Iczer-one Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Earth Child ❯ Heart to Heart ( Chapter 34 )

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)

 

 

 

 

 

Fiber knew that convincing her “sisters” to go along with her scheme was simply a matter of taking advantage of their inactive state to work a little “reprogramming” magic, and imagine her delight upon discovery that the C'thuwulf had already devised an “Anti-Gold Virus” counterprogram and worked it into their systems. With that Fiber had been able to correct a condition that she had not even previously been aware of in her own matrix, but one that give her new insights into her former so-called “masters,” adding fuel to the fire of a righteous anger that demanded retribution.

 

The irony was that the C'thuwulf had healed the bodies of her fellow Bioroid sisters but they had not been able to do similar repair work on their personality matrices, not knowing the extent to which each one of her partners had been corrupted from their original profile. Fiber, however, had the inside track on just what had been done to each one of them by Neos Gold and could---through her own unique powers---unravel the tangle of their thoughts to separate false memories from the original personae, helping to heal a rift of which each of them had been previously unaware. That done the real story behind their origins came to the fore as the real woman emerged from behind the faux design that was Neos Gold's creation.

 

Golem---an engineer whose intuitive love and understanding of machines had been matched only by a love of sports vehicles and driving fast in races. A near-fatal accident had left her crippled and barely alive, needing machine support for her continued existence as bitterness replaced her former love of life, a bitterness tempered by a belief that her injuries were the result of malicious tampering by a rival sports driver…

 

Insect---an etymologist assigned to a colony world to study rare and exotic forms of insectoid life, the sole survivor of her colony that was devastated by one of her very own discoveries, a locust-like species whose hibernation cycle had ended shortly after the establishment of the small research outpost. Guilt had driven her partially mad since she had been too late in discovering a means to resist the insectoid venom when it had infected her fellow colonists, but she alone lived on thanks to her discovery as she was able to “blend in” with the swarm and---by altering her own biochemistry---become as one with their colony, discovering their hive-intelligence and gradually by stages becoming their human sovereign…at least until Neos Gold could recruit her for her talents…

 

Bigro---a research Biologist turned Eco-terrorist when her sympathies had switched from humanity to the wild creatures of her world that organized business and government were hunting to extinction. She had crafted her own pet hybrid creature to serve as her protector and named him Iota, and used him to “punish” her enemies by hunting them down and luring them to their doom one right after another. As with Fiber, she had justified these crimes by claiming vengeance to right the wrong caused by the death of a parent, but as with Fiber's own misguided crusade, her retribution had been all out of proportion to the actual crimes visited upon her. She was well on her way to becoming a monster when Neos Gold finished the job and gave her even greater cosmic powers.

 

They were the sole remaining members of their respective worlds, and every one of them was many times over a vicious killer whose conscienceless acts and unconscionable deeds surely doomed them to whatever sort of cosmic Hell was reserved for destroyers of their magnitude and order. Yet alone they each would have lived and died petty lives without inflicting one tenth the suffering that they had caused as a unit, and all because Neos had recruited them and expanded on their innate abilities, all for an insane cause of mass destruction aimed to greater glorify the power of Neos as she quested to become a Cosmic conqueror of a vast galactic empire. Surely their crimes could never truly be forgiven, but Fiber had learned of another way by which the wrongs done to them could be righted, and by which they could be turned towards the path of light.

 

And so the pattern-weaver wove her greatest tapestry of all, enmeshing both herself and her sisters in special cocoons that would conduct the alterations that would be needed to create a new and better team of sisters. She probed their minds and reworked the patterns of their thoughts by exposing them to truths to which each of them would never willingly have conceded, helping them to grow beyond the monstrosities that they were, to regain their lost humanity and---by turns---to forge a new and stronger identity, even as their bodies were remade within the workings of the Subspace field. Their chrysalis-like cocoons would help remodel their very karma, and with luck in a few more hours they would each emerge greatly changed, and for the better.

 

Soon Neos Gold would discover just how capable her so-called creations were of growing beyond her evil. Soon the sleepers would awaken, and like butterflies stretching out their wings they would spread their new bodies wide to the cosmos and show the universe a brand new and improved Sisterhood of the Comet, and on that hour…let Big Gold herself tremble, for her minutes would at last be numbered. Fiber knew that she herself would be changed, just as the power of love had changed her, the love for a father and brother long dead whose echo in the present was the handsome boy named Saotome Tenma…

 

 

 

 

“Bad move, Sucker,” Tenma told his counterpart, “Game over…now…you gonna tell me who you are and who really sent you?”

 

The doppelganger Tenma could not believe what was happening. No way could a mere human do what this boy was doing---had done, as a matter of point! He struggled helplessly against the chains that imprisoned him, springing up from all directions to hold him immobile in their web, a helpless fly caught in a spiders web of pseudo-creation, his bonds forged from the raw stuff of subspace itself and harder than steel since their existence was the result of a powerful and focused imagination.

