“I don’t see what you find so cute about that stupid pig.”
P-chan looked down at the strange white cat with a crescent moon on its forehead that was walking along side him and Mina. The fact that the cat could talk didn’t really bother him all that much. He had, after all, seen a lot weirder. His own abnormality made a talking cat look normal.
“You’re just jealous Artemis,” replied Mina who was carrying P-chan in her arms. “My friends are just going to love you little piggy.”
“Oh brother,” muttered Artemis.
P-chan hadn’t been paying a lot of attention when Mina had told him where they were going, but apparently they were going to meet some friends of hers. He just hoped he could find some hot water soon. He didn’t mind Mina’s company, but he’d rather be with Akane.
Actually Mina had been a lot nicer than most of the people who had found him over the years. She hadn’t tried to cook him for one thing. For another she had fed him real food as opposed to the table scraps he was used to receiving. He wondered idly if her friends were as nice. He hoped so. He also hoped they didn’t have young siblings.
Mina turned up a set of stairs leading to someplace called the Hikawa Shrine. In the shrine’s courtyard there were three other girls who P-chan assumed were Mina’s friends. His assumptions were confirmed when Mina waved and went to join them.
“What have you got there Mina?” asked a girl with long brown hair tied up in a pony tail.
“I found this little guy wandering around lost yesterday. I’m going to take care of him until I can find his home. These are my friends Amy, Rei, and Lita, little piggy.” Mina let each of the girls hold him and they all fed him little treats while they played with him. He thought they were all really great people, and he didn’t mind being here at all.
“What’s his name?” asked Amy.
“I don’t know. I haven’t named him yet.”
“That won’t do,” said Lita, “he has to have a name. I know! How about Apollo. That way he’ll fit right in with Luna and Artemis.”
“What do you think little piggy?” asked Mina. “Do you like the name Apollo?” P-chan thought about the name for a moment, and then squealed in approval. “Then Apollo it is.”
“He seems real intelligent for a pig,” said Rei.
“You’re right. Maybe he’s some kind of special breed.”
“Hey guys,” said a new voice. P-chan looked around to see a new girl and a boy arrive. He recognized them as the two people Ranma had been talking to yesterday.
“Hey Serena, Darien. How’s it going?” asked Lita.
“It’s so cute!” exclaimed Serena as she caught sight of P-chan.
“His name’s Apollo,” said Mina as she handed P-chan to Serena. “I found him yesterday.”
“He’s adorable,” said Serena clutching P-chan to her chest. “Isn’t he adorable Darien.”
“He sure is,” said Darien reaching to scratch P-chan’s head. P-chan remembered that Darien had distracted him long enough to allow Ranma to counter attack during their fight. When Darien’s hand got close enough he tried to bite it. “Whoa,” said Darien snatching his hand back, “looks like he doesn’t like me.’
“I wonder why?” said Mina, taking P-chan back from Serena.
“Ahem,” said a new voice, “don’t we have more important matters to discuss.” P-chan looked around, and was surprised to find another talking cat. This one was black and had a crescent shaped mark in its head just like Artemis.
“You’re right Luna,” said Serena. “Wait until you guys here what happened to me and Darien yesterday.” She began to relate what P-chan recognized as his recent encounter with Ranma.
“You mean there’s more than one of these super powered martial artists out there?” asked Amy when Serena was finished.
“Apparently,” said Darien. “They don’t all seem to be on the same side, though.”
“That girl you described sounds like the one in my vision, and I’d say having the same name is a definite connection between her and the male Ranma we met the other day.” P-chan wondered why they all seemed so interested in Ranma. He also wondered how they would react if they found out just how connected the male and female Ranma’s were.
“I need to talk to one of the Ranma’s or that other martial artist,” said Amy thoughtfully.
“Why?”
“Well, both Ranma’s and that other boy possess incredible strength and fighting ability. Our own powers come from our respective planets, but where does Ranma get his power? If a non-Scout has abilities equal to or greater than our own, than maybe we can learn what they have learned and get stronger ourselves. Rei says it might be chi, if that’s so than maybe Ranma would be willing to teach us how to manipulate our own chi.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” said Lita. “I think now that we know where to start we should go to Nerima and have a look around.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” said Darien, “ but I think we should go as the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask.”
