Iczer-one Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Earth Child ❯ Eve of the Twilight ( Chapter 33 )

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)

 

 

 

 

 

“How soon will they get here?”

 

“Difficult to say, Usagi-chan,” Ami replied, “It is no light matter to have our children drawn together from their respective high schools, and in the middle of the day no less. Might it not be more prudent to wait until classes are over?”

 

“No,” Usagi frowned, “I don't know why…but I get this really weird feeling that something majorly important is about to take place, and that the kids are somehow at the center of it all, which…if you take into account Rini's involvement, does kind of make sense after a fashion.”

 

“That true enough,” Makoto smirked, “In one way or another that little rugrat's been at the center of one crisis after another, and even if we can't call her `Small Lady' anymore, she still has a nose for getting herself and the rest of our kids into trouble.”

 

“Like mother, like daughter,” Minako beamed brightly.

 

“HEY!” Usagi rounded on her friends and faithful Senshi, “What is that supposed to mean?”

 

“Nevermind, Bunny-ears,” Rei half-smiled at her blonde sovereign, “The point is that we're about to get to the bottom of a mystery, and we're gonna get down to the truth if we have to drag it out of the little scamps the hard way.”

 

“I just want to know why Karma's been keeping secrets from us,” Haruka remarked, “She's never before been this reluctant to share with her parents.

 

“Yes,” Michiru agreed with her wife-slash-husband, “It is very disturbing to think that she would be this secretive over a personal matter…”

 

All at once the Senshi collectively felt a distinctive shimmer in the air, and as one they turned their heads in time to see the last two missing members of their senior group arrive, accompanied by at least some of their missing daughters.

 

“Are we in time?” asked the elegant and eternal Setsuna as she smiled warmly at Usagi and the others.

 

“We got the word and would have come sooner,” said the more demure Tomoe, “Only…we had to collect a few strays before we could put in an appearance.”

 

“Thanks guys,” Usagi turned and gave her best scowl as she eyed the younger set of their exclusive club of Senshi, “And as for you guys, what have you to say for yourselves, young ladies?”

 

“Um…what do you mean, Mom?” the pink-haired, teenaged Rini asked evasively as she took note of the fact that all of her aunts had been gathered in one place, “Um…is something up?”

 

“That's what we would like to know,” Haruka said sternly as she eyed her own daughter in particular, “Is there something you've been wanting to share with your mother and me, Karma-chan?”

 

“Ulp,” the willowy girl with the foam blue-green hair replied as she looked from one parent to the other.

 

“Er…what going on, Mom?” Reiko asked as she glanced at Makoto.

 

“Yeah, Mom…what's with the third degree?” Meiko echoed her twin, only she was glancing at Minako.

 

“I have the most peculiar feeling that the jig, as they say, is up for you guys,” remarked a stately young girl with purple hair as she glanced at her “cousins” and sensed immediately that they had been holding out on her about something very important, “Would you mind letting the rest of us in on the big secret that you've been keeping?”

 

“Um…what do you mean, Kiron-chan?” Rini asked of the daughter of Tomoe and Setsuna, “What makes you think we're hiding any big secrets?”

 

“Because I know you, Rini-chan,” Kiron replied, “And you always get this nervous when you're hiding something that's about to drag the rest of us into your web kicking and screaming.”

 

“At least one kid isn't hiding anything from us,” Rei remarked, then glanced around, “Hey…where's my daughter?”

 

“And mine,” Ami asked, “Couldn't you find them?”

 

“If you'll excuse the expression, there wasn't time enough to locate everybody,” Setsuna replied, “Yui and Yumi have---oddly enough---disappeared from their campus. I found one Yui already in class, but I don't know where her other half has gotten off to while the half that remains in class is looking a bit anxious.”

 

That is not all,” Tomoe added, “Several other of their closest friends and acquaintances are also mysteriously missing in the spaces around her. However, we did find your twin and husband were hiding close nearby in the bushes…along with a very peculiar girl who we spotted hiding in a nearby tree overlooking their classroom.”

 

“Another girl?” Rei blinked, “Did you find out who she was?”

 

“Not a Youma or denizen of the Dark Kingdom, if that is what you are thinking,” Setsuna replied, “But there was a feeling about her…an energy pulse or a life-force that strongly matches Yui's own signature. It is as if there were some kind of a link between then, but it would be difficult to say more without further investigation.”

 

“Uh…this girl,” Rini said nervously, “She wouldn't happen to be about yea tall, have pointed ears and cherry-pink hair just a shade or two darker than mine, would she?”

 

“That was her exactly,” Tomoe eyed the Princess with a disturbingly frank expression, “Do you know her?”

 

“Huh?” Rini winced, “Know her, no…of course not…never met her before in my life…”

 

“Ri-Ni,” Usagi pronounced archly, watching her pink-haired daughter wince at that motherly tone that she so much loathed and dreaded.

 

“I got a feeling this is going to take a while,” Makoto mused as she reached down and picked up a pair of glasses from a tray, “More tea, Usagi-chan?”

 

“Sure, thanks,” Usagi reached for the glass without looking where her hand was going and “accidentally” knocked its contents onto Makoto, which triggered the other woman's latent Jusenkyo curse, having the desired effect of making both Reiko and Meiko look increasingly nervous. “Oops,” Usagi said as she turned to see an altered Makoto standing beside her, “My mistake…sorry about that, Makoto-chan.”

 

“Don't mention it,” came a far gruffer voice than that of the beautiful Amazon that was normally Makoto. In her place stood a towering male figure who fairly bristled with testosterone for all the fact that he was a pretty nice guy, kind to his wife and daughters…when they did nothing to earn a place over his knee for a good spanking.

 

The collective gulps of the twins could be heard by everyone else in the chamber. Minako only smiled as she regarded her husband, then gave a look that would have done credit to a Cheshire at the two cowering teenagers to whom she had given birth and purred seductively, “Time to face the music, Babies…will you tell us what you've been doing lately that has you two looking to cover your soon-to-be-warmed bottoms?”

 

“We confess!” Meiko immediately broke.

 

“We didn't mean anyone any harm!” Reiko added, “It was Rini's idea, honest!”

 

“Oh great,” Rini winced, “Rat me out why don't you…?”

 

“Rini,” Usagi said patiently, “I'm waiting…or do I have to make a long-distance call to your father's cell-phone number?”

