Iczer-one Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Earth Child ❯ Unsettling Revelations ( Chapter 26 )

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)

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremy Feeple left class early, his briefcase full of turned in reports and assignments from his Creative Writing and English major students. Being a teacher in a place where certified weirdness was virtually a curriculum in itself, he was used to encountering the unusual and the strange and even anticipated it as a given.

 

He hummed a merry tune to himself as she relished the idea of getting home early and surprising his wives (who hopefully weren't doing anything too naughty in his absence). He hoped it would be Itchy and not Asrial, who had a penchant for serving up the most exotic (and ungodly) dishes of the known universe. It was not that he faulted his alien wife for trying, but sometimes she could try a little too hard, in which case he needed Itchy to run distraction while Jeremy made a grab for the Universal Antacid tablets.

 

Of course Itchy had her share of problems, but after twenty years of joint marriage he had pretty much gotten used to both their strengths and their foibles. It came with the territory, he supposed, when he had accepted his lot in life to be the husband (at least under Salusian law, if not fully recognized by the legal authority of the United States government) to two of the most daunting women currently on the planet.

 

Well, make that of their generation anyway…the younger generation…that was a different story altogether…and there were a lot of drawbacks to be found in being the only non-ninja and non-Salusian in a household devoted to cross-cultural shenanigans of the mega-paranormal nature.

 

As he started to walk down the hallway towards the front exit of the building he had a rather dramatic encounter with two prime specimens of that newer line of Quagmire alumni. With barely any warning to tell him to get the heck out of the way, Koochie and Elyria came charging down the way, the one on two legs, the other by means of a powered battle armor levitation harness.

 

“<He went down this way!>” Elyria called out to her sister.

 

“<This time we're gonna nail the little pervert!>” Koochie agreed in vengeful tones, “He won't get away with taking pictures of us in the shower---Oh, hi Dad!>”

 

“<Sorry, can't talk right now, Poppa!>” Elyria called over her shoulder, “<Got a pervert to punish, later!>”

 

Jeremy stood where he was for several moments then shook his head and decided to leave by a different exit. His suspicion was that the front area would become a battle zone very shortly if his two hellions should encounter Professor Steamhead's nephew anywhere near to the front gates. He just hoped no other students would get caught in the periphery, neither Quagmire nor his family could afford the insurance rates.

 

Oh yes, he mused to himself as he by-passed a dozen local hazards on the way to the eastern exit, life at Quagmire was just as he remembered it when he was a kid…everything from high-tech mercenaries to extra-dimensional aliens and demon-spawned cheerleaders from one of the Nine branches of Hell…and then there was that pretty nurse who came from the opposite end of the theological spectrum, but after a while of being around her you just tended to overlook her wings as a little quirk, much like the elvish ears on the Vulcan History teacher.

 

Jeremy sometimes wondered what it was about Quagmire that tended to suck one in like a black hole absorbing all light. Of all the various jobs he could have gone into with his life---everything from a CEO position of his grandfather's corporation to an intergalactic prince---why had he chosen to go into teaching English of all subjects? Well, it was not exactly like Arnie teaching Home Economics (with Firearms Safety being a prime part of what he considered a “Home Security System”) as well as Phys Ed, but he often did feel like a fish out of water standing on the opposite side of the teacher-student gulf, and being the father of three students here was often more harrowing than going up butt-naked against Lando and his Rival Ninja Corporation!

 

Of course the downside of the saying, “Never a dull moment at Quagmire,” meant that he could not even get to his car without running smack dab into the middle of a major problem…

 

Or, rather, a problem in the form of a foot the size of a skyscraper, which caused Jeremy to back-peddle and look upward…and up and up and up until he could take in the total size of the giant Mecha before him.

 

“Oboy,” he winced, wondering which of the students had failed to read the sign near the front gate about the parking alien hardware. The thing looked to be two or three hundred feet tall at the very least, and there was no telling how much damage it was doing to whatever was underneath the bloody thing since it probably weighed a few score thousand tons, at the very least!

 

“COME ON OUT OF THERE, RHEA-CHAN!” a female voice thundered down at him in Japanese from whoever was piloting this particular giant Mecha, “I WANT TO PLAY WITH YOU, AND YOUR LITTLE PARTNER WITH YOU!”

 

“Um…excuse me?” Jeremy asked.

 

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?” the voice scornfully cast down at him, as if only just noticing his existence.

 

“Are you looking for someone in particular?” Jeremy asked, “A student or a teacher?”

 

“I AM LOOKING FOR ONE KANO RHEA AND HER WHELP OF A PARTNER, SENZENEN MUKU DORI, AND IF I DO NOT FIND THEM IN THE NEXT THREE MINUTES…”

 

“Excuse me again,” Jeremy said, “I'm a teacher and I know most of the students here by name, but I don't know those two in particular…are they new transfer students? If so, then I can have them paged and they can talk to you in the guest lounge.”

 

“WHAT ARE YOU BABBLING ABOUT?” the pilot in the Mecha asked, then paused before adding, “YOUR JAPANESE HAS A VERY ODD ACCENT…”

 

“Well, I'm not really from Japan, you see,” Jeremy explained, “My wife is…I mean, one of them…well, look…my family has strong ties to Japan, but here in America…”

 

“AMERICA???” the pilot in the Mecha exclaimed, “YOU MEAN THIS ISN'T JAPAN?”

 

“No,” Jeremy explained, “That's on the other side of the planet…you know…four main Islands, one of them kind of liver shaped, off the coast of China, can't miss it…”

 

“BUT-BUT-BUT---I THOUGHT THIS WAS NERIMA, ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOKYO!”

