[FFML] [fic][YST/SM]Ronin Summer: Convergence 5

[Morgan Hudson]

Well, I have a funny story about this one.

Not really funny, so much as "the list ate my last chapter, and I decided
that was for the best". I was not entirely satisfied with my first take on
Chapter 5, and when the FFML decided to have it for a snack instead of post
it, I took that as a sign and went back to the drawing board. I cut out
pretty much the entire original ending and re-wrote it in a way I happen to
like much better. Also, all of the scenes with Touma and Makoto were added
fresh because I was feeling bad about leaving them hanging for a whole
chapter.

Anyway, as always I hope that some of you kind souls will find it in your
hearts to send me some more C&C. Judging from my Inbox, there's some stuff
here I haven't gotten to yet, so I just want to let everybody who has
written me in the past week or so that I *will* be getting back to all of
you. I was just so busy reworking this chapter that I haven't had a chance
to catch up, yet. Mea culpa; will fix. ^_~

Anyway, on with the fic! I hope you all enjoy!



-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: Convergence5.txt

REVAMPED LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Whatever else may have changed in this story
of mine, trust me - the Sailor Senshi still belong to Kodansha and
Cloverway, and the Samurai Troopers are the legal property of Sunrise and
Bandai Entertainment. So are all of their related friends and associates.
I am only borrowing them for a few chapters, and I intend no harm. So
let's all remind ourselves that it's just a fanfiction and we really
should relax...

CONTINUITY NOTE: This story takes place roughly between the "SuperS"
and "Stars" seasons of Sailor Moon (after the Dead Moon Circus, but
before Sailor Galaxia). For the Troopers, this is between the "Gaiden"
and "Kikoutei Densetsu" OAVs (after their trip to New York, but before
their trip to Africa).


RONIN SUMMER: CONVERGENCE

A Bishoujou Senshi Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over

by Morgan Hudson

"Convergence (n) - the approach of an infinite series to a finite limit."


Chapter 5: The Ghosts That Haunt Me

Once, long ago, the entire earth realm had been united under the
banner of the great King Hyperion. His people had called him the Golden
Emperor, and his dominion had stretched from one horizon to the other.
Concerned with the welfare of his people, he marched his armies even into
their dreams, and quelled the various beings he found in that strange
land. In power and in stature he was second only to the graceful Queen
Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, to whom he had grudgingly given his
allegiance long ago. A bold and honourable warrior, even in his advanced
years, Hyperion had abided by the conditions of his truce with Queen
Serenity, and spread his borders in the mortal realm no further than the
reaches of his own planet. From the realm of sleep, however, he stumbled
upon a world of turbulent nightmares that posed a threat to his people
in both the realm of the waking and the lands of the dreaming. This, he
had decided, would not do. Leaving the mysterious 'Metallia' and her
people alone never crossed his mind.

The Golden Emperor decreed, and his three sons moved to make his
word law. Queen Metallia and all of the peoples of her land were to become
the mortal enemies of mankind. Had he been stronger, King Hyperion would
have led the advance himself, but in his weakened state it had fallen to
his son Prince Orcus, the regent of the dreamlands, to carry his banner
into this twisted Dark Kingdom. The armies of the dreaming had clashed
for ages with the evil minions of Metallia and her realm of nightmares,
battle heaping on top of battle with no sign of ending. Queen Serenity
had listened patiently to Hyperion's request for assistance, but quietly
refused to send her Sailor Senshi, or any of the troops of the other
planets, to aid Prince Orcus and his forces. Why should they attack
Metallia, Serenity had asked, when she had done nothing to provoke it?
Surely there had to be a more peaceful way. After all, it had been Orcus
and Hyperion who had begun the assault. Metallia could not be blamed for
defending herself. Escalating the conflict was out of the question.

Hyperion had politely disagreed. At his command, Prince Endymion
and the armies of the Earth were dispatched to aid their comrades in the
land of dreams. Prince Orcus and Prince Endymion had based their armies
in a gleaming ruby palace that they had dubbed the Crimson Nadir, for
surely it had seemed to be the lowest point that the armies of Man had
ever reached. From that stronghold, the newly strengthened armies had
begun a steady advance in all directions against the bulwark of youma that
besieged them on all sides. In the west, a brilliant tactician named
Kunzite outmanuevered and overwhelmed his monstrous foes despite their
numerical advantage. In the north, the deadly and genteel Zoicite faced
and defeated a swath of enemy commanders in duel after duel, always
victorious no matter what the odds against him. The power of the stars
had led Nephrite to victory in the south, with his lightning raids and
demoralizing attacks timed to perfectly coincide with his opponents'
least auspicious moments. The east had been the domain of Jadeite, the
youngest and least experienced of Endymion's centurions.

Jadeite remembered the Crimson Nadir very well, which was part of
why it sickened him to see that the once glorious fortress had fallen into
such disrepair. The crystal walls had been allowed to grow unchecked,
turning the once smooth and gleaming corridors twisted and craggy, their
once rich luster tarnished and darkened with the countless impurities
that now filled each facet of formerly pure ruby. The marbled floor was
buried under millenia of filth, making it seem as though there was nothing
more than a thick layer of sod to walk on. The trophies and monuments to
Endymion and Orcus had been shattered or carted away long ago: good
riddance, in his opinion. It still sickened him to remember how he used
to faun over those so-called 'nobles' back in the old days.

"Can it be?" A female youma stepped into the corridor, her dark
almond eyes widening slightly as she stared at him. "Jadeite? Is that
really you?"

Jadeite raised an eyebrow as he tried to remember who was speaking
to him. She was attractive, in an exotic fashion: her skin was coral pink,
and she wore her chestnut hair in a thick bob that accentuated the length
of her neck. The youma was dressed -if he could call it that- in a red
swimsuit that showed off far more of her body than Jadeite was comfortable
with, and exaggerated white dress cuffs adorned her wrists. A golden pair
of wings fluttered nervously on her forehead as she waited for him to
respond. He frowned. Golden wings? Ah, of course!

"Quartzie," he said, smiling in recognition. "Long time, no see.
Tell me, how are the rest of the Doom and Gloom Girls?"

"Ready for a rematch, if you'll be leading us," Quartzie said
exuberantly. "Shale's going to be so excited when I tell her that you've
returned! You'll see, Jadeite - this time, those Sailor Senshi won't come
back from what we do to them!"

"I'm glad to hear it," Jadeite replied, his grin growing slightly
warmer. "I take it that the rest of the girls are somewhere nearby, then?"

Quartzie nodded vigourously, her hands clasped shyly behind her
back. "Radanthus sent word to Shale weeks ago that he wanted us to lend
him a hand against the Sailor Senshi. Shale was saying that she thought
Radanthus was an overblown windbag, but if YOU'RE back, well, I'm just
sure she'll change her mind! We'll do anything for you, Jadeite!"

"Will you, now?" Jadeite stoked his chin thoughtfully. "Walk with
me, Quartzie. I'm on my way to speak to Radanthus, and you are more than
welcome to come along. Tell Shale that I would be honoured to have the
Doom and Gloom Girls in my entourage."

Further up the corridor, the dark priest Badamon turned back to
see what the delay was and gestured furiously for Jadeite to follow him.
Jadeite scowled in the priest's direction and flicked his fingers
imperiously at the tattered old freak. Radanthus and Badamon could both
wait, as far as Jadeite was concerned. Vapid and annoying as Quartzie
might be, the rest of the Doom and Gloom Girls would be powerful allies.
Since Tethys died, he had been looking for someone reliable to do his
heavy lifting.

"Lord Jadeite," Badamon wheezed, "I must insist-"

"Keep insisting, you withered old corpse, and I'll turn you to
vapour," Jadeite growled. "The young lady and I are talking. Your master
will need to wait until we are done."

"But, Lord Jadeite-"

"Come to think of it," Jadeite said to Quartzie, ignoring Badamon
completely, "why don't I just go with you and speak to Shale myself right
now? I'm sure she would appreciate it, and I'm not really doing anything
important at the moment. Shall we?"

Badamon ground his teeth together with frustration and watched as
Jadeite wandered off with the female youma. On the one hand, Radanthus
had wanted Jadeite in his ranks for exactly this reason: many youma who
would otherwise resist helping him would be swayed when they learned that
they would be working with Jadeite again. On the other hand, Badamon was
less than happy to see that he had found yet another self-important fool
who thought that he could be ordered around like a common servant. It was
important that Jadeite learn to play along very quickly. The last thing
Badamon wanted was for a third party to start muddying the waters and
messing up his own backstabbing.

"Nise Suiko," Badamon hissed, his voice rasping through the
darkness that enveloped him. Like a wraith, the crimson armoured youma
appeared out of the shadows and gave him a questioning look. Badamon
pointed in the direction of the retreating Jadeite and his consort.

"Follow them, Nise Suiko. We don't want Jadeite getting any of the
wrong ideas about who is running things, here. If he wishes to oppose
Radanthus, then he is welcome to join us. If he does not wish to join
us, well..." Badamon shrugged eloquently. "Accidents do have a way of
happening around you, don't they? Make sure one happens to him."

Nise Suiko gripped his trident firmly and twisted his wrist. The
two heavy outer blades snapped shut like a pair of scissors, then opened
again with the sound of metal sliding on metal. Looking down at his
master, the monster in the crimson armour nodded his understanding. His
ivory facemask was as expressionless as ever, but a gleeful crimson
light sparkled behind his visor where his eyes should be.

**********

"The problem with Nise Suiko is that he could be anywhere," Shin
Mouri clarified, lacing his fingers in front of him and gathering the
rest of the small group with his steady gaze. The table in front of him
was littered with charts and maps of the nearby waters, covered in his own
carefully pencilled notes and measurements.

"The problem with Nise Suiko is that you never shut up about
him," Ryo Sanada groaned from where he lay on a nearby sofa with his
arm draped over his eyes. "We get it, okay? You've got an evil twin. You
don't need to go rubbing it in all the time."

"What's his problem?" Shin asked Shuu Rei Fuan, who shrugged in
response and swallowed the mouthful of sandwich he had been working on.

"I'm guessing he's got evil twin envy," Shuu suggested. "You know
Ryo's always wanted one. They're like the ultimate sign of heroism. Nobody
takes a guy seriously as a hero unless he's got an evil twin."

"I don't have evil twin envy!" Ryo objected, sitting up on the
couch and glaring spitefully at Shuu. "I'm just saying that we've been
doing this for almost two days, now, and we're going in a bunch of damned
circles! Forget about Nise Suiko - let's just hit the streets, find some
youma, and pound some answers out of them!"

"That actually passes for a plan in your head, doesn't it?" Shin
asked, shaking his head sadly. Unlike his agitated friend, who was
practically crackling with energy as usual, Shin was as calm and serene
as a mountain lake at sunset. He had been very patiently and methodically
going through every sea chart he could find for the entire coast of Japan
for the past day without so much as a nervous twitch. He knew how Nise
Suiko worked: deep down inside, his doppelganger would want to be found.
All he needed to do was figure out where Nise Suiko would go in order to
both avoid detection by people like Ryo, and still ensure that Shin
himself would be able to track him down.

"Look, I'm sorry if I don't find watching you do geometry to be
utterly fascinating," Ryo said, rolling off of the couch and onto his
feet, "but if I have to count these ceiling tiles one more time I am going
to freak out. I'm getting out of here, okay? If you guys need me, I'll
probably be at the Hotel Yokohama Garden."

"Ooh," Shuu cooed, "going to go check out the Sailor Senshi?"

"I think you meant 'check up on' the Sailor Senshi, Shuu." Ryo
grabbed his favorite white shirt and yanked it on over top of the purple
undershirt he was already wearing. Ruffling his tousled raven hair with
one hand, the boy quickly grabbed a pair of scuffed Converse sneakers with
neon green laces out from all of the other shoes lined up by the door and
began to pull them on.

Shuu blinked and scratched his head. "Nope, I'm pretty sure I got
that right the first time, Ryo."

"Oh." Ryo thought about for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, either
way, that's where I'm going to be. Catch you two losers later. Ja ne!"

