[Xover][FanFic] Third Labor chapter 4-6

[Gregg Sharp]

Third Labor, fourth chapter (prologue)
"Clockwork Apple?"

The following chapter includes bits and pieces from a number
of series. [Xover][OMG][SM][Ranma][SMJ][Eva][SI][etc]

WHAT'S HAPPENED: Attempting to enter his Third Labor (fixing
a pair of Demonic Interventions in a non-anime timeline),
Grey has been sidetracked by a Gate malfunction (caused by
most of his fiancees trying to sneak along and Son Usagi's
power fluctuation during the transport process). Due to
Eris' (Greek goddess of discord and misery, Ares' sister)
secret plan, his attempt to find the scattered fiancees is
falling apart from several sources. The latest of which is a
discordance in the Binding (a spell placed on Grey by an
Elder god of mischief) which now has the boy reincarnating
through time and space, but as Duty is a major facet of his
existence- still trying to safely gather the fiancees.

This is still the prologue because they're still trying
to get to the mission.

---------

a timeline that is NOT usually connected to SM or RN:

Mamoru Tengoku thrashed in his sleep, consumed by odd dreams
as he had for years, though there seemed to be an urgency in
them tonight.

In one dream he was a warrior associated with a minor House,
related vaguely to some golden haired girl! There he became
the consort of the Queen, which was much like being her
personal slave in many ways. There he was eventually dumped
by the Queen, as she viewed an emotional attachment to a
single man to be a weakness. In that dream he was approached
by a ponytailed girl in a green dress, and then by a girl
with long green hair. Eventually the ponytailed girl went
off after another who more fit her ideals, only to return
and find that the girl with a staff had consolidated her
hold over him. Then the staff-wielder was called away to a
long duty, and he was alone again. The dream ended in
nightmare as the Kingdom fell, beneath the force of
something called the Invincible Shadow.

In the second dream he was a metal man, working alongside
the reincarnated princess he had been related to in the
first dream. That dream ended happier, with the enemy
vanquished and the princess engaged to the hero, and as for
himself- he walked off citing Duty.

The third dream had elements of the first two. Many of the
same faces, yet subtly different. Instead of being related
to the blonde girl, he was her cat and then changed to her
"boyfriend" in human form. The same girls were now friends
and comrades-in-battle and if some seemed to want something
more from him, he wasn't quite sure what that something was.
There were broken flashes of this dream, and he ended up
with a profound feeling of loss.

Mamoru slowly picked himself up, wondering what his
subconscious was trying to tell himself.

"Mamoru-kuuuunnn!" Kyusu twirled as he entered. "Good
morning! How are you, my love!"

"Put a sock in it, Kyusu." Mamoru groaned, feeling like he'd
just been pounded by a unskilled masseause. "Ain't your
love, never have been, never will be. Just give it up."

"Ah, eventually you will change your fickle heart, and
realize that we are meant to be together. Forget your
obsession with Otaru's marionettes and realize that only two
men can find" *WHAM!*

The book (a heavy tome on marionette engineering) hung for a
moment against Kyusu's face before the two fell.

"This is MY workshop, Kyusu. YOU are merely my annoying
neighbor who clings to the old ways. What about Doctor
Lorelei's clones and the rebirth of the woman?" Mamoru
grunted and dragged Kyusu out. No WAY was he going to change
out of his pajamas with THAT hentai watching.

All in all, it was shaping up to be a typical day, and
Mamoru Tengoku was heartily tired of typical days.

Kyusu proved that he could recover quickly. "Mamoruuu-kun!"
*GLOMP!*

Mamoru frowned, slammed his elbow into Kyusu's nose, and
then threw the offending person through the window. As it
was just a split cloth covering, it was not as dramatic as
it could have been.

Allowing that he wouldn't be able to get any work done
today, as Kyusu was getting entirely too annoying, the
repairman/inventor decided to make housecalls and do
research. He was just barely sixteen, after all, and there
was much to learn.

Mamoru smiled, thinking that this would work out. Maybe he'd
even have a chance to see Otaru's marionettes again! They
were fascinating, their special circuit giving them emotions
and independence that a regular marionette didn't have.
Mamoru would allow Kyusu one thing, a marionette without a
"virgin circuit" was just a mechanical doll. However, Mamoru
was one of those like his sempai Gennai or Otaru himself
whose opinion varied from those like Kyusu in what happened
*with* the addition of that circuit. In their opinion, a
marionette with the circuit ceased being a doll and became a
person...

"Mamoru? I have tickets for the festival!"

Yep, sounded like a good day to be conducting business away
from the shop.

-----------

Akane Tendo faced Akane Saotome, the rain coming through the
open hole in the wall of the dojo making the floor slick
between them.

"Why do you look like me, anyway?" The sixteen year old
demanded of the supermodel version of herself. It was easier
to face this older woman than the mess she'd made in the
back yard by decapitating a boy named Ranma.

"I see no resemblance," said the twenty year old. "You're
stupid, needlessly violent, pushy, arrogant, and lacking in
discipline. You're a brawler, not a martial artist."

"I was good enough to..." Akane Tendo bit that comment back,
turning pale.

"Good enough to kill Ranma?" The evolved version finished
for her. "Let's see how good you are then. Or was it just
luck?"

Nabiki looked back and forth between the two, seeing the
resemblence but not understanding any more than Akane.
"Begin..."

Akane T started across the floor at a run.

Akane S seemed to blur and appear behind the teenager. "Too
slow," she said, tapping a spot in the back of her younger
self's head.

Akane T swung around and tried a Stonebreaker Punch.

Akane S swiveled her hips slightly, moving effortlessly out
of the way. "Too clumsy," she said, tapping the other's
elbow as it passed by. "I know an old Chinese woman who
could chew you up and spit you out like bad rice."

Akane T launched another attack, going for an all out axe
kick.

Akane S swept the leg up with enough force to flip Akane T
in the air, tapping her neck, back, and left knee during the
"hang time." As Akane T picked herself off the floor, Akane
S went back to her corner. "Didn't retract quickly enough,
overextended yourself, and got fancy when you should be
concentrating on the basics."

"SHUT UP!" Akane T launched herself at this infuriating
imposter. She knew what was going on now, this person was
trying to replace her!

Akane S weaved around the flurry of punches. "Anger rarely
serves its wielder. A true martial artist seeks control: of
her environment, of her battle, and of herself." Another
lightning fast jab landed on the younger girl.

"Fight me for REAL! Stop playing (gasp) around!" Akane T
started forward again only to have her fist caught in the
other girl's palm.

"Okay," said Akane S, "so you want me to go all out?"

Akane T tugged her hand free. She was especially good at
counterattacks. The training from the idiot squad at
Furinkan's gates every morning saw to that. "That would make
me ecstatic."

Akane S dodged another attack, but smiled. A little sadly it
seemed. She really didn't like to hurt anyone, given the
choice, but some lessons could only be learned the hard way.
"Lesson five: be careful what you wish for. You might get
it."

Nabiki blinked as the older Akane suddenly went "all out."

----------

Elseworld:

Mamoru sighed. The Japonesse Historical Museum was just one
of the places that he knew Kyusu would avoid normally given
any choice. It was...

Mamoru's train of thought derailed as he stared. He wasn't
even aware he'd walked forward until he was in front of the
marionette.

"APPLE! APPLE!" The man whose marionette this apparently was
growled at the frozen figure. "Damn, if I could find anyone
stupid enough to buy this useless..."

"How much?" Mamoru blinked as he realized he'd spoken.

"Who? Tengoku? Gennai's pupil, aren't you?" The fellow,
Mamoru recognized him as Safiel, one of the volunteer
caretakers. "Are you sure? This marionette keeps
malfunctioning, and I doubt even Gennai could keep it
running."

Mamoru rose to the challenge. "Hey, if i don't try to do
difficult things, i'll never learn as much as i could!"

Safiel frowned as he realized that Apple had frozen except
that it's eyes continued to stare at the tinkerer. A
suspicion formed and he remembered the rest of his
instructions. "Well, I've got to get a new one, so how about
sixty four hundred?"

"C'mon, Safiel, i'm just a fixit man. There's rent and food,
parts, and all the rest. Besides, she's a defective unit and
used. Twelve hundred."

Safiel considered and admitted that this kid probably
couldn't afford much more than that, and he had his orders.
"Twelve hundred then. I can get a rebuilt unit at a junk
shop for less than that."

"C'mon Apple..." Mamoru didn't understand it, but he HAD to
fix this unit. And there was something just unbearably sad
about the dull lifeless green eyes as if SOMETHING should be
there. Maybe he could get that prototype Virgin Circuit to
work...

Safiel waited until the two were out of sight before using a
shortrange radio. "This is Safiel. Apple is prepared."

---------

Akane Tendo hit. She hit the ceiling, the floor, the walls,
the ground outside the dojo, the koi pond, the compound
wall...

The problem was that she was hitting them in the manner of a
projectile and not in the manner of a martial artist.

"And this is a manuever known as the Rising Dragon
Uppercut..." Akane Saotome demonstrated, still adopting the
manner of a teacher. *WHAM!*

"Oh!" Soun gushed. "The Splitting Cat Hairs, the Chestnut
Fist, the Breaking Point, the Dragon Sky Ascension, the
Roaring Tiger Backflip, the Deadly Tarantula Palmgrip, the
Mantis Scissors Grip, the Blind Man's Bluff, the Rising
Dragon Uppercut! To think that I would live so long as to
witness them!"

"Ahem," Nabiki interjected, "she's actually showing them to
Akane and even I can tell she's still not using full force."

"Huh?" Soun blinked. "Oh, right."

Genma stared at the floor. "I'm dead. I am SO dead. No,
No-chan is going to find something worse than seppuku for
THIS." Everyone ignored him, he'd been repeating variants of
this for some time.

Akane S finally put her counterpart over one knee and hit a
paralysis point. "Maybe I ought to change my name. Oh, by
the way, Akane. This is called... the Xi Fang Gao shiatsu
technique!"

Soun blinked again. "Amazing!"

Nabiki nodded, impressed. "I'll say. She washed Akane's hair
and dried it in less than five seconds. What it's supposed
to do, I don't know..."

Akane addressed her native father and sister. "Oh, by the
way. I also consider the blame here for not reigning in Miss
Tendo to fall on other shoulders..."

Nabiki gulped. Soun sweated. The two turned to flee.

---------

Elseworld:

"...so anyway in that Kingdom place, i called you Jupiter,
which is kinda funny 'cause you don't look like i'd expect
Zeus to look like," Mamoru continued to talk to the android
as he worked on her. He had her back open and little
connectors leading from the opening to various diagnostic
scanners and equipment. "However in that one where you're
chasing after that guy with the flaming hair, he calls you
'Lita' - short for Lightning i'd assume. Then there's that
fragmented one, but you're there and smiling and i got the
name 'Makochan' out of *that* so i'm not sure which is
correct."

The android, of course, didn't reply. Merely sat there
staring blankly at the wall. Only by reading displays would
one be able to tell that she was listening.

"Okay," Mamoru said and pressed a switch, "bringing up
systems. Designation of unit?"

"Apple," said the marionette in a thick voice.

"Hmmm, need to make an adjustment to the voice circuit...
OK. Try now. Give unit parameters."

The marionette seemed to stir slightly. "Unit designate
Apple. Primary function: Domestic. Classification: Sabre
Marionette Special. Manufacture: Classified. Status:
Unfinished."

Mamoru frowned. "Manufacture is classified? By whom?"

The marionette's voice was flat and emotionless, though less
mechanical sounding. "Data classified."

Mamoru considered that but realized he likely wouldn't be
able to get the data without information from another
source, or ripping out the memory circuits. "Never mind, for
now. What remains unfinished on status?"

"Construction of unit was interrupted. Data classified.
Passcode required for full activation."

Apple had remained emotionless in voice, but Mamoru noted
something that nearly made his heart stop. "Apple, why are
your tear ducts operating?"

"Malfunction noted. Correcting."

Mamoru *knew* something was up. Why did this marionette look
like one of the females in his dreams? Except for the blank
expression, eyes, and that thing she had her in hair. And
the malfunction? It had looked as if she was crying! Maybe
if he approached from an oblique angle. "Apple. List primary
skill packages."

Apple nodded. "Gardening, Basic. Cooking, Basic.
Maintenence, Basic. Basic Domestic."

Mamoru frowned, no clue there. He suspected Safiel wasn't
the first owner at the very least. Hmmm. "Apple, prepare to
shut down for maintenence cycle. i'm going to check and see
if i can repair your movement coordinator."

Apple complied, slumping forward slightly.

---------

Another universe entirely:

Nabiki's hands shook as she approached the school. A month
had gone by since Akane Saotome had struck with a single
shiatsu attack. The effect had long faded, as Doctor Tofu
had said, but the damage was done.

"The Babble Point" she'd called it. Any time, any question,
and Nabiki would answer truthfully and completely without
hesitation.

At first it had been HELL for Nabiki. She had suddenly had
no secrets. Just Goemon asking "how's it going?" had opened
a floodgate. Every and any aspect of her existence had
become a matter of public scrutiny. Her pride and reputation
had been destroyed within hours.

Then the questions slowed, and stopped. A few continued for
a time, enjoying the sight of the cold mercenary witch
Nabiki Tendo squirming helplessly. Someone had intervened,
and the reason had nearly destroyed Nabiki all over again.
Pity. Four days later, she discovered that the effect had
stopped and she could answer or not, back to normal again.

Except that her empire had been destroyed, her careful use
of blackmail and tricks had been uncovered and defused, and
that she was still the subject of Pity among other things.
As she'd been the victim of something horrible, people still
tried to befriend her and look out for her. People still
tried to protect the Ice Queen...

Nabiki had been devastated, broken, driven to the ground,
but the Tendo family were samurai in ancestry and had a core
of iron. She survived. As Akane Saotome had abruptly
disappeared (speculation was that as Genma had run off
during the seppuku required of him, she was out there
somewhere still chasing after him) revenge against the
fighter was something Nabiki could entertain herself with
planning but couldn't commit. At the moment.

Instead, Nabiki smiled, ducked her head, and was greeted by
some of her new friends. She could eventually rebuild her
empire, but that might just get knocked down around her head
again. Her eyes caught her sister's form and shuddered.

Akane had come to school the morning after the fight, not
suspecting a thing. Then she'd started stumbling. Every time
she'd tried to punch or kick, she'd gotten pounded. She'd
ended up going out with most of the boys in her class, most
of whom had turned out to not have enough nerve to try
anything. Those that HAD tried something had found out that
Akane was still strong enough to break groping fingers.

