Title: Warrior’s of Light and Shadow; Chapter 8: Furies

Author: Storm Bringer

Rating: PG-13

E-mail: the_storm_bringer@hotmail.com

Author’s Notes: EDIT: Made a minor change after I posted this the first time. Just a name change/correction, no need to go re-read the chapter or anything. Thanks to Bambi Star and Comet Moon for helping me with this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters in this story

* * * * * *

Finishing off the last of her dinner, Nabiki leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and taking a moment for herself. She was tired. Five hours of sleep a night just wasn’t cutting it, but she didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter. Ranma was out there somewhere and she had to find him. Between her search and keeping up with her schoolwork, there was little time for luxuries such as sleep. If she didn’t find Ranma though, then who knew what might befall her kidnapped sister. Who knew what might have happened already?

Several unpleasant possibilities flashed through Nabiki’s mind, and she forcefully shut them out. Thinking the worst never got anyone anywhere. She forced herself to concentrate on her search for Ranma and not the reason for that search.

Changing the subject of her thoughts was not overly relieving, however. The search for Ranma had not been going well. She had managed to track him to the Juuban district, but there the trail had gone cold. He was a trouble magnet, and she had thought it would be fairly easy to track him by following the chaos and destruction he would undoubtedly leave in his wake. Unfortunately, the only trouble of late in this area was coming in the form of battles between various monsters and the Sailor Senshi.

Nabiki had heard of the Pretty Suited Soldiers before and felt that they would have fit in nicely in Nerima considering the amount of chaos that seemed to surround them. It was thanks to them that she had been able to track Ranma this far. Someone had seen a pig-tailed girl with a sword challenge one of the Senshi, apparently driving her off. The story had, of course, spread rapidly and Nabiki had quickly picked up on the reference to the sword girl. Some versions of the tale had placed another girl at the scene, but Nabiki had been unable to obtain anything other than vague descriptions of her: blonde with a funny hairstyle.

That information had come at the beginning of the week though, and there had been no new leads since. This meant that Ranma was either keeping out of trouble, or was nowhere near where she thought he was. Nabiki preferred to think the former. If that was the case, however, then it meant that Ranma had finally succeeded at removing himself from all the troubles that had constantly plagued him. She wondered what his reaction would be when she finally found him and whether or not he would risk the peace that he had found by trying to rescue his former fiancee.

Nabiki allowed her mind to wander away from that line of reasoning, finding some bit of solace in her memories of distant times. Life had been so much easier when she had been a child, romping through the neighborhood with Akane and, on rare occasions, Kasumi as well. Back then, her only worries had centered on how to trick one of her sisters into doing the dishes for her, and then trying to find a way to keep their mother from finding out what she had done. She thought of her mother as well, of the times spent cradled in her lap or snug in bed while she told a story. She dearly missed her mother and wished she were here now to offer her sneaky, conniving, independent daughter the warm, loving comfort she had so freely given when alive.

A warm hand settled on her shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze, and for a moment Nabiki thought that her mother had answered her wishes. Then the cold, rational portion of her mind dashed that nice thought with the logic that such a thing was impossible. She came fully awake then; her eyes snapping open as her mind rocketed back to the present. Looking up from where she sat, Nabiki saw the elderly woman who ran this small restaurant standing at her side.

"Thought you might want to sleep in a bed tonight." There was an amused light in the old woman’s eyes.

Nabiki nodded and rubbed at her sleep deprived eyes. "Yeah, thanks. How much for dinner?"

The woman gave a price that was a bit higher than Nabiki thought it should be, but she didn’t feel like haggling right then so she paid it. There was a television set up in one corner of the small restaurant; the volume turned way down at Nabiki’s request since she was the only patron. There was some foolish game show on, but as she turned to leave, the show was interrupted by what was claimed to be an important news bulletin. Nabiki paused and signaled for the volume to be turned back up.

The announcer was blathering on about some sort of monster attack in a small park, treating it like something new, as though something just like this hadn’t happened everyday that week. The Senshi were on the scene, there were lots of fireworks, and they would either win or lose. It didn’t really matter to Nabiki right then. She left the restaurant.

