Insertion

 Part 50

 The Return of hope.

++++++++++++++++++++

 Angela kneeled before Belldandy, a frustrated frown on her face as she
lowered her head in shame. "I've failed."

 "Yes. I know," replied the goddess with an unusual amount of calm in her
voice. "You tried your best."

 The angel looked up in surprise at this. "What? I..."

 "We must prepare, as a new demon enters the fold, so must a new god be
born, in order to retain balance."

 Angela gaped at her in shock. "But..."

 "There is nothing that can be done, you are not the first to fail,"
replied Belldandy calmly. 

 "I see," said the angel with her frown deepening. 

 "Rise Angela, the new goddess of Vengeance," said Belldandy as she put
her hand on the woman's shoulder.

 "But I failed!" said the angel.

 "Yes, but you did try your best," replied Belldandy. "Your service to us
over the past fifteen hundred years has been flawless until now."

 "Fifteen hundred years?" said the woman dumbly as she stared at the
goddess.

 "Only two of you are new here remember?" said Belldandy with an amused
looking smile. "The other has been here for some time."

 "Vengeance?" muttered Angela as she looked up at the goddess.

 "A negative emotion?" replied Belldandy as she smirked at the woman. 

 "I always thought so..." said the woman with a frown on her face.

 "Vengeance is more than revenge, it can be righteous and noble as well.
Not all Vengeance must end in death," said the goddess as she turned
away.

 "I see..." said the new goddess as she stared at her feet. When she
looked up again, three markings adorned her face. Small triangles set up
to form a larger one on her forehead.

"Do  not concern yourself with him any longer. The lords of hell will not
attack until Ragnarock, and that is some time away I think." said the
woman calmly.

 Angela frowned at the thought. "When they do come, I'll be waiting for
them."

 "Yes, you will. The world is ready for a goddess like you as well. The
death of the hellspawn has brought a new hope to Midigard. A light that
could benefit from your power."

 "A new hope?" muttered the Goddess in confusion.

 "Yes, the Silver Imperium Crystal has been released from the evil that
once held it. Soon it will be in the hands of someone who could bring
about a new age," replied the Goddess calmly. "A righteous quest, and a
need for your blessing. It will not be an easy battle, and they are
still..."

 "They aren't strong enough," said Angela as she nodded at this. 

 "No, they are not," confirmed Belldandy with a sad looking smile. 

 "I'll do all I can," said Angela with a firm resolve forming on her
face.

 "I know you will, that is why you were chosen," said the Goddess as she
left the new deity and walked out of the room.

++++++++++++++

 Ranma glared up at Hild with a rough sounding snort, Carrot stood beside
him with his arms crossed over his chest. 

 "What do you want?" asked Ranma.

 "Why did you call us again? We were just acclimating," said Carrot.

 Hild smiled at this, they were still as fearless as ever. It was rather
refreshing actually, normally her minions cowered before her fearfully.
They would fall in line soon enough, after a little experience. It wasn't
something she wished to deal with just yet.

 "Well?" snorted Carrot.

 "You are the perfect demon for the job," said Hild to herself.

 "There's two of us you know," snorted Ranma.

 "No there isn't, that's all in your mind," said Hild calmly.

 Ranma and Carrot looked at each other and blinked. They both gave a
small shrug and turned to look at her again.

 "I have a job for you two, it'll get you out of my hair for a while,"
said the Queen of the Damned as she frowned at them. "There is a new hope
for humanity."

 "You want us to kill it?" asked Carrot with his eyebrow arched.

 Ranma didn't look like he thought that was a very good idea, and Carrot
obviously didn't care for it much either.

 "No. I want you to help it in fact," said Hild calmly.

 "Help it?" muttered Ranma dumbly. This was a surprise to the both of
them.

 "To put it simply, we aren't getting much inflow these days." The
demoness stood up from her throne and walked between them. "Humanity is
slowly dwindling away. Midigard was once a prime source for souls. Other
worlds have life that either don't have souls, or are ruled in such a way
that we don't get much inflow from them. There are also the other demon
lords to consider, they take a large chunk of that from us. We usually
only get overflow from them. We're falling behind, and that is
unacceptable."

 "So you want us to save the world, in order to increase production,"
said Carrot as he nodded in understanding.

 Hild waved her hand, and a ball of power with Usagi's image in it
appeared there. "You are to help this one, once she receives the Silver
Imperium Crystal. When she has performed her task, you are to destroy
her, and prevent her from uniting the people."

 "Use her to destroy the threat, and then destroy the possibility of
Crystal Tokyo," said Carrot with an understanding nod.

 "Yes. You do understand," said Hild with a smirk growing on her face.
"Midigard will fall into a lull for a while, but soon the tribes that
have already formed will flourish, and become independent nations.
Leading down the path of destruction once again."

 "Meaning production will return to normal," said Carrot with an
understanding nod.

 Ranma growled, he didn't like this at all.

 "You are a demon, and you can't interfere directly any longer, but you
man help clear the way, and help her in other ways."

 "What's that mean?" said Ranma in confusion.

 "We can't kill the other us ourselves, but we can make sure she gets the
chance," simplified Carrot.

 "Excellent," commented Hild. 

 "I thought you weren't going to send us back to Earth?" said Carrot as
he looked up at her and frowned.

 "I lied," said the demoness calmly. "Sooner or later you would have been
sent back, if not for this, then in a few hundred years. Just to keep
things on track."

 Ranma and Carrot looked at each other for a moment. They both shrugged
and looked back at Hild. "Sure," replied Carrot.

 "It wasn't a request, it was an order. Now go!" snapped Hild angrily.

 The pair vanished in a flash of fire.

 She sat back on her throne again and sighed. The one would be able to
keep the other in line. That was one of the reasons she put them together
that way. Carrot could ensure that Ranma didn't cling to his humanity and
those stupid noble feelings he still harbored. It also seemed that they
hadn't quite realized that they were more than just partners now, they
were a single being. 

