Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters and settings belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko, Koudansha, TV Asahi, and Toei Douga, and DIC.

I don't know how they managed to pull it off, but somehow, the Senshi convinced their parents, a large number of family members, and lots of friends along with their families. The Outer Senshi— all orphans, and not the most sociable of people— didn't invite any friends, bringing the number of travelers to two hundred and sixty-seven. It's an absolute wonder that those government agent guys hadn't caught on to the little exodus. The Senshi had even kept their identities secret. Good thing they're finally learning to do these things on their own.

The crowd milling around the Cherry Hill Park were beginning to get anxious. I think they were told that the war would be breaking out at any time. If Mousse's report was accurate, though, a little under a week remained until Saffron destroyed nearly a thousand years of civilization. A large truck, one of several that Ms. Mizuno had bringing in all kinds of medical supplies, pulled up onto the grass and Ami's mother stepped out of driver's cab. Where does a doctor learn to drive a big rig?

"Ranma, if this is some practical joke, I just want you to know that I'm going to skin you alive," Ms. Mizuno told me. "Four missing shipments of medicine and medical supplies tend to upset people. Shouldn't we be leaving?" She's nice, in a 'take charge and bull your way through everything' kind of way.

"If this is a joke, you're gonna have to stand in line to take your turn murdering me. All these people are getting restless and I can feel the fear radiating from them. It wouldn't take much to turn them into a lynch mob." If everything went to schedule, Katya, with assistance from me as a power source, would be making a mass-teleport to Shampoo's village in an hour.

Ms. Mizuno nodded, and went to see about getting her stuff unloaded. I quickly 'ported back to my apartment to see how Ami was progressing with her computer. "Well, how's it going?" I asked. She had found information on the likely artifact that Saffron planned to use. It was some kind alien egg modified both technologically and mystically to hold amazingly complex and highly specific spell patterns. Saffron's was a population control model, designed to limit the resistance that a planet would be able to offer if a conflict ever broke out.

"I've been able to find plans for a generator that derives a usable electric charge from raw magic and a type of view screen that utilizes water and refracted light over long distances. That's all in the database from the Silver Millennium that I can build with today's level of technical sophistication. The information from the Enterprise I downloaded may be able to be used to work out some rudimentary energy shields and a laser-like weapon called a phaser. I'd need to talk to Katya about helping me locate the parts for them, though, since most of the important components are in high security laboratories around the globe." Wow, and all I'd wanted was a way to get controllable electricity to power all of Ms. Mizuno's doctor crap. She'd bitched at me about using magic, so I'd turned to her daughter for help.

I shook my head. "You always do so much," I said. "Come on, we'll get you everything you need before the deadline." Ami flushed at the light praise. I grinned at her, and arm in arm, I 'ported us to the park, careful not to be seen by the crowd. Appearing before them out of mid-air would be a quick way to light a short fuse.

"Luna, I don't think this is very wise," cautioned Artemis. The two cats were creeping through the mists that led to the Gates of Time and Space.

"Quit being such a scaredy cat, Artemis," Luna hissed at her companion. "We have to find Sailor Pluto, the Time one, not that slutty sister of hers, and get rid of Ranma. He's going to ruin everything!" Luna could barely even bring herself to think about what her Senshi were going to help accomplish. World domination. The phrase left a bad taste in the moon cat's mouth. She should have seen through that girl disguise. This was all her fault. She had to fix it.

"I know that, Luna," snapped Artemis. "I'm not a total fool. I just don't think we should try to use the Gate. Neither one of us has the proper magic nor expertise to do it, so why even try? What happens if we get sent into space, or back into a past where dinosaurs still lived? The mosquitoes back then were bigger than we are now. The mosquitoes! Think about the giant reptiles that could step on us!"

Luna smacked Artemis in the face with her tail and proceeded to ignore his babbling. She'd been around Usagi long enough to be able to completely blank her mind from such annoying chatter. "How hard can it be? I'll figure it out and send you through to rescue Setsuna."

Artemis looked at Luna like she was insane. "No," he said firmly. "I am not going to let you play with the controls and have me end up with the consequences. You figure out how to work it and I'll send you through."