The door slammed, and Shuu set down his sandwich. Taking a long
drink from his juice can, he wiped his lips on the back of his sleeve and
looked over at Shin.

"So," he said. "Ryo's going to go hang out with the Senshi."

"Sounds that way," Shin agreed, picking up a compass and tracing
yet another circle on one of the maps in front of him. "Do you suppose
he's actually figured out that one of those lovely lasses has the hots for
him yet?"

"What, our fearless leader?" Shuu snorted derisively. "Not even if
she fell on his head, man. You know I love that guy, but when it comes to
girls, he is just plain stupid. The only way he's getting anywhere with
anybody is by accident. Remember what a dweeb he made out of himself that
time in New York?"

"Oh, no," Shin said, suddenly bolting to his feet and casting a
worried glance at the door. "My God, Shuu - it's today, isn't it? Today
is the day that Luna...."

"What?" Shuu glanced over at the calender and his mouth fell open
in astonishment. "Oh, man! No way we could forget something that important
to him! Ryo, he must think.... Why didn't he SAY something?"

**********

The Castle of Eternal Regret was a place where hopes and dreams
came to die. Toshitada Koma understood it better than most; perhaps even
better than those who actually dwelled within its dark and unhallowed
lands. He had never walked this particular realm before, as it was not
one that anybody came to when they had a choice in the matter. His
knowledge was largely second-hand, gleaned from the few tomes and scrolls
he had found on the matter and several long and involved conversations
with his elders. Being over five hundred and sixty years old himself,
Toshitada had an abiding respect for anyone ancient and venerated enough
to be considered his elder. If they deigned to speak, he was honoured to
listen. It was an attitude which had gotten him a lot of much-needed
information on any number of interesting topics.

Pausing in his journey, the monk lifted a gourd to his lips and
took a sip of the nectar within. Eating or drinking anything within this
world was not a good idea: like any spirit realm, it would entrap any who
partook too deeply of its bounty. He had been careful to stop by a safer
place on his way and pick up some scant supplies for the people he had
come to rescue. What he had not counted on was the fact that he would
find himself needing sustenance, too.

That was strange, as Toshitada Koma was still only just becoming
used to the idea of being a ghost. As one of the dead, he should be immune
to the weaknesses of the flesh, and yet he found in this place that even
he was wilting under the blazing heat of the sun, his stomach growling
for food and his throat aching for water. Tilting his wide straw hat back
on his head, he drew his sleeve across his brow and squinted up at the
giant sun burning in the crimson sky above him. The plain they traversed
was barren and lifeless, filled with nothing but craggy boulders layered
atop each other and compressed until only a cracked, rugged field of
stone remained.

A winged lizard circled in the sky above them, croaking and
rattling with each flap of its veined wings. Toshitada groaned and
removed his hat, his long mane of scarlet hair tumbling freely over his
shoulders and stirring limply in the breeze. Returning the gourd to its
place at his hip amongst its brethren, the monk looked over his shoulder
and checked on Touma Hashiba.

The young samurai had seen better days, and they had been far
away from this place. Touma had always been slim, but after just a short
time in this realm, he was rapidly approaching 'gaunt'. Dark shadows
hung beneath his eyes, and his usually pale skin was caked with dust
and beginning to burn in the sun. His pale green shirt hung loosely around
his frame, the entire left sleeve crusted with dried blood, and he was
missing one of his shoes. The shoeless foot was loosely bandaged, and
badly swollen. Toshitada sighed and carefully tightened the ropes that
were holding the youth onto his back. Stubborn as ever, the boy had
refused anything more than the most basic of medical treatment for his
injuries and insisted on marching without rest until he had collapsed in
mid-step nearly three hours ago. The only thing holding him together had
been the mystical armour of Tenku, and even that had eventually given
out on him.

Toshitada fiddled briefly with the straps on his hat before
gingerly reaching back and placing it on top of Touma's blue-haired head.
The last thing any of them needed was for their resident genius to come
down with sunstroke. If anybody could find a way out of this realm, it
would be Touma Hashiba. Toshitada Koma was counting on it: although he had
only entered this vile realm to assist his fellow heroes, his own escape
now lay in their hands as well. The Castle of Eternal Regret let no soul
out of its clutches easily.

Touma gasped, and woke with a start. Pulling back from the monk,
he looked around in wide-eyed confusion for a moment before understanding
slowly filtered its way into his expression. With a frown of consternation
the boy tested his bonds experimentally and gave Toshitada a suspicious
look.

"You tied me up," he said, an accusing tone in his voice.

"The Plains of Tearful Lament did not seem like a good place for
a nap," Toshitada explained with a slight sneer. "I see your rest has
done little to improve your company, Tenku no Touma. No word of thanks
for the weary old monk who has carried you for all these many miles?"

"You tied me up!" Touma repeated incredulously.

"Had I been wiser, I would have included a gag!" Toshitada snapped
back in reply, his steely eyes flashing with anger. "Honestly, you Samurai
Troopers whine about everything: 'you tied me up', 'they stole my family',
'he wants to destroy the planet'... do us all a favour and grow up! My
back is aching from carrying your weight -as usual- but at least I don't
irritate the cosmos by complaining about it!"

"First of all, nobody asked you to come here. Secondly: how the
hell can you carry me, anyway? I thought you were supposed to be a ghost!
What's going on, here?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm yelling!" Toshitada paused for
breath, growling softly with each exhalation. Turning away from the
samurai on his back, he began to trudge solemnly towards the horizon. Kaos
had not told him that this would happen if he came here. His mentor had
told him very little about a lot of what had been happening to him lately.
Touma was right; he should not have been able to physically lift the boy
any more than he should be hungry, or thirsty, or irritable. Why was his
spirit reacting like this? Was it part of the realm's curse, forcing a
semblance of mortality upon him so that he could better experience its
tortures? Or was the answer something else?

Was he becoming real again? The idea was disconcerting, to say
the least. What did it mean, when the dead began to take flesh once more?
And if it was affecting him, who else might even now be returning from
the gates of the underworld? Saranbo? Gashura? Or even worse -Kaos
preserve them all- the Demon Lord Emperor himself? Was this the first
sign that Arago might once again rise to menace their realm?

"I think I've got it," Touma said, interrupting Toshitada's train
of thought. "You're a spirit, right?"

"So I have been led to believe."

"Well, it's nearly the time of O-bon, isn't it? Grandfather always
told me that the O-bon was when the spirits of the dead could cross into
the realm of the living and reunite with their families. Maybe your being
physical here is related to that."

"A good theory," Toshitada admitted, nodding to himself, "but the
O-Bon is not for several weeks. Also, I shudder to imagine what kind of
cruel and sadistic universe would consider *you* to be my family."

"Oh, ha-ha. Like you're my favourite ghost in the whole wide
world." Touma made a face, then furrowed his brow in thought. "Okay, how's
this? The Castle of Eternal Regret is a different realm - we know that
things here don't work the same way as they do back home. Maybe you're not
as dead here as you are back on Earth, or something. Might be part of the
dimension exerting its influence on you, like how it keeps trying to make
me depressed."

"I had been thinking something similiar," the monk agreed, nodding
to himself. It was a relief to hear Touma supporting his own earlier
theory. It was much easier to assume that his current condition was being
caused by the world they were trapped in, and that it might fade as soon
as he left. If it meant even a chance that one or more of their old
enemies might escape the afterlife, then Toshitada had no desire to
return to the land of the living. It was best for everyone involved if
the dead stayed dead, friend and foe alike.

"Man, we've been walking forever," Touma said, gazing across the
blank and featureless terrain. "I thought you said that we were going to
meet up with Makoto if we came this way...."

"Patience, young warrior," Toshitada placated him. "Your princess
is very close, now. I am certain your tear-filled reunion cannot be
delayed much longer."

"Princess?" Touma looked confused. "Hey, if that's another one of
your little barbs about her, you can just cut it out. As a tutor, it's
only natural that I should be concerned for the well-being of my student.
After all, her academic success is as much a reflection on me as it is on
her - if she fails Physics, I will lose face as an educator!"

"You DO realise that you have both been trapped by Fei Lian in a
hell dimension from which there is no known escape, right?"

"That," Touma replied with a devilish grin, "would only pose an
obstacle to inferior tutors. As her senpai, and as a Samurai Trooper, I
have a solemn duty to both rescue Mako-chan *and* do it with enough time
to finish her make-up Physics report! Anything less would be an insult to
my talents as both a super-hero, and a super-genius."

"I think I'm going to let you down, now," Toshitada said, raising
an eyebrow as he began to loosen the ropes. Part of him understood what
the boy was ranting about - Touma wanted to deny Fei Lian even the small
victory of knowing that he had inconvenienced the boy. It was an oddly
spiteful thing for Touma to do; usually the young samurai was better able
to focus on the larger picture. Toshitada guessed that Fei Lian must have
succeeded at angering the warrior of Tenku, something which made the
youma far braver than he.

**********

Ami Mizuno tucked her pencil behind her ear and hummed
thoughtfully to herself as she examined the notebook in front of her. She
had to give Miss Kikuchi credit; some of these algebraic equations were
legitimately challenging. Ever since Ami had finished her test two hours
early last month, her math teacher had been giving her increasingly more
difficult questions every week. With summer break approaching, Miss
Kikuchi had decided to take advatage of the usual summer homework
assignments to slip Ami a few really tricky problems on the sly. She was
pretty sure a few of these were university level.

The blue haired girl tapped her foot idly on the leg of the table,
turning slowly through her textbook as she looked for the right approach
for reducing this particular matrix. She supposed she could use the
Mercury computer to help her, but somehow that always felt like cheating.
Besides, math was more fun when she could work through each step by hand.
There was something refreshingly exciting about seeing a problem come
together at the end of her pencil that Ami had never been able to explain
to any of her friends. Usagi and Rei hadn't even brought their homework
with them on this trip: they had stared at her like she was growing a
second head when she pulled her texts out of her suitcase.

There was a knock at the door, and Ami glanced over at it in
surprise. Could Rei and Usagi be back from their shopping trip already?
It felt like they had barely left. Getting out of her chair, she gave a
quick look at one of the alarm clocks as she passed it. It was almost
eight in the evening - she guessed if Renga Park hadn't had anything very
interesting in it, they might be back this soon. She hoped they were just
coming by to drop off their first load of packages: her friends had been
so excited about visiting the famous Renga Park shopping district that she
would hate to think they had been disappointed.

Stepping into her slippers, Ami padded across the carpet and
opened the door. To her surprise, Ryo Sanada looked up from where he was
carefully removing his sneakers and gave her a smile that could melt the
polar ice caps. Almost immediately, Ami could feel the temperature in the
room increasing. What in the world was he doing here? Why wasn't he
anybody other than him?

"Hi," Ryo said cheerfully. "You're... Ami, right? I was just in
the neighbourhood, and I thought I'd stop in and see how you girls were
doing. Can I come in for a minute?"

Wordlessly, Ami forced her head to move up and down in a close
approximation of a nod. Clutching her textbook to her chest, she stepped
aside and let the boy enter her hotel room. Ryo nodded graciously and
wandered over to one of the beds.

"Wow, this is a great room," Ryo said with an appreciative
whistle. "This window looks right out over the Yokohama Stadium! Man, I'll
bet if the BayStars were playing you wouldn't even need tickets. That's
so awesome."

Ami forced herself to nod again and held her book a little bit
tighter. What was going on, here? Why had Ryo come all the way across
town just to visit with them? Their hotel was miles away from where he
was staying with his friends - there was no way he could have just been
'in the neighbourhood'. Did this have something to do with whoever was
trying to take over the Dark Kingdom? Had Ryo found some kind of clue or
something that he wanted to share with them? They *had* agreed that if
any of them found something they would try to keep in touch with each
other. Maybe that was why Ryo Sanada was in her room.

