Matoshi gazed down disdainfully at his vanquished warriors. Angelfire and Tinman kneeled before him in the center of a small room made of simple gray stone. “The Earth warriors still live,” he said in a cold tone of voice, “you failed. Failure is unacceptable.” Matoshi reached behind himself and pulled two long bladed daggers out of his belt. He tossed them into the air and they clattered to the floor, slid a few feet, and came to rest before the downcast eyes of the defeated fighters. Without another word Matoshi turned and left the room.
As Matoshi shut the door to the room behind him, he told a passing guard to wait five minutes and then dispose of the bodies. Matoshi didn’t wait for the guard to nod before he began heading down the hallway toward his lord’s chambers. Lord Dolgoth would be very displeased to hear of his minion’s latest defeat, but Matoshi had news that would also make him very happy. Matoshi entered the large chamber with the throne at the center, and immediately made his way to his lord. “Lord Dolgoth,” he said bowing low.
“Ah, Matoshi. I trust you bring me news of the Earth warriors defeat.”
“Unfortunately not my lord. The Earth warriors were able to defeat our fighters.”
Dolgoth stared hard at Matoshi, his eyes filling with rage. “How?”
“Once again more fighters appeared unexpectedly. They were very powerful, and together they were able to defeat our forces.”
Dolgoth slammed his fist down on the arm of his throne. “Our scouts informed me that the only opposition on Earth would come from the Sailor Scouts. Now I find out that there are over a dozen powerful warriors running around up there! I want the ones who scouted the Earth executed.”
“It will be as you say my lord.”
“Good. Is there anything else.”
“Yes my lord. I have managed to locate one of the stones we are looking for.”
Dolgoth’s anger at having his minions defeated evaporated and a smile spread across his face. “That is very good news. Where is it?”
“It is in the possession of an old woman who runs a restaurant in the Nerima district.”
“Good work Matoshi. I want you to personally oversee the taking of the stone.”
“Yes my lord.”
“One last thing,” said Dolgoth as Matoshi was turning to go. “If you run into the Sailor Scouts or any of those other warriors… destroy them.”
Matoshi smiled, “With pleasure my lord.”
Ranma made his way through the streets of Nerima heading toward the Cat Café. He figured he had put enough distance between himself and the cat (a few miles was sufficient), and even though it had taken a good hour he had managed to lose Ryoga, Shampoo, and Mousse. Actually, Ryoga had gotten lost after about the first two minutes of the chase.
“Hey Ranma!”
The shout brought Ranma to a halt and he turned around to see who had called his name. Stopping, it turned out, had been a mistake. Cold water splashed down over Ranma’s head and in no time he had become she. Ranma-chan looked up to find the source of the water, and a falling bucket collided with her face. “Oh my god!” cried out a voice as Ranma-chan rubbed her aching nose. She looked back up to see the face of a woman who was leaning out of a second story window. “I’m so sorry,” apologized the woman. “I accidentally knocked that bucket off of the window sill. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” said Ranma-chan as she picked up the bucket and tossed it back up to the woman. “Only thing hurt is my pride.”
“Are you okay Ranma?” asked another concerned voice.
Ranma-chan looked around and found Akane standing a few feet away. “Akane! What are you doing here?”
“I followed you. Or at least I tried to. It’s more luck than anything else that I finally managed to find you.”
“Why’d you try and find me for?”
“I was worried that maybe you had gone insane.”
“The lack of mass destruction should have told you I hadn’t, but since you’re here you can come with me to see Cologne.”
“Why do you want to see her for?”
“I need to find out how she knew to send Mousse and Shampoo to help us. I think the old ghoul knows something about all of these strange attacks that have been occurring lately.”
“She might,” said Akane skeptically as she fell in beside Ranma-chan and they began heading toward the Cat Café. “Why didn’t you ask the Scouts about the attack? They might have known something.”
“I would have, but that stupid cat showed up and I had to leave.”
“Oh yeah.”
The Cat Café wasn’t to far away and they reached it in no time at all. It was past lunch time and the only customers were a group of five girls and one boy who looked like he’d been beat up pretty badly. They all looked up and stared at Ranma-chan as she entered, but she ignored them. She had more important things to do than challenge some strangers stare’s. “Hey old ghoul,” she shouted.
