Ranma is a creation of Rumiko Takahashi, Sailor Moon is by Naoko
Takuchi.  Please don't sue me, I'm poor.

This is the real post, the last one was a mirage, distorted and vague.

                                                    A Different
Viewpoint Chapter 36

 Akane was worrying about Ranma. <If we're having this much trouble with
four, how is Ranma faring?>  The blood from the shallow cuts on her
palms had stopped, although she could still feel a slight trickle from
the cut near her throat.  Akane hefted her captured mace and waited for
War to reach her, recalling what had occurred before.

         ******************************************************

    Akane waited for War to approach. Johnathon had run forward,
speeding past Death, striking at its steed as he went by, causing Death
to wheel about to chase him.  Sasuke's shuriken and Ukyo's mini spatulas
had drawn Famine and Pestilence away, leaving War heading for Akane
alone.

    Akane clenched her fists. <One on one against a demon called War,
wonderful.>  War rode up almost casually and brought his sword down at
Akane in a great arc.  Akane waited until the last moment and stopped
the blade by catching it between her open palms. <It's holding the sword
one-handed, I should be able to tear it loose.>  She grunted with the
effort of stopping the blade, but had to put every bit of strength into
keeping it from plunging into her chest.  <Uh oh, it's stronger than I
thought.>

    War stared down at Akane and began exerting greater pressure. Akane
strained with every ounce of her strength to hold back the sword. It
wasn't quite enough. The sword came down inexorably. Akane's effort to
keep it away was causing the sword to cut slightly into her palms, and
blood was starting to drip from the tip as it touched her throat. With a
cry, Akane threw herself backwards, letting go of the sword. The weapon
flashed down with incredible speed cutting her throat, slicing open the
front of her gi top and just catching the knot of her belt as she felt
back. Akane rolled completely over and threw herself to her side as
War struck again, barely missing her.

    Akane started running and War turned its steed to follow. Akane
could hear War gaining but she couldn't stop running in fear. Just
before War caught up and cut her down, Johnathon attacked War's mount
from the rear, hamstringing it and leaping away. Akane spun around at
the tremendous clatter of War hitting the ground as his steed fell out
from under him. Akane steeled herself against the unnatural fear she had
been feeling and her battle aura flared in anger.

    Akane grimaced at the failure of her previous tactic. <He's too
strong to beat that way. I'll have to use speed.>  War rose from his
stricken steed and decapitated it with his sword in anger.  The demonic
horse disintegrated and War's eyes began to glow bright red. <Death
feeds it.>  Akane realized, then prepared herself for a second attack.
There was a flashing blue light from her right, but Akane ignored it.

    War headed for her quickly, pulling a large shield off its back. The
shield's edge was serrated and looked sharp. Akane let War come to her
then, dodging its first swing and moving inside its guard, quickly
attacking.

    "Chestnut Fist!" Akane shouted as she struck multiple times, going
for one of the weapons on its belt. Before she could free anything, War
brought its shield into play, blocking her. Akane was forced to leap
back as it swung at her, again and again, faster, and faster. <It�s
copying the Chestnut Fist? Oh &%$!>
Backpedaling, Akane though rapidly. <I need a distraction, just for a
second. Her gi top flapping open in front of her caught her eye. <OK.>
Akane pulled her gi top off.  Her tee shirt underneath was intact,
except for a cut in the neck and the slowly spreading bloodstain.

    Akane leaped over War, dropping the gi top on his head. War's sword
cut her top to ribbons but Akane was able to use the moment to grab a
large mace off of
War's belt and jump away, just as War swung at her again. Akane backed
off, taking the time to wonder about Ranma and the fate of her other
friends. She glanced around to see how everyone else fared as War
approached.

    Akane spotted Johnathon going toe to toe with Death. The skeletal
scythe carrier seemed to be losing. Its robes were tattered and
Johnathon looked unhurt.
Johnathon dodged a scythe swing, and darted in again. Johnathon tore
more strips out of Death as he passed it, before getting out of range
again.