 

“No,” Jeremy replied, “This is Quagmire, in the Mid-West of America. Of course, we do have a sister school out there, which is also named Quagmire…”

 

“OH…” the giant Mecha pilot replied, and Jeremy stared in fascination as a giant sweat drop actually formed along the side of the robot's head. He'd never actually imagined that they could actually do that! The thing was enormous, at least big enough to fill an entire swimming pool in one drop!

 

“You want maybe I could give someone a call, let them know in advance that you're looking to find them?” Jeremy asked.

 

“I'LL FIND MY OWN WAY, HUMAN!” the pilot snapped, and then the giant Mecha vanished in a haze of pixilation.

 

Jeremy stood where he was for several seconds, staring at the vacant space, and the large foot-shaped crater in the ground before him, which---fortunately---had just missed his car by a few meters (though it presently had been converted into a swimming hole by that aforementioned sweatdrop). At last he shrugged his narrow shoulders, a testament to a lifetime of surviving such weird encounters, and muttered to himself, “You meet the weirdest people on this planet…”

 

 

 

 

“Tell me, Kenny-boy,” Troi mused aloud, “Is this what you humans call a shakedown or what?”

 

Ken was in a poor state to reply, still recovered from a double-blow to both his body and his ego, and dangling upside down by one leg (the one presently being gripped single-handedly by Troi) until the contents of his pockets fell out on the floor of the hallway, which did not give one much chance to formulate a thought, let alone a coherent one in response to a question.

 

He was amazed that the two of them had managed to sneak up on him in the manner that they had. He was certain that he'd had a good head start when he'd entered the school building, but when he rounded a corner---from out of nowhere---he got slammed by a pair of fists that popped up in his way, one aimed high, the other low, the combination of which left him bruised and sore in both high and low places.

 

How had they gotten ahead of him, and so quickly? It was almost like they had teleported into his path, but however they had done it he'd come to finding the world inverted with his eyes about level with their knees, and whoever the silver-haired lady was, he had a pretty good idea that picking a fight with her was not a very good option!

 

“Oh rats,” Sakura growled as she studied Ken's camera in hand, “He's already downloaded the picture to his website! You rat-bastard, couldn't you at least have waited for me to delete it?”

 

“No problem,” Troi smiled, “Give it to me, I'll track it down and bomb out his website.”

 

“Don't you dare!” Ken protested, having gathered enough wits together to at least phrase that much of a reaction.

 

“Excuse me, little man?” Troi smiled, “You're in a pretty piss-poor position to be making demands, don't you think?”

 

“But you have no idea of how much trouble I've gone to setting up my site!” Ken all but pleaded, “I've got investments and links there from all across Japan…”

 

“Yeah,” Sakura growled, “And the Shrine link you set up dedicated to ME gets a couple thousand hits a night! And that's only half the file size of what you dedicated to MUKU!”

 

“Hey, it's simple economics,” Ken explained, “You two are the most popular babes in our class, I'm just giving my customers what they want…”

 

“Really?” Troi mused, “A Shrine site dedicated to you, Sakura-chan? Maybe I oughta check this thing out before I wreck it…”

 

“Ahem!” Sakura glared at her in a meaningful way, and Troi instantly got the hint and promptly reversed directions.

 

“I mean, how terrible, and she's your fiancée and all that!” Troi scowled in what she hoped was a convincing manner, “Have you no shame, Benny-boy?”

 

“Ken,” he corrected, “And---ah…could you put me down now? The blood's kind of rushing to my head and…”

 

“In another minute,” Troi assured him, “First…I'd like you to make a solemn promise to Sakura-chan here that you'll stop harassing her and acting like a real ass and try talking things out here and now like fairly rational people. Deal?"

 

“Ah…well…” Ken hesitated, “Under the circumstances…”

 

“You'd better do better than that, Boyo,” Troi warned, “I may be new to this relationship business, but I can tell from just a glance at Sakura-chan's memories that you've been harassing and provoking her for quite some time now, which I'll admit is kind of a cute way of trying to win her attention, but new rules apply now that I've been roped into the picture, comprende?”

 

“Uh…understood,” Ken replied, “Now…can you let me down already?”

 

Troi glanced at Sakura and asked, “Your call, Kid…do I let him down easy, or do I wait to make sure he gets the point? After all, he's starting to turn such an interesting color down there…”

 

“He is at that,” Sakura stroked her chin with one hand as she studied the camera she still held in the other, “Of course if he were a little more convincing about being sorry for what he's done…”

 

“I'm sorry already, honest!” Ken cried out, “Now let me down…!”

 

Troi let him go, and with very little warning, giving Ken little time to brace himself for impact as he landed on the floor, then rolled into a sitting position, rubbing his sore noggin.

 

“That was kind of rude,” Sakura remarked.

 

“Well, I did what he asked,” Troi replied, “A martial artist like you ought to be able to handle a little fall like that, no problem, right, Boyo?”

 

“That hurt, you know,” he complained rather mildly.

 

“It'll hurt a lot more where it counts if you don't take the hint,” Sakura growled, “You and this damned camera have been the bane of my existence for the last two semesters, and you're lucky I don't let Troi here drop you on your head several times more! What's the big idea of sneaking around taking pictures of us when we were just having a private conversation?”

 

“And maybe I should ask you what the big idea is of you getting a new fiancée,” Ken glared back, “Or maybe I should make that…a wife?”

