Please, please, PLEASE, give me some C&C on this!
Even if you don't enjoy it, the feedback will possibly
make it better in any future revisions.


================================
RPML-2025: Phantasmagoria and Carnival

By: Peter "Petes-kun" Detenbeck
================================


 "I dream'd a dream to-night."
 "And so did I."
 "Well, what was yours?"
 "That dreamers often lie."
 "In bed asleep, while they do dream things true."
 -Romeo and Juliet, Act 1 Scene 4


    As nightfall came, a great presence watched the sleeping country of
Japan. Pleased that another day had ended and twilight had begun. For
darkness and night was its lifeblood. It was the lifeblood of all its
children.

    But as dawn crept in, it was displeased, but not because night had
ended. For it knows that with darkness there must be light. And light
can
always be exterminated if necessary. No. It was displeased because dawn
meant the prophecy it foresaw so many years ago, was now another day
closer to being completed. And the players have not all been arranged on

his side yet.

    And so it growls and slinks off into its domain where it is
perpetually
dark and it can continue to prepare for the fateful day.

                                    * * * * * *

    Annie has dreams, very vivid ones. Where she sees the invasion of
the KCF through the eyes of one whom was a leader of the resistance.
After years of research she found out who it was that led this rag-tag
group
against the now rulers of Japan. A man who virtually didn�t exist except
for
in the KCF�s high security Bios archive. A list of people who seemed to
have
only one thing in common. They were all involved with the invasion in
one way
or another.

    As to how a man whose been recorded as dead since the invasion was
able
to influence Annie in her dreams was a mystery to herself. And why she
felt so
natural speaking to him, was another one.

    But for once this dream was different...

                                                * * * * * *

    Annie fell. Down, through darkness.

    It seemed like an eternity. Her descent ended abruptly as she landed

in dark, murky waters. She stood up and looked around. She saw nothing,
it was what she heard. Rats. Thousands upon thousands of rats. Crawling,

squeaking, splashing through the water around her in infinite numbers.

    She ran. She had to get away. She ran down, through the unseen
corridors, splashing through the black water. Images flashed in front of

her. Images of an entire lifetime. Ancient battles. Friendships she
never
had. Words formed, swirling around her. Voices haunted her as they
spoke...

    "I have done my part, so until we meet again, your future is in your

own hands..."

    The voices echoed over and over through Annie's head. As the voices
stopped, the entire world around her burst into flames. It turned into
hell.
Annie spun, trying to avoid the fire. It was inescapable. She looked off

into the distance, where there seemed to be a gap in the fire. She ran
towards the spot. She stopped when she saw a young girl, about the age
of
sixteen with her back turned. Slowly, the girl turned around to face
Annie, as
the fire parted around her, revealing strange features. Her ears
appeared to be
like those of an animal, gray with black rings. Also, a long gray and
black tail,
like that of a raccoon. A Raccoon-girl.

    "Erika..." a sad, disembodied voice sobbed.

    The Raccoon-girl smiled at Annie lovingly. It was quickly replaced
by
a look of fear and panic. The girl choked as tears welled up into her
eyes. Promptly her chest exploded, blood splashed onto Annie's face.
Annie
stared in shock at the pain-struck body of the Raccoon-girl as she lay
bleeding
from the brutal wound. Annie wanted to vomit, but couldn't. She knelt
down
and started to cry. Soon, a figure approached her from the sea of
flames.
But with it came a cold, mocking laughter.

    Annie looked up as the figure came into plain view. It was a woman,
dressed in full armor, colored a crimson red.

    Like the flames.

    Like the blood around the Raccoon-girl.

    The woman reeled her head back and laughed louder, the same
sickening, mocking laughter. The flames sweep over her, making it
impossible to see. Annie could still hear the laughter echoing all
around her.
As the flames died down Annie saw the woman again, only different. A
wall
appeared and the woman lay against it. Her hands were nailed into the
wall
as if she had been crucified. She was bruised and cut. Her face
mutilated. The
left eye missing, leaving only and empty socket that trickled blood. Her

stomach was torn open, her intestines spilled out onto her lap. But
still. Despite
the damage wrought to her. She still laughs. Louder than before.

    Annie couldn't stand it anymore.

    It had to stop.

    But it wouldn't.

    "Shut up..." Annie whispered.

    Laughter...

    "Shut up!"

    Still laughter...

    "SHUT UP!!!" Annie screamed. "SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!! SHUT
UUUP!!!" She screamed over and over, covering her ears trying to block
out
the laughter.

    The laughter began to slow as the woman's gruesome body began to
fade.
Annie felt something. A small sense of security as the woman's body
began to
disappear out of existence.

    And then there she was. The same woman with the short red hair. The
one
that Annie had seen night after horrible night, have her throat ripped
open.

    For the first time, the woman spoke. Her words were filled with
kindness
and love as she smiled at Annie.

    "I promise... I promise I will not leave you."

                                                    * * * * * *

    That's when Annie woke up. Her T-shirt clung to her body due to
sweat.
The covers looked as if she was thrashing violently in bed all night
long.
Running her hand through her hair, also wet because of sweat, She
muttered,
�I need to stop dreaming all together��

    Getting out of bed and shambling her way towards the bathroom, Annie

paused in front of the mirror and looked into it. She admired how
attractive
she still looked, even after a rough night like that. <And before I
combed
too,> Annie thought and grinned, �Annie, you�re one incredible girl.�
And so
she headed into the washroom to get set for the day ahead of her.

                                                * * * * * *

    When Annie entered the kitchen, she saw that everyone was up, Nyx
was
at the table drinking coffee and reading the New Nerima Post, Cardessa
was humming to herself and making breakfast, and Seth was treating a
hangover with a bottle of aspirin and black coffee.

    The radio was on and tuned into the news station, where the chipper
voice of the female news broadcaster was giving the morning's news.

    "Good morning Japan! Today is the day you've probably been waiting
for, I know I have. It's the Festival of the Souls and nothing could be
anymore exciting. The ministry of transportation has announced that they

will close off all major roads for the celebration and parades. So all
of you
better bring mono-train and subway fare with you today!..." Nyx mimicked

the broadcaster before she took another sip, dully nodded 'good morning'
in
Annie�s direction, and went back to her paper.

    "Ohayo, Annie-san," Cardessa greeted her warmly and dished out some
of
the breakfast stir-fry on a plate and handed it to Annie. "Sleep well?"

    Annie couldn't help to chuckle a bit as she replied with, "Oh yeah,
I slept
like I could snooze through a bloody murder. Maybe two."

    Cardessa blinked at for a moment, looking like she was trying to
figure out
what Annie meant, or if she must be crazy to relate murder to a good
nights
sleep. But as expected, she smiled again and said, "Oh, well that's
nice."

    Annie started to wonder if her cheery and oblivious attitude is
almost
normal for some women, but found it nearly impossible to believe that
even a 'happy homemaker' could be this weird.

    If it hasn't already been mentioned, Annie was a REAL morning
person. Mainly since those dreams are over then, and she always has a
hearty appetite for breakfast, her favorite meal of the day.

    She started digging into the great smelling breakfast before her.
Which
was apparently some interesting mixture of chopped bacon and hash
browns.

    "So," the groggy and tired voice of Annie�s foul mouthed, degenerate

partner Seth, piped up, "what's the plan? How're we gonna get this book
or
whatever the heck it is you needed me for?"

    "For one thing," Annie replied and sat down her fork. "It is a book
that I wanted you to help me get, a very special book too, I might add.
And
as for how, today is one of Japan's biggest celebrations--"

    "Yeah yeah," Seth rudely interrupted. "Tell me something I _don't_
know."

    "Well you sure are chipper after a night of non-stop drinking," she
sneered and stated sarcastically. "Anyways, with the Festival being so
big, the Ministry of Law will be very busy and have mostly all of the
Sables
out keeping order in check." She stopped briefly to take a small breath,
eat
another forkful of her breakfast, and sip some of her tea. "So when we
break
into the TE building tonight, not only will there be no people at work
there due
to the holiday, but if security actually contacts the authorities, they
won't come
very soon." With her pride taking control, she smiled brightly and
giggled a bit.
"Brilliant, ne?"

    "Yeah," Seth murmured. "A real fucking breakthrough in criminal
escapades."

    "Oh shut up, Mr. Hangover! You couldn't pull a better plan out of
your
ass." Nyx retorted in Annie�s favor and slapped him in the back of the
head. The pain of his hangover made the whap feel extra painful.

    Wincing, Seth picked at the bottle of Aspirin and after several
failed
attempts to pluck out two capsules, he emptied the entire contents into
his
mouth and swallowed it all. "So then, what the hell are we supposed to
do
until then? Play with ourselves?"

    "No." Annie was very close to tossing her fork at him. "You can do
whatever you want all day as long as you come back here before twelve
am. I certainly plan to enjoy the sights today."

    "Great," he said, and tried his best to grin (not an easy task with
the headache). He pulled out a handful of bolts and metal from his
pocket and shoved them into his mouth, he spoke while he munched on
them. "Real fuckin' A," he said, but it came out a little garbled since
his mouth
was full.

    Annie�s thoughts of Seth then came down to two words.

    Disgusting guy.

                                                * * * * * *

    When it's eight am in the morning at the Sonome household, it's
common for mostly everyone to be awake and all set for a new day.
MOSTLY everyone, that is except for two non-immediate family
residents.

    Up in Shichi's bedroom, the sounds of two sleeping individuals could

be well heard.

    "Zzzzzz..."

    "Pi."

    "Zzzzzz..."

    "Pi."

    The origin of the first sound was of course Shichi himself, laying
in
his bed, flat on his back, with his limbs spread out like he was the guy

on DaVinchi's sketch of the human figure, which some creatures from the
great beyond briefly looked at on the Voyager probe before they tossed
it
aside into the recycling bin full of other space junk.

