Insertion

    Part 91

    The fall.

++++++++++++++++++

    Trunks sighed as he stared at the progress the girls were
making with their training units. The wall was lined with several
pod-like simulators. They didn't move, mostly because they didn't
need too. Rather than create a training environment that
encompassed the whole room, the pods created the field instead.
It was a measure to conserve the amount of power they needed to
use.

    Washuu was sitting at a long table with him and George.
Various papers were strewn across the wood surface along with a
large number of binders and folders. "So, they are doing well?"
asked Washuu.

    "Not as well as I'd like," commented Trunks.

    George nodded sleepily. "Ami is doing well in the repairs and
maintenance.  Usagi couldn't figure out which end of the
blowtorch to use."

    "That's not unexpected, she's doing well though," said Trunks
as he smiled at the pair. "All around, she's probably the best of
them. The others seem to excel more on individual things."

    "Tsukino?" said Washuu as she stared at him dumbly.

    "That's right," said Trunks as he tossed a folder at her.
"Her scores are never above average. The others all have higher
scores at one area or another, but their all around scores are
actually lower than hers. Only by a point or two though. She's
also the best shot."

    "Hmmm. I hadn't noticed this before now," commented Washuu as
she furrowed her brow slightly. "You're right though."

    "Yeah, it gets old after a while," said the boy as he looked
down at a few more papers. "So, what's the program for today?"

    "Just a Star Destroyer, and a full compliment of Tie
fighters," said George with a small shrug.

    Trunks nodded. "Toss in an asteroid field."

    The man blinked, but nodded his head.

    "Okay, what's for lunch?" said the boy cheerfully.

++++++++++++++++++

    To say that Keiichi Morisato was in pain would be a bit of an
understatement. He was lying on a bed covered in bandages.

    "You were supposed to watch him!" snapped Akane as she belted
Trunks across his head as she stood over him with Gohan and
Cologne.

    "Those involved have been punished. Extra guard duty for a
month or so is the best I could get," said Cologne irritably.
"They didn't know that you were to remain untouched. Word had
spread of your arrival, but not of the immunity."

    Gohan frowned and nodded. "He's not hurt too badly. He'll be
bruised a bit, and probably have a hard time moving around for a
few days."

    "Damn you old woman. I told you we should have let him in,"
growled Trunks as he glared at Cologne.

    The old woman snorted at this. "Some of our rules may be
bent, but not broken. I don't care how special you are."

    "Oh? And what of Ranma Saotome's kiss?" said Gohan with a
sort of cheerful grin forming on his face.

    "That became optional when it was discovered that he was not
human," replied Cologne calmly.

    Keiichi muttered painfully in his sleep.

    "What's he doing?" said Trunks as he frowned at the boy.

    "Bell..." whispered the boy.

    "Oh shit," said Gohan as he quickly grabbed the boy by his
shoulders and shook him.

    "What's going on?" cried Akane.

    "This isn't good," muttered Gohan as he realized what Trunks
was doing.

    "What do you mean?" snapped Cologne.

    "This boy, he's staying with three goddesses right now,"
growled Trunks as Keiichi opened his eyes slowly.

    "He was trying to call to them in his sleep," commented
Gohan.

    "So?" muttered Akane.

    "He probably didn't even know he was doing it," grumbled
Trunks. "If he succeeded, we're about to have visitors."

    "What do you mean?" Cologne did not look happy with this.

    "We're about to have three pissed off goddesses land on our
heads," said Gohan as he turned towards the door.

    "What?" gasped Akane.

    "What have you brought down on us now?!" Cologne's mood
wasn't getting any better.

    "Relax, we're gonna take Keiichi outside of the village.
Maybe if we give them what they want, and explain things, they'll
help us," replied Trunks as he followed.

    "You should have done that sooner then!" snapped Akane
angrily as she followed after the pair.

    "We didn't have time," replied Gohan calmly. "If Ranma
figured out where we were, we wouldn't have stood much of a
chance. He's a lot stronger than we are."

    "What?" said Cologne as she froze in place. "If what you say
is true..."

    "Relax old lady, we've got help on the way," said Trunks
calmly. "There is another one like us, he'll be the strongest of
us all."

    Cologne narrowed her eyes at the pair. "If you survive those
Goddesses at all..."

    "Heh. Let us worry about that," said Gohan with a smirk on
his face.

    Cologne was almost knocked off her feet by the sudden surge
of power that blasted off the pair. The ground shook violently
under the village, spilling amazons and their possessions to the
ground all across the village. Her eyes went wide as she
staggered back. "This is..."

    "Heh. We're just getting started," said Gohan with a
confident smirk on his face. His hair looked like it was threads
of pure gold. Trunks looked much the same, both of them had grown
larger and their hair was longer and had a more edged appearance
to it.

    "This is just our first transformation," agreed Trunks
calmly.

