Where Are We Now? Chapter 4 A Ranma/Sailor Moon fusion By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton ---Saotome Residence, Juuban. Seven at night--- Ranma was nervous about bringing Persephone (or Setsuna Meiou as she preferred to be called now) home to meet his mother. Nodoka had a tendency to overreact when confronted with a beautiful girl, especially one involved with her son, and was forever rushing to get her son married. Setsuna walked next to him, her arm intertwined with his, and wrapped her other arm around his waist. "What's worrying you, Honto-chan?" She stopped him under a street lamp in the park. The trees were drifting in the breeze and the stillness of the area itself unnerved him somehow. "Do you...not want me to meet your mother?" "No, no, Puu-chan! It's just that my mom has some strange ideas on how I should date." He looked into her emerald eyes and seemed to gaze into her own insecurities. "She seems to think being a pervert and sleeping around is 'manly.'" She allowed a mischievous smile to creep up her face, giggling despite himself she turned away. "You know what, Honto-chan? I don't see why that's a problem, I mean, if she says it's alright then we can fool around." He sweatdropped. "You...aren't serious...are you?" She burst into laughter and hugged him tight. Her laughter proved infectious and he found himself laughing at his own idiotic ideas, of course she wasn't! "Of course I am!" She jumped into his arms, his hands grabbing hold of her waist, and seductively licked his ear. Somehow his fears were justified now. ---Beryl's throne room--- Mettalia had just chewed her out again, berating her for such meager energy that Amethyst was able to acquire in the scant two days. After assurances that her highest ranking general, Magnetite, would aid in the operation, Beryl was allowed to go. Now, in the sanctity of her own chambers, she began to formulate more plans for her invasion of Earth. Her relationship with Honturi had become strained lately, he was away for longer and longer periods of time, and she suspected he was seeing someone else on the sly. Her brow furrowed as she observed Amethyst running her 'hotel' on Earth with a contingent of female youma. A glittering gem fell from her hand only to crash on the dark, cold floor. [I'll get that bitch!] With her remaining generals disposed of and the levels of youma dwindling, she could ill afford to have Amethyst killed just yet but nor could she continue to subsist on just her stolen energy. She hated to call upon Magnetite, knowing how he hated being demeaned to such a base level, but if Metallia was not appeased, Beryl would suffer. No one knew the price for displeasure better than Beryl...no one. With a dismissive wave of her hand, the image vanished and she turned back to her bedchambers, at least there she could get some rest. Still, the feeling persisted that Honturi was seeing another woman, that he was being unfaithful as he had in the old days, the days before the breaking. ---Saotome Household--- "Tadaima!" Ranma slipped off his shoes and opened the foyer door for Setsuna as she donned the pair of guest slippers arranged by the shoe-rack. Setsuna was unfamiliar with Japanese customs and social norms, it seemed he would have to hold her hand through the affair. "Mom? Are you home?" He popped his head into the living room. "I'm right here, Ranma." Nodoka appeared from behind the kitchen curtain wiping her hands on an apron, she was smiling as she greeted him home from his first day of school at Juuban High. That particular smile grew even wider when she caught a glimpse of Setsuna standing behind him. [My son has finally brought a girlfriend home!] It brought a tear to her eye when Setsuna hooked her arm in his. [And she's so forward! This is just what Ranma needs to start a big family of grandchildren for me!] "Who is this beautiful young lady?" She arched an eyebrow. Ranma grasped Setsuna's hand, eager to keep up appearances. "This is Setsuna Meiou, she's in a few of my classes and a good friend." Nodoka fixed the girl with an appraising look. "She's trying to find an apartment so I said she could stay here, it's okay isn't it?" Setsuna frowned as Ranma began to use such colloquial dialect, hardly befitting a ruler of the solar system. "Isn't it?" "Nice to meet you, Setsuna-chan, how long will you be staying?" She shook the emerald haired senshi's hand. "I don't know, however long Ranma wants me to stay, and yourself, or course." Nodoka simply beamed at the remark, turning to Ranma with a smile and tear of joy welling in her eyes. "Son! Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend? You can tell your mother about a silly curse but not about a girlfriend? I'm so ashamed." Ranma nearly choked on the rice cracker he'd snatched from the table. "So tell me Setsuna-chan, what classes are you in with my Ranma?" "I'm in his biology class and family planning class. We're project partners in sex Ed. Very good _partners_." Ranma groaned at Setsuna for her lack of tact, to which she just smile wolfishly at him. As Nodoka led her into the kitchen, she winked once at him and licked her lips. ---Usagi Tsukino's house, after dinner--- Usagi, Minako, Makoto and Ami were gathered in the reincarnated princess's bedroom after dinner talking with Luna and Artemis about their mysterious new enemy. Usagi had (of course) taken a bag of chips upstairs with them and was fighting Minako for the last few crumbs. Ami and Makoto seemed to be the only ones listening to the moon cats' story. "I do not know of any uncle of the Princess that would have become a Negaverse General, although some distant members of her family did side with the resistance. Are you sure he called her niece?" Luna lay curled on Usagi's pillow as Artemis dangled his head over the edge of the bed. "Positive." Ami touched her lips, just previous to Magnetite's declaration he had kissed her full on the lips. Her nose seemed to fill with the odor of jasmine and myrrh, the scent of her dreamscape lover, the beau of all senshi. "What about our dreams? Could there be some connection?" "Yeah! I have a different dream every night, but in every one there's this really cute guy." Makoto blushed as all present face-faulted. "I swear these are Moon dreams, not just my fantasy, he's really tall and carries a glowing-blue sword. He had black hair and he always seemed to be with one of us, how about him Luna? Artemis?" Luna sighed and even Artemis blushed and sweat-dropped. "That I do know about. Makoto, Ami, you will have to pass this information along because I'll only tell you this once, Artemis and I don't like to speak of it. These dreams you've been having are Moon dreams, of that you can be certain. The man you dream of was a friend of Artemis, the General of the Trigan Corps." Luna poked Artemis off the bed. "If I'm going to tell them, the least you can do is help!" "Nope! The least I can do...is run away!" Artemis dashed out the door and into the kitchen, purring contentedly at Ikuko Tsukino's legs. He assumed he was safe from telling them, at least for now. "Worthless flea-bag," Luna muttered under her breath. "The Trigan Corps. was the elite special unit for the Queen, they protected the capital and safeguarded the Queen in times of war. The man you dreamt of was their commander, Divus Honturi. Divus was a friend of Artemis, the two were drinking buddies, and he was your husband." She put her paws on her head and prepared for the inevitable. "WHAATTT!!!!???" ---The next morning--- Rei, never really a morning person, plodded slowly to class. She hadn't caught much sleep the past night due to her warring feelings for her new martial arts instructor. Rei knew he was Honturi, knew that he was her husband and indeed that of all senshi, but she couldn't summon up the courage to tell the others. Partially because of her fire-reading abilities her memory of the moon was clearer so that she could virtually recall her entire life as Princess of Mars could, a dubious gift especially when she recalled the nights spent with her husband. Best not to think about that in public. The sun was getting higher in the sky and students were milling about on Juuban High's courtyard, a shared field where most students from the surrounding schools ate lunches every afternoon. As homeroom was not a pressing concern, Rei quietly slipped into the trees to meet with Makoto and Ami before classes began. Just like every morning, the pair was waiting as the school gates. "Hey Ami, Mako-chan!" Rei called out while swinging her bag over her shoulders. The two senshi turned towards the sound of her voice and smiled rather painfully. "What's going on?" "It's probably better if we tell you after school. We're having a meeting at your house today, right?" Makoto brushed her auburn hair back as she spotted Ranma walking to class. "If you'll excuse me, I have an old boyfriend to talk to." She stuck out her tongue at Rei then winked before speeding to the crowd around Ranma. "Men! Is that all she thinks about? You're her best friend, Ami, why don't you do something!?" Rei fumed as the boy, who she knew to be her husband Magnetite, broke through the crowd and began amicably talking with the Senshi of Jupiter. [Dammit! He should be mine!] "I don't see why I should, I mean it