The Dark Lords Strike Back, Chapter One [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.

Author's Note: This fic is a three-chapter interlude that covers the period between Part One and Part Two of the "Dark Lords of Nerima" series. Since this is a follow-up, it's highly recommended to read the first fic (which can be found here) before reading this one, since otherwise it may be a bit perplexing why the characters are in the situations they are.

And so, without further ado...


The Dark Lords Strike Back


Chapter One: Preparation


Ranma spared a troubled glance upward as he walked down the street. Dark clouds stretched out across the sky, slowly roiling and writhing like long fingers reaching out to choke the heavens in their oppressive grip. A chill crawled up and down his spine. There was something unnatural, something very, very wrong with those clouds. He didn't know how he knew, but he did.

Beside him, Cologne hopped along on her wooden cane. Her appearance at the Tendo dojo had been unexpected, and even more so her terse request that he accompany her to the Nekohanten. The ancient master had spoken little to him since then, keeping pace with him in silence.

It wasn't as though Ranma didn't have enough worries of his own to mull over, even without creepy clouds or Cologne's strange behavior. It had been only a few weeks since the cataclysmic battle against Saffron at the Jusendo taps, only a few weeks since his return from China, only a few weeks since the ruined wedding between him and Akane.

So much had happened, and it had happened so fast, leaving him increasingly uncertain and conflicted as to how he felt about it all. And now this business with Cologne...

"So what's all this about, granny?" Ranma finally asked, glancing down at the diminutive old woman.

Cologne did not look up, continuing to hop along in silence for a while. Then, at last, she spoke. "Tell me, son-in-law... how much do you know of the recent disturbances that have been taking place throughout our world?"

Ranma blinked. That was not a subject he had expected her to raise. "Uh... just what we've been hearing on the television," he answered, scratching his head as he tried to shift mental gears and remember what the newscasters had said. "Earthquakes... Hurricanes... Volcanoes erupting... And then there are those weird sunspots too. I hear no one's seen anything like it before."

"Mmm..." Cologne murmured. "Yes, the sunspots. But this is not the first time that such phenomena have occurred, son-in-law. It happened once before. And for the same reason."

"Really?" asked Ranma, surprised. "You mean you know what's causing all this?"

The ancient master let out a mirthless chuckle. "That is the wrong question, I am afraid. It is not a question of what is causing this... but rather who." Now she did turn to face Ranma, looking up at him, directly into his eyes. "The demoness Metallia is straining against the bars of her prison... and the entire planet is trembling under the weight of her power."

Ranma felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. "Wait, what are you trying to say, old ghoul?" he asked. "When you say 'straining', do you mean she's—"

"I mean," Cologne interjected, "that as I read the signs, she will be completely free inside of a week."

A curse died unspoken on Ranma's lips, as he was too shocked to voice it. "Then... what are we going to do about it?" he demanded. "And what about the Senshi, and that princess chick? I thought you said she had some kind of special power that'd let her nuke the damn thing!"

"She does," replied Cologne. "And she must. But the power of House Serenity does not come without a price. It is capable of defeating Metallia... but to employ it at such earth-shattering levels exacts a heavy cost on the wielder. At best, its use would cause extreme exhaustion. At worst... it could cost her life, as it did her mother. Either way, it is an exceedingly treacherous weapon, a double-edged sword of last resort."

Ranma stared down at the old woman. "So you're saying that this 'invincible' power she has... it's a one-shot deal?" he asked incredulously. "Doesn't sound very invincible to me. It's not like Metallia is the only thing they'll be throwing at her!"

Cologne nodded. "Quite so," she agreed. "We ourselves received a taste of their might when Jadeite's army attacked Nerima, and that was only a small fraction of the Dark Kingdom's full, combined forces."

"Then she can't win. Not alone." Ranma shook his head. "There's no way those girls can fight an army like that using their normal power, and if the Moon girl burns her big magic taking out small fry she'll be screwed against Metallia. Or hell, even just the next wave of youma they send. She's gonna need our help."

"Very perceptive, son-in-law," was Cologne's approving reply. "You grasp the situation quite clearly."

"Yeah, well... let's just hope we can come up with something really good," Ranma muttered. "I mean, we barely survived against Jadeite's last attack. And if we're going up against their full army now, it... might get a little tricky."

At that, Cologne let out a tiny chuckle. "Perhaps..." she said. "But then again..."

As she spoke, the two of them turned the final corner, and the Nekohanten came into view. Ranma's eyes abruptly bulged at what he saw.

The entire street was choked by a tightly-packed crowd, spilling out of the restaurant and stretching back as far as he could see. Nor was it only at ground level; the rooftops were also thick with people. Many of those had large wings sprouting out of their backs, and at the sight of Cologne's approach, several of the Phoenix warriors took to the air, swooping in for a closer look before veering off to circle in the air above. Ranma caught sight of Kiima among the fliers, though she did not acknowledge him.

Down at ground level, Ranma was able to pick many familiar faces out of the crowd—Joketsuzoku warriors who had been part of the first army sent to Nerima months ago. The elders Soap and Loofah were among them, although he could not see the Matriarch anywhere.

And there were far more that he did not recognize, men and women both, with clothes and weapons of a markedly different style from Cologne's tribe. One large group clustered over to the left wore little more than loincloths, their bodies covered instead by intricate, swirling tattoos. Some of them carried large, curved knives hanging at their sides, which looked to be fashioned out of some kind of bone.

Further on, another group particularly stood out to him. Its members were all clad in loose, flowing robes, with many different sashes and scarves wrapped around them every which way in a riot of color. They bore no visible weapons... but Ranma was willing to bet that they studied the Iron Cloth techniques, and could do some very nasty things with all those innocent-looking strips of fabric.

There were a few others that he recognized as well. He caught a brief glimpse of Pink and Link through the press of the crowd. The identical twin poison masters looked much as he had seen them last, except this time they were each decked out with a full bandolier of various gourds and satchels, no doubt containing all manner of noxious concoctions. They were surrounded by a group of close to a hundred similarly equipped warriors.

And there—with even the other martial artists keeping their distance from him and his group—stood another figure Ranma would have known anywhere: Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty.

The dragon-blooded ruler was flanked by his two bodyguards, Mint and Lime, and together the three of them stood at the head of a large contingent of other warriors, rank upon rank of men who bore the bestial features of that fearsome clan. Some were massively built, with hints of the tiger about them, while others were small and wiry, with hints of the wolf. Some were tall and slender, with hands that looked more like hawk talons than human hands, while others had skin reminiscent of scales and forked tongues that occasionally flicked into view.

Jaw hanging open, Ranma stared at the vast army spread out before him. Beside him, Cologne smiled with grim satisfaction. "The challenge we face is daunting," she agreed. "However, we have not been idle in preparing for it."



**********



The next few minutes were a blur of faces for Ranma, as he followed Cologne through the teeming press of martial artists. The old woman paused at various points to exchange words with people who seemed to be leaders or representatives of the various tribes. She was unfailingly courteous, but Ranma could still detect a tense undercurrent to many of the conversations with the non-Joketsuzoku.

Then, as they wound their way toward the entrance to the Nekohanten, Herb himself stepped into their path. He looked down at the human, a half-smile on his face. "So, Ranma. We meet again."

Almost unconsciously, the pigtailed fighter's hands curled into fists. "Herb..." broke in Cologne warningly. "This is not the time..."

In response, the dragon prince held up one hand. "Peace, Elder. I have no intention of starting a battle here. Nevertheless, once the larger matter we face has been dealt with, I would like to request another match. A formal duel this time, not to the death. I have re-intensified my training since last we met, and I am... eager... to see how we fare against each other now."

It took a large measure of Ranma's self-control not to swallow visibly. Herb was easily one of the most powerful opponents he had ever faced, and even the one win he had managed to achieve had been through a last-minute trick that would certainly not work a second time. The thought of facing an even more powerful Herb was not a comforting one.

Aloud, though, he simply laughed, making sure his cocky smirk showed no signs of wavering. "Any time you're ready," he offered. "Just don't let the youma get you first. It'd be pretty embarrassing if I had to save your life. Again."

Herb's mouth flattened into a thin, irritated line. "Indeed," he said. "Do not think that I will ever allow that event to repeat itself. I have worked tirelessly since that day to remove all weaknesses from my fighting style. Those monsters will not have the slightest success against me."

His boasting, however, was interrupted as a young woman ran up to them from within the ranks of Musk Dynasty soldiers. Ranma didn't recognize her; she looked to be a year or two older than him, with short-cropped black hair and a pair of steel tonfa strapped across her back. "Ah, there you are," Herb said to her. "Your timing is perfect. Xi Feng, this is Saotome Ranma, the warrior I told you about. Ranma, this is Xi Feng, my wife."

Ranma blinked. "Wife?" he echoed, surprised. But of course, now that he thought about it, Herb had mentioned during their last fight something about his upcoming marriage being the root cause of the events leading up to the prince's quest for the Kettle of Liberation. "So, this is her, huh?"

"Yes," Herb told him. Then he leaned in closer to Ranma, his smile increasing in smugness. "And there is one more avenue of attack that you will no longer be able to use on me. In addition to my martial training, I have also been undergoing very extensive training to remove my weakness to female breasts."

To his side, Xi Feng's entire face flushed a brilliant shade of crimson at his words. She immediately whipped out her tonfa, raised them high above her head, then brought them down on Herb's skull with enough force to drive him face-first into the street. The strike was accompanied by a shouted string of Chinese words which Ranma could not translate... but which he nevertheless felt intimately familiar with.

As she stormed off, Herb pried his head out of the crater in had formed in the road, spitting a few bits of concrete out of his mouth. "Women..." he muttered, in a perplexed tone of voice.

"You said it, man..." agreed Ranma, nodding sympathetically. "You said it."



**********



It was several minutes more of moving through the crowd, speaking with people along the way, before the two of them reached the Nekohanten proper. Upon entering, they made their way to one of the upper rooms. There was a long table there, with over a dozen chairs surrounding it. Most of the seats were empty, but two were already occupied by Doctor Tofu and Beneda.

The silver-haired, Jusenkyo-cursed youma was in her human form, with a plain green dress atop it. She glanced up as the two newcomers walked into the room. "Ranma!"

"Hey, Beneda." Ranma went over to them straight away, sitting down in an open chair next to her. "I guess Cologne told you the news?"

Beneda nodded, trepidation showing in her eyes. Ranma could hardly blame her. This was the day she had warned them about months ago, and she knew full well—probably better than anyone else there, in fact—exactly what would be coming for them.

The pigtailed fighter clasped a quick hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it," he said, trying to be reassuring. "The old ghoul's got a plan. There's no way they're gonna take us down."

The currently-human girl attempted a smile in response, and managed a fairly passable one. But any further conversation was cut off as more people began to enter the room. Ranma recognized many of them from their recent trip through the army outside, and realized that a meeting of the tribal leaders was about to occur.

