[Xover][FanFic] Third Labor, chapter 13 "heart of rice"
metro...@mindspring.com
there's no chptr 14 yet.-gregg
Third Labor chapter 13
"Heart of Rice"
or... "Genma is another word for nightmare?"
Disclaimer: The plotline deals with alternate universes, timetravel,
karma, pantheons, dragons, mages, a self-insert character, other
authors inserted, and the kitchen sink, and it is this author's hope
that he hasn't offended anyone other than those who usually are
offended just seeing his name much less that he's got another chapter
of something done. (Not that i'm mentioning names.)
---------
796 AD, Third Labor Timeline
Wings glided over the mountain as the dragon slowly came to a stop.
Grey wearily looked up at Setsuna. "Weak... hurt..."
Setsuna dismounted and looked over the dragon, nodding. He'd grown
more sluggish and Setsuna could tell from the way he was swaying that
he had fought off this "dragonsleep" about as long as he could.
"Is this cavern big enough for you?" Setsuna nodded towards the cleft.
"Yeah... think so at least." Grey staggered forward as his head nearly
thumped upon the ground. "Hoard going to be problem..."
Setsuna felt like shaking the big creature if the difference in their
masses wouldn't have made the gesture ludicrous. "What do you mean
about a hoard?"
"Dragons bond to objects of value and magic," Grey forced out as he
tried to focus on the blurring figure. He hadn't felt like this since
the time he'd pulled a 96 hour shift as a security guard then went to
qualify on a firing range. (He somehow had managed.) "They have a
spiritual link to their treasure and it..."
Setsuna watched as the dragon staggered into the cave and collapsed.
Though outwardly still, she was considering the possibilities
carefully.
He didn't strike her as being that materially oriented, which jibed
with what she knew of the Healer priests. Which left...
---------
Akumakun/Ranma timeline:
It was sung as if an opera.
"Kill the YOma, kill the yoMA, KILL The yoma! Kill it dead!"
It was shouted as a battlecry.
"INHUMAN FIEND! I SHALL SMITE THEE!"
And in typical fashion of gossip anywhere, the stories accompanying
the photos of the bald panda increased in the usual manner.
"I'm so glad to see you're all right, Miss Soup! With this terrorist
rat running about, I feared for your safety!"
"You were concerned for me, Mister Noodle?!"
And as the tale was spread, more diverse groups considered the
possibilities.
Akumakun laid out a set of cards and considered the possibility of
this rat-spirit being less than a friendly sort.
On a ranch that wasn't really that far away, Kreiger started
organizing a posse.
Even though there were problems aplenty with the story, it continued
to grow. And mutate.
"Did you hear, there's an alien mutant rat yoma running around who's
trying to steal all the good looking girls and take them back to his
homeworld!"
"Well, *I* heard that this genetically engineered monster escaped from
a lab somewhere and has
declared war on the human race that created him!"
And there were other problems with being a large bald panda.
"Josephine! Josephine! That's my little Josephine!"
"Don't you usually just go after *cute* things, Azusa?"
All in all, Genma was having a bad day.
-----------
Jared frowned and realized that Ranma's shirt had a large bulge and a
cat tail sticking out of it. He had just gotten back and it appeared
that Ranma hadn't moved. "Uhm, Ranma, are you aware that Nabiki's
hiding in your shirt?"
A moment of curiosity had brought Jared back to investigate the rest
of the household.
Kasumi had realized that her wig had blown off, had gotten traumatized
by both being seen like this by nonfamily members, having red paint
across her face, and her nerves understandibly put off by having been
recently involved in a large explosion. Kasumi had hidden under her
bed. Up until Black Bart had seen this chaos as an opportunity and had
kidnapped her, that is.
Soun was still standing in the yard, looking at the wreckage where
much of the ancestral Tendo house had once been. That half the home
was still standing was not really registering.
Shampoo and Ukyo were apparently off hunting panda.
Which brought Jared back to where Ranma was trying to figure out what
to do with the catgirl Tendo wrapped about his chest and somehow
concealing everything but her tail within the confines of his shirt.
"Uhm, Nabiki, you might want to get out of there before Shampoo and
Ukyo find you."
"...oh all right," the lump said, sounding disappointed. "Let's see, I
think that I got here by..." The lump moved south of the beltline and
gave a startled noise. Followed by a squeegee noise. "Hmmm. So you
*do* like me, eh, Ranma-kun?"
Emitting a startled and embarassed yelp, Ranma suddenly somehow
seperated himself from his shirt without ripping it and pulled his
pants up and stuttered what might have bore some strange resemblence
to an apology.
"Look like Shampoo get here right in time!"
"You said that right sugar!"
Nabiki merely stared at one of her hands, a silly little smile slowly
appearing.
Shampoo stalked forward and without warning thrust her hand down
Ranma's pants. "Is only proper for Amazon *wife* to grope husband, not
silly catgirl!" Shampoo's voice trailed off as she felt around.
"Aiyaaaa. Shampoo expect that there something besides martial arts
Ranma good at."
