Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

[SM/Xover][FanFic] A Soldier's Duty, chapter 16

0 views
Skip to first unread message

metro...@mindspring.com

unread,
Jun 28, 2001, 10:43:49 PM6/28/01
to
A Soldier's Duty, chapter 16
Fourth Labor, by metro...@mindspring.com

DISCLAIMER: Datclaimer. Here and there a claimer claimer.

"A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on." - William S
Burroughs

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

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Hotaru blinked as Rei ran screaming out of her room, and wondered what that
was about.

Rei was a bit unnerved. Go up against yoma? No problem. Evil spirits? Her
specialty! Obnoxious boys? Even simpler. She was not only Rei Hino, she was
Sailor Mars, and in high heels she would punish them! (Okay, that sounded
really hentai, but it wasn't her fault the senshi costume came with high
heels! And maybe she did have some pretty strange manga, but she just liked
the artist's style. Yeah, that'll work. Right?)

Lately, however, her confidence had been thoroughly rattled.

One evil wizard had nearly wiped the existence of one Rei Hino from the
universe. 'Bambi Hino', a stripper in Roppongi, had been very close to being
her new identity. This had caused her some concern, and she had been
concealing nervousness beneath a layer of 'I can deal with it' attitude.
Then getting turned to stone, then *dying* again and being brought back by
Ami's fiancee, and then she'd gotten a good look at him that afternoon and
she'd realized he was a complete stud.

Damn cute. Made her hotter than a Fire Soul.

On some level, Rei realized that she was suffering from the effects of a
love potion. Morrigan's field of expertise had determined this little tidbit
and she'd disclosed the information. While those involved had denied
anything of the sort, the idea had taken hold. Of course, nobody had told
Grey-chan because Setsuna had cautioned that the boy would likely go off
into heavy angst and none of them would get their dates. Rei, scheduled for
tomorrow's date, had quickly vetoed the suggestion that they tell him
anyway.

That little part of her mind was still planning revenge against the likely
(and correct) perpetuator of such an event: Eudial. On some level she realiz
ed that she had been affected by the American, and that it was unlikely he
had intended to have this effect.

(Not that she was really interested in her Grey-chan. Ahem. Shard-san. No.
Just because he was a caring, warm, gentle soul didn't mean she was
attracted to him. Just because she wanted to explore his tonsils with her
tongue, rip his clothes off and... ahem. Just because she'd like to get to
know him a little better. Didn't mean a thing. She was Rei Hino, Sailor
Mars, after all. She had an image to maintain. The fiery maiden who didn't
really like boys that much. Certainly not as much as Makoto or Minako. She
had more dignity, for one thing.)

Right now, however, she had been continually getting more upset over the
past several days, and having her newly acquired teddy bear talk to her and
announce that it was her shikigami (guardian beast) had just pushed her over
the edge.

Resulting in Rei running through the temple, her foot sliding on some slick
leaves fallen from the many trees nearby, ending up with her slamming face
first into a tree, and falling on her bottom a few seconds after that. At
which point Rei Hino, miko and sometimes Sailor Mars, drifted off to a
series of erotic dreams that would have embarassed the heck out of her if
they were detailed in a fanfic. So for her sake, they aren't detailed.

A raven shook her head and commented aloud. "Pathetic."

A second raven nodded. "Well, our Princess always did overreact a little."

A teddy bear didn't move but added to the conversation anyway. *Hardly what
I expected. But then this job looks interesting.*

"I'm Phobos, this is my twin sister Deimos. Pleased ta meetcha."

*I'm Snuggles. Are you shikigami too?*

"Suppose that's as good an explanation as any," put in Deimos. Privately
Deimos shuddered. Bad enough to be named "Fear" and "Terror" - but for a
shikigami to have a name like "Snuggles"? That was truly horrifying.

"We're retainers of the Princess from a previous life," said Phobos.

"Can you move?" Deimos asked, curiosity coming forward.

*I don't think so. I'm kind of new to this shikigami thing. I was just a
minor spirit, wandering around, when I heard the Call. It beat wandering
around immaterially.*

"I would think so," agreed Phobos.

"Most definitely," chimed in Deimos. "Even if we'd damn near kill for people
food once in awhile."

"Eating bugs and worms loses its novelty rather quickly," agreed Phobos.

Snuggles agreed where she could see the point. *So are you rooting for your
Princess?*

"Actually," said Phobos with a blush that wasn't visible under her black
feathers.

"We added our own names to the blackboard," continued Deimos, indicating
with a wing. "Just imagine if we had our own costarring role instead of
being relegated to the occasional guest appearance."

