Iczer-one Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Earth Child ❯ Atros Unleashed ( Chapter 16 )

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)

 

 

 

 

 

“Man, what a night,” Troi mused to herself as she returned home to Gamora base central, “Anything interesting happen while I was away?”

 

Cobalt could barely contain her fury, “Where were you, and why in the hell did you turn off your location detector? Don't you know that we're in the midst of another full scale crisis?”

 

“Huh?” Troi blinked as she turned to see the looks focused her way, “What's wrong? Why are you shouting at me all of a sudden…?”

 

“We haven't been able to track down either you or your sisters for the past hour,” Sepia more calmly explained, “And several minutes ago we detected a signature wave measuring of a level and intensity equal to that of an Iczer.”

 

“Another one?” Troi goggled, turning to Sister Grey and asking, “Any idea who it is this time, Mom?”

 

“We don't know,” Sister Grey replied, “But it most definitely is not Nova. We dispatched the Iczelions to the area only moments ago, but…”

 

“Master Sepia!” one of the Monitors spoke up, “The Iczelions have made contact and they have identified the contact point as someone from our archives…subject Iczer Class Three-Beta…code named…”

 

“ATROS?” Troi started as the visual image appeared of a black-haired, red, white and black clad armored figure, “They're sending Atros this time?”

 

“Your other sister?” Cobalt remarked, “Has she also been resurrected?”

 

“Apparently so,” the Monitor observed, her headband registering unusually vigorous light-flickering activity, “She destroyed a portion of a mall in order to escape field containment, but the Iczelions are in pursuit and have carried the battle into subspace…”

 

“Master Sepia!” another Monitor called out, “We have a life-level reading on Iczer Four…Rhea-chan's vital signs have suffered an acute disruption and she has shut down into auto-repair mode!”

 

“Troi…?” Sepia asked.

 

“I'm on it!” Troi cried, teleporting at once as she instinctively to where she sensed the signs of battle were currently raging.

 

“Will she be in time?” Cobalt asked in obvious concern.

 

“Difficult to say,” Grey replied, “Against a conventional opponent, most definitely…but against Atros, who is physically her equal in every respect…”

 

“Sir!” Sister Amber called out from her station, “We have a data analysis of subject Atros taken by the Iczelions' internal scanners…we just run a genetic test to confirm her identity and…look at this!”

 

An image appeared in the air that formed itself into a colorful holographic image of a DNA strand, paired up alongside to others with various highlighted portions signifying a color-coded match.

 

“WHAT?” Grey said with alarm, staring at the strands in disbelief, “Can this be confirmed? It's incredible…I don't believe it…”

 

“You don't believe what?” Cobalt asked, wondering privately to herself why it always seemed as if techno-organic engineers operated within their own self-contained worlds of data streams and numbers.

 

“This changes everything we thought we knew about this particular enemy,” Grey replied, “Troi must be informed of this at once…she has to know what she is dealing with in Atros!”

 

“Establish a data-link with Troi as soon as she opens herself to our relay net,” Sepia commanded.

 

“We are unable to do that at this time, Master Sepia,” a Monitor related, “Troi is engaging her enemy and has shut herself off from external communication.”

 

“Oh great,” Cobalt growled, “That's typical for that little hothead…”

 

“Let me know as soon as she makes herself available for communication,” Cobalt urged, “I have to tell my daughter just who it is she's fighting against…it might affect the entire outcome of their fight…but for good or ill I cannot as yet determine.”

 

“And what of Rhea?” Sepia asked.

 

“We are monitoring, Deputy Commander,” one of the Monitors replied, “But…as for her current status…” she hesitated, leaving the others to collectively wonder what was going on in the field of battle…

 

 

 

 

Yumi seemed unnaturally calm for someone who was about to reach terminal velocity with a sudden stop only a few seconds following this. With under a thousand meters to fall she seemed to reach inside herself and call forth something that was hidden and which lay dormant on most occasions, using the few seconds it took to call forth an alteration in her appearance to summon up her powers so that she could spread her body wide, catch the air currents and begin to drift while pointing both hands downward as she released her own projected force-wave.

 

Muku was only dimly aware of a cold draft blowing near her as she clung to the injured Rhea, having nothing else to hold as the darkness of night threatened to claim them. She opened her eyes to see what seemed like rings of energy flowing down the length of Yumi's hands as her friend stared resolutely at the ground beneath them, and then they suddenly hit something firm-yet-yielding, which caused Muku to gasp in shock more than impact, Rhea's body being driven a bit more firmly into her chest and almost knocking the wind out of her sails as their downward plunge was broken by a shocking wave of cold white snowflakes.

 

When it at long last dawned on Muku that she was no longer falling and was very much still alive, she opened her eyes again to stare up a long tunnel, seeing stars reflecting down at her through a corridor of gray matter that had formed around her and broken her fall like a huge comforter pillow. A few moments of contemplation clarified to her what was causing that sense of cold that gripped her body, and then at last she understood what had just happened and gasped, “Snowflakes???”

 

A pair of hands dug through the snow and a moment later Yumi was smiling at her brightly, albeit a Yumi surrounded by that peculiar glamour that made her seem more like a fuku-clad princess, complete with jeweled tiara.

 

“Well, are you impressed?” Yumi asked, “I've been practicing this particular maneuver for quite a while now, and it turns out to work pretty good in a clinch, don't you think?”

 

“You created a cushion of snow to break our fall?” Muku asked.

 

“Loosely packed with lots of space between the snowflakes,” Yumi noted, “Like falling through forty meters of cotton candy. Of course when it melts it'll turn into the mother of all slushees, but by that time you should be able to drag yourself out of there, along with your girlfriend.”

 

Muku again became aware that the only warm thing in her immediate environment was Rhea, who was still as motionless as before and had the feeling of a limp rag doll. Fortunately that beam saber that had penetrated her body was no longer in evidence, though she Muku moved a hand to the point of entry she felt the slick wetness there and a space so wide that it almost made her own heart stop. Without needing to be prompted, she let Yumi haul them both out through the tunnel that her Senshi friend had just created.

