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 2 : HOMECOMINGS 
            
         A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over

             by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)


Part 4 : All Fall Down 

	Ryo Sanada opened one eye and looked right into the face of 
Ami Mizuno. He was not complaining, as the face of Ami Mizuno was 
something he considered himself a study of, these days. Blinking a 
few times in confusion, he wondered how she wound up in his bed, 
again not that he was complaining... 

	Come to think of it, he thought as he looked around blearily, 
how did all these shrubs get in his bedroom? And why did his bed feel 
a lot like a large tree root? Ryo considered that for a moment and 
shrugged as he closed the eye again. Maybe if he went back to sleep, 
these things would sort themselves out, and leave him alone. 

	Ami moaned slightly and rolled on top of him. THAT woke him 
up VERY quickly. She was making a strange - but cute - purring sound, 
and buried her head in his chest. She was still asleep, he realized. 
Damn it all. With almost inhuman care, he tried to snake himself out 
from under the girl. Some situations are just too dangerous for a guy 
to enjoy, especially if certain parties were to wake up... 

	Standing, he brushed the dirt off of his jeans and picked a 
few stray twigs out of his hair. His mouth tasted like something 
furry had crawled in it and died. He was stiff and sore and felt like 
half of the Dynasty had been using him as a punching bag. Slowly, 
the events of the past day or so began to make themselves known to 
his brain. After a few seconds, he remembered that he wasn't in his 
room, and a few minutes after that, he remembered why. 

	"Hey!" Ryo walked a few feet over to where his pet tiger 
Byakuen lay snoring. "You stupid tiger. I ask one favor from you, and 
you can't even stay awake long enough to make sure those... whatever 
the hell they weres don't kill us in our sleep?" What started as a kick
somehow turned into a gentle nudge by the time it came in contact with 
the large cat's left flank. "Wake up! Dumb tiger."

	"Hmmmm... just one more minute, mother... I was having such 
a wonderful dream about... Ryo?" Ami slowly blinked her eyes open and 
watched as the Yoroiden of Rekka tried to kick his tiger awake. 

	"Glad to hear it, Ami. You can tell me all about it while 
we walk." Ryo finally gave up and shrugged as the large white tiger 
snorted and rolled over... on his foot. "AUGH! Get off me, you big 
stupid stripey fuzzball!" 

	Byakuen, who of course had actually been awake the whole time, 
made of point of yawning and stretching before rising to its feet. 

**********

	Soon, Ryo was leading the way through the underbrush, smiling 
and whistling a cheery tune. After a good night's sleep, he felt great 
again! The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and if it weren't 
for the threat of giant killer robots leaping out of the trees and 
trying to murder them, this would almost feel like a date. 

	The walk went rather quickly, considering that it was nine 
miles through the forest. Ami stayed as quiet as she could, and tried 
to ignore the constant throbbing ache in her shoulder. Without taking 
the time to thoroughly examine it, all she could say for certain was 
that it was very badly injured. Fortunately, the sharp pain of the 
night before had faded to a simple aching, which was easier for her to 
ignore. 

	"Do you realize," Ryo said for no apparent reason, "that this 
is the first time we've been alone together for this long without 
being trapped in a giant gem by some demon lord?" In response to Ami's 
strange look, he shrugged. "Just thought I'd bring it up..."

	"How can you be so unconcerned, Ryo? Those robots could attack 
us at any time, they seem able to negate your yoroi's power, and for 
all we know, they could be attacking our friends even as we speak!" 

	"Well, yeah... but follow my logic here. Last year, I was 
brought to Shinjuku, met four strangers, and told that we had to save 
the entire world from an invading demon army. Did I mention that most 
of Japan's population was missing at the time? So anyway, the five of 
us, along with a girl and a kid we met on the way, are off to save the 
world." Ryo ducked under a branch and sneezed as the tip of Byakuen's 
tail brushed under his nose. 