Amy nodded, “Darien’s right. That way we’re prepared in case we have to defend ourselves. We don’t know what were going to find in Nerima.”
P-chan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Not only was he in the presence of two talking cats, but apparently the Sailor Scouts as well. He wondered if they’d take him to Nerima with them.
“If we’re going to go than we should leave soon so we can get home before dark,” said Rei.
“Do you think I can leave Apollo here while we’re away? I don’t want to risk him getting hurt.”
“No problem Mina. We’ll just shut him up in the house. Luna and Artemis can keep him company.”
P-chan tried to protest, but to no avail. Mina carried him inside and set him down on the floor. “Now you be a good piggy while I’m gone. I’ll be back soon, so don’t you worry.”
P-chan tried to make it out the door before Mina shut it, but he wasn’t quite fast enough. He sat in front of the door and wondered how to get out. He finally decided he would have to find some hot water and change back to normal before he’d be able to leave.
The talking cats ignored him when he tried to enlist their help so he wandered around the house for a good hour before finally stumbling upon the bathroom. There was a boy with long hair soaking in the tub, but P-chan decided the boy wouldn’t mind if he just borrowed a little hot water. The boy just watched him as he pulled himself up and over the edge of the tub and into the water. Ryoga emerged from beneath the water and found the boy staring at him with wide eyes.
“Excuse me,” said Ryoga, “do you know how to get to Nerima?” The boy just fainted. “I wish people wouldn’t do that,” muttered Ryoga as he wandered off to find some clothes. He found some Shinto priest robes that fit, and then set about trying to find his way out of the house. It took him another hour just to find his way out of the room with the clothes and into the living room. In the living room he found the two cats.
Upon entering the room the two cats jumped to their feet and began hissing at him. “Excuse me,” he said, “can you two tell me how to get to Nerima?” The cats just stared at him and began backing away. “Come on you two. I heard you talking so don’t pretend you don’t understand me.” At this point the two cats looked at each other and then turned and ran. “Hey come back here!” shouted Ryoga. He gave chase, but he accidentally crashed through a wall and found himself outside the house.
Ryoga looked around for a moment and decided that he should leave the cats alone and just try to find his own way to Nerima. He chose a random direction and began walking. Being who he was Ryoga had, of course, chosen the direction exactly opposite his intended destination.
Ranma stalked down the street muttering angrily to himself. He’d had another fight with Akane earlier that day and he was hoping he could find Ryoga or Kuno so he could pound them into the ground. He didn’t like fighting with Akane, but for some reason he always found himself picking a fight with her. As he thought about this, a feeling skittered along the edge of his consciousness. It was a slight feeling, but one that Ranma easily recognized. It was the feeling he got just before someone attacked him, usually from behind. Ranma’s body whipped around just in time to catch six tentacles hard in the chest. He felt sharp pain as the air was pushed from his lungs and he was sent tumbling to the ground. Even though he had had the air knocked out of him, Ranma forced himself to roll when he hit the ground. He sensed more than saw the six tentacles smash into the pavement where he had landed. Ranma rolled to his feet and jumped to the top of a nearby fence in order get his breath back and find his enemy. He found him (or her, Ranma wasn’t quite sure which) standing about ten yards away. The creature was a dark green color and had long white hair. It was wearing blue armor that covered it from its chest to its knees. Where its left arm should have been there were instead six tentacles.
“Who are you and what do you want?” demanded Ranma in more of a gasp than a shout as he tried to refill his lungs.
“I am Octar, and I want to see you dead.” The monster raised its tentacles and pointed them at Ranma. Suddenly the tentacles extended and shot at Ranma at incredible speed. Ranma managed to throw himself aside as the tentacles completely destroyed the portion of the fence he had been standing on. He hit the ground a few feet away from the fence and assumed a fighting stance.
“Why do you want to kill me?” he demanded in a stronger voice than before.