 

Sakura's cheeks flared crimson while Troi just sighed and said, “Blame it all on me if you must, guy…I'm the one who went after your girlfriend and brought her into this whole thing, and now that we've synchronized together…she's pretty much stuck with me, and I'm stuck on her, so if you want one of us the other one comes with the package.”

 

“I won't pretend that I understand what all that means,” Ken said as he got to his feet, “But I heard enough back there to understand that this is some kind of spiritual bonding process…am I right?”

 

“Ah…well…” Sakura's face now went beet red as she tried to form a reasonable explanation, but Troi spared her the task, nodding her head in tacit confirmation.

 

“Yeah…spiritual, mental and biological integration…that's Synchronization in a nutshell,” the tall silver-haired Iczer shook her head and sighed, “We're bonded on a level you can't even hope to understand, Kenny-boy, and you might as well get used to it. I know you've got every right to be angry and resentful about that, but it really isn't Sakura-chan's fault…she just tried to help me out in a tight one, for which I am eternally grateful.”

 

“And for her kindness she has to pay with a lifetime engagement to you?” Ken asked as he purposefully gathered up his belongings and re-stuffed them into his pockets, “And I'm just supposed to go along with this without complaining?”

 

“Your call,” Troi replied, “I wouldn't blame you if you walked, but I respect that there are honor ties that go along with the emotional bonds the both of you share, and to that I'm the outsider. Look, you're an intelligent guy, and I've got enough of a sense of you to know you could make life really complicated for both me and Sakura-chan if you have a mind to, so what say we try and make peace between the three of us…at least for now. Maybe you can get a better sense of who and what I am, and then maybe you might even decide if you like me or not…and I can decide if you're worth all the trouble. Think you can go along with that?”

 

“Maybe,” Ken said rather non-committally, meeting Troi's gaze from an almost even level, “But if I don't like what I see…”

 

“I'm sure you could be a real thorn in my side if you had a mind to,” Troi mused, “But keep in mind that I can do a lot more hurting to you than you could do to me, and I don't just mean the physical stuff either.”

 

“Are you going to leave my website alone?” Ken arched a nervous eyebrow.

 

“I won't scramble it---yet…unless you give me a reason,” Troi promised, “But my face stays off that site…believe me, it's for your own good! I know people who wouldn't blink twice about doing much worse to you than I ever would on the grounds of national security. If I give the word, you could be facing more legal troubles than you could ever dream existed, and I'll shut you down so fast you can't blink if you keep on annoying Sakura.”

 

“I don't take well to idle threats,” Ken warned as he glared back at the Iczer.

 

“Who said it was a threat?” Troi smiled, “Try accessing your site right now…I've just put a lock-down on your account server.”

 

“What?” Ken blinked, “But you can't…!”

 

“Can't I?” Troi grinned, “I'll have you know I'm on good speaking terms with half the computers on this planet, and while we've been having this little chat I've been conducting a mental chat with the central relays back home, looking you up and finding out the address of every link and site at your server. It only took a little while to hack through all the firewalls and security protocols you've erected to keep people like me out of the Server code, but now I've locked the whole thing down, and I'll keep it that way unless you promise to behave yourself around me in the future.”

 

“You can do that?” Sakura blinked.

 

“Hey, don't let my good looks fool you, Beautiful,” Troi winked, “I may be non-typical for a Bioroid, but I know my way around computers.”

 

“I can see you'll be a handful to have around,” Ken grumbled, “All right, truce! You win…for now. But I'm still not saying I like the idea of you being engaged to Sakura.”

 

“Fair enough,” Troi smiled, “Go ahead and visit your site…the password is Cherryblossom, that should get things unstuck on your end. Sakura-chan, give him back his camera.”

 

“Are you sure about this?” Sakura asked as she hesitated.

 

“Hey, he needs to see for himself that I mean business,” Troi replied, folding her arms while Ken accepted back his camera from a reluctant Sakura.

 

Ken promptly checked the on-board monitor screen and started tapping through the buttons on the back of his camera, discovering promptly that his site was definitely locked out, but once he typed in the given password he saw his site open up and display a normal window.

 

“Okay,” he said, “So it wasn't such an idle threat. I'll admit to being impressed, but that just means I'll be keeping a closer eye on you, Lady.”

 

“The feelings mutual,” Troi replied, “But if you really want to know about me, just ask and I'll give you the grand tour, that should clue you into what I'm all about.”

 

“I'll keep that in mind,” Ken replied, starting to move off, “Sakura-chan…I'll see you later in class. You'd better hurry along too if you don't want to be late.”

 

“Oh damn!” Sakura mentally kicked herself, “I forgot…I've got Biology class in another two minutes!”

 

“Don't worry, I'll get you there in time,” Troi assured her while watching Ken march off with a wary backward glance in her direction. She waited until he was out of sight then mused, “Nice butt.”

 

“I thought you didn't notice things like that,” Sakura frowned with suspicion.

 

“I was just repeating what you were thinking, Honey,” Troi replied, then chuckled when she saw Sakura color once again, “Honestly, I think I am starting to see what you like about the guy. He's trouble.”

 

“Your sisters say pretty much the same thing about you,” Sakura noted.

 

“Yeah, they worry about me sometimes,” Troi paused and thought about it before amending, “Most of the time anyway…but they're like that. And speaking of biology…did you know that there are some C'thuwulf who think that the men of your world are the product of a semi-intelligent virus?”

 

“Say what?” Sakura blinked.