Sweet merciful gods, Ryo Sanada was in her room. The realisation
hit Ami like a bucket of cold water. There was a boy in her bedroom! Well,
her hotel room, technically, but it still had several beds in it. And
laundry! Moving quickly, Ami kicked some of Usagi's discarded clothes
under one of the beds and grabbed Rei's shirt off of the back of the
chair while Ryo was still enjoying the view outside. If she had known that
there was going to be a boy over, she would have made the other girls pick
up a little. Or at least locked herself in the bathroom until he went
away.

"So, where is everybody?" Ryo asked, turning away from the window
and leaning back against the sill.

Ami blinked. What, he expected her to talk, now? Oh, Lord, he
didn't realise that they were alone! Maybe if she told him that there was
nobody interesting around, he would go away and let her work on her...
things. With the books, and the paper, and such. Whatever that was called
that she liked to do. God, he was cute. What was it with those eyes of
his that turned her brain into mush?

"Uh," she managed to get out, "R-Rei and Usagi are... out.
Shopping. They're out shopping. And, uh, I'm not. So there you go, I
suppose."

"Ouch. Stuck you here by yourself, huh? You must be as bored as I
am." Ryo crossed his arms and frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "Well,"
he said, after a pause, "there's no point hanging around this place, then.
Sounds like it's as dull here as it is back home."

Ami nodded gratefully. There it was, he was just bored, and this
was no place for a handsome guy with a short attention span. It was dull
as dirt around here. Now he would go away, and she could get back to
whatever it had been that she had been working on. Something with numbers,
she thought. There had definitely been numbers involved.

"I, uh, guess I should just go, then." Ryo gestured towards the
open books lying on the nearby desk. "You look like you're pretty busy
with homework, and stuff."

"Yes," Ami agreed sadly, hugging her book and resting her chin on
top of the bound pages. "I really should be working on this. Sorry I
couldn't help you, Ryo."

The dark-haired youth shrugged expressively as he pushed off of
the windowsill and wandered glumly back towards the door. As he brushed
past, Ami turned to watch him leave. She caught a barely definable scent
as he moved past her - it was a musky, smoky smell, like damp cedar
boughs smoldering on hot coals. She thought she detected a bit of
sandalwood, too: the scent reminded her of incense, and campfires, and
wrapping herself in a warm blanket to sip her tea and watch the softly
dying embers. Ami sighed almost imperceptibly. He even smelled fantastic.

Ryo froze in the doorway, one hand still braced on the frame.
Slowly, he looked back over his shoulder at her, his tousled mop of raven
hair falling over his eyes and obscuring his expression. Ami blinked in
confusion, looking behind her for a second to see what might have caught
his attention.

"Uh," she stammered, "Was there s-something you wanted, Ryo?"

"I was just thinking... do you want to get out of here and go out,
or something?"

Ami sat down abruptly on the edge of the bed.

**********

The encampment was almost a mile outside the walls of the ruined
old castle, little more than a gathering of tents in the shadow of the
once proud palace. Quartzie had been all but skipping the entire way, and
it had taken every last bit of Jadeite's self-control not to throttle her
just for existing. Quartzie was the embodiment of everything that Jadeite
loathed about girls - stupid, giggling, and distracted by the first thing
that crossed her path. He couldn't believe that he was being forced to
rely on women to accomplish his goals yet again. It was almost pathetic.

Then again, he supposed getting sealed in a giant block of ice
and left to float out in the rings of Saturn for - how long HAD he been
gone? With a shrug, he marked the question down as something he might want
to look into later. Regardless of how long he had been doing it, he
guessed that it was pretty pathetic, too. If the Doom and Gloom Girls were
willing to join his banner, then he was far too desperate for allies to
deny them the honour based on something as trivial as gender.

"I mean, can you imagine what that's done to our reputation?"
Quartzie asked, continuing the conversation she had been having with
herself for their entire march. "To be known as the ones who *temporarily*
killed the Sailor Senshi? Where's the honour in that? If you ask me, I
say it's completely unfair that they got to come back from the dead. I
mean, we killed them fair and square! At least, the other girls tell me
that we did: personally, I don't remember too much after Sailor Ve-"

"Halt! Who goes there?" Something that Jadeite had mistaken for
a small hill rose from the ground and rumbled over to block their path.
Now that it was standing upright, he could see that it was a minotaur.
Like all members of its breed, the youma's ponderous head was joined
directly to its torso with no discernible neck to interfere with all the
muscle and fur. His massive horns glinted in the constant twilight of the
Dark Kingdom: they were solid iron, and curved gracefully along the slope
of his broad shoulders before curling up into needle-sharp points. Almost
as an afterthought, the gigantic creature was wielding what appeared to
be a medium-sized tree in one paw as a makeshift club.

"Oh for the love of...." Quartzie rolled her eyes expressively
for Jadeite's benefit and waved her hand a few inches away from the
scowling minotaur's snout. "It's me, Takenoko! Quartzie! I went to the
castle today, remember? Get out of the way before you make me late to see
Shale!"

"Quartzie?" The minotaur snorted and leaned in closer, his blood
red eyes squinting suspiciously as Quartzie struck a pose and batted her
eyes at him fetchingly. Takenoko curled up his snout, as though trying
to work out a particularly difficult math problem, then slowly nodded his
massive head. "Oh, okay. That's all right, then. Proceed."

"Takenoko is blind as a bat," Quartzie whispered to Jadeite as
they passed the guard. "Can't see a damned thing unless it's three inches
from his own nose. Why he's on sentry duty, I'll never know."

"He obviously has other skills," Jadeite said, raising an eyebrow
as he carefully stepped around the hulking brute of a youma. Blind or not,
anybody who ran into that fellow on a dark road was going to either have
a very good reason for being there or be fleeing in the opposite direction
soon afterwards. He was carrying a TREE, for Beryl's sake! Who was going
to try to bluff a minotaur that was armed with a PINE TREE?

They entered the encampment, and Jadeite felt himself relax
slightly. There was something strangely comforting about a camp - no
matter how much things changed, there was always the smell of cooking
food, the sound of hammer on anvil as the blacksmiths repaired gear, and
a thousand other things that felt like home. For nearly one thousand
years, Jadeite had prided himself on never sleeping on the same ground
twice. He and his legions had constantly scoured their lands for any sign
of resistance, and he had learned to love life in the camp. This was the
kind of place that he belonged, not that wretched castle.

The farrier looked up from his work, still holding a dimly glowing
piece of steel between his tongs. He was fair-skinned, with a thick mane
of crimson hair and golden eyes. Seeing Jadeite, he smirked and tossed
aside the molten ingot in order to perform a mocking salute. As he
smirked, the glow of his forge glinted off of his long canines.

"That's Korran," Quartzie explained, whispering behind her hand.
"Don't let the leather apron fool you: he's a master swordsman and a
powerful magician. His brother Kirin is probably somewhere around here,
reading some kind of book or something. They're only staying with us
because they have 'issues' with Radanthus. He's their half-brother,
and you know how that always goes."

"Korran looks... familiar..." Jadeite commented, scowling at the
ivory-skinned youth with the crimson hair.

"Yeah, well, he and Kirin take after their mother. The less said
about that, the better, believe you me." Quartzie held her hand out and
rattled a number of sticks that were standing upright in a large clay pot
outside the main tent. There was the sound of motion from within, and a
pair of girls dressed similarly to Quartzie emerged. One had pale green
skin, with a long mane of greyish black hair and a frown that seemed
permanently etched on her face. The other was lilac purple, with the same
indecent costume and fluttering forehead wings as the other two. Seeing
Jadeite, she quickly lowered her head and stepped aside.

"Well, well, Quartzie," the green girl asked with a sneer. "What
have you brought us this time? Another lost youma follow you home, and
you want to ask Shale if you can keep him?"

"I'd watch my tongue if I were you, Verdelith," Quartzie said
angrily, standing on her toes to poke the taller youma in the chest. "You
might regret talking like that about Jadeite!"

"Hello," Jadeite said pleasantly, and wiggled his fingers as
Verdelith gulped loudly and turned much paler than she had been a moment
ago. The wings on her forehead drooped, and she shot a worried look from
the smugly grinning Quartzie to her purple friend, who was already on her
knees and genuflecting. After a moment's thought, Verdelith joined her
associate on the ground and buried her face in the ground. Jadeite nodded
to himself as he gestured for Quartzie to introduce him. Yes, he figured
he and these girls would get along just fine.

Lifting the tent flap with one arm, he ducked inside after his
annoying pink associate and slowly waited for his eyes to adjust to the
brightly lit interior of the tent. Most of the area was dominated by a
large table covered with maps and charts of various places in both the
Dark Kingdom and the Earth Realm. Shale stood at the head of the table,
speaking quietly to one of her underlings. Unlike the other Doom and Gloom
Girls, Shale was wearing a more respectable one-piece outfit with a large
purple cloak concealing most of her body from view. Her blonde hair swept
against the floor as she turned, and her skin was the same pale blue as a
robin's egg. The candlelight gleamed off of the tiara she wore over her
wings as a sign of her rank, and the cracked stone that rested there.

Shale looked over at Jadeite, and he was vaguely impressed to see
none of her subordinates' fear or adulation there. She was judging him
based entirely on what she could see at the moment - reputations be
damned. He could respect that.

"So," he said calmly, "what do the famous Doom and Gloom Girls
want with a washed up has-been like little old me?"

"I would hardly call you washed up," Shale replied with a throaty
chuckle as she circled the table and began to glide towards him. "After
all, you are the greatest of Beryl's generals."

"And what would make you say that?"

Shale shrugged. "The rest are dead. I would think that makes it
obvious. The question is, what would the infamous Jadeite want with little
old us? After all, our last encounter with the Senshi was not exactly the
stirring victory we had hoped it to be."

"I think if anyone can appreciate the value of a second chance, it
would be me." Jadeite smirked. "Now that we're done placating each other,
can we get down to real business, here? I've been on ice for a very long
time, and I haven't eaten in years."

"How rude of me." Shale grinned, and turned to face her two
associates. "Quartzie, Garnet, fetch Jadeite something to eat. He and I
have much to discuss."

"Yes, Shale," the red youma said, curtseying obediantly and
setting down the scrolls she had been holding before scurrying out of the
tent. Quartzie curtseyed as well, and made as if to follow.

"Oh, and Quartzie?" Shale said, before the pink girl could leave.

"Y-yes, Shale?"

"This is work well done, Quartzie. Very well done, indeed." Shale
didn't bother to look in the other girl's direction, her gaze still very
busy travelling over every inch of Jadeite. Her smile became less friendly
than it had been a moment before, and Jadeite began to feel a little bit
vulnerable. "Make sure to tell the cook that you'll be recieving some of
my special reserve tonight."

"Yes, Shale!" Quartzie said, beaming proudly.

"Have another bottle sent to my tent," Shale added, almost as an
afterthought. "I'm sure that Lord Jadeite will be needing something to
drink with his meal."

Quartzie giggled, and bowed, and left. Jadeite was surprised to
find himself missing her the moment she was gone. Airheaded she might have
been, but at least he had known where he stood with her. Shale was another
matter entirely. For one thing, she was looking at him like her interests
were not completely tactical or military in nature. That made him a little
nervous: he was beginning to doubt exactly why he had been led here. Maybe
he should have stayed in the castle and met with Radanthus, instead.

"Well," Shale drawled, as she glided over to the large screen that
blocked off the rear half of the tent and gently moved it out of the way
to reveal a nest of pillows and a smaller table, clearly meant for taking
meals. "The mighty Jadeite has returned from his banishment to lead us all
to glory once again, hmm? I'm sure that by now that pig Radanthus has let
the word ring out to all corners of the Dark Kingdom."

"I have nothing against Radanthus," Jadeite said sternly, as he
crossed his arms and leaned against the edge of the larger table in the
main room. "He did free me, after all, and I suppose he would be as good
a leader as any other we have ever had. He is of the nobility, at least."

"Yes, but he bores me so." Shale draped herself across several of
the pillows and propped her head up with one hand. "I can't bear him and
his ghastly priest and that vile Fei Lian character who is always lurking
around their palace. My girls deserve better than that. So do I, in case
you were wondering."

"And what do you think you deserve?" Jadeite asked, already sure
of the answer.