 

Worse still, the real Tenma had conjured up some sort of powered harness around his body that made him look like a cross between an armored night and a walking human cannon. Guns---no, make that artillery launchers---so big that they would have drawn a normal boy's arms to the ground like lead weights, were currently pointing directly at the doppelganger, with Tenma ready to pull the trigger on his other self for the slightest provocation. Somehow these ridiculously contrived looking “Sci-fi” hardware rejects looked just real enough to be menacing, and the doppelganger somehow sensed that they would prove highly effective if fired at him at point-blank range. Mere bravado would not do to forestall the inevitable here, and yet somehow---for all that---the doppelganger Tenma remained defiant.

 

“Go ahead and use those if you've got the guts,” he said to his original counterpart, “But I ain't surrendering…not to you, not to Baba Cologne, not to anybody!”

 

“Too bad,” Tenma said as a loud click made it plain that he was cocking his weapons, “'Cause I ain't bluffing, you phony…”

 

A very surprising thing happened just then, before Tenma could pull the trigger and destroy his counterpart a young girl hurled herself into the way with arms spread wide and a frantic cry of, “STOP! What are you doing? Are you trying to kill him?”

 

“Huh?” Tenma blinked as he found his weapons pointed at Taro Yuki, the young girl blocking his perfect shot with her all-too-fragile body. He hastily let go of the trigger and said, “What the heck are you doing? Get out of my way, you baka! Do you wanna get hurt?”

 

Yuki next surprised him by doing another thing that was wholly unexpected. All at once Tenma rocked back on his heels as her tiny hand slapped his face hard, the anger in her eyes making it plain enough that---to her at least---he had suddenly become the bad guy!

 

“You aren't Tenma!” she haughtily declared, “My Ten-chan would never threaten anybody who couldn't fight back, and with stuff that nobody human could conjure up out of nothing!”

 

“Hah?” the doppelganger blinked, stunned to see the young girl defending him in such a defiant manner.

 

“What the heck are you talking about?” Tenma let go of his guns and let them fall to the ground while he cupped his own burning cheek, “I'm the real Saotome Tenma, honest!”

 

“Oh yeah?” Yuki sneered, pointing at his discarded hardware, “Then what do you call that?”

 

“Hey, it's just a trick I've learned how to do,” Tenma replied, “I can conjure stuff up out of subspace and make it real with my mind. He's the fake one here, not me!”

 

“Oh yeah?” Yuki folded her arms over her tiny chest and looked defiant, “Prove it.”

 

“Oh my,” Cologne mused as she stepped forward, seeing the non-plussed look on Tenma's face, and the uncomprehending look of astonishment in the expression of the doppelganger, “I do believe that young Taro-san has you there, my boy. How exactly do you go about proving which one of you is the real Tenma and which is the mere copy?”

 

“Hey, that ain't funny, Granny!” Tenma protested, looking past the irritating girl towards his counterpart and saying, “He's the fake one, can't you tell? He may look like me, but he's been impersonating me while I was stuck in subspace getting special training.”

 

“A likely story, you fake!” the doppelganger countered, hoping that he could play his cards and somehow reverse this whole situation, “You show up while I was talking to Yuki-chan and start hurling these wild accusations…”

 

“Wild accusations?” Tenma blurted, then blinked and said, “Did you just call her Yuki-chan?”

 

“I…ah…huh?” the doppelganger blinked, then all at once he colored an appropriate shade of crimson as he saw Yuki turn a questioning look in his direction, “Ah…I mean…well…what's that got to do with anything? So we're friends…she's a girl…what about it?”

 

“Friends?” Tenma blinked, “Since when?”

 

“Since a few days ago,” the doppelganger said with a defiant outthrust of his lip, “When I had an argument with her brother and she took my side over his…”

 

“That's because my brother was being such a baka, just like you,” Yuki turned back to the real Tenma with an angry glare, “Attacking people without asking is just so like Honma.”

 

“HUH?” Tenma glared, less than sanguine about being compared to Taro Honma.

 

“Let me see if I can help clarify things here a bit, Children,” Cologne remarked, then used her staff to tap the chains binding the other Tenma, causing them to shatter into fragments, “Let us try going about this in a more civil way, without the heated rhetoric and histrionics. Is that agreeable to you, young man?” she directed herself towards the doppelganger.

 

“Ah…sure,” the doppelganger replied, knowing far better than to put up any kind of a front before this particular human, whose abilities far dwarfed anything that he could even imagine.

 

“Then begin by telling us your story,” Cologne replied, giving him her most uncanny gaze, “The real story, and without prevarication.”

 

“Huh?” Yuki asked, turning a questioning look from the old woman to her new “boyfriend.”

 

The doppelganger looked from the old woman to the young girl who had just so valiantly defended him, then he glared at his counterpart and said, “You gonna keep him in line?”

