Iczer-one Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Earth Child ❯ Breaching the Gates of Venomoid Hell ( Chapter 40 )

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)

 

 

 

 

 

“HYPER GRAVITY WAVE!”

 

“TSUNAMI STRIKE!”

 

`BLACK CHAIN LIGHTNING ATTACK!”

 

The three Iczelion warriors plowed through the ranks of the enemy defenders as they emerged out onto the other side of the barrier, encountering the supporting wave of Big Gold's legions and surprising them with a savage counter-offensive.

 

Their efforts---although quite effective and formidable---paled to insignificance as Iczer Beta really cut loose, unleashing a wave of forcefield energy keyed to disrupt the cellular matter of the Venomoids caught within its sphere of influence. Iczer Two further added to the disarray and confusion by discharging energy surges that worked to effectively neutralize the Voids and Geos who fell prey to the cascading effect, and like that the area was cleared before her, leaving a path between the portal and the towering citadel that stood near the center of an enormous complex, the seat of Gold's power the attackers knew without need of any prompting.

 

“There it is!” cried Nami as she paused in the act of bisecting her enemies into smaller component pieces.

 

“Energy signature confirmed,” Kawai acknowledged as she made a sweeping double-hand gesture that caused a beam to scythe through the ranks of those enemy forces closest to her position.

 

“Major-league power-reading,” Kiiro agreed as she unleashed her deadly “Meteor-Shower Starburst” attack that pelted and disrupted the enemy forces currently attempting to overwhelm her, “That has to be Gold's place...we're on the threshold of breaching her defenses.”

 

“Understood and agreed,” Iczer Two replied, “And that is where I am going. Be sure to hold this position, and don't wait around to sight see. If I tell you to withdraw, you go back through the gate with no questions or hesitation, understood?”

 

“Sounds like you're planning to throw a little party of your own,” Nami mused as she energized a fist and planted it full into the chest of a massive Void, shattering it internally as it burst its synthetic guts all over her Teflon-like armor.

 

“What's the matter?” Kiiro asked as she unleashed her energy boomerangs and swept the field in two parabolic directions, “Not planning on inviting us along? How rude...”

 

“There's still the little business about dealing with the defenders, Commander,” Kawaii more sagely noted, “And you would have more chances of success if we came along to watch your backside...”

 

“Negative,” Iczer Two replied, “Sayoko and I will be enough from this point onward. You three have done your job, but I need you here where you can be the most effective. If things go sour then you are to head back to Earth and lend your power to our defenses...they'll need everything they can get with Gold's forces running loose everywhere...and besides, you are much too valuable to lose in trying to buy me a few more seconds...”

 

“Are you saying that you are not similarly valuable to us, Commander?” Nami asked as she paused in the act of mowing down a concentration of enemy troops, “We would tend to disagree...”

 

“You are as valuable any member of our people,” Kawai affirmed, “And we have no intention of leaving here without you and Sayoko.”

 

“There's no way we'd go slinking back to explain things to your sister without having you along,” Kiiro insisted, “None of us is that brave...and besides, it would be way too quiet back home without you, and you really don't want to hear me have to sing your funeral dirge.”

 

“Better listen to her, Commander,” Kawai quipped in her usual pleasant demeanor, “She's more than capable of doing just that...”

 

“And we'd be forced to listen to her moaning on about you,” Nami added, “So, if it's all the same, we'll just stick around and see to it that doesn't happen.”

 

Iczer Two paused to smile as a warm feeling suffused her being at the loyalty of these, her friends, but she managed to assuage them with a gentle, “Don't worry...this is not a kamikaze raid. Sayoko and I have no intentions of perishing here...but the same cannot be said of Big Gold, and I can do my work most effectively without worrying for your sakes. Trust me on this, it is Gold who will have nowhere to escape when I am done with her this day.”

 

With that Iczer Beta started glowing brightly as a prelude to discharging an even more massive energy burst than before, one that lanced out from the giant mecha to clear a path a kilometer wide and five kilometers long between the gate and the center of the city.

 

“Oh,” Nami said mildly, “Well, in that case, Commander, good hunting!”

 

“We'll watch your back from here,” Kawai assured her.

 

“Yeah,” Kiiro agreed, “Way back here. Hey guys...is it just me or does this place look a little familiar to you...?”

 

“Now that you mention it,” Nami frowned, “It does look a bit like that area in subspace where we've been doing most of our recent fighting.”

 

“I wonder if it could be a coincidence...or does it portend something truly significant?” Kawai wondered aloud before shrugging, “Oh well...I suppose that is a question that can wait for later.”

 

“Good point,” Kiiro remarked, sweeping her gaze over the ranks of Gold's legions, “There are still enemies to kill, and I hate to leave unfinished business.”