Most of her sources here in Juuban—where she was spending her weekend—had already been tapped, but she had a few left. She hadn’t tried many of them yet because they were in places she didn’t think Ranma would be found. Her options were quickly drying up, though.

Pulling her little black book from her purse, Nabiki began to thumb through the pages, searching for any promising contacts. She came to a stop at one name that she rarely used: Umino Gurio. He was a rumormonger and a bright kid, but not overly cunning. He attended a local high school and knew everything that went on there, but that was the reason she hadn’t contacted him yet. Ranma would not willingly subject himself to the rigors of school. Still, there was a chance.

* * * * * *

Sailor Mars was quickly learning why people didn’t eat dirt on a regular basis. For one thing, it tasted really, really bad. It also left your mouth feeling gritty and dry. Very unpleasant stuff, especially when it was hard packed and some crazy girl in black leather was pounding your face into it constantly and repeatedly.

Suddenly Mars felt the iron grip on the back of her head vanish and she was allowed to take her first dirt free breath in what felt like hours. Spitting out dirt and blood, and cursing in-between bouts of painful coughing, she slowly pushed herself to her knees. Her entire face felt as though it would be a wonderful shade of purple in the morning and it was a wonder she still had anything left of her nose. Feeling around the more tender areas, her hand came away wet with blood.

"Sometimes I hate this job," she muttered, rising to her feet painfully.

The source of her face-pounding reprieve was Sailor Jupiter, who had taken Alecto off her back with a solid kick and was now engaged in a fine display of martial arts prowess. It was a fight that Jupiter lost magnificently, ending up in much the same position Mars had just been freed of. A golden chain wrapped itself around Alecto before Jupiter’s head could be bounced more than a few times though, pinning Alecto’s arms to her sides. Sailor Venus stood a little ways off looking badly burned and in a great deal of pain, but there was a determined look on her face, a sharp contrast to the somewhat vapid look she usually wore. She gave a hard yank on her heart chain and the leather-clad girl was hurled into the side of a small tree. The tree looked hurt, Alecto didn’t.

"Well," began Jupiter as she picked herself up off of the ground, "now I know how a basketball feels." Her fiery emerald gaze turned to where Alecto was standing up as well, seeming completely unfazed by her forced meeting with the tree. "Who the hell is this girl?" Anger at being so easily manhandled could be heard clearly in her voice.

"Trouble," stated Mars heatedly. "Soon to be flambé. MARS BURNING MANDALA!!"

The rings of fire missed their mark as Alecto dodged to the right, but that put her directly into Sailor Mercury’s line of fire. Waves of blue energy rolled over Alecto, leaving her frozen in a solid mass of ice. The look on her face was one of surprise and anger.

"Time to finish it!" bellowed Mars as she drew back her hand. "MARS BURNING—"

"Watch out!"

A strong arm wrapped itself around Mars’ waist and she suddenly found herself being carried into the air, her attack completely forgotten. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something that reflected the light of the spreading fire whistle through the air where her head had been a second ago. Her landing was hard, but the arm holding her let go, allowing her to role with the impact and spare her knees. Spinning around, she saw that it was Tuxedo Mask who had pulled her from deaths maw. Looking past him, she saw exactly what form her death would have taken had he been a second slower.

It was another girl; this one decked out in cumbersome looking black armor emblazoned with a golden dragon on the front of the breastplate. Long brown hair spilled over large, spiked epaulets and a pair of hard brown eyes regarded Mars coolly as the girl’s mouth twisted in a disappointed frown. In an effortless motion, she drew her sword from where it was imbedded in the ground, and for a moment all eyes were on that blade. It was a massive affair, longer than the girl was tall and almost as wide. The razor sharp edges gleamed menacingly in the flickering light of the fire. She held it casually in one hand, no sign of strain marring her features.

"Megarea," she stated simply in an emotionless voice.

"Great," muttered Jupiter, "reinforcements."

