The website for this, by the way, is at:

http://members.tripod.com/DNyx/index.html


So, moving right along, then...

[Continued from (1/2)]


...

	Jadeite-chan gazed through a thick transparent wall into
the base's cavernous docking bay, which contained a multitude of
spacecraft in varying states of construction and repair.

	Of particular interest was a chrome-colored vessel with a
dual hull: A saucer section connected to a drive section with two
large struts that seemed to have propulsion as their only
possible purpose.

	On the tour just before her first stay here, some specifics
on the ship's capabilities had been expounded upon.

	"If I had _that_," the cute blonde whispered, "I could-"

	"Destroy the world," 'Tim noted as he walked up beside her,
"And still have time to swing back over to the capital of the
Juraian Empire to raze a few buildings." He looked down at her.
"I know, I've done it."

	Jadeite-chan paused, then turned toward the pink-haired
man, then gasped as she noticed the golden crescent moon on
his forehead.

	"What?" 'Tim asked. "Didn't I get all the marks out of
my shirt?" He looked down at his new-looking green gi-jacket,
smoothing back his bangs, the glow from the crescent moon mark
illuminating the immediate area.

	The girl, not having quite enough time to recover from the
shock and come up with suitable composure, started to back off.
"You're one of THEM!"

	'Tim looked at her. "Them?"

	"That mark on your forehead..."

	The pink-haired man glanced to the semireflective surface of
the transparent wall and noticed the problem. "Oh... Yeah, looks a
lot like what those cats and Queen Serenity had, doesn't it?" He
looked back at Jadeite-chan. "I have _no_ idea where that came from.
I was just getting into a little training exercise a few minutes ago,
and... Hmm, I guess that'd explain why my forehead's been stinging
since..."

	Jadeite-chan took a few deep breaths, looked the man over,
and stopped again. "What the... Did you lose a bet with a ten year
old girl?!"

	"If you're talking about the clothes, they were a gift from
my most recent sensei. Ever hear of Namek?"

	"No..."

	"Too bad. We could've had a fiery discussion over if we
thought they'd make it past another year."

	"So... you're not of the house of the Moon Kingdom, then?"

	'Tim had to think about that one. "Technically, as in right
this moment?"

	"Er..."

	"The short answer to your question: I have no idea. I'd
have to run a DNA scan or two, then debate the philosophy of
whether Terra still counts."

	Jadeite-chan blinked.

	'Tim sighed. "But all that doesn't matter now. If it bugs you,
I'll just tie a bandanna around it or something." He put a hand on
the blonde's shoulder. "For now, though, we've got a meeting to go
to."

---

	A rabid wind blew its foul contents across the blood-red
plain, the sky darkened with ominous clouds of a similar crimson
color.

	Jagged cliffs hung, curling like black talons through the
forbidden landscape, beasts of a strange and alien nature clawing
their way amidst the depressing, overpowering atmosphere.

	One human figure stood atop one of these cliffs. A mane of
spiked red hair tied with a ragged blue band topped his head, and
red on pure-black eyes stared out of sockets full of malice. His
muscled jaw curled back, exposing a set of large, haphazardly
sharp teeth.

	These features, though fearsome, were nothing in comparison
to the rest of his massive, muscular frame. Indescribably thick,
sinewed arms tore their way out of his tattered blue gi, which
was unable to even begin to hide the sheer power radiated from
this individual. A red mark adorned the back of his gi.

	This monster of a man looked up into the sky, and narrowed
his hateful eyes as he caught a glimpse of an unmarked, silver jet
speeding toward him from over the horizon.

	"So," the demon-beastman whispered in his deep, echoing
growl, "he _is_ coming..."

	Akuma dug his feet into the ground, and held his arms to
the sides, his huge, brown-gauntleted hands clenched upwards.
"GrrrRRR!!!"

	Tongues of a fiery aura swirled their way above his head and
shoulders, the energy around him building up. The wind rippled
with the flows of his high-level Ki.

	As the aircraft came closer, the man thrust his right hand
forward, the Ki erupting from his palm to form a short, surging,
plasma-like blast, which sped toward the plane.

	*Ksssh!* The shot sheared off the plane's right wing, sending
it spiraling toward the ground.

	*Rrrr* Akuma swung his other hand around, unleashing another
massive burst of red energy toward the jet.

	*CRASH-BLAM-blam-BLAM!* As the Ki-bolt impacted, the plane
literally exploded in a burst of flame, its burning debris falling
to the ground a mere dozen meters away from its destroyer.

	Akuma stood with a jagged smile as he watched the wreckage
burn, the smoke from the flames rising high into the air like a
tortured, misguided ghost.

	*CraWWSH!!!* Suddenly, the debris blasted outward, leaving
a black-shrouded figure levitating in the midst of the ruined
aircraft.

	"WHO DARES ATTACK THE MIGHTY M. BISON!?" the man shouted in
rage. He wore a red general's cap and was surrounded in a long, black
cape.

	Akuma let out a low, roaring peel of malevolent laughter.

	"So, _you_ want to fight _me_?" Bison asked in disgust,
narrowing his eyes. "You're no match for my power."

	The red-haired monster folded his massive arms. "I will teach
you the true meaning of _power_."

	Bison grabbed his back cape, and threw it aside, revealing
the rest of his military fatigue: a red uniform and black boots.
"We'll see, won't we?"

	The red-clothed man moved into a combat stance, as did Akuma.

	There was one difference, however: Akuma was smiling.

	Bison ran forward, his fists clenched and gathering energy.

	Akuma jumped into a somersault and landed directly in front
of his opponent, then grabbed him, jumped into the air, threw him
under his knee, and smashed him into the ground with his weight.

	*KRUNCH* "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHH!" Bison yelled in agony.

	Akuma backed away with an expression that just dared Bison
to get back up.

	Holding his chest, his eyes bulging, the red-clad fighter
stood, breathing raggedly.

	"Now," Akuma growled, "FEEL HOW WEAK YOU TRULY ARE!!!"

	The demon flew forward, leaving a trail of dark shadows in
his wake, grabbed Bison by the front of his uniform, and drew back
a fist that radiated a bright aura.

	*Bam*WHAM*THWAK*KSSH-KSSH-KSSH*BLAM*WHAM*POW*WHACKWHACKWHACK*
*KABLAAAM!!!* Akuma pumped so many Ki-enhanced punches and kicks
into his opponent that there was naught left but a quivering red
mass, which the victor let slither to the ground like so much raw
ground beef.

	The beast laughed. "That was no _fight_," he said, "that was-"
He broke off as he heard the faint sound of applause behind him.
He whirled around to see a black-haired man in black, yellow, and
blue armor clapping at him.

	"Brav-o," the armored man cheered, "that sure was cute!" He
laughed. "Especially considering how ugly you are."

	"WHO ARE YOU?" Akuma bellowed.

	"I'm Kakkorotto," the sayajin replied. "Nice to meetcha."
He smiled in a pleasant manner. "So, who are you?"

	Akuma narrowed his eyes and flexed his arm. "I," he began,
"am power made flesh."

	"What a coincidence," Kakkorotto smiled, "so am I. Except
I'm a _lot_ better-looking than _you_ are, leather-face."

	"Your next insult will be your last, insect."

	"Ppht!" Kakkorotto blew a rasberry at him, wiggling his hands
by his head in a taunting manner. "Nya-ni-nya-ni-nya-naaa! Your
brother wears nursing-boots!"

	"Die," Akuma growled, bringing his hands to the sides and
charging up with his red, flaming Ki. "Messatsu-go-Hadou!" He
cupped his hands together in front of him, firing off a very large,
red blast at the black-haired man.

	*Whack!*Blam!* Kakkorotto batted the shot aside, sending it
off into a small, nearby outcropping. "Oooh, nice," the sayajin
commented.

	Undaunted, Akuma leapt forward, just below him, and jumped
into a flaming, spinning uppercut.

	Kakkorotto stepped aside, whistling.

	Akuma looked at him, made a flip backward, then jumped back
at him.

	Kakkorotto hopped into the air in front of him, then became
partially transparent as Akuma grabbed him, made a midair leap to
go even higher, than slammed him back-first into the ground.

	The man Akuma held vanished.

	"Hey, ugly!" Kakkorotto called from behind him. "Can't you
do any better than that?!"

	The red-haired demonic creature turned to him, roared his
rage, and pressed the attack.

	"Uh ooh," Kakkorotto taunted as he avoided each blow through
backing off and sidestepping, "looks like I've made it mad."

	Akuma stopped, his eyes seething with a glowing hatred. In
a sudden motion, his stance tensed, and his image faded to a dark
blur, which surged forward, passed through the sayajin, stopping
directly behind him, where the large man reformed.

	Kakkorotto ducked the other man's flaming uppercut and kicked
Akuma's feet out from under him when he landed.

	*Thud* Akuma came crashing to the ground.

	In the next fraction of a second, he was back up and roughly
twice as mad as before.

	"Sorry," Kakkorotto grinned, "I just saw an opening that just
seemed to scream out, 'attack.'"

	"Stand and fight," Akuma literally spat.

	The armored fighter cracked his knuckles and got into an
exaggerated fighting pose. "You got it," he said.

	"GrrrRRR," Akuma grunted as he dove forward with a flurry
of punches and kicks.

	Kakkorotto never lost his grin as he blocked each of the
attacks, periodically returning what he considered a weak blow.

	By the end of the fast, intense struggle, Akuma was violently
resisting the temptation to lean against a nearby outcropping as he
stood, breathing raggedly and ignoring the horrible pain coursing
throughout his badly pummeled body.

	The sayajin took a step back and folded his arms. "Hey, you're
looking pretty ragged out... Could you use a break?"

	Akuma's red-on-black eyes burned. He bared his teeth and shot
back, "I NEED NO REST FROM YOU!" Immediately, he leapt into the air,
his fiery Ki charging up as he threw his hands forward, creating a
blast much larger than the ones he had previously created.

	*KSSRRROW* Kakkorotto caught the shot, experimented with the
energies momentarily, then tossed it back at the sender.

	An instant before the blast could hit him, Akuma vanished,
his shadow flowing to a point in front of the sayajin, where he
reappeared, his huge fist headed toward Kakkorotto's head at a
nigh-impossible rate.

	The black-haired combatant caught the fist in both hands,
then swung Akuma around in a quick circle, getting ready to shot-
put him over the horizon, when Akuma vanished and reappeared behind
him.

	"Not bad," Kakkorotto commented as a set of fireballs went
past him. "Not bad at all..." He ignored a shot that impacted against
a spherical barrier surrounding him and continued, "Can you do this?"
He held his hands in front of him.

	*KAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!* Akuma, even with a
fortunately timed teleport, barely managed to avoid the twenty-meter
in diameter energy sphere that swept past him and obliterated nearly
the entirety of the landscape behind him.

	"Hey," Kakkorotto said, "no fair dodging." He thrust a hand out
toward the other fighter, causing a continuous blue blast to erupt
from the ground beneath Akuma, causing his flesh to gradually roast.

	Amidst the crackling energy, Akuma's expression grew from mere
anger to a boiling rage that defied all human comprehension. Though
damaged, drained, and badly outpowered, he was not about to give up.

	Not by a longshot.

	Akuma burst forth out of the power stream, his shadow trailing
behind him, several orders of magnitude faster than the technique had
been in the battle against Bison.

	The demon's tremendous fist wrapped around Kakkorotto's neck,
his other hand charged and poised to strike.

	The scenery blurred under the light created by Akuma's dozens
of strikes, the sound echoing across the forbidden landscape. For
nearly a full minute, he poured out his wrath upon his foe, every
ringing strike bringing a sort of joy to the once-human's life.

	Finally, his eyes glowing and his almost-torn muscles flexed
in triumph, Akuma released his grip on Kakkorotto.

	"So... is that it?" the sayajin asked, his body unscathed and
his armor unscratched. He shook his head. "I'm kinda disappointed..."

	Akuma's eyes widened at the utter ineffectiveness of his most
viscious attack to date, then narrowed as his rage overpowered what
insignificant shreds of fear and doubt crept up beneath his
subconscious.

	Kakkorotto sighed. In the next heartbeat, he took Akuma by the
arm and threw him into the air, then pointed his index finger at the
skyborne individual.

	*BLAAAAAAAM!* The terrain shook from the force of the blast
that engulfed Akuma, light flashing brilliantly as several smaller
explosions wracked the target.

	Kakkorotto blew a short breath at his finger, and dusted his
hands off as he watched his opponent's remains fall to the ground.
"Too bad, really," he muttered as he approached the landing site
to get a better look, "I thought he might actually-"

	*BLAM!!!* Akuma sat up and threw a fast, raging fire-blast
at the sayajin, cutting him off mid-thought.

	The standing fighter reached up to feel his singed hair, then
narrowed his eyes at Akuma. "You shouldn't have done that..."

	Akuma growled through clenched teeth as he fell to the red
dirt, the muscles in his back involuntarily ceased all function, his
body utterly totaled.

	Still not willing to accept any form of defeat whatsoever,
Akuma swung his left arm forward, firing off another stream of
fireballs, which Kakkorotto either absorbed, blocked, or deflected.

	Finally, though, all fibers in his being that were useful in
combat gave out, leaving him to be able to do nothing but look in
anger, hatred, malice, and defiance at his oppressor.

	If his chest had been a cannon...

	"Now," Kakkorotto whispered in a deathly silent, yet powerful
tone, "is when you _die_."

	Akuma roared his defiance, red Ki building up in his eyes.

	The black-haired man drew his fist back in the way to make it
most effective upon impact, and thrust it down at the broken beast...
"KYAAAAA!!!"

	The fist flew at speeds that shattered the sound barrier,
reaching for the defeated one's face...

	*Honk*Honk* Kakkorotto squeezed Akuma's nose, twice.

	Akuma blinked... in a dark, demonic sort of way.

	"Ha-ha!" the sayajin laughed, smiling in a very content manner.
"Gotcha!" He stood up, looking down at the other man.

	"Why..." Akuma began in a quiet--but most assuredly _not_
weak--manner, "why haven't you finished your strike, _coward_?!"