 

Once they were both dragged clear of the giant snowball, Muku set Rhea down on the ground and stared in dismay at the other girl's injury, seeing her borrowed tank-top discovered by the rust-like effect her blood seemed to have on regular clothing. The wound---thankfully---had stopped bleeding by this point but it was located in an area that would indicate that a lung had been penetrated. The lance had seemed to miss the heart by such a tiny fraction that it hardly even mattered, but considering that it was composed of energy it no doubt would have cauterized normal human flesh, so there was no telling how much actual damage had been sustained by the Iczer's internal organs.

 

“It's bad, isn't it?” Muku asked as Yumi set to work doing a quick medical evaluation, being a trained nurse and having a pediatrician for a mother being good recommendations for the role of an emergency paramedic.

 

“I won't lie to you, Muku-chan,” Yumi replied, “It's bad for a human…but for her? I really don't know what to say. She's just alien enough that she might be able to survive this, but she needs immediate medical attention, and I don't even want to think how much of that orange goop she calls blood she's lost. Too bad we don't have anyone nearby who could rig up a transfusion.”

 

“Can't you do anything for her?” Muku asked, “One of your Senshi tricks maybe…?”

 

“No good,” Yumi shook her head, “As Sailor Hermes I do have some limited healing abilities, but she needs help from someone who's intimate with her anatomy and can treat her with whatever medications are useful to her people. I can try to sustain her vital signs…or I could freeze her into cryogenic stasis, but I'm not sure what effect that could have on her, or if it might even worsen her condition. Perhaps if Yui were here the two of us might be able to do something…”

 

“Somebody mention me?” asked another fuku-clad figure, who came leaping to join them, her form only vaguely identifiable as belonging to one Yui Hibiki.

 

“Thank the Stars, Cousin!” Yumi cried, “Quick, I need your help! Join your power with me and we'll perform a Healing spell that might keep Muku-chan here from losing a girlfriend.”

 

“What happened to her?” Yui asked, seeing Rhea on the ground, then stopping herself as she got a better look at the injury, “On second thought…I don' t think I want to know. A healing spell, you say? I'll have to go double for this one.”

 

“If you need a little water to help you out,” Yumi raised a hand and summoned up a snowball, then tossed it over her friend's head. Yui melted it with a single glance and then allowed the water to fall down over her, and suddenly there were two Yuis standing before them, both fuku clad though one was in a red dress and the other in purple.

 

“Deimos,” said one.

 

“And Phobos…at your service,” added the other.

 

“Swell,” Yumi nodded, then gently nudged Muku away, “Give us a little room to work with here, Muku-chan…this is a job for us Senshi, and you're better off keeping your distance and praying.”

 

Muku hated to be forced to leave Rhea's side, finding her emotions were in a complete tumble as she stared at the pallid form of the fallen Bioroid and felt her veins turn to ice-water. She knew from prior experience, though, that there was little that she could do when it came to what her friends termed “Senshi business,” and so she stood back as instructed and waiting, all the while silently offering a prayer to the Kami for the sake of the fallen Rhea. She did not even avert her eyes when Yumi and the two Yuis linked hands and began glowing, summoning up their formidable powers in order to gather the energy needed to do their planetary spell casting.

 

Even as she watched her friends attempt to revive the stricken Rhea, she wondered about the one who had put the Bioroid in such a critical condition, and wondered also if the three armored women would prove up to the challenge of containing her, or possibly if this nightmare was only just beginning…

 

 

 

 

Troi followed the trace of the Iczelions, reasoning that was the fastest way to find Atros, her niece still turning up negative on a location scan, though her life sign readings were definitely nearing the red zone. She felt an uncharacteristic surge of self-recrimination about that, not having suspected that all three senior Iczers should have been following her example of opting for “stealth mode” in order to spend some “quality time” with their partners, but what were the odds of it happening during such a critical attack? She only knew that her sisters would conjointly blame her and themselves if Rhea ceased to function because of their collective decision.

 

Of course she had no illusions that the bulk of the blame would fall upon her shoulders, and no way did Troi want to have to give an accounting for why she had wanted to put herself incommunicado…and it was not as if her ultra-responsible older siblings would understand Troi's reasoning for her seduction of the virginal Sakura. Two alone would have a fit about the daughter of her old sensei being Troi's latest conquest, and she did not even want to think of what kind of a row there would be about that if such a delicate matter came to light as the cause for poor Rhea's condition.

 

Besides which she had a pretty idea of what the Iczelions would be up against if Atros was anything like her old self in the old days. She might have turned traitor to Neos and sided with the good guys near the end, but Troi had a sneaking suspicion that Gold would hardly revive her without taking large steps to prevent such a thing recurring in the present.

 

So it was that she phased into Subspace around the location of the three Iczelions currently engaging Atros…and---as Troi had suspected---they were getting the worst of the encounter, especially since Atros (like Troi herself) was no longer a child but had a fully adult body, with power levels commensurate to such an age advancement.

 

Not only was Atros larger and stronger, but she seemed a whole lot more savage too as Troi discovered upon approaching the makeshift battle zone, and seeing Kiiro Ijima getting body-slammed against the side of a major rock formation. The impact did more damage to the rocks than to Kiiro herself, but the pink-haired Idol singer was reeling from what portion of the impact managed to penetrate her armors integral shielding.

 

“You weaklings are no match for me!” Atros declared, right before Kawai Kawaii tried a beam attack that slammed in Atros from a flanking angle.

 

The black-haired Bioroid was barely even phased by the beam and immediately produced her twin sabers, hurling them like boomerangs at two sharply arching angles that converged on Kawai's position, forcing the Silver Iczelion to call off her attack and instead reach for her boomerangs to deflect the laser lances before they could impact against her armor's shielding. Kawai barely had time to recover when Atros came barreling at her with outstretched foot aimed for her helmet, and though the brown haired girl tried rolling with the kick, enough kinetic force penetrated through her shielding to send her tumbling sideways like a soccer ball fired out from a cannon.