“Ah, son-in-law,” said Cologne as she poked her withered head above the back counter, “I’m glad you’re here. Shampoo and Mousse are still out and I have need of you.” Suddenly six bowls of ramen came flying towards Ranma-chan. “Table four,” shouted Cologne.
Ranma-chan ground her teeth. “I’m not your waitress anymore old ghoul.” Regardless of her protest, Ranma-chan intercepted all six bowls, and using her speed and skill she placed each one perfectly in front of each customer. The girls alternated from staring at the unspilled ramen to staring wide-eyed at Ranma-chan. The boy just stared hard at Ranma-chan. Luckily; Ranma-chan didn’t notice the two cats watching her from beneath the table.
“I see you still haven’t lost your touch son-in-law. Are you sure you don’t want to come back and work for me again?”
“I’m not here to talk about jobs old ghoul. I want to know how you knew to send Mousse and Shampoo to help us in the park today.” Ranma-chan thought she heard a gasp come from one of the girls at the table, but when she looked down they were all engrossed in eating their ramen.
“Yes, I figured that’s what you were here about. Come in the back son-in-law, I have something to show you.” Cologne hopped down from the counter and Ranma-chan and Akane followed her into one of the back rooms. The room looked like a study of sorts. There were bookcases filled with books and scrolls lining three of the walls, and there was a large desk in the center. On the desk was a large open book and a small green stone carved all over with various runes. “Come over here son-in-law,” said Cologne as she hopped up onto the chair behind the desk and began flipping through pages in the book.
Ranma-chan and Akane stood behind the old woman and looked at the book over her shoulder. It was very old looking, with dry brittle paper that looked like it should fall apart at the first touch. The writing was all in Chinese so Ranma-chan couldn’t read it, but there were pictures as well. The pictures all seemed to be of great battles or powerful warriors. Cologne stopped at a page with the picture of a figure made of light and one made of shadow. “I wish to tell you a story son-in-law.”
“I didn’t come here for a bed time story old ghoul.”
“Oh, I think you will find this story very interesting. It has not been told to one outside of Joketsuzoku in over a thousand years.”
“Fine, just read fast.”
Cologne nodded. “Since you don’t know Amazon history I suppose I should start at the beginning. When the Creator created the heavens and the Earth he made them of only goodness and everything and everybody flourished. But the demons and creatures of evil that lived beyond the veil of darkness hated the light and goodness of the Earth and so they planned to destroy it.” Cologne turned the page and there was a picture of demonic looking beasts cutting down humans.
Cologne pointed at the picture. “The demons passed through the veil of darkness and began slaughtering the people of the Earth. The Creator saw this and sent a hero of the light to destroy the demons and protect the people. He sent the Dragon.” Cologne turned the page and there was a picture of a large dragon ripping apart demons with its sharp claws and fiery breath. “But although the Dragon was powerful, he was also reckless and stubborn. He lived to fight and would fight no matter what the odds. This in itself wasn’t a bad thing since that was what he was sent to do, but the Dragon fought recklessly and his victories almost always came at high costs. So the Creator sent another hero to help the Dragon.”
Cologne turned the page and there was a picture of a bird covered in flames. “He sent the Phoenix. The Phoenix was not as powerful as the Dragon, but she fought the darkness at his side and kept his recklessness in check. Eventually, with help from powerful mortals, the Dragon and the Phoenix drove the demons back through the veil and sealed them there. The light had won, but it was not a complete victory. Some of the evil beings had not been locked away, and these creatures worked to free there comrades. Three stones worked as the key to the seal. If all three stones were gathered together the seal could be breached and the demons could be freed.”
“The Creator saw that there was a chance for the demons to escape and so he turned the Dragon and the Phoenix mortal and set them as guardians of the Earth along with the other mortals who had helped them fight the darkness. Over the centuries the demons have tried many times to breach the seal, but each time the Earth’s guardians are reborn and set to fight the evil. Sometimes the full power of the Dragon and the Phoenix is required and sometimes not, but they are always there, ready to fight.”
