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 6 : DOUBLE TIME

	Jadeite reclined in his looming throne and looked down at the 
despondent young girl sitting near his feet. She refused to meet his 
gaze, he noticed, and after a moment's thought decided he liked that. 
She was dressed in a white sailor fuku with a navy skirt and red bows,
and her long blond hair was pulled back into an intricate twin bun and 
ponytail affair. 

	"You know," Jadeite said softly as he reached out and stroked 
one of the two long tails of golden hair that humg from her head, "I 
always wanted to own a Sailor Senshi. I would have settled for Mercury,
or even Mars, but I really do prefer you... Sailor Moon."

	Usagi Tsukino bit her lip and glanced down at the brooch she 
wore. The ginzuisho crystal contained within could solve all her 
problems... if she could just find the nerve to use it again. It would 
mean her death, true, but she had managed to come back from that brink 
before. She quickly quelled the smile that tugged at her lips. Wouldn't
that give Jadeite a bad day in a hurry? 

	And she would, she thought desperately, so help her she would 
do it long before Jadeite even TRIED to use her against her friends! 
Except... Usagi felt her grasp on the brooch weaken as her hand slid 
away. Mamoru, and Chibi-Usa... were they all right? Jadeite had sworn 
that as long as she helped him with whatever he had in mind for the 
other Senshi, that Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Chibimoon would be fine. She
just had to keep clinging to that slim hope, and wait until she got 
an oppurtunity to break free and rescue her family... as soon as she 
found out where they were...

	"I'm TALKING to you!" Jadeite yanked on the rope of hair he 
had wound around his gloved fingers, and jerked Sailor Moon's head 
around to face him. "You know I get angry when you ignore me, Sailor 
Moon... You don't WANT me angry, do you?"

	"Oh, leave her alone." Nise Suiko looked up from where he had 
been crouched in the corner, busying himself by sharpening his harpoon 
on the stone floor of the throne room. Usagi still couldn't get over 
exactly how much he looked like Shin Mouri, the Yoroiden of Suiko. 
"We all get the point : you have a pretty new puppet. You don't need 
to show her off for us." 

	"What's wrong with you, Nise Suiko?" Jadeite's purple eyes 
narrowed. "You never seemed to be this suicidal before..."

	Nise stood and grinned eagerly. "And YOU seem to forget that 
I'm not your servant. I came here because you promised me the heads of 
Shin Mouri and Sailor Mars. Now, it has been three days and I have 
played along with your little tin army, and I still have seen no 
vengeance!" Then his own eyes narrowed, and glowed a baleful crimson. 
"And in case you feel like backstabbing me, oh 'mighty' Jadeite, you'd 
better hope like hell I don't survive it. Or, I can assure you, you 
won't."

	The tension between the two men grew exponentially as Usagi 
watched. Part of her rather hoped Nise Suiko would just lunge across 
the room and ram his harpoon right into whatever Jadeite called a 
heart. The other part of her was afraid Nise Suiko would do just that, 
and that without Jadeite, she'd never find her beloved Mamo-chan and 
Chibi-Usa. Suddenly, the anger seemed to drain out of Jadeite as he 
sat back down in his throne and smiled disarmingly. 

	"You're right, of course, Nise! How selfish of me, to indulge 
in my own feuds and forget all about your own." Jadeite waved one hand 
in the air. "Well, noblesse oblige, and all that. If you really 
wanted us to kill Sailor Mars next, all you had to do was ask! After 
all, I always keep my word, don't I, Princess?" The question was both 
a promise and a threat, Usagi knew. Jadeite had sworn that her daughter
and boyfriend would be safe... and that he would kill them the second 
she stepped out of line. 

	She was so confused, she wished that Jadeite would just leave 
her alone so she could work things out. She didn't want to hurt her 
friends, would gladly die before she EVER harmed them, but what about 
Mamoru? She loved him so much, and Chibi-Usa was just a little girl, 
even if she was a brat sometimes... could she really hold back, knowing
she was signing their death warrants?

	She thought about the ginzuisho again. Was this the kind of 
dilemna her mother had faced, all those centuries ago in the Moon 
Kingdom?