 

“Yeah,” Troi mused, “You know…when my people first landed on your world we did a pretty thorough study of genetic comparisons between your DNA and ours, and it was pretty amazing to see how close a match we are to each other…not so surprising if you buy into the theory that we share common ancestors.”

 

“So what happened to all the men on your world?” Sakura asked, “Did they really all die off from a virus?”

 

“That's the theory I've heard,” Troi shrugged, “Don't really know…it happened so far back in the past that we don't even have records in our archives to explain it. We've always been female-only for as long as anyone knows, while your branch of the family tree has had men in it for at least a couple hundred thousand years. Maybe you're the parent race, but that doesn't match the genetic evidence, which kind of implies that we're from the original stock and you're the ones who've mutated.”

 

“That doesn't really make sense,” Sakura remarked, “How could humanity have evolved without men?”

 

“That's the funny thing,” Troi replied, “The theory I've heard mentioned is that men were created by some kind of cross-fertilization process, possibly a genetic experiment to recreate the male half of the species. The thing is...out of the millions of genes and that make up your DNA, only about thirty thousand genes are needed to create the baseline human anatomy...that works for both of us, by the way, but in the case of C'thuwulf DNA, we tend to be a little more streamlined.”

 

“I've heard something about that,” Sakura mused, “Geneticists say that the vast majority of our DNA is pretty much inert and doesn't do much of anything but take up space…”

 

“Oh, it does something…but even we're not sure what a lot of it is for,” Troi smiled, “Try having a geneticist for a mother…I had a lot of this stuff downloaded into me when I was just a kid. We think some of that excess DNA is a storehouse of racial memories…past evolutionary drift that mostly went nowhere, but some of it is like a redundant pattern-correction. The funny thing is…men tend to have a lot more of this genetic chaff than the women of your planet…and they're more prone to genetic mutations and instability, as if their DNA isn't entirely stable.”

 

“And you think that makes them into a virus?” Sakura asked.

 

“More like they are the result of a virus that mutated the female genome to create a `Y' chromosome, which they pass on to new generations through you women,” Troi shrugged, “This means they're more responsible for all the drift and changes in the overall structure of your DNA over the millennia, while we C'thuwulf have barely changed at all from our distant ancestors, making us a bit closer to the original model.”

 

“And that makes you feel special?”

 

“No, actually it's exactly the opposite,” Troi smiled, “I like change, and I think a little instability is helpful. C'thuwulf society is ancient, Sakura-chan, and it got calcified a long time before the Gold Virus infected our relays. We've hardly changed at all for thousands of years, while your people have clawed and scraped their way up the evolutionary tree against countless obstacles, and it's made you a lot better at survival. You guys are more resilient and adaptable than we are, and we can learn a lot from deepening the ties between us. That's also why I'm willing to give Denny-boy the benefit of the doubt when it comes to sharing quality time with you, Sakura-chan.”

 

“That's a good idea,” Sakura mused as she reached out with a hand and stroked the Bioroid's leather-clad shoulder, only to come away holding a postage-stamp shaped wafer on one finger, “Because you were right about how tricky he is, see?”

 

“He bugged me?” Troi's already unusually large eyes grew even wider, “Why that no-good, sneaky, son of a…!”

 

The bell began to ring, and Sakura exclaimed, “Kuso! Now I'm late for class!”

 

“Never fear and never say die,” Troi reached out and drew Sakura into her embrace, then the two of them teleported to another corridor just outside the Biology laboratory, guided there by the mental map of her partner's thoughts, “There you are…better go now before the Teach notices you're out of your seat.”

 

“Right,” Sakura cast a grateful look in Troi's direction, which caused the Bioroid to feel a warm and affectionate surge of emotion rise up within her.

 

She sighed again and looked at the wafer Sakura had handed to her then smiled, “So, you want to play games, do you, Danny-boy? Well…two can play at that one, Buster…”

 

 

 

 

“Mind if I ask you a question, Muku-chan?”

 

“You just did,” Muku replied, staring listlessly at the sidewalk down which they were strolling as they left Furinkan High School and wandered off into the financial district.

 

“Heh, so I did,” Yumi smirked, “I meant about you and Rhea-chan…are you guys getting serious, or is this just puppy love I'm sensing.”

 

“Puppy love?” Muku stopped in her tracks and turned a quizzical look in her friend's direction.

 

“Oh come on,” Yumi rolled her eyes, “The most popular girl in our school finally begins to get romantic with someone who's new in town, and after ignoring the advances of half the other students in our class---both male and female---and you're acting like it's a surprise to you that me, your best friend, wants to know if it's real or just a passing fling? Give me a break here…inquiring minds want to know!”

 

“Ah…well…” Muku smiled a bit awkwardly, “I guess maybe I am feeling very close to her these days, what with all we've shared and everything. I mean…she is a very special kind of person, you know…”

 

“Yeah, one of only four or five on the entire planet,” Yumi remarked, “Or maybe more than that, do you think? I'm having trouble keeping count…”

 

“I don't just mean because of what she is,” Muku insisted, “There's…something different about her that doesn't have anything to do with her being an Android, or Bioroid, or alien girl, or whatever. I mean…whenever I look into her eyes, I just feel so…special around her…it's like nothing I can describe in words…like the rush we feel whenever we're linked together in that robot…”

 

“In other words you're smitten,” Yumi smirked, “What's so hard about admitting that you love her?”

