insert whatever other tags y'all want. heck, i don't even
know if the list is up. i hear not, the archives are still
dead, so if this bounces, i'll know, ne?
y'know, for something that was written to take the various
criticisms that i thought were unfair, and to just go ahead
and write them into a story, this has taken on a life of its
own. Maybe it's just cathartic...
----------------------------------------
The Reluctant Bet
segment 7: the Black Queen
guys, this was so completely not written with any intention
of being other than a playful romp with a bunch of ideas
that i couldn't fit anywhere else. i don't own most of these
characters, this is about all the disclaiming i'll do.
oh, and there's a single spoiler line regarding the
Evangelion ending, but probably you already knew about
*that* sound effect.
Olympus, The Forge:
Hephaestus continued working. For him, it was as natural as
breathing, it was his Art and he was as dedicated to IT as
most Ranma Saotomes were dedicated to the martial arts. He
toyed briefly with the idea of going back to a timeline,
finding Genma Saotome, buying his son off of him, then
training Ranma as one of HIS apprentices just to see what
would happen. He idly scratched the idea out on a piece of
parchment to follow up later.
The Greek God Of Smithcraft folded the katana a half dozen
more times, letting his hands run on autopilot while he
thought about the changes he'd made in two cyborg clones.
All of these timelines over there were "anime" series in
Grey's original timeline. So, during Grey's brief stint as
an apprentice under Hephaestus, the master smith had gotten
some research done to see if there were any clever ideas out
there. He'd found a few that had appealed to him.
Some, including Urd, were curious why someone as stiffly
practical as Hephaestus would be interested in what happened
to someone who was (at the time) an incubus - a form of
demon. Hephaestus, who rarely left his forge, having turned
his back on the games of the gods to lose himself in his
work. Hephaestus, the gruff and cynical engineer who had
little to do with mortal or deity if he could help it.
Some, including Urd, had apparently forgotten that
Hephaestus had been married to Aphrodite for quite a few
centuries. Some had quite forgotten that for six centuries,
Aphrodite had been having an affair with Ares. Some had
thought that other than Hephaestus continuing to pay
court-ordered tribute to Aphrodite, that he had put the
whole thing behind him. Hephaestus? No, he couldn't be
nursing a grudge or have hard feelings about his
wife-at-the-time sleeping around and making depreciating
comments about "the twisted little gnome" or "the gnome's
little cudgel" comparing it to "Ares' skill with his
magnificent sword." Of course the Patron Of Engineering
couldn't have any bad feelings about that.
And, of course, this Greek god who happened to be short and
misshapen, who was not nearly as handsome or well formed as
the beings around him, could absolutely *not* actually have
a heart. He could not possibly react to honest friendship
with a strong degree of "oh wow" at his craft from a mere
formerly-mortal being who was also singularly unhandsome and
put upon. Hephaestus? Couldn't be.
So most of those who knew him assumed that it was because
of Grey's twisted imagination and because this was a bit of
a challenge that Hephaestus would try to do something to
help out the fellow. Just responding to a challenge and
keeping an eye on a resource.
Unseen by deity or mortal, Hephaestus smirked and began
hammering the metal out again. He couldn't have any sympathy
for the underdog, could he? No, not him. Want to get back at
Ares still? Of course not.
He was above such things, after all. He was an engineer.
-------------------
Dead Millenium:
"YOU CAN'T LEAVE!"
"i must leave," Grey sighed. "Look, this is a stable
timeline. You've been saved. As long as you don't transform
back to Senshi... i mean Scout form you'll be safe from the
manna poisoning."
Amy gestured at the window with its dead cityscape.
"Wiseman and the Dead Moon killed EVERYTHING. If there's any
life left it's out of reach in another solar system."
"We can't transform without opening ourselves to the taint
Wiseman and the Dark Crystal left in the magic flows." Lita
got into the face of the cyborg, even though he towered over
her and outmassed her by several times, she actually managed
to back him up to the wall. "The food isn't going to last
long, what little there IS, is four hundred years old! If
YOU leave, then we're going with you!"
"But you read the sign!" Grey gestured at the gleaming
plaque just outside the hospital that had been formed by a
bolt of lightning lancing out of the sky shortly after the
last of the Senshi had been brought to consciousness.
"I didn't," croaked Mina from her bed, still too weak and
suffering from the effects of her poisoning to get about
without being carried. Rei had the bed next to her and was
in similar difficulty.
"I had to run a translator program on my computer,"
explained Amy. "It was in a derivation of Old Norse.
Basically it was a note to our Visitor here that according
to some rules of conduct, as this is not an immediate
emergency and it is not an unstable universe, that he is not
allowed to ferry refugees to another universe unless they
have a direct relationship to him."
"i called Heaven to try to confirm this, but all i got was
voicemail." Grey shrugged. "On the other hand, i *have* to
leave now. There's a job i've got to be doing and staying
here won't get me any closer to accomplishing it. i've
already sent e-mail to a couple of people who should be able
to help you out."
"But they won't be able to take us out of here either," Rei
put in, not having enough energy to even lift her head.
"Look around you. Even the air is dead and sterile. The
Princess..." Rei's voice trailed off at this.
"Serena. Darien. EVERYONE." Amy gestured again, close to
tears again. "Everyone's dead and gone for four hundred
years. Only our Senshi form protected us this long, and even
then it was slowly poisoning us. We CAN'T stay here."
Grey shook his head. "Look. i would LIKE to take you.
They're obviously watching me though, and if i try to leave
with you all it's not going to work."
"TRY!" Lita yelled, then switched tactics. "Please."
Pleading worked where yelling had not. Grey was finally
coaxed to the center of the room. Lita positioned Rei in a
fireman's carry while Mina leaned against Amy. When Amy
liked her arm with Grey's left arm to mirror what Lita was
doing with his right, the cyborg hit the switch on the end
of the D-hopper.
Air split, lightning crackled, and the cyborg was imbedded
in a wall while various young ladies were knocked to the
floor. The rent in midair closed, followed by a hissing
noise as metal cooled.
Amy was the first up, and noted that a book was on the
floor that hadn't been there earlier.
---------------
Target Timeline:
"Oh..." Kasumi stared back and forth at the twins. Not
identical as one had purple hair and the other had black
hair, one looked as if she weren't wearing makeup while the
other was, and one was dressed in Chinese clothing while the
other was wearing the same t-shirt and jeans ensemble she
had earlier.
The other pair of twins were likewise close in appearance.
"Hi, can we come in..." The Shampoo-twin stared at
something past Kasumi's shoulder.