"Eeeeeek!!" Ranma managed, his pigtail pointing straight out.
"Hey!" Ukyo protested as Shampoo wandered off with glazed eyes and a
little smile. "Ranma honey is MY fiance! You two didn't bruise him did
you?"
Having his pants yanked down (taking the underwear also by friction),
caused Ranma to yeep again.
Jared merely thanked the Heavens that it wasn't him.
"Aiyah! Look like we arrive just in time!"
A Shampoo, Ukyo, Nabiki and Kasumi set landed around Jared in Sailor
Costumes and careful formation and began checking his 'important
parts' for injuries.
"Hey!" The redhead shouted. "Wait until we're alone to do that!" He
squirted out of their arms and into a surprise landing on top of
Belldandy.
Whereupon he was grabbed by a trio of Goddesses (only one of whom was
a marionette) and dragged off to be properly inspected for signs of
damage. And if Urd wanted to make sure certain things were working
right she was entitled, wasn't she?
The quartet of Sailors followed.
*****
Genma zigged when he should have zagged. He thought he could get back
to the Tendo house, as they'd have already looked for him there,
right? NOBODY would think of searching for him there, right?
Then things got even worse.
"There he is!" Makoto Jupiter exclaimed, pointing her palm towards the
evil rat-thing. "SHOTGUN!" Lots of little chi blasts made lots of
little craters.
"FIREBALL!" Lina was eager to get revenge on the rat thing. She missed
the rat and managed to score a direct hit on a yattai where crepes
were sold. Who assumed somehow that his ancient rival Ukyo was behind
this attack.
"LIGHTNING BOLT!" Naga wasn't hitting her target either. Crepe Joe
ran, vowing vengeance upon Ukyo later.
"Hey, that's MY target," exclaimed one group of Dirty Pair girls to
the other duo, as both pairs unlimbered heavy weaponry.
Genma fled into the nearest large building (Furinkan Senior High
School) figuring he'd be safe there. There were thousands of places he
could hide, they'd never get him! He therefore made a gesture that was
easily interpreted at his pursuers. Let them get angry, they'd be more
prone to
make mistakes.
Makoto's eyes narrowed and she brought her hands back. There was only
one source of chi nearby, and it was the rat-thing. "KAME!"
Lina cancelled her Raywing, *knowing* that the monster had set himself
up an ambush. Once inside that building he could pick them off one by
one.
"Darkness beyond twilight,
Crimson beyond blood that flows,"
Naga wasn't about to concede, she'd been studying for just such an
opportunity to *prove* that she was not only superior to Lina but
superior to the original Naga.
"Power beyond destruction,
Wind from darkest night,"
Kei and Yuri (the younger) glared at Kei and Yuri (the marionettes)
while they pointed large instruments of destruction at where the
rat-beast had entered the school. Behind them, fleeing to the horizon,
was a completely ignored comic book artist. The Flash version of Kei
and Yuri had some wonderful WWWA weaponry. The marionette Kei was
content with a C-29 "Hellfire" Heavy Plasma Cannon, while the Yuri
marionette preferred a simple CR-1 Rocket Launcher loaded with a
napalm mini-missile.
A pair of Shrike class missiles launched by Asuka's Eva unit targetted
a certain classroom.
Genma, hiding under a desk, wondered why his danger sense was going
off.
--------
797 AD, Third Labor Timeline:
It was just a temporary lair. The cavern was shaped rather like an "L"
and consisted of a cleft and a large hollowed area where water had
poured from the cleft above to cut the rock in a strange shape.
The hoard consisted of the gear from the Rival Relief Office, a large
number of items gleaned from missions in a variety of universes, and
very little of it would fit into a traditional dungeon delver's
definition of treasure.
If he had done this prior to interacting with that one group of Sailor
Scouts, it would have been easier. Several powerful items had gone to
those girls as they were so completely overwhelmed by their opponents.
But then, he hadn't been a dragon then.
Grey slumbered and felt a tension ebb. More of his hoard had appeared
nearby. A piece of the returned treasure vanished again, and the
dragon frowned in his sleep. But yes, there it was again. Only to
vanish and return again.
Yes, it felt proper to have more of his precious hoard nearby. Grey
flared his "light" or inner magic, letting it reach out and enfold the
items. Much better. He could feel the ties between them now.
That itch at least partly scratched, Grey fell deeper into the
dragonsleep.
--------
Ami let her hand rest her massive fiance/husband's jaw, a bit shaken
from when she felt his magic reach out and link to her own.
After a few moments of consideration, Ami picked up the book marked
"Dragontaming for Beginners" and sat down to read it. It looked as if
she had time.
---------
Korin nodded to Ruth. "What have you learned from my husband's and
mine notes?"
"That the Traveller spoke of twelve basic truths of human existence?"
Ruth asked, her attention largely on the "windmill" that had been
constructed and was now about to have the blocks removed that held the
limbs in place. "I've heard the menfolk discussing it afore, now it
makes a mite more sense."
"Aye, that be so. This concept of the Engineer he did speak of, most
interesting." Korin watched the blocks slowly removed as the wind
fluffed out the stretched fabric on the four wings of the tower.
