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Epsilon
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: hybridtheory11final.txt
Hey, readers. Shampoo here, being forced into doing some crap I don't want
to,
which is a feeling I'm REAL familiar with lately.
What? Why the hell are you staring at me? "Baby talk"? What the hell is
that
crap? I speak perfectly good Chinese, thank you, and the translation is
also
good, since it's not like any of my predecessors were narrating in English.
Don't be stupid.
Anyway, like I was saying, I showed up to kill off that bitch, or I guess
bastard, Ranma and then found out he was really a guy, and really my husband
to
be, and that's really annoying, and it's all really the fault of my stupid
great-grandmother. Then, as if my day wasn't bad enough, those idiots Pink
and
Link showed up with their new undead friend, who... well, anyway, I'm going
to
have to serve those two cretins for a year. Yay.
In addition to providing me on a silver platter, Chris is also dancing to
the
stupid twins' tune by fetching the mitamas of those plant monsters for them.
About the only thing he ISN'T doing for them is mooning over Akane Tendo -
that
one's pretty much his own little thing.
Checking in with the supposed main character, Ukyou has been a busy little
bitch. A little too busy, actually, since she's having to deal with the
consequences of going nuts and breaking Hayato's spine a bit back. Not only
has
Hayato vanished after talking with that youma Tethys, but Sailor Pluto is
still
after her because Ukyou's gonna destroy the universe or some crap. I say:
give
Ukyou to me. After I'm finished working out some frustration, the universe
will
be totally safe. Promise!
C&A Productions Presents
A Work of Blatant Self-Insertion
Hybrid Theory
Chapter 11: Papercut
"Okay, Ran, so we sneak around the bastard's blind side and then
infiltrate the Compound of Evil."
"...the what?"
"His Compound of Evil. From the blind side."
"Ranma, that's an apartment build-"
"It's... a... Compound... Of... Evil!"
"Ooookay. And then the 'blind side' would be... the back?"
"Right. Now we have to be careful, and make sure we sneak around all
the guards. Like that one there. Watch him."
"Ranma, that looks like a superintendant. Who's taking out the trash."
"That's only what he WANTS you to think! Trust me, Ran, this guy's
tricky. You can't take your eye off him for a minute, or trust what he
says, or
believe what he wants you to believe! And he wants you to believe that's a
superintendant."
"Sure, stud, sure. Whatever you say. It'll make better copy anyway."
"You got it. Now, we gotta find some way to make it to the top floor
without settin' off any alarms."
"What about the fire escape?"
"Feh. Too easy. And he's gotta have it bugged- hey! Ran! Get off
that!"
"Doesn't look bugged to me. No alarms, either."
"...well, be more careful from here on in. We're dealing with a master
of deception here."
"Gotcha. Hey, I'm on your side. That bastard wrecked my camera, after
all."
"Wrecked your camera 'cause he's afraid of the TRUTH!"
"Ranma, the superintendant, I mean guard, is looking this way."
"Quick! Act normal!"
"..."
"Yeah, just like that. Try to look like you're confused and don't know
what's goin- hey, stop dragging me!"
"Take it from a pro, stud: keeping away from the authority figures - and
guards - is the best way to get your story. Or perform a thrilling rescue.
Or
both!"
Ranma only allowed Ran to drag him a few steps up the stairwell before
pulling his hand free and sliding in front of her. Man, she had a grip.
Ranma
snuck forward, putting all his years of experience under the tutelage of
Genma
Saotome to use. Ran followed him at a sedate pace. He couldn't help but feel
she
wasn't taking this seriously.
Of course, she hadn't seen Chris in action as much as Ranma had. There
was no way Ranma was letting that smug undead jerk get away with... whatever
diabolical plan he had for Shampoo. Not that he particularly liked the
psycho
Chinese chick. But damn, nobody deserved to be that guy's prisoner!
Plus, it gave Ranma an excuse to kick the jerk around a little. Ranma
smirked as he thought about the epic battle to come. He was pretty sure that
he
had the guy's measure. He had seen all his new techniques the other day, and
spent the last three coming up with what he figured would be perfect
counter-
arts.
"Uh, Ranma, we're on the twelth floor. You can stop climbing now."
Ranma jerked to a stop and cast a look over his shoulder.
"I knew that... I was just... making sure that there were no surprises
up above."
Ran seemed about to reply, but then apparently decided to just shake her
head. The pony-tailed journalist simply gestured for him to follow and
backflipped from the stairwell, her skirt rippling behind her, and landed in
a
light crouch on a nearby balcony. Ranma shrugged and followed her. Of
course, he
did so with a triple axel reverse spin and single-foot landing, but there
was no
need to go into that.
Ran rolled her eyes at him for some reason. "We should be quiet," she
whispered. Ranma nodded. "Now, exactly who was it you were here for?"
"My Chinese fiancee," Ranma explained as he stepped past her. "She
should be in this place somewhere." He paused. "Hey Ran, are you going to
stand
there all day?"
"Uh... yes... I mean no. I mean... Chinese fiancee?"
"Yeah, it's this cute psycho chick that I'm supposed to be married to
because I beat her up and she saw me naked or something. I never really
understood what the old troll was talking about."
Ran stared at him. Seeing she had nothing important to add, Ranma turned
back to peeking in the windows. The first window was the bedroom of those
twins,
who were thankfully sleeping. Ranma moved on quickly. The second window was
his
target. It was hard to miss her, as she was lying on the floor. Of course,
Ranma
didn't know why she wasn't just sleeping on the comfortable-looking bed less
than a meter away. Also, he didn't know why she wasn't wearing anything.
"Ranma!"
His head bonked against the window pane and he rebounded with a muttered
curse. He turned to glare at Ran, rubbing the scalp where she had hit him.
"What?"
"She's naked!" Ran pointed out in a loud hiss.
"I noticed," Ranma said, rolling his eyes.
"Well... it's not very polite to stare then, is it?" Ran crossed her
arms and huffed.
"Fine." Ranma leaned back. "That's going to make rescuing her pretty
annoying, though. I mean... even I might have trouble fighting Chris with my
eyes closed."
"Well, take your shirt off then!"
"What? She's naked, so I have to be too?"
Ran turned crimson. "N-no! You idiot!" She stammered. "For her!"
"I don't think she likes me that way..."
"For her not to be naked!"
"Oh. Right. Good plan."
Ranma turned towards the window, taking off his shirt. He simultaneously
noticed three things: first, that the window was now open. Second, that
Shampoo
was now standing in the window with an annoyed frown. Third, that her fist
was
approximately two centimeters from his nose and approaching rapidly.
When Ranma shook the stars out of his vision he noted absently that the
guardrail had prevented him from flying into the abyss. Also, that Shampoo
was
yelling something at him in Chinese. Once she noticed he was paying
attention,
she spat in his direction and slammed the window closed.
"Huh?" Ranma said. He got up and began to check to make sure his nose
wasn't broken. For a girl, Shampoo could punch.
"She said, even if you are her husband, you don't get marital
privileges. More or less. She used more colorful words."
"You speak Chinese?"
"Among other talents you have yet to discover, stud."
Ranma shrugged and walked over to the window. It appeared Shampoo had
locked it. Oh well. He used one of the tricks Genma had taught him and had
it
open in seconds. As he worked, Ran began to ask him questions.
"So... exactly what kind of a relationship do you two actually have?"
"She wants to kill me. I want to never see her again. Her grandmother
wants me to marry her. The undead jerk wants her to serve him..." Ranma put
a
diabolical emphasis on the word 'serve', just to get across the point.
"Uh huh. I think I need the whole story on this one, Ranma."
Ranma was about to respond, but was distracted dodging Shampoo's three
strike combination.
"She's telling you that you never learn."
"I figured as much." Ranma muttered as he continued evading Shampoo's
assault. The crazy bitch was still screaming at him, but Ranma ignored her
mouth
and concentrated on slipping in under her attack, sliding along the edge of
the
window, and landing easily inside the room. It took Shampoo a moment to
notice
he was no longer in front of her. She spun on him with a kick, which he
blocked
this time. "Hey Ran, tell her I'm here to rescue her, will ya?"
"If you think it'll help, stud." Ran shrugged as she leaned against the
windowsill and began to speak to Shampoo. Shampoo paused, obviously
surprised by
Ran's fluency. Ranma sighed and released her leg. Then she kicked him in the
groin when he let his guard down. "She says she doesn't want your help."
"I figured as much," Ranma wheezed as he rolled around on the ground for
a second.
Ranma recovered quickly, however. He kicked to his feet and stretched
his arms. He had figured Shampoo wouldn't come along quietly. That's what
the
rope was for. Ranma grinned and snapped a length of it free from the coil on
his
belt. Shampoo raised an eyebrow, as did Ran.
Then the lights turned on.
"Ranma, why exactly are you in my condo molesting Shampoo?"
"Hah!" Ranma spun in place. "Wouldn't you like to know!" He pointed
accusingly at the undead jerk. The jerk was standing in the doorway, dressed
in
jeans, a leather jacket and gloves. Ranma was all ready to say something
impressive when Shampoo kicked his knees out from under him. Ranma recovered
admirably. His face only touched the carpet for a second before he sprang to
his
feet, this time facing Shampoo.
"You are NOT making this rescue easy!" he shouted. He tossed the rope to
Ran. "Here. You deal with her or something." Ran caught the rope and stared
at
him like he had grown another head. Ranma was too busy spinning to face the
treacherous Chris to deal with her, however.
Chris was smirking and placed his hands on his hips. "So... it's a
rescue, eh?" Ranma allowed his body to relax. Chris stretched forth his
hands
and cracked the knuckles theatrically. "Well, Ranma, then you leave me no
choice." Ranma began to wiggle his fingers in anticipation. Oh yeah. This
was
what he was waiting for. "No choice... but to ask you to leave peacefully."
"Aww, man!" Ranma slumped. "Not this again!"
"Well, if you don't leave, I'm going to have to call the cops." Chris
shrugged apologetically. Ranma's eye twitched.
"But... you're an evil undead body-stealing monstrosity that forces
young girls to serve your diabolical purposes! You CAN'T call the cops!"
"I am also the evil undead body-stealing montrosity that owns the legal
lease to this condominium. And you are the brave young hero that is breaking
and
entering in the middle of the night to try and kidnap one of the residents."
"Hate to break this to you, stud, but he has a point."
"You stay out of this!" Ranma snapped peevishly. "And aren't you
supposed to be tying her up?" Ranma pointed accusingly at Shampoo, who was
lounging at the foot of the bed and buffing her nails.
"Uh... maybe later."
Ranma turned his head as a sleepy voice yelled loudly from the next
room. "Shampoo! That noise is waking us up! I don't care who's causing it,
beat
them up and get them out of here, over!"
Shampoo obviously recognized the voice. Ranma froze. Then he remembered
that Shampoo didn't understand Japanese! She was still confused...
Then Ran was saying something to her. Shampoo looked at Ran, then at
Ranma. She grinned. It was not a pleasant grin. Ranma suddenly decided that
he
had, perhaps, not thought this plan out as much as necessary. Ranma glanced
at
Chris, who was waving cheerfully at him, the undead jerk.
"Don't think I won't be back!" Ranma shouted as he dodged the thrown
bed. It tore through the wall behind him with a collosal crash. Ran eeped
and
briefly skidded over the top of it before landing with an 'oompf' on the
balcony. Ranma flipped over the angry purple-haired girl's next few strikes
and
landed outside the condo proper.
"Now look what you've done, Ranma. Poor Shampoo's going to freeze
tonight, and it's all your fault," Chris called out in a sing-song voice.
"Oh yeah... well... I bet they revoke your lease for that! And then
let's see you call the cops on me next time!" Ranma didn't wait for Chris's
response before bounding down the fire escape. Ran paused on the balcony to
shrug apologetically to everyone inside before following him.
Ranma led her a few blocks away. They stopped on a bridge over one of
Nerima's many canals. Ran leaned on the railing next to him and patted him
on
the back.
"Cheer up. Sure, you were utterly humiliated and didn't accomplish a
single thing you set out to do, but at least you weren't flattened by a
flying
bed."
"Uh... thanks." Ranma turned around and leaned back on the railing. "It
just pisses me off. I know that jerk is up to something. Ukyou would have
known
how to get it out of him, I think." Ranma paused. Ran didn't have anything
to
add to that, so they stood together in silence for a few moments.
"Hey, Ran..."
"Hmmm?"
"Thanks, by the way."
"You already thanked me."
"No. I mean, for helping me find him."
"It wasn't hard." She shrugged.
"Yeah, well... it was something I couldn't do," Ranma admitted ruefully,
rubbing the back of his neck.
"Uh... you're welcome then."
"Oh, and I almost forgot in all the excitement." Ranma reached into his
pocket and pulled free a tiny red and yellow box. "This is yours."
"Mine?" Ran took it. "It's... an instant camera?"
"I promised I'd get you a camera back." Ranma explained. "And I keep my
promises."
"I..." Ran looked down at the little box, and then she began to grin.
"Ranma, this is a five hundred yen disposable camera..."
"Yeah, it's not as big as that clunky old thing you had before." Ranma
pointed out proudly. "Plus it has a clip for your belt, so you won't drop it
like your last one."
Ran gave Ranma a strange look for a moment. Then she grinned. "I guess
it is almost as good." She began to chuckle. "When you look at it like
that."
"See. Never doubt the word of Ranma Saotome!"
"Don't worry. I won't."
*
"You look troubled."
Pluto looked up from her magazine. She was about to tell the waitress
that she was fine when she stopped. Whoever this woman was, she was no
waitress.
At least not for this restaurant.
"Perhaps I can help you ease your mind," the mystery woman said calmly.
Pluto examined her more closely as the woman slid around behind the tiny
cafe
table. She was tall, with smooth Roman features. Her most striking feature
was
her hair. It was a deep purple, and styled into two wild locks that
zig-zagged
through the air in stark defiance of gravity. She wore a wine colored dress
jacket and a long yellow sash. "You must be carrying great burdens. Perhaps
the
cards can show you the path that lies before you?" The woman stretched forth
her
hand and suddenly a long, decorative card appeared between her fingertips.
"Ah, a fortune teller," Pluto said with a wry chuckle. "I'm afraid I
don't have much in the way of money." It was true. As Setsuna, Pluto earned
a
modest living by working on and off in the fashion industry. It was enough
to
afford a home and the ability to move about pretty much as she pleased. She
just
wasn't in the habit of carrying money around with her.
"You've already done more than enough to earn my help." The fortune
teller glanced at the other chair and then at Pluto. Pluto gestured for her
to
sit. As she sat she removed a tarot deck from her sash. "I never really
bothered
to learn the origin of the tarot deck. I have always just felt a sort of
connection to it." She began to shuffle the cards in a slow, deliberate
manner.
"Something about the many facets, each representing the same thing in
different
ways. They're like masks we place on the future, you see. The cards, I mean.
The
key is to look behind the masks. Reveal what is beneath and hidden."
She dealt a single card onto the table. "The Empress. This is your past.
Interesting. I did not know that." Pluto wondered what she meant. She'd
never
bothered to study the various myths regarding fortune-telling. It all seemed
so
irrelevant when you could simply turn your head and see the way the world
would
unfold for the next ten thousand years. After aeons of resisting that
temptation, playing at knowing the future simply didn't appeal to her. "This
next card is your present. Death. Hmm. Ominous but not entirely bad. It
means
change and transition, or so I've been told." The woman pushed the two cards
forward on the table. "But this isn't what you're interested in, is it? The
next
card is the future." The woman drew a card and held it between her fingers
for a
moment before placing it on the table. "The Tower. Now that is dangerous.
Disaster looms." Pluto smiled wryly.
"But I think we can be more specific then that, no?" the fortune teller
drew another card and held it up. She gestured and the card began to spin
about
a corner on the tip of her index finger. "This is the source of your
trouble."
The card fell to the table. "The Hermit. Some people think that it is a male
card, but I've always preferred to think of it as female. It is associated
with
wisdom, after all." Pluto chuckled along with the woman. "And here is
another
card for you. Hmm... the Devil. And see how it lies next between the Hermit
and
the Tower. A great battle, I think? And next is... The Sun. Ah, a
revelation. A
message? I think so. You are worried about a message of a great battle, a
wise
woman and a disaster." Pluto slowly lowered her teacup. The woman waved her
hand
across the table, and suddenly the faces of the cards had changed. "I begin
to
see what you see. Look, there is the Fool, the Lovers and still, and always,
the
Tower. Compassion has misled you, and now disaster seems even more certain."
Pluto reached out and plucked the Fool card from the table. Her eyes had not
been decieving her. On the card was a picture of her. Or, more accurately, a
picture of Sailor Pluto.
"Who are you?" Pluto whispered.
"I came to help you." The woman gestured and the Tower card rose from
the table and began to spin idly in mid-air. Pluto looked at it. She had
seen
the card before. It had been the picture of a great stone turrent, cloaked
in
shadow and being shattered by a lightning bolt. Now it looked almost the
same,
except the cloak of shadows was a black coat and the lightning bolt was an
outstretched silver weapon. Hidden in the shadows of the card was a face
Pluto
knew well. "Four months ago, I began to have nightmares." The fortune teller
reached down with one manicured finger and halted the motion of the card
with a
gentle touch. "I did not know what they meant. Until I read a story in the
newspaper about a great battle. But even then I did not come here." Pluto's
eyes met the mystery woman's and some shared fear passed between them. "I
knew
another was here, one whom the message was meant for. I thought she could
handle
it. A few days ago, I sensed a power like I never have. I suspected that
there
had been a confrontation. But the dreams did not go away. So I came."
"Who are you?" Pluto demanded as she leapt to her feet. There was a loud
clatter as her chair landed somewhere behind her. The other patrons were
staring
now, but Pluto didn't care. Her hand was already gripping her transformation
wand.
"I am a friend, perhaps the only one you have." The fortune teller
stretched to her feet, The Tower gripped firmly between two fingers now. "I
am
Rose." She gestured sharply and the card burst apart in a flash of startling
purple light. "I am here to help you do what must be done."
*
Tsubasa spotted Ukyou before she spotted him. This wasn't unusual.
Tsubasa was very good at not being spotted when he wanted to be. What was
unusual was that he wasn't even trying to conceal his presence. Ukyou was
striding briskly out of the high school, barely paying attention to her
surroundings.
Tsubasa could have ignored her and moved on. He wanted to. But... he
remembered that day a few years ago well. Ukyou had stood up for him, had
defended him when no one else would. She deserved at least some closure. She
deserved at least an explanation.
"Ukyou!"
Ukyou's head turned slowly in his direction. Her expression was not
kind, but neither was it cruel. It was... oddly neutral. It was like she
didn't
even recognize him. A second later she put lie to his thoughts.
"Ah, Fungus," Ukyou said evenly. "I knew it was a mistake coming back
just yet..."
Tsubasa frowned. He didn't know where she had picked up that nickname
for him, but he didn't like it. It reminded him too much of the catcalls of
the
other boys. It reminded him of being chased down the street by outraged
women
with cries of 'freak' and 'pervert' echoing in his ears.
"Coming back?" he asked slowly. As he approached, he self-consciously
smoothed out the pleats in his skirt and adjusted the bow in his hair. He
had
put a good deal of effort into his outfit today, and he wanted Ukyou to
appreciate it.
"To Nerima," Ukyou responded. "If not to Furinkan. I should have known
I'd run into someone."
"I see..." Tsubasa did not, really.
