A Call to Action http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~makoto/actamain.htm By: Mike Koos Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon Cross over ~*~ Chapter Two: Luna insisted on sprinting through the front door and into the hall ahead of Ami and I, to make sure no one would see Sailor Mercury and Sailor Terra run out of the apartment in which Mizuno Ami lived. That's a good idea, I have to admit. We don't want anyone finding out about our secret identities. I'll bet Ami would never have told me she was Sailor Mercury if I wasn't a Sailor Senshi myself. A day ago, I wouldn't even have thought about trying to fight a monster. Today... I know it sounds like a cliche, but it feels like I've been doing this sort of thing forever. It's all been a blur. We were all in Ami's bedroom holding a weekly study session, when we heard there was a monster roaming the halls. The monster showed up while we were standing outside the front door. She threatened to steamroll over Usagi... and would have, too, if I hadn't pushed it away in what was probably a temporary loss of sanity. The others pulled me back into the apartment - where I learned that not only could Luna speak, but Ami, Usagi and Rei were the 'Sailor Senshi' I've been hearing a lot about. And I, Tendo Nabiki, just happen to be a Sailor Senshi as well. Wow, imagine that. So now here we were, chasing after the monster I'd tried to fight against with my bare hands. Luna's return temporarily ended that line of thought. "It's clear," she breathed. It sounds like she's run to both ends of the hall and was slightly winded from doing so. You know, I've never thought about what might exhaust a cat... it can't be easy to keep up with Ami, Rei and Usagi when they're running around. But if she had the ability to perform a standing flip, she's got better endurance than this. Hmm... I didn't see her running around that much earlier... I was too busy doing something stupid. I nodded to Ami. "I guess we'd better get going." She nodded back. Ami peered around the door frame into the hall to double-check that no one was there, then motioned for me to follow her. I let my thoughts drift to my uniform. It, too, felt like a longtime part of me, as the knowledge of how to be Sailor Terra did. Yet there were a lot of things I didn't have - like a technical explanation for this uniform. "This is more like a dress uniform," I said to my teammate as we began to run. "You... we... fight in these clothes?" "Yes. Apparently, they serve both as dress clothes and as a uniform in which to fight." Ami brought up a bit of the fabric of the glove protecting her forearm. "Although this fabric is thin, it's the strongest and most resilient cloth I've ever seen! I haven't even figured out what its limits are, or how a fabric can be this strong..." "Magic," the word escaped my mouth. I glanced behind us to see Luna following at a distance. "Hm?" "Magic. We're using it, even *wearing* it. I can feel it inside me, A-- uh, Mercury! I know you want to have an explanation for it now - so do I - but maybe we need to know more before we can come to any useful conclusions." She seemed disappointed. "Perhaps you can help me come up with the explanations, then," Ami smiled. I faced forward so that I could frown without Ami seeing it. Oh, I wish she'd stop that. *She's* the smart one, not me. "Maybe later. Right now, I think we're supposed to be worrying about that monster." My 'new' knowledge told me that as a Sailor Senshi, I'm supposed to essentially fulfill the role of a hero, defender and protector. That included taking out monsters before they could get away with hurting others or destroying things. What it *didn't* tell me was how I was supposed to do that. I've got power, but how do I use it? I'd rather not fight hand-to-hand if I can avoid it. Ami must have understood how I felt at that moment, because she proceeded to tell me not to analyze what I was doing while fighting. That I should just act on instinct for now, and it'll all come to me, like it had earlier. I still can't believe I'm doing this... Or that Ami-chan is doing this, either. Dad offered to teach her how to be a fighter; she'd been more polite in turning him down than I had, claiming she really did not want to be a fighter. And now - she's fighting evil as Sailor Mercury. I can't complain. Who would have thought I could be Sailor Terra? A sigh, hopefully too soft for Ami to hear, especially compared to the sounds of our running. Footsteps and the rustling of our clothes, *those* aren't as loud as I thought they would be. Do these uniforms mask the sound of our movement, too? I've got to stop dwelling so much on established facts and get on with it. I'm a Sailor Senshi. Ami's a Sailor Senshi. Usagi and Rei are Sailor Senshi. Luna can talk. Argue, command, even. And we're all on our way to fight a monster with our magical powers. Sort of. The trail of the monster was hard to follow most of the time, and Usagi and Rei hadn't left any signs. They're running more often than fighting. That's good news for everyone except Ami and I - we have to find them. I risked a glance at Ami, who was sprinting beside me. "Isn't there a way to teleport to them or something? We can lose track of them very easily." Ami shook her head. "All we can do is run, and hope we catch up to them in time. However..." her voice trailed off. She raised a gloved hand up to her ear as if to do something with the earring there. An instant later a transparent blue visor materialized, seemingly sliding around her eyes as it formed. Information and other displays began flashing across the inside of the visor. I did a double-take. Magic, *and* technology? What about all the people who insist