The Dark Lords Ascendant, Chapter 17 [R/SM Cross]

[claymade]

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2 or Sailor Moon in any way, shape or form. All associated characters, trademarks, etc. are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi. I'm just telling some stories about them.



Chapter Seventeen: Before the Dawn



Tanizaki stared down at Genma's lifeless body.

The businessman breathed in and out, his composure returning bit by bit as his rage slowly subsided. His guards, his scientists and the hostages, all of them watched him without a sound, no one willing to be the first one to break the strained silence.

With precise, methodical movements, Tanizaki pulled out a handkerchief from one of his pockets and began wiping Genma's blood off his fists. Still no one spoke. Once he had finished, he adjusted the cuffs of his black suit, smoothed his hair into a less-disheveled state, and turned to the highest-ranking guard that was still alive.

"At this point, the cannon is a loss," he said, keeping his voice studiously calm and level. "And with the damage to the computers we've lost the ability to monitor the battlefield. Pack up anything you can salvage and move it back to the skyscraper. There is nothing more we can accomplish here."

The guard swallowed. "Yes sir," he said, still rattled by the sight of his employer beating a man to death with his bare hands in a savage fury.

"Once we get back, prepare the auxiliary containment unit for the Wyrmspawn," Tanizaki continued. "We'll let it rampage for a while longer, until it calms down from the damage to its wing, but eventually I'll need to recapture it."

By that time, anyone in the area would almost certainly be dead. Especially Ranma, who was already injured. Still, Tanizaki refused to underestimate his opponents again. I should plan for the possibility that some of them manage to flee the monster, he thought. Which means I shouldn't let down my guard.

He glanced back at Genma's body, shame running through him. Inexcusable, he thought. Utterly inexcusable. I should have had more self-control than to let my temper run wild like that. If Ranma does somehow survive, having him as a hostage would have been useful... but I threw the opportunity away just to satisfy my anger.

True, it was unlikely to make much difference in the end... but it was the principle of the thing. Indulging one's flaws was a dangerous thing to practice, no matter how small any single instance might seem.

"Sir?" asked one of the guards, a stocky, bald man. "What should we do with them?" He gestured to the group of human shields still clustered around the cannon.

Tanizaki spared them a glance. For a moment he was tempted to order their execution, for no other reason than to spite Genma's efforts to keep them alive. But he resisted the impulse. Pointless, petty vengeance against a man who wouldn't even feel it was exactly the sort of irrationality that had so recently compromised his judgement. He would not give into it again.

No, what he needed was a clear-headed focus on the strategic situation. To truly eliminate witnesses of what had happened here, he would not only need to kill these civilians, but also sweep the rest of the surrounding houses... which would take valuable time. And, his own failure notwithstanding, the human shields had fulfilled their roles. On the off-chance he needed to use such tactics again before this was over, the effectiveness would be diminished if he just killed the hostages anyway.

"Release them," he ordered. "Then assist with the teardown. I want you out of here in less than fifteen minutes."

The remaining soldiers nodded, then turned to obey. Tanizaki, for his part, walked back to the center of the wrecked camp and picked up the large black briefcase he had brought with him. Then he turned and began to leap across the rooftops back toward his skyscraper. He had to get back and check on the result of his other offensive.

After all, no matter the outcome of this attack, it had already accomplished the most important objective: to draw most of the defenders away from Tsukino Usagi. If Zhang had succeeded in killing her then the Silver Crystal was already his to command.


**********


Mousse listened to his and Zhang's footfalls, the interplay of echoes helping him fine-tune his sense of the tunnel they were running down. He could feel stone beneath his feet, and in addition to Zhang's ki aura up ahead, he could also sense the distinctive presences of quite a few monsters off in the distance.

So they took me back to the Dark Kingdom while I was unconscious, Mousse thought, as he raced around a bend in the tunnel, hot on the heels of his fleeing enemy. But why is Zhang here? And where are the others? What's going on?

But he pushed the questions to one side, focusing instead on speed. He hurled weapons anytime the tunnel straightened enough to give him a shot, forcing Zhang to swerve to avoid the attacks. A few struck glancing blows; Mousse could hear the rip of cloth, could smell the sudden tang of fresh blood each time one of his blades struck home.

Up ahead, he could sense a distortion in the air. It was difficult to detect, but he had the impression of magic from an area where the echoes and air currents became oddly twisted. A portal! Mousse thought. But the tunnel layout here doesn't match the portal to Tokyo. This is a different one!

He pushed himself to run even faster, hurling a volley of knives on an intercept course. Zhang tried to twist between them, but was unable to avoid them entirely. Two of them buried deep into his back. But even so, the assassin dove through the portal, his presence vanishing from Mousse's senses.

Mousse skidded to a stop. A day before, he might have chased after with reckless disregard for his own safety, but right now his head was clear enough to realize the folly of such an action. He would be supremely vulnerable as he emerged from the magical transit, and Zhang had already made it through. Likely the assassin would be ready to strike the moment he appeared. Not to mention that he didn't even know where this portal led, or what else Tanizaki might have on the other side.

Drawing a sword from his sleeve, Mousse took a stance by the portal, just in case Zhang decided to risk coming back. He doubted it would happen, but he would be ready if it did. Second after second went by, stretching into minutes, with no further sign of Zhang's ki aura nor any sound of movement from the portal. Damn, Mousse thought. He got away.

Eventually, he heard about a half-dozen sets of running feet coming down the tunnel behind him, complete with auras that identified them as a mixed group of monsters. By the time they reached him, they were panting for breath. "We heard what happened!" one of them said. "Are you alright, sir? Where is the intruder?"

Sir? Mousse wondered. But there were more pressing matters than an oddly deferential form of address. "The intruder is gone," he said. "But we need to set a guard on this portal. Blast anything that comes through. And where is Ranma?"

He heard the monsters shift, turning to look at one another. "We can find some guards," one said. "But most of our strong fighters are out in the human world, helping Ranma fight Tanizaki's army."

"Army?" Mousse echoed. "Just what the hell has happened since I've been asleep?"

"Well, sir..." another of the monsters began. "It's... a long story..."


**********


Sailor Pluto watched as Ukyo brought her enormous spatula down on the neck of a Synth that was crawling toward their formation, killing it. A quick scan of the battlefield confirmed that no other Synths were moving either. They had won.

Ukyo dropped to her knees, driving her spatula into the ground and clinging to it to keep herself from collapsing entirely. The Senshi of Time was not in much better shape either, but upon seeing that the immediate threat was dealt with, she turned back to where Sailor Saturn and Ryouga had been fighting. None of this meant anything unless they could somehow deal with the Wyrmspawn, but she hadn't seen anything from it since Ryouga had unleashed that unbelievable series of attacks.

Not to mention... whatever it was that Sailor Saturn had done.

Limping with every step, Sailor Pluto hurried over to the edge of the immense crater formed by Ryouga's final blast and looked down into it. Sailor Saturn and Ryouga lay crumpled together at the bottom, next to the dead body of the ancient monster. "They killed it," Sailor Pluto whispered, thunderstruck, unable to believe what she was seeing. "They... killed it."

"Ryouga!" With a terrified cry, Beneda stumbled past Sailor Pluto, careening down the side of the crater to drop to her knees by the two prone teenagers. She frantically checked Ryouga's body, only for her eyes to widen at what she found. Then she looked back up at Sailor Pluto. "How did she do that?" she asked, awe and gratitude in her voice. "That technique he used... it's designed to kill its user. How did she save him?"

"I... do not know," admitted Sailor Pluto. "The manner in which she called down power... It is... not something I have seen before."

"I have." Konatsu's voice came from just behind her and to her right, though she had completely missed his approach. With an effort, she kept her reaction to merely a startled jerk of surprise, while the ninja continued. "That sensation... it was very much like what I felt when Sailor Mars defeated the enemy's sorcerer. Except this time, the power was even greater."

Sailor Pluto considered his words. Now that he mentioned it, there had also been the incident during the attack on the Dark Kingdom, when Sailor Mercury had summoned far more power than usual to save Urawa Ryo. Once might have been a fluke, twice might have been a coincidence, but three times was a pattern. And it seemed that whatever it was, it was increasing in strength with each incidence.

Could it be that we are on the cusp of a new progression in our abilities? Sailor Pluto wondered. It had certainly happened before when faced with various other threats, attaining new attacks and even their "Super" transformations. Even so, in all the history of the Solar System only the heirs of Serenity had ever reached the level that lay beyond that.

At least... so far.

But then Sailor Pluto shook herself, dispelling such thoughts. However much power their planets deemed fit to grant—however much power their planets deemed they had grown capable of withstanding—that was neither here nor there. Right now they needed to regroup. She carefully limped down the side of the crater, using the Garnet Rod to steady herself. Then she knelt by Sailor Saturn and lifted her, slinging one of the young girl's arms over her shoulder. "Anyone who can still walk, help the more seriously wounded back to the portal," she called out. "We must get them somewhere more secure."

Beneda nodded, and gently lifted the unconscious Ryouga much as Sailor Pluto had lifted Sailor Saturn. Together, they made their way back up the crater. Up ahead of them, the martial artists, Sailor Senshi and monsters were likewise assisting. Some, like Sailor Mercury, were still conscious, but her burns were so bad that she still let Ukyo help her. Others, like Kodachi, were out cold, prompting her brother to lift her onto his back.

And then there was Sailor Venus... Sailor Pluto suppressed a wince as she looked at the mangled stump where the girl's right arm had been. It was also difficult to tell at a glance how well the monster forces had held up, since their bodies tended to vanish on death.

This victory came at great cost, Sailor Pluto thought, as she made for the portal. But we still stand. It will take more than this for Tanizaki to break us.


**********


Later that night, Tanizaki sat alone in his darkened penthouse office atop his skyscraper, his face illuminated by the glow from the many screens of the computer setup that was the largest feature of the otherwise barren room. As usual, the monitors showed the status of his empire, both the legal and illegal branches, all the secret ties and connections and spheres of blackmail and influence.

What was not usual were the various shades of red with which almost every single node was now colored, many of them blinking. He had already been bleeding support at a dangerous rate since the Sailor Senshi had made their appeal in the land of dreams... but that had been a mere trickle compared to the floodgates that had opened after his disastrous attack.

His political and media control was now essentially non-existent. No amount of bribery or blackmail could compel public figures to give support to someone responsible for erasing an entire Special Ward of Tokyo off the face of the map. Minato Ward in and of itself had been larger than many modern cities, and now it was a burned-out wasteland. The National Diet had given a unanimous condemnation of his attack, while the news coverage was now entirely on the side of the pro-Senshi movement.

Even the illegal parts of his network were cutting their ties. The rats can sense when a ship is in danger of sinking, he thought. And in this case... their instincts may not be wrong.

Zhang had also taken severe injuries. The assassin was currently recuperating in one of the healing pods that Metzger had taken from the Dark Kingdom, and then improved with his own enhancements. That, combined with Zhang's already-phenomenal natural healing as a high-level martial artist, would enable him to recover quickly... but the fact remained that he had failed to kill Sailor Moon. The power that would have allowed him to turn everything around still lay just outside his reach.

How did they do it? Tanizaki asked himself for what felt like the thousandth time. Not just to contain the Wyrmspawn... but to actually kill it? That should have been impossible! Turning it loose at all was absurd overkill. It was supposed to ensure that they had not the slightest chance whatsoever... and even that wasn't enough?

At this point, the only reliable resources he had left were a handful of still-loyal guards, Unit Zero, the injured Zhang, and himself. Even Nagai had disappeared without a word, no doubt fleeing to save his own skin. Of course, Tanizaki had never expected anything else from a weasel like him, useful though his political insight and connections had been.

That man will look out for his own skin first and foremost, Tanizaki thought. Wherever he is now... it is doubtless more comfortable than this dire situation...


**********


Even later that night, nearly into the next morning, the tormented shell of a man that was all that remained of Nagai Masuyo walked through the city streets toward Tanizaki's headquarters. With each step he took, the fear of once more standing in the presence of his nameless master grew, yet he could not stop putting one foot in front of the other. He held a large metal carrying case in his hand, inside which were the last two artifacts necessary for the ritual.

The skyscraper was nearly deserted when he reached it, but Nagai took no notice. A pair of guards watched the door, but they recognized him and let him through. He advanced through the empty, cavernous lobby, his footsteps echoing on the marble floor, then took the elevator up. Upon reaching the proper level he walked through the silent, vacant hallways until he reached the treatment room.

