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A General Time Paradox
Chapter 1: More Power Than You Can Shake a Tiara At!
Ranma found himself staring at a large crystal, inside of which was
Akane's motionless body, frozen in a position of complete tranquility.
She looked as if she were sleeping, except that her chest didn't rise
and fall with her breathing. She was, for all intents and purposes, in a
state of living death.
"What have you done to her?" demanded Ranma.
"This crystal is all that is keeping her alive in this world,"
replied Queen Beryl. "I suggest you don't touch it. Chronite's crystals
are fragile enough to shatter at the slightest touch, destroying
whatever might lie within as well." Ranma froze in mid-motion, his
fingers inches away from the crystal's smooth surface. "That's better.
Come with me to meet your new companions."
Ranma followed Beryl through the dark world, passing the occasional
ornate column that stretched infinitely up until the darkness swallowed
its highest reaches, or tapestry that hung in midair - or at least,
whatever substance filled the space of this dimension - until they
reached what could only be defined as a room insofar as the enormous
throne across the space from him suggested the phrase "throne room." A
crystal globe formed a sort of ceiling to the space, although its curve
was so expansive that it almost appeared to be a flat surface; even some
of the lowest parts of the globe were invisible through the black haze
all around. Seated on small boxes below the globe were three women whom
Ranma had never seen before.
"So, you brought us a man this time," said the woman with long red
hair and a black cape. The impressive - albeit small - array of jewels
adorning her tunic and belt somehow spoke to Ranma of a power unlike any
he had ever seen before. The word "sorceress" sprang to his mind to
describe her.
"Not a bad looker, either," agreed the tall one with off-white hair
in a spiky coiffure. Her black and red uniform hugged her flesh tightly
across every square inch of its fabric, looking almost as if it were
painted on. She also had power, although her only piece of jewelry was a
single red gem on her left wrist. Something about her face reminded
Ranma oddly of a cat, although not enough so to frighten him.
Ranma looked toward the third, whose body seemed a bit younger than
the others', although her face was cloaked in shadow. He expected to
hear her opinion of him next, but it was the sorceress who stood up and
extended her hand. "The name's Lina Inverse. I'm a famous treasure
hunter, not to mention a powerful sorceress."
"And a world-class braggart," added the catlike woman. She stood up
and faded out, at the same time dissolving into focus a short distance
away from Ranma. "I'm Ryoko, galaxy's most wanted space pirate." She
smiled, baring her fangs, and blinked her vertically-pupiled eyes.
"Ranma Saotome, of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts," said
Ranma. He looked once again toward the girl in the black clothes. "Who's
she?"
"She didn't say," said Ryoko. "She was there when I got here, but
hasn't said a word yet."
"I hope she's willing to pull her own weight," added Lina. "She
gives me the creeps. I have this crazy feeling that she's not in this
for the same reasons the rest of us are."
"Why ARE you two here, anyway?" asked Ranma.
"Well..." began Lina, with a slight blush.
"Why don't you tell us your story first, if you're so curious?"
demanded Ryoko, crossing her arms. Lina nodded her agreement.
"It's..." Ranma paused. Could he tell these strange girls about his
feelings for Akane? He wasn't even entirely sure about them himself!
"It's not important," he finished.
"Exactly," said Ryoko. "Our reasons aren't important. All that
matters is that we're here, and we've all got something important staked
on this mission."
"That's quite true," replied Beryl's voice. Ranma looked up toward
the throne to see their would-be benefactor sitting there, smiling her
evil smile. "Only one of you has entered my service for selfish
reasons." The three of them stared back and forth among themselves
before their eyes lit on the girl in black. "However, know this: my last
group of generals destroyed each other with their petty bickering. I
will not tolerate that from you. If there is any fighting among you, I
will destroy that which you so prize. Now, prepare yourselves for your
mission!" The world opened in front of them, creating a hole to a world
that looked far more normal than the Negaverse. "Through this portal
lies the universe of the Sailor Scouts. I do not know their true
identities, but if you can attract their attention, they will come to
you. Threaten a few humans, and they will come to save them."
