[Ranma/Xover][FanFic] Retake chapters 3-4

[metro...@mindspring.com]

Retake, Chapter 3:

uhm, i didn't intend to write this much of chapter 3. Since i did i thought
i'd send it out and see if anyone liked it.

There were certain things that seemed to be true no matter what timeline
Greylle found himself in. Call them multiversal constants for lack of a
better term.

One: flying was *good*! Doing it in an B-Wing or hovercraft was good. Doing
it as a dragon was even better. Okay, you couldn't go supralight or travel
beyond a certain ceiling. As Kestral it would be even better, but he'd lost
that Aspect. Still, the feel of air sluicing past his body, the pressure
against wing surfaces as he used them for additional lift and control, the
feeling of freedom and control. Beautiful.

Two: it was good to be the dragon. Someone had once said that "Dragons make
good enemies, and better allies." This was so. To *be* the dragon was...

Arcing up into a stall, which was also a midair piroutte. Diving down to
level off close enough to the treetops that branches snapped from the air
passage. Twisting and looping through everything he'd ever seen at an
airshow, and added manuevers that required a very flexible body to perform.

This? This was joy. It was contentment. It was being reborn from moment to
moment in glory.

Greylle couldn't help but bugle in the pure emotion he was experiencing.

It was *damn* good to be the dragon.

He'd gotten an early start on the day, packing his bags quickly and taking a
train to the station and from there up to the area Nabiki had indicated
would have no disturbances or witnesses, he could practice secret techniques
to his heart's content here.

Another few minutes pitching a tent that he'd gotten from a "Second Hand
Sports" and throwing that thin futon of his in. It didn't take long to get a
firepit ready, and it was close to a stream. Then he'd gone a little ways
off and transformed.

Two hours later and he was still reveling in taking what was now his true
shape. It felt as if he'd been cramped and confined in a too small suit and
had suddenly taken it off. Scratching itches he had borne for so long that
they hadn't really registered anymore.

Wings spread a little further and Greylle slowed in order to briefly hover.
He needed to get busy. He had too much to do. He had responsibilities. He
had...

Aw heck, just a little more wouldn't hurt.

Of course, that was when a few bullets started flying toward him.

His momentary surprise that someone had a gun in Japan was broken off as one
hit and *stung!*

Okay, that was it. He didn't want to be here anyway. NOW he was pissed.

------

A woman grinned from where she sat in a tree branch. "Looks like its
working."

"What does?"

"Oh, there you are, Urd. A Luck Balancing spell. It should swing him into
good luck before it gets him into neutral luck."

Urd pointed. "Getting shot at is good luck?"

"If it were bad luck he'd have been in human form. As for the rest, watch
and see."

--------

The two captives were a little nervous, being held hostage by armed and
desperate types who were talking about taking liberties with the female
prisoner having that sort of effect.

Hopes raised a little upon hearing gunshots. Perhaps the police had arrived?

Hopes dropped a little on hearing screams of outright terror. And was that
roaring?!

The screams got even nastier and more frightening. Their final captors ran
out, guns drawn, and there was a blast of cold air and a set of screams that
ended in the most unsettling manner.

There was a few moments of silence, then a gaijin entered. Tall, blonde, and
with the look of a fighter. That he was wearing a baseball uniform was noted
as an odd detail that made absolutely no sense.

"That's what i thought," said the gaijin in English. "Hang on, i'll get you
out of there."

The gaijin broke the handcuffs with his bare hands, proving that he was
quite a bit stronger than he looked, and that he didn't look particularly
weak to begin with.

"Uhm, do you work for me?" The male captive asked in oddly accented English.

"Nope, just a transfer student of Furinkan, Greylle Shard. Nice to meet you
two. Uhm, you look kinda familiar."

The man shook his head. "I don't think we've met. You've my thanks."

The gaijin blocked the door as the two moved towards it. "You might want to
shield the young lady's view. It got kinda messy. As soon as i realized they
were Yakuza, and shooting at me, i kinda lost my temper. It's a problem i've
got. People making death threats or trying to kill me really rub me the
wrong way."

The woman captive pushed past. "We are Japanese, we are able to handle mess
quite easily. It is..."

The male of the two moved to catch the woman before she fainted.

Greylle went to one of the odd ice pillars and shattered it with a punch.
Then found a cellphone on the frozen body that had been inside and handed it
to the male captive. "Look, you two seem like good people. These weren't.
And like i said, i gotta little temper problem when there's death threats
involved. You two use the phone, call those people who work for you to come
pick you up."

The male captive looked about. Cars had been ripped open, with jagged pieces
of metal from where the roofs had been peeled away. Bodies were lying
everywhere, with dark glasses and black suits likewise shredded. There were
columns and patches of ice visible too, one of which had a still twitching
arm sticking out of it.

Somewhat alarming were the *claw* marks quite visible, and nearly
everywhere.

"Sorry about the mess, take care."

-----------

Greylle left, got away from the site, and transformed back and began flying
again. Little handguns hadn't done much other than sting against his hide.
The shotgun likewise hadn't had enough penetration. If they'd had a high
powered rifle...

Huh? A scream? Oh crap, what were THEY doing here. For that matter what the
heck was a grizzly bear doing in Japan?!

-------

Nabiki looked up, and up, and up, and saw WHAT had just reduced the bear to
little scraps of bloody fur. Silvery metal scales, long neck, big mouth full
of what looked like really sharp teeth. "Gah!" She would have run but her
legs were locked. Her hair was also pointing straight up and she'd turned
quite pale.

Nabiki was the cold in-control Ice Queen of Furinkan. At this moment her
rational mind shut down and she was effectively a small brown mammal faced
by the biggest damn predator she'd ever seen.

Kasumi looked at the dragon, then down at the remains of the bear that had
attacked them, then appeared to think for a moment.

Greylle was entirely unsure of what to make of this situation. He'd spotted
them but hadn't been inclined to make an appearance, but seeing the two
about to run into that bear had been enough.

The eldest Tendo daughter bowed. "Hello Dragon-san. My name is Kasumi Tendo.
I hope you are well today."

Greylle blinked. She was kidding, right?

Nabiki continued to stare with big eyes and...

Greylle sniffed the air. Funny, he would have thought Nabiki had more
self-control.

"So, Dragon-san, have you seen my sister, who was supposed to be following
her boyfriend out here?"

*No Kasumi of Tendo. Only you two has this one seen.* So Akane was out here
too? Just freakin' wonderful!

"...telepathy..." Nabiki might have been normally inclined towards natural
shielding but had run into the sort of trouble that occurred once someone
told you to not think about purple cows. Once you'd committed to try not to
thinking about them, that was all you could think about.

To Greylle, an Aramarian dragon who understood almost any language due to a
telepathic trick, it was like she was shouting every guilty secret in her
possession. Mixed liberally with fear, discomfort, and (for whatever odd
reason) greed. To his sensibilities it was sickening. Well, at least mildly
nauseating. Especially as she kept picturing herself being shredded by claws
and chomped on by jaws. His tastes definitely did *not* run to maiden flesh.

*Kasumi of Tendo. There is a human camp near a stream this way. Let your
sister clean up there. And NO, Nabiki of Tendo. You're confusing me with the
Yamato-no-Orochi. Don't be insulting.* With a furling of wings, Greylle
launched himself, to better guide the two. Also to get some distance.