	"I don't want to!" Kakkorotto exclaimed. "You've been the best
fight I've had all day! For a human, you're _great_! I mean, this is
real potential you've got here. A few more decades, and you might be
able to come up with something worth batting an eyelash over! And
you didn't just give up and die like that bird-guy did! You kept on
going, and going, and going!"

	*Boom*Boom*Boom*

	A pink rabbit walked by, beating a drum, then spun around and
walked off.

	*Boom*Boom*Boom*

	"So," Kakkorotto continued, "you know what this means?"

	"That I am going to hunt you down like the insect you are;"
Akuma growled, "slaughter you slowly as I make-"

	The sayajin shook his head. "No! It means I'm not going to
kill you this time." He made a quick salute with his right hand.
"So long. It's been fun!"

	A thick blue aura flared around Kakkorotto, leaving a trail
as he shot up into the sky, speeing off into the distance...


	The barely-living pulpy red mass known as M. Bison looked
over at Akuma. "So, how does it feel to be shown how weak you
truly are?"

	"Shut up..."

	"Hey, want some Nuprin?"

	"SHUT UP!"

O_o

	"And you see, Mister Knight," the counselor continued, "Jade
has been far too violent and has destroyed an unacceptable level
of school property during her bouts of... frustration."

	The counselor was a woman in the latter years of middle age.
She had greying black hair, a substantial build, and a menacing look
about her. She held herself in a very stern posture as she looked
across to the desk to a tall pink-haired man in green and pink
attire.

	'Tim nodded as he looked over a few snapshots of the damage
that had been caused. "Yes..." He handed one of them to the
excessively cute blonde girl sitting next to him. "Very nice... I
like how you made it a clean cut... That's not easy to do with a
straightforward blast. Usually, you have to use a narrowed beam to
get it like that."

	Jade blinked at this. "I... couldn't stand Haruna's boring,
incessant banter any longer."

	The counselor glared down at her. "Miss Haruna spent the
entire day in tears because of that!"

	'Tim looked sideways at Jade. "A good tactic for preventing
stuff like that is to go up and give 'er a hug after you've blown
away her chalkboard."

	Jade raised an eyebrow. "A hug?!"

	The green-attired man nodded. "Yeah. It-"

	The counselor cleared her throat.

	'Tim tried not to look at her. "Yes?"

	"Why do I get the impression that you are not taking this
at all seriously?!"

	"Err... What's to be serious about?"

	"She has destroyed-"

	"Look, if that's a problem, I can send something over to
get that fixed. Maybe even let... what's her name... Patricia
Haruna borrow my psychiatrist for a while."

	"No, the school has it covered. The damage isn't the problem,
and Miss Haruna is more than capable of handling her own emotional
state."

	"Then what are you complaining about?"

	The counselor sighed. "The fact that Jade cannot keep herself
from doing this reflects a severe inner lack of control!"

	"I disagree," 'Tim said, handing the snapshots of destruction
to the black-haired counselor. "If you look closely, you can tell
that these blasts weren't just tossed. They were calculated, aimed,
fired, and used for maximum effect. If she really wanted Haruna and
that Melvin kid dead, she'd have done it."

	"Wrong," Jade whispered, "I would savor their elimination, but
then I could not-"

	"See?" 'Tim said. "Perfectly in control. She wasn't fighting
to kill. Just to maim."

	"Too bad I missed," Jade muttered cutely.

	The counselor's eyes narrowed. "You aren't understanding me...
You're not even looking at me!"

	"Well, if I looked at you," the pink-haired man said, "then
my only working thought process would be caught up in that huge,
hairy-"

	"Look at me, Tim," the counselor snapped.

	'Tim did so. "Yes, your fuzziness."

	"What was your relation to Miss Cyte again...?"

	'Tim shrugged, looking intently at her. "Jade Cyte's my wart.
Pimple as that."

	"...What?"

	"You know, she's a cute lil' melanoma head."

	"What are you talking about?"

	The pink-haired man tore his gaze away. "Hmm? Oh, nothing."

	"You are coming dangerously close to embarrassing me," Jade
half-growled, her arms folded and eyes narrowed in an adorable way.

	'Tim looked at her. "Yeah, and knowing me, it won't be the
last time." He leaned in to whisper, "But don't worry. If you're
cute, you can get away with anything. I know this for a fact."

	"How encouraging," Jade deadpanned.

	The counselor quasi-patiently rapped her fingers against
the desk. "Hmm... Jade, I believe it would be best if you were
to leave the room for the final part of this discussion."

	*Zrr*Thump!* There was a quick flash of light and Jade had
created a small crystal dagger and imbedded it into the desk. Still
holding on to it, she said, "I am _not_ going to let my fate be
decided by a despotic social bureaucrat and a mindless psychotic!"

	"That psychotic," the counselor said, not fazed by the attack,
"is your legal guardian, responsible for you, and authorized to make
these decisions for you."

	Jade cocked an eyebrow at her. "Who are you to tell me who
makes my decisions?" She pouted. "I have destroyed hundreds for far
less than you propose to-"

	"Whatever happened to the idea we had a while back about
trying to keep a low profile?" 'Tim asked.

	"It got old," the cute blonde snapped, "FAST."

	The counselor stood, glaring down at her. "Wait outside,
young lady!"

	Jade cowered visibly from the verbal assault, cringed, then
backed out of the room, opening and closing the door behind her
as she left.

	The crystal dagger vanished, leaving a large hole in the desk.

	"This is all sounding _so_ familiar to me," the man whispered
to himself. "So we have a girl, not happy with her place, unwillingly
separated from her preferred way of life, lashing out after a failed
attempt to adapt to the new culture. Hmm... Hope she doesn't plan
on killing me."

	The counselor sat down and looked at 'Tim. "Now, is she
always this... expressive of her opinion?"

	"Only when she feels threatened. When she has a firm grasp
of what's going on, she's _really_ calm and calculating... Like
a certain general I once knew, actually."

	"You knew a general?"

	"Of an evil King or Queendom, whatever. He got blown away.
My computer says it was by some version of me from a future that
doesn't exist anymore." 'Tim looked up. "I don't get that... I
mean, if a future me came back to change things in a way that
made it so I wouldn't have gone back to change it, it wouldn't
have been changed, would it? Or... would it?"

	The counselor frowned. "I see..."

	"I think it has something to do with my rivalry with a
certain local time guardian. We were actually close once, but
then we had a basic philosophical disagreement and went our
separate ways."

	"A... disagreement?"

	"Yeah. She believes in destiny... and don't get me wrong, so
do I... but just because it's the best way for things to turn out
for most people doesn't mean it's the best way for _me_. So I
tried to hijack the time gate and she stopped me. Our relationship
was never the same. Too bad, really... I liked her style: She'd
do anything to get her job done right. Gotta love that focus. Plus,
by human standards, she was very-"

	"Umm," the counselor interrupted, "can't we bring this
discussion back to the girl you are supposed to be raising?"

	"Oh, her. Sure, let's do that. I'm taking care of her and
her cousin as a favor to a friend, by the way."

	"A friend? Who?"

	"His codename is Mister R.B. Fish. The password is
'Shroomsyeruncle.' You can meet him by beating a drum on the
top of Tokyo Tower, singing several Native American rain dances.
Come back the next full moon, but be sure to bring the Emerald
Mushroom before walking up to a man in a brown trenchcoat on
the elevator. Tell him the password and shake his hand... with
your foot. My friend will then meet you at the top of the tower
with further instructions. Bring a two-by-four."

	"Excuse me?"

	"You'll need it when the conversation begins," 'Tim said,
then smiled. "I had to translate that from the original reformed
Grey ArbyFish. Not an easy task, let me tell you. A very cultured
group, they are."

	"ArbyFish...?"

	"Yeah. They're cultured. Kind of like cheese, you see... or
at least the Green ones are."

	"We were talking about Jade, remember...?"

	"Oh yeah... Jade's green, isn't it?"

	"I'm speaking of the girl."

	'Tim sighed. "Very well. State your business."

	The counselor took a deep breath and looked at him sternly.
"The girl in your care has shown unacceptable behavior. She's shown
signs of becoming very reckless and of being a delinquent. She has
destroyed school property countless times, endangered others for her
own selfish purposes, disrupted the lives of others, and it's
panfully obvious that she does not take her scholastic career
seriously! She shouldn't be-"

	'Tim stood, anger in his eyes. "OH YES SHE SHOULD!!!" he
shouted in the woman's face, and continued with a scowl, "To tell
you the truth, I don't think I _want_ to know fourteen-year-old girl
who isn't reckless or a delinquent... and I sure don't want to meet
one that actually takes their school career seriously!" He looked
at her. "I hold at least four doctorates from every major University
this pitiful little planet has to offer, and I've done more this year
alone than I have in the past millennia! And that doesn't count what
I've accomplished with four sailor-suited heroines, either. So I
know a great kid when I see one!"

	The counselor, mildly taken aback, opened her mouth to speak,
but was cut off by 'Tim's continued yelling.

	"And you know what? They're _all_ great kids! Every last one
of 'em... at least until dried-out, brain-dead concrete slabs like
_you_ drag them down and tell them they shouldn't vent, so they keep
it all inside, waiting for the moment they'll snap... Jade doesn't
need this sort of repression right now... or ever, for that matter!"
He narrowed his eyes. "If you so much as tell her, or anyone else for
that matter, that they can't do something and I hear about it, I
_will_ hunt you down!"

	The counselor blinked, her hair blown back from the force of
the rant.

	'Tim pulled something out of his pocket and continued to
glare at the woman. "Take this quarter," he said, flipping the coin
over to her from his thumb, "go down to the docks, and have a RAT
gnaw that thing off your face!!!"

	He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

	"Uh... yeah!" the counselor shouted back. "And... and the
glare from that crescent moon on your forehead was giving me
eyestrain!"

	The counselor sat down, sighed, and pulled off a rubbery mask,
revealing a beautiful, pale, soft-skinned face with a blue mark on
her forehead, and long, white-blonde hair.

	The woman pulled out a small communicator and flipped it open.
"Skuld, this is Urd. Are you there?"

	The device crackled before a voice came on, [I'm here! Find
that guy?]

	"Yup, sure have," Urd replied.

	[Think we can get his cooperation on this?]

	"Uh... no. I don't think so. Actually, I think we should
forget the whole thing and switch to plan B."

	[What's plan B?]

	"I'll... get back to you on that. But I think we just might
need another room at the temple when we're done."

	[...You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, I hope.]

	"Why? What am I thinking?"

	[He'd look _terrible_ in a dress!]

	"Hey! I wasn't-" Urd began, then paused. "But THAT's an idea.
I guess we could fix that..."

	[Nooooo, no. No way.]

	"Oh, come on. It'll be fun!"

o_O;;;

	Meanwhile, in the future, in the throne room of the Crystal
Palace, Neo-Queen Serenity was listening to her self-appointed
Zeroth Advisor...

	"They take the two petitioning individuals and string 'em up
boiy their tails. The first one ta pass out, wins. N' they get their
idea passed inta' counsel. Unfortunately, ArbyFish tend ta forget
what they were thinkin' about when they pass out. So, the group 'as
ta debate about what 'e wos originally gonna say. So, it's all
theoretical when all's said n' done. We neva' actually come ta an
agreement, so we all wroight down our own idea ta wot we thought
it wuz. Then we debate 'bout it a bit more. Foinally, we all get
bloindfolded n' taken inta' a secret base somewhere in the middle
of Wyoming where the great, um... Woteveritwos speaks ta us about
the importance of makin' good decisions. Then, we all shrug, play
a quick friendly game 'a fisticuffs, n' mail ourselves back ta our
own homes via UPS n' get on with our loives. N' that's 'ow ArbyFish
make laws," the green and white-patterned seal-like creature
finished.

	The Queen had nodded off, snoozing soundly as she leaned
against the arm of her throne. Two mooncats, Luna and Artemis,
lay soundly asleep on the floor.

	Arby fluttered up and waved a flipper in front of the
woman's eyes. "'Scuse me..." No response. "Scuse me!"

	"Ummh... What now? Just five more minutes, Mom..." Serenity
muttered, not coming out of her unconscious state. "I was listening,
Miss Haruna... Why's this test so hard...?"

	The ArbyFish blinked, then smiled. "Oh, goodie! She's 'avin'
flashbacks! That means more bottle caps for th' department!"

	"Terra, no..." the Queen continued, "Starlight, where are you
going? Please, wait! Don't go!"

	"Oh, 'er loife's flashin' before 'er oyes!" Arby exclaimed
gleefully. "That means she's foinally gonna congeal, n' Lil' Mucus
c'n take ova'!"

	The ArbyFish went down to the crystal floor and began tapping
at it with his ever-present ceremonial chisel.

	Serenity finally stirred. "Mmmh... Ah, Arby, what are you
doing?"

	The green creature looked up at her. "Diggin' ya grave, ya
ol' sludge!"

	The Queen gasped. "Arby!"

	"Wot???" the ArbyFish asked innocently.

	"Don't mess with the floor. The palace is built right on a
fault line!"

	"Why'dja go n' do a thing loike that? No trouble, though. I'll
just go get me buddies n' we'll move it awl roight noicely, we will!"

	"Speaking of which, I have yet to see a single shred of
evidence that there's more than one of you, Arby..."

	Arby sat up on his tail. "'Course there iz!" He cupped his
right flipper in the air beside him. "See this guoy 'ere? 'Is name's
Murray. 'E's a Transleuscent ArbyFish. Very rare."

	"Cute, Arby. Very cute."

	"Oh, roight! Speakin' of cute, I've got sum legal matta's ta
attend to. See ya lata'!" He turned to the air next to him. "G'boye,
Murray."

	"G'day ta you, sir," the air responded.

	The green ArbyFish nodded, then fluttered out of the room.

	Neo-Queen Serenity raised an eyebrow, then shrugged, shaking
her head. "He's been that way for as long as I can remember... Why
should he stop now?" She stood and took a few steps forward.

	*Rumble*Chink*Chink*Chink-chink-chink-chink* The floor shook
and cracked underneath her. "Whaaaa!?" the Queen exclaimed in shock
as a two-foot radius crystal circle cut itself out of the foundation
beneath her.

