An Inevitable Outcome Feature Written and Directed by C. Richard Davies TOGETHER AGAIN 1996 Chapter Based on the works of Naoko Takeuchi, Rumiko Takahashi, Kosuke Fujishima, Matsumoto Izumi, Masaki Kajishima, and various interpretations thereof. Incorporating original characters created by by C. Richard Davies Dedicated to John Biles, Fred Herriot, and Larry Mann. ACT FIVE We open on blackness and silence. AKANE (V.O.) The last day of the five days that shook the world dawned like any other. It ended like any other. It was in the middle that the wonder and the horror took place. There's a lesson in that -- things don't always happen at dramatic moments. There is a long silence. AKANE (V.O.) Nabiki ... I've never understood my sister. To be perfectly honest, I don't want to. I don't like her, and I'm fairly sure it's mutual. So it didn't really surprise me when she wasn't willing to help me with this. Everything I have about what happened there, in that narrow street, comes to me from Kent, through Patricia. What my sister saw, felt, and thought about it is going to be lost to history. That's life, I guess. There is another long silence. AKANE (V.O.) I wish that I could have gotten Jessica's point of view. But I'm not surprised that I didn't. The blackness starts to recede on a field of gold-flecked gray, which quickly turns to white. It is, of course an eyeball (KENT's) from which we are pulling back from an EXTREME close-up. As the frame shows his face, we see that he is still deeply shocked by what has happened a few seconds before. NABIKI (O.S.) She ... what did she just do? KENT turns to look at NABIKI, who is kneeling beside where NINIANE's body was, feeling the still warm ground. Above them, the sky is beginning to cloud over. KENT She -- JESSICA is standing frozen in place. JESSICA She decided to off herself so I couldn't kill her at my leisure. And they call me sadistic -- who deprived who of fun? KENT turns to look at her, yet does not quite meet her eyes. He keeps his gaze on her neck and shoulders. KENT That's not quite the whole story, Jessica. But then, you've a knack for only knowing part of the story, haven't you? JESSICA Oooh, was that an insult? KENT Niniane ... converted her body and spirit into pure energy. Most of it went into me -- JESSICA Kinky. KENT -- where it ... I guess you could say that it wrote some new data to my brain. I'm still assimilating it. But part of it went into a certain spell that she'd cast. JESSICA's eyes jerk. JESSICA What? KENT That spell isn't going to die, just because its caster has. I'd say that there was enough power to make it last ... oh, a day and a half. Come on, Nabiki ... I think we should go back to the dojo. NABIKI stands up, and heads over to where KENT is standing, taking great care to not to come into contact with JESSICA. She brushes against KENT's back, however, and jerks back as though burnt. KENT Sorry. NABIKI looks at him with a very uncertain expression, then looks down at the ground. NABIKI Excuse me ... aren't those your glasses? KENT Oh. Yes, they are. Niniane must have picked them up ... earlier. A chameleon spell works better if you have a few belongings of the subject. He bends down to pick them up. JESSICA You're not going to just leave me like this. KENT Oh? JESSICA This is what we were *born* for, Kent. Final battle between -- KENT -- between a tired old man and a slightly younger woman with an obscure grudge? I'll pass, thanks. He turns to go. JESSICA Good and evil! I'm evil! KENT No, you're psychopathic. There's a difference. He starts to limp away. JESSICA You're going to just let me go? After everything I've done -- KENT You haven't done anything that I can do anything about right now. I may come back with a warrant for your arrest in a bit. Who knows? JESSICA Very funny. *I* let the Adversary into this world ... KENT Really? Is that how you see it? JESSICA If I hadn't stopped that demon from inter-- KENT Then it would still have come. Now is when the Adversary was going to come. Don't try to take "credit" for the Adversary's deeds, Jessica. I'm going to be discussing the Adversary's actions with it very shortly. He takes another step away. JESSICA You're going to confront the Adversary. You're crazy. You are walking with a crazy person, you know that? NABIKI You're not quite Ms. Mental Health, you know? JESSICA Shut up inconsequential person. You'll be destroyed. You are nothing to something like that. Less than nothing. KENT I can only try. And besides, you want me dead, remember? He takes another step away. JESSICA At *my* hands, damn your hide! You are taking away the only thing that *matters* to me! I have only *ever* lived for the possibility that one day I would be able to eke out my vengeance on you! KENT I know. He takes another step. JESSICA COME BACK HERE! This fight ... this fight with you is all that I have! It's the only reason I'm alive! KENT slowly turns to look at her, with an expression on his face that one might almost call sympathetic. KENT Then you should find something else to live for, or you'll probably die. He turns away again, and keeps right on walking this time. NABIKI follows, almost trailing him as though ready to catch him if he falls. Before they are out of sight, JESSICA lets out a fearsome howl that stops NABIKI in her tracks. KENT keeps right on going, and NABIKI follows after a moment. JESSICA is standing in her frozen position. Even her face, aside from her mouth, is paralyzed. But not, it seems, her tear ducts. Cut to the entrance of the Tendou dojo, just as it begins to rain. KENT approaches the gate slowly. KENT ... when the weather agrees with your mood ... do you know what they call it? NABIKI No, I don't really -- KENT Pathetic fallacy. Go on in. I need to be alone for awhile. NABIKI heads into the dojo with a sigh of relief. KENT slowly looks up into the sky. MCGOVERN (O.S.) Did she hurt? KENT looks back down. MCGOVERN has approached him without making a sound, and is standing nearby with a sad expression on his face. A long moment passes. KENT You knew. MCGOVERN gazes unblinkingly at him. KENT You knew ... and you never said a damn thing to me. Or to her. MCGOVERN In your case ... she asked me not to. In hers ... telling her would have deprived her of her freedom to choose. Which in a way is what this is all about, isn't it? And I didn't *know*. If the next twenty-four hours don't work out in the right way, the line that leads to where I'm from will never exist. There is another long moment. KENT What's it like? Harmony, I mean? MCGOVERN Nobody's hungry, nobody's angry. Other than that, there aren't any words. KENT Do you ever let people visit? MCGOVERN Yes, sometimes. KENT Could I -- MCGOVERN No. I'm sorry, Kent. You know why. KENT Yeah. Call 'em back. Get all the kids back here. MCGOVERN They're all here, or on their way. KENT Okay. I'll come in ... in a bit. MCGOVERN nods, and then turns to head back in. KENT speaks without looking at him. KENT Do you know when I'm supposed to die? MCGOVERN doesn't look at him. MCGOVERN I know when all my friends are supposed to die. KENT That doesn't answer my question. MCGOVERN Less than twenty four hours. If everything goes right. MCGOVERN heads in to the dojo. KENT leans against the wall, staring up into the rain. An astute observer might note the similarity in the way that his head is poised to the way that JESSICA's was, earlier. Cut to a dark, quiet room in the TENDOU dojo. MINAKO is kneeling beside AETHAN's very still form, which is covered in a blanket. His eyes are closed. We see that MINAKO is holding a small razor blade in her left hand. She slowly moves her right wrist over AETHAN's mouth. She closes her eyes. Her face clenches, either in pain or anticipation of it. MICHAEL (O.S.) There's an safer and less messy way of doing that, you know. MINAKO looks up at MICHAEL who is standing at the sliding door. MINAKO How long have you been there? MICHAEL Just long enough. He walks into the room, kneeling on the other side of AETHAN's body. He holds out his hand, then wiggles his fingers expectantly. MINAKO reluctantly hands over the razor. MICHAEL stares down at it. MICHAEL This one vampyre that I killed ... he used these to open up his victims so that no one would think it was a vampyre killing the little boys. No puncture marks, no vampyre, you see? Lousy way to die, bleeding to death. MINAKO He can ... heal the cuts, can't he? MICHAEL If he makes 'em, yeah. But like I said, there's a simpler way to get him what he needs. You remember how we were fighting the demons, right? MINAKO Yes ... you're pretty good. MICHAEL Practice. But you remember how I was able to just ... weaken them by grabbing hold of them, right? MINAKO Oh! So you're ... sort of like a vampyre, too? MICHAEL Used to call myself a psi-vampyre. Then I grew up. What I can do is draw a little bit of your life energy into me, and use it to ... stimulate the production of blood cells in my body. Now, normally, if I had too much blood in my veins, I'd have a heart attack. So ... He makes a cutting gesture across his wrist. MINAKO looks at him dubiously. MINAKO I don't see why that's safer. I mean, it means *I'm* not the one who's bleeding to -- MICHAEL I can heal myself pretty quickly. MINAKO But then couldn't I just -- MICHAEL I can't heal anyone else, though. My power's a selfish thing, that way. MINAKO swallows. MINAKO I dunno ... It's not that I don't trust you to be nice about taking my energy, but ... Maybe I should just ask Serena to heal him. MICHAEL Uh ... don't take this the wrong way, but does the "healing" your friend can do have any religious overtones? MINAKO Well, she *is* the Messiah, but -- MICHAEL I really didn't wanna know that. Look, vampyres and religion just don't mix. MINAKO I *know* that, but -- MICHAEL stares at her for a long moment, before a concerned expression starts to develop on his face. MICHAEL You're pretty concerned about me slitting my wrists for a person who was about to slit her own. MINAKO It's different when you have to watch. When it's being done to you, you don't have time to think about it ... but when all you can do is watch -- MICHAEL Stop it. Look ... I don't know what you've been through. And I shouldn't pry. Some questions, you just don't ask, in my line of work. But I do know that this guy ... He touches AETHAN's unmoving face gently. MICHAEL This guy loves you. He loves you more than I've seen him love anyone in the world -- and I would've sworn up, down, and sideways that he was crazy in love with Celestine. MINAKO Who's Celestine? MICHAEL Chinese dragon, joined the Shadows. She bought it in the end. The point is ... I don't wanna know what'd happen to him if he lost you. So please let me be a noble idiot and take the risks, okay? MINAKO looks down at AETHAN, whose face is almost tranquil, and sighs. MINAKO Okay. Does what you do ... hurt, much? MICHAEL Only a li-- MINAKO I don't mind if it hurts. I ... don't mind. MICHAEL Okay ... um, gimme your hand. She extends her hand across AETHAN's chest, and he takes her by the wrist. Blue lightning seems to crackle around his fingers, and MINAKO lets out a little gasp. MICHAEL's eyes start to glow, faintly. A few seconds pass. MICHAEL Okay, that should be enough. MINAKO You're sure? MICHAEL closes his eyes, and flinches, sharply. When his eyes open, they aren't glowing anymore. MICHAEL Yep. It's enough. His skin is turning bright red, and the arteries in his left arm are standing out to a frightening degree. He positions his wrist over AETHAN's mouth. MICHAEL Could you hold his lips open, please? MINAKO, who still seems a bit out of it, reaches up to pull AETHAN's lips back from his teeth -- which are still fanged. MICHAEL taps the artery in his wrist on one of the fangs, causing it to burst open, shooting the thick red blood into AETHAN's mouth. MINAKO watches with a certain horrified fascination. MICHAEL's skin fades back to its normal pale hue, and the tension seems to flow out of his body. After a moment, he slips his other hand over his wrist, and pulls away. MICHAEL Thaaaat's enough of that. MINAKO Is it enough, do you think? AETHAN I imagine so. AETHAN's eyes are half-lidded, and he still seems rather pale. MINAKO Aethan! She embraces him, and he smiles thinly at her, while making "scoot" gestures in MICHAEL's direction. MICHAEL wearily flashes him an "okay" gesture, and heads out of the room, sliding the door shut behind him. He looks down at the wrist that he cut, seeing another fresh white scar added to several old ones. Back in the room. MINAKO Are you sure it's enough. AETHAN Of course. I just need a little rest, now, so -- MINAKO Liar. You don't sleep, so why should you need rest? AETHAN stares at her for a moment, then lets out a weary sigh -- thus showing that his fangs, while not as prominent as they were earlier, are still in evidence. AETHAN There is a certain logic to your position. However -- MINAKO And you're still too weak to move ... which means you're much too weak to stop me. Wellll? Long silence. AETHAN You're quite sure that you want to do this? MINAKO Yes. AETHAN All right. He beckons her closer. She lowers her neck to his mouth. He kisses her, once. AETHAN I'll make it as painless as possible. MINAKO I don't mind. A second later, she lets out a little gasp. Cut to RAYE, sitting in the dojo, looking at the sliding door with an apprehensive expression. SHAMPOO (O.S.) Hey, barely-know girl. You want to watch door all night or play cards? RAYE turns back to look at SHAMPOO, who is sitting with URD and AYEKA. URD has produced a poker dealer's cap from somewhere. RAYE Oh, I'm quite ready to play a fair game -- She glares first at AYEKA and then at SHAMPOO. RAYE -- as long as the two of you don't try that "I've never played this game before" scam *again*. AYEKA But I haven't! Really. Granted, one can claim familiarity with a rather similar game ... *some* familiarity ... RAYE Yeah, right, *that's* why you've still got half your chips and I -- URD Now, now, like I once told Bradey, "Never count your money when you're sitting at the table; there'll be time enough for counting when the dealing's done." RAYE Who's Bradey? URD Let's play cards! We take a brief tour of the dojo, seeing UKYOU and LITA talking, busily exchanging recipes; RANMA and TENCHI discussing something -- probably fighting, while DARIEN and RYOUKO watch on from opposite sides. SASAMI is curled up in the corner, half-asleep, while MIHOSHI is all the way there. KYOUSUKE sits a little apart from all of the others -- he's older than anyone there (at least, older than anyone there *seems* to be) and not really comfortable with people who are so open about their powers. Finally, he gets up and heads out. Cut to KYOUSUKE walking down the hallway, rubbing the back of his head. He passes a window, and pauses to stare up at the sky. KYOUSUKE But what if she was right? ANDREW (O.S.) Right about what? KYOUSUKE turns to see ANDREW standing a little bit away. KYOUSUKE Oh. Good evening, Delafontaine-san. I was just ... thinking about some stuff. ANDREW Oh. Okay. He turns and starts to head away. KYOUSUKE blinks. KYOUSUKE Uhhh ... ANDREW Yeah? KYOUSUKE You're not gonna press for details? ANDREW I'm sorry, you must have me confused with some wise old guidance counsellor you once knew. KYOUSUKE Uh ... sorry. It's just that ... well, you do remind me a bit of my grandfather, and he always poked into everything. ANDREW Nasty habit some old fogies have. KYOUSUKE nods. ANDREW You callin' me an old fogie, kid? KYOUSUKE Ah ... uh ... well -- NO! ANDREW Okay, whatever. If you really feel the need to unburden yourself, I'll listen. KYOUSUKE Uh ... thanks. I guess. Well, it kind of has to do with my grandfather. Before I came here at Masefield-san's ... um, request, my grandfather ... well, I asked him if he'd done some sort of matchmaking, to get me involved with my fiancee. ANDREW Huh. This an ESPer thing? KYOUSUKE Right. You know about this sort of thing? ANDREW Young man, you are talking to the world's foremost non-ESPer expert on ESPers. Your lady has no Power, right? KYOUSUKE If she has, she hasn't told me about it. ANDREW Okay, we'll proceed assuming that she doesn't. Dumb, but simpler. Up until maybe a generation or two ago, most of the lines of ESPers, all over the world, were busily intermarrying in an attempt to breed an ultimate power. Das Ubermensch. Unfortunately, what they usually wound up producing was a kid who could do one thing well -- like, telekinesis -- and was lousy at everything else -- like, speech. And thought. KYOUSUKE flinches a bit at that. ANDREW I know, I shouldn't be so blunt. It wasn't until maybe ... geez, twenty years ago that the other possibility occurred to them. You see, what an ESPer has is a set of genes for power. A set that are dominant. But who's to say that a NON- ESPer won't have the same set of genes ... only recessive? KYOUSUKE I ... don't know all that much about genetics. ANDREW Me neither. I'm tellin' you what Kent told me. Lemme put it like this. You have *active* powers. Someone that you meet when you're walking down the street could have *latent* powers of the same kind, which will never become active in their lifetime, but which could be passed on to their children ... and if their other parent was an ESPer, they'd have the best of both worlds. You see where I'm coming from? KYOUSUKE nods, but doesn't look any happier. ANDREW Now, if the person has really strong latencies, you might be able to see some *really* low level ESPer activity. That's how Kent lost his first girlfriend. Her father -- real psychic overlord type -- was all set to get them hitched, when she fell in love with this guy she met hiking in the mountains around their home. KYOUSUKE looks up, a bit startled. ANDREW Now, the father's furious, he's seeing his little dynasty dissolve before his eyes -- but he loves his daughter, so he gives her guy a chance to prove himself. I don't know the specifics, but the guy shows enough interesting latencies to get the girl's father interested, and like that, he tells her to dump Kent like a hot potato. KYOUSUKE That's ... surprising. ANDREW Yeah, Kent was pretty upset, but he started to rationalize it. It helps that he did some studies, and figured out that there was a chance that any kid he had with this girl would probably have more power than any human being can handle. Both lines were approaching some limiting point, where ... ah, I'm getting off topic. Anyway, Kent told me this a while back, after the old guy asked him to check up on a girl he was interested in getting together with his grandson. *Really*, really strong latencies. KYOUSUKE lets out a despairing sigh. ANDREW So he went to New York, and "checked up" on her. Nice girl. Little flaky, but ... anyway, Kent figured that the best thing to do was to tell him that the latencies weren't really worth disrupting this kid's life over. She seemed fairly happy in Manhattan ... which is probably a power in and of itself, but -- KYOUSUKE is staring at ANDREW with shock. ANDREW finally notices. ANDREW What? KYOUSUKE Uh ... tell me more about that ... "limiting point". ANDREW I dunno a lot about it. At a certain level, the various powers either meld into one, unified power that's beyond pretty much anyone's ability to control -- or they become completely incompatible. For instance, if you bred a truly badass telepath with someone who had a mental shield like you wouldn't believe, their children might wind up being completely latent. KYOUSUKE How is this known? I mean? ANDREW Name Tunguska mean anything to you? KYOUSUKE thinks for a moment, then visibly remembers. KYOUSUKE ESPers did that? ANDREW Like I said, all the ESPer families were trying to breed gods. In Russia ... well, they succeeded. And with a nuclear explosion, the god they created left the world forever. Same bunch that gave the world a guy named Dr. Michel Andropov, would-be world conqueror. KYOUSUKE No way ... there are actually people like that? ANDREW Yep. And the really annoying thing is, they're damn hard to kill. Cut to the kitchen. PATRICIA is huddled in the corner, almost in a fetal position. She is crying, quietly. KASUMI slowly enters the kitchen, and starts to see her there. KASUMI Patricia-san? PATRICIA looks up, but doesn't say anything. KASUMI What's wrong? PATRICIA shakes her head. KASUMI You don't want to tell me? PATRICIA shakes her head *quickly*. KASUMI You *can't* tell me. You don't have the words. PATRICIA nods. KASUMI nods once, then comes to sit down on the floor beside her. Slowly, and with great tenderness, she embraces the younger girl. KASUMI It's all right. You don't have to tell me. PATRICIA Kasumi-san? KASUMI