Fatal Fury Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor Rifts ❯ Chapter 21: A Power Armour, and Fade ( Chapter 21 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sailor Moon/Rifts Crossover (Revised Edition) By Simon Woodington

Book Two: Zenyro Tamashii (Rest, Good Soul)

Chapter 21: A Power Armour, and Fade

He had been looking for a decent piece of power armour for some time.

How hard could it be?

Maybe wandering through England was not the best way find such a
thing. He supposed he had a better chance of going straight to the
Coalition and finding a nice Grinning Demon Super-Sam to be vaporized
by.

:Elves are considered D-bees, aren't they?; he sighed. :Well, if
nothing turns up soon, I think I'll just head on down to Free Quebec
or something. Perhaps I can pick myself up a used Glitter Boy P.A.; he
thought in resignation.

Walking through the streets of New Camelot only made him aware of how
minute the likelihood of him finding any kind of P.A. really was. The
whole place reeked of Dryads, Nexus Knights, Millennium Druids and
other arcanists. The magic itself did not bother him, since they were
rather like him. It was the diminishing possibility of locating a
power armour. Of course, not that he could actually afford to buy one
outright. If he had to perform a task of some sort, like stealing
something, or killing someone, that did not bother him in particular.
All that mattered was the armour, whatever it might be.

He paused before a shop that appeared to have no distinction in any
quality but its name.

'Randy's Rarities' announced itself loudly in bright green letters
above the otherwise ordinary shop door. Grinning at the absolute
corniness of the name, he wandered in. He discovered that the name,
while strange, aptly described the shop. Many of the items he noticed,
he had never before seen the like. Nothing was labeled. If you
happened to find something you knew about, or could use, you were in
luck, as there were no distinctions but mere physical appearance.
Trying to sense the magic of them did not help either, as most of the
items reeked of it. As with many of New Camelot's street side shops,
this was more or less a mages' paradise, if you could afford it.

Looking at the back end of the shop, he searched for an owner.

:Who would leave such a place unattended?:

As if on cue, a hefty looking tall black and gold haired man strode up
to the smallish counter. The man leaned forward on the wooden surface
with both open palms down.

"Welcome to Randy's Rarities, my friend," he said. "What manner of
search brings you here?" It seemed his cup runneth over with raw
confidence.

:Few dare call me friend; the dark-skinned elf thought. Something set
him ill at ease about this cheery fellow.

"Power Armour," he said, eyes narrowed. "You have any of those?"

"Plenty of those," the fellow replied with a smile. "Tell me; have you
a name? If you don't mind my asking."

"Go ahead. It's Fade," he replied in a measured tone. "What about
magic?"

"This is certainly the best place for it," he grinned.

"What, your shop?"

"No, no, my friend. New Camelot. No finer place on Earth for magic."

His reply of "on Earth" made Fade curious.

"Magic," he started, "what have you got?"

"Depends on the coin," the fellow replied easily. He idly wandered
over to a shelf beside the counter and inspected the items upon it.

"How about a Cloud of Smoke?"

The man turned to him with a serious look.

"That's not much of a spell."

"Nor is it a very pretty coin," Fade replied.

"Aye," the fellow agreed, "but fanciful enough. Is that your
interest?" He stepped over to another shelf and fingered through a
number of papers messily arranged.

"Part of it," Fade said, approaching the counter.

The man turned to him and handed him a small scroll.

"Study this, and lend me your coin so I might decide just how pretty
it is."

"Half now," the elf said conditionally, "and the other half when I've
learned the thing." He handed the taller fellow a pouch that filled a
hand, no more.

He pointed and smiled widely, "Use the back room there. If you have
any troubles, I'll call my lady in to assist you."

With a smirk, the elf took the scroll.

"Do you really think I'll have 'troubles' with this?"

"You never know," he said with a smirk as he pulled up a chair and sat
down.

---

Roughly five hours later, the elf emerged from the back room, holding
a rolled up scroll, and looking like he had just walked through a
flaming forest. Glancing about, he could find no trace of the fellow
who had given him the scroll. In a chair, however, was a very
attractive human woman, who looked to be in her late twenties. She
wore a long black cloak, light blue shirt, and a long loose dark blue
skirt. She looked at Fade, and smiled, running a hand through her blue
hair. After a moment, unbelieving, Fade noticed the silver streaks in
it.

"Hi," she said. "Done with the spell, I see."

Fade merely nodded.

"Well then," she started, as if expecting something.

"I guess I'll see you about, eh?"

"Not if you'd like to keep your head on your shoulders," she said
nonchalantly. When the elf turned back to her, she was still smiling.

"Oh, yeah," he laughed, "the other half of the payment." He handed her
the pouch, and the scroll. "Can't blame me for trying, though, can
you?"

"Of course not." She did not seem at all displeased. "Keep the scroll.
Part of the service."

"Oh, that helps. Thanks," he half-smiled, accepting the worn looking
handmade scroll. "Would you really have killed me?" He walked over to
a Power Armour he had not noticed before. :Or at least have tried...:

"Count on it."

Fade was not sure whether to be impressed or frightened. Not many had
that particular variety of raw confidence. He really didn't feel like
testing the theory, besides. His interest was entirely in the armour
in front of him. Silence mingled with his study of the simple looking
exoskeleton. The head of it was shaped much like a melon, and lacked
any real decoration, besides that of a thin bandana wrapped around the
"forehead." The rest of the armour was just as plain, with the
exception of jewel like crystals embedded in the outside of the lower
arms, and the scabbard for a sword, which was empty.