*Huh?*

"Private joke," said Phobos and Deimos in unison. "Besides, we're one of the
few that know the Terrible Truth."

*Oh dear, that sounds terrible.* Snuggles was quick to note.

"That's why they call it a *Terrible* Truth," remarked Deimos.

Hotaru thoughtfully stepped out of the house and draped a blanket over the
fallen priestess, her fluffy dog tucked under one arm.

"Dog's nearly as big as she is," commented Phobos.

*He got us in a half-price bin,* remarked Snuggles. *It really stinks being
Marked Down twice, then left over because you've got some stitching
problems. Glad Rowf there got a good owner.*

"Rowf? The dog is enchanted too?" Phobos blinked. "Must have been when he
lost consciousness briefly and turned angel."

"We were watching," confessed Deimos. "We thought he was pretty cute back in
the Silver Millenium, and now..."

"...he's available," finished Phobos. "Except that we're birds. Damn, why
couldn't this be manga continuity where we could turn back to human?"

"Don't think Hotaru-chan meant to put the blanket over Rei's face like that,
do you?" Deimos said with some concern.

*I heard her mumble something about 'Grey-chan, take me now,' in her sleep.
There was more to it, but you get the idea. Hotaru apparently did not
appreciate that.* Snuggles couldn't physically smirk, but gave that
impression. *I had no idea that a Shinto priestess would get into that sort
of thing. And spankings? My goodness.*

"Oh. That would have been when Hotaru's hair briefly stuck out like that."
Phobos nodded.

"I think I ought to fly down and remove the blanket from the Princess' face
before she suffocates," said Deimos.

*Yes, that might be advisable.*

-------

She was no longer Sailor Pluto, guardian of the Time Gate, lonely sentinel,
Senshi of Time, etcetera. Queen Serenity had cut that part of her identity
off. She hadn't even been allowed to keep the Time Staff. Then she'd gotten
badly hurt, and when her Nebula-kun had restored her, she hadn't returned to
being the same Setsuna Meiou that she had started as. Not that he had
intended to do it, of course.

Leaving a vapor trail behind her, Setsuna Meiou grasped her Power Key Staff
and flew through the upper atmosphere with a wide grin. Freedom. Freedom
such as she'd never known.

Setsuna had done many things over the centuries. Watching anime had been a
recent development, but her fascination for the trappings of fantasy were
far older. Science fiction, intriguing in its limited way. In England, she'd
spoken with HG Wells about a future Utopia, and at that time had been
speaking of Crystal Tokyo. A chance comment had apparently inspired a story
on time travel, and Setsuna had vowed to watch what she said much more
carefully.

It was the familiarity with what the natives called anime that gave Setsuna
a few answers. Such as what had happened to her, and the information that
she could fly if she so chose.

And she so chose. Okay, she couldn't teleport, timewalk, or throw a "Dead
Scream." Her replacement staff was something connected to her very being,
and the first person to wind her up basically imprinted their image as an
authority figure to her. She'd defused that potential bomb very quickly and
neatly thank you, with the assistance of her Nebula-sama. She didn't think
she could have kids, but there had been some restrictions on *that* from
being a Senshi as well. No, she had lost the restrictions and the powers of
being the Time Senshi - though now her younger self fit that role at least
as well as she had at her age.

On the other hand, she was quite capable of breaking the sound barrier while
doing a piroutte in midair. She was capable of taking her Power Key Staff
and throwing out energy blasts as delicate as a laser, or as powerful as a
tactical nuke. She had watched El Hazzard, and knew what an Ifurita unit
like her current form was capable of. All of which could be a concern for
later. Tonight was a time to exult in the freedom of a future unfettered by
concerns of the effect on Crystal Tokyo and an ancient oath to see it all
come to pass. Tonight was a time where the heavy burdens of responsibility
could be set aside and the prospect of joy could be entertained.

Tonight was a beautiful night for flying.

Odd that it seemed kind of familiar though.

-------

Makoto sighed. Her sempai was off on his date with Ami. Ami was off on her
date with Makoto's sempai. Makoto sighed again.

"You heard Morrigan-san, it's just a love potion," offered Usagi. "I could
try to heal it with the Silver Crystal."

"No, Usagi. It's dangerous to use that thing," Makoto said, making a waving
gesture. "If it wasn't we'd have had you reinstate Grey as Nebula or Ami as
Mercury."

"Yeah, I wonder what's keeping that new Knight? I asked him to meet us
here." Usagi scratched her head, but was mainly back to paying attention to
the manga in front of her.

"New Knight?" Makoto considered for a few moments, trying to remember. Then
the pleasant haze retreated as she realized. "THAT PSYCHO?! YOU INVITED HIM
HERE? ARE YOU NUTS?"

