[SM/Xover][FanFic] A Soldier's Duty, chapter 14
metro...@mindspring.com
Chapter 14 A Soldier's Duty
4th Labor
DISCLAIMER: see other disclaimers, mainly found on fanfiction.net
"We ought not be over anxious to encourage innovation, in case of doubtful
improvement, for an old system must ever have two advantages over a new one;
it is established and it is understood. " C. C. Colton
-----------
Ami Mizuno, former Sailor Mercury, was in trouble and knew it quite well.
Everyone had been so busy getting in each other's way trying to land attacks
on the large vampire that very few attacks had actually been able to strike
him.
The vampire had grabbed her up and had bitten down on her neck. As he was
quite obviously a vampire, Ami knew fully well what this meant - especially
coupled with the feeling that one's mind and will were being drained out
with her life's blood.
And with everyone scattered about from that surge of dark power, that meant
that nobody was in a position to save her.
Then she was thrown aside, and blurring eyes saw one of her friends (was
that blur Makoto?) being introduced to the same bite.
~Oh dear.~
---------
In a place known as Asgard (Heaven, 3rd plane) to some, there was a building
known as the Goddess Relief Office.
In that very Goddess Relief Office, Celeste was groaning as orderlies
carried Kitchiri off before a certain goddess of bimbo was ripped apart by a
certain goddess of J-Pop.
"Let's see. He's got Bast's catboy cleric combined with Frostbite the silver
dragon cleric combined with the magery of the gold dragon Aurian," Fleece
considered the way he was attacking. "With the sexangel tossed in. Plus he
goes into the Catfist essentially whenever a girl he cares about is
threatened. Not good."
"I'll have to stabilize it somehow," groaned Celeste. "The combination is
unstable. Sex angel would be dominant."
"Might as well use what he's got to heal them, otherwise several are going
to be ejected from the scenario, and we can use this to bring in other
aspects as well. Maybe do damage control." Serafita looked over the
problems, feeling his creative juices beginning to pick up.
------
Finally, the mysterious artifact that Dimitri Maximoff had used to increase
his power was brought out, even as Sakura threw off her own injuries to
stand guard over Ami.
Sailor Moon stared at the blacked moon rod device, trying to fit the nasty
looking vampire with the sort of thing that looked (except the color scheme)
like the sort of thing Luna would provide for them.
The glow building up around a certain fellow burst, and silver wings
unfurled around the youth, revealing long catlike ears and tail, short
golden fur, green eyes, and sharp white teeth.
Another energy blast from Dimitri was parried by Sakura.
Sailor Moon tried again to begin her wind up. Maybe if she distracted him
with a question she could complete it before the vampire struck again. "What
did you do to Ami-chan?!"
Dodging a flurry of katana strikes from Sakura, then teleporting to where he
could sink claws into a ponytailed girl's chest and lift her up for a quick
bite. "What I'm going to do to all of you."
"AAAAAAAA! MOON SPIRAL HEART"
"Soul Fist!" The blast hit Sailor Moon in mid-windup. Dimitri was running
low on energy, a quick recharge was needed. Further fighting was
inadvisable, therefore he'd just escape with this girl and feast before he
returned.
That catboy seemed to have other ideas.
------
Queen Serenity, holding court with her two mooncats and Royal Guard, looked
up and to the side. "Sailor Saturn? And Obsidian, the Knight Of Fear? Both
active at the same time. And there's another signature, one that We don't
recognize."
"My Queen?" Luna looked up nervously. "Wasn't the Knight Of Fear a traitor
to the Kingdom?"
"No, My Advisor, he was merely loud and obnoxious. Useful at times, but he
was one of the three Knights banned from My Court for reasons other than
incompetence or negligence of duty." Serenity continued to stare off into
the distance. "Basalt was sent away from Our presence because he was useful
to Us, then later because of your own advice. Bennu had that limerick.
Obsidian was a savage, a barbarian who came to Us from outside civilized
lands, and one who would likely have slain half my courtiers or advisors
with little warning."