 

Nami noted that more of the enemy forces seemed to be pouring out from various quarters as if being turned out on an assembly line by some hidden factory complex and sighed, “I hate easy battles...let's show these creeps what it means to face an Iczelion, Sisters!”

 

Her partners agreed as they tore into the enemy mass with a fury while Iczer Beta and its single pilot moved like a guided rocket towards the citadel of Big Gold and the primary seat of all enemy mischief. As she approached she encountered stiff resistance from primary and secondary weapons arrays, but these had no effect whatsoever against her shields as Iczer Two poured on the heat and broke through their defenses...then went crashing through the wall of the towering fortress itself, imbedding her mecha deep within the elaborately reinforced complex.

 

The primary work of delivering herself to her target goal completed, Iczer Two teleported herself the rest of the way, appearing once again within a massive audience chamber facing a set of stairs leading up towards a huge high-tech dais upon which was set a massive throne chair...and sitting upon the throne itself was her enemy and creator, Big Gold, the central controlling figure who singularly ran the entire width and breadth of her empire.

 

“Hello, False Mother,” Iczer Two addressed herself to her enemy with only the flash of her crimson eyes giving hint to her actual disposition.

 

“Greetings to you, my prodigal child,” Big Gold responded, “I could say that this was an unexpected maneuver on your part...but I would be lying.”

 

“You suspected that I would come?” Iczer Two inquired.

 

“There was a possibility, however remote, that you would find a way to work yourself back into my presence,” Big Gold replied, “So I took what steps I could to anticipate your actions, and now you have returned to me. This is a great day indeed, for you have given me the means for conquering your dimension and destroying the Iczers once and forever.”

 

Iczer Two sensed the massive surge of weaponry being leveled at her, could sense the force screens flaring up around to contain her, felt Big Gold initiating some manner of Neural-Interfacing projectors that were designed to subjugate even an Iczer's neural systems and just coldly regarded her so-called creator with a casual, “Is this the best that you can do?”

 

“Oh no,” Big Gold confidently replied, “That comes later...only after I have killed you...”

 

 

 

 

“The Blue Area on the Moon you say?” Commander Koenig asked with an uplifted eyebrow.

 

“That is correct, Commander,” Lieutenant Grape informed him, “The energy emanations unmistakably originated from the forbidden zone. I am at a loss to explain it, but whatever just happened most definitely hailed from the most exclusive area on the entire lunar surface.”

 

“The Blue Area,” Koenig turned to his chief Science Officer and asked, “Maya...what do you make of this?”

 

“Unknown at this time, Commander,” the shapeshifting alien woman replied, “But by the looks of things some ancient ruins have started to glow in a manner that I believe you humans call `Unearthly.' We are perceiving what appears to be the outlines of an ethereal castle structure, but there is no solid confirmation that it even exists on our level of reality.”

 

Koenig frowned as he considered the implications. The Blue Area was ultra-top-secret, its very existence withheld from the knowledge of even most intelligence groups, let alone the general public of the Earth. Only a handful of people knew why it was off-limits even to the personnel of Moon Base Alpha and SHADO. The area was home to an incredibly ancient and reclusive being whose very existence was a challenge to everything that humans believed about their science. No one wanted to disturb that individual or incur his undo attention. It was for that reason that the restriction was in place totally forbidding---under any circumstances---that any personnel would come within five hundred kilometers of the place. The being who dwelled there was potentially quite dangerous, and he was ever watchful and knowing, an enigma wrapped around a mystery and by definition someone not to be crossed under any circumstances.

 

Only one time during his tenure as Base Commander had Koenig ever come close to violating that statute...only once...and yet that singular encounter was enough to thoroughly convince him that there were some mysteries in the Universe that were best left alone, that even arrogant humanity had no business venturing that close to the abyss lest he have a second encounter with that alien, a fate he would not wish on his worse enemy, if he had any enemies still living.

 

And yet, somehow, he sensed that this energy did not originate with the alien in question, that it was of a wholly different nature and thus a mystery compounding every other. Koenig wondered what this new enigma might entail. The last time had resulted in Maya being recruited to join their crew as a semi-permanent alien observer...this new encounter promised something even more extraordinary, and so he turned to Maya and gave his standard response to dealing with such matters.

 

“Continue scanning but take no action until we have more data,” he commanded, “And if there's any more contact with whoever it was that created that comet...”

 

“It's still moving towards Earth, sir,” Maya replied, then added in a more personal tone, “John...there are many disturbing reports of alien activity on your world...if this is a new attack to compound things while our defenses are already at full capacity...”

 

“I know,” he said grimly, “But there's nothing we can do at this point but watch and pray for a miracle.”

 

Little did he know that one miracle was on the way followed closely by her companion stars as the Senshi headed back towards Earth to confront the evil that threatened to choke out all light forever...

 

 

 

 

“...A blue area on the moon?” Sakura asked skeptically.

