Nerima

 

            The bell to the Nekohaten sounds alerting Shampoo that a customer has entered the restaurant.  She proceeds to the door and is greeted by a rather odd sight.  A man, she guesses it is a man, dressed in long brown over coat.  Every distinguishing feature on his body is hidden under the over coat and hood.  Shampoo shrugs, (“Weird Japanese people.”)  She smiles and addresses the man.  “Welcome to Nekohaten.  Can Shampoo help you?”

            The man turns his body towards her.  <”I have business with the Elder,”> He says in flawless Mandarin. 

            Shampoo takes a step back but keeps her cool.  She turns back to the kitchen.  <”Great grandmother there’s someone here to see you!”>

            <”I’m busy right now.”>  Cologne calls back.

            The man humphs and calls out to her.  <”Too busy?  Even for me?”>

            There is a crash of pots and pans.  Seconds later, a rather messing looking Cologne appears in the dining hall.  Her eyes are huge and she is trying to calm down.

Shampoo looks at her great grandmother in surprise then looks at the man in the over coat.  (“What kind of man could get this reaction out of Great grandmother?”)

A minute later she narrows her eyes at the man standing near the door.  <”The voice matches.  But you are hiding your aura.  If you are really him, then show me.”>

            The man nods.

 

           

Outside the Nekohaten

           

People walking down the sidewalks have to shield their eyes as light streams from the restaurant.

 

           

Back inside

 

            Both Cologne and Shampoo stare wide eyed at the man.  Even Shampoo, who is not very adept at sensing ki knows that the power just shown by the man is beyond her.  Cologne nods.  <”Chaos-sama, to what do I owe this honor ally and protector of my tribe?”>  Shampoo took this opportunity to faint.

           

 

Seven months into the future, Juuban

 

Juuban is for the most part a nice place to live.  The streets are clean, there is an average crime rate, and the schools are excellent.  There is, however, a major difference between Juuban and the rest of Tokyo.  That difference would be the Sailor Senshi and the youma that they battle.  The Senshi battle the youma that would endanger the world and, on the whole, do little damage to the area they protect.  Today, however, is a different story.

 

            The street was once a busy shopping center.  Hours before there were numerous people walking along the sidewalk moving from shop to shop.  But now it appears to be a war zone.  The sidewalks are now dotted with craters, the wares of the sidewalk vendors lie here and there, and trees everywhere have been toppled.  In the middle of the street stand the participants of this battle.   The Inner Senshi are all accounted for and still conscious.  But they have seen better days.  The magically enhanced fukus have been shredded.  Bruises, cuts, and dried blood cover both their bodies and clothing.  They stand defiantly.  If they fall surely the Earth would fall soon after.  An arrogant thought made in ignorance.

 

            They are facing two men.  Both are about six feet in height, and both are muscular.  Imposing figures to be sure.  The first is bald.  Dressed in some loose fitting kung fu pants.  His most distinguishing features are the two scars upon his shoulders.  He shows an almost bored expression.

            The other man is bald save for the long pigtail that hangs to the middle of his back.  He is dressed in a black leather jacket.  His hands are in his jacket pockets and a cocky grin decorates his face.

 

            The man in the leather jacket slowly circles the Senshi.  “So you are the famous Sailor Senshi?”  The girls do not answer.  Instead, they try to catch their breath.  The man smiles then chuckles.  “You are rumored to be very good demons slayers.  Perhaps your skills have been exaggerated?”

            “Gouna, remember why we are here.”  The bald man says in a bored tone.

            “You don’t have to keep reminding me Yakan.”  Gouna turns back to the Senshi and smiles.  “I remember why we’re here.”

            “I must agree with my companion.  You are rumored to be very powerful.  Yet you have not succeeded in damaging us.”

            “Urusai!”  Jupiter yells.  She jumps up and attacks with a lightning bolt.  Yakan, however, does not move.  The lightning passes right through him and dissipates in the air behind him.  (“Again?”)

            Yakan sighs.  “I would have thought such a simple technique would be useless against demon slayers of your caliber.  It would seem that I was mistaken.”  He holds aloft his right hand, index finger extended, and lets loose a thin beam of concentrated energy.  Energy that easily passes through Jupiter’s magically re-enforced shoulder.

