Iczer-one Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Earth Child ❯ Synchronization ( Chapter 29 )

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)

 

 

 

 

 

Tofu Ken was not a happy camper. Discovering that his website had not only been hacked but that substantial portions had been edited and outright deleted disturbed him deeply, especially for the great ease in which it had been managed. His picture files---those that had been kept online---had been replaced with a single file that bore the cartoony image of the alien girl known as Troi, who was sticking her tongue out at him in a rather expressive manner (and---given the distortion of the superdeformed image---he had to allow it was a pretty good likeness), and all because he had done **something** or other to get on her bad side.

 

Just like the meddlesome alien girl, too, she was nowhere on hand for him to chew out about the matter. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Sakura anywhere either since classes, and wouldn't it be just like those two to be off doing something (the imagination boggled at the prospects) without him?

 

It was not---most emphatically NOT---that he was jealous or anything (he would have dutifully insisted), but he was starting to get a wee bit annoyed about the silver-haired C'thuwulf and the intrusive way that she had insinuated herself into both of their lives…Sakura's as much as his own. What in the name of the almighty yen note was she intending, roping his fiancée into something potentially dangerous without even seeking his approval? That she was somehow involved with Sakura on a more-than-personal level, and it was not just for kinky sex reasons either (he was reasonably assured) was reasonably apparent, but the actual nature of what their so-called `partnership' involved still lacked a few pertinent details…and Ken had his suspicions about that. In fact, doing a little research, he had begun to uncover some disturbing hints of what the nature of their business might be, and he was not liking the implications…no, certainly not indeed!

 

Ken frowned as he wondered about his own feelings in this matter. He and Sakura had been engaged for most of their lives, an arrangement that was insisted upon by their mutual grandfathers, a matter of `family honor' that could not be breached if the families of Saotome and Tendo were to at long last be united. Originally that obligation had belonged to Sakura's father and one of Ken's aunts, but with the dissolution of the original marriage pact, the promise had been given that the children of the next generation would be the ones to fulfill that promise. Of course no one had thought to ask Ken and Sakura what they thought about the matter, so from childhood on they had resolved to “play along” with the engagement while quietly seeking to dissolve it on their own…and now, it seemed, Sakura had found the perfect method for seeking that dissolution…

 

Only…did they want to dissolve their engagement? Troi had spoken as if the option of a three-way relationship was possible…but was that also what they wanted? To share his future wife with another woman, and one who looked to be a real handful of trouble for any style of relationship…that was something else which needed thinking about. Ken was not even certain how he felt about Sakura after all of these years of knowing her…they were just too used to being around one another, even if their actual relationship varied from affectionate to antagonistic with no clear regularity, at least they had become secure in the knowledge that each one would exist somewhere in the orbit of the other.

 

And what did he know about this Troi character anyway? She was clearly very strong, could fly and teleport and appeared to be at least partially non-human…how far he would have to further inquire to determine. She called her self a “Bioroid,” some kind of mechanical construct? Now…that didn't seem quite right. She was much too human in her behavior for him to think of her as something artificial. She was lively, energetic and clearly as full of herself as many people tended to claim that Ken himself could be, and yet there was something about her that fit like a groove into Sakura's own personality. He could not quite say why it seemed that they did suit each other, but they did, and Ken had a very strong feeling that a package that included one would not be complete now without the inclusion of the other…

 

Think of the devil and she would appear, or so Ken thought next when he heard a now-familiar voice say, “You too busy playing with your mouse there, Camera-Boy?”

 

Ken should have jumped in astonishment at being surprised in such a manner, but instead he kept his back rigid as he replied, “You know…teleporting into somebody's bedroom would be considered offensive if a guy did it to a woman…”

 

“Yeah, so what's the problem?” Troi replied, “You're a guy, I jumped in on you…now do you want to see Sakura or not? I got approval to bring you in, so it's time you learned the full story about what I'm about, Lenny boy.”

 

“Ken,” he corrected, but declined to take the bait by making a point about it as he turned around to see the silver-haired warrior-elf, “So…when do we go?”

 

“How about right now?” she smiled, extending her hand in an almost friendly manner.

 

With some reluctance, Ken took the handshake, then felt a curious sense of transition. The next thing he knew he was sitting down on the floor, his rump landing on something hard, smooth and clearly artificial as his familiar bedroom was replaced by more ultra-tech surroundings.

 

“Welcome to New Gamora,” Troi smirked down at him, then nodded her head towards the source of the lighting, “Have a look…this is home-sweet-home for my people.”

 

Ken turned to see what she was indicating and froze in amazement, seeing a cityscape unfolding before his eyes unlike any other that he had ever even heard about outside of an anime. It was beautiful in a curiously unearthly sort of way, and as he slowly rose back to his feet what he felt was almost like stepping onto the surface of an entirely different planet. It was uncanny in a way, and the abruptness of the transition left him feeling almost breathless.

 

“Where…?” he heard himself asking.

 

“You're underneath an area near to Tokyo,” Troi replied, “In an artificial pocket given to the C'thuwulf on an agreement with your own government. We're kind of like your invisible neighbors, a colony established as a new homeland for our people while we assimilate ourselves into normal society. You're one of only a handful of outsiders that have been allowed in, Kid, and that's mainly because you're as involved in this as Sakura and the others.”