 

Tenma started to open his mouth to say something about that, but Cologne cut him off with a decisive, “He will mind his place until such time as we know the facts regarding how you came to be substituted for the real Saotome Tenma. I can see that you two are more alike than either one of you would feel confident in acknowledging, but the facts are plain enough to anyone with an eye to see that you are not my erstwhile student. You are a very good likeness of him, and your personality is genuine, but you are not the Tenma that I have known since the day he was delivered into the world, and pretending otherwise will avail you nothing.”

 

The doppelganger sighed, then looked regretfully at Yuki before saying, “Okay…I'll tell you what you want to know…but you gotta believe me, I ain't proud of what I've done. It wasn't even my idea, okay? I'm just a soldier doing what I was told by my creator…”

 

“Just following orders, huh?” Tenma frowned, but at a glance from Cologne he subsided into a quiet scowl and resolved to hear the imposter out…if only so he would know what all he had been missing during the time he had spent around Fiber. If he did not like what he heard, however…well…that would be another story…

 

 

 

 

“Okay, I'm here,” Yumi announced as she teleported into the crystal throne room of the Silver Moon Palace, “Now what's the big deal that's got everybody so…huh?”

 

Yumi found herself being confronted by her fellow Senshi, both younger and older, including two versions of Yui-chan, only there was another present who did not fit into the general pattern. She gaped a bit in astonishment then said an astonished, “You?”

 

“Hey, gang's all here and all that,” Nova replied, “Neat how you guys can do that…not like I can teleport, of course, but then you're human and not Iczers, but I won't hold that against you.”

 

“Yumi-chan,” the radiant form of Neo-Queen Serenity spoke from the throne in a gentle voice that reverberated all through the cavernous chamber, “We're so glad that you could join us. We were just discussing how you and Yui-chan here got the rest of you involved in the affairs of some alien group calling itself…I believe you called them the C'thuwulf, Rini-chan?”

 

“Uh…yes, your Majesty,” Rini addressed herself toward her mother before glancing back at Nova, “The same people that she belongs to, only they're not all like her. Nova here is a branch of their race that calls herself an Iczer…”

 

“Hey, the technical term for me is Bioroid,” Nova replied, “And yeah, I'm an Iczer, one of an exclusive group of living war machines and all that. I'm also partly human, though, and I'm just as organic as any of you Terran types if you'd like to check out my anatomy…on second thought, why don't I check out your anatomy, Yui-chan, just to make a comparison between the three of us together?”

 

The two Yuis (Sailor Deimos and Phobos) exchanged troubled looks about that then as one chorused the words, “No thank you!”

 

“Young lady,” Lady Mercury addressed herself towards her daughter, “Is it true what Rini has said about you spending time with these C'thuwulf in activities of a highly personal nature?”

 

“Hey, I wasn't the only one!” Yumi protested, sensing that she had somehow been designated as the official “fall-guy” in this meeting, “Just ask Rini-chan what she's been doing with a lady named Nami!”

 

“Nami?” Neo-Queen Serenity inquired as she turned her focus back on her pink-haired daughter.

 

“Ulp,” Rini visibly winced.

 

“Sounds to me like the rest of you have some explaining to do,” Makoto (in male form as the Lord Sailor Jove) remarked, giving both of her daughters a very frank study.

 

Meiko and Reiko (Sailors Europa and Io) both quailed at the look their parents were giving them, even as Karma (Sailor Triton) was giving her own parents a nervous appraisal. Only Kiron (Sailor Chiron) alone of the younger Senshi seemed more aloof and amused than concerned about the entire matter, eyeing her fellow second-generation cousins with the superior look of one who had done nothing for which to feel guilty.

 

“This gets more interesting by the moment,” Setsuna (Lady Pluto) remarked as she shared her daughter's silent appraisal.

 

“No kidding,” Haruka (Lady Uranus) softly nodded, “Obviously we haven't heard the full story yet, either that or Princess Moon here has been editing out a few significant details.”

 

“Hey, you wanna know what's going on?” Nova smiled, “I can tell you that!”

 

Both Yuis gained mutually panicked expressions as they heard their mother say, “Do tell? That's very interesting, right, Ryoga-kun?”

 

Her husband---one of the only ones present who was not currently wearing a fuku---nodded his head as he replied, “We've obviously been missing out on a lot that's been going on lately, and I---for one---would like to hear more details.”

 

“Well, where would you like me to start, Dad-in-law?” Nova offered brightly, “I'm ready to prove myself by telling you everything you want to know about the C'thuwulf and the stuff they do to be friendly to outsiders…”

 

All at once the two versions of Yui rounded on the cherry-haired Nova and with perfect timing landed a punch squarely on the same jaw. Nova crumpled to the floor, out like a light before anyone knew what had happened, at which point Sailors Deimos and Phobos high-fived one another as though they had wanted to do that for a very long time now.

 

“Wow,” Yumi noted, “Glass jaw…who would have figured…”

 

“About time somebody put that blabbermouth in her place,” Rini murmured under her breath.