   Akane focused back on her own fight, as War was about to reach her.
<But where are Kuno, Sasuke and Ukyo?>

         ***********************************************

    At the beginning of the fight, Kuno had been confident of success.
As the demons appeared, the Kuno honor blade had glowed a faint blue.
Sasuke's stars had attracted Famine's attention nicely.  Kuno had stood
patiently waiting for the demon to come to its death.  Famine charged
and Kuno slashed its mount, stepping to the side in a flawless evasion.
The Kuno honor blade flared a brilliant blue as it bit into Famine's
demonic steed. There was a crash behind him as Kuno held his pose for
the necessary second to achieve true elegance of style, then turned to
face his foe.

    Famine had already risen to its feet, its mount having disintegrated
messily even as it had hit the ground. Kuno began his classic
multistrike, his sword flashing brightly as he attacked. Famine faded
backwards with alacrity, avoiding his blade much as Saotome had in their
first duel. Kuno wasn't about to begin worrying, but the possibility
that this foe might prove a true threat after all did occur to him.

        ***********************************************

    Ukyo's attack against Pestilence had started out well. Her mini
spatulas had gotten its attention and Pestilence had charged at her.
Ukyo moved backwards, deciding to take out its steed first so Pestilence
wouldn't have the speed to close with her. A volley of mini spatulas
wounded the nightmarish horse. Ukyo charged in as it faltered, throwing
a flour bomb then jumping high. The flour bomb providing a handy smoke
screen, Ukyo came down with her giant spatula on the head of
Pestilence's mount. The steed fell with a crash and Ukyo leapt away to
survey the situation.

    The flour cleared and Pestilence stood over its fallen mount. Ukyo
grinned in triumph, until Pestilence put its hand upon its steed. The
demon horse started to fester and turn green.

    Ukyo frowned. <What's it doing?>  Seconds later she found out as the
stricken horse turned entirely green and exploded.  Ukyo flinched back
as gore splattered the landscape for a dozen feet on all sides. <That's
disgusting!>  Ukyo shuddered in revulsion.  <There is no way I'm going
to let that thing touch me.>  Ukyo began readying a brace of mini
spatulas while studying the Youma. <Why did it kill its own steed?  Why
show off its ability unless...> Ukyo's eyes narrowed. Pestilence's
grotesque form seemed larger.  As it approached she was sure. <It�s
eight feet tall now! On the back of its horse it was smaller. Killing
makes it grow.>

    Ukyo threw five mini spatulas in quick succession.  <And its touch
kills.>  Pestilence was struck by three of the five projectiles as it
quickly came for Ukyo.  The mini spatulas bit into the monster,
momentarily slowing it and ripping small holes in three places. Ukyo
nodded grimly. <It's vulnerable to my weapons. I can beat this monster
for sure.>  Pestilence started coming at Ukyo once more, bleeding thick
black blood from three wounds. Ukyo prepared more spatulas to throw,
then noticed something off about the creature.  <Its blood... moves...
that's not blood, it's bleeding... insects, it's BLEEDING INSECTS!>
Horrified, Ukyo stared and confirmed it.  Venomous insects crawled from
Pestilence's wounds, some crawled, and some flew, adding to the noxious
green cloud around the monster.

    Ukyo fought back her bile. <Those bugs can't be good. Time to bring
out the big guns.>  Ukyo reached into her shirt and brought out what
looked like another flour bomb.  She threw it and it burst over
Pestilence and the bugs in a cloud. Ukyo followed the bomb with a single
spatula, angled at the pavement to throw a spark into the cloud. An
instant later Ukyo's gunpowder bomb ignited in a series of tiny
explosions. Pestilence was blackened, it's wounds cauterized, but it was
still moving. <Damn. If I cut it, it bleeds insects, and I only have one
more gunpowder bomb. How can I stop that thing?>

    Ukyo backed away from Pestilence. The creature was gaining speed as
it came for her. Ukyo backpedaled faster, trying to think of a way to
win.

    As Johnathon continued fighting with Death he became more and more
convinced his present tactics weren't sufficient to defeat his opponent.
He was faster than the skeletal monster, but his claws did little to its
bony form other than tearing its robe and scratching its bones.