It was a simple camping trip. Why did it have to turn into such a mess?

Landing at his campsite was easy enough. He'd chosen it for just such a
purpose. Ah, here came Nabiki and Kasumi. Well, he'd give them some privacy
so Nabiki could clean up and he could transform back while well out of
sight. Then he could get some answers.

His tent moved and yet another young girl stepped out and saw a big
carnivore. Then saw her own sisters coming closer.

"Kasumi! Run! I'll cover your escape!" With that as a battlecry, Akane
attacked.

--------

A blackhaired oriental woman listened carefully. Time to see if her
preparations and Urd's little mission had taken.

--------

"Sir, a thousand apologies. If you but ask, I have a kaishaku ready and will
perform seppuku immediately."

The formerly captive male made a brushing gesture. "No. Everyone gets ill
every so often, and you can still barely stand. My other guards will
obviously have to be checked more thoroughly as somehow these *persons*
managed to infiltrate their ranks."

"Youma," pronounced another of the black-suit clad operatives. "All of them
bear the mark of some dark entity that they served. I'll have to research
which one."

"What of our rescuer?" The female of the captives asked.

"Greylle Shard. He was scouted out as 'gaijin tarento' by the Yoimuri
Giants. Until he graduates though, he is a free agent who can't sign a
contract for them. American, or so we thought, until a background check
revealed something more. Heir to Martial Arts Baseball and the Seven Dragons
School Of Martial Arts. Practitioner of Whatever Works Engineering, Martial
Arts Housekeeping, and trained in a few dozen other very exotic and esoteric
martial arts - though a master of none. Lives in a modest studio apartment,
attends Furinkan Senior High School. Apparently the boyfriend of a..." The
agent checked his notes. "Actually the report isn't too clear on that. Some
say an 'Akane Tendo', others state he's the fiance of a 'Kasumi Tendo',
others indicate that he's the lover of a 'Nabiki Tendo' and yet others
indicate that he's repeatedly stated he's not anyone's boyfriend, lover, or
fiance. Oh, and there were also two reports that he's involved with all
three Tendo girls."

"Other than he's actually a dragon, what did your report reveal?" The former
captive made a gesture at the destruction to his right.

The one who had spoken of demonic influence earlier took over. "Alien
prince. Apparently there's some area in China known as the 'Lost Kingdoms'
and has its roots in various cultural icons, or vice versa. A group known as
Joketsuzoku represent the Tiger, the Phoenix is actually a place called
Phoenix Mountain, and a group of beastmen known as the Musk were thought to
represent the Dragon until recently. Actually there is a Valley Of The
Dragons which was thought to be a myth. A valley in which no technology
functions."

"He's not from Jurai, is he?"

"No, my Emperor. A similar group, though more isolationist. It is said that
they are artificiers who build devices of great magical power." The old
priest made a gesture off in the direction of the nearby dragon. "A prince
of a star kingdom, commanding a hidden kingdom here on Earth. Apparently he
has great healing abilities, but little control at this point, and is
actually here to fight demonic entities."

"Then his interests and the interests of my nation coincide," indicated the
formerly captive Emperor. He gestured towards his wife to get her attention.
"It has been a most tiring day. I think we should retire for now, while I
decide how best to repay this debt."

"Emperor-san! The dragon is being attacked by some girl in his own
campsite!"

--------

This was embarassing, decided Greylle very very quickly.

Akane, later in the series, would prove to be formidable enough to beat on
the Yamato-No-Orochi. Though this was mainly due to the weakened and starved
condition of the Orochi, that it was clumiser than five cows with their
tails tied together, and the fact that even with five heads the Orochi was
far stupider than any of the other cast members.

"Take THIS! Haiii-ya!"

Greylle, at fifty two feet in length, was considerably less massive than the
Orochi. He was also, apparently, lacking a glass jaw (let alone five of
them).

"Ah-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-TA!"

After the first flying kick from his (relatively) diminuitive attacker,
Greylle had simply laid down, with one foreclaw cradling his chin. He turned
an obviously bored look towards Kasumi and Nabiki.

"Quick, run away! I've got him on the run!"

Letting out a loud sigh, Greylle rolled his eyes. *You know. Today really
sucks wind.*

"Yah!" Akane threw one more punch, then started waving her hands around.
"Owie."

*My scales are the consistency of metal, you know. As if you couldn't
guess.* Greylle sent his tail around and flipped the short girl towards the
stream. *Cool down. Why does everyone confuse me with the damn Orochi?! i.
don't. eat. people. Well, at least on purpose.* Hmmm. That was right, he was
literally an omnivore, and metals were part of his diet. He'd have to find
some silverware or something, wouldn't do to get low on minerals. Part of a
balanced breakfast and all that.

"Oh my," said Kasumi bowing politely. "I do hope Akane hasn't offended you.
She's a very nice girl, despite being a violent maniac."(1)

"You eat people by accident?!" Nabiki was *not* reassured by this
assertation in the slightest.

*i've got a little temper problem. One of the things about dragons, oh
pardon me.* Greylle got up, fished Akane out of the stream, then put her
face down on the ground so he could press down on her and squeeze the water
out. The stream was only three feet deep, having her drown in it would be
terribly mortifying. She'd never live it down. *Ahem, like i was saying,
dragons are essentially elemental creatures. i'm kind of air and water. We
tend to be like the weather - sometimes calm and peaceful, but also given to
switching to extremes of emotion.*

"Sort of like Akane," noted Nabiki as she shrugged and started stripping. If
she was gonna be eaten, she was gonna be eaten. She had given up worrying
about it.

*Hey! That's not what i... i suppose there is some parallel. Damn. Errrr.
Should you be doing that in front of strangers?*

"You're a dragon, a boy dragon but a dragon nonetheless, I..." Nabiki
stopped when she realized the dragon had turned partially away and was
*blushing*?! Also that he'd accidently ground Akane into the dirt by putting
his weight on her at an inopportune time.

*Well, i'll leave you three... oh darn. Hang on. Looks like a healing spell
will be needed for this girl. Who'd have thought she was delicate with
*that* attitude?*

Nabiki had taken her panties and shorts into the stream to wash them when
that stopped her. "Healing spell?" Dragons might be profitable, and she'd
thought of several ways to sell his location, though the thought of what the
dragon might *accidently* do in return was most alarming. He obviously did
not have trouble tossing Akane around. Healing spells? The call of vast sums
of yen if she could gain the dragon's trust or at least cooperation was
staggering.

*Yeah, i think i cracked one of her ribs. i thought the slapstick effect
would protect her from stuff like that. This does not bode well.*

"Oh my." Kasumi thought that blood from Akane's mouth was most definitely
not a good sign.

Greylle thought about it. The words of the spell changed depending on need,
so long as the patterns and symbols of magic were utilized in the correct
fashion. Side effects could likely be minimized if he used the correct
rhyme. Though he had the feeling that was only *part* of the answer.
*Light of healing,
wounds be sealing,
bone and flesh - reknit, renew,
send thy force entire through,
seal injuries to this warrior maid,
so her pains will quickly fade.
Cure Critical Wounds.*

Nabiki noted the dragon still wouldn't look in her direction, noted that the
words had been in *English* and that Akane glowed briefly with white light.

