Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Hand Maid May Fan Fiction / Gatekeepers Fan Fiction ❯ Retake ❯ Batting Clean Up ( Chapter 15 )

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

Chapter 15: "Batting Clean Up"

Retake.

DISCLAIMER: Some of these characters originated from professional authors. They'll be returned as soon as I've finished here.

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The second one's name was Son Grey. His name had once been Gregg but due to the events at the Xanadu convention center, he'd physically transformed to Son Goku. His *mental* state was more a fusion of Son Goku, the original individual, and another being known as Grey. He could out-eat Ranma Saotome, was able to output enough chi to destroy Tokyo and only begin breaking a sweat, and enjoyed fighting far more than the original being. (Who had actually avoided conflict when he could most of his life.) Though *this* level of battle was beginning to take its toll on him and he found himself wishing that Vegita/Robert had come along.

The third one was still trying to come up with a spiffy variant name. He was still going by Gregg otherwise. Due to events on yet another world, including a program that could alter reality known as the MasterPC, he was a "Justy Cosmo Police"/"Locke the Superman" level psychic who was capable of teleporting between star systems, telekinetically lifting star cruisers, and many other nifty things as well. Adding a Darkover matrix crystal (augmenting telepathy and force projection as well as Will scores) and an Arisian "Lensman" Lens (making esper abilities more efficient, particularly telepathy) hadn't been enough for the fight he'd anticipated though. He hadn't expected either of those "toys" or the Green Lantern power ring to last this long, not that he was complaining as he hadn't expected to last this long even with them.

The raging fifty two foot long silver dragon shooting off the occasional "Mega Flare" with the assistance of the ginzuishou was Greylle. As soon as the dragonrage passed, he'd be sufficiently exhausted that he'd likely pass out.

Ahead of them somewhere was a version of Setsuna Meiou who had been turned into a drooling idiot by several evil persons, but in this Imperial Japan timeline the question wasn't who *was* evil but instead who was *not.* The answer of which was: "not many." Here in the heart of the Empire, with the Secret Police/Security forces everywhere, not being a vicious person with few or no redeeming qualities was not tolerated so even those holdouts were few and far between. Here schoolgirls would brag to their schoolchums about seducing tentacle demons and what bargains they had gotten for their worthless virginity or souls.

In other words, if you wanted to slay evil without worrying about killing innocent bystanders, this world was darn near perfect. Innocence was something to be mocked here, morality of any kind in short supply, betrayal of others to further one's self - normal game.

In this world, Ami Mizuno worked for Security where she studied and trained to be an Inquisitor and use torture to gain confessions from those who were out of favor. Haruka Tenou had found out that her lover Michiru secretly practiced European artforms and had turned her in for the crime for the equivelant of a week's wages. Soun Tendo was a high ranking member of Security who would sacrifice one or two of his daughters if he thought it would gain him further favor.

Beryl's Dark Kingdom could only be envious of this place.

---------

The ginzuishou, in this reality at least, was not truly sentient in a human manner. Giving the Eternal Silver Millenium Crystal an intelligence would have been to possibly undermine the authority of the Royal Family. Instead, it had slowly developed a rudimentary almost animal intelligence because it had been used by Serenity's line and they had channelled their thoughts and dreams for the thousand years of the Moon Kingdom. It was a very powerful battery that could draw on the lifeforce of the wielder when depleted, but could potentially destroy a solar system on doing so.

The Binding *was* sentient, though in the manner of an AI program that hadn't quite gotten the knack of the whole thing. It had been designed as the outcome of a wish granted by a Being several orders of magnitude more powerful than the ginzuishou.

The ginzuishou had a number of directives impressed upon it as a side effect of the various wills that had been impressed upon it at that time. The Binding was there to keep its host from permanently dying or becoming incapacitated.

The Binding fed power into the ginzuishou with a request.

The ginzuishou analyzed the request within its own parameters. Its current host was well suited to it - having a mana reservoir greater than Sailor Moon though less than Serenity. Said host was fighting for love and justice against a host of evil - pretty much the sort of thing Serenity's line had done. Said host was actively trying to rescue a member of Serenity's court who was suffering and injured. Everything checked out. Allies were needed. A connection was found and exploited and two of the host's extradimensional selves were added.

In its own way the ginzuishou marvelled at this. If it had not been fed the manner of doing so by the Binding, it would never have thought to graft itself to the dragon as a means of freeing the Senshi. Much less this summoning of other selves of the wielder or summoning allies by the same method. It filed the method away for later use.

Both the ginzuishou and the Binding (the crystal not thinking of itself much at all while the Binding was aware of itself) marked the arrival of an inadequate calvary. Some were Silver Millenium in origin. Others were not. Still, for all their forces, they were simply not up to the task.

The ginzuishou, gaining more independent existence due to interfacing with the Binding, queried this other force. Serenity or Sailor Moon, both could "evolve" somewhat to a more powerful form. The crystal wondered if dragons could do the same. The Binding responded and the two worked together.

Greylle roared and abruptly lengthened to ancient wyrm status, one hundred and fifty feet long not counting an additional sixty feet of tail. More importantly, his magical reserves and capabilities increased dramatically.

The ginzuishou wondered if anything more was possible. The Binding found possibilities.

With another roar, Greylle "evolved" to Bahamut Zero.

The two conferred. Current allies in danger of being overwhelmed. This would not do. More allies were summoned using the capabilities of the new host.

------

The Japanese Empire had conquered all of Asia and had ruled it with an iron thumb. The North American West Coast was also under their domain, as were large sections of what would have been Russia in another world. The other Empires in this world: Germany with most of Europe, Britain with its colonies, New Rome with parts of the Mediteranean, and the so-called Free Kingdoms (tiny little cities in impoverished areas that nobody had bothered conquering because there was nothing to be gained and it was someplace to send your political exiles) were all smaller and only survived by uniting resources against Japan.

Japan had survived countless attempts at insurrection and attempts by territories to break away by utter ruthlessness and the technological and magical resources it could throw against any rebels. Summoning demons was only part of their bag of tricks, the vampire lord known as Ieyasu was still Emperor and quite powerful in his own right.

The mages and necromancers and espers were all those who had flourished in this empire where ruthlessness and backstabbing were at least as important as raw power and innovation. Only the nation-state and the Empire itself were to have the unflagging loyalty of the populace, though one's personal line/family was often just as important. Breeding programs had been in place for the higher caste members for over two hundred years to produce more powerful warriors and mages and psychics. Genetic experimentation and programs had been around almost forty years. Their technology might have been slightly retarded due to competition from mages and psychics, and there was no space program, but machine guns and assault rifles *had* been around for quite some time.

That the scientists experimenting with dimensional transport had already been gathered up and shot for screwing up *this* badly, and that this line of investigation would now be banned by the Emperor himself, wasn't known to any of the invading forces. That their line of attack was heading towards one of the outlying research buildings and not towards any of the truly important buildings was noted.

Still, an attack on the Imperial Capital even by a dragon-angel and its allies was intolerable. Forces were dispatched to strike at the weaker targets first so that all resources could then chip away at the big three.

---------

The various Senshi-turned-guys were picking themselves up from yet another attack where they'd been scattered like chaff.

The marionettes, both Senshi versions and others, were blasting away with better success. Using one of Fess' brighter ideas, adding a phase-variance to their attacks, they were able to affect magical beings such as yoma and demons.

Then came an assault of imps to mix among the troops, followed by heavy hitters once these lesser threats were disorganized. As most of the once-and-future-Senshi fell to the assault, they faded as recall devices transported them back to the base. Those remaining were briefly joined by the Lensman long enough to rally briefly before a large explosion caused those recall devices to operate en masse.

Hotaru was *grinning* even through exhaustion. Snoopy had had to return already, the yellow submarine not built for long sustained combat. On seeing her falling, a six winged dragon had manuevered beneath her. Now she was riding on a dragon and picking off the occasional enemy that tried to attack from above and behind. Her fiance was *so* neat! And obviously Fess was correct. He trusted her implicitly. That had touched the girl ostracized by her peers for years in a very special way.

"gIGA fLARE" said the very same dragon being ridden by the Senshi Of Destruction, energy arcing along all six wings and coalescing into a beam that could have wiped out an Imperial Star Destroyer. It was a really a pity that he wasn't aware of what he was doing, as it would have done his self-confidence enormous good just to know he was capable of such things even if most of it was being done by the ginzuishou and the Binding.

--------

He wasn't sure *how* he'd ended up here. He wasn't sure how he was still operating the power ring or Lens considering how he'd estimated they'd have turned nonfunctional about a half hour ago. Landing on a rooftop, he flashed the guys fighting off demons a quick grin. The lantern was pulled out of the beltpak. Time to recharge the ring. It was tempting to blast the spy-eye cameras out of existence, but first things first.

"In brightest day, in darkest night,
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power - Green Lantern's light!"