    "Showoffs," muttered Akane as she snorted. It was obvious she
wasn't impressed.

    Trunks blushed a bit at this.

    "Don't be that way, the old bat is just jealous," said Gohan
cheerfully as he pat his companion on his back.

    Keiichi was lying on the ground looking confused. "Oh man.
Now what?"

    Trunks lifted him up and hefted him over his shoulder. "Come
on."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Ranma Saotome stared off in the distance. He had a frown on
his face as he floated over the forest and simply watched the sky
in the distance.

    "What was that?" growled Chibi Usa as she stopped directly by
his side. Neither of them was transformed at the moment. Chibi
Usa was in her 'Dark Lady' form again.

    "A power, weak compared to us, but still unusually strong,"
said the pigtailed boy as he narrowed his eyes in the distance.
"Unfamiliar to me."

    "So?" growled Chibi Usa.

    "It could be dangerous, perhaps..." Ranma frowned.

    "We have a mission," said the girl hatefully.

    "I know, but this shouldn't be ignored," said her father as
he glared at her. "There is something out there, too strong to be
ignored."

    "So what do you want to do? We need to complete this
mission," said the woman irritably.

    "I'll take care of the mission, you go and see what that
was," said the boy calmly.

    "What?" growled the girl irritably.

    "Find that power, destroy it, I think I might know what it
is," commented the pigtailed boy as he turned to look at her
again. "I think whoever pulled Keiichi out of our grip is there.
That power I felt could be those goddesses. Go, if I'm right kill
Keiichi, take down whoever stole him from out grip. Do not fight
the goddesses. The whole point of killing him is to get them out
of our way. Don't give the other two a reason to hang around when
we've finished."

    Chibi Usa growled.

    "Go!" snapped Ranma angrily.

    The girl gave him a final glance and flew off in the
direction he had pointed out.

++++++++++++++++++

    Usagi Tsukino grit her teeth as she pitched back and rolled
in her X-wing. Two of the Ties following her managed to duplicate
the maneuver and shot after her at high speed. She blasted
through the remains of Minako's starship with an angry looking
frown on her face. "I can't shake them!"

    "Hold on Tsukino," said a deadly calm voice from her com.
"I'm coming towards you from the left."

    Laser blast exploded all around her as she struggled and
weaved through the void. Her entire left side was nothing more
than the dull gray metal of the Star Destroyer's hull. "No! I
don't wanna die!" cried the girl as she jerked back again. This
time she flipped over in mid flight, finding herself pointing
directly at the two fighters that had been chasing her. "Get out
of my way!" She fired her lasers almost reflexively. The next
thing she knew there was nothing but the bright orange of the
explosion surrounding her cockpit, then the sea of stars on the
other side once again. "I made it!" she cried in triumph.

    "Tsukino," said Ami's monotone voice. "One has survived."

    The blonde screeched in surprise as another starship screamed
over the top of her own, no more than a foot of distance between
them. Ami destroyed the stray fighter in a hail of laser fire and
the pair was clear for a few seconds.

    "Thanks Mizuno," muttered Usagi as she tried to catch her
breath from the surprise.

    "Pay attention. Another wave is approaching," was the only
reply.

    "Kino, why is that deflector shield still up?" said Nabiki's
voice from the com.

    "They are taking too long," said Ami.

    "You worry about those fighters, I'll worry about the
shields!" was Makoto's irritated reply. "There's a lot of guns on
the surface, I can't get a clean run. We're handling it."

+++++++++++++++++++++

    One of the X-wing fighters went barreling through the hail of
lasers as it charged forward. Rei screamed as she fired
repeatedly at the gun emplacements. Occasionally, a small
explosion could be seen in her wake, and the fire died down just
a little. "Kino! I don't know how much longer I can do this!" she
screamed as she evaded more fire skillfully.

    "I'm on it!" cried the girl as her fighter blasted by Rei on
her left side. "I'm making my run. Cover me!"

    Rei nodded slowly and pulled up behind her. The pair shot
directly towards the large dome deflectors on the top of the
battleship. Fire surrounded them, but the emplacements that were
left were not designed to cover that area of the battle cruiser.
The dome exploded in a spectacular ball of flames.

    "Got it!" cried Makoto triumphantly. One of the lasers tore
through her ship and she was gone in another smaller explosion.

    "No! Makoto!" cried Rei. "Damn it!" She steeled herself and
frowned. "There's one more left, I'm going for it."

    "You won't last without cover!" snapped Nabiki angrily. "Fall
back! I'm sending Ami to support you!"

    "Too late!" cried the girl as she shot across the surface of
the Star Destroyer. No more than five feet above the surface she
blasted ahead at full throttle. The ship rocked as the tail came
into contact with the surface as she pulled up hard.
"YAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

    "What the hell are you doing?!" cried Nabiki angrily as her
ship passed over Hino's ship.