 

Their short-lived triumph, however, ended quickly as Neo-Queen Serenity leaned forward on her throne and said, “Is there some reason why you just did that, Yui-chan, or don't you want us to hear what your new friend was about to tell us?”

 

“Yeah,” Lady Mars scowled darkly, “Like why she keeps referring to you like the two of you were married.”

 

“I knew it,” Ryoga whimpered, “Our daughter's been taken to Stonewall!”

 

The rest of those present dutifully ignored him, Queen Neo-Serenity looked at her own daughter and said, “Rini-chan…why do I get the impression that you know more about this than you've been telling us so far?”

 

The Princess winced at the tone used by her mother, but it was obvious that none of the Elder Senshi would be satisfied with less than the full truth. She turned an almost apologetic look towards Yumi, who seemed to get her silent drift, nodding in acknowledgement of the task that had just been assigned her.

 

“If you really must know, Majesty,” Yumi spoke up, “My best friend, Muku-chan, is really at the center of everything that'd happened. Through no fault of her own she became involved with the C'thuwulf people…and that's how I got involved, only it hasn't all been culture shock and hardships, in fact, I think maybe there's something about these people that oughta bear with a closer study. In fact, I think they might have some long-forgotten connection to the ancient Moon Kingdom…”

 

“Oh?” her mother, Lady Mercury, asked, “You think so do you?”

 

“Sure thing, Mom,” Yumi replied, “In fact, wait'll you hear what I've learned about their culture by talking one-on-one with some of their technicians…”

 

Rini made a silent prayer to the Powers and the Planets for Yumi's gift of gab, which could be so wonderfully diverting and distracting when you wanted desperately to change a particular subject. With her usual ability to spin a web of partial truths into a college level dissertation she should in no time have the older Senshi enthralled in tales of how an ancient link between the Moon Kingdom and the C'thuwulf, a subject sure to drive away all thoughts of how Yumi obtained that information through “pillow-talk” and just generally being nosy.

 

The less she had to explain about their “interpersonal relationships” with the C'thuwulf themselves the better…not that she was ashamed of what she had done, of course, nor did Rini really think that her mother and the others would have trouble understanding about their daughters having relations with other women, being that they were pioneers on that subject…which in a sense was part of the problem. Nothing could make a parent more nosy than a memory trip to their own bygone days of youth…and nothing could be more hypocritical in the extent of their overreaction, if Yui's mom were any indication of things that were certain to follow…

 

 

 

 

“Great, just great,” Ken murmured to himself, “Where could Muku-chan go to have it out with her girlfriend…and why am I suddenly the last guy to know about this stuff? I really must be slipping.”

 

He paused just outside of a nearly deserted park that was a few blocks away from the Furinkan campus, not the least bit surprised that Muku had not come to this particular favored haunt of hers, though Ken was rapidly running out of other options. Ucchans? No, that would mean running into Sakura's parents and having to answer a lot of really awkward questions. Cologne's teashop? Ditto that! The old woman had ways of working information out of a guy that Ken was truly in awe about, but in the state of mind Muku had been in he rather doubted that she want someone like that to referee a romantic “bull” session.

 

Same reason for crossing Muku's house off his short list, which left either the construction yard or the skating rink as places where Muku liked to frequent. Senzenen had a really big thing about watching the Labor construction machines when they were at work, big robots being a major fascination for her…but then again that worked against this situation since the last thing Muku would want to be reminded out just now was giant robots. That left the skating rink, which was on the other side of the Furinkan financial center, a good three kilometers march, but by far the best chance he had of catching up to Muku and---just possibly---meeting up with his new girlfriend.

 

He winced slightly about thinking of her in those particular terms, but there was nothing particularly unpleasant about Atros that would exclude her from consideration on other levels besides romance and engagement. He really was becoming quite fascinated with the ebony-haired Iczer, wanting to know more about just what this “Synchronization” business had to do with him, as well as possibly finding out if she was really as standoffish and aloof as she tended to project. Looking in her crimson eyes was like seeing a mirror reflecting infinite depths, and there was a vulnerability to her that belied her aura of impressive strength and nominal independence. Just the sound of her voice alone gave him a curious thrill that he had never felt around Sakura…

 

“Heh,” he muttered aloud, “Just listen to me…you'd think I was falling in love or something. Still…it would be nice to know if maybe she might like to go out with me and…talk some more about her life…”

 

“Master Ken,” a semi-mechanical sounding voice addressed him, “A moment of your time, if you will.”

 

“GAWK!” Ken jumped five feet into the air and whirled around, automatically assuming a defensive combat Crane stance, only the thing he found confronting him was hardly what he had expected, being all of four feet tall and looking like nothing so much as some Techno-demonstration model robot.

 

“My apologies,” the blue-armored creature replied, “It was not my intention to surprise you…”

 

“Yeah, well…good job, that,” Ken awkwardly replied, not lowering his guard by the least, “Now who the hell are you?”