Artemis winced. "I think I remember him. Wasn't it Obsidian who said that
'If you leave your enemies alive, you're only making more work for yourself
later'?"
"Something like that," agreed Serenity.
"Isn't he the one who hunted down and killed Igneous in the Silver
Millenium?" Luna asked.
Igneous, aka Janus, alias Sehan, paled.
"We are sure that the misunderstanding can be cleared up," said Serenity,
still a bit distracted. "Though perhaps keeping them seperate would be
advisable."
Sehan silently prayed it would be so.
-------
The ballroom had exploded three times.
This fight was not going *nearly* where Dimitri had anticipated. He'd felt
that taking on Morrigan with his odd power battery would have been a simple
and quick manner. Nothing about this attack had been simple *or* quick.
Dimitri took a quick nibble from the pony-tailed girl but hadn't been able
to drink much, not nearly enough to replace what he was losing in the
process. The effect of throwing the girl at that samurai gave him a breather
at least.
Dimitri had tossed aside the now useless device he'd taken from that
pink-haired girl. Well, actually he'd done that after his hand had gotten
sliced off by that girl with the sword, which had occurred while he'd been
trying to strangle the winged catboy.
"SOUL FIST!" The blast caused the samurai girl to try to parry.
Agony flared across Dimitri's middle as the catboy slashed with his claws.
The Vampire Lord staggered as he felt *holy* magic inflicting wounds in him.
This wasn't working out at all well.
He turned to deal with the catboy (who was even faster than the Tokyo-based
catgirl that he'd fought on occasion) and the samurai girl started slashing
with some blade that bore some minor enchantment. He turned to deal with the
samurai girl, Morrigan *and* the catboy were on him.
"Well, this has been fun, but I must be going," Dimitri said, preparing to
teleport far enough that he'd be able to transform into a bat and fly away.
"NOT!"
Dimitri tried to turn to the voice, only to have a long thin switchblade
slammed home in his right ear canal. A moment later and he lost sight in his
left eye. It was that boy from earlier, and at his side was a girl with an
odd pole weapon.
Dimitri's last sight was of the Silence Glaive entering his chest.
He might have continued to fight except that someone had just used their
claws to open his neck.
Keeping in mind that vampires were hard to kill, Sakura under the direction
of Morrigan made extra certain that Dimitri Maximoff would not be
recovering.
Though when Obsidian started making suggestions, it was remembered (by those
conscious) it was the first time they'd ever heard of a succubus looking ill
and shuddering.
-----------
The Cat sniffed, then a rough cat tongue licked one of the wounds on the
girl's face. Then sniffed again. Goldfur had been kind to him, he remembered
that. Sort of. Cat couldn't remember how or when, but Goldfur was nice.
Goldfur was sick though. Goldfur had been tainted and Goldfur had wounds
that the Cat couldn't reach with his tongue. And others, including Favored
Mate, were hurt too.
He needed to hurry, but it was so hard to think. Easier just to do this.
The Cat bared his teeth and gently bit into Goldfur's shoulder. There
were... words. That was it, words. Things that needed to be said, even if
the Cat didn't understand them. It was necessary to do this, the Cat felt
that this was so even if language wasn't understood by the conscious mind at
the moment. The words came from *somewhere* though.
---------
"Rei-chan, Minako-chan, Ami-chan, Setsuna-san," wept Sailor Moon, surrounded
by dead or dying friends. "Mako-chan..."
Sailor Moon watched as Minako was tenderly nuzzled by the catboy from where
she was lying broken upon the remains of a table. "Grey-san..." She watched
as the winged catboy sniffed at Minako, then nudged her limp arm with his
muzzle.
Sailor Moon wasn't sure what to do. It was obvious from what little she'd
caught of the fight (having been stunned twice by those 'Soul Fist' things)
that when Grey-san had transformed, he had become sort of a cat mentally as
well as physically.
Then Sailor Moon really freaked at what the kitty was doing to Minako-chan!
He had licked her face on that horrid wound she'd gotten, and the wound had
vanished!
But *now* what was he doing?!
"Aaaa! Aaaaa! AaaaaaaAAAAAA!" Minako yelped noisily, coming awake with her
body bucking underneath the feline boy who was biting her.