Usagi flipped a page, unconcerned. "Well, yeah. I mean he's one of my
mother's court right? How bad can he be?"

"He's psychotic! One of the guards was talking to me after the meeting with
Queen Serenity! Did you hear about what he did in the Silver Millenium? Some
terrorists tried to take over the terraforming equipment on some moon. The
Queen sent that guy. Fifty terrorists, armed to the teeth. They never found
the bodies!"

"There was only twenty four of 'em."

"WAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Makoto leapt to the side, impacting a wall sufficiently
hard that she bounced. Her ponytail was attempting to flee to outer space.

Morgan smiled at her briefly, reminiscent of the sort of smile a wolf gives
to a young lamb. "And they only had a half dozen beamers, a few blasters,
and some swords."

"Heh heh," Makoto tried to chuckle. She'd faced street toughs before she'd
ever become Sailor Jupiter. Every instinct she'd learned was reacting to
this guy as if he were profoundly dangerous.

"Eeep," said Usagi, having forgotten how scary this guy was. Yeah, he was on
their side. And she was among the friendliest persons on the planet. Now if
she could just get her knees to stop knocking long enough to stand up and
say hello.

"And the term, I believe, is sociopath. Though I'm not that fluent in
Japanese." Morgan shrugged.

"So, ah, kill anyone today, heh heh?" Makoto twitched, she'd wanted to make
small talk but that had *not* been the question she'd meant to say. She
grinned manically and sweated heavily, but was ready throw herself between
this guy and Usagi in a heartbeat.

Again that wolfish grin as Morgan recognized the unintended quote and
responded. "Day ain't over yet."

Makoto nervously checked her watch, then realized she had done so. There
were only six hours left in the day. "Ah heh heh."

Ice blue eyes swiveled back to Usagi. "Princess? What for did you want to
see me?"

Usagi began to sweat heavily despite the evening beginning to cool. How to
respond to that? Somehow she didn't think "just to be friends" would fly.
Even though it was the honest answer. "Uhm... well... Muffin?"

Morgan sighed, reminded himself he was dealing with prissy little blueblood
princesses, and settled down for a long wait.

-------

Darkness. Evil. Unspeakable Horror. The Terror From Beyond.

Well, ok, it wasn't nearly *that* bad. It was just that Ami's date with Grey
wasn't exactly how either had been envisaged it.

Ami had suddenly slammed her face into the fact that she didn't have a whole
lot of outside interests. Studying, chess, and swimming pretty much defined
her enjoyment. The art of casual conversation was not something she had
mastered. The only time she'd played a video game had been a Sailor V game
with Usagi.

It was also not among Grey's strengths. While he *had* done a few things for
enjoyment over the years, talking with girls had generally been a failure.
Repeated failures accumulated into an awkward frustration. Leading to the
two taking a long walk with a lot of silence.

Grey's attitude was that this was Ami's town, Ami's date, and Ami would know
where to go and what to do. Besides, his broken Japanese tended to be met
with blank stares. Best to let her take charge of the whole thing.

Ami's attitude was that Grey was taking her out, and Amerikajin knew how to
have fun. (Their pre-college education system being viewed almost as an
international joke, but they had to have learned *something* in that time.)
Therefore, she should let Grey take charge of the itinerary.

"Uhm," Grey said, finally breaking the silence. "We go where is?"

Ami briefly hung her head, once again vowing to try and teach the foreigner
the intricacies of Japanese sentence structure. As well as when to use "ni"
and when to use "wa" and when to leave the particles out altogether.

"-Headache?-" Grey asked hopefully on seeing a twitching eyebrow.

"-No thank you, already have one,-" replied Ami.

"-Oh dear.-" Grey rubbed his forehead.

Ami looked over at the boy, wondering if Setsuna could be wrong about this.

--------

Honey (currently in Kunoichi Honey mode) flipped behind a sign and held up
her walkie talkie. "Sweet Thing To Hot Stuff. Sweet Thing To Hot Stuff. Do
you read?"

"Go ahead, err, Sweet Thing. Hot Stuff has... taken a nap. This is..."

Recognizing the voice, Honey Kisaragi suggested a possibility. "How about
Gothgirl?"

"No. I don't really think so. Uhm. 'Rag Doll?' Oh bother."

Honey shook her head. It sounded like Hotaru was going to take some time.
"Looks like Target and Icemaiden aren't talking to each other."

"Too bad," said Hotaru, not sounding sincere.

"Wait a minute, they're going into a herbal tea shop. Sweet Thing out."
Honey put away the transceiver. Time to see if Ami made any progress.

