Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ In Darkness In Fire ❯ Ascending Storm ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: xzero

Awhile later Ranma was headed to his motherâ€™s home, his step carrying no little amount of jubilation in it. He walked casually, and would reach his motherâ€™s home quickly at this pace, within the next few moments in fact. That was when he felt the spike of energy. His mother was a blazing beacon at full strength, and this beacon shined with killing intent staining the serenity that was usually the feel of her aura. Her energy was waning though, and it wouldnâ€™t take much longer for her to fall entirely. His pack forgotten he dashed toward her home, his mind frantic about what could cause this.

In Darkness In Fire

By: X-Zero

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 5 - The Ascending Storm

Everything was a blur, at one moment, she had been standing in the center of her dojo, having just finished warming her muscles to prepare for training when the feeling of foreboding suddenly went quiet, followed by the roof caving in. At first she wondered who had just crossed into her home and attacked, thinking it was one of her son's adversaries, then things had steadily gotten worse, in the span of seconds she was surrounded by figures right out of some ridiculous sentai manga. It was only the immense power that they were giving off that warned her of the real danger. A green haired staff-wielding woman stepped forward, forestalling the ready made speech that the apparent leader was going to make.

"You are a threat to the future; your kind must be eliminated." Without further warning she leveled her staff at the auburn haired swordswoman, grinning maliciously as the energy coalesced around the head of the key-shaped silver staff. It was utterly silent, and according to her senses, did not exist, the words she whispered as the energy shot toward her were lost as a horrible sound that no mortal creature could convey echoed forth from the attack. A sense of agony carried within the dark orb, though its name was muffled by her comrades announcing their attacks. Weapons of the various elemental energies all stream toward her, dodged by narrow margins and taxing her stamina steadily as she was forced by their very nature to evade rather than block or parry.

"Dou Ryu Sen!" she whispered as she channeled her ki through her blade and struck the wooden floor of the dojo in a circling cut, the floor around her exploding outward, forcing her opponents to leap quickly into the air to avoid the wooden shrapnel. That was the instant of reprieve that she needed, switching stances quickly and charged toward the staff-wielder. Several testing strokes of her blade later she was on the defensive again, striking out and dodging the hailstorm of blows from the senshi of Jupiter. Narrow slices in the bodysuit of the sailor soldier's uniform caused Makoto to slow, and in an instant, her defenses were overwhelmed, causing her to miss seeing the strike that made all go dark. A pommel punch to the base of the skull caused the senshi of lightning to sink unceremoniously to the ground, unconscious. It was far from over then, however, as the senshi of air chose to take up the challenge, this woman was very good with her sword, but never could she match the soldier of Uranus.

The Space Sword appeared in her hand as she made the motion of the draw and rushed toward her adversary, striking with a low-high right diagonal, only to find her impressive speed lacking. Nodoka halted Uranus' blade with the side of her own, smiling condescendingly as they locked gazes for an instant. They leapt back and clashed again, brilliant sparks flying up between the two blades. Uranus was fast, and strong, but her strikes lacked the grace that the auburn haired woman's motions did, and it did not take an expert to tell she would lose if these exchanges continued. Both women leapt back again, though the leaps produced different effects, Uranus slammed a fist into the floor, bellowing out her war cry.

"World Shaking!" Her shout caused a gold and titian sphere to pass violently along the dojo's floor, leaping up toward Nodoka swiftly, even as the other woman made her own attack.

"Kurenai Tama!" The crimson orb shot from her hand and struggled against the attack of the sailor soldier, though it was only moments until the auburn-haired woman's technique punched through that of the senshi of air. It was too late by the time Uranus realized that her attack would not succeed, and even as the crimson shot rocketed toward her, albeit largely diminished by the strength required to surpass the World Shaking. She stood her ground and grit her teeth as the orb struck her, nothing she could do would keep it from hitting its mark. The bullet of ki struck her in the chest, and felt as no more than a very strong punch to the chest, stunning for a second but nothing more. That was when Nodoka flowed toward her again, striking out in a complex pattern that Uranus could only frantically block and parry, looking desperately for a way to counter. Her defense wasn't so nearly as solid as she hoped, and tiny cuts in her arms began to reflect this. It was all she could do to lock blades with the woman, each grasping the other's sword arm to prevent further attacks. For the sandy blond senshi, this was a great reprieve, and her teammates saw her need of assistance.