"Threaten humans?" asked Lina. "Lady, you're sounding less and less
like the good guy!"
"My goals have changed," explained Beryl. "Originally, I sought to
steal the energy from humans for my purposes. However, all that I
require of you is that you kill the Sailor Scouts. You will not need to
harm any other humans. Merely draw out the Sailor Scouts and exterminate
them. Then your debts to me will be finished, and I will return what I
have taken from you, and give you what I promised."
Ranma stepped through the portal, with Lina and Ryoko right behind.
The portal closed behind them. "OUR debts to HER?" asked Ranma, once he
was certain that Queen Beryl could no longer hear him. "She's the one
who interfered in MY life!"
"She's not exactly the kind of person you can argue with," said
Lina. "If she says we owe her, we're going to end up repaying her,
whether we like it or not."
Ryoko looked up and down the street. Beryl had deposited them in a
back street, far from the prying eyes of humans. "So, where's
shadow-girl?" The form of the girl in black shimmered into view beside
her. "So nice of you to join us," said Ryoko snidely. "Now, how do we
find these Sailor Scouts?"
The girl in black turned her shadowed face to the sky, raised her
arm to the heavens, and soared into the sky. "Think she wants us to
follow her?" asked Lina.
"How?" asked Ranma. "Do I look like I've got wings?"
Lina sighed. "The only man she can find, and he doesn't even know
how to fly? Zelgadis would have helped out once he found out that I got
roped into this deal."
"Just carry him," said Ryoko. "We've got to get this over with!"
"Why do I have to carry him?" demanded Lina.
"Because I need to keep my hands free to blast those Sailor Scouts,"
replied Ryoko.
"I need my hands free to use my magic!"
Ryoko shrugged. "You want to fight? Remember what Queen Beryl said
about fighting in the ranks." She wagged her finger and did her best
impression of Beryl's voice. "'Now, kids, if you fight, mommy will take
away your favorite things. One tap, and the crystals shatter!'"
Lina clenched her fists angrily and raised a hand threateningly at
Ryoko. "One word, Ryoko! One word, and whatever's so precious to you
won't matter anymore, because you'll be dead!"
Ryoko yawned. "I'm so scared. Miss Inverse is going to fry me with a
little bitty fireball! Oh, boo hoo! Somebody save me..."
"Hey! Cut it out!" shouted Ranma. "We're supposed to be fighting the
Sailor Scouts, not each other, or have you forgotten?"
"That's right!" said Ryoko. "I'll see the two of you when I catch up
to the dark one." She teleported into the sky and took off after the
girl in black.
"Hey!" shouted Lina. "Come back here!" She groaned. "All right.
Looks like I have to carry you." She grabbed Ranma's shirt. "Better hang
on tight, Ranma. RAY WING!"
"Better whAAAAAAAAH!" Lina flew up and started on Ryoko's trail,
dragging Ranma along behind her. Ranma quickly grabbed her arm for
support as the pair ascended higher and higher. "Hey! At least hold on
to me if you're going to carry me!"
"You're worse than Gourry!" snapped Lina. For a few seconds, her
flight wavered, but she quickly regained control. She continued in a
cold tone. "Don't complain again, or I'll let go completely."
"Right," said Ranma, as he finally began to regain control of his
breathing. "Who's Gourry?"
"I said I don't want to hear it!"
"You only said you didn't want to hear me complain," muttered Ranma
under his breath.
Even with Ranma's dead weight slowing her down, Lina managed to
catch up to Ryoko quickly. They flew side by side, glaring at each other
from time to time but not saying a word until they reached the girl in
black, who was hovering over a nearly empty playground. She pointed a
thin finger at the young girl who was enjoying herself on the slide.
"Well?" demanded Lina. "So what? All I see is a little girl. No
Sailor Scouts here!"
