Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Third Labor (Forward to the past) ❯ Japanese omelet ( Chapter 14 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Third Labor Chapter 14

"Japanese omelette."

DISCLAIMER: somebody else came up with these characters, or some of them, or some version of them, or something like that. Story deals with alternate universes, time travel, and Bennu's Third Law of Temporal Escalation, and even what started as an SI character.

------


803 AD:

Grey moved his head wearily. Lots of weird dreams. Dancing like Fred Astaire to "Cutey Honey" doing a Ginger Rogers was strange. Attending a cosplay convention with Rei had been amusing. A dream with Minako Aino, this time as members of MiB (agents G and Ai) revoking the alien registration cards of two mooncats? Another dream of Ami, this time she was a pediatrician and he was a motorcycle mechanic and they were married? And why did she stick her tongue out at Setsuna all those times?

He'd dreamed of sharing a house with Setsuna, a room at the shrine with Rei, a tiny Japanese apartment with Apple/Makoto, of Hotaru graduating nursing college to escort them to their two bedroom apartment. He'd dreamed of a mountaintop chalet with Kasumi, spelunking with Nabiki, a lakeshore camping trip with Shampoo, and of a fireside chat with Ukyo. Nuku Nuku and her time spent on a tropical island.

He'd dreamed and it wasn't until they'd moved into lemon territory that he'd realized something.

These weren't *his* dreams.

He'd begun to get suspicious when Rei started introducing him to a lot of people he didn't know but she certainly did. Then she'd whisked him off to a private room at the same ryokan. It hadn't been until things dealing with sex started intruding that he'd realized something didn't fit. He'd begun fighting the dream, something he hadn't felt the need for when it was just cuddling. It had been like a battle of the channel changers, everytime he'd fought it into something safe, Rei had asserted herself and the scene had blurred and returned to *her* idea of wild passionate sex.

Then the others' dreams had likewise started going that route. It had been both bizarre and enlightening.

They didn't do it the same, and some of the details fell under "too much information." So far he'd been able to fight off to a stalemate, but it was only a matter of time before he was worn down. He'd known from kissing that they tended to do it a bit differently. Kasumi, for example, kissed in a manner that was gentle and soft and warm. Rei Hino was more a "I wanna kiss NOW" take charge sort once she'd gotten the urge. Setsuna, for example, was very much the "no nonsense" approach but had more patience and initial hesitancy. Once she had committed though, it was like the lonely soldier was making up for lost time and latched on with a strength and fervor such as you'd expect from a drowning man whose fingers have just touched a life preserver.

Nuku was playful and one of the few that didn't keep wresting control back from him. When he directed the dream towards cuddling, she happily went with that. Honey, on the other hand, was *very* demanding, and from her comments during the fight was desperate on some level for affection and this most basic human interaction as confirmation that she was human and desirable.

What was worse, and more insightful, about each was visiting their nightmares.

Honey Kisaragi's had been the first he'd encountered, and he'd managed to struggle and banish that one, changing it to one where he simply held her. Her dream had been the loss of her apparent humanity, changing first to a mannequin, then losing more and more semblence of
humanity until a broken machine that looked less human than R2D2 was left. Grey hadn't any idea how long he'd simply held her, flesh slowly regrowing over her frame, but eventually she did slip into a deeper and more restful sleep.

Nuku Nuku's was similar. She was both cat and android, cyborg and catgirl, human and machine. Her fears seemed to be based on less losing her humanity than losing her *self* by becoming just a cat or just a machine. She didn't seem to have a clear concept of either, and didn't seem to fear either the android or human. She responded to comfort by curling up and purring. Certainly not the worst reaction she could have.

So Grey was very hesitant about opening his eyes and seeing what and who was in his cave. Then the ravenous hunger took over and higher brain functions shut down.

------

Ranma/Akumakun Timeline:

Black Bart looked at the ingenue again. "Miss Kasumi, perhaps life as a desperado just isn't your style."

"Oh dear. Did I do it wrong again?"

Black Bart groaned at the sight of Kasumi Tendo, carrying a tray of cookies, and interrupting his men (and woman) from their attempts at a cattle stampede. "Miss Tendo, err, how do I put this in a proper right fashion? Milk and cookies are really not appropriate for the proper villainous atmosphere we be putting out here."

"I'm sorry."

"That's all right, Miss Kasumi. We'll find other uses for y'all."

-------

Six years had been a long time, and as the currents of time were so strong and hard to navigate that only Setsuna could manage it (and it tended to exhaust her reserves rather thoroughly), some of the girls had given up. They might have stated that they would be back, but it didn't make much difference at the moment. Once gone off to their own pursuits, they had not returned. With the exception of Setsuna herself, who freely admitted that she did not care to rough it at all.

Had Grey been awake, he certainly could not have blamed anyone for giving up. He was trapped in his Labors, uncertain if he would succeed, stuck in time (Setsuna *had* tried moving him in human form to the proper era, only to discover that the time vortex was centered on him), and not able to offer much comfort.

Everyone admitted that the living conditions in the Ninth Century, well, they stunk. Literally and figuratively. Visit the locals and you risk paradox as well as any number of nasty diseases, though Setsuna *was* able to cadge a number of things from those nice people at that monastery she kept vanishing to.

Ami had gone off. Medical school beckoned. Her chance to become a pediatrician.

Minako roughed it for three days, but had begun losing weight rapidly. Having to kill your own food was a *big* minus for her and a few others. She'd quietly folded on the third day.

Apple, sometimes known as Makoto, stuck with it for six months. Then she'd forgotten to boil her water sufficiently once. Like Minako, she'd had to go back and receive medical treatment.

Rei had only lasted a day before she fell off a log and broke a leg. She returned to the future as well.

And so the war of attrition had continued.

---------

Ranma/Akumakun timeline:

"No, Ranko, hold the bucket with the other hand."

"Weren't we going to dump it out?"

"Yes, but on the porch. We've got valuable sudsy water here, no reason to go wasting it. We'd only have to mix up another batch to scrub the front porch. Besides, you remember making that soap, do you really want to go wasting it?"

Grumbling about never believing his pops saying girls were weak again, and adjusting her bonnet over her western style house dress, Girl-Ranma went and dumped the bucket of wash water over the front steps and began scrubbing while behind her Sherry and Nabiki went on hanging the wash they'd done in that water.

Nabiki looked more than slightly peeved at the task, grumbling around a mouthful of clothes pins.

"Nabiki, did you just say something unladylike?"

The expression on the Tendo girl's face was priceless, but it confirmed that statement. Sherry shook out a blanket on the line and sat down, to both other girls' startlement. She laughed and said. "Contrary to your first impression, you're allowed to take frequent breaks in housework just so long as you get things done. We've had all of the startup costs to get through, maintaining a household once you have it in order is much easier. So go ahead, take a breather."

Moaning with fatigue, Ranko's arms shivered and she collapsed onto her face on the wet boards. Looking a little peaked herself, Nabiki slumped to a seat on the grass.

Sherry giggled, shaking her head. "You two... this is not so bad, you know."

