Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Third Labor (Forward to the past) ❯ Time For Revolution ( Prologue )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Metroanime 
sometimes just trying to get on the road can seem like an Epic Quest.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Fantasy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.06.2002 | Pages: 8 | Words: 8.7K | Visits: 887 | Status: Completed
sometimes just trying to get on the road can seem like an Epic Quest.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Fantasy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.06.2002 | Pages: 8 | Words: 8.7K | Visits: 887 | Status: Completed
not written for more than amusement. some ideas (such as the Choose Your Own FanFic idea i'd come up with for my webpage) that i thought i'd monkey around with that were left over from Reluctant Bet. If you want Social Commentary and Meaningful Insight Into The Human Condition, well, good luck. It sure ain't here. This is a fanfic, any resemblence to a professional job is purely coincidental (and possibly a sign of the Apocalypse).
Labor of Love & Time
THIRD LABOR: Time for Revolution chapter 1 (Prologue) by Gregg...
Note that this builds on events in "Skysaber's Choice" and directly follows the events in "Reluctant Bet", is part of an SI (i'd been accused of it in some other works, so might as well be hanged as a goat than as a sheep, ne?) As with RB, there are attempts to come up with new twists on old stuff. Both Reluctant Bet and Skysaber's Choice can be found at: http://studio-aesir.net/
"Keep on charging the enemy so long as there is life." -ancient Chinese proverb
----------
Grey sat at the edge of Mimir's Well and observed as the chosen timeline continued now without Divine OR Infernal Intervention. Some parts were funny, some were sad. All of which was perfectly normal for such things.
There were the Sailor Scouts, each orbitting their love interest. There was the perky Ranko, the Reluctant Hero-Student known as Scarlet, and the hentai disciple of Happosai - Akane Tendo. The Tendo twins, Nabiki and Kasumi. A seventeen year old Cologne chatting amiably with her mother-in-law Nodoka in the Saotome kitchen. Various sundry other girls all drawn to the eldest child - Jared Saotome. Queen Serenity and her daughter (multiply removed - sort of) Serena and granddaughter Rini.
Though they were fated to fight dire foes and have to deal with numerous problems, it was obvious that the vast majority of them were content if not happy. Far more were happy than not. It was a time of exploration and invention, political turmoil and social upheaval. Just little projects like terraforming Mars was bringing censure from various sources around the world. Not to mention all the horrors of rumor and innuendo that were turned against them. Nonetheless, they were *mainly* happy.
He saw no indication of any of the not-Senshi from this last timeline in the Scouts of that timeline. It looked as if the merger had gone seamlessly. He briefly wiped an unbidden tear. Forgotten again. His path and the Scouts/Senshi had crossed before, and this had often been the result. Or they remembered him without affection, or they had died, or they parted when he died. Nothing permanent ever remained.
A sound brought his attention to the arch that marked the entryway to the Well's area. How long she had been there and watching him, he had no idea.
"This is unexpected," understated Grey. He indicated a place nearby. "Have a seat?"
She nodded and moved forward to sit in the indicated area, remaining silent for her own reasons.
Grey glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, catching her own look and slight smile. Maybe, just maybe, they could be friends at least?
That wasn't too much to hope for, was it?
She looked at him speculatively. He somewhat reminded her of her Ranko-chan. She would miss her, but this was far better than merging with a pervert.
"Ak-a-ne," was all she said as she curled up beside him, her tail twitching at the sight of the poke-ball that had just appeared on his belt. Well, perhaps it would work out.
Grey pondered this and suddenly saw why. Toltiir had said that they would all understand. In the world they were to merge with, Akane would have either merged with Scarlet - the *very* reluctant geased student of the Pheonix Mage, or the perverted disciple of Happosai - Akane Tendo. As it was the disciple of Happosai who was native to that plane, Akane had seen that she would merge with... a most unpleasant version of herself.
How she had ended up reverting to the pokemon form, Grey wasn't sure but suspected it was because Amaterasu's influence had been temporarily suppressed by the shifting timelines. Taking out his laptop, Grey put in a request for a human/pokemon translator. "Okay, I understand why you didn't want to merge. How did you get re-merged with your pyrolion aspect?"
Akane growled under her breath. Having a limited vocabulary sucked. She was tired, she was upset about losing her home, and this guy wasn't Ranko (but Ranko was a part of him as she understood it) and she wanted to go off and sulk.
Grey looked over the pokemon. "Beautiful..."
Akane startled at that, before turning a wary gaze towards him.
"No, not like that," assured Grey. "Have you seen yourself?"
Akane shook her head. No, she hadn't merged with this previous aspect for long.
"Look then," Grey used the properties of the Well to make it reflective. He was neither mage nor god, but simple stuff he could handle.
Akane gasped as she got a good look at herself. Roughly the size of a mountain lion, and with a similar build. A long tail ended in a plume of flame that didn't seem to burn anything. Red fur covered her, except for a pattern of orange flame-shaped stripes, those luminous golden eyes, and a slightly darker flattened nose. Her ears went from flat to extend out to tufted points as she examined her image.
She'd known at the moment of transformation that she was powerful, with strong jaws and teeth, powerful claws, and a tight musculature under that short thick fur. She instinctively knew that she was now an elemental creature of fire. She agreed now with Grey's assessment. She *was* beautiful and deadly, a form that was powerful and graceful and strong. She grinned experimentally and was rewarded with the sight of some impressively sharp white teeth though the back group looked as if they were flattened much like human teeth. She wasn't exactly human, but then she kind of wished she could run into Kuno-sempai while looking like this.
Grey took out his pokedex, and let Akane see her entry.
Pyrolion (Akane)
Element: Fire
Type:Unique
Length: 6'3"
Weight: 250 lbs
Techniques: Scratch, Ember
Other Techniques: Roar, Bite, Fire Spin, Flamethrower, Takedown
Good Against: Grass, Bug, Ice
Bad Against: Water, Rock, Dragon, Psychic
Evolution: normal
"Pyrolion - fire elemental lion. This pokemon is best avoided by beginning trainers."
Akane snorted at that. Let ANY trainers avoid HER, thank you very much. "Aka NE!" Her ears flicked as she heard others approach. Well, she was tired anyway, so she nosed the white/red sphere on Grey's belt.
SHOOM!
Grey watched Akane enter the pokeball and was curious. Why had she done that, anyway? It wasn't often he could have a conversation with ANY version of Akane without a fight starting out. It was actually kind of nice.
A wood nymph stepped within the arches. "Pardon me, Candidate Grey, but you're wanted over at Freja's Field."
-----------
Toltiir's tail twitched. As he had reverted to cat-form (it wasn't his *true* form, but it was familiar and comfortable) this was not a good sign.
While it *had* been his idea, the arguing girls were not very amusing at present. Each of those who had made this choice had excellent reasons (at least in their own opinions) for being the one to marry Grey, or at least accompany him on his next Labor.
Then, despite warnings, Son Usagi and Usagi Tsukino were sufficiently curious that they made physical contact. And had merged as having both of them bleep out of existence would not have been funny. Toltiir had some regrets about influencing things so that they had merged, especially after the new Son Usagi Tsukino had unleashed an experimental denki ball attack.
Now everyone was arguing. Not amusing. Toltiir was bored and beginning to get annoyed.
Edema saw this and walked over to the currently-feline Elder god before all Chaos broke loose. "Well now, Puck. Hardly what you had planned, eh?"
"Hardly," agreed Toltiir.
"Grant me three wishes and I'll cut through all this nonsense," Edema indicated the fight about to break out.
"Fine, fine. Just don't make it boring will you?"
Edema shrugged, nearly popping out of her top in the process. She was a dark elf and had spent many years as a talented sorceress in the evil city of Mezonobarren. No matter that she had learned other methods or had left that city to pursue another path, the culture one is raised in constantly colored one's perceptions.
The drow was a friend of Grey's, or so she considered herself. They were both outsiders in Asgard, and though he was often a pale-skinned human and she always a darkskinned elf, there was a certain pleasure in each other's company. They had dated a couple of times, but the loveplay of her homeland included things that would make a Klingon warrior squeamish. She liked it rough while Grey was the gentle nurturing type. So they remained friends but would never get past that hurdle.
Edema considered. Being a drow mage and running an ice cream parlor were both occupations where careful thought was a handy trait. It was not uncommon in her land of origin for a woman, particularly of the priestesses, to have many male slaves whose purpose was to entertain her on her couch. Marriages were less common, as sacrificing a particularly loved one was a common practice. Still, the common people had marriages, though it was usually for safety or advancement, not love. And Grey was more self-sacrificing than other-sacrificing.
She was listening to the arguments around her. Minako claimed that as she had known Grey the longest, and he had once been her pet cat, that SHE should be the first to marry him. Rei was arguing that as the psychic girl, she was the best candidate. Setsuna argued that she had seen her counterparts and knew them to be nearly the personification of loneliness, that SHE should be first.
Edema was listening, and didn't hear love mentioned once. She knew this was important to Grey, though she wasn't quite sure she knew what love was. Affection, yes, she had her favorite cloak, her favorite magic wand, her favorite daggers.
Sasami, standing nearby, wondered what was going on and if there were some way to stop the scene from going into violence.
"First wish. I wish that all these girls loved Grey and were comfortable with the concept of a group marriage."
Toltiir, already having manifested a rather large ball of energy, was a little surprised but let it go. The shimmering field shot out. Judging from Edema's surprised look, she'd apparently forgotten that she was technically a girl and present. As were a few *other* observers present.
Sasami innocently supplied the next wish due to her dislike of the continuing conflict. "I wish they'd all kiss and make up... oh my!"
-------------
Grey climbed the stairs to the small park, wondering why the mysterious summons and why *him* in particular. He finally reached the top and saw...
"Hades' pointy beard, why me? Well none of THEM need me, that's for sure." Grey continued to grumble, walking past the confused wood nymph messenger. "Tell whoever wanted me that I got the message. Oh boy, did I get the message. If anybody wants me i'll be getting the info from Hades about my next mission. Yeeeeshhh."
"Oh dear," said the wood nymph as she looked out over the field, wondering exactly how *this* had happened.
---------------
"This Labor is a bit tricky," explained Koenma as he leaned against a building, "in keeping with the first two Labors, it is a task that needs doing in a different timeline. Your first mission, reconciling Queen Serenity and the Pheonix Mage, was successful even if..."
Aphrodite snorted and waggled a finger. "Even if she's convinced that he's actually Serena's father from their Silver Millenium incarnation."
"Not my fault. Most *definitely* not my fault." Grey was quite certain of this, he certainly couldn't think of anything that he'd done to encourage that illusion. And he knew darn well he'd never been some Silver Millenium consort. (He was wrong about this, but then he made no pretensions about perfection.)
"The second mission, though simple, was accomplished as well," Joe pointed out. "Though the chaos level was a bit high."
"So there will be no resets, no divine interventions or assistance," Koenma glared directly at Aphrodite on this last point, "except for behind the scenes in case of a major demonic intervention. Due to the difficulty of this task, you will be allowed to take your apprentice and one other non-divine assistant as well as your usual bag of tricks."
"Apprentice?!"
"Apprentice." Aphrodite gestured and a picture appeared.
"Sasami? Isn't she back in her homeverse?"
"No. Ryoko and Aeka got into a fight in her kitchen. She left and is now resuming with the RRO. Per her request." Koenma shrugged. Juraians, who could figure them? "We expect this to be temporary, though, indications are that Sasami will get homesick and then leave the RRO again until the next such altercation."
