The Dark Lords of Nerima, Chapter Thirteen [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.


(previous chapters can be found here)



Chapter Thirteen: Rock Bottom



Being knocked unconscious was not an altogether uncommon experience for Ukyo.

Granted, it was usually an even more common experience for the average fighter who challenged her--that much was a point of pride. Still, while she was very good for her age, she wasn't quite at the top of the pack, and she had certainly suffered her fair share of defeats over her lifetime. As a result, the act of fighting her way back to the waking world had become a familiar one, and she did it with the efficiency of long practice.

The first thing she noticed was that her ribs were killing her, and the pain blocked out any further observations for a few seconds. Still, she had never been one to be afraid of pain, and she quickly pushed past it, prying her eyes open and taking stock of the situation.

She was lying in a bed, which was more comfort than usually greeted her on waking up in such a way. Then, slowly, memories of the events leading up to her unplanned nap began to filter back to her. She struggled to sit up, desperate to find out whether Ranma was all right.

"Easy! Easy!" Looking over to where the voice had come from, she saw the bespectacled figure of Doctor Tofu moving quickly over to her bedside. "You should rest; that was a nasty hit you took."

Ukyo hesitated. Then, seeing the firm look in the doctor's eyes, she let out a small groan and flopped back down. "What happened?" she asked instead. "Did Ranchan beat that guy in the uniform?"

"Yes, so I understand," replied Tofu, nodding. "Akane and I didn't arrive until a bit later, but from what I've been told, after you broke the telekinetic hold of that 'General', Ranma pulverized him quite severely."

The okonomiyaki chef's face split into a beaming, almost giddy smile. She had[i] rescued Ranma... and then [i]he had come to her rescue in turn, beating up the jackass who had shot her! She could hardly have imagined a more perfect way for things to turn out!

Ukyo propped herself up a little, looking around for some sign of her fiancé, ignoring the spasms of pain that the action sent through her chest. She soon caught sight of him, lying on a bed on the other side of the room, asleep. "Is he all right?" she asked worriedly.

"He should be, eventually," was Tofu's response. "Still, he's severely bruised, and he put so much into his final Amaguriken attack that he pulled a tendon in his right arm. Not to mention a few cracked ribs from the car that hit him."

Then the doctor sighed. "Right now, he needs rest more than anything else. He was pushing himself to his utmost limits during that fight, and he collapsed the second he had gotten you here to my clinic. He's been out cold ever since."

Ukyo let out a sigh of relief. Yes, it was bad... but not so bad that Ranma wouldn't recover, especially with the way he healed. It could definitely have been a lot worse. "Thank goodness..." she breathed, smiling. "I should have known that Ranchan wouldn't let a jerk like that give him too much trouble."

Tofu nodded in agreement... but Ukyo detected an undercurrent of hesitation in the motion, and an unsettling feeling swept through her. "What is it?" she demanded, worry re-entering her voice. "What aren't you telling me?"

The doctor hesitated for a moment. "It's... true that Ranma is in no danger," he said at last, reluctantly. "His friend, Mr. Hibiki, however..."



**********



Beneda sat in the corner of the room, knees tucked to her chest, trying not to look over at the bed where Ryouga lay. Her eyes stared numbly ahead, memories of the recent encounter playing back and forth through her mind, ceaselessly.

The roaring fireball bearing down on her. Ryouga swinging her behind himself.

Akane sat nearby, at Ryouga's bedside. No one spoke. The lost boy's condition weighed too heavily on the human girl, and Beneda was practically catatonic.

The sound of stumbling footsteps was suddenly heard outside, and then a few moments later, Ukyo burst into the room. She was holding one hand to her side, movement obviously causing her no small amount of pain. But she did not let it slow her. Her eyes immediately fixed on Ryouga's prone form. "Oh no," she murmured, moving over to stand next to Akane at the bedside.

Beneda turned her head as well, flinching as she caught sight of Ryouga's body. He lay face-down on the bed, torso wrapped in a mass of bandages. And try though she might, the youma could not block out the memories of what lay under those bandages: the blackened skin, the huge blisters, the horrible burns that covered his entire back.

She tried clenching her eyes shut. It didn't help.

"What happened to him?" asked Ukyo softly, looking down at the lost boy. Even unconscious, it was clear he was in a great deal of pain--his face was contorted, his breathing was shallow, and sweat was beading on his brow.

"I... Ranma said..." Akane was obviously distraught. "It was one of the Senshi that did it. She used some kind of really powerful fire magic, and Ryouga... he got hit by it."