Corny, perhaps. Effective and he actually felt a little hyped up now that he'd renewed the pledge and recharged the ring. Putting the lantern back in the pak and zipping it shut, Greylle checked his psychic abilities. About a quarter tank.

Then a quick burst of glowing green buzzsaws cutting through demonic hordes to give the good guys a break, and off flew the Green Lensman. (Current operating name, he felt it had a certain ring to it. Pun intended.)

He noted the recall mechanisms pulling many of the invaders back. Good. Even with his current abilities and equipment this was not exactly an easy battle.

Green Lensman floated briefly, realized where he was from reading a fanfic about it, and used his esper abilities. Teleport. Bounce off the barrier.

High grade barrier against teleports determined to exist, Green Lensman focussed his power ring to conserve his esper talents. Fly to a window, shatter it with normal human strength, and he was in. Now all he had to do was rescue the fair damsel through a few dozen heavily trained and armed guards.

Piece of cake.

-------

Fess had *wanted* to do this, but until the ban was lifted - had decided that it would be risking it too much to try it.

Magical girls often had comic cute animal companions. Sailor Moon was a magical girl series. Frankly, Fess didn't really care for the mooncats but was willing to make exceptions for Artemis who had established a rapport with either Greylle or Basalt in previous lifetimes.

However, Sailor Moon was *also* a sentai series. Color coded superheroes (like the senshi) who were prone to making silly speeches (like the senshi) and weird poses (again like the senshi) while fighting menaces from beyond (chorus:like the senshi).

It was perfectly in keeping for the sentai genre to have giant robots. They did sometimes share a factor with magical girls series in that cute animal mascots (or cute female mascots or cute female anthropomorphic mascots) were featured.

Magical girls often did *not* have giant robots. Frankly Fess did not equate the value of Artemis OR Luna with a fully loaded and armed giant transforming sentai robot. As a cybernetic intelligence though, he would admit to some natural bias.

Greylle, as a student of Hephaestus, had a lab. Until Fess had been summoned to that world where his Master was trapped as Akane Tendo, he had been installed in a sort of factory. Not too unlike his current whereabouts in a way, though it had just been odd ideas that Fess had worked out on his Master's instigation. Usually because Greylle rarely finished a project before he'd been summoned off. Fess had been created specifically to carry out projects while his own creator was off on missions or punishment duty.

One of those things that Greylle had worked on periodically was a basic idea. He'd come up with the basic designs just before he'd gone off on a long mission to Gehenna.

Maybe it was time to send the signal?

No. The Senshi had been rescued. The dragonrage lifted and the exile orders in place bounced a certain dragon back to a windswept isle in the Baltic. The recall orders were given for those remaining. Looked like the Guardians wouldn't be needed after all.

Just in case, Fess decided that both the Guardians and Greylle's collection of giant robot vehicles would be placed on standby so they could be quickly accessed.

----------

Artemis and Luna did their best to sneak into the base. Sixth time's the charm, or something like that.

"I don't know about this," said Artemis nervously, "look at how long it took us to get back from London."

"Quiet!" Luna hissed at his fellow former mooncat. "I have a plan."

Artemis tactfully bit back the observation that each of these spy missions had been a plan by Luna. Going in the front door with the usual "I'm a cat and I go where I want to" act had seen them picked up and deposited outside by someone who looked like the Terminator.

Sneaking in an air duct had ended up with them trapped by some kind of superglue floor, followed by them being picked up and eventually deposited at a humane-care animal shelter known as "Animal Kingdom".

Third had come their attempt to use the same air duct ("they'll never expect this") with avoiding that particular section of floor by leaping over it. There was a trapdoor just beyond the sticky section, as the two had found out.

Fourth attempt - sneaking into one of the supply carts as it was wheeled down into the base. Apparently the hissing noise had been gas. They'd woken up at home.

Then the attempt to learn about this new "dark god" enemy had gone rather sour with them turned into gender reversed humans.

Artemis as a girl had a figure she'd have admired a lot more if it wasn't her own. This really long hair was a pain to take care of, and those high heels had *had* to go.

When Luna had gotten amorous it had both been terribly wrong and terribly right. Artemis had never been able to refuse Luna anything for very long. Making love with Luna had been something the white-haired former mooncat had dreamed of, it was just the manner of it had been all wrong.

Luna had finished quickly and left a disappointed Artemis to plan the next attempt onto the base.

Which was here, with Luna posing as a health inspector. Artemis had to admit that with the suit and tie - Luna was very handsome. That Luna had gotten this shortskirted nurse outfit for Artemis was something that concerned Artemis on several levels.

Which brought them to this side enterance. What was that hissing noise? Oh. Oh dear.

Waking up in a cheap motel room in Osaka, Artemis wondered if she could just convince Luna to wait at least until they were in their proper bodies again.

--------

"Oooooo," said Greylle, wondering who'd beaten the snot out of him.

"Looks like he's coming to."

Greylle tentatively identified the voice as belonging to the transformed Makoto. They had gone into Warnas' realm, come out with a case of gender-reversal, and then... Everything was kind of blurry after that. He'd been in a fight?

"Let's get in there and get this over with then," came another voice. This was vaguely familiar. Uranus?

Details began filtering in. He was upright, held between two bodies. One was short but felt lean muscled. The other was taller and had a...

A feeling of disorientation and the two bodies *changed*. Enough of a shock that Greylle was able to look around.

Sailor Mercury was the short one. Sailor Jupiter the taller one. "Huhhhhh?!"

"Oh my," said Kasumi.

"You said it, sis," Nabiki acknowledged, eyeing the European style drawing room.

Akane looked around, then went back to talking with Yuka and Sayuri.

"What's going on?" Greylle finally got his feet under him, noting that they were all back in Warnas' realm and there were more of them this time around.

"Shampoo get bad feeling about this."

"Yeah. C'mon, Ranchan, let's leave these Senshi-types to their thing."

"At last! I'm a girl again!" Rei hefted her small breasts and flipped her hair back. "It's GREAT to be a girl! Never gunna be a guy again, never gunna be a guy again!"

The presence of Warnas slowly coalesced in the hallway.

Finding themselves abruptly seated at a long dining table, several of those present wondered if maybe they should have found a different way of getting their transformations reversed.

--------

Mars was not the only planet slated for terraforming, nor was it the only place in the solar system that robots had been sent by Fess.

A comet was redirected slightly so that it would strike Venus. This would not only introduce a rapid cooling trend on that planet but it would also add a great deal of water.

Nitrogen mining on Titan continued to develop, with the first load well on its way to Mars. A second load headed towards the asteroid belt.

The Nemesian Penal Colony, formed by bringing two large asteroids together and taking a handful of highly trained saboteurs and assassins and stranding them on that base, was developing nicely. Soon the asteroid's interior would be habitable, at which point the prisoners could be transferred and the ship cannibalized. A little nitrogen, some water, a few plants, and it could become a self-supporting colony.

Little "workbee" robot ships darted through the big empty of space on their errands. In the asteroid belt these gathered information on the chunks of rock and ice for later use. Some raised solar sails and prepared for the long journey out to the Oort cloud. Others shifted to Jovian moons with special packages to set up mining operations and launching mass drivers. Still others prepared to metamorphosize themselves into solar energy satellites.

On Mars, however, the dead red planet was building towards a massive change.

---------

"So you have returned," said the man at the head of the table. "Does this mean that you are willing to submit to the terms that the dragon Greylle Shard negotiated for you? We are, after all, both aligned with Order."

There was a shimmer and the table in front of each of the guests was suddenly filled with a large feast as might occupy a Thanksgiving feast in America. Thickly laden plates with glasses of chilled wine appeared before each of the guests.

Ami nodded. "It became obvious to me that you were making a demonstration here since all of us who were Senshi were able to remember our pasts more than Sakura-chan could remember she was Greylle-kun."

Greylle looked extremely embarrassed and tried not to look at anyone. Remembering what had gone on while he had been Sakura was quite... strange. Even for his life. The emotional ties would take some time to fade and Sakura had been very attracted to a certain blue-haired medical student.

Usagi merely looked at the platter in front of her, eyes large and slightly drooling before she began to dig in at a rate that would have earned her a "well done" from Genma Saotome.

Ranma looked at that, briefly wondered if Usagi was a relative, then began tearing into his own plate because Ranma Saotome doesn't lose to some girl in an eating contest.

Warnas Redsword, god of conquest, actually didn't have that much trouble with Crystal Tokyo. It was a land of absolute rule by a goddess-empress and so was mainly acceptable by his standards. In Crystal Tokyo, everyone knew their place and was content - their minds frozen to acceptance and contentment with the current arrangement. The strong ruled the weak, or exiled them off to cold dark planets to die.

"I object," said Haruka, eyeing the food distrustfully and their host moreso. "What exactly is this agreement?"

