A Call to Action http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~makoto/actamain.htm By: Mike Koos Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon Crossover ~*~ Chapter Five: I may not be a martial artist, but I've learned to set myself on alert as quickly as one. Or maybe not. That's what Akane's told me, and I'm not entirely sure if she was joking. Hopefully, Senshi 'training' has made up for the rest. Not that I feel like challenging Akane - or worse, Ranma! - anytime in the near future; it's just nice to know that I can basically defend myself if need be. Uh... in regular hand-to-hand fighting, I mean. Depending only on our powers is a bit like a fighter learning only to fight with a weapon - what happens if the fighter loses or can't use the weapon? Besides, it wouldn't be fair to use my powers if I just want to spar against someone... though I wonder what would happen if Ranma tried to fight a certain someone who has water-based powers? Heh. Back to the matter at hand. We were all tensed, even Usagi, waiting for a possible threat to pop up. Why else would someone hop over the tall outer walls of this place and hide in a tree, if not to spy on us? Someone who could very likely *know* we're the Sailor Senshi? Maybe that's it. I took three steps in the direction of the tree Ami had indicated and loudly cleared my throat. "We know you're here, so you can go ahead and come out..." Allowing myself the luxury of a tight smile, I added, "Ranma." Haruka and Ami were among the first to start in surprise when I mentioned Ranma's name... and Hotaru, I think, but I can't really see her from here. No response. Oh... if you *are* Ranma, you can't honestly believe I'll let this drop that easily. "I mean it," I persisted, about a minute later. "You'd better come on out. Unless you're ready to deal with a large group of *girls*..." I could almost sense my brother wincing at that one. Somehow, it seems we tend to forget to mention the guys in our group. But I've neglected to include him on purpose. Wouldn't want Ranma getting any ideas from the mention of even one male opponent. After another tense moment, Ranma dropped from the branches of the tree. Not smoothly - he came down a little too forcefully, but corrected it before his feet hit the ground. If it sounds like I'm being picky, it's only because I've seen Michiru and Haruka do the same thing many times, and they're better at it. "How did you know I was here?" he asked me. I folded my arms, putting forth what I hoped was a good enough intimidating look. "Honestly, Ranma - you think we don't have ways to tell when someone's sneaking around during our meetings?" I said, casting a sidelong glance at Ami. My eyes narrowed. "You didn't drag Akane all the way here, did you?" "She's at home. She probably couldn't've kept up with me, anyway." There's that ego, again. "How did he get here so fast?" Haruka muttered. "Did he follow my car?" "More likely, he asked Kasumi where we were going after we left and ran here all by himself," I shrugged. When Ranma deflated slightly, I knew I'd made the right guess. He began staring at each of us in turn, probably appraising us individually as fighters. Oh, no you don't. "What are you doing here?" "What do you think?" he answered, clearly irritated. What, he thought he could just come here and we'd let him stay - or worse, take over? "I--" "This doesn't concern you, Ranma. Go home," I interrupted. "No way!" "Go home now, or you'll regret it," I firmly stated. "And we have ways of sensing whether you really leave or not. So don't think you can just hide somewhere and wait for us to start talking." Time for the final strike. "This is Senshi business, and I do not want you or Akane getting involved." He glared at me, then suddenly remembered there were ten other people standing behind me who could very well share my point of view. "I'm already involved," he said softly, in what could almost be considered a protest. "Not anymore." Ranma snorted. "Fine. See if I care." With that, he ran and vaulted back over the wall. In less than a minute he was out of the range of Ami's automatic scans. I sighed, plopping back into my accustomed seat on the deck. "He's going to look for the monsters himself and try to fight them." "Are you sure of that?" Ami asked me after carefully setting her minicomputer down beside her. "You kidding?" Haruka said, leaning against one of the support posts near where Michiru had taken her seat. "Knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised." Usagi was glancing between the three of us in slight confusion. "Wait! Who was that guy? You mean he knows our secret?" she blurted. You know, I think I ought to come up with a standard 'let's explain Ranma to everyone'-type speech. "Well..." "That was Ranma!" exclaimed Hotaru, saving me the trouble. "He's engaged to Nabiki's sister, Akane, and he's got this curse that changes him into a girl! Uh..." She let her