Left unsaid was why he had gotten hit, but the silence haunted Beneda as much as hearing it aloud would have. It would have been me. It should have been me... except he took it for me.

"How is he doing?" the okonomiyaki chef inquired.

"Doctor Tofu isn't sure..." was Akane's miserable reply. "He's done what he can, but he said that for something this bad, he really ought to be taken to a hospital with a burn ward. Except..."

The sentence hung in the air, unfinished, but Beneda's thoughts completed it for her. Except that he can't go there. Because we're hiding from the Dark Kingdom and the Senshi. Because of me.

Akane took a deep breath, then went on. "Doctor Tofu said that almost anyone else would have died from something like that. Right now, we're just hoping on how tough he is. If he can wake up... If his fever breaks..."

But what if it didn't? Beneda let out a small whimper. It was unbearable. She could find no escape from the questions, from the worries, from the memories.

Searing fire raging past her in a consuming stream, breaking across Ryouga's unyielding back.

"Beneda? Are you all right?"

The youma's head jerked up, over to Ukyo, who was looking over at her with a concerned expression. Oh no, was the only thought that made it through her mind as Akane turned to look at her as well. No, no, no... not this, not now!

"I... It's..." Beneda managed to force out, her hands trembling a little from her agitation. "I'm all right. Don't worry about it."

Unfortunately, her weak denial did nothing to convince them. Akane walked over, kneeling beside her, and Beneda made the mistake of meeting her eyes, giving a human a glimpse of the emotions behind them. "Beneda... you shouldn't blame yourself," the human girl said. "I'm sure Ryouga will pull through. If that fireball had hit you, you would have died... and I'm sure that would have hurt him even worse than this."

The words struck Beneda like a blow, and she wrenched her gaze back down to the floor. One more reminder. One more inescapable reminder of what Ryouga had done for her... and of how she had betrayed him. She clutched her bowed head in her hands, pleading silently for an escape.

--the stifling, unbearable heat, the pungent scent of burning flesh--

Akane and Ukyo were both saying something to her, but her thoughts were so fractured that she barely heard them, much less understood them.

--her shuriken aimed at Jadeite, not firing, not firing, not firing--

She couldn't get away from what she had done, what had happened to Ryouga because of her lies. What would happen to all of these humans.

--Ryouga looking at her, almost dead, and smiling when he saw she was safe--

And then, perhaps realizing that her words were not getting through to Beneda, Akane leaned in... and placed a comforting hand on the youma's shoulder.

Beneda jerked violently away, as though the human's touch had been scalding. She shoved Akane back, using the force to push herself in the opposite direction as she stumbled awkwardly to her feet.

Akane's face was with surprise; she had clearly not expected that kind of reaction. "Beneda..."

"Shut up!" the youma shrieked. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! I don't want to hear one more word of your stupid human games!"

She held out a trembling finger toward the stunned Akane, then swept it across all of them. "It's all worthless nonsense, all of it! Things don't actually work that way! You... you know I'm right, don't you? I am right! You have to know it, somewhere deep down!"

Akane and Ukyo watched her, speechless. Finally, the okonomiyaki chef spoke up. "What are you talking about, Beneda?"

"Everything!" the youma exploded, the words spilling out like water bursting from a dam. "Everything you fools have done! What kind of people just take in someone they don't even know? What kind of people risk their lives to protect an enemy of their entire species?"

"But you're not our enemy, Beneda," replied Akane firmly. "I mean... the Dark Kingdom does seem pretty evil from what I've seen of them... but you're not with them anymore." She met the youma's eyes directly. "You're one of our friends now."

Akane's words were like salt poured onto an open wound... and there was only one way that Beneda had left of striking back. Only one way to make it stop.

"I was never your friend," she whispered. Then her voice became a scream. "I was never your friend! Why couldn't any of you see that? I was lying to you the whole time! Do you think a 'friend' would have done that? Do you think a 'friend' would have just stood there while Jadeite was about to kill them? Well?"

An unsteady laugh escaped from between her lips. "No. It was an act all along. Every last bit of it! If that stupid, stupid fool on the bed had known who I really was, he would have left me to die like he should have! He wouldn't have taken care of me! He wouldn't have fought the Dark Kingdom for me! He wouldn't have... jumped in front of..." Her voice began to break. "He wouldn't be... He wouldn't... He wouldn't!"

Shoulders heaving, she stared defiantly at the girls, her hands clenched into fists, daring them to do... anything. To say anything. To attack her. To kill her. She barely cared anymore. Her eyes went back and forth between them, searching for some sign of what their reaction would be, certain that there was nothing they could do to her that could make this any worse...