+++++++++++++++

 Whether or not it was a coincidence or not, neither would ever know. A
flash of light and a pillar of flame appeared on the surface of the
planet at the exact same time. One a goddess stepped out of, and the
other a demon.

 Ranma turned his head in surprise and frowned.

 Angela did the same.

 "You!" the cried in unison.

 Ranma crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. "Well, well. If it
isn't our old friend."

 Angela stepped back and growled. She hadn't changed much in appearance,
but Ranma now looked like his old self again. "What are you doing here
demon?"

 "I've come to help Usagi become Sailor Moon again. You?" 

 The angel narrowed her eyes at this. "I doubt that."

 "Well, you can doubt all you want," snorted Ranma as he shrugged his
shoulders and started walking.

 "Where do you think you're going demon!" cried Angela as her spear
appeared in her hand.

 "I'm gonna go find Usagi. Put that thing away, I'm a full demon now. You
can't kill me anymore."

 Angela frowned at this, but complied. "If it meant my own death, I'd do
it in an instant!"

 "But you don't know if it will mean your own death...wait a minute. What
do you mean 'your own death'?"  said Ranma as he looked back at her. He
smirked when he noticed the new markings on her forehead. "Oh! You've
been promoted too! Congratulations."

 "Stuff it," she snapped in retort. "I'll destroy you one day. Count on
that, it's just been delayed."

 "Man. What crawled up your ass?" snorted Ranma as he looked over the
horizon. "Where is she anyway?"

 "None of your business," snapped Angela.

 "Dan was never this pissy before," snorted Ranma as he crossed his arms
over his chest and frowned at her. 

 "Well, I'm not him," said the woman sharply.

 "I figured that out," said Ranma as he brushed her off. "I know two of
you, but the third one eludes me. She obviously knows who we were
though."

 "It's none of your business," said Angela coldly.

 "Fine, be that way. There's Hotaru," said Ranma as he nodded his head.

 In front of them, Hotaru was being lead towards a small village by
Mamoru.

 "Tux boy," said the demon calmly. "He's taking her somewhere. I'll bet I
know where too."

+++++++++++

 Hotaru frowned as she glanced at the buildings all around her. She could
feel the people inside looking at her, watching her from within the
shadows. Fear was the most prevalent emotion she was picking up from
them.

 "Where is she. We don't have time to waste. It won't take them very long
to figure out where this is," said Hotaru coldly.

 Mamoru frowned as he glanced back at her. "I know."

 "Usagi!" called Hotaru as she stopped following him and turned towards
one of the buildings. "Usagi, come out! I know you're here!"

 She actually found herself surprised by the woman's appearance. Her
senshi stood all around her, scowling at her.

 "What do you want? I thought I made it clear that you and your demon
friend are not welcome here," said the blind woman calmly.

 "I've brought you something," said Hotaru as she pulled the folded cloth
from behind her back. "My sensei gave his life, so that he could get it
back from them." Her words spoke volumes of respect for the dead man.

 "Did he?" asked the woman calmly as she waved her arms. The senshi
dispersed from in front of her allowing her to move forward. "What is
this rock?"

 "It is the Silver Imperium Crystal," said Hotaru calmly. "The ultimate
force of power on this planet."

 "That isn't possible...my daughter..."

 "Your daughter is dead," said Hotaru without a hint of emotion in her
voice.

 Usagi froze and reached out slowly with her hand. "No..."

 "You cry for her?" snorted Hotaru in disgust as she shoved the crystal
into the woman's hand.

 "She was my child..." muttered the woman in horror.

 "No. She was his child," corrected Hotaru.

 "She never had the choice," retorted Usagi.

 "Regardless, she was evil, and you knew she had to be destroyed," said
Hotaru calmly. "I'd have used this to kill them myself, but I don't know
how."

 Usagi looked at her and frowned. "With this...I can..."

 "You can become Sailor Moon once again. In fact, the Black Lady no
longer prevents you from using your powers. You can finally face that
thing, in a fight where you have a faint hope of winning. However, I'm
not just going to give it to you. I want something in return."

 Usagi frowned at her. "So...what is it that you want?"

 "I have heard that this crystal can raise the dead."

 "I don't know much about it," admitted Usagi.

 "You know enough," growled Hotaru. 

 "Very well," said Usagi as she raised it over her head. "I believe I
already know what it is that you want."

 Hotaru nodded and stepped back.

++++++++++++

 "She's using it already?" muttered Ranma as he approached the scene from
nearby. Angela was taking up the rear, a hateful scowl on her face as she
kept up with his lazy stroll. "That's stupid. Ranma will feel the energy
released...why would she? Is she trying to heal the world? It would only
be destroyed again!"

 "No. She's not using enough power for that," commented Angela.

 Ranma gasped as he suddenly fell to his knees. "What the?"

 "What is it?" muttered Angela. She backed away in horror as his body
began to fade slowly away. "What? No!" She suddenly realized what was
happening. 

 Ranma slumped face first into the dust, and vanished from sight.

 Angela staggered back, and fell on her rear. She suddenly felt very
weak. "What has she done?"

+++++++++++++

 Usagi gasped in horror at the figure that now lay on the ground at her
feet. He was nude, and curled up in a fetal position. A black and gold
aura surrounded his body as he lay there breathing slowly. 

 Unfortunately, it was a face she would never forget. Lying in front of
her in the dust, was Ranma Saotome.

 "You tricked me!" she sputtered in horror as she looked at Hotaru. 

 "No," said the woman calmly as she shook her head. "He is not Ranma
Saotome. Not the man you know."

 "I can see it!" snapped Usagi as she pointed at him. She paused suddenly
and realized that she could indeed see it. She slowly waved her hand in
front of her face and gasped. "I can see again!"

 "So it seems," said Hotaru with a small nod. 