**********

	Rei Hino glanced over at her friend. "Shin," she said, choosing
her words carefully, "are you sure you don't want to go to the 
hospital, or something? You really don't look well." 

	Shin Mouri groaned and leaned against the nearby wall. "Why," 
he wheezed, his face pale and his shaggy brown hair slicked with sweat,
"we're nearly... to your shrine. I can grab a rest there, right? Let's 
just get you home. I'm just peachy!" He stood again, stumbling and 
falling over. Rei swooped down and caught him moments before his head 
could crack on the pavement.

	"That does it! You big idiot, why didn't you SAY you were 
feeling sick? We're going to get you somewhere safe!" 

	"Rei," Shin said simply as his eyelids fluttered, "be a dear 
and stop spinning around like that, would you? It's quite distracting,
don't you know." Reaching up, he grabbed her sweater and pulled her 
down a bit closer to him. "And just because you happen to outnumber me 
at the moment is no reason to get so boss-" Shin's voice trailed off 
as his eyes closed and his head lolled back. He was still breathing, 
shallowly, and Rei quickly scooped him into her arms and over her 
shoulders, carrying him piggyback. 

	"Shin," she groaned under his weight, which was both very 
heavy and far lighter than it should have been, "you'd better 
appreciate all this stress you're putting me through!"

	"Mmmmrph," Shin replied, and Rei rolled her eyes as he moved 
his face out of her hair. "Defenders to the gates," he murmured, 
"archers to the... walls. We'll set the first barrier near the 
ballroom... Where is Prince Endymion? Is Serenity safe?" 

	"You're not making any sense, Shin. Snap out of it!" 

	Almost as if on command, Shin's eyes opened and he stared at 
her. "Mars?"

	Rei nodded and tried to catch her breath. "Yes, that's me..."

	"Why aren't you with the other Senshi? The Queen is sending you
off shortly... you cannot be here when the Dark Kingdom invades!"

**********

	"Oh, come on!" Jadeite smiled disarmingly and placed his hands 
on Usagi Tsukino's shoulders. "I'm not asking you to hurt anybody! It's
not like I'm putting a gun in your hands! I mean, I just need you to 
sit in a chair. How could it hurt anybody for you to sit in a chair?" 

	Usagi looked at the chair in question, a looming, metal thing 
covered with chrome, restraints, and foul intent. "If I know you, it 
probably will." She set her jaw defiantly. "I'm not going to hurt my 
friends, Jadeite!"

	Jadeite scowled and brushed back his short crop of blond hair. 
"What friends? I remember the way they always treated you. They don't 
listen to you, they don't admire you, and they sure don't respect you! 
I mean, how often have they made fun of you? Or tried to have you 
kicked out as leader? Are they really worth more to you than your 
precious Tuxedo Kamen?" He smiled as he noticed Usagi's horrified 
expression. "Yeah, you'd forgotten about that, hadn't you? If you 
don't play nice with us, you're going to find Prince Endymion quite... 
grave... indeed. The kid, Chibimoon, too." He paused, as if considering
something. "In fact, since you're being so troublesome... VEPRES!" 

	"Yesss, Lord Jadeite?" A creature shaped entirely out of 
plants slithered out of the ground and bowed. 

	"The Princess here has decided to kill Sailor Chibimoon. Go 
take care of that for her, would you?" 

	"Of courssse, Lord Jadeite." Vepres bowed again and began to 
sink back into the ground. 

	"No, WAIT!" Usagi cried, and Jadeite smiled. 

	"You heard the Princess, Vepres : wait. I think she has 
something she wants to say." Jadeite turned to face Sailor Moon. 
"Well, Your Highness? We're waiting..."

	"All right, already." Usagi's voice was so soft, the two 
villains has to strain to hear her. "I'll do it. But I'll hate it."

	"Wouldn't have it any other way, my dear!" Jadeite laughed 
merrily and helped Sailor Moon into the chair. "Now just sit back, 
relax, and let Wiseman here pick your brain. I don't think it'll hurt, 
much, but seeing as it's not me in the chair, I'm not all that 
concerned..."

