"What can I help you with... uh...?" Ami squinted her eyes to make out the figure in her hazy vision.

"Just call me 'Sage', my princess." A soft smile went to the man's face, still blurred from the Mercutian princess' gaze.

A nod escapes from Ami as she remains seated upon her bed.

"What I tell you, you must remember, it is of no minor importance." Sage stated solemnly, no look of humor intruded upon his features. Which confused a still sleepy princess, who nodded her reply.

"I found within texts, that one day this empire will fall. Upon that day, the Sailor Scouts shall be sent to the future to defend the Earth from the same evil force that destroyed this kingdom." Ami tried to slow the man, but he continued his speech. "Princess Serenity will win against this evil that comes from the outer reaches of this system... but the true danger will lie within earth itself."

Sage broke from his thoughts for a moment, which gave the confused scout a chance to soak in this new information. "You speak of the Negaverse, sir?"

"For the first threat, yes. But, they are of minor consequence."

"Minor you say? You foretell the end of the Silver Millenium, and you say it is minor?" Ami retorted in a rare fit of anger.

"Listen well Ami, my time here is short... One day a demon will arise from the fires of the nine hells, and send its minions to collect the souls of the innocent. The Sailor Scouts must be prepared to battle this monstrosity."

Ami looked in shock at the man, "Why do you tell me of this?"

A cryptic smile came to the man's face as he shed his displacement spell to show his true form. An old man, eyes stitched shut, with a pentagram burned into his face. "Because you are the avatar of Mercury, the herald god." Then the old man disappeared in a spiral of blue-green fire.

"Get back here you pink hared creep!" the voice of the loud pigtailed martial artist rang out. Obvious by her appearance, it was the one known as Ranma Saotome.

In front of the great Saotome, was the man known as Herb, holding what was known as the Kaisufuu*.

Ranma continued to move towards the pink-haired man.

"Give up Saotome!" Herb yelled back as he upped the pace to the gaining redhead. "You'll never get the Kaisufuu!"

"That's what you think ya Jerk!" with a last burst of speed, Ranma jumped at Herb and sent an elbow to his back, which made Herb dislodge the kettle from his hands through the sharp pain.

The pink-haired martial artist turned and began an attack, sending a volley of punches towards Ranma's chest and stomach. Which were easily blocked and countered by Ranma.

The fight continued like this for a while, neither gave nor gained much ground, until a shout from a forgotten figure shattered the fighting frenzy.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ryoga yelled as he sent his finger into the kaisufuu. The move activated the item's special breaking point which in turn shattered the offending object into hundreds of tiny pieces. The destruction released a backlash of magical energy that sent the bandana clad martial artist up to fifty feet backward and through a couple trees. All the while a smile encompassed his face which radiated pure joy at finally getting his revenge.

Ranma and Herb stopped their fight in shock, as the magical blue energy erupted into the smiling and ecstatic Ryoga, the demented and eternally lost boy being blown away from where the kaisufuu had been.

An angry snarl reached Ranma's lips and through the openings of her teeth. A bright red aura circled around her, which would make even Happosai cringe away from the display of power.

Ranma's chi was never yet used as a weapon. Such training in Chi throwing was not yet given to the young Saotome, but that didn't quite give the pink-haired Herb any comfort. A martial artist, not in control of his emotions, could decimate mountains without remorse, at least until his or her anger finally left him. And, being the smart boy that Herb was, he made a very hasty retreat, away from the display of pure hatred that had developed on the pig-tailed girl's face.

Ryoga had no such self-preservation motives. He was way too busy enjoying this victory over his long time rival and getting to his feet from the blast. His mouth still plastered with a sheepish grin, displaying his enormous fangs that would mark him a vampire had it not been the fact it is daylight and he was still outside, instead of asleep in his coffin.

Ranma slipped towards her rival, clenching and unclenching her fist as the agonizing last moments of the kaisufuu played and replayed in her mind.

Forcing herself to focus on the battle to come, Ranma's gaze bore heavily upon the bandana-clad warrior. "Ryoga you filthy pig... you have no idea what you have just done!" Ranma's voice was cool and emotionless.

Without further word, Ranma flung herself at Ryoga, sending a volley of punches and kicks faster than Ryoga had time to intercept. Each harder and faster than Ryoga anticipated, leaving cuts and bruises over his body.

"It is time to end the games you've played... this feud is over! Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma's yell penetrated the umbrella bareing martial artist as the ultra fast punches penetrated his defenses. With each punch a sickening crack came to rib, leg an arm... sending agonizing pain through Ryoga's body.

Finally, as Ranma's punches cease, Ryoga fell crumpled to the ground. With a grace unbefitting what has just occurred, Ranma swooped her head down to Ryoga's face. "You explain to Akane's face why I am still a girl, why I had to die by the hands of my mother on something so frivolous as a bread feud and a duel you were late four days for..."

Ranma's voice turned to sheets of ice as she turned from Ryoga. "I thought you had more honor than to kick a man while he is down... You have no honor, so my word has been released... when I get to the Tendo's, Akane will know how perverted her piggy really is."

Ryoga's face paled more than it had already done, as Mousse finally found his way to the area of battle. He'd been trying without much luck to find the three martial artists, but finally he had caught up, if not too late.

Ranma raised her gaze from Ryoga to Mousse, giving a half-hearted grin. "Tend to this treacherous pig, I'm going home..." with the last few words, she turned tail and walked deeper into the forest, leaving behind a fallen Ryoga, a befuddled Mousse, and a dumfounded Herb.

Ami Mizuno awoke with a start from a dream. She could only remember fuzzy details, something about great evil, the god Mercury, and something about preparation. Further speculation on the matter proved useless to the aspiring young student.

Such dreams were not uncommon, after all she had been through, such dreams were common place. A few moments more of thought yielded just a tad more. She remembered being told of the end of the silver millenium, and the dangers ahead.

A sigh escaped her lips as she turned over and looks out the window. Her blue eyes gazed over the still sparkling night sky. Taking a moment to check her alarm, she found the time to be 3 A.M.

Suppressing a grumble she laid herself down upon the bed, organizing her thoughts. Tomorrow she would have to speak to Luna and Artemes, maybe even ask Rei for a fire reading in hopes to uncover why she had that dream, and why it presented itself now?

The earth shook and rumbled. A tree fell as the ground cracked and broke apart, wielding a fire that shot forth above the canopy that spread across the western edge of Tokyo.

A growl escaped the depths of the newly formed fissure, ending with a loud howl as a beast, which looked much like a dog, but with hardened skin and spikes much alike to a dinosaur of long ago.

An angry snarl escaped the monstrous creature's maul, as greenish-yellow ooze slipped from its mouth and into a tree, dissolving it almost as soon as the substance hits.

A few moments later two more leapt from the quickly enlarging hole, howling at the crescent moon which lumbered overhead.

After a few moments of howling, their black, soulless eyes searched their surrounding. Taking a whiff of the sulfur rich air, their angry snarls continued to raise above the clouds of smoke and ash that once presented itself as grass and twig.

When their gaze finally reached the busy lights of an awakening Tokyo. Their leg muscles constricted and they ran towards the overpopulated city as if their tails were caught in hellfire, or the fires of whatever hell the grotesque dogs were borne from.

* Kaisufuu- is a kettle that would cure the effects of the chiisuiton(a bucket that traps Jusenkyou victims in their cursed forms).