 Usagi looked down at herself, she was once again dressed in a familiar
uniform. The guise of the Sailor Senshi barely covered her form.
"I...have returned..."

 The four senshi all fell to their knees around her. Looks of shocked awe
on their faces. 

 The group turned towards Ranma Saotome and glared down at him hatefully.
"What of this one?" asked Jupiter.

 "If you touch him, you deal with me," said Hotaru coldly.

 The figure in the dust groaned painfully and slowly staggered to his
feet. "What the hell just happened? Where am I?" He blinked as his eyes
began to focus, Usagi's blue eyes glaring at him hatefully was the first
thing he saw. "Ouch." He clutched his head and staggered into Hotaru. 

 The woman supported him for a second before he regained himself. "Where
are my clothes?"

 "You don't have any yet," chuckled Saturn as she looked him up and down.


 "Why is Sailor Moon here?" he grumbled as he glanced around and found
all of the Senshi staring at him in the nude.

 The younger girls were staring with a mixture of hatred and
embarrassment. Usagi just looked angry. 

 "Hey lady. I ain't done nuthin yet," he grumbled irritably as he glared
back at her. He regained his balance finally and flexed his arms.

 Everyone present gasped as his clothes seemed to appear all around him,
covering his body like a liquid. It was the familiar Chinese dress of his
youth, a red shirt and black silk pants, both fitting him loosely.

 He gave a rough sounding snort as he inspected his apparel and frowned
at them. "I didn't need you to revive me you know. I was on my way to
help already. I was sent by Hild to assist you in destroying Ranma."

 "Hild?" muttered Usagi dumbly.

 "The Queen of Hell," said Ranma calmly. "I'm a demon."

 Usagi gasped at this. His eyes were glowing with a golden green tint as
he looked back at her again. "Why would..."

 He winked at her and wagged his finger. "Now that...is a secret."

 "In any case, I was told I can't interfere directly any longer. There
are rules against that," said Ranma with a frown on his face. 

 Usagi looked at him skeptically. "I suppose I should believe you. For
now anyway."

 Ranma paused as he got an odd look on his face. "What the?" He glanced
around at those around him and frowned. "Just a moment." A flash of green
light was all they saw after that as he teleported away.

+++++++++++++

 Ranma Saotome was staring down at a dusty spot in the middle of nowhere.
"What the hell? What's going on?"

 Carrot was somewhat disturbed as well. "How the hell did you idiots get
here?"

 Dan scowled angrily. "Just fuckin great! Can somebody explain this?"

 "No," snorted the female voice hatefully.

 "Oh dear," muttered Pissant.

 They all paused as a flash of light appeared before them. "This is a
fine mess," snorted Urd as she looked at the sheet of paper in her hand.
"How the hell did this happen?"

 "Urd!" the all cried at once.

 The goddess looked at them. "Hello. We've got a major problem here."

 "No shit," grumbled the pigtailed boy.

 "Somehow, the most unlikely scenario we could possibly think of has
occurred," snorted Urd. "We didn't predict it, as impossible as that
sounds."

 "Would you explain this scenario to us then?" snorted the boy angrily.

 Urd frowned at him. "No one has ever tried to resurrect a demon before.
Not in a literal sense. Usually, it doesn't work, because most forms of
resurrection are useless on someone who's been dead long enough to become
a demon or an God."

 "So?" snorted the boy.

 "So. When they tried to revive you, the doublet system kicked in. We
can't have an imbalance, so rather than destroying one of you, or
overriding the crystal. It just shoved you both together, taking the
easiest route."

 "What does that mean Urd-sama?" asked the boy as his tone changed
dramatically.

 "It means you're a mess," said the Goddess with a sigh. "You've got no
real classification. To put it simply, we don't know what to do with you.
 The best option, would be for you to kill yourself. Then you should all
return to normal."

 "As you wish," said the feminine sounding voice.

 It changed dramatically once again. "I don't think so."

 "What?" gasped Urd dumbly.

 "Kill myself? Yeah right!"

 "You must be the demon talking," said Urd.

 "But, we aren't really a demon anymore are we?" said Carrot calmly.
"We're a man again."

 "No you aren't," said Urd coldly. "You'll never be a man again. Part of
you is connected to the Yggdrasil system, and the other part is linked to
the dark power of hell."

 Ranma smirked at her suddenly. "So. We're neither a god, nor a demon any
longer? We're something completely different? Something completely new?"

 Urd suddenly looked very uncomfortable at the look she was getting.
"This isn't a good thing," she ventured.

 "Says who? You? You're just trying to get yourself out of trouble," said
Ranma calmly. "I think I'll stay this way for a while."

 His face suddenly changed. "The hell we are!"

 "You can't kill all of us," he replied to himself. "Besides, we've got a
job to do. Help Usagi become Sailor Moon again. That was your mission
wasn't it?"

 The angelic half of him nodded slowly. 

 "Well, we all want the other Ranma dead. Who's strong enough to kill us
now?" said the other half calmly.

 "You still can't interfere directly," said Urd calmly.

 "We can't?" muttered Ranma as he frowned at her. "We're stuck in a
mortal body. We can die, and we can fight."

 "You think that a mortal body would last ten seconds with the power of a
god and a demon inside it? No. That's just a shell to hold you all
together. You were resurrected though, so you are alive, and you can be
killed. You're hardly a mortal though," said Urd calmly.

 "So, you're not even sure if you can kill us," said Ranma calmly as he
looked at her.

 "There's a way, it's just a matter of finding it," said Urd calmly as
she crossed her arms.

 Ranma frowned at this. "That doesn't sound very fun."

 "Regardless, it must be done," said Urd calmly. "Ready?"

 Ranma shot forward, lashing out at her as she tried to charge her power.
"No!"

 Urd gasped and moved out of the way barely in time. 

 "You're afraid of something aren't you? I'm too much like you aren't I?"
Ranma glared up at her. "You were born a goddess, but I wasn't, and I'm
half demon and half god like you."

