Iczer-one Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Earth Child ❯ Problems with Dating ( Chapter 4 )

The Earthchild

 

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon Crossover)

 

Written by

Jim Robert Bader

 

Proofread by

Shiva Barnwell

 

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,

Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano, & Hitoshi Okuda,

with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

 

 

 

 

 

“Sorry I'm late, Sayoko-chan,” said a statuesque redhead as she sat down at a table in a posh restaurant café, “I got a bit hung up at work, but things seem to have settled down for the moment.”

 

“No problem, Ni-chan,” the other woman said brightly, “I can hardly expect you to just drop everything with your responsibilities as Base Commander and all that. You look great in that dress, by the way…who picked it out for you, Sepia?”

 

“Why yes,” said the redhead in question, who drew more than a few stares from the other patrons for her height and slender build, to say nothing of her largish almond-shaped eyes and distinctively slanted features, and who indeed did look fetching in the dark green dress that she was wearing in lieu of her usual battle armor, “Sepia said that it might…how is it you Earthers put things? Set the right mood and all that…and, may I say that you also look particularly attractive in what you are wearing, Sayoko-chan.”

 

The pretty woman with the sort-of brown hair colored in a pretty manner, her own slender frame set off by the light yellow business dress that she had chosen to adopt for the evening, which gave her the appearance of a rare flower in the eyes of her exquisite partner, “Why thank you, but I'll bet you say that to all the pretty girls who catch your fancy…”

 

“Just to you,” the redhead said sincerely, her smile as rare as it was engaging, “You are the center of my world…but you already know this. In all the world there is none like you, and that is why I chose you as my partner.”

 

“And here I thought you were just using me for sex,” responded Sayoko Kai with an impish smile, enjoying the way the other woman colored at the boldness of that statement, “Now you see? You can be human when you want to be, you just need to learn how to relax more often and let your hair down a little. There's no reason why you have to be on duty twenty-four-seven…”

 

“Yes there is,” the redhead said sadly, “I am an Iczer, it is my duty to always stand on duty…”

 

“And what does that make me?” Sayoko asked, “Your backup battery power? I'm your partner in more than just name, you know…what affects you affect me, and don't you ever forget this.”

 

“You are the only one who ever talks to me like this,” the redhead said with a rueful expression, “The only one who truly understands me. Even my sisters are not as close to me as you, and they have their own pursuits and private agendas to follow. My duty is the defense of Gamora Base…”

 

“But you also have a duty to me, and a duty to yourself to have a good time every once in a while,” Sayoko pointed out, “And besides…don't take this the wrong way, but you're really not all that hard a person for me to figure out, Two. I like you for what you are…even if you did once try to crush me under your heel like an insect…”

 

Despite herself Iczer Two colored at the memory, which came from a different time and place, “That…never really happened, you know. That was in the **other** timeline…the one my sister canceled out. I am surprised that you remember…”

 

“I remember through you,” Sayoko pointed out, “It's in your memories, you know…the irony you feel about almost stepping on your own partner. True at the time I was little more than a rug-rat, just an annoying, whiny little brat who was calling out encouragement to your enemy, and so you thought to get rid of me and make me a grease spot on your treads, and true---as you say---that timeline never really happened, but it doesn't make it any less real to you, does it?”

 

“No,” Iczer Two glanced down, staring disconsolately at the table before them, “I was a very different construct at the time…the product of my now-sworn enemies, created for the purpose of fratricide against my older sister. It was in another life, though…I try not to think about it.”

 

“I' m just glad for all our sakes that you changed your mind and decided to fight for the good guys,” Sayoko pointed out.

 

“It was my sisters who taught me the folly of my ways…and Nagisa,” the redhead said somberly, “When I saw the closeness of the bond that existed between Iczer One and her partner…I was jealous…and not a little bit frightened. The two of them combined could achieve a level of Synchronization that I could not hope to equal, and I wanted that power for myself. When Nagisa would not yield herself to me I tried to set her against my own sister…and I lost. All I achieved was my own downfall. I remember the pain of dying, but not just of dying…of dying alone and unloved, without another to give my life purpose and meaning. You fulfilled that purpose and more, and that is why I love you with all my being, with everything I am or ever will be.”