 

“Hey, I'm just telling you it's there,” Troi shrugged, “Ancient ruins---and I mean really ancient---like there was a city there at one time in history, only now the buildings are all scattered into rubble. We think either a war or a natural calamity must have hit the place, but the funny thing is that it still retains a breathable atmosphere...some kind of permanent forcefield or something traps it in like a bubble.”

 

“But who could have built such a thing?” Sakura asked.

 

“We don't really know,” Iczer One replied, “In truth we have found traces of a long-vanished civilizations scattered all throughout the solar system, but we have little to go on to tell us about these ancient inhabitants. The most that anyone can say is that it probably belonged to that lost civilization that you Terrans call Atlantis.”

 

“And that's just the tip of the iceberg as far as most of us know,” Nagisa remarked, “The problem is we can't go in there and do excavations on account of the Watcher...he's this alien who lives there now, and the less you know about him the better.”

 

“Swell,” Sakura said, “So...meanwhile that energy ball is headed for Earth and we don't know what it is or what it means to the planet?”

 

“That's about the size of it, Honey-pot,” Troi replied, “Hey Sis...why don't we teleport ahead of the thing and try to deflect it?”

 

“We don't even know what it is or what it signifies, Sister,” Iczer One cautioned, “We could well wind up doing more harm than good if we tried that.”

 

“Well, we ought to do something,” Nagisa reasoned, “How do you expect us to keep our Hero-status, Ichan, if we just sit around and do...”

 

“Protector!” Wing Leader Amber suddenly spoke up, “We've lost contact with Gamora base, and indications are that the enemy has done something...detonated a device, we think, that has cut off all communications!”

 

“What?” Iczer One reacted, “A device you say?”

 

“What kind?” Troi asked.

 

“Analysis classifies it as...a temporal interlay suspension field,” Amber frowned, “Does that mean what I think it does?”

 

“I'm afraid so,” Iczer One replied.

 

“A Time Bomb!” Nagisa affirmed, “We have to get down there and stop it or New Gamora is toast!”

 

“Then what are we waiting around here for?” Troi asked.

 

“Good question,” Iczer One replied, “Iczelion Corps...have two wings stand by the Worldship and take part in the clean up operation. The rest of you with me!”

 

“HAI!” came the immediate response from all attending Iczelions, including Troi in her Delta unit as Sakura turned her eyes towards the blue marble that was earth and silently mouthed a prayer to the Kami regarding the welfare of her parents...

 

 

 

 

“Hmmm,” Ranma scowled as he watched the battle rage between the two giant mecha, the larger one taking an aggressive posture that had the smaller one on the defensive, and the fact that a potential son-in-law of his was on the ropes in the latter made him instantly sympathetic.

 

“We have to do something!” Yuki declared, “We can't let this continue!”

 

“I'm with you on that,” the Tenma nearest to her replied, “But...how?”

 

The other Tenma just smiled, “Heh, no problem! I know just what to do here!”

 

“You do, Sugar?” his mother asked with lifted eyebrows.

 

“It's like instant okonomiyaki, Mom,” her son assured her, “Just watch me!”

 

With that the young Saotome moved away from his parents and the others in their small group, risking the tidal backwash of conflicting energies as he squared his stance and summoned up his chi, using his newly refined powers of concentration as he formed an image in his mind and started reaching out to the substance of the Subspace field in order to make it happen.

 

To the amazement of everyone who saw it happen, the very air around the young boy took shape and started unfolding into a number of strangely mechanical-yet-abstract patterns. Like watching a computer Animorphic animation taking shape they saw the machinery take form and expand outward, growing in size and complexity with an audible clanking sound, as if real metal plates were being slapped and ground against one another. Before they knew it Tenma was surrounded by a truly impressive looking mechanism shaped oddly like a super-sized set of double-barrel cannons, complete with control chair and turret and looking deadly enough to put a good-sized dent into the side of a battleship, had one been handy.

 

“Showoff,” the other Tenma growled in obvious resentment at the accomplishment of the original model.

 

“How's this for special effects, Pop?” Tenma called over the howling in the air all around them.

 

“Not too shabby, Son!” Ranma called back, “But is that thing real or just a prop?”

 

“Just watch and see, Pop!” the boy called out before depressing the trigger on the togglestick he was holding, and a humming noise built up a charge in preparation to discharge...

 

Ken and Atros were busy trading blows with the enemy mecha as Gel and Godai pulled out all the stops and attempted to overwhelm them with sheer force and audacity, to say nothing of a weapons array that was strangely reminiscent of their usual arsenal of weapons. Presently the larger mecha was wielding a pair of enormous bonbori and were lashing out at the Iczer Robo known as Sigma. As large and cumbersome as their mecha proved to be, however, Atros managed to dodge and deflect most of these attacks, but the few that scored caused the entire mass of Iczer-Sigma to tremble, and with her own arsenal of tricks nearly exhausted Atros was forced to become more innovative.