 "It means nothing, you're dangerous. You're not like me," she snapped in
reply.

 "You're right, I'm not," agreed Ranma. "I think I'm gonna stay this way
too."

 "You can't," said Urd firmly.

 "You can't stop me," he replied with a shrug. With that, he vanished
once again.

+++++++++++

 Usagi was standing with Hotaru at her side when Ranma appeared again. 

 "I'm baaaaacccckkk!" he said cheerfully as he spread his arms. "Whole,
complete, and totally..."

 His speech was silenced as he promptly decked himself in the face.
"Ouch!" he cried dumbly.

 "What the hell?" muttered Akane as she stood up from where she had been
sitting nearby.

 Ranma was struggling with himself in the middle of the street. The
meeting within the town suddenly came to a stop as everyone stopped to
look at the man fighting with himself in the middle of the road.

 "You asshole!"

 "How dare you speak to Urd-sama that way!"

 "Ingrates!" 

 "I figured you assholes would be happy to see us!"

 "Fat chance loser boy! I'm gonna kill us!"

 "No way are we gonna get stuck with each other again!"

 "Please stop fighting!"

 "Gah! Why'd you have to bring the whiny boy back with ya?"

 "Stuff it dark boy!"

 "That's enough!" cried Usagi angrily as she stood over him and stared
down.

 Ranma looked up at her and blinked. He was pulling on his pigtail, and
punching himself in the face repeatedly. Finally, his struggles weakened
and he stood up. "Huh?"

 "Who are you?" snapped Usagi as she pointed at him.

 "I'm Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts! I'm the
real Ranma Saotome!" he cried triumphantly. "I've come back from heaven
and hell to make sure that dumbass fake me goes down!" 

 Everyone looked at him and blinked.

 "But...I'm not allowed to fight him directly. I can only help you," he
said sheepishly.

 "What?" gasped Hotaru as she looked at him in shock.

 "Sorry Hotaru. It's the rules. Once I became...what I am...I became
unable to interfere directly."

 Usagi blinked and looked at the dark haired woman. "Who is this? I was
expecting that man you had with you before."

 Hotaru frowned. "That was him. He was just..."

 "In my larval stage!" said Ranma proudly. "I was a hellspawn. A sort of
maturing demon."

 "You weren't mature yet?" said Usagi dumbly.

 "That's right. That's why I was able to fight Ranma still, but since
I...um...matured..."

 "You can't anymore. Is that it?" grumbled Hotaru.

 "Um. Right," said Ranma sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

 "Damn. I might as well have left you dead!" snapped Hotaru as she glared
at him.

 "You won't be sorry," said Ranma with a strange glint in his eyes. "Not
by a long shot."

+++++++++++++

 "This is not good," commented Ranma as he glared at Tochi and Ryoga
angrily. "We're being killed off." He was sitting on his throne with a
laptop closed on his lap.

 "That's an understatement. That thing has managed to destroy most of our
strongest fighters single-handedly," commented Tochi. She was standing in
front of him with a smirk on her face, looking more amused than anything
else.

 Ryoga merely stood silently off to the side, staring at nothing.

 Ranma frowned as he tapped his fingers on the top of his laptop. "I'm
going to locate the crystal and go get it, after that we should be able
to revive Chibi-Usa at least."

 "What of Kuno and Hotaru?" said Tochi.

 "Losing Mistress Nine wasn't particularly bad. We'd have needed to
destroy her sooner or later anyway," commented Ranma coldly. "I'll admit
we may have to revive her, depending on how bad our situation is, but it
may not be necessary."

 Tochi nodded at this, not bothering to comment.

 "We must destroy this hellspawn," snarled Ranma coldly.

 "It has been a few days," commented Tochi. "He's been very quiet."

 "Too quiet," agreed Ranma. "I also haven't been able to get any readings
on the Crystal as of yet. Whoever has it, isn't using it."

 "Right," grumbled Tochi to herself.

 Ranma's laptop beeped. He smiled and flipped it open. "Well, it seems
someone has used the crystal at last."

 "Shall we go?" asked Tochi.

 "No. Summon Ryu Kumon. We'll send him in to investigate."

 Within five minutes time the man was kneeling before them.

 "What is it?" he asked calmly.

 "I want you to go and scout," he said calmly. "Your orders are simple,
assess the situation, and do not engage. You're on an
information-gathering mission, not a combat one. If you're spotted, come
back immediately."

 "Right," said the boy with a frown on his face. He bowed and turned
towards the door.

+++++++++++++

 "So. Now what?" asked Sailor Moon as she frowned at Ranma. "Do you
expect us to charge them head on?"

 "No. I expect them to come to us," he replied with a smirk on his face.

 The senshi didn't like the sound of that. They shuffled about
uncomfortably. 

 "Ranma will see the energy released by the crystal. I doubt if he'll be
unable to track it. When he does, you'll be ready for him."

 "What? That's suicide!" cried Mamoru.

 "Not with me here it isn't," said Ranma coldly.

 "What good are you going to do us?" snapped Akane. "You said you can't
fight!"

 "No. I can't, but..."

 "But?" said Hotaru doubtfully.

 "You can," he replied calmly. "You're stronger than you realize. That
Crystal is a very powerful ally, and I'm a powerful ally as well."

 The others didn't like the look he had given them at all. It was one of
supreme confidence, but also had a dark edge to it.

 "I do not think that there will be another chance," said Usagi calmly as
she looked at her friends and family for a moment.

 "Well. Shall we begin?" asked Ranma.

 "Begin what?" asked Akane nervously.

 "Your training of course," he said calmly.

+++++++++++++

 Four hours later...

 Ryu Kumon frowned as he looked at the group that was standing in the
middle of the street in the decimated town. "Senshi."

 They didn't appear to be doing anything but standing there. He frowned
and pressed one of the buttons on his watch before speaking into it.
"I've found the source. The Senshi have the crystal."