"Continuing your briefing on the Third Labor," said Celeste with a wince. "The problem is in timeline AK-RN 204171, we have two seperate problems. There was an Infernal Intervention where some Chinese warlord named Dong Zhao was posssessed and unifed China, setting up an
infernally influenced empire that lasted nine hundred years and had serious repercussions throughout the East.
"The second intervention was the result of the Continuum Knights."
"Wait a minute, i thought they were just interested in returning errant timelines to mainlines." Grey couldn't help but interject a comment here.
"That's originally what we thought. Unfortunately, many of the actions so far don't fit the sort of pattern you'd expect from that." Celeste rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Anyway, you're to go to March 13, 1774 where the problem occurred."
"What did they do and what was the effect?"
"Unclear, other than the deaths of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Payne, and a half dozen other pivotal American revolutionaries within the period of, " Celeste consulted a display, "March 13 1774 to May 12 1774. Resulting in the American Revolution failing, and the 'uppity colonists' are pretty well suppressed by the British until WWI. America ends up actually being three seperate nations that are continually having border disputes. We've noted that while there were indications of these 'Continuum Knights' entering this timeframe, they may have stayed in there for awhile. They're apparently using a 'Boom Tube' like device for interdimensional transport."
"Hmmm. So basically," Grey interpreted, "my mission is to keep the assassinations from taking place."
"Essentially," agreed the huge Koenma, eyeing the clock but he still had an hour before his poker game with Hades. "What matters is who you'll be taking with you on the trip. Remember that many of the girls will revert to an asian appearance in a non-anime timeline, and if you rely on a translation spell or device then either failing will mean a major language barrier for the girl you take with you. Also that as this is Colonial America, noncaucasians are frequently viewed as being less than a white counterpart."
"Though frankly with Franklin, Jefferson, and a number of others, they won't care a whit." Celeste pointed out. "Not to mention that the attitude is less hostile in 1774 than it becomes later. These are the current list of volunteers..." A holographic display showed nine girls who had gotten the rules ahead of time and had put in for the duty.
"However, you should note that the 'Senshi' lost the powers gained in the past timeline." Koenma grumbled. "As dominant timelines have them as Senshi they've reverted to similar core abilities. As this universe doesn't have a Silver Moon Kingdom to draw power from, they're not able to do some of their Senshi tricks if they accompany you. Something close might be possible, I hear Sif's gotten 'inspired.'"
"i see. Therefore, i should choose..."
---------------------
There were six water fountains in Freja's Field. Each was being used. Each had a line waiting to use it.
"Bleh! Bleagh! Shampoo no can believe she did that!" Shampoo carefully spat the water out to the side and rinsed her mouth out again. "Pah!"
Ukyo tapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, Sham-chan, my turn."
"At least she used the last wish to wish we were cured of the effects of the second wish, it *could* have been worse." Ed wasn't *that* unhappy with the way things had turned out. He'd just been curious, so he and Kiyone had come by to see what was going on. Serious liplock had commenced as *everyone* in the area of the field had started kissing everyone else. What a pity he'd been in his Pikachu form at the time!
"I noticed Minako just turned herself into her dragonform and flew off, suppose that the 'Soldier of Love' and the 'Cupid of Love' are planning something?" Kiyone looked over at her partner, wondering why Ed was still grinning like that. How odd.
"Oh look! A karaoke bar!" Ed decided to deflect a few suspicions. Just in case.
"Don't go there," Kiyone groaned, remembering times with Mihoshi. Mihoshi wasn't *all* bad, Kiyone reflected.
Edema shook her head, amused for the most part. She hadn't been bothered by kissing a woman, though humans did it a bit different. And at least having this guy around had gotten people to stop calling *her* Ed.
--------------------
Makoto Kino spat water out and regarded her fellow victim of Sasami's well-intentioned but not terribly thought out wish. "That was disgusting."
"I've always suspected Usagi of swinging both ways," Rei growled. "Not only does she have to pursue almost any guy in sight, but her reaction when she's meeting cute girls..."
Makoto winced. "I think she's still hitting on Honey-san."
Rei grumbled at that.
"Guys, here's the ones who passed the review board," Ami said, accessing a data terminal set into a tree. ~At least my computer skills haven't faded upon leaving my home timeline.~
"WHAT?!" Makoto was quick to determine that there was a name conspicuous by absence. "Why aren't I on the list?!"
"Hang on, I'm scrolling down. 'Lack of English skills, inability to look American.'"
"I'm *half* American! Where do you think my height and 'talent' came from? And, well, I kind of..."
"You spent most of your life fighting or defending that you were Japanese so taking English courses didn't seem too cool, eh?" Rei had pieced the story together over the past few years. "Until recently..."
Makoto blushed. "Hey, we've been hitting it off lately. And when he was an angel..."
"When he was an angel he was cute," Ami said, then almost fainted from the force of her blush when she realized she had said that out loud.
"Sif took Setsuna to merge with one of her Senshi aspects," Rei looked up. "She's still playing matchmaker, I guess."
"Why are *your* names on here?! Ami speaks English but she and you are pure Japanese!" Makoto looked at the two nominees. "You couldn't pass for American in... 1774?! Time AND space travel?"
"Admittedly the American Colonies at that time were primarily of Anglo-Saxon derivation," agreed Ami, "mainly of English descent but a few others as well. Most likely we'd be mistaken for some odd tribe of American ainu there or Chinese from descriptions passed on by traders. You'll notice that the main reason is listed here in the sidebar for our inclusion."
"Well," said Makoto, a determined gleam in her eyes, "I'm going to find a way to get in on this mission one way or another!"
----------------------
Timeline SM-301417:
Sailor Pluto took a deep breath. The future ended in fifteen minutes. Beyond that she could not see and the Gate Of Time would be forever closed. The timelines would merge and she would cease to exist. She would become part of another her that was so close that there were no
differences at all. Which was why they were merging, of course. It happened all the time and was nothing to be worried about.
Except that when the timelines merged she would go irrevocably, stark raving, insane from the memories of TWO lifetimes of isolation. She'd only have to deal with it for thirty seconds while the merger built up around her place of guardianship. By the time the wave crested, she'd be
giggling and imagining herself back at the Silver Moon Palace with her Queen and flirting with that handsome young Nebula Knight.
"Excuse me?"
Sailor Pluto, the dignified guardian of the time gate, nearly wet herself. Nobody sneaked up on her. She had been alone a very, very, long time.
"Who dares....?!" Sailor Pluto looked at a version of herself who was not a Senshi, who was dressed in a fairly cute green turtleneck and a pair of tight jeans. Her skin was more tanned too, and she had a healthy look about her. "Me?!"
"So, in this timeline, my Queen failed to send anyone forward in time, and so you have been guarding this timeline alone since then?" Setsuna looked around at the place, noting hundreds of sweaters, quilts, blankets, stacks of trashy romance novels, a few sculptures, a Navajo flute, and a guitar.
Sailor Pluto leaned on her staff and stared. "It's finally happened. I've gone mad." She knew she had come close on several occasions. She'd learned hundreds of skills such as knitting and playing every variant of solitaire that she could conceive. If you could do it while you were alone, and get the supplies by fishing in the timestream, she'd done it. A million years was a VERY long time. But loneliness was a poison and boredom a constant companion.
Setsuna shook her head. "I'm one of your Analogues, the other you from a timeline where I was one of those sent forward by the Queen, though I am not a Sailor Scout." She held a slender hand out. "I offer... an alternative."
"An alternative?" Sailor Pluto wasn't born yesterday. "What's the catch?"
"Your aspect merges with me." Setsuna blushed a little. "There is a good chance, if we play our cards right, of ending up with someone special. Of loving and being loved in turn. There are jobs to be done, important ones as well as those not so important. But you needn't go mad, and you needn't go lonely."
"I can?" Pluto was well aware that time was running out for her. While tempting, she was still uncertain. "And this is a guy, I take it?"
Setsuna made a gesture and an image appeared in her hand.
"Nebula?!" Pluto breathed. It was him. Somehow she could tell. Even though they'd been seperated since the fall of the Kingdom, and they'd only been together a week before the Queen had given her the duty of the timegate (and Pluto had long suspected that it was *because* she had been developing a closeness with Nebula that the Queen had decided that Pluto was to have no visitors), she'd kept that image in her heart. Without consciously choosing, Pluto reached out for that image.
There was a blur as the two aspects met, and Sailor Pluto blinked as the memories of this other life flowed through her. He made her feel... special. Appreciated. She had sworn an oath and would serve him as a samurai served her daimyo, as a knight did her lord, and if she could manage it - as a lover served the one they loved.
Sailor Pluto vanished from the room. But before she did, she did something that would have astonished all the persons who knew a variant of her as a cold-hearted manipulator.
Sailor Pluto blushed and smiled, speculation and hope bringing a thaw to parts of her heart she'd long thought cold and dead.
--------
Eyecatch #1:
A framed picture of Rei Hino in her priestess hakima. With a click, it flips over, revealing a picture of Rei in a plugsuit. Click/flip: Rei in Jedi Knight robes. Click/flip: Sailor Mars. Click/flip: Rei as a Rifts SAMAS Samurai pilot. Click/flip: Rae Hino in a yellow gi, leaping towards a Dojo Destroyer. Click/flip: Rei as an angel.
Commercial:
MISATO: "Hi, my name is Misato Katsuragi, and I'm here to talk about feminine protection!"
(blam!)(blam!)(blam!)(blam!)(blam!)
MISATO: "Smith & Wesson: feminine protection *you* can count on!"
Eyecatch #2:
A framed picture of Sasami in her Juraian princess clothes. With a click, the picture turns over to reveal Tsunami wearing Dragonball Z style fighting clothes. Click/flip: Magical Princess Pretty Sammy. Click/flip: wearing jeans and a "Nuku Nuku" t-shirt. Click/flip: Tsunami with the forehead and cheek markings of an OMG style goddess. Click/flip: Sasami as an angel with Tsunami standing right behind her.
--------
Everyone copes with events beyond their control in different ways. Setsuna Meiou moved to secure her position and increase her usefulness, and even if she still failed to capture someone's heart, then she'd have a job waiting for her guarding a gate or a Well.
Ami Mizuno gathered information. Makoto Kino aggressively sought action. Rei Hino tried to analyze the data and get a feel for the situation. Usagi found a buffet and was not heard from for several hours. Michiru and Haruka weren't particularly bothered by kissing other women and wondered what all the fuss was about. Likewise, Cutey Honey didn't see the problem, though she'd have much preferred to have kissed a guy - especially a certain sometimes-cyborg. Edema wasn't bothered about kissing a woman, and made jests about the whole thing until she was asked to stop. Edema wasn't a cruel drow, and so desisted, but smirked LOTS.
Minako Aino had flown around until she spotted a Karaoke Bar near the valkyries. Shortly thereafter, the underage girl was being escorted *back* to the Park, but not (alas) in time. She'd watched too many Westerns, had gone up to the bar, and asked for the strongest thing they had. Then, perfectly in keeping with the source material, had knocked it back in a single swallow.
"I've got it! Yeah baby I've got it! I'm his Venus, I'm his fire, I'm pure desire!" Then, as she had done the past three times she had broken into song, Minako Aino passed out.
