Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Reluctant Bet (2nd Labor) ❯ Akane Tendo, sentai hero? ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Reluctant Bet: segment 6
Akane Tendo, superhero?

yo people, if you're taking this seriously, well, that's not the point of any of this. After reading *yet another* Akanefic (Ranma chooses Akane, both immediately reconcile all their differences and start getting WAFFy with no sign of conflicting egos anywhere, Nabiki has the Amazons deported through a court order and her control of the Immigration Department and Justice system, Ukyo goes into a vengeance mode beyond anything that Ryoga ever did, etc, etc, etc) it would be my natural tendency to write something that some would perceive as Akane-bashing but lets try something different, ne?

First scene is a little dark, but i received a request to show more details.

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Kasumi was aware of the sphere in between his hands and the spreading numbness in his body.

The black shortsword was yanked from his body, the blade disappearing from where it had been thrust forward just below the sternum.

A voice from some gruff-sounding man penetrated the roaring in her ears. "Pukin' lowlife uppity mortal! How dare you get the last piece of cheesecake?!"

Another voice, with what sounded like an American Southeast accent, from a woman answered the first voice. "Geez, Ares, you're putting on a bit of gut yourself. Why kill him over day old CHEESECAKE for crying out loud?"

The first voice yelled back. "SHUTTUP! You're just some drow filth yourself! As for guts..."

Another wave of pain, this time across Kasumi's abdomen.

"You want that cheesecake THAT much?"

"You stupid mortal swine!"

"Elmekia Lance!" There was the sound of thunder crackling.

"I didn't know you knew that attack."

"Honey, y'all forget I'm a drow archmage. There ah things I can do with magic yah'd think tweren't possible."

The numbness spread, the room around him fading out as Kasumi felt a calming darkness enfold him. Comfortable and warm, it made the noises and pain retreat for a moment.

Then pain began anew, a single knot of flame at the center of his being. Like a slow teleport of a Vidalia onion, Kasumi could feel each layer of cells come into being birthed in what felt like fire. The flames stretched out further and further in a spiral, bones forming, then connecting tissues, then the organs, the muscles, and finally the skin. Kasumi would have screamed except that his heartbeat still did not beat nor did breath stir within his lungs.

Finally Kasumi drew a breath, once again whole, with only the echoes and aches of the experience filling him. He blinked eyes open to see a French cafe of sorts in a busy plaza.

A gnarled and ugly dwarf with a concerned expression sat near the person Kasumi recognized as the drow elf Edema. "That looked like it hurt."

"You could say that," Kasumi felt his lips form the words.

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

Kasumi gently set down the sensory globe and mumbled something about getting a nice hot bath. She seriously considered "borrowing" some of her father's sake.

Akane looked at the way her sister was trembling and wondered what she was going to do about this. Get angry at the kuronin? Try to find out what happened from Kasumi? Akane saw how shaken her sister was, and how Shampoo was following Kasumi and mumbling something about getting all the blood off. Akane eyed the innocent-looking sphere and decided that picking it up was not on her list of things she needed to do.

Nabiki didn't trust the sphere either, and merely eyed it warily as if it might suddenly scuttle forth to attack her.

After noticing that neither of the remaining girls wanted to try it, Edema carefully used the sack it had originally come from to gather the sphere up and put it away again. She gave points to both the Japanese and Chinese girl for handling it so well. Of course, in Edema's case the experience had brought flashbacks to indoctrination from Lolth priestesses.

Akane finally decided on a course of action. SHE wasn't to blame for any of this. Neither was Nabiki or Kasumi, who had just been victimized by a fast talking con-man. Shampoo had just been victimized as well.

Edema's fingers traced a glowing pattern in the air. A moment later, the dark elf vanished.

Akane couldn't blame anyone for the problems they faced, save one. There was, after all, only one person she could hold responsible for this mess. "Genma Saotome! Prepare to die!"

Akane took four steps out the dojo door before she discovered a cunningly disguised pit trap.