"She's no Sailor Scout," realized Ryoko. "She's the target!"
"So we're supposed to attack a helpless girl?" asked Ranma. "I'm not
doing it!"
"I can handle this," said Ryoko. She dove downward and plunged into
the earth without disturbing the level ground. With impeccable timing,
she poked her head out of the ground in front of the base of the slide
just as the girl began her descent. The girl screamed and grabbed the
sides of the slide to stop herself.
"Oh, that's REAL cute," said Ranma. "I'm sure that scaring little
girls into wetting their pants is just what will bring the Sailor Scouts
out of the woodwork."
"I think she's trying to be dramatic," said Lina. "I've seen enough
bad guys to recognize their typical mannerisms."
"You mean Ryoko's a bad guy in her world?" asked Ranma.
"There's definitely something about her I don't trust."
Meanwhile, down below, the young girl overcame her fear and stared
curiously at the catlike face of the space pirate. "Who are you?" she
asked timidly.
"My name is Ryoko," replied the pirate. "What's yours?"
"Marisa." Marisa paused. "Why are you in the ground?"
"It's fun down here," said Ryoko. "But it's also lonely. Do you ever
get lonely, playing in the park by yourself?"
Marisa nodded. "Do you want to play with me?"
"That might be fun," agreed Ryoko, "but I know what would be more
fun."
"What?"
"Killing you." Ryoko rose enough to expose her hands, in which a red
ball of energy was forming. Marisa gasped and backed away, climbing up
the slippery slide as Ryoko released the fireball into the space where
Marisa had been seconds before. The metal disintegrated instantly
beneath the girl, dumping her painfully onto the hard ground below.
"Hey! We're not supposed to k-" Lina's protest was cut short as the
girl in black clamped her hand over the sorceress' mouth. She quickly
slapped it away. "What's the big idea, bimbo?"
"She's not aiming for the girl," Ranma pointed out as Ryoko missed
with another fireball. "She has to make it look convincing, or the
Sailor Scouts will realize that it's a trap and won't come."
"Good thinking," admitted Lina, turning her attention back to the
fight below. Ryoko had turned her ball of red energy into a short sword,
and was backing the girl up against the jungle gym. Marisa tripped and
barely managed to break her fall by grabbing the bars behind her, only
to find the energy sword at her throat.
"Looks like your heroes aren't going to be in time to save you,"
said Ryoko.
"Hold it right there!" shouted a high-pitched voice from the far
side of the playground. Ryoko turned to see five tall and slender female
forms silhouetted for just a moment before their features became
visible. All five wore matching fukus, although the colors were
different for each girl. The girl in the center, obviously the leader,
struck a pose. "I've never seen you here before, but I can see that
you're up to no good! We are the Sailor Scouts!"
"What?!" shouted Ranma. "The Sailor Scouts are a bunch of GIRLS?"
"Something wrong with being a girl?" asked Lina.
"I don't fight girls," said Ranma flatly.
"I'm sure Queen Beryl will accept that as an excuse," said Lina
sarcastically.
Meanwhile, the Sailor Scouts were making their introductions in
turn. "I'm Sailor Jupiter!" began the one in the green fuku and brown
hair in a single ponytail, whose gold headband sported an antenna on the
front.
"I am Sailor Mercury!" continued the one in the blue fuku that
matched the color of her short hair. She blinked behind the visor that
held a tiny screen in front of her left eye.
"I'm Sailor Mars!" said the one with the long black hair and red
fuku.
"I'm Sailor Venus!" added the one with knee-length yellow hair and
orange fuku.
"And I'm Sailor Moon," finished the leader, who sported a blue fuku
that was only slightly darker than Sailor Mercury's, but had yellow hair
that was tied into two round buns atop her head, then trailed into long
tails that nearly touched the ground. Red jewels were set into the buns,
and her gold tiara bore a crescent moon mark. "We fight for love and
justice," continued Sailor Moon, striking another pose. "And in the name
of the Moon, we shall punish you!" She passed through three more poses
while saying her last line.
