Here we go again! And this time, I made sure it's a night when I
don't have class in the morning.
(from over my shoulder, there is an amused snort, then one of my
sisters says, "Class is something you never have to worry about." Ah,
family, can't live with 'em, can't trade 'em in for parts.)
At 4:09 PM -0800 3/13/04, Daniel Jess Gibson wrote:
Stories are available in Rich Text Format and HTML at:
http://home.att.net/~danjess.gibson
(these are the most updated versions)
Stories are available in Plain ASCII at:
http://archives.eyrie.org/anime/Ranma/Sic-Semper-Morituri/
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/Sic-Semper-Morituri/
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/ftp/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/type/Sic-Sem
per-Morituri
(these are the original versions)
Lucifer (Latin: Morning Star)
Webster's Dictionary
Here I Am
Will you send me an Angel,
Here I Am
In the Land of the Morning Star
Send Me an Angel - Klaus Meine (Scorpions)
I always preferred Real Life's unrelated song by the same name, but
for real havok in Eva-land play Train's "Calling All Angels" or ...
the only version I have is a cover by GnR, which I prefer over the
original anyway, but "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."
And why didn't Godzilla ever show up in all this, anyway? He's always
been there before to fight off other monsters that attack Tokyo...
(Cut away: The Monster Island Institue of Kaiju Reasearch, where
numerous men in black suits are escorting a group of the normal
employees to a ferry, while workmen paint over the sign with a GEHERN
logo and Young Gendo looks on impassivly. Or perhaps he's just
constipated, it's hard to tell.)
"Why didn't you tell him you removed the jar from SEELE HQ?" Mara
stepped out of the shadows, she'd been watching the man since he escaped
>from the battle of Tokyo. "Good plan though, first rule of assassinations:
kill the assassins."
While it does make sense to include Mara - I prefer Marller, but
that's the official translation - given that the Norns were already
involved, and giving them trouble is her primary assignment, I really
wish that she wasn't the first character anyone reaches for to use as
a cameo scheming-non-beasty-demon.
"Oh, he isn't dead, merely rewarded," the Crawling Chaos told her, "I
even have a gift - for you. While pilot Tendo would have eventually fallen
into your lap, I have accelerated the decline. Suicide still automatically
places the perpetrator in your sphere of influence, I believe. Humans are
so fragile, the death of a silly girl, and one pilot falls to you. Saotome
will follow soon enough, Ayanami will be taken, then it becomes a race
whether Ikari or Davis goes next. Then, whichever is left will expend
himself alongside Langley, both having lost all hope." The Crawling Chaos
chuckled at her distress, "Think of all the deals your people will make,
not that they'll do any good against us, our time is coming."
Something about this paragraph makes me thing Nyarly *is* Gendo, or
rather that Gendo is Nyarly's latest disguise. And one of these days
I'd like to see him take the form of a surfer dude, complete with
SoCal accent - of course, that requires he not be the series
antagonist, so he can instead be a bit of comic releif. Picture it:
It's The Beach Episode (come on, there's always a Beach Episode, in
every series) but the Serious One can't relax, turning over the state
of the plot in his/her mind, trying to find a connection. Suddenly,
he/she slaps one fist into a palm and excelaims, "Nyarlathotep!
That's it, it's all one of the Crawling Chaos's plots! Then the
golden tanned surfer to one side pulls down his shades, flashes a
somewhat disturbing grin, and says, "Naw, it ain;t me this time,
dude/babe. I'm just chillin' and catchin' some waves 'till the stars
say it's time to party down."
"It _ISN'T_ your time!" Mara shouted, "The Stars aren't Right!"
"The strong make their own time," the Dark Man assured her, "Too bad
you can't do anything. To save a soul from guaranteed damnation, that
would be - well it wouldn't be appropriate. Now would it?"
Mara turned and left at a run, the monster's laughter echoing in her
ears, Damn you, Crawler! By the Infernal One and the Adversary, I'll make
you pay! By all the Fiends and Archangels, I'll see you destroyed! If I
have to coddle every one of those pathetic wimps, if I have to spoon feed
them the darkest arts, I'll see you welter in your own blood! If I have to
abase myself to Belldandy and her simpering siblings, I'll make you _pay_
for this indignity! Mara raged as she vanished back to Tokyo, already
forming a counter for Nyarlathotep's plan in her head.
heh, so Marller gets to play hero for once? Or maybe anti-hero would
be a better way to put it... one of my favorite crossover appearances
of her had her pop up in a Ranma-fic and dispose of Happi in a way
that would be either permanent or at the least very long-term, and
then getting frustrated because everyone is happy and cheering her
everywhere in town - she can't sneak around and cause trouble, and
all the positive emotional energy is giving her indigestion.
Natsumi Matsuda lowered her handmade telescope, "H-he loo-look-ed-ed
at ri-right me . . . ," she stammered, "Right at me!" she said with dread,
"An Angel, in Osaka, and he looked _right_-_at_-_me_!_"
meeting the eyes of Nyarly: lose 1d6 SAN
She walked carefully away, deliberately putting one foot in front of
the other to keep from breaking into a run, and not stopping until she hit
the ocean. She was glad she hadn't been in Tokyo during the disaster, but
she hadn't expected to find the mythos in Osaka. Osaka wasn't Tokyo. She
had to contact . . . "Who? Ayami-san is dead, and the 'Boss' can't be in
good shape."