 

“I am Unit Seventy-Two, assigned to you as your Iczelion Armor,” the robot replied, “The C'thuwulf made me and designed me to match your specific Biorhythmic patterns…”

 

“The C'thuwulf made you?” Ken blinked, “Out of what? Spare parts?”

 

“Hardly,” the robot conveyed the impression of scornful derision for that answer, “I was grown from a seed and am composed of techno-organic matter, created for your personal use and protection. Shall I give a demonstration?”

 

“What do you mean…demonstration?” Ken replied.

 

“Say the command phrase for my voice activation code,” the robot replied, “Charging up.”

 

“Charging up?” Ken blinked, wondering why the code words were designated in English.

 

“Complying with instructions,” the robot declared, and then all at once it flew apart, even as Ken found himself bathed in the glow of a ray that emanated from the thing's visor, and for an instant he had the impression of his school uniform dissolving, leaving him briefly naked as the various component plates move to attach themselves to his body, a strange organic sheath covering the exposed areas of his skin from the neck down to a pair of heavy boots that materialized around his feet, even as a helmet affixed itself to his head and a curious electrical thrill flowed all around him, leaving him a moment later covered in the heavy protective sheathing of form-fitting Iczelion armor.

 

“What in the name of the Tokyo stock exchange?” Ken exhaled as he glanced down at himself, finding that he even now stood about five or six centimeters taller than before and had a sense of near-invincibility all about him. He stared at his gauntleted hands that had left only his fingers projecting and realized that the robot had somehow become a part of his own body.

 

Sure enough, in his mind he heard the robot's voice declare, “Now we are an Iczelion Warrior, code name Azure. In this form you are fit and able to perform the necessary functions of a partner to an Iczer.”

 

“Say what?” Ken blinked.

 

“You have at your command the power of the Iczerio,” the robot patiently counseled, “I will show you how to tap into it and use our combined abilities in the service of this planet…”

 

“Are you saying that I'm now part robot?” Ken asked in mild dismay.

 

“Incorrect,” the Iczelion informed him, “The near equivalent to what I this unit represents would be a Symbiotic Exo-skeleton transducer. We convert spiritual and emotional power into the raw force of the Iczerio…”

 

“Hybrid technology,” Ken murmured as he instinctively caught on with the program, “Organic technology…just how much power do we have anyway?”

 

“You are welcome to test our new abilities,” Unit 72 replied, “In fact, such a measure would be advised to help familiarized the unit so that we are ready to face our first real crisis. Link with me and we shall integrate bio-patterns to insure a smoother transition to active Iczelion status…”

 

“Wait a minute,” Ken paused, “What you were saying before…you were assigned to me so that I could make a fitting partner for Atros?”

 

“Affirmative.”

 

“And…where is Atros right now?” Ken privately wondered.

 

“This unit can take you to her,” 72 replied, “Is this your preference?”

 

“Uh…yeah…show me where she is and take me to her…like, right now?” Ken tried to phrase the words politely, but they still sounded like a command.

 

“As you wish,” Unit 72 answered, and all at once Ken felt the ground moving out from under him, and he turned in time to see that he was flying, the park leaving him behind as gravity itself ceased to have any relevant meaning.

 

“WHOOOOOOOooooo!” Ken exclaimed as he fought for balance, then found his flight path stabilized with just a bit of effort, “Give me more of a warning when you're gonna be doing that in the future, right?”

 

“This Unit apologizes,” 72 to replied, “Open your thoughts to this unit and we will establish a less unsettling means of conveyance.”

 

“Now you're talking,” Ken smiled, right before he and the Iczelion armor vanished in a pixilated halo…

 

 

 

 

“I'm back, Mom,” Troi reported, “How is she?”

 

“She didn't even say a word to me,” Sister Grey replied, “She just went straight to her cradle and she's been there ever since.”

 

“What, five, ten minutes tops?” Troi frowned as she stared at the huge vault-like chamber that housed the massive Iczer-Robo that was Rhea's personal Unit, “Okay, I'll see what I can do. Give us some privacy, willya? This is gonna take some fine tuning.”

 

“Are you sure you're the one who should be doing this?” Sister Grey asked, “By rights your sister…”

 

“One has enough on her mind, and the same with Nagisa,” Troi replied, a sober look coming over her beautiful golden eyes as she nodded, “Believe me, I'm exactly the right person to be doing this…'cause I been right where she is before, and you know how hard it was to pull me out of the funk I got into.”

 

Sister Grey only sighed as her biological daughter teleported into the room, then she hovered a bit before landing down fairly close to where Rhea was sitting.