"First ye observe, then the theory, then the experiment to prove or
disprove the theory. Tis a most strange way of thinking but it make
sense."
"Aye, but it goes against the grain. Why he dismissed the whole
concept of Spontaneous Generation. How outrageous!"
"To be sure, to be sure. And how be your skill in kempo developing?"
"Ah, Korin me dear friend, tis not truly my skein. Still, I can see
the appeal. Thou dost not have to go run for a weapon, when it is your
own hands and feet which are the weapon. And I confess I do enjoy this
yoga stuff. I simply be too old for this sort of thing."
"Ruth, ye barely be twenty five summers. What of the other studies?"
Korin's voice caught as, ever so slowly, the sails of the windmill
began to turn.
Ruth nodded at the idea of a millwheel turning without oxen or a
running stream to power it. "Well, this medicine stuff - boiling to
cleanse spirits, that's easy enough. These teas- why some of them
taste like the devil's own concoctions! But... I admit that the new
cloth is more than welcome, and that all this learning and exchanging
seems harmless enow."
The windmill wasn't turning fast but it *was* turning steadily. An
excited buzz could be heard from the front of the crowd as people dete
rmined that everything was working and that the millstone turned
within the tower.
"Well, this be about as much of this excitement as I can stand. There
be butter to churn and sewing to be done," Ruth summed up her own
feelings on the matter.
"Aye, but I find myself wondering..." Korin's voice trailed off. "Mine
husband received the blessing from James, so that he can now light our
home with a prayer. Mayhap I ought to ask myself. Such a thing would
be handy would it not?"
"They already tried that, Korin-girl. Only the priests seem to be able
to share this gift among them. Remember: theory, then experiment? Them
priestly sorts have embraced this new philosophy. And if I catch them
bespelling my cows one more time, I'll introduce them to my
cane!"
-----------
"Where is this?"
"A dream. No, a memory, I think," Setsuna said.
"I've been meaning to ask you, why are you wearing a seifuku? There
was no Silver Millenium in this timeline so we don't have Senshi
powers here." Ami was wondering if there was some hidden quality to
the sailor suits that the older girl knew of.
"I like the way it shows off my legs," answered Setsuna enjoying the
startled look Ami turned towards her. "Since I merged with a Sailor
Pluto, I've found this to be quite comfortable."
"That book say anything about dragon's dreams?" Apple asked, looking
about with interest. Did marionettes dream? Normally the answer was
no. She dreamed, however. But then she had an ishii kairo, so that
made her less normal as far as marionettes were concerned.
"Oh yes," said Ami after a moment of wondering if *she* should get a
seifuku. "Dragons either enter a memory recall state known as
'Reverie' or astrally project their body during dragonsleep. They
switch from one to another."
"What happens if we enter his dream?" Apple nodded her head at the
cloud before them.
"That's dangerous," Setsuna answered. "You could become trapped in his
dream and forced into a role you might not like, if you're already
there."
"I've read that too. 'Wheel of Time' series, wasn't it?" Ami nodded.
"Well, we should go. Isn't this improper? We've determined he's OK,
right?"
"She says, but she remains," noted Apple.
"Oh, well, how about that." Setsuna said, "there's you, Makoto... I
mean Apple."
"What?!"
-------------
Grey was on the phone, looking at the little girl sniffling in her
sleep at one of the cafe's tables. "Yes, i understand it's not my
mission in this timeline. But it doesn't have to be me. Just get her a
guardian angel or something."
"You can't leave some little girl out on the streets, is that it?"
Urd's voice was a little garbled but her amusement was obvious. "I
don't know that we've got anyone we can spare."
"In this timeline, her parents were an American and a Japanese, and
they died not in a plane crash but in a collapsed building. Looks like
'Lita' is claustrophobic, not scared of airplanes in this world." Grey
looked over at the six year old again. "She's not old enough to take
care of herself."
"She's survived on her own in other timelines," pointed out Urd.
"Admittedly she lost her parents earlier in this timeline than usual."
"Mama, papa," mumbled the sleeping girl.
It was enough to decide Grey. "She's *way* too young. C'mon, Urd, i
know *you* can do something about this."
"Oh, all right." One could readily picture Urd rolling her eyes from
the tone she used. "I'll take care of the paperwork. You'll still have
to accomplish your mission there, *and* go off on little trips, but
I'll enter the requisite data. You've also got that job coming up
covering for the Spells R Us wizard, you know."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Time management. You'll have to spend about ten years in this
timeline as her adoptive father. But you know time can be a variable.
I'm putting you in as her uncle on the American side. You'll take her
back to the USA for most of the time, raise her, accomplish your
intervention mission, then get her to Juuban back in time for Lita
Storm to become a Sailor Scout. Your cover ID as a restaurant cook is
being altered. Now you're an entrepeuner looking for Japanese dishes
to copy and bring back with you."
"A cook? i can do that!" Grey smiled at the thought. "It beats being a
mercenary or some of the other crap."
