… anger… Maybe Gohan was right, maybe she HAD to release her anger… No! she thought to herself, I must not lose control of myself. Gohan and I are the last hope the Earth has until the other Senshi get back. Still, there was a little piece of her mind that knew Gohan was right; Ami just couldn't acknowledge it. They ran outside.

"GO, GO, GO!!!" Gohan yelled, and together they blasted off for midtown Tokyo. Unknown to Ami, her fear was beginning to be replaced by the cold fury that Gohan had been trying to instill in her.

Steal my strength, will you? And then you try to use it against my friends and home? Not a chance!

12.1 -

"What the hell is that?!" screamed Usagi, pointing at the vortex hovering over Tokyo. Their spaceship buckled under heavy winds as they tried to land.

"I've never seen anything… look! Something's coming out!" Makoto stared on in horror at what was dropping through the vortex and into midtown Tokyo. Definitely female, the only only word to describe it was 'demonness'. This was because 'she' had blue skin, and had shape bone protrusions at various joints as well as six spikes of the same extending radially from the center of her back. Attired in some kind of black, armored battledress that fit around the bone protrusions, she had a big, powerful frame. Jet-back hair, rippling in the wind, seemed to be as dark as her presence. She had to be at least thirty feet tall. "Guys, we've got to hurry! Something tells me that that… thing… is going to destroy the Earth, starting with us, and unless we can stop it…"

"Should we pick up Ami? She's the only one that isn't here," asked Minako.

"Remember what she said back at her home, that she has never been that weak before. In any case, time isn't on our side. She can get there herself," Makoto was saying. Usagi began to pale suddenly.

"Hey guys? Do you feel something… that reminds you of Ami… a bit?" the blond-haired Senshi said uncertainly. They all looked up, out the window.

"Chikusho, Usagi you are right… that beast must be who stole our Ami's power! Let's go teach it a lesson!!" Rei roared, her training as a Shinto priestess recognizing the vast extent of the threat and engaging a kind of battle-rage within her in response.

"Here we go…" said Makoto. Not good, if we can all feel a piece of Ami in that hideous thing, that means it must be using her energy, just like Ami said! Not good, not good at all!

13 - Fighting the Demonness

Shein-ko-Shen had no reason to start bowling over buildings or stepping on these little humans… except for the fact that it was fun. To see them scramble to get out of the way gave her little tingles of unholy pleasure. Her rampage continued until…

"Stop right there!" Sailor Moon yelled. The other Senshi, with the exception of Mercury, appeared with her. "We are the Sailor Senshi, Champions of… [yaddy yaddy yaddy]… we will defeat you!" (A.N.: While I don't mind the Sailor Senshi's antics too much, their speeches just make me sick. Sorry 'bout that!)

Shein-ko-Shen paused for a second, then she turned her blood-red glaze toward the Senshi and threw back her head in evil laughter, "HA HA HAAA! You cannot possibly defeat ME! Your blue-haired friend was one of your strongest, and now… HER POWER IS ONE WITH MINE!" she screamed as she launched herself at the Senshi.

God! She has Mercury's speed all right… Sailor Jupiter thought. The Senshi barely managed to get out of the way. The building that the demonness hit seemed to shatter and fall at the same time. And she has a Demon's strength too! This is looking real bad… OH NO! "SAILOR MOON, LOOK OUT!!" the demonness had leapt again, and this time, it looked like Sailor Moon wouldn't be able to escape…

"MASENKOU…" two voices spoke as one.

"Who's that?" snarled the demonness, looking around.

"Is that Ami's voice I hear?" asked a surprised Sailor Mars.

"DAN!!!" The power of the yell seemed to batter everyone down, but what really made the Senshi dive for cover were the two beams of light that streaked down from above. Shein-ko-Shen's eyes bugged out when she saw the pair of emerald-green ki-blasts converging on her.

In a huge explosion, the two beams of energy blasted the demonness backward, slamming her through several buildings before she finally stopped her momentum. As the Senshi watched in amazement, Ami and Gohan dropped from the sky side by side and took up mirrored fighting stances, shoulder to shoulder. Gohan was decked out his usual red-on-dark-blue fighting gi. Ami's gi was similar in design, but remade for a feminine form and was white-over-ice-blue.

