If one had simply looked into the warehouse and glanced at the dozen youma milling about dumbly waiting for something to do, one may have decided that Nephrite's plan needed work. The plan was simple; a decoy youma would draw the Senshi and their allies out and engage them in battle.

Meanwhile, a full twelve other youma specializing in ranged attacks would rush to the rooftops and start sniping the Senshi while Nephrite himself engaged Sailor Moon. After eliminating her, their leader, the other survivors would hopefully break, whereas the snipers could hunt them down.

It was quite simple, and frankly Nephrite didn't like it. He had been planning to use an exotic, needlessly complex tactic where a youma attacked the redheaded ally of the Senshi, and appeared to die while actually attaching herself to the girl as a symbiote before taking over the girl as she slept to slay her comrades.

But, the Ouija Board had said to look toward the rooftops, and Nephrite didn't question his oracles. Even if they came from the bargain bin section of a local toy store. He would have felt slightly better about this plan if the divination tool used had cost more than three hundred yen, but he had to take what he could get.

Of course, "look toward the rooftops," while being potentially useful advice, was still quite vague in its application. The only sense Nephrite could make of it was that it was either a warning to watch for Senshi attacking from rooftops, or simply to use those areas to stage his ambush. As he had asked for advice on defeating the enemy, and not just surviving their assault, he was hoping it had indicated the latter.

Cynite grimaced at her fellow youma and then looked toward Nephrite, who was leaning back on an unmarked crate while drinking a capuccino. "What's taking the Senshi so long? Xentite has been causing a ruckus for nearly half an hour. Aren't they supposed to arrive just in the nick of time or something?"

Nephrite shrugged as he sipped his drink. "Their battles DO tend to fall into a reasonably predictable pattern of dramatic coincidences, yes. Though in this case, there's really nothing for them to arrive in time to save." As Xentite didn't have any particular target and had to remain in the same area for the ambush, she was just stomping around causing general havoc among the evacuated area.

"They should arrive soon. Whatever mechanism they use for detecting and tracking us may have been occupied. Perhaps it was under repair. Or maybe its operator was undergoing a stressful personal crisis." He shook his head. "No matter. They'll get here eventually."

Cynite looked around dubiously at the warehouse they were all packed in. "So... what if they detect us before they reach Xentite?"

Nephrite raised an eyebrow. "An intelligent question, for once. As you can imagine, I've already thought of that." His hand glowed briefly, and a small gemstone resembling dark purple quartz appeared floating over his palm. "This is a little trinket of Zoicite's that I... acquired without permission. It scrambles sensors, radar, radio trackers, and nearly every sort of energy-based detection there is. It even provides proof from magical scrying."

"Won't he miss it?" The youma asked dubiously.

"Perhaps," Nephrite mused, "but last I heard he had his hands full with something else. I didn't catch any details, but apparently there's some new annoyance that him and Kunzite have to deal with." The Dark General shrugged.

"ACHOO!" Zoicite twitched as Xellos sneezed in his face mid-sentence. Sniffle! "Oh, I'm sorry about that," the mazoku said, briefly wiping his nose. "How odd. My allergies rarely kick in around people as bitter and miserable as you are."

"Think nothing of it," the blonde man deadpanned, wiping his face off with a handkerchief. Inwardly, he was seething. 'How the hell did his SNEEZE break through my barrier?' He didn't consider that Xellos was a creature so innately powerful that involuntary bodily functions were capable of defeating his magical defenses. He might have, but frankly the idea was just too irritating to contemplate. Besides, this was Xellos. He probably did it on purpose.

"So these are my youma!" The mazoku said cheerfully as he looked over the various demonic women lined up before him. None of them looked like anything special, but that was to be expected.

The youma stared back at him with respect in their eyes. Not knowing who this new individual was, they had put their tiny brains to task and took a look at the situation. Male + humanlooking + not being kicked around by Zoicite = This man was clearly a new Dark General! The youma decided, in their ignorance, that he looked quite cheerful and pleasant, and decided that they were lucky to be placed under his command. The fools.

"Hello, my new loyal servants!" Xellos said happily, planting his staff to the side. "It's my pleasure to meet you! Together, we will reign victorious and bring honor and glory to the Segaverse!"

One of the youma frowned. "Huh... I thought it was the Negaverse."

"I thought we were the Dark Kingdom."

Zoicite growled as he put away his handkerchief. "Moving on. Their names are-"

"I'll deal with names," Xellos interrupted. He pointed toward three youma who were slightly clustered together. "You three look like you would work together to fail spectacularly at everything you do. You'll be Larry, you'll be Curly, and your name is Moe."

The youma blinked, but voiced no protest. As their original names had been based off of gemstones and perfectly androgynous in nature, none of them recognized them as men's names.

