Insertion

Part 81

Another Daring Rescue!

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Trunks rolled into the sky from the North American continent and started for the 
sky. His face was serious and the girls behind him squealed fearfully from the 
maneuver. "Pipe down," he grumbled under his breath.

"Don't do that!" cried Minako as she clutched her chest and glared at the boy 
driving the ship angrily.

"Whatever..." the boy paused as if he had just remembered something. "Aw crap!"

"What is it?" grumbled Minako irritably.

"I almost forgot about Hotaru!" he snapped as he spun the ship around on its 
axis, not bothering to slow down their forward momentum. Everyone in the ship 
jerked violently as he blasted towards Japan again.

++++++++++++++

Ranma growled as he stared at the screen in front of him.

"It's gone again," muttered Jadeite as he looked up at his boss with a frown of 
his own. "They apparently know how to use the cloaking device."

"I know," growled Ranma irritably. The Senshi had all vanished, and his 
counterpart was now buzzing around the planet. "What is he doing?" he growled 
under his breath angrily as he tried to figure out what the other him was doing. 
He was coming up blank, everything he'd thought of so far was wrong. It was as 
if he was chasing someone besides himself, and that shouldn't be possible. 

He narrowed his eyes and sighed, maybe the spore was having better luck. He 
couldn't contact her from here to find out. There was too much going on, and his 
friends were becoming suspicious already.

+++++++++++++

Trunks floated over the ground and looked around coolly at his surroundings. 
"Hotaru, where are you?" he called as he landed in the middle of the yard.

The man who emerged from the home blinked and stared at the little boy for a 
moment in confusion. "Hello. Who are you?"

"My name is Trunks, I'm looking for Hotaru. Something important has come up," 
replied the boy calmly as he looked the man up and down.

"Daddy, who is..." the little girl's voice trailed off as she noticed the young 
child standing in her yard. "Who is this?"

"I'm not sure, you don't know him?" said her father in confusion. He had trouble 
remembering things lately, and his assistant had mysteriously disappeared. He 
was growing worried, but Hotaru usually managed to calm him down a bit.

The girl had to hide a smirk as she glanced at him for a moment. He had no idea 
that his precious little girl had gotten rid of his 'new assistant' a few days 
after she had shown up. Not that anyone would ever find out about it, her body 
was nothing more than a few dispersed molecules floating around the home now. 
Mistress Nine had pitched a fit after they removed the dark presence from their 
father's mind quite easily. It hadn't gotten a very good hold on him at that 
time, so it wasn't difficult.

Forgetting about it for the moment, she turned towards the boy and frowned. "Can 
I help you?"

"I need to speak with you...alone," said the boy quietly.

Hotaru's father blushed slightly, misunderstanding the little boy's intentions. 
He leaned in to his daughter and whispered. "Be gentle with him dear," as he 
started back towards the home.

Hotaru glared at him irritably, not quite sure what he meant by that. She turned 
and frowned at the little boy for a moment and snorted. "What?"

"I thought you might show up here."

Both children whirled around and gasped. Chibi-Usa was standing on the roof, 
glaring down at the boy with an amused smirk on her face.

"Damn," growled Trunks as he stepped back cautiously.

"What's going on here?" snorted Hotaru as she looked up at Chibi-Usa calmly.

"Just a pest I need to squash," said the girl as she stared down at the boy. 
"He's more than he seems Hotaru, you should be careful."

"Who are you to talk!?" snapped Trunks.

"Who is he?" said Hotaru carefully.

"A Youma Lord, he's the newest one. Quite deceptive isn't he?" said Chibi-Usa as 
she turned her head and looked at Hotaru. "He's been sneaking around here 
lately, watching you."

Hotaru frowned at this. The power was indeed familiar, his energy signal was 
something she recognized, but couldn't put her finger on. She'd have noticed 
someone like him snooping around though. "I see."

"Oh shit," muttered Trunks fearfully as both girls turned towards him. "Think 
genius!"

"What should we do with him?" asked Hotaru calmly. 

"He has to be destroyed," said Chibi-Usa firmly.