 

That is until Ken stepped into the fight and started making some **useful** suggestions...

 

“Atros! Gel and Godai are formidable fighters, but they have predictable weaknesses that you can exploit if you know where to find them!”

 

“Indeed?” Atros replied while continuing to work her controls, “Such as?”

 

“Can you read my mind?” Ken asked, “Open yourself to me and you'll figure it out!”

 

Seeing no better course of action was available to her, Atros did as requested and allowed the link that existed between her and her male partner to blossom out into a virtual two-way communication channel, no longer actively trying to keep him out of her conscious thoughts as the distinctive differences in their thought processes had made such an awareness more of a distraction than she could have afforded until that desperate moment.

 

Doing so made her aware that their differences were more than just physical, psychological or even hormonal, and at once she understood why men were not usually selected for partnering with an Iczer. He had very different neural responses and reactions from what she was accustomed to...a woman would not have felt like that, and for a few brief instants the very dichotomy of what she was perceiving nearly threw off her Biorhythms. She managed to adjust and recover in time to head off disaster while continuing to fend off the savage attacks of the enemy bonbori, buying just enough time as she did so to find the information that he was trying to send to her after a fashion.

 

And then Atros integrated the new fighting techniques into her overall matrix and fed the instructions into the Iczer Robo, which immediately began fighting by a different set of methods. The sudden shift in tactics caught the Kunos by surprise, batting aside the overlarge bonbori clubs to step inside the guard of the enemy mecha, at which point Atros drove one fist forward and aimed squarely at the chest plate, landing squarely in the center as she discharged a point-blank burst of concentrated Bio-energy, enough to blow a hole through the side of a good-sized mountain.

 

To her utter amazement Atros found this energy was dispersed, harmlessly flowing around the integrity shielding surrounding the giant mecha, making her efforts amount to virtually nothing.

 

“What?” Atros exclaimed in dismay and disbelief, one second before she felt a huge hand close around the neck of her Iczer Robo, which felt exactly as if her own neck were being gripped even as her mecha was lifted off the ground and held up like a doll for critical inspection.

 

“SURPRISED, ICZER-TRASH?” Gel's voice sounded magnified in her own ears, “DID YOU THINK YOUR PUNY ICZERIO ENERGIES COULD MATCH THE STRENGTH OF OUR WILL? NOW YOU WILL KNOW WHAT SUFFERING CAN TRULY MEAN AS WE TEAR YOUR HEAD LOOSE FROM YOUR USELESS BODY!!”

 

“Gel...you idiot,” Perm softly murmured, shaking her purple head, “Do you even know what you are doing, Sister?”

 

“I'm afraid not, Perm-san,” the other Tenma said in tacit sympathy, “With Gold controlling their actions that ain't really your brother and sister.”

 

Ken was shocked to discover that he could feel the pressure around the neck of the Iczer Robo, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent than his partner, but he retained enough clarity to see the other hand of the enemy Mecha form into a blade-edged weapon, which same the Kuno siblings started to drive forward with the clear intent to piercing through the command capsule in which Atros was struggling for breath. This thought flowed through his mind with the speed of liquid quicksilver and awoke in him an immediate response, and at once the right arm of Iczer Sigma rose up to intercept this bladed-fist before it could reach its target.

 

“WHAT?” both Gel and Godai cried together as they had not expected such a potent resistance at this juncture, let alone the strength behind the grip that squeezed their arm with astonishing force, causing pain to resonate through their own neural grid as they fought to free their member...to no avail as Ken was not letting up and only redoubled the pressure.

 

“YOU---WON'T---HURT---HER!!!” Ken snarled, accenting each word as he squeezed his own hand against an imaginary arm, feeling the resistance even as his fury redoubled.

 

“IMPOSSIBLE!” Godai haughtily declared, “HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHERE ARE YOU FIINDING THE ENERGY?”

 

This time Ken drove his other fist forward and struck the arm gripping their Mecha, and with precisely applied force he struck that arm at the point that equated with an elbow, forcing the joint to bend back against itself, which broke the arm effectively, causing more pain to feedback into the Kunos, which caused them to stagger backwards favoring that massive arm which was effectively inoperable as Ken let them go and assumed a defensive stance, summoning up his rage and tempering it with the force of his will and emotions.

 

“Got them dead to rights!” Tenma declared, preparing to fire his weapon when Perm put a hand to his shoulder.

 

“Stop!” she cried, “Don't kill them! They're still my brother and sister!”

 

Atros recovered her bearings just then, having been aware of what had happened but not quite able to reconcile what she had experienced while unable to defend herself or her partner.

 

“Did you just do all that?” she gasped.