Nagai opened the door, and the enthralled doctors and nurses all turned as one to look at him. They had cleared the room of all the medical apparatus that had been treating Ekim's burns, replacing it with a stockpile of other occult material that Ekim had gathered in preparation for this task. Even the large stone altar had been moved from Ekim's old quarters to this room.

And at the center of it all stood Ekim's burned, ravaged body. He did not look, but Nagai could feel the attention of the Entity puppeteering that barely-breathing frame. It focused on him... or rather, on what he was carrying.

Nagai lowered the case to the ground, then opened it. Inside were a silver, gem-encrusted chalice and a rough, wood-carved idol with sunken eyes and a toothy, inhuman face. Ekim's body lurched over, picking up one in each hand. Then it dropped them in a small pile of other such artifacts: an ancient, four-stringed lyre, a withered human hand, a book, and a sword. There was a sense of finality to the sound they made as they fell. Now all that remained was to begin preparation for the ritual itself, and that would take no longer than a day or two.

Soul-twisting words poured out of Ekim's mouth, impressing the task onto their minds, causing images to sear into their consciousness. Nagai saw what was required for this final summoning: far more than just the altar, something of this scale needed magic circle upon magic circle drawn in blood on the floor around it, filled with intricate runes of terrible power, with the artifacts placed at specific points.

As one, the humans moved to obey, each intuitively understanding their role. One nurse began to mechanically sort through the artifacts, placing them into their proper positions. The head doctor, meanwhile, found a large golden basin among Ekim's ritual equipment and brought it back to the rest of them. He set it on the floor in front of Nagai, who knelt down over it as another nurse approached with Ekim's rough stone knife.

The nurse grabbed him by the hair to hold him steady. She brought up the knife with her other hand, holding it to Nagai's neck. As he felt the touch of the cold stone against his throat, a shudder of relief ran through the man. At last, it was almost over.

At least he would not have to witness what was to come.


**********


Hotaru sat at Ryouga's bedside, in the lavishly-furnished room in the Dark Kingdom palace that the monsters had provided for him, looking down at his unconscious form. Her vision kept blurring a little from sheer tiredness, and her head wobbled into near-sleep from time to time, prompting a twinge of guilt to worm its way through her. She had promised Sailor Mercury that she would get some sleep... but she had stopped here first to check on the lost boy.

At first she too had been out cold, but due to the desperate situation with so many grievously wounded and in danger of death, her friends had reluctantly woken her up. Even dragging herself back to consciousness, she had been spent beyond all endurance, with nothing more to give. She had given it anyway. She had used the remaining dregs of her healing power, along with Tuxedo Kamen's, to do whatever she could to stabilize as many as possible, until at last anyone who could be saved had been.

Ryouga had no such way of helping with the treatment, of course, so he had been allowed to rest uninterrupted. Little had changed since she had last seen him. He lay there, an unusually peaceful expression on his face, his chest slowly rising and falling. According to Sailor Mercury's scans he was in no danger, simply spent from all that his technique had wrung out of him, even if her magic had pulled him back from the brink at the last moment.

A shudder ran through Hotaru at the memory of how the festering decay had eaten away at him, until his entire body had been falling apart. On impulse, she reached out and took hold of his hand, clasping it between hers as he slept.

The warmth she felt from the contact reassured her, and she hoped that it provided some comfort to Ryouga as well. She closed her weary eyes, and for a minute or two allowed herself to simply rest, to not think, to sit there and forget the world-sized weight resting on all of their shoulders.

How long she sat there, she couldn't have said. It was quite likely that she drifted off into a doze for a while, and even if she hadn't, she was drowsy enough that keeping track of time was difficult. But eventually something returned her to awareness: the sound of a groggy voice speaking in a puzzled tone. "Ummm... Hotaru?"

Her eyes snapped open, full alertness returning in an instant. Looking down, she saw Ryouga's dark eyes looking up at her from the bed, still half-asleep. Her heart lurched in her chest, and on pure, embarrassed reflex she jerked her hands back, a reflex she castigated herself for the very next instant. She was left sitting there, hands held awkwardly in midair as she struggled to compose her flustered thoughts. "R-Ryouga!" she said. "You're... awake!"

The lost boy blinked a few times. "I... guess I am," he said at length. Then his eyes focused, alertness returning in a rush, and he pulled himself partway off the bed. "What happened with the battle? Is everyone...?"

Hotaru lowered her gaze a little. "It... wasn't as bad as it could have been," she answered. "Not nearly as bad as it would have been if you hadn't stopped the Wyrmspawn. Tuxedo Kamen and I helped everyone we could, but... at least a dozen of the monsters helping us died during the fight. Also... because of the fire, there wasn't enough left of Minako's arm to even try to reattach it."

Ryouga slumped back down, deflating. "Damn," he said, his voice tired and quiet. "I knew we wouldn't have gotten through something as bad as that unscathed, but... still. Damn it all to hell."

A heavy silence hung over the room. Hotaru folded her hands in front of her, not sure what to say. Had it really been only yesterday that she had been talking with him, her heart aflutter over telling him that she returned the feelings that he'd been pursuing her with? Such levity seemed so out of place now, in the face of everything that had happened.

Finally, Ryouga spoke again. "Still... thank you for saving me. That was... incredible, what you did. And... I'm sorry. For breaking my promise to you."

Hotaru shook her head. "I understand," she said, despite the pain in her chest. Was this how much she had hurt Chibi-Usa, each time she had tried to use her own ultimate power? "I... probably would have broken my promise too. If magic had even worked on the Wyrmspawn."

Ryouga flinched. "No!" he said, his tone urgent. "No, even if it does come down to a choice like that again... you should let me be the one to do it."

"Why?" Hotaru asked, frowning. "It's the same price either way, isn't it? If it has to be someone, why shouldn't it be me?"

"Because... the world would be a whole lot darker without you in it," the lost boy said. "You're amazing, Hotaru. You're so kind and generous and friendly. And you have a... future ahead of you in ways I don't."

"How can you say that?" demanded Hotaru. "Everyone has a future!"

"Not in the same way." Ryouga didn't meet her eyes as he spoke. "That's why I created that technique in the first place. It's like I told you before. When I fought Death Phantom... he made me realize how my story was going to end. Nothing was going to change. I'd just keep wandering from place to place, trying to scrape together enough menial work to get by before I got lost again. I wouldn't even be able to be there for my friends most of the time."

The lost boy exhaled, staring up at the ceiling, his gaze focused somewhere far away. "Which meant I had less to lose than other people. That's why it should be me who pays that price, if it has to happen. Not someone with their whole future ahead of them. Not someone with a chance at making a real home for themselves. A real life. A..." He paused, swallowed, then continued, though he was unable to completely hide the ache in his voice. "...a family."

Looking at his miserable expression, Hotaru felt as though someone had stabbed her in the chest. "But... why wouldn't you have the chance for any of that?" she protested. "You... can't really have given up on finding someone... right? I mean... you were even trying to make it work with... with..."

But her voice trailed off as she saw only puzzlement and incomprehension on Ryouga's face. And in that moment it finally dawned on her just how many of her assumptions about him she had formed while she still thought that he was a villain... but had not bothered to reexamine since learning he was not.

All the heartfelt concern despite being on "opposite sides". All the rescues despite "wanting the Sailor Senshi defeated". Seen in the light of the truth, they didn't imply nearly so much as it had seemed while listening to Chibi-Usa spin confident pronouncements about how he was obviously in love with her. But in hindsight, the real explanation was so simple.

Just an ordinary, heroic boy. No infatuation required for any of it.

He doesn't really see me that way, she thought. All this time I thought he was chasing after me. But really... he didn't think he would ever find anyone. How could I be so stupid? Why didn't I see it sooner?

But... no, she knew exactly why she hadn't seen it. Because she hadn't wanted to see it. She'd wanted so badly to believe that someone might feel that way about her that—once she had let herself be convinced—she'd hung onto that belief without questioning it.

Until that moment, she had—somehow—borne up under the grief from the losses they had taken in the battle. She had borne up under the worry over Usagi's condition. She had borne up under the bone-deep exhaustion from lack of sleep and pushing herself past all endurance. But this sudden realization blindsiding her, on top of everything else... not just how Ryouga really saw her, but how he really saw himself as well... it was the final straw. Her composure crumbled and she buried her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she cried uncontrollably.

"Wha...? I... No, no it's not...!" she heard Ryouga say, frantically trying to console her. "It's... it's not really that bad, honest! I... I got used to it a long time ago. You don't have to feel sad over something like that!"

With an effort, she looked back up at him. Her vision was blurry due to her tears... but at the same time it felt like she had never seen him so clearly, seen his fears and his sorrows. "Why shouldn't I be sad?" she managed to ask him, still crying. "If you found out that someone you cared about had resigned himself to being unhappy... If he thought his own life was worth so little because of that... wouldn't you be sad too?"

Ryouga opened his mouth. But he could say nothing in reply, and so Hotaru continued to speak. "I understand now why your friends were so worried about you using that technique. The problem isn't that you're willing to sacrifice for others. The problem is how much you've given up on your own life. But that's wrong. It's wrong! If there's something you want that badly, you shouldn't just stop trying to make it work!"

Hotaru clumsily rubbed her arm across her eyes. "I know there were painful things in your past. And I know that can make the future look impossible. But... even just in the time I've known you, I've seen you do such incredible things, fight and win against such incredible odds. And I know you could do the same with this. I know it."

She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to bring her emotions back under control. "I... don't know exactly what kind of a life you'd hope for, or..." The next words hurt, but she forced herself to say them anyway. "...or who you'd really want to share it with. But whatever that is... whoever it is... don't give up on it. Please, Ryouga."


**********


Ryouga stared as Hotaru poured her heart out in front of him, her every word hitting him harder than any punch he'd ever taken. Seeing her so distraught chewed him up inside, especially knowing that it was his own thoughtless words that had hurt her so.

And... she's right, he thought. She's right about everything. I've just been running away, ever since Death Phantom. Or... no. No, that's not right. He just made it worse. I've really been running away ever since Akari.

But in that moment, as she cried there in front of him, he could no longer deny how much that surrender to despair could hurt those around him. Slowly, he swung his legs out of the bed and rose to his feet. He wobbled a little, his endurance drained to almost nothing from what he'd gone through, but he ignored it. This was too important.

Hotaru looked up at him, surprised. Then she rose to her feet too. I doubt she's going to say yes, Ryouga told himself. But... that's not the point. Not this time. It's not about whether or not she accepts. It's about letting her know that she's right. It's about showing her that I'm not giving up any more. That I'm willing to get back in the fight, even if it hurts. Even if I get rejected again.

In the end... it's about telling the damn truth for once.

"And... and I could even help too..." Hotaru said, her voice starting to sound uncertain. "At least a little. I mean... I don't know very much about that sort of thing myself, so I don't know how much use I'd be. And I don't know..." She looked at the ground, then continued in a smaller voice. "I don't even know what kind of girl you really like, but if there's anything I can do to—"

"It's you!" blurted out Ryogua.

Hotaru's head snapped back up, her eyes going wide to an almost comical extent. Ryouga pushed on, hurriedly waving his hands. "It's not... I know this wasn't what you were expecting. And I know this probably sounds creepy. So once I'm done you can pretend this never happened, or... or anything else you want to do. But..." He swallowed hard. "But the truth is... ever since I got to know you... I... Hotaru, you're not like anyone I've ever met before. You're so strong and brave... but so gentle at the same time. And when I talk with you, it's... like you have this... warmth inside of you that's so beautiful that I just... I can't even..."

His voice trailed off, unable to find the words. "...anyway," he finally said. "I just wanted to let you know. You were right about me. And I completely understand if you don't feel the same way! I just wanted to—"

But his train of thought promptly broke, as Hotaru lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace and burying her face into his chest. Her body shook with sounds that could either have been sobbing or hysterical laughter. "...Hotaru?" he finally managed to say, still not sure any of this was real.

Tears one again running down her cheeks—but with a radiant smile on her face this time—Hotaru looked up at him. "Don't worry," she said. "It's just that when you were talking earlier... I realized I'd been mistaken this whole time, and I saw the truth. Except then the mistake turned out to be real, and the truth was a mistake. But it's all okay now."

Ryouga had no idea what to make of any of that. But even if what she said made no sense, his brain slowly started to process what she had just done in embracing him. "Um... Hotaru? Does... does this mean...?"