	Usagi did her best to tune him out as she slowly reclined in 
her new cage, Wiseman's flowing form gradually filling her view as his 
glowing hands reached for her temples. Jadeite had been wrong, she 
decided as Wiseman's ghostly fingers passed through her head. It DID 
hurt. More than he could ever imagine. She just hoped her friends 
would understand... 

**********

	Shin Mouri was starting to get heavy, Rei noticed as she 
trudged through the gates of the Hikawa Jinja. Carefully removing her 
shoes at the top of the stairs, she carried Shin out into the sacred 
forest behind her temple. Quickly, she set him down and ran back into 
the shrine, coming back out dressed in her robes. 

	"I'm not a Guji, like my Grandfather," she explained to the 
semi-conscious form of Shin Mouri, "but I AM Gon-Seikai, and someday 
this shrine will be mine to care for." With a groan, she lifted the 
boy once again and proceeded into the forest. "I just hope the kamis 
are willing to listen to me..." 

	A few minutes later, Shin began to moan as Rei laid him down. 
"This won't take long, Shin... you just have to perform Misogi so 
you can face Kami purified of your sins." Hands shaking in her haste, 
she pulled the light blue sweatshirt off over his head and started 
to unbutton his shirt. There was a thick red bloodstain, she noticed 
as she peeled off the starched white linen, covering his right 
shoulder.

	"Nise Suiko," she said in understanding. "When you fought, he 
stabbed you with his harpoon... oh, Shin, you DOLT! Why did you have 
to act so strong? We could have gotten you help!" Carefully, she dipped
her hands into the frigid waters of the river and began to bathe his 
wound, taking care to cleanse his hands and mouth as Grandfather had 
taught her. "I hope this works..."

	Staggering under her burden once more, Rei made a mental point 
of thanking her Grandfather for his rigourous physical training 
regimens, too. If worse came to worse, she could just carry Shin to the
nearest hospital... although they probably wouldn't carry an antidote 
to Nise Suiko's particular venom. 

	Finally, she lay Shin's body in front of the roaring pillar of 
flame her Jinja had been built around : the sacred fire. Around him, 
she began to lay the necessary offerings of rice cake, sake, and last 
of all the ritual branches of a sacred evergreen tree. Chanting hymns 
and prayers she hadn't even realised she remembered, Rei threw a 
handful of coins into the offering box just to be sure. She bowed, 
clapped her hands, and bowed again. Saving a soul was a big deal, she 
knew, and something that her Grandfather would never dream of letting 
her do alone, despite her rank. 

	Silence filled the temple, with only the dull roar of the 
sacred fire to contest with the shaky breathing of Rei Hino. She 
dropped to her knees, and bowed her head again. "Oh, Kamis," she 
whispered, "please, you must save this boy! He is a champion of good, 
a defender of the light : don't let him cross the River Sanzu, and 
enter the realm of the dead... or if your power is not equal to the 
task, then speed his path, and end his suffering." A tear trickled down
her cheek. "Please," she whispered as she leaned across his bare torso,
"don't take Shin away from me..."

	"Awww... isn't that sweet?" Nise Suiko said mockingly, leaning 
against the doorway and grinning as he rested his harpoon against one 
shoulder. "Looks like I didn't have to come back and finish the little 
brat off after all. Still..." He grinned, and black and crimson armour 
glided over his body in a silent explosion of light. "I didn't come 
all this way for nothing!" 

	Rei looked down at Shin's fallen body, and smiled grimly. 
"No," she agreed, "you came all this way to die. MARS CRYSTAL POWER!"

**********

	Ami Mizuno left her house, books in hand and a small smile 
lurking in the corners of her mouth. She was wearing a white blouse, 
with a navy blue skirt, and matching blazer. She was without a doubt 
the single most beautiful creature in the world as she ran down her 
steps, short blue hair kissed by the breeze...

	The Owl poked his helmeted head over Ryo Sanada's shoulder as 
the Yoroiden of Rekka sighed. "Hey, she's cute. Who is it?"

	"That," Ryo sighed, "is the one and only Ami Mizuno. And she's 
not cute... she's gorgeous." 

	"Okay," Owl admitted, then glanced over at the boy. "So exactly
why are we hiding in the bushes?" 