    Johnathon backed off momentarily, breathing hard.  <I'm getting
tired too, and it's not slowing at all.  I need to hurt it decisively.>

    Johnathon changed his martial arts form to compensate. He had been
using his speed and claws to rake the creature in a very cat-like style.
Johnathon had developed it as a variation of several different cat based
kung fu styles he had picked up in China, as well as with some
inspiration from Ranma's Cat Fist.  It was fast and effective, but
lacked the strength necessary to damage Death's bones. Johnathon went to
a kickboxing style, drawing energy from the earth to power his kicks.
Death came in swinging its scythe, but Johnathon didn't dodge as he had
before. He stepped into the swing, blocking the shaft with both
forearms, then grabbing hold of the weapon as he began to lash out with
a series of kicks.

    Johnathon kicked through Death's rib cage and slammed his foot into
the skeletal monster's chin with great force. Death tried to pull its
scythe free but Johnathon held on grimly with both hands. Using Death's
strength against it, Johnathon timed a drop kick when Death was pulling
back. Smashing both feet into the unearthly skull and knocking Death off
its feet.  Johnathon followed Death down, crushing Death's skull into
the pavement with both feet as it hit. The skeleton crumbled as its
skull shattered, and the scythe came free in Johnathon�s hands. He
stepped back, Death's scythe in his hands, triumphant.

    Johnathon blinked. "Well, that was easier than I thought..."

    As he did so, an evil voice filled his head. <One who destroys
death, becomes death.>  Johnathon�s eyes started to glow red as his
consciousness faded.

    Off in the distance, Akane raised her captured mace and charged her
opponent with a yell of rage. Her aura burning bright red, Akane leapt
into the air and came down swinging upon the armored monster. War
blocked her strike with its shield, only to have its protection knocked
away with incredible force. Akane hammered into the monster with inhuman
strength, crashing through its defenses and smashing into its head and
body again and again. The Youma feebly tried to parry with its sword and
Akane's mace, glowing with the red of her battle aura, shattered its
weapon, smashing into War's helmet.  With a final blow, Akane blew the
demonic warrior clean off its feet, sending it sailing into the air.

    Akane collapsed to one knee, her aura faded, her strength spent in
her assault. Wearily, Akane propped herself up with her now dented and
dinged weapon.
War hit the ground seconds later in a tremendous crash, then
disintegrated. Akane noted her victory, then fell onto her side, too
tired to move.

    Tatiwaki Kuno slumped to one knee as Famine grabbed him by the
throat. It had finally slipped past his defenses and gotten hold of him.
Kuno could feel his strength draining from him in waves and knew he had
only seconds to act. With sheer strength of will he plunged the Kuno
honor blade into the belly of his foe and began drawing it upward. The
blade flared a brilliant blue and flame crackled along its length.  Even
as consciousness faded Kuno forced the blade up to Famine's neck. Kuno
lost consciousness, his flaming sword still stuck into his foe. Famine
screamed in rage and disintegrated moments later. The Kuno honor blade
clattered to the ground, even as Kuno himself collapsed backwards.

    Sasuke caught his master before Kuno hit the ground. He had been
unable to assist at the incredible speeds his master and the creature
had been fighting.  All he could do was carry his Master Kuno to safety.

    Ukyo was rapidly running out of room to run. Pestilence had chased
her into a dead end and she still couldn't think of how to attack it
without things just getting worse. Then, behind the monster came two
girls, one with long white hair, one with black. They each carried a
couple of large bottles, which they started throwing at the monster from
behind. The first two bottles hit Pestilence in the back and broke,
soaking the monster. It turned and the second two bottles hit it,
soaking its front as they broke upon it. Ukyo recognized the two girls
from before. They had come with the Senshi, although they didn't seem to
have any powers.

    The white haired girl yelled to Ukyo as Pestilence approached her.
"It�s soaked with sake! All you have to do is light it!"

    Ukyo blinked, then pulled out her giant battle spatula. <Sake, four
bottles, eh? OK, I know what I have to do.>  Ukyo leapt at the creature
coming down on its head with a downward cut. It started to turn back
toward her too late and she struck it with every ounce of her strength.
The battle spatula practically bisected the monster and Ukyo leapt away
as insects began pouring out. Ukyo tossed her last gunpowder bomb and
every last mini spatula she had left as she landed and started backing
away. The bomb exploded from a spark struck off one mini spatula and the
monster and its bugs began burning brightly as the sake all caught fire
at once.