Kasumi, Nabiki, and Shampoo turned to see what was causing
the girl to stare so. They started staring themselves.
Akane, what had once been a nice yellow dress plastered to
her body, was standing on the sliding doors to the Tendo
living room. Covered in what looked like patches of whipped
cream, jello, and other less identifiable substances.
Dripping some of those same substances on the floor. She
spat a stream of this odd mix of substances out and growled
something indistinct.
Shampoo smiled. She had no idea WHAT the Unhappy Girl was
doing, but it gave her an opportunity. "Akane want be
cleaned off?"
Akane made a noise which might have been construed as an
assent. Or she may have still been trying to clear some of
the odd sludge from her throat.
Shampoo held her bracer up with a grin. "Water Elemental,
Shampoo choose you!"
Akane made a waving away motion, indicating that perhaps
she hadn't actually had the same thing in mind as Shampoo.
There were a few appreciative oohs and aahs as the vaguely
humanoid figure formed.
"Water Elemental. Hose her down!" Shampoo gestured at the
muck covered Akane just to be sure there was no mistaken
identities.
The stick figure grumbled something unintelligible
(sounding rather like the plumbing was backed up) and fired
a stream of water at Akane. This knocked Akane back into the
backyard.
"Clean off girl," ordered Shampoo now gesturing to where
Akane had landed.
The stick figure altered to a snake-like stream of water
which quickly grabbed the flailing martial artist and again
formed a sphere in which she could tumble and swirl about.
"That neat Shampoo," said Shampoo's twin. "You get from
Master?"
"No, Shampoo get this from Grey Ranma." Shampoo gestured at
Kasumi and Nabiki. "These two allies. Also not want to go
back to mainline."
Sakyo stepped forward and seemed to check the two girls
foreheads slightly, then moved to Shampoo and did the same.
"Initial scan complete."
Kasumi and Nabiki blinked, not understanding in the
slightest.
"Excuse me, Shampoo, I believe that Akane is indicating
she'd like to breathe." Kasumi bowed, quite polite for
someone whose youngest sister was currently in the process
of being washed and scrubbed by a water elemental.
"Water Elemental, you do good. Let go Akane now." Shampoo
grinned, glad she had the chance to show off her newest toy.
The stick figure stepped away as it deposited Akane on the
now clean floor. Then began to glow.
"Ah, how nice, your Elemental is evolving to Naiad!" Nabiki
was guessing that would be the correct term.
Shampoo bounced around, giggling like a schoolgirl
(appropriate as she was one).
Shan merely looked at the blue-green nude Shampoo and was
glad that Mousse wasn't around.
Shampoo stopped jumping around long enough to fish in her
sash for the fourth gauntlet. "Oh yeah, Grey Ranma leave
this one behind. Shampoo think was for you."
-----------------------
Asgard, Goddess Relief Office
"Thanks, sweetie." Sif watched her big brawny husband go
off before turning to Urd. "Okay, Urd, Mjolnir took out the
boy's defensive system and threw him back. What's up with
your plan here?"
"Ah," Urd waggled a finger at the younger goddess, "you
don't understand? Look at the book that nice young Anderson
girl is reading."
"The 'Yarikata No Shojo'? It's an odd title and the book
looks new but is fashioned in a really old manner. Alternate
timeline?"
"A place known as Aramar has these wonderful young ladies
known as the Delphins Amazons. One of their nations put
together a bunch of old myths and legends and customs as an
idea of how their ancestors proceeded with mating rituals,
dating, marriage, happy homelife and the like. The 'Way Of
The Shojo' or (if you prefer) the 'Path Of The Young
Japanese Girl' is essentially a handbook on how to find,
select, and procure a husband. As interpreted by the
Delphins, at least."
Sif shook her head. "So basically..."
Urd ran a hand through her hair and looked smug. "If THIS
doesn't get the boy a love interest, nothing will."
--------------------------------
Rider Universe:
"Kodachi! What are you doing with that bullwhip?"
"Oh, my dear little Akane-chan, exactly what you think.
It's only fair you get a taste of life before your
execution. Or, perhaps, I can make the request that you be
turned over to me permanently?"
"I'll never talk, you traitor! You won't get anything from
me."
Kodachi nibbled at the end of her whip as she looked over
the bound form of the Yellow Rider. "Oh? I *do* so love a
challenge."
-------------------
Target Timeline:
"Saotome, how bad is it?"
"Your daughter knocked the trap door off the hinges. The
vat has been severely dented, there... oh just put it down
as a major mess, Tendo."
"Hmmm. Can we salvage it?"
"Maybe. There's shattered wood, broken glass, and twisted
metal down there. We'll have to wait for morning to do it
safely." Genma sighed. He was catching up on his sleep
lately, but missing all sorts of opportunities to train
Ranma. He was already to start with the Catfist training.
Risky yet extreme measures were necessary if the exorcism
didn't work.
"Oh well, I..." Soun began sniffing.
"Tendo? What are you..." Genma also began sniffing. "Oh
my!"
"Chinese food and..." Soun turned his attention towards
Genma but he had already vanished.
-----------
Kasumi scratched Vulpix behind the ears and smiled.
Nabiki attempted to look dignified with her Eevee sitting
on one shoulder. She mostly succeeded.
Ukyo was busy using a fire elemental to cook without using
the range. Her own pokeball was still hanging from her
bandolier. Considering how her t-shirt and jeans fit, no one
was going to mistake her for a guy at present.
"So what are you doing again?" Kasumi glanced back to the
girl whose fingertips were resting on Kasumi's temples.
"My recent upgrade allows me to not only generate
templates, but actually transform to a reasonable facsimile
when I've scanned someone. Besides, there are other benefits
I'll explain later." Sakyo smiled as she continued to
process data.
Nabiki wondered if maybe she should get Akane in on this.
She'd figured it out already, and approved of the insurance
factor. Particularly in light of this new danger of a Reset.
Never mind that they and the world wouldn't notice that such
a thing had been done, losing any part of her memories or
mind was something Nabiki had serious qualms over.
Two fathers leaned in the kitchen door, noted the extra
bodies, but their main attention was drawn to the large
repast being formed.
-------------
Dead Millenium:
"How about that, so he *does* have blood. You just have to
get through layers of artificial tissue and armor plating to
get to it."
"Good thing he hit the wall that hard, then, eh Mina?"
"What's it say to do next, Amy?"
"Each bride mixes a drop of her own blood with the drop of
the groom's blood." Amy checked the various diagrams. "Then
you weave a chain of hairs..."
"This is *some* weird ceremony. You think it'll work and
then we can just go our seperate ways when we get to a
better world?" Rei was a little skeptical.
