Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Total Shock ❯ Interlude ( Chapter 11 )

disCLAIMER: THE WRITER OF THIS STORY, AUTHOR ROY, disOWNS THE RIGHTS TO ALL OF THE STORY ELEMENTS, CHARACTERS, PLACES, NAMES, THEMES, ITEMS, COSTUMES, MARTIAL ARTS, SPELLS, THEME SONGS, PIRATE SWORDS, CREEPY OLD GHOULS, PANTY THIEVES, SOUL DEVOURING DEMONS, THE VERY WORDS WITH WHICH THE STORY IS WRITTEN, A NICE BOAT IN THE PACIFIC, THE KUNO PRIVATE JET, ETC. IN FULL, almost NO EXCEPTIONS.

 

THE STORY IS not IN A CONSTANT STATE OF REVISION SO AS TO BOLSTER THE QUALITY AND KEEP IT IN PRISTINE CONDITION.

 

Today kids, you get a glimpse of what everyone else has been doing that day/night. Chronologically, TS has been a VERY slow story; the last seven chapters happened in 4 days. (check my website for a timeline if you're confused, which you probably are: www geocities com/nekoshitaru/TSisslowlol JPG; dots instead of spaces of course)

 

As for the SM series, I promised I would be re-watching the series, but I'm feeling that I should stick to the Manga, since it's the source material. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find anything where I can get the manga inexpensively, any help on that would be appreciated (just send a PM with a link to where I can find/buy it; keep in mind that I'm a freshman college student and not some company CEO, and I'll start working on reading the series so as to better work with the characters; going on my years old memories and fandom doesn't do them justice.

 

Also, chapter is closer to M than T in two scenes; Massacre, foul language

 

Any horrible errors will be fixed later, I had to get this out by a deadline I set for myself

 

----

 

Minutes after Ranma and Co. vanished…

 

---

 

 

In a field of clouds, a bright light appeared before suddenly expanding into a dome-shaped electrical field. There was an explosion of energy and five teenagers, all clad in uniforms of which the solar system had not borne witness to in several millennia, flashed into existence. There was a sudden horrendous screeching noise as the electricity vanished, leaving the teens hovering there for a few short microseconds.

 

And then began their descent.

 

-

 

Tenchi sighed as he sat above the lake beside his house. Things had slowed down considerably since Ryoko had disappeared, and her long absence had affected all of them in one way or another. Washuu put up a strong front, as did Aeka and Noike, but Sasami and Mihoshi had both been notably miserable since she'd left. Tokimi, who seemed to have taken up residence as well, didn't seem to particularly mind, but it could be said that she wasn't as attached as the rest of them. Tenchi had convinced himself for the first two days that she was off screwing around somewhere and would comeback safely, but after a week, he had insisted on going out and looking for her. And several times, they had gone out to where Washuu had last sensed Ryoko's presence. Washuu had told everyone that she couldn't communicate with Ryoko through their link in anyway because it was as if Ryoko's signal had been scrambled and completely re-arranged. The only thing they had been able to find to that point was where it happened. Ryoko could have been anywhere in the universe, and for all of their omnipotence, neither Washuu or her sisters could locate her.

 

Now, there had still been no sign of Ryoko for almost three weeks. Although Washuu tried to come off as not being worried because she was sure Ryoko could take care of herself, Tenchi knew that she was suffering as much as he or any of the other girls, if not more. Although at first, she seemed to be trying to make the most out of the Ex-Space Pirate's disappearance, more recently, Aeka didn't spend enough time with anyone for Tenchi to really get a handle on how she was taking it, but the few times he saw her she was incredibly worn out and he'd begun to suspect that she was out looking for the ex-space pirate on her own whenever she could.

 

`Ryoko…' He sat there hunched over, staring at his own reflection. `Where are you?' He frowned in at the water, and his doppelganger stared back with an equally unpleased look on his face. His introspective mood was not to last, however, as he soon became aware of a noise that, as he listened, sounded more and more like a group of people screaming. His head snapped up to the starry night sky and he blinked as he noticed five humanoid shapes falling towards the lake with great speed. And the moment he looked up, they had already crossed the remaining distance to the surface, all of them landing with spectacular splashes as they fell into the water, each one with a splash varying in size.

 

Tenchi stood up and bent over the water as he waited for the people who'd fallen into to surface. Soon, a redheaded girl surfaced, followed by another girl with white hair. After the two of them, a brown haired boy floated up, yet remained face down in the water, unmoving. A black piglet followed, just as another white haired girl surfaced the water. The red-haired girl looked around and spotted both of her white haired companions.

 

“Akane! You're awake!” She called out. One of the white haired girls blinked and looked around in surprise at the voice.

 

“Ranma!” the white-haired girl practically screamed at the red head. And promptly started splashing. “Help me! I can't swim!”

 

“Ugh, clumsy tomboy,” the redhead, apparently Ranma, muttered. Tenchi managed to hear it only because he was right above her. She started swimming over towards the white haired girl, Akane, Tenchi noted, just as the as of yet unnamed white-haired girl climbed up onto the pier beside him, dragging both the piglet and apparently stunned brown-haired boy. She easily stood up with the boy draped over one shoulder, and the piglet comfortably sitting on another. Tenchi turned to look at them and noted that she and the boy were both clad in an unfamiliar uniform, and she was holding another one in her free hand as the water dripped from them and onto the deck.

 

“Um,” Tenchi started. “Who are you people?” The girl turned her gaze over at him, and he immediately regretting calling her attention to himself. There was a certain gleam in her eyes that reminded him of Washuu before Ryoko's disappearance. It felt as if she was reading him, taking him apart bit by bit and scouring every fiber of his being. Tenchi immediately decided he did not like that look at all and nervously began to fidget under her gaze. She smiled at him, and Tenchi felt his hackles rise even more at the intent behind that look.

 

Nabiki closely scrutinized the seemingly harmless boy before them. Her newly re-awakened chi senses could discern that there was a decent amount of power hidden in the boy, but it wasn't quite human. It was more like her own chi, but from the weak control she had, that was all she could tell. When the boy suddenly spoke, Nabiki answered with the first thing that came to mind.

 

“We're tourists,” she shrugged as she set the unconscious boy and piglet on the ground. She looked up and saw the house then turned her gaze back over to the boy. “Do you think we could go inside? It'd take a long time to explain.” Tenchi blinked at that.

 

“Sure,” Tenchi looked at the two other girls who were also climbing up onto the deck, the unconscious boy, and the piglet. “Sounds like some story, though.”

 

“Oh trust me, it is,” Nabiki said. “Hey Ranma, carry doofus here into the house, would you?” she said, motioning towards the limp Kuno.

 

“You do it. You're the one who's training,” Ranma snapped back.

 

“We're back though, aren't we?” Nabiki asked.

 

“So? You're still gonna train,” Ranma insisted.

 

“What are you two talking about?” Akane asked.

 

“We'll explain it later,” Ranma said, shrugging it off. She looked over at Tenchi, who watched them with a resigned look on his face. “Uh, for now, do you mind if we use your house real fast?”

 

“Use my house?” Tenchi asked, before looking over at the place where he lived. “What kind of question is that, `Use my house?' What do you mean?” Ranma laughed at the confused look on his face.

 

“Don't worry about it. Do you mind if we do?”