isn't interfering with her senshi duties and they haven't seen each other in a few years." Ami's lusty stare at the muscular boy didn't go unnoticed by Rei Hino. She growled. "Just don't forget the meeting after school and drag Usagi with you." She snorted in disgust before stalking back into the trees. What she didn't notice was Ranma / Honturi / Magnetite staring after her. [She knows...] A voice laced with sugar broke him from his ruminations, apparently Makoto was trying to get him to train her individually again. "Listen, Mako-chan, can't we talk about this later? I've got to get to class..." "No! We'll talk about it now! I won't let you brush me off, I'm not just another bubbly girl after you in the class, I'm a martial artist and I demand that you pay attention!" She stamped her foot on the ground, unconsciously sending a spark of electricity through his shoes, a trick he remembered her using during the times of the Moon Kingdom. "I was your first student, I think I get some kind of consideration. You obviously learned some new moves and I want you to teach me!" [If you only knew...] Ranma grabbed her shoulders and held her at arm length, their close proximity eliciting a blush from the chestnut-haired girl and immediately closing her mouth. "We will talk about this at lunch okay? I'll come over to where you eat." Makoto's stomach suddenly filled with butterflies and her head felt so light as she looked into his gray-blue eyes. They seemed to draw her into their inky depths and swallow her soul. Seemingly of no mind, she nodded at him and rushed forward to embrace him but he diverted her rush and spun her around so she was facing the school entrance. Reluctantly she plodded to class. Ranma smirked at how easy the reincarnations of his wives were to manipulate, even after all the years in stasis his eidetic memory remembered all the subtle touches and words he could use to pacify them. Even Setsuna, the most mentally powerful of them all, fell at his leisure. Had their powers been weakened? Perhaps so if Sailor Moon couldn't even transform into Super stage, an interesting scenario if he was at full power and they were not... The bell rang for class to begin and he teleported straight to class; his peers not even noticing his mystical entrance as the teacher slammed his clipboard on the heavy desk and called class to order. The class was yet another on the boring history of Earth, yet it was sometimes amusing to hear of Moon Kingdom outposts rising to prominence in the years after the breaking. He idly wondered how Setsuna was faring in her mission. ---Nerima--- "Where the hell did he go you fat bastard!!?!?!?!" Ukyo brought her razor-sharp spatula up against Genma's throat, a trio of smaller utensils holding him to the wall. "He was supposed to marry me!" That elicited a response from the trio of females standing behind her. "What you mean stupid spatula-girl!? Ranma Shampoo's airen! He come back to village with me and raise strong children!" The warrior raised a pair of bon-bori and struck an offensive pose, behind her Akane and Kodachi followed by slipping into battle stances of their own. "Ah! Uh...Shampoo mean that Ranma is no yours but Ranma decide for himself!" A sweatdrop grew on her forehead as the other two girls grinned evilly. Akane cracked her knuckles before pushing past the Amazon and grabbed Ukyo by the collar, throwing her across the dojo. "I'm gonna find out where that jerk's gone and beat him for running away!" She flashed mallet-sama out of nowhere and held it over Genma's sweating form, the gi miraculously holding together no matter the tears and rips from Ukyo's sharpened projectiles. "Tell us where he went." The words came out as no more than a whisper but to Genma they spelled doom. "Now." "His mother took him...they threatened me! I-I-I couldn't d-do anything to stop them! Please you've got to believe me!" The mallet's head bounced menacingly against his fat chin, the wielder giving him a disbelieving look. "I swear that's what happened! I don't know where he is now!" Kodachi and Shampoo leaned closer as Genma began to trail off, all but whispering the details to Akane, eager to hear where their love retreated to, surely he wasn't running from them! The insane gymnast giggled softly under her breath at the thought, her darling Ranma-sama running away from her loving attentions? Preposterous! Surely he was running from the gaijin bimbo or the Tendo girl, she was gentle and kind to him, how could he abandon her? Shampoo dragged Ukyo with her as she leaned in to listen, Ranma had to be found for Shampoo to have his children. She decided that as soon as she found him