Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Third Labor (Forward to the past) ❯ Full House, Marionettes Wild ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Discord's Bet (Third Labor)
chapter five: Full House, Marionettes Wild

DISCLAIMER: many series crossed over or fusioned. self insert.

---Program 2---
-->Blueberry<--
-----START-----

The marionette awoke to a kiss that was hesitant and tender. Her virgin circuit kickstarted with
glee.

Then the kisser collapsed, coughing weakly.

"I'm injured, can you get us out of here?"

Blueberry looked towards the source. Another marionette, much as herself. Her battle computer
indicated that this other had a high potential combat rating, however she was currently damaged
in one knee and one shoulder. Blueberry set her Master down and scanned the surroundings.
"Affirmative. There is a secret passageway *here*."

Apple blinked as the new unit opened a section of wall.

"First priority. Getting him to clear air. Second priority treat for smoke inhalation." Blueberry
lifted the weakened fixit man. "Are you mobile?"

"Mobility reduced but effective." Apple glanced at the other units. "What of these?"

"Will return and connect power." Blueberry vanished into the opening, returning without
Mamoru.

"Oh," said Apple, limping through the opening.

------

Another timeline:

The Dewclaw approached the planet, roaring past a thin asteroid belt in a manner that would have
given Ami cause for complaint. (You can't have engines roaring in space, you can't do high speed
aerobatics manuevers in a vaccuum, you can't zip in and out of an asteroid field, and many other
things that Ami would have found objectionable.)

Meria guided the ship past the multiton moonlets without a hitch. Which impressed the heck out
of Moom and Mareya.

"Dantooine, eh?" Mareya tried to look like she knew what she was doing. "Rebel base of some
kind?"

"No," Vena answered. "It started out with a small native population, who got about to Bronze
Age equivelants until the breakup of their moon and a plague wiped them out. The Rebels found a
vanished civilization and used the buildings for their own base. Then they cleared out, following
their 'constantly on the move' policy, a few years prior to the Empire arriving and setting up camp
in the same area. The Empire made it a resupply base for their Death Star, and when that went up,
they abandoned this place 'temporarily' - it's been six months since the last soldiers left to return
home during the riots."

Mareya made a warding gesture. "How did you know that? The Force?"

Vena shook her head. "Nah, I read the astrogater entry on the way here and just finished
accessing the base's computers. Place is emptier than a stormtrooper's credit account after a two
week furlough. Bad news: they took a LOT of stuff with them when they bugged out. Good
news: that still leaves a lot of stuff."

Ed nodded, visions of TIE fighters and other goodies dancing in his head.

Kiyone, current captain of the Dewclaw, settled back into her chair. "Take us down, Meria-san!"

--------

An SMJ Timeline:

The others stood nearby, their eyes the usual unfocused look of marionettes.

"Current situation requires a better safety margin than presently obtained. Additional
reinforcements required." Blueberry lifted the weakened Mamoru, and brought his lips up to one
of them.


---Program 3---
---->Grape<----
-----START-----

Grape's violet eyes blinked in confusion. "What?!"

Apple glanced at the other two. "What about them? Apple doesn't recognize them at all"

Blueberry considered briefly. "Apparently common Aya and Kotono models."

"Sempai said something about having some experimental virgin circuits," said Apple.

Mamoru recovered enough to look around at his rescuers. "Request designations."

"Blueberry," said the one in a blue kimono, "Analysis and data retrieval. Sabre Marionette
Special."

"Grape," indicated the younger-looking one. "Combat unit. Specialty: naginata. Sabre Marionette
Special."

"Identification: Ginseng," came an unfamiliar voice, as another marionette dropped down out of a
tree. "Statement: You are late, Mamoru Tengoku. This unit is here to escort you to Doctor
Lorelei."

"There they is! I sees 'em. I sees 'em."

Ginseng looked briefly towards the approaching trio, activated a beam-saber and moved to a
guard position. "Statement: attempting to proceed will result in immediate death for criminal
elements. Statement: I have confirmation of permission to kill from the Palace."

Hammer hesitated, seeing his target so close. "You're bluffing."