 

“Well…” Tenchi furrowed his brow in concentration and crossed his arms, deep in thought. Two of the people before him were human, and two of them were half-alien, but all of them actually appeared to be Japanese. From their uniforms, it didn't seem like they were from anywhere on Earth, so he shrugged and gave his assent. “Well, people falling from the sky tend to `use' my house all the time. What's four more… oh, by the way… weren't there five of you? What happened to the last person?” Tenchi asked, looking up. Ranma and co. were already halfway to the house, and when he asked the question Ranma turned back and nervously laughed again.

 

“Eh, heh, well… you'll see. Soon, eh heh.” Tenchi blinked at that and sighed before following them. The four made it inside and Tenchi was halfway there when the sound of something large falling at great speed washed over him. He turned around and looked up, expecting the familiar shape of Mihoshi's vessel, but seeing something… completely different.

 

“Half of… an air plane?” Tenchi let his mouth hang a little as he saw the smoking front half of a jet crash into the lake. The ruined craft smashed into the lake with a magnificent splash, but unfortunately, Tenchi was unable to simply stand back and appreciate the magnitude of it as the waves that ensued threatened to smash him. With that in mind, the young prince of Jurai turned tail and ran, yet in his hurry, he tripped and regained balance two times before stumbling over a step and landing face down in the ground just as tons of water pressure bore down on him in the form of a mini-tsunami.

 

-

 

Ranma frowned as she poured the hot water over her porcine companion, then as he once again took human form, turned around after handing him his clothes. Once they had walked in, a strange blue haired child with her hair in two streamers had greeted them. Ranma had asked where the bathroom was, and subsequently been led to one. Along the way, they had seen several things that could only be classified as `strange'.

 

“Ranma,” Ryoga started. “Have you noticed something about this place?”

 

“Gee, Ryoga, like what? The floating child or that strange rabbit creature?” The neo-girl asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Ranma glanced at the no-longer-lost-boy and gulped before turning back around. “You gonna put the uniform on or what, Mister P?”

 

“Ranma,” Ryoga growled, as he started to put on the pants. He blinked as he considered her reaction and smirked, looking over at her. From his angle, he could see that she was blushing heavily. “Why, you envious or something?” Ranma gagged for a second at that.

 

“Heck no, chump,” she snorted. `Stupid female body…' The second time she turned around, Ryoga was almost fully dressed and she walked over to the sink to get some hot water for herself. As she turned it on, she splashed her face with gusto… only to realize that she hadn't changed back. “What the heck?” She splashed herself again more thoroughly and groaned when nothing happened. “Crap…it's already been a month… I thought it was takin' a while, too… Then again, I wasn't a girl for most of the trip on the moon, so…” She frowned as she became lost in her own thoughts.

 

“What?” Ryoga asked as he stood above her. “Already a month? What, does something happen every month that stops you from becoming… a man…” Ranma glanced up at Ryoga to see his face contorting with sheer amusement as it took on a reddish tint.

 

“You laugh, and I'll make sure Akane remembers to make pork cutlets out of yer butt,” She growled, gritting her teeth.

 

“Why, -snicker- I could never -snicker-, laugh at another man's weakness like that, Ranma.” He giggled a few more times, before erupting into a full belly laugh. “HA HA HA HA HA HA HA—OOF!” He recoiled as Ranma's elbow sank into the nerve plexus in his chest.

 

-

 

Akane, Nabiki, and Kuno were treated to an odd sight as a still female Ranma stormed out of the bathroom, leaving Ryoga to follow her, clutching his solar plexus and half-laughing, half-gagging, half-coughing at the same time. The three looked at Ranma questioningly, but she just walked past them, with Ryoga close behind. The two girls shrugged at that and went after them. Kuno merely thought nothing of it and took one last glance at the bathroom, before noticing the toilet.

 

`Hmm, that's not your everyday waste disposal device. Looks… off, for this era.' He turned around and went after the three girls and gut-busting, choking boy. When he exited the hall however, the sight that greeted him was entirely unexpected. The room at the end of the hall had three large couches, and two of them were already occupied. On one couch was an odd array of females; One with a particular regal air about her and odd mode of dress as well as purple hair, situated next to the blue haired child that had lead them in earlier. Beside them was a woman with short blue hair, and to the side of the couch was a red haired girl with a floating computer. Floating above her shoulder was some brown haired runt, who was obviously female. Kuno's eyes lingered on the red head, as recognition flashed in his mind.

 

“Tenchi tells us you fell out of the sky,” the redhead stated conversationally. Everyone but Ranma's eyes lingered on the floating child. “Also, would you happen to know anything about the primitive flying device that fell into the lake after you did?”

 

“Primitive flying device?” Ranma asked, curiously. An image of a hang glider came to her mind as she considered that. Washuu glanced up at them and input some commands in the floating unit before a flat image appeared in the air before them. The front end of the Kuno private Jet was on display before them, most notably it's submerged status.

 

“That's my plane,” Kuno said. “We ah, fell out.”

 

“Your plane?” the boy from earlier spoke up. The five teens turned their heads and noticed the boy from earlier was sitting alone in a comfortable chair that definitely only had room enough for one person. “Aren't you people from space?” Planes were things of humans, after all. Why would aliens need one?

 

“You could say that,” Ranma shrugged. “It's uh, complicated.”

 

“For now, would it be possible to bring that up to the surface? There are people in there,” Nabiki suddenly said.

 

“Of course,” Washuu said, typing some more commands. “Who did you say you were again?”

 

“We didn't,” Kuno reminded her. “We're technically from Earth, though we've spent the last month on another planet.”

 

“How did that happen?” The purple haired girl inquired from her position on the couch.

 

“Like I said, complicated,” Ranma said, scratching her head. She shot Kuno a look and then turned back the people before them. “Uh yeah, thanks for letting us use your house by the way.”

 

“No problem,” Washuu said. “But just to be sure, are any of you here to look for a young man named Tenchi?”

 

“Err, not that I know of,” Ryoga answered that time, after a moment of confused silence from his companions. The boy from earlier seemed to deflate at that, and settled into a more relaxed pose.

 

“Right, well, where were you headed?” Washuu asked as most of the people in the room seemed to lose interest. The teens blinked and Ranma had to strain her mind as if remembering something before she could finally answer.

 

“Fukuoka… right?” She looked back at her companions and they all nodded, confident looks on their faces. “But we'll never get there now…”

 

“About that,” Kuno said as he reached into a pocket, retrieving a compact device. The teens next to him looked at him in surprise. “What?”

 

“These things have pockets?” Ranma asked in shock as she started patting herself down.

 

“As I was saying,” Kuno frowned as he tried to continue, “We shouldn't have a problem with getting to Fukuoka.” He opened the compact and started typing with one hand.

 

“Why not?” Nabiki asked as she looked at the brown haired boy. “And where the heck did you get that?”

 

“I made it,” Kuno answered her second question first. The teens crowded around him boggled as he continued. “And I don't think Washuu would mind lending us some spare parts…” The red haired girl looked up at him with a raised brow. “She owes me, after all.”

 

“Owe you?” The red haired girl started in an irritated tone. “Look pal…” Kuno looked up from the device in his hands and their eyes met. Washuu's widened with recognition at that and she stopped talking.

 

“You know her?” Ranma asked, confused, as she looked up at the older teen.

