Private Bet #10 Chapter III
by Shade
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and affiliates are the
property of Rumiko Takahashi, Rifts and
Phase World are owned by Palladium. Other
references belong to their respective owners.
Many thanks to my patient prereaders:
The Apprentice, Gregg Sharp, Ammadeau, and Skysaber.
Whose inspiration keeps me going and going and going.
Constructive C&C is always welcome.
~~~~~~~~~~
2c: Or what the heck am I supposed to do now?
~~~~~~~~
-Rifts Earth
Over five miles below the tranquil surface of the Pacific Ocean
an ancient evil raged. In the depths of the Mariana Trench
unfortunate minions who came too close were simply crushed
into pulpy jelly by the Reachers. Hundreds of miles of black tentacles
whipped violently to batter rocks, water, and flesh indiscriminately.
A monstrosity so gigantic and hideous that the mere sight could drive a
man to madness, this was the undisputed terror of the seas. Kraken,
Leviathan, Terror of the Deep, Nightmare Beast, all names given to
the horror through the ages. This was the Lord of the Deep, one of
the most powerful alien intelligences in the Multiverse.
A being of unimaginable age and power that now found itself
threatened for the first time in its existance by insignificant mites.
The Lord of the Deep was angry.
In the last score of years more of its kind had been destroyed then
had perished in the past millenia. In the Americas, silence was the only
response where once over a dozen of its brethren had answered its calls.
It had felt the One of Many Faces perish in England only a handful of years
ago, not so long a time for an Intelligence. It had not been the Long Sleep of
before either, this time the Final Death had overtaken it. There had been
others, weaker cousins that were barely related only in name who had fallen
one by one by one means or another as well. More often then not a particularly
unique energy signature was associated with their deaths. A signature that the
Lord of the Deep marked well, for none could hunt the Masters with such
impunity and be allowed to live.
That a puny mortal dared to do so was utterly intolerable.
But it was also beginning to experience the first signs of something
that its alien mind had never felt before. In a human, that emotion
would have been called fear. Dimly did it remember the only other
time that so many of its kin had died, during the War with the Old Ones.
Few dared to risk the wrath of their power now, but there was something
eerily familar about this one that dared to kill those who were gods in all
but name.
Something from long ago....
The physical outburst was replaced by a silence that was in its own way
even worse then the former violence. All those nearby who still lived
and could move left as quickly as possible as the Leviathan settled down
and brooded deep within itself.
For yet another part of Current-Rider's prophecy had been fullfilled.
And with each step accomplished the Leviathan's time drew
one day nearer to its end. It knew this, though the creature
did not know how it knew. The Age of the Intelligences was
drawing to a close. They had existed for far too long, their time was
over. Yet the vile creatures refused to succumb to the inevitable and
continued to live on in defiance of the natural order of things.
But now, an end this perversion of the Balance was beginning
to taking place.
That Cursed Prophecy!
In the hopes finding out how to destroy the Lord of the Deep
a brave group of wizards had dared to cast a spell never before
tried. All who participated had died in the attempt, except for
one. Current-Rider, a fusion of man and whale and the first Spellsinger,
who was struck blind and could only remember these words;
"A Band of Warriors, brave and strong.
A Circle of Wizards, wise and clever.
The Largest War Machine.
The Eternal Flame Blade.
The Fires of the Cosmic Forge.
The One True Eye of Eylor.
The Strength of an Unbeliever.
A Hundred Years War.
When All are Done, the Lord of the Deep will Fall."
-Prophecy of the Deep
For the Spellsinger had glimpsed something that mortal eyes
were never meant to see. In truth the words he remembered
were merely a fragment, that had been all that his mind and soul
had been able to stand without collapsing in on itself.
But Current-Rider's action had already been preordained by the Prophecy.
As had so many other events now taking place. A Prophecy which would
shake the very foundations of the Multiverse as it ran its course....
~~~~~~
-Elsewhere
Such a strange dream. But why couldn't she remember it clearly?