Sailor Moon stared as golden fur sprouted over Minako's body and a spotted
tail snaked from under her dress. "Minako-chan?!"
The catboy got up and started heading for where Ami was staring sightlessly
at the ceiling and moved as quickly as she could to get in the way. "No!
Don't do it. Ami-chan is... Ami-chan is..."
"Get out of the way, Usagi-chan."
Sailor Moon blinked and looked at Minako, then wondered if maybe she needed
to do a Moon Healing Escalation or something. "Minako-chan?!"
Grey moved past the stunned Sailor Moon, not paying any attention to the
drama behind him as he purred and licked at his Mate, then licked the ragged
neck wound clean before biting her.
"Minako-chan?! You're..." Sailor Moon took two steps back and made a warding
gesture.
With two black "tear-tracks" decorating the fur on her face, the transformed
Minako grinned at Sailor Moon. "I think the term you're looking for is
'alive', Usagi-chan."
"B-b-but?!" Sailor Moon's eyes wobbled like jelly beans. "You're a yoma?!"
"Huh?" Minako looked over herself. "What the hat? I've got a tail? Fur?"
Usagi sniffled then began bawling.
"MyaaaaaaAAAAAA! Oh myaow! That was intense!" Ami said, not noticing the
changes in herself at first either.
---------
In France, the last group of tear-gassed gibberlings were rounded up and put
in cages.
In New York City's Central Park, the gargoyles were being loaded onto
trucks, bound with nets and tasered whenever they showed signs of breaking
free.
Invid technology was being studied by the Australians, of course. What
remained of it, that is. The same could be said for the remains of several
AT-AT units in Virginia, now property of the US Navy.
The Elven Bimbo Coalition Forces attacking Utah had also been dealt with.
Unfortunately for the Wizard, he had made them literally bimbo valley elves.
Upon seeing a mall with a "March Madness Sale", the invasion had floundered
and never recovered. And once the elf girls had found that there were cute
boys in the neighborhood, there were a general cease of hostilities.
----------
The emergency meeting was unusual in several respects.
Usagi couldn't help staring at her friends.
Her friends couldn't help staring at each other.
Nuku Nuku and Honey were sorry that they hadn't attended the party.
Tuxedo Kamen, not too far away, rang bells and gave thanks to the kami that
neither he nor Usagi had had anything like *this* happen to them.
"Let's see, Minako is a cheetah," said Ami, entering the new data into her
computer. The glare she aimed at Setsuna could *not* have been jealousy from
the way Grey-san was curled up across the laps of Setsuna, Minako, and
Sakura. Nor could she be jealous of the way Setsuna scratched him behind the
ears and got him purring. Absolutely not. Ami didn't have a jealous bone in
her body.
"Ami-chan, your claws are digging into the table," pointed out Rei.
"Oh dear," said Ami, wondering why she had done that. "Setsuna-san is back
to normal, mostly, Sakura-san has just got the cat ears and tail, I guess.
Errr, I'm apparently a more domestic variety of feline."
"But still very cute," said Artemis, who had come to investigate for the
Queen and had been all but drooling since he'd found them. Especially
towards Minako. Though Makoto as a similar cat to Minako had been... Luna
would have glared at him (at the very least) if she were present.
"Rrrrr," purred Grey-san, moving slightly and rubbing his cheek against
Greenfur's thigh.
"Where'd his wings go, anyway?" Usagi wanted to know, wondering also why Ami
started snarling at Setsuna. (Blink) No, it must've just been her
imagination.
"He's dismissed them for the time being. Much like Mercury can do with her
computer," Setsuna was practically purring herself.
"Makoto and Rei were able to change back by transforming back from Senshi. I
suspect that the Silver Millenium magic is stronger than this... odd
transformation." Ami adjusted her glasses and tried to keep her ears from
going flat against her skull as she watched the three with her fiance.
Rei glared at the catboy. "What about those words?"
Usagi blinked. "What words, I didn't hear anything?"
Ami cleared her throat. "There was something, but I..."