"One mile square is my desmense, you do not bother me. I do not bother you," Warnas patted his mouth with a cloth napkin. "My plans do not intersect your own, nor oppose it. The dragon here made an arrangement and listed you as allies that he would seek to assist as long as you didn't oppose me directly."

"It's a good deal, Usagi. Though i can't make any deals for the Moon Kingdom only for myself and those forces i have input with. You might want to make a similar arrangement yourself." Greylle suggested strongly. "'Let sleeping elder gods lie' as it were."

"Precisely. There are certain attentions I'd prefer to avoid, Toltiir the Jester being one of them," Warnas didn't sneer exactly, but his voice carried that sort of tone.

Usagi realized several people were looking at her as she reached for another helping of mashed potatoes. "Huh?"

"I disagree," Haruka said as she stood. There were groans from the rest of the Senshi. "You took me by surprise the last time, but NOW." She transformed to Sailor Uranus.

Even Michiru merely stared for a moment. "You're not serious, are you?"

"World Shaking!"

The blast vanished before reaching the elder god of war.

Greylle finished running around the table (having started at the transformation) and made a running leap towards Sailor Uranus, intent on stopping this before it became an even more FUBAR than it currently was.

Greylle vanished in midleap. Warnas stood. "While the dragon fully intends to honor his agreement, apparently not everyone believes that I am capable of defeating all of you singly or together. Very well. Just so that everyone is clear on this matter, all those who intend to reject my logical offer, please stand."

Usagi was the last to stand, clearly very reluctant. Ranma just wanted to wipe that smirk off this guy's face.

"A demonstration of power is in order then. Give it your best shot," smiled Warnas.

The Sailor Senshi unleashed their attacks. Ranma tried to hit the portly guy. Akane tried to unleash a rolling tackle.

"Enough," said Warnas after two minutes of this. "That was what each of you considered power. Now behold *real* power."

(flick)

"Baaaa?!" "mooo!" "buqiii!"

"Reincarnation in the traditional faiths of this land allows for reincarnating as animals," Warnas said to the startled barnyard menagerie. "Simple enough to alter it so that all of you were born animals. I could keep you as a petting zoo here. I could return you to the outside world where you would quickly revert mentally to the animals you now are. The only reason I don't do something like this is the agreement I made with the dragon, who would seek to return you to normal as soon as his memories returned."

Usagi's long ears twitched and she wondered what life as a bunny would be like. Not all that much fun, she imagined.

Ami retreated into her shell, feeling very much out of her depth as a sea turtle on a tiled floor. Though she was tempted to go over and bite the tail of that goat that was standing where Sailor Uranus had been a moment ago.

Rei mooed in irritation. She needed to be milked. This was not a good situation. She could *feel* the evil power that this 'Warnas' had, and also his sincerity. If they left him alone, he'd leave them alone. Why stir up a threat where none existed? Uranus was just being an asshole.

"Since the dragon *has* every intention of honoring our agreement, I could easily place you under his control," Warnas said, raising an eyebrow.

(flick)

Haruka sank to her knees alongside Michiru, her armor clanking as she did so. Why she was here was a question for someone else. She was slave-soldier and guard of the harem. As a janissary, she would not question her presence here. Her only thought was to serve the Master. Her only disappointment was that she had never been called to serve the Master personally.

Michiru glanced about, while keeping her head deferentially lowered as a member of much lower caste in the presence of a Lord. Master was not present, and as one of his guard-concubines like Haruka, she kept one hand near her blast-sword where she could draw if any harm threatened the Inner Circle of his favored.

Nabiki kept her eyes on the tiled floor before her, wondering where the Master was. She knew her place and station in the universe and was content with it - as lowly as she had been born, raised to the level of concubine was far better than it had been. Kneeling next to the guard-concubine Ranma and her sister-wife Kasumi, she could only hope that Master would come for them soon. This tile was cold, after all.

"Hmmm. Too bad the dragon doesn't approve of the whole slave angle," said Warnas as he looked over the crowd. "This would definitely keep you out of my desmense and you'd actually all be happier in the long run. Knowing what a stick-in-the-mud he is, he'd probably object to having the boys as girls too. Maybe I'll just keep this around as a curse. If any of you enter my desmense again this will automatically hit the trespasser. Hmmm. May have to work on that, see if something amusing develops. Your dragon does have that affinity for so-called 'catgirls'."

(flick)

Akane stood, tail flicking nervously. Ranma was her Alpha Male, and she would protect him as best she could, but it was occurring to her that as a couple of martial artists they were *way* out of their league here. Even as the "Fierce Tigress Of Furinkan High" - she had her limits!

Kasumi hadn't attacked with the others, she'd only stood to be polite, but understood she'd been linked to the opposition group. Being a member of someone's harem had felt so... deliciously naughty. Now she was back to being the plain old housecatgirl that she'd always been. Being one of Ranma's pride wasn't so bad, but...

Mamoru blinked. Just a moment ago he'd been a slavegirl guard who'd wanted... ugh. Much better to be restored to manhood and as an Alpha Male to his pride. He'd had to trade off with Shard-san, wanting more time with Usagi and Rei and ending up with Haruka and Michiru as well. Still the others seemed perfectly okay with their new arrangement. Judging by how much purring Ami was doing lately the term 'okay' might be an understatement.

"Perhaps you might consider this enough of a lesson?" Warnas relaxed against a wall, somewhat amused by the number of teeth and claws bared when everyone considered the tomcattish Haruka.

(flick)

Haruka shook her head, trying to clear it of the longing she had for the feeling of belonging she had as a catgirl or the precise focus and contentment she'd had as a harem guard. "Your tricks are not going to break us! We'll fight you no matter what! Somehow, someway, we'll win!"

"Who's this 'we'?" Nabiki asked, backing away quickly. "You got a mouse in that seifuku of yours? I'm not stupid, I'm not expendable, and I'm *not* getting involved. Count me out of any battleplans."

Ami cleared her throat. "Usagi, we Inners will back your decision, but perhaps a split with the Outers would be a good idea?"

Michiru sidled closer to her lover. "Haruka. Tell me this is part of some clever plan on your part and not merely some outraged pride."

Hotaru looked up at the elder god. A Death Reborn Revolution *might* work, but if all this guy really wanted was to be left alone, she could sympathize with that to some degree. "Actually, I never intended to fight. I just wanted you to bring back my sempai or send me to him."

"The rules were simple, stand if you wanted to oppose me. You stood, therefore you opposed me. If you have changed your mind, that's fine." Warnas indicated the table. "It appears that your Sailor Uranus has some issues left to resolve. Anyone not wanting to share her fate, stand back."

Hotaru and the three Tendo daughters stood back.

"Very well, I will..." Uranus continued to move her mouth though no sounds were issued.

"Yes, yes," indicated Warnas. "Very clever for someone with the relative intelligence level of a turnip. Promise that you'll go along with my agreement, get into position to attack me later when my guard is down. Two things, Haruka Ten'ou. The first is that I don't need to guard against your feeble attacks. Even in Eternal form with your Talisman, you would have no chance against me. The second is that I am an Elder god. The dragon, as predictable as he is, has a better chance of surprising me."

Usagi found herself being jerked back by Minako and Makoto and realized most of the Senshi were backing away from the portly figure confronting the two Outers. "Wait a minute! We can talk this out! We're all Sailor Senshi! We're all reincarnated Moon Kingdom Princesses. The soldiers of love! We shouldn't operate like this!"

Nabiki blinked. She was still a reincarnated princess? She was pretty sure that had been removed when things were turned back to normal.

Haruka found her voice. "Quickly, Sailor Moon, when his concentration is on us - strike then."

Usagi stepped forward, shrugging off Minako and Makoto's grip (the two were kind of shocked to hear this plan). "Uranus-san! Neptune-san!" As Usagi stepped forward, so did several others, either intending to stop Usagi or follow her lead.

"'Soldiers of love'?" Warnas repeated. He was not a god of love. He didn't understand the concept very well. He *was* however trying to learn a few things himself while he was in this "penalty box" of his exile. Lust he understood. Geas and magical compulsions he understood. Enslavement and conquering and control he understood. Love? "Well, maybe I can do something along that line." He'd already set the rules - to move forward was to be counted against him, it wouldn't do to change those rules just because many of those didn't actually intend to oppose him.

Rei felt the malevolent power flare up and could think of only one thing to say. "Usagi no baka!"

-------

Greylle shook his head as he realized he'd been thrown from the pocket dimension and ended up in dragonform and knocking over a few trees in some wooded area. "Oh crud. What are they doing?!"

"Getting in over their collective heads, I'd say."

The silver dragon looked about briefly before zeroing in on the speaker. "You are... i don't know you, do I?"

"Morgana Le Fey, late of Avalon, Sorceress of the First Circle. You are Greylle Shard, among other names, Aramarian silver dragon. Priest of Hephaestus, Bast, and a few others." Morgana sat back and watched the clouds, letting the dragon's primitive "Know Alignment" spell go off without commenting on how impolite it was. With her name and reputation, one grew accustomed to such cautions.