"We deserve to be treated with respect," Shale hissed, her eyes
narrowing. "The Doom and Gloom Girls are warriors without peer, the
strongest and most lethal members of Beryl's army! When the Dark Kingdom
hung in the balance, where were Radanthus and his priest? Nowhere! It was
my girls and I who went out into that blizzard and fought the Sailor
Senshi; it was my girls and I who killed them! I held Sailor Mars' broken
body in my arms - I crushed Sailor Mercury with my own hands! And what
do we get for it? Nothing! Radanthus and his *men* treat us like... like
scullery maids! They expect us to follow them? When have they ever fought
for anything in their lives?"

"Strange," Jadeite commented idly, as he toyed with some of the
instruments on the table. "Quartzie made it sound as though you would be
very eager to serve Radanthus once you knew that I was with him."

"Radanthus can hang for all I care," Shale spat. "It's you,
Jadeite, don't you see? We remember you - you fought against the Senshi,
better than anyone else! You understand the hate that burns within us,
how they cheated us of our victory. We want you to lead us, Jadeite - lead
us against the Sailor Senshi! We don't care who rules this worthless pile
of dirt anymore!"

Jadeite pondered Shale's words in silence as he picked up an
astrolabe and spun it in his hands. He could feel Shale's eyes on him, but
his thoughts were a hundred and thirty-four miles away. One hundred and
thirty-four miles: that was how far it was from this place to the edge
of his former lands. Vast rolling plains and treacherous steppes as far
as the eye could see, stretching off into the horizon and just waiting for
him to explore them once more. His armies had swept those plains for years
on end, and he had never slept in the same place twice.... They had been
harsh times, times of danger and adventure and camraderie. He had spent
his days in the saddle, and his nights in camps not unlike this one.

Quartzie and Garnet rattled the poles outside and waited
discreetly for Shale to respond before entering. Keeping their heads low
and their eyes on the ground, the two youma swiftly and efficiently laid
out a small banquet on the low table next to Shale's reclined form.
Bowing to Jadeite and curtseying to Shale, they hurriedly scampered out
of the tent, whispering and giggling between each other.

"What do you say, Jadeite?" Shale asked quietly. "My request is
not so difficult, is it? I have already gathered dozens of youma here,
and they are all pledged to my leadership. Why should you have to bow and
scrape to the likes of Radanthus as if you were his servant? Let us serve
you, and you can meet with him as an *equal*. You deserve to be his
equal, Jadeite. I offer so much, and I ask very little in return. Please,
do not make me beg for your consideration."

Jadeite thought again about rolling plains and nights at camp. The
smell of the food on the table was overwhelming: it was hearty, simple
fare, the kind of food that had still been planning its day an hour or
two ago and had yet to get over the shock of being dinner. He looked over
at Shale, and she smiled at him expectantly.

"So," he said, as he stretched out on the pillows next to her and
plucked a shred of meat from the meal on the table, "tell me again about
how you crushed Sailor Mercury with your bare hands...."

*********

Ryo Sanada thrust his hands in his pockets and rocked back on
forth on his heels, whistling softly to himself. That was the thing about
girls: you had to give them time to make up their minds. A girl wouldn't
be happy with any decision unless she knew that it was what she really,
truly wanted. The trick was to let them know that there was no pressure,
and they could decide for themselves.

Case in point: he had been down in the lobby for nearly fifteen
minutes, and he wasn't the slightest bit impatient. However long it took
Ami to choose a sweater, he was fine with it. The important thing was
that she was happy with the decision. Ryo's dad had warned him once that
girls liked to drag everything out for as long as possible, and he had
taken that warning to heart. Slow and steady, that was Ryo Sanada. Yep.
No problems on his end. He could wait down here forever.

He checked his watch. Eight-thirty. Criminy! How many sweaters did
she HAVE up there, anyway? Shirt, shoes, wallet - he had been ready in
thirty SECONDS. Heck, he had jogged here in the time it took her to pick
a shirt! At this rate, all of the good places would be closed. What was
she trying to do, kill him?

The elevator chimed, and the doors slid open with a pneumatic
hiss. Ami peered around the edge of the door, stepping almost tentatively
out into the lobby. She was wearing a pair of new blue jeans and a garish
orange and yellow striped sweatshirt with purple sleeves, and she looked
like she might scream and bolt at any moment.

"Hey, Ami! Looking good!" Ryo smiled in what he hoped was a
friendly manner and waved her over to him. Ami waved back nervously and
took another couple of steps in his direction.

"I, uh, I didn't pack a lot of sweaters," she stammered, "and
none of Usagi's or Rei's seemed to fit right, so I had to make do with
what I had on me..."

"It's awesome," Ryo reassured her. "I mean, I'm wearing a purple
undershirt, and there's some orange on my sweater, so it's kind of like
we match!" He grinned widely, and tried not to wince. Kind of like they
matched? Where had he pulled a stupid line like that one from? This was
going to end badly.

"Yes, it kind of is," Ami agreed, and a smile briefly flitted
across her features before vanishing again. Ryo took a step closer and
tilted his head to one side. There was something different about her.
Was she wearing makeup, now? He was pretty sure she might have put on a
bit of perfume, too - she smelled different than she had upstairs.

"So, uh, what exactly are we d-doing, Ryo?" Ami asked, inching
back slightly under his examination.

"Oh, I talked to the guy at the front desk, and he said that
there's a couple of places still open. No games at the stadium, but if
we're willing to walk a bit, we should be able to make it to the Yokohama
Daisekai museum back in Chinatown." That seemed like a safe bet. Ryo was
guessing that a smart girl like Ami would enjoy going to the museum.
Unless she hated museums. Did girls like museums?

"Sounds fun," Ami said, smiling bravely.

**********

Makoto Kino sighed and tossed a stone across the rocky plain in
front of her. It skipped and bounced, clacking loudly off of the other
stones before coming to a rest against the side of the small ravine she
was stuck in. She wasn't even sure she could call what she was standing
in a stream: it barely got the toes of her boots wet, and it was a very
nasty shade of flourescent yellow. It had taken her maybe ten seconds to
decide that she was not quite thirsty enough to see how it tasted yet.
Instead, she had found a nice-sized boulder and made herself comfortable.
After all, if she was going to be trapped in another dimension with a
bunch of killers and monsters, this was as good a place as any to take
a rest. Judging from the terrain she had seen so far, it wasn't like there
was anywhere more pleasant to go.

It felt like it had been years since she had been dragged into
this stupid dimension - she had emerged from the mists in the middle of a
vast battlefield littered with corpses. It had not been the warmest
welcome she had ever recieved, especially since some of the creatures
there had still been lively enough to want her to join in the fun.
Typically, whatever they had been fighting about was apparently not
important enough to keep them all from ganging up on her. That was just
one of the many perks of being a Sailor Senshi: always bringing people
together.

Makoto had shaken off the last of her pursurers the day before,
and had been careful to keep to the shadows and stay in the ravine ever
since she had stumbled into it. Some of those things had sharp noses, and
the last thing she wanted was for them to find her again: a lot of those
corpses on the battlefield had looked well-chewed. They didn't seem able
to track her if she stayed in the water, and the ravine narrowed at the
top so that it seemed like little more than a crack in the ground from
above. She was safe from everything except the voices.

Of all the things that had come after her here, the voices were
the most insidious. It seemed like every time she stopped for more than a
second or two they would come creeping up like a bad odour, whispering
their lies into her mind until she wanted to rip out her own hair just to
make them stop. They called her worthless, and pathetic, and stupid and
ugly and clumsy. They told her that nobody would ever care enough to come
for her, and that she would die alone and unloved in this horrible place,
and that nobody would even notice she was gone.

For most of the first day, she had tried to argue with the voices,
but it was pointless to even try. After all, they never got tired, or
stopped muttering how hopeless and pathetic she was. After a while, she
had realised that her throat was raw, and that one of the voices berating
her had somehow turned into her own. Since then, she had valued silence
over resistance. Talking back only seemed to make the voices stronger.

A spray of gravel rattled down from above, and Makoto slipped
behind the boulder as a quintet of demons marched overhead. There were
four of the bloated frog things; they were mostly walking mouths with
limbs attached, but despite their bulky appearance she had learned the
hard way just how fast they could move when food was involved. The fifth
of the group was different - he was tall and gaunt, his body seeming to
be made from twisted cords of black hawthorne that slid and rasped dryly
against each other with his every motion. Unlike the other four, he bore
no weapon. Instead, he merely pointed at each of his subordinates and
gestured emphatically at the stream below them.

Makoto had run into one of those black demons before, and still
had a few of the cuts to prove it. They were fast, they were smart, and
worst of all they seemed able to sense her no matter how she tried to
hide herself. She had been counting herself lucky that she hadn't run into
any more than one or two of them over the last few days. They couldn't
be smelling her, because she had already avoided all the things that could
smell her. How were they able to know where she was?

The shadowy creature paused in its silent commands and tilted its
head to one side, the long silver quills on its scalp rustling and moving
of their own accord. Turning, it extended one clawed hand towards her
hiding place below them and a hail of thorns flew from its skin. Each one
of the things was nearly two inches long, and as sharp and hard as a
steel needle. The foul yellow water spat and hissed as they rattled
against the ground and pinged off of the boulder that Makoto was using
for cover. Crouching low, she pushed away from the rock and ran towards
the far side of the ravine, to a place where the overhanging lip of the
canyon would make it impossible for him to get a clear shot at her.

Makoto clenched her fists, small bolts of lightning fizzling and
crackling as they crawled around her arms. Whatever those black things
were, they had proven immune to all of her usual attacks. Those fat froggy
friends of his, though - those she could fry real easily, if she got the
chance.

Another flurry of darts rained down from above, clanging and
bouncing off of the rocky floor of the ravine and ricocheting wildly
throughout the gully. Makoto flinched back as a chip of broken stone drew
a line of blood across her cheek, but only gripped the cliff wall behind
her and held her ground. Her opponent was firing blindly: there was no way
he could get at her from up there. He just wanted to flush her out into
the open so that he could finish her off without needing to get his hands
dirty.

What *were* those spiky things? Were they from the Dark Kingdom?
Had she fought them before, as Sailor Jupiter? If so, it might explain why
they were so sensitive to her presence, to say nothing of how upset they
seemed at it. She guessed not everybody locked away in this place was
undeserving of their punishment.

At the moment, they were in a bit of a stalemate. If she went up
there, she would be turned into a pincushion before she even got a chance
to summon a single lightning bolt. If he came down after her, she gained
the tactical advatage - there were a lot of places she could use for cover
once he lost his vantage point up there, and if he got inside this box
of stones instead of shooting from safely outside of it, his ricochets
would be as much a threat to him as to her. Makoto hadn't gotten a chance
to try going hand-to-hand with one of those creatures: they might be
covered in spines, but she bet it would be easier than fighting them from
a distance.

Makoto turned and cursed as she heard the sound of approaching
feet splashing through the fetid yellow stream. So much for a stalemate:
the jerk with the thorns had just been trying to keep her in one place
while he sent for reinforcements. That made things different - if she had
to fight another group of those frog monsters, they might be able to drive
her out into the open where their commander could get a clear shot. She
had been penned into a corner, with no way out. Shrinking back against the
side of the cliff, she tried to meld with the shadows in the rocks and
steeled herself for the inevitable assault.

There was a loud crack, and one of the demons staggered blindly
around the corner with its eyes pinwheeling in opposite directions. Giving
up a final gurgle, it tumbled into the stream and rolled onto its back.
Makoto raised an eyebrow in confusion as she heard the distinctive sound
of metal clashing against metal and the meaty thud of fists on flesh.
Another of the squat creatures rounded the corner, running as quickly as
its stubby legs could carry it, and Makoto lashed out with her foot. Her
kick caught it squarely between its piggish crimson eyes, which crossed
as it fell backwards and landed on the rocks.

