Sailor Ranko: The Harder They Fall: Chapter 1, Prologue.
by
Rebecca Ann Heineman
Ranma 1/2 and the characters therein are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. Based on "Sailor Ranko" by Duncan Zillman and "Twice in a Millennium" by Kevin D. Hammel.
I don't own these characters. Please don't sue me, kill me or make me the very model of a modern Major General or give me information vegetable, animal, and mineral. (If you know the rest of the song, you can get psychiatric help.)
It was a dark and stormy night. Ranma Saotome had the unfortunate problem of being the reincarnation of Angwyn Weaver. She was Sailor Sun in the Silver Millennium. So, his punishment was for him to become Sailor Sun in this life and to wrap up the suffering, Akane Tendo became Sailor Io. He can't get a break.
The Saotomes now live a chaotic married life in Juuban in a tiny apartment on the top floor of a twelve-story apartment building. The Nerima chaos followed them and like always, they adapted. The other Sailor Scouts sometimes get worried about the awesome powers these two Senshi possess since they also are super martial artists.
And so, the adventure begins again...
And again...
And again...
Ah, what the hell, on with the show!
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It was another day in Juuban.
Ami was getting ready to do some late night studying. She had to go to her college prep school tomorrow and she had an exam to take. Her Mercury computer beeped. She picked it up and saw something that she hadn't seen in months.
All across town, Senshi communicators beeped. It was a youma alert. Six blocks from Juuban High School was a rogue youma. It was time for the Scouts to go into action.
Ranko was dressed in her kimono and had finally applied her make up and was ready to go to work when the call came. She worked at an upscale sushi bar as a waitress. It was the only job should could get since no one wanted to hire a full-time martial artist and Ukyou gave her a stellar recommendation. She quickly transformed into Sailor Sun. As soon as she left the bedroom of the apartment, Sailor Io met her in the living room and the pair jumped out of the top floor balcony together. They used a ki blast to soften the landing and ran toward the trouble spot.
Io and Sun were the first to arrive at the street corner where the youma was spotted. The only had to wait a few seconds before the sound of a car being stepped on led them to their target. The youma was five meters tall and looked like a giant muscle-bound ogre. It was red in color, had a tiny head and moved very slowly. It didn't appear that it had a chance to drain anyone yet. Sun and Io stood before it and made a pose. They quickly snapped out of it.
Sun called out, "Searing Plasma Blast!" She formed a fireball in her hand and threw it at the youma like a baseball. A massive explosion detonated on impact on the youma's thigh.
Io called out, "Lava Blast!" She waved her arms and held her palms out in the direction of the monster and a ball of lava flew out and exploded on the creature.
The magic attacks hit the youma and it reeled in pain. It formed and threw a fireball at Io. She easily dodged the attack.
Sun turned to Io, "Don't you have anything other than 'Lava Blast'?"
Io shrugged. As a newly created Senshi without a past life to draw from, she was very weak. She only had a single magical attack. She was far from helpless. "I've got Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken and Bakusai Tenketsu."
Sun saw that the creature was radiating a lot of heat. "Hey Io. Are you ready to try out the Hiryu Shoten Ha?" Sailor Sun had been training Io in all of her martial arts techniques. Io had mastered the run and punch of the Hiryu Shoten Ha but had never actually used it in combat.
Io stood next to her husband, "Let's do it!"
Sun began her run. "Remember dear, heart of ice!"
Io followed. "Got it!"
Sailors Sun and Io began to run around the youma in a circle. They were on opposite sides and started to get closer and closer to the creature. The youma was confused. Usually Senshi would be preparing a magical attack at this time or making a speech, not running pointlessly around it. It charged up a fireball to dispose of these pests.
Sailor Moon and the other Inner Scouts arrived and saw the two newest Senshi doing their run. Moon thought, "Good, they're distracting it, time for my speech." Sailor Moon made a pose. She spoke with authority. "I am Sailor Moon! We are here to right wrongs and..."
In unison the Saotome team screamed out and punched the air, "Hiryu Shoten Ha!"
BOOM! The youma flew into the air carried by the powerful tornado.
Moon spoke slowly as she watched the youma gain altitude. "Fight evil and..."
Io and Sun took positions outside of the reach of the vortex. The youma was helpless and couldn't offer any defense. They casted their magical attacks.
"Searing Plasma Blast!"
"Lava Blast!"
BIGGER BOOM! The youma exploded in a giant fireball and rained roasted youma parts everywhere.
Sailor Mars was holding her nose. Sailor Moon and the rest were completely covered with youma goo. Moon moaned as the glop oozed down her face. She finished her speech. "I need a bath."
Sun and Io turned to see the other Senshi and cried together. "Whoops!"
