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Black Moon and Silence Chapter 3
A white gloved hand picked up a small golden cup and then held it out over a broken crystal. The crystal fused together and glowed with power. The gloved hand continued to hold the golden cup over the crystal pumping even more magical power into the crystal and destroying the cup in the process.
Then the crystal was picked up in two white gloved hands and a voice said, “I want it all to be perfect, all pure. Make me Queen and everyone will love me!”
With that statement a wave of pure white energy expanded out from the crystal and...
Ranma woke up to the sound of a ringing phone as she picked it up her mind's eye was still seeing the wave of white energy expanding out to make everything a paradise in the eyes of a single teenage girl.
The voice on the other side of the phone finally captured Ranma's attention, “Neko Chan! Are you listening to me or not?”
Ranma glanced at the clock it read 6:00 AM and she said, “Nabiki? Uh, I'm sorry it's early and I was practicing with Cologne and Neherenia late into the night.”
“Well, I need your attention on this okay?”
Ranma nodded despite the fact that no one would see her do so. “Well you have it now. What's going on?”
The cool voice on the phone said, “It's Ranma and his dad. They are about to go and see your mom, maybe even go to live with her.”
The cat girl growled and said, “Not my mom really now is she, but I get the idea. What happened? I thought Saotome and Akane were getting along these days now that they each have different interests.”
“Yeah they were, but just a short while ago Akane had the brilliant idea to get up before Kasumi and fix everyone breakfast this morning. Of course young Saotome just had to be the first one to take a taste it and things went down hill from there.”
“No surprise there, that stuff is toxic. So what made a simple fight become something more?”
“Well somehow Genma and Tendo started to argue about which child was being the most irresponsible and whose fault the whole situation was and it just escalated from there with Akane chasing Ranma around the room with a mallet and my father chasing a Panda around the room with a shinai.”
The cat girl laughed at the image and said, “So what happened after that?”
“Well just a few minutes ago young Saotome decided that he would go live with his mother. He's upstairs getting his things now and Genma is trying to convince him not to leave.”
“So you called me just to tell me the news then?”
“Not really Neko Chan. I was hoping that you might go over with them and maybe do the Ranko thing to show Miss Saotome that her son is real and all. That way the two will stay there and not here.”
Ranma's voice went soft and she said, “You do realize what you're asking here right?”
“I know and I hate to do this to you, but I really need the two of them out. Not to mention that having the two of them out for good will lower all our expenses, maybe then my mother's money won't be entirely spent on repairs and Akane's education...”
“Alright I'll come over, but even as Angerona I don't think I'll get there before they are gone.”
“Well I have the address that they are going to...” the voice paused and then said, “Oh yeah I'll also need Sailor Angerona to come with me to the city offices later, say about 3:00. We have a meeting with some officials.”
“Alright well it can't possibly take nine hours to get the Saotomes moved in so that shouldn't be a problem.”
Ranma said her goodbyes and hung up the phone, then she transformed into her Senshi guise and was about to run at her very top speed over to the Nerima district, when he had a new idea. She concentrated on the powers of Nemesis and envisioned the Tendo home and specifically Nabiki's room. She pushed the magic to obey her request.
Moments later Angerona appeared in Nabiki's room just in time to get an eyeful of the brown haired girl just as she was starting to put on her bra. Nabiki gasped and dropped the garment, then quickly covered herself as the red haired sailor girl's face turned a shade almost near that of her hair and turned away, and put her hands over her head to defend from attack saying, “Uh, sorry about this...”
Nabiki picked up her undergarment and put it on saying, “You know if you had wanted to come look all you needed to do was ask Neko-Chan.”
Ranma continued to blush a deep red and put her hands down as she realized no attack was coming, but she had no answer and just said, “Uh right, I'll just be going after Ranma and Genma now.”
With that she transformed back into her civilian guise, opened a window and hopped to the ground. She landed just in time to see her male counterpart walking out a gate with Genma behind him saying, “Come on boy, see reason!”
The girl caught up to them as they were walking and said, “Reason? That's a bit odd for you to say old man.”