 

Nami Shiina tried attacking while Atros's focus was elsewhere, but though the Black Iczelion was fast, deadly and nearly as ruthless a fighter as her opponent, still Atros managed to dodge out of the way of her attack with such speed that it almost appeared as though she had teleported from the spot. The blonde Nami was just attempting to recover her bearings when Atros appeared directly behind her, to deliver a double-fisted hammer-blow and downward slam that sent the Iczelion crashing to earth with such force that Nami created a sizeable crater on impact.

 

Atros stretched out her hands and caught her returning beam sabers, then peered down at her fallen foe and said, “You annoy me the most, so I will deal with you first. Let's see how you feel about being pinned like an insect!”

 

Atros lifted her lances high and prepared to carry out her diabolical threat when Troi called out, “YO, STINKY FACE!!! WHY DON'T YOU GET A REAL FIGHT FROM SOMEBODY WHO KNOWS THE SCORE EVEN BETTER THAN YOU!”

 

“So,” Atros turned to regard Troi, “You finally came out from hiding to meet with me…dearest sister.”

 

“Huh?” Troi blinked, “You remember that we're related?”

 

“How could I forget,” Atros sneered, “I was cloned from you to be your exact opposite in every detail…I'm the darkness to your light, and my one purpose in life is to destroy you…sister.”

 

“You changed…or maybe you haven't changed after all,” Troi frowned, “Still as pompous as ever, only twice as annoying.”

 

Atros launched her assault, but Troi was ready to meet with her and had both of her own beam sabers in hand, blocking the other warrior's double-beam attack and deflecting it with ease before thrusting forward and forcing Atros to go on the defensive. A few quick exchanges later and they parted to take new stock of one another's abilities and to further assess their relative skill levels.

 

“You've improved,” Atros noted, impressed by the other woman's defenses.

 

“I've had good teachers,” Troi replied, “And you're not much better than you were the last time we fought.”

 

“I have improved in ways you cannot imagine…dearest Sister,” Atros sneered, “Observe.”

 

All at once there were two identical versions of Atros hovering in the air and confronting a surprised Troi, and then there were four, eight, sixteen and finally thirty-two, all surrounding Troi and each holding up a matching pair of beam sabers.

 

“Huh,” Troi said as she recovered, “Big deal…I've seen this illusion before lots of times, and I've always beaten it the same way…by taking out the real you!”

 

“DON'T BE SO SURE YOU KNOW OUR SECRET,” all thirty-plus Atroses chorused as they each attacked together, presenting Troi with a virtual forest of lances slicing down at her position.

 

Of course Troi spot-teleported out of there, but when she appeared off to the side she was amazed to see the multiple sabers all collide and halt each other at the center of the ring, forming a glowing snowball-like effect where all of the tips seemed to be touching together.

 

“What?” Troi gasped, right before the space between saber tips formed a ball of energy that rapidly expanded…and then exploded the next instant…

 

 

 

 

Some distance away a young boy lifted his head, hearing explosions that sounded as though they were happening many kilometers away from his position. He debated going to investigate, then turned to look back at the half-covered body of a woman lying on her blankets before the campfire. Said woman was tensing and moving in her sleep, restlessly tossing and turning as though in the throes of a nightmare, and Tenma was very reluctant to leave her side while she was in this condition.

 

Fiber dreamed a memory, a time that had happened very long ago, at the climax of her previous life, when she had been badly injured in a fight and was now kneeling before her creator begging for her life while being jeered upon by her fellow Comet sisters.

 

“Please, Neos-sama!” she pleaded, “It was not my fault…she called herself Iczer Three and claimed to be Iczer One's new sister…”

 

“Do you take me for a fool?” Neos had sneered back, “How dare you show your face before me with such a cheap excuse for your failure? You disgust me beyond words, Fiber, and this pathetic story about Iczer One having a sister…”

 

“But it's the truth!” Fiber insisted, “She was too strong for me, I was no match for her…forgive me!”

 

“Fiber,” Golem had declared sternly, “You know the penalty for failure…accept your fate and show some dignity.”

 

“You really should not have failed Neos-sama if you wished to continue to live,” Insect jeered, “I could have dealt with such a minor threat myself without bringing shame to the cause of Neos-sama.”

 

“And such a ridiculous lie,” Bigro snorted, “Iczer Three…as if the C'thuwulf would dare to send another Bioroid to fight in Iczer One's place.”

 

“But it is the truth, I tell you!” Fiber cried out, “Neos-sama…”

 

“BEGONE WITH YOU!” Neos had declared coldly, and the next instant Fiber cried out as an energy field surrounded her whole body, disintegrating her into her constituent atoms…

 

…And Fiber awoke with a sharp scream, having relived the point of her own death, only to find herself very much alive, though nominally in very poor physical condition.

 

“Take it easy,” Tenma urged, “You were just having a nightmare.”

 

“A…nightmare?” Fiber replied, panting hard as if her lungs required oxygen, “Ridiculous…I do not dream…”

 

“Could have fooled me,” Tenma said as he fed another stick to the fire in order to keep it going, “What was all that bitching and moaning about? Something about an Iczer Three and some guy named Neos?”

 

“Iczer Three?” Fiber belatedly examined the eleven-year-old child, “You…heard all of that?”

 

“Kind of hard to miss,” Tenma remarked, “Maybe if I stuffed my ears full of wax I could have missed it…”

 

Fiber tried to sit up and compose herself, but the damages her body had received impaired her movements, so she winced a little and opted to stay with her weight balanced on one elbow. She regarded the boy with a frankly skeptical look then asked, “Why are you looking after me?”

 

“Well, you looked like you needed some help, so I guessed that rest was the best thing I could do for you,” Tenma replied, “I don't expect any thanks from you or anything like that, you being one of the bad guys and all…”

 

“But…why would you look after me when you might have terminated my functions?” Fiber insisted.

 

“Why would I wanna do that?” Tenma asked, “It was your boss who was gonna do that to you when I stopped her. If I wanted you dead, I would've have just kept my nose out of it and left you to whatever your boss was planning.”