they don't really mix all that well? If she had a computer like that, couldn't she run a scan on these clothes to learn more about them? "What's that?" "Hm?" Ami followed my gaze back to the instrument covering her eyes. "Oh, this is my visor. I can use it to scan for various things. If I need to execute more specialized tasks, I have the pocketbook computer that Luna gave to me." She had a 'pocketbook computer?' When I asked as much, she smiled faintly and said, "I'll show it to you later, when we have the time to answer some of the questions you likely have. You would like to know what really happened to me at the Crystal Seminar about a month ago? That was the day when I discovered that I was Sailor Mercury." We changed directions, turning left into a hall on Ami's cue. For a second I dwelled on the word *later*, almost missing Ami's revelation. She's sure we're all going to make it through this fight with no problems? Even though I'm not thoroughly sure I know what the heck I am supposed to be doing? "At first, Usagi was alone as Sailor Moon, with Luna." The thought took me by surprise. Usagi fighting monsters all by herself? "Then, they found me. We found Rei soon after that..." "...And now, you've found me. Hey, did you ever think - several years ago, when we were little, that we'd both be doing something like this?" I felt rather stupid for bothering to ask her that, but the question was more to take my mind off a few things than for reminiscing. Her smile grew stronger. "Yes, I dreamt of doing things like this on occasion. For love and justice, as Usagi-chan always states. Didn't you have the same kind of dreams?" I did, once. Mostly, before Mom... before she... left us. After that I became too old to dream of becoming a hero. I'd thought that none of our family's problems could be solved by any special powers I might gain. And now... "Fire...... SOUL!!" "That was R--" I caught myself. Blast, I've got to remember *not* to use our true names when we're like this. "That was Mars, wasn't it?" "Yes." The yell had come from around the corner ahead of us. We rounded it in time to see the monster dive out of the path of flames pouring forth from Rei's fingertips. I gaped again. Wow, if she could do that, then what could I do? Ami immediately threw her arms wide. "Shabon... Spray!" A fine mist descended upon us, though I could see through it to an extent. "Mercury!" Usagi exclaimed, relieved to 'see' us. "And..." "Terra," I answered. "Sailor Terra." "Terra," she repeated. The monster growled to let us know she was still here, too. Another of Rei's Fire Soul attacks cut through Ami's mist to silence the monster for a few seconds. What little of the mist had been evaporated by the fire was soon replaced. Again, I wondered, what could I do? Hmm... let's see. Sailor Mars seems to have control of fire, Sailor Mercury has control over water, I suppose - and Sailor Moon has... what *does* she have? Terra. If I'm Sailor Terra, I might have control over earth, or something like that. It's a pity no one could tell me what my powers are before all this. Suddenly, the monster exploded from the mist directly toward me. I heard myself yelp both in surprise and shock, and leapt backward, farther than I'd expected. Being a Senshi must be boosting my agility and strength. Maybe my speed, too. I felt something click into place in my mind again, and let myself flow with it as Ami had advised. "Sand..." I yelled, bringing my hands together before me. A whirling globe of sand formed between them, the sense of the power I held firmly in place building within me... I don't think I know how to explain how wonderful this felt! "...Spiral!" I urged the power forward, away from me. The volleyball-sized sand globe intercepted the monster and engulfed it. As I watched in awe, the resulting sandstorm threw the monster back into the fog... which was starting to fade. Ami, who I could see clearly now, threw me a knowing glance. I'd done it, hadn't I? I've found my power! "Now what?" "Sailor Moon!" Rei called while pivoting to see where Usagi had stationed herself. Usagi nodded. "Right!" She removed her tiara from where it rested around her forehead. What is she doing? I wondered. The tiara turned into a disc of light in her hands. "Moon... Tiara..." she spun once, throwing it with a snap of her wrist. "...Action!" Her tiara flew like a boomerang. It sliced *through* the monster's midsection before returning to its owner. Meanwhile, the monster was howling in obvious pain. Both halves of her body paled to an ash gray and lost cohesion, drifting to the ground like sand from a broken hourglass before fading completely from sight. "Is it all over?" I asked. Rei smirked. "I hope so." "I would like to know what that youma was doing here." It figured Ami would state something like that. *Youma*!? You mean to tell me that wasn't a monster, but a demon? "The same thing they're ALWAYS doing! Running around, stealing people's energy... I don't wanna fight another one of those things tonight if I don't have to!" Usagi whined. You know, I think I agree with her. Cheers and applause erupted from the crowd that was starting to gather at the other end of the hall. "I don't think we have the luxury of investigating, Mercury," I told her. "We'd better leave while we can." Ami glanced from me to the crowd. "She's right," Rei seconded. "Time to go!" She broke into a run toward the closest open hallway. Usagi and I followed at her heels. "But..." Ami protested, then ran to catch up to us. She hadn't had much choice; already a few people were rallying the others to chase after us. "But we should be investigating! We don't know why that youma was here, or what it was trying to do! It could have been