 

“The others?” Ken blinked.

 

“Your girlfriends,” Troi made a face, “And that's another thing…right now you're the only man in this entire complex, so behave yourself and don't make me look bad for bringing you here or I'm gonna have to hurt you, got it?”

 

“The only…man?” Ken wondered if the Bioroid was pulling his leg or if she really did mean that he was the only masculine humanoid in a city full of women?

 

“All done here, Troi,” a strange woman standing behind some type of console said, “He's clean. No problems bringing him here on a regular basis now…we've logged his biosignature into the central matrix.”

 

“My what?” Ken asked, mentally correcting himself…beautiful and sexy women, if that lady in particular was any indication!

 

“Biosignature,” Troi replied, patting him on the shoulder, “Never mind, you'll get the full briefing later. Now…follow me this way to the labs, that's where Sakura-chan and her friends are gathered, along with…some other guests we have staying at the place. Come this way and I'll fill you in…and trust me, you're in for quite a few surprises…”

 

 

 

 

“Hey, come on guys, let me out! I promise I won't do anything bad, honest!”

 

“Oh, give it a rest,” Atros complained of her current (and most reluctant) cellmate, “It's for your own good, you know. They have to make sure that you won't carry any hidden virus programs into the C'thuwulf complex, and after all the trouble they went through to certify that I would remain clean, I can't hold it against them that they're not taking any chances.”

 

“That's easy for you to say,” Nova frowned as she stared from her partitioned chamber to her fellow Bioroid being held in the adjoining chamber, “You've been here---what---a whole day already, but I just got dragged down here against my will, and unlike you, SIS, I'm being denied access to my new partner!”

 

Yui flinched as she heard this pronouncement, but she could neither deny nor avoid the implications of this particular revelation, especially not with her friends looking on with collectively astonished expressions, Rini no less so than any of the others.

 

“You mean…you…and her…?” her pink-haired fellow Senshi pointed at Nova and then back at Yui.

 

“Don't remind me,” Yui half-pleaded.

 

“Well now,” Yumi slowly grinned, “Getting yourself a new girlfriend on the sly…I didn't give you way near enough credit, Yui-chan, you're turning into quite the rake here.”

 

“Jealous, Yumi-chan?” asked Reiko.

 

“Had your eyes on Yui-chan yourself, have you?” added her twin, Meiko.

 

“If it's all the same,” Karma added, “You might have been better off because this…Bioroid here looks and sounds as though she will be more than a handful.”

 

“Look, I didn't ask for this, Guys!” Yui protested, “I'm the victim here, I was kidnapped and hauled into that…thing…and everything that happened to me from that point on was none of my fault! Honest!”

 

“Sounds like a familiar refrain,” Sakura noted from where she was idly lounging at one corner of the lab complex, “I think I've heard the tune somewhere before…”

 

“Yui-chan,” Nova's voice brought everyone around, “I'd never do anything to hurt you…you've gotta know that. I didn't mean for it to get a little wild back there, I was…”

 

“Just following orders?” Atros sniffed, “Welcome to the club…of course you didn't almost blow up most of Japan like I nearly did, but I'm sure that everyone understands that you were just doing a job trying to destroy sister Rhea and her partner, Senzenen.”

 

“Hey, I thought that grandmother was just gonna, like…take them captive, brainwash them, recruit them to our side, you know what I mean?” Nova asked.

 

“And you call that an improvement?” Karma asked softly.

 

“Well…no…” Nova shrugged, “But Almost only counts with nukes and Iczer-Robos, right?”

 

“Meaning…what exactly?” Rini blinked.

 

“I dunno know, you figure it out!” Nova shrugged, “I just…I'm going a little nuts in here! C'mon, let me out, will you? I promise to behave? I just wanna spend time with Yui-chan…getting to know her better, know what I mean?”

 

“Unfortunately I do,” Sister Grey spoke up, “Whatever technology Big Gold used to Synchronize your biorhythms to those of Yui here, it's had a permanent affect of altering both your bioreadings so that you now have a strong psychic and biophysical link together. I'm afraid, in technical terms, that you are now Partnered together permanently, which means a long separation between you two is simply not an option.”

 

“WHAT?” Yui blurted out, “You mean---can't you do anything about that???”

 

“Yui-chan,” Nova winced, “I'm hurt…”

 

“You stay out of this!” Yui snapped, turning back to Sister Grey, “I can't be stuck with her for the rest of my life! What would I tell my parents? They're gonna ground me for life as it is, and if I come back home bringing a new **girlfriend**…”

 

“How exactly do you ground a Hibiki?” Yumi asked, enduring a withering look from her fellow Second-Generation Senshi.

 

“They'll improvise!” Yui snarled, “How do you think Mom keeps Dad at home for anything longer than a weekday?”

 

“I have been wondering about that,” Meiko remarked.

 

“So have I,” Reiko agreed, “The mind fairly boggles…”

 

All at once Atros got a funny look in her eyes, and she glanced sharply to the side as though sensing something not readily apparent to the others.