Hotaru smirked at her. "I don't think so. I recognize my sensei's energy, it's 
changed slightly, but it is very distinctive."

The pink haired girl spun on her heels and glared at Hotaru as the golden energy 
field formed around her. "What?!"

"I'm detecting multiple energy sources from him, he is like me. There is no 
other being on this planet like us," said Hotaru. "All of these energy sources 
are familiar to me."

Chibi-Usa smirked as she powered up. "I was hoping you'd make this a little 
easier. Even together you're no match for me."

Hotaru frowned at this. "You forget that I am the bringer of silence? I could 
destroy you with a thought!"

"So?" snapped Chibi-Usa. "I'm better than you are as an adult Hotaru, you're 
nothing to me now."

"Not bothering to hide it anymore?" snorted Trunks as he frowned at Chibi-Usa.

"Why?" replied the girl with a shrug. "Soon we'll rule this planet, and it's 
already to late to stop us now."

Trunks snorted and put up his fists. "Hotaru! Move!"

It was too late though, in a flash of pink light, Chibi-Usa had grown to her 
adult body again. Her leg slammed into the little girl's face before she could 
react and sent her sprawling across the grass in the yard.

"What's going on here?!" cried the girl's father as he rushed out of the home. 
He noticed the woman standing over the fallen Hotaru and gasped. "What? Who are 
you!? What are you doing here?!"

Chibi-Usa smirked as she leveled her gaze on him. "Get out of my way worm." She 
raised her palm and blasted the man out of existence. He screamed for half a 
second before the energy engulfed him and vaporized most of the home.

Hotaru sat up, her eyes wide with shock. "NOOOOOOOO!" Without thinking, her aura 
blasted to life and she charged forward with all her strength.

Chibi-Usa chuckled and swat the girl aside with a simple backhand. "Pathetic. 
You're no match for me little girl. You won't be for many years to come either, 
even then, I'm still the better of us."

Hotaru sobbed as she climbed out of the crater her impact had created in the 
ground. 

Trunks backed away from Chibi-Usa slowly. He felt powerless, and her 
transformation made her very powerful. "I've got to do something!"

"What can you do? You can't even transform anymore boy," snarled Chibi-Usa as 
she slowly stalked forward. "I'm going to enjoy killing you. There won't be any 
escape this time!"

The boy frowned at her, the woman's aura was huge and the sheer power of it was 
driving him back. "Damn...I can't even get close to her!"

"Silence Glaive Surprise!" cried Hotaru as she recovered again. It was 
immediately clear that Hotaru wasn't in control anymore. Saturn's icy cold 
expression was now the only thing on the little girl's face and the super 
transformation had faded away.

Chibi-Usa seemed to vanish from sight, appearing behind Saturn. She slammed her 
fist into the back of the girl's skull, sending her slumping to the ground. 
"Your body is too weak for this Saturn. Maybe Mistress Nine would like a chance 
to try as well?"

That got Trunks's attention. "I can't let that happen!" He cupped his hands and 
sent a blast at Chibi-Usa. It was easily dodged and his face exploded in pain as 
she appeared in front of him and kicked him aside. He landed near to where 
Hotaru was lying and barely managed to stand up again.

"Heh," said Hotaru as she slowly rose up from the ground. Her features were 
twisted, evil clear on her face as she stared at Chibi-Usa for a moment. "I'll 
destroy you."

"Wait! You're not strong enough in that body!" said Trunks as he frowned at the 
girl. "Even with the power boost! You can't do it without the others anyway!"

"Those pathetic excuse for fighters just didn't know how to use real power," 
snarled Nine as she frowned at him.

Chibi-Usa was watching the scene in amusement.

"No! Damn it! We couldn't stop it! That's not Hotaru anymore!" snapped Ranma 
angrily.

"Mistress Nine," growled Carrot as he remembered exactly what she had become in 
the future. "We've got to do something! It might not be too late!"

Carrot suddenly had an idea. "Wait!" called Trunks. "I've got a way!"

"Eh?" muttered Nine as she stared at him. She glanced back at Chibi-Usa, who was 
simply waiting, and frowned again.

"You know you're outmatched! I've got a way to beat her, but we have to do 
exactly like I say, or it won't work!"