"No, you don't." Ukyou glanced away from him. "You don't know why I ran
away that day. You don't know why I haven't come back yet. I have... things
on
my mind."
"Okay..." Tsubasa sighed. He looked down and began to grind his toe into
the ground. "Listen, Ukyou, I need to talk to you."
"Fungus, I'm not really..." Then she paused. Her head quirked to the
side and her eyes gazed off into the distance. "Wait. Check that. I do need
someone to talk to."
"Huh?"
"Come with me," Ukyou ordered as she reached out and grabbed his wrist.
Tsubasa gasped as she leapt up, carrying him roughly into the air. Her long
black coat rippled and snapped in the wind for a second before she alighted
atop
a phone pole. Without pausing for an instant she was off again, bouncing
over
the wall of the school and landing on the tip of a tree. Then a third bound
took
them to the roof of the school. Tsubasa collapsed to his knees as she
released
him and began to rub his wrist ruefully. "The door's locked," Ukyou said as
she
returned from checking it. "We can talk without anyone overhearing us up
here."
"That's good..." Tsubasa said as he shifted to a more comfortable
position. Ukyou stretched and sat down next to him, eyes staring across the
expanse of Nerima towards the distant high rises of Tokyo. His heart ached
at
the sight of her. She was so beautiful. Her hair had grown longer, her bangs
now
reached down to almost cover her eyes. She was still dressed in the same
dress
shirt and slacks combo she had favored back at their old school. Her thick
ponytail hung down to the small of her back, a stray hair here and there
caught
idly in the breeze. She no longer carried her spatula. Instead, a long staff
was
slung in a simple harness over her shoulder.
But those weren't the big changes. The big change was her face. It was
still as pretty as ever, but now seemed to have grown cold. Her expression
seemed carved of stone. Her beautiful brown eyes, once so full of passion,
now
focused icily on whatever was before her.
"Do you mind if I go first?" Tsubasa snapped out of his reverie at her
words. She sounded tired. Like she hadn't slept in days. Now that he looked,
he
could see the dark lines around her eyes. "I've been debating things in my
head
for the past four days. Tossing ideas around. But there's a point where your
thoughts just begin to travel in circles, you know. Even if you do have two
perspectives on the same thought. It helps just to say it out loud. It's a
kind
of magic, isn't it? Speaking it makes it real, somehow. Acknowledging it to
another human being. Even one who has no idea what you're talking about."
Tsubasa blinked in confusion. Ukyou didn't seem to be talking to him,
really. She was more addressing the world, and he just happened to be the
only
part of it paying attention.
"Do you know the name of this high school?" she asked suddenly.
"Uh, no?"
"It's Tomobiki," Ukyou pointed out. "I'd heard stories about this place.
Tall tales, really. Stories about aliens and demons and boys with the worst
luck
in the world." She gestured idly down towards the thinning crowd of
students.
"None of them are true. At least, not in this world."
"Ukyou, what do you mean...?" She held up a finger and stalled him.
"But not all the stories are untrue. There are children running around
this city with the power to shatter steel, summon lightning and run like the
wind, literally." Ukyou was saying that as if Tsubasa should be surprised.
"You've met the Sailor Senshi, haven't you?" Tsubasa frowned as he thought
about
them. He nodded, but Ukyou had already started speaking again. "They're
going
to save the world, you know. In the most literal sense of the word. In fact,
there is a lot of that world saving going on. I met a young man the other
day
who can summon fire from his fingertips. He'll save the world, because
that's
what his family does. In America there is an airforce captain named Guile
who's
going to save the world. I haven't met him, but I have seen some of his...
contemporaries about. I even fought one of them to earn some spare cash last
night." Ukyou fingered her arm gingerly. "Lots of people are saving the
world
these days."
Ukyou paused and her voice became bitter.
"I am going to destroy it."
"What?" Tsubasa gasped.
"So everyone keeps telling me." Ukyou reached out and laced her fingers
through the chainlink that surrounded the roof of the school. "Two days ago,
I
went to consult an old gypsy woman. She predicts the future for money, you
see.
I know she's legit. I've seen her guide one of those heroes to the monsters
that
prey on mankind again and again. Not really a world-saving hero, this Ayaka,
but
a hero nonetheless. She fights demons and ghosts for money.
"The gypsy was afraid of me. She recognized me the moment I walked into
the room. She even tried to run away." Ukyou clenched her hand into a fist.
There was an ear-piercing shriek as the metal links crumbled and tore in her
grasp. "I intimidated her into telling me what I wanted to hear. I'm not
proud
of it, but it confirmed what I had already heard from other people."
"What did you hear?" Tsubasa said with a gulp. Ukyou no longer looked
indifferent. Her eyes had narrowed and her icy gaze had intensified. The air
around her had filled with a palpable cold, and Tsubasa found himself
rubbing
his shoulders and shivering. Clouds began to form in front of his lips.
"You don't pay attention, Fungus," Ukyou pointed out idly. "I'm going to
destroy the world. Literally. I am the end of all things, according to every
psychic I have sought out. It's written in the stars. It's in the cards.
It's
even at the bottom of a teacup." Ukyou drew back her hand, tearing more of
the
chainlink free as she did so. "What none of them have been able to tell me
is
why."
"Why?"
"Why I'll do it. I don't want to destroy the world. I don't care about
the world! All I care about is... myself, my friends... Why would I do it?"
Ukyou leapt to her feet, her voice a cold hiss. "It can't have been me.
There's
some mistake. Or there is something out there I'm not aware of. Some series
or
video game come to life that I don't know about yet. Something that can
produce
something so horrific that it will make me want to destroy everything..."
Ukyou
ran a hand through her bangs and her voice and expression returned to
normal.
"But I can't think of anything that bad. No matter who writes the story,
there's
always a happy ending. The hero always triumphs over evil in the end. Unless
Manabe is writing it... but since I detect a significant lack of
anthropomorphs
and nearly naked chicks with swords in this world, I doubt he's involved."
"Manabe?"
"A storyteller." Ukyou looked up. "One of many. I learned a lot about
this world from them. More than I should. It turns out some of the fairy
tales
were true. And I have to learn which ones. I have to figure out what it is
they
do to me, to turn me into what everyone else sees. I have to prevent it. I'm
going to figure out what is wrong and fix it, Fungus."
"Fix it?" Tsubasa had finally heard enough. He stood up, smoothing his
skirt and shaking his head. "Are you even listening to yourself, Ukyou?
You're
not making any sense."
"Only because you don't know the whole-"
"NO!" Tsubasa cut her off angrily. "I think I know what you're talking
about. You're afraid of the future. You've seen it somehow, and it's not
turning
out the way it should. Am I right?" Ukyou nodded mutely, her expression
stunned.
"And you think you're going to fix it? Are you even listening to yourself?
Can't
you hear it in your tone?" Tsubasa stepped away from her. "You think this
all
revolves around you somehow. You see enemies everywhere, and when you don't
see
them, you're making them up." Tsubasa's voice caught. "I remember that day
we
first met. Do you?" Ukyou paused... then slowly shook her head.
"You saved me from the boys at school," Tsubasa reminded her. "They
hated me because of what I am, you see. Everyone I've ever met has. I'm used
to
that. But that doesn't mean it didn't hurt when they caught me outside of a
disguise and beat me bloody. But you stepped in, out of the blue, and drove
them
away." Tsubasa sniffed and rubbed his nose. "I thought you were a guy then.
I
thought you were just protecting me because you didn't know I was, too. I
thought you'd turn on me. But then you showed you knew, that you'd seen
through
my disguise. You even gave me advice that day, on how to look more like a
girl."
Tsubasa reached up and brushed a bothersome tear from the corner of his
eye. "I liked you then. I only fell in love with you later. When I learned
the
truth about you. And learned that you didn't save me because you were like
me.
You saved me because it was just the right thing to do at the time." Tsubasa
couldn't halt the flow of tears anymore. "The boys at school never harassed
me
again, Ukyou. They were afraid of you, I think. But you never tried to... to
FIX
them. You just did the right thing. You didn't expect it to turn out well.
You
just wanted to help me, and wanted nothing in return.
"But you've changed."
Ukyou flinched. Then her expression grew angry and she turned to shout
at him.
"I have not changed!" Ukyou screamed in his face. Even her anger was icy
now. He felt the air about him chill further. "I am the same girl I've
always
been!"
"No, you're not!" Tsubasa shouted back into her face. Ukyou opened her
mouth but Tsubasa spoke first, cutting her off. "You won't shout me down,
Ukyou.
I loved you once and I think you deserve to know this. So I won't let you
intimidate me into stopping. The only way you'll stop me is to attack me.
And
will you do that, Ukyou? Will you break my spine, just because I'm telling
you
the truth?"
That cut the wind out of her sails. The temperature returned to normal
and Tsubasa noted that even the air seemed to have grown brighter. Ukyou
backed
a step away from him.
"I would never attack..." Ukyou trailed off.
"Would you?" Tsubasa shook his head. "Ukyou, I watched you that day you
took Ranma to see his mother. You were -playing- with those people. You
didn't
have to. You just did. Did you want to 'fix' their lives as well? Is that
what
you wanted?" Tsubasa didn't wait for a response. "I've seen you with your
friends. You order them around like a general. You control them. You never
tried
to trick people before like that. Oh, you've always wanted things... but
you're
straightforward about it. And now you want to fix the world. What makes you
think you're going to do a better job with it than you did with Ranma and
his
mother?"
Ukyou's face was as frozen as a statue. The wind rippled her long coat
about her ankles, but otherwise she was a study in stillness.
"I loved you once, Ukyou. But I don't love you anymore. You're not the
person I fell for. This is goodbye, Ukyou. You'll never see me again."
Tsubasa didn't look back as he walked away. He refused to brush the
tears from his cheeks. His makeup was probably ruined, but he didn't care.
It
hurt so much, but it felt so good too. It felt right. He knew his heart
would
always ache for Ukyou, but maybe he had helped her, in his own way.
*
Kusanagi lounged in the tree, impatiently waiting for that little worm
to show his face so he could pound it in.
The TAC milled around below, doing whatever it was they did. It
involved a bunch of cops surrounding the building. Like THEY'D make a
difference. The scientist lady, Matsudaira or whatever, kept checking the
readouts on her equipment, but didn't look concerned, so Kusanagi wasn't
concerned either. At least these guys seemed just as interested in keeping
Momiji alive as he was.
Of course, they might have been more concerned if they could hear the
sounds of battle that he could from inside the faux-fairytale castle.
Normally,
Kusanagi would have been in there taking part in the fun, but that old fart
Kunikida had asked him to wait outside until the target emerged, or they
were
convinced he wouldn't show up.
Kusanagi yawned. He knew the target would show up. Nobody hunting down
mitamas as religiously as this little worm and his friends were would pass
up a
chance for two in the same building.
He perked up a bit as the sounds of combat ceased. That had been quick.
But then, the worm was good enough to give Kusanagi trouble, so that was to
be
expected. He moved from his lounging position to a pre-jump crouch. The
TAC
could handle those two girls they were so interested in. All he really
cared
about was his rematch with the little worm.
And there he was. First the worm, walking out of the building. He
looked exactly the same as Kusanagi remembered, except he was wearing a
jacket
and gloves now. He was rubbing one of his wrists idly. Had he gotten hurt?
All the better.
Behind him were those girls the TAC wanted. Riiiight, he'd forgotten
they were sexy identical twins. They were arguing back and forth in Chinese
over some crap.
And... somebody ELSE stepped out behind them. Kusanagi took a look.
Then he took another look. A nice, looooong look. Man, she was hot. Long,
purple hair delicately framing the face of an angel which was marred only
slightly by the spatters of green blood across her cheek. Her nearly
skin-tight
Chinese pantsuit flattered her figure, and man, it was a figure that
deserved
flattering. Why couldn't Momiji look a little more like that?
She was even carrying a sword. Which was also splattered in green
blood. Whoops. Looked like those twins had gotten ANOTHER flunkie to help
them
hunt down the aragami. She might be trouble-
The floodlights switched on with an electric hiss, transforming the
early morning darkness into blinding light. The three girls shielded their
eyes. The worm didn't even flinch, but he looked surprised.
Kunikida was holding a megaphone to his lips. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" he
commanded, his words punctuated by the clack and clatter of dozens of small
arms
(and one really big arm held by the crazy TAC chick with the pink jumpsuit)
being readied.
Kusanagi didn't feel the need to step in -quite- yet.
The worm paused for a long moment, but didn't raise his hands or
anything. Finally, he spoke. "The TAC. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
The old man lowered the megaphone. "Your actions are in direct violation
of the authority of the Japanese government. You are ordered to surrender
the
mitamas you have collected and come peacefully with us."
One of the twin girls was whispering to the worm. She pointed right at
Kusanagi. That was right, those two could detect mitamas, just like Momiji.
Well, no use hiding now. Kusanagi casually dropped from the tree and strode
forward with his hands in his pockets, his trenchcoat flapping behind him.
The worm smirked a little bit. "I see. However, Mr. Kunikida, it seems
you have a slightly bigger problem, as it appears we are joined by a rogue
known
to hunt aragami outside the authority of the Japanese government, and who is
in
possession of no less than seven mitamas. That would make him three
sevenths
more of a problem than me, wouldn't it?"
"Don't try and change the subject," Kunikida growled. "If you know that
much, you know Kusanagi is working with the TAC."
"No I'm not!" Kusanagi snapped.
"Shut -up-," the old man hissed sideways at him.
"Tsk tsk, Mr. Kunikida, such intellectual dishonesty. If he's 'working
with you', it's only because you choose to ignore his blatant flouting of
the
Japanese government's authority. After all, I don't see his TAC uniform,
nor do
I believe he carries any credentials authorising his actions."
"I've got all the credentials I need right here," Kusanagi informed the
worm, snapping one of his forearm-blades.
The worm spread his hands, smiling broadly. "So, if you can let one
mysterious stranger helping you out slide, why not two?"
The black-haired TAC chick that had the hots for the old fart spoke up,
her tones clipped and businesslike. "An important difference is that
Kusanagi
has been destroying the aragami. His vigilante actions, while not exactly
approved, appear to have no ulterior motives. Your group, on the other
hand,
seem somewhat more suspicious in your actions."
The worm sighed. "I don't suppose a protestation of my innocent
intentions would do, huh?"
"Perhaps we'll give you a chance to explain your intentions, and if we
are satisfied, you might even go free," Kunikida said, rubbing his chin.
"Well, then, let me propose a compromise. If you name a place and time,
Mr. Kunikida, I'll be happy to come speak with you. But given that Kusanagi
already destroyed one of the mitamas before, I'm afraid I would be... how
shall
we say... unwilling to turn those I've collected over to your custody at the
moment."
"That is unacceptable," Kunikida said gravely.
"Does that mean I can beat him up now?" Kusanagi said loudly. "Like,
are you finished blabbing yet? He's not gonna surrender, you know."
The black-haired TAC chick glared at him. "-Some- of us operate within
the bounds of the law. We are required to at least give them a chance to
surrender before we open fire."
The worm began to lean back, opening his mouth to talk to the hot twin
chicks. Though they definitely weren't as hot as that other girl, who
mostly
looked bored and annoyed with all the talking. Kunikida wasn't an idiot,
though, he never took his eyes off the worm. Even as one of the twins
opened
her mouth to respond, the old man brought his hand up sharply.
Kusanagi barely hear the gentle 'phut' of the two snipers firing. The
worm's eyes widened, he spun too fast for a human eyes to follow, his hand
twitched up... and he hesitated, not sure which twin to protect. Just the
slightest fraction of a second, but it was enough. The twins made a slight
exclamation of pain (and then said "over" for some reason) and slapped the
sides
of their necks in perfect synchronisation. One of the twins' eyes widened,
and
she reached towards her waist. She frowned and fumbled with her skirt for a
second, but the tranquilliser was very quick, and before she could do
whatever
it was she was doing, both twins collapsed in a heap.
"Shit!" the worm swore in English. He looked back at the TAC, and there
was none of the relaxed arrogance of his earlier expression. "You sneaky
little
bastards."
"We have to be, when dealing with people as powerful as you," Kunikida
noted with a hint of pride in his tone. "Do you wish to surrender now?"
"Please say no," Kusanagi piped up, cracking his knuckles.
"I think..." the petulant worm said, eyes narrowing, "that you all
should be more concerned with Momiji. She's been kidnapped, and being held
in
this same building. Isn't that your first priority?"
"Oh, Momiji is fine," Matsudaira smiled cheerfully. "We know where she
is, and all her vitals are perfectly normal."
The worm stared at her for a moment, then slapped his forehead. "Oh,
right, you bugged her! I totally forgot about that! No wonder you got here
so
early."
Kunikida exchanged a look with Kusanagi. Kusanagi shrugged. Wasn't his
problem if the TAC had lame-ass security for their plans.
"Take Pink and Link. Go!" the worm barked sharply over his shoulder at
the hot babe. She looked at him, looked down at the unconscious duo, smiled
and
crossed her arms.
"They boss. You no boss," the babe said in heavily accented Japanese.
"Shampoo, you're being annoying," the worm said, his voice a mixture of
annoyance and amusement. He turned back to the TAC, and drew a long strip
of
black cloth out of somewhere. Hey, that looked kinda familiar, somehow.
Where'd Kusanagi seen one of those before...?
"Kusanagi, take him NOW!" Kunikida snapped.
Well, he didn't need to be asked twice. Kusanagi launched himself
forward, his other blade snapping to readiness. The worm wasn't even paying
attention; he was wide open. He was doing something with the cloth - it was
a
ribbon, actually - spinning it around his body. Rose petals, black (?) rose
petals were scattering everywhere. Was that supposed to be some sort of
attack?
Maybe the guy was a little light in the boxers or somethiiiiiiiiing...
Kusanagi slammed his hands over his mouth and nose, crumbling to his
knees as his vision doubled and his balance deserted him. He vaguely noted
the
hot chick collapsing to the ground out of the corner of his eye. A loud
clatter behind him indicated the TAC's rent-a-guns weren't faring much
better.
The worm stepped past Kusanagi as he tried to cough whatever poison it
was out of his lungs. Some of the TAC soldiers were still up, but the worm
was
doing something; a bunch of shouts and thumps. He looked up through teary
eyes
to see the worm snapping the ribbon back into his hands, threading it
between
thumb and forefinger.
Wait a minute. That girl. The one that had been helping out the twins
first. That was HER technique.
He no longer had doubling vision, and the vertigo appeared to be wearing
off somewhat, so Kusanagi began to rise to his feet. He could still win.
The
worm looked down at him, and shook his head. "Damn MADMs," he noted.
"'Madame'? Are you calling me gay or something?" Kusanagi growled.
"Nope." The worm's fingers flashed; something white flew from them.
Kusanagi swore, tried to dodge, but his limbs were still rubbery and he was
at
point blank range. A sharp pain exploded in his chest, immediately followed
by
an eerie numbness which rapidly spread across his body.
Kusanagi toppled forward, his limbs frozen. He wanted to swear, to get
up, to struggle, to rip the worm limb from limb. He even tried
transforming.
But all he managed to do was drool a bit.
Out of the corner of his vision, he could see that goddamn obnoxious
worm picking up one of the girls. Kusanagi rolled his eyes furiously at
him.
Why couldn't he MOVE, goddamnit? The worm walked right past him after he'd
collected all three of his companions, and stopped for only a moment.
"Better
luck next time," he called cheerfully.
Oh, that was IT. No holding back from here on in. No "waiting" for the
TAC to "talk" with the little fucking worm. Next time, he was a dead worm.
