OBLIGATORY LEGAL DISCLAIMER : None of these guys are mine. The Sailor 
Senshi belong to DIC and Kodansha, while the Yoroiden are owned by 
Sunrise and Graz Entertainment. Okay? So don't bother suing me. I'm a 
student. 

                    RONIN SUMMER 4 : INNER BATTLES
            
         A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over

             by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)



Part 1 : FIRST BLOOD

	Rei Hino gently folded her legs under her and closed her 
eyes in meditation. The sacred fire roared higher in anticipation as 
she began chanting under her breath. She couldn't believe she was 
doing this! What was she, the bloodhound of the Sailor Senshi? 

	Still, she supposed Mamoru had a point in suggesting this to 
her. Ever since their foray to the Dark Kingdom two weeks ago, he had 
been on edge. Jadeite, one of their most formidable enemies, had 
returned and appeared to be more dangerous than ever. He was also as 
nutty as a squirrel's lunch, and Rei personally figured he didn't know 
which finger to pick his nose with, but Mamoru was convinced the former
youma general was up to something. And Tuxedo Kamen had a way of 
convincing girls to do things, so now Sailor Mars was searching the 
entire multiverse for any trace of evil, simply on a whim. 

	She closed her eyes again and sat up a little straighter. 
"Show me," she whispered, "show me the dangers that await us."

**********

	On the other side of town, Seiji Date was entering the Golden 
Dragon Restaurant, which boasted the finest Chinese cuisine east of 
the Neko Hanten. Personally, he didn't find the waitress as cute, 
though... 

	Shuu Rei Fuan tucked a small white towel in the waistband of 
his pants and flipped his notepad closed. "All right, I'll have that
order ready in a second, okay?"

	Touma Hashiba, his short blue hair tucked under a Hanshin 
baseball cap, nodded absently as he motioned for Seiji to take a seat 
in the booth next to Makoto Kino. "Morning, Seiji!"

	"It's two in the afternoon, Einstien." Seiji gingerly lowered 
himself into the booth, smiling at Makoto as he removed his sunglasses.
"Can we make this quick? I've got a race in three hours."

	"A race?" Makoto blinked. "What kind of race?"

	Seiji shrugged expressively. "Formula One." He pointed at the 
black jumpuit he wore, adorned with logos and patches. "You think I'm 
wearing this for style? The time trials for the Kendai Cup are in 
an hour, and I want to be there when the pit crew is checking out my 
car. If Minoru hadn't gotten sick, I wouldn't even be there, but they 
needed a replacement driver." 

	"The Kendai Cup?" Makoto Kino laughed merily, throwing back her
head and letting her long brown ponytail swing behind her. "What a 
coincidence! The other Senshi and I are going to watch Haruka race..."

	"Wow! YOU know Haruka Ten'ou?" Seiji's one exposed eye widened 
in surprise. "He's only the greatest driver ever! He's like a GOD to 
us amateurs! Think you could introduce me?"

	  "Can we talk about racing later?" Touma stepped in quickly, 
since he didn't know Haruka Ten'ou from a hole in the ground, and 
couldn't care less. "The important thing here is Ryo."

	"Ryo?" Seiji leaned back in his seat, a confused look etched 
across his face. "He's not still moping around, is he?" 

	"Yeah... just like every other day for the past two weeks." 
Touma sighed, and pulled off his cap, turning it around and putting it 
on backwards. "We thought maybe after that victory dinner we had, he 
might have brightened up a little, but he appears to be as depressed 
as ever."

	"Ami tried to go over there yesterday, and he wouldn't even 
open the door." Makoto was speaking softly, and shaking her head in 
sympathy. "She burst into tears just telling me about it ; she says 
he's blaming himself for everything that happened."

	"Well, yeah... but that's Ryo." Seiji absently fiddled with 
the napkin holder on the table, pulling out napkins and folding them 
into swans without really paying attention. "He always blames himself 
when things go wrong. Hell, he even blames himself when things go 
right! He gets depressed : he'll snap out of it eventually."

**********

	Brave words and false reassurances aside, Seiji found himself 
biting his fingernails as he watched the mechanics examining his car. 
This was bad, he told himself, VERY bad. Ryo had always suffered from
bouts of depression, but for some reason this one wasn't fading like 
his others had. Could it have something to do with what Arago had 
done to him while they were all absorbed by the Demon Lord? Maybe he 
should go over there : after all, they were friends, weren't they? 

	"Seiji? SEIJI! Earth calling Seiji : relay your hyperspace 
coordinates..." 

