SMARTALECK PRODUCTIONS Destiny By arun Chapter#04 Completed on 07/23/2001 This is a Ranma 1/2 - Sailor Moon crossover with certain aspects of Ramayana. Disclaimers: Ranma and the cast members of Ranma 1/2 are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Shogukkan. Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most brilliant people to walk on the face of this earth. We the fans of the anime world are forever indebted to her for giving us Ranma and co. Thank you Rumiko Takahashi for bringing laughter back into our lives. Sailor Moon and its characters are owned by Naoko Takeuchi, Toei animation and KODANSHA. I do not own the characters of both these shows, nor do I even pretend to own them. This work of fiction is but a tribute to the above anime shows. Guys: !....! indicate thoughts. In the first and second chapters <...> indicates Japanese and "..." indicates Chinese. In all the other chapters, the reciprocal is true. \...\ indicates Tamil as it spoken and \\...\\ indicates Tamil translations. *********************************************************************** Surya examined the sailors and licked his lips. The appetizers were over and now the main course was being served. "Finally some toys to play with. Can I break your arms?" he asked. "I wonder how your virgin blood tastes?" He spoke in that manner because he wanted to make the sailors angry. Angry opponents make serious mistakes, which can be capitalized on. "Shut up and die monster." replied Rei. Surya stopped his speech. He did not stop his examination however and he continued to examine and taunt the fiery one. "I will kill you last. You and your leader have more inner's strength than any of the others. I will torture you last and if you are lucky I might even deflower you." he announced and licked in lips in anticipation. Rei's cheeks flushed red. *How dare that... that thing think such thoughts about her?* "Die! Mars Fire Soul!" A stream of fire raced towards the Ashura. Surya smirked and produced two obsidian sickles from his back. He dodged the blast and focused ki into the sickles. The blast hit an abandoned car behind him and the car went up in flames. The smirk turned into a lopsided grin. "Now all of you die." he announced with an annoying smirk on his face. The fiery one was asking for it by loosing her anger so easily. Rei grit her teeth and launched another attack, "Mars Firebird strike!" A bird of fire formed and flew towards the Ashura. This time however, Surya did not move and the blast of fire hit him full force. His aura bloomed into a white-hot inferno of energy and countered the blast. When the blast died away he stood in the middle of the scarred and smoking pavement and his eyes turned from light green to bright red. Without prelude, he leapt into the offensive. *********************************************************************** Ryuu had one look at the thing before he decided that it was evil. It had six arms and was dressed in some strange fashion, which he could not recognize. It was the one that had attacked the pedestrians without any warning and therefore it must be evil. "Sensei we have to help those girls." he exclaimed a bit too loudly. Ranma put his index finger on his mouth and 'shhed' him. "Quiet boy." said Ranma. It seemed that the boy was itching for a fight. Obviously Ryuu's enthusiasm and the 'I am invincible' bravado that a teenager possessed in such large quantities were working overtime. Ryuu tried once again. This time though he kept his voice low. "Sensei, we have to help those girls." Ranma's eyes did not stray from the battle. "No, we will not help them. At least not at this instant." he replied. "Huh! But sensei those girls are out matched and it is a martial artists duty to help the weak and needy." he said. Ryuu's training voyage with Genma had imprinted in him the code of conduct of a martial artist. Genma rarely followed it of course rather sending his son to do the work during their travels but the lessons had been learnt none the less. "Those girls...", Ranma paused as he pointed his index finger towards the battle, "are the sailor senshi. I am sure that they can take care of themselves." replied Ranma though he knew better. He had already analyzed the combatants skill levels and had decided that the sailors were going to get their asses kicked. Ryuu shook his head. He wasn't fooled by Ranma's attempt at a lie. "You are lying sensei. Those girls are nowhere near as skilled as that thing and they are going to lose no matter what they do." Ranma turned a little and eyed his kohai. He was a little impressed. Obviously his little brother possessed a lot of raw talent. "Yes, Ryuu, you are right. However, we will not help the sailors until they are in big trouble and they are very much in need of our help." replied Ranma. "But sensei I have heard a little about the sailors and they are the good guys. I also think that thing is evil. I am willing to swear my life on that." "Ryuu, no one knows the sailor senshi's ultimate goal and I am not willing to get myself involved in a war of which I know nothing about." replied Ranma. *The boy is young and his inexperience is showing through though he does have a point about the sailors. They seem to be the good guys but we can't be sure.* Ryuu did a double take at the battle and spoke. "Sensei this is but a fight and not a full scale war." *What's up with sensei? Is he nuts or something? I don't think that six people fighting against each other constitutes a war.* Ranma smiled in reply. It seemed that his brother though a great fighter lacked the important skills of observation that was a sine qua non of an experienced warrior. "Believe me, Ryuu, this s a war and they are the combatants. You see that shadow over there..." Ranma pointed with his index finger towards a shadow by an alley. Ryuu nodded. He could see a shadow in one of the alleys on the opposite side of the road. Though he could see it, he did not have the least idea why his sensei would bring that up. It looked like someone was hiding there. *Its just some pedestrian hiding there and waiting for things to calm down.* He thought. "That, my dear student, is another one of those six-handed things. That one is hiding because that one is serving as the reinforcement for that thing the sailors are facing. Whoever commands those things anticipates more players in this game of death. I think we can safely assume that the expected players are the other members of the senshi team. That thing is there to surprise the other sailors when they arrive and hopefully prevent them from turning the tide of the battle." "Other sailors?" *Is sensei right? Are we really witnessing a war?* Ryuu's mind was overwhelmed. A war between super powered girls and some sort of evil monster was the last thing he expected to see in Tokyo. "Oh yes, Ryuu! There are other sailors. It is because of that fact I am not inclined to help in this battle. Who knows what will happen when those other sailors arrive. They might be able to turn the tide of the battle. Moreover, the sailors have a reputation for attacking first and asking questions later. They might even attack us and then we'd have a major problem on our hands." Ryuu was still not convinced. A martial artist's code of conduct said that they were supposed to help the weak and abused. The girls were weak and even though they might turn against their rescuers, it was his duty to protect them. "Look Ryuu, those things are not unnatural." said Ranma. he could sense that his kohai was still not convinced. "They sure look unnatural to me, sensei." replied Ryuu. "Yes they do appear unnatural but they are not. You see Ryuu, demons are unnatural. They do not belong in this plane of existence nor do they belong in any other. On the other hand, Kappa, Tengu, Kitsune, Oni etc., are all natural. They may be powerful spirits and some of them have bad reputations, which they deserve but they are not unnatural. If a demon is present in any plane of existence nature itself works to banish it. Demons are creatures from the huge expanses of void between the different planes. They belong there and it is their natural abode. However, if they try to move into a plane they are trying to move into something that is not meant for them and as such their continued existence in that plane is resisted by nature. Though demons can be very powerful, they can bring only a very small portion of that power to bear if they came into a plane. The rest of their energy is spent trying to resist nature. Therefore demons always have a unnatural feel about them and I cannot feel such an aura around that thing." Ryuu filed away this bit of information for use in the future. You never knew when a tiniest bit of information might come in handy. Ranma continued. "That thing whatever it may be is not a demon but a creature of nature. Therefore, we cannot interfere in this war. Those things may have a reason for attacking the sailors and we do not know what that reason is. Until we do we cannot go and stick our heads right into the war. I..." Ranma paused, his brows creased in concentration. "I know I have heard old stories about those things somewhere but their identity eludes me." said Ranma pointing to the Ashura. "Are you sure you have heard about those things sensei?" asked Ryuu. He had never heard about six-handed freaks of nature during his travels or during his stay at the Amazonian village. "Yes. I have heard about them. I am sure of it." Ranma paused. "Rest easy, my dear student. We will help the sailors if they really need our help and their teammates have not arrived. Until then, we will not join the fight. Is that understood?" Ryuu nodded. *********************************************************************** Sailor Moon, the heir to the throne of the Moon kingdom, stood surprise written all over her face. The surprise was mixed with another emotion - anger. *How dare that six-handed bastard speak in such a way to my friend?* The Moon princess normally did not allow such words pop into her mind but the thing had offended Rei and Usagi was very protective of her friends. She readied her tiara and focused mana into it. Giving her customary pose she shouted, "Moon Tiara Acti... Ugh!". *********************************************************************** Surya almost smiled at the attack that the fiery one had launched at him. The blast was weak even by mortal standards. A skilled warrior with some proficiency at ki manipulation and a decade or two of experience would have thrown a blast far more powerful than that one. *The sailors have become weak. They are not even a threat anymore.* He mused to himself. *However, I must obey my Lord's command and get rid of them. Maybe I can toy with them before ending their wretched existence.* Thought Surya as he attacked. As he ran forward, his ki enhanced senses told him that a single mortal was hiding in an alley in the block to his right. *He is a skilled one but he is not skilled enough to pose a threat to me though he might be more than Indra can handle. He is young and his aura is really tasty. I will track him down after the battle and eat him after I am done with these pests. Oh! How I long to taste human flesh once mor...* His thoughts were cut off when his senses picked up the rapid gathering of mana for an attack. Without wasting an instant, he leapt into the offensive. First up was the most powerful of the pests, the one who was their queen. She was very powerful though she was in a way, the weakest member of the group. From the way her ki flowed through her body, it seemed that she did not have the least bit of skill in the art of war. She was the only one preparing for an attack and that made his job all the more easier. He could concentrate only on her for the precious second or two when he would be rushing in for the attack. His defenses were at their weakest then and it would spell disaster if the sailors scored a hit so early in the fight. With a speed that easily rivaled the Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken, Surya ran towards Sailor Moon. His hands were extended and his body was surrounded in a white halo of fire, his body's manifestation of his ki. His sickles glowed yellow under the influence of the ki he was focusing through them. His saffron dhoti tied in a katcham allowed him complete freedom of movement. Katchai style of wearing dhoti's was particularly designed to allow maximum flexibility and was well suited for the Ashura's modus operandi in times of war. The Ashura's strategy placed more import on skill and agility then on brute power. Sailor Moon saw his incoming attack and threw her tiara at him a little too early in the hope that it would buy some time for her to escape his attack. However, Surya was too fast to be caught in that mis-timed throw and he easily maneuvered out of the incoming weapon and got into Sailor Moon's defenses. The senshi had always practiced the 'stand and deliver' routine and Sailor Moon was a stringent follower of that stratagem. The typical 'stand and deliver' routine worked fine if your opponent used the same strategy but when your opponent mounts a blitz you are done for. The stand and deliver is very useful in confrontations in which both the sides are more or less immobile and have weapons whose rate of fire is very low. In confrontations where mobility and rate of incoming attacks were high, the strategy is a death warrant and a disaster waiting to happen. The Ashura's were skilled warriors whose fighting philosophies emphasized speed and agility over brute power. In any battle situation your typical Ashura would dodge blows as they were thrown at him and then come in for the kill. The Ashura's were powerful and immensely skilled ki adepts but they preferred the sweat and blood of hand to hand combat to ki blasts. Though they used long range attacks whenever they felt that the situation demanded one, they simply did not use ki projection attacks as their primary weapons. If your opponent was skilled enough they might adapt to ki attacks very quickly and your primary weapon would become useless against them. Therefore they used ki blasts sparingly in battles. As a result of the 'stand and deliver' strategy, Sailor Moon remained static the entire time she gathered the mana for her attack. That was the biggest mistake anyone can make against a highly mobile opponent. History had shown many a time that in a war strength alone can never guarantee victory - The Spanish invasions of the English isles, the allied invasion of Iraq were prime examples. You do not stand still against a fast and agile enemy and fight against them. It is tantamount to committing suicide. When Surya got into Sailor Moon's defenses she was still static and it was child's play for an agile and experienced warrior like him to attack her. He started the attack with a supersonic ki enhanced kick to her midsection. Sailor Moon's breath was driven out from the blow and her body flew, bent under the force of the kick. Surya had no intention of letting off for a second. He ran after her at the same speed as the Moon princess to keep their bodies at rest relative to each other and sunk one of his sickles into her shoulders. Sailor Moon's eyes clouded with unshed tears and her rapidly dilating pupils clearly showed the pain that ripped through her body. Blood dripped from her mouth partly due to the injury that she had suffered and partly because of the fact that she had bitten her lips to keep from screaming out loud. Surya still ran after her. With a jerk that tore even more flesh and bone he pulled out his weapon and increased his speed just a little until he was inches from her face. He then slowed down just a little and spun around, his right leg extended for a spinning kick. His leg glowed blinding white and easily broke the sound barrier as he began his attack. His inertia kept his going whilst Sailor Moon's body moved a little further from him. His leg swung and connected with