 

Sayoko reached across the table and cupped the hand of her partner, smiling as she said simply, “You don't have to be alone, you never need to be alone with me in the picture. The past is the past and the present is all that truly matters…”

 

“Maybe to you this is so,” Iczer Two said sadly, “But the past has a way of returning to haunt us, like our memories. Do you remember when Neos resurrected me in her plot to destroy the Earth and my two sisters? What a fool she was to believe that I cared one whit for her plans of conquest…all I craved was the battle…and another chance to fight against my sisters. Iczer Three was easy…she was young and inexperienced, not fully in command of her power, and she lacked a proper partner. She was borrowing energies from Nagisa, who was bonded to Iczer One. There was no true Synchronization between them, and so her defeat was a trivial thing…so much so that it lacked any real meaning. Only my fight with Iczer One mattered…and in that battle I knew a true equal.”

 

“Personally I think you lost that one deliberately,” Sayoko said, “You didn't really want to win against her, you just wanted to die a glorious battle, like a warrior. I'm glad you didn't though…I'm glad Iczer One showed you mercy.”

 

“Mercy,” Iczer Two quirked a smile of some irony, “There was a time I would have sneered at the very sound of that word…but…the hate and anger I felt were never truly mine. I was the product of an insane mind commanding an insane machine whose only purpose was the destruction of all life. I was never truly alive until I met you…I never truly cared about my own life…until you were in it and a part of me. My life began the moment I knew you were my partner.”

 

“Took you long enough to figure that out,” Sayoko gently teased back, “I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of ordering you dinner. It should be ready any time now, and don't give me any lip. I know full well that you have a stomach and can eat regular foods, just like a human. You can't live on amino-synthetic fluids alone, you know…”

 

“Actually I can,” Iczer Two replied, “But it isn't as pleasant as regular eating. By the way…how did you know what time I would show up?”

 

“Hey, it's my job to know these things,” Sayoko smiled, “I'm your partner, right?”

 

“You and no other,” Iczer Two gently squeezed back the hand that cupped hers and for a moment the two of them just stared across the space of their table without saying a word, letting the flow of their thoughts through their inner rapport do all their talking for them.

 

But then their waiter arrived with trays of food ready to serve them, and the two companions reluctantly let go of each other in order to make like a regular couple out on a date together.

 

“So,” Sayoko said after several minutes had elapsed of pleasant eating and sipping of wine in relative silence, “What do you think of a regular human establishment when you're not trying to destroy it?”

 

“Ouch,” Iczer Two half-chuckled, “I think I deserve that. Well…it is pleasant enough, this Earth establishment, but if we were back in New Gamora there wouldn't be as many staring at us…”

 

“Staring at us?” Sayoko quipped, “I thought they were staring at me, thinking what a lucky girl I am to have such a ravishing partner.”

 

Iczer Two could not help but smile at that, but before things got any more personal between them a familiar warning sense came across her sensory net, and all at once her battle reflexes came to the fore, causing her to scan the restaurant in a tell-tell manner that her partner could not possibly miss interpreting.

 

“What…here?” Sayoko asked in sudden nervousness.

 

“Our enemies do not respect time, place or personal business, it would seem,” Iczer Two replied, not bothering to add the unspoken thought `be ready.'

 

All at once it felt as though a chill passed over the room, and then everything shifted in tone and coloration, which meant only one thing to the experienced partners, which fell to Sayoko to make official, “We've been pulled into subspace!”

 

“My ladies,” said the waiter, who had mysteriously appeared beside their table, “Would you like any dessert to go with your food?”

 

Even before the two women backed out of their chairs the man's form erupted into something far less pleasant or remotely even human with tentacles that lashed out at where they had been sitting mere instants before, even as the man's face split open to reveal a massive eyeball.

 

“No thanks!” Sayoko said as she ducked and rolled out of the way of the attack, “Trying to watch my figure and all of that…Reboot!”

