Spoiled Brats - Chapter 18

[DarkFyre99]

Spoiled Brats

Disclaimer: Aw, forget it… you guys should know this by now.

Chapter Eighteen – You’re Who?

Sailor V and the Dragon Knight effortlessly ran across the rooftops, leaping across alleys and streets below, heading off to some destination only they knew about. Behind them, unnoticed, a small figure pursued. It attempted to jump across the same street the couple had crossed before, but fell short. The unfortunate roofhopper scrabbled at the side of the building, managing to climb to the roof rather than plummeting ten stories to the street below.

The purple stuffed toy cat named Luna puffed as she regained her strength, and her nerve, from the near disastrous pursuit of the mysterious Sailor V. “Sailor… V… are you… our Princess?” She looked around the nearby rooftops, vainly trying to spot the couple she had been trying to follow. “And that man… could it be that Endymion is already at your side?” The plush toy shook her head. “This is not good. Not good at all.”

- + - + -

Ranma grinned maniacally as he braved another long jump with Minako. “Sailor V… though it was only a short time, I really missed this.”

“There is a kind of freedom in traveling like this.” She glanced sidelong at the man beside her. “I keep forgetting you don’t have to transform to do this, either.”

“You have the potential to do this as well, Sailor V. All you need is the proper training.”

“Well, now that your Doc said that you’ve recovered, we should probably find some time for proper training.” Minako grinned at the masked man beside her. “Speaking of training, are ready for your big introduction to the rest of the Senshi tomorrow?”

Ranma chuckled evilly. “Oh, yeah.”

“I wish I could be there to see…” The girl landed heavily, dropping to her hands and knees.

Ranma skidded to a halt, and then rushed to Minako’s side. “Sailor V… are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just got a little light headed for a moment.” She carefully stood up, aided by an anxious Ranma. “No… really, I’m fine. It’ll pass.” She sat down on a convenient bit of ducting.

“We should get you to Doc’s.”

“I’m fine, Knight-sama. I know exactly what’s wrong, and we already know that there isn’t anything he can do about it.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t…” At a glare from Minako, Ranma hurriedly amended the end of his suggestion. “…Go out on patrol without me anymore. The last thing you need is to get one these spells in the middle of a fight”

The blonde haired girl grimaced. “I suppose you’re right.”

“How often do you get these things, anyways?”

“Last one was three months ago. They’re going to get more frequent, and worse … I think I sense a youma.” Seeing Ranma’s hesitation, Minako said insistently, “Go! I’ll be fine here.”

- + - + -

Jadeite watched as his youma chased down the man. The animalistic creature was very basic, incapable of autonomous action, but it was very good at chasing down prey and draining them of energy. It didn’t kill them of course, but the drain would wipe their memories of the last few minutes. They didn’t want to panic the humans too much with random bodies, after all.

‘I should be the one searching for the Ginzuishou, not Nephrite,’ Jadeite thought fiercely. ‘That fool is ill suited for something requiring patience and…’ His thoughts were interrupted when a cloaked man landed feet first onto the back of his youma. The man drove a sword straight through its skull, twisting the blade contemptuously. ‘Is that Tuxedo Kamen? No, it’s someone new.’ Jadeite met the golden masked figure’s eyes for a brief second, before deciding that discretion was the better part of valor. He vanished into a shimmer of the air.

- + - + -

Ignoring the rescued man’s profuse thanks, Ranma stared into the space that Jadeite occupied only moments before. Eventually, Ranma nodded to the man, before heading back to the rooftops with a series of leaps.

Not too far away, he found Minako waiting for him. The blonde girl asked, “Finished so soon?”

“Yes. Our informant was quite correct about Jadeite’s activities. The youma was a joke, and he ran as soon as it was killed. You okay?”

“Hai. Fully back to normal.”

“Good. Let’s go home. I doubt there’ll be another youma attack tonight.”

As the pair began to roofhop back in the general direction of their apartment, Minako said, “I’ve been thinking…”

“Yes?”