    "I won't fail!" Her lasers came to life; the second dome of
the ship blew into thousands of pieces as the girl blasted
through it. Unfortunately, Rei's ship did not survive the
explosion.

    "Damn!" growled Nabiki angrily. "Tsukino, Mizuno, regroup and
prepare for final attack run. Their shields are down."

    The three ships pulled away from their positions, dodging
dozens of Tie fighters as they moved a short distance away from
the starship and formed up.

    "Tsukino, you have the lead. Mizuno and I will cover you,"
said Nabiki.

    "Right," said the girl. Her voice wavered slightly and she
swallowed. "Okay Usagi. You can do this!" Her gaze became hard
and she stared forward.

    The trio shot forward towards the front of the Star Destroyer
and into the swarm of Ties once again.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

    The doors to the pods opened and six girls stepped out. A few
of them where a little more pale than the others. Only Ami and
Usagi were steady as they moved away from the training modules.

    "You are becoming more useful," commented Ami as she moved up
beside Usagi.

    The girl blinked and looked at her for a moment. "What?"

    "Keep it up," said Ami as she continued to walk ahead of
them.

    Nabiki watched the exchange from the rear of the group. She
had a tired looking frown on her face, but it broke slightly at
the sight of the scene. "So, you're gaining respect from them
again."

++++++++++++++++++++++

    "Well, they're taking this rather well," commented Carrot as
he watched the girls relax after training. The bunks they stayed
in now were identical to the ones they had used in their previous
training. He was watching them from a closed circuit television
monitor.

    "It's not near as bad as it was the first time." Dan actually
sounded a little disappointed as he said this.

    "Well, they are well trained now," said Ranma.

    Pissant merely grumbled uncomfortably. "Why do we still send
them to hell though?"

    "Because I don't want them getting used to dying in those
starships any more than I want them to get used to dying without
them," was Carrot's reply.

    "Yeah, quit complaining," agreed Dan.

    Ranma sighed. "I think they're gonna take a shower again."

    "Good. More fun for us then!" said Carrot cheerfully.

    "This time, don't use that scented lotion damn it," grumbled
Dan. "I hate it when we smell like apples."

    "Wonder if Kino and Mizuno will wash each other's back
again?" said Carrot cheerfully as he switched the camera to the
shower room.

    "Man, being ten sucks," commented Ranma as he put a large
bottle of lotion on the table.

    "None of that 'amaguriken' shit this time damn it. I wanna
enjoy ourselves," said Carrot angrily.

    "This is wrong on so many levels," whimpered Pissant.

    "Well, we could hit up Washuu, but she'd have to be a little
girl. It'd just be weird otherwise," said Carrot.

    The group thought about it for a moment.

    "Naaah."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Ranma stared at the mountain before him with a grin on his
face. "Wonder who I'll meet with first?" He chuckled as he landed
in front of the mountain and glanced around. The entrance was in
front of him, unguarded. "Mount Phoenix? How quaint, I was
expecting something a bit bigger."

    With an evil smirk on his face, he strolled inside.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Trunks frowned as he waited patiently outside Joketzuko.
Gohan's face was actually somewhat serious as they stood there in
their super forms and watched the sky.

    "Here it comes," said Trunks calmly.

    The sky overhead began to grow dark, thunder rumbled in the
distance.

    "Sounds like they're pissed," commented Gohan without much
humor in his tone.

    The trio appeared above them just below the clouds. The two
saiyans simply waited calmly as they descended.

    "It's not going to help our case that he's all beat up,"
pointed out Gohan.

    "I know, just shut up will ya? I'm thinking," grumbled
Trunks.

    Belldandy was the first to land. "Keiichi!" she called as she
glanced around.

    Urd was the next to touch down. She looked around and frowned
calmly. "I can sense him. He's nearby."

    Skuld landed on her face almost. "Ouch." She quickly managed
to stand and frowned at her sisters. "Are you sure he's here?"

    "Yes. Once he called to us, I was able to break through
whatever was hiding him from us," said Urd as she glanced down at
the younger Goddess.

    "Um. Hi," said Gohan as he stepped towards the trio.

    The Goddesses noticed them all at once.

    "Who are you? Why did you take Keiichi away?!" snapped
Belldandy angrily.

    "You're gonna let us explain first? Great!" said Gohan
cheerfully.

    Trunks put his head into his hand. "Idiot."

    This caught all the goddesses off guard. They simply stared
at them for a moment. That was when Belldandy noticed Keiichi
sitting behind the pair. "Keiichi!" She rushed forward and shoved
them aside as she put her arms around his neck. "Are you hurt?"

    "Um, kinda," said Gohan nervously. "That wasn't really our
fault though..."

    The goddess simply looked up at him. Keiichi was crying tears
of joy, surely he was free of his torment now. "I was so scared!"

    "What do you mean 'it wasn't our fault'?" growled Urd as an
aura of power formed in her hands.