A loud cracking noise reached everyone’s ears and they all turned to stare at the block of ice serving as Alecto’s prison. Large cracks traced their way across its surface, growing larger as the Senshi watched in dismay. Suddenly it exploded, sending shards of ice in all directions. Alecto cracked her knuckles, scowling at the Senshi.

"Not good enough."

* * * * * *

Nodoka stared up into the night sky with sorrow filled eyes, watching as the stars made their slow trek across the heavens. She wondered if Ranma was gazing up at that same sky, counting the infinite points of light as he dreamed the dreams of a young man in the prime of life. She had tried to control those dreams, make them her own. Such foolishness, but only now could she see it as such.

Nodoka sighed softly. It hurt her deeply that her son had fled from her, but what hurt even more was the fact that others were also suffering because of her stupidity. Akane, Ukyou, and Shampoo were all missing, the latter two having been presumably kidnapped the same way as Akane although there were no witnesses to say as much. There was little doubt in peoples minds that if Ranma had been here the kidnappings never would have happened, or if they had, he would have saved the girls by now. Such was the faith in the young man's skill as a martial artist.

But Ranma was not here and the girls were not here and it was all her fault. Guilt filled her soul as tears threatened to fill her eyes.

The Saotome patriarch stood up, her eyes still locked on the heavens. She prayed then, prayed to whatever god might listen to a foolish old woman. If only her son and the girls were returned safely, then she would do anything, anything at all. Just please let them all be okay, let them all return home soon.

Suddenly there was large crash from the other side of the koi pond, the unexpected sound jarring her from her thoughts. Nodoka's head snapped in that direction, her eyes searching the gloom for what had made such a racket. It was too dark for her to make out details, but she could see that someone had made a large hole in the wall surrounding the dojo. She could faintly make out a figure moving amongst the rubble.

Had the gods answered her prayers then? Was this a divine messenger come to reassure her that her son and the girls were well?

"Excuse me," called out a forlorn voice. "Can you tell me how to get to the Tendou Dojo?"

* * * * * *

Hiroki Sakeuchi darted from booth to booth as he made his way cautiously towards where the fight with the Senshi was taking place. Adjusting his glasses, he peered around a slab of plywood to get his bearings. The flames of a large fire licked at the night sky about fifty yards away, filling the air with smoke and making it difficult to see anything of the fight that was taking place there. Sounds of battle carried to his ears on a hot breeze caused his heart to thump rapidly and loudly in his chest.

He couldn't believe he was doing this! It was so stupid! Slinking into the middle of a fight between the Senshi and some horrible monster. He could get killed! But still, if he lived... If he lived he'd be famous!

Checking the camera he clutched in two shaking hands for film for what had to be the twelfth time in the last two minutes, he made a dash for the next hiding place in his path. He ducked low as he ran just in case something big and nasty happened to look his way. He couldn’t see them yet, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t see him, and getting eaten would definitely put a damper on his plans for being a famous photographer.

Ducking behind a large tree, he took a moment to catch his breath and prepare for the most difficult portion of his plan. The area immediately surrounding the battle was littered with the remains of several booths, and there was no decent cover to be had, but Hiroki had to get as close as possible to get the pictures he wanted. He intended to crawl forward on his belly using the piles of broken wood and crushed metal that had once been carefully prepared stands to shield him from the view of the monsters fighting the Senshi. Then he would be able to get pictures like no one before him.

He had almost worked up the courage to start out, when something hurtled out of the sky to crash into a booth that was still standing not five feet from where he was hiding. Hiroki almost bolted right then and there, but the allure of fame kept him from doing more than letting out a startled yelp. Easing forward, he raised his camera, preparing to run if whatever had crashed into the booth decided he looked like a tasty treat. There was no need to fear though. It was one of the Senshi who laid amongst the broken remnants of the booth.

Hiroki thought it was the one called Sailor Mercury, but he wasn't entirely sure. She was dressed in various shades of blue that he felt went well with the large purple bruise forming on her cheek. She was rising slowly, clutching at her head and groaning in pain.