    As for the second, in a imitation of Shichi's sleeping position,
only
on a different diagonal angle, a small blue mouse-like creature was
sleeping on top of the Sable-half. This was the Sonome family pet, a
rare
pokemon breed which was relative to the Pikachuu, a Pikajew.

    "Aww! Aren't they cute like that?" Sachiko said to the girl next to
her.

    "Yeah, it'd be a shame for us to wake them."

    "Well YOU don't have to Asami, but I certainly don't have any
problems with it." Sachiko grinned and cupped her hands around her
mouth. "WAKE UP YOU JACKASS!" And with that Shichi shot up,
hurling Pikajew off the bed in the process.

    "Jewww..." Pikajew muttered and rubbed it's sore head from the fall.

    "I'm up! I'm u-- Sachiko!" Shichi said and glared at his best
friend.
"You know, most _normal_ people just say 'wake up', rather than
impersonate their employers."

    "Yeah well..." Sachiko picked up Pikajew and hugged him. "Miss
Kuonji
is better at getting your attention." She put her pet back down and set
her hands on her hips. "Now aren't we going to be polite and say hi to
Asami?"

    "Oh, yeah. Uh, hi Asami."

    "Good morning Shichi," Asami replied and smiled warmly. She quickly
caught the look Sachiko was giving her and laughed embarrassly with her
hand behind her head. Further proving that all Hibiki's must act like
Ryouga.

    "Is your brother here?" Shichi asked as he got up and searched
around
for his pants, not taking notice of the fact that he's only in his
boxers and
was quickly embarrassing Asami moreso.

    "Erm... Well, no, he's supposed to come over soon though... ah, your

pants... they're over there." Asami pointed to a pair of gray pants
laying on a small heap of clothes.

    "Thanks." Shichi quickly slipped them on and then went to search for

one of his t-shirts.

    "Well he better hurry up before the streets are crowded for the
Festival," Sachiko said as she turned and walked down the hall. Asami
shortly followed as the embarrassment left and her ability to think
recovered.

                                                * * * * * *

    The Festival of Souls has been said to be more exciting and
colorful than Mardi Gras, and more widely celebrated than the Santa
Clause Parade.

    The origin of the Festival is very vague, even for something that
began in the first year of the millennium. But some people claim that
the black and white Taos that most people paint on themselves during the

festivities have a definite significance.

    It all started in December of 2000 ad, in both New Zealand and the
Qinghai province of China. The people would have a great party all over
the town, the men had black Taos on themselves and the women, white
Taos. The closest thing to a religious aspect of it is that it
celebrates the true
power of the human soul. That if we were all united, we could bring a
god
itself to its knees. And so most people agree that the celebration must
be a
message of world unity and peace.

    But some have said that it is a remembrance of the day when people
around the world all lost their essence, their actual souls. Of course
nobody can prove that it ever happened and the theory is passed of as
total "cack", as the New Zealanders would say.

    In Japan it's quite the spectacle. With beautiful parades all over
all
the provinces, carnivals that resemble those of ones usually held on
temple hills, and parties in every bar, nightclub, and city park.

    On the day of the Festival of Souls, everyone enjoys themselves and
boredom is practically non-existent. It can be guaranteed on that.

                                    * * * * * *

    It was yet another dull and mechanical day at the NSIA head office;
the consistent synthesized ringing of the vid phones; the people of
internal affairs running around with the menial chores bestowed upon
them by
those agents that pity their receptionistic lives and decided to give
them
something interesting to do; and lastly, the agents of the divisions
such as
terrorism or state affairs just laying around since the chief director
Essix
assigned any cases close to their area of investigation to the section
known as
S12, or otherwise, the special investigations section.

    S12 is found on the third floor, down the right hall -assuming you
took the stairs- and on the door with the black letters 'Section 12'
written on it, and 'Special Investigations' below. So it's a real no
brainer on
finding it once you know what floor.

    Inside is a room full of cubicles belonging to the less experienced
and youngest agents, and on each wall are about three doors, each
leading to the personal offices of those who are the opposite of the
cubicle
jockeys in the main room.

    And in the one office on the right side is a three man -actually two

men, one woman- team that has come to be referred to by the NSIA vets as

The Trinity, Alik San, Shayn Tsu, and their mentor and the head of the
group, Riven P. Mathews.

    It's not hard to distinguish between whose desk is whose, Riven's is

the one at the back of the room, on it's own, and looks very cut and
dry, if you ignore the few desk ornaments of miniature swords and other
medieval weapons. While Shayn and Alik's are in the middle and have
about
a foot of space between the front of each of them, that being a virtual
no-man's land. Alik's is practically covered in incomplete paperwork,
scattered CDs of various groups from around the world, and the
occasional
Shirow wideban, of which he's very fond of. And then there's Shayn's
desk...
other than a coffee cup, her name plate, and a photo of her and some
rather
creepy characters dressed in black, her desk is empty. Mainly since she
hates
paperwork and doesn't like using a computer. How she did so well back in

the terrorism division is beyond all forms of imagination.

    "So the Empress is making an attempt at having a baby," Alik
murmured
as he searched his desk, looking for either an armor piercing shells
request form, or one of his CDs, it's hard to tell with him. "But I
guess that's
just typical for a Joketsukozu, eh Shayn?"

    Shayn turned her head and rolled her eyes in disgust. "That all you
think?
That amazons nothing more than baby makers?"

    "Hit a nerve, did I? And here I thought you didn't care about your
heritage..." Alik said, and immediately realized he shouldn't have.
Shayn grabbed his tie from across their desks and yanked down, causing
him to slam face first into the desktop.

    "Shut mouth, stupid gaijin boy. Shayn said she no concerned with
tribe
affairs, not that she no care if stupid Alik make nasty comments." Shayn

glared at him for a bit, let go of his tie, and went to sulking in her
chair.

    "She smashed my face against the desk!" Alik shouted. "I can't
believe you'd do that!"

    Riven, who was reading the newspaper, looked up and gave Alik a
non-verbal reply of raising his left eyebrow and went back to reading.
"Perhaps you two are just a little TOO stir crazy from all your waiting
for
your time to go off duty and enjoy the Festival of Souls..." Riven said
as he
briefly looked at his watch. "Which is about five more minutes, by the
way."

    "Thank god, I can't wait to shed this suit and get out on the
streets."
Alik grinned and laid back in his chair.

    "I betting Usako no able to wait either," Shayn said while smirking
in
Alik's direction. "This part where you ask what I saying."

    Alik looked at Shayn quietly with wonder and then spoke up. "Okay,
I'll bite. What are you saying?"

    Shayn playfully looked away and turned back with a mischievous grin.

"Oh I say to Usako-chan you take her to date today..."

    "What?!" Alik shot out of his chair and slammed his palms on his
desk. "How could you set me up with that clumsy giant that I've been
avoiding since the day I found out she was interested in me?!"

    Riven whistled to get Alik's attention. "Alik," he said and made a
'lower your voice please, there's people in Beijing that can still hear
you' gesture.

    "You know how much of a ditz and a klutz she is," Alik hissed at the

snickering Shayn. "Why the HELL did you do this?"

    "Because poor girl know you avoiding her," Shayn said. "And she
wanted me to be helping her. Besides, it only one date."

    Alik slumped back into his chair and sighed. "Well there goes MY
day..."

    "So what if some say-- alright, she is, the klutzyest and ditzyest
member of internal affairs? From what I hear she has a wonderful
personality and attitude. Plus I thought men like you liked the tall,
blonde, and beautiful types like her, hm?" Riven tossed his paper aside
and looked at Alik like he was a teacher concerned with how he's doing
in class lately.

    "Yeah, but not the types that have to say 'Oops! Sorry!' five times
a
day. That, and I don't really go for Kitsunes..." Alik trailed off,
feeling
very drained and tired from the recent news of his date. "Those long
furry ears and the tail makes me feel like I'm going out with a pet
dog..."

    "That interesting thing for blue haired boy to be saying."

    Alik grumbled at Shayn's little fact she pointed out and shrugged.
"Fine, I'll go on the date with - sigh - Usako Shunouchuu."

    "Ah good," Riven said, smiling. "Then with all that done I can tell
you two that--" Before Riven could finish his sentence, Tenki, one of
internal affairs that was fresh from university and still had a shaggy
yet boyish look, came into the office.

    "Agent Mathews, there was a break-in at Tokishi Computing, the
chief director wants you guys to handle it." Alik and Shayn groaned at
the possibility of losing their chance to enjoy the festival.

    "Well I guess I should handle it myself... It's not like I had any
plans for today anyways." Riven got up and reached for his trenchcoat
on the nearby coat rack. "Alik, Shayn, as I was about to say, your off
duty time is now started, go out and enjoy yourselves."

    "Will do sir." Alik made a mock salute to Riven and quickly started
gathering some of his personal items he was going to be taking home
with himself and left.

    "Thank you sir," Shayn said with glee and quickly left the office.

    "Now then, Tenki, I want you to phone Haisuke-san and tell him I'll
be right over to investigate."

    "Um, Agent Mathews, the chief of security for Tokishi' is off on
vacation this month," Tenki said sheepishly.

    "Then who's in charge?" Riven asked with a slightly accusing look.

    "Reiko Kitsuki."

    Riven sighed and for once in his life had a upset look on his face.
"Great, of all people to be in charge while Haisuke has taken vacation,
it just has to be the one that hates any employee of the government�"

                                            * * * * * *

    �About time!� Sachiko shouted at Rakusuke as he jogged up to
the rest of the group. They were all waiting outside Ucchan�s, and had
gotten rather impatient.

    �I�m sorry but I had to stop by the ATM and grab some cash,� Raku
replied. �Hey, where�s Oniko?�

    �Did you forget Raku-kun?� Shichi asked. �Today�s Sunday. Oniko�s
in Itabashi.�

    �Oh geez, I forgot.�

    Shichi half-smirked at Raku. �Just be glad you didn�t forget around
her, she�s _real_ touchy about that. I�d know.�

    �And I wasn�t the guy who tried to calm the madness then?� Raku said

humorously.