"She can still move after drinking that stuff," the valkyrie holding Minako's right arm noted aloud, "that's fairly impressive."
"Y'know, Tendo-chan, you've got something there. Though she's got a dragonseed, so maybe she's not the frail little girl she appears." The valkyrie holding Minako's left arm looked over the girl whose heels were dragging in the dirt.
"Call me Kimiko, Helga-chan, we're off-duty. I would *count* on them being more than they appear, otherwise they wouldn't be heroes."
Minako's eyes opened, though still crossed, "Yeah baby...."
-------------------
Grey looked over the candidates again.
"Ami, i suppose i could use the 'world explorer' guise and her English skills are going to be pretty good. She's physically quite Japanese, being all of 5'3" or so, but probably knows a lot about world and US history. Probably knows more than *i* remember, that's for sure."
"Ami Mizuno it is," noted Celeste, scribbling it down. Not who *she* would have chosen, but then she had access to information Grey did not.
---------------------
"Oh my," said a currently-normal-if-genius Japanese schoolgirl, turning red and sweating profusely as she stared at the display. "It looks like..."
"Ami won?!" Makoto blinked. "*I* look more American than she does!"
"Minako's really going to be upset about this," Rei noted.
"Oh my," repeated Ami. "I've got to get some supplies and equipment. And review American History..."
"That's the one subject in the world you're *not* conversant on, isn't it?" Makoto smirked, sensing a weakness.
Ami acknowledged the hit, cocking her head to the side and wincing. "Well... it's not like that is a subject that is normally taught in Japanese schools. I think I ought to get some supplies."
Makoto and Rei met each other's eyes and nodded. While Ami made *her* plans, they would make their own.
-----------------
Makoto knew just who to contact. What surprised her was some of the others accompanying her. "Why are *you guys* all here?"
"I could ask you the same question, but it's kind of obvious." Rei straightened the white top of her hakima. "This mission could take several years, right? Ami having all that time alone with him gives her an unfair advantage! So we need a way to stake our claim now or else accompany the 'happy couple', don't we?"
Makoto frowned. "So you figured it out too."
Rei rolled her eyes. "EVERYONE figured it out. The people who aren't here are over at Urd's getting potions, or Hephaestus' place, or laying traps."
"Except for Minako-chan, who's currently passed out," noted Setsuna as she leaned against the wall.
Rei blinked. She had been *sure* that Setsuna hadn't been there a moment ago. "So, uhm, how did it go?"
"Well enough," said Setsuna, looking off into the distance.
"What's it like, errr, merging with your other self..." Makoto wasn't sure how to put this.
"It's like becoming slightly more complete. It's confusing and odd and...." Setsuna shook her head, sending her long green hair swaying. "If it were normal, though fusion of timelines, there wouldn't have been any knowledge of things being different. In this case, though, the differences between were quite high. As it is: I remember being alive and knowing most of you in an ancient Silver Millenium. I remember my rivalry with Sailor Jupiter over the Knight Of Duty. I... remember watching you all die, and the Queen trying to send you forward in time to reincarnate when she died of her wounds. I remember a million years of watching humanity struggle back, only to capture only a tiny portion of the glory of the Silver Millenium. I remember learning all sorts of skills as I guarded the Gate Of Time, the last duty given me by the Queen.
"I also remember being reborn as Setsuna Meiou and growing up in Juuban in the '70s. My graduation from Crossroads in 1989 and then meeting all of you and your 'pet cat' Orion. I remember learning that Orion was also Minako's 'cousin/boyfriend' Grey and accompanying you all to China. I remember all the things that happened, including that time we were all turned into babies and Grey had to take care of us. When the cure was found and we grew up, a year a day, I remember that as well. He certainly had his hands full with you, didn't he, Makoto-chan?"
Makoto looked extremely embarassed at Setsuna's reminder. She'd gone through some problems. She wasn't exactly fond of the memories of diaper changes and when Usagi had stolen her dolly.
"WHAT?!" Edema practically screeched, which was enough to get everyone's attention. "What do you mean 'the Binding is with *Ranko* now?!'"
"I mean the Binding got confused. There are currently three of him after all. Ginseng, Grey, and Ranko." Hephaestus shrugged and tapped his cane on the ground. "Why are you so upset, Edema?"
"Errr.." Edema started fidgeting. This had the effect of drawing further attention towards the pair walking by the crowd. "Well... I sort of gave him selfalis root."
"WHAT?!" Hephaestus now looked shocked. "Bridal Root! Edema, how could you do something so foolish! You know he won't do any of that until after a marriage..."
"I know but those girls are *so* damn shy! I figured it would get them moving!"
Rei turned to the proprietor of Rajin's Potion Emporium as Edema and Hephaestus turned the corner. "What is 'selfalis root' anyway?"
"Ahhh, young one, that is a drow poison, difficult to prepare. If the husband does not manage to fulfill his husbandly duties within 24 hours..." Rajin drew his finger across his throat.
Much blinking. "Why the..." "How..." "That's INSANE!" Everyone naturally started talking at once. Setsuna put two fingers in her mouth and gave a piercing whistle that caused silence to follow.
"Anyone who knows him, knows DARN well that he won't do anything until he's married," Setsuna said calmly after everyone had silenced. "Otherwise, when that Lust daimon had possessed Ami and she spread it out... frankly Makoto would have had children by now."
Makoto blushed and fidgeted at further embarassing memories. Physically ripping his pants off and yelling something about consummating the fiery passion in her burning loins, well. After it had all passed, there had more than one girl who had spent a week in her room too embarassed to face anyone else. Though that everyone else had gone through the same thing had helped.
"Not that she would have minded," added Setsuna, "nor would have any of the rest of us that Ami managed to tag with that particular enchantment."
"He was twitching quite a bit by the time it wore off, I think another day and he'd have flown off and never come back. Or he'd have saved us all a lot of problems." Rei frowned prettily. She wasn't sure which she would have preferred at the time.
"We never *did* finish that little contest, did we?" Honey realized, referring to a contest wherein each of the fiancees had stated their intention to be the first to claim his lips.
Rajin rubbed his hands together. This sounded... profitable.
------------
Grey looked up from his packing, something felt wrong. Kind of like that time that Ami...
"Something wrong?" Ami finished putting her purchases away. The RRO "Bag O Tricks" stored all of them away fairly nicely. She had all the books and other supplies that she could afford the time to get. Now she had other things that needed done, such as planning the mission.
"Pssst! Ami-chan, can I see you a moment?" Makoto's voice came from the other side of the door. "It's REALLY important."
"Hai, Mako-chan," Ami smiled at her fiance, then let herself out, a faint blush appearing and growing progressively stronger. Hmmm. Maybe she ought to get some sex manuals, after all they *were* engaged and they *were* going to be camping, and they *were* going to be alone together a lot of the time.
Grey frowned, the odd feeling of danger intensifying as the door closed behind Ami.
A face appeared at the window, slim fingers sliding the glass open quietly.
Outside, in the hallway, Ami stared at her friend. "You're kidding!"
Makoto Kino held her hand up. "I swear, that Rajin guy confirmed it. A horrible death if he doesn't consummate the marriage within 24 hours. That's why I got *this*!"
Ami looked skeptically at the little bottle, noticing that it resembled one of those "energy drinks" that were popular around exam time. "What is *that*?"
"Rajin sold a bunch of these." Makoto held up a similar vial. "Some sort of extreme courage potion, guaranteed to make you a 'warrior of love' or your money back."
Ami blushed, fidgeted, then got a peculiar determined look in her eyes. "All right then!" She popped the top, swigged it down, and hit the floor as stiff as if she'd just turned to wood. Makoto hit with a similar thunk at the same time, having mimicked her friend's actions.
Inside the room, Grey had tried to fit this into his worldview. He wasn't that attractive to women, except as a target for practical jokes. Therefore, Setsuna Meiou had dressed as Sailor Pluto and appeared from under his bed because of some jest she was playing on him. Though Setsuna making jokes was rather a stretch of the imagination. Cutey Honey slipping in the window and attempting to rip his clothes off was obviously some other weird sort of joke, but as he didn't think Honey was this mean or vindictive (the two often conversing about loneliness and trying to do the right thing in a society that rarely rewarded such conduct) this meant that Urd or some OTHER mischievous being was trying to hit him in an admittedly sore area.
Dodging, ducking and otherwise avoiding the various attacks, Grey made his way towards the door, especially noting with alarm that Rei and Minako had joined the crowd. (Though Minako looked puzzled and Rei looked tired from the strain of teleporting with someone.) Having lately gotten practice at this sort of thing, Grey opened the door in midleap, closing it behind him as he landed in the hallway.
"Ouch!" Ami said, having had someone land on her.
"Ami, we've got to get out of here! One of the love goddesses is playing kick me again, and i don't know how..." Grey's voice ran out as he realized that Ami and Makoto were both on the floor. Which meant... "Uh oh."
Ami and Makoto both looked up at Grey simultaneously, and there was a moment of near silence. Then came several things at once: Ami and Makoto pouncing, the door opening, and Grey... well, he screamed. He knew darn well that this would end in disaster. How else could it end?
---------------
Edema smirked at the girls confronting her. "Of *course* it was all a joke. Did you honestly think I would pull such a crude trick on a friend of mine? No, it might be a perfectly normal prank among the drow, but Grey is the 'gentle cuddlesome' type and would never go along with such a thing. Not prior to a marriage, at least. Having the vows and such, he might well relax enough to begin trusting again. Not that such a thing..."
Edema's discourse was interrupted by a small group of girls in wedding dresses jogging by, carrying a figure so tied up that he resembled a mummy, while singing "Going to a chapel, and we're...gonna get marriiiied, going to the Chapel Of Lovvvvve..."
Haruka and Michiru looked at each other, then at Hotaru, then Belle, at the odd procession now down the street, and finally at Edema.
Edema stared down the street with a puzzled expression. "I think they're heading for the wedding chapel a block over, the one run by Hestia. My word. Was I too subtle in my humor?"
"AAAAAaaaa!" Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, Belle, Usagi, Nabiki, Sash, Fumika, Queen Serenity, Shampoo, and Ucchan all summed up their assessment of the situation. Kasumi merely looked moderately alarmed. Then, of course, they took off in pursuit.
----------------------
"Mmmmfff! Mmmmmffff!"
Minako bid her time (and also waited for the ground to stabilize under her feet) while watching the others. She had no idea what was going on, but only one thing made sense! Ami had had a relapse of that Lust demon seed!
Her stomach hurt, she felt unsteady, it felt as if someone had stuffed a whole box of cotton balls in between her ears, and her vision kept going blurry among other things, but at heart Minako Aino was a hero and knew what she had to do!
Rescue Ran... Orion... Grey... oh whatever her pet cat/boyfriend was calling himself lately.
She'd been his Owner, then his confidante, then his friend, then his girlfriend, then his comrade-in-arms, then his fiancee. She'd been informed since Rei's psychic powers awoke that Ranma/Orion's "real" name was actually Grey. And, after years of associating with him, even if she knew that most of the memories were just a computer backtracking, she knew him about as well as it was humanly possible to know another person. The only person who *really* came as close was Makoto- the two being kindred spirits of a sort.
He'd slept on her bed (as a cat) for over a year. He was safe and protective and many other things that she valued. So, while still under the effects of a rather potent alcoholic beverage, the princess saw that the fair dragon was in danger. In danger of what, Minako couldn't quite be sure of, but in danger of *something.* Therefore she had to save him!