Ginseng's expression didn't alter in the slightest. "Declaration: this unit never bluffs."

"Yeah, right!" Hammer motioned his two henchmen forward.

*SHUMMMM! VISSSHHH! THUD THUD.*

Hammer stared. "Uhm, Chisel?"

Drill looked at the two halves of Chisel. "Y'know, Hammer, maybe it ain't bluffing."

Hammer pursed his lips. "Maybe. We'll be back!"

Ginseng considered the possibility likely, but assigned a low probability that they would be more
successful. "Reminder: Tengoku, Castle. Query: Do you require assistance?"

"That might be good," agreed Mamoru, still not feeling too well.

"That might be necessary," added Apple.

---------

Goddess Relief Office:

"Lock on!" Amaterasu said. "Just as suspected, he reincarnated in that Sabre Marionette
timeline."

"Oh, dear," said Belle. "Several of those androids are in the shape of various fiancees, aren't
they?"

"Looks like the seals on his memory from that Silver Millenium incarnation are coming undone,"
Celeste's voice was wry. She'd never approved of this "blocked memory" stuff anyway. "Oh well.
Stuff happens."

"Looks like Makoto's already awakening, though her native incarnation is dominant." Amaterasu
frowned. "Where'd Akane go? She didn't go THERE did she?"

"Looks like she merged with Scarlet over in that timeline the Pheonix Mage has been playing
around in." Belle began bringing up displays. "Ami and Minako joined Makoto and Hotaru in
merging with their native selves. He's currently met up with Makoto, Hotaru, and Ami."

Amaterasu checked a few displays. "Set up a Recall on all of them. As soon as he reunites with
Minako, activate."

Celeste urked at that. "What?! What about the translation factor? If we bring them back without
regaining memories or full function..."

"Doesn't matter, there are two Greys in that timeline." Amaterasu clicked a display. "Even though
one is a soulless automaton, it's setting up a bug-port."

Celeste groaned. "We've got a transtemporal dislocation through an SM access. Enters the Third
Labor line in its history. Tracking."


--------

Eyecatch #11:

Grey in a framed picture. With a click, it flips over revealing a Triax Manhunter cyborg (though
with the missile tubes removed). Click/flip: the sexangel. Click/flip: Mamoru Tengoku. Click/flip:
a young man dressed sort of like Ranma Saotome. Click/flip: Ranko. Click/flip: the marionette
Ginseng. click/flip: a silver dragon who seems to be fleeing from Queen Serenity.

Eyecatch #12:

Kasumi Tendo in a framed picture. With a click, it flips over revealing Kasumi as Sailor Angel
(Featherbrite's Tale). Click/flip: Kasumi, heir to the Tendo style of naginata use. Click/flip: nurse
Kasumi. Click/flip: djinni Kasumi. Click/flip: three nearly identical Kasumis examining each
other...

-----------

Third Labor timeline:

April, 211 AD:

A tiny little area in a flyspeck corner of the Unified Chinese Empire. One where will-o-wisps
formed in the late afternoon dimness and gathered into a single mass in a canyon near a well
tramped trail.

One young warmaiden watched silently, her hand over the wound in her side. Whatever the spirits
did here could be as nothing compared to the battles that had occurred on the plains below that
morning. And now she, Mei Yan, was to die of a spear wound without reporting to her village
that the Armies of Zhong Dhou now approached!

The mass of white twisting cloud abruptly opened and formed a tunnel.

Whatever Mei Yan had expected, this was not it.

"Diamond Beach at last! Yeeeehhaaaaa! Last one in the water is a..." The Pheonix Mage lowered
his surfboard, looking around and not seeing the injured maiden. "Aw nuts. I *knew* I should'a
taken a left turn at Albuquerque!"

A male wielding such powers meant that he *had* to be of the forces of Evil now sweeping
towards the last pocket of resistance. Mei Yan tried to pick herself up. Maybe she could get one
last spearthrow before she met her ancestors!

--------

Jared took out a large object that seemed to twist and turn in all of the wrong dimensions so that
it warped the eye to look at it. "Let me take a look at this map. You'd think after all this time
someone would have at least come up with a way to make these easy to read..." He looked up in
the most curious way.