Come to think of it, why was it so dark? And why did her head hurt
so much? Had she overslept and missed her shift again?! Wait a second,
calm down, what was the last thing she remembered?
{We were escorting the transports...then the plantery base tried a last ditch
missile assault. The convoy tried to intercept them but some got through...so
the commander turned us into a decoy to lure the remaining missiles away...it
worked but then we couldn't take them out fast enough and some of them got
through...}
And then...and then?
Nothing. Just the memory of a blinding
white flash followed by total darkness.
She wondered if she was dead. She decided
against that possibility when another hot lance of pain
shot through her temples. If she was dead then it
wouldn't hurt so much, she decided.
Gunner Brandy Corbin bravely opened one eye wide
and immediately regretted it. It felt like her brain had just
caught on fire and someone was sprinkling kerosene on it.
{Ow ow ow!! Too bright!!}
A few seconds later she risked the dizzying pain again, only
this time Brandy only took a small look as she gave her body
time to get used to the emergency lights. It helped a little,
but the effort still left her drained.
Brandy coughed raggedly, the smell of smoke and scorched
wiring hang heavily in the air. Though it wasn't very pleasant,
it did beat some of the alternatives. At least there *was* air
to breathe. She also didn't hear the dreaded whistling of atmosphere
escaping into the vacuum of space. So it appeared that the turret's
structural integrity hadn't been compromised. But judging from the
damage to her station it looked like the power grid had overloaded
and blown out half of the circuits while frying the rest to a crisp.
Lifting her head up the petite Inquisiter was rewarded by abused nerves
informing her about a whole new batch of aches and pains as her body
violently protested against any further movement. Despite that she somehow
managed to achieve a position more vertical then horizontal and
began to take an assessment of the current situation.
It had been close. How close exactly was revealed when the gunner
looked down. Brandy blanched at the sight of what was left of her console.
It looked like a bomb had gone off in the middle of it. Without her Shield of
Inner Strength she would have been impaled by the dagger-like fragments
from the explosion. Summoning it had been the last thing she remembered
doing before losing consciousness. The blunted pieces now formed a large
pile in front of her where they had landed after impacting into the force
field.
Even with the protection of the supernatural barrier it soon
became apparent that she had not totally escaped from harm.
A warm stickiness running down her right ear proved to be blood
from a long shallow cut near the top of her head. The young woman
swore softly as she tentatively touched the edges of the wound. There
was no telling what other injuries she had at the moment short of a trip
to the Med-bay. Which meant that Lotion would most likely try to jam
another one of her noxious concotions down her throat. The ship's healer
was notorious among the crew for preferring old fashioned remedies over
high-tech equipment and synthetic medicines whenever possible. Most
of those cures usually involved making the victim ingest large quantities
of substances whose actual origins were questionable at best. In many
cases the cure was often considered worse then the ailment. However,
there was method to her eccentricity. So far all of Lotion's potions had
worked, which was the only reason why the crew had put up with them
as long as they had. Needless to say, those who possessed their own
regenerative abilities or healing powers were much enived by the
crewmembers who did not.
Then Corbin paled again as she remembered that she wasn't the only
person manning the turret.
{Oh shit!! Amanda!!}
The time it tool her to unstrap herself from the seat's safety harness
was the longest minute of her life. As soon as she the last seal unlocked
Brandy started frantically looking for any sign of her co-gunner and friend.
She didn't have search very far. A dark stain on the far side of
the turret drew her attention and from there the gunner quickly
found what was left of Amanda.
Bile rose in her throat as Brandy's shocked brain tried to make
sense of the havoc. Although farther away from the console
Amanda had not had a personal forcefield to protect her.
That station had been blown violently outward and collapsed
partially on top of the woman. Corbin knew that everything
from the pelvis down had to have been crushed by the sheer
weight. One arm hung like a marionette's, twisted at a nightmarish
angle. Fearing the worst Brandy bent down to check for a pulse.
Nothing.
Still she kept trying, hoping.
Still nothing...wait.