-------

Grey sat down next to Ami at the counter, wincing at the beating his
accounts were taking. He'd saved up a little working at the bookstore, but
his bank account was about to flatline and he hadn't run across any
indication he could get a job locally. (Of course his language skills were
really hurting him there.)

Ami looked sullen. And nervous if those cat ears popping up were any
indication. Her tail was sticking out of the bottom of her miniskirt. Which
caused a few people to stare at her, of course.

Realizing that Ami was stressing, Grey checked his dictionary and ordered a
"kanwa" for her, and a peppermint for himself.

The proprietor smirked, a gaijin and some girl who did cosplay. Ah well, at
least the night wasn't boring. He'd play along with it. Catnip tea for the
girl, eh? Cute.

When the tea arrived, Grey sipped at it, but continued to eye the silent
girl next to him. Well, things were going tense and weren't getting any
better. He could try to patch things up, in which case he'd either succeed
or fail. Experience was betting on failure.

"Uhm, Ami-chan, where you want go?" Seeing her seem to relax a little as she
sipped her tea, Grey pushed ahead. "What you want me say?"

"Miyaaa!" Ami said clearly and distinctly, licking her lips and staring into
her cup.

"Ami-chan? i not quite get that." Grey checked his dictionary while Ami
continued to drink her tea. "-Miyako. Miyage. Nothing under 'miyaa'? Damn
useless dictionary.-"

Ami blinked and swayed on her seat. "Miii miii miyaaa."

"Mimi miya..." Grey checked the entry. Mimi=ear. Miya could mean
miyage=present. So, in order to make up for his gaffe earlier, Ami wanted
him to buy her earrings? Actually that sounded like the sort of thing that
went on between boy-and-girlfriend back home. "-Okay, Ami-chan. If that's
what you want, i'll do it. It may take me a little while to get the money up
though.-"

"Nyow!" Ami said, a smile forming on her face. She blinked at the guys
behind the counter and pointed at her cup.

The proprietor was quite amused. It was just a blend of kava kava, catnip,
and honey, but the girl in the catgirl costume was acting like she was
getting high off the stuff. Even had her eyes following empty areas around
as if someone else was working tonight.

"-i can't do it now, sorry.-" By his best estimation, he had less than a
hundred dollars in savings right now, maybe half that in checking. "-i'll
get you your earrings though, don't worry. You don't really need it now do
you?-"

"Nyaaaa," said Ami, feeling *awfully* good. Grey-chan was speaking in that
English, but she just couldn't spare the concentration for that sort of
silliness right at the moment. And now she was going to get earrings? Take
that, Setsuna, with you still having a pair of earrings he bought for you
over 10,000 years ago.

Grey was still thinking of other things when Ami apparently decided that his
lap looked quite inviting. So she just moved over to *his* stool, sat in his
lap, and leaned into him. And started purring.

"Ah no, Ami-chan?" Grey had no idea *how* he had done it, but apparently Ami
was feeling better. ~She must really like earrings.~

Ami heard her name mentioned, blinked, then began rubbing her cheeks and
forehead over her property to mark him properly. Purring all the while.

"Eh, Ami-chan?!" Grey wasn't too sure about this. He'd heard Ami was a
catgirl now, and that it was his fault somehow. But this didn't make a lot
of sense.

Ami looked up, put her forepaws on her boy's shoulders to give him a quick
cat kiss, then rubbed her cheek against his own while he was paralyzed.
"Myine!" Ami contentedly curled up partially in her boy's lap. This was kind
nice, but she was a little...

Grey started looking helplessly about as Ami began to snore.

-------

"Virtual Beast GO!"

"Do I have to? Can't we just invite 'em over for beer and skittles?"

The Wizard felt a headache coming on. "Yes, you have to. It's the only way
to ensure that they aren't around to either get killed, thereby terminating
the simulation, or make a choice, also thereby terminating the simulation."

"I don't wanna. Besides, this'll never work."

The Wizard counted to ten, slowly. "Did I or did I not create you?"

The creature, a shifting blur of color and shapes that was nauseating to
look on, shook its heads. "Yes, you did but..."

"Your entire purpose in existence is to use your powers against those
targets I designate, right?"

"True, but..."

"Look, the little surprise I created with that angry girl from Nerima fell
through. The daimon and her magical tools are all lost to us for now."

"And whose fault is that, eh? Bloody hell, this operation has been a royal
balls up from the gettie go." The Virtual Beast sniffed disdainfully.

"You keep flipping between an Australian and a British accent," noted the
Wizard.