Many of the figures entering were small and shrunken, looking of similar age to Cologne. Many, but by no means all. Herb was one of them, as was Kiima. Another one appeared to be little more than a child... at first glance, at least. But there was a jaded, world-weary expression on the boy's face, and looking closer Ranma noticed hints of wrinkles around the boy's eyes that didn't look quite right.

And of course, there weren't many children that wore serrated-steel striking gloves on their hands either.

More and more kept coming, filtering in one by one and finding their seats. And with each new arrival, Ranma felt the level of tension in the room increase. Everyone—save for Cologne, who sat impassively at the head of the table—seemed to have at least one other person that they were watching suspiciously. Most had more than one. A huge, bald, tattooed man toward the far end of the table seemed to be trying to watch the entire room at once.

Ranma had suspected it before, but the atmosphere around the table truly drove it home to him. This was, in large part, an alliance of enemies. He glanced over at Cologne, wondering just how many grudges a warrior like her would accumulate over more than a century of leading a warrior tribe. How many grudges had all these people accumulated? How many vendettas, how many blood feuds lay simmering between them?

And yet they had come together, however reluctantly, uniting against this overwhelming threat to the entire world.

Once the last of the leaders had taken their seats, Cologne wasted no time in rapping with her cane on the table, drawing their attention to her. "I thank you for agreeing to this venture," she began, her voice grave. "All of you know the reason we have gathered our forces together. All of you have heard the legends of the Dark Kingdom that have spread throughout our region since time immemorial."

As she spoke, a younger Joketsuzoku warrior entered, bearing an ornate black box. She placed it in front of Cologne, then bowed and backed out of the room again. "Now these legends have confronted us in the present day," the ancient master continued. "And it has fallen to us to do battle with them. But before anything else, I would share with all of you the ultimate source of these legends we all know. The means by which this tale has survived the ages."

Cologne reached beneath her robes, pulling out an ancient key that she had been wearing around her neck, held by a length of cord. "In showing this to outsiders, I break with untold generations of Joketsuzoku tradition," she explained, as she INSERT IGNOREed the key into the lock on the box. It turned with a sharp click. "However, you are soon to stake your lives in a final battle against the very evil to which this artifact bears witness. There is no question in my mind that you deserve to see this for yourselves."

She lifted the top of the box and set it aside, revealing the small metallic disc that had been inside. "We have come seeking wisdom we do not possess," recited Cologne, as she reached forward to press the single button on the disc's face. "We prepare this day to wage war against those who murdered your family. Honored Altine, please listen to our plea..."



**********



Ryouga glanced around as he walked, noting the buildings as he went by them. It was mostly a perfunctory gesture; he had little hope of distinguishing them from any other of the countless buildings that his nomadic life had carried him past.

At least this time he actually had a good chance of reaching his destination. Clad in her usual sweater and skirt, Unryu Akari was walking demurely along to his left, while her gigantic sumo pig Katsunishiki was walking along to Ryouga's right. The two of them were working together to keep the lost boy roughly on course for the Nekohanten.

Ryouga turned to look at his girlfriend—and even after all the time they had been together, he still marveled to think of her as... as that. How had someone like him ever gotten so lucky? He watched her, drinking in the sight of her as she absently tucked a loose strand of her shoulder-length hair behind one ear. So beautiful. So gentle. So wonderful.

To his right, Katsunishiki's towering bulk was certainly a less lovely sight, but Ryouga didn't begrudge the pig's presence. He knew how dearly Akari loved the animal, and besides, it was thanks to defeating that pig in battle that he had become Akari's boyfriend in the first place.

He had spent the last three days at Akari's farm, thanks to a mysterious request from Cologne. The ancient master had sent word to the young pig breeder, first asking her to keep Ryouga there should he manage to find the place, and now summoning him to her restaurant. Ryouga had not, of course, minded staying at Akari's in the slightest, but at the same time he was curious as to what Cologne wanted of him. For no reason he could put a finger on, a cold worry was already starting to form in his stomach.

Eventually they reached the Nekohanten. Ryouga's eyes widened at the sight of the army gathered there, and he heard a small gasp from Akari. The cold feeling in his stomach increased drastically. If there had been any doubts as to the seriousness of Cologne's request, they were now gone. In fact, he could think of only one thing serious enough to prompt such a marshalling of warriors.

The Dark Kingdom.



**********



Inside the restaurant, each member of the war council sat in silence, digesting the story they had heard from Altine's artifact. The gravity of the situation they faced hung over them like a cloud.

At length, one of them spoke up, a tiny old woman wearing the same sort of gourds and satchels that Ranma had seen on the members of Pink and Link's tribe. "Troubling indeed," she said. "But I assume that, since you've gone to the trouble of calling us out here that the Joketsuzoku have some plan to stop this from coming to pass again?"

Cologne nodded. "We have spent many months watching, training, preparing for this very moment. We have been gathering weapons, gathering information, and gathering allies. But we can prepare no longer. Now is the time to strike with all our might, and take this war to the Dark Kingdom."

The ancient master reached under the table, pulling out a map of the city. "We know the location of the portal that they were using to move their operatives back and forth from their realm to ours, and have been monitoring it for a long time," she said, her finger stabbing down on a certain location in the Minato ward. "The Dark Kingdom sealed it off recently, but I have studied the binding that they used, and I have prepared a countermeasure to... 'pick the lock' as it were. This will allow us direct access to their territory."

One of the other leaders snorted—the huge tattooed man. "Is there no other route to our opponents?" he rumbled, contempt in his voice. "I dislike relying on Joketsuzoku witchery."

A thin smile crossed Cologne's face as she turned to look at him. "The enemy managed to open another portal in London at one point," she told him. "But it was abandoned and sealed, just as this one was. The only other remaining access point is at the North Pole... and if you think you can handle the logistical difficulties of transporting our forces there, you are welcome to make the attempt, Lao Shihong."

The man grunted, and said no more. However, the child-seeming leader picked up on the questioning. "The intelligence you have gathered is very impressive, Cologne," he said, a calculating gleam in his eyes. "One wonders how you managed to acquire such detailed information about such otherworldly foes."

"We have been keeping surveillance on a handful of disguised youma that we discovered in the Minato and Chiyoda wards, apparently planted in our world as spies and sleeper agents," was Cologne's reply. "However, the bulk of our knowledge comes from a different source." She reached under the table and drew up a glass of water, and with a flick of her wrist sent its contents flying through the air to splash over Beneda.

A low murmur ran through the assembled leaders, as a youma's form replaced the human form that had been sitting there. The child-like leader's eyebrows went up a little. "I see," he mused. "Well. That would explain it."

"But Cologne," cut in a new voice, this one contemptuous and caustic. "I was under the impression that Joketsuzoku law mandated the death of all such creatures? Or could it be that you actually found some tiny shred of mercy in that shriveled old heart of yours?"

Ranma turned to look at the speaker. It was another tiny old woman, this one wrapped in a hooded robe whose shadows all but concealed her wrinkled face from view. There were strange, arcane-looking sigils running up and down the robe's hem, and she wore a ring on nearly every finger with additional runes carved into them. She sat at the far end of the table, but even at that distance, even with most of her face hidden, Ranma could see the venom in her eyes as she stared at Cologne.

The Joketsuzoku elder let no reaction slip, her face becoming as impassive as solid granite. "I was able to find a loophole in the law, Meihui," she told the hooded woman quietly. "If I showed mercy... it was because the situation allowed me to do so."

"Convenient," the other woman fairly spat back. "If only you had always been so willing to look for such alternatives..." Something terrible flashed through Cologne's eyes at Meihui's words, a mixture of powerful, conflicting emotions that Ranma could not fully identify.

But before anyone else could speak, Herb broke into the conversation. "Enough of this!" the dragon prince snapped, his voice cracking with authority as he slashed his hand through the air. "I brought my forces here for the chance to battle against legendary demons for the fate of the world. I did not come to revisit the same old grudges we could have killed each other over just as easily back in China!"

"The lizard is right," agreed Kiima, crossing her arms. "Your landling affairs are of no concern to the Phoenix People either. Take it up with each other after Metallia is no longer a threat, and the rest of us have gone our separate ways."

"Of course," Cologne said, her manner returning immediately to a mask of diplomacy. "My apologies. As I was saying, our plan is to breach the Dark Kingdom's defenses using their abandoned portal in Juuban. We will make our move tomorrow evening, using the cover of darkness. The Juuban authorities are not as numb to... abnormal occurrences... as the ones here in Nerima have become, and our army will cause unnecessary complications if we give them time to react to it."

The old master spread out a new map onto the table, this one hand-drawn. "Thanks to Beneda, we know what we will find once we breach the portal and make it through to the other side: a system of underground tunnels between us and our goal. This is their layout as best she can remember it."

"How wide are these tunnels?" inquired Herb. "Too narrow, and it will impede the flow of our troops through them."

Cologne nodded. "They are, indeed, much narrower than I'd like. To maximize the speed of our attack, we will need to divide ourselves into three groups, each taking a different route. Group One will consist of the Joketsuzoku, the Yakusai Poisoners, and the Silk Lotus Tribe. Group Two will consist of the Jiuxue Mystics, the Phoenix People, and Lao Shihong's mercenary clan. Group Three will consist of the Musk Dynasty, the Tian Wu Swordsmen, and the Monks of the Third Enlightenment."

The old woman looked around the room, silently challenging any of the leaders to object. There was some muttering, but the overall tone seemed to be grudging acceptance. Privately, Ranma wondered how much of the way the groups had been split was due to actual tactics, and how much was due to politics—the tribes that Cologne had known would be willing to fight alongside each other.

"What about the Shuishen?" asked the child-like leader. "I was under the impression they were willing to join us as well."

At that, Cologne's lip twisted a little. "So they claimed. But they haven't even left China yet, and we cannot waste time while their so-called 'Divine Council' plays its foolish games. It would be just like them to drag their feet and leave the fighting to us... only to later protest that they would have been willing to help, had we just waited a little longer."

She shook her head. "Either way, the strength they would bring is not worth the risk of striking too late. We will make do with what we have." Her finger stabbed down on the map, tracing three different routes along the twisting lines drawn there. "The battle plan is simple. The battle groups will fight their way through the tunnel system as quickly as possible, and stage a three-pronged assault here, on their main citadel."

Her finger stabbed down on a different part of the map, where the tunnels opened out into a huge cavern. At the far end of that cavern was the rough drawing of what Ranma assumed was the youma castle. Cologne, meanwhile, was continuing. "Our objective is to kill Beryl, seize control of her palace, and—most importantly of all—to secure the central chamber where Metallia is sealed."

"And what then?" challenged the hooded Mehui. "Securing her resting place is all well and good, but do we have any method of actually disposing of such an unbelievably powerful entity? Or preventing her eventual escape?"