"Hey! Get back here, you-" Rounding the corner with his fists
clenched and his jaw was set in a look of determined fury, Touma Hashiba
skidded into view. He was dressed in a strange suit of form-fitting blue
and white armour that sheathed him in metal from the neck down, and it
was covered in dents and scratches that marred its otherwise glossy
finish. It was the same dark shade of regal blue as his hair, which was
nearly black in the shadows of the ravine. Noticing Makoto, his eyes
widened slightly before he let out a relieved laugh.

"Mako-chan!"

"Touma-senpai!" Makoto leapt out from her hiding place, throwing
her arms around his neck and squeezing as hard as she could, just to make
sure that he was actually there. The armoured boy stumbled back slightly
under her weight before his leg buckled and both teens collapsed onto
the ground.

"Ow..." Touma groaned, as Makoto rubbed her cheek against his own
and sighed happily. He had come for her! She had known that Touma wouldn't
let her down, somehow she had just *known* that he would be coming to save
her. After all, he was her senpai - her advisor, her protector, her
teacher, her....

"Uh, Makoto? I'm having a little trouble breathing, down here."

"What? Oh, right! Sorry!" Blushing furiously, Makoto released the
boy and scuttled back to a safe distance as she let him sit up and catch
his breath. That had been a little embarassing. She hadn't meant to lunge
at him like that, but it was just such a relief to see a friendly face
(especially such a smart, cute, handsome face) after so many days that
she had acted without thinking. She hoped he hadn't thought it was too
forward of her - guys liked girls who were all shy and demure, right?

"It's okay," Touma reassured her, gingerly rubbing his shoulder
with one hand as he looked over at her and grinned affably. "I'm glad to
see that you're all right, Makoto. I was really worried about you."

"Ah, it takes more than a place like this to get me down, senpai!"
Makoto laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head, shrugging off
his concern as best she could. He had been worried about her. Yes! That
meant that he liked her! It might not be much, but she had managed to go
a lot farther with a lot less before. "I appreciate the rescue, though."

"Well," a strange man in a straw hat said as he walked around the
corner to join them, "that seems to be the last of... oh! Sorry, didn't
mean to interrupt your little tea party, over here. Is it too late for a
scone? I'd have stopped by earlier, but I was busy FIGHTING ALL THOSE
MONSTERS."

"Who's the cranky old guy?" Makoto asked curiously.

"Makoto Kino, meet Toshitada Koma. Toshitada Koma, Makoto Kino."
Touma shrugged and carefully propped himself up with his good arm.
"Toshitada's an old - well, 'friend' isn't really the right word for
it..."

"Personally, I prefer 'unfortunate acquaintance'," the monk
suggested helpfully.

"That works," Touma agreed. "Anyway, don't mind him. He's kind of
a jerk, but he's also a pretty good guy to have around in a pinch. He's
been helping me look for you."

"Oh," Makoto nodded in understanding. "Well, thanks for taking the
time to come and help us, Koma-sensei..."

"Spare me your thanks," Toshitada grumbled, crossing his arms and
tilting his hat down over his face. "If the boy weren't so utterly
besotted with you, I never would have had to come here in the first
place. I only helped the fool because the fate of the universe depends on
him not succumbing to his own idiocy."

"I'd say he gets better once you know him," Touma apologised, "but
really, all it does is give him more things to criticize you about. The
scary thing is that of all the Masho, he's actually the MOST pleasant one
to be around. He does have a point though: we'd better get moving before
that spiky guy comes back with more reinforcements."

*********

Ryo was right - it had gotten a bit chilly once evening hit the
city of Yokohama. There was an almost autumnal nip in the air, and Ami
hugged herself nervously as they wandered in the general direction of
Chinatown. The sun had been down for hours, and the entire city had
transformed into a shifting panorama of flickering neon lights and massive
glowing billboards that constantly moved from one advertisement to another
as the headlights of cars whirred by too quickly to make out the vehicles
themselves. The moon hung low in a starless sky, hazy and golden as it
basked in the glow of the city. The streets of Yokohama at night were a
little bit like being inside the world's largest arcade, Ami decided:
flashing lights and sounds everywhere. Juuban was nowhere near this
lively after dark.

Ryo ducked slightly to avoid bumping his head on a paper lantern
that bobbed from the corner of a shopkeeper's awning and nimbly leapt out
of the way as a boy on a bicycle pedalled past furiously. The lingering
aroma of ramen and the jangling of his bell trailed after the boy as the
crowd parted to make way for him and he veered around the corner, still
pedalling as fast as he could. Ryo whistled softly between his teeth as
he watched the crowd merging seamlessly together in the delivery person's
wake and smiled in Ami's direction with a rueful shake of his head.

Ami smiled back, and shrugged. They had only been walking for a
few blocks, and already that was the fourth person who had tried to run
Ryo down in the street. As far as she could tell, he was a magnet for
the darned things. The fact he was still uninjured was a testament less
to their skill and more to his own agility.

"You know what I like most about my house?" Ryo mused. "No
people." Brushing his shirt with one hand, the dark-haired youth hopped
down from the magazine rack he had been forced to take shelter on. From
the counter in the rear, the shop's owner began ranting about stupid kids
who thought that bookshelves were jungle gyms.

"I know what you mean," Ami admitted sadly as they continued
walking. She guessed that her house was pretty vacant at the moment - her
mother was off at another symposium in Chicago about caring for children
with learning disabilities. Before that, it had been the medical
convention in Antwerp, and before that it had been an exciting new
research lab in Buenos Aires. The whole reason Ami had been able to get
away for this vacation was that her mother had no idea she was on it.

"My dad's in Africa," Ryo said, as though her were reading her
thoughts. "Zimbabwe, I think. At least, the postcard was from Zimbabwe.
He's taking photographs of the endangered white rhino, or something. We
don't really keep track of each other much." With a chuckle, he ran his
fingers through his hair, combing it back from his eyes. "Would you
believe that my friends made me come here because they didn't want me to
be stuck by myself? One evil twin later, and they've forgotten all about
me."

"I'm sure they haven't forgotten about you," Ami reassured him.
"Nobody could possibly do that." Blushing slightly, she placed her hand
over her mouth and turned away. Stupid! What was she going to next, just
blurt out how handsome he was?

"Ah, I don't mind," Ryo said with a shrug. "I mean, what am I
going to do, complain because saving the universe is more important than
keeping me entertained? I just wish it felt like we were actually getting
somewhere. When we fought Arago, we knew exactly what was going on and
exactly what we needed to do. We're just grasping at straws, here."

"Sometimes you just have to wait and be patient," Ami said. "Our
enemies will make some kind of mistake eventually, and then we'll catch
them. I don't know if we mentioned it before, but youma are usually not
very smart."

"Really? I'd never noticed," Ryo joked, his eyes twinkling. "It's
a good idea, Ami, but I don't think it's going to work for me: patience
isn't really my thing. Hey... come here! I think I found a short-cut!"

"What?" Ami blinked in confusion as the boy grabbed her wrist and
ducked between two buildings, pulling her into the alley after him. Ryo's
hand was very warm, she noticed, as they raced down the dark and twisting
lane. Not uncomfortable, or anything, just noticeably warmer than usual.
The skin on his palm was rough and calloused; he had the strong and limber
hands of a swordsman. It was fascinating, how his fingers could feel so
powerful, and yet hold her hand so gently. She would have liked to take
the time to enjoy the sensation, but Ryo was tugging her along as fast
as her feet could carry her, and most of her concentration was on keeping
her balance as they ran.

Ryo skidded to a stop, and Ami stumbled into him, pressing against
his arm and burying her face in his shoulder. Instinctively, her other
hand flew up and grabbed his shirt for support as she sagged against him.
He looked down at her, his face filled with concern, and time seemed to
stop as she stared up into his eyes. They were such wide, caring eyes, as
blue and sparkling as the ocean itself. He was looking at her the same
way he had that first day they met, the same way he had been looking at
her every time since. There was something in that stare that quivered in
the shadows behind his usual cheerful and easy-going veneer and made
Ami's heart flutter. She couldn't decide what it was, but she knew what
she thought it might be. The funny thing was, she couldn't decide if the
idea made her terrified, or excited. Possibly both.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and Ami forced herself to nod and push
herself away from him. The cool night air suddenly felt frigid against
her body after Ryo's warmth, and she shivered slightly. What was going on,
here? Was this a date? Was she on a date? Because it sort of felt like it
might be a date, but she wasn't sure if Ryo was thinking of it that way.
Ami had spent almost fifteen minutes in her room after he went downstairs
just trying to figure out what she had agreed to. The only reason she had
gotten on the elevator was because she had convinced herself that Ryo was
not, in fact, asking her out.

Unless maybe he had, in fact, been asking her out. In which case,
that would mean this was, indeed, a date. From which one could reasonably
conclude that she and Ryo were, at the moment, 'dating'. But only if you
wanted to go by the most technical description of the word, of course. Ami
was sure that this was just Ryo trying to be friendly and keep her company
for a little while. If that happened to involve the two of them going out
(by which she meant merely the fact that they had exited the hotel at the
same time and walked in the same direction) and visiting a museum for a
few hours, then that did not necessarily mean anything. She had been very
careful not to embarass herself by giving away how she felt around him.
There was no way that he could possibly know what he was doing to her.
She hadn't given him the tiniest sign.

**********

The first sign that Nise Suiko had arrived was when the minotaur
went flying across the campsite. Bellowing at the top of his lungs,
Takenoko was able to clear the flagpole and land just a few feet shy of
the treeline on the other side of the tents. He bounced off of the tables
that had been set up outside for dinner, knocked all of the plates and
chopsticks everywhere, and rolled groggily into the cooking fire. There
was a moment of silence as nearly twenty youma stared first at the
smoldering minotaur, then down at the kindling that used to be their
supper, and then back towards the front gates.

The torches cast their wavering light upon a horrific figure in
crimson and black armour, his every inch sheathed chitinous plating that
shone dully as he lowered his fist and began to stride forward with grim
purpose. Being no strangers to horrifying figures, the youma responded as
only youma could: they leapt into battle.

The Terra Twins were the first to rise from the table, their slim
forms blurring as they dove into the earth as if entering a swimming
pool. The large sawblades on their shoulders whirred to life, cutting a
swath through the ground like metallic shark's fins closing in on the
armoured intruder from two directions at once. Kamisori was close behind
them, the cybernetic demon lifting into the sky on his billowing cloak
as he hurled a torrent of whirring razor blades at their enemy to
disorient him. Thornz lifted her arms menacingly, and a thick tangle of
writhing vines burst from the earth to grab Nise Suiko's limbs at the
geomancer's command.

Kirin lunged forward, grinning eagerly as eldritch energy crackled
at his fingertips, only to find a firm hand clamping down on his wrist and
dragging him back to his seat. Angrily, he glared at his brother, who was
standing placidly next to the shattered remains of the table.

"What do you think you're doing, brother? That freak just attacked
us! Let me go!"

"No, Kirin," Korran said firmly, pointing his finger at his
younger brother. "You're staying right here. This fight is none of your
concern, and none of your business."

"The hell it isn't! I *live* here, Korran!"

"I'm not playing with you, Kirin," Korran insisted, drawing his
shining blade as mystical energy glowed in his eyes. "You're staying here,
where it's safe. The rest of us can handle this intruder by ourselves, do
you understand me?"

Nise Suiko laughed madly, and swung his trident as though the
massive polearm weighed nothing at all. Spinning the weapon in a complex
and intricate series of loops, he created a sheild of whirring ebony
that not even the direst of Kamisori's razors could penetrate. The blades
fell to the ground about his feet like raindrops as the vines summoned
by Thornz entangled his legs and bound him in place. His eyes burning
gleefully, the armoured youma watched as the whirring saws of the Terra
Twins revved with anticipation on either side of him. As they raced
forward, he thrust the tines of his trident into the dirt at his feet.

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" The ground erupted in a geyser of rushing
water, carrying the screaming twins into the sky and leaving them to
tumble gracelessly onto the damp ground below. They lay where they fell,
wet and quivering.

"Ooh, nice attack!" Oniwabandana said, appearing behind Nise Suiko
without warning. "Would you mind doing that again, for posterity?"