    Sachiko rolled her eyes and started walking off with Asami. �C�mon
you
two! I don�t feel like standing around here all day while the fun is
downtown!�

    �Yeah yeah�� Shichi and Raku replied in unison and went after them.

                                                * * * * * *

    Downtown New Nerima was a grand spectacle of a parade and
jury-rigged stands, dealing various foods and trinkets that any other
day would be regarded as junk and junk food. As brightly colored
floats rolled down the streets, playing loud and upbeat music and
carrying costumed dancers, the people in the crowds cheered
and enjoyed themselves.

    Yes, the Festival of Souls was in full swing.

    As the foursome of Rakusuke, Shichi, Sachiko, and Asami browsed
the sidewalk stands, a gaijin woman in a leather jacket and a pink
streak
in her hair was asking one of the shopkeepers for directions.

    �The war memorial cemetery? That�d be in Itabashi. Now you take the
45-G monorail��

    Further on, a large blond haired woman with fox-like ears and a
furry
red and white tail was, and bear in mind this is only a figure of
speech,
hanging off of, but more of leaning on, a blue haired man who didn�t
seem
to be enjoying himself. The Kitsune woman on the other hand was smiling
brightly and giggling constantly.

    �Heeeyyy! How about you win me some of those cute goldfish?�

    �But, um, I think the games are only being held at Cherry Hill��

    �Oh. Isn�t that twenty miles away� Oops! Sorry!�

    Shichi tried his best to tell the large woman that it wasn�t her
fault
that she nearly blindsided him, even though it was, but Sachiko yanked
him so he wouldn�t fall behind.

    �Um, why can�t we just stop? I thought you wanted to have fun?�
Shichi
asked as Sachiko dragged him along. �All we�ve been doing is walking,
and
very quickly at that.�

    �Because,� Sachiko didn�t even turn or stop to reply, �I want to get
to
the body art stand on Crimson Court before the lineup becomes really
long.�

    Raku suddenly stopped and took hold of Sachiko�s shoulder�s to halt
her as well. Shichi practically crashed into her, causing Shichi to be a
bit
embarrassed about being so close to the girl, and Asami seemed to oddly
murmur �lucky� to herself.

    �Okay then, you and Sami-chan go ahead, we�ll catch up,� Raku
grinned and put his arm around Shichi. �I�ll make sure he doesn�t talk
to
strangers or get lost.� Raku snickered at his little in-joke and Shichi
just
rolled his eyes.

    �Okay then, but that just means neither of you two will get to help
them with any chest painting. And I know Chi-chi would just looove
that.�
Sachiko said with a wink and skipped off with Asami.

    Shichi stuttered for a good ten minutes before he futilely shouted,
�Come again?!� at the already gone Sachiko.

    �Hey, there something I don�t know yet?� Raku joked and pulled his
hair back over his shoulders. �Cause I�ll trade you.� He winked in a
parody of Sachiko and made teasing kisses at Shichi.

    �Oh shut up,� Shichi grumbled and bought a bottle of RC Draft Cola
from a nearby food stand.

    Raku  snatched the bottle out from Shichi�s hands and handed him
enough
yen to buy another. �No seriously, I actually know something you don�t,
and
if you�ll clarify on what Sachiko�s talking about, I�ll tell you.�

    Shichi got himself another bottle and sighed heavily as he opened
it.
�Obviously you don�t pay much attention to how Sachiko acts around me.
She�s always teasing me and making mock passes� It�s embarrassing and
I had to live with it since the Sonomes took me in after the war.�

    �Hey, I only really know her through you and Asami, so how am I
supposed to know? I thought you two were prolly just sleeping around or
something� Ah geez! Don�t bleed on me!� Raku backed off as Shichi
started
to nose bleed a little.

    �Hoo cub yuu--!� Shichi  quickly stopped pinching his nose with a
tissue and tossed it in the garbage.  �Er, I mean, how you think that?
Me and
her are just friends.�

    �Yeah, friends who have oddly both never had a relationship yet have

the looks to easily get one.� Raku remarked and chugged down half the
bottle
of cola.

    �I have my reasons.� Shichi glared at Raku and wiped off some dried
flakes of blood. �Anyways, what was this secret you were talking about?�

    �Ever wondered why my sis� turns to jelly and practically clams up
whenever she�s around you?�

    �Um, no.�

    Raku threw the now empty bottle over his shoulder and noticed that
Shichi hadn�t even touched his drink. �Kami-sama, he�s dense as lead.�

    �Well what is it then?!�

    �She has a crush on you, you tool to end all tools. I sorta figured
she
got all my dad�s worst traits, and symptoms of love seem to be part of
them.� Shichi started to think it over as Raku said this. All those
times
she�d suddenly screw up whatever she was doing when she saw him.
Going from doing her homework to trying to tape together the torn paper
that once was her homework. Letting the opposing side score whenever
she�s goal tending during soccer. And repeatedly etching something on
the
wall with her finger, only to hurriedly cover it up whenever he tried to
read
it.

    �Makes sense, � Shichi said, nodding and drinking, which isn�t a
good
thing to do since it results in most of what you�re drinking spilling
into your
lap. �Gah!�

    Raku looked up to the heavens and shook his head. �I was gonna say
you two would make a cute couple, but now��

                                            * * * * * *

    It�s been said that the scum of New New York are creatures of habit,

that they will do anything and go anywhere to stay in their 'usual
routine'.
For example, if said scum was from Queens, they�d hang out in places
that
resemble the buried remains of Old New York. Hence why so many people
from Queens choose New Jersey as their favorite vacation spot.

    And if you were from �The Village�, like our black clad psychotic
friend, Seth, you would go where two things are always hard; the music
and
the liquor.

    Hell�s Capitol was just that place.

                                                * * * * * *

    �Heya New Neramites! How�re you all enjoying this great Festival
today?� The crowd whooped and cheered as a reply to the MC on the
stage of the hard rock club. Behind him a group of Kitsunes where
setting up their instruments and one particular one in the back
was flipping through his CDs, making sure he had the right line-up for
his digi-turntables.

    �As you all can see, we�ve got Black an� White Kitsune in the
house!�
the MC shouted and gestured at the band. �Now let�s give it up for �em!�

The crowd went in to a frenzy again and the MC backed away from the
mic�, giving one American Kitsune wearing khakis, a black shirt, and a
red FKBK ball cap, room to step up and lightly say �hey all�, which was
easily drowned out by the thousands of fans.

    �Hey, yo, anyone here in this be-yotch heard of Kid Rock?!� he
suddenly shouted and the band started playing.

    Seth had the sheer luck of entering just as they were starting.
Looking
the place all over, an overly happy grin came to his face and he
exclaimed,
�Now THIS is my kind of fuckin� place!�

    (�Where you at Rock? Where you at?�)

    Seth gleefully headed towards the bar, elbowing his way past
everyone
in his way. �Yeah, uhh� Gimmie and �Mitlied Lite,� he ordered the
bartender and leaned coolly on the bar.

    (�Over here, with the girlies and beer!�)

    �Four hundred yen, buddy,� the bartender handed Seth the German
beer, and held out his hand.

    �What? I pay first? You Japs ain�t got no honor system!� Seth
growled
and slapped the money into the man�s and hands and went straight to
chugging the beer.

    (�Where you at Rock? Where you at?�)

    �That what I be saying all time,� a woman next to Seth with a heavy
Chinese accent said in agreement.

    Seth turned to face her and flashed a grin. �Hey there pretty lady.�

    (�Over there, with the bad attitude like I just don�t care!�)

    The woman, a lovely Chinese girl with long full black hair and ruby
eyes, smiled at him. �Nihao. I Shayn, and you?�

    Seth smirked in an open recognition of his good luck and sipped the
last of his beer. �Just a man baby, just a man.�

                                            * * * * * *

    Annie walked along the rows and rows of tombstones in the Itabashi
Necropolis, a graveyard made in the memory of those who died in the
KCF invasion. About the only nice gesture Akai has made during his rule.

    But then, they made a graveyard for the executed witches in Salem,
so it may not be meant to be such a positive thing, but more a warning
for those who will defy Akai and his domination.

    Annie wasn�t quite sure why she was here, only that when she left
the
gunshop, she was overcame by a urge to be here. And so here she was,
browsing through all the markers of the dead, looking for something, but

not knowing what it was.

    An odd familiarity came to her as she saw such gravesites as one
belonging to a man named Jaymz Cullen, or another belonging to a R.J.
Saotome. <They must�ve been friends of his�> Annie thought to herself
as she continued to stroll around, avoiding the areas where the deceased

must�ve been buried.

    After a while, one particular grave caught her eye. Annie got closer

and kneeled down to get a better look at it. It was a polished black
marble tombstone with a picture of a beautiful Japanese woman with
short red hair, set in it and covered with plastiglass. Engraved on it
was
the name �Ayanami Raye�, and below was �Loved wife and mother�,
�Died, 2016�.

    As Annie felt the engraved letters on it she started to cry a
little,
sharing a sadness with someone she�s promised years ago to avenge
and even one day be with. <Oh, brother� I�m sorry you always have
to be separated with those you love�>

    �Excuse me, Miss?�

    Annie quickly hid her emotions to the best she could and got up to
meet the voice from behind her. Standing there was Oniko, wearing a
pair of jeans and a red leather jacket, zipped up to keep herself warm.

    �Did you know her?� Oniko asked Annie, and walked next to the
grave.

    Annie looked at her feet, not knowing what to say to her. �Not� Not
really��

    Oniko stroked the top of the tombstone and lightly smiled. �She was
my
mother. The KCF killed her along with some of the other members of the
resistance group that fought the invaders while the Japanese government
was
still sitting around with their thumbs up their asses and laughing at my
father
and Foster�swarnings of it all.� Oniko gritted her teeth and spoke
bitterly
when she mentioned the war. �My name is Oniko Ayanami,� Oniko smiled
and stuck her hand out.