... I don't rememebr that... I'd better go back and reread previous
chapters, looks like.
She discovered she was running now. She'd never been so scared in her
life . . . just from that . . . thing . . . looking at her. "Kensuke-san!
He's the military expert, he'll know what to do, he's in Tokyo!"
She ran for the post office and the long-distance line there, to make
the call to Tokyo.
(singing) Who ya gonna call? (ala Ghostbusters)
----------------------------------------
Rei was discovering that kowtowing did not seriously interfere with
using a telephone. She didn't know why a goddess and a demon had awakened
her with orders to make a phone call. Once she'd heard the message she was
to deliver, she needed no further urging to act.
Ah, the wonders it would do for Nabiki at this opint to know that
hher life is deemed worthy of divine intervention to protect it. A
pity she's not likely to find out ever, let alone soon.
"Roku-kun, Nabiki-kun is in danger, go to her apartment, now!"
"Are you all right?" Roku-kun asked.
"Please go!" Rei insisted, trying to keep her terror under control.
She had failed to protect Nabiki-kun, now the 'Higher Powers' looked down
at her and her failure, looked down at her unworthiness.
Despite the hard concrete scraping her bare skin, she dared not raise
her head from the floor to look at them, to see if they were gone. She lay
there as the minutes crawled by, awaiting some sign that she was free to
move again, awaiting her punishment.
"Rei-chan?!" Shinji-kun took her bare shoulders and raised her from
the floor.
He looked so worried, she felt so ashamed for making him worry. She
couldn't meet his eyes. She bowed her head, he responded by settling her
head in his lap. She wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I failed, we almost lost Nabiki-kun," she told him.
"It's all right, you warned us, you did your best." He stroked her
hair, "You did your best. We all did, we didn't lose."
Someone pulled the blanket off her bed, draping it over her. "Get a
room," the Second said as she left the apartment, closing the door quietly
behind her.
I'm not cear on this... did Shinji and Asuka just come in, or arfe
they now in on the Rei-taking-orders-from-the-gods-directly thing,
even if not on the whys and wherefores?
She distantly heard Sammi shushing an inebriated Misato. While she
was playing, Asuka would have ignored anything less than an alert or an
artillery barrage, the music was all that mattered.
She wondered how Raccoon was doing with Ice Princess. Whether
somebody, anybody, would ever explain why Wondergirl called Raccoon, then
he insisted she and Spineless come here.
Ah, okay, that's better.
"Still, the rage, at injustice, at loneliness, at being abandoned
doesn't go away. Sometimes it rises, filling my brain, clutching at my
throat, until I choke on it." He looked over his shoulder into her face,
"But I'm the only one who feels that way. It's not like anyone else has
ever done something so foul as that." He turned away again, "I just can't
imagine Langley being angry with her mother for leaving her, or Shinji . .
. or even Ritsuko. No, I'm some kind of monster, for thinking ill of the
dead, for missing them so desperately, after all, I'll supposedly meet them
again, after I die. But I guess I'm the only one silly enough to think
like that. Right?"
Nabiki smiled, laid her head on his shoulder, putting her arms around
him. He didn't seem to mind she was soaking his shirt. "Thank you."
Arr, nice save, there!
Asuka smirked at that, and at him, as Horseface turned beet red. "Oh
they'd insist on you being there. Although Ranko would probably be the
better choice, for both of them . . . well, you're too young and innocent
to understand what they were doing to you, and that you should just sit or
lie back and enjoy it." Asuka was pleased Horseface looked so utterly
humiliated by her suggestion.
"They wouldn't do . . . " he gulped, "I mean, not both of them, not
with Ranko, together, not at the same time? Would they?"
Are you asking, or hoping?
"Sure," Asuka assured him, "One cuts the nails on your feet, the other
on your hands. It's kind of nice after a long bath, makes you feel
pampered and nice. They'd insist you do the same for them." She stopped,
stared at him, "What did you think I meant?"
Riiight. Say that wheb you're not smirking, Asuka.
them. Most returned to work immediately. "You stand up on a hill and say,
'I'm the greatest martial artist, no one can defeat me!' and the
challengers climb up after you one at a time, each waiting their turn. A
Yeah, that's basically his life until now. When he wasn't the one
doing the climbing, that is.
"So what does that all mean?" he asked as they walked along.
(singing) Just remember that you're standing/on a planet that's revolving...
(ala Monty Python and the Meaning of Life)
concentrate on the battle." Asuka shivered, remembering the battle
Raccoon's delaying action had made possible, a disorganized, murderous
fistfight, that the two of them and their troops were a tiny part of.
Until her cavalry and two dragons, and Raccoon's mages and infantry had
found a gap in the enemy's line. They'd split in two and attacked in both
directions, breaking the enemy's lines. " 'One good knight is worth a dozen
hirelings afoot', we found _that_ wasn't true by a long shot."
"You okay?" Horseface actually sounded concerned.