"I guess she didn't really enjoy being frozen in a block of ice," she mumbled to herself.

Hiroki's camera clicked and the flash went off. Suddenly Sailor Mercury was moving faster than he thought was possible for a human to move. Of course, when he really thought about it, he supposed no one had every actually said the Senshi were human. She rolled away from him and leaped to her feet several yards away. Both her hands came up before her and the photographer realized she was about to blast him.

"Wait!" he practically screamed, turning so that his body protected his precious camera.

"What are you doing here?!" demanded Sailor Mercury in a voice that was not unkind, but still held a sense of unyielding ice. "It's not safe to be around here. You should leave at once."

Then she was gone, dashing back towards the fire and the battle. He watched her go, managing to snap off a couple more pictures before she was lost to sight amongst the smoke and flames. Licking his lips, he reassessed his wonderful idea, his eyes resting on the remnants of the shattered booth. If a Senshi could be tossed around like that, what would happen to him if some fearsome monster caught him?

Fame and the dislike of intense physical pain seesawed in his mind for a few moments, then he took a hesitant step towards the battle. A few weeks in the hospital would be a not too high price to pay for the pictures he would be able to get.

"You should listen to what she said."

Hiroki froze. Turning around slowly, his eyes came to rest on two more Senshi, one with short-cropped blonde hair and the other with hair that was the color of the sea. Both were regarding him coolly from where they stood a few feet away. The eyes of the blonde seemed to drive into his chest, spearing his heart and causing him to freeze like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck. Her companion had more compassion in her sea green eyes, but there was also a hardness that made him very glad that these were allies.

Neptune looked towards the battle while Uranus said, "Leave here." It was an order, not a request. "They aren't doing well and you could get in the way and make it worse if you stay."

Neptune touched Uranus' arm and the blonde nodded. Seconds later, Hiroki was alone again. It was only then that he realized he hadn't taken any pictures. Muttering under his breath, he turned back to the fight. He wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him up no matter what those Senshi said. He managed two more steps before something else brought him up short.

Hiroki sensed the presence that appeared behind him, but he never got the chance to turn and see who or what it was. A firm hand clamped down on the back of his neck and a strange feeling of weakness washed through his body. His head slumped forward onto his chest as his eyes tried to close. His legs suddenly became like jelly and he would have fallen if it wasn't for the hand holding up. Whoever it was must have had incredible strength, he found himself thinking groggily. Finally, unable to hold on any longer, his hands released his precious camera, letting it clatter to the ground. He found himself falling after it. Staring up from where he lay, his eyes drifting shut as he plummeted into an unnatural sleep, Hiroki saw only a shadow. A tall, purple shadow.

"Should have listened to them," stated the shadow in an accented voice that followed him down into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

* * * * * *

Ranma stared down into the sluggish waters of the canal, watching the lights from the city around him as they skipped and played across its dark surface. It was almost as if the waters below him contained a galaxy of twirling, dancing stars within their depths. Looking up, he saw only darkness, the bright lights of surrounding Tokyo blinding him to the stars above.

A weight settled against his shoulder and he stiffened slightly. Looking over, Ranma saw the top of Usagi’s blonde head resting on his arm, her ‘meatballs’ bobbing slightly. In her arms she still clutched the load of stuffed animals he had won for her. Her blue eyes stared not at the water nor the heavens nor the city, but gazed beyond everything, searching the night for something unseen.

A streetlight a little ways down from where the couple stood on the bridge hissed and flickered, threatening to go out completely. It wavered for a moment; dimming then going out completely before suddenly snapping back to its former brightness with renewed purpose.

Usagi looked up at Ranma, her eyes watery. Ranma stared down at her, not knowing what to do or say. It was obvious she was hurting. She had been hurting since that rain soaked night he had met her, but the run in at the park had been like a sharp jab to a fresh wound.

"Ranma…" she began softly. Her mouth opened to say more, but no words came out. Instead, a choking sob was ripped from her throat as tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She buried her face in the young man’s chest, one hand clutching at his shirt.