 

“Hey...we're partners, right?” Ken replied, “You watch my back, I'll watch yours, Beautiful.”

 

“But...that's not the point...” Atros stammered, “How could you take control like that...?”

 

“Hey, you're the pilot, you tell me,” Ken replied, “I'm just making it up as I go along..”

 

“Hey, I ain't killing nobody!” Tenma insisted, “Just lemme take the shot and I'll put a stop to things, trust me!”

 

“I am to trust you?” Perm asked skeptically, glancing at the weapon itself, “I don't even understand how you created this monstrosity...”

 

“But he is right, Child,” Cologne assured her, “Trust the boy to do what he intends. It is the best hope we have of recovering your siblings.”

 

“But...Great-great-grandmother...!” Perm protested, only to see the look in her Elder's eyes, which forced her to bow her head in tacit submission.

 

“YOU HURT ME!” Gel declared in outrage as the shoulder pauldrons of her mecha deployed a pair of very nasty looking beam weapons, “FOR THAT YOU BOTH DIE!!!”

 

“Yeah, so?” Ken responded as he held Iczer Sigma at the ready, growing more familiar with the surge of energy patterns that laced the massive mecha body and discovering how easy it was to use his knowledge of Chakra centers and pressure points allowing him to maximize the flow of ki-force as he plotted out strategies for countering whatever the Kunos were planning.

 

Atros---now more aware of her partner's thoughts and emotions than ever---was amazed at the ingeniousness of what he was planning and immediately linked in, allowing her hands to work the controls in accordance with his intentions.

 

“SHINAIIII!!!” Gel cried as the force cannons on her Mecha's shoulders unleashed a blast that was staggering in terms of the raw energy being unleashed, but Iczer Sigma was no where within the path of the blast, having rocketed into the air with a speed that took the Kunos by surprise, and by the time they had started to turn their focus upward it was in time to see the giant foot that was suddenly filling their vision as Iczer Sigma landed a solid kick to the head that staggered the giant Iczer, even though most of the brunt of the force was absorbed and deflected, sparing Gel the fate that would have surely ended her life completely. As it was she was momentarily stunned and effectively taken out of the battle.

 

Perm could only sigh upon seeing this, saying somberly, “And that they learned from father...”

 

“I got a shot,” Tenma said as he stared at the enemy Mecha through the grid-lines of a screen, “I think I know how to take `em out without killing them. You gonna let me shoot?”

 

Perm hesitated for only a moment then nodded her head once and stood back from Tenma's weapon.

 

Godai rallied from his control capsule and snarled, “YOU DARE DO THAT TO MY SISTER? TOFU-SCUM, YOU WILL SUFFER---!”

 

“Give it a rest, Gai!” Ken replied, “You're losing this match, back off now before somebody really does get hurt. We were friends once...don't make me hurt you...”

 

“YOU...HURT ME???” Godai declared, then raised the good arm of his mecha and cried, “NEVER! THUNDER ATTACK!”

 

With that declaration a cloud of roiling static discharged formed about the damaged mecha and coalesced into a cloud around it, creating thunder and lightning that lashed out at Iczer Sigma and forced Atros and Ken to take evasive steps to put some more distance between them. They watched in horror as Godai willed his mecha's gauntleted fist to accumulate for one massive energy burst, and this time there was no where to run or avoid the blast as it came sweeping at them like a wave, leaving the defenders no chance to do anything more than raise their arms and call upon their own combined ki-force.

 

“NOW!” Tenma declared as he depressed the final trigger and fired a bolt of light aimed for the spot that he had detected and his aim was flawless, backed by the force of his own will and tempered by the training he had labored to protect.

 

Godai never even sensed the attack until it impacted on his shields and went right through them like a bullet through weak body armor. Once inside those shields its protective shell coating dissipated, unleashing its true energy like a shaped particle charge that discharged against a focused point where it could do the most damage.

 

All at once the other arm---and most of the shoulder---fell away as the Mecha staggered backward from the sheer kinetic force of the mortal blow that it had taken. Systems all across the board began to fail as the Mecha fell to its armored knees then rocked back on its heels and became immobile, sparks of energy discharging harmlessly into the void while the mecha itself shut down from the destruction of its central relay system.

 

“Nice shooting, Son,” Ranma said into the ensuing silence as even the winds started to die down to where one could hear themselves without shouting.

 

“Heh...no sweat, Pop,” Tenma said, “Toldja I could do it.”

 

“That you did, Sugar,” Ukyo said with a note of disquiet.

 

“Heh, even I'm impressed with that one,” the other Tenma remarked.

 

“But...Godai...and Gel...” Perm stressed, just in case anyone had forgotten about her concerns in this matter.

 

“You need not fear,” Cologne assured her, “They made it out of there all right...at least, Godai did, and he brought your sister with him.”