 "Most unfortunate," commented Ranma from the other side. "What are they
doing?"

 "Reading, all the young ones have some books," said Kumon. He paused.
"Wait. There's something else..."

 "What is it?" asked Ranma calmly.

 "It's another Senshi...no! Two of them!" said the man as he ducked a
little lower behind the destroyed wall he was using as cover.

 "What?" commented Ranma in a sort of calm surprise. 

 "Two new Senshi...both of them older than the ones we know," said the
man. "One...blonde...I think it's Usagi."

 "Sailor Moon," growled Ranma from the other end. "And the other?"

 "It looks like...no way!" Ryu ducked behind the wall completely.

 "What is it?"

 "It's Mistress Nine! She's betrayed us!" snapped Ryu.

 "Definitely not good," said Ranma calmly. "Why would she though?
Unless..." There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment.
"Return to base. Our plans have changed."

 "Sir?" muttered Ryu dumbly.

 "Come back, there's nothing more that can be done," said Ranma.

 "As you wish," grumbled the man as he shut down his connection.

 "Well, it seems that you've outlived your usefulness, Ryu," said a
dangerously familiar voice. 

 "Huh?" said the man as he jumped to his feet.

 Ranma Saotome stood over him with a cold scowl on his face. "Sir?"

 "Heh. I'm through with you Ryu," said the boy calmly.

 The battle-scarred man realized something was definitely wrong
immediately. "Oh shit." The Ranma in front of him was younger than the
one he knew. A ball of red power was in his hands and he smirked down at
the man evilly. "Goodbye."

 Ryu never even got the chance to scream. He was vaporized in a small
burst of power.

 "Damn, they know about Hotaru," grumbled Ranma as he scowled at the
scorched portion of the ground where Ryu had been.

+++++++++++++

 "Return to me my child," said Hild coldly as she summoned Ranma Saotome
to her.

 The boy appeared to her, standing in the middle of her throne room once
again. He slowly turned and smirked at her. "Hello again."

 "What has happened?" she inquired calmly.

 "Nothing of any importance," he replied calmly. 

 "Oh?" she said as she arched her eyebrow slightly. "When were you
planning on informing me that you'd become merged with a god?"

 "Never. I knew that you already did know," he said with a small shrug.

 "Release her to me, she may be valuable when we storm the heavens."

 "I don't think so," said Ranma calmly.

 Hild's smirk faded. "What?"

 "You're not getting her away from me," he said as he glared at her for a
moment fearlessly. 

 "Impudent little..." started the demoness.

 "You think you can command me?" he snorted in amusement. "I'm not a
demon anymore. You can't order me around. Not that you could in the first
place."

 "You're nothing but a servant. I could destroy you with a thought," she
said coldly. "Release the goddess to me, and I may forget this
impertinence."

 Ranma smirked at her coldly. "No. Go ahead and destroy me. If you can."
He vanished into thin air, leaving her frowning at where he had been.

 "Most interesting," commented Hild to herself.

+++++++++++

 Ranma blinked at where he found himself next. Clouds billowed around the
tall spires of heaven. He was floating in the middle of the place
glancing around in confusion. "What? How the hell did I end up here?"

 "Who are you?" snapped a voice from behind him.

 He slowly turned to see Belldandy glaring at him with a ball of power in
her hands.

 "Ranma Saotome," he replied. "I'm not quite sure how I got here. I think
I overdid it when I teleported out of my meeting with Hild."

 "I see," replied Belldandy as she scowled at him. 

 He frowned when she didn't lower her energy ball, and several scores of
angels appeared around him. "Um. Could you stop that?"

 "What do you want here?" she asked firmly.

 "Nothing. I told you it was an accident," he said calmly. "How do
I...ah..." A grin formed on his face as he realized all he had to do was
teleport away again. 

 "You're not going anywhere until you..." said Urd as she appeared in
front of him.

 He promptly slapped her across her face. "Give it up already!"

 Belldandy blinked at this.

 "Jeez, for goddesses you sure are irritating," snapped Ranma as he put
his hands on his hips. "Look. I like how I am right now, and you ain't
doin nuthin to me. So give it up already!" He paused as someone started
screaming obscenities inside his head. "Well...most of me likes it
anyway." He was forced to grab his right hand in order to prevent it from
choking him. "Cut it out you crazy chick!" He vanished in another flash
of light.

+++++++++++

 "Okay. We're gonna settle this before Ranma we have to fight Ranma and
his goons," said Carrot as they appeared in the middle of a barren desert
on the Earth.

 "Fine by me," said Dan with a small shrug. 

 "Crazy chick," grumbled Ranma irritably.

 "You're going to do like Urd-sama says and separate us!" cried the
woman.

 "Quit shouting," commented Pissant. "We can talk about this like
gentlemen...and ladies."

 "I oughta..." growled the woman hatefully. 

 "He did correct himself," commented Carrot.

 "You stay out of this! How could you traitors do this to me?!" snapped
the woman as she spoke to her two original companions.

 "We're used to it," said Dan with a shrug. "You're the one who was all
gung-ho about killing the evil demon and all. I was just havin a little
fun."

 "Who the heck are you anyway?" snorted Carrot. "We don't know you do we?
You've been hell bent on destroying our ass ever since we met you."

 "Do you have any idea the humiliation I've had to endure because of
you?" she snapped hatefully.

 "No," replied Carrot.

 "Does the name Ranko Saotome ring any bells?" she growled. 

 "Yeah...but what has that got to do with..." Carrot paused. "I'll be
damned..."

 "What is it?" muttered Ranma in confusion.

 "You've made a laughing stock out of me! Acting like some ditzy
schoolgirl! The humiliation I've had to endure!"

 "Very tragic story! Whoever drown in spring, take body of young girl!"
said Carrot cheerfully.

 "Argh!" snarled the woman as she tried to choke him again.

 Carrot pulled their arm away from his throat again calmly. "Cut it out."

