Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Hand Maid May Fan Fiction / Gatekeepers Fan Fiction ❯ Retake ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Retake chapter 6

by Metroanime, who really didn't intend more than 2-6k on this idea.Really. This was just gonna be an alternate ending to the real ending. As far as continuity goes this is still a speculative ending: the real ending has Greylle go off into a relationship where he literally can't return those feelings and goes on to eventually die in a blaze of glory rather than be a fifth wheel with no useful skills or purpose. His soul reincarnated eventually as an Espeon (psychic evolution of Eevee) on a regular pokemon world.


Disclaimer: aw, c'mon, you know that the vast majority of these characters are owned by other people. For example the whole 'marionette' concept was first broached in the old B&W film "Metropolis", though the 'Otome Kairo' and actual use of the term 'marionette' for a female shaped android came via a fellow the name of Satoru Akahori in his series "Sabre Marionette J" though i kinda wonder if he'd recognize it by the time i get done with it...

--------

Though Nerima in Japan in a RM universe was strange, certain things followed a pattern. Which indicated that while there was a lot of Chaos, it didn't have complete domain.

And so, even with Ranma in Nerima, day followed night.

Greylle woke up to discover that sometime during the night, Mercury had somehow figured out what a Furinkan High School girl's uniform looked like and had made two sets. She and Usagi were discussing the odd raiment, and wondered at how anyone could indicate they thought the Senshi costumes were silly if this was the alternative.

Getting ready for class (he still didn't have a Furinkan boy's uniform that fit) was quick and simple. Mainly because he didn't have a lot of things he could do in that half hour. Other than try to convince the two to stay in the apartment and not make any noise. Ami suggested building a television, and though he'd had this feeling of doom, Greylle had OK'd it.

After reaching school and settling into his cramped little desk, Greylle began to wonder if maybe he shouldn't have.

"LOOK AT THAT! Akane must have dumped Greylle-san!"

"Wow, he's a hunk."

Greylle blinked and ambled to the window, curious. When he saw the pair arguing near the gates he tried to keep from visibly reacting. He was so HAPPY! Ranma had finally gotten his lazy butt here and now Greylle could the blazes out of Nerima! Yayyyy!

The other students saw the lone tear tracking Greylle's face, saw the gaijin trying to control himself (not realizing he was trying to keep from laughing in relief and the tear was actually from biting his tongue). The conclusions they came to were obvious if completely ludicrous to anyone who knew better.

---------

Akane looked up from her argument with Ranma and saw Greylle at the window. "Oh great. How am I gonna explain this?"

Ranma glanced up, saw a glimpse of the fellow at the window and frowned. "He don't look so tough."

"Why are you still talking to me? Didn't I say that 'when we get to school, I don't know you'? Baka hentai hermaphrodite."

"Hey! You're the one who started it!"

Nabiki walked past the two, uncharacteristically late but then she'd gotten uncharacteristically little sleep. Even with a largely sleepless night, she noted the argument in front of the school gates and decided how much she'd charge to tell people about the "newest couple" and how her sister had "dumped the baseball star like so much bad rice."

"I did not," responded Akane to Ranma. "You're the one who got splashed, you're the one who required us to go see Doctor Tofu, you're the one who argued about baseball not being a valid martial arts style. How can anything as Japanese as baseball NOT be martial arts?"

"Stupid tomboy." Ranma was REALLY beginning to resent this American fellow, and he hadn't even met him. "The *Americans* invented baseball. It's just they didn't know what to do with it afterwards."

"I wasn't referring to it as being a Japanese invention, just that NOW it's Japanese," Akane sniffed.

*Brrring*

"And NOW you've made me late for class!" Akane was getting really upset now.

"WHO made WHO late?" Ranma growled. He didn't want this engagement, he didn't want to attend school, he didn't want to deal with his curse. This was all getting quite frustrating.

Though what he was really tired of the feeling he was getting from three girls, that he was being measured, and coming up short.

He'd show these girls not to dismiss him so easily before he left. Yeah, that'd work.

------

The first class had gone about what one would expect.

Greylle had been able to focus on trying to decipher the "bug splats" that were kanji. During the first half, this had been even easier because both Ranma and Akane were on bucket duty.

The voices of the two tardy began raising in an argument when Akane made one of those "engage mouth while brain is out of gear" manuevers that seemed to occur regularly.

"We are NOT getting married. Just because Dad engaged me to you..."

Greylle continued to try and figure out if that kanji had 23 strokes or if that was just one stroke that bent as it crossed another one. Important when your kanji dictionary was looked up by number of strokes.

The *rest* of the class reacted in typical fashion. The sliding window went open. Girls were excited and babbling about how romantic it was, and how tragic that Akane's love affair with Greylle was cut short. Guys were wanting to know when the Greylle Vs Ranma fight was, or if Akane was planning on trying to keep them both.

"It's our fathers' idea!" "Not my fault!"

Oops. It was only 19 strokes. It really was a bug splat. No wonder he couldn't find it in his dictionary. Greylle blinked. Oh, that sounded like his cue!

Getting up, Greylle walked to the window, the crowd making a place for him. He thought he might as well make this good, it was likely to be his last day and he could always say he gave it his best shot.

Placing one hand on Akane's shoulder, he looked down into her eyes. "Greylle understands. You family honor at stake. Guess it not to be. Greylle relinquish Akane so she find true love and happiness with strange boy."

Greylle turned and walked out the door, trying to keep from laughing in glee. Of course, everyone saw him shaking and came to conclusions again that had little basis in reality.

"That is SO romantic," gushed Yuka.

"Huh?" Akane said a moment before Ranma.