	"Luna! Artemis!" Serenity called as the ground dropped out from
underneath her.

	The cats were awake and on their feet in an instant, but were
only able to watch as their queen was pulled down.

	*Rrrrk-thump!*hiSSSS!!* The cut crystal was put back and
welded into place by an unseen force.

...

	The blonde woman found herself doing a reasonable Marylin
Manroe impression as she held her skirt down while being carried
on swift air currents through a red-hot metal tunnel.

	"Ooomph..." Neo-Queen Serenity grunted as she recovered from
her landing on a huge, feather-down bed, the deceleration not being
enough to cause measurable physical injury, but sufficient to cause
her a quick, intense headache.

	The room she was in was fairly large, and consisted of an
unmade bed, a nightstand, an unlit lamp, a set of flickering lights
on the ceiling, a broken panel on the wall, and a still-sealing hole
in the roof.

	Cables of various colors and varieties led out the jammed door
from a section of wall that had part of the metal plating torn off.

	Chunks of broken steel lay scattered on the floor, appearing
to have been thrown there from a powerful explosion, judging by the
craters marking the center of the room in the roof and the floor.

	"Where am I?" the Queen wondered aloud.

	In the corner of the room, a computer terminal flashed red.

	A rich, full female voice echoed through the room and through
the corridors outside, {Warning: Reactors Three through nine are
approaching critical mass. Seventeen minutes remain until reactor
containment field reaches critical levels. Power system running at
nine thousand percent of maximum recommended safety tolerances.
Requesting permission to initiate shutdown procedures.}

	Serenity frowned. "Is there anyone here?"

	{Requesting immediate shutdown,} the voice added.

	The pigtailed woman took another quick glance around, and
took a few quick steps toward the terminal.

	{Requesting permission to deactivate reactor system,} the
voice repeated, and added in a desperate tone, {Please... Help me.}

	"How do I do that?" Serenity asked, unable to decipher any
of the computer console's workings.

	A keyboard slid out of an alcove below the screen. {Imput
deactivation sequence.} The screen cleared, save for a blinking,

square cursor.

	The Queen held her hands up helplessly. "What is that?"

	{Login: RBfish. Password: Shroomsyeruncle.}

	Serenity typed in the sequence as she heard it.

	*WAAARK* {Access denied.}

	"I cannot help you if you will not let me!"

	{System parameters have been locked. Unable to countermand.
Alternative sequence... Login: Ask. Password: Tim.}

	Serenity typed these in. The screen flashed green.

	{Access granted. Enter request.}

	"What do I enter?"

	{Deactivate reactors three through nine.}

	"Ummm... How do you spell 'deactivate?'"

	There was a beeping noise. {Verbal requests are now
acknowledged. Submit request.}

	"Deactivate reactors three through nine."

	*Waaark* {Voice pattern not recognized. Fourteen minutes
until critical mass.}

	"What now?!"

	{Deactivate is spelled: dee, ee, ae, see, tee, eye, vee,
ae, tee, ee.}

	The Queen typed in the request.

	*Waaark* {Unable to comply. Automation systems have been
damaged. Thirteen minutes until critical mass is reached.}

	"Could I do it manually?"

	{Negative,} the voice said, beginning to sound _very_
downtrodden, {Diagnostics indicate shutdown mechanisms have been
destroyed.}

	"Is there _anything_ I can do for you?"

	{The computer core cannot be removed...}

	"Why was I brought here, then?"

	{It was my creator's last wish that you, specifically, be
informed that...} the voice trailed off momentarily, then
continued, {Processing... Initiating data recovery... Data
recovery complete. His last wish was for you to be in some manner
brought to the knowledge of what happened to him.}

	"Who created you?"

	*BLAM!* Suddenly, the jammed door exploded outward and a
series of flashing strips on the wall directed outside.

	{Follow directions to Holodeck Four.}

	Serenity hesitated, beginning to ask another question.

	{Ten minutes until critical mass is reached. The blast
will be contained... But I haven't much time. Please..."

	The woman hurried out the door, following the lights
through the darkened corridor.

	After half a minute of difficult running in her gown,
she reached a very poorly-lit intersection.

	*GrAAAH!!!* There was a horrible growling sound, and
several sets of glowing yellow eyes appeared in the darkness.

	{Activating forcefields.}

	Just as the thing began to charge, a blue wall winked
into place, and the beast smashed into it, then reared back
and roared in anger.

	{Redirecting path to Holodeck Three.}

	The lights changed directions, and Serenity followed
them.

	*ZRRT!* Behind her, there was a very loud electrical noise.

	{Forcefield damaged.}

	*GRAAAAH!!!* The monster approached, lumbering forward.

	Serenity hurried her pace, and whipped out her crystal,
turned, and-

	{Activating combat droids.}

	Two panels on either side of the wall burst open, allowing
two large metal balls to roll out.

	*Chink!* The spheres split open into lizardlike robotic
shapes, each with two metal arms with rodlike protrusions. A
round energy shield expanded around them.

	{Hurry,} the computer pleaded.

	*BLAM-BLAM-BLAM* The droids fired off several large blasts,
forcing their target back.

	*GRAAAH!* The dark creature flailed at the droids.

	*SNICK!* Another droid leapt from behind and latched itself
onto the thing's neck.

	The Queen put away her wand and followed the lights to a set
of large, interlocked doors.

	{Seven minutes until critical mass,} the computer intoned,
then added, {Activating program.}

	*Hiss* The doors slid open to reveal a room similar to the
one Serenity had left, although much cleaner. Standing in the center
of it was a tall, black-haired man, badly injured, and wearing
cracked green and black armor.

	Serenity gasped. "Starlight!"

	The Starlight Knight coughed, struggling to keep himself
upright as he paced around the room. "The 'rescue mission,'" he
spat, "has ended in utter failure!"

	"Starlight...?" Serenity repeated.

	{This is only a recording. The message lasts fourty-five
minutes and requires a multitude of visual aids. Attempting to
utilize alternate technologies to hasten the process.}

	"Alright, but what-"

*ZZZRT!*

	The Atomic Starlight Knight paced around his bedroom, his
face a mask of anger and frustration.

	"Computer!" he shouted. "Status on the starship!"

	[The creature infestation has spread to the docking bay.
All spacecraft have been destroyed by the assault.]

	"Transporters! Can they be configured for time or dimensional
jumps?"

	[Negative. Repairs on the transporters will be completed in
one hour, sixteen-"

	"I don't have that much time! Find a solution!"

	[Working...]

	A.S.K. turned back to his pacing. "Continuing my record.
After Tuxedo Mask's capture by that idiot Kunzite, I invaded the
Negaverse, finally managed to kill that giggling loon Zoicite, and
discovered where they were holding their captive."

	He sighed. "I was hacking and slashing my way to the cell.
Then, what can I say? Things got a little too hairy for me. I
teleported out, but some of the nasties followed me and invaded
my home! The inner defenses were able to keep them at bay, but
we couldn't get rid of them."

	A.S.K. shook his head. "Then Beryl staged a major assault
that I just couldn't ignore, like when they took over the...
Starlight tower, I think it was. That was sometime around when
Tux was captured, come to think of it..."

	He flickered. "AAAAH!" he screamed as his existence wavered,
then an intense expression of concentration filled his face. His
being stabilized. The green-armored knight took a few breaths,
then continued.

	"So, after I fought off the assault with the... Scouts,
Sailor Moon seemed _really_ down about Tuxy's capture. So, I
told 'er about what I'd been trying to do. She and the others
talked me into letting them come along. After all, they've handled
a lot before, so why not something like this? We went in, but
Sailor Earth was soon separated from the group, so I went to look
for her. Then, the-"

	"GRAAAAAAHH!!!" Another shockwave tore through him. After
recovering, he looked up and said, "Computer! Do we have the
visual record of the mission on file?"

	[Affirmative.]

	"Download it into the log."

	[Confirmed.]

*ZRRT*

	Five Sailor Senshi, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus
wound their way through the rocklike dimensional tunnels.

	They had been given directions and instructions that told
them that their goal was just down the next passageway.

	They stopped as a full-length mirror appeared in front of
each of them, reflecting their images with precise detail.

	Suddenly, those images began to warp.

	Mercury's image shrank into a shriveled green goblin with
jagged teeth, sharp claws, and a visor, still wearing the blue
Mercury fuku.

	The expression on the reflection of Mars took on a malevolent
twist.

	Jupiter's image bulked up, straining the sailor-suit until
it reached nine feet tall, muscles upon muscles... With a tearing
sound, a pair of black wings tore their way out of the back of
its outfit.

	Venus's counterpart hunched over with a maniacal look on
her face, the blonde hair turning grey and splaying haphazardly
around her.

	Sailor Moon's image burst into a sudden flash of dark blue
light, a titanic demon infusing itself before settling into a
rough copy of her, albeit with red eyes, messed-up hair, tattered
clothes, and a severe underbite.

	The Senshi stared in horror at the images...

	Then, the mirrors shattered and the monstrous versions of
them attacked!

	The originals were caught off guard, and barely managed to
avoid the first strike.

	Mercury dodged her counterpart's claws.

	Mars crossed her arms in front of her and blocked a burst of
fire sent at her.

	Jupiter leapt over the monster parodying her, landing behind
it and getting it in a headlock.

	Venus put her hands up, blocking the leather whip sent at her,
wrapping around her wrist instead of her neck.

	And, while those four Senshi dealt with their battles, Sailor
Moon was locked in her own.

	Her opponent had at first leapt into a kick at her, which
she stumbled out of the way of.

	It turned to her, no expression save for hatred in its eyes.
A hand went to its black-jeweled tiara.

	Sailor Moon whipped out the Crescent Moon Wand and its
accompanying Silver Crystal. She twirled it around in her hand
once before pointing it at the creature. "Moon... Healing...
Activation!"

	The white energies poured over the warped individual without
effect.

	As the original Sailor Moon wasted her time doing that, the
other charged up and threw its tiara at her, painfully knocking the
wand out of her hand.

	The warped and twisted Senshi took out a wand of its own,
topped with a black crystal. It held that device forward.

	An explosion of vinelike tentacles forced its way out of the
crystal, entangling Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon screamed as it blasted
her with a powerful lightning energy.

	Suddenly, the shocking stopped.

	Sailor Moon looked up to see the Starlight Knight with his
sword imbedded down to the hilt in the monster's shoulder.

	"Go find your Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon," the black-haired
knight said, "I'll fight them." He pulled out his handgun with
his left hand, then turned and fired a shot at the other corruptions,
getting their attention. He grabbed the tiara of the girl he held
onto, smashing it in his hand.

	The modified versions of the Senshi flickered and vanished,
leaving behind several butterfly-winged female youma in very scanty
outfits.

	"Hurry up! Now!" the Starlight Knight commanded.

	The Senshi nodded. "Right!" They abandoned their current
fights and sped down the corridor to the Negaverse entrance.

	The youma that the knight had his sword imbedded in turned
her head and looked at him, not at all appearing to be in pain.
"Ah... The family-man..." She turned to her sisters. "What do
you say, girls? Shall we have roast knight on a stick?"

	In the next instant, the DD Girls had their shocking tentacles
all over him, blasting him with their energy.

...

	The Senshi found the way to their goal to be completely clear
of foes. Indeed, the castle they were in seemed to be vacant.

	Mercury, with a program designed to detect Prince Endymion's
energy, led the way.

	Finally, they reached a cavernous room with a large, garish
throne decorating the center of it.

	Standing partially hidden in the shadows was a red-haired
woman in a long, dark-purple dress.

	The Senshi gasped as they realized who they were facing.
"Queen Beryl!"

	"Indeed, I am Queen Beryl," the woman replied. The light
shifted to reveal that she held a staff with a crystal globe atop
it.

	Perhaps more important than that was the fact that kneeling
beside her, kissing her hand, was Prince Endymion.

	"Endymion," Beryl commanded, "destroy them."

	The man's eyes shot open and flashed red. "As you command."
He stood and drew his sword.

...

	Sailor Earth walked among the twisting passageways of the
inter-dimensional warp. There were so many directions to get
lost in, and she didn't know the way.

	In addition to that, many inner... voices and almost-forgotten
memories had come to her, instructing her and calling to her.

	This left her confused, her mind wandering...

	Then, it all became clear to her. She smiled, nodded, and
headed off through another tunnel.

...

	"aaaAAAAAHHH!" A.S.K. yelled as he shielded himself from the
attacks of the DD Girls.

	"Well well," the leader said, "you actually managed to
survive... How delightful!"

	A.S.K. tore the last of the vines off of him and leapt
away, shifting his sword around to point the hilt upward, a
white crystal imbedded in it. "Eat THIS!"

	*Zrrrr*Crash!* The crystal began to draw in power, but was
soon shattered by a red energy-blade.

	A.S.K. turned to see an enraged Kunzite glaring at him.
"Oh, hello."

	"Your pathetic imitations are no match for ME!"

	"Really? Pummeled the tar out of you last time..."

	"You killed Zoicite," Kunzite growled, another energy
blade forming in his hand.

	"How nice of you to notice. I was wondering what it took
to get some credit around here..."

	"DIE!"

	The DD Girls giggled, then backed off to let their general
handle this fight.

...

	Endymion threw a black rose at the huddled Senshi, which
snapped into a black net trapping them. A series of black lightning
bolts coursed through them.

	"Grrr," Jupiter began, "they've got him in some sort of
mind-control. You need to use the Silver Crystal on him, Sailor
Moon!"

	"Right..." Sailor Moon said weakly.

	"Okay, get ready... BREAK!" Venus shouted.

	The Senshi forced their way out of the rose-embossed net.

	Sailor Moon held out the Crescent Moon Wand. "Moon... Healing
Activation!"

	A burst of light washed over Endymion...

	His expression did not change.

	"Metallia's energy is coursing through his veins," Beryl
explained. "Even with the Crystal, your powers are still too
weak and immature."

	Venus looked at Jupiter, who nodded and turned to Mercury
and Mars, who knew what they were planning.

	The four Senshi formed a circle around Sailor Moon.

	"Mars... Planet Power!"

	"Mercury Star Power!"

	"Jupiter Cosmic Power!"