 

“Whoah!” Sister Foam spoke up in surprise, “We got a spike here in Atros's biorhythms…funny…it just cropped up out of no where and…”

 

“Hey everybody,” Troi announced matter-of-factly, teleporting in with Ken at her side, “Look who I brought with me.”

 

“Ken?” Sakura straightened up, “What are you doing here?”

 

“That's what I'd like to know,” Ken glanced around at the laboratory, then nodded to the familiar faces of the Senshi, who smiled and waved back, “Some place you've got here…looks fairly ultra-modern…”

 

“It's at least several thousand years ahead of anything you Earth guys have been able to come up with so far,” Troi boasted, “Biotechnology, like what's used to create us Iczers, and there we have our latest recruits to the family. Say hello to Nova and my daughter, Atros, half-sisters by way of my good friend, Nagisa, their other biological parent. Guys…Ken Tofu.”

 

“Tofu Ken,” he corrected, surprised that the Bioroid had even gotten that much right…but then his focus was distracted as he felt a curious sensation that drew him to study one of the two elf-like women currently sitting in matching booths, like zoo animals on display. He had the oddest…feeling…

 

No, scratch that…the dark haired one was looking right at him, and her eyes were (if possible) twice as large as the others…

 

“Oh dear,” said Foam.

 

“What is it?” Grey asked.

 

“We have Synchronization in progress,” Foam replied, “Someone in this room is bonding with Atros.”

 

“WHAT?” Troi whirled around, “With MY kid, WHO?”

 

“Attempting to narrow it down here,” reported Salmon, one of the technicians on duty, “We have a definite match, a bioscan that's within a 99.7% compatibility rating…it's…I don't believe this!”

 

“Me neither,” Foam replied, checking her consoles, “Running a secondary analysis…yes…it's definitely a match..”

 

“Confirmed,” said Sister Pink, “Synchronization levels are adjusting within parameters…and it's definitely…HIM???”

 

“HIM???” Troi and several others said at once, including Sakura, all of them turning towards the only man currently present within the chamber.

 

“Uh…?” Ken was vaguely aware of the focus of their attention in his direction, his gaze having been magnetized by the dark haired elf as…something invisible was passing between them. A moment later it shifted down to normal, allowing him to blink his eyes and turn around before noticing that everyone's attention was suddenly shifted in his direction. “Nani…?”

 

 

 

 

“Well,” Rhea said shyly, “I brought you back to your room like you asked. Quite a day, yes?”

 

“Uh…yeah…quite a day,” Muku replied as she turned to regard her Bioroid partner, “So…what happens next?”

 

“Well,” Rhea sighed, “I'm afraid your friend is going to have to undergo some tests to insure that she hasn't suffered unduly at the hands of Nova or Big Gold…”

 

“That…isn't what I mean,” Muku said somewhat awkwardly, smiling more shyly than before, “I mean…what happens with us…next? I mean…where do we go from here…partner?”

 

Rhea raised fiery-gold eyebrows at this and seemed to study Muku's face as if attempting to read her mind and expression. When she sensed that Muku was sincere this time she felt a quivering excitement come over her, so much so that she hesitantly said, “Ah…well…that is a…very good question…”

 

“Well, um…” Muku shifted her balance and looked nervously around at the familiar surroundings of her room before saying, “I…kind of hoped you'd have some idea…I mean…you know more about this sort of thing, right? Ah…about…stuff?”

 

“Stuff?” Rhea repeated, “Er…well…yes, I do…I have been trained and programmed with many techniques but…I'm…somewhat lacking in the hands-on training part…”

 

“Hands…on?” Muku said nervously, “Er…mind if I sit down?”

 

Rhea just smiled at her and laced her fingers in Muku's own, then the two of them sat down together on the latter's bed, still shy as they studied each others faces, Rhea searching for sincerity, for a sense of commitment on the side of her partner. She could sense that Muku was still uncertain about this, but that she was now open to exploring the possibility, and Rhea almost dared to hope that she might be able to make a meaningful connection. Going too fast would be a mistake, but…she had been wanting this for so long…

 

Muku was just bedazzled by the beauty in the eyes that regarded her with such open adoration. Rhea did not hold back on anything, and she had such a vibrant, passionate nature that Muku was a little bit frightened, yet intrigued by the implications. She knew that the Bioroid wanted something more form her than just their level of synchronization, but was Muku really ready for this? It was such a big step in her life…did she dare to take the chance that was being offered?

 

“Rhea-chan…” she started to say when she felt her face be cupped in both hands of the other girl as Rhea held her face steady, her fingers caressing Muku's delicate skin, then all at once she guided Muku forward, unresisting. Muku allowed herself to be steered into bringing their faced almost close enough to touch one another, eyes still locked in a grip like a tractor beam, Rhea searching Muku's soul to decide if this were the moment when she would allow her true passions to finally surface. When Muku did not pull away she thought she had her answer, and so Rhea tipped her face slightly to one side, angling herself so that their noses would not press up against one another, and…

 

Kissed Muku fully on the mouth, gently---OH-so-gently---their lips melding into one another as a tentative amount of pressure was applied to bring about the required suction. Once firmly latched together, Rhea allowed herself to give her passion fully to the kiss, still gentle and sensitive to the needs of her partner, but warm enough to leave Muku in no doubt of her own sincerity as the both of them yielded to the kiss as it became even more sincere the more emboldened their mutual passions.