 

“Of course we know each other!” Ranma, Nabiki, Akane, and Ryoga practically fell over as they noticed Washuu standing right next to Kuno, with an arm wrapped around his waist, squeezing. “We go waaaaaaaaay back!” She took his hand and started dragging him away. “We've got some catching up to do, old boy! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” They disappeared into a hall and the four simply watched as their companion was led away. There was the sound of a door opening and slamming shut, followed by silence.

 

“Well, that should take care of things,” Came a voice from behind them, they all turned around to see the floating child from earlier floating behind them.

 

“Err, well…” Ranma blinked at that and suddenly, there was a thumping noise on the glass door behind them. They all turned to see a huge, waterlogged panda knocking on the glass door.

 

“I'll get it,” Tenchi rose from his seat and walked over to the door, opening it. “Can I help you…” The panda held up a sign at that point. “…Saotome-san?” The sign flipped over and Tenchi read it aloud. “Your plane crashed in my lake and you were hoping to gather provisions before you set off on your perilous journey? Um, well…I dunno…” Tenchi scratched his head. The girl with blue hair stood up and bounced over to the door, smiling.

 

“Of course you can come in, Mister Panda!” She opened the door and the Panda walked inside, looking around as everyone stared at it. “Can I get you anything, Mister Panda?” The blue haired girl asked as he stood there. He held up another sign that read -Some hot water please- and the girl nodded. “Okay!” The girl cheerfully walked away, leaving the panda in a room with six oddly garbed and eccentric looking girls and, a similarly dressed man, and an out of place looking teenaged boy, all of whom were staring at him.

 

“Pop?” The panda's head whipped around and the older man stared at Ranma, who was still wearing her borrowed uniform. “I guess it sent us to the place where we were too. Then that means everyone else should be all right!” Ryoga's eyes widened at that and he shot off like a bullet out the door, nearly bowling over the panda in his way. The panda glared after him but turned back to look at Ranma and held up a new sign

 

-What the heck is going on, boy? How did you get here?-flip-How did you get those clothes?-

 

“I'll explain it later pop. I don't wanna have to repeat myself,” the girl said with a shrug. The panda looked over Nabiki and Akane, and froze. Just then, the blue haired girl walked back into the room with a glass of steaming hot water.

 

“Here you go, Mister Panda!” she said politely.

 

-Thank you little girl.- the panda signed as he accepted the water and promptly upended it over himself. “Ah, that's much better,” Said the now man. Most of the people in the room blinked as the huge white and black monstrosity had become an even less friendly looking human wearing a loosely fitting dogi, a pair a glasses, and a white kerchief on his bald head. Only Ranma and the white haired Tendo Sisters seemed unfazed by it at all.

 

“Err… That isn't common on Earth, is it?” Asked one of the women sitting on the couch. She had a short blue hair that was parted straight down the center and fell rather loosely around her head, and wore a white shirt and gray slacks. Ranma crossed her arms and sighed.

 

“You wouldn't believe just how common it is…” It was then that she noticed something strange about the woman's sentence. “Um, on Earth?” she repeated, looking at her. It was then that the bald martial artist and Tendo sisters looked over at the people sitting on the couch.

 

“Err, where are you from, if not Earth, might I ask?” the elder Tendo inquired with a raised brow.

 

“Most of these kids are from Jurai,” came another voice. Washuu and Kuno walked back into the room, both looking rather pleased. “You guys were on the moon just now, right?”

 

“Uh, yeah,” Ranma scratched her head in confusion and her father looked over at her with wide eyes.

 

“The moon, boy?! How did you…”

 

“Like I said, long story,” the redhead girl yawned and looked around. “Actually, I'm kinda tired now…”

 

“Yes, you have had a rather long day… Or month, should I say?” The diminutive scientist chuckled. “You four should get some rest…” She looked around as if noticing something for the first time. “Where is the boy who changes into a pig?”

 

“Uh, he went outside. Probably to see his sister,” Ranma said quickly.

 

“Won't he get lost?” the plump martial artist asked as he lounged in what had formerly been Tenchi's chair. Tenchi noticed that his seat was taken, hung his head and sighed.

 

“Oh he'll be fine I think,” Ranma commented lazily with another yawn.

 

“Anyway,” Washuu started, “I'm sure you ladies are tired, and I'm pretty sure no one else is averse to you all spending the night while I fix your plane,”

 

“Fix our plane?” Ranma asked, confused. “How the heck are you gonna do that?”

 

“Don't worry about that, little girl. All you need to know is that it'll be good as new in the morning, M'kay?”

 

“Hey…” Ranma was about to call attention to her true gender when she suddenly realized that unlike her father, she wouldn't have any way of showing them all without explaining about her embarrassing problem. She frowned and looked out at the ruined thing that was now somehow floating above the water. “…If you say so…”

 

---

 

11:32 PM

 

---

 

Ami looked at the green haired woman sitting across from her at a small table. The two were at a small café that stayed open late, and as it was in the late hours of night, the place was almost empty save for a few people. A waitress walked by and set down a steaming mug of coffee and an equally hot cup of tea before both of them before walking off to deal with other people.

 

“You wanted to speak with me about something, Setsuna?” Ami asked as she lifted her cup to her mouth and took a sip of the unsweetened tea. She mentally calculated how much sugar it needed before setting it down back on the table. The other woman had yet to even look at her coffee, however.

 

“It's about Chibi-Usa,” Setsuna said, seemingly staring off into space.

 

“I'd assumed as much. Did something happen? Why haven't you told Usagi?”

 

“Crystal Tokyo, or at least the one Chibi-Usa originally came from, is cut off from this world. In essence, the timeline we are now in will never be as it was in her future. Crystal Tokyo, as we know it, is gone.” Ami, to her credit, only looked mildly surprised for a second before assuming an indifferent façade. She calmly opened one of the small packets of sugar and poured it into her beverage.

 

“How did this happen,” She said coldly. Setsuna mentally frowned at the other woman's attitude; although Ami was easily the most level headed senshi aside from herself, and of an intellectual mind, she rarely if ever exhibited this sort of behavior. The way it had been said plainly told the much older woman that it was not a question, nor a request to explain, but an order to do so. With no reason to refuse, however, Setsuna could naught but answer.

 

“Chaos,” She replied simply, folding her hands.

 

“The boys you mentioned earlier, or something else?”

 

“They're related. I'm not sure how, but several different future `Sailor Plutos' have warned me that the situation is not as drastic as it seems, and that acting rashly may complicate the situation even more. Most alarming, however, is that one of them was not myself.”

 

“One of them was not you?” Ami asked, frowning. That would mean that someone else had taken her place. “Who was it?”

 

“She did not identify herself, because it was possible that she was from the future that this timeline would lead to, and my knowing would have changed something. I was forbidden from describing her.”

 

“…” Ami's eyes lost their focus as she mentally went over all of the girls she knew that weren't already senshi. None of them at that point in time seemed likely to be the next Sailor Pluto.

 

“Ami,” Setsuna started, calling the girl back to reality. “The only person we can tell is Chibi-Usa, it is more because they all felt she deserved to know that she'll never be able to go home again. In this future, there exists another to take her place. Sending her there will not do her any favors.”

 

“How did this all happen?” Ami asked with a frown. “How did something destroy millennia old laid out plans in a second?”

 

“Chaos,” The older woman reminded her. “Chaos is unpredictable. There could be even greater changes before we finally reach Crystal Tokyo, if we ever do. As long as the Chaos Emeralds exist in this world, the future will be unclear to me.” She said the last part with a shake of her head, indicating her displeasure. “I can see what may happen, but not the definite future. I fear before all this is over, Crystal Tokyo will vanish like the dream it is.”