"You two! You look buxom enough to be Ninja. You'll be Kasumi, and you'll be Ayane." He pointed toward another group. "Thunder Empress Nei! Seras Victoria! Jubei-chan! Excel Excel!"

Zoicite stared as the mazoku pointed at each youma in turn, rattling off a name seemingly at random. To his surprise, he realized that generic-looking demons had appeared from somewhere and were handing out reams of paper to each of the youma that had been named.

"Motoko! Genie! Mana!" Xellos hesitated on the last youma. "Oh. Wait. I think that's a real person in this dimension. Then you'll be Etna!" Finally, he started waving his hands as the brass demons finished giving each of the youma their scripts. "All right, off you go! I expect you all to be in character the next time I see you! Go on now! Scram!"

Zoicite's eye twitched. "What are you doing?"

Xellos whirled around. "Just trying to give them a little character. It helps to drum up some drama when they die."

"Wouldn't it be more productive to ensure they succeed so that they DON'T die?" The blonde deadpanned. Although he hardly thought a youma's life was worth much more than the slime he scraped off his boots in the evening, the generals never assumed their servants were going to fail ahead of time.

Xellos was silent for a few (precious) moments before he scooted over and put an arm around Zoicite's shoulder. "You're new at this whole hero vs. villain conflict thing, aren't you?"

Zoicite frowned. "Hardly. I was there in the final assault on the Moon Palace all those millennia ago. I struck down my share of Senshi."

Xellos snorted. "That was when you were fighting against a vast, interplanetary military juggernaut. Now you're fighting against a small group of lightly armed teenagers supported by a few talking animals. You don't stand a chance."

Zoicite stared at the purple-haired man. "That... makes no sense." Then his eyes narrowed. "Besides, if you estimate that our chances of victory are unfavorable, why do you side with us?"

"Now that," Xellos began, grinning, "is a secret!"

A vein popped up on Zoicite's head. "I cannot fathom why I'm still standing here taking this abuse. You have your youma. Do with them what you wish. If you are in need of further assistance, do NOT bother me about it." Scowling, the ponytailed man turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.

Xellos was about to shout something irritating to the man's back, when suddenly he sensed something far away and frowned. "Ah. I see I am needed elsewhere." He turned toward a brass demon. "Ensure that the youma are situated. I have business to attend to." The brass demon scratched its head. "Ensure they're 'situated'? Whaddya mean by that?"

"There's a few decks of cards and thirty kegs of some disgusting and probably poisonous substance in the back," Xellos clarified.

"Aye aye!" The demon said brightly, saluting as his master teleported away.

"So, explain to me why we're just sittin' here behind a wall watching while the youma goes nuts out there," Ranma, in his girl form, grumbled as she sat under the top of the brick stair partition, the other Senshi all crouched around her (Negi was short enough that he didn't need to crouch, though he had to hold his staff down).

Sousuke didn't reply for several seconds as he stared at the rampaging creature through his binoculars. "Is not the purpose of youma to gather energy from living creatures?"

Orion, who was gathered at the foot of the stairway and peeking around the wall with Luna, nodded. "Generally, yes. Though they have other functions on occasion."

Sousuke lowered the binoculars and ducked down. "I do not understand what function it might serve by demolishing every car in a twenty-meter radius and kicking open a fire hydrant."

"Maybe it's an insidious plot to lower the local property values so that the Dark Kingdom can buy out key areas of Tokyo?" Sailor Moon guessed.

Orion glared at her. "I'd tell you to be serious, but frankly I'm afraid of how you'd answer."

Sousuke shook his head. "There have been no living targets within attack range for some time, yet the creature persists in seemingly random acts of destruction within a fixed radius. This is troubling."

"Why?" Sailor Moon asked, wanting to hurry up and punish the monster for destroying people's property. She didn't really see anything wrong with the situation; there were no people hurt, which was good, and the youma was all alone. Jump in, wipe it out, go home, right?

"BECAUSE, meatball head, this is a lure for an ambush," Sailor Mars growled.

"Okay, fine," Ranma said, getting ready to stand up, "so I'll jump over there, kick the freak around until his ugly friends show up, and then you ambush them. Plan?"

"Negative," Sousuke answered immediately.

"C'mon! Why not? I'm gettin' bored, here!" The redhead complained, sitting back down.

"While a counter-lure would be an acceptable response under ordinary circumstances...," the mercenary put down his binoculars and pointed over the partition, indicating that it was safe for the others to peek. "There is no need to put one of our own in danger if a third party is willing to spring the trap for us."

One by one, each of the girls rose looked over the top of the wall (Negi had to grab the edge and stand on his tip-toes). Reactions were generally confused and passive.

"Who's that?"

"Hey, that's dangerous!"

"Is she crazy?"

"Wow, she's really pretty."

"Not for long."

"God damn it! Doesn't that loon ever give up?!"