 

Muku had been surprised at the softness of Rhea's lips against her own, but once the kiss was fully underway she began to relax and allow Rhea to guide her into the warmth of their mouths joining to one another. She almost gasped in surprise when she felt gentle pressure being applied to her lips, and then a tongue not her own darted between her teeth, flicking and pressing against her own tongue, which prompted Muku to return the gesture. With a little encouragement on Rhea's behalf, Muku soon found herself in a vigorous “mouth wrestling” match with tongues gliding like slick Sumo wrestlers meshing together.

 

With their lips doing such an effective dance together, it was natural that their arms would slide around each other's waist so that Rhea and Muku could draw their bodies in close to one another. Muku was dimly aware that Rhea's hands were expertly playing across and caressing the nerve endings down her back, then she felt a touch of surprise as Rhea's hands began to brush the shoulder straps of her clothing, hands that deftly began undressing her as Muku felt a curious thrill pass through her body. Her own hands were somewhat less steady as she began to fumble with Rhea's own clothing, glad that her friend had opted to dress as a civilian instead of don her usual space armor, which meant that Muku had little trouble finding her way to undoing the shirt that Rhea was wearing, even as her own shirt was unbuttoned then discarded. Rhea became more emboldened, her growing ardor demanding that she at last consummate a desire that had been denied for far too long. Rhea was almost in a mood to tear the clothes off of Muku's body, and only holding herself back for the sake of not hastening the moment…and possibly alarming Muku by coming on as too aggressive.

 

Not that Muku was doing much to curb her own sudden impulse to tear Rhea's clothes off in order to make closer contact with her body!

 

It was amazing to feel the texture of the Bioroid's flesh, which felt as real and as human as Rhea tasted, her mouth and saliva being entirely like that of a human. For all the Iczer's tensile strength, her body had all the normal padding and felt as smooth and as sensitive to the touch, and there was no doubting that Rhea could feel her caresses, even as Muku was responding to the way Rhea was moving her hands over Muku's body! Her nerves were stroked to the music of that so-sensitive touch, and when Rhea reached in to squeeze a breast beneath Muku's lacy brazier there was no denying that it felt good! Not at all as clumsy or pawing as Muku might have feared in a different context but very sensual and gentle, not like fruit being pressed in a vice but rather caressed in its own special manner. Muku felt the impulse to try the same thing on Rhea and did so, amazing at how full-yet-how-soft and pliable her bosom was, entirely like that of a natural woman!

 

In this aroused state, even as Muku began to appreciate the advantage of foreplay with a body that was structurally similar to her own supple body, all of her senses came alive as she took in her full awareness of the fiery-gold haired woman in her arms, no longer feeling the hesitation or doubt that might have come in knowing that she was fondling an artificially created being whose DNA was the combination of an android and the genetic code of a human. In this state of heightened arousal she heard and felt everything on a level of awareness that she had never known before, and as such she was all the more startled when she heard a knocking on her door, a polite-yet-insistent entreaty that was followed in short order by a concerned voice saying, “Muku-chan? Are you back in there already?”

 

“Oh shit!” Muku declared as she broke contact with a near-intoxicated Rhea, “Uh---Mom? Don't come in, please!”

 

“Huh?” Akane's voice reacted in surprise at the insistence in her daughter's tone, “Muku-chan, are you all right? What are all those funny noises you've been making?”

 

“Kuso,” Muku breathed under her breath, hastily pulling her shirt back up and marveling that one breast had become fully exposed by Rhea's efforts. Her partner snapped out of her own besotted daze and took in the situation, so even as Muku turned to her with a look of warning she saw understanding mirrored in the other girl's eyes, and one moment later she was flowing through the bed and vanishing out of sight as if she had become a ghost before the eyes of her near-lover.

 

A good thing too because Akane---not being the sort who could butt-out when told to---pushed open the door and came fully into the room saying, “Muku-chan…who were you talking to?”

 

“Talking to, Mom?” Muku asked with false innocence in her expression, having just managed to barely become “decent” in the previous two seconds, “What do you mean?”

 

Akane glanced around then started to reflexively check under the bed, saying, “Have you been having friends up here without telling us, Muku-chan?”

 

“Mom, how can you say such a thing?” Muku asked with fingers crossed behind her back, “Do you see anyone here?”

 

“Hmm…” Akane turned and checked the closet, then went over and inspected the window to make sure the latches were closed from the inside with the security fibers pulsing ever-so-slightly.

 

“Mom!” Muku was shocked at the implied distrust that her mother was displaying.

 

“Sorry,” Akane turned around, “It's just that you've had us very worried about you for the last few days, Muku-chan. Your father and I were concerned that you may have taken up outside interests which might be interfering with your studies…”

 

“Really?” Muku tried to maintain her best poker-face, an effect spoiled by some profuse sweating on her part, “What makes you think that?”

 

Akane looked her daughter in the eyes and said, “Muku-chan…answer me truthfully. Is there some boy whom you're seeing that you don't want us to know about?”