She wasn't really in shape for figuring out what was going on, and she was quite unsteady on both a physical and mental basis. As a woman of action, she decided to do what came natural, and *act*.
Finally she saw her chance as a crowd of other fiancees confronted the group around her. Shifting Grey's weight fully onto her, Minako shifted to Angelform and quickly became airborne, though carrying his weight she wouldn't be able to maintain it for long.
Especially as she was going from Drunk to Hangover stage, though she didn't know it. Yet. Minako faltered, her wings fading as she glided to a roof. "Ohhhh. I don't feel so good."
The mummified Grey started struggling to be free, especially on seeing the far edge of the roof approaching. Especially as Minako seemed to be getting rather ill.
Finally, as Grey struggled to get free, it looked as if he hadn't escaped after all.
--------------
Minako clutched her head as a million dwarves with icepicks started in on it. Nausea, weakness, and a whole lot of pain seemed to have reduced her ability to notice anything outside herself. "Nnnngggg!"
When she began to feel herself again, there was a cool cloth lying across her brow and she was lying in bed. "Huh? Wha..." Who'd put all this cotton in her mouth anyway? And lying next to her was...
Grey. From the look of it, he had been there for awhile. Minako's blue eyes blinked in confusion. The last *clear* memory she had was of going into that bar and asking for the strongest thing they had. She got the distinct impression it hadn't gone well after that.
"Mmmmph," came a sound from the figure near her, and Minako felt some of the haze recede as she noticed the injuries. Not hers. His. Something had ripped him up in straight little lines. *She* wasn't hurt, but he'd apparently been taking care of her while *he* had bloodied and torn clothes and the skin inside didn't look that good. Knowing him as well as she did, that meant only one thing.
"Idiot," pronounced Minako, tears forming. "You always pull this stuff!"She traced a line down the boy's cheek with a finger. "What did you do that..." A detail penetrated the remaining haze. A slender ring gracing her hand, on THAT finger.
"Shhhh!" Rei let herself quietly in. "He was tied up in his own clothes when he transformed to dragon to save you. The clothes eventually broke but they didn't give as quickly as skin and bone."
"EEh?" Minako held her hand in front of her mouth, regretting the outburst immediately.
"Urd used a healing sleep spell, as long as you don't yell or hit him or something, he'll keep sleeping." Rei sat down on the edge of the bed. "Not much chance of that, is there?"
"Then why..."
"We bought potions from 'Rajin's Potion Emporium' which turned out to be not terribly wise." Rei shrugged. "Unless you know what you're buying, that is."
"Oh." Minako considered that, yes, she had heard stories about drinking the *wrong* magic potion. "but what about...?!"
"What about? Oh. The ring. Congratulations." Rei had the grace to look embarassed.
Hair was toinging. "Congratulations?!" Grey stirred but Minako wasn't noticing at the moment. On a hunch, Minako looked at Rei's hands and wasn't too surprised to see a ring there as well.
"Well..." Rei hemmed and hawwed but finally got to the point. "When we caught up to him, he agreed to our terms providing we got you to a healer. I guess he didn't know what was wrong with you. He was holding you, or trying to, you were curled up in his lap moaning and looking just absolutely horrible..."
"Thank you," mumbled Minako, staring now at the ring on Grey's finger.
"So, right now, he's married to you, me, Setsuna, Honey, Ami, and Makoto. And no, he hasn't been in any condition to consummate anything." Rei shook her head. "You were apparently together enough to say 'I do' in all the right places, though you kept throwing up and complaining about the room moving."
Minako found herself picturing the scene and was appropriately mortified. What had happened?! She still felt nauseous and there was the twinge of a headache... but... her wedding had apparently gone from a dream to a nightmare and that moment was now past her.
Minako clutched her sleeping husband and cried as her "most special moment" had apparently been interrupted by some really horrible incidents.
Rei considered mentioning that anyone who wanted out of it could do so, apparently it wasn't binding when done under the influence of potions. Acceptance of the marriage, however, would mean that one essentially accepted the whole thing as binding. As Minako was apparently asleep again, she decided not to bring this up yet.
----------------
Some time had gone by and the explanations made. Son Usagi and a few others had *insisted* on getting their own inclusion in the wedding but had been put off as now he had to get to the Labor.
Ami sat down on the bench of the wagon next to Grey and Sasami. "Our cover identity is that we're spice merchants. The wagon in back is our stock. There's also some silk and other trade goods appropriate to the cover. I've also got some synthetic gems to use as funds should
something happen where we lose the wagon. I'm the expert on the spices, a girl you married overseas, Sasami is my younger sister. We're married, and have been so just under a year."
Grey nodded and handed two weapons out. "In 1774, the main weapons are flintlocks, knives, swords. There are still a number of people who practice the Code Duello, and arguments are settled usually in fisticuffs. Small weapons are usually all right in these cultures, as long as you
don't make a habit of using them or threatening people with them. Sasami, yours is a simple Swiss Army knife. It also contains a distress beacon hidden in the panel, leave the corkscrew out for five seconds to activate. It's made of high grade steel, a bit better than what the locals will have but not outrageously so. Ami, as a merchant you're expected to carry a weapon. The design is of a simple Amerind knife, buckskin for the handle, watered steel for the blade. At least that's what it looks like. It was copied off a prize knife given by a Chesapeake tribe to an Outsider."
Ami looked at the knife, simple but elegant. A working knife as opposed to a showpiece. "Cerametal?"
"Yeah, next best thing to diamond. Better in some ways. Also this..." Grey held up a fairly plain looking ring with a single ornamental stone. "The gemstone is *your* beacon. If you break the stone the alarm goes off. If either of you finds yourself in trouble, set off your alarm and you'll be yanked back to Asgard."
Sasami looked behind them into the wagon's interior, wishing that she could contribute something. "Oh my! There's a lot of books there."
"Well, uhm," Ami blushed and fidgeted a little, hoping that Sasami wouldn't look in *that* bag and bring up what kind of books were in there. "I wouldn't want to get behind in my studies..." The blush deepened as she realized what study sessions with some of those books would be like.
Sasami picked a book off the stack. "Huh? 'Dragontaming for Beginners.' Are we going to run into any dragons?"
"i don't think so," said Grey, puzzled. As far as he knew, he would be the only dragon present. Ah, Ami must be thinking ahead to future missions!
The gate swirled with mists. Grey directed the two horses pulling the wagon forward.
"Warning," the computer said in a feminine voice. "Expected values exceeded."
"Oh heck," said Celeste as the adventurers rode forward into the mists. "Someone must have stowed away."
"Gate's malfunctioned." Amaterasu noted. "Wagon's intact but the people are getting seperated from the vehicle. Expect they'll be scattered when they land. Looks like they'll crash in..."
=========================
The Choose Your Own Fanfic idea, as the voting/feedback has gone so far:
Who does Grey end up married to?
1. Usagi Son, the Sailorjin princess, unsteadily stepped out of the shadows.
2. Queen Serenity (from Skysaber's Choice) regally glided forward, her silver hair shining in the
odd light.
3. One of the non-Senshi from the last timeline: Ami , Haruka & Michiru, Hotaru, Makoto,
Minako, Rei, Setsuna, Usagi
4. One of the Chinese Amazons from the last timeline (further choices) stepped forward warily,
wearing a Western style wedding gown?! Azure, Fumika, Sash, Shampoo, Sugar and Spice,Wing
5. A number of girls egged each other on, gawking at their surroundings, a black cat seeming to
herd them forward.
6. Three elite marionettes built by Sakyo stepped forward, looking around for threats before
joining Grey near the Well.
7. As a small army of assorted girls started wending their way forward, Grey distinctly heard a
feline laugh and reminder of his promise.
8. Edema stepped out, holding up the scroll that was to be his next assignment. (Alone Again,
naturally...)
9. Sasami steps forward and Grey thinks someone must REALLY hate him. Well, at least it isn't
Pretty Sammy.
10. Kasumi the djinn and Nabiki the dao, with a glance towards the Armlet still on Grey's forearm.
11. Akane Tendo stepped out, causing Grey to develop a sudden migraine.
12. Ukyo is still pursuing 'Ranma', sort of.
13.All four of the elementally inclined girls are still linked to the Armlet. (Shampoo, Ukyo,
Kasumi, Nabiki)
Usagi Son - 7, Ukyo - 1, Small Group - 5, The 3 Elite Marionettes - 3, Setsuna - 5, Sasami - 7,
Rei Hino - 2, Queen Serenity - 2, All the Senshi - 2, Minako- 3, Large Group -8, Kasumi and
Nabiki -4, Haruka & Michiru - 1, Four Genies - 7, Alone Again -2, Ami - 6, Akane -3, All the
Amazons -1. Rei & Minako -1
Cao Cao's China, or 1774 America?
China - 7, America-14
who goes with him on the Labor?
1. Minako Aino, after all she's blonde and speaks English.
2. Nobody, it's dangerous and i should go alone.
3. Setsuna Meiou, she can pass for European most likely.
4. Usagi Son is blonde, she might not speak English but i could pass her off as some Nordic
country.
5. Why's Nabiki up there? Doh! i didn't mean! (On the other hand, Nabiki having an effect on the
Constitution...)
6. i thought i'd gotten away from Queen Serenity... no, i didn't mean to choose her! (This is the
mother of Princess Serenity from Skysaber's Choice)
7. Ami Mizuno, she can speak English and likely knows more about American history than i do...
8. Shampoo ought to be able to handle the HTH stuff for me, and primitive conditions wouldn't
be a problem for her.
9. Ukyo selling okonomiyaki to the Founding Fathers?
10. You specify.
Shampoo -2, Setsuna Meiou/Sailor Pluto - 8, Queen Serenity - 3, Ami Mizuno- 9, Edema - 2,
Nabiki - 5, by himself -1, Minako Aino - 2, Son Usagi -2, Cutey Honey -1.
What would Ami (a non-Senshi Japanese cram student) be likely to shop for when going back to
1774 for a prolonged stay with her fiancee?
1. Camping supplies, it's fairly primitive in 1774
2. Weapons, it's fairly dangerous in 1774
3. Ami follows Sailor Pluto's lead to gain a Senshi merger
4. See what sort of odds & ends she can get at the Rival Relief Office
Camping Gear- 3, Odds & Ends - 8, Senshi ID -8, Ami gets weapons -3
Where does Grey end up?
1. That Sailor Marionette World... (a Sailor Moon + Sabre Marionette fusion world)
2. That world of the Knight Senshi fighting the Dark Corporation and their Boomers (Sailor
Moon + Bubblegum Crisis fusion)
3. oh heck, Grey's Shinji Ikari?! (In a Sailor Moon + Evangelion fusion world)
4. Right timeline, wrong time- they're in feudal Japan!
5. Right timeline, wrong time- they're somewhere in the Age Of Dinosaurs
6. Tropical Island, hmmm. This is where Jared wanted them to go anyay... let's leave 'em there for
awhile
7. That world where the pokemon and human roles are reversed and even further polarized...
8. It's the right place and time? It's a miracle!
9. They're seperating! Looks like the stress was too much for the wagon. They'll all be thrown
into different timelines!