Needless to say, some were more upset than others.

Everyone stared at Ranma as she ducked back under the partition. "Sousuke! Thermos! Hot water! Now!"

"But we have not completed the operation," Sousuke protested.

"You have to remain disguised!" Luna hissed. "Otherwise the enemy could track down your identity!"

"Better to have the idiot monsters track me than HER!" Ranma growled.

She was mildly surprised to realize that Sailor Moon was frowning at her while Mars was outright glaring. "What?"

"Care to explain just who that is?" The Senshi of fire asked through clenched teeth. "An old girlfriend, maybe?"

Before Ranma could reply and dig herself into a deeper hole, Mercury quickly interrupted to inject some sense into the conversation. "That's unlikely; as Ranma is turning back into a boy to avoid her, it would imply that she's only familiar with his female form."

"But who is she?" Asked Sailor Jupiter, watching the purple-haired Chinese girl face off against the youma in the street.

"Story later! Hot water now!" Ranma insisted, grabbing the thermos Sousuke reluctantly handed her and dumping it over her head.

Shampoo frowned up at the ugly yellow woman standing over her. She, or more appropriately, it, was a quadraped, and stood on four pointed spider-like legs that tapered off into a slim torso and a relatively human-looking face.

Xentite frowned down at the girl. While the purple-haired stranger was wearing a short-skirted Chinese dress, she decided that the newcomer wasn't a Senshi, and probably wasn't a Knight either. For one thing her outfit, while skimpy, was still far too dignified. For a second thing, she had neither found some high ground upon which to yell a monologue at her, as the Senshi did, nor had she taken the initiative and struck from hiding, as the Senshi's allies were rumored to do.

"What do you want? I'm busy here kid! Shoo!" Xentite tried to wave the purple-haired girl away, but she just kept staring up at her. Normally she would have gone ahead and drained the girl's energy since she was apparenty stupid enough not to flee in terror, but she didn't want to be distracted when the Senshi forces showed up. Being the bait, her survival expectancy was already something along the lines of ten percent without being distracted.

"What you supposed to be? You Japan monster?" Shampoo asked curiously. She had heard of tales of demons from her grandmother and some of the older warriors, but they had been far more... intimidating than this creature. Then again, they had always been characterized as being male. Maybe the females weren't quite as horrifying?

"Cute accent, kid. Yeah, I'm a Japan monster. Now scram," Xentite turned around and scanned the streets irritably. "Where ARE those damn Senshi? What is this, a government holiday? A monster just walks around out in the open, smashi-"

Thunk!

The youma blinked. And then it blinked again. And then she started to tremble. "YOU STABBED ME! YOU CRAZY BITCH, YOU STABBED ME IN THE HEAD!" The youma screamed loud enough to make Shampoo wince.

"Usually what stab in head not keep talking," the Amazon complained, staring at the scimitar she had lodged fairly deep into the youma's forehead right between the eyes. The creature had jerked her head back right when she stuck, and had actually torn the weapon out of her hands. Shampoo had to admit it was a brilliant way to disarm an opponent if one didn't have to worry about getting impaled through an important organ.

The youma snarled and swiped at the Chinese girl, at which point Shampoo jumped over the attack, grabbed her scimitar, and then used it to swing up and behind the youma before kicking off of its head.

"Whoa... she's beating up the youma just like Ranma!" Sailor Moon gasped.

"Feh. Not QUITE like me," the now-male martial artist said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But yeah, she should be able to hold her own against one of those losers."

"Shouldn't we help her anyway?" Makoto asked. "She might be as good as Ranma, but she probably isn't used to fighting youma. She might get hurt."

Ranma fumed irritably, as he had strongly implied that she WASN'T as good as he was.

However, it was Sousuke who answered her.

"Putting aside the fact that she may be an enemy of Saotome's, I believe we have more pressing concerns," the mercenary said, pointing behind them.

Nephrite grinned as he materialized on the roof of an apartment building at the same time that Cynite clambered up over the edge of the roof to join him. "Now! My youma! Attack that... girl?"

Cynite nodded, orbs of lightning solidifying around her hands. "Yes, Lord Nephrite! At once!"

"No, no, not at once," the Dark General said suddenly, holding up his hand. "Hold it... who in Metallia's name is THAT?"

Cynite frowned as she looked at the purple-haired girl that was trading blows with Xentite.

"Isn't she a Senshi, my lord? She has a short skirt, doesn't she?"

Nephrite considered this. "Yes, I suppose... but where are the stupid-looking bows? Why is she engaging the enemy in melee instead of firing magic from afar? And where are the others?"

Cynite scratched her head, forced to admit that she didn't have an answer for any of those queries.

"Perhaps she's one of the others, then? The Senshis' allies?"