	The young man started, looking around in confusion. Toshiro, 
the leader of the pit crew, was laughing and tapping his watch. 

	"What the hell was wrong with you, boy? For a minute there, you
were out where the shuttles don't run! Stow your yocks and grab your 
socks : it's time to saddle up!" The older man chuckled again and 
slapped his fill-in driver on the back. The paperwork it had taken to 
get a fifteen year old kid behind the wheel of an F1 racer had been 
lethal, but Minoru said the kid was worth it...

	Seiji shook his head to clear it as he pulled on his gloves 
and grabbed his helmet. He needed to get his head clear, or the other 
racers would eat him alive out on that track. Nothing extraneous, in 
mind or body, that was the mantra that had to drive him. He'd just 
have to worry about his friend after the race. 

**********

	Touma and Makoto were still eating their breakfast when Rei 
Hino burst into the restaurant. Technically, Makoto was still eating 
breakfast : Touma had already worked his way past lunch and dinner. 
At first, Rei didn't even seem to have noticed them, glancing from 
left to right desperately. 

	"Hey, Rei! What's going on?" Makoto waved, and her fellow 
Senshi joined them at their table, panting for breath. 

	"Where's Shin?" 

	"Wow, she doesn't beat around the bush, does she?" Touma 
asked, taking a sip from his drink. "Shin's gone to Yamaguchi, by the 
Hagi Sea." 

	"Thanks!" Rei grabbed her purse and got up, running back out 
of the Golden Dragon. 

	"Well, that was odd..." Makoto shrugged, and poked at her 
ramen noodles with her chopsticks. 

	"Yeah..." Touma stared after Rei for a moment. Shuu walked 
over, carrying a handful of menus under one shoulder and scratching 
his head in confusion.

	"Was that Rei? Where is she off to in such a hurry?" 

	"I'm guessing Yamaguchi," Touma said, digging into his egg 
rolls. 

	"Yamaguchi?" Shuu blinked and sat down. "Why would ANYBODY 
want to go to Yamaguchi? I've gone to Yamaguchi : there's shit all 
in Yamaguchi!" 

**********

	Haruka Ten'ou grinned as she leapt out of her car and traded 
high fives with her pit crew. She loved this, loved the warm glow of 
knowing she was doing well and setting records to beat the band. She 
pulled off her helmet and ruffled her short blond hair. In fact, there 
was only one thing better...

	"Hi." Michiru Kaioh and Hotaru Tomoe walked over and smiled, 
and Haruka felt her world get a little bit brighter. Leaning down, she 
gave Michi a long, meaningful kiss, and relished in the fact that 
nobody even blinked. Not that she would have let that stop her, of 
course. 

	"Michiru-mama! Haruka-papa!" Hotaru giggled and looked around. 
"People are looking at you!"

	"Lesson one, kid," Haruka said as she reached down and wrapped 
the younger girl in a bonecrushing hug, "is that people look. If you 
don't care, then neither will they." 

	"Men's eyes were made to look, and let them watch," Michiru 
quoted with a smile. "I shall budge for no man's pleasure, I. Do you 
know who said that?"

	"Sure I do! It was Tatewaki Kuno!" Hotaru grinned. 

	"Who's up next, Kentaro?" Haruka asked her crew chief, undoing 
the velcro collar on her silver and blue jumpsuit. The older man, who 
was beginning to lose his hair and had a bad habit of grinning a 
little too widely, checked his clipboard. 

	"Ah, it's just some new kid, filling in while Minoru's getting 
over that stomach flu. No big deal." Kentaro looked up and smiled. 
"You know, Haruka? With a pretty girlfriend and a sweet little daughter
like that, you gotta be the luckiest..." He looked around, and noticed 
the number of reporters hovering nearby. "GUY... I know. Why don't you 
just head out of here and grab a bite on me, ne?"

	"Tempting," Haruka admitted, "but I think I'd rather check out 
the opposition, if that's okay with you."

**********

	Seiji tightened his gloves one last time and adjusted his grip 
on the steering wheel. Reaching up, he tapped the microphone headset 
he was wearing. "Can you guys hear me over there?"

	Someone in the pit crew waved, and Seiji smiled to himself. 
This was as much for them as for him, he knew. Just like he had to 
get used to the feel of the car and track, they needed the practice 
of refitting his vehicle as quickly as possible. 

	"Hey, kid! Haruka Ten'ou just clocked the record for today : 
first lap in twenty seconds." 