"Bad memories," Asuka admitted, "That butcher's yard wasn't my first
battle. It was the first time that many _civilians_ got killed. I've been
in battlefields where it was possible to walk from one end to the other,
walking on the dead, never having to set a foot on the ground."
Horseface looked sick.
It's times like this that Asuka's confidence in her own combat
abilities actually makes sense - she's had literally decades of
experience in everything from one-on-one duels to leading entire
armies.
Well, it's good he's seeing it, finally. Well, if Misato won't see
Suggest replacing the second 'well' with 'at least' and dropping the
second 'see it' entirely.
it, it's good the rest of us do. But I'd better lighten things up, before
suggest an elipsis and small b on 'but'
Jeff looked at Kensuke as the boy talked and gestured wildly to him
about something of dire importance. "Slow down!" he insisted, "You sound
like you're playing at 78. What is it?" All Jeff really wanted was sleep
Wow, now I know this is set in 1947! He knows what a 78 is! He'd
probably even recognise a gramophone, and know what to do with it if
he couldn't find an electric plug.
I don't feel anything, Jeff thought as he stared across the city, All
those others, all the losses, and all I feel is weary. How do I tell the
others that? Do I tell the others that? Nabiki thinks she's a monster for
being angry, what does that make someone who's indifferent, apathetic?
Just broken in a different way. Perhaps a better way to be broken,
since it leaves you better able to deal with things than being an
emotional merry-go-round, but having to work at it to feel anything
is no more healthy than having to work at it to control yourself.
"Let's go trouble someone else with this," Jeff told him, "It's always
fun to share the misery. That's why it has eight other states around it."
"Huh?"
"Missouri loves company," Jeff told him. It took the rest of the walk
GROAN!
"Belldandy, I bet you have a sister Skuld and Urd," Asuka said.
suggest "Belldandy, huh? I bet..."
"You aren't the chemist," Horseface said, "Raccoon is."
"You know a raccoon?" Keiichi asked, "A real one?"
Presumably, K1 thinks they're talking about the mythological tricker
spirits (tanuki?) rather than the common animal type...
"Yes, Horse - face," Asuka said, calming him down. The two college
students looked unhappy.
"If you love someone - " the girl began.
"If I _EVER_ fell in love with Horseface . . . I'd shoot myself in the
head," she got nose-to-nose with the girl, "I'd need a lobotomy to tolerate
him. Understand?"
Defininately got the denial down pat, but is it a cover-up, or
genuine loathing? As Ataru Moroboshi could tell you, it's an
important distinction to make. Of course, he usually gets it wrong,
but he'd tell you it's an important distinction.
"Yes," Belldandy said quietly.
Browbeating Belldandy, fifteen point penalty on the visiting team!
"Chemical Engineering," Asuka told the boy. He nodded and led them
through the building.
perhaps 'nodded hastily'?
It gave Kensuke chills how still and attentive the others in the
office were, as if they were vultures waiting for a kill or something.
"Are you sure she said it removed its tie?" Ramsey asked.
Kensuke's nod elicited a smirk from both Ramsey and Raccoon, then he
saw it on the others. Kensuke wondered why they thought that was
important.
It'll be in the gossip columns before noon: "Ties out of fashion for
Old Ones this season!" Anyone who misses it and wears one in the
mistaken impression that it makes them look dapper simply will NOT be
invited to the best parties again until thier disgrace has had time
to fade.
----------------------------------------
Asuka could hardly believe it, she wondered if Horseface had set out
to humiliate her, or if it just happened. "The entire Karate and Kendo
clubs, all at once? What were you thinking?"
What? It's "Whoa, kickass!" when Jet Li does it on the screen, but
not when I do it in front of you? (yes, I know, neither Ranma nor
Asuka know about the not-even-born-yet Jet Li, but it has to be said)
Keiichi was quietly wondering how he'd survived that little encounter.
He knew both of them were pilots, he remembered Belldandy's descriptions,
of both their appearance, and their personalities. He'd thought she was
exaggerating. Instead, she had politely understated things, as usual. He
actually felt a little sorry for the things they fought.
"If Skuld and Urd fought that much . . . " he began, as he watched the
pair recede, "Well they wouldn't, except maybe over sake-flavored ice
cream." He smiled at that.
I'm fairly sure they have such a thing, actually.
"You asked why I did not help them." Bell looked terribly sad, and
very happy at the same time. "It hurt more than you could know, to stand
back, to let them suffer, when I could have made things right. You see how
they are now?"
"Yes, like Urd and Skuld, 'The only one who fights my sister is me!'"
Keiichi told her.
She smiled, nodded. "Kami-sama's plan seems so cruel, to let them go
this way. I hope they will learn their lessons more easily, that they can
rescue each other. Soon they will go where only they can help each other."
Keiichi decided he did not want to know anymore.
Probably wise of him, considering that the Mythos is involved.
Ramsey blinked, decided he needed a ground-pounder to help explain
things, maybe more. "Follow me, I think I've got a few people you can talk
to." He stood and headed for the door. "What prompted this?"
"I need to know how you win a fight, when you can't be there," Saotome
admitted.
Ramsey told his yeoman to cancel all other appointments. He had a
feeling this was going to take a _long_ time. Mr. Aida's revelation was
already in Admiral Simson's capable hands.