a diversion to distract us from something else!" I tried to keep my voice down while I ran. "We'd better change back, first. I don't think we'd get much done looking like this." Ami frowned. "I suppose so." She took the lead. "C'mon! My apartment's not that far from here!" We ducked into the apartment and shut the door, as the people who thought it would be fun to run after a group of Sailor Senshi turned the corner we just rounded. Rei didn't wait to hear if our 'fan club' had left the hall. "Quickly! Change back to normal!" Doing that was easy enough. I thought of my untransformed self, and the concept of returning to that state of being. When I next looked down at myself, I had done just that. Returning to 'normal' apparently takes much less time than it does to transform - no special-effect shows here. Someone knocked at the door. Ami motioned for the rest of us to hide behind the kitchen counter. She warily opened the door. "Y-yes?" Usagi edged her head around the end of the counter to look at the man who was asking Ami if she'd heard or seen anything suspicious. At least, she remained there until Rei and I hurriedly yanked her back into hiding. Ami paused for a couple of seconds. Had she heard? Had whoever it was at the door heard? "Does that mean that monster that everyone is talking about is gone?" The voice told her that there was nothing to worry about. "The Sailor Senshi destroyed the monster. We're just looking for them so we can... ah, thank them." I imagined the smile that Ami must have worn at that moment. "I've been here, cleaning up after the guests I had over this afternoon, and I can't say that I've seen or heard much. Aside from what people were yelling about the monster, anyway. But if I do happen to see the Sailor Senshi, maybe I can tell them 'thank you' for you." The man laughed. "Thank you, miss. Sorry to bother you." "That's quite all right." None of us breathed until we heard Ami close the door again. Except for Usagi, who decided it was necessary to hold her breath a minute longer. When she did exhale, forcefully and loudly, her momentum made her collapse forward onto her face. "Waaah!" she wailed, pulling herself to her feet. "I hate it when we have to hide like that! All crammed in one spot, you guys pulling me and everything--" "Shut UP, Usagi!" hissed Rei. "Someone might still hear you!" "If she's *that* loud, they can," I snorted. "Ami?" Ami eased away from the door. "I think it's okay." Rei and I breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Though for some reason I felt as though we'd forgotten something. Why would that be? All of us were here, except... "Hey, where's Luna?" The others looked startled. "I'll bet we lost her when we were running from the scene of the battle," Ami said, thoughtfully. "We'll probably find her when we go out to investigate." Ordinarily, I might have commented on her use of the word 'bet,' but I could tell Ami was truly concerned for Luna. I wished I knew Luna better, so that I could better share in that concern. Right now I feel like an adopted sister in a family that was doing quite well without me. Another thought occurred to me. "Ami-chan? What kind of policy does this mansion have on pets?" 'Mansion' was another term for certain types of apartment complexes, especially those that really did look like mansions. Usagi answered for Ami. "'No pets allowed,'" she quoted. "You know that. That's why I have to sneak Luna in in a large handbag." "Uh-huh," I nodded. "So what are people going to say when they see her walking through the halls?" A low, anxious scratching at the front door saved Usagi from having to respond. Ami fumbled the door open, and Luna barreled in, looking for all the world as if she were being followed. "Luna!" Usagi exclaimed, while the cat in question hid behind the couch. "Is someone after you?" I asked. She strained to speak in between breaths. "I don't know. I've been running non-stop trying to find my way back to here. Someone could very well have seen me and followed." Ami placed her ear to the door once more. "I don't hear anything, Luna. Actually, we were preparing to go out and look for you, while seeing if we can find out why that youma was here." "I'll come with you." "No!" When everyone turned to stare at me, I realized the voice had been mine. "Um, no. Luna... you must be tired after chasing us everywhere. You really should stay here and rest." "Yeah, and you won't have to hide if you stay here." I had the impression Usagi was more concerned with having to carry Luna everywhere with us in that oversized handbag she'd brought than the need to keep Luna concealed. Luna studied each of us in turn, perhaps guessing how much we would protest if she again insisted on leaving with us. I still can't believe I'm a part of this, now. If I hadn't become Sailor Terra... if that monster hadn't chosen to attack here - I might have finished my studying and gone home, back to an ordinary life. I might never have known my three friends were the Sailor Senshi... ~*~ The gratingly loud buzzing of my alarm clock wrenched me away from my dreams. On what could pass for morning reflex, I blindly brought my hand down on the nightstand next to my bed several times in search of the snooze button. Once the clock was silenced, I covered my eyes with a pajama-clad sleeve and went back to thinking about my dream. I was dreaming... about the day I learned I was Sailor Terra. Why would I be dreaming about that? It wasn't exactly a dream, either - more like a memory. Did it have something to do with Ami coming over last night? Or is my conscience yelling at me for not rushing to join the others? Ah... I'll worry about it later. As for the dream, nothing really had happened after