a thump that could be clearly heard throughout the block. He had judged the ki enhanced kick perfectly and his foot connected exactly where he had aimed. Usagi's head snapped to the side. The blow would have killed a normal man but Usagi's 'magic' saved her. Sailor Moon's jawbone broke under the attack and her direction of flight changed. Forces measuring several hundred gees worked on her body and she momentarily fainted. Her body flew towards a wall and crashed into it. If the wall had been made of a spider web several feet thick it could have withstood the awesome force of the impact. Unfortunately it was made of plain reinforced concrete and it exploded inwards. The shrapnel's instantly killed the old aged couple who were hiding in the room. The impact slowed down her a little but Sailor Moon still flew, albeit at a slower speed and impacted against another wall. This wall too shattered into a million pieces of dust, pebbles and steel cables. Her velocity decreased appreciably and her body landed on the hard and unrelenting concrete floor. Her inertia kept her body moving and she skidded and bounced off the floor and came to a halt against another wall. Outside the building Surya's enhanced hearing picked up Sailor Moon's resting-place and he made a mental note to go there and kill her once he was done with the others. With a wicked grin on his face he turned towards the other sailors and spoke. "Who's next?" *********************************************************************** Rei Hino in the guise of Sailor Mars stood still her mouth agape at the sight that she had just witnessed. Sure her best friend and team leader Usagi was a klutz and not the most skillful fighter in the world. She bungled a lot of her attacks and rarely did things right. However, on this fight she had done everything perfectly and yet had ended up being beat up. The thing had went through her as though she was a twig or something. Even their most powerful enemies had not been able to accomplish that and Rei was shocked more than she had ever been in her life. She was also astonished to see the thing in action right in front of her eyes. It had moved so fast that even with her magically enhanced senses its movements had been but blurs to her. Her astonishment and shock quickly gave way to anger and finally to fear. Her mind realized that the sailors were indeed toys to it. She also realized that it was playing with them. That realization was enough to send cold shivers down her spine. *********************************************************************** Minako stood her eyes the size of saucers staring at the spot where Sailor Moon had impacted against the concrete wall. In just three seconds the strongest member in the team and one of her best friends had been defeated by something that had looked like it had come out of a bad horror movie at first sight. If anyone had asked her a minute ago she would have said that their team was invincible, after all, they had fought against the best that the Negaverse could throw at them and still survived to tell about it. Now, she knew that they had been wrong all along. The ease with which the monster had defeated Sailor Moon their future queen and princess for the time being, proved that fact without an inch for doubt. There was no way anyone would have won a battle against Moon so easily if they were not vastly more powerful than her. These thoughts gave raise to fear. Fear so primeval that it was imprinted into the very genes and she stood, her muscles unable to move and defend herself if she were to be attacked. *********************************************************************** Ami AKA Sailor Mercury was astounded. There simply was no way that anything could move that gracefully. The way that monster had moved was poetry in motion. She was sure that even their new sensei, whom she suspected was more powerful than he cared to show to the outside world would not be able to move that fast. The speeds at which their adversary had moved would have put huge strains on his body and she was sure that without 'magic' no one would be able to move that fast. The strange thing was, there was not even the slightest flicker of 'magic' or mana or whatever you may call it on its body though the readings for the energy that Queen Beryl had directed her forces to steal were higher than she had previously believed possible. It was _logical_ to assume that anything that could move that fast must spend insanely large amounts of energy to sustain the speeds at which it moved. However, the readings from her instruments proved her wrong. She had checked her instruments and double-checked them but the energy readings never varied. The thing was slightly more powerful than Mars but the advantage it possessed in terms of speed and mobility was incalculable. Realization dawned to her that they were in serious trouble. They had to stand still if they were to attack and by the looks of what had happened to Sailor Moon their future looked grim if they chose that option. They were caught in a catch-22 situation and she could see no way out of it. She had to warn her friends before they rushed into a fight they could not hope to win. There was the slightest of chances that the thing could be _defeated_ but only if the remaining four of them _coordinated_ their attacks perfectly. Unfortunately, Sailor Jupiter had other ideas. *********************************************************************** Makoto AKA Sailor Jupiter was mad, very mad. *I will not let that monster get away with hurting Usagi and speaking of Rei in such a manner.* No one treated her friends like that and got away with it. Her blood boiled at the way that thing had hurt Usagi and her body ached for revenge. Makoto's years of loneliness had made her treasure her relationship with the inner's more than life itself. She would be loathe to let anyone get away with what the thing had done. "I will kill you for hurting my princess. Supreme Thunder!" she cried out and focused the mana through her tiara. The lightning bolt hit her tiara and she sent the energy at the Ashura. The energy hit the shield and threw back the Ashura a few feet. *********************************************************************** Surya cursed himself for letting his thoughts stray. He had been gloating over the quick victory and one of them had used the opening he had left and attacked him. He could have been hurt though the injuries he would have suffered from the blast would not have been serious. However, the blast would have reduced his agility and then the chances of him winning the battle would have become remote. Thankfully, his ki protected him by shunting most of the energy. He shook his head as he got up. He would not make the same mistake twice and he would fight very hard to defeat the sailors. He would make sure that this battle was their last. He smiled to himself. There he was, not even a match for some of the less skilled fighters in his clan and the senshi were not even a match for him. His king would conquer the mortal realm without too many casualties and when the mortals had fallen to their army, the God's will follow. He assumed his stance and was about to attack when a field of soap bubbles covered everything. *********************************************************************** "No!" shouted Sailor Mercury when she saw the thing taking a stance. "Jupiter, get out of there before it kills you. Shabon Spray!" The entire area got covered with soap bubbles that her attack produced. The defensive ring of bubbles had always protected the sailors and disoriented their enemies whenever the sailors needed time to regroup in the past. Against all the other opponents, it had worked perfectly. Though their enemies had been either magical creatures or 'magic' wielders, they used only their eyesight and not their magical senses to see and observe the world around them like the sailors themselves. However, against an Ashura the technique that had worked for them so many times in the past failed miserably. The Ashura's used their finely tuned ki senses to maximum advantage in any fight and the sailors did not have any ki cloaking techniques in their arsenal of attacks and defenses. As such, they were at a severe disadvantage. Sailor Mercury was the only sailor who had the necessary equipment to sense him and the others were at his mercy. *********************************************************************** Surya silently laughed to himself at the girl's obvious blunder. His opponents were now blind and he had complete advantage on the battlefield. He had never been one to look at a gift horse in the mouth and he wasn't about to start doing now. The sailors had made it that much easier for him to kill them and he would comply with their wishes. His aura blazing like an inferno about him Surya leapt once more into the attack. First up was Sailor Venus. She was the sailor nearest to him and naturally, it was logical to attack her first. His ki roared about him with even greater intensity as he focused it and ran towards her. He gripped his sickle lightly and twirled it as though it was an extension of his own hands. The concrete on the pavement cracked under the heat of his aura as he ran over it. His sickles hummed like a tuning fork as enough ki to blow a block to kingdom come was focused through it. Surya's speed was such that he was but a blur all through his charge. He came to rest a yard and a half before Venus by using his ki to absorb the inertia of his body. The girl looked at him and she did not move. It appeared that she was paralyzed by her fears. *And one of them is a wimp!* He thought as he swung his sickle at her stomach. No quarter would be offered nor will it be given when begged for. This was a fight to the death and the senshi were the ones who were going to die, he told himself. The sickle missed her stomach by nearly a foot but a deep gash appeared on her abdomen and blood gushed from it. The technique he was using accomplished the same thing as the neko-ken claws though his worked differently. By focusing on the sickle and the air that surrounded it, Surya was able to 'extend' the cutting edge of the sickle by nearly a foot. This was done by tapping into the ki flows in the area and it would have been easily sensed by a ki adept though even they would have had a hard time evading it. Surya had no intention of letting her get off so easily however, and he focused a little amount of ki into one of his remaining four arms and shot it at her. The blast hit Sailor Venus right in her chest and she flew and impacted against a lamppost. Venus's flight was abruptly brought to an end and she lost consciousness. The metal would not resist the force that was applied onto it in so short a period of time and it bent and deformed. It creaked irritably as it did and Sailor Venus slid off it and came to rest on the pavement. A pool of blood collected on the ground around her. Even as she slid off the pole her 'magic' began to heal her and made sure that Sailor Venus would live to fight for another day. Ami's sensors picked up the attack. She realized what was going on and cursed herself. She should have known that the thing had super-senses. The soap bubbles would take another minute or two before they dissipated naturally and they did not have that much time on their hands. Knowing that she was close to her friends without having anything with drove her nuts. A fighter like Rei would have fired a blast at the monster and hoped that the time she had bought would be enough for her friends to save themselves. However, Ami wasn't Rei Hino, she was Sailor Mercury, the brains of the outfit and as such she thought before she acted. She knew that if she attracted the thing to herself she would most probably die and her friends would follow her shortly on a lovely trip inside a coffin or an urn to the local cemetry. No, sacrifice was not the option. She needed to get rid of the soap bubbles and rid themselves of the deathtrap that she had created. If she could somehow do that then maybe they had a slight chance of getting through this confrontation alive. She concentrated and let the mana flow through her. She knew that she had precious little time before the thing assaulted the next sailor and therefore she concentrated more than she had ever before. She tried to hide the mana as best as she possibly could and then she released it with the shout, "Shabon Spray Disperse!". The wall of soap bubbles faded out of existence just in time for Jupiter to dodge the sickle as the Ashura slashed at her mid- section. A tendril of white extended from the sickle and it left a trail as it blazed through the air. The senshi of Jupiter was the best hand to hand fighter among the inner's senshi and probably the best fighter amongst all the senshi and she was very proud of that fact. Now, she evaded as fast as she could as slash after slash was executed. Some of them were too close for comfort but she wasn't complaining. She was lucky to survive those near misses and she tried her best to get more luck on her side. *********************************************************************** Surya turned towards most significant threat that remained standing amongst the accursed sailors. The girl's ki was slightly focused and he was able to sense that the girl had some martial arts training in her. She was probably the only one who had any reasonable chance of surviving his onslaught and he was determined to eliminate her before the others decided to lend her a hand. Surya was no fool. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the girls decided to coordinate their attacks. It was the soundest strategy against a technically superior but numerically inferior opponent. Even his strategy would fail if all the sailors decided to attack him at the same time. One of them may attack while the remaining two kept him moving and on the defensive. He could not take their attacks and come out unscathed and if they did coordinate both their attacks and their defenses successfully there was chance that they would succeed in eliminating him. The girl was tiring very quickly. She simply had not the endurance to keep up the blistering speed for very long. His attacks were getting closer and closer to home and his lips salivated in anticipation of the smell of fresh blood. Blood lust had overtaken him and it drove him on in his relentless onslaught. *********************************************************************** Mercury watched that thing go after Jupiter and to her relief, her friend was able to evade it. She knew that Jupiter would not be able to hold out for long and that Jupiter needed help fast if she were to survive another minute. "Mercury Aqua Magic!" she shouted and launched the attack. The only other time she had used the attack she had fainted because of the strain that it created on her body. She had tired to control the flow of ki during the first time and that action had did her in. This time she focused only a little on the attack and tried to disperse all the extra mana into the atmosphere instead of trying to contain its flow. Her plan worked and she was able to do a less powerful version of the same attack. The ball of ice broke into many fragments and each of these fragments headed towards the thing. *********************************************************************** Surya was very close. His nostrils flared with the expected smell of freshly shed blood. *I have her now. Soon I would have carried out my Lord's command and these pests will be no more.* He thought happily to himself. He knew that the sailor pest he was fighting with would last another two or at the most, three slashes before he tagged her with his attack. The extended range of the sickle was a huge blessing and if it were not for that, he was sure that the bitch would last much longer against him. He slashed upwards with his right hand and the ki blade sliced through the strand of hair that blew about her. The hair had not even began its journey down to the earth when he retrieved the sickle and pulled back his left hand for another go. *See you in hell bitch!