 

“But…” Ami seemed to realize something as she looked up from her cup. “But, for some, like Chibi-Usa, Crystal Tokyo was already a reality. Are those people missing their Chibi-Usa?”

 

“Perhaps, perhaps not. There is somewhere, however, a Crystal Tokyo where Chibi-Usa went to our time, and never comes back.” She said in a grim tone. “Those people will be missing their Small Lady for certain.” Ami nodded with that. That universe's Usagi would probably go mad with grief, and she found herself feeling sorry for the woman she would never know. “It is unfortunate, but we can not reach them now. All we can do is keep Chibi-Usa safe, and get her adjusted to living in this Era, because she is now here to stay.”

 

“You said that you can not predict the absolute future because of Chaos, thought,” Ami started thoughtfully. “This means that it is possible that the Crystal Tokyo we know is still a possibility, correct?”

 

“That is true, but…” Setsuna frowned - she'd thought of that herself as well. “It's unlikely, though. I cannot even see it as a possible future, but just as other, new possibilities have sprung up, while many others merely increased or decreased in chance, it may again become something we can achieve. As things stand now, however, Chaos would have to act again to change the current probabilities to make that one possible again.”

 

“I see…” Both women were silent and Ami absently looked down into her tea. “What about that man from the last night?” Setsuna froze as she seemed to remember something. “That Mazoku?”

 

“Mazoku…” Setsuna shook her head with a frown as her face took on an intensely frustrated look. “To call one of those… things a man would be an insult to all of humanity. Please do not do it again.” Ami merely raised an eyebrow as she took that in. “They were…are the darkest creatures imaginable; literally concentrations of evil given astral form. From the Astral Plane, they project physical bodies into this one so that they can interact with humans or other life forms. They feed off of negative emotions like terror, pain, sorrow, and hate. If we ever meet one of these in combat, Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon will be the only ones that can even faze it. I would advise you to stay as far away from it as possible. If you see it again, you must run, or at least keep it from becoming interested in you.”

 

---

 

Xellis smirked as he leafed through a positively ancient tome in a quaint looking office. The walls were lined with plaques and framed documents that marked the occupant's achievements. The only window in the room was situated behind the large comfortable leather chair he was in, and was covered up by a fancy maroon curtain. Even though it was only noon, only a marginal amount of light made it through, casting the room in a dreary light. The desk before him had several photos; most of them featured a man in his mid forties whom one could assume to be the true owner of the room, usually with either a slightly younger woman, two children - a boy and a girl, whose most recent pictures showed them in their mid teens, or the man's friends. There were a few other assorted knickknacks and things strewn across the waxed wooden desk, and a few documents could be seen poking out from under his tome.

 

“Living Armor and Hell Knight are dead, but their being destroyed has invited in an even stronger Mazoku to take their place. Apparently Niflheim is now the Aqua Labyrinth, and the strongest Mazoku there is Magnadeus…” He chuckled at that. “What an utterly arrogant name. Perhaps I shall stop by for a visit. I wonder if he knows what he's getting into…” He closed the book and set it down on the desk before him and smirked, leaning back in his chair. “Ahhhhhhhhh, so much mischief to be made, and so little time to do it with!” He cackled as he went over several plans that were already in progress in his mind. Making Negi's girlfriend more powerful than him, making the senshi worry about him, gathering a huge concentration of power in one city(although that was mostly Konoe's plan, he still gladly took part in it because of the possible carnage), watching Chao make a mess of the world, and random killings when need be. He had a less than pleasant look as he fantasized, not for the first time, Negi's reaction when he found out his new older-brother-figure was a genocidal, evil-consuming demon, of the oldest and worst sort no less… as he was being gutted by him.

 

His father would have been proud. Which was another thing - unlike other Mazoku, he had a father and a mother, and even a younger sister, but none of them had contacted him as of late. The fact that they were literally worlds away shouldn't have deterred them much - his mother cared for him, which he found extremely odd, and his father had a less than healthy interest in how things proceeded on Aselia.

 

“I wonder what's going on? It's been over a month now. Did they all die or something?” He muttered the last part a bit excitedly, as if his entire family perishing was not something a major concern to him, but given what he was, it rather wasn't. “Hmm, that's just not possible.” He laughed as he abruptly stood up and cheerfully gathered his staff and the musky tome before briskly walking out of the office and into a hallway, stepping over the still, headless body of the office's previous occupant as he crossed the threshold. The fact that the hallway was covered with sprays of blood did not deter him at all as he walked through the hallway with a purpose in mind and a grin on his face.

 

The blood splatters around on the previously pristine white walls seemed to add a sinister insane quality to his grin as he trudged down the halls, his arcane cloak billowing behind him dramatically from an artificial wind. Limbs and mutilated corpses littered the ground, some of them with their innards spilling out onto the now blood stained floor. He stopped before a door and sighed in ecstasy. The terror that emanated from behind the door was overwhelming in its sheer volume, and he felt like a brand new Mazoku just from being that close to it.

 

He'd noticed it earlier - one of the secretaries in the building had seen him when his slaughter began, and ran and hid herself in a closed off room that no one would notice if they weren't actively looking for her. Everyone else in the building had died - those who'd tried to escape through the exits found themselves locked in by a barrier of some sort, and others just suddenly exploded, covering nearby victims with their insides and gore. Xellis had merely cheerfully laughed at this part with no more force than one might at a good joke.

 

But this woman - he'd respected her taking initiative to run somewhere that wasn't obvious. Most of them had just screamed in fear, and others had tried to fight him off with various office equipment. They all seemed to instinctively know what he was the moment he'd started killing, and those who were fighting had been shouting at him to return to the hell from whence he'd come, but their efforts had been futile. This woman, however, had merely stay put the entire time and tried to keep a cool head while her friends and co-workers were butchered with a cruel efficiency and indifference only borne in the most hardened of killers.

 

“If only you'd run when I put the barriers down, you might have escaped. Too bad.” He said as he opened the door and his eyes went over a closet to the side. The fear was palpable now and he assumed that meant that she'd heard his voice. He smiled and raised a hand in a sweeping motion, and the double doors opened outwards, revealing a young woman dressed in proper business attire. She immediately gasped and he slowly made his way over to her. “Don't worry - it won't hurt. For more than an hour…”

 

Her screams went largely unheard.

 

---

 

2:08 AM…

 

---

 

Asuna groaned as she looked in the mirror of their bathroom. The girl was in her pajamas standing over the sink and staring into the mirror at the weird symbol on her head. It had appeared after her dream - the one that involved a silver version of the man called Dai, as well as several other people that she did not know, and yet did. A young boy with short, auburn hair, two young men in their early twenties, herself, and another girl with red hair in double ponytails - almost like hers was now, another man with long silver hair, and finally, the oldest - a young man with short black hair and a blonde girl, whose hair was also in twin ponytails, by his side.

 

Yet one thing was there now - an odd symbol on her forehead that glowed with an unnatural light. Telling Negi was off limits, as he'd try to do who knew what to her, sneeze, and she just knew she'd somehow end up naked again. And Kotarou… he was just as likely to know about it as any other random street thug. She didn't trust Satoshi at all, and the only other person who she had a feeling would know about it was the dark man she'd met in the tree. After staring at it in the mirror for a little while, she'd figured out that she could `will' it to disappear or reappear with minimum effort. Her ears stayed the same however, which still greatly frustrated her. They looked awkward on her head, as large as they were, but for some reason she could not fathom, they felt more natural than what she'd had before, almost as if someone or something had muffled them before, rather than changing them into something new.