----------
"This is a memory?" Apple asked of her companions.
"Yes," Setsuna stated, tapping her staff idly. "Well, this explains
part of why he finds you so fascinating but seems a bit put off by you
as a fiancee."
Ami watched as the little girl grew up to a graceful young lady,
waiting tables in the restaurant and eventually standing behind the
grill herself. She saw a less lonely, more outgoing Lita than the one
she had known - less of a scrapper but more accomplished as a martial
artist due to her "Uncle's" encouragement of those skills. Then the
trip back to Japan...
---------
"Uncle Jack", of course, recognized the girls in the corner booth.
Cleaning a glass, he stood nearby as the giggles and whispers stopped.
"Well, girls, what can I get you? Daughter, have you shown them your
cooking yet?"
Rei scowled. "What the heck is a 'fish taco'? Tako is octopus..."
Lita snickered. "American specialty from a place called Baja. No,
Uncle. You're trying to get me behind the grill on my night off! Not
fair."
Grey shrugged but was a little saddened. Nine years he'd raised her,
attended her karate tournaments and been there for her in a hundred
occasions. Legally her adopted father. Yet she still addressed him as
Uncle only. "Okay, so maybe your friends will come back on a day when
you're working?"
--------
Ami sucked breath at the way Grey's participation ended. A yoma killed
him when his restaurant was attacked, the grill exploding in a hail of
shrapnel that pierced his body. Sailor Jupiter held him in her arms as
he died, and his last request had been that she call him 'dad'. She
never managed it.
Apple winced. Yes, she could see why he'd mainly been cool towards
her.
"This was a partially blocked memory, he doesn't consciously remember
it. Just emotionally remembers it." Setsuna noted aloud.
Apple wondered what it would take to completely block it.
Ami wondered if her husband had any memories that did NOT end in
emotional and physical pain. And if there had been similar scenes
involving her.
In answer to her desire, another scene began to play.
--------
Asgard:
Celeste had *seized* on the possibility of getting more work done and
a less crowded control room. So she'd suggested that there was likely
a way to go where Setsuna had taken Makoto and Ami. They'd gone
hunting leads.
Unfortunately she had to deal with the two Elders standing in her
office.
Hoshime, the goddess of defense and courage and battleskill. Her
husband, Etragar, the healer and Elder of benevolent nature.
At least Toltiir, Elder of Mischief, wasn't to be found. Though
Celeste expected Surtag or Warnas or one of the others of that
Aramarian pantheon to show up at any time. Fleece was even taking bets
as to which one.
"Whose tea is this in the 'Totoro' travel mug?" Belle asked.
"Oh mine!" Kasumi 9, the goddess of spring and renewal, said from a
console.
"Hmmmm," said Celeste, reading a data stream and checking to make sure
the 'Protection From Bimbos' wards were in place. Kitchiri was *not*
welcome.
-------
Ranma/Akumakun timeline:
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa." Most people would have been surprised to
learn that a panda could scream. One was doing so now as well as
moving with a speed that would have also surprised a few zoologists.
Soun heard the siren, and went out front of his house to see his good
friend Genma come running down the street towards his house. Genma
seemed to be panicked.
Soun puzzled, then looked up. Veritech fighters. A space
battlecruiser. Missiles. Giant robots. Girls throwing energy bolts.
Girls with big guns. All in the process of attacking a fleeing panda.
"NoooooooooooooO!" Soun realized with a sudden horrible clarity just
WHAT was going to happen.
Genma ran past Soun and into the undamaged half of the Tendo ancestral
home.
There was a moment of silence as Soun wept and the missiles (both
energy and otherwise) followed the panda.
--------
Third Labor timeline:
The shadows had deepened and Ami had put her books aside rather than
strain her eyes. Setsuna had vanished again. Apple had gone into
"standby" mode.
Ami leaned back against the bulk of the dragon behind her and quickly
calculated mass. She considered for a moment shifting into a dragon
herself, but there was a distinct possibility that (as the two of them
were linked) that *she* would end up in a similar dragonsleep. While
that might not be a bad thing, the lair would be pretty crowded and
she didn't have a hoard herself. If it *was* necessary, then at the
very least she'd get ill very quickly.
So Ami just let herself drift off to sleep as it rapidly darkened in
the cave.
An hour later, finding Ami asleep and Apple powered down, Setsuna
reappeared with Honey and Minako. This had been sufficiently
exhausting that Setsuna quickly laid her blanket out to sleep.
After determining that Honey didn't know card games, and Minako wasn't
that good with word games, two more people decided they might as well
get some sleep.
Another pulse of energies from the dragon found the links and
strengthened them, and the sleeping beast sighed a little more
contentedly.
---------
Elsewhere:
**POOF!**
The shimmering spheres appeared out of nowhere and gently touched
ground. They held for a few moments more before dissipating into
polychromatic sparkles.
"Impossible!" Nabiki should have known better than to use that term.
"This looks almost like an Edo era castle?!"
"I'd like to look too, except that someone's hugging my face," mumbled
Ranma into Nabiki's stomach.