"Sure!" Nise Suiko agreed, swinging his trident behind him as
the ninja bounded easily out of the way. "Just hold still for a moment,
and I'll let you see it up close and personal!"

"Can I quote you on that?" the ninja chirped, as she somersaulted
over his trident and planted her hand on his shoulder to vault herself
to the relative safety of a nearby flagpole. Nise Suiko growled and
charged forward, knocking aside Cirkuit even as the technological youma
pounded at him with its hammer-like arms. Oniwabandana laughed airily
and bounded away again as he neared, skipping merrily across the
battlefield as Nise Suiko chased after her.

"What kind of tactic do you call this?" Nise Suiko yelled, as
he blocked an overhead strike by Kamisori and slid his claws into the
other youma's abdomen without breaking stride.

"I think the technical term is 'distraction', sweetheart," the
ninja replied, as she lifted her hands in front of her masked face,
forming a rectangle around her eye with her thumbs and index fingers.
"Now, don't forget to say 'cheese'!"

The world lit up, and Nise Suiko cursed as he covered his eyes
with his arm. Seeing her opportunity, Oniwabandana drew a massive
scimitar and dove forward, swinging her blade at his neck as the wounded
Kamisori hurled another blast of whirling razors at him from behind.
Nise Suiko weaved out of the way of the sword strike, chopping down with
his clawed hand to slash the ninja in the face as he gripped her sword
arm tightly and forced her in close. Reversing direction, he thrust his
claws into her exposed abdomen as Kamisori's blades chipped and scratched
at his armour.

"Doesn't matter," the ninja mumbled in his ear as she slumped
forward onto him. "Still... got my exclusive. Doom and Gloom Girls
slaughter intruder... film at eleven..."

"What?" Nise Suiko threw the dying youma off of his claws and
spun around just in time to see Quartzie hurtling towards him with her
arm outstretched. With a fierce cry, she slammed her wrist into his throat
and sent him to the ground. He was barely able to get back onto his feet
before Garnet pounced on him. Leaping over his head, the red youma wrapped
her arms around his waist and used her weight to send him flipping into
the ground head-first. The impact was enough to blur his vision, and he
blinked his eyes to clear it as he struggled to free himself from the
girl's deathgrip on his waist. Looking ahead, he saw Verdelith sliding
through the mud towards him as though she were trying to steal second
base. He flinched back and threw his hands in front of him as she slammed
into his face, boots first.

"You know something? I could get to LIKE you girls!" Nise Suiko
quickly lashed out with a rabbit punch to Verdelith's kneecap, and
followed it up by doubling over and driving his feet into her stomach.
As the green girl gasped for breath, Nise Suiko fumbled for the knife in
his shoulder sheath and drove it deep into Garnet's thigh. She screamed,
and let go of his waist to clutch at the dagger as he twisted it in her
leg and rolled to safety.

"Now, where were we? Surely you're not ALL worn out!" Scanning
the campsite for his next opponent, Nise Suiko extended his hand and
called his weapon back to him. The trident flew out of the mud and spun
back into his grip as Korran strode into the torchlight, his blade
crackling with energy.

"I don't know who you are," the youma said, hefting his sword
warningly, "but if you do not leave this place, you will be destroyed."

"Oh, really?" the armoured warrior chuckled and looked at the
youma strewn about the campsite. "I hate to break it to you, but you're
going to need a lot more men."

"How about a few more girls?"

Nise Suiko gagged as a thick burst of writhing tentacles wrapped
securely around his throat and torso. He gripped at them, to claw them
off, and screamed as a thousand volts of electricity rippled through his
body. Falling to his knees, he looked over his shoulder to see a purple
girl with feathered wings on her forehead grinning at him maliciously.
The tentacles were coming from her arm, he realised groggily, as she
waved to him with her free hand and then sent another current through his
armour.

Quartzie walked up behind her purple partner. "All right! Great
job, Anthracite! Let me play, too." Her hands flexed, and split into two
thick clusters of wriggling pseudopods that hummed and crackled with
electricity. Grinning, she sent her tentacles down to wrap firmly around
his arms and, with Anthracite's help, hauled him back onto his feet even
as they sent wave after wave of voltage into his body. Nise Suiko
screamed, and thrashed, and felt himself beginning to burn. Smoke
curling from the edges of his visor, he gripped the steely tentacles in
his hands and slowly began to drag himself towards the two girls.

"What you don't seem to understand," he grunted, as the two youma
frantically increased the voltage and sent what felt like ten lightning
bolts through him, "is that *I* am the winner, here! You bunch..."

Thrusting his hands out of Quartzie's grasp, he grabbed both
girls by their faces and steadily began to tighten his grip.

"YOU bunch..."

The electricty was alive inside of him now, eagerly chasing down
every possible nerve ending and seeing just how much it could take. Nise
Suiko growled as the smoke began rising from every joint in his armour.
He curled his fingers inward, and felt their bones begin to flex in his
hands.

"YOU bunch are nothing more than a gang of filthy, pathetic
losers! You're just a bloody gaggle of has-beens and never-weres! And you
thought you could beat ME? If I weren't so pissed off right now, I might
actually find that funny!"

Korran held out his hand and gestured for the rest of the youma
to fall back as Nise Suiko continued his assault on Quartzie and
Anthracite. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but the next
youma to get this creature's attention was going somewhere a lot less
pleasant than the surgeon's tent. There were still ten of them standing,
the ones who had held back for fear of harming their own comrades in the
confusion of combat.

"You know what I will find funny though?" Nise Suiko ranted, as
bolts of electricity crawled over his body and his armour glowed from the
sheer destructive power that was coursing through it. "I think it's going
to be *real* funny if I just squeezing these pretty little skulls of yours
until you say 'uncle'. What do you think? You say stop, or your heads
go pop. We got a deal?"

"What in the nine hells is going on out here?" Jadeite asked,
throwing back the tent flap and storming out into the open air. His short
blone hair was mussed, and he was dressed only in the grey trousers and
purple undershirt of his uniform. Upon seeing Nise Suiko, he snarled and
extended one hand in the armoured youma's direction.

Nise Suiko gasped as he felt his own armour beginning to buckle
inwards on him. Staggering back, he released his grip on the two female
youma, who fell to the ground. Korran quickly rushed past the enraged
Jadeite and knelt by the girls, trying his best to see to them.

"You're some of that withered old freak Badamon's trash, aren't
you?" Jadeite asked coldly. "I think it's high time somebody crumpled you
up and threw you away."

"You... never should have turned... on Radanthus," Nise Suiko
choked, as his armour warped and folded as though Jadeite were trying to
turn him into some kind of metal origami sculpture. "Worst... mistake...
you ever made..."

"Radanthus?" Jadeite laughed. "Why in the world would I oppose
Radanthus? As a surprisingly perceptive woman just helped me realise, I
don't really give a damn who runs this place. If he wants the throne, I
will be more than happy to help him get it: Lord knows I don't want the
cursed thing. But you have come into MY camp, and you have attacked MY
people, and for that you must be destroyed. Good-bye."

"No!" Nise Suiko slammed his fist into the ground, and his armour
shell vanished in a soundless blast of air. Clad in a thin suit of red
and black, the much smaller and more fragile looking young man lunged
forward and tackled Jadeite, knocking them both backwards. Grabbing
one of Kamisori's razors from the ground, Nise Suiko held it to Jadeite's
left eye.

"You try that trick again," he vowed, "and I'll carve out your
brain like a bloody canteloupe. Do you understand me?"

"Perfectly," Jadeite assured him, and a blast of energy filled
the camp site. When it cleared, there was no sign left of Nise Suiko.
Jadeite snorted and tugged the front of his shirt to smooth out the
wrinkles. He had been hoping that attack would have caught the monster
off guard, but somehow Nise Suiko had managed to disappear right before
it struck. It was annoying, perhaps, but nothing he couldn't deal with
later. There were more urgent matters at hand now.

"Kirin! Korran!" he ordered, pointing at the fallen youma on the
ground. "Let's get these people to the surgeon's tent before we lose any
of them! Oniwabandana first, then Garnet and Quartzie and Takenoko. We'll
move the rest based on need, but I want those four in that tent now!"

**********

Ami had to admit, the Daisekai museum had managed to be both fun
and educational. After Ryo had paid for their tickets at the front gate,
they had been filed onto a brightly-lit elevator and carried up to the
eighth floor of the large and flashy building. Considering how gaudy it
looked from the outside, she had not been expecting much authenticity,
but the floor had been a perfect recreation of a wealthy merchant's home
in China. They had looked behind the folding screens, marvelled at the
beautiful antique pottery, and generally poked around until they had
found the stairs down. The only really shocking moment had been when Ryo
had suddenly disappeared and then leapt out from behind a collection
of shipping crates when she was least expecting it. She had almost
transformed and blasted him before she realised it wasn't a youma attack.
According to Ryo, the look on her face had been very amusing.

On the seventh floor Ryo had disappeared again, but this time it
had merely been because she had been so involved in examining the silks
and masks of the artist's studio that she had not noticed him wandering
away. He had come back garbed from head to toe in crimson silk, and
bearing the good news that apparently the staff allowed you to try on
the clothing there. He had also borne the less appreciated news that he
had already spoken to the staff, and they had several outfits waiting for
her. Over the next ten minutes, she had been dressed as a fine lady, a
martial artist, an actor in a Chinese opera (with authentic mask), and
too many other costumes for her to keep track of them. She had also
learned that Ryo looked utterly ludicrous with a fake moustache. And only
slightly less ludicrous in a fur hat. They were still in negotiations as
to what it would take to make the photographs disappear without his
friends ever seeing them.

After Ryo was done prancing around with every single sword in the
entire building, they had been invited to a demonstration of a traditional
Chinese tea ceremony. Ami had to agree with Ryo that the free samples had
been the highlight of that particular exhibit. Unfortunately the Chinese
opera had been cancelled for the night due to issues with the stage, so
they had been forced to skip the sixth floor and head down to the fifth.

Much to Ami's delight, the fifth floor had been filled with
various demonstrations of the arts and crafts of Shanghai in the early
twentieth century. The artisans demonstrating the sculpting craft of
Tenkoku had been making exceptionally adorable seals, and Ami had been
unable to resist buying one to take home with her. It had a carving of a
coiled dragon on the top of the stone cylinder, and she had gotten the
artisans to cut the stamp on the bottom so that it would read 'Mercury'
in Chinese kanji when she used it. She had even gotten a special ceramic
ink pad with blue ink instead of the usual red.

Everything after that had been a whirlwind of fried won tons,
shark fin casseroles, crab dumplings, and Peking duck burgers. Ami had
no idea who had come up with the idea for a Peking duck burger, but they
were clearly touched with genius.

She was still wasn't sure how they had ended up at the park. She
had made some vague mention of how she had wanted to get a better look
at the city, and the next thing she had known Ryo was scooping her up in
his arms, and the world had turned into a rushing blur, as though they
were suddenly moving at incredible speed. By the time it was over, they
had been in this secluded grove, miles from the rest of the city.

She lay back on the hillside, placing her hand on her chest and
waiting for her heart to slow back down. It was such a beautiful view
from here: she could see the graceful arches of the Yokohama Bay Bridge
and the entire city was lit up like a sea of stars on the water. A large
tanker chugged slowly past, the water rippling quietly around it as it
crept by. After all the lights and noise of the city, the park seemed
like the darkest, quietest place on Earth. Smiling softly, she let her
eyes close for a moment. She wasn't going to go to sleep, she promised
herself, she was just relaxing after that exhilirating journey. It was so
peaceful here that she couldn't bring herself to feel nervous or excited
about anything. Maybe she had finally reached her limit; maybe she had
just spent so much time around Ryo now that whatever it was that melted
her brain had just worn off. Or she had finally gotten used to it to the
point that she couldn't notice any more. At the moment, she didn't really
care which.

Ryo stood at the bottom of the hill, leaning against a wisteria
tree as he stared out across the harbour. There was a slightly troubled
look on his face, as if he was trying to figure something out. That made
Ami feel a little sad: Ryo was slightly less adorable when he was worried.
The difference was negligible, and the cute little wrinkle on his forehead
almost made up for it, but all in all she preferred it when he was cute
and happy instead of cute and sad.