"You know what's going on?" Greylle tried to force himself to relax. Her posture didn't indicate any clear and present threat, if she were collecting dragon body parts she'd have likely struck while he was stunned from the impact.

"Aye. The Silver Millenium is being rewritten," said Morgana.

"Oh great. Well, we're outside his mile so it won't affect us. What did Warnas do?" The dragon slumped down and arched his neck so that his head was on a level with the tree branch Morgana was sitting on.

"The Elder god Warnas is what some would call Lawful Evil. A god of Order who does not concern himself with morality or similar concepts. His portfolio is the drive for control over others. As his name hints he is a god of war - not of defense as Borune or skill as Hoshime, but still a god of war. Soldiers and armies, whether they wear sailor suits or not, are within his baliwick." Morgana looked over at the dragon. "You *do* realize that four of those currently being affected view you with considerable affection, don't you?"

"Huh?" The dragon pondered this. "That's a little hard to believe. Who?"

Morgana snorted in a thoroughly unfeminine gesture, but at her age who cared about such trivialities? She wouldn't give away the game at this early stage. That Hotaru had latched onto him and was debating methods of convincing him that she was not a child? That Akane had not gone psychotic due to his intervention and the usual problems involving Ranma, and now was more at peace and happier with her life than ever before. More - that she knew the dragon was responsible and (though she'd deny it most vehemently) was really quite fond of him? That the shy Ami saw him as a good match and potential boyfriend? (Not to mention a possible method of getting out of the house despite her mother's restrictions since Mrs Mizuno wanted very much to gain access to medical technology and techniques at that base.) Or the "Ice Queen" Nabiki, who had real feelings blossoming that she excused and deliberately misinterpreted rather than admit to.

There were others of course. Yuka had an interest in the boy, he representing so much in life she craved. Usagi felt her own connection to the ginzuishou, and thence to the dragon. Makoto and Minako who saw him as a cute boy. Shampoo who viewed him as a potential airen. Ranma was trying to get Ukyo to go after Greylle, feeling that if he accomplished this task then he could still have Ukyo as a friend but he wouldn't have *that* fiancee arrangement hanging over his head.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, it was obvious that the sorceress was not planning on answering that particular question. "So what's going on? He isn't going to hurt any of them, is he?"

"Oh no. He just rewrote it so that Queen Serenity had two children. The oldest was a boy who took after his father - a dragon of an allied star kingdom. His half-sister who became the Senshi of the Moon. Oh, and the various fiancees that older boy - heir to the Moon Kingdom accumulated. Well, it should be of some interest to you."

Greylle took a moment for that to sink in. "WHAT?!"

Morgana held her ears for a moment after that outburst. "Not so loud, they're going to hear you in Tokyo at that level. Yes, it's a terrible tragic story. Oh, and Ranma is now Mamoru Chiba's reincarnated little sister."

"Hah?!" Greylle shook his head. "Wait a minute. *i* am a prince of the moon kingdom?!"

"Heir, actually. There's a geas in place of the Senshi to protect you. Unfortunately, as Tsukino made the statement that they were 'soldiers of love', Warnas included that in the geas for most of them. Not that it was needed in all those cases, and it only affects Ranma in Senshi mode, but having her play blushing love-smitten schoolgirl is liable to be interesting."

"But... but..."

"Ten'ou and Kaioh are *really* going to have trouble with this," said Morgana with amusement. "They've gone from exclusively lesbian to bi, at least as far as you're concerned. Though if they could get their hands of some of that 'Spring Of Drowned Girl' water..."

"...ewww..." Greylle shuddered his entire fifty-two foot length.

"I wonder how long it will take for the idea to occur to them," mused Morgana.

---------

Haruka paused as the group went home. With *those* conditions waiting to slap them in the face should they return, it was obvious that they'd have to forego attacks on the exiled god. For now. "Say, Michiru?"

"Haruka?" Michiru wondered at the thoughtful expression on Haruka's face. Well, it *had* been somewhat educational. Still, there was this naughty little impulse - a fragment of temptation. Just try crossing the border again and she'd never have to dirty her hands again. More power too. Of course she'd either be Bishojo Bunnygirl or Magical Maid or something like that, but it was surprising how little that prospect worried her.

Haruka was thinking something naughty herself. "Saotome there was born a guy, and didn't regain a female form until some place in China, right?"

"Jusenkyo in Qinghai province, Bayankala mountain range," said Michiru. "Yes, I remember."

Haruka looked thoughtful, though a smile was playing at the corner of her mouth. There were ways to make sure certain individuals listened to her, and ways to remove a threat besides extermination. Perhaps. "So if we got some of that spring water, and splashed our Prince..."

Michiru blinked and turned thoughtful herself, eyeing Ranma-chan speculatively.

"What do you suppose our *princess* would look like?" Haruka and Michiru asked absently.

Haruka smiled at her partner. "Bet she'd be a screamer."

"We'd have to check that out," replied Michiru with a matching smile.

-------

"Brrrrr, I just got a serious case of the creepies," said Greylle.

Morgana just smirked. This was just *so* entertaining. She wondered what would have happened if Lancelot had gotten hit with something like that. If she'd only known about Jusenkyo back then, or if Merlin had heard of it, then things could have gotten quite interesting in Camelot.

"So, i'm now a Prince of the Moon Kingdom?" Greylle wondered if it might make things go any easier. Usagi probably appreciated the lowering of pressure on her. Now she could relax more without worrying about the whole responsibility of her Destiny. "Well, that *could* be a good thing."

"You've just found out that a large number of fairly attractive and mainly good hearted teenage girls are going to regard you as their Prince and are going to have strong emotional bonds to you, and you're reacting as if I'd announced the weekend weather forecast." Morgana was slightly intrigued. "How atypical for a teenage male. Even a dragon."

"Nah, it's not a big deal." Greylle chuckled. "It won't last. Love potions *always* screw up where i'm concerned. Urd, Freja, Aphrodite, Eros, or any and all of the love deities in existence couldn't give *me* a romantic subplot. Watch, it'll all fall through."

Morgana read the dragon's absolute certainty on this, but wasn't so sure.

"Well, i know what *i* need to do," said the dragon. "i need to eat. What about you?"

Having decided her role in this adventure, Morgana stood and winked. "That... is a secret!" The words seemed to hang in midair as the sorceress vanished.

Greylle winced. He'd always found that irritating when Setsuna pulled it.

-------

Cologne sat back and waited. She'd sent the message some time ago by the fastest method available. Having a dragon in the village wasn't a good idea, at the size she'd seen - he could roll over in his sleep and flatten a good portion of village. He had a temper problem, and there were those who would go out of their way to aggravate a male.

Having a dragon *allied* to the village was much better in Cologne's view.

The whole "Kiss Of Marriage" thing was to get strong bloodlines originally. Well, that and treaties signed ages ago. The child of a dragon, in Chinese mythology, had a portion of the power of that dragon. So getting a dragon into the village's genepool would be a good thing.

Strong male fighters were very much desired by the women of the village, not just because they could produce strong babies of course. That was just the law. There were other benefits to having a strong healthy husband that had absolutely nothing to do with working fields or fighting off bandits and additionally most Amazons had a sort of strength-fetish.

As Lilac and Douglas had proven quite a few years back, *smart* males were also valuable. Not as popular as the strong male, hormones and such being what they were, but there were those Amazons who really found intelligence and/or wisdom in a male quite attractive. Smart males were also brought into the tribe to benefit it. Though smart males were harder to keep in the village and were more often just occasional guests while they lived and worked elsewhere with Amazon wives.

Males who had resources that could benefit the tribe were also sought on rare occasions. Again, keeping them in the village was not necessarily an option but to Cologne and most of the Elders that which benefitted the tribe and village was a good thing. So most of the Elders would hold their tongue about uppity males not knowing their place if the male in question benefitted the tribe while being apart from it.

Smart strong males with resources that could benefit the Amazons? Drag them kicking and screaming into the tribe if necessary and make sure that they had good reason to view the whole village with fondness. There were ways to accomplish this with unmarried males that did not directly involve pressure points, martial arts, or rare Chinese herbs. Though all of the above *could* be used as well, it more often was not necessary.

Shampoo was the greatest warrior of the village on a good day. Most of the others had a life beyond fighting and therefore lacked the focus that Shampoo had. Good match for Ranma Saotome as they had much in common and would produce strong warrior children. If Shampoo wasn't so prone to jealousy, having a couple of wives fussing over him would likely melt down whatever resistance the transgendering martial artist had.

Shampoo and the dragon? Poor match. Someone not quite so focussed on the martial arts was needed.

The dragon had been amusing and obviously had a kind heart. This last was always a good thing when dealing with magical creatures capable of destroying entire villages before lunch. His fascination for gadgets had been amusing and dismissed as of little consequence by Cologne earlier.