Ranma's actually shown some good sense in his choice of information,
here. Then again, it is still tied with his drive to become the best
at the martial arts, just with a different interpretation than the
'single combat against all comers' that the words usually are taken
to mean.
Toji's sister. Asuka had been disgusted by how many times Hikari blushed
telling the story, as if she were sneaking off for some illicit rendezvous.
in that time, it probably could be considered a secretive rendevous,
positively scandalous if there's no one to chaperone them, alone in
the same room asthe boy's poor comatose sister! How shameful!
"So why haven't you healed her?" Asuka asked Raccoon as they washed
the dinner dishes together.
"Simple, she isn't there," Raccoon had gone 'linguistically agile',
changing languages with every word, making it almost impossible for anyone
but her to understand. It also told her that he didn't want anyone
understanding their conversation.
Whoa, like frequency hopping scramble, only handled by the meat. Nice
trick if you know enough uncommon languages to pull it off.
replacement, for whatever trap her old friend would be caught in. "Maybe
there's another way?"
"There is, we just have to think like one of our enemies," he told
her, "And narrow our search accordingly."
"Oh joy," Asuka replied, taking the last plate and drying it.
Gweh... is your SAN into negative numbers yet? No? Try harder,
dammit! We have to think like the enemy!
She saw Daimitsu standing behind where the targets could be pulled
down out of the line of fire. He was examining his target. She looked
carefully, she couldn't see the perturbation a gun would make in the lines
of his jacket. That meant special tailoring or . . .
"Where do you hide those under a costume like that?" "You don't want to know."
She handed it back. It disappeared into his jacket, his arm seemed to
go farther in, than a shoulder or belt holster would require. Unless he
carries it at the small of his back, Misato thought, That also explains the
lack of jut in the jacket.
"No, really, where-" "Really, you *don't* want to know."
I just want to know I'm very, very good." He packed away the ear
protectors. He'd already collected his spent brass.
"Reloads? Sammi lets you do that? I doubt Ritsuko would."
It's a good idea in general. You never know when you'll be whisked
away by a dimensioon portal to a place where smoothbores and ramrods
are considered SOTA, and have to save the world with no replacement
shell cases. Always police your brass, boys and girls.
Ranko instantly recognized that the impulse could only have come from
the 'other', it was just too catlike to be her own. That didn't stop her
>from following through on it.
She was several times stronger than the average person, but she also
had absolute control of that strength. She clamped her arms around his
ribs and after applying slight pressure, held him, like a band of steel.
She also closed her teeth on his trapezeus muscle.
Rrrowr!
Ranko abruptly got an answer to a lot of unasked questions. She'd
thought what she needed was physical contact with the others. An
under-the-table motive for being here. Now she felt the truth. It wasn't
being touched that was missing, and needed. Now she understood how wrong
that was. The touch wasn't as important as the motion behind it, the
_living_ motion and energy behind it. When Ritsuko had consoled him that
first night of Nab-chan's nightmares, she'd been so still that it hadn't
helped, really. But now, she felt the touch, the motion, and most
important, the chi that drove it.
I think you mean 'emotion' all through here, or else I'm just not getting it.
It was that need, that had prompted him to offer his arm to Asuka, in
hopes of feeling her move beside him. It explained why he tolerated, and
by mutely tolerating, encouraged Nab-chan's touching and groping. The
physical sensations were pleasant, in a jarring sort of way, but the
interaction of his movements with hers, and the chi needed to make those
movements, was what really drew Ranma and Ranko, and drew them to Nab-chan
and Raccoon. Raccoon had very little chi and effectively no ki, but what
he did have virtually sizzled, like Nab-chan's.
No, I wasn't getting it.
The others could use words, trusted words and numbers to define
reality. Ranma didn't, couldn't. If he couldn't see it, couldn't _feel_
it, he couldn't believe it was real. Photographs and movies were the
ultimate of this unreality. They contained nothing he could experience as
real, they were representations of something else, and were uninspiring.
So was music, until he went to the concert, saw the people moving,
felt them creating it, making the music themselves. He could sense the
difference, although up until a moment ago, she hadn't been able to
understand it.
Given Ranma's kinesthetic sense and physical focus, this makes an
unsettling kind of sense. He's almost like a sight-hunting predator,
that doesn't really see things as real, or at least as relevant,
inless they are moving.
That was when Ranko acted, it was what she had planned, though the
'acted. It'
As her level equalized with Raccoon's, Ranko found the flow stopped of
its own accord. She knew she could force more out of herself, but she was
terrified of the possibilities of draining herself completely. She cut the
Draining yourself completely of all life-force... yes, that would fit
nicely into the Bad Things category.
Merely trying to sit up caused her to tumble to the floor, she
'floor, and she'
now, was about three centimeters. No Raccoon might kill you without
'No, Raccoon'
She nodded, waited for the last of the okonomiyaki to pass her lips
before answering in detail.
"Let's find out." He settled her back in the bed.