    Annie took Oniko�s hand and shook it. �I�m Annie Kunn,� Annie paused

when she noticed the look of curiosity on Oniko�s face. �Your father,
Petes, he was my half brother.�

    Oniko�s shoulders slumped and a look of surprise came to her face.
�You�re Angelena?��

    Annie swept some strands of hair away from her eyes after a brief
breeze. �I wasn�t around much back when you were a kid. I�m surprised
he mentioned me. What with me just being his half sister and all, he
never
called me family��

    �Well I remember dad telling me once during the war, that if he dies
I
may one day meet my Aunt Angelena or my Uncle Seth��

    �Well just call me Annie-san, there�s a reason why I don�t introduce

myself as Angelena,� Annie said and chuckled. �So do you live nearby
or something?�

    Oniko shook her head. �No, I live in New Nerima. It�s just that
every
Sunday I come by and see my mom.� Annie solemnly nodded and zipped
up her own jacket as the breeze became more constant. �I heard it�s
supposed to be pretty windy around this area today� You wanna go
and have some coffee? There�s just this place a few blocks away. Give
ourselves a chance to know each other better, ne?�

    Annie looked up at the sky, admiring the serenity of it all. �Yeah.
Okay.�

                                            * * * * * *

    "Ms. Tendou?"

    Nabiki stopped in front of the doors of her office and turned to
face
her secretary. "Yes, Asuka?"

    "You have a visitor in your office. I tried to ask her to wait out
here but the woman with her was rather insistent that they did it in
there instead," Asuka said with a hint of spite when she mentioned the
other woman. "I'm sorry Ms. Tendou."

    Nabiki opened the doors and looked inside. She turned back to Asuka
and smiled. "Don't be, it's quite alright." Before Asuka could thank
her, she went inside and shut the doors behind herself. "Ohayo, imouto."

    Akane got up from the couch she sat on and hugged her big sister.
"Niha-- Erm, I mean.." Akane blushed a little. "Ohayo, onee-san."

    Nabiki smiled at Akane with one of those smiles that always made
Akane
feel like she had a new money making scheme and returned the hug. "I see

that all these years of being in China rubbed off on you."

    "Well you know, when in Rome... What is it?" Akane turned her head
to
look where Nabiki's attention was and saw her friend tapping on the
glass case for a seemingly ancient Japanese sword. "Um, Lin?"

    "Huh?" the friend, Lin, asked and turned away from the artifact.
"Oh,
I sorry. It just look too too lovely."

    "That was apparently owned by the captain of the 6th Emperor's
shogun guard. It better be, or I wasted a lot of money on a cheap knock
off and a phony carbon dating," Nabiki joked as she walked over to a
small bar around the doors and picked up a bottle of wine. "Akane, Ms--
Ah, I didn't catch your name."

    Lin, a rather curvy, yet slender Chinese woman, with bleached hair
done
up in a short and thick pony tail, bowed to Nabiki. "I Lin Nen, nice to
be meeting you."

    "So the Joketsukozu's Japanese lessons still have the same quality
as before, eh Akane?" Nabiki said to her sister with and wink and poured

herself a glass of wine. "Now then, would you two like anything to
drink?"

    "None for me sis'."

    "Ah, maybe small glass of sake be nice," Lin answered in a distant
tone as she became absorbed in yet another artifact of the many that
decorate Nabiki Tendou's office. Oddly the book on the pedestal over
by the miniature library was purposely avoided by her.

    Nabiki went to work at pouring Lin her drink. "So Akane, I hear
you've been elected as the leader of a small country that was formerly
part of China."

    "More of begged." Akane rolled her eyes and sighed. "I wish I could
get my hands on the people the romanticized me as a strong and
independent woman to the amazons."

    "Aren't you though?" Nabiki asked and handed Lin her drink, briefly
noticing the elegant jewelry on the back of her hand that seemed to be
some sort of dragon head ornament. "And from what I _know_, it's
someone else you want your hands on." She sat down next to her sister
and took a sip from her glass. "Come clean, imouto. This war is really
about vengeance, isn't it?"

    "Yes well, it's not my fault the council wanted to get the KCF back
for killing Cologne--"

    "That's not who I meant." Nabiki sharply cut Akane off and looked
her
straight in the eye. "You want to get revenge for them killing Ranma.
And since the amazons claimed him as their property, they're backing you
up.
This whole thing about honoring the last matriarch is just bullshit.
YOU'RE
the Matriarch now and they're happy to finally have new blood. You're
all
just hiding behind politics."

    Akane glared at her older sister. "Don't you dare talk about that
with such a stuck up attitude. Of course I want them to pay for what
they did. Hell, even though they claim it was suicide, it's obvious they

killed him for some stupid reason." Akane's expression dropped from pure

anger to just annoyance as she spoke again. "And by the way, the other
tribes we've brought into our republic don't think it's all bullshit.
Especially the
Satsujinhan'nin."

    "Well that's all nice," Nabiki said coolly and took another sip.
"How
do you suppose a Chinese tribe ended up with a Japanese name anyways?"

    "Nabiki!"

    "What?"

    Akane sighed yet and again and the oh so often look of defeat came
to
her face. "Forget it. I can see that politics isn't the greatest thing
for us
to talk about right now."

    "Right now? How about 'always'? We've been arguing about this sort
of
thing since father started reading us the paper when we were little. And

it always ends the same way, I make a small joke and you get mad."

    "Then why did you do it this time if you knew that I'd get mad?"

    "Because I wanted our first conversation in years to be routine."
Nabiki chuckled and Akane soon joined in. "So Akane, why did you pick
now of all times to drop by? You had quite some time after the two year
exile the KCF set, passed."

    "Well..." Akane crossed her arms and looked away nervously. "I was
kind of wondering if you could... Do me a favor."

    "Well well, looks like we're related after all." Nabiki grinned
broadly and downed the rest of her wine. "Okay then, what is it you
need? Political influences? Weapons? Connections inside the government?"

Nabiki leaned closer and smirked. "Risqu� photos of the Minister of Law?

I bet I still have my voyeur skills." Immediately Nabiki and Akane broke

out laughing again, causing Lin Nen to shake her head and murmur
something in Chinese.

    *BZZ!*

    Nabiki walked over to her desk and pressed the intercom button. "Yes

Asuka?"

    "Ms. Tendou, Mr. Foster is here to se--" Asuka stopped as Foster
walked
right into Nabiki's office. "Ah I give up!"

    "Take the day off Asuka, I think you'll get an ulcer if anyone else
wants
to see me," Nabiki said back into the intercom and waved hello to
Foster.

    "Hello Nabiki," Foster replied and then noticed Akane and Lin Nen.
"Oh, did I come at a bad time?"

    "Not at all Ran. I believe you know my sister."

    Foster nodded in Akane's direction. "Hai. We've met a few times."

    Lin placed down her glass and shook Foster's hand. "Nihao, I Lin
Nen."

    <And once again, the amazons come up with yet more awkward names...>

"Nice to meet you." His face went a little surprised as he noticed her
jewelry. "Say, where'd you get that?"

    "This? It come from some ruins near village."

    "Ah. I think I recognize it from somewhere." <Yeah, like from the
hand
of someone I knew a long time ago... I guess that means some stuff
survived the explosion there...> Foster thought to himself and handed
Nabiki
the folder he was carrying with himself. "Well, the bugs have finally
been
ironed out and we can begin production whenever you want."

    Nabiki clapped her hands. �Excellent!� Noticing the questioning look
on
her sister�s face, Nabiki choose to explain. �For several years me and
Foster-san have been working at a special project, the Labor Project,
which was meant to be a piloted mechanism.�

    �A mecha?!�

    �Well,� Foster said and motioned for Nabiki to hand Akane the
folder.
�Not like something out of cartoons, but yes, a mecha.� Inside was
several technical readouts and other things she didn�t understand too
well.
But the several blue prints and field test photos were of a bipedal
machine
with humanoid properties.

    �How big is this thing?� Akane asked as she sat the folder down on
the
coffee table.

    �About fifteen feet tall,� Foster answered.

    �And it�s purpose..?�

    Nabiki chuckled and smirked at Akane. �Oh ho! Now I see what you�re
getting at. Yes, it has military properties, in fact, we even have
automatic and
semi-automatic weapons already designed for it. They�re practically like

anti-tank guns, and almost as heavy as them too. So,� Nabiki sat back
down
on the couch. �How many do you need?�

    �Well�� Akane was taken aback a little by her sister�s being able to

figure out that she was interested in adding these war machines to her
military.

    �Don�t worry, only us in R&D know about the weapons, marketing just
knows about how it can be used for construction and accident, slash,
disaster
sites. The KCF won�t have these as their personal weapons,� Foster
reassured
Akane. �I�ll personally see to it that they don�t.�

    �Um� How effective are they?� Akane finally asked.

    �Very effective. A single one can take out a tank battalion if it
moves
quickly enough. And seeing as to how all your troops have practically
been
trained in martial arts since they could walk. You guys could do much
more.�

    �How much will each cost?�

    Nabiki grinned. �For family? It�s on the house.�

                                                * * * * * *

    �Welcome to Tokishi Computing, can I help you?� The receptionist
behind the information desk in the main lobby of Tokishi Towers, asked
Riven as he approached him.

    Riven took out his wallet and showed his NSIA ID. �Yes. I�m here
about the report on a break-in last night. Where can I find the Security

Guard in charge, Ms. Kitsuki?�

    �Oh, she should be here soon. Just go ahead and wait up in the
boardroom on the fifteenth floor, at the end of the hall. You can�t miss
it.�

    Nodding and saying a �Thank you�, Riven stepped into the elevator,
which had conveniently just opened and let out all its passengers.

    �Fifteenth floor please,� Riven said to the elevator.