Akane had ended up going out with Kuno the first night but
apparently Miss Saotome had kept an eye on the proceedings.
When Kuno had attempted to take liberties, well, Nabiki had
never heard of a "Ice Cold Libido" shiatsu spot before but
apparently it worked. Kuno had since dropped pursuing Akane
or even any female companionship. That was prior to Akane
Saotome's disappearance at least. Who knew what would happen
if *that* wore off.

And her father... Nabiki twitched a little. Apparently Miss
Saotome had spent a lot of time around the Amazons. Her
father was now undergoing "bridal training" from some "girl"
named Dowel.

As for Kasumi... Nabiki twitched again. The last she'd seen
of Kasumi, she'd been recruited by some Amazon Healers and
taken on a training trip.

Nabiki noticed one of her new "friends" had just asked her
something. Unsure of how to act with people actually
concerned about her well-being, Nabiki just tried to smile
back and muddle through. First that Akane Saotome had
vanished, now from the sound of it, so had that Rei Hino
girl. So if the other two vanished...

-----------

SMJ Timeline:

"Mamoru-kunnnnnn, it's such a lovely day outside, how can
you...?!"

Mamoru noted that Apple had already done something useful.
Kyusu had shut up.

Kyusu's eyes were bugged a little. "That marionette, she
looks like..."

"One of the girls in my sketches, yes." Mamoru had been
sketching the girls from his dreams since Middle School.
He'd gotten fairly good at it and had actually sold some.
"Uncanny, isn't it?"

"Oh, someone saw one of your sketches and recreated a
marionette based on it?" Kyusu grabbed the most likely
explanation. "And now you get to fix it? Well, Japonesse is
fairly small."

Mamoru *wanted* to tell Kyusu to just go away. It had never
worked in the past though. Hmmm. There were several circuits
and systems he wasn't familiar with. One actually looked
like a virgin circuit, though that was likely wishful
thinking. "Stay out of the way, Kyusu. I'm not interested.
Apple, bring primary systems up to 50%."

The marionette straightened from her slump as she brought
herself out of 'Standby'.

"Ah, Mamoru-kun, it's such a nice day out today, the plasma
percentage is low. Let's go to that festival and leave your
stuffy work behind!"

"Apple, bring systems up at 5% increments until at 100%.
Start." Mamoru turned towards the displays. "Let's see if
replacing the gyro-balancer worked..."

"Mamoru-kun, you talk to your dolls. Ah, but that
sentimental streak is why I care for you so much!"

"Systems at 100%," Apple said, "thank you, sempai."

Mamoru froze. Kyusu looked puzzled.

"Apple, explain use of term 'sempai'?"

"Sempai, used for a social superior or upperclassman or
mentor that one is not related to. It can also be used to
denote a boyfriend though koibito or kareshi are more
commonly used." Apple's voice wasn't mechanical anymore,
though her phrasing was.

"Pfeh, Mamoru-kun, this unit is still defective. Let the
customer wait and let us take our pleasure at the fair."

Mamoru continued to check displays with a puzzled
expression. "Spending time with you hardly counts as a
pleasure. Besides, this isn't a customer's marionette. She's
mine now."

Kyusu turned an angry glance towards the android. "'She?!'
Mamoru you forget. This is just a wind up toy. A marionette,
a thing made of nanotechnology and metal and plastic. What
are you going to do next, kiss it? And how could you
purchase some defective marionette? Didn't you tell me you
had no money?"

Mamoru stopped, pulled the cables, and closed the back of
the unit. This *would* scandalize Kyusu. "Apple, stand up."

The marionette did so, and Mamoru looked her over. Looked a
lot like one of the girls in his dreams. The one who'd
picked him up after that silver-haired Queen had dumped him.
Except that this one was wearing a very nice kimono instead
of that strange outfit. Tall, just under six feet in height,
brown hair, green eyes, quite shapely in form. "Apple,
respond appropriately." Mamoru moved in and kissed the
marionette's lifeless lips.

"Ahhhhhhhh! Mamoru you hentai! How could you, and in front
of me?!"

-Program 1-
-Apple-
-activate-

Mamoru began to smirk at Kyusu's discomfort when he felt a
tremor go through the marionette and her arms locked around
him. She was kissing him BACK! Mamoru had never been kissed
before, and there was a hunger and intensity in the
experience he hadn't expected. It took him a moment to break
free, and he was only partially aware of Kyusu standing
nearby with his jaw hanging open.

Those green eyes, formerly dead, now danced with liquid life
and the marionette was... smiling?! "Sempai!"

"Huh?!" Mamoru's brain had shut down from the shock, but he
was trying to rally. "Apple?"

"Hmmmm!" Apple smiled even more, nodding and making a happy
sound. "Sempai, I'm *so* glad you awakened me!"

Mamoru, confronted with something he'd wanted ever since he
had heard of Otaru Mamiya and his three virgin circuit
enhanced marionettes, did shut down at that point -
fainting.

--------

Another timeline:

"It's been two years since our lives were impacted by Akane
Saotome..." Nabiki said to her elder sister as the two sat
at the kitchen table and sipped tea, "the Amazons took you
and made you... this."

"Not completely," answered Kasumi. "There was more to it
than that. What has happened here?"

"Father got married, to Mrs Saotome oddly enough. Thereby
uniting the two Houses and getting him out of marriage to
that Amazon Dowel. They'd planned it that way, didn't they?"

Kasumi nodded. "Dowel didn't actually want to marry him, too
much crying."

Nabiki shuddered at the thought of what would have happened
if Dowel had chosen instead to cure her Father of the
emotional outbursts. "Genma Saotome is still missing, of
course. Akane Saotome vanished shortly after she started
insisting people call her 'Scarlet' instead. Rei Hino
apparently went into a closet to pick up some spare futons
for a slumber party with her friends and never came out.
When her friends checked, the closet was barely big enough
for someone to fit in and there was no trace of her."

"Yes, I heard about that," Kasumi said with a nod, looking i
nto her tea.

"Akane, our sister not that demon, regained her ability to
fight six months later when Doctor Tofu finally got all the
rare extracts he needed to put together a bottle of cure for
the Xi Fang Gao technique. By then though, well, she had
pretty much resolved the whole 'beat Akane to date her'
routine. She had taken it as a challenge and found
nonviolent methods of resolving conflicts, and she's now
engaged to marry some guy named Hikaru. Me? I'm working
part-time at a restaurant named Akie's and going to college
after a Business Admin degree. Your turn."

"Well, I came back to Japan last year." Kasumi looked off
into the distance. "I started working at the Hino shrine
after Rei's disappearance. Makoto was devastated by Rei's
disappearance, but Rei hadn't been too happy since Ranma's
death. With both Rei and Ranma gone, plus their Akane,
Makoto and Ukyo have gotten to the point where they're
almost like sisters. They tend to pursue the same guy a lot,
despite their age difference, and they visit the shrine
frequently with their friends." Kasumi returned her
attention to her sister. "They're thinking of becoming ghost
sweepers, that way maybe they can find out what happened to
Rei."

"Guess Juuban is as weird as Nerima," said Nabiki. "You
happy?"

"Relatively," Kasumi said with a secretive smile, "I'm still
getting tutored in a number of subjects by the Amazons but
they've given up on ever making a warrior out of me. I feel
I'm appreciated and useful where I am, so that's not too
bad. Ukyo and Makoto talk to me a lot. They've never
forgiven our sister Akane, and they suspect their own Akane
was hunted down and killed in retaliation for what was done
that evening, but have no evidence of such a thing."

Nabiki snorted. "Akane? No, she was ready to join a nunnery
when she finally came to realize that she had killed and in
anger over some petty issues. I talked her out of it, but
she's gotten rather anti-violence since then.
Overcompensation, I guess."

Kasumi nodded, and declined to tell Nabiki about exactly
*how* weird her new friends and life in Juuban had gotten.

---------

The SMJ timeline:

"Kasumi! You're not a fighter! Get back in your PokeBall!"

"I don't want you to be turned into a doll, Master Ash.
Sabrina, I challenge you!"

"Oh? A half-Eva with some psychic talent? How...
interesting. The frilly apron doesn't quite work, though..."

"Go Kasumi! Kick that wench's backside! Never underestimate
the power of a Japonesse housewife!" Apple's voice cried
enthusiastically from nearby.

Mamoru groaned inwardly, he'd fainted in front of Kyusu.
That could be bad. Hmmm. That was that odd anime program
they showed in the wee hours of the morning from the sound
of it. He blearily cracked an eye open to see Apple sitting
in front of the set, raptly cheering on the furry little
homemaker as she defended her Master from the evil Sabrina.

"Uhm..." He'd never been fond of that particular series,
though he had to admit that it wasn't as bad as some of the
other hentai/sentai series out there. "Excuse me."

"SEMPAI!" The tall marionette was kneeling at his side in a
heartbeat. "Apple was so worried about you! You function
OK?"

"Urk!"

"Sempai? Do you need something? Some food maybe? Maybe some
fresh cloths for your forehead? I kept that strange man away
from you!"

"Unnnnn!"

"Sempai? What is it? Whatever you want, Apple can get!"
Apple made a muscle gesture.

"...please... Apple..."

"Yes, Sempai!" Apple leaned closer, eager to be of help.

"...your knee's on my chest... heavy..."

Apple looked down. "ooops."

-----------

Elsewhere:

The 'Dewclaw' had seen better days.

Vena walked out of a shower cubicle, drying her hair and
complaining about the chemical smell of the water, when she
noticed someone in her room. As it was not anyone she knew,
she ran through a short list of responses. Ah, that one
seems appropriate.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaa!"

"Rigid like an iron shard,
Paralyze you long and hard!"

Edema nodded at the result of her 'Hold Person' spell,
patting the paralyzed Minako analogue on the cheek as she
inspected her. "Tsk, look girl, I'm here to fix a few things
and then go. In about twelve standard hours your time,
there'll be a new operative here who can help you get into
your new roles." Edema took a thin bandage-like device out
at put on the girl's forehead. "This is mnemonic teacher,
set for basic repairs using the sort of tech stuff you've
got here. Now be a good girl and just stand there until it's
done."

Edema went out into the corridor, disliking all this high
tech mumbo-jumbo, but what can you do?

"Hey you, what are you doing?"

"View me now as trusted friend,
my buddy until spell doth end."

Julie stumbled to a halt. Why was she attacking? This was
her good friend... what was her name again?

"Hi, I'm Edema." The darkskinned woman shook Julie's hand.
"I'm here to help you."

Julie nodded happily. How nice. Her friend Edema had dropped
by to help her out.

Edema led Julie into Vena's room, and both Vena and Julie
began learning mechanical skills. Within a few minutes,
Edema had added Meria to the group- learning piloting
skills.

Edema waited until the three were done, put the few items
away that she'd used and decided to make the group
comfortable.

"Into Morpheus' quiet grip,
Speedily you now shall slip."

The drow archmage smiled at the results. One third level
spell, and three first level spells. Nothing major but
running an ice cream parlor, she had thought she might be
getting a bit rusty. Nice to know she still had the touch.
"One mess down."

-------

Mamoru watched as the busy little marionette happily hummed
some odd music and went about her self-appointed task of
tidying up his home/workshop. This was... nice. Strange, but
nice.

He'd found Kyusu locked in a closet, and let him out. Apple
not only kept Kyusu from interrupting his work, but was
proving useful. Rather like Otaru's marionette Cherry. A
relief to Mamoru, as her speech patterns sounded more like
Lime's and a superpowered child in his workshop was not
something to contemplate.

She also had tried to help him a couple of times but was
quickly proven to be mechanically... all thumbs? There was
also continuing trouble with her SRO (servo-reflexive
overseer) module, indicating that it possibly needed
replaced. (Translation: she tended to overreact and smash
things.)

Still having a cheerful, helpful, marionette around was
definitely odd. Mamoru had spent most of his life living
alone. He'd learned to take care of himself by the time he
was six, when he was ten he had met Gennai ojiisan. The old
man didn't see HIM that often, but Mamoru had practically
lived in or around the dump. Whenever the old man was out
(such as that picnic with Otaru after Lime's virgin circuit
had been retrieved) Mamoru would keep an eye on his shop.

It hadn't been a happy life. The kids had teased him about
"Big Name, Little Destiny" and how because he was "street
trash" he wouldn't amount to anything. He'd fought and
starved and struggled most of his life. Then he'd started
fixing things around Japonesse and things had changed. The
opinion of him was slow to change, and many still looked
down on him. Including Kyusu, who insisted that Mamoru was
incapable of looking after himself. Pfeh!

Mamoru was doing fairly well by himself. He'd made a fair
amount of money, was in a business of his own, had a home of
his very own, had resources accumulated for years, and
practically Gennai's heir, and now he had a marionette of
his own. Which reminded him. "Apple?"

"Hai, sempai!" Apple gave a sloppy but cute salute, grinning
at her Master.

"We'll go visit *my* sempai, Gennai-ojisan. i think he's
going to be very interested in meeting you."

"Hai, sempai!" Apple grinned again. Her Master was smiling.
It made her circuits feel all warm inside to have a Master
who actually cared about her.

---------

"Oh, Mamoru-kunnnnn," whined Kyusu. "Now I know how cousin
Hanagata feels!"

"Hmmmph, to feel affection for a doll. Not right, not right
at all. A perversion against nature!" The older man next to
Kyusu grumped, almost to himself.

"That's right. It is aberrant behavior and should be
corrected. For the good of the society, of course." Another
older man adjusted his glasses. "Unfortunately, *legally* I
can't do anything about it. Such a shame."

"Come now, Doctor," said the first old man, "you are one of
the leading psychologists in Japonesse today. Surely such a
bizarre fixation could be moved against. Obviously with that
Mamiya fellow being such a popular hero, any action against
HIM would be stirring a hornet's nest. But this is a
gutter-rat who repairs marionettes. Few would protest his
disappearance for a few days while you remove such
afflictions from his psyche."

"Nein," the Professor said, showing his Geltland heritage
for a moment. "As I am not his physician, and he has done no
wrong doing in the eyes of the law, correcting his delusions
and restructuring his mind into a correct frame cannot be
done legally."

"You mean there is a way Mamoru-kun can be cured? That he
will accept my love?" Kyusu leapt for the chance. "Do it!
Money is no object!"

"Well then," said the Professor. "It just *may* be
possible."

--------

"So, Gennai-san?" Mamoru smiled and sat back as his mentor
examined the marionette.

"What? Oh, hmmm. Very interesting, and the unit just has one
of your emulated circuits?" Gennai turned back to continue
his examination only to find two green eyes blinking back at
him. "Apple, if you'd sit back on the table again?"

"Boring." Apple started sulking but got up on the table
anyway.