 

As she said this word the handbag that she nominally carried suddenly opened wide and from its gaping maw appeared a number of articles that flew towards Sayoko, who straightened up to receive them. These articles attached themselves to her body, and a moment later the dark haired Japanese girl stood ready and alert in a form-fitting (yet oddly revealing) style of hi-tech armor.

 

“No need to appear to this social gathering out of fashion,” Iczer Two remarked as she touched her wrist bracelet, and all at once her stylish dress was replaced by an ebony armor with golden lacing on its outline, “Now we're ready to party.”

 

Sayoko was first to have her beam sword in hand, and no sooner did she register another attacker coming at her from one side then she was slashing away at tentacles with the precision of a born sword master. Her partner was hardly slow to follow her example, dispatching the waiter with a few quick and efficient strokes before dealing with two more of his companions that cropped up out of no where to flank her.

 

“That poor guy,” Sayoko said as she and her partner fell into back-to-back stances, sparing a glance at where the waiter had been standing a few moments before hand, “I kind of liked him…he gave good recommendations for the menu.”

 

“Let's just hope he wasn't taken over before he served us our food,” Iczer Two said somberly, “I'd rather hate to find out that I was poisoned in the middle of a fight.”

 

“Yeah, that would be just too cliché, huh?” Sayoko agreed, “Not to mention sucking big time. What do you think these guys are after, though? They're too wimpy to be a real threat to the both of us.”

 

“I don't know,” Iczer Two rumbled, “But be ready…just in case.”

 

“Heh, I was born ready, Partner,” Sayoko smiled, “And this is just the sort of thing you were made for.”

 

“True enough,” Iczer Two said a bit sadly, “And normally I'd enjoy a good fight as much as the next construct, but I was hoping for something a little less…combative with you, if you take my meaning.”

 

“Oh yeah,” Sayoko smiled, “Tell you what, though…after we polish off these creeps, then we can celebrate with a real party.”

 

“As you humans say, it is a deal,” Iczer Two agreed, “Now…if our enemies would be so accommodating as to show their real hand…”

 

No sooner were those words past her lips when all at once the ground around them rose up to contain them in a globe of force that was ruby-tinged and leant one a very ominous feeling.

 

“What the---?” Sayoko gasped as she tested the globe and found her beam sword was repelled off of its surface.

 

“What manner of shielding is this?” Iczer two tried her own beam sword, then struck with a fist, only to have it bounce off the interior of the globe, so she started to gesture when Sayoko sensed her next impending movement.

 

“NO WAIT---!” her human partner cried out as a short burst of plasma energy leaped from Iczer Two's fingers, only to ricochet off the walls and go caroming insanely within the globe, bounding around the interior at near the speed of light before impacting off of Sayoko's own shielding, which caused her to wince but did not apparent damage.

 

“Sayoko-chan---!” the redheaded warrior cried out as she felt the minor discomfort of the energy discharge as though someone had stuck a needle in her flesh.

 

“WOULD YOU MIND NOT DOING THAT!” Sayoko winced, “This thing repels our swords, what the heck did you think it was going to do to your blasts?”

 

“Sorry,” Iczer Two said in chagrin, “That was…reflex…”

 

“Well, don't let it happen again,” Sayoko sniffed as she started to calm down, “Good thing you were just testing it that time…if you'd let loose with a full-force blast, you might have fried us both.”

 

“I said I was sorry,” Iczer Two replied in a remarkably meek voice, only to straighten up again as she felt a vibrating sound in the air, “What's that?”

 

“You mean that sound like the approaching tread of doom?” Sayoko turned and stared out past the semi-transparent surface of their containment globe, “I've got a BAAAAAD feeling about this…”

 

Both partners stared out at the sight of a huge shape approaching, lumbering with each stride yet clearly defined as of humanoid proportions. Each step made the earth itself tremble under their feet, and though this was only Subspace and not Real Space the effect was the same as an armored mountain moved towards them, causing both Iczer and Human to blanch an appropriate color.

 

“You just had to ask to see their real strength, didn't you?” Sayoko murmured.