 

“Hey, Kid,” she nodded as she saw her niece sitting on the armored shoulder of her unit, “You going anywhere at the minute? `Cause if you'd rather be alone…”

 

Rhea lifted her elfin chin from her knee and seemed to only just then acknowledge the presence of the older Iczer, “I would rather be alone…but…I would rather not be alone, Auntie. I know that does not make any sense, but…”

 

“Bullshit,” Troi said bluntly, “It makes perfect sense, believe me. Mind if I sit down? I don't wanna come across to you like I'm lecturing or nothing…”

 

“What do you want to tell me?” Rhea asked with a disconsolate tone to match her expression, looking down at nothing in particular.

 

“Hey, it ain't like that,” Troi said as she hunched down on her ankles, resting her weight on the balls of her feet as she brought her fingers together and too stared at nothing in particular, “I'm not telling you jack that you don't already know for yourself. Remember…I've been in your spot, I know how much it sucks, and I really hate it when people try and tell me not to sweat it, that it'll all be better in the morning.”

 

“And did you listen to them when they said this?” Rhea asked.

 

“Naw, I threw a fit and had to be restrained, even sent to my room without supper,” Troi replied, “Made me feel better, though…you really ought to try it.”

 

“I don't think so,” Rhea said listlessly, “I'm…not like you, Auntie…I don't throw tantrums.”

 

“No?” Troi arched an eyebrow, “You oughta try it sometime, it's very therapeutic. A little hard on the surroundings, but if an Iczer doesn't cut loose now and then we tend to forget just how much raw power we got at our disposal. You've always been a good girl, Niece, and I respect that, but there comes a time when it ain't enough to be just a good girl…you gotta live a little, walk on the wild side for a bit. Sure helps blow away the cobwebs though. Maybe you'd like to take it up with me in subspace?”

 

“Thank you, but…I…don't feel…up to it at the moment,” Rhea sighed, her voice catching in a sob as if she were trying to be brave and failing rather badly.

 

Troi sighed, “Y'know, that's the problem with having total recall…I can still remember in perfect detail with absolute clarity the day Nagisa told me to shove off, the day our partnership was officially over. Sure, I'd only had her on a loan from One, but it hurt like hell, being told that we weren't gonna be playing games together anymore, that she had more adult stuff that she wanted to do, and it didn't include me in the picture…”

 

“My mother said that?” Rhea asked in surprise.

 

“Oh yeah,” Troi grunted, “That…and a whole lot of other stuff you don't wanna hear. Talk about tantrums…when humans let loose it puts us to shame. Good thing we're the ones with the raw power, if humans cut loose like we can they could lay waste to the entire planet.”

 

Rhea was sufficiently piqued to turn and look at Troi as she asked, “What did my mother say to you?”

 

“Oh…well…you know how it is,” Troi winced slightly, “Stuff about how we'd always be friends and that she valued the time we spent together, but she was feeling kind of insecure and wanted to explore other options, not feel so trapped and resentful about it, that she never meant to let it get so far and that she really wasn't like what we were implying…”

 

Rhea's eyes went very round, “My…mother said all that?”

 

“Not in as many words, but that was the basic drift of it all,” Troi responded, “Actually she wound up shouting part of it in my face, then apologized and told me she didn't really mean it, but I could tell where her thoughts were going, and I…I didn't want to come between her and my sister. She put One through hell before she finally calmed down and accepted that they really were meant to be together. She was a lot like Muku-chan, so scared by the big-bad `L' word, as if labels were something you could change around like you'd change your dietary habits. Human cultures can be really weird about the way they stigmatize people to a perfectly ordinary and healthy occupation like sex…as if being with me would mean that she could never have children! Okay, I was a kid myself at the time, but I really didn't understand why she was treating me like that…just because I wanted to play with her and…she thought I wanted something else…which I probably did, though at the time I didn't even know what sex was.”

 

“You?” Rhea asked with an incredulous expression.

 

“Hey, I was a dumb kid at the time, so sue me,” Troi growled, “Why do you think I turned out different when I was just a few years older and finally had my puberty cycle? The minute I knew what it was I really wanted---BANG! It was like discovering religion! At first I was content to just fool around with our fellow C'thuwulf, but after a while I started to notice that there were other humans in the world besides Nagisa, and when I started making out with them it helped me to get over my feelings of rejection. All along I've wanted another partner just like her, but I figured---Hey---while I'm in the market I might as well play the field and live a little…”

 

“But I…” Rhea looked down again, “I can't…I can't be with anyone else. I want…I need Muku-chan…but…but she doesn't need me…she doesn't love me…”

 

“Bullshit,” Troi said with contempt, “That's a load of crap and you know it.”

 

“What?” Rhea was shocked to hear her aunt speak in such a derisive manner.

 

“Humans don't always know what they want in this life, Niece,” Troi explained, “They ain't direct like us when it comes to emotions, and they often say the exact opposite of what they mean, or mean the opposite of what they say…something like that. I don't mean that hoary old, `No means Yes' crap, I mean when you ask them a direct question the last thing you often get with them is a straight answer.”

 

“But…why is this?” Rhea asked in growing confusion.