 "You and that damn Ranko of yours! It was disgusting!"

 "I only did it when Mom was around," commented Carrot. "Or when I
thought we might get free food...or when I wanted to tease some loser guy
who kept hitting on us...or that one time when we stumbled into that
store that sold used panties...or..."

 "Shut up!" snarled the woman as the arm reached for their throat again.

 Carrot bitch slapped the whole lot of them. "I said stop it!" 

 "What's your name anyway?" asked Ranma.

 The woman seemed to back off a bit. "I am...Xianfu."

 "Xianfu? What are you? Some kind of Amazon?" snorted Carrot.

 "I am not one of those man hating lesbian freaks!" snapped the woman in
retort. 

 "Sorry, the name threw me off," said Carrot with a shrug.

 "What a tomboy," snorted Ranma.

"Every girl who practices the art is a tomboy or an Amazon to you?" she
snapped in retort.

 "Basically," said Carrot with a shrug. "If they're any good at it
anyway."

 "So. Now what?" asked Ranma dumbly.

 "Now you'll all do as I say, and kill yourselves so we can get back to
normal!" snapped the woman hatefully.

 "We aren't going to kill ourselves," snorted Carrot.

 "Traitors!" she snapped.

 "But...that would hurt," whined Pissant.

 "Don't look at me. I don't care," said Dan with a shrug.

 "I ain't gonna do it," said Ranma.

 "Nope, no way," commented Carrot.

 "Die!" she cried as she tried to choke them once again.

 "This could get annoying," said Dan.

 "You're tellin me?" snapped Carrot as he held the arm back again.

+++++++++++

 Usagi frowned at her old outfit. "I never realized how short this was
before..." She brushed at the skirt on her fuku and blushed.

 "Why do you think I followed you around so much when we were younger?"
asked Mamoru with an amused sounding chuckle.

 "Pervert," she said weakly as her blush flushed some more.

 "Let's not forget child molester," commented Ranma as he appeared before
them. "How are things going here?"

 "Well enough," said Usagi with a short nod.

 "Good. We attack in two hours," said Ranma calmly.

 "Attack?" muttered Usagi in confusion. "I will not!"

 "We have no choice," said Ranma calmly as he turned to look at the tower
in the distance. It was barely visible, but with the city mostly wiped
out, it was easy to see a fair distance away. "Ranma sent a spy, and he
knows you have the Silver Imperium Crystal and Sailor Saturn."

 "So, surprise is gone," said Akane as she stood up from where she had
been resting. No one else had noticed her, as she was behind a small
boulder nearby.

 "It's worse than that," said Ranma calmly.

 "How could it be any worse?" snorted Mamoru angrily.

 "He's going to destroy the entire planet," said Ranma as he turned to
smile at him.

 "What?!" cried the others in shock.

 "Quite simple really. It was his plan from the start," said the boy as
he glanced at all of them in amusement. "He's been terraforming Mars for
the past fifteen years or so. I suppose he's been putting it off until
that project was finished. Rather than face you, armed with that crystal
and the senshi of death and rebirth, he'll destroy the planet and move
on."

 "What? Why?" gasped Usagi in horror.

 "Because he knows that you have a chance," replied the boy calmly as he
glanced at her. "He's on the defensive now. We're going to have to go get
him. Otherwise, he'll just destroy the planet from orbit."

 "He can do that?" muttered Akane dumbly.

 "I'm going to do something about that. It's your job to make sure he
doesn't escape," said Ranma as he looked at them for a moment. "Once
Ranma is destroyed, I'll make sure that those starships aren't a threat
anymore."

 "How are you planning to do that?" asked Mamoru.

 "That is a secret," said the pigtailed demon god calmly. "Don't worry.
I'll handle everything once he's gone. As long as I'm only assisting in
the fight, I can do a lot. I can't kill him for you though."

 "Right," grumbled Akane angrily.

 "You'll see," said Ranma as he vanished again.

+++++++

 "Are we ready?" asked Ranma as he smirked at Tochi. 

 "We can leave any time," said the woman as she glanced at him with a
smile on her lips.

 "Good. We should leave at once then," he said calmly as he stood up from
his throne and started walking. "Ryoga. Come with us."

 The boy said nothing as he unfolded his arms and followed after them.

 "You're to make sure no one stops us from escaping. I'll allow you to
remain behind, to be destroyed with the planet," he looked at his
son-in-law and frowned. "Give my regards to my daughter when you meet
her. I'm sure she'll be pissed I'm abandoning her."

 For the first time in almost twenty years, Ryoga had a faint looking
smile on his face. His eyes gave away nothing but hatred though.

 "Perhaps we should work on a replacement," said Tochi as she put her
hand on her lover's shoulder.

 "Maybe," he replied as he stepped onto an elevator. Ryoga stopped in
front of the doors. "Make sure no one gets by," said the pigtailed man as
the doors closed.

 Ryoga turned away from the doors in order to stand guard.

+++++++++++

 The six senshi stood together in front of the doorway to the building.
High above, a starship was preparing to take off on the rooftop almost
forty stories above them.

 Mamoru was taking up the rear with Akane at his side. He was dressed as
he hadn't been in years. A tuxedo and mask, with a dangerous looking
rapier at his side. "Why are we here?" he snorted in disgust. "We've come
a long way to die."

 "Because he wasn't lying," said Sailor Moon calmly. 

 "How do you know? I bet we can't trust him," said Mamoru. "For all we
know, he's leading us into a trap."

 Hotaru frowned at him, but didn't argue.

 "He is," said Akane. "Ranma would have prepared for us."

 "How right you are," said Ranma as he appeared behind them with the same
insane looking smirk on his face. "However, if you want to save the
world, you have to continue forward. Sorry, that's just the way things
are."

 "Right," growled Mamoru.

 "What the hell ever happened to 'You can do it Sailor Moon! Believe in
yourself!'?" said the boy as he glanced at Mamoru for a moment.