“I had an idea that I want to run by you…”

- + - + -

“Sailor V… you are a cruel, cruel woman.”

“You don’t think it’s a good idea?”

“No, it’s a great idea. I love it. I’ll need to find some way of contacting Zoisite, though, in order to pull it off.”

The two paused on a rooftop overlooking Prince Arisagawa Park, looked at each other, and then began cackling evilly. When they regained their composure, Ranma embraced the blonde girl and teleported them back into their apartment.

Much to Ranma’s alarm, Minako all but collapsed when she detransformed, and she irritably objected to Ranma’s attempts to help her into bed. ‘I can’t blame her for being out of sorts,’ Ranma thought as she prepared what she needed for tomorrow, including Minako’s breakfast and lunch. ‘What just happened scared me, and I’m not the one who’ll die if we can’t awaken the princess and find the Ginzuishou.’

Ranma slipped into Minako’s bedroom, watching the girl sleep. She gently brushed a brunette lock away from the girl’s face, before planting a kiss on her forehead. ‘Well, Minako-chan, it’s time to get this party started. Good night.’ The black haired woman quietly turned the girl’s alarm off, before teleporting several blocks away. From there, she roof hopped towards Crown Karaoke.

She easily broke into the karaoke parlor, and once again found herself staring at the blank section of wall she knew held the entrance to the lair of the other Senshi. She raised her hand, allowing her energy to permeate the wall before her. Following Artemis’ advice, she sent little bursts of energy into the wall, probing for the trigger. For a brief moment, the hidden door appeared. She probed again, finding and holding the trigger as the door appeared. With a smile, she opened the door and walked inside. Behind her, the door closed and vanished once again.

Inside, Ranma stared in equal parts amazement and exasperation. ‘Is this a headquarters or a clubhouse?’ She started walking down the stairs, taking in the sights. In the center of the room was a table with five colored chairs: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Pink. At the far end of the room was a stage with an ornate karaoke machine. At the foot of the stairs were pictures of the girls, both individual and group shots. Half of the group shots were just of Tsukino Usagi and Mizuno Ami, while the other half included a somewhat uncomfortable looking Hino Rei. Ranma shook her head at the snack bar, which held a wide variety of candy and other sugary snacks.

‘Well, let’s see if it’s shielded against teleporting in and out.’ In a shimmer of air, Ranma teleported to the roof of Crown Karaoke. A moment later, and Ranma appeared back into the hidden room. ‘Whew. I need to watch how often I teleport. I don’t need to overdo it so soon.’

She exited the girls’ secret room, checking one more time that she could access the room at will, and then broke out of the Crown as well. She roofhopped towards their apartment, teleporting back into her bedroom.

She was out like a light soon afterwards.

- + - + -

“Aaaah! I forgot to set my alarm! I’m really late!”

Ranma smiled as Minako rushed out of her room, half dressed. “Don’t worry, Minako-chan. I called the school and let them know you’d be late. I figured you could use the rest.” Ranma paused as he set out the girl’s breakfast. “You did tell them about your condition, didn’t you?”

A subdued Minako took her seat. “Hai. I wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.”

Ranma shrugged as he took his seat. “It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to break in, and I also found out I can teleport straight in. I’m going to do some research, pick Artemis’ brain for a bit, before waiting for the girls in their lair. They quite frequently meet there after school.”

The two ate in silence, each planning out their day. When Minako finished, she stood, saying, “Good luck, Ranma.” After a quick peck on his lips, she winked, saying, “Have fun stalking young school girls. I’m off.”

“Take it easy today, Minako!”

“Hai.”

“Now, Artemis?”

The stuffed toy cat peeked around the laptop he was using. “Yes, Ranma?”

“How much do you know about the female fashions of the Earth Kingdom Court?”

