#	include <stddisclaimer2.h>

	GENOM presents
	A Hopeful Discordian production of
	A St. Suika Roberts not-film

	Sailor Moon 1/6
	episode 4

	The camera looks down on a deserted street and a tall dark haired girl
standing in front of the window of a closed bakery.  The girl has a braid down
to about mid-back, and a very slim, some would say boyish, figure.  At her feet
is a dark cat with a light mark on her forehead.  

	The two are conversing, but the voices are too low to be heard.  The
girl reaches into a pants pocket, pulls something out, and changes.  Her hair
fades to a pale gold color, her outfit vanishing and reforming into a short
skirted sailor suit, somehow managing not to show any of her skin in the
process.  Her hair gathers itself into odango, growing rapidly at the same
time, stopping when the twin tails drape near her ankles, and she seems a few
centimeters taller than before.  Her reflection blinks in the bakery window,
and she gives her hair a little tug before shrugging.

	`Let's go,' she tells the cat, who is staring in shock.

OP:  same as before.  It could be worse; I could copy it over to each of these.
Maybe I will ^_^

	`Is it that scary?'  I ask Luna, amused by her strange look.  Luna
shakes her head a tiny bit, so I smile at her, then bound off.

	I hit the street Uranai House is on, absorb most of my momentum with my
knees, and throw myself again, at an angle to my original trajectory.  I take
most of the shock easily enough, but bounce once in front of the door.  Luna
comes scrambling up as I open the door, following me inside.

	The crowd of children look up as I enter, the lady of the house smiling
slightly as she steps forward.

	I set myself into a silly pose, then start ranting, `I am the lovely
sailor suited warrior for love and justice, Sailor Moon!  Fortune telling is
for the contemplation of one's future, not it's corruption!  In the name of the
moon, I will punish you!'

	She stands there blinking at me until I finish my little speech, then
starts to order the crowd to attack me.  She stops mid-word when my elbow
catches her across the forehead, and I feel the monitor spell shatter.  I touch
down behind her, catch her across the chest with a side-kick when she turns,
and the remaining spells break, the children falling limply to the floor.  I
pick the groggy girl up, settle her carefully across my shoulders, and start
towards the door.

	`Sailor . . .' Luna cries.

	I'm already in motion, leaping backward, touching down for an instant
to redirect, then my heel hits the blond haired man behind me across the
temple.  The warp behind him closes, and I stroke the girl's face to calm her,
watching the grey-clad form on the ground.  He rolls, gets to his feet with no
indication of martial arts training, and drops again, the sole of my booted
foot smashing into his solar plexus.  He shakes his head, and I kick him
lightly with one toe.

	`Who are you, and what do you want?'  I can feel the girls surprise,
mixed with an inexplicable hero worship, and she stays limp, not fighting my
hold.

	`I am Jadite, general of the Dark Kingdom, and you have made a grave
mistake!'

	`I'm sure.  Why are you attacking people?'  This feels wrong, like I'm
picking on weaklings, being a bully.  They are stronger than most people, very
strong, in fact, and dangerous, but it doesn't make it feel any better.

	Jadite shakes his head again, so I prod him with one toe.  `We . . .'
he suddenly shrieks, curling into a foetal ball, then vanishes.  It looks like
his superiors are as nasty as he is.  Ick.

	It could be worse.  I could be fighting people out to save the world
from some menace that they won't tell me about, or they could be nice about it.
Either one would probably make me feel even worse about picking on such a lot
of weaklings.

	`You OK?'  I ask the girl draped across my shoulders.

	`Yeah.'

	`Think you can walk?'

	`Yeah.'  I set her down, steady her by the shoulders until she has her
feet under her, and then lead her out the door.

	`Let's get a little way away from here, then I'll tell you what's going
on around here, OK?'

	`Please.'  Luna scurries to keep up with us for a moment, then I take
pity on her, picking her up and settling her on my shoulder.  We set out
towards Nerima, an hours trudge for most people, I'd imagine.  We make good
time, up until we arive at Shinjuku park, and my new companion stops to
people-watch.  I lean back against a convenient light-post, content to watch
the young person.