"Fine then, if you want to be such a pussy, I won't stop you."

"No," I repeated, not intending to do so again, "you can not take your car, Mrs. Tsukino. I know that it was expensive and that you love it. I also know that it will be a useless scrap of metal in less than a week. Don't you have some furniture or family heirlooms you would rather take? Tools would be good. You should spend any money that you have saved up, too. It won't be good any longer than the car will." I didn't leave the woman any room to object.

People had sold property, liquidated assets, and cleaned out bank accounts, using the money to buy all kinds of things, from crates of toilet paper to truckloads of food. Every time I think about it, I can't figure out how the Senshi managed to convince so many people to come with us. Oh, well, with five minutes till departure, there wasn't time for anyone to back out and get their stuff back. I had reluctantly agreed to bring back anyone that changed their mind once we were in China. Then those that still had unfinished business wanted to come. Before I knew it, I had three short trips back to Japan scheduled in the next few days.

Usagi's mom walked over to where her family, sans Usagi, had made themselves comfortable. Mr. Tsukino had taken my words to heart and purchased some high-quality hand tools and lots of lumber. There was also a very large manually powered ice cream churn in their belongings. Usagi's influence, without a doubt.

Shingo, Usagi's little brother, was having a quiet conversation with the baby Charmander that the White Sorceress had given him. Unless you looked closely, it would look like he was talking to a doll. I was already starting preliminary plans to begin teaming up the younger children with pokémon. That way, by the time they were old enough to fight, they would be able to go into battle with the powerful creatures.

I felt Katya's presence appear next to me suddenly and refrained from spinning around to confront her. Damn it, if someone saw her do that, we would have a riot on our hands. "Don't worry, Ranma, I made sure no one was looking in this direction," she said.

"You ready?" I asked her. I was beginning to grasp the more intricate levels of the teleportation spell I'd picked up from the Space Senshi, but my control wasn't good enough that I would trust myself with so many people and material over such a long distance. Katya was going to be getting a lot of energy crammed into her for this, though, and I didn't want her to lose control either.

She shrugged. "Sure. I've already scouted the area out. I'm just going to pull the whole park area out and replace it with a section of open ground near the east end of the village. That place isn't really a village, you know," she said, referring to the Amazon village. "There are several thousand people staying there, and it has grown noticeably since last week. It's more of a city."

The village never had been much of a village, but now with war preparations being made, I imagine the place would be swelling up pretty quickly. Good thing we were marking out our little piece early. "Wouldn't it be easier to just move the people and stuff?" I asked. I certainly wouldn't want to attempt to move that much matter.

Katya grinned at me. "You just stick to your side of the job and I'll worry about mine. I've been manipulating space for thousands of years. With you to back me, I could probably move the moon." I don't want to think about what kind of trouble that action would cause.

After a few placating gestures, I said, "Whatever. I'm gonna go make sure the Senshi are in place." I was worried more about the Outer Senshi. Haruka was a belligerent bitch that needed her ass kicked, and I'm sure I'll be doing the honors sometime in the next few days. She would disobey orders meant for the safety of others just to aggravate me. Michiru and Hotaru were much too happy with me to be anything but perfectly agreeable.

Hotaru was a real surprise. Though her power was nowhere near what it had been when she had imprisoned Silence, for a mana-bound individual, the girl was extraordinary. When she fully matured, she would be nearly as strong as my Senshi, and she hasn't got a bit of the Talent for magic in her. I'd also taken the time and effort to study her glaive. It acted like a very weak version of my lens crystal, amplifying the Senshi's power by about fifteen percent, but the main enchantment was something I suspect Katya was responsible for. The blade of the glaive encased slightly warped space, giving it a cutting edge that would shear through all but the most powerful of barrier spells. The girl would need proper training from the Amazons to use it effectively. She's young; she'll learn.

"Hey, Ranma!" Hotaru called to me, waving enthusiastically. She was already in her altered Senshi state. I couldn't stand to leave the Outers looking like they did while my Senshi looked so much cooler. No one seemed to realize that a Senshi stood in their midst, assuming she was just a little girl dressed up like her favorite heroes.

