Wow, I really gotta stop placing cliff hangers when ever I see the opportunity, it leaves some explanations to the next chapter that should really be given during the chapter with the cliffie… Oh well, they’re fun anyways.

ON WITH THE SHOW!

Chapter 24, Soldiers.

Neptune frowned as she squared off with the Daimon, trying to think of a strategy. When she’d used the transformation pen, she’d thought that it was some sort of demon banishing charm, or that it’d let her attacks do damage. She hadn’t expected to be added to the ranks of the magical girl defenders of the district. Still, it looked like that was what had happened, and she’d have to deal with it. She tried to gather her Chi into her limbs in order to attack, but found that it wouldn’t respond. Her entire chi reserve seemed to be concentrated into the middle of her chest, only enough to keep her alive and on her feet coursing through her body. “How the heck am I gunna fight without chi enhancement?” She mumbled, before deciding that she’d better try, since she had no idea how to deactivate the transformation.

Charging in on the demon, she lashed out with a quick punch that surprised her with the speed at which it moved. Her muscles, unaided, shouldn’t have been able to work that well, at least not without severe strain. Her second surprise came when the fist landed, a pulse of… something… shooting through it and sending the creature staggering back with a bellow of pain. She smiled. Maybe she could use this transformation, after all. She tried to get Kasumi’s energy crystal out of the thing’s hand again, but it still had it clenched in a death grip and she didn’t want to put the crystal under too much stress. Shrugging, she decided to test her new ability to actually hurt this thing with physical attacks, bringing her hand down in a knife hand chop on it’s wrist joint.

The joint gave with a sharp crack, and the Daimon’s hand fell open, dropping the crystal for Neptune to scoop up. Unfortunately, during this distraction, she was hammered across the side by the enraged creature’s other arm. The force of the blow sent her rolling over the floor, but it didn’t seem to hurt as much as it had before the transformation, and she quickly sprang up with Kasumi’s crystal in hand.

“Okay, let’s see if you can still absorb attacks without the crystal!” She shouted, cupping her hands. Seemingly instinctively, a different set of words than usual came to her lips, and she felt something other than Chi forming between her palms. “Deep submerge!” She shouted, letting loose what looked like a huge ball of water. She gaped as she saw the thing. It had to be almost as tall as she was, and when it hit the demon it seemed to vaporize. She felt a brief pang of regret for killing the demon, but it was quickly forgotten as she saw the crumpled form of Kasumi on the floor.

Walking over to the oldest Tendo and kneeling, the newly transformed Senshi looked down at the crystal, trying to figure out what to do with it to restore it to the girl’s body. Her eyes were caught by the shimmering facets of the glowing item. It was mostly white, with small sparks of yellow, blue and gold floating through it. She smiled. If this was Kasumi’s essence, it was definitely as pure as the girl. Shaking her head, she tried holding the crystal over the girl’s body and it immediately floated out of her hand and down into it’s proper place.

Neptune’s eyebrows went up as she saw the aura filling the girl’s chi paths. Something about it looked strange. She blinked, and it seemed to return to normal. She was about to stand, when the brown haired girl’s eyes flickered open and the two ended up locking gazes. ‘Oh crap, she’s gunna recognize me in this thing…’ Neptune thought, barely suppressing a blush at the thought. The Senshi uniform may not have been the most revealing or embarrassing thing she’d ever worn, but it came close.

“Oh my.” Kasumi said, bringing one hand up to rub the side of her head. As her eyes focused, she saw a reddish blur above her. For a second, she thought it was Ranma’s girl form’s hair, but as the blurriness faded, that idea also did. The girl who was looking down at her couldn’t have been Ranma. She was wearing a gold tiara with a green stone in the middle, and her red hair was shorter and differently styled. “Oh, you’re one of the sailor Senshi, aren’t you?” She asked, as she noticed the rest of the girl’s outfit.

“Erm, yes. I’m sailor Neptune.” The girl said, looking nervous.

“My sister is a big fan of your group.” Kasumi confided, as the Senshi helped her up. She looked around the room, seeing her backpack sitting in one corner, slightly waterlogged. The demon was gone, and she suspected that the Senshi had destroyed it. “Oh, where is Ranma-kun?” She asked, as she noticed the absence of the pigtailed martial artist.