...and then she noticed a tiny hint of movement out of the corner of her eye.

A fist of ice clenched around Beneda's chest. Slowly, she shifted her gaze over to the bed, dreading what she would see.

Ryouga was no longer unconscious. He was managing, just barely, to lift his head a tiny bit, enough to look over at where Beneda was standing. And for a second they were frozen there, the youma meeting his pain-filled eyes.

He heard. The realization echoed hollowly inside her. He heard what I said to them.

He knows.

With a strangled sob, she turned and sprinted for the nearest window. She plowed through the glass, leaping out of the second-story room and into the streets beyond, where she ran away for all that she was worth.



**********



Stunned silence held the room in its grip for several seconds after Beneda's abrupt departure. Ukyo clutched at her side, fighting back the pain of the injury as she tried to process what had just happened, and what it meant.

Akane was the first to shake herself out of her stupor, and she immediately ran to the window. "Beneda!" she called out, then spun back to Ukyo. "I'm going after her."

The okonomiyaki chef nodded. She didn't know what Akane expected to do even if she did manage to catch up to the fleeing youma, and she doubted that the other girl had much of an idea herself. But whatever ended up coming of this, whatever the truth was here, they needed to find it out. For all their sakes.

Akane leaped out the window, dropping down to the streets below and running in the direction they had seen Beneda go. Ukyo, for her part, turned to look down at Ryouga.

The lost boy's eyes were open, but not quite focused on anything, his head swaying back and forth as he fought to hold it off the bed. His face was unnervingly pale. "Ummm..." Ukyo said, looking back and forth agitatedly, wishing she knew more about how bad this was. "Look, Ryouga, just... try not to move, okay? Just take it easy. I'll... I'll go get Doctor Tofu!"

With that, she turned and stumbled toward the stairs as fast as her injured side would allow. When she had left him, the doctor had been checking up on Ranma, so she made a beeline in that direction. "Doctor Tofu! Doctor Tofu!"

She burst into the room, causing Doctor Tofu to look up and walk over toward her, concern on his features. "Ukyo, what's the matter?"

"It's Beneda!" the okonomiyaki chef blurted, the whole story tumbling from her lips in a rush. "She suddenly got all worked up--I think it was because Ryouga had gotten hurt--and she started yelling at us about how she wasn't on our side but then Ryouga heard her and she ran off and now Ryouga's awake but he's--"

"Slow down, slow down!" Doctor Tofu raised his hands placatingly. "One thing at a time. Are you saying that your strange-looking friend turned against you?"

Ukyo shook her head. "I... don't know. She was saying all kinds of things--some of them didn't even make much sense. She said us she'd been lying to us... but why would she just tell us that if she were really against us?"

Doctor Tofu pursed his lips thoughtfully. "That's certainly true. Still, whatever else may be the case, from what you're saying it sounds as though she is very emotionally unstable at the moment. It may not be wise to assume too much about how she will react, or what her plans are."

"If she even has any..." responded the okonomiyaki chef. "Either way, Akane went after her, so we might learn more if she can find her. In the meantime..."

"In the meantime," came a tired voice from off to the side. "I sure as hell ain't gonna let that tomboy just run around by herself with everything that's out there gunning for us!"

Ukyo whirled around. "Ranma!" she exclaimed, watching as the pigtailed boy groaned and slowly pulled himself up off the bed and into a sitting position. "Did you hear...?"

"Heard enough." Ranma looked more exhausted than Ukyo had ever seen him. Nevertheless, he made as though to stand, then grimaced and clutched his right arm with his left. "Hey Doc. You got anything quick to help with this?"

"You really shouldn't be moving around at all..." responded Doctor Tofu reproachfully, but it was with the resigned reproach of someone who already knew full well that his words would be ignored. Even as he spoke he was taking some materials out of a drawer, and he proceeded to fashion a sling for Ranma's arm.

"Thanks," was Ranma's reply. "All right, I'm going out to start looking too. Which way did they go?"

"Down the street, that way," Ukyo answered, pointing in the general direction. Then she turned back to face the pigtailed martial artist. "Ranma... what are we going to do when we find her?"

Ranma's lip twisted into a pained look. "We'll... figure that out once we know more about what's going on," he said at last. Then he sighed. "Damn it all. And at a time like this! I don't even want to think about how Ryouga's taking it."