 

“Yes,” Fiber frowned, “So why did you risk yourself like that? Have you no idea of the power that Neos has at her disposal?”

 

“I got a pretty good idea when we fought,” Tenma replied, “But so what? My Pop's faced much tougher guys than that and come out on top. She seemed to think she was pretty hot, right up until I blasted her with my proton gauntlets.”

 

Fiber remembered the incident vividly, but more to the point, she had some idea how it had happened, “That is because you were charging them with your own personal energy. How is it that a mere human commands so much vast potential?”

 

“Heck, I'm a Saotome,” Tenma said smugly, “It just runs in the family. Besides…it's like it's too easy to make stuff work out here…there's all this energy you can tap into, it really ain't all that hard for somebody with Anything Goes training.”

 

“Anything Goes?” Fiber repeated.

 

“Yep,” Tenma said cockily, “Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu, my Pop's school of martial arts. He's the best fighter in the whole world and nobody can beat him. Sure, there's plenty of tough guys who show up now and then to give Pop a workout, but he always comes out on top, even when he's fighting my Uncle Terry, who's almost as tough and once beat a god in a battle.”

 

Fiber arched an eyebrow to this, “Does the Earth truly boast such formidable fighters? I…seem to recall doing battle with a group calling itself the Justice League…but once we took down their satellite it was far too easy to neutralize their organization…”

 

“You guys are the ones who invaded the Earth back in Pop's time?” Tenma looked visibly impressed, “Wow, that happened way before I was even born! I heard that a group of aliens tried taking over the planet, but they got stomped by some superheroes in the end…I'm not sure if it was the Dyna League or that group in America that calls itself the Avengers…”

 

“It was…Iczer Three,” Fiber reluctantly admitted, “Those other groups you mention…did not prove as formidable as their reputation would imply…”

 

“Iczer Three?” it was Tenma's turn to look faintly puzzled.

 

“I think…these days she is calling herself…Troi,” Fiber paused, “Though why she should opt for a change in name designation like that…”

 

“Troi?” Tenma whistled, “That cute girl with the fluffy white hair? Wow, I didn't know she was that tough! Pop trained her older sister, y'know…”

 

“He did?” Fiber blinked, surprised at the notion that a human could teach anything useful to an Iczer.

 

“Yeah, but it happened when I was really little, I don't remember too much about stuff like that,” Tenma sighed, “So, you fought with Superman, Thor, Captain America and Sunfire?”

 

“Not…those individuals whom you mention, not precisely,” Fiber reluctantly conceded, “Neos lured them into subspace and trapped them where they could do no good for the Earth…and with your most powerful warriors thus helpless to prevent we Sisters of the Comet from attacking your world and neutralizing your military defenses…”

 

“I figured it had to be something like that,” Tenma nodded sagely, “You Bad Guys always cheat so you don't have to go up against the guys who could really kick your tailbone.”

 

Fiber bristled at the insult, “And what would you, a mere child, know about such matters?”

 

“Hey, what's not to know?” Tenma replied, “I read a lot of manga and watch a lot of anime, and on my favorite shows the bad guys always act sneaky and underhanded, like a straight one-on-one fight's beneath you or something. I'll bet anything that if you had to go up against Raiden he'd knock you for a loop with his giant hammer…but I guess that's all over for you now since your boss kicked you out of your evil organization.”

 

“For your information, I was not `kicked out' of anything…I had failed in my mission and was about to be terminated…” Fiber started to correct.

 

“Yeah, same difference,” Tenma replied, “So…what are you gonna do with your life now that you're no longer officially one of the Bad Guys?”

 

Fiber had to blink at that, “What will I…do?”

 

“Yeah,” Tenma said, “Your boss thinks you're dead, right? And if she finds out you're not, then she's gonna come after you again to finish the job. That means you've either gotta figure out some way of getting back at her or else you gonna have to lay low for a while, get a real job or something like that…”

 

“A job?” Fiber was dumbfounded.

 

“Yeah,” Tenma replied, “My mom always says to my Pop that he ought to get a real job any time he starts complaining about running a dojo. She means it as a joke, of course, since Mom's business is making okonomiyaki, which she's really, really good at! Are you good at something? You got any hobbies, anything you like to do when you're by yourself?”

 

“Well…I…don't know…” Fiber's voice trailed off as she actually thought about the matter, “I…have no other function but to serve Neos…”

 

“Oh, I get it,” Tenma said, “All you know is how to destroy stuff, right? Typical bad guy…you're so used to doing mayhem and destruction that you never get around to planning for the future. Don't you have anything else besides blowing stuff up that you think is fun?”

 

“I…well…” Fiber reluctantly replied, “I do weave things…my fibers are deadly, hence my namesake, Fiber…”

 

“Fiber huh?” Tenma smiled, “That's a nice name…for a cute girl like you.”

 

“Cute???” Fiber reacted as if physically slapped, “I am not `CUTE,' I am a creation of destruction, a weapon who has ravaged entire worlds! I am what Neos made me…”

 

“Geez,” Tenma winced, “Except for that last part, you sound just like my sister. Anybody calls her cute, she flattens them with her spatula…must get that from our mother…”

 

Fiber bristled, “I assure you that I am nothing like your family…or anyone else upon your world. You have no idea what I could do if I…were not so badly damaged…”

 

“Yeah, that's something else I've been meaning to ask,” Tenma noted, “Are you some kind of robot or android? I mean…you look real pretty, but it's pretty obvious you've got artificial parts, and you kind of look something like a mannequin, so I kind of wondered if you might be a cyborg, or something like that.”

 

“I am a Bioroid,” Fiber replied, “I was artificially created in the form that you see now. I am a living organism who has artificial parts as an extension of my being…”

 

“Cool,” Tenma said, “Must be pretty neat being a Bioroid…I've seen a lot of shows about guys just like you who start out being all mean and destructive but who learn about humanity and change their ways in the end…”

 

“That cannot happen,” Fiber replied, “I am a product of my internal programming. To deviate from my core beliefs…is not possible…”

 

“Yeah, so…what are those `core beliefs' anyway?” Tenma asked, “What do you want to do with your life other than destroy things?”