	"Venus... Eternal Power!!!"

	Sailor Moon gasped as she realized what was going on.
She held her wand forward. "Moon Prism Power!"

	All the powers merged together, energizing the attack.

	"Moon... Healing... ESCALATION!!!"

	The massive burst of magical white energy swept through
Endymion, purging every last drop of Metallia's influence from
his system.

	The armored prince fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

	"Cool," Venus commented. She grinned at Beryl. "Guess
who's next..."

	Beryl watched in shock as Endymion stood, flashed a quick,
thankful smile at Sailor Moon, and stood with them.

	"Somehow," Jupiter said, "I don't think you'll be able
to turn him against us again..."

	"Stealing Endymion from me..." the evil queen whispered,
before her expression hardened. "THEN SO BE IT!"

	She raised her staff.

	A series of tentacles snatched Jupiter, dragging her away into
the shadows.

	Endymion quickly threw a high-velocity rose at Beryl...
which she deflected with a swing of her staff.

	"You will suffer with _them_, Endymion!"

	The floor melted underneath the prince, sucking him down
into its depths.

	Sailor Moon gasped. "NO!" She tried to raise her wand, but
more vines came and entangled her.

	"You will all feed Metallia's resurrection!"

...

	Sailor Earth shuddered, sensing that something terrible
was going to happen... unless she stopped it.

	A new, yet very familiar power ignited within her...

...

	The Atomic Starlight Knight stood, grinning at Kunzite.
He slipped on a pair of shades. "Wouldn't hit a guy with glasses,
would you?"

	*WHAM!* Kunzite's fist smashed into A.S.K.'s face, breaking
off the sunglasses. "I _will_ avenge her, traitor!"

	A.S.K. snapped his face back into place. "Hey! I may be many
things, but I was never a traitor; I was _always_ working for
myself!"

	"Liar!" the silver-haired general shouted, then clenched
his fist upward.

	*Zrrr-RRRR* A black sphere encapsulated the armored man...
and began to shrink around him.

	"Now that's just plain rude," A.S.K. commented, and teleported
behind his opponent, blew a rasberry, then ran off through the
gateway into the Negaverse. "Nya-ni-nya-ni-nya-nyaaa!"

...

	The Senshi and Endymion had been lowered into place around
Metallia's cocoon, each encased up to their necks in a thick, black
crystal.

	"Now," Queen Beryl said, "you will see what true pain means."
She turned to the cocoon. "Queen Metallia-sama... They are here."

	"Good," an ominous voice from the cocoon echoed.

	The organic cocoon glowed, a black humanoid shape within it
shifting... then, the chrysalis burst open, spilling its liquid
contents and allowing a rippling dark energy to come out.

	Tendrils of blackness attached themselves to the victims,
draining their energy like a leech drains blood.

	The trapped individuals each let out a soft groan as their
energy departed from them.

	Metallia's shadow grew in size, dwarfing the features of the
cavern below.

	"Excellent," Beryl whispered, "their energy is almost gone..."

	All of the sudden, a red and white flash rocketed out of the
entrance tunnel, slamming into Metallia's shadow.

	The tendrils connecting the dark being to the Senshi were
broken in sparks of blue.

	The red and white flash resolved itself into a red-headed
girl wearing a white Senshi outfit with a set of feathery wings.

	Sailor Moon managed to look up. "Sailor... Earth?!"

	Metallia looked at the relatively tiny newcomer. "Do you think
to fight ME, girl?"

	"I must, and I will!" the redhead replied. "I will free my
friends and bring an end to your reign of terror!"

	"Queen Beryl," Metallia said, "deal with the others as you
like. This one is mine."

	"Yes, Great Metallia!" Beryl shouted back emphatically, and
turned to the captured individuals. "NOW you will die!"

	Metallia's shadowlike form turned back to the winged Senshi.
"Prepare yourself..." She parted two shadowed arms, black energy
flashing between them, and sent a sparking stream of lightning
toward Sailor Earth, sweeping her away into the rocky cavern
wall.

	"Terra!" the barely-conscious Senshi gasped.

	Beryl looked up to watch. "Amazing..."

	As the dust cleared, the rock snapped away in a sudden rush
of power, revealing Sailor Earth levitating unscathed, except now,
she was outfitted with golden Senshi armor, and a set of dragonlike
silver wings. Her expression was focused, not angry, outraged, or
fearful; Her face reflected a strong inner determination.

	"I must stop you," Sailor Earth said.

	Beryl gasped.

	"As long as this realm exists," Metallia shot back, "You
cannot! Now that I have been resurrected, my powers draw from this
entire dimension!"

	"I _must_ stop you," Sailor Earth reaffirmed.

	"You will fail," the demon-goddess hissed back in a pleased
tone. "In any case, it's been nice knowing you."

	The shadow drew back, charging the air with its powerful
energy, then drawing its hands forward, creating a constant, flowing
stream of dark power.

	A transparent spherical barrier sprang up around Sailor Earth,
absorbing and deflecting the attack.

	"Impossible!" Beryl shouted. "No one can-"

	Sailor Jupiter turned toward her. "You'd better believe it!
Our Sailor Earth's a powerhouse!"

	"But for how long can she handle this?" Mercury asked. "There
is a _lot_ of energy being thrown around up there..."

	"You're right," Venus said, "we need to help her!"

	"But we're stuck in these crystals," Sailor Moon whined.

	"There's nothing we can do," Endymion said, then sighed
and looked up at the fighting girl, "Believe in yourself, Sailor
Earth! That is all you need!"

	Sailor Earth nodded to herself. "I believe..." Her wings
locked into place.

	Green energy began to rise out of the ground and walls toward
her, tendrils at first, then streams, then rivers...

	She drew it in, all the while deflecting what Metallia was
sending at her.

	"Hmmmph," Metallia muttered, then discontinued her attack.
She turned toward the Senshi. "Maybe I'd better take care of you
first." She pointed her hands at them.

	"NO!" Sailor Earth shouted, in an instant darting between
her friends and her foe, just in time to absorb the blast.

	This time, though, her barrier became weakened and dispersed.

	Metallia stopped. "Interesting..." Without warning, she
continued her attack.

	Sailor Earth thrust her hands out, creating a sustained blast
of her own to stop the inrushing shot. "MMMMH!"

	While initially driving back Metallia's energy, Terra's beam
was rapidly losing ground.

	"Impressive..." the shadow commented, and intensified her
assault.

	Sailor Earth closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, once
more allowing in the green energy from her surroundings.

	"It's futile," Metallia added, "I can sustain this

indefinitely!"

	Finally, the shadow's blast overwhelmed that of the golden
Senshi, smashing through what remants of Sailor Earth's barrier
and impacting on her directly. A short scream was all that was
heard before the energy overtook her.

	The blast passed Sailor Earth's previous position, and ripped
into the platform the trapped Senshi had been anchored to, scattering
the still-intact crystals across the cavern.

	Metallia shut off her attack and turned to a still-stunned
Beryl. "Hmm. You know, I was actually starting to get worried..."

	*zrrrrr-RRRRR* A vibrating sound attracted their attention.

	Standing in the debris field of Metallia's cocoon, Sailor
Earth stood, singed but still going. She levitated upwards to
come face-to-face with the shadow.

	"So, she's still alive," Metallia whispered in a bored tone.
She lifted a shadowed hand to flick the annoyance away.

	Sailor Earth closed her eyes.

	A stream of energy shot out from her chest and connected with
Metallia's.

	"What is this!?" Metallia exclaimed in shock.

	"Darkess beyond the void of space..." the girl intoned.

	The stream connecting them pulsed with a mix of light and
dark hues. The green energy that Sailor Earth had drawn in now
spiraled around her in glowing ribbons. A strong wind rippled
through her hair as she held her hands together, beginning to
refine and concentrate the tremendous amounts of power she had
collected.

	"Crimson beyond blood that flows...
	 Buried outside the skein of time..."

	Kunzite and A.S.K. fought their way in, swords clashing
as Kunzite was driven back toward the center of the cave.

	"Is where MY power grows..."

	A.S.K. glanced up at Sailor Earth, then gasped, wide-eyed,
allowing Kunzite the advantage.

	"In MY great name, I consign this world to darkness!!!"

	A.S.K. tried to call out to her, but his voice was drowned
out by hers. Though it was not harsh, her voice spoke with power.
The crystals around the Senshi began to crack and shatter,
allowing them to regroup.

	"Let this realm that lies before me be destroyed,
	 by the power that I possess!"

	There was silence for a moment as Sailor Earth gave one last
look at Sailor Moon and Prince Endymion before turning back to her
task. She bowed her head, brought her hands forward, and spoke in
a deathly silent whisper that nonetheless resounded throughout the
Negaverse.

	"GALACTUS SLAVE."

	The redhead darkened, then Metallia glowed. The charged
streams pulsed, increasing in magnitude, then rushed into them.
Simultaneously, both individuals exploded in an expanding wash of
swirling black and white energies, consuming all that came in contact
with it.

	Queen Beryl could only stare, agape as she was vaporized.

	A.S.K. fought off an inner shockwave and had just enough time
to look on in horror as this happened, before a sidewash of the blast
engulfed Kunzite. The knight dove aside and hurried to where Sailor
Earth had last been.

	Before he could dive into the energy, however, Sailor Moon
caught him.

	As another jolt went through him, A.S.K. was powerless to
resist as Endymion and the Senshi teleported away with him.

*ZRRT!*

	The holographic Atomic Starlight Knight continued to pace
around the room. "And then, after having the audacity to just let
Terra sacrifice herself without my express permission, they had
the gall to 'save' my life."

	He growled. "Some life. After Terra dies, I've got... Maybe
one hour left to me. And barring Sailor Pluto barging in here and
offering to undo the thing, there's nothing I can do about it now!"

	He gave a wry smile. "Correction: There IS something I can
do about it..." The green-armored knight frowned. "But I won't.
You know why? I sure don't. As a matter of fact..."

	A.S.K. stopped. He shut his eyes, hunched over, and held his
chest as what promised to be the most powerful, and final feeling
in his life.

	A blue shockwave tore through him downwards... then bounced
back upwards, his image fading as this happened.

	"Computer..." he coughed, "make sure... make sure she finds
out about this! Code Omega... Four..."

	And then, he was gone in an intense flash of light.

*Zrrrr*

	Neo-Queen Serenity held her head as the assault on her senses
ended.

	{That is all,} the computer said.

	The woman took a few deep breaths to help herself calm down
after reliving the second most traumatic experience of her life.

	{An archive of my creator's personal logs is all that remains.
However-)

	*RRK!* A large claw mark from the outside appeared on the
holodeck door.

	{All defenses have been breached. Force fields are offline.
Combat droids are offline. Reactor will reach critical mass in one
minute, thirty seconds.}

	"What about his records?"

	{Unable to transfer. Insufficient time to complete task.
Transporter system has been repaired. Transporting you to the
surface.}

	Serenity started to say something, but she was beamed away.

	The beast tore through the door, casting away the metal
fragments stuck in its claws, then hunched over and looked around.

	{At least I'll finally be rid of _you_,} the computer said
with no small amount of joy.

	*GRAAAH*

	{Complain all you want. You and I are going together. Reactor
will reach critical mass in... two seconds. Have a delightful day,
dung-breath.}

---

	There was a slight rumble through the streets of Crystal
Tokyo, but it stopped after just a few seconds.

	Neo-Queen Serenity stumbled toward the Crystal Palace, and
was greeted by the worried faces of her Inner Senshi, Ranma included.

	"Hey," the new Sailor Earth began, "they said something
happened to you."

	"Yeah," Venus said, "we tried scanning and looking around, but
we couldn't get anywhere."

	Serenity nodded. "Yes, but I'm fine..." She turned to Ranma.
"I have a little story to tell you about your predecessor if you
have time."

	"'Course I got time! Not a whole lotta stuff ta do around
here, y'know."

	The Queen laughed. "That's probably because you haven't done
much other than training, fighting, and trying to seduce the Outer
Senshi."

	"Hey!" the redhead said defensively.

	"Yeah, I've heard the rumors about Setsuna and Hotaru," Jupiter
chuckled. "Like Haruka's been saying: Nudge-nudge, wink-wink..."

	The whole group had a merry chuckle at Ranma's expense.

	"I'll... go try to find Setsuna," the girl in the pink-
highlighted sailor fuku said, not at all impressed with the joke.
As she backed off, she muttered, "What a bunch of weirdos..."

^_^

	Reenie stood uneasily under the hot lamp of the cramped
courtroom. Only faint outlines could be made out in the rest of
the room.

	The jury sat in a darkened alcove, whispering amongst
themselves in very low tones concerning the fate of the defendant.

	The judge sat atop his desk, which towered over the young,
pink-haired girl. "A-HEM-HEM!" he cleared his throat.

	Small Lady looked around, trembling.

	"You," the judge began in a stern voice, "'ave been charged
with committing 'Pink.' 'Ow do you plead?"

	Reenie fidgeted, then looked up and, in a very small voice,
said, "Um... Not guilty?"

	"WRONG!" the judge shot back. "ON YA KNEES!!!"

	A dozen Klingon Warriors with charged Painsticks came at the
girl from every angle out of the shadows...

	*BZZZZZZZZZZZROOOOOW-ROWWWWWWWWWZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!*"

	"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!" the judge laughed
maniacally as the girl began to cook.

	Suddenly, Sailor Pluto walked in, turned on the lights and
shouted, "ARBY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!?!?"

	"Gaaah!" the Brown ArbyFish that were sitting on the jury
shouted, scattering like cockroaches in the light.

	The Klingons backed off and grinned sheepishly.

	Arby, who had been sitting on the judge's desk, fluttered
down and sat down on Reenie's shoulder and put a flipper around
her neck. "Umm... We wuz playin'! Real noice-loike!" He looked
down at the girl. "Wuzzn't we?"

	"Umenuhuhuhuhuh..." Lil' Mucus gibbered incoherently, her
hair sizzling and her eyes wide.

	"Get out!" Sailor Pluto yelled. "Everyone, out!"

	"Oh," Arby said, disappointed, "but we wuz throwin' 'er a
traditional Klingon birthday par'y!" He held up a stick of dynamite.
"Look! We'z gots th' candles roight 'ere!"

