Thanks go to one (and currently my only) prereader James.  He helped make some great suggestions for the battle in this chapter.

############### UNKNOWN VOID ###############################

"Hi there!"

Ranma was standing in a void of complete white.  In front was the person he feared was true.  The woman that was supposedly him from his past thousands of years ago.

"Hello?" Waving her hand in front of his face. "Am I home?"

Ranma jumped back, getting into a fighting stance.

"Well aren't I just a little jumpy today?  That isn't even your real body and you think you can fight yourself?"

Ranma tensed up, and leapt forward, hoping to get in the first hit. "Get lost!  KACHU TENSHIN AMGURIKEN!"  To his dismay, the woman in front didn't move, and all his attacks passed right through her.

"I've lost it. Enough fooling around.  Did you think you could harm an image of yourself?" She then melded into the white void, disappearing completely.

Jumping back, Ranma examined the situation.  She was an exact image of his female side, only with the sailor fuku. It resembled the other outfits the other girls wore, but different coloring.  It's trim was a bright red, with glittering orange at the edge. The large bow on the front was also the same orange color.  On her head was a tiara.  What distinguished her from the other scouts was the golden gauntlet on her hand.  Jewels lined each of the fingers, each containing an intense heat. It wasn't bulky like those suits in museums, but was very tight and didn't appear to hamper Sailor Sun's movement. Along with her magic attacks, the gauntlet gave her the ability to form objects of pure plasma. `How did I know that?` Ranma thought.

"I know so you know!  We are the same!" the voice echoed around him.

"OH YA!  If we're the same, why are we talk'n to each other?"

"Do I - or should I say you - really need to answer that?"

She morphed just a foot in front of Ranma and took his trembling hand.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ranma almost slapped her with his free hand, but caught himself inches from her cheek.  No matter how... how... why was he repulsed by her? Because she was the ultimate incarnation of his curse? Because she was what he was taught not to be?

"Or because I'm the truth?"

"NO!  Get back!"  Despite Ranma's words, he was slowly giving in, and didn't attempt to pull away from her.

"Hey, don't blame me for thinking it, I am you after all.  Say, wasn't there a battle going on before you came in?"

"Yes, but where am I anyhow?"

"Consider it the boundary between your consciousness and unconscious.  When you went into the nekoken, we were able to communicate.  As far as I know, with the two parts of your brain trying to comprehend me, you probably aren't active in the attack now."

"How do I go back?  Those girls won't stand a chance against that power."

"Accept me.  Complete the merge with the different memories.  You exist here, and back home with Akane.  Just give in. We, no I - know it must be done."

Reaching her hand behind Ranma's head, she pulled him down and kissed him.

################### JUUBAN ################################################

"Luna, what happened to Ranma?  He changed into a girl and was screaming about us. Then, he just stopped."  Artemis jumped on Ranma's lap, which was below water, leaving the white cat standing in two inches of water. "He, or she, is just out of it."

"I don't think it would be to healthy to be standing there if she wakes up.  Ranma appears to be deathly afraid of us." Luna turned and went into the bush beside the pond.  "We can't do anything until the battle is over, and we are too small to move Ranma away. Let's keep an eye on things from here."

"Ok."

---- MEANWHILE, IN THE SKIES ---

Sakana was deflecting the shots the scouts threw at her with ease. They were going to pay for the lucky hit.  "Now, which one should it be..." She floated down to the roof of the shrine, only to jump back up to avoid an attack by a sharp object - a rose?

"Halt demon!  Attacking the love and beauty of the scouts is only - "

"CAN IT PENGUIN BOY!  Here!  You can pay for what they did!"  Reaching out with an invisible hand, she gripped Tuxedo Kamen's neck and gave it a squeeze. He struggled vainly, trying to get a gasp of air.  Sailor Moon looked on with terror, and started flinging attacks at Sakana in a desperate attempt to save her destined love.  After he passed out, Sakana telekinetically lifted him in the air approximately a kilometer.  What happened next was something that will haunt Sailor Moon forever.