Minako held up a hand. "They weren't aloud, but I heard them. It was an
offer.
"My servant return to the fray,
And from my side now never stray,
Life force firm with some of mine,
Thread of fate now intertwine,
Heal the heart and soothe the mind,
whilst caring is returned in kind,
Body, soul, mind, and heart,
weave together - come not apart,
Thy Master calls you whole and hale,
To serve me now on Destiny's trail."
"That was it." Sakura stroked soft golden fur. "Though my wounds were minor,
I accepted the offer. In battle with such enemies, a samurai should not
refuse any advantage that does not lead to dishonor."
"Hmmm," hmmmed Setsuna, bringing everyone's attention to the way that the
feline features and fur gradually faded from the boy whose head was still in
her lap.
"Why did *that* happen? For that matter what transformed him?" Honey asked
from her place in the back, really regretting that she'd missed so much of
this.
"Likely he transformed because he saw us fall," answered Setsuna. "It's
typical of our heritage to reach into our past lives for strength in extreme
moments of stress. And as his Knight identity was cut off, much like my
ability to transform to Sailor Pluto, he reached further back and found
*that*. Though I should point out that I was not turned into a catgirl. At
least until Minako-san bit me."
Minako winced. "Okay, I just lost control there for a couple of minutes.
Sorry."
Setsuna inclined her head in acknowledgment. She knew full well there hadn't
been anything personal in it. Though being transformed into Setsuna Meow had
been... odd. Especially considering what had happened just before. "And the
words I heard to call me back to life were:
"As a Servant Of The Light,
i ask that things be set aright,
O' Lonely Soldier - renew, reborn,
unfairly from you, life was torn,
thy thread of life from Heaven's Gate,
if ye be willing - Reincarnate!"
Setsuna moved her NEW staff alongside her and let a gentle, fond, expression
creep over her face as she smoothed the boy's hair. Her mind was, as far as
she could tell, unchanged. However, she was hardly helpless now. She had
watched anime, sometimes years before the release date. Just let the forces
of evil threaten her Bas-chan now!
"Waaaa?!" Grey sleepily mumbled, waking up and partially rising before
Setsuna tapped a spot on his neck and sent him back down again.
"Pressure point," explained Setsuna to the bristling (literally) Sakura.
"What did you do *that* for?" Ami questioned Setsuna, beginning to bristle
herself.
"Since we're all here together, and tomorrow night is your night,
Mizuno-san," Setsuna decided to be formal, "we ought to get to know one
another."
"But..." Usagi raised a hand, feeling almost as if she were in class.
Setsuna waved off the unspoken point. "We'll get more details from
Ten'ou-san, Katsuragi-san, and the others that Shard-san indicated as less
trustworthy later."
Maya continued to wonder if maybe she should ask Shard-san for a bite later.
She still felt seriously underpowered.
-----
Eudial groaned and considered the scruffy person in the mirror.
That it was *her* made the whole thing more difficult to stomach.
She'd ended up flattened by one of the area attacks thrown by that vampire,
and her favorite Chinese dress was now more fit to be used as dishrags.
Her carefully prepared trays (one containing normally spiked drinks, the
other containing the love potion spiked drinks) had been blown away and had
trickled down the drain. Her plans had likewise been shattered.
Eudial tried to tug on one segment of her dress to try and cover a breast
more completely, only to wince at the ripping sound. No, this was *not* how
she had envisaged the evening going.
Getting to her car, and trying to ignore the stares, Eudial considered her
next step.
Clearly she had to strike before the dating began tomorrow. Once everyone
had gotten to know everyone else, the effects of the potion would be more
obvious. And the more crowded the environment, the more chance of things
going wrong.
What was needed was getting the targets alone, or mainly alone. She needed
to be able to strike quickly and decisively, then wait the four minutes for
it to take effect, then she could introduce the new target for the victim's
affections.
Eudial hoped that by sleeping on it, she could get a better idea of how to
proceed.
----
Jared had stormed into the center, calling off his current game. "SOMEONE
just drained major spell points from me!"
Celeste frowned, checked readings, then started to laugh.