	"It's not her birthday and she's not Klingon!" Pluto snapped.
"OUT! I don't want to deal with you right now!!!"

	The ArbyFish shrugged; an interesting thing to see considering
that he didn't have shoulders. "Alrought." He turned to the Klingons.
"Come along, lads. We know when we'z not wonted 'ere."

	Arby dragged Reenie out of the room by her hair, followed by
the dark-haired Warriors.

	Sailor Pluto kicked over the tall, podeum-like cardboard desk
and benches.

	"To think," she muttered, "they actually believe that chaos
has been defeated..."

	Finally, she tired of the slow effort to clean up the room the
slow way, and gripped her staff in both hands.

	*WROOAARRHH* A grey whirlwind swept through the area, rending
the debris into dust, which was blown away.

	"There," the Time Senshi panted, wiping a fleck of drool from
the side of her mouth, "much better."

	Hunching over on her staff, she hobbled over to one of the
featureless walls and placed her hands against it.

	The creak of stone against stone echoed throughout the room
as a crack appeared in the wall, a titanic section withdrawing
inward and sliding aside, revealing a cavelike brown rock passageway.

	"All is in readiness," Sailor Pluto whispered, her eyes
reflecting an obsessive inner focus as she proceeded through the
tunnel. "The time draws near."

	In less than a minute, she approached a junction.

	The path to the right led upwards, was well-lit and had the
cheerful sounds of chirping birds and children laughing. Jovial music
played through the smooth hallway, giving the tunnel a very happy
feeling.

	The path to the left was pitch-black, save for a faint red glow
in the darkness below, eerie noises of an unknown origin echoing
through the jagged passageway. Faint, ominous drips and tortured
screams permeated the hot, humid, steaming atmosphere.

	Pluto looked to the right, her expression softening for
a moment, before hardening again as she tore her gaze away, turning
and marching down the other passageway.

	As she proceeded, her stiffening posture showed her growing
determination, but her countenance twisted into a mix of anger,
formerly repressed rage, and her eyes shone with something new;
something beyond all those small emotions.

	Setsuna's posture and expression became shockingly inhuman,
party to an indescribable evil.

	A dark aura flowed around her.

	"Sssoon, my preciousss," the green-haired woman hissed,
stopping a few meters from the end of the passage, "very sssoon."

	The red glow deepened, cracks appearing in the rock as the
wall began to slide aside, the cave vibrating in the wake of
moving stone.

	"Oh, there you are, Setsuna!" a girl's voice called from
behind the Time Guardian.

	Sailor Pluto turned towards the speaker, her lips curling
into a malevolent smile. "Greetings, Saotome Ranma."

	The sailor-suited redhead nodded. "Yeah." She glanced
around. "So, what're ya doin' here?"

	"HAHAHAHAHA," Pluto laughed in an overly deep chuckle,
her eyes gleaming as she dove at the girl, snatching her by a
pressure point in the neck, immobilizing her. "Why, Ranma-sama,"
she giggled in a mocking, high-pitched vibrato, "I'm going to
teach you a lesson; one that will haunt you for the rest of
all ETERNITY!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!"

	Ranma was only barely able to speak as she was dragged ever-
closer to the cracking wall at the end of the tunnel.

	"Oh my..."

^_^;;;

	If Arby had ears, they'd have pricked up at that moment. He
turned to the frizzy-haired little girl lying next to him on her bed.

	"Well, wot's all this, then?" Arby quieried the child.

	"I think you play too rough, Arby," Reenie whispered.

	"Oh, come along, then. In two weeks we'll 'ave ya tough 'nough
ta take on a 'ole droid army double-fisted, single-'anded, n' triple
brain-celled!"

	Small Lady closed her eyes, turned away, and shuddered.

	The ArbyFish blinked. "Oh, well, then. Wotcha think, eh? Eh?
Eh?" He pulled out a mushroom and a spoon, beginning to whittle the
fungus into an ornate carving. "We'z gots ta getcha ready ta stage a
chicken coup lata' on." He glanced over to her. "Aye mean, Sereni'y
doesn't wont ta rule _foreva'_! She'd loike ta pass it off ta th'
next generation a' 'Chubby' Sushi just'as much's th' next monarch. N'
it takes a strong rula' ta kick out someone loike ya motha'. Ya see,
those guys from Nemesis'd loike ta 'ave th' place. But they's got no
sense a stoyle. They can't even come up with a goofy 'nough 'airstyle
ta win th' war! It's awl in the 'air, ya see. Whoeva' 'as the
puffiest 'airstoyle... wins. Th' electricity 'elps ya roight noicely,
it does! You're a shoe-in!"

	By this time, Lil' Mucus had her pillow wrapped tightly
around her head, groaning.

	"Oh, well, then!" the seal-like creature exclaimed gleefully,
fluttering over to her, where he stuffed the carved mushroom into
one of her pockets. "There ya go!"

	The Green ArbyFish began to flutter off like a sparrow, but
stopped when he heard a high-pitched purple-cat giggle.

	"Arby!" Diana greeted, smiling up at him as she walked through
the door. "What's been going on? I heard Sailor Earth was due for
babysitting Reenie."

	"Well, ya see," Arby began, "plans change, n'-"

	Diana gasped, a knowing grin creeping onto her face. "Plans
change, huh? Does that mean what I think it does?"

	"Errrmh... No!" Arby replied, glancing around for an escape
route.

	"Awww," the kitten laughed, "it _does_! You _are_ going to
ask me to the dance, aren't you?"

	Arby fluttered down to perch on a lampshade, narrowing his
eyes at her. "ArbyFish do not dance," he said, then paused, thinking
about it for a second before continuing, "Well, maybe we'd clog-
dance or tap-dance on occasion, but that's only ta summon th' great
Eternal Mushroom afta' gatherin' the Seven... Billion... Dragon
Mushroom... Marble Balls. But only on weekends. Ya see, in orda'
ta properly secure-"

	"Hehe," Diana giggled, "you're cute!"

	The odd creature winced, his fur ruffled. He looked back
down at her in horror. "Y-y-y," he stuttered, "you CAN'T mean that!"

	Diana batted her eyes at him, smiling.

	Once again, Arby winced. "Oh," he muttered, "you DO!" He took
a quick breath and straightened. "Aye'm afraid you'll 'ave ta pay
th' penalty, then." He marched along the lampshade with a military
air. "You will be tortured first, then poked, prodded, n' served
up with a noice white-wine sauce-"

	The purple kitten giggled, looking up at him. "That's REALLY
cute! You're adorable, sugar."

	*Dahn-dahn-DAAAHNNNN!* Arby recoiled dramatically, fluttering
to the top of the room. "Nooo," he whispered, then levitated
downwards to sit in front of Diana, narrowing his eyes at her.

	*SQUELCH-SQUIRT*PSSSSHHHHHHTT!!!* The ArbyFish scrunched down
and began to secrete copious amounts of a foamy, white pus, which
permeated his fur and dripped down into the carpet, soiling it
forever with the foul-smelling liquid.

	Diana gasped as the disgusting thing dove at her in a flash and
rubbed the seething, putrid fluid all over her.

	"EEEEEEW!!!" the cat shouted.

	Arby drew back, and looked at her with a predatory smile. "Not
so cute NOW, iz Aye?"

	Diana flicked some of the gross substance off of her fur.
"Yuck," she muttered, and looked up at Arby. "Go take a bath!"

	Arby hopped closer, looking emotionally hurt. "Oh, but I
want a kiss-"

	"NO!" Diana screamed, pushing him back with both of her paws.

	The ArbyFish nodded to himself, quite pleased at the response,
and shook himself clean. He looked at the soiled kitten. "Alroight.
G'boye, then." He made a shooing motion at her with his flippers.

	Diana chuckled, taking a step forward. "Ooooh no," she said, an
intelligent look spreading its way across her face, "you're not
gettin' outta it _that_ easily! You're goin' to the dance with me
Friday!"

	Arby snapped... a twig between his flippers. "NOOO!" he
shouted at her, then flew up and snatched the mushroom carving out
of Reenie's pocket, swooping down and handing it to the cat. "Have
sum fungus, on ya way. If ya don't, we'll 'ave fillet!"

	The sealish thing began escorting her out of the room, singing
a cheery song to the tune of the Seven Dwarves' work music.

	o/Haiku! Haiku! It's off ta school wit'chew!
	  Have sum 'shrooms, it's off with you.
	  Haiku, Haiku! Haiku!\o

	He took her outside, just beside the street.

	A yellow school bus roared closer, screeching to a halt
right in front of them.

	As the door opened, Arby tossed Diana inside.

	The driver closed the door, and the bus sped off into the
sunset.

	"N' that takes care a' that," Arby said, dusting off his
flippers. He nodded to himself, then turned to go back inside,
coming face-to-face with a cute, young, female kitten.

	"Hi, Arby!" Diana exclaimed cheerfully.

	"GAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

	*CHOMP!* Startled, Arby swallowed the cat whole.

	"I'll deal with 'er later," he said, then fluttered off
to learn more about his history at the library.

~~~

	All things considered, twentieth century Tokyo was not that
confusing of a place to live in.

	However, Kasumi Incognito sat puzzled as she attempted to
decipher some of the logic that had been bombarding her for the
past hour.

	[N' then the mushroom sez,] the voice of the captured
ArbyFish echoed through the metal walls of the round container,
[Aye IS the Pumpkin Thing!]

	Under the plate, the Mumbling Moscow Clown Mushroom honked
its nose in amusement.

	[They always loike that one.]

	"Ah, Arby?" Kasumi began, confused a hand at her cheek.

	[Wot? That essay wuz roight comical, it was!]

	"I just thought you might like to know that I love my daughter,
and I can't let you hurt her."

	[I wuzzn't gonna 'urt 'er. Just... soften 'er up a bit. Ya
know, munch on 'er spoinal collumn, drain 'er brain... Stuff ta
keep 'er from gettin' too perfect. Toime Guardian's orda's.]

	"That's wrong, Arby."

	[Wot??]

	"Even if Sailor Pluto told you to do something-"

	[Know Saila' Plu'o, eh? Well, she didn't tell me to, really.
She asked real noice!]

	Kasumi paused. "Even if someone asks _very_ nicely, you
shouldn't do bad things."

	[N' just whoy not?]

	Terra's mother explained a few basic concepts of right and
wrong, making it very clear to note that doing what is right is
far more important than doing what is wrong. She went on to explain
that harming innocent people, _especially_ her daughter, was wrong.

	['Ow ya figger that?]

	"It... it just IS!"

	The ArbyFish was silent for a moment. [Oh, well, then. That'd
be different, wouldnnit? But Plu'o _did_ ask first...]

	The ponytailed woman sighed, shaking her head. "Arby, I-"

	*CRASH!* A loud noise from upstairs cut off further
conversation.

	Kasumi gasped, holding a hand to her mouth. "Oh my. That's
from Terra's room!"

	She turned away from the trapped ArbyFish and hurried up the
staircase.

	Pulling open the door to Terra's bedroom, Kasumi's eyes widened
at the sight of a parent's nightmare.

	The wall had been blasted open, and a wild-haired man had her
daughter draped over his armored shoulder. He glanced over to her.
"Hey, thanks," Kakkorotto said. "I checked her power potential, and
it's _way_ high. Once I break her will, she'll make a _great_
apprentice." He grinned. "Oh, did I say apprentice? I meant SLAVE!"

	A blue aura flared up around him, and he sped off through the
damaged wall, a peal of mocking laughter echoing as he left.

	Kasumi paled. "Oh," she whispered in quiet horror, "oh my!"

	*Beep*Beep* A small, pink, calculator-like device on Terra's
bed gave off a soft tone.

	The brown-haired woman looked down at it, pursed her lips,
and picked it up.

...

	"Terra, are you there?" Serena whined through her small
communicator. "I can't sleeeep."

	Luna opened an eye. "You know that's only supposed to be
used for Sailor business. If you wanted to talk to her, you could
have used the telephone."

	The pigtailed girl looked down at her. "I know, Luna, but..."
She trailed off as she noticed that the face on the communicator's
little screen was not Terra. "Ummmm," she began uneasily, "Mrs.
Incognito!? What are you... Err... Why are you talking to me on
Terra's secret Sailor Scou... Oh! Umm... Ehhh..."

	As Serena continued to fidget, Kasumi answered, looking _very_
worried, "I'm afraid that Terra has," she stopped, shaking her head
in disbelief, "Oh my... She's been abducted by an alien!"

	Serena blinked. "An alien!?"

	Kasumi nodded.

...

	"You're SURE it wasn't the Starlight Knight?" Raye asked,
frantically looking through a few scrolls that had such titles
as 'Fireball,' 'Elkemia Lance,' and 'Ra Tilt.'

	"Oh no, of course not," the ponytailed woman replied, "he's
at his restaurant, tending to his duties there. Besides, he has
a boy and a girl to take care of. He doesn't have time to do
anything evil."

	Raye raised an eyebrow. "Know something I don't?"

	"I know that you need to help Terra," Kasumi said, then
added, "Please."

...

	Amy Anderson wasn't fazed by Kasumi's sudden appearance on
her Sailor Scout communicator, or even by the announcement that
Terra had been taken captive by a powerful extraterrestrial force.

	The blue-haired girl merely took it all in stride, nodding
along as other details about the situation were explained to her.

	The kidnapper was a member of a warrior race, but the records
of that alien species showed him as only being a third-class soldier,
and as such it should be possible to track down and defeat him.

	Amy decided to be polite and not ask why she was on the
communicator, or how she knew all this. "Thank you, Mrs. Incognito.
I'll be right there."

	The woman smiled and deactivated the communicator, disappearing
from view.

	Amy put aside the book she had been studying for school, "Our
Enemy the Tachyonic Flux Capacitor," and picked up her small, blue
Mercury Computer.

	Suddenly, she paused and looked down at it, getting the odd
feeling like she wasn't going to see it again or something...

	This was quite strange, especially considering the fact that
she was taking it with her.

	"Bizarre," Ami commented to herself.

^_^

	The sayajin warrior sped across the city, landing in the
middle of a small park, just in front of a relatively small, grey
pod.

	"Funny how the pod's security system would want to land here,
specifically," Kakkorotto commented, pulling out his remote for the
transport.

	*Bok-bwok!* The pod's door slid open.

	"Should be room enough for both of us," the sayajin added,
looking at the redheaded girl in pajamas he was carrying, "but it
might get a bit cramped. These things are designed for single-troop
movements." He paused. "Then again, Nappa can fit into one of
these, so come on, how small can they be?" He chuckled, looking
up and shaking his head.

	Terra began regaining consciousness, her eyelids tightening
in a sort of wince. "Mmmmh..."

	Kakkorotto's scouter beeped, noting a sharp, nearby power
increase. Following the directional indicator, he saw that it was
coming from Terra. "Wow, you're already getting up there, aren't
you? Your power level's TRIPLED in the last five minutes!"

	The girl's eyes shot open, and she looked up at him, obvious
hurt in her eyes. "Breaking into my room and kidnapping me wasn't
very nice..."

	*ZZzzrrrrr* A tear flowed down her cheek as she unconsciously
began to build a flaring red aura up around herself.

	Kakkorotto laughed. "Sorry, I can't have you powering up just
now." He reached into the pod and pulled out a flat, metallic
device, which he placed against Terra's forehead.

	*BZZT!* Immediately, the redhead went limp.