 

“A boy?” it took a few eyeblinks for Muku's mind to get off the “TILT” button, then she relaxed a bit as she said, “Mom, I can honestly tell you that there is no boy in our school who I'm seeing at the present, Scouts honor.”

 

“You're not a scout,” Akane inclined her head with a skeptical expression, then without prompting she sat down on the bed next to Muku (and opposite to where Rhea had been sitting a few moments before her, “Muku-chan, can you explain to me where you've been most of today? We got a report that you've been fighting at school, and there was some mention about giant robots, or some such ridiculous nonsense, but we were told that you were involved with some of your friends at school, and there were these really strange individuals dressed up like refugees from a gangster movie…well…you can imagine what your father and I've been thinking all day. Can you tell us what actually happened?”

 

“Uh…well,” Muku winced, “There…was a fight…some girl from another place tried to cause trouble, but it was at the Arcade, not the school this time, honest. I don't know what you've been hearing, Mom, but everything worked out all right…some strange girl was just intent on kidnapping Yui.”

 

“Ryoga's daughter?” Akane arched an eyebrow, “Was anyone hurt?”

 

“Um…not really,” Muku fibbed, but then she regretted her dishonestly and added, “Part of a roof fell on top of me and my new friend, Rhea, but we managed to survive it…”

 

“Oh,” Akane sighed, “That sort of thing does tend to happen with a Hibiki in the picture…I really must have a word with her parents. I trust you taught that other girl not to try anything like that again?”

 

“Oh, no problems there, Mom,” Muku replied, “She's in a…pretty secure place right now, and I don't think she'll be going anywhere for a while. In fact, it's been such an exciting day that I think I'd like to turn in early…” she made a point of deliberately yawning.

 

Akane seemed to be studying Muku for a long moment before saying, “Muku-chan…you know we trust you, and you can always come to your father and me for advice, right?”

 

“Uh…yeah,” Muku said with an awkward pause that was not intended to convey skepticism on that point, even though she was mentally wincing at the thought of having to try and explain everything that had happened to her mother.

 

“It may come as a surprise to you to know this,” Akane continued, “But it hasn't been so long since I was your age that I've completely forgotten what it feels like to be a young woman with prospects. It really wouldn't surprise me all that much if you've been…touching yourself in any areas that you might otherwise think are…inappropriate.”

 

“Huh?” Muku blinked, not mentally prepared to handle this shift in the direction of their conversation.

 

“Look, I'm just saying that if you've been…relieving pressure for yourself…” Akane winced slightly at her own awkward turn of phrase, “I understand, really, and it's not such a big deal. I've read in articles that masturbation is actually quite healthy…something I wish someone had informed me about when I was your age. Touching yourself is a good way to learn about the joys of your own body, and if you can manage to bring yourself off on your own, then I won't do anything to stop or interfere with this, okay? And unlike my own father, I know how to be unobtrusive about such things.”

 

Muku just continued to stare, wondering how she and this other woman could even be related.

 

“What I'm saying is,” Akane tried again, “If you're feeling pressured by certain…unusual urges, then I'd much rather you experimented on yourself instead of trying things out with some strange boy you've just met. I mean, it's a perfectly natural outlet for easing things so you don't feel the urge to do something a lot more risky…do you understand what I'm trying to get at here?”

 

“No,” Muku said honestly, then blinked, “Um…did you say…masturbation?”

 

“You know,” her mother made a surprisingly graphic gesture with three fingers, bringing them down to the crotch of her own slacks and mimicking the act of running them up and down over her hidden clitoris, “Stroking off…feeling yourself up…testing the boundary of your own natural reflexes, that sort of thing?”

 

“Oh,” Muku finally caught on and found herself possessed with strange urge of running her hand over the back of her head while giggling in a nervous manner, “Um…well…”

 

“Say no more,” Akane hastily waved to her, “Just as long as you're not actually sexually active at this point in your life, I don't need to hear the details. I'm just saying that if you WANT to confide in me, then I'm always there to lend you a sympathetic ear. You know that you can trust me to handle everything in a mature and responsible way, right?”

 

“Ah…well…” this time Muku did effect a typical Yui “scratch your head and titter nervously” type gesture (Hibiki patented pending).

 

“Good,” her mother patted Muku on the knee and smiled in a relieved kind of manner, “Then you know you can tell me if you're having any kind of problems. It's all right if you're feeling attracted to someone else, your father and I will still love and support you, just as long as you take the right sort of precautions. Well, that's my motherly advice for now, so…take care of yourself, all right?”

 

“Uh…sure…no problems,” Muku murmured faintly, wondering if this felt as strange to the elder Senzenen lady as it did to Muku. She watched as her mother let herself out of the room, pausing to give what supposedly was meant to be a reassuring smile, then closed the door behind her.

 

A few seconds later Rhea materialized once again, rising up from the floor like a proverbial ghost and not saying much of anything for several long moments, then turning to Muku and saying, “Your mother means well…do you think that there is something inherent in the genetic background of parents that compels them to act strangely to the thought of their daughters becoming partnered with another?”

 

“You got me,” Muku sighed, “That was definitely weird. Um…about what just happened…”

 

“Do you wish to take up where we left off?” Rhea asked in a rather hopeful manner, then paused as she read hesitation on Muku's features, “Unless…you would rather not. I understand if the mood is broken…I will not press the issue.”