The young boy nodded and said, “Yeah what she said. Hey! What are you doing here?”
“I heard you were going to see your mother and I thought I might tag along just in case the old man over there accidentally got splashed and she got suspicious. Call it repayment for the last time we met.”
The young boy grumbled at that and said, “I could have won. I just went easy on you 'cause your a girl.”
Ranma rolled her eyes and said, “Sure you keep believing that Saotome. Tell you what I'll race you to Nodoka's house eh?”
The black haired boy grinned and said, “You're on!”
The two took off at high speed and left Genma, who had been unable to get either youth to recognize his imputations, behind. The older man ran after them crying out, “Wait you need to go back to the Tendo's house boy. We can fix this, you just have to give up on that Chinese harlot!”
Saotome reached the door first with the cat girl touching it mere moments after he did. He was breathing hard and had to catch his breath as he said, “I win!”
The red haired girl, who didn't seem to be quite as out of breath, quirked an enigmatic smile and said, “I suppose you did...”
Ranma smirked at his victory and looked back to see if Genma was near. The older Saotome was coming up the walk and so Ranma knocked on the door thinking that having Ranko with him would surely be a cure to any suspicions about his manliness. The door opened and a middle aged woman opened it to see who was standing outside. She saw the two figures there and immediately smiled saying, “Ranko! What a pleasant surprise,” Then the woman hugged the red haired girl. The hug ended and the woman looked at the red haired girl up and down. The young girl was wearing blue jeans, a black shirt and a black baseball cap. She smiled sheepishly and said, “You like the look?”
“Well, I suppose that it's modern and trendy, but you know I prefer the traditional styles. Still you are wearing proper foundation garments, so it's a start.” Nodoka was going to continue, but then noticed the young man and said, “Oh, do forgive my rudeness young man, I was so busy catching up with young Ranko that I entirely forgot to ask her to introduce me. Are you her boyfriend?”
The two youngsters coughed at that statement and the young man said, “Not exactly you see...uh...”
The moment had arrived and Ranma had entirely lost his capability to speak. He just stared there staring at his mother trying to figure out exactly what he would say. He might have stood there all day had Genma not arrived at that moment panting for breath and saying, “you have to...”
Nodoka stared at him and said, “Genma? Is that you? How did you get so fat?” Realizing what she had just said the woman put a hand over her mouth. It was too late though, because both Ranmas burst out in laughter at that statement.
Genma growled and said, “Dearest, uh well,” he paused and stared at the laughing children and said, “Boy, stop laughing and explain yourself.”
“Boy...” Nodoka saw the young man in front of her in a new light and said, “Ranma! Is it really you?”
Ranma stopped laughing as he heard the pain in his mother's voice and he said, “Yeah it's me.” Then he was gathered into a large hug as Nodoka told him how much she had missed him ever since he had been gone. Then when the hug was over she said, “Well then I suppose that you aren't Ranko's boyfriend then.”
“No, she just came to show me the way. She's been telling me how much you wanted to see me and well, since we kinda wore out our welcome over at the Tendo's I was hoping that I might be able to stay with you?”
“What happened?”
“Well you see mom it's like this...” Ranma started to give an altered version of the events since his coming to the dojo, being clear to imply that any situation with his female form was one that Ranko played a role in. As he tried to explain Genma would interrupt from time to time only to receive a cold glare from Nodoka.
The young boy finished his story and Nodoka said, “Well I'm not sure that I fully approve of everything that your father has done, but it seems that you have tried your best to be a man among men in this whole affair. Please feel free to stay with me and bring this Shampoo over to meet me soon. I think I might like to meet the person who will be giving me grandchildren someday”
Moments after the Saotome matriarch invited Ranma to stay, his female counterpart left the area. She jumped from roof to roof in contemplation of it all. She was angry with Ranma for stealing her mother and yet at the same time she felt that she had a mother. One who had been a mentor and perhaps even a loving influence in her life recently. One who had been teaching her new Amazon techniques and fighting skills as well as helping to translate and use the portions of the book of Dim Mak that might prove useful in future battles.