"He's giving up on his own happiness so that YOU can be happy and fulfill your family's honor pledge," Sayuri said with one of those long heartfelt sighs following thereafter.

Daisuke gaped for a second. "Damn. Just like in some samurai epic."

"Huh?" Ranma repeated.

Akane didn't hear, she was busy staring down the hallway.

The teacher clapped three times to get everyone's attention. "Hiroshi. Please get Shard-san back here. Class is *still* in session.

-----------

9am began the usual clangor as the class changed. Not that the students went anywhere, it was just the teacher and the subject that changed.

Of course there were three people (four if you counted the always ignored Gosunkugi) that were not involved in the gossip and swapping of bets and notes.

Greylle, who was ignoring the glares and stares directed towards him by any and all concerns. Merely watching the ticks of the clock and wondering when and WHAT was going to hit the fan.

Akane, who was no longer beet red, wasn't gossiping but she wasn't sure what she would say when it came to that. Everything was so confusing! Confessing that she actually loved Doctor Tofu was out of the question. What THIS crowd would do to that story didn't bear thinking about.

Ranma was asleep.

------

"LOOK AT THAT!"

The "tragic romantic triangle" that involved "Akane being torn between love and duty" that was "just like in a samurai movie" was temporarily shelved.

Greylle left his desk, relishing the chance to at least unfurl his legs. Who'd have thought being tall could be such a problem? Well, at least in Japan it was.

LOTS of long cars. Flags everywhere. What the heck? Well, it *definitely* wasn't Yakuza, and the windows were getting crowded. Might as well return to his desk.

"That's the..."

"There's the Chairman?! And one, two, three, members of the Diet?! And that's the Emperor!" Sayuri was gushing enthusiastically. About what - wasn't too clear.

The intercom crackled to life. "W-w-w-w-would Greylle Shard please come to the office?"

-------

Greylle sat in his chair, unconcerned by all the brass.

In his first life, this would have been intimidating. After boot camp via Valkyries, fighting dragons, shooting out star cruisers, and interacting with Greek and Norse deities on a regular basis, these guys were now somewhat less concerning.

"You guys never heard of subtle?" Greylle said, looking over the crowd. Then he focussed in on one of them. "You're the guy from the cabin."

"And you are considerably smaller than the last time we met." Naruhito nodded and bowed. "May we speak honestly?"

Nabiki gasped. The EMPEROR was bowing as an equal?!

"Why the heck is Nabiki here anyway?" Greylle jerked a thumb towards the girl hiding by the file cabinets.

"Oh heheh." Nabiki smiled up at all the big and imposing types who had just surrounded her.

"What did you say her name was?" A suit took out a pad and pen.

"Nabiki Tendo. Gambling, extortion, loan-sharking, child pornography, and wanna-be Yakuza. Oyabun of what passes for organized crime here at Furinkan," Greylle answered automatically as he was still going over implications.

"EEEEP!" Nabiki eeped, seeing a future where she was wearing a striped suit and making small rocks out of big rocks. She clasped her hands in front of her and turned her most pleading puppy-dog eyes look at her accusser.

"Though she *could* be considering a lifestyle change," continued Greylle.

Nabiki nodded her head so rapidly that she gave herself a headache.

"Unlikely as that might be," continued Greylle, still considering possibilities.

"Smithu, Jonesu, please escort Tendo-san back to her room."

"Wait! Wait! I'll be quiet! You won't even know I'm here!" Nabiki protested as she was forcibly removed from the room. "Hey, do either of you want pictures of my little sister?"

"It was nice of you to provide us a floor show," said Naruhito. "Now though, it is time for business."

----------

Harry (Hieronomus) the Wizard continued to watch from the shelter of his "Not Your Problem" spell (an amazingly useful spell that should be part of any wizard's "on hand" list) as he waited for the right time to send a Monster out.

Which was mainly because Harry (like the typical Ranma protaganist) had trouble changing his plans in order to deal with changing circumstances. He'd already determined (to anyone else's standards) that this dragon was trying not to upset the Balance.

Now the dragon had been revealed as an alien prince? This was more along the duties of MiB than his own community. (Though so far there hadn't been any indications that MiB was real, the wizards had decided that it was best if they did NOT investigate it as so far any such group had left them alone.)

Harry had decided to test the boy with a summoned generic monster, and because he was resistant to altering his plans, he still planned on sending it out. Besides, it would be interesting to see how he responded. The problem being that in three weeks, every time he'd come by this region the boy had been out in public or surrounded by people who *would* notice something bizarre.

The wizard was beginning to consider just hang the consequences and sending a monster anyway. With the level of weirdness already in place, it might hardly be noticed.

----------

If Akane's relationship with a gaijin had qualified as a hot topic for the rumormill, there weren't words readily available to the student body to describe THIS.

Akane had finally gotten tired of questions regarding her "boyfriend" and his connections to the Japanese government and had clobbered the unfortunate boy who'd been asking a question when she'd reached critical mass.

After Suuichiro had been knocked out the window, things finally quieted down some. Only to come to a crashing halt again as Greylle re-entered the room with several high-ranking visitors.

"We are sorry that your class was interrupted," said the Foreign Minister to the teacher.

"It was so nice of you to come to this agreement, Shard-san, it is to be hoped that a month away from Furinkan will not trouble your studies too much." Naruhito bowed low, just shy of the degree needed between equals. Inside he was smirking. Sometimes, he had come to feel, his people needed to be shaken out of their narrow little mindsets. Japan was a world power now, and it would not do to have their imaginations or ability to adapt being constrained. And if all went well with the dragon-prince, then Japan would be moving even further into the spotlight.

If the class had been silent before, they might as well have been turned to stone at this point.