~~~

	Somewhere, a pink-haired man winced.

	"Ow," he muttered, rubbing his crescent-mooned forehead,
"this thing's burning..."

	"Would you like some ice?" Ukkyo asked between serving
customers.

	"Yeah. Better make it dry ice, though. It's gettin' *WARM.*"

	"Dry ice?" the brown-haired young woman mused with a raised
eyebrow. She shrugged. "Okay. It's _your_ head, I guess."

~~~


	"Heh," the sayajin laughed, placing the girl in the pod, "if
I didn't find _her_, I would've said this whole trip was a bust."
He paused. "Of course, that Saffron guy almost managed to scratch
my armor." He shook his head and began to climb into the spacecraft.
He stopped and glanced back with a thoughtful look. "I guess I might
as well blow up the place when I blast off..."

	"Stop right there!" an authoritative girl's voice commanded.

	Kakkorotto looked back to see three young women... in skimpy,
color-coded sailor suits. "Hey, now..." He tapped his scouter, rows
of alien numbers tumbling across the display.

	The blonde sailor started to pose, emphasising each point of
her speech. "Kidnapping innocent young girls to become slaves is
unforgivable. I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice, I right wrongs
and triumph over evil, and in the name of the Moon-"

	"And in the name of Mars," the black-haired girl added.

	"And Mercury," the blue-highlighted one continued.

	The trio got into a group stance and finished with a big,
dramatic, "We will punish you!"

	Kakkorrotto finished examining the figures on his scouter,
and looked at the girls with a smirk. "Oh, come on! This is like
beating up on my little sisters!" He paused, laughing in remembrance.
"Yeah, I always enjoyed that."

	*Whoosh*BLAM!* The sayajin put out a hand, sending a small
fireball into the midst of the group, the explosion forcing them
to scatter.

	Sailor Mars regained her footing and turned toward the man,
putting her hands together. "Mars Fire," she intoned, a flame
appearing at the edge of her fingertips, "Ignite!"

	A blast of fire sped toward Kakkorotto, and washed harmlessly
up against an energy barrier.

	"Mercury Bubbles," Sailor Mercury began, crossing her arms
in front of herself, a blue energy building up in front of her. She
spun around once and released it, "BLAAAST!"

	The cold bubbles burst into a spray of mist, obscuring the
area in a dense fog.

	The blue-haired girl gasped as Kakkorotto appeared next to
her, unphased by the appearance of the fog, he grinned, and flicked
her into the ground.

	*CRACK!* Something broke as Mercury landed. She lay still.

	The fog faded away.

	Sailor Moon's eyes widened as she saw her fallen companion.
"Mercury!" She focused her attention on Kakkorotto, eyes narrowing.
"Moon," she began, her tiara flaring up, "Tiara," the jewel on the
tiara gleamed, "Action!"

	Flaring once more, the tiara rose off Sailor Moon's head
and dove at the sayajin.

	*Ching!* Kakkorotto caught the small, flying object.

	"Tiara, trap him!" the blonde blurted out.

	*Bling* The glowing disc flared into a circle, which quickly
expanded, then contracted around the armored warrior, trapping his
arms at his waist.

	"Mars Fire," Sailor Mars began again, "Ignite!"

	The fire leapt at Kakkorotto, again not getting past the
barrier.

	"Mars Fire... IGNITE!"

	Once more, the attack didn't even reach its target.

	"Sailor Moon," Mars called, "he's too strong for my fire! I'm
going to try-"

	"No you're not," Kakkorotto said.

	The raven-haired girl looked at him. "Why not?"

	Seemingly as an afterthought, the sayajin snapped the glowing
ring that had appeared to be binding him, the energy reforming into
the tiara and falling to the ground with a soft thud. "Because I'm
not done playing with you yet." He thrust out his hand.

	"AAAH!" Mars shrieked as she was tossed back, up against a
large, granite rock.

	*SLAM!*

	Sailor Moon gasped, her hands at her mouth as Kakkorotto
turned toward her.

	*WHOOOSH*CHING!!* There was a red flash, a sonic boom, and
a long-stemmed rose imbedded itself in the ground in front of
the man.

	"Only a coward beats up on defenseless young girls," a
tuxedo-clad figure high up in a tree declared in a _very_
unhappy tone, "I am Tuxedo Mask. Believe in yourself, Sailor,"
he paused, having to think about it for a moment, "Moon, and
you can defeat-WAAAAAH!"

	*BLAAAAAAM* Kakkorotto wasted no time with him, crushing
the rose with his foot, then raising his hands and firing off a
*HUGE* white ball of energy, which blasted Tuxedo Mask high into
the air, his cool, mysterious image crumbling in the wake of such
power.

	Little black scraps of something fell to the ground.

	Sailor Moon was hyperventilating in fear at this point.

	"Urgh," Mars began, gritting her teeth as she stood up, "all
right, that's it." She cracked her knuckles and held her hands
together. "I hope this works." She cleared her throat. "Source
of all Power," she said.

	Kakkorotto sighed in boredom.

	Mars' voice took on an echoing quality. "Crimson Power Burning
Bright!"

	*Wharsh*Shing!*Blam-BLAMBLAM!*CRAAASH* The sayajin released a
group of energy balls at her, which swept into the ground underneath
her, blasting up the terrain and encasing the girl in rock.

	Sailor Moon looked on, agape in shock, glancing between Terra,
who was unconscious in the metal pod, Mercury, who was unmoving on
the ground, the scattered charred remnants of black cloth, and the
pile of rock where Mars had been standing.

	"So, when do we start fighting?" Kakkorotto asked matter-of-
factly. "I'm really itching for some good action."

	The pigtailed Senshi took another look at what had become
of her friends, then turned back to him, her expression becoming
very determined. "You want action? I'll give it to you!"

	On the ground, her tiara flared up again, rising into the
air and rushing at Kakkorotto.

	*KSSST* The black-haired warrior deflected the attack with
an open palm.

	*Zrr*KSSH!* The tiara burned even more brightly than before,
lunging at Kakkorotto like a coiled snake, but was knocked away
again.

	*ZRR*KSSSSSSH!* And again.

	*KRSSSH* And again.

	During one of these distractions, Sailor Moon leapt in for
a kick...

	But Kakkorotto was not there to receive it.

	Rather, the sayajin appeared behind her to lightly smack
her into the ground, dumping her several feet into the ground.

	"Oh well," Kakkorotto muttered, pointing a hand at the
hole.

	*KABLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!* Sailor Moon leapt
out of the hole just before the sayajin's blast obliterated the
territory, digging a bottomless pit for a football-field length
in front of him.

	The Senshi landed behind Kakkorotto and swungg her hand down
in a chopping motion, slapping harmlessly against his armor.

	"Ow," Sailor Moon whispered, holding her hand.

	"Hey, pretty impressive," the warrior commented, turning
toward her. "Let's see you evade _this_." He held a hand, cupped
upwards, where a focused white sphere appeared. "My brother taught
it to me. It's called," he smiled, "keep your eye on the birdy."

	"WAAAAAAAAAH!" Sailor Moon shouted in panic, sidestepping the
shot as it came at her, then jumping above it as it sped back towards
her, then finally tripping into the ground, allowing the sphere to
slam directly into Kakkorotto with its continued velocity.

	*BLAAAAAAM!*

	His hair singed, Kakkorotto looked in displeasure at the
girl. "Hey! No fair using my own attacks against me."

	On the ground, Sailor Moon shrugged nervously. "Well," she
fidgeted, "you're supposed to keep your eye on the birdy!"

	"Yeah," the sayajin laughed, "I guess you're right."

	With that statement, he began tossing hundreds of little
energy spheres towards her at an impossible rate.

	*Blam-b-b-b-b-b-b-bbb-bLAAAAAM-Blamablamawhamaamblamma!*

	"WAAA-AAA-AAA-AAA-AAAH!!!" the pigtailed Senshi cried,
somehow managing to dodge each and every one of the explosions
as she ran around like a chicken with its head cut off while
they obliterated the park's few remaining features.

	"Nice," Kakkorotto said, appearing behind her. "Can you
avoid this?"

	*BLAM!*

	"How about this?"

	*WHAM!*

	"Or this?"

	*THWACK!*

	"Maybe this?"

	*CRACK!*

	At this point, Kakkorotto had Sailor Moon on the ground,
thoroughly battered with a black eye and her legs pinned to the
ground by his right boot.

	"Owwwwwww," Sailor Moon whined, tears flowing down her cheeks,
"that huuuurts!"

	"Doesn't it, though?" Kakkorotto said, amused.

	"Please stop!"

	"No. You're a weak, powerless little girl. You can't make
me. I'm going to kill you, take that girl, break her will on
some hostile planet until she's my willing servant. But before
that, I'm going to blow up this stupid planet because everyone's
so pathetic, you're practially just begging me to kill all of you
off."

	Sailor Moon tried to pull away. "I'll stop you," she forced
out, "in the name of the Moon, I will stop you!"

	Kakkorotto laughed. "I don't think so. You've all been
trying your hardest, doing your 'best' work, and I haven't even
been scratched yet." He grinned. "Actually, it's kind of funny.
Especially the noises you people make when you die."

	The Moon Senshi took in all that was said, her strugglings
in vain. All her weapons hadn't done a thing. Her friends were
gone. There was nothing she could do to stop this man, and she
knew it.

	But she couldn't just give up!

	"Anyway," Kakkorotto continued, pointing a hand at her and
smiling malevolently, "it's time to send you to the next dimension."

	Sailor Moon clenched her hand into a fist.

	For her friends, if nothing else.

	*Wringwringwring*

	The sayajin's scouter beeped. He blinked at it.

	*BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!*

	Kakkorotto was sent flying back against an outcropping of
broken rock, as ball of energy impacted and burned against his chest
armor.

	"AAAARRRGGHH!!!" the sayajin yelled as he tried to resist,
block, or dodge the effects of the blast, failing completely, forcing
him to take the full brunt of the attack.

	Within a few seconds, the energy had faded, and Kakkorotto fell
sideways to the ground, gasping for air, a glowing molten pock mark
in his armor.

	Sailor Moon slumped back to the ground with a sigh, her hand
clutching the Crescent Moon Wand.

	"W... whoa man," Kakkorotto coughed, his eyes bulging as he
struggled to his feet. "Th... that's impossible," he whispered,
then called out, "You're, at best, two-thirty! How did you do that!?"

	"Umm, uh," Sailor Moon stammered in fear and exhaustion, "I
don't know! It just happened! Sorry!"

	"That's it!" the sayajin shouted, beginning to levitate into
the air. "You're toast! All of you!" He raised his arms, a bright
yellow aura blazing around him.

	Suddenly, he stopped as he felt a tug from below.

	Kakkorotto looked down to see a badly-battered Sailor Mars
with her hand clutched firmly on his brown tail, which had been
knocked loose by the recent blast.

	Sailor Mars turned her face toward him, a cold hatred in
her eyes. "We're not through yet," she began. "Fire..."

	The alien warrior looked at her in horror. "Not the TAIL!!!"

	Mars tightened her grip. "BALL!!!"

	Instantly, Kakkorotto's tail burst into flames.

	"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

	He fell to the ground, writing in agony as the girl's powers
continued to burn him.

	Mercury pushed herself into a sitting position and took out
her computer. She tapped her earring, causing her display visor
to appear over her eyes. She began to scan. "He's weakening!" the
blue-haired girl called. "Finish him off, Sailor Moon! It's now
or never!"

	"Uh," Sailor Moon said uneasily, "Right!" She stood, holding
up her wand, then paused, looking down at it. "Now, how do I use
this...?"

	"Urgh," Kakkorotto choked out, "Forget this!"

	The man clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and brought
his hands apart.

	*WROAR*WHRAAA* Kakkorotto's black hair turned a light shade
of gold and was forced up in the wake of the rest of the power
that now surrounded him.

	Mars was blown back by the force of the sudden powerup.

	The brooch on Sailor Moon's chest shattered, her clothes
returning to blue and pink bunny pajamas in a swirl of magical
ribbons. She fell to the ground in the wind from the blast.
"Waaaaaaaaah!"

	Mercury gasped as her computer tried to comprehend the
sheer energies coming from the man. "A POWER LEVEL OF-"

	*BLAM!*ZRRT* Her computer's core exploded, fragments of the
CPU smashing out of the main case. The girl's visor flickered out
in a burst of static.

	The level one Super Sayajin surveyed his handywork and saw
that everyone who managed to land a blow on him was down.

	Sailor Mercury, though, had managed to stand up.

	Deciding he needed something a bit more... personal to work
out his rage about all this than just blowing up the planet, he
approached her, his hands charged.

	Mercury looked up at him, fearful but determined. She crossed
her arms in front of herself. "Mercury," she began, then stopped.
"Shabon Spray..."

	Kakkorotto threw his hands out, causing a massive burst to
erupt from the ground below the blue-haired girl.

	"Freezing!" Mercury finished, encasing herself in a block of
supercooled ice that her enemy's energy instantly began to erode.

	The Super Sayajin came closer to admire the means of her death.

	*WHACK!* As the last ice was destroyed, Sailor Mercury
smashed her computer into Kakkorotto's scouter, knocking it off
his face.

	"Hey!" Kakkorotto shouted in annoyance, and smacked her
away, causing a sickening crunch in her ribs.

	Sailor Mercury stayed down this time.

	The blonde warrior glanced around, then looked down at his
fallen scouter. "Eh... That thing's useless." Deciding that he
was pretty much fed up with the whole mess, he walked back over
to his pod, where Terra still lay.

	*Whoosh!*Da-da, da-da!* There was a green flash with dramatic
music...

	*Ching!* And an ArbyFish imbedded himself into the ground
between Kakkorotto and the pod.

	The Super Sayajin blinked, his arms dropping. "What the...?"

	Arby pulled himself out of the ground, the dramatic music
fading to an Irish jig as he started to dance around.

	"Not so fast," the creature commanded, coming to a halt in
front of him.

	The music slowed down.

	Arby turned to the monkey with a fiddle and a pair of bagpipes
next to him. "Not you!" he said in annoyance, then turned back to
Kakkorotto. "'Ello, sez Aye ta you ta me n' you back in return!"

	Kakkorotto raised an eyebrow.

	"Aye challenge you to a duel! Mushrooms at sunroise."

	"Yeah, whatever," the man said with a shrug, stepping over
him towards his pod.

	*Snick*SLAAAAAAAM!* The ArbyFish grabbed Kakkorotto by the
lapels and bodyslammed him way over into the nigh-bottomless pit
that had been created earlier.

	"Aye will not be ignored," the green, black, and white thing
said, his oddly-accented voice dripping with an even deeper annoyance
than before. Wiping the annoyance from his mouth, he continued, "Ya'z
gots ta foight me in a duel ta the death."

	Kakkorotto slowly levitated out of the pit, a bemused look on
his face.

	"First guy ta doie," Arby added, "wins! C'mon, take ya best
shot!" Sitting up on his tail, he patted his soft, white underbelly.

	The Super Sayajin stared, then shrugged. "What the h... Well,
if you insist."

	*WRRR-RRR-RRR-RRR-RRR-RRR-RRRRRRRRRRRRRR* Kakkorotto held his
hands together, a whirlwind ripping around him, and the ground
further crumbling throughout the park. He thrust his hands forward,
a tremendous, sparking golden beam shooting out from them, headed
directly toward the tiny creature.

	*KWRRRRRRRRRREEEEEOOOOOOWWWW* The river of energy poured
forward, buildings in the distance cracking from the discharge.

	Arby stood firm, allowing the blast to come.

	Then, suddenly, the beam came to a halt, just a couple feet
away from the Green ArbyFish. The energy coalesced together,
appearing to be thinking about something, and after a moment took off
in another direction. "Yipe, yipe, yipe!" the energy howled as it
departed into the sky.

	Kakkorotto cut off the blast, and looked down in confusion.

	Arby chuckled. "It's afraid a' me. You should be, too."

	"Okay, nice trick," the Super Sayajin admitted, "let's see
how you do against level three, you little bugger."

	Kakkorotto clenched his eyes shut and held his arms apart.
The aura around him intensified, and his hair grew and grew... and
grew some more. Finally, his puffy mane went down to his ankles.
"HAH!" he yelled, his voice echoing, his eyes wide, and his face
twisted into a hyperpowered, overconfident, drug-tripping grin.

	"'Twas brillig," Arby began calmly, "n' the sloivey toves-"
He held up his flippers, pointed toward the third level Super
Sayajin.

	*KERACK!* A lightning bolt singed the man, slicing a long gash
through the side of his armor.

	Kakkorotto was surprised. He had actully been trying to dodge
this time.

	"Did gyre n' gymble in the wabe," the ArbyFish continued. He
made a downward slapping motion with his flipper.

	*SMACK!* Before he could react, Kakkorotto found himself driven
head first into the ground. He yanked himself out, only in time to
hear, "All mymsy were the borogroves!"

	*BLAAAAM!* The ground exploded underneath the man.

	"And the mome raths out grabe!"

	*WHACK!!!* A tree ripped itself out of the ground and
smacked the Super Sayajin in the face, doing much more damage
than it should have.

	"Beware the Jabberwock, moiy son!"

	*KATHRACK!* Kakkorotto's head was smashed aside, feeling as
if he'd just been given a sharp uppercut--one that could easily
crack continental plates.

	"The jaws that boite!"

	*CLAMP!*CREAK*SLAM!* An unseen force bit down on the Super
Sayajin's breastplate, digging in with sharp tooth marks, picking
him up and again slamming him into the ground.

	"The claws that catch!"

	*KWASHIIING!!!* Several deep claw marks slashed their way
across Kakkorotto's armor.

	"Beware the Jubjub Bird, n' shun the Frumjious Bandersnatch!"

	*Eeee!*Eeee!* A huge bird, larger than a condor, swept down
low, and snatched a young white harp seal from the ground, flying
off.

	"Oh dear, not again," the seal muttered in a depressed tone.

	"He took his vorpal sword in hand," Arby continued, whipping
out a Heavy, Blunt Object(TM). "Long time the manxome foe he sought!"

	Enraged, Kakkorotto dove down at him, at speeds that even
sayajin eyes had no chance of detecting.

	*WHACK!* Arby smacked him away with his weapon, then leaned
against a nearby mushroom. "So rested he by the tumtum tree," he
added, polishing the mallet-like object he carried, "and stood awhile
in thought."

	Landing, Kakkorotto held his head in pain, then turned and
looked toward Arby.

	"And while in oomphish thought he stood," the creature said,
noting Kakkorotto's enraged approach. "The Jabberwock, with eyes of
flame came wiffling through the tulgey wood..."

	As the man dove forward, Arby stared at him.

	*Crunch!* Kakkorotto winced as a few of his ribs shattered.

	Arby smiled. "And burbled as it came."

	The long-haired Super Sayajin growled, diving at his small
foe with a flurry of low punches.

	Arby fought back with all his might, blocking the punches
with his weapon. "One-two, one-two, and through and through, the
vorpal blade went snicker-snack!"

	*THWAAAAAAAAAACKKKKKK!!!!!!* Arby smashed his Heavy, Blunt
Object(TM) into Kakkorotto's head, knocking him to the ground in
a deep daze.

	"He left it dead, and with its head," the ArbyFish grabbed
the end of the man's long hair and began to hop off, dragging him
behind, "he went galumphing back."

	"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?" Arby recited, stopping
and dumping his burden in front of him. "Come to my arms, my beamish
boy!"

	Kakkorotto choked in complete and utter disbelief.

	"Oh, frabjous day, calooh, callay, he chortled in his joy!"
Arby exclaimed, then flung the third level Super Sayajin high into
the air.

	"Twas brillig and the sloivey toves," Arby continued, aiming
his flippers at the airborne warrior.

	*KAAAAAAAAABLAAAAAAAAAAMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!*

	*Thud*

	"Did gyre and gymble in the wabe," the Green ArbyFish said
with a grin as he watched Kakkorotto fall limply to the ground.
"All mymsy were the borogroves, and the mome raths out grabe."

	A horde of recently released zoo animals applauded at him.

	"Why, thank you," Arby said, taking a bow. Suddenly, he
stopped, turning back to his opponent with a frown. Like a small
bird, he hopped over to where Kakkorotto lay.

	The ArbyFish prodded him with a flipper. "'Scuse me, do you
'ave ta gymble so loudly?"

	"URRRRRAUUGGHHHH," Kakkorotto replied, his angry eyes bulging
at the creature.

	"Oh," Arby blinked, "well, then." He pointed his flippers at
him. "Melee Caleeky Maka!" he called out in Hawaiian.

	*BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!*

	"Y un nuevo a�o felicidad!" Arby continued in Spanish.

	*KA-BLAM*Blam*Blam*

	"F'nord!"

	*BORT!*

	The ArbyFish blinked. "Ya not dead yet!" He frowned. "Ya
_really_ don't wont ta win, do ya?"

	"Ughhh," Kakkorotto coughed, flat on his back, his still-
unbelieving jaw hanging open.

	Arby looked up. "Too bad. 'S a noice noight ta congeal. Look!
It's a REAL noice full moon tonoight. See? It's pokin' through the
clouds roight now, it iz!"

	The thoroughly injured Super Sayajin gasped, then turned
his head so that he could see the Moon. His horrified and confused
expression shifted to one of triumph.

	Arby didn't so much as bat an eyelash as he watched Kakkorotto
grow to a hundred times his previous size, the man's jaw elongating
and his body becoming covered in a thick, puffy golden fur. His
armor expanded with him and his eyes turned a glowing shade of red.

	The ArbyFish looked at him. "Hey! Aye can do that!" He closed
his eyes, scrunching down in high concentration.

	*POOF!* Arby's fur fluffed out. "'Hoeva' 'as th' puffiest
cheeks," he called out, "wins!" He smoothed back the cute tufts on
his face with his flippers.

	The Super Oozaru rose into the air, turning toward his
tormentor, spotting him without difficulty with his obscenely
enhanced senses. "ALL RIGHT," he bellowed, "THIS GALAXY IS HISTORY!"
He held his massive paws apart, his aura intensifying even further.
"LEVEL TEN!!!"

	*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEOOOOOW*

	Arby blinked. "Oh dear... This's gonna be an 'ard one ta win."
He whipped out a small mushroom, one that was dressed and colored
like a clown. "Gonna 'ave ta go full powa'."