voice trail away as she noticed that everyone was staring at her. "And before anyone asks," I hastened to add, "no, he's not one of *them*." It's best to get that question out of the way as soon as possible. Besides, I can't imagine Ranma as one of the Sailor Starlights - the uniform *alone* would make him die of embarrassment. "Apparently, there's this ancient training ground hidden somewhere within China. Mostly a bunch of pools with several bamboo poles sticking up out of them." "Oh," Michiru said, thoughtfully. "For one to practice his or her balance while fighting." I blinked. "I guess so. Anyway, in the last two thousand years or so, those pools have each become cursed. Anyone who falls into any of the pools is cursed to take on the form of whatever originally drowned there, whenever they're hit with cold water." "Even animals?" Usagi asked, with a glance at Luna. "Yeah. Ranma's dad turns into a large panda if you throw cold water on him. Hot water returns him to his original form. Ranma, as Hotaru-chan said, becomes a girl." "Hmm," murmured Ami. "I wonder if there is any information on this cursed training ground or its curses, anywhere." I offered her a shrug. "The name they gave us for the place is 'Jhusenkyou.' I don't know what the Chinese name for it is." Michiru again spoke up. "You said that the curses have come to exist 'in the last two thousand years or so.' That means that they were potentially being created during the Silver Millenium." We turned to look at Setsuna, who merely exhaled - and my brother, who appeared slightly ill that such a place was perhaps being engineered on this world during our former lives. I don't blame him. Had any member of our family known about Jhusenkyou? And what would cause a training ground to gather the magic necessary to keep all those curses running even to the present day? Hmm... I can't afford to let my mind wander into different subjects. That can wait until we're finished with the more important stuff. "I'm sure all this stuff about curses is interesting," Minako commented, "but can we trust that guy? How can we be sure he's not gonna tell anyone who we are?" I shot Rei a warning glare before she could suggest I blackmail or bribe Ranma. One additional glance told me that Haruka wasn't going to help me on this one. It figures. "He said that he won't tell anyone," I replied. "But that might change, if we don't let him take charge or join our fights or whatever it is he wants to do. He's too proud and stubborn to admit that what we're doing may be more than he's able to handle." Rei smirked. "He's not the only one with an ego." "Oh, shut up." I frowned. Luna silenced both of us before our 'argument' could proceed beyond that. "This is not the time to be trading insults. Now that Nabiki-chan has returned, we should be discussing our course of action against those monsters." "Aww, do we have to?" "Yes, we do, Usagi-chan." "Do we have to do it right *now*?" persisted Usagi. "Can't we wait for a little bit?" Heh. I don't think Usagi'll ever change. Come to think of it, I almost hope she never does. What little we've seen of our future selves, however, indicates that sometime between today and the time period in Crystal Tokyo we visited, we become... well, completely serious. Aloof. Apparently, in the future I can't be bothered to show my younger self at least *some* emotion... I should note here that time travel is still a confusing subject for most of us. Meeting ourselves by jumping to some point in the *past* I can understand, since all of it has happened, already. But if we go to the future... aren't we removing ourselves from the timelines, from the point where we leave? Then - theoretically, we shouldn't be able to pay our future selves a visit. Even though our future seems to have been written, it can still be changed. I suppose that in travelling through time, our safe return is automatically assumed unless we do something to change what will happen. *That's* why we can visit ourselves in the future. Either that, or we're somehow protected from the dangers in time-traveling to some extent. Isn't trying to figure out the workings of time travel a great load of fun? There are times when it's easy to imaging Setsuna laughing at our attempts. Oh, and there's a certain pink-haired Usagi to keep in mind, too. "Usagi!" Luna scolded. "Do you expect those monsters to stop what they're doing until you're ready?" "Of course," I deadpanned, smirking. "Don't you?" Luna breathed an exasperated sigh. "You're both hopeless." "Yeah, whatever," Usagi waved the thought away, turning to look at me. "Now, about Ranma..." ~*~ "Hmph. Who do those girls think they are?" muttered Ranma. "They're worse than Akane!" Were they so caught up in their 'powers' that they couldn't see the benefit of having a skilled fighter like him around? He was willing to bet that none of the Senshi were better than him when it came to the martial arts. "I