She contemplated these issues for some time and then decided to find a place to let loose and really test the limits of the powers of Nemesis. She concentrated on images of isolation and emptiness and soon found that her power had brought her to a large swath of ice and snow. She looked around saw nothing alive that could be harmed and then spied a large rock outcrop and concentrated on her power.
The power rose at her command and blasted outwards in a violent explosion of black energy. When the energy contacted the rock outcropping it blew it to tiny pieces. Angerona smiled at that and then she utterly cut loose on the surrounding terrain sending out large powerful blasts of power and some other smaller lines the size of a finger. Precisely targeting the small lines as if she were touching a far enemy with her own fingers. In addition she spent some time practicing her new teleportation abilities feeling that they would help turn a battle as well.
Sometime later she concentrated and teleported herself back to the Tendo house, found a spot to put on her civilian guise and then knocked on the door. Kasumi answered it with a smile, “Hello Ranma and how have you been?”
“Pretty good, I guess you've had it pretty rough though. How's the kitchen?”
Kasumi smiled and said, “It is cleaned and back to normal for now. Come in and I'll get you some tea.”
“Thanks,” Ranma stepped in and was escorted to a seat where Kasumi poured her a glass of tea. The young red haired cat girl smiled and drank her tea as she chatted with Kasumi for some minutes about the weather, recent events and more. Her cup ran down and she said, “Well, thanks for the tea and conversation, but I need to find Nabiki and do a few errands soon. Is there anything you need while we are out?”
Kasumi shook her head and said, “No I don't think so. Thank you for asking.”
Ranma shrugged and then said, “Are you okay Kasumi? I uh well you er that is...” She paused and thought about her words for a moment and then said, “I mean is this really what you want from life? Taking care of your sisters and father and all that.”
Kasumi smiled a little wistful smile and said, “I'll go get Nabiki for you.” The young woman then went upstairs and got her sister. When Nabiki came down she was dressed in a woman's business suit and said, “Great let's get going Ranma and we can get our errand done.”
Ranma walked out the door with Nabiki, found a place to transform and then as Angerona and the CEO of Nemesis Enterprises walked off she realized that Kasumi had not answered the question. She wondered if it had even been her place to ask the question in the first place. After all who was she to decide Kasumi's happiness. The oldest Tendo girl could certainly know how to do that on her own couldn't she?
Angerona's thoughts were interrupted as she realized that she and Nabiki were walking into the Mayor's offices. They came to some security guards who took Nabiki's I.D. And then looked to Angerona for her own. The sailor girl looked a bit sheepish and then said, “This outfit didn't exactly come with a purse you know.”
Nabiki handed the two men a card with Angerona's picture on it and said, “This is going to have to do I think. Official Nemesis Enterprises I.D. Card.”
The men took it and decided to wave the two women on. Soon after that they were walking into the mayor's office. Nabiki smiled and gave an appropriately respectful bow and Angerona followed suit. The Mayor returned the bow and said, “Well I fit you into the schedule, so explain to me again what your idea was?”
The Tendo girl said, “Basically I would like to offer the Services of Nemesis Enterprises to the city free of charge. We will tell you about any threats we find and keep you apprised of all activities. In return you deputize us to protect against any Vigilante or Supernatural threats.”
The man shrugged and said, “I still don't see enough in it for us. You get to avoid prosecution as Vigilante's, but what do we get?”
Nabiki smiled and said, “Popularity, you get to be on the side of the good guys who are protecting the city and maybe we'll even throw in some Yakuza hunting services on the side.”
The Mayor smiled and said, “Now you're talking my language. We've been having some problems with the Azunama group, they have a member in the city council and she's been causing problems by keeping them protected, so they have been upping their protection racket schemes and drug dealing. With them and these Oni attacks and Sailor Girls, no offense, they're making it look like I am not able to protect my citizens. You promise to get rid of the Azunama group and I'll sign the papers.”
Nabiki looked to Angerona and said, “What do you think?”
Angerona shrugged and said, “Yakuza? We can take care of them without much problem.”
Nabiki nodded and said, “Alright Mister Mayor you have got yourself a deal.”