    But just as the doors started closing, a Kitsune woman, with long
red
hair, and nine red tails, wearing a white dress-suit, ran towards the
elevator, shouting, �Hey! Hold up!�

    �Cancel that please,� Riven once again said to the elevator and the
doors opened.

    The woman rushed in and bent over to catch her breath a little.
�Thanks,� she said, panting. She then stood up straight, made sure her
clothes weren�t wrinkled or ruffled up, and spoke to the elevator,
�Fifteenth floor please.� The doors shut once again, and it started
upwards.

    �Quite the narrow escape,� Riven casually said to her and took
notice
of  her ID badge. She was Reiko Kitsuki. He sure felt that the gods were

laughing it up right now.

    �Heh, yeah,� Reiko chuckled. �This has got to be my worst week ever,

first me and my daughter got in a bit of a fight over something silly,
then the
break-in last night. And now I have to meet with some NSIA agent, which
is going to be a REAL fun time.� Reiko emphasized the �REAL� with heavy
sarcasm. �You won�t believe how arrogant and full of themselves these
guys
are.�

    �Oh I think I have an idea of what they�re like�� Riven rolled his
eyes,
an expression that was hidden by the sunglasses that many have claimed
that
he must�ve  came out of his mother�s womb with them on, and stuck his
hand
out.

    Reiko took it and shook his hand. �Reiko Kitsuki. I�m the acting
head of
security here.�

    �Riven Mathews. I�m an arrogant and �full of it� NSIA agent.� Reiko
immediately looked completely shocked and embarrassed, and froze up.
Riven couldn�t help to feel good about it and grinned. �My, if your
reputation
around some of the NSIA agents is true, then I�m positive that we�re
going
so be having some fun these next few days,� Riven said cheerfully and
watched the elevator�s progress.

    Until it stopped and the door�s opened, Reiko had the look of a
person
whom has just accidentally signed their own death warrant.

                                            * * * * * *

    Sitting inside the little coffee shop in Itabashi, Annie tried her
best
to pay attention to her newly discovered niece, only to find it
difficult as
a daydream slowly forced its way into her head, obscuring all the words
coming from Oniko�s mouth.

    When she finally succumbed to the vision, it wasn�t early December
in
the year twenty twenty-five, but the summer of twenty sixteen.

    A time when Japan was about to lose it�s freedom.

                                        * * * * * *

    �Jesus Methuselah Christ� Do they really need these many tanks �ere?

I mean� C�mon, the bloody war is goin� on in Osaka bay, not the Tokyo
wards. Frickin� dumbasses��

    �Well Petes, I guess they want to protect the rest of the country.
Seeing how the KCF launches their attack via those rifts of theirs��
Foster, at a slightly younger age, said to his friend and ally as he
checked the chambers on his Gunblade for about the hundredth
time that day. �But I do agree, they won�t be coming here.�

    �Never said that,� Petes, a young man with wild purple hair and
bright
yellow eyes, said and tried to fill the void of silence that followed by

scratching the plaque off one of his fangs. �Never said that at all�� A
soft breeze blew by and the bottom of his trenchcoat fluttered in the
cool
air.

    Foster looked at him for a moment, as if he was thinking what most
of
Petes' closest friends usually thought in Petes� presence, that he was a

natural leader, in mind, will, and dramatics. �So now you�re saying that
they
WILL attack? How can you be sure?�

    Petes stared off into the skies quietly and briefly looked at the
tank
battalion parked around the city limits of Nerima. After a few moments,
he turned to Foster and smiled, his whole teeth, with his fangs as the
centerpieces, flashed in the sunlight, and it seemed almost like his
eyes
flashed as well. �The winds tell me.�

    �It�s not even windy!� Foster retorted humorously, �Just a small
breeze
now and then.�

    �Not those winds,� Petes replied, ignoring the joke. �I mean the
winds
of magic��

    Foster tucked his weapon away in its sheath and rolled his eyes.
�Great, that Skaven mumbo-jumbo again��

 �Pah! We Skaven aren�t associated with the winds of magic enough to
claim it as our �mumbo-jumbo�� All kinds of mages and sorcerers utilize
the winds that fuel their magiks. Well� except for aura-mages� But
they�re not of my reality�� Petes snickered at his own in-joke and
kicked at a few stones on the ground.

    �Since when were you a rat-man?� Foster laughed, pointing out that
Petes once again considered himself and the rat-people that raised him
are
of the same race. Petes merely ignored it and walked over to the command

tank parked a few meters away. Foster shrugged his shoulders and went
his
own way.

    �So what�s the word fer you guys?� Petes asked, hopping up on the
tank
and practically sticking his face in the commander�s. �Ya' gonna get
more
troops or what?� Disgusted at his rudeness, the commander gruffly told
Petes where the government would rather stick their army. After Petes
tried
to imagine how they could fit so many people in a human colon, let alone
a
daemon�s colon, he mentally flipped off the commander and walked further

on, beyond the tank lines.

    Suddenly something caused him to freeze and narrow his eyes. The
drivers in the tanks thought he must�ve gone nuts and was listening to
voices
in his head. It was then he whipped a Bastard Sword from out of his
personal hammerspace and shouted at the top of his lungs.

    �SHIT! THEY�RE HERE!!!�

    In an explosion of spectrums, a large hole of light burst through
reality, opening a giant rift in front of the tanks and Petes. And from
out of it
poured hundreds of Sables and strange crab/spider-like mechas that the
world would come to know as Yuros, with grenade and machine gun cover
fire being volleyed into the tanks to allow the Sables to get in close.

    As the bat-out-of-hell assault poured their way in, Petes plucked a
strange black and green stone from his coat and swallowed it whole, his
body shivered as it was filled with immense power.

    �Game time buckos.�

    In a mad dash, he charged into the heart of the enemy forces,
cutting
down all that stood in his path with his huge sword. Sables left and
right
tried to parry his swipes with their combat spatulas, only to have their

weapons cleft in half and their bodies viscously hacked open. His face
and shirt came to be soaked in blood and oil as he tried to give the
tank battalion a chance to fight back, but he never knew that the forces

he was futilely fighting already consumed them.

    "CHOU SHINKUU TAMA HA!" The familiar voice of Foster
shouted out and a ki blast that rivaled the legendary Roaring Lion�s
Bullet nuked a flank of Sables, revealing Ran himself, drenched in blood

like Petes, and tightly gripping his Gunblade.

    �Heya Ran-kun,� Petes grinned and cut down five more Sables. �Been
waitin� fer ya�!�

    �Yeah yeah�� Foster backslashed a passing by Sable and followed
up by gutting another one. �So this is how we die?� He asked, leaped
over a Yuro, and stood with his back to Petes, like some climatic duo
ready to fight to the end, �Us two fighting to the death and all that
garbage?�

    �Nah,� Petes confidently said and thrust his sword into a Sable that

unwisely chose to get too close. �RJ should be here any second. HE
believed my hunch.�

    Foster built up his ki and repeated the same words he said before,
blasting more foes. �And you�re sure he�ll deliver?�

    �Yea�. My neighbors may have told me to never trust a Saotome,
but they never said anything about Jurain Saotomes. Now excuse me
a sec�.� Petes jumped into the air, shouted, �Skitter leap� and in an
instant he disappeared and reappeared behind a Yuro. �Gimmie a hell
yeah!� Petes cried, shoved his sword deep into the mecha, raised it
above his head, and swung his sword, launching the Yuro at a few
unfortunate Sables.

    �SHYAAAAAAA!!!!!!�

    Petes and Foster looked into the air to see a fleet of dropships
escorted by two odd crystal-like UFOs flying overhead. The ones
fortunate enough to avoid the Yuro�s defensive fire unloaded it�s
payload of armored, sword toting warriors.

    �It�s them! Ha ha! RJ got the Knights to help us out!� Petes
whooped with joy, but his voice faded out along with the whole
battle scene.

    Annie was waking up.

                                            * * * * * *

    �Hey, Annie-san, you okay? You nodded off there.� Oniko
was cleaning up some spilled coffee off the floor. Annie looked
down at her hand and realized she tipped her coffee mug over
when she slipped into that vision. She never even noticed the
scalding pain of some that got on her lap.

    �I�m okay, it�s just that I tend to daydream a lot.�

    Oniko stared at Annie, almost knowing that it was something
more than just daydreams, as if something in the air told her.
�You want me to order another?�

    Annie waved her hand in a negative gesture, �Nah, I�ll be fine.
You see? Plenty on my pants.� They shared a laugh as Annie
pointed at her soaked pant leg.

    �Too bad--,� Oniko tried to get out but stammered due to the
conflicting laughter, �That everyone�ll stare if you try drinking it
that way.�

    �Meh, I think the scalding pain�ll keep my mind off of any
inhibitions,� Annie replied with gritted teeth, trying to keep from
crying out in pain. �So where were we?�

    �Your brother, Seth.�

    �Oh god� I�d rather go back to daydreaming than willingly
acknowledge his existence�� Annie groaned.

    �Why?�

    �Lets say that your half-uncle Seth is� He�s� He�s kind of
an eccentric��

    �What do you mean �kind of�?�

                                            * * * * * *

    *SMASH!*

    �Hey! What�d I tell you about opening the bottles that way?!�

    Seth lazily looked at the peeved bartender and suavely took a
sip from the beer bottle that he just broke the neck off of in order
to avoid the menial task of twisting the cap off.

    �Well?�

    �Do it in my area,� Seth replied and added a, �Yah fuckhead,�
under his breath. Shayn giggled at it, either because she found it
funny, or she had a bit too much to drink. The fact that she was
still hanging around Seth was proof it must�ve been the latter.

    The barkeep sighed heavily and glared at the skid-punk. �No,
I said to not break the neck off over other customer�s laps, like
you�ve been doing all night.�

    �Then what�s the fuckin� beef?�

    �I DON�T WANT YOU DOING IT AT ALL!!!�

    Seth grinned and exclaimed, �Jesus! Scare off the clubbies why
don�t you!� Shayn nearly fell off her stool, laughing. The bartender
just screamed in his mind and left. Seth noticed how tipsy Shayn
was and couldn�t help to comment. He was on a roll after all.