(rustle rustle) A-one, a-two, a-three, CRUNCH! Three.
huge purple elephant. Most of the girls took one look at it and announced
'KAWAII!' to the world. Forcing their boyfriends into useless attempts to
'world, forcing'
win it. Asuka had no use for it, she was rather intrigued by the 'see no
evil', 'hear no evil', 'speak no evil' trio of monkeys, or were they pigs.
question mark here
In either case, they looked a lot like the Three Stooges. She thought that
I like the variation set that's got three Alfred E. Neumans, one with
his hands cupped behind his ears, the last with them around his mouth
to shout, and the middle one with them shading his eyes as if holding
binoculars, with the legend, "Hear no MAD, See no MAD, Speak no MAD"
Asuka had proven her point, and won the bet, she could go with a light
heart. Horseface rebalanced the load on his head and walked alongside her.
She still didn't know how he kept it together and balanced. She had a
sneaking suspicion he didn't know either, but he'd never let on.
Though Ranma had forgotten the lessons, the reflexes drilled into him
while learning the legendary, long lost Granite Mountain Skull
technique remained as potent as in his home universe. What, did you
think that hardheadedness was left up to chance? A caring father and
sensei like Genma could never neglect his son's training like that!
About the only benefit to standing out in the dark was that no one
could see her cry. She had been doing far too much of that lately, but she
couldn't stop herself either. She was supposed to be the one who was
distant, detached and lucid, instead she started blubbering if she
remembered anything even remotely sad. If she took after Soun a little
more, she could drown the next Angel by remembering all the lost
opportunities in her life.
I *still* want to know what's going on back at the ranch, you know.
She knew she wasn't using her full abilities, with them she could
practically have walked behind him, and he never would have known.
I wouldn't be so sure of that, actually. He's been hunting things
that think they're invisible to humans for quite a while at this
point.
Her first impulse was collect Jeff and get him out of here. Except,
she'd lost sight of him when he entered, and she hadn't spotted him again.
She moved carefully, this was the kind of place, that in the movies, a
monster waited around the corner. She smirked at that. She knew for a
fact that any 'monster' she ran into was going to be in a lot of trouble.
She spotted him lying on the floor in an office, as she walked past.
She'd almost missed him. Sneak, she thought, If he hadn't been looking
right at me, I wouldn't have seen him. The light reflecting off his face
had given him away.
"Okay, Jeff, fun's fun. But let's go home, or find a park to play
hide and seek in." She didn't want to go home yet, she was having some
fun. She was a little annoyed he didn't move. She wasn't eager to adopt
Sammi's technique of 'throw'em over your shoulder and walk out', it went
against the grain.
She walked closer, and she made out more details. The dim light
didn't impede her vision in any way. Her refusal to accept what she was
seeing did. He was looking at her, except he was lying flat on his chest.
Something had rotated his head almost completely around. No, he put his
coat on backwards! she thought as she leaned down to touch him, The body
was still warm. No pulse, no breathing, her scientist mind accepted this,
as another part wailed in rage and agony. The scientist continued, that
there had been no sounds of a struggle, and he'd only been out of her sight
for perhaps 90 seconds.
The first blow took her completely by surprise.
... While many SIs/ANCs do give me the urge to do something like
this, so far Jeff hasn't been one of them. OTOH, Rits is more than
capable in hand to hand.
Not the best place to go at night, Shinji thought, but he wasn't about
to let that frighten him off. The things he'd seen in Nabiki's mind, the
things she'd conjured up to hurt herself, were as bad as the Angels.
Shinji doubted any ghost story would ever frighten him again. "I ran away
the last time I was here." He stopped, paused, "Rei found me. I knew I'd
seen her before . . . but . . . " It had been one day, one terrible day,
long ago. Realizing his mother was gone, and she was never coming back,
and somehow it was his fathers fault. Ironically, Gendo was the one who
had told him all of that. So he'd run away, from his father, from his dead
mother, from everybody. Even the little blue-haired, red-eyed girl who'd
stood over him and stared down before leaving, hadn't made an impression.
He'd met Katsuragi that day too, she'd taken the sobbing little boy to the
man who would be his tutor. Then he and his tutor went back to the man's
home on the train. He hadn't thought about it since then. Until a little
while ago, all he remembered was the grave, and how cold his father had
been. That he didn't care that mother was dead. Now that he'd seen Nabiki
draw into herself, try to wall off the rest of the world, he understood.
His father had done the same thing. Only he didn't have Rei outside with a
battering ram, Shinji thought, Until now.
Ew, bad mental image here, not that it's any of your fault. I haven't
even been reading any lemons lately, where'd that come from? For just
a tiny sample,,, Extreme close-up of Rei's face, wearing a patent
leather domino mask but otherwise typically impassive as she softly
intones, "You may only call me 'Queen.'"
need a certain age and maturity. I don't like 'boys', because I don't like
immaturity, I don't like not being able to talk to them. You can't talk to
Nab-chan, imagine walking through life not being able to talk to anyone,
except a few brilliant scientists, or in your case, martial arts experts.
Imagine, nobody without a tenth-degree black belt could even say hello
without embarrassing both of you to the point you want to strangle them."
Ranma could imagine that, all too easily. If most of the boys from
the school were here with a pretty girl, they would be headed for the
tunnel of love, or some hidden corner. What they'd do there . . . he
doubted the accuracy of their claims. He nodded. "What about Raccoon?