“He...” Neptune said, desperately trying to think up an excuse for why her male form wasn’t here. “He was the one who went to get me. I told him to get out of here.”

Kasumi wondered about that, briefly. It didn’t seem like something Ranma would do, but why would the Senshi lie? “Thank you for saving me, Neptune-san.” She said, finally.

“No problem.” Neptune said, looking sheepish as she walked away.

“Could I ask you for a favor before you go?” Kasumi asked, stopping the redheaded Senshi in her tracks. Neptune turned back, seeing that the oldest Tendo had grabbed her pack and was rummaging through it for something. A few seconds later, she came out with a half-dry piece of paper and a pen. “Could you sign an autograph for my sister Nabiki?”

The ocean Senshi barely resisted a face fault, looking at Kasumi as if to say “You’ve got to be kidding,” but she’d always had a hard time refusing requests from Kasumi. Taking the pen and paper, she quickly signed her Senshi name. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw her hand writing. Ranma’s writing was normally pretty sloppy, but the name was written in flowing, elegant script. Granted, Ranma could have done it that way if he’d really wanted to, but she seemed to do it automatically. “Here ya go, Kasumi.” She said, handing the paper back. “Now I gotta go.”

The brown haired girl accepted the paper, smiling. “Thank you again, Neptune-san.” She said, briefly wondering how the magical girl knew her name. Ranma must have told her.

HR.

Dr. Tomoe stared at the security footage of the school, an annoyed look on his face. He’d pulled up the cameras around that Kasumi girl all day, hoping to see his Daimon’s performance. Unfortunately, it seemed that when the thing had actually attacked and some martial artist friend of the girl’s had started to fight it off, the cameras in the area had suffered from technical problems. By the time they’d sorted themselves out, one of the sailor Senshi had shown up.

The Daimon hadn’t been built to withstand much magical damage, and the Senshi had wiped it out easily. It wasn’t a big loss, the girl’s heart crystal hadn’t contained one of the talisman, but it was still annoying. He had to smile a little, though. The Daimon egg had done what it was supposed to. After a few minor adjustments, he could begin mass-producing them. He began laughing maniacally.

Down the hall in the witches 5 office, Ptilol looked up from a book, glancing at Eudial. “What’s he laughing at?” She asked, annoyed.

“Do we really want to know?” Eudial responded, shrugging. In one of their few times of full agreement, the other witches all shook their heads at the same time.

HR.

Sailor Neptune perched on the edge of a roof, distinctly nervous. She’d found that she could still roof hop as a Senshi, even without access to the majority of her chi, but her maximum levels of strength and speed were about five times less than she was used to. Granted, this was still substantially stronger than the average person, but it annoyed her.

This wasn’t what was worrying her, however. That was the fact that she hadn’t figured out how to get out of the Senshi outfit. She’d even tried using hot water, but it seemed to have no effect. If this damned thing had locked her curse, she’d have to do bad things to Pluto even though it had helped Kasumi, and if she was locked AND stuck in this fuku, the other Senshi would probably have to fear for her life.

Neptune had tried taking the fuku off the normal way, but it seemed to have no seams, let alone buttons or other ways to get it off. Maybe she could go find some other Senshi, and ask them how to get out of the suit. “Pluto, where the hell are you?” She muttered, glaring out at the city.

“I’m right behind you.” Came a voice, causing the redhead to turn around, her leg coming up in a hard spin kick. The time Senshi brought up her staff, but it didn’t make it up quite fast enough and she ended up flying across the roof.

“Oh crap, sorry ‘bout that.” Neptune said, as the time Senshi skidded to a stop. She hadn’t really intended to kick her like that. It’d been an automatic response to the surprise, but it had definitely been satisfying.

“It’s fine.” Pluto said, standing up. “I’ll just have to remember not to sneak up on you anymore. Now are you going to do that again, or can we talk?”

Neptune scratched the back of her head. “Well, that was mostly an accident, and yeah. I think we should probably talk. Ya wanna tell me why ya recruited me for yer little magical girl team? Oh, and more importantly, how the heck do I get outta this fuku?”