"We do not," replied Cologne, a small smile flitting across her face. "Fortunately, however, there is another group which does."

Kiima frowned. "Who are you talking about?"

"The Moon Kingdom reborn," was Cologne's reply. "Metallia's ancient foes, returned to battle her once more in this dark hour. I mentioned that the Dark Kingdom had sealed this portal we will use, did I not? That was because—according to the Joketsuzoku who were spying on it—the Sailor Senshi found this portal themselves. They used it to launch an attack of their own on the Dark Kingdom, and from what my warriors overheard, they succeeded in killing Kunzite, Beryl's most powerful general."

A low murmur ran through the assembled leaders. Cologne let that news sink in for a moment, then went on. "Once our armies have cleared their way, I will entreat them to deal with the slumbering Metallia under controlled circumstances. Although that may require quite a bit of explaining, due to... certain first impressions that were made. For now, however, there is no reason to risk our trump cards on the front lines in this battle. This part is our fight."

"But is it a fight we can win?" asked the child-like leader.

"We must win," was Cologne's immediate and unhesitating reply. "And I believe it to be possible. From their battles against the Senshi, the Dark Kingdom's strength is at its lowest ebb, while this alliance represents the greatest concentration of martial might in any of our clans' histories. And, thanks to the scheming of my son-in-law here, the Dark Kingdom has no idea we even exist. Our attack will come as a complete surprise."

She looked around at the other leaders, her gaze drilling into them. "This is the moment we have been waiting for, the perfect chance to strike. The fate of this planet—of everyone any of us has ever cared about—will hinge on our actions tomorrow. This battle has been millennia in coming... but one way or another, this war against the Dark Kingdom is about to be decided."



**********



The leaders talked and argued for hours after that, going over the details of the plan. Beneda followed along as best she could, but large-scale battle tactics had never been her area of expertise. Still, eventually the leaders reached something resembling agreement, and one by one they started to leave to inform their respective troops.

At length, the only ones left were Cologne, Ranma and herself. The pigtailed fighter was not long in speaking up. "So I noticed you didn't mention me when you were splitting us into groups," he said. "Where am I going to be in all of this?"

"I would like you to accompany Group Two, son-in-law," the old woman replied. "That is by far the weakest of the three, and I am counting on your strength to help bolster it."

Ranma nodded. "Makes sense," he said. "Though I don't know how well the Phoenix People are going to take that, considering what I just went through with them."

"You might be surprised," Cologne said. "I wasn't expecting them to deign to involve themselves in 'landling' matters at all—at least, not without us having some kind of leverage over them to bargain with. You may have impressed them more than you realize during your time there."

She paused. "Also, it probably didn't hurt that, as I understand it, the force of your battle with Saffron inadvertently restored the original flow of Jusendo water to their own mountain, giving them an even more convenient source for their ritual."

"Seriously?" Ranma's eyebrows went up a little. "Well... that's good, I guess. Just as long as there isn't going to be any trouble."

Cologne sighed. "Believe me, son-in-law, your little spat with the Phoenix People is a very, very small thing compared to the animosity between some of the tribes gathered here. Half of them would not have trusted the Joketsuzoku enough to come, had not our Matriarch herself gone to the Silk Lotus Tribe as a hostage and pledge of faith."

A vague memory of the Matriarch crossed Beneda's mind—she had met the unbelievably ancient woman only once, and that briefly, after their first battle against the Dark Kingdom. But the statement also reminded Beneda of something else that had been troubling her. "What about that... Meihui woman?" she asked. "She seemed... angry that you had spared me. Is my presence going to be a problem?"

"No." Cologne shook her head. "However it may have looked, her anger had nothing to do with you. You have nothing to fear from her."

"The what is her deal, if it isn't Beneda?" asked Ranma, frowning.

Cologne turned away, her shoulders sinking slightly, her eyes loosing focus as she stared off into something only she could see. Second after second stretched by, the three of them standing there in silence, until at last the old woman answered.

"We used to be friends, once," she said, her voice quiet. "In fact, most of what I know of magic, I learned from her. Our tribes were allies, back when I was much younger than I am now."

"However... all things come to an end. Eventually, her elders decided that the alliance was no longer to their advantage, and decided to end it by means of a traitorous ambush. Had it been successful, it would have killed half of the Joketsuzoku Council and a good number of our best fighters... including me."

"The only reason I am alive today is that Mehui came to warn me of the betrayal. She begged me, pleaded with me to have my people avoid the ambush. She said that she would try to make her elders see reason, once they realized that their plan to gain an advantage over us had failed. And so, of course, I brought the information before my own elders."

The old woman closed her eyes. "They... did not accept my friend's proposal. They had been betrayed. And they wanted blood. Instead of avoiding the area, they used the information Meihui had given us to attack the ambush party head-on, wiping them out entirely. No mercy. No quarter. Everyone there was slaughtered." Cologne drew in a deep breath, then let it out. "Including Meihui's younger sister."

A bitter laugh escaped Cologne's lips. "That was how Meihui had learned of the plot, as it turned out. Her sister had slipped word to her, so that she could slip word to me, so that I could warn my people... so that we could repay her with death. And ever since that day, Meihui has hated me almost as much as she hates herself."

A dead silence fell across the room, each second feeling like an eternity. "But..." Ranma said at last, fumbling for the words. "But... there wasn't anything you could have done. I mean... there wasn't, right?"

Cologne turned back to look at him. "That, son-in-law," she said quietly, "is a question that I have asked myself for nearly a century."



**********



Ranma walked out of the war council room troubled, trying to come to grips with what Cologne had told him. He wasn't used to thinking of the ancient master as being so... well, human, someone who could carry around pain like that for as long as she had. He wasn't sure how he should react to what he had learned, or if he should do anything at all.

His train of thought, however, was interrupted immediately after stepping through the doorway when he saw who was waiting for him on the other side. It was Kiima, leader of the Phoenix People. Temporary leader, at least—the last time Ranma had seen Saffron, the true Phoenix ruler had been sucking on a pacifier while in baby form after his reincarnation.

Now the question was, how much of a grudge did this Phoenix woman still hold over his role in that whole mess?

Ranma met her gaze without flinching, and for a moment they just sized each other up. Then Kiima sighed, her lip twisting in an expression of mild distaste. "Well, it seems as though we'll be fighting on the same side for the present," she told him.

"Yeah, guess so," agreed Ranma, not taking his eyes off her.

"And since we are on the same side... given the situation..." Whatever she was trying to say to him, he could tell it was hard for her. After hesitating a little while longer, she simply raised her arm in his direction.

Ranma saw that she was holding something very long, and wrapped tightly in an ornate cloth. With a quick yank on the strings binding it the fabric unwound, revealing what it had been covering. Both were staves, one with a circular blade on the end, the other with a blade in a crescent shape. The pigtailed fighter recognized them instantly as the Kinjakan and the Gekkaja.

He tensed, instinctively preparing to defend himself, but Kiima made no move to attack. Instead she took one weapon in each hand, then turned the Gekkaja to extend it toward Ranma, haft-first. "Here."

"Wait, you're saying... for me?" asked Ranma, stunned. "Really? I mean... I know we didn't exactly get off to the best start..."

Kiima scowled. "Please, don't remind me," she said. "But even so, despite our... experiences with each other, I trust you more than most of those landlings here. I will bear the Kinjakan into battle myself, but to make the most efficient use of our resources against this enemy I must find a bearer for the Gekkaja as well. And... I have never in my life seen anyone wield it as skillfully as you did."

Hesitantly, Ranma reached out, running his fingers along the length of the staff. Then his grip tightened, even as Kiima relinquished hold, and he felt the familiar weight settle into his palm. "...thanks," he said at last.

The Phoenix woman's only reply was a curt nod, whereupon she turned and walked away, leaving Ranma to re-acclimate himself to the weapon.



**********



Ryouga meandered through the teeming press of warriors, Katsunishiki and Akari now following in his wake, the latter timidly. He sized up the new arrivals as he went. They seemed, to his eye, to cover a wide range of ability, though few were up to his and Ranma's level. Still, he didn't doubt that many of them had surprises that he wasn't able to pick up on at first glance.

"Hey! Bandana-boy!"

The directionally-challenged warrior turned at the angry shout, and his eyes widened a little at the sight of Lime shoving his way through the crowd. Even the Musk are here? he thought.

He stood his ground as the huge, tiger-blooded fighter bore down on him. Lime drew to a stop with mere inches separating them as he glowered down. "Just so you know," the young Musk behemoth growled at him, stabbing a finger into Ryouga's chest that knocked the human staggering back. "When this is over, we're going to settle our score from last time. Be ready for it!"

Ryouga opened his mouth to throw back a retort—no matter who the opponent, he couldn't let himself look bad in front of Akari, after all—but he was cut off by a deep, booming laugh from the direction Lime had come. A moment later, the crowd parted as a giant of a man waded through it.

He was a full head and a half taller than Lime, and he was built like a tank. He wore the same style of tiger furs, and—save for the slight difference of a sprinkling of grey hair around his temples—he bore an uncanny resemblance to the younger Musk warrior.

"Ah, so this is what made you run off so fast..." the man rumbled. Then he turned to Ryouga. "You're the one who beat him, yes? Don't mind the cub. He's just sore from all the taunts he's been getting back home for losing to a human."

"Father!" protested Lime, clearly mortified at his parent's intrusion into his affairs. His father responded with a quick cuff behind the head, prompting a yelp of pain from his offspring. Ryouga blanched a little, knowing from personal experience just how much force it took to make the tiger-warrior so much as flinch.

Then Lime's father spoke again. "As I said, don't pay it any mind. A good loss every now and then is the best thing for a cub! Keeps them from getting soft, keeps their fighting spirit up. Keeps them hungry to get back in the fight and rip their opponent to shreds!" He gave Ryouga a beaming, toothy smile. Ryouga responded with a smile of his own... though it was, perhaps, just a bit on the sickly side.

Still, his personal reservations aside, it did actually hearten Ryouga to see the Musk here. He had seen firsthand the power that their animal ancestry gave these warriors, powers that were inhuman even by his standards. Having an entire army of them backing him up would definitely go a long way to balancing the odds they were up against. As for Lime himself... well, he could deal with that later.

"Hey, Ryouga!"

The lost boy turned, and saw Ranma heading through the crowd toward him. Surprisingly, his rival was carrying the Gekkaja, of all things, a weapon Ryouga had not particularly expected to see again. "Ranma!" he called out, grateful for the distraction from the bone Lime had to pick with him. "What are you doing with that? Are the Phoenix actually letting you use it?"

"Yeah, I was surprised too," answered Ranma, giving an experimental twirl to the magical weapon. "But it'll definitely come in handy. Heh, too bad they don't have one free for you to use."

