Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Total Shock ❯ Shitaru ( Chapter 5 )

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

Ranma finally sees the esteemed Sailor Senshi, but the encounter shoots both his confidence and ego down, way down. Awed at their power, Ranma decides to find more ways of training, because even he can see that the Art alone won't be enough to defeat magically enhanced sailor soldiers of love and justice...

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 10.12.2006 | Updated On: 10.30.2006 | Pages: 26 | Words: 21.4K | Visits: 903 | Status: Work In Progress

Tired, self-edited, fix blatant errors later, etc, etc…

--->

The morning sun was warm on her skin as Kagome left her house with her school as her destination. She sagged as she walked on her own to her doom.

About three blocks from her house, a voice called out.

“Hey! Higurashi-san!” Came a feminine voice. Kagome turned her head in surprise and blinked.

“Sakurada-san?” She asked. The other girl nodded. She caught up with Kagome and started walking besides her.

“How are you feeling, Higurashi-san? Do you really think you can make it through today?” She asked, concern filling her voice.

“Y-yeah,” Kagome said, weakly, realizing how slouched she looked. She stood up straighter and quickly tried to wake up. “I'm just tired, that's all,” She said.

“Ah, I see,” The girl said cheerfully. She kept pace with Kagome for a minute or two then started slowing down. “Ah, Higurashi-san,” She said. “Could we slow down? I'm getting tired for some reason,” She said.

`Oh yeah, I'm walking much faster than she is,' Kagome thought to herself. “Ah, okay, I could use the rest myself,” she said, not calling attention to being the one who'd set the pace.

“This is pretty shameful,” Nori sighed to herself. “I'm on a sports team, and yet I'm the one to get tired first…”

“Ah, Sakurada-san,” Kagome said nervously. “How're things going with your brother?”

“Ah…Jun-kun,” She sighed. “He's still…the same way,” She shook her head. Kagome's expression mirrored Nori's; Sakurada Jun, her younger brother, had cracked under extreme pressure from school a while ago, and as a result, he became a `hikikomori'. In essence, the boy had withdrawn totally and completely from his social life.

“Well,” Nori said, having caught her breath. “Let's go! I for one do not want to be late,” She stood up and started walking. Kagome followed with a sigh and soon they both arrived at the school.

---

Asuna sighed as she looked up at the bright sky. “Couldn't find him anywhere…”

“Ah, Asuna-san!” Cried a voice. Asuna blinked and turned to see Negi running towards her.

“Oh, there you are, brat,” She said, annoyed. “I've been looking for you all morning. Where the hell were you?”

“Oh, sorry… I was at the World Tree…”

“Again?! Listen, Negi, I know the world tree is a big deal and all, but you've got to stop this. It's as if the damned thing is calling you or something.”

“Asuna, you're…”

“I'm being serious,” She said with a concerned look on her face. “Even though I've only recently been introduced to the world of magic, and I'm sure I still don't know as much as most beginner wizards do, I still have an idea of what's going on with that thing.”

“Then you should know why I'm so concerned about it.”

“But Negi, you're just a kid! You should leave that kind of stuff to the Headmaster and Takahata-sensei, or even Evangeline-san!”

“…Asuna, if I'm not assertive or concerned, it's easy to keep information from me. That's why most kids, heck, even adults are so ignorant.”

“Uh…well haven't you ever heard that western phrase…how's it go…`blissful ignorance'?”

“…”

“Hey, what's wrong? Didn't I say it right?” Asuna asked, blushing.

“Yes, yes…I'm just so proud, Asuna!” He let a single tear escape his eye.

“E-eh? What…”

“You actually remembered something from class! Oh Asuna-san, I'm so happy for you!” He hugged the girl as she continued blushing.

“Why you…” Her left eye twitched and she clenched a fist.

“Eh? Asuna-san? What's wrong?”

“That was mean, Asuna-san,” Negi rubbed his head where Asuna'd hit him.

“Serves you right. You don't need to call so much attention to my…my…whatever you call it in public, you little brat…”

---

Ranma sighed as he held his hands behind his head while he left Juuban. Touya wasn't home, and Chibi-Usa was apparently being punished for something, not even able to partake in any kind of martial arts lessons. The girl really had some potential though; her magical base was intense, probably as good as his.

Now, he hadn't the slightest idea on how to train a magical base, but the raw potential was there, and her already high Chi could be increased through training. It was true that anyone could learn martial arts, but some people were bred for it, and it seemed like both she and her sister seemed to be as thoroughbred as he was.

Which was quite odd, considering that neither of their parents were martial artists and their brother didn't have nearly as much potential.

The walk home was as boring as the walk there; not too many people to notice or recognize him and some very normal scenery.

`What was with that black feather on my way here, though? Oh well, I need to take walks more often…hey wait, I know this neighborhood...'

Ryouga sighed as he looked the girl over another time. “So how long have you been living here now?”

“Ever since I was born,” She said.

“I see.” He blinked and sat back with a thoughtful look on his face. His eyes widened for a second, and he nodded with a cliché palm-in-fist exclamation. “So you were born sometime today! How odd…”

“Noooo!” She yelled. “You're either stupid or an asshole,” She fumed.

“Alright little girl, why don't you start out by telling me your name. That might add some credibility to your story.”

“Why, so you can go around and pose as me? As if! Why don't you give me your name instead?”

“Eh, so you can use my last name and try to say that you've been living here? Get real!” Suddenly, Ranma's voice called from the door.

“Oi! HIBIKI! I know you're there! I can hear you!”

“That's for me,” both of them said before blinking. “What do you mean, for you? Trying to further your credibility even more?!” They growled at each other's faces and both ran for the door.

“Who is it?!” Both yelled angrily.

“Uh, me…but I think I'll be going-“

“WAIT!” the girl yelled. “Who are you here for? Would it be Hibiki Rie?”

“Uh, no…the person I'm after is Ryouga…” The voice said nervously.

“Ryouga?” The girl blinked. “Hibiki Ryouga? He's not here-“

“You moron!” Ryouga laughingly yelled. “That's me! I'm Hibiki Ryouga!”

“What the heck's goin on in there? Who's that girl with you, Ryouga?”

“Masaka…Wait, wait, wait. Wait. WAIT!” the girl panted as Ryouga and Ranma stopped talking. She poked Ryouga in the chest. “So wait a minute. YOU'RE Hibiki Ryouga?” She asked.

“Yeah, what of it?”

“I don't believe this,” she shook her head. “So YOU'RE my older brother?”

There was silence.

The girl sighed.

“I thought you'd be way cooler than this.”

“W-w-wait…Brother? Me?” Ryouga was reminded of a certain time a certain aqua-transexual posed as his sister. “Hey now, wait a minute. Prove that you're my sister.”