 

“Thanks,” Muku replied, half relief, half-disappointed, “I'm sorry…bad timing and all that. I've got to live here, y'know…”

 

“I understand,” Rhea sighed, “Parents must be respected when it is their property you live under. Perhaps another time, Muku-chan?”

 

“Uh…sure…I think,” Muku replied with some hesitation, only now becoming aware of what she and the Bioroid had been on the verge of doing with one another, which both frightened and fascinated her as she really had no idea how far it could have gotten without that interruption.

 

“I will see you later then,” Rhea hesitated for another moment, then said, “Until then,” and vanished altogether.

 

Muku was left to stare at the empty space vacated by the Iczer for the longest time before she flopped face down on her bed and groaned, “What the heck am I doing…?” not expecting to hear the universe offer her an answer…

 

 

 

 

Mikado looked up from the book that he had been reading, tempted to voice aloud the observation that his family's house must have been haunted by ghosts, either that or he was seeing apparitions out of the corner of his eyes. One minute he thought he saw a golden-haired half-dressed girl with pointed ears standing in the corridor, then he thought he saw that same girl come floating down from the roof, only to vanish back up through the ceilings mere moments later. Always she would disappear just before he had time to turn around and fully look at her, as though she were determined to remain a shadow, more an impression of someone who kept coming and going, never fully there, yet---oddly---somehow familiar.

 

He heard Akane come down the stairs and tried to relax. No sense causing trouble by letting his wife think that he was seeing other women! THAT chapter of his life was firmly closed and nailed shut forever. He had wasted the earliest years of his youth aimlessly searching for his ideal and perfect woman, never satisfied with any of those whom he had dated or kissed, until he met Akane…and that was it for him as far as the female half of the sex went from that day forward. Chasing her had been the hardest battle of his life, but when he had won the fight (through almost losing her, no less!) he knew that it was he whom had been brought to heel. That wayward heart of his had found his perfect woman, and woe betide the man who dared to get on her bad side by making her feel inadequate---as if!

 

“I talked with her,” Akane said, “She didn't exactly confess and open up with me, but that's hardly surprising. I think she's definitely seeing someone, but for some odd reason she doesn't want us to know about it.”

 

“Really?” Mikado set down his book and looked fully at her, “How can you be certain?”

 

“Because I'm her mother,” Akane smiled lopsidedly, “And I can remember when I wore that exact same face around Kasumi. She'd ask me the same thing and I'd give her the same half-uttered non-responses. I didn't really know how I felt about anything in those days, but she knew I was in love with a guy even before I did…”

 

“Oh really?” Mikado asked mildly, “Any idea who the lucky fellow is?”

 

Akane jabbed him playfully in the arm (which did hurt a bit, but Mikado was good as stoically ignoring such gestures) and half-smiled, “You know what I mean. At times like this I wasn't any less clueless than Muku is right now, so I can tell she's confused and unsure about things…which might mean that the boy is someone she wants to like but is afraid to love for some strange reason.”

 

“Some boy is trying to take our little White Starling away from us?” Mikado's face clouded, “The nerve of some people…”

 

“Lecher,” Akane smirked, “You're just afraid that some guy out there is going to behave just like you did when you broke the hearts of all those girls…”

 

“You mean when I married you?” Mikado asked innocently, then smiled, “I very much do remember what I was like when I was Muku-chan's age. Why else do you think I'm worried?”

 

“I wonder who it could be?” Akane frowned, “How many boys does she know in her class…or is it somebody new, a transfer student maybe?”

 

“Perhaps,” Mikado frowned a bit as he thought over the matter, “I could speak with Hinako-sensei and see if she might have a few ideas on who might be the type to catch the eye of our little Angel. Or perhaps I could ask Muku-chan in a round-about way and see what she's willing to tell me.”

 

“You really think she's going to come clean with you when she won't even confide in her own mother?” Akane sounded skeptical on that subject.

 

“You forget the Senzenen charm, my dear,” Mikado smiled as he affectionately caressed her cheek, “Women have been known to divulge the oddest things when I merely ask them.”

 

“Oh?” Akane asked archly, “And what particular things do they tell you now?”

 

“That would be telling,” he said rakishly, “And the less I confess to the better it will be for my own safety.”

 

Akane picked up his book off the table and made as if she were about to throw it at him, but instead she settled for an affectionate kiss that invited him to give her another, and then another following that as the two of them found other ways to occupy their evening besides discussing the lovelife (suspected or real) of their only daughter, little aware that large elvish eyes were watching them wistfully, Rhea sighing as she thought about the strange attraction between Muku's mother and this curious man whom Muku called her biological father. She turned away to reflect on the matter, then launched herself into the sky, needing the cool air against her skin and face as solace to her loneliness, her longing to be as close as this to the one whom she had pledged herself to as her partner…forever…

 

 

 

 

“Oh man!” Tenma-doppelganger groaned as he stared forlornly back up at the ceiling, “Again? It's a wonder that I don't have more brothers and sisters…”

 

He was trying to read a manga that he had just purchased with his allowance, not really certain why he felt the urge to read the bloody thing. After all, it was just a printed collection of hand-drawn pen-and-ink drawings linked together with some dialogue in order to tell a fairly rudimentary story. He turned another page and got back into the rhythm of the adventure unfolding before him, not really certain why these images generated certain feelings in him that had nothing at all to do with his mission status.