*
The soft wood felt cool underneath Ukyou's fingers. It was almost
summer, but in this wood a bit of the winter still lingered. That was the
way of
wood. It echoed. Echoed with the warmth of lost life, and the cold of lost
days.
As her fingers traced a path along the whirls and knots of the floor a fine
trace of white frost formed.
Cold. When had everything become cold?
Ukyou rose to her feet, adjusting the fall of her coat as she did. The
dojo was exactly as she remembered it. A quiet, comtemplative place that
belied
the chaos that existed within this household. It was a good place to
practice
your skills, to focus on the perfection of your own chi. So why had she
spent
the last four days picking fights in dark pits with hundreds of screaming
men on
all sides? She and Aaron knew that fighting would gain them new skill with
their
chi, the focus on the 'wind' and 'void' that Ono had recommended for them.
"Oh my, Ukyou... I didn't even know you were here."
"I'm sorry, I came in uninvited," Aaron said to Kasumi without turning.
He took a deep breath and tried to assure Ukyou that this was for the best.
She
couldn't run away from Akane and Ranma just because she was scared of what
they
would think of her. And he couldn't continue to pretend that running around
tracking down psychics and fighting people in poorly lit-pits surrounded by
hundreds of screaming men was what they needed to do.
"Can I get you something?" Kasumi asked, her voice becoming proper and
controlled again. Ukyou chuckled. Kasumi sounded so sweet and kind. But was
that
all there was to her? Ukyou wasn't so sure anymore. This world, it was alive
in
a way she had somehow forgotten. Hayato, Tsubasa... both had surprised her.
Not
by being strange, but by being human. How badly had she misjudged everyone
around her because she 'knew' about everything Aaron knew?
"Kasumi..." Aaron asked as he turned. "Can I ask you a serious
question?"
"I... suppose," Kasumi agreed with a blink. She was taller than Ukyou,
and wore a modest but attractive dress. She looked so feminine... so
archetypically Japanese, that for a moment Ukyou envied her. Then Ukyou
sighed.
She was not like that, and never could be.
"I want you to tell me what you really think about me, Kasumi." Aaron
continued intently: "Don't hold back because you think you'll hurt my
feelings,
either. I need to know..." If you are really human, too, Aaron didn't
finish.
"I'm not sure what you mean, Ukyou," Kasumi said in surprise.
"Never mind," Aaron waved the question away. "It was just... never mind.
Tell me, where is everyone?"
"Father is in the family room, reading the newspaper," Kasumi replied
brightly. She sounded relieved that Aaron had let up on his previous
question.
And maybe that was proof enough that there were layers underneath her
housewife
persona that Ukyou and he had never guessed at. "Nabiki is gone for the day
again." Here, Kasumi almost frowned. "She's been absent from school the last
few
days. She only comes home at night to pick up supplies and then leaves again
the
next morning. I've no idea where she has gone." Kasumi sounded worried, and
this
caused Aaron to worry. Nabiki had no reason to skip classes at all. It was
something he and Ukyou would have to check into later. Perhaps it was time
to
stop seeing Nabiki as an enemy... "Ranma is off with his mother again,
looking
to track down his father. Akane is, I believe, up in her room studying."
Ukyou suppressed the surge of disappointment. So Ranma wasn't available.
It wasn't just him she had come back to talk to, after all.
"Could you go tell Akane I'd like to speak with her?" Aaron requested as
he strode across the dojo to the pile of mats. He kicked up onto them and
sat
facing the eldest Tendo daughter. She nodded and agreed to his request
before
striding briskly from the room.
Aaron spent the next few minutes mentally preparing himself for what was
to come. Ukyou and he had royally screwed up with Akane. Things had been
said,
and not said, that needed to be addressed. Ukyou didn't like the idea, but
admitted that it needed to be done.
The fact was, Ukyou had really grown to like Akane over the last few
months. She was so... genuine. Akane's friendship was one of the few shining
sparks in what had grown to become a harsh and bitter darkness. Ukyou wasn't
willing to resign herself to the idea that the damage that had been done
between
them was irreparable.
Aaron looked up as the door to the dojo whished open almost soundlessly.
His senses had grown sharper the last few days. He could focus and hear the
rasp
of Akane's breath, and wasn't sure if he was imagining the sound of her
heart
beating. If he wasn't, then the girl was nervous. When she stepped in, her
demeanour almost confirmed Aaron's suspicions.
Akane was dressed in a simple blouse and overall/skirt combo. Her black
eyes focused on Ukyou for a second, then looked away. She began to toy with
one
of the long forelocks that fell in front of her ears. Her forearm was still
covered in the practice weight Ukyou had gotten for her. Aaron smiled. He
wondered for a brief moment if Akane knew how beautiful she was. Then he
noticed
the tiny creature that was sliding around at Akane's feet.
"Akane... is that Hayato's pet octopus?" Ukyou asked slowly. As if to
answer her question the creature slid out from behind Akane's feet and
hissed at
her. Since when could octopi hiss?
"Yes," Akane said with a sigh. "I found him in Hayato's hospital room.
After he disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Ukyou said with a blink.
"Somebody destroyed his room and Hayato vanished. Only little Patoratsyu
here was left. And he hasn't been exactly talking about what happened."
Akane
sounded relieved somehow. Aaron frowned, wondering why. Then it hit him.
Akane
suspected that Ukyou had done something!
"Akane, you can't believe I would do that to Hayato!" Ukyou gasped out.
Then she paused. Why shouldn't Akane believe it?
"I don't know," Akane sighed and walked towards Ukyou. The octopus
followed her, but kept a suspicious eye on Ukyou. "Ukyou, I don't know what
to
believe anymore. Things keep getting more complicated. I wish it could be
like
it was at the beginning..."
"If wishes were fishes..." Aaron chuckled. "Akane... we can deal with
Hayato later. Right now, I came here to talk to you-"
"Did you?" Akane said quickly, cutting Aaron off.
"Hmm?"
"Ukyou... I have to ask you a question."
"Anything, Akane." Aaron nodded. Ukyou didn't like this. This wasn't
right. But Aaron and she had talked about this on the way over. It was time
to
stop hiding and treating these people like pawns on the board that was her
life.
Akane, Ranma... everyone, they were people. They weren't characters in her
drama
or bit players in her story. It was time to start treating them like people.
"Do you love Ranma?"
Ukyou started, stunned by the question and the look in Akane's eyes. She
sounded so sad, almost lost. Her eyes quivered slightly as they stared into
Ukyou's. Aaron opened his mouth to respond, then stopped. It wasn't his
place to
speak about this. He didn't love Ranma.
Ukyou reached up to her heart, placing a palm over it she listened
briefly through Aaron's senses to its steady beat. She thought for a moment
about Ranma. Then she smiled. "Yes, Akane. I love Ranma."
"I knew you did," Akane sighed. She looked away. "I could see it in the
way you looked at him, when you knew he wasn't paying attention."
Ukyou supposed a normal girl would have blushed at this point. But she
wasn't a normal girl. She didn't feel embarrassed or ashamed by her feeling
about Ranma. Even Aaron's distaste for sex had only helped to crystallise
her
feelings. Without tying her emotions to his looks or gender, Ukyou realised
that
she had grown beyond infatuation for Ranma.
"Ukyou..." Akane turned back to her and looked her straight in the eyes
again. "You have all of Aaron's memories, right?" Ukyou felt that feeling of
foreboding returning. But Aaron nodded silently. "You know what is going to
happen... what would have happened to me and Ranma in the future if you
hadn't
shown up, isn't that right?" Now Aaron felt it too. Akane was proving the
point
Tsubasa had rammed into their head this morning. These people weren't pawns.
Still, he nodded again.
"Ukyou... did you want to become my friend just so that I would never
end up engaged to Ranma? Did you want to prevent us from falling in love? Is
that the only reason?" Akane's eyes sparkled now with nascent tears.
Ukyou flinched as if slapped. She opened her mouth to protest. Akane,
I'm your friend. I believe in you. I want to be with you. I want to hear
your
laughter. I want to share your pain. I want to make your life better. I've
grown
to care more about you than I ever would have imagined possible. Not a day
goes
by that I don't wonder how you are. Not a sleepless night has passed in the
last
four days that I have not wanted to call you up and say I'm sorry. I can't
imagine a world where I don't get to see you smile. That's what she wanted
to
say. But she couldn't. Because that wasn't what Akane had asked.
"Yes," Aaron answered for her. His voice was cold. "I manipulated your
friendship to bring me closer to Ranma and cut you out of his life." Aaron
paused. "And I'd do it again, if I had it to do all over."
This time it was Akane who reeled back. Now she was crying. Ukyou lifted
up her hand to comfort her, but realized what cold comfort her words wold be
now.
"You... really did... just manipulate me?"
"Yes," Ukyou admitted. Her voice too was cold. But not because she
didn't care. Because if she allowed her emotions to show in her voice she
would
break down. "Akane... I'm sorry."
"Sorry you did it, or sorry you got caught?" Akane shouted. Now she was
angry. She wiped the tears off with the back of her wrist. Ukyou just looked
down, unable to respond to that. Her silence was all the answer Akane
needed.
Aaron's newly heightened senses heard her storm out of the room. The
dojo door slammed shut in her wake. Akane was sobbing, her heart racing as
she
fled across the covered walkway into her home. Aaron wanted to get up and
follow
her. He wanted to explain that there was more to it than that. He felt like
the
hero of a bad teen romance now. Watching the tragedy unfolding, but unable
to
say the few simple words that would make it all right.
Why? Why couldn't he just get up and explain what he and Ukyou really
thought about Akane?
Unable to answer that question, Ukyou finally picked them up and walked
out of the dojo. They had one more confrontation today. Then... maybe then
she
could see if she could help Nabiki, and Hayato. Or at least, she could make
sure
that things didn't get worse.
*
"My Queen... You summoned me?"
"Yes, Zoicite," Queen Beryl hissed sharply from behind her crystal
globe. As always, she was tracing her fingers slowly through the air about
the
orb, tapping into some sort of arcane commands that Zoicite could not as yet
comprehend. "I wanted you to report to me on the status of your search for
the
Ginzuishou."
"Ah..." Zoicite had enough self control to keep from gulping and
sweating. That did not mean he wasn't nervous. "You can be certain I
understand
the urgency of your request, My Queen. However..."
"In other words, you still haven't found it," Beryl hissed dangerously.
Zoicite resisted the urge to talk further. Beryl was in one of her moods,
and
inviting further pain would be foolhardy. "Zoicite, you know how important
discovering that crystal is to us. With Nephrite gathering large amounts of
energy, we need the crystal soon. Without it, all the energy in the world
can
not serve to revive Empress Metallia. I can not afford to fall behind
schedule
with her resurrection!"
Zoicite winced as Beryl's voice reached a particulary shrill note. "Yes,
my queen. It is only that I can seem to find no trace of the Silver
Crystal."
"I will not suffer your excuses, Zoicite!" Beryl screeched. "You must
succeed. If you do not... I will have to find someone more capable of
succeeding."
Zoicite let that ominous statement hang in the air. He felt a drop of
sweat drip from his armpit and run along the inside of his uniform. So far,
Beryl had not raised a hand to harm him or pronounced some other form of
punishment, but neither had she ordered him out of her presence. With
nothing
better to do Zoicite knelt before her, his face on the flagstones of the
dark
cavern Beryl used as a throne room.
"But I have decided you deserve another chance," Beryl informed Zoicite,
her voice having calmed much in the long silence that had passed between
them.
"I shall deliver the energy Nephrite has gathered for her this evening. When
I
do, I will ask her for some clue that can help you in your search."
Zoicite ground his teeth. Nephrite. That damnable man had become Beryl's
pet ever since he had taken over Jadeite's old job. It almost made Zoicite
wish
he had lent more support to the dead fool, so that he would be alive now to
continue to keep the heat off him!
"My queen... before you dismiss me," Zoicite stood up slowly. "I do have
some interesting news to report."
"Oh?" Beryl raised a dark red eyebrow. Her voice, however, was
incurious.
"While I have been searching for the Ginzuishou, I have begun to
discover some strange things..." Zoicite looked up and locked eyes with his
queen. It was an audacious manouvre. Such direct looks could be considered a
challenge. But Zoicite was nothing if not audacious. "For instance, did you
know
that there are far more monsters in this world than we first thought?"
"Monsters?"
"Yes..." Zoicite raised his delicate white-gloved hand and snapped his
fingers. A cyclone of pink rose petals sprang into being behind him. "When
we
first managed to breach the seal on our prison, we had thought that all the
youma and monsters of the solar system had been sealed away behind Queen
Serenity's magic." Beryl nodded, though her eyes had flashed with anger at
the
mention of her old nemesis. "But I have seen things out there across the
world."
Zoicite snapped his fingers again and an image formed amidst the blossoms.
It
was a tall regal man, with pale skin, short spiky hair and dangerous red
eyes.
"This is a creature called a... vampire. He has used his power to block out
the
sun over a small portion of this world. And there are others." Zoicite
snapped
his fingers again. This time a picture formed of a large, ape-like creature
with
a bat-like face. It was facing off against a quartet of girls in skimpy
sailor
suits. "For instance, I have discovered why the Sailor Senshi have not been
opposing Nephrite. They seem to be busy fighting some other form of monster
that
appear to be transformed humans-"
"Why should I care about any of this?" Beryl asked sharply, cutting
Zoicite off. Zoicite managed not to wince, but he lost enough concentration
that
his illusion faded away. "Whatever monsters have risen in this world without
the
Moon Kingdom to police it, they will be like chaff before the scythe that is
Metallia! None of them matter, once she can unleash her might."
"Yes..." Zoicite coughed into his fist. "But... I think that this may be
the key to Nephrite's success."
"What?"
"These creatures just happen to conveniently show up as soon as Nephrite
takes over Jadeite's duty? Not to mention how Jadeite was killed by humans
with
powers we little understand... but these same humans have not so much as
shown
up to bother Nephrite."
"What are you saying, Zoicite?"
"Nothing, my Queen." Zoicite bowed. "But I just find it strange.
Nephrite claims that his method of attack is to locate beings with the
highest
potential energy and release it, then gather the total. It just seems
strange to
me that he would focus on normal humans, when there are beings like those
martial artists or monsters like that vampire out there. Why would he aim so
low?"
Beryl had nothing to say to that. But her eyes had narrowed dangerously.
It was impossible to tell if she was annoyed with Zoicite for raising this
topic, or Nephrite for the implied sins Zoicite was laying at her feet. It
was
time to sweeten the bait a little.
"I would never think to suggest that Nephrite were incompetent, my
Queen. In fact, he is very intelligent and capable. He has always been the
most
independent-minded of your generals, as you know. He is quite capable of
running
his own affairs well, and in fact has often expressed to me a desire to
improve
the organization of our own forces... pending your approval, of course."
Zoicite
resisted the urge to smile. Beryl's hands had stopped their constant motion.
"I
just would like to know what sort of arrangement Nephrite has with these
other
powers that exist. Certainly, he must have some contact with them, for
these
monster that aren't youma to be so occupying our former enemies. Perhaps he
even
plans on bringing them here, to swell our own ranks for the coming war? If
so,
he has been doing so in private... I have heard nothing of this plan. I only
mention this because if he has, then I am sure you would know and could
direct
me to their positions. Perhaps one of them can aid me in the search for the
Silver Crystal."
Zoicite bowed, mainly to hide his grin. He heard Beryl clear her throat.
"You are dismissed, Zoicite."
Zoicite nodded and stood up, getting one good look at Beryl's dark
expression before vanishing into a swirl of rose petals. He materialized in
his
own chambers a fraction of a second later. Unable to resist the urge, he
rose
his fingers to his lips and laughed softly to himself.
"You play a dangerous game, Zoicite."
Zoicite turned with a wicked smile and addressed his paramour. "Oh,
don't worry about me, Kunzite." He strutted over to the tall general and ran
a
finger through his long, platinum-blonde hair. "Beryl will not destroy
Nephrite
on the strength of my rumors and innuendo."
"Still..." Kunzite gathered Zoicite into his arms and the smaller
general lay his head against the larger's chest, listening to the soothing
sound
of his heartbeat. "Remember that we are all on the same side. Nephrite is
succeeding where Jadeite failed. Every mote of energy he brings us brings us
closer to our ultimate goal."
Zoicite frowned. Kunzite was beautiful, powerful and excellent in bed,
but he could be such a stick in the mud when he put his mind to it. "Oh
don't
worry so much. I needed to draw some heat off myself. Nephrite is just so
prominent now that he makes a good target."
Kunzite began to run his hand along Zoicite's back. "I understand. And I
too find his recent smugness a little annoying. I think he is beginning to
forget which of us is the stronger." Zoicite nodded. "But you have a youma
keeping an eye on him, and until he actually makes a move that could be seen
as
treason, I suggest not trying to undermine his position. He is high in the
Queen's esteem, and you do not want him as your enemy now."
"You would protect me..." Zoicite murmured into Kunzite's chest.
"Yes..." Kunzite lifted up the smaller general's chin and kissed him
gently on the lips. "Always."
*
"Crescent Beam!"
The thin line of light traced a path across the warehouse. It punched
through three of the shambling creatures in a row. They moaned, barely
acknowledging the smoking hole in their chests. They managed to take three,
maybe four more steps before a wave of golden light exploded out from the
hole,
washing over their bodies and leaving nothing behind but a fine ash. Just
like
the last ten.
"And hopefully the next... oh, three hundred or so," Minako muttered to
herself in disgust as she ducked back behind the crates. The tarps
protecting
the huge wooden boxes rustled as she pressed against them. She heard the
distant
drip of water, leakage from the rain outside. But under all of it was the
constant sound of the things. Their feet shuffled across the floor. Their
hungry
voices moaned wordlessly. Their dessicated claws scrambled and raked across
anything they came across.
Minako wasn't used to this kind of fight. Ever since she had donned the
mask of Sailor V, champion of justice and fashion sense, she had spent her
time
dealing with two type of foes. Either they were common criminals, terrorists
and
mobsters... or they were the youma monsters of the Dark Agency.
"Artemis is so getting an earful about this when I get back home," she
muttered as she leapt up onto another pile of crates. A quartet of zombies
had
just turned the corner, and even with her enhanced speed and strength,
Minako
did not fancy getting into close quarters combat with those things. For one
thing, they were strong and deadly. More importantly, they were disgusting.
Their skin was the color of rotten fruit, and was wrinkled and pulled taut
across their skulls. They wore the clothes they had died in, many showing
signs
of their violent deaths.
Truth be told, despite how much she protested about it, Minako had
really grown to like being Sailor V. She was a heroine, adored by the people
at
large and at the same time saving those who couldn't save themselves. What
little girl didn't want to feel like a magic princess, able to deal with
evil
using her pure heart? But the evil she was used to was nothing like this.
She
stretched forth a finger, aiming carefully. It took two shots, but all of
the
monsters were disintegrated by the energy of her Crescent Beam.
This was mopping up. Whatever evil had befallen these poor people,
Minako was too late to stop it. All she could do was lay their poor souls to
rest. That didn't sit well in her stomach. She should be able to save
people.
She was a champion, not a soldier. This was heroism, not war. Wasn't it?
"They just keep coming," Minako moaned as she adjusted her glasses. They
may have looked like an ostentatious opera mask, but they had the power to
see
far away things and also reveal the true form of her enemies. Through them
she
saw another ten of the creepy dead guys wander into the building. "Just what
are
they, anyway?"