Ukyo's heart fell even further at the thought. Ranma was right, of course. It had been Ryouga who had found Beneda first, Ryouga who had brought her to Nerima, Ryouga who had been the closest to her. How must he be feeling? "I just hope the idiot doesn't try to do anything reckless," she murmured. "Like trying to go after her himself."

"Nah, that's one thing you don't need to worry about," Ranma said. "As messed up as he was by that fireball, I'd be surprised if he even had the strength to stand right now. And, I mean, think who we're talking about here. Even if he could manage it somehow, the most he could do would be to just wander around randomly." The pigtailed fighter shook his head. "No, not even Ryouga is stupid enough to try something like that."

There were a few moments of silence, as that statement settled in their minds.

Then, in unison, Ranma and Ukyo turned to look at each other, and then raced up the stairs to Ryouga's room at a dead run. Reaching it, Ranma flung open the door with his working arm, and Ukyo crowded in behind him.

The room was already empty. The only things they saw on the bed were the tangled sheets, as their eyes were drawn inexorably toward the broken window.



**********



Gasping for breath, Beneda stumbled to a halt in the middle of the deserted road, looking back and forth around her. She could see no signs of anyone following. If there had been any attempt at pursuit, she had evidently thrown it off with her frantic, dodging flight.

I have to get out of sight, she repeated to herself, focusing on that necessity. It at least helped stave off other thoughts. I have to get out of sight.

Whirling around, she burst into a run again. She had no idea where she was going. She had nowhere left to go. Not anymore. She was simply looking for somewhere she could hide from it all.

Eventually, just when she felt about ready to faint from exhaustion, she came across a narrow, blind alley that provided at least some degree of concealment. She ducked deep into it, slumping at last against one of the walls and sliding down it to the ground. Questions, doubts, recriminations, all of them plagued her. Where had it all gone so utterly, hopelessly wrong? What had been her mistake that had led her to this place?

She didn't know. She didn't know anything anymore, her emotions, her entire world thrown into such disarray that she no longer had any clue which way was up or down.

It's over... she realized, in that moment. It's all over. It's all gone completely to hell. Her desperate, last-ditch plan had collapsed in on itself, with no way out that she could see. The only question left was who--out of all the countless parties she had decieved, attacked, failed and betrayed--would be the one to find her first.

Slowly, she curled herself into a ball, clutching her knees to her chest. She had nothing left to try, no future left to aim for.

How long she remained like that, she had no way of knowing. Every moment bled into the next, without anything to mark the passage of time. Her only company was her own accusing thoughts, chasing themselves in endless circles through her mind, on and on, never ceasing.

Then, after what seemed like an eternity, she heard footsteps.

They were still a ways off, but moving their way down the street all the same. It was almost certainly nothing, she knew. Probably just some random human passerby, who would run away screaming if they even noticed her. And yet, even so, fear constricted in her chest at the sound.

Could it be the Dark Kingdom? More youma forces, coming to hunt her down? But no, she could hear only one pair of footsteps--they would be searching in greater numbers than this.

The sounds continued to draw nearer, and Beneda's desperation continued to rise. The Senshi, then? But no, the footfalls were heavy, trudging things, not the sound of slight girls in high-heeled shoes.

Beneda bit hard into her lower lip, her heart hammering in her chest. She did not want to admit the most likely possibility. She realized that the thought of facing Ranma, or Akane, or Ukyo again had become even more frightening to her than either the Senshi or the Dark Kingdom. To have them against her, the protectors who had cared for her now attacking her...

She clenched her eyes shut, pleading for it all to just go away, but the footsteps only drew closer and closer.

Except... their approach wasn't exactly steady. As she listened, she could hear the footsteps swerve incomprehensibly, angling suddenly toward the opposite side of the street, then back the way they had come for a moment, then off in a vaguely forward tangent, with no sane pattern that Beneda could detect. It was almost as though the walker were completely lacking in...

Her blood turned to ice in her veins. No, she thought. No, it... it can't be!

The footsteps continued to wander nearer. Frantically, she recited to herself all the different reasons why it was impossible.

Why it wasn't him.

Why it couldn't possibly be him!

She curled her body tighter in on itself, her eyes locked onto the ground, and nowhere else. It felt as though the walls themselves were closing in on her. Soon, the footsteps had reached the alley mouth.

A shadow fell across her. She did not dare look up, only remained huddled where she was. The silence was terrible, a raw, aching void. It stretched on and on, second after endless second.

Finally she had to speak, had to say something. "It... I..." she tried, brokenly. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Her shoulders slumped. "Everything Cologne said was true, you know. About the Dark Kingdom. About me. About what I was trying to do. I was lying to you the whole time."