Ranma-chan yawned, “Great story old ghoul, but what does it have to do with me.”
“You, Ranma, are the Dragon.”
“What?”
“You’re the Dragon, one of Earth’s guardians reborn to fight the darkness. I knew it the first time I met you. That is why I have trained you, why I have pushed your limits. I have been preparing you for the battles ahead.”
“I thought all that training was because you wanted me to marry Shampoo?”
“In part it was, but I have also been preparing you to face your destiny.”
Ranma-chan remembered the dream she had had. The thousands of dead demons surrounding her and one other warrior. There had been other dreams over the past week, but always she had been fighting the dark and twisted shapes of demons. Ranma-chan shook her head in denial, “No, I’m not some warrior reborn to fight evil. I’m just a martial artist.”
“Do you want to know how I knew where to send Mousse and Shampoo? I could sense the great evil from the creatures you fought. I could also sense the great energy inside of you. It is dormant right now, but it is beginning to stir. The demon attacks are igniting the fire within you.”
“If you know so much than whose the Phoenix supposed to be huh? Kasumi?
“I do not know who the Phoenix is, but I can fell her presence nearby. You, as the Dragon, must find her and join forces with her in order to turn back the evil.”
Ranma-chan opened her mouth to protest being called the Dragon when suddenly the ceiling exploded inwards. Ranma-chan instinctively threw herself in front of Akane as pieces of the ceiling rained down upon them. When the debris from the ceiling stopped falling a man dressed in samurai armor and sporting a topknot floated down through the hole. He landed next to the desk and reached for the green stone.
Cologne lunged toward the man, “Get away from that!” The man’s hand shot out at incredible speed and smashed into Cologne’s midsection. Then his foot snapped out and sent her crashing into one of the bookcases. The man turned his back on her and picked up the green stone.
He took out Cologne without even breaking a sweat, thought Ranma-chan, This guy’s bad news. The man put the stone in a pouch at his side and turned to face Ranma-chan. “You are not the quarry I was hoping to find here, but I shall enjoy crushing you nonetheless.”
“Yeah? Just try it and we’ll see who crushes who.” Ranma-chan positioned herself between the man and Akane, and assumed a fighting stance.
“Ranma,” said a voice. Ranma-chan looked and saw Cologne slowly picking herself off of the floor. “That stone is one of the seals to the demons prison. You must get it back.”
“Great,” muttered Ranma-chan as she turned back to the strange Samurai. “Why does this stuff always happen to me.”
“Did you see how fast she moved!” exclaimed Serena when Ranko left with Akane and the old woman. “She grabbed all six bowls of ramen out of the air without spilling a drop.” Serena bent down and looked under the table, “Now do you believe me about Ranma and Ranko’s abilities Luna.”
“I believe it, but I want to know how. Do you have any ideas Amy?”
Amy shook her head. “None at all, but my computer is running the information I gathered on Ranma’s abilities in the park today. It should tell us something.”
After the battle in the park, the Scouts had taken Tuxedo Mask to see Dr. Tofu. He had been curious as to what had happened, but hadn’t been to surprised by what they had to tell him. He had seen a lot of weird stuff around here and this was just one more thing to add to Nerima’s list of abnormalities. After Dr. Tofu had patched up Tuxedo Mask they went out looking for lunch. That’s how they had arrived at the Cat Café.
“Don’t you think it’s kind of strange that that old woman calls Ranko son-in-law?” asked Mina.
“Maybe she’s just getting senile,” said Lita. “She does look pretty old.”
“I guess, but she seemed to know what she was talking about to me.”
“Well I find it strange that Ranko is here asking questions about our battle in the park,” remarked Darien. “She acted almost as if she had been there.”
“She had Akane with her and she was there,” said Serena. “Maybe she heard the story from Akane and is just curious about learning more.”
“Maybe, but why would she come here? Why not go to Ranma?”
“You heard what she said. Apparently two of the people who helped us were sent by that woman.”
“If that’s the case than I want to talk to that old woman. She might know something about the enemy we are facing.” Darien leaned over to take a bite of his ramen when suddenly an explosion sounded from the back. “What the hell was that?”