Pluto smiled. “Getting out of the uniform is easy. Just touch the stone in the center of your bow and will it away. As for why I chose you, I didn’t.”

Neptune immediately followed Pluto’s instructions, and sighed in relief as she felt the Senshi uniform fading away and returning her normal clothes. She blinked in surprise as she felt her pigtail reform as well. Ranma quickly checked that everything fit right, or as closely to right as it ever did on her girl form, then looked back to Pluto. “Wadda ya mean you didn’t choose me? I mean ya gave me the stick thing and everything.”

The Senshi of time pondered for a moment, before seeming to find the correct words. “The current Senshi are reincarnations of their previous forms. In a past life, you were Neptune, and you’re the only one who can use the transformation pen to become Neptune again. It wasn’t my, or anyone else’s, choice to pick you or not pick you. You simply are.”

“Okay, so in a past life I was this Senshi person.” Ranma said, trying not to think that that probably meant her past self had been an actual girl. “So why didn’t ya just tell me this in the first place?”

“Would you have taken the pen if you’d known that it would transform you into a Senshi when you used it?” Pluto asked, her left eyebrow raising. She was surprised by the response.

“Yeah, probably. I mean, I wouldn’ta done it unless I had to, but considerin that Kasumi was in danger and it was the only way to save her, I’d do it. I mean, my personal pride ain’t as important as someone’s life, especially someone like Kasumi.” The pigtailed redhead winced. She’d spoken truly, but she still didn’t like the overly-frilled Senshi uniform one bit.

“Hmm, perhaps I misjudged you, Ranma.” Pluto said, her surprise not evident on her face. “My question is, will you continue to fight as a Senshi in future? I believe that the outer Senshi are going to be needed soon, and you are one of them. You can decline, of course. I cannot make you assume your role.”

Ranma stood there for a minute, thinking. She was supposed to protect the weak, and Pluto said she, as well as some other ‘outer Senshi,’ whoever they were, were going to be needed. Still, she didn’t particularly like the idea of joining a magical girl team. Now THAT was the biggest understatement in history. “I… I don’t know.” She said, uncertainly. “I need time ta think about it.”

“I understand.” Pluto said, raising her staff to teleport out. “I will be back when and if you next transform.” With that, the Senshi of time vanished into the darkness, leaving one slightly confused redhead standing on the roof of a small office building.

HR.

Later that night, Ranma entered the Meiou house, once again in male form. He’d come close to fainting with relief when, in civilian form, his curse had worked as it was supposed to. Also, his chi had been released from the lock it had been put under when he was Neptune. That was a good thing, since it would have been hard for her to get off the roof Pluto had left her on if she hadn’t been able to roof hop.

“Hey Ranma,” Haruka, who was leaning back in a chair in the living room, called. “Where were you after school? I was waiting for you.”

“Oh, sorry Haruka. One of those youma ended up attackin a friend of mine.” Ranma said, without thinking.

“Wait, there was a youma attack at the school?” The blonde asked, sitting up straight in surprise. She studied Ranma, noticing a few rips in his clothes from his fight with the creature before he’d transformed. “Are you all right? I mean last time you fought one it half killed you.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ranma said, wincing as he noticed Nodoka, who was standing at the bottom of the stares, looking at him nervously. “One of the Senshi showed up and destroyed it.”

“Yeah, considering the fact that they wear almost non-existent skirts and leotards, the Senshi are tougher than they look.” Haruka said, before grinning. “They’re pretty cute, though.”

Ranma’s eye twitched.

“You all right, Ranma?” Haruka asked, concernedly.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He muttered, not quite sure how to take Haruka’s statement.

“So who was the friend who was attacked?” Nodoka asked, concerned, as she entered the living room.

“It was Kasumi.” Ranma said, then quickly continued as Nodoka’s worry increased. “She was fine last time I saw her, so don’t worry.”

“The older woman frowned. I don’t know, Maybe I should go and see her to see if she’s all right tomorrow.”

Ranma shrugged. “Sure, it’d probably be a good idea, but I got no idea where she lives.”

“I’ll have to call Akane-chan or Nabiki and ask.” Nodoka responded, causing Ranma to become apprehensive.