“Because you interfered where you should not have.” The creature sent its tentacles flying at Ranma again. He jumped away just in time, but the creature used its other hand to fling an energy ball. Ranma had no time to react and he felt burning pain as the energy ball caught him square in the chest and sent him sprawling. As Ranma tried to get his feet he felt the creatures tentacles wrap around him. They pinned his arms and legs and lifted him into the air. Ranma saw the tentacles began to glow with a bright orange light and he suddenly felt as if his entire body was on fire.
The creature smiled, “I shall enjoy hearing you scream as I drain your life away.”
As the tentacles began to squeeze harder Ranma felt sharp pain race through his chest as his ribs cracked. The pain from the creature’s tentacles and his cracked ribs was intense, but Ranma clamped his mouth shut and refused to make a sound. He wouldn’t give this monster the satisfaction of hearing him scream; he would die with honor. For some reason he found that his biggest regret in dying was that he wouldn’t be able to see Akane again. Black flecks danced across his vision and he began to feel totally numb, but that didn’t stop him from seeing Akane’s smiling face in front of his. Ranma managed to smile back at the apparition before him and he thought that she really was cute when she smiled.
“Excuse me,” said Sailor Mercury, “can you tell me how to get to the Tendou dojo?” The man Mercury was talking to suddenly got a really weird expression on his face. He pointed off to his left, and then turned away and almost ran in the opposite direction. “I don’t understand why we keep getting all these strange reactions.”
“It’s not because of the way we’re dressed,” commented Sailor Mars. “They don’t even seem to notice our clothes.”
“It’s like the people here are afraid of us simply because we want to go to the Tendou dojo,” said Venus.
“That’s because when someone wants to go to the Tendou residence it’s usually to pick a fight with Ranma honey. A fight with Ranma usually means that a lot of the surrounding area is going to be destroyed.” Mercury and the other Scouts turned around to see who had spoken. It was a tall girl with long brown hair tied with a white ribbon. She was wearing a bandoleer of small spatulas on her chest, and hefting another, very large, spatula in her left hand. “As for the way you’re dressed, people around here have seen a lot stranger.”
“Who are you?” asked Mars.
“I’m Ukyou Kuonji, and I want to know what your business at the Tendou’s is.”
Mercury saw Mars get a very defensive look on her face. Before Mars could open her mouth and say something that would probably get them into a fight, she answered Ukyou’s demand. “We saw Ranma fight and we were just interested in finding out more about him.”
“So, none of you are Ranma’s fiancee then?”
“Fiancee!” exclaimed Mars. “We don’t even know where he lives! How could one of us be his fiancee?”
Ukyou looked at them for a few moments and then placed her oversized spatula in a sheath on her back. “If you have to ask that question then you definitely don’t know Ranma. Well, since your not here to marry Ranma, why don’t you come in for something to eat?”
Mercury looked behind Ukyou and saw a sign reading “U-chans Okonomiyaki”. She assumed that Ukyou must be U-chan.
“I love okonomiyaki!” exclaimed Moon. “Come on guys, lets get something to eat.”
Mars opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly got a weird expression on her face. She cocked her head and stared off into space for a few moments. “I sense something really evil nearby,” she said just loud enough for her friends to hear.
“Thanks for the offer,” said Tuxedo Mask, “but we have something we have to take care of. We’ll have to take a rain check.”
“No problem, as long as you’re not enemy’s of Ranma honeys when you get back from the Tendou’s. If that’s the case though, you probably won’t be in any condition to eat anyway.”
The Scouts just looked at Ukyou for a second and then they began running down the street toward the source of trouble Mars had felt. It wasn’t long before they found it. They came around a corner and found Ranma trapped by a tall green monster with glowing tentacles. Mercury switched on her visor and scanned Ranma. “That things draining Ranma’s energy. We have to get him free.”
“Way ahead of you. Mars Celestial Fire Surround!” Several rings of fire streaked toward the creature, but it looked up from what it was doing to Ranma and jumped away leaving Ranma in a crumpled heap on the pavement. Unfortunately Mars’s fire rings smashed into the ground all around Ranma, showering him with fragments of pavement. “Oops.”
