Ranma: Senshi of the Moon

Ranma: Senshi of the Moon
A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon Crossover Fan Fiction
By Michael A. Ivins

What was that? You say I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon? Are you sure?
Oh, all right! If you insist!
I am just a poor fanfic writer playing around with other people's characters and I make no money off doing so. There, I said it! Are you happy?

Timeline Notice: This takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma's part of the world and at the very beginning of Sailor Moon. Other inconsistencies will be explained in the story itself.

Prologue
Talking to Oneself
Or
A Meeting At the Gates of Time

Sailor Pluto, A.K.A. Meiyoh Setsuna, was not a happy woman. Nothing was turning out like it was supposed to and she didn't know what she could do to correct it. Her frustration was getting to the point where she was starting to wonder if there might be a therapeutic benefit to using the Time Key Staff to smash small objects.

That was when she looked at the Gates of Time and instead of seeing the portion of timeline she wanted to view she saw what appeared to be her own face. In a sour tone, Setsuna of the present demanded, "What the hell do you want? Are you here to taunt and tease me with vague hints of what future events are coming up?"

Future Setsuna grinned and asked, "What, not happy to see me? I've got some important things to tell you. Do you mind if I drop in for a chat?" Considering that she could easily remember being on the receiving end of this meeting, she was enjoying the one from the future this time.

Showing the level of her frustration, present Pluto growled, "Oh by all means, drop. Chat. It's not like I don't already have enough headaches."

The view changed from just the future Pluto's face to her whole body and she stepped out of the Gates. One of the problems that Pluto of the present had with visits from her future self was that she rarely knew how far in the future this particular aspect of herself had come from. It could be from a week later or thousands of years. Since she was immortal and always wore the same sailor fuku, the appearance of her future self gave no clue.

The future version of the Guardian of the Gates of Time walked up to the current one and looked around. She said, "This could take a while. Do you really want to be standing for the whole time?"

(A.N.: For the rest of this prologue I will refer to current Pluto as Pluto C and the future one as Pluto F.)

"Fine!" Pluto C growled. She conjured a couch and flung herself down on one end. Pluto F seemed to be highly amused by her counterpart's show of petulance as she moved to take a seat on the other end of the couch.

Pluto F smiled and said, "Setsuna, there is really no need for this attitude. A woman of your years shouldn't be displaying such childish behavior."

"When the only person who sees it is another version of myself, why should I care if I behave like a child?" Pluto C challenged.

"You have a point, I suppose," the future version calmly responded. "There really is no need this time. The reason I came here was not to tease you about things that are coming in the future. I am here to explain those things in the past and the present that you currently find so confusing and frustrating."

"What?"

Pluto F sighed and said, "Part of the problem is that we are in an alternate timeline here, not the main one."

That finally cut through the frustration and anger that Pluto C was feeling. If she, and by extension this future version of herself, were experiencing a different version of the events she had come to expect, that would explain a lot.

"Let me summarize the problems that you perceive right now," Pluto F offered. For a change she sounded reasonable instead of acting like it was all a big joke. "The Senshi were reborn decades later than they should have been. By your estimate they should have been reborn in the late 1960's so they could fight the Negaverse in the 1970's. Instead they were reborn in the early 90's. Even with that, the Negaverse is not starting their attacks until the girls are aged 17 and 18 when you estimated they should have only been 14 when they were Awakened. Am I correct so far?"

Pluto C nodded. She would expect her future self to know this, since she was the same person and had experienced all of this before.

Pluto F continued, "One of the most frustrating aspects for you is that you can't find the princess. The one who is to be Sailor Moon has eluded you for all of the time you have been searching for her, even though you are sure she would have been reborn by now. You wonder how the Senshi will be able to fight if they don't have their leader, even one as clumsy as you believe Moon to be."

Impatient, Pluto C demanded, "Would you just get to the point? Since you are me, you are aware that I know all of this."

"Yes, I am aware, but I know you never bothered to sum it up like this," Pluto F pointed out. "Now that you know this is an alternate timeline you have at least a partial explanation as to why so many events seem to be different or delayed. As far as being unable to find the Princess, the reason is that you have been looking in the wrong place and for the wrong person."

Her scowl deepening, Pluto C fired back, "Alright, I could grant you the wrong place if she was born and grew up someplace other than Azabu-Juuban, but what the hell do you mean by the 'wrong person'? And if she's not in Juuban now, then where the hell is she?"

"Oh the princess is in Juuban now, but has only been there for a few months," Pluto F explained. "As for what I meant about 'the wrong person...' Well, you have been looking for a blonde haired girl. The current incarnation of the Princess doesn't look like her Silver Millennium self."