Jupiter approached them and shook her head. She looked down at her own slime-encrusted fuku. "Pretty impressive. Is that a new attack?"
Io fidgeted. "For me it is. Sun taught it to me a few days ago."
Jupiter pointed to Sun. "She taught you a magical attack? How?"
Sun put her hand behind her head and gave a cocky smile. "It's an Amazon technique I picked up a while ago."
Jupiter threw her hands in the air. "Why did we even bother showing up?"
Venus ran up to Sun. "Can you teach me that attack?"
Jupiter was flustered. She spun to face Sun and begged, "Teach it to me too!"
Moon cried, "I want a cool attack like that!"
Sun took a step back, "Uh... You need to be a trained martial artist like Io and I to even try to attempt a Hiryu Shoten Ha." Io beamed at the compliment.
Jupiter stood at attention. She didn't like her martial arts skills being belittled. "Hey! I'm a martial artist too."
Sun pointed a single hand to a brick wall. "Moko Takabisha!" A ball of ki erupted from her hand and blew a chunk of bricks out of the wall. "Can you do that?"
Jupiter took a stance, "Sure can. Sparkling Wide..."
Sun pushed her arm down. "That's a magic attack! I'm talking about martial arts. Can you cast your ki?" She turned to Io, "Show her."
Io aimed at a different spot at the wall. She raised her arms above her head like she was going to swing a mallet. "Thunder Hammer Strike!" She threw her arms over her head and a ball of blue energy flew out and blew another hole in the wall next to Sun's impact crater. Io smiled at her handiwork.
Sun turned to Venus and Jupiter. "When you can do that without magic, you are ready for the Hiryu Shoten Ha."
A siren could be heard approaching. That was the usual cue for the Senshi to leave the area. Mars was still holding her nose. "I'm going back to the shrine and clean up. Phew!" She ran off and Mercury trailed behind her dripping a trail of yucky stuff all over the street.
Jupiter stared at the damage to the wall. "Well Sun, I guess we step up the martial arts lessons."
Io suggested, "We practice every morning on the roof of our apartment. Come at 5AM and you can join us."
"I just might do that." Jupiter quickly ran off after Mars and Mercury.
Venus wanted to sob. "Five! You mean as in five in the morning? You've got to be kidding right?"
Sun glanced at her communicator. It had a clock on it. Sun looked at Moon, "I've got to go to work. Io will fill me in on the Scout meeting. See ya!" She called out, "Sun Beam Transport!" She invoked her teleportation spell and vanished in a flash of light.
Io took Venus's hand, "Let's get to Mars' place. We can talk about schedules there." The two ran after Jupiter.
Moon stood there coated with reddish gooey stuff that smelled like a sewer. "WAAAHHHH!!" She turned and ran after her warriors. "Don't leave me behind you guys!"
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The six Inners regrouped at Mars' shrine. They discussed the youma attack and Mercury assured everyone that this was not yet another invasion but an isolated incident. It quickly degenerated into a pointless argument over who got covered with more goo and who had the coolest magical attack.
Jupiter, Io and Venus started trying to practice Sailor Sun's teleportation spell. They met with absolutely no success. Mars and Mercury had a good laugh at watching how silly the three looked as they each called out "Sun Beam Transport" or "Jupiter lighting Transport" or any other play on the words to make themselves vanish and reappear somewhere else.
Moon as usual cried that some Scouts had powers that she didn't and she was silenced when Io transformed to Akane and ran off and brought back a bowl of ice cream for her. The magic of ice cream could calm even the foulest of moods. All of the Senshi except for Moon changed back to normal.
Moon finished her ice cream and stood before the group. She raised her arm to the sky and pulled it down like she was pulling an invisible chain. "Moon Beam Transport!" She stood there. Nothing had happened.
Rei clapped her hands. "Bravo dumpling head! Now say it like you really mean it!"
Moon changed to Usagi. "You're such a meenie!"
Rei stood up. "You're a ditz!"
Ami tapped her pencil to the table. "Please can we discuss homework assignments?"
Rei, Akane, Usagi and Minako turned on Ami and all stuck out their tongues and gave a collective raspberry. Makoto just ignored everyone and read her schoolbook.
It was business as usual for the Sailor Senshi. They might have been seventeen years old, but they had the maturity of five year olds.
Usagi whined, "Stop picking on me!"
Rei retorted, "When you grow up!"
Makoto put down her book. "Wanna hear about my old boyfriend?"
"NO!" Came from the crowd.
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It was past eleven o'clock at night. It was the same old routine for Sailor Sun. She would teleport near work, change to Ranko, slave away as a waitress for the dinner crowd then hide, transform and teleport home. The Saotomes had to pinch every penny to make ends meet since they were relying on their own income to support themselves in Juuban.