“Good job Mars,” said Moon sarcastically. “Ranma doesn’t need enemies when he has friends like you.”
“Shut up Sailor Moon. I was just trying to help.”
Sailor Jupiter stepped between the two Scouts; “This is no time for you two to start arguing. Ranma needs help and we have to take care of that monster.”
“Jupiter’s right,” said Mercury, “you guys take care of that monster, and I’ll see about Ranma.” The others nodded and jumped away to fight with the monster while Mercury made her way quickly to where Ranma was trying to stand up. She noticed he had a large hole in his shirt and a burn on his chest. “Lie back down, you’ve been hurt.”
“I’ll be fine,” groaned Ranma who had barely made it to one knee. Small pieces of pavement fell from his shoulders and head as he turned to look at her, “That monster isn’t so tough. Give me a minute and I’ll go kick his ass.”
Mercury flipped her visor on and pulled out her computer, “Not until I check your injuries you won’t.” As she scanned Ranma, Mercury gasped. He had four fractured ribs, a second-degree burn on his chest, and the computer said he had very little energy left. All this and he’s still trying to fight, thought Mercury. Any of the Scouts would have been unconscious by now. This guy’s incredible. Ranma finally managed to get to his feet and Mercury stood up next to him. “You’ve been hurt to bad to continue fighting. You need to get out of here.”
“I’ve been hurt worse than this and still managed to fight.” Ranma looked down at his shirt, “Aw man. This was one of my favorite shirts.” Ranma took a step toward where the fight was raging and suddenly collapsed back to one knee.
“See, you can’t even walk. How do you expect to fight?”
“Just give me a minute to rest. I’ll be fine. You should stop worrying about me and go help your friends.”
Mercury thought about it and decided that Ranma was in no real danger for the moment. “All right, but you stay here.”
“Fine, unless I see you’re in trouble. Then I’m going to fight.”
Mercury just shook her head in amazement at Ranma’s stubbornness and went to join the battle.
The fight with the monster had not been going very well for the Scouts. They had been put on the defensive from the very beginning and the creature wasn’t giving them the time to organize a counter attack. It’s constant stream of attacks kept them separated from each other and it easily dodged their individual attacks. Jupiter tried again anyway. “Jupiter Thunder Clap Zap!” she shouted. The creature jumped over her attack and the lightning ball slammed into the street.
“Shine Aqua Illusion!” shouted Sailor Mercury as she sent a stream of icy water toward the monster. The creature was in mid-air because of Jupiter’s attack and it had no where to go. It managed to twist itself so that it avoided the brunt of the attack, but it was still sent crashing to the pavement.
“All right!” shouted Moon, “now it’s time to dust this monster.” She brought her scepter out, but before she could use it the monster was on its feet again and back on the offensive. It sent an energy ball flying toward Sailor Moon. She managed to dodge, but just barely. The energy ball struck the pavement directly behind her and exploded in a wave of energy. The wave slammed into Moon’s back and she fell to her hands and knees. The monster saw this and sent another energy ball zipping toward her.
Tuxedo Mask watched in horror as Sailor Moon, totally unaware of the monster’s attack, tried to rise to her feet. “Serena!” he screamed as he rushed towards her even though he knew he’d never make it in time. Suddenly Ranma came out of nowhere and shoved Moon out of the energy balls path. Pushing Sailor Moon out of the way put Ranma directly in the path of the energy ball, though, and he didn’t have the energy to get out of the way in time. Ranma threw his arms up in front of himself as the energy ball crashed into him and sent him flying backwards. He hit the ground, rolled a few feet, and then just lay there.
“Looks like I might accomplish my goal after all,” said the monster as it gazed upon Ranma’s unmoving form.
“Venus Love Me Chain Encircle!” shouted Sailor Venus. The monster looked away from Ranma just in time to see a gold chain wrap around him. He struggled in his bonds, but the chain held him tight. “Now Sailor Moon!”