Jared looked around. "Who did the extradimensional teleport?"
Belldandy (the human shrine maiden version) timidly held up a hand.
"And the spheres of light?"
Belldandy (the marionette) timidly held up a hand.
"Good job, both of you." Jared acknowledged with an accompanying pair
of hugs.
Nabiki's tail lashed as she was forcibly pried off of Ranma by Ukyo
and Shampoo.
"Oh and for the record, Nabiki," Jared said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Normally, you look at things and wonder 'why', whereas I see the
possibilities of other worlds and wonder 'why not' - which makes
dimension travel a lot easier to deal with."
Ranma felt lost. "'Dimension Travel?'"
"This looks like the Sabre Marionette J timeline where I fought the
demon lord," Jared said. "Or at least this looks like Castle
Japonesse. I..."
"Hahahahahaha!" A six year old, blue-eyed, dark brown skinned, white
haired, half-elf, girl wearing a yellow flower print dress ran past
Jared and ducked into a hallway.
Jared blinked. ~No. I couldn't have seen a half-drow kid running past.
Mud, chocolate, hair dye gone wild... it *must* have been something
else. They don't HAVE drow on this planet. Heck, they hardly even have
humans.~ "Uhmm..."
"I'll get you for that!" A nearly identical girl to the first, except
that her eyes were bright green and she was wearing a a green dress
(except for a large pink splotch that looked recently applied) ran up
and looked at Jared. She curtsied quite well and spoke politely.
"Pardon me, sir, but have you happened to see my sister Hisoka?"
~Pointed ears, infravision evident in their eyes.... ~ Jared was
busily cataloging the similarities. Too busy to adequately reply.
"Ahem," one of the Shampoos (the marionette) indicated the direction
the first girl had gone.
"My thanks, milady." The green eyed drow bowed her head before running
off. "Hisoka! I'm gonna get you!"
Jared blinked. Little drow girls? Well, whatever they were, it was
only two...
"Waaaahhhhh!" Twelve nearly identical versions of the two that had
already past ran by, circled the group twice, and found the correct
corridor.
Jared twitched a couple of times.
--------
Ranma/Akumakun timeline:
Nebula watched little bits and pieces of the Tendo dojo rain down. He
glanced over to the smoke plume that marked the former location of
Furinkan High School.
"Kasumi, just to make things easier on the locals, change name
designate to 'Madoka' - it's who you most resemble anyway. Lorelei,
you can keep Lorelei. Annie likewise doesn't need a name change."
Kasumi considered briefly and made the appropriate change. "Should I
add the familial name?"
"Might as well," agreed Nebula, tucking a bit of windblown white hair
behind an ear. "The Prince is nowhere to be seen. We may have to
repair the dojo and school. As to what..."
"SHINJI!"
Nebula blinked as someone came running out of nowhere to launch
herself towards him.
*WHAM!*
"...owie..." The short haired girl who had "attacked" was lying on her
back with her eyes pointing in different directions.
Madoka held herself ready, someone had attacked her Master!
"Uhm, Madoka, Annie. Stand down. Lorelei?"
Lorelei activated the scanners in her hands. "Life signs stable.
Concussion - minor. She'll have some bruising in that jaw. She's not
getting enough calcium either. Or sun. Looks like she's also been
missing a lot of sleep lately."
"Safe to carry her?" Nebula asked, surprising the three marionettes.
"Yes..." Lorelei said after a moment.
Nebula tenderly gathered the girl up. "Then we'll get her off the
streets."
----------
Ami came to on a blanket in a room that smelled of fresh paint, the
distant sound of someone yelling reaching her through the walls.
A girl she'd never seen before blinked at her from nearby.
"I thought I saw Shinji..."
"You did. He left me here to watch over you because I'm a doctor and
he needed to keep some people away from you." Lorelei considered.
"However he also goes by the name 'Nebula' or 'Ginseng' at times. You
know Master?"
"'MASTER?!'" Ami winced from the loudness of her own voice. "What do
you mean 'Master'?"
Lorelei stared briefly, then stretched out an arm and popped the
access panel on it. "He is our creator and our love."
"But *I* am his wife!" Ami pointed to the ring adorning one of her
fingers.
Lorelei considered for a moment. Master had created them. Master was
married to the Ami unit. Her database was incomplete, but she started
searching. "That would mean that you're our..." Reference located.
Lorelei straightened up, a smile blooming. "MAMA!" *GLOMP!*
Ami blinked and considered fainting.
-------
Third Labor timeline:
One moment in a reverie, the next he'd been in a corridor, and just
touching some odd cloud - he'd found himself here. Wherever HERE was.
There was Setsuna facing him across a low table, mysterious little
smile in place. Instead of her usual garb she was wearing a kimono.
He was kneeling on one of those seat-cushions (the name completely
escaping him at the moment) and she was taking some red napkin and
folding it over, very elaborately? Then wiping some sort of bamboo
spoon with the napkin, laying it carefully aside, then measuring out
three spoonfuls of tea leaves into a cup with the spoon. It all seemed
somehow familiar and important, but what did it mean?