SPLURT! Akane hit a vat of jello with exactly the sort of sound effect one would expect.

The trap door gradually shut itself again, though the square of fake grass would clue in anyone paying attention.

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Kasumi settled into the furo as Shampoo trudged in and began rinsing herself off.

"That... hurt," Shampoo groaned.

Kasumi murmured agreement.

"{I don't suppose you speak English? My Japanese, quite frankly, sucks.}"

Kasumi tried to focus her eyes in the direction of the Chinese girl. "{I do OK in high school, but it's been a years few. Better at French. Know some Chinese but not goodly at speak that either.}"

Shampoo was silent until after she'd slid into the water and had relaxed slightly. She held a hand up in front of her face and noticing it was still trembling. "{He goes through THAT every time he dies, and he's died an awful lot of times. And did you feel it, before and after the agony?}

Kasumi nodded slightly. "{Despair. He hurt. Old wound never heal. Many many new ones. He dangerous maybe. Think 'not die' way to keep him from taking own life?} I'm too tired to try and revive my old English skills, Shampoo. -How about Chinese. I speak good this yes?-"

"Maybe Shampoo just have to struggle with Japanese, then." Shampoo wanted to say so much, so much was absolutely clear right now. Unfortunately it was all she could do to keep her newly passed out ally from sliding under the water. Actually Shampoo was quite impressed with how well Kasumi had held up.

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Toltiir was many things. Meddler was one of those. Powerful was another. He predated the Yggdrasil system and (if he had wanted to) could have met power-for-power a number of the Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu epics. (In truth both tended to stay clear from the other's territories, simply because comedy and eldritch horror were not entirely mixable.)

There were a few problems involved with being an entity of vast cosmic power and a tendency for Puckish mischieviousness, not to mention a limited attention span. One sterling example being the time he had destroyed an inhabited star system. While he'd put everything back together immediately upon learning he'd done it, the natives had still had to deal with such bizarre things as one of their outer planets now being made of frozen banana meringue. And a planet in that starsystem that had once been similar to the planet Venus of the star system Sol had been rebuilt as the Planet Of Hot Springs.

Which was where Urd was taking a moment to relax and talk shop with a fellow named Eros.

Urd smiled slyly as she eyed the Greek god through lowered lids. Just because she had Brett didn't mean she couldn't appreciate a well tuned form, after all. "...but it is precisely because he *doesn't* have much trust left in him that I've taken an active hand here."

"I looked at his file," Eros complained. "You remember Tomoko?"

"Yes, a Japanese girl who wanted to get a job in America. He got her resume, copied and sent it out, filled out job applications for her, gave out her phone number to employment agencies, and when she got a job with a computer chip manufacture company sent him a nice little 'thank you and goodbye' postcard. Not that unusual for his life." Urd checked the pins holding her hair in place and thought about coming back with her boyfriend. Or, for that matter, her brother.

"If one is once bitten, twice shy, then how in Kami-sama's name are you going to get him to lower his guard enough to get close to ANYONE? Much less Nabiki who's nearly as mercenary as Tomoko?"

"I'm not planning on getting him together with Nabiki. Even that nice (if overly concerned with money) Nabiki who just made Goddess Of The Quick Yen over in one of the alternate Heavens (1)."

"Well it can't be Kasumi9. She's already dumped him without even realizing he was interested." Eros turned speculative. "And now she's involved with the God Of Crossovers."

"No, my plan is that because his trust has been abused repeatedly, I go for another path to exploit."

"Lust? Guilt? Fear?" Eros sat upright all of a sudden. "Not the marionettes?"

"No, and they're actually closer to fatima. They are cyborgs whose organic parts are developed from an egg cell from a donor- in this case the Ukyo Kuonji and Shampoo of that timeline. Hephaestus is working on something involving them, not that HE has a clue."

"A contest?"