"Jay-chan?" Asked a small horde of females in bikinis wielding picnic baskets and beach
umbrellas.

"No, wait. I'm trying to identify the sensation... Aha! That was it. I was just struck with a spear in
the back of the head. I should have tested this new defensive spell before putting it into use, it
feels so funny. But that archangel *did* recommend it so highly." He turned around to look at the
mountainside, lifting a globe of fire in his off hand.

Mei Yan had just watched as her spear had converted into a harmless spray of light as it struck the
back of the man's scalp, little wisps and sparks spraying about like streamers as the good wood
and steel weapon ceased to be. Rather than close her eyes and wait for death, the maiden released
a blood soaked hand from her side and tried scrabbling for a rock to throw at the infernal thing.

Thus it was that she was rather surprised to find herself suddenly whisked off of her feet, placed
upon a soft surface of pristine silk sheets, and being fussed over by a core of about fifteen women
now wearing white robes and masks over the lower parts of their faces.

"Diagnosis?" The male asked, with his back to the party, scanning the hillsides for danger.

One of the women with short blue hair and kind eyes had looked over Mei Yan's wound and
reported while another with yellow hair in an odd, dumpling style with twin ponytails held her
hands over the gash and applied healing energy. "She's taken a deep spear wound, but she'll be
alright. It's only punctured one lung and a few ribs, nothing we can't take care of in a sec. But
there are some infernal traces."

"Taken care of already." Reported a woman with long, green hair.

"Infernal?" The man said with evident glee in his voice. "Oh goody! Target time! Do you know
how many?"

"Light entertainment or a full evening's workout, you mean?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. I haven't killed anything evil in... why, it seems like minutes!"

Several of the women cooed appreciatively.

"Aw, Jay-chan, it couldn't have been *that* long, could it?" One of the prettier ones said, taking
him comfortingly by the shoulders.

Mei Yan's head was spinning.

"You can't know what it's like." The man became all theatrical, though Mei Yan sensed somehow
that he was joking, and that the tears weren't real. Certainly the reaction of the women was one of
humor. "Why, for a moment there I was almost afraid of not being attacked by hordes of tentacled
monstrosities yearning to slurp our brains out. To never again face down an endless stream of
gibbering spirits or ravening ghouls! I don't know what I would have done with myself."

Mei Yan would have slipped away but their words were sparking such confusion she couldn't see
straight to leave the bed they'd placed her on.

The pretty ladies all shook their heads in commiseration, tinged with laughter. The one holding
him made concerned sounds. "Oh, don't you worry. We'll get something up here right away for
you to defeat in glorious single combat, then we'll go off to the beach."

The warrior maiden was suddenly the object of everyone's attention.

"Excuse me." One of the blondes asked. "Is there a place one can fight evil around here?"

------------

An SMJ Timeline:

The reactions of the groups meeting each other were intriguing to both Ginseng and Doctor
Lorelei. The Shogun Ieyasu was also interested, but had been rather nervous about Lime being
present and chosen not to attend. At least until some way to return him to a more normal size had
been found.

Cherry was fairly friendly and becoming fast friends with Apple. Bloodberry viewed the whole
group suspiciously. Lime kept trying to play with the others.

Apple was chatting amiably with Cherry. Blueberry was examining the various machines. Grape
was the only one interested in playing with Lime, a game of cat's cradle from the look of it.

Otaru was telling Mamoru about some of the problems he'd had with his marionettes as they
developed. Mamoru was taking notes.

The two normal marionettes were being fitted with Mamoru's "Ishi Kairo" by Gennai, even
though it had been amply proven that it had nothing to do with Apple's development.

"Observation: those involved with the assault did not appear of sufficient mental acuity to have
developed long range motivations or plans." Ginseng swept her hair back with one hand, seeming
to consider her fellow marionettes for a moment.

"Huh?!" Lime exclaimed, looking up from her game of cat's cradle with Grape. Grape was
currently tangled up in a web. Hers or Lime's was unclear.