	Seiji chuckled. "Did he? Well then I guess I'll be seeing you 
in TEN seconds." He gunned the engine, and laughed in tune with the 
rumbling motor. "Ja ne!" 

**********

	"Woah! Somebody lit a fire under that little bastard!" Kentaro 
nearly swallowed his cigarette as the sleek black car lunged forward 
like a panther escaping its cage. "Don't worry about it, though : he's
gonna slow down on the curve..."

	"No he isn't," Haruka commented calmly as the car nearly 
fishtailed skidding around the first turn. "He's crazy." She smiled to
herself as he flashed by them all. "But he's also pretty good..." 

	Hotaru laughed, pointing after the car which had just passed 
them. "Hey, did you see that? It was Seiji! Hi, Seiji!" She waved, 
pleasantly surprised to see one of her new friends. 

	"Seiji?" Haruka looked over at Michiru, who quickly filled 
her in. 

	"The Yoroiden of Korin, remember?" 

	"Which one was that? The blue armour, with the trident?"

	"No, green armour, big sword. Minako's boyfriend, remember?"

	"Oh, yeah..." Haruka turned back and watched as the car zoomed 
by yet agian. "Well, whatever colour his armour is, he sure can 
drive..."

**********

	"Holy CRAP! Do you got your eyes OPEN, kid, or are you just 
driving with the Force?" Toshiro threw his hands in the air, tossing 
his clipboard somewhere behind him. "He's crazy," the young man 
mumbled, "that's all. He's freakin' insane. He's going to trash my 
car. I can just see it now..."

	"Uh, Tosh? He's done." 

	The scrawny man looked up from where he had been crying in his 
hands. "R-really? Did he wreck the car?"

	"Nope."

	"Did he kill anyone?"

	"Nope."

	Toshiro nervously tried to slick back his short black hair, 
which was sticking straight up. "And the car's all right?" 

	"Uh-huh." 

	"WOO-HOO!" Toshiro jumped straight into the air, twirling his 
hat around him like a pennant as he charged over to the car. Ignoring 
the clouds of smoke and distictive smell of burnt rubber, he continued 
whooping at the top of his lungs and latched himself onto Seiji, who 
immediately began squirming. 

	"YOU DID IT! MY GOD! YOU BROKE THE RECORD! WE'RE GONNA WIN! 
WOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!" 

	"Do you need medication?" Seiji had time to ask, before someone
grabbed his elbow and pulled him free from the cheering crowd of 
mechanics. Turning, he saw a young man in a silver jumpsuit and two 
beautiful women were leading him away. "Hi. Have we met?"

	The man smirked. "Apparently. Name's Haruka Ten'ou, nice to 
meet you. This is my girlfriend, Michiru Kaioh, and my adopted 
daughter Hotaru Tomoe." 

	Seiji smiled politely. "Oh! Great to finally meet you, sir. 
I've always been a fan of your racing..."

	"Seiji," Hotaru said sadly, "don't you recognise us? We're the 
Outer Senshi!" 

	"Saturn? HEY! SATURN!" Seiji immediately snagged Hotaru in a 
hug, and the raven-haired girl laughed as she tried to extricate 
herself from his grasp. 

	"Seiji! I need to breathe!" Hotaru finally popped out of the 
blond man's grip, and stumbled back against her 'mother' Michiru. 
"You're nearly as bad as Ryo!" 

	"Gomen." Seiji blushed and hung his head, the usual shock of 
hair finally falling back down over his right eye. Reaching over, he 
clasped Michiru's hands and kissed her cheek. 

	"Ooh, c'est tres francais!" The violinist giggled. 

	"I learned it from Nasuti. She used to live in France." Seiji 
chuckled, and shook hands with Haruka. "I'm sorry, but... you're a 
Senshi? Aren't you, well, a guy?"

	"Nope, just an amazing simulation." Haruka smiled. "Sailor 
Uranus, and she's Sailor Neptune. Sometimes it's hard to recognise us 
if we aren't transformed. We just dropped by because Saturn wanted to 
say hi."

	"Well, since the race itself is in an hour or so, why don't 
we all grab something to eat?" Seiji grinned and mussed Hotaru's hair. 

	"Sure!" Haruka grinned and patted Seiji on the back. "And, 
since you broke my record, I'll break your wallet. You can pay."

**********

	Usagi Tsukino curled up, resting her chin on her knees as she 
stared across the room at her friend. Ami Mizuno was still sniffing 
slightly, and dabbing at her eyes with a wadded up tissue. This was 
a sight Usagi wanted to remember : AMI being messed up emotionally was 
a once-in-a-lifetime occurence. That Ryo Sanada very quickly found 
himself on the short list of Usagi's Least Favorite People. Somewhere 
under Jadeite, she decided, but definitely above Nephryte. 