Other than Setsuna liked tea?
Then taking a measure of steaming water from a pot of the same, she
poured it in. There was something of exaggerated grace in each
movement, as she didn't simply lay the ladle or the spoon aside, but
made a show of putting it down as if one millimeter out of place would
have been intolerable.
She used a wisk to stir the tea, then seemed to be looking for
something in his eyes before returning her attention to the task at
hand. Then she turned the teacup around in her hands three times.
Grey wondered if this dream was trying to tell him something.
Counterclockwise turns so something that happened three days ago?
He found himself turning the cup three times, this time clockwise,
drinking it in three sips, then turning the cup back counterclockwise
three times before setting it down. ~What's the significance of three?
Three days? Three hours? Oh, third LABOR! It's something to do with my
Labor! So tea is significant in the labor? Did the dragonfly patterns
on the pot mean something? Was Setsuna's simple kimono symbolic of
something?~
He'd never seen Setsuna smile like that. Even in the series after
Usagi had led them all to victory, that kind of triumphant happy
smile, as if she'd just accomplished something major of her own.
Grey wondered exactly what this all meant.
Setsuna Meiou had realized halfway through the engagement ritual that
Grey's dreamself had wandered into *her* dream but had been amused and
had been even more amused by the way the sometimes-dragon had been
broadcasting his thoughts. Cold as her planetary namesake, Sailor
Pluto wouldn't feel a little warmth at knowing that some young man
found her attractive and intelligent, if puzzling. Sailor Pluto was
into her role as the lonely sentinel too much to really get close to
someone, especially after the Queen had severed Pluto's last romance
by giving her this duty. (One reason she'd been ready to Dead Scream
Usagi when a younger version of that Queen had trespassed near the
time gate.) Setsuna Meiou, on the other hand, was a different story.
------
Ami adjusted her glasses. This match would take all her skills in
order to claim the prize!
"What is... the cosine of the square root of 24?!"
"THAT'S RIGHT! And Ami Mizuno is our new Jeapordy champion!"
Ami sagged in relief. That had been a tough one!
"Way to go, Ami-chan!" "Ami-chan!" "I knew you could do it, Ami-chan!"
"Mizuno-san! Good job!"
"EH?!" Ami's smile slipped a little. Makoto and Rei and Minako
cheering her on were expected. Usagi's absence was troubling. More
troubling was that familiar male voice using such an unfamiliar term
for her. She looked out into the audience. There was Grey-chan. And
Setsuna-san. Setsuna san was... going through a formal tea ceremony?!
An engagement ritual?!
The crowd was sweeping her away from the couple, sweeping her
towards...
Ami awoke.
There was some moonlight coming into the cave, and she could make out
the shape of Honey-chan over there. Not too far away was the massive
shape of Grey, and leaning against him...
was Setsuna Meiou, wearing a satisfied little smile.
"I will not give up," breathed Ami aloud.
-------------
If Grey had been puzzled by a dream dealing with Setsuna doing some
sort of tea ceremony, he'd been completely flummoxed by Ami being a
contestant on an American game show.
This took the flummoxed and raised it into... he wasn't sure *what* to
call it.
"Have you seen the well-to-do
up and down Park Avenue
On that famous thoroughfare
With their noses in the air
High hats and Arrow collars,
White spats and lots of dollars
Spending every dime for a wonderful time"
An elaborate MGM-style musical with Cutey Honey. And he *knew* he had
two left feet, so how come in this dream he could give Fred Astaire
competition? Not very close competition to be sure, but still...
What was the significance of the symbology? Why were dolphins doing
backflips in the fountains behind them? Why was this taking place in
an ornate chapel? Why were penguins dancing in the sidelines like
something out of "Mary Poppins"? Why was some troll over there
complaining about how OOC everyone was?
"If you're blue and you
don't know where to go to
Why don't you go
where fashion sits
Puttin' on the ritz"
Okay, he could believe that "Cutey Honey" Kisaragi could tap dance. In
high heels. Doing that midair flip and coming down in a different
costume every chorus. THAT wasn't the hard part. (No matter what she
did, Honey always tried for excellence, and more often succeeded than
not.) The version of Cutey Honey he'd met had varied from Go Nagai's
original character in that Nagai-sensei (whose wife he'd met at an
anime convention and immediately been struck with the concept that
he'd based the character on his wife) had never come up with an
explanation for the shifting of clothes or talents. The Honey-chan
he'd met during one of his two stints as Ranma had templates with the
necessary skills (and to some extent personalities) at expert level.
"Diff'rent types who wear a day coat,
pants with stripes,
And cutaway coat,
perfect fits,
Puttin' on the ritz."
The chorus line, composed of OTHER versions of Honey-san in different
outfits, THAT was concerning. (The one where she was "dressed" as
Kekko Kamen was just plain disconcerting.) Honey-chan had always
struck him as being such a *nice* girl, errr, android, girl of
artificial origin, artiform, synthoid, borgcy? (Her outer layers
(skin, muscle tissue, fat layers, eyes, etc) were cloned human tissue
of artificial origin. Sort of like his cyborg form in reverse. Instead
of a core of humanity (nerve tissue mainly) surrounded by the machine,
Honey was a mechanical being wrapped in humanity. And like Data in
Star Trek The Next Generation, he'd discovered that Honey-chan
suffered from the Pinnochio Syndrome.)