"It couldn't be my Ishi Kairo," Mamoru said wryly, "the
design was never intended to do this much. i don't
completely understand how a Virgin Circuit works, only that
it has something to do with engram emulation and feedback
learning loops. Basic self-awareness and the ability to
learn and act on their own. No more than that. At best, some
basic emotions and development of a rudimentry personality."

"Eh?" Apple looked up, curious.

"Rather more than rudimentry," Gennai agreed. "Do you know
why she looks like one of those girls you've sketched? The
gardener, I think."

"She's the twin of one of the girls in my dream. i don't
understand it at all." Mamoru watched Apple buff the top of
Gennai's head.

"Sempai, what's a dream?" Apple asked, turning her attention
from the current task.

"Uhm, well. When you sleep, it's like seeing and hearing and
feeling and smelling but you're really asleep. It's sort
of..." Mamoru broke off, not sure how to explain this.

Gennai rescued his pupil. "Apple, you've only been active
for a few hours. I understand Otaru's marionettes dream,
especially Cherry, maybe tonight you'll dream."

Apple enthusiastically shook her head, sending her ponytail
bobbing around. "Unnnn! Apple hope so!"

----------

"You understand your orders?" Professor Weissman adopted a
professorial manner before the Japonesse Wrecking Crue. As
they were simply a youth gang with pretensions of being
organized feared criminals, and as their collective
operative intelligence was roughly on the level of a
refrigerator's temperature there was a distinct possibility
of them not getting this right. But one works with the tools
one has, true?

"Yeah, yeah, we does a snatch-n-grab on this repairguy,"
Hammer (the leader) said, making a dismissing gesture. "If
we cans we wreck-a this guy's marionette while he's watchin'
we do that too. No problem-o."

Chisel smiled, even more idiotically than his compatriots,
and held out a double handful of edged blades. "We take good
care of it, yeah! Chop chop kill kill Nyuk nyuk nyuk."

"Good. I take it the first half of the payment was...
satisfactory." Professor Weissman nodded. They had the right
idea, of course he had to keep it as simple as possible. And
of course, he hadn't used his correct name. Why give these
rejects any clue?

"If it wasn't, did you think you'd be leaving here except in
a pine box?" Hammer snorted. "Don't you worry, Professor
Dingle. We'll get that guy for ya by noon tomorrow!"

----------

Eyecatch #9

A framed picture of the Pheonix Mage. Click/flip: the
picture is of Jared Saotome, Devilhunter. Click/flip:
Skysaber, the superspy adventurer. Click/flip: the Veritech
pilot Jared. Click/flip: buried under a horde of fiancees...

Eyecatch #10

A framed picture of Akane Tendo chasing Ranma with a large
hammer. With a click it flips to reveal Akane as Inferna.
Click/flip: the fireball throwing Akane from "A Very Scary
Bet". Click/flip: the heroic Sailor Red from "Featherbrite's
Tale". Click/flip: the Shinto priestess from "Saint Akane."
Click/flip: Akane Saotome. Click/flip: a Klingon warrior
Akane...

----------

Apple smiled contentedly. If she reached out, she'd be able
to reach her sleeping Sempai who looked so cute like that.
Tomorrow was a big day, however. She'd be spending time with
Sempai and HIS sempai and go to see *their* sempai - some
girl named Lorelei. So she needed to get some sleep despite
being all wound up from the excitement. How she'd... (yawn)
get some sleep when it was all so new and...

Apple slept, and she dreamed.

----------

"Jupiter? What are you doing here?" A green haired girl
wearing pajamas opened the door and stretched sleepily.

"GAH?! Pluto?! What are YOU doing here?"

Pluto smirked, apparently amused at the way Jupiter's
ponytail was sticking straight up. "I *was* trying to sleep.
Again, what are you doing here? Didn't you dump Nebula for
that fellow, what was his name? Oh yes, Narcissus."

"He's just soooo handsome!" Jupiter momentarily gushed, then
deflated. "But he also can't hold a conversation that
doesn't involve how good he looks, and all he ever does is
look in that mirror of his. So, I'm back to pick up where I
left off!"

"Tsk," Pluto made a dismissing gesture, leaning in the
doorframe and "accidently" blocking Jupiter's progress. "Do
you have any idea how crushed he was? First the Queen
dismisses him as a consort (like she does all her consorts
when she starts developing feelings for them) then, after
*you* manage to pick him up, you go chasing after every new
pretty boy to join the court."

"Not *every*... only three..." Jupiter winced. Okay, maybe
she just had a *little* problem in that regard. But
Narcissus was *so* fine, and Nebula was okay and a nice guy,
but he wasn't a *hunk* like Pheonix or Hermes. But Bennu the
Pheonix was interested solely in research and Hermes already
had an entourage.

"So, you knew I was interested but you decided to dump him,
then when your pursuit of Narcissus didn't work out, you
thought you'd just come back a week later and pick up where
you left off?" Pluto flicked an errant strand of hair back,
managing somehow to look more tousled than when she'd opened
the door.

"Well... yeah..." Jupiter's hair wasn't toinging any more
but she was still in shock.

"When you passed him in the Queen's Market, hanging on that
guy's arm, how do you think he felt?" Pluto seemed to
inspect her nails as if the answer was of no consequence to
her. At Jupiter's silence, she continued. "He was
devastated, you know. Twice now he's given his heart freely
and without restraint. He has a great capacity for love,
though the doors have begun to close for that. The Queen's
got that personal rule about not letting any consort get too
much inside her heart. *You* took him for granted."

"Well... I..." Jupiter fidgeted. If only Narcissus hadn't
been *so* cute!

"Well, I've got a meeting with the Queen tomorrow. Some new
job she wants me to do." Pluto straightened and inclined her
head. "Sorry, but if *I* were to betray his trust and leave
him to *you*, I honestly doubt he would ever be able to love
again at this point. Much less trust you."

Jupiter stood there, helplessly staring as Pluto slid the
door shut. She could barely hear the words that followed,
though it penetrated enough to bring Pluto's hold over the
Knight Of Duty clear.

"Who was that at this hour?" Nebula's voice, sounding
sleepy.

"Oh, just someone lost and asking for directions. Thanks for
letting me stay here while they fumigate my apartment."
Pluto's voice conveyed her smile.

"No problem, Pu-chan. Ohhh, that couch isn't good on my
back." Jupiter felt a measure of hope as Nebula said this.

"We could share the bed," Pluto indicated, dashing Jupiter's
moment.

"Wouldn't be proper, Pu-chan."

Jupiter walked away, hearing Pluto's throaty chuckle and
knowing exactly how Nebula would be reacting - and that
she'd lost. Next time, next time for sure! She'd be
faithful, her name would be a testament to faithful! If
there was a next time.

Unfortunately, she'd later learned that Pluto had been
assigned to the Time Gate, Nebula had been abandoned again
and he'd quietly withdrawn from society. And then the
conflict between Earth and the Moon Kingdom had escalated
and Beryl's Invincible Shadow...

--------

Apple awoke. What a strange thing. So that was what a dream
was like? It had been like she had been there! Except she
had a funny name.

Mamoru-sempai was still sleeping, so maybe she should get
some sleep. Apple considered the boy sleeping nearby with a
proud smile. No matter what that dream self said, SHE
wouldn't abandon her Sempai!

No... she'd... just catch a little more sleep.

--------

The three members of the Japonesse Wrecking Crue followed
their prey with every bit of stealth available to them.
(Translation: they following about fifty feet behind and
ducking behind every available statue and bit of cover they
could.)

"Sempai..." Apple said hesitantly to her Master.

"I don't know, Apple." Mamoru had a bit of trouble admitting
ignorance, he was used to taking pride in being self-reliant
and admitting *any* weakness wasn't that easy. Still, those
three were perplexing. And it might be weird, but he felt
comfortable around apple as if he'd known her for years.
"Don't stare at 'em though, you might encourage them."

"But..." Apple glanced back as one of the three tripped over
a potted plant. "Okay, Sempai..."

"Besides, we'll meet Gennai-san at the castle gate. There's
no way those three will follow us into the Imperial Castle,
right?" Mamoru thought of those three trying to sneak into
the palace and winced in sympathy. "Be ready if it looks
like they're going to try and catch us before we reach the
gate."

Apple blinked. "They're getting closer."

"They've got some sort of weapons," Mamoru noted, studying
their reflection in a window. "That might be a length of
pipe, or it might be some kind of cobbled weapon. Best if we
can avoid them using that if its ranged."

"oh..." Apple noted the three men sneaking closer. A hammer,
a pipe that might not be a pipe, and whatever was in that
fat fellow's sack. She stumbled, her SRO not completely
working still.

Mamoru noticed. "We'll try that abandoned building over
there. We may be able to go through it and out the other
side."

"Unnnn," Apple agreed. Close range combat was her specialty.

-----------

The two targets went into a rickety-looking building.

"Hey, Hammer, what're we gonna do?" The fat one fingered his
buzzcut. "They couldst be layin' an ambush like..."

Hammer stopped and regarded his rotund companion for a
moment. "You know, numbskull, you might actually have
something there!" Hammer waited until Chisel looked proud
before slapping him in the noggin. Then waving his hand
around in mid-air as that had really hurt him worse than
Chisel. "Listen up, knucklehead. You go around back and make
sure they don't get out."

"GRrrrrrrr... Okay, I'm going, I'm going! Yeeeshhhh."

"Drill," said Hammer motioning the third member of their
party forward. "You got the stuff?"

"Yeah, but I don't see what we're gonna do with this. Didn't
the boss say he wanted that guy delivered to him?"

Hammer got Drill's attention by pinching his nose hard, then
slapping with the other hand. "Who's getting paid to be the
brains here? The boss wanted this guy 'dealt with' right?
Just a little 'snatch and grab' right? Well, we're gonna put
a few of these babies in the windows, then when they go off,
the guy'll come out and we grabs him, see?"

"Ohhhhhhh!" Drill nodded and grabbed and lit a bundle of
dynamite, tossing it in the window. "You think that's
enough?"

Hammer considered briefly. "I don't know. Some of dese old
houses can be pretty sturdy."

"Good point," agreed Drill, throwing three more bundles into
the house.

"HEY, didn't you save any for me?" Hammer glared at his
sidekick.

"Sorry, Hammer," Drill handed his boss a bundle of dynamite,
thoughtfully lighting it for him.

"Thanks." Hammer blinked, watching the little sputtering
fuse at the end. "Hmmmm? AAAAAAA!" He threw the bundle into
the house just in time.

BOOOM BOOM BOOM BOOOOMMM!

Staring at the now-collapsed pile of burning rubble, Hammer
did what supervisors have done for centuries when their
plans fail to work out. He blamed his subordinates.

------

Mamoru dragged his marionette down the stairs into the
cellar, coughing as smoke began to seep down into the closed
area. "Apple. Run self diagnostic."

Apple's eyes glowed slightly. "Damage to right knee joint.
Mobility decreased by 45%. Damage to right shoulder cable.
Apple will be unable to use right arm until repairs are
made."

Mamoru groaned. Just wonderful. "Stay here. Let me see if I
can find anything that can help us escape..." Mamoru's voice
broke off as he stared. There were marionettes down here.
Four of them in display tubes.

There were also a lot of empty display tubes. Mamoru stared,
trembling, long enough for Apple to get curious and look
herself. She gasped.

There was one that was immediately recognizable to both, an
image out of dreams.

Mamoru coughed, a little weaker as the smoke began
infiltrating the air of the cellar. If he could just awaken
this one...

Glassy eyes opened as power was reconnected. Then, because
it had been what had worked on Apple, Mamoru kissed the
marionette.

---Program 2---
-->Blueberry<--
-----START-----

====================

Discord's Bet (Third Labor)
chapter five: Full House, Marionettes Wild

DISCLAIMER: many series crossed over or fusioned. self
insert.

---Program 2---
-->Blueberry<--
-----START-----

The marionette awoke to a kiss that was hesitant and tender.
Her virgin circuit kickstarted with glee.

Then the kisser collapsed, coughing weakly.

"I'm injured, can you get us out of here?"

Blueberry looked towards the source. Another marionette,
much as herself. Her battle computer indicated that this
other had a high potential combat rating, however she was
currently damaged in one knee and one shoulder. Blueberry
set her Master down and scanned the surroundings.
"Affirmative. There is a secret passageway *here*."

Apple blinked as the new unit opened a section of wall.

"First priority. Getting him to clear air. Second priority
treat for smoke inhalation." Blueberry lifted the weakened
fixit man. "Are you mobile?"

"Mobility reduced but effective." Apple glanced at the other
units. "What of these?"

"Will return and connect power." Blueberry vanished into the
opening, returning without Mamoru.

"Oh," said Apple, limping through the opening.

------

Another timeline:

The Dewclaw approached the planet, roaring past a thin
asteroid belt in a manner that would have given Ami cause
for complaint. (You can't have engines roaring in space, you
can't do high speed aerobatics manuevers in a vaccuum, you
can't zip in and out of an asteroid field, and many other
things that Ami would have found objectionable.)

Meria guided the ship past the multiton moonlets without a
hitch. Which impressed the heck out of Moom and Mareya.

"Dantooine, eh?" Mareya tried to look like she knew what she
was doing. "Rebel base of some kind?"

"No," Vena answered. "It started out with a small native
population, who got about to Bronze Age equivelants until
the breakup of their moon and a plague wiped them out. The
Rebels found a vanished civilization and used the buildings
for their own base. Then they cleared out, following their
'constantly on the move' policy, a few years prior to the
Empire arriving and setting up camp in the same area. The
Empire made it a resupply base for their Death Star, and
when that went up, they abandoned this place 'temporarily' -
it's been six months since the last soldiers left to return
home during the riots."

Mareya made a warding gesture. "How did you know that? The
Force?"

Vena shook her head. "Nah, I read the astrogater entry on
the way here and just finished accessing the base's
computers. Place is emptier than a stormtrooper's credit
account after a two week furlough. Bad news: they took a LOT
of stuff with them when they bugged out. Good news: that
still leaves a lot of stuff."

Ed nodded, visions of TIE fighters and other goodies dancing
in his head.

Kiyone, current captain of the Dewclaw, settled back into
her chair. "Take us down, Meria-san!"

--------

An SMJ Timeline:

The others stood nearby, their eyes the usual unfocused look
of marionettes.

"Current situation requires a better safety margin than
presently obtained. Additional reinforcements required."
Blueberry lifted the weakened Mamoru, and brought his lips
up to one of them.

---Program 3---
---->Grape<----
-----START-----

Grape's violet eyes blinked in confusion. "What?!"

Apple glanced at the other two. "What about them? Apple
doesn't recognize them at all"

Blueberry considered briefly. "Apparently common Aya and
Kotono models."