"Yes, a sort of Private Bet among people who either feel some sympathy for the fellow or have other reasons for trying to give him a break." Urd started ticking off on her fingers with each name. "Myself, Hephaestus, Tyche, Sif, Hanali, Ishtar, and Haurvatat."

"Count me in," said Eros with a grin. "It'll be tricky, though, love spells or arrows won't work directly on him due to the Binding. The most you might be able to manage is amnesia, as his memories were recently dulled by Toltiir and the kitty is liable to have left that option open. Anything else, you'd require the Ultimate Force to override it."

"Well, yes." Urd smirked as she leaned back in the water. "Therein lies the challenge."

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The Rider timeline:

Akane backed up, her chi levels exhausted, surrounded by dozens of the TK-500 combat Thug-droids.

Genma laughed evilly from within his TK-1000 Devastator. "Give it up, Yellow Rider, your pathetic akashic arts cannot compare to the glory of the Iron Empire! Surrender now and marry my son, and you will be well cared for. Fight on, and you shall perish!"

"NEVER!" Akane, the Yellow Rider, exclaimed fairly loudly despite being exhausted. "Earth shall never bend its knee to you and this technocratic nightmare you have spawned! Have you forgotten your own humanity in your mad quest for power?"

"Last chance, Rider. Do you surrender?" Genma's voice left no room for bargaining.

"NO!" Akane managed one last magnificent gesture of defiance.

"Why did I bother?" Genma made a responding gesture. "Units One through Twenty Five. Use the gas cannisters."

"WHAT?!" Akane watched as green vapor swirled around her. "Hiding behind your minions because you're too afraid to face me?"

"No," said Genma as Akane began to sway, "merely sensible. Units Twenty Seven and Twenty Eight, empty four sets of drug darts into her. Just in case you're faking, my dear. Then I'll let you see the destruction of the other Riders before your execution."

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Target Timeline

"So what did you want to show us, Shampoo?" Nabiki was a bit uncertain about having the Amazon around. Plus, of course, she was concerned about Akane having vanished abruptly without a trace.

"Shampoo steal this tape from Ranma one time he trying to find something in his pack and he start unloading it. When ask him, he say is tape of alternate world TV series he pick up for someone he know." Shampoo smirked. "Shampoo see two other tapes when we in Pokemon world. Very interesting."

"Oh, let me see." Kasumi took the videocassette from Shampoo and blinked at the cover. "Oh look, that's *you* on the cover Nabiki." Kasumi blinked as the tape was snatched from her grip.

Nabiki stared. Yes, that looked like an anime version of herself. But what did "Supersoldier" mean in context with a boy named Ranma Saotome? "Tape 3: The Legacy Revealed"? Nabiki decided she wouldn't find out otherwise and put the tape in.

The music began to play.

"Where have all the good men gone,
And where are all the gods?"

Nabiki stared as she saw herself and Kasumi with their backs against a streetlamp, the darkness seeming to come alive with thugs.

"Where's the street-wise Hercules,
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight,
Upon his wild steed?"

On the screen, Shampoo slid to the feet of the two, having obviously been in a bad fight. The camera panned up to do a close-up of Kasumi as she began to pray.
The Shampoo in the living room frowned and the Kasumi next to her crossed herself.

"Late at night I toss and turn,
And dream of what I need."

The storm seems to gather overhead as the crowd of villains begins entering the light. Then a round shield bounces off three thug's heads to slap into a gloved hand.

"I need a hero!
I'm holding out for a hero
till the end of the night!"

Shampoo, Nabiki, and Kasumi blinked as this powerful gaijin fellow biffed and bammed his way through the thugs in seconds. The obligatory pan of allies revealed some characters that none of the watchers could place. The likewise obligatory parade of enemies revealed a few characters that some of those present DID recognize.

"MOUSSE is BAD GUY? Obnoxious, stupid, blind, has no sense of humor, Shampoo can attest to all this. Nearsighted in mental as well as physical sense, pushy, can't get a clue if you beat it into him, but villain?" Shampoo blinked. "He not competent enough for villain."