 

“Something about the way their brains work,” Troi replied, “I dunno…psychology is one of Mom's specialties, not mine. I just know that you can't take everything they say at face value…some humans lie like a soggy wet blanket, they tell you one thing and mean another. Most of the time they're either lying to themselves or lying to you to disguise the truth. In the former case it's mostly having to do with denial, a human vice by which they con themselves into believing one thing while they actually believe another. It can drive you a little bit crazy just trying to figure it out, but…after a while you just learn to take it in stride, not make such a big deal about it. No harm done as long as it's a lie told to spare their feelings or to keep their sanity in check when faced with an insane situation. I think your Muku's held up pretty well all things considered, using denial to keep herself from thinking out loud the things that her subconscious must have been thinking. After a while denial like that just tends to become a habit.”

 

“I…don't understand,” Rhea replied.

 

“I'd be worried if you did,” Troi said frankly, “The question is…what are you gonna do about it?”

 

“What am I…?” Rhea repeated.

 

“You gonna give up because your honey threw a fit and told you to beat it?” Troi asked directly, “You really think it's gonna be as easy for her to give you up like you were a nicotine habit? Come on! She doesn't know what she was saying, and…in any event…you can't really guess at what her feelings are like until you face her again and ask if she really and truly did mean it.”

 

“But…it's too late, Auntie,” Rhea replied, “She doesn't love me…”

 

“And how do you know that?” Troi asked her, “Did you feel it?”

 

“I…” Rhea paused to consider, trying to sort out the tangled surge of emotions that she had sensed in Muku when the latter had made her terrible declaration.

 

“You see?” Troi asked, “You weren't thinking with your head, were you? You let her bull you into taking her at her word. So…when are you gonna take this lying down or are you gonna go back there and face her down like an Iczer?”

 

“Like an Iczer?” Rhea repeated in growing bewilderment.

 

“No niece of mine is gonna turn the other cheek and let herself be trampled on like a doormat,” Troi insisted, “It's bad for the image, and besides…you really don't believe that she can resist someone as charming and irresistible as you, now do you? She's gotta have better taste than that…”

 

“But…but how can I go to her if she doesn't really want me?” Rhea asked in a tone that was forlorn and almost pleading.

 

Troi blew a few loose strands of hair out of her face as she considered a change of tactics then said, “Oh…I see…you mean you're too scared to face her down and find out what her true feelings are like, huh? You think a little thing like being told to beat it ever stopped me when I knew the prize was worth the chance of getting my face slapped?”

 

“Auntie?” Rhea asked with a confused expression.

 

“Kid, I've been turned down more times than I can count,” Troi insisted, “But over time I've learned how to tell the ones apart who really do want you to drop dead and blow away and the ones who are just a little shy about expressing their feelings. I've been all over this globe sampling the best and brightest of what humanity has to offer and I've been told off in almost every human language. Wanna know how fluent I am with the Terrans? I know how to say, `Is your daughter eighteen?' in just about every tongue, sub-tongue, and dialect you can name! I've even mastered the finer art of telling a girl that I've just spent a night of whoopee with that she's the prettiest girl I've ever seen, that I think she's really special and that maybe I could call on her later when her parents are out having a party. Of course I often lose their number, but I never leave anyone without giving them something to remember me by, just so's there's no hard feelings…”

 

Rhea blinked. Twice. Then she said, “You do that?”

 

“Hey, lying in the name of a good cause ain't really a sin in my book,” Troi replied, “I know One and Two couldn't lie, or tell a joke to save their lives, but cognitive dissonance ain't really that hard a feat to master when you figure out the secret. The point is how you tell it, not what you say to them, in order to get them to drop their guard so you can get into their pants and sample some nookie.”

 

It took Rhea a long moment before she could work up the nerve to ask, “And…have you done this with Sakura?”

 

Troi sighed, “An Iczer can't ever lie to her partner, Rhea-chan, you know that. The same isn't true for them with us…but we can usually feel when they're lying, so I guess we can call it even. And no…I never lie to Sakura…at least…not directly. Other girls, maybe, but not her. She's special.”

 

“I see,” Rhea paused, then blinked again before saying, “Um…no…I don't think I do. How…?”

 

“I'll leave you to figure that one out,” Troi smiled, “Don't want your parents saying I've been trying to corrupt you with my bad habits. I'm just telling you that you shouldn't give up hope this easily that everything will turn out for the better. Persistence in the name of a good cause is a virtue…stupidity isn't.”

 

“Stupidity,” Rhea repeated, “Do you believe that it is…stupid for me to take Muku-chan at her word when she told me that she never wants to see me again?”

 

“You answer that one for yourself,” Troi replied, “But I'll tell you up front, I never thought any niece of mine would grow up to be such a crybaby and a quitter.”