Ryouga shrugged, then reached over to Katsunishiki and pulled his red umbrella off the pig's back. He spun it once, then let it drop tip-first to the ground, its enormous weight causing the ground to crack around it as he rested his hand casually on the hilt. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll manage."



**********



Akane jogged to a stop, her jaw dropping a little in spite of herself. Cologne had briefly described what to expect in her phone call to the Tendo dojo, and she had thought herself prepared, but actually seeing the sheer scale of the force gathering around the Nekohanten brought her up short.

This is really it... she thought, anticipation and fear twisting around each other in her chest. A battle for the entire planet. It's all come down to this.

On either side of her, she could feel her father and Mr. Saotome fidgeting. They were doubtless thinking similar thoughts, although from the expressions on their faces, the emotions they were experiencing were more along the lines of pure fear. Nevertheless, they followed along as the trio made their way toward the rendezvous.

"Akane! Over here!"

The voice was Ukyo's, and turning, Akane saw the okonomiyaki chef waving at her. She and the fathers adjusted their course, and soon joined a group of other fighters gathered from their own circle.

Since Ukyo was there, Konatsu, of course, was there as well. The male kunoichi was wearing his katana at his side, and he stood behind his employer and unrequited love interest, watching her anxiously. Ryouga was there as well, talking quietly with Akari off to the side. Behind them stood Mousse, who—without his glasses on—was confessing his passionate, undying love to Akari's sumo pig.

Shampoo, also nearby, was ignoring him completely in favor of keeping a wary eye on the poisoner twins, Pink and Link. The two of them, for their part, had wandered over to the Nerima group and were chatting animatedly with Kodachi, occasionally showing each other various powders or chemicals to illustrate a point. And over there...

Akane blinked. "Wait, is that really... oh, what was his name? From the Martial Arts Tea Ceremony school?"

She said it mostly to herself, but Ukyo picked up on it all the same. "Daimonji Sentaro?" she asked. "That's what he told us his name was, anyway. Apparently he owes Ranchan a favor or something."

"...you could say that," agreed Akane. Indeed, the entire Daimonji family was present: Sentaro's grandmother, his bride, and even their pet monkey Sanae. And now that she looked, she could see even more familiar faces. Konjo Mariko was there, hanging on the arm of a disinterested Kuno. Even Sanzenin Mikado and Shiratori Azusa were present, currently wearing roller blades on their feet instead of ice skates.

"Wow..." murmured Akane. "Ranma really is calling in everyone he can think of, isn't he?"

"What of Ranma?" demanded Kuno, who had made a beeline for Akane the moment he had caught sight of her, to Mariko's pouting dismay. "I know not what he has to do with this venture, but it was an old woman who informed me that I could display my might to the pigtailed girl by assisting in this glorious battle!"

"It was the same for this unworthy one," spoke up Sentaro as well. "Though I came to repay my debt to Ranma for uniting me with my beloved—" He gestured toward his wife, who blushed demurely. "—it was a strange old woman who informed us of his need. And, indeed, of the danger we are all in."

Others also nodded, surprising Akane. So this was all Cologne's doing? How long had she been planning, preparing, researching for this moment? And it raised another question as well, which she asked. "Then where is Ranma?"

Ryouga glanced up. "I think he said he was going back into the Nekohanten to talk to one of the elders about something," he said helpfully, while pointing with his finger directly away from the Nekohanten and out toward the street. "You should be able to find him in there."

Smiling and thanking him politely, Akane proceeded to follow the spirit of his advice, if not the letter of his directions. She made her way through the crowd and into the building beyond, glancing back and forth for any sign of her fiancé. It took a few minutes, but eventually she found him on the second floor, leaning over a table, talking to a shriveled old woman whose robe had countless arcane sigils sewn into it. They were both gesturing at a map on the table between them, both clearly very into their discussion.

"...yeah, yeah, I see what you're saying," Akane heard him say as she drew nearer. "Okay, we can work with that. Then as soon as we get out of the tunnels, we need to—" His voice broke off as he glanced over at his approaching fiancée. "Akane? What're you doing here?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled. "Cologne called me, just like the others."

"Cologne called you here?" A frown fell over Ranma's face. Then something else registered. "Wait... others? What others?"

Without even waiting for an answer, Ranma ran over to a nearby window looking out across the crowd below. After a few seconds he let out a short hiss of breath and swore feelingly. When he turned back around, his expression had darkened. "Where's Cologne?" he demanded, tight anger in his voice. "I gotta talk to her."



**********



Ranma stormed down the Nekohanten stairs, and quickly caught sight of the person he was looking for. "Old ghoul!" he barked.

At his words, Cologne paused in the conversation she was having with Soap and Loofah. "Please excuse me a moment," she said, then turned to face Ranma, her expression impassive. "Son-in-law. Walk with me."

His first impulse was to have it out with the old woman right then and there, but he bit his tongue and followed a step behind her as she hopped along on her cane. They left the building, moving through the crowd in tense silence until they had gone far enough away from the army that they were alone. At last Cologne spoke, without turning back to face him. "I assume this is about the Tendo girl?"

"It's about all of them!" Ranma shouted back. "Damn it, what were you thinking? Kodachi? Azuza? And... and yes, Akane? They're not good enough to survive a fight like this is gonna be!"

"Nothing is certain in war," replied Cologne. "And they are stronger than you give them credit for. But... yes. Their survival is by no means assured. Or even likely."

"Then what the hell did you call them for?" Ranma snapped. "We've got plenty of guys already. Why involve them?"

"Because we will get exactly one chance at this, son-in-law," Cologne answered quietly. "One chance. For the lives of everyone you ever loved. For the lives of everyone you ever knew. This is not the time for restraint. Even if the weaker fighters kill only one youma before they die, even if they only divert the enemy's fire for a few moments, I will use that. I will spend their lives like water, if by doing so I can throw the smallest grains of dust onto the balance of this conflict."

"Even if it means sacrificing—"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in Cologne's reply, her gaze cold and utterly unyielding. "Even if it means sacrificing Kodachi. Or Azuza. Or Akane. Or you. Or myself." There was a slight pause, and Ranma heard the old woman's voice catch on what she said next. "Or even my great-granddaughter."

Silence fell between them. Eventually, Cologne spoke up again. "You should be able to understand, if you allow yourself to," she said. "After all, wouldn't you be willing to give your life for them? For your Akane?"

The pigtailed fighter shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Well, sure, but... that's me. For her to do it is—"

"—not your decision to make, son-in-law," finished the ancient master, not unkindly. "Not for her. Not for any of them. They all have their own loved ones they are willing to fight and die to defend, and to deny them that is just as much a dishonor to them as it would be to you."

Ranma turned away, closing his eyes, his face twisting into a grimace as he wrestled with Cologne's words. At length he spoke. "I... don't like it."

The old master snorted. "I would be worried if you did," she told him dryly. "Make no mistake, son-in-law, it is a terrible business we are beginning today. This will not be the kind of 'fight' you are familiar with—not anymore. From now on, this will be war. And it is a war we must win at any cost."



**********



The day dragged on, hour after hour kept passing into the next. The army trained tirelessly for the upcoming assault, familiarizing themselves with the tactics expected of them, as well as with the other members of their disparate groups. Ranma, with his natural confidence and charisma, had assumed de facto leadership of the Nerima contingent, though not without the grumbling of some of his enemies in it.

Ryouga, for his part, simply threw himself into his work. He didn't really have much problem following Ranma's lead—not anymore, at least. He'd certainly done it enough times on some of their other escapades, Phoenix Mountain most recently. No, any worries about being subordinate to his rival were a very distant second to his worries about the battle to come.

He ran down the street in a blur of speed, launching himself at the three muscular, tattooed warriors in front of him. They rushed ahead to meet him with wild battle cries, lashing out with their fists and feet, but he didn't waste any time with them. He made a diving roll underneath the kick of the fastest of the trio, then swerved past the second-fastest, taking advantage of the large gaps in their uncoordinated approach. The third man swung his fist at the lost boy, but Ryouga leapt clear over him, stomping on his head on the way over and knocking him to his knees.

As he flew past them, two more members of their army came into view: a pair of young women, each of whom was forming a ball of glowing energy between their palms. They tried frantically to backpedal at the sight of him, but he landed right in front of them before they could, swinging both of his fists down to stop less than an inch in front of each of their faces.

Behind him, he heard the pounding footfalls and angry battle-cries of the tattooed warriors, as they came at him once again. He turned to face them, but their conflict was interrupted by an angry cry of "Enough!"

A moment later, the shrunken form of Meihui stalked in between the warriors and Ryouga. "Once again, you have failed," she snapped. "Is it too much to ask for you to hold ranks and attack a target together, rather than each one charging off on their own?"

The tattooed warriors glared resentfully at the ancient crone. "You ask us to battle in ways that are not ours!" one shot back. "This is not Lao Shihong's way of fighting!"

"It will be Lao Shihong's way of dying if you try to fight enemies as powerful as the youma like this," was Meihui's acidic response. "If all three of you had kept your formation, had worked as a team, you might have been able to buy these girls enough time to cast their combined Mogui Feng and stop your opponent. As it is, all five of you have died. Again."

"We have not yet been defeated!" protested one of the remaining warriors. "Don't group us with your weak little sorceresses. The three of us still could have—"

He was cut off by a harsh guffaw from the old master. "You truly think so?" she asked, disbelievingly. "Very well. We will run the exercise again." She turned to Ryouga. "This time, boy, give them a taste of some real pain. It may be the only thing that can get through their thick skulls."

That was a request Ryouga would have little trouble granting. Cracking his knuckles, he favored his training partners with a fanged smile that made them pale a little. "My pleasure."

The next half hour was more or less a continuous stretch of Ryouga pounding them into the ground. Whenever it started to get a bit boring he stole glances around at the other groups, performing similar exercises. He saw Mousse out of the corner of his eye, performing ground-to-air dodging drills with a group of the Phoenix People. The glasses-wearing boy's arms were blurring as he hurled up a constant stream of blunted weapons, which the winged warriors had to avoid.

Eventually, Meihui decided that Ryouga's group had done as much as was profitable for the moment, and told them to take a break before someone ended up truly out of commission. The other fighters quickly staggered off, trying to retain some scraps of their dignity. It hadn't been a particularly draining workout for the lost boy, however, and after a few moments' thought he strolled off in search of Akari.

He had hardly gone far at all before he felt a hand clamp onto his collar from behind, dragging him backward. "What do you think you're doing, moron?" came Ranma's exasperated voice. "Wandering off by yourself? This ain't the time to be making trips to Kyoto!"

Ryogua opened his mouth to make an angry retort to his rival, but he could think of nothing to say—Ranma was right, of course—and so he had to settle for a muttered "...shut up."