By way of answer, Hotaru went up on her toes a little bit and placed a quick peck of a kiss on his cheek. Then her face flushed red, and she buried it back into the lost boy's chest again. Ryouga—who was blushing no less intensely—could do nothing but stand there, dumbstruck, his arms moving up almost of their own accord to wrap around her as well, holding her tight to him.


**********


Minako lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling of her darkened room, unable to sleep. Healing magic had closed up her wounds and stopped her bleeding... but it could do nothing about the illusory agony that her traitorous brain still insisted on sending her.

It felt as though her arm was on fire. Clenching her teeth, she looked yet again at her ruined shoulder in a hopeless attempt to convince her mind that the limb was gone. It didn't help, only adding a sense of vertigo as she tried to reconcile what she was seeing with the impossible sensation that her arm was still there, and hurting.

"Phantom limb pain." That was what Ami had called it, when she had warned Minako about what she would likely experience.

Staring at her shoulder wasn't helping any more than all the other times she'd tried it, and it was a reminder of what she had lost. So she turned away, trying to find other things to occupy her thoughts and failing miserably.

Eventually, her silent twisting and turning was interrupted by a knock on the door. She didn't know who it was, but if she wasn't going to be getting any sleep, it might at least take her mind off things. Plastering a carefree smile on her face, she spoke up. "Come in!"

The door opened, and Minako's eyes widened a little in surprise and recognition. It was Jimenko, leader of the lemures, who Minako had met in her disguised excursion last night. "Oh, hello!" said the human girl. "Um... who are you? And what brings you here?"

"Heard that you had been injured in the fighting." There was an emotion lurking in the lemure's eyes that Minako couldn't quite put her finger on. "Decided to see how you were doing."

Minako blinked. "I'm... alive," she said, keeping up her smile with sheer force of will. "Which is pretty lucky, when you think about everything! Still, they're keeping me on bed rest for at least the next day or two, considering how much blood I lost before they could patch me up."

"I see," said Jimenko. "Then I suppose we won't be seeing 'Minaxa' in our strategy meetings for a while either, will we?"

At that, Minako froze, a guilty expression crossing her face, her eyes shifting left and right. "Um... er... what? Minaxa? Who's she? I don't know any Minaxa!"

"No matter how good your disguise is, it doesn't mean a thing if you don't think your plan through," Jimenko continued. "Like what happens when I decide I want to talk some more with the daimon who made so many good points. Except it turns out I can't find her. In fact... no one's ever seen her anywhere except for that one meeting. Where she argued so very passionately that Sailor Venus should be the one we tried to pair with Lord Mousse."

Minako slumped, deflating. "I'm sorry," she said. "I heard you were planning something, and I was worried it might hurt my friends, so I wanted to check it out. And then, when I realized you weren't scheming against us—well, okay, you were scheming against us, but not in a way that would hurt anyone... I just went with it. I enjoyed hanging out with you guys and being all nefarious. And I didn't tell anyone else, I swear."

Jimenko made no reply at first, just looked down at her, studying her with an unreadable expression. "Well, that arm will make pulling off 'Minaxa' difficult from now on," she finally said. "So if you're still fine with scheming against your fellow Sailor Senshi... you might as well do it in your actual form. We could use the inside information."

The ghost of a real smile tugged at Minako's mouth. "That... sounds like fun."


**********


Some time later, Jimenko walked out of the Dark Kingdom palace, lost in thought. So it really was her, she mused. But she didn't have any problem with our plan. In fact, she wanted it to happen. Does... that count as a win for us? Or for them?

She was only distracted from her mulling when she noticed that Mousse had walked past her, striding toward the immense structure that she had just exited. She watched him go, and idea slowly forming. "Sir!" she called after him.

Mousse turned, his expression quizzical, his clouded eyes not quite exactly focusing on her own. Jimenko hesitated, suddenly aware of just how out-of-line this might be. It wasn't even like there was any great benefit to this anymore. With Sailor Venus crippled, subverting her any more than she already was probably offered little tactical gain.

And yet... somehow, it had been enjoyable to plot with her, even if Jimenko hadn't realized at the time who she was. And now she was lying alone, in the dark, trying despite her condition to put on a brave face that even Jimenko could see through.

"Sir, if I may be so bold, I... have reason to believe that Sailor Venus would greatly appreciate it if you were to pay her a visit."

Mousse raised an eyebrow. "I'd heard she was sleeping and not to be disturbed."

"Not at the moment, sir. And I do think she would be grateful. If you were so inclined."

For a moment, Jimenko was afraid he would be angry at her ill-thought-out presumption. But Mousse's expression instead became thoughtful. "Is that so?" he asked. "Well, considering what she's going through, if I can help her I suppose it would be worth a visit. Thank you for mentioning it."

Jimenko's expression brightened, a surge of pride swelling from within her. "Thank you, sir!"


**********


Back in Ryouga's room, the lost boy stared up at the ceiling while he sat in the chair Hotaru had recently occupied. His mind was in such a whirl that he could barely track one coherent thought to the next, but he didn't much care. The events of the past hour had turned everything he'd thought he'd known upside down, and he had no idea where it would go from here.

Once they had calmed down from the initial exuberance, he and Hotaru had sat down on the side of his bed and talked, holding hands all the while. They talked about big things and small things, about when they had first realized that they loved—loved!—the other, and about what they would do from here. Ryouga had been brutally honest about how difficult his directional curse could make any kind of relationship, when you couldn't rely on seeing each other for weeks on end. But Hotaru had still wanted to try.

Even with all the excitement and joy, however, Hotaru's utter exhaustion could not be denied forever. And so eventually, in the middle of a somewhat rambling thought that Ryouga had been trying to express, he had felt a light thud against his side. Turning, he saw that sleep had finally overwhelmed the girl, her slight frame slumped against him, her head resting on his shoulder like a pillow.

Ryouga froze. Then, slowly, he had shifted his weight, not wanting to wake her. Moving with all the delicate care he could muster, he had maneuvered her into a more comfortable position, laying her down so her head was on his actual pillow and then pulling the sheets over her. Then, when he could think of nothing more to do, he had sat back down in the chair she had recently occupied, holding vigil over her just as she had done over him.

As he watched her peaceful, sleeping face, a surge of emotion ran through him, feelings he could not even put words to. I want to protect her, he thought. I want to keep her safe, with every last bit of strength I have, for as long as she'll let me. Right now, I can't think of a single thing that has more meaning to me than that.


**********


Mousse walked slowly down the corridor, his footfalls echoing along the rocky walls. He took his time, pondering what he would say when he reached the wing of the palace containing Minako's sleeping quarters.

Of course, he knew the most obvious reason why a visit from him might raise her spirits; she hadn't been shy in expressing her crush on him over the preceding days. However—while he didn't want to encourage something he couldn't reciprocate—it had occurred to him that there was something else he could also offer as well, a perspective that might be of some help in what she was going through.

He used the echoes of his steps to keep track of the hallway's twists and turns, while closing in on the ki auras he could sense ahead. Minako's aura was easy to pick out; hers was the only one where the flow of spiritual energy was lopsided, not circulating to where her right arm would have been. It was also agitated, tinged through with pain, and very much awake. Jimenko had been right about that much.

He paused outside her door, gathering his thoughts. Then he knocked, two short raps. Through the door, he sensed Minako sit up in her bed, heard the sheets rustle as she clumsily adjusted herself with one hand to make herself as presentable as she could before answering. "Come in!"

Mousse swung the door open, and he heard Minako's heartbeat speed up as she realized who had come to call. "M-Mousse!" she said, surprised. "Um... hello!" He did not miss her subtly shifting her body to an angle that would keep the ruined stump of her right shoulder more out of his view. Meaningless to someone who perceived the world the way he did, of course, but he suspected it had been a reflexive action on her part.

"I heard that you were having trouble sleeping," Mousse said. "I thought I might see how you were holding up. Perhaps provide some company."

"Oh! That's so kind of you!" While Minako's voice had sounded flustered at first, that did not last long. Cheery, boisterous confidence seemed to swiftly replace it in her tone... though her heartbeat did not actually slow down much, and her aura was... strained. "I've been holding up great, actually! Everyone's been worried, but I think they're just being overprotective. But it's still good to see you!"

Minako kept up a breathless stream of animated chatter as Mousse stepped inside, walking over to sit in a nearby chair. He listened with half an ear, though it was clear that the words were a defensive measure, meant to fill air. Eventually, when an opening presented itself, he interjected. "It's not wrong, you know. To be angry at what happened."

He heard Minako's mouth snap shut with an audible click of teeth, replacing the constant talking with sudden silence. "You lost something important to you. Lost it because a selfish bastard put all of us in danger, and you put your life on the line to help protect everyone. You don't have to act like everything is fine."

"Heh. What good would it do to worry everyone?" Much of the forced cheer drained out of Minako's voice, leaving it small and brittle. "And I'm not angry. Not really. Just..." She hesitated, then let out a sigh. "Scared. I mean... what happens now? With my role as a Sailor Senshi? With my ordinary life? With... everything?"

Her heart rate had begun to slow, and the profile he sensed of her aura shrunk, her shoulders hunching, her head bowing. Hearing those familiar fears stabbed at Mousse, but he took a few moments to consider before replying.

"When you lose something so important, a great deal changes," he finally said. "And you'll have to make some hard choices as a result. Some things won't be possible for you anymore. Others will require much more effort, and only you can decide which ones are still worth the cost. If you train your body to acclimate, it may be possible to still fight alongside your friends... but it will be even more dangerous for you than before."

"Is that what happened with you?" Minako asked quietly. "When you lost your sight?"

"I was... more fortunate than most," said Mousse. "My martial arts training had already begun sharpening my other senses. And my loss was gradual, giving me time to adapt. Even so, it took tireless practice. And there are still things that no amount of training will ever replace."

The last, years-ago image he had seen of Shampoo flashed through his memory as he spoke, along with a pang in his chest. He didn't even know what she looked like now. All he had was a voice and whatever general outline of her ki flow he could sense. But then he shook his head, dispelling such thoughts. He was here for this Senshi girl, not to wallow in old hurts that he had long since come to accept.

"Either way, the most important thing to remember is that there is a life beyond what you've lost," he continued. "It will be very different from the life you're used to, in more ways than you realize right now. If you respond by comparing it against what you had before, it can crush you. But if you take it on its own terms... there is a life there. And it's well worth living."

For a long while Minako was silent. Mousse wished he could observe her expression, to get a better insight into how his words had been received. When the girl finally did speak, her voice was thoughtful. "So... you said that it took you a whole lot of practice to fight as well as you do, even without being able to see?"

Mousse nodded. "Yes. It did."

"Then it's perfect!" In a flash, the exuberance returned to her voice. It wasn't even quite so forced as before, either. "Starting tomorrow, I'll train with you!"

"I... wait, what?" Mousse said, flabbergasted. "I wasn't talking about—"

"Nope, nope! It's decided." When she spoke like this, Mousse could practically hear the infectious grin in her every word. "There's no way I'm going to let my friends fight by themselves, or let myself be a burden to them. If a bunch of practice is what it takes, then I'd better get started! And we both fight with chains, so it works even better! This is going to be so much fun!"

She's still putting up a front for me, Mousse thought, as the girl continued to talk at him. But I suppose it might not be such a bad thing after all. If she can draw strength from acting silly and carefree, who am I to criticize?

That said, as he listened to her it was becoming fast apparent that training with him was one thing she was entirely serious about. Mousse sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, realizing too late just how badly he had underestimated the sheer force of will possessed by the irrepressible human wrecking ball known as Aino Minako.


**********


The rest of the night passed, the defenders in the Dark Kingdom doing their best to rest and recuperate. The thralls of the Nameless One working in Tanizaki's nearly-deserted skyscraper, however, received no such respite. The twisted commands pushed them onward, meticulously drawing the enormous magical circles and all the intricate runes that filled them. When Nagai's blood ran out, they killed another of their number and continued the painstaking work.

By the time dawn broke, the work was nearly done. With only an hour or two left until the preparations were complete, the vast, malign intelligence turned its thoughts toward any last details. Most of it could be performed by the shell that had once been its agent. But a sacrifice would also be necessary for the ritual's culmination... and these corrupted thralls were entirely unsuitable for such a purpose.

Fortunately, as its will bore down on its servants, it determined that one of them did have access to a sacrifice of the required innocence. It spoke through Ekim's mouth, in alien words that nevertheless impressed the requirement into their target.

Obtain.