“You prove that you're Ryouga!”

“Can you guys open the door?”

“Let yourself in, Ranma, it's open,” The door promptly opened and in walked Ranma. The boy immediately left his shoes in the genkan and went to inspect the girl Rie. “Hey, I've got an idea. Say, little girl, do you know where the kitchen is? Could you get me some cold water please? You shouldn't need to open any doors on your way there.”

“C-Cold water? What are you doing Ranma?” The fanged boy asked heatedly.

“Why should I get you water?” she snapped.

“'Cause I'm the guest, now go,” He ruffled her hair. The girl grumbled and sighed as she did what he said. She walked away from them and walked through one of the halls in their house.

“Hey wait a minute, isn't the kitchen that way?” Ryouga asked as he pointed in towards the kitchen. Ranma's eyes widened upon hearing this.

“Very good Ryouga, you got it right. I do say this proves something.”

“This proves nothing, if she doesn't live here, she won't know where anything is!”

“Ah, but wait.” Ranma disappeared with two leaps up the stairs. Less than thirty seconds later he led a confused looking Rie down the stairs. Ryouga's jaw was agape.

“But those…are the only stairs…in the house…”

“I say, this makes her related to you in some way,” Ranma said with a thoughtful look.

“What are you two going on about? And why did you bring me back, I thought you wanted water?!”

“I stopped you before you got too lost is all.”

“W-what? How dare you suggest that I could get lost in my own house?!”

“I just did,” Ranma stuck his tongue out at the girl. “What'cha gonna do about it?” The girl fumed as Ryouga just sighed and shook his head.

---

Suiseiseki watched the last of the sunset from the window of `her' room. “What inconsiderate humans -desu…”

---

“Feh,” A tall man dressed in an all white uniform tossed a magazine behind him. In the alleyway where he was, doing so could not really be considered littering; it was actually one of the better-looking things in that alley. Garbage littered the sides and unknown substances were littered along the ground along with broken shards of glass and rusted pieces of metal. Damp, rotting pieces of paper clung to the walls and the ground. He ran a hand through some of his elegant long hair and sighed.

“What useless media,” He walked out of the alley and onto the street. At night, there weren't as many people on this particular street, and everyone there was giving him odd looks. “I must stand out. I should try to keep a low profile,”

“Touya!” A young, feminine voice cried out from nearby. He ignored it and started walking. “Hey, Touya!” This time, the voice was much closer. He turned around and spotted a young girl with pink hair arranged in a familiar shape running towards him post-haste. When she to him, she had to stop and catch her breath. After a few minutes of waiting, she finally looked up at him, only to be surprised. “Hey, you're not Touya,”

“No, I'm not,”

“His hair is like yours, so I thought…” She bowed. “Sorry about that,”

“It's no problem,” He said. “Just a bit surprising.” He nodded and turned, walking away.

Suddenly, a nearby explosion rocked the ground.

“What the hell was that?!” Chibi-usa looked in the direction from where the sound had come. There was an odd humanoid shaped creature standing near a large amethyst spire, surrounded by debris. The ground under it was fractured and destroyed. Purple fog began spilling from the crystal and Chibi-Usa could feel a sudden change in her emotions. `That fog, it's some sort of depressant,' She realized. “Must be a new weapon for them,” She sighed as she looked around for a place to transform into Sailor Chibi-Moon. She found an alleyway not too far away and went in after checking the area.

“They're so unorganized,” She muttered to herself. “No strategy at all. This isn't even a crowded place, where are they going to find that `Soul fire' they keep talking about?” Moments later, Sailor Chibi-Moon was out and ready to fight. She spotted the creature making its way to the man in the white. It reached forward to grab him and she gasped. “Look out!”

There was a sudden flash of energy as the creature's massive limb collided with the man. Its entire arm was frozen, all the way up to the shoulder. The man then proceeded to tear the frozen limb right from its socket. She gagged at the intense stench that followed as the monster's blood poured out in great volume; even at her own distance she had to cover her nose and mouth to avoid coughing up her stomach bile (well, the Senshi transformation prevented her from doing so, but it was still an unpleasant experience.) when the creature started wailing. The creature clutched it's stump of an arm as it wailed and the man simply, with one hand, swung the large, frozen limb like a club, slamming it into the creature's head and sending it flying backwards.

`What the hell,' She thought to herself. `The guy's brutal, and he instantly froze that thing on contact with his body. That's… how did he do that?' She watched, as he proceeded to beat the thing to death with it's own frozen arm. As it finally died, it's body being far beyond recognition (not that it was too human-like to begin with) it melted into the green slime that normally formed when the new enemies died. The crystal it had raised sank into the ground as well. The man slammed his blunt object into the ground, shattering it and the shards quickly dissipated in the same way as the rest of its body.

He turned towards Chibi-Usa and blinked. “Huh,” He thought. “I've never seen you before. Which one are you?”

“Eh?” She asked.

“Which planet,” He said as if it was the most normal thing possible.

“Uh… actually, the moon,”

“Eh? But if you're…” He muttered something to himself and shook his head. After a few seconds, he suddenly nodded, as if coming to a conclusion. “That explains the dormant state of all the other planets and Luna itself…”

“Hey, who are you?”

“Just a person,” He said, with a wave of his hand. He turned and started walking away.

“Hey wait!” Chibi-Usa ran over to catch up to him. “Wait a minuite,” She said. He turned to her with a brow raised. “What the hell was that just now?”

“What?”

“You just killed that thing,” She said. `I wish I knew what to call it…'

“Oh, that? Well…” He shrugged. “It was something that doesn't belong here, right? I mean, I don't see too many of them wandering around, so obviously some outside influence put it there, and as such it warranted a removal.”

“But you stood there until it tried to attack you,” She said suspiciously.

“I was trying to reason with it,” He said. “It's only natural to do so before attacking…”

“But it's a monster! Monsters don't have reason…”

“It could have been lost. My, you're really inexperienced, aren't you? Have you even been outside of the Sol system yet?”

“W-what? Actually, yes-”

“I bet you haven't even left Gaia,” He sighed. “How much were you guys set back, anyway?”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Well you're obviously from the Lunarian kingdom, and your hair somewhat resembles that of Serenity,” He commented lazily.

“Y-you knew Serenity?”

“Well, all of them usually have the same hair, but I've known quite a few of them,” He said. “You mean there isn't even one now?” He asked, boggled. “How the hell is your government holding up without a queen?”

“Who are you, again?” She asked suspiciously.

“…” He kept silent.

“How do you know so much about the Serenity line? About the Moon Kingdom?”

“…” He took a step back.