Akane was studying her homework at the dining room table when Sailor Sun appeared in the living room and like always, fell in a crumpled heap fast asleep. Sailor Sun's teleportation magic worked perfectly during daylight but at night, she would pass out from lack of energy. Akane didn't even bother to notice how Sailor Sun was doing. Her peaceful snore was all she needed to hear.
She turned the page of her English book trying to memorize that strange way that English words are spelled. She thought, "How can 'though' be pronounced like that?" She shook her head. English was weird.
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It was a simple little park in the center of Juuban. It had a little lake and a small dock for tiny rowboats. A solitary figure walked from the shore to the edge of the dock. She walked with a purpose and elegance honed of centuries of experience. She had been forewarned of the event. She was pissed.
A cloud appeared above the end of the dock. Lightning flashed and a teenaged pink haired girl fell from the sky followed by a little cathead shaped balloon. The girl landed with a thud and the balloon like object landed on her head. "Ouch! Why does that always hurt?" The girl rubbed the bump on her head and took a look around. She was facing toward the tiny lake and smiled.
A small cat landed next to her. The kitty made a perfect four-point landing. The cat was about two years old and had a crescent moon mark on her forehead. She was not a kitten but she was not quite an adult either. Diana purred, "You know your mom is going to be very mad when she finds out."
Chibi Usa stood up. She was slightly taller than her mother Usagi Tsukino. Usa was sixteen years of age and had a well-developed body and had been weight training. She wore a Juuban High School Sailor fuku with a gold necklace holding a small gold time key. She had two long light pink ponytails that reached to the ground and on her head they pointed upwards like bunny ears. Chibi Usa turned to Diana, "Only if we get caught!"
In reply, Setsuna grabbed Chibi Usa by the scruff of the neck and picked her up off the ground. "You were saying?"
"Oh hi Pu!" Usa tried to give an innocent smile to her friend in the 30th century but adversary in the 21st century. She knew she was in deep trouble. She grinned and played dumb.
Setsuna of the 21st century was not amused. She saw what Usa was wearing around her neck. "Why did you steal the time key again?"
"Mom said I could come. She sent me for more training!"
Setsuna thought about alternate timelines she could create and send the girl into for punishment. Maybe she should have Genma Saotome teach her the Cat Fist? Maybe she should go on a ten-year training journey? Maybe she should tie her up and lock her in her bedroom back in Crystal Tokyo? Maybe she should go to the time of Usa's birth and tie her up at that moment in history. Duct tape had thousands of uses. Setsuna grinned evilly at the happy thoughts going through her mind. She tightened her grip on the tall future girl. "Somehow, I doubt you asked your mother for permission." Setsuna sensed the area to make sure no one was watching and produced her time staff. She gave it a wave and opened a portal back to the 30th century.
"Ah! But I just got here!" Chibi Usa started struggling. She was held aloft and kicked the air.
Setsuna saw the image of Usa's bedroom in the future through the rip in time she created. "And you're just leaving." She tried to pitch Usa into the rip but the girl grabbed her arm and wouldn't let go.
"I don't want to go back!"
"Let go of me Usagi!" Setsuna tried to remove the pink haired growth from her arm. The girl had grown taller and stronger since they last met.
Chibi Usa used her legs and wrapped herself tight on Setsuna's arm. "I want to see Sailor Sun!"
"I told you before, you can't!"
"She and Io are awake now!"
Setsuna couldn't deny that. The rip started to waver. She touched it with her staff with her free arm and it vanished. "Usagi! Let go! You already know about the danger of disclosing future events."
"I kept my promise last time! I never gave a hint to my mom and the other scouts that I knew about Sun! I'll keep my word on the others."
Setsuna sighed and lowered her arm. It was taking too much effort to hold her arm out with over forty-five kilos of extra weight on it. She couldn't create a new rip in time since two people just arrived taking an evening stroll in the park. Chibi Usa was safe for the moment. "Ok, you did keep your word. Everything went as it should have. However, I can't let you jump through time like it's a trip across town."
Chibi Usa cheered up a little. "Can I please see her? Pretty please? I've always wanted to see her."
Setsuna was not buying that excuse. "You've met her already. Probably hundreds of times by now."
"But not in the 21st century! C'mon please!" She whined just like her mother. Any louder and windows for kilometers would shatter from the screech.
Setsuna was not budging. "No."
"Please."
"No."
"Pretty Please."
"No."
"With sugar on it?"
"No."
"Pretty pretty please?"
"No."
"I'll be good."
"I doubt it. The answer is still no."
Chibi Usa was far smarter than anyone gave her credit for. She did what she had to do. She was staying and that was that. She screamed. "HELP!"
Setsuna went pale and shot glances in every direction. "Shut up!"
