“Blood Calls Out For Blood” A Ranma ½ / Sailor Moon Crossover Sailor Moon and all related properties are properties of Naoko Takeuchi. Ranma ½ and all related properties are properties of Rumiko Takashi. This story is inspired by Vaughan Stevens’ “Recruiting” and I owe him a debt of gratitude for a good story and inspiration. Chapter 2 - When It Rains… Ranma stepped out of the dojo, and stared up at the moon. It had been five days since the death of Ryouga, and he had only slept once in that time, only to be woken a few hours later, wracked by nightmares. His body was at the very limits of his endurance from five days of the most vigorous training he had ever put himself through, and it showed in the dark black pits of his eyes, the greasy chaos of his hair and the stink of exertion lingering about him. However, he dedicated himself to sticking to the plan he set. He would wash up now, then catch what little rest he could find until the demons of his mind stopped him, then he would search out one of the hellish beings and crush it. No matter the consequences. The furo seemed to be ready for him when he arrived, and after several minutes of vigorous scrubbing, he slipped into the water, letting the hot water sweep the ache from his flagging muscles. But even as his body started to relax, his mind was working ever harder, going through every technique he had learned, developed or improvised over the years. As tough and dangerous as Ryouga’s murderer was, Ranma knew he would require every bit of ammunition within the chaos-honed arsenal he had created. A soft sigh was heard, as Kasumi slipped into the room, but Ranma was too physically exhausted and mentally distracted to consider modesty. The eldest Tendo woman sat on a stool and looked at him. “Ranma, you are working too hard. You need to get some rest.” She closed her eyes. “It wasn’t your fault, Ranma.” Ranma weakly lolled his head to look toward Kasumi. “It doesn’t matter. He’s dead. I’m alive. And I’m sure there’s more of those killers out there. Which means the only way I can make sure Ryouga’ll rest is to make sure they never kill another person.” Kasumi looked into Ranma’s exhausted eyes with respect. “If anyone can do it, Ranma, I’m sure you can, but please, be careful.” She whispered softly, before she stood and left the furo. Ranma pulled his exhausted body out of the tub, dried off, and staggered toward his room, sinking into slumber as soon as he fell onto the futon. It was the sixth day since Ami and Rei had joined their ancestors, and the Senshi had done their best to make sure two of their number were out and about Tokyo, keeping their eyes out for more of Ravener’s ilk. The only good thing about the situation is that it was during the school break, which led the remaining Senshi to go through a revolving cycle, two out on patrol, two relaxing and two asleep. Pluto was nowhere to be found, so the usual pattern was Minako and Makoto, Usagi and Hotaru, and Haruka and Michiru. And at the moment, Haruka was passing through the Nerima ward on some gut feeling. The warrior of Uranus parked her cycle next to a small restaurant and slipped in, just as a black haired man in Chinese clothing was arguing with the proprietress of the restaurant. “No way, Uchan. I’m going solo.” “You jackass,” The cook muttered as she slipped an okonomiyaki off the griddle and onto a plate, before looking toward Haruka. “What can I get you?” She said in a voice that strained to be polite. Haruka sat down at the counter and merely requested, “A small shrimp.” Kuonji Ukyou nodded and began to prepare the Senshi’s meal as the man in the Chinese clothes stood. “No, Uchan. I’ve already buried one friend. I’m not burying you too.” And with that, Saotome Ranma stepped out of the restaurant. Haruka sighed and shook her head. It had been an all too familiar conversation as of late, of what she heard of it. People watching loved ones depart. Ukyou snarled a bit but finished Haruka’s meal. Now, perhaps it’s just coincidence, but such a thing was exceedingly rare in Nerima nowadays. Said ‘coincidence’, if it could be called that, would be the sound of a scream, and rending steel from outside. With a start, both the driver-turned-Senshi and the okonomiyaki cook slash martial artist ran out the door. And despite the former’s mission and the latter’s promise, both found themselves wishing they hadn’t stepped out the door. For outside was a nightmare in the making. A great beast, part living being, part scrap metal, and all murderous, trod heavily down the wreckage of the street, as a pair of mantis-like claws lashed out and slew anyone who was foolish or unlucky enough not to get out of the reach of the monster. And standing before it was a red-haired woman, drenched by the water of a ruined hunk of metal that used to be a fire hydrant, and wearing clothing the same as that of the young man who had just stormed out of the restaurant. Haruka slapped a hand over her wrist, hitting the all-call emergency button on her communicator as she faded back toward an alley. Ukyou, on the other hand, ran forward, joining onna-Ranma in front of the creature. “Get back, damn it, Uchan!” She swore as she started the deadly dance with a blast of Ki. The normal brilliant blue of the Mouko Takabisha was not present, and in its place was reddish mass, tainted with dark green. The effect, no matter what the appearance of the technique, was the same, as it smashed the creature back several feet, but did not seem to leave any permanent damage upon it’s metallic carapace. The anger and depression-fueled blast wasn’t the only thing that hit the creature, but the fiend barely even registered the impacts of the sharp-bladed microspatulas that fell to the ground after wasting their force against the thick hide. However, the creature did notice when a golden orb tore through the ground in it’s passing, as Sailor Uranus’s World Shaking attack smashed into the monster’s side, and a sailor-fuku-clad woman in short blond hair strode out of the alley. “Get out of here!” She called to the two Neriman martial artists. But to the Senshi’s chagrin, another fusillade of spaturikens and another boiling mass of dark Ki slammed into the monster. Once again, the being was pushed back a few feet by the spiritual assault, giving the two martial artists time to move. “Murderer among a race of murderers, your ilk has dimmed a great light,” The