"I don't see why not," explained Amy. "As I understand it,
this is magic and a lot of magic apparently works on
symbolism. The transport failed because we were no relation
to him, and he was punished. Now, by doing this, we're
related to him for the length of time it takes to get us out
of here."
"I still think it'd be better if he was conscious," Lita
said, checking the cyborg again. Still out, still imbedded
in the wall, though the crack in his outer casing seemed to
be repairing itself.
"He might object. This way we can make the jump and be gone
before he's recovered." Mina sat upright but was still
severely weakened. "If we have to spend months here, all any
rescue team will find are a few corpses and one or two
thoroughly insane survivors. I can't TAKE this world."
"Okay everyone, these are the words of the ceremony. I'm
just changing a few words that seem to refer to some kind of
Amazon. Repeat after me, just use your own names.
"I, Amy Anderson..."
"I, Lita Storm..."
"I, Rei Hino..."
"I, Mina Lovejoy..."
"as a warrior of, uhm, love and justice, do swear now a
blood pact to this marriage..."
If Grey had been conscious, he'd not have been anywhere in
the vicinity.
------------------
Target Timeline:
Akane came out of the bath to observe a madhouse, firming
her desire to get the Saotomes (especially Ranma) OUT of her
house and her life.
Kasumi was alternatively feeding herself, and giving little
bits of a rice-and-meat mix to that fire-fox-thing that kind
of looked like a stuffed toy and smelled like charcoal.
Nabiki was eating, and casting little glances aside at her
kind-of-Nausicaa-fox-squirrel critter who was munching out
of his own bowl.
Shampoo was telling a story about how they'd ended up on
this world with giant metal crabs flying over ruined cities
and trying to hide long enough for their means of travel to
recharge itself.
A girl she didn't know was sitting behind Nabiki with her
hands on Nabiki's temples.
Shampoo's twin kept going to the kitchen and then back with
another laden tray of what looked like some Chinese dish.
Another girl, who looked like the one behind Nabiki, was
adding comments to Shampoo's story.
Some kind of turtle-creature kept playing in the pond,
apparently making threats to squirt people.
Her father and that Mister Saotome were stuffing their
faces.
Akane eyed the meal and wondered how much it was costing
them, and what the manner of coin.
----------------------
Dead Millenium:
"...and bind ourselves to him, under these conditions,
hereafter."
Mina's eyes widened as a flare of energy spread from the
book to each of the girls and the still-imbedded and
unconscious cyborg. "What was that?!"
Rei's voice was dry. "Amy, I think you just royally blew
it."
Amy didn't care, she just wanted OUT. This cold and sterile
world frightened her on a purely atavistic level. She put
one of the cyborg's hands on the rod, took the other and
held it up the button on top. "Everyone ready?"
Everyone linked arms to connect to either Amy or the
cyborg.
"Now," Amy brought the cyborg's hand down onto the button.
The air split and moved across them.
A moment later, noting the absence of any lifeforms within
itself, the hospital shut everything down to Maintenence
mode again.
------------------------------
Asgard, Judgement Hall:
"Fellows, we have seen that this is yet another failure by
Grey. The First Labor..."
"was a success. Just not in the way he intended." Apollo
interrupted. He'd never liked Ares that much, often
referring to him as "that rabid weasel" in conversations
with Athena. "Enough of this, Ares. This wasn't exactly the
sort of thing he COULD do well. I think the Reset idea works
best, as opposed to simply pulling out Grey and substituting
someone else or writing it off as a dark unstable line."
Ares thumped the desk in front of him. "My son, Phobos, is
PERFECT for this task. Put him in the Ranma role, and he can
show you how someone COMPETENT can perform."
"Phobos? Give me a break. Phobos would be plucking Akane's
limbs off just to see how the rest of the family would take
it. Don't EVEN suggest Deimos. He'd be worse."
"What of the future of this timeline?" D'kou asked, resting
his head on the table as he paced behind it. "Both
originally and after Hephaestus made his alteration, it was
one of those with the Jihad discovering Earth and conquering
it in 2014. Except in Hephaestus' alteration, some Canadian
martial artists descended from Ranma Saotome and Shampoo
managed to become successful guerilla fighters until another
group succeeded in destroying the Jihad mainbase in 2027.
What now?"
"Predictions indicate that this will become an Evangelion
timeline. Standard ending."
"Eeeew." Edema didn't particularly like endings that went
Image: NERV test pattern
THE SOUND EFFECT HAS BEEN CENSORED FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT
SEEN THE MOVIE: END OF EVANGELION
We now return you to the fanfic in progress.
"So what's wrong with that?" Ares didn't know why anyone
would think of THAT as particularly bad. It was just mortals
anyway.
"Get a clue, Ares. Okay. So we wait till he gets there,
give him a little warning, then hit Reset. He's back to Day
One and we try it again." Apollo doubted it would help much,
but then these Labors were supposed to be serving another
purpose anyway.
------------------
Rider Timeline:
"Where the hell are we? Why did he change? Why are we
younger? What the heck is THAT THING?" Lita was a little bit
upset.
"Another universe, I don't know, I don't know, and I don't
know." Amy had a few hairs toinged out but was otherwise
fairly calm.
Mina looked at her surroundings and voiced an opinion.
"Looks like the Detention Corridor of the Death Star."
"Don't be silly, Mina, that's... you know she's right. It
DOES look an awful lot like some high-tech prison." Rei's
voice turned thoughtful. "You know, I feel a LOT better
since we came here."
"No doubt we're away from the poisoning effects," Amy said
and began a scan with the Mercury computer to determine if
her theory was correct.
"I wonder what's in here?" Lita opened a door.
"Call me QUEEN! Ah-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!"
Lita closed the door, eyes wide. "Uhm. Guys? Can we, like,
flee?"
The door opened. Lita backed away from it.
"Who dares interrupt Kodachi Kuno, the Black Queen?"
The assembled ex-Scouts took in the skintight thigh high
stilletto-heeled boots. The studded but otherwise matching
upper arm reaching gloves. The corset. All in shiny black
leather. The thick black length of the whip in the girl's
hands.
The way this girl looked them all over, licked her lips,
smiled seductively, and said a single word. "Next?"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Mina summed up for the group, her hair
actually standing on end.
Akane screamed for help. Unfortunately, with a leather gag
in place, all that came out was a background jumble.
"mmmmmMMMMMMmmmmrrff!"
"Ohhhh," groaned Ranma, finally beginning to recover. "i'd
recognize that hammer anywhere."