    "Wait! We had to take him! He would have died if we didn't!"
cried Gohan as he put his hands up.

    "Explain," said Urd as she narrowed her eyes at the pair.
Neither of them looked like they wanted to put up any resistance.
It was kind of disappointing.

    "Um, we're from the future. We were kinda sent back in time
to make sure some bad stuff doesn't happen. Keeping him alive was
part of that," said Trunks.

    "Bull! I would have felt a temporal disturbance if..." Urd
paused. "Wait a minute! There is a temporal disturbance!" She
glared at the pair. "Well, back you go then!" She raised her
hands into the air.

    The pair quickly moved into a defensive stance. "You'll
regret it if you do it!" cried Trunks.

    "Can't have you here messing with time," reasoned Urd calmly
as she continued to power up her spell. "This won't hurt a bit!"

    "If you get rid of us now, Keiichi will die! The whole planet
will suffer!" growled Trunks.

    "Time travel? Must be a bug in the system," grumbled Skuld as
she pulled out her debugger.

    Belldandy moved between the two pairs and frowned. She had
her arms spread out wide and faced the two saiyans. "What do you
mean Keiichi will die?"

    Both boys relaxed a bit and stared at her.

    "Should I?" asked Gohan.

    "No. I'll do it," replied Trunks. "In about a month, a large
fleet of starships will come to Earth and wipe out most of the
human population. If Keiichi dies, then you'll be gone too. That
means you can't help us."

    "We can't help you anyway. We can't become involved with this
sort of thing. There are rules against that."

    "You're right. You can't fight them, but you can protect,"
said Trunks as he smiled at her. "Fighting is someone else's job.
We were just sent back to make sure things go right in order to
prevent the disaster. The one who will fight, is still on Jurai."

    "You mean him?" muttered Urd as she stared at the boys. "I
get it now. That's what he's training the senshi for."

    "You didn't know?" muttered Gohan in surprise.

    "I knew, but things are starting to fall into place a little
more now. I'll bet this is Pluto's doing."

    The saiyans blushed a little as they looked away.

    "Why is Keiichi so important?" muttered Belldandy as she
looked at the boy. "And why is he all beat up?"

    It was Keiichi's turn to blush.

    "If Keiichi dies, you have to go back to heaven with him. His
wish was for you to be with him always. That means even in death,
you'll be with him."

    Belldandy gasped and her eyes went wide. "Oh!"

    "This whole mess is starting to make sense," muttered Urd as
she looked thoughtful for a moment.

    "Maybe it is," said a new voice from above them.

    Gohan and Trunks immediately jumped back in surprise.

    Dark Lady floated overhead, a vicious smirk on her face as
she glared down at the scene. "Well, look what I've found. A lost
little boy, three goddesses, and two fighters who can't match my
power even if they combined their strength."

    "I wouldn't bet on that," growled Trunks angrily.

    The woman floated down to the ground and smirked at them.
"I've got to wonder, where two more Saiyans came from though. I
thought there were only four of us left."

    The duo tightened up their stances and growled.

    "You weren't expecting me here, were you?" said the pink
haired woman as she eyed them for a moment. "Thought you were
safe in China?"

    "What's going on?" asked Belldandy as she watched the
standoff.

    "Well, father will be very pleased to hear this, after he's
finished with the Phoenix King."

    "Damn," growled Gohan. "They know where we are."

    "This isn't good," agreed Trunks.

    "Ha! How long did you expect to hide from us here? We should
have realized where you had gone right away."

    "That won't do you any good," said Gohan as he steadied
himself a little more. "We might not be able to beat you, but
we're strong enough to escape. Even you can't fight three
goddesses to get to Keiichi now."

    "Maybe not," agreed Chibi Usa as she watched the three women
stand protectively around Keiichi. "He'll get what's coming to
him soon enough." She frowned as she glared at him. "Father would
be so irritated with me if I killed three goddesses anyway." She
snorted and turned her back on them. "We'll meet again soon
enough. You can have him until then."

    The two boys growled as she floated away lazily.

    "This could be a problem," grumbled Urd.

    "You have no idea," snorted Trunks as he turned to look at
her.

++++++++++++++++

    Ranma smiled at the group of armed guards that stood around
him. He was calm and collected while the birdmen stood around him
with spears and pikes held at the ready.

    "You should not have come here," growled one of the guards
coldly.

    "Please, I don't have time to play with such weak beings.
Tell me, where is the Emperor Saffron? I need to speak with him."


    "What would you know about Saffron?" growled one of the
winged guards irritably.

    "I know where Jusendo is, and how to get inside," replied
Ranma simply. "Now, move out of my way."

    The guards did not budge, confusion was clear on their
features.

    "Do you want me to spell it out for you?" snorted Ranma as
his patience grew thin.

    "Go speak with the chancellor," said the head guard to one of
his soldiers. "Tell him what you have heard and return quickly."