	Shampoo, the purple haired Amazon that had insisted on going 
with them on their quest in order to represent her tribe, smiled 
widely. "Shampoo know! Bushes is good for hiding. Airen NEVER look 
in bushes until too late." Reaching over, she began rubbing Ryo's 
shoulders. "You go ask blue girl on date now, yes?"

	"No!" Ryo hissed. "And try to keep it down! You're martial 
artists; haven't you ever heard of stealth?"

	"Of course!" Mousse, the myopic boy who had insisted on tagging
along, snapped his fingers. "If any monsters come, you'll leap out of 
the bushes and catch them off guard! A devious plan indeed, Sanada! You
conceal yourself even as the weapons master conceals his blades, and 
when the time is right, you shall strike!"

	Ryo groaned. "NO I WON'T! Er... well, yes, I guess I will... 
damn it, you're missing the point, here!" 

	"Whatever," Owl said with a shrug. "The point is that this Ami
Mizuno girl is safe. Can we move on? Jadeite's plans could be unfolding
as we speak!"

	"Yeah," Ryo admitted, his hand sliding under his leather jacket
and caressing the softly glowing yoroi crystal he had recovered from 
his cabin. "I guess." As the four left their hiding place, he looked 
back and sighed agian. "Watch out for yourself, Ami... stay safe."

**********

	Sailor Mars ducked below Nise Suiko's harpoon and kicked, her 
foot lashing out and glancing harmlessly off of his silver faceplate. 
Nise spun his weapon around, rapping its butt on the back of Rei's 
head and knocking her to the ground. 

	"You know, this is actually kind of fun! I'm glad I waited 
until I had finished my chores, first." Nise Suiko chuckled, and hopped
back as Rei slid forward and wrapped her legs around his own, tripping 
him up and hissing in pain as the poison coating his armour burned her 
exposed skin. 

	Tumbling out of the reach of his harpoon, Sailor Mars rose into
a crouch, grimacing and pointing at the creature as it began to 
struggle to its knees. "BURNING MANDALA!" 

	Nise Suiko fell back again, his armour charred and smoking. 
A pair of eyes glowed crimson in the dark pitch of his face mask as he 
lifted his trident. "You DO remember that I'm a double of Shin Mouri, 
right? Allow me to remind you what that means... SUPER WAVE-"

	Suddenly, a trident fell, knocking Nise Suiko's harpoon aside. 
"You ought to know better," Shin no Suiko gasped, "then to fight... on 
holy ground." 

	Nise Suiko sneered. "So the water lily finally came to the 
prom. Glad you could make it, Shin! And now : sayonara..." He balled 
his fist, and a trio of jagged claws snapped into place, ramming into 
the blue plates covering Shin's torso. Shin gasped and staggered 
back, clutching his abdomen and clenching his teeth as he thrust his 
trident into his double's stomach. The razor sharp outer tines snapped 
shut like a pair of scissors, and Nise Suiko fell to the ground in two 
different parts. 

	"Don't you remember anything?" The crimson double asked, as 
his two halves slid back together. "I can regenerate, you dolt!" 

	Rei growled. "Regenerate THIS. MARS FIRE SNIPER!" A bow of 
flame formed in her gloved hands, and launched a wave of fire at the 
creature as he stood. Nise Suiko howled and fell back through the 
doorway of the shrine, tumbling down the steps and barely rolling to 
the left in time to dodge the Suiko Yari, which slammed into the 
concrete where his head had been mere seconds before.

	Shin landed heavily on his feet and blinked the sweat out of 
his eyes. He could beat this foul creature, he knew it... if he could 
just figure out which of the five Nise Suikos to hit. Only one choice, 
he decided as his claws snapped into place against his wrist : take it 
in close enough to make no difference.

	Sailor Mars had barely made it out the door herself when 
Shin suddenly darted forward and wrapped his arms around the waist of 
his double, claws raising sparks as the raked against the chest and 
shoulders of Nise Suiko's yoroi. Shin's arm seemed to be moving 
methodically, no matter how often Nise struggled and fought back, 
scoring several long gashes along Shin's arms and helmet and even 
raising blood. Despite Shin's inhuman persistence, it became clear to 
Rei that he was slowing down. 