 

“Nothing,” Fiber insisted, “That is my primary function.”

 

“But you also like to weave stuff,” Tenma pointed out, “That don't sound too destructive.”

 

Fiber started to respond to this but faltered. It belatedly occurred to her that she was debating her life with a mere child, and yet this child did have strange insights and seemed unusually bright for the species.

 

Tenma seemed to think a moment then said, “Bet you never really thought about it, huh? Destroying stuff is all you know, but what do you do after stuff gets destroyed? What's left for you when there's nothing else to destroy?”

 

“I…well…then I move on,” Fiber replied, “There are always more worlds to conquer in the service of Neos.”

 

“Doesn't sound like too much fun if you ask me,” Tenma noted, “Don't you ever get tired of just destroying stuff? I mean…what good is it to conquer somebody if there's nobody left to conquer? If they're all dead, then you got nothing left to do, right?”

 

“…” Fiber had to admit that it did sound like a very limited kind of existence.

 

“You ask me, your life sounds kind of empty,” Tenma noted, “Don't you have any friends or family, any guys you like to hang out with after all the fighting's over?”

 

“My…sisters and I are all that I have…had,” she hastily corrected, then a strange sort of sadness filled her as she added, “They…have already been destroyed by Neos-sama…”

 

“Geez, she doesn't believe in giving you guys a break, does she?” Tenma asked, “You got hurt fighting for her and all she can do is try and punch out your ticket. Just like a major villain, she's got no respect for her own people.”

 

“She…does not believe that she is accountable…to anyone but her own creator, Big Gold,” Fiber reluctantly admitted.

 

“No wonder you guys lose all the time,” Tenma sniffed.

 

Fiber looked at the youth again and said, “What?”

 

“Well, I just figured out why you lose,” Tenma explained, “You don't care about nobody, even yourself. Your boss doesn't care about you and you don't care about the people you stomp on. That means you got nothing else to live or die for except fighting…in other words, when you go into a fight you got nothing, so it don't matter really whether you lose or win since you're just the same either way…”

 

“That's not true,” Fiber retorted, “Winning is everything…to lose in battle is to disgrace yourself and those you serve…”

 

“Which works just fine if you're a samurai,” Tenma replied, “But even those guys had a personal life, like a home and family and all sorts of hobbies. Pop says the way of Budo means you build your life around the martial arts, but you make the time to do other stuff that you enjoy doing, like flower arranging or karaoke.”

 

“Karaoke?” Fiber repeated.

 

“Yeah,” Tenma replied, “It's where guys who can't carry a tune get to sing whatever songs they like and nobody seems to mind if they're good at it or not. Mom and Pop like to do it when we go out on the town together…of course my Aunt Nabiki says that karaoke is another word for `tone deaf'…”

 

“Singing…for pleasure?” Fiber blinked, “You can have…fun…doing things like this?”

 

“Sure,” Tenma replied, “Lots of fun! And when you have fun in life, then you know that life's worth defending…you know what you've got to fight for, and why losing can mean bad things happening to the people you care about. Pop always fights his best knowing that he's defending us against guys who want to hurt us…but Mom's a great fighter too, and she often watches Pop's back to see he keeps out of trouble…”

 

“Your parents…fight as a team,” Fiber said slowly, “Much like…partners…”

 

“Yeah,” Tenma replied, “Pop always says that Mom's the best part of him, that without her he'd be only half the guy he is, and I believe it. Some day I hope I find somebody who's worth fighting alongside…it'd be great to have somebody like Mom to fight with…of course I don't mean no stupid girl or nothing by that, if you know what I mean…”

 

“No,” Fiber replied, “I do not believe that I do…understand…”

 

“That's okay,” Tenma replied, “You'll figure it out for yourself, sooner or later. I'm just saying that it'd be nice if you had something to fight for besides destroying things. Believe me, it feels a whole lot better knowing that you did it to protect somebody, rather than just hurt them.”

 

“I…think that I…do see some…logic in that…” Fiber hesitantly admitted, wondering what else in life was worth fighting for but to destroy, ravage, retaliate and punish…

 

Punish? Where had that thought come from, and what was she thinking to retaliate against?

 

“Give yourself some time,” Tenma counseled, “Maybe you'll find out that there's something else you like to do besides destroy stuff. By the way…how's the shoulder?”

 

“It is…healing…slowly,” Fiber replied, “My internal repair systems appear to be intact and are functioning within acceptable parameters…”

 

“Uh…yeah,” Tenma scratched behind the back of his head, “Guess that means you gotta rest up and let your body heal, which is what Pop always tells me to do when I get hurt. Why don't we stick together for a while until you're all better? It's kind of lonely in a place like this…and I wouldn't mind having you around for a bit.”

 

“You…would not mind my being close to you…knowing what I have done and what I can do when I am restored to full operation?” Fiber replied.

 

“Well, if you wanna hurt me, that could be a problem,” Tenma smiled, “But you don't really got any reason to wanna do that, do you? Besides, I'm a lot tougher than you'd think I am just looking at my size, and I can hold my own when I have to.”

 

Fiber again recalled the fight against Neos and reluctantly agreed that this child was not one to be underestimated.

 

“I do not understand you,” she admitted after a long moment of reflection, “Why do you care about what happens to me? Why did you risk your life against Neos…”

 

“Seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” Tenma replied, “And why'd you help me out there at the end with that cocoon thing?”

 

“I…” Fiber had to concede that it was an amazingly good question. Why had she acted the way she had to protect this boy? It had been an impulsive gesture, and somehow she doubted that it had anything to do with programming.

 

The sounds of distant explosion grew loud once again, and Tenma turned to frown before saying, “I wonder if anybody I know's getting into a fight? Maybe I should go have a look since you're feeling all better.”

 

“That would not be wise,” Fiber cautioned, “There are Venomoids, Voids and Geos all around this area, and if any of them should discover us it could mean our doom.”