Kodachi stopped. "Ranma? Oh, these must be your toys, my
lord. Uhm, can you loan them to me for a little while? I
think they could use some discipline."
"Huh?" Ranma said intelligently.
----------------------------
Target Timeline:
Kasumi smiled, bowed to her opponent, and (having been
coached on protocol from Nabiki's observation of videogame
battles) tried to come up with a good introductory quote.
"Uhm, well. Oh, I know. 'Never underestimate the power of a
Japanese housewife!'"
Nabiki slid into a sentai pose, pokeball held up as if
offering it to the heavens. "Behold the true power of
Anything Goes!"
"You're NOT a martial artist," remarked Akane from the
sidelines, a bit miffed at her territory as Heir to the
Tendo Ryuu being poached on.
"Vulpix, if you would, please?" Kasumi did not make the
most self-confident pokemon trainer in existence.
"Knightshade, come forth!" Nabiki held her bracer up and
the shadowy version of herself poured forth.
"Vulpix, err, Ember but try not to hurt her too much... I
mean..."
"Vulll piiiix!" The little fire fox nodded and spat a
stream of fire towards the shadow. The shadow responded by
hiding behind her trainer.
Nabiki winced as she was hit by the thin flame blast,
leaving her slightly singed. Maybe shadow vs fire wasn't a
good choice. "Knightshade, return. Eevee, I choose you!"
"Nabiki hair on fire. Not worry, Shampoo call forth Naiad!
Naiad, put out fire in Nabiki hair."
"Glubglub!"
"Uh oh. Naiad, let Nabiki breathe."
Nabiki gasped for air. "Interference with the match. All
bets are off."
Akane couldn't resist after the earlier comment. "A true
master of Anything Goes should be ready for anything,
Nabiki. Multiple opponent combat is a strength of the Tendo
School."
Shampoo smirked. Nabiki frowned. Ukyo tossed her pokeball
between her hands a few times. Sakyo and Shan considered
Akane briefly before Shan got out her own pokeball.
Kasumi smiled and tilted her head to the side.
Deciding not to take action at this time, rather than see
her dear (if violent and egotistic) sister get dogpiled,
Nabiki decided to remember the comment for later and change
the subject. "So, those are two more pokeballs aren't they?
What do you two have?"
Ukyo smiled and tossed her pokeball out. "Come on out now,
Staryu."
"Gruh!" A vaguely starfish-shaped creature materialized out
of the pokeball's beam.
Shan pressed a stud on her own pokeball. "Trihorn, I choose
you!"
A four foot tall triceratops made a noise that sounded
suspiciously like "grunk" before it apparently noticed no
enemies nearby and a patch of grass that looked tempting.
Soun and Genma stared about, wide-eyed, as Shampoo released
Ponyta and Squirtle came out of the pond.
"Hmmm. How much do you suppose I could sell..." Genma's
eyes turned speculative as he looked over the various
animals. Exotic animals were often in demand by zoos and the
well-to-do. And those bracers were obviously magical. "Say,
Tendo, you don't like having pets around, do you?"
"Well, no," agreed the dazed Soun.
-------------
Rider Timeline:
Kodachi bounced away, laughing maniacally, promising to
finish with her prisoner later.
Ranma looked in the room, blinked, and considered the
figure on the bed. "You're in to this sort of thing, Tendo?
That explains a lot! Where Kuno came up with the 'you must
beat on Akane to date her', the whole 'love=hate=violence'
stuff, why you thought Ryoga and Ranma were the best of
buddies..."
"mmmmmmmmmfff!"
Amy looked in at the weakly struggling girl. "You know, I
don't think she actually wants to be there."
"mmmmmffff! mmmmmffffff!"
"Maybe you're right." Ranma considered. "Well, I suppose I
can get her gag off without too much problem."
"Where are we, why did we get younger, why did you change,
do you know her," Lita's barrage of questions stopped as Amy
covered her fellow Scout's mouth.
Ranma's hands continued to unlace the gag while he
answered. "Another universe or timeline, not one i
recognize. And i'd like to know how you managed that. You
changed because according to the rules of this timeline, i'd
have to run a full scan to find out which. i currently take
the form of Ranma in any universe that HAS a Ranma. So i
reverted to a Ranma likeness when we entered this timeline.
i know her because i've met about a half dozen Akanes on as
many timelines so far. Most are the sort of people i try to
avoid: violent, bad tempered, prideful, unforgiving, pushy,
arrogant. i've met TWO that were actually worthwhile human
beings or at least redeemable.
"One had killed her fiance and had learned both regret and
consequence. The other was being trained by a master warrior
alongside that world's Sailor Scouts to fight a great
menace."
The gag came off. Akane immediately tried to bite Ranma's
fingers. "Let me out of here! You pervert! You monster! I'll
never... mmmmmfffff!"
"This is obviously one of the nasty ones," Ranma said,
proving that he could not only be wrong but be REALLY wrong.
"I think maybe you're right though, and she DOESN'T want the
Black Queen to get affectionate with her."
"Mmmmmmfffff!"
"I don't know, maybe she's into that sort of thing," Mina
suggested.
"Mmmmff! mmmmFF! MFFFFF!"
"Well, we'll leave this timeline, soon enough. Those are
simple chains through a set of hooks so i can remove them
and then we just go. i AM really curious how you accompanied
me."
"Amy used this," Mina held up the book.
Ranma's reaction was not what any of those present would
have expected, jumping back to the wall and holding his
fingers in a cross as if trying to ward off a vampire. "The
'Way Of Shojo'?! Where did you get THAT?!"
"MmmmfF?!"
"When you tried to crossover to another universe, this came
out." Lita seemed to regard this as validation of her
earlier fear that Amy had made a boo-boo.
"So why not just push the button on that thing again and
get out of here before the guards arrive?" Mina was still a
bit nervous but not enough to risk using the henshiin stick.
"Rei and you are still too weak. She could barely walk from
the corridor into here, and you're not much better. That's
beside the point. How did that book enable you to... URD!"
"Uhm no, actually, it was this section here," Amy smiled a
little uncertainly. Maybe they SHOULD have waited till he
woke up?
Ranma blinked. "You're kidding. You're kidding, right? Of
course you're kidding! Please be kidding..."
"Uhm."
"You're *not* kidding? Oh boy."
"It's... just a marriage ceremony, and it wasn't anything
official, so it... doesn't count right?"
"Uhm, Amy. That particular marriage ceremony is a bloodbond
spell and only requires that a princess officiate..."
"A princess?" Amy repeated.
Mina frowned as she leaned against the wall, ample evidence
about Ranma's point about their weakness. "What's a
'bloodbond spell' anyway?"