    Ranma watched the man go and crossed his arms over his chest
lazily. "I hate waiting."

    "What do you want here?" growled the lead guard angrily.

    "I want to revive Saffron," replied the boy as calmly as
ever.

    "Why? Do you know what that means for your kind landling?"
snorted the man in reply.

    "Yes. I know exactly what he means to my kind," replied Ranma
darkly. "My reasons are my own. You shouldn't look a gift horse
in the mouth."

    The guard snorted and sat back to await the arrival of his
subordinate. "Watch him closely."

    There was a sound down the hallway. Ranma arched his eyebrow
and frowned at the noise. "What?"

    "We're under attack!" cried a desperate looking guard who
rushed down the hallway.

    Ranma snorted irritably. "Chibi-Usa."

    The guards that surrounded him moved closer and pointed their
weapons at him once again. "You know who's doing this?"

    "Yes, she's my daughter, and a complete moron. We're supposed
to get you as allies. What's she thinking?" He growled under his
breath as he shoved the pair in front of him aside easily and
strolled back into the mountain.

    About a minute later he came upon and odd scene. His daughter
was standing over a pile of broken birdmen with a scowl on her
face. "Lowborn pigs. Get out of my way." She dusted off her hands
and turned around. The angry boy standing in front of her with a
scowl on his face gave her pause and she froze.

    "We weren't supposed to attack them," said the boy coldly.
"We need them, as allies for now."

    The woman bowed her head and growled as she was admonished.
"But..."

    "If you've screwed this up, I'll take it out of your hide,"
said the boy coldly. "Report."

    The woman glared at him as she spoke, her fingers flexed as
she struggled to hold her temper. "I couldn't get to Morisato. He
was with two more of our kind that I don't recognize. They
weren't strong enough to beat me, but the three goddesses were
there as well. I could not destroy him."

    The pigtailed boy nodded and frowned. "The goddesses have
found him, that is not good. He will not be alone for some time
then. A small crimp in our plans if nothing else. The goddesses
cannot oppose us directly though, so it is not too much of a
problem."

    Chibi-Usa nodded slowly and her frown deepened. "What of the
other two?"

    Ranma smiled at her. "They'll have to be dealt with, but not
before we find out who they are, and how they ended up here. We
should be the last of our kind. What were their names? What did
they look like?"

    Chibi Usa frowned at her father and snorted. "They were
pathetically weak, I think they have only achieved their first
transformation. One had short black hair and the other had brown
shoulder length hair. They had the same build as you...well,
perhaps larger. They seemed older than you as well."

    Ranma merely nodded. "This could be a problem."

    "Where did they come from? Do you know? Where there other
survivors?" asked the woman as she noticed the guards standing
behind her father. She smirked at them for a moment and looked
back at him.

    "Probably the same place you came from, if only a little
farther ahead. They need to be dealt with quickly. They will grow
in power quickly if they are not destroyed. In a year or two,
they will be quite a threat."

    Chibi-Usa growled a response out to that. It wasn't a very
nice one, but Ranma ignored her and turned towards the guards.
"Where is this chancellor?"

+++++++++++++++++++++

    Trunks and Gohan found themselves standing in the middle of
the village again with two more guests.

    Cologne stared at the two women who had come back with the
group so hard that the two saiyans were beginning to think that
her eyes might fall out of her head.

    "Goddesses you say?"

    "That's right," said Trunks calmly.

    "Are you certain?" muttered the old woman as she peered at
them.

    "Pretty sure," replied Gohan with a shrug.

    "Um..." muttered Belldandy. "We aren't supposed to tell
people about..."

    "It would have been hard to hide anyway," said Gohan as he
glanced at her. "Some of these people can sense stuff like that."

    "Oh," mumbled Urd as she watched the women around her. They
had a rather large crowd gathered around them by this point.

    "Well, I guess you three can stay at the temple with Keiichi.
He has to be guarded at all times. They won't attack him if
you're around," said Gohan as he glanced over to them. "They'll
be watching for the opportunity though. Don't let your guard
down."

    "Why not?" muttered Urd as she frowned at him.

    "Getting the gods pissed at you is one thing, giving them a
reason to come after you is something else entirely," replied
Trunks as he leveled his gaze on Belldandy.

    "I see," muttered the gentle goddess nervously.

    Trunks noticed that there were only two goddesses standing
there at this point and blinked. "Um...where's Skuld?"

    There was a loud cracking sound from a fair distance behind
them. Everyone turned to look in the direction it had come from.

    "Shit," muttered Trunks.

    "There goes the rest of our day," agreed Gohan with a heavy
sigh.

    Skuld was standing over the prone form of one of the village
girls. She looked to be about the same age as Skuld physically.
The goddess was holding her debugger over her shoulder and had a
rather satisfied looking smirk on her face. "Take that you
bully!"