Nabiki gasped as the ending shot of the opening sequence showed herself leaning on the arm of this powerfully built blonde and looking... smug? Satisfied? Content? Confident? In the background was Akane, Shampoo, and a few people she didn't recognize. Behind all of them was that curious round shield with the concentric circles around a central star.

"Episode 9: The Shield Revealed," said a voice from the tape. Nabiki gulped as she recognized HER voice. "In the last episode:"

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"BAH! RYOUGA SMASH!" A greenskinned muscleman attempted to reduce the blonde guy into a fine red paste. His blow to the pavement in front of Furinken High School blew the windows out of the first story.

There was Kuno fallen, and the big guy with the green skin noticed the samurai trying to regain his feet. "STUPID STICK BOY ANNOY RYOUGA FOR LAST TIME!" Another massive piledriver was aimed at the samurai.

Only to be stopped by a shield held by the blonde man. "Enough, Hulk. It is against the Code to attack those weaker than yourself."

"Weaker... yes. Not bully..." The Hulk staggered back as if the words had struck him with more force than anything the military had.

"And now..."

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

Nabiki's jaw dropped as her character moved off from the crowd and made a major speech (apparently all internal as her mouth didn't move) about choices made and given. Here she was deciding whether to put her past behind her, or if her engagement to Ranma would be a mutual liability and she should get out of it now.

Kasumi was pleased to hear Nabiki's character making such an impassioned explanation of the code of Bushido and the discussion of a modern woman's role in society. It was quite moving. Oh if only their Mother was alive to see this. Maybe they could send her the tape anyway.

Shampoo frowned. Where was she? Did she only appear in the opening credits? What a rip off! Oh, that's right, she *did* rip it off. Shampoo gave a cat smile in rememberance.

Akane, in the backyard, under the hinged lid of the pit trap, covered with jello, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup, sneezed and wondered exactly WHO was going to pay for this!

In the foyer, three sets of eyes continued to watch the tape.

Kasumi smile turned up a notch as she observed her screenself advising Nabiki on honor and duty, as well as packing her younger sibling's bags for a long trip. She got some good lines.

Nabiki stared as her screenself hugged the big blonde and talked him into going with these Americajin. Then Akane declared that Ranma was a fellow warrior and would not be going alone with these "Avengers" people.

Shampoo waited impatiently for her OWN screenself to appear but she never did. Which frustrated the heck out of the Amazon.

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Dead Millenium:

Grey laid yet another of the women out on a hospital bed and was glad that he'd reverted to his latest cyborg form in THIS timeline. Despite the many limitations to it, it was both more versatile and durable than he was as a human.

He spared a glance out the window, taking in the view of a world not only dead but sterile. If, as in the Yamato series, a world had a life force, this one had been drained until it was in a coma.

Tech level was high. At least on a level with that Roman Empire world or some of the futures he'd visited. Having found four bodies encased in crystal and finding their life signs failing, Grey did what he considered the most sensible course of action. Bring them to the nearest hospital and see what he could find.

Four young women apparently in their mid-20s. All dressed in cheerleader outfits. The Senshi of Crystal Tokyo.

The most recent time he'd seen them, it had been in person, they'd been about fourteen years old, and all of them had been pursuing a guy called the Pheonix Mage. They'd also been in fairly good health.

Taking a small wire from his secret compartment, Grey activated the box at the end and fitted into a dataport. The other end went into his own network.

>User unrecognized. Authorization?
>Username:

Grey winced. He didn't want to try hacking some computer system whose capabilities were completely unknown. Maybe a general access would work.

:Visitor

He blinked at the computer's reply.

>'Visitor' is obvious. State reason for access.

Grey shrugged. Either a very user friendly interface or some form of AI.

:Designate 'Grey'. Friend. Seek information on medical condition of Senshi. Cybernetic systems insufficient for detailed analysis/treatment.