 

Spying on his “family” had proven to be pretty routine and boring stuff…they hardly knew anything at all about the C'thuwulf besides whatever it was that Troi and Iczer Two had felt like divulging. Tenma had tried to occupy his time by going around town to make further observations for his next report, but after several days of attempting this he'd come to realize that the place was just too weird for rational description. Any report he might make would sound fantastically fabricated in a futile attempt at impressing Big Gold, who would call him an idiot for wasting her time with such nonsense…that is, if she didn't blast the doppelganger of Saotome Tenma altogether!

 

And Tenma was really starting to get annoyed at the constant demand for new updates. Did Big Gold simply not get it by now that he had nothing new to report? Sakura was hardly ever home anymore, she was spending more and more time with Troi, and there was no way for Tenma to follow her either into Furinkan high school or the C'thuwulf Earthstation. He had school time of his own to maintain, and he had to keep up the appearance that he really was Tenma, which meant keeping his grade point average to about what Tenma himself would have earned through his own efforts. Making deliberately wrong answers where he sensed Tenma would falter went against his grain as a Bioroid construction, but for the sake of appearances he had to fail in a reasonably believable manner.

 

And those times when he did get a chance to directly observe Sakura at home were only slightly more annoying and fruitless than not having her around in the first place. His sister was so full of herself some times that she really got on Tenma's nerves, like that time she'd left that exploding okonomiyaki in his locker, paying him back for a little innocent prank that he had played the day before involving some baking soda that he'd laced into her shampoo cream rinse…

 

No, wait…that was the other---the REAL Tenma---and…did he just think of Sakura as HIS big sister?

 

This was carrying things WAY too far if he was only planning a simple infiltration job. He was a Doppelganger Simulacrum, a Bioroid designed for duplication of a target human. Assimilating the personality and memories of the target through direct contact should have led to him simply gaining the knowledge and abilities of the real Saotome Tenma, but here he was fretting about homework assignments or that girl in his class who kept looking at him funny. He was not supposed to actually care about these people or their personal interactions, none of it was supposed to have any quantifiable meaning to either Tenma or the objectives of his mission assignment.

 

Yet he had more than just the memories of Tenma, he had a full understanding of what those memories meant, of time spent with a mother and a father who obviously cared a lot for him and who would go through fire on his behalf, to whom the real Tenma had deep-seated loyalties that went beyond all other considerations. Training missions spent like picnics as a family outing in the wilds where martial arts secrets were imparted from parents to children. Competing against his older sister to try and best her at the games they played to test their abilities, the thrill he felt whenever he actually did something right that earned a smile of approval from his father, the occasional taunts where his Dad would say things like, “You gonna let your sister show you up? C'mon, you're a guy, you ought to be as good as she was at your age,” and then the follow-up correctives, “You did your best, that's all anybody could ask, and you did good. I just wish I was as good as you at your age, Kid, so don't sweat it, you'll get better with a little more practice…”

 

All of that meant something to him…to Tenma…and to his doppelganger. Having his hair be ruffled by the hand of his father, the embarrassment he felt while insisting that he not be treated like a baby, the pride he felt when Sakura did something that brought honor to the Saotome name, and the times when they dropped the sibling rivalry act and actually showed that they cared for one another. Being cradled to sleep at night when it rained with loud and scary thunder, keeping each other company when one or both of their parents were away for a fight or on a mission. They were a family…a family that cared about one another, a family that would go out on a limb for one another, who would take risks to their personal health and safety for one another, who actually cared and suffered if another one of their tight-knit group got hurt. He could even remember feeling resentment when someone tried to hit on his sister without her approval…not like with Ken, of course, whom Sakura liked to play some weird kind of dance with back and forth…

 

Why did any of this matter to him…and why did he keep thinking about what things were like on the other side of the fence? It hardly bore asking whether Big Gold cared about anyone's welfare beyond her own self, or Neos Gold for that matter, or any of the other minions of her own creator. To them he was just a tin soldier, a simulacrum, an agent easily created and dispensed with when his assignment was ended. He didn't matter at all in the eyes of Gold or any of his fellow servants…and what cause was it exactly that they were fighting for in the first place? To make this world more like the world that existed on the other side of the dimensional boundary, where humans were an all-but extinct species?

 

These were not the sort of thoughts which he had been designed to contemplate, and every time he thought about Gold's dark plans to annihilate the C'thuwulf and to dominate this world's human populace he kept thinking about Taro Yui, the girl whom he had so recently begun to form a tentative relationship—ah---he meant friendship, of course---and whose welfare had begun to mean something to HIM. Him and not the real Tenma…and…and this was so very confusing. Where exactly were his loyalties headed these days anyway? And what happened to the command protocols in his sub-directory that were supposed to prevent him from having these sorts of feeling...?