Ranma told them. Even Akane sweatdropped.
"So, we're overstaying our welcome, i think, and we need to
get going. Hopefully the next world will be one where i can
try to get some bearings and download my e-mail."
Snagging Akane's chains and lifting one arm free, Ranma
stepped back and pressed the button on the end of the rod.
By the time Akane had gotten herself free, that weird Ranma
had vanished with his friends. It didn't matter, for the
door was still wide open and it was time for the Yellow
Rider to ride again.
Even if she was wearing less than Kekko Kamen at the
moment.
=======================
Reluctant Bet segment 8: Team Rocket's Rockin'
A world not as far away as you might think:
"Oh no, not THIS reality." Grey, again in cyborg form,
winced as he read his computer screen.
"A forest?" Lita looked around the heavily forested area
with a smile. "This doesn't look at all bad, actually. Oh,
look, wildflowers!"
"Uhm. Well, you remember that i've met a few Akane's i
didn't like? Well, there are versions of myself that i
really don't like. This is one of those timelines where
there's a version of myself running about i really don't
care for at all."
"Rei and Mina are asleep. We really ought to let them rest
some more." Amy settled down on the grass and looked out
over the nearby lake. "If at all possible, we should also
get supplies. Just running around in the same clothes... and
we could use food and some other things as well."
"Okay, i tend to agree. This world is kinda dangerous
though."
"How so?" Amy stretched out and enjoyed the sun with the
cool breeze coming off the water. It just felt so much more
alive here than on the world where her friends had all died.
She could feel the events ready to catch up with and
overwhelm her, but she pushed it all back down as they
apparently still weren't where they could safely indulge in
such.
"This world isn't Earth, though that's what it's called by
the inhabitants." Grey sat back and looked around himself.
"It was colonized by people from Earth who brought along
some plants and animals of their own. The local flora
couldn't compete with the Earth stuff and has been largely
replaced. The local fauna is a bit more tough. An ancient
civilization developed and fell, but they'd also developed
some odd technologies. Now, one hundred fifty years after
Planetfall, some of those technologies have been deciphered.
"The main species other than humans are a group of
egglaying creatures that superficially have reptillian or
mammalian characteristics, but are distinctly different from
either Earth-based group. There are a lot of species, over
150, that have some level of human intelligence plus the
ability to understand if not speak the dominant human
language here."
"So these critters are dangerous?" Lita backed away from
the flowers.
"Some are. Some won't attack if you leave them alone. Some
will flee rather than attack, and some will be quite helpful
if you approach them right. They're called 'pokemon'."
------------------
Target Timeline:
Akane picked up the pokeball carefully, then tossed it into
the trashcan. No WAY she was going to take the chance of
THAT getting loose again. It clattered as it hit the bottom.
SHOOOM!
"AAAAAA!" Akane's eyes popped.
"Ah, mon cheri! We hav been reunited, no? It simply MUST be
that we are the Fated Lovers! Come, let us fly away to..."
Pepe noticed that Akane was dwindling on the horizon. "Ah,
these Japanese. Such curious customs they have. But even
Pepe has heard that 'if one runs, the other must pursue'.
Besides, le petit Pokemon trainer, she is very 'kawaii',
no?"
Moving with a curiously distance devouring hop, Pepe began
searching for the Pokemon Trainer. And who knows, perhaps
they could indulge a little mutual training.
-----------------
"A goddess on a mountain top
Was burning like a silver flame
The summit of beauty and love
And Venus was her name."
Kasumi brought in a tray and set the tea things out as
everyone sat around and watched a video.
"Shampoo think costume have very low armor value."
"She's got it, yeah baby, she's got it!
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire,
at your desire.
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire,
at your desire."
"Shan want to know what mean 'Private Bet' and why girl
wear... Ooooh she produce weapon from nowhere! Maybe she
Amazon!" She produced a weapon from nowhere, talked about
being the summit of beauty and love. Obviously she was an
Amazon!
"A chain weapon?" Shampoo mused. "Them can be tricky."
"Her weapon is a loving heart,
A wild horse at her side,
A warrior of ancient art,
And there he will abide."
Shampoo and Shan exchanged a knowing nod. A magical martial
artist girl who was take-charge and knew how open affection
could keep a male loyal. "Yup, she Amazon all right."
"She's got it, yeah baby she's got it!
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire,
at your desire.
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire,
at your desire.
She's got it, yeah baby she's got it."
"Pass the rice crackers will you, Ukyo?"
"Sure thing, Nabiki."
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" A blur went past the back door.
"Wait for me, wait for your little Pepe, my lil' orange
blossom!"
Kasumi smiled in the direction of her little sister's dust
cloud. "Such energy!"
"Well, at least she's getting some good endurance training
out of this," pointed out Nabiki.
-------------------
Pokemon "Earth"
"Here comes trouble."
"And I make it double."
"To inflict the world with devastation."
"To conquer each and every nation."
"To strike out against truth and love."
"To steal even the stars above."
"Nobu," said a man, stepping forth. Goatee, pony-tail, and
all black outfit except for a large red "R" on the chest
gave him the image of a disaffected member of Generation X
more than the villainous look he was obviously trying for.
"Naga," proclaimed a young woman with abundant "talent" who
stepped out wearing a similarly black outfit, though
decorated with silver skulls and considerably more skin was
showing.
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now or lose the fight."
"So, that guy is one of your other selves?" Mina pointed at
Nobu.
"Uhm, actually..." Grey looked embarassed.
"So we meet again," the woman said, cracking her whip, "now
we shall see which of us is REAL!"
"The BIMBO?!" Mina pointed to the girl whose outfit had
cleavage down to her navel.
"WHOM are you calling a bimbo?!" Naga looked angry as she
flipped a sphere up and down in her hand casually.
"Uhm, Naga," Nobu interrupted. "You ARE a bimbo."
"Well, I suppose that's true," Naga flipped her hair back
and posed. "I AM rather magnificent aren't I?" She went into
a crazed villain laugh that Kodachi would have envied.
Grey whimpered, being face to face with a version of
himself that embarrassed the heck out of him. "This really
sucks. Dozens of versions of me and we have to run into THAT
one."
Nobu chuckled and drew a pokeball. "Now we'll just take
your pokemon!"
"That could be a problem, i don't happen to have any at
present." Grey shrugged.
"Then I shall just eliminate a cheap copy!" Naga threw a
pokeball. "Oscar Parasect, GO!"
A hermit-crab looking thing appeared and chittered
menacingly.