* He thought. The left arm had began to move forward when he sensed mana being focused. Cursing his luck under his breath he abandoned the attack and leapt into the air. *********************************************************************** Jupiter's muscles ached under the strain that she was placing upon them. Even with all her 'magic' she did not have the endurance to fight at such grueling speeds for an extended period of time. She backpedaled as yet another slash, this one directed up, missed her face by mere inches. Her hair was not so lucky and she felt them as they were cut. The amount of focus that she was using had made her hypersensitive to her environment and she felt the slightest gusts of wind on her face as the sickles continued their onslaught. *I won't last much longer.* She thought bitterly to herself. The thought of her death did not strike terror in her heart as she had once thought it would. She had died before and though she knew that this time she won't be coming back, she felt detached from the situation. The thing pulled back its left arm and began to swing its sickle at her. *This is the last one.* She thought even as she tried to evade it. It was a hopeless cause, she knew as much as that thing did but she was not about to give up hope and die without it. Growing up alone in the world she had often encountered such situations, it had been her hope, and perseverance that had seen her through those situations. She would fight or rather evade till the end. It might buy her teammates a few precious seconds and those seconds might end up saving their lives. The thing seemed to pause in mid-attack for the briefest period of time. Its mind seemed to be in a state of turmoil. The look disappeared as soon as it had appeared and the thing leapt straight up into the air. Time seemed to stand still for Makoto. She had been just given a second chance at life. She heard Mercury shout out real loud 'Mercury Aqua Magic'. Makoto thanked the kami and rolled away. She did not plan to be in the thing's path when it landed on terra firma once more. *********************************************************************** Ami saw the thing jump into the air to avoid her blast but she deliberately delayed it until it was near the apex of its flight. Then she let loose her attack. The thing turned around in mid-air and fired a huge blast of energy at her. She jumped out of the way but the resulting explosion still knocked her off her feet. She closed her eyes and waited for her death. She knew that she not fast enough to evade it should it choose to go after her next. The seconds tickled by but the attack never came. She opened her eyes and looked around. Jupiter was holding out her hands to her while Mars was busy trying to fry the thing with another of her fire based attacks. She took hold of Jupiter's hands and got up. "Thank you Jupiter." Her fellow senshi nodded in acknowledgment. Time was not on their side and they could not afford to waste it. "I have a plan that just might work." she shouted as loud as she would. Over the din of the flames that sprouted out of Mars's hands it was barely audible. "We might win if we cover each others back. Keep moving and don't let that thing get near you. If it approaches you just evade and let the others attack it. Try to move while you launch your attacks and cover the others back." Rei nodded and Jupiter dipped her head slightly in acknowledgment. *********************************************************************** Surya turned around in mid-air and as he did so, he focused a basketball-sized ball of ki onto one of his hands. He hurled it at the green haired sailor who had attacked him. The girl threw herself out of the way but was still caught in the explosion that ripped away the concrete and left a meter deep ditch where the ki ball had hit. Even as he released the blast at the sailor he brought his two sickles before him and then slashed downwards at the attack that the sailor had thrown at him. The clash of the conflicting energies produced an explosion, which threw him back. Surya flew through the air and smashed against a building. The wall was dented but it did not break. Gravity took over and Surya fell. He righted himself in mid-air in a move that was as nimble as a cats and landed on his feet. He let his body be as relaxed as it possibly could be to decrease the forces that acted upon his body and rolled with his sickles tucked away. He thus absorbed the energy of impact and eyed the sailor who had dared to attack him with raised eyebrows. She was still on the ground with her eyes closed presumably waiting for her death. *Pathetic behavior.* He thought to himself. *Maybe I should end her existence right now.* He hated cowards and it seemed that two of the sailors were cowards at heart. However, fate had other ideas and one of the other two attacked him. He dodged away from the fire and ran around her staying just out of the range of her fire. She would not be able to keep it up for long and when she grew tired, she would die. The flames ignited everything in their path and the whole area filled with smoke from the burning buildings. *********************************************************************** Ami and Makoto ran towards Rei and stood some distance from her on both sides. Rei stopped her attack as soon as they had assumed their positions. The four of them stood admist the burning ruins eyeing each other and waiting for the other to make the first move. It was the Ashura who made the first move. Being on the defensive against a coordinated enemy is asking for death to come a callin' and he knew that very well. If he were kept on the defensive his most significant advantage would be lost and with it, any hopes of winning the battle would be lost as well. Surya ran forward and the senshi scattered. He went after the brown haired bitch first. She was the one most tired from her recent encounter with him and he planned to take her out of the equation completely. He attuned his senses to a degree of perfection that had been lacking before and charged forward, his sickles blazing like the corona of the sun towards the bitch. His senses easily picked up the other two moving towards his back in an attempt to flank him. A blast of mana was fired at him from a hundred yards from his back. He moved out of the way and adopted a zigzag pattern of advance. It would take a while with the other girls at his back but he would kill the bitch in the end. His speed was somewhat lesser than his previous top speed as he had concentrate a significant portion of his consciousness to detection of attacks but that was a sacrifice worth the effort. Without his senses to warn him of incoming attacks, he would be toast in a minute or two. His partner Surya was hiding in the background but he doubted whether that sadistic freak would turn the tide of the battle. Surya came at Jupiter attacking as fast and as furiously as he possibly could. He knew that it would take a lot to get the girl but in the end it would be worth the effort. Without her skills and backup the others would die and his Lord would reward him and his clan for a job well done. The brown haired bitch easily avoided his attack. His speed had diminished to her level and as things were she had the upper hand in battle. Though her skills were in no way comparable to him she had the help of her friends and the old saying 'united we stand and divided we fall' held true to her situation. The sickles ripped through the air leaving ionized air in its wake. Jupiter evaded the blows with difficulty and jumped in the air. He was about to follow her when his danger sense sounded. The blast was very near to him and he did not have the time to leap out of the way. The mana hit the ground behind him and the ground blew up. He tucked in his arms and legs and rolled with the blast. He came to rest some fifty yards away with several bruises on the right side of his body. *That's it!* Thought Surya and shouted "I will not lose to the likes of weaklings like you and fail my Lord.". He had concentrated so hard on sensing the attack that he had been unable to erect his ki barrier in time to defend himself from the last attack. The attack had wounded him and he lacked the necessary skills to heal himself. The wound would heal naturally but his reflexes and speed would suffer during the battle. There was still a possibility of victory he knew, but the odds were now stacked heavily against him. He could retreat and others more powerful than him could be sent to destroy the sailors but he refused to consider that alternative. Retreat was dishonorable and he would rather die than live without honor. He closed his eyes and tapped into the ki flows in the area. His body began to shine a shade of unhealthy blue and the power readings on Ami's console kept on climbing. The sailors tried to stop him with some attacks but the ki barrier he had erected around himself was just too strong. *********************************************************************** "Wow! What is that thing made off?" remarked Ryuu as his ki senses went into overload. The thing had become an inferno of ki all of a sudden. Ranma's face had become grimmer by the second for the last half a minute or so. The technique that the thing was using was one of the most deadly ever developed. Every person or thing had a limit for ki storage that should and normally could not be exceeded. However, users of the technique were able to flood themselves with ki and gained enormous power for an hour or so before he or she collapsed and died. The technique was used often in times of war when fights to the death were common. A skilled warrior who chose to use the technique would level an entire army before he died from the side effects. Ryuu looked on in wonder, his mouth agape at what the thing was doing. The thing was soaking up the ki in the area and if the look on his sensei's face was any indication it looked like the Sensei were in a lot of trouble. Even his ill-tuned senses could pick up the energy that radiated in huge waves from that thing and he was sure that if Cologne or Happousai had been with him they would have suffered a stroke or something. "Ryuu..." said Ranma quietly. Ranma had to repeat the call several times before Ryuu responded to him. The boy was in a stupor and Ranma had to shake him out of it. "Hai sensei." replied the fifteen-year-old heir to the Saotome branch of Matsubeto Katuto Ryuu smartly. "I think that the necessity for our intervention increases by the second. When we do try to rescue the girls I will take care of their opponents while you move the girls to that building over there. When you had done that stay with them till the fight's over, Is that understood?" "Hai sensei." replied Ryuu. Ranma nodded and turned towards the fight once more. He relaxed and began to draw ki and mana into him in anticipation of the battle that was about to come. The things could not possibly sense his preparation as he was using a technique the likes of which they could not even begin to comprehend. *********************************************************************** Surya howled in pain and anger. The ki that was coursing through his body was both a blessing and a curse. He had little control over his senses and he had become supersensitive. The little flecks of dust that hit him every now and then and the radiated heat from one of the fires were giving him a taste of hell. He rose into the air, his fists clenched tight as pain shot through his body. He would make his clan proud and kill the sailors before he died. Since his hypersensitivity ruled out hand to hand combat he threw both his sickles at the brown haired one. The sickle sped at several times the speed of sound and impacted against the asphalt on the road. Jupiter tried her best to get out of the way but the sickles were too fast for her. She had not taken three strides when the sickles exploded. The ki that had been stored in them broke its prison and escaped violently. The sickles blew up as a result and Jupiter's back became a pincushion as several hundred sharpnels embedded themselves in her body. The blast was relatively small and it threw Jupiter only a couple of feet. Her hands extended up through the flight and she let out a scream of agony. She lost consciousness before she hit the ground and lay where she had fallen. Her 'magic' worked on making her whole as she lay in Morpheus's embrace. Surya tried to laugh but his body responded with an unnatural groan. Blood dripped in drops from his body but he did not care. He had a command to execute and honor to bring to his clan. The black haired bitch attacked him once again with one of her fire blasts. The blast was weak and his ki barrier repelled it without any undue stress on his dying body. He tried to laugh at her weak attack but that laugh too came out as a groan. The whore launched another attack. It too was as ineffective as the first one. He focused large ki balls on all his hands and threw them at her. The whore tried her best to escape but she was as unskilled a fighter as they came. Even then she was able to evade four of the balls but the last two hit the ground just a few feet behind her. The twin concussion waves picked her up from the ground and slammed her face first an exposed steel girder from a building. She lost consciousness without so much as a moan and slid to the ground where she lay in a bloody heap. Surya eyed the cowardly one. She was the last one standing. After she was dead he would kill all the others and die a honorable death, his duty completed. Even through all the pain that flooded his brain and body he looked at her and managed to smile evilly. *********************************************************************** *'I am sorry... I am so sorry...'* *'You are just a failure, you failed all of us!'* replied Rei and the others. They looked sadly at her, their eyes filled with pity as though she were a beggar that they might pass on the street. *'We thought we were your friends. You proved us wrong. You are nothing but a crybaby and coward.'* They mocked her. Her very own friends mocked her. *'I am not weak.'* She muttered, her eyes brimming with tears. *Was she not supposed to be their friend and future queen?* *'But you are!'* They replied. *'You were supposed to protect us and there we were always trying to protect you. You failed us Usagi. You failed to protect us.'* She cried. She cried and ran. However, no matter where she went the voices, those familiar voices mocked and followed her. Everything was black around her and no matter where she ran there was not a speck of light anywhere. There was nothing except for the voices of her friends, distorted and mocking following her everywhere she ran trying to escape them. "Usagi..." A soft voice spoke. It was Mamoru she realized. "Usagi..." "Mamoru..." she whispered. "I am here Usako." he whispered back lovingly. He had found her bruised and battered. She was bleeding profusely from the wound on the shoulder and he applied his healing 'magic' on her. The bleeding slowed down and finally stopped. Her bones and flesh healed and the wound closed. Her vision cleared and she opened her eyes. A black blur appeared before her. Momentarily the blur condensed into the concerned face of the man she loved, the man who would one day be her future husband and king of the reincarnated Moon Kingdom, Mamoru. She tried to sit but pain shot down her entire body in protest. Her eyes roamed around and she saw a pool of blood with her in the middle. The shoulder wound had sealed and she could feel the bones and tissues mend under the healing 'magic' of her lover. "I have got to help them fight that thing." she whispered. Her lips split when she opened them to speak. Her lips had never felt so dry in her life. "You stay here Usako, I will help them." "No!" she replied as loud as she could. Droplets of blood oozed out of the split lips. "I have to help my friends." she replied, her voice again dropped to a whisper. They were her friends and she would never abandon them. "Please Usako, you are in no condition to fight. Lie here and I will help them." *Her voice after all that she has gone through still has that irrefutable tone that a queen should have.