 "I grew up and realized that sometimes it takes more than believing in
yourself to survive."

 "How cynical," snorted Ranma. "You just wanted an excuse to grab some
fourteen year old in lewd ways."

 "That is enough!" snapped Usagi. "For the first time in fifteen years, I
believe we can do this!"

 "You're right, you can," said Ranma calmly. "Not because you're Sailor
Moon, or because you believe in yourself either."

 "Why then?" muttered Jupiter nervously. None of the new senshi had
spoken much, far too afraid to say anything during the trip here.

 "Because you've got me on your side," said Ranma calmly as he winked at
her. "I can give you more than a confidence boost...if you're willing to
trust me a little." He turned towards Akane and frowned slightly. "You
did once."

 "Look what it got me," she replied harshly.

 "Point taken," he said with a small shrug. "Things are about to heat up.
I suggest you prepare yourselves."

 They steeled themselves and strolled into the building.

 Ryoga Hibiki stood in front of the elevator, a harsh looking scowl on
his face as he stared them down. 

 The group of travelers moved into a combat stance waiting for the battle
to begin. 

 Ryoga strolled forward for a moment and simply stared at them for a
moment. His face turned into a hateful snarl. "They're on the top floor."
He stepped aside and pushed the button on the elevator.

 The doors opened and everyone stared at him for a moment.

 "What are you waiting for? Go get that bastard!" snarled Ryoga
hatefully.

 "Um...don't you work for him?" asked the young senshi of Mars.

 "I was enslaved by his daughter. When she died, I was free..." He hung
his head in shame. "I knew I wasn't strong enough to beat him anymore, so
I just went on as I always did. I could never get the nerve to face him.
Now, I'll die anyway."

 Akane paused and glanced around. Ranma was gone. "Where did?"

 "Let's go," said Sailor Moon firmly.

++++++++++

 Ranma floated in deep space, staring at the starship in front of him
calmly. He was far to small for the ship's sensors to pick him up. Or
rather, for them to care about. He smirked to himself and waited
patiently. "I hope you believe down there. This won't work very well if
you don't."

+++++++++++++

 Ranma stood on the ramp to his starship and frowned. Tochi was beside
him, staring at the group who rushed out onto the deck to meet him.
"What? You got by Ryoga so easily?"

 "I am Sailor Moon, and..." started Usagi.

 "I know who you are. Please don't start that again," snorted Ranma as an
aura of gold energy burst to life around him, changing his hair as well.

 Usagi snorted as she steeled herself. This was really going to hurt.

 "Just destroy them and be done with it, don't bother playing with them,"
said Ranma as he looked at Tochi.

 "Right," said the woman as she started to transform.

 Ranma seemed to vanish into thin air, moving far to fast for the senshi
to follow. He appeared with Hotaru in his grip, holding her over the edge
of the roof. "Pathetic. You might have stood a chance if you had trained
a little, if only enough to unlock at least your super forms."

 "Silence Glaive Surpr..." muttered Hotaru quietly.

 Ranma snapped her neck and dropped her off of the edge.

 "No!" cried Usagi as she and the other senshi rushed in to attack.

 The golden lizard monster that had once been Tochi appeared in front of
them and hissed, driving the young girls back. 

 Sailor Moon watched in horror as it started to take them apart easily,
separating them and singling them out with only a few well placed
slashes. 

 "This isn't going well. We aren't going to survive!" snapped Mamoru as
he moved up behind her.
 
 "As I'm sure you've figured out, you'd have died anyway," said Ranma. "I
was just on my way to give the order to destroy this pathetic world!"

 He appeared in front of the pair, grabbing Mamoru by his neck almost
casually. He tossed him over his shoulder without so much as batting an
eye, and the man plummeted off the edge of the building.

 "No!" muttered Usagi in horror as she tried to move after him. Ranma
grabbed her by her shoulders and stopped her.

 "I am glad, that you decided to die with some dignity though," he said
to her quietly. "I'd much rather do this, than something so impersonal."

 "Usagi! The crystal! Use the..." Akane's cries were cut off as Ranma
simply waved his hand at her. She slammed into the door they had entered
through and slumped down to the ground as it bent inward. 

 "Yes. Use your precious crystal!" snarled Ranma as he swat it out of her
hand. She was shaking so badly that she was barely holding onto it
anyway. His hands gripped her body again as he pulled her back into him
and glared into his eyes.

 "So. My one time lover, how does hopelessness really feel?" he said with
his cold smirk growing into an insane looking grin.

Usagi shuddered in revulsion, the memory of his violation playing in her
mind again. "No...get away..." she whimpered pathetically.

 Ranma suddenly released her and was thrown back when something struck
him from behind. 

 "Flare Arrow!" cried the senshi of Mars as she managed to get a shot in,
despite being busy from her battle with Tochi.

 The dragon thing was holding the limp form of Sailor Mercury in her
claws, and her muzzle was frozen shut. Jupiter was under one of her feet,
struggling weakly.

 Akane was lying still where she had landed, her eyes squeezed shut and
tears flowing down her face. Ranma's final words to her were echoing in
her mind, something he'd whispered to her right before she'd noticed he
had vanished. "You've got to believe in me, if I am to help you."

 "I told you not to play with them!" snarled Ranma as he shoved his palm
out towards Mars. She sailed into the air, and vanished over the ledge
with a terrified scream.

 The dragon roared at him, shattering the ice mask that Mercury had
created before she passed out. It squeezed the girl in her claws and she
made a sickening crunching sound. Blood exploded from her head, out of
her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. 

 "Kill them!" snapped Ranma. He paused as he heard something quiet, and
strangely familiar. "What the?"

 "Darkness beyond twilight..."

++++++++++

 Ranma floated in space smirking to himself as the words came to him, the
will for it to happen. "Crimson blood that flows, buried in the flow of
time is where your power grows! I pledge myself to conquer, all the foes
who stand, against the mighty gift bestowed, to my unworthy hand!" He
smiled as the red energy seemed to burn around him like an aura. "Well,
goodbye." He chuckled and pointed his palm at the starship.