Akane lifted her head up. "Yeah. Let that be a lesson to you. There's more
of that where that came from. That is. Yeah."

"Akane. Drop it," advised Nabiki. Hmmm. An easily embarrassed dragon that
spoke English. There was something familiar about it too.

Greylle decided to leave before Akane tried to attack him again. This was
all terribly embarassing. And it looked like he'd have to cut the whole
thing short, it certainly wasn't working out too well.

--------

Akane watched the dragon leave. She'd driven it off! Hah. She was still the
best!

"Akane, how could you be so mean to that poor dragon?"

"Huh?" Akane stopped reveling in her triumph. "Hey, how'd I get out of the
stream? And why are you two here anyway? And why is Nabiki washing her
shorts out? And... Why do I get the feeling I'm missing something?"

"Gee, Akane, I dunno. Maybe you should... Get A Clue!" Nabiki finished
washing out her shorts and set them on a rock to dry. It had been a terribly
stressful day so far, and it wasn't even 9am! Heck, she shouldn't even be
awake yet on a Sunday!

--------

Greylle landed a good mile away from his campsite, then shifted back to
human again. It felt oddly confining and weakening for a few minutes, but
that faded eventually.

He started walking forward when he realized someone else was nearby. His
senses cut down to near-human levels by the shapeshift, it made it difficult
to pinpoint the location.

Growling, he walked all the way back to his campsite while waiting for an
attack or something.

Of course, nothing happened.

"Tendo-kun, Tendo-sempai, and whoever you are," said Greylle. "Why when come
here be private, is so crowded... AND Yuka and Sayuri?"

Nabiki was shivering, apparently reluctant to step out of the stream with
all these people here. "AND Hiroshi, AND Daisuke, AND this is my big sister
Kasumi, AND there's the baseball team, and there's Coach Kanzaki, and I'm
SURE you remember Vice Principal Shinrei, oh, and I SHOULDN'T forget Hanzo
and Greta!"

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Greylle considered the situation. "Nabiki,
you sell location i train in secret to others?"

"Uhm, no?"

Taking a cue from all the people nodding "yes" - Greylle calmly collected
Nabiki's clothes and walked to the tent. "i'm go to back to my apartment."

"...but I wanted to spar," said Akane plaintively. "You were going to teach
me special techniques, right?"

Hiroshi elbowed Daisuke. "Special techniques, eh?"

Greylle was about to say no when he got this nasty impulse. "Sure. i head
dojo this afternoon. Teach you special attack."

"What about Nabiki?" Kasumi glanced over at her shivering sister.

"She made the soup, now she can lie in it," said Greylle, not looking at
Nabiki. That way she couldn't see the evil smirk. "Hiroshi and Daisuke can
keep an eye on Nabiki and make sure she's okay. Bye."

--------

This would do it. He'd read the "Battle Dougi" story, and seen it acted out
in various timelines. "Yeah, I know a special manuever from another school
you could learn."

"Well, let me see it!" Akane was eager for this. A special manuever?
Perfect. She could then finally show off her strength enough that some weak
American would go off and leave her alone. Though she was beginning to have
second thoughts about this. How often did she meet nice, polite, caring,
boys?

"=It is a manuever of Ti Kwan Leep. First you must clear your spirit.
Ommmmmm.=" Greylle thought this was from a comedy sketch so it was perfect
for the situation. Akane had revealed in that Battle Dougi story that if
Ranma had *ever* struck her, she would never have forgiven him, despite her
exhortations to fight her for real. So all he had to do was use a silly
martial arts trick, tag her, then he wouldn't have to worry about this and
could go do *important* stuff.

Akane blinked. "Excuse me? How long do we have to do this?"

"=About an hour to cleanse the soul. Ommmmmm.=" It was odd, but Akane
talking in Japanese and him talking in English seemed to work. Mostly.

"HOUR?!"

"=Maybe longer. Ommmmmm.="

"WHAT THE HECK KIND OF LAME SPECIAL ATTACK IS THIS?!"

Perfect. "I see I must demonstrate. Step closer."

Akane grinned and strode forward. "Finally some action!" Perfect.

"Special manuever of Ti Kwan Leep. Boot ta da head!" *WHAKUM!*

Akane somersaulted in midair and came down on the ground. "oooowie. You...
booted me in the head!"

Greylle was a little surprised. It was just a joke special manuever based
off a comedy sketch by a Quebecois group called the Frantics. It wasn't
supposed to be *that* effective! Still, if things were going to go by such
an obvious plotline. "You are lucky, Akane Tendo. Few students of Ti Kwan
Leep learn so much of the school this quickly."

"Hey! Hey! I wasn't ready!" Akane got up and charged forward. "Come on and
try that again!"

"Boot ta da head!" *SMACKUM!*

Akane bounced off the compound wall and landed on her butt. "Ow! Oh. Okay,
NOW I'm ready."

"Boot ta da head!" *KER THWAK!*

"Mind if I just lie down here for a minute?"

Soun had been watching getting more and more horrified. Now he went to full
demonhead mode. "YOU GAIIIJIIIN!"

"Boot ta da head!" *KRUNCH!*

Greylle smiled, seeing Soun Tendo go nighty-night instead of getting his
usual way with that manuever. There was something to be said for this sensei
stuff after all.

"Uhm, that's a pretty good manuever," admitted Akane as she struggled to a
seated position. "Sort of a twisting snap kick but it's got a lot of (ouch)
power behind it. It has the advantage of speed, and you were able to access
it without a lot of startup time or making the attack obvious before you
launched it."

"As my teacher would say, 'you approach wisdom' Akane." Greylle bowed, ready
for the personal attacks and hatred. Or maybe she would try it on him and he
could follow the original sketch a bit more.

Akane nodded a couple of times, then her eyes rolled up in their sockets and
she fainted.

Greylle sighed and carried Akane in to where he could cast a Cure Light on
her without anyone noticing. Sometimes being responsible sucked.

It took him a few minutes to get Akane to her bed, then position her in at
least a dignified manner. Once she woke up she'd never forgive him for
actually hitting her (according to the original material and what he'd seen
of other timelines), he could leave and investigate these odd divination
spell results. So he could be generous in giving her a send off. He was
inclined towards generosity anyway.

Though seeing an expression of pain crossing the girl's face triggered the
usual protective instincts and he went with something a bit stronger than
Cure Light Wounds.

"Powers of light,
I call to thee,
Injuries old and new to heal,
That her health they do not steal,
Rest well warrior, battle's done,
Reward of rest you've surely won.
Healing Sleep."

Eyes closed as he cast the spell, Greylle didn't notice that his hands (one
on her forehead, the other on her stomach) glowed briefly. Nor did he notice
Akane scrutinizing him briefly, awake and awaiting something hentai (an
excuse to come awake fully and pound the boy) when she felt the pleasant
warmth and drowsiness flow into her body.

If he had an ESP spell going or had been in dragonform, her thought that he
was like a young Doctor Tofu and was using a shiatsu healing technique would
have been dismissed as no consequence.

Somewhere, ominous thunder swore because it realized it had missed its cue.

---------

Nabiki snuck away from the cracked-open door with as much speed as she could
bring to bear with the need for absolute silence. Once safely in her room,
she began shaking.