 

“Uh…well…” Muku colored an appropriate shade of pink around her cheeks and glanced down at her feet before saying, “I really don't know if I could characterize it that way…but I do know she means a lot to me, and that she's become very important in my life…so…if that's love…then I guess…”

 

Yumi rolled her eyes, “You are an impossible romantic! If you keep setting your standards that high, then you'll never really know how you feel about anyone, let alone your golden-haired cutie. I'll tell you this much for sure, she's hung up about you, and there's no denying that she wants to have your baby!”

 

“Have my…baby?” Muku blinked, looking faintly stunned at the concept.

 

“It's just an expression,” Yumi sniffed, then paused to think about it, “Although…with her people that's really possible. Wow…you could be both a mom and a daddy before you graduate from high school…now there's a disturbing concept…”

 

“Would you stop already!” Muku protested, “I'm just…getting to know Rhea-chan…and here you've got us all but…married,” she swallowed.

 

“There's that dreaded M word,” Yumi smirked, “I knew it…you're basically afraid of committing yourself. What's the matter, is giving up the bachelor life really all that scary?”

 

“What bachelor life?” Muku blinked, “Yumi…over the last year or so guys I've known almost all my life are suddenly falling all over themselves trying to date me, and two of my best friends want to go a lot further than that…and now you're making it sound like I'm some kind of…of…”

 

“Casanova?” Yumi supplied, “Lothario, Don Juanita, Romeo…or would that be Juliet, Helen of Troy, and maybe even Lolita?”

 

“Lolita?” Muku blinked.

 

“Well, that really doesn't apply to you, does it?” Yumi amended, “After all, you're both under the age of consent…well, sort of…”

 

“Age of consent?” Muku replied, “Yumi…I thought we were supposed to be looking for Yui, not planning out my so-called love-life!”

 

“Well, why can't we do two things at once?” Yumi asked, “Didn't Rhea-chan say she was going back to her place to check up with the central relays there in case they get an energy spike or something that could tell them where Yui is? You've gotta admit, that girl does have some pretty hefty connections, and she's handy to have around at a time like this, even if she is indirectly responsible for what's happened to Yui.”

 

“How is she indirectly responsible for anything?” Muku frowned, “It's not her fault that the bad guys went after Yui.”

 

“Poor phrasing on my part,” Yumi amended, “I mean that she's trying to do what she can to make things right, and I appreciate that a lot. I kind of like her…she's nice and very understanding, not a bad sort at all for someone who's only technically half-human, and I know she'd walk barefoot through fire to get even closer to you…so…my question is…how long do you plan on stringing her along before you finally nail her?”

 

“I'm not stringing her along!” Muku protested.

 

“But you are keeping her guessing,” Yumi pointed out, “What's the matter, Muku-chan, afraid of doing it with another girl?”

 

“No!” Muku protested, then paused before saying, “Well…kind of…maybe…but…but I've never done it with anyone before, let alone another girl…”

 

“Neither did I until the other night,” Yumi grinned, “And you know what? Losing my virginity to another girl turns out to be one of the best things I've ever had happen to me…I really recommend it. If Rhea-chan's even a fraction as talented or as tasty as that Salmon…” Yumi shivered with a lascivious grin that adorned her lovely features.

 

Muku felt her cheeks flush crimson again, but before she could frame any sort of response to this they heard Rini's voice hailing them from further down the block, and then they turned to see the pink haired girl hurrying to join them, along with the rest of her “Senshi Gang,” including the twins---Meiko and Reiko---and Karma alongside them.

 

“Any luck?” Yumi asked as Rini and the others caught up to them, slightly winded from all their running.

 

“None so far,” Muku replied with a sad shake of her head, “Yui wasn't wandering lost in any of her usual haunts around our school grounds…”

 

“Maybe if we'd been able to skip our remaining classes we could have done a better search,” Yumi added, “You guys are so lucky to have understanding parents. My mom seems to think that a good education is more important than saving the whole planet!”

 

“Well, she wasn't always like that, at least as far as I remember,” Rini noted in passing, “But Yui's definitely the one who's gone missing…and with her tendency to wander around like a loose cannon…”

 

“How do you expect to find her if she's been taken hostage?” Yumi pointed out, “Seems to me we ought to get with Rhea-chan's people and ask them to do a trace on her…they've got the equipment to find an energy signature anywhere on the planet…or even that Subspace field that Muku-chan and me got sucked up into last week.”

 

“You know,” Karma remarked, “That's a very good point…and I'd even admit to wanting to check this place out for myself…”

 

“That's because it sounds almost like paradise,” Meiko pointed out.

 

“Yes,” Reiko agreed with her twin, “Like a world where everybody is just like us, with women for exclusive parents!”

 

“Not to mention they find that sort of thing completely normal,” Rini nodded, “But how do we get ahold of your girlfriend, Muku-chan?”

 

“Oh, that's easy,” Yumi answered for Muku, “You can contact them on that bracelet thingie of yours, Muku-chan.”

 

“Huh?” Muku reflexively glanced at her bracelet, then gave a sheepish look at the others before saying, “Oh yeah…that's right, I can call them.”

 

She touched the jewel on her wrist and spoke into it tentatively, saying, “Um…hello? Is anybody there?”

 

As much to her surprise as anyone a voice clearly answered back, “I have you on Relay 197, Senzenen-san. I am Sister Chartreuse, how may I help you?”

 

“Um…is Rhea-chan anywhere around?” Muku asked.

 

“I'll relay you to her internal linkage,” Chartreuse replied, “She is in conference, but I'm certain that she will be willing to speak with you, her Partner.”

 

“Uh…don't bother her if you don't have to,” Muku replied, “Actually…I was wondering if I could come over to where you guys are…I mean…can I come over?”