10. Into Jared Saotome's timeline
11. A dimensional Nexus point, identity: Aramar.
12. RIFTS Earth
13. That world where Senshi and Yoma are all types of Pokemon. (SM+Pokemon fusion)
14. A timeline where Serena didn't survive her battle with Metal'la. (SM Darkline)
12. Grey's world of origin
13. An Eva+SM Fusion, as #3 but Grey is Usagi Ikari?
Real World - 5, World where Serena died -4, Aramar -3, Gilligan's Island -5, PokeSlave world -2,
Sailor Marionettes -4, Jared's world -1, Right World -3, SM+EVA fusion -15, Senshi as Knight
Sabers -4
Labor of Love & Time
THIRD LABOR: Time for Revolution chapter 1 (Prologue) by Gregg...
Note that this builds on events in "Skysaber's Choice" and directly follows the events in "Reluctant Bet", is part of an SI (i'd been accused of it in some other works, so might as well be hanged as a goat than as a sheep, ne?) As with RB, there are attempts to come up with new twists on old stuff. Both Reluctant Bet and Skysaber's Choice can be found at: http://studio-aesir.net/
"Keep on charging the enemy so long as there is life." -ancient Chinese proverb
----------
Grey sat at the edge of Mimir's Well and observed as the chosen timeline continued now without Divine OR Infernal Intervention. Some parts were funny, some were sad. All of which was perfectly normal for such things.
There were the Sailor Scouts, each orbitting their love interest. There was the perky Ranko, the Reluctant Hero-Student known as Scarlet, and the hentai disciple of Happosai - Akane Tendo. The Tendo twins, Nabiki and Kasumi. A seventeen year old Cologne chatting amiably with her mother-in-law Nodoka in the Saotome kitchen. Various sundry other girls all drawn to the eldest child - Jared Saotome. Queen Serenity and her daughter (multiply removed - sort of) Serena and granddaughter Rini.
Though they were fated to fight dire foes and have to deal with numerous problems, it was obvious that the vast majority of them were content if not happy. Far more were happy than not. It was a time of exploration and invention, political turmoil and social upheaval. Just little projects like terraforming Mars was bringing censure from various sources around the world. Not to mention all the horrors of rumor and innuendo that were turned against them. Nonetheless, they were *mainly* happy.
He saw no indication of any of the not-Senshi from this last timeline in the Scouts of that timeline. It looked as if the merger had gone seamlessly. He briefly wiped an unbidden tear. Forgotten again. His path and the Scouts/Senshi had crossed before, and this had often been the result. Or they remembered him without affection, or they had died, or they parted when he died. Nothing permanent ever remained.
A sound brought his attention to the arch that marked the entryway to the Well's area. How long she had been there and watching him, he had no idea.
"This is unexpected," understated Grey. He indicated a place nearby. "Have a seat?"
She nodded and moved forward to sit in the indicated area, remaining silent for her own reasons.
Grey glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, catching her own look and slight smile. Maybe, just maybe, they could be friends at least?
That wasn't too much to hope for, was it?
She looked at him speculatively. He somewhat reminded her of her Ranko-chan. She would miss her, but this was far better than merging with a pervert.
"Ak-a-ne," was all she said as she curled up beside him, her tail twitching at the sight of the poke-ball that had just appeared on his belt. Well, perhaps it would work out.
Grey pondered this and suddenly saw why. Toltiir had said that they would all understand. In the world they were to merge with, Akane would have either merged with Scarlet - the *very* reluctant geased student of the Pheonix Mage, or the perverted disciple of Happosai - Akane Tendo. As it was the disciple of Happosai who was native to that plane, Akane had seen that she would merge with... a most unpleasant version of herself.
How she had ended up reverting to the pokemon form, Grey wasn't sure but suspected it was because Amaterasu's influence had been temporarily suppressed by the shifting timelines. Taking out his laptop, Grey put in a request for a human/pokemon translator. "Okay, I understand why you didn't want to merge. How did you get re-merged with your pyrolion aspect?"
Akane growled under her breath. Having a limited vocabulary sucked. She was tired, she was upset about losing her home, and this guy wasn't Ranko (but Ranko was a part of him as she understood it) and she wanted to go off and sulk.
Grey looked over the pokemon. "Beautiful..."
Akane startled at that, before turning a wary gaze towards him.
"No, not like that," assured Grey. "Have you seen yourself?"
Akane shook her head. No, she hadn't merged with this previous aspect for long.
"Look then," Grey used the properties of the Well to make it reflective. He was neither mage nor god, but simple stuff he could handle.
Akane gasped as she got a good look at herself. Roughly the size of a mountain lion, and with a similar build. A long tail ended in a plume of flame that didn't seem to burn anything. Red fur covered her, except for a pattern of orange flame-shaped stripes, those luminous golden eyes, and a slightly darker flattened nose. Her ears went from flat to extend out to tufted points as she examined her image.
She'd known at the moment of transformation that she was powerful, with strong jaws and teeth, powerful claws, and a tight musculature under that short thick fur. She instinctively knew that she was now an elemental creature of fire. She agreed now with Grey's assessment. She *was* beautiful and deadly, a form that was powerful and graceful and strong. She grinned experimentally and was rewarded with the sight of some impressively sharp white teeth though the back group looked as if they were flattened much like human teeth. She wasn't exactly human, but then she kind of wished she could run into Kuno-sempai while looking like this.
Grey took out his pokedex, and let Akane see her entry.
Pyrolion (Akane)
Element: Fire
Type:Unique
Length: 6'3"
Weight: 250 lbs
Techniques: Scratch, Ember
Other Techniques: Roar, Bite, Fire Spin, Flamethrower, Takedown
Good Against: Grass, Bug, Ice
Bad Against: Water, Rock, Dragon, Psychic
Evolution: normal
"Pyrolion - fire elemental lion. This pokemon is best avoided by beginning trainers."
Akane snorted at that. Let ANY trainers avoid HER, thank you very much. "Aka NE!" Her ears flicked as she heard others approach. Well, she was tired anyway, so she nosed the white/red sphere on Grey's belt.
SHOOM!
Grey watched Akane enter the pokeball and was curious. Why had she done that, anyway? It wasn't often he could have a conversation with ANY version of Akane without a fight starting out. It was actually kind of nice.
A wood nymph stepped within the arches. "Pardon me, Candidate Grey, but you're wanted over at Freja's Field."
-----------
Toltiir's tail twitched. As he had reverted to cat-form (it wasn't his *true* form, but it was familiar and comfortable) this was not a good sign.
While it *had* been his idea, the arguing girls were not very amusing at present. Each of those who had made this choice had excellent reasons (at least in their own opinions) for being the one to marry Grey, or at least accompany him on his next Labor.
Then, despite warnings, Son Usagi and Usagi Tsukino were sufficiently curious that they made physical contact. And had merged as having both of them bleep out of existence would not have been funny. Toltiir had some regrets about influencing things so that they had merged, especially after the new Son Usagi Tsukino had unleashed an experimental denki ball attack.
Now everyone was arguing. Not amusing. Toltiir was bored and beginning to get annoyed.
Edema saw this and walked over to the currently-feline Elder god before all Chaos broke loose. "Well now, Puck. Hardly what you had planned, eh?"
"Hardly," agreed Toltiir.
"Grant me three wishes and I'll cut through all this nonsense," Edema indicated the fight about to break out.
"Fine, fine. Just don't make it boring will you?"
Edema shrugged, nearly popping out of her top in the process. She was a dark elf and had spent many years as a talented sorceress in the evil city of Mezonobarren. No matter that she had learned other methods or had left that city to pursue another path, the culture one is raised in constantly colored one's perceptions.
The drow was a friend of Grey's, or so she considered herself. They were both outsiders in Asgard, and though he was often a pale-skinned human and she always a darkskinned elf, there was a certain pleasure in each other's company. They had dated a couple of times, but the loveplay of her homeland included things that would make a Klingon warrior squeamish. She liked it rough while Grey was the gentle nurturing type. So they remained friends but would never get past that hurdle.
Edema considered. Being a drow mage and running an ice cream parlor were both occupations where careful thought was a handy trait. It was not uncommon in her land of origin for a woman, particularly of the priestesses, to have many male slaves whose purpose was to entertain her on her couch. Marriages were less common, as sacrificing a particularly loved one was a common practice. Still, the common people had marriages, though it was usually for safety or advancement, not love. And Grey was more self-sacrificing than other-sacrificing.
She was listening to the arguments around her. Minako claimed that as she had known Grey the longest, and he had once been her pet cat, that SHE should be the first to marry him. Rei was arguing that as the psychic girl, she was the best candidate. Setsuna argued that she had seen her counterparts and knew them to be nearly the personification of loneliness, that SHE should be first.
Edema was listening, and didn't hear love mentioned once. She knew this was important to Grey, though she wasn't quite sure she knew what love was. Affection, yes, she had her favorite cloak, her favorite magic wand, her favorite daggers.
Sasami, standing nearby, wondered what was going on and if there were some way to stop the scene from going into violence.
"First wish. I wish that all these girls loved Grey and were comfortable with the concept of a group marriage."
Toltiir, already having manifested a rather large ball of energy, was a little surprised but let it go. The shimmering field shot out. Judging from Edema's surprised look, she'd apparently forgotten that she was technically a girl and present. As were a few *other* observers present.
Sasami innocently supplied the next wish due to her dislike of the continuing conflict. "I wish they'd all kiss and make up... oh my!"
-------------
Grey climbed the stairs to the small park, wondering why the mysterious summons and why *him* in particular. He finally reached the top and saw...
"Hades' pointy beard, why me? Well none of THEM need me, that's for sure." Grey continued to grumble, walking past the confused wood nymph messenger. "Tell whoever wanted me that I got the message. Oh boy, did I get the message. If anybody wants me i'll be getting the info from Hades about my next mission. Yeeeeshhh."
"Oh dear," said the wood nymph as she looked out over the field, wondering exactly how *this* had happened.
---------------
"This Labor is a bit tricky," explained Koenma as he leaned against a building, "in keeping with the first two Labors, it is a task that needs doing in a different timeline. Your first mission, reconciling Queen Serenity and the Pheonix Mage, was successful even if..."
Aphrodite snorted and waggled a finger. "Even if she's convinced that he's actually Serena's father from their Silver Millenium incarnation."
"Not my fault. Most *definitely* not my fault." Grey was quite certain of this, he certainly couldn't think of anything that he'd done to encourage that illusion. And he knew darn well he'd never been some Silver Millenium consort. (He was wrong about this, but then he made no pretensions about perfection.)
"The second mission, though simple, was accomplished as well," Joe pointed out. "Though the chaos level was a bit high."
"So there will be no resets, no divine interventions or assistance," Koenma glared directly at Aphrodite on this last point, "except for behind the scenes in case of a major demonic intervention. Due to the difficulty of this task, you will be allowed to take your apprentice and one other non-divine assistant as well as your usual bag of tricks."
"Apprentice?!"
"Apprentice." Aphrodite gestured and a picture appeared.
"Sasami? Isn't she back in her homeverse?"
"No. Ryoko and Aeka got into a fight in her kitchen. She left and is now resuming with the RRO. Per her request." Koenma shrugged. Juraians, who could figure them? "We expect this to be temporary, though, indications are that Sasami will get homesick and then leave the RRO again until the next such altercation."
"Continuing your briefing on the Third Labor," said Celeste with a wince. "The problem is in timeline AK-RN 204171, we have two seperate problems. There was an Infernal Intervention where some Chinese warlord named Dong Zhao was posssessed and unifed China, setting up an
infernally influenced empire that lasted nine hundred years and had serious repercussions throughout the East.