Amy flipped on her visor. “I’m picking up large amounts of evil energy from the back of the restaurant. I think this is another attack.”
“All right Scouts,” said Serena as she stood up, “let’s transform and find out what we’re up against this time.” A few moments later the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask were standing around the table. “Are you sure you’re up to fighting, Tuxedo Mask?” asked a concerned Sailor Moon.
“I’ll be fine as long as I take it easy. I’ll leave most of the fighting to you five.”
Moon nodded and turned to Mercury. “Can your computer tell us what’s back there?”
“Let’s see. There are two energy sources and one of them is incredibly powerful. No, wait. That powerful energy source was actually two people in close proximity. There are actually three energy sources, and one of them is heading this way.” All the Scouts looked to the back just in time to see Ranko come crashing through a wall. She hit a table and split it in two as she bounced off and crashed to the floor.
“Ow,” said Ranko as she got to her feet. Suddenly there was a scream and Akane came flying through the hole Ranko had made. “Akane!” shouted Ranko as she moved to catch Akane. She moved fast and Akane landed in her arms with a soft thud. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, he didn’t hurt me, he just threw me.”
“Ranko!” Ranko’s head snapped around and her frown turned to a smile when she saw Sailor Moon. “What’s going on?” asked Moon.
“I’m not really sure. There’s some guy running around in samurai armor and he’s got some kind of stone that we have to get back or else the world is doomed. Or something like that anyway.”
The Scouts stared at Ranko in something bordering disbelief. Suddenly what was left of the back wall exploded and a man dressed in samurai armor stepped into the front room. “Ah, the Sailor Scouts. This will make this fight a bit more challenging. I find this place somewhat unsuited for battle, though. Shall we take it outside?” The man raised his hands and dark energy shot forward. The energy struck all of the rooms occupants and sent them flying through the front windows and into the street.
Sailor Moon picked herself off of the ground and looked around for her friends. She found them getting to their feet all around her, all of them except Tuxedo Mask. He was kneeling a little ways off clutching at the injuries he had received earlier. “Tuxedo Mask! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. See about Ranko and Akane.”
Moon looked around and found Ranko getting to her feet a few yards away. Akane, however, was lying unmoving in the middle of the street. Moon didn’t have the chance to do anything for her, though, because the man in samurai armor exited the restaurant and went to stand over Akane.
“This woman is not a warrior,” he said as he raised his hands over his head. “I shall destroy her now so that she does not get in our way.” The man’s hands began to glow.
“You get away from her you bastard!” shouted Ranko. Moon turned to see Ranko charging toward the man, and she gasped. She heard echoing exclamations of surprise come from her friends. It wasn’t the fact that Ranko was attacking the man that surprised them, they expected that. It was the symbol on Ranko’s forehead that was unexpected. It was a circle with a dot in the middle of it, and it was glowing brightly. “Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!” shouted Ranko as her hands blurred with the speed of the punches she threw at the man.
Not only did the man manage to avoid all of Ranko’s strikes; he also managed to grab her by the throat. With what looked like no effort at all the man picked Ranko up and hurled her over the top of a nearby building. “That takes care of one insect,” said the man as he turned back to Akane. Ranko’s attack had given Akane the chance to regain consciousness, though, and she was rapidly scooting away from the man. “Oh well, I will deal with you later. Right now I have more important matters to deal with.” The man turned to face the Scouts, “The time for you to battle the great Matoshi has come. Prepare to die.”
Sailor Moon didn’t dare take her gaze off of Matoshi, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Luna go hurrying off in the direction Ranko had gone. She must have seen the mark to, thought Moon. Who would have thought Ranko would be a Sailor Scout? Moon didn’t have time to dwell on this, though. Matoshi was attacking, and he was moving incredibly fast. This is not going to be easy, thought Moon as she moved to defend herself.
Sailors Mercury and Jupiter were between Moon and Matoshi, but before they could do anything he picked both of them up at once and tossed them into a nearby wall. Sailor Moon had just enough time to pull out her scepter before Matoshi was standing before her. Letting out a startled scream, Moon swung her scepter around to hit Matoshi’s head. He was to fast, however, and he caught her weapon with one hand.
