INTERLUDE  

Establishing Shot:  Night.  The edge of a futon.  The camera slowly moves  
upward.

                                 SHEILA (O.S.)
                    ... and then, after they've all been
                    blown up ... we're running low on
                    fuel, and, when you get right down
                    to it, there's nowhere left for us
                    to go, anyway.  BEAT  Over the
                    comm, I hear her mutter, "And so it
                    all ends."  Then static.  She's
                    either decided to cut out on me and
                    run into the lava, or she took too
                    many hits, or ... anyway, I don't
                    know how I should feel.  I hold the
                    broken medal close ... and then ...  

The camera has moved up enough to show two pairs of bare feet and ankles  
on the futon.  Over the next bit, it moves up to show two female bodies  
covered by a blanket and sheets.

                                 PRISS (O.S.)
                    And then what?

                                 SHEILA (O.S.)
                    And then I see it.  BEAT  All of
                    it.  All the wonder, all the horror,
                    everything that's going to happen
                    ... I see it all stretching out
                    before me.  Like an endless stream
                    of images.  And I really wish that
                    she was still there, so I could say
                    "No ... it's all just beginning."
                    BEAT Because it is.  

By now, we can see the faces -- it is PRISS and SHEILA -- and their bare  
shoulders.  SHEILA pauses for a long moment, looking up at the ceiling,  
while PRISS looks at her.  SHEILA turns to meet her gaze ... then smiles  
mischievously.

                                    SHEILA
                    So, do you ever dream about past
                    lives?

                                     PRISS
                    THINKS Yeahhhh ... when I was just
                    out of the orphanage, I dreamed
                    about something not too different.
                    BEAT  I'm walking out of this
                    cave, feeling depressed and resigned
                    to something ... and I'm about to
                    climb up into the ship, when I hear
                    someone ask me what I'm doing.  And
                    I turn around, and there's this
                    gorgeous woman with long, black hair
                    who's -- YOW!  

SHEILA is glowering at PRISS.

                                     PRISS
                    You've got *really* cold feet ...
                    BEAT Anyway, we have this short
                    conversation:  I'm going up to
                    fight; she's staying.  And then
                    we're just staring at each other,
                    and I'm thinking, `I'd like to kiss
                    her.  I'd *really* like to kiss her.
                    But that would be dumb, so I won't.'
                    And then I say something weird:
                    "We'll meet again."  And she's like,
                    what?  "Since time is a cycle ...
                    sooner or later ... this'll all
                    happen again."  `And we'll be
                    together again, then', I think.  

Long pause.

                                    SHEILA
                    And you leave?

                                     PRISS
                    Yep.

                                    SHEILA
                    Good.  

PRISS glowers at SHEILA, who smiles unapologetically.  PRISS yanks the  
pillow that their heads are resting on out from under SHEILA's head.   
SHEILA fumes for a moment, before she starts to tickle PRISS, leading to a  
brief tickle war that leaves both of them laughing -- healthy, vibrant,  
soul-restoring laughter.

                                     PRISS
                    Crazy dreams, huh?

                                    SHEILA
                    I don't know ... the Senshi know, or
                    think that they know, that they've
                    lived before, thousands of years
                    ago.  Why not us?

                                     PRISS
                    SHRUGS  It's the problem I've
                    always had with karma ... I don't
                    wanna think that I'm doomed to keep
                    doing the same stuff over and over
                    until I get it right.

                                    SHEILA
                    Even ... BEAT Even the good
                    things?

                                     PRISS
                    Well, yeah.  I mean, you can have
                    too much of a good thing, not that
                    I've ever --

                                    SHEILA
                    SMILING SEXILY Oh, reeealllly?  

She starts to kiss PRISS' shoulder, moving slowly to her collarbone, up  
her neck, onto her cheek, and just as she's about to kiss her on the lips  
-- there is the sound of a phone ringinng.  SHEILA's face twists in an  
almost comic expression of rage, and she reaches out to snatch up the  
cellular on the phone.  PRISS seems unsurprised by the interruption.

                                    SHEILA
                    People In The Process of Really
                    Enjoying Themselves, please leave a
                    message at the tone.  FAKE MOAN

                                 MERCURY (TEL)
                    Very cute, Sheila.  

SHEILA gasps a bit, and rolls into a sitting position, hogging the  
bedsheets as she does so.  PRISS lets out a squawk.

                                    SHEILA
                    Amy?  What's happening?

                                 MERCURY (TEL)
                    There's a hostage situation in
                    progress, and we need all the
                    Palladins to gather at the Temple of
                    Serenity --

                                    SHEILA
                    Whoa, back up.  Why would the
                    Palladins be needed to deal with a
                    hos--

                                 MERCURY (TEL)
                    Serenity is the hostage.  

SHEILA is stunned silent for a very long moment.  PRISS rests her head on  
SHEILA's right shoulder (the phone is at her left ear), and looks at her  
confusedly.

                                    SHEILA
                    I'm on my way.  I'll bring Priss.

                                 MERCURY (TEL)
                    Oh good, she's with you.  BEAT  Oh
                    my.  You mean --  

SHEILA raises her right hand to rub the back of her head, but PRISS' head  
is in the way.  SHEILA lets her hand drop.

                                    SHEILA
                    Uh, right, we'll be there real soon,
                    bye!

                                 MERCURY (TEL)
                    Shei--  

SHEILA turns the phone off, and turns to look at PRISS.

                                    SHEILA
                    Serenity has been kidnapped somehow,
                    and Lady Mercury wants all the
                    Palladins to gather --

                                     PRISS
                    Serenity?  As in, the Queen?  

SHEILA nods with a stunned expression.

                                     PRISS
                    Boy, whoever's in charge of the
                    Secret Service is gonna be up
                    against the wall after this ...  

PRISS gets out of bed, and offscreen starts to pull on her underclothes.

                                    SHEILA
                    I hope not ... Mom's got enough
                    problems.  

PRISS is attaching her bra.

                                     PRISS
                    Oh yeah ... your mom is her chief
                    bodyguard.  

SHEILA has begun to pull on her knee-length boots.

                                    SHEILA
                    Well, that and the head of all
                    civilian intelligence operations
                    and the international police
                    organization.  

PRISS buttons up her blouse.

                                     PRISS
                    Seriously?  

SHEILA is adjusting her belt.

                                    SHEILA
                    Yep.  BEAT  Made my late teenage
                    years interesting ... I was always
                    wondering whether she sent people to
                    spy on my dates or --

                                     PRISS
                    STANDS UP Look, I gotta know -- is
                    she gonna try to do something about
                    this?

                                    SHEILA
                    Not ... consciously.  BEAT  She's
                    always said that she won't interfere
                    in my life, even if she thinks I'm
                    making a mistake, unless she thinks
                    I'm going to get hurt, as in injured
                    or killed.  But ... she could try to
                    make life difficult for you.

                                     PRISS
                    When you say the word `difficult',
                    what *exactly* do you mean?  Are we
                    talking assassination --

                                    SHEILA
                    Priss!

                                     PRISS
                    I just wanna know what the odds are!

                                    SHEILA
                    *You* wanna know the odds?  BEAT
                    Okay, here's the way it's set up --
                    on the one hand, we have my mother,
                    a figure of superhuman power and
                    influence, who has to obey the laws
                    in both their word and spirit in her
                    dealings with you.  On the other
                    hand there's you, the picture of
                    normal humanity with no influence,
                    but you have one great advantage
                    that my mom doesn't -- I'm in love
                    with you. BEAT I think it's a
                    level playing field, don't you?  

PRISS doesn't look as certain as SHEILA sounds.

                         An Inevitable Outcome Feature

                             Written and Directed
                            by C. Richard Davies

                                TOGETHER AGAIN
                                 2937 Chapter

                             Based on the works of
                      Naoko Takeuchi, Rumiko Takahashi,
                    Suzuki Toshimichi, Haruka Takachiho,
                        Hiroki Hayashi, Yuuki Masami,
                     and various interpretations thereof.

                  Dedicated to Gryphon, MegaZone, and ReRob.

                                     ACT V

                                    CAPTION
                            SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER  

Establishing shot:  The frigid red deserts of Mars, under an orange sky  
that is filled with black clouds.  In the distance is an irregular  
formation of rocks, towards which, every few seconds, a bolt of black  
lightning shoots.  We close in on a trio of figures running towards the  
rock formation -- RAYE, SHAMPOO, and RANMA.

                                     RANMA
                    So what's going to happen if she
                    *has* managed to call Ucchan's
                    spirit back?

                                     RAYE
                    Nothing good.  The Black Crystal
                    will grant any wish, but twist the
                    wisher's intent so as to produce
                    a horrific effect.

                                     RANMA
                    For instance?  

RAYE is silent for a long moment.

                                     RAYE
                    The first known user of the thing
                    used it to try and find the greatest
                    power in the universe.

                                     RANMA
                    And?

                                     RAYE
                    He died saving the life of a girl
                    he'd come to love, to whom the
                    crystal had led him.

                                     RANMA
                    BLINKS *Love* is the greatest
                    power in the universe?

                                    SHAMPOO
                    How you can doubt this, husband?  

RANMA ignores her.

                                     RANMA
                    That's so corny!  BEAT  So what's
                    going to happen --

                                     RAYE
                    There is no way of knowing, beyond
                    saying that the more innocent the
                    wish, the more horribly it will be
                    corrupted.  

At that moment, a hideous scream echoes across the landscape.  RANMA  
blanches.

                                     RANMA
                    Gennosuke!  

He dashes off, easily outpacing RAYE, who from her expression is running  
full out.  She trades exasperated looks with SHAMPOO.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Be careful what you wish for ...  

Cut to a barren rock wall, just before GENNOSUKE is flung at it, making a  
crunching noise as she hits.  GENNOSUKE slumps to the ground, looking  
upwards in fear and confusion.

                                   GENNOSUKE
                    Mommy ... mommy, don't ...  

Each of the following sentences is punctuated by a tiny "spatula shuriken"  
being flung at GENNOSUKE's cowering form.  Each misses by only a few  
inches.

                                 UKYOU (O.S.)
                    You know, you should stop calling me
                    that.  SPAT  After all, I'm *not*
                    your mother.  SPAT  And you're
                    definitely *not* my daughter. SPAT
                    *My* daughter would *never* be a
                    loathsome, bloodsucking monster like
                    you.  SPAT  So I think you'll
                    thank me, in a way, for relieving
                    you of the burden of your worthless
                    life.  

We see the spatula in a woman's hand.  In slow motion, we see it flung at  
GENNOSUKE, slowly spinning towards her head.  GENNOSUKE closes her eyes  
... and a tiny rock, thrown from above, deflects the spat so that it only  
slices open a small cut on her cheek.  Our point of view angles upward,  
and we can see RANMA looking down with a troubled expression.  The view  
rotates to his POV ... and we see UKYOU KUONJI.  She is exactly the same  
as she was in the Twentieth century, and staring up at RANMA with a joyous  
expression.

                                     UKYOU
                    BUBBLY RANCHAN!  I knew it, I knew
                    you weren't dead!  I knew that you
                    didn't die in that stupid tournament
                    on Earth, I knew it!

                                     RANMA
                    U-- BEAT Ukyou.

                                     UKYOU
                    I knew all along that you'd come
                    back to me and to your daughter --

                               GENNOSUKE (O.S.)
                    WHIMPER Mommy ...  

UKYOU's face becomes a hideous mask of hatred.

                                     UKYOU
                    Shut up you little whatever-you-are!  

She goes back to being cute and sweet.

                                     UKYOU
                    -- and she's such a pretty baby!
                    You'll love her, I know ...

                                     RANMA
                    Ukyou.

                                     UKYOU
                    Yes, Ranchan?  BEAT  Why aren't
                    you calling me Ucchan?

                                     RANMA
                    Ukyou ... that girl is our daughter.

                                     UKYOU
                    BLINKS No she's not.

                                     RANMA
                    Yes, she is.

                                     UKYOU
                    SMILES Ranchan, our daughter is
                    only a month or so old!  And what
                    would any daughter of ours be doing
                    being a SAVAGE filthy depraved
                    vampire monster?!

                                     RANMA
                    Ukyou, you have to understand ...
                    it's been nearly nine hundred years
                    since --

                                SHAMPOO (O.S.)
                    -- since you went to whatever hell
                    you belonged in.  

UKYOU slowly turns to see SHAMPOO, a bonbori in each hand, standing a few  
yards away.  SHAMPOO's face is rigid.  UKYOU's expression grows 
darker and  darker as the seconds pass.

                                     UKYOU
                    You *told* him, didn't you?  

SHAMPOO does not reply.  UKYOU turns to look up at RANMA, appearing angry  
and hurt.

                                     UKYOU
                    She told you!  Didn't she?!

                                     RANMA
                    She ... she said some things, but --  

UKYOU whirls to look back at SHAMPOO.

                                     UKYOU
                    How dare you tell him?!  I told you
                    that in confidence!

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Confidence?

                                     UKYOU
                    Of course!  The only reason I told
                    you was that I was *confident* that
                    you'd never tell anyone else.  After
                    all, who'd believe it coming from
                    *you*?  BEAT  Especially since you
                    wanted to do it as much as I did.  

SHAMPOO's eyes narrow.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    So you admit it.

                                     UKYOU 
                   To you?  Of *course*.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Ranma can hear you, you know.

                                     UKYOU
                    Oh, but I'm not talking to Ranchan
                    right now, am I?  

SHAMPOO looks confused for a few moments by this statement ... then a look  
of sudden, horrid understanding blossoms on her face, and she assumes a  
combat stance.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Ranma, get your daughter out of here
                    right now!  

UKYOU produces her huge battle spatula from nowhere, and holds it in a  
ready stance.  She pauses to smile up at RANMA.

                                     UKYOU
                    Ranchan, maybe you should get out of
                    the way ... somebody definitely has
                    to teach this Amazon bimbo a lesson,
                    and it could get messy ... and
                    you've had enough of that sort of
                    thing, right?  BEAT  So *I'll* be
                    the one to hand this filthy Chinese
                    whore her head ...  