    Ukyo kept throwing mini spats at Pestilence, aiming for its arms and
legs. She managed to cut off both arms and one leg at the knee before
running out of spatulas.

    <Not enough.>  Ukyo thought grimly as she looked at the burning
monster.  Ukyo hefted her battle spatula and ran in, then began chopping
at the flaming Youma. She could barely stand the heat, but persisted
until she had reduced it into small chunks, then leapt away once more.
Ukyo dropped her battle spatula and blew on her hands. "Ow, ow ow, that
smarts!" The two girls that had helped her walked up cautiously.

    The white haired girl spoke up. "Why did you attack it while it was
burning? It was already beaten, right?"

    Ukyo shook her head. "Nope. Four bottles of sake weren't enough to
cook that whole thing. I know, I'm a chef. It had to be reduced to
smaller pieces for the whole thing to burn up." She waved at the burning
mass.  As they watched, the flames began to die. "You see?  The sake's
already burned up. If I hadn't cut it up it would have only burnt on the
outside. Since it was filled with... bugs, I figured that wouldn't have
been enough."

    The black haired girl nodded. "Very nicely done, Ms..."

    Ukyo held out her hand. "Ukyo. Thanks for the assist...."

    "You can call me Diana." The girl said with a smile. "We should see
if the others need help."

    Ukyo nodded. "Right." She picked up her battle spatula and headed
for the sounds of fighting. Ukyo was in time to see War collapse and
disintegrate.
"Alright! Looks like we won!" Sasuke was dragging Kuno toward the limo.
Akane was kneeling over by War. Ukyo headed for Akane as she collapsed.
She waved at Johnathon, who was standing quietly holding Death's scythe.
"Hey Johnathon! Come help me with Akane!" The tall, black furred,
half-cat turned toward her, his eyes glowing red. He raised the scythe
and charged.  "Oh @#$%!" Ukyo swore, then brought her battle spatula to
the ready. "This is not good."

    Ukyo parried Johnathon's downward swipe with her giant spatula.
"Johnathon! Snap out of it! What's wrong with you?" She parried
frantically, dodging backwards as she did so. The half-cat was fast,
faster than she was, and it was only her greater skill with her weapon
that kept her alive. Johnathon wasn't responding at all to her cries.
His glowing red eyes and reliance on using the scythe told her why, even
as 'Diane' shouted.

    "He's been possessed by a Youma!" Diane informed her anxiously.

    Ukyo kept her defenses. "I can tell! But how do we unpossess him?"

    "It must be the scythe!" Diane shouted again.  "Disarm him!"

    Ukyo nodded grimly and started attempting to do so.  Johnathon held
the weapon with both hands and Ukyo wasn't able to knock it free using
conventional tactics. Ukyo threw tactics out the window, and threw her
spatula at Johnathon. As the cat creature parried it she stepped in and
grabbed his wrists. There was an intense struggle, then Ukyo managed to
rip Johnathon�s hands apart and off the scythe. The scythe dropped to
the ground and Ukyo kicked it away. Johnathon continued to struggle to
get loose, the red glow in his eyes not diminishing.

    Ukyo held him off with her slightly greater strength and yelled. "It
didn't work! Now what?"

    Diane yelled back. "Knock him out!"

    Before Ukyo could attempt to do so the black furred half-cat kicked
her in the chest, tearing his arms free and knocking Ukyo to the ground.
Ukyo started to roll to her feet but was knocked back to the ground as
Johnathon pounced on her. His claws raked down her chest and only the
extra padding of her breast binding kept her from being seriously cut.
Ukyo re-established her hold on Johnathon�s wrists and gathered her legs
under him. She kicked him away before he could rake her again and
swiftly rolled to her feet. The half cat landed on all fours and quickly
pounced back at her even as Ukyo stood. Ukyo jumped to the side, barely
dodging his attack, and dived for her battle spatula.

    Johnathon came for her again and Ukyo turned to defend herself, this
time with her spatula in hand.  Ukyo parried his claws away and brought
her spatula down towards Johnathon�s head. He dodged away and Ukyo
gripped her weapon tightly, preparing for his next attack He charged in
with great speed. Ukyo brought her spatula across in a counter attack
and knocked him sprawling. Before he could get to his feet Ukyo jumped
in and smashed his head into the ground with her spatula.