Nobu threw his own pokeball. "Kensuke Lickitung! It's your
cue!"
A pink balloon with eyes blinked at them and held up what
looked like a microphone.
"NO! Not Jigglypuff!!" Grey, Nobu, AND Naga agreed on this
point.
"Ahem," said Jigglypuff. "Jigg-a-liii, jigali. Puff. Jii-"
ZOT!
Rei and Mina woke up. Everyone stared at where Grey was
holding a blaster and the Jigglypuff was staring at a
smouldering stubby rod in its hands. "Ji-ji-jiggly?!"
"Hey! Just because i don't have any pokemon, don't assume
i'm helpless." Grey moved the muzzle towards the crab-thing.
"That was setting one. i've now set it for setting seven. If
you don't want to lose your parasect, i'd suggest putting
the pokemon BACK in the pokeball and get your keisters out
of here."
"This violates the rules!"
"Attacking me when i haven't got any pokemon doesn't?!" The
gun wasn't wavering.
"But WE'RE the villains," argued Naga.
"You wouldn't dare!" Nobu said, ignoring the way the
Jigglypuff started running screaming for the horizon. IT had
a clue.
"Parasect, Sleep Powder!"
BLAM!
Parasect looked at the little hole burned directly in front
of it. "Para...?!"
"Now, Lickitung, go!"
BLAM!
Nobu lowered the hand that had held the pokeball. "You?!
You killed Kenny! You... barbarian!"
"Sorry you had to see that, girls, but i *did* warn them."
Grey thumbed the dial at the back of the blaster. "Now, you
two. Git!"
"You'll be sorry! I'll show you!" Nobu shook his fist.
"I'll get you yet, you cheap imitation."
Amy watched the two fleeing figures. "Ranma, er,..."
"Yes, Amy?"
Amy bit her lip. "Don't you think you were a bit... harsh?"
"A bit?!" Lita was still hiding behind a tree. Youma, no
problem. Guns on the other hand.
"Amy, two people are talking about killing you. I ran them
off as opposed to turning them into piles of ash. They're
out one pokemon if they didn't have an emergency circuit in
the pokeball. Maybe i could have resolved it better, but
Team Rocket didn't leave me a lot of options. Now, if you
still want to rest, let's get to a different site."
"Why?"
"You don't have to be a Team Rocket scientist to figure
that one out. They'll be back."
"So we'll just have to leave this world." Rei came up and
grabbed Grey. "Push the button."
-------------------
Target Timeline:
Akane stopped running as a thought occurred to her.
She was a Warrior, the greatest martial artist in Nerima!
She was the Heir to the Tendo Ryuu!
She was able to defeat dozens of opponents every day at
school!
She was running from an affectionate cartoon skunk. This
did not add up.
Akane bravely turned to face the bouncing little figure.
She would face this opponent, AND she would defeat him!
"Ah, mon cheri, you have decided to embrace our destiny!
Come let me whisk you away to..."
POW!
"...uhm, mon petit, has Pepe done something wrong? It is
merely my way of expressing affection for such..."
WHAM!
"...oooohhh. Well, uhm, if ma'amselle is not receptive..."
THUD! CRACK! BAM!
Akane nodded absently as the skunk's tail twitched from
where he'd been stuffed into a trashcan. She'd proven her
abilities. She would not tolerate this behavior. Not from
Kuno, not from Ranma, not from some striped French rat.
Then the spray reached her.
-------------------
"Saotome, where could that son of yours be?"
"I don't have a clue, but this shrine is supposed to have a
powerful exorcist who works cheap."
"What's his name again?"
"Cherry. He's supposed to be VERY powerful."
"I don't know, Saotome, I have a bad feeling about this."
"Trust me, Tendo."
"You need an exorcist?" An unfamiliar voice. "AHHHH! You
have a most ominous face!"
The two practitioners finally spotted the exorcist. Their
first impression was not favorable.
"AHHHH! It's the MASTER! RUN, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
Cherry blinked. "Most ominous. This is fate."
---------------------
"So, what do we do?" Shan continued to mop the floor of the
dojo.
"Besides what you've already set in motion?" Nabiki frowned
as she considered. Life had been so simple.
"I will practice the katas and forms that my mother taught
me, and see if I can find a tutor for the Tendo Lightning
Ryuu of Naginata." Kasumi's voice was calm. This was what
her mother wanted, after all.
Thinking of the meeting with her mother as well, Nabiki
winced. "Well, I guess I *could* get a few outside interests
and take up the school as well."
"Shampoo already enrolled in school, has adopted Ranma as
brother. This at least more fun than beating off Mousse
everyday."
Nabiki made a mental note to see if there was a "moose
repellent" that she could sell Shampoo later.
Ukyo smirked. "Well, *I* have got a restaurant to open
soon. We just dropped a few things off at the new place and
me and the twins will be doing setup tomorrow. Then we'll be
attending school."
Nabiki considered. "Okay, now how can we be sure this ISN'T
how the mainline developed?"
Everyone pondered the idea that in the mainline: Shampoo
was masquerading as a American transfer student, Kasumi was
training to be the Heir of her Mother's naginata based
martial arts style, Nabiki had just developed religion as a
hobby, two cyborg clones were running around, and Akane
wanted nothing to do with Tatewaki Kuno. Akane hit Ranma,
and this was supposed to be a sign that she loved him, so...
"Nahhhhh," Nabiki said after a moment. "Couldn't be. If
sparks like that are a sign of love, then that would mean...
that Akane DOES love Kuno?! Oh my."
Kasumi began considering ways to get this "Kuno-san"
together with her little sister. It might calm her down.
-------------------
The Wander Inn, Dimensional Nexus point 382-317
Grey motioned to a table and let the Scouts take seats. He
politely ignored the way their eyes expanded and the way
their jaws continued to be open as they STARED at their
surroundings.
An elven bard played music softly in the background, "The
Ballad Of Tanya Evarre" if he was hearing correctly.
The room itself was largely a replica of the typical
fantasy psuedo-medieval Inn and Tavern. The archmage who had
originally built the thing had had fond memories of his
early days of adventuring and other owners had added their
own bits for much the same reason.
The inn itself was a dimensional nexus. Things could wander
in from any number of places, and wander back out again. It
was a safe haven where villains from one series could have a
cup of hot mulled wine with the heroes of another series and
nobody had to worry about knives suddenly sprouting from
one's back.
Which, of course, led to why the Scouts were staring so
badly. There were humans of odd colorations, elves, dwarves,
and halflings. There were gods, demons, angels, and others
who were neither but simply very powerful. It was the Star
Wars Cantina Bar scene without budget limitations.