"Says you." Came back the chorus, with Nabiki wondering out loud how Kasumi managed to survive a lifestyle like this.

Sherry leaned back and let the sun play on her face. "A couple of reasons. One, is that you're not just dealing with the effort of the work here, you are paying extra effort to learn how to do these things. Then there are the muscles that've never been worked that way. So in all you are still overcoming the initial foibles of acquiring the skill. Things get alot easier later on." The redhead looked around. "Then there's the fact that we're getting the ranch up and moving, so you're getting hit with alot more work than normal because we're establishing a home instead of just keeping one running."

Her face crinkled with merriment. "But mostly you're not used to it."

"Why are you even *here*, anyway?" Nabiki moaned from her seat on the grass. "Didn't you, you know, get your ticket out of here or something?"

Sherry shrugged. "I had things still here to learn. Besides, I am only one of me. Thanks to that trick with the holding thingy there are now a good half dozen of me running about. Only one is the *real* me, of course, but good luck finding which one."

Nabiki grumbled something.

"Tsk, Nabiki, that *also* sounded quite unladylike."

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

Ginseng/Shinji/Nebula waited for Ami to gradually recover from her shocks, watching her nervously as he did.

Lorelei, Madoka, and Anni were all also watching Ami nervously. Her "daughters" were unsure of what to do, and their previous attempt at "Mother-Daughter bonding" had caused Ami to scream for help. It had taken Nebula some quick explanations that no actual physical bonds were used before they'd untied Ami.

Ami eyed her "daughters" uncertainly. Marionette androids, robots who had emotions that they were still developing. In many ways the three were children despite being her own age in appearance. She had watched "Kimagure Orange Road" and so the likeness of Madoka Ayukawa touched a chord of memory. In some ways Madoka reminded Ami of her friend Makoto. Then there was Doctor Lorelei, with her cascade of strawberry-blonde hair. And finally Anni - "Why Annipuma?"

"She was one of two Puma class prototype marionettes," explained Nebula. "i was developing various new styles of marionettes and the Puma class was one. They were mainly intended as tank killers on a world where helicopter gunships could not fill their usual role. Fast and manueverable, enhanced sense of hearing and good nightvision capabilities, those spiked knuckles on her gauntlets are a discharge device for a sonic spike to break through armor. When my chance came to leave, i couldn't sneak away with all of my prototypes, so i just left a message to follow when they could and only took the three physically closest to me at the time."

"Then you have others?" Ami frowned. "I thought you said there were only these three?"

"With me. i had prototypes of all the basic models that i'd come up with and developed." Nebula gestured and Lorelei walked up to him, then turned to continue quizzically looking at her "mother." "Lorelei is a one of a kind, because she uses human engram technology. Madoka was also unique, and had been rejected by the Palace as they felt their own Sabre Marionette O series to be better overall. Madoka is stronger, but slower and fatigues faster."

Ami blinked a few times. "Eh to. So they're in this other world, and they're unlikely to show up."

"Yeah, i gave back up commands. If it proves impossible to follow me, they'll turn up at Doctor Lorelei's office and find work there." Nebula shrugged helplessly. "i was interested in exploring the rest of that world and my death was quite possible. Having a Moon Kingdom Prince summon me from offplane, *that* i hadn't anticipated."

Ami silently allowed that life *did* have a habit of throwing the unexpected in the way of one's carefully wrought plans. "So how much of you is Shinji?" She didn't say *her* Shinji.

"i'm the albino half-angel Shinji Ikari that you knew. i'm also Nebula, the Knight Of Duty, who was born in the Silver Millenium and became the consort of a Queen for a brief time. i'm also Ginseng, the marionette turned human woman turned human man who engineered new sorts of androids for the Japonesse government. There are aspects of myself that i know of that don't appear to be present. i am your Shinji and these others, but i seem to be missing a few pieces nonetheless. It's... troubling."

Ami could tell that he was indeed troubled by this, though she could only grasp the problem in a vague intellectual manner. "So what do you think happened?"

"i think they're still around, but seperate. Where, how, why, all these i don't even have a theory at this point." Nebula shook his head, causing his white hair to tumble. "Too many questions, not enough answers."

-------

Third Labor timeline: 806 AD:

It was a slow crawl back to rationality. Upon awakening from the Dragonsleep, all he'd been conscious of was the overwhelming hunger.

When he was finally fully aware, he looked around the field. Scattered bloody bones, and not many of them. He immediately proceeded to freak out from this. Nausea, horror, guilt, and shame overwhelming him. Even though all of the remaining bones were clearly not of human origin...

He couldn't have, could he?

Grey retreated to his cave, shaking with reaction to these events, so rattled he couldn't even get an Augury off correctly.

------

Setsuna Meiou stood on the flagstones of the monastery and looked at the ships with a raised eyebrow. Her seifuku had been put aside for now, a long skirt of cotton and a blouse of linen being more practical in the windy clime she found herself in. "Fairly large ships." She tactfully did not add "for this time period."

"Forty cubits was sufficient for Noah. Noah, unfortunately, nae attempted to be bringing a library." Korin indicated the arc nearest her. "They had to be built elsewhere and then sailed here, where we could load these ships."

"Good Christians should not slay Christians," said another priest's wife in the small crowd, "if'n it can be avoided at all."

"Feh, they be seeing a threat where there needn't be. Tis a sad thing, it is," added a third.

"I be missing this place already," began a fourth. "Yet this place the auguries speak of may be fine enow, it will take some time for it to be home."

Setsuna nodded, and waved upon seeing a familiar face beckon. "Pardon me, ladies. I see my friends are ready."

"Take care of yeself, Mrs Grey." Korin said as a dismissal, suspecting she'd never see the somewhat distant woman again.

"And you too, Korin, ladies." Setsuna quickly made her way across the yard to where three others waited.

"He should be awakening soon," Honey Kisaragi said to Setsuna.

"Should be," agreed Setsuna. "However, time and my usual methods of scrying, whether you count Sailor Pluto or the spells of a chronomancer, are a bit hampered in this timeline."

"Wanna visit Grey-chan," pouted Nuku Nuku.

"I agree with Nuku Nuku on this," said Hotaru, looking a lot like "Mistress 9" at age 19, but quite a bit more pleasant. "Grey-san is only two months away from being asleep the expected time. What if he wakes up and we're not there?"

"Then he will find the cattle ranging not far away," said Setsuna coolly. "We can catch up with him shortly thereafter. In the meantime there is a topic we should discuss."

"Nuku Nuku want to sleep with Grey."

Setsuna flinched. "That is precisely what we should discuss."

"She means the memories of his previous lives that we saw in his dreams," Honey said to a blushing Hotaru.

"Oh," Hotaru said a moment later. "Well, I'm just a friend anyway."

"Yeah right," muttered Setsuna under her breath.

"He's lived lifetimes he doesn't remember, save in dreams," warned Honey. "Still we should take them as serious because they help to shape him. He's been involved with more than one of the Sailor Scouts."