The trip to Mars had changed her opinion on this aspect of the dragon. It was one thing to create the self-willed golems to go about their tasks in some hidden lair. To transport them all to that sort of distance and back? If China ever threatened again, the village could quietly melt away to some distant world. Instead of a tiny village relying on myth and seclusion to protect them, they could become a nation onto themselves - with the sort of wealth of knowledge and resources that would ensure their continuing survival for centuries!

Ahem.

Not that Cologne wanted to get the dragon into the tribe. Oh heavens no. Her? Completely innocent of such artifice. She wasn't interested in such things as this technology, ask anyone who knew her. She never could abide all this newfangled stuff.

The spellcasting? No, didn't interest her at all. Healing and rejuvenation magic. Hardly useful at all. Nope. Though maybe she knew an Amazon or two who *would* be interested. A bit. Maybe.

So if she sent to her village a little letter that detailed something that might interest someone out there, it was just a little mistaken wording that indicated that certain young Amazon girls ought to get over here where their Matriarch could point them towards a husband candidate and see who won.

Or a coincidence. Yes, that might work. Coincidence.

Salt and Pepper? Not very likely. The two were inseperable. Salt was usually fairly abrasive while Pepper was entirely too fond of extremes of passion. Of course, if they did something nasty to the dragon he'd likely just pound them severely and that might change their attitude towards him. Stranger things had happened.

Sugar and Spice were *much* more likely to make a good and lasting impression. The swordmistress and the staff-master. Like Salt and Pepper, a odd couple that did *everything* together. Sharing a husband certainly wasn't that unlikely for the two. Sugar could be entirely too sweet, whereas Spice tended to be a bit ditzy. Getting them a husband that could look after the two would certainly benefit the tribe and in more than one way.

Having seen the girl named Usagi Tsukino, not the marionette but the original one, Cologne had been reluctant to ask about Sash. The two blonde ponytailed disaster areas together? Well, best they meet as far from the village as could be arranged.

Cayenne might have seemed an odd choice. She was older than the rest of the girls, scarred from old battles, and had survived a husband that had run into one of the many cursed mountains and not returned alive. What had been really bad was that he had returned undead. Something in the old redhead had died that night, but it might return if this dragon could use some form of purifying magic on the thirty-five year old.

Azure was, well, less clumsy than Sash. Decent with tonfa. Possessed a strength level that was as great as her hand-eye coordination was lousy. A boyfriend she couldn't accidently squish would be a great draw for Azure.

Tigar was too young, but the closest thing Cologne had ever seen to Akane Tendo the tigergirl prior to Nerima. Maybe she and the dragon would draw closer as time went on. If not, Tigar could spend time with her sister Sugar.

Frost had a bit of a temper, but the largely self-taught mage would be more than eager to find a teacher for at least a discipline of her Art. The pale albino was likely to take to the dragon quite easily, and perhaps student-teacher relations could lead to something else.

The shamrock girl Clover was clever and sneaky. Mention the possibilities of enriching both herself and the tribe and she'd be figuring out angles before Cologne could finish the sentence. Cool, calm, dignified. Clover would have a plan before the first day was out.

Then there were the twins, Lin Lin and Ran Ran. On second thought they were likely to be annoyances and they wouldn't take well to big sister Shampoo failing in her attempt to woo Ranma. Well, too late to actually stop them. They ought to be here by now.

There were the quadruplets, and bouncy cute identical quads ought to be able to reduce almost any man to fumbling stupor. That they'd end up sharing a man was apparent as all four suffered from some curse that whatever happened to one - all four felt. That the man would practically have to be able to bend steel in his bare hands in order to defeat all four or simply last the wedding night was also apparent. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme would regard a shapeshifting dragon as a goddess-send.

Yes, Cologne thought, this ought to work at least partially. If nothing else she could potentially start a second village if she could talk that disembodied voice in the base into the idea. She thought this likely, all things considered.

Not that she wanted anything more than sharing tea with someone as long-lived as herself a century or two from now. Her, the matriarch of a primitive tribe, have an ulterior motive? Heavens no.

Of course not.

------

The Martian city was lifeless, if you used the narrow definition of organic life.

Sabashii was now a set of smaller domes all connected to a large dome. Each connecting tube was set up with airlocks and emergency bulkheads that could close off each section upon an emergency. Each dome sparkled in the dim sun like glass. Appropriate as that was what the bulk of each dome was constructed of.

The city plans had been altered a bit to take into account for roofhopping martial artists and magical princesses. Sections had been made which could be easily replaced when damaged. The original plan had been to make things durable, and several sections favored this approach over the later concept.

The city was a little like a submarine. Buildings could be easily closed off as completely environmentally independent.

As for the big dome in the center, that was the most important part. The park. Right now it was soil and water. Later would come grass and selected trees and varieties of crops. These would provide not only food and air, but the necessary human psychological effects of an area of green.

The lichen released to the outside environment was necessary for the long term terraforming, but without using magic it would remain long term.

Like the meteors currently targetting the Martian landscape, or the comet on its way to Venus, some of the changes planned were huge and sweeping. Others quiet and easy to overlook.

Sabashii itself was sizable and fairly obvious. More so when the plants finally took hold in the mix of martian and terran soils.

It was barely noticeable when it happened, but at that point Mars was no longer truly a dead world.

-------

Another world entirely:

When "dragon-him" and "dragonball-him" had vanished, Green Lensman had known that he was in deep kimchi.

Oh sure, he had enough raw power to turn the average Tatewaki Kuno into puree of dog chow. He could easily beat the average Hikaru Gosunkugi and would not feel challenged in the slightest by an attack from Megane and the rest of Lum's self-appointed bodyguards.

The problem was that *this* reality was *not* average. Here Tatewaki Kuno was a samurai, and the samurai were reknowned swordsmen *and* foul sorcerers. Here Hikaru Gosunkugi was a powerful necromancer capable of literally raising the dead. Here there was no Lum, but there was a group of street thugs under the command of Megane who trafficked in illicit drugs. Here was a world where evil ruled and corrupted nearly everything it touched. There could be no kind hearted Keiichi to call out in more than one meaning of the phrase to Belldandy's heart. There would be no Crystal Tokyo where peace and love would at least have a chance to grow.

Instead you had a Tokugawa Ieyasu who had literally made a deal with the devil. Nobunaga Oda hadn't even been half as nasty. Ieyasu had broken his opponent's neck, drinking deep of his lifesblood and becoming a vampire that *still* ruled the Japanese Empire.

Knowing that he had some time before all hell literally broke loose again, the dimensional wanderer encased himself and his rescued princess in a bubble of green energy and then moved with all the speed he could muster. Straight up.

He might have considered himself to be ridiculously overpowered, but the Lensman knew darn well that he was *not* ridiculously overpowered enough to last for long here.

*shift*

The Green Lanterns were essentially cosmic policemen. In order to do their job, they had to be able to protect themselves from the hazardous conditions of space and move really darn fast.

He'd made himself into Justy Cosmo Police, who also could move pretty darn quick and travel without regard to such things as vaccuums and hard radiation.

Looking about the star system briefly, and deciding to use the name Justy Locke for now, he determined that there were no habitable planets present.

*shift*

Almost.

*shift*

Not quite. Something with a little more atmosphere.

*shift*

Something with a little less hazard in the biosystem.

*shift*

Hmmmm. Not perfect, but it would have to do. That moon over there.

*shift*

Setting his burden down, Green Lensman Justy looked over the fallen Setsuna Meiou and tried not to wince. Bedridden for years, thin as a stick, emaciated and drawn, with her mind broken and her psychic gifts overloaded by the medical experiments performed on her when she was barely twelve years old. Now at the age of twenty-four, it required special equipment just to keep her going. The lack of care was apparent anywhere you looked.

In this reality, this timeline, that twelve year old girl had been one of the few innocents left. Someone who still believed that love and goodness were more of value than how entertainingly you could kill your first gaijin. They'd done this to her because her ability of precognition had been detected and they'd enhanced it, but at cost of her Self.

After another scan determined that this planet's few predators were not inclined to approach such strange smelling creatures, Justy sat down near Setsuna's head and began using matrix stone and Arisian lens to mend a broken mind.

-------

Shampoo had heard it. Whoever went past that little hedge into that area again would be after dragon boy. Her Great Grandmother would not let her keep Ranma-airen *and* Greylle-airen (which Shampoo thought was really unfair) and so Shampoo had settled on Ranma-airen (who was a lot easier to understand and cuter). Unfortunately there was a lot of competition after Ranma-airen.

Shampoo had also heard Ranma trying to get Spatula Girl interested in Greylle-airen.

Get rid of obstacle + make points with Ranma-airen + prove she was a better fighter than the uppity girl with the spatula fetish?