"And whose fault is *that*? Look 'ere, I'm just a damn 'monster of the
damned week' and who the 'ell needs *that* sort of thing?" The Beast had
settled down to one head, four legs and a body that resembled a squashed
beanbag. "Can't ye just whip up a flock of those daimon thingies and go at
'em? Make 'em look like some of those bishonen types, carrying flowers and
candies, and them girls will be fallin' all over themselves."

"Terurun has already suggested that," admitted the Wizard. "I think you're
both underestimating them. Admittedly they're young girls, and a bit boy
crazy, but they're not that shallow."

"Are you sure about that?" The Beast was very skeptical. "Very well, I'll
give it a try. But tomorrow. It's already too late tonight."

"No. Tonight. It's perfect."

--------

It was a good thing that Ameow seemed to be even lighter (somehow) than Ami.
Grey wasn't sure how that was even possible, but was accepting it under
magical theories dealing with rotating subspacial mass.

Into a fireman's carry went the snoring/purring girl, who had shifted the
rest of the way during the time it had taken for Grey to disengage from the
cuddle. (If this had happened in some place where the locals weren't likely
to freak, Grey would have been more likely to scratch her ears than try to
remove the catgirl.)

So Ami's body was covered with short fur, her mane had lengthened, likewise
her fingers and toes seemed longer and had those retractible claws, she had
a slight muzzle, feline slitted eyes, not to mention her tail and ears.

Grey worried about torch-bearing mobs out to kill a "werewolf". Ami wasn't
worried about a thing. The people back in the tea shop had kept their own
counsel. Except that one of them *had* commented on the cute picture of a
boy and his pet.

The bluefurred girl who was his current backpack shifted a little, a hand
sliding inside his shirt to run her fingers along his collarbone. An act
which caused Grey to shiver in a way that had nothing to do with cold. He
felt her cheek rubbing against his shoulder and she mumbled something.

No, he didn't understand girls, the Japanese, this catgirl stuff, or even
why Ami was acting drunk. Grey didn't think he'd *ever* understand the first
two.

*SCHNIK*

Now if Ami would just retract the claws.

----------

A brief interlude elsewhere:

On Terratwo, there had been no genetic engineer or even a biology major to
get the most out of the cloning equipment, and so six men had produced
hundreds of other men when all the women had been killed off. Through a
technique called "mongrel cloning" - these artifically produced men had some
odd characteristics but a sort of genetic diversity. Still, the gene pool
definitely had a shallow end.

A benefit of this was that there was no racism, per se. Six guys had
combined their DNA in the machines to produce these others, but the
bloodlines were thoroughly mixed now. There were cultural differences,
Japonesse being different from New Texas, but no diverse genetic population.

Doctor Lorelei had produced dozens of clone daughters of herself after her
release, which would have produced identical girls. The human female had
returned.

Marionette androids had been developed during the time of no women. With
first Lorelei's work, then Faust and Ieyasu, and others, then Lorelei's
return, the androids had become more and more sophisticated. Still, these
did nothing to expand the gene pool.

Then came Edema's contribution. The dark elven mistress of chocolate
comestibles had helped clean up some problems left behind, and had
contributed some of her own genetic material. The result had been
light-hearted giggly girls whose skin tone ranged from coffee-with-cream
through a dark-chocolate, white hair and pointed ears, and eyes the color of
burnished gold.

Enter the last piece, the restored Mesopotamia and its resurrected crew.

The rejoicing had slowly been replaced with tension. The Mesopotamia, and
its captain, still lived by its charter. More than just a document, it was a
constitution and the nucleus of a new government. The authority of the
Mesopotamia, the crew felt, overrode the accidental society which had formed
in their absence. They were here now, and these patchwork false governments
should dissolve that the Mesopotamian Government could take over.

Neither the Japonesse, nor New Texas, nor Geltland, nor any of the other
governments really felt that this was acceptable. Hence the tension. As the
various factions for continued independence argued, nobody in those
governments had signed that document, and they'd been building themselves up
for quite a few years. There were other lands that the newcomers were
perfectly all right to take over.

The Mesopotamians argued that the six who'd formed those nations had signed
the agreement. And so the argument went back and forth. Except for one group
which pointed out that neither group had a hold on *them* and they were
perfectly happy with things as they were. Why bother with politics and
arguing when there was so much fun to be had!

Edema's daughters laughed and teased and danced and played and sang, and the
darkskinned daughters of the drow would wink and smile at the various ones
who came to argue.

"Laugh and enjoy life, dance and be free," they would say with a grin. "Or
in the name of chocolate, we'll punish you!"

----------

Back to the sim:

Setsuna drifted to the ground, *knowing* that something terribly wrong had
occurred.