Chibi Usa took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs. "I'M BEING KIDNAPPED! HHHHHEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPPP!"
People stared popping up all around the edge of the lake. They all started approaching the dock in an attempt to offer assistance to the girl in distress.
Setsuna was not giving up. She faced the dock and slashed reality with her time staff. A rip was opened and Chibi Usa's bedroom appeared again. Setsuna raised her arm to cast Usa back to the future. Chibi Usa smiled and as soon as Setsuna's arm was at its highest point, she jumped off Setsuna, performed a flip and landed on her hands. She had her legs folded to her chest. She let gravity drop her so that her legs were aimed directly at Setsuna's back. She kicked with all her might hurling Setsuna into the rip and out of the 21st century and into the 30th century.
"Usagi!" Setsuna was silenced as the rip closed up after her.
Chibi Usa hopped to her feet and ran for it. Diana and Luna-P followed her. Setsuna was going to be back in moments and she would be demanding blood. Chibi Usa spoke to herself. "You're right Pluto. I meet Sailor Sun four times a week. She's a great martial arts instructor." She ran to her 21st century home and joined in the adventure that she knew she didn't want to miss.
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Sailor Sun was startled awake. She bolted upright and looked around the room. Akane jumped at Sun's sudden move. "What's the matter Sun?"
"Something's going on." Sun closed her eyes and meditated. "The feeling is gone now."
Akane threw her pencil down on the table. "I hope it's not another fiance."
Sailor Sun giggled and changed back to Ranko. "I hope not. I've got enough already."
Akane got up and helped Ranko to her feet. "C'mon, let me get you some hot water."
"Sounds like a plan."
Ranko went to the bathroom and removed her kimono and wiped off her makeup. She was down to her boxer shorts. Akane poured the hot water to get her husband back. Ranma stood up and flexed his muscles. "Now that's more like it!"
Akane growled. She grabbed his manly chest. "Let's go to bed."
Ranma turned to his wife. "That really sounds like a plan." He scooped up Akane and held her in his arms. He took her to the bedroom and closed the door. They had a very good time that night. The neighbors had a hard time sleeping through the racket.
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Usagi was sleeping in her bed with the latest manga she borrowed from Minako laying on her stomach. She was quietly snoring. She awoke to the sound of things being moved around in another room. Usagi cracked one eyelid open and listened again. Another sound came from the room that Chibi Usa used when she visited. Usagi's heart sank. "Oh no. She's back isn't she?"
Usagi dragged her carcass out of bed and slumped to the doorway. She went over to peek inside and sure enough, there was a pink haired girl cleaning up the room to make it livable again. The room was used for storage when Chibi Usa wasn't around.
Usagi did a double take. Chibi Usa was not six or eight years old. She was now a girl of fifteen or maybe sixteen years of age. She was wearing a Juuban High School sailor fuku. Her hair had grown longer and she looked far more mature than her age. Usa had a look of determination and purpose as she removed things from the bed and readied it for sleep. Luna-P floated around and Diana was curled up in a corner. Usagi coughed to get Usa's attention.
Usa didn't pause her work. She kept going at a frantic pace to ready the room for living. "Hi mom."
Usagi leaned in the doorway. "Mom? You look old enough to be my twin sister. What are you doing here again?"
Usa put the finishing touches on the blankets she put on the bed and sat down. "Oh nothing."
Usagi leaned harder into the door frame. "Is the future in trouble again?"
Usa laughed. She didn't giggle. It was the laugh of a mature woman. "No. The future is fine."
"So why are you here?"
"I wanted to go to high school with you and the other Inners." She smiled.
"You want to go to high school with me?" Usagi raised her eyebrows. She now was convinced that something was going on.
"Yeah mom! How many daughters go to the same school with their mother?"
Usagi held to the doorframe tight. "The ones who show up on Jerry Springer! You're freaking me out. I can't believe I'd let you visit me like this."
Usa stopped smiling. She couldn't lie to her mother about that detail.
Usagi figured it out. "I didn't allow this did I?" Usagi had to commit to memory, twenty-four hour surveillance for Chibi Usa during her teenage years. Heck, why not implant a tracking device from birth? Usagi groaned. "Why are you really here?"
Usa jumped off the bed, did a somersault and landed in an attack stance. She was holding her moon scepter in her hand and looked like she was going to blast a hole in the wall. "Training!"
Usagi blinked. "T-t-training? What kind of training?" She was already afraid of the answer.
"Why Anything Goes Martial Arts of course! I'm here to meet Sailor Sun!"
Usagi slid down the doorframe onto the floor. "Wake me up from this nightmare."
Author's Notes: Please review my story. It makes me feel oh so happy and prevents me from shutting off your electricity.
Last edited on January 25th, 2007