	"MARS FIRE SNIPER!" Once more, the arrow of flame shot from her
hands, blasting into the two Suikos and blowing them apart. Shin began 
to rise, then slumped and lay flat on the ground, motionless. On the 
other side of the courtyard, Nise Suiko lay in a growing puddle of 
thick red gel and gurgled rythmically. 

	"You little bitch," he rattled. "Don't go anywhere : I'll be 
killing you momentarily. Just need to wait for my ribs to knit... there
they go." With near infinite care, he rolled onto his front and placed 
his palms on the ground, levering himself back onto his knees. "Oh... 
L-sama, I just don't regenerate as fast as I used to..." Several more 
droplets of crimson slime dripped from the mouthpiece of his faceplate.
"Must be getting soft in my old age." His helmet snapped up, and the 
featureless eyeslot regarded Rei as she placed herself in front of 
Shin and lifted her hands in a classic defense kata. 

	"I won't let you hurt Shin again."

	"Hurt the water lily?" Nise chuckled, then coughed slightly. 
He was leaking goo from countless wounds covering his torso, and the 
cuts in his armour were blackened and smoking from the power of Rei's 
Fire Sniper. "Babe, you better start worrying about me hurting YOU."

	Behind her, Shin Mouri wearily sat up and rolled onto his 
side, grabbing Rei's leg and pulling himself up by using her as a 
ladder. His arms firmly around her neck, he lifted his helmet and 
glared back at his own face. "You... killed hundreds in Yamaguchi. The 
people, the wildlife... they may never recover." Roughly, he pushed 
Rei aside and forced himself to step forward and lift his claws 
menacingly. "You did all that for ME, not her. You want me. And here I 
am. Are you really going to waste time with a defenseless woman?"

	Nise Suiko groaned and lifted his own claws. "Nah. I'm feeling 
a bit perkier already. How about you, water lily?"

	"Never felt better in my life," Shin lied, and closed the gap 
between them by another step. "In fact, I could use a little exercise."

	"Good." Nise Suiko wiped his faceplate with one gauntlet, and 
drew the dagger behind his back with the other. "Hammer and tongs, 
then?"

	Shin nodded solemnly as he drew his own dagger. "Hammer and 
tongs. And damned be he that first cries 'hold, enough'."

	The two clashed again, slowly and sluggishly. Gone were the 
glittering flashes of steel and artistic arcs of blood, as well as the 
fast, ringing sound of blade on blade. Now, each man simply screwed 
the defense and tried to take the other down with him. Shin drove his 
dagger into Nise's ribs, and Nise gouged his claws into Shin's already 
injured shoulder. A knee to the groin, a headbutt to the face, and the 
two were down again, plunging their weapons into each other with 
mindless abandon. 

	Sailor Mars had had enough. With a yell, she leapt forward and 
forced the two men apart, jabbing her fingers into Nise's throat and 
forcing Shin back down to the ground. Nise gagged and clutched his 
throat as Mars stepped in and tossed him over her shoulder, ignoring 
the burning sensation of his poisons. There was a loud "Ooof", and 
Shin's double landed on his back, staring at the sky dazedly. 

	"Ah, screw it," he moaned, "I'm outta here." Before Rei could 
make another move, his body evaporated into mist and floated away on 
the breeze. "Round two goes to you, baby, but I'll be back! And next 
time, I'm bringing a few of my friends!"

	Rei watched as he left and cursed both loudly and with feeling.
Hoisting Shin Mouri was out of the question when he was still wearing 
the armour of Suiko, so this time she just rolled him into the river 
and left him there. As she had hoped, the armour of Suiko began 
reacting to its natural element, and soon his injuries had faded. 
Shin's eyes snapped back open, and he pulled off his helmet as he sat 
up and his head broke through the surface of the water. 

	"What happened, Rei? What are you doing?" He seemed to have 
recovered quite well from both the attacks and the venom. 

	Sailor Mars smiled as she sat on a nearby rock. "What I should 
have done back in Yamaguchi, Shin." Reaching into her fuku, she 
produced a communicator and activated it. "This is Sailor Mars. Can 
anybody recieve me? This is Sailor Mars with an emergency message. 
ANY Inner or Outer Senshi, please respond!"