There was another silence. Then, at last, she heard Ryouga's voice. "Why?"

Beneda flinched, staring down at her hands. "I... I just wanted to survive," she said, barely audible. "I was supposed to kill the Senshi for my masters. Not for any of the reasons I told you. Just because they were in our way. But then I failed, and my masters wanted to kill me for it."

"But then you were there. A fighter that could actually beat a youma. And I knew it was my one last chance. If I could set you against the Senshi... If I could use you to... complete my mission..."

Her voice trailed off, then she shook her head. "And why not? After all, you were... just some human. It shouldn't have been any problem for me to use you like that. So I pretended to be on your side, and I pretended to like humans, and I pretended to care what happened to you, and I pretended and pretended and pretended..."

Then she clenched her fists, a note of almost-anger entering her voice. "But you didn't play fair! The way you treated me... The way all of you treated me... It wasn't like anything I'd ever..." Her voice broke, and she was unable to continue.

A long silence fell once more. Then Beneda heard the lost boy start walking toward her, slowly. Step by step he drew nearer, until he stood directly over her huddled form, his legs just barely visible out of the corner of her eye. She held her breath, ready at any moment for the blow that would strike her into dust.

Then she heard Ryouga lower himself to the ground, sitting down next to her. "Well," he said at last. "This is one hell of a spot you've gotten us into..."

The youma nodded miserably, still trying to process the idea that he hadn't yet done anything to her. They continued to sit there for a while, before Ryouga spoke again.

"Still..." he said. "I... I know how hard it must have been for you to tell us something like this." He hesitated. "There was... someone I knew, once, who was in the same kind of situation. Someone I... met when I was in China."

"This guy... he had gotten a Jusenkyo curse. Kind of like Ranma's--but way, way worse! Except... except it also let him pretend to be something he really wasn't. And... just from what he told me... I know how hard it can be to admit to something like that."

Beneda swallowed, trying to think of a response. "So..." she managed to say at last. "What happened to him?"

"Huh? Who?" replied Ryouga.

"That friend of yours," the youma clarified, still not daring to look the human in the face. "Did he ever admit to what he was doing?"

"Oh, him," said Ryouga. "No. He... never really did." The lost boy let out a tiny laugh. "That's one thing you've got over him, at least."

Another long silence fell, as emotions churned within Beneda. At last they bubbled to the surface, bursting out as she finally, finally gave voice to the fear that had been haunting her all this time. "But Ryouga..." she said desperately. "None of this makes any difference! I didn't keep trying to get back to the Dark Kingdom because it was a better place to live than here. I was trying to go back because they're going to win!"

"You have no idea what you're up against! Did you think Jadeite was powerful? He's nothing compared to Kunzite, and Beryl herself is even worse! They have thousands of youma to call on! And... and when Metallia awakens..." She broke off, shuddering in terror. Even just speaking the odds out loud had cast a pallor over her thoughts, a sense of doom that she could not shake.

But to her astonishment, Ryouga only snorted. "All right. Maybe they are that tough," he said stubbornly. "And maybe I could live a little longer if I somehow got on their good side. But do you really think that kind of life would be worth it? Bowing and scraping to bastards like that, while they did who knows what to Akane and everyone else?"

The lost boy shook his head. "No, even if I had the choice, I'd still rather kick their asses for as long as I can. And whatever happens, happens."

The words caught Beneda right in the chest, taking her aback. In all her frantic worries about how to survive her situation, it was the one question she had never asked herself. How much was her old kind of life even worth, in the end? How many days spent cowering in Beryl's service would it take--to equal even just one more day with friends that actually cared about her?

Was there even a number?

"And besides," Ryouga's voice broke into her thoughts. "Don't sell us short either. We've beaten things more powerful than us before, and whatever the Dark Kingdom does decide to throw our way... well, we'll just see how well it actually goes for them."

Beneda laughed unsteadily, shaking her head in disbelief. "I... I'll never understand you humans," she whispered. "Not in a thousand years..." At last, she managed to summon the courage to lift her head, to look the lost boy in the eyes. "How can you-- Ryouga!"

She abruptly broke off, her eyes going wide in horror as she got a look at him. She had been so wrapped up in her fear at facing him again that she had completely forgotten that he had hideously injured even before he had gone out looking for her.

His face was deathly pale, with sweat trailing profusely down it. His eyes were barely focused, and his hand was clenched in a deathgrip on his knee. He was swaying drunkenly back and forth, and it was obvious that he was only hanging onto consciousness by sheer, raw willpower.