UKYOU's expression grows steadily more malevolent during her final  
statement, until she no longer looks quite *human* at the end.  RANMA  
stares at her in outright horror.  She smiles again, and turns to face  
SHAMPOO.  The edge of her spatula ignites in a black flame.  RANMA leaps  
down to the floor, picks up GENNOSUKE, and leaps up again, just as UKYOU  
charges towards SHAMPOO.  We see SHAMPOO from UKYOU's point-of-view,  
rapidly moving towards her.  She is holding her bonbori vertically at  
shoulder length distance.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    [APOCALYPSE STRIKE OF THE HELL THAT
                    IS BEST LEFT UNDESCRIBED]!!!  

She smashes the heads of the bonbori together.  

As RANMA clears the mouth of the crevice, a *huge* burst of flame surges  
up.  RANMA slides down the rock facing, holding GENNOSUKE (who is  
completely terrified) in his arms.  He lands on a ledge a few seconds  
later, and looks up to see that the flame is still burning.

                                     RANMA
                    Damn ...  

RAYE is standing against the wall, looking up with an annoyed expression.

                                     RAYE
                    This could get very ugly.  

RANMA turns at the sound of her voice, and GENNOSUKE sees her and lets out  
a brief shriek of panic.

                                     RAYE
                    DISGUSTED Oh, cut that out.

                                   GENNOSUKE
                    You're going to kill me!

                                     RAYE
                    Don't be an idiot, girl, I'm --

                                   GENNOSUKE
                    I'm a vampyre, Senshi, I know what
                    you do to my kind!  

RAYE's expression grows troubled, and we close in on her eye.

                           MUSIC VIDEO FLASHBACK #2  

We see several images as the third verse of Dire Strait's "Brothers in  
Arms" play.  We see a young man with blonde-brown hair and shiny green  
eyes (AETHAN DEGALES) smiling at the camera.

                                     SONG
                    Through these fields of destruction  

We see a trenchcoated AETHAN being knocked down in an airport by Serena.

                                     SONG
                    Baptisms of fire  

We see AETHAN talking to Mina while seated on a porch swing, when suddenly  
an ofuda is thrown at him, striking him between the eyebrows.  He stands,  
pulling the ofuda off to reveal a very angry expression, and mouths the  
words "Do you *mind*?" at the camera.

                                     SONG
                    I've witnessed all your suffering  

We see AETHAN in very bad shape, bleeding from several wounds, slumped on  
the ground, holding the limp, broken body of a young man dressed in  
t-shirt and jeans -- and sobbing.

                                     SONG
                    As the battle raged higher  

We see AETHAN battling through hordes of stereotypical devils -- tiny red  
men with horns and hooves -- with a blazing katana.  His face is  
expressionless, but there is a strange light in his eyes.

                                     SONG
                    But though they did hurt me so bad,
                    In the fear and alarm,  

A devil is clawing at the camera's POV, laughing maniacally.

                                     SONG
                    You did not desert me,
                    My brother in arms  

AETHAN's gloved hand reaches out, grabs the devil by the head, twists it  
360 degrees, and tosses the body over his shoulder.  His expression does  
not change as he does so.  He looks down at the camera's POV, and mouths  
the words, "You owe me."  

Cut to a shot of an enormous funeral pyre igniting spontaneously, with  
AETHAN standing before it with head bowed.  He lifts his head, and turns  
to look at the camera.

                                    AETHAN
                    Well?  BEAT  What are you waiting
                    for?  BEAT  I assure you that
                    you'll never get a better chance
                    than this.  BEAT  Don't bother
                    making excuses.  I know that you
                    would be quite happy to see me dead.
                    BEAT  And right now, girl, I would
                    welcome death.  

There is a long pause, and then AETHAN turns to the camera full on, his  
face furious, his fangs definitely in evidence.

                                    AETHAN
                    "Why?"  Woden, Thunor und Nerthus,
                    girl, *what do you care*?  You've
                    hated me from the first moment we
                    met.  I deserve it, I suppose, I am
                    one of the monsters you're supposed
                    to destroy.  So destroy me, already!
                    BEAT; UTTER FURY COME ON!  DO IT!
                    *KILL ME AND BE DONE*, RAYE HINO!  

Flames fill the image.

                         END MUSIC VIDEO FLASHBACK #2  

RAYE shakes her head, and then looks at GENNOSUKE with a stern but sad  
expression.

                                     RAYE
                    No.  We don't judge people for the
                    things that they *are*, only for the
                    things that they've *done*.  BEAT
                    And nothing you've done so far calls
                    for the death penalty, girl. BEAT
                    Not even the utterly *stupid* act of
                    using the Dark Crystal!  

GENNOSUKE flinches.

                                     RAYE
                    Didn't you realize that it wouldn't
                    call your mother back?  Just a demon
                    to wear her form?

                                     RANMA
                    STARTLED Hold it!  That's not
                    really Ucchan?

                                     RAYE
                    It is and it isn't.  BEAT  Amy's
                    *so* much better at this sort of
                    thing ... it's a demon that borrows
                    a bit of your Ukyou's spirit, and
                    uses that to shape its form based on
                    the memories and expectations --
                    both conscious and otherwise -- that
                    you had of her.  In a sense, it acts
                    according to your conceptions of
                    what Ukyou was like.  

RANMA blinks, and then looks at GENNOSUKE ... who does her best to avoid  
meeting his gaze.

                                     RANMA
                    But then ...

                                     RAYE
                    What?

                                     RANMA
                    SHAKES HEAD Nothing.  BEAT So
                    what do we do now?

                                     RAYE
                    We wait.  And we pray that Shampoo
                    lives up to her reputation.

                                     RANMA
                    Shouldn't we --

                                     RAYE
                    No.  That's the other side of this
                    sort of demon.  It ... reflects the
                    powers of whoever fights it.  BEAT
                    No, reflect isn't the right word.
                    More like imitates.  Once something
                    has been used against it --

                                     RANMA
                    So it's got all Shampoo's techniques
                    now?

                                     RAYE
                    All that she's used.  But if you or
                    I were to go in there, its powers
                    would increase to include ours.
                    BEAT I think that would fit the
                    definition of "bad", right?  

RANMA nods, but he's clearly not happy.

                                     RANMA
                    I hate waiting.

                                     RAYE
                    INTONED Patience, grasshopper.

                                     RANMA
                    GLARES You've been waiting nine
                    hundred years for an excuse to use
                    that line, haven't you?  

RAYE nods smugly.  

Cut to a shot of the Crystal Palace, just before dawn.  Cut to a large  
chamber inside the palace, with a couch and an entertainment system, along  
with table and chairs.  TENCHI, WASHUU, and TSUNAMI are seated on the  
couch, while RYOUKO is hovering beside the door leading outwards.  The  
door opens, and everyone looks up to see AYEKA leading a fatigued looking  
ENDYMION in to the room.  TENCHI gets up to greet him.

                                   ENDYMION
                    Your Imperial Majesty.

                                    TENCHI
                    Your Highness.  BEAT  It's true,
                    then?

                                   ENDYMION
                    NODS She was abducted a few
                    minutes before midnight.

                                    RYOUKO
                    How'd this happen?

                                   ENDYMION
                    Apparently, the kidnapper
                    threatened to detonate a small
                    nuclear weapon if Serenity didn't
                    go --

                                    RYOUKO
                    Wait a minute.  How'd he even get
                    *in* through the security around
                    this place?

                                    ENDYMION
                    Ms. Fujiko is generally acknowledged
                    as the second greatest thief who's
                    ever lived.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Huh.  Well, that's different.

                                    TENCHI
                    In any event, if there's any way
                    that we can be of assistance in
                    this matter --

                                   ENDYMION
                    NODS There is.  Approximately
                    twenty-four hours ago, Lady Mars
                    was given the assignment of
                    pursuing a criminal to Mars.

                                    TENCHI
                    I'm aware of that.

                                   ENDYMION
                    There hasn't been any word from her
                    since her arrival, about eight hours
                    ago.  BEAT  In the event of the
                    Queen's incapacitation, control of
                    the Realm's forces descends to Lady
                    Jupiter -- who is, unfortunately, on
                    a temporary suspension -- and then
                    to Lady Mars.

                                     AYEKA
                    Out of curiosity, Prince Endymion,
                    where are *you* in the chain of
                    command?

                                   ENDYMION
                    SHAKES HEAD I'm not.  BEAT  I
                    have absolutely no authority
                    whatsoever, Lady Ayeka.  That's the
                    way I wanted it when we made plans
                    for our system.

                                     AYEKA
                    Why?

                                   ENDYMION
                    When Darien and Serena were younger,
                    he was always the one who arrived at
                    the last moment to give her victory.
                    BEAT  It made him feel needed, but
                    it caused problems in their home
                    life ... because he didn't realize
                    that she *allowed* him to be her
                    savior of the last moment; that she
                    was quite capable of dispatching the
                    monsters without being told, "Now,
                    Sailor Moon!"  BEAT  Did you know
                    that they almost broke up, less than
                    a year after their marriage, because
                    of that?  Fortunately ...  

ENDYMION pauses, then smiles sadly, with remembered warmth.

                                   ENDYMION
                    Fortunately, a couple, older and
                    *somewhat* wiser than they, helped
                    them back together.  It took time
                    and counseling, but gradually he
                    came to accept that Serena loved him
                    even though she didn't *need* him.
                    BEAT In any event, when we began
                    to make plans for the division of
                    power in Crystal Tokyo, I made very
                    certain that I was given no special
                    office, so that my ego wouldn't
                    become fixated on the idea that
                    Serenity *needed* me to do this
                    task or that job.  Because she
                    doesn't -- I am quite convinced that
                    the only reason she doesn't run the
                    whole show by herself is that she
                    wants to give her Senshi something
                    to do.  As for myself, I have only
                    one duty -- love her.  Just love
                    her.  That's all.  

There is a long silence in the room.  TENCHI almost, but not quite, looks  
over his shoulder at his wives.

                                    TENCHI
                    I see.  Yes, I can definitely see
                    your point.

                                   ENDYMION
                    WRY SMILE I thought you might.
                    BEAT In any event, I'm not in
                    the chain of command ... however,
                    with Mars gone, Jupiter on her
                    suspension, and Venus ... absent,
                    command over our forces descends
                    to Mercury, and she's never been
                    comfortable taking command of
                    anything.  BEAT  What I came to
                    ask was whether or not you would
                    be willing to use the starship
                    you brought here to travel to
                    Mars and assist Lady Mars in
                    returning home, swifter than we
                    can?  TENCHI winces.

                                    TENCHI
                    Unfortunately, as a gesture of
                    good faith when the call for the
                    referendum came, we had the
                    Throneship power down and land in
                    Alaska.  It'll take several hours
                    to get it space ready, and you
                    could have a regular ship on Mars
                    by then.  

TSUNAMI and WASHUU exchange a look, as do AYEKA and RYOUKO.  Neither  
TENCHI nor ENDYMION notice.

                                    TENCHI
                    I'm sorry, your Highness ... if we
                    had another ship, I would be glad to
                    personally --

                                    TSUNAMI
                    Excuse me.  

TENCHI turns to look at TSUNAMI, who is looking down and rotating her  
index fingers around a central point.

                                    TENCHI
                    Yes, Tsunami?

                                    TSUNAMI
                    Ummmmm.  There ... well ...

                                    TENCHI
                    Tsunami?  

TSUNAMI looks up, turns to look at WASHUU ... who is also looking down and  
rotating her fingers.

                                    WASHUU
                    We ... sort of ...

                                    TSUNAMI
                    There *IS* another ship available.

                                    TENCHI
                    BLINKS There is?

                                    TSUNAMI
                    NODS Us.

                                    TENCHI
                    Tsunami, I appreciate the offer,
                    but aren't You currently holding
                    orbit near Pluto?  It would --

                                    TSUNAMI
                    No, We're not.  

There is a long silence.

                                    TENCHI
                    VERY CALM Where are You?

                                    TSUNAMI
                    We are currently maintaining
                    geosynchronous orbit over Hokkaido,
                    cloaked and generating a Minovski
                    field to prevent the rather large
                    fleet assembling over Crystal Tokyo
                    from detecting Us.  There have been
                    several incidents of near collisions
                    between Us and Space Force vessels,
                    but they have as yet not discovered
                    Our presence.

                                    TENCHI
                    DEEP BREATH *Why* are you orbiting
                    Earth?

                                    TSUNAMI
                    We decided to ensure that you would
                    have a means of leaving the planet
                    swiftly in the event that the vote
                    turned against the Jurai-Earth
                    alliance, and hostility broke out.

                                    TENCHI
                    *You* decided this by *Yourselves*?

                                    TSUNAMI
                    No.  BEAT  It was suggested to Us.  

TENCHI slowly turns to look at WASHUU, who is still rotating her fingers.   
Her rotation slows down, and finally stops, just as she looks up with an  
embarrassed expression.

                                    WASHUU
                    Oops.

                                    TENCHI
                    RUBBING HEAD Please explain ...

                                    WASHUU
                    I knew that you'd do something like
                    make that good faith gesture, so I
                    decided to make sure that your
                    gesture didn't backfire on --

                                    TENCHI
                    SNAPS Washuu, you DO understand
                    the concept of a "gesture of good
                    faith", right?  I had the Throneship
                    grounded because it's the second
                    most powerful starship in known
                    space, and I didn't want the Terrans
                    to have to make their choice with it
                    hovering over their heads.  And now,
                    I find out that *the* most powerful
                    starship has been ... BEAT  How
                    could you *do* something so --

                                    WASHUU
                    Stupid?  BEAT  I was blinded by
                    love.  It's happened before, and it
                    will probably happen again.  That's
                    life.  

TENCHI stares at her for a few seconds, before he turns away, rubbing the  
side of his head.

                                    TENCHI
                    I cannot afford to get angry right
                    now, because if I get as angry as I
                    want to be over this, I won't be
                    able to think clearly, and I need to
                    be able to think clearly.  BEAT
                    But when this is over ...  

WASHUU sighs, and nods once.

                                    TENCHI
                    Tsunami, are You ready to set course
                    for Mars?  

TSUNAMI's eyes are distant.

                                    TSUNAMI
                    There is a problem.