 

“Hey, we didn't do anything wrong!” Rini insisted, “It was Yui and Yumi who started all this!”

 

“The rest of us just came along after the fact,” Karma assured them, “Honest.”

 

“We'll see about that,” Rei looked ready to roll up her metaphorical sleeve as she growled to herself, “When I get my hands on that Yui…no, scratch that…maybe it's her father I should be spanking!”

 

“Do you think, perhaps, that he might enjoy that?” Ami mused before sighing, “I wish that I could say that I was surprised to learn of Yumi's involvement…but I'm not. Sad that…I blame it on myself for being such an absent mother…”

 

“Later guys,” Usagi said, “At the moment I think we have enough of a quorum here to start an official meeting. Everyone agree on that?”

 

There was a collective nodding of heads by her fellow Senshi, so Usagi nodded herself and said, “Right…then let's convene this in the council chamber. Right this way…”

 

With that the pony-tailed blonde woman crossed her modest apartment and walked right up to an ornamental set of crystal-framed doors and pushed her hands against two of the panels. With that the doors began to glow brightly, and then they opened inward…through the wall and into another avenue of Time and Space, revealing a chamber beyond that was far larger and more grand than the entire city block that it would have occupied had it existed in normal timespace.

 

Her Senshi and their children followed her into the cavernous chamber, which in many aspects resembled nothing less than an incredibly elaborate and massive throne chamber, complete with a raised dais upon which sat a pair of throne-sized chairs carved entirely of glistening white crystal. The entire palace it was a part of glowed with an unearthly silvery radiance, and beyond the portal-like windows one could see out onto the starry night of space with a lunar landscape visible in the distance.

 

As they entered the room the clothing of all of the women (and man, in Makoto's case) shimmered and altered as if automatically reverting from normal street clothes to the more elegant and refined attire befitting the Senshi. Usagi's gown became regal and elegant as befit a Queen more than a Princess, and a tiara-like crown set about her head as a pair of angelic wings appeared upon her back, further adding to the unearthly beauty that she radiantly manifested.

 

The scepter of the Moon and its counterpart dagger-like moon-wand appeared in either hand as Usagi mounted the steps leading to her throne without once tripping over the hem of her gown the entire way. She composed her wings as she sat down so that they hovered above her like a mantle while the rest of the Senshi assumed their places about the ornate room, Rei taking a spot several steps below the throne itself in the position of High Defender, her Armor of Mars giving her a fierce and warlike countenance that the normally poised Shrine maiden-turned-idol-singer did not normally manifest as all the Senshi---both inner and outer groups---turned the focus of their attention upon the Princess Rini and her equally unsettled cohorts.

 

“Now then,” Usagi said with a purr that would have done justice to a Lunar Cat, “Would you mind explaining from the beginning exactly how it is you your kids became involved in your latest adventures?”

 

Rini, Karma, Meiko and Reiko all collectively exchanged nervous looks with one another while the more sedate Kiron eyed her companions with a faint hint of amusement. The game was up and they all of them knew it, but…to confess what they had been doing for the past few days when it involved admitting to having SEX with other women…and alien C'thuwulf women no less?

 

When faced with such dire choices Rini did the only thing that she could think of to relieve tension in this crisis…she decided to put the blame squarely on Yui and Yumi. Let them bail themselves out for getting the rest of them into this mess...though even that was not going to spare them from---at the least---a good hard talking-to, and---at the worst---an indefinite grounding and suspension of their collective allowance…

 

“It's like this, Mom,” Rini began, “It all started for me when I got a call from Yumi saying that she and Yui were under attack by a monster and…well…when I got there I found them with this really odd alien girl by the name of Kano Rhea…and boy! Was that ever where things started to get weird…I mean…weirder than normal, if you get my meaning…”

 

Stony-eyed silence greeted her weak attempt at a joke, which reminded Rini a little too much of the old saying about the boy who had cried wolf once too often, only to be ignored when faced with an actual crisis. In this case the wolves were very real, but her entire collective history meant that the odds were stacked long against her anyway, so she had to get more creative if she was to bull her way through this one while retaining the ability to sit down without the use of a fluffy pillow…

 

 

 

 

Tenma gasped as he turned to see…Tenma? And Cologne was with him? Which meant that either the jig was up or someone had really screwed up in the effort to eliminate the original model when the doppelganger cloned him.

 

But still he could try bluffing his way out of this, all-too-aware that Taro Yuki was watching him with rounded eyes and a much-confused expression.

 

“Who are you?” the doppelganger demanded.

 

“Nice try, Creep!” Tenma sniffed while assuming a fighting crouch, “Now who are you and what are you doing here wearing my school uniform and taking my place on a field trip?”

 

“What do you think I'm doing, Baka,” the doppelganger replied, “I'm Tenma…”

 

“And I'm the King of Sweden,” Tenma snarled before launching an attack that the other Tenma had already seen coming.

 

“Oh my,” Cologne remarked as she watched one boy attack the other, seeing the other one react exactly as the real Tenma would, falling back and blocking a flying kick that had a lot of raw power behind it, the movements and control of both fighters almost identical down to the faintest nuance. After a moment of watching the two go at it she further remarked, “Now this will be interesting…they seem well-matched at the start, but I suspect it will not remain so for very long…”

 

“What do you mean?” Yuki asked as she came to stand beside the ancient Amazon and former matriarch of the Joketsuzoku, “What are they doing? And who is the other Tenma?”

 

“A good question on all counts,” Cologne remarked, “What say we watch and find out as events unfold, shall we?”

 

“But…what if one of them gets hurt?” Yuki asked.

 

“That has yet to be determined,” Cologne eyed the girl and was faintly amused to notice her obvious concern about the outcome. How interesting…and what it implied about the doppelganger…

 

The two Tenmas traded blows, kicks, punches, leaps, acrobatic rolls and other maneuvers with such perfect synchronization that they could almost have been performers doing an elaborately staged dance together. It did not take long, however, before Tenma's additional training came to the fore and he managed to surprise the doppelganger by using a maneuver that he had figured out for himself while sparring with Fiber.

 

“HAH!” Tenma crowed as the cable-divider that he had “borrowed” from the museum mountings whipped out from his hand to snare the other Tenma around one ankle, “How's that, you fake? Didn't see that one coming!”