Serafita began to chuckle a moment later, so much so that he went into SD
form without noticing.
Jared blinked. "Uhm..."
"Use your Yggdrasil connection to replenish them," said Celeste, still
smirking. "*Someone* just prayed to you for spells that they cast on the
fly."
"Who?" Jared calmed himself on seeing their reactions. Maybe this wasn't a
disaster after all?
"Grey," snickered Celeste. "Looks like he sent a general Yggdrasil request
for allied deities and he got spells from you, Bast, and Toltiir. He just
used two Heal spells (Morrigan and Ami), three Reincarnates (Setsuna,
Makoto, and Rei), three Life Links (Sakura, Hotaru, and Minako), and a Break
Enchantment (Maya Tono) from the god of crossovers."
"And because it *was* from the god of crossovers," smirked Serafita, "there
are now crossover elements from Catgirl Nerima, El Hazzard, Gold Digger, and
Fist Of The Northstar."
Jared's face fell. Mainly because he couldn't watch. (If he did, he'd want
to nudge things.)
On seeing that expression, Celeste and Serafita laughed harder.
----
Minako's tail lashed around in obvious agitation but she seemed to gloat a
bit too. "Nyaow. Err. Now. Setsuna-san? Why don't you start since you
suggested it?"
Setsuna shrugged then de-transformed from Setsuna Meow to whatever she was
normally now. "Okay. One question, then it is the next person's turn."
"How'd you do that?" blurted Ami.
Setsuna smirked slightly. "An effort of will. If you completely calm
yourself, you can 'put the cat out' as it were."
Ami immediately started a deep breathing exercise, focussed on a piece of
white paper, and detransformed as well.
"Great, Ami-chan. Except now nobody can ask her any other questions until
we've all answered one," growled Rei.
"Oh," Ami realized. Still being able to transform back to human was such a
relief, so she shrugged off the complaint.
There was a moment of tension among the group. Sakura eventually shifted
back, even though the only thing she lost were two ears and a tail.
"Aren't you going to change back, Minako-chan? Oops!" Usagi held her hands
over her mouth. Too late of course.
"Baka," declared Rei.
"Actually, I kinda like this," Minako announced. "In fact, I think I'll
probably go streak around the neighborhood a bit."
Artemis brightened visibly at the suggestion, until he realized that she
just meant that she was going to try running.
Another awkward silence.
Setsuna finally decided to take matters into her own hands before she had to
use another pressure point technique. "Ok, Ami-chan, I've got a question for
you."
"Me? But I..." Ami began to get very uncomfortable as attention was focussed
on her.
"I'm not sure *how* you ended up there, especially after I clearly stated my
prior claim well before he appeared." Setsuna's gaze was cold as she
regarded the girl perspiring across the table from her. "However, you are
clearly considered by Nebula to be his First Fiancee. He is also quite
obviously smitten with you. Why do you toy with his affections instead of
either returning them or simply turning him away if you don't want him?"
"But I... that is... well... I mean..." Everyone noticed Ami, bit by bit, go
catgirl as her calm fell to tiny little pieces under that scrutiny. "...and
then there's exams. With exams coming up, 'love' is not in my vocabulary...
but then..." ~Smitten with me?! But we're too young. Aren't we? She's
mistaken. Right? Or is she serious? What about Ryo-chan?~
"Methinks she protests too much," offered Makoto with a smirk as Ameow began
tracing out a doodle on the tabletop with one claw.
"I've got an idea, let's just go ahead and set up a bunch of questions like
in one of those date-match things." Honey suggested. "You know: favorite
flower, favorite color, dreams for the future, that sort of thing. Then we
can sort things out in a reasonable manner. Who the best match is under the
'common ground' you share with him. That's normally the best match, right?"
The response was agreeable, if not enthusiastic. Though there were a number
of disagreements about what constituted a good match, the common consensus
was that it could wait.
After all, it had been a hectic day.
--------
Sehan, aka Igneous, now Janus, a former Knight who had been tainted by the
Dark Kingdom and then purified in this lifetime by Queen Serenity - then
pardoned, knew fear. Or, it might be better to say, that he knew Fear.