Tuxedo Kamen began to accelerate toward the earth, assisted by gravity, and to a greater extent, Sakana's power.  The infuriated warrior knew exactly where to aim his body. His clothing started to feel the effects of friction with the air, began to catch fire due to the extreme speed.  He impacted the stone wall, destroying the top half of it.  In his unconscious state, the magical powers protecting him were weakened, giving way to impact. Sailor Moon watched as time seemed to slow.  First his back hit the wall, snapping with a crunch. As his body bent at unnatural angles, the stone tore into his body.  Next, it went completely through, leaving the two halves tumbling on either side, with the face toward his love.

Time then resumed, with Sailor Moon feeling her last barriers break.  His face seemed so calm in his last moments.  Saying a prayer, and thankful it ended for him painlessly in unconsciousness, Sailor Moon exploded in power. The moon scepter elongated into a staff, washing waves of magical power over and into Princess Serenity, but with a different look.  She wore the royal armor of the Moon Kingdom that was last worn by the first Queen Serenity.  It resembled the sailor fuku in size, and even the short skirt. However, it was all a lightweight metal that followed her curves perfectly. The skirt part was a flexible version of the metal substance, neither solid nor flowing as freely.

On other side of the courtyard, a new senshi emerged.

"Sun Galaxy Power! Make up!"

Red plasma flames shimmered around the senshi of the sun, but didn't harm the vegetation near her feet. Raising her right arm she formed a sword in her gauntlet.  Although lacking a solid hilt, or blade, Sailor Sun had no difficulty holding it.  The plasma was hot enough to vaporize anything it came in contact with, and being a blade that could be mentally controlled, the attacker could perform finer cuts down to the atomic level.

Floating into the air, she let out a battle cry and charged at Sakana, leaving a trail of ionized air. Sakana, expecting a tough fight, powered up to full strength and got into a midair combat stance.

The power outline of Princess Serenity brightened, and she too rose up and rocketed toward Sakana, leaving behind a blue trail of cracking energies and tears. Needless to say, Washu and the other scouts were stunned.  The powers being felt between the three warriors was greater than those experienced at the fall of the Moon Kingdom several times over.

Sailor Sun reached Sakana first, attacking with a large right to left diagonal sword strike.  Sakana sped away at the last moment, leaving an after image, only to be hit in the arm by the princess's staff where she reappeared.  Blue energy rippled up and down her arm, triggering every muscle in her arm.  Where the staff made contact, the cloth was completely burnt through, revealing a completely blackened and blistering skin.  Blood was creeping out.

Despite the pain, Sakana held it back, not wanting to give her attackers any chance to attack.  Taking the offensive, she began sending tens of blasts out through her good arm.  Most missed, but those that did make contact were either skillfully defected by Sailor Sun's sword, or harmlessly slammed against a spherical shield surrounding the princess.

Those on the ground finally snapped out of their trance, and threw attacks into the sky at Sakana, guided to their target by Washu.  However, in Sakana's fully powered state, she couldn't even feel them.  It was the two before her that she was worried about.  One on one, she stood a chance, but being double teamed was too much, especially after losing her left arm. Escape was also out the question since it took too long to open a portal.  You also had to be powered down to transport through dimensional space, less you risk having your own power rip you apart.

Seeing they made easier targets to deal with by staying close, Sailor Sun spun around Sakana, giving two widely spaced foes to fight.  With only one hand, she could only fire her blasts at one target - which remained on Sailor Sun.  Princess Serenity, seeing the open backside of Sakana, sped forward and dealt a devastating blow with the end of the staff.  It continued forward through her shoulder, and came out the right side of the chest.

Like before, energies ripped outward from the point of contact, scorching both the outside and internal organs - a hit that would have proved fatal had Sailor Sun not finished the battle.

"KACHU TENSHIN AMGURIKEN REVISED!"

Combining the powers of Sailor Sun with those of a world class martial artist, she used the sword in a modified chestnut fist - striking thousands of times in a few short seconds. Plasma vaporized flesh and bone instantly.

After Sakana's death scream faded, and the energy arching between sword and staff was all to be heard, both combatants collapsed and returned to their normal forms.  Their weapons disappearing with the detransformation. The shocked group below caught the two heroes before they hit the ground.