"Rather looks like a ninja," Fade stated, knowing he was being
listened to. "Where's Randy?"

She snickered softly.

"He went... out. I'm sure he'll return soon." Fade heard the sound of
her getting out of the chair. "Are you interested in this?" She came
up beside him quietly.

"Possibly. How much is it worth?"

"What do you think?" she asked, and followed it with a smirk.

"Roughly two point eight million. Maybe even three if you were to
include a customized energy rifle of some kind."

"Close. The weapon systems of this..."

He cut her off; "Are comparable to a USA-G10?"

She threw him a look.

"This armour is meant to be the Glitter Boys equal in combat. Let's
also just say that it isn't for the mystically inept."

"Which would explain the lack of an ammo drum, among other things. Is
there no power source?"

"The power source is the pilot," she said, proceeding back to the
counter. "So, you interested?"

"Well," Faded started, "if you've got a task or two for me..."

"I thought as much," she said, turning away. "As soon as Randy gets
back, I'll let you know."

"Katrin!" a male voice called weakly.

The woman blanched.

"My Gods," she murmured as she ran out of the side door opposite of
the back room. Fade followed her, curiosity abreast. The man Fade had
described as "Randy" stumbled away from a hovercraft, a blond haired
young woman in his arms.

"Are you hurt?" Katrin asked, taking the girl into her arms.

"I'll live," he replied, looking as though he was in pain. "Go, lie
her down. She's in rough shape. I'm lucky to have gotten her alive."

Without hesitation, she left. A few moments later, a man roughly five
feet tall ambled into through the door. He cast a glance at Fade, who
appeared somewhat bemused. The man muttered something under his
breath, grunted a brief "hello" to Fade, then followed the woman. With
an arched eyebrow, Randy passed by him, holding his stomach, and
headed into the adjacent room, the one in which the elf had learned
the spell.

:What? There's nothing beyond... or is there?; Fade thought.

"Come come," Randy said, "if you're that curious, join me."

Unable to belay his interest, he did so.

The room he walked into was a veritable warehouse of miscellaneous
armour, weapons, and other items. Many of which strongly smelled of
magic. There were a number of items Fade recognized to be Coalition
equipment, such as SAMAS rail guns, pieces of a disassembled SAMAS
armour, Dead Boy body armour, stacks and piles of CE and standard
E-clips, among a multitude of other things. The rest consisted of
stuff he had never seen before.

"I don't suppose you've got a Glitter Boy armour in this mess
somewhere?" he asked, not seeming at all daunted by the collection.

"Nope, we haven't been able to get a hold of one of those yet," the
man replied, sitting forward in a small chair, drinking something.
"See that SAM there? Useless, with the exception of the armoured
plating, of course."

"The old style Death's Head SAMAS, eh?" Fade grinned as he picked up a
helmet that looked like a black skull. "Rare out here."

"Not that the locals would notice," the man commented, taking another
sip of his drink.

The elf set the helmet aside.

"I get the feeling your name isn't 'Randy'."

"It is until I indicate otherwise," the fellow warned. "So I hear
you're interested in the SC-Warrior out there."

Fade had to wonder when Randy had learned that.

"So that's what it's called. Nice piece of work. Yours?"

"Hell no. I couldn't tell armour nor helmet of the PAs," he grinned.
"I just sell them."

"Tell me what it's like?"

The fellow paused. "Can't tell you that. Don't use 'em either."

Fade suspected there was little truth in that, but accepted it for the
time being.

"As for tasks... Well, my friend, I've got a few. Follow me," he
gestured, standing. Fade followed Randy back through the shop and into
the room Katrin had entered.

"How is she?"

The "she" Randy referenced to lay on a bed. Her blond hair was matted
with the crimson stains of blood, and her face bore the healing
putty-like substance of a MediKit. Fade noted with some interest that
the uncouth man he had met earlier sat next to the girl looking quite
concerned. As the elf watched, the man looked up at him, and the worry
on his face changed to a self-protective scowl.

"Watcha want elf," he growled faintly.

"'Elf' doesn't see fit to reply to that," he commented, dry ire
running in his voice.

The fellow shifted uncomfortably, realizing he was not being the most
affable of people.

"Uh, well, I guess dat makes sense. I weren't so nice to ya. Sorry.
I's jus' worried about Anim."

Fade arched an eyebrow.

"Friend?"

"Client," he replied.

"Ah."

"Look Garen, she'll be fine, but she's not going anywhere until
tomorrow at the earliest," the blue haired woman stated, as if making
an executive decision. She faced Randy with a mildly sour expression
on her face. "I don't know what they did, but I'm going to have get
someone to patch up her prosthetics."

Randy sighed heavily. "Alright. I'll get Carl and Hysian up here.
Anything else?"

"You might want to explain to Fade what this is about," she said with
hands on hips. "If you're serious about sending him anywhere."

"That's probably a good idea," he laughed, kissing her on the cheek.
He turned to Fade. "C'mon you."

"Just a sec," she interrupted. "Take Garen will you? I know he means
well..."

Randy nodded sympathetically.

"A little long in the tongue."

She nodded. Garen chuckled.

"Maybe then we's kin get somethin' ta eat! I ain't had anythin' since
dis creep," he gestured towards Randy, "showed up!"