To the eldritch entity's surprise, it took longer than usual for that thrall to respond. But the slight delay was inconsequential. There was no resisting the Nameless One's demand, not for creatures as lowly as these.

The moment of its freedom was almost at hand.


**********


Glancing nervously out through the huge array of glass doors that made up the main entrance to Tanizaki's skyscraper, Hagiwara Daiji scanned the street outside while keeping one hand on his holstered pistol, ready to pull it out and fire at a moment's notice. He glanced over at his fellow guard on the other side of the entryway, who looked just as anxious. What the hell have I gotten myself into? he thought. Am I really gonna have to fight the Sailor Senshi? They say they're going to attack this place again any day now.

He was pretty sure that if that ever happened, he wouldn't be much help. Still, he wasn't about to turn tail and abandon his boss, someone who had been willing to hire a down-on-his-luck ex-con when he had no prospects, no hope whatsoever. According to the rumor Daiji had heard, Mr. Tanizaki himself had signed the waiver allowing him to be hired in spite of his background, on the grounds that he "saw potential" in him.

Mr. Tanizaki believed in me when no one else would, thought Daiji. So I'm gonna believe in him even when nobody else does. That's how loyalty is supposed to work.

And so he kept watch, waiting for the threat to show itself... only to be startled by the sound of someone approaching from behind him. His nerves already on edge, he whirled around... only to see that it was a woman in a nurse's uniform, of all things.

She looked young, perhaps in her late twenties, and in other circumstances she might have been pretty. But her hair was disheveled and dirty, and Daiji realized as she drew closer that she smelled like she hadn't taken a shower in days. Her eyes were bloodshot, not focused on anything Daiji could see, and her gait had a slight unsteadiness to it. "Who are you?" Daiji called out. "Where are you going?"

The woman blinked, her eyes almost focusing on him. "I'm..." she began, her voice cracking as if from disuse. "I'm going to get my daughter."

Daiji frowned, then shrugged helplessly. He hadn't realized that there were still medical personnel that hadn't bolted, but he didn't have any orders to keep anyone from leaving. And with how shot to hell the chain of command was, who knew what was going on anyway? "Alright, you can go. Ma'am."

Oddly, though, the nurse didn't move. "I'm going to get my daughter," she repeated, desperate pleading in her voice as she forced the words out. As though there was some significance to what she was saying that she was begging him to understand. Her entire body began to tremble as she spoke. "I'm... going to get my daughter!"

It was obvious now that something was wrong. Daiji raised his hands in a calming gesture, trying to placate her. "It's alight, ma'am. It's alright, just calm down. No one here's going to stop you from doing that."

But his words had the opposite effect from what he had intended. Without warning she lunged at him, an animal cry ripping itself from her throat. He tried to grab her, but she somehow lifted him bodily from the ground with a strength that seemed impossible for her slight frame and slammed him into the nearest wall. He slumped to the ground, the world spinning around him.

"Put it down!" Through the haze of pain, Daiji heard the other guard shouting. "Put the gun down now!" Reflexively, Daiji reached for his weapon, only to find an empty holster. He looked up to see the nurse standing over him, his pistol in her hand.

He felt a flash of fear, but he soon realized that the gun was not pointed at him. In fact, the nurse was slowly raising it higher and higher, though her arm was shaking violently, like it was resisting her every step of the way. She let out an anguished sob, tears falling from her eyes as she looked down at him. The pain he saw in those eyes was beyond his comprehension, but somehow she still continued to raise the gun.

The other guard was still shouting, his own gun aimed at her. But Daiji understood what she was actually trying to do. "No!" he shouted, trying to scramble back to his feet. "Wait, don't—"

But with a final wrenching motion, she forced the barrel of the gun against the side of her head and pulled the trigger.


**********


The elevator doors opened and Tanizaki stepped through, emerging into the large marble foyer of his skyscraper. By now, a half-dozen of his remaining guards had gathered there, clustered around a prone figure covered by a white sheet. Blood had soaked through in the area corresponding to the head.

One of the guards saw him arrive and hurried over to meet him. Tanizaki recognized him—a recruit Tanizaki had personally approved, judging that the man's checkered past had the potential for any number of uses if the situation ever arose. "Mr. Hagiwara," he acknowledged with a nod. "I'm told there was an unusual disturbance?"

"Y-yes sir," replied the guard, who then proceeded to recount how he had been attacked, only for the assailant to shoot herself with his gun. Tanizaki's frown deepened as the story progressed, an unpleasant suspicion growing within him. He walked over to where the body lay, crouched down to pull back the sheet, and examined the corpse. He recognized her as well. She had been one of the nurses tending to Ekim.

He didn't let it show on his face, but internally, Tanizaki cursed himself viciously for his carelessness. Rising to his feet, he addressed the guards. "Seal off the building," he barked. "No one goes in or out until I personally rescind this order. If you see anyone else who seems in any way to be displaying the symptoms Mr. Hagiwara just described, use lethal force immediately. Do not attempt to communicate with them in any way. You are to shoot on sight."

The guards went pale. Tanizaki, meanwhile, was already running for the elevator. When he reached it he typed in his security code, then hammered his fist down on the button for the floor on which Ekim's treatment room was located. The doors closed and the elevator began to ascend, giving him a moment to plan.

By the time the doors opened once again he had decided on a course of action. He strode through the hallway, heading straight for Ekim's room. He swung the door open, revealing the macabre scene beyond.

All trace of medical paraphernalia had been removed; the room was bare, with an enormous magical circle covering half the floor, written in dried blood. Off in a corner lay a pile of bodies, their throats all cut. Tanizaki recognized one of the corpses as Nagai's. Apparently he hadn't fled after all. The surviving doctors and nurses stood at a distance, their expressions vacant.

Sitting at various points within the circle's arcane geometries were the six artifacts that Ekim had been trying to collect, including the two that Tanizaki had been hiding in his secure storage area to ensure that Ekim never completed the set. Ekim's large stone altar stood at the center of the circle, and Ekim's body stood before the altar, not facing Tanizaki.

"Mr. Ekim," Tanizaki called out, a sardonic edge to his voice. "I hadn't heard you were up and around again. Congratulations on your swift recovery."

Ekim's only response was a single word, spoken in a language that sounded impossible for a human tongue, causing Tanizaki to flinch as the syllables tried to burrow into his thoughts. In response, the medical personnel lunged toward him as one, attempting to grab him and hold him down.

They moved with unnatural, manic speed... but it was not even remotely enough to make ordinary civilians a threat to a martial artist of his level. His hands blurred in disdainful strikes, accompanied by the sounds of shattering bone. The broken bodies went flying away, slamming into the far walls and crumpling to the ground, dead.

"I see that you've been busy, Mr. Ekim," Tanizaki continued, ignoring the interruption. "Except... no. No, this isn't Ekim anymore, is it? Am I speaking to his true master now?"

With jerking movements, Ekim's body turned around. Its facial expression was slack, the animating presence not bothering to manipulate such fine details, but the sense of malice emanating from the burn-ravaged frame was palpable. It opened its mouth, the maddening speech coming to its tongue once more.

Tanizaki moved so fast he seemed to vanish, crossing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. His hand lashed out in a punch that stopped a centimeter in front of Ekim's face, using the air pressure to knock the possessed body off balance. It stumbled backward, nearly toppling before steadying itself.

"Not one more word," Tanizaki said, glaring over his still-extended fist at what remained of his sorcerer. "I don't know the mechanisms behind this foothold you've created in our world, but I notice that you've kept that body breathing. I'm willing to gamble that you need a living body to anchor yourself here... which means removing you would be as trivial as crushing Ekim's skull."

He wasn't sure how much of what he said was communicated to the alien intelligence, but he hoped his actions, at least, would indicate his intent. "I would prefer not to do that, however," he said, lowering his fist and starting to circle the possessed sorcerer. As he walked, he bent down and picked up some of the artifacts necessary for the ritual, until he had three of the six.

"As it happens... we share a common enemy. One that has me considerably outnumbered at the moment," Tanizaki said. "I don't expect any actual cooperation from you, of course. But I am willing to release you upon this world, to do as you will. It will, however, be at a time and place that aims you toward my foes."

Ekim's body said nothing, but Tanizaki got the sense that the Nameless One grasped, at least on some level, the significance of him not finishing it off, and only taking half of the artifacts. Only time would tell, of course. Keeping a wary eye on his new associate, Tanizaki backed out of the room, then shut the door and let out a long breath.

If utilizing the Wyrmspawn had been desperate measures, then he was fully aware that this was a thousand times worse. But at the same time, it was an opportunity to even the odds. In the best case, it might even force Sailor Saturn to use her power of Death against the Nameless One, leaving her unable to threaten Unit Zero.

The gamble was a desperate one, this time using the entire world as the stakes. But given his current situation, it would give him the best chance of winning. And his odds would only improve if he could manipulate the timing of his foes' attack.

Or... even better yet, the timing of his foes' attacks.

His thoughts filled with new plans, Tanizaki walked back toward the elevator.


**********


Several hours later, Helios reported that one of Tanizaki's remaining guards had taken a sedative, falling asleep specifically to deliver a message to them. Their enemy wanted to send a messenger to the Dark Kingdom under flag of truce.

When the messenger passed through the portal, it was with an impressive array of magic and martial weaponry prepared to annihilate him if he made any false moves, as well as Sailor Saturn ready to deflect any attacks with her Silence Wall. The only thing the man did, however, was to drop a single video tape on the ground and then exit through the portal again.

Ami had scanned the tape forwards and backward with the Mercury Computer, but there was no sign of a trap. It was—as far as she could tell—just a recording. After searching Metzger's old facility for a while, they eventually found a setup that could play it: a small television stashed in an out-of-the-way conference room.

There were six of them packed into that room as Ami pushed the tape into the slot. She, Hotaru and Sailor Pluto represented the Sailor Senshi, while Ranma, Ryouga and Shampoo were there from the martial artists. An uneasy sensation that she could not explain filled Ami as the playback started, but she dismissed it as mere nerves.

Within seconds the image filled the screen, showing wide marble steps leading up to the ornate series of glass doors. The main entrance to Tanizaki's skyscraper. A large contingent of the press swarmed around the base of the steps, and indeed, the footage itself was that of a news camera. Some kind of press conference, Ami thought. He must be making an announcement.

Tanizaki himself had not appeared yet. The news reporters were keeping up a running commentary on the situation, but it was mostly useless speculation. Minute after minute went by, the tension increasing, until finally the doors swung open and Tanizaki walked through to stand at the top of the wide stairway. All cameras turned to focus on him as he looked down across the assembled throng, his face illuminated by countless strobing flashes as those in the crowd took photo after photo.

Ignoring the babble of overlapping question rising up toward him, Tanizaki spoke in a commanding voice. "Thank you for coming on such short notice," he announced. "I will keep this brief and to the point. You have heard, by now, of the destruction of Minato Ward, and the claim that it was carried out by my agents. This is true."

The hubbub increased as the reporters responded to the flat admission. Tanizaki simply continued to speak, his voice cutting through the din with imperious poise. "Nor is this the end. If the Sailor Senshi do not surrender Sailor Moon to me within a week—or if so much as a single Sailor Senshi makes an offensive move against me—I will unleash devastation that will make yesterday's attack pale in comparison. Beginning here with Shinjuku Ward."

Everyone watching on the tape sucked in a shocked breath at that. "He's taken all of Tokyo hostage..." breathed Sailor Pluto.

"But we can't let him have Usagi!" burst out Hotaru. "If it comes to that... if it's the only way to stop Unit Zero from killing so many people, I'll use my—"

"We have a week!" said Sailor Mercury hurriedly. "We don't need to make any rash decisions. I'm sure we can come up with a better plan."

Meanwhile, the uproar on the tape kept increasing. But Tanizaki remained unperturbed. "Your conventional armed forces stand no chance against the weapon I have created, so I advise against any foolish heroics," he said. "And... if you require an example of what happens to those who attempt such heroics anyway..."

Tanizaki gestured, and the doors behind him swung open once more. This time, two guards emerged, carrying another figure between them, clad in a white gi. That figure was limp, its feet dragging along the ground as the guards carried it over to Tanizaki. Sailor Mercury frowned, but then her eyes widened as she realized who it was. She turned to look at Ranma, who was staring dumbstruck at the screen, his face twisted in an expression of incredulous disbelief.

As the guards reached Tanizaki, he grabbed Genma's body by the neck with one hand, and lifted it high. "This worthless piece of trash tried to meddle with another weapon of mine during yesterday's battle," Tanizaki said. "You can see the result for yourselves."