"The second intervention was the result of the Continuum Knights."
"Wait a minute, i thought they were just interested in returning errant timelines to mainlines." Grey couldn't help but interject a comment here.
"That's originally what we thought. Unfortunately, many of the actions so far don't fit the sort of pattern you'd expect from that." Celeste rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Anyway, you're to go to March 13, 1774 where the problem occurred."
"What did they do and what was the effect?"
"Unclear, other than the deaths of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Payne, and a half dozen other pivotal American revolutionaries within the period of, " Celeste consulted a display, "March 13 1774 to May 12 1774. Resulting in the American Revolution failing, and the 'uppity colonists' are pretty well suppressed by the British until WWI. America ends up actually being three seperate nations that are continually having border disputes. We've noted that while there were indications of these 'Continuum Knights' entering this timeframe, they may have stayed in there for awhile. They're apparently using a 'Boom Tube' like device for interdimensional transport."
"Hmmm. So basically," Grey interpreted, "my mission is to keep the assassinations from taking place."
"Essentially," agreed the huge Koenma, eyeing the clock but he still had an hour before his poker game with Hades. "What matters is who you'll be taking with you on the trip. Remember that many of the girls will revert to an asian appearance in a non-anime timeline, and if you rely on a translation spell or device then either failing will mean a major language barrier for the girl you take with you. Also that as this is Colonial America, noncaucasians are frequently viewed as being less than a white counterpart."
"Though frankly with Franklin, Jefferson, and a number of others, they won't care a whit." Celeste pointed out. "Not to mention that the attitude is less hostile in 1774 than it becomes later. These are the current list of volunteers..." A holographic display showed nine girls who had gotten the rules ahead of time and had put in for the duty.
"However, you should note that the 'Senshi' lost the powers gained in the past timeline." Koenma grumbled. "As dominant timelines have them as Senshi they've reverted to similar core abilities. As this universe doesn't have a Silver Moon Kingdom to draw power from, they're not able to do some of their Senshi tricks if they accompany you. Something close might be possible, I hear Sif's gotten 'inspired.'"
"i see. Therefore, i should choose..."
---------------------
There were six water fountains in Freja's Field. Each was being used. Each had a line waiting to use it.
"Bleh! Bleagh! Shampoo no can believe she did that!" Shampoo carefully spat the water out to the side and rinsed her mouth out again. "Pah!"
Ukyo tapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, Sham-chan, my turn."
"At least she used the last wish to wish we were cured of the effects of the second wish, it *could* have been worse." Ed wasn't *that* unhappy with the way things had turned out. He'd just been curious, so he and Kiyone had come by to see what was going on. Serious liplock had commenced as *everyone* in the area of the field had started kissing everyone else. What a pity he'd been in his Pikachu form at the time!
"I noticed Minako just turned herself into her dragonform and flew off, suppose that the 'Soldier of Love' and the 'Cupid of Love' are planning something?" Kiyone looked over at her partner, wondering why Ed was still grinning like that. How odd.
"Oh look! A karaoke bar!" Ed decided to deflect a few suspicions. Just in case.
"Don't go there," Kiyone groaned, remembering times with Mihoshi. Mihoshi wasn't *all* bad, Kiyone reflected.
Edema shook her head, amused for the most part. She hadn't been bothered by kissing a woman, though humans did it a bit different. And at least having this guy around had gotten people to stop calling *her* Ed.
--------------------
Makoto Kino spat water out and regarded her fellow victim of Sasami's well-intentioned but not terribly thought out wish. "That was disgusting."
"I've always suspected Usagi of swinging both ways," Rei growled. "Not only does she have to pursue almost any guy in sight, but her reaction when she's meeting cute girls..."
Makoto winced. "I think she's still hitting on Honey-san."
Rei grumbled at that.
"Guys, here's the ones who passed the review board," Ami said, accessing a data terminal set into a tree. ~At least my computer skills haven't faded upon leaving my home timeline.~
"WHAT?!" Makoto was quick to determine that there was a name conspicuous by absence. "Why aren't I on the list?!"
"Hang on, I'm scrolling down. 'Lack of English skills, inability to look American.'"
"I'm *half* American! Where do you think my height and 'talent' came from? And, well, I kind of..."
"You spent most of your life fighting or defending that you were Japanese so taking English courses didn't seem too cool, eh?" Rei had pieced the story together over the past few years. "Until recently..."
Makoto blushed. "Hey, we've been hitting it off lately. And when he was an angel..."
"When he was an angel he was cute," Ami said, then almost fainted from the force of her blush when she realized she had said that out loud.
"Sif took Setsuna to merge with one of her Senshi aspects," Rei looked up. "She's still playing matchmaker, I guess."
"Why are *your* names on here?! Ami speaks English but she and you are pure Japanese!" Makoto looked at the two nominees. "You couldn't pass for American in... 1774?! Time AND space travel?"
"Admittedly the American Colonies at that time were primarily of Anglo-Saxon derivation," agreed Ami, "mainly of English descent but a few others as well. Most likely we'd be mistaken for some odd tribe of American ainu there or Chinese from descriptions passed on by traders. You'll notice that the main reason is listed here in the sidebar for our inclusion."
"Well," said Makoto, a determined gleam in her eyes, "I'm going to find a way to get in on this mission one way or another!"
----------------------
Timeline SM-301417:
Sailor Pluto took a deep breath. The future ended in fifteen minutes. Beyond that she could not see and the Gate Of Time would be forever closed. The timelines would merge and she would cease to exist. She would become part of another her that was so close that there were no
differences at all. Which was why they were merging, of course. It happened all the time and was nothing to be worried about.
Except that when the timelines merged she would go irrevocably, stark raving, insane from the memories of TWO lifetimes of isolation. She'd only have to deal with it for thirty seconds while the merger built up around her place of guardianship. By the time the wave crested, she'd be
giggling and imagining herself back at the Silver Moon Palace with her Queen and flirting with that handsome young Nebula Knight.
"Excuse me?"
Sailor Pluto, the dignified guardian of the time gate, nearly wet herself. Nobody sneaked up on her. She had been alone a very, very, long time.
"Who dares....?!" Sailor Pluto looked at a version of herself who was not a Senshi, who was dressed in a fairly cute green turtleneck and a pair of tight jeans. Her skin was more tanned too, and she had a healthy look about her. "Me?!"
"So, in this timeline, my Queen failed to send anyone forward in time, and so you have been guarding this timeline alone since then?" Setsuna looked around at the place, noting hundreds of sweaters, quilts, blankets, stacks of trashy romance novels, a few sculptures, a Navajo flute, and a guitar.
Sailor Pluto leaned on her staff and stared. "It's finally happened. I've gone mad." She knew she had come close on several occasions. She'd learned hundreds of skills such as knitting and playing every variant of solitaire that she could conceive. If you could do it while you were alone, and get the supplies by fishing in the timestream, she'd done it. A million years was a VERY long time. But loneliness was a poison and boredom a constant companion.
Setsuna shook her head. "I'm one of your Analogues, the other you from a timeline where I was one of those sent forward by the Queen, though I am not a Sailor Scout." She held a slender hand out. "I offer... an alternative."
"An alternative?" Sailor Pluto wasn't born yesterday. "What's the catch?"
"Your aspect merges with me." Setsuna blushed a little. "There is a good chance, if we play our cards right, of ending up with someone special. Of loving and being loved in turn. There are jobs to be done, important ones as well as those not so important. But you needn't go mad, and you needn't go lonely."
"I can?" Pluto was well aware that time was running out for her. While tempting, she was still uncertain. "And this is a guy, I take it?"
Setsuna made a gesture and an image appeared in her hand.
"Nebula?!" Pluto breathed. It was him. Somehow she could tell. Even though they'd been seperated since the fall of the Kingdom, and they'd only been together a week before the Queen had given her the duty of the timegate (and Pluto had long suspected that it was *because* she had been developing a closeness with Nebula that the Queen had decided that Pluto was to have no visitors), she'd kept that image in her heart. Without consciously choosing, Pluto reached out for that image.
There was a blur as the two aspects met, and Sailor Pluto blinked as the memories of this other life flowed through her. He made her feel... special. Appreciated. She had sworn an oath and would serve him as a samurai served her daimyo, as a knight did her lord, and if she could manage it - as a lover served the one they loved.
Sailor Pluto vanished from the room. But before she did, she did something that would have astonished all the persons who knew a variant of her as a cold-hearted manipulator.
Sailor Pluto blushed and smiled, speculation and hope bringing a thaw to parts of her heart she'd long thought cold and dead.
--------
Eyecatch #1:
A framed picture of Rei Hino in her priestess hakima. With a click, it flips over, revealing a picture of Rei in a plugsuit. Click/flip: Rei in Jedi Knight robes. Click/flip: Sailor Mars. Click/flip: Rei as a Rifts SAMAS Samurai pilot. Click/flip: Rae Hino in a yellow gi, leaping towards a Dojo Destroyer. Click/flip: Rei as an angel.
Commercial:
MISATO: "Hi, my name is Misato Katsuragi, and I'm here to talk about feminine protection!"
(blam!)(blam!)(blam!)(blam!)(blam!)
MISATO: "Smith & Wesson: feminine protection *you* can count on!"
Eyecatch #2:
A framed picture of Sasami in her Juraian princess clothes. With a click, the picture turns over to reveal Tsunami wearing Dragonball Z style fighting clothes. Click/flip: Magical Princess Pretty Sammy. Click/flip: wearing jeans and a "Nuku Nuku" t-shirt. Click/flip: Tsunami with the forehead and cheek markings of an OMG style goddess. Click/flip: Sasami as an angel with Tsunami standing right behind her.
--------
Everyone copes with events beyond their control in different ways. Setsuna Meiou moved to secure her position and increase her usefulness, and even if she still failed to capture someone's heart, then she'd have a job waiting for her guarding a gate or a Well.
Ami Mizuno gathered information. Makoto Kino aggressively sought action. Rei Hino tried to analyze the data and get a feel for the situation. Usagi found a buffet and was not heard from for several hours. Michiru and Haruka weren't particularly bothered by kissing other women and wondered what all the fuss was about. Likewise, Cutey Honey didn't see the problem, though she'd have much preferred to have kissed a guy - especially a certain sometimes-cyborg. Edema wasn't bothered about kissing a woman, and made jests about the whole thing until she was asked to stop. Edema wasn't a cruel drow, and so desisted, but smirked LOTS.
Minako Aino had flown around until she spotted a Karaoke Bar near the valkyries. Shortly thereafter, the underage girl was being escorted *back* to the Park, but not (alas) in time. She'd watched too many Westerns, had gone up to the bar, and asked for the strongest thing they had. Then, perfectly in keeping with the source material, had knocked it back in a single swallow.
"I've got it! Yeah baby I've got it! I'm his Venus, I'm his fire, I'm pure desire!" Then, as she had done the past three times she had broken into song, Minako Aino passed out.
"She can still move after drinking that stuff," the valkyrie holding Minako's right arm noted aloud, "that's fairly impressive."
"Y'know, Tendo-chan, you've got something there. Though she's got a dragonseed, so maybe she's not the frail little girl she appears." The valkyrie holding Minako's left arm looked over the girl whose heels were dragging in the dirt.
"Call me Kimiko, Helga-chan, we're off-duty. I would *count* on them being more than they appear, otherwise they wouldn't be heroes."