	"About a month later, those four strangers are my best friends,
and we've all been eaten by a giant demon lord named Arago. But that's 
okay, because I transformed into the most powerful being in existence 
and destroyed him. Until, of course, he came back, and I had to go 
into an entirely different DIMENSION and destroy him AGAIN." 

	Ryo smiled now, a little bitterly. "We actually think we've 
earned some time off, for once, and something called The Dark One 
starts making trouble. Next thing I know, you and I are trapped in a 
big piece of rock candy. We get out, I transform into the most 
powerful being in the universe AGAIN, and destroy him. Along the way, 
it turns out that in a former life I lived on the planet Mars, and 
apparently used to be royalty." Ryo stopped and took a deep breath. 

	"I hate to break it to you, but this is just another day at 
the office as far as I'm concerned." 

	Ami nodded. Now that she thought about it, being killed and 
brought back to life by the power of the Silver Imperium Crystal, to 
say nothing of the whole Moon Kingdom affair, did make a few robots 
seem a bit... bland, by comparison.  

**********

	Not long afterwards, Ami and Ryo (and Byakuen) had arrived at 
a simple and large log cabin. It was a cheerful place, nestled 
securely in a clearing with a small Jeep parked nearby. A small trail, 
just barely wide enough for the vehicle, wandered off into the 
distance. Ryo smiled and Byakuen raced up onto the porch. 

	"Well, here we are. Home sweet home." Reaching into his 
pocket, Ryo pulled out a set of keys and jingled them as he walked up 
to the front door. "Looks like Dad is back from safari, too. We're 
lucky : I don't think the police would believe us alone." The door 
swung slightly as Ryo placed his hand on it. "Hmmm... unlocked."

	"The police?" 

	Ryo turned and looked at Ami as the door creaked open. "Well, 
sure! I mean, these aren't demon lords or youma we're dealing with. 
The police can track down whoever sent those robots and arrest them. 
There have to be laws against using things like that in the middle 
of Tokyo, right? And I know attempted murder is illegal." 

**********

	The cabin was empty. Ryo could tell that much the second he 
walked into the kitchen. There was a pile of bags by the door, which 
he vaguely recognized as being his father's, and a full kettle sat 
on the counter, next to an empty cup with a dry teabag in it. The 
kettle was cold, and Ryo tried to quell the uneasy feeling rising from 
his stomach. Brushing off Ami's questions, he stormed out of the 
kitchen and raced upstairs. The beds were still unmade, as they had 
been when Ryo left yesterday. His sock still swung lazily from the 
open drawer, and nothing had been touched... but his window was 
broken. 

	"Okay," he admitted, "I am starting to get just a little 
creeped out here..." 

	Ami walked into his room, eyebrow raised. She had just thought 
of something... "Ryo, do you even OWN a computer?"

	"Ami, you've been tutoring me in remedial computing for three 
weeks now." Ryo's voice was distant, as if he wasn't really paying 
attention to her. "Do you actually think I'd be so ignorant if I owned 
a computer?" 

	"You mean you don't own a computer? Then why would you sign 
up for a remedial computing course?"

	Ryo shrugged. "I don't know... the blue-haired girl at the 
sign-up desk looked kind of cute, and I had nothing better to do all 
summer. Why do you ask?" 

	Ami was a little bit flustered at that answer. Well, she 
thought, that explained his incompetence, at least... and what had 
been distracting him so much. She blushed. 

**********

	About an hour later, Ryo reached the conclusion he had been 
avoiding since he opened the door. "They've got him. Whoever they 
are, they've kidnapped my father." His voice was deceptively calm as 
he pulled out his yoroi and examined it. "They all must die," he 
said in a tone most people reserve for discussing the weather. 

	Ami groaned as she lifted her arm to lean on a nearby counter. 
That shoulder wasn't getting any better... "I suppose we should call 
the police now, then." 

	"Police? Police my ASS! These creeps took my FATHER, Ami! I'm 
going to track them down and get him back... personally!" Ryo clutched 
his yoroi and shook it, a red glow spilling out from between his 
fingers. "This is personal now, Ami. This is a deliberate attack at 
the Yoroiden in general, and me in particular. You can help me with 
this, or you can stay out of my way." 