"The energy cannon..." Michiru murmured. "We never figured out why it didn't finish us off. It... must have been him who stopped it."

"He..." Ranma tried to say, his voice small and barely audible. "He... came back for us."

With a disdainful toss, Tanizaki threw Genma's body away. It tumbled lifelessly down the steps, the camera jerkily tracking it until it came to a stop directly in front of the reporters. The corpse's eyes stared sightlessly off into the sky, head askew from its broken neck. Seen from this close, it was obvious he had been savagely beaten before death.

"If you do not wish to die as miserably as this pathetic excuse for a man, then I suggest you hide in your homes like the cowards that you are," Tanizaki said. "Hide, so you can cling to your lives for one more—"

An agonized, animal noise built from deep within Ranma, and he surged forward to drive his fist straight through the television screen, ending Tanizaki's mockery in a crash of glass and a shower of sparks. His entire body was trembling, his eyes shifting left and right, and he barely looked sane, let alone in control of himself.

What must he be feeling? Ami thought. To learn—in just a few seconds—that the father who raised him was dead? And that he died giving his life to save ours? To learn it by having his brutalized body shoved in our face by a taunting enemy?

Ranma pulled his fist out of the television, then turned away. He barely seemed to notice any of them, his gaze settling on one of the doors that exited the conference room. Specifically, the one that exited in the direction of the portal back to the human world.

Her heart in her throat, Ami leapt in front of him, arms outstretched. "No!" she cried out, pleading. "Don't you see? This is exactly what Tanizaki wants! That's why he set it up with his threat, so that we couldn't help you without millions of people dying! Everything he just said, everything he just did... it was all calculated to make you so angry that you'd charge in alone!"

Ranma looked down at her, and her legs trembled at the sheer killing intent radiating out from him, choking the air with his bloodlust. In that moment, Ami couldn't believe that she had ever thought Ranma had been trying to kill them during their previous clashes. Not now that she saw what he actually looked like with his entire being, body and soul, bent toward murder.

"She's right." Ryouga stepped in behind the pigtailed fighter, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I can't even imagine what you're going through right now, Ranma. But if you just walk into his trap without thinking... he's going to kill you."

Ranma spun to face the lost boy, dislodging his hand in the process. "I've walked into traps before and won anyway," he ground out, his voice breaking as he spoke. "You think you can stop me from going?"

With a sinking feeling in her chest, Ami knew that they couldn't. Ranma was by far the fastest one here, and if he wanted to evade them, there was little question that he would. At the same time, Tanizaki had both the Silver Crystal and all the time in the world to prepare his trap. This wasn't a fight Ranma could win, especially if he wasn't thinking clearly. Unless someone did something—right now—he would be gone.

Then Shampoo stepped forward.

The Chinese girl walked right up to Ranma. Her expression was cold and unyielding, but deep beneath it all, Ami could detect a hint of pain in her eyes that even her iron composure could not altogether conceal. Whatever she's about to do... Ami thought. She absolutely doesn't want to do it.

"Shampoo is not stopping Ranma," she said quietly. "Ranma is too strong. Shampoo know this. But if Ranma is going to fight enemy like this... if Ranma is going to die..." Ami saw Shampoo's hands clench, almost imperceptibly. "Then Shampoo is telling Akane that Ranma is in danger. And telling Akane where Ranma go."

Ranma's face twisted. Shock, anger and fear fought across his face. Shampoo had known the cruelest spot to strike him, and had struck with everything she had. "You wouldn't," he ground out, fresh pain added to what he was already feeling, like salt poured across an open wound. "You wouldn't dare."

"What Ranma think happen when Akane hear?" Shampoo continued, mercilessly. "Is obvious. Akane run to help Ranma. Maybe Ranma too angry to care whether Ranma is living or dying. But Shampoo wonder if Ranma is too angry to care if Akane is—"

With a snarl, Ranma grabbed Shampoo and slammed her like a rag doll against the nearest wall, pinning her there. "You bitch," he whispered, their faces inches apart. But Shampoo simply looked right back at him, at the unbridled rage he was directing at her, not flinching away from it.

No one spoke. The silence stretched on, second after second. But Shampoo's tactic had ensured—with ruthless efficiency—that he could not act on the chaotic fury gripping his soul. Eventually the wrath of the moment began to subside, just a little, and a hint of reason began to return to his eyes.

He released his grip on Shampoo, allowing her to drop to her feet, and backed away. The palpable sense of anger and pain and loss did not disappear... but it seemed to turn inward on itself. His face fell, and he took a few unsteady steps backward. Then he turned and without a word stumbled out of the room.

Only after Ranma had left did Shampoo's cold facade collapse, allowing Ami to see just how devastated she was over what she had done, and how much it had hurt her to have Ranma's fury directed at her like that. She slid down the wall, her eyes staring off at nothing, her expression full of self-hate.


**********


Tanizaki sat alone in his cavernous penthouse office, staring up at the wide bank of monitors. Currently, they were displaying the photographs his people had secretly taken of Ekim's ancient texts, back when the sorcerer had first joined his organization. Translations had also been added to the images, alongside the original Assyrian text... but the meaning itself was often so obscure or metaphorical that it made little sense even in Japanese.

Every few minutes, Tanizaki's finger clicked down on his keyboard, advancing to the next group of pages. This continued for some time, until he heard the doors of the elevator hiss open behind him. A few moments later, Zhang walked up to stand next to him. The black-robed assassin's right arm was still in a splint and sling, with more time required in the regeneration pod before he would get the full use of the limb back.

"It's funny," Zhang said, looking up at the screens as well. "I remember when we first took these pictures... what, three years ago? We were so sure that we had thought of everything. That we could use Ekim and his master, without ever letting them reach their true goal. And yet they nearly outmaneuvered us in the end."

"They did outmaneuver us," Tanizaki admitted. "We were so preoccupied with the threat of the Sailor Senshi that we missed what they were doing entirely. Our survival is due to the actions of that nurse, not any of our own precautions. If she hadn't found the strength to kill herself rather than cary out her orders, we would never have known until it was too late."

"Incredible, for someone with no training at all," said Zhang. "I saw the bodies they harvested for blood when I was sealing the door to the treatment room. No sign of a struggle. Their minds were broken to the point that they willingly let their own throats be cut... and yet she fought it off."

"It was her love for her daughter, I suppose," Tanizaki said. "According to what the guards told me, she said she was supposed to bring the girl here. Doubtless to serve as the sacrifice for the ritual. But whatever the Nameless One did to warp her mind... she somehow managed to resist it for those crucial seconds. She was that desperate to keep her child safe."

"And thanks to that, we have a new card to play," said Zhang. "How soon will everything be ready?"

"Soon enough," Tanizaki said. "My threat at the press conference should buy us some time. The Sailor Senshi could never sacrifice the lives of the Tokyo citizenry in a rash attack. They'll wait until they have a plan. And if they believe that I'm relying on that one-week ultimatum to get my hands on Sailor Moon, they'll assume they have time to spare."

Tanizaki's only regret was that he'd failed in dividing his foes. It would have been perfect if Ranma had attacked alone, without Senshi support. It irked him—more than he cared to admit—to think that the boy had managed to control his rage when he himself had so recently failed to do the same.

"I've decided on the new location for the ritual," Tanizaki continued, striking a few keys and bringing up a map of the city on one of the monitors. "Assuming our foes come straight at us when they do make their move, they'll pass near this area here. It's far enough from the Dark Kingdom portal that we'll have plenty of advance warning, but far enough from this skyscraper that we can hopefully avoid coming under attack from the Nameless One ourselves."

"So you'll have our guards re-draw the magic circle there?" asked Zhang.

"Actually... rather than trying to recreate it ourselves, it may prove safer to use the existing one," Tanizaki said. "We can have our men pull up the floor tiles from that room and transport them to the new location. We'll need to move the altar there anyway. Fortunately, my threat against Shinjuku Ward had the desired effect. The citizens are already fleeing in large numbers, and soon it will be deserted enough that we can set up in any building we need without anyone noticing."

"Then we're nearly ready," said Zhang. "Is there anything else we're missing?"

"Only the sacrifice," Tanizaki said. "But that should not be difficult for you to acquire."

Zhang glanced at the screens again. "I don't know about that," he said. "First of all, who am I even looking for? Are there any special requirements for something like this?"

"Oh yes." Tanizaki sighed in annoyance, as he looked up at the screens himself. "According to this text, there are several extra stipulations when selecting a sacrifice for this grand ritual to bring the Nameless One into our reality. And of course, most of them are couched in mystical double-speak, with little indication of just how important any of them are."

"Then what happens if we interpret it wrong?" asked Zhang. "Sure, I can grab anyone you want, but we're only going to get one chance at this. If it doesn't work..."

"Indeed. Which is why we cannot risk any mistakes." Tanizaki turned back from the screens to look at Zhang. "Fortunately, there is one answer we know is correct. Whatever the precise criteria are... if the Nameless One itself decided that nurse's daughter was acceptable, then presumably she is."

"Good point," Zhang nodded. "Then I'll check our employee records for the nurse's address and stop by her home later today. After that we should have everything we need."


**********


His head buried in his hands, tears running freely down his cheeks, Tendo Soun sat in an isolated corner of the monster encampment. He had heard the news, but a small part of him refused to believe it. Saotome... gone? he thought, trying to wrap his mind around it.

It seemed so unreal. If there was one area in which Genma had a near-supernatural knack, it was in finding ways to survive, even in impossible situations. How many times as a young man had Soun nearly given up, crushed by the Master's sadistic "training", only for Genma to find some way for them to make it through? It hadn't always been pretty, and seldom honorable, but he had gotten them through.

Before today, Soun would never have imagined that the memory of those times under Happousai could be anything other than traumatic. But now, with an aching emptiness in the center of his chest as he thought of his oldest friend, the memory of that struggle they had shared had become precious.

Soun also could not help remembering their last encounter, where the two of them had parted ways the night before the battle. Remembered talking about the nightmares that had plagued them both, nightmares of a past that never was, of a battle they had run from that their children remembered. Was there anything else I could have said to him that would have made a difference? Soun thought. Maybe... maybe if I had gone with him instead, if I'd kept trying to change his mind. If we'd been there together when he faced Tanizaki, even if I could have only helped just a little bit...

There was no way to know the answer, but the questioned gnawed at him regardless. Even if it wouldn't have made a difference, I wish I could have fought alongside you for that last battle, Saotome, Soun thought. I just hope that, wherever you are, you're at peace now.


**********


Deep within the winding tunnels of the Dark Kingdom, far from the commonly-used paths, Ranma sat at the edge of a small, glimmering pool of water, looking out over it as his thoughts and emotions chased each other in circles. Anger, grief and self-recrimination, all wound together in a knot so tight he couldn't begin to make sense of it all.

He didn't know how long he sat there, listening to the occasional drip of water from the stalactites above, but eventually he sensed that he was not alone. Akane was approaching from behind him. She didn't say anything, didn't try to force the issue. She only sat down nearby, letting her comforting presence be known.

After several minutes, Ranma broke the silence. "It's funny, you know..." he said, picking up a small rock and chucking it absently into the pool, listening to the splash. "I... thought I was angry at my pop. For running away from the battle against Metallia, and all the other crap he pulled."

He took a deep, shuddering breath. "And... yeah. Part of me was. But when I saw him... When I saw..." His voice broke, and it was a few seconds before he could continue. "When I saw what that bastard did to him... none of it mattered. All I saw was the dad who raised me... taught me... went through all the ordinary times with me..."

Despite all his efforts, tears began to brim in Ranma's eyes. "Damn it..." he whispered, clenching his eyes shut. "He saved all of us... and the last thing I told him was how disappointed I was in him."

As his shoulders shook, Akane closed the remaining distance between them, embracing him from behind and holding him tight to herself. She intertwined her fingers with his, and for a long time they simply clung together, feeling each other's warmth.

Finally, Akane spoke. "I'm sure your father understood how you would feel when you heard," she told him. "He knew the kind of person you are. He knew why you felt the way you did. And he knew what making it right would mean to you."

They were silent for another long while. Finally, Ranma stirred. "Thanks," he mumbled, some measure of his composure restored. "I... guess we gotta go back out there at some point, though."

"Yes," Akane agreed. "And... you need to talk to Shampoo. I saw her before I found you. She's trying not to show it, but she's completely miserable because of what she had to do to stop you from going after Tanizaki yourself."