>Analysis of present actions fits explanation and facility directives. Units designated Senshi determined to be Sailor Scouts. Bringing power up. Beginning scans.

Grey took a better look at the Sen... Scouts now that he wasn't having to use the IR and UV enhancements. Using his own scanners to confirm what he thought he'd seen earlier, he sent the data to the facility.

:My initial analysis was dehydration and malnutrition, even though magical stasis was used and they're in Scout mode. Discoloration and comatose state seemed to indicate a poison, but my scanners are insufficient for this task. Anything?

>Initial analysis correlates with Visitor. Facility unable to determine nature of pathogen. WARNING: will use up available energy within 48 hours.

:Is Scout state interfering with scans?

>Possibility deemed likely.

:Estimate probability that return to human will allow more accurate diagnosis and treatment.

>Too many variables. Course seems to have highest probability for success.

Grey considered briefly, keeping the wire connected but looking back at the Scouts again. A cyborg was useful in many ways, but magical problems were another thing entirely. He *could* simply abandon this world and move on, but...

:Query: Would finding and removing the henshiin pens be sufficient to return them to normal from their Scout identities?

>Unknown. WARNING: Lifesigns in Mercury Scout destabilizing.

:If I succeed in transforming them initialize treatment immediately.

Grey detached the wire and turned his attention to the Scouts. Now if they had to hide a henshiin pen, where would it be? He winced. With HIS luck...

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the Rider timeline

Akane threw herself against the forcefield again, which proved as impossible to damage as the last twenty times she threw herself against it.

There, twenty feet away, she could see her Yellow Rider sentai costume as it fed along a conveyer belt to drop piece by piece into the acid bath. The helmet, gloves, boots, and belt had already been swallowed up. Next was her official Riderman Watch, the Yellow Rider fannypack, and her Yellow Rider hair ribbon, then the spandex uniform.

That her official Yellow Rider bra and panties were not present WAS noted by her.

There was a splash as the watch went in. Of course when the helmet went most of the nifty gadgets she could have used to let people know where she was went with it. The watch was the backup transmitter among other things.

Akane looked at her bindings and cursed. Even if she could get out of the cell, the LAST time she had been captured and fitted with these things, all it had taken was a press of a button and her arms and legs would be under remote control again. The only way she had gotten out THEN had been that Genma's son had betrayed his father for her.

And then, while she had regretted having to do it, Akane had betrayed the son and turned him into the JDFA. Besides, Ranma had just deluded himself, there was no room in Akane's heart for anyone other than her true love - Shutaro Mendo! Ranma had vanished from HIS cell in Stronghold, and now she knew where he had gone.

The thought that Ranma might break her out anyway had been ended when she had seen him stop by her cell long enough to place the Mendo ancestral sword on the conveyor belt. It had been destroyed even before her helmet.

Akane tried again as she watched her gloves and boots join the rest of her equipment.

Shutaro would never have willingly given up his sword. That left only one possibility.

Akane sat in the corner of her tiny cell and prayed she would join Shutaro soon.

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Target Timeline:

"Oh dear," Kasumi said, watching the other tape that Shampoo had brought.

Ranko: "But I'm against violence."

Akane: (angrily) "Ready OR NOT!"

Nabiki blinked. "Let me get this straight. The person she was so angry at, whom she wounded by striking at from behind, turning him physically AND mentally into a girl, she gets upset at, drags her off to the dojo and tries to severely injure him. Why?"

Kasumi considers this for a second. "Maybe she likes him?"

Shampoo watched for another five minutes. "Japanese couple treat people they care about what injured like that? Japanese people must be strong to survive courtship rituals."

Nabiki frowned as something occurred to her. "Hey, why aren't *I* in this episode?"

"Shampoo not there either. Not like this. And why is so important about dojos be joined?"

"Who's the little creep? This 'Happosai' fellow. Why not call the police and have him carted away?" Nabiki had more questions every minute the video went on.