“So you’re the leader of the Scouts? I think I will kill you first.” Matoshi brought his free hand up and it began glowing brightly. “Don’t worry, this will be quick.”
“Venus Love Me Whip!” Moon saw Venus’s whip shoot out toward Matoshi, but he casually used his free hand to snatch it out of the air. He smiled at the stunned Venus and then, using her heart link chain to swing her around, he sent her crashing into Sailor Mars as she was preparing an attack of her own.
“You and your friends are pathetic fighters,” said Matoshi as he let go of the whip and placed his hand over Moon’s throat. “I don’t see how you possibly managed to defeat all of my warriors.” Matoshi’s hand began to glow again, and Moon could feel her throat began to burn. Suddenly Matoshi gave a startled cry and released his hold on Sailor Moon. As she collapsed to the ground she saw that Akane was standing behind Matoshi in a fighting stance. “So,” said Matoshi turning to face Akane, “maybe you fancy yourself a warrior after all.” Akane threw a punch at Matoshi, but he caught it in one hand.
“Get out of here you jerk!” shouted Akane as she threw a round kick at Matoshi’s head. Unfortunately he caught her kick to which left Akane trying desperately to free herself to attack again.
Smiling evilly at the trapped Akane, he brought his free hand around and delivered a blow that sent her sprawling. “Pathetic,” he muttered as he turned back to Sailor Moon. He had just enough time to see the black cane before it slammed into his head sending him stumbling backwards. When his head cleared he saw Tuxedo Mask brandishing his cane and standing protectively over Sailor Moon. “You will pay for that boy,” he growled.
“Your evil ends here. I won’t let you harm anyone else.”
“Like you have a choice.” Matoshi held both hands out before him and they began to glow with a black light. “Dark Blast!” he shouted as dark energy poured from his hands to strike Tuxedo Mask in the chest. Tuxedo Mask screamed as the dark energy engulfed him and sent him crashing to the ground. “That takes care of that,” said Matoshi dusting off his hands. He took a step toward Sailor Moon, but before he could take another Sailor Mars and Jupiter appeared in front of him. “I grow tired of this game. I will end it now.”
As Matoshi began moving menacingly toward Jupiter and Mars, Sailor Moon knew that they were going to need help if they wanted to live through this fight.
The moment Luna had seen Ranko’s mark memories had begun filling her head. She remembered the mark as belonging to the Sailor of the Sun, Sailor Sol. She remembered Sailor Sol as being easily the most powerful Scout of all. She had been a master of battle, but she had also been somewhat reckless.
As Luna tried to find where Ranko had landed she thought about how she would talk to her. Ranko’s strange aversion to cats made that simple task somewhat difficult. Luna found Ranko picking herself off of the ground in the back of a dead end alley. Good, she thought to herself, this will prevent her from running. Luna walked into the alley and hid herself behind a large garbage can. “Are you okay Ranko?”
“Huh?” said Ranko looking around. “Who said that?”
“I’m here, behind the garbage can.”
“Well why don’t you come out where I can see you?”
“I can’t do that because you will run away. I’m a cat.” Luna peeked around the edge of the garbage can and saw Ranko plastered up against the back wall of the alley.
“Y-you can’t be a c-c-cat. Cat’s can’t talk.”
“There’s no time to explain, but you must listen to me Ranko. You are a Sailor Scout.”
“I’m a what?”
“A Sailor Scout. Or more specifically Sailor Sol, the Sailor of the Sun.” Luna did a back flip and Sailor Sol’s henshin rod appeared. As Luna prepared to give it to Ranko she noticed something strange about it. In the center of the star on top where the symbol for the sun should have been, there was instead a yin-yang. That’s strange, thought Luna, I wonder why the symbol doesn’t match the one on Ranko’s forehead. Luna decided she’d investigate later, and she slid the rod out to Ranko. “Take that, hold it above your head, and say Sol Star Power.”
Ranko picked up the rod. “Why?”