	Ami considered that for quite a while. She'd have to be insane 
to actually help Ryo on his stupid, macho quest for personal honor. 
The right thing, the SMART thing to do was to get as far away from him 
as humanly possible, if he couldn't be dissuaded. And she knew for a 
fact that entire armies couldn't dissuade Ryo Sanada when he set his 
mind on something. 

	Option number two : she could turn him in. Phone the police, 
and have him put under protective custody for his own good. And, of 
course, he would hate her forever. Ryo was a rather hot-headed boy, 
and he seemed the type who really knew how to hold grudges. 

	Option three : do as he said, and just back off. After all, 
Ryo was a grown man, and he certainly didn't need her to mother him... 
despite her own wishes. Although, if she did that, he might get hurt...

	Ami sighed. "Let me get my communicator, and I'll call the 
other Sailor Senshi."

**********

	After several tries, Makoto finally answered. Her hair was a 
bit disheveled, and Ami was afraid she might have woken the other 
girl up. Although by now it was well past noon...

	"Ami!" Makoto cried out happily. "How are you doing, girl? 
Most of the other Senshi are out looking for you : Usagi got 
worried when you didn't come home!" 

	"I'm fine, Makoto. Ryo Sanada is the one in trouble : last 
night we were attacked by..."

	"A group of robots? About seven feet tall, silver, sort of 
look like something from a bad science fiction movie?" Makoto turned 
and looked at someone off screen. "We were right," she muttered, "they 
went after Ryo and Ami, too." A pause. "Well, I don't know! I'll ask 
them! Ami, did these robots do anything odd to Ryo's yoroi?"

	"Yes, they made it malfunction somehow." 

	"I thought so. Yeah, we've run into these things once already. 
We think they're trying to steal the Yoroiden's crystals - quit it! - ,
so just hang tight and - I'm serious! I'm trying to talk to Ami! - 
we'll be up there as soon as possible." Makoto began to giggle. 
"Jupiter out." 

**********

	The train finally pulled into Tokyo Station and a small but 
dignified group of people disembarked. First, a tall and hearty old man
dressed in hakama. If not for his grey hair and the slight wrinkles in 
the corners of his eyes, he would not have looked a day over forty. 
He was, in fact, nearly twice that age. Next came a slim and proper 
woman wearing a kimono and with her black hair done up in a bun. She 
carried herself in the manner of a woman who had never had to raise 
her voice... because she ALWAYS got her own way. 

	After these two came the children, each carrying their own 
baggage. The only male in the group was both slim and tall, and his 
fine features were far too similar to the woman's for him to be 
anything but her son. His blond hair was like a mop, and covered one 
eye. He carried a few suitcases and one duffel bag. Then came another 
girl, smiling wickedly. She wore a business suit, and her dark hair 
was cut short. She carried a bokken, on which hung several bags. She 
was at least a head taller than the boy, and clearly a few years older.
It was noticeable to the casual observer that each of these two went 
out of their way to stay out of arm's reach from the other. 

	The youngest member of the group was next off the train, 
wrapped around the waist of a beautiful teenaged girl with long blond 
hair and a nervous grin. The little girl was the most under-dressed 
one there, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and carrying a Hello Kitty 
backpack on one shoulder. This, in total, was the group on the 
platform that day. They had not come to Tokyo for pleasure, but on a 
mission of honor and duty. 

	The boy walked over to the blond girl and gently removed his 
younger sister from her waist. "Here's the plan, Minako," he whispered 
conspiratorially to her, "you transform into Sailor Venus and use your 
Crescent Beam. That's when I'll step in with the ropes and chains." He 
cast a foul look at the older girl with the bokken. "Then, once Yayoi 
has been subdued, we'll see about getting my armour back." 