There it was. Faint and thready, but stable for the moment at least.
*...'...*
Tears of relief filled her eyes.
"Shhh. Save your strength."
"..s...sh..shit.....th...that...hurt...."
One aqua blue eye hesitatingly opened. It had nearly swollen
shut and was the skin around it was even now an awful purplish
black. The rest of her wasn't in much better condition.
"...how bad is it? I....I...can't feel my legs."
"...."
Brandy averted her eyes, unable to actually say a
comforting lie yet not wanting to tell her friend the
gruesome truth.
"...that bad huh."
"I....I'm sorry."
"D..don't be. I knew the risks w..wh..when I signed up."
Amanda started coughing raggedly as splashes of dark
crimson decorated the floor.
"Just hang on!"
Rising to her feet she moved to where the internal comm
system was and prayed that it was still working. Brandy
slammed her hand on the red distress button with all of
her strength.
"Medical Emergency in Turret 3!! Get someone down here NOW!!!"
The injured Sea Titan smiled wearily at her panicking friend's back as
Corbin screamed at the bridge demanding that they get off their butts and
do something. Brandy had obviously forgotten about her supernatural
heritage, it would probably take a few weeks but even the worst of her
wounds would heal eventually. As she slipped into the comforting embrace
of unconsciousness Amanda made a mental note to herself to tease the poor
girl about her oversight later.
~~~~~~~~
-Ground Zero
Well, it looked like he’d found the cause of the disturbance.
Or rather, she had found him. It was enough to make a
guy think that he was cursed or something. Was a fair chance
for once really too much to ask of Lady Luck?
{Well, judging from my current situation I'd say the answer is "Yes".}
He did have to admit though, that rarely did trouble come in such an
attractive package. She was quite....exceptional, and her fighting ability
wasn't anything to sneeze at either. Long dark green hair, exotic red eyes
on a classic ageless complexion, a trim waist that most women would
kill for, smooth thighs with just enough muscle for a healthy figure, and a
chest that were certainly more than ample....
*whap*
{Bad thought! Bad thought!!}
He mentally slapped himself, that kind of thinking
would definitely get him into trouble! He had more then
enough girl problems as it was, the last thing he needed
was *more* of them. Especially when the woman in
question eclipsed everyone's auras there, even his!
The Cosmoknight had no trouble registering this Senshi's Power,
it had reached a level where it was so strong that it was simply
*impossible* to conceal. Ranma knew that although he was good,
he wasn't anywhere even remotely near the real powerhouses of
the Multiverse. Still, his current level of ability wasn't anything to
sneer at either. If necessary he could reduce a large city to a
blackened crater without even half trying. However, what he was facing
was on the magnitude of continental devastation, perhaps even extending
to a global level of impact. In either case, he had about as much
a chance in a direct confrontation as a butterfly against a thermonuclear
warhead. Except that you could probably get better odds on the butterfly.
Oh man, she looked like she’d like nothing better to do then to crack him
open like a walnut with that solid looking staff she was carrying. What was
even more unnerving was the way her crimson eyes seemed to pierce through his
armor’s faceplate as though it wasn’t even there. He had to fight the urge to
flinch.
Whoever she was, she was obviously a lot older and much more experienced then
he could ever hope to achieve in a hundred years. The Knight could see it in
her eyes, she had that look. The one that said she'd seen it all, done it all,
and gotten the free T-shirt to boot. He was *way* out of his league here!
To make matters even worse, the alarm he felt was starting to be compounded by
the slow burning flames of desire, an extremely volatile combination indeed.
Already awakened by the bronze skinned goddess who was still much too close
for his comfort, his more primal instincts were calling for, no, make that
demanding that he make up for denying them for so long.
{This is nuts! She wants to kill me for crying out loud!!}
Sadly, Ranma's hormones were not listening to the head that had the brains.
They weren't about to let a little thing like his impending demise get in the
way of an opportunity to have some fun. Something irresistible was drawing him
to her, like a hapless moth to the beckoning flame. Ranma's hands itched to
explore her secret pleasure points and discover those hidden centers of
stimulation that would invoke soft cries of passion, to breathe in her scent
and taste her....