* He mused to himself. She shook her head adamantly as a result of which pain shot through her body. She grit her teeth and glared at him. *Doesn't he understand that as their queen it is my duty to take care of them and protect them?* She thought to herself. Mamoru sighed in frustration. She was in too bad a condition to fight but she refused to let her friends fight without her. Loyalty was one of her most endearing qualities and it refused to abandon her even in the condition that she was in. She was in no condition to fight and she would not fight if he could help it. "All right Usako, I will take you there but you have to promise. You will not fight anymore this day. Do we have a deal?" He was determined to not let her fight. *The other sailors would have to make do without her just this once.* He thought to himself. She nodded. He thanked the kami for making her see a little reason. "Come Usako, I will carry you there." he said and slid his arms underneath her broken and bruised body. Pain shot throughout her body and she bit her lips to keep from screaming out loud. She was sure that if she screamed Mamoru would not take her to the scene of the battle. Blood dripped from these fresh wounds drop by precious drop onto the dusty floor below. She blacked out twice while he lifted her as the pain proved too much for her weakened body. Mamoru looked at the battered body of his future wife and shook his head in wonder. She never failed to amaze him. She possessed courage and inner strength far beyond her age and as he watched her struggle against her pain his pride, respect and love for her grew by leaps and bounds. He shifted her battered body in his arms carried her the rubble that her impact had created. There were dents here and there and the smell of freshly caked blood and death was everywhere. He passed through the holes that her body her created and gingerly set her by a wall taking care to make her as comfortable as possible. He removed little flecks of concrete that were embedded in her pale skin and kissed her gently on the forehead. He normally was not so expressive in public but the situation demanded a kiss. It was like some part of him wanted to kiss her one last time before he went into battle. He rose up to go but Usagi somehow managed to raise her arms and grab onto his. He turned around and knelt by her side. Their eyes met and their faces inched closer to each other. He opened his mouth and closed his eyes. Their lips met midway and they kissed. The kiss did not have any amount of lust behind it. It was filled with care and love. It was more of a confirmation of their commitment and love for each other than of physical attraction. Mamoru's hands slid around her body and he hugged her, drawing her body into his protective custody. Finally she broke the kiss and looked lovingly at him. Her body seemed to have recovered some of her colour and she had a little of that happy look that she always had on her face. By some unspoken signal she let go off his arms and he caressed her blood caked cheek with his hand. "I love you very much Usako." he said and stood up. The kiss still lingered in his mouth and he could taste the salt from her sweat and the metallic taste of her blood in his lips. He would make whoever or whatever that had hurt her pay for her injuries and the pain that she had suffered. He turned and hopped onto a roof and looked at the battlefield. There was rubble everywhere and small fires burned her and there. The smoke from them rose to the skies above. There was smoke everywhere and though it did not reduce visibility in any way it put some stress on the respiratory system. There were huge holes in some of the building and the whole area looked like a battle zone. He saw that all the other sailors had fallen and that only Mercury stood. She had a look of absolute terror on her face and was staring up into the air. He followed her gaze and got his first view of the enemy. _It_ floated in the air some thirty feet off the ground and it's entire being was focused on Mercury. The thing, whatever it was had six arms and a halo of energy swirled all around its body. It looked awe inspiring and yet terrible at the same time. It was as if that thing was death incarnate. It evoked a fear in him so primitive that it was embedded in the genes themselves. His entire being was filled with horror. It had a smile on its face that sent cold shivers down his spine. He shook himself out of the stupor and formulated a plan. It was obvious that the things attention was focused upon Mercury as his was on it. He readied a set of explosive roses to throw at the thing. His 'magic' was not as powerful as the sailors but he knew that strength alone did not win wars. He had proven it many times in the past when he had helped the more powerful sailors in their battles against the minions of the Negaverse. He was too focused on his plan and on that thing before him that he did not notice the one creeping up behind him until it was too late to run. *Something's wrong here!* He realized. He was standing in plain sight and the thing even though it was focused entirely on Mercury could not just ignore it as it was doing right now. When the amount of power that it wielded was taken into account that single fact meant nothing but something told him that it was all wrong. Though he would never admit to it his intuition had never failed him before. He had felt it during his first encounter with Usagi and many times during their later adventures when he or any of the others were in grave danger. He turned and saw... *********************************************************************** Indra had observed the fight with great interest. From the moment the first shot had been fired by the sailors he had known that Surya would win in the end. His comrade in arms had fought bravely and fiercely bringing honor to his clan and to himself. Indra envied him a little. The Ashura was little over two thousand years old, young compared to his fifteen thousand years of life and experience. Yet Surya was more skillful than him. It was taken for granted amongst the Ashura's that given time Surya would become one of the best warriors under his majesty Raja Chola's command. The millennia of imprisonment had not been wasted by the Ashura's. They had trained hard and had become abler fighters. Some of them had abilities that bordered on the miraculous. It had not been in vain. He was sure that he could take on any one of the sailor whores and beat them in a fair fight. Indra had seen the way Surya had dealt with two of the whores and it had been magnificent. The execution and timing of the attacks were prefect and the blows had been devastating. Then Surya had gone after the brown haired one and amazingly enough she had been able to hold out against him for nearly three minutes, a long time if you took into account both their skills or the lack thereof on the part of the sailor whore. The sailor's movements had been as graceful as a tortoises but her mana manipulation had seen her through the situation. Surya had taken too long a time to take her down and in the end he failed to accomplish even that. The whore escaped with her life just in the nick of time and the one of the others had come up with an effective strategy to be used against his comrade. Surya had tried to take them on with his own powers but it was fairly obvious that his skills were inadequate for the task at hand. Indra envied his partners mental toughness. It was a quality that he lacked very much. Indra knew without a shadow of doubt that if he had been caught in such a situation he would have run for his life and let his honor rot in the mud. His self preservation instincts were fairly strong and he knew that old saying 'He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.' quite well. However, Surya had done something that was not only foolish but also extremely heroic. Surya had overridden and flooded his bodies ki storage capacities and had essentially given away his life so that he may get a chance to take the sailors. Honor was always a strange thing and it made men and God's alike do strange and illogical things. With a slightly heavy and envious heart Indra had gone back to his duty and had observed the fight. According to the plan that they had made together he was to watch and observe the fight and be on the lookout. It would not do if there was any outside interference during the course of the battle. Indra had did so and he had sensed one mortal fairly early in the fight. The mortal had kept to himself and had not in any way tried to intrude into the fight. At first Indra had thought that the mortal was very smart or stupid. His monitoring of the mortal had led him to conclude that the mortal belonged to the former category. The mortal's ki though fairly focused was not completely controlled and he had been able to sense the change in the mortal's emotions as the mortal had witnessed the various stages of the fight. It proved that though the mortal was inclined to support the whores he was also wise enough to realize that his interference would not make a difference in the fight. Indra had promised himself that he would hunt the mortal and eat him after the sailors were dead. Since the primary hunt was near its end the familiar stirrings for blood had taken root in Indra's mind. Though not the blood thirstiest of the Ashura's he was certainly not one of the mild hearted ones like Surya. He enjoyed the taste of warm blood in his lips and his fingers ached in anticipation as the time drew nearer. He longed to feel once more the hopeless and tehe electric feeling that radiated in a death struggle whils a mortal's struggled vainly for his life in his clutches. About the time Surya had initiated the technique he had sensed another mana manipulator in the area. However, when compared with the sailor senshi this newcomer was weak and could be easily taken care off. Since the newcomer did not pose any threat to his partner, Indra had let him be. He had even let the fool carry the sailor leader from her resting-place. When the fool had gotten too close to the battle Indra had decided to not take any chances. Thus the secondary hunt had began. Indra had stalked the mortal like a tiger stalked its prey. The fool was as weak as they came and he had not even realized that he was being stalked. Indra had been very disappointed. He had hoped that the mortal would have the animal instincts but the mortal seemed to be the epitome of the weak state that the mortals had reached after the prison had been created. Indra stopped a couple of yards behind the mortal. Surprisingly the mortal had sensed him and turned around. *Perhaps this hunt will not be a total waste.* Thought Indra as he revealed his glorious persona to the mortal. The mortal's face showed a variety of emotions during the next couple of seconds. He seemed to be shocked at Indra's sudden appearance and his face showed it clearly. Then the shock gave way to revulsion, fear and finally hatred. His face grew pale and he looked ready to puke. The mortal clutched his cane tightly and glared defiantly at the Ashura. Anyone would tell you that the sight of a six-handed thing with medium sized fangs protruding from its mouth and a halo of fire nearly a foot thick is fearful. This was the sight that confronted Mamoru AKA Tuxedo Kamen when he turned around. Throw in an eye that glowed an unnatural shade of red and a pair of sickles, which also glowed red, and you got the stuff with which nightmares are made off. "Scream for me!" spoke Indra and attacked. *********************************************************************** Tuxedo Kamen turned around and nearly fainted. He was not faint-hearted but the thing that stood before him evoked primitive emotions in him. Feelings of utter horror and revulsion. It opened its mouth and said something but in his state of shock he could not discern what it had said. Then it lunged towards him. Tuxedo Kamen found himself between a monster and free space. The thing did not look as fearsome as the first one and it moved at Jupiter's normal speed. Given his not so great background in the arts and his weak mana manipulation abilities Tuxedo Kamen found himself on the defensive. The thing lunged at him with an angled slash and he back pedaled furiously as the slashes almost hit home several times. Mamoru released his hold on the cane and warded off one particularly fast slash aimed at his mid-section. He threw the roses at it to cover his retreat. The thing slashed at the roses and they exploded. Tuxedo Kamen breathed a sigh of relief but he was not out of the woods yet. His celebrations were cut short as the thing emerged through the smoke, its halo of fire as strong as ever and winked its eyes. He realized then that he was nothing but a plaything for it. Before he had gotten his guard back on a black ball of energy appeared on one of its arms and it released the energy at the ground below his feet at point blank range. Tuxedo Kamen tried to evade but he was too slow and the blast was fired at very close range. The ki projectile exploded and threw him up into the air. The top of the building collapsed and the thing jumped into the air after him. *********************************************************************** Indra laughed to himself as the mortal blocked one of its slashes. The mortal tried to cover his retreat by throwing some roses at him. The Ashura general easily sliced through them all and they exploded. Indra ran into the smoke screen, winked at the mortal and summoned a ball of ki. Before the mortal could react he threw the ki ball at the ground near the mortal's feet. To Indra's amusement the mortal tried to evade but he was too slow and clumsy. The ki ball hit the concrete roof and exploded. Pieces of concrete, steel rods and dust flew into the air at high velocities and the roof collapsed. The mortal was thrown off the roof and Indra leapt after him. *The fun has only began and he is not getting away from me that easily. I am not done with him yet.