"They are called ghouls."
Minako didn't shriek, even though every instinct she had was telling her
to. Whoever had just said that, they had the creepiest voice she had ever
heard.
It was smooth, like velvet... no, smooth like blood. It trickled into your
ears,
and flowed into your mind, drowning out all other thought. She turned
slowly,
trying to hide her fear.
The man who was sitting there was no less intimidating then his voice.
He was tall, and rapier-thin. Even though he was lounging idly on the edge
of
the stack of crates Minako had ascended to, his very presence screamed
violence.
A wide brimmed red hat was perched jauntily atop his head and thick,
lustrous
curls of black hair flowed out from under it. His pale face was thin, and
his
eyes were hidden behind a pair of mirrored sunglasses. She couldn't make out
much of his body, because he wore a thick red leather trenchcoat that
flapped
and snapped about him like a living thing, barely restrained from striking
out
at her.
"They're the product of inferior vampires. Barely stronger than humans,
but much harder to kill. Normally they perish when their master does, but
this
type seems remarkably resilient to that." He stretched out a hand, and
Minako
gasped. He was carrying a Gun, a capital-G gun. It was silver and huge, at
least
as long as her forearm. He idly aimed it and there was a deafening
concussion as
the weapon fired. Minako barely followed the path of the bullet, saw it
smash
through a crate across the warehouse and into the cluster of ghouls on the
other
side of it. The ghouls exploded. This wasn't the clean death of her own
magic,
but far more violent and bloody. "Still, they are just ghouls. You, now...
you
are something new. I have never heard of a you before. And I've heard of
most
things."
He was looking at her, and although she couldn't see his eyes, she
couldn't help but feel like he was staring right through her flesh and into
her
soul. Minako backed up a step.
"I am Sailor V, the champion of justice," she declared once she was sure
her voice wouldn't shake.
"So the papers tell me." The man tipped back the brim of his hat with
the barrel of his gun. "But I am not interested in the who you are. I am
interested in the what you are."
"Why should I answer your questions?" Minako shouted. Her initial fear
was beginning to wear off. And while she still felt like a rabbit sitting in
the
shadow of the wolf, she was Sailor V, damnit! She wouldn't be scared of this
guy!
"A valid point." The man flowed to his feet. Minako had underestimated
how tall he was. "My name is Alucard. I am... a hunter of the things that
hunt
mankind. Call my interest... professional curiosity."
"A hunter of... some sort of champion, like me?" Minako frowned. There
was no way this guy was a hero. Not with the bad news vibes he was giving
off.
"Yeah right, and next thing you'll want to sell me the docks over Madison
County." Wait, was it 'docks' or something else? Not important.
Alucard quirked his head to the side. "Excuse me?"
While he was distracted, Minako reached up and touched her glasses. She
wanted to see what this guy's true form was. If he was human then maybe
she'd...
"MY GOD!" Minako fell backward and scrambled away from the horror.
"Hmmm? What is it? Are my fangs showing?" the monster before her took a
step forward. It wasn't a man. It was a cloud, a cloud of eyes and teeth and
crawling insects. Ten times ten million eyes stared unblinkingly at her, all
around her, from all sides. There was no escaping those eyes.
"Get away from me!" Minako held her hands before her. Normally she would
have called on her Crescent Beam, but somehow she sensed, she knew that
wouldn't
be enough. No single beam of light would shine brightly in that darkness.
Her
hands quivered. "What are you? What kind of monster are you?"
"The worst kind," the man-creature said with the same care you would
describe your shirt.
Minako reached down, towards her heart. She had to find the power to
fight this thing. It was inside her, she had to believe that.
"You are frightened, champion of justice?" the horror took another step
forward. She sensed more than saw a hand reaching out from the darkness.
"Don't
worry, I am under strict orders not to kill you. At least, not permanently."
It
paused dramatically. "Tell me... 'Sailor V', was it? Are you... a virgin?"
Even as he said it, the power of her glasses faded and she saw once
again the man standing over her. Her heart skipped a beat. Somehow, she felt
even more in danger now than when she had seen his true form. She reached
her
hand up to her heart and clenched it into a fist. She sensed a slumbering
force
there, greater than her current power. It was waiting... waiting for a
threat
grave enough to need it. Well... she needed it now!
"LOVE..." she stretched out her palm and suddenly a floating golden
heart appeared rotating over her palm. Alucard shaded his eyes. "AND
BEAUTY..."
Minako rolled backward, spinning her arm in a cirle and drawing a line of
golden
hearts in the air. As she completed her retreat the golden hearts cascaded
into
each other, becoming a brilliant orb of light. Alucard began to smile.
"Yes... let's see what you can do, champion of justice..."
"SHOCK!"
Minako thrust her hand forward, pouring all her desperation and courage
into a single strike. The blazing golden ball shot from her hand like a
miniature sun. Alucard threw his arms wide and began to laugh. He wasn't
even
trying to dodge it! The world erupted in a blaze of light when the orb
struck
and Minako was forced to shield her eyes.
"That was most entertaining!"
Minako's eyes snapped open. He was still alive? Sure enough, the monster
in the shape of a man was standing at the edge of the crate. He was
chuckling,
completely uncaring of the basketball-sized hole where his heart used to be.
"In fact..." Alucard stepped forward, but his voice seemed groggy now.
"That was quite a bit more entertaining..." He fell forward onto one knee,
the
tarp bending beneath his weight. "Than I-"
Alucard's voice cut off as he slumped to the side. Minako lowered her
shaking hands. She had won?
"Master!"
Minako snapped her eyes up as a new person entered the scene. The first
thing Minako noted was that she was female. Her skin-tight police uniform
and
envy-inducing attributes left that fact abundantly clear. The next thing
Minako
noted was that the girl was armed with a rifle that was almost as large as
she
was. The third thing Minako noted was that she had red eyes and fangs.
"Another one?" Minako activated her glasses again... but they only
showed the same young woman. She turned them off before she had to watch her
cradle the form of Alucard protectively in both hands. Minako had once heard
that there were some images that could drive men mad, and wasn't willing to
test
how close Alucard's true form was to those images.
"Master... wake up..." The police girl didn't seem to have noticed
Minako yet. She looked desperate and sad. As Minako began to watch her
struggle
with the body, she even began to cry. They were tears of blood. "This is
nothing, Master! Regrow, transform... you know you can... I know you aren't
dead..."
Minako wanted to say something. But she heard shouts and gunfire from
below now. She looked down. Men in uniforms with automatic weapons were
streaming into the warehouse, mowing down the ghouls with military
efficiency.
Minako's eagle eyes caught the insignia on their uniforms. It was the same
as
that of the young woman cradling Alucard.
For the first time since she had seen him, Minako began to wonder if
attacking Alucard had been the right thing to do. She saw the girl look up
at
her. Their eyes met.
"I'm... I'm sorry?" Minako breathed. Then she leapt away. The girl
didn't follow.
*
The cafe was full of the scent of cigarettes and the tiny noises of idle
conversation. Kusanagi wrinkled his nose at the scent. Sometimes his
enhanced
senses worked against him. Still, he was able to pick out the old man
quickly
enough. He was hunched over his table, reading a newspaper and sipping on
some
tea. The table he was in was near the back. Kusanagi shrugged, adjusting his
coat, and strode over to him.
"Yo, old man. I'm here."
Kunikida looked up over the rim of his paper. His expression was
intense, with narrow eyes and furrows gracing his brow. Even his wart seemed
intense somehow.
"Kusanagi. I'm glad you could make it."
"Momiji told me to meet you. Said you had something urgent to talk
about?"
"Yes." The old man stood up, dropping some bills on the table. "But not
here. The walls have ears, you know." Kusanagi raised a set of eyebrows.
"Walk
with me, would you?"
Kusanagi shrugged and followed the old man out of the cafe. The streets
outside were close to deserted. The wind today was warm and soft. Kusanagi
looked up at the bright yellow sun. Summer. The world was filled with the
promise of summer now. It would only be a few more days. Well, not by human
reckoning. But Kusanagi could feel a much older calendar moving, even in
places
like this, where men had sealed the earth beneath cement and chemicals.
"Are we being followed?" Kunikida asked after they had walked a few
blocks. Kusanagi glanced at him, about to make some comment about how
paranoia
must have crept up on him in his old age, but the look on the old man's face
told Kusanagi this was no laughing matter.
"No, we're not," Kusanagi answered after taking a few minutes to
casually glance around the streets they were traveling.
"Good. Listen, Kusanagi. I barely know you, but I feel as if I do."
"What are you talking about?"
"Kaede..."
Kusanagi glanced at him sharply. The old man would raise that specter.
Just the mention of her name was enough to fill his heart with bittersweet
memories.
"You loved her, didn't you. By the end, I mean? It wasn't just a job for
you anymore."
"I..." Kusanagi growled and slapped his hand against the wall, barring
the old man from walking any farther. "What makes you think I want to talk
to
you about this?"
Kunikida was not intimidated. His gaze was level as he stared into
Kusanagi's eyes. "I wanted to know the truth, Kusanagi. From your mouth. I
need
to know if I can trust you."
"Trust me?" Kusanagi pulled his arm back, flecks of broken concrete
falling away from the handprint he had left in the wall. "Why should I care
if
you trust me?"
"Because I need you to protect Momiji," Kunikida told him softly.
Kusanagi blinked, unsure how to react to the sadness in the old man's
voice.
"What are you talking about?"
Kunikida didn't answer right away, instead he began to walk away down
the lane. The old man's trenchcoat rippled and flicked at his ankles, his
hands
having been swallowed by his pockets. He was hunched over like this was the
middle of winter. Kusanagi took a few seconds to catch up to him.
"I don't think I can trust anyone else," Kunikida started explaining
without prompting. "Don't get me wrong, I trust all my own people without
hesitation. I hand-picked them. But they won't be enough."
"Enough?" Kusanagi chuckled. "Come on, old man, you're beginning to
worry me..." Kusanagi had never really trusted the TAC. At least not to do
anything right. But over the last few weeks, he had begun to see that they
were
decent enough people... for humans.
"Last night I was visited by some people from the government. They had
all the right papers and IDs. They confiscated copies of all of my files."
Kunikida paused. "All of them. Everything we had about the Aragami, the
Kushinada project, even the files we started on those mitama thieves."
Kusanagi
grunted at the mention of them.
"So... those aragami that were posing as members of your government are
dead now, aren't they? They were killed by those thieves." Kusanagi still
felt
sore about that. Sure, things had worked out well enough. Both Momiji and
the
little girl had survived without harm, and the aragami had been killed. Or,
more
accurately, they had been taken.
"I don't think that this was the aragami," Kunikida said softly. "The
information they wanted... it was information that the aragami would have
already had. No, I think someone else is poking their nose into our affairs.
Someone with the political clout to do basically anything they want. I tried
to
track them down with my contacts on the inside, but all my leads dried up...
or
vanished when they asked too many questions."
"Vanished?" Kusanagi said, frowning.
"I don't like this. I smell something dangerous," Kunikida said while
tapping his nose with one finger. "That's why I need to know... did you love
Kaede?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Kusanagi growled out. He
didn't like to think about Kaede. It hurt too much to think about Kaede.
"Because if you do, then we have something in common," Kunikida
announced. "I loved Kaede. She was like a daughter to me. Losing her that
night... I still can't sleep at night because I dream about her. I won't
lose
Momiji like we lost Kaede. It's not fair to either of these girls, just
because
they were born the Kushinada, that they have to die."
Kusanagi remained silent as Kunikida turned to face him.
"Will you do it? Protect Momiji, if I'm not able to? Will you do it for
the memories of Kaede?"
"Yes..." Kusanagi said thickly.
"Take this then," Kunikida reached out and handed Kusanagi a small
silver box. "It's a beeper. Don't worry, I don't plan on tracking you with
it.
But if you ever hear it go off, then things have gone down. If you hear it,
I
want you to come as quickly as you can and take Momiji away. Somewhere safe.
Out of Japan if you have to."
"I... okay." Kusanagi took the device and slipped it into one of his
interior pockets.
"But if I do call you, you can't trust anyone. No one in Japan. Not
anyone abroad either. The Americans have been acting oddly lately. They've
stopped asking us for reports about the aragami incidents. The Chinese are
behaving strangely as well... everyone seems to be caught up in this."
Kunikida
turned and began to walk away. "Those martial artists out there... they're
nothing compared to what I sense is on the horizon. I think there are
monsters
worse than the aragami in this world, Kusanagi. Monsters that won't hesitate
to
kill Momiji if they think it will eliminate the competition." He drew a
breath.
"Protect her."
Kusanagi nodded, even if Kunikida couldn't see it. He watched the old
man disappear around the corner. His hand reached into his coat and pulled
out
the beeper he had been given. Kusanagi knew the old man better than he knew
just
about any other human being, except Kaede... He had seen him raise the blue-
haired girl from an infant. He knew that Kunikida never worried without
reason.
"Worse monsters?" Kusanagi grinned. "I don't believe they know just how
bad I can get. But if you're right, old man, I guess I'll get to show them."
*
Pink stroked the mitama softly. It felt warm to her touch, and she
imagined that she could feel the life welling inside. It was definitely
something... special. But if it was trying to talk with her, she couldn't
hear
it.
Both her sister and Chris had been surprised when Pink insisted that she
get the latest two mitamas. But it was only fair, since Link had gotten two
beforehand: one from the jellyfish-creature on the boat, the second from the
aragami they had tracked down and slain in the sewer. Of course, up until
today, Pink hadn't shown that much interest in the mitamas.
That last fight had changed her mind about them. She had watched,
fascinated, as the two government bureaucrats had transformed into monsters
before being efficiently cut down by Chris and Shampoo. They had been
different
from the earlier monsters, for they wore the bodies of humans. What had
they
been originally: human, or aragami? Chris said the mitamas couldn't
possibly
control human-level minds, so it suggested those two had been willing
collaborators who received power in exchange for helping the plant
creatures.
Power, indeed. Though they had stood no chance against Chris and
Shampoo, those men-turned-monsters had clearly been more than human. As
well,
she remembered that other: that man, Kusanagi. He had been strong; strong
enough to fight toe to toe with Chris, and he had those mitamas implanted in
him. Seven of them, Chris had said, supporting what Pink and her sister had
sensed.
Could anyone unlock that sort of power? Pink smiled in anticipation.
There didn't seem to be any reason why not. Ordinary humans, with the power
of
these mitamas, had a shortcut to the sort of power that Shampoo had, and
more.
Of course, Pink and her sister were far from ordinary. And the mitamas
were, at
some level, still plants. There was no plant in the world they couldn't
improve. All it would take was time to unlock the mitamas' secrets. And
they
had plenty of that.
She looked up, intending to draw her sister aside for some experiments
on their new acquisitions. Link was there, of course, tending to her tiny
herb
garden on the windowsill. Pink almost opened her mouth to call out to her,
but
something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and without
knowing
quite why, she looked in that direction instead.
Shampoo was lounging on the other side of the room, reading a magazine.
That wasn't unusual - well, aside from the surprise of seeing that imbecile
actually READING anything - but something about the scene seemed odd. After
a
moment, Pink realised what it was: the magazine was Japanese. Shampoo
didn't
know that language, as she'd made abundantly clear. But she was squinting
at
the pages, as if trying to make them out. As Pink watched, the
purple-haired
girl brought something up to her eye, looked through it at the pages before
her,
then put it down again and resumed squinting.
What was that?
Shampoo had noticed Pink staring; she put down the magazine, looked at
her warily. As always, Pink felt a mixed thrill of fear and joy at seeing
her
hated nemesis this close, knowing Shampoo would kill them at any
opportunity,
but also secure in the knowledge she could not. Pink loved pushing at that,
giving her needless little orders, shivering in thrilled delight as the
hatred
grew in Shampoo's eyes even as the girl obediently performed whatever
degrading
task was required of her. But, for now, Pink pushed that feeling aside,
standing up and walking to her servant. The mysterious object was still
hidden
in Shampoo's hand. "What are you doing, Shampoo, over?"
Shampoo's eyes were flat. "Reading," she answered shortly.
"I see," Pink nodded. She let her gaze travel downwards. "And what are
you holding in your hand, over?" Link was looking at them now, but said
nothing.
Shampoo's hands twitched, but her face remained calm. "It's none of
your... it's nothing important," she amended. "Just a trinket from home."
Pink's smiled widened. She knew that the Joketsuzoku had more than a
few 'trinkets' of great power; tales of some of them were legendary, and
added
to the warrior women's village feared reputation. "It was helping you read
that, wasn't it, over?"
Shampoo licked her lips, casting her eyes around. But the meddling old
woman wasn't there to intervene: she and Chris were out on the roof, having
one
of their talks. Even so, the ever-so-slight appeal for help caused Pink's
soul
to sing with joy. She was right. That WAS what it was. It had to be.
A moment later, Shampoo reluctantly confirmed her hopes. "Yes."
"Let me see it, over." Shampoo's face was still calm, but her eyes
blazed with hate as she handed over the 'trinket'.
In fact, it did sort of look like a trinket. It was a small loop of
highly polished black stone; bigger than a ring, perhaps about as big as a
large hoop earring. Examining it, Pink saw that it was in fact two loops of
stone, joined together by some unknown mechanism. The two loops were stuck
as
solidly together as if welded, but as Pink touched it, she found she could
rotate the front one without severing the connection. Chinese characters
were
inscribed on the back hoop at intervals: English, Japanese, Spanish, and
other
names of languages.
Link had come to them now, and she was looking at the item, but her
expression was a perplexed frown. Didn't she realise? Pink felt like
laughing.
She looked at Shampoo. "Tell me how it works, over."
Shampoo stood up. "I don't know. I'll go get great-grandmother to tell
you."
"Stay right there," Pink purred. No chance she'd let Shampoo go fetch
that annoying old woman to take back their village treasure. "You may not
know
how it was created, but you know how to use it. Tell me. That's an order,
over."
Shampoo sat down again slowly. "It's the Stone of Acclimation," she
explained reluctantly. "A device to help travellers from our village in the
outside world. Twist it to align with what language you desire, and when
spoken
through, it can translate your words... to a certain extent. It's more a
learning tool than anything."
"And?" Pink prompted. "How were you reading with it, over?"
"Put it to your eye, look through, and it will seem to cause any writing
to become Chinese."
Pink grinned. "Any writing? It doesn't need to be Japanese?" Shampoo
shook her head. "Excellent. Stay put, then, Shampoo. I'm going to borrow
this
for a little while, over."
"What is it that's so important, Pink?" Link asked her. "You're way too
pleased about this to be just taking away Shampoo's toy, over."
"Of course I am," Pink responded. "Don't you remember, Link? Our dead
friend keeps that extensive library of journals with him, over."
Link's eyes lit up, and she looked over at the small pile of Chris's
possessions in the corner of the room. As the dead man didn't sleep, he
hadn't
bothered to occupy one of the bedrooms. "Of course. Now we can read them,
over."
"Now -I- can," Pink said smoothly. "Link, you're going to have to make
sure to keep him away until I can look through these, over."
Link's good cheer fell away extremely quickly. "Me? I don't want to
talk to him. You do it, and I'll read the journals, over."
"Now now, sister, that doesn't make any sense, over," Pink chided.
"He's talking with the old woman now. Wait until he comes back in and keep
him
busy as long as possible." She held up a finger to stifle Link's protest.
"It
has to be you. If I do it, he'll know we're up to something and
investigate.
But he trusts you. If you go talk to him, he won't dare to offend you,
over."