Once again Ranma was at a complete loss as to what to do. For a few moments he just stood there stunned as Usagi’s tears dampened his shirt. Then, slowly, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her gently, offering what little comfort he could.

A slew of emotions swirled through Ranma’s head, bringing with them more confusion. He wondered suddenly if friendship was all he felt for the girl in his arms. The thought that there might be more to his feelings scared him more than a little. Always he had run from such feelings, not daring to accept them, seeing them as more of a weakness than anything else. Akane’s face spun through his mind and he flinched slightly.

Usagi felt that flinch and wondered if she had done something wrong. Was she making Ranma uncomfortable? Did he suddenly think less of her now that she had broken down in front of him like this? She started to pull away, but the arms encircling her pulled her in tighter and she felt the warmth of his body wash over her, chasing away her fears and easing her pain. She now knew she had a place to cry.

How long they stood there neither was quite sure. The moon was just easing into the sky when Usagi finally broke the embrace, stepping back and scrubbing at her eyes. For a long time they just stared at one another, each lost in thoughts and emotions that neither had ever bothered to give consideration. Finally Usagi looked away, her cheeks heating up.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"Yeah, sure," said Ranma a bit nervously, scratching the back of his head. "No problem."

Silence fell over them once again, broken when Usagi said, "We should be getting home soon, before my parents start to worry." She turned to go, but her grip on the armload of stuffed animals had been loosened when she had been crying in Ranma’s arms, and now a few of them slipped from her grasp and tumbled to the ground. Most of them just landed at her feet, but one, a pink rabbit, rolled under the rail, teetered on the edge of the bridge, and then fell into the canal waters below.

"I’ll get it for you," offered Ranma as he jumped up on the rail, balancing easily on the small surface.

"No!" she shouted before he could leap off. He turned around and gave her a questioning look. "It’s not worth the trouble. Besides, if you get wet you’ll be a girl again."
Ranma shrugged. "Gotta change back before we get back to your house anyways."

"Yeah, but…" Usagi looked up into his gray eyes, remembering how solid his muscled chest had felt when she had leaned against it. She studied the ground, trying to come up with an excuse. "But, wouldn’t you like to stay as a guy for a little longer. Until we get closer to home." Our home, she added mentally as her face heated up.

Looking down into the cold, dark waters where the rabbit had fallen, Ranma nodded. Hopping off of the rail, he helped Usagi pick up the other stuffed toys she had dropped. Then the two headed for home, Usagi leaning ever so slightly against Ranma’s arm.

* * * * * *

Sailor Venus ducked to avoid one of Alecto’s vicious punches, then spun away to give Sailor Uranus a clear shot at the girl. The older Senshi’s punch slammed into the leather clad warrior’s face, causing her to stumble backwards into Sailor Mars’ waiting arms. She wrapped an arm around the girl’s throat while tilting her back slightly to keep her off balance. Alecto gasped and tore at the arm, nearly freeing herself, but Uranus stepped in and delivered a fierce punch to her gut, blasting the air from her lungs and momentarily stealing the fight from her.

Venus took the moments respite to catch her own breath. She hurt all over and knew that only adrenaline and the desperation of the situation were keeping her up and fighting. The burns covering her body weren’t overly severe, but there were a lot of them and along with the numerous bruises she had contracted during the fight they were serving as a massive drain on her strength and energy.

A glance over at the armored warrior calling herself Megarea showed that Tuxedo Mask, Mercury, Jupiter, and Neptune seemed to be winning even though they were still having problems contending with the giant sword. If it hadn’t been for the timely arrival of Uranus and Neptune, Venus felt that this fight would’ve been over already, with her and her four companions brutally beaten or even dead. The fight had been going that badly for them. Whoever these two warriors were, they were incredibly strong.

Turning back to her own fight, she saw that they had Alecto almost beaten. Her efforts to fend off Uranus while trying to break Mars’ choke hold were growing steadily weaker. Venus took a step towards them, intending to help finish it that much quicker. Something wrapped itself around her own throat though, and suddenly she found it nearly impossible to draw a breath.