    Ukyo stepped back, surveying her opponent. He seemed quite
unconscious, and she breathed a sigh of relief, just then noticing the
ease of doing so. Ukyo looked down, noticing her chest was no longer
constricted, and her shirt was hanging open. Ukyo tried to sheath her
battle spatula, then noticed her bandoleer was laying in two pieces a
dozen feet away, next to her breast bindings. Ukyo looked down, noting
with relief that she wasn't badly cut, just a few nicks near her throat
that weren't bleeding much at all. Ukyo pulled the front of her shirt
closed with one hand, holding her giant spatula with the other.

    The two girls that had helped her walked up. "Great job!" The white
haired girl said with a smile.

    'Diane' knelt to check Johnathon. "The evil in him is gone. We've
won!" She looked up with a grin. "You won, Ukyo, well done."

        **************************************************

    Ranma grimaced, dodging around, hemmed in by increasing numbers of
Youma. "Whose good idea was this?" Of course, it had been his idea. It
had all begun well enough....

        **************************************************

    Hundreds of black bodied Youma were gathering between them and their
target. They had approached and everyone had started unleashing their
long-range attacks.  Youma had fallen by the dozen. Sailor Moon's power
had been very effective, destroying every Youma it touched. Tuxedo Kamen
was busy keeping the more enthusiastic Youma away from her. The inner
Senshi worked together well, but lacked power. They each could handle
about a single Youma at a time. The Outer Senshi were very powerful.
Their attacks weren't quite as affective as Sailor Moon's, but nearly
so. Sailor Saturn was obviously holding back, but from the other
Senshi's reactions, Ranma figured there was a reason for that.

    The Nerima martial artists held back at first, not wanting to
exhaust their Chi so early. As the Youma closed, Mousse started throwing
knives, chains, and assorted other objects at them. Sailor Moon decided
on a plan. "We have to fight our way to the tree. Then we take it out."

    It had seemed simple enough earlier. Ranma watched the others firing
their attacks into the Youma and came up with a great idea. He ran up to
Mars and Mercury.  "Hey, can you two make a spiral? Heading towards the
tree?""

    Mars shot off a flame sniper and glanced at him.  "What? Why?"

    Mercury nodded. "I think I understand, Mars follow my lead."

    Sailor Mercury created a spiral of cold water, facing the incoming
Youma. Sailor Mars only hesitated a moment before firing a flaming
spiral following Mercury's
out.

    "Perfect!" Ranma grinned in anticipation and jumped into the center
of the spiral.

    "What's he doing?" Mars asked, confused.

    "Watch." Mercury said, holding the spiral steady.

    "Hiro-Shoten-Ha!" Thrusting both arms forward Ranma started the
hurricane. The powerful wind, laced with alternating streaks of fire and
ice, shot into the
middle of the army of Youma with devastating results.

    As impressive as the attack was, there didn't seem to be any let up
in the number of Youma. For a few more moments the combined powers of
the Senshi held back the wave of Youma, but soon it appeared they would
be overrun again. Cologne let off her own whirlwind to hold the right
side, while Ryoga let off a medium powerful Shi-Hi-Hokodan. Shampoo and
Mousse stood ready. It wouldn't be much longer before they were needed.

    It wasn't. The Youma kept coming, and the Sailors weren't getting
much closer to the tree. As it seemed they would be overrun, Shampoo,
Mousse, Ryoga and
Ranma kicked into high gear. Youma flew everywhere and they began making
progress again.

    Shampoo danced from opponent to opponent with almost supernatural
grace, bonbori in one hand, crushing skulls and breaking limbs. Her
sword was in her other hand, and where it passed, things died.

    Mousse never seemed to run out of weapons. He was fighting with a
pair of scimitars one moment, then paused to fling various missiles
where they were needed.

    Ryoga, on the other hand, had stopped throwing his bandannas a while
back. Now he was laying waste to the Youma near him with his umbrella,
his incredible strength, and numerous breaking point explosions.

    Ranma was a blur of motion, punches and kicks coming at
Chestnut-fist speed. Cologne had joined him, and the two seemed to be
everywhere at once, and wherever they were, Youma fell.