"Well, then the Senshi themselves should still be around here somewhere," he mumbled as he looked around at the adjacent buildings, watching his other minions clambering up the sides to get into sniping position.

"Jupiter thunder crash!" KRAK-KOOM!

"Mars fire ignite!" FWOOSH!

"Moon tiara action!" ZAP!

"Eat it, freak!" Wham! Crunch!

"Sagitta magica series lucius!" Foom-Foom-Foom-Foom-Foom!

Cynite frowned as she watched several of her fellow youma fall down from where they were scaling the surrounding buildings to land painfully on the ground below.

"I think they might be right under us, my lord."

Nephrite's eyebrow twitched mightily as he reigned in the urge to throttle the smaller creature.

"I'd noticed."

Frowning deeply, Nephrite looked down at the chaos on the streets below, then glanced over at Xentite and the purple-haired girl. "There is something I must see to, Cynite," he decided.

"Go lead an attack upon the enemy. The Senshi should be annhilated this day."

Cynite frowned. "But my lord, it would appear that THEY now have the upper hand, and we can't-" Shove! "AAAAAAUGH!"

As his right-hand youma (for the moment, anyway. Obviously he'd need a new one after today) plummeted over the edge of the roof, Nephrite turned toward the battle with Xentite. "All right, little girl. Let's see if I can't make a new friend today..."

Thud! Cynite let out a cry of pain as she bounced off the sidewalk, her light body giving little resistance to the hard ground. Groaning, she quickly oriented herself and stood up. What little damage she suffered from the fall was already healing, and didn't hinder her much anyway. The vertigo was really the worst part.

Well, that, and where she fallen. Right in the sights of a mercenary's combat shotgun.

BLAM!

The youma was knocked right off of her feet from the blast, and found herself rolling across the street before bumping into the leg of another, larger youma.

Whump!

That youma fell over a moment later, and a young man with a pigtail came down from above straight onto its head, hammering it deep into the asphalt and causing the street to crack and fold up around the impact.

Cynite panicked and stumbled to her feet, barely avoiding a fireball that streaked past her to hit the incapacitated creature. 'What are we supposed to do? We can't possibly win! Lord Nephrite, why have you forsaken us?'

BWA-KOOOM! Cynite jumped back as one of the nearby buildings detontated violently, its windows blowing outward into jets of flame. For a split second the entire structure trembled, and then it slowly began to fall down to its foundation, slowly crumbling into rubble.

A vein popped up on Sailor Mars' head. "Was that ABSOLUTELY necessary, Sousuke?"

"I would say so, yes," the mercenary replied calmly as he blasted a nearby youma that was trying to limp away on one leg. "We cannot allow the enemy to occupy an advantageous attack position. I've taken the liberty of arming all such positions such that we may destroy them as necessary."

Orion grinned as he ducked under the wave of heat and dust that washed over the street.

"Good man!"

Thwap! Luna swatted the tomcat over the head, her teeth clenched. "Idiot! Don't Cough! encourage him Cough!"

"Don't you have Cough! anything better you could be doing?" Orion asked his female counterpart. "It's not like Cough! you're doing any good here."

"Shut up!" Luna snapped. Then she growled at Sousuke, her tail bristling. "And you! Cough! Stop blowing up buildings because it's convenient! Cough! Can ANYONE do something about all this dust?!"

"Rastel maskil magister!" Negi shouted from atop the twitching form of a larger youma, "Flans exarmatio!"

A powerful gust of wind immediately swept the airborne dust cloud from the streets and over and around the surrounding buildings, and all combatants took a moment to orient themselves as visibility was suddenly restored.

Ranma was the first to recover, and kicked a smaller youma into the air before while she was still blinking in surprise.

"Jupiter! Incoming!"

"Jupiter thunder CRASH!" The ponytailed Senshi screamed, flinging her lightning bolt at the helpless monster and sending it to the ground in a charred heap. It began disintegrating moments later.

"It's no use! Lord Nephrite has abandoned us!" A short youma shouted, flailing her arms as she ran blindly down the street. "Flee for your lives! There is no hope!"

Ranma stood up straight as he watched the panicking creature approach, then stuck his leg out.

Thud! "Ow! Hey! That's just MEAN!" The youma complained before Ranma stepped on the back of her head, grinding it into the asphalt and silencing her.

"You 'aint seen nothin' yet," Ranma said smugly, waving to Negi. "Hey, gimme a light arrow over-"

Thwip!

Though the sound was actually quite subdued, somehow all the chaos and violence across the entire street suddenly screeched to a halt, and youma, Senshi, and Knight alike all stopped what they were doing to watch, gaping, as Ranma jerked back in pain, clutching his leg.

Growling, Ranma grabbed the object that had impaled his calf and yanked it free.

He was about to seek out the source of the projectile and go about ending that individual's life with all haste, but all thoughts of rage fled his mind to make room for disbelief and confusion when he saw just what had struck him.