“Just remember not ta tell Nabiki where I am, in case she decides ta sell the information or somethin.” He mumbled.

“Oh, I’m sure Nabiki-chan wouldn’t do that.” Nodoka said, looking at Ranma reprovingly.

“I dunno.” The pigtailed boy said, flopping down on the couch next to Haruka. Oh well, considering the fact that almost everyone had already shown up, he doubted if Nabiki finding out where he was would cause a problem.

HR.

In her room, Setsuna lay on her bed thinking about her encounter with Ranma earlier that night. It could have gone better, though she had doubted that it would. In fact, she had been sure that he would have rebelled against the idea of being a Senshi quite a bit when he first found out.

The reality had been quite the surprise. The, at the time, girl hadn’t rejected the idea of being a Senshi outright as expected, but had asked for some time to think about it. From reading a report she had bought off of Nabiki for an exorbitant amount of money, one of the reasons that Kasumi could even go to college, and her brief glimpses of Ranma’s past in the gates, Setsuna had picked up on one characteristic of Ranma. He couldn’t be forced to do anything. Well, he could, but the results were often not what you wanted, and he would struggle with you the whole way.

For now, she would have to wait and see what happened. Who knew, the Neptunian Senshi could decide on her, his, damn the pronouns regarding Ranma were confusing, their own that becoming a Senshi was necessary.

If Ranma didn’t make that decision, she would have to interfere if only to save the other Senshi, but she really didn’t want to. With these troubled thoughts swirling through her head, the tine Senshi fell asleep.

HR.

At the Furuhata residence, Kasumi got out of the furo after a long and restful bath, sighing in contentment. Today had been exciting, even though she hadn’t managed to find Tofu. She’d cut the wet part of the paper with that nice sailor senshi’s signature off, and sent the autograph with a letter to Nabiki.

She hoped her sister liked it, considering how obsessed she was with the Senshi. No one else in the house knew about her secret cache of sailor Senshi merchandise, but Kasumi had found it when cleaning under her bed one day. Well, she was just glad that Nabiki had an interest aside from making money.

Looking into the mirror above the sink as she toweled off her hair, the oldest Tendo stopped in surprise. There was some sort of light coming from her eyes. Leaning in and looking closer, she saw that her eyes were glowing faintly. “Oh my, what’s happened?” She said, blinking. When her eyes opened again, the glow was gone. “I guess it was nothing.” Shrugging, she finished drying herself off and went into the changing room to change clothes.

HR.

Akira Kuonji stepped off of the train, looking around the station. He was getting a few strange looks due to the giant spatula that was slung over his shoulder, but he ignored those. He’d stopped in Nerima, where he’d heard Nabiki Tendo tended to give people information, but it seemed that she was an ally to the Saotome boy, as she refused to tell him anything. It looked like he’d have to spend some time searching the Minato ward, from top to bottom if necessary.

As he walked down the street outside of the station, he heard something that stopped him in his tracks. “’Tis the chef Kuonji, what art thou doing in this ward at this time?”

Akira looked around, seeing a young man in a blue and black outfit, holding a bokuto.“ How do you know me?” He asked, suspiciously.

“Oh, I apologize good sir, I mistook the for another who wields a weapon of similar shape and size to yours.” The boy said, calmly. “If you excuse me, I must continue my quest for the sorcerer Saotome.”

Akira’s eyes narrowed. “You know Ukyo?” He asked, thinking that she could be the only other person in the area who carried a large spatula as a weapon. “And you are looking for a Saotome?”

“Ah, Ukyo Kuonji. Surely the maker of the best Okonomiyaki in the land, if far too mannish for her own beauteous self. As for the foul sorcerer,” The boy’s face twisted into an angry scowl. “He has taken my loves from me and twisted even the most innocent of women to his own foul ends. He is the most evil of men, worthy of only a swift death, but he continues to avoid my righteous blade!”

Akira began to smile. “Perhaps we can help each other.” He said, walking on and beckoning for the boy to follow.

END.

Hmm, what’s goin on with Kasumi? And I think Mr. Kuonji just may regret his meeting of a certain young Kendoist. :D

Well, ‘till next chapter, don’t forget to review!