 

Looking at them still made her feel weird, however, so she turned away as she made the symbol disappear for a final time and walked out of the bathroom and glanced at a digital clock on the wall. It read 2:12 in its blocky green digits, and she sighed as she walked over to a window, leaning on the windowsill. Outside in the distance, the city lights were easily visible. Their apartment was situated in a small urban area that was largely quiet at that time of night, however, and most lights were out already. The only real light came from the moon above and the dark sky. The teen girl stared out at the late night sky with a pensive expression on her face as she contemplated the many recent changes in her life.

 

There was a sudden loud knock on her door, and Asuna blinked as her head snapped over in the direction of the sound. It came again, several times louder, and Asuna swore she could see several small objects in the room reverberating from the sound. She frowned and walked over to the door, reaching up a hand to the knob just as the person knocked again, even louder than before. Asuna growled and quickly opened the door with her other fist cocked back so as to hit the person, but she froze as she noticed another girl standing opposite of her. The girl was about thirteen, had reddish orange hair, red eyes, a cream-colored tube top and tight fit blue jeans. Asuna found herself wondering why the hell the girl was dressed like that in the first place, late at night as it was, and why someone so young would be up and about, knocking on other people's doors like some insane lunatic.

 

“Oh hello there,” the girl said in a sweet saccharine voice and a wide, cheery smile on her face. “Have you seen this boy?” She held up a picture of a familiar purple haired man, looking much younger than when Asuna had last seen him. “He's my big brother, see, and I'm looking for him… Is something wrong?” The girl asked the last bit with a concerned look. Asuna had stopped listening as she saw the photo; the girl was in the picture with the boy, but did not appear as significantly younger as the boy did. Behind them were two older people who looked liked older versions of them - presumably their parents, and Asuna found herself wondering how someone could have such great likeness with one parent.

 

“Err…” Asuna suddenly snapped out of it and blinked at the young girl. “Your big brother, you say? What's his name?”

 

“His name is Xellis,” the girl said, re-assuming her pleasant features. Despite her outward appearance, however, Asuna had a growing feeling in the pit of her stomach that reminded her of whenever she was around Satoshi. “He's away from home on a job, see, and I'm here to spend some time with him.”

 

“I see…” Asuna said. “I think I might know who you're talking about. If you can come back in a few hours, he might be here,” she said in an empty voice. “G'night…”

 

“Wait, wait!” the girl called out as she started closing the door. “I was wondering, miss, if you could explain those odd things poking out from the side of your head—” Asuna growled and shut the door hard enough to rattle the wall.

 

“So that means that girl must be a magi or something, like Negi and Satoshi…Xellis, whatever.” Asuna rubbed her temples in annoyance as she walked away from the door. “Great. Just great. Another weirdo in my life.”

 

“Oi, Nee-san,” Kotaro's sleepy voice came from the doorway to their small room that was more of a closet with a window that happened to be facing East, and towards the sun whenever it rose over the horizon. “What's all the noise? You get into a fight with a burglar or somethin'?” The young hanyou asked, annoyed.

 

“No, just some late night crazies running around again, go back to sleep kid,” she told him. “I feel a migraine coming on…”

 

---

 

Konatsu frowned from his position in the corner as he watched Ukyo's fretful sleep. She had been acting different for a while now - ever since she had crashed Ranma's wedding, He'd noticed that the boy had been spending far less time with any of his fiancées except Akane. The result was that Shampoo had been getting increasingly violent whenever she dealt with her competitors - with the exception of Akane, so as to not incur Ranma's wrath and Ukyo was becoming increasingly nervous. Kodachi hadn't been fazed at all - Konatsu reasoned that it was likely because Ranma rarely spent time with her, and the only time he'd willingly been with her was to prove his manliness over some other girl, the white lily or some such's boyfriend. And even that was a stretch - him being around Kodachi was just a by-product of his manliness competition.

 

This left the imitation kunoichi in a bind - with his master distressed, it was usually a loyal servant's first instinct to seek out the cause of trouble and eliminate it. But Ranma was Ukyo's childhood friend, and regrettably, her only love interest. The feminine boy smiled sorrowfully as he remembered again how he'd felt when he realized that she would never return his feelings. But even though the chances of them getting together were slim, Konatsu would not abandon her - his loyalty was not so shallow as that. Especially since she had practically saved his life.

 

The fact that Ranma was not something he could simply eliminate was only a small problem, however. The problem could be fixed several ways, the most obvious of which getting Ranma to fall in love with Ukyo. That was not possible, at this point, though, and Konatsu readily accepted that - whether it was his desire to keep her for himself or not, he wasn't sure why. Even that was not a large problem, as it left several other possible solutions. Getting her to notice other men - even if she would never notice him, was something that was within his ability. Getting her to hate Ranma again was also within his ability, but Ranma had saved him just as much as the girl had and he did not want to set his friends against each other.

 

“Ran-chan…” the sweating girl before him called out her fiancé's name again, causing Konatsu to stir from within his thoughts. He looked up at the girl as she suddenly sat up with an expression of horror on her face and the beginnings of tears in her eyes. “No… Ran-chan…”

 

“Another one, Ukyo-sama?” the ninja called out softly from his position in the shadows.

 

“Konatsu? Where are you?” The girl looked around for a few seconds before she finally caught sight of his silhouette. “Yeah, sugar, but I should be fine if I go back to sleep,” the sweating girl said. Konatsu merely nodded and suddenly glanced out the window. “They've been getting bett-”

 

“I smell blood,” He said abruptly. Ukyo's eyes widened in surprise and the ninja leapt for the window, crossing the distance in one bound. “Please stay inside, mistress.” He avoided looking at her as he leapt out the open window and onto a nearby roof, moving without stopping, with his hand on a kunai. In the distance, he could see another shape moving across the roofs of the neighborhood at a quick pace. “Another ninja?” He narrowed his eyes as he started closing the distance between them. There were no other active Shinobi in Nerima besides the Kuno's poor excuse for a servant. The other shape suddenly changed directions, towards where Konatsu knew an old abandoned construction site lay. When the other person finally arrived ahead of him, he warily surveyed the shadows of the site before moving in warily. He moved through the shadows with practiced ease as he continued his search for the other shinobi.

 

After a few moments, just when he thought they'd left while he searched through the area, he heard a voice whisper into his left ear.

 

“Do you want to become a corpse tonight?” the voice asked seductively. Konatsu could tell right away that it was a male voice, and instead of reacting maintained a calm composure.

 

“Not really,” He answered seriously. “I had no intention of doing such.”

 

“Then why did you follow her, alone, into a place where she could have reinforcements lying in wait? That was very stupid of you, and plenty unprofessional,” the voice continued, just as seductively.

 

“I detected no other presences,” The boy said simply.

 

“That's enough, Satoshi,” called out a female voice. “Haven't you had enough for one night?”

 

“I suppose,” the male voice said as it pulled away behind him. “He's not exactly shaking with terror, so there's no point in killing him anyway, it would be boring. And didn't I tell you to stop calling me that when we're alone?” He chuckled and returned his attention to the male ninja before him. “Anyway, what do you want?”