Ranma flinched, remembering how he'd treated her and feeling ashamed now that the haze of fury was no longer completely clouding his mind. "Ah, hell," he said. "Can't believe I did that to her. I just... when I saw what Tanizaki did with my pop's body, I was so angry I couldn't even think. And then... when she threatened you on top of that..."

"She saved your life, Ranma," Akane insisted, concern for the other girl written all over her face. "You've got to make up with her; you can't leave things the way they are."

"I know. I know." Ranma nodded. "You're right. I'll go talk to her."


**********


A little bit later, Ranma walked down another one of the rocky corridors, looking for Shampoo. He found her right where Akane had said she would be, training by herself in a secluded chamber. Her long hair whipped around her as she spun and struck, fighting off a horde of invisible opponents as she practiced her technique.

Except her usual mesmerizing grace was notably absent in her movements. She struck and struck and struck, venting unchecked emotion with every blow. Her speed increased, faster and faster, her swings wilder and wilder, until she ended it by driving her fist into a nearby stalagmite, shattering the large rock formation into dust. She stood over the remains, chest heaving in exertion.

Ranma decided that was as good a time as any. "Hey," he called out, walking into the chamber toward her. Shampoo's head jerked up and she spun around, only to look down again when she caught sight of him.

"Ranma..." she began, her voice small and halting. "Shampoo is... Shampoo... not meaning..."

But Ranma shook his head. "No. No, I... understand why you said what you did," he told her. "And what I did to you... It was... I never should've done it. I'm really sorry."

Slowly, Shampoo looked back up, relief in her eyes. "If Ranma is not hating Shampoo... is all Shampoo need," she said.

The quiet fervency and sheer loyalty in her voice made Ranma feel even more guilty than he already did. "Hate you?" he said. "For stopping me from doing something that stupid? No way. And... even if I was that big of an asshole to you, Akane'd just pound me until I got my head back on straight."

The ghost of a fond smile flitted around Shampoo's lips. Then she looked him directly in the eyes. "Ranma... What Shampoo say then about Akane... Is bluff. Is all bluff. If Ranma not listen, even to that... If Ranma go to fight anyway... Shampoo follow alone."

It was obvious she meant every word with every fiber of her being. Ranma looked away, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Probably ought to have known that even without you having to say it, if I'd been thinking straight," he said. "Though... why didn't you just go with that to shut me down? Why bring Akane into it at all?"

Shampoo smiled again, but this time her smile was a self-mocking one. "Shampoo know too, too well who Ranma love," she said. "Shampoo know that Shampoo not enough."

Her words drove home afresh to Ranma just how trapped Shampoo truly was, stuck with no way out in a game that she had already given up hope of winning... but wanted so badly to win anyway. Even for him, it was far too easy to focus on her fierce strength and alluring beauty, and forget the vulnerability of the girl whose entire life had been uprooted ever since he had beaten her on that challenge log.

How many times now has she pulled our asses out of the fire? Ranma wondered. And yet we can't do anything for her. Not where it really matters to her.

"You're wrong," he blurted out, startling Shampoo. "It's not just Akane. If it had meant you dying... I couldn't have gone after Tanizaki like that either. There's just... no way."

A twisted interplay of emotions crossed Shampoo's face at his words, and it felt like what he had said had caused her at least as much pain as it did joy. But in the end she gave him a genuine smile through her tear-rimmed eyes. "Thank you... Airen."


**********


Ryouga watched as Ami chewed her lower lip, before the young girl shook her head. "No, that still won't work," she told Makoto. "Tanizaki has to have spotters watching the portal. He'll know immediately if we open it, and he'll be on high alert. Not to mention we don't even know exactly where he's keeping Unit Zero. If we guess wrong..."

Makoto let out an exasperated sigh, glaring down at the large, ornate table in front of her, over which they had spread out a map of Tokyo. Ryouga could sympathize with her frustration. They had spent hours sitting in the war room of Beryl’s palace, trying to come up with a way to attack Tanizaki without risk of him carrying out his threat, but they seemed no closer now than when they had started.

Worry over Ranma made it even worse. This kind of planning wasn't Ryouga's strength to begin with, and he would have preferred to go after the pigtailed fighter himself... but he knew it would be better to let Akane talk to him alone.

But still... Ryouga thought. To lose his father like that... I wish I could do something. In almost any other situation he would have tried to at least downplay his concern for his rival... but matters relating to family struck far too close to home for him to even pretend. Despite how distant as his relationship with his lost parents was, he still considered what little he had to be precious.

If it had been his father that Tanizaki had killed like that... Just the very thought caused Ryouga to grind his teeth in fury. He didn't know how Ranma could possibly stand the actuality.

But there was nothing he could do about that now. Instead he was just sitting there. Supposedly helping the Sailor Senshi to make a plan of attack... but in practice just watching people much smarter than him discuss all the different ways it couldn't be done.

"Look..." said Haruka, tiredly. "We’ve been at this for... how long now? Maybe what we need is to take a step back. Sleep on it, even. A fresh perspective might help."

"That’s a good point," said Ami. "If we rush our planning we could end up making mistakes. Remember, we have a whole week to figure this out."

"Actually," came a voice from the room’s doorway. "I’m not so sure about that."

Ryouga whirled, along with everyone else in the room, to see Ranma standing there. To Ryouga’s surprise and relief, the pigtailed warrior appeared far more stable now. There was still an uneasy feeling about him; Ryouga knew his rival well enough to tell that Ranma was expending a good deal of effort just to hold himself together. But his eyes were clear and sharp, and his seething anger—while still present—was under his control, rather than controlling him.

The two rivals locked eyes for a moment, Ryouga silently communicating his worry with his expression. Ranma replied with a slight nod: acknowledgement, thanks and assurance that he could manage. Then he turned back to the Sailor Senshi. "Sorry for running off like that," he said. "But I had a chance to clear my head and think since then. And there was something that kept bothering me."

Despite how quickly Ranma got down to business, most of the Inner Senshi looked like they were still worried about him, and wanted to offer any consolation or condolences they could. But kind-hearted though the impulse was, Ryouga knew that wasn’t what his rival wanted or needed right now. So before they could say anything, he spoke up. "What was it, Ranma?"

"The time," Ranma said. "Tanizaki gave us too much time. If he really thought he could get us to hand over Sailor Moon by making that kind of threat, there’s no way he’d have given us a whole week to figure out another way. He’d have given us hours, not days. But he didn’t."

Sailor Pluto nodded, a frown crossing her face. "I see. You think he realized that we would never surrender her. That a short deadline would have caused us to make a desperate move, right then and there. Perhaps even employing Sailor Saturn."

"Which he doesn’t want," Ranma said. "No, he just wanted us to think he was counting on holding the city hostage. He wanted us to think we knew his plan, so we'd feel safe. That’s why he gave us a whole week. Because he needs time to work on his real plan. I have no idea what he has up his sleeve... but he wants to make sure we stay put until it’s ready."

Rei shot to her feet. "So that means we should attack as soon as possible!"

"Wait, it’s not that simple," Ami cautioned. "Even if he doesn’t believe we’ll hand over Usagi, the threat to destroy the city if we attack may still be real. If we make our move, and his other plan isn’t ready, he may still kill millions attempting to make us back down."

"Probably, yeah," Ranma agreed. "In the end, it comes down to the same thing either way. No matter what, before we can even think about attacking, we need to have some way to deal with Unit Zero."


**********


In the quiet, spectral space of the celestial rotunda, Queen Serenity watched as her daughter sat in the far corner, deep in thought. Usagi had recovered slowly from the shattering of her astral projection, but the constant influx of magical power from her lover and her future daughter had helped turn the tide.

Finally, the queen broke the silence. "Do you intend to visit your clone again?" she asked. Despite herself, she feared the answer. The damage Usagi had already taken from her previous attempt had been severe, and Queen Serenity didn't want her to go through that a second time.

Usagi thought for a while longer, then slowly shook her head. "No," she said. "Whatever happened that made her so afraid of me all of a sudden... I don't think going in that ghosty form will work anymore. She'll probably just panic and blast me again. I think... I think I'm going to need to wake up my real body if I want to face her again."

"Is that possible?" asked Queen Serenity. "Your body was struck low four days ago, and you've taken spiritual damage since then."

"I don't know," Usagi admitted. "The things you taught me here should help me get back, and I've been trying to gather my strength as much as I can. The power from Mamo-chan and Chibi-Usa has been helping a lot too. I... hope it'll be enough." Then determination replaced some of the uncertainty in her expression. "It'll have to be enough."

Queen Serenity nodded. "Then... allow me to help you as well. I have little left to offer in my current state, but it may be enough to help you break through."

Usagi's face lit up. "Really? Thank you!"

The queen held out her hand, then hesitated, unable to do this without admitting the whole truth. "This... will be the last time I can aid you like this. After bestowing this power I will have nothing at all left to bind my spirit here. I will not see you again. Not until you too venture into... what comes next."

The joy fell from Usagi's face as quickly as it had come. "Wait, wait, you don't have to do this," she protested. "I... might be able to make it with what I've got. You don't need to—"

Queen Serenity gently placed a finger to Usagi's lips. "No. This is how it should be. You will need every drop of strength possible for what I fear is to come. And I... have already lingered here for far too long. Allow me to do this one last thing for you, my daughter. One last gift, to help ease the burden I laid on you in defending this world."

Usagi couldn't reply in words, tears starting to form in her eyes. But eventually she gave a single nod. Queen Serenity leaned in, embracing her child tightly, and a warm, white light surrounded the two of them as the ancient ruler of the Moon Kingdom worked her final magic.

"I love you," Serenity whispered in her daughter's ear, as she gave away all her remaining power, her astral body already beginning to fade. "I love you, and I am so, so proud of the woman you've become. And I know that no matter what darkness your foes bring against you, you will find a way for light to shine through."


**********


Osaka Naru sat at Usagi's bedside, holding tightly to her comatose friend's hand. She had offered to keep watch over Usagi so that Usagi's parents could get some sleep, while still having some number of people standing vigil.

It's so insignificant, but this is all someone like me can do, Naru thought. She had never felt so helpless as she did sitting there, looking at Usagi's pallid face. Still, she refused to give up.

On the opposite side of the bed sat Mamoru, feeding his magic into Usagi to keep her stable. He didn't look like he was in good shape either, still recovering from his injuries and exertion in the recent battle. He'd expended enormous amounts of power, especially in his healing magic, pulling wounded fighters both human and monster back from the brink of injuries that would otherwise have killed or crippled them.

As a consequence, he hadn't been able to fill this role of providing strength to Usagi, leaving that up to Chibi-Usa until recently. While he was still not back to full strength, he had insisted on relieving his daughter once he had woken up again, and allowing her, in turn, to finally get some sleep.

They sat there in silence, the only sound the faint hum of power as it passed from Mamoru to Usagi. Second after second passed... until without warning, Usagi began to glow.

Naru sucked in a startled breath, but did not let go of Usagi's hand. Power swirled around the blonde girl, saturating the air. She began to levitate, rising several inches off the bed. Then, in a burst of power, her eyes snapped open and she fell back down, followed by a small "oof."

"Usagi!" Naru cried out, lunging forward to wrap the other girl in a frantic embrace. "Usagi, you're awake! I was... I was so scared for you!"

A hug that fierce was, perhaps, not the absolute best thing for a still-weakened patient, but Usagi certainly made no complaint. "It's alright, it's alright," she said soothingly, returning the embrace while looking between her friend and boyfriend, who was holding her arm in a less-wild but no less supportive gesture. "I'm sorry I made you guys worry. But I'm back now."


**********


Back in Tanizaki's skyscraper, Unit Zero paced nervously in the small, spartan cell that was her sleeping quarters, secured by concrete walls and a heavy steel door, whose passcode only Tanizaki knew. She had barely slept at all over the past few days, and that only when she could no longer by any means prevent herself from losing consciousness. Even when she did sleep it did not last long, nightmares tormenting her from the very instant she began to dream. Nightmares of a crimson-eyed Sailor Moon gleefully taunting her with the inescapable fate that awaited a fake like her.

If her master won, if she killed the real Sailor Moon like she was supposed to have done, and made the full power of the Silver Crystal her own... would she be able to make these nightmares stop? She didn't know. But it was her only hope. All she knew was that she couldn't bear to live like this much longer.

Then, even as she tried hopelessly to think of a solution, she felt something change.

