"Son?"
"Yes?"
"Where are we going?"
"I have no idea." Ranma answered with a straight face as he continued walking down the street. "I didn't plan on leaving the house for at least a couple of weeks."
Nodoka frowned. "Why is that?" She didn't like to think Ranma actually wanted to be away from her again.
Kakurine answered for the pigtailed martial artist. "We both knew Genma wouldn't let us be together. So we arranged everything to buy a house. The problem is the documents won't be ready until next week." She turned to Ranma. "We could stay at a hotel."
"Fine by me." He shrugged as he turned around a corner. He was met with the flat of a giant mallet.
Both Kakurine and Nodoka were surprised to see Ranma sent flying back until he crashed with a wall. "RANMA NO BAKA!" They were startled to see a glowing Akane rush past them, intent on continuing with what she had just started. The tomboy was wearing one of her yellow gis and her expression was that of violence lust.
Nodoka composed herself and frowned dangerously at seeing her son abused like that. Even if she had liked Akane at the beginning it had quickly become obvious that the sweet and caring Akane was nothing but a cover she put up for others. Her true colors were as horrible as her cooking. Without noticing the dangerous look Kakurine was giving the tomboy Nodoka took out her own katana, not the Saotome honor blade, and ran behind Akane. She closed in on her and sliced the mallet's handle just in time to avoid having Ranma flattened against the ground.
Ranma was startled by the unexpected attack and recovered just in time to see Akane charge at him. He frowned as he started concentrating for a huge chi blast. *To hell with her if she thinks I'll let her treat me like this.* His right hand was glowing a blinding white when he noticed his mother was in the path as well. He resigned himself to receiving the hit while he got a clean shot at the tomboy. He didn't need to worry as Nodoka sliced Akane's mallet and the huge head of it landed next to her feet. Ranma smiled at the look of shock on Akane's features.
"What are you doing, Tendo-'san'?" Came the cold voice from behind. Akane gulped as she recognized the voice belonged to Nodoka. She had never heard her refer to anyone with that tone besides from Genma. It was very unnerving when directed at you.
Ranma effortlessly got up and dissipated his attack. It was obvious his mother was in control of the situation. "Are you alright, Ranma?" Kakurine asked. She had been surprised when Ranma was caught unaware like that.
Ranma nodded, completely ignoring the once again glowing Tendo, and walked to the side of the purple haired woman. "Yeah. I just didn't expect for someone to be stupid enough to attack me like that."
Nodoka would have berated her son for his arrogance had it not been for the fact she knew he had a right to be so confident. She still remembered the way Genma and Soun were looking at Ranma when he destroyed the dojo. Their faces revealed nothing but fear. For Genma and Soun to be too afraid to want to unite the schools...
Akane heard the words and all but exploded at him. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING STUPID?!"
Ranma smirked as he turned to her. "Are you deaf as well as stupid?" He enjoyed the way steam seemed to get out of Akane's ears. Without bothering to look at her he started picking his mother's belongings. He then placed a hand on Nodoka's shoulder and vanished from sight.
Akane's anger quickly turned to confusion. She turned all around, obviously looking for Ranma.
Kakurine just shook her head and disappeared as well, muttering something about a stupid tomboy.
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Nodoka was startled, not to say shocked, to what her eyes registered. As soon as her son touched her shoulder she had the impression that things blurred for a second and now she was in the middle of a park. She blinked a couple of times and made sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. Once she was sure they were indeed in the middle of a park she looked all around and was just in time to see Kakurine appear out of thin air next to her. Her brain couldn't take another shock like that for today and shut down in protest.
Ranma was quick enough to catch his mother before she hit the ground. "Should've known she wouldn't take the teleportation very well." Ranma grumbled as he lifted her in his arms.
Kakurine giggled. "It was that or continue to put up with that short tempered girl." She stopped to look all around and noticed something. "Look, the Sailor Senshi are fighting another monster over there." She said pointing to the other side of the park. She could be talking about a dog fight in a more excited tone.
Ranma turned and saw that the Senshi were indeed fighting some kind of monster tree that was attacking with spikes of wood. The five girls were doing a good job of dodging, though none of them had enough time to prepare an attack. The pigtailed martial artist snorted. "Let them handle it. We have to take my mother some place safe."