 

“I want to know why you have come to Nerima,” the boy said coolly. “We don't need your sort here. I would not advise staying.”

 

“Our sort?” The man behind him asked, laughter plain in his voice.

 

“You're obviously not human, and one of you has killed tonight. There's a little old lady nearby who wouldn't take well to knowing there was a demon running around,”

 

“Oh?” The voice continued, amused. “I believe I've met her already. She wasn't too impressive.” Konatsu didn't falter as the man revealed that. “Hmm, perhaps I should stick around? You seem so insistent to have me leave… or is there something you want to protect?”

 

“I sincerely believe it would be in both of our best interests if you vacated the area,” the boy said in a hardened voice.

 

“Heh, is that right? And what if we don't?”

 

“I can't say what will happen then.”

 

“Hmm, sounds interesting.” Konatsu's face hardened; in his attempt to scare the demon away, he was only making it more interested in staying? What a mess this was becoming. “Perhaps you should leave, you're not going to accomplish anything tonight.” The demon chuckled again, and the male kunoichi flinched. He was right. Without a word, Konatsu formed a series of hand signs and vanished in a puff of smoke. “Interesting. Aiko, we might hang around after all.”

 

“Xellis…” Aiko shook her head. “You were careless tonight. Do you want to attract attention to yourself?”

 

“Yes, actually. What better way to announce that the world is changing than to tell everyone that the Mazoku have returned?”

 

“Most people will assume you to be a human serial killer,” the kunoichi noted. “You were just having fun being sloppy.”

 

“Oh, she's got me,” Xellis chuckled again. “Let's head back. It will be morning soon.” With that, both shapes vanished.

 

Above, Konatsu opened his eyes with a deadly look on his face as he considered what he'd overheard before leaving as he analyzed their words. `We might hang around after all…what better way to announce… that the Mazoku have returned.' Konatsu narrowed his eyes further. `He knew I was here and is counting on two things to happen. He expects that either I will know what he is and tell Cologne that he is here, or that I will ask her what they are and tell her of this experience.' The boy closed his eyes for a moment before suddenly opening them and taking off towards the Nekohanten. Something told him that this was of utmost importance, and his mistress could afford to wait a little while longer.

 

---

 

Sakurada Jun stared at the picture on his desk. The boy had taken to sketching on a whim, and yet he still did not understand how it was that he had proved to be a capable artist right away. He had been able to sketch Shinku incredibly well in under ten minutes on his first try, and the doll had actually been pleasantly surprised when he was finished. She had gone considerably easier on him since then, as long as he drew pictures of her whenever she wanted him to. It wasn't hard - it felt more like the skill had always been there, and he'd found that he was even marginally better at it than he was at sewing. Not that the two were exactly comparable, but it felt as if he was.

 

This time, he'd spaced out as he started sketching a simple full body self-portrait. He'd started thinking of the strange dreams he'd been having recently, of the magical transformation, and the power it had granted him that one time he'd used it. And just as he'd started thinking of that stuff, his eyelids had started feeling a little heavier, until they were almost shut. And then, he'd woken up with a start, to find that he'd finished his sketch.

 

Only, he wasn't the only person in the sketch anymore. He was standing at the front of a large group of people - several of them the familiar and yet not familiar people from his dreams - with a grumpy expression on his face. There was a smiling girl his age by his side hanging on to his arm, but when he looked at her, he could not remember having seen her in any of the dreams. There were several other people like that, although most of them were female. The sailor senshi were also there, he realized, as he started recognizing them out of uniform. They were standing all together on the left side of the group, while the people from his dreams stood on another side. Most of the people there except for a few, including himself, were smiling or making wacky expressions at him as he stared back at them.

 

“I don't get this at all. What's it supposed to mean?” He frowned. How did he know what the senshi wore when they were out of uniform? He'd never met them before. And most of the people on the right side of the picture were guys that he suddenly started recognizing as being from the anonymous source that had been mailed to several news stations across the country. The entire nation was running a special on finding the identities of the people who fought side-by-side with the senshi, and the senshi themselves through those people. He'd know their faces anywhere, especially the one with the dogears, that was totally bizarre.

 

The boy shook his head in frustration as he failed to get any meaning from the picture at all. Why would he be in a group that consisted of the sailor senshi, some other guys who were probably related to them in some way, and a bunch of other girls he'd never seen before? Especially the one hanging off of his arm… He frowned as he leaned in and tried to take in her features. The way her hair was done, her clothes…

 

“Jun,” came a tired voice. Jun looked over to the side, where his doll was sitting up in her open trunk, a pensive frown on her face. “You've been sitting there sketching that picture for quite a while. Aren't you going to sleep?” Jun opened his mouth to answer, but the sound stopped in his throat as he looked at her. He blinked in confusion several times before looking down at his most recent sketch. “Jun? What's wrong?”

 

“Shinku…” He stared at the smiling girl hanging onto his arm and bit his lip. It was definitely she, if she had been human and wearing normal clothes. He opened his mouth, but again stopped before he could say anything. He glanced at the clock and found himself not surprised at the time that it read out. 2:52 AM. “Yeah…I'll go to bed. Sorry to make you worry about me…” He said as he stood up and slowly trudged over to his bed with a defeated look in his eyes.

---

 

5:56 AM

 

---

 

Ranma looked out at the horizon as the light of the morning from her position in by the back door. Tenchi and his… family had all proven to be gracious hosts. After everyone from the plane made it safely into Tenchi's living room, which by that point was incredibly crowded, Ranma had explained most of what happened to them from the time they were in Kuno's jet to when they finally made it back. Akane and Kuno, seeing as how they had been separated, threw in their two cents, but their stories all had the same main point: Being sent to the past on the moon for just under a whole month.

 

Most of the people from the jet, with the exception of it's pilot and co-pilot, who weren't used to the insanity of Ranma's life, had readily accepted the story at face value. Tenchi's group hadn't needed more than a little bit of convincing, and when even Washuu backed up their story talking about some sort of chrono-manipulation residue in the area, everyone quickly believed them. The two groups traded a few stories - although both of them kept a few of the facts, such as Tenchi being an inter-galactic prince, or Ranma's true gender, to themselves, over a grand feast while Washuu and surprisingly Tatewaki Kuno were strangely absent, presumably working repairing the plane, although neither one was willing to share many details.

 

Now, it was early morning, and Tenchi was standing out on the edge of the of the pier again as he looked up in the sky at something Ranma couldn't see. She'd noticed the boy go outside as she exited the bathroom, and after getting dressed since it was already near morning, decided to check up on him. He was a nice kid - there were some definite parallels in their lives that she'd noticed, although Ranma still felt there were some things that the Masaki family and its guests weren't telling him and his own crew, just the same that she hadn't yet told them about her own curse, or past lives and what not, and she'd taken to him the way one might a sibling.

 

Unfortunately for Tenchi though, one of his `Fiancée's had disappeared a while ago while out, and Ranma had a feeling that it would be the same as if Akane had. The disappearance had greatly disrupted their harmony, and even though they hid it well, Ranma could still tell they missed the cyan haired girl she'd only seen in photos.

 

Ranma sighed and folded her arms behind her head as she walked out behind Tenchi and stood beside him, looking at the slowly brightening sky.

 

“Yo, Tenchi,” she said tiredly. “You okay man?”