don't see what her problem is," he replayed Nabiki's words in his mind. "I mean, that monster she was fighting wasn't that big a deal. If she hadn't gotten it, I probably would have." He paused at a street corner, scanning the adjoining streets. "They act like nobody's tough enough to fight monsters except them." Another snort. "Too stubborn to see the truth, that's it. Just because they beat a few monsters and crooks, they think they can treat me like a kid who needs t'be protected." A girl's scream rang out - a street or two apart from where he stood, by Ranma's estimate. "If they don't want me around, fine. Let's see where their egos are when I take care of all their stupid monsters," he smiled, breaking into a run toward the source of the scream. ~*~ "You're SURE he won't tell anyone?" I gave Usagi a sigh. Having a secret identity *does* tend to add to one's paranoia, doesn't it? "He swore 'on his honor as a martial artist' not to tell anyone. Other than that, what I said earlier about him changing his mind still goes." "Maybe we should make sure he doesn't want to tell anyone," Haruka suggested ominously. "Stop that, Haruka," admonished Michiru in response. Haruka wasn't about to concede her point. "What? Michiru, I know his type. Force and action'll mean more to him than... words." Her voice faltered as she met Michiru's unconvinced gaze. I purposely cleared my throat, making a show of glancing at my watch. "I guess we've given Ranma enough time to get into trouble. Anyone want to come with me and look for him?" "Everyone should go, transformed, in case any of those monsters are waiting to make an appearance," Luna declared. "You shouldn't have allowed Ranma to go searching for trouble, if that's what he is doing, Nabiki." Right. As if I could easily keep him from doing that without transforming and subduing him. "Ranma can take care of himself. I'm not sure how he'd fare against these new monsters, but as far as I've seen, he's a decent fighter. He could probably beat Haruka in a fair fight, as long as she doesn't transform." Michiru smiled. "Really?" "Oh, *please*." Haruka rolled her eyes. She stood, folding her arms. "If you're all through assuming things about my ability to fight, can we go?" "Can't wait to prove yourself in a fight against Ranma?" I teased, raising an eyebrow. "*Enough*," insisted Luna. "You would think they'd mature a little after all this time," she muttered. Artemis snickered, earning him the customary rap on the head from Mina. Usagi stood. "Okay, minna... let's go." We raised our hands to the air... well, all of us except big brother, Luna and Artemis. "Venus Crystal Power..." "Mercury Crystal Power..." "Mars Crystal Power..." "Terra Crystal Power..." "Jupiter Crystal Power..." "Neptune Crystal Power..." "Uranus Crystal Power..." "Saturn Crystal Power..." "Pluto Crystal Power..." "Silver Moon Crystal Power..." Our ten voices joined into one. "...make up!" Mamoru, on the other hand, doesn't require much in the way of ceremony to transform into Tuxedo Kamen or even his 'appearance' as Prince Endymion. I've always wondered... if big brother and Usagi can connect to their former selves without too much trouble, why can't the rest of us do that? I want to be completely sure. I really don't have much beyond Usagi and Mamoru's word to prove I *am* Princess Penelope of the Terran Royal Family. Setsuna won't give me any conclusive answers, of course. I wish we'd known about our possible royal heritages before our trip to the future... maybe then we would've been able to ask someone about it. Why am I so interested in determining whether or not I'm a princess and Endymion's younger sister, you ask? Well... honestly, I'm not completely sure why. I've always believed - as far as I can recall, at any rate - in trying to keep informed on everything I can, including current events. Usagi and big brother know who they are and were; the rest of us only know that we're the original Senshi, directly reincarnated. That doesn't give us much information about the people that we were. Who was Penelope? How different a person was she from who I am now? What kind of person and Sailor Senshi could she have become? I have no idea how, but I'm going to find out. Somehow. We headed as a group toward the Shrine's rear entrance. That entrance opens onto a little-used side road, where people are far less likely to see a group of ten Sailor Senshi and one masked guy in a tuxedo leave the Shrine grounds. I noticed Ami watching me and trying hard to appear as though she weren't... and not entirely succeeding. "Mercury," I near-whispered, deliberately keeping myself from thinking about it. "Now that you know what Ranma's readings look like, can you set your computer to locate him?" She thought about it. "Perhaps. But I'll have to scan his female form as well. She undoubtedly has different bio-readings and the magic of her curse may also have an effect on her readings." Oh, right. The