Everyone else likewise stared.

Sailor Moon tilted her head to the side.

"Is that... a dandelion?" As the answer to her question was quite obvious, she considered the only person she knew of who used vegetation as projectiles. "Did Tuxedo Kamen run out of roses?" Left unasked was the question of why the masked sniper/cheerleader would attack an ally of the Senshi with so many youma about, but the matter soon became moot.

"I am NOT Tuxedo Kamen!"

At once, everyone present turned to look toward the rooftops. Simultaneously, their jaws fell open.

Standing atop a nearby building, holding a dandelion in his hand, was a man of average height and build wearing a plain white yukata complete with white cape and a baseball cap, as well as a black eye mask. He had short-cropped purple hair, and an insufferable smile that seemed to be a permanent feature of his face.

"For I am the dark avenger," he continued, throwing his arm out dramatically so that his cape billowed outward. "Yukata Kamen!"

Sousuke wasn't one to sit and gape before an enemy, and immediately started setting the frequency of his detonator, as the building had been noted as being perfect for sniping his position.

"No! Stop that!" Luna said suddenly, pouncing on the mercenary and knocking the detonator away. "Stop blowing up buildings, you hear me?"

Ignoring the bit of activity behind the Senshi lines, Yukata Kamen gazed down at the youma at Ranma's feet.

"YOUMA! Take heart, for your hour has arrived! Though you are beset on all sides by the forces of light, never forget that you stand for hatred and chaos, and that the power of love and justice opposes you out of fear of your strength above all else!"

The various youma slowly picked themselves up, glancing at each other as they listened to the masked man intently.

"Is it not you who rises to the challenge of fighting the world's heroes?" Yukata Kamen asked, sweeping a hand toward the dumbstruck Senshi and Knights. "Is it not you who, by the DOZENS, march off to war under the thumb of your incompetent masters against the mightiest champions of humanity? Soldiers of the Segaverse! YOU are the true underdogs, the heroes of the shadows! AND THIS IS YOUR MOMENT!"

P-twang! Yukata Kamen jumped slightly as a sniper bullet bounced off of his magic barrier, just inches away from his head. "Whoops! Gotta go! Good luck!" With a wave of his hand, a beam of white light engulfed him, and he was gone.

Ranma was silent for several moments as he stared at the dandelion in his hand, stared up at the space where Yukata Kamen had been, and then looked back down at the dandelion.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked aloud.

"HE'S RIGHT!" A slightly smoky youma that used to have two arms shouted as she pointed toward Ranma. "Come on everyone! We haven't lost yet! Engage super-secret youma formation Z!"

Ranma twitched as he watched the remaining eight youma all cluster together and then lean forward, as if they were getting ready to run a race.

'Wait... weren't there nine youma left?' Ranma thought just a moment too late.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Cynite cheered as she grabbed the pigtailed boy around the ankles.

"What the-" Ranma didn't get the chance to say much more as the other youma suddenly roared viciously, breaking into a run at the same time.

"YOUMA DOGPILE!" Tackle! Thump! Whump! Thud! Crunch! Wham!

"Ack! Ranma!" Mars yelled in surprise. "Somebody help him!"

"I'm on it!" Jupiter said, summoning her power to her. "Jupiter thunder-"

"NO! Don't do that!" Sailor Mercury protested just a bit too late.

"CRASH!" Sailor Jupiter thrust her arm toward the trembling pile of youma, lashing out at it with thick ribbons of lightning. In such close proximity, the effect was devastating, as each youma felt the full power of the Thunder Senshi at once.

Unfortunately, there wasn't just youma in that pile, and as the dazed monsters staggered away from the blast zone, a single charred human figure laid on the ground, twitching sporadically.

"... Oops," Jupiter squeaked, flushing deeply.

Although Mars had far more detailed commentary about the incident, it was forced to wait as the youma quickly recovered and dashed away from the stunned martial artist, charging the Senshi with a single-minded ferocity they had not possessed just minutes before.

And through it all, Sailor Moon stared up at the sky, looking utterly confused. "When did they change their name to the 'Segaverse'?"

(A few minutes earlier)

Shampoo grunted as she dodged another series of swipes from the demonic creature before her, trying to gain some distance to think of a strategy. So far she had outclassed this creature by leaps and bounds, but was at a loss for how to kill it. She had already impaled the damn thing twice on her scimitar, only to find that all THAT did was disarm her. She had nearly lost her head yanking her weapon out.

Unless she found a weak point, she'd have to resort to more haphazard tactics, such as burying the damn thing or maybe drowning it. And obviously, there was no guarantee that those strategies would work either.

"Xentite. Stop," Commanded a male voice from behind. Shampoo immediately rolled away from the creature, and stopped in a crouch facing the new voice. Nephrite raised an eyebrow at the curiosity in the girl's eyes. She didn't seem to have an initial prejudice toward him. That was most likely a good thing.