 

The doppelganger realized that there was something different about the fighting style of his opponent from what he knew from the imprinting on his own neurological circuits. There was evidence of a more advanced refinement to certain of his techniques, which meant that the original Tenma had just received some pretty high-level training, which could work against the doppelganger if he continued to fight exactly as if he were the original Tenma. This was most undesirable as it meant that the doppelganger might lose, in which case he risked exposure of both himself and his mission with the attendant result that Big Gold would then be at liberty to have him eliminated…to say nothing of the rest of his family, just to be completely thorough about it.

 

Moreover…the thought of being exposed like this before Yuki was another factor that played heavily with his desire not to lose this battle. His growing fondness for the human girl had shown him that being Tenma could mean more than just some simple military assignment. He found he very much liked her friendship and could not endure the thought of her inevitable rejection when she learned that he was not truly human. He also did not want to look bad to her at all, and in this he proved to be remarkably like Tenma, who also hated to lose even when the opponent was as skilled as the real Tenma.

 

Fortunately, as a Bioroid, he had greater than normal human strength and resilience, and all he had to do was ratchet down the restraints holding him back from his greater threshold, and so when he caught himself with both hands he had enough force to surprise the other Tenma by pushing himself into a vault with both feet aimed at Tenma's chest, striking with just enough force to send the other boy flying.

 

“Tenma!” Yuki called out, then glanced from one to the other and said, “Ten-chan…?”

 

The doppelganger froze as he turned to look at his girlfriend, hoping he had not just inadvertently exposed himself with that feat of strength, which surely was beyond the means of the real Tenma to duplicate…

 

“GOTCHA!” the real Tenma called out as his own feet connected soundly with the jaw of his counterpart, knocking the doppelganger for a loop as he had not expected a mere human to recover so swiftly.

 

“Now this is getting interesting,” Cologne mused, “And the differences in their respective styles and techniques are telling…”

 

“What do you mean, Baba?” Yuki asked in growing confusion, “Which one of them is Ten-chan?”

 

“That is about to be determined, child,” Cologne nodded, “Have a look.”

 

“Now you're gonna tell me who you are and who sent you!” one Tenma declared as he stood vengefully above the fallen body of the other.

 

“No way!” the Doppelganger looked up at him with defiance, “You stupid jerk, do you know what will happen if I lose?”

 

“Why don't we find out then?” Tenma asked as his fist started to rocket forward, only to get intercepted by the hand of the other.

 

The doppelganger's eyes blazed as he reacted instinctively to the situation, and all at once they two of them---plus their nearby observers---were drawn into subspace, the museum itself going awash in sepia-like colors. The doppelganger then kicked up and dislodged Tenma's grip on him so that he could flip back up to his feet and more properly confront him.

 

“Now we're fighting on my turf, Baka!” the Doppelganger declared.

 

To his surprise the real Tenma just smiled, “Bad move, Sucker…”

 

“Oh my,” Cologne remarked, sensing that something very momentous was about to happen…

 

 

 

 

`Well, any luck?”

 

“No…not yet that is,” Yui replied, concentrating her mind upon the sacred fire that burned brightly at her mother's Shrine, “I am getting a vague sense of Muku, but no definite impressions yet, other than the fact that she's not feeling too happy…”

 

“Huh, I could have told you that myself,” Yumi remarked as she continued to tap away at her portable pocket-console, “Figures Muku'd pick a great time like this to be having a nervous breakdown over her relationship problems…”

 

“Yes, I wonder why that is?” Yui mused, her sarcasm so palpable that Yumi turned around and glared at her friend's profile.

 

“And what is that supposed to mean?” she asked.

 

“I should think it was pretty obvious,” Yui replied, “You were the one who was pestering her for the details of her alleged relations with Rhea-san. I'm not at all surprised that Muku finally got fed up with your insinuations and decided to have it out with her so-called girlfriend.”

 

“What do you mean my insinuations?” Yumi asked.

 

“Don't be dense, Super-brain,” Yui said levelly, “You know damned well what I'm talking about. You were all but hitting her over the head with the fact that she's in love with another girl but it just too clueless to see the obvious implications. Of course that Rhea's been all but stalking her since the very beginning, so it's not too surprising if Muku-chan's been starting to feel a little pressured…”

 

Yumi paused to think about it then said, “You really think I've been pushing her a little too hard?”

 

“Does the word `Bingo' mean anything to you, Motor-mouth---hello! What have we here,” Yui sharpened her focus, her hands steepled together as she concentrated into the fire and said, “I've got it…I've got a definite reading this time…it's Muku-chan…and she's standing at a park somewhere…and she's not alone either…”

 

“Right,” Yumi started to type furiously on her data-pad, then tapped her head visor and said, “Got her location…she's about five-point-six kilometers from here, about an hours walk unless we teleport to her position. Uh…you said she wasn't alone? Who else is with her?”

 

Yui's eyes narrowed a bit as she said, “Sakura…no sign of Troi…but I'm definitely picking up an image of that Atros character. I wonder if Ken is anywhere about on this? Wouldn't be like him to hang back, he's an even nosier pest than you are.”

 

“Well, I like that,” Yumi sniffed, “Just because you guys are my best friends and I'm concerned about all three of you having relations with these Iczers…um…speaking of which…what about your other half?”

 

“She's back in class, which is where we ought to be if we had any sense about the matter,” Yui replied, “Good thing she'll be able to take notes for the both of us. I'm in enough hot water with my parents as it is to have to worry about my already shoddy attendance record…”

 

“It wouldn't be so bad if you'd just use that Geopositioning locator pen, like I gave you for your last birthday,” Yumi replied, “Honestly, you Hibiki like to act as if you're fine about having no sense of directions. How do you expect to get to Muku if you can't even find your way out of a closet?”

 

“I'd be just fine if you wouldn't be such a---AHH!” Yui all but jumped out of her full lotus posture, the definite sense of someone wrapping their arms around her making her flinch, even though there was no one in the room to actually do the assaulting.

 

“What's wrong?” Yumi reacted with a start at seeing her friend's unexpected outburst.

 

“She's back!” Yui declared with a wild look of panic, “Don't ask me how, but that Pink-haired maniac has gotten loose…and she's with my sister! I can feel her hands all over me…!”

 

“She's loose?” Yumi blinked, “You mean…that Nova maniac?”