"'Senshi'" automatically corrected Hotaru and Setsuna.

"Whatever," waved off Honey. "We know from checking the records that in the Silver Millenium he was banished by Queen Serenity, had a brief fling with Jupiter until *she* went after someone who more embodied her ideal, then *you* broke his heart when duty called, Pluto."

"It was duty, and he understood that." Setsuna replied, well knowing that it had still hurt.

Honey knew what had been left unsaid. "Ami needed some time after seeing that time that she had been involved with him, only to end up holding her dying body during Lucifer's attack. Apple could deal with that time where he was the adoptive parent of Lita Storm, but Makoto could not. Minako and Rei likewise had their scenes replayed. He has *not* had any memories concerning myself or Atsuko, indicating that perhaps he's *never* been involved with us."

"He was, in the Pheonix Mage's timeline," began Setsuna.

"Being turned *into* Nuku Nuku is not the same as being in a relationship with her," interrupted Honey. "I've read the briefing on his First Labor. The only one actively interested in him in *that* timeline was Queen Serenity."

"There was also Nodoka Saotome, though she was waiting for the divorce to be finalized before she would express much interest," Setsuna corrected.

"After Genma, you think she'd be interested in someone her own age who displayed an understanding of concepts like duty and personal responsibility?" Hotaru joked, attempting to lighten the moment.

Honey wasn't easily distracted. "And those are the two reasons we should be there when he awakens."

-------

Keian glanced towards the keep, taking the moment to catch his breath. "They hae the power and ability, yet they be refusing to aid us in these troubled times. I know their ways are strange, and their laws forbid them to aid us o'er much, but it still rankle a bit at times. They can only make minor points and never advise us in direct fashion. Most strange."

"Aye," said Percival, who was still not the Arthurian figure, but had been named after him. "Sure are slender womenfolk, ye'd think a strong breeze would blow them over."

"No callouses on their hands either," Keian agreed. "Must truly be a strange life they come from. When we slaughtered a calf the other day, ye should ha' seen that darkhaired girl's expression. You'd think she'd never seen such a thing."

"She hadn't," said Percival, working his shoulders to get some of the soreness out. "Tell me, Keian. What think you of this bolthole the Father has chosen. These divinations and prayers are not my style, give me something I can work with me hands like a forge."

"I hae cast my prayers upon the waters and hae seen it." Keian said. "A set of islands in a land of warmth and sun. In some ways a paradise. Yet many things we'll need, we must seek elsewhere and bring to the place. And I see storms that do sweep in and scour the lands a' times."

Percival nodded, then lifted his load again. "Well, good enough, I guess. Tis their way, and this be ours. If'n ye say the place be there, that be good enough. It may not be perfect, but then, only He is."

Keian smiled and shook his head at the younger priest's statement. It was easy to dismiss the rough hewn younger man as some huge but simple fellow. Easy, but incorrect.

"Keian! Enough woolgathering," shouted one of the elder priests. "These supplies will not load themselves ye know!"

--------

Ranma/Akumakun timeline:

Kasumi happily hummed as she re-entered her house, ignoring the fact that Grey had rebuilt it.

Grey had long practiced a number of construction skills, and it was mainly these skills that he'd made use of over the years. He'd built walls and repaired houses in Asgard, worked aboard starships and constructed secret bases in a Star Wars universe, been a small time trader/repairman in the United Federation Of Planets, and similar roles in other worlds. A constant was that he was the sort to try and fix things whenever possible, and he was usually pretty good at it.

The Tendo Dojo was therefore fixed. That it didn't look the same was to be expected. Grey was not nearly as over-the-top as Jared tended to be. Every so often though, he'd get an idea. Then all Chaos would break out, in a manner of speaking.

And, as he'd wanted to safeguard Ami and had the assistance of three marionettes, it had become something entirely different indeed.

On the roof, in the hot tub, Soun Tendo wept at the thought of what the tax assessors were going to do when they saw this.

Kasumi wasn't oblivious though, she noted the changes long before she'd crossed the moat. She'd noted that there were now five floors and the top of the Tendo mansion was a greenhouse sort of thing. She hadn't seen the Tendo house get blown apart, yet she was quite aware that a different house had been erected in its place.

Kasumi passed the sensor array without a glance on her part or a beep from it. It was when she passed the grumbling about how weird this all was Akane that she finally got a reaction.

"KA-KASUMI?!" Akane's eyes got wide. "You've got hair!"

"Yes," Kasumi said, fingering the thick growth on her scalp. "That nice Mr. Bart gave me something for that. Said that it was a darn shame and that he was looking forward to kidnapping me again when I'd regrown the rest of it. Wasn't that nice of him?"

Akane blinked repeatedly as she digested that. "How?"

Kasumi pulled a bottle of some reddish fluid out of her purse. "This regrows hair. He said something about how a proper 'damsel in distress' ought to look the part."

Akane continued blinking. Genma, listening from where he was in a full body cast in the next room, could only moan in frustration. Finally Akane focussed in on salient points. "Did you notice that you're now a blonde?"

Kasumi nodded, smile still in place. "I may have to do something about that, though Doctor Tofu seemed quite taken with my new look."

"Doctor Tofu *likes* it?" Akane couldn't help but continue staring.

"Yes, I saw him on the way here. He acts so silly at times, though he really cares about his patients. He seemed a bit depressed when I lost my hair but cheered up when I told him that this formula would grow hair very quickly. From what Mr. Bart said, this might actually grow my hair longer than it has ever been. Won't that be nice?"

Genma wept copious amounts and wondered how he would get his hands on whatever it was that would regrow hair that Kasumi had. He had seen Kasumi even more bald than he was, and vowed that whatever it took, he would get his hands on this miracle. Maybe it was some sort of idol or something. Or, considering that it came from Black Bart, maybe it was a cowboy hat or something.

Akane looked at the bottle and fingered her own hair, which had gotten damaged by neglect during the time she had been out. "Doctor Tofu..."

Kasumi happily went into her revamped kitchen, noting that it was much larger and that the stove was also bigger. How nice. She took a moment to glance in a mirror, still reveling in the fact that she had hair once again and that it was growing every time she rinsed with the formula. Now it was slightly longer than Nabiki's "pageboy" haircut, and tonight's application might see another quarter inch or so.

The eldest daughter of the Tendos reflected that Mr. Bart may be a scurrilous rogue, and might be a villain, but he was polite and well mannered and treated her with respect. She contrasted him to a number of people in her life, and found that Mr. Bart was likely the closest thing she had to a suitor. While she liked silly Doctor Tofu, he was just plain *too* silly. Whenever she tried to have a conversation with him, he'd start giggling or dancing with his skeleton Betty or doing something else like that.

If only he wasn't a villain.

While she was distracted, Kasumi didn't notice someone taking the bottle of hair tonic.

-------

The gateway opened. Ami spent a moment looking at her husband in the glow before walking through, feeling her heart beat faster just from the touch of his hand on her own. And then...

"Not very defensible," noted Annipuma.

"Kinda small," said Madoka.