    Fighting better then they could remember, the Nerima Martial artists
for once worked as a team, keeping the Youma away from the 9 Senshi,
which allowed them to get a much needed break.

    Sailor Jupiter caught her breath. "Man, why have we been doing this?
Those guys ought to be the ones to save the world!"

    Sailor Moon's eyes were wide as she watched. "Wow, did you see
that?"

    Mars grabbed her shoulder to shake her a bit (as well as to get a
rest, though she wouldn't admit she needed one). "Don't get too
impressed Meatball-head, we still gotta get out there again and fight,
we're not there yet."

    Tuxedo Kamen rested heavily on his cane, his job of protecting
Sailor Moon being one of the most difficult.  "We needed the break. Is
everyone alright?" There
were nods all around.

    Sailor Mercury had taken the break to scan their surroundings more
completely with her visor. "I'm afraid Sailor Mars is right, there are
many more Youma approaching this region, we must hurry."

    Pluto nodded. "Now is the time to strike, use this moment well."

    The Sailor Scouts rejoined the battle, using the cover provided to
set up their most devastating attacks. They pressed forward rapidly at
first, but too soon Youma began attacking them from the sides, then
coming up from the rear. As they had to defend from all sides, their
progress across the uneven ground fell to a crawl.

    Ryoga beat off a number of winged youma trying to carry off Sailor
Moon, and shouted, "It's no use! We're not going to make it! There are
too many!" He blew several away with a spontaneous chi blast.

    <Leave it to Ryoga to state the obvious,>  Ranma thought,
frustrated.  <Still he's right, we'll be overwhelmed sooner or later.
I've gotta come up with a plan.>  As he fought, an idea began to come to
him.  <These things don't want to let us get to that tree, right? So if
one of us were to get a lot closer, they'd concentrate on that person.>
He yelled to Cologne, "Take care of things here, huh, you old ghoul?"
He then rushed back to the inner senshi, who had grouped together
tightly for support.

    Cologne watched him say something to Sailors Mars and Mercury. <Is
that fool going to do what I think he is?>

    Mars started the spiral this time, closely followed by Mercury. They
aimed it directly at the Tree. No one questioned what Ranma was doing,
but instead Ryoga
and Shampoo stepped in to guard the two Sailors, and everyone else
stepped up their attacks to compensate.

    Ranma jumped into the spiral and shouted, "When the Youma come after
me, make a break for the tree!" He focused his chi, and shouted the
words again,
"Hiryo-Shoten-HA!" The whirlwind formed, blasting away the Youma in its
path, and Ranma leapt forward into the spiral. He was hurled at the tree
faster then he could run. As he was flung forward Ranma's lip curled
into a confident smirk. The wind was dying out, and a wall of Youma had
formed in his path. His hands came together, and the energy of his will
and confidence formed there.  "Roaring Lion Bullet!" he roared as the
attack blasted the wall apart and struck the base of the tree. Ranma
staggered and hit the ground rolling as his impromptu flight ended. The
Youma came from everywhere to stop him. He rolled to his feet and began
dodging with all his remaining speed. Half a minute later he performed
another Hiro-Shoten-Ha, in its typical vertical form, to give himself
some breathing room. He then cursed to himself. "They're still
coming?!"  He started his spiral dance once again. "Whose bright idea
was this anyway?" he asked, knowing the answer. <I just hope it's
working, I don't know how long I can keep this up.>  Already his body
was showing several minor cuts from close calls.  <I've got to keep
drawing their attention.>

    Cologne shook her head in a wistful manner as she generated an
explosive ground wave  (based on the breaking point) to clear out a
path. She gazed occasionally at Ranma's last seen position. <The boy's
plan seems to be working, but for how long, and at what price?>

    The Youma had indeed thinned in their area, drawing back a bit upon
Ranma's explosive departure, and splitting their forces to prevent him
from getting to the giant tree. The lessened pressure allowed the Senshi
to press forward, ever closer to their objective. Cologne broke yet
another wave of Youma before noticing a twister ahead and to the right.
<So the boy still lives. I wonder for how much longer?>

    Cologne heard Sestuna call to the girl with the glaive. <She's
calling herself Sailor Pluto now.> Cologne reminded herself.