A pained gurgle from Venus combined with a sudden widening of Mars’ eyes alerted Uranus to the fact that something was wrong. Turning around, she saw her fellow Senshi pulling desperately on a black cord wrapped around her neck while gasping for air. Following the length of cord with her eyes, she found that it was a whip in the hands of a third attacker. A slew of very colorful phrases appropriate to the situation ran through her mind.

The newcomer was dressed in a ninja’s outfit made up of various shades of purple and missing the cowl and veil used to cover the face. Long purple hair spilled down her back and a grim light danced her eyes as she tugged on her whip, strangling Venus. The Senshi was on her knees now, her struggles weakening, her eyes drifting shut.

"URANUS WORLD SHAKING!!"

The yellow blast ripped across the ground, rising at the last instant to slam into the newcomer. Well, it should have happened that way, but she jumped high into the air and then simply vanished. The whip went with her though, and Venus collapsed to the ground gasping as she filled her burning lungs with desperately needed air. Once she could finally breathe properly again, the Senshi tried to stand up so she could help her friends. She found she just didn’t have the strength though, and fell back to the dirt. Tears of pain and frustration trickled down her face.

Uranus saw Venus lying on the ground trying futilely to stand up again, but couldn’t do anything to help her companion. She was too busy trying to figure out where her newest opponent had gone. The answer to that question came in the form of a painful blow to her back. Letting out a pained gasp, she spun around to face her attacker and found that no one was there. An elbow hammered into the side of her face and she stumbled sideways, barely keeping her balance. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth.

Once again there was no one standing where her opponent should have been. Calling upon instincts honed through years of training and fighting, she predicted her slippery attacker’s next move, throwing a kick to her left. She missed, badly, but she had successfully located the girl, who seemed to suddenly appear out of thin air, surprise at being discovered showing in her features. Uranus followed up the kick with a barrage of punches. All of them missed their target, who dodged deftly out of the way without seeming to try.

"You so slow," laughed the girl. "You never be able to hit Tisiphone." A dozen blows thudded into Uranus and the world spun away at an odd angle.

Without the support of her friends, Sailor Mars was having a difficult time containing Alecto. Her strength was incredible and she was slowly prying the Senshi’s arm away. Suddenly the girl gave Mar’s arm a sharp twist and slipped out of her grasp. A sickening popping, crunching noise came from the area of Mar’s shoulder and she bit back a scream as pain lanced through her arm.

With her right arm hanging useless at her side, Mars watched in horror as Alecto held up her own right hand, the one wrapped in black leather. Six-inch claws sprouted from the ends of her fingers, vicious looking things that gleamed evilly in the harsh light of the fire. The warrior came on in a sudden rush, those claws sweeping towards Mars’ midsection. The Senshi leaped back, barely avoiding being eviscerated, but the sharp claws still caught her stomach, shredding her uniform and leaving four burning gashes across her skin. Her scream was cut short as Alecto’s other hand swept up to close about the Senshi’s throat like an iron vise. With a single movement, she lifted Mars into the air and slammed her back into a tree.

Sailor Mars didn’t feel the bark of the tree grinding into her back and head, the rest of her body hurt too much for something so insignificant to attract her notice. Her good arm clawed and scrapped at Alecto’s face, and tugged futilely at the hand slowly choking the life from her, but she couldn’t get free. Black flecks danced before her eyes and the pain of her injuries became distant things. Her arm slowly fell to her side, the strength gone out of it.

I can’t die like this, she thought to herself. Not now, I have too many things left to do in my life. Somehow a grin forced its way onto her lips. I still have to get back at that Ranma girl for humiliating me at school. It was a stupid reason to continue living, but she held on to it like a drowning man caught in the middle of a hurricane might clutch at a small bit of wood. She didn’t realize she had spoken her thoughts out loud.

The words had slipped from her lips in a bare whisper, barely recognizable as words at all. But one word, a name, had been heard and understood by Alecto. Mars was rapidly slipping towards unconsciousness and death so she didn’t see the expression that flitted across the girl’s features. All of a sudden the vise released and the Senshi could breath again. Collapsing to the ground, her back resting against the tree, she sucked in great lungfulls of air, not caring to wonder how or why she was still alive.