    �Damn girl,  you�re more pissed than a NNYC subway dweller!�

    It was then that Shayn stopped laughing, and tried to look directly
at Seth. �I no get it.�

    �Well there�s these guys that hang out in the sub-stations, all
ranting
and shit, so they sound kinda pissed and all--�

 �You from New New York?� Shayn interjected, her speach
beginning to sound even worse now that she was slurring a bit.

    �Yeah, I grew up in that shithole. You know, it�s so much of a
shithole that it�s in competition with Jersey City as the number one
shithole in the US-o�-fuckin�-A!� Seth joked and then quietly added,
�Course the entire States is a shithole,� as Shayn slowly started to
fall
asleep on the counter. Taking that moment to check his watch he
realized he was almost late for his meeting with Annie and got up.
�Hey, she�s payin for my drinks, kay?� He said to the bartender who
was still on the verge of a breakdown, and hurried out of Hell�s
Capitol.

                                            * * * * * *

    The tension in the boardroom was the kind you could only cut with
a high powered laser beam and a lot of patience. The reason for this
was of course Reiko and Riven. They were fastly getting tired of each
other and they barely got down to work.

    �The reports of the guards on duty said that they didn�t see who it
was that broke in�� Reiko said while looking at the report on the
break-in.

    Riven held his hand out, �Can I have a look? For once?�

    �You have spare yen?�

    �No,� Riven answered, his forehead scrunched up. �Why?�

    Reiko turned her back to him and went back to reading. �Because
unless if you can spring for photocopies, you�ll have to stick with
what I let you know about.�

    �Right. Remind me to get a warrant for your arrest. Withholding
evidence is a crime after all,� Riven smirked and held his hand out
again. �Now then, the report if you will.�

    With a growl Reiko shoved the report into Riven�s hand. Hard
enough to give him several papercuts. �There, happy now?�

    �Very.�

                                      * * * * * *

    In Akai's office, the Prime Minister of Japan sat at his desk, going

over Essix's reports on the two criminals who have been identified as
having a dangerous ki potential.

    "Hmm... Could it be..." Akai muttered to himself as he went over
the briefly record data on the ki projectile used by the male. <Dammit,
if my thoughts are correct, then I had my men keeping tabs on the
wrong people. These two must be involved with the Rat. They must
be the harbingers of his coming. The day my Lord has warned me of is
soon. I can feel it.>

    He laid down the file and got up to get himself a drink of sake from

the cupboard behind himself. <It's been years since I took control of
this country, and all that time I had my men, my agents, keep watch on
anyone who could possibly end up being part of the prophecy. I know
who the Rat is, and what the Rat was. And so I know that the Rat shall
come in the form of another, for his kind is well known for returning
through possession or reincarnation. Yes. So these two must be... No.
No, I'm not thinking straight. They're probably just a pair of first
rate
martial artists... Nothing Zobel can't handle.>

    Suddenly Akai heard a knocking at his door and he put down his
glass.
"Come in," he said.

    In walked a man in his twenties, with long silver hair, wearing the
standard black suit and sunglasses of a NSIA agent. A brief draft came
into the room as he entered and the file on Akai's desk fluttered a
little.

    "Yes, how my I help you?" Akai asked as he sat down in his chair.

    "Akai-san, I was wondering what measures are being done to watch
those two who appeared yesterday night." The man said calmly as he
looked around Akai's office and then back at Akai himself. "Well?"

    Akai held back the anger he got from this man acting so familiar and

informal with him. "And who are you to speak to me like this, agent?"

    "My name is..." the man trailed off and looked thoughtful for a
moment. "Ryu-kaze, Akai-san."

    Akai finally let his anger out a little as he glared at Ryu-kaze and

spoke in an angry tone. "You will address me as Lord Akai--"

    "I think not Akai-san, for I serve another lord, one of which I
believe you know who I'm talking about, ne?" Ryu-kaze then took off
his shades and looked directly at Akai with his deep blue eyes.

    "........"

    "By the way," he said as he put the shades back on and let a thin
smile come to his face. "He sent me to check up on you and see how
you were doing. Good day." Ryu-kaze nodded at Akai, turned on his
heel and walked out of the office.

    Akai sat there for what seemed to be an eternity, mulling over what
just happened. The fact that the one he served, the true power behind
the government, didn't trust him enough that he had to send an agent of
his own to keep an eye on him, did not settle well with Akai.

    "Not good," Akai said to himself. "Not good indeed�"

                                        * * * * * *

    Somewhere, out there, in a place that nobody can willingly find,
a man surrounded by shadows sits on a large stone throne. Draped in
dark robes that hide all his features, he sits there, staring at the
floor
below him, as if he is asleep. And in the shadows around him, the
constant noises of bat-like creatures are heard. Loud enough to hear
clearly, yet soft enough to hear the speach of others. The room has the
feeling of a vast open space, of ceilings that are hundreds of feet
high,
and a floor extending as far as the eye can see. Yet none of this can be

proven, due to the great darkness all around.

    "M'lord," came a voice from the great void. The robed man on the
throne looked up, his face hidden away by his hood and the shadows.

    "Yes my child? What is it you have to say?" he replied in a icy and
stern tone.

    A light gust of wind began to blow from an unknown origin and
suddenly a man in white robes appeared near the base of the throne, his
features also hidden away, except for his long silver hair. As the wind
died down, the bottom of his robes stopped fluttering and he kneeled
before his lord.

    "Well?" The man on the throne said, a tinge of annoyance seemed to
grow in his voice. "What is it?"

    "M'lord, I ask you, why do we leave so many of them alone to their
own devices? Those two seem to be a danger to us..."

    A eerie chuckle came from under the black hood of the lord.

    "My child, I do not fear them, for it was written in bloodchalk on
the night of prophecy that they are the--" The lord stopped and it
almost seemed like he might of had a small smile on his face. "Ah yes,
you aren't familiar with that part of the prophecy, are you?"

    "I'm afraid not, M'lord."

    "Well, it went as thusly... 'The Cat, the Dog, and the Rat. The Cat
is a tool. The Dog is a pawn. And the Rat is a forked road.'"

    "I do not understand, M'lord... �A forked road�?"

    A light sigh came from the lord as he sat back to think. "It is hard

to say what it means, but I believe it means that the Rat can be both a
use and a danger to us. Yes, he is the one to fear. That is, when he
arrives... Now leave me," commanded the lord. The gust of wind
arrived yet again and the white robed man disappeared.

    Once again the room was filled with only darkness, the throne, and
the robed man.

    "Yes... we must prepare for the Rat..." the lord said to himself and

slowly the sounds of thousands of cackling women and fluttering wings
filled the air.

                                            * * * * *

    The streets nearby Tendou Enterprises were surprisingly dark and
quiet, despite the party going on in the town. From out of the darkness
emerged a pair of figures dressed in black, which by now you all know
to be Seth and Annie.

    �Alright Annie-girl, time to get into character,� Seth said in an
amazing Samuel Jackson impression and took out a semi-automatic
pistol. �This is where I shine. We get in there, take out the guards,
prolly
about half a dozen if Japanese companies operate like the ones back in
the States, and then we head up to the chief�s office, ASA-fuckin�-P,
you
grab the damned book and we get the fuck out.�

    �Yeah, I got you,� Annie slapped the twenty-five round clip into her

uzi carbine.

    �Then lets fuckin� move!� Seth shouted as lowly as he could and they

scuttled up to the front doors of Tendou Enterprises.

    All there while, they didn�t notice the black Sedan parked a bit
down
the street, and the NSIA agents sitting inside and watching them.

    �So, do we call Director Essix or do we go after them?� The brown
haired woman asked her partner, a man with a small ponytail and a
poorly shaven face. �Well Kaji-san?�

    �Neither, Lynn. I heard these guys are tough, and Essix�ll just tell
us
to go off and risk our lives. No, I think we should call someone with a
better use of leadership��

                                                * * * * *

    �Good evening, Prime Minister,� Essix said to the active vidphone
on his desk. The image of Akai was on the screen, and he seemed a
little edgy. �How can I serve you?�

    �Essix�� Akai looked away for a moment and turned back to the
screen. �I�ve decided to turn the case of those two possible threats to
the KCF over to Hinako. For the time being.�

    �But sir--� Essix stopped before he could step out of line and took
a deep breath. �I assumed you gave it to me in the first place because
you wanted it to be kept quiet. Now you�re turning it over to that
woman?�

    �Zobel will be assisting her, so things WILL be kept quiet. And
besides, I need you to run a background check on a man named
Ryu-kaze, he�s quite tall, possibly around six feet, and he has long
silver hair.�

    �Why the description? I can do the check with the name alone--�

    �Because,� Akai interrupted him, �I have a very strong reason to
believe that�s not his real name.�

    �I see, then he will be a difficult man to research�� Essix tapped
his computer�s sense-screen and accessed the Bios archives.

    �Don�t be an idiot, Essix-san.� Akai sneered at his underling.
�Just how many Asian men have long silver hair?!� And with that,
Akai hung up, leaving Essix there with the feeling he cheated death.

                                        * * * * * *

    �Hey Zed, I just completed my patrol and I�m coming down,� a
female TE security guard said into her radio as she stepped into the
elevator. After nothing but silence from the other end she spoke into it

again, still nothing. �Goddamn radios must be busted again.�

    Stepping out of the elevator after it reached it�s destination of
the
main lobby, she called out towards the front desk. �Hey Zed, the
radio�s busted. Zed?� She was shocked to see a pair of dangerous
looking gaijins standing there. Both heavily armed.

    But what shocked her even more was the slumped over, bloody
body of Zed on the desk.