"Ami? What… what was that? And who's your friend?"

The Senshi were starting to babble questions at Ami when she forcefully yelled, "Enough! We have no time to talk! Right now we've gotta finish this hell-spawned beast!"

"Heads up people!" Gohan called. "Our uninvited guest has revived."

"YOU! Girl you should know better than to come back! You think that your new powers will match your own power combined with mine? HA! Fool, now you will all DIE!" With that, Shein-ko-Shen charged one more time.

"Here she comes! Scatter!" yelled Gohan. He propelled himself skyward as everyone else moved, then dived back down at the demonness. ~WHAP! WHAP! POW! THUMP!~ The demonness and Gohan began to trade blows, but Gohan, not at full strength, wasn't able to hold his own. Ami saw this and quickly joined the fray. Sailor Jupiter (having improved as an Artist since she had first joined the Senshi, over six years prior) wasn't long behind. The four fighters seemed to blur as the tide of the fight swung back and forth, but it seemed to keep swaying in the demonness' favor…

"Come on Sailor Senshi!" Sailor Moon yelled. "We have to help! Sailor Planet Attack! Moon Scepter Elimination!"

"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!"

"Mars Fire Soul!"

Jupiter back-flipped out of range then added her own to the combined attack: "Jupiter Supreme Thunder!"

Ami jetted up and back, then hovered over the other Senshi and tried to call on her own power; then she remembered what she was fighting for. Damnit! I hope the Senshi can pull this off without me. Gohan was getting in a few lasted punches when he heard what they were doing. He started to disengage, but the demonness managed to snag his leg and took the opportunity to smash him into the ground.

"Fire anyway girls!" he yelled as best he could, being planted face-down in the concrete of the street. "Don't worry about me!" All the attacks merged together in a blinding flash of light, and with a final push it streaked toward Shein-ko-Shen. Gohan stayed on the deck then rolled sideways, out of the line of fire.

"ARGH! YOU THINK THAT THIS PITIFUL ATTACK WILL HARM…" the demon ness's voice was cut off with a grunt as the combined attack hit. It was a grand power struggle between the power of the Sailor Senshi and that of the demonness Shein-ko-Shen. Unfortunately, the demonness was winning… again.

"Oh no! Guys, she's beating it back! Without Sailor Mercury, the Planet Attack isn't at full power! What can we do?" Venus was really getting scared now…

"Ami!" Gohan called. "Power up! When she finishes with that attack, we'll double-blast her again!"

With that, Gohan set himself, and focused on his anger at his current prediciment, unable to defend Earth… a Earth, without assistance. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" With a terrific roar, Gohan's eyes flashed blue-green, and his aura and hair flickered to gold as he went Super-Saiyajin.

Ami had her own way, focusing instead on the principles of the Sailor Senchi. This demonness threatens ALL that we have fought to protect! She must be stopped! The air around her crackled with energy and her battle aura glowed to life once again. The winds picked up around her… and the air began to grow colder.

Shein-ko-Shen had it with these pitiful Earthlings! She shoved the combined power of the Senshi straight up into the air, and was about to charge again, when she realized that the ground was shaking. What the?… Before her were Gohan and Ami, energy crackling around them. She took one step forward and heard:

"MA−SEN−KOU…"

Oh no! Not again! the demonness groaned to herself.

Man! I've never felt this much power from Ami ever before! And that guy with him! Jupiter was dumbfounded.

"…DAN!!!" Again two green ki-blasts lanced out at the demonness. But Shein-ko-Shen was not about to fall for the same trick twice. She rushed at Ami.

What the?! Oh no, I missed! Gohan thought. The demonness slipped past his beam and slammed into Ami's, shoving it backward. Her control isn't as good as mine! "NO!!" he screamed.

Ami saw it too: her own blast was coming back in her face. Ami tried to jump out of the way, but she just wasn't fast enough. First there was light, then there was noise, then there was nothing…

~BA-BOOM!~ The blast covered a wide area, leaving a huge, ugly crater.