            “Jupiter!”  Sailor Moon catches her friend as she falls back.  She lays the fallen brunette on her lap.  “Daijobu?”

            Jupiter nods. “I’ll be fine,” She looks back up at the two men before them.  “If we survive that is.”

            Sailor Moon nods and looks back at Yakan and Gouna.

            Yakan looks at Sailor Moon for a moment before turning to Gouna and nodding.  Gouna sighs.  “And just when I was starting to have some fun.”  He shrugs his shoulders and disappears.

            Yakan turns back to the Senshi.  “Telling you to become stronger so you could entertain us more would be useless.  Increasing your strength to be at our level would take a good deal of time.  Time that you do not have.”  He walks towards them.  The girls tense.  Yakan, however, takes a knee right in front Sailor Moon.  “You.  You have his blood in you.”

            Sailor Moon blinks a few times before speaking.  “Huh?”

            Yakan smiles and shakes his head.  “Don’t worry about it.  You will not live long enough to find out.”  His smile disappears as he stands.  “You can’t reach our level of strength, but you can find those who just as powerful as yourselves.  We will kill you later.  If you value your life you should find others to aid you, specifically the Heir to the Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu.  Yes, find the Kami No Satsujinha.  Find that person, and you might just live.”  He turned from the Senshi and began to walk away.  “Or you may die together.”  And with that he disappeared.

 

 

 

            Hours later, Hino Shrine

 

            The girls sat around Rei’s room trying their best to forget their injures.  Hours after the battle and they were still feeling its effects.  Makoto’s shoulder had not healed itself yet and had to be placed in a sling.  “I can’t figure it out,” Mako mumbled.  “All of our attacks passed right through them like they weren’t even there.”

            Ami nodded in silent agreement.  Her computer had been unable to determine any weaknesses, nor was it able to get any readings on their opponents.  At best she could only estimate how powerful they were and that was if they had been going all out.

            The sound of the door sliding open drew everyone’s attention.  Their darkened moods brightened when they saw who was standing in the doorway.  Hotaru, Michiru, Haruka, Setsuna, and Mamoru.

 

 

            Seven months prior, Nerima, Nekohaten

 

            <”It is time then?”>  Cologne asked.

            Chaos nodded.  <”Hai.”>

            Cologne nodded.  <”I will begin training him as soon as possible.”>

            Chaos nods but does not speak as Shampoo regains consciousness.

            <”What a dream,”> She looks up, right into the smile of a hooded man.  She stares for only a second.  Then she is up and bowing.  <”Chaos-sama, it is a pleasure to meet you.”>

            Chaos continues to smile as he replies.  <”And it is a pleasure to meet you again for the first time, Shampoo.”>

            <”Huh?”>

            Cologne smiles.  <”He means that he has met you before just not in his true form.”>  Chaos nods.

            Shampoo stares at him as he and Cologne begin to talk.  She tunes them out for the most part and concentrates on the man before him.  (”Chaos-sama, the protector of our tribe, a god among gods.  The one who promised that the Amazon tribe would be key players in one of the greatest battles ever.  To think I would be able to meet him!”)

 

 

            Juuban

 

            “And they just let you go?”  Mamoru asked as Rei finished retelling the story.

            Rei nodded.  “I’ve never felt so powerless.  They could have killed us if they wanted to.  They were just toying with us.”

            “Unfortunately, we know how you feel.”  Haruka rubs her arm.

            “You mean?”  Makoto tests out her healed shoulder.

            “Some guy named Geki beat us with ease.  But he let us go and told us to find Kami No Satsujinha.”  Michiru explains.

            “So we can find this Kami No Satsujinha with your mirror, right?”  Minako asks.

            “No, we’ve already tried.  The Kami No Satsujinha seems to be well protected from things like my mirror.”

            “The Time Gates then?”  Minako looks to Setsuna.

            She shakes her head.  “Unfortunately the Time Gates have become unreliable.”

            “What do you mean unreliable?”  Ami asks.

            “I’ve tried to find Kami No Satsujinha with the Gates, but it didn’t work.  At first I thought that he was being protected from the Gate’s power.  But when I tried to go back further to find something about the Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu, I couldn’t find anything.  And when I tried to look forward to find out what we were facing, I found my access blocked.  It’s as though the Time Gate’s power has been sealed away.”  Setsuna turns and faces Ami.  “It seems that we’ll have to place our fates in the hands of you and your computer.”