 

All at once his sensors alerted him to a dimensional transference taking place very near to his position…right in the next room, as a matter of fact, meaning that Sakura and her girlfriend had just popped in out of Subspace. Tenma immediately raised the gain on his hearing to levels beyond the normal human threshold and picked up on their conversation as he heard a note of genuine anger in Sakura's voice, as if Troi had done something to seriously upset her.

 

“…Look, I'm not saying it's your fault, but could you at least give me some warning when you bring my fiancée into a place like that?”

 

“What are you talking about, Sakura-chan? I thought you knew that he'd been cleared for the lab, and I was just trying to surprise you…”

 

“Well, you sure succeeded at that! Now what the hell am I supposed to do? Your daughter and my boyfriend just got soul-bonded, like us! Do you know exactly what that makes me feel like?”

 

“Did you just call Ken your boyfriend?”

 

“ACK---I did not!”

 

“Did too.”

 

“Did not!”

 

“Whatever…look…I know it looks bad…hell, I don't have any idea how something like this is even possible! He's a GUY, for Cosmos-sakes! How the Frel does a guy rate synchronization with my daughter?”

 

“Yeah, what is that about only girls bonding with you guys anyway? You mean a boy has never been bonded with an Iczer before?”

 

“Before? There's only six of us now, at least at last count, and two of those were created by the other side! No one's ever even imagined a man having the characteristics necessary to synchronize with an Iczer, and yet your boyfriend did it on the first try, and to my DAUGHTER of all people!”

 

“Well, I don't think it was deliberate on Ken's part…but you've got to admit that the timing stinks, and the coincidence is pretty suspicious when you think about it…I mean…what are the odds that you'd bring in the very guy who could bond with Atros like that while she's still under quarantine?”

 

“What, are you saying I did it deliberately or something?”

 

“Of course not! You couldn't plan anything that far in advance…”

 

“Oh, now that hurts, Sakura-chan!”

 

“I know…I didn't mean it like…and he's NOT my boyfriend…”

 

“Yeah, I hear you…it's weird, there's no question about that…”

 

“Well…maybe…”

 

“Huh? What do you mean maybe?”

 

“It's just a thought I had…like…maybe the same qualities which make you my partner also exist in him...I mean, after all, he's your fiancée, right?”

 

“Right, but he's not my boyfriend. So…what are you saying? That this was all somehow fated to happen?”

 

“I don't know…that would imply predestination, and my mom would give me a whole earful about that. Big Sister One always said we make our own destiny, but when you have as many amazing coincidences in a row as this…you really start to wonder…”

 

“I hear what you're saying…so…what am I supposed to do? Your daughter and my fiancée?”

 

“Yeah…what are the odds, huh? And with a GUY no less…”

 

“I thought you said you didn't have any problem with guys?”

 

“I meant that with me…I mean, guys are all right, I suppose, but would you want your daughter partnering up with one? I mean, c'mon!”

 

Tenma sat upright, realizing that he had just overheard vital information that had to be reported at once to Big Gold, that Atros had somehow been purged of all control programs and was now bonded to a human…to a MAN no less, and none other than that cool guy who had the misfortune of being engaged to his bratty older sister. It was exactly for situations like this that he had been created, and reporting this information was vitally important to the cause…

 

Right…the cause…what cause? Exactly why was he supposed to report this? It would make his sister and Ken into immediate targets for elimination. That would certainly cripple both Troi and the traitor, Atros, denying them the services of their partners…so why didn't he feel good about that? What was he supposed to do with this information anyway? Transporting over to Gold's realm would be simple, in fact…childsplay…so why was he just sitting there thinking about it?

 

What exactly did he owe Gold anyway besides his own creation? And why did it matter that he report this right away? What was the hurry anyway, and what did it matter if it was to Gold's advantage to know or not? What would Tenma get out of the whole business other than a curt dismissal and to be devolved back into non-existence?

 

A moment of crisis had arrived, and the Tenma doppelganger had to think what course to take if he was to plan his way in this world full of humans. Taking Tenma's place had done something, created an obligation in him that went beyond any programmed instructions. A Saotome had to stand by his own, and for better or worse, he was a Saotome…

 

“Come here…I want to prove to you that I still think you're special, Sakura-chan.”

 

“Even in spite of all this?”

 

“Hey, you think I'd let a little thing like this come between the two of us? We're partners, right? Somehow we'll get through it all, right?”

 

“I…suppose…but I'm still pretty upset about it…”

 

“You and me both, but think what they must be going through right now. Your Ken can't have a single clue what's in store for him just yet, and Atros? Maybe she needs somebody even more than him. I just hope they don't expect us to double-date from now on, or anything like that…”

 

“Uh…yeah…heh…that would be kind of weird, huh…?”

 

“Weird…but in a nice kind of way, heh?”

 

“Yeah…nice…” and then a sound much softer, like two moist pairs of lips pressing together and creating suction.

 

“Ew—Gross!” Tenma winced, “Are they kissing in there? Wait until I tell Mom…ummm…maybe not…but they're gonna get in so much trouble doing that…”

 

The irony of his words were not entirely lost upon him, but little did he know that very soon he would be headed into a crisis far greater than the one he had just surmounted, for---contrary to his own beliefs and expectations on the matter---the REAL Tenma would very shortly be making an unexpected return appearance…

 

 

 

 

Continued

 

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