- + - + -

Two hours before Juuban Junior High was to get out, Ranma appeared in the hidden karaoke booth. It didn’t take long to prepare a few minor concealment glamours around her and the reclining lawn chair she’d brought. As she waited, she rearranged the chairs a bit, sorted the photos, moved the karaoke machine to the other side of the stage, and whimsically placed a fruit basket in the middle of the girls’ table, complete with a big red bow. Then she sat down on her chair

The girls were surprisingly punctual. And they had a surprise for Ranma. A fourth girl was with them, a tall girl with a pony tail, who took one look at the room and whispered, “Amazing.”

Usagi pulled on the girl’s arm. “Come on, Mako-chan. It’s a lot cooler down there. We even have karaoke! You will sing, won’t you, Mako-chan?” Hino Rei rolled her eyes at the other girl as she grabbed an apple from the basket and took a bite.

“Alright, Usagi-chan.” The taller girl let the other girl lead her down the stairs. Not one of them noticed Ranma watching, a bit puzzled.

‘Interesting… we seem to have acquired an extra Senshi. Let’s see, we have: Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars… and it seems the newest girl is Jupiter, thank you Luna,’ Ranma thought as Artemis’ purple counterpart tried, unsuccessfully, to get Usagi’s attention. The girl was trying to get the newest Senshi to sing. ‘That must mean… USAGI is the princess?’ Ranma’s surprise almost overloaded the weak suggestion not to look too closely by the stairs. ‘And if our hypothesis that the prince would seek out the princess, then Tux-boy would be my Master.’ Ranma noticed that Rei kept on glancing around the room. ‘She, at least, can sense something is off.’ The girl, ignoring the duet on stage, was looking around the room, a frown developing her face.

Ranma could tell the exact moment that the miko shook off the suggestion not to pay attention to Ranma’s corner of the room. Ranma frowned as she stopped her stopwatch. “Six minutes, seventeen seconds,” she said, standing up. “Pathetic.” The other three girls were gaping at her in shock. It was all Ranma could do not to grin like a maniac. “Wretched beyond belief, in fact. If I had been an enemy, I could’ve done anything I wanted to you by now.”

She slowly shook her head. “I left any number of clues that someone besides yourselves had been in this room,” Ranma said, looking at Rei. “Starting with the basket of strange fruit.” The auburn haired schoolgirl hurriedly set down the half eaten apple. Ranma smirked at the girl. “Don’t waste food, dear.”

Ranma walked slowly forward. “Now, it is my duty to prepare you girls to fulfill your duties, and I can see I have my work cut out for me. The biggest problem I see is also the easiest one to fix. You all have code names for a reason. It’s time to start using them. Do any of you have a clue about what the enemy could do if they learned of your true identities?

“You!” Ranma stabbed a finger at the longhaired girl with glasses, who blinked in surprise. “You are Mizuno Ami. You attend the Alto Seminar in the evenings. Your mother is Mizuno Saeko, who works at Juuban General Hospital. How would you feel if she was possessed by a youma on the way home from work, in order to strike at you?”

As Mizuno paled in horror, Ranma stabbed a finger at the probable princess. “You!” The girl yelped, already scared. “You are Tsukino Usagi. You have a younger brother, who is pretty much the only reason why you’re not late for school more often. Do you think the Dark Kingdom will care if he’s with you when they attack?” Ranma tried not to take satisfaction when the girl’s eyes began tearing up.

Ranma moved on to the next Senshi. “You!” Ranma was rather pleased to see the miko’s eyes narrowed in challenge. ‘Don’t think you have a weak spot, do you little priestess?’ “You are Hino Rei, a miko at Hikawa Shrine. Your Christian mother died three years ago, and rests at the cemetery at St. Theresa’s Church. Do you really think Beryl wouldn’t stoop to disturbing her rest to get at you?” Seeing the girl’s stricken expression, Ranma felt a twinge of regret for that low blow.

“And you!” Ranma pointed a finger at the new girl, who jumped in surprise. “You’re new, so welcome to the team.” Once the girl relaxed, Ranma stabbed her finger at the girl again. “You are Kino Makoto. You recently transferred to Juuban Junior High. You regularly eat your lunch on the roof with Mizuno Ami. And your lunches look very yummy and cute!” Makoto dropped to her knees in shock. “And don’t think I couldn’t find out more about you if I had time.”