“So you can become a Sailor Scout. I told you I don’t have time to explain everything right now.”
“Yeah, well you’d better explain everything now if you intend for me to dress up in one of those Scout costumes.”
Luna ground her teeth. None of the other girls had given her this much trouble. “Fine, but I’ll only explain this once. Over a thousand years ago there was a great kingdom on the moon. The Sailor Scouts were the guardians of that kingdom. There was a great war against evil and, even though the evil was defeated, the kingdom was destroyed. Before they were destroyed as well, the moon queen sent the souls of the Sailor Scouts to Earth so that they might be reborn if the evil attacked again. You are one of the Sailor Scouts reborn here to fight the evil. Is that a good enough explanation for you?”
“Great, just what I need. More crap about me being some kind of reincarnated warrior. Listen, I don’t need this wand to beat that guy, all I need is some hot water.”
Luna was beginning to get very angry at Ranko’s stubbornness. “That guy just tossed you through the air like you were nothing. Transforming will make you even more powerful than you are now. The Scouts and your friend need your help and you can’t help them without becoming Sailor Sol.” Ranko still looked hesitant about transforming so Luna used a different strategy. “I won’t leave the alley until you transform.”
Ranko’s face became a mask of terror. “Okay, okay, you win. I’ll use the stupid wand.” Ranko raised the wand above her head and closed her eyes. Luna wondered why she was so against becoming a Scout. “Sol…Star…Power,” said Ranko in a hesitant voice. There was a bright flash of light and Luna had to close her eyes and look away. When the light faded Luna looked back to see Sailor Sol standing in the alley looking down disgustedly at herself. “Great, not only am I dressed in a skirt so short not even Shampoo would wear it, it’s ugly to boot.”
Luna actually thought it was quite beautiful. Sol’s skirt and knee high boots were golden, and they sparkled brilliantly as the suns ray’s reflected off of them. Her bow was silver and the jewel in the center was amber colored. One oddity Luna noticed was the yin-yang where the stone in Sol’s tiara should have been. “There,” said Luna pitting the yin-yang out of her mind for the moment, “that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Ranko glared in Luna’s direction. “Someday I’m going to get you for this.” With that said, Ranko leaped to the top of a building and was gone.
How strange, thought Luna, she seems to genuinely hate being a Sailor Scout. I wonder why? Luna decided she would figure it out later, and she began heading back to see how the fight was going.
This is not good, thought Jupiter as Matoshi began moving toward her and Mars, we are way outclassed. Jupiter moved into a defensive stance, but she wasn’t sure how much good it would do. The way Sailor Moon, Venus, Mercury, and Tuxedo Mask were sprawled out on the ground, she wasn’t sure anything would do any good. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Akane rising to her feet and preparing to fight again, but she didn’t think it would be enough. Suddenly Jupiter saw a bright flash of gold streak by her and collide with Matoshi. There was a blur of movement and then the golden flash was gone. Matoshi stood there for a few seconds and then crumpled to his knees clutching his stomach.
“What just happened?” asked Mars.
“I don’t know, but I think it’s going to happen again.” Jupiter pointed to a bright flash of light streaking toward Matoshi. Matoshi saw it to and rolled out of the way as an energy blast put a large crater in the ground where he had been kneeling.
“Who are you?” shouted Matoshi. “Show yourself.”
On top of the ruined Cat Café a figure appeared. The figure was a pigtailed girl wearing the uniform of a Sailor Scout. “I am Sailor Sol, and I will not allow you to hurt my friends. In the name of the Sun I will destroy you.” Various hand movements accompanied this short speech, and when she had finished Sol looked thoroughly disgusted with something. She promptly began beating the side of her head with her fists and tugging at her skirt.
While Sol was beating herself in the head, Matoshi stood up and threw an energy ball at her. Jupiter tried to shout out a warning, but the energy ball was to fast. It sped straight toward Sol, and passed through the air where she had been standing. Jupiter hadn’t even seen Sol move, she simply hadn’t been there anymore. Jupiter looked around and found Sailor Sol standing right next to Matoshi. Matoshi saw her to, but before he could do anything he was sent flying through the air by a series of lightning fast kicks and punches. When Matoshi hit the ground he lay there unmoving.