"Mama! Where's our rooms?" Lorelei asked brightly. "Ooo! A computer!"

Shinji/Nebula stared deeply into Ami's eyes. Ami stared deeply into her husband's eyes. Without any apparent cue, they started leaning closer simultaneously.

*SIGH*

The group sigh interrupted the two and they became aware of three marionette "daughters" watching with wistful happy expressions.

"Mommy loves Daddy," noted Lorelei. "Daddy loves Mommy. All comments about it being an unhealthy relationship and Mommy being a weak dysfunctional woman because she has feelings for a male to the side, it seems a fairly healthy relationship."

"i told you to take that NOW literature with a grain of doubt, Lorelei-chan," groaned Nebula as Ami merely puzzled over the reference.

"I still think 'Mother' needs to work out more," suggested Madoka, "and maybe carry a plasma cannon."

Annipuma nodded emphatically. "What if crazed mutant rat yoma attack like in that last world?"

"Uhm," Ami said, little sweatdrop in place. "Honestly? I'd call the police."

"If Genma attacks Ami, I have just two words to say on the matter." Nebula was suddenly holding his knightly weapon - the Chain of Duty. "Panda Steaks."

Madoka and Anni licked their lips and started fantasizing about peppered panda steaks.

Ami smiled, certain that her husband was kidding.

Lorelei considered for a moment. Maybe cracked black pepper, over a mesquite grill? That would tend to get most of the carcinogens out. Hmmm.

---------

Genma, sneaking out of his bed in the revamped Tendo home, shivered in a cold breeze. Admittedly the burn wraps and casts impeded his movement, but he was a master of Anything Goes. And in Anything Goes, action came before (or in place of) thought!

That there were pressure bandages, burn salve, and casts in place wasn't important. Getting his hands on whatever gave Kasumi her hair back *was* important.

The balding martial artist stopped at a corner, seeing Akane sneaking away from the kitchen. Dismissing such odd behavior, Genma continued on to stare at confirmation of what he had heard. It was a few shades lighter, but there was Kasumi with hair covering her head once again. As it was the wrong color, it was unlikely to be another wig.

An idea clicked and Genma snuck away again, this time rushing as fast as he could to where Akane had disappeared. The girl already had hair, but had taken it anyway. Conclusion: Akane's crusade against weirdness would have the youngest Tendo destroying whatever had given her elder sister hair again!

Clearly, this could not be tolerated.

Genma snuck with all the considerable skill he had in such endeavors. There! His prey had just snuck out of sight and was examining a bottle of some potion! Now she was drinking it!

Genma dashed forward.

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

Akane had taken the bottle of the latest weirdness to hit her family. She had wanted Doctor Tofu to notice her for so long, and had grown her hair long for just such a reason. Now she had longer, silkier, hair than her sister Kasumi. Unfortunately, this would soon change and Kasumi would use this to regain the lost ground.

Just a sip or two, and Akane could tell if this was something her often oblivious older sister could use safely or if it was merely more weirdness and would turn on them later. And if it made her own hair longer and silkier and got Doctor Tofu's attention: so much the better!

The stuff tasted horrible and Akane made a face as the first swallow passed her lips. Then she felt hands trying to pull away the bottle and she drank deeper, fighting back automatically. She realized it was Mister Saotome a moment later, but the sudden itching was so intense that she didn't pursue.

"Let go! I need that more than you!" Genma finally wrenched the bottle away from the girl, sending another two doses to splash down on Akane's face and the front of her dress. Leaping away, Genma chugged the remainder of the bottle in quick order.

-----------

Third Labor Timeline:

"I *told* you!" Honey Kisaragi said to Setsuna, her voice echoing in the empty cave.

"We'll simply teleport to where he is," Setsuna replied frostily. She wasn't wrong, after all. She'd simply been less right than she normally was.

Ami mused, seeming to wander away from the others. Partly she wanted to follow Grey. Partly she wanted to see if it could be done again. Partly she wanted to one-up that Setsuna Meiou and her smirkily superior manner. Okay, mostly the last one.

The sometimes Senshi of Ice tuned out the argument between Setsuna and Honey out, then the clumsy attempts of Nuku Nuku to play peacemaker, then the breeze and cold.

Finally she found the "heart of the dragon" within her and focussed her concentration on that.

Setsuna was cut off in mid-argument as Ami screamed in pain and triumph, her form blurring and lengthening, a tail forming and lengthening, wings snapping out to reveal bluish highlights and vanes among fine silver scales.

With a brief toothy grin and slight blush, Ami launched herself into the air, finding herself clumsy at first but quickly gaining confidence as she began experimenting with her power of flight.

Setsuna winced and held her staff up. "Okay, we've got to get to him first. Another teleport coming right up."

"Yay! We gonna go find Grey-chan!" Nuku bounced like a cheerleader.

Setsuna groaned at the utter lack of dignity held by certain young androids, but continued building energy for the Teleport. She was cheered slightly as Ami misjudged a thermal and lost a sizeable amount of altitude before catching herself. Ami obviously was an inexperienced flyer.

Honey, Nuku, and Setsuna teleported. Ami flew on, though she noticed there was some difficulty in *keeping* the dragonshape.

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

Grey flew on, wings beating as maintained altitude. They weren't dead, but he couldn't tell where they were. Odd that he could feel their presence like that, but they were out of range for whatever that direction sense thing was.

As it was, he thought he had figured out where they were: Japan. Fighting the demons that had infested their homeland. He should have figured that out sooner. Which meant that he had to get there as soon as possible and aid them. He'd seen demons working before, and they tended to be nastier than anything Queen Beryl or Nehelenia could come up with. They couldn't be prepared for that level of nastiness!

Grey felt an odd tug and almost shifted back to a human form. Even though his dragonform was natural now, he realized he didn't know that much about being a dragon. What *that* meant, for one thing.

Fighting a headwind, concerned for the odd drain, and preoccupied with what could be happening in Japan, Grey was rather surprised by three figures appearing in midair, less than ten feet in front of him.

While he was travelling at his full movement rate, at an altitude of 1200 ft, over the Sea Of Japan. Where it was reasonable not to expect pedestrians to suddenly to pop into one's flight path.

**WHAM**

Grey got control of his flight rather easily, his relative mass ensuring that the impact had minimal effect. Eyes quickly picked out the three plummeting figures. "Oh, FRAK!"

The silver dragon grabbed Honey with his left foreclaw. A wingover and tuck, and Nuku Nuku was caught by his right foreclaw. There was a moment of indecision as he realized that he had both "hands" full and Setsuna had been seperated from her staff. Oh well.

**SPLURCH!**

Setsuna landed with a wet sound on the only thing Grey could think of to catch her with. "UGHGHHHH!"

"Mmmrhphh mmmmb muurrr," explained Grey.

"Yes, I see that," said Setsuna, rotating her body so that the teeth weren't touching her and wiping spit off her face.

"Gnnn vrrrr mmmff! Unnnnn?"

"Yes, I think so. Can you angle under the staff?"

"Mrrrffffl!"