Positive that she had their undivided attention, Ranma marched to the foot of the stairs. “Now, you four will be joining me the weekend after the next, so that I can determine EXACTLY what I have to work with.”

Rei was the first to find her voice. “Just who do you think you are?”

“Me? I’m the unfortunate soul that’s going to have to turn you girls into a team that can do more than slow the Dark Kingdom down. I’m the one who’s going to take the raw potential I see before me, and turn you into true Senshi. My name is Tomoe Hotaru…”

Ranma raised her hand, shouting, “Saturn Power, Make Up!”

There was a flash of light, and four pairs of eyes stared in shock at the transformed Ranma. Her long braided black hair, looped at the back in order to help distinguish herself from her Megumi persona, had been replaced by shorter dark purple hair, which framed her face. Contacts changed her eyes from blue to a lighter shade of purple. The skirt and collar of her Sailor fuku were dark blue, and the bows on her chest and the small of her back were dark red. Knee length laced boots adorned her feet. But what really got the girls’ attention was the impressive pole arm that Mousse had given her.

“I am the Soldier of Destruction, Sailor Saturn.” Ranma smiled coldly. “And that is the only speech you will probably hear me make.”

[Sailor Sedai (Ellf)]

Nice. The Outers weren't originally in PGSM, right? So it's nice to see Saturn brought in, even if she's only a disguise.

Now my question is: Is it possible that Ranma is both Kunzite and Saturn, (and by Saturn, I mean the real Sailor Saturn with no other Saturn to draw on that power)?

[PCHeintz72]

Here are some comments, take them for what you will.

“I am the Soldier of Destruction, Sailor Saturn.” Ranma smiled coldly. “And that is the only speech you will probably hear me make.”

This line has forced me to comment on something that has been bugging me.

Considering this is based off the live series, this has been a pretty good story and I enjoyed most of it. One aspect has been bugging me for some time now though, and it finally hit a threshold here.

Ranma has too many personalities/personas, and even has fun making them...

It was interesting at first, but now it has become almost tedius... especially since I don't feel it is needed.

Why lie to them, simply come out, lay down the truth, and state what needs to be done to save the world and Minako... (I maybe would have tracked tux down first and made him live in a hurt locker for awhile for his idiocy and past crimes, but oh well) and if they don't help, they are enemies. Only secrets I would not have told is Minakos civilan ID, and keep his own real name(s), simply due to the fact if he told now, he would show he is no smarter than them and would level the playing field.

Another minor item, why would Ranma, who already knows Usagi is Moon, and has known for quite some time that fact, suddenly now knows she is the princess.

By doing all this, he has proved he is more manipulative, and even possibly evil and dark in nature, than either the scouts or Beryl. Man, love really is the ultimate corrupter of souls.

Despite the above, I still am interested in what you release next, I guess I'll see in a day or so.

EDIT: I also would have made it a point of telling them of Beryls location. Sending them after each other earlier might be just the ticket to end this early. Serve as a good distraction to him to attmept to track the crystal himself too. Without Mamaru of course.

[Makoto]

Well, you never know... there could be an homage to Destiny's Child hidden within the story, and Ranma could actually well be Kunzite and Sailor Saturn, reincarnated together in one person.


...or ALL those people reincarnated in one person.

(runs far, runs fast... ^_^;; )

[khim]

Well, you never know... there could be an homage to Destiny's Child hidden within the story, and Ranma could actually well be Kunzite and Sailor Saturn, reincarnated together in one person.

...or ALL those people reincarnated in one person.

Does not look like this: odd personalities are already gone. If all persons were reincarnated as one then we'd still had these three somewhere out there. It'll be more like Insertion then Destiny's Child...

[Dumbledork]

I don't think Ranma's Sailor Saturn. I'm pretty sure it's just a disguise. But I love this chapter once again.