Gennai snorted and continued work. "Ginseng means that the ones who attacked Mamoru's group
weren't intelligent enough to be operating on their own. They were stooges or flunkies, most
likely. From the sound of it, they're even worse than the 'Japonesse Hell Crew'."

"That bad?!" Cherry was startled. Worse than those wannabe-bad guys who had adopted her as
their boss? Was that even possible?

------------

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch... err, Nichieju 211 AD:

"Is your countryside infested with demonic hordes? Have you any bloodthirsty neighbors making
pacts with unclean forces? Are there gates from hell appearing at local garden parties? Well then,
call the professionals!"

Mei Yan STARED at the young man as he stood in the square of their village with a large sign
proclaiming him to be a Champion of Light for hire.

"Massed incursions of darkness? No problem. We are on call 24 hours a day to serve all of your
infernal elimination needs. Budget rates for teeming throngs of mutants. Demons exterminated
while you wait. Supernatural enemies of all types are a specialty. Ask now for our low monthly
rate."

One of the elders manifested enough to courage to ask him. "What do you charge, young man?"

He acted supremely startled, or at least amused. "Money? Why, I give it to *YOU*, of course!
How else could I obtain the honor of defeating a few hundred atrocities on what are rightfully
your hunting grounds? No, I insist. Would two chests of gold be enough? How about I throw in a
basket of polished jewels? Okay, you drive a hard bargain. How about three?"

It was then, when just about the entire village was about to give him up for a lunatic, when one of
the young ladies held forth a hand and a glorious panorama opened up before their eyes, granting
them a vision of this youth in combat moving at a speed their best warriors could only
approximate by being flung from catapults (young Lo Yang had tried that once and never
expected to live it down even if he had a city named after him), slaughtering fiends and infernal
creatures with single blows too swift for most eyes to follow.

It was very impressive, that they should treat the magic to do it so casually, even should
everything it showed them prove a fraud.

Mei Yan wouldn't have taken him to the village but had honestly nothing to do with it. They'd
either read her mind or already knew, and both options were as disturbing. But then, they didn't
seem *dangerous*, only insane. Insane, that is, unless they were actually *capable* of
doing those things!

In which case they were a direct gift from the Gods. Remembering back to a certain spear
transforming into light, the warrior wasn't sure what she believed.

---------

Another Timeline altogether:

Genma did what Genma did well. He hid. He lived off theft and the land and by any methods he
could. Transformed into a panda, he could do that even easier in some areas. But he remained a
man, and so silently checked in on his family and Soun's after ten years had passed on his timeline.
And so, in the fall of 2002, a man who had been portly many lean years ago snuck about Tokyo
and its environs.

Nodoka had married Soun. Well, at least the two families had been united at last, no thanks to
that weak and ungrateful son of his. They had apparently had another child and were expecting
another.

Both Kasumi and Nabiki were living elsewhere from what Genma had been able to overhear.
Nabiki had gone to an American business college and was apparently now living in that country.
Kasumi had relocated to Juuban and was managing a shrine after Rei's grandfather had passed on.

Akane had broken up with her high school sweetheart, gone through a series of long and tawdry
affairs, then decided none of those were for her. She'd had a boob job and was now an actress in
daytime soap operas.

As for the remainder of his old family: Makoto and Ukyo. The two had opened a small restaurant.
Ukyo handled the meals- okonomiyaki her specialty as always. Cakes and pies for dessert,
prepared by Makoto. It was struggling with neighborhood competition, but otherwise doing well.
Often the sound of music and laughter could be heard from within.

The old home had fallen into disrepair, including the dojo where he had spent so much time
training Ranma and his fiancees. As it was an ancestral home, it was not for sale, and the outer
wall concealed much of the problem. Still, it brought a sad glint to Genma's eyes as he moved like
a wraith through the rooms. Here was where Ranma had played with fingerpaints and signed a
contract. Here was where Nodoka had fixed her sliced daikon and smiled at her adopted children.
Here were the marks on the floor where Akane the lion had been dragged protesting towards the
furo. Here the patch he'd made when Ukyo and Rei had come to blows over who would scrub
Ranma's back...