she would insist that they consummate their vows because without children she could never claim him for herself. The lavender locks brushed across her neck as she vigorously shook her head at the mere thought of Ranma running from her. Akane let mallet-sama slip back into nothingness. Genma looked up and saw her eyes flat and a red aura manifesting around her shaking frame, he wisely fled the house and out into the morning as a titanic scream of rage echoed through the morning air. "ANOTHER WOMAN!!!?!?!? I'LL GET THE LITTLE BITCH!!!!!!!!!!" ---Juuban--- Setsuna sneezed as she looked up at the house owned by Souichi Tomoe and his daughter Hotaru, a dark place for the work being done underneath. For years she had observed the doings of Mistress 9's resurrection and for years she had ruled the awakening as an important event in the Timestream. That had changed. If what Honturi said was true, the senshi would be needing Hotaru's power as Sailor Saturn much sooner than she had predicted. She wished the girl could have been given more time but such was not the case, for the betterment of humankind she had to break poor Hotaru's heart. She took a deep breath before touching the Timestaff at the doors to the Tomoe house, doors which disintegrated immediately afterwards. Dust coated her high school uniform as she calmly walked in just as Kaolinte leapt from the stairs, tackling the emerald-haired senshi to the floor. A brief scuttled followed as the two rolled around on the carpet. Setsuna ripped a great handful of Kaolinte's hair out as the witch attempted to strangle her. They finally broke apart, Kaolinte sporting a deep gash through her human disguise, Setsuna nursing a dislocated shoulder. "Who are you? Why are you here?" The dark witch felt along the nasty cut on her side, the dark flesh of her true form glaringly obvious through the artificial pink, as Setsuna popped her shoulder back into place, to her credit the senshi didn't cry out as the cartilage snapped back into place. She never said a word, just hefted the rod with her right arm and pointed the garnet orb towards her opponent. With a quick, deft movement, Setsuna plunger the rod through Kaolinte and tore away her human guise. "Bitch!" Kaolinte leapt back upstairs and fled as Setsuna power-up. Down the long hallway, Souichi Tomoe was talking with his daughter, the fifth-grade host for Mistress 9. The lead of the Five Witches suddenly burst into the room, true form shocking Hotaru, the professor's daughter into silence. "Kaolinte!? What the devil do you think you're doing running around without your human disguise!?" Souichi realized what he said and glanced at Hotaru. "No reason to pretend anymore, I guess. Kaolinte, grab the girl, I'll deal with this intruder." His form began to waver violently as he convulsed and shivered in pain as a daemon phased into his body from the worlds beyond. He grew long talons and spikes on his skin, both dripping his blood as they burst through the soft flesh of his body, his voice deepening until it made a youma's seem high-pitched. Kaolinte grabbed Hotaru and brought her horrible face to the little girl's eyes, which wavered, in horror, before twisting her arm painfully and producing a narrow alien blade. "If she moves...kill her." "So it was true. You are using the girl." The wall crumbled to splinters and Setsuna walked through the debris. She stabbed at Kaolinte's unprotected side and the witched doubled over in pain, the pointed end of her staff breaking scaled skin and puncturing xenomorphic organs. Black ichor spilled out onto the floor as she fell, clutching her side, and spattered the floor with blood. Pluto lifted the bawling girl and tucked the young senshi of Saturn into her side. As the young girl clutched at her skirts and began to lose consciousness, Pluto jabbed Souichi in the face with the Timestaff. "M-mistress...n-nine...will...RISE AGAIN!!!!!!" The man fell to his knees as her energy pulse vaporized his head, the smoking ruin of Souichi Tomoe collapsed to the floor and Hotaru finally passed out due to the excitement. "I know she will...but not through this one." Pluto carried the sleeping Hotaru down the stairs and touched her forehead, illuminating the symbol of Saturn. "My future will not be...now time will change..." She thought of Honturi, or Ranma as he preferred to be called, "...perhaps for the better." She teleported out just as Dead Scream tore the structure to shreds. Setsuna reappeared in the Saotome living room, gently laying Hotaru on the couch as she slept. Nodoka was out shopping, or else she would surely have asked why Setsuna was not in school. She unbuttoned the