Yes? PATRICIA What would you do if you found out that someone you loved had lied to you? A lot? A big lie? KASUMI I'd probably ask her why she had done that. PATRICIA Oh. Well ... what if you knew why they'd done it ... sort of ... but they didn't know that you knew? KASUMI Then I'd let ... him know that I knew, and hope that his explanation was better than the reason why I thought he'd lied to me. PATRICIA But ... what if ... A long pause. KASUMI Yes? PATRICIA ... what if you were afraid to ask? KASUMI I'd say to myself ... if I'm brave enough to fight a demon all by myself, I can ask someone I love why they did something to hurt me. Another long pause. PATRICIA Thank you, Kasumi-san. Kasumi-san? What is ... human? KASUMI gives the question a serious moment of thought. KASUMI What does it mean to be human? To be human is to be aware, always, even if only unconsciously, of one's flaws ... and to try and transcend them, always, in one way or another. This is how we are unlike the monsters who call themselves gods. PATRICIA Ara? Cut to the roof of the dojo, where BELLDANDY is sitting, watching the stars. KEIICHI pokes his head through one of the holes in the roof, and sees her. KEIICHI Belldandy? She turns to him quickly, and lets out a sigh of immense relief. BELLDANDY Keiichi-san! Thank goodness you're all right! KEIICHI climbs out onto the roof, and makes his way over to where she is. BELLDANDY I was worried that *she* would not permit you to see me ... KEIICHI Uh, no ... she's let me have the run of the house. Uh, Belldandy ... Tendou-san really does seem like a nice person ... BELLDANDY Don't be taken in by appearances, Keiichi-san. She is of the most vile species of humanity to have been ever born from Mother Earth. KEIICHI What? Cut back to the kitchen. SERENA starts to sneak in, then realizes it is occupied, and ducks back out, though not all the way. KASUMI I'm going to tell you a story, now. It may not all be true, but it is what I *know*. Long, long ago there was life on the moon. SERENA jumps, but is not noticed by either of them. KASUMI There was life on all the worlds of this solar system. It was an age ... undreamt of. Within a few short millennia of his birth as a species, mankind harnessed the hidden powers of the world, and spread out throughout the *worlds*. By their own will and power, they pulled themselves out of the muck of Earth ... and up among the stars. *By* *themselves*. And this made the gods mad with envy. Cut back to the roof. BELLDANDY They called themselves godlings. Because they were born with a strange ability to wield the hidden powers of the universe from the cradle ... they felt themselves to be the equal of my kindred. They spread throughout the solar system, turning every world into as close to a duplicate of Earth as they could, caring nothing for the ecologies of these worlds. Nature existed only as a tool, or an obstacle to them. And as for those humans not blessed with the wonder of magic? They were scarcely better off than animals. Cut back to the kitchen. KASUMI It was not a perfect world that man created. There was injustice and inequality. But this has been true of all peoples, of all nations. The gods despised the Silver Millennium not for the cruelties and horrors, but because it had been accomplished without their help. Cut back to the roof. BELLDANDY We watched in horror, and could do nothing. For they never invited us into their lives. There was no true spiritual urge among them ... only a relentless desire to push the limits of what could be done. An endless crusade for more power, more wealth, more of all things. They even meddled where we will not, and created true life, from lifelessness. They dared. They dared. Cut back to the kitchen. KASUMI In the end ... there arose one whose soul had been given to anger, and hatred, and grief ... and she tore down the Silver Millennium with her own hands. And what did the gods do? They mocked us. "You never needed us before," they said as millions upon millions died. "You surely can't need us now." They sat back, and laughed. Cut back to the roof. BELLDANDY In the fullness of time, there came the Apocalypse. One of their own dealt the final blow to the rotting hulk that was the civilization of the godlings. And millions upon millions of innocents died in the conflagration. And we could do nothing ... for they did not call on us. They called on their powers or those of their rulers to save them ... and those powers were fading like the setting of a sun. We watched ... and wept. Cut back to the kitchen. PATRICIA Is this really a true story? KASUMI It is ... and I should know. I was there. SERENA slowly steps into the kitchen. SERENA Who were you? KASUMI is frozen for a second, staring at SERENA in stunned horror. PATRICIA looks up to see who it is, and blinks. SERENA Please ... I have to know who you were ... KASUMI No you don't. We are who we are ... who we were should not enter into it -- SERENA But it does. KASUMI looks as though she wants to argue with the statement for a few moments ... then her resistance collapses under the sad, quiet look in SERENA's eyes. KASUMI My name ... was Vesta. Vesta, daughter of Serenity. SERENA's eyes open even wider. For a few seconds, absolutely nothing happens. SERENA Did we ever meet? KASUMI shakes her head. Tears are beginning to pool in SERENA's eyes. SERENA Then I can't know ... I can't know if it's okay or not ... to call you oneesama ... KASUMI looks as though she's been hit with a mallet ... and then, for the first time since she began to recount her story, there is life in her eyes, and hope. KASUMI Of course it's all right, my dear sister. Of course. Quite suddenly, SERENA dashes forward to embrace KASUMI, startling the heck out of PATRICIA. There is much shedding of tears -- not all on SERENA's part. Cut to the roof. BELLDANDY They cannot be trusted, ever, these "godlings". Not even in another life. We made the mistake of not stopping them, then, and the human race paid for it with nearly twelve thousand years of darkness. Even now ... She trails off, and realizes that KEIICHI is slumped over on his side, fast asleep. She sighs, and smiles. KENT (O.S.) I took the liberty of touching a sleep spot. I needed to speak with you privately. BELLDANDY looks up, startled, to see KENT standing on the summit of the roof. His face is marked as URD saw it marked, earlier. BELLDANDY Oh. My Lord Tulkas. I thought it was you, but you seemed changed -- KENT flinches, and the marks vanish. KENT My apologies. I still don't have that quite under control. I should explain, I'm *not* Tulkas. Exactly. Anymore. BELLDANDY blinks. BELLDANDY Oh. KENT looks frustrated for a moment, then shakes his head. KENT I will explain with greater clarity tomorrow, I hope. But that isn't what I came here to talk to you about. BELLDANDY Your brother will not intervene unless -- KENT That's not it either. I need to know what you are capable of. I need to know if you'd be able to ... create a gate to a certain dimension. The vimogorge dimension. BELLDANDY grows pale. BELLDANDY Why? KENT Because that's where the Adversary is. Verdandi ... it's not enough for me to scotch his plans this time. I have to put an end to it for all time, not just my own. BELLDANDY is silent for a long moment, studying KENT's face. BELLDANDY Then it's true. The Adversary is Morgoth. The last word sounds more dire than anything imaginable. KENT No. The Adversary *caused* Morgoth. BELLDANDY seems very surprised at this idea ... then shakes her head. BELLDANDY I see. Well. I do have the power to do what you ask. But ... KENT Yes? BELLDANDY I am under contract, and limitation. If what you say is true, I would have the right to break my limiter ... but there is a good chance that that would cause my contract to be voided ... Her gaze is drawn to KEIICHI's face ... and tears begin to form in her eyes. BELLDANDY ... but if the Adversary is not defeated ... She looks up again. KENT is gone. KENT (O.S.) I am sorry. No one should ask such a thing. BELLDANDY I *shall* do it, if it necessary. KENT (O.S.) I know. That's why I am sorry. Off-screen, there is the sound of a window being pulled closed. BELLDANDY seems not to notice. She caresses KEIICHI's cheek, and finally begins to cry. Cut to MINAKO, sliding a door softly closed. She is wearing a large, white scarf around her neck. She turns around. RAYE is standing right behind her. RAYE Hello. MINAKO lets out a little yelp and jumps. MINAKO Geez, Raye, would you mind not doing that to -- RAYE Nice scarf. MINAKO pauses, and almost involuntarily fingers the scarf. MINAKO Isn't it just -- RAYE You weren't wearing it, when you got here, yesterday. Where'd it come from. MINAKO From Aethan. It's a token of his aff-- RAYE From Aethan. You don't say. Mina, let me see your neck. MINAKO slowly starts to back away from her. MINAKO It's not *nice* to tease people about their hickeys, Raye ... RAYE If it's a hickey, I'll be properly embarrassed, and plead with you never to tell a soul about this. But I don't think -- MINAKO I've noticed that. RAYE ignores the bait, and starts reaching for scarf. MINAKO backs out of the way. MINAKO Raye, cut it out. She grabs hold of one of RAYE's hands just before it touches the scarf, and it quickly degenerates into a wrestling match. Finally, MINAKO jerks her right hand free, and slaps RAYE across the face, stopping them both dead in their tracks. RAYE Mina, do you remember a little over a year ago? MINAKO Being lonely, yes -- RAYE There was a girl in your class, and you and Serena and Lita and Amy all thought that she wore too much makeup. And one day you saw her without it, and her face was -- MINAKO Shut up, Raye. RAYE -- covered in bruises, bruises that her boyfriend had put there. And when you went to stop him -- MINAKO SHUT UP, Raye. RAYE -- she stopped you, and all she said in his defense was `I love him'. And you said, "Love shouldn't hurt." MINAKO This is not the same *thing* -- RAYE suddenly grabs the scarf, yanking it loose to reveal a pair of livid puncture marks on her throat. RAYE Isn't it? Mina, this isn't *love* ... people who hurt you like this aren't *loving* you, they're *using* -- MINAKO jerks back, furious. MINAKO You don't know what you're talking about! I *let* him do this, he needs his strength, so I let him take -- RAYE And what does he give you in return? A *scarf*? MINAKO Love isn't about what people give you. RAYE It's not about what they give you, or what you give them, it's about what you give each other, and what in the *hell* can he be giving you to make *hurting* you like this somehow okay?! MINAKO Affection! I'm not like you, Raye ... I can't be happy *knowing* that the people I care about are happy. I need to be held. I need to be *touched*. I need to be -- RAYE You can get all that from someone who won't bleed you from the throat! MINAKO NO I CAN'T! NOT AFTER -- She breaks off, breathing heavily, and starts backing away from RAYE. RAYE Not after --? MINAKO Stay AWAY from me. Just *stay* the hell away! She turns and runs. RAYE starts after her ... then turns, with an expression of extreme anger, towards the door that she slid closed. She slams it open. RAYE YOU! She blinks. The room is empty, except for a disturbed futon. AKANE (V.O.) After that, it quieted down for the night. I had finally gotten to sleep a while before any of this went on, and was busy dreaming of the demons I'd fought earlier that day. I'd done well -- Skuld had complemented me on the way I dealt with the bugs -- but it bothered me how easy it had been to crush the little things ... without even having to think about it. Adventure, I'd been told, was some- one else having a terrible time far away. I felt like I was having an adventure. I hated it. Cut to morning, in the dojo. Everyone -- except for SOUUN and KENT -- is gathered there. It is a more subdued gathering, perhaps because of the evil glares that KASUMI and BELLDANDY are giving one another from opposite sides of the room. PATRICIA is quietly talking with SERENA, and pointedly ignoring ANDREW's occasional odd looks in her direction. MINA and AETHAN are holding hands. RYOUKO is busily coming between MARA and TENCHI, much to MARA's irritation. KENT enters the room, slowly. The conversations die, slowly. He looks at the Gathered slowly, almost as if he's memorizing their faces. KENT The situation has changed. SERENA slowly puts up a hand. KENT looks at her. SERENA Um ... Mr. Masefield, I'm really sad about Niniane-san, ... it's a very, very sad thing ... but ... I don't see how it changes the situation. We have to get the Adversary to stop doing what it's doing, and -- KENT You're right, Ms. Tsukino. The situation hasn't changed ... only how we have to respond to it. And what we know about it. MARA What's there to know? Very old demon, gotta get rid of it -- KENT I now know a great deal more about where the Adversary came from, what it truly is ... and I think that I have a way to defeat it for all time. There is stunned confusion. COLOGNE May I ask, what is the source of this ... insight? KENT exchanges a look with MCGOVERN. KENT Niniane knew more than she revealed. Until the very end, when she revealed everything. I don't know where she got the idea that she was a coward for not trying to change the future that she saw -- Unnoticed by anyone, RANMA flinches, and seems to shrink in on himself. KENT -- but I can understand why, now. As the legends state, this isn't the first time that the Adversary has menaced this world. Always before, it becomes bored with the struggle, and quits the field. The world lives. So far, so good. Can anyone see the problem, here? MIHOSHI suddenly starts waving her hand. MIHOSHI I do, I do! I think ... uh, it's kind of like what my granddaddy did with garbage on our homelands. He buried it, *far* away from any land or water that he was using ... but eventually it got in the land and the water anyway, just not when he was using it, but when my daddy was ... Is that right? RYOUKO This explains so much ... KENT Right. RYOUKO collapses momentarily. KENT It's just putting the problem off, dumping it on the next generation, or maybe the one after that. It saves the world ... but it condemns the children who have to grow up in that world. All of the younger people in the room, particularly SASAMI, seem a bit put off by that. DARIEN I don't like the idea of "dumping" *anything* on my children. You were saying something about a way to end it, once and for all? KENT Right. This is going to get ... very strange. NABIKI "Going to"? KENT In each of these ... confrontations with the Adversary, there is always one person who seems to almost symbolize the conflict. The central figure. COLOGNE Such as Ku-Len Sing. KENT Yes. But this ... person ... is always more than he or she seems to be. Because it's always the same person, every time. KEIICHI Uh, hold it. That makes no sense. I mean, even if the Buddhists are right, and a soul goes through a lot of lives to deal with the karma it has built up in each of them ... uhhhh ... wait a minute ... RAYE When you put it like that ... it makes a lot of sense. KEIICHI But I'm an engineer. I'm not supposed to have spiritual insights ... Cut to somewhere grey. WASHUU and PLUTO hover in the mists. WASHUU Tell me about it. PLUTO Quiet, this is important. Cut back to the dojo. RAYE But I don't even want to imagine what a human soul could possibly do to accumulate so much karma that it would have to keep fighting a hopeless battle over and over again. That ... that would be worse than -- She glares at AETHAN momentarily, prompting MINAKO to cuddle even closer to him. RAYE -- than anything. KENT nods, slowly. KENT It is. But ... this soul is not, actually, a human soul. It is ... somewhat more complicated. NABIKI `Somewhat'? KENT gives NABIKI a weary look. KENT *Considerably* more complicated. To understand this soul ... which we will call, for the moment, the Defender ... you must understand the Adversary, first. KENT closes his eyes, during the next bit. KENT It was billions of years ago, that the Dispute took place. The greatest of the servants of the Creator considered the role that life -- particularly sentient life -- was to play in the unfolding of the cosmos. And was not happy with what that role was. He -- I use the male pronoun, inappropriately -- asked the Creator to be harsher with life when it developed ... to the point of denying it free will. The Creator refused. And the servant turned against the master, and inspired others to do the same. And there was a Dispute. It lasted eons. It lasted minutes. In the end, the rebels were cast out, into the universe from where they had been. And their leader became the Adversary. BELLDANDY That is a very old story. KENT Like all things which are true, it casts shadows. The story which is not often told is what happened next. Some among the Creator's servants were not ... satisfied with the punishment given to the Adversary and his ilk. The Adversary deserved far worse than exile ... particularly into a realm where he could do damage to life. One of them -- the mightiest among these discontents -- asked the Creator to destroy the Adversary, to prevent such a thing. The Creator refused. And so there was a second dispute. This one definitely lasted minutes. The discontents were likewise exiled. And their leader became ... the Defender. RYOUGA And that's the one who's supposed to fight the Adversary? KENT nods. RYOUGA So where is he? Where is -- waitaminute. YOU! Why haven't you been doing your job! RANMA Whaaaaat? RYOUGA Don't try and deny it, you fiend! Only *you* could possibly be as stupid and bull-headed as to get thrown out of -- KENT Actually, *I'm* the stubborn and bull-headed one, Mr. Hibiki. RYOUGA gives KENT a quick look, determines that he's not joking, and settles down. SERENA You're the Defender? Really? KENT's face spasms, briefly. KENT Sort of. That was the name that ... Niniane thought I was, at least, and she had known an earlier incarnation of the ... of it. SERENA What do you mean, "it"? It's *you*, isn't it? >From his expression, KENT appears to be struggling with something. KENT I don't know how to explain this. I don't know if this is true for everyone, or just for me ... but each person who has taken the role of the Defender has had *two* souls, in a way. One part was the soul that everyone on Earth gets. One per customer. The other part was the immortal part, the part that was a small piece of the Defender. It guides and records the doings of the ... the host, I guess you could call it. So, now, while I remember all of the lives that the Defender has been ... they weren't *me*. But I recognize parts of myself, attitudes that I thought were mine *in* them ... and I'm left to wonder how much of me is of my own making, and how much is -- DARIEN Don't think about it. KENT But -- DARIEN Don't *think* about it. We are who we are. KENT stares at DARIEN for a second ... then nods, slowly. KYOUSUKE Ummmm ... this is really esoteric stuff, and I don't actually *get* most of what you're saying ... but why didn't the Defender just fight the Adversary alone, without all these ... manipulations? KENT Either a very good or a very lousy reason, depending on your perspective. Fear. KYOUSUKE Fear. KENT In the reality from which the ... the name is so ill-chosen ... the Defender came, there was no death. Nothing could be destroyed. That's not the way this universe works. *Anything* can be destroyed, eventually. The Defender and those who had Fallen with him found that out the hard way. Within only a few trifling millennia of their exile, most of them had either been slain in battle with the Adversary and his ilk, or had gone back to their home to plead for the Creator's mercy. Well before this world's sun was lit, the Defender was alone ... and afraid. LITA Well, yeah. I mean, the Adversary still had all its buddies with it, right? KENT No ... they had either fallen in battle, or had separated from the Adversary. It was alone as well. LITA Oh ... OHHH. That's cute. When it came down to a one-on-one fight -- KENT The Adversary was more powerful than the Defender. A direct conflict was bound to destroy it. LITA And since it didn't have any friends left to sacrifice, the Defender turned into a chicken. Like I said, cute. KENT smiles a bit at LITA's anger. KENT But at the same time, it *had* to oppose the Adversary. That was the only reason it had for going on. What he just said strikes KENT quite suddenly. For a second, he stares into space, then shakes his head. NABIKI realizes what he must be remembering, but says nothing, although there is a calculating look in her eye. KENT Where was