                                    TENCHI
                    What's the matter?

                                    TSUNAMI
                    We have just become aware that the
                    fleet is using gravitic distortion
                    sensors.  If We change Our orbit,
                    they will certainly become aware of
                    Our presence.

                                    TENCHI
                    In other words, you're stuck where
                    you are.

                                    TSUNAMI
                    No, those are very good words --

                                    TENCHI
                    *Great.*   Please keep up your
                    cloak, and do whatever you can to
                    minimize the chances of discovery.
                    Prince Endymion, I apologize for
                    these developments, but I hope that
                    you will --

                                   ENDYMION
                    I realize that your wives were only
                    acting to protect what they saw as
                    your best interests, Your Majesty.
                    You have my assurances that I won't
                    reveal a word of this, except to my
                    wife, if she asks.

                                     TENCHI
                    Thank you.  I'm sorry that you got
                    dragged into our little domestic
                    dispute when you came asking for
                    help, and that we couldn't give --

                                     AYEKA
                    Wait, what about Ryo-oh-ki?  

TENCHI slowly turns to look at her.

                                    TENCHI
                    Ayeka, did you know about this too?  

AYEKA lowers her head and begins to rotate her index fingers around a  
central point.

                                    TENCHI
                    SIGH Is there some sign on my back
                    that says, "Don't tell me about it"?
                    BEAT Where is Ryo-oh-ki?

                                    TSUNAMI
                    We had her wait for Us on the far
                    side of the Moon.  Presumably, she's
                    still there, probably poking around
                    the craters.

                                    TENCHI
                    All right.  Ryouko, if you could go
                    up to Ryo-oh-ki and head over to
                    Mars --

                                    RYOUKO
                    Yeah ... that'd work.  It'll take a
                    few hours, plus however long it
                    takes to get authorization.  

AYEKA touches her hairpiece.

                                     AYEKA
                    Embassy, please file a flight plan
                    for a Moon-bound vessel.  Size:
                    humanoid.  Classification ... BEAT
                    occasionally non-belligerent.  

RYOUKO gives AYEKA the hairy eyeball.

                                     AYEKA
                    Full diplomatic authorizations, of
                    course.  PAUSE, LISTENS  Good.
                    TO RYOUKO  They want you to
                    avoid the fleet build up over
                    Crystal Tokyo, but you're cleared
                    for immediate departure.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Right, thanks.  BEAT  Full
                    diplomatic authorization, huh?
                    SMILES WICKEDLY

                                     AYEKA
                    WEARY Please *try* to avoid
                    embarrassing Jurai ...  

RYOUKO is obviously ignoring her, as she walks over to stand before  
TENCHI.  She peers over his shoulder at WASHUU, who has a downcast  
expression.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Hey, "Mom"?  Could you turn around
                    for a second?

                                    WASHUU
                    SIGH Daughter, I've told you that
                    I don't mind you expressing your
                    feelings for Tenchi several times.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Great.  I *do* mind you *watching*
                    me when I do.  Turn around.  

WASHUU rolls her eyes, and turns her back on them.  RYOUKO slowly presses  
her lips to TENCHI's, then pulls back, smiling gently.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Just in case ...  

She turns to walk out the door, and notices that AYEKA is staring at her  
with mixed disapproval and envy on her face.

                                    RYOUKO
                    You owe me that one, after a certain
                    ... conversation.  BEAT  Or lack
                    thereof.  

AYEKA blushes beet red for a moment.  RYOUKO heads out the door, pausing  
to wave as she exits.  TENCHI stares at AYEKA for a moment, then smiles  
suddenly.  

Cut to Earth orbit.  Several large spaceships are maintaining their  
positions over a cluster of lights on the planet that resembles the  
pentagram of Crystal Tokyo.  In between the ships, Mobile Suits -- large,  
humanoid mecha of various designs -- dart swiftly about, or hold positions  
of their own.  Our view closes on a single stationary Mobile Suit.  It is  
noteworthy not for its armament (a large rifle in its right hand and a  
large shield mounted on its left arm) but for its exclusively gray color  
and for a large red gem mounted in the center of the torso.  (For those  
curious and knowledgeable, aside from its coloration and accessory, this  
mecha resembles the Mark II Gundam almost exactly).  Inside the cockpit,  
the pilot -- a young seeming female whose turquoise hair extends out of 
her helmet -- is looking rather bored.  Suddenly, one of the sensors in  
the cockpit begins to beep, and the pilot looks up at her main screen ... 
and her jaw drops, for it is showing RYOUKO, standing placidly in the void 
of space, apparently examining the Mobile Suit.  Finally, RYOUKO mouths  
the word "cute", and zooms upwards off the screen.

                                    NAGISA
                    BLINKS I didn't see that ...  

Cut to Mars.  RAYE and RANMA are still standing on the ledge with their  
backs to the wall, listening to the sounds of the fight.  GENNOSUKE is now  
standing, although she still looks beaten up.

                                     RANMA
                    It's been about an hour, hasn't it?

                                     RAYE
                    About that long, maybe longer. BEAT
                    What's with the face, Saotome?  You
                    almost look upset at the thought of
                    Shampoo fighting an opponent that
                    can match anything she can try.

                                     RANMA
                    Hey!  I don't like her, but I don't
                    wanna see her --

                                     RAYE
                    Could've fooled me.

                                     RANMA
                    STUNG Looks like I did.  BEAT  I
                    want her to live, and suffer.  

RAYE reacts as though she's been slapped.

                                     RAYE
                    ANGRY Of *course* she's suffering,
                    she's in love with *you*.

                                     RANMA
                    Oh yeah?

                                     RAYE
                    Yeah!  And every woman who's loved
                    you has suffered in one way or
                    another!  

RANMA clenches a fist, and his battle aura starts to glow.  RAYE's eyes  
narrow.  GENNOSUKE looks nervously at them.

                                     RAYE
                    That's why we're all *here*, isn't
                    it?

                                   GENNOSUKE
                    Uh ... father?

                                     RANMA
                    Oh yeah?  Well I've heard a few
                    things about your love life, too,
                    *Lady*!

                                     RAYE
                    What --

                                     RANMA
                    You think stories don't get told
                    about poor Lady Mars and her tragic
                    doomed love for her Queen?

                                     RAYE
                    Don't you *dare* drag her into this.

                                   GENNOSUKE
                    Excuse me ...

                                     RANMA
                    Oh, I've heard 'em all.  "Waah, I
                    love her but we've never done
                    anything --" SNORT "-- and now
                    I'm going to lose her forever."
                    But you never do, do ya?  You talk
                    about losing your loves -- Lady,
                    as far as I'm concerned, you've
                    never known *any* real loss.

                                     RAYE
                    You *bastard*.

                                   GENNOSUKE
                    Hey!

                              RANMA & RAYE (sim)
                    FURIOUS WHAT?!

                                   GENNOSUKE
                    Listen to the fight.  

They pause, and realize that there is no noise coming from the fight.   
There is a brief role of thunder.  RAYE scrambles up the wall, followed a  
second later.  GENNOSUKE watches them go ... and starts to inch away.   
RAYE and RANMA peer over the edge, and see that UKYOU -- who is now  
radiating Dark Power -- is holding SHAMPOO a foot off the ground, with her  
left hand tightly grasping her throat, while ramming the handle of her  
battle spatula into her lower chest, causing her to jerk in pain.  RANMA  
looks like he's about to call out, but RAYE violently gestures for him to  
keep quiet.  UKYOU laughs shortly, and tosses SHAMPOO aside.  SHAMPOO  
starts to pull herself to her feet, coughing up blood.

                                     UKYOU
                    You really are too dumb to quit,
                    aren't you, bitch?  

SHAMPOO is on her feet, but unsteady.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    When I'm fighting ... for something
                    as important as this ... I guess I
                    am ...

                                     UKYOU
                    As important as *what*?  Even if you
                    defeat me, it won't prove anything.
                    Ranchan will still hate you like
                    poison.  You're *never* going to win
                    his heart.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    I know ...

                                     UKYOU
                    Then you really are an idiot to keep
                    fighting like this.  Just lie down
                    and die, like a good little moron.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    So a monster like you can go on?
                    Never.

                                     UKYOU
                    SNORTS So now, after plotting and
                    scheming and the occasional indirect
                    murder, you hope to redeem your soul
                    by battling demons?  

In a flash, she is standing in front of SHAMPOO, and with a swing of her  
spat, knocks her face first into the crevice wall.

                                     UKYOU
                    It makes no difference.  Your soul
                    is black like the night, and you're
                    going straight to Hell when you
                    die.  THERE IS NO HOPE.  

SHAMPOO is still against the wall for a long moment.

                                    SHAMPOO 
                   MUFFLED No hope?

                                     UKYOU
                    None.  

SHAMPOO slowly pushes herself out of the small impression that she's made  
in the crevice wall, and stands very still, her head bowed, and her back  
to our view.  Slowly she lifts her head.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Then there's no point in holding
                    back, is there?  

UKYOU is startled, but before she can react, SHAMPOO spins around.  Her  
eyes have become catslits, and she opens her mouth to reveal several  
broken teeth -- and to let out a low, cat-like growl.  Holding her hands  
over her face, her fingernails grow over an inch in length, becoming long  
claws.  Her face a picture of savagery, she leaps towards UKYOU, roaring  
like a lioness.  We cut to the horrified faces of RANMA and RAYE as the  
sounds of violence begin again -- including the sound of tearing flesh.

                                     RANMA
                    The Neko-Ken?!

                                     RAYE
                    This is bad.

                                     RANMA
                    Where the hell did she learn the
                    Cat-Fist?

                                     RAYE
                    Saotome, now is not the time.  This
                    is *very* bad.

                                     RANMA
                    What's so bad about it?  She's
                    killing the demon, right?

                                     RAYE 
                    Gods, it's a miracle you survived a
                    century.  When she destroys the
                    demon's physical form, its essence
                    will naturally seek a new vessel.
                    And demons --

                                     RANMA
                    -- have a preference for vessels
                    which already aren't in control of
                    themselves.  BEAT  Like she's not.
                    BEAT  This is bad.  What do we do?

                                     RAYE
                    There's not a hell of a lot that we
                    *can* do, unless you'd care to try
                    and coax her out of the Cat-Fist,
                    which will allow the demon to
                    regenerate and kill us all.

                                     RANMA
                    Which it's going to do anyway if it
                    takes hold of Shampoo in Cat Fist
                    mode.  The only thing that would
                    stop it would be *me* in that state,
                    and I still can't turn that on and
                    off at will ...  

RAYE closes her eyes, and concentrates for a second.

                                     RAYE
                    There might be one way.

                                     RANMA
                    What is it?

                                     RAYE
                    In the first few seconds of the
                    demonic possession, its binding is
                    usually fairly loose.  If I could
                    do a sufficiently powerful exorcism
                    on it --

                                     RANMA
                    It'd go back where it came from?  

RAYE opens her eyes, and they're troubled.

                                     RAYE
                    Maybe even destroy it utterly.
                    BEAT There's just one problem.  By
                    myself, I don't have enough power to
                    do the job.

                                     RANMA
                    Then why the hell'd you bring it --

                                     RAYE
                    Emphasis on "by myself", Saotome.
                    BEAT I'd need one of the other
                    Senshi ... or someone of comparable
                    power.  BEAT  I'd need your fire.  

RANMA stares at her silently for a moment.

                                     RANMA
                    You'll need to do a link?

                                     RAYE
                    Yes.  BEAT  A deep link.  We would
                    ... know each other as well as we
                    know ourselves.

                                     RANMA
                    NODS Right.  Do it.  

He closes his eyes.  RAYE stares at him with her misgivings written all  
over her face, then slowly reaches out to press her finger tips to his  
forehead.  

Cut to black.  

RANMA floats in the blackness.  Suddenly, a speck of light appears in the  
distance, and rapidly expands to fill everything with the image of the  
Temple that RAYE grew up in.  RANMA is suddenly in black and white,  
contrasting with the vivid colours of the image.  He hears voices, but  
can't make out what they're saying.  He turns to see a tall man in a  
three-piece suit and black sunglasses speaking to a much smaller, wrinkled  
man in the robes of a Shinto priest (RAYE'S GRANDFATHER).  Finally, the  
tall man nods, and turns to walk away.  Suddenly, there is the sound of  
slapping sandals, as a much younger RAYE (perhaps five or six) comes  
running up, her mouth forming the word "Daddy" over and over again.   
RAYE'S GRANDFATHER catches her, and holds her back, but she keeps calling  
for her Daddy ... who never looks back as he walks out of her life.  

RAYE floats in the blackness.  Suddenly, a speck of light appears in the  
distance, and rapidly expands to fill everything with the image of a bit  
of Japanese countryside.  RAYE is suddenly in black and white, contrasting  
with the vivid colours of the image.  She hears something, and turns to  
look at a rather large man (GENMA) running and pulling a cart, on top of  
which a much younger RANMA (six years old) is sitting and waving at a much  
younger UKYOU (ditto), who is running some distance behind them, waving  
her arms and shouting.  Quite suddenly, RAYE is seated beside young RANMA,  
and sees, in his eye, a small tear start to trickle down.  He quickly  
wipes it away, and looks angry at himself for losing even that much  
self-control.  

The area around RANMA blurs, and he sees RAYE (now fourteen), sweeping the  
grounds of the temple.  Quite suddenly, another girl (SERENA) comes  
running up to her and starts babbling.  RAYE is startled by this.  Then  
SERENA says something that rubs RAYE the wrong way, and she starts  
shouting at her.  A strange, rapid thumping noise can be heard, but RANMA  
can't seem to identify the source.  SERENA starts to back away, but then  
she says something that comes through loud and clear.

                                    SERENA
                    I want to be your friend.  

She then heads away, followed by a black cat which casts a look back at  
RAYE.  RAYE stares, confused, and then notices something on the ground ...  
a pen.  As she picks it up, the thumping noise slows down.  