~~~

	Luna tossed and turned in her sleep.

	From the looks of her surroundings in her dream, she appeared
to be back home, in the Silver Millennium.

	All was calm and at peace in the romanesque architecture.

	Luna turned, coming face-to-face with a somewhat familiar
male white cat. She blinked, blurting out, "Artemis?"

	"Hey, there, kitty cat," Artemis replied with a bitter-sweet
smile. "Long time, no see."

	"Why are we," the black cat began, then paused and restarted,
"What are you doing here?"

	Artemis sighed, shrugging. "Well, sometimes, people get so
wrapped up in themselves, and think they're the only one that
matters..." He trailed off.

	Luna tilted her head at him. "What are you talking about,
Artemis?"

~~~

	The Super Oozaru's deep laughter echoed across the landscape
as he completed the stages of his massive, final powerup. He could
not be seen through his swirling aura. However, it was quite certain
that his blinding, golden fur was exceptionally long.

	Even so, the air stilled as Kakkorotto took one last look
at his target. "NOW, YOU DIE."

	*SQUELCH!* The glowing apelike thing adjusted its footing,
smashing a very large, majestic mushroom patch.

	Arby narrowed his eyes. "DON'T do that!"

	"HAH!" the oozaru laughed. "DO WHAT?" He shifted his stance
again.

	*SQUISH!*

	The ArbyFish's puffy fur began to stand on end. "Alroight,
you asked for it." His expression focused and he held the
Mumbling Moscow Clown Mushroom in front of him. "MMMMH!"

	Kakkorotto opened his huge, gaping mouth, shooting out a huge,
continuous burst.

	*RWOAAAAR!* The blast slammed up against a spherical barrier
of some sort around Arby, which blocked it, but began weakening
almost instantly.

~~~

	Artemis winced.

	"What is it?" Luna asked.

	The white cat looked at her. "I don't have a lot of time,
Luna." He shook his head, looked down, and put a paw on her
shoulder. "I just wanted to apologize for all," he paused and
looked her in the eye, "for all the trouble I've caused you.
I'm sorry."

	"What trouble?"

~~~

	The ArbyFish clutched the mushroom tighter, glaring back
up at Kakkorotto, his small teeth clenched. "Aye," he panted,
straining from the effort, "can't letcha!"

	The Super Oozaru brought his hands into the struggle, blasting
the shrinking barrier with even more power, but taking the pressure
off his mouth and allowing him to speak. "YOU AND YOUR PLANET WILL
BE DESTROYED, AND IF YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT, TOO FRIGGIN'
BAD!"

	Arby narrowed his eyes. "Alroight, then," he began, and held
up his mushroom. "Habberjug and Willywug, sang Arby on the way!"
His barrier pulsed, growing slightly.

	"HEH," Kakkorotto laughed, and pooled all his resources into
his attack, spitting another constant beam into the fray.

	In the wake of competing forces, the terrain was blasted up
for miles, fragments of rock pulling off the ground. The city's
buildings cracked, pieces falling off.

	"While dingos' kidneys stand at lampposts," Arby continued,
"Gymbling 'till they say..."

~~~

	Artemis had departed, and Queen Serenity came forward,
looking down at Luna compassionately. She gazed out past the
palace courtyard. "Things have become very bad out there. I
wish there was something more I could do to stop it, but I'm
already doing all I can."

	Luna frowned. "What is going on?"

	The gossamer-winged Queen sighed. "Something I may not
survive, I'm afraid." She knelt by the cat, her expression sad.

	"Is there anything I can do?"

	Serenity shook her head. "No. No one else can do this."
She pulled out her wand, and placed a large, multifaceted
crystal on the tip.

	"B-but that means," Luna stammered.

	The woman nodded.

~~~

	"Lil' Lizards always loike Lil' Lumps a' Logs," Arby
chanted forcefully, his defenses in a draw with Kakkorotto's
offense.

	A single, green tear went down the side of his face.

	"N' Purple People Picking Pineapples Neva' Welcome Dogs!"

	The mushroom Arby was carrying pulsed, energies flowing
from it into him.

~~~

	"I just wanted to say," Artemis cut in, "You were right,
Luna, and I was just too stuck up to notice."

	The black cat frowned, slowly realizing that there was
far more to this than she comprehended at the moment.

	"Goodbye, Luna," Serenity and Artemis said somberly.