Sailor Sol began to walk toward where Matoshi lay. “I blame this on you,” she said as she gestured to her skirt. “If you hadn’t showed up I never would have had to put this damn thing on. Now you are going to pay for this.”
When Sol was five feet from him, Matoshi jumped to his feet and flung his hands out before himself. “Dark Blast!” he shouted as he unleashed a massive ball of dark energy.
“Solar Flare!” shouted Sailor Sol as she sent a wave of pure white flame to meet Matoshi’s blast. The wave of flame totally consumed Matoshi and his blast. When it cleared only ashes and a small green stone remained. Sol went to the stone and picked it up, then turned to Akane. “Are you okay Akane?”
A small bruise was forming on Akane’s cheek where Matoshi had hit her when she had attacked him. The attack hadn’t done much, but it had kept Matoshi from killing Sailor Moon. Jupiter had a lot of respect for Akane. “I’ll be all right.” Akane stared at the new Scout for a moment than gasped. “Ranma! Is that you?”
Sailor Sol sighed and nodded. Jupiter walked up behind Sol and put a hand on her shoulder. “That’s right, Ranko’s part of the team now.” To Jupiter’s surprise Sol spun around and slapped her hand away.
“I’m not part of your team,” she said in a heated voice.
Jupiter was confused by Sol’s actions, “What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said. I’m not part of your team. Now tell me how to get out of this stupid outfit so I can go home.”
By this time the others had made it to their feet and they were all staring at Sol with questioning looks on their faces. “Why don’t you want to be a Sailor Scout?” asked Moon.
“Just because damn it! I don’t have to explain why to you. Just tell me how to get out of this damn sailor suit.”
The Scouts exchanged confused looks. “You just have to think yourself out of it,” supplied Mercury. Sol stared hard at Mercury for a moment than closed her eyes. In a few seconds Ranko stood before the Scouts.
Ranko looked down at herself and sighed in relief, “Much better.”
Sailor Moon tried again, “Why don’t you want to be a Scout?”
Ranko’s glare sent Sailor Moon back a few steps, “I told you, just because.”
“Okay,” said Venus, “If you don’t want to be a Scout that’s fine. We can at least be friends.”
Ranko turned her glare on Venus. “I don’t think so. In fact I think it would be best if I never saw you guys again.” Ranko held out her hand and her henshin rod appeared. She looked at the rod for a moment and than tossed it to Sailor Moon. “I neither need that or want it. It’s yours to do with as you want.” Before anyone could say another word, Ranko was running down the street as fast as she could.
Jupiter was about to follow Ranko, but a shout from Tuxedo Mask stopped her. “Ranko’s made her choice. In time she may change her mind, but for now I think its best if we just leave her alone.” Jupiter hesitated for a moment and than nodded in agreement.
When Ranko disappeared from sight everyone turned to look at Akane. “Do you know what that was all about?” asked Mars.
Akane turned from staring after Ranko and nodded. “I think so. I can’t really explain it to you right now, but I think if I talk to Ranko she might reconsider the friend thing. I doubt you’ll be able to put her in that outfit again though.”
Jupiter nodded slowly, not knowing what to make of Ranko’s strange behavior. Out of all the Scouts only Sailor Moon didn’t really want her abilities, but she was slowly accepting her fate. And even Sailor Moon had never been as adamant as Ranko seemed to be about not being a Scout. Jupiter definitely wanted to find out what was behind Ranko’s strange behavior.
“Excuse me,” said a voice from behind everyone. Jupiter turned to see the old woman that ran the restaurant balancing on a staff in front of the ruined building. “I need to talk to you about something.”
Sailor Moon began moving away from the woman, “It’s not our fault, honestly. The monster did all the damage to your store. We didn’t do a thing.”
The old woman looked around at what was left of the restaurant. “Well I must admit that it will be expensive to repair the damage, but that’s not what is important. What is important young lady,” said the woman pointing a bony finger at Sailor Moon, “is that you are the one spoken of in legends. You are the Phoenix.” From behind her, Jupiter heard Akane gasp.