The area around RAYE blurs, depositing her in a room in the Tendou home,  
and she sees RANMA, in her female form, seated beside the prone form of  
TENDOU SOUUN, in between NABIKI and AKANE -- and RAYE reacts oddly to the  
sight of AKANE with long hair, touching her own hair.  KASUMI kneeling at 
her father's head, says something that can't be made out.  NABIKI reacts 
to this, yelling at her father.  Her father's response provokes her to 
start prodding at RANMA's breasts -- which causes RANMA's face to flush 
in embarrassment and humiliation.  RANMA turns to look at AKANE in 
response to something that she said, and sees that she's smiling at her.

                                     AKANE
                    I'm Akane.  Want to be friends?  

RANMA smiles, hesitantly, and there's a faint look of panic in her eyes.  

The area around RANMA twists, and he finds himself in a ruined city  
district, and he can hear the sounds of battle all around him.  RANMA  
looks up, just as the body of a young woman with short-cropped blonde hair  
in a blue and yellow sailor fuku comes flying through his insubstantial  
form.  RANMA turns to look at her with a horrified expression, and sees  
that she is quite definitely dead -- her upper chest is basically gone.   
RANMA looks away, and sees, in the distance, Sailor Moon with a trident  
sticking in her stomach.  Sailor Mars is crawling towards her ... but Moon  
expires before she can touch her hand.  For a moment, everything is  
still.  Then Sailor Moon's body begins to swell, expanding as though some  
gas were filling it -- and then it explodes, leaving only tattered rags of  
flesh behind, as SERENITY is unleashed.  Mars and RANMA stare at this with  
mixed horror and wonder.  

The area around RAYE twists, and she finds herself in what looks like a  
deserted airport terminal.  RANMA walks irritatedly towards a row of  
phones, picks one up, and talks into it.  He stares at it for a moment  
with a confused expression, and then his face goes white with sudden  
panic.  He turns to look out the large picture window at a spaceplane on  
the other side ... just as it explodes in a huge fireball that shatters  
the window and roars towards him.  As the blast front reaches him,  
knocking him back, there is only time for him to say one word.

                                     RANMA
                    Akane --  

Then he is knocked through a wall, and fire encompasses everything.  RAYE  
floats in the fire, with a horrified expression.  

The area around RANMA twists, and he watches as Mars, still wearing her  
tattered fuku, stumbles into her home, looks up, and sees that a large  
crystal in the center of the living room has shattered.  She sighs with  
relief ... and then she sees the tattered rags of flesh across the  
crystal's wreckage, and turns to see ENDYMION standing near the window.   
He turns to look at her with a smile on his face.  Mars' eyes roll up into  
her skull, and she faints.  

The area around RAYE twists, and she finds herself watching RANMA erect  
the stone structure that will serve as UKYOU's tomb, and realizes that  
he's crying.  

Dozens of other moments of loss and pain for both of them flash across the  
screen ... but mixed in with them are a small handful of moments of joy  
and perfect beauty.  Finally, the two of them stand before each other, all  
illusion stripped, and reach towards one another, slowly merging into a  
single being.  

RAYE's eyes jerk open, as do RANMA's.  Silently, without an expression on  
her face, RAYE produces an ofuda, which she holds before her face,  
charging it with her fire, making it stand upright.  Equally  
expressionless, RANMA reaches out to grasp the top of the ofuda,  
transferring his battle aura to it ... making the flames burn even more  
intensely.  RAYE nods, rises, and looks down on the chasm.  SHAMPOO is  
standing over the remains of UKYOU, and clearly fighting an inner  
struggle, which can be seen on her face.  She looks up, and sees RAYE  
standing there, holding the blazing ofuda, and lets out a hideous, demonic  
howl.

                                     RAYE
                    AKURYOU!  TAISAN!   

She throws the ofuda at her.  It slams into her forehead, and explodes in  
flames, knocking SHAMPOO back, but holding *something* -- some twisted,  
horned creature -- in its place.  The creature writhes, shrieks, and  
ultimately disintegrates ... and the human remains do so as well.  RAYE  
closes her eyes, and lets out a sigh of relief.

                                 UKYOU (O.S.)
                    Excuse me, what's going on here?  

RAYE opens her eyes in disbelief, and stares down at the chasm floor.   
UKYOU, dressed in bleached white versions of her usual outfit, is standing  
where the creature was standing, looking around confusedly.

                                SHAMPOO (O.S.)
                    HOARSE Your basic battle against
                    the forces of darkness -- namely
                    you.  

UKYOU turns in the direction of SHAMPOO's voice, and lets out a startled  
gasp.

                                     UKYOU
                    Shampoo?  Damn, what happened to
                    you?  

SHAMPOO slowly pulls herself to her feet ... and we see that her left arm  
seems to be broken, that she's bleeding from wounds all over her body ...  
and that her face is covered with wrinkles, and her hair has gone white.   
She looks like a woman in her mid-seventies.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Fortunes of war.  BEAT Go back to
                    whatever hell you came from, Kuonji
                    Ukyou.

                                     UKYOU
                    What?!  What would I be doing in
                    hell?  BEAT  The last thing I
                    remember is fighting Cologne --

                                    SHAMPOO
                    What would you be doing in hell?
                    Isn't that where murderers go?

                                     UKYOU
                    I guess.  But ... who'd I kill?

                                    SHAMPOO
                    BEAT You had Akane killed!  You
                    admitted it --

                                     UKYOU
                    Oh, that.  SHRUG  I lied.  

There is a long silence.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    You what?

                                     UKYOU
                    I realized that you were upset that
                    you thought I'd gotten to her before
                    you could, so I decided to mess with
                    your mind.  It was pretty easy,
                    actually.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    But -- but -- you went after Cologne
                    when you found out that she --

                                     UKYOU
                    Was that what that was about?  Damn,
                    I thought she'd found out that I'd
                    joined Free Mars.  

SHAMPOO's face is wide with horror.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Then -- you -- didn't --

                                     UKYOU
                    Of course not.  I thought *you* did,
                    until you came in accusing me.
                    BEAT  I guess we'll never know ...
                    oh, well, no great loss, anyway.
                    BEAT  Wait a minute, what *did*
                    happen at the end of my fight with
                    Cologne?  I can't --  

Above, RAYE, who looks almost ill, turns to look at RANMA, who is sitting  
and looking away from this spectacle.

                                     RAYE
                    Saotome.  She doesn't realize that
                    she's dead.  BEAT  You're going to
                    have to tell her.

                                     RANMA
                    You do it.

                                     RAYE
                    It has to be someone she'll believe.  

RANMA slowly gets up, and turns to look down at UKYOU, who is talking to  
herself, trying to remember what happened.

                                     RANMA
                    Ukyou.  

UKYOU looks up startled, and a huge grin blossoms on her face.

                                     UKYOU
                    BUBBLY RANCHAN!  I knew it, I knew
                    you weren't dead!  I knew that you
                    didn't die in that stupid tournament
                    on Earth, I knew it!

                                     RANMA
                    U-- BEAT Ukyou.

                                     UKYOU
                    I knew all along that you'd come
                    back to me and to your daughter --

                                     RANMA
                    Ucchan.  BEAT  Goodbye.

                                     UKYOU
                    Goodbye?  W-where are you going?

                                     RANMA
                    Nowhere.  But you're dead, Ucchan.

                                     UKYOU
                    I'm dead?  

RANMA nods.  UKYOU experimentally passes one of her hands through her arm.

                                     UKYOU
                    Damn.  

UKYOU's ghost-body disintegrates instantly.  SHAMPOO slowly slumps to the  
ground with a devastated expression.  RAYE closes her eyes.

                                     RAYE
                    It's over.  

Cut to the base of the stone monument.  SHAMPOO is seated on a rock with  
her head in her hands and a blanket from the car wrapped around her. RANMA  
and RAYE meet a few yards behind her, coming from opposite directions.

                                     RAYE
                    I've searched everywhere.  Your
                    daughter got clean away.

                                     RANMA
                    I checked the tomb ... and Ukyou's
                    actual grave hasn't been entered.
                    BEAT So that body was a creation
                    of the Dark Crystal --

                                     RAYE
                    Wherever it is.  BEAT  Dammit.
                    If something went right on this
                    mission, now, I'd be so thrilled I
                    might just keel over.  

RAYE casts a look in SHAMPOO's direction.

                                     RAYE
                    I'm going to go get the car started.
                    With the disruption of the crystal
                    gone, it should work.  BEAT Do me
                    a favor and talk with her, Saotome.  

RAYE walks away.  RANMA turns to look at SHAMPOO, and slowly walks towards  
her, approaching her from the rear.  SHAMPOO doesn't look up.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    If you're going to kill me do it
                    quickly.  I deserve that much.  

RANMA just looks at her.  SHAMPOO lifts her head, resting her chin on her  
knuckles and staring off towards the horizon.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    She was right.  BEAT  Even after
                    all that I'd realized, I was still
                    jealous of Akane.  And it's quite
                    possible that if I'd been given a
                    chance to eliminate her so that no
                    one would know about it ... I'd have
                    taken it.  BEAT  Even though I'd
                    already given up on ever winning
                    your heart.

                                     RANMA
                    What?

                                    SHAMPOO
                    It's true.  When I learned that you
                    had no intention of ever allowing
                    yourself to be cured of your curse,
                    I immediately stopped thinking of
                    you like that.  BEAT  At most, I
                    wanted your friendship ...

                                     RANMA
                    Whoa.  Whoa whoa whoa.  What does my
                    curse have to do with anything?  

SHAMPOO turns to RANMA, and smiles a very sweet, sad smile.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Picture it.  Joketsuzoku, 1991.  A
                    young woman warrior seeks to prove
                    herself in her tribe's annual martial
                    arts competition, two years before
                    she is supposed to be allowed in.
                    Because of her family's prominence
                    -- and despite the fact that her
                    father is an outsider -- the Elders
                    permit it.  BEAT Her training and
                    natural talent carry her to victory
                    in every battle that she fights --
                    with one major exception.  The last
                    fight, in which she is tired from
                    her exertions, against a red-haired
                    warrior who has been adopted into
                    the tribe under the name of Du Sho.
                    Du Sho has been the village champion
                    for three years running.  The young
                    girl loses to the champion.  It is
                    sad, but even to have competed
                    against such a one is an honour.
                    BEAT However, the victor of the
                    final match is permitted to ask a
                    boon of the family of the woman she
                    has defeated.  BEAT  And Du Sho,
                    who is a woman of ... unusual
                    desires, wishes only one thing of
                    the vanquished warrior's family --
                    the young woman herself.  BEAT  As
                    a student, Du Sho says.  BEAT  To
                    preserve the family honor, the young
                    woman's grandmother acquiesces.

                                     RANMA
                    Shampoo ...

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Please do not interrupt.  BEAT
                    Every day, for a year, Du Sho trains
                    the young woman in the arts.  She
                    learns much.  BEAT  And every
                    night, for a year, Du Sho trains the
                    young woman in ... other things.
                    Horrible things.  Every night, when
                    it is done, Du Sho whispers in her
                    "pupil's" ear, "No man shall ever
                    love you."  BEAT  Perhaps Du Sho
                    means that no man shall ever love
                    her as much as Du Sho does, and
                    perhaps Du Sho believes that what
                    she feels for her pupil is love.
                    Perhaps.  BEAT  And then the year
                    has passed, and the time for the
                    martial arts competition comes
                    again.  Once more, the young woman
                    petitions to be allowed to compete,
                    and once again her petition is
                    accepted, and once again, she
                    overcomes all those who fight her.
                    BEAT And once again, she faces
                    Du Sho on the log.  And as she meets
                    her teacher in the first exchange of
                    blows, Du Sho whispers in the ear of
                    her pupil, "Another year, my sweet?"  

SHAMPOO is silent.  RANMA is staring at her in horror.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    The next thing that the young woman
                    remembers is looking at Du Sho's
                    body as it is taken away for burial.
                    BEAT It is a disgrace, of course.
                    The competition is meant to hone the
                    skills of the Joketsuzoku, not to
                    eliminate one who is one of their
                    finest fighters ... no matter how
                    unusual her tastes.  The young woman
                    warrior's "victory" is ruled invalid,
                    and the championship is given to the
                    fighter that she bested just before
                    the fatal match.  BEAT  It is a
                    disgrace, but it attracts the notice
                    of the young woman's great-grand-
                    mother ... who takes her under her
                    wing, so that next year, she can win
                    the championship.  BEAT Unhappily
                    for all, however ... but I think you
                    know the rest of the story, because
                    it is your own, as well.

                                     RANMA
                    I ... I didn't know.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Would you have believed me if I told
                    you, under any other circumstances,
                    Ranma?  BEAT  Would you have even
                    cared?

                                     RANMA
                    Yes!  My god, *nobody* deserves to
                    have that happen to them!

                                    SHAMPOO
                    Would it have made a difference?  

SHAMPOO slowly pulls herself to her feet, her joints creaking as she does  
so.  RANMA moves as if to aid her, but she wards him off.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    When I can no longer stand by myself
                    will be my time to fall.  BEAT And
                    I tell you the story now ... because
                    I want you to understand me, before
                    the end comes.

                                     RANMA
                    "The end"?  What're you talking
                    about?  You're gonna be okay --

                                    SHAMPOO
                    I have lost my sense of the Tao,
                    Saotome Ranma.  Soon, the old age
                    which has been denied shall come on
                    me with a vengeance.  In a few days,
                    I shall be as my great-grandmother
                    was.  And then an old friend will
                    come calling.

                                     RANMA
                    TRYING TO JOKE Mousse?

                                    SHAMPOO
                    No.  BEAT  All this is because I
                    have learned that I have harbored
                    for centuries a lie at my heart.
                    BEAT  Which leads me to my last
                    request of you, Saotome Ranma.  I
                    do not wish for you to suffer this
                    fate.  So I ask you this:  What, in
                    the fullness of time, has Hibiki
                    Ryouga truly done to you?  

Cut to RAYE driving the car up to the monument.  She sees RANMA standing  
alone beside the rock.  She stares for a moment, then steps out of the  
car.

                                     RAYE
                    Where is she?

                                     RANMA
                    She's gone.  She said to tell you
                    that she's resigning her commission,
                    effective immediately.

                                     RAYE
                    I see.  Well.  It's going to be hard
                    to return this car without the one
                    who rented it with us, isn't it?