curse. Anything that can change a guy into a red-haired girl against his will probably *would* mess with his or her bio-readings. I'll admit Ami knows more about bio-readings than I do, though. There are times I wish I had a supercomputer like Ami's. Or even a regular PC of my own. Aunt Yukemi has a PC, but using hers - or Ami's - is the closest I've come to having one of my own. "Well, then, we should probably scan for any kind of disturbance, minor to major. If there's a fight *anywhere* in the district, he might be involved." Ami threw me a look of doubt. "Aren't you exaggerating somewhat, Terra? He can't be as bad as both you and Uranus imply." "Okay, I'll admit I haven't known him that long. But even in that short a time, he's managed to get into a lot of trouble." ~*~ Ranma leapt backward to avoid a left hook. Or at least what *seemed* like a left hook, given that his latest opponent was a bit taller than him. He mentally snorted. That attempt had come close to catching him. Come to think of it, he hadn't been able to stay far out of the range of the monster he was fighting, even with all the speed and skill he knew he had on his side. This monster was another just like the pair Nabiki had fought; he'd happened upon a pair of punks making moves on a girl who obviously didn't want anything to do with either of them. The girl had seen Ranma approach and called out for help... one or both of the punks must have thought things were getting out of hand or desperate, as both suddenly combined into a monster that looked exactly like the one formed with Kunou, except this one had no sword, wasn't as tall, and carried itself like a fighter. Maybe the monster's victim had wanted to be a true fighter? Ranma wondered. In any case, the guy had definitely hoped to have better luck with women. After fusing with his monster friend, the newly-created monster had shouted something about finally being able to get any girl he wanted. The girl he'd been harassing, naturally, was terrified. Ranma didn't even want to think about what the new monster would do if it grabbed her - or *him*, for that matter, in female form. Who were these monsters, and why were they attaching themselves to people? He couldn't see what the monsters had to gain by such a procedure... other than creating large, strong monsters to terrorize people or cause a lot of damage. No doubt Nabiki and her Sailor Senshi friends knew the answers to all his questions. From the way they had behaved, Ranma guessed they had been holding a meeting on what they were going to do about the monsters. Oh, well - he could ask them about it after he defeated this monster. He was connecting with fewer strikes now than he had at the start of the fight. The monster was obviously taking careful note of his moves, his tactics... fortunately, the branch of musabetsu kakutou he practiced allowed for random and instantaneous changes in either. Sidestepping another swipe, he countered with an immediate kick to the monster's gut. A kick that the monster barely seemed to feel. thought Ranma, startled. At the least, his kick should have pushed his opponent back a step or three and ideally, temporarily stunned him. But it had done neither. Ranma lunged forward, executing a series of straight one-two punches into the spot where his foot had connected. He didn't expect the blows to have much more of an effect than the kick; rather, he hoped to keep the monster blocking punches long enough that a low foot-sweep would catch the thing off-guard. If *that* failed, he would be in a position to pop back up with a considerable uppercut. What he hadn't anticipated was that the monster would be able to grab him by the collar and forcefully toss him into the nearest street border-wall before he could follow through with either the sweep or uppercut. He winced. Creating holes in walls with his entire body - unintentionally, of course - and then pulling himself out of those holes was a new experience. As he emerged from the hole, the monster knocked him back into it with the aid of what Ranma took to be a ball of energy. He'd never been blasted with energy or ki projectiles, or really seen anyone use them before, either. A voice interrupted his thoughts. "Shabon... SPRAY!!" His vision cleared in time to see a thick cloud of mist blanket the 'arena,' as it were. He felt a pair of gloved hands grab him, one on either side, and drag him out of the hole. "Really, Ranma-kun," another person said, though this time Ranma recognized her voice. "I thought you knew dealing with monsters was *our* line of work." "Shut up...... Sailor Terra," Ranma grumbled, straining to bring Nabiki's image into focus through the mist. He *knew* she stood before him, and yet... Nabiki brought up a hand, running her fingers along Ranma's right temple. "You're bleeding. Sit still. Saturn!" she called into the fog. A young Senshi, her skirt and collar a dark purple, approached. Ranma