"Sempai said something about having some experimental virgin
circuits," said Apple.

Mamoru recovered enough to look around at his rescuers.
"Request designations."

"Blueberry," said the one in a blue kimono, "Analysis and
data retrieval. Sabre Marionette Special."

"Grape," indicated the younger-looking one. "Combat unit.
Specialty: naginata. Sabre Marionette Special."

"Identification: Ginseng," came an unfamiliar voice, as
another marionette dropped down out of a tree. "Statement:
You are late, Mamoru Tengoku. This unit is here to escort
you to Doctor Lorelei."

"There they is! I sees 'em. I sees 'em."

Ginseng looked briefly towards the approaching trio, activat
ed a beam-saber and moved to a guard position. "Statement:
attempting to proceed will result in immediate death for
criminal elements. Statement: I have confirmation of
permission to kill from the Palace."

Hammer hesitated, seeing his target so close. "You're
bluffing."

Ginseng's expression didn't alter in the slightest.
"Declaration: this unit never bluffs."

"Yeah, right!" Hammer motioned his two henchmen forward.

*SHUMMMM! VISSSHHH! THUD THUD.*

Hammer stared. "Uhm, Chisel?"

Drill looked at the two halves of Chisel. "Y'know, Hammer,
maybe it ain't bluffing."

Hammer pursed his lips. "Maybe. We'll be back!"

Ginseng considered the possibility likely, but assigned a
low probability that they would be more successful.
"Reminder: Tengoku, Castle. Query: Do you require
assistance?"

"That might be good," agreed Mamoru, still not feeling too
well.

"That might be necessary," added Apple.

---------

Goddess Relief Office:

"Lock on!" Amaterasu said. "Just as suspected, he
reincarnated in that Sabre Marionette timeline."

"Oh, dear," said Belle. "Several of those androids are in
the shape of various fiancees, aren't they?"

"Looks like the seals on his memory from that Silver
Millenium incarnation are coming undone," Celeste's voice
was wry. She'd never approved of this "blocked memory" stuff
anyway. "Oh well. Stuff happens."

"Looks like Makoto's already awakening, though her native
incarnation is dominant." Amaterasu frowned. "Where'd Akane
go? She didn't go THERE did she?"

"Looks like she merged with Scarlet over in that timeline
the Pheonix Mage has been playing around in." Belle began
bringing up displays. "Ami and Minako joined Makoto and
Hotaru in merging with their native selves. He's currently
met up with Makoto, Hotaru, and Ami."

Amaterasu checked a few displays. "Set up a Recall on all of
them. As soon as he reunites with Minako, activate."

Celeste urked at that. "What?! What about the translation
factor? If we bring them back without regaining memories or
full function..."

"Doesn't matter, there are two Greys in that timeline."
Amaterasu clicked a display. "Even though one is a soulless
automaton, it's setting up a bug-port."

Celeste groaned. "We've got a transtemporal dislocation
through an SM access. Enters the Third Labor line in its
history. Tracking."

--------

Eyecatch #11:

Grey in a framed picture. With a click, it flips over
revealing a Triax Manhunter cyborg (though with the missile
tubes removed). Click/flip: the sexangel. Click/flip: Mamoru
Tengoku. Click/flip: a young man dressed sort of like Ranma
Saotome. Click/flip: Ranko. Click/flip: the marionette
Ginseng. click/flip: a silver dragon who seems to be fleeing
from Queen Serenity.

Eyecatch #12:

Kasumi Tendo in a framed picture. With a click, it flips
over revealing Kasumi as Sailor Angel (Featherbrite's Tale).
Click/flip: Kasumi, heir to the Tendo style of naginata use.
Click/flip: nurse Kasumi. Click/flip: djinni Kasumi.
Click/flip: three nearly identical Kasumis examining each
other...

-----------

Third Labor timeline:

April, 211 AD:

A tiny little area in a flyspeck corner of the Unified
Chinese Empire. One where will-o-wisps formed in the late
afternoon dimness and gathered into a single mass in a
canyon near a well tramped trail.

One young warmaiden watched silently, her hand over the
wound in her side. Whatever the spirits did here could be as
nothing compared to the battles that had occurred on the
plains below that morning. And now she, Mei Yan, was to die
of a spear wound without reporting to her village that the
Armies of Zhong Dhou now approached!

The mass of white twisting cloud abruptly opened and formed
a tunnel.

Whatever Mei Yan had expected, this was not it.

"Diamond Beach at last! Yeeeehhaaaaa! Last one in the water
is a..." The Pheonix Mage lowered his surfboard, looking
around and not seeing the injured maiden. "Aw nuts. I *knew*
I should'a taken a left turn at Albuquerque!"

A male wielding such powers meant that he *had* to be of the
forces of Evil now sweeping towards the last pocket of
resistance. Mei Yan tried to pick herself up. Maybe she
could get one last spearthrow before she met her ancestors!

--------

Jared took out a large object that seemed to twist and turn
in all of the wrong dimensions so that it warped the eye to
look at it. "Let me take a look at this map. You'd think
after all this time someone would have at least come up with
a way to make these easy to read..." He looked up in the
most curious way.

"Jay-chan?" Asked a small horde of females in bikinis
wielding picnic baskets and beach umbrellas.

"No, wait. I'm trying to identify the sensation... Aha! That
was it. I was just struck with a spear in the back of the
head. I should have tested this new defensive spell before
putting it into use, it feels so funny. But that archangel
*did* recommend it so highly." He turned around to look at
the mountainside, lifting a globe of fire in his off hand.

Mei Yan had just watched as her spear had converted into a
harmless spray of light as it struck the back of the man's
scalp, little wisps and sparks spraying about like streamers
as the good wood and steel weapon ceased to be. Rather than
close her eyes and wait for death, the maiden released a
blood soaked hand from her side and tried scrabbling for a
rock to throw at the infernal thing.

Thus it was that she was rather surprised to find herself
suddenly whisked off of her feet, placed upon a soft surface
of pristine silk sheets, and being fussed over by a core of
about fifteen women now wearing white robes and masks over
the lower parts of their faces.

"Diagnosis?" The male asked, with his back to the party,
scanning the hillsides for danger.

One of the women with short blue hair and kind eyes had
looked over Mei Yan's wound and reported while another with
yellow hair in an odd, dumpling style with twin ponytails
held her hands over the gash and applied healing energy.
"She's taken a deep spear wound, but she'll be
alright. It's only punctured one lung and a few ribs,
nothing we can't take care of in a sec. But there are some
infernal traces."

"Taken care of already." Reported a woman with long, green
hair.

"Infernal?" The man said with evident glee in his voice. "Oh
goody! Target time! Do you know how many?"

"Light entertainment or a full evening's workout, you mean?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. I haven't killed anything
evil in... why, it seems like minutes!"

Several of the women cooed appreciatively.

"Aw, Jay-chan, it couldn't have been *that* long, could it?"
One of the prettier ones said, taking him comfortingly by
the shoulders.

Mei Yan's head was spinning.

"You can't know what it's like." The man became all
theatrical, though Mei Yan sensed somehow that he was
joking, and that the tears weren't real. Certainly the
reaction of the women was one of humor. "Why, for a moment
there I was almost afraid of not being attacked by hordes of
tentacled monstrosities yearning to slurp our brains out. To
never again face down an endless stream of gibbering spirits
or ravening ghouls! I don't know what I would have done with
myself."

Mei Yan would have slipped away but their words were
sparking such confusion she couldn't see straight to leave
the bed they'd placed her on.

The pretty ladies all shook their heads in commiseration,
tinged with laughter. The one holding him made concerned
sounds. "Oh, don't you worry. We'll get something up here
right away for you to defeat in glorious single combat, then
we'll go off to the beach."

The warrior maiden was suddenly the object of everyone's
attention.

"Excuse me." One of the blondes asked. "Is there a place one
can fight evil around here?"

------------

An SMJ Timeline:

The reactions of the groups meeting each other were
intriguing to both Ginseng and Doctor Lorelei. The Shogun
Ieyasu was also interested, but had been rather nervous
about Lime being present and chosen not to attend. At least
until some way to return him to a more normal size had been
found.

Cherry was fairly friendly and becoming fast friends with
Apple. Bloodberry viewed the whole group suspiciously. Lime
kept trying to play with the others.

Apple was chatting amiably with Cherry. Blueberry was
examining the various machines. Grape was the only one
interested in playing with Lime, a game of cat's cradle from
the look of it.

Otaru was telling Mamoru about some of the problems he'd had
with his marionettes as they developed. Mamoru was taking
notes.

The two normal marionettes were being fitted with Mamoru's
"Ishi Kairo" by Gennai, even though it had been amply proven
that it had nothing to do with Apple's development.

"Observation: those involved with the assault did not appear
of sufficient mental acuity to have developed long range
motivations or plans." Ginseng swept her hair back with one
hand, seeming to consider her fellow marionettes for a
moment.

"Huh?!" Lime exclaimed, looking up from her game of cat's
cradle with Grape. Grape was currently tangled up in a web.
Hers or Lime's was unclear.

Gennai snorted and continued work. "Ginseng means that the
ones who attacked Mamoru's group weren't intelligent enough
to be operating on their own. They were stooges or flunkies,
most likely. From the sound of it, they're even worse than
the 'Japonesse Hell Crew'."

"That bad?!" Cherry was startled. Worse than those
wannabe-bad guys who had adopted her as their boss? Was that
even possible?

------------

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch... err, Nichieju 211 AD:

"Is your countryside infested with demonic hordes? Have you
any bloodthirsty neighbors making pacts with unclean forces?
Are there gates from hell appearing at local garden parties?
Well then, call the professionals!"

Mei Yan STARED at the young man as he stood in the square of
their village with a large sign proclaiming him to be a
Champion of Light for hire.

"Massed incursions of darkness? No problem. We are on call
24 hours a day to serve all of your infernal elimination
needs. Budget rates for teeming throngs of mutants. Demons e
xterminated while you wait. Supernatural enemies of all
types are a specialty. Ask now for our low monthly rate."

One of the elders manifested enough to courage to ask him.
"What do you charge, young man?"

He acted supremely startled, or at least amused. "Money?
Why, I give it to *YOU*, of course! How else could I obtain
the honor of defeating a few hundred atrocities on what are
rightfully your hunting grounds? No, I insist. Would two
chests of gold be enough? How about I throw in a basket of
polished jewels? Okay, you drive a hard bargain. How about
three?"

It was then, when just about the entire village was about to
give him up for a lunatic, when one of the young ladies held
forth a hand and a glorious panorama opened up before their
eyes, granting them a vision of this youth in combat moving
at a speed their best warriors could only
approximate by being flung from catapults (young Lo Yang had
tried that once and never expected to live it down even if
he had a city named after him), slaughtering fiends and
infernal creatures with single blows too swift for most eyes
to follow.

It was very impressive, that they should treat the magic to
do it so casually, even should everything it showed them
prove a fraud.

Mei Yan wouldn't have taken him to the village but had
honestly nothing to do with it. They'd either read her mind
or already knew, and both options were as disturbing. But
then, they didn't seem *dangerous*, only insane. Insane,
that is, unless they were actually *capable* of
doing those things!

In which case they were a direct gift from the Gods.
Remembering back to a certain spear transforming into light,
the warrior wasn't sure what she believed.

---------

Another Timeline altogether:

Genma did what Genma did well. He hid. He lived off theft
and the land and by any methods he could. Transformed into a
panda, he could do that even easier in some areas. But he
remained a man, and so silently checked in on his family and
Soun's after ten years had passed on his timeline. And so,
in the fall of 2002, a man who had been portly many lean
years ago snuck about Tokyo and its environs.

Nodoka had married Soun. Well, at least the two families had
been united at last, no thanks to that weak and ungrateful
son of his. They had apparently had another child and were
expecting another.

Both Kasumi and Nabiki were living elsewhere from what Genma
had been able to overhear. Nabiki had gone to an American
business college and was apparently now living in that
country. Kasumi had relocated to Juuban and was managing a
shrine after Rei's grandfather had passed on.

Akane had broken up with her high school sweetheart, gone
through a series of long and tawdry affairs, then decided
none of those were for her. She'd had a boob job and was now
an actress in daytime soap operas.

As for the remainder of his old family: Makoto and Ukyo. The
two had opened a small restaurant. Ukyo handled the meals-
okonomiyaki her specialty as always. Cakes and pies for
dessert, prepared by Makoto. It was struggling with
neighborhood competition, but otherwise doing well. Often
the sound of music and laughter could be heard from within.

The old home had fallen into disrepair, including the dojo
where he had spent so much time training Ranma and his
fiancees. As it was an ancestral home, it was not for sale,
and the outer wall concealed much of the problem. Still, it
brought a sad glint to Genma's eyes as he moved like a
wraith through the rooms. Here was where Ranma had played
with fingerpaints and signed a contract. Here was where
Nodoka had fixed her sliced daikon and smiled at her adopted
children. Here were the marks on the floor where Akane the
lion had been dragged protesting towards the furo. Here the
patch he'd made when Ukyo and Rei had come to blows over who
would scrub Ranma's back...

Of Rei Hino or Akane Saotome, Genma's best efforts had
produced no trace. Akane had been the vibrantly alive
extension of the Art, the Heir he'd wanted Ranma to be. Rei
had been the passionate one, energetic and emotional. Now
both were gone. Everyone had given them up for dead, though
in Rei's case some supernatural entity was thought
responsible.

Genma wiped a tear as he took one last look around the house
he'd repaired so often, seeing the useless memories and
broken dreams. It must have been dust. Neither men nor
pandas cried.

---------

"So, how many veritech squadrons do you think we'll need?"

"NO!" An image wavered to life over the field. Celeste had
traced an interference track. "Pheonix Mage, you are in that
timeline by accident. In a little over 1500 years, Grey has
to complete a Labor in that timeline. The timeline is stable
and has been mapped. You may *not* alter history!"

"But there are so *many* hordes. Are you sure they need them
all? We could have a *few* couldn't we? Would they really
miss a few thousand demons here or there?"

"No..." Celeste began.

"Oh, of course, not, sugar." A shimmer of air and darkness
walked forward with a sultry but dangerous air.

"Edema," warned Sakyo to her Master, "a powerful mage..."

"...and maker of ice cream novelties," finished Jared. "What
do you here, drow?"

There was a flash of irritation in the drow elf's manner,
but she shrugged it off. "Why, look right here, sugar. This
here's a history of this China. You see where you can't
change it, right?"