the point where I woke up; Luna decided not to join us after all. We went out to see what we could find - but not before Luna pulled me aside to give me a communicator. Our first communicators looked more or less like a pastel pink pocket calculator with an additional small, round window and a speaker that gave better sound than you'd expect from a watch-sized speaker. We found no clues that night. By the time we left the apartment again, there was a TV news crew wandering the halls and the only thing we learned was never to let Usagi be the one to talk to a reporter if we could help it. I didn't realize exactly how distracted I was that morning until Akane raised her voice at the breakfast table. "*Oneechan*!" Usually, I just tune out Ranma and Akane at the table because it doesn't take long for either of them to start yelling. Not that I don't pay attention to every last bit of nonsense in this household, mind you. "Huh?" I swallowed the bite of fish I had in my mouth. "Is something wrong, oneechan? You seem distracted and you haven't been paying attention." I raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that, Akane?" She pointed at my plate. "You never noticed Mr. Saotome taking most of your food." What do you know? He *has* taken most of it. Ranma isn't beyond taking food from the rest of us, but since he currently sits across the table from me, you'd think I might notice him reaching for my plate. His father sits along the edge of the table next to me... mostly as a panda, if just to give him another excuse to lounge around and eat all the food he can. Sighing, I pushed the remnants of my meal toward the oversized bear and excused myself from the table. "Here, you can have the rest. Just remember that I expect payment for the whole meal in full by the time I come home this afternoon." The panda nervously swallowed hard. "Nabiki!" Kasumi scolded from the door. "There's plenty of food for everyone. You shouldn't charge anyone simply because they take your food." I crouched on one knee to pick up my bookbag. "If there's plenty of food for everyone, he can ask for more food. He doesn't have to steal mine." That said, I made my way to the door. What can I say? I learned the cold and indifferent act from a few of the best examples ever to walk the Earth. "Anyway, I think I'll leave for school now. I've got a bunch of things I need to take care of." Kasumi's voice stopped me before I could make it through the front door. "Nabiki-chan, wait." She joined me in the foyer, wearing a concerned expression. "Is there really anything bothering you? Is everything all right with your friends in Juuban?" "N-no, Kasumi," I managed after very nearly swallowing my breath. "Ami-chan and everyone else are just fine." How much does she know, about my secrets? "It's just that for Ami to come all the way here from Juuban during a storm to talk with you for less than an hour strikes me as a bit unusual." Suspicion clashed for a second with her concern. "There was something she had to tell or ask you that she believed she couldn't accomplish with a telephone call." Occasionally, I wonder if Kasumi is even more observant than I am. "Not really. Everyone wanted to invite me to a little get-together last night, and Ami thought I might go there with her. I had some homework to do, though, so I told her that I wanted to stay here and get it done." "Oh. If I didn't know any better, Nabiki-chan, I would think you've been trying to distance yourself from Usagi and Mamoru since their marriage." "Huh?" "Were you in love with Mamoru?" The ends of her lips were beginning to turn upward. "*No*!" I practically shouted. She's close to the truth, yet I never expected her to come to *that* conclusion. "Sorry. But we all knew from the start that Usagi and Mamoru were meant for each other." Not counting Rei's attempts to strike up a relationship with him, of course. Kasumi chuckled. "They must have a unique relationship for you, Ami and your friends all to insist they were meant for each other." "I... yeah, I suppose you could say that." "I wonder if I could ever have such a relationship," Kasumi wistfully sighed. "You will, Sis." If she and Dr. Tofu ever decide to have a serious talk about their feelings for each other, perhaps, I silently amended. "I really need to get going; you know I don't like having to run to school like they do," I said, gesturing across the hall in the direction of the family room where Ranma and my little sister continued to eat breakfast. "I still believe the three of you should walk to school together." I shook my head. "I'd rather not. Besides, they're always cutting it too close to the late bell." For my purposes, I have to get there early enough - which also has the side benefit of avoiding all the nonsense Akane and Ranma might encounter each morning. Not about to let Kasumi bring up any other points, I pushed the front door open and broke into a run. "Bye! I'll be home later this afternoon!" ~*~ Kasumi watched her sister sprint through the gates in the high wall that bordered their yard. Her practiced gaze could tell that there *was* something troubling the middle Tendo sister, despite Nabiki's assurances to the contrary. Whatever the problem was, it likely had to be related to what Ami had come in person to Nerima just to discuss with her friend. She pursed her lips. Above all, Nabiki was the least likely member of the household to share her concerns with anyone who could help. No - if she wanted to learn whether or not Nabiki's concerns were serious, the best way would be to ask another of the people involved. Ami. ~*~ Now, I'm beginning to worry. Even if Kasumi doesn't know my biggest secret, she's concerned enough to do a bit of digging. I