 

“I can handle myself against stuff like that,” Tenma said dismissively, but then noticed the expression on Fiber's face and said, “But maybe you're right…I shouldn't leave you all alone out here when you can't really defend yourself…”

 

Once again Fiber bristled, “I can manage for myself…I don't need your pity…”

 

“So who's giving you pity?” Tenma asked, “I'm just saying that us Saotome men can't go around deserting helpless women, it ain't right, it ain't Budo…”

 

“Are you telling me that you adhere to some ridiculous notions about chivalry…and that is why you choose to stay beside me?” Fiber was incredulous.

 

“What so ridiculous about that?” Tenma countered, “It ain't that I'm calling you weak or nothing, but you just can't fight too good while you're healing, and I won't leave you while you're all beat up like this. I couldn't look Pop in the eye again if I did that.”

 

It was infuriating how the child's logic seemed to short circuit every avenue that Fiber used to make him leave her, and in the end she gave it up as a futile effort. The boy plainly saw her as a female of his own species, even after her carefully explaining what a Bioroid was in terms even a simple minded human should have been able to understand. It was far less trouble to simply go along with the boy's reasoning while shutting away those elements of their conversation that were proving to be so deeply disturbing. The plain truth was that Fiber needed time to heal, and so she needed a protector, and clearly the boy regarded himself as one, much though the notion that she should be reduced to relying upon a child was bruising to her ego.

 

The sounds of fighting, while seemingly distant, were of some concern to her as time and distance within Subspace were mere illusions and could even be quite deceptive. Whoever was doing battle, she hoped that they wold not come near to her current position else she would have to rely on the boy to protect her. She needed many more hours before she could use her left arm effectively, and until that time she could not do much in the way of offensive or defensive weaving. She had no servitors to summon to her defense, no Venomoids or Geos soldiers to do her bidding, and nothing she dared to summon from her lair back on her original timeline…doing so would alert Neos to her continued existence. And so she decided to close down her less important functions for a while in order to speed up the process of regeneration, leaving the matter of the boy and his infuriating ideas to be resolved later as she closed her eyes and sat in a meditative posture, ignoring the sounds of explosion as her mind began to drift and all her senses were shut down to the barely autonomic.

 

Doing so, however, she heard the boy softly murmur, “I wonder what Pop and Mom are doing right now…or my big sister…I wonder if they miss me…?”

 

I wonder if they miss me…the words echoed in Fiber's mind…and for some curious reason she felt her body reflexively suppress an inexplicable shudder…

 

 

 

 

Troi found the battle with Atros a little too disturbingly like their first time acing one another, like a severe case of “déjà vu all over,” all the more disturbing at how evenly matched they were, for all that there were new differences now in their methods of fighting.

 

Nami Shiina was just then recovering from her bone-numbing landing, grateful that her armor had once again absorbed the worst of the impact. She had never faced an opponent so elusive and near unstoppable as this Atros, yet for some strange reason the enemy Iczer had not bothered to finish her off when she could. To judge by the resonating sounds of battle in the air above her head, it seemed to Nami that she owed someone for a rescue.

 

Kiiro was feeling alongside her head beneath her armored helmet, thinking to herself that singing in front of a live audience of music critics had never seemed this brutal. A veteran of many battles, she was still full of fire and the desire to fight, but Atros was proving too much for even the combined efforts of both her and her fellow Iczelions. They needed a new plan of attack if they were going to survive the next hour with all limbs intact on their bodies.

 

“Are you all right?” asked the familiar voice of Kawai, causing Kiiro to open her eyes and see her friend and fellow Iczelion looking at her in concern.

 

“I think so,” Kiiro admitted, then looked around, “Where's the bad guy?”

 

“Up there,” Kawaii nodded towards the sky, “Troi showed up to engage her and the two of them are now locked in a major battle.”

 

“Yeah, so I see,” Kiiro noted, watching the rapid play of matching sets of twin saber-lances striking out at one another and countering the attacks and thrusts of both combatants, “Think maybe we should go up there and give Troi a hand?”

 

“Do you think it would make any difference?” Kawaii asked.

 

“It might,” Nami reported as she approached them both on foot, the heavy tread of her black Iczelion armor giving her otherwise smooth stride a ponderous measure, “But I think we should hold off for a bit and wait to see if Troi needs our assistance.”

 

“You're right,” Kawai said, “We might just get in her way if we rush in there unannounced.”

 

“Maybe so,” Kiiro frowned, “But I didn't become an Iczelion just to sit on the sidelines and watch somebody else having fun.”

 

“Our time and opportunity will come,” Nami assured her partners, only to hear Troi calling down to them during the middle of her locking sabers with Atros.

 

“WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU CLOWNS DOING DOWN THERE?” Troi demanded, “Where is Rhea, and why aren't you guys going to help her out? She's been wounded, dammit!”

 

“Rhea-chan?” Kawai asked.

 

“Didn't she escape with her friends and partner?” Kiiro asked.

 

“Ah…” Nami paused a moment then said, “I believe…that she was injured during her flight…”

 

“What?” Kawai asked with a shocked expression.

 

“You left her alone when she was injured?” Kiiro said in disbelief.

 

“I…had my hands full with Atros at the time,” the blonde reluctantly admitted, “There was no time to go to her assistance, and I could hardly leave you two battling that demoness…”

 

“Let's hope that she's still all right,” Kawai said urgently.

 

“If she isn't, then Nagisa will roast the three of us alive!” Kiiro said with a look of horror.

 

“I believe I know where she landed,” Nami noted, silently praying that Rhea and her friends survived the fall that had been facing them when she had left, “Follow me, we must go to her at once.”

 

The three Iczelions vanished from Subspace, leaving Troi and Atros to continue with their fighting.

 

“Your friends are deserting you,” Atros sneered.

 

“Give me a break!” Troi smiled back, “I didn't want them to get hurt, but with them gone…I can really cut loose, you copy!”

 

“What…?” Atros started to say, only to react in dismay as Troi began glowing like a sun, and then an explosion---similar to the one she tried to use on Troi only moments ago---caused the air to rock and threw Atros backwards for a fair distance.