	"He wants to bring friends next time?" Rei explained to the 
boy in the river. "Then so will we."

**********

	"You see," Jadeite explained to Usagi as she sat dejectedly 
next to a badly battered Nise Suiko at the foot of his throne, "this 
little gem of an idea started when Nise and I were chatting one day. I 
said to him that he was pretty cool, and HE said to ME that he was so 
cool, it was a shame there weren't more of him! So I figured : Hey! 
Who am I to disagree?"

	Wiseman shimmered into place, the light from his crystal globe 
slowly ebbing to a soft glow. "It is done, my liege. Culled from Sailor
Moon's memories, conjoined by the hair samples we have collected, 
infused with my own dark powers..."

	"Yeah, yeah, baste lightly and roast at 350 degrees..." Jadeite
rolled his eyes and snorted. "Let's just get on with the roll call, 
okay? Save the details for people willing to pretend they're 
listening." 

	Wiseman ground his teeth. "Very well." He waved one arm, and 
four dark figures stepped forward. "Lord Jadeite, allow me to introduce
YOUR Storm Senshi."

	In the lead was a girl with waist length black hair, wearing a 
blood red sailor fuku with white bows and gloves. "Sailor Firestorm," 
Wiseman said, and she bowed, an inverted pentagram forming behind her 
in flames. 
	
	"Talk about a hot chick!" Jadeite murmured, and clapped. "I 
like her. I think I'm in love..."

	Next was a girl with short blue hair and a devilish grin, 
wearing a navy fuku with light blue bows and gloves. "Sailor Icestorm,"
Wiseman introduced her, and she blew a kiss to her audience, winking. 
Frost seemed to emanate from her body and form an icy web throughout 
the throne room.

	"She's giving me shivers!" Nise said with an evil grin. "This 
is going to be intersting..."

	A tall brunette in a deep green fuku with gold bows and white 
gloves stepped forward. "I'll speak for myself," she sneered, 
interrupting Wiseman. "The name's Sailor Thunderstorm. Not very 
original, in my opinion, but at least it has a certain charm..." She 
snapped her fingers, and a crackling tiger made of lightning writhed 
around her. 

	"Quite electrifying, wouldn't you say, Princess?" Jadeite 
smirked and stroked Sailor Moon's long blond ponytails. "And just 
think! We never could have done it without you..."

	"And in case you haven't figured it out yet," the blond girl 
in the back said sarcastically, "I'm Sailor Lightstorm." She wore an 
orange fuku with black bows and gloves, and smiled coldly as a curtain 
of stars swirled around her. "And I hate Venus as I hate hell, all 
Montagues, and thee, Sailor Moon." 

	"Is this it?" Jadeite asked Nise Suiko behind his hand. "What 
about the other ones we had cooking?"	

	"Wiseman says they're not all done yet, Jadeite." Nise Suiko 
answered, favouring his heavily bandaged body. "My wounds won't heal 
for another day or two, and by then he plans to have finished the 
last clones. Until then, we'll let these four introduce themselves to 
the Inner Senshi. Give me a day, and I'll give the Senshi a fight they 
won't forget. Particularly," he added under his breath, "a certain 
little priestess I owe some pain..." 

	Jadeite grinned. "Good to see you back on track, Nise Suiko! 
I'd be lost without my general, especially seeing as how you have 
four new elite soldiers to... groom. And four more on the way, ne?"

	Usagi stared listlessly at the four Storm Senshi and hoped 
one last time that her friends would somehow be able to forgive her... 
if they survived. Ignored and unnoticed in the corners, Wiseman watched
her and began to chuckle. That poor girl, he thought, doubtless 
counting on the ginzuisho to be her final weapon. He couldn't wait to 
see her face when she tried to use it... and it failed. After all, to 
one who had once negated, even manipulated the Samurai Trooper's own 
yoroi, such tricks were child's play, and he couldn't have her 
inadvertantly ruining his OWN plans, could he?

	He looked at the new Senshi, his greatest creations, and felt 
the urge to grin as he thought about the other doubles merrily 
brewing under his watchful eye. No, he couldn't let her ruin things 
for him, not when he was just getting started... 

TO BE CONTINUED...