	She has the most remarkable expression on her face as she notices the
different groups of people in the park.  For a little while she watches a group
of old people, listening to their conversation, which is full of complaints
about how things are now, how the youth have changed, the problems with the
government, how their joints ache.  Despite their tone, it amuses me that they
are all fairly happy with everything.  Next she focuses on a group of girls,
about twelve or so, who are busyly complaining about school, their parents,
life in general.  A brace of young boys run past, shouting happily, the one in
the lead challenging the one following to catch him.

	She turns to look at me, `Is complaining a sign that one is happy?'

	I blink at her, never having contemplated the possibility, `It may well
be so.  I know it indicates that the complainer feels it safe to complain.'

	`Safe.'  She looks contemplative.  `I don't think I've ever been that
before.'

	I watch her as she turns back to the others, wondering how they know
that I'm trustworthy.  I can feel them, their ki, and tell how far I can trust
them, but they have no such skills, do they?  It would be an advantage in their
Dark Kingdom, and would have spread quickly, since those without it would have
far lower reproductive success than those with it.  I people watch for a little
while with her, amused by the way I'm quite invisible.  It isn't even the
polite "I didn't see you, therefore I don't need to be offended" kind of
invisible I've occasionally been in the past, but honest to goodness, they
don't see me, despite the fact that I'm standing, leaning up against a pole, in
the middle of a park, wearing a ridiculously short skirt and my not terribly
femme male face and flat chest.  It's almost like I'm not here.  I'll have to
try this on some of my friends, and see what they say.

	`We should be going.  I have friends who will worry.'  She reluctantly
gathers herself up, and we start walking again.

			SM 1/6

	`Yoush.  We're out of the combat zones.'  I do a final check, to make
sure no one that is out of range of my combat senses is in line of sight, then
detransform.  My once again braided hair just barely dangles above the ground,
so I guess I'm not actually any taller as Sailor Moon.  I turn to the girl,
`Saotome Ranma, pleased to meet you.'

	`I am called Baamu.'  She smiles at me, the inhumanly open expression
matching her inner joy.

	I smile in return, basking in the pure, innocent affection.  We walk
the final four blocks to Tendouke in silence.

	`Tadaima!'

	`Ranma-kun!'  Kasumi greets me with her normal good cheer.

	`Sensei!  Ami-chan called, she was worried about you.'  Molga-kun walks
around the building, a faint sheen of sweat indicating that she's been
practicing very hard.

	`Yeah.  Could you call her back, tell her that I checked up on
Umino-kun and Sailor Moon rescued him?'  Molga-kun looks at Baamu-kun, then
turns and walks towards the phone.

	`Ranma-kun, who is this?'

	`Sorry, Kasumi-san, this is Baamu-kun, a new friend of mine.'

	`Pleased to meet you, Baamu-kun.'

	`The pleasure is all mine, Kasumi-san.'  Baamu-kun bows very deeply,
and Kasumi looks ever so slightly embarassed.  I step into the kitchen, and
pour a glass of cold water.  I carefully untie the length of dragon-whisker
from my tail, and breath a sigh of relief when nothing happens.  I pour the
cold water over my head, and stand there contemplating a good method for
dealing with my little problem, mainly that my tail is now dragging on the
ground.  Molga-kun walks in, and I know what to do.

	`Molga-kun, grab my tail at about ankle level and hand it to me,
please.'  She does so, and I pull a knife out of the drawer, slash the last
fifteen centimeters off my tail, and tie the dragon-whisker back around it.
`Thanks.'

	`What happened?'  Molga-kun indicates my tail.

	`I transformed as a guy, and that untied my seal.' I indicate the
slight glitter of my dragon-whisker.  `So my hair grew for a short while, and I
think the transformation or something burned out the dragon-whisker rice soup I
ate in China.  So I don't have to worry about that anymore, which is good.'  I
look at the ground.  `I did, however, realize that I've a slight problem, so
I'm gonna go on a short training-trip this evening, I'd like you to come with
me.'

	`Of course, Sensei.'

			SM 1/6

	`So, Sensei, what is the problem, and what are we going to do for
training?'