The Hikawa Shrine was silent. Eerily so. Nor could she detect any sign of
life. No skulking ninja, no glowering samurai, no giggling girls.

There *were* some signs of struggle. Three throwing knives stuck in the wood
here, a drawn sword lay on the ground there, a few feathers over there, and
the telltale signs of Usagi in "full pig out" mode that had clearly been
interrupted.

Setsuna had done many things over many years. She did her best to recall
tracking skills and tried to put the eerie "stalker flic" atmosphere to the
back of her mind.

A flicker of motion at the corner of her eyes caused Setsuna to turn and
nearly fired off a quick blast that would likely have taken out half the
shrine. Nothing, just that teddy bear that Rei had recently gotten.

*It's still around.*

Setsuna startled, then looked deeper. Some sort of spirit?

*LOOK OUT!*

Setsuna whirled, power building up around her staff.

-FWOOP!-

*Oh crap!*

----------

The Wizard watched carefully. There was the Boy, the nexus of the simulation
and the single person he had to be the carefulest around.
<bookmark>
The target was walking home, a blue-furred catgirl carried on his back, and
not paying attention. Perfect.

The Virtual Beast was doomed to fail, due to this child. More concisely and
correctly, due to the Binding.

The Wizard was an Spells R Us Wizard. His specialty: turning otherwise
unsuspecting people into bimbos. Also pets, furniture, statues, and a
variety of other things, but mainly two dimensional oversexed giggly
feminine uninhibited morons. When the end result was that simple a pattern
it became a very easy thing to do. The tricky part was making it an
adjustment in reality so that all records would show the new girl as always
having been a bimbo. The reason the Spells R Us franchise mainly did this
sort of work was because they were almost entirely staffed by dirty old men
who could have given Happosai lessons on being perverted.

Any of the Spells R Us Wizards were sufficiently experienced with
transformations of that type that they could overcome spell resistances and
do artistic flourishes and all manner of other extras in a spell like that.
It wouldn't have required any effort on his part (if he knew where they
were) to turn all of these Senshi, their cats, and their allies into cheap
tramps, drug addicted hookers, or simply common bimbos. If he'd set up a
monster for them to fry, and then ambushed them, he could have easily
converted the whole "Sailor Team" into plush dolls or chickens before they
could get through just one of their attacks. Even with the danger sense
talents of the Knight Of Duty, especially that Chain of his, it would be
only a minor exercise. And, as long as he wasn't dead or completely
immobilized, the Simulation would continue to run.

The Wizard had come up with a number of scenarios that he could apply that
would amuse him that would fulfill these conditions. The boy and his friends
had insufficient power to resist him in such a match.

The Binding, though, was a wildcard.

So when Grey unsuspectingly stepped on a black chalk drawing on a black
street, which was designed to turn anyone who broke the pattern mentally and
physically into what was depicted (in this case a female chicken or hen,
mainly for the Japanese pun), the Wizard was watching carefully.

Grey continued walking without a hint of being altered. Which was what the
Wizard had been looking for.

Long prior to the Labors being assigned to him, Grey had been confronted by
the Elder god of mischief and presented with the opportunity to make a wish.
Or it would be made for him. Grey had come up with a long and complicated
wish, with multiple riders, exclusions, and limitations. What else could you
do in such a situation? He'd eventually run out of breath, being an
asthmatic and normally a quiet person anyway. Toltiir had granted the wish,
more or less, by creating the Binding.

The Binding had been examined by Hephaestus at one point, who had likened it
to a self-evolving Artificial Intelligence computer. It had its directives,
and it would grow stronger and develop further as time went on.

The Wizard knew this, but didn't know the exact strengths or unavoidable
loopholes of the Binding. The raw power level of the Binding could stop far
more powerful wizards then himself, but it had been worded as a wish and
therefore was prone to having gaps in coverage. Hence the current
experiments. While the Virtual Beast drew all the attention, he could
experiment uninterrupted.

The hen curse had simply failed to go off, the trigger "mysteriously"
failing to function.

A similar trap merely changed the girl on his back from a catgirl to a
bunnygirl, but again somehow merely slid over the actual target. Grey still
hadn't noticed.

A third trap again slid over the target, and instead of turning Grey into a
lowclass prostitute, it merely fizzled briefly in the air.

This time the Wizard got a little more data, as intended. This particular
transformation was one he had used many times, usually to mete out his own
peculiar brand of justice. He had put quite a bit of "oomph" into it. The
Binding, as expected, was quite powerful. Though the magical "jaws" had
unerringly targetted the boy, and he *knew* that he could be turned female
(temporarily at least, he'd heard that the Pheonix Mage had turned him into
a catgirl) something about the prepared template caused the whole thing to
be thrown out.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth traps simply failed to trigger. Number seven
had a mechanical trigger and threw a videotape at Grey. Which bonked the boy
squarely in the head, but failed to have him change his name to Debbie and
do anything at all in (or with) Dallas.