"Got it!" Setsuna held up her staff triumphantly, even if just her arms and head were sticking out of Grey's mouth. "I'll crawl up on your nose in just a minute."

A tickle in his throat, from a dislodged shoe, caused Grey to do something he was trying not to do. "Gmmmph. Ukkk!"

Setsuna braced herself against the sudden suction of Grey involuntarily swallowing. Odd. She suddenly felt... "Okay, I'm *not* getting up on your nose."

"Mrrfff"

"Because. You just sucked my clothes right off."

"Mmmrmfff?!"

"When you land, I'll use the hensshin stick and transform." Setsuna moaned at the thought of being stuck like this for several hours.

Nuku looked up from where she was being carried. "Nuku want to play too!"

-----------

Ami flew uncertainly, and found herself having to rest frequently. Looking at the black overcast skies, she hearkened back to a memory she'd seen in a dreamscape.

Another realm where she'd been neither Ami Mizuno - mage, nor Sailor Mercury. Instead she'd been Ame No Cygnus, and Usagi had been Athena Serenity - the reborn Athena. (Usagi had also shown a bizarre dual personality, as her usual self - she was the same Usagi she'd known back in Juuban. Then Athena would come forward at need and she was *very* different from Usagi.)

Grey had entered the timeline, had done what he could. And died. And died, and died. He couldn't save them. She'd watched as he held her duplicate's dead body in that other timeline, screaming his loss to the Heavens.

Ami Mizuno shuddered, the shudder passing from long sinuous neck to the spade shaped tip of her tail. He'd known them, all right. And it was obvious why most of his memories had been blocked.

Ami had taken some time while Grey slept, studied, taken her medical courses, then eventually sought out and found a lonely Sailor Mercury who had her place at Court and a pile of broken dreams and missed chances.

Ami was well on her way to becoming a pediatrician. She had a shot at making her chances and dreams, and was working towards both. It was easy for Mercury to see the reason to go elsewhere.

Nebula, the Knight of Duty. She knew how she could reach him quickly, but wondered how it was done. She'd only flown once before, and she'd never tried to teleport along a ley line.

Abruptly her human form returned. She retained enough presence of mind to cast Featherfall. She vanished shortly before she would have touched ground.

----------

Ranma/Akumakun timeline:

Jared stared at the signboard with his companions, interested in spite of himself. ~That's funny, I thought he wasn't due for some months yet.~

Two schoolgirls walked by him, chatting between themselves. "Did you hear the principal is returning today?"

"Yeah. I understand he's been studying in the Caribbean, some very intensive course work, or so they say."

"Do you think they might add some Caribbean styles to our dance class?"

"Oh, I sure hope so. I'm so tired of..."

The voices trailed off as they moved away. ~That's funny.~ Jared was thinking, walking after them into the school. ~Something is distinctly odd here. Principal Kuno was *supposed* to go to Hawaii and come back throwing exploding pineapples and coconut bombs. Another aberration, like the Martial Arts Ranching. I wonder if they're connected.~

He walked calmly past the bushes where Black Bart waited in ambush for 'Sherry' to come by. ~Sorry,~ the redhead thought. ~She's not coming to school today.~ He glanced apprehensively up at the sky. ~That is if I can help it.~

The young man was startled out of his ruminations when the windows of the fourth floor of the school building all opened up to reveal ranks of black powder cannon, which all fired in a single volley, shooting forth basketballs and beach balls and volleyballs and practically every spherical object that could've been stolen from the school gym. The hail of rebounding balls bouncing off of trees and school walls knocked down practically every student on campus that wasn't yet inside. Except (of course) for Jared (who simply dodged), Shampoo (who blocked with bonbori while saying something extremely unflattering about the Furinkan High School Uniform), Ukyo (who stood in front of her grill where she'd been making breakfast okonomiyaki for students and teachers who'd missed their home breakfast, using her spatula to not only block but return fire), Ranma (who took the first one in the face and blocked the remainder thereafter), and Nabiki (who proved that the kitty did have claws and could shred sports equipment aimed at her.)

Reflexively, the young man swung his book bag and deflected a cutlass stroke toward his ribs and found himself staring at a *longhaired* Principal Kuno, wearing a tricorn style hat with burning cannon fuses alight in the man's scraggly beard. Taking in the coat and costume and the man was a dead ringer for Blackbeard the Pirate.

"Arr, so what have we hear? 'Tis an officer in the King's Navy, err mah eyes don't see me right. Well, young squire, you're about ta visit Davy Jones as we drop ya in the briny drink. What say ye ta that, eh?"

Jared fought an *enormous* smile, stepping back as he dramatically cast aside his bookbag and drew forth a slim rapier in his left hand. He saluted the pirate with the blade. "I should say that I shall not go swimming today. Have at thee!"

He thrust with the intent of taking the man's hat off, only to find his lunge deflected by the Piratical Kuno ducking under a guide rope that hadn't been there a moment ago, dodging around the side of a mast that likewise appeared out of nowhere, and slammed him heavily in the ribs with a belaying pin plucked from that same mast. Jared went down clutching his unexpected bruise, yet did not release his sword.
Piratical Kuno considered him, and a parrot fluttered up to land on the man's shoulder. "That be a taste of the Caribbean, lad." He nodded as if regretfully. "I'd be tellin ya ta remember it, however ya not be needin to very long." With that he slashed upward and then down again, taking a bite out of the planking (planking?) when Jared had rolled aside before it hit. The youth came up with a stroke toward the pirate's ribs, which that other deflected by swinging a boom into its way, then ducking under that same object and coming at him with a flurry of cutlass blows that were hard to defend against no matter *how* accomplished a swordsman Jared thought he was. At every moment, in every circumstance, where he sought to gain an advantage some article of shipboard scenery would get or be shoved in his way. A quick glance around assured him that they *were* still in a schoolyard, only that schoolyard was now littered with barrels, ballast, masts, ropes, sails, an anchor and deck plates.

He got in *real* trouble when the pirate chased him up into the rigging.

Piratical Kuno stood calmly upon the beam as if it were the widest avenue in the universe. While Jared was actually quite accomplished at balance he'd grown too used to flying when circumstances like this came up. If he were in better shape he could've well played Peter Pan to this guy's Hook, but those abilities hadn't returned yet.

It was oddly disconcerting that he found himself in the uniform of a British officer of the period, too. Still, Jared held his own until the school cannon opened up for another barrage and knocked him from his lofty perch.

Somehow it was no surprise at all that when he fell he landed on a bit of planking spread out with an end hanging over the school pool. That there were sharks obviously swimming below was less concern than the fact that the eyes of the entire class body were upon him. If he fell, the curse would be shown.

Falling and rebounding had nearly caused him to bounce in the drink, but he scrabbled and regained his hold, pulling himself topside of the board. When he came to stand it was with no astonishment to see Principal Kuno standing at the edge where the board met the shore. The rigging and trees effectively cut off escape by leaping.

"It be a good fight, it was. I'll be sure ta toast ye, when next we set inta port, with a good tumbler of rum in yer favor. But now be the time fer ye ta walk the plank an put an end to it."