From there it hadn't taken Shampoo long to realize that if she could get rid of *one* rival in such a manner, then more would be better! She'd start with *one* though.

"Spatula Girl, we spar?" Shampoo asked cutely. "Shampoo too worked up to sleep."

"Well, I guess..." Ukyo had to admit she'd had this *wonderful* idea. Brain the Amazon over the head, tie her up, then zoom over to that manor house with a little package. Shampoo would be a lot happier chasing after Greylle-san and that would leave Ranma-honey available! The two of them would be a good couple, and she and Ranma would make a great couple!

Shampoo and Ukyo smirked at each other, absolutely convinced they'd be doing the other a great favor.

-------

Warnas was known by many names in the Aramarian pantheon. Redsword was his most common symbol and naming: though the words spliced together could come from any of seven languages and sounded quite different in Hobgoblin compared to (for example) Tarakir. He was also one of the three major gods of evil: Warnas Redsword the god of war and conquering; Genmak the devouring void; and Surtagg the Destroyer. Where Genmak embodied entropy and Surtagg the destructive forces of chaos, Warnas was more civilized - for he was also one of the three Lords Of Order.

Borune, the Worldsmith, embodied Order and Good. Hevrig, the Lawkeeper, embodied Order in its most pure state. Warnas was the god of evolution: the strong made the laws, slew or enslaved the weak, and their strength inspired or was passed on to others.

The Godswar was something developed millenia ago. Each Age in Aramar had a divine guide, someone who would set the tone of things to come during that Age. An Age ended when a conflict saw a shift of that guide. The gods chose mortal avatars and retreated to let those forces do battle without the possibility of accidently wiping out that section of universe. As the Sixth Age became the Seventh, and Toltiir retired (many said he threw the battle because responsibilities were something he preferred not to pay attention to) Warnas the Conquerer found his position and a good fragment of his power usurped. Partly this was due to the machinations of Genmak and Surtagg. Partly this was due to a foolish mortal hero ignoring the prophesy and trying to cheat his way to glory. Partly this was due to the cleverness and power of the usurper himself.

Because he *was* a Lord Of Order, Warnas abided by the terms. Sooner or later another Age would begin and his avatar would reclaim his place. In the meantime, he was observing things and planning while in a sort of "penalty box".

At first he had dismissed the dragon's golems as just that. Or perhaps like the windup soldiers used in the Third Age. Now, however, he saw them as something else altogether.

Admirable.

The machines were alive in their own way. They could reproduce, come up with original ideas and approaches, move and emulate many things that strictly human life could. They could be as strong as their individual design allowed, and they could update their own parameters. In fact, they were *designed* to upgrade themselves within specific channels.

These androids and robots personified order. Each knew their limitations, their assigned tasks, and did them. If one needed to become stronger or adapt to different situations, it did so. Of course, they had some peculiar ideas that seemed more in keeping with Borune's philosophies or perhaps those of Etragar's wife Hoshime. Still, even if you looked deeper into them - they remained very much Order-oriented with every bit and piece and programming thread combining to form the totality. Then every unit worked towards goals set for their common benefit.

Quite admirable.

Having observed from a distance, Warnas knew that Usagi Tsukino acted chaotic but was actually a force of Order in her own way. So were her cheerleaders.

The god of conquest actually liked the android versions more than the originals, there was less chaos and more usefulness. A true Epic Villain would make quick work of the Senshi, and each of the "sailorsuited warriors of love and justice" would likely be dead. Whereas the same villain would likely only be able to incapacitate a few of the androids before they had upgraded to take advantage of any weaknesses, and then they'd rebuild or replace their fallen comrades.

Usagi Tsukino was a crybaby who would likely fall apart if they ever faced half the sort of enemies they could in Aramar. Usagi II was calm, collected, and capable of doing great bodily harm to opponents who could kill Senshi. Usagi Tsukino turned into Sailor Moon who turned into Princess Neo-Serenity who could manage a respectable energy burst of White Magic. Usagi II now had an armor upgrade that granted her the ability to generate forcefields capable of deflecting Sailor Moon's blasts at up to 90% of her full power. No doubt there would be upgrades eventually.

The Sailor Senshi, even with the enchantment he'd placed on them earlier, didn't work that well as a team. They had two groups with different agendas and priorities, and while their elemental powers all flowed from a single source - they were limited to a set of attacks with that power and some minor side effects. Sailor Pluto's haphazard viewing of time, Sailor Saturn's ability to heal minor wounds, Sailor Moon could use her attack to form a weak barrier, and so on.

The Sabre Senshi had two things that their originals lacked: discipline and commitment to the team. Warnas would be inclined to add competency as a third thing, but some of the Sailors were learning. Their powers couldn't be combined as easily as the mana-based sentai team, but the androids could link up by physical proximity to share capabilities. Sabre Mercury could relay precise targetting information to Sabre Mars' plasma cannon.

Warnas stopped his contemplation. Several of those he'd given warning to were back. Interesting.

-------

Fess noted the alarm he'd placed on a semi-autonomous drone near the "Penalty Box" and quickly determined a few things. First was to find where the marionettes were, their most recent upgrades had changed a few things about their performance parameters.


Ami Mizuno II, Sailor Marionette Mercury
Strength Rating: 150 pounds
Specialty: Sensors and analysis
Serial Number: AMI01
Status: OK
Running speed: 45mph
Flight speed: 90mph
Armor Upgrade: Sensors and Countermeasures
Current Location: Penthouse, Cloudy Arms Apartments, Juuban
Reported Activity: Study of interpersonal human relations in Mizuno penthouse. Source: "Whirlwind of Love" - television program.

Usagi Tsukino II, Sailor Marionette Moon
Strength Rating: 1.6 tons
Specialty: Communication
Serial number: USA01
Status: OK
Running Speed: 75mph
Flight Speed: 150mph
Armor Upgrade: Forcefield generation
Current Location: Crown Arcade, Juuban
Reported Activity: Analysis of exercises in hand-eye coordination and battle strategies. Source: Macross Valkyrie Simulator

Makoto Kino II, Sailor Marionette Jupiter
Strength Rating: 25 tons
Specialty: HTH Fighting
Serial number MAK01
Status:OK
Running Speed:45mph
Flight Speed: 75mph
Armor Upgrade: MegaVolt Knuckles
Current Location: Shiido Dojo, Juuban
Reported Activity: Acquiring martial arts techniques.

Minako Aino II, Sailor Marionette Venus
Strength Rating: 1.6 tons
Specialty: Generalist
Serial Number: MIN01
Status:OK
Running Speed: 75mph
Flight speed: 90mph
Armor Upgrade: Ribbon blades
Current Location: Animate store, Kobe
Reported Activity: Shopping

Rei Hino II, Sailor Marionette Mars
Strength Rating: 1.6 tons
Specialty: Plasma Generation & Manipulation
Serial Number: HIN01
Status: OK
Running Speed: 75mph
Flying Speed: 90mph
Armor Upgrade: Plasma Emitters
Current Location: Amaterasu Shrine, Nerima
Reported Activity: Selling shrine charms

Michiru Kaioh II, Sailor Marionette Neptune, aka "Polaris"
Strength Rating: 150 pounds
Specialty: Magnetic field generation/control
Serial Number: MIC01
Status: OK
Running Speed: 85mph
Flying Speed: 90mph
Armor Upgrade: Magnetic Amplifiers
Current Location: Nekomi Technical Institute
Reported Activity: Research of suspected paranormal activity

Haruka Ten'ou II, Sailor Marionette Uranus
Strength Rating: 1.6 tons
Specialty: Piloting
Serial Number: HAR01
Status: OK
Running Speed: 75mph
Flying Speed: 90mph
Armor Upgrade: Motoslave
Current Location: Nekomi Technical Institute
Reported Activity: Research of suspected paranormal activity

Setsuna Meioh II, Sailor Marionette Pluto
Strength Rating: 3.2 tons
Specialty: Cloaking
Serial Number: SET01
Status: OK
Running Speed: 75mph
Flying Speed: 90mph
Armor Upgrade: Shock Cannon
Current Location: Misawa AFB
Reported Activity: observation of military activity.

This meant that it was the *human* Sailor Mercury, Sailor Saturn, and Sailor Pluto showing on the transmission.

Oh dear.

----------

Hotaru quickly shifted to Sailor Saturn.

Sailor Mercury blinked. "How come you don't have a nude transformation sequence?"

Sailor Saturn shrugged. "I did earlier, but then I asked Amaterasu-sama to alter it. Now I can specify flashy or fast."

The unspoken request was plainly visible on Sailor Mercury's face, though she forcibly shelved that conversation for later.

"Activate your visor," advised Pluto. "We need to carefully monitor this so we know what it is we're dealing with."

"Saturn-san, are you sure about this?" Mercury touched an earring and let the visor form. She was a little concerned about this though.

Sailor Saturn nodded, her mouth a firm line. She walked forward down the dirt road.