caught sight of the staff the girl carried as he tried to place her. Saturn's black hair was short, in a style that somewhat resembled Nabiki's, and her eyes were a mysterious, deep violet he found it hard to avoid staring into... hadn't he seen her somewhere else, before? "Here," Nabiki instructed the younger Senshi. He saw for the first time that she did indeed have blood on her hand, where she'd brushed her fingers against his head. What? Nothing that monster had done had been strong enough to cause him to bleed... "Heal him. I don't care if he protests; just check him for any other injuries and keep him out of the fight." "This is MY fight," protested the boy in question. She gave him a thin smile. "You know what'll happen if we argue the point, Ranma. Now *stay* *there*." That said, she headed back into the mist - leaving him in the care of the young Senshi with the violet eyes and oddly-bladed staff. ~*~ Yeah, I know that having Hotaru-chan be the only one to watch over Ranma sounds less-than-ideal. Why not Uranus, Jupiter or someone with more experience in hand-to-hand fighting than Hotaru? But she can definitely keep him out of the way long enough for us to get rid of the monster he'd been fighting. Now, let's see... time to determine if I can find the fight by sounds alone. The disadvantage to Ami's Shabon Spray is that it reduces visibility for *us* as well as the bad guys, and we've gotta try not to place ourselves in the path of anyone else's attacks. That's why she only uses it these days for a delaying tactic. A delaying tactic that would give all of us time to encircle Ranma's monster. Unless it knows enough to use the cover to also find a better spot or get away. But then, Ami often has her visor on by this time, and she can tell where everyone is in all this mist. Lucky her. An arrow from the Flame Sniper pierced the air near my shoulder. What? Choking back the urge to yell out - and maybe letting everyone know where I am at the same time - I ran in the direction from which Rei's arrow had come. She knows better than to fire off Flame Sniper shots wildly, so our monster must be somewhere between the two of us. Okay, so that's a big assumption. Truth is, what's important is that I get close to the fight. From the sound of everyone else calling for their powers, I'm doing just that. As the mist began to clear, I finally saw the monster, who was attempting to outrun Jupiter's Oak Evolution. My turn, I guess. If I can catch him in an Earth Cascade while he's busy running from something else... My Cascade overcame him just as a World Shaking slammed into him from a different angle. I nearly swallowed my breath. The Earth Cascade and World Shaking in concert form an attack powerful enough to... oh, I don't know. But it *is* extremely powerful. And using it against a monster who's actually a possessed human... blast, I hope we haven't seriously injured him! We anxiously watched as the monster collapsed to the ground. I only had a second to see that Uranus and I really *had* caused a lot of damage before he tore away from his victim, rolling slightly to once side. I knelt beside the guy to see if he was hurt as the monster had been - and still was, from the look of it. Thankfully, the only injuries the guy had apparently suffered amounted to minor bruises and cuts. I breathed a sigh of relief. "I think it took most of the attack for him," I managed to say before Rei dispatched the true monster with another Flame Sniper. I stared at the guy for a moment longer, until I felt someone's hand lightly squeeze my shoulder. "Maybe you should check on Ranma," Mercury told me. "Let Sailor Moon take care of this." Oh. I'd almost forgotten about Ranma. I set the thought aside for the time being and made my way to where Saturn was using her Silence Glaive in an effort to hold Ranma back. He turned his attention to me. Uh-oh - I can't let him see me shaken, at all. Better put up a front. "*Now* do you see why I want you and Akane to not get involved in fighting these monsters?" "Hmph." ~*~ Ranma continued to sulk while we dragged him back to the Shrine. "You do understand now that these monsters aren't just things you can beat up or destroy, right?" I asked him, pointedly. He gave me a stare that indicated he wasn't convinced in the least. "Why not? Isn't that what you guys did?" Yes, Ranma can be fairly perceptive during fights, if he wants to be. It's a shame he doesn't apply those powers of observation to everything else in his life that doesn't have *something* to do with the martial arts. If you were to ask him, he'd probably say that there's very few parts of his life that don't have something to do with the Art. "Call it a fluke," I coolly replied. Oh, can't we change the subject? "The monsters are possessing people. We've got to separate them from their victims *before* we can really do anything about them. Remember what happened to Kunou?" I paused for a