The Mayor smiled at that, pulled out a piece of paper and then signed it. He held out the paper to Nabiki and said, “There you go, just bring it to the Police Commissioner and he will officially deputize the employees of Nemesis Enterprises.”
Nabiki took the signed paper from the Mayor and the two women walked out of his offices. Soon after that they were walking out of the Police Commissioner's office with smiles. Nabiki said, “Well Angerona that's all I need you for in this. I'm going to file some trademarks and licenses on behalf of Nemesis Enterprises and then see about selling some footage to pay for our first line of toys that will be sold.”
Angerona looked to Nabiki and said, “So money wasn't the primary reason that you wanted me to go with Ranma to his mother's house to make sure that she saw Ranko and Ranma together?”
“Alright I admit that the money involved wasn't exactly the primary reason to get those two out of the house. But, can you really blame me for wanting to remove Ranma and Akane from each other's presence in my house. Not to mention the elder Saotome and his habits...”
Angerona laughed and said, “Yeah I know about those and am glad to be away from him I think.”
Nabiki nodded then looked serious as she said, “Also, well I wanted you to have some closure with your mother. I thought having you go would, well it would help you.”
Angerona nodded and said, “Thanks I guess. I think maybe it did help and now I'm going to let you finish your tasks for Nemesis Enterprises, while I go and check in with Cologne and Neherenia, I'm pretty sure I'm already in some trouble for the work that I've missed today.”
Nabiki hugged Angerona as she turned to go and placed a light kiss on her neck whispering into her ear, “Thanks again Ranma and be careful okay.”
Angerona felt a rush of oddly pleasing sensations from the contact and shivered with delight, and then she deliberately ended the sensations by teleporting away. Nabiki smiled at that and said, “Oh you won't keep getting away so easily Neko-Chan.” Then, she walked off to her meetings with a lascivious smile on her lips.
Neherenia groaned and moved quickly to intercept the plates of food that were flying in her direction. She might have gotten them all, but the shrimp shumai had been thrown in a completely different direction from all the rest of the dishes. So instead of catching that one she muttered a hasty spell and it floated in mid air. She placed the orders in her hands on the right tables and nonchalantly walked over to the floating dishes and picked them up. She walked to the table that they belonged to and set them down to a chorus of clapping from many of the patrons.
A cackle of laughter came from the kitchen, “Quite good there dearie, not what our Ranma would have done, but quite good. Ready for some more?”
Neherenia groaned and said, “What about the other tables and waitresses?”
“Those orders are coming up right now dearie,” The voice then went into a rapid fire as it shouted table numbers and dishes and started flinging hot and fresh food all across the restaurant. It was pure pandemonium, but Neherenia, Kaede, and Miya were up to the task. In the meantime Aiko was standing next to Cologne and helping her by throwing the dishes and stirring a pot or two as directed.
Ranma Hitoshirenu walked into the middle of the Chaos and immediately took her own place in it, sending Mai back into the kitchen to help Cologne and Aiko as she put on her own dazzling display of elegance and skill. The day wore on and dishes were quickly cooked, put on plates, and promptly flung in almost random directions as the wait staff grabbed each one and handily delivered them where they belonged.
At some point in the middle of it all Hotaru walked in and sat at a table. A large meal was delivered to her and Ranma touched a few points on Hotaru's arm as she sat down next to her saying, “Here you go Hotaru on the house. Still, I didn't expect to see you here today. What's happening?”
Hotaru blushed and said, “You mentioned working here on the weekend Ranma-san and I wanted to see for myself.”
Ranma grinned and pointed to the controlled chaos saying, “So what do you think? Saturday is the biggest money maker because people come to see the show at its best.”
Hotaru just smiled and sat there silently with chopsticks in hand, but not eating. Ranma noticed that and said, “Go on have some its good stuff. It will help put some meat on you, maybe even help you get well.”
Hotaru nodded and said, “I'll try,” then took a bite. After the first bite her chopsticks sped up a bit putting one bite after the next into her mouth as the taste was indeed quite good.
Sometime later the young black haired girl was walking out of the Nekohanten with Kaede next to her. Kaede was saying, “Ranma wanted to go with you, but she missed some work earlier today and so I get to have the fun job walking you home and talking girl talk instead of hustling tables.”