"Hey, Hotaru. Do you remember what you're supposed to do?" She and the other Senshi would form a protective ring around the entire park once it was transported. They'd keep any overzealous Amazons from harming anyone while I explained the situation to the Elders. I probably should have done so earlier, but I didn't want to give them even the smallest chance to object. With nearly three hundred people on your doorstep, most of them loaded down with supplies and other useful items, it can be hard to turn them away.

"Uh huh," she said, nodding to emphasize her response. "I'm supposed to keep any Amazons from hurting anyone here. I shouldn't kill anyone either, right?" Hotaru was of the same mindset as me on the subject of killing. If you've gotta do it, do it and don't regret it, but if it can be avoided, do that. An extreme view for a twelve-year-old kid, I know, yet a useful rule to live by.

"That's right," I answered. "And try not to hurt any of the Amazons in a fight, or they may try to kill you, no matter what." Oh… shit! "Um… gotta go, Hotaru. I'm counting on you." How could I have neglected that little fact? It would be just like Haruka to get a few score Amazons after her head.

Kasumi glanced up from washing the dishes as the overhead fluorescent lights in the kitchen momentarily flickered and dimmed. "Oh, my," she said to herself. Akane must be trying to hardwire her mechanical bull directly into the Nerima electrical grid again.

Kasumi was about to search out her youngest sister when Nabiki walked into the kitchen, She was wearing a pair of shades and had her purse slung negligently over her shoulder. "Hey, Kasumi, I'm going to take a quick trip to the store to pick up a few cases of emergency batteries in case Akane screws the transformers up again. Are there any particular sizes that you need?"

Kasumi frowned in concentration. "Well, a few of the twelve volts wouldn't hurt, and we never did get the large car battery recharged for 'Big Paul' after Akane's last power outage." She couldn't think of anything at first. "You are going to get plenty of D cells?"

Nabiki nodded and looked at her sister like she was stupid. "The charger is out in the tool shed. You should probably take care of 'Big Paul' before Akane shorts out the entire district."

Akane hadn't been the same since Ryoga's unfortunate misplacement— none of them had— but the youngest Tendo had taken the absence of her playmate especially hard. The electric bill had more than tripled in the last two weeks. Nabiki was already whoring herself out to three of the richest men in Tokyo. If things kept up at their present rate, she would soon be working for a couple women, too.

The sense of disorientation was stronger with this 'port. Must have something to do with the size of the load. I didn't wait for anyone to get themselves killed, taking to the air and heading straight for the Council building. Amazons were already beginning to notice the new Jusendo Park and the outcry soon went out for the warriors to assemble. News travels fast.

The 'village' had indeed grown. It had done more than grown. The Amazons now occupied about ten times more space than during my previous visit nearly three years earlier. The Council building hadn't moved, though, and I slipped through its wards easily, wards that I myself had placed to protect the building. No one had even looked up, so excited were the Amazons by the park appearing, so my arrival went unnoticed.

Heavy wooden doors swung open easily and I stepped into the single roomed building. Back against the far wall, a large, slightly concave, polished ebony wood table supported by three stone pedestals. Behind the table, where normally a dozen ancient Amazon women— and in time of trouble twice that many— sat, were fifteen young women, no younger than Ami and no older than me. Um, I don't know all the Amazon laws of etiquette, but I do know that these ladies would be in major trouble if they were caught in here.

Being such a kind gentleman, I cautioned, "If the Elders catch you in here, heads are going to roll." If they didn't understand Japanese that was their problem, at least I was taking the trouble to warn them.

"Has it been so long that you don't recognize me, Ranma?" the black-haired, attractive Amazon sitting in Cologne's Matriarchal position asked. There was a strong resemblance to Shampoo. Her Japanese was excellent. Cousin, maybe?

I shook my head. I don't think I slept with her, no, I know I didn't. There was only Shampoo and that Lotion chick. "I'm afraid that you have me at a disadvantage…" I prompted. They were all grinning at me mischievously. Sigh. Ami isn't going to like it here, I'm afraid, even if women are in charge.