	Yayoi smirked. "Why, baby brother, I'd forgotten how amusing 
these little family outings can be." Her smile hardened slightly, and 
her voice dropped an octave. "Sleep with one eye open, Seiji."

	"I always do," shot back her younger brother, glaring at her. 

	Minako was confused. "How can you two act like this? I mean, 
you're brother and sister, right?"

	"I'm waiting for the lab results before I admit to that," the 
two snarled in unison. 

	Their mother sighed. "Please, children, let's not have a 
repeat of our LAST family vacation..."

	Yayoi grinned. "Oh, yes... come to think of it, we're STILL 
not allowed back in China, are we?"

	Seiji growled. "That was all your fault, Yayoi."

	"Oh, please. YOU'RE the one who punched out the police."

	"Only because you DUCKED!" 

	Minako groaned and turned to the younger sister. "Satsuke, 
do those two always fight like this?"

	Satsuke shook her head. "Oh, no. They haven't gotten along 
THIS well in years." 

**********

	Ami sat on Ryo's bed and shivered. "Will it hurt, much?"

	Ryo looked sympathetically at her, and gently placed one 
hand on her knee. "Well, it always does, at first. But it will get 
better, I swear." Carefully, he sat behind her on the bed and placed 
his hands on her. "Are you sure you want me to do this?"

	"Yes..." Ami grimaced. "I need you to do this. Is... is there 
anything I have to do?"

	Ryo looked up at her and shook his head. "No... just grab onto 
the headboard, close your eyes, and think of Christmas. It will be 
over before you know it."

	CRACK! Ryo wrenched on Ami's shoulder with all his might, and 
felt it pop back into place. She whimpered slightly, and a tear rolled 
down her face. Carefully, he lifted her arm and rotated it, feeling 
the joint and making sure nothing had been broken. 

	"Well, I think we're done, and you'll probably still be able 
to use it. I'd be careful, though : you'll be tender for a while." 
Ryo released the girl's shoulder and turned his attention to his 
hand, which he had sliced on a piece of broken window pane. It 
wasn't a serious cut, he thought as he rummaged through the first-aid 
kit sitting on his mattress, but it would have to be bound, or it 
might get infected.

	Ami had risen from his bed and walked over to the window, 
looking out into the forest surrounding them. The trees somehow seemed 
to be looming over them, clawed branches stretching out for their 
throats... she shivered. "We're not safe here, are we, Ryo?" 

	Ryo looked up as he flexed his fingers experimentally. 
"No Ami," he admitted, "we're not. If they came here once, they could 
come back. If your friend Makoto is right, and they really are after 
the yoroi crystals, then they won't stop until they get them all. And 
then..." he trailed off, staring blankly at the far wall of his room. 

	"And then what, Ryo?"

	He sighed. "And then... if they get all five yoroi, they can 
form the Kikouten. And then Hariel. In the wrong hands... well, I've 
worn that armour, Ami. It has power beyond anything you've ever 
imagined."

	Ami shivered again as she thought of Metallia, of The Dark 
One, and even of Sailor Pluto. "Could the Kikouten destroy the world?" 

	Ryo finally let her see the full depth of his concern. "Ami, 
in the wrong hands the Kikouten could destroy the Solar System before 
lunch. And the Sailor Senshi wouldn't even slow it down." His hands 
began to tremble. 

	"We can't let that happen, Ami. I need you to promise me... " 
Reaching into his shirt, he drew out the yoroi crystal of Rekka. 
"Rekka is vulnerable to cold and water. If... if it ever looks like 
those robots have me, if it ever looks like they're going to get it..."

	"What?" Ami sat in a nearby chair and held Ryo's hands, feeling
his yoroi pulse under her fingers. "What is it, Ryo?" 

	"If that ever happens... I want you to swear that Sailor 
Mercury will use her powers to... to do what must be done." Ryo closed 
his eyes and hissed as he continued. "Freeze it, Ami. Freeze the yoroi 
crystal of Rekka... and break it. Shatter it into a million pieces." 