Hotaru smiled at much taller black haired girl and said, “Thank you, not many people would be willing to walk around with a freak like me.”
“Freak! Who calls such a nice girl a freak. I'm Kaede Tanaka Co-Captain of the Juuban Girls Gymnastics Team and no one calls my friend a freak and gets away with it.”
The girl's anger was radiating off of her and a green glow started to form around her. Hotaru gasped and said, “Kaede-san please don't make such a fuss on my account.”
Kaede calmed down and said, “You're right I was beginning to sound like a Kunou there for a minute wasn't I? Still, it's hard you know. I just lost some good friends of mine and well I guess I'm being over protective of a new one.”
Silence reigned for a few moments as the two girls walked along then Kaede said, “So did you really meet Ranma at the park?”
Hotaru nodded and retold the story about meeting the red headed girl at a park. As she spoke about it she dared to mention her healing powers and Kaede said, “Yeah that's so cool! Ranma mentioned them and the rest of us were pretty awestruck. Those kind of powers would come in pretty useful in both Olympic and Martial Arts Rhythmic gymnastics,” as she said that she seemed to wander off on a tangent, “I could just see us there at the Olympics maybe even on the team with Ranma as our captain. We'd be the best, probably break the records...”
Her reverie was interrupted by Hotaru who said, “Kaede-san why are there so many cats going into that house?”
Kaede looked over at the building and saw Usagi walking into the house with a number of cats following behind her. Seeing the girl outside of school made Kaede simmer with anger again. There she was to girl who had destroyed her friends by turning them into a silly schoolgirl's idea of a model citizen without great dreams or much of anything other than obedience to authority and a need to conform. Kaede just stared at the girl and the cats and then finally she said, “I'm not sure what is going on there Hotaru, but I'm going to find out!”
Kaede started to walk directly over, and then she stopped as she realized that she would be dragging the younger girl with her directly into a possibly dangerous situation. She sat there for a few moments with a look of desperate need in her eyes.
Hotaru saw the look in Kaede's eyes and realized that the girl would still be rushing right over to check it out if Hotaru hadn't been there keeping her back. She said, “If you want I'll stay here and you can look into it Kaede-san.”
The taller girl made a snap decision and looked down at Hotaru, “I tell you what. Why don't you come with me, but only to the door and keep an eye on my back.” She handed Hotaru a communicator designed by Neherenia and said, “If I get into any trouble you run as quick as you can use this and call for backup okay?”
Hotaru took the communicator with a confused look and said, “Backup, who is going to be your...” She stopped in mid sentence as Kaede held out a small green ball and was suddenly dressed in a green gymnastics leotard and small green mask. At that point Hotaru just stared in awe at what could only be one of the new Senshi she had heard about in the news.
Kaede winked at Hotaru and said, “Oh and keep my secret okay. I'll be right back.” The girl then sneaked over to the building and looked inside.
In the meantime Usagi and the rest of the Inner Senshi were in the back of the old house sitting on a swing set feeding the cats. Rei looked to her and said, “You know for someone who wanted to come here and feed these things you sure took your time getting here, and where's that little girl who asked you to help her.”
“I don't know, maybe she isn't going to show up today.” Usagi said as she petted the small cat and it purred a little under her ministrations.
“Hmm, well I suppose that I could ask my grandfather if I can keep one.”
Usagi was about to reply to that statement when the door bursts open and a small child came running out towards them followed by a daimon in the shape of a female cat girl. The cat daimon lifts its skirt and blasts a wave of dark energy at the little child from a black star on its thigh. The girl's heart crystal comes out and the daimon goes over to retrieve it.
The other girls immediately transform into their Senshi guises and Moon says, “Ha, just like that meanie Angerona you're a bad guy. Well you won't ruin our reputations any more. Moon Spiral Heart Attack!”
The daimon reflected the attack with its tail and Jupiter and Mars attacked as well, but those attacks were reflected as well. The daimon sneered at them and in a very odd voice said, “Iyy am rready forr yourr trricks.”