Jared found a smirk somewhere. "Yes, but there's something I know that you don't know."

A squinty eye widened on the other side of that smoky beard. "Oh? And what be that?"

Jared tossed his weapon from one hand to the other. "I am not left handed."

With that Jared lunged and surprise pushed the pirate back a step, allowing him access to slip aside and fight on the shore. The surprise lasted only so long. The parrot flew up and squawked loudly into his ear, disrupting his rhythm of attack and allowing Kuno to regain the advantage, which he proceeded to press soundly.

"It don't be making much difference, eh?" The pirate gloated, as he pulled a black powder pistol from his waistband and fired it at his
student's head. Jared had ducked aside just in time, though the smoke from the blast caused his eyes to water and drove him up against the mast, their blades locked as Principal Kuno pressed his much greater weight to move the swords closer to the young man's throat.

Jared found a smile. "Yes, but I'm not right-handed either." He drew another sword with his second hand and for once now he had something that could fend off the blows of his adversary and deal with the obstructions, while at the same time retaining some ability to attack. In truth, Jared was ambidextrous, it didn't really matter to him which hand he fought with. So he had become proficient with both.

Principal Kuno jumped up and let the ship's railing take one of Jared's thrusts, then his own cutlass blow was blocked by a rapier up in guard position. The youth plucked his sword out of the wood and followed the older man onto the railing, dancing back and forth in a weave of blades until he had pressed the older gentleman up onto the poop deck, where they began to fence back and forth, Jared driving Kuno in a circle while the older man ducked and dodged and weaved and used the ship's wheel to block and nearly disarm the young man of one of his blades.

Jared was finding that he'd not *enjoyed* a fight like this in some long time.

Finally he had the old man trapped, cornered in the stern end of the boat (where all this decking was coming from he'd devoted *no* attention to know). Anyway, the stern hung out over the school wall and Japanese traffic whizzed by underneath them in a blender-like high speed display that seemed more dangerous by far than shark-infested water. ~Traffic? In Nerima? Where did *that* come from?~

"Any last words?" He asked of the pirate, one sword point at his throat and the other back at guard, this despite the fact that he'd disarmed the
pirate.

"Just one." Piratical Kuno replied, using one raised hand to curl and point toward the school yard. When Jared risked a quick glance he saw the entire student body rounded up in a line with the first of the young girls, Yuka he realized, bound and gagged with her leather shoes standing on the base of the plank, a rowdy crew of pirates surrounding her. "Release me, or the sharks'll be feeding on their bones."

While not *quite* so gullible as to be unguarded, in his moment of surprise (first that this guy actually HAD a crew of pirates!) Jared was
watching for two things when he was struck by a third, as Kodachi's ribbon settled down around him, binding him fast. Kuno swiftly disarmed him and shoved him to his knees, while Jared was looking up to see Kodachi standing upon the railing, her usual leotard replaced by tights and a *very* form-fitting uniform, consisting of red jacket and boots. It was actually quite comely on her.

Principal Kuno finished brushing himself off. "Well, daughter, what say ye? Keel haul him or have him walk the plank?"

Kodachi was openly considering the young redhead bound by her ribbon "Are you sure, father? I would as soon destroy a stained-glass window as an artist such as him. Do you think we even should? I don't think he'll be reporting back to the Crown." Her eyes grew low and smoldering toward her target.

Jared knew what *that* meant, although come to think of it she certainly didn't seem her usual self, and the fight had been quite enjoyable. Kuno sat down upon a treasure chest and began to reload his gun, which Jared plainly saw was just a smoke bomb in a tube. Harmless but dramatic. Even a glance to the other's sword, now that it was not moving, revealed it to be blunted. A bit of memory showed that his cannon barrages had always been soft balls at low velocity. So he began to feel guilty over his own sharp blades, it appeared that this was all in fun. He rather suspected the sharks were robots that would thrash alot yet do no violence, merely scaring the frightened student out to scramble up the shore, amazed at how lucky they were.

From *that* perspective this had all been good, clean amusement.

All this while Principal Kuno had been considering. He reached a conclusion. Standing up, he headed off to the actual school building. "Bring him along. We'll make a cabin boy out of him and see what 'is worth is."

A pirate flag waved over the school building.

As Kodachi picked him up and started to carry him of to class, Jared was mentally wandering off to other topics. She might make a good set with his Tendo Twins. Off-character, but delightful.

He could hear people being moved into classrooms. Then heard a yowl and winced. They were after Ranma, Ukyo, Shampoo, and Nabiki. This... could get messy.

"Arrrr, get those lily livered landlubbers to Slave Galley Rowing 101! Must I do everything meself?!" Principal Kuno roared as he turned his attention to where three women and one boy were holding off the bulk of his forces.

Nabiki especially was looking ticked. Her ears were flat, her fangs showing, tail switching back and forth, fur bristling. She did not look even vaguely happy.

Jared spent a moment of wonder as the concept clicked. Nabiki as a catgirl had *very* feline traits in personality, particularly those traits that she'd had before and had mutated or enhanced by the transformation. Nabiki had chosen Ranma as her mate. While Ukyo and Shampoo (and to some extent Kasumi) were rivals, that's all they were - just rivals. She might have even seen them as challengers for the Alpha female spot in a pride. Nabiki saw swords and guns and was reacting as if they were after her property/territory and were set to take it. If Jared was right about the Alpha idea, then Nabiki would be responding to the ring of weapon users surrounding her as a threat to the whole pride.

Nabiki let out another animalistic howl. Jared wished he could see her eyes at this distance because he had a feeling that Nabiki's humanity was getting submerged and the Catfist was about to come out in all its gory. Or glory. Whatever.

"That didn't even sound human," said Kodachi, though not losing her attention enough to slack the ribbon binding Jared.

"What are ye fools doing, standing around like that?" Principal Kuno roared at his fellows. "Are ye men o' the sea or be ye..."

Nabiki moved. Most of the time she was a playful little kitty. Her "rivals" were seen as playmates most of the time. With the Catfist, she was on a par if not better than Shampoo or Ukyo, so there was no reason to take them seriously. Kasumi likewise. She wasn't sure when she'd come to regard herself as the lead girl in a pride, but it was amusing and fun. So she was just playful and smugly superior and affectionate for the most part. This was an exception. Swords and clothes were shredded. Guns and dignity came apart. No longer were the pirates facing a martial arts battle with persons playing by their rules. This was a five foot four inch white hot ball of outraged feline doing her impression of a cuisinart at high speed.

There were screams and yells as pirates fled, clothing hanging in tatters off their bodies.

"Come back here ye swabs! She be only one little girl!" Kuno yelled at his retreating men.

Nabiki turned, saw Principal Kuno. Saw what was sitting on Principal Kuno's shoulder.

"SQUAWK! I towt I saw a putty kat!" A terrified parrot knew with absolute animal certainty that THAT was a cat. A hungry cat. Nabiki pounced, knocking down Principal Kuno and then using his chest as a springboard as she leapt after the little tweety bird. "I did! I did saw a putty kat!"