"Flame Sniper!" The raven-haired soldier screamed as she loosed the pinpoint flame arrow. Her position was beneficial, as it was flanking the swordswoman, and would be a sure hit. Her congratulations were cut short when the Saotome woman pushed away from the other senshi, leaving the dust blonde soldier of air off-balance and unprepared for the plasma arrow as it cut through the air toward her. Not enough time to move, thought Uranus desperately as she tried to brace herself for the fiery projectile. She winced as she expected the arrow to pierce her flesh, but smiled in relief when she saw the flames wash against a barrier of seemingly nothing. It was only moments later that another silent movement of energy was released, slamming into the auburn swordswoman. Hotaru had covered her, but why had she not attacked, this would have been over by now had she done anything other than the Silent Wall to protect her adopted parent.

Sailor Pluto was exultant, relishing this moment as she prepared her attack. Finally, she is the last, once she is gone, the future will be safe and secure. She didn't count on Nodoka rising to her feet, even if she did so unsteadily. The temporal mage's attack had hit home on unprotected flesh, and the immense pain from it had drained a great deal of her energy. The Saotome matriarch took a stance and prepared herself, all the stops were released now. She charged the first she saw, and watched as the others swarmed to defend her. This was her chance, a deft sidestep of the orange trimmed senshi's chain attack she did the quick spin, momentum increasing as she brought the slash at the end. "Ryu Kan Sen!" Venus was down, her stomach opened and barely kept from dying by the strong protective magic her sailor soldier armor granted her.

It was not enough though, that the auburn haired swordswoman had downed one of their allies with a vicious attack like she did, more to the point was that suddenly, everything was covered in a thick layer of frost as Mercury released her defensive spell. Everyone took a moment to catch their breath as the mist floated about in the remains of the dojo. Heavy breaths could not even fog in the heavy mist that covered the dojo, maintained even in the heat of the noon day sun.

Nodoka started audibly, and realized her mistake as the green haired woman's staff, and their leader's strange weapon began charging, not that she could see either, but sensing one she thought it was the only one. Her mistake was not because she was surprised; rather it was because she felt Ranma approaching fast. He would be here soon, and she needed to either finish this, or hold out long enough for him to help. â€œDead Scream." "Moon Gorgeous Meditation!" Hundreds of tiny energy signatures sprouted in her senses, there was no way to dodge them all, but block them, yes that would do.

"Ikusen Dageki Satsu!" Her sword flashed in a whirlwind of silver blurs, smacking the solid light shards away, and noting their dissipation after the fact. Her senses received a shock when she heard that same horrible sound. It was only made worse when she heard her son scream as her concentration was lost and the last of the light shards struck her, followed closely by the dark orb. In that last instant, she was at peace.

Ranma had arrived, begging the kami for more speed, channeling his energies internally he pushed his body to its limits, but on his arrival, he could only see that it wasn't enough. He had arrived and been stuck in place, could only watch as his mother lost her concentration and was consumed by the joint power of the senshi. His mind shattered, and for the first time, he could do absolutely nothing, paralyzed. To his credit, he staggered toward his mother's limp form. Upon reaching her he dropped to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes as his world broke. His mother was gone, and he could do nothing to save her. That was when he felt it, felt that block that his mother spoke of, felt it degrade and shatter, his power was incredible, but nothing would bring his mother back into his life. Nothing could give him back the parent that he had so recently regained. He didn't seem to see the senshi around her, all poised to attack. Nor, upon reflection, would he care, they weren't important right now, holding his mother was, being with her now, as he heart stopped completely, as the last of her spirit faded forever from this world. That was important.

Flash

He was just a child, and he could remember his mother tending the scrape he had gotten playing.

Flash

A day spent finger painting with her, smiling and happy.

Flash

It was time to leave, his father and he stopped at the door, and he had given her a hug,

Flash

For the first time in years, he had a mother, and she was proud of him

Flash

"MOTHER!" He screamed to the heavens, cursing everything. He was hurting, and nothing would stop his revenge.

Flash

With that the raven haired youth rose to his feet, tears dripping from his chin, head tilted to the Earth casting a shadow over his features. Each of the sailor soldiers could only stand in shock and fear though, this young seeming man was the son of this woman. They had killed someone's mother? Setsuna hadn't told them that this woman lived a normal life, was a normal woman. They had assumed her power was no different from the other incredible powers they had faced, alien and unnatural. Ranma's eyes suddenly went alight with the fires of his very soul, his power coalescing into a large and still swelling orb of putrid green. In his arms he clutched his mother's body, hugging the woman who gave him life.