Of Rei Hino or Akane Saotome, Genma's best efforts had produced no trace. Akane had been the
vibrantly alive extension of the Art, the Heir he'd wanted Ranma to be. Rei had been the
passionate one, energetic and emotional. Now both were gone. Everyone had given them up for
dead, though in Rei's case some supernatural entity was thought responsible.

Genma wiped a tear as he took one last look around the house he'd repaired so often, seeing the
useless memories and broken dreams. It must have been dust. Neither men nor pandas cried.

---------

"So, how many veritech squadrons do you think we'll need?"

"NO!" An image wavered to life over the field. Celeste had traced an interference track. "Pheonix
Mage, you are in that timeline by accident. In a little over 1500 years, Grey has to complete a
Labor in that timeline. The timeline is stable and has been mapped. You may *not* alter history!"

"But there are so *many* hordes. Are you sure they need them all? We could have a *few*
couldn't we? Would they really miss a few thousand demons here or there?"

"No..." Celeste began.

"Oh, of course, not, sugar." A shimmer of air and darkness walked forward with a sultry but
dangerous air.

"Edema," warned Sakyo to her Master, "a powerful mage..."

"...and maker of ice cream novelties," finished Jared. "What do you here, drow?"

There was a flash of irritation in the drow elf's manner, but she shrugged it off. "Why, look right
here, sugar. This here's a history of this China. You see where you can't change it, right?"

Jared glanced at the book, noting that the passage indicated by one of the drow's long nail
indicated that the Fourth Infernal Host was slain and the Amazon Village was found empty. Also
found evacuated were the prefectures of Nan Hai (1080 people), Jiao Zhi (1930 people), and Gui
Yang (1600 people). They were thought to have fled until they turned up in...

Jared glanced back up at where some of his girls were glaring daggers at the drow who was
glaring back. All were outlying areas, away from the capital. It *could* be that these were areas
just tipped off by refugees from elsewhere. Except for where and when those villages turned back
up again.

"Well, I don't have to take this hostility!" Edema hissed. "I've got more than enough to occupy my
time with work!"

Edema vanished. Celeste shook her head. "Why you two continue to have racial hostilities..."

Jared slipped the book into a sash. "Celeste, you wouldn't understand. I've killed a couple of
hundred drow personally and a few million indirectly, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The bad
blood between Drow and other elves can't be put aside easily, and it doesn't help any that on my
world there's a ceremony for elves who've joined the other side. Drow become High Elves when
they forsake darkness and High Elves become Drow when they embrace darkness, so seeing her
triggers fighting reflexes undimmed by meeting many light hearts under Drow skins. I'll tell you
what, though. At the end of this I *promise* to drop in her ice cream parlor and even have a good
time. How's that?"

All those who realized what it meant for him to have those God marks and make a promise
blinked in unison.

Celeste cocked her head. "What you said about enjoying killing Drow...?"

Jared actually chuckled in surprise. "Uh, no. That's *not* what I'd meant. I was planning on eating
a Potion of Good Humor before I went. In that state I couldn't hate Genma." He met the eyes of
the Goddess of J-pop. "Well, anyway, it will take me a little while to relocate. I'll
try to avoid the main forces then. No point in destroying the very people I'd rather see rescued."

Celeste nodded. "Your word that you won't violate history? This timeline gets messed up enough
on its own!"

Jared nodded. "I'll preserve its history as best I can." ~Especially if what I read is correct, in which
case, I'm already in here!~

---------

-->Program 4<--
---->Honey<----
---->Start<----

The blonde in the red kimono opened her eyes. "Master?"

--->Program 5<---
----->Melon<-----
----->Start<-----

T he raven haired marionette dressed as a shrine maiden blinked as if coming awake. "Master?!"

Mamoru took more than one step back. "Huh?!"

Gennai chuckled. "I'll trade the Aya and Kotono units for this one. I had a feeling..." Actually he'd
known about the link between Grape, Apple, Blueberry, Melon, and Honey for some time. They
had all turned up positive for that odd dimensional disturbance at one time or another. Now they
had something else in common: their Master.