The daimon is about to attack the group when a green ribbon wraps around its neck. The girl on the other side of the ribbon pulls tightly and says, “Ready for this? No, what about a this,” She throws a glowing green energy hoop directly at the daimon and cuts it apart, then she looks at Sailor Moon and her allies with a bit of contempt saying, “You have got to be joking right?”
The girl then quickly leaps over to the child saying, “Oh never mind,” and starts to put the heart crystal where it belongs when it is grabbed from her hands and a voice says, “I need to see this first.”
She looks at the new person and says, “Just who the hell are you then?”
“I am Sailor Uranus and who might you be impostor?”
Kaede stared at the Senshi in front of her, then saw just how many Senshi were around her and said, “I am Ivy and this is my special technique of DESTRUCTION!”
Mars was the only Senshi to fire off an attack before the entire group of assembled Senshi were hit by basically harmless green leaves that Kaede used her ribbon to fling all over the place while she made her escape.
When she was gone Uranus stood there with the crystal in her hand and examined it. She turned to Neptune and said, “This one does not have a talisman.” Then she placed it back where it belonged and the two left before the others could question them.
“Look behind us, is anyone following?”
Hotaru, who was being carried over Ivy's shoulder, had a good view of the street behind them and said, “I don't see anyone Kaede-san.”
The girl stopped running, ducked into an alley and put Hotaru down saying, “It's Ivy when I'm like this okay?”
Hotaru nodded as Ivy winced in pain saying, “Oh man that attack of Mars hurts.”
Hotaru looked at the spot on Ivy's back and winced in sympathetic pain. A half circle of skin on the girl's side was bright red and blistered and towards the end of the circle was a small black spot. The blisters seemed to be slowly receding, and Hotaru thought that the black spot might have been getting smaller as well. Still, she held out her hand and channeled some healing power into Ivy's injury.
Uranus and Neptune were leaving the scene of the most recent combat when they felt it. Uranus said, “It's the power of the silence I feel it. Quickly let us see if we can get a reading using the bracelets that Pluto gave us.”
The two girls looked at their wrists to a small bracelet topped with a garnet. The garnet glowed with power and a small arrow seemed to float above its surface pointing to the place where the power of silence had just been used.
By the time they arrived in the alley Hotaru and Kaede were no longer in the alley. The two Sailors walked out of the alley and looked down the street. They saw few people walking on the streets, but for some reason the two girls walking with each other a few blocks away caught their attention. Neptune said, “Could one of them be Saturn?”
Uranus looked at her bracelet, but the arrow on the garnet had gone out without a power source to lock on to. She made a decision though and said, “We will find out right now, I think that if we get closer to them if one of them harbors The Silence, then perhaps the bracelets will detect the power again.”
The two sailors quickly sped forward and soon they were standing in front of the two girls. Kaede blanched for a second, but when the two said, “We are looking for Saturn the bringer of silence, have either of you seen her?” She calmed down just a little bit.
Kaede shrugged her shoulders and said, “Never heard of such a person, how about you Hotaru?”
The younger girl stared at Neptune and Uranus and felt fear, she felt something wrong something told her that the two sailor girls wanted to kill her, but why? She tried to figure out why anyone would want to kill her then she felt herself starting to have one of her seizures, but she forced it away somehow. In the deepest recesses of her mind an evil presence was shouting in anger at being denied.
After her mental battle Hotaru was finally able to shake her head and said, “No.”
Uranus looked down at her bracelet and a faint arrow seemed to appear on the garnet pointing towards Hotaru. The arrow was very faint, perhaps this girl wasn't the silence bringer, but what if she was? Uranus decided not to take the chance and shouted, “World Shaking!”
Hotaru was not there to receive the brunt of the powerful attack. Instead she was across the street in Sailor Ivy's arms. It was Neptune who said, “The impostor! The girl she was walking with must be the one who called herself Ivy!”
Neptune attacked with her powerful attack, but she missed as well. Ivy dodged the attack and set Hotaru down saying, “Run! Get out of here!”