Jared glanced at the book, noting that the passage indicated
by one of the drow's long nail indicated that the Fourth
Infernal Host was slain and the Amazon Village was found
empty. Also found evacuated were the prefectures of Nan Hai
(1080 people), Jiao Zhi (1930 people), and Gui Yang (1600
people). They were thought to have fled until they turned up
in...

Jared glanced back up at where some of his girls were
glaring daggers at the drow who was glaring back. All were
outlying areas, away from the capital. It *could* be that
these were areas just tipped off by refugees from elsewhere.
Except for where and when those villages turned back up
again.

"Well, I don't have to take this hostility!" Edema hissed.
"I've got more than enough to occupy my time with work!"

Edema vanished. Celeste shook her head. "Why you two
continue to have racial hostilities..."

Jared slipped the book into a sash. "Celeste, you wouldn't
understand. I've killed a couple of hundred drow personally
and a few million indirectly, and I enjoyed every minute of
it. The bad blood between Drow and other elves can't be put
aside easily, and it doesn't help any that on my world
there's a ceremony for elves who've joined the other side.
Drow become High Elves when they forsake darkness and High
Elves become Drow when they embrace darkness, so seeing her
triggers fighting reflexes undimmed by meeting many light
hearts under Drow skins. I'll tell you what, though. At the
end of this I *promise* to drop in her ice cream parlor and
even have a good time. How's that?"

All those who realized what it meant for him to have those
God marks and make a promise blinked in unison.

Celeste cocked her head. "What you said about enjoying
killing Drow...?"

Jared actually chuckled in surprise. "Uh, no. That's *not*
what I'd meant. I was planning on eating a Potion of Good
Humor before I went. In that state I couldn't hate Genma."
He met the eyes of the Goddess of J-pop. "Well, anyway, it
will take me a little while to relocate. I'll
try to avoid the main forces then. No point in destroying
the very people I'd rather see rescued."

Celeste nodded. "Your word that you won't violate history?
This timeline gets messed up enough on its own!"

Jared nodded. "I'll preserve its history as best I can."
~Especially if what I read is correct, in which case, I'm
already in here!~

---------

-->Program 4<--
---->Honey<----
---->Start<----

The blonde in the red kimono opened her eyes. "Master?"

--->Program 5<---
----->Melon<-----
----->Start<-----

The raven haired marionette dressed as a shrine maiden
blinked as if coming awake. "Master?!"

Mamoru took more than one step back. "Huh?!"

Gennai chuckled. "I'll trade the Aya and Kotono units for
this one. I had a feeling..." Actually he'd known about the
link between Grape, Apple, Blueberry, Melon, and Honey for
some time. They had all turned up positive for that odd
dimensional disturbance at one time or another. Now they had
something else in common: their Master.

Ginseng cocked her head. There was something familiar about
Mamoru. She started forward, curious to determine if closer
proximity would resolve the odd indication.

-------------

Heaven:

"Okay, we've got to intervene!" Celeste noted the bugport
indicator flashing in the SMJ timeline, drawing her
attention from the Third Labor timeline. "Get everything
ready, we've got to do this carefully to avoid a crossrip or
template contamination."

"Okay dokey!"

Those present were goddesses, with a spark of the divine.
That divine blood ran cold at the unexpected chipper-vacuous
voice.

Sif, Celeste, Belle, and Diane (along with some unidentified
man in a bathrobe with a fish in his ear) all looked up with
sickened expressions to see that *Kitchiri*, goddess of
bimbo, had somehow appeared in the control room and was
hovering near some controls.

"STOP!"

"GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

"So this is it, we're going to die."

"DON'T!"

Kitchiri jumped, startled, her posterior coming down on a
set of buttons.

Among other things, the lights went out.

Sif's voice interrupted the silence in the pitch black room.
"You know, there's times when that girl is tolerable. This
is not one of them."

"Can we engage her to the Pheonix Mage? He might be able to
make something useful out of her..." Diane was thinking
lamps, statues, rugs, etc.

"Let me see," Celeste brought the power back up. "Oh dear."

"How long before we can at least monitor a timeline?" Sif
frowned, looking around for Kitchiri but the bimbo had
already fled.

"Five minutes to bring everything back up from an improper
shutdown. Another couple of hours to monitor. A day or two
to stabilize things." Celeste's bangs hid her eyes as she
slumped at the keyboard. "Looks like the grab worked, but
it'll take us a week to find out where they ended up with
the transport interrupted. Together probably, though more
than that I can't even guess. With the bookmarks wiped it'll
take longer just to track what the Mage is doing."

---------

The alarms continued to ring until the third time Lorelei
requested they stop.

Baiko and Tamasaburo continued to prowl the grounds, though
everyone pretty much thought it would be futile.

"Statement: Dimensional disturbance has ceased. No
indication of further activity. Analysis: Mamoru Tengoku and
his marionettes were pulled through the same sort of
dimensional rift that had appeared around the marionettes.
Conclusion: without a means to travel inter-dimensionally we
will be unable to track further."

Gennai sat sadly, his two new marionettes unsure of what to
do. "I've known Mamoru for years. What do you suppose
happened?"

"Observation: the marionettes bore expressions of surprise."
Ginseng looked around, cocking her head in a pose evocative
of a wary bird. "Conclusion: this was unexpected even by the
agency that modified them or placed them here. Hypothesis:
Sakyo is commonly believed to be the originator of the
templates for units Apple, Melon, Grape, Blueberry, as well
as several others. Extrapolation: these units were attacked
or removed by the Enemies mentioned by the self-styled Mage
during his visit. Extrapolation: if the preceding is
correct - said Enemies are removing potential impediments to
our destruction."

"We're not ready, we're not *nearly* ready," Lorelei
groaned. "One decent hit on the capitals and the backup
hidden cloning facilities would still require months to be
ready to run. Our ability to fight longrange is terrible at
present."

"Castle Japonesse could be ready to transform, but with the
fist-rockets that's only two shots." Cherry hovered
protectively near Otaru. Yes, they'd beaten Faust's best,
but against something that could lay waste to a planet? She
didn't have terribly high hopes. She (like the others) were
hoping that the Mage had been exaggerating but afraid he
wasn't.

--------

Third Labor timeline:

Looked like a normal Chinese army, circa 211 AD.

That is, until one looked with magic or got close enough to
recognize the pallid sores covering flesh, the glowing red
eyes, the forked tongues flicking in and out of fanged
mouths.

That was the footsoldiers. The commanders looked even more
human. Appearances were definitely deceiving in this case.

The commander of this force of 1200 warriors looked up and
sniffed. "WHAT?!"

"What issss, Captain?" The hiss of a sublieutenant indicated
the Captain's alarm had not gone unnoticed.

"Magic users." The captain sniffed again and grinned. "Looks
like we may have a fight ahead of us. Good. This was getting
boring."

An invisibility field winked out as spell energy overwhelmed
it.

"Thee who travel starlit void,
In my hand thy power's employed,
Missile of iron and heavenly fire,
Conjured to smite my enemies dire,
Wrath of the heavens, fiery storm,
I name thee now: METEOR SWARM!"

**KA-BLAM!**

The hovering Pheonix Mage watched as the explosions swirled
through the center of the army. As it only did a fixed (and
not terribly impressive) amount of damage for a ninth level
spell, it had only been used for wiping out a fair amount of
the cannon fodder ghouls.

He wasn't unhappy to see that the impact on the army was
minimal, as well as the glimmer of personal protection
shields. The ground around them was superheated, so...

Shan floated alongside him and whipped her Powerkey Staff
through a quick loop, firing off quick bursts of energy to
keep the fliers down. "At least that threw off the
disguises."

"Ice and snow,
storm and blow,
Temperature plummet at rapid pace,
Ice Storm from my hands now race!"

As the Ice Storm spell settled over the battle field,
figures broke the cover to rise to meet the Mage. The battle
was joined in earnest.

-----------

Minako Aino awoke, groaned and stretched. Then screamed loud
and hard and long until a hand slapped over her mouth.

"i *do* wish you'd all stop doing that." Grey sighed.

"But... I..." Minako stared at her hands. "I'm incomplete!
My flesh is..."

"Oh that's right. You're Shinto, though less so than Rei."
Grey nodded. One of the curious bits about Japan that'd
struck him many times. To have any loss of body parts marked
one as unclean somehow, yet they were fond of the whole
cyborg concept in their mass media. This apparent conflict
was typically Japanese... "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad?!" Minako's voice was going up into the upper
registers. "I'm a robot!"

"Yeah? And i'm a full conversion cyborg." Grey shook his
head. "Look all of us need some time to settle things down.
Right now i've got several people in my head all screaming
they're the real me. Until we've all settled this down, we
can't get much done."

Minako winced. Or was she Honey or Vena? It was all so
confusing. "Who?"

"Mamoru Tengoku. Sometimes Ranma Saotome, though definitely
not a canon version. Or the Moon Kingdom Knight known as
Nebula. Or Grey, cyborg and agent of Asgard's Rival Relief
Office. Or Kei Ling, peasant soldier under Cao Cao's flag.
Or Frostbite, a silver dragon priest of Etragar the Healer.
Or..." Grey stopped as he saw a look in Minako's eyes.

"Master?" Honey asked, shoving aside the Minako personality.
Then another personality came forth. "Cousin?" Venus asked
of Nebula. "Orion? Grey?" Minako reasserted herself as she
searched the metal man before her.

It nodded. Or he nodded. They nodded? Minako thought it
confusing but essayed a smile in return.

Minako relaxed and started drifting off again, the various
personas knowing a measure of peace. Her
Master/boyfriend/favorite cousin/husband was here with her.
She was in an unknown situation in an unknown place, facing
who knows what, but she was with someone she could trust.
Honey loved and trusted her Master, and if it were a line of
programming code did that make it less real? Venus
remembered her stuffy old cousin Nebula, who quietly endured
her teasing for years and was as dependable as anything.
Orion her pet cat who'd been her late night confidante from
when she'd been a child, then her transforming boyfriend
Grey, finally revealed as a 'Ranma' who had been a dragon
that could assume the form of a cat or a human at will. One
part of herself whispered to another part of herself that
some of her lives had been more complicated than others.

=================

Well, i had a request to term the SMJ xover. So i did.

Oh well.
And to keep track of the lumped lives: (most dominant aspect
listed first)
Apple (marionette) = Makoto Kino = Princess Jupiter
Honey (marionette) = Minako Aino = Princess Venus
Blueberry (marionette) = Ami Mizuno = Princess Mercury
Grape (marionette) = Hotaru Tomoe = Princess Saturn
Rei Hino (two versions) = Melon (marionette) = Princess Mars
Grey = Mamoru Tengoku = Frostbite (dragon) = Nebula = Orion
(cat/dragon/Ranma) = "Ranma (brother of Akane) Saotome" =
???

===============

Third Labor (Discord's Bet) chapter six
"What do ya do with a drunken sploogie?"

Disclaimer: multiple universes, various timelines, and a
self insert (at this point a sort-of self insert as Grey's
gone through several very different lives and decades of
experience). Some characters are tm other people.

-----

Princess Venus swept into the Moon Palace, graceful and
poised. "Bennu!" She nodded happily to the flame-haired
mage. Friendly fellow, though he tended to lose himself in
research and go off to that tower of his for extended
period. Bennu waved back.

"Have you seen Nebula?" Venus had decided her cousin was due
for some good natured teasing, just like old times. Cousin
Nebula had been sent off on so many duties lately, she
hardly ever got to see him.

"You didn't hear?" Bennu blinked at that. "It's usually *me*
who's the last to know about the Court goings on... Nebula's
been sent away from Court."

The Princess stumbled as her graceful gliding missed a step.
"Say what?! What happened?"

Bennu leaned against the railing and regarded Venus for a
moment. "Do you want the scuttlebut or the Official
Version?"

"Both," Venus answered promptly. "He's Serena's father, how
could he just be tossed out like that?"

"You know how he'd been sent off on quests a lot lately?"
Bennu made a gesture that left a sparkling trail in midair.
"Well, the Queen decided she was getting too reliant on
having him about and..."

Venus winced. "So, just like the last three Consorts, she
decided that having personal feelings for any one of her
paramours was detracting from her efficiency as the Queen.
Think they'll reconcile like the last time she did that?"

Bennu shook his head. "He's been forbidden to even attend
the Court or enter the Palace grounds this time."

All thoughts of teasing her favorite cousin was shelved.
Though she was a Princess of the Royal House of Venus, and
Nebula a minor noble of a bastard line of the same family,
twice removed, the Princess had long considered Nebula a
dependable friend. "How's he taking it?"

"Pretty badly," Bennu confirmed. "He was forbidden from
seeing his daughter again, and per the Queen's orders,
nobody's told Princess Serenity about it, but he was always
gratified to be able to catch glimpses and hear of her
development. Now he might as well be on a distant world,
he'll never see her again that much."

Venus winced again. Both understood that Queen Serenity had
wanted her daughter to grow up without unwanted dependency
upon anyone besides herself, and that Nebula was the doting
sort who would have been able to refuse his daughter
nothing. It had been hard though, very hard on the Knight Of
Duty.

Bennu excused himself, grateful that at least Venus wasn't
following him around with hearts in her eyes as usual.

---------

Minako/Honey moaned in her sleep, remembering how she'd
found Nebula. He didn't drink, which was a pity as running
across him drunk would have been less of a shock than
finding the crushed individual she'd found on the outskirts
of the Silver Palace.

Then she'd introduced Nebula to her friend Princess Jupiter,
who was trying to get over a loss herself. It had gone well,
briefly, but then another disaster had occurred.

Nearby, Apple dreamed. This time it was not of the Princess
Jupiter.

---------

"So it's true," Makoto said, stepping out of the shadows and
causing a series of squeaks and yelps from her friends.
Minako, Usagi, Ami and Rei looked a combination of guilty
and shocked. "How could you keep something like this from
me!"

"You're not scared or disgusted?" The cat on the floor
inquired.

"No," Makoto insisted.

Orion couldn't help but make an observation. "Then why is
your ponytail still sticking straight up?"

"Heh heh!" Makoto reached up and smoothed her hair back
down. "So, Mina-chan, you've been keeping this boyfriend of
yours hidden?"

"No, he's not really my boyfriend," Minako said truthfully
at the moment. It would take her another year before she
could overcome the image of Orion just being a talking cat.
She'd had him since she was a child, and he'd only
remembered how to transform last year. "We're just friends.
Besides, we're too young for THAT."

Makoto's eyes gleamed. She'd thought Grey a fairly exotic
looking boy. Not as cute as her ideal, for certain. Maybe
they were only in 1st year Junior High but Makoto Kino was
ready for love! And an enchanted prince would do until
someone who fit the profile a bit more came along!