I? RYOUKO The Defender needed to get a life. KENT Thank you. Cut to the grey space. WASHUU 'At's my girl! PLUTO I'd noticed. Back to the dojo. KENT So the Defender placed a little bit of its essence and soul in a certain lifeform. It wasn't a human being, or even anything native to Earth. It was a long way away from here ... just where doesn't matter. But that life form was central in a struggle to check a scheme that the Adversary had begun, by causing it to become bored when it didn't succeed at once. RYOUKO Yo, question. KENT Yes? RYOUKO So, this Defender stops the plans of this Adversary ... and the plans are generally aimed at wiping out all life in the universe, right? KENT More or less, yes. RYOUKO Then would you mind telling me what the hell's so `ill-chosen' about the name "the Defender"? It's been bothering me for a while. KENT Well ... because he's not *defending* anything. He's stopping the plans, not because he cares about humanity, but because he hates the Adversary. In fact -- RYOUKO So? KENT -- that's where "the Adversary" came from, it's *his* ad-- What do you mean, so? RYOUKO So he's stopping these plans despite not caring if they succeed or not. So what? KENT He's doing it for the wrong reasons. If you do the right thing, for the wrong reason, it's *not* good -- RYOUKO Says who? I mean, I try to stay friendly with a certain Imperial snobbiness -- AYEKA Since when? RYOUKO -- not because I give two shakes of a schthazi ass what she thinks about me, but because someone I *do* care about wants me to. Does that mean it doesn't mean anything? KENT looks at TENCHI. KENT You wanna try answering this one? TENCHI I'm not going to say anything. KEIICHI That's probably a very wise move. TENCHI Thank you. Cut to the grey space. WASHUU is laughing her head off. PLUTO Would you stop that? He's quite right, you know. WASHUU Oh really? So did my helping you out in the War to get you off my back make whatever you forced me to do less of a "good" thing? PLUTO Unfortunately, yes. WASHUU But did it make *any* difference at all in the outcome? PLUTO glares wordlessly for a few seconds. PLUTO It is too soon to tell. WASHUU "If it cannot be measured to signif- icant figures, it is not fact ... it is an opinion." All this bunkum about "the work becomes corrupt" is stuff people made up to make people *want* to be selfless and noble and decent, and to feel guilty about not being that way all the time. The universe looks at actions, not at motives. PLUTO I said that it was too soon to tell. Ask me again in a thousand years, and I may be able to answer with more *precision*. Cut back to the dojo. KENT In any event, I just don't believe that it's appropriate. I'll use it, because I don't have a better one handy, but I don't think that it's *right*. RYOUKO shrugs. KENT Right. And that's how it's been happening for ... many billions of years. The Defender is born into human form, struggles against the schemes of Adversary, and ... Sometimes the Defender stops the Adversary's proxies completely. Not often, but sometimes. More often, the proxies succeed, but it takes so long that -- AMY -- the Adversary loses interest. Mr. Masefield ... I think we understand. I'm not sure if I believe everything you're saying, but I don't have any reason to think you a liar either. But I think we should focus on your plan to defeat the Adversary, rather than focus on past defeats. KENT All right. I just wanted to make sure you all understood what you were getting into. What makes *this* life different from all the others that I've lived is that I know all of this. And I know where the Adversary *is*, as well. After it came to Earth, it retreated to the dimension of the vimogorges -- the creatures that it used to blow up the railway station. It opened up a path for three of them, and assorted "lowlife" of that dimension followed. But the Adversary stayed in that dimension, observing. AETHAN Then we have a serious problem. I have studied accounts of these creatures, and *no* *one*, to my knowledge, knows how to open a portal to their dimension. They only come through by accident. KENT I know. But I know how now. AETHAN How? Did Niniane -- KENT No, but Jessica's mind was like an open book. She *saw* the Adversary open the portal -- taking your school's master along, by the way -- and understood basically how to repeat it. The problem is, it is beyond almost any power that we possess. URD Uh ... almost? Waitaminnit. She turns to look at BELLDANDY with a shocked expression. BELLDANDY draws in a deep breath. BELLDANDY I have conferred with the Allmighty, and he has agreed to provide me with the power to open a portal to the vimogorge dimension. I will not be able to hold it closed against intruders from the other side, however. KENT That's all right, I have something else in mind for that. Now -- URD Really? BELLDANDY looks at her sister in surprise. BELLDANDY Do you think that I'd break the rules by not asking first, Urd? URD Well ... no ... KEIICHI Are you sure that you'll be all right, channeling that much power? When you first arrived -- BELLDANDY Of course I will, Keiichi-san. Everything will be all right. SKULD looks at her older sister for a few seconds. And knows. She opens her mouth to say something ... then closes it, firmly. KENT The problem is that in order to get a fix on the exact location of this dimension ... we have to capture one of the two remaining vimogorges *alive*. MARA is smiling widely but there is a frantic look in her eyes. MARA Wait. Wait. Lemme see if I've got this right. You're going to *catch* a species of demon that even the *rest* of us know to avoid, use some kind of ritual to open a place to where the things live, and then *go* there to confront a primal force of evil. KENT Yes, my theory is that the Adversary will be so startled by a direct confrontation that a sufficiently powerful force will be able to overcome it long enough to dictate terms. MARA Oh really. So who you planning on sending on this journey up a certain creek? No, wait, lemme guess -- you're going yourself. KENT That is my plan. MARA bursts out into hysterical laughter, which only begins to fade as she realizes that no one else in the room finds this even remotely amusing, and that BELLDANDY is looking at her with a very sad expression. MARA stares at KENT. MARA You're insane. No, I take it back, you're not insane, you're dead. I am sitting here, talking to a dead man. You're gonna die there, down in the darkness. You do know this, right? KENT I'm aware of the possibility -- MARA Fuck possibility, it's a certainty! There is a long pause. KENT A virtual certainty, yes. PATRICIA suddenly stands up on the other side of the room, staring at KENT with horror for a long moment -- then turning to dash out of the room. MARA Sure looks like someone wasn't aware of -- KENT's face has the markings of a demon. KENT Be. *SILENT*. MARA blinks. KENT's face has returned to normal, but he is still scowling at her. KENT Now, unless there are any serious objections, I'd like to describe my plan ... Cut to the streets of Nerima. AKANE (V.O.) His plan didn't really impress *me* as a model of sanity either, and I'd like to think that I'm a little saner than a demon. We went out, as before, but this time the words "low profile" weren't in our vocabulary. RYOUKO zips leisurely through the sky. AKANE (V.O.) The plan was to make enough "noise" to attract the attention of one of the vimogorges ... then the lucky one to actually find them would use the communicators we were given to signal "headquarters" -- my home -- and the three goddesses would come to the scene at once. Only a few of the really heavy hitters were left to guard the goddesses -- Sailor Moon (whose friends had to almost tie down to get her to stay behind), Kent, and the demoness. AETHAN walks along, tossing a ball of fire from hand to hand. AKANE (V.O.) What was on everyone's mind, but what no one wanted to say, was "what if the goddesses don't get here soon enough?" Because the answer was pretty obvious. Cut to the kitchen, with KASUMI looking out the window nervously. Cut to a room inside the home. We see KENT's legs, and hear a rustling of cloth. A few seconds later, his shirt drops to the floor. There is the sound of another garment being pulled off of a hanger, and put on. Our point of view changes to show KENT looking at himself in a mirror as he buttons up a vest with many pockets and no sleeves. Something about the light makes his skin seem almost bronzed. He reaches up to take off his glasses ... ... and a hand touches his shoulder. KENT jolts. KENT Please don't touch me, Ms. Tsu-- KENT's eyes suddenly dilate. A flash of images run across the screen, far too quickly to make out that they are quick flashes from the final battle against Beryl. KENT whirls around to stare at SERENA, shocked. For her part, SERENA seems embarrassed. SERENA Uh, sorry, really, I didn't know -- KENT My telepathy is still in overdrive as a result of -- That doesn't matter. What *are* you? SERENA ... huh? KENT W-when you touched me, I -- I don't understand what I saw. There was this giant blue woman, and ... a sense of immense sadness ... SERENA Oh. Beryl. She was ... well, my enemy, kind of, and ... KENT And you killed her. SERENA No! That's the worst part. When I ... when I met her, for the first time, I was so *scared* ... but then I had to fight her, and by then she had ... done things to herself. She was so ... *sad*. All the anger, all the hatred, it was just covering the sadness. She was so sad, I wanted to cry. I think I did. But I knew I had to stop her, so I tried to ... to heal her. Like I'd healed other people who'd given themselves to darkness. But when the darkness inside her went away ... there was nothing left. Do you understand? KENT stares for a moment, then shakes his head. KENT No. No, I don't think I do. But I also don't think that's too important. You are ... a rather remarkable person, Tsukino- san. What did you come to ask me? SERENA Oh. Ah, well, I ... came to ask for Patricia-san's sake -- KENT's face falls. KENT I can't do anything for her. I'm sorry. SERENA Yes, you can! She told me all about you, last night, and ... Mr. Masefield, she loves you so much! KENT Does she? SERENA Yes! If you think you're going to die, you ... you really should tell her how you feel! KENT I have. SERENA Have you? Then why doesn't she believe you? KENT slowly looks away. KENT Because I've lied every time. Very well. Ms. Tsukino ... should I survive this, I think you and I may have a great deal to discuss. He bows deeply to her, and turns to head out of the room. He nods as he exits, and BELLDANDY slowly steps into the view of the door. She turns to look at SERENA with a deeply suspicious expression. BELLDANDY Why did you do that? SERENA Because it seemed like the right thing to do. BELLDANDY I have a very low opinion of cupids. It is seldom wise to interfere in the course of -- SERENA You mean, interfere like your people didn't, during the Silver Millenium. BELLDANDY's eyes narrow. BELLDANDY You do not know of what you speak. SERENA Kasumi-oneesama told me about it. BELLDANDY As I said. SERENA And I thought about it, and I realized something ... it doesn't make any sense that the gods would refuse to interfere because they were jealous -- BELLDANDY Jealous? You dare -- SERENA So the only reason that made sense to me was that they weren't allowed to interfere. And I thought about it some more -- because that reminded me of someone I know -- and I thought how sad that would be. To have to watch and not be able to do anything. I'm sorry that happened to you. She bows deeply, and walks out of the room, passing BELLDANDY, who is stunned beyond words. Cut to greyspace. WASHUU surreptitiously looks up at PLUTO. WASHUU I wonder who she was talking about? PLUTO Washuu, shut *up* ... I think we need to see Masefield's meeting with Delafontaine ... he may let a few more hints about his plan drop. WASHUU Right. Cut to a light-flooded room in the Tendou house. PATRICIA is sitting in the shadow of the window, curled up in a ball. KENT slowly enters, and looks down at her with an expression of raw pain on his face. KENT Patricia, I ... PATRICIA I should ask why you did it. I was told to ask why you'd done it, but ... but I don't care. I love you so much that I don't care why you did it to me -- KENT I'm sorry I was so blunt, but -- PATRICIA looks up. KENT lowers his gaze to avoid meeting her eyes. PATRICIA I'm not talking about that, dammit! I'm talking about ... I *know*, all right? KENT looks like he's been stabbed in the gut. KENT You know? PATRICIA nods angrily. KENT I see. I understand that you must be angry, and I don't expect your forgiveness ... PATRICIA You don't get it, do you? Of course I forgive you, I LOVE YOU, you -- KENT Then I strongly suggest that you find a very good therapist. It's not right for a woman to develop a romantic fixation on the man who raped her. Dead silence. PATRICIA What? KENT That's ... not what you were talking about. PATRICIA What are *you* talking about? KENT That time. I ... without your consent, I -- PATRICIA My *consent*? Because I didn't say anything, you think that you -- KENT Consent obtained by illicit means is *not* consent! PATRICIA What illicit means? KENT I controlled your mind, all right?! PATRICIA just stares at him. KENT Do you know about what psis call `the centipede's dilemma'? I was told about it by this writer I knew back when we both were regulars at this bar in -- but that's not important. If you ask any psychic how he or she performs a certain psychic effect, the act of the psychic considering it is likely to trigger it, without conscious control. I still remember it. We had just escaped from Dr. Andro's fortress. I was tired ... I was hurting. You weren't much better. And we found a stream ... running through the jungle. You wanted to wash yourself, remember? So you went off into the bush. And I was very tired, and I was staring into the river while thinking about that army of mind controlled slaves that Andro had ... and his harem ... and I asked myself how he was able to do it. To warp their minds to the point where they earnestly believed they were in love with him. And then I looked up and there you were and you had no clothes on and it happened and I took you. PATRICIA starts to shake her head. KENT If I survive this ... I advise you to press criminal charges. I -- PATRICIA You ... asshole. KENT I deserve that. PATRICIA You fat-headed, full-of-yourself, arrogant asshole. KENT blinks. PATRICIA You think that I would feel the way I do about you if you had *planted* that love in my *brain*? I saw that harem *too*, you know, and whatever they felt, it sure as hell *wasn't* love. I felt the way I feel about you a hell of a long time before any of that shit happened. KENT You are rationalizing. PATRICIA The hell I am! You wanna hear it from my point of view, Mr. Godlike Telepath? I went off into the bushes like you said, but I came right back, and I saw you staring into the water. And you looked so sad, so hurt, so ... vulnerable ... and then you looked up. At *me*. And you came to me. And. It. Was. WONDERFUL! KENT Patricia, things don't *work* like that -- PATRICIA You wanna know what I think? I think you were frightened by it. It was the first time in God knows how long that you just let *go*, and I think you were scared silly by how good it felt. So you invented all this shit about mind control and rape to justify feeling guilty. *You're* rationalizing. KENT Dammit, I *know* what I did! I seized control of your mind, and -- PATRICIA Then undo it. KENT What? PATRICIA You say you implanted the idea of me being in love with you in my brain? Well then you should be able to take it *out* again, right? Come on! Put my mind back to rights so that you can at least make a start on clearing some of the karma you've picked up from doing this to me, if you're right. Make me stop being in love with you! KENT closes his eyes, and clenches his face. A pulse seems to flow across his entire body, through the space between them, and into PATRICIA's head. KENT There. It's done. PATRICIA is silent. KENT You see? PATRICIA Try again. Try *harder*. My God, you didn't even think these rationalizations through. I've got the most powerful mental shields you've ever encountered, remember? YOU CANNOT TOUCH MY MIND. Only my heart. And then KENT looks up and meets her eyes. In his, there is stunned amazement, mixed with horror and self-contempt, and also tremendous relief. And love. So much desire, caring, and tenderness that it would hurt your own heart to see it. PATRICIA lets out a gasp. PATRICIA You looked like that. You looked just like that. She slowly and unsteadily comes to her feet, and they start to move closer together over KENT's words. KENT You're wrong about one thing. It wasn't fear of letting go. At least not all the way. It was something much more primal. But I didn't know about it until today, and now. Some of the allies of the Defender were destroyed, and some went back to their home to ask the Creator's mercy. But He didn't just give it to them; oh no. He set tasks. Penance. One of the ones who went back was the most beloved of the Defender. And that one was given the hardest task of all. To be born into mortal flesh, whenever the Defender was ... to meet with the Defender, to offer a moment of peace. To love. Time and again we have met. You were Guenhumara, Marian, Guillaume. You were Rumy, Kaoru-dono, and ... Mara ... Cut to greyspace. WASHUU closes her eyes. Back to the room. KENT and PATRICIA are almost, but not quite touching. KENT It doesn't matter who you are. I always love you. And there is one other thing that always happens. PATRICIA embraces him, slowly. PATRICIA And that is? KENT I always leave you. His fingers flicker out, and touch a point on the side of her head. She is unconscious before she realizes what is happening. She starts to slump backwards, and KENT reaches to catch her -- But it's WASHUU who does. Her face is expressionless. In greyspace, PLUTO blinks. She stares down at where WASHUU was sitting, and sees a dolly in her place. PLUTO angrily unlimbers the Garnet Staff -- which she immediately recognizes as a fifteen hundred yen toy replica. PLUTO WASHUUUUUUUUU! In the room, WASHUU lowers PATRICIA gently to the floor. She speaks without looking up. WASHUU You should probably get going. She could wake up any time. KENT stares at her, and blinks. KENT Callistra? WASHUU jolts ... then nods, once. KENT stares ... then speaks in a strange language. WE DO NOT SEE HIS FACE AS HE DOES THIS. SUBTITLES I am glad to see that you are still alive. Please take care of her. WASHUU doesn't want to look up ... but she does, slowly, and stares into a face that is hidden from us. From the look on her own face, her heart is almost breaking. She speaks in the same language. SUBTITLES I will. Now we see KENT's face ... apparently whatever happened has passed. He slowly reaches up, and removes his glasses, using the exact same motions that he did when he was getting ready to spar with RANMA. He places them in PATRICIA's open hand, and closes it around them. And then he turns to go. WASHUU speaks once more. SUBTITLES May the Force be with you. KENT With us all, Callistra. With all of us. He heads out the door. WASHUU produces a blanket, and wraps it around PATRICIA's body. She pauses, briefly, to look down at PATRICIA's face ... to touch it once ... and then rises up, produces the Garnet Staff from the same place, and opens a portal. She steps through. In greyspace, PLUTO is livid as WASHUU picks up the dolly, and takes back her seat. PLUTO I demand an explanation! WASHUU I don't have to explain a damn thing to you, you heartless, sadistic, fatalist, *bitch*. And *then* she releases her hold on the staff. PLUTO stares at her with outright shock which fades, turning back into fury as WASHUU meets her gaze with one of equal anger. PLUTO You -- WASHUU Never. Ever. Give me a weapon, and then expect me not to use it ... especially when what you show me all but demands that I do so. PLUTO slowly gains control of herself. PLUTO There will be a reckoning. WASHUU Looking forward to it. Cut to a shot of the kitchen. MARA seems to be standing looking out the window. BELLDANDY enters, slowly, with a confused expression; she sees that MARA is alone and seems to be at once relieved and disappointed. BELLDANDY Hello, Mara. What are you looking at? MARA Belldandy? BELLDANDY Yes? MARA There's something you should know. I hate you. BELLDANDY nods, and sighs. BELLDANDY I'm aware of that, Mara. MARA I hate you more than anything in the world, and beyond it. Because you are