    Trunks covered his eyes with his hand.

    Gohan smiled at him cheerfully. "Should you say something, or
should I?"

+++++++++++++++++++

    Ranma smiled at the old birdman that appeared before him. He
was escorted by a large squad of guards and had a scowl on his
face as he glared at them.

    "Hello, you must be the chancellor," said the boy as he
nodded his head towards him.

    "What do you want?"

    "Saffron to return to full power, and an alliance," replied
the boy calmly.

    The old man snorted at this. "Why?"

    "Because I will rule this planet," replied Ranma coldly. "Or
I will destroy it."

    The old man narrowed his eyes at the pair in front of him.
The woman had been silent so far and merely glared at him. "Kill
them."

    Ranma just smiled. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to take
Saffron by force then." The birdmen around him jumped back as the
auras came to life around the pair.

    "Kill as few as possible, we need their numbers," instructed
Ranma.

    Chibi-Usa just smiled.

++++++++++++++++++++

    "Well, now what?"

    Washuu looked slightly annoyed at Trunks as he sat up from
lying on the floor. He looked quite bored really.

    "Huh? What ya mean?" muttered the boy as he frowned at her.

    "We've run out of training programs for the girls," replied
the woman with a shrug.

    Trunks stared at her, he didn't look like he was very sure
what to do. "What do you mean we've run out?"

    "The Senshi have completed their training," replied the woman
calmly. "There's nothing left for them to do."

    "Um, Star Wars?"

    "All one hundred and thirty seven campaigns completed."

    "Wing Commander?"

    "Done."

    "Um...Colony Wars?"

    "Last week," replied Washuu.

    "Decent?"

    "Finished in about three days," replied the woman as she
looked at the chart in her hand.

    "Really?" said the boy dumbly.

    "Every program you've supplied has been completed," replied
the woman as she shrugged again.

    Trunks scratched his head. "Um, how long will it take to
create more?"

    "I can do a few more for them within a few days," replied the
woman as she shrugged. "Using the parameters from the other
programs, we should be able to work something out."

    Trunks nodded. "Load the program for the ships they'll be
using once we leave and mix up the current training programs a
bit."

    Washuu glanced at him. "What?"

    "The ships they'll be using when we go to war, the one's
you've spent the last four years building," replied Trunks as he
frowned at her. "They've had enough experience with the default
ships. Just do some review stuff with the new system in place.
That way they can get used to the control setup and abilities of
their fighters."

    "I see, I was wondering why we hadn't been training them in
those ships," responded the woman as she glanced down at the
chart in her hands.

    Trunks shrugged. "Huh? That wouldn't have been much fun. This
way they get experience with all sorts of styles and makes of
starships. Never know when that might come in handy. Besides, I
wanted them to get the basics down. Doing that sort of thing in
the ships you built would be a little to easy for them."

    Washuu stared at him for a moment. "Ah. I see." She turned
away. "It shouldn't be too hard to throw these ships into the
training system. I suppose we could increase the difficulty as
well."

    "Yeah, go ahead," replied the boy as he lay on his back
again. "Wish I'd thought to bring Hotaru along. I wasn't
expecting to have this much free time." With a heavy sigh he
jumped to his feet and looked around. "Guess I should train some
more." He walked over to a small console on the wall and began to
tap a few of the buttons. Several moments later, large training
weights appeared on his arms and legs. They were several thousand
times heavier than they looked and he smiled as he felt his
muscles strain under the weight. "This should work."

    "These are heavy," muttered Pissant.

    "So? That's the point, what are you complaining for?" snorted
Ranma as he started to punch at the air.

    "I'm not, it's just that..." Pissant was somewhat uncertain
for a moment.

    "Just spit it out!?" snapped Dan as they felt their body rise
into the air.

    "What if we become too strong, and our muscles get really
big?" said the whiny voice pathetically.

    "What?" said Carrot as they paused their exercise.

    "We could really hurt ourselves!" cried Pissant.

    "I'm going to kill him!" said Dan as he started to charge up
a ki ball in his hand and pointed it at his head.

    "We'll die too," pointed out Ranma.

    "Pissant, let me ask you something. Why did you think we were
doing this in the first place!?" snapped Carrot.

    "That's not what I meant! What if we're watching the senshi
shower again, and we grab it too hard or pull something?!"

    "..."

    "Please let me kill him!" cried Dan.

    "Focus on the training idiots!" snapped Ranma as he began to
push their body harder.

    "Ya know, as much as I hate to admit it, he's got a point.
We're gonna have to be careful about stuff like that," said
Carrot.

    Dan screamed in rage as the blasted them in the head. "Just
die!"

    They fell to the ground and fell in a heap. The little boy's
arms and legs moved at impossible speeds as he beat himself
senseless.

    They paused and looked up as a shadow fell over them. Trunks
looked up and saw Ami Mizuno staring at them with a blank
expression on her face.