{Stop it!! Damn it Saotome, pull yourself together!!!}
The violence of his reaction shocked him to the core, such a loss of self
control was completely out of character for him. He was a Knight of the Forge
and yet here he was acting like some poor sap who had never even seen a female
before. Something was wrong, he didn't understand what was happening to him.
What kind of power did this woman possess that could cause this uncertain
feeling inside of him?
His subconscious knew, even if Saotome himself didn't.
Such a pity that he'd used the *cursed* scrolls of Sinanju
to learn the secrets of Anything Goes Marital Arts all those
years ago...
~~~~~~
Shadow shook his head, not sure whether or not
he should laugh or groan. Perhaps both. At this rate
the women were going to eat him alive.
"He's still pretty dense for someone so intelligent."
The Bard let a small puff of air escape from his mouth.
"Yes, it's rather sad actually."
"It gets worse."
The pair turned toward Zora.
"We already knew that."
~~~~~~
-Not the safest place to be
Sailor Pluto shook her head to clear it of the strange
sensations that had momentarily disturbed her normally
unshakable composure. An odd sense of excitement
coupled with a nervousness utterly foreign to the Time
Guardian had seized her upon getting her first good look
of the troublemaker that had forced her to intervene in the
timeline. Almost as if there had been a connection between
them for the briefest of moments. This wasn’t what she had
been expecting, not by a long shot. For the second time in
the same century Sailor Pluto was caught off guard. This
was starting to get out of hand, she was *not* supposed to be
surprised!
Pluto had absolutely no idea what this stranger was, yet he seemed strangely
familar. But to the best of her extensive knowledge she had no recollection of
ever meeting anyone from either side that looked like this. She scanned him
closely, noting the predatory lines of his form and disquieting sense of
"presence" that surrounded him. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she noted that
the voluptuous platinum blonde seemed to be
all but glued to his front.
An unfamiliar pang of....disgust?...anger?....jealousy?...envy? struck.
Why did she feel such a strong desire to separate the two of them?
And why did the image of a *100 ton* mallet suddenly pop into her head?
She was supposed to be removed from such things, the Guardian of the
Time couldn't afford such luxury of human emotions. But the sentiment
was there regardless, something within him was calling to a part of her
that she'd thought had been buried forever. Pluto didn't like this feeling at
all, it was so messy and strange. She told herself that it was only a
temporary thing that would go away once the stranger was dealt with, but that
rebellious part of her that had been reawakened refused to listen.
"Who are you?"
The slight tremor in her voice was practically unnoticable, but
she still cursed herself for it even existing in the first place.
"I should be asking you the same question."
Somehow Ranma managed to extract himself from Urd's clutches
between one moment and the next as he went on the offensive.
Not all fights were won with force, perhaps if he took the initiative
they could avoid something that they both would most likely regret.
If she beat him he lost, if he somehow managed to beat her he'd still
come out as the loser. And for some reason just the thought of having
to raise his hand against her made something inside him cry out in protest.
After all, it couldn't hurt to....
{Oh that's right, "Do or do not, there is no try".
You just had to drum that into my head didn't you, Luke.}
~~~~~~~~
-Not far enough
"Oh ho. So this is what you're up to Urd."
Demoness First Class Mara grinned nastily from
her perch above the action. The thrice-bedamned
temple was locked up tighter then a miser's safe, she'd
found that out the hard way this morning while attempting
to fullfill her mission of making Morisato's life miserable.
It had been quite a shocking experience, thus her current
surveillance. It would be awhile till she was back up to full power
and since she couldn't get inside, that left causing trouble for
whoever was unfortunate to be outside the safety of the Ultimate
Ward of Protection. How fortunate that a sudden enormous burst
of divine energy from this district had caught her attention.
Now not only did she have the little techno-brat and Urd out
in the open, but as a *bonus* the newcomer was here as well.