"Our thanks for undertaking this mission for us, prince-san." A senior member of the Diet agreed with a bow. He was rather enjoying the way everyone's eyes had bugged out. There was something to be said for the occasional bit of mischief, it seemed.

Akane's eyes had locked on to her "not my boyfriend" and she mouthed the word for "prince" without saying anything.

Even long after the visitors had left, the silence remained. It was as if everyone was frightened now of the possibilities that had just been dropped into everyone's laps.

Even the teacher had trouble focussing on the current lessons.

When school finally ended, the sense of relief was nigh overwhelming. Except for one person in the senior class.

-------

Nabiki felt like someone awaiting execution. No, someone marching to her execution.

Class had ended, and now she was facing the dread moment. Going up to the top of the roof where she'd likely be eaten.

She didn't like to admit that she *could* be hurt, but that *had* hurt. She hadn't known that her reputation was sufficient that the Americajin with his faulty Japanese would have known of some of the things she'd done. And now *everyone* would know some of the things she'd done. And when word of it reached the *real* Yakuza...

Being eaten didn't sound half so bad.

Nabiki swallowed and opened the roof access door, ready for her fate.

Only there didn't appear to be anyone there. Nabiki looked around nervously for any sign of dragons, foreign princes (THAT at least hadn't been a surprise, it was perfectly in genre(1) for the timetravelling alien hero to turn out to be a prince), or Monsters From Beyond. Nothing.

The only thing that looked out of place was a circle of brighter sunlight without anything noticeable about the area to indicate *why* it was so bright there.

Gulping nervously and straightening her uniform, Nabiki reached out to touch the area of brightness. When nothing happened, she stepped fully into it.

At which point the roof access door closed itself. There was nobody on the roof anymore anyway.

-------

An interesting day, you could certainly say that without any hint of overstatement. The rest of the students seemed to be giving him a VERY wide berth. Even more than usual.

The Emperor and his group had been convinced that he was actually a prince. Something like Tenchi would be in a "Tenchi Muyo" universe no doubt. The funny thing was that he had no way to prove or disprove the allegation himself. For all Greylle knew they were correct.

Greylle was bemused until he felt a wash of magic from the rooftop of the school then another from nearby. VERY different signatures.

In a typical AD&D setting, magic could only be detected via a spell such as "Detect Magic". In the Aramar setting, magic was everywhere, but those sensitive to it (mages, clerics, and creatures of magic for example) could tell magical signatures were present when they were active. To narrow it down or tell what *kind* of magic it was, you needed to either be a creature of magic, a powerful wizard, or have a spell handy to read the lines and hue woven into the magic.

It wasn't as obvious as if he'd been in dragonform, but he could *feel* something about the two emanations.

"Rrrraaaaghhhhhh!"

People boggled. Some fled. Yuka swore. Hiroshi screamed. Sayuri clutched Daisuke. Daisuke fainted. Sayuri saw all the nosebleed decorating the front of her schooldress and dropped Daisuke to the pavement.

Greylle stared.

Ranma popped his knuckles. "All right, something to *do*!"

Akane stopped trying to approach Greylle and try to find out what was going on and merely stared.

Nine feet tall, really powerful build, long face, antlers.

"A moose minotaur?" Greylle blinked. He hadn't seen one of *those* before. "Ranma! Akane! It duty martial artists stop monsters, yes?"

"Yeah, but what that has to do with a sportsjock or that uncute tomboy is something I'd like to know," quipped Ranma.

Akane blinked again. Ranma had done nothing but make fun of her martial arts skills. Well, she'd show him NOW! With that thought, Akane ran forward while chambering one fist.

Greylle watched Ranma leap to a wall, then kick off and do what would have been a wonderful flying snap kick to the monster's head.

"Antler Toss!" The moose had other ideas. And apparently martial arts special attacks.

Ranma grabbed, and so didn't become immediately airborne. Just stunned and holding onto one of the antlers.

Akane ran forward and punched out at a knee joint. *WHAM!* Akane became an airborne projectile. *SMASH!* Make that briefly an airborne projectile.

However, that *had* been enough time to throw together a spell. If this was actually a magical construct, physical attacks wouldn't do much (as had more than amply demonstrated to Greylle's satisfaction when he'd tried to shoot youma in his first Labor) direct damage. In some worlds, magic was needed to fight magic.

"Holy flame i implore,
Smite the evil on this shore!
Flame Strike!"

The column of flame completely engulfed the moose. Unfortunately Ranma was still clinging to it though he yelped and leapt away immediately. The side effect, which turned the school gates white with frost, didn't actually change anything else.

The singed moose had decided (big surprise) that the blond guy was the biggest threat.

Greylle dodged the first punch, only to get set up for a followup that threw him through a wall.

Ranma was getting upset. First these girls had dismissed him as second rate, now the damn *monster* was ignoring him as if he just didn't count. This was only his second day in Nerima and he was already tired of it. (Though he *did* want to learn that Americajin's special manuever!)

Water began spraying out of the hole in the second floor, sufficient indication that water pipes had been busted. The usual attraction of water to Jusenkyo victims occurred.

"Why did it HAVE to be water?" Ranma spat some of the offending fluid out of her mouth. "That's it."

"Flaming Fastball!" Greylle had remembered. Ranma universe = special attacks.

"That's it. I have GOT to learn this guy's special manuevers." Ranma leapt up to land on the creature's shoulders then start hammering it in the head.

Greylle leapt down then produced his baseball bat. He hadn't had much time, but had determined that the bat he'd been given had some qualities in common with Ryouga's umbrella. Very heavy, almost indestructible, and difficult to ignore.