Sometimes he can think rings around you." He saw her scowl, remembering
the ring toss game, he smiled at her, making it seem the accident was
intentional.
For his amazing progress in the art of verbal combat, Ranma Saotome
is awarded the position of Novice. At this rate, you'll surely be a
master by 120!
Rei was holding him up now. Now she held him close with one arm
around his shoulders, the other stroking his back and neck, and she sang.
Ritsuko had never heard anything as sad or beautiful in her life. It
spoke to her of healing and vitality lost and regained.
The music of the spheres!
Alternately, "Ah, the Children of NERV. What sweet music they make!"
Or, "Angel of Music, guide and guardian, sing to me strange angel..."
As suddenly as it started, it was over. Ritsuko felt a pang of loss.
"My thanks, Ayanami-sama. It seems now is the day for secrets to be
revealed." Jeff walked unsteadily to the wastebasket, looked down and
removed Ritsuko's head.
"I'll dispense with the 'Poor Yorick' jokes," Jeff told the piece of
the scientist.
Ritsuko could only glare at him.
"Ayanami-sama, please help me find the rest of her."
Boggle! Now THAT's a humiliating defeat.
They began searching for and stacking pieces of the Doctor that the
attack had scattered around the abandoned office. The savagery of the
attack had stunned Ritsuko, she knew she could eventually recover from it,
but being dismembered this way brought back too many terrible memories.
Memories she had hoped to never revisit.
I agree, the Crash Test Dummies show really *was* that bad.
Once the two pilots had all of the parts, down to the smallest finger
joint, they laid them out like a jigsaw puzzle. There was very little
blood, Ritsuko knew there wouldn't be, Jeff didn't seem to care. Rei
'blood. Ritsuko' also suggest adding an 'and' before Jeff.
work here," he explained, "And that the pieces will remember being part of
a greater whole. I figure, considering the same people built both of them,
the same design philosophy applies."
Ritsuko froze at that. He knows, but he said nothing? she wondered
what it would cost her to keep her secrets, she didn't want the others to
know. Especially not Nabiki and Maya. She agreed with his assessment, it
was logical, it was also an excruciatingly painful process. She screamed
and sobbed, as they restored her head to the rest of her body.
So she's what? Some sort of lesser Shoggoth?
"So, what did they make you for? Ayanami-sama and I are weapons. Did
they build you as a doctor?"
"I don't know, a bulldozer I guess," Ritsuko admitted, wondered how
much the Sixth Children really knew about the First, and what she was.
"Maybe as food," she added.
I know I wouldn't mind a slice of - WHAKKAWHAKKAWHAKKA CD no hentai!
"Did you see what attacked you?" Rei asked, recent experiences seemed
to have drawn her a little more out of her shell.
"No, it blind-sided me," Jeff admitted.
"No, I checked the body out I . . . "
'out, and...'
"How is she supposed to find - Right." Ritsuko shook her head, then
noticed they were about 100 yards from NERV headquarters.
"I didn't lie at St. Louis. And explanations will remain among the
three of us. You may need leverage against Gendo-chan."
Not an affectionate nickname there, is it? Tone really is everything,
and I can just hear that line.
"Let's get to the EVAs," Ritsuko told him, "Unit 00 and 04 are in
maintenance."
"I'll take Unit 01."
"Do you think that's a good idea?"
They ran through the headquarters, Jeff unbuttoning his coat, vest,
and shirt as they ran through the corridors.
"No, you've got a while to think of a better plan."
"No, but you've..."
She followed him into the locker room.
"By the way, Doc. Krazny - zamok, Dr. Aka - gi, did you have to be
_that_ obvious. I thought my puns were bad."
I'm not up enough on my Mythos (well, on Cthulhu's Mysthos, I'm well
informed about the Drogn Mythos) to recognise this. Could you clarify?
Shinji ran. Gendo wasn't far behind him. It was very like the last
time they had visited his wife's grave, except this time it was something
else that had driven them away. Gendo quietly hoped the parallels
continued, and he hoped Rei was in Unit 00 when she found them.
Neither expected this moment of togetherness. Gendo was finally able
That's right, the family that flees together, be's together! Or
something. Umm... 'runs together, comes together?' No, that could
give the wrong impression.
What had come after them hadn't fit any pattern the elder knew of.
The attacker came from nowhere, his pistol had no effect, Shinji had urged
'nowhere, and when'
him to run. For once, Gendo thought, The boy has the right idea. He'd
Lower case T; internal dialogue or not it's a continuation of 'For once,'
immaterial. He'd lost the bet, that worried him, but he had put it aside
and was starting to enjoy himself.
Sufficient unto the kissing is the evil thereof?
Ranma glanced around, something was beginning to bother him. It
wasn't that Asuka was being nice to him, too nice. He liked it, but it was
setting him on edge. Then he realized it wasn't Asuka that was bothering
him. He looked around more carefully.
"Ogling all the girls, Baka Horseface?" she asked, a little too
angrily to be teasing.
"No!" Ranma replied, "Do you see any of the security guards? Where
are Sammi and Carter-san? They normally follow us around everywhere!"
Asuka looked around, "Sorry Horseface, I don't normally consider
them." She chuckled nervously, "I've been under observation, if not under
guard, most of my life. The minders change, but they are always there. So
I just ignore them."