[StarEyed]

Another minor item, why would Ranma, who already knows Usagi is Moon, and has known for quite some time that fact, suddenly now knows she is the princess.

I think its a case of he knew that there were four Senshi in the past. Now with Jupiter having been revealed they have five Senshi in the present.

Most logical answer = one of them's the princess in disguise.

Sailor Mooon to Moon Princess isn't too big a leap, especially since she's the odd one out, the rest being named after planets.

[Makoto]

Does not look like this: odd personalities are already gone. If all persons were reincarnated as one then we'd still had these three somewhere out there. It'll be more like Insertion then Destiny's Child...

C'mon, that was a joke. Ranma's got enough problems with more than one 'self' as it is.

...though, I have to agree with PCHeintz72, in that I'm not sure, offhand, why all the 'disguises' are necessary. On the other hand, I do like the thought of this Ranma's usurping the role of Saturn.

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

Ranma has too many personalities/personas, and even has fun making them...

It was interesting at first, but now it has become almost tedius... especially since I don't feel it is needed.

Why lie to them, simply come out, lay down the truth, and state what needs to be done to save the world and Minako...

Actually, that's pretty true to Ranma's personality. He is secretive, and deceitful. What he does to Ryoga on numerous occasions shows that, and he rarely shares his inner being with anyone, leading to the assumption he doesn't have dreams or aspirtations of his own. I've actually enjoyed Ranma playing his various gambits.

That said, this could all too easily blow up in his face (a la DS9: In the Pale Moonlight) with all his cat's paws turning on him at some critical point, or even all combining forces against him.

(Evil Bastard-author Alert: I'd do it once he got the crystal and Minako accuses him of using her and her illness to manipulate her and her friends to help him get the crystal, and thus refuses treatment from him, so she dies of her condition anyway. Sacrifices must be made.)

Of course a Ranma-trained Darkury could probably strike at Tofu and Kasumi rather easily (in both power and inclination). And the less said about a Ranma-trained Princess the better.

Or they could simply not trust him at a critical moment, leaving him in the lurch.

(I maybe would have tracked tux down first and made him live in a hurt locker for awhile for his idiocy and past crimes, but oh well) and if they don't help, they are enemies. Only secrets I would not have told is Minakos civilan ID, and keep his own real name(s), simply due to the fact if he told now, he would show he is no smarter than them and would level the playing field.

I do wonder if Ranma has briefed Minako on security, she could easily spill the beans about the wrong thing and you'd have a senshi-civil war (who who trust Venus/Saturn and those who don't).

Another minor item, why would Ranma, who already knows Usagi is Moon, and has known for quite some time that fact, suddenly now knows she is the princess.

The ditz is the leader and has Luna as advisor. For someone who knew them before, it's not so great a leap of logic.

By doing all this, he has proved he is more manipulative, and even possibly evil and dark in nature, than either the scouts or Beryl. Man, love really is the ultimate corrupter of souls.

Agreed. Of course considering he's trying to save the entire planet from destruction, so leeway for 'The End Justifies the Means' can be accepted. I just wish and hope that someone would call him on it. Kasumi and Tofu don't seem to know how deep-down rotten he is being with these girls. But Ranma always has been charming and manipulative, glad to see those traits brought to full fruition.

[DarkFyre99]

Considering this is based off the live series, this has been a pretty good story and I enjoyed most of it. One aspect has been bugging me for some time now though, and it finally hit a threshold here.

Ranma has too many personalities/personas, and even has fun making them...

It was interesting at first, but now it has become almost tedius... especially since I don't feel it is needed.

Why lie to them, simply come out, lay down the truth, and state what needs to be done to save the world and Minako... (I maybe would have tracked tux down first and made him live in a hurt locker for awhile for his idiocy and past crimes, but oh well) and if they don't help, they are enemies. Only secrets I would not have told is Minakos civilan ID, and keep his own real name(s), simply due to the fact if he told now, he would show he is no smarter than them and would level the playing field.