She, like Greylle, expected Akane to react to being defeated with vitriol.
This would effectively destroy any relationship between the two. As far as
Akane was concerned, this would be viewed as a sexual assault, reality not
withstanding.

No, the Akane + Greylle budding romance had just died, Nabiki was sure of
it. Akane being shown up always had the same result: resentment and anger.

Which meant that a talented baseball player who happened to need a manager
was available. That wasn't a problem.

What concerned Nabiki was a softly chanted spell and glowing hands. She
hadn't made out all the words, but it had been in English and she *did*
speak that language. It was a major language for business after all. She'd
caught enough to realize what he'd done. Either magic or a psychic
technique.

The ability to put someone in a healing trance? Yes, she could profit by it.
That wasn't the problem.

The problem was that she'd already witnessed a dragon earlier that day. The
odd gadgets in Greylle's apartment. Now this. Her tidy little worldview was
coming apart at the seams. There was only one explanation.

Greylle was from the future. Or he was an alien. Okay, make that two
explanations. Three if you combined them and he was an alien from the
future.

Though it was only shown briefly in the stories Greylle was familiar with,
Nabiki in the vast majority of timelines was at least slightly into manga.
In a few she actually wrote and drew manga, but in the majority she simply
read them.

Nabiki lay back on her bed and therefore fit the past two days into a
semblence of order based on those sorts of stories. Greylle was an alien
from a planet where they had baseball. And the "Seven Dragon" style
obviously referred to his dragon-servants. So, why was here? Obvious. Like
Time Traveller Atsuko in the manga of the same name, he was here to save the
human race from some great menace or disaster that would strike in the
future.

The mercenary Tendo was also facing something else. She'd always equated
money with power and control. In a world where she was now facing alien
dragons and baseball playing psychic time travellers, a few extra yen were
suddenly pitiable.

In order to get her hands on *that* kind of power, she needed to be friends
(at least) with this guy. He was nice and all, but Nabiki could well imagine
all sorts of nasty things that could be done to her if she tried blackmail
or her usual tactics. Anywhere from psychically wiping her memories to
feeding her to that dragon. Nabiki wasn't sure which she'd be less happy
with.

So it was either significantly change her modus operandi, ignore what she'd
learned, or get fed to a dragon. This last caused her to frown. Based on
what she'd seen of the fellow, particularly how tenderly he'd carried Akane
up the stairs, he wasn't *that* brutal. Erasure of memories seemed likely.

Though the sight of Akane helpless and being touched like that was turning
her on. It didn't take much effort to close her eyes and imagine those
strong hands touching her like that. Of being held tenderly in those arms
and laid out on her bed and...

Nabiki slipped off in a light drowse before she'd realized it.

If she could have known that this was the unplanned side effect of the
'Healing Sleep' spell, she might have been alarmed.

------

Greylle passed by Nabiki's room, hearing a series of soft moans, and decided
not to check on her. Considering Nabiki it could mean anything.

He *could* heal Soun. Nah.

There were better things to do.

------

"Aaaaaa!" Ranma-chan screamed and ran to the East.

"I get you," screamed Shampoo in quick pursuit.

"BReaaaguh!"

"Aaaaa!" Ranma-chan screamed and ran to the West.

"Aaaaa!" Shampoo screamed and ran likewise to the West.

The big bearlike creature with the huge mouth ambled after them. "Breaghhh!
Snorlax!"

------

(1)=Thought i ought to footnote this as otherwise i'll get comments about it
being OOC for Kasumi. Go check the manga. She does indeed sum up Akane's
character that way.

Retake
Chapter 4:

Disclaimer: arrgghhh. i still hadn't attempted to write this. i just keep
making a few notes and... oh yeah. Characters by other people. Well, mostly.

---------

She stepped into the basement, putting an elaborate earring into her pocket
and looking around.

"Who are you to come trespassing into this lab? No, don't answer. It doesn't
matter for this will be your grave."

The woman scowled and glanced at the guy in the labcoat. "Geramatou. Don't
even bother with the cheesy dialogue. If you knew who you were dealing with,
you *and* your Pharoah 90 would be running like pigs at a barbeque."

The Professor stopped dead still. The claim was obviously ridiculous, yet
knowing his identity and that of his Master was fairly impressive in itself.

"This is the transmitter, I take it," the woman said, flipping her long hair
back with a casual toss of her head. She immediately walked into the center
of it. "Clumsy work."

"It's state-of-the-art, beyond anything mere mortal minds can conceive!" The
Professor began an evil chuckle.

"Yeah. Right. Depends on the mortals in question, don't it?" The woman
looked up, as if sighting through the layers of concrete and metal to
something beyond it all. "There he is. It is. Inhuman demon-gods having an
indeterminate gender after all."

"What are you..."

The woman held up both her hands and pointed up. Concrete vaporized. Metal
vanished. The Eggs Of Daimon, with a year to go before they'd be ready,
flared as smoke began pouring from them.

The Professor watched as long as he could as the metal and ceramic of the
transmitter boiled away and a pencil thin beam of brilliance stabbed up and
away from the woman.

"That's it," said the woman, dusting her hands off. "Poor boy wouldn't have
had a chance against Pharoah 90. Of course, he'd have been immune to the
beastie's attacks, but living in what would have been left would *not* have
been any fun at all."

"You... killed..." The Professor dropped to his knees. He could feel it.
Pharoah 90 wasn't there anymore. Either dead or wounded so badly that all
connections to the alien intelligence had been cut.

"Oh, let me take care of that while I'm here," said the woman as she walked
up to the Professor, and snatched an egg-like object from his head. Then
dropped it and crushed it casually under her sandal.

"Uhmm... What..."

"Remember, Soichiro Tomoe, remember what happened when you were the carrier
for the daimon Geramatou." The woman tapped her finger against the
Professor's forehead.

"I..."

"Sorry, I can't give you time to consider everything. I've just saved you
and your daughter's life, since summoning Pharoah 90 would have ended both
your lives, and the only way you wouldn't have summoned the Pharoah was to
kill both of you before the summoning. The Witches 5 would then have gone
into political infighting and never become a threat. I've already removed
'Mistress 9' from Hotaru."

"I..."

The woman smiled. "The cost to you for this service is very simple. Are you
familiar with the concept of arranged marriages?"

"I... Hotaru?"

The woman nodded. "Exactly. I've got an arrangement to make with Hotaru. Oh,
and I'm going to have to train her as a shrine priestess. It's a good cover
for her healing abilities anyway."

"An arranged marriage? Hotaru?" Professor Tomoe shook his head, focussing on
the woman in front of him. Tight faded jeans with one knee worn out, a loose
t-shirt with some odd anime-looking group shot on it, with what appeared to
be a WWII leather bomber jacket over it. Peach colored lipstick and nail
polish, but what really stuck out was the three facial tattoos. Two small
red circles, one on each cheek, and a large red circle on her forehead.

The woman winked. "By the way, this lab will dissolve into subspace in
thirty seconds. I'll be back to give you more details when you've had a
chance to catch up."

"But... who are you?"

Another wink and smile, followed by a thumb's up. "A lot of people call me
Amaterasu Omikami. *You* can call me Amaterasu. Hotaru, I think, can call me
Ama-chan. She didn't screw up like you did. I'm sorry, sparing a life for a
few years in return for eternal damnation? Who taught you to negotiate?
Genma Saotome?"