"Well, where are they?" Ranma looked around again.
"Okay, Ranma." Her calling him that scared him. "You're correct,
either they're being a lot more discreet than usual, or they aren't there
anymore."
"Do we call in?"
He watched Asuka bite back her automatic reply. He could almost read
her thoughts, 'Horseface rarely worried about anything, now he sounded
worried.' He could see that really worried _her_._
"Yeah, come on baka. Let's show you you're worried about nothing."
She hustled away, Ranma followed with their load.
At some point, it will stop amazing me that Ranma is starting to
notice things before they reach the direct physical confrontaion
stage. That time has not yet come. Whoa... DUDE!
t!" she commanded, "It's not worth the delay."
Horseface dropped it all and picked her up, soon they were racing
'all, picked her up, and soon'
It is closing on them, Rei realized, she dropped back to face the
shadow pursuing them. Shinji-kun and Gendo kept going. It was clear it
was after one of them. She did not want to know for certain which.
The immense hand of Unit 01 closed on the thing chasing them, and
squeezed. Gendo was ashen, she knew that Unit 01 had moved on it's own
before, but not have it leave Headquarters to come after him and
Shinji-kun.
Though the armor plates hid any possible blush, Rei was certain one
was present as Unit 01 clasped it hands behind its back and ground
one toe into the pavement nervously. "Um, well, I was just downtown
for an errand," the giant biomech stuttered out, "and I saw you and
thought, um, maybe you'd like to, you know, go fr a mumblemumble..."
The twisted ruins of an SUV that had been unfortunate enough to get
caught under 01's foot as it shuffled back and forth fascinated the
EVA, or at least seemed to as it kept it's head bowed to stare at it,
the cracked and broken street, the cars honking and trying to go
around its feet, anything but Gendo.
base, it will take up a security patrol, evidently they've also target the
staff," Gendo expected a comment or protest from Shinji, he didn't get one.
suggest 'it is to take up' 'targeted' and either 'staff." If Gendo'
or leave out the 'if' and add a 'but' before Shinji
"Recall all senior staff," Gendo ordered.
"Short of sounding an alert, sir. We can't, none of the
'sir, we can't. None'
communications gear is working. Pilot Saotome reported losing sight of the
minders. If this indicates they have been separated from their charges, or
suggest 'minders, but whether'
"So, the kids keep you too busy for your boyfriends?" Kaji asked as
they sat in the restaurant.
"Too busy for you," Misato countered. Kaji laughed. Both were
enjoying the repartee. Then Nabiki ran up.
"Is there a problem?" Misato asked. A cloud of black smoke shattered
the windows at the far end of the restaurant.
"You can say that. Forget the bill, just run." Nabiki urged them out
of their chairs and out into the street.
"What are those things?" Misato demanded as she ran.
"Lethal," Nabiki replied, "Asuka's on her way with Unit 02. Raccoon
And that's all the answer that really matters, isn't it? Except
possibly for 'How do I do unto it before it does unto me?'
Rei had led the Fourth and Roku-kun straight to the security guards,
after they'd gone to Sammi's apartment to collect additional ammunition and
a few hand weapons. She had thought the Fourth's refusal to avail himself
of the weapons had been pure stupidity. The three pilots walked through
Hasn't he got a Magical Mystery Gun like the others, anyway? I
thought those came when called, like a good magic weapon should do.
Shinji waited as two of the creatures moved towards a heavy, armored
door. He had ducked Unit 01 down behind a small hill and peered through
the trees atop it. He didn't consider that hiding a 40 meter, 700 ton war
machine was ridiculous. He didn't consider it, because he'd successfully
Not when you have a hill for cover. It's what tankers refer to as
'hull down' and strive for above all else.
"We were attacked by one," Shinji said, "All the ones here have been
pairs."
"We will relay that to Security," Gendo told him, then cut the
connection.
Oh no! That means the other one already floridated your water and
stole all the tinfoil, and slipped away to continue its insidious
work elsewhere!
He doesn't know what's going on either! Shinji realized, This is
getting out of hand. He wished they had Units 00 and 04 in launchable
condition. But Ritsuko had told him that might take several hours. Why
don't you have Raccoon fixing them? Shinji silently asked, He's got a
Why silently? Even if he's told not to worry about it, at least
someone will have heard the idea.
Gendo stood on the Commanders' level of the command deck. He glanced
at Fuyutsuki, "I've never read any descriptions of these creatures."
"The analysis of the residue on Unit 01 clearly indicates they are not
Shoggoths," Fuyutsuki told him.
Gendo didn't like mysteries, he liked them even less when they
threatened the entire project. "Do you think the old men sent them?"
"I wish I knew," Fuyutsuki admitted.
"Those vacant, staring eyes, and mindless grins," the elder Ikari
murmured, pausing to give an uncharacteristic shudder. "It's the
television screes in their navel that really give me the creeps,
though."
Gendo picked up a phone, dialed the EVA bay, "Dr. Akagi, did you get a
'phone, and dialed the Eva bay. "Dr. Akagi," he asked, "Did you...'