sound of a young woman’s voice called from a roof. That voice bore pain, and grief, and most of all, a menacing rage. “For the memories of Mercury and Mars, the Sailor-suited warriors of the Moon and the Planets shall destroy you!” Haruka had never seen a demon respond with more than surprise when one of their numbers announced their presence. Until now. The creature looked up, and for the first time, the remaining five Senshi looked into what passed for eyes of their foe and saw fear. It wasn’t the words that intimidated the creature so, but the raw power, fury and hatred for all things unholy that put the fear of the Sailor Senshi into the creature. Taking advantage of the monster’s distraction, Ukyou leapt forward, war-spatula swinging in an arc toward the creature. And it might have actually felt the damage, would that blow have connected. But one swipe of a menacing claw hurled the okonomiyaki chef into a wall, tearing into her flesh at the same time. The Sailor Senshi screamed in outrage at another life lost. Each poured their heart into their strongest attacks, as Jupiter’s lightning, the laser-like beam from Venus, the crashing impact of Neptune’s Deep Submerge, and the hellish fury of the Silence… all focused on the Gutter’s frame, ablating the metallic armor from it’s body. The Senshi of the Moon drew her wand, as a wail of despair was heard. Saotome Ranma had dedicated his life to the (at times misguided) training his father had given him, and the one thing hammered into him repeatedly was that a martial artist’s duty was to protect the weak and those who could not defend themselves. He had saved the lives of his friends numerous times. But until the beheading of one of his friends, Ranma had never known death so intimately. Now, not even a week after the loss of his greatest rival, his best friend, Kuonji Ukyou lay dying in his arms. Something within the martial artist snapped. Death had touched him once more, stealing one who had been the first person Saotome could claim as a friend. Ranma stood, and as his eyes turned the murdering creature, his hands crackled with spiritual power, and he swore, if nothing else, this creature, this monster… this murderer would die. By his hands. As the magical forces of four Senshi slammed into the Gutter, they tore the carapace asunder, crippling the monster, and preparing it for extinction by the Senshi’s leader. But just as Sailor Moon raised her wand high, a voice only vaguely female, filled with rage, hatred… death… screamed out, “SHI-SHI HOKUDAN!” A beam of energy so dark the sickeningly green Ki looked black tore through the air and slammed into what little was left of the Gutter, igniting a gas tank it had absorbed from a car. And with a cataclysmic sound, the creature detonated. The six Sailor suited warriors stared at the source of the hellish blast, as the greenish black aura surrounded her. Edgily, they prepared themselves for another fight, only to see the aura fade, and the woman fall to her knees next to the torn body of the Gutter’s last victim. “How did she do that?!” Minako blurted, staring at the silent woman, her face pale with shock at the damage caused by the Gutter, both in life, and with its gruesome death. Usagi looked at the woman with astonished and yet careworn eyes. “I don’t know. But we’d best make sure she’s alright.” Her voice wasn’t that of her usual teenage perkiness, but that of those rare instances when the maturity, wisdom, and perhaps even grief of the Queen she would be showed through. Hotaru followed Makoto and Michiru down, as Haruka stepped over to the mess of the monster. Minako stifled a bout of nausea before joining her friends. Ranma looked at Ukyou’s lifeless body and whispered softly, only loud enough to be herd by herself and the approaching heir apparent. “Damn it, Uchan… why’d you do that?” It took all of her considerable will not to burst out into sobbing. “Damn it.” She whispered hoarsely, then looked up as a gloved hand rested on her shoulder. “Miss, are you alright?” Sailor Moon asked in that regal voice. Ranma blinked in recognition. “No.” She swallowed hard and whispered, “It never will be. She was the first friend I ever had.” Sailor Moon squeezed the shoulder softly. “I know. We have all lost ones we care for. All we can do is keep fighting for them.” The warrior gritted her teeth. “I told her to stay back… if she had just listened to me for once, she’d still be here.” Ranma stood and lifted Ukyou’s broken body in her arms. Sailor Moon looked deep into those eyes and saw something. It was something she hadn’t seen often, but if she had asked any of the other Senshi, they would immediately have told her what it was. For those blue eyes were a mirror of the Senshi’s own orbs during those flashes of time when everyone she cared for was gone. D-Point. The top of the Mugen Gakuen building during attack of the Messiah of Silence. All moments when Sailor Moon fought through loss, fought through impossible odds to succeed. The leader of the Senshi looked into those eyes and said, “There is a way.” Ranma looked back into those eyes bleakly. “How?” Jupiter’s avatar strode up to her queen’s side and cocked her head questioningly. Usagi merely nodded, then looked toward the martial arts master. “Join us.” Ranma looks at her, blinking a few times. “You’d want me to join you? Why me?” She asked, surprised, but also disturbed, for some reason. To the Senshi it would hardly be apparent, but Ranma had a few very good reasons for the perturbment. The chiefest is that of his mother. Sailor Moon sighs softly. “We have lost two of our number… and it looks like it will only get worse. We need every person we can get to stop these fiends, and you have shown great power. We won’t force you, but we do need your help.” Ranma’s mind reeled with the idea. The Senshi showed phenomenal power. But would her family ever understand? Ranma sighed. As much as the power appealed to him in the present circumstances, she felt herself falter. “I can’t. I owe it to someone that I do this my way.” The Senshi showed surprise at first, but on a second thought, she nodded. “I understand. I won’t force you. But the offer’s still open.” She paused, then handed Ranma a small sphere. “Just break this if you ever change your mind, and we’ll come.” Ranma took the sphere hesitantly, then looked down at her friend’s body, as the Senshi departed, and the police arrived.