They both started to walk away from the confrontation talking about which hotel to sign in for the week. The explosions of magical blasts and bellows of pain from the monster served as a background for the calmly walking couple.
Kakurine suddenly stopped as she noticed a weird looking woman standing in front of them. She saw the woman was wearing some kind of foliage neglige and had leaves falling down her back instead of hair. Her lips, red as a rose's petal, formed an evil smile as she stared at the couple carrying the unconscious woman. "Can we help you, plant girl?" The purple haired priestess asked politely.
Ranma saw the same thing as Kakurine and did his best to hold back his amusement. He failed.
The 'plant girl' frowned deeply at the name given to her and at the laughing man. *Don't they know I'm about to extract their souls. Oh, that's right! They can't know about that.* She smiled even more evilly and stepped forward, pointing a weird looking staff at the priestess. "I will have your soul." With that the staff started glowing a soft silver and it made an annoying sound.
Kakurine turned to look at Ranma, who shrugged in return and gave her a blank look. "I have no idea what she's trying to do." He said in mock confusion.
Meanwhile the woman was starting to show signs of anger as the staff failed to suck the soul from the priestess. She was sure a person with a strong chi would be great energy for their purposes. *And I even went through all the trouble of animating that tree to keep the Senshi distracted.* She cursed and stepped back, resigned to end the day with no gain.
"WORLD SHAKING!"
"DEEP SUBMERGE!"
Two strong magical blasts were launched at the group of people. By the strength of the attacks and the direction they had they would hit all four people.
The plant girl smirked as she jumped back and vanished in the foliage. She really loved parks. She reappeared on top of a tree, studying her would be attackers. She could see four Sailor Senshi, two of which were recovering from launching their attacks. She turned back to the priestess, man and unconscious woman, expecting to see as they were killed by the attacks meant for her. She was quite surprised when they managed to jump out of the way of the attacks.
"What the hell are they doing?" Ranma had barely been able to avoid the attacks. He wouldn't care as much if it wasn't for the fact that his mother was held in his arms.
Kakurine stood next to him, eyeing the four approaching Senshi.
*I can't believe it. They weren't after me.* Thought the plant girl with amusement. It seemed like the blasts were meant for that priestess. *Well, I guess I could always go somewhere else to absorb souls.* She smirked as she saw two Senshi were downed by the still rampaging tree. *All the Senshi are busy right now.* She vanished once again, a happy smile on her face.
Uranus and Neptune closed in on the trio, wary because they had managed to avoid the blast. Pluto and Saturn followed close behind, ready to give back up if needed. The ones in the front assumed ready stances and studied their target. "Are you sure they're the ones, Pluto?" Asked Neptune, uncertain about attacking what appeared to be normal people. She didn't see them behaving like their enemies usually did.
The guardian of the Gates of Time nodded seriously. "They are the ones giving off chaos. Their existence endangers the future of Crystal Tokyo."
Uranus growled. "That's enough for me." And she charged another attack.
Ranma read their intentions and quickly came to a decision. "Kakurine." He called out. "Take my mother out of here. I'll hold them off."
The purple haired woman nodded as she grabbed Nodoka and lifted her as if she weighted nothing. "Be careful, Ranma." She turned and flew out of the place, Nodoka's stuff mysteriously floating by her side.
"She's getting away!" Saturn shouted as she prepared to fire at her.
Pluto didn't part her gaze from Ranma. "Let her go. Let us finish him off first."
"WORLD SHAKING!" Uranus released her attack.
As the ball of magical energy neared him, Ranma started concentrating.
"What are you doing?" Asked Sailor Moon as she arrived after having finished the tree off. She couldn't believe the outers were once again attacking before asking questions. The others arrived just in time to see the man lift his hand in front of him and a barrier of energy stop the World Shaking without much trouble.
Pluto took advantage of the show and turned to Sailor Moon. "That man is a menace to Crystal Tokyo. If he lives he'll destroy our chances of bringing peace to the world." The girls might not have believed her if they hadn't seen him use a barrier to completely block one of Uranus' attacks.