Sailor Uranus found that flying without the aid of an airplane wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. This was because landing under such conditions was quite difficult and rather painful. Sailor Neptune, who served as Uranus’ landing-pad, agreed wholeheartedly.

Mercury watched as Uranus crashed into Neptune, driving them both to the ground in a tangled heap, their limbs flailing. The momentarily distraction gave Megarea the opening she had been searching for, and the flat of her massive blade slammed into the side of Mercury’s head. The Senshi staggered backwards, looked up at the armor-wearing girl in confusion, then crumpled, unconsciousness stealing her senses before she hit the ground.

Megarea swung her sword back towards Jupiter, one of the only two attackers left standing. The thunder Senshi was paying more attention than her fallen companion though, and managed to duck under the sweep of the weapon. She saw a brief opening in her opponent’s defenses and drove for it with all her strength. Tisiphone’s whip entangled itself in her legs though, and she crashed to the ground at Megarea’s feet.

The large blade rose, its tip aimed directly at the fallen Jupiter. Tuxedo Mask dove for Megarea, but was stopped by a sharp kick from Tisiphone that took him under the jaw, momentarily stunning him. The blade began to fall.

A scream tore into the night sky as a massive burst of energy exploded from Alecto in the form of a huge wave of white light. It rolled over the battlefield, smothering the flames of the fire and slamming into the combatants. Even the strength of Megarea and Tisiphone couldn’t stand up to the power of that blast and it lifted them from their feet and sent them spinning into the air like leaves caught in a tornado.

Pain. That was all Alecto knew. It had become her entire world.

It felt as though something was trying to claw its way out of her skull. Images of people and places flashed through her mind in a whirlwind of color and sound. She could make no sense of what she saw though. She was sure she didn’t know any of those people, nor had she been to any of those places. One image in particular kept repeating itself; that of a young man with black hair tied back in a pigtail. With that image there came a name, the name spoken by the warrior in red.

Ranma.

A thousand red-hot pokers stabbed at her brain and Alecto fell to her knees screaming and clutching at her head. Another wave of energy exploded outward as she tried desperately to find some release from the excruciating pain.

It felt to Sailor Mars as though she was being pushed through the tree she was leaning against. Faced with the press of energy coming from the screaming Alecto, she couldn’t move a muscle, couldn’t even open her eyes against the massive onslaught. She felt the tree at her back begin to give, heard a loud cracking noise. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over.

The screaming cut off abruptly and the energy died away as though it had never been. There were several thuds as bodies collided with the earth followed by loud groans from those who were still conscious. Opening her eyes carefully, Sailor Mars saw the comatose form of Alecto slumped across one arm of a large man. He was dressed in armor that was a lot like Megarea’s only more ornate, and the sword he held in his free hand was of a more reasonable size although it still seemed huge to the Senshi. Hard blue eyes pinned Mars to the tree as easily as the energy blast had.

"We’re leaving now," he stated in a hard voice, never taking his eyes off of the Senshi.

"What of these?" asked Megarea, pointing with her sword to the unconscious Mercury. The warrior looked a bit banged up, but not too badly hurt.

"Leave them. The Crystal bearer is not with them and they are no threat to our mission. You three have proven that much."

A circle of green light appeared floating a few inches off of the ground behind the man. Megarea and Tisiphone entered the circle without another word and vanished. The man turned to follow, but stopped abruptly and looked back at Mars. Raising his sword, he saluted her and then followed the other two into the portal, easily carrying Alecto in one arm.

Sailor Mars watched as the portal melted away into nothingness and tried to figure out exactly what had just happened. Looking around the battlefield, her eyes came to rest on Sailor Venus who was laying on her back with her eyes shut and her body shaking. At first Mars thought she was having convulsions of some type, that something horrible had been done to her over the course of the fight. Then she realized that Venus was crying.

We lost, that’s what happened. We lost very, very badly.