* Air rushed past Indra's body, picking his hair up and tossing it as he flew through the air. He reached the mortal at the apex of his flight and as the mortal began to fall back onto the ground he spun around and delivered a kick to the mortals chest. He heard the crunch of breaking ribs and smiled to himself. He landed softly on his feet and balanced himself by pushing his hands against the asphalt as he fell forward. The mortal flew diagonally and crashed into a high rise building. The force of impact was not large enough to shatter the steel girder into which he crashed. There was a momentary 'Thung!' as the girder vibrated and then Tuxedo Kamen slid off the girder and plummeted to the ground below. *********************************************************************** Tuxedo Kamen crashed onto the ground. The impact forced the air out of his lungs and he felt and heard more ribs break on impact. Blood gushed out of his broken nose and pooled on the ground. When the dust cleared. He shook his head, an action that hurt a lot and got up shakily onto his feet. Standing sent waves of dizzying pain through his body and he grunted and clenched his fists until his knuckles popped. A huge spike of pain shot through his chest and then stabilized itself. The pain began to grow in intensity. With his knowledge of the human anatomy and wounds, Tuxedo Kamen realized that his lungs had been punctured. He fought the fainting spell that threatened to send him into the oblivion of unconscious and glared defiantly at the thing that had landed before him. "Scream for me." it said in a guttural voice and then it charged once more. Tuxedo Kamen's world became one of pain and screams from then on. *********************************************************************** Indra landed before the mortal who was visibly struggling to stand on his legs. "Scream for me." he said once more and charged the mortal. At half distance he turned the sickles around and changed the amount of ki that flowed into it. The flow of ki turned into a trickle, the sickle would not be sharper but it would be a hell of a lot stronger now. The mortal stood wobbling on his legs but his defiance and hatred showed plainly across his face. Indra did not care for anything but the screams of pain combined with the smell of fear and blood as he lunged at the mortal. *********************************************************************** From Tuxedo Kamen's perceptive the thing disappeared from where it stood and then appeared right in from of him. It again shouted "Scream" and attacked. He raised his right arm to punch it. The right side of his body screamed in protest and the pain in his chest intensified. The punch was clumsy and the thing easily blocked his punch with one hand and then brought its sickle to bear on the arm. The sickle made contact with the elbow joint and the elbow popped. Mamoru howled in pain and struggled weakly. His arm was now pointing backwards and bone protruded from it. Blood trickled onto the ground and splattered before collecting in a little pool below. The thing did not let go off his arms however. Its eyes had a far away twinkle in them and it grinned joyously. It applied pressure on his twisted arm and jerked it. Mamoru screamed once more as white hot tendrils of pain shot through his arms. He clawed at the air and lost consciousness. The thing looked like it was enjoying the torture session very much. Its face took an expression of pure joy just like a child's, when you gave him a new toy to play with. It cackled in glee and slapped Tuxedo Kamen on his face. Little drops of blood splattered all around from his broken nose and he regained consciousness. It grabbed him his other arm and kicked his legs from underneath him. Mamoru hit the ground and screamed in agony. *********************************************************************** Indra was besides himself with joy. He had not had that much fun in ages. The mortal was weak but he seemed to be able to withstand huge quantities of punishment. *Lets see how much pain he can take and still cling to his life.* Thought Indra. He grabbed the mortal by his hair and pulled him up. The mortal's spirit burned as bright as it had been before the fight and he continued to glare in defiance at him through the mask of pain that his face portrayed. The mortal spat on his face and Indra calmly removed the spit with one of his free arms. He tightened his hold on the mortals hair and applied pressure on his chest. The mortal screamed into his face as the broken ribs were dislodged. Indra laughed and brought the blunt end of one of his sickles to bear on the mortals fingers. The bones snapped and the blood dripped from them. In his bliss Indra had failed to notice that the mortal had lost his consciousness once again and therefore he did not scream when Indra broke his arms. Indra howled in fury and slapped the mortal pretty hard on his face. The mortal regained consciousness and opened his eyes. Indra let go of his hair and punched him in his face. Blood splattered from the new wound to his cheek. *********************************************************************** Tuxedo Kamen fell on his back and moaned in pain. His right eye was shutting up as the muscles swelled. He coughed up some more blood and tried to crawl away from the thing. His entire body hurt like hell and his difficulty in breathing was increasing by the minute. Even though his healing 'magic' had mended the tear in the lung the gases that had escaped was still trapped inside his chest cavity and the last blow to the chest had not helped. It had again injured his lung and he could feel a new air bubble growing in size inside him. Like a child he crawled, his bones and muscles screaming in protest. The seconds seemed like an eternity and he was constantly fighting waves of dizziness. *I am sorry I failed you Usako.* He thought just before a kick landed on his midsection. Mamoru fell to the ground and groaned. Another kick was planted in the abdomen followed by another. He coughed up some more blood and tried to get up but collapsed. He heard someone crying in the background but was too dizzy to identify who it was. He lay there waiting for the beating to continue. "Usako, I am sorry I failed you." he murmured before he lost consciousness. *********************************************************************** Usagi sat where Mamoru had seated her. From where her battered body leaned against the concrete pillar she was able to look out through the hole in the wall and witness Mamoru's torture. His screams of pain were heartbreaking in their intensity and her heart was filled with hatred and revulsion towards the beast. Even the infamous Beryl, the one who had destroyed everything in the Silver Millennium and killed her mother had not been the cause of such hatred in the Moon Princess's mind. She tried to get up and join the fight but she was too weak to do so. Her muscles screamed in protest and refused to contract and push her fragile body up. For the first time in her life Usagi truly cursed her weak and inept body and cried in utter anguish. The man whom she loved more than her life itself was being beaten to death right in front of her eyes and she could do nothing about it. True she had seen her friends die before but they had not suffered even a fraction of what Mamoru was going through. The thing was just beating up Mamoru and it seemed to be enjoying every single moment of the torture. Tears of frustration flowed freely down her cheeks as she watched the inhumane treatment meted out to Mamoru. The tears flowed over the bruises that adorned her beautiful face and they stung but she did not care. Weak battered and disheveled as she was she cared for only one person and that person was Mamoru. "Aahhh!" she cried as pushed herself off the pillar. Her body hit the ground and pain shot through her side. She grit her teeth in order to bear the pain and crawled towards the hole in the wall. Soft breeze blew over her body and tried to move the blood caked strands of hair on her head to no avail. Sharp pieces of concrete scraped against her body and drew blood whenever they dug too deep into her soft flesh. The ten foot crawl to the hole seemed to take an eternity. The stench of death combined with the smoke from the small conflagrations that raged across the battlefield was over powering to her senses. She pulled herself to a sitting position using the jagged edges of the concrete for support and raised her blood caked arm. She tried to use her 'magic' but her body refused to channel mana. She was in too weak a condition to channel any significant amount of mana without risking her own life. She focused within herself and found her center and once again tried to use her 'magic'. This time her entire being seemed to hum with the small amount of mana that flowed through her body. She collected the mana in a basketball sized ball that pulsated in a range of colors and swirled around itself. "Dragon's fire!" announced Usagi and threw the ball of energy at the beast. Her aim was poor and the blast missed the beast by a good ten yards but it did grab the beast's attention. It stopped kicking Mamoru, turned its head toward her and growled with unmistakable malice. *********************************************************************** Indra looked down upon the mortal who lay twitching and grunting on the ground. The mortal had ceased trying to get to his feet after the first kick for even a mana enhanced body can take only that much level of pain and get back for more. He tried to get up one last time but coughed up some more blood and collapsed onto the cold and unrelenting asphalt where he lay groaning. Drops of blood mixed with saliva flowed out of his mouth and collected underneath his face. His eyes were glazed and his breathing was labored. The kicks seemed to have ruptured his spleen if the rapidly spreading red bruise on the mortal's abdomen were any indication of the internal injuries he had inflicted upon the weakling. Indra was about to launch another kick to his midsection when his ki senses flared. Someone was forming a ball of pure mana. Before he could turn around the blast was released and the ground floor of the building by his side went up in flames. If the blast had been to the mark he would not have survived the attack. Indra's face paled a little at the thought. He cursed himself for his inattentiveness and turned towards the source of the blast. There sat the leader whore of the sailors her hair matted together and her eyes brimming with tears. Her arm dropped to her side even as he looked at her. Her face was contorted with hatred and she glared at the Ashura general. Her ki was laden with hatred the likes of which even he had never encountered in his entire life. Indra realized that the whore was in love with the mortal and an evil grin appeared to his face. He knelt down and grabbed the mortal and told him to witness his lovers torture but the weakling was unresponsive. He snorted in disgust and released the weakling. He walked slowly towards the whore. Her eyes maintained contact with hers through the walk and if looks could kill Indra certainly would have died a thousand times over under her glare. "Kitten, you know not who you are playing with." said Indra and drew back his hand. His fist opened and the arm came down to meet the whore's face with a resounding clap. The whore's lips split and her face reddened but her glare did not waver in the least. "My! My! Can the Moon Princess possess such hatred and skill?" he wondered aloud and drew back his hand once more. Only a few of the more powerful Gods were able to create blasts of pure mana and for a mortal to do it was quite astonishing. Most manipulators simply converted the mana into one form or the other and then used it to perform the task. *********************************************************************** Usagi was surprised at the power of the blast. It seemed so natural when she had first summoned it. It was as if the energy that coursed through her body was tailor made for her. Her hatred and despair faded momentarily as the raw energy coursed through her body but returned full force when the she ended the attack. The beast too looked surprised at the blast and it showed clearly on its face. She also saw another expression painted all over its face as it turned towards her. The expression of pure fear quickly faded away though and was replaced by a smirk when it saw her battered body. It closed the distance between the two of them with its eyes focused on her. She maintained the eye contact and glared back with an intensity that frightened her to the core. She was surprised that she could feel such hatred towards another being even though it was a monster. Her hatred had its roots in the very core of her being and it made her want to rip its heart out. Her body lacked the strength to put these thoughts into action however, and she found herself cursing her weakness repeatedly. The thing was upon her in what seemed like an instant and said "Kitten, you know not who you are playing with." before it slapped her hard. Her teeth rattled under the force of the blow but she refused to break eye contact and glared back at it. It pulled back its hand again and slapped her much harder than before. Her cheeks stung under the blow and her neck muscles screamed in protest but she maintained the glare. The beast said something before it slapped her but her ears were still ringing from the first blow and she could not discern what it had said. The beast grabbed her by her hair and pulled her body up. They stood with their faces inches apart glaring at each other. The thing laughed and then punched her in the midsection. Usagi fell to the ground and gasped for air. She heard a cruel laugh just before her world disappeared in a haze of red as the beast kicked her savagely in the head. *********************************************************************** Ami stood paralyzed with fear. The speed and efficiency with which the other sailors had been removed from the battle struck terror into the very heart of her being. When they had first put their plan into action she had thought that the plan would work and the thing would be defeated. The minutes that followed seemed to lend strength to that belief. She had been so sure of victory when one of her attacks had hit the monster. The thing had gotten back on to its feet after the attack. That was to be expected. Anything that powerful would probably keep on coming back for a lot more. It had spat some words at them and then it did something. She was not sure what it had done but suddenly it's energy readings shot sky high and had gone off scale. The situation had deteriorated steadily after that. The thing had gone through Rei and Makoto, the two most powerful fighters amongst the inner's sensei as though they were walls made of paper. Those two were the most powerful besides Usagi and that thing had defeated them with impunity. Her mind was overwhelmed with the amount of power that was needed to put those two out of commission. If that thing could defeat those two so easily she did not even want to think of how easily that thing would defeat her. Ami's role amongst the inner's sensei had been as the thinktank much as Pluto served the outer's. She knew without a shadow of doubt that in a pitched battle she could not take on the thing and live to tell about the experience. Ami had never been consciously afraid of death. She had wondered about it and had spent hours at a time pondering about what death really was but she had never been afraid of it. Before she joined the inner's she had thought that death was but the ceasation of electrical impulses in the body. After they had become a team she had laid aside her scientific mind and had began to accept that science as she knew it had its holes. She had slowly accepted that there was such a thing as the soul. She had realized for the first time that death meant peace till the next cycle of rebirth was initiated. The most convincing evidence to this new found belief had been her resurrection after she had been killed in the last battle against the Negaverse. Usagi had used the power of the Ginzishou to bring their souls back into their bodies. Though her memory of what had happened after her death was sketchy she remembered a sense of true peace and a soul warming presence, which had literally oozed love. Since that experience she had even started to secretly worship the kami. She was afraid that her friends would tease her if they ever found out. Even the great Ami Mizuno feared peer pressure and therefore she had kept her it a secret. Her new found faith grew by the day and unknown to even the inner's she had made several visits to the shinto shrines in the area. Now for the first time after she had donned the mantle of Sailor Mercury, the great Ami Mizuno, the brains of the inner's sailors was afraid. Not because she feared death but because she knew at an unconscious level that the thing that they were facing was worse than death ever could be. It was not unnatural like the various daemons and youma that they had faced before. It was a part of nature, her instruments told her and her brain inferred the same from the facts that lay before her eyes. There simply was no way an unnatural creature could ever be in harmony with nature. Her mind knew without a shadow of doubt that the thing was the dark side of nature, a side not normally visible to human eyes. Her analytical brain had worked feverishly during the course of the fight and had come up with several possible theories. The most probable one was that the creature was some kind of anti-God. The idea seemed outlandish but the Yang was always counteracted by the Yin. The Gods with all their love must have something that counter balanced them and this creature seemed like the perfect explanation for it. It was this realization combined with the ferocity of the thing's attacks that struck fear in her heart. Ami was sure that the thing would kill them if things went its way. Even though she did not fear death she very much wanted to stay alive and live a long and happy life. Survival is a basic instinct found in all living things and everyone wants to live life to the fullest. It was the fear of a premature death at the hands of an anti-god that rendered Ami Mizuno AKA Sailor Mercury paralyzed. She knew that Usagi was able to bring back the dead. She herself was living proof of that fact. However, as things stood all of them were about to have an early appointment with their maker. Even if Usagi survived the fight through some miracle, Ami knew without a shadow of a doubt that Usagi would fail this time around. Even Usagi's powers paled in comparison to a God's. Ami steeled herself and got rid of her fears. She was a sailor first and foremost and as such she cannot be afraid of a monster or of death itself. The fear returned with a vengeance and she shook her body to banish those thoughts. *I am a sailor and if I have to die I will die like one fighting to the last breath.