doubt she'll find anything if she asks Ami or I directly. Usagi, maybe. But we've more or less been keeping these secrets *way* too long to give them away in a slip of the tongue... I hope. Hmm. I'd better find something else to think about. What kind of enemy could we be facing now? What kind of threat? I wonder if anyone else on the team thinks we've pretty much seen it all, because it sometimes seems that we have whenever we manage to win a fight. Then the next fight comes and we start all over again. We've fought enemies from the past, present and future, many kinds of monsters out to steal energy, pure spirit or what-not - several designed to take advantage of people's weaknesses - and even our own dark sides. What would Kasumi think if she knew that we've faced the end of the world? Heh, there are times when I wouldn't mind throwing this in the face of one or both of those super-macho martial artists who've come to live with us. Ranma turns into a girl *and* he's seen Akane fight, but he still acts as though girls are too weak to fight and need to be protected like little children. His father's worse. If Ranma ever came across one of our fights, he'd try to force us to stand back while *he* fought the bad guys all by himself. The less he knows, the better. Oh... I'm drifting. I still don't know if I'm ready to rejoin the team as a full-time fighter. I'll have to do it eventually, but... I'm still afraid. More for the Princess's sake and everyone else I know than myself. Nothing of note happened while I made my way through the school's main courtyard. The word around here is that all the guys following Kunou-chan's stupid rule of defeating Akane in a fight in order to be able to date her - as if he'd *really* allow anyone else to date Akane! - had finally decided that since Ranma is engaged to my little sister, there's no point in bothering to fight her. I suppose *that* comes as a blow to Kunou, since he obviously counts on their fights against Akane to make himself appear better. 'Course, that would never stop him from going after Akane. He's so sure he can beat Ranma and never lose, but that's exactly what he does every time they fight. He returns again and again, with the delusion that his two loves love him and no one else; that he's never lost in a fight and will easily trash Ranma again 'this time.' I expected to see him waiting behind one of the larger trees for Ranma and Akane to run through the gates. You've got to admire a guy who sets himself up every school day just to be punched or kicked into low Earth orbit, if that's humanly possible. That, or pity him. He wasn't there. Maybe he's finally come to whatever few senses he's got left and gone on to class? I seriously doubt that. He's probably just out sick or something like that. I don't envy his pet Ninja for having to cater to the guy's whims all day. Does Sasuke even sleep? I've been to the Kunou mansion - yes, it's a real mansion - and trust me, it is *not* a place in which you want to let down your guard, to sleep or otherwise. I took a few minutes to check into the rumors of the morning. There was nothing really of interest there, either, just the usual rumors about Ranma. None of them are rumors I've started... well, they're right when they say truth is stranger than fiction. What rumor could I spread that's more weird than the real Ranma? That he's looking for a different girl to be his girlfriend? Sure, that might create some short-term revenue for me in some deals, but in the end all I'd really accomplish would be to get the guy in more fights - especially with Akane and our fathers. No; I don't squander resources like that unless I want to teach Ranma a lesson. He does need to learn that someone can take down the invincible Saotome Ranma without fighting him in hand-to-hand combat. Some other time. I figured I'd better head to my homeroom and see what was going on there this morning. I was surprised to see Kunou sitting in his seat when I walked through the door. He's in his seat, this early in the morning and before Akane gets here? That's not normal - for *him*, anyway. "Hey, Kunou-chan," I said, dropping casually into my seat - which just happened to be immediately to Kunou's left. "Aren't you usually out in the yard right now, trying to beat up Ranma?" He turned to look at me. Only then did I notice the ashen quality of his skin and the glazed look in his eyes. Signs which occasionally indicate that someone's been draining people of their energy or worse. Speaking seemed to come at the cost of a bit of effort. "Oh, Tendo Nabiki... how fortunate I am this day." Pause. "For last night, both my loves appeared to me and expressed their desire to be one with me, forever." I narrowed my eyes. How could Kunou have seen Ranma and Akane? As far as I know, neither of them left the house yesterday after the rain passed. "So Akane and the pig-tailed girl want to be 'one' with you forever, huh?" I don't think Ranma *or* Akane would ever say that to him... not of their own free will, anyway. "Is that not what I said?" "And what about Ranma?" I persisted. He didn't even blink. "My loves have promised me that while they remain with me, that peasant shall never bother us again." Oh, really? "And how do you know someone's not trying to play a trick on you? You're the one who's always saying that Ranma uses all sorts of dark tricks to keep you from what rightfully belongs to you." His eyes stared through me, this time. "I know." ~*~ I said nothing else to Kunou after that, but made up my mind to keep an eye on him for the rest of the school day. The fact that Kunou claimed his two loves had paid him an evening visit aside, if something *had* been draining his energy, it likely still