*WHAM!* Greylle briefly became airborne before coming down again. THAT had hurt. Also seperated him from his bat, not that there was much chance of it being stolen. It *looked* like a baseball bat, except that it weighed 380 pounds.

"Airen! AIYAAA!"

"Great, the whole floor show's here," grumbled Ranma as she held on while the moose tried to dislodge him. Fortunately, its muscles were so bulky that it couldn't get much flexibility.

"Bullwinkle go on steroids?" Shampoo summed up after a few moments of scrutinizing the youma.

"WHAT THE?!" Akane was lifting the baseball bat and turning red. "Ack! What's this thing (huff) made of (ung) anyway!" THUD!

"Wood," answered Greylle, hefting it with one hand. Then considered that maybe he could use this opportunity to get Ranma and Akane on a less confrontational basis early in the program. The problem was HOW. (Another problem was that he found the combination distasteful anyway.)

Shampoo started using her bonbori on the moose's tailbone. "Shampoo always have to deal with one annoying moose or another. This get very tiresome!"

Unable to come up with a means at the moment for getting the two closer and less prone to cutting into each other (and surprised at Shampoo's presence), Greylle decided to heck with it all. Time to just cut loose. "Akane try to distract it."

"Huh?!" Akane looked at the big monster and back at the gaijin. HOW was she supposed to distract it?

"I've got a finishing move to use on it, but it takes some time to build it up," Greylle explained.

The youngest Tendo nodded at that. Part of some tactic, she could deal with that. She ran past it. "Yo, monster, over this way."

The moose didn't like this. Not only was someone beating on it from behind, it still hadn't gotten that annoying flea off its neck, and now someone apparently had decided it was idiot enough to ignore that there was a spellcaster over there!

"Power of magic, power of light,
Gather ye here, my foe to smite,
The evil here to - oh heck"
*WHAM!*

Greylle went through one of the school's outer walls, carried in a bull rush.

The moose finally got Ranma-chan off its neck, and swung her like a club into Shampoo. "Finally. Now I can get rid of the damn mage."

"I don't think so, Skippy."

The moose-youma blinked. There was a blonde girl with these ridiculously long ponytails standing in the street before him.

A girl with short blue hair leapt down from a rooftop. "Sailor Moon. Aim for the center of the chest."

"Sailor Moon?" Akane said, looking on. Okay, the pigtails fit, but this girl was wearing a Furinkan High School uniform!

"Flying Piledriver!" *THWAM!* "Mongolian Elbow Slam!" *WHAM!* "Bulgarian Headlock!" *CRUNCH!*

And Akane was pretty sure that Sailor Moon had *never* used moves from Pro Wrestling All-Stars. "Kickin' Kyoko From Kyoto"'s moves too, not that Akane ever watched the program.

"Diving Swallow Knee Strike!" *WHACKUM!*

Okayyyy. Akane recognized *that* particular manuever was one of the signature moves of "Devil May Karen." Not that she ever watched Women's Wrestling.

The moose dropped, looking *very* surprised before turning to dust.

"Uhm, what am I supposed to do now, Sailor Mercury?"

"Pose and give a speech," advised the girl with short blue-tinted hair.

"Oh," the blonde ponytailed girl considered then gave a wrestling pose. "I came. I saw. I kicked its ass!"

"Good enough," advised the other. "Now we leave."

Akane walked up, noticing the groaning Greylle and moaning Ranma-chan. She knew she'd seen that girl with the blue hair before, but where?

---------

Nabiki had been very courageous, samurai ancestry coming to the fore, when *physical* attacks and threats were not something she was particularly comfortable in facing.

Though she had *not* anticipated appearing in what was apparently a very busy office setting, it still was big business enough to catch her interest and set her at ease somewhat.

The nature of the office workers, however, were not so relaxing. A very pale woman stepped by her, and the air felt chilled as she passed. Over there was a three eyed tiger-skin wearing oni who was apparently talking on the phone with a distributor? Something that could only be a kappa, eating a cucumber sandwich and checking his e-mail?!

"Na... Tendo-san, if you will follow me?"

Nabiki frowned and turned. The woman looked familiar. VERY familiar. Though she was dressed in the armor of some ancient samurai, and had what looked like a very well used naginata, though there was some leather sheath covering the polearm's blade.

"Tendo-san?" The woman smirked as if at some inner joke. "Amaterasu-sama wishes to speak with you."

The office wasn't that cold, though Nabiki's blood had just frozen. She was small potatoes, the Oyabun of Furinkan Senior High School if that. Today she'd come under the scrutiny of the higher ups in government, and apparently beyond. Way way way beyond.

Nabiki considered running, the problem was where would she run? She considered trying to BS her way through it all. And if she failed? That would be bad. Nabiki finally thought of one course of action she could take that did not end in disaster.

"Grunch, Miss Tendo has fainted. Can you carry her to Her Lordship's office?"

--------

"MOTHER!" Nabiki awoke and was on her feet in short order. That oddly familiar face had suddenly clicked in her memory.

"She's not here right now, child." The woman behind the desk had a Presence but her clothing was actually fairly "California".

"Uhm," began Nabiki, tallying up details. The room was built to resemble some ancient shogun's war-room, yet there were holographic displays floating in the air. "Errr."

"What you see around you is merely your mind trying to relate something that your senses are having trouble interpreting. Now, can we talk about something important?" The woman leaned forward over her desk.

"Well, I guess," said Nabiki, doing her level best to act cool and collected. She could still regain control of the situation. "Providing you can make it worth my while. My time is very valuable you know."

"Yes, I know. Racketeering and blackmail mainly." The woman looked exasperated. "You know, I was considering giving you over to the other side."