    "Saturn, now is the moment." Pluto said softly, yet everyone could
hear her above the tumult.

    The Youngest Sailor nodded grimly and started to rise into the air.
She wielded the glave as if it were made of pure lightning, her attacks
coming faster and faster, steadily increasing in strength. Youma fell by
the dozens, blown apart by Saturn's attacks. She struck to every side
with power beyond anything Cologne had seen in all her years.  <Even
Saffron the Phoenix King did not wield such power!>  Cologne watched
with something approaching awe as their path to the giant tree was
cleared, and every Youma near was blasted to atoms.  As swiftly as
Saturn had begun, she ended, falling senseless to the ground.

    Sailor Moon gasped, "Is she--?"

    Pluto shook her head. "Saturn stopped before using her life energy.
She will survive." Pluto looked hard at Sailor Moon. "Now it's up to
you, Sailor Moon.
You shall do what you must."

    Sailor Moon nodded, and with a flash of radiant light, transformed
once more. She stood now, taller somehow, in a flowing white dress. The
Senshi followed her as she walked quickly towards the tree. Sailor Moon,
now Serenity, called forth the power of the Silver Crystal and blasted
the tree with every bit of her power.

    Off to the right, a few moments back, Ranma had just ended his
fourth Hiro-Shoten-Ha in a row. The Youma were eagerly generating most
of the needed energy, but it was still exhausting. <One, maybe two more,
then I'm done,>  Ranma thought wearily.  He began the spiral again, when
a searing light tore into the Youma from the left. Ranma summoned his
chi like a shield, and resisted the attack. When the light faded, most
of the Youma around him had fallen, and the remaining ones were ignoring
him and headed away in that direction. Ranma blinked in astonishment,
then headed after them. <What the heck was that? Not that
I'm complaining.>

    A little less then half a minute later a tremendous beam of white
light shot out from the spot the Youma were heading for and struck the
giant tree. Ranma picked up speed, heading for the source of light,
bouncing from Youma to Youma as he fought his way forward. <Heh, looks
like my plan worked, the stupid tree's going down for the count.>

    Elsewhere, Mara swore in frustration. <The Youma just aren't doing
the job anymore.> She had been holding herself back because the sensor
readings told her that two of the blasted Senshi had sufficient power to
destroy even her, a First Class Demon (Unlimited),  One was unconscious
now, but the other was obliterating her tree, and there weren't enough
Youma left in the area to stop her.  <I can't block the power either. It
would overwhelm my most powerful force field in seconds.>

    Mara scanned the power output carefully. <Ah, there's a weakness!>
She smiled evilly and teleported.  Mara reappeared behind the Senshi,
about fifty yards off. The remaining Senshi and four of those accursed
martial artists were holding off the remaining Youma while their leader
poured energy into her tree. It was a seedling of Yggdrassil, corrupted
but still incredibly powerful. Even so, it wouldn't last much longer.

    Mara concentrated her energy. Sailor Moon was focusing on offense,
counting on her friends to protect her. She was vulnerable to attack.
Mara called down a powerful bolt of lightning on the girl's head. Sailor
Moon dropped like a rock. Mara summoned a shield around herself and
moved forward. None of those who remained were a threat. Her enhanced
powers on this plane could resist any lesser assault.

    Mara laughed as she stalked forward. <I'll take that power source
from that foolish Sailor Moon, and then nothing will stop me!> Mara tore
into the Senshi, tossing force bolts right and left. The martial artists
fell to directed lightning strikes. The Senshi fell soon after. Her foes
were vanquished. Mara gloated and
moved in to retrieve the silver crystal.

        *******************************************

    Ranma was startled to see the light cut off from ahead. The tree was
still standing. Before Ranma could figure out what was happening he
noticed a faint glow coming from just before him. It came from a
standing pool of water, left over from one of Mercury's blasts, heated
and melted by the attack that had destroyed most of the Youma. The light
came from it. Then, the forms of three women, holding hands, rose from
the water.

    The women called to him. "Ranma, you must listen."

    Ranma paused. "What? Who are you?"

    The woman on the right, tall, bronze skinned with blonde hair, spoke
first.  "We are the fates."