 

“You would think I would know better by now,” Iczer Two agreed, and then the both of them braced themselves for the real test that was to follow…

 

 

 

 

A remarkable sight greeted Warrior First Class Cobalt as she turned to see the approach of the young Rhea Kano. It not only seemed as though the strawberry blond Iczer were dancing upon air, it was a fact that she was actually **skating**…a phenomenon that Cobalt only recognized from her own brief attempts (stress the word “attempt”) at mastering the Earth custom with her life partner, Sepia (who naturally took to the art wish such ease that it was positively daunting to Cobalt's ego).

 

“Well now,” Cobalt mused, “You look as if you've been having a good time.”

 

“Oh!” Rhea straightened out when she saw who it was addressing her, “Cobalt…I'm sorry…I almost didn't see you. I was…”

 

“Spending time getting to know your new partner?” Cobalt said in amusement, “Ah, young love…I remember it well…so…have you yet to achieve full Synchronization with her?”

 

“Er…not yet,” Rhea replied, “I don't think that she is…really to go that far just yet. It was only…that she asked me to come back and…hang out with her, as her people describe it…”

 

“You mean like a date?” Cobalt asked, then the silver haired C'thuwulf laughed when she saw the younger woman's expression color, “All right then…sort-of a date. The point is that she asked you to come back, right?”

 

“Oh yes,” Rhea's expression softened into a look of pure bliss, “She is everything I could have asked for in a partner. Oh Cobalt-sama…I could not have chosen better if I had tried to select her from all of the Earth's population…”

 

“Just be sure that you take things slow with her,” Cobalt cautioned, “Earth women are not all temperamentally suited to handle too much revelation at one time. I can well remember the teething pains we had coaching Nagisa along…and then there's Sayoko, who took to the whole thing as if she had known about us her whole life…”

 

“Well…she practically has, or so I am given to understand,” Rhea noted, “I will be careful not to rush things…she has a…remarkably adaptive mind, though…and with a little preparation I think she will come around to…understanding…”

 

“For your sake, I hope so,” Cobalt smiled again, “Now hurry along, young one…your parents will want to speak with you about the progress you've made in breaking in a new partner.”

 

“I would not call it…'breaking in,' per se…” Rhea smiled reluctantly, “But you are right, I am overdue in speaking with my parents about Muku-chan…”

 

“Muku-chan, is it?” a new voice asked, and all at once an ivory-haired figure appeared alongside Rhea, taking the younger girl in a head-lock and applying what the Earthers would call a “noogie,” much to the younger girl's discomfort, “I am SOOOOO jealous of you, Niece! And you not even a little sprout fully hatched from her cubicle!”

 

“Look who is talking,” Cobalt rumbled under her breath, “And when did you get back from long-range patrol, Iczer Three?”

 

The silver-haired warrior in black-white-and-crimson armor let go of the smaller Rhea and said, “How many times do I have to ask you not to call me that, Cobalt? It's Troi now, not Iczer Three! That going by the numbers crap is so Lame-O! Troi's got more class and style…it suits me a lot better, don't you think? I mean, you don't see the squirt here going around calling herself Iczer Four, do you? And speaking of which…what's this talk I hear about you having a partner? Aren't you a little young to be dating, young lady?”

 

“I repeat myself,” Cobalt rolled her eyes, “Look who's talking.”

 

“Auntie Troi,” Rhea brightened (now that she was no longer being “noogied”), “When did you get back from patrol?”

 

“A little while ago,” the silver-haired Iczer (er---Troi) replied, “I finished scouting the nearby systems, like I was asked by Oneechan, and now I'm back to make my report. So…where is Big Sis off to anyway? I checked in at the main office but they told me she was off on another mission.”

 

“She is?” Cobalt asked in surprise, “With our current state of readiness? That hardly seems prudent.”

 

“Yeah, and that's the other thing,” the slender and tall Iczer straightened out, “What's with everyone going on Defcon Four all of a sudden? Who are we going to war with, and why?”

 

“You haven't heard?” Rhea asked in surprise.

 

“We have had incidents of Venomoid activity of late,” Cobalt explained, “Numerous crossings over through the Subspace field with random attacks at various key points throughout Tokyo.”

 

“Venomoids?” Troi pronounced the word as though it were particularly distasteful, “I thought we destroyed the last of those creepy buggers! You mean some of them escaped?”