 

“Who else?” Yui jumped to her feet, “You've got to go find Muku, I gotta go help my twin! If she hauls me off into that giant Robo-mecha of hers again…”

 

“Gotcha,” Yumi put away her console and stowed her visor back into the ether from whence it had been drawn, “I'll teleport to where Muku is, but you'd better watch your back…that Nova's a pretty hot number, and if she's as stuck on you as you were telling me before…”

 

Both junior Senshi transformed into their Sailor incarnations, then teleported to their respective goals, the one to find their wayward friend, the other to head of a potential kidnapping…

 

 

 

 

Several moments earlier…

 

 

“Good,” Rei remarked, “It's PE time. Now's our chance to go get Yui-chan and hall her butt over to the meeting.”

 

“Are you sure it's necessary?” Ryoga asked, “We may be making a mountain out of a molehill here. We don't actually know that she and her friends are involved in anything…illicit.”

 

“And we won't know if we stand around here and debate it all day,” Rei countered, “Now just follow my lead and we'll do this nice and casual like so we won't draw anyone's suspicions…”

 

“Um…” Ryoga blinked as his eyes traveled up into the air as he spotted something moving about at treetop level, “Dear…are you seeing what I'm seeing up there?”

 

Rei blinked as a red-and-black armored form drifted over the soccer field, trailing a mane of cherry-red hair as she hovered above the young girls in the field like a bird of prey about to swoop down on an unsuspecting mouse, at which the Shinto Shrine Maiden-turned housewife and Idol singer reacted, “Who the hell is that? Peter Pan?”

 

“I don't know,” Ryoga stared at the flying girl, then saw the direction in which she was headed and cried out, “She's after Yui-chan!”

 

“She must be an enemy,” Rei growled, rolling up her sleeve as she muttered, “Well, not with my kid she doesn't! I had enough of Youma doing that to us in the old days…”

 

Unaware of all this and wholly unsuspecting, Yui was trotting out onto the field in her soccer shorts to take her place with her fellow classmates, her mind far away from thoughts of possible danger as she could not quite keep the image of Muku's upset visage from looming up on her, and she had no sense of menace as she fretted about what her twin would be doing at that particular moment, and thus she did not see the hovering Nova looming up over her until the latter girl was fully upon her.

 

“That Muku…baka,” she murmured softly, wondering where her beloved friend had gotten off to, and wondering if Yui should cheer her on in telling that Rhea off, or to weep for her as she could sense how painful would be the moment of their altercation, “If only I wasn't such a baka myself…”

 

All at once Nova was there, arms going around behind her back and a familiar voice murmuring in her ear, “I don't mind if you're a baka…in fact, I think it sounds kind of sexy.”

 

“W-What???” Yui blinked as she felt strong hands fondle her breasts and loins from beneath her bra and panties, Nova's hands slipping in to insert two fingers up and down her sex before she had time enough to fully know that the Bioroid was upon her.

 

“I'm sorry it took me this long to get close to you,” Nova murmured as she cuddled Yui and nuzzled her cheek against her hair, “It was so mean of them to keep us apart, but now you're mine, all mine, and I won't let them have you…”

 

“YOU???” Yui all but screeched, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? GET OFF OF ME---HEY!!! DON'T DO THAT!!!”

 

“But I've missed you so much, Yui-chan,” Nova cooed, giving one breast a sensuous rub-down as she removed the bra to get at her nipple, “And see? You're so wet for me! I just know you've been missing me too…”

 

“I HAVE NOT!” Yui protested wildly, seeing all of her fellow students on the soccer field turn to look her way with incredulous expressions.

 

Coach Noriko blew her whistle and said, “Hey, you too! If you're going to do that, take it to the showers!”

 

“But I---!” Yui started to protest.

 

And then---as if this were not bad enough---another voice snapped out, “Just what the heck are you doing with my daughter?”

 

“Oh Kami,” Yui winced, not needing to turn around to identify that voice as belonging to her mother.

 

“Hmmm?” Nova asked as she turned them both about in order to identify the speakers, “And who's asking?”

 

“I'm her mother!” a transformed Rei declared in haughty tones, “And I'll ask you again, what are you doing with my daughter?”

 

“Uh…Mom…Dad?” Yui fairly wilted, knowing how incriminating it looked to have the other girl fondling her in such a public fashion.

 

“Yui-chan?” her father looked stunned, “What…what's going on here? Who is this…?”

 

Before Yui could answer that Nova spoke up and said, “I'm Yui-chan's partner, my name is Kano Nova, but you can call me Daughter.”

 

“Daughter?” both Rei and Ryoga asked in chorus.

 

“N-No!” Yui protested, “It isn't like that! Really---!”

 

“Oh, Yui-chan,” Nova said affectionately, keeping a firm grip on the other girl in spite of Yui's frantic attempts to free herself from her powerful embrace, “There's no reason for you to be shy about us. I know it must be awkward having to explain this to your parents, but you've already met my parents, so there's no reason why we should have to deny out love in front of others…”

 

“Love?” Rei reacted with a look of fire fairly boiling behind her beautiful expression.

 

“Yui-chan…is this true?” Ryoga asked.

 

“Dad!” Yui cried out desperately, “That's not how it…”

 

“I have a confession to make,” Nova said, surprising Yui by letting her go and standing all by herself with her head downcast, her posture prim and proper, “I'm the one who kidnapped your daughter the other day. It was wrong, and I know it, and I'm sorry if it inconvenienced you and caused you to worry, but…but I just couldn't help myself! I love her so much, and I never want us to be parted.”

 

“N-Nani?” Yui blinked, unprepared for this mercurial change in mood and behavior.

 

“You kidnapped our daughter?” Rei all but stabbed a finger at the pink-haired girl.

 

“Please don't be mad at me, Mother-in-law,” Nova pleaded, “I did it for honorable reasons…”

 

“Honorable…?” Yui fairly sputtered.

 

“Omigawd!” Ryoga reacted, “Kami-sama! Our daughter's been corrupted and taken to San Francisco, not to mention Moogie Street in Singapore…!”

 

“Dad!” Yui declared in dismay.

 

“Um…well…” Nova rubbed the back of her head and made a slightly off-key chuckle that sounded suspiciously like the laugh of a nervous Hibiki, “Actually, Father-in-law…we've been to San Francisco, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Soho, the French Riviera, Westchester…”

 

“You took her to see all those places?” Rei sounded more dismayed than angry.