 

By the time the black-haired Iczer recovered her bearings she barely had time to brace herself as Troi came barreling out from the smoke of her own blast trailing fire like a comet. Atros felt the force of impact against first her kinetic shielding and then her own solar plexus as Troi drove her elbow into the other Bioroid's body, knocking the wind from her sails and sending her flying for over a kilometer before managing to stop her momentum.

 

“Hah, how do you like that, loser?” Troi crowed, “Bet you forgot all about my Iczer Bomber maneuver!”

 

Atros grunted but shrugged off an impact that would have been a sizable hole in a star cruiser, “Not too bad…but I've got a trick or two of my own up my sleeve.”

 

“Wha…?” Troi exclaimed as she sensed something heaving appearing directly behind her, and before she could move it moved to engulf and contain her within its grasp.

 

“Meet my new partner,” Atros said with a manic grin, “He's going to help me kill you, not that I didn't want that pleasure reserved for myself…”

 

“P-Partner?” Troi grunted as she struggled against the heavy arms that were pinning her own to her sides, and belatedly she realized just why the thing was powerful enough to resist her efforts, “You're using a VOID as your partner???”

 

“Not just any Void,” Atros smiled as she prepared her new attack, her fists glowing as she prepared to unleash a blast at point-blank range, “Meet the new and improved kind, hot off the genetic assembly line thanks to Gold's commission…”

 

“You're insane!” Troi cried as she saw her opponent's glowing hands point in her direction.

 

“Face it, Sister,” Atros leered, “I'm younger and faster than you, and as you can see I pack quite a wallop.”

 

“Do tell?” Troi smiled, and all at once she slipped loose from the arms of the armored creature that had loomed so large behind her, leaving it to receive the full force of the burst that Atros unleashed at point-blank range.

 

“WHAT?” Atros reacted a bit too slow to the sudden shift, only to feel the force of Troi's fist against the back of her skull, which almost disabled her on the spot had she not flinched away at the last second.

 

“Face it, Sister,” Troi replied, “I'm older and I have more experience at dirty fighting!”

 

“How did you…?” Atros straightened out her flight, rubbing the back of her head where she was forming a goose egg sized lump.

 

“Trade secret,” Troi winked, “Let's just say I know of a lot of ways to thwart a full nelson…what the…?”

 

To her amazement the huge armored figure of the Void hung there without a scratch, eyes glowing with internal crimson light as its form started to shimmer and grow, then all at once expand outward to cyclopean proportions.

 

“Try this on for size,” Atros leered, “A Demi-Void that can double as an Iczer Robo!”

 

“No way!” Troi exclaimed as she saw the thing tower over her, almost a hundred meters tall now and still growing.

 

“And now you'll see the full terrifying power of my new partner, Stratos!” Atros declared as she flew upward and did a somersault before being received into its armored chest-plate, at which point the giant began glowing a reddish color, topping out at the full cyclopean size of a genuine Iczer Robo.

 

“Hooboy,” Troi winced, suddenly feeling more than a little bit intimidated.

 

The giant flexed its arms and then Atros's voice came booming out, “INSIDE THIS MY POWER IS MULTIPLIED A HUNDREDFOLD…AND THROUGH MY PARTNER I HAVE ALL THE ENERGY I NEED TO DESTROY A HUNDRED LIKE YOU! TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT, SISTER DEAREST…AND I'LL EVEN BE SPORTING JUST TO MAKE IT INTERESTING! I'LL GIVE YOU TIME ENOUGH TO SUMMON YOUR OWN ICZER ROBO, THEN I'LL CRUSH IT AND MAKE SHORT WORK OF YOU SINCE YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A PARTNER TO BACK YOUR PLAY!”

 

“Ah…right,” Troi said, “Um…would it be too much to ask you to wait right here…I'll be back in a moment, I promise.”

 

“YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES!” Atros replied, “AFTER WHICH I'M COMING AFTER YOU, AND I DON'T CARE IF I HAVE TO DESTROY YOUR GAMORAN BASE TO REACH YOU AND KILL ALL OF THE PEOPLE YOU'VE SWORN TO PROTECT---SISTER!!!”

 

“Swell,” Troi grimaced, vanishing from the spot as desperation was giving her a dangerous plan that needed immediate execution…

 

 

 

 

“We are still unable to reach Troi,” the monitor reported, “She has yet to engage her internal relay system.”

 

“That's just great,” Cobalt growled, “Whose idiotic idea was it to give the Iczers the ability to turn on and off their relays?”

 

“I believe it was a communal decision,” Sepia replied, “They wanted to have hours of privacy in which no one could intrude, and we granted it to them.”

 

“I would settle for a human beeper right about now,” Grey said, staring again at the complex DNA model, “What a diabolical plan Gold has hatched this time…and how insanely risky…even she cannot imagine the consequences of this action!”

 

“Sir!” Sister Aquamarine called out, “Iczer Delta has just left its cradle! It's been summoned by Troi…which means she must be facing a real emergency that requires its full power.”

 

“About time,” Cobalt snarled, “At least the Iczer Robos have internal communication relays…we should be able to reach her in it once she mounts the control pit.”

 

“Sir!” Aquamarine cried again, “The chest cavity capsule has been activated as well!”

 

“What?” the normally unflappable Sister Grey reacted with a start, “But…she does not yet have a partner!”

 

“She must be trying for a substitution,” Sepia realized, “But…who in the name of the Goddess will she recruit to be her temporary partner…?”

 

 

 

 

Sakura stared at the ceiling of her room, unable to get to sleep, unable to stop thinking about what had just occurred only a short time ago, unable to stop thinking about the implications. Try as she might she could not get her encounter with Troi out of her mind…not too surprising, actually, since the ice blonde Iczer had taken her virginity and left her feeling as if she had just made love inside a cement mixer.