    Seth raised his pistol up at her. �Zed�s dead baby,� he said and
stared straight down the barrel, and to her face, �Zed�s dead.�

    *BLAM! �. BLAM! �. BLAM!*

                                        * * * * * *

    <No riots, robberies, or vandalism in the last twenty four hours.
This must be the best day we�ve had this year�> Hinako thought
to herself in satisfaction. Things were so slow around the Ministry
of Law HQ, that many of the dispatchers just read the papers,
instead of the Sables� hourly reports. But Hinako was enjoying the
time off. To her, a day without crime is proof that she�s doing her
job quite well. And so, while she was sitting back in her
command chair, the cel� phone in her jacket pocket began to ring.

    �Hinako here,� she said into the phone.

    �Good evening Nomomiya-san,� said Akai�s cold and empty
voice.

    �Oh, Prime Minister,� Hinako nearly let her professionalism slip,
but she still prevailed, even after saying hello to her boss in such an
informal way. Something she knew he hated with a passion. �What
do you wish of me?�

    �Are you upset that I gave the order for Chief Director Essix to
handle the two perpetrators your people were unable to apprehend
last night?�

    �Nani? You want to know what I thought of the order?� Hinako
was stunned that Akai would ask this, of all things for him to say to
her.

    Akai chuckled in the arrogant way he always does. �Not really.
But I want to give you a second chance at capturing them. I just got
a report from a NSIA agent from S12 that him and his partner saw
the two entering Tendou Enterprises. I suggest you wear something
nice when you go and get them.�

    Hinako smirked. She knew exactly what he meant, and she was
glad to know that he shared the same idea of her attending to them
personally. �Yes, Prime Minister Akai. I�ll be there as soon as I can.�

    �Oh, and I�ll be sending Zobel to aid you. Oyasumi Hinako-san,�
Akai said and then hung up from his side.

    Hinako slowly turned off her phone and tucked it away. <Zobel?
That psychopath!? Oh well, I guess to make an omelet, you have to
break a few eggs�> �Excuse me, but I have matters to attend to.
See you all tomorrow,� she said to her subordinates and hurried off.

                                            * * * * * *

    �Yes my lord Akai,� Zobel said into his wrist-com and got up
from the gargoyle he was perched upon. He fiddled with the clasp
that held his cloak together and he slowly went invisible, the light
bending around him with the aid of his Opti-cam clothing, a
technology usually only used by UN snipers, but given to the KCF
for a �small favor�.

    With himself shown to the world as nothing more than a slight
distortion of light, he leaped from his position and fell four stories
towards the ground. It didn�t even sting his legs as he landed hard
on the pavement.

    He observed the passing crowds with amusement, not a single
one could tell he was there, even in the middle of the street. He
briefly extracted his wrist-claw and made gutting motions with it to
give himself even more satisfaction in the idea of being able to kill
anything he wishes.

    He focused his mind on a map of New Nerima and a 2D map of
the metropolis appeared in his eyes, courtesy of optical implants.
All this heavy-duty hardware he was equipped with was what made
him so much better than normal Sables. It also helped that he lived
for the kill.

    <Come my children, come and die by my hand,> he disturbingly
thought to himself and ran towards the Tendou Enterprises building.

    The first devil had begun the hunt.

                                            * * * * * *

    Hinako hurried into her private washroom with a suitcase in her
hand. Inside was the mentioned �something nice� Akai suggested for
her to wear.

    She began to undress, taking off her jacket, shirt, and skirt. When
she was down to her underwear, she could help as to smirk at how
she still had this gorgeous body that caused hundreds upon hundreds
of men to fall head over heels for her. She was after all a very
shapely, very tall, woman with a look that was both sophisticated
and sexy. She was glad that her dealings with Akai resulted in her
virtually having this body permanently. Never having to constantly
drain energy from others so she wouldn�t have the form of a little girl.

Just twenty-four hours of this voluptuous appearance that would put
Aphrodite to shame.

    Back when the KCF rule began to take full effect, Akai came to
her, knowing Hinako�s great reputation as a model disciplinarian.
And he offered her a job as the minister of law. In return she would
gain a special device that would supply her with all the energy she
needed. She never inquired what made it run, but this device was set
up on her bed and would recharge her during her sleep. Which had
proven to be a downside to her now almost-existent sex life, since
she needed to recharge at night, or she�d most likely turn back to a
little girl during �the act�, which she had already discovered to be an
awkward situation.

    Finally slipping off her underwear, she opened her suitcase and
took out a full-bodysuit that was apparently made of some form of
nylon. It was a shiny jet black and had a strange design of
neon-green circuitry running all over it. This was the
Strength-Agility-Enhancement-Suit, otherwise known as an
SAE-Suit, a form fitting bodysuit with capabilities to make the
wearer stronger, faster, and more agile. It was a bonus in Akai�s
contract with Hinako. After all, policing students is very different
when compared to policing dangerous criminals, they�re not a bunch
of weak teenagers for one thing, and they carry weapons.

    With the suit on and zipped up, Hinako pushed a button on her
right wrist and the suit suddenly shrunk to fit her body. Every contour,

muscle, and protruding bone was clearly visible, as if it was painted
on. She was now both a living weapon and a sexual distraction. Not
that she never was before.

    Softly chuckling she leaned closer to the mirror and placed her
hands on it. A cold smile grew on her face and she slowly let her
perfect teeth follow as it grew wider.

    �Death and justice; a combination of fury and grace,� She thought
out loud. It was a passage from some famous book she read about,
called The Codex of Daemonics or something. And so she began to
laugh louder as she packed up and left the washroom.

    The second devil had now joined the hunt.

                                            * * * * * *

    �Would you like to swing on a star? Carry moonbeams home in
jar? Or be better off than you are? Or would you rather be a fish?�
Seth sang as they hurried down the hallway that led to Nabiki
Tendou�s office.

    �I�d rather that you�d be more quiet,� Annie hissed and leaned up
against the wall next to the doors.

    Seth snorted and put his hands on the doors in readiness to push
them open. �C�mon the place is empty!� He flung them wide-open
and skipped in. �See?�

    Annie reluctantly followed, �Okay��

    Seth put away his gun and grabbed a pump-shotgun from a
duffel bag Annie brought along to carry the book in. �So where is
it?�

    Annie nodded just northeast of Seth. �That�s it.� She tried to
keep herself from crying out, �after all these years, the nightmares
will end and vengeance will be brought.�

    Seth looked at the glass case that held this very old leather book
in it. On the cover strange symbols and markings were etched and
the words �Codexous Daemonicous Dominous� was crudely
painted with what Seth was hoping to be red ink. <Is that even
real Latin?> Seth thought to himself and then raised the shotgun
above his head.

    With a swift blow, he smashed the case open with the butt of
his gun and snatched the book out. �We got it Annie-girl!�

    �Hai. You certainly do.� A voice said from the darkness and
out stepped Nabiki, holding a celphone. �I hope you two are fast
runners, because I just called the NSIA and they�re eager to get
you two.� Her self-satisfactory smile sent chills up their spines.

    After a moment of silence, Seth said probably the most apt
thing for that moment.

    �Aw fuck.�

                                * * * * * *

    �C�mon Seth! Hurry!� Seth and Annie were running down the
stairwell like they were trying to beat the devil in a race. Things
didn�t exactly go so well since they didn�t plan for the President
of Tendou Enterprises herself to be there. But they had their
book.

    �I�m hurrying! I�m hurrying! So shut the hell up!� Seth shouted
at her as he tried his best to keep up. �I swear, you should've let
me shoot the bitch!�

    �And kill more people than necessary!? You really are a
moron!�

    �I�m not a moron!� Seth protested, as he came close to
tripping over his wildly moving feet. �I�m a goddamn realist! You
let me shoot her, and we wouldn�t be running scared like this!�

    Annie stopped and turned at Seth, who nearly ran right into
her. �If you�re so paranoid, then cock your shotgun, and keep
ready for anythi��

    *BWOOOM!!!*

    Suddenly the exit door just 3 flights below them exploded
inward. They just ducked as some chunks of concrete and
steel flew up near where they were. Seth grabbed his shotgun,
cocked it, and swung it into a firing position in one fluid motion.

    �Holy Fuck! Now what�s going on!?� he growled through
his teeth and watched the dust down there clear. Out from it
stepped the tall and shapely figure of Hinako, wearing her
SAE-Suit.

    Hinako smirked with the confidence of an easy victory and
stared at the crouching Seth and Annie, both armed and
prepared to fight to the death. She reached into a small pocket
in the suit and plucked out a tiny circular metal object.

    Meanwhile, the space behind the two degenerates, turned
thieves in deep caca, distorted and moved in the shape of a
cloaked human as Zobel�s Opti-cam cloak deactivated. The
sound of the his claw coming out of the metal shell on his wrist
brought Annie�s attention to him and she tried to ward him off
with her revolver, while questions of how he came to sneak up
behind them and who the hell he was, screamed in her head.

    Hinako�s smirk grew darker and more vicious just as Seth
now realized what the object was, a fifty yen coin.

    �Game over, delinquents.�

==============
~End episode 3#~
==============

Author's Notes:

Dear god! Is it just me or does every episode demand months upon
months of work? Well I guess so if it's gotta be really good.
And IMHO, I'd say this is the best installment of RPML-2025 yet!
(almost 30pgs long, more jokes, more action, more characters, more
everything! ^_^)

Now then, I'd like to give thanks to all of those whom aided me.
Specificly, Tom Mendoza for "remixing" the dream scene (the original
version didn't flow so well) and constantly giving me support, Sean
Michael Foster for helping me with little bits such as the lyrics to
'Swing on a Star', Orrin Smith for pretending to be interested whenever
I said I had another scene done (^_-).
And lastly to Jacob Claussen for adding Reiko and Junsuiko Kitsuki to
the '2025verse, without whom this story would be minus some other fun
scenes (yep, expect more Reiko/Riven rivalry scenes ^_^).
Oops! Almost forgot to also thank Tom Mendoza (again), Chamberlian,
and all the other Stormtroopers of Seth for giving me such a positive
feedback on one of the most hated characters when I started this series.