 

“We don't think it was quite that which triggered the latest incidents,” Cobalt revealed, “These attacks are not random, they are coordinated, and they seem to fit a military style pattern of insurgence. They are also attacking more boldly and in greater strength than would be the case if they were just some random pocket of resistance that escaped the great purging. We fear that this may be the first indications of a much larger infestation problem, and we believe that the source may well originate in another dimension.”

 

“You mean…like a temporal crossing?” Troi whistled, “Hooboy! Now I know why your partner gave me the recall signal. Funny that she didn't tell me about all of this, though when I came in for my debriefing.”

 

“Oh?” Cobalt blinked, then touched her communicator and said, “Command Center, this is Cobalt. Patch me in to Lieutenant Commander Sepia's office…”

 

“I'm online, Cobalt-chan,” came the svelte voice of her significant other, “Tell Troi that I'm sorry I was so abrupt with her just now, but we have a situation brewing that we are currently monitoring, and it is taking the better part of my concentration.”

 

“You mean you were leaving the explaining part to me?” Cobalt arched a silvery eyebrow.

 

“I knew you would be able to handle things on that end,” Sepia said with a lilting hint of amusement, “And Tell Troi and Rhea---now that she is back with us---to report into the situation room. We may need to debrief them both sooner than we had expected. Sepia out.”

 

Cobalt stared into space with a look of disquiet that was in no way made more pleasant by Troi's soft chuckling commentary, “You are ssssoooooo partner-whipped…”

 

“Says an Iczer who doesn't yet have a partner,” Cobalt grumbled, turning to Rhea and saying, “I guess you're being included with the rest of us old-timers, young lady. I wonder why the Commander wasn't contacted, though…she's usually the first one to jump on a case like this…”

 

“Who knows with Two?” Troi shrugged, “She's always been a bit twitchy. Maybe Sayoko's got her pinned down and won't let her up for air, or something.”

 

“Auntie!” Rhea colored at the insinuating language, unable to help remembering what it felt like when she and Muku had laid out on the ice together.

 

“Young people are so easy to shock these days,” Troi rolled her eyes towards the ceiling.

 

“For the third time I restate myself,” Cobalt mused, “Look who is talking…”

 

 

 

 

Muku arrived home feeling tired and somewhat flustered by the whole experience with Rhea. It was not so much that she was vexed at the mystery that seemed to surround the girl as it was more of a case of wondering what the heck was going on with her own reactions every time she and the mysterious girl were in the same space together.

 

Muku hated mysteries and problems, that was more the kind of thing that turned on someone with more of a brain, like Ono. She was more the action sort, the kind of person who hated to sit back and let other people do all the work. She liked using her hands more than her head, and while she was far from unintelligent, she did not consider herself to be an outstandingly good problem solver. That being a given, of course, fate would have to land a total mystery into her lap without any sort of instructions. She could improvise whenever she had to, but dealing with something that was totally outside the range of her experience was just too much of a headache to be worth her bother.

 

That being a given, she decided that a nice hot bath was just the thing that she needed to get her mind off of her troubles. She had taken a brief shower when leaving the skating arena, but nothing could replace a long hot soak in the furo for soothing away your troubles.

 

Of course along the way she did encounter one of the usual standard features of her existence…namely an arrow sticking out from the front porch door, and another that had gone through a rice-paper window to imbed itself in the middle pillar separating the dining room from the kitchen. She did not even bother to take these down to read them as she made her way up the stairs and to her room, reckoning them as challenge letters from the dynamic brother-sister team of Godai and Gel Kuno. Trust those two not to have sense enough to leave a message with her answering service, they always had to be old fashioned about these things, which made it awfully hard to keep in stock on doors and windows.

 

Fifteen minutes later found her relaxing in the soothing hot water of her upstairs furo, helping her to relax while contemplating such great life mysteries as why nearly all of her friends and rivals tended to be such very odd people. Sakura and Yumi were nice enough as friends went, but some of the others who comprised her rather **unique** social circle all tended to fall under the category of “really strange people,” like Yui Hibiki of the enormous strength and clueless sense of directions. She supposed that you could file many of them away under the heading of “mostly harmless” sorts, but then you had a real problem case like Gel to tilt the apple cart, and that was not even going so far as to include her deranged cousin and aunt, who were in an entirely different category of “scary people you don't invite to your parties.”