"Interesting," said Morgana, startling the heck out of both Mercury and Pluto.

Having her hair sticking straight up and leaping into the air, to end up teetering on her tiptoes as her arms windmilled and she tried very very hard *not* to fall across that innocent looking border, Sailor Pluto was entirely too panicked to think dirty things about sorceresses showing up uninvited.

Morgana kindly grabbed the two by their back bows and pulled them back. "Sorry about that. Morgana, a powerful sorceress here to advise the Prince in matters of magic."

Sailor Mercury tried to look calm and not as if her heartrate was still pushing the edge of cardiac arrest. "Uhm, I'm reading powerful magic buildup around her. I'm having trouble interpreting it."

The ancient sorceress kindly reached over and tapped a couple of buttons on the Mercury Computer. "There you go dearie. Quaint little thing isn't it? A little too cutesy for my tastes, but to each their own."

"Oh," said Mercury, swallowing her immediate reaction to someone using *her* computer as the data started making a lot more sense. "A power up?!"

Shooting a very unhappy look at the sorceress (yet *another* non Silver Millenium being showing up and messing around with their destiny), Sailor Pluto bit down her own reaction. For now.

"Hotaru is going through this for a very simple reason, you see." The sorceress sighed. "Ah, to be that young again. Well, actually, once was enough. She despairs of convincing her boyfriend-candidate that she is anything other than a young girl. She has been well and truly coached that her main problem with becoming Shard-san's koibito is that he will have difficulty viewing her as something other than a child. She also has trouble with her status as the 'Senshi Of Destruction' as you have declared her to be, Pluto-san. As you can see the magic is reacting with her desires to form alternate templates to the Sailor Saturn identity."

"I don't detect the other parts we were led to believe would occur," Sailor Mercury was specifically looking for the enchantment that would turn Sailor Saturn into a mindless loveslave or turn her to evil or something. "I still don't understand why she's doing this."

Morgana rolled her eyes. "Okay. See if this makes sense to you. A not un-handsome young man has come to her rescue. She's been engaged to him and in the course of this engagement has been freed of demonic possession among other things. A girl who has never had friends and never been accepted by anyone has found a gentle, kind, and affectionate fiance who can accept her. As a result of that engagement, she also has begun developing friends and allies, skills and a role where her strangenesses can be accepted by the society around her. She's also dealing with her new age - and the hormones of a sixteen year old girl when she'd been quite a bit younger until very recently. There were three people she met recently, potential allies, who were ready to kill her until a certain fiance interfered."

Sailor Mercury was mainly paying attention to the readings. "Oh?"

"Frankly," said Morgana with a certain earthy tone to her voice, "if said fiance wouldn't be likely to panic and hide, and if she knew what to do with those raging hormones, I'd have expected her to jump his bones, drag him off, and make out like a crazed rabbit. It's certainly one way to establish a claim over a boy that others ought to consider."

Shampoo and Ukyo froze as the wind seemed to whisper some really odd idea to them. Of course, then they went back to trying to beat the stuffings out of each other. Akane looked up as the wind passed by her and her sisters, ears going flat as she considered. The idea had been spread, but some ground was more fertile than others.

Sailor Mercury continued half-listening as she went over the readings and recorded everything for more analysis later.

Sailor Pluto just held ready to let loose a "Dead Scream" if the girl turned into something Dark Kingdom-ish. It was odd how a kingdom of love and justice didn't really concern themselves with either concept as much as reference them.

Morgana smirked. "Dai-con bunnygirl? Magical Maid Hotaru? Tsk. Not much imagination, or is she just fairly traditional?"

"Spatula girl get lost!"

Sailor Mercury and Pluto blinked as they realized that voice had come from elsewhere and was not either of them, Saturn, or the now-transparent sorceress.

Shampoo had finally gotten the advantage of her opponent, removed the spatula, and used a rolling throw manuever to give an okonomiyaki chef some air time.

Ukyo twisted in midair, reaching for some throwing spatulas. "Get over there, you hussy!"

Ukyo bounced off Pluto to land where she could renew her battle with Shampoo.

Pluto landed hard on her butt, wondering if her dignity this night would *ever* recover, and realized something very important as her position became obvious. She was inside the boundary.

There was a moment of shock while she tried to decide whether to scream, madly scramble for the boundary, or just "Dead Scream" the two idiots who had caused this mess.

Ever helpful, Morgana called across that certain dragons seemed to have an affinity for catgirls.

--------

Cologne was glad to see the Amazons who had arrived.

Azure fretted briefly. Frost looked bored. Sugar and Spice looked like they were quite unhappy about something. Sash had passed out and had a large lump on her head. Tigar yawned and inquired if it was too much to ask that they get the briefing done tomorrow and get some sleep NOW.

"Well, that actually might be best, I'm not sure how much of what's going on here you would believe otherwise," admitted Cologne, not bonking Tigar on the head for once. The Amazon nonconformist was the child of an Amazon and a father who had been a mountain cat prior to a plunge into Jusenkyo. Perhaps it was just her feline nature to be contrary but Tigar had been getting into scrapes with the Elders since she could crawl. (Before the end of the first week actually.)

"Oh come on, what does this country have that could be *that* strange?" Frost rolled her eyes.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"That was Shampoo," observed Azure as a purple blur raced by.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!"

"That was Ukyo Kuonji, if I'm not mistaken," explained Cologne, taking two steps backward.

"Who?" Frost asked, looking after the two running figures.

"Come back here you two!" A tall girl with very long green hair and reddish eyes, wearing a maid's uniform, was clearly chasing Shampoo and the other girl.

"Nyowrrrrr, wait a minute!" A purple eyed catgirl bounded off Frost's head, made an impressive acrobatic flip in mid air, and gave chase after the tall girl.

Tigar looked after them. "Tigar got Japanese relatives? Tigar not know that."

Frost blinked for a moment. "Okay, I stand corrected."

-----

"What?" Sailor Mercury stared despite the two being way out of sight at this point.

"So we have Bunnygirl and Maid and Catgirl powerups for Tomoe-san and Meiou-san." Morgana shook her head. "Did you notice how Sailor Pluto lost a certain something?"

"Huh?" Sailor Mercury said, hoping someone could make sense out of it.

"Off hand I'd say that Pluto there likes to maintain a cold dignified image and is probably a control freak." Morgana shrugged. Maybe it was the pot calling the kettle black in this instance, but that simply meant she knew a bit about the other's situation, right?

It penetrated Sailor Mercury's current daze that this was a fairly accurate summation.

"Most likely something happened in her past that she feels a lot of guilt about, also has low people skills. Bet she spends a lot of time alone. So some deep scars that she uses the 'icemaiden' image to protect herself against further emotional involvement." Morgana couldn't help analyzing people, it came naturally after the first few centuries. "Don't worry, once she gets the hang of her new emotional equilibrium, she'll be fine."

"Uhm, right. I... guess I better go analyze these readings," Sailor Mercury started getting very nervous. If she were to cross that boundary, then *she* would... oh dear. With fur and tail and claws. Or lace and a tight black uniform. Or bunny ears and high heels. Oh dear!

Morgana watched the girl go running off and wondered if she'd faint from the force of that blush. Girls these days were so shy!

With a gesture, Morgana formed a set of signs just outside the boundary. It wasn't quite true, of course, but some degree of warning seemed necessary.

[No Trespassing. Persecuters Will Be Violated.]

============

Oh dear. oh my. whatever will happen to our hapless heroines?

Well, in the meantime:

OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE

Rafael looked uncomfortable. "Actually, what I *intended* to do was have Ranma end up being raised by Kuan Yin."

"Already been done," said Toltiir, idly waving a paw. "Observe."

Rafael blinked. "The goddess of compassion and pacifism? Saddled with the wild horse?"

-----

WHAT IF KWANNON HAD RAISED RANMA?
a "worse father than Genma" omake by Gregg Sharp

-----

Kuan Yin, aka Kwannon, alias a few similar names and identities, breathed a sigh of relief as her rebellious "son" was ready at long last to leave the nest.

Years ago she had taken a tortured child under her protection. Not too long after that she had begun regretting it. At several points she had been ready to pull out her own hair as a result of a *very* rebellious boy whose natural inclinations had not included pacifism by any stretch of the imagination.

After an event where even *her* patience had been exhausted, Kwannon had finally come up with an idea on how to impress on her young charge the basic philosophies of her nature. It hadn't quite worked, though Ranma had been a bit more subdued since his moment of Awareness. Even more so after his Ascension.

The event in question had been the time Ranma had fallen into the Spring Of Tiresias after sneaking away in order to try and pick up some martial arts training from one of the other gods rather than study boring stuff like medicine. Having managed to change himself from an eight year old mortal boy into an eight year old girl had driven Ranma nearly into frothing at the mouth displays of temper until the gentle goddess Kwannon had found a way to change Ranma back. Though it only worked if Ranma was completely calm. If startled, angered, or otherwise moved out of his "icy calm" - boy-type Ranma became a girl.