"AMI! NOOO!!" Gohan flew into a rage. "YOU ANIMAL! NOW YOU DIE!!!" He attacked with a kind of viciousness that Shein-ko-Shen had only seen in things born of Hell itself.

Jupiter was just as furious, screaming, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" and charging as well. The other Senshi tried to join the attack, but the demonness would not let them. With a demonic incantonation, she called up a wall of fire that scorched the slower Sailor Senshi, leaving the fight to Gohan and Sailor Jupiter…

They fought valiantly, and with the determination of an entire army, but Shein-ko-Shen managed to hold them back. Jupiter, while a good fighter in her own way, just wasn't up to Gohan's or even Ami's new level. Taking advantage of a small slip, the demonness sent the poor girl flying into the rubble of a building with a straight kick. Gohan tried to slip in and land a finishing blow to the demonness' neck, but he wasn't fast enough. She grabbed Gohan and began punching him repeatedly.

This is it, he thought. It's all over…

Shein-ko-Shen finally felt good. She dropped the battered, black/blond-haired boy and advanced on the remaining Sailor Senshi. "Now… it's my turn," she grinned evilly, showing fangs. Sailors Moon, Venus, and Mars were frozen in fear. "HA HA HA HAAA…"

14 - Going All Out

"Uhhh…." Ami groaned slowly. Her body ached in a million places. "Damn, that hurt." She was struggling to her feet when she realized that the sounds of battle had ceased. What the… the fighting's stopped… but that would mean… Looking up, Ami saw the demonness, standing over a battlefield… littered with the broken bodies of her friends! And in her choking hand was Sailor Moon… a.k.a. the Princess, Usagi! NO!!!!!

"STOP!!! STOP NOW!!!" The voice itself was like a punch in the jaw, a shock wave that rolled over everything in its path, chilling at the same time. Shein-ko-Shen dropped Sailor Moon's limp form as the iciness dug into her, and whirled to face the source. What the demonness saw froze her blood to the very bottom of her dark heart. THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!!! HOW COULD IT?!?

Ami, gi torn, body bruised, face cut, stood in front of the crater that seemed to be evidence of her death, rippling with power. Feelings that she had buried, ones that came with fighting Creatures of Evil to ensure the Future of Earth, surged against the barrier that had held them back for so long. However, Ami's training under Gohan had changed the way she viewed those emotions, and thus that barrier had weakened. With a sharp snap that could almost be felt, that barrier broke and released a torrent of what had condensed into icy rage. While this dark emotion would have terrified Ami in any other situation, on this battlefield she welcomed it. She stole my strength! She invaded my world! She hurt my friends! The torrent quickly became a roaring flood. She will pay… IN SPADES!!!

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…"

Ami's hands closed into tight fists, and her feet spread apart, bracing her as chilling winds whirled around her. Loose debris began to drift about, riding on the waves of power emanating from her. Her battle aura shined brilliant blue-white, and it grew rapidly, an icy coldness like nothing the Senshi had ever felt. Even at the distance the Tokyo news crews were at to the battle field, they too felt that power.

"…rrrrraaaaaaaaaaa…"

What had started as a growl of determination was fast becoming a scream of anger. As Ami's battle aura began to flicker, the ground buckled and split, trees toppled, and park benches tumbled away. Big chunks of tarmac were pulled up and thrown ten, twenty, thirty feet from the center of the storm. Icy blue arcs of power began to dance around her like lightning, and water in the air began to condense into floating crystals of ice; they sparkled eerily. Then… something cracked-and shattered.

"…aaaaaAAAAAAAA…"

Ami's scream became a howl, one of absolute fury, and her massive battle aura, now almost seven feet in diameter, flared even brighter-before it ignited in a spectacular ~WHOOSH!~ It looked like the air itself began to burn around Ami… but rather than radiate burning heat, the blue flames seemed to radiate freezing cold…

"…AAAHHHHH!!"

The howl ended. You did it! Gohan thought in triumph. You've found your power, your soul of ice! I knew it was in you!