This promised to be a profitable situation, her favorite kind.
{Now if Senbei manages to do his job properly, things
should start to get very interesting.}
The tiny imp had been ordered into action as soon as she'd
spotted Urd making a play for the stranger.
With his talents, a misunderstanding was sure to occur and
mayhem inevitable. At worst it would be a temporary
split that she could exploit, best case would be for the stranger
to be forced to reveal how powerful he really was, the Forces
of Darkness were always looking for new recruits. If he was
good enough to survive against that kind of firepower....
She might even be tempted to bring him in herself if
he turned out to be worth her while.
A win/win scenerio, sometimes being evil paid off in spades.
Only one nagging little thing still bothered her, the discharge
of Holy Power from here that had caught her attention had
not come from either of the Goddesses on the scene.
Mara had come to recognize the power signatures of all three
from first hand experience, and that hadn't been Belldandy's
doing either. But there were no signs of any other higher
powers here, divine or infernal. Strange indeed, that Power
definitely had a female's markings all over it, but the
nature of the emanations disturbed her, they had been
far too old to have come from any of the current pantheons.
~~~~~
Ranma gestured toward the other Senshi
on the street.
"I'm not the villain here, your friends can
vouch for that."
At least he assumed that the similar fukus
were a standard uniform for all of them. His
luck would be running true to form if it turned
out that they were actually blood enemies instead.
"That's right! Can't you give him a chance Pluto?"
Jupiter was the unsurprisingly the first to speak in their
rescuer's defense. Why should Usagi be the only one to
get the hero?
Venus was of a like mind. Surely the others would
understand once she explained she had called dibs
on him, right?
"Yeah! He really shoved his sausage up our furnace!"
{{Huh?!}}
Everyone turned toward Senshi of Love with wide eyes and
even wider sweatdrops on the back of their respective
heads (and helmet).
"What? What'd I say?"
A redfaced Mercury explained while looking anywhere except
directly at her fellow Senshi.
"Venus, that's supposed to be "Pulled our bacon out of the fire.""
"Oopsie."
*CRASH*
Throughout Japan a not-so-mysterious occurence
of simultaneous facefaults took place.
~~~~~~
-Where Legends Dwell
"Trapping your knight with your own pieces? That's not like you."
It is the beginning and the ending of the Circle.
"Did you say something?"
A beak could not frown. But the figure came as close to
it as his features permitted. He loved a good intellectual challenge
as much as the next person, but still there were times when even
he wished that things could be simpler then they were. Moves within
moves, games within games, always were there too many secrets.
Sometimes he envied the mortals and the way they lived their lives in
blessed ignorance of the many tangled webs of power being woven
among the fabric of reality.
He sighed, such was not to be their fate. But for life of him he still
couldn't comprehend what sort of strategy he was facing. There was
no order, no patterns this time, instead the moves were seemingly at
random and utterly chaotic in their effect on the game. But now it
seemed that the other side had finally stumbled on an impasse.
"There's nowhere left for him to go."
[Only if he plays by the rules.]
~~~~~
"I don't want to fight you."
Pluto hesitated, her determination wavering for the
briefest of moments. There was something incredibly
compelling about his voice, a quality that made her
want to believe him despite her better judgment.
What if he was telling truth? Could he actually be
an ally instead of yet another enemy?
No, said the part of her that was a Senshi. He was
a man, and the power had always corrupted them
in the end no matter how noble they might have been in
the beginning.(1) They could never be trusted, betrayal
was inevitable. Perhaps he came in peace today, but
what of tomorrow? Best not to take the chance, her
warrior's instincts cried out to destroy him on the spot.
Yes, said another voice. It urged her to trust him, to let go
of the old fears and suspicions. If he was evil then why was
there no general feeling of malice or hatred surrounding him?