Wait. She did?

Ah, whatever. He was cute. She was willing to admit it - what, was
she supposed to be blind, now? Lack taste? Any girl would fall for a guy
with those chiseled features and dreamy eyes. Ami frowned prettily. Well,
that wasn't exactly true. Haruka and Michiru would need to be excluded for
the usual reasons. But, since those reasons did not apply to Ami, then
logically she had no reason to pretend she didn't think he was attractive.
It was almost a relief to have finally figured that out. She had been
really worried about that for a while. First thing tomorrow she was going
to tell Usagi that she thought Ryo was cute. Usagi would know what to do
from there: Usagi knew everything when it came to this kind of stuff.

"Ami?" Ryo asked, turning his head to look at her.

"Hmm?" Ami replied, lifting her head to look back. "What is it,
Ryo?"

"I, uh, just wanted to say thanks. You know, for coming with me
tonight. This would have been a real bad night for me without you keeping
me company."

"How's that?" she asked curiously. What in the world was he
talking about now? He had just been bored, so he had invited her out for
a little fun, that was all. Sure, it wasn't her usual thing to run off
without even leaving a note or anything, but all things considered she
had been able to enjoy herself. There was no need to thank her for
anything.

"Well, it's just that..." Ryo cleared his throat and looked down
at the rose he was twirling between his fingers. The entire park was full
of rosebushes, but most of them weren't flowering this late in the season.
There had only been a few late bloomers for him to pick through. "I, uh,
kind of lost someone last year. Someone who was important to me, and it's
been hard to get over that. The guys were planning to drag me down here
to keep my mind off of it, but with all this Nise Suiko stuff going on
they must have lost track of the day, or something. No big deal."

"Oh, Ryo," Ami sighed, covering her mouth with her fingers as she
stood up shakily and walked down the hill to him. That had been what she
seen hiding in those eyes - the poor boy was haunted. How sad, to lose
somebody like that. "How did they... was it an accident?"

"No," Ryo said huskily, turning away and gripping the safety
railing that ran along the edge of the bay. "No, it was on purpose. I
promised that I would look after her, and I let her down. Shikaisen just
cut her down like she didn't even matter, and I... all I could do was
watch. I swore I'd never let anybody down again, no matter what it took."
Pausing, he took a deep breath and looked over at her. "Can you keep a
secret, Ami? I mean, if I tell you this, you can't tell anybody - not the
other Senshi, not the other Troopers, nobody."

"Of course, Ryo."

"Okay." Ryo scratched behind one ear and looked out over the water
as he tried to find the best way to put it. "Have you ever heard of a guy
called the Demon Lord Emperor Arago?"

Ami nodded. The other Troopers had mentioned him in passing a few
times while they had been comparing stories. Some kind of powerful youma,
from what she had been able to piece together. He had apparently conquered
a large part of Tokyo after Queen Beryl's defeat, while she and the other
Senshi had still been stuck without their memories. It had sounded like
the Troopers had taken care of him quite handily.

"Well, he's been talking to me lately. At least, I think it's him.
Mostly it happens while I'm sleeping. He's calling me, Ami: he says it's
time for me to join him, and I'm scared. I don't want to let anybody down
again, but what if I don't have a choice? I mean, maybe I'm crazy, and
maybe it's all in my head, but I can't shake the feeling that he's up to
something. If he comes for us, it's going to be bad - really bad."

"I'm not sure I'm the one you should be telling all of this," Ami
said hesitantly. "If this Arago person still poses any kind of threat,
then you really should tell the rest of the Samurai Troopers. Besides, it
was just a dream, right? Dreams don't have to mean anything."

"Maybe it's just my way of dwelling on the past," Ryo suggested
with a smirk as he cast his rose over the side of the railing and took
both of her hands in his own. "Not a good time of year to talk about
people coming back from the dead, and that's all Shin wants to do these
days. Guess it's time I stopped thinking about stuff I can't change and
started paying attention to what's going on around me, hmm?"

"Ryo," Ami breathed, looking up into those earnest, smoldering
eyes of his and feeling slightly dizzy. What was he trying to say?
Blinking and shaking her head slightly, she glanced out over the railing.
A single pink rose bobbed forlornly on the velvety black waves as they
carried it out to sea.

"Your flower is floating away," she said, and Ryo turned with her
to watch as the tiny spot of colour drifted off into the endless depths.
They stood side by side for several minutes, his hand on her shoulder as
the rose spun and twirled its lonely salute for the fallen. The flower
rose on the crest of a swelling wave, visible for one final moment in the
moonlight before it plunged out of sight forever. Ami closed her eyes
and bowed her head in silence. After a while, she looked over to see what
Ryo was doing. She was a bit startled to realise he was staring at her.

Impulsively, he hooked Ami's chin with one finger and lifted her
head up as he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. Ami stiffened,
her entire body going rigid, and made a muffled squeaking sound. After a
long moment of hesitation, her eyes fluttered shut and she melted into
the kiss with a sigh, curling her arms around Ryo's neck and letting
herself hang off of him.

Their lips parted, and Ami craned her neck to briefly bring them
back into contact again; rising on her tiptoes to prolong the experience
as much as possible. The summer breeze stirred through the park, filling
the air with wisteria blossoms and ruffling their hair like the hands of
an old friend. Ami slowly lowered herself back down to the ground, still
holding herself close to him and revelling in his warmth and his scent
and the wonderfulness of his existence.

"I should probably go," she whispered, rubbing her cheek against
his shirt as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Usagi and Rei must be
back at the hotel by now, and I forgot to leave them a note. They're
probably really worried."

Ryo nodded as he let her go and backed away, still gazing straight
into her eyes in the disturbingly perceptive way he had. "Yeah, you're
right - we should really get back to where we started."

Ami shyly watched as the handsome young samurai began to work his
way back up the hill towards the park entrance. Pausing, he looked back
and extended his hand to her with an impish smirk. He was still looking
at her with those same eyes that had been daring her to kiss him since the
moment they met, but this time she simply reached out confidently and
accepted his hand as he pulled her up alongside him. She had come to terms
with Ryo Sanada, even if they were both still a bit uncertain as to what
those conditions implied. Had this been a date? Were they dating, now?
Just friends? In love? What, exactly, *were* they?

With a shrug, Ami leaned against Ryo's arm and wandered off into
the night. They were comfortable, she decided. That was what they were.
Maybe for right now, that was all they needed to be. They were Ami Mizuno
and Ryo Sanada. Everything else would work itself out later.

She hoped it would be soon.

**********

To Be Continued...



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[David McMillan]

Morgan Hudson wrote:

> RONIN SUMMER: CONVERGENCE
>
> A Bishoujou Senshi Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over

Ever wonder what "Trishojou" or "Quatreshojou" would be like?

> by Morgan Hudson
>
> "Convergence (n) - the approach of an infinite series to a finite limit."

My, how... asymptotic.

> Chapter 5: The Ghosts That Haunt Me
>
> Once, long ago, the entire earth realm had been united under the
> banner of the great King Hyperion. His people had called him the Golden
> Emperor, and his dominion had stretched from one horizon to the other.

So, about 35 miles in radius, then? I suppose you could expand that
by making the observation deck of the palace tower higher, but even
from high orbit, you'd only be seeing half the planet at best.

> Concerned with the welfare of his people, he marched his armies even into
> their dreams, and quelled the various beings he found in that strange

"We're from the Department of Dream Security, and we're here to help."

> land. In power and in stature he was second only to the graceful Queen
> Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, to whom he had grudgingly given his
> allegiance long ago. A bold and honourable warrior, even in his advanced
> years, Hyperion had abided by the conditions of his truce with Queen
> Serenity, and spread his borders in the mortal realm no further than the
> reaches of his own planet. From the realm of sleep, however, he stumbled
> upon a world of turbulent nightmares that posed a threat to his people
> in both the realm of the waking and the lands of the dreaming. This, he
> had decided, would not do. Leaving the mysterious 'Metallia' and her
> people alone never crossed his mind.

Oh, dear. We *know* this won't end well.

> The Golden Emperor decreed, and his three sons moved to make his
> word law. Queen Metallia and all of the peoples of her land were to become
> the mortal enemies of mankind. Had he been stronger, King Hyperion would
> have led the advance himself, but in his weakened state it had fallen to

Sug: "but given his age,"

> his son Prince Orcus, the regent of the dreamlands, to carry his banner
> into this twisted Dark Kingdom. The armies of the dreaming had clashed
> for ages with the evil minions of Metallia and her realm of nightmares,

"ages" is a bit vague. Especially since we don't know what it would
mean, subjectively, to people that (presumably) had much longer
average lifespans than we do in RL.

> battle heaping on top of battle with no sign of ending. Queen Serenity
> had listened patiently to Hyperion's request for assistance, but quietly
> refused to send her Sailor Senshi, or any of the troops of the other
> planets, to aid Prince Orcus and his forces. Why should they attack
> Metallia, Serenity had asked, when she had done nothing to provoke it?
> Surely there had to be a more peaceful way. After all, it had been Orcus
> and Hyperion who had begun the assault. Metallia could not be blamed for
> defending herself. Escalating the conflict was out of the question.

Unfortunately, sometimes you don't get to choose to sit things out.

> Hyperion had politely disagreed. At his command, Prince Endymion
> and the armies of the Earth were dispatched to aid their comrades in the
> land of dreams. Prince Orcus and Prince Endymion had based their armies
> in a gleaming ruby palace that they had dubbed the Crimson Nadir, for
> surely it had seemed to be the lowest point that the armies of Man had
> ever reached. From that stronghold, the newly strengthened armies had
> begun a steady advance in all directions against the bulwark of youma that
> besieged them on all sides. In the west, a brilliant tactician named
> Kunzite outmanuevered and overwhelmed his monstrous foes despite their
> numerical advantage. In the north, the deadly and genteel Zoicite faced
> and defeated a swath of enemy commanders in duel after duel, always
> victorious no matter what the odds against him. The power of the stars
> had led Nephrite to victory in the south, with his lightning raids and
> demoralizing attacks timed to perfectly coincide with his opponents'
> least auspicious moments. The east had been the domain of Jadeite, the
> youngest and least experienced of Endymion's centurions.
>
> Jadeite remembered the Crimson Nadir very well, which was part of
> why it sickened him to see that the once glorious fortress had fallen into
> such disrepair. The crystal walls had been allowed to grow unchecked,
> turning the once smooth and gleaming corridors twisted and craggy, their
> once rich luster tarnished and darkened with the countless impurities
> that now filled each facet of formerly pure ruby. The marbled floor was
> buried under millenia of filth, making it seem as though there was nothing
> more than a thick layer of sod to walk on. The trophies and monuments to
> Endymion and Orcus had been shattered or carted away long ago: good
> riddance, in his opinion. It still sickened him to remember how he used
> to faun over those so-called 'nobles' back in the old days.

"Fawn." A 'faun' is something like a satyr, IIRC.
Repetition of "sickened." Maybe 'nauseated' for one instead?

> "Can it be?" A female youma stepped into the corridor, her dark
> almond eyes widening slightly as she stared at him. "Jadeite? Is that
> really you?"
>
> Jadeite raised an eyebrow as he tried to remember who was speaking
> to him. She was attractive, in an exotic fashion: her skin was coral pink,
> and she wore her chestnut hair in a thick bob that accentuated the length
> of her neck. The youma was dressed -if he could call it that- in a red
> swimsuit that showed off far more of her body than Jadeite was comfortable
> with, and exaggerated white dress cuffs adorned her wrists. A golden pair
> of wings fluttered nervously on her forehead as she waited for him to
> respond. He frowned. Golden wings? Ah, of course!
>
> "Quartzie," he said, smiling in recognition. "Long time, no see.
> Tell me, how are the rest of the Doom and Gloom Girls?"

Eh? I'm pretty sure that each of the DGGs got killed off,
*decisively,* during the assault against Beryl that ended SM Season 1.