"What are you planing?" muttered Chibi-Usa in amusement as she watched the pair 
for a moment. She was far superior to the both of them in power.

"You do realize how stupid we're going to look doing this, especially if it 
doesn't work," said Dan.

"You got a better idea? We've barely got enough power to fly away if it doesn't 
work. We're dead anyway right now," snapped Carrot.

"What good is this going to do us?" snapped Ranma irritably.

"We can't transform, but she still is," replied Carrot.

"I'm more interested in why the hell you memorized this," said Dan flatly.

"Well?" snorted Nine irritably. "What is this plan you have?"

"Do exactly as I do, and concentrate. It might not work, but I'm hoping that 
you're close enough that it does," said Trunks as he frowned at her. "I know it 
looks stupid, but concentrate on me. If we screw this up, it'll make us weaker 
instead of stronger! You've got to do it right the first time!"

"What do you mean?" said Nine angrily, she followed his example though and moved 
into a ready position.

Chibi-Usa blinked as the pair stood next to one another and started too...dance. 
"What the?"

It was a relatively quick affair, taking only a few moments really. In the end, 
they leaned sideways towards one another and touched their fingers together.

Chibi-Usa blinked as a blinding flash of light formed and gasped. Standing in 
front of her was a single child she didn't recognize. "What the? Who the hell 
are you?!"

The child was muscular, with a confident smirk on her face. She had red hair 
tied into a braid, and purple eyes. A monkey-like tail waved behind her as she 
chuckled and checked her clothes. It was a senshi uniform like Saturn's. "I'm 
Trutaru." Her voice sounded like two little girls speaking at once.

"What the hell is this?" gasped Chibi-Usa dumbly.

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. Too bad I've got to kill you 
anyway," replied Trutaru with a smirk on her face. She flexed her arms and 
screamed as her power blasted outward. In an instant her eyes were sky blue, and 
her hair was a golden sheen. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Chibi-Usa snorted in disgust. "Even your combined power is no match for me."

"Let's find out then!" snarled the little girl as she charged forward and 
slammed her fist into Chibi-Usa's gut.

The effect was devastating. Chibi-Usa lurched forward with her eyes wide with 
shock. She snarled angrily and jumped up into the sky holding her belly. "What 
the? What kind of trick is this?!"

"Like I'd tell you," snorted Turtaru in amusement. "Come on, let's get started!"

"Damn you! I'll..." snarled Chibi-Usa as she blasted forward with her aura 
flaring wildly. She attacked relentlessly, but the child was too fast. 

"Ha! Not bad for an old lady!" snapped the child. "I almost felt that one! Oooh, 
soo close!" The taunts enraged Chibi-Usa and she stopped long enough to glare at 
the child. 

"You're...toying with me?!" she seemed to realize it all at once. 

"For an old lady, you sure are fast," replied the girl as she thumbed her nose 
absently and smirked again. "Come on, we're just gettin started!"

Chibi-Usa smirked as she glanced over her shoulder. "Yes, we are."

Turtaru frowned suddenly as she seemed to realize something all at once. 
"Thought you might bring your friend along? The evil Ranma? I can take the both 
of you no problem! Ha!"

Tutaru lurched forward suddenly and clutched her stomach. "Uh oh." She grit her 
teeth and growled angrily. "No time...gotta go! I'll get you later bitch!" With 
that, she vanished from sight.

"What?" snapped Chibi-Usa in shock. She whirled around in search of the child 
and growled angrily.

Ranma appeared in front of her and scowled. "What are you doing in that form?"

"He was here," she snapped back at him. "He came for Hotaru, I thought he 
might..."

"You destroyed him?" asked Ranma calmly.

"No, he did something with Hotaru, they...merged," replied Dark Lady angrily. "I 
don't understand it..."

Ranma's face fell slightly. "The fusion dance? What the..." 

"What dance?" said Chibi-Usa irritably.

"You failed me again," he said as he turned to glare at her. "However, we'll be 
ready when we see them again." He chuckled and turned away from her. "Change 
back, the others are coming. We're going to tell them that Mistress Nine has 
been released from inside Hotaru, and that our old friend has been enslaved by 
it. That makes her our enemy as well."