	`I realized that I've got a real problem hitting people who are weaker
than me, even when they desperately need it.  So we're gonna wander around
looking for people who need to get pounded, and pound 'em.'

	`How do you know someone needs to get pounded?'

	`Well,' this has me stumped for a moment, I just _know_, `Well, Jadite
needs pounding, right?'

	`Right.'

	`People who are being really mean to other people need pounding.  This
means people who are robbing other people, people who are threatening other
people for no good reason, and so forth.'

	`Sounds like an outline, at least.  People like that one?'

	`Which?' I ask before I notice.  `Oh, yes, I think you're right.'  I
smile, taking the forty meters in two large bounces and a pair of smaller
ones, landing behind the young man in question.

	`Argle?' he says intellegently when I tap him on the back.

	`It really is considered inappropriate to bother people who don't know
how to defend themselves.  Maybe you should pick on someone a little smaller?'

	He turns around, the silly little razor-knife brandished.  `Yeah?  What
if I don't wanna?'

	`Then I'll pound on you a little bit.  I'd personally advise giving up
this line of work.  I can help you find a job if you need one, I'm pretty
sure.'

	`Um.' he steadys himself, then lunges with the knife leading.  I take
it out of his hand, snap the blade off, and hand it back.  He stares at it for
a moment, then slides it into his pocket.

	`Well?'

	`I think I should, indeed, find another line of work.  Um, bye!' he
runs off, and I let him.

	`Are you OK?' I turn to the girl he was trying to rob; I hope for his
sake that was all he wanted to do.

	`Yeah, I think so.' her voice is steady; Molga-kun has one arm around
her shoulders, and the girl is clinging a little bit.

	`Would you like one of us to walk you home, or help you find  a
policeman?'

	The girl stands there for a moment, her groceries in one hand and
Molga-kun's shoulder in the other, then replies, `Yeah, home would be nice, if
it wouldn't be a bother?'

	`Baamu-kun?  You can come out.' I tell our shadow.  Molga-kun looks
abashed for an instant as Baamu-kun steps out of the shadows.  `Could you walk
this young woman home?'

	`Walk her to her house?'

	`Yep.'

	The young woman in question is calming, Baamu-kun's name having
startled her for a moment, it seems.  She has the glassy look they always have
when I rescue someone before any real damage has been done, and thankfully has
transfered it to Baamu-kun.

	`You sure this is OK?'  I ask the girl, who nods a little weakly.

	`It's fine.'  She smiles at me shyly, `I'm Kanzaki Michiru.'

	`Saotome Ranma,' I reply, and move to start on my companions when
Molga-kun cuts me off.

	`I'm called Saotome Molga.'  She doesn't smile, but her whole face
brightens with pride.

	`Saotome Baamu.'  Baamu-kun indicates herself, then reaches out to rest
one hand lightly on Michiru-san's shoulder.

	`Shall we continue?'  I ask Molga-kun quietly, as I start off.
Baamu-kun is talking softly to Michiru-san behind us.

	`Let's.'

	`And you see my problem, do you not?  My first reaction is to overwhelm
and convince, even when hitting first might be a better option.  If you've any
ideas. . .'

	`I'll let you know, sensei.'

	`And why'd you give Saotome as your family name?  We went though such
trouble getting that cover identity of yours to at least hold mud,'

	`Well, I like this one better.'

	I look at her through my eyelashes, then continue looking for trouble.

	After a short time, we find a little more.  About six blocks away from
where I notice  it, a guy is beating up on a girl.  I jerk my chin towards the
disturbance, then head towards it.

	I stop on a rooftop behind the guy to listen.

	`You stupid Bitch!'  The guy emphasizes his rudeness with a slap,
knocking the girl down, `How could you let something like this happen?'  He is
shaking with unfeigned anger, the girl cowering on the ground, her hands over
her middle, tears streaming down her face.  He continues when she makes no move
to reply, `You are going to get it aborted before it starts to show, or I'm
gonna kill you.'  The girl shakes her head, curling into a tighter ball, her
terror a dark stain upon the street.