“Hey, answer me!” She was about to grab him by the shoulder when his arm shot up and caught hers. He pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her, and instantly, they were off the ground and in the air when another amethyst crystal erupted from the ground right below them.

Had he been a single second slower, she would have been split in half.

She blanched upon realizing this. He landed a good five meters away and set her down.

“Something bigger than that last one is coming,” He said. He cracked his knuckles in a way that Chibi-Usa found oddly familiar.

“Who the hell are you again?”

“That's good,” He ignored her question and began walking forward as the rather large crystal continued rising from the ground. Suddenly, a huge black spiraling portal appeared where the crystal was. There was a deep rumbling sound and she wavered. She could feel the huge amounts of energy from whatever was coming to them.

“I've got to get the other Senshi here, pronto,”

“Your assistance is totally and completely unnecessary,” He turned his head around. “I want you to get far, far away, far as possible.”

“What? You can't tell me what to do!” She growled. “I'm a…er, regardless of what I am, you still just can't order me around!”

“Hnn,” He merely acknowledged her and turned back to the swirling portal. His right arm began glowing a very bright blue and Chibi-moon could see a large object at least as long as he was tall forming on his arm. He spread his legs evenly in what Chibi-Usa recognized as a martial-arts stance to brace himself for something and held out his right arm forward with his left arm up, bracing the other.

“What are you doing?”

“You're still here? I would advise you to run now,”

The massive object slowly finished materializing and when it was done the light blue glow disappeared. Energy could be seen gathering at the front of his assumed weapon, and Sailor Chibi-Moon had to narrow her eyes to assess how much energy was being pulled into the device. Her eyes opened wide, as without warning, there was a shockwave at the front of his apparatus, where the small bits of energy had been gathering before. The following burst of energy sent her flying backwards into a building.

She was unconscious before she hit the ground.

---

Ryoko turned her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “What the heck was that?” Gojyou blinked and looked at her.

“What are you talking about?”

“Say, Shiouji, can your computer detect energy signatures?”

“Yes, that's how we found you,”

“I just felt something in that direction.” She pointed in the direction she'd felt the energy.

“…Is that so?” He immediately began walking to his lab. “I usually leave my computers running to detect things of that matter, so they should have picked it up.”

---

Ranma froze as he felt a rather large wave of energy pass through the yard. He looked in the direction of Juuban, where it'd originated. “What the hell?” he stood up and immediately leapt in that direction.

---

Inuyasha banged on Kagome's window as hard as he could without breaking it. After a good thirty seconds, the aggravated girl opened the window and glared at him.

“Kagome, we-”

“What the hell is your problem Inuyasha?! I'm trying to get some sleep!”

“We have to go-”

“Dammit, Inuyasha, I thought I told you already that I can't leave until I've finished with test prep!”

“It's not that-”

“You selfish bastard, waking me up in the middle of the night so you can find your precious shards-”

“WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME?!” Inuyasha roared, clenching one of his fists. Kagome eeped and took a step back.

“I-Inuyasha?”

“There,” the disgruntled hanyou sighed. “Listen, I'll explain on the way. You just have to come right now, trust me.”

---

Negi Springfield turned his head in shock. “I don't believe it...”

“N-Negi-sensei,” Asuna stuttered as she looked in the same direction that he had. “What…what was that?”

“Asuna-san felt it too?” He asked, surprised.

“W-well yeah. How could I not feel it?” She asked, looking at him as if he was mentally ill.

“Asuna…that was a very powerful blast of…actually, I'm not sure,” He narrowed his eyes. “It definitely wasn't magic, and it wasn't Ki, nor a combination of the two…how odd. But regardless of what it was, even with all of your current skills, you still should not have been able to feel that yet...” He looked at her seriously. “This certainly is an odd turn of events…first, Chao-san…the whole time incident…Then the world tree…and this.”

“…”

“Never mind all of that for now. Asuna, is this the first time this happened for you?”

“Nah,” She blinked. “I remember a little while ago, back when everyone thought a UFO had appeared, I felt the same thing,” She said.

“I see,” He nodded. “That's right, the same energy was there…on that day, too…”

“Negi,” She asked. “What does that mean?”

“The two are obviously related…”

“Great, just great. Some how, I know this is going to involve us-”

“Negi-sensei, Negi-sensei!” Cried a voice from outside of the door. “The headmaster would like to meet with you, post-haste!”

“Eh? Eh?” Negi blinked. He looked at Asuna who shrugged and blinked.

A man dressed in concealing clothes knelt before a man sitting behind an elaborately designed desk.

“We must build our forces in order to prepare for any possible event. No effort can be spared. I'm sure they have already realized what is happening and have likely decided to take solitary action, but it would be best to convince them to join us in this.”

“Understood. My partner and I will depart immediately.” The man vanished into the darkness.

Not moments later, the door opened and Negi poked his head in. “You wanted to see me professor?”

“Ah, Negi-kun,” the headmaster of Mahora Academy stood from his chair. “It does me good to see you well. Come in, come in, we have some things to discuss.” Negi accepted the invitation and walked in, closing the door behind himself. “Now, I'm sure you're aware of the energies that have been appearing to the east…”

“Of course,” Negi blinked.

“That is why you, Negi, have been selected to investigate the matter.”

“E-excuse me?”

“You are to investigate the cause of this new emergence of energy and see what it is.”

“I-I see…and I would humbly accept this assignment, but…”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Who will teach my class? What of the festival? Why me?”

“You have already been assigned a suitable substitute instructor for the time of your absence. As for the festival…” The old man sighed. “Such things are out of our hands at this time. It's just as well; we could cover it up, but the future does not look like it will be nearly as…plain as it did before.”

“So…magic is really becoming a common thing?”

The old man nodded. “That is for certain. What's also for certain is that it is the doing of the World Tree. However, the Tree's sphere of influence only encompasses Mahora academy at this time, and is constantly expanding in all directions. Eventually, Gaia's entire atmosphere will become at the very least, a thousand times more magically saturated than it is now. Mana will flow freely once more.”

“A-A thousand?!” Negi felt dizzy at the mention of such a large number. “At the least, a thousand, sir?”

“That is correct.” The old man turned away from Negi to look out of his darkened window. “As for why you were chosen…I had a feeling that somehow, going to the source of this power would help you in some way.”

“Ah…you mean…my father?”

“Correct. I have reason to believe that he is, indirectly at least, involved with the things that are happening.”

“Ah…I see.” There was silence between the two for a moment as Negi gathered himself. “Sir, when am I to be leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning will be early enough,” He said.

“T-tomorrow?” Negi checked a clock. It was nearly midnight. “I guess I should get some sleep then,” He said.

“Negi, you will not be going alone. You are allowed two accomplices, regardless of their position or status in the school.”