Shein-ko-Shen wasn't so confident any more. Ami, ki flame flaring a vivid blue, hair waving upward as if in a stiff wind, brought her focus from within herself to the demonness… and the ambient temperature seemed to drop to absolute zero. Ami narrowed her eyes, crouched down, then leapt to the attack. The power behind Ami's leap cratered the ground where she had stood not a moment before. And when they met, the impact was like a bomb…

To say that the fighting was intense would be an understatement; a VAST understatement. Buildings crumpled, the ground cracked and split, and the impacts of fists and feet on bodies set up shock waves so powerful that they were visible in the air. Ami's glowing form and the demonness' larger, darker form were moving so fast that they became twin blurs to most watching eyes. To those few who could follow, it was like some kind of deadly dance… beautiful, yet lethal. Every punch or kick thrown by the demonness was either blocked or dodged by Ami. Every punch or kick thrown by Ami was either blocked… or landed with incredible force.

It was probably the greatest fight every witnessed by the people of Earth. The media had arrived just in time to see Ami get hit by her own ki-blast, and had seen the Sailor Senshi picked apart by this new menace. Everyone in the city of Tokyo was watching, and until Ami made her reappearance, they feared the worst. Now they did not. Two champions, one of light, one of dark, fought each other with every once of strength, speed, and skill they had. It was looking like the fight would never end when…

~THUMP!~

In a wicked feint, Ami slipped under the demonness' guard and slammed her fist into the demonness' gut with all the power she could muster… and Shein-ko-Shen could not move. The power of the blow to her torso was so great that it was all she could do to remain standing. And it was too much for Ami's hand; at least two bones broke. Ami pulled back, ignoring the pain, then launched herself straight up into a leaping kick.

~CRACK!~

The demonness' head snapped back as Ami's kick connected with the underside of her jaw.

This ends here and now!

In a move that had finality written all over it, Ami seized the demonness' leg and whipped her down then up in an airplane spin… which ended as Ami released Shein-ko-Shen, sending her sky-high. Ami, however, was not done yet. Drawing her arms back at waist level, she cupped her hands, as if holding something…

"KA…"

A point of blue-white light appeared between her palms.

"ME…"

The pinpoint grew, and specks of energy condensed out of the air.

"HA…"

Now a small orb, it continued to grow.

"ME…"

It flared, sending rays of light out through the gaps between Ami's fingers.

"HAA!!!"

Ami brought her arms forward and up, wrists together, palms up, fingers like claws. The power she gathered blasted upward in a beam of blue-white power wider than a man is tall. It leapt toward the sky, engulfing the demonness Shein-ko-Shen as she screamed a last threat: "YOU MAY DEFEAT ME, BUT I WILL…" The roar of the blast overcame the demonness' last words, and the blinding light overcame everyone's vision. When their eyes cleared…

It was over. An ugly cloud of black soot hung in the air where the demonness had been… except for some weird wavering of light in the air. It flickered this way and that, looking for something, or someone…

Seeing this, Ami reached her hands to the sky, and the light surrounded her, blinding them all. The chill the air had gained during the fight finished dispersing by the time the light cleared… and Ami was back in her Senshi uniform!

"Ami… um, wow!" Gohan was speechless. While he had already seen the other scouts in their uniforms, for some reason he only had eyes for Ami. She's really cute… Gohan observed without really thinking about it. And Ami was looking very impressive in her little fuku, which showed quite a bit of her recent muscular development as a result of the combat training… Absently, Gohan dropped his Super-Saiyajin form.

Sailor Jupiter whirled, finally remembering that he was a stranger to all of them except Ami. "Hey Mercury, why don't we go get healed up now. I'd like to get to know your friend with the color-changing hair."

15 - The Aftermath

"Well I'm glad you were here to help, but who are you?" The second they were inside Ami's house, Makoto was jumping all over Gohan.