breath. "I'm sure you wouldn't have minded it if we merely beat him up, but we couldn't have left him the way he was." Ranma said nothing in response. When we were finally within the Shrine's walls again, we agreed as a group that there really wasn't much more to discuss... so we ended the meeting. "So..." I joined Ami once the two of us had reverted back to our street clothes. My sister's iinazuke has already met Ami, Haruka and Hotaru, and was aware we were Senshi; the others remained transformed in the hope that Ranma hadn't memorized their faces. "Are we going to go on patrol tonight?" "I don't know. I'll have to check. But in any case, you should take Ranma home," Ami answered. I frowned. Ami was absolutely correct - we can't leave the guy *here* for the rest of the evening, and we can't trust him to go home on his own. What does that mean? I'm stuck with babysitting him. Wonderful. "I'd rather stay here," I grumbled, taking a quick glance at Haruka, who was more or less keeping Ranma preoccupied by talking about something I couldn't hear. Maybe they're discussing me? In that case, I'd better do something about it. "I'll give you a call later," I absently concluded my talk with Ami. Haruka-chan *would* start swapping stories about me with Ranma just to take his mind off fighting, wouldn't she? "Haruka!" "Yeah?" If the cocky smirk she just gave me is any indication, she probably was saying something about me, after all. Though I may just be rather paranoid, too. "C'mon," I offhandedly motioned with my head toward the area where Haruka had parked her car. "We've gotta take Ranma home." As you'd expect, Ranma was the first to protest. "I don't need either of you taking me anywhere," he insisted. I was about to argue the point - for whatever good that would do - when I noticed Luna and Artemis' eventual return to the Shrine. They collapsed on the deck, attempting to catch their breath in an undignified manner. I know that letting them run free rather than carrying them with us when we're on the move *does* seem somewhat cruel, but it was their choice not to be carried. There's an extra benefit or two to letting them do so, such as having them act as our unusual rear guard. "Er... uh, on second thought, let's go." All of a sudden, Ranma was heading for the Shrine's main gate. I quickly followed after him... and so did Haruka, falling in beside me with a briefly confused look. "What do you think changed his mind?" she wondered aloud. "I have no idea." Now what would trigger such an about-face in Ranma? He'd even sounded *worried* for a second, there. Maybe, if there's something we can use to convince Ranma to stay out of our business a little more, well... since I don't have any other ideas right now, I need some inspiration. Ranma walked halfway around Haruka's car in disbelief, as if he hadn't really taken a close look at it until now. "You expect me to fit in THAT? If I sit in front, maybe--" "Sorry," I intervened. "I've already called the shotgun seat." "'Shotgun seat?' What does that have to do with the front seat?" Oh - forgot Ranma might not know what that term means. "That *is* the front seat. Passenger side." "Why do *you* get the front seat?" "Because the two of us are placing *you* where we can keep an eye on you," I said, prodding his chest with a finger to emphasize my words. "And while you're in my car, you'll sit where I want," Haruka agreed. Ranma stared once more at the downsloping angle of the car's roof. "I'll never fit back there. You're nearly as tall as I am, Nabiki. You should be able to see that." I won't argue with him about the 'not being able to fit' part. It's hard for me to sit *anywhere* in that thing. Another idea came to mind as I thought about suggesting that Ranma consider curling up and *lying down* in the seat. I excused myself. "I'll be right back." Haruka and Ranma are more alike than they may be willing to admit, at least in my opinion. That may or may not be a good thing in terms of leaving them together, alone; I have yet to decide. What I do know is that both of them are impatient. If I leave them out there too long, I might regret it. I sprinted into the part of the Shrine that housed the rooms where Rei and her grandfather lived, along with Yuuichirou. Now where is... aha, there it is. The pitcher of ice water they keep by the phone in the entryway. After filling one of the glasses from the tray with water, I ran outside once more, hiding the glass behind my back - my other hand covering the top of the glass to keep the water inside from spilling. Ranma warily gave me the once-over when I returned, as did Haruka. "What've you got behind your back?" he asked while trying to peer around me. "The answer to your problem, of course," I smiled, just before dumping the water over Ranma's head. Haruka started as the curse's transformation began. Yes, we've seen way too many transformations to count, including guys physically changing form