C-Ko also stumbled out of the room she was sleeping in, wondering what just happened to the fireworks out her window.

############ HUNDREDS OF MILES ABOVE JUUBAN #####################

Diginux was impressed.  Last time he traveled around, only one or two beings possessed these powers, and even then he only discovered those beings after two thousand years. Seeing the battle was finished, he captured the first pieces of the puzzle needed to destroy Washu.

"No need for such power to go to waste."

################# SPACE STATION EMERGENCE ###########################

"Stop!  I command you-AIEEE!" Kyah dived out of the path of oncoming missiles, only to jump to avoid a set of bombari. "This is not supposed to happen!"

Powering up, Kyah sent homing ki blasts at everyone, wanting just to knock everyone out to prevent anymore damage.  Everyone of her shots hit a target, leaving only Nabiki, Ayeka and Sasami standing, protected by Ayeka's energy shield.

"Good grief. HEY!  You three!  Help move them into their shuttles, I want all of you out of here before anyone wakes up.  NOW!"

A collective "Yes sir!" sounded.

--- Twenty minutes earlier

Before her, twenty-one soldiers bowed before her.  Fifteen from the bunch she had pulled through the dimensions, with another two of her personal guard to help train, guide, and keep the group on track to their mission. They were separated into three groups.  Their shuttles contained the best technology her group and scientists could muster, and could travel from one end of the universe to the other in less than a week.

Going over the final roster, she checked personally to insure the mission was ready to depart.

Shuttle one... Kuno, Nabiki, Mihoshi, Lina, Gourry, Captain Ras, and Lieutenant Esca.  Target... Financial districts.  This group looks good, a nice mix of brute strength, technology, and technique.

Shuttle two... Akane, Ryoga, B-Ko, Mari, and Naga, Captain Faro, Lieutenant Gart.  It was the strangest of the three, and would stand out like a sore thumb.  Just with B-Ko's and Naga's outfits, it was a disturbing sight, but one to prove advantageous where this group was headed.  They were to go into the capital city and round up the rebel forces, gangs, anything.  Those groups had about the same kinky outfits, or buff women.

Shuttle three... Ayumi, Ayeka, Sasami, Shampoo, and A-Ko.  Although everyone's minds where implanted with memories, leading them to believe they were there to serve Queen Kyah, even till death, rivalries between individuals still persisted. Tests showed it wasn't a good idea to group A-Ko and B-Ko together, and Shampoo with Akane.  This group had the youngest members, and even some royalty. Their mission was to work from the inside of the bureaucracy, and provide information to the other two groups.  When the final attack takes place, they would provide the assassinations needed to edge the opposing side into further chaos.

A-Ko, lined up in her group, was directly across from B-Ko. While Kyah's back was turned, she stuck out her toung to the blue haired girl.  B-Ko, having a short fuse, charged at A-Ko, throwing her across the room and sending the first group flying like bowling pins.  A-Ko recovered quickly and rebounded to ram her shoulder into her rival, resulting in the team behind B-Ko exploding in the same manner as the first.  The middle team scrambled in every direction to avoid the same fate.

"AKAGIYAMA MISSILES!"  The resulting explosions traced a line behind A-Ko who was running perpendicular to the circular wall surrounding the docking bay.

Shampoo decided to take advantage of the situation and proceeded to attack. "Pervert girl die!"

"I don't think so!"

A-Ko called out to her teammates that had taken shelter in their shuttle. "Hey you guys! A little help here!"

"Right!" yelled out Ayeka. Several logs appeared in the air and formed a shield in front her teammate, causing the missiles to harmlessly impact.

"No fair!  A-Ko you coward. Let's see how you fair against my friends." Signaling toward Mari, Naga and Ryoga.  "Get them!"

Mari blindly attacked, and was sent head first into a wall by A-Ko. Ayeka jumped out of the way of Ryoga's breaking point attack, dropping the force field protecting her teammate. Naga, iced the floor, sending everyone sliding everywhere and forcing those in the other team to defend themselves from crossfire.

Needless to say, it was complete chaos until Kyah took control.

############### TELLEO SPACE PORT - AREA 4 ########################

"Hey!  This is a 'stricted area!  You must leave -- Komo?"