"Uhm... I..." Soichiro Tomoe wasn't at all sure what the proper response to
this was.

"Oh well, I got to go use the Seal. Wouldn't do to accidently incinerate som
e city because I got pissed at the way they're portraying me in some story,
would it?" Waving a quick bye-bye, Amaterasu walked into a wall and
vanished.

"THAT was Amaterasu...?!" Professor Tomoe saw the walls beginning to flicker
and raced for the exit. Somehow he couldn't picture THAT Amaterasu hiding
herself in a cave because she was being laughed at.

---------

"Acchoooo!" Greylle sniffled. Damn, a chill up his spine and he kept
sneezing. He hoped he wasn't having a return to the allergies he'd had in
his human first life.

Cramped apartment and one thing other that struck him as deuced unfair.

It was Winter of 1992 in Tokyo and he didn't have a damn TV! All the series
he was missing out on!

Oh well, he had enough to keep him busy. But dang it.

:System Power at 25%
:Languages Set: Japanese, English
:Identity Set: Sailor Marionette Mercury
:Secondary Identity Set: Ami Mizuno
:Internal Diagnostic - Basic motility only
:Activating

The marionette moved. "Anata dare?"

"Greylle Shard. Set language to English, will you? I'm tired."

:Set Master = Greylle Shard. Done.

"Sit down. Right now you're at most basic levels. I can upgrade you bit by
bit as materials and time becomes available." Greylle sighed. "Like i said.
i'm tired. Also i don't have access to nearly the materials i'll need. Which
is why your head and hands are the only thing covered by skin, and that skin
isn't too convincing. i'll need a nanotank, something i can completely
immerse you in that i can program nanites to build artificial tissues with."

Mercury sat back down and regarded her Master carefully.

"Oh, and i don't care for the whole 'Master' thing. So, just consider me a
commanding officer for now. i'll sweat the details later."

Mercury blinked, storing that to memory.

"Uhm, anyway, there's some problems. i'll upgrade you with a Maiden Circuit
once i can replace the units i have. The grenade launcher and other items,
likewise. The kind of stuff i can currently make are too bulky to be
internal and still remain useful. No lasers or particle beams."

Mercury blinked again.

"As soon as i can find storage room and solve some of the other problems,
i'll build an Usagi model. Can't have the Senshi without having the
Princess."

Mercury blinked.

Deciding this was fruitless and it was late, Greylle turned on a radio and
handed it to the marionette. "Look, listen to this and use your spam
filters. Maybe some of it will help fill in the gaps in your programming.
i'm getting some sleep, tomorrow just stay in the apartment while i'm at
school."

--------

Nabiki awoke and walked past Kasumi on the way to the bathroom. "Mrrrmmn
Ssmmmi."

"Good morning, Nabiki," responded Kasumi, used to translating morning
mumble. "Oh, since we didn't get to look too long on Saturday, I was
planning to wait until all of you were at school, then investigate
Shard-san's apartment in a bit more detail."

Nabiki stopped with her toothbrush in her mouth. "Mrfmmm? Mffff rmrmmff."

Kasumi blinked. She'd gotten so used to Nabiki's morning mumble that she had
no trouble deciphering it. The addition of the toothbrush seemed to add an
entirely new layer of cipher. "Well, he was fairly nice and polite, but
*you've* heard the stories of some of these gaijin."

Nabiki turned slowly from the mirror to regard her sister through
sleep-deprived eyes. "Mffmen?! thumn mfffn mrrrfn mefmnn?"

Kasumi considered that. "Well, he seemed like such a *polite* dragon.
Besides, according to Mrs Setomi, father apparently engaged me to marry
him."

Nabiki began choking on her toothbrush, finally dislodging it a few moments
later. "Hah?!"

Kasumi was already walking away, embarrassed by this situation. Shard-san
was too young! Still, the odd gadgets she'd seen, and obvious disarray,
indicated that he was the sort who needed a woman to take care of him. Such
a mess Father was making.

Nabiki stared after her older sister. Deciding that she must still be
asleep, Nabiki went back to brushing her teeth after washing the brush out.
*Kasumi* being sneaky while she herself was being honest and
straightforward? No, that couldn't be the case.

--------

Kasumi let herself in, oddly easy as the lock on the apartment door didn't
work too well.

She hadn't gotten a chance to examine things too well the last time, when
she and Nabiki had been trying for a quick reconnoiter before getting back
and planning to make sure Akane didn't get *too* forward with her new
boyfriend.

There was that odd metal sculpture that had been folded up on a shelf, but
which was now folded up in a corner. It reminded her of the mannequinns that
artists used to get proportion and pose right. Except that this one was
metal and plastic and lifesize. It bore a superficial resemblence to Akane,
though with shorter hair and higher cheeks and an odd blue tint to the hair.
Okay, there really wasn't much resemblence to Akane. It also, other than the
hands and head, was mainly metal tubing and electronic components.

Some sort of robot, obviously. No doubt the boy was going to be an engineer
and this was some sort of science project.

There was a pocket radio, tuned to an All News channel and playing. How odd.
She knew the boy's Japanese wasn't that good.

An odd electric blanket, but considering how chilly the apartment was, its
presence wasn't that unlikely.

What *was* odd was how uncomfortable she felt with the sculpture's eyes
apparently following her. Which was silly, of course, it merely was a trick
of the lighting.

Then there were these odd baseballs. No doubt used in his strange style of
martial arts.

Kasumi smiled, remembering her own high school days when she'd been heavily
into sports. Then she'd had to drop out and dedicate all her time to keeping
the household together after her mother's death, but that was giri (duty).

"The Tendo are a family descended from samurai," Kasumi informed the
sculpture, casually tossing the sphere from one hand to the other. "If my
father has arranged for me to marry a gaijin like Shard-san, then I suppose
I must..." Had the sculpture just blinked? Oh, yes, if it was a robot simple
things like that might be possible. No doubt it would be radio controlled.
She was mainly talking to it to settle her own mind, so why not act it out?
Sort of like talking to a stuffed animal.

"Well, the Tendo-ryuu used to be a naginata style, but since Father trained
with Happosai it has become a bare-handed style. Still, we keep the armor
and ceremonial blades of the old samurai family. And our family honor, of
course. Bushido. Which is broken into the seven virtues: Gi (duty to
justice), Yuu (courage in battle), Jin (compassion), Rei (politeness to
others), Meyou (truthfulness), Makoto (loyalty to one's lord), and Chuugo
(duty to one's word). There is also Giri (family honor) to consider."

Kasumi let out a deep breath. "Though I don't know. A gaijin. Even if he is
tall, and seems to be polite. I just don't think I could marry him, though
how to Oh, what's this?" She'd just noticed these odd balls had a button in
front. Maybe there was something inside? Kasumi decided just a peek wouldn't
hurt, and pressed the button and peered in as the ball opened on some hinge
inside it.

*SHOOM! WHOOSH!*

Mercury watched the ball rock back and forth, the light blinking repeatedly.
It took three minutes, fifteen point two eight seconds, for the ball to stop
moving and blinking.

As there was currently no one else in the apartment, Mercury picked the ball
up and put it back where the girl had found it. No point in leaving a mess.

-----

"Naruhito?"