"But..." Pluto C was startled. What she had just been told shouldn't be possible. She paused and thought. "I don't understand. The rest of the Senshi look like their past selves. Why wouldn't the Princess?"

With a shrug the future Guardian of Time said, "As far as the whole of why, I can't say. I made friends with a goddess who explained to me that in this timeline there were tasks that the soul of the Princess needed to perform as ordained by destiny. These were tasks which had to be completed before taking on the guise of Sailor Moon."

"You made friends with a goddess?" Pluto C wasn't sure what to think about that. It meant that she herself would make friends with one or more goddesses in her own future. In the past she had always tried to stay away from divine beings because they generally were immune to the Gates and time manipulation.

Feeling irritated, she pushed that thought to the side. Pluto C asked, "And has the Princess completed these tasks?"

"Oh yes," Pluto F replied. "The tasks have been completed and helped to make our Princess a much stronger person."

The older version of the Guardian of Time had waited for her younger self to process that revelation before she dropped her next bombshell. "In this timeline the Princess was reborn as a boy."

"A boy!" Pluto C was gaping. "But that's impossible! The Queen would have seen to it with the spell she cast to send the souls into the future!"

"You really need to review the situation that happened in the Gates," Pluto F advised. This was so much fun. "I will tell you now, but check on it later to verify it for yourself. After sending you to watch the Gates, sealing Beryl and her minions in that pocket universe we call the Negaverse and sealing the cats in their stasis pods, Queen Serenity was so weak and disoriented that she couldn't properly formulate the safeguards for the spell. She managed it for most of the Senshi, but for her daughter she didn't set the specifications that the Princess' reborn form would be a virtual copy of her Silver Millennium appearance and sex."

"But..."

"Without those specifications being set, the Princess' soul was reborn into the proper timeframe, but subject to all of the normal rules of reincarnation. I will give you the explanation that I remember hearing from my future self," Pluto F said. "I later looked it up to confirm it, and you will too."

"In the great cycle of Death and Rebirth there is no such thing as a male or female soul," Pluto F stated. She sounded like she was quoting from something she had read or heard. "For most mortals, they will be male in some of their incarnations and female in others. It serves to give a soul greater balance in their evolution and aid them in eventually passing on to a higher plane."

"Higher plane?" queried Pluto C.

The older version rolled her eyes and with a shake of head, advised, "Don't ask. I've been told that the so-called higher plane is beyond the understanding of mere mortals or even immortals like you and me. I theorized that the higher plane was some sort of god-like existence, but the gods and goddesses I've met claim that not even they can understand it. It can give one a nasty headache just trying."

Pluto C shook off further speculation on what was just said, and pressed on about more practical matters. "If the Princess was reincarnated as a boy, then he won't be able to access the powers of a Senshi. This could be a disaster!"

"It won't be a problem," soothed Pluto F. "A goddess who owed me a favor made sure of that. Have you ever heard of Jusenkyo?"

Frowning, Pluto C thought for a moment. Finally she said, "Do you mean the cursed training ground in China? If I remember right, they are springs of magic water that bestow a shape shifting curse on those who fall in."

"Well, the boy who is the reborn soul of the Princess was a martial artist who visited the valley as part of a martial arts training journey," Pluto F explained. "The favor that was granted made sure that he fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl. The requirement that only a woman can be a full Senshi will still allow someone who is only a girl part time to access the power. After Awakening he can be the equivalent of a Planet Knight when male and a full Senshi when female."

"What about the reincarnation of Prince Endymion?" asked Pluto C.

"Oh, he's been reborn, but don't expect the Princess to get married to him," advised Pluto F. "Our Prince/ss has already met him and thinks he's a jerk. I understand that happened in the main timeline, but there she fell in love with him anyway. It's something of a pity because he didn't treat her all that well."

"Possibly as a side effect of having been born male in her current lifetime, the princess of our timeline is heterosexual as a male and a lesbian as a female," Pluto F reported, sounding amused again. "I believe she is currently interested in the reborn Sailor Mars. I recall that the two of them had a brief affair back in the Silver Millennium."

Grinning hugely and chuckling, Pluto F next said, "Don't expect this incarnation of the princess to be a whining crybaby like the one on the main timeline. No, this version is a trained martial artist and a blooded warrior, fully capable of kicking butt and taking names. Less than a year ago he/she killed a phoenix demigod in defense of a loved one,"

"Killed a phoenix demigod?" Pluto C echoed.