"You people, why?" He asked, and in a calm whisper that was betrayed by his obvious pain he mouthed, "Shin Shi Shi Hokodan." The volume did nothing to change the immensity of the attack, and the sailors scrambled to get clear of the looming and wobbling bomb of power as it fell to earth, releasing enough to crater the ground all around them. In his depression Ranma was unaffected by the attack, just as it was designed to, the sailor soldiers were not so fortunate; their ranks were caught in the blast area and could only struggle to hold their ground. They had only approached in their normal sailor transformations, unaware that they might need the power of the super sailors. He was on another level entirely, and could only be described as a titan of power. Pluto, Saturn, and Cosmic Sailor moon held their ground, though only barely.

"Why did you do it?" He screamed as sadness transformed into rage. Around him bloomed a scarlet aura of immense power, radiating sadness and pain, but most of all, they felt the intense heat of the glow. The senshi were afraid now, because as powerful as the last had been, his strength was growing, and they could see painted across his features was sadness that had been twisted by the scar of watching his mother die. The pain-filled and menacing aura that had sprung up around him was there still as he sunk to his knees, caught in a helpless rage that sent tendrils of energy lashing about the ruined dojo, tearing cleanly through walls, destroying the building around them. It was a pitiful sight, and more than one of the senshi felt tears come to them unbeckoned.

Makoto cried unabashed, she knew his pain, her parents having died long ago, and she still felt the pain of their passing. She had raged before, and lashed out at those around her because she felt that her parents had been stolen from her, but never did she realize just how wrong she was, she didn't have to see them die, she didn't have to know that there was someone who killed them, robbed them from her. This was too much to bear, watching the young man cry over the motionless form of his mother.

Grouping together, they could only retreat, perhaps if they retreated, they would be able to get some answers. Saturn was the only one to not move, she was frozen in place, crying for what they had done. She knew that she had done nothing to help the other soldiers, but she could not help but remember the pleading faces of the people from the last Saturn's final hours. She could only allow herself to be surrounded by her friends who helped the wounded amongst their number join the circle and let their transport carry them to safety. "Why?" She whispered to herself, "Why?" No one answered her question, no one heard her speak, but it could be surmised that even if they had, none of the inner senshi could answer, they were all still reeling from the scene.

It was not until late that night, after no answers had been forthcoming; after a dream that woke her in a cold sweat, along with all the other inner senshi, did Usagi realize what had been done. Only then did she realize that she had murdered that boy's mother, taken him from her without provocation. It was in the name of the future, and of the safety of earth, right? She came to understand that they had only seen a tiny bit of what would inevitably come from this. That boy's power was immense, enough to rival even her own when she was at her peak, enough to level the entire planet. What sort of enemy had they made that day? Would he come for revenge? She shuddered as she lifted her body to wash her face clean of the sweat on her brow, feeling the clammy slimy skin of her forehead. The warm water helped her feel better, but when she looked up from the sink, and into her own eyes reflected in the mirror, she saw the haunting fear that she felt. She spoke then words that were repeated many times that night, by several other teenage girls. "Dear god, what have we done."

To Be Continued...

A/N: I know that this one is kind of short, but I will admit that this was the best I could manage without causing the effect to seem overdone and drawn out. I hope that this is a satisfactory chapter. The second act will begin as soon as I can get it written. For now, leave reviews, I'm begging you. Also, I would like to note that I was only able to do this better than a meager 1500 word chapter was because of the song that Oneshot linked to on his update for today. I donâ€™t know who composed the song, but I agree with Oneshot, the song is built for powerful messages, and while I can only scratch at the depth he manages, I hope this has done something for at least one of those who read this. Without further ado, the technique translations.

Technique Translations:

Ikusen Dageki Satsu: Thousand Strike Kill

Kurenai Tama: Crimson Bullet

Dou Ryu Sen: Most might recognize the name. It is a technique originating in Rurouni Kenshin, and as you might guess, it is Nodokaâ€™s grandfatherâ€™s school of martial arts. I have searched for a translation, and have found only this one, if I am wrong, please inform me. No, Rurouni Kenshin will not play a major part in this, especially because I feel it a bastardization of Samurai X. Anyhow, the name means Ground Dragon Flash.

Ryu Kan Sen: I am led to believe that this means Dragon Wrap Sword.