And Fear was coming down the street towards the building. In slow,
unhurried, measured steps. Also, knowing from experience, that Fear was
coming this way with the noise of deliberate footsteps, though Fear could
walk quieter than a cat when he wanted to. The dim glow of a cigarette
marred the stealth of his approach, because as he walked towards the front
gate it looked like even the pools of light from the streetlamps seemed to
shrink at his approach.
This was the Knight Of Fear. Obsidian. An unschooled barbarian in Queen
Serenity's Court.
It had been said (Janus vaguely remembered that it was Queen Serenity who
had done the saying) that if you could come up with a dirty and nasty way to
do a job, give it to Obsidian and he'd show you that you didn't really have
a clue about 'dirty and nasty' comparitively.
When a Knight had gone rogue, though he thought it for the best interests of
the Kingdom, it had been Obsidian who had decided to "end" the problem of
the rogue Knight.
Sehan, who had been that rogue Knight, remembered little of his previous
life. He *did* remember being chased by an impacable, relentless, Knight Of
Fear who avoided every trap and ambush. Only to continue forward, step by
step. Finally, on an asteroid near Saturn's orbit, Obsidian - also known as
the Shade Knight, caught up with Igneous. By that time, Obsidian had gotten
very annoyed. Especially after the last ambush had turned out to involve
stolen military grade beamers.
It had taken Igneous three days to die.
Barely visible in the shadows near the gate, a figure wearing sunglasses
looked up at the window the reborn Igneous was staring from. A hand came up
and pointed directly at him, despite there being no lights to reveal his
position.
An involuntary whimper forced its way from Janus' throat.
Oh yes, Janus knew fear.
--------
"Worst experience in my life?" Setsuna stared at the table for a moment.
"All right. Fine. I'll tell you."
The tone in the former Sailor Pluto's voice was putting a few people on
edge. Everyone nonetheless paid strict attention, drawn by the pain they
could hear.
"Ten thousand years ago, I knew someone I admired. I wasn't in love, if you
must know, but I cared about the fellow. A soldier who had been used and
cast away. A Queen because of her pride, and a Princess because she was
still young and fickle."
"HEY!" Makoto protested, then quieted under several glares.
Setsuna continued, her eyes locked on something only she could see. "I was
still fairly new to guarding the Gate Of Time. There was no readme.txt or
Help file, no manual or lessons on the position or the powers involved. I
had practiced a number of attacks and abilities before, but there are subtle
changes in the fabric of space/time that near the Gate and much of my
experience had to be relearned. Of the powers that the Time Staff granted
its wielder at the Gate, I spent centuries mastering.
"Unfortunately, less than two decades had gone by when Beryl's little
rebellion fell apart and the Royal Ball to celebrate and inform her Senshi
was held. Metal'la approached."
"Metal'la?" Honey asked, wondering how much of this her recorder was
getting.
"Your associates in the government would call her a Class One Entity, though
at the time she was weakened by her travel still and was functionally Class
Two. Had she succeeded in absorbing Earth's mana and subverting the Crystal,
she would have become a Class 0 Entity. Of course, in so doing, the Earth
would have become a barren husk, but Metal'la didn't care about such
trifles." Setsuna's eyes flicked to the android briefly before returning to
the private vision. She knew darn well that Honey was recording this. She
just didn't care as much as when she'd been bound by magical oath to serve
Queen and Kingdom. "When you swear an oath to the Moon Queen on that
Crystal, it is binding. When she installed me as Sailor Pluto, I was sworn
to accept the duty of guarding the Time Gate. Then, when she deemed me
ready, she sent me to the Gate and ordered me to have no visitors nor to
communicate with the outside. Even knowledge of the Time Gate was to
eventually be sealed."