 

Sakura was unable to decide what exactly what she thought about Troi and her methods of seduction. To be certain she had no complaints about her sexual techniques, and---if anything---she felt ironically grateful that Troi had given her such a forceful proof of her sexual inclinations. Her body still hummed to the tune that Troi had played on her nerve endings, and she felt as though she could have danced under the light of the stars to the sense of peace and serenity that filled her being. On the other hand she felt…guilt and remorse, as though something valuable had been taken which could never be replaced, and she knew that she could never go back to being as she was again…her life had changed, and the past was---effectively---over.

 

The regret was mingled between the loss of her innocence and the knowledge that she now knew how she truly felt about Muku. It was now so plain to her that her best friend meant more to her than just a sparring partner or someone with whom she felt comfortable about hanging around, and a thousand little signs long ignored became ominously clear in their true implications, from “accidentally” borrowing some article of Muku's to all those sketches she had made for her personal portfolio where Muku had been the feature player, the many little things her friend could do that would gain Sakura's undivided attention, even the sound of her voice, which Sakura had privately thought to be quite sexy…

 

Who was she fooling? Sakura felt torn up about the issue of Rhea, the knowledge that she had possibly let slip a potential outlet for fun that she had never even been aware of until now, and then there was Ken to consider, her benighted iinazuke and the man whom her parents had arranged for her to marry. In truth she genuinely liked Ken, though it was hard to think of him **exactly** as a husband. He was a friend, someone else whom she liked having around, and who affected her in such a way that it confirmed Troi's analysis concerning her bisexual nature.

 

And what to make of Troi herself? What was one to make of a pointy-eared alien who just swept into her life and decided to make her a temporary love-slave? Sakura was fully aware that there were certain…precedents in their high school, children who were themselves the products of alien and human matings, much like the Moroboshi twins and the children of the House of Masaki…

 

“Um…excuse me…are you asleep?”

 

Sakura sat bolt upright, turning to see a figure hovering in the air above the ceiling, “YOU?”

 

“Me,” Troi---who was wearing a strange style of spacey styled-armor---replied, “I'm sorry…we didn't get a chance to talk much when your parents showed up. I left you a bit in the lurch and…well…I'm sorry, but…do you think you have a minute?”

 

“A minute?” Troi frowned, “If this is another attempt to screw me, you could have picked a better hour…”

 

“Actually, it's a perfect hour, especially if your folks are asleep from their own bout of sexual exhaustion,” Troi sheepishly smiled, “But…it isn't about that. I…need a little favor…”

 

“You mean the one you took wasn't good enough?” Sakura replied.

 

“Not this time,” Troi sighed, “I like you, honestly I do, and I want to be your friend, but…at the moment…something very important has come up and I need your help. You're a fighter-type, right?”

 

Sakura stood up, clinging her blankets to her body even though she was wearing her nightie, “I'm the best of my generation…why do you ask?”

 

“I…need your help,” Troi replied, “I'm really sorry about this, and the timing sucks a lot, but if you don't come with me now a lot of very good people are gonna be hurt, and I've got a nut-job who needs taking down…so, if it's not too much trouble…and I warn you, there's considerable risk…”

 

“You need my skills as a martial artist?” Sakura asked.

 

“Actually…what I need is you,” Troi responded, “There's no easy way to put this, and if there were any other way of going about this…”

 

“What do you need me to do?” Sakura replied resolutely.

 

“Take my hand and come with me,” Troi said, extending her own to cup Sakura's palm between sensitive fingers.

 

“You mean…now?” Sakura blinked, “But I'm not dressed…”

 

“You're dressed just fine for what I need,” Troi replied, and promptly teleported the both of them out of her bedroom, manifesting in Subspace almost at the feet of Troi's giant Iczer.

 

“What the---?” Sakura gasped as a beam shone down over them, lifting her and the Iczer into the air as though drawn by a magnet.

 

“Just relax, the process is automatic,” Troi replied, “And don't forget to relax, and take a deep breath.”

 

“Why?” Sakura gasped, only to find herself drawn into the body of the huge robot, and before she knew it she was submerged in liquid and resting inside of a cradle-like chair with tubes connecting themselves to her naked skin as Sakura's eyes went wide and she started to panic.

 

“Don't worry, you won't drown,” Troi's voice said soothingly, “The liquid is breathable, you can even talk in it, and after a while you won't even realize you're breathing it.”

 

“What is this stuff?' Sakura asked, finding---to her amazement---that she could indeed converse and breathe in the curiously bland-tasting fluid.

 

“Synthetic bio-amniotic fluid,” Troi replied, “It'll sustain all bodily functions and protect you from the shocks and strains of combat. Of course there is a problem with the feedback reflex when we get hit, but I'll try and dampen most of the shock away from you so you won't get too badly roughed up.”

 

“What is this?” Sakura asked, then suddenly realized something, “This is like that robot that took Muku!”

 

“Same basic model anyway,” Troi responded, “This is Iczer Delta, my other self, designed as a two-pilot craft in which I sit in the face and you sit in the chest…”

 

“Troi?” a new voice broke into the conversation, “Thank the Goddess, you're finally in your Iczer!”

 

“Mom?” Troi reacted, “What are you doing on this channel?”

 

“Never mind,” Grey replied, “There's something very important that I have to tell you about Atros…”

 

Sakura was about to ask who that other person was when she noticed that the exterior of the pod that she was floating inside of had just gone transparent…and there facing them was another giant robot!

 

“Can't this wait, Mom?” Troi asked, “I'm in the middle of something that's pretty important, and my renegade Sis is about to get it on with me in a rumble…”

 

“That's just it,” Grey said insistently, “She isn't your sister, and she's not even your twin!”

 

“What?” Troi reacted, “You've gotta be kidding!”

 

“You know I'd never kid you, child,” Grey assured her, “We have the tests right here before me and they are definitely conclusive. Atros is related to you, but she is not your clone and not your sister.”

 

“Then who and what the hell is she?” Troi demanded.

 

“She's your daughter, my child,” Grey replied, “The biological offspring of your genetics combined with those of Kano Nagisa!”

 

There was a stunning pause following this and then Troi gasped aloud, “N-NANI…?!?!?”

 

 

 

Continued

 

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