At first it was just an apprehension, a vague presentiment of danger. But then it truly hit. The pain. The aching emptiness inside her. She collapsed to her hands and knees, letting out a low, whimpering moan as she clutched at her chest. The emptiness had never completely gone away, but it had never been this bad since...

...since she had rendered Sailor Moon unconscious.

With a fearful sob, the clone tried to scurry away, crawling backward until she awkwardly hit the far wall. She didn't even know where she was trying to go, other than "away." She had to run. She had to hide. Except she knew there was no place far enough away to do either. Not when the real Sailor Moon was back.

Memories of her nightmares returned with a vengeance, those crimson eyes looking directly into her soul as Sailor Moon spoke. "So know this, down to the depths of your soul. I am coming for you. And when I do, you will die. You will die, empty and alone, like the worthless little fake that you are!"

The clone began to hyperventilate, her breath sobbing in and out beyond her control. She took the Silver Crystal and held it in her hands, trying to reassure herself with its presence, but all it did was remind her how easily it could be taken from her. Instead, she clasped it to her chest, holding it as tightly to her as she could in a desperate attempt to keep it safe from what she knew was coming.


**********


The sound of running footsteps in the hallway outside caused everyone in the impromptu war council to look over at the door, martial artist and Sailor Senshi alike. They didn't know what could have prompted such haste, but nearly anything was a welcome diversion from the dispiriting task of trying to figure out how they could attack Tanizaki without sacrificing Sailor Saturn to deal with Unit Zero. They had come up with possible plans, but none that seemed reliable with how many lives were in the balance.

Soon the door burst open, revealing Naru standing in the doorway, panting for breath and nearly doubled over. When she looked up at them, however, there was a gleam of joy in her eyes. "She's awake!" she managed to say. "Usagi just woke up!"

The effect was like an electric current running through the room. Raw, unmitigated hope filled the expressions of all the Sailor Senshi, and even the martial artists felt a surge of excitement run through them, as though something fundamental had just shifted.

Ranma, for his part, was already recalculating all his previous plans and tactics in light of this new development. And as he did so a toothy smile grew across his face. He raised a fist and drove it into his palm.

"Okay," he said. "Now we're in business."


**********


The Inner Senshi all left in a rush after they heard the news, running to Usagi's bedside. The others followed shortly thereafter, packing into her room as they began to fill her in on everything that had happened while she had been unconscious.

Usagi kept glancing to Minako's missing arm as they talked, a look of guilt on her face. That only increased when she learned about the other losses they had taken: the monsters who had died defending the portal and Genma's death saving them from the energy cannon. By the end she was staring down at her hands, fingers twisted together.

"...so we were trying to find a strategy," explained Ami. "We couldn't attack without a way to counter Unit Zero, especially not if Tanizaki followed through on his threat to use her to attack innocent civilians."

"Except now we've got a way," Ranma interjected. "Remember all those times she would 'pull' on the Silver Crystal and take you out of commission? Like after our fight in the warehouse? No reason you can't do the same thing back to her, right?"

For several seconds Usagi said nothing, still looking down at her hands. "...yes," she finally said, her voice quiet. "It would be harder for me to do than it was for her. I didn't understand what I was defending against back then. But if I sense her about to call on a lot of power... I should be able to suppress it. At least long enough for us to reach her."

Then she looked up. "I'm sorry, everyone," she said. "But... could I talk with Minako and Ranma alone for a little bit?"

Her request prompted one or two puzzled looks, but everyone obliged, filtering out and leaving the room to just those three. Once they were alone, Usagi's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry. Everything you lost... your father and your arm... it's all because I let Tanizaki get ahold of the Silver Crystal in the first place. If I'd found a way to stop his plan back at the skyscraper, none of this would have happened."

"You can't blame yourself, Usagi!" protested Minako. "You did the best you could. They were just too strong."

Usagi shook her head. "No, it wasn't just their strength," she said. "It was... me. When my clone and I were fighting over the Silver Crystal, I could feel how much pain she was in, how it was killing her, just like it almost killed me. I could feel how scared and alone she was, how much Tanizaki had hurt her already. And the thought of doing even worse to her..."

Usagi's voice trailed off before continuing. "I thought... there had to be a better way. A way to win without sacrificing anyone. Like with Sailor Saturn or Queen Nehelenia or Sailor Galaxia. But this time... I didn't find it fast enough. And a lot more people ended up getting sacrificed instead."

A heavy silence fell over the room. Ranma looked at the young girl, guilt over all the pain and deaths clearly weighing on her. And to his shame, he found an ugly part of himself wanted to agree. To push off some of his own guilt and pain by blaming someone else.

But he choked back such thoughts as ruthlessly as he could. He had hurt too many of his friends already in his anger. He wasn't going to make the same mistake again. "Yeah..." he told her instead. "That's the thing whenever you take a risk to help someone. Sometimes it can just blow up in your face and leave everything worse off. Wouldn't be so hard to do if you always knew for a fact it would work out."

"But there should have been a way to save everyone!" Usagi insisted. "I just... didn't look hard enough, or in the right way."

"You think?" Ranma shook his head. "I dunno. Maybe it works that way for moon princesses, but in my experience, life isn't in the business of handing out many guarantees like that. Sometimes you're just in a shit situation. Sometimes... sometimes any choice you make is gonna end up hurting someone."

"That sounds like something Haruka or Michiru might say." A sad, humorless smile crossed Usagi's face. "I'm sure they'd tell me I made the wrong choice back there. I... still think killing that clone would have been wrong! But... I'd... understand if you blamed me for not trying to do it."

Ranma sighed. "Look. You were trying to save someone who didn't deserve to die. As much as I hate how things turned out... I... ain't gonna say that was wrong of you. Was there something even better you could've done? Probably, yeah. There almost always is. But you were in a tough situation, and you made a call. Now we all gotta live with how the dice fell."

He could see that this answer didn't satisfy Usagi, so he continued. "And hey, maybe there is a way to win without killing that clone. If anyone can find it, it'd be you. Even if it doesn't 'balance out' how many people died, if you do think up a way to save her, using the extra time all those sacrifices bought for us... well, it'd make what they did that much more meaningful. That'd be worth something, wouldn't it? And... I think my pop would agree."

Usagi bowed her head, then nodded. "I'll do everything I can," she said. "Thank you, Ranma. For being so kind. I know it couldn't have been easy."

Ranma waved his hand. "Nah," he said. "Whatever you did, or whatever you could've done different... there's only one person I blame for my dad's death."

He looked down at his hand, then clenched it into a fist, allowing a tiny fraction of the killing intent that he had been carefully suppressing to seep into his aura. "And when I see him again..." he continued, his voice soft. "...I'm going to tear him limb from limb."


**********


Late that night, amidst the rolling fields of one of the layers of Elysion, Melinoe lounged in the shade of a tree, her chains trailing off into the distance behind her, listening with half an ear as Helios talked with his little Sailor Senshi fling.

There was little her brother could do to stop her from eavesdropping. Her bonds had been particularly weak ever since his fight against Unit Zero, when he had—yet again—called on so much of the Golden Crystal's power. The scope of her reach into humanity's dreams had grown, to the point where Helios was now concentrating all his efforts into resisting her there... leaving her free to visit this dream with impunity.

And a good thing too, she thought, rolling her eyes. Else I would have missed this riveting conversation...

Said conversation mostly alternated between sickening expressions of affection for each other and hand-wringing concern over mortal lives that might get caught up in their imminent battle. Boring overall, but she still listened for tidbits about the overall status of the war. That much did concern her.

"...so we've decided to go after Tanizaki as soon as we can," the pink-haired creature was saying. "But first we want to get everyone as far away from the battlefield as possible. Usagi is going to try to keep her clone from doing too much damage... but it could still get really, really messy when they fight."

Helios nodded. "I'll warn all the civilians in that area to flee," he said. "Fortunately, Shinjuku Ward is much more businesses than residential areas to begin with, especially in the area around Tanizaki's skyscraper. It should be far easier to evacuate than Minato Ward was. And many people have already started to flee just from Tanizaki's announcement alone."

"That's a relief," said the human girl. Then a note of sadness entered her voice. "We've already lost too many. I don't want to risk anyone else dying like those monsters or Mr. Saotome."

That name made Melinoe take notice. "Saotome?" she asked. "You mean, the Saotome Genma in your group? He's dead?" Come to think of it, she hadn't sensed his spirit in Elysion recently.

"You knew him?" asked the girl, sounding surprised.

"He dreamed, didn't he?" was Melinoe's scornful reply. "A shame. His nightmares were more unique than most of his kind. He had run away like a coward once, from a truly important battle... but when young Serenity reset the world, his conscious mind forgot all about it. The memory was still there, though. Buried too deep for him to reach, but I could bring it back up to torment him with his failure when I managed to get past my brother's influence and into his dreams."

"How could you do something like that?" asked Helios, regret and disappointment in his voice, repeating the same argument they'd had so, so many times. "Why do you insist on following a path that leads only to pain and misery?"

Melinoe just sighed, knowing from experience that trying to convince her brother would be useless. But this time, unlike all those other times before, this time Chibi-Usa interjected. "Actually..." she said, her voice thoughtful. "I'm... not so sure it was only pain that came out of it."

That startled Melinoe, but Chibi-Usa just continued. "When Mr. Saotome died... it was actually the opposite of what you said about him. There was a fight... but in the end, he didn't run away. He saved us all, even though he died doing it. And I think... just maybe... part of the difference between those two times was that he was able to face what he'd done in his dreams. So I think you might have helped him a little, even if you didn't mean it."

Melinoe stared at the girl, incredulous that the object of Helios' infatuation was taking her side in any way. Chibi-Usa waved her hands in front of herself. "Don't misunderstand," she hurriedly explained. "I still think the way you're doing this is wrong. You don't actually care about people, or how much they get hurt. But... I don't think it has to be like that. I'm starting to think that maybe nightmares have a purpose too. A role to play in what makes us human, letting us work through things we can't face in the real world."

Chibi-Usa looked up at Melinoe, a sincere smile on her face. "And if that's how it is... then there's no reason nightmares shouldn't have a guardian too. Even if you did go wrong somewhere along the way, even if you did stop caring about anything but the nightmares themselves... I don't think the kind of thing you are is wrong. And I think... if you really tried... you could find your way back."

The mouths of both siblings hung slightly open in surprise at the young Senshi's pronouncement. "You... truly have taken leave of your senses..." Melinoe said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Though I suppose that such mindless naiveté makes the two of you a fitting match in that respect, at least..."


**********


Next morning, the Dark Kingdom became a bustle of activity as its denizens prepared for the coming assault, while waiting for the final evacuation of the surrounding area. Humans and monsters ran to and fro, while many of those in the actual attack force took part in light training. Just enough to keep themselves sharp, but not enough to wear them out before the big push—especially since many of them were still recovering from the previous battle.

In one section of the wide-open central chamber, however, one young woman was practicing with particular fervor.

"Hiiiyaaah!" Sailor Venus swung her chain around her, the golden links criss-crossing as they intercepted a hail of blunt clubs, knocking most of them out of the air. She hopped left and right, avoiding the ones her chain had missed, all the while cursing how off her balance felt with only one arm.

"Don't rely so much on your mental control of the chain," called out Mousse, as he hurled another barrage of clubs from his sleeves. "This exercise is supposed to accustom you to how your body moves now. Dodge!"

Sailor Venus threw herself backward into a series of frantic, tumbling leaps and rolls, pushing her Senshi transformation to the utmost limits of its speed. Already she ached from the bruises inflicted over the last hour, and unless she did something soon, there would be more added to—

One of the clubs clipped her shoulder, sending her stumbling and allowing the next two to slam straight into her torso. She went flying backward, landed hard on her back, then slid a little further before coming to a stop.

For a few seconds she lay there, chest heaving as she sucked in air. Soon she saw Mousse standing over her. "You don't need to rush this," he offered. "No one will blame you if you remain behind on this attack, with your injury so recent. In fact, coming with us would almost certainly be foolish."

Sailor Venus shook her head, then pulled herself back up to a sitting position. "Good thing I'm a fool, then," she said, flashing the blind warrior a manic grin. "The Sailor Senshi are strongest when we're all together. No way am I letting them face the final battle one person short."

The corner of Mousse's mouth quirked up in a tiny grin of his own. "Not bad," he said, approvingly. He reached down and offered her a hand to pull her up, which she accepted. "Let's keep going, then. The more you work on it, the more natural it will become."