"Who you?" The lavender-haired warrior asked. "You command stupid ugly thing?"

A vein popped up on Xentite's head at the comment, and she took a menacing step toward the teenager before Nephrite raised a hand toward her, prompting her to stop.

"Yes. Yes, I do," he admitted. "I am Nephrite, General of the Negaverse. And who, exactly, are you?"

"Name Shampoo of Joketsuzoku tribe Chinese Amazons!" Shampoo said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What you want?"

"I want to know what I've done to offend you," Nephrite said with mock disappointment. "I had intended to combat some upstart magical girls in the area, not pick fights with traveling warriors."

Shampoo snorted. "Amazon warrior see demon, then Amazon kill..." then she frowned."Not sure if kill what summon, though. Not come up before."

"I'm sure," the Dark General deadpanned. "And what brings a... Chinese Amazon to Japan?"

"Am hunting Ranma, strong warrior girl what travel here from China," Shampoo explained impatiently. "Shampoo bound by law of village to hunt and kill! You see, maybe? Ranma short girl with red hair in pigtail, big chest and wet most of time."

Nephrite was silent for several long moments. 'There's no way. It couldn't be this perfect. There HAS to be a catch.' "I think I might know something about this... Ranma," he said cautiously. "But we shouldn't talk here. My ambush has failed, and powerful forces are bearing down on us. Come, I know of someplace safe." Then he snapped his fingers.

"Xentite! Follow me! We retreat for now!"

The combat youma stood shock-still, absolutely flabbergasted. Then she glanced down the street, where a building was slowly sinking into its foundation among several flashes of light and small explosions. 'No way! I was the bait, and I end up being the only one to survive?'

Shaking her head at the irony, Xentite shifted back to human form and hurried after her master, never noticing the masked man watching from above, a cheerful smile on his face.

"What the heck?" Jupiter shouted as she kicked away one of the charging youma, only to get tackled by another one in the flank. "They were giving up just a minute ago!" Growling she tried to grapple with the smaller beast clawing for her throat, unable to find the leverage to gain an advantage.

Whack! Sousuke promptly kicked the creature in the side, not completely dislodging it, but stunning it long enough for Jupiter to get the upper hand and punch it off of her.

"The enemy is charging recklessly!" The mercenary growled as he switched to automatic fire and emptied his ammunition into the advancing youma. "If we don't fall back, casualities are unavoidable!"

Mars threw another fireball, only to see the youma dive out of the way and then jump to their feet, eager to charge again. "Mercury, we need some space!"

"R-Right! Mercury bubble blast!" Throwing out her hands, a wave of bubbles washed into the horde of slavering youma, and each of the Senshi disengaged from their targets to follow Sousuke as he sprinted further down the street.

"Springfield! Give us some cover fire!" The mercenary commanded, stopping in front of a storefront and then falling into a crouch.

As the mage lifted off into the sky and began chanting, the Senshi and moon cats slowed to a stop next to Sousuke.

"Why're you stopping?" Orion demanded, "This area is right out in the open! They'll overtake us in no time!"

Sousuke nodded. "That's how it appears." Then he held his hand out to Luna, who had Sousuke's detonator in her mouth. "If I may have that back?"

Luna bristled slightly as she spat the item into his hand. "Just what are you planning?"

"I deliberately placed the charges so that the buildings would collapse into the street," Sousuke explained as dozens of bolts of light flew overhead into the obscuring cloud of bubbles, "when the youma charge our exposed position, we can bury and entangle them instead."

"Do you have any plans that don't involve annihilating this entire block?" Luna seethed. Sailor Mars would have added her own two cents, but was frowning deeply as she looked around.

"Yes, I do," Sousuke said calmly, "assuming you are specific in preserving this block rather than the destruction of any adjacent series of buildings, in which case, no, I do not."

"Quiet, both of you! We'll work with the plan we've got!" Orion hissed. "Assuming those youma actually fall for our ruse. They're taking their damn time in there."

"Does anybody else notice that we're missing someone?" Mars deadpanned.

"It could not be helped," Sousuke said immediately. "Saotome was incapacitated behind the enemy lines. However, I believe he'll be able to handle himself."

"As worried as I am about him," Mars mumbled, shooting a meaningful glare at Jupiter, who winced, "that wasn't who I was talking about."

Sailor Mercury gasped. "Where's Sailor Moon?"

Their question was answered as the bubble smokescreen finally began to disperse, revealing a row of grinning, imposing youma holding their line far behind the area that Negi had been raining light arrows upon.

In the claws of one of the larger youma of the rear was Sailor Moon, looking downcast as tears streamed down her face.

"I ran the wrong way!" She mumbled, sniffling.