 

Rhea rocked back on her seat at that, “I am not a quitter…”

 

“Could have fooled me,” Troi replied, “Or else why are you sitting here sulking and feeling sorry for yourself when you could be out there finding out for sure if she really does love you or not? Nobody can tell you how she feels, you have to use your own means to feel her out. Running away isn't going to solve anything, and making excuses for doing nothing just means you're afraid of getting hurt again. You gotta learn to pick yourself up and start all over, not sit here pouting about a one-time blow-over.”

 

“But…what if she really doesn't love me?” Rhea asked, “I…I couldn't stand to know that…”

 

“So you get your face slapped,” Troi countered, “Same as with me, but you know I never gave up on trying to find the girl who was right for me, and if it ain't Muku who you're destined to spend the rest of your life with…”

 

“It is,” Rhea said quietly, “I've known it in my soul from the moment we first met…”

 

“You can say that and still doubt yourself?” Troi snorted, “Then what the hell are you still doing here? Go out there and tell her that you're not taking no for an answer!”

 

“But…what if she's right?” Muku glanced away, “Why did I have to drag her into my world when she was happy living in her world? Her friends have been in jeopardy because of me, she's been forced to confront things that she never wanted to know…about herself and about those around her…”

 

“Kid,” Troi said patiently, “Stop a moment and tell me what you're feeling.”

 

“What I'm…?” Rhea blinked.

 

“Stop letting your head do all the talking,” Troi insisted, “Listen to your heart…what are you feeling?”

 

“I…” Rhea looked surprised, then her face lit up in wonder, “I feel…Muku-chan…the link between us…it's still there!”

 

“And what is she feeling at this time, here and now?” Troi continued.

 

Rhea's expression lit up like a star from within, “She's…calling to me? I can feel her…she wants me back!”

 

“Well, there's you're answer,” Troi slapped her niece on the back, “So I'll ask you again, what are you…” she paused as Rhea faded out with an instant teleport effect, then smiled, “Well, finally…we're making some progress…”

 

Down below and to the side, Sister Grey appeared on the railing, beaming up brightly as she said, “Very good…you handled that well.”

 

Troi was just a bit annoyed as she turned to her mother and said, “I thought I told you to give us some privacy?”

 

“Would you have listened in my place?” Sister Grey easily countered.

 

“Heh…good point,” Troi smirked, “Guess it runs in the family, eh?”

 

“You might say that,” Sister Grey replied, “After all…you're now a mother too…and the day when you can tell me that what your child is thinking doesn't matter to you…”

 

“Hooboy,” Troi sighed, “Atros. Tell me something…why am I suddenly supposed to be the responsible adult in the family?”

 

“Karmic payback for your past indiscretions?” Sister Grey asked in a teasing voice.

 

“Heh…figured it was something like that,” Troi remarked as she got back to her feet, “Well, guess I'd better make my rounds then…just to see that my other kid is behaving herself around the locals.”

 

Sister Grey watched as Troi, too, faded out to the effect of pixilation then murmured to herself, “It's days like this that almost make it worthwhile to be a mother…”

 

 

 

Somewhere in the fortress citadel of Big Gold an army was assembled and ready to receive their orders. Neos Gold surveyed the ranks of her troops with grim satisfaction then nodded in silent anticipation of the battle that was soon to follow. Rows upon rows of Voids, Venomoids and Geos, the shock-troops of Gold's armada, stood ready to follow her into an attack upon the C'thuwulf world ship that---if successful---would spell the doom of their enemies forever. Though intended to be a diversionary force, their true success would be measured only when the enemy was contained in the trap that Gold was setting.

 

Neos turned her focus upon the external chronometer counting off the seconds until the C'thuwulf doomsday. Three and a half human hours left to go, when all of her forces would be gathered and fully armed for an all-out war to decide the fate of a galaxy. It was all or nothing this time with failure meaning certain destruction, and thus not to be contemplated…not that she had anything to fear since her mother's schemes were nearly flawless and had been plotted to the last detail, thus guaranteeing certain victory and a crushing defeat to their enemies, both past and present.

 

“Soon, Iczers One, Two and Three…soon…” she promised fervently, almost tasting the sweet vision of her three most hated enemies displayed in their wracked and ruined state of desolation when Neos would crush them under her heel and prove once and for all that she was the strongest of all her mother's children.

 

She spared a moment of disdain to contemplate the two new pawns added to their forces, who would be leading a different assault against the children of their rivals. Neos wished them well in battle but privately hoped that they would meet their fate the same way that Grey and his sister had been vanquished. The last thing she needed was more competition for her mother's favor…the better to one day replace Big Gold and rule the Galaxy forever, a thought that brought a bitter smile to her visored face before turning about and marching imperiously towards the command ship that she would be piloting…the Destroyer of Worlds, which might well serve to justify its name before the day was done altogether.

 

The clock was indeed ticking down to Armageddon, and though the people of Earth were not yet aware of the doom hanging over their head they would soon rue the day that any had resisted the might of Neos Gold, their one true master...

 

 

 

Continued

 

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