"Oh, do they pay more?" Nabiki was getting into this, it was a familiar role.

The woman held up a hand. Nabiki vanished.

"It's a pity such extreme measures are needed for her to take this seriously," said a voice from the shadows.

"Yes, it is. Remember that story of Jack's on how you get the attention of an Army mule?" She checked her watch, then raised her hand again. Nabiki reappeared. "Now, Tendo-san, if you would take this meeting seriously?"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Nabiki was a little upset. Most of her clothes had been ripped away (she still had one shoe, a sock, and her sleeves) a large number of cuts and varied wounds showed on her skin, and unknown fluids dribbling from her skin to the soft carpeting below. Some of those fluids resembled salsa.

"You just answered your own question, Tendo-san. Hell. The exact opposite of a nice place. The equivelant of a suburb. One could say that it is the absence of niceness, since concern for the feelings of others tends to keep the numbers of inductees lower than what you'd expect. Even in a modern society. Though it is much worse in the major population centers." The woman made another gesture and the wounds were cleaned and unknown fluids missing. "This is how you do business, Tendo-san, beware that others do not respond in kind. Intimidation, threats, blackmail, abuse of power, is it not? I could have left you there if I thought you were irredeemable."

Nabiki still covered herself as she sank into the chair, shaking. "That was..."

"Now, Miss Tendo, do you want to make a decision that will influence the rest of your life?"

Nabiki turned and stared. There was a duplicate of the first woman, except this one was wearing 15th century clothing more appropriate for a male samurai, just modified for the different frame.

"I am Amaterasu Omikami," said the samurai. "So is my Fragment there."

The Californian nodded. "I am also Amaterasu. Well, part of me anyway. I will be showing up every so often, mainly to make cryptic comments and otherwise fill the role of Sailor Pluto while Greylle is mucking around over there."

The samurai nodded. "The Gates Of Time need a guardian. That world could use a few protectors. Which is where you come in, Tendo-san."

"Me?" Nabiki watched the Californian come out from behind the desk and materialize some clothing which the mercenary Tendo gratefully took.

"Look at it as a ledger, Tendo-san," said the blue-jeans wearer. "Positive here, negative there. You have a chance at putting some large positives on your account."

"Are you really that happy with your current life?" The samurai looked her over.

"So I'm in the Red, am I?" Nabiki decided she could relate to it if it was on a monetary basis. What strange clothing this was. Padded cloth and leather armor? "What do I need to cancel my debt?"

"Kiss Greylle," answered Californian.

"WHAT?!"

"I'd suggest seducing him, but I don't think you could manage it."

"WHAT?!"

Amaterasu considered how to explain that the current form Greylle was wearing had been designed by Urd. Urd had apparently been in a very naughty mood. "Greylle has some 'talents' that he himself does not know about yet." Boy was *that* an understatement. Urd had been creative.

"..." Nabiki began to sulk. Everybody chased Akane or loved Kasumi. Here she was being told that she wasn't up to the task of seducing a guy. Just great.

"You couldn't do it, because you'd have to gain his trust first. And he knows you too well."

Nabiki startled at that. She was being read that easily?!

The samurai took the vacated seat behind the desk and started putting some cards out on the table. "Your choices are: go back with your memories of this meeting purged and you can reclaim your life as if nothing had happened; go through boot camp with the Valkyries - I understand your mother wouldn't mind putting you through your paces. She is *very* disappointed in you, Nabiki. Go back with your memories dulled to dream level, and eventually become one of the Sabre Team of new heroes running about. Get sent back where you'll be in 'Magical Princess' training as a member of a new Sailor Team, though the dress code is a bit tight. Or..."

A look of determination fitted into place on Nabiki's face. "Well, then, I choose..."

--------

Akane was deep in thought, trying to make sense of all the things she'd seen. As it was Akane (a typical Nerima resident in some respects) she already had her mind made up and was trying to work the various details into that framework.

Ranma didn't notice, still grumbling. Now everyone knew her secret. And she'd done pretty poorly against the moose. Obviously needed more speed training, plus maybe some weapon training. Fists and kicks just hadn't had sufficient penetration. The only consolation had been that Mr Hotshot Jock hadn't done well either.

Akane suddenly realized where she'd seen the face of that one girl. That robot that had been in a dream in Greylle-san's apartment! So that meant that the boy had a connection to the Sailor Senshi and had built a robot double (just like in that foreign comic "Superman")! No wonder he had asked Nabiki for information on them! Prince was no doubt some call sign or codeword and he was a go-between for the "champions of love and justice" who had vanished last year. Akane grinned. Maybe she could get Sailor Mars' autograph!

Ranma catalogued the special techniques she'd seen the guy pull out, plus the damage he'd taken and shaken off. It was enough to revise her initial opinion of this fellow. He didn't move or project himself like a serious martial artist, so it was probably an act to get people to underestimate him in a real fight. There had been that column of flame thing, and then he threw a baseball so quickly that it had almost looked like it had caught fire. As the guy used something called "Baseball Martial Arts" - Ranma expected that bat of his got a lot of use. Probably adapted escrima or kenjutsu techniques. Of course, the weakness of a weapons based system is that their skill level went down a lot if you seperated them from their tools.

Akane thought that Greylle-san being gone a month from Furinkan should allow her to slide out of this engagement with the baka transvestite, then she could try to get Doctor Tofu to notice her again, and when "Mr Baseball" returned he could introduce her to the Senshi. Hold the phone! Was he interested in her because he was going to recruit her for the Sailor Team! She'd hate to wear a short skirt, but then it was for the honor of her Art AND to save innocent lives! Hmmm.