----------

Apple groaned and shifted in her sleep. No, she wouldn't do
that. Not again. Never again. The image of Nebula sparring
with his favored weapon - a manriki gusari called the Chain
Of Duty held in his hands while the long knife Sundererer
was tucked in his belt. Followed by the broken man whom she
had glimpsed walking away from Princess Jupiter and
Narcisssus. Another image of Grey, seen from the doorway to
the roof of an embassy, explaining to Minako that he
understood why they would all abandon him again. The level
of anguish in his that had made her want to break out of the
shadows and hug him. Only to have the merger of timelines
seperate them once again.

Blueberry whimpered in HER sleep. Which was filled with
dreams of a Moon Palace, and of finding a soulmate in the
researcher Bennu. Only Bennu had had so many other admirers,
some prettier, some smarter, some with more "talent" or more
raw power. And there were her duties as the Mercury Princess
which kept her away from research or study much of the time,
much less fraternizing with an independent spirit who had
once composed a song about the fickleness of Queen Serenity
(devastatingly accurate and an underground hit with lower
caste people snickering the lyrics where the nobles weren't
expected to hear them). The song and composer had been
banned from the Moon, which had suited Bennu quite well.
Dubbing himself the Pheonixi, he'd developed a tower on
Deimos - a moon of Mars and one of those who rumors linked
as interested in him was no less than the Princess of Mars
herself!

Blueberry dreamed of watching the Knight Of Love, a
mysterious figure indeed, and speculating on his identity.
The same with the Knight Of Duty until it was publicly
revealed that it was Nebula, who had been a consort of the
Queen decades ago. Still, with the lifespans of the Silver
Millenium, the difference in ages of a mere span of decades
was of little consequence. Princess Mercury had watched the
Knight grow cold and distant, dedicating himself to the Art
Of Combat in a method similar to Bennu's love of research.
And as for her, she'd had few consorts.

Rei mumbled something about a "baka" a few times and dreamed
of being the Princess Mars and her odd relation with the
outcast and outspoken researcher Bennu. Of viewing her
friend Jupiter's failure to remain constant to Nebula and
seeing something of herself and her relation with Bennu
reflected there. She rooted for her friend, saw her lose,
and then saw the winner defeated. By duty ironically enough.
She also dreamed of two lives growing up with her
sometimes-best friend/confidante/fiancee sometimes known as
Ranma with fellow fiancees/friends/almost-sisters.

Grey had fallen asleep on watch, lulled by the gentle
snoring of more than one of the other dreamers. He dreamed
of a life where he flitted like a ghost, always there but
rarely touching another, more unseen than not. Adrift and
alone, caring but not cared about. Able to love, but not
loved himself, surviving on dreams and false hopes. And
then...

---------

"Suicide?" He shook his head. "No, it's against my faith.
Else i would have done it long ago." Depreciating gesture.
"Which would have made a few online people happier if the
FFML is any indication, i think."

The black cat regarded him briefly. "Perhaps. Yet the
predictors show that you'll throw your life away trying to
rescue a child tomorrow at 9am. And fail, of course, you
simply don't care enough about continued living to struggle
back from major bodily harm."

"So, i know i haven't taken any of those weird
anti-depression pills my Doctor prescribed, precisely
because of weird effects like this, so why am i dreaming
you?" The man regarded the cat with a curious stare.
"Toltiir, Elder god of mischief, a being of near-infinite
power and not even vaguely infinite wisdom?"

"Curiosity and mischief *are* my motivation," admitted the
sometimes-feline being. "I'm here to grant you a wish."

The man gave a snort and scratched thinning gray hair. "Yeah
right. Toltiir the Wishbringer, who got the position because
the agendas of the various other deities in the Aramarian
pantheon wouldn't let any of the others had it and they all
assumed it was just another of your whims of the moment. i
know the mythos, i dreamed the whole thing up."

"A thousand chimps," Toltiir said, beginning to lick a paw.
"Ideas have long been your bag. Let me put it to you this
way, what have you got to lose?"

"If this were real. A LOT." The man shook his head again.
"The reason the gods left the position with you was that
you're tricky and mischievous. Any wish granted beyond the
most simple was twisted into something that would amuse you
and cause no great or lasting changes in the Nine Worlds you
mainly concerned yourself with. So any wish that *i* made
would have to be careful indeed."

"True," Toltiir said, not even looking up from his current
task. "Again, what have you got to lose?"

"A wish, huh." The man thought for a moment. "Okay... since
i *know* you won't go away until i do something..."

"Also true," said Toltiir, now using a hind leg to scratch
behind an ear. "And you also know that I'm easily bored and
so stalling will just make me make the wish for you."

Wincing, the man considered the probability of something
beneficial resulting from THAT being a null set. "In that
case, i wish i was completely healthy, with my mind and
sense of identity being unaltered, that i could continue to
learn and develop new skills, ..." He continued on, adding
provisions and clauses as he went until he had to draw
breath again.

"Done!" The being said before any further provisos could be
added.

-------------

Grey came awake, remembering that. It had been that wish
that had gotten the Binding woven over him and he had been
transformed into something to suit Toltiir's sense of irony.
An incubus, a male sex-demon who had refused to take
advantage of his abilities and had therefore never gotten to
the fullness of the powers of that form. He'd taken the name
Grey as he had neither been truly of the Light or Dark, but
a mix of both.

He had been transported to Asgard, and had run into Ares on
his first day there. Literally. Ares had been taking a wager
from Loki and had been sneaking out of Thor's house WITH the
thunder god's belt of might. The resultant quarrel between
himself (unsure of who this was other than a thief) and the
disguised Greek god of war had lasted just long enough to
attract the attention of the house's occupants. The
resultant beating had given Greek an excuse to continue
getting even with the "little punk mortal" and Grey (caught
in the blast radius) his first experience with the painful
resurrection-through-flame that the Binding gave him.

Thor had turned out to be gruff, tempramental, and a bit
slow upstairs. Okay guy though, especially with his wife
running herd on his crazier impulses. Sif had turned out to
be nice, though with a temper than made even her husband
quail.

Looking out into the night, Grey adjusted his vision down to
the infrared, a simple enough trick now that he was a cyborg
again. Oddly enough it was the modified Triax Manhunter form
he'd had on the first part of his First Labor. Until the
Pheonix Mage's spell had rebuilt him. As what he couldn't
remember, which usually meant that things had gotten pretty
nasty.

Little glowing dots were interpreted into bats, a slightly
larger blur was an owl, and the big shambling shape was a...

>IDENTIFICATION: Tigerclaw Raptor WARNING: pack predator

Grey extended his laser rod and watched the creature warily.
The blasted ruin of the apartment complex he had brought the
girls to was intact away from the opening he was currently
at. He was sure he could kill this one with four or five
bursts, but that would alert the others to his presence.
Scanning the forest, Grey could make out five other blobs. A
hunting pack. Best to let them move on. One advantage of his
cyborg body was that it smelled like a machine to most
predators. Inedible.

More concerning was what this meant. A forest covering the
mounds of fallen buildings. The gaping wreck of a hotel
across from a largely intact apartment complex. Tigerclaw
Raptors. Tentative identification: Scottsdale Forest, RIFTS
Earth.

This could be bad.

One of the girls sleeping in the hunter's camp screamed in
her sleep. The raptors immediately oriented on the sound and
began running.

Yup. This was bad.

----------

Another timeline:

Gendo Ikari stepped forward. It was ready and now he could
seize the moment. "...the Silver Millenium crystal..." With
it, he could bring Yui back. With it, he could have
everything and anything he wanted. With it, all of his plans
would end in triumph!

*BANG*

Gendo stumbled and clutched his chest then stared down at
the bloody hole in his chest.

"I told you, dumpling head. A little .22 has insufficient
knockdown and damage!"

There came the sound of an asthmatic sewing machine.

"An UZI on the other hand has some slight problems with
inaccuracy but makes up for it by being a sort of
traditional weapon."

Gendo tried to stand from where he had fallen, looking back
in surprise. "Katsuragi? But..."

Misato leveled the submachinegun with a grin at the NERV
Commander, flanked by the GUTS units on both sides. "Ami,
you've wanted this for awhile."

Ami nodded and walked past Gendo, not even sparing a glance
at He Who Would Be God as he fell back down and drowned in
the lake of LCL beneath NERV HQ. Then she looked back at her
friends. "Guys. We should all do this. We've all suffered at
HIS hands."

Ami, Minako, Usagi, Makoto, and Rei all formed a circle
around the rose-shaped crystal for a moment. As one they
reached forward, each focussing on their own vision of what
they held dear.

*CONTACT*

----------------

Ami finished her breakfast, but then paused. What an odd
daydream. And her husband transformed into a dragon and
dead? Maybe she was coming down with something.

"Something wrong, honey?" Shinji asked from where he was
washing the breakfast dishes. He was concerned about her,
medical school was tough and took a lot of her time. He'd
taken over the housewife role mainly (despite her protests)
due to her increasing load of schoolwork and thought this
looked like a good time for his special sugar cookies. That
usually cheered her up. "Looked like you were out of it
there for a moment."

"No, it's nothing..." Ami essayed a smile, still shaken by
the odd dream.

"Tell you what, it's been some time since we had some time
to ourselves. Let's just schedule a little trip and there's
that hot springs up in the mountains..."

Ami blushed, ducked her head, and agreed that that *did*
sound like a good idea.

--------------

China, 211 AD, Elsewhere:

Jared brought his right hand up to his forehead, first two
fingers extended.
"Holy power, purest light,
Come ye and cleanse this blight,
Strike this evil from my sight!
HOLY!"

Bringing his right hand down to point it like a gun at the
enemy, Jared proved he'd learned his lesson the last time
he'd cast this spell from that Aramarian spellbook. THIS
time he braced his arm so it wouldn't bend the joint from
the force of the beam. As it had before, the white corkscrew
of energy sped forth, drilling through yoma and consuming
them.

The land forces were getting into their own positions.

"MERCURY COMET STORM!"

Uranus and Mars linked attacks in a combo that had served
them well in the past. "SHAKE AND BAKE!"
Jared smiled as the large batwinged Thing From Another World
rose up to meet him, a sword in one hand and a barbed
cat-o-nine-tails in the other. It grinned in reply.

"At last, a challenge!" That they had spoken simultaneously
and said the same thing concerned a few of the onlookers. On
both sides.

The demon blurred and vanished. So did Jared. The two
reappeared in each others places. More blurring and
vanishing as the two jockeyed for position via Dimension
Door and teleports.

The demon roared. Jared yelled. "FIREBALL!" The fireballs
met in midair and exploded.

"FREEZE ARROW!"

"FIRE ARROW!"

Again the attacks met and cancelled out. By mutual unspoken
agreement, the two faced each other with grins and started
more "heavy artillery" pieces.

The balrog made a set of passes with his sword.
"Darkness beyond twilight,
Crimson beyond blood that flows,"

The Pheonix cupped hands in front of him.
"Brightness beyond daylight,
Coil of creation's spring,"

The two reached the ends of their spells simultaneously.

"DRAGON SLAVE!"

"GODSFIRE!"

The reddish corkscrew burst was sundered, the white beam of
light racing past and narrowly missing the demon as he
dodged.

"Impressive," said the balrog, "but now that the prelimaries
are out of the way..." The dread evil thing shot a beam of
blackness out, which Jared simply sidestepped, allowing it
to eat out a few hundred tons of cliff face instead of
impact on anything living. With a confident smirk the
Pheonix mage replied by taking out a sword whose blade
seemed to radiate a holy light.

"Do you recognize this? I've been dying to use this ever
since I pried it from the cold grasp of the dead abomination
that had eaten the original owner. This is a Fell Blade, a
Demon Slayer, called in some cultures a Bane of Fiends. One
touch from this weapon and your unholy kind are in
danger of ceasing to exist, and if one of your unholy breed
should be struck down by this you are irrevocably destroyed,
no matter where it is you've hidden your lifeforce or what
you've done to preserve it." The smirk grew wider. "And no
magic of any kind would bring you back."

The fiend chuckled warmly in cruel delight, drawing forth a
blade of dead black iron, with squigly runes engraved all
over its surface. The fiend had no sooner drawn it forth
than the weapon began howling like a chorus of damned
infernal spirits. "I've fought those kind of blades before,
hero. None yet has slain me. Meet *my* partner in this
battle: The Blade of Howling Souls. Over a dozen angels and
heroes of light are bound within it, suffering endless
torment for all eternity." The batwinged demon licked a
forked tongue across its fanged chops. "And I've decided
you're worthy of joining them."

The Pheonix Mage's brow bent low in seriousness. "I hold no
fear of rune weapons, they hold no power to steal or bind my
spirit. I'll just have to spend enough time to free them
after I've destroyed you." His smirk returned. "And I
imagine neither task will take long."

The Mage raised his blade high above his head and cried out.
"Triforce Crown!" Bathing himself in a ten yard wide aura of
brilliant light, yet constantly radiating waves of
destructive force over the entire spectrum of electricity,
fire, cold and so on. For demonic and foul creatures he
became well nigh unbearable to look upon, and his close
presense would scour their foul hides with energies that,
while not the most destructive of powers he could weild,
were guaranteed not to do his foes any good.

And yet, uncommonly genuine feelings of peace and love and
hope filled the breasts of any good being who looked upon
him, and his aura of cascading destructions would sweep away
the evil and yet leave all good beings or creatures
unharmed.

The batwinged general of the demonic army spoke a single
word in a dread and abominable tongue and was instantly
cloaked in inky blackness, a hungry, devouring sort of
coldness that didn't apply to heat, but to the energy of
one's soul, leeching and sucking out at one's very essence.

The two forces sped together and met in a resounding crash.
The howling of the demon blade met the shaft of holy light
and the twin auras of light and darkness thrashed and
crashed about as they met.

There came an explosion and the body of the dark general
went sprawling, propelled through the air by massive
destructive force, to impact and shatter, bones and gristle
flying apart and falling like shrapnel among the demonic
army.

"Man, what a pushover *you* were!" Jared exclaimed, floating
in mid air without a touch or a mark on him. He stopped when
something strange began happening within the demonic army.
The host was dissolving, eaten apart by the shreds of their
general's body where it had struck them. Hundreds upon
hundreds of demons were dissolving down into icky goo, and
just as the mage was about to make some quip about it, the
dissolved bodies drew together into a single amorphous blob,
which had no sooner assembled than it shot forth arms and
limbs and grew into a single demonic being two hundred feet
tall.

The reformed demon general laughed heartily, and though the
appearance was off the voice was dead on. It was the same
guy. With sudden inspiration the Mage realized that the
demon had never been touched by a Fell Blade because it was
never *itself* it was risking! Through some means it
magically usurped control of whatever body came to hand,
there was not the link for a Fell Blade to work on because
the flesh it struck was in no way connected to the infernal
spirit that drove it. The true bad guy was basically
imposing its will over others, and if its pawns were at risk
doing it so what? There were replacements to hand.