    "Um...Hi."

    Ami didn't react much at all. "I was going to ask you for
instructions on today's activities. Washuu says that we will not
be using the training module for the day."

    "Um, take today off?" said the embarrassed looking boy. He
had a large black eye forming on his face and several bruises
were becoming apparent.

    "Very well," replied the girl.

    "Where's Nabiki at?" asked Trunks as he sat up.

    "She is still speaking with Washuu about the future training
schedule. I was sent in her stead to ask for further
instruction."

    "Um, right." The boy nodded and stood up while dusting
himself off. "Anything else you were wondering about?"

    "Yes. What smells like apples?" Ami glanced around in
confusion.

    "It's nothing," replied the boy as he turned away from her.

    "Very well. I shall return and tell the others that we are
released from duty until tomorrow."

    "You do that," said Trunks without looking at her.

    Ami turned away and started walking. She paused when she
heard the boy muttering to himself for a moment.

    "I told you! Next time make sure it's unscented!"

    She decided that it was best that she did not know. She
continued back to the group to deliver the instructions she'd
been given.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

    Ranma smiled darkly as he stood over the cowering boy. "Well,
what have we here? A little boy, with no power to speak of."

    "Who are you? What do you want?" cried the boy fearfully as
he backed against the wall. There was nothing he could do, his
guards were defeated, and Kiima was lying on the ground out cold.
Only the scary looking figure and the pink haired woman with a
cruel looking grin on her face remained.

    "I am Ranma Saotome, and I have come to make you an offer
that you cannot refuse," replied the boy with his grin growing
harder somehow. "I will make you a man, and give you more power
than even you can imagine."

    The boy stared at him with his jaw hanging down. "What?"

    "There is a price for my kindness boy. In return, you and
your people will become my servants. Together, we can rule this
planet, conquer the galaxy itself. Will you join me?"

    The pink haired woman growled angrily behind him, but didn't
make a move to stop him.

    "You'll make me into a man?" he muttered dumbly.

    "That's just an expression. We're going to Jusendo, to awaken
your real power. I know you begin to feel the desire even now,
your body is already preparing for the transformation."

    The boy shied away from his hand and frowned. "What?"

    "You are beaten, it is useless to resist," said Ranma coldly.

    Saffron slid along the wall away from the pair as best he
could. There was nowhere for him to go. "There is no escape.
Don't make me destroy you. Saffron, you do not yet realize your
importance. You have only begun to discover your power! Join me
and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we
can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy!"

    "I'll never join you!" cried the boy fearfully. His voice
wavered as he shook with terror.

    "If you only knew the power of the dark side!"

    Chibi Usa smirked. She knew that her father had to omit a bit
about this speech. It wasn't the first time she'd heard it from
him.

    "Dark side?" said the boy in confusion. "When I'm grown up,
I'll have all the power I need!"

    Ranma raised his palm and a ball of light formed between his
fingers. He released the energy and Saffron cringed in terror.
Slowly, the boy raised his head and looked up. In the wall of the
mountain was a huge hole. The room he had been moved too when the
attack started was in the center of the mountain. Saffron's eyes
went wide as he realized he could see the sky outside at the end
of the new tunnel.

    "Come with me. It is the only way," said Ranma as he offered
his hand once again.

    Saffron looked down at his hands and turned towards the older
boy. He growled to himself for a moment and reached out.

    "Take me to Jusendo."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    "Kuroi, I don't like this," said Tochi as she frowned at the
boy sitting behind a large desk. They were in what appeared to be
a darkened office.

    "Really?" asked the boy as he turned away from what he was
doing to look at her.

    "These Phoenix people bother me," growled the woman.

    "I thought it was rather clever. Enslave an obscure race, and
save us the trouble of gathering a large force of Youma for what
we need."

    "They could turn on us," said Tochi as she frowned at him.

    "I doubt it. Ranma isn't stupid, he has plans to keep them in
line," said the boy calmly. Transporting them will pose a bit of
a problem, but it's not too bad. We've collected enough spare
energy to manage."

    Tochi nodded. "Still, I'd feel more comfortable using our own
forces."

    "I agree, but we do not have the time, nor the resources to
deal with it at this point. Creating a force that large is bound
to garner us unwanted attention as well."

    "Beryl?" asked the female Youma.

    "Metallia concerns me more," said the boy calmly. "Beryl is
just an indirect way of telling her."

    "We can't reveal our plans too soon?" asked the woman as she
nodded.

    "Yes, and this course of action is the safest way to
accomplish that," said the boy as he turned back to the papers
he'd been looking over.

    "I see. Very well then." She nodded and turned towards the
doors.

    "Going somewhere?" asked Kuroi as he smirked at her.

    "I'm going to make sure things are going our way," she
responded calmly.

+++++++++++++++++++

    Ranma frowned as he flew with Saffron under his arm. He
paused and floated in mid air for a moment. "Something..."