Ryoko scratched her head. "Is all that posing supposed to intimidate
me or something?"
Sailor Moon bit her lip. Obviously, she hadn't expected such a
reaction from Ryoko. "Attacking defenseless girls is just wrong! You
should be ashamed of yourself!"
"You're right, I should," agreed Ryoko. "But guess what? I'm NOT!"
She raised her hand and fired a bolt of energy at Sailor Moon, who
screamed and barely dodged it.
"You weren't kidding, Mercury!" shouted Jupiter. "This one's
definitely more powerful than the monsters we've been fighting!"
"Now I understand why I didn't recognize the signal at first," said
Mercury. "She's not an agent of the Negaverse!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Ryoko. "Of course I am!"
"You're not from the Negaverse!" insisted Mercury. "You're obviously
an evil creature, but you're not one of Beryl's generals!"
"She hired me, all right. Can't see why, though. You girls don't
look that tough to me."
"We'll see about that!" shouted Sailor Mars. "MARS FIRE IGNITE!"
Mars clasped her hands together with the index fingers extended and
pointed them at Ryoko. Fire flew from her fingertips at Ryoko, who
simply smiled as the flames curved around her body without touching her.
"How did she do that?" asked Sailor Moon.
"She's a lot tougher than Beryl's usual crew," said Jupiter.
"JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" The air around her antenna crackled with
electricity, which leapt in a bolt straight at Ryoko. Once again, the
blast turned aside to avoid her, following the curve of a large sphere
that became visible for a split second as the electricity touched it.
"My electricity's no good either!"
"Let me try," said Venus. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" She pointed a
finger at Ryoko, sending a beam of light that bounced right off of
Ryoko's shield, narrowly missing Mars on the rebound. "That didn't work
at all! How are we supposed to beat her?"
"She can't deflect a solid object," said Mercury, reading off of her
screen. "Her shield is some sort of energy barrier, but anything solid
will pass right through."
"Sailor Moon, use your Moon Tiara Magic!" shouted a deep female
voice from somewhere near Sailor Moon's feet.
"Right," said Sailor Moon with a nod. She removed her tiara and let
it float above her hand. "MOON TIARA MAGIC!" The tiara became a glowing
discus, which Sailor Moon hurled at Ryoko. Ryoko watched as the discus
approached and passed right through her energy shield before reaching up
and casually plucking it out of the air. The Sailor Scouts all gasped.
Ryoko raised the tiara to her eye level. "This thing's supposed to
be dangerous?" She dropped it on the ground and stepped on it, smashing
it to pieces. As she did so, a new tiara appeared on Sailor Moon's
forehead, identical to the original one. "Well, at least you can save
money on replacements."
"It didn't work!" moaned Sailor Moon. "What are we supposed to do
now?"
"Combine our attacks!" suggested Mars. "She can't avoid them all!"
The Sailor Scouts began to blast Ryoko with everything they had, but the
space pirate easily weaved and dodged around every one.
"They haven't got a chance," said Lina. "There's no point in the
rest of us even being here."
"Pathetic," agreed a deep, echoing voice from beside her. Ranma and
Lina stared in wonder at the girl in black.
"So, you DO talk," said Lina. The girl in black remained silent.
"I've had fun toying with you all," said Ryoko, "but it's time to
collect my pay." She formed a sword of energy and flew straight at the
Sailor Scouts, who scattered as she swung the sword left and right,
narrowly missing them. "Is that the best you can do? You're not even
trying!"
"This is boring," said Lina. "Let's go down there and help." She
floated down to the ground, landing between Ryoko and the main group of
Sailor Scouts.
"Two more of them?" asked Mercury. "And these two are human!"
Ryoko smiled and turned towards Sailor Moon, who was now sitting on
the ground, paralyzed with fear. "I think I'll kill you first," she said
slowly advancing on the leader of the Sailor Scouts. As she drew close,
however, a red blur passed in front of her, nearly taking her nose with
it as it continued on to strike the ground. Ryoko looked down only long
enough to see that it was a rose before turning her attention to where
it had come from.