**********

	Several feet away, a small group of large robots were powering 
up. They recognized the building before them : they had infiltrated it 
only the day before, and apprehended the perpetrator within. After 
handing him over to the proper authorities, they had shut down and 
awaited pickup. Now, they hummed and clicked to each other as they 
received new orders : strange energy signatures were coming from the 
structure. Every circuit built into the XR-71 Law Enforcement 
prototype Cyberdroid had them yearning to investigate. 

	Slowly and smoothly rising to their full height, the six 
robots shed their covering of bushes and camouflage netting. Their 
orders were clear. They knew what to do.

**********

	Ryo sighed and let his yoroi slide back under his clothes. 
"I'm serious, Ami. I want you to swear you'll destroy my yoroi." 
Lifting his arm, he let one finger drift along the curve of her cheek. 
"You're the only one I can trust to do it." 

	Ami closed her eyes and leaned her face against his palm. "All 
right, Ryo," she finally murmured, "I promise. I will."

	"Domo arigato, Ami." Ryo quickly leaned forward and kissed her 
on the forehead. To his surprise, a blue glowing symbol appeared where 
his lips had touched her. As if in response, the kanji on his own 
forehead glowed a baleful red. 

	** Virtue... **

	Ryo didn't lean back. He found to his surprise that he wasn't 
staring into Ami's eyes, although he found those eyes quite worth 
looking at. He wasn't even staring dumbly at the big glowing blue mark 
on her forehead, like most sane people would. He was staring somewhere 
else entirely. 

	He was staring at her lips. He wasn't sure why, since they 
were quite ordinary lips. They weren't an interesting colour, like 
her eyes, and they certainly weren't glowing, like her forehead. 
Nonetheless, they held his attention. She was breathing shallowly, and 
he watched as she licked them nervously. He wondered if she was 
looking at his kanji, or his eyes. Or maybe even HIS lips, as he bit 
the lower of the pair. His hand slowly slid down her face to cup her 
chin, seemingly of its own accord. He should look into that, he 
decided, the second that hand started doing anything wrong. 

	Ami sat and stared at Ryo in confusion. First, he had been 
talking about making her swear to destroy his yoroi, and now he was 
just sitting there like a big, handsome, statue. She gazed into his 
eyes, and watched as they moved downward. Was he trying to look down 
her shirt? Ami nearly sat back before she realized he wasn't looking 
that far down. Well, she supposed, she should have known he wouldn't. 
Ryo WAS the Yoroiden of VIRTUE, after all. He HAD to be virtuous. 

	Was that a good thing? She couldn't seem to remember.

	Slowly, she felt his hand move down and cup her chin. What was 
he doing? OH. She remembered a little too well what had happened the 
last time he had held her face like that. He must be wanting to kiss 
her again. Well, she decided, that was all right... 

	Leaning forward again, Ryo aimed a bit lower than before. Ami 
sighed a little and closed her eyes as his lips brushed against her 
own... and stopped, a few millimetres from them. What was going on? 
After a few seconds, she smiled. He was NERVOUS! She tried and failed 
to suppress a giggle, and he started as if someone had shot him. 
Moving quickly, before he could pull his head back, Ami leaned up and 
kissed him. This, she noticed, made a lot of difference. The first 
time (and she did mean FIRST), she had been the kissee. Now, she was 
the kisser, and that seemed to have all sorts of new responsibilities.

	For example, Ryo had been moving backwards when she first made 
contact, and Ami had been forced to move forwards if she wanted to 
maintain optimal lip pressure. As an unexpected side effect of this 
strategy, she was now lying on top of him. Four facts very quickly 
popped into her head. 

	1) She was in Ryo Sanada's bedroom.
	2) She was lying in bed with Ryo Sanada. 
	3) And kissing him.
	4) And there was a large silver robot standing in the doorway.

	"Oh, blast." Ami looked up and stared at the sickeningly 
familiar machine staring back at her. "Ryo, why didn't you lock the 
door?"