 

“To central?” Chartreuse replied, “You are authorized for a transfer at any time, Senzenen-san…but I mark that you are with five others, only two of whom have been cleared from a previous transfer.”

 

“They're all right,” Muku replied, “I'll vouch for them, they're my friends, and they're very worried about Yui-chan…”

 

“The Hibiki girl who's been abducted?” Chartreuse replied, “One moment while I seek authorization. Authorization…confirmed…the Commander has cleared you all for an immediate transfer.”

 

The next moment the six girls felt a tingling sensation all over their bodies, and then the world around them was altered from a bright and sunny outdoor setting to the more muted lighting of a reception port. They turned to see a green haired woman operating some sort of control system, then felt another odd sensation briefly pass over them, and then the woman---whose voice clearly identified her as Chartreuse---said in friendly tones, “Your party has been scanned and cleared…no trance of alien influence…and welcome to New Gamora.”

 

“Wow,” Meiko declared in breathless amazement as she took in the curiously organic interior of the transfer station.

 

“What a rush,” Reiko exclaimed, “Almost smoother than a Senshi teleport…”

 

“But not as exhausting,” Karma remarked matter-of-factly.

 

“You've got that right,” Rini smiled, “Nice to be back…now…who do we see about our missing friend, Yui?”

 

“Step that way,” Chartreuse nodded to the doorway, through which stepped a uniformed C'thuwulf officer, “Sister Marmalade will be only too happy to escort you to the command center.”

 

Their party proceeded down a long corridor that led to some manner of elevator, which in turn conveyed them up to a higher level. By twists and turns they arrived at their destination, elsewhere in the massive complex, passing by uniformed and casually dressed women of all types and hair colors. At last Marmalade showed them to the dome-like command center, at which point those new to the journey were introduced to the command staff, primarily consisting of Deputy Commander Sepia and Force Leader Cobalt.

 

“Muku-chan,” the silver-haired Cobalt immediately nodded, “Good of you to come back to us, we're facing a little bit of a crisis here and your services may be called upon at any minute.”

 

“What's the problem this time?” Muku asked, surprised at how calm she felt at the implied prospect of going into yet another giant-robot battle.

 

“We don't really know,” Sepia replied, indicating the holographically displayed image of a world map, which was presently showing a number of hot flashes, “The behavior of the enemy this time is…peculiar, to say the very least.”

 

“Indeed,” Cobalt affirmed, “They are following no known or recognizable pattern of attack…they just seem to be blipping in and out of various hot zones scattered around the planet. Readings and eyewitness accounts confirm that it is an Iczer-Robo class Mecha, though of what type and function we having difficulty determining due to the constant shifting of its position…”

 

“The best that we can determine is that they appear and disappear at the outskirts of various High Schools,” Sepia remarked, “Quagmire, Tomobiki, Shinonome, Riverdale, Graviton…”

 

“That sounds like Yui,” Yumi remarked.

 

“It does sound a lot like her,” Rini agreed, “You think she might be on board this particular Mecha?”

 

“Eh?” Cobalt turned to them with a puzzled look, “What do you mean?”

 

“Our friend Yui…remember her?” Muku asked, “She has this…little problem about directions…”

 

“It's a family curse,” Karma revealed, then amended, “One of several that belong to the line of the Hibikis. It somehow scrambles or interferes with a person's overall sense of direction. Line-of-sight is no problem, but give them a clear choice of turning either right or left and they invariably head in the wrong direction…”

 

“Except when it comes to mazes and monsters,” Reiko pointed out.

 

“Yui always seems to find the right way when it comes to wandering in mazes,” Meiko added.

 

“And if not,” Yumi shrugged, “Then she punches a hole through the walls and makes her own exit.”

 

“I…see…” Cobalt replied in tones which clearly illustrated that she did not see at all, “Well…if that is the case, then it is clear that the pilot of this particular Mecha is looking for Furinkan but can't seem to find it. This could work to our advantage as it gives us time to prepare a reception.”

 

“A full squad of Iczelions might be able to contain and delay it for a while,” Sepia mused, “Or at least long enough for one of our Iczer-Robos to arrive on the scene and prevent it from doing any major damage.”

 

“But what if Yui's on board?” Rini asked, “She could get killed if there's a major fight!”

 

“I assure you, everything will be done to prevent that from happening,” Cobalt replied, “A loss of innocent civilian life is no more acceptable to us than it would be for you, which is why we have devised a plan to capture this Mecha intact so that the pilot and---whoever is on board---can be preserved and restored to full normalcy.”

 

“Besides which,” Sepia mused, “There are larger issues at stake here, for which sake we must somehow preserve the enemy Mecha if we are to put those plans into place. Until now we have largely been a passive force resisting enemy incursions…if our plan is successful, however, we may be able to at last go on the offensive.”

 

“Really?” Muku asked, “Does that mean that the war could soon be over?”

 

“We hope so, Muku-san,” Cobalt nodded, “Now…I suppose you want to know where your partner is? Rhea's waiting for you out by the gardens.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Muku suddenly felt a kind of nervous excitement as she contemplated that particular notion, and the dry sense in her mouth made her wonder if she might be coming down with something. It took an elbow from Yumi to prod her into moving again, along with a very terse, “Well, what are you waiting for, Dummy? Get moving!”

 

“Don't push me,” Muku half-growled as she turned and exited the chamber, leaving her Senshi friends behind to exchange knowing winks and amused glances.