The young girl nodded, then paused. "What about you, though?" she asked. "Is it really alright for you to spend so much time on me? When we attack, you'll be going up against Zhang one last time, won't you? Don't you need to do any training of your own?"

"I'm as ready for Zhang as I'm going to be," said Mousse. "Including a... surprise that he hasn't seen from me yet. Something I've only ever successfully used once before. Something I never could have pulled off against him while my emotions were still so out of control. But now..." He drew in a deep breath, then let it out. "Now I know I can use it."

Sailor Venus' eyes lit up. "Ooh! Ooh! You mean... like a secret technique?" she asked, nearly bouncing in place. "What is it? How does it work? What does it do? C'mon, tell me!"

Mousse aimed a flat look in her general direction. "For someone so enthusiastic about the concept, you don't quite grasp the meaning of the words 'secret technique', do you?"

"Aww, you're no fun..."

"Teachers aren't meant to be fun," Mousse replied. "They're meant to dispense pain until it turns into experience. On that note..." With a flick of his wrists, more clubs shot from his sleeves into each hand, these ones looking even harder and heavier than the ones before. Sailor Venus let out a startled yelp, then burst into a leaping, twisting run as she dodged for all she was worth.


**********


Later that evening, in another cell in Tanizaki's skyscraper, Hagiwara Daiji watched the captive held there, a sick feeling growing inside him.

He didn't know her name. He was afraid to ask. Bad enough he had to guard a scared-out-of-her-mind prisoner who couldn't be more than eight or nine years old. Knowing her name would make it even worse. He would have preferred to stand outside the cell entirely, but Tanizaki had ordered that she be watched closely, and under no circumstances whatsoever could she be allowed to fall asleep. He'd been given drugs to use, but he was praying that they didn't become necessary.

Just trust that Mr. Tanizaki knows what he's doing, Daiji told himself. I'm sure he has a good reason for all of this. It's not your place to question, since you don't have the whole picture. Just follow your orders, and everything will work out.

But when he looked at the terrified little girl, those excuses sounded hollow even to his own ears.

Not for the first time, he saw the child's eyes begin to droop. He stepped closer and gave her shoulder a shake. She looked up at him, her eyes red from exhaustion and crying. "Why are you doing this to me?" she sobbed. "Please, please, let me go! I don't want to be here! Who are you people? Where's my mommy?"

The words hit Daiji straight in the chest, forcing him to remember what that woman had said before killing herself in front of him. "I'm going to get my daughter." And not long after that, here this girl was. Daiji could even see the familial resemblance, when he looked for it.

What the hell is going on? he thought, despair seeping through him. Not just the realization of being on the losing side, with the whole world against them, and most of his comrades deserting. He'd been struggling under that weight for days. But now on top of that was the growing realization of just how monstrous his own side really was, beyond anything he had suspected.

He remembered what he'd heard earlier that day, from one of the other remaining guards. How Tanizaki had them rip up the tile floor containing a magic circle written in what looked like blood, and set it up somewhere in the city along with a huge stone altar. This is insane, thought Daiji. This is absolutely, utterly insane.

He'd been clinging to his sense of loyalty all this time... but no matter what Tanizaki had done for him, did a man who could do such things really deserve his loyalty? Was he really going to sell his soul for someone like that? Trust his word over heroes of justice like the Sailor Senshi?

Daiji looked down at the frightened little girl, and he swallowed nervously. "Hey, kid..." he said. The words almost stuck in his throat, but he pushed forward. "...what's your name?"

The girl met his eyes, confused. "Mitsuko," she finally whispered.

Damn it all, thought Daiji. Then—before he could stop and think long enough to talk himself out of it—he reached down and grabbed Mitsuko's hand. "Come on," he said. "We're getting the hell out of here."

"R-really?" Slowly, a tiny bit of hope began to displace the fear in the child's eyes. "I... I can go? W-will you take me to my mommy?"

"...we'll see." It wasn't a question Daiji could bear to answer honestly, and they had no time anyway. He opened the cell door and pulled her down the hallway, glancing at every shadow along the way, ready to jump out of his skin at any sign of movement. He could feel sweat gathering in his palms as he held Mitsuko's hand. But they continued onward.

To his mild surprise, they reached the elevator alive. He pulled them both inside, then entered his access code and repeatedly pressed the button for the ground floor. The descent seemed to take forever as they sat there, stuck in those cramped confines, waiting.

When the doors finally opened the two of them dashed out, running between the marble columns across the huge lobby. Daiji's hand was on his pistol, but he could see no sign of guards at the front door. Who was supposed to be stationed here? Daiji thought, as they neared the main doors of the building. Did they desert too? But that makes no sense. No matter how short-handed he is, I can't believe that Tanizaki would leave the main entrance completely—

Then, just as they arrived at the main doors and reached out his hand to open them, Daiji heard someone clearing their throat behind him.

He froze, except for his hands which began to tremble uncontrollably even as he clutched hold of Mitsuko. He slowly turned around, to see Zhang leaning nonchalantly against one of the columns. The sling that had bound up the man's right arm the previous day was now gone, his arm now fully healed. "Well, this is a surprise," the assassin said. "You seem to be away from your post."

Daiji had heard enough rumors about this man to know that he didn't have the slightest prayer of running or fighting. "Look, you... you have to see how crazy this is!" he pleaded instead, trying to think of something, anything that might convince him to let them go. "Tanizaki's turned the whole world against him! There's no way he can win! But... but if we all run—right now—we don't have to go down with him! Do you really want to die for a hopeless cause?"

"Everyone dies," was Zhang's calm reply. "Some sooner than others."

Daiji cringed, his heart hammering painfully in his chest. He opened his mouth to try and plead further, but nothing came out. He couldn't think straight, fear clouding his mind in a confrontation where there had never been any chance to begin with. He inched backward, knowing it was futile, but desperate to do something. The door leading outside was so close! He gripped Mitsuko's hand tight as she hid behind his leg, trembling.

Then Zhang moved, too fast for Daiji to even comprehend. One moment the assassin was leaning against the column. The next moment he was right in front of Daiji, a sword in his hand. "Soon, I'll have a chance to kill far more worthy targets than you," Zhang said, as he grabbed the guard by his hair. "But you'll do for a warm-up." Then, with his other hand, he drove his blade straight through Daiji's chest.

Mitsuko shrieked. Daiji stared numbly down at the weapon impaling him. When Zhang pulled it back out Daiji dropped to his knees, then pitched forward. A pool of blood began to expand out from where he had fallen, staining the white marble floor.

As the last vestiges of life drained out of him, Daiji heard Zhang step over his dying body. "Now..." he said to Mitsuko, who had collapsed into broken sobs. "Are you going to be a good girl, and stay put this time? You've already caused one man's death—all because he tried to help you. If you don't want any more blood on your hands, I suggest you not say anything to the next guard that might influence him toward doing the same..."


**********


Later that night, Tanizaki stood on the wide, flat rooftop of his skyscraper, savoring the night air as he looked down at the city spread out before him. He could see dark clouds approaching on the horizon, could taste the oncoming storm in the winds that pulled lightly against him.

The darkening skies mirrored his own thoughts. His empire was in ruins, his servants deserting him except for a tiny remnant, his hopes pinned on one last gamble that could doom the entire world if it failed. How long had it been since he'd been forced into a conflict with so few backup plans? With such a high chance of disaster?

But he refused to give in. As long as there was strength in his body, he would fight. His enemies hadn't won yet—not by a long shot. This was ultimately no different from any other trial he had faced to reach this point. He would win, or he would die. To accept defeat, to lie down and accept some supposedly-divine princess as his superior... that was a fate far worse than any death.

A beep came from the tiny earpiece he currently wore. Tanizaki reached up and pressed a button on it. "Report."

"Sir, this is Noboru," came the response, causing Tanizaki to pay close attention. Noboru was the current guard assigned to watch the Dark Kingdom portal through a pair of high-powered binoculars. "I'm seeing movement, sir. The portal just opened, and a large number of people are coming through. Both Sailor Senshi and others."

They're making their move, Tanizaki thought. Aloud, what he said was: "Contact Zhang. Tell him to bring the necessary materials to the ritual site immediately, and then move into position himself. Time is of the essence."

"Yes sir!" With that, the channel cut off.

Tanizaki glanced behind him to where Unit Zero stood, fearfully awaiting his command. She looked like she was in terrible condition, exhausted and terrified. But there was also a raw desperation in her eyes, an animal need to not go back to the way she had once been. That, in and of itself, could be turned into a potent weapon.

"Sailor Moon will be attacking us shortly," he told her. "This will be your last chance to rectify your previous failure. If you are defeated here, then Sailor Moon will rip out your stolen Star Seed and leave you to die. Do you understand?"

The clone nodded frantically, and Tanizaki could see that his words had had the desired effect. She would throw everything she had—everything she was—into the coming fight. Satisfied, Tanizaki turned back to the cityscape, looking in the direction from which his foes would be making their attack.

One last battle, to settle everything... he thought. You will not escape this time, Ranma. One way or another, tonight will be our final confrontation.

[CRBWildcat]

...Huh. This chapter came out a little bit quicker than I was expecting. I'm guessing it takes longer to write the actual fight scenes? In any event, a cursory read through the chapter didn't turn up anything grammatically incorrect that I could tell.

I know I've probably said this before, but I've never been a fan of dark stuff, and this chapter felt like it had more than usual; my thoughts felt like they were following a darker path while I was reading Soun's thoughts on Genma's death, to the point where I almost started crying. Still, I've been sticking with the story for this long. No sense backing out when we're getting closer to the end with each update, right? I can stay the course. I know I can.

Speaking of Genma, it's been a chapter and it still amazes me that he was able to derail Tanizaki's battle plan like he did. Seriously, wow.

And speaking of Tanizaki, there was something I grew curious about after this chapter, and I don't know why I hadn't thought about it before. Does his name have any particular meaning that you know of, or was there some other reason you went with it?

[claymade]

...Huh. This chapter came out a little bit quicker than I was expecting. I'm guessing it takes longer to write the actual fight scenes? In any event, a cursory read through the chapter didn't turn up anything grammatically incorrect that I could tell.

Thank you very much! As for what takes long, it can be fight scenes to an extent, though even more than that, the really time-consuming stuff is often when you have a lot of different tightly-interlocking plotlines going at the same time. Which, granted, shows up most often the big fights, so there's some coincidental overlap, but the worst part isn't directly related to the nature of a fight itself.

Like, one single fight with little to break it up isn't nearly so bad as, say, something like the Chapter 13-14 attack on Tanizaki's skyscraper (which almost killed me) where you had fights on all those different fronts, with events in one affecting events in the other, characters going between the different fronts, and trying to make it all flow to the reader... that's what can really make you go crazy.

I know I've probably said this before, but I've never been a fan of dark stuff, and this chapter felt like it had more than usual; my thoughts felt like they were following a darker path while I was reading Soun's thoughts on Genma's death, to the point where I almost started crying. Still, I've been sticking with the story for this long. No sense backing out when we're getting closer to the end with each update, right? I can stay the course. I know I can.

Yeah, I was a little worried about this chapter. I definitely didn't choose the chapter title for it idly, including what it indirectly references (by way of the usual prefix to that saying). This chapter is very much the "darkest hour" point of the story. (That said I didn't just have the prefix half of the equation in mind either when I picked that for the chapter title, so there's the direct meaning too.)

Speaking of Genma, it's been a chapter and it still amazes me that he was able to derail Tanizaki's battle plan like he did. Seriously, wow.

Thanks, that definitely was a showdown I've been eager to get to, and one of my favorites.

And speaking of Tanizaki, there was something I grew curious about after this chapter, and I don't know why I hadn't thought about it before. Does his name have any particular meaning that you know of, or was there some other reason you went with it?

Honestly, it's been so long that I'd have to dig up my old notes on one of my now-mothballed computers to be sure (dang... I really have been doing this since forever) but I don't recall any for that particular one.

[Sunshine Temple]

Nice good to see more of this.

Enjoying how the plots and schemes play out. Even the "Minaxa" one is quite amusing. good handle of the fallout from the battle and the build of what's happening next.

[claymade]

Nice good to see more of this.

Enjoying how the plots and schemes play out. Even the "Minaxa" one is quite amusing. good handle of the fallout from the battle and the build of what's happening next.

Thank you very much! Heh, yeah, Minako has been a great boon to this latter part of the story, enabling to keep a bit of lightheartedness even as things get darker as we close in on the climax, so I'm extremely grateful to her...