* She thought and then it struck her - a way to survive and possibly kill that thing. "Take your best shot." she shouted at the thing. *********************************************************************** Surya floated in midair with wind howling all around him. The wind was a direct result of the huge amounts of ki that he was manifesting. It buffeted his shoulder length mane of curly hair as it blew. It picked up dust particles and once in a while these particles would collide with his supersensitive skin sending waves of unbearable pain through his body. It was his superior constitution that kept him from screaming aloud everytime a fleck of dust hit him. Small streams of blood flowed from these wounds as his sweat glands in the injured areas pumped blood out of the body. The amount of blood that he had lost would have killed even the sturdiest Ashura but Surya's ki kept him alive for the time being. The cowardly one's ki turned more and more chaotic as he maintained eye contact with her. It was a sure sign of her fear and Surya would have snorted in disgust if his body was in any other condition than the one he was presently in. The least movement on his part resulted in a ridiculously large amount of pain and he was loathe to move his body unless he had a good reason for it. Then suddenly her ki became slightly organized though the action seemed to be strained. He appreciated that. It would have dishonored him if he were to kill a sniveling coward. Even better the sailor spoke defiantly against him. "Take your best shot." she said and he got ready to do just that. Surya decided to address the cowardly one then. Disregarding the pain that shot up through every nook and corner of his body Surya spoke. "I am death sailor and you will not escape me." More blood spilled from his mouth as the capillaries inside his mouth burst when his tongue pressed against them. The blood flowed across his bare chest but he was beyond caring. His body's was failing faster by the minute and the only thing that mattered now was the death of the sailors. The level of pain that he was enduring would have killed a mortal or even an Ashura many times over but Surya focused above it and onto the job at hand. "I have died once and I live now beast. Death has never scared me and you do not scare me now." she shouted in reply. The last flickers of chaos in her aura was gone now. To his sensitive eyes her ki was shining brighter by the second. Surya revised his earlier judgment on the girl. She was obviously a strong one at heart though the strength had taken a while to shine through. "Thou art truly a gifted one sailor. Under any other circumstance I would have let thee and your friends live for the five of you shine like beacons for the rest of the mortals to follow but nay I cannot let thee live. My Lord has commanded me to kill thee all and I will obey my Lord's command." Surya coughed some more blood as he spoke in archaic Japanese. His hair fell in patches and drifted off into the wind. He summoned several large balls of ki. He could not afford to delay the fight any longer. He could feel his death approaching and he wanted to execute his duties before it took him into its embrace. The sailor shouted "Shabon spray!" and disappeared from view behind a veil of soap bubbles. *Maybe the girl is just plain stupid. It didn't work before what makes her think it will work now?" Thought Surya as the ki balls rapidly grew in size. *********************************************************************** Mercury smiled to herself. It seemed that the thing had fallen for her ruse. She decloaked the mana that she had gathered and shot it at the thing. No matter how many opponents she had faced their foolishness and lack of forward thinking never failed to astonish her. A warrior was supposed to think through an opponents strategy and find a way to defeat them. If you had the wrong strategy your skills and power would fail to make a difference and you would most probably perish in the battle. With a wrong strategy you would simply get squished by an inferior enemy. One of the best examples was the Scottish charge - they simply get on top of a mountain and charged. The speed of their attack simply overwhelmed their opponents before they knew what hit them. The strategy was so effective that the English had a hard time with it until one of their commanders came up with a brilliant counter strategy. This counter strategy as well the English army's own version of the highlander charge was to make the English army one of the most feared in the world. It also helped a lot in winning them an empire where as they proudly said in the height of their power 'the sun never set'. For a warrior to take attacks at face value and just counter them was the stupidest thing that he could ever do in his life. A battle can be compared to a chess game in which you pit your brains against your opponents, only in this version of chess there's a lot of real blood and gore. In fact chess was but a battle simulation in which one could sharpen one's thinking and planning prowess. The Indian version of the game was created solely for the above mentioned purpose and it was aptly named chatranga. After she had gotten over her initial shock and fear Mercury's mind had gone back to working at its peak efficiency. She had come to the conclusion that though her opponent was very powerful an excellent tactic might bring about his downfall. It would buy some time for her friends and delay the inevitable until rescue arrived in the form of the outer's. She had seen the blood on its body and her sharp mind had made the connections. The thing was apparently dying and the technique that it was using seemed to be quickening its demise. Naturally it would be in a hurry to defeat them and it would naturally make mistakes. She planned to capitalize on them as much as possible in her last ditch effort to save her friends. Mercury was not the brains of the outfit simply because she had a super computer literally under her finger tips. She was the brains of the outfit because she was the shrewdest and most capable one amongst the sailors. She may not have the raw power that the others possessed but her brains more than made up for that fact. In a fair fight Mercury may even be able to defeat Sailor Moon simply because the courageous leader of the senshi rarely used her brains. After she had become one of the inner's Mercury had spent many an hour reading and researching about the great military minds. She especially admired Erwin Rommel, Frederick the Great, Hannibal and Horatio Nelson. She had learnt during her research that brute power need not always guarantee victory in war. Shrewd strategy's played as big a role as any of the other factors if not the biggest one in winning a battle. Her train of thought had led Mercury to reason that the thing would not be on the alert if she used the 'Shabon spray' again. If that were the case it might be fooled into leaving itself open for an attack. Frederick the great had used a vaguely similar strategy during the battle of Leuthen to secure a resounding victory for the Prussians. Like him she had gathered a lot of mana and then used a little of it in the 'Shabon Spray'. When the thing fell for her ruse she would launch her main attack and hopefully, that would secure some time for them. She knew that the power and skill gap was too big for her to win in the long run but she was sure that she would be able to delay the thing long enough for the outer's to arrive and save the day. "Mercury Magical Rhapsody!" she shouted and channeled the huge amount of mana through her body. The attack combined the Mercury Aqua Rhapsody and the Mercury Aqua Magic into a far more deadlier version. Every cell in her body was flooded with mana as it flowed through her. Mercury survived the huge influx of energy only because she did not try to control the magnitude of the mana that flowed through her. The attack still left her weakened physically though as channeling a large amount of power took its toll on her body. Almost a dozen balls of ice coalesced and exploded around the thing and then exploded spreading a fine mist all over the area. Huge chunks of ice, some the size of a sedan ripped through road and building alike. The concussion wave left a three meter deep crater directly under the explosion and all the glass windows in the block that had survived till then shattered and sent a deadly rain of glass to the streets below. Mercury did not even pause to see the destruction that her attack had caused. She ran for cover as fast as she could. She hoped that the pain of the new injuries the thing _must_ have suffered combined together with the pain it was already suffering from would dampen the things super-senses. If that were not the case she and the others would die in a short while. *********************************************************************** Surya howled in pain and raw fury. He could not believe that he had fallen for such a simple ruse. He, the heir apparent to the post of supreme commander of His Majesty Raja Chola's army had been fooled quite easily by a young mortal woman. The affront to his pride was immeasurable. He raised one of his left arms to shake at the heaven's at the injustice of it all and send her to hell when he noticed that he couldn't see his left hand. He then noticed something warm flowing on his cheek. He brought his arm to his cheek and felt the liquid. It was more blood and it came from a puncture wound to his left eye. He was bleeding profusely though the bleeding seemed to be slowing down. *I must have lost almost all my blood.* He thought to himself with a shrug. Neither the injury nor the revelation about his blood surprised him. Though he had pumped as much ki into the ki barrier as he could he had known that it wouldn't be enough to keep the debris out. By his count three huge and very sharp pieces of ice had headed in a direct collision course towards him along with a number of smaller ones. The heat from his ki had vaporized almost all the icicles but it appeared that several of them had gotten through the barrier. Almost all that had crossed the barrier had missed him. However, two had scored a hit and he was bleeding profusely from the wounds. The one that he was now probing with his fingers was the spot where his eyeballs had been previously. Now there was a two inch hole gouged out by the ice and blood gushed from it like water from a fountain. The other wound, which he could sense was in his right thigh. The part of the icicle that had not penetrated his flesh had long since melted. The part that had penetrated was still lodged inside his fragile flesh and the pain that it was inflicting upon him was mind numbing in its intensity. With one of his eyes gone he had lost depth perception and with it his honor for it would be nigh impossible to kill them now. He howled louder in fury and let loose a volley of ki balls aimed at her. Though he could see the girl he had no idea how far she was and naturally the balls ended up hitting everything but her. Chunks of concrete, asphalt and metal pieces flew through the air. They did not hit Mercury and only ended up creating more rubble for the city administrators to get rid off. A large volume of dust and dirt was kicked up and small fires burned at the site of the explosions. Surya clenched his fists and shook them against the heaven. He had been so close to victory only to have it stolen from him. The girl, who had now earned his utmost respect stopped and turned around. She had the biggest smile on her face and it grew bigger when she saw his gouged out left eye. "You can't judge distances now, can you?" she shouted and then ran once more, snickering to herself all the while. *********************************************************************** The mist hit Ami as she ran and she heard a howl of fury followed by another louder one. Against her better judgment she turned around and looked at the thing. A smile came to her face when she heard that cry. Hearing it suffer after all it had put had friends through brought a perverted sense of joy to her heart. Its face was now disfigured and there was a hole where its left eye should have been. *It can't judge distances now!* She thought excitedly to herself and her smiled grew in proportion. "You can't judge distances now, can you?" she shouted. She chided herself as soon as she had uttered those words and ran. Its depth perception maybe gone but for all she knew it could judge distances with its hearing alone. The thing sent a hail of energy blasts at her but they were nowhere near the mark. Ami turned around and stood her ground. Gathering mana into her body she channeled it with a resounding "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" The thing brought its hands before it and crossed them as the blast hit it. Its barrier countered the icicles and they disappeared in a cloud of water vapor. She was about to ready another attack when she caught some motion to her side. She focused on it and saw... *********************************************************************** Mamoru heard Usagi's sharp cry and his heart faltered. With all his might he pushed his body up. The pain was excruciating but he managed it somehow. He turned his head and watched the thing plant kick after kick on Usagi's body. Desperately he tired to think of something that might take the thing's attention off Usagi. "Bastard!" he croaked once. "Bastard!" he tried again. This time it was spoken a little louder. The thing turned towards him and bared its fangs. "Yeah! I am talking to you. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" he managed to shout before the pain overwhelmed him once more. His arms failed and he collapsed to the ground. The thing smiled and turned its back to him. "Bastard!" Mamoru shouted in frustration and coughed up some blood. "Your mother must have slept with everyone in the whole damn world to produce a bastard like you!" he said. His strength was failing him and the pain from his chest and right abdomen was enough to blind him. The thing turned and growled menacingly. It walked slowly towards him with death in its eyes. The beast bent down and grabbed him by his cape. It hauled him off the ground and pulled him to its face. Mamoru though disoriented by the pain heard it snarl something in some strange tongue and then it produced a... *********************************************************************** Indra was mad. The mortal had called him a bastard. No one had ever dared to address him by that title. It was a great insult but he recognized it for what it was. He was not going to ignore the whore that lay underneath him. He bared his teeth towards the mortal to warn him off. The mortal collapsed from the exertion and he turned towards the whore. *Now that the weakling is awake, I can rub salt on his wounds by raping the whore right before his eyes.* Thought Indra as he extended his arm towards the whore. The weakling had then said something that made his blood boil. No one got away with such an insult. His honor demanded that he kill the mortal and take the weakling's heart to his mother and feed her with it. He had wanted to play with the weakling some more before he finally ended his sorry excuse of a life but now things had changed. Indra clenched his fists tightly and walked up to the weakling bastard. The affront to his mother was unforgivable. He pulled the weakling to his face and gave him some advice in the old tongue. \Yagawa raayenum nagaka kavakaal Sogapar sollinukum pattu.\ snarled the Ashura general. He was sure that the weakling would not understand the verse though it did not matter whether the mortal understood him. He would not need the advice where he was going anyway. The demons in the void neither understood nor would they respect the golden words of Valluvan when they heard it. He reached behind him and produced his families honor sickle. Tradition and honor demanded that he use that sickle and no other. The blade was wicked looking and the surface of the alloy reflected the light from the fading sun with a wicked gleam. The mortal's eyes widened when he saw the thing. His ki became very chaotic and then focused itself again. It seemed that the mortal had accepted his fate. Indra growled in anger. He had wanted to see the mortal struggle and squirm under his hold but it seemed that he would have to make do with what he had. *Bastard! He defies me even now.* Indra grinned maniacally into the bastards face and pricked his abdomen with the sickle. The weakling grimaced a little when the sickle pierced the skin but that was all he did. He continued to glare back at him with pure and unadulterated hatred written all over his face. *********************************************************************** There was another beast and it was walking towards the battered body of Tuxedo Kamen. Ami had wondered during the course of the battle about Tuxedo Kamen's failure to show up and now she had the answer. She briefly considered helping him but decided against it. She could not turn her back on that thing or everyone would die. She turned back to face her antagonist. She caught a glint of sunlight as she did and turned towards Tuxedo Kamen once more. The thing now had Tuxedo Kamen by his cape and it had a wicked looking sickle in its hand. A grin of pure bliss came to its face as it inched the deadly instrument closer to her comrade in arms. The two of them were very close to each other for her to attack with one of her 'magical' attacks she realized. *If I run fast enough I may be able to rescue him.* She thought and ran. *********************************************************************** The warrior attacked him with another of her mana based attacks. It was too weak, Surya realized but he still crossed his hands before him to protect his face. With the amount of pain that he was suffering he knew that he could not trust his ki to save him as his focus faltered. Surya braced himself for another attack, the one, which never came. He relaxed his guard and peeped over his hands. She was looking at something other than him altogether. Surya felt insulted by that act. Why was she ignoring him? Was he not warrior enough to face her in battle? The answer came soon enough when he looked in the direction her gaze was focused. His blood boiled when he saw Indra busy torturing a weakling mortal. He had wondered where his cohort had been all through the fight. Now, he had the answer in his hands and he was not pleased with it. Of course Indra would abandon his post and forsake his duty so that he may get some petty thrill out of torturing some poor soul. Surya cursed under his breath and focused on her. She too was turning towards him and he felt thankful. If nothing else his death would be an honorable one. He had done all he could to defeat the sailors but she had fought back and had defeated him. All that was needed now was for her to kill him. He would not submit to her and she would have to kill him. He was pretty sure that she could accomplish that before the technique did away with him. Then to his disbelief she turned back towards the mortal and this time she ran off towards the weakling. Surya realized that it was dishonorable but in the face of his Lord's commands honor was to be forsaken for duty and honor were almost always at odds against each other. He asked for her forgiveness in his heart and summoned ki into his arms. *********************************************************************** Ranma jerked back in surprise when he heard those words. It had been nearly eighteen hundred years since he had last heard anyone speak that language and they struck a chord in his mind. With this new revelation, memories of a time long gone came flooding back to him. He remembered his training under the legendary master Parthiban and the flirtatious Malligai. He remembered his friends Geetha and Pradeepan and the fun times that they had shared together. Then came the sad ones. Images of Pradeepan's last few minutes on earth came back to haunt him once more. He remembered the anguish that he felt as his sworn blood brother died from that horrendous wound to his abdomen. He had sworn that he would protect Pradeepan from his would be executioner, Hariharan but had failed in that duty. His mind drifted onto a time almost two millennia ago... *********************************************************************** A roar of a river flowing along its banks can be heard in the background. A peacock was pecking at something near the foot of a huge banyan tree. The roots from the tree stretched to the grounds below and swayed in the air in the gentle breeze that provided some comfort from the heat of the unrelenting sun tropical sun. Around the tree there were paddy fields, with each clump of the grass bent down under the strain of the grains that they proudly bore for all the world to see. Water trickled by in a small canal that supplied the water to the fields. The rays of the sun reflected back from these ripples and was glare was bright enough to blind any observer temporarily. The lush green clumps of rice swayed gently in the breeze, their movement attracting everyone that passed by them. Leaves that had long since yellowed and fallen off the tree and are now brown in colour drifted with the breeze rustling almost inaudibly as they went along. Presently, a faint voice became audible and it grew louder by the second. The voice called out the same name again and again as whoever was behind it approached the vicinity of the banyan tree. A bloody hand appeared from behind the massive trunk of the banyan tree and grabbed onto it for support. A pale face emerged followed by the blood soaked body of a man with blood matted black hair. His grip failed and he fell to the ground. His once handsome face was contorted with pain and had several deep lacerations on it. Blood ran from these wounds and soaked the brown earth of the land. The man looked twenty-ish and his face looked quite young not having yet assumed the characteristics of a fully grown man. \\Ranma...\\ the young man managed to croak as he clutched onto a clump of grass before him in agony. He lay there gasping for breath as his body began to give into the terrible injury on his abdomen. The sound of feet rushing towards him caused the young man to look up. He saw the man and his face lighted up with a slight smile before going back to its previous expression. The new arrival knelt by his side and cradled the young man in his lap. \\Pradeepa...\\ the new arrival whispered as he wiped the matted black hair from Pradeepan's face. \\Brother, I am so glad you are here now. I was afraid that I would die all alone with no one by my side.\\ Pradeepan whispered back without opening his eyes. \\Don't speak like that little brother. Everything's going to be all right.\\ soothed Ranma. Pradeepan opened his eyes and looked into his brother's eyes. Seeing the truth written in it, he smiled. He brought his hands to Ranma's cheek and caressed them. \\Liar! I know I am dying brother. I can feel my vision growing dimmer by the second.\\ he replied. Tears flowed from Ranma's eyes and dripped onto Pradeepan's forehead. \\Don't speak like that brother. Everything is going to be fine and we will go to Ooty and you will marry Geetha as you had planned.\\ sobbed Ranma. \\Don't cry brother. If anything you must be happy for me. After all I am going to meet both mother and father in heaven.\\ said Pradeepan as he swiped away the tears from Ranma's cheeks. Ranma put on a forced smile, which faltered as he looked into Pradeepan's eyes. \\I am sorry brother...\\ he said. \\Don't be... We both knew that it would come to this in the end with Hariharan on our tail day and night.\\ replied Pradeepan. \\Yes, he was... I... I should have killed him the very second he took that oath. If I had done that you would be okay now.\\ Ranma mentally kicked himself for not having done that when he had the chance. Pradeepan was a scholar and had had no chance of protecting himself from Hariharan's skilled hands. As a result of that mistake his brother now lay dying in his lap. \\And someone else would have taken his place big brother. What would you have done then... Kill them too.\\ Ranma hung his head and remained silent. If he had his way, he would have kept on killing them as they came until they stopped coming after Pradeepan. \\The moment the king decreed that my life was forfeit I was as good as dead.\\ Pradeepan whispered. Ranma remained silent. \\Hold me big brother...\\ Ranma gently took Pradeepan's hand in his and applied pressure to comfort him. \\Tell her that my lost thoughts were of her. You will do that, won't you?\\ asked Pradeepan in a pleading tone. His eyes watered and glistened with tears. \\I will little brother. I will...\\ Ranma never got to finish his sentence. Pradeepan's body shuddered and his breathing became much more labored than before. His hold on Ranma's arms tightened and his back arched once before falling back onto the ground. His eye's glazed and Ranma felt his ki flicker and then disappear altogether. \\Goodbye forever, little brother.\\ said Ranma as he slid Pradeepan's eyelids over his lifeless eyes with his fingers. He laid Pradeepan's lifeless body softly on the ground and looked at the heavens. A single drop of tear slid gracefully across his cheek. It dripped down to the ground below, its surface glittering under the sunlight in midair as it fell down. In less than a second Ranma drifted back to reality. He wiped the tear that had found its way onto his cheeks and addressed Ryuu. *********************************************************************** Ryuu looked on with fascination as the last sailor over turned the tables on the monster. She had used a stunning 'rope a dope' and brought it to its knees. Ryuu smiled to himself at that phrase. During his stay at the amazon village a westerner had come to do some research about the Amazon's. The elders had agreed and Ryuu had made friends with Jack Travis. He had learnt that Jack was doing his thesis for a Ph.D. on ancient Chinese tribal history. During his free time Ryuu had learnt some English and boxing from his gaijin friend. He had learnt the slang's that came with the game and his English had become passable unlike most of the Japanese who learned the language in the Japanese language and thus knew not how to speak in English. Lost in his thoughts he almost failed to notice the tear that his sensei shed. For a moment he wondered that his sensei must have been overcome by the inhumane cruelty of the battle but then he noticed the far away look on Ranma's face. The look went away as suddenly as it had arrived and Ranma wiped the tears from his eyes. "Ryuu, drag those wounded girls to that building over there and keep them warm till I get to you. Whatever happens, don't attack those things and if the sailors fight you defend yourself but don't attack them. They are the good guys." "What..." exclaimed Ryuu. He was surprised by the sudden decision to intervene in the battle. Ranma did not reply. He performed some hand motions and his body became blurred. Ryuu was astonished that anyone could accomplish such a thing. He had seen his father do the vanishing trick with the Umisenken but he doubted verily whether Ranma knew that technique. "How did you do that sensei?" he asked in absolute wonder. "I will tell you later when this is over. Now wait until I have those things' attention before you reveal yourself." said Ranma and jumped with the least bit of effort onto the roof of the building by their side. The jump was no mean feat when you considered that the building was nearly a hundred feet tall and Ryuu's admiration of his sensei just grew a little more. *********************************************************************** The sickle pierced into his skin and drew blood. He cringed involuntarily before his conscious mind took control once more. Mamoru tensed his body and glared at the thing. He was not going to give it the joy of seeing him suffer and cry. He would not be broken until the moment of his death. Blood dripped from the wound as the sickle went deeper into his body. He felt it rip his diaphragm and into his chest cavity. He heard someone shout and turned towards them. It was Ami and she was running at her top speed towards him. *She's trying to save me.* He realized. He tried to say don't mind me, help Usagi but the words came out in the form of indecipherable gurgles. His vision began to dim and he thought of Usagi one last time before he drifted into death's cold embrace. *********************************************************************** Ami ran forward as fast as her legs could carry her. She saw the sickle dig deeper into Tuxedo Kamen's flesh and realized that she could not get to him in time. The thing that she had blinded seemed to have gone berserk and was firing blasts everywhere. Those very same blasts ripped up the concrete as she zigzagged through the rubble sending pieces of concrete, metal, smoke and dust into the air. She was about a hundred yards away when she shouted out Tuxedo Kamen's name and told him to hang in there for just a second. To her relief he turned towards her. The red patch on his coat grew in size even as he turned. He opened his mouth but only blood came out. *He is choking under his own blood.