            Ami does not acknowledge her, instead she continues to type on her computer.  It’s a good five minutes later before she stops typing.  She smiles and turns to everyone.  “I think I found something!”  Everyone gives her theie undivided attention.  “It’s not much but I found an article about a secret sword style known as the Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu.”

            “Nothing about the Kami no Satsujinha?”  Setsuna asks.

            Ami shakes her head.  “Nothing.  The article says that the Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu was a secret sword style passed on from teacher to student.  It was founded during the Warring States Period and those who practiced the style had ‘god-like speed’.  The style disappeared when the Meiji Period began.”

            “So what good does this do us?”  Mako asks.  “The style of this Kami no Satsujinha is dead.”

            “Maybe, maybe not,” Ami smiles as she moves continue.

            “There’s more?”  Haruka asks.

            Ami nods.  “I found a few historical articles talking about a Hitokiri Battousai.”

            “Hitokiri Battousai?”  Setsuna asks in shock.

            “Hai.  Do you know him?”  Ami asks.

            “I know a little about him.  He was an assassin during the early days of the Revolution.  He was supposed to be the strongest swordsman of that period.  But after the Revolution he disappeared.  His sword style…it’s…it was…,” Her eyes go wide.  “I remember!  It was Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu!”

            “That’s what the articles say.  I also found a police report from 1878 that says the Battousai might have been living at a dojo in Tokyo, the Kamiya Kasshin dojo.”

            “What does all this have to do with the Kami no Satsujinha?”  Usagi asks.

            “The current master of the Kamiya dojo practices a combination of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu and what he calls Imitation Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu.”

            “So he might know something about the Kami no Satsujinha?”  Mamoru asks.

            Ami shrugs her shoulders.  “I can’t be positive.”

            Setsuna sighs.  “It doesn’t matter.  It’s the only lead we’ve got.  Tomorrow we head to the Kamiya Dojo.”

            They all nod in agreement.

 

 

            Two years prior, Heaven

 

            Urd stared at Kami-sama in shock.  “That’s my orders?”  She asked.

            Kami-sama sighed.  “Hai.”

            After a moment of silence Urd’s curiosity got the better of her.  “Why?”

            “You’ll find out,” A new voice answers.  Urd turns towards the voice.  The person is obviously male, his body and voice have given that away, a very muscular male standing around six feet.  Urd licks her lips at the body and moves to his face.  She arches her eyebrows once she notices his face, or rather the glamour spell that is keeping her from recognizing his face.  The only thing she can see is the Yin and Yang symbol on his forehead.  Seconds after noticing the symbol she is bowing.

            “C…Chaos-sama, it is a pleasure to meet you,” She says nervously.

            Chaos returns the bow and chuckles at her nervousness.  “It is a pleasure to meet you again for the first time Urd.”  Urd looks a bit surprised but lets his comment pass.  His smile disappears and a more serious expression takes its place.  “Your orders have come from me, not Kami-sama.”

            Urd blinks and looks up at him.  “But I don’t understand my orders.  It’s all a bit much for one mortal.”

            “Perhaps.  But this mortal will be very important.  I cannot have the gods interfering with him at this stage of his life.  To counter that you will watch over him.  Your class will be increased to level one, unlimited, when there is a problem dealing with this mortal.  But you are only allowed to interfere if a god, goddess, demon, or demoness is involved.  Outside of that you are just to observe him,” Chaos explains.  “You will do so for two years.  Understood?”

            Urd nods.  “Where will you be so I can report to you?”

            “I will be off world for a year and…” He stops and thinks for a moment.  “Five months, give or take.  You can make your report to me when next we meet.”  Urd nods and moves to the door.

            Once she is gone, Chaos turns to Kami-sama.  “Don’t worry niichan, she’ll do fine,” Kami-sama assures him.

            Chaos smiles.  “I know she will.  She’s a bit upset that we’re taking her away from Belldandy and Keiichi.”  Chaos smiled up at Kami-sama.  “I’m going to be on Juri for the next year or so.  I’ll see ya later niichan.”  And with that a streak of white exited the office of Kami-sama.