Principal Kuno picked himself off. "Somebody get that damn" *KLONK!*

Shampoo lowered the bonbori, watching the pirate captain hit the dust.

Jared found a small spatula cutting through Kodachi's ribbon at the same time.

"Harridan! How dare you cross the Pirate Rose! I..." *CLANG!*

Ukyo put her spatula back in place. "Come on let's get to class."

"But, Nabiki..." Ranma pointed to the distance where a wildly flying parrot was trying to keep out of reach of a hungry catgirl.

"Ranma-honey, that girl can definitely take care of herself." Ukyo shook her head, glad at least that Nabiki had never attacked *her* like that.

Shampoo looked at the shredded clothing and weapons and wondered if she could learn that attack.

Akane came running into the schoolyard, saw the devastation, nautical and sports equipment, and came to a stumbling halt. When she saw her sister chasing a parrot around the compound wall, she just *knew* that that damn Jared had inflicted more weirdness on her family.

Well, she had a plan to deal with him!

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

Third Labor timeline:

Three riders and if he was slowed any, it was minimal. There was something to be said for being age category 6.

"Are we there yet?"

"Look down below, Nuku Nuku? See any land?"

"Oh."

"I just want a bath," said Setsuna, managing to put quite a bit of emphasis in that.

"Yeah, Nuku bets she's getting all wrinkly!"

"That's a pretty good bet," agreed Honey.

*~Should be another two or three hours at most,~* suggested Grey, having remembered that dragons were psuedo-telepathic.

"I've had better trips, to be sure."

"You could always join us out here, Meiou-san."

Setsuna realized it was hard to summon up one's dignity while naked, or nearly so, while sticking out of the side of a dragon's mouth like some toothpick. She tried, however.

*~Well, if it's any consolation, i think that your panties are lodged near the back molars on the right.~*

"I can summon a change of clothing as soon as we set down. AFTER I replenish my spell energies, and can get solid ground underfoot." Setsuna would *not* pout. It was a matter of pride. She might be stuck in her fiance's mouth between cheek and gum, dragondrool coating everything below the shoulders, her Senshi "sailor suit" being somewhere in said dragon's digestive tract, with a double teleport having drained most of her spell capability, but she was *not* going to play Lady Godiva in front of Honey Kisaragi. Much less Nuku Nuku.

*~i just hope we don't run into any flying demons. You do know that i can't use my breath weapon or cast spells with you there, don't you?~*

"I'm quite aware of that," Setsuna was beginning to feel put upon. Then startled at the idea that she'd spoke out loud.

* ~No, actually i picked up on that through my link with you. Which seems strengthened by physical contact. So, Honey and Nuku hear my replies, but not your comments. Awkward. i just wanted to point out to you that you're among friends here and nobody will think less of you for being dishabille.~*

Setsuna shook her head. It was too cold out there for her to wear this little. "Well, at least nobody else is..."

*Pop!* "aaaaAAAAAAAA! *snag!*

*~Ami? So nice of you to drop in.~*

Nuku made a face, not liking having all that water underneath her. "Are we there yet?"

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

a different universe entirely:

"Pika! Pikachu!"

Kiyone looked down at the little palmtop and read the translation. "Yeah, Ed, I think they'll do fine."

"Pika pi pikachu kachu." Ed waved a little paw at the departing repairship.

"A world called Alphonse IV, in the Megeara system. It's listed as being the 'Beach Vacation Spot' world. Not a Hutt controlled world, nor is it of the Empire." Kiyone shrugged. "One of those worlds that keeps independence by playing the various forces off against each other. I thought it likely that it would be a good place for those 'not the Senshi' to operate a repair service. People get there, their ships are busted, so the girls can fix the ships while the owners are off relaxing on the planet itself."

"Pika pi?" Ed looked up at his partner.

"No, they're having one of those 'Miss Swimwear' contests, and the last one I attended was embarassing enough." Kiyone's smile was a little sad at the memory. Nagi winning hadn't done wonders for her self-confidence.

"Pika." Ed privately wished that they had gone along with the group. It could have been amusing. Then he realized something. "Pika pika pi! PIKA!"

Kiyone looked at what Ed was pointing at. There were just some left over parts from where the girls had rebuilt their ship. No big deal. Except that looked an awful lot like. "Oh dear."

"PIKA!" Ed said, covering his face. Well, maybe he ought to consider prayer.

"Well, there's some longrange TIE fighters we could use to try and catch up in." Kiyone mused as she surveyed the hangar they were nearest.

"PIKA PI!" Ed argued, knowing full well that the 'flying coffins' had a reputation.

"Well, we need a bigger crew for almost anything else," Kiyone argued back. "These aren't almost completely automated like the Yagami or a Juraian ship."

"Pika! Pika Pi." Ed indicated. An Imperial shuttle wasn't armed, but it at least was manueverable and didn't require the pilot to wear radiation shielded underwear.

"Hardly any armor or shielding, no weapons. What about THAT." Kiyone pointed at a battered old ship across the field.

Ed drooped. "Pi." He was going to make his entrance to a bunch of intergalactic babes in a swimsuit contest, in THAT ship? That was rather like picking up your date to the prom in a primer colored Gremlin. "Pika pi." Would it even hold together that long?

"What other ship could we use that has even a chance to catch them?" Kiyone started across. "Let's see if I can get it started."

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

Ranma/Akumakun timeline:

Lunchtime at Furinkan High School.

Ranma sighed as he heard Akane's voice raised in a gripe again.

Nabiki purred and rubbed up against him. Shampoo growled under her breath. Ukyo slightly burned an okonomiyaki.

"What's that stupid Principal doing *now*?" Hiroshi said, ogling Shampoo as discreetely as he could. Especially after direct and obvious ogling had produced a short violent reaction.

Daisuke, still moving carefully and *quite* grateful that the real Akane had returned, looked over the notice. How odd.

"----NOTICE----
New Clean School Policy.
The decks need to be as clean and polished
as pretty as an Englishman's plate. All hands
will heave to during lunch period and after school
to batten the hatches and swab up the poopdeck.
Clubs and afterschool activities be cancelled till
the school be completely clean. Also no pets be
allowed or public displays of affection.
Mutineers shall be forced to be walking the plank."

As with everyone else who had read the message, Hiroshi and Daisuke immediately looked at Nabiki, Ranma, Shampoo and Ukyo. "Uh oh."

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

Okayama Hot Springs, about three hours bus ride from Tokyo-3.

Ami blushed, fidgeted and tried not to look at her husband *too* obviously. Proper Japanese decorum, after all.

Shinji merely sat back and watched the deepening twilight.

"Shinji... I..." Ami started to speak, but grew increasingly nervous. Where exactly did she stand with her husband now that he was also several other people? "Shinji, do you think that I - that is do you think that I'm... I mean."

A soft snore answered her.

Ami briefly facefaulted, and found that immersing one's head in hot water actually seemed to help her headache.

"Ami chan..." breathed Shinji.