* She thought as she quickened her pace by just that much. Tuxedo Kamen's eyes closed and a little smile came onto his face. Then his head fell back and he remained still. "No!" she shouted even as she covered the last few yards between the three of them. She reached him and spun around in her best imitation of a martial artists kick. She had not fought alongside Makoto without learning a few pointers here and there. *********************************************************************** Surya watched with but little satisfaction as the bastard died. The bastard had not uttered a single cry of pain and suffering in the final moments of his life. He cursed the bastard and the God's for providing him with such a strong will. Though he had died in the end, the bastard had not broken and had thus deprived him of such a simple pleasure as the pure joy one had from seeing another suffer. However, he had had his revenge. By punturing the bastard's heart and those three pressure points with his ki enhanced sickle he had shattered the bastard's heart crystal. Without it no one would be able to bring him back to life and his soul would be lost forever in the void as the link between heaven and the bastard had been broken when the crystal had shattered. The demons in the void would take care of him and his banishment to the void would be punishment enough the affront on his mother and on himself. Just as the bastard's ki and mana flickered out of existence, Indra sensed the girl's attack. Acting on pure reflex honed through thousands of years of training he grabbed the bastard's body and jumped out of the way. He still needed to rip out the bastards heart to give to his mother. According to tradition his mother's honor would remain blemished until she ate the one who had wuestioned her virtues. He dropped the body out of the girl's reach and produced his sickles. He was about to attack her when he sensed a powerful ki manipulator in the area. He looked up at the roof of third building to his left and saw... *********************************************************************** As soon as Ranma got onto the roof, he relaxed his hold on his ki just a little. He did not want to vaporize the entire ward by relaxing all holds on his ki. He then summoned a ki blast of considerable power and aimed it at the one eyed Ashura. When the Ashura had quoted the verse the mental block that had prevented him from recalling the identity of the beasts had disappeared and he had remembered the old legends about the anti-gods. The priest who had instructed him about the creatures had said that the Ashura's represented everything that the God's did not. They were the embodiment of the Yin aspect of the universe whereas the God's represented the Yang aspect of the universe. Though some of the Ashura's were as benevolent as the Gods, which just went showed that everything was made of both the aspects of the force, most of them weren't and they were to be avoided on sight. Ranma had reasoned that since one of the Ashura was torturing the caped guy the duo of them must belong to the later category. Having come to that conclusion he had decided to help the senshi as anyone who fought the Ashura's had to fight for the forces of love and justice and all the other blah blah nonsense that the super heroes of the era normally spouted. With the course of action decided he had informed Ryuu of his plans and had jumped onto the roof. Since the one-eyed one was the most powerful he had decided to take him out as quickly as possible. The Ashura possessed a large amount of ki and if it were to let loose all that ki than the entire ward might be vaporized. Ranma brought his hands together and cupped his arms and focused his ki. The ki ball when it first came into existence was the size of a basketball but it rapidly decreased in size even as Ranma pumped a large amount of pure ki into it. When he was done, it had attained the size of a ten yen coin. Energy crackled around it and it was almost blinding to look it. The light from the ball lit up the entire area in an iridescent glow. He aimed the ball at the one-eyed one and let it loose. *********************************************************************** Surya hurled ki balls at the girl even as she ran. He did it in the vain hope that one of them might hit her and kill her or they might turn her attention back to him. He prayed fervently for the former for then he would be able to kill the rest of the senshi and regain his and his clan's honor. A small insignificant part of his mind wanted the blasts to miss her however. Though he would not have discharged his duties, the honor one attained from fighting to the death such a worthy opponent was more honorable than the one got from discharging his duties alone. Neither did and he felt the flames of anger licking at his heart and soul. Surya cursed Indra as he watched the sadistic bastard jump nimbly and evade her kick. Then Indra took out his sickles and got into a stance. Surya cursed the sadistic bastard once more. Even if the girl was able to defeat and kill the bastard it would take sometime and Surya did not have a lot of it in his hands. He could not fire at her now since his aim and depth perception were shot to hell. He could hit the bastard and his family would be dishonored for generations to come if he were to kill the bastard accidentally in his attempts to kill the girl. He could kill the fallen sailors but that idea did not appeal to him. He wanted to kill _her_ first in the field of combat and then kill the others. Killing them while her back was turned to him seemed like something that bastard Indra would do and therefore the idea repulsed him. He would never stoop to the level of that bastard. Surya hung his head in despair. It seemed that he would have to die a honorless death after all he had done. Just as he was giving into depression he felt a new and very powerful ki manipulator in the area. He could sense that the new arrival was showing as much power as he himself did at the moment though it was clear to his experienced senses that the mortal was barely showing the tip of the iceberg. Surya looked into the mortal's eyes through the three hundred or so yards that separated them. The mortal produced a concentrated ball of ki and aimed it at him. The energy the new comer was focusing was far more than the girl had focused in her most powerful attack and there was no doubt in Surya's mind about what would happen if the ball hit him. *********************************************************************** Indra looked at the new arrival and gawked. Not even the most powerful of His majesty Raja Chola's general's could produce such a ball of ki with such impunity. The mortal looked straight into Surya's eyes seemingly oblivious to everything else around him. For an instant Indra wondered whether he could attack the mortal but abandoned the idea. He then sensed the mortal's almost undetectable probing the area. With a start Indra realized that he was able to detect the probing only because the mortal had allowed him to. Indra's next thought was to run and put as much distance between the mortal and him as he possibly could. He quickly abandoned that idea too. If his majesty ever got wind of that he would make him suffer for such an act of cowardice. Raja Chola ruled with an iron fist and punishments were severe for even the smallest of offenses. There were fates worse than death and Indra did not want to inflict them upon himself or his family and clan. The only option left open was to fight the mortal and hope that death would be quick and painless. For the first time in his fifteen millennia of existence Indra felt afraid of a mortal. He waited his turn until the mortal focused his attention on him. It was clear from the mortal's actions that he wanted to fight in a one on one battle with Surya. It was also clear that the mortal would take any interruptions as an affront and Indra did not want to think of what such a powerful being would do when he was pissed off. *********************************************************************** As soon as the stranger showed himself, Ami's computer went haywire. The amount of power that it was picking up from the stranger was off scale. She suspected that the stranger was more powerful than the one-eyed monster itself. And if the way that the two monsters were acting was any indication her assumptions were perfectly right. The blind one looked at the stranger with utter respect and seemed to be waiting. The other one, the one that had executed Mamoru looked like it was about to wet its pants from fear. She herself was awestruck. She felt no fear towards him and she actually felt comforted in his presence. She knew from the bottom of her heart that the man was there to save them from the monsters. She thanked the kami for sending him to her though a part of her wished that the help had arrived a little earlier. With a start she shook herself out of her stupor and rushed to Mamoru. The second monster did not even move when she rushed by it. It seemed that it was too caught up in its own world of nightmares to care about the rest of the world. She lifted Mamoru's heavy body onto her back and dragged him to the side of the road. Then she ran to get the others to safety before the battle began. The whole area lit up and then the stranger let loose the blast. Ami dove for cover admist the rubble and prayed that she would live through the experience. *********************************************************************** The ball of energy zeroed in on its target. Surya crossed his arms but did not move. It would not have any difference whatsoever even if he did. His aura brightened involuntarily and formed a barrier around him to ward off the blast. Indra watched mesmerized as the ball of energy tore its way towards Surya. He had hoped that Surya would do battle with the mortal and buy him some time but that did not transpire. Surya just strengthened his barrier and waited for the blast to hit him. He realized that Surya had given up hope and was committing suicide. With his experience Surya must have known that the barrier was inadequate for he crossed his arms to protect his face. There was a small chance that Surya really believed that he could be able to repel the attack but Indra knew that was not the case. The ball hit and for just the smallest fraction of a second everything seemed to stand still. The stars in the evening sky glittered peacefully and the cool eveniing air was very still. Then there was a blinding flash of light. A fireball almost a hundred foot in diameter mushroomed into the sky. Again there was silence for the smallest fraction of a second. The silence was shattered by the deafening roar of the blast. The blast was directed away from them and most of the destructive power of the blast was directed away from them. Even so the heat was almost unbearable. The immediate area around the blast in the shape of a rough spearhead was completely destroyed. Where there had one been buildings standing proud and tall there now stood piles of rubble with jagged pieces of metal jutting out into the evening sky here and there. Ami, who had prostrated herself on the ground as soon as Ranma had fired the blast picked herself off the ground. She surveyed the blast and looked at him with sheer wonder in her eyes. Not even Usagi would have been able to throw such a powerful blast. "Who are you?" asked Indra. A warrior had the right to know his opponents name before they engaged in a battle to the death. Ranma looked at him with the same emotionless mask he had worn before. His mouth remained unmoving. It seemed that he did not want to answer the question. Indra felt his temper rising. It was a sign of disrespect when one refused to reveal his name. He repeated the question albeit in a louder voice. \Naan dhan dragon!\ replied Ranma. "Huh!" *He knows the ancient tongue. How is that possible? We are so far away from the ancient land.* Thought Indra. Ranma leapt off the roof and landed lightly on his feet. He assumed a stance and addressed the Ashura again. "Are you ready to die Ashura?" he asked in a cold emotionless voice. Indra did not have the time to even formulate a reply. Ranma attacked as soon as he had uttered those words. Indra barely ducked under the punch to his face only to get himself kneed in his face. Indra flew back and landed roughly on the hard concrete surface of the road. Ranma stood still eyeing him with his hands dangling limply by his sides. Indra wiped the blood from his face and got up. Ranma was on top of him again as soon as he stood up. A punch to his solar plexus and a open handed palm strike later Indra flew once more. This time he righted himself in midair and landed on his feet. Deciding to take the fight to Ranma's camp he attacked. Ranma met his assault head on. He ducked and rolled sideways to avoid the sharp edge of the sickle. Even as it passed him, he spun around and applied his leg to Indra's mid section and then to his face. Both the kicks had enough power behind them to send a truck into orbit and Indra flew and impacted violently against a building. The building shuddered and collapsed over him. Even as the dust rose into the air the Ashura general emerged his aura blazing like a black inferno. His sickles had been dislodged from his hands when the building collapsed and were now buried somewhere inside the mound of rubble that remained of the building. His black aura cast a shadow around him. In his six arms had basketball sized balls of ki in them. He jumped into the air and let loose the blasts. Ranma jumped to meet him in midair and evaded the blasts as they rushed towards him. Just as Indra reached the apex of his jump Ranma intercepted him. Indra's head snapped back as Ranma executed a savage uppercut to his chin. The Ashura general began to fly higher into the air but Ranma had other ideas. He grabbed Indra's legs just as they passed him and jerked him back. Indra momentarily blacked out as the g-forces sent blood gushing to his brain. Ranma simply swung Indra around a couple of times as he hovered in midair. He then threw the Ashura general to the ground. Indra hit the ground and dug a meter deep crater in it. He moaned and reached up with his arms. He grabbed the concrete edge and hauled himself out of the crater. He stumbled and fell down. He got up with some effort and stood wobbling on his feet. Ranma landed a few yards in front of Indra. The emotionless expression did not change a little bit. He simply summoned some ki and fired the ki charged vacuum blade at point blank range into the Ashura general's chest. Indra raised his ki barrier faster than he had ever before. The blade sliced neatly through the ki barrier. It vanished out of existence a few millimeters from Indra's body. The ki stored in it was released and it exploded. Indra's body just blew apart under the force of the explosion. Pieces of flesh and gore rained down all over the area as gravity applied its hold on them. *********************************************************************** Author's rants: It wasn't me, I swear! The story is hosted at the following sites: 1. Mine (http://samrtaleck.anifics.com) 2. Lady cosmos (http://www.crosswinds.net/~ladycosmos/) 3. Rakhal's Penultimate Ranma Fanfic index (http://www.rakhal.com/FFIndex/lstmain.html) 4. FFML archives (http://miniarchive.dyndns.org:123/cgi-bin/MiniArchive.exe) 5. Mediaminer fanfic archives (www.mediaminer.org/fanfic) I would like to take this oppurtunity to prostrate myself in front of my pre-readers. Thank you, guys! This couldn't have been possible without all of you: jakub [jpilecki@poczta.onet.pl] Kaz [kazblah945@aol.com] Madcat [madcat08@hotmail.com] Brain [bmccullough@nucles.com] James Merritt [j.merritt1@home.com] Philip Penty [plainswaker@hotmail.com] Nathan Shuker [rezantis@hotmail.com] Zero [shinzero@home.com] Hints for you readers from the author: Hint #1: Arun does not write to a schedule, he really has to spend a lot of time with his psychiatrist. Hint #2: (for those out standing critics out there[;)])Call Arun anything you want in your mail provided (though he won't) he has the right to call you by these same names. Arun appreciates constructive negative comments and he really loves the positive comments. Its the 'Go to hell you mother F***ing Freak of nature' and such that he hates. Please send me your negative comments though I would be most grateful if you would tone down the I hate you part a little. Hint #3: The truth is out there, hey, don't ask me where but is out there since Fox 'spooky' Mulder says so. Hint #4: There is no hint #4. Hint #5: Read the author's rants section if there is one. It would clear some of yer questions as well as create some totally unrelated ones.