good, and I am evil. BELLDANDY I don't think it's that simple, Mara, but -- MARA I would do anything to hurt you. I have tried to hurt you directly, and it never works. I have tried to hurt your sisters, and I have tried to hurt your lover, but each and every scheme has failed. BELLDANDY starts to look a bit concerned. BELLDANDY Mara, I -- MARA It's like anyone you care about is shielded by goodness itself. But you know what, Belldandy? I've finally realized that there's someone you care about that you can't stop me from hurting. And I'm going to hurt *her* a lot. BELLDANDY blinks ... and then a look of horror crosses her face. She dashes forward and spins MARA around. "MARA" is in fact a wax dummy with a tape recorder strapped to the chest. MARA (REC.) I got you! Gatcha gatcha gatcha! BELLDANDY Oh, NO! She turns and dashes off. SKULD and SASAMI are having juice in the dining room with NABIKI. NABIKI So, Sasami-chan, tell me ... what's Tenchi-san really like? SASAMI Well, he's very brave and -- BELLDANDY enters the room at a dash. BELLDANDY Skuld, where's Urd?! SKULD Uh ... I think she said she was going to go check on the dojo's sake reserves or something like that -- BELLDANDY says something very rude in Aesir. SKULD's jaw drops all the way to the floor. SASAMI looks *very* embarassed. SKULD Oneesama?!? BELLDANDY gains control of herself with effort. BELLDANDY Mara has gone out and I think she's going to try and perform the ritual of resignation! SKULD No way! NABIKI Uh, translation for those of us who don't know about divine politics or whatever is going on? BELLDANDY Skuld, explain, I have to find Urd. She heads off. SKULD Um ... well, after the downfall of Sauron, Kami-sama offered to let any of his servants return to the fold ... but he required them to perform a ritual to show their sincerity. Most of them didn't, but the offer still stands, even to their descendants. NABIKI So what's going to happen if she -- SKULD All her power will be expended at once, and she'll become a low-class goddess -- NABIKI So what the hell is the problem? The vimogorge doesn't eat gods ... at least that's what Niniane said earlier. SKULD It's not that they don't, it's that they can't. NABIKI I still don't see what the big fuss is ... SASAMI Well ... SKULD Well what? SASAMI Nothing. But ... could a low class goddess do that thing that Mr. Masefield was -- SKULD No way! It'd blow her to bits! SASAMI What if she didn't care? SKULD stares at SASAMI with a startled expression. Cut to the streets. MICHAEL is making short-range teleports as he walks along the sidewalk. Every few steps he shimmers and reappears a few yards ahead of where he was before. MARA (O.S.) Oh Mr. Viiiiiimogorge? Nice tasty demon right here! MICHAEL stops in his tracks. He looks around, trying to find the source of the voice. MARA (O.S.) Yummy yummy daughter of Angur Boda, right here for the taking! MICHAEL hurries up to the next intersection. He looks down the street and sees that MARA is floating along the middle of it, just above the ground, just in front of the Nekohanten. MARA I'm so darn scrumptious I almost wanna eat myself and save you the trouble! MICHAEL What the hell? MARA And you know what ...? I'm wearing a brand new pair of ... clean ... white ... *panties*. MICHAEL stares at MARA ... and then looks up as he hears a distant, faint thunder. His expression is baffled. MARA is caressing herself, shifting sensuously. MARA Ooooh ... they're so *soft* and yet soooo *tight* ... mmmm ... The thunder is no longer so distant. MICHAEL turns his attention away from MARA's display (he seems unaffected but a bit embarassed) and looks up to see -- A literal wave of small creatures with hooves and horns, approaching at high speed. MICHAEL Oh, shi-- And the wave crashes on him. MICHAEL uses telekinetic blows to ward off the little demonlings, but there are just too many of them, and he soon finds himself overwhelmed. The wave continues towards MARA, and she casually blasts any that get closer than a few meters of her. MARA Oh, no ... sorry, guys, but I'm saving myself for the big guy ... Elsewhere, we see that the others are dealing with a similar yet less intense infestation of the creatures. They are hard-pressed but handling it well. Our attention focuses on AETHAN, who is cutting through hordes of the little things with an irritated expression. MICHAEL (V.O.) AETHAN, HELP! AETHAN jerks, and starts moving even faster through the swarms of creatures. His sword begins to burn with a green light as he does. Off to the side, a demonling springs up to start clawing at RAYE's face, knocking her down as it does. AETHAN notes this, and pauses for a moment, indecisively. He turns away from her -- Cut back to the earlier scene. MICHAEL's bloodied arm bursts out from beneath the demonlings -- then stiffens -- then collapses. -- and a sick expression covers his face for a moment. Then all life goes out of his face. He turns back, and heads over to where RAYE is struggling with the demonling. He pulls it off her, and twists its head around completely, killing it. RAYE looks up at him, startled. AETHAN You owe me. He jumps up onto the roof of a building, and starts running along the rooftop expressway. RAYE pulls herself to her feet, and heads after him. MARA is still moving in the air, but the demonlings seem to have learned their lesson. She looks up suddenly, and smiles viciously. MARA Come to me ... you gruesome son of a bitch. And a VIMOGORGE drops down from the sky, landing a few feet away from where MARA is floating, crushing several of the demonlings and making a fairly large indentation into the pavement. This VIMOGORGE is exactly like the one that appeared in Act III -- except that it has a large, opalescent bulge -- like a rather large blister -- on the back of its head. Inside the bulge, we can see a vaguely humanoid form, mimicking the motions of the VIMOGORGE. (Or maybe vice versa.) VIMOGORGE (HAPPOSAI) MMMMMM ... PAAAANNNNTIIEES? MARA clutches her crotch and groans. MARA I got 'em *right* here ... One of the VIMOGORGE's clawed talons reaches down towards her. MARA Althoooooough ... I'm also a demon, you know. Ymmmy, tastey demon ... just the thing after a long day of directing atrocities. The talon pauses, and for a moment, it seems as though there is a distinct difference between the movements of the VIMOGORGE and those of the humanoid inside the bulge. MARA obviously sees this. MARA Uh-uh, can't have it both ways. I'm either a playmate or a meal. What's it gonna be, boys? Cut to BELLDANDY running down the streets, dragging URD behind her. The VIMOGORGE appears wracked by indecision, with the humanoid clearly wanting to grab MARA and the demon itself obviously wanting to consume her. MARA Come on, make up your mind ... And then, everything happens at once. KENT drops out of the sky, onto the back of the VIMOGORGE. AETHAN arrives and begins cutting through the horde of demonlings to get to where MICHAEL's arm pokes up. BELLDANDY turns the corner and stares in helpless horror at the scene before her. KENT drives a hand into the blister on the VIMOGORGE's back, and pulls HAPPOSAI's limp body out of it, then does a reverse aerial summersault off the back just as the creature darts forward to swallow MARA whole. BELLDANDY screams. In darkness, MARA hovers. She produces a ball of dark, grim energy from within her body. MARA I submit myself to the will of the Almighty, Manwe, and to his Maker, Iluvatar. I repent my rebellion, and cry for your succor. The ball explodes, filling the screen with white light. Outside, the VIMOGORGE begins to convulse, with the same white light shining from its mouth and eyes. The light is tearing it to pieces. With tears in her eyes, BELLDANDY begins to speak words which we cannot hear over the roar of energy being released. AETHAN finally gets to where MICHAEL is, and pulls him out of the horde. MICHAEL has literally been torn up -- he is bleeding slowly from several places on his chest, and his face is a mess. AETHAN clutches him to him gently. There is a final pulse of light. And -- Perhaps what follows, in the seconds after the VIMOGORGE's ultimate destruction, is only BELLDANDY's imagination, her desperate attempt to believe in something unbelievable. But she sees, in that eternal moment, in the heart of the conflagration, MARA -- with goddess markings instead of demonic ones, and long white wings -- standing there, smiling a gentle smile at her. With a final wink, she is gone. Where the VIMOGORGE was, is a large circle of grey metal, hanging perpendicular to the ground. Through it can be seen a red sky, and a dark earth. BELLDANDY stares at the gate with something akin to loathing on her face, and shakes her head. URD finally catches up. URD Okay, what happened? BELLDANDY She hurt me, Urd. She found out just how to hurt someone I cared about, whom the powers of good wouldn't protect. Herself. URD is silent for a long moment. URD So what now? BELLDANDY She is not in Heaven. She is not in Hell. She is *not*. URD Shit. Cut across to AETHAN, holding MICHAEL. AETHAN Hold hard, my friend, they have sent for a healer. You shall be well -- MICHAEL convulses. MICHAEL (V.O.) I don't think so ... I'm falling apart faster than I can put myself back together. AETHAN Stop that ... don't you know about the power of positive thinking? MICHAEL (V.O.) It's okay. Pretty wild life for twenty-**** years, huh? I'm okay with it. I screwed up a lot, and I wish I hadn't ... but I think I did okay. AETHAN Michael, no ... if you die on me, my failure will be complete -- MICHAEL (V.O.) Sorry. But it's not, you know. You've still got a chance with *her*. Don't blow it. AETHAN Michael -- MICHAEL's bloody lips move spasmodically for a few seconds, before he finally speaks. MICHAEL It -- was -- fun -- And then he dies. AETHAN rears his head back and lets out a furious howl to the heavens. Standing a few feet away, RAYE watches him with something like pity on her face. AKANE (V.O.) When I looked up from where I stood, having just crushed the skulls of maybe a dozen of those little ... *things* ... and I heard that *cry* ... I knew, right then and there, that we'd won. And a psychology lecture I'd had months before this finally made sense -- a lecture on survivor's guilt. It's not that you're sad that someone died. It's not that you're sad that you lived when they died. It's that you're glad to be alive when they're dead. Slowly, alone or in pairs, the Gathered trickle into the intersection where the portal stands -- each passing beside the coat-covered form of MICHAEL. AETHAN is quietly kneeling beside his comrade, neither looking up nor saying anything. AKANE (V.O.) I was one of the lucky ones. It was the second time that I'd seen a dead body, so it didn't affect me as much. But for some of the others -- SERENA pauses beside AETHAN, and looks down at MICHAEL. Perfect crystal tears trickle down from her eyes for a few moments, before she moves on. AKANE (V.O.) -- for some of them, there were never bodies. The things that they fought just ceased to exist, or they employed forces before which nothing remained, after they were done. Something died in all of us, that day. A final fading juvenile belief in our immortality, perhaps. Even those who already knew that secret weren't unaffected. MINAKO pauses beside AETHAN, and slowly, tentatively, reaches out to touch his shoulder. He shifts minutely away from her touch, and gestures faintly for her to leave him alone. With a look of despair on her face, she does. BELLDANDY is standing directly in front of the portal, staring deeply into it. KEIICHI approaches her. KEIICHI Belldandy? What ... what happened? BELLDANDY can't even afford to look away from the portal for a second. BELLDANDY I will tell you ... everything, later, Keiichi-san. Off to the side, URD is quietly explaining things to SKULD, who doesn't seem quite capable of believing what she's being told. Off to the other side, KENT is standing, and occasionally looking at the portal. HAPPOSAI, looking dazed, is wrapped up in a blanket on the ground beside him. Finally, everyone seems to be looking at KENT expectantly. KENT Well ... Phase One was a success. Now comes the hard part. AETHAN (O.S.) Question. KENT looks at AETHAN, who has finally stood up and joined the crowd. AETHAN You said that there were two of them. What about the other one? KENT Hopefully, when the Adversary is `persuaded' to relent, it will -- AETHAN Unacceptable. You've already said that the odds against success in that are astronomical. We ought to find and destroy the other one. The door to the NEKOHANTEN slams open, causing everyone to jump. COLOGNE shuffles (does NOT pogostick) out, looking very winded. COLOGNE We don't have to find it. And there are simpler ways to deal with it than destroying it. AETHAN stares at her. AETHAN You have caught it. COLOGNE inclines her head. AETHAN HOW? COLOGNE Ancient Chinese secret. The method I used will not hold forever, however. I suggest that we perform the required banishment, immediately. KENT We're understaffed. We need at least four magic-workers familiar with the ritual, plus a psychic to coordinate. With Niniane dead, I -- He breaks off, looking at URD and SKULD speculatively. URD Oh, no. Don't look at me. I had to take Expulsions 300 three times before I found a teacher who was willing to give me a pass for a -- SKULD I'll do it! It can't be that hard, can it? AETHAN How are you with inverting dihedral metaphyses while still asserting their rhombosity? SKULD A cinch! I can build a gadget to take care of that, easy! AETHAN And how long will that take? SKULD Couple hours. AETHAN looks at COLOGNE. COLOGNE Then it should be ready not long after the wards have collapsed. SKULD visibly deflates. KENT turns to look at BELLDANDY, who almost imperceptibly shakes her head. BELLDANDY I cannot leave my position, or the shielding that keeps the vimogorge dimension from flooding into this one will fall. KENT Can anyone else -- BELLDANDY No. My sisters do not have the power to do it, and -- SERENA What's involved? SERENA has quietly stepped forward. SERENA Because I -- DARIEN Serena! If you use the Silver Crystal -- BELLDANDY jerks momentarily. BELLDANDY You have the Orb of Rheannion? SERENA The what of who? DARIEN Rheannion? BELLDANDY A brilliant silver gem of surpassing magical power? SERENA Well, yeah. That's *why* I -- BELLDANDY's face gives the impression of intense consideration. BELLDANDY It will be a *grave* strain, but I believe that the Orb can support the barrier ... while the user can support the strain. SERENA All right then, I -- RAYE But you -- SERENA turns to look at RAYE, perplexed. SERENA But what? "If you use the Silver Crystal, you'll die?" If I don't, we could all die anyway, right? Did you worry about things like that when you -- RAYE No, but I didn't -- DARIEN steps in between them. DARIEN Do you think that you can do this? SERENA Yes. DARIEN All right then. Do it. KENT Thank you, Ms. Tsukino. That still leaves us one magic worker short. Ma'am, do you happen to know if this -- He gently prods HAPPOSAI with his foot. KENT -- might know the ritual, if we were to put his psyche together after what he went through in the -- HAPPOSAI Boy, have the forces of order got you brainwashed. KENT looks down at HAPPOSAI, who still looks very worn. KENT But you -- HAPPOSAI Piff! I'm a bit tired, after my exertions, but a little bout with formless horrors couldn't hope to afflict *my* mind! RANMA (O.S.) 'Cause everything that's there is even worse. KENT But -- HAPPOSAI But I am grateful that you saved me, so I'll ignore my contempt for you to offer my help. What were you saying about some kind of ritual? KENT You mean to tell me, that while you were inside the vimogorge, you retained your full sanity? RANMA (O.S.) Which ain't sayin' much -- HAPPOSAI Just you wait, Ranma! Just you -- KENT You were fully aware while you were inside that thing and you didn't try to stop it? HAPPOSAI Why should I? Didn't make any difference to me. KENT turns away, his face rich with loathing. KENT God, someone get this thing out of my sight! AETHAN (O.S.) Don't mind if I do. HAPPOSAI (O.S.) Say, what do you think you're -- KENT AE-- There is a snapping noise. KENT turns to look, but we are spared the sight -- which makes AKANE gasp. We see AETHAN wrapping something limp in the blanket. KENT Was that necessary? AETHAN Yes. He stands up, carrying the bundle under one arm, and walks to where MICHAEL's body rests. He easily picks it up under the other arm. AETHAN Ms. Hino. I'm calling in that favor, now. He heads off. RAYE ... same way he killed the demonling. Exactly the same way. MINAKO Raye? What favor is he talking about? RAYE He saved my life. Kind of. Don't follow me. She starts off. MINAKO Don't follow you? Are you nuts? Do you think I'm gonna leave you alone with Aethan for five seconds? You'd k-- RAYE Lita, could you do me a big favor? LITA looks from RAYE to MINAKO for several moments, then sighs. LITA Ooo-kay. She grabs LITA, and holds her tightly, feet off the ground. LITA Get going, Raye ... RAYE nods, and heads off. MINAKO is struggling ineffectually. MINAKO Lita, let go of me! Lita, she's gonna kill him! LITA I don't think he'll go down quite that easily -- MINAKO She uses fire, dammit! Fire can KILL him! AMY Lita ... I think she may have a point. LITA considers ... then sighs. LITA Why couldn't it be something nice and simple? Mina ... if she's not trying to kill him, do you promise not to interfere? MINAKO Yes! Just let me -- LITA lowers MINAKO's feet to the ground, and releases her grip. MINAKO pauses just long enough to flash a smile of thanks, and then dashes off. LITA D'you think we ought to follow her? AMY It's complicated enough already. We see AETHAN marching down the street, with RAYE following closely behind, and MINAKO a bit further back. AKANE (V.O.) I still can't quite understand how Happosai's death made me feel. I ... I hate to say it, because it's a terrible thing to admit, but what I felt -- after I got past the sudden shock of the killing -- was immense relief. Relief that I wouldn't have to one day protect my children from him, like my father had been forced to protect my sisters and me. But it wasn't enough. I know that, with a bit of reflection. His ... spirit will hang over the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, until we do something to change that. And every time I call Ranma pervert, I'm really thinking of what the master of our style became. Meanwhile, SASAMI has slowly, nervously approached KENT. SASAMI Um, Mr. Masefield? KENT Yes, Sasami-chan? SASAMI Um ... you need one more person to do this ritual thing, right? KENT That's right. Are you -- SASAMI Oh no! No, I ... I don't know anything about that, but ... Belldandy-san is a goddess, right? KENT She says she is, and I'm inclined to agree. SASAMI So ... would another goddess be able to help? KENT I suppose so. Know any? SASAMI Kind of, yeah. Just a min-- AYEKA has been moving up behind SASAMI, and slowly rests a hand on her shoulder. AYEKA Sasami ... you don't have to do this. SASAMI turns around and looks at her older sister with a pleading expression. SASAMI Yes I do. Oneesan ... everyone is giving their all. And this is all I have to give. KENT slowly kneels down until he's at eye-level with SASAMI. KENT Sasami-chan ... is what you can do dangerous? Will doing it hurt you? SASAMI No. Not exactly. I ... it's just *hard*. KENT I think I understand. AYEKA gives KENT a nervous look. He looks back at her, and for a moment his facial features shift -- not much, but just enough to give him a slightly Jurain cast to his face, and to add two streaks of dried blood where warrior marks would be on a Jurain warrior's face. AYEKA blinks, and his face is back to normal. She leads SASAMI away, giving an occasional glance back. KYOUSUKE approaches KENT with a mildly disturbed expression on his face. KYOUSUKE Um ... am *I* the psychic you intend to have coordinate this ritual? KENT Well, I'm planning on heading into the gate to face the Adversary, and the other fellow who might have is dead now. So, yeah. I've given you the program, right? KYOUSUKE It ... feels okay, but ... I'm not a very good telepath. I've never had much talent for that sort of thing. KENT You should be okay. You've got a *lot* of latent ability ... this is going to be a strain on those muscles, but unless things get totally out of hand, they shouldn't break under the strain. If they do ... well, odds are that things were already so far out of control anyway that no one will be left to fault you blowing it. KYOUSUKE Gee. Thanks. Cut to AETHAN, who has built a small cairn out of