"Oh hell, Ryouga!" she exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to steady him. "What were you thinking!"

Ryouga smiled lopsidedly. "Feh. This is nothing..." he said, though the way his head wobbled as he spoke rather ruined the effect. "You shouldn't worry about me. I've had rug burns worse than this."

"Idiot..." Beneda whispered, clutching tightly to him while looking wildly back and forth. There was no one nearby.

She looked back down at Ryouga. The lost boy was in terrible shape. She doubted that he had the strength to get back to his feet, much less back to the clinic. Not that he even knew the way.

And she knew that there was only one way for him to return safely.



**********



Ranma leapt down from the rooftops, landing in a run as he hurried back to the clinic door. Akane was there as well, just back from searching her own area. He could tell how it had gone just by her expression, but he had to ask anyway. "Did you find either of them?"

His uncute fiancée shook her head dejectedly. "No, I didn't."

"Me neither. No sign of them anywhere from here to the park." Ranma sighed. "Damn it, I can't believe that moron, just running off in the condition he's in. I mean, him, of all people! He could be anywhere by now!"

"Doctor Tofu told me that he called Ucchan's," offered Akane. "With the others looking too, we can cover a whole lot more--" Abruptly she broke off, her eyes widening as she caught sight of something off to the side.

Ranma turned to look for himself. There, standing on the sidewalk, was Beneda, with a sleeping Ryouga slung across her back.

No one said anything for a long time, nor did Beneda meet their eyes. Finally, she spoke. "I... I'm really sorry," she told them. "I know I don't have any right to just come back here myself, but... he's hurt badly and... I just..."

Her words seemed to break the shocked spell over the moment. Akane rushed over to her, checking anxiously on Ryouga's condition. "Quick, bring him inside!" she said, urgency in her voice. "I'll go get Doctor Tofu!"

With that, she turned and ran back toward the clinic, Beneda following along in her wake. They ran past Ranma, and the youma had reached the door when the pigtailed fighter called out her name sharply. "Beneda!"

She stopped cold where she was, her body tensing up, as though in anticipation of being struck. Ranma turned, looking over his shoulder at her, then spoke again. "Make sure someone calls Ucchan's too. They're out looking for you and Ryouga from there... so we oughta let them know that you're both home safe."

Beneda's eyes went wide, and she nodded furiously, as though not trusting herself to speak. Ranma regarded her for a few more seconds, then cracked a grin. "Well, lucky thing you came across the moron, anyway. You wouldn't believe how hard it usually is to find him."

The youma shook her head. "It wasn't like that," she said quietly. "He found me."



**********



With the departure of Beneda and Ryouga, the alley where they had spoken had been left vacant. There was no sign of movement, and the only sound was the occasional breeze that blew between the building walls on either side.

Those silent walls reached upward to the silent rooftops. And on those rooftops--sitting back where he would be just out of sight--was a silent figure, clad in a flowing white robe.

The hidden weapons master's brow was furrowed, as he gazed moodily at nothing in particular. When Tofu had called Ucchan's, when he had heard that the youma's treachery had been revealed... this was not how he had envisioned events turning out.

He had joined the search for her, of course. And he had found her, there in that alley. Considering his orders from Cologne, his next step should have been clear.

And yet... he had hesitated. She had looked so pathetic, huddled down there, that he hadn't quite been able to bring himself to leap down and strike her dead. That delay had allowed Hibiki to find her, and for his part, he had hidden himself to watch and wait.

The results had been even more unsettling. Hearing them talk, hearing the emotion in the youma girl's voice... It had made things seem... less simple. Less straightforward than they should have been.

So he sat there, even after they had left him alone with his suddenly troubled thoughts. He didn't yet know what he would do. But there was one fact that was inescapable. Cologne had sent him here with the expectation that he would work to expose the youma, and kill her once that had happened.

And right now, Beneda was as exposed as she was ever going to be.

[juandelacruz]

Good chapter, though rather short. I guess you're building up to something. Looks like the NWC will need to reassess their position and strategy, not just Mousse, if Beneda spills everything. I'm especially interested in how this will change their relationship with the senshi.

[yakumo fujii]

I'd have really liked to see what was going on with the senshi and the Dark Kingdom as well, but this was good. The emotions felt very raw and real.

[PCHeintz72]

I'd have really liked to see what was going on with the senshi and the Dark Kingdom as well, but this was good. The emotions felt very raw and real.