Negi looked up. “Oh?” Negi focused as he thought over who he could trust to go with him. `Regardless of their position or status' was obviously referring to any of his students that were already in the know of magic, so… “I'd like for Asuna to come with me, sir.”

“That can be arranged…”

“Two…then…Kotaro…Yes, I'd like for Kotaro to come as well.”

“Hm? Why that one?”

“I have a feeling…”

“Ah, yes, well…I suppose it would be fine for him to accompany you…”

“Ah, I do have some more questions, headmaster…”

“Hmm?”

“Where will we stay? And how will we live?”

“Do not worry. The school can afford to pay living expenses,”

“Ah…but, I don't want to be a burden,” The headmaster held up his hand to stop him.

“You'll be going on official business. As it is an assignment, it would be more of a burden on yourself if we could not provide you with a place to stay,”

“…Understood.”

Asuna waited as Negi left the headmaster's office. “Negi, what's going on? Why did the headmaster want only you to go in there?”

“He had an assignment for me,” The boy said as he grabbed his staff and started towards the exit, with Asuna curiously following.

“What was it?” Negi stopped and looked up at Asuna.

“I've been selected to investigate the mysterious power surges we've been feeling recently,”

“But, the last one was right before the headmaster's messenger arrived. Do you think he predicted that?”

“Iie, that was just a coincidence,”

“Don't believe in coincidences,” Said a voice directly in front of them. Both Negi and Asuna immediately halted and turned to face the person in front of them.

“Eh…Satoshi-san?”

“So you were assigned somewhere as well,” The man said.

“Yeah. Tokyo.” The boy nodded. “Where are you going?”

“Some place called Misaki…I think you, Evangeline, and I are the only ones to be assigned anywhere within the country,”

“Eh? Evangeline-san was told to go somewhere? Isn't that…a bit dangerous?”

“Yes, but the headmaster trusts her to keep a level head while out, especially when it's over something this large. Well, I guess I'll see you guys sometime later. I'm actually supposed to leave right away, my assignment is very urgent because the targets may decide to change locations without warning. Ciao, Negi-kun!” The man waved as he walked away.

“Huh…” They both shrugged and went on their way.

Darkness flooded the headmaster's office, as the only light was that of the moon.

“Headmaster, are you sure this is wise? Sending your strongest I mean,” commented a young feminine voice from the shadows. “This leaves the school quite vulnerable, you know…”

“They are my strongest and most trusted as well,” The headmaster said simply. “You must realize that the tasks I have given them are not at all easy. The people they are all en route to meet are not known for being particularly helpful to Magi, especially the Flame Haze…”

“Yes, I suppose that is true… Flame Haze are generally known for doing as they please,”

“But this time should be different. The balance between worlds is shifting.”

“…”

“Many things that could not exist here before because of Chikyuu's lack of mana will be coming back. Elves, Youkai, Ryuuzoku…and most certainly, Mazoku…”

“…”

“It is a surprising development, actually. I did not think I, or any of my direct descendants would live to see anything like this.”

“…”

“You're awfully quiet. Is something the matter?”

“…You do not seem to be taking this seriously.”

“Ha ha ha…I suppose not,”

“…What of the boy? Why did you choose him, knowing whom he would take with him? The girl's just a student. She doesn't need to get any more involved than she is.”

“Ah, ah,” The man raised a finger. “I have a feeling that Asuna will be one of the most effected by the increase of mana. As such, it would be best for her to be involved with the magic community somewhat more than she is already.”

“…I see.”

“As for why I chose Negi…It's not something I can tell you at the moment. But what are you worried about, losing your favorite student?”

“Only student,”

“Don't forget the girls he's been teaching. They still count as yours,”

“Hmph.”

---

“Oh geez,” Ranma said as he examined the area. Everything was completely covered in ice. Everything. “Someone decided overkill was necessary.” He looked around and noticed some depressions that were probably craters of something being smashed before the ice had appeared. “Major overkill.” He rubbed some of the ice and had to admire it. “It's not melting at all.”

“Chibi-usa! Everyone, I found her!” cried out a voice not too far away. Ranma didn't recognize the voice, but he recognized the name they were calling out. He turned to the direction where the voices had come from and slowly walked over towards them. The ice was rugged, but each small surface of ice was smooth and slippery, meaning that running or jumping was out of the question.

“Is she awake yet?” Ranma peered from behind a large chunk of ice as most of the Sailor Senshi watched Chibi-moon's prone form on the ground. The only one who seemed closest to her in age was knelt over her, apparently healing her while the one with blue hair typed some things into a small device he could only guess was a pocket pc or something.

“What the heck…is that some sort of costume party?” Ranma whispered to himself.

“Sailor Mercury, what can you tell us at this point?”

“..!” Ranma's eyes widened and he shrank behind the ice block. `THEY're the Sailor Senshi?!' He blinked as he suddenly realized it made sense. And they did look familiar. Not that he could remember consciously looking at pictures of them before…maybe a poster or two seen in passing, that had to be it… He looked up over the ice again.

“…ately the same energy as before. Whatever it is, its powers are obviously ice-based, but at this point, that's all I can tell you.”

“I see,” Usagi sighed-

`Wait, USAGI?!' Ranma almost choked and shrank behind the block of Ice again, before remembering a past event in which both Chibi-Usa and Usagi were wearing odd sailor fuku. `Last week…why couldn't I recognize them then?'

“She's coming to!” Hotaru said as loud as she could. Ranma looked up over the ice block and watched the Sailor Senshi he knew to be Chibi-Usa sit up.

“Oi…” the girl groaned as she rubbed her head.

“She's okay,”

“Oh…everyone? What's going on? How did you all find me?”

“There was an intense concentration of energy that we all followed here. Ami's been using the Mercury computer to analyze the area, but nothing so far… But, what happened? When we found you, you were frozen solid!”

“Eh?” Chibi-usa realized just what was surrounding her and the rest of the Senshi. “What the heck?”

“You mean…you don't know?”

“Not really. All I remember is…” Chibi-Usa paused. “That man…”

“What? Who!? Who did all of this?”

“I don't know…he wouldn't tell me who he was, but…”

Inuyasha watched from above with Kagome on his back. “They're more of the girls we saw last time.”

“Yeah, they're the Sailor Senshi,” Kagome nodded. `Why am I so calm about this? I'm seeing some of the most famous people in Japan right now and I don't feel excited at all. Must be the time of night…' “What are they talking about? Did they do this?”

“No…apparently some weird human dressed in all white did all of this…”

“Hm, doesn't sound familiar.” She thought. “Must be a new enemy of theirs…”

“Kagome, this ain't the time to be so nonchalant! Some guy with the power to do this is running around- in your time-”

“And? There're plenty of guys running around your time who can do this,” She yawned. “But I guess it is a bit weird…”

---

“Washuu, have you been able to figure it out yet? Was it Ryoko?”