rubble from a damaged building, and is in the process of placing MICHAEL's body on it. MICHAEL's features are oddly composed in death, and the jacket hides the worst of his wounds on his body. AETHAN touches his cheek once more, then steps down from the cairn, casually dumping the bundle at MICHAEL's feet. RAYE watches, suspiciously. RAYE What are you doing, exactly? AETHAN Michael believed in the old gods of the Norsemen. I'm trying to give him a Viking funeral. It was the custom to place a dog at a warrior's feet, you see. But there is a paucity of dogs in the area. RAYE Oh. AETHAN Now burn it. RAYE Burn it? AETHAN Yes, burn it. That will cancel out any debt. RAYE Can't you start the fire on your own? AETHAN Yes. RAYE Then why should I -- AETHAN Because I asked nicely? RAYE The hell you did. AETHAN *Please* light the cairn so that my only friend in this world can go to the afterlife he believed in. RAYE flinches. RAYE All right. RAYE performs a Mars Flame Sniper, and the cairn explodes into flame. The bodies on it are quickly lost to sight in the thick gout of black smoke produced. AETHAN bows his head, and slowly begins to sing. Music accompanies his words. ("Brothers in Arms", Dire Straits) AETHAN Through these fields of destruction Baptisms of ... fire ... I've witnessed all your suffering, As the battle raged higher But though they did hurt me so bad In the fear and alarum ... You did not ... ... desert me ... ... my brother ... ... in arms ... Our view slowly changes to include MINAKO, who is peeking around a corner, watching this funeral ceremony in silence. AETHAN turns to look at RAYE. AETHAN Well? What are you waiting for? RAYE stares at him, confused. AETHAN I assure you that you'll never get a better chance than this. RAYE I don't know what you're talking about. AETHAN Don't bother making excuses. I know that you would be quite happy to see me dead. And right now, girl, I would welcome death. RAYE's confusion swiftly turns to shock. RAYE Why? AETHAN stares at her, his fangs out. AETHAN Why? Woden, Thunor, und Nerthus, girl, *what do you care*? You've hated me from the first moment we met. I deserve it, I suppose, I am one of the monsters you're supposed to destroy. So destroy me already! They stare at each other for a long moment. AETHAN Come on! Do it! *Kill me and be done*, Raye Hino! MINAKO braces herself to run ... RAYE shakes her head. RAYE No. AETHAN is on the verge of apoplexy. AETHAN WHY NOT? RAYE Because I want you to live. And suffer. MINAKO gapes. AETHAN stares at RAYE for a very long moment ... he almost seems to be swelling as he does. His skin is turning bright red, and a battle aura of the same colour glows around him. RAYE finally begins to get an idea of what kind of danger she's in, and takes a cautious step back. And then AETHAN seems to collapse on himself, leaving only a stunned looking, rather average man, who doesn't really look like a threat at all. AETHAN Very well, then. He turns to look at the cairn, which has by now burnt out. AETHAN Goodbye. He then strides off, past RAYE, past MINAKO (who ducks to hide herself), without seeming to notice either of them. RAYE watches him go with a faintly disturbed expression. Back at the gate, SASAMI is lying down with her head in AYEKA's lap, breathing deeply. SASAMI (V.O.) Tsunami? TSUNAMI (V.O.) Yes, Sasami-chan? SASAMI (V.O.) I think we need you. Can you come? Now? TSUNAMI (V.O.) Yes, Sasami. I can. Now. There is a pulse of light from SASAMI's forehead, and suddenly TSUNAMI appears before her. SASAMI seems to fade deeper into unconsciousness as she does. TSUNAMI then turns and walks towards KENT with a slow and measured step. SKULD and URD gape. SKULD Ummmm ... Urd? Don't those look a lot like the *Almighty's* markings? URD Yeah ... let's not think about that, okay? TSUNAMI stands before KENT. TSUNAMI Greetings. I am Tsunami, Divinity Prime of Jurai. How may I be of assistance? KENT It's nice to be surprised once in a while ... TSUNAMI Excuse me? KENT Um, I take it that there are certain restrictions on what you *may* do while on this planet. TSUNAMI That is correct. I am effectively limited to the power of a First Level Goddess, first class, limited. That should be enough, however. KENT Probably, yes. We need you to take part in a ritual to banish a certain vimogorge. TSUNAMI smiles, viciously. TSUNAMI Very happy to be of assistance. I despise those creatures ... KENT Well, here comes the last of the people who'll be participating in the ritual. And indeed AETHAN is approaching, his face increasingly like a thundercloud. MINAKO quickly follows. KENT Aethan, are you ready? AETHAN Yes. KENT turns to look at BELLDANDY. SERENA steps closer to her. BELLDANDY Produce the crystal, please. SERENA takes a deep breath, and opens her locket. The Silver Empyrean Crystal emerges from it, slowly, and in a pulse of light, SERENA is dressed in a pure white dress. BELLDANDY blinks. BELLDANDY All right ... I'm going to transfer the spell that I am supporting to you. Be warned, it's heavy ... SERENA I'll be okay. BELLDANDY makes a pressing gesture with her hands, and SERENA reacts as though someone dropped something on her. She almost seems to be on the verge of collapse. SERENA ... oooh boy ... DARIEN and the Scouts react to this anxiously. SERENA spares a quick glance over her shoulder to give them a quick, reassuring grin at them -- then quickly jerks her head back to look at the gate. BELLDANDY Looking away is a very bad idea ... SERENA Okay! I've got it now, no problems ... AKANE (V.O.) I'm not going to bother telling you what was actually going on in her mind right then, because it's really obvious. COLOGNE holds open the door, and AETHAN marches in, his face stern. TSUNAMI follows, then KYOUSUKE. BELLDANDY walks to the door ... pauses, turns to look at KEIICHI. She smiles sweetly, with hidden pain, at him, then turns to enter the door. COLOGNE closes the door behind them. SHAMPOO Now what? KENT Now, three of us are going to go in there and ... persuade the Adversary to relent. I am going. Ranma will doubtless want in. RANMA grins a somewhat maniacal grin. RANMA Damn straight! KENT And in light of the results of a certain sparring match, I think Mr. Masaki would be of help, too. RANMA's face falls. TENCHI nods seriously. RYOUKO Wait a minute, why just three? KENT Like I said earlier, it's my lucky number. RYOUKO To hell with your lucky number, if you think I'm gonna let you take Tenchi into some *hell* without me, you've got another think -- KENT Ms. Ryouko, I'm not taking you with me because I don't want to get on your mother's bad side. RYOUKO glares at him. KENT looks appealingly at TENCHI. TENCHI Ryouko ... RYOUKO does not look at TENCHI. RYOUKO Don't, Tenchi. TENCHI Don't what? RYOUKO Don't ask me to stay. Don't ask me to watch you walk into there and not come with you. Don't ask me to do it, Tenchi. TENCHI But -- She turns to look at him, and is almost in tears. RYOUKO Don't ask me to live if you're going to die. Because if you ask me to do it, I will. For a very long moment, it is as though there is nothing else in the world but these two. TENCHI is looking at RYOUKO with an expression that some might call confused, but which could be more accurately be called dawning comprehension. TENCHI You'd do anything ... if I asked you, wouldn't you? RYOUKO blinks. The answer is obvious, and thus does not need a response. TENCHI lets out a long, shuddering breath. TENCHI Please stay here, Ryouko. I ... Is it possible that the demons might attack here, while we're on the other side? KENT It's a possibility, yes. TENCHI Then ... Ryouko, I need you to stay here, and protect Sasami and the others, in case more demons attack. Can you do that? RYOUKO stares at TENCHI for a moment, then nods quietly. RYOUKO Yes. Yeah, I can do that. No sweat. TENCHI seems to be visibly relieved. RANMA Great! Now that that's settled, let's get going! KENT Isn't there anyone you wanna say good-bye to before we go? RANMA blinks, then turns to look at the small cluster of his friends -- AKANE, UKYOU, SHAMPOO, and RYOUGA -- all of whom are regarding him with a somber expression. RANMA See ya. RYOUGA looks away in disgust, while UKYOU and SHAMPOO both seem to be almost on the verge of tears. AKANE's expression doesn't change. RANMA becomes irate. RANMA Oh what the hell is with you guys! You look like you're attending my funeral or something -- well, not Ryouga, but -- AKANE Just get *going* already! RANMA I don't see what the big deal is, I always come back. AKANE storms up to him. AKANE Yes, you always come back for seconds, after you've been defeated and learned something from it. But you haven't gotten past stage one of that this time! Don't you *get* it? YOU COULD GET KILLED! RANMA That's not gonna happen. AKANE How do you know -- RANMA I am *not* gonna get killed by some wimpy demon, no matter how big his story is. AKANE stares at him in shock. AKANE (V.O.) Maybe I should be more understanding of him. It wasn't his fault that he didn't recognize the story Kent had told. It wasn't his fault he didn't realize he was going up against the Father of Evil. So I should be more understanding. I wasn't, but I should be. AKANE reels back and punches RANMA so hard that he goes flying through the portal. SERENA flinches as he does. KENT gives her an odd glance, and then looks over at ANDREW and MCGOVERN -- who are standing a little ways off from any of the others. He nods, once in their direction. KENT Let's go. TENCHI nods, and joins him at the portal. They step through simultaneously, causing SERENA to flinch again. Cut to greyspace. PLUTO lets out a sigh. PLUTO It has begun. WASHUU Annnny minute now. PLUTO Any minute now what? Cut to a room in the Tendou house. PATRICIA sits up with a jerk. Greyspace. WASHUU That. Cut to the kitchen. KASUMI is looking out the window with a nervous expression, while NABIKI munches on a snack. KASUMI They've started. NABIKI How d'you know? KASUMI I just do. PATRICIA bursts into the kitchen with a *furious* expression on her face. PATRICIA WHERE IS HE? KASUMI turns to look at her with a sad expression. KASUMI He has descended into the Abyss, Patricia-san. You can't go to him, now. PATRICIA's face goes from fury to shock to grief in moments. PATRICIA He always does this to me. Every single time ... KASUMI nods. PATRICIA slumps to the floor, her head in her hands. NABIKI stares at her for a moment, then turns to look at KASUMI. She then turns and heads out of the kitchen. NABIKI If we live through this, I *swear* I'm moving out of here. Everyone here is a complete *mystic* ... Cut to the empty dining room of the Nekohanten. COLOGNE hops ahead to the kitchen. COLOGNE Please give me a moment to prepare my equipment. I presume that you will take the time to do -- She breaks off as she looks at TSUNAMI and BELLDANDY. COLOGNE Never mind. She heads into the kitchen. AETHAN approaches KYOUSUKE. AETHAN You are aware of your role in these proceedings? KYOUSUKE Masefield-san gave me instructions in what to do. AETHAN But not in why? KYOUSUKE ... do I need to know why -- AETHAN In my experience, those who know the reasons that they are being told to perform a certain task succeed in it more frequently than others who do not. KYOUSUKE Okay ... why do a bunch of wizards and ... um, `goddesses' need the help of an ESPer to do something like this? AETHAN First, you should understand a bit about magic. The first thing that any spell-caster normally does, before doing any sort of ritual magic, is to prepare a defensive ward -- perhaps within his or her own mind -- against the magic going out of control. That keeps the ritual from lashing back upon the spell-caster, and from affecting the world around him if it goes out of control. Do you understand? KYOUSUKE I think so ... it's kind of like focusing on the problem, and only the problem. AETHAN Exactly. But there's a different problem. Every magician wields his or her power in a slightly different way -- some wouldn't even regard it as magic. Magicians who have been trained in the same "style" of magic can pool their efforts fairly simply -- though it can still be difficult. But for magicians of very different traditions ... the wards ... He seems to be running out of nontechnical terms with which to describe the matter. KYOUSUKE is obviously thinking. KYOUSUKE Are the wards like notes? AETHAN Excuse me? KYOUSUKE The wards ... is it that they're like notes in a piece of music? If you just plunk a bunch of notes down on a piece of paper, they don't sound like anything ... but if you take care to arrange them, they make music. AETHAN blinks. AETHAN *Very* good. Are you a musician? KYOUSUKE I used to play the drums a bit, but no ... my fiancee is, though. AETHAN I see. Well, you're right. Each ward produces a form of vibration, not unlike a note of sound. And when the interact without guidance, only chaos results. This is where you come in. KYOUSUKE I'm the composer? I'm *really* not a -- AETHAN Not exactly. Instead, you are to guide us, advise us to correct the ... placement of the wards so that interact harmoniously. Kent will have given you a "program" to do this automatically, but you should be aware of what your own mind is doing, I think. KYOUSUKE I'm inclined to agree. Thanks. Um ... sorry about your -- AETHAN Please. You did not know him, I believe, so you are not actually regretful. I appreciate your sympathy, but I needs must focus all my faculties on the task at hand. KYOUSUKE blinks. KYOUSUKE Ooookay. They both settle down to wait. AKANE (V.O.) Kasuga-san was actually thinking about men he'd met in Bosnia, who'd shown the same sort of dedication in the sight of the deaths of friends. They'd scared the hell out of him. I don't think I have to suggest what he thought about DeGales. Cut to a dark, blackish-grey plain beneath a red sky. RANMA pushes himself up off the ground, and dusts himself off. When he speaks, his words have an odd, echoing quality. RANMA Uncute tomboy ... what the hell was *that* about anyway? He looks around. RANMA And where's the portal? Ah, *shit*, she's got me dumped into the wrong place, and I'm never gonna get home! Just then, KENT and TENCHI step out of midair. RANMA On the other hand ... KENT The portal's invisible on this side, huh? RANMA Looks like it. KENT Lousy pun, Ranma. RANMA Oh! Oh, maaaan. KENT lets out *another* sigh, and TENCHI looks a bit ill at that. KENT pulls a pocket watch from one of the breast pockets of his vest of many pockets. KENT Okay, one of the few things I know about this space is that time is slightly slower here than it is in our dimension ... for every second that passes here, maybe a hundred pass back home. So we have to do this in a hurry, because I don't know how long Sailor Moon can hold up the portal. He releases the watch, and it snaps back into the vest as though it were attached with elastics. RANMA What's with the vest? KENT My father used to wear a get up like this, when he was expecting trouble. Pockets filled with all kinds of gadgets to help him out. He absently pulls a canteen out of a side pocket, and loosens the lid. KENT I'm not half the inventor my father was, though ... but some of the stuff he carried around was awfully useful. Like this. Ordinary canteen, except that it keeps its contents just a few degrees above freezing. With a sudden jerk, the lid comes off, and water splashes its way towards RANMA. The transformation is instant -- and so is KENT's hand darting out towards RANMA's neck, tapping a certain nerve point. RANMA Gurk? She collapses, unconscious, but KENT catches her before she hits the ground. TENCHI What are you doing?! KENT holds RANMA's unconscious body in both his arms. KENT Masaki Tenchi, a woman is helpless and in terrible danger. I rely on you to do the right thing. He starts to hand RANMA over to TENCHI, who doesn't seem inclined to accept. TENCHI What?! KENT Very well. I will explain. Before I came here, to Japan, I was given a prophecy. Three will go in, two will come out. Do you begin to see? TENCHI You mean ... but didn't you say that Niniane-san changed fate? KENT I don't think it's that simple ... perhaps the fate she changed was something different -- the fate of the Defender, to engage in these battles forever, perhaps -- but not the fate that of a group of three people to embark on something, only two would survive. So I decided to take it into my own hands. He lowers RANMA into TENCHI's arms. TENCHI But ... why not just bring more people into the battle with the Adversary? We could have brought Ryouko, or some of the Scouts, or -- KENT Because that would be just delaying it even more. I want to get it out from over our heads as soon as possible. And I suspect that the task of ending the cycle demands that I act alone, anyway. I am sorry that I dragged you into this, but ... you'd best get going. I'm not sure about the time variation, it could be more than what I said. TENCHI is clearly upset, but not willing to make an issue of it. TENCHI Right. Back through the way we came. KENT Right. And you might want to get away from Ranma before she wakes up, because she'll probably be rather upset. TENCHI I don't blame her. KENT smiles, sadly. KENT Look at it this way. You're young. Both of you. And you have so much potential ... I knew that you'd both want to come along, and I didn't want that potential to go to waste. Perhaps, when you get to be my age ... you'll understand even better than I do. TENCHI Maybe. Good luck. KENT May the light of the trees guide your path. TENCHI Huh? KENT Never mind. He turns to go, walking off into the plains. TENCHI hefts RANMA, and steps back through the invisible portal. AKANE (V.O.) Masaki Tenchi was the last person to ever see Kent Masefield alive. Cut to outside the portal. TENCHI, carrying RANMA, stumbles out, seemingly buffeted by a sudden wind. Immediately, AKANE, UKYOU, and SHAMPOO are there to take RANMA off his hands, while RYOUKO and MIHOSHI crowd around TENCHI -- while AYEKA, her lap still supporting SASAMI's head, looks longingly in his direction. ANDREW makes his way over to TENCHI, who is coping with RYOUKO's attentions. TENCHI I'm fine, I'm *fine*! ANDREW Where's Kent? TENCHI How long were we in there for? ANDREW I dunno, maybe half an hour. Where is Kent? TENCHI He's gone off to fight the Adversary by himself. ANDREW Ha ha, very funny, now what -- TENCHI I'm not *joking*. He brought the two of us along to fulfill some prophecy about "three going in and two coming out" and -- MCGOVERN -- chose the two of you to be the two who came out. ANDREW looks at MCGOVERN, appalled. ANDREW This is a Niniane thing, isn't it? MCGOVERN Yeah, probab-- ANDREW starts shaking his hands in the air. ANDREW Ahhhhhhhhhhh dammit! RYOUKO Okay, no problem. We'll just head back in and -- SERENA Uh ... I really wish that you wouldn't ... SERENA looks like death warmed over, but is struggling to look cheerful. SERENA Every time someone crosses over from this side feels like a kick in my guts ... I won't go into what it feels like when someone tries to come across from the other side, and I let them, because there are young children present ... MIHOSHI Anooo ... Sasami-chan's unconscious, Serena-san. SERENA I'm talking about me. RYOUKO So what do we do, just sit around and wait? SERENA Sounds like paradise to me ... Meanwhile, RANMA has just woken up. For a second, she seems not to know where she is ... and then angry splotches break out on her face as she remembers what happened to her. AKANE Ranma? RANMA I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch. She jumps up, and starts looking around furiously. RANMA Where is he, huh? Where? Where is the lowlife nogood -- TENCHI He's on the other side of the -- RANMA Fine! She starts to dash towards the portal, only to be stopped dead in her tracks when RYOUGA casually catches her by the ponytail. RANMA Ahhhh! Leggo! RYOUGA Ranma, you *might* just wanna listen to what happened while you were *knocked* *out* before you go charging in there again. He lets go of RANMA's pony tail. She whips around to glare at him. RANMA You wanna go *first*, P-chan? RYOUGA shows an almost frightening lack of reaction to the usual barb. RYOUGA I thought you wanted to kill Mr. Masefield. You might just have a bit of trouble doing that if you don't find out what you did *wrong* to get *beaten* by him. RANMA Fine. After I get done with him, you're next. What happened? She heads over to talk to TENCHI. AMI approaches RYOUGA hesitantly. AMI Thank you, Hibiki-san, for making sure that he wouldn't go charging in and hurt Sailor Moon by doing so. RYOUGA Um ... well, my motives weren't as clean as that, Mizuno- san, but you're welcome anyway. They