Then she attacked. Uranus and Neptune were not quite prepared for Ivy's counter attack as twin green gymnastics ribbons wrapped themselves around Neptune and Uranus and before they were able to free themselves Ivy was right next to them slamming them with green gymnastics clubs. After a few blows Neptune had freed herself. The blond girl attacked Ivy using her martial skills, but Ivy had been a skilled Gymnast before receiving training from Ranma and Cologne and so she was easily able to avoid the other girl's attacks and was able to counter attack.
Uranus was starting to see stars as Ivy hit her again and again with twin green gymnastics clubs. She was saved because Ivy had forgotten her other foe and was blasted across the street and into a parked car when Neptune shouted, “Deep Submerge!”
Ivy painfully removed herself from the broken car door and looked up. There across the street she could see the other two girls. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion as the girls shouted their attack phrases and she saw the powerful destructive forces coming her way. She tried to move, but knew it would be too late and as the attacks reached her she thought about the Olympics and saw herself standing right next to Ranma as the team received a gold medal...
Hotaru watched the battle Ivy was winning for awhile and there was no need for her and yet, something inside was calling her. Something other than her strange seizures that she couldn't remember. Then suddenly she heard a voice inside her head. “Run! Get away do like you were told! Get home and keep my body safe!”
Hotaru looked around and seeing no one she said, “Who are you?”
“I am Mistress 9 and I am a guardian spirit. When the explosion occurred your father asked that I come and help you.”
Hotaru said, “Well Mistress 9, feel something else inside me that wants to help my friend.”
The voice whispered to her again saying, “No, don't listen to that, if you transform you will only be killed.”
“Transform?” Hotaru felt the word echoing through her head. The words of Mistress 9 were drowned out by that simple word. She felt it as if it were a living thing and just as Sailor Ivy was flung into a car door Hotaru moved towards her as quickly as she could. Mistress 9 was begging her to ignore it and run away, but Hotaru could no longer help herself. The word "Transform" echoed in her head and as she moved towards Ivy she felt a change wash over her. She was suddenly dressed in a fuku of purple and white and a a large glaive was in her hands.
When Hotaru arrived next to Ivy she was no longer Hotaru. Instead she was Sailor Saturn and she instinctively seemed to know exactly what to do as she shouted, “Silence Wall!” just as Neptune and Uranus shouted their attacks. The World Shaking and the Deep Submerge bounced off the powerful shield that Saturn had created and the two attacking Senshi looked annoyed.
Neptune looked at her standing next to Ivy and said, “You are Sailor Saturn the Senshi of Destruction. You must be stopped and we will stop you!”
Saturn held out her glaive and tried to withstand the attacks and she felt herself getting weaker and weaker as the attacks continued. Finally she felt like she couldn't take anymore and she glanced down at Ivy who was starting to recover and said, “I tried Ivy-san. I called for help, but I don't know if it will arrive in time. I'm sorry about not just running away, but, I just couldn't run, not when my friend was in danger. Please forgive me...”
It was some time later that Ranma was beginning to feel concern and then, her communicator chirped to life and she heard Hotaru's nervous and panicked voice saying, ““Uh...Kae...I mean Ivy-san is protecting me and she needs some help. Please someone come quickly!”
Ranma shot out the door and transformed, then with a moment's concentration she used the power of Nemesis to teleport near the location of the communicator. She smiled for a moment at her success as she realized that she hadn't even had to fully visualize the area, just concentrate on the power and where she wanted to be.
When she arrived she saw Sailors Uranus and Neptune, and Pluto firing their attacks at Ivy and a strange girl dressed in a dark purple and white fuku and holding a large glaive. Ranma immediately attacked the two girls who were attacking Ivy and her new ally.
Ranma directed her Nemesis Blast directly at Uranus and Neptune and then moved quickly into melee range where she immediately sent punches and kicks into the two surprised girls at supreme speeds.
If Neptune had thought Ivy was a difficult foe, Angerona seemed to be on an entirely different level. It didn't help that she had already been pummeled by Ivy and the Nemesis Blast had knocked her for a loop as well, still the red haired cat girl was easily able to weave in and out between Neptune and Uranus as if they were standing still. Angerona was landing powerful kicks and punches with impunity.