THAT perked Ami up. He was dreaming about her? That gentle smile of his was in place. She remembered that smile. That was her Grey-chan's smile. She leaned closer as his lips parted, wanting to hear what he was about to mumble. It could be important. Whatever it was, he wasn't speaking aloud, so Ami positioned herself so she could better hear.

Some of the other hot spring attendees were staring as this shy-looking young girl started crawling over that young man. How aggressive!

"Land's sakes," said one old matron to another, "in *my* time girls weren't nearly that scandalous."

The other old matron agreed. "Hardly proper at all. It must be that new style of dancing."

Ami listened to the dreaming whisper, trying to make coherent sense out of incoherent rambling. Particularly when said rambling went into other languages regularly. It was made more difficult by her having to climb up onto him, and when her hand slipped, well, she'd grabbed onto him. But that was all right, he was her husband (or at least part of him was) so it was OK, right?

One old man turned to another. "You know, girls weren't nearly so forward in our day."

The other snickered. "Yeah, and a damn pity it is."

"Kinda have to admire that guy's cool. Girl's all over him and he isn't even making a move." The first old man shook his head. "Such self control."

"I dunno," said the second old man. "I think he's asleep. Which means he must *really* be exhausted."

There was much wicked speculation from the two about *how* the man had gotten so exhausted. It was fortunate for Ami that she couldn't hear any of that though, or she'd likely have fainted from the force of blush.

Ami slid a little closer, she could almost make out...

Ami slid. Shinji woke up to find Ami straddling and pressing up against him, still seated in the hot spring. "Thermal expansion. How embarassing..."

The two older women yelled in unison. "Get a room!"

The two older men began pelting the two older women with bath things.

----------

Ranma/Akumakun timeline:

Soun yelped and tried to spread himself across the wall. "MASTER?!"

"Well, well, doing pretty well for yourself, aren't you, Soun old boy?" Happosai tapped his pipe, leaving a pile of ash on the floor.

A bald panda in the backyard held up a sign. [I'm just a cute lil' panda.]

"You're looking pretty well fed yourself, Genma," noted Happosai. "You don't mind if I stick around here for awhile, do ya?"

"Oh my," said Kasumi, looking at the mess the short older person was making. She hoped Mr Bart wasn't lurking about at the moment to see such things.

"Hold it right there, pardner," said a voice as a shadow moved. His cape furled back and he tipped his black cowboy hat briefly at Kasumi before turning his attention to the short fellow. "Jes whatta ya think you be doin' there?"

Happosai looked over the stranger. "Who's this bozo?"

"Mah name's Black Bart, heir to the School of Martial Arts Stage Villainry. You shouldn't be causin' extra work for Miss Kasumi like that."

"Huh?" Happosai said, then fully noticed Kasumi. Too sweet and innocent for his tastes, but if this other guy was interested...

Kasumi blinked as the little old man launched himself, grabbed onto Kasumi, and began rubbing his head onto her breasts. She disliked resorting to such a cliche, but admitted there were times it was entirely appropriate. "Oh my!"

Black Bart, seeing his damsel-in-distress in distress, naturally saw red. "Martial Arts School of Stage Villainry, special manuever. Tie 'em up, move 'em out!"

Happosai dodged the half dozen lariat nooses sent in his direction and smirked. "You don't know who you're dealing with, punk. I'm going to have to teach you a lesson!"

Black Bart stood tall and met the little man's gaze straight on. "Ah believe that's mah line, you ornery polecat. So smile when ya say that."

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

Third Labor timeline

The fires were the first thing visible in the overcast night over 9th century Japan. The year was 806. Whatever was *supposed* to be happening in Japan during that time frame was unimportant, because of what was happening in *this* Japan at this time.

It had been almost two hundred years since the demons had conquered China into a single unified nation. There had been none of the emphasis on scholarly pursuits, no Great Wall built to hold back invaders, no shih or great monastaries of Buddhism. Instead there was an emphasis on ruthlessness, sneakery, and dark magic. Generations had been raised and steeped in a culture that had the worst elements of Aztec and Persian philosophies, spiced with things that a Kali worshipper might enjoy and only the nastiest could rise within their society.

They did not come to Japan to conquer it or enrich themselves. They came burning, slaying, and destroying because it was good sport.

"This does not bode well," said Grey as he flew over a wooden town from which fitful glows could be seen.

"What do you see?" Setsuna said, having finally been convinced to crawl out of Grey's mouth and put on a simple woolen shift. Didn't mean she was happy about it.

"There aren't any signs of life down there. There *are* some fair sized ships, look like troop transports." Grey made a decision, then made a swift turn and headed for a hillside well away from the transports.

Honey looked down to see their altitude dropping very quickly. "Where are we going?"

"i'll land over there," said Grey. "They've likely got powerful mages or ranged weaponry. We can approach from the ground with rather more concealment."

Grey flew quite well. Landings, well, he didn't crash nearly so badly as he used to.

"Water," Setsuna said, seeing a stream nearby and making a straight course for it. Getting dried dragon slobber off her was a primary consideration.

"Land!" Nuku Nuku exclaimed, not minding flying unless it was over water.

Ami looked about at the deep woods and was silent. Honey merely nodded and started making preparations for camp.

Ami was apparently satisfied with whatever she was looking for and turned her examination to Grey, being able to see his dragon form clearly for the first time. She'd seen him growing and shedding his skin, but that had either been cramped in his cave or while riding him. She hadn't gotten a chance to examine him prior to this.

His scales were finer, though there were still patches of old skin clinging to the new. He was larger of course, somewhere around seventy feet in length not counting the tail. The wing spines were thicker and more developed. The smooth head spines were a bit brighter, without that slightly sooty appearance that had marked them when he was younger.

Ami ran her hands along his side, feeling the cool silvery scales almost like water. She remembered reading up on the sixth age category of dragons. When he wasn't reigning it in, he'd be putting out an "fear aura" to 20 yards away that would send most animals and quite a few people scurrying. Part of having a magical metabolism. If he used his breath weapon or any number of other things, that would snap out of his control and start spooking everything in the area. Once he studied it properly, he'd be able to learn to bend the winds to his will by modulating that same aura.

Of course, she wouldn't be affected by that fear aura, even if it cut loose.

Ami felt a nudge from Honey and a brief whisper that she should stop fondling him for now. Ami froze, realizing she had still been stroking his scales and pulling off little flakes of the old skin.

Grey's tail lashed as his long neck extended up that he could more efficiently check the breeze. "i can smell the fires from here."

Ami listened to Setsuna splashing herself at the stream.

Then they all heard a noise that was unexpected but quite recognizable.

There was another dragon nearby, and he'd caught Grey's scent.

===========

Chapter 15:

Happosai vs Black Bart!

Nabiki banned from school?

Akane gets longer hair than Kasumi?!

Same Bet time, same bet channel.

Other notes:
my webpage hasn't been updated in quite awhile because my computer is still down. i have this borrowed unit, but haven't been able to access the program or section that'll allow me to update. Later.

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