Ranma decided that she HAD to challenge this guy to a fight. Not just to prove that she WAS better, but because she had to see what other special manuevers this guy had that could be added to her own portfolio. You never knew when surprising some opponent with some weird attack might pull your bacon out of the fire.

It was odd how Ranma and Akane were walking within five feet of each other, but they were currently worlds apart.

---------

Greylle was a little upset. On the one hand, he'd been *badly* overmatched by the moose-youma. He could have taken it, IF he'd reverted to dragonform, but the civilian casualties and damage would have escalated sharply. It had ignored everyone not attacking it but him, so he'd been reluctant to strike to that extent.

And gotten his head practically handed to him. So, on the one foreclaw, he owed his two marionettes.

On the other, they'd placed themselves in danger and more than from just the moose-youma. Neither of them had any extensive testing, they were still running on internal *batteries* for crying out loud.

As for the moose-youma, they had been severely overmatched. Usagi had roughly a 35 Strength with current materials, meaning she could lift around 3 tons. Ami's strength was much less, she hadn't been designed as a frontline combat unit. Roughly a 20 strength, about the level of Akane without the rage-adrenal increase.

So far that was it, he'd not finished the various "extras" he was trying to build into them. Though maybe he'd be able to set up a nanotank now.

The thought of all this prince thing was cool, but the thought of a month working on these projects and being away from Akane was WONDERFUL! While he was gone, Akane would forget all about him, then she could fixate on Ranma or Ryouga or ANYONE! Heck, this could even end up like RN-101271 where Akane ended up with Shampoo (or at least chasing Shampoo around proclaiming her love after Shampoo used the wrong shampoo on Akane) and it would be a relief.

(Actually, he'd long felt that RN-101271 was more amusing than the typical mainline. What with Akane chasing after Shampoo, Shampoo chasing after Ranma, Mousse trying to avenge himself against Ranma (for leading Shampoo on) AND Akane (for trying to do THAT with Shampoo, a bottle of baby oil, and a rubber duck) while Kodachi chased after Mousse (he'd been in the Saotome backyard one fateful night) and Ranma often just wondering what the blazes was going on. Greylle often found himself wanting to head back to Mimir's Well just to watch that one scene with Akane chasing around Shampoo trying to give "Kiss Of Marriage" to the Amazon while Mousse was trying wildly to find his glasses since this had all started with Akane surprising Shampoo as the latter tried to take a bath. About the time that Soun fainted with a nosebleed, the insanity had escalated to such levels that Nabiki was packing her bags to head off for college a year early.)

Back to the two marionettes. They'd pulled him out of the fire, but he needed to upgrade their systems severely if there were going to be youma attacks.

-------

Ami blinked. Usagi blinked.

"Stay tuned for more.... 'Whirlwind Of Love'."

They were imprinting with as much information about the human condition as they could. Early morning had seen the 'Best Moments Of Women's Wrestling', two cooking shows, a rerun of 'Takahashi's Castle' (a gameshow), and four Japanese Soap Operas.

There was a lot of data there. Both Ami and Usagi found the male+female social customs interesting on a personal level.

Ami finished putting together the descrambler/receiver array while the commercials went on. "Here we go."

"What's that do?" Usagi looked at the odd gadget.

"Three hundred channels. Now let's see.... Oh my! What are they doing?!" Ami stopped surfing as she saw something that made no sense.

"Is this a program on cannibilism?" Usagi cocked her head as she scanned. "No, she doesn't appear to be biting off anything, and the male appears to be enjoying it."

"How odd," said Ami, sitting down so she could figure this out. Human behavioral patterns were so odd and complex.

TV: "Soup-chan!" "Noodle-sama!"

"What do you suppose the significance of their actions are?" Usagi puzzled over this. "Some sort of greeting ritual or exercise technique?"

"They do appear to be generating heat, and it would likely be a good cardiovascular technique." Ami puzzled over the reactions of the male and the female, as well as their actions. "I think I understand. This is a 'mating'."

"Like in this book?" Usagi held up the book of "Elven Mating Customs" she'd found in the carrisack. "What is the purpose of 'mating' anyway? Is it done solely for exercise?"

"From what data I'm able to access, it appears that there are several byproducts of mating. One of which is the potential development of other units." Ami accessed a file and shuddered. How terribly messy. "We are not currently equipped for such duties."

Usagi nodded, her gaze never waivering from the television. "I recall. Soft tissues will require an upgrade, and these appear to be rather complicated. Since this does seem to be a fundamental part of human existence, we should consider making these upgrades soon."

"Agreed," agreed Ami, accessing the appropriate files.

---------

Greylle looked up at the apartment building, rising six floors and no elevators, a tribute to man's desire to make a quick buck and not consider certain problems. Such as that nobody even in a crowded place like Tokyo wanted to live in most of the apartments. Who the heck wanted to carry groceries up to the sixth floor with steep stairs all the way?

Yet, for whatever reason, he could see that there were indeed people up there. Or at least some windows were lit. It was only 8pm, and the vast majority of sararimen were still at work. Typical Japanese workday: 6am to 9pm. If an earlier start wasn't mandated.

There were some things that he didn't envy the Japanese. Their jobs and living space being among the most prominent. As for driving in Tokyo: not even on a Bet.

All of which suddenly struck Grey in the form of a single realization. This *was* home now. He wouldn't be leaving this reality.

Currently he was several people, those who had *not* for whatever reason seperated out when he had failed the Fourth Labor. The problem was that he didn't remember any of them that well, and each of them had grown up in very different environments. Even simple things as goals and personal tastes had been different.

First, he was the fellow originally known as Gregg - a weirdness magnet who'd always tried to do the right thing but hadn't exactly been very successful. His tastes had been eclectic and his environment mostly late 20th Century America, though some odd subcultures had been involved. In this situation, he'd have likely taken a low profile approach.