Chibi-Usa growled at this, but nodded. Her form shrank into a tiny child's body 
and she glanced down at the home. Hotaru should have been enslaved, it was what 
was supposed to happen. Now something had changed, and she didn't like it one 
bit.

+++++++++++++++++

"Whoa, that was cool," muttered Dan dumbly.

The fusion of Ranma, Carrot, and Mistress Nine growled angrily. "Are they awake 
yet?" he snapped irritably.

"What happened?" muttered Hotaru's voice sheepishly.

"Good," said the fusion with a slight sigh. 

"What did you do to us?" asked Saturn calmly. There was a slight edge to her 
voice though.

"The fusion dance is only temporary," replied the fusion's voices. It was odd to 
hear it speak, and the unfused portion of them were slightly bothered by it. "I 
was holding it together as best I could. Mistress Nine would have taken over if 
I hadn't tricked her into doing it. She could have sealed you both away while 
you were out."

There was a flash of bright light, and suddenly they were standing on top of a 
rooftop looking at one another calmly. They seemed winded, but were somewhat 
relaxed. 

Hotaru was the first to speak. "Ranma...is that you?"

"Yeah," said the little boy sheepishly. "It's a long story, and we've got a long 
trip ahead of us Hotaru. We should get going, I'll tell you about it on the way 
to the ship. You can't tell anyone else about it though."

++++++++++++++++

They arrived a short time later, just as Trunks finished his story. "You've got 
to call me Trunks now, it's very important."

Saturn nodded and glanced at the ship for a moment. "This is it? A YT-1300?"

"It'll get us to Jurai safely, that's all we need at the moment," replied Trunks 
with a shrug. "It's sort of a hot rod though, a lot of modifications. Doesn't 
look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

Hotaru nodded and smiled slightly. "Thank you for coming after me Ranma."

"Yeah, whatever," said the boy with a shrug. "We're gonna need you, and I'd 
rather not have to kill you when I get back."

"Right," said the girl with a small snort. She stepped onto the ship and glanced 
around. 

The senshi were staring at her silently. She nodded to them and took a seat. 
"Hello."

"Um...who are you?" said Usagi as she looked at the girl's clothes.

"She's the Senshi of Saturn," replied Trunks as he glanced back at them from the 
cockpit. "Sit down and shut up, you can get to know each other after we're off 
the planet."

The Senshi blinked and looked at one another while Saturn ignored them. 

"Saturn?" gasped Luna nervously as she backed away from the little girl with a 
frightened expression on her face.

George peeked out of the closet where he was hiding and noticed the new girl. 
She turned to look at him and he gave a frightened squeak before closing the 
door again.

++++++++++++++++

"What took you so long?" snarled Ryoko angrily.

"I had to make a few pick ups," replied Trunks calmly as he smirked at her. 
"Everyone is here though, we can leave."

"Hold it right there!" cried a voice that interrupted the communication between 
the two ships.

"Huh?" said Trunks dumbly.

"I've caught you red handed!" said Mihoshi as she appeared on the screen and 
smiled proudly.

"Hey! Get away from those controls!" cried Ryoko's voice from behind her.

"I'm sorry Ryoko, but I've got a job to do now, it's my duty to perform 
my...um...duty."

"Caught us what? Going on vacation?" replied Trunks as he blinked.

"You're under arrest for grand-theft starship! Please power down your ship and 
prepare to be boarded!"

Trunks frowned at this and growled under his breath. "What the hell? This is my 
ship you ditz!" He jumped up and down excitedly. "Besides, even if I did steal 
it, I stole it from a Most Wanted Criminal anyway."

"That's no excuse!" snapped Mihoshi. "Even criminals must obey the law!"

"What?" said Minako as she stared at the screen. The girls had all been 
attracted to the cockpit by the commotion.

"Who are you to talk?" snapped Rei angrily.

"Just send her your vehicle registration," said Washuu as she interrupted the 
transmission for a moment.

Trunks shrugged and immediately did so. "Okay, here you go."

