Not that Cologne wasn't amused by this. Far from it. She expected this to be quite entertaining when it all hit the fan.
That somewhat studious looking girl who was practically a purring puddle over there, for example, looked like you'd need to zomp 10,000 volts through her just to get the smile off her face.
There were others, so it was simpler just to demonstrate the proper pressure points and Ranma could break the Dark Chi spell and not be buried under a crowd of girls who wanted to help him work off the excess life energy.
With that, the groups ended up exchanging phone numbers and returning to their respective dojos.
With two exceptions. Yoko Mano and Azusa comprised one of the groups that didn't want to go home just yet.
Yoko Mano, devilhunter, had just found Mister Right. He was powerful enough to take on evil wizards, had a body she could only describe with words like "luscious", and as he was also a martial artist could be counted on to have more stamina than the typical Japanese high school student.
"Yoko-san, you're drooling again," pointed out Azusa helpfully.
"Never mind that," said Yoko. "We've got to keep tracking Hunkma over there."
"I thought he said it was 'Ranma'," said Azusa.
"Whatever."
Rei blinked. "He's what?"
"A menace to Crystal Tokyo," repeated Setsuna.
"I knew it!" Haruka declared.
"Actually, his energy readings were almost exactly the opposite of a Dark Kingdom™ General(r) - more like Sailor Moon's own. He also seemed fairly... nice," Ami finally said, hoping her face didn't ignite from the force of her blush.
"That isn't why," said Setsuna.
"Why?" Makoto practically choked it out. "WHY is he a menace to Crystal Tokyo? Can't the kami give me a damn break here?!"
Setsuna let out a deep sigh, clearly they weren't going to just let this go. "Because he isn't supposed to be like this."
"I think a little more explanation is in order," said Haruka who had absolutely no illusions about what her own martial arts skills were like in comparison to those displayed by that boy. Maybe she could go to Senshi and kick his butt, in civilian ID she'd last slightly longer than a beer at a graduation party. If she were lucky.
Setsuna considered ways of not answering.
"Setsuna," said Usagi, foregoing the "chan" for now. "He saved my life, those of my friends, and beat someone who might not have been a Dark General but came really close. We need to know why before we condemn him."
Pursing her lips, Setsuna nodded. "Very well. I have trouble scanning him due to the chaos factors in his life, but Ranma Saotome is not supposed to be a White Chi mage, or that mature, and he's certainly not supposed to live long enough to see Crystal Tokyo."
"Huh?"
Frowning again, Setsuna tried it another way. "He is supposed to be a self-absorbed moronic egomaniacal martial arts prodigy who learns to fear girls at the hands of his various fiancees and rivals. He is supposed to go through a failed wedding attempt with one girl, marry her a year later, get food poisoning at the hands of that girl, then die a week into the marriage when they other fiancees go completely insane at his treatment of them - with him trying to protect the wife that both loves and hates him and taking the brunt of their attacks as a result. Eight months after his death, his wife gives birth to a lovely baby girl whom she shakes to death during that first year. This whole thing has the Tendo and Saotome clans in a bitter feud, each blaming the other for the way things turn out, which eventually leads to those two families being among those shipped to Nemesis. Something happened about a month ago that has changed all that."
Everyone blinked. Finally Hotaru cleared her throat. "He didn't strike me like that."
Setsuna nodded. "You see? He isn't that way. He shouldn't have been able to turn his back from the fight, much less-"
"Show nobility of spirit, the heart of chivalry, as he deliberately turned from the battle to save lives even if it meant he was an easier target." Ami blinked as she realized she had spoken. "Oh dear."
"So why does someone being better off mean he's a menace?" Makoto didn't see it. "If he's managed to improve himself, why does that mean he's evil!"
Setsuna fixed Makoto with a glare. "What makes you think that only evil people are a threat to Crystal Tokyo?"
THAT hit the various Inners like a grenade going off.
"...aren't we fighting for Crystal Tokyo because it's a utopian society where nobody suffers needlessly?" asked Ami in a quiet voice.
"Crystal Tokyo is the only hope for mankind's survival," said Setsuna, "and it is the future that I have been tasked to insure."
"But you're saying that you can't absolutely see the future of Ranma, right? So maybe he's not a threat to Crystal Tokyo." Michiru put in. While normally she would back Setsuna 100% - her intuition was saying that in this case Sailor Pluto was about to cause a major problem within the Senshi. "Why not research it further before we commit to anything hasty?"
Setsuna frowned. Crystal Tokyo was Order. Ranma was Chaos. Okay, maybe he was a little less so than before but he still reeked of it. How could he not be a menace?
(Posted Mon, 16 Dec 2002 01:35)
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