Author’s Notes: This time of year is murder when you work in retail, so I’m afraid my speed is starting to slow down. I’m taking it in the chin from real life right now.
On a positive note, two more chapters to go until I reach the 50,000-word mark, minus author’s notes, disclaimers, and other non-story related material. 
Chapter Twenty-One – Coming Clean
Artemis looked up as the apartment door opened. He frowned when he saw two depressed figures slowly walk through the door. Minako appeared to be near tears. “What happened?”
Ranma frowned. “I’ve been seriously underestimating Beryl. Or maybe Jadeite… he may have been the youngest of us, but he had the gift of taking the long view.”
Minako picked up Artemis and sat down heavily on the couch as she hugged him. “Ten thousand people…”
Artemis stared at Ranma in alarm. “What exactly happened?”
“Somehow, the Dark Kingdom drained the energy of nearly ten thousand residents of Asahikawa, the nearest major city to their former lair, in a single night, probably in less than an hour. Then they fled, taking Metaria with them. There would be no way for them to attack that many people in that short a time, without a legion of youma, and we’ve never seen more than three active at once. Which means an energy trap of some kind. And those take a long time to set up.
“The worst thing is that I should’ve seen this coming. Beryl has been awake at least a year, and Jadeite at least six months, but they didn’t begin their attacks until two months ago. Furthermore, it’s nearly a thousand kilometers to Tokyo from their lair, and they’ve been able to teleport back and forth without difficulties. That requires a lot of power, more than they could’ve possibly have gotten through their attacks to date. Most of their power must have been coming from Asahikawa, through said energy trap, probably set at a very low level.”
Ranma shook her head. “The Ministry of Health has been trying to track down an outbreak of some mysterious disease there for four months, trying to figure why there were so many reports of fatigue coming from the local doctors. When three percent of the population of Hokkaido’s second largest city suddenly dropped into comas in a single night, naturally officials took notice. They had the army quarantine the city, which was the situation Minako and I walked into.”
Artemis, from his place in Minako’s arms, asked, “But if Beryl was able to get the energy she needed from Asahikawa, why attack Tokyo?”
“Because the Ginzuishou is in Tokyo, they know it as well as we do, and Beryl was trying to draw us out so she could take it,” Minako answered. “We all thought we were beating the Dark Kingdom, but all we did was bump off a few pawns intended to draw us out into the open, where we can be found.”
“So now what?”
“We wait until the Dark Kingdom sets up shop again, and renews their campaign in Tokyo,” Ranma replied. “Japan and the United States, and their allies, all know the signs, but if Beryl had any brains at all, she’d set up in a part of the world isolated enough to be hard to reach, close enough to a sizable population for operational energy, and hostile to Japan and her allies.” The auburn haired woman looked down at her hands. “Beyond that, I don’t know what to do. It’ll probably take at least two months for Beryl to renew her operations, and it’s more likely to take four or six. By that time, Minako may be…”
“I may be dead,” Minako finished for her. “And there will be no crisis to awaken the Princess in the meantime.”
“I can create one,” Ranma said darkly, clenching her fists. “If we need a villain for Usagi to wake up to her birthright, then by the gods, I will become one.”
“Or the two of you could do something radical like telling the truth for once,” Artemis said quickly, cutting off Ranma’s line of thought. “I mean, we are all supposed to be on the same side, aren’t we?”
- + - + -
Furuhata Motoki fed his turtle Kamekichi a bit of lettuce as he waited for school to get out. This was always a very slow time of the day, and extremely boring. But at least it gave him time to do his homework. “Hey, Kamekichi-kun. Do you think the girls…” He trailed off as he realized that he had two customers at the counter. “Welcome to Crown Karaoke…” Unable to finish his speech, he waved the two ladies into the establishment.
It wasn’t every day two major idols showed up to sing karaoke. Especially when they had a one-year pass to the place. Aino Minako’s stuffed animal also seemed somewhat familiar, for some reason. “Hey, Kamekichi-kun. What do you suppose that was about?” The turtle pulled his head into his shell. “Right. It’s better not to be nosy.”
- + - + -
“Nervous?”
“Hai, Minako-chan. You don’t know any of them besides Mizuno-san, but I’ve been working closely with them for several weeks now. They’re going to be mad.”
Minako shook her head. “I don’t think Tsukino-san will. Everything I know about her says she has a good heart. She’ll forgive you. And Ami-chan will follow her lead.”
“Ami-chan?”
Minako shrugged. “We’ve shared more than a few elevator rides in the morning, since we live across the hall and we both need to leave early for school. We’re neighbors, so I insisted that we should be familiar with each other. I think you’ll have the most trouble with Hino-san.”
“Yes. She’s the most serious of the four, and from what I’ve seen she holds grudges. She’s already holding one from our initial introduction. This will make it worse.”
“What about Kino-san?”
Ranma rocked her hand uncertainly. “She could go either way. She definitely respects her Tomoe-sensei, but she’s almost as guarded as Hino.”
Artemis glanced at the clock on the wall. “Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Unless Tsukino-san has detention again, then they’ll be here soon.”
- + - + -
Rei looked at her watch in irritation. “They’re late again.”
Makoto ignored the auburn haired girl beside her. “Usagi-chan was on cleanup detail again for being late. Ami-chan volunteered to help, as usual. They’ll be along shortly.”
“She is so irresponsible sometimes.”
Makoto smiled. “Did you ever consider that she might be putting on an act so that it looks like everything’s normal?”
The pair glanced at each other, and broke up laughing.