 

“Ah…well…” Nova smiled lopsidedly, “It was…kind of involuntary…you see…we kind of lost our way somehow and…”

 

“Don't listen to her!” another Yui angrily declared, this time garbed in the robes of Sailor Deimos, “She's a kidnapper and a liar!”

 

“Huh?” Nova blinked as she turned to regard the new arrival, then glanced back at Yui and said, “Whoah…Yui's in stereo?”

 

“Get away from her, you Witch!” the Senshi-clad Yui declared as she assumed a place between Nova and the other Yui, “You've got a lot of nerve showing up here after what you pulled the other day…”

 

“What are you saying?” the fuku-clan Rei asked of her fuku-clad daughter.

 

“I'm saying that you can't trust her any farther than you can throw that giant robot of hers,” Sailor Deimos declared as she turned an angry glare upon the Bioroid, “You were working for the enemy up until just yesterday…”

 

“You're right,” Nova replied, “I was working for Big Gold…but I've changed, honestly! I'm not the same Bioroid that you knew when I kidnapped you.”

 

“The hell you aren't!” the soccer-clad Yui insisted, “You didn't just kidnap me and take me into that Mecha, you ravished me and had your way with me and everything…!”

 

“What?” Rei and Ryoga said together.

 

“Ah…” both Yuis turned identical nervous glances and regarded their parents with some trepidation, as if only just then realizing what they were confessing to within earshot of their fellow schoolmates.

 

“Two Yuis,” Nova stared at one then at the other, “Hey…y'know…I kinda like that costume…it's so retro-Nineties it's almost fashionable…did you make it in Subspace? It almost looks like it's not really there…like it's kind of an illusion…”

 

“You can tell?” Rei asked with a slightly disconcerted expression.

 

“Yeah, and I can see you've got the same kind of costume, Mom-in-law,” Nova stroked her chin, “No question you're related…same good looks and everything, only you don't look much older than us. Must be good genetics or something…”

 

“Ah…well…” Rei allowed with a somewhat disconcerted expression.

 

“But you know something else?” Nova smiled as she reached out and hugged both versions of Yui to her body, “It doesn't matter to me what you look like, Yui-chan…and if there's more than one of you, then that means there's twice the loving for you both!”

 

“HEY!!!” both Yui's chorused together, only to turn with mutually dismayed looks as their father loomed over them, his expression stern and commanding.

 

“Yui-chan…tell us the truth,” he said somberly, “Have you had relations with this girl behind your mother's back, to say nothing of mine?”

 

“Uh…Dad…” Sailor Deimos timidly began.

 

“…It wasn't like we wanted to…” Yui hesitantly continued.

 

All at once their father broke down into tears and hugged the both of them, catching Nova up in the circle of his embrace, “My babies are all grown up and having sex! I can't believe it…you were just a little girl the other day…and now you're all mature and carrying on just like your aunts…!”

 

“DAD!!!” Sailor Deimos and Yui cried together.

 

“Wow,” Nova remarked, not at all minding being pressed up in a sandwich between two versions of Yui, “Emotional tough guy…”

 

“You have no idea,” Yui remarked with a deadpanned expression.

 

“He always gets worked up like this,” Sailor Deimos noted in a conspiratorial manner, “He's almost as bad as uncle Tendo…”

 

“I'm still waiting to hear an explanation about how you and this girl became such a close item, Yui-chan,” Rei somberly noted.

 

Before either Yui could say a word about this, Coach Noriko spoke up and said, “Do you people mind? You're disrupting my class! If you're going to have a family discussion, then take it somewhere else!”

 

“Uh…sorry about that,” Ryoga straightened up and assumed a contrite expression, “We didn't mean to put on any spectacles here…I'm sure you understand…family business and all that?”

 

“Right,” Rei frowned, “I guess we can put off the explanation for now. It's time to get back to Usagi's place anyway, we have a meeting to conduct, and I'm pretty sure that this girl here can give us a few clues about what's been going on with the other children.”

 

“Ahhh….” both Yuis automatically chorused.

 

“Oh, you want to know what's been going on?” Nova replied, “Sure, I'd be happy to tell you everything I know, in fact---MMMPPPH?!?” she gasped as both Yuis slapped their hands over her mouth in tandem.

 

“I guess that tells us what we need to know,” Ryoga grimly noted.

 

“No question about it,” Rei said, pulling out her Henshin pen, “Prepare for Sailor Teleport, next stop, the Crystal Palace.”

 

“Oh, we're going somewhere?” Nova asked as soon as the two Yuis removed their hands from her mouth, “Neat!”

 

“You may not think that when you meet our Aunt Usagi,” Sailor Deimos warned.

 

“In fact, you'll probably be getting more than you bargained on,” Yui ably predicted.

 

“Hey, no problem for me,” Nova shrugged, “I've got no where else to go, and where you go, there I go, Yui-chan…chans? Heh, I like to travel, just as long as it's with you.”

 

Both Yuis turned and looked at her with mutually dubious expressions even as they vanished from the field, a halo of light drawing them all to a very different location…

 

 

 

 

“Okay,” Sakura took a deep breath to steady her nerves, “There's no turning back now…so…here goes nothing…”

 

She moved out of concealment and slowly approached the girl who was leaning against a rail overlooking a major waterway, then paused when she was a few meters away and composed herself rather shyly, “Um…hi?”

 

Muku reacted like her namesake, startled into turning around and seeing Sakura standing there with an almost-friendly expression.

 

“Sakura-chan?” she gasped, “But…how…?”

 

“Would you believe dumb luck?” Sakura lied, “Er…you know, we're all out looking for you. The way you and Rhea-san took off…it…made us all a little bit worried…”

 

“Oh…I'm sorry about that,” Muku sagged, glancing down as she said, “I…kind of had a lot on my mind…”

 

“Yeah, I guess,” Sakura paused before adding, “This business with the C'thuwulf…it's got us all a little bit rattled…”

 

Muku's shoulders sagged even more, “I'm sorry about that…it's all my fault, you getting dragged into this…”

 

“I wouldn't say that,” Sakura replied, “Oh, I know it was a bit much to begin with…but after a while you come to realized that…none of us here were meant to live ordinary lives, Muku-chan. Doesn't matter what we do…we'll never be ordinary.”