Agreed... an assessment of how to proceed on all fronts now would even out our knowledge.

However, I really think it changes little. It is too late.

The Senshi are likely not going to forgive the affornts against them, even if they might be more cautious concerning dealings with someone who stood toe to toe with Jedite and walked away.

Beryls forces are likely not going to let multiple assalts against them go unpunished, as it shows them as weak otherwise, and Jedite will take this personally.

The NWC will have to stand their ground, as is they lack real information to lauch a preemptive assault, and neither other party they fought came out as friendly to the public, considering their actions. Not to mention the severe injuries they inflicted upon one of their own while in conflict.

[claymade]

Good chapter, though rather short. I guess you're building up to something. Looks like the NWC will need to reassess their position and strategy, not just Mousse, if Beneda spills everything. I'm especially interested in how this will change their relationship with the senshi.

I'd have really liked to see what was going on with the senshi and the Dark Kingdom as well, but this was good. The emotions felt very raw and real.

Agreed... an assessment of how to proceed on all fronts now would even out our knowledge.

Thanks! Good to hear that the emotions came across real and effective. A large portion of what's happened with Beneda has been building to this very moment, and I knew I really needed to sell it--one of the reasons this chapter took so long, when it was so short.

As for how everyone's game plan will change... yeah, that's pretty much the focus of next chapter. Didn't throw any in here, 'cause I doing it fully would have made things too long, and I didn't want to split it up either. Plus, this (hopefully) gives a bit of staccato emphasis on Beneda's decision.

The Senshi are likely not going to forgive the affornts against them...

How do you figure? Most of the examples I can recall off the top of my head (Nephrite, the Black Moon sisters, Nehellina, Galaxia, etc.) would seem to imply that the Senshi would be willing to forgive many different attacks on their lives the instant someone shows even a hint that they might be able to solve things without killing them... Is there another instance that I'm forgetting that suggests the opposite?

...and neither other party they fought came out as friendly to the public, considering their actions.

Hmmm... Did the Senshi come across that way to you guys in the preceding battle? That wasn't really my intent. What parts made it seem that way? (I mean, aside from the actual misunderstanding parts, like attacking Beneda "without provocation", etc.)

[yakumo fujii]

How do you figure? Most of the examples I can recall off the top of my head (Nephrite, the Black Moon sisters, Nehellina, Galaxia, etc.) would seem to imply that the Senshi would be willing to forgive many different attacks on their lives the instant someone shows even a hint that they might be able to solve things without killing them... Is there another instance that I'm forgetting that suggests the opposite?

Yeah, I agree, I'd certainly expect to see some soul searching on the Senshi's part given Ryouga's sacrifice and the fact that Luna's okay.

[PCHeintz72]

Can finally get back to this.

Keep in mind, my comments are not to be confused with demands on how you write it, only as how I see the situation as it stands.

I'm still not convinced they would do so in this case.

None were direct assaults against them was against their cat. Also... said cat still holds sway in their decision making at this time, seeing as there are not yet any outers or future advisors.

Luna does *not* strike me as forgiving and forgetting, letting bygones be bygones. She lives very much in the past.

Additionally... They have never IMHO had a enemy mock and play with them like this. Snotty toward them, yes, but not mocking like this. And on top of all that is first impressions, which went dreadfully.

Finally... there is the fact that the NWC is not likely to be in a overly consilliory disposition, seeing as the senshi still managed to do all that to Ryoga at the end of a fight.

Personally, I would not care iof they have a truce, but I cannot really see a friendship forming after this joint first impression. Neither side comported themselves well.

Looking at it from the other side. They assaulted a person Ryoga was protecting. Ryoga himself IMHO could care less about his own injuries, but there is no way he will forget an assault against a girl he cares for. Look at his relationship with Ranma over Akane. Heh... just had the image of Ryoga seeing the Senshi after being healed, and yelling:

Mars... because of you, I've seen Hell, I will take away your happiness, prepare to die.

Besides... I rather liked them being completely separate and at odds with each other, even if not all out enemies, since they face a worse foe currently. If they joined forces, that would kind of to me ruin the flow of the story and take away one of the lesser used relationships in Ranma/SM crossovers.

Still look forward to more... for now.

[claymade]

None were direct assaults against them was against their cat. Also... said cat still holds sway in their decision making at this time, seeing as there are not yet any outers or future advisors.

Luna does *not* strike me as forgiving and forgetting, letting bygones be bygones. She lives very much in the past.

Additionally... They have never IMHO had a enemy mock and play with them like this. Snotty toward them, yes, but not mocking like this. And on top of all that is first impressions, which went dreadfully.