	"Guh," Ryo replied, not exactly in the most focused frame of 
mind at the moment. Ami quickly rolled off of him and grabbed him by 
the shirt, hauling him out the broken window and following herself. It 
wasn't THAT far to the ground, she told herself. He probably wouldn't 
hurt himself TOO much...

**********

	Ryo actually recovered quite well in mid-air, being rather 
accustomed to spending time there. At least, he thought, this time 
nothing was shooting at him. Oops! Spoke too soon, he added a second 
later as the two robots waiting outside the house began firing at him.

	"BUSSO, REKKA!" Behind (or was it above?) him, he heard Ami 
yelling. 

	"MERCURY STAR POWER!" 

	Sailor Mercury landed mere seconds after Ryo, and both 
instantly launched themselves forward again, energy blasts piercing the
ground they had been standing on moments earlier. Ryo flipped towards 
one machine, drawing his katana blades from the scabbard on his back 
as he did so. Landing, he slashed, and the Rekka Ken made short work 
of the creature. A quick glance over his armoured shoulder assured him 
that Ami was holding her own against the other, and he turned his 
attention to the silver tower of metal staring down from his own 
window. Why, he wondered idly, did these things always attack him just 
when he was kissing Ami? Was this going to keep happening? 

	Unnoticed beneath his steel mask, Ryo developed a rather goofy 
grin. Well, it WAS worth it, robots or no robots! Shaking his head, 
he tightened his grip on the twin blades and leapt back up into his 
room. He was mildly surprised to notice that the first robot had been 
joined by two others. 

	"Brought some friends, did you?" Ryo spun his swords 
dramatically. "Well don't worry, girls! EVERYBODY gets a dance!" 

**********

	Sailor Mercury ducked under the swinging fist of the robot, 
and fell backwards, landing on her hands and kicking out at the 
machine's knee. After all, she calculated, even a machine was most 
vulnerable at the joints. She was right, too, as the creature toppled 
and fell over on its back, struggling and flailing its arms. 

	"Just like a turtle," she said as she righted herself. "Your 
torso is so wide, you can't even get back up." Just like she had 
figured. 

	A large portion of Ryo's house exploded, and Ami decided she 
didn't have any more time to play. "MERCURY ICE STORM... SPLASH!" 

	The robot was quickly turned into a summertime ice sculpture 
as a singed and smoking Ryo no Rekka flew out of the growing explosion 
head first. He hit the ground rather hard, and hopped back up onto his 
feet. "HEY! No fair double-teaming!" 

	In response, the two robots still functioning opened their 
chest plates and began emitting a high-pitched whine. Ryo clutched his 
head and doubled over, gritting his teeth against the pain. "Ami!" 

	Sailor Mercury looked helplessly at Ryo as he fell to his 
knees, his yoroi exploding in a cloud of red embers. "AMI! Y-you 
PROMISED! DO IT!" Ryo screamed as his crystal gleamed from its place 
around his neck... 

	Ami grabbed it. The chain broke, and Ryo dropped like a puppet 
with his strings cut. Moving quickly, she froze the globe, encasing it 
in near-absolute zero temperatures. The two robots jumped down and 
began advancing on her, and Ami swallowed as a third circled around 
from the front of the building. 

	She lifted the ball of ice above her head and brought it 
down with all her might on a nearby rock. There was an almost musical 
sound, and the yoroi of Rekka shattered like glass, flying in every 
direction at once as it turned into little more than a cloud of 
shrapnel. The small piece still in her hand flickered red, and then 
died out. 

	At almost that exact moment, a bolt of golden light flew 
across the clearing and blasted through the neck of each robot before 
bouncing off of a tree and landing safely in the gloved hand of Touma 
Hashiba, as he and Sailor Jupiter rushed out of the bushes. 

	"Ami!" Makoto cried. "Those things nearly got Ryo's yoroi! It 
looks like we were just in time, eh?" 

	"Oh no..." Ami whimpered as she stared at the shards littering 
the ground, "you were far too late..."

TO BE CONTINUED...