 

“But…” Muku began.

 

“You know…I can't even remember when I started having these feelings about you,” Sakura blurted out, knowing that she had to get right to the heart of the matter before Muku went into a Hibiki-like depression, “We've been friends and rivals nearly all of our lives…every time we spar, it's been you that I've most wanted to impress…and tell me that you don't measure yourself against my abilities. We're always been pretty much near equal…”

 

“I guess,” Muku softly conceded, unsure where this was leading.

 

“You're almost like a sister to me,” Sakura continued, “But…what I feel for you isn't what I'd feel for a sister. You're…like a part of me deep down…the better half of what I've always wanted to be. I know I'm pretty rough around the edges, and some people think I'm almost a boy the way I act around the other boys in our school, and whenever they point to me and Ken and talk about our engagement…I've always felt a little funny about that. I never knew why…but for a time I started to think that maybe it was because it was you that I wanted to spend my time with, using any excuse I could find, either in challenge matches or by training with you under my Pop.”

 

“Sakura-chan?” Muku asked with a look of wonder.

 

“You don't know what it's like just being near you some days,” Sakura turned a surprisingly frank look her way, her blue eyes as level and open as Muku could ever remember, “So near to you and yet like you're a hundred kilometers away. I've never had the guts to tell you this because I knew you'd think it was weird and maybe you'd reject me and I'd be all hurt about that…and I didn't want to be rejected. I don't know how to say this…but you scare the hell out of me some days…”

 

“Nani?” Muku blinked.

 

“The way you look, talk, act and even smell…” Sakura glanced away, “You're just so…feminine…I don't know what I mean…but whatever it is you've got, I definitely want it…want it so bad that I'd risk almost anything just to be beside you.”

 

Muku could only stare and looked stunned at that declaration, not knowing what to do or say in the face of such honesty, such intensity of feeling. She was numb, unable to form a coherent thought as she studied the other girl intensely, as if she had never truly seen Sakura before…or this side of her…a side that was both aching and vulnerable, not at all the cock-sure, brash and confident spatula-wielding tomboy who never seemed to need or want for anything.

 

Sakura sighed and said, “But it wasn't until Troi came into my life that I finally understood what it was that I wanted from you. It used to drive me crazy trying to figure out why you could do this to me, and what I…I wanted to share with you…I just couldn't accept what it might mean about me, that I was weird and…unnatural…that I got mixed up values on account of who and what my parents are…I mean…my Pop turns into a girl for Kami's sakes! How much weirder can you get?”

 

“Ah…Aunt Makoto?” Muku answered.

 

“Heh…good point,” Sakura chuckled, “Reiko and Meiko got the opposite deal, only with them it's like they got a part-time father and two mothers, all because she got a Jusenkyo curse trying to help Yui's mother cure her father of his Pig-curse.”

 

“And instead she fell into the spring of drowned twins,” Muku smiled as she still found the story to be quite humorous, even though she knew that Yui lived every day of her life with the consequences, having somehow inherited the same Twin curse, “So…maybe it's a little bit weird, your dad and all that, but I still think he's pretty cool and…and…so are you.”

 

“Even though I don't turn into a guy?” Sakura arched an eyebrow, then sobered again, “Muku-chan…I can't help the way I feel about you. I'm not a lesbian…at least…I don't think I am…even if Troi and me…well…that's…kind of complicated…”

 

“Uh…yeah…you and Troi…” Muku hesitated, “Um…how is it? I mean…what's it like? Ah…you know…?”

 

“You mean making out with another girl?” Sakura replied, “Actually…it's not bad at all…nothing like I would have ever imagined. Troi's…well…she's special, all right?”

 

“Special…how?” Muku wondered.

 

“Ah…well…” Sakura rubbed the back of her head, “That's…kind of hard to explain. I mean…could you describe what an okonomiyaki tastes like before you try it?”

 

“Oh,” Muku said, hesitating before she added, “But…you like it?”

 

Sakura nodded, “Oh yeah…actually, I like it a whole lot. You don't know what it feels like having another girl in your arms…it's like making love to yourself, only the other person becomes like the focus of all your attention…”

 

“You make it sound like a kata,” Muku wondered.

 

“Hey, maybe it'd be more like comparing it to a dance,” Sakura shrugged, “Or maybe like when your parents skate together. You ever see how they look at each other?”

 

“Oh…yeah…” Muku colored, remembering quite vividly how her parents could turn a skating match into a visual opera.

 

“I'd…” Sakura hesitated, drew a deep breath, then plunged on ahead, “I'd love to go skating with you like that…I think that's why I like sparring with you so much…you make me try harder than I'd ever known I could do…but I don't…don't…don't really want to fight with you. In fact…”

 

Just then another voice sharply butted in, “There you are! We've been looking all over for you, and it figures Sakura would get here before me.”

 

“Yumi-chan?” Muku gasped as she saw her Senshi-clad friend in her alternate identity as Sailor Hermes.

 

Sakura just sighed, “What do you want, Yumi?”

 

“I want to know why Clueless here went storming off like she did, dragging Rhea with her like she was going to the teacher's office or something,” Yumi replied, giving Muku an angry look, “What did you say to her anyway? And where the heck is she?”

 

“Ah…” Muku winced with an incriminating expression of guilt written across her face.

 

“She told her to leave,” Sakura replied, “Which is what you ought to do, Nosy,” she added with a particularly arched expression.

 

“You---WHAT???” Yumi whirled back on Muku, “What did you say?”

 

“I…” Muku's shoulders slumped again, “I told her to get lost…I got angry…and I said some things…I didn't really mean…”

 

Yumi just stood there for a moment then asked, “Why?”

 

“Because…” Muku hesitated.

 

“Because she was feeling trapped into a relationship that she neither asked for nor intended to have,” Sakura said tiredly, “What did you think was going to happen?”

 

“And you overheard her say this?” Yumi turned an accusatory look towards the other girl present.

 

That put Sakura on the spot, and for a moment the okonomiyaki chef just floundered looking for a diplomatic way to explaining just how she could have been overhearing what was nominally a private conversation.