Thereafter, Ranma had learned to be less emotional. Quieter. More controlled. He still lapsed occasionally after that, but disliked becoming a girl enough that those occasions were rare.

He'd become quite a good healer, familiar with a number of Chinese medical techiques. So much so that he'd become a god (second class, limited) of medicine.

Now if only he'd get some of that show-off nature out of his system.

-----

This was boring, Cologne thought to herself, and THAT was why she usually did not attend the annual Tournament. It was the same thing every year. If only something *different* would happen.

*BOOM!*

As a bolt of lightning slammed down from a blue sky next to the first prize, Cologne raised an eyebrow.

Coughing slightly, a boy walked out of the resulting cloud of smoke. "Yeesh. Maybe I should have chosen a different method of transport."

Cologne's other eyebrow went up as she sensed the power radiating from this boy.

"Hey you! What the heck are you doing?!" Ignoring the way the boy had formed out of a bolt of lightning, Shampoo pointed to where the edge of the feast was now on fire. "Look what you did to my prize!"

"Oh?" The boy turned, saw the fire, and nodded. He couldn't leave things as they were, could he? "Don't worry, I can fix it!"

Shampoo was ready to beat on this Outsider when it finally occurred to her that this boy was beginning to glow.

"Dance and spin,
O threads of life,
Repair thy damaged ends,
Grow strong again,
And quickly mend,
And free yourselves of strife!"

Ranma nodded. He'd gotten stuck with the wording again but he thought he'd muddled through.

The ears of corn becoming stalks of corn which took root and began spreading disabused him of that notion.

Grass sprouted from dirt in a sudden flood of green that spread through the village. Tree seeds which had blown in from nearby orchards erupted into full growth in seconds before startled Amazon eyes. More plants likewise went from seeds or fruits to fully grown specimens of their breed within moments.

Shampoo, enveloped by vines that had rushed over her in a wave, thought that all the flowers would look quite nice if they weren't tying her up like this. She had to fight against the strange calm and desire to dance that was already affecting a lot of the others around her. "STUPID OUTSIDER! LET ME GO!"

As vines and plants continued to spread through the village and tie up or otherwise defeat various Amazons, Ranma said eight words that sent a chill through everyone who heard them. "Don't worry, I know how to fix this."

-------

When the Outsider had finally left, Cologne sat on a tree branch and smoked her pipe. Being over three hundred years old, she needed a break every so often. She also made a mental note not to complain about being bored again. Someone had obviously been listening.

A form pushing its way through the thick field of corn revealed itself as a very disheveled looking Shampoo. She was joined quickly by Lotion, Perfume, Potion, Satin, Clover, Sugar, Spice, Tigar, Frost, Sash, and Weird Mao.

Cologne let them wait below her for a few minutes. "And what do you want now with so much work to be done? We have to get all these trees out of the village, we have to harvest and store all these fruits and vegetables, we have to rebuild several homes still."

"Excuse me, Elder," politely said Frost, the albino looking up at her briefly. "It occurred to me that this boy managed to defeat us in combat."

Perfume and Lotion looked at each other and nodded. As they did everything together, sharing a husband wasn't so strange an idea. "The Outsider *was* a male, and *was* rather handsome."

Cologne cleared her throat. "Are you suggesting that after all the trouble we had getting him to leave the village that one of you should give him the kiss of marriage and bring him back here?"

"Well..." Sugar looked slightly embarassed.

"Are you sure you're not trying to shirk your current workload?" Cologne looked at the guilty expressions over more than one face. "Get back to work. I'll consider your petition later as long as his entering our valley again is *not* something we have to deal with on a regular basis."

There were some disappointed mutters but two of them looked hopeful.

"And *after* we've cleaned up *this* mess," finished Cologne.

-------

The crowd of hentai was ready to attack.

Their target, a young girl, prepared to throw herself into the group and beat them senseless. Err, make that 'beat them into severe pain' - if they had any sense to begin with they wouldn't be in this situation.

*BOOM!*

(cough hack) "Yup, I've *got* to come up with a better way of teleporting." Ranma waved some of the smoke away, then pulled out and began consulting a "Ningauble's Guide To Tokyo" as he tried to determine where he was.

After a few minutes he realized that he wasn't being stared at so much as something at his feet. Glancing down he realized that he was standing *on* someone?! "Oh my gosh. I'm sorry, miss!"

"...I don't want to play Romeo..." Akane mumbled, her eyes swirling.

Ranma considered. He knew pressure points and Chinese medicine. All he had to do was tap here and there and voila!

Akane realized some strange boy was touching her back and that she'd been pounded into the ground. "WHAT THE?! You did NOT defeat me!" She twisted away as this boy prepared to do something weird.

"Yeah, I know. You were just lying in this crater by some amazing coincidence. Hey! Hold still! Uh oh." Ranma looked horrified as his precisely targetted pressure point strike which *should* have healed her sprained ankle hit an entirely different pressure point.

Akane grabbed the young hunk in front of her, pulling him close into a passionate kiss. All of her inhibitions and inner passions came rushing to the forefront and she ground her body against the sexy stud. Yes, this was why she hadn't rebuked the whole defeating her thing. She *wanted* some guy to take control, to be able to force her into submission, and now that she had found someone, she was not going to let go.

Ranma froze as he found someone else's tongue in his mouth and her hands roaming where public decorum indicated nice girls not do that even in privacy. When he could finally move again, Ranma did the natural thing. Which was to hit a temporary paralysis point, undo the effects of the earlier shiatsu strike, and teleport again. Boy, had *he* found the wrong place to be!

Akane slowly got control of herself again, though if she ever found that boy again she'd... Well she wasn't quite sure if she'd finish what she started or she'd kill him.

Idly flattening Tatewaki Kuno, Akane wondered which she really wanted to do.

--------

After causing so much mess on the mortal plane, it was quite natural for Ranma to be punished. Community service was not Ranma's favorite thing. The Goddess Relief Office even more so.

Especially as that meant he had to be a she during this period. Bleah.

Ranma brightened slightly. A call! "Goddess Relief Office. I'll be right there for a consultation!"

-------

Minako Aino sighed dejectedly. Her parents were out of town, she'd tried to order pizza, and instead she'd gotten some whacked out psychic hotline.

*shoom!* "Not as impressive, but it'll have to do."

*poof!* This the sound of a little white mooncat who now resembled a puffball with legs and poofy tail.

The redheaded girl smiled at the startled blonde. "Hello. I am Ranma Saotome, god second class on probation, limited license, temporarily working for the goddess relief office. I am here to grant you a wish!"

Minako blinked. "You're a goddess?"

"Actually, this is just temporary. I'm really a guy." Ranma forced himself to calm and morphed back to male. "See? It's just a transformation because I work for the Goddess Relief Office, and they've got these rules, y'know?"

Minako blinked repeatedly. A guy. A handsome guy. A handsome guy who was here to... "You're going to grant me a wish?!"

Ranma nodded. "Oh yeah. I gotta go through the whole procedure. Minako Aino, alias Sailor V, aka Sailor Venus. You have been found worthy of being granted a wish. You only get *one* wish, however."

"A wish?!" Minako repeated, looking over the girl that had turned into a real hunk.

"Yes!" Ranma nodded. He wouldn't screw this one up! "It can be for nearly anything, however. You want great wealth, you can have it. You want to be a famous idol singer, you can do that too. You want a 'Venus Lovely Gatling Orbital X-Ray Laser Cannon' you can have that as well. Just remember - it's only one wish and once given you can't change it."

Artemis began to recover. "Don't do it! It's a trick. Wish he'd just go away or something if you've got to!"

"You could even wish that Artemis here had all his memories back or something," pointed out Ranma. "Whatever you like!"

Minako tried not to get her hopes up even as Artemis began ranting about duties and responsibilities and not letting her guard down. "I could even get a boyfriend if I wanted?"

"MINAKO!!" Artemis really began to get alarmed.

Ranma looked at the girl and could see her uncertainties, her insecurity in her own appearance and appeal - fueled by her inability to get a boyfriend. After a moment he nodded. "Yeah. Though it's hard to believe a girl as cute as you couldn't get a boyfriend."

Artemis cringed. The moment this boy called her cute, Minako got *that* look in her eyes. He had to stop her from doing something foolish. This *had* to be a trick of the Dark Kingdom.

Minako grinned. The inevitable occurred. "I wish I had a cute boyfriend like you to be with me forever!"

"Noooooooooooo!" Artemis didn't like this development at all.

Strangely enough, neither would Luna.

Minako on the other hand, after some initial misgivings, decided that she'd made the right wish after all.

===========

i'd actually planned this ending as one of the alternative beginnings to Retake, it was just that Retake took off before i could get this out.

==============