"For two decades I helplessly watched events transpire. I lost track of my
Knight of Duty as he travelled about. Then when Metal'la and her Shadow
attacked, I watched as the Kingdom fell." Setsuna practically growled. "I
could do NOTHING, NOTHING! It took me over three centuries to find enough
loopholes that I could interact at all with the outside world! Even then,
due to the wording of the Queen's commands, the most I could manage was
little nudges - nothing clear and little direct. I saw the Prince of Earth
die, I saw the Moon Princess follow him in death! I saw all the Senshi fall
and the Shadow get sealed. I saw my Knight fall - his sword shattered and
his life draining away to less than ash!
"And I saw the Queen who had failed her kingdom, save its future and send
the Senshi and many others of the Kingdom forward in time to be reborn. And
I knew that I owed her a last duty, to guide the stream of time till what
she had seen could actually occur." Setsuna shook her head. "It has been
10,000 years, but that day is something I remember well. And have no wish to
repeat it."
----------
He looked like a cowboy. Sort of. Which contrasted completely with the decor
of the ballroom which was now the meeting room that Queen Serenity had set
up for the time being.
Black sunglasses. Black baseball cap with an odd symbol on it. Black leather
duster. Black cowboy boots met black jeans held up with a black belt. A
black shirt.
Queen Serenity detected four weapons concealed on the Knight of Fear, which
meant that there was likely another twelve that would turn up if you were to
strip him naked and seperate him from his clothes. And likely another three
that you'd never be certain *where* he was hiding them. That was something
Obsidian had always said. "You can never have too many weapons, and your
enemies should never be certain how you're going to snuff them until you do
it."
And then there was Obsidian's tendency to make weapons out of whatever was
at hand.
Obsidian inclined his head towards Serenity. "My Queen. You're... looking
well."
Serenity did not remark on the tiny amount of respect shown. Obsidian was
hardly the sort of falcon for a lady to wear on her wrist. He was more the
ornery old wolf you sent out when something needed to be killed. "We did not
see you die, how did you fall, my Most Dangerous Ghost?"
Again that head inclined. He had been called the Shade or the Ghost Knight
due to his tendency to use nonmagical means but apparently disappear and
reappear as if he were a ghost. "My Lady, Atlantis made the mistake of
siding with Beryl in her rebellion."
"But Atlantis drowned beneath the waves," the Queen said with a frown.
"Exactly." Obsidian smiled and touched a black gloved hand to his throat.
"Then I returned to Mars. Unfortunately, with the Crystal seperated and the
terraforming failed, even one of your Knights can find breathing difficult."
"We see." The Queen *did* see. It was a pity, she'd privately been betting
that someone had to have dropped a planet on him.
"In this life, My Lady, I have been reborn as Morgan Wright, a humble
scholar."
The Queen bit back a laugh. Obsidian? A scholar? Not likely.
Obsidian raised an eyebrow at the barely concealed mirth. "My Queen, I am
here simply to inform you of my availability. Though Igneous' presence...
concerns me. Even if he is pardoned, can he be trusted?"
"He has been purified of taint," said the Queen with a condescending smile,
"his loyalty is unquestioned."
Somehow, Obsidian felt that this answer was less than satisfactory. To him,
at least. It certainly seemed to satisfy the Queen.
---------
The meeting had broken up due to the hour. Tomorrow was Ami's date with
Grey.
Setsuna had come up with both the idea (at least initially) for the calm
discussion between the affected parties, as well as the idea of the "dating
contest" to see who was most compatible.
Except that neither had worked out as the former Time Senshi had intended,
obviously.
Minako Aino leapt to the top of the roof in a single sinuous motion to
crouch there momentarily.
She had stood up to the Queen for her beliefs and Sailor V had vanished as a
result. She had tried to be heroic anyway, had nearly been killed...
And her fiance had bitten her gently in what was probably the most sensual
moment she'd ever experienced. Just the memory caused a flush to start under
her fur. Minako leapt down to the street and began running.
What Minako did *not* know was that her mana pool, used to transform her to
Sailor Venus and empower her attacks such as the Crescent Beam, had not been
removed. It was a birthright, whereas the Senshi identity was granted by the
Queen. What would have empowered her heightened speed and strength in Senshi
form now found an outlet in her werecheetah form. What would have shot off a
"Venus Love Me Chain" had another use now.