Gohan had asked that everyone hold the questions until they were in the privacy of Ami's home. Which apparently wasn't enough. "Well, I, uh…" Gohan didn't quite know what to say, either to the questions or to other ways in which Makoto was jumping all over him. And he really didn't know what to say to Minako either, who was simply hanging off him. In the girls' opinions, it certainly helped that Gohan was a muscular hunk in ever sense of the term.

It had been two days since the big fight, and Ami finally had enough. She glared at Makoto and Minako, then very distinctly growled at them both. The other Senshi rather openly gaped at this very un-Ami like behavior, while Gohan looked on confused and uncomprehending. To this Ami blushed furiously.

"Makoto!" she exclaimed, exasperated with her friend's manners and eager to divert attention from herself, "That's no way to talk to the guy who saved us all!"

"Saved us? You did that! He just…" Ami cut off her friend.

"Makoto, tell me, where do you think I learned to do this?" she asked, raising her ki until her blue ki flame flickered around her. "Where do you think I got the strength to fight that demonness, with my old power having been stolen?"

Makoto caught on fast. "… YOU taught her all that???" Makoto stammered, pointing at Gohan.

"Yea, I did. Why is that so surprising?"

"It's just… oh never mind…" Makoto's voice trailed off. "Just tell me what happened, from the point just after me and the other Senshi left." Ami sat down, ironically on the same chair that Gohan sat on when they first met, and began recounting the events of the past four months. The other Senshi just sat around listening, eyes wide… It took a couple of minutes to give the whole scoop.

"Whoa! So you're far stronger in your home dimension? And Ami, oh my God, I've never seen anybody give off that much pure power!" Makoto was really losing a piece of her pride now. She used to be the hand-to-hand 'master', but after seeing Ami fight now, after her new training, Makoto knew she was second best in that department…

"Ami, I think we've got the dimension thing all wrong," Gohan interjected, changing the subject. Ami looked surprised. "I think that I'm from something beyond another dimension, because I've dealt with that, when my friends and I had to deal with a traveler from the future. I think it's more like… I'm from another… universe."

"Hmmm, interesting…" Ami was in her thinking mode again. "Still, I remain convinced that we can use the power of the Ginzuishou to get you home. It will simply require more power if you are indeed from another universe."

"Seriously? Great, I was worried for a while that I wouldn't be able to get home at all! How about we start tomorrow, a fresh day. I'm dead tired right now, not to mention rather beaten up, and I'm pretty sure all of you are too." Gohan was looking around at the other Senshi, then blinked.

Everyone was indeed exhausted, but the injuries didn't seem that bad any more, for the girls at least. The last time he had checked, they all had a number of nasty injuries. Usagi had a bruised throat, plus a nasty bump on the back of her head that wasn't quite a concussion. Makoto had a broken arm, and it seemed she had torn a ligament in her leg. Rei had a dislocated shoulder and wrist, but luckily that was the worst for her. Ami had those two broken bones in her right hand and a twisted left ankle. Minako faired the best, though not her her opinion; the vicious bruise that covered the left side of her jaw would heal quickly, but Minako had been complaining that an injury to her face would never heal fast enough. Everyone had an assortment of bumps and bruises, plus a few burns… or should have. Gohan stiff had at least a half-dozen cracked ribs from the pounding he suffered, and he was wondering.

"Um… girls? What happened to the injuries you all took in the fight?" Ami winced suddenly and with guilt, realizing what she had forgotten about. However, it was Usagi who spoke up first.

"Ohmygod, I totally forgot! I'msorrysorrysorryI'llhealyourightaway!" she gushed out, latching onto Gohan's hand like she was about to start begging. The other Senshi just rolled their eyes at Usagi's airheadedness.

Rei frowned. "If that's so, odango-atama, then why are you still in normal form?"

"WAAAAAAAHHH!!! REI'S BEING MEAN TO ME!!!" Gohan winced as the decibel level wrecked havoc with his sensitive hearing.

Ami frowned as well, then reached over and popped Usagi across the back of the head, lightly with one hand. Or so she thought. The force of the 'light hit' sent Usagi sprawling forward into Gohan's lap. Upon realizing her position relative to Gohan, she turned bright red and, in an amazing performance of coordination and speed, Usagi vaulted to her feet, changed to Sailor Moon, healed Gohan, changed back, then ran over and seated herself in a chair on the opposite side of the room from him. All in five seconds.