Link obviously wanted to protest, but couldn't. She knew it was true.
Chris wanted them, especially Link, to like him. It was one of his
weaknesses.
"All right," Link finally said. "But what am I supposed to talk to him
about,
over?"
Pink shrugged. "Whatever you want," she said cheerfully. "He'll
listen. Tell him you hate him less now that he's gotten us mitamas, over."
Link frowned. "I'd rather not say that, over."
"Then think of something else. That's your job, over."
Her sister nodded and strode out of the room. She'd do her best. She
might not like Chris, but that only meant she would want to know his secrets
as
much as Pink. Knowledge, after all, was another form of power.
Pink moved towards the large backpack in the corner. She kept an eye on
Shampoo; but true to the letter of her order, Shampoo was staying put. Pink
resisted the urge to giggle with glee at this chance which had fallen into
her
lap. She'd wondered, so much, about what Chris could possibly be writing in
those journals so much about. Well, now she'd find-
She froze as she touched the bag. A metallic clank? Damn! She'd
forgotten about that Jyusenkyou water the dead man had also been carrying.
Jyusenkyou... Pink shuddered. Even for this, even for power, she wasn't
sure if
she'd risk sticking her hand in that bag.
Fortunately, she didn't have to. Reaffixing her grin, she turned and
beckoned Shampoo over. After all, what were servants for?
*
Chris leaned against the balcony, staring up into the starry night sky
of Tokyo. Ahhh, that anime starry sky of Tokyo. He was pretty sure the
real
one wouldn't be quite so... vivid. But then, maybe it was. How would he
know?
He'd never been to the real world's Tokyo. Or maybe dead people could see
through smog. Or maybe Sailor Moon had cleaned up all the city's pollution
in-
between episodes. Though that wouldn't really explain why he could see
stars in
the backdrop of one of the most brightly-lit cities in the world.
Cologne was gone; off to see Ranma, or so she said. His talk with her
had been, once again, a little disappointing. Really, she didn't know that
much
about the Musk or Phoenix that she hadn't revealed in the manga; they WERE
legends to her, and not much more. She knew even less - essentially zilch -
about any other legendary things he knew to exist. Not even a tale of the
long-
lost matriarchal Moon Kingdom.
The old bat had sure picked HIS brain with enthusiasm, though. Not that
that was a problem. Talking about Ranma, and Sailor Moon, and Blue Seed and
Street Fighter and so forth helped gel their plotlines and detailings in his
brain, and also jarred a few factoids to the surface that he'd forgotten up
until now. Such as the fact that one of Bison's supersoldierette "dolls"
was in
Japan somewhere (or at least was FROM Japan, making it a reasonable
assumption).
He wondered what she was doing; what the whole Street Fighter plotline was
doing, in fact. Probably being troublesome to somebody.
His arm itched. He swore under his breath and scratched at it. Talking
with Cologne, he'd been able to forget about the constant irritation, but
now it
was back with a vengeance. Taking off the jacket he now wore constantly, he
looked at it, his nose wrinkling in distaste.
It wasn't exactly zombified rotting-flesh-falling-off-the-bones, or
anything like that. But even a casual viewer would have noticed something
very
wrong with the deathly pale skin that was dotted with sores and the
splotches
characteristic of congealed blood. Even more unusual, when compared with
the
still-fairly-pristine shape of the rest of Sentarou's body. Or was it
pristine?
It was so hard to tell until the outward signs happened; he only knew the
feeling, the RELIEF he'd had other times he'd entered a fresh body and only
then
realised how horribly hollow and... liquid the previous one had been.
But it wasn't itching. Only the arm was. He remembered when he'd
fought that super-aragami, throwing the baton, that strange jolt that had
run up
that arm, and the spectacular results it had had. That had to be what had
done
this. But what, precisely, had he DONE?
"So that's why you're wearing that. I should have guessed, over."
He supposed, for someone else, it might have been hard to tell the
difference between Pink and Link, especially without even looking them in
the
face. But he could hear the distaste, the veiled (and sometimes
not-so-veiled)
hate in every word Link spoke to him. "What would you like?" he said with a
sigh.
"Well... in fact, I suppose I want to talk to you about that, over."
She walked up to the railing, and pointed at his arm. "You should come to
the
lab with me, over."
Chris raised an eyebrow. He'd almost forgotten that, technically, Pink
and Link were supposed to be looking for a way to help his condition. Had
she
actually stumbled onto something? Hard to believe... but she must have
found
out SOMETHING, to seek out his company. So... "Lead on, then."
The "lab" was not so much an actual laboratory as another condo Chris
had purchased with Kodachi's trust fund (and other inheritance-type monies).
Like their dwelling, it was on the top floor; more convienient, and he
didn't
really want it TOO far away lest Pink do anything uns-ensible to the other
residents. Link was apparently in a hurry; not bothering to go through
their
dwelling and down the hall, she simply hopped from balcony to balcony to get
there. Chris followed, a little pleased even now with the ease at which he
could.
Once they were safely ensconsed in a side room (a little less plant-
choked than the rest of the condo), Link sat down and gave him a serious
look.
Not that that was much of a change from her usual perpetual frown. "So, I
see
that your arm seems to be decaying faster than the rest of you. Did you do
anything unusual with it, over?"
He shrugged. "When I fought the aragami on the ship, I used this arm to
throw the baton through it and use your herbicide. It was a really powerful
shot, as you saw."
Link nodded knowingly, as if that confirmed her hypothesis. And then
said... nothing. Actually, she seemed to be hesitating.
"Sooo... you discovered something?" he said hopefully.
Link opened and closed her mouth a few times. "It's... nice weather.
For growing things, I mean, over."
Oooookay. Was she reluctant to tell him because it was an awful, awful
truth? That didn't really make much sense, given who this was. But what
else
could it be? "Uh...well, if you're a little hesitant to have this talk, why
not
get Pink to explain what it is you found?"
"NO, OVER!" She waved her hands at him. "Pink's... uh... too
impatient. She'll take shortcuts and muck the whole thing up. I'm just
collecting my thoughts, over."
Chris leaned back. "Okey-dokey. Well, collect away, and I'll wait."
Five minutes later, he got a little tired of waiting, and informed her
as much.
"Ummm... okay. Well, basically, you see, that your arm is rotting
doesn't surprise me, over."
He nodded, gesturing for her to continue.
"Annnnd that's because... well, I've done a lot of research into various
methods of preserving human corpses, over."
"And you found something?" he asked, trying very hard not to let
impatience show through in his voice.
"Well... yes and no, over."
"So what's the yes?"
"There's plenty of ways to preserve corpses. Probably thousands. Some
of them even work, over."
It was getting harder to keep calm. He liked Link and all, but this was
being pointlessly annoying even for one of the twins. "So what's the upshot
of
that? Spit it out."
Link stared at him for a moment, then sighed and shrugged. "I've given
up looking into it, because it won't help you at all no matter what I do,
over."
"What!? But you just said you found-"
She held up one finger, taking on a lecturing tone. "There are many
ways to preserve human corpses, yes. But you aren't one. Well, I suppose
you
ARE, but only in the same sense that both you and a normal human corpse are
lifeless objects made of chemicals. In that sense, you share about as much
in
common with a rock, over."
"So why can't you preserve this body?"
"Because you're the one destroying it, over."
"Well, the arm sort of gives that away. But maybe I can try and hold
back a bit more in fights..."
She shook her head. "That isn't it. You seem to be under the
impression that it was the powerful martial arts strike that prematurely
rotted
your arm. But that's only half the truth, over." She stood up, pacing back
and
forth in front of him like a university professor trying to explain an
especially difficult problem. She'd lost all the hesitation in her voice,
too,
he noticed. "It's like this: from my observations and the results of the
tests
Pink conducted, I can tell that whatever's happening to your bodies has
little,
if anything, in common with what happens with natural decomposition. It's
superficially similar, but that's all. Your bodies, as soon as you inhabit
them, in fact seem to go into a sort of temporary stasis. They don't rot at
all, over."
He held up his arm. "Sooooooooo...?" He thought he knew what she was
getting at, but might as well get it from the horse's mouth.
"Yes, that. That's not natural in the slightest. But... it's not just
doing martial arts that causes it. Even if you never did anything out of
the
ordinary, you'd rot. You start rotting from the moment you start moving.
Walking, looking at things, breathing. It all adds up over time, everything
you
do that makes that body unnaturally move in any way also breaks it down.
The
only difference is that your more superhuman feats break it down faster.
Surely
you've noticed: from what you told us, Kodachi's body took almost a month to
rot... and when did it finally do so? Right after you got into that fight
with
the algae aragami, over." She spun and pointed at him. "But in this body,
despite the fact you say it's even stronger than Kodachi, you've been
fighting
repeatedly. Your arm may have been hastened somehow, but the rest of your
body
isn't as far behind as it looks. I've been watching, and I doubt it'll last
out
the week, over."
He leaned back in his chair. It did make sense. In a cripplingly
depressing sort of way. "So... no solution?"
"Even if you don't fight, your bodies will always break down, though it
will take much longer, over." Link shrugged. "But beyond that, I can't
really
help you. Any preservatives I use will be ineffectual. Even some sort of
process with replacing your limbs with animate vines wouldn't likely work.
Even
if you could control them somehow, the rest of your body would still decay
until
you had to leave it, over."
Chris rubbed his chin and stood up. "I see. Well, I have to thank you
for making the effort, Link. I guess I'll-"
Even as he turned towards the door, she was suddenly in his way.
"That's... not all I've been researching, over!" she blurted.
He blinked. What was WITH her? "Oh?" he said out loud.
"I want, um, er, your... professional opinion of what I've discovered
about the mitamas, since you know so much about them, over."
He shrugged. "Sure. Least I can do, though I've pretty much told you
most of what I know."
She led him out of the room and into her section of the lab. He didn't
need to be told what WAS, precisely, her section of the lab, because moving
into
it was like stepping into a different room entirely. Pink's portion of the
room
was chaotic, with a jungle-like plethora of plants scattered haphazardly
fighting each other for light and attention. Noxious fumes hung visibly in
the
air, and everything felt wild and aggressive. It was the very picture of a
mad
scientist's (botanist's) garden.
Link had a smaller portion of the room to herself. But it was HERS, no
doubt about it. Perfectly square, with every plant in a separate pot and
nothing co-mingling. Nor was there anything random about their placements:
flowering plants were here, leafy ferns there, creeping flesh-eating vines
just
so. There was nothing sickly-looking, deformed, or in the process of being
consumed by a larger plant. Even the mushrooms (which weren't plants, the
pedantic bit of his mind pointed out) grew in picturesque mushroom shapes in
their carefully climate-controlled nurseries.
The very centre of Link's space, directly beneath the skylight, was the
predictable home of the mitamas. A small, spotlessly clean table held them.
One was by itself, in a small dish. The other, presumably the first she had
gotten, had obviously been experimented on more. It gleamed in the loamy
soil
of the small glass-enclosed terrarium into which it had been placed. Some
small
plants and shoots grew around it, though none touched the mystic blue seed.
Link wasn't even looking at him, now, but instead staring at her two
specimens, a thoughtful frown on her face. "I've discovered a few things,"
she
began. "First, the mitama are not inherently hostile to humans, over."
"Not really, no," Chris agreed. "But lions aren't inherently -hostile-
to humans either."
Link nodded absently at his comment. "In fact, it seems that they act
almost entirely on instinct. Their own, or the instinct of their host
species,
whichever happen to be more dominant. While not unintelligent, their
intelligence doesn't seem to work in quite the same way ours does, over.
"What's interesting is that when in close proximity, their power and
awareness seems to be heightened. It becomes something of a collective
consciousness, working together in symbiosis, over."
Chris nodded. That fit with the way Kusanagi's multiple mitamas
worked... not to mention Momiji's ability to detect them, and her own
ability to
synch herself with Kusanagi later in the series.
Link tapped her fingers on the table. "I've found that, by putting them
together within a plant's structure, their intelligence and capability
expand
dramatically, and they can use human language apparently instinctively. Of
course, at that point they quickly become... excited, and I've had to abort
the
experiment, over."
"Well, I'm glad it didn't get away and start wrecking the neighbourhood,
anyway," he grinned.
"There was no chance of that," Link said a little indignantly. "I had
several safety measures in place after the fiasco at the ship, over."
"Safety measures including 'keeping Pink away from it'?"
She gave him an odd, sidelong glance. "Yyy-es, something like that,
over." She tapped the glass of the terrarium. "Still, I've been making a
lot
of progress with communicating with these two. They have a sort of memory,
and
they're starting to recognise me as an individual entity, over. I think
pretty
soon I'll be able to properly talk with them, find out more about what they
know, where they're from, what their history is." She turned to Chris with
an
excited frown on her face, which caused him some cognitive dissonance, but
as
usual he ignored it. "What their CULTURE is. And where they've been hiding
all
this time, so no one even suspected they existed, over."
"That's pretty interesting," he nodded. "But what did you want my
opinion on, precisely?"
Her excited frown became a... well, it was sort of a regular old frown,
really, and she stared blankly at him. "Uhh... well, that is, over... your
opinion... of..."
He sighed. Should have known. "Okay, what is Pink doing? Is she
trying to kill Shampoo? I'll just remind you that if she does something
stupid,
Shampoo can defend herself, and that can only end badly. For you."
Link tried very hard to force an enormous grin onto her face, but
succeeded only in looking like she was eating something extremely sour.
"W-what
are you talking about? Pink's not up to anything, over!" The beads of
sweat
running down her forehead didn't help her already shaky attempt at
sincerity.
"Of -course- not," Chris drawled. "But I think I'll mosey on over and
take a look to make sure everything's fine, okay?"
Before Link could come up with another excuse, he walked over to the
door, kicking away a few of the more aggressive plants as they attempted to
devour/poison/fertilise him. As he made his way into the hallway, he
listened
carefully, but surprisingly didn't hear much in the way of brutal violence.
Maybe Pink hadn't sprung her trap yet.
It didn't take him long to find Pink. He immediately looked around, and
felt vastly relieved to see Shampoo sitting near the corner of the living
room,
looking kind of pissed off but otherwise seemingly not harmed or threatened
in
any way. In fact, Pink looked almost benign, sitting studiously reading a
book.
The only thing that was odd was the strange monocle-like thing she was
reading
through.
Though, wait a sec, that book looked familiar. He took a step into the
room, opening his mouth to ask what was going on, but at that moment Pink
looked
up and saw him. She smiled.
"This Rumiko Takahashi bitch is a complete hack, over."
Chris froze.
"I mean, 38 volumes, and my sister and I only appeared ONCE, while this
bimbo - nice description, by the way - was in practically every one? Didn't
she
realise what true entertainment value was, over?"
Now he recognised the book. And the five other ones strewn about her
feet. "But... you don't read English..." was all he could think of to say.
Pink's smile was like a shark's. She raised the black stone monocle-
thing. "I do now, over."
"But... where..."
Tossing the journal aside, Pink stood up. "I'm certain you wondered
about how Shampoo gained a semi-competent mastery of the Japanese language
in
such a short time, didn't you, over? Or maybe you didn't." She laughed
shortly, tossing the monocle to the ground at his feet. It spun around
twice,
as he stared blankly at it, before coming to rest. "Well, there's your
answer.
Plot fiat. Did Takahashi never write about it? I told you - what a hack,
over."
Chris looked up, looked at her face. Those journals contained
everything. His nearly encyclopediac knowledge of the Ranma manga, and
every
detail he could dredge from his memory about all the other series' he knew
to
exist, and many he only suspected did. He'd written them during weeks of
work
in the dead of night, when living people sleeped, trying to capture his
memories
before the inevitable creep of time washed the details away.
It was a treasure trove of knowledge more valuable and dangerous than
the most powerful ki blast, killer plant or power armor. He knew that more
than
anybody, because both he and Ukyou had used that power to attain their
goals.
But in the wrong hands (and he wasn't so sure that didn't include Ukyou),
that
kind of knowledge could cause any amount of disaster.
You could kill the Sailor Senshi and doom the world.
You could find the Battle Dougi and become an invincible fighter.
You could unleash ancient horrors from their tombs. Blue Seed's Susano-
oh... King of Fighter's Orochi... without the specific mix of circumstance
and
opposition necessary to seal them back up again.
You could wreak such havoc on the world there could be no recovering.
Pink was smiling.
She knew. She knew exactly what things she could do with what she had
just learned.
He took one step forward. Pink had to... she had to... his hands were
clenched into fists, though he couldn't remember when he'd done so.
It was PINK. She was utterly selfish. No, selfish was too small a
word. She was sadistic, enjoyed hurting people, was willing to kill anyone
who
got in her way or just happened to be around when she was in the right mood.
He
knew that from the manga and from living with her for weeks. She was no
genius,
but she was plenty clever enough to use any advantage that fell into her
grasp.
And worse, she was manipulative, and with the knowledge he had let fall into
her
hands, she could manipulate a great many people. A great many POWERFUL
people.
Just like Ukyou.
Chris realised he was holding one of the batons in his hand, now. He
heard Link's startled gasp from behind him. Shampoo was watching him with
the
fixed intensity of a tomcat watching a bird fall from a tree. And Pink...
Pink
was still smiling.
"Oh dear, it seems you're a little upset, over." She shrugged
cheerfully. "Sorry about looking through your things... sometimes my
curiosity
gets the best of me, over."
He took another step forward. His finger rested on the hidden switch
that would cause the spikes on the head of the baton to extend.
She couldn't be trusted - no, it was worse than that. She couldn't be
ALLOWED to have this. Couldn't be. Could not.
Pink's smile never wavered. "You look like you have something on your
mind. Maybe we can talk it out. We share so many things in common, now,
over."
He liked her... liked her as a CHARACTER. It was different in reality.
You could admire someone from a distance, and still despise everything they
stood for. You could admire the resolve of a soldier on the other side as
they
charged your trench, and still fire the shot that cut them down, because it
was
the right thing to - no, it was what you HAD to do.
"But you know what's even more amusing about these journals? It's the
stuff that hack writer DIDN'T know, over." Pink picked up one, flipped to a
page, casually ran a finger down it. "Pink and Link, Volume 28, twin
sisters,
hate Shampoo, blah blah blah... but there's something very important you
didn't
know, over."
Link was beside him, now. He glanced over almost involuntarily. Her
expression wasn't what he expected. Panicked, he'd expected. But she was
horrified. And not at him.
"NO!" she shouted at her sister. No 'over'.
"Link, Link, Link," Pink said smoothly, still smiling, "Now that we know
all our friend's secrets, isn't it only fair that he knows ours?"
It was the wrong thing to do. Listening was the wrong thing to do now.
He knew that. But it was like watching an onrushing train, unable to turn
away.
"What... secret?"
Pink turned to him again and spread her hands in a gesture very similar
to his own. "You were wrong in your description of us. Link and I are not
sisters, over."
"What?"
"We aren't sisters... but we are TWINS, over." Seeing his expression,
she laughed lightly and walked across the room. Reaching his opened
backpack,
she gingerly tapped it with one foot, eliciting a metallic clank from the
canteens of Jyusenkyou water inside. Then she quickly moved a few steps
away.
Jyusenkyou water?
"Come on," she said, striding arrogantly back towards him. "Didn't you
wonder why it was so easy for me to accept all this? You're intelligent
enough
to put two and two together, over."
They were so scared of Jyusenkyou water. They wouldn't go near it.