                                     RANMA
                    Raye --

                                     RAYE
                    No!  You don't get to call me that!
                    BEAT  Stay the hell away from me,
                    Saotome.  Don't talk to me, don't
                    look at me, and don't even think
                    that you ...  

RAYE trails off as she notices a large shadow growing around them.  Both  
she and RANMA look up to see Ryo-oh-ki descending from the sky.  RYOUKO  
teleports a few feet above them.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Hello, you two.  How's tricks?

                                     RAYE
                    Ryouko?  What are *you* doing here?

                                    RYOUKO
                    Tenchi and Endymion asked me nicely
                    to come and pick you up from your
                    mission if you were done.  So here
                    I am.

                                     RAYE
                    SIGH Why'd they do that?

                                    RYOUKO
                    Little matter of your queen being
                    kidnapped.  

RAYE stares up at RYOUKO with a shocked and horrified expression.

                                     RAYE
                    That's not fucking *funny*, Demon.

                                    RYOUKO
                    SHRUGS Fine, don't believe me.

                                     RAYE
                    You're *serious*?!

                                    RYOUKO
                    Yep.

                                     RAYE
                    HOW DID -- BEAT No.  Just get me
                    to Earth as fast as you can.  

RYOUKO and RAYE exchange an EXTREMELY unfriendly glare.

                                    RYOUKO
                    All right ...  

She lands, and holds out her hands for RAYE and RANMA to take.  A few  
seconds pass.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Come on, I can't teleport you two
                    without some sort of contact.  

RAYE reluctantly takes RYOUKO's left hand, while RANMA (who seems even  
more reluctant) takes her right hand.  RYOUKO fixes him with a strange  
glare.

                                    RYOUKO
                    HEAVY SCORN You still haven't
                    gotten over that yet?

                                     RANMA
                    Never mind my problems ...  

RYOUKO shakes her head, and teleports.  

Cut to the control center of Ryo-oh-ki, as RYOUKO, RANMA, and RAYE  
materialize.  Ryo-oh-ki lets out a friendly "Myah!" which instantly sets  
RANMA on edge.  RYOUKO sits down in her chair, and braces herself.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Okay, I think I may have tripped a
                    few Martian defense systems in my
                    way in, so we don't have time to
                    be gentle getting out.  Ryo-oh-ki,
                    anything coming our way?  

One of the floating crystals (which is inconveniently located right over  
RANMA's shoulder) develops into a crystal version of RYO-OH-KI's "cabbit"  
face.

                                   RYO-OH-KI
                    NEGATIVE Myah.  

This spooks RANMA.

                                    RYOUKO
                    So far, so good.  Anyway, both of
                    you should get down, 'cause I'm not
                    gonna spare the thrusters getting
                    us out of here.  

RANMA immediately drops to the floor, and spreads out as much as  
possible.  RAYE does so as well, but less promptly.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Okay, let's take her up ...

                                   RYO-OH-KI
                    PANICKED Myah!  

RYOUKO jerks her head up to look at one of the screens, a radar display  
which shows several "bogies" approaching Ryo-oh-ki's position.

                                    RYOUKO
                    SHIT!  Ryo-oh-ki, PUNCH IT!  

From the outside, we see Ryo-oh-ki go from a full stop to about Mach 10 in  
the blink of an eye, easily evading the interceptor aircraft that have  
been sent after her.  We see SHAMPOO looking up at the retreating space  
craft from atop a hill.

                                    SHAMPOO
                    WHISPERED Bie liao, ai ren.  

Inside Ryo-oh-ki, inertial dampers take care of much of the stress of  
acceleration, but everyone is pressed flat against the floor, even the  
floating crystals and RYOUKO's chair.  Finally, after a few seconds of  
this, the thrusters level off, just as Ryo-oh-ki arrives in Martian  
orbit.  RAYE picks herself up off the floor.

                                     RAYE
                    Ryouko, how soon can we get there?

                                    RYOUKO
                    All things being equal, two hours.

                                     RAYE
                    Can you make it any faster?

                                    RYOUKO
                    Not without alerting every listener
                    from the Solar Confederation on
                    Mercury to the Brethren of Saint
                    Teilhard on Pluto that there's a
                    transwarp-capable ship insystem, and
                    that the Jurains are up to something
                    they probably shouldn't be, no.

                                     RAYE
                    A yes or a no *would* have satisfied
                    me, you know.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Well, you rarely get satisfaction,
                    do you?  

RAYE looks like she's about to spontaneously combust.  RYOUKO is amused.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Boy, no wonder you and Ayeka get
                    along so well ... you react *just*
                    the same ...  

RAYE smiles wintrily.

                                     RAYE
                    Strange, I hear that you and Ayeka
                    get along *much* better than she
                    and I do ...  

RYOUKO glares at her.

                                     RANMA
                    'Scuse me.  

RYOUKO and RAYE turn to look at him.  He is still lying on the floor, and  
RYO-OH-KI is buzzing around his head inquisitively.

                                     RANMA
                    Could you get this thing to leave
                    me alone?  

Cut to the Temple of Serenity, which resembles the Parthenon of Greece -- 
it is a large white building on a hill with lots of columns.  Currently 
it is surrounded on all sides by several dozen Patrol Labors, a few tanks, 
and an extensive fleet of hovercars.  Nearby is a huge tank-like mecha. 
There is an air of barely held-in panic.  

Cut to a corridor inside the temple.  KEI and YURI walk briskly down the  
corridor.

                                     YURI
                    What'd they say that this place was
                    again?

                                      KEI
                    Some temple of some weird religion.
                    They cleared it out last night, just
                    before they made the snatch.

                                     YURI
                    So are we gonna go through with this
                    thing?

                                      KEI
                    I dunno, Yuri, I really ... let's go
                    along with it until we get a clearer
                    idea of what's *really* going on
                    here.

                                     YURI
                    And then?

                                      KEI
                    We punt.  

They arrive at a door, and open it.  Inside is FUJIKO, still holding onto  
her thermal detonator and standing beside SERENITY, who is seated in a  
chair, her hands in her lap.  The room is otherwise undecorated.

                                    FUJIKO
                    Well it's about time.  Where's the
                    Chief?

                                     YURI
                    You mean Mr. --

                                    FUJIKO
                    No names.

                                      KEI
                    I dunno, it was Sm-- uh, his aide
                    who had us transported over here.
                    BEAT  Lot of spectators, aren't
                    there?

                                    FUJIKO
                    Dammit, I want to get this thing
                    disarmed ...  

YURI starts towards her.

                                     YURI
                    I know a bit about explosives, let
                    me --  

FUJIKO steps back quickly.

                                    FUJIKO
                    No, thanks all the same, but I'd
                    really rather not be -- uh, I mean,
                    only the Chief can disarm it, it's
                    based on his fingerprints.  

YURI isn't fooled for an instant, and her expression shows it.

                                     YURI
                    Ah.  That would make it difficult
                    to disarm, wouldn't it.  

KEI is staring at SERENITY, who turns to gaze back at her unblinkingly.

                                      KEI
                    So you're Queen Serenity, huh?  

SERENITY bows her head in acknowledgment.

                                      KEI
                    I'm Kei, she's Yuri.  We're 3WA
                    Trouble Consultant Team --

                                   SERENITY
                    The Lovely Angels.  BEAT  We are
                    aware of your reputation, although
                    we believed that you had lost your
                    lives some centuries ago.

                                      KEI
                    Well, rumors of our deaths were
                    greatly exaggerated.  BEAT Anyway,
                    we're going to escort you to your
                    trial.

                                   SERENITY
                    Our trial?

                                      KEI
                    Yeah, your trial.

                                   SERENITY
                    For crimes against humanity?

                                      KEI
                    Uh ...

                                   SERENITY
                    And where will this alleged trial
                    transpire?

                                      KEI
                    Well ...

                                    FUJIKO
                    Hey!  You don't need to know any of
                    that!  TO KEI  And you shouldn't
                    talk to the prisoner!

                                      KEI
                    Hey, I know my job, okay?  

FUJIKO snorts and rolls her eyes.  KEI and YURI glower at her, and then  
stop quickly as they realize that SERENITY is watching everything that  
they do with a patient expression.

                                   SERENITY 
                    Well, in any event, we are glad that
                    our captors are concerned with true
                    justice, and that they have provided
                    us with such very capable bodyguards
                    as yourselves.  SMILES  

KEI and YURI stare at SERENITY for a moment.

                                      KEI
                    Yuri, may I have a word with you
                    outside?

                                     YURI
                    Sure.  

They file out of the room, under FUJIKO's suspicious look.  Outside, KEI  
turns to look at YURI.  They both speak in a rushed tone of voice.

                                      KEI
                    She's not scared of us.

                                     YURI
                    Maybe she doesn't know who we are,
                    really.

                                      KEI
                    She knows.  She knows and it doesn't
                    faze her.

                                     YURI
                    Okay ... so she's nuts.  I mean,
                    that royal we thing that she's got
                    going, can you *get* any more
                    megalomaniac than that?

                                      KEI
                    She doesn't sound like a nutcase
                    megalomaniac and you know it.

                                     YURI
                    Okay, what does she sound like?

                                      KEI
                    I don't know what she sounds like,
                    but she sounds nothing like any of
                    the power freaks that we've ever
                    run up against.

                                     YURI
                    Then what is she?

                                 CHIEF (O.S.)
                    Convinced of the rightness of her
                    position, of course, as are all
                    dictators of the human spirit.  

KEI and YURI turn to see the CHIEF approaching, wearing white robes and a  
headband with a moon insignia.  For a moment, they are baffled by his  
apparel ... and then they start giggling.  The CHIEF is unamused.

                                     YURI
                    What (hee hee!) is with *that* (ho
                    ho ho!) get up, Deacon?

                                     CHIEF
                    As part of our seizure of the temple
                    earlier this morning, I was forced
                    to take on the guise of one of the
                    priests, and I have not had the
                    opportunity to change yet.

                                      KEI
                    AMUSED Whatever ... anyway, you'd
                    better defuse that circuit on the
                    thermal detonator that --

                                     CHIEF
                    What circuit?  

KEI and YURI exchange a disgusted, *weary* glance.

                                     CHIEF
                    What are you talking about?

                                      KEI
                    It's not important ... anyway, when
                    do we smuggle Serenity out of here
                    to the moon shuttle, or whatever
                    you've got worked out to fly her to
                    the moon?

                                     CHIEF
                    SMILES We don't.  

Cut to the huge tank-like mecha -- the Mobile Armored Command Center --  
which has a set of stairs leading up to a door in the side (about where  
the second floor would be on a building).  SHEILA's car arrives some  
distance from the MACC, and she and PRISS step out and head for the  
stairs.  Midway up, PRISS turns to look around at the assembled labors,  
and sees something off to one side that gives her pause.

                                     PRISS
                    Huh ... hey!  

SHEILA looks down.

                                    SHEILA
                    What?  

PRISS gestures towards something offscreen.

                                     PRISS
                    What's that?  

SHEILA looks where PRISS gesture.  We see a small, unremarkable looking  
building not too far from the temple, with a sign out in front advertising  
the "Museum of the Knight Sabres".

                                    SHEILA
                    Nobody told you about that?  I
                    thought Raye might have ... it's
                    really just a tourist trap. BEAT
                    I haven't been there in a while ...
                    they've got a few displays about
                    your more famous cases, like the
                    boomer uprising that led to an
                    attack on the MegaTokyo fusion plant
                    in --

                                     PRISS
                    The WHAT?

                                    SHEILA
                    SMILE Maybe we should have kept on
                    reading the journal instead of ...
                    um ...   

PRISS gives SHEILA a suffering look.  SHEILA chuckles, and starts heading  
up the ladder again.  PRISS shakes her head in mixed annoyance and  
amusement, and heads after her.  

Cut to the bridge of the MACC.  It is set up as a circle, with various  
crew stations around the circumference -- weapons control and steering  
face forward towards a large monitor screen -- and a large command chair  
in the center.  All stations are currently occupied by various uniformed  
men and women, but the command chair is unoccupied.  MERCURY (in fuku) and  
JUPITER (in street clothes) are considering the command chair.

                                    MERCURY
                    Let's review the situation again.

                                    JUPITER
                    SIGH Sure.

                                    MERCURY
                    On the one hand, I am temperamentally
                    unsuited for command.  I lack many
                    of the aggressive personality traits
                    that you, Raye, and Mina possess --
                    or at the least, they are not as
                    obvious in my decision making
                    process as they would be in yours.

                                    JUPITER
                    Okay, granted.

                                    MERCURY
                    I would prefer to completely analyze
                    a situation, working up to the last
                    possible moment to achieve an
                    optimal strategy.

                                    JUPITER
                    Like now.

                                    MERCURY
                    NOD And this is a liability in a
                    crisis situation, just as much as an
                    overly aggressive personality would
                    be.

                                    JUPITER
                    I agree completely.

                                    MERCURY
                    On the other hand, I am the only
                    Sailor Soldier present, as you are
                    still suspended from active duty.
                    Therefore, I have the obligation to
                    take command, even though I believe
                    that my command will be disastrous.

                                    JUPITER
                    Disagree on several points. BEAT
                    Look, here's what you should do.
                    Take command just long enough to
                    bring me back to active status, and
                    then step down.  This is a totally
                    unprecedented situation, Amy!  None
                    of us have ever been on suspension
                    during a crisis!  I don't think the
                    normal rules should apply!

                                    MERCURY
                    Lita, I'm unwilling to ignore her
                    orders when I agree with them.  And
                    I have noticed a certain degree of
                    erratic behavior ... but doubtless
                    you think the same of me.  

JUPITER is clutching her hair.  The next shot is taken up by a two-shot of  
MERCURY and JUPITER's heads and shoulders, not showing the command chair.

                                    JUPITER
                    No, Amy, I don't.  BEAT Look, we
                    don't have time to dance around this
                    -- either take command --

                                 VENUS (O.S.)
                    Hello? 

                                   JUPITER
                    -- find some loophole in your ethics
                    to justify turning it over to me --

                                 VENUS (O.S.)
                    What a nice chair!

                                    JUPITER
                    -- or -- or ...  