The group on Ryo-Ohki all stared at the picture in front of them. The young boy 
was sticking his tongue out at them and pulling his eyelid down on his photo ID 
that was on the corner of the vehicle registration form.

Mihoshi blinked at this and sighed. "Oh, please forgive the inconvenience then 
sir."

"Get the heck out of the way!" snapped Ryoko as she shoved the woman aside and 
moved in front of the controls. "So. We're going to Jurai then?"

"That's right," said Trunks calmly as his normal image reappeared. "Washuu, I 
need to talk with you later on a secure channel."

The woman arched her eyebrow at this and nodded. "All right."

"I'm sending you our course, can Ryo Ohki keep point five all the way?"

"What?" asked Ryoko dumbly.

"Yes, it shouldn't be a problem," answered Washuu for her.

"This is so exciting!" said Mihoshi cheerfully.

"Hmmm..." agreed Yosho with a slight frown. 

"Adventure, excitement, bah! A Jedi craves not these things!" said Trunks.

Tenchi sighed and looked out at the stars. "I guess I'll finally be able to see 
this place, huh Grandpa?"

"Indeed Tenchi. Jurai is a beautiful place, but like all planets, it has it's 
problems. Stay sharp, and keep close to me boy."

Tenchi nodded at this and Ayeka looked somewhat annoyed. She remained silent 
though and kept her eyes on Ryoko. No one but Trunks seemed to notice this and 
he shut down the communication after sparing her a quick glance.

He sat back in his chair and frowned. The books under his rear were 
uncomfortable, but that wasn't the only reason he was brooding.

"Something wrong sensei?" asked Hotaru.

"Ayeka. She's up to something," replied Trunks calmly.

"Does it concern us?" asked Hotaru.

"I don't think she's planning on betraying us, no," said the boy with a small 
chuckle. 

"I think it has something to do with Ryoko, and that boy Tenchi," he answered 
calmly. "I'm afraid I can't let her do anything too stupid though. She is my 
daughter after all."

Hotaru nodded and glanced back at the table where the senshi were all chatting. 
George was still in the closet hiding from them all. Minako was the only one 
away from the group, and she was trying to persuade him to come out, so she 
could ask him about being in his next movie.

"In any case, we've got a long trip ahead of us. I doubt if it'll be very 
eventful though. We should be fine."

"An uneventful trip? With you? I've never been on one," commented Hotaru lazily. 
"Last time I went anywhere with you, I ended up getting in trouble for eating 
the hearts of my enemies as I recall."

"Well, I really shouldn't have...but you seemed so enthusiastic about it..." 
said the boy sheepishly. He suddenly became very serious. "How's Hotaru holding 
out?"

Saturn frowned at this and sighed. "She hasn't spoken in a while."

Trunks nodded at this and turned back towards the stars.

++++++++++++++

"Jurai," growled Ranma under his breath. He was looking at the course 
transmission that he had intercepted and scowled angrily. "They're running to 
Jurai. Why though?" He snorted and stood up to look out the window. "What does 
he know that I don't?" With a small frown he looked out at the stars. 

In all honestly, simply going to a remote area of the planet would have put the 
younger him, and anyone he wanted to bring along with him, out of his reach for 
the moment. Africa would have worked nicely. Still, something was up for him to 
run off the planet. "There's something else going on that I don't know about."

Chibi-Usa smirked as she walked into the room. "You have no idea father."

Ranma turned and his frown deepened at what he saw. "What are you doing here? 
It's dangerous. I don't want to be discovered just yet Tochi."

"I was told you might be interested in what I have to say," said the stunning 
blonde woman who was standing beside his daughter. Her grin almost went 
inhumanly wide, but she calmed a bit before her fangs were revealed. 

"Oh?" asked Ranma cautiously.

"Beryl is a fool, you and I both know it. Myself and the others have other 
plans," she said as she leaned onto his desk rather seductively.

Chibi-Usa rolled her eyes and left the room as the woman leaned towards her 
father and smirked.

He calmly sat down in his chair right in front of her face and leaned in so that 
his nose was almost touching hers. "I'm listening."

++++++++++++++

TBC...