Pink stopped barely a meter away from him. "Oh, are you still not
catching on? It wasn't obvious?" Her tone became mocking. "'Link's pain
is my
pain, over'."
She was tricking him. "That's ridiculous," he snapped. "When could it
have happened? When you were kids-"
"Approximately one year old, actually. From what I've been told." Pink
tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You see, our village has long used the
waters of
Jyusenkyou for various botanical experiments. It has quite interesting
effects
when used to water plants. Usually children aren't allowed on
water-gathering
trips, but Mother was poor and couldn't afford to have us watched. Not that
there was an 'us' then, over."
He didn't need to be told more: the scene was easy enough to picture,
and so... Takahashiesque.
Pink looked up at him and laughed again. "You still don't believe?
Silly boy. You thought your comic book told you everything? You didn't
know
about Shampoo's little toy. You didn't know about Link's temper. Lots of
little things you probably weren't told. And with such... minor...
characters
as us, how could you possibly expect that our lives would be so fleshed out
and
robust as, say... Ranma Saotome's, over?"
Link stepped forward, almost pushing him to the side. "Why are you
TELLING him this!?" she shrieked in her sis... in Pink's face. "You know
what
will happen if we, if one of us..."
"That's precisely why I am," Pink said calmly. She stared into Chris's
eyes. "We were one year old. Of course we don't remember a thing. How
could
anyone tell, from that age, who was real and who was a shadow? But Chris...
ah,
yes, Chris. Chris would never do anything to harm YOU, Link. You're... an
innocent, over." Her smile nearly split her face. "Victims of the Spring
of
Twins, which are mostly small animals, of course, don't usually endure very
long. There's excellent reason for that, you see... even though water won't
reserve the effect, if the original perishes, the copy can't sustain. But
you
probably guessed that. Another thing your comic didn't tell you, though, is
that the two can't move too far away from each other. Outside of a certain
range, the magic weakens, and the false twin fades away forever, over."
He stared, wanting to say something, but couldn't. Pink stepped past
her twin, standing right next to him. Her hand dropped to casually caress
the
head of the baton. "So, Chris, am I really enough of a... 'capital V
villain'
to risk Link's life? Over such a little thing as this? Just over a
little...
knowledge, over?"
He remembered Link frowning, lecturing Pink.
He remembered her joy, showing even through that perpetual frown, when
she realised he'd beaten Shampoo.
He remembered her swearing a blue streak, comically stalking back and
forth, stamping her foot.
He remember how animated she had become, talking about the mitamas.
Pink was right. He couldn't. Just like with Akane. No matter what the
reason, having seen her, known her, looked into her living eyes and seen the
person inside, he couldn't kill her. Couldn't even risk it.
Pink took the baton from his nerveless fingers and moved back two steps
to stand beside Link. "I didn't think so. You're a good boy, over."
*
"So... that's it then?"
Aaron kept Ukyou's hand from shaking as she took the letter from the
table. Ono watched her. His expression was grim and his eyes were hidden
behind
the glare of his glasses. Ukyou looked away, unable to meet his accusing
gaze.
"I can't continue this, Ukyou. Not if you're going to use my teachings
for such violence..."
"I understand..." Aaron stood up. Truth be told, he didn't believe that
he needed Ono's teaching anymore. Ever since he had revealed the existence
of
the five chakra techniques, Aaron had been having more success helping Ukyou
enhance her skills without him. It helped that, in a very real sense, Aaron
understood the concepts behind the five element theory of martial arts much
better than Tofu Ono. He still didn't know why, but he did.
"I don't think you do, Ukyou!" Ono snapped as he stood up. Aaron started
involuntarily. Ever since he and Ukyou had met the man, they had never seen
him
so upset. Not even after the fight... "You need help. Real help.
Professional
help."
"I don't need a psychiatrist," Ukyou informed him coolly. No shrink in
the world could solve her problem.
"You need more than that, Ukyou. You need to stop using this power of
yours. It is hurting you, and I don't just mean your body. I think it's
doing
something to your mind..."
"You talk like I've had a choice..." Aaron cut Ukyou off. She had had a
choice. She could have accepted her loss to Hayato. It had been her choice
to
fight him all-out. Nothing would have been lost there but her pride. Ukyou
felt
a brief stir of resentment, but it was empty fury. Aaron was right, and he
refused to be blustered into silence anymore. "Maybe you're right, Ono."
Ukyou
leaned over the table, tapping her fingers on the wood next to Ono's hand.
"Maybe I am doing damage to myself, permanent damage that will never go
away. I
think I'm beginning to accept that now. That choices have consequences. But
I
can't leave this alone. This power... it is the cause of my problems and I
think, maybe, the solution."
"As long as you continue to explore it... I can't be your mentor."
"Is this the end of everything between us then?" Aaron asked, his voice
cool.
"It is if you want it to be, Ukyou."
"I don't want it to be, Ono. You're... the most mature friend I have. I
thought we were becoming close, in our own ways. But I just can't do what
you
ask. This world... it is turning its back on me. If the only way I can
survive
is to use that power, I will."
"Ukyou..." Ono stood up. "I think you need more time to think about
this."
"So this is the end?"
"My door is always open for you when you need me. But..."
"Thank you..." Ukyou said sincerely and strode out of the room.
Forget needing him for his teaching. She would miss him for... him. But
she wouldn't cry over him. It had taken her all night to work up the courage
to
come back here after yesterday's disaster with Akane. She still had to find
Ranma. And if Ranma turned his back on her...
Ukyou wouldn't cry over Tofu Ono.
Aaron sensed the figure in the door to Ono's clinic before they sensed
him. He had recognized that his own affinity for the Void chakra could
enhance
his senses, and had been working on that. Just like Ukyou had drawn on
Aaron's
knowledge to enhance her Wind chakra. She had proven how much that had
enhanced
her fighting abilities the other night when they had fought E. Honda in that
pit. Of course it still hadn't been a very easy fight, but Ukyou had won.
Aaron, however, could sense the power of the person in the doorway. They
radiated it through the walls of the clinic like a miasma. It curdled the
blood
in Ukyou's veins. Aaron had never experienced anything that he would have
ever
described as 'evil' before, but this power made him want to use the term.
Was it
some new enemy, drawn to Ukyou and him by that damn prophecy? Or perhaps an
old
enemy?
For a moment Ukyou and he considered just ducking out the back. But
Aaron knew they could only duck this confrontation for so long. He just
hoped
that if there was a fight, he could lure them away from the clinic.
Destroying
their ex-mentor's livelihood once was enough for them both.
"I knew if I waited here long enough, you would return."
Ukyou stopped in her tracks as she rounded the corner. That voice... no.
She looked across the reception area. It was Hayato. He was standing, arms
crossed and face uncovered, his frame blocking out the doorway. He had
changed,
and not just his clothes. His eyes were dangerously narrow, and his posture
like
that of a restrained hunting cat. Light glinted off the golden ornament he
now
wore around his neck, some sort of stylized crescent and lightning bolt.
"Hayato... you're..."
"Walking?" the boy sneered.
That wasn't possible. Ukyou knew his spine was broken. Even the martial
artists of Ranma's caliber didn't get up from things like that! And she knew
that he had been crippled. She knew because everyone had told her. She knew
because she had done it. She had felt the bones shatter under her heel. Even
now she could recall the feeling.
"Don't look so surprised, Ukyou." Hayato stepped into the room. "I told
you this wasn't over between us. I told you I would find a way to defeat
you,
and I have."
"No..." Aaron shook his head. He should say he was sorry. He suspected
it would do no good, but it was still the right thing to do. Except
something
was holding him back. Something even he didn't want to admit.
"What, not going to apologize? Plead for understanding?" Hayato lashed
out with one hand, crashing his fist through a wall with enough force to
leave a
basketball sized hole. "Aren't you even going to pretend you feel sorry for
me!?
Don't think just because I am walking that the injury you inflicted on me
wasn't
real. Don't think this washes away your crime!"
"Pretend to feel sorry..." Aaron said coldly. That was it. He could say
he felt sorry to Hayato, but it would be an act. Telling Hayato he felt
guilty
about what he and Ukyou had done would be another lie, another facade. But
it
was time to abandon facades. The truth was he didn't regret the act of it.
Nor
did Ukyou. They regretted the consequences, but not the crime. In fact...
They had enjoyed it.
Ukyou recoiled from that thought. But it was the truth.
"Hayato, I can't say anything to you that would make up for what I did,"
Aaron admitted. "And I suspect nothing I can say will stop you from
attacking
me."
"Attacking you?" Hayato grinned. "I am going to kill you, Ukyou. This
isn't about honour anymore. What is between us now is not the honour of
martial
artists. What is between us now is a much older law. The law of vendetta!"
Hayato began to chuckle and raised his hands. "What is between us can only
end
in death."
Aaron nodded. A part of him, and a larger part of Ukyou, thought that
perhaps they deserved this. But the far larger part refused to accept that.
He
would not roll over anymore. Ukyou refused to accept death. They would
fight, if
it came to that.
"I will not kill you," Ukyou informed Hayato. She meant it. No matter
what... there would be no killing. Aaron agreed. That was a step he would
never
take. No matter what. There were some lines that could never be crossed. If
it
came down to it, she and he would die first.
Or so they believed, honestly and truly. But they had to believe that.
Otherwise...
"No, you won't kill me." Hayato stretched his neck, producing an audible
crack. Aaron felt the dark aura around him intensify.
"Can we do this somewhere else?" Ukyou asked suddenly.
"Why?"
"Because you want to fight me, not all my friends. If you attack me
here, trying to kill me, they will step in."
"Hmmm... you're right." Hayato stepped to the side and gestured at the
door. "Fine. Lead me to the place you want to die, Ukyou Kuonji." Ukyou
raised
an eyebrow. "Forgive me if I don't feel like turning my back on you."
Ukyou nodded wordlessly. Hopefully Aaron could sense if Hayato grew
impatient and attacked them from behind. Though he seemed more interested in
an
honest confrontation. Ukyou stepped out of the clinic, leading him down the
street. There weren't very many places she could think of that would make a
good, private battlefield. She might have to lead him out of Nerima and-
Aaron reacted an instant before the explosion. His leap carried them
above the blast. Ukyou took over, already focusing her chi into her Wind
chakra.
She rode the shockwave like a skydiver, gaining altitude and sliding over to
a
nearby lamppost. Ukyou caught the hanging light in one hand and swung around
it
like a gymnast before perching atop the pole.
"Hayato!"
"That wasn't me." Hayato informed her. He was standing next to the
crater, completely untouched. Ukyou frowned at the vague shimmer in the air
before him. Aaron focused his senses on it... but it collapsed to his feet
before he could see much. And the residue it left on the pavement looked
like
nothing more than water.
"Then who..."
"Soul Spark!"
Aaron dropped backward, plummeting through the buoyant air as a flashing
ball of scintilalting green and yellow light passed above him. Ukyou spun
them,
landing in a combat crouch, her staff now held out next to her.
"Rose?" Aaron murmured, having recognized the voice a bit - and more
importantly, what the voice had said.
"Hmm. You've heard of me."
Aaron narrowed his eyes, focusing in on the voice. She was standing on
the top of a nearby building. Her ridiculously coiffed hair was twitching
slightly in the air. Her long yellow shawl was wrapped about her shoulders,
covering the top of her double-breasted wine coat. She stood with one hand
on
her hips and the other fingering the trailing edge of her shawl. How had he
missed her? His senses had been on high alert ever since he had first felt
that
dreadful aura back in Ono's clinic.
"In a manner of speaking." Aaron stood up. "I take it from your
introduction that this isn't a social call?"
"No." Rose stepped idly off the edge of the building, floating
gracefully to the ground. A wave of dust pulsed out from her feet as her
heels
tapped down on the sidewalk. She pulled her hand from her hip, and was
holding a
long tarot card there. Aaron couldn't make out what was on it. "I've seen
your
fate in the cards. It is time someone put a stop to that."
"Wait just a minute!" Hayato stepped into place between Ukyou and Rose,
his arms thrown wide. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I am going to kill that girl behind you," Rose said calmly. As she
spoke, she elegantly unfurled the shawl she wore, revealing that her coat
only
came halfway up her breasts. The rest of her torso was covered in some sort
of
skintight purple spandex leotard. "Step aside, boy. I don't want to hurt
you."
"Oh no... Ukyou is MY enemy! I won't let you take my vengeance from me!"
Hayato growled. "I gave up everything for this fight!"
"Do as she says," a new voice interupted them.
Aaron had sensed Sailor Pluto's arrival before she spoke. Now she had
stepped out of the thin crowd that had gathered. She leveled the business
end of
her time key staff at Hayato. So that was it? Pluto couldn't kill Ukyou on
her
own, and had found help. Would they have to fight their way through every
psychic on Earth before they could dispel this damned prophecy?
"Sailor Pluto..." Hayato hissed, his voice taking on an odd quality.
Aaron glanced over at him sharply. When had Hayato learned that name? "Damn
it... I can't risk..." He reached up and fingered the medallion around his
neck.
"Ukyou, do not die on me." Hayato looked over his shoulder at her. "If you
do, I
will have to take out my anger on your friends!"
With that he leapt up, practically vanishing from view. Aaron didn't
bother to follow his escape. Nor did Ukyou try to follow him. Instead she
backed
up, placing both Sailor Pluto and Rose in front of her.
"I'm sorry that this has to be done," Rose said as she stepped forward.
Aaron could see a green glow begin to form along the edge of her skin. That
would be her Soul Power. He searched his memories, recalling all of Rose's
moves. He wasn't exactly sure how far she was up on the Street Fighter food
chain, but he knew it was definitely a tier or two above E. Honda.
"So... two on one?" Ukyou replied coldly. She didn't relish her chances
if such were the case. After her last confrontation with Sailor Pluto, she
had
almost fallen unconscious. The Guardian of Time must have done something to
her,
because Ukyou could not recall even a single blow being landed in that
'fight',
but yet the damage had come close to putting her out.
"If needs be," Rose started walking forward. "But I doubt it will come
to that!"
Aaron didn't feel the attack coming, and only Ukyou's honed reflexes
allowed them to dive aside. The spiraling green vortex of energy skimmed
along
the edges of her shoes, but she rode the impact and used it to propel her
into a
handvault. She spun in mid-air, watching as Rose drew her shawl back, the
green
energy fading from it as she finished her attack. Damn... she was fast. And
for
some reason, Aaron couldn't focus on her moves.
Rose gracefully spun on her heel and charged after Ukyou. She would
catch them coming down at this rate. Ukyou stabbed her staff down, using it
to
vault away again. Rose's shawl whipped out in a brilliant green and yellow
arc
just beneath her.
They needed breathing room. With a single motion, Ukyou drew spatulas
from her coat and let fly. Rose waved her scarf before her, contemptuously
batting the weapons from the air. But it allowed Ukyou to get her feet under
her
again.
Aaron frowned and rushed forward. Ukyou slipped her hands along the
length of her staff. Rose was much better at ranged combat than close in. If
they could get under her guard, keep her off balance... that was their best
chance.
Rose saw them coming, and ran forward to meet them. This time Aaron saw
her draw back her scarf. Ukyou ducked. The psychically enhanced fabric
passed
within a hairsbreadth of her head. Her staff skipped along the ground just
before she slashed it up. The blow was aimed at Rose's midsection. Rose
wasn't
there to receive it.
Ukyou cursed and finished her follow through. Aaron could feel the
pressure of the wind as Rose flipped over them. He still couldn't 'sense'
Rose.
Ukyou captured the momentum of her swing, using it to spin them about
without
halting their forward momentum. The world tilted as she allowed her legs to
fly
out from under her. Her controlled fall kept the gypsy woman's leg from
striking
her as it thrust through the air.
Ukyou caught herself and Aaron snapped up their legs. With a triumphant
cry he locked their knees around Rose's calf. The gypsy was pulled off
balance,
and Ukyou used her hands as a pivot, tossing her into the air. Ukyou dug her
fingers into the pavement and spun in place, pulling her legs under her
again.
Rose was directly above them, quickly recovering her balance. Aaron
gripped their staff in both hands and thrust it up with all their might. The
blow hit true, catching Rose in the gut and propelling her further into the
air.
Ukyou was already leaping to follow up.
Even as Ukyou rose into the air, Rose somehow recovered. Her shawl
flashed down, glittering with emerald light. It hit the side of Ukyou's face
with the force of a battering ram. Black starbursts flared in her vision and
for a moment Ukyou felt like her head had been caught in a vice. She barely
felt
herself slam into the ground with enough force that she dug a short trench
in
the pavement.
Aaron let his instincts take over for a second, rolling to the side.
Even as he did so he heard the ground explode where he had been. But where
was
Rose? He spun to his feet, trying to shake the dizziness away.
Rose caught them from behind. They screamed out in shared pain as the
edge of Rose's scarf parted the back of their coat. The blow hadn't cut
their
skin, but it felt like it had. Ukyou staggered forward even as Aaron lashed
out
behind them with their staff. He felt it connect, but from the way it
bounced he
knew that the strike had been blocked. Ukyou used the time his desperate
strike
had gained them to push them into a forward roll.
She skidded to a halt on the edge of the sidewalk, her foot digging into
the gutter. Rose was flying across the pavement towards them, a wake of dust
behind her. Aaron didn't even have a chance to ready the staff before Rose
was upon them. Gracefully Rose spun her hand forward, her shawl forming
another
vortex of psychic force.
The window of a shop yielded to them as they flew back. A glittering
rain of shattered glass fell down about them as they crashed through a
table.
The phantom pain began to fade away as they came to a halt. Ukyou took a few
precious moments to recover her wits before she rose.
"Aura Soul Spark!"
"Oh shit..." Ukyou crossed her arms in front of her. Aaron was already
busy shunting all of their chi there, focusing through their Earth chakra in
the
vague hopes that his limited skill with it could help. The blast caught him
dead
center, and waves of green yellow flames erupted across him. He felt the
sleeves
of their coat shred and the dreadful heat of Rose's attack. But it was more
than
that. The Soul Spark seemed to send some sort of psychic resonance up the
length
of his body: a primal, formless pain that caused them both to scream.
But when the flames cleared they were still standing. The ground around
them was scorched, and both of her sleeves had been vaporized from the
forearm
down, but Ukyou was still standing. She opened her eyes and the first thing
she
saw was the quintet of scars Jadeite had left her. She hissed.
"New plan..." Ukyou dashed forward, vaulting the bottom of the shattered
window. Aaron agreed with Ukyou's quick plan. It was obvious his own sensory
skills weren't helping much, so they both shunted all Ukyou's available chi
away
from that and into her Wind chakra. As they did so the world around them
seemed
to slow down a bit. Aaron focused all his will, trying to channel all of
Ukyou's
chi into that one chakra as best he could. It should give them a lot of
speed,
at the expense of pretty much everything else.
Rose was surprised to see them. Ukyou dashed across the road towards
her. Dust and wind exploded up in her wake. Ukyou thrust her staff out like
a
spear, catching Rose in the gut. The gypsy doubled over, her breath
exploding
from her lips. Before she could even finish folding over Ukyou's weapon,
Ukyou
was beside her. Her fist rocketed out and caught Rose in the chin. The
woman's
hair swirled in her wake as she was flipped backward.
But Rose caught herself, using one hand to somehow push off the ground
without even touching it. Ukyou snapped her hand forward, a half-dozen
shuriken-
spatulas flying from her fingers. Rose twisted elegantly in mid-air and once
again used her scarf to bat them aside. Then the woman landed, her heels
clicking against the road, and her scarf spinning around her.