Sailor Moon brought her scepter out once again. “Moon Scepter Elimination!” she shouted as she sent a crescent shaped blast toward the creature.
“Nooo!” screamed the monster as the blast slammed into it. The monster’s scream lingered in the air as it disintegrated.
Before the monster’s ashes had settled to the ground, the Scouts and Tuxedo Mask were heading toward Ranma’s motionless form. Mercury was the first one there and she had already begun scanning Ranma by the time the others reached her. “Is he okay,” asked Moon.
“He’s not okay, but he’ll live. We have to get him to a doctor though.”
“I saw a doctors office when we were heading this way,” said Venus, “it wasn’t to far back.”
“Good. Tuxedo Mask you carry Ranma, but be careful. He’s been hurt badly and I don’t know how much more those ribs of his can take before they snap. I’m surprised they lasted this long. This guy’s incredible.”
Tuxedo Mask gently picked up Ranma and began heading up the road with the Scouts. They had to go slow because of Ranma’s condition, but soon they were at the doctors. “Dr. Tofu huh,” said Jupiter reading the sign in front of the building, “I hope this guy is good.”
When they entered the building a man in his mid-twenties and wearing glasses looked up from where he had been reading some sort of chart. “Dr. Tofu?” asked Mercury.
“Yes, what can I do for you?” Tuxedo Mask was behind the Scouts, so Dr. Tofu couldn’t see Ranma.
“Our friend has been hurt badly. We need you to help him.”
“Well, bring him over here and I’ll see what I can do.” As Tuxedo Mask brought Ranma forward, Dr. Tofu gasped. “Ranma! What has he gotten himself into this time?”
“You know him?”
“Yes, I treat his injuries on a regular basis. This must be serious, though. It takes a lot to knock Ranma out.”
Tuxedo Mask lay Ranma down on a table that Dr. Tofu indicated and helped the doctor remove Ranma’s shirt. Dr. Tofu examined Ranma for a few minutes using his hands to lightly poke around Ranma’s chest. “Hmmm, looks like about four fractured ribs and some burns on his chest and arms. This shouldn’t be enough to knock Ranma out.”
“Well, the monster we were fighting managed to drain most of his energy,” said Mercury, “I think that’s some of the reason.”
“That might be it. His aura does feel a lot weaker than normal.”
“You mean you can actually feel his aura?” asked Mars.
“An aura as big as Ranma’s? That’s easy. You six have fairly large auras yourselves. There not as big as some of the ones I’ve seen around here, but there still impressive.”
“So, about how many really strong people live around here?” asked Jupiter.
“Well lets see,” said Tofu as he began to bandage Ranma’s injuries. “From the stories Akane has told me I would guess there are about eleven really powerful people who Ranma has had to fight. Out of those eleven I would say about seven of them either live in Nerima or visit frequently.”
“How powerful are those seven compared to Ranma?”
“Well, I would say two of them are stronger, one of them is about equal, and the other four aren’t quite as strong as Ranma.”
The Scouts just stared at Dr. Tofu in disbelief. “Two of them are stronger than Ranma!” exclaimed Moon.
“Yes, but even though Ranma’s not as strong as they are, he makes up for it in skill and ingenuity. He can almost match both of them in pure skill, and they’re three hundred year old masters.”
The Scouts went back to staring in disbelief. Tuxedo Mask shook himself out of his stupor and turned to Dr. Tofu, “What about a guy about Ranma’s age who wears a yellow and black headband?”
“He’s the one who’s about even with Ranma as a fighter. He’s stronger than Ranma, but Ranma’s faster, so the two of them are about equal. Anyway, I’m done patching up Ranma.” The Scouts looked and saw that Ranma’s chest and arms were wrapped in bandages, but he was still unconscious.
“When will he wake up?” asked Venus.
“Oh, in about an hour or two. He’s a quick healer so he’ll probably have most of his energy back by then to. In the meantime why don’t you join me in the front and I’ll tell you some of Ranma’s more interesting adventures.” The Scouts nodded and followed Dr. Tofu out, eager to learn more about all of the super powered martial artists running around Nerima.