The real bad guy was doing this whole battle by remote
control. The Fell Blade would never endanger him because it
would never hit him, just servants under magical control and
remotely empowered.

Clever. That was an angle the Pheonix Mage hadn't ever
thought of a demon using. He cocked his head at the giant
monstrosity. "Fancy that, I hardly expected to meet a demon
lord slumming on such a routine assignment. Haven't you
rivals that you have to watch out for? Hardly worth a little
entertainment if your enemies steal all of your power behind
your back."

The monstrosity responded by sending out thousands of
tentacles from its breast, hoping to catch the Mage within
their squirming masses.

"Analyzing: Remote Operation Technique, Acquired. Tracing to
source. There!!" Shan flew by and shot a bolt of power into
a ring worn by one of the gawking footsoldier demons. The
resulting explosion cratered the area and caused the evil
artifact to split, releasing its cargo even as Jared
finished blasting the artificial, two hundred foot tall
composite demon into dust.

"Shan, get clear!" Jared started building power between his
hands. This would take care of ONE problem.

The blackness formed and summoned its sword, swatting the
bothersome insect that was annoying it with microbursts of
energy.

Shan didn't listen to her Master, using her Powerkey Staff
to harmlessly block a strike by the demon's sword. He made a
mistake, trying to absorb Shan's soul. Shan was a cyborg
(and often annoyed by her Master mistaking her for an
android) but one crafted to be an Ifurita upgrade. Therefore
she did have a soul to absorb, but it wasn't that easy to
defeat her. Use a technique against her or where she could
analyze it, and she could absorb it and adapt the attack -
adding it to her personal arsenal. No one had ever learned
the Breaking Point as easily as she had.

"Analyzing: Soul Drinker. Technique Acquired. Reversing."
Shan blocked another strike, then brought her staff up and
struck the sword. "SOUL FREER!"

The explosion was immense as an "indestructible" weapon was
shattered and the souls within freed all in one massive
rush.

"Chain Lightning!" Jared threw the spell into the massed
ghouls, then returned his attention to the opponent facing
him. The Pheonix Mage noted the unconscious and badly
drained body of the cyborg falling to the ground below, and
released tears yet didn't even turn to watch it fall. He had
allies who would take care of her, do everything that could
be done, and this guy was only growing as a threat. Though
without that sword, he was perhaps less threat than he had
been.

The inky blackness that was the true creature stormed the
Mage in such an amazing burst of speed that he barely had
time to react as it engulfed him in utter chaos, tearing
apart the local fabric of the universe around him as a means
of indirectly destroying the well-defended Mage.

The blackness roared. "You face a balrog prince, mortal!!"

The Mage responded, his own god marks flaring with inner
light. "And you a hero! Let God support the Right!" And with
that, his god marks blazed alight, rebuilding the universe
as fast or faster than the demon could destroy it.

Unfortunately, as he was the God of Crossovers, that meant
that when he'd rebuilt it they were no longer in the same
place.

------------

Jared appeared in a blink of light and watched his enemy
fade into existence. All of his senses were tightly focused
on his foe so he barely even noted their surroundings: some
kind of city somewhere.

"If you want to escape, now's your chance." He told the
demon, gloating as he appraised its weakness over the last
attack.

The balrog prince replied with a curling jet of fire that
boiled the very air surrounding it, causing minor heat
flashes and scorching walls not even struck by it. The jet
washed over the Pheonix Mage, who had to laugh. "Hah! No
effect at all!" Drawing together both his hands he
brought them high and did the *quick* version of a powerful
spell.

"Archangel Sword!!"

The demon intercepted the scarcely visible shearing attack
with a flick of its nine-tailed whip, and bellowed with
laughter in turn.

The Mage's eyes narrowed in calculation. A tiny flick of
that weapon had totally disrupted a spell akin to an
armor-piercing Dragon Slave. With a gasp of recognition he
saw the golden links that made up the chains of each of
those nine lashes.

The demon prince chuckled again, a truly nasty sound. "Yes,
I see you recognize my TRUE weapon of power. The sword was
useful. I'll make another with the last energy from the
final beating of your heart. But so long as I have
Spellbreaker incorporated into my whip you are already as
good as finished! Just like a dozen angels before you!"

~This was not good.~

*****

Whimper. Cry.

Scores of young married females: Androids, amazons, cyborgs,
Sailor Scouts, and at least one more, alternated between
laboring feverishly and watching helplessly.

"The local disturbance around that demon lord is just too
strong!" Amy declared, working at the head of a team armed
with Scout Planetary computers. "I doubt that we'd be able
to breach that dimension even with a Scout Teleport."

"So what you're saying is?"

"For right now, Jay-chan's all on his own!"

More gazes turned mournfully to the great picture that had
formed in the absence of the rift that had taken Jared away.
Seeing their beloved and unable to help him was sheer
torture to most.

Makoto Jupiter was ready to breach the field anyway. As a
Sailorjin, this sort of fight was just too good for her to
pass up. Danger? All the better. The only problem was that
she blocked from it by two of her other selves. Vanishing
like a soap bubble or merging with her local analogue
wouldn't do her a lot of good.

Seeing Belldandy work with others to help recuperate the
injured Shan, Urd stepped carefully to the side and took out
a cell phone.

It was about time she made this particular call.

Women of the amazon village, watching from a safe distance
away on a local hillside, were both locked in awe and
concerned. The battle had started with such fell magics on
both sides as to totally humble the proud warrior culture,
yet it was also clear that this was only one such
demon army. If their protectors went away their village was
as good as dust, and from what they could see these women,
ALL of them, were intending to leave after their husband as
quickly as they could find means enough to follow him.

*****

If the alarms had blared for the disappearance of Mamoru
Tengoku, then the discordance visited upon Lorelei's
sensitive ears now was indescribable.
"CUT THOSE BLOODY THINGS OFF!"

Ginseng's normal calm had slipped just slightly in her
expression. "Statement: the Mage has returned. Request: run
full scanning mode. Statement: we have met the enemy, and
he's a big sucker."

The statement was so incongruous that everyone briefly
stared at Ginseng before returning their attention to the
monster stomping the Kuno mansion into kindling.

Otaru whistled. "That thing must be four hundred feet tall!"

"Three hundred forty seven and seven eighths," corrected
Cherry. "Slightly larger than Ponta-kun."

"Don't worry, Otaru!" Bloodberry made a muscle gesture
though she wasn't feeling nearly that confident. "With the
new powerarmor we can..."

Bloodberry's voice trailed off as the demonic being spat a
stream of black lightning that ripped a ragged line of
destruction that extended past the city limits.

"..." Bloodberry continued to stare at the monitor.

Cherry hesitated for a moment. "Uhm, what about the rocket
cannon?"

"Statement: Neither the rocket cannon nor the prototype
marionette enhancing power armor would make an appreciable
difference in this battle." Ginseng almost frowned.
"Analysis: this does however seem to be the perfect chance
to field test the armor under the conditions for which it
was designed."

"You're not suggesting..." Otaru stared at the marionette.

"Statement: this unit is the only marionette which does not
have a place or function within the greater society."
Ginseng paused. "Analysis: this unit will not be missed and
data obtained will prove of value to further series."

"That's crazy!" Lorelei broke her silence. "You're..."
Lorelei's voice trailed off. There really wasn't much use
for the marionette. Nobody felt that comfortable around her
and she'd already made available what data she had felt was
safe into marionettes that *she* had built.

Ginseng regarded them all, and not one met her gaze.
"Statement: you know I'm right on this."

------------

Rifts Earth: edge of the Scottsdale Forest, about four miles
from New Tempe.

Grey had realized that the beings attacking were not easily
discouraged. Therefore he'd used exceptional methods to
argue that there was easier prey elsewhere. He started off
by using his laser rod, even though in the game he was
familiar with it only did 2d6 MD and was silent.

Superheated air crackled behind each blast and the first
raptor struck by the beam let out a steam whistle screech.

Grey got two more shots while the pack leapt and climbed
their way up what had been an apartment complex facade a few
centuries ago. Then he switched to another weapon that he'd
gotten a long time ago and in a galaxy far far away.

*Vshhhhhtttt. Vum vummmmm.*

These were not intelligent dinosaurs. One charged forward,
drawing attention for the two flankers to attack from the
sides. The lightsaber skidded slightly but then was inserted
through an open mouth to exit the raptor's skull. The cyborg
then grabbed the thing's neck, crushed it with an Anything
Goes manuever, and threw it into the nearest of the two
other attackers. Holding the sword forward as if to stab it,
Grey then used a iaijitsu manuever to sheathe his sword in
the one sneaking up on him.

Grey clicked on his anti-Juicer protocols. These were fast
attackers, strong, and he wasn't too sure what would happen
if they got past him. He simply filled the doorway into the
shelter and sliced and diced anything that came near. The
raptors were too tough to carve through in a single swipe,
but the damage inflicted was much heavier than the laser rod
had managed.

The raptors were wary now, clicking to themselves as they
watched him for any sign of weakness.

Grey was using IR to track them by body heat as well as by
tricorder. He noticed them bunching up at an angle and
spared a glance at the battery charge on the saber.

The raptors attacked en masse.

--------

Jared made a gesture and spoke a phrase of power,
surrounding himself with a Fire Shield.

The demon cast Acid Armor upon itself.

The rattle of a machine gun firing announced a third player,
this one shooting towards the massive demon via some kind of
jetpack.

Both sides ignored the relatively low power marionette, who
quickly ran out of ammunition anyway.

Jared eyed the golden whip that had a 100% magic resistance.
Any spell impinging upon that would immediately be sundered,
which cut his options considerably. Chi attacks would work,
but like his Devilhunter sword or his martial arts, they
would only serve to whittle at an enemy this size.

If Shan could recover her reserves, her ability to
circumvent dimensions would bring the others here. Then they
could use wolf pack tactics, striking from different
directions so that the giant demon couldn't block all of
their attacks. Just Shan by herself could probably generate
enough raw power to take out the Spellbreaker, followed by
his spells ravaging the creature. However, whenever Shan
learned a technique and first duplicated it, it tended to
exhaust her energy reserves. Having learned two techniques,
employing them, and then being caught by the explosion -
Shan would be out for awhile. Unless, of course, Belldandy
could do that recharge thing...

Ginseng's performance was closely monitored, that was why
she was there after all. So the computers recorded that the
machine guns and grenade launcher had produced no injury in
the target. A flame thrower from Ginseng had absolutely no
effect on the demon. A vibrational knife, stabbed into the
demon's forehead, finally brought a response. The demon
slapped its forehead, then scraped marionette bits off onto
one of the buildings.

The demon sprayed black and purple lightning towards its'
opponent. Jared responded with a Force Wall while he
planned. Magic items? Nothing effective that wouldn't be
overwhelmed by Spellbreaker. Maybe...

"Twist and turn the magic flows,
Disrupt the spell from order's rows,
Confound ye now the magic's function,
I invoke ye now: Mordenkainen's Disjunction!"

The demon was stunned as the conflicting energies sparked
and sizzled around its' frame.

Jared's eyes narrowed, then widened.

If Shan could do it, he could.

Doing something immediately dangerous, that had gotten more
than one mage exploding into fiery, flying bits when it went
wrong, the Pheonix Mage committed the Ultimate No No of the
school of magic he'd been trained on. The fact that it had
never worked before in all recorded knowledge did not deter
him. Fortunately, he'd studied some schools where such
things weren't entirely impossible, at least in theory.

He invented a spell on the fly.

The Mage brought a hand above him and pointed a hand below,
using the slipstream effect of his flying ability to
momentarily stay out of reach of the much slower demon. In
fact the particles stirring in the air from his passage
would soon trigger a plasma storm and *that* ought to help
this out immensely.

Now that he recognized the place, he knew that this was
Terra Two. Terra Two, the Sailor Marionette world, where the
air had a layer of charged particles. Three or four times a
day, a Plasma Cloud would break out because of vortices in
the air causing one particle to bump up against another and
start an avalanche. Really tall buildings, aircraft,
longrange missiles, all of these were made difficult to
impossible by the plasma layer. Even the species of birds
remaining from the colonization had been weeded down to
those who only flew at low altitudes. Otherwise a Plasma
Cloud formed and hundreds of thousands of volts would be
pumped into the offending object.

"Power of Water, Wind and Earth
wrest thy energies from their berth
Electricity, now lend thy might
to aid us now in Heaven's fight!

By the powers that I have named
be now lifeforce unashamed
The core of life in man's pure heart
Energy to darkness part!"

The demon's glowing eyeslits grew thin, then burst wide in
mocking laughter as the entire city below them grew still,
lights went out, computers shut down and marionettes grew
silent as their battery powers (or in some cases their
converters) were exhausted down to trickles. Even the wind
grew still and the growing plasma storm sputtered and died.

The demon Prince roared in laughter at the puny mortal's
failure.

Jared's reasoning was simple: Shan had an electricity to chi
converter, why couldn't a spell do the same? Enough
electricity to run all of Japoness, along with plasma energy
for miles around, now converted and gathered into chi in his
hands. Regardless of if he survived the plasma
storms would be a hefty bit quieter around here for a while.
He brought his hands down and shouted. Oddly enough, he'd
intended to say "DevilHunter Chi Strike" but it came out a
bit different.

"DENKI BALL!"

Caught in mid-gloat, the balrog prince got speared through
the heart by many mighty megawatts of chi in a blazing spear
of holy destruction that vaporized many large segments of
its infernal structure.

Many, but not all.

(Of course, the beam continued on. Destroying the fifth
floor of the tallest building in Japonesse, wrecking four
observation towers outside the city, and converting a
section of the Stormspire Mountains to the Stormspire Bay.)

In the perverse way those things had of surviving long after
they ought to be rightfully deceased, the balrog swept down
its whip and spat out a ball of blackened fire, consuming an
entire fifty story apartment complex in one mighty
explosion.

Tendrils of energy from the deaths that caused trickled out
and began to rebuild the demon.

Jared didn't know what he was going to do. That attack took
everything he'd had and everything the city could spare
also, if he drew any more electricity marionettes would die
as their programs got erased from total power outage. That
this guy could heal itself from near death by killing others
seemed unfair when they were in the middle of a huge pool of
innocents that could be made to suffer in order to repair
the infernal thing.

"Oh, no you don't." The Mage said between gritted teeth.
"There's no way I'm going to let you win."

"And he's not going to!" A comet streaked up and resolved
itself into the image of Makoto Jupiter. "Try THIS on!
RAGING JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!"