"Dressed up like a million dollar trooper
Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper
Super duper."
A conversation during his Second Labor had revealed some of
Honey-chan's core personality to Grey. She wanted to be human. She
wanted to have and raise children. (Though as far as she knew, the
first was impossible. She wasn't an Armitage style "Third.") She had
nightmares about the flesh being stripped away, leaving her a broken
friendless machine, or merging with an otherdimensional analogue only
to find that she was a washing machine in that timeline. She worried
about whether she had a soul or not. She was a strong person, and
caring, and tough in a lot of ways. On an emotional level, however,
she was very very vulnerable.
"Come let's mix
Where Rockefellers walk with sticks
Or 'um-ber-ellas' in their mitts
Puttin' on the ritz."
Ryoga wandering through the background, holding hands with Akari
Unryu, ignoring all of the insanity around them, just added a further
surrealism to the event. Watching Honey-chan tap dancing in some
feminine style tuxedo, then flip/change and come down in a *wedding
dress* and continue the dance without missing a step, he wasn't sure
how to interpret this.
"Strolling up the avenue so happy
All dressed up just like an English chappie
Very snappy!"
Grey metaphorically shook his head. More people he'd met showing up in
the background. The Senshi as bridesmaids? And some he didn't
recognize at all. The chapel was filling up with them as the song
neared completion. And dozens of "Honey-chans" in costumes ranging
from an elegant businesswoman to a video-game martial artist's "almost
not there" wear.
"You'll declare
It's simply 'top-thing' to be there
And hear them swapping smart tidbits
Puttin' on the ritz."
Grey tried to make some sense of this, and the only theory he could
come up with was that the basic psychic abilities of a dragon (such as
the translator effect) were picking up thought-noise that his
subconscious was trying to integrate into something understandable.
"Puttin' on the ritz."
The only thing obvious was that his subconscious was not doing a very
good job.
------------
Ranma/Akumakun timeline:
Kasumi stared at the mirror, her hand halfway raised as if she wanted
to touch the image. Then she brought her hands up, letting her fingers
sift through the thick strands of hair hanging like a cap from her
scalp.
That they were the wrong color, being blonde, and making her look like
some ai no ko, was noted. It was also discarded as a good bottle of
hair dye would take care of the problem.
"As y'all can plainly see, the stuff works exactly as Ah said it
would," Black Bart said, smirk in place. "So y'all can see the
benefits of throwin' in with mah gang."
Kasumi ran her fingers through it again. Okay, it was blonde. Maybe an
inch and a half of growth. But it was *hair* - something she had begun
consoling herself would be gone forever.
"If'n ya join up with mah gang, Ah'll git ya the rest. Ya can grow yur
eyebrows back, grow yur hair as long as yah like. Whatta ya say?"
Black Bart was expecting the calvary to arrive. The hero to come
waltzing in. Even the Injuns to come and attack for their own
"nefarious purposes."
Kasumi blinked, having been overwhelmed by her reunion with her hair.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?"
Black Bart briefly considered facefaulting but decided it lacked
proper villainous dignity. "Ah said that if y'all join mah gang,
you'll get the rest of the bottle and be able to regrow the rest of
yur hair."
Kasumi blinked. "Okay."
Black Bart stopped. As the sawmill was being fixed, and as she was the
first proper ingenue he'd run into locally, he'd planned on
threatening her with tied to the totem pole and undergoing the dread
"Torture of a Thousand Feathers." It wouldn't do to actually harm the
only suitable Lady they'd found yet. "Excuse me?"
Kasumi nodded. "It sounds like fun. Can I see your kitchen?"
Black Bart was ready for almost any contingency. Success hadn't been
on the list.
-------------
SMJ World:
Jared was distracted in a big way. Not only was he watching little
half-drow girls playing in the courtyard of Castle Japonesse, but
there was Nabiki-neko giggling and playing with them.
Nabiki. Giggling. Chasing her tail and playing with kids. The mind
boggled at the concept.
A darkskinned child giggled and nudged her paler neighbor. "She's just
like Nabiki! Just doesn't have as much fur."
Jared twitched. "Uhm, she *is* Nabiki."
"They mean the Nabiki on one of the 'Anime Avante' TV programs,"
clarified Nabiki with a grin. "Its a set of R rated at least programs
they show in non-children hours. One of the guards told me about it.
So howcome, Lotus, that you know about it? Hmmmmm?"
Lotus squealed in false terror. Nabiki made an exaggerated show of
flicking her fingers as if they were claws and stalking forward.
"Nabiki. Return." Jared held up his PokeBall and returned Nabiki to
its confines. The problem with play like that was that it could be so
easily misinterpreted.
There were gasps all around.