Mercury scanned Ranma with her computer and frowned. "He's using some kind of negative energy. His readings are as powerful as those of Saturn."
"What?" Ranma asked as he was suddenly the receiver of numerous murderous glares. "Just my luck." He muttered as he prepared himself for the imminent attack. He assumed his usual fighting stance and eyed each of the girls, studying for possible weaknesses.
Uranus was surprised this man could block her attach so effortlessly. She summoned her sword and charged, intending to cleave him in half. *If he can block magical attacks let's see how he reacts to the old fashion way.* She opened up with a downward slash aimed at his left shoulder.
Ranma saw the attack coming a mile away and easily dodged. He jumped over the returning attack and planted his left foot on her face. Just as he was about to press his advantage his danger sense kicked in. "VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!" He twisted out of the way of yet another magical attack and received a blow to the low of his back. He rolled with the force of the impact and turned to face the green-haired Senshi, her staff at the ready.
Most of the inners gasped as they saw Pluto take action in the front lines. *She must really think this guy's a threat to the future.* Most of the thought as they charged, all doubts gone from their minds.
Ranma found his situation changing from difficult to desperate. He was attacked from all angles by three of the Senshi in physical combat. They weren't particularly skilled or powerful, but the three of them obviously had experience fighting together. As soon as he managed to get some distance he either had to dodge or block a magical attack from the other ones that had him captured in a circle. "This is getting better and better."
Sailor Moon, who was watching the fight and had the growing feeling that something was wrong. She heard a gasp from out of the melee and saw one of the Senshi wasn't taking part in the fight. In fact that Senshi had a horrified expression on her face. "What's wrong?" She asked as she ran up to her.
Back on the field Ranma was starting to tire. Several attacks had landed on him and he was feeling the effects of dodging so much. It didn't matter how many times he beat on the three pressing Senshi they would get up, not even a bruise where the blow landed. He realized with a sense of dread that they were magically enhanced to heal. In a show of skill and power that defied anything possible he blurred for a second. The three Senshi attacking him fell to the ground in a heap. "Get him!" Cried one of the others.
Ranma realized his mistake too late. He had just given the entire Senshi group a clean shot at him. "Oh shit!" He was blasted from every direction.
"You have to stop this, Sailor Moon!" The distressed Senshi pleaded to her leader.
"What?" She didn't get an answer as all the other Senshi fired their attacks at the same time.
Ranma crouched low and powered up his shield. That was all he could do in the little time available. All the attacks met and formed a huge magical explosion that sent everyone back on their butts. The pigtailed martial artist used the resulting blast to fly away in the confusion. He had managed to delay them long enough and was now on his way to meet with his wife.
Pluto recovered enough to see a brilliant shape fly up and away from the explosion in the same direction the priestess had gone earlier. "He managed to escape, after him." She put words into action as she started running in the general direction where Ranma had disappeared on. The others were surprised to see her run instead of simply teleporting, but ignored it and followed after her.
Sailor Moon turned to her side only to find she was left alone. She sighed and ran after the others, hoping they would listen to her for once. Her fellow Senshi seemed really disturbed at the prospect of attacking that man.
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Ranma landed in an alley and did his best to hide his aura. He knew that girl had been able to scan him because he put up his shield. "Man, what a day." He sighed as he put his arms around Kakurine.
"Your mother is already safely asleep in a hotel not too far from here." The priestess said as she returned the embrace. "How did the fight go?" She didn't have the need to ask. Ranma was heavily bruised and even bleeding from some scratches. His jeans were charred and his T-shirt was torn up pretty good. This was nothing compared to the kind of punishment Ranma could take, but even the fact that he was bruised meant those girls meant trouble.
Ranma released her and smirked. "I didn't use any of my real power. One of those girls scanned my aura, if she did when I was at full power she could find me anywhere in Japan. I couldn't take that chance."
"So that means we shouldn't worry about them?" Kakurine asked as she sat him down and started examining his injuries.