had a link to him. Whenever monsters drained energy, they didn't release their victims until there was no more energy to be found. During our lunch break, I followed him from a distance. He separated from the crowds - most of the student body *and* the faculty tried to leave Kunou alone, not wanting to bother with his temper or bokutou - and walked until he came to one of the vacant side lots. For several minutes he stood there, leaning against a tree with his eyes closed as if he'd come here to contemplate something. I was doing my best to fight my boredom and stop glancing at my watch every three seconds when I heard the voices calling Kunou's name. "Kunou-sempai--!" That sounded like Akane - if you dragged her voice through a couple of mediocre sound filters, first. Next came 'Ranma's' voice. "Sempai!" A girl that looked somewhat like Akane emerged from the bushes, approaching Kunou from the right. She immediately took hold of his arm. Another girl, who looked less and less like Ranma's female half, came to him from his left. Blast, if they aren't radiating strong auras of darkness and evil... Just great; so someone's decided to toy with Kunou's mind. No, I'm not going to say 'what little mind he has;' that's way too easy a joke. The *real* Ranma and Akane could manipulate him like a marionette if they actually chose to do so. These two... whoever they are, they're going farther than that. Chances are, I'm going to have to do something, so I'd better transform. I ducked behind the large bush from which I was watching Kunou's secret meeting, hand instinctively reaching for my transformation pen. Do I really want to risk this? I asked myself. Of course I do. Just because it's Kunou-chan out there doesn't mean I neglect what I'm supposed to be doing. My power came to me even as I called for it in a hushed tone of voice. "Terra Crystal Power... make up!" Both 'Akane' and 'Ranma' had focused their gazes in my direction by the time I was able to return to watching them, now as Sailor Terra. "One of *them* is here," frowned 'Akane.' Kunou blinked. "...Who?" "A Sailor Senshi is nearby," 'Ranma' told him without looking at him. "Watching us. She will try to take us away from you, sempai. Forever." "The Sailor Senshi stand for truth, justice and good itself, as I have been told," exhaled Kunou. "I cannot believe any one of them would do such a thing." He stared at them. "Unless you... happen to be some sort of evil?" 'Akane' and 'Ranma' immediately lapsed into the sad puppy dog routine, eyes pleading. "Please don't let her separate us from you, sempai!" Kunou considered their pleas for a second, then strengthened his resolve. "I shall not let that happen," he vowed. I'm going to have to fight him, too? Wonderful. Well, as long as I can keep my distance from him and just focus on his two friends, I'll be better off. I was expecting him to join the fight sooner or later, if I'm fighting whatever's taken on the appearance of the two girls he loves. "I wouldn't listen to them if I were you," I yelled, leaping out to confront the pair. "They're not the real Tendo Akane and the pig-tailed girl." "I suppose *you've* never known true love, so you have to go around preventing others from experiencing it, too. Who are you?" 'Akane' shot back. I'm glad Mina isn't here to hear her say that. Hmm. This Akane argues a bit like the real Akane, at any rate. Resisting the urge to fire off a retort, I leveled a glare at her and her 'friend' instead. "I am the defender of this world, and those who stand upon it, Sailor Terra. Who are you, then?" 'Akane' laughed. "You don't know who we are? It's a pity the vaunted Sailor Senshi are so uninformed!" "It doesn't matter," added 'Ranma.' "You won't need to know who we are once you're dead!" I shrugged. "Death threats are really nothing new to us." "You mean to kill one of the Sailor Senshi? You *are* evil!" Kunou withdrew. He didn't make it far. Both of the 'girls' leapt at him. "*Now*!" they screamed in unison. "Combination!" The three merged into one monster before my eyes. I hesitated. Being a Senshi does make you bolder after a while, true, but it doesn't necessarily eliminate your fears. That's good, because a good fighter keeps her fears to help fuel her rational thought and common sense - among other things, like adrenaline. This monster was an androgynous, eight-foot tall humanoid that did and didn't look like Kunou, more female than male. I wouldn't doubt that the two-to-one female to male ratio had something to do with that. It also carried a two-handed energy sword, more reminiscent of an actual metal blade than a wooden bokutou. "Feel honored, Sailor Terra. The Crimson Millenium shall be reborn on your blood." ~*~ Ranma instinctively turned his head toward the windows of his classroom when the screaming started. In an instant he had left his desk and scrambled out onto the classroom's third-story balcony to search for whatever had been the cause of the screams. He'd been grateful for a break from listening to his teacher drag out what he felt should be an eight minute lecture into forty minutes, though. Seconds later, Akane and several other members of their class joined him. "What's going on?" she asked. "I don't know, yet." Meanwhile, the main door to the classroom was thrown open behind them. "There's a Sailor Senshi fighting a monster out in the yard!" an aide breathlessly exclaimed. Akane's eyes widened. "The Sailor Senshi? Here?" Ranma intensified his search. The Sailor Senshi had been the talk of countless rumors in schools near Tokyo for at least a year or so before he'd left for China and now, it seemed the rumors were still running wild. He had paid some attention to the rumors; the Senshi were supposed to be