 

Of course some people were a nice sort of strange, like her Uncle Ranma, who had a peculiar…condition that hardly anyone even felt like mentioning these days. Her mentor in martial arts (not in the same category as her parents) was an even-handed sort who hardly seemed to mind the fact that Muku and his daughter were considered both friends and rivals…or was that friendly rivals? He played no favorites, extended no special favors to anyone, expected all of his students to do their best and generally did not mind if you had a life outside of classes. What a contrast with the vast majority of her teachers, who tended to load her with so much homework that Muku could only wonder what most of it was for, or how it could possibly be of benefit to her eventual graduation?

 

And then there was Rhea…a new enigma to be certain. How did she fall into what category of “strange?” Good, bad or just “trouble waiting to happen?” Probably the latter, Muku reasoned, not that there was anything about the girl herself that seemed so threatening as the strangeness that seemed to surround her. In fact…

 

“Oh…did I catch you at a bad time?”

 

“Huh?” Muku started, sitting upright in the tub, then slowly turning around to see the earnest face of Rhea leaning over her, which caused Muku to freeze up like a deer in the headlights.

 

“I'm sorry…I didn't mean to disturb you like this,” Rhea apologized, “I was just wondering why you were not wearing the bracelet I gave you. We have a bit of an emergency, you see, and when I noticed that your safety field had not yet been engaged…”

 

“GAK!” without knowing quite why, Muku covered herself up and yelped, “DON'T YOU EVER KNOCK BEFORE YOU SHOW UP HERE???”

 

“Oh?” Rhea blinked, backing up somewhat, “Did I do something wrong? I apologize…but you see, it's necessary for you to wear the bracelet at all times…”

 

“Why?” Muku stared at the girl with narrowed eyes, not even bothering to ask herself why she was so shy around this stranger.

 

“Because the enemy is on the alert and could show up at any time,” Rhea said when her eyes started to rove up and down Muku's body as if studying a fine statue and just noticing its worth upon a closer inspection, “Oh my…”

 

“Oh my what?” Muku frowned, “You've never seen a girl naked before?”

 

“Oh I have, many times in fact,” Rhea answered, “But…never…quite like this…”

 

“Never like what?” Muku challenged, “You've never taken a bath with another girl?”

 

Rhea colored abruptly, “Oh no…I have never been so…intimate with anyone…not even with my aunts. I was simply admiring your symmetry…did you know that your face is within 1.06% of a perfect balance? That's very rare in a human…most people tend to differ on one side than the other, just as one breast is sometimes larger than its counterpart, or one leg is slightly longer…do you understand what I am saying?”

 

“Uh…not really,” Muku swallowed.

 

Rhea seemed to just then remember herself, turned and saw the neatly folded pile of fresh garments that Muku was intending to change into, and the bracelet that was set atop them. Rhea moved to pick up the bracelet, then did something to the inside part of it before passing it along to Muku, saying with much earnestness in her expression, “Never take it off for longer than you have to, and when you do take it off, be sure to keep it close at hand. It could save not only your life but also the lives of those around you, and besides…you can contact me with this if you ever need my help. Just touch this black button and say my name and I will be at your side before you know it.”

 

“Huh?” Muku frowned as she automatically reached out a hand to accept the bracelet, “But…won't it get wet or something…?”

 

“That won't be a problem,” Rhea replied, then her eyes seemed to grow more focused as she stared at Muku's chest, which had been uncovered by the proffering hand. Muku noticed this and immediately covered herself again with a sour expression, as if daring Rhea to make something about it.

 

“I don't suppose this thing tells the time or anything like that?” Muku asked as she turned around and fitted the bracelet around her wrist, keeping her back firmly turned towards Rhea.

 

“If you want it to tell the time then you can press the black spot and ask for a reading,” Rhea answered, “Go ahead and try it.”