smile, shyly, at each other ... then realize that they're standing *way* too close, and quickly step apart. Cut to the kitchen of the Nekohanten. BELLDANDY, TSUNAMI, COLOGNE, and AETHAN (clockwise) form a rectangle facing a small pillar of green fire. BELLDANDY is gesturing and almost singing in Aesir, COLOGNE is preparing and releasing to the air various mixtures of herbs and chemicals, AETHAN is speaking in rapidfire Latin, and TSUNAMI is simply standing and gazing at the pillar. At the centre of the rectangle is KYOUSUKE, whose eyes are closed, and who is generating a *fierce* aura. His face seems oddly calm, though. AETHAN (V.O.) It's unusually powerful, even for a vimogorge. COLOGNE (V.O.) True ... I wonder which choice souls it ate to gain that much power. TSUNAMI's face registers her disgust. Her "voice" is calm, however. TSUNAMI (V.O) We need to increase the power to the ram in order to push it out. BELLDANDY (V.O.) Agreed. Ready? KYOUSUKE Oh boy ... The air seems to almost tingle with the increased flow of magic. Cut to the black plains. KENT walks, his face all but expressionless, as the wind begins to pick up. AKANE (V.O.) I am one of two people in the world, if not the universe, who knows what happened to Kent after Tenchi came back to our world. Much of it is confusing, and parts of it are ... well, just plain boring. I don't know how long he wandered through the Hell That Is Best Not Described -- unchallenged -- but it felt like years to me before any *important* things happened. The scene changes around KENT. Instead of black plains, he now stands on a sheet of black glass-like ground, beneath a grey sky. Standing in the centre of the glass is a figure shrouded in black robes. The figure seems to be staring at KENT, who stares right back. Slowly, the figure assumes a martial arts stance, although its hands remain concealed within the folds of its sleeves. KENT Very well then ... He assumes a stance that matches the figure exactly. And then leaps towards it, foot extended in a perfect kick aiming at the figure's "head". The figure's arms come up to parry. KENT suddenly whips around in midair so that he is falling towards the arm of the figure, without any defenses. Our view changes to a look at the sky as there is a sickening crunch. The figure's pale fist has punched completely through KENT's chest. Slowly the robes fall away from the figure's face, revealing him to be KENT. KENT (robes) stares at KENT (vest), his face shocked. KENT (vest) Now you know. There is a long silence. KENT (robes) NOW I KNOW. KENT (vest) smiles, painfully, and then his head slumps and he dies. His body disintegrates into a fine mist. The rest of the robes fall off of KENT, revealing him to be clad in a black bodysuit, which is oddly like the costume he was wearing in his dream in the first act. The location shifts around him once more, back to the black plains and the red sky. KENT Now I know. He looks off, towards a huge black sphere in the sky. A look of immense fear crosses his face ... and then he starts toward it. Back to outside the portal. SERENA looks even worse now. DARIEN is standing close to her. DARIEN Please, meatball head ... you don't have to do this by yourself ... SERENA But ... DARIEN Serena, I *know* that you don't want to risk your friends, but we're all worried! Please let us help. SERENA I ... RAYE is standing on the other side of her. RAYE Serena. Let us help you, or I'll *never* speak to you again. SERENA slowly turns to look at RAYE. RAYE's stern expression doesn't reach her eyes. The look that they exchange is beyond words. SERENA Help. RAYE Right! Okay, form up for the usual routine, Scouts. DARIEN quickly embraces SERENA, careful not to disturb her arms holding the Crystal. The Sailor Scouts join hands behind them -- MINAKO standing between AMY and LITA, who takes RAYE's hand -- and start to glow. SERENA suddenly stands a little straighter, looks a little less exhausted. RANMA, having returned to male form, is sitting down and looking enviously at the Sailors. RANMA At least they can do *something*. I *hate* waiting. I hate not being able to do anything ... I -- RYOUGA Now you know how the rest of us usually feel. RANMA What? RYOUGA Forget it ... Cut to the Nekohanten kitchen. KYOUSUKE is sweating profusely, and his aura is uncomfortably bright. None of the magic-users seem very well either. AETHAN (V.O.) I don't understand ... why in blazes hasn't it attacked yet? We're using enough energy to -- COLOGNE (V.O.) -- sweetmotherofmypeople, NO! The pillar of flame flares, and a pulse of energy streams out from it, slamming into all present. COLOGNE seems hardest hit. COLOGNE (V.O.) -- waiting for us to overextend and then -- VIMOGORGE (V.O.) YES. Another pulse lashes out, sending COLOGNE reeling and AETHAN to his knees. KYOUSUKE is still standing, but it doesn't look as though it is his own idea. Blood is running from his nose. TSUNAMI's face is clenched. VIMOGORGE (V.O.) TO KILL A TREE ... DESTROY ITS ROOT. A bolt of energy shoots up through the ceiling of the kitchen. TSUNAMI No! Outside, we see the bolt burst through the roof of the Nekohanten, shoot up in the air, then start to arc downwards towards SASAMI -- and AYEKA, who looks upward in shock. She just has time enough to draw one breath -- When URD casually catches the bolt in her hand. URD Hah! And they said this guy was *so* tough. C'mon. She looks at her hand, which is mildly crisped by the bolt. URD O-kay, maybe he was a little tough. Would you excuse me a moment? AYEKA stares as URD stumbles off, apparently in considerable pain. Back to the kitchen. BELLDANDY risks a quick look behind her, and sees that COLOGNE and AETHAN are both out of it (more or less) and that KYOUSUKE is not holding up very well. She closes her eyes. BELLDANDY (V.O.) There is no other option. BELLDANDY Goodbye, Keiichi. I will love you forever. She lifts her hand to her limiter earring. And a hand descends on hers. AETHAN (O.S.) NO. There *is* another option. She turns back to look at him, startled. There is a flash. We see as though through another's eyes, hands like the one on BELLDANDY's hand, lifting open a window, and hearing her voice. BELLDANDY (O.S.) I do have the power to do what you ask. But ... KENT (O.S.) Yes? BELLDANDY (O.S.) I am under contract, and limitation. If what you say is true, I would have the right to break my limiter ... but there is a good chance that that would cause my contract to be voided ... but if the Adversary is not defeated ... The hands seem to tense. KENT (O.S.) I am sorry. No one should ask such a thing. BELLDANDY (O.S.) I *shall* do it, if it necessary. KENT (O.S.) I know. That's why I am sorry. The hands close the window. There is another flash. BELLDANDY stares at AETHAN. The flesh of his face is pulled back, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. AETHAN There is another option. He draws his sword, and steps back. He draws a long, shuddering breath. When he speaks, it is not in his own voice, but in a warped version of it. AETHAN "What though the field be lost? All is not lost; Th'unconquerable will His face continues to twist -- his fangs are more in evidence than ever. AETHAN And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit nor yield: He lifts up his sword. AETHAN And what is else not to be overcome?" There is a long pause. AETHAN suddenly reverses the blade of the sword so that it points at him, and brings it down suddenly on his shoulder, slicing into his torso. Everything goes into slow motion as he cuts downward through his body, slicing himself almost in half, from shoulder to crotch. There is no blood, at least at first. After it is done, all is silence. And then AETHAN lets out a horrid scream as his upper body condenses into darkness, and sinks into the ground. BELLDANDY watches in horror. A blink of an eye later, it has been replaced, by a somewhat more ethereal body. AETHAN looks to BELLDANDY, and smiles sadly. AETHAN This should be enough, I think. Perhaps not enough to banish it, but enough to make the wards last indefinitely. Please use it, Verdandi-megamisama. It is given freely ... but if you could perhaps apologize to a certain soul in the Glad Hall on my behalf, I would appreciate it. With his final words, he begins to congeal into a stream of bright light that flows into BELLDANDY's hands, forming a large ball. She stares at it, with tears in her eyes. BELLDANDY I'm sorry. I can't do that. She glares with fury on her face at the pillar of flame, and raises up the ball over her head. BELLDANDY BE THOU BOUND! She throws the ball at the flame, and they both explode. When the smoke clears, the flame is gone -- transformed into a marker on the wall. Five markers surround a green, glowing dot. TSUNAMI It is done? BELLDANDY It is ... She swoons. KYOUSUKE slowly comes out of the trance state, and stares blearily at the marker on the wall. KYOUSUKE Oh good. It worked. I think I'll have a nice lie down now. He collapses. TSUNAMI briefly examines each of the others, and then vanishes. Cut to the black plains. KENT is approaching the huge black sphere. He stops, and looks up at it. KENT Hello. ADVERSARY YOU HAVE COME. KENT You always knew that I would, eventually. ADVERSARY SHALL WE BEGIN, THEN? KENT I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't give you a chance to come peacefully. ADVERSARY OH? ALWAYS BEFORE, YOU SEEMED TO DESIRE TO DESTROY ME IN PERSON. KENT I've had some time to think about it. That's not my right. I will bring you back to our master, but I do not seek your destruction. I will let Him decide your fate. ADVERSARY IT DOES NOT MATTER. I WILL NOT YIELD. MATERIAL LIFE IS A MISTAKE. IT SHOULD NOT BE PERMITTED. KENT Then I suppose that there's only one way to settle this. You're under arrest. The black sphere begins to swell, expanding towards KENT, who stares at it calmly, until it reaches him, and then -- The screen goes black. AKANE (V.O.) It became all but incomprehensible after that. Actually, it hurts to think about it. Cut to outside the portal. SERENA is back to her look of extreme fatigue, and the other Senshi aren't much better. The portal itself is trembling around the edges. MIHOSHI Anoo ... do the little wavy things on that gate mean anything? SKULD They mean that the portal is starting to collapse. MIHOSHI Oh. What does that mean, really? SKULD That it's going to close, and we won't be able to open it again, so Mr. Masefield will be trapped on the other side. RANMA Good! AKANE Ranma! Just because he suckered you doesn't mean he deserves to be trapped in the bowels of hell for all eternity! RANMA Sez you! TENCHI is staring at the portal with concern on his face. TENCHI If only ... if only ... WASHUU (O.S.) If only what, Tenchi-dono? TENCHI If only I knew how to -- Realization. He whips around to see WASHUU standing a bit behind him, holding a fifteen hundred yen toy replica of the Garnet Staff in one hand. TENCHI Washuu! When did -- WASHUU Just now. Tenchi-dono, do you want to help keep that portal open for a little while longer? TENCHI Yes, definitely. WASHUU Right, then. Ryouko ... RYOUKO teleports next to her mother with a suspicious expression. RYOUKO What're you up to, this time, *Mom*? WASHUU You'll thank me for this later. RYOUKO Yeah, right. And what's up with the toy? Decided to have a third childhood? WASHUU Toy? This is one of the most powerful -- She looks at the Staff. WASHUU We're in trouble. Cut to grey space. PLUTO is holding very firmly to the real Garnet Staff, and smiling without humour. PLUTO Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, die in agony. Back in the real world. WASHUU So we should really work fast here, okay? Tenchi, you can use your power to add to that which is holding the portal. You'll need the Tenchi-ken, though. TENCHI Got it. He produces it. WASHUU And you'll need to be in physical contact with Ryouko. TENCHI's eyes bulge out. RYOUKO blinks, then grins. AYEKA looks appalled. RYOUKO Okay! I like this plan already. TENCHI Washuu-chan ... is this really -- WASHUU produces her computer and a cushion. WASHUU Yep. AKANE (V.O.) It was necessary because she wanted to get accurate readings on the amount of power that Tenchi and Ryouko could generate together. TENCHI lets out a long sigh and nods. He extends the Tenchi-Ken before him, while RYOUKO takes up a position on his left, pressing her body into his, and holding the hand that holds the sword. For a moment, TENCHI seems about to protest ... then clamps down on whatever he was going to say. WASHUU Now ... just project your power out at the portal, but *don't* visualize it as a beam or something like that, think of it as a ... okay, good, you've got it. The trembling of the portal ceases. WASHUU watches a graph on her computer growing steadily. WASHUU Must be a gestalt. A natural gestalt. Cool. I'm even better than I thought I was. RANMA watches these proceedings with irritation. RANMA Arghhh. Even *he's* got something to do! I *hate* -- UKYOU Ranchan, why do you have to be the centre of attention? RANMA What're you talking about, Ucchan? I don't like bein' -- UKYOU Then why not just sit back, relax and let someone else handle it? RANMA tries to find an answer to that, and fails. Cut to black. KENT (V.O.) You realize, of course, that it's actually jealousy. ADVERSARY (V.O.) YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. KENT (V.O.) I think I do. He endowed life with the ability to develop beyond what it was, and possibly to develop beyond *us*. Your pride wouldn't stand for that. ADVERSARY (V.O.) YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. IT WAS NOT THAT, IT WAS -- KENT (V.O.) Well? ADVERSARY (V.O.) I REALIZED THAT LIFE WAS A MISTAKE, THAT WAS ALL. KENT (V.O.) A mistake, because they could grow and evolve. ADVERSARY (V.O) NO, BECAUSE THEY COULD -- IT DOES NOT MATTER! KENT (V.O.) I think it does. Maybe it didn't have so much to do with what marvel they could become ... as with the exact opposite. ADVERSARY (V.O.) YOU ARE WRONG! KENT (V.O.) How they could choose to not love Him. How they could choose to not even admit that He existed. And how could you, the most perfect of His creations, endure the idea that something could exist that would be both greater than you -- and not admit that your Creator was real? ADVERSARY (V.O.) NO! KEIICHI heads over to the door of the Nekohanten, and looks in. KEIICHI Belldandy? He sees a green light coming from the kitchen and heads towards it, slowly. He opens the door, and sees her lying on the floor. KEIICHI Belldandy! He dashes forward, and kneels at her side. BELLDANDY comes a little ways around. BELLDANDY Keiichi-san? KEIICHI, for once not worrying about the possible consequences of touching a goddess, starts to pick her up. BELLDANDY Thank you Keiichi-san. But make sure that everyone else gets out of this place too ... KEIICHI Right! He gently carries her out of the kitchen, through the dining area, and out the front door. KEIICHI Skuld! SKULD dashes over. SKULD Acck! What happened?! KEIICHI I don't know. Look after Belldandy, okay? He heads back in, this time pulling KYOUSUKE -- who is quite a bit taller and heavier than he is -- out with him. KEIICHI I think we may need to call in an ambulance for this guy ... he looks like he's been bleeding. One more trip to pick up COLOGNE -- whom he carries at arms length. By now, BELLDANDY has come most of the way around. KEIICHI What happened? BELLDANDY We achieved the goal. We won, after a fashion. But there was a cost, and it was high. KEIICHI I didn't see that other woman or that guy in there ... did they -- BELLDANDY Lady Tsunami doubtless left at once. The Cosmic Gods have many burdens ... as for Mr. DeGales ... he made a sacrifice of himself. I do not think we will see him as himself again. KEIICHI seems confused by that, but lets it go. KEIICHI Are *you* all right? She looks at him though eyes which have known many tears in the last few hours ... and smiles, beautifully. BELLDANDY Yes. Thank you, Keiichi-san. She embraces him, suddenly, causing him to blush like mad. SKULD, standing nearby, looks at them with irritation -- she's obviously not *totally* satisfied with the way things turned out -- but doesn't do anything. Cut to blackness. ADVERSARY (V.O.) YOU ARE WRONG! KENT (V.O.) Am I? Then why haven't you caused more outright exterminations of the life you hate so much? Why do you get bored so easily with all your schemes? Because you know, in your soul, that by rebelling like you did, you proved Him right. ADVERSARY (V.O.) ENOUGH! YOU ARE STRIVING TO DO AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS DONE AND DISTRACT ME FROM MY AIMS! SO BE IT! I SHALL DESTROY THAT PATHETIC LITTLE WORLD ON WHICH YOU DWELT! KENT (V.O.) No you won't. ADVERSARY (V.O.) WHO SHALL STOP ME? THE CREATOR HAS NEVER INTERFERED -- KENT (V.O.) Yes he has. But I'm going to stop you this time. ADVERSARY (V.O.) YOU? HOW WILL YOU STOP ME? KENT (V.O.) The way I'm stopping you, now. ADVERSARY (V.O.) YOU ARE NOT -- WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? KENT (V.O.) Learned a lot about martial arts. You'd be surprised how they can apply even at this scale. This is something I was taught by a man named Tendou Souun. I don't think you can break it. ADVERSARY (V.O.) THEN YOU WILL BE BOUND HERE AS WELL! DOWN HERE! IN THE DARK! ALONE! KENT (V.O.) Am I alone? ADVERSARY (V.O.) YOU ARE DOWN HERE WITH ME! KENT (V.O.) So? For a moment, there is silence. And then an unearthly howl of rage and horror rings through the darkness. And everything goes white. Cut to the kitchen. While sitting at the table, PATRICIA suddenly jerks, spilling her juice. PATRICIA It's over. KASUMI It is? I don't -- PATRICIA I don't know how I know ... but it's over. Everything is ... different. She stands up, suddenly. PATRICIA I have to go to him. She dashes off. KASUMI rises from the table, and heads over to the window. She looks out to see PATRICIA dashing out of the house. KASUMI Good luck. Cut to outside the gate. The trembling of the portal has resumed, and is getting worse. Everyone seems to be showing the strain. KEIICHI Belldandy, could you -- BELLDANDY No ... my reserves of power are all but drained. AYEKA looks at TENCHI, whose back is to her, and who is almost shaking with the strain, with longing. She turns to look at WASHUU. AYEKA Excuse me ... Washuu-chan ... could ... do you think ... WASHUU No, adding your energies to the gestalt probably wouldn't cause a measurable increase. But go ahead and try it anyway if you feel like it. AYEKA looks down at SASAMI, whose head is still resting in her lap. Her face is uncertain. Suddenly, a hand touches her shoulder. She looks up to see SHAMPOO looking down at her. SHAMPOO I'll do it. I'll watch over her. You go do magic. AYEKA Th-thank you! SHAMPOO sits, and they gently move SASAMI's head to her lap. Then AYEKA rises, and confidently walks over to take TENCHI's right side as RYOUKO took his left. TENCHI Ayeka-san? What are you do-- AYEKA responds by closing her hand over TENCHI's hand, on the Tenchi-Ken. Which means, however, that she winds up touching RYOUKO's hand, much to their mutual disgust. They shoot each other a quick, hostile look, then "Hmph" forward. For his part, TENCHI seems rather frightened. WASHUU is very startled to see the graph of the power output shoot up dramatically. WASHUU Wait a minute, that means -- The graph enters a red zone, and an insistent beeping begins. WASHUU tries to pull back from the computer -- Just as it blows up, sending her flying backwards. A few seconds later, a mildly toasted WASHUU rolls up into a seated position. WASHUU Well. That was unexpected. RANMA blinks at this, then sees SHAMPOO and SASAMI. RANMA Shampoo? What -- SHAMPOO Shampoo know what it like to see loved one in trouble and not be able to help. Shampoo know *that* well. RANMA stares at her ... and comprehension slowly starts to dawn. He opens his mouth. AKANE Something's coming through! And a hand has already stuck part of the way out of the portal. SERENA's face twists in agony as it comes further. RANMA looks around, and then shrugs. RANMA Ah, hell. He dashes over to the gate, grabs hold of the hand, and *yanks* KENT all the way through -- KENT, who is wearing the vest and pants he was wearing when he went in (now somewhat torn up) and his glasses. KENT Shut it! SERENA nods, and closes her hands around the crystal, pulling it back to her. She almost faints, and DARIEN is only just able to hold her up. TENCHI lowers the Tenchiken, and almost seems to sway when he does. The Sailors look exhausted. The portal trembles for a second longer ... then swiftly irises shut. KENT Mission accomplished. Thanks. RANMA