JUPITER and MERCURY slowly turn to look at LADY VENUS, who is wearing  
casual clothes in her colors -- orange, yellow and blue -- and examining  
all the neat features of the command chair, like being able to put one's  
legs up.

                                     VENUS
                    Cooool.  Hi there!

                                    MERCURY
                    Mina.  BEAT  Mina, when did you
                    get here?

                                     VENUS
                    Oh, about an hour or so ago ... one
                    of my buddies in the Service got in
                    touch with me.  At first I was
                    *really* cheesed off at having my
                    vacation interrupted, but I figured
                    I should come out here and give you
                    the benefit of my expertise in
                    handling hostage situations.  You
                    know what they say -- those who can,
                    do unto others as they'd have done
                    unto them, while those who can't,
                    teach to educate themselves.  

VENUS abruptly causes the chair to begin a slow 360.  When she's out of  
sight, MERCURY and JUPITER exchange a look of raw panic, which they hide  
as she comes back into sight, smiling still.

                                     VENUS
                    That was fun, but can it get faster?

                                    MERCURY
                    Ah ... no, I don't think so.  BEAT
                    Mina, do you want to be in command
                    of this operation?

                                     VENUS
                    YIKES!  No way!  BEAT  But you
                    don't want to be either, Amy ... and
                    you're on suspension right now, Lita
                    (I'm sorry to hear that, by the by)
                    and since Raye is on Mars, and
                    Serenity is the person who's been
                    kidnapped, I'm the only one who's
                    qualified.  BEAT  Well, we could
                    ask Pluto, but does anyone know when
                    she is?  

Suddenly inspired, VENUS stands up.

                                     VENUS
                    LOUD Can I please have your
                    attention?  

Everyone on the bridge turns to look at VENUS.

                                     VENUS
                    I have an important question for all
                    of you.  Does anyone present know
                    when Sailor Pluto is?  

Heads are shaken, hands are spread, and there is a general consensus that  
the answer is no.

                                     VENUS
                    GLUM Daaaamn.  She's never around
                    when you think you need her, only
                    when she thinks you need her.  And
                    the worst part is, she's usually
                    right.  TO JUPITER Isn't that
                    annoying of her?  

JUPITER nods rapidly, clearly not trusting herself to speak.  VENUS slumps  
into the chair.

                                     VENUS
                    GLUM Well, I don't want the job,
                    but I'll take it since Amy doesn't
                    want it either.  ALL BUSINESS Our
                    first priority should be to open
                    communications with the kidnappers,
                    find out what they want, and delay
                    long enough to be able to move our
                    people into position to extract
                    Serenity without endangering her.
                    PLEADING Could somebody send out
                    for some doughnuts?  

The door to the bridge slides open to admit SHEILA and PRISS.  JUPITER  
immediately tenses up and scowls.  VENUS, facing away from the door,  
blinks at this.

                                     VENUS
                    Would you prefer bagels?

                                    SHEILA
                    SURPRISED Mina!  

VENUS whirls around, a big grin on her face.

                                     VENUS
                    Sheila-chan!

                                    SHEILA
                    When did you --

                                     VENUS
                    No, we've done that one already.
                    Ask me if I brought you anything.

                                    SHEILA
                    BEAT Did you bring me anything,
                    Aunt Mina?  

VENUS' grin gets naughty.

                                     VENUS
                    Oh, yeah, I think you and a special
                    someone will get a lot of use out of
                    the --

                                    JUPITER
                    SNAP Mina!  

VENUS looks back at JUPITER with a cross expression, then turns back to  
SHEILA.

                                     VENUS
                    On second thought, I'll tell you
                    about it when there are fewer
                    puritans about.  BEAT  Who's your
                    friend?  

All eyes focus on PRISS, who has been observing this conversation silently  
with a confused expression.

                                    SHEILA
                    Um, this is Priscilla S. Asagiri, of
                    the Knight Sabres.  Priss, this is
                    Lady Venus.

                                     PRISS
                    WAVES Yo.

                                     VENUS
                    A-sa-gi-ri.  BEAT  Did you sing at
                    one point?

                                     PRISS
                    Uh ... yeah ...

                                     VENUS
                    Ah!  That's where I remember the
                    name from!  I never ... just a
                    moment.  

VENUS rifles through her clothing, producing a pen and a small pad of 
paper, and smiling triumphantly.

                                     VENUS
                    Can I have your autograph?  

PRISS stares at VENUS for a long moment in disbelief, and then opens her  
mouth to tell her off.  But something in VENUS' expression -- perhaps the  
pleading look in her eyes -- stops her.  With a very strange look on her  
face, PRISS takes the pen and paper, and signs her name quickly.  VENUS  
looks at the paper for a moment after it's handed back to her ... and then  
places it in one of her pockets with a sad expression.  She quickly cheers  
up though, when she realizes that everyone is watching her.

                                     VENUS
                    So, what do you do now?

                                     PRISS
                    I ... I guess I'm a Palladin, now.

                                     VENUS
                    Oooookay.  Ummmm ... where are the
                    Palladins supposed to go, Amy?

                                    MERCURY
                    We're planning to address them in
                    the Strat-Com center, so perhaps you
                    two should head there.

                                    SHEILA
                    Right.  TO VENUS It's nice to see
                    you again, Aunt Mina!

                                     VENUS
                    You too!  

PRISS, still giving VENUS an odd look, and SHEILA turn to go.  Just as  
they're at the door, VENUS starts talking again.

                                     VENUS
                    Remind me not to forget to give you
                    your you-know-what.  BEAT The two
                    of you will have a lot of fun with
                    it!  

PRISS and SHEILA stop dead in their tracks.  PRISS risks a look.  VENUS is  
smiling benevolently and waving the fingers of her hand, MERCURY is  
terribly embarrassed, and JUPITER resembles an embodiment of the wrath of  
God.

                                    SHEILA
                    SMALL VOICE Thank you Aunt Mina.  

They head out the door.  MINA turns back to the front of the bridge.

                                     VENUS
                    Now, about those doughnuts ...  

There is a sudden buzzing from one side of the bridge.  A blue-haired  
woman in a gray special forces uniform (Ryouga and Amy's daughter,  
hereafter referred to as LIEUTENANT RYOUKO) seated at one of the stations,  
examines her control panel.

                               LIEUTENANT RYOUKO
                    Lady Venus, we're receiving a
                    transmission from the temple.

                                     VENUS
                    I'm not gonna get any donuts, am I?
                    SIGH Okay, put it on screen.  

The forward screen resolves into an image of a featureless room, with a  
man standing at the center.  His features are obscured by a distortion  
effect which leaves the rest of him -- specifically his pinstripe suit,  
worn by the CHIEF -- and the room clearly visible.

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    Have I the honor of addressing one
                    of the Sailor Senshi?

                                     VENUS
                    Yep!

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    Lady Venus, I think?  I have to
                    guess, after all, we can't see you.

                                     VENUS
                    Actually, we can't see you very
                    well either.  Do you suppose you
                    could turn off that distort field --

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    LAUGHTER Oh, no, Lady Venus -- I'm
                    sure that it's you, no one else has
                    quite your sense of humour.

                                     VENUS
                    BLUSH Flatterer.

                                    JUPITER
                    WHISPERED ANGRILY Mina!

                                     VENUS
                    Ahem!  I take it that you represent
                    the organization that has taken Her
                    Majesty hostage?

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    Correct.

                                     VENUS
                    And that you have done so to advance
                    or publicize a cause?

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    Correct.

                                     VENUS
                    Very well, then.  BEAT  Which
                    cause?

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    Liberty!  Equality!  Fr --

                                     VENUS
                    -- ee beer?  Well, that's a lot to
                    ask for ... just what does
                    kidnapping her Majesty have to do
                    with this?

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    It is our intention to transport her
                    to the neutral lunar colony for a
                    trial for her terrible crimes
                    against hum --  

VENUS presses a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, and the audio of  
the transmission is cut.

                                     VENUS
                    "Neutral lunar colony"?  BEAT  The
                    last I heard was that the lunars had
                    pledged allegiance.

                                    MERCURY
                    Delusional.

                                     VENUS
                    No, really, I remember hearing about
                    it --

                                    MERCURY
                    CONTROLLED Not you, Mina, him.

                                    JUPITER
                    Just a typical deluded nutcase?

                                     VENUS
                    I've never met one of those ...
                    bring up the volume.

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    -- and in short, her failure to
                    bring the benefits of a free and
                    democratic society to --  

YURI stumbles into the shot suddenly.

                                     YURI
                    Ooops ... uh, scuse me ...

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    ... In any event, those are our
                    intentions, and any attack on us
                    will result in the immediate
                    execution of our hostages.

                              YURI & VENUS (SIM)
                    HostagES?  As in more than one?  

YURI and VENUS stare at each other for a brief moment.

                                CHIEF (DISTORT)
                    RAPID We will contact you with
                    further demands in an hour.  

The screen goes blank rapidly.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    They've cut the signal ... I've got
                    a pretty clear idea of where they
                    were transmitting from inside the
                    temple.  BEAT Was that ... really
                    ... her?  As in ...

                                     VENUS
                    SUBDUED Did you record?  

LT. RYOUKO nods.

                                     VENUS
                    SUBDUED Run a match.  

LT. RYOUKO bends over the computer for a few seconds ... then looks up  
with a sick expression.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    99.999% match with the archive
                    photos of her, Lady Venus.  That's
                    either her or a clone, and --

                                     VENUS
                    So ... our adversaries include the
                    legendary -- perhaps *infamous* is a
                    better word, though infamous on a
                    legendary scale -- troubleshooters
                    known as ... the Dirty Pair.  

The tension on the bridge is extremely high, as if everyone is expecting  
all hell to break loose after those fatal words are spoken.  Even JUPITER  
looks stunned by this revelation.

                                    MERCURY
                    QUICK We don't know that they're
                    both --

                                     VENUS
                    Of course we do.  Some things *are*
                    indestructible.  SUDDENLY HAPPY
                    And isn't that nice to consider?  

VENUS suddenly stands up and claps her hands together.

                                     VENUS
                    Yeah!  Yeah, I think this is a good
                    thing for us!  I mean, so what if
                    the Dirty Pair never failed in their
                    mission objectives?  Well, except in
                    the last one, and it was ultimately
                    a success anyway ... but I mean ...
                    ADDRESSING MERCURY AND JUPITER
                    Think about it like this:  they're a
                    symbol, darnit!  A team that was
                    never broken up!  Just like us!  We
                    won't get broken up, either!  We
                    should draw inspiration from this!
                    BEAT  Why don't we all take a
                    little break and think about that
                    for a while?  I think I'm going to
                    go take a walk while I think ... can
                    I get anyone anything?  

She turns around, looking for requests from the bridge crew, of which  
there are none.

                                     VENUS
                    Okay!  While you're thinking, if
                    someone could get in touch with Luna
                    and Artemis -- they're running
                    things for us on the moon, right?  

MERCURY nods slowly.

                                     VENUS
                    -- get in touch with Luna and
                    Artemis, find out what might be
                    going on there ... oh, and see if
                    you can contact Raye, too, while
                    we're on the subject.  Well, I'm
                    off, back in a little bit!  

VENUS strolls out the bridge doors, flashing the bridge a "V-for-Victory"  
as they close behind her.  There is dead silence on the bridge.

                                    MERCURY
                    Did she --

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    We have a teleportation reading just
                    outside the bridge, Ma'am.  BEAT
                    She --

                                    MERCURY
                    SIGH I know where she went, dear.
                    Believe me, I know.  

Cut to the entrance of the memorial park.  VENUS appears in a shower of  
golden light, trembling and covering her face.  After a moment, she looks  
up at the statue of Sailor Saturn that guards the entrance.  She stands  
there for a short while.

                                     VENUS
                    It would be so ... easy.  

We see her hand reaching towards the small plaque that decorates the  
statue -- on which we can see the following written.

                       "Ask not for whom the bell tolls,
                             It tolls for thee."  

VENUS' hand is almost touching the plaque -- but at the last moment, she  
flinches away, bringing her hand back up to her collar.  She shakes her  
head.

                                     VENUS
                    *Too* easy.  

With her free hand, she smacks the hand that was reaching, and smiles as  
the hand droops as though it is pouting.  She slowly walks into the  
memorial park.  VENUS passes the holographic memorial to Sailor Moon,  
looking up at it with something very akin to envy on her face as she walks  
past.  Finally, she comes to the end of her path, standing before a  
larger-than-life statue of a young man, dressed in a trenchcoat and  
trousers, his head bowed and shadowed in such a way that we cannot see his  
face.  VENUS sits down, facing away from the statue and blocking our view  
of a plaque attached to the base of the statue.

                                     VENUS
                    I miss you.  BEAT; SINGSONG I wish
                    you were he-ere.  BEAT  It really
                    would have been easy.  Kill 'em all,
                    let whoever sort it out.  Just ...
                    give it to someone else.  And we'd
                    be together.  BEAT  Right?  Am I
                    right?  BEAT  No.  Of course not.
                    A monster like you wouldn't want
                    anything to do with a monster like
                    me.  BEAT  I took a bullet to my
                    chest last week.  If my trauma
                    damper hadn't kicked in, I wouldn't
                    be talking to you -- hey wait a
                    minute!  BEAT  So I had to get my
                    heart fixed.  But you know what?  I
                    think I got ripped off.  Because it
                    still hurts.  I-i-i-ttt st-st-st--  

VENUS clonks herself on the side of the head, making a dull thud.

                                     VENUS
                    MUTTER Gotta get that looked at.
                    BEAT How'm I gonna do this?  I
                    mean, we're dealing with the two
                    deadliest human beings -- well, we
                    don't count as human any more --
                    ever created by an intelligence
                    whose ultimate goals we still don't
                    understand.  BEAT  And they've got
                    her.  And since we only exist to
                    defend and protect her, they've got
                    *us* right where they want us.  Not
                    that I've ever done a very good job
                    of that ... have I?  BEAT  If I
                    could just --  

VENUS suddenly stands up, with an excited expression on her face.  She  
turns to face the statue, which is still hidden from us.