The Emperor turned to his wife after that gentle voice spoke. That she was
pale and quite nervous started an alarm going. "Masako?"

"There's someone here to see you. I *really* think you should see her."

For his wife, the Princess Masako, to put an emphasis like that on something
was alarming in and of itself. Especially after their recent kidnapping.
"Very well, if you think so."

The woman who swept into the room was wearing a kimono of gold and red. She
didn't look a thing like the old pictures, but he knew her on sight. "Oh my
dear kami."

"Hello, great grandson," she said, deliberately omitting a few "greats" in
there. "I think we ought to have a little chat."

--------

"Achhoooo!" Greylle looked around. "Uhm, sorry."

Akane spent some time looking over the gaijin sitting next to her, studying
him and trying to figure him out.

Okay, he was an inscrutable American. On the surface they were very simple.
All the guys were hairy grunting sports fanatics who fixated on power tools,
or they were sinister power-brokers, or they were those wimpy ineffectual
sorts, or they were clueless but well intentioned youths with a tragic past.
Discounting series like "Wingman" where Americans were actually aliens from
a shadow dimension plotting to conquer Japan. Which was Greylle Shard?

Yuka and Sayuri winked at each other as they noticed the scrutiny Akane was
giving Greylle.

*WHACK!*

Akane rubbed her forehead from where a piece of chalk had impacted it.
"Huh?!"

"Miss Tendo, you can stare lovingly at your boyfriend AFTER class."

"Huh?" Greylle said, looking up from where he had been trying to figure out
a kanji.

Akane was momentarily in shock, then erupted from her desk. "HE IS NOT MY
BOYFRIEND!"

Yuka and Sayuri started laughing.

"HE'S NOT!! We've only gone out twice!"

"Huh?" Greylle repeated.

Several of the other girls picked up on Yuka and Sayuri's mirth.

"HE'S *NOT* MY GIRLFRIEND! Waitaminute, I mean BOYFRIEND!"

"So," said the teacher, "that means you're going to stop sleeping with him?
You won't get him to tie you down to the bed anymore?"

"WHAT?!" Akane was reaching entirely new registers with that comment. "YES!
NO! I MEAN... ARGGHHHHH!!"

The teacher tsked a few times. "Miss Tendo, either sit down and pay
attention to the lesson, or report for bucket duty."

"B-b-b-b-but I..."

"I not understand. What everyone talk about? What mean 'sokubaku'?!" Greylle
puzzled. Yes, Japanese were crazy.

This comment caused Yuka and Sayuri to fall off their chairs but this was
hardly noticeable from all the other laughs.

Hikaru Gosunkugi sighed. It was obvious. Akane spent all her time denying
she was in love with the foreigner. Therefore she was. Clearly Shard wasn't
clear on how to respond, which gave Hikaru a certain voyeuristic quality as
he could imagine himself in the foreigner's position quite easily.

Greylle considered all the hilarity around him, how Akane was trying to
shrink in on herself, and wondered if he would EVER understand the Japanese.

------

Ranma caught her breath. This was *beyond* ridiculous. "My life is a living
hell."

A shadow moved and a male voice responded. "Tell me about it. I bet I can
top it."

"Yeah right. My pop the idiot took me to a place with these cursed springs,
now I turn into a girl when I'm splashed with cold water. Return back to
guyhood with hot water, which doesn't seem to last too damn long. My Pops
turned into some bear sorta critter that eats damn near everything it runs
across. He throws up the people he swallows eventually, but lemmee tell ya:
you do NOT wanna go through the experience. I rescue some gal from being a
Happy Meal, knock her out while I'm going, next thing you know she's going
off and trying to kill me AND kiss me and she's screaming something in
Mandarin I can't follow. And we keep running into my Pops who is STILL
trying to eat us. Top THAT." Ranma slumped to the alleyway and cursed her
father, not for the first time by a long shot.

"Try this. Me and my friend were advisors to a team of magical girls out to
protect the universe. One day, all the magical girls went off and tried to
stop this 10,000 year old evil queen who was out to destroy the world.
Except that they're 'Missing and presumed dead' now, and we've got noplace
to call our home, and no way of telling what's going on! "

Ranma frowned. "Okay, well, 10,000 year old evil queens are about up there
with transforming curses from ancient springs. So I'll grant you that to
some extent. Still think my row's harder though. At least you don't turn
into a girl."

"Nah. It's just *I* can't turn back into a human. I'm stuck as a cat."

Ranma nodded. Then she froze. Then she peered into the shadows nervously.
Small. White. Definitely feline in shape. Oh. "C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-CAT?!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Artemis tsked. "And you're an ailurophobe? Okay. Maybe you win. Naaaah."

-------

Shampoo screamed at the heavens. She'd been doing that a lot lately.

Outsider girl saved your life = determine if she's good enough to join the
tribe. If she is, then you can petition the tribe to adopt her.

Outsider girl defeats you in combat = give Kiss Of Death and death threat,
then pursue till ends of Earth. Etcetera.

Two very conflicting rules. Neither of which addressed the concept of
someone who knocked you out while saving your life. Lufa had been spit out
after a long run, but Lufa was a nasty bitter young woman. Shampoo knew she
wouldn't have been so lucky. No, Shampoo owed her life to the redheaded
girl. The problem was resolving the two laws.

If she'd stayed still after being told that she'd been given the Kiss Of
Death - no problem. The girl could've been then taken to the Elders and made
a member of the Tribe because she wouldn't have been a coward.

Shampoo walked past one of these odd high schools. Why couldn't her life be
easier, like one of these schoolgirls?

*Bang!*

Take those boys over there playing baseball. When was the last time Shampoo
had gotten time to just play like that? What was that boy yelling? It
sounded like English, something about looking?

*WHAM!*

Having had a baseball bop off her forehead at high speed, and the world
fading to black, Shampoo realized two major things.

One, she was *still* having a very bad day. This particular one had started
over a week ago.

Two, if Great-Grandmama found out that some redhaired girl AND a boy playing
baseball had defeated her, Shampoo would get her butt chewed out royally and
some hellish martial arts practice to correct her "weakness."

Waitaminute. There was something about that last thought.

--------

Greylle walked up to the unconscious girl and groaned. Then he knelt down
and began checking her. Pulse felt weaker than he expected, her eyes were
rolled up in her head, and there was some nasty bruising forming at the
impact site.

"Damn, she's *cute*!" Hiroshi said, not realizing what a good thing it was
that *he* hadn't been the one to knock out this bouncy purple-haired girl.

Lifting her up, Greylle started trudging towards the nurse's office.

There had been odd failures of the so-called "Slapstick Effect" earlier,
where the violence was only temporary stun damage, and the baseball *had*
been going at a fairly good clip.

Well, at least he'd be able to get out of this one. Once it was revealed
that Ranma was really a boy, he'd have defeated her prior to this, and
Shampoo would have to drop him and pursue Ranma.

Or, wait a minute. This wasn't a fight or anything like that. He could
petition the Elders... on second thought that might be a BAD idea.

--------

Nabiki had come home to an empty house, save for her Father. Kasumi had not
been heard from since this morning.

Worrisome.