With another shout Ukyou was forced to dodge a Soul Spark at near point
blank range. She pivoted, dragging her staff behind her and trying to
counterattack. But somehow Rose anticipated and blocked with one arm, a
skin-
tight aura of green light shielding her forearm.
Ukyou stepped back, and Rose followed her. Again and again the gypsy's
scarf struck out, a graceful percussion of blows. Ukyou spun her staff about
her
in a complex pattern of defense, barely parrying each of the strikes. Aaron
was
beginning to lose focus. He couldn't force their chi to flow so strictly to
just
one chakra for much longer. But Rose was still moving faster than her, and
if
Ukyou lost her speed-
It happened in an instant. Aaron's concentration collapsed, Ukyou
stumbled back, her momentum lost, and Rose smiled. Aaron saw the light flash
around Rose, pulling in towards her. But he couldn't do a thing about it as
Rose
glided forward and neatly planted her fist into Ukyou's jaw. The blow
propelled
Ukyou skyward and for a moment she lost all orientation and her grip on
their
staff. Then she felt Rose's manicured hand clamp like a vice around her
neck.
"Goodbye," Rose whispered as she leaned in slightly. Ukyou couldn't
answer, her voice cut off by the lack of air. Even as she was raising her
own
hands to pry Rose's fingers from her neck, Rose released them.
Ukyou screamed, a wave of pain rolling across her entire body. Then she
collided with the ground. She barely even felt that, only becoming aware of
it
as a lingering ache in her back from where she had crashed into the pavement
once the psychic pain receded.
Aaron groaned and reached out, scrambling for purchase along the edge of
the crater they now found themselves in. He could hear the click of Rose's
heels
as she approached to finish them off.
No.
No more holding back.
The wind tore apart around them as Aaron leapt into the air. Rose was
below him, her head tilting back in slow motion. He could see the fabric of
her
aura stretched taut around her. It shimmered softly, sinking into the
gypsy's
scarf. He could see the look of surprise on her face. He smiled.
Ukyou landed beside Rose, her body moving with elegant speed. Rose was
able to twirl and face her, but Ukyou still caught her cleanly with a
perfect
roundhouse. The blow nearly caved in Rose's cheek, and the woman skidded
back to
smash into parked car with enough force to crush the hood. Ukyou dashed
after
her.
God, why did she fear this feeling? Even as she closed on the gypsy-
psychic, Ukyou felt as if her entire soul had been cleansed. She felt
refreshed,
alive and clearheaded. In fact, the entire world seemed clear and simple
now.
Ukyou's fist tore through the hood of the car. Somehow Rose had rolled
away from her attack. Aaron shrugged and latched onto something inside, then
yanked. The engine block of the car tore free of the metal with a protest of
screaming metal. Rose's eyes widened as Ukyou pivoted and swung the engine
with
a trail of oil forming an arc in the attack's wake. Well, Ukyou had to make
up
for dropping her staff somehow.
Rose's scarf rose up and slashed into the engine, smashing it to
fragments around Ukyou's fist. Aaron stepped into the plummeting debris. He
could see the trajectory of each tiny scrap of metal, and so wasn't even
touched
as he ducked between them. Ukyou lashed out with her other fist, and this
time
she struck home, catching Rose in the gut.
Rose flew back, unable to recover as she landed sprawling in the
pavement. Ukyou chuckled coldly. Then she leapt up, Aaron's warning allowing
her
to vault the purple ball that was Sailor Pluto's attack. As Ukyou landed she
looked over her shoulder at the Senshi of Time.
"I'll deal with you soon enough," Ukyou informed her in a voice like an
arctic wind. Tha reminded her that she couldn't afford to toy around. Even
now
she could feel her body rejecting the power she was using. It wasn't pain,
so
much as an acute awareness of the injury she was doing herself. Aaron knew
where
each capillary had burst and where each muscle fibre had torn.
Ukyou spun back to Rose. She could see the woman rising to her feet. She
dashed forward, clenching one hand into a fist. The wind split around her as
Aaron focused the strange power they had down towards it. He could feel the
pulse of Rose's aura now, brushing against their own. Ukyou pulled back her
fist, as Aaron willed his strange chi into a wedge between the clashing
auras.
"Spiritus Fracta Turbonis!" Ukyou screamed as she unleashed the uppercut
that would trigger her technique. Her eyes widened as her hand passed neatly
through Rose's face. For a single instant Ukyou thought she had crushed
Rose's
skull. Then she realized there had been no resistance.
Even as the tornado formed around the figure of Rose Aaron realized what
had happened. The illusion of Rose dissolved, its image ripping apart into
the
vortex. Aaron spun. Where had Rose gone?
As Aaron focused on it, he sensed the real Rose. She had come up
behind him. He could feel her aura compressing along the tip of her scarf.
He
continued to spin, but now the slow motion speed of the world mocked him as
it
seemed to take forever. He was only able to turn his side to the blast when
Rose
hit him with her fully charged Soul Spark at point blank range.
Ukyou felt her ribs crack, felt the blast burn away the fabric of her
coat - but there was no pain. It was just an awareness that she had taken
horrible damage. For a moment she wondered what had happened to the psychic
pain
that accompanied each of Rose's attacks. Then she was flying through the
air.
The wall they smashed into exploded and then they were moving past that,
hitting the wall ten meters beyond that with enough force to put a dent the
size
of Ukyou into it. Ukyou collapsed to the ground. Her left hip refused to
move.
Her breath came in short, sharp gasps. Worse, she could feel the blood
trickling
from her nose, her mouth, her eyes... they couldn't afford to keep up this
trick
any longer.
Reluctantly, they released the power. The world of pain and terror
crashed back in on them like a tidal wave. Aaron wasn't able to keep a groan
from escaping his lips. It would have been a scream, but his lungs burned
too
much for him to draw deep breaths. The next few moments seemed to draw out
forever as the pain and despair warred for dominance.
But Ukyou refused to give up. Aaron felt her force their hand down and
begin to prop themself up. He felt a sudden burst of shame. He had felt
defeated. But Ukyou was refusing to accept that feeling. She was rejecting
it
with every fiber of her being. So, Aaron joined her. Together they managed
to
somehow get back on their feet. Ukyou's hip hadn't broken, but it was so
stiff
that it was all they could do to move it.
"You're still alive?" Rose called out as she stepped into the building.
A piece of masonry crashed to the floor behind her as she walked into the
room.
Ukyou narrowed her eyes.
"In all my years, I don't think I've ever encountered someone as
surprising as you. But I guess that stands to reason. You would be no threat
to
existence, if you did not have something special to you."
"Rose..." Ukyou spat, her blood hitting the floor. "I would have thought
that, of anyone, you would know better than to blindly follow fate."
Words had never been Ukyou's strong point. Nor had they ever been
Aaron's. But that was all they had left. Rose... was a class above them. A
class
above Ranma, even. Even going all out, they couldn't beat her.
"I do not follow fate, I defy it," Rose explained calmly.
"Do you?" Ukyou's voice was like ice. "You judge me a monster for what I
might do one day? How can you call that fair!"
"Life is seldom fair." Rose said cooly as flipped her scarf around her
neck. "Willing or not, one day you will be a threat to the life of this
world.
It is my duty to protect this world from such threats."
"Oh... so you plan on killing yourself next, is that it?"
"What?" Rose frowned.
"You too have a destiny, Rose." Aaron took over the narration, but his
voice and tone was no different than Ukyou's. "One day, one day soon, you
shall
serve evil and bring destruction upon those things you care about."
Rose just smiled. "You seek to confuse me-"
"Don't you find it strange that Bison had the same power as you, that he
knew exactly how to teach you how to use yours?" Aaron smiled thinly. "Don't
you
find it strange that you keep feeling yourself drawn to him?"
"Bison is dead..." Rose said, her voice cool, but she hesitated. Aaron
had struck a nerve.
"You don't believe that, Rose," Aaron insisted. "Tell me Rose, do you
dream about him? Does his madness creep into your mind when you aren't
looking?"
Rose's eyes widened slightly. "How does it feel being the discarded garbage,
Rose? How does it feel being the part of Bison he threw away because he
found it
too weak?"
Rose was standing before them, her shawl and hair floating serenly in
the air. Her eyes were narrowed ,and she was staring levelly at Ukyou. She
could
have made an attack then, struck and killed Ukyou. But she hesitated. Was
she
curious? Was she afraid? Was she angry? Nothing showed on Rose's face.
But while Aaron had been talking, Ukyou had moved them. Aaron had
spotted the pipes on the wall. He had briefly noted the inflammable sign. It
was
gas. Ukyou was now standing with them directly behind her.
"This changes nothing," Rose said crisply. "I will kill you, then I
shall deal with Bison."
"Bison is your destiny, Rose," Aaron said grimly. "I wonder, when
someone comes to kill you for the crimes you will one day commit, will you
go
softly into that good night?"
"We shall see..." Rose said. Then she slashed up with her scarf and a
blast of purple-blue flames flew towards them. But Rose's speed had been
lessened, her concentration broken just enough. Ukyou dropped as the blast
traveled over her head. She rolled forward, pushing past the pain.
Rose gasped. There was a bang from behind them and a brief hiss that
turned into a burning roar. Aaron grabbed a piece of debris and pulled it up
behind him. The next thing he knew, the world was filled with flame and
sound.
He felt himself flying.
He landed in a heap, back out on the roadway. The debris was in flame.
He discarded it. He rolled to his feet. It had protected him, but only
enough to
just survive. He looked into the flames of the burning store.
Among the orange-red flames, purple-green sparks floated. They were
coming closer. Rose was still alive. She was still coming. Aaron looked down
at
his feet... then did the only thing he could. He fled.
*
"Mom, I don't think this is really me..."
Ranma grimaced, holding up the wire mesh shirt. His mother was kneeling
there, the perfect picture of domestic Japanese femininity, with this
enormous
smile on her face. Therefore he couldn't just toss it in the garbage can,
which
was what he really wanted to do.
"But Ranma, it's all the fashion," Mom said, gesturing towards the rest
of the outfit that she had picked up for him. "I spent many hours watching
the... music video channels and other things. All the men who attract the
most
girls were wearing them."
"You want me to dress like a heavy metal singer?" Ranma managed not to
squeak. He was very proud of that.
"Well, not that I doubt your skills at wooing the finer sex, Ranma," Mom
said, tapping her chin. "But I have noticed that you and your fiancee don't
seem
to interact very much. Now, Ranma, I don't blame you or her. Girls need to
be
properly seduced, you see. The first step is the wardrode. Now, in my day
that
was a tuxedo and flowers, but from what I saw on the television these days
it
involves things like this and-"
"Mom!" Ranma cut her off. He needed to find an excuse to get out of
this... Aha! "But what if I'm wearing this thing when I get hit by cold
water?"
"Oh dear," his mother muttered. "I guess I hadn't thought of that." She
paused. "Maybe you could wear it just the once, until you've made love to
Nabiki?"
"MOM!"
"Ranma, I'm just so worried that this curse is going to dilute your
inner manhood. You should really find a nice girl and sow your oats. It will
make a nice man out of you. Then, secure in your masculinity, you can settle
down with a nicer girl - after all, nice girls don't have sex before
marriage -
and have a little family." She paused. "And I suppose if you need a
concubine or
two on the side to combat those feminine feelings, then I can live with
that."
"MOM!"
"Well, somebody has to look out for you, Ranma." His mother stood up,
brushing a stray lock of black hair off her forehead as she did. "It's not
like
your father is doing much of a job with it." She stepped up to him. "Getting
you
engaged to this Tendo girl was a good step, but you really need a girl who
doesn't vanish for days at a time."
"Er, yeah..." Ranma sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe the
gods would send him some salvation if he prayed hard enough and promised to
do
them a few favors. Like beating up some demons or something.
"You there, you're Ukyou's friend, aren't you?"
Ranma blinked. He looked up. On the top of the Tendo's compound wall, a
boy was perched. Ranma wasn't sure he recognized him until the boy spoke
again.
"Ranma, isn't it?" The boy leapt down into the yard where Ranma and his
mother were talking. "Yes. I remember you. From the fight the other day."
"Hayato?" Ranma blinked. "But... you were in the hospital!"
"I got better," Hayato grinned, fingering a strange golden medallion
hanging around his neck. "You are Ukyou's friend, aren't you?"
"He most certainly is not!" Nodoka shouted, stepping between Ranma and
Hayato. "I will not allow my son to associate with that violent maniac. Tell
him, Ranma. You haven't seen that boy since I banished him from your
presence."
Ranma began to sweat.
Hayato frowned and stepped up next to Nodoka. "I don't believe I invited
you into this conversation."
"I invited myself," Nodoka stated simply, crossing her arms. "Ukyou
Kuonji is a dangerous young man, and Ranma doesn't associate with his kind."
She
nodded her head. "I even heard that boy put someone into the hospital,
paralyzed
him for life. Ranma doesn't need that-"
Hayato began to laugh. Ranma frowned. He felt... danger. That feeling at
the back of his neck was so strong he wanted to scratch it away. In fact, he
could feel an aura of menace flowing off of Hayato. An aura that struck him
as
strangely familiar. He narrowed his eyes, trying to place where he had felt
this
particular sense of danger before.
"Young man, I think this is very serious and-"
"Shut up."
"What did you-"
"I said SHUT UP!" Hayato screamed. "I don't have time for your idiocy!"
"Hey!" Ranma pulled his shocked mother back by her shoulder. "Nobody
yells at my mother! I don't care how much of a cripple they are!"
"You're angry... good." Hayato stepped back. "You're going to need that
anger to help save Ukyou's life."
"What?"
"Ukyou is currently being attacked by Sailor Pluto and some witch who
can fire balls of energy," Hayato explained calmly. "I don't think she can
win,
and I know they don't plan on letting her live."
"Where?" Ranma accepted the boy's words at face value. After all, he
knew about Sailor Pluto. And whoever this other enemy was... well, Ranma
would
deal with that when he arrived.
"I..." Hayato paused, and tilted his head to the side as if listening to
something. "Follow me. We don't have much time, and I know the fastest way
there." Ranma nodded and followed Hayato... further into the yard. In fact,
the
boy who really should have been immobilized for life was making a beeline
for
the Tendo's koi pond.
"Uh... this isn't taking us any closer to the fight..."
"Be quiet," Hayato snapped over his shoulder. He stepped up to the edge
of the pond and gripped his new medallion in one hand. "This way is faster."
Ranma hadn't really gotten over the shock of seeing Hayato walking
around. Thus, he couldn't really say he was shocked when he saw the boy
gesture
over the pond and cause a long, thick tendril of water to slowly rotate its
way
free of the surface. It was like watching a whirlpool in reverse. Once the
water
had reached the height of Hayato's hand, he flicked his wrist and thrust his
palm out. The waterspout snapped into a new shape, thin as paper but forming
a
wide circle the size of a small doorway. Ranma blinked as he watched ripples
form in the pond... then he could see images in those ripples.
"Ukyou!" he shouted. He reached out. He could see the young woman
running down a street, somewhere in Nerima. Her trademark coat was nearly
burnt
off her: both sleeves were in tatters, and half the waist was missing. As he
watched she vaulted up over a car... only to be caught in midair when the
car
exploded into a violent fireball. Ukyou spun through the air, obviously
completely out of control, then crashed into the side of a parked van with
enough force to send the van skidding onto the sidewalk.
Around both sides of the flame, two figures strode. One Ranma
recognized. He had seen Sailor Pluto back during the Narita fight...
THAT was where he had felt that aura before.
"Step through the portal, it will take you there instantly."
"How the hell are you doing this?" Ranma spun on Hayato.
Hayato smiled, his ugly pug face looking slightly perverse for the
expression. "You ever hear the expression 'don't look a gift horse in the
mouth?'"
"Ranma!" Nodoka caught his attention by tapping him on the shoulders.
"What are you doing? You can't go there!"
"Mom... I have to."
"Ranma, why? That boy is dangerous..."
"Because... I don't care, Mom." Ranma turned back towards the portal. He
wasn't sure he trusted Hayato as far as he could spit. But he would risk
this
journey. "I don't care what Ukyou's done, or what Ukyou's said. I care who
Ukyou
is. And Ukyou is my friend. Nothing you can say will change that."
"Ranma." Nodoka's tone forced him to look at her. She smiled at him. "If
you have to do this. I understand. Go."
"Heh." Ranma patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm not about to
fail!"
Passing through the portal was like leaping through a thin but freezing
waterfall. Ranma didn't even notice the sudden disorientation until his feet
touched down on the dry asphalt of the roof. He snapped his hand up to his
head,
trying to overcome the vertigo that leaping several kilometers across the
city
in a fraction of a second apparently caused.
With his bearings regained, Ranma took off in the direction of the
battle. Two leaps had him within sight of the street where Ukyou had fled.
As he
watched, she skipped down the street like a stone across a pond,
green-yellow
flames trailing from her limbs. Sailor Pluto and the other woman were
striding
down the street towards her. The other woman was spinning her long yellow
scarf
about, drawing some form of green light into it. Sailor Pluto was raising
her
staff.
Ranma cursed. He jumped to the street, but he was still a few blocks
away. Ukyou looked up at the two women, her eyes unfocused.
"AURA SOUL SPARK!"
"DEAD SCREAM!"
Ranma snapped his hand out, tearing a hood free from a parked car. He
heard somebody yell in protest. "Sorry!" he shouted back and spun forward,
launching the hood like a shuriken. The metal caught both blasts before they
got
even halfway to Ukyou and disintegrated in a spectacular blast of light.
"Hey!" Ranma shouted, grabbing both women's attention. "Two on one seems
kind of unfair, doesn't it?"
"Stay out of this," the tall woman with the bizarre hair said, turning
slightly to face him. "You don't know what you're doing."
"I know exactly what I'm doing!" Ranma shouted as he ran down the
street.
"Handle this," Pluto told her companion. "I'll deal with Ukyou."
"Very well..." the other woman replied.
Ranma frowned. The woman in the burgandy jacket had slid into place
between him and Ukyou. She was already swinging that scarf of hers towards
him.
Of course, Ranma had already seen her fling a blast of energy from it, so he
slid forward, skimming under the ball of light she flung at him. His elbow
caught her in the gut and she flew back... directly into Pluto, who had been
about to finish off Ukyou.
Ranma cartwheeled to the side, placing himself between the two of them
and Ukyou. They were rapidly untangling themselves, and Ranma saw that the
newcomer was barely hurt.
"Ranma..." Ukyou coughed out.
"I'm here now, Ukyou." Ranma gave her a quick smile. "I won't let
anybody hurt you."
The girl's eyes widened. He saw her begin to smile, a gruesome smile
under the blood that from her eyes and lips, but a smile nonetheless.
"I almost gave up..." Ukyou said, slowly rising to her feet.
"If you think I won't kill you to get at her, you are mistaken."
"Oh shut up, Rose," Ukyou hissed icily.
"I'll give you one last chance to escape..." the woman raised one hand,
a flare of green light pulsing down her arm.
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing," Ranma grinned.
"Do you realize who you are protecting?" Sailor Pluto suddenly spoke.
She brushed a lock of green hair away from her forehead, her tiara glinting
in
the sunlight. "This girl is a messiah of darkness. She will destroy us all.
Even
now she has the power! It twists and writhes inside of her, and she cannot
control it."
"Whatever," Ranma yawned theatrically. "Are we going to fight, or
what?"
"Then you leave us no choice but to..."