 

Fortunately for her, Muku spared her the trouble by saying, “I guess I was feeling a little trapped…I mean…this is all so weird for me. I never thought about having a relationship with another girl…I mean…honestly, that's not what I thought my whole life would be about. I wasn't even worried about dating guys, at least not for a couple more years. I have enough trouble just keeping up on my studies, and it's not like I go out of my way to encourage these guys to go chasing after me, especially Kuno Godai…”

 

“Let me get this straight,” Yumi said without a trace of irony in her voice, “You got upset with your Bioroid girlfriend because you don't want to be called a lesbian…is that it?”

 

“Ah…well…” Muku hastily back-pedaled, “I've got nothing against lesbians…I mean…some of our best aunts are gay, right? I mean, there's Aunt Michiru, Haruka, Makoto, Minako…”

 

“Would it surprise you to learn that at least three of them aren't really gay?” Yumi asked, “Aunt Haruka…okay, we all know she's butch, and we love her just the way she is, but Aunt Michiru used to date guys before she settled on Aunt Haruka. Aunt Makoto and Minako used to chase boys like it was a national sport or something…they were close friends, just like us, when Makoto fell into that spring that turns her into a guy at least part of the time! Hell, even my own mother has had her flings with other girls, and I won't even go into the verbal fencing Aunt Usagi and Aunt Rei get into. And why do you think it is that mom never mentions who my real dad is, huh?”

 

“Huh?” both Sakura and Muku chorused together.

 

“Yeah…that's right,” Yumi snorted, “Everybody thinks Uncle Urawa is my real dad, but I've had my suspicions for a long, long time about that. I mean…if it was mom's old boyfriend who got her pregnant with me, then why doesn't she ever admit it, even to me? I've got a right to know, but she just says that it was someone very close to her, and I think I know who she means, and it wasn't Uncle Mamoru either.”

 

“But then…who…?” Muku blinked.

 

“You think your real dad is Aunt Makoto?” Sakura asked.

 

“Bingo,” Yumi replied, “And if that's the case, then that means that the twins are really my half-sibs…but you see what I mean? I've got more reason than the both of you combined to think it's cool to be real tight with your girlfriends.”

 

“O-kay,” Sakura said after absorbing and reflecting on this for a moment, “So you're more cool with what these C'thuwulf represent than the rest of us. That explains your little fishing expedition the last three times you've been there.”

 

“Fishing expedition?” Muku arched an eyebrow.

 

“Sure,” Yumi grinned, “I've bagged Salmon, Catfish and Trout.”

 

“Budum-ching,” Sakura deadpanned, “So…getting back to the subject of what a mess you made going off on Rhea the way you did…”

 

“Ulp,” Muku winced, “Give me a break…I mean…I don't want to be tied down with a relationship before I've even graduated from high school! I know I should have put it differently…and it was wrong of me to…hurt her feelings the way I did, but…”

 

“But what?” Sakura asked, “You think it's unfair that you and me both got stuck being partnered with an Iczer? I got news for you…it sucks and there's no denying it. We've been drafted into a war that we never even knew was going on, but it wasn't the C'thuwulf who brought it here, it was their enemy who brought their war here, an enemy who they thought was long defeated.”

 

“Yeah, so they made a mistake about that,” Yumi frowned, “It happens, like with some of the enemies my parents made between now and that Silver Millennium they like to go on about. But you know what? I'm glad they're here…I'm glad to have someone like the C'thuwulf on our side, and I'm really glad that somebody like Rhea cares enough about us to stick her neck out for you---what? Four or five times now? And you know she's gotten pretty badly beat up just protecting your hide, Senzenen, so…what exactly did you say to her to make her leave you alone?”

 

“Ah…” Muku could not meet the expressions of her two friends and so looked away before saying, “I…told her to leave me alone…that I…I wasn't like her…wasn't like that…”

 

“Like…what? Like a lesbian?” Yumi asked, then frowned as she added, “Are you really sure about that? Can you prove it?”

 

“Prove it?” Muku blinked, “But…”

 

“Prove to me that you're not gay,” Yumi insisted, “Can you do that? If you can, then I'll shut up and won't say anything more on the subject.”

 

“That would be a first,” Sakura murmured.

 

“But…I can't prove a thing like that!” Muku declared with a wild gesticulation, “How the hell am I supposed to show you that…well…that I…ah…well…”

 

“Then answer me a question if you can, Muku-chan,” Sakura replied, “Has there ever been any guy in our school that has turned you on? Any boy at all…anyone in our class or one of the others?”

 

“Uh…huh?” Muku blinked.

 

“I'll put it to you another way, Senzenen,” Yumi looked at her directly, “Has anyone male---other than your dad---ever done anything for you? Have you ever watched some guy and asked yourself if he was cute or single? Have you ever watched a sporting event and thought a guy had a nice set of glutes, or maybe a teacher has a really nice smile? What about uncle Ranma? Does looking at him when he's a guy ever make you wish he was single and our age?”

 

“Ah…no…” Muku answered in a very tiny voice, wracking her memories as she tried to think of all the boys she knew, and she could not come up with a single example of anyone male who she found sexy, not even her own father…

 

“So…what about the girls?” Yumi asked, “Or is that a blank area for you too?”

 

Muku was starting to wonder about that herself, and now that she thought about it, she had always admired Sakura's ability to look both rugged and feminine in one and the same breath, Yui's stoical demeanor, how she could seem so beautiful and so lost at one and the same instant. Rini, Perm, the twins, even Yumi…all of them were her friends and people to whom she felt truly close on the most intimate level that fellow warriors could enjoy. She thought briefly of Ken but dismissed him out of hand, a nice guy but a bit too much of a manipulator, and he was Sakura's boyfriend anyway, not really available even if she thought he had anything that could interest her. In truth she could only think of how pretty the women in her life could be, even Sakura's mother seemed more interesting than her father's natural form…his cursed form, on the other hand…

 

Muku recoiled from the discovery that she was actually admiring Sakura's father as a woman! She had always thought the fiery redhead was like some wild, untamed flower, but she was her sensei, for Kami's sake! And then she thought about her mother…

 

“Kami-sama…” Muku breathed, recoiling as if she had been struck in the face with a disturbing revelation.

 

“You see?” Yumi asked, “Not all rumors about you are completely without foundation.”

 

“Rumors?” Muku blinked, “What rumors?”