Nabiki was the only one to know where Kasumi had been going, but since
Shard-san was likely to be busy dealing with Akane's desire to find out what
odd connection there was between the foreign girl and her boyfriend. Despite
his reassurances that he'd never met the girl, but was familiar with some
tribe of Chinese Amazons and he was worried about some quaint laws he'd
heard about.

Amusing.

Back to Kasumi. It was unlikely that Kasumi knew that this was some alien
from the future sent back in time to save the past from an ancient evil. So
she *might* have run afoul of some sort of strange alien alarm system.

Alarming.

Which led Nabiki to opening a door and carefully sliding into the room. One
good thing about the typical Japanese apartment like this, there wasn't room
to conceal anything.

A quick search of the apartment had turned up some bracelets that... was
that *gold*?!

Nabiki slipped the ring on first, which had a chain that led to a bracelet
of the same gold material, which slipped into place on her wrist. Just to
admire it for a moment before taking it off. Except that the clasp appeared
to be missing now, there was unbroken metal.

Realizing that she'd better NOT be caught here like this, Nabiki swiftly
crossed the room to escape. She'd return this later when she figured out how
to remove it.

She'd determined that Kasumi wasn't here. The only thing present was that
metal statue tossing some softball at her. Huh?

*SHOOM!*

-----------

Mercury picked up the ball and put it on a shelf next to the first. Second
intruder captured without physical harm or endangerment to unit.

Theft was wrong. Attempting to steal from her Master was therefore wrong.
Therefore both intruders had been neutralized. One from her own efforts, the
second via direct action. According to the radio, capture and detainment
were the usual punishment for such offenses.

Mercury sat back down, her hands on the little computer and accessing its
database. Those little spheres seemed interesting. Were there any other
functions besides capturing intruders?

----------

Akane led the purple-haired girl into the apartment. Small, dingy, and
mainly bare.

She'd gathered that Greylle did *not* want everyone knowing he could do
those healing special manuevers, and that this girl had no home, so waiting
at his apartment for him to get done with afternoon practice seemed a good
way to get answers.

The youngest Tendo wasn't too clear on the details but had a feeling that
the girl with the large lump on her head offered answers to the puzzle that
was NOT her boyfriend.

Shampoo wasn't too clear on anything right at the moment. Her head hurt. A
lot. This girl might be some pervert, but she had been talking to her new
airen, and could be a rival but she was guessing not. Dark haired girl had
been obviously unhappy about something.

Besides, Shampoo had tried to leap up and give the Kiss Of Marriage, only to
find her legs were quite unsteady. Resulting in her nose impacting the
floor. She probably looked a mess anyway. Better to wait until she could
make herself presentable, THEN give the Kiss Of Marriage.

Akane saw the jewelry on the floor and came to the obvious conclusion. That
baka. Here he was, trying to struggle and make ends meet and he'd picked up
jewelry to give her. Her eyes were drawn to the red stone decorated one. The
ring fit too. Baka baka baka. The bracelet fit too. Looked nice on her hand,
he had good taste. Hey, what happened to the opening in the back?

Shampoo frowned *severely*. There was another bracelet on the floor. If her
airen had given one to this girl, then Shampoo should have one too. Shampoo
was admiring it when she got the sinking feeling of magic. Sure enough the
gap at the back was gone. Saying something about how her head really *hurt*
now, Shampoo wanted to see what curse was going to hit.

Having it turn out to be a baseball of some kind was something that SHE
hadn't expected.

--------

Mercury idly noted that this appeared to be a high crime rate area.

These spheres were called "pokeballs", a "technowizardry" device patterned
after a similar device that had utilized alien technology on another plane.

They were similar to a transporter device. Matter > Energy > Matter. These
converted matter to hyperspatial patterns and then stored them in a micro
containment field. If the power got below a certain point, the ball would
automatically discharge the occupant and rematerialize them. The individual
within was essentially asleep during their store time, with the common dream
being of flower-covered fields and a vast playground they could romp in or
even sleep within their dreamscape.

Accessing that dreamscape was something designed into these pokeballs.
Originally it had been for the specific purpose of being able to enhance the
creature within.

The idea had apparently been that on these "pokemon worlds" these spheres
were used for containing monsters to battle other similar monsters in an
elaborate tournament setup. The Rival Relief Office had developed these as
they could be used to store other creatures.

The applications sited were that one could take one's horse through a
dungeon, get to the plains on the other side, then simply toss the
horse-storage ball and be able to ride off. Likewise guard dogs or other
valuable animals could be easily transported.

Of course, as the Rival Relief Office member Sasami noted in the file: these
troubleshooters and meddlers went from one universe to another and picked up
all sorts of things in those pokeballs. Visiting a "Monster Rancher"
universe, for example, one operative had picked up three varieties of
something called a "Pixie" - "Daina" (dragongirl), "Janne" (pixie-knight),
and "Snowy" (Yuki-onna). Then gone on to a "D&D" universe and stored a
"Large Warhorse", "Stone Golem", and "Rust Monster".

Mercury delved further into the datastreams. The pokeballs were developed
initially by an archangel named Raphael as "improvements" over the
originals, refined further by a number of others, and eventually deemed too
mindbogglingly useful to remain RRO equipment. Except that new ones were
made after the last batch had been confiscated.

One of the "improvements" later disabled had been that the data inside these
versions of the pokeballs could be accessed and altered. Or copied. They had
been disabled due to the possibility of someone messing with them, and in
order to get past the disable one would need to know the passwords and be
able to enter them in a specific timeframe and without any second attempt.

Mercury had been built with an Ishii Kairo and a fairly sophisticated neural
network computer AI. By one of the very people who had engineered the
disabling routine. She analyzed it, checked her memory banks, deciphered,
decrypted, and repaired files. Then slipped in through the disable.

Files were copied for later examination. Analyses were run. Mercury would
need to decide if further action were required.

However, in discovering these files on the pokeballs, Mercury had discovered
another file even more intriguing.

-----------

FILE 252-381-704
>From Grey, Rival Relief Office, Asgard
To Hephaestus, the Forge, Olympus

Since we both know your opinion of small talk, i'll get right to the point.

Raph's pokeballs use matter > energy > storage > energy > matter conversion
using tech-wizardry principles. This much you know and i know and
practically everyone who bothers to ask can find out.

What occurred to me is that we could use this as a miniature manufacturing
facility if we lack access to bigger concerns. We normally use Hoi-hoi
cappsules for gadgetry, but it needn't be. Minor modifications would provide
for mecha-balls. The idea was that you could build a virtual device, load up
something close, and then impose the pattern in memory.

A quick computer simulation however, indicated a staggeringly high chance of
defects. While less than point oh two percent would be completely
dysfunctional, there would be at least a 10% major dysfunction rate. So
manufacturing cars or something similar would be out, unless you used a
"brain the size of a planet" to drive the thing.

Any ideas?

--------

Mercury looked at the empty pokeballs as she switched files to the doodles
of character sketches he'd made for her sisters.

Then dismissed the concept for now. Priority was dealing with the intruders.
These pokeballs were obviously too valuable to continue use as incarceration
devices if other means could be devised.

Or perhaps...

-------

Escaping baseball groupies and the like had never been a problem. Until now.

He'd had to leave the school, then lead a few persistant trenchcoat wearers
and the like through a long and involved chase, to end up in an area he
wasn't familiar with. He was, in fact, as lost as Ryouga.