Ranma sighed. "Look, just stick with me for a while, all right? I need to find my pop and see if he can take over working with the Phoenix guys I was trying to whip into shape so I can talk to Cologne some more about our attack plan. See if there's anything we can improve. I thought up a few ideas that might be interesting."

The lost boy shrugged. "If you say so."

Both of them walked in silence for a while, threading between group upon group of training warriors, spread out everywhere. Eventually, Ranma spoke up again. "Heh. Can you imagine the expressions those Sailor girls will have when we tell them what was really going on back when we were fighting them? And then when we tell them that we went ahead and smashed the Dark Kingdom army for them? Bet their eyes are gonna pop right out of their sockets."

Ryouga cracked a small grin at the thought. Left unspoken was the silent "...if we actually win..." even though both boys knew full well the qualification was there.

By this time they had reached the Nekohanten, and the two of them ducked inside. "Where is your father, anyway?" asked Ryogua.

Ranma glanced around, a small frown crossing his face as they went from room to room in their search. "He should be right around here, somewhere. He and Mr. Tendo said they were going in to get something to eat before they..." His voice trailed off as he caught sight of a small white envelope lying on one of the restaurant tables, with Ranma's name scrawled across it.

The pigtailed fighter snatched it up and ripped it open. Unfolding its contents, he began to read the note aloud, disbelief and anger warring across his face. "Son," he read. "Tendo and I have just remembered a very important training trip that we need to go on right away. It's a very special anniversary, of something that absolutely can't be missed. Don't worry; I'm sure all of you can handle this fight just fine without us needing to—" Ranma broke off in mid-sentence, his hand convulsing into a fist and crushing the paper he was holding.

Ryouga sighed. It certainly would have been nice to have had fighters of their skill level backing them up, but even based on his own limited experience with the two men this was utterly unsurprising. "Well, I guess that answers that question," he said, rolling his eyes. "Should we tell Meihui that they're going to be..."

But then the lost boy's voice trailed off, realizing that Ranma was barely even listening to him. His rival's eyes were still staring down and the crumpled letter, clutched so tightly that his knuckles were white. "Damn it, pop..." Ryouga heard him whisper. "The whole world. The whole damn world..."

And with a start, Ryogua realized that—even though Ranma had far, far more experience with Genma's personality than he did—the pigtailed boy had been caught off-guard by his father's flight. Despite everything, despite all the countless reasons to expect otherwise, Ranma had wanted to believe that this time, this time, his father would finally do the courageous thing.

They stood there for a long while in strained, uncomfortable silence, Ranma not speaking, and Ryouga not sure what he should say. Then at last Ranma looked over at the lost boy. "Listen. We don't tell Akane about this, all right? If she asks, we just tell her that her dad is off... I don't know. Doing some scouting, or looking for more reinforcements or... something."

Ryouga nodded once. There was no need to burden her with the same disappointment that Ranma was feeling. With a burst of Amaguriken speed Ranma shredded the letter into tiny pieces, then let them stream away, fluttering down to the floor like falling snowflakes.

Then he let out a disgusted sigh. "Come on," he said to Ryouga. "I guess we're going to have to pick up the slack."



**********



The army continued to train, the tumultuous sounds of their mock combat reaching even to the area set apart for the healers to undertake their own preparations. The drills they ran were less violent, but no less strenuous, as they practiced the various aspects of battlefield medicine: triage, field dressing, quickly moving bodies back from the front lines, and much more.

Beneda ran an arm across her forehead, wiping it clean of sweat, then took a long drink from the canteen of water that Doctor Tofu was offering her during this brief break. She swallowed the cold liquid, feeling it run down her throat, and for the hundredth time marveled at the unique sensation that was human taste. Even spending months straight primarily in her human form had done little to diminish the novelty. There were a few superficial similarities to the feeling of absorbing energy... and yet it was so utterly distinct.

She licked her lips, then handed the canteen back to Doctor Tofu. "Thank you," she said. She then turned and looked out across the street, taking in the totality of the situation as best she could.

It was strange. She had been dreading this day for so long, and yet now that it had finally caught up with her she didn't feel at all like she had expected to. Fear? She was afraid, to be sure, but the hard edge of panic she had expected to feel was missing. Instead, her uneasiness was focused in a different area. An unexpected area.

She was going to aid in the humans' attack on the Dark Kingdom. She was going to help them fight her own people. It surprised her how much that troubled her thoughts. After all, she had never had a particularly strong sense of patriotism toward Beryl's rule, serving more out of self-interest and self-preservation than any idealistic commitment to her queen's goals.

And yet things were different now. Her time in Nerima had taught her so many new things, showed her so many new ways of looking at the world. She had experienced the power of compassion, learned the reasons for sacrifice, and felt the bond between friends. Yet now they were hurtling toward a deadly confrontation with the rest of Beryl's youma. Youma who saw the world just like she had seen it... and like she would see it still, had it not been for the quirk of fate that had crossed her path with Ryouga's.

She gave a crooked half-smile at the irony. When she had been in the Dark Kingdom herself, she would have been willing to stab most of her fellow youma in the back without a second thought. But now that she had betrayed them, the very qualities she had discovered while doing so had given her more sympathy for her fellow youma than she had ever had while on their side.

Of course, I know that this battle is necessary, she thought. Metallia must be stopped. I just hope... I hope that when it's all over, the other youma can somehow see what these humans have shown me...

"Beneda? Are you all right?"

With a start, the sometime-youma realized that Doctor Tofu was looking at her with concern, evidently noticing how she had drifted off into troubled contemplation. She shook herself, bringing her attention back the present, and the task in front of her. "I'm fine," she said. "I was just... thinking."

She could allow herself time later to dwell on her fellow youma that she would be helping to fight. For right now, she needed to keep up with this training, to do her part to make this battle a success, to prevent this light she had found from being forever crushed under Metallia's palm.

It was only as she jogged back out to rejoin the rest of the medics that she noticed another change that her time here in Nerima had wrought in her. It prompted a small, secret smile as she hurried back to her work.

Even now, even against the world-shattering might of the demon goddess that her people had feared and worshipped since time immemorial... she still didn't think it was impossible that they might win.



**********



The afternoon passed into evening, and the evening into night. Ranma and Ryouga, along with the rest of the Nerima fighters, kept on working with the less-powerful fighters in their overall battle group, drilling them over and over. Eventually, though, a final halt was called. Ranma had to admit that they were improving, the different tribes fighting better as a team than they had at the beginning.

Would it be enough? That, he didn't know.

The pigtailed fighter walked restlessly through the darkened streets, glancing back and forth at the few straggling members of the army still moving back and forth. Most of the rest had dispersed, finding places here and there to hole up and sleep, resting in preparation for tomorrow's battle.

Farther down the street, he caught sight of Ryouga's distant figure. He was talking with Akari, though of course Ranma could not make out the words. The girl was looking up at him with an anxious expression, while wringing her hands. As Ranma watched, Ryouga hesitantly took her hands in his own and said a few more words, his face pained, his manner halting.

Suddenly Akari flung her arms around him, burying her face into his chest. The lost boy's body went rigid, but after a few moments he responded by wrapping his arms around her as well—slowly, gently, as though she were made of glass. They stood there, silently holding onto each other, and eventually Ranma turned away. He was even more troubled than before, uncertainties eating away at him that he couldn't even identify, much less deal with.

He moved onward, hands jammed into his pockets, with only his brooding thoughts for company. Memories played unbidden through his mind, memories of the failed wedding, memories of his battle at Jusendo.

Memories of holding Akane's lifeless body in his arms...

The pigtailed warrior exhaled, closing his eyes for a moment in a futile attempt to shut out the remembrance. What on earth am I doing? he wondered. And what on earth am I supposed to be doing? Right now I don't even have a clue.

His meandering walk continued, lost in thought, until finally he found himself back at the Tendo dojo. He pushed his way through the main gate, then stopped in his tracks. Akane was there, sitting in the doorway, waiting.

She glanced up as the gate opened, looking him in the eye. "Hey," she said quietly.

Ranma licked his lips, his throat suddenly dry. A thousand things to say shot through his mind in an instant. A thousand things that he had wanted to say to this girl, a thousand things he was terrified of saying. They all jammed together in his brain and in his throat, in a half-second of strained silence. The only thing that escaped in the end was a matching "...hey."

Akane rose to her feet. "I'm glad you're back," she told him. "I just got back not too long ago myself. I spent some time looking around, trying to find where my dad was."

"Er... Oh yeah!" Ranma said, scrambling for an excuse. "Mr. Tendo, he's... uh... gone out to look for more reinforcements! Y'know, other martial artists who could help us! I... don't know when he'll be back..."

His fiancée looked at him for a moment, then gave a sad little look. "When I asked Ryouga, he said that dad had joined the scouting teams. To make sure there were no youma in the area."

"Oh. Um, well..." Ranma's voice trailed off. He could tell she knew. Probably she had already known, even before he had said anything. She knew her father.

The Tendo heiress blinked a few times, then ran her arm angrily across her eyes. Ranma looked at his fiancée, stared at her, completely unable to put what he was feeling into words. But he had to say something.

He clenched his fists, struggling to do the one thing he had never been able to do. Eventually, he managed to force something out. "Akane, I..." he began, then forced all of his pent-up emotion into one single statement. "I don't want you to come on this!"

It wasn't what he had wanted to say, and certainly not what he should have said. Just a pale mockery of it, one that he mentally kicked himself for immediately after voicing. But to his surprise, Akane only nodded. "I know," she said. "But this is too important. You understand, right?"

Ranma managed a single, curt nod. The movement felt as though it wrenched his body all the way down to his heart, but he nodded.

They stood there in awkward silence for a while longer. At last, Akane turned to go back into the house. "Well..." she told him. "We really ought to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning, Ranma."

The pigtailed fighter opened his mouth to say something—anything. This couldn't be what she had been hoping for, what she had been waiting here for. But he could only watch as she walked back into the house, the door shutting behind her with a solid thud. And with that he was left standing there, alone in the silence and the darkness, with all the unspoken words collecting in his chest like lead weights.

It shouldn't have been so troubling an experience for him. This was how all such conversations between them had always ended: each of them avoiding what neither of them could bring themselves to discuss. There was nothing different about this time.

Nothing different at all.



**********



The next morning the army continued its training, but where the previous day had been an intensive regimen to acclimate the different tribes to fighting together, this was a much more restrained affair, little more than warm-ups. Everyone was conserving their strength for the battle that was to come.

As night fell once more, the invasion force assembled in the streets outside the Nekohanten. A muted hush hung over the scene, a feeling of stifling tension. As they all watched, Cologne leaped up to stand atop her restaurant, looking down from her vantage point, her gaze sweeping across the huge gathering of warriors spread out before her.