(Lesson of the Day: Girls L-O-V-E Seth!)
And, and I better not forget to thank Yoru Hikage for suggesting I tone
down Seth's language. Without that suggestion I wouldn't have aimed to
screw that and just come up with more clever ways for him the swear
excessively! ^_^

With those out of the way, I'll give my thoughts...

I felt that I really got a deeper idea of who my own characters are (and

I'm fastly starting to act like Seth, it's scary...) during this
episode,
now turning Shichi from a total wuss-bag to a bit of a nieve innocent,
and Raku from just being a generic Hibiki offspring to now being more
of a Randal-esque guy, and lets not forget that Seth has shifted from
being a bastard to being an offencive eccentric.
I also got more of a feeling for what this universe is like, it's a
little gritty
and dark, but it can also be funny. I think watching BGC Tokyo 2040
may have something to do with that... ^_-

As for what I listened to whilst scribing this tale... Mostly KoRn, Limp

Bizkit, Kid Rock, Econoline Crush, the NGE soundtrack, KMFDM,
and just around the last few days; the new Rob Zombie remix CD and
my newly returned Matrix soundtrack that my sister borrowed and I
didn't get back for months.
As for specific songs... Marlyn Manson's 'Rock is Dead', Limp Bizkit's
'9 Teen 90 Nine', Kid Rock's 'Where U At Rock' and Econoline Crush's
'Sparkle and Shine'.

And so I leave you all to my notes of references and other junk I
included in this installment.
So until next time...
Keep reading the series, keep listening to hardcore music, and...

KEEP KICKIN' THAT SHEEZNIT, DOGGIE STYLE!!!

-Peter "Petes" Detenbeck
11/23/99


References/Notes/Misc Stuff
----------------------------

For those who noticed the change in name for the KCF's police,
I decided during the writing of Ep3 that "Ministry of Tactical
Operations" sounded stupid and to stop smoking what
I did when I came up with that one. And thus it was switched to
the better "Ministry of Law". Expect all the other chapters to be
changed to that.

*-*-*

" *insert Shichi/Pikajew sleeping description here* "

Humorous homage to Sailor Moon's Usagi and Chibi-Usa's
style of sleeping ^_^

*-*-*

" This was the Sonome family pet, a rare pokemon
breed which was relative to the Pikachuu, a Pikajew. "

Before any Jewish readers lynch me, I gotta point out
that Pikajew was concived by a Jewish friend of mine.
She had a very odd sence of humor...

Just be glad I didn't include her other ethnic-pokemon,
Rabisaur.

BTW, most of the Sonomes are Jewish too.

*-*-*

" "Yeah well..." "

Gee, if I had a dollar for every time I say that...

*-*-*

" "Shut mouth, stupid gaijin boy. "

Okay, so Shayn is a gaijin too, it's not like she knows
Japanese well enough to realize that. ^_-

*-*-*

" "Fine, I'll go on the date with - sigh - Usako Shunouchuu." "

Usako - Means nothing. Just a name that came to mind when
I was thinking up fake Japanese names. It was inspired by
Usagi's name.

Shunouchuu - roughly means "head in the air", or otherwise,
"head in the clouds", cause she's a ditzy clutz.

Usako herself was inspired by both Anna & Uni Puma
(Conflict's version), and Mihoshi.

*-*-*

" "Now then, Tenki, I want you to phone Haisuke-san "

Yet another mock-Japanese name. I use a lot of 'em. ^_^

*-*-*

" "Okay then, but that just means neither of you two will get
to help them with any chest painting. And I know Chi-chi would
just looove that." "

Okay, truth be told, the girl who inspired Sachiko really
does act like that.

*-*-*

" Shichi grumbled and bought a bottle of RC Draft Cola from a
nearby food stand. "

I was drinking RC Draft a lot when I did that scene.

'Nuff said.

*-*-*

" And if you were from "The Village", like our black clad
psychotic friend, Seth "

Yep, Seth Kunn hails from East Village, NYC.

*-*-*

" The crowd went in to a frenzy again and the MC backed away
from the mic', giving one American Kitsune wearing khakis, a
black shirt, and a red FKBK ball cap, "

FKBK - For Kitsune By Kitsune

And whites still wear them! ^_^;;

*-*-*

" ("Where you at Rock? Where you at?") "

'Where U At Rock?', by Kid Rock.

*-*-*

" Seth turned to face her and flashed a grin. "Hey there
pretty lady." "

A ref to The X-File's Lone Gunman, Frohike(sp?).

*-*-*

" Annie walked along the rows and rows of tombstones in
the Itabashi Necropolis, "

Pointless fact; Itabashi is the twin city of Burlington
Ontario, my hometown.

*-*-*

" An odd familiarity came to her as she saw such gravesites
such as one belonging to a man named Jaymz Cullen, or another
belonging to a R.J. Saotome. "

Jaymz - a member of a Quake Clan known as The Lone Gunmen,
and also a past ally of Petes in the RPMLverse.

R.J. - The writer of the side story, The Memory Remains, and he
also has a char based on him, whom is also an ally of Petes'.

*-*-*

" "Yes, Asuka?" "

Yeppers, Asuka is Nabiki's personal assistant.

*-*-*

" "You want to get revenge for them killing Ranma. And
since the amazons claimed him as their property, they're
backing you up. This whole thing about honoring the last
matriarch is just bullshit. YOU'RE the Matriarch now and
they're happy to finally have new blood. You're all just
hiding behind politics." "

I really like this speach of Nab's, it's got "Ain't gonna
take no bullshit" all over it. ^ ^!!!

*-*-*

" Akane's expression dropped from pure anger to just
annoyance as she spoke again. "And by the way, the
other tribes we've brought into our republic don't
think it's all bullshit. Especially the
Satsujinhan'nin." "

The Satsujinhan'nin is a made up tribe that'll constantly
show up in my work. It's mostly cause I'm so attached to
the idea of an anti-amazon tribe.

*-*-*

" "How do you suppose a Chinese tribe ended up with a
Japanese name anyways?" "

Satsujinhan'nin - Japanese, supposedly means "killer"

I choose it for reasons that I may surface in a side story
or something...

*-*-*

" "Ms. Tendou, Mr. Foster is here to se--" Asuka stopped
as Foster walked right into Nabiki's office. "Ah I give up." "

Foster also ignores Asuka's pleas for him to wait in
A Survivor's Tale. Poor girl...

*-*-*

" Lin placed down her glass and shook Foster's hand.
"Nihao, I Lin Nen."
<And once again, the amazons come up with yet more
awkward names...> "

Lin Nen - sounds like "Linnin", as in the kind of closet
you keep bed sheets in.

*-*-*

" But just as the doors started closing, a Kitsune woman,
with long red hair, and nine red tails, wearing a white
dress-suit, ran towards the elevator, shouting, "Hey! Hold
up!" "

Yes, 9 tails. She's based on Sakura of Hyper Police, who
is also a Kitsune-woman with only 8 tails. The 9th means
the kitsune has magical properties.

*-*-*

" "Jesus Methuselah Christ... " "

I actually say that... ^_^;;;

*-*-*

" "Great, that Skaven mubo-jumbo again..." "

Skaven, Warpstone (the black & green stone Petes' eats), and
the Winds of Magic are all creations of Games Workshop and
aspects of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

Skaven - Ratmen, to put it simply.

Warpstone - The raw-stuff of magic.

Winds of Magic - Magic power flowing in the wind, originating
from somehwere around the North Pole.

*-*-*

" It was then he whipped a Bastard Sword from out of his
personal hammerspace "

Bastard Sword - a rather large sword with a handle built for one
hand and a half (so it's kind of held with one hand and the other
cups the pommel a bit).

It's also the particular type of sword Cloud Strife (FF7) uses,
but was renamed "Buster Sword" for obvious censorship
technicalities.

*-*-*

" "CHOU SHINKUU TAMA HA!" "

Chou Shinkuu Tama Ha - Perfect Concussion Ball Blast

It's a Shishi Hoku Dan style ki blast, using anger as its fuel.

*-*-*

" Ran himself, drenched in blood like Petes, and tightly
gripping his Gunblade. "

Yeah, so both Ran Foster and Petes Ayanami both use weapons
weilded by the main characters of two recent FF games.

*-*-*

" "SHYAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
Petes and Foster looked into the air to see a fleet of dropships
escorted by two odd crystal-like UFOs flying overhead. "

For those of you that said "Hey! Cabbit ships!" you're right! ^o^

*-*-*

" "Yeah, I grew up in that shithole. You know, it's so much of
a shithole that it's in competition with Jersey City as the
number one shithole in the US-o'-fuckin'-A!" "

FYI, I like making NJ jokes, mainly cause Sean hails from there
and I like bugging him. ^_^

Not that I dislike NJ though...

*-*-*

" "My name is..." the man trailed off and looked thoughtful for a
moment. "Ryu-kaze, Akai-san." "

Ryu-kaze - roughly means something along the lines of "gentle breeze".

*-*-*

" "Alright Annie-girl, time to get into character," Seth said in
an amazing Samuel Jackson impression and took out a semi-automatic
pistol. "

Pulp Fiction kicks major ass!

*-*-*

" The brown haired woman asked her partner, a man with a small
ponytail and a poorly shaven face. "Well Kaji-san?" "


Yip yep! Another Neon Genesis character makes an appearance!

*-*-*

" Seth raised his pistol up at her. "Zed's dead baby," he said
and stared straight down the barrel, and to her face, "Zed's
dead." "

And again, another Pulp Fiction ref'.

*-*-*

" "Would you like to swing a star? Carry moonbeams home in jar?
Or be better off than you are? Or would you rather be a fish?" "

I dunno... The scene just called for a Hudson Hawk ref'...

*-*-*

End Notes




---Petes
http://members.spree.com/sip/petes88/rpml2025main.html






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