Though seeing a black shape with a flash of yellow in an alley, he counted
this as actually a positive thing.

"Luna?!"

The black cat startled from atop the garbage can. Who knew her?

"Luna? It *is* you, isn't it?"

"Uhm, meow?" Luna tried to remember the guy standing over at the entry to
the alley. She didn't recognize him but obviously he knew her.

"Knock it off, Luna. There's important things to discuss. Like what happened
to the Senshi."

Luna startled again. "You... know about them?"

"Please Luna. Just because i'm not a Senshi doesn't mean i wasn't at Court,
nor does it mean i'm an enemy unless you choose to make me one." Greylle
considered leaning against a wall to act relaxed but the grime level in this
alley was pretty bad. "Come on, we can discuss this in that open lot around
the corner and i'll get you a can of tuna."

-------

Greylle looked over Luna while she attempted to get the last trace molecule
of tuna from the can. Obviously she'd been out on the streets for some time,
and hadn't done too well. She was practically skin and bones, had some scars
from fights or accidents, her fur was matted and grimy. "Luna. If you need a
place to stay, I'll see what I can arrange. First though, what happened to
the Senshi?"

"Uhm," Luna gave up trying to coax the memory of tuna from the can. "Well.
How much do you know?"

He pretty desperately wanted to just grab the little black cat and shake the
answers out of her, but this was Luna. She had to much in common with Genma,
put pressure on her and you'd never get a straight answer.

Luna sobbed and whimpered. "They're gone," she finally got around to
divulging.

"Well, if I knew *where* they'd gone, maybe I can eventually go get them!"
He was debating whether a shift to dragon would at least get the little cat
to cough up details.

"How much do you know?"

Deep sigh. Greylle glared at the cat again, then shrugged. Basalt was gone,
and he only remembered details of his life as if he had read of his exploits
a few months past. Still, he thought he knew enough of THAT Silver Moon
Kingdom - allowing for some differences. "i'm not *of* the Moon Kingdom, but
i remember it and was an ally at the time. i remember Beryl and Metal'la
launching an attack while the Queen gave a masquerade ball to prematurely
celebrate victory. i heard that the Senshi had been reborn, Usagi Tsukino
being the reborn Princess and Ami Mizuno being Sailor Mercury. Sailor
Jupiter is Makoto Kino, Rei Hino is Sailor Mars, and Sailor Venus is Minako
Aino. Prince Endymion is Tuxedo Mask who happens to be Mamoru Chiba. What i
don't know is what happened to them."

Luna's eyes were wide. "How do you know all that?"

"Enough, Luna. i have answered your questions. Answer mine. What happened?"

The black mooncat sighed deeply. "I suppose it doesn't matter.

"We had just found Sailor Venus and I'd met up with Artemis again when Beryl
started sending the Hunter/Killer youma. It was horrible. Only Neptune and
Uranus were able to fend them off. So Pluto determined where Beryl's base
was and led the attack."

Greylle held up a hand. "The Outer Senshi were involved?"

"Yes," said Luna puzzled as to the look of revelation on this stranger's
face. "Uranus and Neptune joined after Jupiter, and Pluto showed up after
the Hunters began showing up."

Greylle nodded, having an idea now. Typical plotline, but a turn or a twist
in someone's path and the Inners meet up with Haruka and Neptune early.
Haruka and Neptune being *much* more serious threats, having heard of and
actually employing tactics, the Dark Kingdom uprated the threat and started
sending nastier youma than the typical energy-harvesters. Pluto gets
involved, hoping to contain the damage to the timestream by getting them to
attack the stronghold and finishing off the big villain early. Except that
they fail to return from their mission.

The Dark Kingdom had continually underestimated the Senshi from what he'd
heard. None of his various incarnations or Aspects, including Basalt, had
ever shown up during what would have been the first season of Sailor Moon.
If the Inners had faced the like of the "Gloom & Doom Girls" earlier, it
would have been a slaughter.

"They must have accomplished their mission if Beryl isn't around anymore,"
noted Greylle aloud.

Luna nodded wearily. "Now. How do you know about all this?"

"i'm an ally, Luna. And not without some magic of my own. i take it the
Tsukino family didn't want their cat after their daughter vanished?"

"I just couldn't stick around," Luna made a helpless gesture that cats
shouldn't be able to do, but mooncats were a lot more flexible than the
regular variety.

"Understand *that*," said Greylle with a trace of irony. Well, rather a lot
actually. "Okay, come by Furinkan High School when you can. i'll bring a can
of tuna when i can manage it. In the meantime, let me see that shoulder."

Luna tolerated the examination silently for a moment. "How bad is it?"

"Bad. It's infected. Hang on for a moment." Greylle put his hands over the
wound.

"You that fester and you that sicken,
Against you defenses swiftly quicken,
The unclean stain burn away,
Healing magic cleanse, i pray.
Cure Disease."

Luna startled as she felt *something* weave swiftly through her body and
leave her feeling better than she had in months. She turned startled to the
youth. "How did you do that?!"

"Luna. Just because you don't remember Basalt, don't forget there were
Healers in the Moon Kingdom." Greylle was thinking of psychics with healing
abilities as he jauntily waved and left. At least he had a point to
investigate now. Beryl's fortress.

Luna gaped some more, thinking of those who had a connection with the Silver
Crystal. Which meant Royal Family. Some bastard child off the Royal Line,
and therefore not one who would normally get even the slightest chance at
the throne. But if Usagi didn't show, that meant there was still a chance.

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

A redhaired girl grumbled at the overweight man accompanying her.

"Look, we need a place to stay, or do you really think that I want to turn
into that *thing* regularly?"

Ranma glared at her father. "If you haven't noticed, I turn into a *girl*.
You fell in 'Always Hungry Or Sleepy Bear-thing', I got 'Magical Girl'. Who
has time for fiancees?!"

"You do," pointed out Genma. "It is a matter of family honor."

Ranma winced. Honor. Why'd it have to be family honor? She couldn't walk
away from *that*. "Can I at least get some decent clothes? These just look
*so* tacky on me when I'm a girl."

It was Genma's turn to wince. Why had Ranma chosen to fall in THAT spring.
He'd heard from the Guide that there was a Spring Of Drowned Girl, but no
Ranma HAD to be difficult and fall in a spring that had mental effects.

Watching Ranma checking out guys, or looking at dresses on display, was
pretty much causing hackles to rise in Genma Saotome. She was, however,
easier to control than the real Ranma. And cooked better. Genma still didn't
get any respect, but Ranma-chan was a LOT more polite than Ranma-kun.

Ranma hung her head to conceal a smirk. Just seeing the horror and digust
creeping her father out whenever she stopped to admire a "pretty dress" or
"cute guy" was enough to keep up the subterfuge.

And while turning into a girl was pretty damn lousy, at least there were
aspects of a powerup in this. Higher strength, higher speed, good
nightvision and increased sense of smell. There were problems like pain from
someone blowing a dog whistle, but there were *some* advantages to being a
supergirl.

"Ah, here we are, I just need to send this postcard, then we camp out one
more night and be in Nerima tomorrow. We *should* have been there before
now."

"Ain't my fault," pointed out Ranma. "Just be sure you keep that umbrella
handy, that bear-spit of yours messes up my hair something awful and I ain't
no chew toy."