“No,” The scientist shook her head. “It definitely wasn't her. But what it was, I can't be sure of…”

“Oh…okay,” Tenchi sighed and left her laboratory. Washuu looked after him and sighed.

`Ever since Ryoko disappeared, he's been in a slump…' The scientist blinked as she realized how long it'd been. `It's been almost two weeks since we lost contact…' The scientist shook her head and went back to her work. `All of these odd things occurring on earth must somehow be related. First, that UFO that nothing could detect until it made contact with Earth, and that strange burst of mana, now this…what could be happening?'

---

“…” Ranma stood on the roof of the Tendo home. `Usa-chan and Chibi-usa…Super heroes.' He shook his head. `This whole time they've been talking about the Senshi like experts, parading about how powerful and respectable the Senshi are.' Physically, only two or three of them looked to be martial artists, and neither of them appeared close to his level in his chosen art.

Magic-wise, however, was a completely different case.

`One of them was able to melt all of that ice without breaking a sweat…There's no way I could beat any one of them…Dammit, how ironic - me, the super macho martial artist panicking over a bunch of girls.' He clenched his fists in frustration. `I've got to find a way to get stronger…but how? No matter how much time I spend training anymore, I don't seem to be getting any stronger…faster, thanks to Touya's training, but no stronger, or even tougher.'

`There has to be some way to tap more potential than I have been…I know there's a way for me to get stronger than this…' He sighed and sat down on the roof. `How pathetic…'

---

Asuna sat up in her bed and looked around in the darkness. Negi was asleep in his usual position on his futon, and she could hear Konoka's breathing below her. She slipped out of her bed and double-checked to see if either was awake. She'd gone to sleep in some regular clothes instead of pajamas, so she was ready to go. She put on her shoes and left, making sure to close the door behind her softly.

Negi opened one eye and looked around. “I thought as much. She saw something at the World Tree…” He climbed out of bed, equally dressed and walked to the door. He could sense Asuna's aura right outside the door as if she was waiting for something. After a few seconds of waiting, she left. When she was sufficiently far enough away, he grabbed his wand and opened the door to leave.

Asuna looked up at the huge glowing tree as she slowly approached. “Why couldn't Negi see this? It's as bright as day out here,” She muttered. She took in the area completely; it was full of free-floating lights of a multi-color variety, and the atmosphere had a nice calming effect to it.

Asuna closed her eyes, but when she did, instead of the usual darkness (or bright red) that followed, she could still see; as far as she could see she was surrounded by swirling colors and other assorted bright lights. When she opened her eyes, the odd, swirling colors remained. The difference was the appearance of an odd girl who looked no more than twenty or so.

The girl was dressed in an odd garb that Asuna automatically associated with magic; the fact that she wielded an odd looking staff only supported her theory. The woman's hair and eyes were green and she had the most serene look on her face.

Negi watched Asuna walk into the clearing. He followed her, looking around. He couldn't really see any thing special; there was no glow of any sort that Asuna had mentioned; if it wasn't for his light spell it would have been as dark as any other moonless night. He shook his head and waited for Asuna to do something. He was surprised when she suddenly fell over.

“Eh?! Asuna!” He cried out as he ran over to her. “What's going on? What happened to you?” He held up her head, but almost dropped her with shock. Her eyes were glowing brightly and she seemed to be in a trance. “Asuna, wake up!” He shook her a few times and sighed when nothing happened. He magically enhanced his strength before picking up the girl and hopping onto his wand to carry her back to their room.

---

Ranma finished up the last of his traveling pack. He would be gone before anyone else woke; to find newer ways to train, he would obviously have to travel…He began thinking of all the people who could possibly help him in his studies of the martial arts.

Ryouga was a given, being the only rival Ranma was able to go all out on; Touya had explained that most of his and his brother's fighting was based off of the energy from Chaos Emeralds, so until he learned how to use one of those things they were out; The Sailor Senshi were out by default, being the ones he wanted to challenge…Where could he go to learn magic? There had to be someone in town who could train him in magic…

`Oh well, I'll figure that out later,' He nodded, satisfied with it and was about to take a step out of the house when a voice called up to him.

“Wheeeeere do you think you're going -desu?”

“Oh,” Ranma blinked, turning around. A positively livid doll was standing behind him with her arms crossed. “I had totally forgotten about you, Suiseiseki.”

“But we only met yesterday morning, how can you forget so fast?” She asked angrily.

“Ah…”

“Well, it's not important -desu. But where are you going -desu?”

“…I'm going to see someone.”

“Then you wouldn't mind bringing Suiseiseki along for a quick visit, would you?”

“E-eh?”

“Good! Then,” Suiseiseki pulled an equally packed looking bag from nowhere and tossed it onto his own.

“Gaaah!!” Ranma balanced himself as best he could with the added weight. It wasn't the weight that was his problem; but his center of gravity had shifted again and he needed to apply a bit more force to his legs than before. “What are you doing?”

“Suiseiseki has to stay near her medium or she'll run out of energy. So, Suiseiseki is doing the only, obvious thing to do and following the pathetic human wherever he goes -desu!”

“Great…just what I needed…a straggler…” He sighed and looked at the doll. “Listen, you know, I'm going to be doing martial arts training with Ryouga; this could be really dangerous you know, especially for a doll. Can you even use martial arts?”

“If you mean physical fighting, no -desu. It is not advised for a Rozen Maiden to engage in such...however, I am armed with several magical abilities that grant me protection from physical harm -desu.” She said.

“Okay…” Ranma sighed. “I guess you're with me…”

The sun had yet to rise, yet the sky was already somewhat lit and becoming brighter by the minute. The wind was still and the air was warm, perfect for anyone out for an early-morning stroll.

“Eh, Ryouga, practicing this early I see,” Ranma said from the entrance to Ryouga's yard. Ryouga was going through a kata in the yard as his younger sister watched.

“Well of course,” The boy started without interrupting his kata at all. “One must get up early in the morning to defeat the fabled Ranma Saotome,”

“Oh, now I'm a fable?”

“I thought fables usually involved talking animals or something,” Rie piped in. Ryouga fell out of his kata.

“Semantics, semantics,” Ryouga recovered and went back into his kata. “Eh, Ranma. Where are you going? Don't you have school or something?”

“I'm going out for a loooong training trip, and you're coming with me,” Ranma said.

“Why am I going with you, and why go on a training trip when the strongest people in the world are here in Tokyo? You'd get better faster by dueling other people here rather than anything else.”