Making a dismissive gesture with her hand, Pluto F clarified, "Technically the being killed was a mortal with the power of rebirth, effectively making him an immortal. It seems that was enough for the local bird people to call him a god."

Pluto C's anger returned. "Even when you come to give full disclosure you still take forever to get to the point. What is the name of this paragon of martial arts skill and strength?"

"Oh, you have already met him," Pluto F said with a grin. "He goes to the high school where you work, after all."

Pluto F waved her Key Staff at the Gates and an image formed. It showed a handsome teenaged boy. The boy was of medium height and a build that was muscular without a lot of bulk. His hair was black and worn in a braided pigtail. He had blue eyes. He was dressed in a Chinese style red silk shirt and black drawstring pants with the ankles tied.

"You say I've met him?" Pluto C sounded unsure. "He looks slightly familiar, but that's all."

"You will recognize this version," said Pluto F as she waved the staff again. The image changed to a shorter, busty red haired girl, dressed in a Juuban High School uniform. Her hair was in exactly the same style as the boy had worn and her eyes were the same piercing blue. It seemed evident that she was shorter than the boy had been, but there was the same indication of lean, hard muscle beneath the feminine curves. Her stance and carriage showed clear evidence of martial arts training.

Eyes going wide, Pluto C exclaimed, "That's Tsukino Ranma! She's in her junior year. She's the one who has been training the reborn Sailors Mercury, Jupiter and Mars in martial arts. She's a brilliant martial artist and with Mercury's help is becoming one of the better students in school. When they get to senior year I would expect her to equal or surpass Mizuno Ami in scholastic achievement."

"A far cry from the academic slacker the Princess was in the main timeline, don't you think?" Pluto F commented with an expression of satisfaction on her face. "In the main timeline, the reborn princess had to grow into the role of leader. This version of her is ready to lead right now. She won't need to be rescued by Endymion's reincarnation. In fact, she may end up rescuing him."

"But if she doesn't marry Endymion's reincarnation, what will happen to Crystal Tokyo?" Pluto C wanted to know.

"I promised to tell you what had happened in the past and what you had missed of what is happening now," reminded the future version of the Guardian of Time. "You are now asking about the future. I can't tell you specifics about that and you know it. I will have to fall back on the hints. I can tell you that the future is in good hands, but it will turn out different from what you expect. I can promise that you are in for a wild ride in the wake of our Wild Horse there. For anything more you'll have to scan the possible timelines yourself."

At that point Pluto F stood up and straightened the skirt of her fuku, while brushing off invisible specks of dust. Pluto C scowled and complained, "So that's it? You're just going to drop a bombshell like that on me and leave?"

"Yes," answered the older version, her attitude evident of satisfaction. "I am. Now that you know where to look, you can use the Gates to view Ranma's past and fill in the gaps in what I've told you. I warn you some incidents in Ranma's past are... disturbing to watch. I would advise you to not eat a big meal before viewing some of the events that happened during his training journey."

"That bad?" Pluto C asked, sounding concerned.

"Worse." Pluto F waved her staff and then walked to the open portal of the Gates. She stepped in and disappeared into the future.

The Sailor Pluto who remained sat for a time as she digested the information she had been given. Much that had been frustrating her now made more sense. She didn't understand the whys still, but at least she finally knew what was going on. Maybe with a little research into the past through the medium of the Gates of Time she might be able to puzzle out some of the questions of why. Not all of her frustration were removed, but she now had the means to resolve most of the remaining ones.

The answer she had been given regarding Crystal Tokyo was maddening. Her future self hadn't said that there would be a Crystal Tokyo but hadn't said that capitol of the reborn Moon Kingdom wouldn't come about either. The implication to the comment that the 'future is in good hands' seemed to indicate that however things turned out, it would be as good or possibly even better than the future utopia that Setsuna had been envisioning.

Author's Note: I could have explained the differences in the timeline in an AN but with a character like Sailor Pluto in the story, it isn't necessary. It can be more fun to reveal the differences in the telling of the story anyway.

Note for Blog post: This is a story I just started. So far I have this prologue and about 6 chapters worth of material finished so far. By casting Ranma in the part of Sailor Moon I was hoping to get Senshi leader who can seriously kick butt. By making this take place post wedding disaster, it gives me Ranma at the height of his powers. Let me know if you think this story looks good enough to be continued.

I originally gave this story the title of "1/2 Moon" but I think someone already wrote a fic with that title. "Ranma: Senshi of the Moon," could be looked at as a working title for now that could be changed later. I would welcome any suggestions for a better one.