glares at him, as they get to their feet. RANMA Listen, I'm still pissed about the thing with the nerve pinch, so don't go thankin' me just yet, 'cause -- KENT I'll let you beat me up later. Okay? RANMA seems somewhat mollified. TENCHI What happened to the prophecy? KENT As near as I can figure it, what it meant was, "three will go *together* into the gate at one time and two will come out *together* at another." It doesn't actually say anything about the one who doesn't come out. I jumped to a conclusion. Sorry. TENCHI Okay. So what happened with the fight? Behind them, PATRICIA rounds the corner to catch sight of KENT. She takes a deep breath -- And then she sees something. KENT Well ... it's a long story, but it's probably enough to say that the Adversary won't be causing any more problems. AKANE Really? How -- KENT I gave him some things to think about. It was a hell of a fight, but -- PATRICIA Stop it. KENT turns to look at PATRICIA, as does everyone else. She is staring at him with heartbreak in her eyes. KENT Patricia? Is something the matter? PATRICIA Stop it. I don't know who you are ... and I don't really care, but stop pretending to be Kent. KENT Patricia ... I *am* Kent, what are you -- She holds up his glasses. The ones he left with her. The ones he seems to be wearing right now. Everyone tenses. KENT slowly reaches up to take off his glasses, and let them fall to the ground. His eyes are closed. KENT It's the details. The details mess up every great con ever pulled. He opens his eyes. They are jet black. No cornea, no iris. And they don't shine like a fully dilated pupil would. PATRICIA W-who are you? KENT I am sorry, Patricia. Kent is dead. I know all that he knew ... I feel all that he felt ... but he lives no longer. Everyone reacts to the sight of KENT's eyes with shock and dread -- there is also an undercurrent of despair that the battle still isn't over. PATRICIA Are you the Adversary? KENT That much was true. He is gone, as well. PATRICIA You're the Defender, then. KENT The Defender no longer, but yes. I ... have been given new duties, as penance for my rebellion. PATRICIA And those are? KENT Unimportant. He briefly looks over the Gathered, and seems to almost despair at the way they are looking at him. AKANE (V.O.) We were all of us, even those who hadn't had to support the portal, bone-tired. Maybe that, and the sheer ... strangeness of what had just happened, was why none of us did much of anything but stare. I do know one thing ... if I hadn't heard Aethan's final words, I know that *his* next ones would have been the ones that I'd never forget. KENT Why do you look at me with such fear in your eyes? None of you have the least idea who you are. For aeons I believed that I was surrounding my proxies with capable warriors to aid in their battles. I fooled myself. You did not know, in truth, what the stakes were ... yet you gave freely of yourselves. Your courage is magnificent. It has been an honor that I shall remember forever to have known each of you. He draws in a deep breath. KENT But I must go. This world cannot bear me for very long. We shall meet again, though. At the end. There will be a moment of blinding light, and then you will see me ... your old friend. Until then, goodbye. Goodbye, Patricia. Once again, I am leaving you. PATRICIA Like. Hell. You. Are. He turns to look at her, shocked, and sees that she is burning with a grey light. PATRICIA You're taking me with you. KENT I can't. You would not be able to survive where I am going. PATRICIA I won't be able to survive *here* if you're not here. Take me with you. KENT You don't know what you're asking. PATRICIA Who's asking? You know, I did some thinking. I don't do that very often, but I've had to lately. And I sez to myself, self, I sez, if I can make the whole suit of "armor" appear around me, why not just parts of it? Like, the jump jets? ANDREW looks *very* alarmed, and starts heading towards her, slowly. KENT Patricia, this is irresponsible of you. It's -- PATRICIA -- the sort of crazy, adolescent stunt that only a seventeen year old girl would do? Guess what? Take me with you, or I'll fire the jump jets. Assuming I don't fry instantly, the stress will probably snap my back like a twig. KENT starts walking towards her, shaking his head slowly. He is standing right before her. KENT Why? Why are you -- PATRICIA Because I love you you dumb *fuck*! I want to be with you ... always ... I've never gotten that. *Never.* He embraces her. KENT I *can't*. PATRICIA closes her eyes. PATRICIA Then I can't either. There is a click, and a sudden hissing noise. With a roar, they are both enveloped in flame. ANDREW NO! He starts dashing towards them, only to trip over an inconveniently placed foot. He looks up, while WASHUU does her best to look innocent. Only a few seconds after the fire begins, they have both vanished. Not even ashes remain. RAYE Oh my god she killed them both. There is a very long moment of silence. And then PATRICIA, seeming none the worse for the wear, dressed in a plain white gown, and carrying a bundle, appears where she was before. She has a chagrined look on her face. PATRICIA Um ... sorry about the hysterics, you guys. ANDREW pushes himself to his feet over her next words. PATRICIA I really hope that I haven't given any of you ideas about how it's ... glamourous to kill yourselves if you can't be with one you love, because it's -- ANDREW starts running towards her, she breaks off, cocks back a fist and *slams* it into his face knocking him back. PATRICIA Don't. You. Come near me. ANDREW, shocked, rolls up into a seated position. He checks his nose, and sure enough, it's broken. PATRICIA Do you have any idea how much your viruses changed my body? Do you know how hard Kent had to work to fix them? ANDREW swallows, and opens his mouth. PATRICIA And don't say you're sorry, because you're not. You're sorry you got caught. You're sorry I found out. Well here's something else for you to be sorry for: you're sorry that until you make *serious* amends, you're not coming near your only granddaughter. The bundle that she's carrying begins to shift, revealing it to be a tiny infant, perhaps a few days old, wrapped in warm blankets. RANMA A baby? Where the hell did you get a baby -- PATRICIA If you have to be *told* that at *your* age -- AKANE How did you -- why did you -- PATRICIA Oh. Well ... Kent showed me a little of where he was going. And he was right ... I couldn't have survived there. So after he put me back together ... I asked him to give me something to remember him. I know, I know ... cliche ... but it felt right. Especially since he'd fixed me so that I *could* have children, I mean. She looks down at her daughter's face, and the bitterness fades. PATRICIA We named her Patience. Or Shinobu. It's appropriate. She looks up, again. PATRICIA *Now*, it's over. Fade to black. AKANE (V.O.) It wasn't, of course. Nothing ever ends that simply. Cut to an exterior shot of the dojo. AKANE (V.O.) My father finally got out of bed the very next day, after the fortress in our back yard took off again, taking Mr. Delafontaine and the rest of the PDF team with it. He didn't seem to have any recollection of anything after dinner on the second day, so we didn't discuss it with him. True to her word, Nabiki moved out the day after that. We still hear from her regularly. As we now had a spare room, Patricia asked if she could possibly rent it from us, and Dad, always willing to find a source of income that didn't require work, was glad to welcome her on as a boarder. Some other things happened over the next few days that were kind of important. Flash. Cut to a hospital bedroom, where KYOUSUKE is lying in an uncomfortable bed. MADOKA walks in, looking annoyed. KYOUSUKE flashes a sheepish grin. MADOKA I swear, I ought never to let you out of the house. You go to Bosnia, and almost get blown up. You go to Nerima, and get involved in some business that the *government* is trying to cover up ... KYOUSUKE I'm sorry ... I'll tell you all about it later. Anything interesting happen while I was out? MADOKA Yes. I called Hikaru, and she'll definitely be able to be here in two months for the wedding. My parents won't, but ... oh well. There's more important things. KYOUSUKE Huh? What more important things? MADOKA If you think I'm gonna let my parents stop me from having our first child born in wedlock, you're crazy. KYOUSUKE's mouth drops all the way to his stomach. Flash. Cut to outside the Nekohanten. BELLDANDY is still resting beside the building, as MINAKO approaches hesitantly. MINAKO Um ... excuse me? BELLDANDY Yes? MINAKO Please ... you've gotta tell me what happened to Aethan. He ... I have to know. BELLDANDY is silent, then sighs. BELLDANDY I shall try. In order to provide enough raw power to activate a spell we were casting, he ... cut his soul into two *roughly* equal parts. You could call them a good half and a bad half, but that would be oversimplifying. The `good half' provided the magic ... while the other went elsewhere. MINAKO What happened to it? BELLDANDY I don't know. I'm sorry. MINAKO nods ... and turns around to see RAYE looking at her with an apprehensive expression. MINAKO Damn you. Damn you for being so damn cruel to him. RAYE becomes shocked when MINAKO starts speaking, and by the end her mouth is gaping. RAYE *Me*? Cruel to *him*? MINAKO Do you deny it? I followed you, I saw what you did! RAYE Oh really. Well. Here's a way of looking at it that I don't think you've considered. He asked me to kill him. MINAKO You could have just said no, you didn't have to -- RAYE He asked me to kill him, because he was so broken up about what had happened to his friend. He didn't spare a moment to think about his "lover" -- you -- or how his death would hurt you. All he cared about was his own, private little pain. Maybe I was too harsh, but I was not too cruel. She turns and walks away. Flash. Cut to MINAKO's bedroom. MINAKO sits on her bed, holding ARTEMIS closely. MINAKO Artemis ... do you think Aethan was a good person? ARTEMIS Well ... I don't think he was a bad one. I do think he cared about you ... a lot. MINAKO But do you think he'll go to heaven? ARTEMIS I really don't know ... why, Mina-chan? She opens her mouth just as the phone in the kitchen rings. She sets ARTEMIS down, and gets up. In the kitchen she picks up the phone. MINAKO Moshi moshi? AETHAN (TEL) Minako? MINAKO AETHAN! Where are you? What happened? AETHAN (TEL) I'm really not sure ... the last thing I recall is getting on a plane to come to Japan and meet you ... and now I wake up and it's six days later! What in the world has been going on? She opens her mouth to reply ... and then the image of him standing before the cairn appears briefly. AETHAN (TEL) Minako? MINAKO I ... don't know either, Aethan. I was really worried about you, after you disappeared. Could you maybe come and see me? AETHAN (TEL) I'm sorry, Minako, but ... I have to be getting back to my work. I only allotted the last five days to visit you ... I truly am sorry. MINAKO bites her lip. MINAKO It's okay. There'll be other times, right? AETHAN (TEL) Of course. Listen, they're calling my flight. I'll give you a ring in a few days, all right? MINAKO Sure. AETHAN (TEL) I truly hate weirdness, don't you? Goodbye, Minako-chan. MINAKO Bye. The connection is cut. She stands for a few moments, listening to the voice tell her to hang up the phone. MINAKO It's okay. As long as he's alive, it's okay. Right? Right. Flash. Cut to the site of the gate. WASHUU is quietly staring at where it was. WASHUU Time for our reckoning? She turns to look at PLUTO, who is looking at her without expression. PLUTO I have one question. Why did you interfere? WASHUU With them? Because like he said ... he leaves her, every time. And I couldn't stand to see him leave her again ... after having watched him leave her when she was my mother, and he was my father. PLUTO When was this? WASHUU A long time ago. In a galaxy far, far away. Well? PLUTO I have decided ... to not extract a hideous vengeance from you, Washuu. Perhaps my princess is affecting my thinking ... but my heart isn't in it. Not now. WASHUU Good. I'd have kicked your ass. PLUTO You go right on believing that, Washuu. WASHUU turns to look at her, and smiles wanly. WASHUU Y'know, it was sort of good to see you again. We should try it again some time. Like in another twelve thousand years. Flash. Cut to the temple at Nekomi. SKULD is working on her computer when URD comes in. URD So whatcha doing now? SKULD Well, now that we've got *names* to go with some of the more prominent nexi of improbability, I'm keeping track of them. URD peers at the computer. Dots marked "SERENA" and "RANMA" are moving around on a map of Tokyo, while another one is in a different window, showing a map of Okayama prefecture. It is marked "MIHOSHI", and has a skull and crossbones on it. URD Not bad ... hmp. You know, I just thought of something. If these guys are so improbable, why do they show up on these scans? I mean, the improbable thing to do would be to not show up, right? SKULD Are you kidding? These are multiply redundant, automatic error checking scanners. The only way they could miss a nexus like this is if they were so improbable as to -- KEIICHI (O.S.) I'm home! The screen goes blank. SKULD Aaagh! This is the fifth time this has happened! URD looks off in the general direction where KEIICHI's voice issued from, then back at the computer. She appears to be giving something a great deal of thought. URD Naaa. Flash. Cut to the foyer of SERENA's house, as she enters. SERENA I'm home! IKUKO, SERENA's mother, comes into the foyer, smiling pleasantly. IKUKO Hello, dear, how was your day? SERENA Just fine. IKUKO Your new English teacher dropped by for a visit ... Mr. McGovern! She's here! MCGOVERN comes into the foyer, also smiling. MCGOVERN Hi! SERENA Hi. I am a big fan of Menudo. MCGOVERN Don't admit that in public, okay? SERENA Yes. Cut to outside the Tsukino home. MCGOVERN and SERENA are talking quietly. MCGOVERN Well, I am going to be teaching English at your high school this year, so it's not too far fetched. But that's really only my cover identity. I'm really here on assignment. SERENA To do ... what? MCGOVERN I'm keeping an eye on the future ruler of Crystal Tokyo. SERENA Oh. OH? MCGOVERN Yeah. And I was also instructed to give you some things, by Kent. He produces a large manila envelope, and hands it to her. She opens it, and looks through it. SERENA What is all this? MCGOVERN Command codes, passwords, locations of secret bank accounts ... just the stuff that someone who wanted to run the Planetary Defense Forces would need to do it. SERENA Excuse me? MCGOVERN Apparently, at some point, Kent saw into your soul, Ms. Tsukino. He'd picked up a saying from one of his teachers -- "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? *I* know" -- but when he looked into your heart ... he found a complete lack of evil intent. SERENA Uh ... well, I think I know when this happened, and he really didn't take a very close look, so -- MCGOVERN I'm inclined to agree with him. SERENA makes an "eek" face. MCGOVERN Any way, he decided that you were his choice to head up the PDF, after he ... well, you know. And even if I thought he'd screwed up badly, you'll probably do better than the UN's choice. She's this Greek woman who can fling lightning bolts big enough to make your Sailor Jupiter feel insecure. She's a good soldier, but not quite my pick to defend the Earth from all threats, native and alien. SERENA But ... I don't know anything about running an army! I ... MCGOVERN How about running a kingdom? Gotta start somewhere. SERENA looks down at the manila envelope, and lets out a sigh. Flash. Cut to the Tendou home once again. AKANE (V.O.) And then ... there was the most important thing. At least to me. Cut to inside the Tendou home. AKANE knocks on the door to NABIKI's old room. PATRICIA (O.S.) Come in, Akane-san. AKANE opens the door with an odd expression on her face. PATRICIA is nursing her baby. PATRICIA I know, I shouldn't show off like that ... but you are such a storm cloud, Akane-san. You seem to almost broadcast yourself and all your thoughts, constantly. AKANE So then you know why I've come here? PATRICIA No, you're keeping that thought pretty quiet. AKANE Did Kent tell you ... just what happened during his fight with the Adversary? PATRICIA He didn't so much tell me as show me. And only parts of it. My mind isn't big enough to have all of it. AKANE I'd really like to see what you can show me of it ... PATRICIA looks at AKANE and smiles for a long moment. AKANE What? PATRICIA That wouldn't be close to enough, for you, Akane-san. I understand ... you came into the story fairly late, and now you want to understand the whole thing. AKANE Well, yes ... that *is* part of it. PATRICIA But just the story from Kent's POV won't do it for you. You'd have to talk to everyone who was part of it. And more than talk ... *think* with them. Still want to do it? AKANE nods, once. PATRICIA All right. Then I'll help. But you have to make me a promise. I want you to write it all down. AKANE You mean ... write a book? PATRICIA Yes. AKANE ... I've never even considered being a writer. I wouldn't know where to start. PATRICIA I have faith that you'll figure out where to start, Akane-san. Do you promise? She holds up a pinky. AKANE stares at it for a moment, then realizes what PATRICIA means. She sighs, and makes a pinky swear. PATRICIA Okay. This is the way it was. Cut to black. AKANE (V.O.) And she gave it to me. Direct download, right to my brain. And like she said, most of it was too darn big for me. Even after she used the telepathy Kent had left her to increase my own gifts in that area to the point where I could get the information I needed. Cut to a series of rapid sequences of AKANE talking with various members of the cast -- some freely (MINAKO), and some not so freely (SHAMPOO). AKANE (V.O.) I couldn't get everything ... some of them had extremely strong mental shields around their memories, like Ryouga does, for example ... but I think I have enough to write the book that Patricia wanted me to write. I hope I do. The telepathy is wearing off, and so is the expanded memory. I felt it fading even as I first started to write. Dammit, I managed to come up with the perfect start to this, and now I can't figure out how to *end* it. There is a long silence. AKANE (V.O.) Got it. Cut to PATRICIA's room. PATRICIA is once again sitting and talking with AKANE. Patience is lying in a cradle, on which PATRICIA keeps at least one eye at all times. AKANE I still don't understand how you can stand it ... PATRICIA Stand what? AKANE Being separated from him ... being alone. PATRICIA I focus on two things, Akane. The first is that the distance that separates us isn't so great. It's only a few decades, after all. AKANE Decades. You're shrugging off so many years, Patricia-san. PATRICIA Let me put it another way. I've been alive for seventeen years, right? AKANE Right. PATRICIA Seventeen years isn't much, really. But it's a bit over six thousand days, and well over seven hundred and fifty thousand hours. But if you break time up into that -- hours -- it becomes vast and unwieldy. So I don't think of eighteen years, for example, as being very long at all. AKANE Okay ... I think I see your point. What's the other thing. PATRICIA That if I've picked up some of his timelessness, he must have picked up some of my *time*. So he's out there, doing his duty ... and even though he doesn't feel the pressure of time the way we mortals do, he still feels its passage ... so that when he and I are reunited, it won't be, "Oh, there you are. It's only been a very little while for me." When we are together again ... it's going to be magic ... Cut to black. AKANE (V.O.) That's the message, the moral I guess, that I found in all of this. That reality can and does seem different, depending on your point of view ... and that true love is patient. There are others, probably, but those were the ones that mattered to me. It's a strange world. I know that now. But it's my world, and I'm part of it. Cut to a hand, writing in a book. It writes the last part of AKANE's line, then sets down the pencil, closes the book, and rests her hand on it. Our view changes to show that it's AKANE. She lets out a long sigh, then pushes the chair back from her desk in her room, stands up, and stretches. AKANE then turns and heads out of the room. She walks past the living room, where we briefly see KASUMI, PATRICIA (holding Patience) and SERENA talking enthusiastically. She heads out of the house. She walks down the street that she