You're absolutely correct. The personas are not necessary, and it would be both easier and less dangerous if he had gone with the truth with the rest of the Senshi.

There are several reasons for why Ranma chose this route.

The first, and largest, reason is that Ranma is used to living a lie. He's been living a lie for ten years, and it has become habit. Despite the fact that he's seen several times that honesty truly is the best policy, his first instinct is to lie to people.

The second reason is that Ranma is still remains convinced that he, and he alone, is the one who can fix this. Again, this is despite experience to the contrary.

The third reason is that Ranma is indeed having too much fun with this. He truly enjoys acting, and sees manipulating the three directly responsible for the destruction in the past as his greatest role.

There is another reason... it just wouldn't be Ranma if he didn't have something blow up in his face.

EDIT: I also would have made it a point of telling them of Beryls location. Sending them after each other earlier might be just the ticket to end this early. Serve as a good distraction to him to attmept to track the crystal himself too. Without Mamaru of course.

There are several reasons why Ranma isn't trying the direct approach.

The first is that killing any of the three principles would not fix the problem, only delay it. There might be peace in this lifetime, but in the next lifetime he might not be awake before the others. And he doesn't understand, at this time, what the problem was in the first place, just who was responsible, and that there is a very good reason why the Princess was supposed to keep off the Earth, even if he doesn't remember what it was.

The second is that the as long as Beryl remains beside Metaria (she never leaves, after all), she's pretty much untouchable as they are now. If they're going to try a direct confrontation, they need Beryl away from Metaria, where she's more vulnerable. And to do that, they need to deprive Beryl of the Shitennou.

------------------------

To Mike Koos: Destiny's Child is one of my favorite stories, the second Ranma/Sailor Moon crossover I read, I believe, so it probably did skew my decision to go with Saturn, rather than Pluto, as Ranma's feux Senshi identity.

[khim]

To Mike Koos: Destiny's Child is one of my favorite stories, the second Ranma/Sailor Moon crossover I read, I believe, so it probably did skew my decision to go with Saturn, rather than Pluto, as Ranma's feux Senshi identity.

Hey, hey, hey. If it's feux Senshi then what Tomoe Hotaru name does there? Do you plan to remove "real" Sailor Saturn from your fic??? I mean: Artemis can coach Ranma to play Sailor Saturn - not a big deal. But how the hell can he invent Tomoe Hotaru? And where is REAL Tomoe Hotaru then?

[DarkFyre99]

[Hey, hey, hey. If it's feux Senshi then what Tomoe Hotaru name does there? Do you plan to remove "real" Sailor Saturn from your fic??? I mean: Artemis can coach Ranma to play Sailor Saturn - not a big deal. But how the hell can he invent Tomoe Hotaru? And where is REAL Tomoe Hotaru then?

PGSM is a retelling of Takeuchi Naoko's original Sailor Moon story, which IIRC, was intended to end with the Dark Kingdom arc. The other Sailor Senshi (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) were later additions when the franchise proved popular, and she continued the manga (as well as the anime).

In addition, the ending of the series, and the very different nature of the Ginzuishou, pretty much precludes the idea that the Outer Senshi ever existed in PGSM's continuity, at least in my opinion.

So I figured that if a) Sailor Saturn doesn't exist in this continuity; b) Ranma was going to adopt a Sailor Senshi identity to interact with Moon and the others; c) said identity was going to be Sailor Saturn; then why not use Hotaru's name as an alias for her "civilian" identity. It's a nod to the manga and anime.

[Sailor Sedai (Ellf)]

Hey, hey, hey. If it's feux Senshi then what Tomoe Hotaru name does there? Do you plan to remove "real" Sailor Saturn from your fic??? I mean: Artemis can coach Ranma to play Sailor Saturn - not a big deal. But how the hell can he invent Tomoe Hotaru? And where is REAL Tomoe Hotaru then?

In PGSM there are no outers. Period. This is based off the live action series. Thus Minako as an idol singer, and the moon cats as plush dolls.