 

“Eh?” Ranma said as he and the others turned to see the pair of figures perched atop a nearby hill rise, one the armored Godai, the other---carried in both arms---the unconscious Gel who obviously had taken the worst of the recent action.

 

“What's happened to them?” Yuki asked on behalf of the others, “That doesn't even look like the son of Kuno Tatewaki...”

 

“He's changed, Yuki-chan,” the Tenma beside him replied, “He just looks like Godai-san, he's really been turned into a monster by my former Master.”

 

Ukyo held her spatula at the ready and was the first to break the uneasy silence that hung between them and the Kuno siblings, “You about done up there, Jackass, or are you gonna go for extra rounds this time?”

 

Godai just glared at them while holding Gel protectively in both arms until he turned his eyes upon Ranma, who reacted to that look as though it were a verbal challenge.

 

“You wanna try your luck with me, Kid?” Ranma asked as he took a step forward to put a modicum of distance between himself and the others, “You think you've improved enough to be ready for the big leagues?”

 

“Sensei,” Godai's tone conveyed neither warmth nor disdain, “You are indeed a formidable fighter...for a mere human...but you are outclassed if you think to take me on in a straight battle.”

 

“Heh, I've heard that one before, lots of times,” Ranma smirked, “Your Dad, for one thing, used to say it to me on a daily basis...”

 

“He means it, Pop,” Tenma said as he came to take a defensive stance at his father's side, the other Tenma doing the same thing on his opposite side, and each of them looking ready to start trouble on their own prerogative as the other Tenma added, “He's being mind-controlled...not that Godai-san ever had much of a mind to control in the first place...”

 

All at once a flash of light heralded the sudden appearance of Atros and Ken, whose arrival together surprised the Saotome clan as much as it brought a raised eyebrow to Cologne ancient features.

 

“You've been defeated, Kuno-san,” Atros declared, “Surrender now and spare yourself further humiliation.”

 

“Or, to put it another way,” Ken added, “You two have had your fun and brought a few gray hairs to your folks, so what say we call it a day and wind this up before anybody really gets hurt, besides your robot over there? You don't really want to continue in your state.”

 

Ukyo blinked as she saw the dark haired girl standing so intimately close to her daughter's iinazuke, and she briefly considered making a point about this but thought the better of it as she realized that they had a more immediate crisis on their hands that demanded their full attention. Just the same her hands tightened on her combat spatula as she silently avowed that explanations would be shortly forthcoming...

 

“Perhaps this battle has been lost,” Godai suddenly seemed quite animated as he snarled, “But the Lords of the Heavens do not know the meaning of surrender!”

 

“In other words your boss would fry your ass if you come back to her a failure,” Tenma translated, “Bad guys always think it's all or nothing an' no excuse for coming in second best...”

 

“Oh, you noticed that too, huh?” the other Tenma noted, “Why do you think I switched sides? You guys are cool, Big Gold's no fun to be around.”

 

“Sure you don't got a better reason than that, Sugar?” Ukyo smirked as she shifted her focus and gave a sidelong glance at the attentive Yuki.

 

“Huh?” the other Tenma reacted.

 

Perm stepped forward and said, “Godai...please stop! I don't know what they did to you and Gel, but hurting people like this won't help solve anything. All you're doing is hurting yourselves...”

 

“Be quiet,” Godai's eyes literally flashed as a beam of energy shot from his eyes to strike Perm in the arm as she barely managed to dodge a more lethal strike than this.

 

“What the---?” Ranma reacted.

 

“Jackass!” Ukyo breathed in disbelief.

 

“How could you?” Yuki demanded, “She's your sister!”

 

“Was my sister,” Godai replied, “Now she is an embarrassing reminder of what I have cast aside to attain perfection. The only sister I need...is Gel, who has also been made perfect...”

 

“Perfection is a word not to be too lightly tossed about, Great-Great Grandson,” Cologne sternly noted as she tended to Perm's arm, “And no warrior who lacks compassion can be truly near to perfection.”

 

“I am beyond your worn out philosophy, Old Woman,” Godai sneeringly replied, “You are not my master, nor were you ever so entitled. I set my own path in the world now, and you cannot limit us to what you define as the proper path of our lives.”

 

“Maybe she can't,” Atros replied, “But I can stop you.”

 

“And that includes me in the package,” Ken flexed his arms and suddenly a robotic figure appeared at his side, “Care to meet me man-to-man for a rematch?”

 

“I defeated you once already, Fool,” Godai condescendingly began to say when he turned his glance to the side and said, “EH?”

 

A shimmering light heralded the appearance of yet another giant mecha, this one red-hued and looking only mildly battled scarred from previous usage.

 

“What the heck?” Yui asked as she glanced around in some confusion from the vantage point of her control cabin.

 

“Whew, that was close!” Nova exclaimed, “Another second or two and we'd have gotten ourselves trapped up in the field effect of that Time Bomb!”