A creature that looked like a muppet on steroids walked up
to the table and asked what they'd have.
"Can you flag Shustis? My companions would like to see
about getting some more clothes. Also we'll need camping
equipment, a new set of pokeballs, and a charger for a type
III lightsaber. Uhm, girls, what do you want? They have food
and drink here."
Mina looked at the decor and decided to be in genre. "Ale."
Lita blinked, but when in Rome... "Make that two ales."
Rei looked around and decided to ask, just to avoid getting
whatever it was that bug was drinking. "Uhm, what have you
got that humans can drink?"
"Ale, wine, hot mulled wine, cider, hot mulled cider, hot
chocolate, Arborean shine ale, liquid moonshine, cola,
philtre, uncola, coffee, kohii, klah, knightwine, dwarvil,
Sigil small beer, beer, mead, firewine..."
"Firewine," Rei interrupted, having the feeling that the
list could have gone on for hours.
"Uhm. Could I get a sandwich and glass of milk?" Amy
timidly asked. "Tuna sandwich, and cow's milk?"
"Very good," the muppet said and walked off.
"Where IS this place?" Lita continued to stare at
everything.
"On the border between dreams and wakefulness, in between
What Is and What Is Not." Grey set his Planewalker's Guide
on the table and began accessing the e-mail section.
"Huh?" Amy took out her own computer and started scanning.
"A dimensional nexus, a point where a number of realities
intersect and no single one holds sway."
--------------
Urd watched from across the bar. THIS would work. A little
potion in their drinks, and by the time it had run its
course (about four hours) the ice would be thoroughly
broken.
She watched, grinning, as first Rei, then Lita, then Amy
and Mina all sipped from their drinks as the five discussed
plans on what kind of equipment they needed.
Urd's grin slipped a little as Lita and Mina went below the
table, arms wrapped around each other and lips locked. Urd's
grin failed completely as Amy and Rei went off to check out
the back rooms, followed by Lita and Mina a moment later.
Grey, still at the table, cast an unreadable glance towards
where the four ex-Scouts had vanished, then hung his head
and closed the laptop on the table. After waiting a few
minutes he wrote a note, left it with the waiter, paid for
their drinks and headed for the bar.
Urd seriously considered beating her head against the
hardwood surface of the bar but with Grey approaching felt
that this would have attracted his attention to her. So far
he hadn't noticed her and was heading for an empty seat.
She blinked and checked something, cursing when she saw the
results. They were currently brushing along the universe of
A Tale Of Two Wallets. Girl+girl action was more common than
girl+guy. She at least had an explanation for why things had
gone so wrong, though it didn't help.
Urd's eyes narrowed. This had become a REAL challenge now.
She started forward, one more dose of love potion concealed
in her hand, and caught the eye of her co-conspirator. Edema
would distract him, she'd put the potion in his drink, and
by the time the Binding kicked in, he would already have
found SOMEONE. They just had to direct his attention to a
picture of a certain girl that Edema had found at the proper
time.
-----------------
Eros smirked as he watched Urd's plans unravel like a badly
knit sweater. Then, quite obvious to anyone who knew her,
Urd went into "Plan B" mode.
"Well, tough," said Eros to himself. He didn't care what
Urd's backup plan was.
Eros had more than the one bow, and the pistol sized
crossbow he now prepared to use was perfect for his current
task. Having taken a few moments to regard Grey's history,
he noted the same patterns over and over. What was needed
was a way to break the pattern, to have someone see him as
other than a friend or trustworthy ally.
To Eros, that meant a Love Arrow. More particularly,
considering how many times the boy's heart had been stomped
on, it required using such a powerful arrow that it called
upon all his experience (considerable) in such things to use
it. And his target? Well, he'd had a few things to say about
Urd using that "Cupid Of Love" line.
The crossbow bolt was sufficiently powerful that he'd taken
an antidote beforehand just so that he could handle it,
through gloves, long enough to use it. Eros smiled as Edema
and Urd took seats on either side of the cyborg, Urd
politely asking another goddess to move one seat aside to do
so.
He waited carefully, knowing that Urd would make her move
soon. There. Edema was talking about some mirror she was
gesturing to. Everyone was distracted. Eros shot the bolt.
Urd used the distraction of the mirror to sprinkle a powder
into the mug of cider in the Grey's hands, leaning forward
as she did so.
Meanwhile the goddess that had earlier moved aside seemed
to have similar plans for Urd's drink.
Eros watched as the bolt slammed home into some Japanese
goddess he HADN'T wanted to hit.
Edema had the expected reaction of a drow elf when the sun
flared to life three seats down along the bar. She fled,
covering her eyes, and in quite obvious pain.
Urd winced herself at the sudden flare of light. Grey
leaned over and asked the Japanese goddess if she was all
right.
"H-h-hai." The goddess in question blinked up at the
human-seeming cyborg standing concernedly over her with an
odd expression.
"Good. Urd, i've got to get back to the timeline i am
SUPPOSED to be fixing. Can you arrange transport?"
"That might be considered interference," mumbled Urd as she
sat back, wondering what had just happened. She took a sip
of her drink as she regarded him while watching Edema lean
against the wall. Maybe Keiichi's sister, Megumi, or was she
still seeing that one fellow? Or maybe one of those other
girls that seemed to get along with him. "That would
directly correct a mistake you made, which was using the
D-hopper."
Urd's smirk faded. There was something about Edema today...
Grey nodded as he pondered Urd's words. "Then, in that
case, i'll just continue to try muddling through. Good day."
Two goddesses watched Grey leave. Eros decided it was his
own turn to use "Plan B."
---------------------
Target Timeline:
Kasumi stopped and sniffed the air. "Oh my..." She
immediately pulled a hankerchief out and covered her nose.
"Gag, that's horrible! What is that HORRIBLE smell?!"
Nabiki pulled the top of shirt up till it was covering her
nose.
"It bad. It very bad!" Shampoo pinched her nose shut and
tried not to breathe. "Shampoo not smell anything that bad
since... Shampoo don't know when."
"Ugh, can't take it..." Ukyo dropped, overwhelmed by the
sheer EVIL of the smell.
"Arrrrooo." Genma's panda form, with a more sensitive sense
of smell, was in agony. [Somebody kill it quick, WHATEVER it
is!]
"Can't... it's... up to you, Saotome!" Soun thought about
fighting off whatever was menacing his home, but clearly it
was more evil than even their Master.
Genma started throwing up as the smell actually
intensified.
Plants started wilting. One of the koi surfaced and was
floating belly up.