“Oh, well,” Ranma blinked. “I guess you have a point…” he chuckled humorlessly. “…At any rate, it's impossible for me to go back to the Tendo Dojo,”

“Huh? Why?”

---

“Ah…who are you?” Asuna asked.

“My name is Martel.”

“Okay…but…”

“Asuna…”

“What I meant was, who are you? What is all of this?”

“This is inside of the great tree of mana, Yggdrasill…”

“Yggdrasill? That's the name of the tree?” The woman nodded her affirmative.

“Asuna!”

Suddenly, her eyes opened.

“Asuna!” Negi called out. Asuna's eyes shot open and she looked up.

“Negi?”

“Oh, good,” Negi sighed in relief. “I seriously thought you were not going to wake up…Asuna, what happened to you?”

“Uh…nothing happened, I was asleep!” She stammered nervously.

“Well, did something happen in your dream?” He asked curiously.

“…No…” She said. “Why?”

“You mean…you haven't noticed?” He asked.

“Haven't noticed what?” She asked worriedly. When Negi held up a mirror, she blinked and took it. “What am I looking for?”

“Your ears. Shouldn't be so hard to find them.” He took a few steps back when she blinked again.

“H…Wh…WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”

---

“And so, you believe you can't go back to the Tendo Dojo until you have defeated the Senshi?”

“Or at least their leader,”

“Why, again?” Ranma sighed.

“Because. I'm supposed to be the protector of the dojo and the strongest fighter around, yet there are nine girls parading around who could all single handedly smack me into the ground with little or no effort.”

“Well duh, Ranma. They're super heroes. Who defeat monsters like Saffron on a daily basis, and have saved the world more than once.”

“Yeah but…I…”

“Ranma Saotome never loses, Ranma Saotome is the best, blah blah blah,” Ryouga rolled his eyes. “Bah, from what I remember, in our last duel, I had you on the ropes when I was forced to leave.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Now that's more like it,” Ryouga smirked, jumping back. “Let's see how bad you've gotten from moping around about being so weak,”

“I only found out yesterday, when I went to go see that huge energy surge,” Ranma intoned.

“What? You mean when all that Ice was there?”

“Yeah,” Ranma said. “I didn't see you there…”

“It's not important,” Ryouga grunted. “Defend yourself!” With that, he lunged at Ranma with a fist cocked back. When he made it to Ranma, however, He instead lifted his foot up and went into a forward kick that Ranma almost missed. The pig-tailed boy caught his opponent's foot and tried to use his momentum against him, but the lost boy would have none of that. He brought his other foot up into the air and savagely kicked his opponent in the side of the head with enough force to level a building.

Ranma let go of his opponent's foot and was sent flying into a fence, destroying a section of it completely. Ranma stood up and shook his head, knowing he'd feel that later.

“What's the matter? Are you really this weak, Ranma? I thought you were better than this,” Ryouga snickered. Ranma glared at him then merely grinned when he realized what Ryouga was doing. `My own tactic,'

“Heh, I was taking it easy on you in front of your sister, Ryouga,” Ranma said. He brought up his stance again.

Both boys narrowed their eyes. Both lunged at each other with ferocity only seen in the most vicious of brawlers. Ryouga came from below with an uppercut that Ranma dodged before going in with several jabs at near Amaguriken speed for his opponent's solar plexus. Ryouga took each hit with only minimal negative affect and grunted as he tried to counter. Ranma sensed the incoming attack and immediately separated from his opponent, leaving Ryouga's fist to pass through air.

They both looked at each other with appraising looks before smirking.

“I think it's time to get serious,” Ranma stated.

“That was a fun little warm up,” Ryouga agreed.

Nearby, Rie, who was watching from the roof, gawked at what she was hearing. “That…was a warm up?” She said aloud. `I can't believe I tried to fight that thing. Good thing he didn't consider me a serious threat,' She sighed.

Both boys manifested their battle auras. Surprisingly, Ryouga's matched Ranma's in color; Ryouga seemed to be somehow overflowing with confidence rather than his usual unending depression.

“That's new, but I won't question it,” Ranma said as small rocks nearby began floating around the two. The air around them crackled with so much energy that literal sparks could be seen flying around them. They narrowed their eyes once more while surveying the other.

Suddenly, in a speed that Rie couldn't comprehend, the distance between the two had closed in under a second. The two were trading blows that could barely be seen- and seemed to actually be getting faster. After a few seconds, Rie swore she could see the shockwaves generated by each blow the two landed. There was a humming sound in the air as the two broke the sound barrier.

At this point, she could definitely see the shockwaves generated by each blow they landed- fist met fist, foot met foot, or they just took a hit. She shook her head in denial of what she was seeing; surely this was some drug-induced dream! Her brother suddenly coming home and revealing himself to be one of the greatest martial artists in the world, his rival visiting with some sob story that segued into the two of them fighting in what appeared to be a life or death battle…

---

“Ah, Asuna-san, how's it look now?” Negi held up a mirror to her.

“They're not the same!” Asuna whined. “They'll never be the same!” Kotarou yawned at the girl's expression.

“Get over it, Onee-san,” He said. “It's not so bad.”

“You say that because you've had your ears forever!” She yelled angrily. “You don't know what it's like to be normal and then suddenly NOT be normal!”

“No, but you would know that better than anyone, wouldn't you?” The hanyou snorted. “From what I recall, Negi almost literally dragged you, kicking and screaming, into the magic world. This should be nothing in comparison,” He crossed his arms.

“This is completely different! My humanity is in question here!” She said angrily.

“Asuna-san, please, calm down! You're calling attention to yourself!” Negi said. This had the desired effect and Asuna merely sighed as she leaned against her suitcase. “Now, the spell to hide your ears will work on anyone without a high sensitivity to magic,” Negi said. “And in the case we should meet such a person, they won't really care about it. So please, just calm down.”

“Figures…I turn into a friggen' elf and you treat it like it's something that happens every day…” the girl lamented, teary-eyed.

“[Cough]…Although I don't know why your ears were suddenly elongated, but I'm sure it'll reverse itself in due time,” He said seriously. “So please, please try to ignore it for the time being.”

“How can I ignore it when I hear everything this much-” She held her hands far apart, “better than I could before?”

“You could-”

“Get over it, like I said,” Kotarou snorted.

“Listen, gaki-”

“You're so noisy,” Kotarou sighed. “Listen, our train's here. Let's just go already.” He was the first to get on the train and Negi sighed before taking both his and Asuna's suitcases into the train. Asuna immediately followed.

Asuna fumed/moped in silence while Negi sat nervously between his friend and rival, and Kotarou just relaxed.

“Say, Kotarou, you ever been to Tokyo before?” Negi asked, trying to start a conversation.