The Wizard watched with eyes that viewed the spectrum of magic, though
unlike the Mage and certain others, he required glasses to do so. The barest
flicker of energy in each case. The magical traps remained ready for the
next victim, but the enchantments had failed to activate. Physical triggers
worked to spring the transformation, but the enchantment was neatly
deflected.

Still, he was an old wizard with a lot of enemies, and so he was fairly good
at his craft.

Teleporting ahead of where he could see the boy heading, the Wizard set up a
preprepared item. As with most of the paraphenalia common to a Spells R Us
store, it was cursed and magical. The instructions for use were such that it
would eventually rebound on the user, unless (of course) they had magical
protections. A thin strip of metal laid across a doorway, the curse written
on the downward side being of the usual sort one would expect from a hentai
old wizard.

The Wizard got an unexpected bonus as several members of the Japanese Purity
League attempted to lay an ambush and crossed the Tireisian Threshold. The
new girls immediately decided to go off and boywatch, forgetting entirely
about the plans they'd developed while of the male gender.

With the enchantment proven to be active, the Wizard cast a Wizard Eye and
then retreated a safe distance to watch.

Four others visited the bus station and crossed the thin strip. Not
realizing they'd been changed to simpleminded young girls, they chatted
about the usual vacuous things while waiting for the bus.

Finally the boy entered and the Wizard watched carefully. The enchantment
struck out towards him, and slid off while he stood there looking puzzled.
Again and again the enchantments struck out until finally the boy moved on.

The transformation template was a typical one for the Wizard. Scantily clad
and scatterbrained nymphettes were always in demand, after all. Therefore,
it was well practiced and he knew the spells involved quite well.

The Wizard had watched carefully and had noticed something during the
attempt to transform the target. It looked as if the sticking point had been
the attitudinal part of the transformation. Which made it possible that the
Virtual Beast would be able to trap the boy.

Not very damn likely, but possible.

Having discovered what he needed to know, the Wizard teleported back to his
lab.

--------

Grey had noticed an odd sensation at the train station, but he'd been
getting odd twitches all evening. Maybe it was an allergy.

Ami would occasionally mumble something in her sleep, but seemed to be so
deeply asleep that she couldn't be awakened. His current theory was nervous
exhaustion. Too much studying had finally taken its toll. At least she'd
un-catted.

Then an exhausting walk to the Shrine. He'd chosen the Shrine over their
shared home because it was a) closer, and b) maybe someone could tell him
about Ami having a medical condition that produced such effects.

Not to mention the forecast 80% chance of rain tomorrow morning now looked
like 100% any minute now.

Sure enough, a few brief raindrops began to fall.

Having never walked quite as much as he'd been doing lately, and carrying
someone who weighed a fair amount (though he was thankful at this point that
it wasn't Makoto) up a flight of stairs, Grey was shaking from exhaustion
and finally collapsed on the bed, atop Ami. Feeling the muscles twitch with
a side order of numb, or as if they had all the consistency of overcooked
pasta.

"Unnngghhh," said Grey as the downpour commenced. Which summed up what he
was feeling at the moment.

The silence and lack of people penetrated, and he did make an effort to get
up. Unfortunately his legs had gone on strike and weren't at all ready to
support him.

Ami stirred again. Then seemed to awake and realize she was lying on a bed,
human again, with her fiance lying atop her. Nor did she remember how she
got there. Gossip about American men was something that *did* come to mind.

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!" *WHUD!*

Ami recovered from her brief scream to realize that her nominal fiance was
groaning but not getting up. "Shard-san?"

"-Mizuno-san, would you mind not doing anything too outre until i can move
again?-"

Ami flinched at the anger in that simple statement, but recovered. "What did
you think you were doing?"

"-Carrying some girl to her friends in case you had fallen asleep from
something besides 'recreational drugs'.-" Grey grumbled into the wooden
floor. "-Where's Setsuna? i bet *she* wouldn't throw me around like that.-"

Ami looked at the twitching figure on the floor. He didn't look like he was
in any condition to molest anyone, and her clothes were still intact. Except
her shoes were missing for some odd reason. "Well, I guess that..."

-FWOOP!-

Grey listened to the silence and managed to push off the floor briefly.
~What the hell makes a sound like...~

-FWOOP!-

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

Next chapter: the Virtual Beast has struck. Now what?