Souls not being bounded by time or space, nor necessarily having a gender themselves, his Second remaining Aspect was that of Noa - a pokemon trainer who'd dreamed of becoming a big rock musician until her life and career was cut short by Butch & Cassidy. If it were Noa instead of Greylle here, she would have immediately done her considerable best to become an idol singer and from there tried to parlay that into pop music.

Also of the female variety had been Artemis Gray, B-Wing pilot for the Rebellion who'd died in the Battle Of Endor. Artemis had been extremely gung ho, an enthusiastic warrior fighting for a cause she had believed in, whose battle-scarred face and bionic eye had convinced her that nobody cared about her as an individual. Her spartan and utilitarian tastes contrasted almost 180 degrees from Noa's prediliction for cute. In this sort of situation, Artemis would have likely joined the Japanese Self Defense Force in order to become a pilot instead.

Mamoru Tengoku, repairman and experimenter of the female shaped androids known as marionettes, was the fourth Aspect to remain. HIS memories were quite a lot clearer than those of the prior three. As Gennai's student, then Lorelei's pupil later on, he'd gone from being a street survivor to having access to the Shogun's palace. Then been pulled out of that timeline before he could really accomplish much. Actually, if Mamoru had been in this situation, he'd likely have done pretty much what he was currently doing.

Finally there had been more fragmented identities. He'd grown up as "Orion", a replacement Ranma Saotome that had actually been a transformed dragon who had fled Genma Saotome in the shape of a cat only to run into a girl named Minako Aino. He'd spent years growing up as her friend, a talking cat, then rediscovered his ability to shift into human shortly after Minako met some of her new teenage friends. He'd also been another Ranma, one who had grown up with his childhood friend Ukyo and a pyrolion named Akane. Not to mention a buddy named Makoto and a less rough-and-tumble playmate named Rei. He'd been the artificially born son of Gendo and Yui Ikari, crafted from genes of a dozen different sources including Adam. THAT version of himself had been the childhood friend and lover of the cram school ace and likewise genetically engineered "Scout Pilot" Ami Mizuno.

While trudging up the stairs, Greylle wondered what it would have been like if he'd lived one of those other lives to its destiny. Noa and Artemis had lived their lives and died in violent circumstance - cut short by someone else. Would Noa have realized her dream of being a pop singer? Would Artemis have eventually realized that it wasn't the scars on her face, but the walls she erected around herself that kept people at bay? Would Mamoru have found contentment and happiness with his Otome Kairo installed marionettes Apple, Grape, Honey, and Blueberry? Would Orion have eventually settled down with Minako? Would that Ranma have been content with the second place position as Heir of the Saotome School, and would Ukyo have rescued him from that marriage to the Tendo version of Akane? Would Grey Ikari have continued as the best friend and boyfriend to Ami even through the youma attacks and Machiavellian intrigues of Tokyo-3?

Finally, he was Grey, sometimes known as Greylle. Trained under Hephaestus as a Techwizard and mechanic. In a different Star Wars universe than that of Artemis, he'd operated a repairship from the time of the Battle Of Yavin to a few years later. He'd visited dozens of universes, helping out where he could. Sometimes he'd been successful, sometimes less so. He'd fought at the side of Senshi, freedom fighters, and soldiers of fortune. He'd piloted a Sopwith Camel, a B-17 Bomber, an A-10 "Warthog", and a variety of starships and gravitic vehicles. He'd fought with fists, stones, swords, manriki-gusari, revolvers, lasers, particle beam weapons, and pokemon.

Greylle came to a conclusion. As soon as Akane dumped him (inevitable though he wasn't above hastening it), he'd do some of that again. From what he'd heard from the Japanese government they'd be amenable as long as they could send along an observer or two. Go out and explore the universe, see what was out there. He could build enough marionettes to crew a ship and take care of the less difficult tasks. Help out where he could, and let enough info come back to Earth that it could improve lives all over. Like in that Star Trek universe he'd briefly been in, there were plants that could grow in the Sahara that could eventually form the basis of a new ecosystem that would feed millions. He'd have to be careful as it could all backfire, but if he kept the changes as small steps it might work out.

Greylle stopped with his hand on the doorknob. Premonition of doom. Hmmm.

The problem was that if he didn't go in there now, where *would* he go? The Tendo Dojo? No way in heck! Camp out? No doubt quieter but still unsatisfactory. Gritting his teeth, Greylle just decided to face it. Whatever the marionettes were planning couldn't be *that* bad.

Greylle opened the door, stared for a moment, then closed it behind him.

"Would someone mind telling me WHAT you two are doing? Ami, put your skin back on, that's very disturbing. HEY! HEY! What are you doing?!"

Greylle opened the door, stepped out, closed the door, went to the landing at the end of the hall. Then jumped off and shifted on the way down. Yes, it panicked the hell out of the neighbors, but he was getting out of there NOW!

*sniff* *sniff* hmmm. that smelled pretty good. Maybe a brief snack. He'd have to go back to the apartment sometime but a meal might give the two a chance to realize THAT had not been appropriate behavior.

-------

Hotaru blinked and looked around. "Papa said..."

"Yes, Hotaru, I'm here to train you as a miko - a shrine priestess." The woman gestured at the shrine around them. "This could be fun, right?"

"This place wasn't here yesterday," said Hotaru. "This was an abandoned warehouse. I remember the broken windows and there was that rusty metal sheeting hanging from nails..."

"Gripe, quibble, complain, is this *really* how you want to spend your time as my apprentice?"