The demon staggered back but seemed not particularly
injured.

"KAME..." Makoto brought her hands cupped back. Sometimes
the basics were best. "HAME..." To live in battle, to die in
battle, and spend as much of the time in between snuggling-
this was the fate of a Sailorjin. "HA!"

The demon braced itself as if Makoto were spraying him with
a fire hose.

Tears stinging his eyes, the floating Mage called forth his
crystal mirror that was his concealed spellbook, and without
a glance from the demon he was fighting he calmly and simply
broke it, taking from the precious object a blue gemstone
he'd once called the Pheonix Eye. The
recovering demon took a slash at him from a ridiculously
elongated arm, which the mage dodged with difficulty.

Makoto got slammed to the ground by a huge misshapen foot,
then stepped on.

"FOOL! He's used a similar attack already! My power allows
me to adapt to such tactics once they've been used." The
demon made a grinding gesture with the foot pinning the
Sailorjin down.

Inhaling, Jared shouted. "Knight of Duty, heed! As a duly
ordained Prince of the Silver Millennium I summon thee to
battle this evil!"

Among the wreckage of Ginseng, a spirit warrior firmed into
place and looked up, and up, and up. "You've *got* to be
kidding."

In that moment Jared knew a great deal more than he'd like
what Queen Serenity had been through, sending beloved
friends in to sacrifice themselves to buy time while you
lost what dear things you possessed, building up the power
to crush the enemy that had caused this. He steadied his
voice with effort, and in that moment, he finally understood
the Silver Millennium power. "Nebula, Knight of Duty, link
your energy to mine."

Reluctantly, the spirit figure dressed like a Musketeer
began skipping across rooftops toward the Mage, who was
wordlessly concentrating all his power into the blue eyeball
sized crystal, while falling back from the enraged demon. By
this time the balrog was too infuriated to speak, and
extended an arm that stretched impossibly long to lash with
its whip at the Mage.
Jared's eyes came up, and he thrust forward the fist that
held the gemstone.

"Cosmic Moon Power!" Jared's jaw grew firm. "Fight this
evil!"

An impossible shield of light sprang up and intercepted the
descending whip, stopping the magic destroying artifact with
effort.

The Silver Imperial Crystal magnified chi, but he'd used
that up. It would also use magic, but he had exhausted all
that creating this new crystal. When those were gone several
times Serena had used her life force, killing herself to
accomplish a deed. The Pheonix Mage lifted his blue crystal
high and called upon his last reserves of everything.

Then other presences began to appear. To his left, Shan
flipped her Powerkey Staff around like a bo staff and
repeated "Cosmic Moon Power. ENHANCE!"

Makoto Jupiter lifted the Knight Of Duty up to where Jared
floated, adding her own chi to the glow of energies as soon
as Jared manifested a platform the single non-flyer could
stand on.

"aaaaaa HA!" BOOM! Makoto's hair turned golden and she was
surrounded by a fiery aura as she went from normal to Super
Sailorjin and finally to Super Sailorjin II mode.

Shan had observed this twice now. She emulated it. "aaaaa
HA!" BOOM!

Now that his opponent was flanked by two the equivelant of
two Super Sailorjin (a blonde Makoto and a blonde cyborg
Shampoo), and the Knight Of Duty, the demon took a faltering
step back in alarm. THIS might actually be tough. The power
level he was facing had just gone up by a considerable
factor.

Jared cast a glance to his side, catching a glimpse of
Makoto Jupiter's transformation to Super Sailorjin II,
gasping ahold of her shoulder he diverted a portion of his
growing power into another spell invented off the cuff from
observing Shan close by for months. "Emulate!"

"aaaaaa HA!" BOOM! Power rippled up around the Mage as his
fiery hair acquired a golden cast to it. As with Shan and
Makoto, he was quickly surrounded by waves of golden chi and
sparks as the air itself became charged as it contacted him.
His clothes altered, becoming a red gi-like garment edged
with golden flames. His eyes altered to a glacial blue that
matched the eyes of the girls flanking him.
Makoto Jupiter noted the surprise transformation and fought
the nigh-overwhelming urge to glomp him then and there for
intense and frantic snuggling. He made her so proud!

"This can't be!!!" The balrog prince roared, opening wide
its mouth and shouting while belching a horizontal column of
acid and black fire at its target. Jared stood unflinching
as both acid and fire split and parted, evaporating rather
than pierce his blue shield. The whip started lashing it
again but the Pheonix Mage's gaze only grew more cold, if
that were even possible.

~After the fight, after the fight...~ The two maidens
hanging by his side were inwardly chanting to themselves,
fighting the urge to glomp him and carry him off to find
privacy. Even privacy was vanishing as a consideration as
they struggled against the urge to reward his behavior then
and there. ~Let's kill the bad guy and...~ Vision of torrid
lemon scenes went dancing in their heads, varying only in
the detail of who got to him first.

"I'm NOT letting you win this fight, you wretch! My friends
are counting on me!"

Casting a nervous glance to where two super-powerful females
were gritting their teeth and clamping their legs together
to fight the urge for a glomp.

The Knight of Duty placed a hand upon the fist wherein the
Mage held his new crystal, transferring parts of his energy.
As if that opened up a bridge (it had) suddenly Jared felt
transference of power from a whole *host* of Sailor Scouts.
Portals opened up and the projected spirits of Serena, Rae,
the rest of the Inners, the Outers, the Sailors Gemini and
all the rest of the Scouts he'd helped in creating, combined
into a burst of fiery blue radiance that gathered at the end
of his arm as each and every one shouted her (or his-
something that would have surprised the Mage if he could
spare any attention at the moment) power phrase,
contributing to the buildup.

The Mage concluded it all by shouting again. "Cosmic Moon
Power!! Moon Healing Purification!"

A ball of brilliant blue energy that could be clearly seen
from New Texas and Geltland shot forth from the Mage's hand,
expanding as it went along, effortlessly consuming buildings
that were unfortunate enough to be in its way (lucky, by now
they'd all been mainly evacuated) and slapping into the
balrog prince with a force that dissolved the magic whip
(and its body) into tiny moon dust particles, before carving
a deep trench so wide and deep that forever after Japoness
would have bordering it a rather oddly shaped lake, before
the ball of energy continued on, leaving the globe of Terra
Two and causing that entire hemisphere to be bathed in
bluish light.

The Knight of Duty's spirit fought the urge, then gave in to
it. "He's dead, Jim." ~Well, so am i but that's the way
things go.~

The Mage grimly nodded his head. "Yes, but that thing's fell
master remains. I'll have to..." The redhead stood
triumphantly for a moment before slumping into two girls'
arms. Shan and Makoto looked at each other, nodded, then
flew off with the Mage.

The Knight of Duty watched them fly off, then waited around
for a few minutes, growing steadily more agitated. "Hey?
um..." he finally asked. "Aren't I supposed to disperse or
something? Hello?"

He looked down at the street far below. "Uhm, anybody? This
form can't fly. Errr. Oh dear."

A few more minutes went by and the Knight Of Duty sat down
on his floating platform. "Great. i'm dead (i think),
sitting down, no ladders, and i'm four hundred feet above a
crater full of broken rocks. They look spiky too. i'm REALLY
not having a good day."

The duration of the spell expired, and the platform abruptly
vanished.

***

In castle Japoness, power was finally coming back on, and
Otaru already had his special marionettes hooked up to
outlets. Cherry stirred first, having somehow been drained
the least of them. As she came to wakefulness, her nose
sniffed and she groggily asked.

"What is that smell, Otaru-sama?"

She was temporarily ignored for the moment, as the humans
stared in awe at the sight of what had just happened.

Gennai cleared his throat and nervously toyed with his
beard. "And that's just our friends, imagine what our
enemies can do."

Lorelei excused herself to head for the Ladies room at all
due speed.

"Actually," corrected Cherry, hooking herself into the
Castle Japonesse security network (one of Ginseng's ideas
that had panned out), "it appears that the big trench and
that gap in the mountains are the result of Mage-san. The
buildings that have crumpled or disintegrated are from the
big ugly thingie he was fighting."

"Oooooo. Daisy, daisy, give me your answer do..." Bloodberry
seemed to have stirred herself, though there may have been
some residual damage.

"Cherry-chan, what are the estimates?" Gennai kept his eyes
on the monitors. "AH! Tamasaburo and Baiko collapsed there,
camera four in the outer compound!"

"Estimating over five hundred dead," Cherry said, her voice
showing pain. "All those people..."

Shogun Smurf, err, Ieyasu's image flicked on to one of the
monitors. "All that from just ONE of those enemies
appearing. It appears that we cannot survive much more
attention from either our allies or our enemies. Otaru..."

"Yes, your Majesty!" Otaru was a simple man, he'd gotten
mixed up in a lot of big things but at heart he was a simple
unassuming fellow who just went with what his heart told him
was right. Though short and blue, this was his majesty - the
ruler of Japonesse. Someone who had sacrificed his life and
his happiness for his country, and who had privately
agonized over the need to sacrifice the three marionettes
for the return of the human woman. And for it all had been
returned to life- as a smurf.

"Otaru. A strong leader is needed in the times ahead. Due to
my current form, I cannot be that leader. My clone child, "
the smurf winced as he spoke, "was at the springs of Ravas
Mountain in the Stormspires."

Everyone's gaze went unbidden to the monitor showing the
boiling water and gap in the Stormspire Mountains.

"Shogun-sama, your wisdom is needed more than ever," Otaru
began.

"No, it is not, Otaru." The blue head of the Shogun sagged
forward. "I shall leave as soon as possible. If it becomes
public knowledge that I am in this deformed body, Japonesse
will become a laughingstock. There is only one thing I can
do. There is only one person who has the support of the
people enough that he can take my place."

Otaru's eyes widened. "Shogun-sama! No, I couldn't! I don't
know anything about governing people!"

"Otaru! There is simply no one else left."

-----------

Elsewhere:

Ami was frantic as she contacted her friends. So frantic
that it took them a considerable amount of time to
understand what she was babbling about.

"Shinji just up and vanished?" Rei frowned. "That's strange.
Do you suppose because we rewove the timeline, his death was
still in there somehow? Or maybe we just tried to do too
much at once?"

Ami startled and sat down. "It wasn't a dream? I..."

"Our husband's been stolen, so we can't be slow, it's hip
hip hip and away we go!"

Rei groaned. "Minako. You have GOT to stop watching old
American cartoons. Besides, he's Ami's husband. We're just
engaged to him per our earlier agreement, until such time as
we either find other loves or Ami graduates. And Ami is
doing everything she can to hurry that along as it is."

"You're right! We'll rescue him!" Ami stood up, a fire
burning in her heart. "And I'll get him back and I'll let
him know how upset he's made me worrying about him! That
he... I... I'll... I'll... I'll hug him for hours and kiss
him for days and..."

Several envious sighs interrupted Ami before a Lime flag
could be dropped.

"But, Ami-chan, how exactly are we going to find him? All we
know is that he vanished." Makoto felt that *someone* had to
be the Voice Of Reason. Who'd have thought that role would
end up in *her* area?

-----------

RIFTS Earth, Scottsdale Forest, January 107 PA

"Aw crap!" Grey said when numbers finally overwhelmed him.
The lightsaber had gone out abruptly, why was something to
puzzle over later, and he was stuck punching and kicking.
Which didn't seem to phase the raptors much at all. And so,
once again, he was struck with one of the great truths of
living on RIFTS Earth.

If you fought alone, you died alone. Also fairly quickly and
violently.

One of the Raptors knocked him over then started shredding
outer body armor.

*KLIK-KLAK VUMMMMM SCHNICKT VSSSHHH!*

Grape had pulled a large knife-like device out of the folds
of her kimono, extended the hilt into a three foot pole,
then activated the vibroblade. The naginata swept through
the large reptile on top of Grey, sliced a neat little
furrow into the one behind it, and then split the head of a
third in an efficient set of manuevers.

Now that their numbers had been pruned to less than half of
what they'd started with, the raptors decided to flee.

Grey ran a quick systems diagnosis. BAD. Major internal
damage, systems leaking, power failing. "Dang it, this body
keeps falling apart on me."

"Master..." Grape knelt in concern, the others coming
forward to examine him.

"Uhm, this body is shutting down. We'll meet again in four
hours or when you leave this timeline. Keep clear of the
body in case the Binding resurrects me. i'm..."

Everything faded out and went black. Grey knew what this
meant. His *biological* physical organs- his brain and a
chunk of spinal cord, had life support for a couple of hours
as the emergency measures cut in. Since the only ones who
knew where and who he was were some marionettes who did
*not* have cyberdoc experience, that meant that he had total
sensory deprivation for the next few hours at the end of
which he simultaneously suffocated and starved to death. If
the Binding was active he might resurrect, but likely
wouldn't be in this timeline again. If the Binding was NOT
active, he'd die and stay dead, going on to an Afterlife
where he'd be judged for a lifetime of failure and
incompetence. ~This sucks.~

---------

SMJ Timeline:

The Knight Of Duty had fallen a mere three hundred feet.
When he landed, his Knight Armor had proved to be capable of
withstanding jagged rocks and protecting him from most of
the force of the fall.

The twisted spike of rebar, however, had been a different
story. The Knight faded, leaving (to the consternation of
those who came after) an albino boy of about fourteen years
age.

Cameras had recorded the Knight being formed from Ginseng,
and it was well known by certain viewers of those recordings
that Ginseng had been the marionette created from memory
tapes of a dimension travelling cyborg named Grey. The young
albino had been neither, but Gennai suggested a theory that
the albino had been the human who had become the cyborg. As
there were no other rationales offered, this was accepted.
What *really* got people going was that other than the pink
eyes, white hair and skin, was the resemblence of the corpse
to a fellow named Mamoru Tengoku.

The Mage and his girls had vanished, presumably back to the
universe they had hailed from.

Otaru had absolutely no clue as to what to do about any of
this, was ignored by almost everyone who didn't like what he
had to say, and was singularly unequipped to run a country.
Neither, for that matter, was Doctor Lorelei. New Texas was
not the only country looking to snap up the leaderless
country of Japonesse, and various factions within Japonesse
were moving to further sunder the country into complete
anarchy.

And then, two weeks after the Mage had left, the six year
old clone-son of Ieyasu was found alive. Unfortunately, at
this point, it was rather like lighting a match in a
gas-filled room.

============

Oh my. Hardly the superpowered can-do-anything of the
regular SI, is he? He is?! Oh...

Next chapter: the Pheonix Mage discovers that good
intentions don't always pan out, Grey finds himself in an SI
personal nightmare, and Celeste sweatdrops a lot.

-----------------------------
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