    "What is it?" snapped Chibi Usa impatiently.

    "Mother." Ranma frowned and narrowed his eyes as a dark cloud
formed in front of him.

    Beryl floated with an angry looking frown on her face in
front of the pair. She had just become visible to them and waited
for them to approach.

    "Hold him," said Ranma as he handed Saffron to his daughter.

    The boy looked up at her nervously as she cradled him in her
arms.

    "What are you going to do?" said Chibi Usa as she glared at
him.

    "I'm going to go see what she wants," replied the boy calmly.
He shot forward across the sky towards the dark woman.

+++++++++++++++++++++

    "There you are," said Beryl as she noticed her son appear in
front of her.

    "What do you want?" he asked calmly.

    "You dare treat me with such disrespect?" she snarled
hatefully.

    "If you don't have anything useful to say..." started her
son.

    "Insolent boy! I created you so that you'd help me! You've
been playing around long enough! Come with me, we have a world
to..."

    "Destroy? Conquer maybe? Please mother, I can handle that
without your help."

    Beryl's jaw dropped. "What?"

    "I've been taking over the planet for months now, and getting
ready for the battles to come for some time. You've been cooling
your heels, gathering energy for whatever that thing is that you
seem to like so much. All the while, I've been ignoring your
foolish plots and concentrating on the big prize. Don't you feel
foolish?"

    The woman growled angrily as dark power began to form around
her. "What?"

    "Swearing your loyalty to something like that is foolish.
She'll destroy you once your usefulness is over. I'm surprised
she's put up with you as long as she has. From what I understand,
the humans foiled your most recent plot. The police no less.
Really mother, it shames me so to hear about things like that."

    "So. You will not help me?" growled Beryl angrily.

    "I'm doing what you've failed in," he replied simply. "To
accept your help would be stupid. You've bungled your way through
four generals, and your Youma Lords have stabbed you in the back.
They're working with me, and we have no intention of conquering
the planet, just to give it away to Metallia. She'll be dealt
with soon enough."

    "Betrayer!" snarled Beryl hatefully.

    "Really mother! Who are you to talk?" said Ranma as his dark
smile widened. "In any case, I may have found a use for you after
all."

    "What?" snapped the woman as she stared at him.

    Ranma vanished from in front of her. "After all, we can't
have you going back and telling Metallia about all this can we?"

    Her head snapped around just in time to see a fist close in
on her face. "No!"

+++++++++++++++++++

    Saffron stood in the steaming pool and frowned at Ranma as he
stood overhead. Beryl struggled in his grip, tightly bound and
gagged. She growled angrily as he held her above the ground.

    "What's she for?" snorted Chibi Usa irritably. "You should
have killed her by now!"

    "Saffron needs food to complete his transformation properly,"
responded her father calmly. He looked down and noticed the
threads beginning to form around the young boy in the pool. "Ah,
here we go." With a casual toss the bound and gagged girl was
thrown into the threads. The demigod quickly consumed her as he
became encased in his egg. "Now, we need only wait."

    The pink haired woman nodded once and frowned. Beryl's
muffled screams only lasted a few minutes, and her gag kept the
noise down considerably. "You should have taken off the gag."

    Ranma nodded. "I know. I didn't think about it. Oh well, at
least we got to watch."

    The pair sat back and waited quietly. Saffron would not
emerge for several hours and they had a bit of time. After about
ten minutes Ranma stood up.

    "Huh?" muttered his daughter.

    "Come on, we might as well get some training in while we're
here."

    The girl nodded and followed him as he rose into the air. The
mountain wall was easily blasted aside as the pair flew off into
the air.

+++++++++++++++++++

    Setsuna frowned as she stood on top of a smaller mountain
near to where Saffron was being reborn. "It's almost time."

    Her daughter appeared at her side and nodded silently. "So
now what?"

    "There is much to do. I fear I don't have much time left."

    Tsuki blinked at this. "Huh? What do you mean?"

    Setsuna smiled at her daughter. "You'll understand soon
enough. No matter how long you live, there will always be things
left unfinished, and regrets that you will not have time to
correct." She placed her hand on the girl's head as she said
this.

    "Mom, you're talkin funny."

    "Come, we must act. There is little we can do here, but there
are allies we have not awakened yet."

    "The other Outer Senshi," said Tsuki as a realization became
clear on her face.

    "Yes," said Setsuna with a small nod. "Come."

    "What good will they do us?" snorted Tsuki. "Why didn't we
wake them up sooner? We could have used their help a long time
ago!"

    "Us? Who said they would do us any good now?" replied her
mother cryptically.

    Tsuki frowned at this and snorted. "Whatever. Can we just
go?"

    Setsuna sighed lightly and opened the porthole. She stepped
in without a word and her daughter followed.

+++++++++++++++

    TBC...

    Next Time: The Awakening!

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