Hotaru considered, then shook her head. She still studied the area. Trees that looked hundreds of years old thrusting up from a natural landscape. No sign of aged concrete, metal sheets, or broken windows. "Did you do this?"

Amaterasu nodded. "The shrine is actually a small but tasteful building in the center, surrounded by a small pond that I've stocked with koi. We'll be staying there."

The little girl looked around. Somehow the idea that people considered her a monster for healing people seemed even more clueless than usual. "This is... impressive."

"Perhaps. Kind of homey." Amaterasu shook her head. "Look, it's still the set up. I can do minor stuff like this without screwing things up too much."

"Minor?" Hotaru looked at the red torii arches that led to a brick path. Both looked as if they'd been here a lot longer than one day. "This is minor?"

Amaterasu ran her fingers through her hair, frowning slightly. "Yeah. MAJOR would have drawn too much attention to the place."

"So, about this fiancee..."

"Oh you'll like him," Amaterasu assured the girl. "Nice boy. If a bit defeatist at times. He's older than you, but after a decade or so you'll catch up."

"Decade?"

The Japanese sun goddess nodded. "Oh yes. You're Sailor Saturn, you see. Or will be. The nobility of the Silver Millenium have lifespans of about 10,000 years. He's a dragon, Aramarian silver to be exact, so he's got a similar lifespan."

"A dragon?!" Hotaru made a face. "Like Gojira?"

"He can take human form, Hotaru-chan." Amaterasu shrugged and looked slightly embarassed. "Urd designed his new human form. She went a little... overboard in some respects. Still it *should* make for a good match with you. You'll understand more when you're older."

"Huh?"

"Never mind Hotaru-chan." Amaterasu led the way to the shrine bridge. "Oh, and I think the first thing we should do is start you on increasing the power of your healing abilities."

"Uhm, how do I do that?"

"Well, this is a 'magical girl' universe, so to do it efficiently you either need to transform to a 'super' identity or have a magical focus or both." Hotaru's teacher pondered briefly. "I wonder if Greylle's figured that out yet? Anyway, what we need is a healing focus."

"But I'm not Sailor Saturn... I'm not Sailor Anyone!"

Rolling her eyes, the sun goddess made a gesture. "Oh and for the record, Metal'la was *not* Sailor Sun. There was *no* Sailor Earth. There was no Sailor Vulcan, Sailor Oort Cloud, Sailor Vespa, or Sailor Nemesis. None. However, in the Silver Millenium, there wasn't a Sailor Moon either so there's a precedent for adding Senshi. You, however, are Sailor Saturn - the Senshi of Destruction and Death."

"Do I have to be?" Sailor Saturn looked down at her uniform and wondered why she couldn't have a longer skirt at least.

Amaterasu made a waving gesture. "Actually, no. But we can talk about that after we've gotten most of your training done. I... what the blazes is he doing?"

Saturn looked overhead as something big and glittery passed overhead. "Is that him? He's very pretty."

"Yes. Oh well, it's a mess of his own making this time. Let *him* sort it out. Now, on to your training."

---------

The crowd around the okonomiyaki stand had melted away before Greylle realized "Gee, maybe i ought to get out of sight, change back, and THEN see if i can buy one."

Having done so, he thought the cart had been abandoned until he saw movement from behind dumpster. "Speak English you do?" It seemed that being tired and trying to manipulate an often difficult to inscrutable language did not mix well.

"I'm from Kansai, sugar. Of course I speak English." The "boy" straightened up, looking around as if just daring anyone to suggest that he'd actually been hiding.

"UCCHAN?!"

Eyes narrowed. "Who the heck are you? Ain't hardly anybody who calls me that. I'm Ukyo Kuonji."

"Greylle Shard. How much on a shrimp okonomiyaki?"

"850yen," responded Ukyo, immediately going into businesswoman mode. At Greylle's producing of the requisite coins, she immediately started producing it. "So how do y'all know me anyway?"

Greylle wondered if he should. Oh heck, why not? "Well, just something i've heard of. Maybe you can tell me how accurate it all is. Seems this guy named Genma Saotome was bragging in a bar one night about how he'd made this incredible deal and pulled the wool over everyone's eyes- especially his own son's."

Ukyo listened to a tale of how Genma had mislead his son into believing his fiancee was actually a boy, and then forced the two apart. Greylle continued to spin the tale, not really making any major changes in the story except for Genma bragging about it. It was the way he presented it that was different, making it sound like Ranma was an clueless little kid and his father a gluttonous louse who'd sell his son off whenever there was food involved.

"Waitaminute, Ranma doesn't know?!" Ukyo served up the pancake-like item. "Are you sure about this?"

"Well, i dunno. That's the way it was related to me, and i just met Ranma. He struck me as pretty clueless." Greylle found this kinda nice. He could talk in English without struggling over those damn particles or which verb-ending to use or whether you used this word with this other one. Though Ukyo's southern accent was thick enough to cut. Why Ukyo had a Southern accent when she switched to English was a mystery he decided not to pursue at this time.

"How could he be *that* dumb?"

"He was raised by Genma, wasn't he?" Greylle shrugged and decided to leave, it was close to 9pm now and he had his new job starting in the morning. "Besides, if he knew you were a girl (even with that crossdressing), how could he leave such a cute fiancee?"

Ukyo watched the stranger leave, her emotions a tangled mess as she considered whether or not Ranma *intended* to leave her behind, and had one word rolling around in her consciousness. "C-c-c-cute?!"

---------

(1) - of course, Nabiki is thinking of an entirely different genre than pun-oriented martial arts with the occasional bit of angst.

OK That's it for now with Retake. Hopefully i can get to "pokegirls" now for a little while.