Rose cut off, swinging her scarf to the side. There was a metallic clang
and a white rectangle fell to the ground at her feet. Ranma blinked. It was
a
newspaper.
"Hey now," Ran said, walking down the street. Ranma wondered briefly how
she had gotten there, then saw Hayato appear seemingly from mid-air in a
splash
of water. "I can't let you two get killed now. Where would I get all my
stories?"
"That power..." Sailor Pluto murmured just loud enough to be heard. She
was looking at Hayato. The boy grinned at her, that same almost perverse
grin.
"Rose. The tide has turned against us."
"We can still win..." Rose insisted, trying to keep everyone in sight at
once. Ran began to circle to her left, making that difficult.
"We can win another day," Pluto pointed out, turning her staff to point
at Hayato. Hayato merely raised his arms up as if in surrender, but never
stopped smirking.
"Every day we let her live, is another day for her to master that
power!" Rose snapped.
"Ladies..." Hayato's voice was oily. "Sailor Pluto... You know who I am,
what I am. You can destroy me, perhaps. But you know that if I am protecting
her, then someone you can't defeat has also taken an interest in this girl.
Do
you really want Beryl's entire army here?"
"Beryl?" Rose narrowed her eyes.
"Damn..." Sailor Pluto cast a long glare at Ukyou. "Is this the sort of
person you ally yourself with, Ukyou?" She turned back to Rose and raised
her
staff. "If we continue this fight, the damage to the city will be
unacceptable."
"Very well..." Rose nodded and slid her scarf back around her neck.
Pluto waved her staff once and Ranma was forced to shield his eyes as a
flare
of light blinded him. When his vision cleared, the two women were gone.
Ranma sighed. Not really relieved, but more disappointed. Then he felt a
sudden weight collapse against his back. He turned and patted Ukyou on the
shoulder. She smiled up at him.
"So... uh... Ukyou's a girl?" Ran called out suddenly, catching Ranma's
attention.
"Uh..." Ranma considered disputing it. But everyone had been calling her
a girl, and half of Ukyou's clothes had been burnt away by her ordeal,
leaving
her gender in little doubt. "Guess I never got around to telling you that,
huh?"
"Ukyou!"
Ranma snapped his head back towards Hayato, who stood nearby with arms
crossed.
"Make sure you get better soon," Hayato grinned and raised his arms,
forming another portal out of the water in a nearby gutter.
"Wait a second..." Ran turned to Hayato. "Just answer me one question,
please! Ukyou nearly destroyed your life. Why are you going through so much
trouble to save her?"
"Because I intend to kill her myself, of course." Hayato smiled that
almost perverse smile again, then stepped through the portal. Once he was
through, the portal collapsed into a brief downpour.
"We'll deal with him later," Ranma announced. "First, let's get Ukyou to
Doc Tofu's..."
"No..." Ukyou said, almost too softly to be heard. "Not Doctor Tofu..."
"But he's the best..."
"No!" Ukyou insisted softly.
Ran stepped over and helped Ranma lift Ukyou back to her feet, lacing
one of Ukyou's arms over her shoulder. Ranma did so as well, only realizing
he
had been female for the entire confrontation when he turned out to be
shorter
than both girls.
"I know a school nurse who's very good," Ran pointed out. "She can help
out Ukyou a bit."
"Kyoko..." Ukyou murmured.
"You know her?" Ran sounded surprised.
"By reputation..." Ukyou coughed.
"Well, she can help you out. Justice High isn't that far from here,
maybe an hour on the bus..."
"Damn," Ranma growled as the began to walk down the street together.
"Ukyou, you should know better than to keep running off by yourself like
this.
How am I supposed to know when to come help you if you're half a city away?"
"Heh. I'll keep that in mind, Ranma..."
"OH! That reminds me." Ran reached down with her free hand and pulled
something out of her pocket. "This is for you, Ranma."
Ranma blinked and accepted it. It was a small device of some kind, with
a series of numbers on it and some sort of antenna on the top.
"Uh, gee, thanks Ran... but what is it?"
"It's a cell phone, stud."
"Cell phone?"
"Uh, like a regular phone, but you can use it anywhere?"
Ranma blinked at her. She was grinning at him cutely. "It's so you can
call me when you're about to get into a fight. I don't want to rely on the
magnanimity of revenge-obsessed guys to help me get my stories. Plus, we can
use
it to make sure we get you involved in all the heroic stuff."
"Wow. Gee, thanks, Ran!" Ranma laughed and grinned back at her.
Ranma shivered, glancing at Ukyou. She was staring at Ran, her eyes
wide. But why was it so cold, all of a sudden?
*
His arm itched. Chris knew scratching it would do more harm than good,
so he tried to ignore it as much as possible, staring up into the sky above
the
condo's balcony. A few small, wispy clouds drifted thousands of meters
above -
there wouldn't be any rain today, at least. The sun was just starting to
drift
towards the western horizon.
And his arm was still itching. Chris swore and straightened himself
into a sitting position, folding both arms in front of him. It was getting
harder and harder to ignore it. It reminded him that he'd need a new body
soon.
As of yet, he hadn't decided on a candidate. Unfortunately, most of the
truly
vile people he knew of were either in locations he had no idea how to find,
or
not in Japan and thus hard to reach on short notice. He supposed he could
travel to find one of the latter before he rotted too badly, but the thought
of
travelling to another country just to murder someone and take their body
left
him with a great deal of distaste. Even more than thinking about who was a
good
'choice' did. But he had to think of someone suitable soon. He'd taken it
easy
as best as possible, but Link had told him flat-out he'd be rotting away
within
a week.
Thinking of Link brought his mind to the twins. They were in their
"lab" somewhere, still experimenting with the mitamas. In the two days
since
Pink had stolen his journals, he'd somewhat come to grips with what had
happened, and decided he probably hadn't pulled the trigger on the end of
the
world after all.
It boiled down to the fact that while Pink had dangerous knowledge, and
she was effectively immune to any threat of his to kill her or even imprison
her
(since forcing Link to stay in a single small area for her entire life was
hardly better than killing her), she was far from free to do as she pleased.
He
could definitely stop her from acting on the information he'd inadvertently
given her. And who better than him? There was no conceivable way for Pink
and
her poisons to defeat him.
It sounded like an excuse, even to him. Chris shrugged and grinned. It
was the truth, though. He COULD put a stop to any plan Pink might cook up -
it'd just require keeping a careful eye on her. And in a few years at most,
her
information would be so outdated and changed by circumstance that any
possible
danger she might pose would be reduced to acceptable levels.
In addition, Link had been helping keep her twin under control since...
well, since they were twins, he guessed. She probably still could -
especially
if he was alive again, at which point she might actually work WITH him.
Being alive again. It was high time he got back on the path of working
towards that goal, especially since his Martial Arts Death Machines bodies
were turning out to not be quite as durable as he'd hoped. He needed to
find
out more information. Lacking any leads as to the identity of the person or
force which had led to him ending up in this world, he'd thought of two...
'people' who might be able to at least shed some light on what his situation
was
and what to do about it.
The first was Saffron. God-king of the Phoenix People, last antagonist
of the Ranma 1/2 manga. He was immortal, Chris was pretty sure, and earned
the
"phoenix" moniker by being born again after death. The manga hadn't
explained
his origins, but there had to be some secret to it, something Saffron knew
or
discovered or was born with that allowed him to be reborn after dying. And
that
might help Chris do the same.
The second was Akio Ohtori. Chairman of Ohtori Academy, from
Revolutionary Girl Utena, both of whom he had found to exist after some
quick
detective work the day before. Also the villain of that series, and also
very
likely immortal. But the immortality was a secondary interest in this case.
Cologne had told him when they'd first met that the Second Circle, the realm
of
all mystical power, had few theoretical limitations, but one of those was
that
it could not create anything eternal.
Well, the theme of "something eternal" was prevalent in the Utena
series, being one of the things represented by the castle in the sky and by
inference the goals that the characters in that series fought for. If there
really was something eternal, Akio would know what it was. If he would
talk.
Of course, Akio was also pretty profoundly evil: not in the cackling
destroy-the-world sense of many anime villains, but pretty damn evil
nonetheless. And the scope of his knowledge and power was very vaguely
defined.
He'd be far more dangerous to talk to than Saffron, who at this point was
still
a virtually powerless small child, months away from the time when he would
undergo the ritual to become his immensely powerful adult self.
Nonetheless, after considering the options, Chris still decided that his
next move would be to visit Ohtori Academy and its chairman. Just as he had
when he'd first considered it the night before. It simply felt more...
likely.
Saffron's powers of resurrection, while impressive, still seemed... "normal"
for
this world. A Second Circle effect. And Cologne had said a Second Circle
effect, no matter how mighty, would be unlikely to solve his problems: just
like
a First Circle-using martial artist could not undo magic with his power, the
power of magic would not directly be able to combat whatever otherworldly
(otheruniversally?) force had put him in this state.
Besides, Akio was closer. And as his arm continued to remind him, time
was of the essence.
A shadow fell upon his face, dimming his view of the sky. Given the
shortness of it, not to mention the fact it was perched on a staff like some
sort of lollipop on a stick, the identity of the intruder was fairly clear.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"That depends on your definition of the word, boy."
He leaned his head back, now able to see the old woman looming above
him. "And you complain I talk too cryptically."
Cologne chuckled wryly. "I actually wanted to ask -your- advice on a
matter, for once."
Well, that was fair enough, considering how many times he'd been asking
her things... though they more often were requests for information than for
guidance. "Certainly. But about what?"
"I was wondering if it was common, in this country, for people to have
such a great deal of interest in the affairs of others."
Wow. So THIS was what talking to him felt like to everyone else. "Can
we just skip ahead four or five sentences until we reach the part where you
actually spit out the point?"
"Ah, the impatience of youth."
"I know. You'd think death would have lended me some gravitas, wouldn't
you?"
Cologne dropped off her staff to the balcony, and used the selfsame
gnarled wooden cane to point down at the street below. "I was wondering if
you
were aware of the reason why those people in the van down there have been
watching us for several days."
Chris blinked and peered over the edge of the balcony. True to her
words, there was an unmarked black van, with tinted windows and the general
look
of some incredibly conspicuous Spying Vehicle to it. He wondered why he
hadn't
noticed it before. Too much staring at the sky, he guessed.
Stepping back from the edge, he looked at Cologne. "Did you see who was
in it at any point? Or how many of them there are?"
"Men in some sorts of suits and helmets. They rotate in shifts, every
twelve hours or so. I believe there are four in each shift."
He frowned. That could be almost anybody, but was highly unlikely to be
anybody with good intentions. "I think I'll go pay them a visit.
Especially
since, if they're watching us, we just clued them in that we've noticed
them."
Cologne sat back, pulling out her pipe. "You're welcome, boy."
He chuckled a bit. "Sorry, I was immediately a little distracted.
Thank you for telling me."
So, how to approach? He decided the direct route was in order. He
could always find another condo. Actually, chances are he'd have to anyway,
depending on what Evil Conspiracy these goobers represented.
With that in mind, he knelt down for the briefest of moments before
leaping up, flipping gracefully in the air as he sailed over the railing of
the
balcony. Two teaspoons spun through the air to puncture the tires of the
van on
the side facing him, precisely 2.3 seconds before his feet impacted with its
roof.
There were yells and screams from inside the van. Tsk, sloppy work, no
organised response. He leaned over, yanked open the back door of the van
(it
was locked, but that wasn't really much of an impediment), produced a highly
toxic flower arrangement, and threw it inside. Then he shut the door again.
As the gratifying series of coughs and thumps from inside the van began,
Chris was already in motion. There'd be a driver; he'd have the radio, but
likely NOT the surveillance equipment, so he'd be a bit behind the ball on
what
events were actually happening. But that wouldn't last long, so he had to
take
him out hard and fast.
Almost on cue, the driver's side door of the van opened and a figure
leapt out in a cloud of noxious fumes, coughing slightly but not out yet.
Chris
prepared a baton to rectify that, and...
And.
And.
That was a Chronos soldier.
The outfit was unmistakable: a blue, skintight bodysuit with white
piping; shoulder, knee and elbow pads, and a thick ceramic helmet with a
bulging
set of almost snowgoggle-like eyepieces in front.
It was a Chronos soldier.
As Chris sat there, staring, the soldier was shouting, pulling off his
helmet. Chris was vaguely aware that some other people were on the street,
also
shouting. A door slammed somewhere, or maybe opened.
The Chronos soldier looked up and spotted Chris. He was average-
looking, with short brown hair. He was snarling something at Chris. Even
as he
watched, the soldier's features began to twist, deform, eyes turning yellow,
skin green, inhuman musculature erupting outwards as his outfit ripped away
from
his flesh. It was a Gregole, some dim voice in the back of Chris's brain
told
him.
The baton was still in his hand. The creature was rapidly getting
bigger: its head was almost level with Chris's feet now, and a large horn
was
beginning to protrude from its forehead. That was as good a target as any.
Lightly, he hopped down, and as the half-transformed monster drew breath to
-
what? Shriek? Roar? Shout? - he casually, almost fastidiously smashed the
baton into its head, driving the tip like a piledriver into the horn.
The baton, as well as the horn, hit the back of the thing's skull all of
a moment later, and the fairly predictable gout of gore followed. The
monster
collapsed, its intaken breath escaping uselessly, before quickly beginning
to
dissolve into bubbling goop, as all its kind did when killed.
As all its kind did. As all zoanoids did.
Zoanoids. Chris's mind raced. He'd thought of this, considered it, and
dismissed it. The zoanoids were from the Guyver series. A series
containing an
evil organisation, Chronos, who had created the monster dissolving at his
feet.
An organisation which ruled the world in all but name, who had infiltrators
in
every level of government and civilian authority in the world, even down to
schools and newspaper offices. An organisation that was planning to use
their
genetically-engineered supersoldiers, such as the one he had just killed, to
take over the world IN name.
An organisation that was going to SUCCEED in doing so, because they were
already far too powerful and widespread for the heroes of the Guyver series
(or,
indeed, anyone else) to stop.
It was a series that could not possibly exist in this world. Because
this world had Sailor Moon in it. Sailor Moon, who would go on saving the
world
from extraterrestrial menaces for years, who would eventually take over the
world herself and turn it into a perfect utopian paradise, but before that
happened would finish out school and marry her destined love and do other
things
he was not familiar enough with the series to list, but he was DAMN sure did
not
include fighting the uncountable armies of monstrous killing machines that
would
enslave the world within a year or two.
There was a light tap on the ground next to him; Cologne landing on her
staff. "Well, that was a bit excessive, boy."
"No," he said softly. "No, that wasn't excessive enough."
There were at least three others in the van. This time, he ripped the
door completely off its hinges. Three, yes. They were sprawled across the
various items of surveillance equipment; the bouquet of black roses in the
centre of the vehicle, just where he had thrown it. The zoanoids were all
still
human.
Chris killed them far more neatly than he had the Gregole, snapping
their necks and hurling the corpses from the vehicle in the same easy motion
three times over. Their bodies began to dissolve on the pavement, but that
meant they wouldn't damage the equipment.
Time enough to figure out how Chronos could possibly exist in this world
later. First, he had to find out why Chronos was watching him.
Cologne's silhouette appeared at the back of the van; her voice was more
serious than he'd ever heard it. "Boy, would you like to explain what is
going
on?" It wasn't really a question.
He couldn't make heads or tails of the readouts on the equipment. He
wasn't an expert at this stuff, damnit. Nor was Cologne, he'd wager. If
only he
could have taken the bodies of one of the zoanoids, but their
removing-evidence
dissolving feature made that impossible. "I will explain, but for the
moment
suffice it to say we're in very, very big trouble. So is the world."
Cologne seemed to accept that, for the moment. "In that case, what are
you doing?"
"Trying to find something, anything, to tell me why these-" At that
point, he cut off. He heard something, a crackle of static, and as he fell
silent a voice came on a nearby speaker.
"Team Beta, report. What was that disturbance?"
He was in the front of the vehicle in a flash, picking up the radio
receiver - it at least was normal enough. He didn't try to disguise his
voice,
hoping that the man on the other end of the line didn't know any of the
soldiers
personally. "There's been a problem. One of the targets appears to have
noticed our presence, sir."
There was a long, soul-chilling pause from the other end. He stared at
the receiver. His heart couldn't skip a beat, it didn't matter if he was
unable
to breathe, and he felt no cold sweat. But the feeling underlying those
reactions he could experience, and did. Acutely.
The voice came back on the line, speaking slowly and deliberately. "I
see."
He was able to keep his voice calm, crisp, professional. "What are our
instructions, sir?"
"There's no help for it. We'll insert another team in that area later.
For now, you can assist in the other operation we are running."
Other operation?
"In what capacity should we assist, sir?" Of course, they would have
known about the other operation. But maybe...
"Proceed to Juuban Middle School and assist Team 5 in escorting their
captives from the city once they've completed their objectives."
Juuban Middle School.
Usagi Tsukino's school.
Team 5.
Oh shit. Oh SHIT.
But he was still dead, and his voice was still level. "Acknowledged,
sir."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes:
Epsilon: Well, first off, we'd like to give our thanks to C.M. Aeris, for
finally finding a way to make these fanfics halfways legible on
fanfiction.net.
Blade: And we'd like to thank everybody still reading at this point. We
might as
well reveal now that Hybrid Theory will be a 30-chapter piece: that means
you've
now stepped into the second third of the fanfic, and since we divided each
chapter into "books" as an accurate representation of their length, that's
no
mean feat. Kudos, and thank you for continuing to read!
Epsilon: It's also worth noting that these break points aren't quite
arbitrary.
Each "book" has a theme, a tone, and a focus. So book 1 had a certain
theme,
and book 2 will have a different theme.
Blade: Of course, we can't reveal what that theme is: it'd be spoilers!
Besides, it will either come across in the writing, or it won't. It's up to
us
and our dubious talents!
Epsilon: I'd also like to remind readers that, once again: we do NOT expect
you
to have read/seen any given series involved here, including Ranma 1/2 and
Sailor
Moon, much less anything else. If you feel we're not adequetely introducing
and
differentiating characters so that you can recognise and remember them, it
either means a) We're not trying to, because they're too minor to Hybrid
Theory
at the moment, regardless of their importance in their own original series,
or
b) We're failing miserably as writers, because they are important. If the
latter, feel free to let us know!
Blade: And that's pretty much a wrap for this month. Don't forget to check
the
webpage for character guides and other fun-ness! And join us next month,
when
we're no longer bankrupt! Aside from morally.
Ran pulled a newspaper from her vest, snapping it rigid with a flick of
her wrist. "Put her down..."
Even as she spoke, Hayato spun and flung Ukyou. Ran's eyes widened and
she dove for the girl, but her fingers fell short as Ukyou impacted the
upright
whirlpool and vanished. Ran grunted as she skidded along the ground. Then
she
felt Hayato's boot on her back.
"You don't think I'm foolish enough to fight her here?" Hayato said,
laughing. "I have a special place just perfect for her demise." Hayato
leaned
down and whispered into her ear. "Make sure you get her friends together and
come looking for her. In about a half-hour, she'll be dead. But I would hate
to
see you all lose the chance to bury her."
Ran tried to buck Hayato off of her, but was rewarded with a stunning
kick to her side. The air exploded from her lungs and she rocked back,
clutching
her ribs. Hayato laughed and walked across the roof, stepping idly into the
portal. Ran wanted to scream, but was too busy trying to catch her breath.
Then
Hayato, and his portal, were gone.
Hybrid Theory Chapter 12: High Voltage
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