Then she spoke, her voice cracking out with an astonishing force that belied her tiny frame. "Countless millennia ago," she shouted, "the people of this world joined with an evil demoness, to attack a civilization that had only ever defended us and sought our best interest. Our forefathers helped attack them and massacre them, killing them to the last man, woman and child."

"Now we, their descendants, stand at a crossroad. That same demoness is returning, to strike against this world. And we are faced with a choice. Will we cower like beaten dogs before her strength? Will we prostrate ourselves before her in hope of being spared—as our ancestors did so long ago? Or will we stand and fight? To the last warrior, to the last breath, to let that accursed fiend know that this time she will not find humanity so easy a plaything?"

The old woman's eyes blazed, her battle aura flaring so high that it sent shivers through everyone watching. "Tonight, we match our strength against the greatest enemy any of us have ever faced! Tonight, we take the fires of war to the gates of the Dark Kingdom! Tonight, we strike for the future of our world!"

Cologne took her cane, then thrust it straight upward toward the sky. "For Earth!" she cried out.

Below her, the sound rose up of hundreds upon hundreds of weapons being drawn simultaneously. Swords, maces, bows, spears, fists, all shot up toward the sky in response, along with a deafening cry that rattled the surrounding windows. "FOR EARTH!"

Then, with a swift motion, the ancient master swung her cane to point in the direction of Juuban. As one, the army below exploded up into the air, the mass of warriors sweeping out across the rooftops toward the confrontation awaiting them.



**********



Elsewhere in the city, other hearts were preparing themselves for battle. It was a more subdued preparation, but a preparation nonetheless. They readied themselves, knowing the stakes should their enemies win. And, just like the Nerima army, they set out that night to do their duty for the world they loved.

In the moonlit night, five girls converged on the Hikawa shrine.

[frice2000]

had been only a few weeks since the cataclysmic battle against Saffron

Timeline should be established in Ranma canon for the events of the previous installment as well. Also now you've somehow skipped forward with all of the previous events apparently having little impact on latter Ranma canon regardless of where that took place? Pretty sure we're going to have some very big differences from the events in the previous story in Ranma and companies lives moving forward from that point and apparently this was not the case. That kind of boggles my mind how those events didn't change things. You've got a closer Ranma and Ryouga friendship for one. The fiancees have experience putting all their differences aside in a life threatening situation...You've got everyone knowing bigger events are at play then just their lives. Things should've been more serious moving forward. Were they? I don't know since they weren't gone into and this dangerously damages the foundation of this story for me from the very beginning. Not a good start thematically, regardless of how technically well written and nicely descriptive it is.

it could cost her life, as it did her mother.

Who could've possibly told her that? Serenity died with most of her surrounding court and Senshi all dead. So unless Pluto told her for some unknown reason seems unlikely that she'd have this specific knowledge about the end of the Moon Kingdom. Something more general yes, but this specific? Later explanations about the Amazons on Earth being involved in fighting the demons do not satisfactorily answer that question.

several of the Phoenix warriors took to the air

If this is reported to the police or gossiped about and the senshi don't come to investigate the obvious 'youma' or oddity this is going to feel really really strange.

Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty.

This is a bad idea. He's got the locking ladle. Youma have been established as being susceptible to the effects of Jusenkyou. Toss some cursed water on their army followed by the ladle instant win. Not the best idea to introduce him unless for some reason you make that very simple plan unfeasible. Hell his people have a history of taking strong dangerous animals and mythical creatures for bridges...They should be all over Beneda for example and hope to make more like her. That'd actually be a nice short segment with some Musk awkwardly hitting on the Youma in the hopes of further strengthening their gene pool.

It took a large measure of Ranma's self-control

If it was me this would be a good location to have one of the Phoenix pipe in that Ranma is obviously stronger then the Musk prince since he defeated their king or something along those lines just to show the tension that is supposed to canonically exist among the three groups you've got in the same room currently.

an even more powerful Herb was not a comforting one.

But he just defeated Saffron a far far strong opponent...so Huh?

I have prepared a countermeasure to.

You've made the Amazon's too experienced and knowledgeable here. More ignorance or mistaken assertions would be welcome. The use of Beneda as a learning aide makes some sense for some of these concerns but really would she have such intimate knowledge of everything? You've got the Dark Kingdom in this unique universe you've created acting more like a standard military or country along with the bureaucracy and leadership roles, would they really reveal all of this information to a weak little rank and file soldier that Beneda was? Again think you could do with some more ignorance it'd make things more interesting and horrifying or interesting to see reactions from later. Especially since it seems likely that Beneda would've been fed a whitewashed Dark Kingdom version of events rather then actually knowing the true story.

Our objective is to kill Beryl

Again problem with the strength levels here by a large large margin. You're talking about someone who the Senshi barely defeated and with your current explanations and Cologne's knowledge you're also talking about a person who destroyed a extremely strong magical civilization and she thinks this is a accomplish-able objective? Seems like she should be much much more hesitant to engage in such an action.

greatest concentration of martial might

Would hope you have some backstabbing and some of those involved looking for some way to increase their power here. Would think the Musk for one would be taking some new brides and would come prepared for this as the Youma are obviously strong.

"The what is

"Then what is

In fact, most of what I know of magic, I learned from her.

Original character and backstory is interesting...It's just that I don't know if now is the best time to introduce said characters. Feels too abrupt in coming and obviously we're not going to have time with them to understand relationships before this battle. It's nicely written it's just that really this feels like the wrong time to introduce said characters.

It was Kiima, leader of the

Again you've introduced Herb and some of the possible breaking of tension elements he could bring with such things as the locking ladle and carried Jusenkyou water, now we've got Kiima who has in the past had mind controlling eggs in her tribes possession. Again, just think some of these elements really need to come up as proper strategic elements in the fight you're about to engage in. Hell the Amazons know where some Dark Kingdom sleeper agents are. Kidnap their asses, toss them in an egg, and get a better tactical picture of the Dark Kingdom. You want actual armyish feel that recon feels very, very appropriate.

"Akane! Over here!"

This chummy? Did the failed wedding attempt not happen or something? Would think relations would be a bit more frayed due to that if it did occur. Really need some more establishment of what exactly happened in Ranma canon or not because things are confusing. Would also love to know what role if any Beneda played in changing up any events. It's just really sort of confusing that seemingly nothing, but then suddenly something, has changed.

Even Sanzenin Mikado and Shiratori Azusa

Interesting. Neat to see some rarely used faces, but feels for some like you're stretching things a tad for Cologne to think that any of them might be useful. Too specialized and too many character defects and weaknesses for them to be helpful in my opinion for the most part.

"Not for her. Not for any of them. They all have their own loved ones they are willing to fight and die to defend

There's a reason that it's not a good idea to fight alongside close family and loved ones though, you're more willing to do stupid stuff to protect them then to do things to kill your enemy. I can see what you're trying to attempt and it works to a degree but really some of those involved will be a detriment more then a chance to even distract a Youma for five seconds. You've had Cologne be far more tactically minded and with this I'm not seeing the connection to her previous bits. Hell, Youma feed on humans so the youma killing them even if they're stumbling over their bodies you've only provided the enemy with free rations. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense in that context.

The army trained tirelessly for the upcoming assault

Lots of weird stuff happens in Nerima true. But again finding it hard to believe none of this leaks out and gets media coverage/senshi alert/reported to the police/something.

far more experience with Genma's personality than he

Eh, don't agree with your depiction of Genma here. With Ranma really truly likely to die in the upcoming battle think he'd be there. Sure he's begged off before but in those instances Ranma's life wasn't in such clear and present danger. The few times his life has been truly on the line he's been there so feels wrong to me. Though, your use of the character can fit too I just don't think you're giving the man enough credit.

while doing so had given her more sympathy for her fellow youma

I've mentioned it a bunch of times now but you've just had her considering her humanity feels totally logical for her to want to give what's been given to her to her fellow youma. How is no one seeing the tactical and moral benefit in such a tactic?

Ranma managed a single, curt nod.

Nice canonish Ranma/Akane interaction for post-manga.

Well that was interesting. Sailor Moon canon feels too discounted though. The Senshi can deal with the Beryl problem themselves as they did normally think you would've been better served to have advanced this a bit or simply had a Senshi in Nerima catch sight of someone who was 'dead'. In the end can't say I liked this sadly and I really wanted to. You've got a lot of logical problems to hammer out not the least of which is the Amazon/Musk/Phoenix strengths in war fighting, the what I see as poor tactical decision making, and the discounting of Jusenkyou entirely. In the end without these considerations and more tension this feels far too unrealistic and inappropriate for both your canon sources. Also you just got off an exhausting long winded battle in the previous piece a more character driven few chapters, showing the differences between Ranma canon and Ranma+Sailor Moon elements canon would've alleviated that problem as well. Beneda's development especially would've been rewarding to have explored. You did some things with her, but her becoming more human was the best part of the previous bit and it feels like you've cheapened her development too much.

I'll definitively keep reading, but I strongly hope you get back into actual character development eventually and these, while well written, epic fight scenes spin down for a bit. It's getting exhausting and frustrating to read really.

[mondu_the_fat]

Unless Genma ana Suon are off in some secret mission for Cologne, they would be there, if only because of self-interest, but specifically because Akane and Ranma are there. Leaving like that is unusually craven, even for them.

Beneda is a foot soldier at best. Unless cologne has studied the gate herself, I doubt it if Beneda knows quite enough of the gate, and the layout of the place, to provide as much intelligence is displayed. Even the Cologne's spies wouldn't have been able to gather as much intelligence.

I suggest splitting the chapter in half, at least for fukufics. Something in it is causing the page to go wonky (I'm having a doozy of a time posting this), and I suspect its the post size.

[claymade]

Wow, a really exhaustive and detailed critique! Thanks very much!

Timeline should be established in Ranma canon for the events of the previous installment as well.

Actually, it was mentioned--in a couple places, in fact. Chapter four described it starting a couple days after Happi's return from the events of the first Taro arc. I also included it in the author's note at the very beginning of the fic, in case people didn't catch it, since it is a bit hard to subtly signify time-location in a series as status-quo-oriented as Ranma 1/2. And, of course, the epilogue was described as taking place right after the Shi Shi Hokodan duel.

But yeah, it is tricky to follow with as few time-landmarks as Ranma gives us. I'll try to work in more specific indications where I can.

That kind of boggles my mind how those events didn't change things. You've got a closer Ranma and Ryouga friendship for one.

Hmmm. I can't myself think of anything in the fic that really changed the nature of their relationship. Going up against the Dark Kingdom was hardly the first time they'd thrown in together and fought for a common cause; by that point in the canon we'd already gotten things like Ryogua fighting to defend an unconscious Ranma (even while in piglet form!) against someone he thought was Pantyhose Taro. The friendship/rivalry intertwining had already been pretty much set in place even before then.