 

By now she knew the path even without Marmalade's help, and so she dismissed the other girl the moment that she was at the onsen once again, and---waiting for her---she found Rhea perched on top of a rock wearing nothing but a bath towel around her body, quietly staring at the pool of hot water as if lost in her own reflection.

 

When Muku approached, however, Rhea looked up at her and smiled once again, a smile which Muku returned with only a little of her usual shyness. Rhea sat up on her perch and teleported over to Muku's side, her hands easily finding their way to caressing Muku's arms, even as she had somehow dressed herself in a more conventional style of C'thuwulf outfit, minus her usual body armor.

 

“I'm glad you came,” Rhea sighed, “I feel so empty when you are not in my sight.”

 

“Ah…yeah,” Muku swallowed nervously, “I…kind of know what you mean…”

 

“Do you?” there was a wondering look in Rhea's large green eyes, “I understand you brought the rest of your friends this time…the ones who have Senshi powers.”

 

“Yeah,” Muku nodded, “Yui's a part of their team, not to mention their friend…I couldn't keep them away if I tried…”

 

“I'm glad they are here,” Rhea assured, “Friends should always stay together, especially when they are faced with a crisis. I am sorry if Hibiki Yui is suffering because of me…I know how much she means to you…”

 

“Hey, I'm not blaming you for that,” Muku reassured her, “Yui tends to attract almost as much trouble as I do, and we're going to get her back safe and sound, right?”

 

“I hope so,” Rhea answered, glancing down, “I want you to know…that if you are feeling any resentment towards me because I made you your partner…and the effect that this has had upon your family, friends and your life…”

 

“What, you think I'm putting all that on your shoulders?” Muku remarked, “Guess again! I've been in tight scrapes most of my life, and long before I met you, so it's not like you've done anything worse than add a little more color to my existence, right?”

 

Rhea's smile was so dazzling that it literally took Muku's breath away, and for a few seconds Muku thought that she actually looked as if she were about to kiss her once again, but then Rhea sighed and said, “I wish we could have met under better circumstances, and without the threat of a worldwide crisis hanging over our heads. I'd like to imagine that if you had a choice about being with me…that you would still choose to be my partner, and not just because of the bonds of our Synchronization.”

 

“I'd…like to believe that too,” Muku said a bit more nervously, “To tell the truth…I was a bit leery about this whole business the first time that I came here, but now…that I've had more time to think about it…and get to know you better…”

 

“Yes?” Rhea asked breathlessly.

 

“I…I want to be your friend,” Muku replied, holding Rhea's hands a bit more tightly in her own and marveling at how soft and warm the palms and fingers of her new friend felt gripped within her own more callused fingers, “And…more than just your friend. I don't know how far this goes, I'm not even sure if I'm capable of the sort of thing you want from me, but…”

 

“But you are willing to find out?” Rhea finished for her, then she sighed and lowered her face again, “I guess…perhaps I want too much from you…but the more I get to know you, the more I feel you becoming a part of my own life…it is hard sometimes to wait and be patient. There is so much I want to show you, so much I want to teach you, to share with you, to help you to understand the full meaning of what it means to be a partner…”

 

Muku saw the forlorn hope in the other girl's expression and reacted on impulse, doing something she would never before even have imagined herself doing, which was to reach out to Rhea with one hand around her shoulder, the other cupping the elvish girl's chin, then leaning her own face in and planting a kiss on Rhea's lips that took the Bioroid by surprise and caused Rhea's eyes to widen by more than a fraction.

 

Further off, concealed from view by the newly declared couple, Yumi flashed a grin and softly murmured, “Whoohoo! You go girl! About time she got up the nerve to do that! Pay up, Karma, you owe me!”

 

“And worth every yen on my credit,” Karma smiled, “Senzenen has finally admitted to herself that she is a woman, and capable of loving another woman.”

 

“So that's the girl who Muku-chan is dating,” Meiko remarked.

 

“Will wonders never cease?” Reiko said in amusement, “And her girlfriend is even prettier than she is.”

 

“Guys,” Rini said a bit crossly, “I admit this is one for the books, but it's a little unseemly for us to be spying on them like this, and besides…are you still worried about Yui?”

 

“Hey, Yui's always getting into trouble one way or another, Rin-chan,” Yumi countered, “But this is something else! You definitely don't see a thing like this everyday! Damn, if only Ken were here with his camera…”

 

“Pictures of us Iczers are usually forbidden to outsiders,” a deeper, more ominously sounding voice resonated from directly behind them, “You could get into a lot of trouble playing paparazzi with us.”

 

“Yikes!” Rini gulped, seeing the armored redhead before them and feeling the odd impulse to salute, “You scared me, Commander!”

 

“That was the idea,” Iczer Two remarked, “Now run along…we have facilities for accommodating guests, and Marmalade will be only too happy to show you to them, right?”

 

The C'thuwulf girl gulped as she, too, stepped from the concealment of the bushes to snap to attention and reply, “Yes, Commander…right away, Sir!”

 

“Good,” Iczer Two affirmed, “Now…move along…I want to have a private chat with my student and her chosen partner.”

 

The young schoolgirls immediately turned and left the area with as much haste as dignity would allow for, leaving the stern-faced Bioroid to watch them flee, only to smile a moment later with an affectionate chuckle and a softly-voiced, “Humans…”

 

Muku and Rhea were much too preoccupied to notice these exchanges, having once again fallen into a world where only they two existed, Rhea having slipped her arms around her partner in order to return the kiss with passionate interest. Muku was amazed at how soft and warm Rhea's lips felt when pressed to her own, even as she reacted with surprise when Rhea gently-but-firmly pried her lips apart with a tongue and began exploring the inside of Muku's mouth, which turned out to be quite a pleasantly interesting expression…but before Muku could respond in kind a polite cough from behind her drew their attention pack to the greater world beyond them.