                                     VENUS
                    Got it!  I get Artemis to send me
                    down a spare disguise pen, turn
                    myself into her, and go up to the
                    temple, saying "Hah-hah!  Stupid
                    kidnappers, you grabbed the wrong
                    Queen!"  They snatch me, let her go,
                    and then I have the whole fleet turn
                    the temple into so much glow-in-the-
                    dark clay!  BEAT  What do you mean
                    it wouldn't work?  BEAT Okay, so
                    they probably wouldn't let her go,
                    but I'd be in the *zone* to get her
                    out, right?  BEAT  Of course they
                    wouldn't stop me from blowing up the
                    temple around me.  What matters more
                    -- her safety or me?  BEAT  Well,
                    if they won't do it, then I'll tell
                    them what I did!  After that, they
                    should be glad to --  

VENUS' face suddenly crumples.  Slowly, she lies down on the plaque,  
curled up in a fetal position.

                                     VENUS
                    SOFT They all know that I'm --
                    but they still expect me to be --
                    and I can't.  It would hurt too much
                    if I were -- BEAT BUT IT HURTS
                    ANYWAY!  HOW IS THAT FAIR?  

VENUS picks herself up off the ground, dusts herself off, and looks up at  
the statue.

                                     VENUS
                    Anyway.  I gotta go.  Thanks for
                    listening.  You're really good at
                    that, but I wish you'd talk back a
                    little more.  BEAT  Be seeing you.  

VENUS turns and walks away, at last allowing us a clear view of the  
inscription on the memorial.

                                AETHAN DEGALES
                                  529 - 545
                                  545 - 1996
                                 1996 - 2034
        You walk a road that's thorny, through no fault of your own.
       But, as rain enters the earth, and the river flows to the sea,
              So, too, do tears fall to their predestined end.
                           Your suffering is over.
                               Find peace for
                                  Eternity  

Cut to PRISS and SHEILA, walking through a corridor of the MACC, side by  
side.

                                     PRISS
                    So, in other words, she's nuts.

                                    SHEILA
                    WEARY No, she's not nuts.  She's a
                    little bit ... erratic, and she's
                    done some things that have caused
                    people to question her judgment.  But
                    according to Aunt Amy, she's not
                    insane in the sense that she *is*
                    responsible for her actions, even if
                    they are bizarre.

                                     PRISS
                    Y'know, your aunts are a real fun
                    bunch.  

SHEILA stops abruptly and turns to glare at PRISS.

                                    SHEILA
                    They've been alive for nearly a
                    thousand years, and they've seen
                    things that would probably leave
                    ordinary people screaming as blood
                    flowed out their eyes.  As far as
                    I'm concerned, they've all earned as
                    much eccentricity as they want!  

PRISS stares at SHEILA, a little startled at her vehemence.  SHEILA  
visibly calms down, and sighs.

                                    SHEILA
                    Priss, they're my *family*.  

PRISS stares for a moment, nods, and starts walking.

                                     PRISS
                    And I'm not.

                                    SHEILA
                    I didn't *say* that.

                                     PRISS
                    You didn't have to.  

SHEILA's fists clench at her side.

                                    SHEILA
                    Priss, if someone had asked you why
                    you were hanging around with a crazy
                    Shaolin stockbroker like Linna
                    Yamazaki, what would you have told
                    them?  

PRISS halts, and speaks without looking back.

                                     PRISS
                    I would have told them to fuck off
                    and die.  Nobody slams my --

                                    SHEILA
                    -- family.  

PRISS looks angrily over her shoulder at her.

                                     PRISS
                    SMOOTH -- *friends*.

                                    SHEILA
                    SIGH Okay.  And what if this
                    someone was someone that you cared
                    a lot about; that you thought you
                    were in love with; that you might
                    even want to spend the rest of your
                    life with?  

They stare at each other for a moment, both with unreadable expressions on  
their faces.  PRISS turns away first, and continues walking down the hall.

                                     PRISS
                    NONCHALANT I'm gonna die alone,
                    anyway.  

SHEILA reacts as though she's been slapped.  She watches PRISS head down  
the corridor for a second, then hurries to catch up to her.  They arrive  
at the STRATegic-COMmand Center, an area-like room with several rows of  
seats and a holoprojector in the center.  It is filled with somewhere  
between thirty and fifty people of tremendously varied dress and  
description -- the Palladins of Crystal Tokyo.  They are clustered in  
small groups, discussing various things.  In our first pass through the  
room, we catch sight of a red-haired woman in a slinky red dress enthusing  
about a lipstick that a rather androgynous younger dark-haired woman in a  
bizarre description-defying outfit is staring at with a disbelieving 
expression; a pair of swordsmen (blades peacebonded), one with flowing  
blonde hair and cleanshaven, the other with dark black hair and a full  
beard and mustache, talking placidly; and a tall, lanky man holding a  
hand-held hologram display that shows a humanoid cyclopean mecha,  
discussing it with a young woman with short brown hair, large glasses, and  
a green outfit under her white lab coat.  We see SHEILA react to seeing  
these two, and she heads down towards them, beckoning PRISS to follow  
her.  PRISS shrugs and follows.  The man (JOHNNY RAIDEN) looks up as they  
approach, and smiles.  He speaks in an odd Australian accent that has a  
vaguely German feel to it.

                                    JOHNNY
                    Hey, Sheila!  Got you out of the
                    stacks, did they?

                                    SHEILA
                    SMILE Somebody's got to write down
                    the specifics of whatever crazy
                    plans you guys come up with.  

The young woman (RITSUKO URAWA) speaks in a gentle, patient, and very  
formal tone.

                                    RITSUKO
                    "Crazy plans" are hardly our stock-
                    in-trade, Ms. Tenkai.

                                    SHEILA
                    Hello to you too, Ritsuko.  Whatcha
                    got there?

                                    JOHNNY
                    An ever-so-slightly radical upgrade
                    proposal for our Zakus, to take full
                    advantage of the psychcommu.  

SHEILA and RITSUKO stare at him.

                                    JOHNNY
                    Sorry, thought control system.  Old
                    habits die hard.

                                    RITSUKO
                    Essentially, the TC system allows
                    the creation of an empathic overload
                    booster.  Affected systems would be
                    supercharged based on the pilot's
                    emotional state -- a sufficiently
                    angry pilot could easily increase
                    his or her available motive power
                    by over fifty percent.

                                    SHEILA
                    With just a standard interface?

                                    RITSUKO
                    No, and standard neural training
                    won't be enough either.  The actual
                    systems involved are fairly similar
                    to psychic amplifiers, but not quite
                    as sophisticated.  

RITSUKO notices that PRISS is following the conversation with an  
expression torn between interest and confusion.

                                    RITSUKO
                    But we're being rude.  Who's your
                    friend, Ms. Tenkai?

                                    SHEILA
                    Oh, sorry.  Priscilla Asagiri, this
                    is Dr. Ritsuko Urawa, Chief Mecha
                    Engineer of the First Fleet, and --  

JOHNNY comes to his feet, and we realize that he's just over seven feet  
tall.

                                    JOHNNY
                    Leftenant Commander Johnny Raiden,
                    Heroic and Suicidal Test Pilot.  

He extends a hand in greeting.  PRISS, looking up at him, slowly takes it.

                                     PRISS
                    I'm gonna say something stupid and
                    obvious in a second.

                                    JOHNNY
                    Don't worry, most people do.

                                     PRISS
                    Boy, you're tall.  

JOHNNY nods, grinning.  He pauses as something comes to him.

                                    JOHNNY
                    Half a minute.  Priss *Asagiri*?
                    You're --

                                     PRISS
                    Her great-great-great-great-and-
                    several-more-greats-grand-daughter,
                    namesake, and lookalike.  

JOHNNY looks puzzled ... and then understanding dawns on his face, and he  
smiles broadly.

                                    JOHNNY
                    Riiiiight.  

He sits again, and SHEILA and PRISS also sit down.

                                    SHEILA
                    So has the Second Fleet been called
                    home for this situation?

                                    JOHNNY
                    Nah, Yamato and m'boys are still
                    minding Venus to make sure they
                    don't get ideas.  But me and the
                    Doc got called in with the rest of
                    the Palladins, on a fast shuttle.  

JOHNNY adjusts the hologram to erase the image of the mecha, replacing it  
with a detail of the Crystal Tokyo area from orbit.  (The fact that the  
city is clearly planned around a RIGHT-SIDE UP pentagram should be made  
clear.  Several lights with tags -- SKYLARK, DAUNTLESS, SMITH, KINNISON,  
DUQUESNE, among others -- appear on the display.

                                    JOHNNY
                    They've called in the Fifth Fleet
                    from the Outer Darkness Region, and
                    spread the Fourth out to cover --

                                    SHEILA
                    Wait a minute ...  

She points at the light marked DAUNTLESS.

                                    SHEILA
                    Isn't that Psyche Company's carrier?  

JOHNNY nods once in silence.

                                    SHEILA
                    HUSHED They brought the Lensmen?
                    BEAT Whewwwwww ...

                                     PRISS
                    Uh, 'scuse?  Lensmen?  Wasn't that
                    a really bad movie made in 2012?

                                    SHEILA
                    WRY LOOK Don't remind me, please.
                    There is a connection, but ...
                    anyway, "Lensmen" is the nickname
                    of the 298th, 299th, and 300th
                    Mobile Suit Squadrons of the Royal
                    Space Force, unofficially known as
                    Psyche Company.  All the pilots
                    are magicians, psychics, or possess
                    other exotic talents.  SMILES AT
                    RITSUKO A while ago, someone came
                    up with a way to amplify talents
                    like that, using certain specially
                    designed crystals that look a lot
                    like huge lenses.  Inevitably, the
                    pilots were called Lensmen ...

                                     PRISS
                    So do the Senshi use these things?  

RITSUKO shakes her head firmly.

                                    RITSUKO
                    The level of power that a Senshi
                    possesses would easily overload the
                    largest amplifier we can build.
                    BEAT  And as one's natural power
                    increases, the amount of enhancement
                    that one can gain from artificial
                    sources decreases.  If we were able
                    to construct an amplifier that would
                    measurably magnify Lady Mercury's
                    power, for example, it would be
                    about the size of the moon and
                    improve her power by ... BEAT  I'm
                    sorry, I'm lecturing, aren't I?  

PRISS shrugs, a small smile playing about her lips.

                                     PRISS
                    Yeah, but when you do, you sorta
                    sound like someone I knew ... a long
                    time ago.  

RITSUKO blinks, startled.

                                    RITSUKO
                    *I* sound like Dr. Stingray?  BEAT
                    Thank you very much, Ms. Asagiri,
                    that is a considerable compliment.

                                     PRISS
                    It is?

                                    RITSUKO
                    NODS In my opinion, her visionary
                    mecha designs are without equal.
                    Even now, we don't understand all
                    the secrets of the hardsuits --

                               LT. RYOUKO (O.S.)
                    And couldn't use one even if we did.  

Everyone looks in LT. RYOUKO's direction as we see her approach casually,  
still in her uniform.

                                    RITSUKO
                    That's hardly true any more, Sister.  

LT. RYOUKO fixes PRISS with a faintly predatory look, which PRISS returns  
calmly.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Hmm.  You have a point, Ritsuko.
                    BEAT Hello, Johnny.  BEAT; TO
                    SHEILA Hello, You.  

SHEILA gives LT. RYOUKO a look of mixed amusement and disdain, but she is  
back to talking to PRISS.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Lieutenant Ryouko Mizuno, Battlesuit
                    Pilot Temporarily Drafted as Bridge
                    Crew.  Pleased to meet you.

                                     PRISS
                    Right.  BEAT  You're one of her
                    sisters?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    *Half*-sisters.  Very different
                    fathers.

                                    RITSUKO
                    SOFT Not as different as you'd
                    like to believe, Sister.  

RYOUKO glares at RITSUKO, who meets her look evenly.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    I *believe* that I made it clear how
                    tired I was of this particular line
                    of conversation *quite* some time
                    ago.  

SHEILA steps between them, none-too-subtly heading off a conflict.

                                    SHEILA
                    Ahem.  So anyways, Ryouko, what's
                    the word on the bridge?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    "Panic."  BEAT We received a
                    message from the kidnappers just a
                    little while ago that has everyone
                    on the edge.

                                    SHEILA
                    What happened?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    SHAKES HEAD Not yet.  Wouldn't do
                    anyone here any good to know it just
                    yet.  It'd just set us even further
                    on edge than we already are ...

                                    JOHNNY
                    DISMISSIVE Aw, cut the crap,
                    Ryouko.  What's the worst that it
                    could be, the Dirty Pair?  

Dead silence descends on the room, and everyone in the room is suddenly  
staring at JOHNNY.  Well, except for PRISS (who seems confused) and RYOUKO  
(who is rubbing her head as though she has a terrible headache).

                                    JOHNNY
                    It was a *joke*, people.  Get a
                    grip, already.

                                    SHEILA
                    PATIENT Yes, but Johnny ... it
                    wasn't FUNNY.  

Cut to a harsh-featured man carrying a long, broad-edged spear, sitting  
some distance away, hunched as though he carries a heavy burden on his  
shoulders.  He looks upwards with a foul expression.

                                     USHIO
                    Well, *somebody* found it amusing.  

Cut back to the group as conversation slowly begins again.  A beeping  
noise issues from RYOUKO's wrist.  She holds it up to her mouth.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Mizuno, go.

                                     VOICE
                    She's back, hurry.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    I'm on my way.  

She nods in farewell, and heads up the stairs to the exit at a run.

                                     PRISS
                    So ... what's a Dirty Pair?  

We follow RYOUKO running through the corridor, until she reaches the main  
access passage leading to the outside of the MACC, through which VENUS is  
entering at a brisk pace.  RYOUKO slows, but continues to run in place.

                                     VENUS
                    Ah, hello, Ryouko-chan ... or should
                    I call you Lieutenant Mizuno, now?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    As you wish, Lady Venus.

                                     VENUS
                    All right.  BEAT Keeping in shape,
                    are we?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Yes, Lady Venus.

                                     VENUS
                    I think I'll join you.  

She begins running in place too.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    An excellent idea, Lady Venus.  

RYOUKO starts running up the corridor to the bridge.  VENUS stays running  
in place for a few moments.