Orion slapped a paw over his forehead. "I hate you, Luna."

"Oh, so now this is MY fault?" The black cat protested. "Stop blaming me every time that girl does something foolish!"

"Attention foul Senshi and allies of the fallen Moon Kingdom!" Cynite shouted gleefully. "We have your precious leader! Surrender and submit yourself to the Segaverse!"

Another youma poked her in the back. "It's Negaverse, not Segaverse."

"Oh, right. Sorry," she mumbled for a moment, then cleared her throat. "Submit yourself to the Negaverse at once, or we will kill your precious Sailor Moon and then destroy you all!"

The Senshi all tensed and looked at each other, wondering what to do. After a moment, Jupiter raised her hand.

"So, if we surrender, then you WON'T kill anybody, right?"

The youma glanced at each other, and quickly stepped into a brief huddle as they whispered to each other. Finally, Cynite stepped out and addressed the Senshi again.

"It's a gray area."

"You guys can't be serious!" Orion hissed. "Is Sailor Moon THAT important to this campaign that everyone has to sacrifice themselves for the CHANCE to save her? Not that keeping her alive in the hands of the enemy is very safe..."

"That's not the issue here," Mars hissed back, planting her fists on her hips. "It doesn't matter how 'important' Usagi is! She's our friend, and we won't abandon her, no matter what!"

Mercury and Jupiter nodded their agreement, much to Orion's chagrin.

"Perhaps they would be open to hostage negotiation," Sousuke offered. "If I could exchange myself for Commander Moon-"

"NO!" Jupiter shouted a bit too loudly. Wincing, she lowered her voice before continuing. "I mean, we're no better off that way than we are with Sailor Moon in their hands."

"That is not the case. I excel in surviving harsh conditions and can navigate battle hazards far better than she can. Additionally, if they return me to their base, I have training in resisting torture," Sousuke explained calmly, as if being held at clawpoint by hideous monsters were a job just like any other.

"HEY! Are you jerks gonna hurry up and decide, or do we have to choose for you?!" Cynite growled, pounding a hand into her fist.

Sousuke stepped forward, ignoring another shout of protest from the Thunder Senshi. "We wish to pro-"

Thwip! A red streak was all the warning anyone had as something impaled the claw being held to Sailor Moon's neck, knocking the bladed edge away from its tenuous position above her jugular.

Any distraction that would have provided was negated as the very same youma suddenly went flying as someone barrelled right through her, snatching away the girl struggling to get away.

"Wh-What? Who-" Cynite stuttered as a figure in a blood-red shirt landed several meters away, Sailor Moon cradled carefully in his arms. Sousuke blinked as he watched Ranma land, then shrugged as he pointed toward the youma.

"Senshi, Springfield, open fire!" In the back of his mind he heard someone shouting in the distance, and took out his binoculars to locate the possible threat.

"Mars fire ignite!"

"Jupiter thunder crash!"

"Sagitta magic series fulgaris! Thirty-one arrows of lightning!"

"Mercury bubble blast!"

"-and never give up, no matter what!" Tuxedo Kamen finished, his cape billowing out behind him dramatically.

"They're coming through the smokescreen! Sagara, ready a flashbang! Everyone get ready to fire again on my mark! Springfield, sweep back those bubbles!"

"Right! Rastel maskil magister! Flans exarmatio!"

"NOW! Wipe them out!"

The masked man frowned as he watched the battle play out underneath him, uninterrupted. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. This was not how things were supposed to go. The battle was supposed to STOP when he showed up, and everyone was supposed to wait patiently, either out of awe or perhaps courtesy (he alway did wonder why the bad guys stopped to listen as well) until he was done shouting encouragement.

After all, if he couldn't be heard over the sound of the Senshi annihilating the enemy, what was the point?

'Well, there WAS saving Sailor Moon. Where is she, anyway?'

He had been annoyed at being ignored, sure. However, annoyance didn't quite cover the spiral of emotions that assailed him when he saw Sailor Moon and some pigtailed guy he had never seen before standing away from the battle KISSING.

That confusing maelstrom of thought was the last thing that passed through his mind before pain blossomed brilliantly in his chest. Unfortunately, this pain was far more physical than emotional in nature, and he fell over onto the roof in agony.

Ranma blinked in surprise as Sailor Moon finally broke the kiss, his face flushed. "Uh... you're welcome?" He mumbled, fairly stunned.

Sailor Moon blushed brightly as well, unable to believe that she just did that. Sure, she wasn't what many would consider shy, but she had gotten completely swept up in the heat of the moment.

"I-I'm sorry! I was just so scared, and then everything just started spinning, and I was really dizzy, and you were holding me so tightly, not too tightly really, but-" she started babbling helplessly, still being held in his arms.