    The woman in the middle, more of a girl really, with long black hair
and a light if heathy complexion, grinned. "And we're here to help."

    A beautiful young woman with long brown hair smiled kindly at his
obvious confusion. "Trust us, all is not yet lost."

    Ranma found he believed her, though he couldn't later say why. He
stepped up to them and noticed that they were slightly translucent as if
they weren't completely there. The girl in the middle reached back into
the pool of water and pulled something out from under its surface,
though Ranma was sure it couldn't be more than a few inches deep. He
blinked at it as it came into view. <A Tanuki statue?>

    The lovely brown haired young woman smiled gently at him again. "We
cannot come fully into this plane, but this statue will serve you."

    The girl in the middle nodded enthusiastically.  "Hurry and take it!
You'll see!"

    The bronze skinned woman on the right nodded as she pointed to the
statue. "That's right kiddo, hit Mara with it. It'll work, you have my
guarantee!"

    The three women vanished, leaving behind the statue.

    Ranma grabbed it. "What the heck?" He shrugged and ran on, heading
for the noise of battle from up ahead.  Ranma heard the sound die away
and he cleared the last few Youma to see a strange but beautiful woman
standing over the bodies of his friends. She was bending over to grab
something from Sailor Moon.  Ranma coughed to get her attention. "Ahem,
excuse me." The woman looked up, startled. Ranma spoke politely. "Is
your name Mara?"

    The woman blinked. "How did you know?"

    Ranma smiled. "Thanks, that's a yes." He hefted the statue and
hurled it at her  <This better work.> Even as that thought passed
through his head, the Tanuka statue crashed into Mara, sending her
flying. The horde of Youma remaining started to wander about
mindlessly.  Ranma looked about bemusedly. "Well, now that
was anti-climatic..."

    Sailor Moon, dressed in the long white dress of the Moon Princess,
slowly sat up. "What happened?"

    Ranma shrugged. "I think maybe we won?"

    Pluto arose, and shook her head to clear it.  "Ranma Saotome, again
your timing is impeccable."

    Ranma looked at her confused. <Again? We've never met before, have
we?>

    Serenity concentrated on letting the silver crystal heal her then
focused on the tree. "Not quite. There's still one thing to do." She
gathered the crystal's power and let it go, right at the tree....

    A minute or so later, Mara slowly forced herself to her feet. "Where
in the nine hells did he get that good luck charm?" She growled angrily.
Mara shook the cobwebs from her head and glanced around. "My tree!  It's
gone!" Mara looked over toward the culprit. She had changed back to her
Sailor Moon guise and her friends were all awake and gathering around.
"@#$%! I'll kill every one of them!" Mara swore angrily and started
marching over toward them. Suddenly she was caught in a force field.
"What?!?"

    Three forms materialized around her. "It's us!"  Urd announced
happily. "And you are SO toast!"

    Skuld grinned. "With the doom tree gone, we can teleport here
again."

    Belldandy shook her head sadly at the trapped demoness. "Time for us
to go, Mara. You've done enough damage for today." With an audible
'pop', the three goddesses and the demoness vanished.

    Several dozen yards away the Sailor Senshi and the Nerima martial
artists, partially revived by the silver crystal, gathered their wits.
They looked nervously around at the mass of Youma around them. The Youma
were still milling about aimlessly but there was no telling how long
that would last.

    Sailor Moon glanced around at her friends. "Is everyone ready for a
Sailor Teleport?" The Senshi nodded tiredly.

    Mercury summoned up a geyser of cold water.  "Everybody in!" Mousse,
Shampoo, Ryoga and Ranma all dived through the spray and came out
transformed,
and much smaller.

    Jupiter glanced around at the Youma, they were still milling around,
but were starting to show signs of greater animation. "We're out of
time, they're about to wake up!" The Senshi gathered in a circle.

    Tuxedo Kamen shouted. "Teleport!" With a flash of light, they left
the wakening Youma behind. The puzzled creatures kicked around a wet
pile of clothing and weapons.


End of Chapter 36.

If you enjoyed this, you can find the rest of this work at:
http://www.geocites/Tokyo/Dojo/1449

Thanks for everyone's patience.  The last post of this was a draft,
really!  Special thanks to Freemage and David Johnston for all their
help.