That was, in fact, one of the very reasons I set it in precisely that place in canon: because it's the point in time where their interactions are at just that right mixture between antipathy and comradeship that I wanted to portray them acting with, as they did in the fic.

The fiancees have experience putting all their differences aside in a life threatening situation...

Similarly, the fiancees have quite a bit of experience putting aside their differences when something more important comes up, all throughout the series. I didn't mean that to come across as some huge development that they were willing to do that, since it's something they've proven themselves quite capable of time and again.

You've got everyone knowing bigger events are at play then just their lives. Things should've been more serious moving forward.

Well, perhaps. But when you don't have the opportunity to do anything about it in that very moment, you still go on living your life. As long as they're biding their time, waiting for their opening to strike, they're going to live, not just sit around and angst about what's going on. Especially for folks as live-in-the-moment as the Ranma 1/2 crew.

Who could've possibly told her that? Serenity died with most of her surrounding court and Senshi all dead. So unless Pluto told her for some unknown reason seems unlikely that she'd have this specific knowledge about the end of the Moon Kingdom. Something more general yes, but this specific? Later explanations about the Amazons on Earth being involved in fighting the demons do not satisfactorily answer that question.

If you refer back to Chapter 16 of the first fic, she specifically discussed it there with Altine's hologram. In point of fact, I can't not have her know that, since it would completely contradict what I've long since established her to know.

If this is reported to the police or gossiped about and the senshi don't come to investigate the obvious 'youma' or oddity this is going to feel really really strange.

Hmm, if it's a sticking point, maybe I should throw in a scene of the masters doing a bit more explicit managing of some authorities coming to investigate, maybe doing a little remote-control-acupressure or some such thing...

This is a bad idea. He's got the locking ladle. Youma have been established as being susceptible to the effects of Jusenkyou. Toss some cursed water on their army followed by the ladle instant win. Not the best idea to introduce him unless for some reason you make that very simple plan unfeasible.

That's a lot of water to cart around and deploy effectively, even if you don't take into account the possibility for ironic Jusenkyo-related disaster falling upon so many people trying to use it.

And honestly, even if they did cart around huge enough volumes to serve as ammo, it'd be far easier and straightforward for the Musk to just kill a youma using their normal methods than a two-hit "first hit them with water, then after that splash them with water thrown from the ladle" combo.

Hell his people have a history of taking strong dangerous animals and mythical creatures for bridges...They should be all over Beneda for example and hope to make more like her. That'd actually be a nice short segment with some Musk awkwardly hitting on the Youma in the hopes of further strengthening their gene pool.

Heh, that's a fun idea! If any of them survive, they just might try to hit on her when this is all over. (They've got bigger issues right now, though, and out of them, only Herb knows about her at the moment.)

If it was me this would be a good location to have one of the Phoenix pipe in that Ranma is obviously stronger then the Musk prince since he defeated their king or something along those lines just to show the tension that is supposed to canonically exist among the three groups you've got in the same room currently.

Well, there aren't any Phoenix people in earshot at the time that exchange happens, and adding one out of nowhere just for that purpose would, I think, add unnecessary clutter to the scene...

But he just defeated Saffron a far far strong opponent...

...with the aid of a magical dohickey that he could use to defend against and counter Saffron's attacks in various ways. There's no way Ranma would have survived that battle without the Gekkaja. And a suddenly invulnerable-to-fire Akane helping him as well.

Plus, while Herb may not have had Saffron's raw power, he's a far more dangerous foe in terms of skill.

You've made the Amazon's too experienced and knowledgeable here. More ignorance or mistaken assertions would be welcome. The use of Beneda as a learning aide makes some sense for some of these concerns but really would she have such intimate knowledge of everything?

I figured she'd have a knowledge of the basic topography of the Dark Kingdom, especially of the area around the portal since she'd have had to go there in order to get into the human world in the first place. I figured she'd also likely know broad strokes of the status of their campaign, i.e. that there was an offensive into London but that it had been thwarted and abandoned, even if she hadn't picked up on any specifics. She'd certainly know the location of the portal, which means Cologne could find it and study the portal for a way to open it.

Again problem with the strength levels here by a large large margin. You're talking about someone who the Senshi barely defeated and with your current explanations and Cologne's knowledge you're also talking about a person who destroyed a extremely strong magical civilization and she thinks this is a accomplish-able objective? Seems like she should be much much more hesitant to engage in such an action.

Well, she had Metallia backing her for the assault on the Moon Kingdom, so it's not really anywhere near as hopeless as that. There's nothing particular to say that the force they've assembled couldn't take out Beryl. At least as far as Cologne knows.

"Then what is

Thanks, great catch!

Original character and backstory is interesting...It's just that I don't know if now is the best time to introduce said characters. Feels too abrupt in coming and obviously we're not going to have time with them to understand relationships before this battle. It's nicely written it's just that really this feels like the wrong time to introduce said characters.

Do you have any suggestions on how I could make it less abrupt? Given that Cologne is going to bring in new reinforcements that we haven't seen before, and this is going to be Ranma's first time meeting them... if that's the way events go down, what could I do to make it seem smoother?

Again you've introduced Herb and some of the possible breaking of tension elements he could bring with such things as the locking ladle and carried Jusenkyou water, now we've got Kiima who has in the past had mind controlling eggs in her tribes possession. Again, just think some of these elements really need to come up as proper strategic elements in the fight you're about to engage in. Hell the Amazons know where some Dark Kingdom sleeper agents are. Kidnap their asses, toss them in an egg, and get a better tactical picture of the Dark Kingdom. You want actual armyish feel that recon feels very, very appropriate.

Considering that they only just recently came into contact with the Phoenix people, and would subsequently have had to work out a deal, and they're now pressed for time, I don't think they have the opportunity to indulge more involved spying. Especially since abducting youma would increase their risk of alerting the Dark Kingdom--if things didn't go as planned for one reason or another.

This chummy? Did the failed wedding attempt not happen or something? Would think relations would be a bit more frayed due to that if it did occur.

When have the finacees going on a rampage ever produced a lasting antipathy? Whether it's trying to kill Nabiki when she was engaged to Ranma, or wrecking Ranma's mother's house, or anything else of the sort... that's just the way things work in Nerima. Not to mention that Akane herself had already given up on the wedding before they even showed up, so it wasn't as though they really were anything like the culpable ones.

Even so, it probably couldn't hurt to slip a little guardedness in there. A little extra emotional wrinkle to contextualize it wouldn't be a bad thing. Thanks for that suggestion!

Even Sanzenin Mikado and Shiratori Azusa

...yeah, maybe not them. I wanted a certain number of familiar faces, but perhaps I should find other ones.

Hell, Youma feed on humans so the youma killing them even if they're stumbling over their bodies you've only provided the enemy with free rations. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense in that context.

Well, the youma aren't going to be feeding in the middle of battle; at least, not if I want to be consistent with the limits of non-magical-item-assisted youma feeding that I've established in previous chapters.

Indeed, I doubt they even could feed life energy off a body that's already lost its life.

I've mentioned it a bunch of times now but you've just had her considering her humanity feels totally logical for her to want to give what's been given to her to her fellow youma. How is no one seeing the tactical and moral benefit in such a tactic?

Because even if you can throw water balloons and such that instantly turn your foes human, most of the warriors assembled will get much better results whacking with swords instead. And it's not like just becoming human would in and of itself shift their moral compass; they'd still probably have to fight and kill the transformed youma anyway.

Well that was interesting. Sailor Moon canon feels too discounted though. The Senshi can deal with the Beryl problem themselves as they did normally

...I'll just say that the next chapter should (hopefully) shed a little more light on this, if it isn't clear yet what's going on here.

Also you just got off an exhausting long winded battle in the previous piece

Yeah, I didn't realize when I was first outlining the overall sweep of things just how long the last finale was going to end up going. It wasn't supposed to be quite so drawn-out as it ended up being once I'd actually gotten it down on paper.

If it's any consolation, I'm determined (in light of that) to keep the upcoming fight down to a single chapter, and once we clear that, there're no more "big army" fights for close to the rest of the whole series.

Eh, don't agree with your depiction of Genma here. With Ranma really truly likely to die in the upcoming battle think he'd be there. Sure he's begged off before but in those instances Ranma's life wasn't in such clear and present danger. The few times his life has been truly on the line he's been there so feels wrong to me. Though, your use of the character can fit too I just don't think you're giving the man enough credit.

Unless Genma ana Suon are off in some secret mission for Cologne, they would be there, if only because of self-interest, but specifically because Akane and Ranma are there. Leaving like that is unusually craven, even for them.

Soun, at least, has specifically stated a willingness to run for his life, even if it meant his own daughter getting hit by one of Happousai's attacks, so I felt like he'd do it here. And, while Genma has occasionally helped surreptitiously from the sidelines, the number of times he's cut and run makes it hard for me to believe that he'd really go to the front-lines of a war like this.

I mean, seriously. A real, honest-to-goodness war is the sort of thing that can make even people you wouldn't have necessarily thought of as cowards lose their nerve. Is it really OOC for people with the courage of Soun and Genma to try and foist the responsibility for it off for someone else to do without risking their own skins?

But maybe a scene with them to try and suss some of this out is in order. Might help, if it doesn't feel right currently.

Beneda is a foot soldier at best. Unless cologne has studied the gate herself, I doubt it if Beneda knows quite enough of the gate, and the layout of the place, to provide as much intelligence is displayed. Even the Cologne's spies wouldn't have been able to gather as much intelligence.

You're quite right; Cologne did study the gate herself. As she says: "The Dark Kingdom sealed it off recently, but I have studied the binding that they used, and I have prepared a countermeasure to... 'pick the lock' as it were."

I'll try to muddle with the sentence, to make it clearer that that's the case, since I think it's getting lost a little in there...

I suggest splitting the chapter in half, at least for fukufics. Something in it is causing the page to go wonky (I'm having a doozy of a time posting this), and I suspect its the post size.

Hmm. I'm... a bit leery of breaking it apart now, since it'd mean spliting it for new readers with a bunch of discussion on future elements between the halves. Wierd, though. It's not giving me much problem, and I know I've done longer than this without issue. Maybe I'll do that going forward, though? I dunno.

Anyway, thanks again for such detailed commentary and suggestions!

[Pusakuronu]

I'm not sure how the timing for this could work. The Sailor Senshi enter the tunnel to the North Pole in episode 44, and kill Kunzite. Luna mentions they need to hurry and launch a surprise attack on the Dark Kingdom. In the next Episode, the bandaged cats watch TV, which first mentions the earthquakes, sunspots, and stuff. Usagi cooks for her family, and then the girls teleport to the final confrontation in the evening.

Problem 1: How did Cologne learn about Kunzite's death? When? From whom? And if she knows about it, it's already too late to get there in time to contribute.
Problem 2: How are the various troops getting to Japan all the way from China in that short amount of time? And then they still have time for training/getting organised? By the time they start moving, Sailor Moon should have finished off Super-Beryl already.