Ginseng cocked her head. There was something familiar about Mamoru. She started forward,
curious to determine if closer proximity would resolve the odd indication.

-------------

Heaven:

"Okay, we've got to intervene!" Celeste noted the bugport indicator flashing in the SMJ timeline,
drawing her attention from the Third Labor timeline. "Get everything ready, we've got to do this
carefully to avoid a crossrip or template contamination."

"Okay dokey!"

Those present were goddesses, with a spark of the divine. That divine blood ran cold at the
unexpected chipper-vacuous voice.

Sif, Celeste, Belle, and Diane (along with some unidentified man in a bathrobe with a fish in his
ear) all looked up with sickened expressions to see that *Kitchiri*, goddess of bimbo, had
somehow appeared in the control room and was hovering near some controls.

"STOP!"

"GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

"So this is it, we're going to die."

"DON'T!"

Kitchiri jumped, startled, her posterior coming down on a set of buttons.

Among other things, the lights went out.

Sif's voice interrupted the silence in the pitch black room. "You know, there's times when that girl
is tolerable. This is not one of them."

"Can we engage her to the Pheonix Mage? He might be able to make something useful out of
her..." Diane was thinking lamps, statues, rugs, etc.

"Let me see," Celeste brought the power back up. "Oh dear."

"How long before we can at least monitor a timeline?" Sif frowned, looking around for Kitchiri
but the bimbo had already fled.

"Five minutes to bring everything back up from an improper shutdown. Another couple of hours
to monitor. A day or two to stabilize things." Celeste's bangs hid her eyes as she slumped at the
keyboard. "Looks like the grab worked, but it'll take us a week to find out where they ended up
with the transport interrupted. Together probably, though more than that I can't even guess. With
the bookmarks wiped it'll take longer just to track what the Mage is doing."

---------

The alarms continued to ring until the third time Lorelei requested they stop.

Baiko and Tamasaburo continued to prowl the grounds, though everyone pretty much thought it
would be futile.

"Statement: Dimensional disturbance has ceased. No indication of further activity. Analysis:
Mamoru Tengoku and his marionettes were pulled through the same sort of dimensional rift that
had appeared around the marionettes. Conclusion: without a means to travel inter-dimensionally
we will be unable to track further."

Gennai sat sadly, his two new marionettes unsure of what to do. "I've known Mamoru for years.
What do you suppose happened?"

"Observation: the marionettes bore expressions of surprise." Ginseng looked around, cocking her
head in a pose evocative of a wary bird. "Conclusion: this was unexpected even by the agency that
modified them or placed them here. Hypothesis: Sakyo is commonly believed to be the originator
of the templates for units Apple, Melon, Grape, Blueberry, as well as several others.
Extrapolation: these units were attacked or removed by the Enemies mentioned by the self-styled
Mage during his visit. Extrapolation: if the preceding is correct - said Enemies are removing
potential impediments to our destruction."

"We're not ready, we're not *nearly* ready," Lorelei groaned. "One decent hit on the capitals and
the backup hidden cloning facilities would still require months to be ready to run. Our ability to
fight longrange is terrible at present."

"Castle Japonesse could be ready to transform, but with the fist-rockets that's only two shots."
Cherry hovered protectively near Otaru. Yes, they'd beaten Faust's best, but against something
that could lay waste to a planet? She didn't have terribly high hopes. She (like the others) were
hoping that the Mage had been exaggerating but afraid he wasn't.

--------

Third Labor timeline:

Looked like a normal Chinese army, circa 211 AD.

That is, until one looked with magic or got close enough to recognize the pallid sores covering
flesh, the glowing red eyes, the forked tongues flicking in and out of fanged mouths.

That was the footsoldiers. The commanders looked even more human. Appearances were
definitely deceiving in this case.

The commander of this force of 1200 warriors looked up and sniffed. "WHAT?!"

"What issss, Captain?" The hiss of a sublieutenant indicated the Captain's alarm had not gone
unnoticed.

"Magic users." The captain sniffed again and grinned. "Looks like we may have a fight ahead of
us. Good. This was getting boring."