 

“Ah, Ranma,” Tenchi turned to smile at the girl and then looked back at the sky. “I'm just wondering if Ryoko is seeing the same sky I am right now…”

 

“I'm sure she is,” Ranma said, with a sad look on her face. `Gee, this guy's a real downer whenever he thinks about her. She must have been the one or something, huh?'

 

“Thanks,” Tenchi said warmly. “You don't know how much that means to me.”

 

“You worry too much, Tenchi,” She said. “From what I've heard of Ryoko, she sounds like she can handle herself. She was a… gangster or something, right?” Ranma finished awkwardly.

 

“Err, well… When Aeka said she used to be a thug, Ryoko was… well, she was younger, and… misguided,” Tenchi said with a strain in his voice and a visible strain in his smile. “Heh, heh…”

 

“Oh, I know what you mean,” Ranma assured him. “I'm sure she's turned around now, and is a great gal, but that kind of life would make a girl tough, right?”

 

“Like you?” Tenchi asked as he looked down at her.

 

“N…Y-yeah, like me,” Ranma said, chuckling nervously. The two shared a look of understanding and turned back to look at the sun as it peaked over the mountains in the distance. “Man, keepin' secrets is sure hard.”

 

“Heh, yeah,” Tenchi agreed.

 

-

 

Meanwhile, in the house, a certain purple haired princess was watching the two with anger in her eyes. Aeka fumed and clenched a fist as she stared out at the two teens standing out at the edge of the dock.

 

“What does that little hussy think she is doing with Tenchi-Sama, looking at a dramatic sunrise like that?” She whispered to herself. “That should be me out there, comforting him, not some stranger who fell out of the sky…” A nearby red-haired scientist laughed chuckled as she said that, and continued typing away.

 

“Ranma's not a hussy, and she's not out there to catch Tenchi-Kun's heart,” Nabiki said from her position in the large chair with a traditional cup of steaming green tea in her hands. The white haired girl took a sip with closed eyes and sighed in pleasure at the taste. The only ones up were her, the two before her, the two kitchen goddesses, and the two nice teen boys with way too much female attention than was healthy that were outside, one of whom was currently female. Even though they were seven people, there were still a great number of people who were sleep.

 

“Why are you so familiar with him, anyway? You only met Tenchi-sama last night, I do not appreciate your attitude towards him,” the purple haired girl said coldly.

 

“Tenchi-chan said it was okay,” Nabiki shrugged, unfazed. Washuu sniggered at that and Nabiki opened her eyes a little to share a conspiratory look with the diminutive scientist. The purple haired princess stuttered for a few moments before frowning and looking out at the pair of teens again, with displeasure evident in her every pore.

 

“Why is he always so open to other people?”

 

“You try too hard, dear,” Nabiki said right before she took another sip of tea. Aeka glanced at the girl and the hot steaming beverage.

 

`How can she stand to drink it when it's that hot?' she thought to herself as she looked back outside at the two teens. “What would you know?” the princess asked, somewhat depressed.

 

“Tenchi is a nice boy. Even with six girls living under his roof, he doesn't lay a finger on any one of them, even though most of them would readily give themselves to him. He's most likely the strongest guy you all know, even though he's really nice, and doesn't often go around abusing his power, if ever. He upholds justice and adheres to a strict honor code, and has something about him that most guys just can't imitate,” She said. “Am I right so far?” Aeka blinked at that and looked at her, bewildered. “Trust me dear, the situation is just so familiar I'm barely able to keep from laughing at it all. At least two of the girls after him try too hard and often put the other down, competing with each other for his heart.” She took another sip of her tea before speaking again.

 

“One of the girls is just plain strange, one of the girls says she likes him but in reality only likes to watch his life for the entertainment value, one of the girls is an absolute goddess in the kitchen, and one of the girls is overly violent with him, or was at one point, one of the girls is refined and regal, and the last girl treats him like a genuine human being, rather than a prize to be won. Still with me?” Aeka nodded, dumbfounded. “I'm just guessing here, so it might not be all accurate, but from what I've seen so far, this place fits the bill rather nicely.” She took another sip of her tea.

 

“Err…” Aeka blinked and looked away, feeling somewhat confused. The only person she knew who could quickly and readily form such accurate hypothesis and conclusions like that was Washuu-chan.

 

“Now, as I was saying earlier, you're trying too hard. I'm guessing you're one of the two more fierce `competitors' and your usual partner, Ryoko, is the one missing. Am I still right?” Aeka nodded again, this time a bit more slowly, but then noticed that the girl's eyes were still closed. “If you stopped trying to fill in the void that Ryoko has left, and started acting more like yourself, he might notice you.”

 

`H-how is she getting all of this?' Aeka looked at the calm, immovable white-haired girl… no, woman, and frowned.

 

“Now…” Nabiki did a few mental calculations in her head and nodded to herself, but it was barely noticeable. “Now, normally, I would charge three thousand yen for something like what I just did…” Nabiki said. Aeka tilted her head as she waited for the other girl to finish. “But this situation amuses me. It's free this time. But remember that anything else I do for you, comes with a price tag.” The girl calmly sipped more of her steaming tea and Aeka stared at her in amazement.

 

“I…I see,” the girl said, hesitantly. “In any event… there are some things for me to do…” she said in a low voice as she stood up and walked off towards another section of the house.

 

“Hm hm, that was mildly amusing,” the red-haired scientist said as she halted her typing in the floating virtual laptop. “Which one of those girls is the one who's just watching for the entertainment value?” Nabiki smiled lightly at that and merely opened her eyes to look at the seemingly younger girl.

 

“I'm not sure what you're talking about,” She said simply.

 

“Oh ho?” The red-head chuckled again. `You have an interesting life ahead of you, girl. I think I'll keep an eye on this one…'

 

---

 

Touya looked out at the rising sun from the roof of his house, as he reclined on his back. The morning breeze was refreshing, the sun wasn't too bright, to look at yet, as most of it wasn't even visible, and the sky was a nice bluish hue with moderate cloud coverage, but none of the clouds appeared to indicate rain in the near future. All in all, it was a good day for a run, and he was just planning on doing that - cross-country. After all, it was only a little while before he and/or Shadow were identified in the video that had been given to the media, and none of the Chaos Emeralds had been found in Japan yet, for all their searching. It was time to move on again, and continue their search elsewhere, but for some reason Shadow felt insistent that there was something keeping them in Japan. Touya blinked as he heard a window opening to his side and as he looked out he saw Chibi-Usa climb out of her window into a tree and shut it behind her.

 

“Oiiii! Ne, Chibi-Usa, ain't it a bit early to be sneakin' away from home like that?” He asked exasperatedly. The girl merely looked at him, then waved in acknowledgement, and jumped down from the tree, taking off down the street. “Mattaku, that girl is really rebellious… She must have had a sheltered life or something…”

 

“Sonic.” Shadow's voice sounded from above him and he looked up. Standing behind his head, and looking down at him was Shadow. “I have found one.” Touya was instantly on his heels and stretching, preparing to go after the Chaos Emerald.

 

“Awesome! When do we go?”

 

“Right now, of course. It's on one of the Western Islands. Try to keep up.” The black haired boy took off in a blur, leaving the other behind.

 

“All right, that's what I'm talking about, some real progress!” The blue haired boy smirked as he followed in an equally fast blur.