fighters in a sense... though as to how a group of girls in costumes were supposed to 'save the world' was beyond him. "Okay, everyone," their teacher raised his voice above the noise. "Back inside the room. I want all of you to stay away from the balcony and the windows." Strange martial-artist fights were really no big deal, but everyone had learned their lesson from events that had happened in Juuban - when the Sailor Senshi were involved, it was best not to stick around. Anything could happen and usually did. "Akane... c'mon," Ranma motioned for her to step closer to him while everyone else was being herded back into the room. "Huh?" She recognized the look in Ranma's eyes - one that indicated he was about to do something impulsive. "What are you going to--" Grabbing her and hopping off the side of the balcony was proof of that intent, she supposed. "...do?" "Ranma!" she growled once they had landed on the ground. "What did you do THAT for!?" He withdrew a step. "It sounded kinda like you might know something about those Sailor Senshi, so I thought I'd bring you along." Akane allowed herself the luxury of relaxing slightly, pushing her long fall of raven-black hair back into place behind her. "Nabiki-oneechan probably knows more about them than I do; they say the Senshi come from Juuban, and she's always going there to visit Ami." "Nah... I bet Nabiki'd charge us for the information." Ranma frowned. "If there really *is* a Sailor Senshi out here, this'd be a good chance to find out more about them." Akane nodded. She wasn't sure what to make of the Senshi, having only rumors and news reports to work from as was the case with Ranma. Though, Nabiki and Ami seemed to be fairly set in their opinion of the Senshi, leading Akane to wonder what the two knew about the mysterious group of young women. The rush of people running from the battlefield had nearly died away, meaning that anyone else left on the grounds had opted to stay and watch the fight. Fortunately, they'd noted the direction from which everyone had run and immediately started in that direction. "If we *do* find a Sailor Senshi fighting a monster, what then? We help her fight?" Akane asked Ranma. His breath caught in his throat for a couple of seconds. He hadn't thought that far. "Maybe." For another minute all they heard were the sounds they made - short breaths timed to coincide with the rhythm made by their feet as they ran through the grass of a vacated softball field. And then, they saw her. A Senshi, short hair as brown as the majority of her uniform that wasn't white. Only the ribbons adorning her chest and back of her waist were a different color, blue - although they wondered if they had caught a flash of gold from her neckline and amidst her bangs. The flares descending a short distance from her shoulders were transparent, with a lavender hue. She darted with what could very well have been a practiced skill around her opponent's mediocre attempts to bring its sword down on her, prompting a round of awed murmuring from the few spectators who hadn't fled. Ranma watched the girl continue this tactic for a while, against a monster who had no apparent set gender and was perhaps around three feet taller than her. His brow furrowed. While he completed the thought, the Senshi distanced herself from the monster. She made a motion with her arms as if releasing a bird into the skies, shouting the words, "Earth... Cascade!" To his surprise, the earth followed her command. The ground underneath the monster exploded, sending fragments of earth into the air. In turn, those same fragments began to pummel the monster like a swarm of furious hornets. The monster had soon hacked its way out of the barrage, though the attack had definitely hurt it. In the meantime, the girl leapt to the top of a nearby hill. "Hey! I'm over here! You know, I expected more of a fight from you!" she taunted. "What was that you said about my blood?" Now notably more angry than before, her opponent sprang after her. "When we said that you would die, Sailor Terra, we meant it! It's only a matter of time before we stand over your wretched carcass!" Sailor Terra again bounded out of the monster's reach. To add injury to insult, she stuck out her tongue. "Well, you picked the right person to possess... assuming you want to TALK me to death!" Akane paused. Didn't that voice sound... *familiar* to her, in some way? Her mind refused to match the image of the Senshi to anyone she'd ever met, but somehow, something about Sailor Terra's voice indicated that she might be someone Akane did know. And Akane wasn't sure whether or not she liked that thought. She abruptly realized what Sailor Terra was doing. "Ranma!" she hissed. "She's trying to lead that thing away - from the buildings, and all of us!" Ranma saw that Akane had guessed correctly. The others watching the fight had tried to follow it, yet they were already being left far behind. Soon only he and Akane would be able to keep pace with the pair... assuming neither Sailor Terra nor the monster gained much more speed. ~*~ My first indication that I'd let things go on long enough to get out of hand was when I saw Akane and Ranma joining the small crowd of people watching me fight, out of the corner of my eyes. Blast. I should have known any fight within the school grounds would bring them running. How stupid of me. And Kunou-chan would have come running, too, had those two not toyed with his mind and then absorbed him. By leading this... *creature* away, I'd hoped to minimize some of the damage. Fewer witnesses meant someone else was less likely to be hurt, and fighting in the open translated into less property damage. I didn't want to give it the idea to use anyone or anything