	Luna awoke with a start. "Arby!" she realized all at once. She
looked out the window, becoming witness to a horrific power struggle.

~~~

	An ethereal sign pointed at Arby, which read, [An ArbyFish.]

	A wry smile came to Arby's mouth. "In-deed!"

	*WROARSH* Releasing the mushroom, the small creature dove
into the multi-beam assault, forcing his way up toward the golden
oozaru's head.

	*Plunk!* Arby plopped down Kakkorotto's throat.

	All of the combined energies stopped their flow.

	The transformed sayajin choked, the red light from his
eyes fading.

	*KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

	"WAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!" Kakkorotto screamed as his image
warped, twisted, and finally crumbled in the resulting explosion.

	In just a few seconds, the blast faded, and a new, slow
sweep of energy began to expand around the area.

	The greenish glow swept past where the Senshi lay, past
where Tuxedo Mask's ashes fell, and continued into the destroyed
city.

	The final extent of the blast could be seen from orbit,
flickering before it vanished.

^^^

	In the future, the ArbyFish finished reading his
autobiographical history. He closed the book, trying to think
over all that had happened.

	Finally, he smiled. "Oh dear, it appears that Aye've doied!"

	*POOF!* Arby vanished in a puff of green temporal logic.

	*Splat!* Diana fell to the tabletop, covered in a thick,
smelling goo.

	"EEEEEEW!" she said, trying to wipe the digestive and
preservative juices off of her.

---

	Suddenly, Sailor Pluto stopped, considering the course of
action she had been brought to.

	She looked at the hellish gate before her and the horrific
torments that lay within.

	Her recently suppressed conscience making a plea for reason,
she looked back at Ranma, who was still immobilized in her grip.

	The Time Guardian dropped to her knees, tossing aside her
staff and collapsing into Ranma's arms, her head on the smaller
girl's shoulder, red-faced and tears in her eyes.

	"I just can't do it!" Setsuna cried.

	Regaining her motor functions, Ranma found that her arms
were around the green-haired woman's shoulders.

	"Uh, look," the redhead began, "whatever it is, I'm sure
it's nothing. We can get it all worked out."

	Sailor Pluto sniffled, nodding and holding the girl for
comfort.

	"So," Ranma continued uneasily, trying but failing to
get far enough out of Setsuna's embrace to look into her eyes,
"what's this all about."

	"Well," the woman said in a halting manner as she tried to take
a couple breaths to help herself calm down, holding to Ranma's
warmth, "it began when some _baka_ created a temporal paradox,
changing history forever, and infinitely frustrating my work..."

---

	Neo-Queen Serenity walked through one of her city's better
parks, considering the vision of the past she had just received.

	The one known as the Starlight Knight, the one she had
thought had just up and left, had in fact died somehow after
Terra's fight with Metallia.

	Despite the man's usually obnoxious attitude and careless
manner, he had helped her and the rest of the Senshi at nearly
every turn. He was gone on his own unknown quests a lot of the
time, but when he had shown up to help, there was no need for
any of them to worry.

	At least, until that final battle.

	Serenity shook her head, sad that he and Terra were gone. Who
knows what they could have accomplished for the world if they had
lived?

^^^

	Serena gasped as she woke up. "I'm alive!" she exclaimed in
joy. She sat up and looked around, seeing that she was in a hospital
room. On other beds, sleeping soundly, were her friends, their
transformations having been canceled somewhere along the way. "Amy!
Raye! Terra! You're alive."

	The blonde girl looked to the other side of the room, then
frowned in disappointment. "Oh," she deadpanned, "so are you."

	Darien, in a tattered tux, looked at her and chuckled weakly.
"Yeah, nice to see you too, Meatball Head."

	Serena held out a hand. "Don't start with me, Darien." She
fumbled around, looking for her brooch. She found it on a table
next to her, broken in several fragments. "Oh," she whispered,
then shrugged. "Maybe Luna can get me another one or something..."

	A blue-haired woman by the name of Doctor Anderson walked in,
followed by a very worried-looking Kasumi Incognito, who glanced at
Serena, smiled slightly, then hurried over to Terra.

	Doctor Anderson looked a few things over on a clipboard she
was carrying, then looked up to announce, "Everyone, I'm glad to
tell you that your injuries were not serious." She turned to Amy,
who had just awakened. "Except you. A broken arm and a few fractured
ribs, plus a mild concussion. You're going to be staying here a
little while, young lady."

	Amy smiled slightly. "Thanks for coming, Mom. I'm sorry for-"

	Doctor Anderson held up a hand. "No, I heard about the blast,
your injuries have been checked, and I don't think I could handle
hearing any more." She looked down at her clipboard. "From what
the reports say, you're all lucky to have survived.

	"How long were we out of it?" Darien asked.

	"A couple hours," the doctor said. "Those of you who have
school could probably go." She quickly added. "Except you, Amy."

	"But Mother," Amy almost whined.

	"No buts," Doctor Anderson said firmly.

	Kasumi just looked into Terra's eyes, held her hand, and
smiled.

^_^

	"Okay," 'Tim smiled, "the burning's stopped." He pulled
the dry ice off his forehead, a strip of skin peeling off with it.
"Well," he added, his smile flickering as the nerve endings around
the crescent moon on his forehead regenerated, "now that I think
about it, regular ice would have been more effective."

	"Less painful, maybe?" Ukkyo guessed, tossing out the orders
for three people.

	The pink-haired man thought about it. "Yeah, maybe..."

	"Helloooo!" an orange-haired young woman wearing a black
and red sorceress outfit called from her table. "Your free meal
all-you-can-eat customers are still hungry!" She indicated the
tall, blond man and the other girl next to her.

	"Be right there!" 'Tim called back, and turned to his
employee. "So, how are you holding up as the sole cook, waitress,
et cetera at this place?"

	The brown-haired woman started pouring a couple more
okonomiyaki and shrugged. "It's great, just what I've always
wanted."

	'Tim leaned in to whisper, "No sudden energy cravings or
anything?"

	Ukkyo shook her head. "Nope. None. After that weird jolt you
gave me just after we were both almost killed, everything's been
fine."

	"Ah, good. I was wondering about that."

	At a far-off table, a blue-haired woman and a black-haired
man in formal wear, codenamed Ikuko and Kenji Tsukino, were glancing
around, trying not to attract attention.

	"I heard that Serena was in the hospital," Ikuko said.

	Kenji nodded. "Yeah, but she's okay. We can meet up with
her a little later. But for now, meeting our contact is of great
international importance." He paused, looking at a man that just
came in. "There he is. That's him."

	A purple-haired man wearing archaic clothing, carring a
staff walked toward them, a cheerful expression on his face. His
hair was in a page cut. "Greetings. How is everything?"

	"Oh," Ikuko said, "a few family things to take care of
later, but nothing serious."

	"Good," the newcomer said, and sat down beside them. "What
can I do for you?"

	"There's a little," Kenji began, "concern that we have.
We need information."

	"Sure. On what?"

	"Just one man," Ikuko said.

	"Okay. Who?"

	Kenji took a quick look around, and leaned in to whisper,
"Victor Ayrie. Where is he?"

	"Ah," the purple-haired man said, the two international agents
hanging on his every word. He smiled. "That is a secret."

	Kenji and Ikuku slumped back into their seats. "Oookay," they
both muttered.

^_^

	Nephrite stopped his chanting.

	The stars whispered to him that there was no need to repent of
all his past misdeeds quite yet.

	The 'power from the stars' that had come to destroy them had
been stopped.

	That shouldn't have happened, especially with the celestial
objects involved in such a decision.

	The brown-haired general shook his head. "Oh well."

	If the world wasn't doomed, he had some planning to do.

***

	In the small Negaverse cavern, Kunzite stood proudly before
his assembled forces. "You," he said, "are the best... of the best.
None of the other youma can match your power, and I will now send
you on your first mission."

	"Yes, Lord Malachite," the small army of powerful-looking
youma intoned.

	General Kunzite closed his eyes, recoiling in a strong wince,
then turned to the blonde woman next to him. "Zoicite, now is your
chance to eliminate Nephrite. My forces are at your command."

	Zoicite smiled. "Thank you, Kunzite."

	The silver-haired man smiled down at her. "You're welcome."

	The female general stepped toward the group. "Alright, people,
we're going to play a little game of cat and mouse with our friend
Nephrite. Now, as you know, a mouse needs a bit of cheese to be
lured in, so lets get some, shall we?"

	A mouse-like youma squeaked in delight, holding out a small
piece of Cheddar.

	"I was speaking figuratively!" Zoicite shouted.

---

	Doctor Samuel Beckett finally managed to get to get comfortable
on Molly's bed, for yet another night in her room.

	It wasn't a bad room, to be sure, but this whole situation
wasn't getting resolved. How was he supposed to save Maxfield...
Nephrite's life if he didn't know where he was?!

	All these thoughts were cut off as he heard a rattling at the
window.

	A black mist spilled into the bedroom, instantly knocking him
out.

---

	Two Norns were having a discussion.

	"NO WAY, URD!" Skuld shouted. "I'm NOT going to do it!"

	"But we need to fix the problem with the registry. You said
yourself that you've squashed as many bugs as you could already.
We'd just be doing damage control. Besides, whoever heard of a male
goddess?" Urd debated back.

	Skuld pouted. "Alright... but ONLY if you can convince
Belldandy to go along with it."

	"You got a deal! But I get to design the divine weapon."

	"I'll get the dress."

	Skuld grinned. "And I'll arrange to transfer 'em to another
pantheon when we're done."

^^^

	"A pink padded room should be filled with genetically
engineered Cute and Fluffy Bunnies(TM), Tribbles(TM), Pokemon(TM),
Beanie Babies(TM), Teletubbies(TM), and various other creatures of
diabolical cuteness. There should be a number of TV screens playing
the most sickeningly sweet cartoons ever produced by humankind and
every cutsey theme song for every Magical Girl and 6 and under TV
show ever produced should be piped into the room via hidden speakers.
Bind the martial artist well and cast him into this maelstrom of
kawaii, and after a minimum of three days he'll either have begun to
learn the dreaded Kawaii-Ken, or be dead of diabetes."

	-The Little Big Book of Insanely Powerful and Really Idiotic
Martial Arts Techniques, by 'Tim S. Knight. Chapter 3: The
Kawaii-Ken.


	Ranma blinked, looking over the book that contained the
training technique. "This was what you were planning on doing to me?"

	Sailor Pluto nodded somberly. "Yes. Can you find it in your
heart to forgive-"

	The currently transformed sailor-suited martial artist grinned.
"Sounds like a challenge. Bring it on!"

	The Time Guardian laughed quietly.

	It certainly was nice of Ranma to try to make her feel better
like that: Treating the method as if it were no big deal; as if
she were not truly doing anything bad in the first place.

	Maybe being engaged to someone like Ranma wasn't such a bad
thing after all.


	Ranma looked through the book's table of contents. The chapters
listed as follows:

	1: Neko-ken.

	2: Kaioh-ken.

	3: Kawaii-ken.

	4: Planetary Breaking Points.

	5: Ki Overcharging and Area-effect blastwaves.

	6: Speed Building Techniques and Friction - effects and uses.

	7: Ki Teleporting, Ki Telefraging.

	8: Advanced Hammerspace Techniques.

	9: Going Nuclear: Truly Final Attacks.

	10: The Nastiest Pressure Points Ever Discovered.

	11: Building Your Ki to Ridiculous Levels.

	12: Ki Blasting The Likes of Which Most Gods Have Never Seen.

	13: Intimidation Through Property Damage - How to Make Most
	    Enemies Run Like Scared Little Girls.

	14: Weapons Techniques That the Masters of The Art say are
	    "Forbidden."

	15: "Forbidden" One Finger Techniques.

	16: "Forbidden" Punch Techniques.

	17: "Forbidden" Kicking Techniques.

	18: "Forbidden" Ki Techniques.

	19: "Forbidden" Holds, Grappling, and Throws.

	20: Jokes that make Armies Die.


	Appendix One  : A Guide to the Immortal Masters of the Art.

	Appendix Two  : The Fatal Weaknesses of the Juraian Sword Art
			    and the Jurai Power, and how to exploit them.

	Appendix Three: How to Shatter Light Hawk Wings.

	Appendix Four : How to kill Sayajins in Three Easy Steps.

	Appendix Five : Body Hardening Exersices You'd Have to be
			    Insane to Use.

	Appendix Six  : A Guide To The Best Training Grounds In The
			    Universe.

	Appendix Seven: Fun Pressure Points Guarunteed to Embarrass
			    Your Enemies.


	"Heh heh heh," Ranma chuckled evilly, opening to that last
appendix. "Wait 'till they get a load a' ME!"

&&&[To Be Continued...]


[Sailer Sez]

(Scene of Vegita powering up to Super Sayajin mode)

No matter how powerful you are...

(Scene of Lina Inverse powering up the Giga Slave)

No matter how many tricks you've got...

(Scene of Akuma violently defeating an opponent)

No matter how evil you are...

(Scene of the ArbyFish holding a mushroom)

You can't beat an ArbyFish.

(Scene of the Super Oozaru exploding)

Sailor Nuke sez. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!






Well, how was that? Not too rushed, I hope.

And it wouldn't be a Season Finale without that big, annoying "To be
continued" at the end, would it? ^_^


With any luck, I'll be back in two years to continue work on it.

In the meantime, I've still got a couple days to take C&C and work up a
version that could get posted to the website...

http://members.tripod.com/DNyx/index.html

Speaking of which, we're accepting any fanartists that would like to work
up some character drawings for this.

Apply at:

thanks99@bellsouth.net


And then there's also a theoretical Impromanga version Evan Lindsey (also
known as Ash) has expressed interest in working on.

I'm fascinated to see what comes of that. We've tossed around a couple
character descriptions and ideas, and it looks like he might actually work
on it sometime.

His website, by the way, is at:

http://clearscape.com/~access/

None of it's done right now, as it's all still in the idea and rough
sketch phase, and last time I checked, there was no mention of it. He may
or may not want this announced, but... Those of you who want to show him
support could, I suppose. ^_^



In any case, thank you! It's been great! Good night! ^_^

----------------------
-Benjamin A Oliver
boliver@U.Arizona.EDU

	 "We are Bored. You will entertain us.
	  We will add your stand-up and slapstick comedy to our own.
	  Your humor will adapt to make us laugh.
	  Resistance is futile."