Minako's eyes opened, though still crossed, "Yeah baby...."
-------------------
Grey looked over the candidates again.
"Ami, i suppose i could use the 'world explorer' guise and her English skills are going to be pretty good. She's physically quite Japanese, being all of 5'3" or so, but probably knows a lot about world and US history. Probably knows more than *i* remember, that's for sure."
"Ami Mizuno it is," noted Celeste, scribbling it down. Not who *she* would have chosen, but then she had access to information Grey did not.
---------------------
"Oh my," said a currently-normal-if-genius Japanese schoolgirl, turning red and sweating profusely as she stared at the display. "It looks like..."
"Ami won?!" Makoto blinked. "*I* look more American than she does!"
"Minako's really going to be upset about this," Rei noted.
"Oh my," repeated Ami. "I've got to get some supplies and equipment. And review American History..."
"That's the one subject in the world you're *not* conversant on, isn't it?" Makoto smirked, sensing a weakness.
Ami acknowledged the hit, cocking her head to the side and wincing. "Well... it's not like that is a subject that is normally taught in Japanese schools. I think I ought to get some supplies."
Makoto and Rei met each other's eyes and nodded. While Ami made *her* plans, they would make their own.
-----------------
Makoto knew just who to contact. What surprised her was some of the others accompanying her. "Why are *you guys* all here?"
"I could ask you the same question, but it's kind of obvious." Rei straightened the white top of her hakima. "This mission could take several years, right? Ami having all that time alone with him gives her an unfair advantage! So we need a way to stake our claim now or else accompany the 'happy couple', don't we?"
Makoto frowned. "So you figured it out too."
Rei rolled her eyes. "EVERYONE figured it out. The people who aren't here are over at Urd's getting potions, or Hephaestus' place, or laying traps."
"Except for Minako-chan, who's currently passed out," noted Setsuna as she leaned against the wall.
Rei blinked. She had been *sure* that Setsuna hadn't been there a moment ago. "So, uhm, how did it go?"
"Well enough," said Setsuna, looking off into the distance.
"What's it like, errr, merging with your other self..." Makoto wasn't sure how to put this.
"It's like becoming slightly more complete. It's confusing and odd and...." Setsuna shook her head, sending her long green hair swaying. "If it were normal, though fusion of timelines, there wouldn't have been any knowledge of things being different. In this case, though, the differences between were quite high. As it is: I remember being alive and knowing most of you in an ancient Silver Millenium. I remember my rivalry with Sailor Jupiter over the Knight Of Duty. I... remember watching you all die, and the Queen trying to send you forward in time to reincarnate when she died of her wounds. I remember a million years of watching humanity struggle back, only to capture only a tiny portion of the glory of the Silver Millenium. I remember learning all sorts of skills as I guarded the Gate Of Time, the last duty given me by the Queen.
"I also remember being reborn as Setsuna Meiou and growing up in Juuban in the '70s. My graduation from Crossroads in 1989 and then meeting all of you and your 'pet cat' Orion. I remember learning that Orion was also Minako's 'cousin/boyfriend' Grey and accompanying you all to China. I remember all the things that happened, including that time we were all turned into babies and Grey had to take care of us. When the cure was found and we grew up, a year a day, I remember that as well. He certainly had his hands full with you, didn't he, Makoto-chan?"
Makoto looked extremely embarassed at Setsuna's reminder. She'd gone through some problems. She wasn't exactly fond of the memories of diaper changes and when Usagi had stolen her dolly.
"WHAT?!" Edema practically screeched, which was enough to get everyone's attention. "What do you mean 'the Binding is with *Ranko* now?!'"
"I mean the Binding got confused. There are currently three of him after all. Ginseng, Grey, and Ranko." Hephaestus shrugged and tapped his cane on the ground. "Why are you so upset, Edema?"
"Errr.." Edema started fidgeting. This had the effect of drawing further attention towards the pair walking by the crowd. "Well... I sort of gave him selfalis root."
"WHAT?!" Hephaestus now looked shocked. "Bridal Root! Edema, how could you do something so foolish! You know he won't do any of that until after a marriage..."
"I know but those girls are *so* damn shy! I figured it would get them moving!"
Rei turned to the proprietor of Rajin's Potion Emporium as Edema and Hephaestus turned the corner. "What is 'selfalis root' anyway?"
"Ahhh, young one, that is a drow poison, difficult to prepare. If the husband does not manage to fulfill his husbandly duties within 24 hours..." Rajin drew his finger across his throat.
Much blinking. "Why the..." "How..." "That's INSANE!" Everyone naturally started talking at once. Setsuna put two fingers in her mouth and gave a piercing whistle that caused silence to follow.
"Anyone who knows him, knows DARN well that he won't do anything until he's married," Setsuna said calmly after everyone had silenced. "Otherwise, when that Lust daimon had possessed Ami and she spread it out... frankly Makoto would have had children by now."
Makoto blushed and fidgeted at further embarassing memories. Physically ripping his pants off and yelling something about consummating the fiery passion in her burning loins, well. After it had all passed, there had more than one girl who had spent a week in her room too embarassed to face anyone else. Though that everyone else had gone through the same thing had helped.
"Not that she would have minded," added Setsuna, "nor would have any of the rest of us that Ami managed to tag with that particular enchantment."
"He was twitching quite a bit by the time it wore off, I think another day and he'd have flown off and never come back. Or he'd have saved us all a lot of problems." Rei frowned prettily. She wasn't sure which she would have preferred at the time.
"We never *did* finish that little contest, did we?" Honey realized, referring to a contest wherein each of the fiancees had stated their intention to be the first to claim his lips.
Rajin rubbed his hands together. This sounded... profitable.
------------
Grey looked up from his packing, something felt wrong. Kind of like that time that Ami...
"Something wrong?" Ami finished putting her purchases away. The RRO "Bag O Tricks" stored all of them away fairly nicely. She had all the books and other supplies that she could afford the time to get. Now she had other things that needed done, such as planning the mission.
"Pssst! Ami-chan, can I see you a moment?" Makoto's voice came from the other side of the door. "It's REALLY important."
"Hai, Mako-chan," Ami smiled at her fiance, then let herself out, a faint blush appearing and growing progressively stronger. Hmmm. Maybe she ought to get some sex manuals, after all they *were* engaged and they *were* going to be camping, and they *were* going to be alone together a lot of the time.
Grey frowned, the odd feeling of danger intensifying as the door closed behind Ami.
A face appeared at the window, slim fingers sliding the glass open quietly.
Outside, in the hallway, Ami stared at her friend. "You're kidding!"
Makoto Kino held her hand up. "I swear, that Rajin guy confirmed it. A horrible death if he doesn't consummate the marriage within 24 hours. That's why I got *this*!"
Ami looked skeptically at the little bottle, noticing that it resembled one of those "energy drinks" that were popular around exam time. "What is *that*?"
"Rajin sold a bunch of these." Makoto held up a similar vial. "Some sort of extreme courage potion, guaranteed to make you a 'warrior of love' or your money back."
Ami blushed, fidgeted, then got a peculiar determined look in her eyes. "All right then!" She popped the top, swigged it down, and hit the floor as stiff as if she'd just turned to wood. Makoto hit with a similar thunk at the same time, having mimicked her friend's actions.
Inside the room, Grey had tried to fit this into his worldview. He wasn't that attractive to women, except as a target for practical jokes. Therefore, Setsuna Meiou had dressed as Sailor Pluto and appeared from under his bed because of some jest she was playing on him. Though Setsuna making jokes was rather a stretch of the imagination. Cutey Honey slipping in the window and attempting to rip his clothes off was obviously some other weird sort of joke, but as he didn't think Honey was this mean or vindictive (the two often conversing about loneliness and trying to do the right thing in a society that rarely rewarded such conduct) this meant that Urd or some OTHER mischievous being was trying to hit him in an admittedly sore area.
Dodging, ducking and otherwise avoiding the various attacks, Grey made his way towards the door, especially noting with alarm that Rei and Minako had joined the crowd. (Though Minako looked puzzled and Rei looked tired from the strain of teleporting with someone.) Having lately gotten practice at this sort of thing, Grey opened the door in midleap, closing it behind him as he landed in the hallway.
"Ouch!" Ami said, having had someone land on her.
"Ami, we've got to get out of here! One of the love goddesses is playing kick me again, and i don't know how..." Grey's voice ran out as he realized that Ami and Makoto were both on the floor. Which meant... "Uh oh."
Ami and Makoto both looked up at Grey simultaneously, and there was a moment of near silence. Then came several things at once: Ami and Makoto pouncing, the door opening, and Grey... well, he screamed. He knew darn well that this would end in disaster. How else could it end?
---------------
Edema smirked at the girls confronting her. "Of *course* it was all a joke. Did you honestly think I would pull such a crude trick on a friend of mine? No, it might be a perfectly normal prank among the drow, but Grey is the 'gentle cuddlesome' type and would never go along with such a thing. Not prior to a marriage, at least. Having the vows and such, he might well relax enough to begin trusting again. Not that such a thing..."
Edema's discourse was interrupted by a small group of girls in wedding dresses jogging by, carrying a figure so tied up that he resembled a mummy, while singing "Going to a chapel, and we're...gonna get marriiiied, going to the Chapel Of Lovvvvve..."
Haruka and Michiru looked at each other, then at Hotaru, then Belle, at the odd procession now down the street, and finally at Edema.
Edema stared down the street with a puzzled expression. "I think they're heading for the wedding chapel a block over, the one run by Hestia. My word. Was I too subtle in my humor?"
"AAAAAaaaa!" Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, Belle, Usagi, Nabiki, Sash, Fumika, Queen Serenity, Shampoo, and Ucchan all summed up their assessment of the situation. Kasumi merely looked moderately alarmed. Then, of course, they took off in pursuit.
----------------------
"Mmmmfff! Mmmmmffff!"
Minako bid her time (and also waited for the ground to stabilize under her feet) while watching the others. She had no idea what was going on, but only one thing made sense! Ami had had a relapse of that Lust demon seed!
Her stomach hurt, she felt unsteady, it felt as if someone had stuffed a whole box of cotton balls in between her ears, and her vision kept going blurry among other things, but at heart Minako Aino was a hero and knew what she had to do!
Rescue Ran... Orion... Grey... oh whatever her pet cat/boyfriend was calling himself lately.
She'd been his Owner, then his confidante, then his friend, then his girlfriend, then his comrade-in-arms, then his fiancee. She'd been informed since Rei's psychic powers awoke that Ranma/Orion's "real" name was actually Grey. And, after years of associating with him, even if she knew that most of the memories were just a computer backtracking, she knew him about as well as it was humanly possible to know another person. The only person who *really* came as close was Makoto- the two being kindred spirits of a sort.
He'd slept on her bed (as a cat) for over a year. He was safe and protective and many other things that she valued. So, while still under the effects of a rather potent alcoholic beverage, the princess saw that the fair dragon was in danger. In danger of what, Minako couldn't quite be sure of, but in danger of *something.* Therefore she had to save him!
She wasn't really in shape for figuring out what was going on, and she was quite unsteady on both a physical and mental basis. As a woman of action, she decided to do what came natural, and *act*.
Finally she saw her chance as a crowd of other fiancees confronted the group around her. Shifting Grey's weight fully onto her, Minako shifted to Angelform and quickly became airborne, though carrying his weight she wouldn't be able to maintain it for long.