 

“Time Bomb?” Yui exclaimed, “What are you talking about? Where are we?”

 

“Subspace, of course,” Nova blinked, “Hey...is that Iczer...Sigma? And that wreck over there...boy, that guy's definitely seen better days! Hope they got the number of his Medical Plan...”

 

“Another one?” Ukyo exclaimed in some surprise.

 

“What is this, a convention?” Ranma added with his own confused expression.

 

“It's all right...she's a friend...sort of,” Atros turned back to Godai and said, “You are even more outnumbered than before, and since it would...offend many of those here present to see harm done to you now...I would suggest a prudent surrender...”

 

All at once another shimmering heralded the appearance of four more huge forms, this time looking more like amorphous giants rather than combat mecha, at which point Nova exclaimed, “Oh no...not those guys again! This is getting super-annoying...”

 

“It's a convention all right,” Perm said between grit teeth, turning to her Elder and saying, “I am all right, Elder...it was a glancing blow, not truly serious...”

 

“So you now presume yourself a healer, do you?” Cologne said dryly, “I suggest you take precautions and hold back from the battle that is about to begin until you do recover your bearings. I would rather not see all three of my heirs laid waste due to the evils of another.”

 

“How touching,” Godai scoffed, “But as you can see, our side now has yours outnumbered, and in another moment still you will find your fortunes fare even worse than you imagine.”

 

“Huh?” Tenma said.

 

“What the heck are you talking about, Kid?” Ranma asked.

 

“Oh no,” the other Tenma reacted as he turned with a horrified expression towards another rise upon the landscape, She's here...Neos!”

 

“What?” Ukyo asked, “Who's that again, Sugar?”

 

A crackling static heralded the reply to that question as Neos Gold was drawn by curiosity, having sensed the massive concentration of energies gathered in one section of Subspace, decided to come here after having suffered a recent set-back of her own against the Iczers. Upon finding the reborn Masters of Heaven with the Kunos gathered with the traitors, Atros and Nova, she saw a chance for possible redemption in the eyes of Big Gold at hand. As such she smiled beneath her mask and contemplated where to begin in unleashing her wrath, for there were so many possible victims to be found here. The only thing that would have made it ideal would be for the other Iczers to be on hand...but then again, one had to start somewhere, and a better relief from job stress could hardly be asked for.

 

“Uh-oh,” Ken remarked to himself, “Something tells me this is going to be trouble...”

 

 

 

 

“So...have you figured out what that thing is yet?” Muku asked, trying not to be too badly freaked out at the realization that she was flying hundreds of meters above the ground in a spacy suit of armor with her girlfriend nearby hovering in the air like a comic-Manga superhero.

 

“I believe that I have,” Rhea replied as she studied the hovering fifty-meter wide ball that was at the center of their current troubles, “My senses confirm what your Iczelion armor has deduced...it is an explosive device created to punch a hole through the Earth into the underground city directly below us.”

 

“So she wants to kill everybody?” Muku paled, “That's inhuman!”

 

“So is Big Gold,” Rhea replied, “She does not truly care about casualties, all she cares about is victory and eliminating any force that is not directly under her dominion. If she could subvert and rule us, then she would do so, but if we resist her control then we have to be destroyed...that is the logic of a virus.”

 

“Well...can't we do something to stop it?” Muku asked, “My home is somewhere down there, not to mention yours, and if this thing goes off it could kill millions!”

 

“Which is what was intended,” Rhea considered the point, “We are not being affected by the temporal suspension field because we are phased out of regular synch with the quantum flux variations, but in this state we are unable to affect anything that is being slowed down by the field, which greatly limits our range of available options. What we are seeing is actually a moment of time slowed down to an almost infinite length, perhaps as much as one or two seconds of regular time stretched out to what might seem like an hour to us, which means that the warhead for this bomb is fully active and about to discharge with lethal force. There is no time to disarm it, and the moment the field reverts to normal the blast will take advantage of the shields being down around New Gamora City and...”

 

“What if we got rid of it?” Muku asked, “I mean...the thing's big, right? But if we could move somewhere else so that when it goes off...”

 

Rhea turned to look at her partner with a wondering expression, “Yes...that might work...but it would require precision phasing, to say nothing of a great deal of energy expended on both our parts. If I can summon up my Iczer-Robo we should be able to coordinate it just right...but...Muku-chan...if we can find a place to transport the bomb...it will immediately phase back into normal time, and that means it could blow up right in our faces.”

 

“Yeah...so?” Muku asked somewhat nervously, “If we don't do this, then everyone we love is gonna die, right?”

 

Rhea smiled at that, “A very good point that...and it may be that we can survive the explosion...bit it will be a near thing either way. Are you up to attempting this?”