 

Muku turned to look and found a statuesque redhead with pointed ears and other features whose resemblance to Rhea was unmistakable, dressed from the neck down in some manner of black-blue-and-gold body armor, complete with shoulder pauldrons that projected to her sides at very sharp angles. There was dignity in her bearing as she turned her crimson eyes their way, and Muku felt an immediate gasp from Rhea, who exclaimed the word, “Auntie?”

 

“Good afternoon to you both,” the redhead addressed them, “And a pleasure to at long last meet with you, Senzenen Muku Dori. I am Iczer Two, the Commander of Gamora Base and sensei to my niece, Rhea-chan. I regret that, until now, I have not had the honor and privilege of addressing you directly.”

 

“Ah…yes…I mean…yes Sir---Ma'am---er---Sensei?” Muku fumbled.

 

“Commander will do,” the imposing beauty replied before turning a slightly sterner look towards Muku, “I see you've invited your friends to take advantage of our facilities. I should really have a word with you sometime about maintaining security, to say nothing of a low profile.”

 

“Ah…I'm sorry, Auntie Two,” Rhea said meekly, “But Muku's friends are…very special people, and one of them is involved in the latest incident…”

 

“I know all about it,” Iczer Two waved the point away before turning her focus back towards Muku, “Believe me, you would both have to work a lot harder to come anywhere near to being the security risk that Troi is…but never mind that. So…you are the woman to whom my niece is now bonded through Synchronization, and for whom she has gone through so much particular trouble.”

 

“Um…well…” Muku smiled lopsidedly, running her fingers through the back of her hair.

 

“I can see that you are more than worth it,” Iczer Two nodded in obvious satisfaction, “There is that about you which reminds me very much of Nagisa…and of my own beloved Sayoko. I can fully understand now why Rhea has risked termination for your sake on numerous occasions.”

 

“Ah...Auntie…about that…” Muku could hear the wince in Rhea's voice.

 

“Understand,” Iczer Two said sternly, “I do not like it when you are injured, Rhea-chan…you cause great distress to your parents, to say nothing of how I would feel if you were lost to us in battle. You are very precious to us all…but there is one who is more precious than you, and that is always your partner. It is an Iczer's highest duty to always defend and protect the human to whom they are pledged for life, and in this human I judge that you have chosen very wisely. Therefore I will concede that you have performed excellently under very difficult circumstances and have well upheld the honor and the name of Iczer.”

 

Muku could hear Rhea's astonished gasp before the Bioroid stumbled out, “Th-thank you, Auntie…I mean…Commander.”

 

“However,” Iczer Two went on, “That does not mean that I shall lighten up on your training regimen. I will not be satisfied until you can endure a major battle without taking injuries upon yourself, and now that your partner is fully with us in the program, I will assume that she has no objections to joining us during at least some of your training. Am I right in this assumption?” she directed herself towards Muku, who audibly gulped at this shifting focus.

 

“Ah…sure…no problem,” Muku winced, “I think.”

 

“Good,” Iczer Two replied, “Then I will leave you two as you are to continue with what you are doing…however, for discretion's sake, I would advise taking it indoors someplace. Now, I must be off to make training arrangements with our mutual sensei, whom I have neglected to inform for several days now regarding what has happened with my sister and his daughter. Good day to you both.”

 

And with that she vanished in a pixilated halo.

 

“Wow,” Muku said as she exhaled a breath she did not even remember having taken.

 

“She's like that a lot,” Rhea explained, “The only one who surpasses my Aunt Two when it comes to icy stares is my Godfather, General Straker. You don't argue with them, you just nod your head and agree with what they are saying.”

 

“She certainly is something else,” Muku reluctantly conceded, only to do a sharp double-take as she turned to Rhea and gasped, “What did she mean about…your sister and who's daughter?”

 

“Aunt Troi and her new partner,” Rhea replied, “Your other best friend, Sakura. Didn't you know that they are Synchronized together?”

 

“Say…what?” Muku blinked with a totally dumbfounded expression, “Since when?”

 

“Since a few days ago,” Rhea explained, “Right after our last big fight together…didn't she tell you?”

 

“N-No…” Muku blinked again, “And I never even asked…”

 

“Oh,” Rhea replied, “Well…maybe she was looking for the right moment to tell you…and…I think I interrupted you in the middle of that…oh my…”

 

Muku paused to think on that, then said, “I guess maybe I should go speak with her about it…maybe find out what the story is from her side of the fence. It's the least I owe her, being her best friend and all that.”

 

“I'll take you to her,” Rhea offered, “I think we can be spared from here a few moments, unless your other friend turns up on our doorstep.”

 

“Well, that's the thing about Yui,” Muku smiled, “She's like the bad five-yen piece that turns up when you least expect it…but she does have a few consistent patterns…places she'll sooner or later find on her own for one reason or another…”

 

“Such as?” Rhea asked.

 

Muku smiled, “I'll take you to one of our favorite haunts…it's where I could probably also find Sakura…kill two birds with one stone and all that, and it's also a place I wanted to show you.”

 

“Oh yes?” Rhea said inquisitively, “What place is this?”

 

“It's called an arcade,” Muku replied, “And trust me on this…you're gonna love it…”

 

 

 

Continued

 

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