 

Muku noticed a small black stone set on the bracelet and put a finger on the thing, but she found that she could not depress it. She decided to test it anyway and said, “Time?”

 

All at once a set of glowing lights appeared in the air above the bracelet, startling Muku, who had not expected any such thing to happen.

 

“I have to go now,” Rhea sighed as she stood erect once again, “I just wanted to make certain that you were safe. It's not a good idea to be alone in a house this big…the Venomoids could attack you disguised as something seemingly innocent, and it is always best to be on your guard against them.”

 

“What the heck are these Venomoids?” Muku asked as she turned around, careful to keep her body submerged down to her neckline, “And why are they out to attack me?”

 

“They are beings from a negative void who are the enemies of all life,” Rhea answered, “They seek to infiltrate this world and subvert it, just as they have done on other worlds that bore their infestation. They know that we C'thuwulf stand resolved to prevent this from happening, but that we have…certain vulnerabilities that they can exploit to their advantage, among which is you, who are soul-bonded to me as my partner.”

 

“Hey, don't I get any say in this?” Muku asked.

 

“I am afraid not,” Rhea replied with a sad shake of her head, “Synchronization has begun, and it is a process that is near to irreversible once I selected you as my partner. It can only happen when I find a human partner who is perfectly suited towards me and contains all of the elements that I need to achieve a full balance. At full synchronization I will achieve my ultimate level of power, but at present I am only partially there, and so I must protect you at all cost. I am sorry about involving you in this matter, but all who live upon the Earth will be infected if the Venomoids have their way.”

 

“And you need me to stop this?” Muku sounded incredulous, “How? What can I do? I'm just a normal girl, for Kami's sakes!”

 

“You are not `normal' or ordinary to me,” Rhea replied, “And you have gifts the like of which you cannot presently imagine. That is why the Venomoids wish to destroy you…you represent a threat to their empire. By destroying you they will cripple me and remove any chance of a threat that I might pose to them, just as they are attempting to remove my aunt and her partner from the equation.”

 

“What's that?” Muku blinked.

 

“My Aunt has been attacked,” Rhea replied, “She and her partner are presently fighting to defend themselves against an unknown assailant of Venomoid origins. My other aunt has gone to assist them, leaving me to look after you since the next logical move for the enemy would be to come after the wink link of an incomplete Iczer. I would have come to see you anyway because your safety is paramount to my well being. I also…wanted to see you again…it has been only an hour since we parted, and yet I find you in my thoughts at every waking moment.”

 

“Ah…hah?” Muku reacted.

 

“Oh…I am sorry, did I embarrass you again?” Rhea flushed with chagrin, “I am sorry…I don't quite fully understand the ways of your people. I was raised…differently in New Gamora…I will leave you alone now…but remember what I have said and be careful.”

 

With that the strange girl faded out once again, leaving Muku to stare at the space where she had been standing. Muku then glanced down at the bracelet around her wrist, then shook her head in absolute confusion and sighed, “I need a better social life…”

 

But try as she might she could not keep from blushing, remembering just how Rhea had looked on her naked body. There was no mistaking it now, that girl was definitely going to be trouble, but just what to do about it Muku could not truly say, nor did she even pretend to have a clue about her own feelings on the matter. The obviously logical thing to do would have been to tell this Rhea to get lost and insist she never again drop in on Muku, either with or without any announcement.

 

Yeah, right, like it would be that simple! She sighed all the more as she contemplated her bracelet and silently wondered why she had accepted the other girl's simple declaration at face value. The idea that the thing might in any way protect her seemed ludicrous…and yet the thought of taking it off brought back the memory of the Venomoids and the fear that they generated. The smart thing would be to leave well enough alone and hope for a later explanation that would make more sense. She could worry about elvish girls and things that go bump in the night on some other occasion…

 

If only her mind did not keep troubling her with one question…such as what did this Rhea girl look like when she was naked? And---realizing that she had actually thought such a thing---Muku sank into the furo and tried to pretend that the whole thing had never happened, knowing as she did so that she was being a hypocrite, but for the moment not caring…

 

 

 

Continued

 

Comments/Criticisms/Safety Restrictions in a Venomoid Crisis: shadowmane@msn.com