into girls... whether they're in control of the change or not. But even though it's become common for us, it remains a serious matter. What Michiru had said earlier about Jhusenkyou possibly coming into existence during the Silver Millenium and the fact that the magic of that 'training ground' had perhaps forced its curse on visitors ever since that creation, came back to me. Why had Jhusenkyou been created? Could someone have intended to use that magic as a weapon? Or could Jhusenkyou be the result of a tremendous magical accident? I ought to look into this, too. Come to think of it, if Ranma hadn't come to our house, I might never have learned about that magical training ground in China. As a girl, Ranma loses a little over a foot in height. She also loses apparent muscle definition - Ranma seems to be fairly as strong between forms, though her lithe female form hides her strength well. I'd guess Ranma has the potential to be a gymnast, if she actually chose to put her mind to it. Finally - and here I'm taking Ranma's word for it, since I haven't paid *that* much attention to his fighting - Ranma claims that the transformation trades straightforward power and reach for speed, and makes her less of a target in terms of size. She hasn't decided if she's a 'better fighter' as a boy or a girl, or if she's supposed to train to be equally as good a fighter in both forms. "Did you *have* t'do that?" she spluttered. Haruka hastily shifted her gaze to me before Ranma could discern she had been staring. "Why not?" I countered while shrugging. "Think about it. You'll have no problem sitting in that back seat, now." Not only that, but it's also another shot at that proud ego of hers. She glowered at me, and for a second I thought she would escalate this into a larger argument, until Haruka thought to open the passenger-side door of her car for Ranma. The red-haired girl angrily climbed into the car with a threatening silence. I wedged myself into the shotgun seat after that, and Haruka eased into her seat. *Her* seat. No one else drives this thing, not even Michiru, though she's asked. Haruka-chan values her cars too much for that. Not that Michiru really minds. If she wants to go 'joyriding' by herself, she usually charters a helicopter and has fun seeing just how much exploring she can do with one full tank of gas. I settled further into my seat while Haruka started the car and pulled out, breathing a quiet sigh that I hoped no one else would hear. Hmm... maybe I can daydream again for a little bit until Haruka figures she needs to blast the radio again. I'd like to see how Ranma responds to that. Well... what can I daydream about? Let's see - since I seem intent on replaying events of the past three years of my life in order, why not pick one of the more upbeat memories? And since I 'reviewed' my memory of the time Mina unofficially joined us as Sailor Venus on the way here, the next choice would have to be... the slumber party we threw for Usagi shortly after that day. We'd discovered - by chance! - that Usagi was the reborn Princess Serenity, the Princess for whom we'd been searching, and Chiba Mamoru was both Tuxedo Kamen *and* the Princess' love, Prince Endymion of the Terran Royal Family. We'd watched in shocked silence as the Princess cradled her Prince's head in her lap and breathed his name. But after that... things went downhill in a spiral of events. Usagi became herself again and collapsed. Kunzite managed to kidnap Tuxedo Kamen and escape, leaving us to find a different way out. The sight of Princess Serenity had triggered memories and facts in Luna and Artemis' minds that they hadn't realized were there. Mina, Ami, Rei, Makoto and I - we were actually the Sailor Senshi in our previous lives, reincarnated alongside Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion due to the power of the ginzuishou and Queen Serenity's final wish. Somehow, though, that revelation didn't seem nearly that important next to the fact that we had ultimately found our Princess - the one whom we were charged with protecting. Unfortunately, now that Usagi knew whom Tuxedo Kamen was, she never wanted her Prince to leave her side. As each day passed and we hadn't rescued Mamoru from the Dark Kingdom, Usagi constantly fretted over what she could do to save him. Mina came up with the idea of throwing a big slumber party to get Usagi's mind off Mamoru for a night, a party which would ideally allow all of us to set aside 'Senshi concerns' as well. It might have worked if the alarm on Ami's Senshi computer hadn't sounded. "I'll tell you what," Haruka interrupted. "Just to be nice, I'll let you pick the radio station this time." "Why don't you let Ranma pick the station? I'm sure she'd love what you're going to do with it," I muttered a reply without opening my eyes. Ranma did her best to lean over the seat divider. "What are you talking about?" "You tell her, Haruka-chan." End Chapter Five