"She really *is* Nabiki," said Lotus in a wonderous voice. There were
nods and agreeing noises all around.
"Waaa! I wanna be a Pokegirl too!" A dusky skinned girl declared,
standing on a table with a towel tucked into her collar as an ersatz
cape. She made sentai gestures as she continued. "To strike for
justice, love, shopping, fun, and lotsa snuggling!"
"Yeah! I want my own TV series too!" "Me thwee!" "She means
'three' -Arlissa lost her front teeth." "'Never underestimate the
power of a Japonesse housewife!'" "'Pokeball go!'" "Can I see your
Balls, Mister Elf?"
Jared backed away with a look of horror.
----------
"Kasumi, I choose you!" *SHOOM!*
Jared watched with a twitching eyebrow. This was *bad*.
On the TV, a furry girl in a frilly apron and housedress was holding a
broom and standing in front of some boy who had been pounded
practically into the pavement. "You won't get away with this!"
That looked (sort of) and dressed like Kasumi, but it was a young
boy's tenor for the cartoon character's voice.
The villain was, oddly enough, a lecherous looking young boy. He
laughed and it came out more of a titter than anything else. "All
women belong to ME! Ataru Moroboshi! Soon you will come to appreciate
my talents, Kasumi-chan."
Nabiki looked up at Jared's expression and turned the set off. "That's
it. Now I don't know where they got these concepts, or our likenesses,
but..."
"I do." Jared groaned. "Readouts of data from Grey's mind. Either its
garbled or there's a world out there where THAT is going on."
"Some world where I'm a catgirl who can teleport and turn invisible?"
Nabiki smirked, though her tail lashing betrayed her agitation. "Where
Kasumi is some sort of Miyazaki fox-squirrel kind of girl? Well, I
suppose it's easier for me to believe *after* I got these." Nabiki
indicated her cat ears.
Jared entered the room. "I just finished..."
Nabiki hissed, tail sticking out like a broomstick, and found herself
on all fours standing on the TV.
"Oh, didn't you tell her?" The second Jared asked the first.
"Didn't have a chance," said the first Jared with a shrug.
"It's the 'Body Outside Body' spell," said both Jareds. They scowled
and looked at each other. "Are you going to tell this or am I? Fine go
ahead!"
"Somebody tell me," Nabiki growled, ears flattened in irritation.
"You're the mage," said the second one. "I'm just a superspy."
"Oh, all right." The first Jared shrugged. "So anyway, there's this
spell that splits me into component selves."
"I'm the superspy adventurer Skysaber. He's the archimage Ashida
Sanzennin."
"Gre... I mean Akane gave me this idea for using a spelltrap to extend
the duration of the spell that normally lasts a few hours at most."
Ashida shrugged.
Nabiki blinked and slowly pointed at her brooch.
"Yep. Now Gr... Akane was just a median level Healer cleric. How could
he... she make a spelltrap to extend a spell duration over a dozen
times?"
Nabiki snarled. "Would you two *stop* talking down to me?! So this
'cleric' made my brooch and it worked. Big deal! You're not taking my
brooch!"
"But it doesn't work anymore," argued Ashida. "Akane would have had to
cast a 'Cloak Of Belonging' daily to recharge it."
"That's another spell we ought to add to our 'to be researched' pile."
"Nah, already got something that does the same basic thing."
Nabiki had lost her irritation and her head was now going back and
forth like at a tennis match. "So you want to put your own spell in it
so you can do this multiple you thing?"
"Something like that. Have you looked at your brooch?" Ashida pointed
to it.
Nabiki looked at it, not for the first time. Thin crystalline lenses,
bound in silver wire, in the shape of a cross, with a central green
stone - malachite she'd guessed. "So how much are you willing to pay?"
"How about a gateway back home?" Jared suggested. "You, Ranma, his two
fiancees?"
Nabiki scowled at the reminder but had to admit she did miss Kasumi.
Maybe she should take Lina up on her offer.
"What about Project: Payback?" The Mage asked the Superspy.
The superspy adventurer merely made a circle of thumb and forefinger,
the other three fingers spread wide. That and the gleam in his eye was
answer enough.
-----------
Third Labor Timeline, 801 AD:
"They'll come, won't they?" Father James leaned on his walking stick
and seemed to address the ocean.
The woman sitting along the seawall nodded. "Yes. Though the armies
will take months to muster in their strength, and the trip here
longer."
James nodded. "And they will destroy all that we have learned and
wrought here." It wasn't a question.
"It is called 'corruption' for a reason. It spreads to everything it
can, tainting them. Political considerations are foremost among those
seeking to gain and maintain their power."
James sighed and glanced at the woman. "We will not fight. Christians
are oft beset with troubles in these times, and life is precious in
any eventuality. We can melt like the shadows before their onslaught.
Our knowledge and art, the books and devices we have accumulated, are
not quite so mobile. We need a safe haven."
Setsuna nodded. "We are not supposed to assist you."
James smirked. "I know. I already have an idea where to go, and how to
get there."
Setsuna wasn't surprised very often. Pleasantly surprised was an even
rarer event.
==========