What Minako Aino *did* know was that the houses were a blur as she sped past
them. She left the street to run along the tops of fences and leap past
intersection as Minako- the Blonde Blur!
What Minako further realized was that as a werecheetah, her senses were more
acute and her balance and agility were Ridiculously high. Same with reaction
speed. However, as she leaned panting against a wall in Shinjuku, she
realized her constitution was not at the same level.
It took her a few minutes to catch her breath, then jog at a more sedate
pace towards her home. She barely broke 60mph on the way. As she shifted
back to walk the final block, Minako Aino considered getting a new
sailorsuit. Thanks to her fiance, she had a new powerup to replace the old
one, even if there *was* apparently a downside.
Such as having to replace her tennis shoes every couple of hundred miles.
---------
Hotaru Tomoe had waited until everyone else had left, except for that
samurai girl, and took a nearly identical sitting position nearby. Her
sempai was halfway between them.
After a few moments, Hotaru shifted to a more comfortable position.
"So..." Hotaru began, uncertainly.
"An oath under duress is not binding by modern law or, as I understand it,
under the laws of magic." Sakura sat looking demure, stoic, calm. Her eyes
were closed and there was no indication that she had moved. Only because
she'd been watching had Hotaru been certain the samurai had spoken.
"Uhm..." Hotaru began.
"I had asked that my name be added to the list of fiancees because of an
ancient oath. My family is involved in protecting Grey-san." Sakura's voice
was as calm and soft as a lone snowflake settling into a field.
"But..." Hotaru nervously began again.
Sakura's voice continued to be cool and emotionless. "How much easier to
guard my lord, if I share his pillow?"
"WHAT?!" There was absolutely nothing calm, cool, or emotionless in Hotaru's
demeanor.
"Calm yourself," advised Sakura. "This idea is fairly new to me as well. My
family are a family of demonslayers, one of three major lines here in Japan.
I had a namesake at the turn of the century who married a man named Oogami.
However, if one were to track backwards a single generation, one would find
the name Saotome as well. Two lines of ancestry point me on this path. And
truly, honor and duty are the true path of the samurai."
"You're not reading my mind are you?"
"Just asking myself what questions *I* would be asking in your situation."
Sakura said, still not looking.
Hotaru frowned. "Then this is just about duty for you, right?"
"Life is lighter than a feather, duty is heavier than a mountain," quoted
Sakura.
Hotaru hid her relief. It sounded like the samurai girl wasn't really
interested. Which was what Hotaru considered a good thing. This Sakura was
*way* too cute.
--------
"Basa... Grey-chan?" Setsuna considered the boy in the Mizuno living room.
She also ignored Ami sticking her head out of her room. Not that Ami was
interested, of course.
"Hmmm?" Grey had had a *lot* to think about recently. And why was it that
everyone tended to ask him what had happened at the party when he didn't
remember it at all? He'd started out OK, there had been that vampire fellow,
then - everything was blank until waking up in the shrine office. And nobody
would give him any details!
Setsuna handed him her new staff. "Could you give me a couple of turns?"
"What are you talking ab... hah?" Grey watched as Setsuna turned around and
lifted her shirt enough to reveal a socket in her back. "i sure don't
remember *that* in the Silver Millenium."
"If you would," said Setsuna with a smile. "Purely a precautionary measure."
Ami's door slammed. Must have been the wind.
---------
NOTES: Oh myaow... errr sorry. Oh my!
Setsuna as Ifurita?! (When she's not Setsunya Meow, that is.) What effect
will this have on Crystal Tokyo and the time stream? And will she give a
#$*! about it?
Minako Aino - Sailor Cheetah?!
Sakura Shinguchi - Samurai Cat(girl)?!
And what of poor Ami who's on first (what's on second? *slap* okay, better
now) for the dating contest? Will she cope or will she simply turn into
Ameow Mewzuno and purr a lot?
How will Queen Serenity cope with all this? Or the Wizard?
Stay tuned for this and other important questions. (Some of which may be
actually answered.)
==========
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"I wish the real world would just stop hassling me." -Rainmaker, Matchbox20
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