	"What a jerk," she sighed. "Why is Ryo acting like such a 
total choad? I thought he was pretty nice, before..."

	"I suppose he blames himself for what happened in the Dynasty,"
Ami explained shakily. "He thinks it's his fault that Arago got loose, 
and that he's responsible for hurting all of his friends."

	"Didn't you explain to him that it was Arago who did that? Ryo 
couldn't help it if some Demon Lord was manipulating him..."

	"I tried that! He just said that he should have been strong 
enough not to fall for it, and that we all would have been better 
off if he was never a Yoroiden at all..." 

	"Wow..." Usagi blinked. "Guilt trip, much? Sounds to me like 
he's really wallowing in pity right now." Reaching across from her 
perch on the bed, Usagi held her friend's hand. "Don't worry, Ami. 
Mamoru gets like that all the time. I'll send him over to Ryo's cabin, 
they'll do... whatever it is guys do, and then he'll be fine. You'll 
see!"

	"I hope so..."

**********

	"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELOME TO THE KENDAI CUP GRAND PRIX!"
The crowd, predictably, went wild, hooting and cheering as if the 
megaphones situated across the park could actually hear them. Popcorn 
was hurled, sodas were spilled, and a few fist fights broke out, but 
ended when the participants decided they weren't quite drunk enough 
yet. 

	Minako Aino was having the time of her life. Her cat, Artemis, 
settled for clinging to her neck and fearing for his. Long blond hair 
swaying free, she weaved her way through the crowd, coasting on the 
adrenaline high that pumped its way through every person gathered 
there. Halfway to the bleachers, she bumped into two of her friends, 
and laughed merrily. 

	"Makoto! Touma! It's great to see you again!" The three shared 
a friendly embrace, and began looking for their seats. It wasn't hard :
Hotaru Tomoe's pale face and waiflike appearance made her stick out of 
almost any crowd, and when combined with the bright pink hair of 
Chibi-Usa, the two were like a signal light. Touma gladly set down his 
tray of hot dogs, which Shuu quickly took half of. Chibi-Usa managed 
to snatch a pair for Hotaru and herself, then leapt back as Touma 
began inhaling what was left. 

	"Sheesh! What is he, the Yoroiden of Trash Compactors?" 
Chibi-Usa pouted, as she handed Hotaru a hot dog and began to bite 
into her own. 

	"Considering he PAID for those hot dogs, I wouldn't insult 
him." Makoto smiled. "He could also give you a spanking if he felt 
like it, Chibimoon or no Chibimoon." 

	"Naw," Shuu mumbled through a mouth full of hot dog, "he'th 
WAY too nith to do that!" 

	"Which car is Haruka's?" Minako asked Hotaru. 

	"The navy blue one. Number Four." Hotaru pointed, and Minako 
nodded to show she understood. Hotaru then pointed at another car, a 
few lengths behind Haruka's. "Seiji's in the black car, number ten."

	"Oh... Seiji's in this race?" Minako blinked. Why hadn't he 
told her? Probably afraid she'd worry, or something... he was so sweet.

**********

	"Now listen to me, kid." Toshiro nervously slicked back his 
hair for the tenth time that afternoon. "We might actually win this, 
if you can drive anything like you did this afternoon. On the other 
hand, I am begging you to please, please, pretty please NOT trash my 
car, okay? We can't make any money if we don't have a car." 

	Seiji nodded absently as he pulled on his gloves. "Yeah, 
uh-huh, don't roll car, don't die in firey wreck, got it." He jammed 
the helmet onto his head and flipped up the opaque visor. "Tosh, you 
need to learn to relax a little." 

	"What are you, kidding? With a psycho like you behind my 
wheel? I'm lucky I'm not dead already!" 

	Seiji smirked and lowered the visor. "If you don't mind, 
Tosh, I've got us a race to win. You might want to get off the track
now." 

**********

	The cars flashed forward, the crowd went nuts, and the Senshi 
and their Yoroiden guest strained to see what was going on. Chibi-Usa 
scrambled onto Shuu's shoulders and grabbed a pair of binoculars from 
around his neck, calling down to Hotaru what she could make out. 

	"Hey! I think Haruka's in the lead! She's way ahead of 
everybody else! Except that black car that keeps swerving in front of 
the other cars..."

	"That would be Seiji," Touma said confidently. "Once you've 
run through an army of youja, a few creampuffs like these guys are 
nothing!" 