as a weapon against me, either. I suppose only my sister and her iinazuke can keep up with us, now, but there's nothing I can do about that. How do I beat this monster without destroying Kunou in the process? I wish Usagi was here - separating them would be easier for her. Are these two an example of what Ami was trying to warn me about? The 'Crimson Millenium?' Sounds like a warped version of the Silver Millenium. *Warped* is right. Those monsters have used Kunou's mind against him, finding his desires and using them to make him vulnerable enough to corrupt his body into a new monster with which to fight me. They've changed and mutilated him... I felt a cold shiver run up my spine. Is it just me, or can I actually feel this monster reaching for my mind? *No*! I won't let you have it! I'm not going to let myself be used for evil again! Never! It laughed. "So weak... and afraid." I collected my senses in time to be broadsided against my right temple with the flat of its sword, tossing me several yards away. Dazedly, I was aware of Ranma and Akane stepping forward to face my monster. What? I can't let them do that! I've got to get up and... oww! That hurt! I managed to sit up, as shaky as my body is right now. There's blood seeping from where that sword had caught me - I can feel it. Putting a hand up to the wound only leaves me with a sharp jolt of pain and blood on my glove. Well, I'm bleeding, anyway. And I've got the beginnings of a headache that may never go away. So much for that idea. My little sister. Ranma. I've... I've got to distract the monster so it doesn't hurt them... I pulled myself up, willing my body to stop shaking. That worked, though it did nothing for the pain bouncing about like a pinball in my head. The monster, thankfully, was returning its attention to me. "We will deal with you eventually, Saotome Ranma," it told Ranma. "You are not worthy of our attention at this time." Guess Kunou-chan still has some influence in that jumble. Wait... that's it! "Akane!" I shouted through clenched teeth, bearing the pain that resulted. "That monster has taken over Kunou! You have to try to get through to him!" "So that's why he sounds familiar," I heard Ranma say, before the monster charged at me again - slicing at my left arm and chest. I screamed as the blade went deep enough to draw blood in both places. "Sailor Terra!" Akane yelled. Anything she said immediately after that was lost to me while I fought back the pain. If only I hadn't turned down Ami's offer... maybe then I'd know of some weak spot in these things and I wouldn't be on the verge of getting myself killed. "Kunou-sempai!" That was Akane. The *true* Akane. I can't see what she's doing yet, though, not until I feel better enough to tear open my eyelids. "Sempai!" Ranma. And female, too. When did he find cold water, *and* the time to change? "NO!" the monster boomed. "The boy is ours!" If slicing me up while I couldn't fight back was any indication of that, it used my legs as a quick example. One single slice from the top of one leg to the other. A renewed surge of blinding, searing pain hit me; I toppled over onto my side. Thank goodness that thing's only trying to wound me for the moment, not cripple or kill me. I'm not in any condition to stop it from going farther than this... "Kunou-sempai!" Akane repeated her plea. "Please, don't hurt Sailor Terra! She's our friend! If you hurt her, you hurt me, too! Can't you see what you're doing to her?" Sheesh, that sounds so... so... oh, I can't think of the word! Cliched? I hope it works, anyway. "Me, too," chimed Ranma. There was a temporary silence. "A-Akane-kun...... pig-tailed girl..." I forced back enough of the pain to open my eyes... and immediately saw the monster standing over me. It stared at me in horror. "What have you caused me to do?" Taking a few halting steps toward Akane and Ranma, it hurled its sword off to one side. "No more! I won't let you harm anyone else, especially the ones I love." The monster grabbed its head and dropped to its knees. "Leave me, foul servants of Evil! I want no part of you!" Apparently, that was sufficient. Kunou had to want what the monsters offered, for them to take control. If he was not subdued enough to see what he had done and insist that the monsters leave him... they would have to oblige him. They tore away from him. Kunou rolled across the ground for several feet before settling into unconsciousness. I knew this would be my last chance to do something about the monsters. I feel like I'm close to collapsing as it is - probably lost too much blood - and if I do, it'll be up to Ranma and Akane to finish this. Swallowing more pain, I made an effort to sit up and run through the paces of an Earth Cascade. My voice betrayed much of the pain I was trying to overcome. "Earth...... Earth... Cascade!" The Cascade caught Ranma and Akane's doubles, destroying them and scattering them to the wind, after the recoil pushed me onto my back. But I'd won. No more monster. *Now* I can collapse. Akane ran to my side, lifting my head and shoulders in her arms. "Sailor Terra? Sailor Terra! Are you... going to be all right?" she asked, desperation filling her voice. "Look... at me, Akane," I breathed. Ranma was doing just that, studying my wounds. "I don't know." My transformation suddenly began to reverse. I couldn't hold on to it any longer... my energy was gone. In a matter of seconds my sister discovered exactly who she was holding. Who Sailor Terra happened to be... "*Oneechan*!?" I'm losing my own grip on consciousness. But the pain is still with me, interrupting my words. "Akane. Call... call Ami. Tell her......... to bring... Hotaru." Everything, as they say, faded to black. End Chapter Two.