"Your game ends here, foolish creature!" shouted the man in the
opera mask and black tuxedo, complete with top hat and long, flowing
cape.
"Tuxedo Mask!" cheered Sailor Moon.
"Are you one of them?" asked Ryoko. "It'd be a shame to have to kill
you too. You're cute."
"Do not try to mock me, demon! I am Tuxedo Mask, future Prince of
Earth and loyal friend of the Sailor Scouts." He leapt to the ground and
stood in front of Sailor Moon, shielding her from Ryoko with his own
body. "Any enemy of Sailor Moon is an enemy of mine."
"Tall talk, for a guy who can't even show his face." Ryoko swung her
energy sword, leaving Tuxedo Mask barely enough time to block with his
cane. "Not bad. Now we'll fight for real."
Ranma pushed Ryoko aside. "The guy in the mask is mine!" he
declared. "You and Lina can deal with the girls."
Ryoko's anger was shadowed by the electrifying thought of getting to
kill the whiny brats. "Don't worry, Ranma. I've got your back covered."
She turned to join Lina in staring down the other four Scouts. "So, who
dies first?"
Lina raised her hands as if she were holding a bow and arrow. A
long, thin chunk of ice appeared where the arrow would be. "FREEZE
ARROW!" she shouted, releasing the spell. The arrow slammed into Venus's
chest, encasing her completely in a block of ice.
"Sailor Venus!" shouted the other Scouts.
"MARS FIRE IGNITE!" Sailor Mars used her fire to melt the ice from
around Sailor Venus, who fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around
herself, shivering from the cold. "Are you okay, Sailor Venus?"
"I'm fine," said Venus. "I'm just cold."
"Consider that your warm-up," said Lina, rolling up her short
sleeves. "Now, get ready for the real action!" She and Ryoko raised
their arms in tandem and formed balls of fire. "FIREBALL!"
Mercury jumped in front of the other Scouts. "MERCURY BUBBLE
SPLASH!" A spray of bubbles flew from her hands, dissipating the
fireballs on contact.
"Not bad," conceded Lina. "But try this on for size! FLARE ARROW!"
She repeated the motion that had produced the Freeze Arrow, but the
projectile that appeared this time was made of light. She launched it at
the Sailor Scouts, who scrambled to dodge it. The explosion threw them
in all directions across the playground, but they readily got to their
feet and gathered themselves for another attack.
Meanwhile, Ranma was having no trouble dodging Tuxedo Mask's
strikes. "After months of fighting Kuno, you're like a practice dummy!"
He planted a foot into Tuxedo Mask's stomach and watched with pleasure
as the caped fighter fell. "I might as well not bother. You can't
fight."
"Tuxedo Mask, no!" Sailor Moon crawled to the fallen warrior and
threw her arms around his shoulders protectively. "Leave him alone, you
bully!" she shouted at Ranma. "Why are you attacking us?"
Suddenly, Ranma felt awful, as he remembered why he was fighting in
the first place. "I ain't got a choice," he said, clenching his fists.
"I don't want to hurt anyone, but this is something I gotta do."
"What kind of monster can be an instrument of death while claiming
innocence?" asked Tuxedo Mask.
"Shut up! You'd do the same thing, if you were in my position!"
"Would I?" asked Tuxedo Mask, slowly regaining his feet. "You're
obviously more powerful than I am. Don't you know that with that much
power comes the responsibility to use it for good?"
"Someone a lot more powerful than me doesn't see it that way..."
grumbled Ranma.
"My spells aren't getting us anywhere," said Lina as Sailor Jupiter
did her best to keep Ryoko at bay with her skillful martial arts. "It's
time for something a little more... powerful." She closed her eyes, and
as Ryoko watched, Lina appeared to be standing atop a tall mountain.