I don't know how much we could really say about Luna having that kind of an inability to forgive harm done to herself. I certainly can't think of any concrete examples of that attitude in her from the show. (Heck, she was the one who recognized that the eight great youma--who had taken part in the sack of her entire Moon Kingdom life themselves--could still be saved, which doesn't exactly bode well for having an eternally vengeance-obsessed mindset over getting thrown into an air conditioner.)

Even more fundamentally, I'm not very comfortable giving a character a glaring flaw like that on hypothetical grounds--not when it's so utterly at odds with the massive, recurring themes of her team.

I mean, when you've got enemies who've tried to kill Chibi-Usa... and an enemy who actually did kill all of Moon's Senshi... and you see the lengths that they went through to get those enemies their happy ending... and how happy they were for them afterward... then turning around and saying "oh yeah, but you temporarily knocked out my cat, and then you mocked me, so I'm never, ever going to forgive you no matter what"...

No, I just... don't think I could write it that way. That's pretty much the opposite of the character orientation I see when I watch Sailor Moon. What's the point in writing a crossover if I'm just going to stand one of the universes on its head? Even if I could come up with a good reason why it is standing on its head, what's the fun in having them clash in such an upside-down way? I want to see them clash both in their normal orientation.

Besides... I rather liked them being completely separate and at odds with each other, even if not all out enemies, since they face a worse foe currently. If they joined forces, that would kind of to me ruin the flow of the story and take away one of the lesser used relationships in Ranma/SM crossovers.

Oh, don't misunderstand--it's definitely way, way too early for things to work out between them. If I called my fic "The Dark Lords of Nerima", and yet only had them be fighting the Senshi for barely more than two chapters before it all got settled and copacetic, I'd be guilty of rather unsightly false advertising. No, there's still much, much more to come in terms of NWC vs. Senshi.

All I'm saying here is that I don't consider vengeful!unforgiving!Senshi to be among the tools I have available to me to make that necessity come to pass.

[Spokavriel]

Still waiting to see what happened with those youma who were knocked out that didn't make it to the big fight. And I really would have liked it if the chapter had continued at least far enough to see the Senshi's actions and reactions from the fight. But as you said next chapter.

[claymade]

Still waiting to see what happened with those youma who were knocked out that didn't make it to the big fight. And I really would have liked it if the chapter had continued at least far enough to see the Senshi's actions and reactions from the fight. But as you said next chapter.

Yeah, the trick is that it would have opened up a whole new can of worms. The whole next chapter is the various factions reacting to this, and the reactions play off each other a little, so splitting them up was, ultimately, not much of an option as far as I could see. Still, coming soon, hopefully. *crosses fingers*

[Sky]

Nice chapter. A bit short, though.

This story has the potential to get really, really long...have you planned out the rest of it? I can't see resolution between three factions coming easily or quickly.

[claymade]

Nice chapter.

Thanks!

A bit short, though.

Indeed. *nods*

This story has the potential to get really, really long...have you planned out the rest of it? I can't see resolution between three factions coming easily or quickly.

Oh yes, I've very definitely planned out exactly where I want the plot to go, as well as how to get there, and what pieces need to be in what position for it all to work.

[Druid]

For that alone I applaud you. Too many get bogged down writing themselves into a corner not knowing quite where they're going. I'm relieved that you know where you want to go with this.

[claymade]

For that alone I applaud you. Too many get bogged down writing themselves into a corner not knowing quite where they're going. I'm relieved that you know where you want to go with this.

Well, I hear that "discovery writing" does work for some people... but I'm not at all one of them. I gotta have an outline before I'm of much use. Especially in a plot like this, there's so much potential for the situation to just stagnate, to get into a rut. I couldn't have started this without first knowing how I would keep things moving, push things to an actual climax, while keeping things escalating as they went.

Plus, it's necessary for all the foreshadowing...

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

Well, I hear that "discovery writing" does work for some people... but I'm not at all one of them. I gotta have an outline before I'm of much use. Especially in a plot like this, there's so much potential for the situation to just stagnate, to get into a rut. I couldn't have started this without first knowing how I would keep things moving, push things to an actual climax, while keeping things escalating as they went.

I use a mix. I know the high points and the end points. I hand the itinerary to the characters, then let them find their way. Sometimes that means surprises - I never expected Kuno Tatewaki and Tendo Kasumi to start courting - but it gives the story enough structure that it remains a story, instead of becoming a mere chain of incidents.