> "Ready for a rematch, if you'll be leading us," Quartzie said
> exuberantly. "Shale's going to be so excited when I tell her that you've
> returned! You'll see, Jadeite - this time, those Sailor Senshi won't come
> back from what we do to them!"

...so, who brought *them* back?

> "I'm glad to hear it," Jadeite replied, his grin growing slightly
> warmer. "I take it that the rest of the girls are somewhere nearby, then?"
>
> Quartzie nodded vigourously, her hands clasped shyly behind her
> back. "Radanthus sent word to Shale weeks ago that he wanted us to lend
> him a hand against the Sailor Senshi. Shale was saying that she thought
> Radanthus was an overblown windbag, but if YOU'RE back, well, I'm just
> sure she'll change her mind! We'll do anything for you, Jadeite!"
>
> "Will you, now?" Jadeite stoked his chin thoughtfully. "Walk with
> me, Quartzie. I'm on my way to speak to Radanthus, and you are more than
> welcome to come along. Tell Shale that I would be honoured to have the
> Doom and Gloom Girls in my entourage."
>
> Further up the corridor, the dark priest Badamon turned back to
> see what the delay was and gestured furiously for Jadeite to follow him.
> Jadeite scowled in the priest's direction and flicked his fingers
> imperiously at the tattered old freak. Radanthus and Badamon could both
> wait, as far as Jadeite was concerned. Vapid and annoying as Quartzie

Heh. Though it does raise the question, how powerful *is* Jed,
compared to Raddie. Or, for that matter, Badamon?

> might be, the rest of the Doom and Gloom Girls would be powerful allies.
> Since Tethys died, he had been looking for someone reliable to do his
> heavy lifting.
>
> "Lord Jadeite," Badamon wheezed, "I must insist-"
>
> "Keep insisting, you withered old corpse, and I'll turn you to
> vapour," Jadeite growled. "The young lady and I are talking. Your master
> will need to wait until we are done."
>
> "But, Lord Jadeite-"
>
> "Come to think of it," Jadeite said to Quartzie, ignoring Badamon
> completely, "why don't I just go with you and speak to Shale myself right
> now? I'm sure she would appreciate it, and I'm not really doing anything
> important at the moment. Shall we?"

<groan> I really would have expected Jed to be smarter than this --
he's deliberately pissing off his host, with no real current intel, no
backup, and no good reason (yet). The smart thing would be to play
along until he has more data.
But, like I said before, getting brainsucked by Beryl appears to have
supressed the Fab Four's higher intellect functions, while
exaggerating the worst parts of the personalities.

> Badamon ground his teeth together with frustration and watched as
> Jadeite wandered off with the female youma. On the one hand, Radanthus
> had wanted Jadeite in his ranks for exactly this reason: many youma who
> would otherwise resist helping him would be swayed when they learned that
> they would be working with Jadeite again. On the other hand, Badamon was
> less than happy to see that he had found yet another self-important fool
> who thought that he could be ordered around like a common servant. It was
> important that Jadeite learn to play along very quickly. The last thing
> Badamon wanted was for a third party to start muddying the waters and
> messing up his own backstabbing.

"Yeah. Nobody gets to have their own private agenda around here but ME!"

> "Nise Suiko," Badamon hissed, his voice rasping through the
> darkness that enveloped him. Like a wraith, the crimson armoured youma
> appeared out of the shadows and gave him a questioning look. Badamon
> pointed in the direction of the retreating Jadeite and his consort.
>
> "Follow them, Nise Suiko. We don't want Jadeite getting any of the
> wrong ideas about who is running things, here. If he wishes to oppose
> Radanthus, then he is welcome to join us. If he does not wish to join
> us, well..." Badamon shrugged eloquently. "Accidents do have a way of
> happening around you, don't they? Make sure one happens to him."

"Why? He's not Shin Mouri. I only wanna kill Shin Mouri. Will this
get me closer to killing Shin Mouri?"

> Nise Suiko gripped his trident firmly and twisted his wrist. The
> two heavy outer blades snapped shut like a pair of scissors, then opened
> again with the sound of metal sliding on metal. Looking down at his
> master, the monster in the crimson armour nodded his understanding. His

<boggle> "Master"? I *really* don't see NS calling *anyone* that.

> ivory facemask was as expressionless as ever, but a gleeful crimson
> light sparkled behind his visor where his eyes should be.
>
> **********
>
> "The problem with Nise Suiko is that he could be anywhere," Shin
> Mouri clarified, lacing his fingers in front of him and gathering the

"Like, stalking Jaedite. RIGHT NOW. Whoops, wait, I'm not supposed
to know that. Retcon!"

> rest of the small group with his steady gaze. The table in front of him
> was littered with charts and maps of the nearby waters, covered in his own
> carefully pencilled notes and measurements.

Gah. They're trying to chase down a target that isn't there, anymore.

> "The problem with Nise Suiko is that you never shut up about
> him," Ryo Sanada groaned from where he lay on a nearby sofa with his
> arm draped over his eyes. "We get it, okay? You've got an evil twin. You
> don't need to go rubbing it in all the time."

"Yeah. Just because none of the rest of us have evil twins, doesn't
mean you have to keep bragging about yours."

> "What's his problem?" Shin asked Shuu Rei Fuan, who shrugged in
> response and swallowed the mouthful of sandwich he had been working on.
>
> "I'm guessing he's got evil twin envy," Shuu suggested. "You know

<snerk>

> Ryo's always wanted one. They're like the ultimate sign of heroism. Nobody
> takes a guy seriously as a hero unless he's got an evil twin."

<snerk^2>

> "I don't have evil twin envy!" Ryo objected, sitting up on the
> couch and glaring spitefully at Shuu. "I'm just saying that we've been
> doing this for almost two days, now, and we're going in a bunch of damned
> circles! Forget about Nise Suiko - let's just hit the streets, find some
> youma, and pound some answers out of them!"

Riiiight. Because Youma are around selling fake rolexes and
counterfit Guchii bags in every shady alley. What does Ryo think this
is, a Spillane novel? Or maybe a Buffy episode?

> "That actually passes for a plan in your head, doesn't it?" Shin
> asked, shaking his head sadly. Unlike his agitated friend, who was
> practically crackling with energy as usual, Shin was as calm and serene
> as a mountain lake at sunset. He had been very patiently and methodically
> going through every sea chart he could find for the entire coast of Japan
> for the past day without so much as a nervous twitch. He knew how Nise
> Suiko worked: deep down inside, his doppelganger would want to be found.
> All he needed to do was figure out where Nise Suiko would go in order to
> both avoid detection by people like Ryo, and still ensure that Shin
> himself would be able to track him down.

Well, "water" seems like a good bet.

> "Look, I'm sorry if I don't find watching you do geometry to be
> utterly fascinating," Ryo said, rolling off of the couch and onto his
> feet, "but if I have to count these ceiling tiles one more time I am going
> to freak out. I'm getting out of here, okay? If you guys need me, I'll
> probably be at the Hotel Yokohama Garden."
>
> "Ooh," Shuu cooed, "going to go check out the Sailor Senshi?"

<ahem> "Ryo and Ami, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S--"

> "I think you meant 'check up on' the Sailor Senshi, Shuu." Ryo

The sad part is, he's serious.

> grabbed his favorite white shirt and yanked it on over top of the purple
> undershirt he was already wearing. Ruffling his tousled raven hair with
> one hand, the boy quickly grabbed a pair of scuffed Converse sneakers with
> neon green laces out from all of the other shoes lined up by the door and
> began to pull them on.
>
> Shuu blinked and scratched his head. "Nope, I'm pretty sure I got
> that right the first time, Ryo."

<slo-mo facefault -- tiiiiiimmmmmmbeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr>

> "Oh." Ryo thought about for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, either
> way, that's where I'm going to be. Catch you two losers later. Ja ne!"

Yes, the degree of bonding and teamwork here is a wonder to behold.

> The door slammed, and Shuu set down his sandwich. Taking a long
> drink from his juice can, he wiped his lips on the back of his sleeve and
> looked over at Shin.
>
> "So," he said. "Ryo's going to go hang out with the Senshi."
>
> "Sounds that way," Shin agreed, picking up a compass and tracing
> yet another circle on one of the maps in front of him. "Do you suppose
> he's actually figured out that one of those lovely lasses has the hots for
> him yet?"

Cue: "Cold as Ice."
Ami: "They call me HOT ICE MIZUNO! Um... err... I'm sorry, I don't
know what came over me, i'll just gohideundermybednow....."

> "What, our fearless leader?" Shuu snorted derisively. "Not even if
> she fell on his head, man. You know I love that guy, but when it comes to
> girls, he is just plain stupid. The only way he's getting anywhere with
> anybody is by accident. Remember what a dweeb he made out of himself that
> time in New York?"
>
> "Oh, no," Shin said, suddenly bolting to his feet and casting a
> worried glance at the door. "My God, Shuu - it's today, isn't it? Today
> is the day that Luna...."

uh oh.

> "What?" Shuu glanced over at the calender and his mouth fell open
> in astonishment. "Oh, man! No way we could forget something that important
> to him! Ryo, he must think.... Why didn't he SAY something?"

Because Real Men, being idiots, don't share their pain with their
brothers.

> **********
>
> The Castle of Eternal Regret was a place where hopes and dreams
> came to die. Toshitada Koma understood it better than most; perhaps even
> better than those who actually dwelled within its dark and unhallowed
> lands. He had never walked this particular realm before, as it was not
> one that anybody came to when they had a choice in the matter. His
> knowledge was largely second-hand, gleaned from the few tomes and scrolls
> he had found on the matter and several long and involved conversations
> with his elders. Being over five hundred and sixty years old himself,
> Toshitada had an abiding respect for anyone ancient and venerated enough
> to be considered his elder. If they deigned to speak, he was honoured to
> listen. It was an attitude which had gotten him a lot of much-needed
> information on any number of interesting topics.

Doesn't really seem like him. Then again, being *dead* may have
changed his attitude...

> Pausing in his journey, the monk lifted a gourd to his lips and
> took a sip of the nectar within. Eating or drinking anything within this

Sug: "anything to be found within"

> world was not a good idea: like any spirit realm, it would entrap any who
> partook too deeply of its bounty. He had been careful to stop by a safer
> place on his way and pick up some scant supplies for the people he had
> come to rescue. What he had not counted on was the fact that he would
> find himself needing sustenance, too.

"Darn it, I'm a GHOST! I'm not SUPPOSED to get the munchies anymore!
And now I've got the *worst* nicotine craving, and didn't bother
bringing along any cigs!"

> That was strange, as Toshitada Koma was still only just becoming
> used to the idea of being a ghost. As one of the dead, he should be immune
> to the weaknesses of the flesh, and yet he found in this place that even
> he was wilting under the blazing heat of the sun, his stomach growling
> for food and his throat aching for water. Tilting his wide straw hat back
> on his head, he drew his sleeve across his brow and squinted up at the
> giant sun burning in the crimson sky above him. The plain they traversed
> was barren and lifeless, filled with nothing but craggy boulders layered
> atop each other and compressed until only a cracked, rugged field of
> stone remained.
>
> A winged lizard circled in the sky above them, croaking and
> rattling with each flap of its veined wings. Toshitada groaned and
> removed his hat, his long mane of scarlet hair tumbling freely over his
> shoulders and stirring limply in the breeze. Returning the gourd to its
> place at his hip amongst its brethren, the monk looked over his shoulder
> and checked on Touma Hashiba.
>
> The young samurai had seen better days, and they had been far
> away from this place. Touma had always been slim, but after just a short
> time in this realm, he was rapidly approaching 'gaunt'. Dark shadows
> hung beneath his eyes, and his usually pale skin was caked with dust
> and beginning to burn in the sun. His pale green shirt hung loosely around
> his frame, the entire left sleeve crusted with dried blood, and he was
> missing one of his shoes. The shoeless foot was loosely bandaged, and
> badly swollen. Toshitada sighed and carefully tightened the ropes that
> were holding the youth onto his back. Stubborn as ever, the boy had