Especially as she was going from Drunk to Hangover stage, though she didn't know it. Yet. Minako faltered, her wings fading as she glided to a roof. "Ohhhh. I don't feel so good."
The mummified Grey started struggling to be free, especially on seeing the far edge of the roof approaching. Especially as Minako seemed to be getting rather ill.
Finally, as Grey struggled to get free, it looked as if he hadn't escaped after all.
--------------
Minako clutched her head as a million dwarves with icepicks started in on it. Nausea, weakness, and a whole lot of pain seemed to have reduced her ability to notice anything outside herself. "Nnnngggg!"
When she began to feel herself again, there was a cool cloth lying across her brow and she was lying in bed. "Huh? Wha..." Who'd put all this cotton in her mouth anyway? And lying next to her was...
Grey. From the look of it, he had been there for awhile. Minako's blue eyes blinked in confusion. The last *clear* memory she had was of going into that bar and asking for the strongest thing they had. She got the distinct impression it hadn't gone well after that.
"Mmmmph," came a sound from the figure near her, and Minako felt some of the haze recede as she noticed the injuries. Not hers. His. Something had ripped him up in straight little lines. *She* wasn't hurt, but he'd apparently been taking care of her while *he* had bloodied and torn clothes and the skin inside didn't look that good. Knowing him as well as she did, that meant only one thing.
"Idiot," pronounced Minako, tears forming. "You always pull this stuff!"She traced a line down the boy's cheek with a finger. "What did you do that..." A detail penetrated the remaining haze. A slender ring gracing her hand, on THAT finger.
"Shhhh!" Rei let herself quietly in. "He was tied up in his own clothes when he transformed to dragon to save you. The clothes eventually broke but they didn't give as quickly as skin and bone."
"EEh?" Minako held her hand in front of her mouth, regretting the outburst immediately.
"Urd used a healing sleep spell, as long as you don't yell or hit him or something, he'll keep sleeping." Rei sat down on the edge of the bed. "Not much chance of that, is there?"
"Then why..."
"We bought potions from 'Rajin's Potion Emporium' which turned out to be not terribly wise." Rei shrugged. "Unless you know what you're buying, that is."
"Oh." Minako considered that, yes, she had heard stories about drinking the *wrong* magic potion. "but what about...?!"
"What about? Oh. The ring. Congratulations." Rei had the grace to look embarassed.
Hair was toinging. "Congratulations?!" Grey stirred but Minako wasn't noticing at the moment. On a hunch, Minako looked at Rei's hands and wasn't too surprised to see a ring there as well.
"Well..." Rei hemmed and hawwed but finally got to the point. "When we caught up to him, he agreed to our terms providing we got you to a healer. I guess he didn't know what was wrong with you. He was holding you, or trying to, you were curled up in his lap moaning and looking just absolutely horrible..."
"Thank you," mumbled Minako, staring now at the ring on Grey's finger.
"So, right now, he's married to you, me, Setsuna, Honey, Ami, and Makoto. And no, he hasn't been in any condition to consummate anything." Rei shook her head. "You were apparently together enough to say 'I do' in all the right places, though you kept throwing up and complaining about the room moving."
Minako found herself picturing the scene and was appropriately mortified. What had happened?! She still felt nauseous and there was the twinge of a headache... but... her wedding had apparently gone from a dream to a nightmare and that moment was now past her.
Minako clutched her sleeping husband and cried as her "most special moment" had apparently been interrupted by some really horrible incidents.
Rei considered mentioning that anyone who wanted out of it could do so, apparently it wasn't binding when done under the influence of potions. Acceptance of the marriage, however, would mean that one essentially accepted the whole thing as binding. As Minako was apparently asleep again, she decided not to bring this up yet.
----------------
Some time had gone by and the explanations made. Son Usagi and a few others had *insisted* on getting their own inclusion in the wedding but had been put off as now he had to get to the Labor.
Ami sat down on the bench of the wagon next to Grey and Sasami. "Our cover identity is that we're spice merchants. The wagon in back is our stock. There's also some silk and other trade goods appropriate to the cover. I've also got some synthetic gems to use as funds should
something happen where we lose the wagon. I'm the expert on the spices, a girl you married overseas, Sasami is my younger sister. We're married, and have been so just under a year."
Grey nodded and handed two weapons out. "In 1774, the main weapons are flintlocks, knives, swords. There are still a number of people who practice the Code Duello, and arguments are settled usually in fisticuffs. Small weapons are usually all right in these cultures, as long as you
don't make a habit of using them or threatening people with them. Sasami, yours is a simple Swiss Army knife. It also contains a distress beacon hidden in the panel, leave the corkscrew out for five seconds to activate. It's made of high grade steel, a bit better than what the locals will have but not outrageously so. Ami, as a merchant you're expected to carry a weapon. The design is of a simple Amerind knife, buckskin for the handle, watered steel for the blade. At least that's what it looks like. It was copied off a prize knife given by a Chesapeake tribe to an Outsider."
Ami looked at the knife, simple but elegant. A working knife as opposed to a showpiece. "Cerametal?"
"Yeah, next best thing to diamond. Better in some ways. Also this..." Grey held up a fairly plain looking ring with a single ornamental stone. "The gemstone is *your* beacon. If you break the stone the alarm goes off. If either of you finds yourself in trouble, set off your alarm and you'll be yanked back to Asgard."
Sasami looked behind them into the wagon's interior, wishing that she could contribute something. "Oh my! There's a lot of books there."
"Well, uhm," Ami blushed and fidgeted a little, hoping that Sasami wouldn't look in *that* bag and bring up what kind of books were in there. "I wouldn't want to get behind in my studies..." The blush deepened as she realized what study sessions with some of those books would be like.
Sasami picked a book off the stack. "Huh? 'Dragontaming for Beginners.' Are we going to run into any dragons?"
"i don't think so," said Grey, puzzled. As far as he knew, he would be the only dragon present. Ah, Ami must be thinking ahead to future missions!
The gate swirled with mists. Grey directed the two horses pulling the wagon forward.
"Warning," the computer said in a feminine voice. "Expected values exceeded."
"Oh heck," said Celeste as the adventurers rode forward into the mists. "Someone must have stowed away."
"Gate's malfunctioned." Amaterasu noted. "Wagon's intact but the people are getting seperated from the vehicle. Expect they'll be scattered when they land. Looks like they'll crash in..."
=========================
The Choose Your Own Fanfic idea, as the voting/feedback has gone so far:
Who does Grey end up married to?
1. Usagi Son, the Sailorjin princess, unsteadily stepped out of the shadows.
2. Queen Serenity (from Skysaber's Choice) regally glided forward, her silver hair shining in the
odd light.
3. One of the non-Senshi from the last timeline: Ami , Haruka & Michiru, Hotaru, Makoto,
Minako, Rei, Setsuna, Usagi
4. One of the Chinese Amazons from the last timeline (further choices) stepped forward warily,
wearing a Western style wedding gown?! Azure, Fumika, Sash, Shampoo, Sugar and Spice,Wing
5. A number of girls egged each other on, gawking at their surroundings, a black cat seeming to
herd them forward.
6. Three elite marionettes built by Sakyo stepped forward, looking around for threats before
joining Grey near the Well.
7. As a small army of assorted girls started wending their way forward, Grey distinctly heard a
feline laugh and reminder of his promise.
8. Edema stepped out, holding up the scroll that was to be his next assignment. (Alone Again,
naturally...)
9. Sasami steps forward and Grey thinks someone must REALLY hate him. Well, at least it isn't
Pretty Sammy.
10. Kasumi the djinn and Nabiki the dao, with a glance towards the Armlet still on Grey's forearm.
11. Akane Tendo stepped out, causing Grey to develop a sudden migraine.
12. Ukyo is still pursuing 'Ranma', sort of.
13.All four of the elementally inclined girls are still linked to the Armlet. (Shampoo, Ukyo,
Kasumi, Nabiki)
Usagi Son - 7, Ukyo - 1, Small Group - 5, The 3 Elite Marionettes - 3, Setsuna - 5, Sasami - 7,
Rei Hino - 2, Queen Serenity - 2, All the Senshi - 2, Minako- 3, Large Group -8, Kasumi and
Nabiki -4, Haruka & Michiru - 1, Four Genies - 7, Alone Again -2, Ami - 6, Akane -3, All the
Amazons -1. Rei & Minako -1
Cao Cao's China, or 1774 America?
China - 7, America-14
who goes with him on the Labor?
1. Minako Aino, after all she's blonde and speaks English.
2. Nobody, it's dangerous and i should go alone.
3. Setsuna Meiou, she can pass for European most likely.
4. Usagi Son is blonde, she might not speak English but i could pass her off as some Nordic
country.
5. Why's Nabiki up there? Doh! i didn't mean! (On the other hand, Nabiki having an effect on the
Constitution...)
6. i thought i'd gotten away from Queen Serenity... no, i didn't mean to choose her! (This is the
mother of Princess Serenity from Skysaber's Choice)
7. Ami Mizuno, she can speak English and likely knows more about American history than i do...
8. Shampoo ought to be able to handle the HTH stuff for me, and primitive conditions wouldn't
be a problem for her.
9. Ukyo selling okonomiyaki to the Founding Fathers?
10. You specify.
Shampoo -2, Setsuna Meiou/Sailor Pluto - 8, Queen Serenity - 3, Ami Mizuno- 9, Edema - 2,
Nabiki - 5, by himself -1, Minako Aino - 2, Son Usagi -2, Cutey Honey -1.
What would Ami (a non-Senshi Japanese cram student) be likely to shop for when going back to
1774 for a prolonged stay with her fiancee?
1. Camping supplies, it's fairly primitive in 1774
2. Weapons, it's fairly dangerous in 1774
3. Ami follows Sailor Pluto's lead to gain a Senshi merger
4. See what sort of odds & ends she can get at the Rival Relief Office
Camping Gear- 3, Odds & Ends - 8, Senshi ID -8, Ami gets weapons -3
Where does Grey end up?
1. That Sailor Marionette World... (a Sailor Moon + Sabre Marionette fusion world)
2. That world of the Knight Senshi fighting the Dark Corporation and their Boomers (Sailor
Moon + Bubblegum Crisis fusion)
3. oh heck, Grey's Shinji Ikari?! (In a Sailor Moon + Evangelion fusion world)
4. Right timeline, wrong time- they're in feudal Japan!
5. Right timeline, wrong time- they're somewhere in the Age Of Dinosaurs
6. Tropical Island, hmmm. This is where Jared wanted them to go anyay... let's leave 'em there for
awhile
7. That world where the pokemon and human roles are reversed and even further polarized...
8. It's the right place and time? It's a miracle!
9. They're seperating! Looks like the stress was too much for the wagon. They'll all be thrown
into different timelines!
10. Into Jared Saotome's timeline
11. A dimensional Nexus point, identity: Aramar.
12. RIFTS Earth
13. That world where Senshi and Yoma are all types of Pokemon. (SM+Pokemon fusion)
14. A timeline where Serena didn't survive her battle with Metal'la. (SM Darkline)
12. Grey's world of origin
13. An Eva+SM Fusion, as #3 but Grey is Usagi Ikari?
Real World - 5, World where Serena died -4, Aramar -3, Gilligan's Island -5, PokeSlave world -2,
Sailor Marionettes -4, Jared's world -1, Right World -3, SM+EVA fusion -15, Senshi as Knight
Sabers -4