**********

	Seiji smiled to himself as he pushed the accelerator just a 
little more. The needle crept ever closer to the red line, and his 
digital display was making noises that belonged on a ship under red 
alert, but he maintained an almost zen-like state of calm. He had 
battled Demon Lords the size of skyscrapers. He had conquered entire 
armies of things that would give weaker men nightmares. 

	He was okay. He could deal with this. 

	"Here he comes," Seiji hummed under his breath, "here comes 
Speed Racer... He's a demon on wheels..." The blue car was just barely 
in sight as he tried to get a little more speed, gliding into Haruka's 
slipstream. "He's a demon and you know that he'll be chasing after 
someone..." Nothing personal babe, he thought to himself, but racing 
is just like tennis : love means nothi - HUH?!

	Something made a very bad noise, and then all he saw was 
sky, ground, sky, ground, sky, ground... and darkness. 

**********

	"Oh, my GOD!" Minako jumped to her feet and gasped as Seiji's 
car suddenly began tumbling end over end, spinning and flipping across 
the track until finally skidding to a stop on the grassy island in the 
centre of the stadium. A thick plume of smoke billowed from the 
underside of the vehicle as its three remaining tires slowly spun to a 
stop. There was a wailing of sirens as emergency technicians rushed 
out, spraying the wreck with fire retardant foam and hauling a 
frighteningly limp form in black from the twisted metal cage... 

	"What the hell happened?" Touma was right beside her, and 
if not for the restraining grasp of Makoto may very well have 
raced across the track himself. "What the HELL happened?" 

	"What's going on? Is he okay?" Hotaru was looking from left to 
right, trying desperately to make some sense out of the unexpected 
disaster.

**********

	After the race, Haruka tracked down Toshiro, the short, wiry 
owner of the car Seiji had been driving. "Excuse me," she asked, "but 
do you know if Seiji is going to be okay? A few of his friends have 
been getting worried..."

	Toshiro groaned and rested his chin in his hands. "Pal, I 
don't even know if that kid's going to wake up." 

	"I see..." Haruka's hand drifted into her pocket, coming up 
with a large handful of cash. "Listen, I want you to have this. It's 
half of today's winnings : I know it can't pay for another car, but..."

	"I don't need another car, buddy." Toshiro sighed despondantly.
"That Date kid was fifteen. He was under the legal driving age, and I 
put him in my car anyway. I'll be lucky if I stay out of jail : his 
dad came by with a very shiny badge and a very big gun, and he was 
saying words like 'accessory' and 'vehicular homicide'."

**********

	"You sabotaged... the wrong... damn car."

	"It's not our fault, oh lord!" The squirming youma clasped its
hands and fell on its knees, weeping green tears from all six eyes. 

	"That's right, that's right!" The youma's partner, who looked 
much more human, was also begging, and with good reason. "You told 
us to kill the Senshi!"

	"We didn't know what she looked like!"

	"You said she dressed like a man, that she was blonde..."

	"We found a blond man! He COULD have been a girl in disguise!"

	"You said she was a race car driver..."

	"He got the best time at the trials! He was the best!"

	"We just assumed..."

	The youma master gritted his teeth. "You... assumed?" 

	The youmas nodded in unison, and the crowd surrounding them 
began to murmur worriedly. 

	Their master, a handsome young man in a grey uniform, steepled 
his fingers and examined them as if the secrets of the universe were 
held within. "I don't understand," he said with lethal calm. "I'm 
a good ruler, a compassionate ruler. I never ask too much from you, 
right?" 

	The youmas once again nodded. 

	"So why... am I... surrounded... by FECKING IDIOTS?!" Jadeite 
leapt to his feet and hurled a bolt of sheer power across the throne 
room, narrowly missing the head of the six eyed youma and incinerating 
one of the crowd members. "Who was that?" Jadeite asked. 

	"That was Gabrados, sir," a voice from the crowd answered. 

	"Well, good riddance. He had foul breath." Jadeite turned to 
the six-eyed youma. "You ducked."

	"No! I swear, my lord! I never..."

	"You did, you ducked, you deliberately dodged." A long shard 
of crystal formed in his gloved hand. "Hold still. This may hurt."

	"Please, my lord! It was a mistake! A simple-"

	SPLUTCH.

	"Now," Jadeite said calmly as the headless body slumped before 
him, "you will make them no more." Raising the gore-covered blade high,
he turned to face his army's elite. "Am I clear on this? NO MORE 
MISTAKES!" 

To Be Continued...