	The guy pulls back one leg to kick her, but I've seen enough.  He drops
to the ground, his head snapping around, after I kick him lightly to the face.
He is down for the count, so I turn to the frightened girl.  `Are you. . .'  I
trail off before I finish the stupid question, kneeling next to the girl.  She
latches onto me, wrapping me firmly in her arms, crying against my shoulder.
After a while she calms down a bit, sobbing brokenly against my shoulder.

	`Who is he?' I indicate the man still laying unconcious in the street.

	The girl shakes her head and doesn't answer.

	I feel her ki, wonder about the strangeness of it for a moment.  `Your
boyfriend?' the girl quakes in my arms.  Molga-kun drops to the ground behind
her, starts rubbing her back softly.  `Or something else?  I assume he's upset
'cause you're pregnant, right?'

	`Something else,' the girl's voice shakes, `and yes.'

	I finally place her accent, which matches her coloration, `You're from
India, right?' she nods, `Husband or employer?'

	`Employer,' she mutters, shame radiating off her, and it suddenly hits.

	`Pimp.'  She nods, looking up at me in shock at the tone of my voice.
I leave her to Molga-kun.  I may find the thought of being a sex-worker totally
abhorent, but that is no excuse to abuse them.  Pimps.  I crack my knuckles
before grabbing the unconcious man.  I peel his eyelids open one at a time; his
pupils don't dialate at the same rate.  Good, a concussion.  I feel his ki, jab
a half-dozen pressure points, and force him back into the land of the living.
The way I used doesn't fix anything, and is remarkably painful.

	`Aghr!' he screeches, then blinks slowly, `What?' his voice blurry with
pain.

	`You're a pimp.'

	`Yeah, good money, free ' he starts muzzily, and I cut him off by
flicking my finger lightly against his forehead.

	`How many girls you got?'

	`Five?' he blinks, `No, six.'  I force the rage aside for a moment;
killing him right now will do the other girls little good.

	`Gimme a hundred thousand each,'

	I blink, turn to look down at the Indian girl, ask softly, `He have
your passport?'  She nods, `How 'bout the other girls?'

	`Two of them.' she replies softly.

	`The girls's passports, and your word of honor you won't let yourself
be involved in this kind of thing ever again, and I'll let you stagger off.
Deal?'

	The man nods muzzily, `Six hunnert thousand each, three passports, n
m'word of honor.  Yeah, sure.'

	`Where are the passports?'

	He almost smiles, then winces in pain, `Sfty depost box.  Key'sh on
ring.'  I fish his keys out, and he helpfully points out one.  `Lotsh money
there too.  Rent'sh paid for three monthsh.'   I let go of his clothes,
stepping back as I fish the key off.  I stuff the ring back into his pocket.
`Aish shwear on my honor and mysh anshestorsh ashesh t'get out ofsh bein' a
pimp.'  He claps his hands twice, to help the gods notice his oath, then
collapses forward again, unconsious.  I note the location, then turn back to
Molga-kun and the Indian girl.

	`Well, lets get you back to your appartment,' the Indian girl nods,
`What's your name?'

	`Mahala.'

			SM 1/6

	`Well, I just scared your pimp so badly that he's getting out of the
business.  I don't think I'll be able to support you, but I'll try not to hurt
you either.  The rent here seems to be paid for a couple months yet, anything
you earn is yours, and I hope you can get out of this business.'

	`Who's gonna be the muscle?  It doesn't happen often, but occasionally
I have customers who refuse to pay.'  A tall blonde woman states, looking at
her feet.

	`Tell me and I'll pound 'em for you, I guess.'  I look around the room,
over the other five girls, idlely noting the way Mahala is clinging to
Molga-kun.  `Any other questions?'

	`When will we get our passports back?' the speaker is a pretty young
girl, who speaks with a VietNamese accent.

	`I'm gonna check on the safety deposit box tomorrow.' I scan the room
one more time, then look to Mahala and Molga-kun.

	`You want her to stay?'  I ask the Indian girl, who's probably older
than me.

	`Yes.  If that's OK with you,' she finishes, turning to look at
Molga-kun.

	`Fine.'

---
Log:
1999 May 30:	started
1999 June 3:	log added
1999 July 16:	draft finished.
2002 July 27:	edit
2010 July 10:	tiny edits