"Why, Ranma, I'm your old friend Cologne," the girl demurred.

"Damn it, quit fooling around," I snapped. "I need to speak with the Elders before some friends I brought with me start blasting Amazons into atoms." I hadn't heard any explosions or screams of pain, yet. The Senshi were completely capable of killing silently, so you see, that wasn't much of a reassurance.

The girl claiming to be Cologne sat up straighter in her chair and her eyes narrowed. "Ranma, what are you talking about?" she asked, her tone commanding.

Screw it. I walked over to the table and teleported, switching myself into the girl's place and setting her, chair and all, on the other side of the table. I ignored the gasps and looked at the black-haired girl. "Little girl, if any of my friends are hurt because you're trying to have some fun, there won't be enough of you left for the real Cologne to get her hands on." The other girls were trying to move now, trying but not succeeding. By force of will, I was holding them in their padded stone chairs. I had to increase the force, though, as they began applying impressive amounts of chi force. These weren't average Amazons, that's for sure.

Cologne-wannabe sighed and said, "I really am Cologne, you fool. These other ladies are the Council of Elders. We used the water from Jusenkyo to regain our youth in order to better lead our tribe in the coming war." That was possible, but I knew that using Jusenkyo in such a way was terribly taboo for the Amazons. She sounded sincere. Not about to take any chances, I scanned the so-called Elders with chi and mystical senses. Oops.

When next I spoke it was from the original side of the table, with Cologne in her proper place and the other Elders not glued to their seat. "Sorry. How was I supposed to know? By the way, Cologne, you're pretty hot." Dumb look. "That means you're very attractive. Now that the formalities are over, get your unwrinkled ass out here and help me calm everyone down."

I didn't wait to see if I was followed. By the time the not so old Elders piled through the double doors of the Council building, I was hovering twenty feet in the air with my arms crossed. I said, "I hope you ladies can keep up with me." I could have levitated them with me. I didn't because I figured that the Elders should get to use the bodies they had traded in their old ones for.

Much to my surprise, not so much as a punch or fireball had been thrown in my absence. I found Shampoo, a broad smile plastered across her pretty face, introducing the Senshi to her fellow warriors. The Elders had made good time and arrived, panting, less than a minute after me.

"It seems that your fears were unfounded," Cologne said. She was the only one of the Elders that showed no visible strain. All of them were used to bodies that required less energy and weren't properly managing their chi flows to enhance them. Cologne was the exception, not that I expected anything less from the ancient troll.

"Yeah, I guess." Better to be safe than sorry, or so the saying goes. People were wandering around the edges of the teleported park, clearly afraid to go much farther, but still curious about their new surroundings. Katya, bless her heart (that's just a saying, I don't give blessings), had volunteered to get the refugees situated properly. I never have been much of a people person.

"They are not fighters," Cologne said bluntly. After a pause she continued, "Oh, I see. Fellow sorceresses?" For someone with none of the Talent, Cologne was amazingly sensitive to it.

"Yep, my students actually. They're each class-bound, white, fire, air, and etcetera… One of them is even the future ruler of the world." I was saving Ami for when the eventual attempted seduction came, as I knew it would.

Cologne looked at me blankly, a gesture copied by the other Elders. "Oh, I didn't tell you?" They all shook their heads. "Well, it goes like this. Saffron doesn't sound like the kind of guy I could be around without gutting, so I'm just gonna kill him when this is all over and put Princess Usagi on the throne as ruler of the world. She's a reincarnated princess from the Silver Millennium— that was a long time ago, and really easy to manipulate, if you know how." Ice cream. "Isn't that great?"

To be continued.

Author's Notes: I know I skipped a lot of stuff involved with getting everyone together, but I'm eager to get to the actual taking over of the world part of the story, and I'm sure you all are too, so don't get too upset with this chapter. How should the Elders react to Ranma's little announcement? Better yet, how many of them will have to be eliminated to get the point across? Next chapter Cologne is gonna find out who the Senshi are, too, and we might even see Saffron, not that I'm going to let him know about the Senshi yet.

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Last revision: May 21, 2007