Gohan sat through the whole thing with a sort of detached, 'did that really happen' expression.

The Senshi were all suitably impressed (a.k.a. astounded) (though Makoto and Minako were also looking somewhat envious), except for Ami. She was giving Usagi the look. The one that a girl uses on her friend to say: stay away from him if you want to stay among the living-I mean, stay among my friends. That look, coming from Ami, scared Usagi. So much so that she fell over her chair.

At that point, Makoto tore her gaze from (A.N.: You know who!) and said, "Um, Ami… That was, kind of, your fault."

Ami blinked, then shook her head violently. When she looked to Usagi again, it was with a much more normal expression. "Er… sorry about that, Usagi. I… don't know what came over me. And it seems I don't know my own strength, either." She flushed in embarrassment, then looked at the half-Saiyajin, still seated in much the same position he had been in, almost as if expecting some kind of reprimand.

Said half-Saiyajin saw the look, blinked, and went, "Eh?"

To which Ami slouched over, hanging her head like she had just received an answer that she'd never wanted to hear. To any feeling young woman, Ami's face all but screamed: Does he have any feelings for me, other than those of a teacher for a student?

At that point, light bulbs went off in the other girls' heads.

"To answer your question Gohan," Ami said, "One of the powers granted to us as Senshi is greatly enhanced healing. However, Usagi is the only one among us that can heal non-Senshi like yourself." She took a deep breath. "And you're right, we all need to get a good night's rest," Ami said softly. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, the other Senshi sharing meaningful glances, while Gohan almost 'huh'ed but caught himself. "So it's settled. Good night everyone." With that, Ami walked slowly up the stairs to her room. As she did, Ami flicked a glance at the half-Saiyajin then just as quickly looking away, to cover the heavy blush and following depressed frown. Without realizing it, she began to sway, ahem… certain 'parts' of her body with each step.

Which drew Gohan's eyes to her, or rather, said 'parts'…

The other Senshi were rather amused by the sight. Finally, after Ami was assuredly out of earshot, Usagi spoke, barely keeping the giggle out of her voice.

"Well? Go after her!" Gohan's head snapped around to look at Usagi. He blushed hard and started fumbling for something to say. The remaining Senshi laughed at his embarrassment. "Don't worry about it. It's obvious how you feel… And I think this is the first time I've ever seen Ami really interested in any guy, I sincerely doubt that she'll object…" Usagi winked at him.

That made up Gohan's mind. Well… here goes nothing! He ran for the stairs. "Hey Ami, wait up for me!…"

Usagi, Makoto, Rei, and Minako, all giggling at what they knew was going to happen, left and went home. While Minako and Makoto were both somewhat unhappy that it was Ami who had netted the hunk, they shared with Usagi and Rei a feeling of empathetic happiness for Ami's success.

Ami and Gohan were left to do… well, what young couples do best! [hinthintwinkwinknudgenudge]

16 - Epilogue

Late the next mourning, Gohan found that Usagi had made a decision regarding him. Said decision put off his date of departure by a good three months.

Gohan was puzzled, but figured it wouldn't matter that much.

Ami on the other hand, was ecstatic. And put those three months to very good use.

The End

Author's Notes:

-- This fic was written before I had ANY knowledge of the Outer Senshi. And it would be too much of a pain to go back and work them into the story. So basically, just assume that the Outer Senshi are a few years dead, except for Pluto. Who does nothing but sit and GUARD the Time Gates nowadays, because it was HER meddling that got the Outer Senshi killed and made things so that resurrecting them simply wasn't possible.

-- Gohan is 19 or 20 in this story, and I don't know the story of DBZ/GT, so I don't know when he marries, but for this story, I'm assuming that he hasn't.

-- There are a number of unexplained characters and side-stories that are referenced here. Sorry about the misunderstandings, but I originally wrote this story to continue someone else's series. If you have any questions, email me at: bjhaberman@prodigy.net, and I'll get back to you.