Ranma shrugged. "I don't know. Some of them had some strong attacks. I didn't see two of them attack me, they just remained looking through the entire fight." He turned a serious look to her. "I'm also sure they weren't fighting at their strongest. The one with the green hair seemed to have some kind of connection with the time stream. She didn't use any time-disrupting attacks."
Kakurine, satisfied that Ranma's injuries weren't anything serious, nodded and stood up. As soon as she did she felt a presence behind her. Ranma felt it as well and stood up straight. They both looked directly at one of the Sailor Senshi, their behavior completely serious. They knew they were trapped in the alley. The only exit was a metal door that seemed like it hadn't been used for ages. That and the path blocked by the Senshi, of course.
She stood in front of the pair, studying them and wondering why she hadn't recognized them on sight. How many priestesses with purple hair were in Japan, anyway? And the blue eyes and pigtail of the man gave him away as well. She turned her head and shouted over her shoulder. It had been a long time. "Clear!"
Ranma and Kakurine gave the girl a curious look. She motioned for them to follow her, then forcibly opened the door and entered the abandoned building. The couple shrugged and followed her inside.
As Ranma closed the door once again Kakurine and the Senshi silently regarded each other. The man stood next to his wife and asked. "So what do you want?"
"This." She said as she detransformed. When she was finished she stood in front of them, her expression a fierce scowl.
Kakurine's eyes widened and she placed a hand over her mouth with the shock. She could only stare at the girl in front of her and do nothing. Ranma's reaction was a little more vocal. He groaned and lowered his head. "I think I'm gonna be sick. My daughter is one of those pathetic Senshi."
The Senshi in question facefaulted at that. "Otosan." She whined as she stood up. Her anger at her parents forgotten for the time being. She had thought her parents would be proud of her if they ever found out. Of course, she also thought they were a normal couple of business people with no time to spend with their only daughter. She had last seen them years ago. Not even a phone call in all that time.
Kakurine finally recovered her voice, partly because of the return to familiar territory. Ranma was always teasing their daughter. "Michiru-chan." She said as tears started forming in her eyes.
The aquamarine-haired young woman couldn't help herself as she too started to cry and embraced her mother. Ranma smiled as he joined them in a three way hug.
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After some time the three of them finally sobered enough to talk. They sat down and started talking. Michiru told her parents about how she had become a Senshi, and gave them a brief summary of her life ever since. Surprisingly she became a Senshi shortly after they parted for the last time.
Kakurine and Ranma ruefully explained their daughter how they were always away because they wanted her to have a normal life. Something she wouldn't get if she was with them. "And it seems your life wasn't normal even without us." Ranma finished sadly.
"Otosan." She said as she took his hand in hers.
Kakurine sighed. "It hurts, Michiru-chan. To know that the pain we caused you when you grew without your parents was all for nothing."
"I'm still a little angry with you, but now that I know your reasons I think I know why you did things like you did." She said. "I'm only curious as to why you thought I wouldn't get a normal life by your side."
Ranma frowned. "Now that you mention it, you don't feel like you should." Kakurine nodded as she kneeled next to her daughter.
"What?" Michiru asked genuinely confused. "What do you mean?"
Ranma answered her question as Kakurine continued with her study. Michiru's eyes widened when she saw a strange tattoo appear on her mother's forehead, her eyes turning completely red. "As our daughter you should have an aura similar to ours. Kakurine placed a seal on your powers when you were but a baby, yet your general aura should remain the same."
"Powers?" This was definitely getting too weird for Michiru. If she wasn't sure these were indeed her parents she would be suspicious. She felt something she always felt around them, a sense of belonging that made her feel safe. A feeling she rarely had at all.
Ranma nodded. "Don't tell me you already forgot about today's fight. Why did they attack us, anyway?"
Michiru understood and wondered how Ranma had managed to fight the Senshi sustaining only some minor injuries. Her eyes worriedly scanned him, and with relief she found the injuries were indeed minor. "I don't know why Pluto said you both were a menace for the Time Stream. I'm sure she made a mistake." Or at least she hoped that was it. "We can talk to Sailor Moon about that. She'll understand and convince Pluto you're not a menace."
Ranma thought for a moment and remembered. "She's the one that didn't attack me either, right?" Michiru nodded.