"This how you treat your old partner Sledge? Callin the guards and kicking him out?  You know better than that - remember what happened last time."

"Ya, you sent one through the wall and we both ended up in the cooler for the better part of a month."

Komosauro walked up to the short bald man.  A good two feet taller, Jake had to look up to make eye contact.  Despite his small size, his strength was above average - allowing him to lift twenty ton space drives into place with one hand, leaving the other free to fasten them in place.  Another skill that that worked to his advantage as a mechanic was his electronic eye. The dull green device let him see imperfections in metal, or to diagnose problems without pulling apart an engine.

However, it wasn't these two skills Komosauro needed, yet. It was his connections to the underworld for specialty parts only special military ships had.

"So what do you need this time? Hope you know what you're get'n into, with the war 'n all, demand has tripled, so my fee is tripled too.  Last time you barely covered the cost."

"Don't worry, I've got company to help cover the cost.  The ole bird, Shogo IV, needs some upgrades. Ran into some problems with the big boys, and need to get back to finish up what we started."

"The big ones eh?  To get by them, I'll have to practically upgrade half your systems.  Probably be about fifteen days for the work.  Stop by tomorrow, and I'll have a list of stuff and my price.  It's handy knowing the ship in and out - after all it was my ship."

"And don't you forget it!  After saving your butt from that pirate attack, you owed me big time.  See ya later!"

"See you.  Nice do'n business with you."

Although they were good friends, they had to keep their meetings short, else someone who might be spying would get suspicious.  They'll get a chance to catch up on news when the rebuilding begins on the Shogo.

Returning to the ship, Komosauro was looking forward to some sleep. Upon walking into his quarters, he was greeted by an exhausted Tenchi and Goku spawled on the couch and bed.  `Oh well, looks like the cot for me tonight...`

--------- In District 10 of Harberg, Planet Telleo -----

Vegeta was getting tire of playing with this overgrown pig.  Although he was significantly stronger than the other weaklings, the lizard Bunksaw wasn't a challenge still.  Four punches was all it took to knock the ugly out.

"Now, you call that a challenge?  And I thought I would have to defend my boots more than what you put up.  Prepare to visit the next world."

Extending his hand over the lizard, Vegeta prepared to deal the finishing blast when Ryoko teleported between.

"WAIT!  He's MY prey." Ryoko held the bounty poster up in Vegeta's face, and pointed to herself. "And I will get the reward. I've been hunting all day for this guy."

"I don't care woman.  Do what you will, but I get half of what you get for this lowlife.  I did the fighting. You probably couldn't even handle him."

"Why you!" An energy sword materialized in her free hand, and drew back to strike at Vegeta.  Before she could, military sirens could be heard approaching. Her pirate instincts kicked in, telling her to hightail it out there. Grabbing on to big ugly, she phased through the walls heading toward the police station.

Vegeta, not amused, blasted a hole and followed, not wanting to lose his prey - be it his "companion" or the lizard.

Luckily for Ryoko, she made it to the police station first.  Knowing the way helps when navigating a city over five hundred kilometers wide. She didn't want to stick around when Vegeta showed up, since she didn't want to share the bounty.

Approximately twenty minutes later (and twenty minutes of blasting away at the local buildings), Vegeta had managed to attract the attention of every police and military vehicle in the city. Blasting him with lasers, plasma rifles, and everything else at their disposal, they had only managed to annoy the saiyan to the point of going super.  After powering up, Vegeta expected the pests to flee, but instead it had the effect of stepping on an anthill. Till that point, Vegeta had barely kept his temper in check and didn't neutralize any of them.

Swatting the flying ones out of the air first in fiery spirals gave Vegeta some satisfaction.  The frustration of being zapped from your "home" were being brought to bare, and he didn't hold back on the flying items. The ground forces could do all they wanted unless they got in his face.

After an hour of exercising, Vegeta decided to call it a night, not wanting to exhaust tomorrow night's source of fun all at once.  Accelerating to full speed, he quickly outran any pursuit and confused orbiting satellites by delving into the lower reaches of the city.

Powering down, he called a taxi and went back to the Shogo.