Akane: "Change back. Ranma. I don't care if you ARE rude and insensitive and inconsiderate. I know I complain all the time but sweet and innocent just isn't you."

"Uh HUH. So she loves him for being rude and insensitive and inconsiderate?" Nabiki groaned as another scene of Akane-flailing-around-with-a-blunt-trauma-instrument occurred. "THIS is a depiction of the mainline?"

"That what said." Shampoo stopped the tape at the end of the "Am I pretty?" episode. "Ukyo have manga we take. So we agree?"

Kasumi frowned, unsure, but a glance at the pokeball in the apron pocket convinced her. "Agreed."

Nabiki nodded with a bit more certainty. "It's a deal. We do everything we can to keep from rejoining the mainline."

Shampoo held out her hand, the other two placing their hands over hers in formal acknowledgment of the pledge. "So be it. We do everything we can to keep this timeline seperate."

"I wouldn't mind so much if it were that one where Ranma was the blonde hunk," added Nabiki, "but if I had been present in that 'Pretty Womanhood' episode I would *not* have put up with little sister bullying that poor girl. Even if there was an obnoxious jerk inside there, that girl hadn't done anything to deserve that."

"Then we do. Now only problem is HOW we do."

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Rider Timeline:

Akane watched her last piece of equipment take the acid plunge and begin fizzing.

Then someone familiar to her rolled a television in front of her cell and she gasped. "Shu-chan!"

The immaculately dressed (as always) scion of the house of Mendo took a moment to brush back his hair. "Akane. You're looking well, if a bit underdressed."

"QUICK, LET ME OUT! They'll find you here!"

"I don't think so," Shutaro smiled affectionately at the girl. "Do you remember that night in Paris?"

"What?!" Of all the things she had expected her Shu-chan to talk of, this was not on the list.

"Do you remember when you left me, all alone, without transportation in what you knew was an area that your enemies were active in?" Shutaro smelled the rose in his lapel with a thoughtful expression as if considering.

"I got an emergency page from CONTROL! It said to drop everything and come to HQ." Akane frowned. "Hurry up and get me out of here! This is dangerous!"

Shutaro inclined his head to Akane. "What you didn't know is that Shutaro Mendo, wealthy playboy and egotist, was replaced that night by a replicoid. It was easy from that point to monitor your whereabouts and follow the inevitable trail. Rider HQ has already fallen. Most of your teammates have been executed. Soon my Masters will split the world up between them."

Akane backed up in horror. "What about Happosai?"

"He gets France."

"AH HA!" Akane posed triumphantly, then dropped the pose when she noticed how this moved her anatomy. "This was all a plot to get Happosai out of Japan, wasn't it?!"

"You've figured it out," admitted the android, "conquering the world was a small price for such a feat.

"As for you, Tendo-san, your execution is scheduled for two weeks from now. Enjoy your stay."

Akane shuddered as she saw what was playing on the television. This was cruel and inhumane treatment of a prisoner!

"I love you, you love me..."

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

Target Timeline:

Ukyo woke up to find Sakyo and Shan were driving the truck. "Uhm, what happened."

"You not believe." Shan concentrated on driving.

"Honey, we got messed up in some of that weirdness Grey was talkin' about. We were out for a lot of it, but from what the dwarf was sayin' he was only interested in me and Shan here. We got a couple of upgrades, other than that I'm still running diagnostics."

Ukyo blinked. "Upgrades?"

"Shan has some nifty things she want to try when we get settled." Shan grinned behind the wheel.

Sakyo nodded absently. "Atmospheric condenser unit. Oh, I discovered one of the enhancements allows me to store templates based on an individual's physical appearance, skills, and some memories."

"So... that plan we spoke of..." Ukyo eyed her twin.

"Already updated your backup," Sakyo said as she tapped her head.

"Good," Ukyo said, meaning it. One less thing to worry about.

(1)- Rune With A View can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/9854/bet/ranma_the-bet.rune-with-a-vi ew.txt

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