[claymade]

I'm not sure how the timing for this could work. The Sailor Senshi enter the tunnel to the North Pole in episode 44, and kill Kunzite. Luna mentions they need to hurry and launch a surprise attack on the Dark Kingdom. In the next Episode, the bandaged cats watch TV, which first mentions the earthquakes, sunspots, and stuff. Usagi cooks for her family, and then the girls teleport to the final confrontation in the evening.

Problem 1: How did Cologne learn about Kunzite's death? When? From whom? And if she knows about it, it's already too late to get there in time to contribute.
Problem 2: How are the various troops getting to Japan all the way from China in that short amount of time? And then they still have time for training/getting organised? By the time they start moving, Sailor Moon should have finished off Super-Beryl already.

Actually, the sunspots start back at the start of episode 42, not in 44. If that triggers them coming over, they've got plenty of time to arrive.

Subsequently, the spies watching the DK portal observe the Senshi attack, overhear that Kunzite is dead from their conversation as they leave the portal, and report this back to Cologne. The events of this chapter happen in the downtime between the end of that episode and the beginning of the second Senshi assault, while they're recovering.

[Pusakuronu]

Actually, the sunspots start back at the start of episode 42, not in 44. If that triggers them coming over, they've got plenty of time to arrive.

Subsequently, the spies watching the DK portal observe the Senshi attack, overhear that Kunzite is dead from their conversation as they leave the portal, and report this back to Cologne. The events of this chapter happen in the downtime between the end of that episode and the beginning of the second Senshi assault, while they're recovering.

Oh, I missed that in episode 42. Nevertheless, sunspots alone sound like a poor reason for calling together an army like that. It's not impossible, but it sounds like the kind of obscure detail that wouldn't have made it through the millenia. It's not as if the Silver Millenium knew it was a warning about Metallia.

As for the events occuring in the downtime between episodes - why WOULD there be downtime? They are all worried about the Dark Kingdom's progress, unhurt aside from the cats, and Luna urges them to hurry. It's not impossible, but tremendously hard to swallow.

[claymade]

Actually, the Moon Kingdom did associate the sunspots with Metallia, since the cats recognized it as a sign of Metallia's return. And given that the Amazons have an AI from someone who lived through it herself...

There definitely was a downtime to one extent or another, since they retun home, usagi cooks, the cats recover and watch tv, etc. If you think the time portrayed is too long, though, I can play around with versions with a shorter gap. There might be ways to work that...

[Pusakuronu]

Actually, the Moon Kingdom did associate the sunspots with Metallia, since the cats recognized it as a sign of Metallia's return. And given that the Amazons have an AI from someone who lived through it herself...

Yes, afterwards, because the cats lived through it. There wouldn't have been any official notes on it, though.

There definitely was a downtime to one extent or another, since they retun home, usagi cooks, the cats recover and watch tv, etc. If you think the time portrayed is too long, though, I can play around with versions with a shorter gap. There might be ways to work that...

Well, I have always considered the assault to happen on the evening of the day directly after the fight with Kunzite. That's enough time to get the cats bandaged and for Usagi's cooking shenanigans. Strategically, waiting longer would not make sense. The girls weren't injured in the fight, the cats are non-combattants anyway, and most importantly, Metallia is about to wake up. First aid for the cats, a night's rest, a last day spent with the family, and then an assault in the evening when they can slip away unnoticed would be the most logical sequence in that situation.

[Fellow Sufferer]

I think plunging like that into action is a little too sudden - no intro, no nothing. Just bam! - the End is Nigh, this is the Final Battle, etc etc.

It's rather doubtful that Nerima crowd would treat the events of the previous fic as "just another adventure" - that one rivaled (if not exceeded) Herb's arc for intensity, and the result of that confrontation was Ryouga and Mousse coming to Ranma's aid and saving his life - basically, becoming his friendly rivals. I doubt that they'd attempt to steal the laddle from him like they did in canon, striking him in the back, after the DK arc. So saying that "and then all went as in canon" is both a little unbelievable and a little dissapointing. It feels like lazy writing. I only hope that you'll reveal the changes in future chapters.

I find it interesting that Anti-DK Alliance is facing the very same problem which plagued the DK in their previous conflict - infighting and politicking. In fact, I'm almost expecting this battle to end in (or even begin with) betrayal, or even series of them.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

We've established that youma are susceptible to Jusenkyo water and the locking ladle. We've also established that this is not the best tactic to use against a large and vigorous army.

But once you've taken care of the army, who's to say the waters wouldn't work on Metallia? That could throw such a kink into both storylines! And by the time you get to the Dead Moon Circus, wouldn't that be a confounding thing to do to Tiger's Eye, Hawk's Eye, and Fisheye?

The military potential of Jusenkyo is not to be underestimated. The perverseness and wilfulness of Jusenkyo are also significant. And when you start with such a wrench in the gears as the Dark Lords of Nerima, one expects chaos in battle.

[claymade]

Yes, afterwards, because the cats lived through it. There wouldn't have been any official notes on it, though.

Well, yes. They Amazons are definitely not getting the info from "official notes", but rather from the AI of herself that Altine sent to Earth with her children. In other words, effectively, from someone else who also lived through it.

Am I coming across like they're getting this info from some other source? If so, I can try to clarify somewhere that there's no alternate "official notes" or whatever they have on the Moon Kingdom, other than Altine.

Well, I have always considered the assault to happen on the evening of the day directly after the fight with Kunzite. That's enough time to get the cats bandaged and for Usagi's cooking shenanigans. Strategically, waiting longer would not make sense. The girls weren't injured in the fight, the cats are non-combattants anyway, and most importantly, Metallia is about to wake up. First aid for the cats, a night's rest, a last day spent with the family, and then an assault in the evening when they can slip away unnoticed would be the most logical sequence in that situation.

Makes sense (with the slight caveat that it's actually night that both attacks happen). Either way, that's certainly doable. Still gives me a 24-hour interval between the first nighttime assault and the second.

The rationale for the longer downtime would be not wanting to go into your final battle as an all-nighter, immediately following a previous all-nighter battle where you got knocked around quite a bit on top of that. Two straight days with very little sleep is not exactly the condition you want be in when making your single-chance attack with the fate of the world on your shoulders.

Still, if they felt they couldn't afford to wait even an extra day, your version is definitely workable too. If I go with the only 24-hour turnaround it'll require an extra scene or two in this chapter to make work, but actually I think that might work out better in some ways; there's some other things I can explicate more naturally if I add the new scenes in.

I dunno, I'll have to think about it.

I think plunging like that into action is a little too sudden - no intro, no nothing. Just bam! - the End is Nigh, this is the Final Battle, etc etc.

Hmmm. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see to ease us into it more? I don't intend to re-tread canon events if I can at all help it, but if there's stuff between them and this that you're curious about that might serve to make it an easier transition I can take those under consideration. I'll try to think of something as well.

It's rather doubtful that Nerima crowd would treat the events of the previous fic as "just another adventure" - that one rivaled (if not exceeded) Herb's arc for intensity, and the result of that confrontation was Ryouga and Mousse coming to Ranma's aid and saving his life - basically, becoming his friendly rivals. I doubt that they'd attempt to steal the laddle from him like they did in canon, striking him in the back, after the DK arc. So saying that "and then all went as in canon" is both a little unbelievable and a little dissapointing. It feels like lazy writing. I only hope that you'll reveal the changes in future chapters.

*shrugs helplessly* I... don't know what to say. I'm honestly a bit befuddled as to what all these changes to their relationships that the first fic has--apparently?--introduced are, that everyone seems to be seeing. That Ryogua is willing to grudgingly team up with Ranma for a larger cause? That he was willing to save Ranma, and express concern over his well-being? This is all stuff he's already done multiple times over in canon before the fic even starts. (And for Mousse... heck, I gave him a flat-out monologue back in Chapter Sixteen about how Ranma is absolutely going to be his mortal enemy again just as soon as he can manage it.)

In truth, one of the reasons I chose the time period I did was specifically because I find that post-Taro, pre-Herb level of friendship/animosity balance between them to be one of the most fun periods to work with, and throw them into hijinks in. (Post-Herb has its own plusses, granted, but I've got the whole second fic to play with that angle; no reason not to enjoy the former while I still have the chance.)

In the end, it's Beneda who has the main character-growth-arc-focus (in the first fic) as well as others such as Cologne and Mousse with respect to her. But as far as the relationships between Ranma, Ryouga, Mousse and the rest go, it was never my intention to have them particularly change their opinions of each other over the course of it (nor can I really think on any instances where they really needed to in any major way).

But once you've taken care of the army, who's to say the waters wouldn't work on Metallia? That could throw such a kink into both storylines! And by the time you get to the Dead Moon Circus, wouldn't that be a confounding thing to do to Tiger's Eye, Hawk's Eye, and Fisheye?

Bwahahahahaha! That would be hilarious!

"Fear me! I am Queen Metallia, the great and powerful fluffy kitten of DOOM!"

As for how it works out ultimately... well, we'll have to see how it goes.

I have to agree that the army of martial artists should draw some attention, even a throw away line about dealing with the athorities or some type of mental compulsion, or even a banner above the whole mess that says " Chineses cultural festival" would help alot with the SOD.

Yeah, you're right. I'll figure out something like that before I post it. Heh heh, I like the banner idea! Maybe I'll incorporate that in some way.

It seems like the more powerful the Yuma the farther from humanity they are mentally. Yuma survive by absorbing life energy, and possibly emotional energy, it makes sense that the more powerful the Yuma the better they would be at that absorption. Is it possible that the Yuma are somewhat as victims of Metallia as every one else ? By being in such close proximity they get tainted by her/its evil?

Hmm, now there's an interesting idea. It certainly might explain why the extremely powerful "Great Youma" of the Rainbow Crystal are so feral compared to many of the earlier youma, who are comparatively quite intelligent and eloquent...

Thanks very much to all of you for all the suggestions!

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

Hmm, now there's an interesting idea. It certainly might explain why the extremely powerful "Great Youma" of the Rainbow Crystal are so feral compared to many of the earlier youma, who are comparatively quite intelligent and eloquent...

Hey now, I have a soft spot in my heart for Rhett Butler. What harm did he ever cause? He even was polite to Luna.

[claymade]

Hey now, I have a soft spot in my heart for Rhett Butler. What harm did he ever cause? He even was polite to Luna.

Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to imply that in the sense of "violent" or "bad", but rather just, "animalistic". Like, you get Jadite's youma that are coming up with complicated energy-draining schemes of their own and pitching them, and integrating with human society without sticking out. But with the great youma, they tended to be more along the bestial, "speak by repeating your name over and over, etc" mold. It just occurred to me randomly that that theory could explain the difference between the two modes of operation.