A short time later the two sailor girls were on the ground and unconscious. Angerona looked down at them and said, “I don't know exactly what you know about Ivy, but why don't we try a little Xi Fa Xiang Gao on you eh?”
Ranma quickly rubbed the Senshi's scalps using her nemesis enhanced powers to, hopefully increase the efficacy of the Amazon memory altering technique. As she was almost finished her danger senses flared and she jumped high into the air. A powerful blast missed hitting the exact spot where she had just been and then she saw a third green haired senshi taking Neptune's and Uranus' hands in hers and disappearing a moment later. Angerona frowned at the empty street and wondered if she should have just killed them all for messing with her pack mates.
The red haired girl shook her head at that thought and tried to erase if from her mind, but once the thought was there it was hard to remove. She sighed as she realized the truth of it her male feline instincts and spirit had claimed her friends as his personal pack in lieu of his old pack mates that now belonged to Ranma Saotome. With that in her mind she slowly walked over to Ivy and Saturn hoping that she wouldn't end up trying to do something embarrassing with or to one of her friends.
When Ranma waled over she looked to Saturn and said, “Well, thanks saving our friend miss...”
The black haired senshi looked a bit scared, but finally said, “Saturn, I'm Sailor Saturn.”
“Is that right? Well, you helped save Ivy here with that shield of yours, it's pretty cool.”
Angerona then said, “Look can we take you somewhere safe, like a home or something?”
Saturn looked rather nervous and said, “Wait our friend? We? Can you tell me where the rest of you are?”
Angerona nodded and pointed to the shadows, “Me, Ivy and the rest of Team Nemesis. We'd feel better taking you home...” She paused and transformed into her civilian identity, held out her hand to the other girl, and took a not so wild guess as she said, “Is that okay Hotaru?”
Saturn realized who Angerona was and immediately transformed into her own civilian identity as well and took Ranma's hand saying, “Yes Ranma-san I think I would like that a lot.”
Author's note: Thanks Dark Jackel for the pre-read! Anyway, my muse is on overdrive today and yesterday, so you can probably expect more chapters soon.
The Juuban Girls Gymnastics Team as it was at the beginning of the chapter:
Kaede Tanaka – 16 years old, with long black hair and dark eyes. She is a bit taller than Ranma’s female form. She was the previous captain of the Juuban High Rhythmic Gymnastics team, and now serves as second in command under Ranma. Kaede is a steady leader, but somewhat unsure of her feelings for Ranma.
Aiko Suzuki – 16 years old, with short obviously bleached blonde hair and dark eyes. She is about the same height as Ranma. She has a huge crush on female Ranma and has some idea that the other girl is not interested in boys. If Ranma ever offered she would be more than willing….
Dai Sato – 15 years old, with long black hair and blue eyes. She looks a lot like Kaede except for the fact that she is even shorter than Ranma. (Cleansed)
Mai, Mika, and Miya Watanabe – 15 year old triplets, each has brown hair and brown eyes. They are a slight bit taller than female Ranma and will often make it a habit of being dressed alike to confuse their teachers and classmates. Of the three Mai shows the best potential. (Only Miya is not Cleansed)
Bonus Material (B) - The Artifacts of Neherenia
Red Ball – Pallas:
Given to Cologne this ball reduces her in age to about 35-40 giving her the height and speed she had at the time and freeing up her vast chi reserves. This ball provides the least amount of physical and magical protection for its owner, but then again it doesn’t need to…
Blue Ball – Ceres:
Given to Shampoo and Ranma this object provides them with some protection and a limited power increase.
Green Ball – Juno:
Given to the Juuban Gymnastics team this ball has separated into many parts and provides protection and a form of linked telepathy.
Yellow Ball – Vesta:
Given to Nabiki this item shields her from harm as long as she is able to concentrate on that aspect. Any time damage is done to the shield Nabiki must concentrate and focus her will on keeping the shield up. The ball also provides Nabiki the ability to see anything within a block radius and after that gives her an eagle eye view of an area with splotches of color to represent various magical effects…
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