"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..." she
chanted. "Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows..."
"This isn't good!" shouted Mercury. "She's building up a great deal
of power!"
"I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand..." The shape of
a dragon appeared behind Lina as she continued to chant.
A tiny black shape leapt onto the fence nearby. "Girls, we have to
retreat! We can't win this battle!"
"... against the power you bestow in my unworthy hand..." A huge
ball of fire began to form in Lina's hands, and grew as she chanted on.
"Sailor Mercury, quickly!" shouted Tuxedo Mask as he parried a blow
from Ranma. "Cover our escape!"
Lina's eyes opened, and the dragon turned to stare directly at the
Sailor Scouts. "Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the
power you and I possess!"
"MERCURY BUBBLE SPLASH!" Sailor Mercury filled the sky with bubbles,
which burst instantly, obscuring the entire area under a thick fog.
Lina's spell fizzled, uncast.
"What the heck's going on?" shouted Ranma.
"DIEM WING!" Lina's wind spell blew the fog away, revealing the
playground to be completely empty except for herself, Ryoko, Marisa, and
a short red-headed girl with a pigtail and the same clothes that Ranma
had been wearing. "Damn! They got away!"
"So did Ranma, apparently," said Ryoko, staring at the pigtailed
girl. "Who are you?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome," she replied. "It's a curse. Apparently, that
cold fog was enough to trigger my Jusenkyo curse. I can change back into
my male form with hot water."
"Zel could probably cast a spell like that," said Lina, "but I can't
think of a hot water spell."
Ranma shrugged. "No big deal. I'm pretty used to my female form by
now. I spend enough time in it in my own world... like cold water is
attracted to me or something."
Ryoko turned to the cowering Marisa, who had been hiding under the
jungle gym since the start of the fight. She fixed the tiny girl with a
cold stare. "Get lost, kid." Marisa needed no further encouragement to
run for her life. "So, those were the Sailor Scouts... they were lucky
this time. Next time we see them, they won't survive."
"If they stop to fight us at all," said Lina. "They'll probably have
figured out by our next encounter that they don't have nearly enough
power to beat us."
"And what were you doing this whole time!" Ryoko shouted skyward, to
the girl in black. She responded by floating down to join the rest of
the group. "Why did Beryl even want you, anyway?" The girl stared up
into the sky, and what little was visible of her features darkened.
"Hey! Answer me!"
"Pluto," said the girl in black. Her eyes glowed, and she vanished.
*************************************************
Sailor Pluto quickly returned her consciousness to her own body,
waking in a cold sweat. That girl had recognized her! It was no
surprise - after all, Sailor Pluto was the guardian of time in many
dimensions, including the ones that the other three had come from - but
she shouldn't have even been detectable while using her power to watch
over the Sailor Scouts from a distance.
Pluto shakily got to her feet and gripped her scepter in both hands.
She had a difficult decision to make. Beryl had obviously found a way to
circumvent Pluto's influence and use Chronite's power to manipulate the
timeline. However, if Pluto further disrupted the flow of established
time by calling for help, the chances of creating a paradox would
multiply a thousandfold or more! But the Sailor Scouts had no way of
beating these new foes on their own... The eyes reappeared in Pluto's
memory, turning her skin clammy once more. That was a foe who should not
have appeared, not in this world...
Beryl had definitely gone too far. Her resolve set, Pluto closed her
eyes and faded into time. Hopefully, everything would go according to
plan... or else there would no longer be an "everything" to suffer for
it.
------------------------------------------------------
BURNS: What is this? Some kind of force field around these vegetables!
HOMER: That's the sneeze guard. You have to lean under it to get food or
sneeze on stuff.
JOHNNY BRAVO: *sigh* The only woman I ever really loved... and she's
gone. I wonder if I'll ever get over - Hey! Nuggets!
JACKIE CHAN: Oh, sorry. I broke your spy camera! (pause) SPY CAMERA?!
My webpage: http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~katinamp