“What’s so funny, Rei-chan?” Usagi asked as came running up, Ami keeping pace behind her.
“Nothing. You’re late.”
The girl with twin ponytails bowed. “Sorry! Haruna-sensei is so unreasonable sometimes. I was only two minutes late!”
Rei looked at the purple plush toy cat in Usagi’s book bag. “Luna, can’t you wake her up on time for a change?”
“I’ve tried, Rei-chan,” the cat said morosely. “Kami-sama knows I’ve tried.”
The four girls presented their passes to Furuhata-san, the faint blush on Usagi’s cheeks not going unnoticed by the other three.
Rei, first through the door to the Senshi’s headquarters, received a shock. For the second time in a month, someone had gotten in. She didn’t recognize one of them, but the other was very familiar to the young miko.
With a squeal that would’ve done Usagi proud, she bolted down the stairs, gushing out, “You’re Takeda Megumi! I’ve seen all your movies, even the ones you did stunts for! I have all your albums! Can I get your autograph?” Suddenly aware that the eyes of her friends were on her, Rei squared her shoulders, raised her head, and in her most mature voice said, “That is, it is very nice to meet you, Takeda-san.”
- + - + -
After a brief delay where Usagi repeated Rei’s performance, only over Minako, the subject turned to what the pair of them were doing in a place that didn’t exist in normal space.
“Before we begin,” Ranma said, as all six of them sat around the table, “I think I should properly introduce myself. If you will excuse me for a second?”
Ranma reached under the table and removed a duffle bag. She placed a makeup mirror and a contact lens case on the table, and, after washing her hands, removed both colored contact lenses. As the four girls and purple cat watched, she took out a plastic bottle and with Minako’s help, began to work the contents into her hair. This wasn’t strictly necessary, since Ranma could easily change her hair color on her own now, but Ranma had decided that stripping away Megumi’s identity physically would be easier for the other girls to accept.
When Minako applied a towel afterwards, the towel was stained a rusty brown, and Ranma’s hair was back to its natural black color. The girl braided Ranma’s hair, and then looped the braid into several coils at the nape of her neck. A change in posture completed the metamorphosis.
Usagi stared at the transformed woman before her. “Tomoe-sensei?”
Ranma shook her head. “My name is Saotome Ranma, and we’re sorry about this.”
- + - + -
Rei glared at the two women across the table as they told their story. “Why the hell should we believe anything the two of you say? You’ve been lying to us!”
Makoto looked at the two dejected figures beside her. “I don’t think they’ve been lying to us, really. They’ve been putting on an act for the Dark Kingdom, trying to confuse them, making them think there are more of us than there are, and drawing them away from our princess with a fake one. Naturally it would be a lot easier to do if we didn’t know the truth, because our reactions would be more natural.”
“Besides, they’re telling us the truth now, aren’t they Rei-chan?” Usagi said firmly. “So we should forgive them, right, Ami-chan?”
Ami nodded, before frowning at them over her glasses. “Something bad happened, didn’t it?”
Ranma nodded. “Yes. Our latest effort to sow confusion among the enemy was to try to convince Beryl that Endymion had been reincarnated as a woman.”
Luna blinked at the two. “What made you think of that?”
Artemis asked, “Does the name Kunzite ring a bell?”
“Of course. He was the captain of the Prince’s guardians, which probably means that he’s one of Beryl’s people too.”
“Well, she’s sitting right there.”
As the four girls stared at Ranma, she observed, “Artemis, maybe we should’ve started at the beginning?”
- + - + -
“My head hurts.”
“Ami-chan, if your head hurts, how do you think mine feels?” Usagi asked.
Rei rolled her eyes at the pair. “Now that we know who’s who, and what gender, perhaps you would care to enlighten us on why you decided to end this charade?”
“You’ve all heard about Asahikawa, haven’t you?” Ranma asked.
Only Ami nodded. “There was some kind of epidemic, and the city had to be quarantined.”
“It wasn’t a disease, it was the Dark Kingdom. We don’t know why, but the idea of ‘princess’ Endymion spooked Beryl so badly, that she decided she didn’t want to be on the same island chain with her. They attacked the city to get the energy necessary to move, leaving about ten thousand in comas in the process.”
Three of the four girls stared at Ranma in horror. Rei, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes as she asked, “They’ve never operated on that scale before.”
“They have been, just not in Tokyo. Their attacks in Tokyo weren’t just to get energy. Their primary goal was to draw out the Senshi in general, and your princess in particular. Their goal is the Ginzuishou, after all.” Ranma sighed. “It would take them decades to get enough energy from normal humans to wake Metaria up, assuming they operated as discretely as they did in Asahikawa before they moved. It’ll probably take them at least two months, probably longer, before they’re ready to renew their attacks. And we no longer have the advantage of knowing where they are. Nor can we keep the constant state of alert necessary to react instantly to their renewed attempts to obtain the Ginzuishou.”
“There’s also the real Prince Endymion. Beryl’s after him as well, so we need to find him and awaken him too,” Minako added. “Plus Zoisite was an ally we had in the Dark Kingdom, and we haven’t heard from him since Ranma pulled her Endymion impression. He’s probably a prisoner, or worse.”
“Wonderful. Do you two have any other good news?”
“Hai,” Minako said. She took a deep breath, and said, “I have cancer. Without the Ginzuishou and an awakened princess, I’ve only got six months to live.”
“Great! So all we need to do is find the princess, and Minako-chan can be saved!” Usagi declared enthusiastically. The girl looked around the table. “Um... why are you all staring at me like that for?”
Still good, though.