girl's dress, leaving her undergarments intact before producing a pair of pajamas and tucking her charge into a mountain of quilts, helping to stave off the effects of shock. After assuring herself that Hotaru would be all right, Setsuna de-energized and dozed off on the floor. ---Juuban High School--- Ranma walked back along the grove of trees near the back entrance of Juuban high, desperate to get back home, to see his Karane and yet vaguely threatened by his surroundings. Something was about to happen, something that would push his hand. With bento in hand, he crept around the grove and sat by himself under the metal stairs wrapping around the science building. He ate with evident relish, unknowing of the danger closing in on him. "Saotome? Yeah, he sits by himself under the stairs. Why?" Hayashi scratched his head as the black-haired girl ran back down the hall. "Weird..." Rei ran down the corridor towards the science wing, uncaring of the view her short skirt gave to the boys as it blew in the wind. She paused only to slap an arrogant boy for pinching her panties before the cool grass greeted her beyond a door. A grove of trees blew slowly in the breeze, small leaves billowing across the field. The sounds of battle echoed from the metal staircase beyond her line of sight. "Get the hell away from me! I'm not gonna go back!" Ranma dodged a strike and leapt up three stairs. "Airen come back with Shampoo! We go back to great-grandmother and go on date! If you no want to go, Shampoo just have to force Ranma!" She swung again with her sword, the steel cutting through the railing, the steel pipe falling to the ground. Rei approached it with trepidation, gazing upwards at the pair fighting their way up the stairs. "Quit it! I ain't going back with you! I'm happy here!" He struck her hand and the sword flew down the stairs, almost slicing Rei in half. She backed away on her hands, shying away from the glinting blade. She saw Ranma trading blows with a purple-haired girl in Chinese clothes and was immediately jealous, she didn't know why per se but the thought of other women having him grated at her nerves. With a growl she ran into the thick forested area and transformed, returning with a decidedly more powerful physique and decidedly shorter skirt. With a loud scream she ran up the staircase and followed the battle as they wound their way to the roof. As she stopped and took her senshi pose her heel broke in one of the grates and it was only the resulting fall that saved her head from being a red smear on the concrete. "Stupid short-skirt girl no have airen! Shampoo kill!" Red shown in her eyes, the blood lust was kicking into overdrive as she saw another presumed rival for Ranma's affections. That is not to say that she didn't appreciate her husband being manly enough to attract so many women but is was getting a bit exasperating! Ranma watched the moment in slow motion as Shampoo cocked her arm back to deliver the killing blow. "NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!" A burst of golden light erupted from his palm, shoving Shampoo against the chain-link fence surrounding the roof and into blissful unconsciousness. Rei simply stared first at what she perceived to be her death, then at the amazing phenomena Ranma displayed as the ki blast sent her assailant flying. Ranma stood on his own two feet before a gentle wind levitated him off the ground, a blinding flare of light halloing his form against the sky. He could feel the power flowing into him, the sweet mercy of release as he let the reigns on his power go, the nexus of cosmic energy wrapping itself slowly around him. Rei shut her eyes tight against the strobe of magical power as Ranma phased out of corporeal reality and Honturi stepped out of the glowing orb. Honturi was resplendent in slivery crystal armor, the sunlight twinkling on the gold bracers and neck plate as he stepped out. He wore crystal greaves and an enormous blade bounced at his hip. The Cosmic Xenosol sparkled with eldritch light as the single rod bubbled with arcane energy, an iron crown sitting atop his brown - inscribed with mystical runes of power. Underneath the armor he wore a black mandarin collar tunic, the same outfit she remembered him wearing around her quarters on Mars during the months he'd spend with her. An air of majesty surrounded him as his boots rapped lightly against the concrete rooftop. When he spoke, his voice boomed in her ears. "Arise, Senshi of Mars." With a wave of his hand, Rei levitated off the stairs and stood before him. She blushed, as he eagerly looked her up and down, making careful note of the changes wrought upon her body