Kakurine was frowning dangerously by the time she finished her examination. "Michiru-chan, there's an alien spirit in your body destroying who you really are. If it continues to grow it will take control over your body."
Michiru was startled when she saw Ranma's eyes glow red, red tattoos appeared all over his face and arms and his injuries healed almost instantly. "I'm gonna kill whoever did this." He growled in a tone of voice that made Michiru shiver.
Kakurine quickly scolded Ranma. "Keep your aura down. Do you want the other Senshi to find us?" Her husband had the decency to look ashamed as he powered down.
Michiru turned from her father to her mother and asked. "What are you?"
Ranma smirked. "Shouldn't you ask 'what are we'?" At her face of surprise he wiggled a finger in front of her wide eyes. "Remember, you're our daughter."
"Ranma, stop teasing her." Kakurine reprimanded, though she was a little amused at the situation. Turning to Michiru and taking her hands in hers she explained. "Michiru-chan, there's so much we must tell you. I don't think we have the time right now. What you should know is that we aren't human."
As Michiru tried to understand what she had been told, Ranma asked of his wife. "What about this spirit? Can you stop it?" He was concerned and it showed in his features.
"The only way is to destroy it." Kakurine answered as she turned to a horrified Michiru. "I assume this spirit must be the one from that so called reincarnation. It's your decision."
"What?"
Ranma clarified. "The only way to stop this spirit from taking over you is by destroying it. That would mean you would no longer have any connection to what you call the Silver Millennium."
Michiru was struck by the realization that her parents were proposing her to kill the part of her life that was a Senshi. For the last couple of years she had dedicated herself to protecting love and justice from the forces of evil. She had found friendship and love. Her eyes narrowed as she was angered at the couple that abandoned her, that left her alone to face the hardships of life. She felt the urge to lash out at them, to show them that she didn't need them. Didn't love them.
*I'll make them pay.* She thought as she prepared to transform and destroy the menace to the future of Crystal Tokyo. *I'll... WHAT?!* Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what she was thinking. Ranma and Kakurine had given her the choice, even though she could see they couldn't stand the thought of losing her. *What's wrong with me?* She remembered all those times that she didn't want to hurt someone, yet she did in order to follow her Senshi duty. All those times she felt something inside of her that made her do things she regretted. That very same feeling that was now trying to make her 'kill' her own parents.
Michiru clutched her head as a strong pain suddenly assaulted her. "Michiru!" Both Ranma and Kakurine worriedly cried out.
*I don't want to do it.* She thought desperately. *I won't attack my parents.* She understood now what her mother told her. She wasn't a reincarnation of the Silver Millennium. The spirit of Sailor Neptune had been somehow ingrained into her to replace her true self. The urges, those cruel urges. All that pain she felt whenever she tried to go against the future of Crystal Tokyo because she thought the end didn't justify the means. "Okasan." She faintly whispered in a pained voice. "Do it."
Kakurine nodded as she pressed a pressure point on Michiru's neck. The girl fell unconscious. Turning to Ranma, the purple haired woman said. "This will release a lot of energy."
Ranma nodded. "I'll create a distraction." With that he opened the door and stepped outside, intent on keeping the Senshi away, and possibly taking out some frustrations on them for doing this to his daughter.
Kakurine kneeled next to her daughter and started chanting. Slowly but surely a sign started to form on the ground with red energy, very similar to the one on her forehead.
An aura suddenly sprung from Michiru's body and lashed out at the priestess, who started to sweat as her own aura countered the spiritual attack.
Kakurine resigned herself for a long fight. It seemed like whoever did this had known what to do. If she wasn't careful she could destroy Michiru's soul together with the invading spirit.
Michiru moaned as the battle continued. Even if she was unconscious she was an active player in this fight.
She promised herself she wouldn't lose.
END PART 3
Author's notes: Sat down and couldn't get up till I finished. Did anyone see this one coming? Some people asked if I would use Raye as Ranma's daughter, but I didn't want to use her. Too many people seem to work with her.
For the next chapter you can expect one hell of a fight both between the Senshi and a winged woman, as well as a battle for possession of Michiru's body.
See you in part 4! |