OK, OK, i was going to get into flagrant character exposition in the various
dates. Still plan on it. Yet the Inner Senshi have been *so* explored by a
deluge of fanfiction that i'm not entirely sure what i could do that would
be new and different.

Though maybe having Haruka and Michiru trying to kill him while he's out on
a date with Maya is still playing around some.

OMAKEOMAKEOMAKEOMAKEOMAKE

Yet another Ranma opening you've never seen:
What If Ranma Was A Bit More Observant?

Akane glared at the BOY. Kasumi and Nabiki merely looked concerned. A girl
dragged in by a panda had requested that she use the bath real quick, Akane
had walked in to see if this girl Ranma had needed something, seen a boy,
and pretty much everything had gone to pot.

"So you see, I can't marry nobody with a curse like this. Gettin' a cure is
the first thing I need ta do," said Ranma reasonably, trying to hold back
all the levels of thoroughly pissed off he was feeling over recent events.

"Well, while you were playing around in the tub," said Genma, slapping Soun
on the back, "Soun and me decided. You will marry Akane!"

"WHAT?! ME? WHY SHOULD I MARRY THIS PERVERT?!" Akane alternated glaring at
this *pervert* and shooting glares at her Father.

Ranma pursed his lips and didn't say anything for a moment.

"Ah, they're a perfect couple already!" Soun laughed.

Ranma closed his eyes and stood. When he opened his eyes, he seemed to have
a blue glow flitting about him.

"PERVERT! YOU THINK I'M GOING ALONG WITH THIS, YOU'RE CRAZY!" In Akane's
mind the fact that Ranma wasn't arguing meant that he had accepted this
insane plan.

"That's it. Oyaji." Ranma said this quietly and it almost went unheard
between Akane continuing to rant, and the two fathers making wedding plans.
"That. Is. It."

This got a little bit more attention because Ranma's fist came down and
smashed the table into tiny little pieces at the point of impact.

Ranma held up one finger, shaking and his face a mask of anger. "Leaving
home and mother." A second finger joined the first. "Leaving my best friend
Ucchan behind." Third finger. "The times you tossed me down that cliff to
'toughen' me." Fourth finger. "That pit of cats." Thumb spread before the
hand became a fist and knuckles popped from how tight it immediately went.
"That damn boys reform school." Finger from the other hand. "All the times
you made me steal." Second finger. "All the times you stole my food or other
lame training exercises." Third finger. "SWIMMING the Sea Of Japan to get to
China." Fourth finger. "JUSENKYO!" Thumb joined fingers into a second fist.
"AMAZON VILLAGE!" Ranma growled as he stood there, shaking. "Now you want me
to get married to SOME PISSED OFF LITTLE DYKE?!"

Akane blinked for a moment until the insult registered. "HEY!"

"Father knows best Ranma. Honor demands that you..."

"ARRRGGGHHHH!" Ranma gritted his teeth hard enough that his jaw ached. "Yet
another of your little schemes. O-ya-ji. I *will* do the honorable thing.
AFTER I commit patricide I will do what I need to do."

"That's right, you'll marry..." Genma's voice trailed off. Had Ranma said
what he thought Ranma had said. "Excuse me?"

"Son, you shouldn't joke about these things." Soun said, laughing again.

"DIE OYAJI!" Ranma launched himself. He wasn't holding back, he wasn't
sparring, he wasn't trying to fight at the level of his opponent, he wasn't
concerned about what collateral damage might be incurred by the Tendo home.
They'd gone along with this, therefore they were as guilty as that damn
panda.

"hey, uhm," Nabiki was a little shaken. That wall needed to be replaced now.
Oh and that boy was in the process of trying *literally* to kill his father.
"Wait a minute..."

Akane tried to get involved. Ranma spared a moment of his attention to kick
the girl in the gut hard enough that she wouldn't be able to breathe for
awhile. His father counterattacked in that breather. Ranma renewed his own
assault.

Genma was a formidable martial artist in his own right. It took nearly
fifteen minutes for him to die.

After that, Soun was much less insistent that Ranma marry a Tendo.

And so it was actually a happy ending, in that Akane got what she originally
wanted.

**i got this from reading a story (Ranma Ichibunnoni) which started out
promising but quickly deteriorated into an uncursed Ranma being stuck
immediately engaged to Akane and then getting into the manga rut. i've only
read two chapters and that was sufficiently disappointing to make me stop...
and write this.

==========


-----------
"I wish the real world would just stop hassling me." -Rainmaker, Matchbox20

http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
http://www.geocities.com/mamoru_tengoku
metro...@mindspring.com

0 new messages