 

---

 

7:22 AM…

---

 

Pallas looked at the black haired man who stood before him with a scowl on his face. The two were standing in the midst of the glowing branches of the world tree at Mahora.

 

“Dai, you look less than pleased to see me. Is something the matter?” the silver haired elf spoke with mild amusement in his voice.

 

“Get out of my sight,” the Ranma look-alike growled. “I don't need your interference here.”

 

“Lloyd told me to watch you,” Pallas said calmly. “That includes overseeing how you go about raising your little group of knights back into power.”

 

“Why don't you just go tell that arrogant blowhard to fuck himself? You want to be here as much as I want you here,”

 

“On the contrary, I find this to be quite amusing.” Pallas laughed. “And Lloyd is too stupid to be anything like that. He's not another Mithos.” The elf sighed as he looked around at the tree they were in. “The only one of your knights lucky enough to be reborn as a Lunarian, and she's completely untrained. As is Soren. And four of them still haven't awakened! Really, how can you hope to compare to the senshi?” Dai grit his teeth and his eyes flashed a dangerous red. “Now now, don't do anything rash. I could destroy you with a thought, remember?”

 

“I could destroy you with a thought,” the man dressed in all black mocked the elf before him with a scowl.

 

“Heh heh,” Pallas merely laughed.

 

“The senshi have experience with fighting, this is true. But it does not compare to that of Vladimir, Emilio, and especially my own reincarnations.”

 

“But unlike the senshi, your power rests only in your techniques. Your transformations are much weaker than theirs,” Pallas reminded him. “What do you hope to accomplish by raising the knights of the Astral again? You can do nothing but annoy those who are more powerful than you. You should know that by now.”

 

“I will…” Dai scowled at the other man. “I will definitely prevent Crystal Tokyo. That hellish place must not come to be!”

 

“That depends on who you are asking.” Pallas pointed out.

 

“You people are aware of the eventual fall out that will occur if Crystal Tokyo comes to pass, right?!” He demanded, as he held up his hand and summoned the eternal sword. “I have seen this truth with my own eyes, you fool!”

 

“Perhaps, but who is to say you should be in control of the future, instead of the senshi?”

 

“No one,” Dai admitted. “But leaving it in their hands is a recipe for disaster.” Pallas merely shook his head.

 

“You cannot defeat the senshi.” Dai growled at that.

 

“Watch me,” He said as he shimmered and vanished. Pallas sighed and cradled his head in his hands with a frustrated look.

 

-

 

Chibi-Usa waded through the sea of people with a smirk as she aimlessly wandered throughout the city. Things had taken a ridiculous turn since the anonymous person had mailed in that tape to news stations around the country; there was a new, or more rather, revived hype as people started focusing again on trying to identify the senshi, and their unknown assistants. People like Ranma had already been identified though, and it was seen as only a short time before the identities of the senshi was finally cracked, after the four years since their first appearance. People had written books with theories on the senshi, as well as their identities and purpose. Only one had come even remotely close, and while the senshi didn't plan on taking over the world by force, they would still be its rulers in the end.

 

She'd gone to the Tendo Dojo, only to find that Ranma and his family had abandoned ship, so to speak, at that point. `It's not like it matters. The whole country is in an uproar over their identities now, and soon probably the world. They could go to Hokkaido and still be recognized at the drop of a hat.' The girl laughed to herself, suddenly glad for the protection that their senshi fuku offered them. It would be fun to watch Ranma handle being a celebrity, though, she thought. As she walked through the crowded sidewalks, the girl smiled as she looked up and saw a large picture of Ranma fighting someone on a billboard. Apparently, more footage of his various fights were still rolling in from somewhere-- she stopped with a frown on her face as the familiar feeling of being watched came over her. She turned her head to find a man in all black and almost stumbled in surprise. They were stopped at the corner to a busy intersection, and people easily walked around the two of them on their way to wherever their destinations happened to be.

 

“You… You're—” She backed away in horror as she involuntarily suffered a flashback of Ranma, wearing the same evil grin that the one before her had, crippled her and Usagi with the greatest of ease.

 

“Hello little girl,” Dai said with a huge grin splayed across his face. “You been a good girl since last time we met?”

 

“Damn you!” Chibi-Usa scowled at him as she reached into her pocket.

 

“You'll transform right here, in front of all these nice people?” he motioned with his arms all of the people around them going about their business, although a few were beginning to watch them. “Go ahead, Sailor Chibi-Moon. Do it. I dare you.” He smirked and Chibi-Usa started sweating nervously as some of the people started watching them more intently with that. She could practically see the more attentive ones bypassing the magic blocks in their mind, as they started to associate her with the familiar image of an identical girl in a sailor seifuku. “That's right. You can't, not here, not now.”

 

“You're wrong about that,” Chibi-Usa replied with a glare. “Not can't. Won't. Don't push me.” Her eyes shot from left to right as she looked around at just how many people were watching them. `What with the new publicity we've been getting, a lot more people are interested in this than should be… damn…'

 

“Oh ho, she bites,” Dai commented with an appreciative look. “But I'm calling your bluff. I'll tell you what I came to tell you and go. How's that sound?” Chibi-Usa was taken aback as he directly addressed her. “Crystal Tokyo is gone.” He continued without really waiting for a response, his grin widening.

 

“Wh-what?” The girl asked, surprised. “H-how the hell do you know about that?!” `Ranma doesn't know anything about Crystal Tokyo, so how does this guy?!'

 

“You destroyed it yourself,” He said, ignoring her question. “When you used that Chaos Emerald.”

 

“W-what? But that was to save my life! How… how can I have damaged the timeline that way?”

 

“Beats the hell out of me. All I know is that you'll never see your mommy or daddy again,” He said with an unconcerned shrug. “You'd better get used to this place.”

 

“You're stupid if you think I'll believe you!” She growled. “I still exist, so…”

 

“Hahaha, whatever little girl. Ask Setsuna, she's been keeping it from you, trying to figure out how deliver the information to you in a way that will allow her to use you to reclaim Crystal Tokyo, or some agreeable offshoot of it. Heh, see ya, kid!” He smirked and turned around to walk away, before waving over his shoulder with a grin. The pink haired girl merely watched him, with some small amount of doubt bubbling in her heart.

 

“Wait! Who the hell are you, anyway?!” She demanded as he got further away. Her answer was silence, and as she started after him with determination written on her face, he vanished into a group of people. She growled and rapidly whipped her head around in a futile effort to find him, as if he would suddenly appear somewhere else in the crowd, and cursed again when she realized that she had lost him.

 

Meanwhile, not too particularly far away, the man in black smirked as he continued walking, and people walking towards him made a visible effort to stay out of his way.

 

“Heh, the seeds of distrust have been sown. Well then, Sailor Pluto, let's see, how you will handle this curveball?” He chuckled to himself as he continued on his way. `Now, I've got to figure out a way to kill Xellis once his use to me is over. Mazoku are too dangerous to allow running around. But for now…' He smirked as he walked into an alley and vanished into the shadows. `… He can continue to be useful.'

 

----

 

There was more that I wanted to add, but it didn't feel like it belonged in this chapter.

Next Chapter: Who will Ranma & Co. run into at Fukuoka? What adventures

Will they have there, and what of Xellis' killing spree? Will it go unnoticed,

or will someone fight back? And what of the Chaos Emerald that Shadow

has found in the “Western Islands”?

 

Find out text nime, on Töttoru Shaku Ji!