"Ah, well, whatever. Now's not the time for this," Ranma decided, putting the blonde down, "Come on! We have to help the others!"

"All right!"

"I HAVE to ask: why have you two been glancing at each other and blushing constantly ever since the battle ended?" Rei said suspiciously as the Senshi, Knights, and assisting moon cats walked down the street trying to look inconspicuous.

This was not as easy as one might assume, as everyone sported injuries of varying intensity; the youma had fought bitterly to the last. Ranma was the worse off, walking with a limp in addition to having his clothes and face burnt from Jupiter's lightning. Negi got off with little damage other than a scorched cape, as he was the only one with a fully functional shield.

The shrine priestess grew more irritated once neither Ranma nor Usagi said anything, but just turned red again.

"Well?"

"It was... nothing," Ranma mumbled, tugging on his pigtail nervously. "Nothing important."

"Well, if it was nothing important, then you can tell us about it, right?" Rei prodded.

Usagi quailed when the others turned to watch, obviously interested. 'What should I say? That I just got excited and tried to make out with my teacher in the middle of a firefight? WHY did I do that?' Kissing Ranma was all well and good, and had been a personal goal of hers for some time, but those sorts of things were supposed to happen during romantic, secluded interludes, not out in the streets during a battle. 'I'm just glad none of them saw me!'

Ranma was about to stutter out whatever was the first thing that came to mind - which would have resulted in him getting hit and further pissing off Rei - when Sousuke suddenly came up from behind him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's all right. I understand."

Ranma stared at the mercenary. 'HIM understand? Did he see us, or what?'

Sousuke turned toward Rei. "I find it highly probable that Saotome and Commander Tsukino are embarrassed because Saotome unintentionally squeezed her breasts during his rescue of her."

The girls blinked repeatedly. Ranma sweatdropped, but said nothing.

"It's very easy to do," Sousuke explained solemly, crossing his arms over his chest. "When tackling or holding the female body, the breast provides a convenient, if not socially awkward, handhold to establish a safe grip when time is of the essence. I've done it as well, and while the resulting misunderstanding was quite painful, the girl was unharmed."

The girls all flushed slightly at that as they mulled it over.

"That makes a lot of sense," Ami decided. 'And it explains why they weren't exactly comfortable talking about it.'

"I don't buy it," Rei mumbled. "It's not like meatball head has much to hold on to."

"REI! That's just MEAN!" Usagi shouted indignantly, snapping out of her embarrassment.

"Regardless, in that type of hold, the hand will usually end up on the chest, at least initially," Sousuke explained, convinced that his theory was correct.

"Maybe if you did a demonstration?" Makoto said suggestively, stepping closer to the mercenary.

Sousuke thought about it, and then nodded. "That would work. Hino-san, if I may?" To him, since Rei was the one who expressed disbelief, she was the most appropriate one to use in a demonstration. That the fuming ponytailed girl behind him may have suggested it specifically to end up in his arms never occurred to him.

"No, you may NOT!" Rei said, jumping back and trying to ignore the way Makoto was glaring at her.

"Please, I really just want to forget that this whole battle ever happened," Ranma mumbled, especially wanting to change the subject before anybody thought to ask him if that was really what happened. "Especially that part with the geek in the yukata. What a jerk."

"Indeed. His interference may prove extremely problematic if he persists," Sousuke mumbled.

"Especially with a shield that prevents him from being dispatched from a distance. Luckily the other one possessed no such defense."

"Other one? What other one?" Sailor Moon asked, surprised.

"There was a second individual much like the first that appeared, no doubt to further bolster the youma's morale. I dispatched him posthaste," Sousuke explained.

"Geez, ANOTHER one? What's with all the Tuxedo Kamen clones all of a sudden?" Rei growled.

Sousuke stopped. "... Pardon? Who?"

"Tuxedo Kamen," Ami picked up the explanation. "He's a masked figure like Yukata Kamen, except that he uses roses as weapons, and he's on our side. He appears in exactly the same manner, launching an attack and then giving a speech to boost our confidence."

Ranma frowned as he watched sweat pour down Sousuke's brow. "Yeah, didn't I ever tell you about that guy?"

"No. No, you did not," the mercenary said in an uncharacteristically tense voice. "We shall discuss this intelligence failure in earnest when we get back to base." Then he noticed that everyone was staring at him oddly. "Speaking of which, we should proceed back to base with all haste."

Negi scratched his head. "Why? I thought we were all going to go to Hino-san's house to-"

"I said MOVE, Knights!" Sousuke suddenly barked, causing the others to jump in surprise.

"Double time! Go! Go! Go!"

Sailor Moon sweatdropped as she watched the Knights suddenly sprint off to their apartment, Orion trailing off after them. "That was sudden..." Then she cocked her head to the side. "You know, we haven't seen Tuxedo Kamen in a long time... I wonder what happened to him..."