"Understood," Gendo said. He considered, The debriefings will be
suggest 'said, considering the situation. The'
The platoon of NERV Security men had joined the four personal guards,
suggest 'A platoon' to avoid repetition, unless there is only one
platoon's worth of FUBENs to be had. In that case, 'NERV's entire
Security platoon had joined...'
"Did you memorize the entire architecture of Tokyo?" Ranma asked, as
he jogged alongside her. He'd never figured out why she concentrated on
such weird stuff.
"Haven't you?" Rei asked. He was never sure when she was kidding, and
when she wasn't.
I say she's serious. That's exactly the kind of thing Rei would do,
to prepare for just such a situation.
categorize it, he'd been too shocked the first time he saw it, but now he
saw clearly. `Raccoon` was an ill-fitting veil: The well-educated clown in
a suit. What was beneath, what was real, Ranma now discerned clearly, the
two opponents were warped reflections of each other, both killers. There
was no hesitation as each prepared to kill another human being.
It's the GUI for dealing with the public, while his core routine gets
on with business, sorta thing?
Rei, with Sammi right behind. Maybe he's going to kill that guy, maybe
he's going to die trying, Ranma thought, He's absolutely unconcerned about
it. It went beyond personal honor, duty or vengeance. Ranma didn't
believe Raccoon cared about living, and Ranko had missed that too.
There's a few fics that have made the case that Ranma doesn't care
about living or dying as long as he wins, himself, but usually
they're either fairly alt to begin with or set after one or more of
the finacee brigade dies.
full attention focused on him. Until they got Misato and Nab-chan, then he
'him. When they'd reached' possibly 'rescued' instead of 'reached'
could risk trying to kill the thing. "We'd better hurry," he told Rei.
"We have enough," Rei replied as they assembled a squad, leaving two
enough time?
regular guards behind to collect the others. They headed off.
"How do you know where to go?" Ranma asked as he ran after her, even
suggest 'gasped' instead of 'asked'
he was having trouble keeping up.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki had watched Kaji and Misato empty their pistols into the
things, twice. They would have had more effect throwing rice balls. She'd
repeatedly attacked the shadows with a ferocity and determination she
hadn't imagined she possessed. She managed to slow the things down long
enough for the two adults to run a little farther. Then one or both
managed to get a grip on her and toss her away. She'd lost count how many
display cases and other fixtures she'd destroyed by flying through them.
Owch.
Evidently, someone had 'preprogrammed' the shadows for Misato and Kaji, and
nothing else was a threat.
No, Nabiki thought as she stood painfully, Beating me up is just fun.
lowercase 'b'
She ignored the twinges from her shoulder and knee, she had no illusions
about the fate of anyone, who lacked her Nerima-born toughness, taking on
'anyone who'
target, Nabiki considered angrily, they needed an EVA, or a battleship, and
they needed it now.
'angrily. They'
While he and Rei had waited for the guards to catch up, they'd watched
Raccoon forced back nearly 20 meters by the relentless claws swipes and
'claw swipes and' or 'claws, swipes, and'
Rei had been a lot more affected than his target, 'Don't do that
again,' Rei had insisted, angrily for her.
target. "Don't ... again,"
lost sight of both of them as he entered the building. Inside, he avoided
the stairs, climbing through the empty elevator shaft. Rising three floors
'shaft, rising'
with his first leap.
----------------------------------------
Asuka was driving Unit 02 at the best speed she'd ever achieved. She
wanted to be back at the museum _NOW_!_ Horseface, Wondergirl and Raccoon
were the three most irritating people she'd ever met, she was still
'met, but she'
It turned his stomach that he'd been ready to kill another person.
That it turned out it wasn't a person didn't eliminate the intent. I would
have murdered that thing, Ranma thought as the city passed by them, Even if
it surrendered, I would have killed it. He wondered what kind of monster
that made _him_._
The human kind, all too much the human kind.
"I dislike this - _personal_ - interest the Crawling Chaos is taking
in NERV, our pilots and operations." Gendo held the door for Fuyutsuki to
enter his office.
"Do you suggest we make a deal?" Fuyutsuki asked, smiling, after the
door was closed.
"Yes, he either leaves us alone, or we'll send a recording of the
pilots' interviews to R'lyeh, Carcosa, and Kadath." Gendo sat behind his
desk, steepling his fingers to hide his smile.
So I guess Gendo isn't shooting bitchin' curl on the side, then. Oh well.
again and again, while Asuka and Raccoon worked out the best way to fold
the quilt for presentation. Then they'd made him practice _that_, that
practice went quicker.
'_that_, though that'
Instead, he put his finger under his chin and curtsied. Evoking a
giggle from Nab-chan. Ranma silently walked back to his room, he felt he
was walking about a foot off the ground.
'curtsied, evoking'
Well, that's another three hours down - about double what it would
take just reading normally, but it's worth the time to make comments
on good stuff, to make it better still. It's good to see Nabs more
upbeat again, too, even if her problems are far from over. Most of my
general comments and snarky remarks were inserted as I thought of
them, which was the point, after all. With that in mind, I'll leave
you with a song and dance routine.
Oh, it's, springtime, for Gendo, and Fuyutsuki! Winter, for SEELE, and Keele!
... what?
- CD
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