+++++++++

 "Energy reading sir!" cried one of the men inside the ship.

 "What?" growled Kuroi as he spun around. "Where?"

 "Outside the ship!" exclaimed the man in alarm. "It's...it's growing at
an alarming rate!"

 "What is it?" snapped Kuroi angrily. "On screen!"

 He frowned as the image came to them. Ranma Saotome was floating outside
the ship, grinning madly as an aura of power flickered around him. 

 "Betrayer!" snapped Kuroi in horror. It was already too late though.

++++++++++++

 "...Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power that you
and I possess! Dragon Slayer!" cried Akane as the ball of energy forming
in her hands exploded suddenly, shooting into Ranma's chest as he backed
away with a look of shock in his eyes.

 "This can't be!" he cried in anger. He tried to push the energy away as
it began to eat through is skin, burning him away slowly. "I can't be
defeated by you! I'll destroy everything!" He roared in anger as he felt
himself impact into the side of the starship that would have taken him
off of the planet. "So close!" he muttered as his power failed, the
impact with the ship breaking his concentration finally. He shot through
the other end of the ship, carried by the beam of the spell and into the
distance. Finally, a huge explosion of power surrounded him, and he felt
his body vaporize before his senses disappeared forever.

 Tochi's jaws hung open as she watched her lover die. The innards of
Sailor Jupiter fell out of her maw as she gaped at the impossible; a mere
human defeated Ranma. A human who had discovered a new kind of power.
Something she'd never felt before. "What was that?" she growled as she
turned to face the girl with a snarl on her lips.

 Akane scowled at her. "Magic." 

 Tochi backed away as she noticed Usagi rise to her feet as well. Inside
her mind, Kuroi's dying scream filled her senses, disorienting her for a
moment. "What? Kuroi too? This is...there's no way!" When she looked up
again, it was already too late.

 "Dragon Slayer!" cried Akane hatefully as she finished the spell once
again. 

 Tochi roared as the spell consumed her, and finally destroyed her.

 Akane gave a small laugh before she passed out.

+++++++++++

 In the orbit of the planet, Ranma smirked as he looked at the debris
that floated around him. There was little left of the starship. "I win."
He vanished with a smirk on his lips.

+++++++++++

 Usagi struggled over to where the crystal was lying on the ground.
Taking it into her hands, she held it gently to her bust. "It's over.
Kami...at last, it's over!"

 Akane woke up slowly, sitting up and muttering to herself about how much
pain she was in. 

 "Your hair?" muttered Usagi.

 Akane blinked and felt her head for a moment, unsure of what she was
talking about. "Huh?"

 "It's...white..." muttered Usagi as she stared at the girl.

 "It's temporary. Besides, that's a good look for you," said a familiar
voice from all around them.

 "Huh?" muttered Akane as she staggered to her feet.

 Ranma appeared in front of them, the only two survivors of the battle.
"Well. You've won," he said to them.

 "How did you..." muttered Akane as she looked at her hands.

 "I'm more than an demon Akane," he said as he eyed her for a moment.
"I'm something completely new. Something not even the gods were
expecting."

 She frowned at him in confusion.

 "What?" asked Usagi.

 "I'm the first Mazoku," he said with a small chuckle. 

 "The first?" muttered Akane.

 "Well, I'll see you around, you've got a world to heal, and some friends
to bring back to life," said Ranma as he glanced around at the death that
surrounded them. "You might want to go pull your friend off that ledge.
She believed before you did Akane," he said as he pointed towards the
edge of the building.

 "Huh?" stammered Akane.

 Usagi blinked and rushed over to where he had pointed. Peering over the
side, she saw the senshi of Mars clinging to the ledge with a painful
expression on her face.

 "Mars!" cried Akane as she reached down to help pull her up.

 The young girl grabbed her, and within moments she was on the rooftop
again.

 "Well, that was certainly interesting," chuckled Ranma as he started to
walk off.

 "Wait! Where are you going?" asked Usagi as she stepped towards him
tentatively.

 "I've got something to find," he said with a small scowl on his face.
"I'm hoping I was wrong about something, but I'd like to be sure."

 "Oh. Thank you," she said as she gave him a deep bow.
 
 "You're the second most powerful thing on this planet now Usagi, under
me that is." He looked at her and smirked again. "Well, maybe not." He
glanced at Akane for a moment. "At any rate, you've got a world to build.
What do you think you'll call this place after you rebuild it, your
highness?"

 She blinked at him. "What?"

 "Neo Queen Serenity. I asked you what you were going to call this place
once you rebuild it?" he asked her calmly.

 "I...I don't know?" she muttered in confusion. Apparently what he'd just
said hadn't sunk in yet.

 "Crystal Tokyo has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" he asked Akane.

 "Wait...you mean?" said Usagi dumbly.

 "Don't leave your friends dead too long Usagi," he said as he vanished.

 "Right," said the woman as she looked at the crystal resting in her palm
for a moment. She raised it over her head, and closed her eyes as the
power washed over her. "Come back! Heal the world!" she whispered to
herself as the energy spread out across the surface of the entire world.

 From space, Ranma smirked as he watched. "So, now it begins."

++++++++++++++

 TBC...

 What? This isn't the end?! 

 No way no how! Bwahahahahahaha! Dark stuff should be mostly over now,
but what is it that Ranma's looking for?! And how the hell can I keep
this going from here? You'll just have to wait!

 P.S. Yes, I know it's called the Dragon Slave in the Slayers. However,
Lina Inverse mentions that the name degraded from Dragon Slayer over the
course of time. Meaning what exactly? That this is the past in the
Slayers Universe? Well...maybe...maybe not. Heh.

 Sorry to those of you who wanted the collective to stay separated, but I
wanted this arc to end. 
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