                                     VENUS
                    I wonder if this is a race ...  

She nods once, and then takes off at a dash.  We see her running from her  
POV, swiftly catching up to LT. RYOUKO, passing her, and arriving at the  
bridge smiling sunnily.

                                     VENUS
                    Hello!  

MERCURY is running calculations on one of the terminals, while JUPITER  
leans against the wall with an expression with elements of rage, guilt,  
and extreme annoyance on her face.  MERCURY speaks without looking up.

                                    MERCURY
                    Welcome back, Mina.  Did you enjoy
                    your walk?  

VENUS heads for the command chair.

                                     VENUS
                    Yes.  Yes I did.  I think that I've
                    got a better idea of how to handle
                    this situation now.

                                    JUPITER
                    Good.  

VENUS begins to sit down in the command chair.

                                  RAYE (O.S.)
                    Yes, Mina, that's very good.  I'd
                    like to hear about your ideas, but
                    don't even think about sitting in
                    my chair.  

VENUS looks upwards, mouths "Thank you", and turns to look at RAYE, who is  
standing at the entrance, followed by RANMA and RYOUKO.  MERCURY turns  
around.

                                     VENUS
                    Raye!  I'm so glad --

                                     RAYE
                    Yes, I am too.  

She takes her seat in the center, which VENUS quickly vacates.

                                     RAYE
                    All right, I want a full situational
                    report, STAT.  What are we up
                    against this time?

                                    JUPITER
                    A bunch of terrorists, backed up by
                    the --

                                     RAYE
                    Lita, why are you out of uniform?

                                    JUPITER
                    DEEP BREATH I'm on suspension.
                    Go ahead; ask me why.  I've got an
                    answer ready.  

RAYE's mouth quirks up in a half-smile.

                             RAYE & JUPITER (sim)
                    None of your business.

                                     RAYE
                    Right.  Backed up by ...?

                                    JUPITER
                    The Lovely Angels.

                                     RAYE
                    STARES You're making a try at a
                    joke, right?

                                    JUPITER
                    No.  The kidnappers sent a video
                    transmission out, and a young woman
                    with bluish-black hair stumbled into
                    the shot.  She's an exact physical
                    match for ... what's her name again?

                                     VENUS
                    Yuri.  She's the cool one. BEAT  I
                    got her autograph, once ...  

LT. RYOUKO finally arrives at the bridge at this point, with a frustrated  
and embarrassed expression on her face.  Before going to her station, she  
does a double take as she passes RANMA, and stares at him in a very  
hostile manner for a moment.

                                     RAYE
                    Amy, could it have been a clone?

                                    MERCURY
                    Anything's possible, but I've been
                    reviewing the footage ... and her
                    behavior is an almost exact match
                    for virtually all the documentation
                    we have on her -- slightly ditzy,
                    but at the same time very capable.
                    And since braintaping in the United
                    Galactica period was only in its
                    infancy, and it's believed that all
                    possible backups of Kei and Yuri
                    were destroyed with the Central
                    Computer ... a very good actor could
                    have pulled a performance like that
                    off, but considering the physical
                    match, I really do think she was the
                    genuine article, Raye.

                                     RAYE
                    Great.  BEAT Other than Serenity,
                    are they holding any other hostages?
                    Temple personnel, maybe?

                                    JUPITER
                    We interviewed everyone who fled
                    when the temple was taken over early
                    this morning.  About ten of the
                    senior members of the Cult are
                    unaccounted for, including the Arch
                    Deacon.

                                     RAYE
                    Have we done a scan for lifesigns?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Repeatedly, with no effect.  There's
                    some sort of jamming ... but it only
                    affects bioscanners.

                                     RAYE
                    Damn.  Okay, what about --

                                    RYOUKO
                    Hold it ... this sounds familiar.  

RAYE turns to look at RYOUKO, who is walking over to the scanner console  
at which Lieutenant Ryouko is sitting.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Do you get a "too many lifesigns"
                    message?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Uh ... yes.

                                    RYOUKO
                    NODS Okay, what you wanna do is
                    configure it to ignore any life
                    signs of human beings.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Excuse me?

                                    RYOUKO
                    Homo sapiens, dominant species on
                    Earth?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    But --

                                    RYOUKO
                    Just do it.  

LT. RYOUKO adjusts the scanner, clearly not understanding what RYOUKO is  
aiming at.  She starts another scan.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Interrupt it.  Now!  

The scan is interrupted.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Okay, now configure it to ignore
                    all the life signs that you just
                    got, but find human lifesigns.  

Seven human lifesigns are indicated on the screen, one of which, flagged,  
is definitely SERENITY's lifesign.

                                     RAYE
                    How?

                                    RYOUKO
                    There's a certain species of plant
                    life growing on a planet around
                    what you call Barnard's Star that
                    possesses a more complicated
                    biological signature than you'd
                    expect from a non-sentient, such
                    that it shows up on any bioscan for
                    "higher lifeforms".  The problem is,
                    there's more variance in a bioscan
                    of two members of a typical sentient
                    species than there is between two
                    members of this shrub ... heck, more
                    variance between an individual and
                    a clone.  Anyway, this trick's been
                    used by space pirates to confuse
                    scanners for about a thousand years.
                    One famous space pirate worked alone
                    in an oversized ship with a bunch of
                    this stuff, to make the marks think
                    the ship had a huge crew.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Who was this?

                                    RYOUKO
                    Me.

                                     RAYE
                    Excellent job, Ryouko.  

RYOUKO and LT. RYOUKO speak simultaneously.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Woo, a compliment!

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Thank you, Lady Mars.  

There is a short pause.

                                     RAYE
                    I was, in fact, speaking to the
                    Lieutenant.  BEAT  But Ryouko,
                    you are ... useful to have around.  

RYOUKO looks down at LT. RYOUKO, who meets her gaze steadily.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Your name's Ryouko, huh?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Lieutenant Mizuno Ryouko.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Mizuno, huh?  LOOKS AT MERCURY
                    Your mom has *great* taste in names,
                    then ...  

MERCURY holds her head as though she has suddenly developed a migraine  
headache.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    VERY COOL Yes, I was named after
                    my father.

                                    RYOUKO
                    Oh.

                                     RAYE
                    Ahem.  Lieutenant, run a comparison
                    of each of those "prints" against
                    our files, see what you can come up
                    with.

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Aye.  

A few seconds later, one of the other patterns has been identified as  
belonging to "FUJIKO".

                                    JUPITER
                    She's *mine*.

                                     VENUS
                    Aren't you on suspension?

                                    JUPITER
                    GLARES AT VENUS As soon as I'm
                    *off* suspension, she's mine.

                                     VENUS
                    Okay.

                                     RAYE
                    None of the others match anyone in
                    the files?

                                  LT. RYOUKO
                    Negative.  Could be hostages, or
                    could be other kidnappers.

                                     RAYE
                    Alright.  I want every bit of data
                    we have on the Temple -- blueprints,
                    especially -- packaged up to give a
                    briefing to the Palladins in ten
                    minutes.

                                  BRIDGE CREW
                    Aye!  

They spring into action.  RANMA takes advantage of the distraction to  
approach LADY MERCURY.

                                     RANMA
                    'Scuse me.

                                    MERCURY
                    Yes, Mr. Saotome?

                                     RANMA
                    I need to talk to you about
                    something.  

Cut to outside the MACC.  PRISS is sitting on the steps leading to the  
main access, alternately watching the Patrol Labors guard the perimeter of  
the Temple and staring at the Knight Sabres Museum in the distance.   
Finally, she nods, stands up, and starts down the stairs.  As she reaches  
the bottom, she notices that NOA is standing nearby, looking up at her  
Labor (SHINJI), which is standing at ease in the shadow of the MACC.   
PRISS waves at her, and NOA returns the wave, just as SHINJI's chestplate  
opens up, revealing CATTY at the controls.  PRISS looks up at the Labor  
with distrust written all over her face, and continues walking.  CATTY  
drops down from the cockpit, and looks up at the head of the Labor with a  
concerned expression.

                                     CATTY
                    You were right ... his emotional
                    and psychological development *has*
                    stabilized at the level of an early
                    adolescent -- roughly 13 to 15 years
                    of age.

                                      NOA
                    And that's definitely not normal.

                                     CATTY
                    SIGH Psychology's not an exact
                    science, AI Psychology even less so.
                    It's definitely not *typical*, but
                    it's no more abnormal than an AI
                    that catapulted herself into early
                    senility within a few seconds of her
                    awakening, or the gender confused
                    AI I dealt with a few years ago.
                    BEAT Most new sentiences "prefer"
                    to advance to the same level of
                    maturity exhibited by the other
                    entities that they come into contact
                    with -- and since Shinji's contacts
                    have been more or less limited to
                    yourself and ...

                                      NOA
                    HEAVY SARCASM His "daddy".

                                     CATTY
                    WRY GRIN -- along with a few of
                    your associates -- and I compliment
                    you on letting Mr. Yamazaki pay a
                    visit, he seems to have made a much
                    better "father" figure than the one
                    which he was "born" to.  In any
                    case, based on his contacts, he
                    *should* have developed to a mature
                    persona, roughly 25 to 30.  But he
                    hasn't.  And he probably won't for
                    several years.

                                      NOA
                    When is he going to start "talking"?

                                     CATTY
                    I've made the connection between his
                    neural net and the loudspeaker, and
                    uploaded the sounds database -- so
                    he has the capability, he just has
                    to teach himself to use it.  I had
                    him shut off his audio pickup so he
                    could do it in peace.  It *will*
                    probably be baby-talk the first few
                    times that he tries --

                                      NOA
                    But that's normal.  Did you talk in
                    baby talk when you were awakened?  

A few yards away, PRISS halts in midstep.

                                     CATTY
                    Ahhhh ...

                                      NOA
                    I mean, I know that you're unique
                    in that respect, but ... uh, is
                    something wrong?  

CATTY has covered her eyes with her right hand.

                                     CATTY
                    No.  No, no.  Yes, but ... it's not
                    your fault, Chief Izumi.  

NOA looks over her shoulder to see PRISS staring in their direction with  
an extremely wrathful expression.

                                      NOA
                    Oh!  BEAT  Ohhhh.  BEAT  Uh ...
                    would you like police protection?

                                     CATTY
                    No, thank you.  I believe that I can
                    handle the situation without too
                    much difficulty.  

NOA nods, and warily looking in PRISS direction once more, heads over to  
SHINJI, and clambers up inside the cockpit.  CATTY walks slowly but  
deliberately towards PRISS.  When she is within arms reach, she speaks.

                                     CATTY
                    CALM Is there something that you'd
                    like to say?

                                     PRISS
                    FURIOUS You're a boomer.

                                     CATTY
                    I prefer the term cyberdroid.

                                     PRISS
                    You're a fucking *boomer*.

                                     CATTY
                    In fact, I *am* capable of a wide
                    variety of sexual acts, which is not
                    surprising, considering that one of
                    the models that my design is based
                    upon is the Bu-33s.

                                     PRISS
                    STARTLED Sexaroid?

                                     CATTY
                    Yes.  Which means, I suppose that
                    you will view me as "human in every
                    way that counts".  BEAT  Even
                    though I have no desire to be human,
                    any more than your friend --

                                     PRISS
                    The hell she didn't!  Sylvie *did*
                    want to be human!  She said --

                                     CATTY
                    "I wanted to be free.  Like you."

                                     PRISS
                    STUNNED How did --

                                     CATTY
                    First words of the song "I Want to
                    Be Free", written and performed by
                    Priss Asagiri, 2035, liner notes
                    "Dedicated to Sylvie and Anri."
                    BEAT  She wanted to be free of
                    the prejudice and bigotry that the
                    human race felt, and I am often
                    distressed but rarely surprised to
                    find, still feels towards us.
                    Cyberdroids.  BEAT  Boomers.  

Angrily, CATTY walks away towards SHINJI, but pauses to look back over her 
shoulder at PRISS.

                                     CATTY
                    It seems that the writer of that
                    song is dead.  A pity.  She was a
                    remarkable being ... for a human.  

CATTY approaches SHINJI, now looking more hurt than angry.  SHINJI's voice  
is that of a boy just on the edge of adolescence -- it cracks a lot.

                                    SHINJI
                    Is something wrong, Catty-oneesama?  

CATTY looks up at the Labor's "head", startled and amazed.  Slowly, a  
smile spreads across her features.

                                     CATTY
                    No.  No, everything's all right.  

SHINJI's chest opens up, and NOA is revealed, smiling broadly.

                                      NOA
                    He's a smart kid, isn't he?

                                     CATTY
                    NOD Yes.  He is indeed.  

PRISS stares in their direction for a moment, then visibly "gives up" and  
turns to walk towards the Museum of the Knight Sabres again ... just as a  
beeping noise issues from her hip carried cellular.  PRISS snatches it up,  
and flips it open.

                                     PRISS
                    Yeah.

                                    SHEILA
                    Priss, you'd better get back here,
                    there's going to be a briefing in a
                    few minutes.

                                     PRISS
                    Great.  

She shuts down the cellular, and heads back to the stairs.  There's a  
faint rumble of thunder, and the first drops of rain begin to fall.

Cut to the inside of the entrance of the MACC.  PRISS comes in out of the  
rain, and shakes out her hair, just as RAYE comes down the corridor.

                                     RAYE
                    Priss!

                                     PRISS
                    Hey.  What happened to you?

                                     RAYE
                    What do you mean?

                                     PRISS
                    I called you last night and --

                                     RAYE
                    You didn't get the message I sent to
                    you yesterday morning?

                                     PRISS
                    No ...

                                     RAYE
                    ANNOYED AT SELF And I forgot to
                    change my answering machine, too ...
                    damn.  BEAT  I had to go to Mars
                    on business yesterday ... I just got
                    back a little while ago.

                                     PRISS
                    You *went* to Mars?  ODD SMILE I
                    thought that you *were* --

                                     RAYE
                    Ahem.  Heard it.  A few times.
                    BEAT  So what happened?

                                     PRISS
                    Took care of the thing with the
                    labors.  And then I finally got
                    'round to reading Sylia's journal.

                                     RAYE