through the millennia. She averted her eyes as he grinned expansively and touched her cheek. "Your courage is admirable, but even now you still forget to think before rushing into a fight." He raised her chin with a finger and washed his hand through her hair, his perfectly manicured nails dragging delightfully across her scalp, Rei moaned as he messaged her head and tilted her face into his other palm. Her fear and fatigue were swept clean away by the gentle calm of his presence. "My lord...you have returned to me." Rei's skin briefly became a scarlet red, as if she had been sunburned and her eyes became deep azure pools. "I missed you, Honturi-san." "Freya..." Ranma took hold of her shoulders and shook her lightly, "...Rei...Awaken." Her skin regained its creamy pallor and she stared back into his face. "Ranma? Y-you're Honturi!? How!? Why!? Why didn't you tell us, you PRICK!?!? Rei's brow creased in anger as she pushed away from his chest, kicking him soundly between the legs in the meantime, Honturi crumpled to the ground. "You asshole! You can't even tell your own wife you're still alive?" Ranma coughed on the ground, feeling his codpiece for cracks. She kicked him again in the ribs. "Well? Answer me!" "I...did it for your protection...Beryl is going to unleash...the Seven Scourges...it's up to me to stop her...I need your help." He pushed himself up, albeit wobbly. "It wasn't necessary for you to know my true identity, but I flew off the handle back there. I couldn't stand the idea of Shampoo," he gestured to the fallen Amazon, "hurting you." "Fine, alright! I'll give you that much, but I won't help you when the rest of them find out. And they will be told now, won't they 'darling'?" Honturi sweatdropped and swallowed loudly as he realized she'd tell them all during that night's class. Rei saw him begin to sweat before gently patting him on the head. "Don't worry Honturi-chan, I won't force you tonight...but you will have to tell them." He relaxed considerably. Shampoo feigned unconsciousness by the fence, listening to every word that stabbed her soul with sorrow. "Now what are you planning to do? We were all reincarnated you know, will it be back to the old days?" He knew exactly what she meant, anxiety sprung back to life within him, would he marry them all again. "...Probably not." He shifted nervously. "By 'Probably not' do you mean you don't know?" Rei's eyes began to glow crimson. "You mean to say you have no idea what you plan on doing? Nothing at all?" Honturi bristled indignantly. "Of course I have a plan! Reawaken the senshi and stop Beryl before she unleashes the Seven Scourges! After that..." He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. Rei's anger cooled at the mere mention of the Seven Scourges, if it were so serious even she would never presume to pursue a romantic relationship with that kind of evil hanging over their heads. "...Maybe have some fun, hang around a little, you know, get Serenity up and running." "What about the Outers? We haven't had any contact with them yet." She leaned against the roof entrance and slid to a sitting position, de-energizing as she did so Honturi following suit. The lunch period only lasted an hour, it was only half over but it seemed an eternity had passed already. "Puu-chan is taking care of that, If everything goes according to schedule then Karane should already have awakened and be in our hands." Ranma suddenly realized he'd put his foot in it as she jumped up and grabbed his collar. "'Puu-chan'? 'Puu-chan'!!!!!! You back stabbing little cheat! Not even letting the rest of us know you're alive, all the while cuddling with your little 'Puu-chan'?" Rei threw him over her shoulders, rolling on her back and kicking him off the roof, the endless sound of his body falling down the stairs echoing across the yard. Ranma finally came to a halt on the dirt outside his homeroom. "...Yup. She still has that temper..." ---To be continued--- Sorry for the long wait but writer's block...well I'm not going to make any excuses. I hope you enjoyed this chapter because it took a long time to write. I know some people are going to curse me for the way Honturi acted in this chapter but I assure you that his suave nature will return in the next chapter and we'll see Nodoka's reaction to premarital sex. I know I didn't do a lot with the senshi this chapter but I had to rescue Hotaru and let Rei tell Ranma she knew. Many thanks go to all the loyal reader who've been pestering me to churn out chapter four. Next time I promise it will be longer. C&C / Flames Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton Vze2jcwc@verizon.net Thanks a lot!