“Yeah, once.”

“Oh really? What'd you do?”

“Killed a couple'a yakuza who thought they could use me like some animal,” He said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“I…I see,” Negi laughed nervously with his hand behind his head before sighing and looking down at the ground.

It was looking to be a looooooong train ride.

---

Ranma and Ryouga finally separated, both panting. Clothes torn, knuckles bloodied, and sporting numerous bruises where hits had gotten in, they both grunted and grit their teeth, clinging to the last vestiges of their energy. Neither one was willing to stand down…yet neither one was capable of standing up.

They both fell backwards, unconscious. Rie shook her head as she observed the massive carnage that had been introduced to the front of her house. “They're going to have to fight on someone else's yard next time...sheesh, for thirty seconds, that sure was…something.” She muttered. She leapt down from the roof, only to be slammed in the head by a large wooden chest. She sailed through the air and landed on her back.

“Ranma, is everything alright?” Cried out a voice. “Oh no, what's this -desu? They've killed each other -desu!” Rie blinked and looked up at the floating box that hit her.

“Eh…”

“What am I to do now? He was my only hope to get Souseiseki back -desu!”

“Hey…”

“Oh, woe is me-“

“YO!” The voice suddenly stopped and the box angled so that whatever was sitting on top or inside of it could look down at her. Suiseiseki blinked as she noticed the girl under her.

“They're not dead, just unconscious. Trust me, they'll both be all better by at least the day after tomorrow,” She rose to her feet. “They probably haven't ever done that before and didn't know their limits. It's not something experienced martial artists often do, but hey, we all make mistakes,” She walked over to grab her brother and his friend before toting them both over a shoulder into the house. “Man, I hope they're both willing to teach me some of that stuff…”

Suiseiseki watched, as the ten-year-old looking girl effortlessly carried both nearly grown boys into the house.

“…”

---

Ryoko sighed as she watched the professor monitor various computer screens and devices.

“So, you're certain it was the same kind of energy that appeared when I did...”

“Quite,” He nodded.

“That means it's possible someone's here to find me,”

“Probable,”

“Doesn't that mean we should be out, actively looking for them?”

“No,” He said. “Unfortunately. We can't track them now, so it's impossible to find them. Possibly the next time they use their energy, since you know what it is, you could probably get there fast enough to intercept them,”

“I guess that makes sense,” The woman sighed. “So until then…”

“You get to remain my trusty lab-assistant,” He said cheerfully.

“Uh-huh,” She said with a fake smile. “Swell.”

“Ryoko,” The scientist started, turning to face her. “We still don't know the extent of your abilities or biology. So far, you've demonstrated super human strength, the ability to fly, phase through material, teleportation and energy manipulation. My more recent studies have shown that you have the capability for limited telepathy, or possibly a telepathic link to one or more persons, although I haven't seen you use anything like it yet. Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to detect the reason for your amnesia…and I likely won't be able to, as I wasn't able to get a scan of your brain before you were put into your current state.”

“But, do you think I'll be able to eventually remember everything?”

“It's possible. The people from your home world might have adequate technology for such a thing, but I can't do anything to help you,” He sighed. “I'm sorry, really, I am.”

The woman looked put down. “That's okay. I'm sure they'll do something again real soon,”

“I certainly hope so,” Shiouji honestly said. `The oddest part is that there was no space-travel device found with her. Unless she can fly through space, and at a speed suitable for inter-galactic travel, at which she shouldn't have left a crater, then either she was left here by accident, or…' He narrowed his eyes as a once unthought-of of possibility sprang to mind.

`Or she was already here and someone else has come. But what could have possibly given her amnesia?'

---

Akane growled as she crushed the paper she'd just read. “Dammit, Ranma, going off on his own like that…”

“Oh well, he did say he'd be back,” Nabiki said indifferently as she filed her nails in a chair.

“He could have at least told us face to face,”

“Why, so you could go with him?”

“Of course! You'd think he'd know by now that I hate getting left behind!”

“You know how he is about girls,” Nabiki drawled exasperatedly.

“Well yeah, but still, I'm his iinazuke!”

“One of,” Nabiki corrected.

“But…” Akane growled. `I'm the one he said he loved…doesn't that count for anything?'

“Eh, come on sis,” Nabiki closed her laptop, ready to leave. “We'll be late if we mope around for too long,”

“I'm not moping!” Akane growled as she tossed the note behind. “Just...” she growled again and stomped out of the house. “You don't understand!”

“Eh,” Nabiki blinked. She shrugged and followed the other girl out. “But Akane, you don't understand something either,” She said as she easily caught up with the other girl.

“Oh, and what's that?”

“Ranma is, and always has been much better than you. The few times he offered to train you, neither of you took the other seriously, so it just wasn't going to work. If you'd found someone to train you to his level sometime when he'd shown up, you'd probably be closer to him in skill now too. So for you to jump in with him right now would be impossible, because he'd have to bring you up to speed.”

“But who could train me? Ukyo's art is based on food, Genma's the one who taught Ranma to think the way he is, father just doesn't seem to care anymore…”

“Well, how about Ryouga?”

“Uh, trust me; there's no way I could survive- I mean, train with Ryouga,” Akane said.

“Hmm? What do you mean `survive'?”

“Well…it's possible, since Akari-chan came along, that it could work, but Ryouga's always acted kind of…strange around me,” Akane said.

“Eh? So you did notice…”

“Well yes. I noticed a long time ago how he felt, but…I realized then and there that I couldn't survive Ryouga's treatment…and there was Ranma to consider, so…”

“But you don't mind if Ryouga is with Akari? How would someone with no martial arts training at all be better for him than you?”

“Well…I dunno…they just seem to be a better match for some reason…Besides, Akari really likes him for some reason,” She said.

“I wonder why,” Nabiki rolled her eyes. “Anyway, since Ryouga's out, why not go to…” Nabiki paused in her thinking. “Mousse?”

“Mousse?”

“Yeah, he's the only without a grudge against you,”

“Have you already forgotten how we met Mousse?!”

“Err, well,” Nabiki stuttered. “He's the only one I can think of who's not out to kill you or marry you. And trust me, if he disagrees, I could think of many ways to convince him to train you,” Nabiki smiled, waving a finger.

“Like?”

“For one, you could defend your `Male' better, although knocking Shampoo out would earn you a kiss of death, but I think you're smarter than Ranma in that regard. Secondly, the whole Amazon logic is based on females being stronger, so maybe if he thinks that if he can make you stronger than Ranma, Ranma would be attracted to you,”

“I don't think Mousse is that stupid,”

“Oh well. There's the matter of debts he owes as well,” She sighed.