once took to go to school, and eventually comes to the chain link fence overlooking the flood channel. RANMA is perched on top of the fence. She looks up at him. AKANE Ranma? What are you doing? RANMA Thinkin'. AKANE All right ... what are you thinking about? RANMA Akane ... am I a jerk? AKANE You're asking *me* this? RANMA I mean ... well, I've been lookin' back on the last few days, and ... I've always told myself that I don't like all the dumb stuff that winds up happening to me ... but now I'm starting to wonder if maybe I actually do. If I actually bring it on me, because I gotta always be the center of attention, like Ucchan said. AKANE (O.S.) Ranma ... RANMA I mean ... it's bad enough realizing that even being the toughest martial artist in the whole world ... it's not enough. There's guys -- and *girls* -- who've got more power than I've got. But I think I've pretty much reached my limit ... and I think the only way I could get better is if I stopped caring if I lived or died. And I can't do that. I've got too much to live for. He lowers his head. RANMA You know that I love you, right? Our view expands to show AKANE crouched on the fence beside him. AKANE I was pretty sure of it, yes. RANMA turns to her and blinks. RANMA Wait a minute. Since when can you do this? AKANE What makes you think I couldn't from the very start? I just never felt the need. RANMA Huh. So? AKANE What? RANMA You know what. Aren't you gonna say what I said to you? AKANE Baka. I know that you know how I feel about you. RANMA I mean ... aaaargh. AKANE smiles at him as he tries to ask again without saying the words "Do you love me?" And so they go on. Cut to PATRICIA, carrying Patience, and walking down the street. A few minutes later, she comes to the spot where the portal stood, and stands in silence for a second. Then she tenses, and looks up at the roof of a nearby building. And smiles. JESSICA (O.S.) You have it all, don't you? PATRICIA slowly turns to look at her. JESSICA is standing some distance away, gazing at her with hatred and anger and grief. JESSICA You've got everything. You carry his legacy forward, and I ... I want your life. PATRICIA shakes her head. PATRICIA You can't have it. JESSICA slumps ... and turns to head off. PATRICIA He did care about you. JESSICA Not enough. She exits. PATRICIA lets out a long sigh, and starts to walk away. Our point of view slowly climbs the side of the building she looked at earlier. When we reach the top, we see that the being who was KENT is standing on it, looking down. He is wearing his glasses and the clothes he wore on arriving in Japan, including the brown jacket that was destroyed when NINIANE burned. He looks down at PATRICIA, and smiles quietly. KENT One more thing to do, then I must get back to work. He reaches into his jacket pocket, pulls out a tiny globe of light, and releases it into the air. It floats, but does not ascend. KENT Well? What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation? ADVERSARY no. i still don't understand parts of it ... i don't understand why he didn't explain it to me. why i was necessary. KENT Ah. Freedom to choose. ADVERSARY i still don't -- KENT Not your freedom to choose. Their freedom, to choose not to love Him. Only by giving an example of one who chose not to love Him could he add the capability to do the same to all life -- and love that isn't given freely isn't love at all ... it's obligation. Now do you understand? ADVERSARY i think so ... There is silence for a few moments. KENT Then what are you waiting for? ADVERSARY does he miss me? as much as i have missed him? KENT's face suddenly softens, and he smiles again as he slowly shakes his head. KENT More. The tiny bubble of light begins to slowly rise towards the sky. ADVERSARY thank you ... KENT Any time, Father. Any time. And then it rises out of sight. KENT looks up at the sky for a long moment, his smile fading. KENT One day. One day ... He shakes his head, and lets the image of KENT fade around him, to allow his true visage to appear -- a seven foot tall skeleton, dressed in a black robe, carrying a scythe. DEATH UNTIL THEN ... THE WORK. And he vanishes ... with the sound of wings. FADE OUT THE END ED: "Say You, Say Me" Lyrics by: Lionel Richie, Performed By: Sorewa Himitsuyo Say you, say me; say it for always That's the way it should be Say you, say me; say it together Naturally I had a dream; I had an awesome dream People in the park playing games in the dark And what they played was a masquerade And from behind of walls of doubt a voice was crying out Say you, say me; say it for always That's the way it should be Say you, say me; say it together Naturally As we go down life's lonesome highway Seems the hardest thing to do is to find a friend or two A helping hand - Some one who understands That when you feel you've lost your way You've got some one there to say "I'll show you" Say you, say me; say it for always That's the way it should be Say you, say me; say it together Naturally So you think you know the answers - Oh no 'Couse the whole world has got you dancing That's right - I'm telling you It's time to start believing - Oh yes Believing who you are: You are a shining star Say you, say me; say it for always That's the way it should be Say you, say me; say it together Naturally Say it together... Naturally. Morisato Keiichi ......................... Kikuchi Masami Belldandy .................................. Inoue Kikuko Skuld ...................................... Hisakawa Aya Urd .......................................... Touma Yumi Mara ....................................... Takano Urara Kasuga Kyosuke ............................. Furuya Tohru Ayukawa Madoka ............................. Tsuru Hiromi Kasuga Akane ............................... Matsui Naoko Kyosuke's grandfather ..................... Ogata Kenichi Koyama Shiken ................................ Yao Kazuki Saotome Ranma (boy-type) ............... Yamaguchi Kappei Saotome Ranma (girl-type) ............ Hayashibara Megumi Tendou Akane .............................. Hidaka Noriko Tendou Kasumi .............................. Inoue Kikuko Tendou Nabiki ........................... Takayama Minami Tendou Souun ........................ Oubayashi Ryunosuke Shampoo ...................................... Sakuma Rei Kuonji Ukyou ............................... Tsuru Hiromi Hibiki Ryouga .......................... Yamadera Kouichi Happosai .................................. Nagai Ichirou Kunou Tatewaki ......................... Suzuoki Hirotaka Cologne ..................................... Asou Miyoko Pantyhose Tarou ..................... Furumoto Shinnosuke Kurenai Konatsu ............................ Ogata Megumi Serena Tsukino / Sailor Moon ........... Mitsuishi Kotono Amy Mizuno / Sailor Mercury ................ Hisakawa Aya Raye Hino / Sailor Mars ................. Tomizawa Michie Lita Kino / Sailor Jupiter ................ Shinohara Emi Aino Minako / Sailor Venus .................. Fukami Rica Sailor Pluto .......................... Kawashima Chiyoko Darien Chiba / Tuxedo Mask ................. Furuya Tohru Luna .......................................... Han Keiko Artemis ................................. Takato Yasuhiro Tsukino Ikuko .............................. Takage Sanae Masaki Tenchi ............................ Kikuchi Masami Ryouko ....................................... Orikasa Ai Princess Ayeka .............................. Takada Yumi Princess Sasami .......................... Yokoyama Chisa Kuramitsu Mihoshi ......................... Mizutani Yuko Masaki Katsuhito ........................... Aono Takeshi Masaki Nobuyuki ............................ Aono Takeshi Washuu ................................... Kobayashi Yuko Tsunami .................................. Yokoyama Chisa Mano Yohko ................................. Hisakawa Aya Kanzaki Azusa ............................ Yoshida Konami Yuuki Miaka ................................... Araki Kae Sukunami Taka ......................... Midorikawa Hikaru Otaku ................................. Sakurai Toshiharu Zenigata ..................................... Naya Gorou Kent Masefield .......................... Koyasu Takehito Patricia Delafontaine ................... Hiramatsu Akiko Andrew Delafontaine .................... Fumihiko Tachiki Niniane .................................. Fujita Toshiko Alistair McGovern ......................... Kusao Takeshi Katsuhito Stengovitch ..................... Sasaki Nozumo Bran "Raven" Mason ........................ Ogata Kenichi Aethan DeGales .......................... Sogabe Kazuyuki Michael Gideon ......................... Yamaguchi Kappei Madeline ....................................... Doi Mika Jessica Drummond ......................... Shimamoto Sumi The Adversary .............................. Ogawa Shinji Additional Casting By .............. Austin George Loomis Authors Notes Once again, I'm writing the author's notes before the story is finished. And once more, I return to Neil Gaiman -- whom some sources suggest is writing the English adaptation for Ghibli's "Mononoke Hime", so there is a parallel -- who reminds me that the only people who actually read author's notes are those who are looking for an apology, or an explanation. He also says that a writer must never ever give either. I give my apology in the form of a disclaimer for using these characters, so I might as well go all the way. Like the top of every chapter says, this work has been dedicated to a trio of authors whom I respect a great deal. I'm gonna say a few things about them right now: Most people are aware of my admiration for John Walter Biles, but I don't think they know how much I envy him his faith. My own beliefs about God and the Universe are so contradictory and fragmented and prone to revision that I don't even want to go into them, but John not only does, but manages to come up with stories that fit into that worldview, putting the honest-to-god God on stage, whilst I hedge. Lawrence Mann, one of those fiendishly creative people at Eyrie Communications, is also the co-author of one of the fall-down funniest stories that I've ever read. Yes, I'm talking about "Bubblegum Pink". I have written a small number of lemons, but they aren't really explicit -- how can I not admire someone who came up with an unbelievably *twisted* concept like that and then had the guts to publish it? (And has since had to watch his co-writer get all the "credit". You don't see people going around shrieking "Damn You Mann!" Strange ...) In the main, I dislike "issue" stories, but in addition to writing some very amusing stories in "Urusei Yatsura: The Senior Year", Fred Herriot has touched on some serious topics both there and in his other work. I'm not sure if I agree with the solutions he proposes, or the overall philosophy he espouses, but it does make me think. Parts of the story are also dedicated to Spider Robinson, an author I discovered quite some time ago (when I first visited a certain house of *fantastic* repute in New York during my early teens) but only recently began to truely appreciate (when I paid a visit to (sadly-closed) bar on Long Island). I'd also like to say a few nice words about the various authors of the Omega Universe (http://www.eyrie.org/~sw/omega.htm) and a number of people busily writing Luke Skywalker/Mara Jade romances on The Star Wars Fanfiction Library (http://www.fanfix.com/). For that matter, thanks to Timothy Zahn for creating Mara Jade, and thus giving me the perfect rationale to link Tenchi Muyou and Star Wars. (If he kills her in the next book, though, I'll understand.) Back to explanations: What was the 1996 Chapter about, really? I think that the theme I chose, way back when, was the ending of an age, and the beginning of another. In more Campbellian terms, the hero becomes the mentor figure, guides the next generation of heroes for a brief time, then fades from the scene. To quote a song, "Bravado", by Rush: And if the music stops There's only the sound of the rain All the hope and glory, All the sacrifice in vain And if love remains Though everything is lost We will pay the price, But we will not count the cost But at the same time, I tried to, especially in the final act of the story, suggest that the world is going to be given into good hands -- possibly even better hands than it was in before. It's a note of optimism that I haven't been able to find in a lot of places -- most notably in the final moments of Alfred Bester's "The Demolished Man", which inspired Kent's final message. That was the explanation. Now for the apologies -- or at least acknowledgements. Sailor Moon: Minako's downfall, begun in this story, plays out in others that I have written. Yet I believe that it may have been inspired by the syncretism of an exceedingly short story that I once read, entitled "Usagi-chan: A Question", and Tim Nolan's view of Minako as being more in tune with the Outer Senshi than with the Inners. Raye's prejudice against Aethan, combined with her genunine fears for Minako's safety, grew out of the fact that she is, fundamentally, a very religious person. Aethan's status as an undead being is offensive to Christian *and* Shinto teachings, and Raye practically can't help but be upset by him. Ranma: I owe Scott Johnson an apology. I unconsciously used a passage he wrote in a story about Konatsu and Kodachi to flesh out Konatsu's character in his first appearance in this one. Meanwhile, Kunou's final duel was something that I'd seen coming for a while. Kasumi as the older sister to Serenity was likewise something that just came to me. Shooting off Pantyhose Tarou's kneecaps was a move calculated to piss off a certain demagogue whom I find rather annoying. (Yes, I *am* that petty.) Oh My Goddess: I did something pretty controversial, in this one. Usually, the goddess' "boss" is written as though he were the Judeo- Christian God (*my* God). I don't care for this, for a number of reasons, the first and foremost being that the character, as depicted in the anime, is a *jerk*. Flat out, no two ways about it. He tells a little goddess that for the crime of playing with a mortal, she's going to be eradicated if she doesn't mess with his memories. God (as in the maker of this universe) should not be a jerk, so my conception of "the Almighty" is borrowed from J.R.R. Tolkein's "Manwe", crossbred through the mildly cynical and mechanistic worldview of the Oh My Goddess manga; he's an administrator, responsible to higher powers -- ultimately, to the Creator. Kimagure Orange Road: Much of what goes on in the Kimagure-inspired sections of this fanfic is derived from my private irritation with a certain statement made by Matsumoto Izumi, with regards to Akane's sexual identity. From reading the KOR Guide, it becomes clear that in the KOR manga, at least, her feelings were a lot more complex than "a phase". If Izumi-sensei wanted to fool around with a sexually-ambivalent character without considering the imiplications, fine ... but for him to then say "It's just a phase, she'll turn into Hanako House-maker eventually" is *really* wrong. Likewise, the passing reference to Hino Yuusaku grew out of my annoyance with the way he's been treated in the post-series canon. (We drop in on Komatsu and Hatta to see that they're busy drawing ecchi magical girls and not a *word* about Yuusaku? C'mon!) Devil Hunter Yohko: Yes, Azusa has a crush on Yohko. Deal. Bubblegum Crisis: Yes, Katsuhito Stengovitch is the future Dr. Stingray. That means that he and Andrew could play a game of "I screwed up my daughter's life worse than you did" with Gigelf Liqueur. Exotica Chronicles: Hooboy. These characters ... in one way or another, I have been creating them since I was about ten years old. *This* specific incarnation of the characters -- and my concepts of what "super-heroes" could do in the real world -- owes a lot to Bob Schroeck's International Supers Teams (which I'm sure he'll tell you about if you ask him) and to the Experts of Justice. Specifically, each of the characters can be "explained" as follows: Kent Masefield: Kent's initial concept is derived (a) from pulp fiction -- specifically, from the Shadow and Doc Savage -- and the "child of the pulps", comic books, (b) from various concepts of the "hero who always comes back", including, but not limited to, the Eternal Champion stories, (c) godlike mentalists, including Kimball Kinnison, Mark Remillard, and Sakaruzuka Seishirou (in particular, the scenes where he removes his glasses are pointers to the Sakurazukamori), and (d) a fairly late addition to his design, Himura Kenshin, the eponymous hero of Rurouni Kenshin. Patricia DelaFontaine: Patricia's design could be said to be a mating of Ayanami Rei -- "the heroine as victim of her capabilities" -- and Takaya Noriko -- "the heroine as victim of her accomplishments". Her battlesuit is derived from the Guyver units and the Evangelions, of course, but also partially from the Incredible Hulk and the almost forgotten Ultraverse hero "Prime". The name DelaFontaine is taken from the Marvel Universe character known as "the Contessa" -- Nick Fury of SHIELD's long-time romantic interest. I have whole swaths of back story about how these Italians wound up with Celtic first names ... Andrew DelaFontaine: The character to whom I feel most ambivalent -- he's derived from Ikari Gendou -- and shares his voice actor -- and from Ota Koichirou, Gunbuster's "Coach" (who is Gendou's long-lost fraternal twin brother, IMHO) -- but also from the "lone ex-military vigilante" character, typified by Mack Bolan and Frank Castle. (This comes out most clearly in the scene where he shoots Tarou, of course). But I've just now realized that he owes something to Montgomery Scott, as well. Alistair McGovern: The meddling time traveller has a lot in common with the characters of Spider Robinson's Mike Callahan -- which is to be expected, since he's from the same place that Mike and Sally are from -- and Star Trek's Gary Seven. The "companion to heroes" element is largely Moorcockian ... his relationship with Niniane is yet another example of my obsession with alchemical relationships. McGovern is of the far future and of science. Niniane is of the distant past and of magic. Niniane: Niniane is derived from Arthurian myth, but is given something of a Cassandra treatment here. I suspect this is derived from Mary Stewart, particularly "The Wicked Day". (Paraphrase of a conversation with Mordred. "You're going to betray Arthur." "I don't want to, so I won't." "It doesn't matter. You're going to betray Arthur." "Then stop me." "I can't.") Jessica: Originally called "The Jester" in the first stories of Kent and company, her character concept is derived from most of the same sources that Kent's is, only the darker, grimmer, and *evil* parts of them. She is Kent's Joker and his Morgan Le Fay ... and also the various enemies of Kenshin who seem only to exist to remind him that he is *still*, despite his efforts, the Hitokiri Battousai. In case anyone is curious, her mother was Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond's bastard daughter, which may also be indicative of where she gets her tendency towards psychopathy. Aethan: My vampyre alter-ego. I created him a while ago to tell stories on alt.vampyres ... it's been a while since I've been there. Michael Gideon: The doomed. He's based, in part, on a friend of whom I've lost track. If anyone knows where Trey G. Byerly could be found, let him know about this, please. It's disclaimer time: "Sailor Moon" was created by Naoko Takeuchi and brought to North America by DIC. "Ranma 1/2" was created by Rumiko Takeuchi and brought to North America by Viz Commnunications. "Tenchi Muyou" was created by and Masaki Kajishima, and was brought to North America by Pioneer LDC. "Kimagure Orange Road" was created by Matsumoto Izumi and brought to North America by AnimEigo and AD Vision (who are nipping at Bob Woodhead's heels elsewhere, too). "Oh My Goddess" and "You're Under Arrest" were created by Fujishima Kosuke and brought to North America by AnimEigo and Dark Horse Comics. "Mamono Hunter Yohko" was created by Miyao Gaku and brought to North America by AD Vision. "Fushigi Yuugi" was created by Yuu Watase. "Gojiira" was created by Shigeru Kayama. This story, while incorporating elements of films and magazines held under copyrights by others, is copyright 1998 of Chris Davies. Nobody sue me okay? Chris Davies, Advocate for Darkness, Part-Time Champion of Light. "WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?" -- Death, in "Reaper Man", by Terry Pratchett. http://www.ualberta.ca/~cdavies/hmpage.html