 

“Hey, you only live once, right?” Muku shrugged, looking directly at the Iczer, “I trust you, Honey...I know you've got what it takes to do this, and if it all goes south...well...at least our parents and friends will still be around, right?”

 

“Exactly,” Rhea agreed, “So...next question...where do we transport this device? If I judge it correctly there is enough force contained within its core to wipe out a small moon...”

 

“What about that Subspace thingie you've been taking me to?” Muku asked, “If it goes off in there will it affect anything on this side?”

 

Rhea considered the point and said, “I...don't really know...but...there is one other possibility. If we do translate it into subspace...if we had a target to aim for...we could project it through a secondary gate, and...perhaps we might find a target more worthy of destruction.”

 

“Worth a try, right?” Muku asked, “And like you said, not many alternatives...so...you call it, Rhea-chan. I'll back you all the way.”

 

Rhea felt the warming glow of her partner's praise and smiled at this before saying, “All right, Darling...we'll do this together...as one unit.”

 

That said she composed herself and crossed her arms over her chest, closing her eyes as she mentally focused on her connection to her Iczer Robo, Gamma-Theta, then began to glow softly as the Iczerio force rose within her and she mentally chanted the words, **GAMMA THETA---COME FORTH!**

 

Down far below them, still locked in the temporal freeze that was affecting the entire complex of New Gamora city, Gamma Theta responded in its massive cradle, systems flaring to life as it phased out from normal timespace and heeded the summons of its mistress. All at once it phased out of Gamma base and reappeared in the sky directly overhead next to Rhea and Muku, remaining partially out of phase with the space all around it as it matched resonances with both human and Iczer.

 

The next thing she knew Muku found herself once more inside the chest capsule of the massive living robot, and she could feel Rhea's connection with her grow even stronger through the medium of the Iczer Robo's natural channeling systems. It was like having a warm glow in her chest and the feeling of the other's warmth inside her made Muku glow with internal delight, feeling almost as close to Rhea as when they had been making love only minutes before this. She could feel at one with everything around her, including Gamma-Theta, which felt now like an extension of her own body magnified to a degree that seemed to make everything come alive and in greater focus.

 

“Prepare yourself, my Love,” Rhea spoke with warm affection, “This will require precise focus and concentration, and if it works...if we survive this...”

 

“We'll survive it, Honey,” Muku replied with unshakable conviction, “We have to do this, it's what good guys do all the time, right? And what's a hero without a happy ending?”

 

“It is not the ending that troubles me, Muku-chan,” Rhea replied, “It is the road that brought us here that is important, and I would have no one else as my partner in this hour. We do this together, and we will prevail...I swear it.”

 

With that declaration Rhea focused once again and directed her energies at the frozen ball that was the motionless bomb hovering in the air above Tokyo, reaching out to feel the space surrounding it as she sensed the Temporal frequency and put a lock on it, intending to hold it as it was until the final instant. With no other recourse and a very slim margin for error, she began focusing on phasing the space around the bomb without disturbing the huge thing as she willed for it and their Iczer to be elsewhere. Everything depended on the precise timing of the thing, and if they failed...there would be no second chances. Therefore they had to succeed...there was nothing else to be said or done about this.

 

Muku felt what Rhea was attempting to do without fully understanding the process, and at once she leant her own mind into reinforcing Rhea's efforts. Slowly they felt the shift begin to take place as the space around them shifted, and suddenly became the tinted coloration that Muku had come to associate with subspace transfer.

 

“So far so good,” Rhea remarked in a level tone that barely hinted at the great effort which she was employing to hold the timefield around the device steady, “But if we drop this thing now as it is, there might be sufficient force to be felt on the other side of the Subspace field...”

 

Muku's heightened senses suddenly made her aware of a peculiar shift in energy that was slightly off to her right, and by turning her mind in that direction she was able to perceive a strange energy ring that was hovering in the air, supported by nothing, at which point she said, “What about that?”

 

Rhea instantly knew what her partner intended and said, “It's a portal to the other side...but not back to Earth. I don't know what is beyond this, but...I suppose it is as good a place as any...”

 

Already their grip over the bomb was faltering, so Rhea and Muku willed the thing in that direction, Iczer Gamma-Theta translating their combined energies into a massive force that pushed the ball-like object along until it was at the threshold of the portal, at which point it collided with a second energy field, which collapsed the integrity of the Temporal shield holding the bomb in stasis, and in that instant the device reverted to normal time, it's internal mechanism inexorably completing a three-second count down until it core became fully active, at which point it detonated with the explosive power of a thousand solar flares, which at pointblank range might as well have been a supernova.

 

“Watch out!” Rhea frantically cried, “It's going to---!”

 

And then the world went white and the rest...was silence...

 

 

 

Continued

 

Comments/Criticisms/Cataclysmic Cliffhangers: shadowmane@msn.com