 

“The same rumors that peg the both of us as a couple of Lesbos,” Sakura winced slightly, “Only in my case I know that I find some guys…kind of attractive…but I've never felt for any of them what I feel when I'm around Troi…or you.”

 

“Ah…” Muku said, still trying to make sense of what was becoming an undeniable realization.

 

“So…has anyone ever flipped your switch or made you feel glad to be a woman?” Yumi asked, “Have you ever felt attracted to anyone at all?”

 

“Y-Yes…” Muku said in a very tiny voice, glancing down at the flowing canal water.

 

“Then…who?” Sakura asked with a note of genuine hesitation.

 

“With…Rhea,” Muku managed to get out through a tightened voice, “Last night…in my room…we…we almost…”

 

“You almost gave my sister everything that she has been wanting from you since the beginning.”

 

Muku was not the only one to turn with a surprised gasp, seeing Atros hovering there in the air above the canal water only a few meters away, as if she had been there all along without their seeing.

 

“You know?” Muku wondered.

 

“I knew all along that Rhea was making progress with you,” Atros said, “Since the moment I awoke to find myself a changed Bioroid, I knew that your bond with Rhea was strong…stronger than any bond short of that which exists between her parents. I was an accident, created when my parents were briefly partnered together, and yet a bond exists between them too, just as one exists between you and Sakura here. I know that my mother suffered much when my…human mother sought to sever relations with her…with all the C'thuwulf…for reasons very much like what you were feeling today.”

 

“You mean…Troi…?” Sakura asked.

 

“She lives with that rejection fresh within her memories,” Atros said, “As my memories are at least partially patterned after hers, I know what she knew back then…just as I understand what motivated you to say the things you did to my sister. But…consider this well before you express how trapped and limited you have been feeling since becoming Rhea's partner…if you are an unwilling conscript, think about what it feels like to be an Iczer.”

 

“You mean…because you guys don't have any choice about who becomes your partner?” Yumi asked.

 

“Exactly,” Atros replied, “We may look like you, we even share much the same internal construction as you…but we are not like you in one very important matter. We were born to be weapons, we are warriors by birth, not choice. Our genetic design makes us living transducers who convert life energy into raw power…and the power of the spirit, will and emotion is the fuel that gives us life. Cut us off from the source of that power…and we die.”

 

Muku looked up sharply at the Iczer, “Die?”

 

“We die a little without the love of our partners,” Atros explained, “We die in fact when we run out of our own internal supply of life energy. Combined with a partner in full synchronization we are an unstoppable force, but deprived of that cohesion…we wither on the vine. It happened once before with my Aunt One when she lost her original partner…a part of her died on the homeworld…and only came alive again when she bonded with Nagisa.”

 

Muku had a moment of sudden clarity in which her memories revived, her vision of a previous life and how Iczer One had gained and lost her original partner…killed because her people had accidentally awakened a ghost from their long-ago past…and that evil had awakened to nearly destroy them all. Big Gold was nothing more than the echo of a long dead race whose hate had extended far beyond the grave, and against the evil she represented there stood only a handful of Iczers, each of them entirely dependent upon their partners.

 

“Kami-sama…goddess…what have I done?” Muku asked, trembling all over as the words she had thoughtlessly hurled against the innocent and guiltless Rhea…and all because she was blaming everything on her…holding Rhea responsible for the crimes committed against her own people! And the hurt in Rhea's eyes…the feeling when she withdrew from Muku's presence, as if a part of Muku's own soul were being torn from her body…

 

“I would say that you have some fence mending to do, as my mother might put it,” Atros noted, “The war is about to hit a new fever pitch, and there will be no one spared if Big Gold and her legions prevail. You are one very crucial part of our defenses…and now I am another part of that same defense. I do not know if Ken-san and I are truly suited for each other, but we have synchronized, and thus we have no choice but to stand as one. I am sorry if that hurt you in any way, Saotome-san…but I must borrow your…fiancée…even as you must link with my mother.”

 

“I…think I understand,” Sakura said, “And I don't hate you for it…even if I do wish you'd picked someone else. It really screws up things something awful if he winds up marrying you and breaking our engagement.”

 

“I know,” Atros faintly smiled, “Somehow I must make it up to you sometime…I don't know how, but if we survive…”

 

“Right,” Sakura said, “Just one thing…if we do live, then you'll be the one who has to explain things to my parents and Ken's grandfather.”

 

“That will be…as it must be,” Atros faintly nodded.

 

“Don't be so quick to volunteer for this,” Yumi cautioned, “You haven't met Ken's mother.”

 

“Right,” Sakura half-smiled, “Which means you'll have Aunt Nabiki for your mother-in-law, and I wish you luck on that.”

 

“I…I have to go,” Muku said, “I've got to find Rhea…I've got to make her listen…I…I'm sorry about what I said…”

 

“I believe you,” Atros folded her arms, “But I'm not the one you'll have to convince. If you do find my sister, then you have to show her that you really mean it.”

 

“But…how…?” Muku wondered.

 

“Just be yourself,” Yumi shrugged, “Clueless or not, you're honest and real enough that people believe in you, even it it's only because they know you don't have enough imagination to fake it.”

 

“Uh…right, I think,” Muku faintly murmured.

 

“Just one thing,” Sakura said, eyeing Muku with a peculiar expression, “If you have any doubts about your sexuality…then let's just conduct one test to make sure you really are into this.”

 

“Test?” Muku turned to ask her friend what she meant by that, only to find herself being drawn into the arms of her longtime rival and best friend, and before she could ask what was about she found their lips pressed together, and then she was kissing Sakura, and after a moment of surprise she started to respond to the other girl's very gentle-yet-passionate persuasion.

 

When at last their mouths parted she found herself looking Sakura directly in the eye, the wonder of it all making her head spin as she had never once considered Sakura in this peculiar angle before, and once again it was like looking for the first time into the eyes of a stranger.

 

“Convinced now?” Sakura asked.

 

“Well, I don't know about the rest of you,” Yumi smirked, “But I'm sure as hell convinced.”

 

“Agreed,” Atros smiled, “Now you are indeed ready to confront my sister.”

 

“Ah…right,” Muku said, slowly turning away with the same wonder in her eyes as when she had looked upon Sakura, only now she felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and her feet felt somehow lighter as she started picking up her pace, soon running like the wind as she went in search of her heart's fervent longing…

 

 

 

Continued

 

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