Serenity had once spoken of other forces who had come from
beyond their dimension to aid the founders of the Moon Kingdom,
a legend so ancient that it had only been passed down from each
descending Queen to the next. If Usagi hadn't been so young and
the danger from the Earth so great then the Queen would not have
had to entrust that knowledge with the Keeper of Secrets during
the last days of the Silver Millenium. So there were others besides
the Dark Ones, it was possible...
But how to be sure?
"Neptune."
"Yes?"
"I need you to use your Mirror."
"Alright, but what am I supposed to be looking for?"
"The truth."
~~~~~~~
-Trouble
Senbei, Sub-Demon of Unhappiness and Misfortune,
Second class Limited license, was getting ready for his
happy level to go up, up, up!
"Heh heh heh! Let the unhappy begin!"
Sailor Neptune frowned as she concentrated harder,
trying to get the image in the Mirror to focus. Yet the
murky cloud still remained there despite her best efforts.
She couldn't get a clear reading about him either way,
the Knight might as well have been a granite statue for
all that the artifact was able to tell her.
Finally the Neptune shook her head in a mixture of
frustration and defeat.
"I'm sorry Pluto, the Mirror either can't or won't
show me anything about him."
"I see."
Although alarmed by this setback, Pluto's mind was
still open. A few more minutes and Ranma might
have been able to bridge the gulf of suspicion and
mistrust that seperated them. But that was when
Senbei's surprise went off.
~~~~~~
-Phaseworld Center
Katrina suddenly stopped and shivered as a dark
chill seemed to brush across her very soul. It was too
much like the panic attacks she had suffered a few years
ago during the Gathering of Heroes. The unrelenting feeling
of terror, of being absolutely helpless to do anything, those
old fears threatened to drag her down once more into the darkness.
"No...no....NO!!"
"Are you all right?"
Her guide looked at her with a worried expression on his face.
"I..I'm fine. Just a bad memory."
The D-bee nodded and turned away even though he wasn't
completely convinced. The Alliance paid him to *not* ask
questions, and anyway he wanted absolutely nothing to do
with that crazy Saotome or any of his women.
Especially this one. There was something about her that
made him as nervous as a cat in a room full of sleeping
pit bulls. If the money for this job hadn't been so good.....
"Ranma..."
The way she said that name sent cold shivers
down the guide's spine. Yes, as soon as his task
was finished and payment delivered he was getting
as far away from her as possible!
~~~~~~
-In a galaxy far, far away....
"Master Skywalker! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, but just for a moment I thought I felt
a great disturbance in the Force."
Strange, why did he suddenly find himself thinking
about an old friend now of all times? It had been years
since his former student had left, but he would never
forget Saotome. Never had a more brash and headstrong
individual ever succeeded in passing the Jedi training, quite
an accomplishment when Ranma was barely able to tap into
even the most basic aspects of the Force. But now there was
a sense of urgency to those memories, yet for the life of him
he didn't know why.
{Something has happened. But what?}
Even a Jedi Master must wonder sometimes.
(cont. in next part)
*$*$*$*$*$*
(1) I've always wondered about that inequality in the series.
Here's one theory that explains a lot.
(Author's notes: Whew, a belated Thanksgiving to all. I didn't think
I was going to make it before December! This took a *lot* longer then
expected, mainly due to good ideas, expansions to the planned story size,
work, school, more work, acquiring new reference material (lots of that
recently), and I got sick to boot. Hoping for more stuff soon, but while
several stories are almost ready for release (or rerelease) I am currently
*very* busy and need to organize my files, so *please* *please* don't ask me
for the Private Bet stories. The stories are all labeled out of order and I've
got multiple back-ups so even *I* don't know which are the right ones right
now. For those of you who haven't heard yet, my original archive is dead. I'm
very sorry but it was beyond my power. I am trying to get another page set up,
but this is also taking time. Don't know when the next part of this is coming
out....hopefully sometime soon. And for those of you who thought that this
story couldn't get any weirder or more complicated.....you're WRONG!!!
BWAHAHAHAHA..ha..hack..cough...gasp...
-Shade
"Ryoga directing Akane. The Blind leading the Clueless.
Or is that the other way around?"
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