An invisibility field winked out as spell energy overwhelmed it.

"Thee who travel starlit void,
In my hand thy power's employed,
Missile of iron and heavenly fire,
Conjured to smite my enemies dire,
Wrath of the heavens, fiery storm,
I name thee now: METEOR SWARM!"

**KA-BLAM!**

The hovering Pheonix Mage watched as the explosions swirled through the center of the army. As
it only did a fixed (and not terribly impressive) amount of damage for a ninth level spell, it had
only been used for wiping out a fair amount of the cannon fodder ghouls.

He wasn't unhappy to see that the impact on the army was minimal, as well as the glimmer of
personal protection shields. The ground around them was superheated, so...

Shan floated alongside him and whipped her Powerkey Staff through a quick loop, firing off quick
bursts of energy to keep the fliers down. "At least that threw off the disguises."

"Ice and snow,
storm and blow,
Temperature plummet at rapid pace,
Ice Storm from my hands now race!"

As the Ice Storm spell settled over the battle field, figures broke the cover to rise to meet the
Mage. The battle was joined in earnest.

-----------

Minako Aino awoke, groaned and stretched. Then screamed loud and hard and long until a hand
slapped over her mouth.

"i *do* wish you'd all stop doing that." Grey sighed.

"But... I..." Minako stared at her hands. "I'm incomplete! My flesh is..."

"Oh that's right. You're Shinto, though less so than Rei." Grey nodded. One of the curious bits
about Japan that'd struck him many times. To have any loss of body parts marked one as unclean
somehow, yet they were fond of the whole cyborg concept in their mass media. This apparent
conflict was typically Japanese... "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad?!" Minako's voice was going up into the upper registers. "I'm a robot!"

"Yeah? And i'm a full conversion cyborg." Grey shook his head. "Look all of us need some time
to settle things down. Right now i've got several people in my head all screaming they're the real
me. Until we've all settled this down, we can't get much done."

Minako winced. Or was she Honey or Vena? It was all so confusing. "Who?"

"Mamoru Tengoku. Sometimes Ranma Saotome, though definitely not a canon version. Or the
Moon Kingdom Knight known as Nebula. Or Grey, cyborg and agent of Asgard's Rival Relief
Office. Or Kei Ling, peasant soldier under Cao Cao's flag. Or Frostbite, a silver dragon priest of
Etragar the Healer. Or..." Grey stopped as he saw a look in Minako's eyes.

"Master?" Honey asked, shoving aside the Minako personality. Then another personality came
forth. "Cousin?" Venus asked of Nebula. "Orion? Grey?" Minako reasserted herself as she
searched the metal man before her.

It nodded. Or he nodded. They nodded? Minako thought it confusing but essayed a smile in
return.

Minako relaxed and started drifting off again, the various personas knowing a measure of peace.
Her Master/boyfriend/favorite cousin/husband was here with her. She was in an unknown
situation in an unknown place, facing who knows what, but she was with someone she could
trust. Honey loved and trusted her Master, and if it were a line of programming code did that
make it less real? Venus remembered her stuffy old cousin Nebula, who quietly endured her
teasing for years and was as dependable as anything. Orion her pet cat who'd been her late night
confidante from when she'd been a child, then her transforming boyfriend Grey, finally revealed as
a 'Ranma' who had been a dragon that could assume the form of a cat or a human at will. One part
of herself whispered to another part of herself that some of her lives had been more complicated
than others.

=================

Well, i had a request to term the SMJ xover. So i did.

Oh well.
And to keep track of the lumped lives: (most dominant aspect listed first)
Apple (marionette) = Makoto Kino = Princess Jupiter
Honey (marionette) = Minako Aino = Princess Venus
Blueberry (marionette) = Ami Mizuno = Princess Mercury
Grape (marionette) = Hotaru Tomoe = Princess Saturn
Rei Hino (two versions) = Melon (marionette) = Princess Mars
Grey = Mamoru Tengoku = Frostbite (dragon) = Nebula = Orion (cat/dragon/Ranma) = "Ranma
(brother of Akane) Saotome" = ???