“That might work,” Akane nodded. “But are you sure there isn't anyone else?”

“Let's see,” Nabiki started with a thoughtful look on her face. “Neither Cologne or Shampoo would train you, I'm sure you'd rather die than learn from Happosai or Kuno-“

“Enough, enough,” Akane sighed. “But Mousse specializes with weapons, hidden weapons to be exact. What could he teach me?”

“Well, hidden weapons for one.”

“But my style is mainly hand to hand combat,” Akane said.

“You wave that mallet around enough. But he's an Amazon; I'm sure he knows more than one way to fight. And besides, You've already gotten most of the concepts for most of Ranma's techniques down; after all, weren't you there when he trained for the Hiryu Shouten Ha or the Shishi Hokudan, or even when he and Kumon used his father's forbidden techniques? And I'm quite sure I could get Ryouga to tell me whatever I wanted to know about toughening you up, especially if he knows it's for you.”

“Hmm, yeah…” Akane stopped walking. “Nabiki…”

“Eh? What is it?” Nabiki looked back at her younger sister.

“You're taking this really seriously,” Akane smiled. “Thanks.” Nabiki winked.

“That's what sisters are for, right?” `Besides, you need to find an alternative to smashing all of those bricks and dummies. That stuff all costs money.'

---

Hirohata Satoshi smiled as he touched down in Misaki City with Kimura Aiko right behind. The former was wearing exotic clothes. His sky blue shirt had no sleeves, the front was decorated with three triangulated spherical ruby-colored jewels. His lower half was covered with some plain looking pants. He wielded a ruby tipped staff as well.

Aiko was wearing a plain shirt and some jeans.

From the roof of a building that seemed to be generating a massive amount of mana, the two overlooked the peaceful looking city.

“It's really too bad we can't really see where the Flame Haze are,” He sighed.

“Shut up, you lazy idiot. If we do an unrestricted spell, they should notice right away,”

“You know how hard those are for normal people,” Satoshi frowned.

“Which is why you should get to work right away,” She frowned, crossing her arms.

“But if I do that, I'll get the wrong kind of attention. Instead, we should start looking for clues,” He smiled again.

“But Flame Haze never stay in one place for too long,” She frowned. “By the time you find anything, they'll be halfway to New Zealand,”

“Oh, calm down. The fact that there are three here, and neither are at each other's throat is significant enough.”

“What does that have to do with anything? You know it's possible for Flame Haze to get along, even if rare,”

“True, but…they've been here for quite a while, haven't they? Flame Haze don't usually stay in one place overnight, let alone a few weeks a month even. I doubt they're going anywhere soon.” He turned around and walked to the center of the roof.

“Now, let's find out what's so special about this building,” He tapped the staff on the ground twice and a magic circle began sketching itself, the point of origin being where his staff hit the ground. Once it was complete, it began glowing teal. “You coming?” Aiko rolled her eyes and walked over to the circle. Immediately, the two began sinking into the roof. They appeared in a room and slowly floated down to the floor.

“Why, it's a Haridan,” Satoshi rubbed his chin. “This is certainly unexpected. If I modify it, we should be able to easily find the Flame Haze.” He blinked and peered at the three dimensional model of the town they were in.

“Satoshi look at it though,” She said. “There's a torch down there.” She pointed.

“Hmm, you're right. If there was a Tomogara attack recently, though, there'd be a lot more than just one.”

“Maybe it's just the last one to disappear.” Aiko said.

“Possibly,” Satoshi intoned. “In any event,” He pointed the end of his staff at the Haridan and his eyes began glowing. The Haridan began glowing red instead of its usual green. Three human looking shapes immediately lit up on the Haridan. “Not surprising,” he said. “Two of the Flame Haze are guarding that Torch. One of them seems to just be taking it easy, though.” He rubbed his chin again. “Must be a Mistes, then…”

“A Mistes?”

“Yes, it's got some kind of treasure inside of it, like a Hougu or something,” He waved it off. “Well then, I guess since we know where they are, we can formulate a plan of some sort.” He rubbed his partner's shoulder. “There now, was it so bad to do as I said?”

“If we had done what I said, we'd have found them already.” She growled.

“But that's no fun at all,” he said, his hand moving lower and lower.

“You and your fun,” She groaned. “By the way, if your hand moves any lower, you can say goodbye to it,”

“What are you suggesting?” He pulled his hand away fairly quickly. “That I- fondling your sweet- uh, I am but a humble mage,” He turned around and started walking away. “How could you think I was capable of such a thing?”

“Moron,” She groaned into her hand.

---

“Young one, you must awaken,”

`Eh?'

“Young one, the Senshi have been mislead as to what the future of the kingdom should be…”

`Why in the world does that sound really bad to me?'

“It is time for the knights of the Astral to reunite,”

“Knights of the Astral? What the heck is that?”

“The future of the Moon Kingdom depends on you and your fellow knights,”

“Wait a minute. Moon Kingdom? What the heck?”

“Heed my call…awaken…”

“What in the world are you talking about? What is this Moon Kingdom? Why does its future depend on me?”

Sakurada Jun shot up, eyes wide, breathing and sweating heavily. He instinctively reached for his glasses and put them on, trying to wake up. When he finally opened his eyes, however, his eyes were blurry. `Huh?' He raised them slightly and blinked. The glasses remained the only spot where his vision was blurred. “What the hell?” He took them off and looked around his room. It was 7:00 AM. He shrugged and set his glasses back down, getting out of his bed.

“Jun,” called out an impatient voice.

“Sh-Shinku,” Jun turned to face the doll in question. “What?” The doll walked over to him and stared him in the face for a good five seconds.

She slapped him hard, eliciting a shocked cry. “You overslept. My Tea-Time has come and passed. However, I am willing to make an exception this once. Go now, and you might be forgiven.”

“Me, forgiven?!” Jun rubbed his face in irritation. “You're the one who took up residence in my house, started ordering my sister and I around, and YOU'RE willing to forgive me because I didn't wake up right when you did?”

The doll sighed. “Jun, it seems you still do not know your place,” She said, slightly turning her head around. “It is regrettable, as well…”

“OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!”

“Stupid doll, ordering me around,” Jun mumbled as he poured Shinku's cup of tea. He roughly handed the doll her cup and sat down.

After a taste, the doll nodded. “You have improved somewhat,” She said. “It is not lukewarm this time. For that alone, I might have forgiven you for your earlier misconduct. However…” She sipped it again. “It has an unexpected taste to it. I do not believe this is the flavor I requested.” After draining the cup, she set it down. “Try again.”

“Stupid doll…”

---

Kotarou opened one eye. Both Asuna and Negi were sleep, leaning on each other. He closed his eye and snorted.

“Feh.”

--->