"Ahhhhggg," Nabiki tried to hold on but collapsed, unable
to stand against the waves of evil power communicated in
that smell.
A voice could be heard from somewhere outside the Tendo
compound walls. "Akane Tendo! My love! I....
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Get away! Get away! NOOOOOOO!"
Shan and Sakyo used their enhanced strength to start
gathering bodies up to flee the area. An advantage of being
what they were, was that they were more durable than mere
flesh and blood. Impending demonic invasions were sufficient
cause to reveal some of their abilities at least.
An especially strong gust of the smell hit at the same time
of the sound of the Tendo front gate opening. Kasumi began
retching, which required her to take the cloth off. Her eyes
crossed. Shampoo wasn't doing much better, curled up into a
ball and weakly coughing.
Mrs Yamani's dog Bess sniffed the air briefly, then quickly
dug a hole in the yard, laid down in it, then began burying
herself. A flock of birds hit the cloud, then hit the ground
a moment later.
"Tadaima! Kasumi? Nabiki? Dad? Nobody's home? Hmmm. I
wonder what's going on." Akane thought a moment but couldn't
tell what was wrong. Maybe she should see if there were any
leftovers as she'd missed dinner earlier. AFTER a good warm
bath to get this smell off.
---------------------
Elsewhere:
Eros, aka Cupid, drew back his bow. THIS time for sure. He
let the arrow loose.
His target chose that moment to bow to Grey. The arrow flit
past her and ended up going through two OTHER young girls
before completely discharging.
Eros closed his eyes, and thought he'd just go off and have
a few drinks before he tried AGAIN. Instead of hitting that
girl Mihoshi (who was so "straightforward" that Grey could
have been certain that there was no hidden agenda.) Then
he'd have to come back with the antidote.
Kiyone stared at the young man, her mouth open slightly.
Sasami forgot to breathe.
"Well, thanks for your hospitality, Masaki-san. I'd better
be going though." Grey bowed to his host.
"Wait a minute, can I come too?"
"Kiyone?!" Everyone stared at the Galaxy Police officer.
"I'm not going to be able to advance much further in the
Galaxy Police under current conditions, and this 'Rival
Relief Office' sounds like something I should check out
anyway! Mihoshi, can you go check our bags!"
"Right away, Kiyone!" Mihoshi dashed towards the front
door.
Kiyone stepped close to Grey, examining the rod. "Pushing
that button activates the transport?"
"Well, yeah..."
Grey held the device up. "These rings here are the controls
and the button activates it."
"Oh wow," Sasami breathed as she moved in. "Can I see?"
"Don't push that!" Grey's voice, as well as the rest of him
faded as Kiyone reached over and pushed the button while
grabbing the rod with her other hand.
Mihoshi stuck her head back in the room. "Oh, Kiiiyoneee!
We don't have any bags. Kiyone?"
"SASAMI?!" Aeka began not-so-quietly freaking.
Ryoko grinned. Two less competitors down, now if she could
just get rid of the main contenders!
------------------
Still Elsewhere:
Urd finished shuddering and opened her eyes.
Urd gasped for breath as the pain stopped and opened her
eyes.
Urd looked at Urd who looked back at her.
"Say what?!" Urd asked Urd.
"I don't know any more than you do," replied Urd.
"This is definitely unusual," said Urd to Urd. They both
froze as they heard an oddly harmonious groan.
"Uh oh," said BOTH Urds.
"Belldandy, have you seen..." Keichi entered the room and
stopped. A cold wind seemed to whip by him.
Urd looked at the small crowd and pondered. "Let's see, I
had been hit by some kind of powerful love potion, then when
I realized what had happened, I came back here."
Urd nodded. "I remember. I was casting a spell that was
supposed to seperate the love potion from me. That way I
could examine the effects properly, determine who it came
from and why it was able to get through my defenses so
easily."
"I'm not sure what you're talking about, I came into the
room because I needed an aspirin." Megumi looked around the
crowd. "And obviously I'm having a REALLY weird dream."
"Of course I am," said Megumi with a nod. "Well, at least I
got rid of that headache."
"When I heard the explosion, I came running," indicated
Belldandy.
"There was a thick cloud of something, and a great deal of
energy present." Belldandy added. Then looked around the
room, noting the broken bottles and containers, and excused
herself to go get a broom.
"Urd, do you have any explanation for this," Belldandy
frowned ever so slightly as she fixed her gaze on her older
sister, "this is most... unusual."
"Urd, can you fix this?" Belldandy asked, hands clenched in
front of her.
"I'll go fix some tea," offered Belldandy, getting up to
walk past a thoroughly dazed looking Keiichi.
Keiichi felt her go by. Meaning it wasn't an illusion.
Keiichi, very sensibly, fainted.
Urd turned to Urd with a speculative look. "This may have
been an accident, but you know..."
Urd nodded. "I *just* may be able find a use for this."
---------------------
Like i said in an earlier paragraph, i just wanted to
explore some strange ideas in this fic, that i haven't seen
and that might well make for an interesting bit in someone
else's fic.
Most recently:
Team Rockets that are other than Jesse + James, Butch +
Cassidy. Nobu + Naga, could just as easily have been Billi +
Kidd or Dock + Holliday or some other figure from American
history.
A time and space adventuring Kiyone (from Tenchi Muyo),
finally away from her "nemesis"/partner Mihoshi. Sorry, Jim,
i just don't buy into them being lovers. At the RRO, a
chance for her to be recruited by a troubleshooting
organization that could: a) really use someone like her, b)
set her into all sorts of situations in noncanonical
timelines as she goes to fix things, c) let her still be a
"cop" but on a grander scale.
Oh and as for Sasami, here's someone else adopting Grey as
a brother.
Multiple Urds, Belldandys, and Megumis? How can Keiichi
cope?
The love potion goes wrong constant. But if it always goes
wrong, might it not also go wrong in such a way that someone
actually benefits? In this case, someone who was depressed
about her current lack of romantic subplots.
Theme music for Private Bet #8 by Shade
The idea that an overall "flavor" of a fanfic universe
might influence those who enter it.
The Wander Inn - something left over from my days playing
Champions, oddly enough. Walker, who had the mutant ability
to open transdimensional gates, found this place during an
adventure and it became a frequent "in between adventures"
stop for the group.
back to writing FBT for now...
oh, and a certain other Author Insert may show up to be
Kiyone's love interest in segment 9.
ttfn
=================================
-----------------------------------------
"Shampoo learn many things. Shampoo seek
out new life, and new civilizations, kicking
major butt where no Amazon ever go before!"
-Shampoo, A Very Scary Bet
metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/